Matthew 19:16-26,
Mark 10:17-31
A rich young man
asks how to have eternal life and Jesus tells him to give away
everything he has and follow Him.
I don’t believe
Jesus is saying that people must always physically give away all they
have in order to gain eternal life, but rather that they should give
up anything that prevents them from turning to Jesus. Much like
Jesus’ admonition to cut off an offending body part, or to give up
their families and to hate their very lives, so here I think he means
that nothing should be allowed to stand between ourselves and God.
Everything we have and are should be His.
At the end of this
passage, when Jesus says that it would be harder for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom
of heaven, the disciples were amazed and asked (Matthew 19:25), “Who
then can be saved?” Apparently they figured that if a camel can’t
make it through the eye of a needle, well, neither can a mouse, and
if that was the case, then how could anybody be saved? Jesus
replies that while it is impossible for the rich (and others, the
“mice,” so to speak) to enter the kingdom of heaven on their own,
God can get them in.
Further, it is
interesting that Jesus didn’t tell the rich young man to give away
enough so he would be down to a modest lifestyle; He said to give
away all, which would make him poorer than almost everybody,
and it seems highly unlikely that Jesus meant that people may not
have any possessions if they expect to have eternal life.
Again, His meaning appears to be that we should completely give away
anything and everything that prevents us from turning to Him.
Finally, we see that
elsewhere that rich people – such as Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8-9) and
apparently Joseph of Arimathea – entered in without physically
giving up everything.
So, it isn’t the
riches directly that are the hindrance, but the all-too-common
idolatrous attitude toward those riches that makes people feel
self-sufficient and unwilling to surrender to Christ.
It is also
interesting that he rich man asked what he should “do.” I think
Jesus wanted him to see that he couldn’t win eternal life by his
own efforts. I think he first told the man to keep the commandments
because he wanted the man to admit that he had failed to keep the
commandments, so that he would understand his need to trust Jesus for
forgiveness. But it seems the young man was rather self-confident.
Yes, he said, he had kept all those commandments, which suggests he
had a very shallow notion of the meaning of the commandments, so
Jesus takes him further down into his heart, to what gave him his
confidence, his wealth, and told him to give it all away. That hit
home – he understood his confidence and love were in something
earthly, something other than God. That misplaced confidence, Jesus
was saying, was hindering him from surrendering and following Him.
Matthew 20:1-16
The generous
vineyard owner gives those who worked less time the same amount as he
gave to those who worked for him during the entire day.
As Matthew is
writing specifically to Jews, it appears that in this parable Jesus
was referring to the Jews as those who worked longest for God, and to
various Gentile groups – who would hear the gospel later – as
those who began working at later hours.
However, if Jesus is
referring to individuals in this parable and if the payment given to
the workers does equate to eternal life, then – since all the
workers were equally rewarded – it seems clear that the amount of
work we do does not qualify us for eternal life. Instead, what
appears important is that we do it for the vineyard owner.
If we have given our lives to the Vineyard Owner (God), then we will
naturally work for him; if we don’t work for Him then we haven’t
really ever given our lives to Him.
Matthew 21:43
In this, the parable
of the evil tenants, he Kingdom of God will be taken from Pharisees
and given to those who produce its fruit.
The Book of Matthew
is addressed primarily to Jews, and Jesus is warning that the kingdom
of God will be switched from being on a national basis (Israel) to
being a spiritual basis (church).
Matthew 25:1-13
Parable of the ten
virgins: Five virgins were wise and brought enough oil to last until
the bridegroom arrived; five were foolish and did not. The foolish
virgins were excluded from the wedding feast.
Again, as the Book
of Matthew is addressed primarily to Jews, it seems that the foolish
virgins represent those in Israel who had the oil of the old
covenant, which by itself was not enough, but they didn’t have the
oil of the new covenant. They never knew Jesus. The wise virgins had
both.
Matthew 25:14-30
Parable of the
talents: The servant who did nothing with the money he was given is
thrown out.
The Master in the
parable indicates that anything would have been enough, that
the servant could have simply given the money to a banker for
interest, but the servant did absolutely nothing. There is nothing of
the love of God in this servant’s heart. He did nothing because he
does not love the Master.
Matthew 24:45-51
The master will
reward the faithful servant, but will cut up and cast out with the
hypocrites the unfaithful servant.
