10
Down with divorce!
1 Then He set out from there and came into the borders of Judea, by way of the other side of the Jordan. Again, crowds gathered to Him, and as was His custom, He began to teach them once more. 2 Then some Pharisees approached to test Him and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce a wife?” 3 So in answer He said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted one to write a certificate of divorce and to put away.”[a] 5 Jesus answered and said to them: “It was due to your hardness of heart that he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of creation, God made them a male and a female.[b] 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two will be turned into one flesh.’[c] So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, His disciples asked Him about the same subject. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if a woman divorces her husband and gets married to another, she commits adultery.”[d]
Jesus blesses little children
13 People started bringing little children to Him, that He might touch them; so the disciples started rebuking those doing the bringing. 14 But when Jesus saw it He was indignant and said to them: “Let the little children come to me; do not hinder them, because the Kingdom of God is made up of such. 15 I tell you assuredly, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child does[e] will certainly not enter it.” 16 And taking them in His arms and laying His hands on them, He blessed them.[f]
A rich young man
17 As Jesus set out on the road, someone came running up, knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to Him: “Why do you call me ‘good’?[g] No one is good except one—God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’ ”[h] 20 In answer he said to Him, “Teacher,[i] I have kept all these since I was young.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him,†The verb is αγαπαω; He was concerned for his well-being. and said to him: “One thing you lack; go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, take up the cross,[k] and follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed at the suggestion and went away sorrowing, because he had many possessions.[l]
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to get into the Kingdom of God!” 24 But the disciples were astounded at His words. So Jesus tried again and said to them: “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches*Five Greek manuscripts (all of objectively inferior quality), against 1650, omit ‘for those who trust in riches’, producing an obviously inferior text, but even so they are followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. NIV favors us with a footnote: “Some manuscripts is for those who trust in riches”. They use ‘some’ to refer to the 1,650, against only five. Is that not a dishonest use of the English language? (There are probably hundreds of such footnotes.) to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 It is actually easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”[n] 26 Then they were totally astonished, saying to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; because all things are possible with God.”
It pays to serve Jesus
28 Then Peter began to say to Him, “So, we have left all and followed you.” 29 In answer Jesus said: “I tell you assuredly, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[o] or children or fields, for my sake and for that of the Gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundred times more,[p] now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and father and mother[q] and children and fields (with persecutions)—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many first will be last, and last first.”[r]
Jesus predicts His death a third time
32 Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going ahead of them; this surprised them,[s] and as they followed they started to be afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that were about to happen to Him: 33 “Take note, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of the Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And on the third day He will rise again.”[t]
Selfish ambition rebuked
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we may ask.” 36 So He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”[u] 38 But Jesus said to them: “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.”[v] So Jesus said to them: “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 40 but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to grant, but is for whom it has been prepared.”[w]
41 Well when the ten heard it they began to be indignant with James and John.[x] 42 But Jesus summoned them and said to them: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it must not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever desires to be your number one must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of the Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”[y]
Blind Bartimaeus
46 They came to Jericho. Then as He was going out from Jericho,[z] with His disciples and a large crowd, the blind Bartimaeus[aa] (son of Timaeus) was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Natsorean,[bb] he began to call out and say, “O Son of David,[cc] Jesus, have mercy on me!” 48 Many started telling him to shut up, but he started calling out even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 So Jesus stood still and said to call him. Then they called the blind man, saying to him: “Courage! Get up! He's calling you!” 50 Tossing off his cloak,[dd] he got up and went to Jesus. 51 Jesus reacted by saying to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”[ee] The blind man said to Him, “Rabouni,[ff] that I may see again!” 52 So Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has healed you.” And immediately he could see, and followed Jesus on the road.
<- Mark 9Mark 11 ->
- a See Deuteronomy 24:1, 3.
- b See Genesis 1:27, 5:2.
- c See Genesis 2:24. The Text says ‘two’, not ‘three’, ‘four’, or whatever. The ‘two’ are a man and a woman; not two men, not a woman and a demon, or whatever.
