Mark 10:13-22

B. CHRIST'S LOVE TO THE YOUNG. 10:13-22

TEXT 10:13-22

And they brought unto him little children, that he should touch them: and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein. And he took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.
And as he was going forth into the way, there ran one to him, and kneeled to him, and asked him. Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good save one, even God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honour thy father and mother. And he said unto him, Master, all these things have I observed from my youth. And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. But his countenance fell at the saying, and he went away sorrowful: for he was one that had great possessions.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 10:13-22

518.

Had little children been brought to Jesus before this time? Why? Who brought them?

519.

Was Jesus baptizing the children? Where was Jesus when this incident occurred?; please be as specific as possible.

520.

Notice the tense in the verb rebukedit denotes continuing actionwhat would this suggest?

521.

Why wasn-'t Jesus patient with His disciples instead of being moved with indignation?

522.

Does the expression to come unto me suggest anything about the age of the children?

523.

Was Jesus saying the children were already in the kingdom of God? Discuss.

524.

Specify three ways in which we should be like little children.

525.

What is the meaning of the kingdom of God as here used? Does this refer to the church? Discuss.

526.

What is the meaning of the word blessed as used in Mark 10:16?

527.

In approximately what place did Jesus meet the rich young ruler?

528.

Designate the urgency and eagerness of this young man.

529.

Mark the humility and trust of this one.

530.

What did the ruler mean by the words Good Teacher?

531.

Was the ruler asking for the way to go to heaven or was there something more in the question?

532.

Why did Jesus pick up the words good teacher and make a point out of them?

533.

In what sense is God the only one who is good?

534.

Did Jesus tell the rich young man that he could find eternal life in keeping the commandments? Discuss.

535.

Why mention the particular six commandments He did?

536.

Was the young man bragging or lying when he said he had kept the commandments since his youth?

537.

Why does Mark say Jesus looking upon him loved him?

538.

Just what did the young man lack?

539.

Mention six things he did not lack.

540.

This one was to trade one treasure for anotherplease explain how this transaction was to be made.

541.

Show the connection of heavenly treasure and following Jesus.

542.

As carefully as you can, tell what you believe the young man expected Jesus to say in answer to his question.

543.

Was the young ruler lost? Discuss.

COMMENT 10:13-22

TIME.A.D. 30. This conversation probably occurred in the month of March, on Christ's last journey to Jerusalem, only a few weeks before his crucifixion.

PLACE.On the farther side of the Jordan, near the borders of Judea. (See Mark 10:1). After the raising of Lazarus, the Lord retired to escape the storm of persecution to Ephraim, a city of Judea, and after a short interval of rest crossed the Jordan into Perea, where he was still at this date, en route to Jerusalem. If the student will locate a point in the the Jordan valley, east of the river, not far from Jericho it will be near where the little children were brought to the Lord. This region east of the Jordan was called Perea (beyond) because it was beyond the river. It included the districts of Bashan and Gilead and in the time of the Savior was fertile and populous, with a mixed population, partly Jewish and partly Gentile.

PARALLEL ACCOUNTS.The blessing of the little children (Mark 10:13-16), in Matthew 19:13-15, and Luke 18:15-17. For the lesson to the rich young man, see Matthew 19:16-30; Matthew 20:16 and Luke 18:18-30.

INTERVENING HISTORY.Many events occurred, the chief of which were: The visit of our Lord to Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, October, A.D. 29 (John 7:8-10), which was marked by (1) solemn discourses during the feast, and an attempt of the Sanhedrim to apprehend him (John 7:11-51; John 8:12-59); (2) the opening of the eyes of one born blind (John 9:1-41), the revelation of himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18). 2. Return to Galilee (October). 3. Final departure from Galilee (November), (Luke 9:51; Mark 10:1). 4. Ministrations in Judea, and mission of the seventy (Luke 10:1 to Luke 13:17). 5. Visit to Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22-39), (December). 6. Tour in Perea (Luke 13:22-27). 7. The raising of Lazarus (John 11:10-46). 8. Resolve of the Sanhedrim to put him to death, and his retirement to Ephraim (John 11:47-54), (January, A.D. 30). 9. Goes to the borders of Samaria and Galilee; heals ten lepers (January, February). 10. Starts towards Jerusalem down on the east side of the Jordan (March). 11. Discourse on marriage and divorce on the way.

