Month: August 2023

v20-28

V20-21  – The mother of James and John comes to Jesus respectfully (she even knelt before Jesus) to ask for a favor. The favor is that she wants her sons to be seated beside Jesus in his kingdom.

This verse has a profound meaning for me. I think it is a reflection of our prayers before God. It shows how our prayers can sometimes be wrongly prioritized. It seems to me that the core of her request is to obtain an exalted position for her sons. She wants them to be higher than others. While her request is genuine, it shows how She and her sons lack the understanding of what is actually truly valuable.  Thankfully the Lord is full of Mercy and understanding and will therefore correct this in a short while in the next verses.

We often do this as Christians and disciples of Christ. We ask without understanding of what is actually more valuable. We ask out of our selfish desires. These desires are sometimes fueled by a love for this world and the things of this world. We want wealth, property, positions etc. The Lord has already promised that He will provide for our every need.

Hebrews 13:5 Living Bible: Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never, never fail you nor forsake you.”

And so, why should we be so bothered about the things of this world? Are our priorities right? Is our focus on the right place?

What is truly valuable is only one thing:

Matthew 6:33 ESV: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

V22-23 – Jesus replies and tells them they don’t know what they were asking. It simply means that they were asking for something they did not even understand what cost it meant. When Jesus asks them the question, they replied (I would say carnally without even knowing what this bitter cup of suffering meant), saying “Oh Yes, we are able!”

This response they gave to the question was problematic. They did not understand the weight of the pain and suffering and did not understand that it is only through the Holy Spirit that one could humble themselves to that level of accepting this pain and suffering.

Nevertheless, Jesus, being God and already knowing the future, tells them that they will  indeed drink from the bitter cup of suffering. And of course, later, these disciples would come to understand what it really meant to drink from that cup.

We have to be careful not to trust in our own strength and sheer will to take us through times of pain and suffering. You do not go through moments of pain and suffering by your own strength. In fact, in your own strength, you will fail. We always have to understand that it is only the Lord who helps us. And that is why He promised:

John 16:33 NIV: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

V24 – After they hear about this thing that James and Joh have done, they become indignant with the 2 brothers. The Amplified version says “they were resentful and angry with the two brothers.”

Why are they angry? I think they are angry because the 2 brothers want to have more privilege than them. So why are they angry really? Because deep down they also want the same “power and privilege?”

I think this is something that was most probably in their hearts but they possibly never had gained the courage to ask Jesus. But you see, in the next verses, Jesus is quick to correct every one of them.

V25-28

Jesus carefully corrects the disciples. He explains that leaders are servants. Even the Son of man did not come to be served, He came to die for us and be a ransom for us all.

In the Kingdom of God, the call is to be servants. Do not wait to be served. Be the servant.

For all of us as believers and disciples of Christ, we are the people who serve others… EVERYWHERE!

• At our workplaces
• At our companies
• In our marriages
• In our families
• As siblings
• In our teams in Church
• …. EVERYWHERE.

1. The disciple of Christ is a servant. Always ready to serve others.
2. The Disciple sacrifices himself/herself for the good of others.
3. The Disciple gives themselves/their property/their time… etc., for the good of others.
4. The Disciple is Ready to be considered the Lowest for the good of others.
5. The Disciple does not argue so that they always have to be right.

John 13: 12-15 NIV: When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

(Lord, help me to seek your kingdom and your righteousness above all things. Help me to be a servant, everywhere. Help me to imitate you, the greatest servant of all, who laid his life for me that I may be saved from eternal separation from God. Thank you for the gift of salvation.)

V29-33

The story of the blind men teaches us so much about how we should cry out to God so that we see.

To paraphrase, these blind men were crying out loudly: “Lord Jesus, have mercy on us, we want to see.”

How many times do we cry out this way before the Lord? How many times do we cry out to God for his presence? How many times do we cry out to him concerning our blindness to his will and his word? How much do we seek him so that He may remove our ignorance?

May the Lord make us like this blind men who understand that its only Jesus who can make them see and therefore we cry out to Him, our Lord and High Priest. We cry out to Him so that we may know Him because that is eternal life.

This is the same prayer Jesus prayed for us in John 17:

John 17:1-3 NIV – After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

V34 – We see in this verse that the Lord is merciful and He will instantly answer us when we cry out to Him concerning our blindness. This is what the Lord says:

Matthew 5:6 AMP – “Blessed [joyful, nourished by God’s goodness] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.