Jesus describes one
servant as “faithful and wise” (24:45) and then describes his
actions. Next he describes the other servant as wicked (24:48), then
describes his actions. By describing their natures first, Jesus
suggests that the servants’ actions were a result of their natures.
Supporting this
view, Jesus warns that the wicked servant will be assigned a place
with the hypocrites, the reason is most likely because the wicked
servant is a hypocrite. He pretends to be something he isn’t
– a good servant.
If we give our lives
to Jesus He will change our nature and we will do good. We’ll
slip up, yes, but our general inclination will be to do good. If we
just pretend, like the hypocritical wicked servant, we may do all
sorts of evil.
A question remains:
Why does Jesus describe both the good and wicked as “servants.”
I think it is
because Jesus – especially in the Book of Matthew – is mostly
addressing Jews, God’s chosen people on earth, His servants. So, if
Jews are the servants in this parable, Jesus may be saying that those
Jews who obey their master are faithful and wise, but those who are
wicked can expect to be rejected.
Matthew 20:28
Jesus came to give
his life a ransom for many.
By Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross we can be saved if we believe in Him.
Matthew 23:12
Jesus says that
whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
A humble faith in
God is what He wants; humble because we are trusting in God, not
ourselves.
Matthew 24:13
– See entry for Matthew 10:22
Mark 1:4, Luke
3:3
John the Baptist
preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
John’s baptism is
a public declaration of repentance and belief in Jesus (Acts 19:4).
Repentant trust in Jesus saves, not water. The water is important as
a tangible, public step of obedience in response to repentance, but
repentance is the focus. Mark 1:5 says the people were baptized as
they confessed their sins, and in the baptismal passage, Luke
3:7-8, John the Baptist emphasizes the need for repentance when he
tells the people to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Mark 2:5
Jesus sees the faith
of the people who bring the paralytic (and the paralytic, himself, I
think) and says his sins are forgiven.
They had faith and
were forgiven. It is not recorded that they specifically asked for
forgiveness, but they got it by their faith.
Mark 3:28-30
Blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit is not forgiven.
I think the only sin
that isn’t forgiven is the sin of not being willing to be forgiven,
and that is done by blaspheming the Holy Spirit, by rejecting the
work of the Holy Spirit who seeks to draw us to Christ, by treating
the Spirit as unclean, unholy, irrelevant, or even by just ignoring
Him.
Mark 8:34-37
You must deny
yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus. If you lose your
life for Jesus and the gospel you will save it.
Faith in Jesus
involves giving our lives to Jesus, and giving our lives to Jesus
means following His leading, even through difficult times. If we are
unwilling to take up our cross then we haven’t really believed in
Jesus in the true sense of giving Him control of our lives. See
also Matthew 10:38-39.
Mark 8:38, Luke
9:26
If you are ashamed
of Jesus and His words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the
Son of Man will be ashamed of you when He comes in His Father’s
glory with the holy angels.
Being ashamed of
someone means being uncomfortable being associated with him. It seems
unlikely that a person who does not want to be associated with Jesus
ever really believed in Him in the first place. At the very least,
this passage must mean that such people are not living for Jesus as
they should, and that if they are believers at all then they are the
kind about whom Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, where he says
everyone’s work will be tested by fire and, “If it is burned up,
the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved — even though
only as one escaping through the flames.”
Mark 9:19
Jesus laments his
“unbelieving generation.”
This verse is not
directly related to salvation, but it shows that faith is critical
and Jesus is concerned about the people’s lack of faith.
Mark 9:23-24
Jesus says
everything is possible to the one who believes, and the father of the
demon-possessed boy says he believes but needs help with his
unbelief.
Though not directly
related to salvation, in this passage Jesus shows the centrality of
faith by encouraging the worried father to believe.
Mark 9:42-48
– See entry for Matthew 5:29-30
Mark 9:42
If you cause a
little one who believes in Jesus to stumble, it would be better to
have a millstone around your neck and be cast into the sea.
This is apparently
directed at nonbelievers.
Mark 10:14-15
Jesus rebukes the
disciples who tried to prevent people from bringing little children
to him, saying that people must receive the kingdom of God like
little children.
We must be trusting,
like little children, to receive the kingdom of God.