OUTLINE1. Christ and the Children. 2. The Rich Young Seeker. 3. The One Great Lack.

ANALYSIS

I.

CHRIST AND THE CHILDREN, Mark 10:13-16.

1.

Children Brought to the Lord. Mark 10:13; Matthew 19:13; Luke 18:15.

2.

The Disciples Rebuked. Mark 10:14; Matthew 19:14; Luke 18:16.

3.

Of Such is the Kingdom of God. Mark 10:14; Matthew 19:14; Luke 18:16.

4.

Christ Blessing the Children. Mark 10:16.

II.

THE RICH YOUNG SEEKER, Mark 10:17-20.

1.

The Great Question. Mark 10:18; Matthew 19:16; Luke 18:18.

2.

None Good but One. Mark 10:19; Matthew 19:17; Luke 18:19.

3.

What Doest Thou? Mark 10:20; Matthew 19:18-19; Luke 18:20.

4.

A Self-Righteous Spirit. Mark 10:21; Matthew 19:20; Luke 18:21.

III.

THE ONE GREAT LACK, Mark 10:21-22.

1.

One thing Thou Lackest. Mark 10:21; Matthew 19:21; Luke 18:22.

2.

Christ Rejected. Mark 10:22; Matthew 19:22; Luke 18:23.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

I.

CHRIST AND THE CHILDREN.

In this incident the very heart of Christ is published to poor sinners; and we may clearly perceive the freeness and fullness of the mighty grace of the Redeemer, who is willing to receive the youngest child as well as the oldest man.Spurgeon.

Mark 10:13. And they brought young children. Of varying ages, for according to Luke, Christ called them to him. There were parents in those days wise enough to know that it was not well to wait until children were old enough to become hardened in sin before seeking for them the blessing of a Savior. We bring children to Christ (1) by daily, constant, earnest prayer on their behalf; (2) by teaching them the truth; (3) by consecrating them to God for this life and the life to come; (4) by training them up for Christ. Set before your child life and death, hell, and heaven, judgment and mercy, his own sin, and Christ's most precious blood, labor with him, persuade him with tears and weeping to turn unto the Lord.Spurgeon. That he should touch them. An act expressive of imparting a blessing, and showing that the nearer we are to Jesus the greater the blessing which comes to us from him. Blessings come to those who are near, which cannot come to those that are afar off. This is true of physical healing, and of moral and intellectual influences. We must draw pear to Christ in order to receive his blessing. His disciples rebuked those that brought them. The erroneous apostles, as Richard Baxter calls them, thought that the Great Rabbi would be annoyed, and his attention diverted from matters of greater importance than anything connected with little children. They think it is to abuse the goodness and misuse the time of their Master, Dr. Tyng says: It seems to me that the Devil would never ask anything more of a minister than to have him look upon his mission as chiefly to the grown up members of his congregation, while somebody else was to look after the children.

Mark 10:14. When Jesus saw it he was much displeased. The language of the original is much stronger: so it is expressed in the Revised Version, moved with indignation. The disciples had already been cautioned about their treatment of children (Matthew 18:10-14). Some sign of displeasure was probably on his countenance. How careful we should be not to call forth his displeasure by keeping children from him! Peloubet assigns five reasons for the Lord's indignation. (1) Because they were keeping away from him those who wanted to come to him, and for whom he died. (2) They were taking away those who were the very hope of the church, the kingdom they were appointed to build up. (3) Because the children are the type of all who shall enter his kingdom. (4) Because he loved little children, and rejoiced in their love. (5) Because they were hindering the best workers in his kingdom, the mothers. Suffer the little children to come unto me. To refuse children access to his grace was to misrepresent his spirit, his mission, and his kingdom. In bringing the children at that moment the mothers interrupted him in an important doctrinal discourse: yet Jesus suspended his teaching, and pronounced a blessing. It signified that there was a place in his thought, in his heart, in his mission, in his church, for children. For of such is the kingdom of God. Such as have the childlike disposition toward God. God wants little children in his kingdom. People are most likely to come into the kingdom when children, since all must become like little children in order to enter the kingdom. Children in the kingdom of God in heaven. Such as die before they have wandered out of God's kingdom into the kingdom of Satan are certainly saved, since they are of the kingdom of heaven.Abbott. Then, beyond a doubt, in that kingdom shall all the little ones be found. For it is not as children of Christians, it is not as baptized, but it is as children, that of such is that kingdom.Alford. Children in the kingdom of God on earth. Perhaps it is as well for us to learn the lesson at once, so that we might accept the statement which the words of the Savior would teach; namely, that little children are the true wards of the church, and ought to be welcomed, cherished, and valued highly.Sunday School Times.