- d Note that Jesus recognizes that the woman may take the initiative. Whoever takes the initiative commits adultery.
- e Jesus did not say that only children can be saved; rather, one must believe the way a child believes, without question, and literally.
- f Blessing children is an important thing to do.
- g Jesus was not denying that He was good; the trouble was that the man called him good without recognizing Him as God.
- h See Exodus 20:12-16, Deuteronomy 5:16-20.
- i He did not repeat the ‘mistake’.
- j The verb is αγαπαω; He was concerned for his well-being.
- k Scarcely 1.5% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘take up the cross’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
- l Jesus had put His finger on the one the man was not obeying—he was not loving his neighbor as himself.
- m Five Greek manuscripts (all of objectively inferior quality), against 1650, omit ‘for those who trust in riches’, producing an obviously inferior text, but even so they are followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. NIV favors us with a footnote: “Some manuscripts is for those who trust in riches”. They use ‘some’ to refer to the 1,650, against only five. Is that not a dishonest use of the English language? (There are probably hundreds of such footnotes.)
- n Ouch! In the Old Testament it was expected that godly living would be accompanied by material blessing. The trouble is that we tend to get more attached to the blessing than to the Blessor. Our Lord's words in Matthew 6:24 are to the point: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Anyone who serves ‘mammon’ is not serving God, and therefore is not in the Kingdom. As for the ‘camel’ and the ‘needle’, there have been attempts to explain this away, but since Jesus went on to say it was “impossible”, we may take them literally.
- o Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘or wife’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).
- p Actually, the ‘hundredfold’ should presumably not be taken in a strictly literal sense. I take it that the Lord is saying that we will be abundantly recompensed, if not down here, certainly in heaven. In my own experience, in the absence of my real mother, whenever I needed one God provided one. If you only have one brother, that's all you can leave, obviously, so the plural nouns are also contingent on the facts in the case. ‘Eternal’ life is a quality of life, and it begins down here.
- q I follow 40% of the Greek manuscripts, including the best line of transmission, in reading ‘father and mother’. 55% have ‘mothers’, as in most versions. Note that Jesus does not promise more wives!
- r This sounds like a pushdown stack—first one in, last one out.
- s I gather that Jesus was going forward with a determined pace, which at first surprised them, but then something about His demeanor made them apprehensive.
- t Jesus knew perfectly well that this was His last trip to Jerusalem, and He had detailed knowledge of what would happen. (He had been given the word by Moses and Elijah—Luke 9:31.)
- u Isn't this a strange request? Evidently visions of the Messianic Kingdom drove all other considerations from their minds, only they wanted to be top dogs!
- v How did they know?
- w If Jesus Himself is at the Father's right, then it follows that the Father is on Jesus' left, so only one of the spots is ‘available’, except that the occupant is already known.
- x Now just why, do you suppose, were they upset?
- y The Lord Jesus is our example.
- z The parallel account in Luke has Jesus entering Jericho, not leaving it. At that time, there were two Jerichos, about a kilometer apart. What better place for an enterprising beggar than between the two towns? For a detailed discussion of the three accounts (also Matthew), please see the Appendix: Entering, or leaving Jericho?
- aa Mark is the only account that gives the man's name—evidently he was known (or at least became known).
- bb The Text has ‘Natsorean’, not ‘Nazarene (Natsarene)’. Natsorean is presumably a reference to Isaiah 11:1, the Branch—Jesus was the Branch-man. Natsarene just means that He came from Natsareth.
- cc Bartimaeus addresses Jesus as the Messiah.
- dd Now why did he abandon his cloak? He expected to be healed—being able to see he could easily find it (and who else would want a beggar's cloak?).
- ee Does God ever take anything for granted from us? He knows what we need before we ask, but we must ask.
- ff Some 65% of the Greek manuscripts spell the word with two ‘b’s; I follow the best line of transmission, but there is no difference in meaning: ‘my teacher/master’.