Lessons from the Use of Parables

The use of parables is one of the most unique ways that differentiated Jesus from other teachers. A person had to take their time to intentionally understand what the parables meant if they wanted to get the lesson. This intentionality is key when it comes to learning from the Lord.

One of the things that the parables do is to separate those who were truly seeking the Lord God from those who were following him because of the things that Jesus did. While the Lord had many followers, He only had a few disciples. The disciples were closest to him, were curious to learn from him and were always awe struck at his power and majesty. They are the ones who see him calm storms and raise the dead. They are also the ones who get to understand and have great faith in Him because they get to know deep in their hearts that this is the Messiah. Even with the parables, the disciples got to understand the meaning and when they did not, they asked Jesus directly so that they could understand.

And as believers, this is the call we have: we are to be disciples of Christ, not just followers. It is deeper and a bigger mandate – Making disciples. See the command:

Matthew 28:19-20 RSV – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 NLT – Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Even today, large crowds and “congregations” are following Jesus but few are coming really to be his disciples. Few are coming to be like Him and to obey Him as their Lord and master. Few are coming with a clear understanding that beginning a relationship with Jesus is not just a “relationship” like any other. It is a relationship characterized by submission and obedience to Him, doing everything He has commanded us to do in His word.

(Lord Jesus, may you help me to be truly submitted to you, sincere in my worship and obedient to your commands. Forgive me and help me not to compromise on any of your commands and directions. Let me be ready to do what you say because therein is life. Amen)

V1-16

(The Parable of the Vineyard Workers)

In this parable, the workers come in to work in the fields at different times.  Some work more than others but at the end of the day, two unique things happen. The first is that the workers who came in last are paid first while the ones who started working first are paid last. The second thing is that everyone is paid the exact same wages. The kindness of the master is what makes him pay them all the same rate.

We also have to note the reason why they came in at different times. It’s not that these workers were doing something else and so were available to work late. The reason why they were not working is because no one had hired them. If someone had hired them, they would have worked the full day just like those who were hired in the morning.

This parable is talking about eternal life.

Here are some lessons:

• The landowner’s decision to pay all workers the same represents God’s abundant grace and mercy upon us all.
• We also learn that Salvation is not earned through self-righteous works but is a result of God’s mercy. The amount of work that the first workers did was not what the landowner used to measure how He paid them. He pays out of his mercy. You do not earn salvation, it is a gift from God. No amount of work you do can qualify you to enter. In fact, the only common thing is that all these workers ACCEPTED the invitation to work for the landowner. And after they all came in, they worked according to the time they had remaining. None of those who was hired refused to work. And so that’s what the landowner looks at.
• Rather than complaining when others get eternal life, we should all rejoice that they accept the redemption given by the Lord, even if they do this at their death bed. On the cross, the thief got salvation just like the way the Apostles who would later work much more than him did.
• While there may be varying rewards in heaven, all believers will share equally in the reward of eternal life.

V17-19 – Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him and He tells his disciples so that they can clearly know the future. This part clearly shows that Jesus is not forced, He willingly gives his life for us. He lay down his life for you and me.

John 10:18 NLT: No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

1 John 3:16 NLT: We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

John 10:11 NLT: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

The theme of his mercy and love for us continues on. The Lord willingly gives his life for all of us, because He loves. John 3:16 – starts with “For God so LOVED the world…” Love led him to give his life for us.

And He does this so that we can be like Him. He has become the firstborn among many.

Romans 8:29 Living Bible – For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him—and all along he knew who would—should become like his Son, so that his Son would be the First, with many brothers.

I John 4:17 NLT – And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

V1-2 – In this account, we see clearly that there is an ideal process to getting children and building a family. The man and woman from the tribe of Levi FIRST get married and then after… get children. It’s an important reminder of sexual purity and how to build a godly foundation for marriage and family.

The Story of Moses, is a shadow of the life of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

I am reminded of the story of Joseph and Mary: they were also not married and had not had any sexual relations and that’s why Joseph felt obliged to break the engagement with Mary when He realizes that She is pregnant. Joseph therefore understood and respected the order in place. We live in a society that seeks to break these foundations of marriage and purity. Dear friend, be careful not to be enticed by such sinful ideas.