Mark 10:17-31 –
See entry for Matthew 19:16-26
Mark 13:13 –
See comment on Matthew
10:22.
Mark 13:22
False Christs and
prophets will perform signs and miracles to deceive even the elect,
if that was possible.
Mark
is indicating the extremely persuasive nature of these false
miracles, false miracles strong enough to deceive even those God has
chosen, if that was possible. By adding, “if that were possible,”
Mark seems to be indicating that it is not possible, probably
because while the fake miracles are strong enough to deceive the
elect, God will protect his chosen ones.
Mark 14:24
Jesus’ blood is
poured out for many.
By Jesus’
sacrifice on the cross we can be saved if we believe in Him.
Mark 16:16
Believe and be
baptized and you will be saved. Do not believe and be condemned.
Does this mean if
you are not baptized in water that you will not be saved?
No. The thief on the
cross whom Jesus said would be with him in paradise was not baptized,
yet was saved, so then, important as it is, water baptism is not a
crucial element in salvation.
The term “baptism”
is used in various senses in the New Testament, senses that do not
all include water. For example, Jesus even seems to refer to his
crucifixion as a baptism (Luke 12:50) and suggests to his disciples
that they will be baptized with the baptism he is baptized with (Mark
10:39), apparently a reference to the martyrdom of several of them.
While Mark 16:16 is
a debated passage, if we accept it as written I think we should
understand the first part of this verse – the part that says we
should believe and be baptized – as meaning that if we really
believe, not just believe in an intellectual sense that Jesus existed
or is the Son of God, but believe in the sense of surrendering our
lives to Jesus, then Jesus will baptize us in the Holy Spirit
(Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33) and we will be saved.
And of course, if we really believe, we should follow Jesus’
example and be baptized in water as well.
But does this
baptism of Jesus’ require physical water?
Again, the thief on
the cross was not baptized in water, but certainly a baptism in the
Holy Spirit may coincide with a baptism by water, just as the Holy
Spirit came upon Jesus when he was baptized with water. But, as we
have seen, baptism does not necessarily refer to water, and in
Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist intentionally contrasts his baptizing
with water to Jesus’ baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire, again
suggesting the baptism Jesus provides does not require water.
Luke 1:50
Mary says God’s
mercy is on those who fear Him.
Those who surrender
their lives to God will fear Him in the sense that they will show a
deep respect for His power and majesty, but not fear Him in the sense
of worrying that He means His children any harm. This kind of fear
and fearlessness can coexist. So, in this passage we see Mary praise
this respectful type of fear, and then just a little further on, in
Luke 1:74, Zechariah says God rescues us so we can serve him without
fear.
Luke 1:69, 74-75
Zechariah prophesied
in song, saying that God has “raised up a horn of salvation”
(1:69) to rescue the people from their enemies and enable them to
serve Him in righteousness (1:74-75).
The horn of
salvation is “in the house of His servant David” (1:69), making
it clear that the salvation Zechariah refers to is Jesus.
Luke
1:77
Zechariah
says Jesus will give his people the knowledge of salvation through
the forgiveness of sins.
Luke
2:11
Christ
is Savior and Lord.
Luke
2:29-31
Simon
holds the child Jesus and says of Him that his (Simon’s) eyes have
seen God’s salvation.
Luke 2:30
Simon identifies
Jesus as God’s salvation.
Simon, who had been
told by the Holy Spirit that he would live to see the Christ, takes
baby Jesus in his arms and says Jesus is God’s salvation.
Luke 2:38
The prophetess Anna
speaks of Jesus to those looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 3:3 –
See entry for Mark 1:4
Luke 3:6
Luke, quoting Isaiah
referring to Jesus, says all flesh will see the salvation of God.
Jesus is the
salvation of God! All flesh will not necessarily be saved – people
must believe to be saved – but all will see.
Luke 3:7-14
John the Baptist
warns that repentance must be accompanied by fruit.
John says the people
should produce fruit “in keeping with repentance.” If you really
repent then your life will change. If your life does not change then
that should be a warning to you; perhaps you simply need to know the
kind of fruit you should be producing, or perhaps you have not really
repented and given your life to God.
Luke 3:16-17
John the Baptist
says that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and gather
His wheat into His barn and burn up the chaff.
