mark 10 is a puzzling chapter. it begins with jesus teaching about marriage and divorce. he condemns longstanding mosaic law on divorce, saying that in the law moses made it simple for a man to divorce his wife simply by writing a certificate of divorce "because of your hardness of heart." this is an amazing statement to me. in one sentence, jesus suggest that the law is the creation of moses rather than a divinely ordained compilation dictated by God to moses. in fact, jesus plainly teaches that the law contradicts the purpose of God. jesus goes on to say that God's intention is for men and women to marry for their entire lives in the words one often hears in marriage ceremonies--"what God has joined together, let no one separate." privately jesus elaborates to his disciples, telling them that divorced people who remarry are adulterers. there's a lot here that is troublesome. the teaching of jesus is often used to condemn same-sex marriage, and most christians conveniently ignore jesus' teaching about divorce and remarriage. i think both of these have to be viewed in light of the time in which jesus lived. it seems clear that he is protesting the ease with which women were abandoned by their husbands and left to fend for themselves in a society that made living as a divorced woman quite difficult. the concept of two people of the same sex living as a committed couple was unheard of, so the question of whether two people of the same sex could marry would never have been discussed. jesus was asked specifically for his opinion on divorce by someone who wanted to entrap him. his teaching grows from his desire to improve the lot of women in society and condemn the use of the law for purposes other than making life better for the jewish people.
in the next section of the chapter, the writer seems to retell and elaborate on an earlier incident in the previous chapter. he returns to jesus' embrace of "little children." jesus "was idignant" when he heard his disciples speaking "sternly" to parents who were bringing their children to jesus "in order that he might touch them." jesus says, "let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. truly i tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” then he embraces the children and blesses them. this is a beautiful teaching of jesus, but one wonders why it is told twice and why this more complete version didn't appear with the earlier telling.
jesus sets "out on a journey," and a man kneels before him to ask what he must "do to inherit eternal life," addressing jesus as "good teacher." jesus tells him that "no one is good but God alone," and therefore he should not be addressed as a "good" teacher. jesus then lists the basic commandments which are to be followed, and the man assures him that he has followed those commandments "since my youth." jesus tells him that the one thing he must do is to sell "what you own and give the money to the poor . . . then come, follow me." the disheartened man leaves "for he had many possessions." jesus then tells his disciples that it is hard "for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" he goes on to say, "children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” the disciples ask "then who can be saved?" jesus tells them that "for God all things are possible." the implication of this teaching is that those who have great wealth spend much of their time and energy protecting their position, ignoring the suffering all around them, instead of using what they have to make life better for others. the accumulation and retention of possessions becomes more important than caring for their brothers and sisters.
peter reminds jesus that he and the other disciples have "left everything and followed you." jesus assures the disciples that all who have given up everything "for my sake and for the sake of the good news" will receive "a hundredfold now in this age . . . and in the age to come eternal life." this teaching is often used to defend the "prosperity gospel," which teaches that God intends for those who worship God in the right way to have all the material blessings that one could hope for, that those who believe in God and yet remain in poverty don't have the right kind of faith or otherwise they would be wealthy. it seems to me that what jesus is teaching is that the rewards of living a life in service to others allows the new relationships that such a life engenders to replace the material possessions that the rich find themselves slaves to. when jesus says, "many who are first will be last, and the last will be first," i think this is just what he means.
jesus goes on to tell his disciples about his future persecution, death, and resurrection as they walk along the road toward jerusalem. there is no further commentary on this or any description of the disciples' reaction to what jesus tells them, unless the request of james and john to sit on jesus' right and left "in your glory" grows from jesus' description of his rising from the dead. jesus' comments on their request seems to be a repetition of the incident in chapter nine, when the disciples are arguing about who will be the greatest among them. that teaching also arose after jesus had been teaching about future events in his life. jesus tells the two "sons of zebedee" that it is not in his power to grant their request. when the other disciples become angry with james and john, jesus reminds them that "whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all," just as jesus himself has come "not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."
the chapter closes with jesus healing a blind man named bartimaeus in jericho. barimaeus cries out for jesus to have mercy on him, even though many in the crowd surrounding jesus order him to be quiet. jesus tells the people to call the blind man to him, and "he sprang up and came to jesus." jesus asks him what he wants, and bartimaeus says, "my teacher, let me see again." as soon as jesus tells him to "go; you faith has made you well," bartimaeus has his sight restored and begins to follow jesus "on the way."
there are several important teachings in this chapter: the teaching about living a life committed to another for one's entire life, the teaching about the importance of treating children with love and respect, the teaching about the best use of wealth, the teaching about service to others. it is as if these fifty-two verses summarize the core of jesus' teaching, despite the unexplained repetition of earlier events. perhaps the writer believed that the previous accounts of jesus' teaching had not been elaborated on enough.
may we take what jesus teaches in these passages from mark's gospel to heart. may we not twist them to mean what we want them to mean and use them as weapons against others. may we become servants of others. shalom.
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