Of course, in Joseph’s story, He did not leave Mary because an angel of the Lord visited Him and made things clear for Him.

Matthew 1:18-21 NLT – This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[h] quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[i] for he will save his people from their sins.

An important point of note is that Moses’s mother saw that Moses was a special baby. Maybe this was revealed to her by the Holy Spirit. On this verse, a number of other versions say that Moses was an unusually beautiful child. Regardless of this, it is clear that God’s plan to keep Moses and to ensure He grows is in place and is happening.

Moses’s mother hides him because Pharaoh has ordered Egyptians to throw every newborn Hebrew child into the Nile. (Seen in Exodus 1)

This story of the young Moses and his mother is still also similar to what happened to Jesus after He was born. At that time, Herod had ordered all males 2 years and below in Bethlehem to be killed.

Matthew 2:16-18 ESV – Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

An angel of the Lord told Joseph to leave Bethlehem so that Jesus would not be killed.

Matthew 2:13 NIV – When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

In both cases, an enemy who feels threatened is looking to kill these children. Thankfully, the Lord always makes a way and the plans of the enemy do not succeed. This is an important comfort for all of us. God is in control and He will protect and take care of his people. We do not necessarily have to worry about the details of how He will protect us from the enemy because He will always make things clear or give us wisdom if there is something we need to do. The most important thing is to have that underlying understanding and faith in Him, regardless of the situation.

Joshua 1:9 NIV – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV – Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

V3-10 – How beautiful God’s plan is, Oh How beautiful.

In these verses, we clearly see how the story plays out. Dear friend, this is not something that happens because of Moses’s mother sharpness or how good she is at coming up with ideas, she was only an instrument of God who yields herself to the plans that God has. God is the one who gives all the ideas and what to do and eventually Moses is saved and grows up. And see, Moses is raised up in his early years by his own mother. That’s great. And then later, He is taken to the palace where He will now grow up as the princesses’ son.

As a child (and son) in the Palace, Moses would obviously grow up to be very well educated in Egyptian matters.

V11-15 – Moses is pained by the oppression He sees the Israelites under. He feels that He needs to do something. In his heart, we can clearly see therefore that Moses already had a burden about his people. He wanted to see them free and liberated from this oppression and that’s why He killed the Egyptian. It is also why He wanted to make peace between these two Hebrews who are fighting.

It seems to me that God had already planted the seed and burden for Israel in the heart of Moses, way before He is later called and specifically appointed to be God’s servant in the liberation of Israel.

Truly, our God is great and Mighty. His plans are perfect and He executes it out of his love, righteousness and justice.

Isaiah 46:10 NLT: Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.

V16-22 – Moses gets a family in Midian and spends many of his years here. We see from this section that Moses is a virtuous man. He is careful to help the daughters of the Priest of Midian. In addition, Moses we see that Moses is still a man who hates injustice.  He stands up to defend the daughters of the Priest against the shepherds who usually oppressed them. He knows that what the Shepherds are doing is not right and He is ready to do something about it.

This quality of Moses is admirable : He hates injustice. In this regard, Moses continues to be a shadow of Jesus. Jesus hates wickedness and loves righteousness. This is what God says of his son:

Hebrews 1:8-9 NIV – But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

Dear friend, the Lord Jesus is calling us to be like Him, we must be haters of sin and wickedness and lovers of righteousness. We must imitate the Lord.

Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT – Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

V23-25 – God’s plan continues to be worked out. The people of God continue crying out to God because of their pain. They cry out to God for his help and the Lord knew it was time to act. Obviously, it is not that God had not seen what had been happening to them. He was constantly seeing but the appointed time had not come.

God had an appointed time for saving them.

But it does not mean that the Lord was not doing anything at this time. There is a lot He was doing, He was preparing Moses and laying the “building blocks” essentially. And remember, the Lord had already said that the Israelites would be slaves for 400 years:

Genesis 15:13-17 NIV – Then the LORD said to him, “Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.

What is the lesson here: God has an appointed time for acting but in the waiting time, when we have to wait for Him to act, it does not mean that He is not doing anything. He always is working it out for us. Regardless of our pain and struggle.

And so what should we do?

Psalms 27:14 NKJV – Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

Dear friends, in all this we must ALSO remember that God had a bigger story that He was writing. The great story of our salvation. And therefore his plan for Israel had to be fulfilled so that Israel could be an example for us.