Jesus will one day
separate the wheat from the chaff. If you believe, you are wheat; if
you don’t, you are chaff.
Luke
5:20
When
Jesus sees the faith of the sick man and his friends who lowered him
on a pallet through the roof, Jesus forgives the man’s sins.
Luke
5:24
Jesus
tells the Pharisees that he has authority on earth to forgive sins.
Luke
5:32
Jesus
came to call sinners to repentance.
Luke 6:23 –
See entry for Matthew 5:3,10
Luke 6:35
Love and do good to
your enemies and expect nothing in return. Then you will receive a
great reward and you will be sons of the Most High.
I think this means
that if you do this you will be acting out what you really are –
sons of the Most High, and you will receive a “great reward”
rather than, perhaps, a lesser reward. It is as if a proud father
were to say after his son did something commendable, “Now, that’s
my son!” Not that he wasn’t his son before, but rather that he
has just shown it.
Thought experiment:
Suppose you live in a small town where everyone gets along and you
don’t have any enemies, are you not a son of God because you
don’t have any enemies to do good to? Clearly not. This, again,
refers to our willingness to love and do good. If we really believe
in Jesus, we will do good, even to our enemies. If we don’t believe
in Jesus, we won’t.
Luke 6:37-38
Do not judge and you
will not be judged. Do not condemn and you won’t be condemned.
Forgive and be forgiven. Give and you will be given to.
If we trust in Jesus
we will do what God wants us to do and not judge, not condemn; we
will forgive and give. Luke 6:35 says that loving our enemies is
being a son of the Most High, and 6:36 says showing mercy is
imitating our Father. So, doing these things is what children of God
do. If they do not exhibit these attributes in any way, are they
really children of God at all? Did they ever really believe? Most
likely not.
Luke 6:43-45
A good tree bears
good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. Figs do not grow on thorn
bushes.
Good actions are the
results of salvation, not a precondition. Good works are a
result of who you are.
Luke 6:46
Jesus asks why
people call him Lord but don’t do as he says.
Jesus is saying the
natural outflow of trusting in Him as Lord is to obey.
Luke
7:50
Jesus
tells the woman who poured perfume on His feet that her faith had
saved her.
Luke 8:12
The Word sown in the
heart leads to believing and being saved.
Luke 9:24-25
If you lose your
life you will gain it.
Losing our lives
means giving our lives to Jesus, believing and trusting in Him.
Luke 9:26 –
See entry for Mark 8:38
Luke 9:48
Whoever receives a
child in Jesus’ name receives Him.
In order to receive
a child in Jesus’ name, you have to believe in Jesus and be
motivated by Him.
Luke 9:62
No one who puts hand
to plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (or fit for
service in the kingdom of God).
Jesus wants his
servants to be single-minded in service to Him, not distracted from
plowing a clean furrow by looking back at the world. While this does
not indicate that someone who is not single-minded in his
service to Jesus will be excluded from heaven, it does suggest that
such a person may not be used by God – or not used much – to
advance his kingdom in this world.
Luke 10:20
Jesus tells his
disciples to rejoice that their names are written in heaven.
Jesus seems to be
indicating that the disciples have heaven guaranteed; it is not
something that they will have to strive for throughout the rest of
their lives to earn. If there was a chance their names could be
erased from the book of life for their missteps, it wouldn’t make
much sense to rejoice.
Luke 10:25-28
When a lawyer asks
how to have eternal life, Jesus asks him what is written in the law.
The lawyer answers 1) Love God, 2) Love your neighbor. Jesus commends
him on his correct answer.
Loving our neighbor
is a natural outflow of our love of God. If we love God we will love
others.
Luke 10:38-42
Jesus says to the
busily-working Martha, who complained that Mary was not working, that
Mary’s way is best – to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him.
I think Jesus is
saying that if we trustingly and attentively wait on Him, everything
else flows from that – the life He wants us to live and the work He
wants us to do.
Luke 11:41
Give what is within
as charity and “all things are clean for you.”
I don’t think this
refers to eternal life, but means we should give with love. Jesus
wants us to give not out of compulsion or habit – outwardly, that
is – but from the heart – “give what is within.” I believe
this is supported by the following verse, Luke 11:42, in which Jesus
says the Pharisees were neglecting justice and the love of
God. So, if we are acting out of godly love, God counts what we do as
clean.
