Mark 10:17-31 | Call To Discipleship

Preacher: Joel Fair
Scripture: Mark 10:17-31

1. Call To Discipleship
2. The Loving Look of Jesus
3. God Of The Impossible
4. Now & Eternity
5. Last First, First Last

Bonhoeffer - The Cost Of Discipleship
The young man seeks an answer to his question. The answer is: Jesus Christ. The young man wanted to hear the word of a good master, but now he has to recognize that this Word is actually the man himself whom he is questioning. The young man is standing before Jesus, the Son of God. The full encounter is present. The only choices are yes or no, obedience or disobedience. The young man’s answer is no. He went away sadly; he was disappointed and had lost his hope, but he still could not abandon his past. He had a lot of property. The call to discipleship here has no other content than Jesus Christ himself, being bound to him, community with him. But the existence of a disciple does not consist in enthusiastic respect for a good master. Instead, it is obedience toward the Son of God.
 
Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
 
James Edwards - PNTC The Gospel According To Mark
Jesus does not teach or uphold poverty as an ideal, but he does, as here, regard the awareness of need that results from poverty as a blessing. The greatest enemies to faith and obedience are self-satisfaction and pride, and nothing removes those bulwarks more effectively than poverty....To be sure, wealth is a potential danger to faith. Wealth is not categorically condemned by Jesus, however. Neither the unnamed woman of 14:3–9 nor Joseph of Arimathea (15:43; Matt 27:57) is either questioned or condemned in Mark, although both are wealthy. For this man wealth is an actual danger, as it doubtlessly is for most disciples, for it prevented him from doing the one thing necessary for salvation. Wealth can and often does exist in other than material forms. Anything that causes disciples to forget their poverty and childlikeness before God and that prevents them from following Jesus Christ—this, too, is a camel before the eye of a needle.
 
Mark 9:23 (ESV)
And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
 
Philippians 2:4–8 (ESV)
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
 
Acts 2:42–47 (ESV)
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
 
1 Peter 4:12–19 (ESV)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
 
Matthew 7:12–14 (ESV)
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.