For example, Egypt and the oppression they faced is an example of us, when we were living in bondage to sin and the devil.

Another great example is a demonstration of God’s saving grace. The Israelites cried out for salvation from their bondage. But in our case, it was the opposite. We did not need to cry out, the Lord offered us salvation while we were still sinners, even before we were born. Some of us did not even know how sinful we are until He shed his light on us.

Romans 5:8 NKJV – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Lord, I praise you for your great plan of salvation for me. I am grateful for your immense and amazing love for me and I pray that you help me to be an imitator of Christ. Lord, may you cause me by your holy spirit to hate sin and wickedness and to love righteousness. Your throne, Oh God, is built on righteousness and justice, Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants. Help me Lord to walk before you in sincerity and humility, not hiding my sin but bringing it before you and getting forgiveness from you. Renew my mind oh Lord, every day, so that I may never ever forget the weight of what you have done for me on the cross and that I may know how to walk with and in you. My heart desires you and your precepts. I desire to come and be with you forever. Help me to stand till that last day, help me to overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. I desire you Lord. Amen)

V1-7

In this chapter, we start seeing God’s grand plan to move the Israelites out of Egypt and return them to the land He promised to Abraham. These verses first bring out the contrast of the number of people. The whole of household of Israel had 70 people at the time they came. When they came, Joseph had favor with the Pharaoh at the time and they were allowed to live in the land of Goshen. The number of the people was quite small compared to how big they later become. As their numbers increased, their power also increased. They become very powerful and fill the land.

There is power that comes from numbers. When a people are many, they are very powerful in what they say and what they do.

There is a lot of power in people coming together to walk together for a cause. The Church can benefit a lot from this. Unity in the Church can cause effectiveness in ministry because each person makes their small contribution and it adds up to a very big effort. As light in the world, disciples of Jesus must shine and glorify the Lord’s name on the Earth.

V8-10

Even though the Israelites had not rebelled against the Egyptians, the Pharaoh is filled with fear that they might revolt and He therefore makes a plan to oppress them.

It is interesting what fear and negative speculation can do. Rather than trusting in God, people filled with fear start hatching their own plans to protect and save themselves. Verse 10 actually shows that the Pharaoh, since this early stage, feared that the Israelites would revolt and “escape from the country.” He clearly did not want this to happen.

The second lesson is that when you become a threat to a person or a group of people, they will always make plans to destroy you. This is what is happening here in the heart of this Pharaoh. We see this same thing during Jesus’s time on earth. Even though Jesus had come to bring the Kingdom of God, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law did not like that He was challenging the status quo and that many people were listening to Him and so they made plans to kill him. One of these times is when Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Jesus was doing the right thing in healing on the Sabbath and He even challenged them that they would also save their sheep and donkeys if they fell into a well on a sabbath. The Pharisees did not like this because they had created their own kind of “religion” and created laws that were not from God. And so, when Jesus challenges their ways:

Matthew 12:14 NLT: Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus.

V11-14

The saving plan of God continues to unfold. At this stage, God now allows pain in the lives of the people of Israel. This pain is very critical because it makes the people of Israel uncomfortable in Egypt.

God had a divine plan for Israel. This was his chosen nation through which He would reveal himself and his plan for humankind. Part of God’s plan is to return the children of Israel to Canaan, the promised land, just as He promised Abraham.

The people of Israel since the time Jacob and his family come down to Egypt had been comfortable in Egypt and their numbers grew greatly. They enjoyed a time of great prosperity, peace and growth from God. But now the time had come for these people to return to their ancestral land Canaan. And so, God allows pain so that the Israelites would no longer love their stay in Egypt. This pain would move them into a place of prayer, a place of remembering what God had said about them. It would push them into a place of realizing that the time had come to leave. And so, through the start of period of pain, God starts making the children of Israel ready and He starts making them come to his side where their hearts would now begin to move into a place of agreement with God’s plan.

Personally, the unfolding of this story makes me have so much reverence and Awe towards God.  His plans over our lives are amazing. He would allow pain in our lives, not because it is enjoyable for him but because it is a tool He can use for our redemption because it tests us and brings us closer to Him. Oh! He is great and He is greatly to be praised. This also gives me confidence in Him: He has a good plan for me and as He has said:

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

John 16:33 NIV: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

One part of this unfolding that I have find to be amazing is in verse 12 and this continues to unfold till the end of the Chapter. Pharaoh’s plan was to stop the growth of the numbers of the Israelites but clearly, this was not God’s plan. In fact, instead of reducing in numbers, they grow even more and more. Even the Egyptians are alarmed.