Luke 12:4-5 –
See entry for Matthew 10:28.
Luke 12:42-46
Jesus says that the
faithful servant will be rewarded for doing his duty; the unfaithful
servant will be cut in pieces and assigned a place with unbelievers.
The reason that the
unfaithful servant is “assigned a place with unbelievers” is
because he is an unbeliever, like Judas, who appeared to be a
believer, but was not.
Luke 12:47-48
The servant who
knows his duty and fails to do it receives many blows; the servant
who didn’t know and sinned receives few blows. To whom much is
given, much is required.
This is at the end
of a parable about a master returning home and finding his servants
either ready, or not. It comes right after Luke 12:46, which says the
calculating, cruel, drunken servant is cut into pieces and assigned a
place with the unbelievers, apparently because he was, in fact, an
unbeliever. This seems to refer to hell.
But in verses 47 and
48, Jesus turns from the intentionally rebellious servant to the
neglectful servant; the servant who really does believe but is either
lazy or ignorant. In this case it appears the punishment is
temporary, “many blows” for the one who knew what to do and
didn’t do it, and “few blows” for the one who didn’t know.
This does not seem to indicate hell because the number of blows is
limited. So, the blows may be similar in concept to the fire in 1
Corinthians 3:12-15, where Paul says everyone’s work will be tested
by fire and, “If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but
yet will be saved — even though only as one escaping through the
flames.”
Luke 13:6-8
The parable of the
fig tree keeper: Fertilize the tree first, if it still fails to
produce, cut it down.
Since Jesus is
speaking to Jews, it appears that the fig tree being cut down may be
a warning of the earthly destruction that would soon come upon the
Jewish nation.
Luke 13:23-28
Jesus says to strive
to enter by the narrow gate, and that at some point the Master will
lock the gate and ignore the entreaties of those outside. The people
will say that they ate and drank with Him and He taught among them,
but the Master of the house will say, “Depart from me, I don’t
know you or where you come from.”
Jesus is responding
to a man who asks if only a few people will be saved, and judging
from Jesus’ comments in verses 28-30, it appears more specifically
that the man was wondering if only Jews will be saved.
Jesus responds by
telling him to strive to enter through the narrow gate. He
seems to be saying that, yes, the gate to heaven is narrow and not
everybody will enter and be saved, however, if he is counting on
coasting to heaven on the basis of his birth as a Jew, he is
mistaken.
Just as is true for
Gentiles, he needs to surrender his life to Jesus. He needs to force
himself out of the thoughtless crowd, to overcome any lethargy, any
reluctance, all distractions, and make sure he knows Jesus. Notice
that when the Master of the house finally turns people away, it is
because He does not know them. We need to make sure Jesus
knows us by giving our lives to Him.
Luke 14:26
You must hate your
own family – and your own self – to be a disciple of Jesus.
Jesus is using
hyperbole to make a point. To actually hate your family would violate
Jesus’ commands to love others. I believe He means that we are to
value Him far above all things, including ourselves, if we want to be
one of his disciples. Also, this may simply address the question of
who is suited to serve as disciples to Jesus and not particularly who
goes to heaven.
Luke 14:33
You must give up all
your possessions to be Jesus’ disciple. Jesus says we must count
the cost and make a good choice, as the king with a 10,000-man army
does when faced with a king with 20,000-man army.
Jesus is addressing
a large crowd (Luke 14:25), so he is speaking to all kinds of people,
some of whom are not suited to be among his core disciples, and He
wants these people to consider the difficulties these core disciples
face. So, the opposing king with 20,000 men represents those
difficulties.
Perhaps some of
these people in the crowd are more suited to supporting the core
disciples than actually being one. Perhaps, then, Jesus is paring
down the number of close disciples to only the most suited, much as
Gideon pared down his army to a mere 300. But just as that paring
down did not mean that the rest of Gideon’s army was punished in
any way, so I do not believe those who decide not to be part of the
core group of disciples are punished in any way or excluded from
heaven.
Luke 18:28-30
The disciples tell
Jesus they have left all to follow Him, and Jesus tells them they
will receive back much more in this life, and eternal life as well.
Jesus is promising
an earthly reward to those who have given up family for the sake of
God, and is assuring them they will not miss out on eternal life
either.
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