Mark 10:15. Whosoever shall not receive, etc. Christ now holds up the children as an example to his disciples. He had the ideal childlike spirit, and delighted to see in little ones his own image. Purity, truthfulness, simplicity, docility, and loving dependence made them his favorite types for his followers. The apostles needed the lessons their characteristics impressed.Geikie.

Mark 10:16. Took them up in his arms. He ever giveth more than men ask or think. He had been asked only to touch the children. He takes them into his arms, and lays his hands upon them, and blesses them.Cambridge Bible for Schools. As I look at Christ in this, the most stirring period of his history, with the dark events of his last agonies thickening on his horizon, condescending to take little children in his arms and bless them, I feel deeper chords in my nature touched than when I see him hush the furious tempest, or raise the buried dead.Thomas. It is well to note (1) that these children were not babes. The Lord called them to him. (2) They were not brought to be baptized, but that the Lord might touch them. (3) He did not baptize them, but laid hands on them and blessed them. (4) All parents and all mothers especially should bring their children to Christ for his blessing, should teach them of him, his demand for their hearts, and that they should obey him.

II.

THE RICH YOUNG SEEKER.

Mark 10:17. When he was gone forth on the way. Had continued his slow journey towards Jerusalem. As his aim was to teach the people, his daily journeys were very short and he often paused for days together where an open door was presented. There came one running. This incident is described in Matthew 19:16-23, and Luke 18:18-23. The three accounts should be carefully compared by the student. This case presents some remarkable points. (1) The man was of irreproachable moral character; and this amidst all the temptations of youthfor he was a young man (Matthew 19:22)and wealth, for he was very rich, (Mark 10:22). But (2) restless, notwithstanding, his heart craves eternal life. (3) He so far believed in Jesus as to be persuaded he could authoritatively direct him on this vital point, (4) So earnest is he, that he comes running and even kneeling before him, and that when he was gone forth into the way (Mark 10:17)the high roadby this time crowded with travelers to the passover.J. F. and B. Running. They that will have eternal life must run for it; because the Devil, the law, sin, death, and hell follow them.Bunyan. Good Master, what shall I do? He sincerely desired salvation; and he imagined that some generous action, some great sacrifice, would secure this highest good.Godet, What shall I do? (In Matthew, What good thing shall I do?) He had not yet learned that he needed first to be good, to have a pure and holy heart, before he could have eternal life. To inherit eternal life? That I may be among those that are true children, and, as such, lawful inheritors of the kingdom.Cook.

Mark 10:18. Why callest thou me good? Christ does not rebuke the young man for employing what was nothing more than the language of respect by any pupil to a teacher.Abbott. But he asks him whether he looks upon him merely as any other teacher; or does he recognize him as a divine teacherthe only one who is truly good; the good master who knows all things, and whose teaching is eternally true.P. There is none good but one, that is God. He does not deny that he is good; for he is the one who is good, even God (1 John 3:5). Some have mistakenly found in these words an affirmation that Christ is not divine. To whom Stier relies; Either there is none good but God; Christ is good; therefore Christ is God: or, there is none good but God, Christ is not God; therefore Christ is not good. There is no answer to these syllogisms but to deny the sinlessness of Christ.

Mark 10:19. Thou knowest the commandments. After uttering his mild rebuke, our Lord proceeds to answer the young man's question by exhibiting the moral character requisite as meetness for the enjoyment of everlasting life.Morrison, St. Matthew says that our Lord first answered, Keep the commandments; and when the young man asked, What kind of commandments? he seems purposely to have mentioned only the plainest commandments of the second table, to show the young man that he had fallen short, even of these in their true interpretation, much more of that love to God which is the epitome of the first table. Thus does Christ send the proud to the law, and invite the humble to the gospel.Farrar. Defraud not. It seems as if intended to be a special application of the tenth commandment, One who had great possessions, gathered in the usual ways by which men gain wealth, needed to examine himself specially by that text. Were there no ill-gotten gains in his treasure?Ellicott. Our Lord gives this enumeration of the commandments to bring out the self-righteous spirit of the young man, which he before saw.

