And again He taught them

And again, as was his custom, he taught them. (Mk 10:1)

It is interesting to me that in a "throw away" transitional sentence, Mark, by the inspiration of God, both communicates volumes about Jesus' earthly ministry and calls us to learn, really, deeply, repeatedly learn from Him as well. It brings to mind a statement I read just a few days ago. It is God's Word itself that teaches us. And, Mark 10 is an awesome resource for calling us to follow hard after Christ.

First, we are called to have deeply dependent faith. Men and women who follow Jesus are exhorted to have a faith as dependent as a child, How often do we look to God like that? Simply trusting that He is always on our side. Somehow knowing that everything will be o.k. Not worrying if we've outrun His love. Not concerned that we will wake up tomorrow and find that He is gone.

Next we are challenged to get our priorities straight. One can always meet an external code, especially one that is man-centered (or worse yet, man-made). But one can never meet the internal requirements of God. Please note that Jesus loved the young man (and us) enough to keep pressing the issue until his heart was revealed. He will do the same for us, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear and a child-like faith to trust that He can save us out of the mess we've created for ourselves.

Beyond this, Jesus underscores by lesson and by personal testimony, that true faith does not terminate on ourselves. The primary terminus is God, who deserves all praise, but out of the gratitude and worship that our salvation generates comes a service to others that is beyond comparison. Mark 10:45 is the epitome of this truth. But we must not leave it simply in Christ's repertoire. He has called us to imitate Him in this.

The chapter is closed out by an example of the child like faith described at the beginning. The blind beggar will not be kept from Jesus and simply asks for what he needs most: his sight. Oh, if we could drop our pretense before God and "barge into His presence" and ask for the deepest aches and needs of our hearts.


I now send forth this post with a deep sense of its many defects; but with an earnest prayer that it may do some good. (JC Ryle)

To God Alone be the Glory