For me, it shows how precise God is in his plan. He had a limit to their pain. Even though God allows them to be oppressed, He does not allow their numbers to reduce. To the contrary, they grow even more and more. And up to the end of this chapter, Pharaoh continues to try to kill the Israelites but his plan never comes to pass. So, it was not in God’s design to reduce the numbers of Israel. God is already glorified in this because the Egyptians obviously wonder why their plan is not working.

V15-19

Being blind to what is happening or unfolding by not realizing this is the hand of God, Pharaoh continues to resist and therefore when his first plan to reduce their numbers through slave labor fails, He orders midwives to kill the Israelite sons who are born.

But you see, the midwives are not blind, they know that this is a sin against God. They can’t do it regardless of what Pharaoh orders. The midwives fear God more than they fear or even honor Pharaoh.  The lack of the fear of God differentiates Pharaoh from the midwives. Pharaoh is a man without Godly wisdom because He does not fear God. He only fears or is scared of the power of the growing Israelites and so He does not care what He has to do to ensure their population does not continue to grow.

And that is how the fear of God differentiates people and also protects us from sinning against the Lord.

Here are a few verses showing what the fear of the Lord is and what it does:

• Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.
• Job 28:28: “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
• Psalm 111:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.
• Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
• Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
• Proverbs 10:27: The fear of the Lord prolongs life, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
• Proverbs 14:27: The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death.
• Proverbs 14:26: In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge.
• Psalm 112:1: Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who greatly delights in His commandments.
• Psalm 128:1: How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.
• Psalm 33:8: Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

V20-21

Regardless of Pharaoh’s evil plans, the Israelites still continue to grow in number. We also see that the Lord blesses all who fear Him above all else. The Midwives are given families of their own because they fear the Lord. It is a proper example of all what all the verses about the fear of the Lord above are saying.

(Father in Heaven, I am sorry for every time I fail in fearing you. Your word teaches me that to fear you is to hate sin. Help me to learn to fear you oh great and mighty God. Because in fearing you is life. Lord, make me like these midwives who learned to fear you above human authorities. Let me not sin against you by fearing men and circumstances more than I fear you. I submit to your Holy Spirit so that I may be led of Him in fearing you. In Jesus name, Amen.)

V22

Hard headed Pharaoh still continues to find ways to ensure the Israelite male newborns are killed.

Can a man win against the Lord? No

In all these things, however, we still remember that God had a divine plan for Israel and He was working it out.

(May your divine plan of Salvation over my life be fulfilled oh God. Let me learn more and more to humble before you and to walk with you. Let me learn to treasure your word because it gives me wisdom.)

V16

This young man comes to Jesus asking what “good deed” He can do to get eternal life. He seems to have had knowledge of the commandments and so we can assume that He knew the Law given by Moses (Torah). The purpose of the law was to show people what God required of them. The Law is a set of directions (do’s and don’ts’s)  that to be perfect, people would have to obey it (in its entirety) in order to inherit God’s kingdom.

But you see, therein, lies the problem. And this, in my view, is exactly what I see in this beginning part of the conversation Jesus has with this young man:

• Can a person in their own power keep the whole law and be perfect?
• Can you enter God’s kingdom because you have obeyed the commandments and have therefore “worked for it” and so you “deserve to enter”?

This person wants to be counted as “good” or “righteous” and He thinks that this goodness comes from doing “good” deeds.

V17

In this verse, Jesus first deals with this aspect of being “good.” Jesus says ““Why ask me about what is good?” and “There is only One who is good.”

This story is also seen in Mark 10:17-22. And in this account of the story, it says “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”

When you first read this part of the response, you might think Jesus is denying that He is God. But He is actually not. Jesus simply answers the guy in a wise way. To make it simple, if I am to paraphrase this statement, Jesus is essentially asking the guy:

“God is the only one who is good, and so by calling me good teacher, are you saying that you know that I am God?“

And

“If you know that I am God, will you carry my words as such?“

Jesus wanted the young man to truly understand what He was saying by calling Him “good teacher.”

