MARK 10
The first part of this chapter contains exactly the same material – with just one exception – that is found in Matthew 19. There will therefore be a degree of repetition in what I say about it.
The Pharisees of the time were engaged in debate about whether a person could legitimately get divorced for just about any reason, or only in the case of sexual immorality by one of the parties. This was known as the “Any and Every Reason” debate. Matthew’s gospel goes into more detail about the theological discussions between the various Jewish factions, but Mark cuts through this for the sake of his gentile audience’s attention span!
The Pharisees were naturally curious what this inspiring young rabbi thought – given that he had such influence over the people and seemed to have a hot-line to God! They probably planned to test him and perhaps trip him up, so they posed their ‘hot’ question to him in public. Jesus first pointed them to the Old Testament scriptures – first Moses and the Law. The Deuteronomy 24:1-4 verses are not actually a recommendation or even an approval of divorce, but a restriction on a divorced person remarrying their first spouse after marrying someone else in between times. It was given by the Lord to ensure that people took their marriage covenant seriously.
Jesus then took the discussion further back to Adam and Eve – defining what true marriage is and going back to first principles and explaining what God had first created it to be. “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” – Jesus is quoting Genesis 2:24 and affirming that this is all about marriage.
The other topical point is the context in which Jesus was speaking: “At the beginning, the Creator made them male and female (Genesis 1:27; 5:2)… and said ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother…’” etc. So marriage was designed for this unique covenant of lifetime companionship between a man and a woman. Jesus therefore clearly establishes precisely what marriage is and what it isn’t.
As stated in my previous notes, in Matthew’s version of the ‘Divorce’ debate, Jesus sided with the stricter interpretation of the permanency of marriage, with the exception of divorce being permitted “only on the grounds of sexual sin”. This italicised ‘exception’ is omitted entirely from Mark’s gospel and from Luke’s, and – given that these two gospels were mainly targeted at non-Jews – it would probably be taken as universally obvious that adultery was suitable grounds for divorce, and so would not need stating. It was only included in Matthew to complete the Jewish discussion on the subject.
The people were bringing little children and babies to Jesus to have him touch and bless them. He was adamant that, even at their young age, they have a role to play in God’s Kingdom – although it is no guarantee of their future salvation! Childlike trust in Jesus is always commended as being essential to our walk with God; this in no way condones future naivety or ignorance of the scriptures or gospel message, however.
The encounter between the Rich Young Ruler and Jesus is described in all three synoptic gospels; only in here in Mark’s is the comment that “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (10:21).
Three times in the last three chapters (8:31; 9:30 and now 10:32), Jesus has spoken to his disciples and has predicted his death and resurrection. Three times, it causes consternation in the minds of these disciples – and they get into squabbles. First Peter rebukes Jesus, in the next chapter they debate who is the greatest, and in the third chapter (today) they ask for special privileges in the Kingdom. Jesus’ responses are respectively: ‘Take up your cross’, ‘The first shall be last’, and ‘Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all’.
LEVITICUS 4 and 5:1-10
Sin Offerings were to deal with unintentional sins, committed by various classes of person. This offering was, in those circumstances, compulsory; it had to be without defect too. Christ himself is represented in the sin offering, as the scriptures look forward to a New Testament fulfilment. The bull was presented (= substitution), hands laid on its head (= identification) and it was then slaughtered (= death of the substitute). One type of sin offering was only made on the Day of Atonement and its blood was sprinkled on the Atonement Cover of the Ark, within the Holy of Holies once a year; its flesh was never eaten but burnt outside the camp. The other type was for a leader or private individual, and the blood was sprinkled on the bronze altar outside the Tabernacle; the fat was burnt up, but the flesh could be eaten by the priest and his male relatives. Forgiveness was then made by God for that person’s sins.
Guilt Offering – very similar to the sin offering but was offered where restitution for the sin was possible and necessary – e.g. in cases of theft or cheating. A ram was always the animal of choice in this case.
Conclusion: God is very particular about how he is to be approached and worshiped. Today, we do not have these complex regulations to enable us to cross over into his presence, but perhaps we are too extreme the other way: we saunter into the presence of the Lord, not acknowledging him and ignoring his holiness and majesty. In which case, don’t complain if he ignores you from time to time! Let’s have a good look at Hebrews 10:19-22, which provides a New Covenant view of the situation.
The Big Picture 