Our study began as we examined evidence and a theory that
perhaps Lazarus was the rich young ruler who chose wealth rather than
discipleship with Christ. Our second
study examined the effects of that choice and what hope there may be for all of
us to become children again that are free to play in His Kingdom. We examined the “who” and found it to be
ourselves. We examined the “threat” and
found it to be a reliance on our means to make us happy or save us. But that “threat” was from outside the
church, the faith, or the Kingdom. As it
turns out, there is one more “threat” we must examine that can emerge from
inside the church, or the faith. Peter
was not shy in recording the whole of this story. He was careful in reciting it to John Mark in
his gospel in chapter ten, not to name the rich young ruler directly. Peter (unlike the tabloids of our day) had no
interest in causing this person harm, even if only by reputation. But Peter was also introspective about these
events. For this gospel was meant to
help any who read it, whether in his own day, or in ours.
Our story continues picking up in verse 28 saying … “Then
Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.” Ahh, there it is at last, what Peter had
voiced was what all of them were thinking.
Comparative Salvation. Only
moments before the rich young ruler had departed in sadness for being unable to
leave his great wealth to become a disciple.
So Peter here compares himself and his companions and by contrast states
unequivocally that they have left “all” to follow Christ. This was part boast, and part
comparison. From the point of view of
Peter, since they had all done this, they “deserved” to be part of the Kingdom of
God. And since none of the disciples
were ready to abandon the idea that the Kingdom of God might also include an
anti-Roman ascendency, they all “deserved” to be at the top of the pyramid
where it came to power and authority.
Here Peter, though inside the Kingdom, failed to recognize what being in
the Kingdom meant. The goal of being
free, is not to compare your own state of freedom with another person who you
perceive to be less free. It is simply
for you to be free. Assuming the mantle
of judge, does not make you free, it burdens you with a role you were not
intended for. It ends the childhood, and
shows you the door away from the Kingdom.
And the reward Peter thought he deserved needed to be
addressed. John Mark continues
transcribing in verse 29 saying … “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say
unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the
gospel's, [verse 30] But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time,
houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” In the answer of Christ are several truths
unmasked. Jesus begins with a short list
of things His followers may have to give up for the sake of the gospel. Notice He first starts with house or
home. I do not believe this to be an
admonition to universally take on homelessness, but then again my heart may
still be too hard to see it rightly. In
any case, it is no small thing to leave home behind. Whether to be a missionary and go to the far
corners of the world to reach the unreached; or to go into the workplace
holding firm to values that are in conflict with company goals and risk
unemployment for the sake of your beliefs, it is no small thing to lose the
home you know.
Next Jesus lists perhaps the most precious things to us,
namely our families. For the sake of
belief in Jesus, or adherence to the gospel, we may indeed lose brothers or
sisters who simply cannot understand what we are doing. Imagine the condemnation of siblings while we
give away wealth, and seem to abandon the responsibility for caring for our own
family. Imagine the condemnation of
siblings who do not understand why we would rather lose employment than violate
the beliefs we hold true about Jesus.
But the problems could be worse.
Imagine how hard it is for a child to disobey his parents to hold true
to Jesus and the gospel. In that
instance the child is wholly dependent on their parents and yet risk survival
to remain true to Jesus and the salvation He offers.
But the problems could be worse. Imagine risking what Adam could not bear to
risk. Imagine risking the loss of
husband or wife to remain true to Jesus and the gospel. It is not the true Christian who makes
ultimatums to a spouse, but often the Christian faces them from a spouse. To have intimacy ripped away for a steadfast
belief in Christ is the hardest of all challenges we may face. To add our children to the list of things we
risk losing in this scenario makes it nearly unbearable. But while we may be learning to love others,
our relationships are personal and are our own.
We cannot enforce them on our spouse, nor on our children. We can point them to Jesus, but not compel
them to follow. And those who refuse to
follow, become accustomed to rejecting love, and focusing on self. When they realize you will not accommodate
them ahead of your love for Christ, they may be much more willing to cast you
away for it. Whether for greed, or
expediency, or simply a wish not to see what real love looks like reflected in
your relationship with Christ, Christians may face the loss of family in this
world.
These losses make the loss of lands or wealth look small by
comparison. It is far easier to lose
money than to lose those who we really love.