And then Jesus goes ahead to reveal where the problem is with the young man. In this short conversation, Jesus reveals what sin is and ensures we are able to see why we need a savior. In essence, Jesus, in very few words, lays out and explains everything that the Apostle comes to much later explain in the book of Romans about the law.

Jesus tells the young man that if He wants to get eternal life, He needs to keep the commandments.

V18-21

Jesus starts telling the young man some of the commandments He must keep and the young man replies that He has actually kept those commandments already. And then He proceeds to ask Jesus what else needs to be done for Him to get eternal life.

When we read the account in Mark 10:17-22, we see that Jesus looked at him and loved him and then He said “One thing you lack” and then goes to explain what the man lacks. Jesus then says that the young man needs to sell everything, give it to the poor and follow Jesus.

For me, as I read this, I find a number of things very striking:

First, I clearly see that Jesus answers this question (about what else must be done) by connecting it to the aspect about him the “good teacher” i.e. him being God.

From this first understanding, the second thing I see is that Jesus did not at first mention all the 10 commandments. He had left some out . And I see that this response from Jesus is directly connected to the first two commandments:

Exodus 20:3-5a NIV – “You shall have no other gods before me.” “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them;”

Jesus (who is God), already knew what the problem with this young man was– His wealth. The issue is that there was already something that was a god in his life and therefore the Lord, the true God was not the only God in his life. From the commandments above, we see that we are not to have any others gods apart from God. God is to be worshipped alone; He alone must be God in our lives. He must be the first and the last!!

By telling the young man to sell his wealth, give it to the poor and come follow him, Jesus was essentially telling him to let go of his other god, submit to the ultimate leadership of Jesus and become his disciple. He was telling the young man that He should not have any other god. As seen above, Jesus connects this with the aspect about being called “good” and is showing the young man the real implication of calling Jesus good and what that means for the young man. Being God, Jesus directly deals with the young man’s idolatry.

He was telling the young man that getting eternal life only comes by submitting to Him and is not based on good deeds. If there is to be a “good deed” to be done, then it is only submitting to Jesus and letting Him truly be the center of our lives. It means obeying him, making him our Lord and savior and depending on him completely. It means putting our complete and full trust in the Lord and no one or nothing else… not our wealth, our actions, our intellect, our positions, our cunning ways, not anything else!!

V22

Sadly, the young man could not come to let go of his wealth and so He did not become a disciple of Jesus.

V23

After the young man hears this and leaves, Jesus puts even more weight on what He was saying by showing how big of an idol wealth can be. Wealth can easily take up the place of God because it gives you the prestige, power, positions and you feel that you have the answer to all things because you have money. The rich person can find himself/herself in the very bad trap of wondering why they need God.

Dear friend, wealth in itself is not bad, but what it can cause is bad. Be careful. If the Lord gives you wealth, take great care that it does not take God’s place and make you forget God. This is what the Lord told the Israelites:

Deuteronomy 8:10-18 NIV: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

On the other hand, it is also possible that we may not be wealthy and we have financial problems. While this difficulty most of the time leads to God, we might also find ourselves exalting the suffering more than God. The worry and anxiety can become our god, and we might complain and forget the Lord. Let us all remember, The Lord must be our God in all situations. Don’t forget the Lord. At his time, He will fix those problems.

V25-26

The disciples were astounded, they could not see how anyone then could be saved. But Jesus says “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

In essence here, Jesus is telling the disciples that a human being can never be good enough to earn eternal life. It is only possible with God, through his Mercy to our lives by sending Jesus to die for our sins. Because of his sacrifice on the cross, “with God, it is possible.” We only need to accept him and make him the Lord of our lives.

V28 

Jesus tells the 12 disciples their reward for being his followers. They will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

V29-30

And everyone who gives up everything to follow Jesus, anyone who values their relationship with Christ as more valuable than ANYTHING, they will also be greatly rewarded. But if we value anything more than Him, we will lose everything. Do not endeavor to be first in this world.

Questions to Ponder

• Is God truly first in your life?
• Is there anything you have prioritized more than God?
• Are you in idolatry?
• Do you trust your “good deeds” to get you salvation? Are you telling yourself “I am a good person” “I don’t do many wrong things like other people do?” “I am not a terrorist/rapist/thief/murderer/corrupt.” or do you recognize that you are a sinner in need of a savior?