Mark 10:20. All these have I observed. There was, no doubt, great ignorance in this reply. He knew but little of any one of these precepts in the strictness, spirituality, and extent of its requirements, who could venture on any such assertion. Yet there was sincerity in the answer, and it pointed to a bygone life of singular external propriety.Hanna.

III.

THE ONE GREAT LACK.

Mark 10:21. Jesus beholding him loved him. Jesus read his heart in a moment, and was won by the evident worth of his character. As he looked at him, so earnest, so humble, so admirable in his life and spirit, he loved him. Could he only stand the testing demand that must now be made, he would pass into the citizenship of the kingdom of God.Geikie. Jesus loves all men, but his sympathies are called forth specially in behalf of those seeking for eternal life. It is out of his sympathy and love that he makes a demand on him that will reveal to the young man his own heart. One thing thou lackest. He thus proposed to him one short crucial test of his real condition, and way to clear self-knowledge. He had fancied himself willing to do whatever could be required; he could now see if he were really so. Go thy way. He now gives him proof of what he lacked. Far from arresting on their way those who believe in their own strength, he encourages them to prosecute it faithfully to the very end, knowing well that if they are sincere they shall by the law die to the law (Galatians 2:19). Sell whatsoever thou hast. The Lord loved him so well that he invited him to the highest honors, even to become a member of his immediate attendants, like the apostles. These had all given up everything in order to follow Christ, and the same test and opportunity was offered to this young man. It was the crisis of his life. Had he accepted the opportunity perhaps his would have been one of the great names in the early history of the church; but the world gained the victory, he loved it better than Christ, he rejected the offer and thus he disappears from sight forever. Follow me. All these things are parts of one whole, the Christian life. He must have all, would he enter eternal life. Note his possible future as a disciple, compared with his obscure future as a nameless rich man.

Mark 10:22. And he was sad. He had been touched where weakest, but this was exactly what his repeated request demanded.Geikie. And went away grieved. He shrank from the one test that would really have led him to the heights of glory at which he aimed. Great possessions. It was too much. He preferred the comforts of earth to the treasures of heaven; he would not purchase the things of eternity by abandoning those of time; he made, as Dante calls it, the great refusal. And so he vanishes from the gospel history; nor do the evangelists know anything of him further.Farrar. Which would have been better for this young manto leave his goods to become the companion in labor of the St. Peters and St. Johns, or to keep possessions so soon to be laid waste by the Roman legions?Godet.

FACT QUESTIONS

10:13-22

558.

How is Mark 10:13-22 to be associated with the raising of Lazarus?

559.

Why is this district called beyond the Jordan? What territory was included in it?

560.

Name five events that occurred between the feast of the Tabernacles and the healing of the ten lepers.

561.

How is the mighty grace of the Redeemer seen in His attitude toward the little children?

562.

Name three ways children are brought to Christ today.

563.

What lesson can be gained from the fact that Jesus touched the children?

564.

What error was made by the apostles in rebuking the children?

565.

Name three reasons for the Lord's indignation.

566.

Are all children who die going to heaven? Discuss.

567.

In what sense are children today in the kingdom of God on earth?

568.

Is it true that Jesus saw in children His own image, and therefore held them up to his disciples as examples?

569.

Show how the time and circumstance of blessing the children shows something of the beautiful character of Jesus.

570.

Johnson says it is well to note four facts about this incidentmention three of them.

571.

Why were some of the days-' journeys of Jesus very short?

572.

Note three remarkable things about the one who came running to Jesus.

573.

Just what was the young man seeking?

574.

Either there is none good but Christ is good; therefore Christ is; or, there is none good but God; Christ is not God; therefore Christ is not.

575.

In what way does Christ send the proud to the law, and invite the humble to the gospel?

576.

How did defraud not apply to the young man?

577.

Show how there was both ignorance and sincerity in the answer of the young ruler.

578.

Why did Jesus love the young man?

579.

What is meant by the phrase go thy way?

580.

What wonderful opportunity did Jesus offer the young man?

581.

Why couldn-'t the young man follow Christ and keep his money?

582.

What is the great refusal?