Our Christianity itself longs to reach our family first, it longs to be
shared with those we are most familiar with, and love the most. And yet Christ lists our families as part of
the things we may lose for the sake of the gospel, and a belief in Him. When Peter says they have left “all” for
Jesus, he does not yet know what that list could entail. But if like Adam, we would rather hold on to
our spouse, our child, our parents, or our siblings ahead of a belief in Jesus,
or participation in the salvation He offers; we are no different than the rich
young ruler. Comparative salvation is
not real. It is an illusion to make us
feel better about the choices we have made when they go against Christ. If I can give more than that guy, then at
least I can feel better that I am not him.
If I sin less than the pastor, perhaps I am a holier person. But I am not.
For if I withhold all, I embrace the pain of my choice, and the delay I
need not experience.
Jesus then speaks of the rewards for our willingness to
sacrifice. He says we shall receive “an
hundredfold” now in this time … the same list of things we gave up. How is that possible you might ask? It can happen when your perspective on how to
love changes and is transformed. When I
learn to love others like Christ loves others, I begin to love children more
and more, and not just my own. The
families in the church become my family.
The terms brothers, and sisters, are not just meaningless cliché’s but
actual terms of how deeply I feel. I
begin to adopt in my mind the families I minister to, and begin to share a deep
empathy with what they go through. I
look to solve the needs they may have. I
share their triumphs and their grief.
And thus the phrase “with persecutions” is added to the rewards I
experience. For you cannot love others
this deeply and be unaffected when they experience pain. My reward is an hundredfold what I may have
lost, but it is also an hundredfold more subject to the persecutions this world
has to offer on those I now love.
And through all of this will be the perfecting of my
character. Until my character has
reached the point of perfection perhaps in this world like Enoch, or Elijah, or
perhaps in the next world to come as those who will taste death before He
arrives again. This process of
perfection begins here as we enter the Kingdom of God, and reaches completion
over time, or ultimately as we arise into His eternal Kingdom. If Peter or the others were still harboring a
different idea of what the reward was, or how it worked. Jesus needed to transform their thinking from
being served, to doing the serving.
He continues in verse 31 saying … “But many that are first
shall be last; and the last first.” If
Peter thought he was to have a place of power and position in the Kingdom, his goals
were facing the reality of being last.
For positions of honor in His Kingdom resided at the last of the
line. People who were last in line were
honored to serve all those in front of them.
People at the start of the line had no opportunity to serve anyone. Servants and ministers who served a great
many people were honored in His Kingdom, the more they could serve, the more
honored they were. Those who sought to
be the powerful, to be on the top of the pyramid, were to be those with the
least honor. This runs contrary to
Jewish tradition, and scriptural interpretation, just as much as it does
American idealism. The reason why Jesus
is most honored in heaven, is because He has been servant of us all.
The concepts of comparative salvation needed to be unmasked
and discarded. The concepts of spiritual
pride, or spiritual greatness as well, needed to be unmasked and
discarded. Jesus needed to once again
remind His disciples of what His mission was to serve us all, to save us all,
to be our sacrifice not our earthly king.
John Mark continues transcribing in verse 32 saying … “And they were in
the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were
amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve,
and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, [verse 33] Saying,
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the
chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and
shall deliver him to the Gentiles: [verse 34] And they shall mock him, and
shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third
day he shall rise again.”
Jesus outlines a play for play prophecy of what is shortly
to come. He tries again to destroy the
ideas and misconceptions of an anti-Roman earthly Kingdom. He gives both them and us, what we need to
know about our salvation and how it works.
There is no comparison needed.
There is only the embrace of Jesus to transform how we love. Our trust in our means needed to be unmasked,
so that we can let go the lie of wealth, and embrace the truth of Jesus
Christ. Our self-reliance needed to be
unmasked so that we can let go the burden of adulthood, and embrace the freedom
of childhood. Our concept of treasure
needed to be unmasked so that we can let go of clinging to gold, begin to cling
to loving others. Our reward is to be
the people we love, in the here and now, multiplied an hundred fold. Scriptures amplified through the lens of the
love of Christ, have more meaning than we have uncovered so far. Let us see what more they have to offer.
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