Sermon(Mk 10:17-27): A good teacher Jesus

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50097123996

 

 

 

Scripture reading: Mk 10:17-27

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>> 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20 And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth" 21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. .... <<

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Is the wealth incompatible with the faith in God? A man called to Jesus, "Good teacher!" But Jesus said, "Do not call me good. only God is good." Why didn't Jesus want to be called a good teacher? It is because 'goodness' is not a character that is achieved merely by thought or words. In other words, it is easy to be a (kind of) good man by thinking good things and by uttering good words, but it is very difficult to be a good man by putting good thoughts and words into practice. It's only after our good works have been done that we can be called a good man. You can't say "You are the top student in the national college entrance exam" to a high school student who has only the ability to win the first place in the national college entrance exam, right? It would be quite burdensome to hear someone says to you, "You're the number one student in the country" before you actually take the test and get the top spot. Brethren, Jesus is really the good one. But his goodness will prove genuine only after his suffering on the cross and his death for us. If Jesus hears "Lord" or "Rabbi (Teacher)" from his disciples many times, but runs off to the mountain to escape the cross, he's never a good teacher. Do you understand the feelings of Jesus who says, "Do not call me a good teacher"? We do not understand how the human anguish of Jesus standing before the suffering of the cross was. How hard would it be for Jesus to be a righteous and good teacher, because he was fighting lonelily a righteous war with Devil and hostile powers? How hard is it to beat evil by goodness and to become a good teacher? Of course, God the Father is absolutely good. He has already sent to the world his only begotten Son Jesus. His goodness is already fulfilled. Now, thinking of God's (the Father's) good plan, Jesus himself struggles day by day to complete his own goodness. The completion is the cross.

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Goodness is not achieved just by word, thought, and determination. Goodness without action is but shell goodness. Jesus teaches how difficult it is to become a good human being, to the man who speaks of 'good' without reserve. Jesus says, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ Have you kept them all?" The man confidently answered, "I have observed such commandments from my youth. Jesus says. "Then can you sell all your possessions and give them to the poor?" "..." Jesus also speaks to the man who didn't reply. " After you have sold and given away all your wealth, can you go with me and preach the gospel of heaven all the rest of your life?" "...." The man gave up further saying and went home, never to appear before Jesus again. He was a famous rich man.

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Brethren, a murderer, of course, is an evil one. But is he, who has murdered none, a good man? Isn't it strange? Ordinary people do not commit murder. Moreover, is there any reason why a rich man with no anxiety about living should kill others? A man can't be called a good man just because he hasn't committed adultery. It is too natural that the rich should not steal. Is a man who honors his parents a good man? Of course, those who do not honor their parents are evil ones. However, a man who loves and supports his parents faithfully can't be called a good man, considering the love of his parents. All normal men tend their parents with filial piety. And we need not flatter a normal man, saying, "You are a good man!" You can not brag of yourself that you are a good man because you've kept the Ten Commandments. If you do not observe the Ten Commandments, you are an obvious sinner, and if you have observed it from youth, you are a normal man, but not a good man. 'To have a good thought' itself is not to be a good man. Who is not able to have a good thought? Your goodness is not real until it is verified by the action. And you are not qualified to be called a good man until then. It is hard to be good, so the good one receives the great reward in heaven. “And you will have treasure in heaven. (v. 21)” A common people will receive a very poor reward even if they are saved.

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Jesus teaches who is a good man in God's standards, to the man who wants to be a good man and to gain eternal life. The good man who, Jesus thought, is good is one who sacrifices his own for the good of others. “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor. (v. 21)” When the rich man practices these words of Jesus, he becomes a good person. on the contrary, a man is never a good man if he has accumulated wealth and only kept the Ten Commandments while the people next door have been suffering from hunger. This man is a sinner who broke God's command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Can we ignore it because it not an article in the Ten Commandments? Many rich people are blinded by greed and disregard God's commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself," so Jesus said, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god. (Mk 10:23-25)"

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Time is life, considering human life span; so taking time in preaching the gospel is like sacrificing one's life. Therefore Jesus taught the man how to become a really good man when he said to him, "Follow me." Taking time in preaching the gospel of heaven with Jesus is the best thing a human can do. Because many will gain eternal life thanks to such sacrifices. Do you still think that you are a good person?

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Wealth has a very strong power to make man a captive. If a man having two billion won gives all his money except 100 million won to the poor, he'll be a rich man no more, and feel greatly empty. The rich can't stand this emptiness, so can't make good use of their wealth. So the rich are sad. Because God's standards for goodness are quite high. “At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. (v. 22)” He asked Jesus for advice because he wanted to live a rich and God-fearing religious life, but he was too fond of wealth to accept his word. After all, perhaps he died not as a good man but as a normal man. Of course, if he should go to heaven, he would not receive a lot of prize. He who keeps accumulating riches and loves to be called a rich man has fallen into the pit of the wealth. Bad habit has caused the problem, a habit not to use the money for good purpose but to accumulate it whenever income happens.

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Good teacher Jesus teaches 'sacrifice' to those whom he loves. “Jesus looking upon him loved him. (v. 21)” People try to be good without sacrifice. God the Almighty has sacrificed his only begotten Son to be a good God. God the Son became a sacrifice for the reconciliation of God and men. Forgiveness of sins without sacrifice is nothing but winking at the evil, which is not a good attitude. God is good because he hates the evil, and he is good again because he himself pays for man's sins. There is goodness where there is sacrifice, and there is glory where there is goodness, so Jesus suggests a life of sacrifice to those he loves. To grant them eternal life and glory.

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Those who would follow Jesus, that is, priests are advised to abandon worldly wealth and follow him. “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and come, follow me. (v. 21)” Some people want to become servants of God without giving up their secular jobs. Of course, the professorship of theological college is also the office of God's servant. But sometimes, some people who teach in middle or high school minister as pastor in church. Of course, It's a story of the past. It is very difficult for a servant of God, who lives with the money earned from the world, to lead the saints as the pastor in the church. If you have a worldly job and have a lot of hidden money, you will not be able to fully rely on Jesus. Of course, in the time of a bud-stage church, sometimes the pastor maybe cannot but have a secular part-time job temporarily. But it is not good for a pastor of an ordinary church not to give up his secular career. Of course, he can have a worldly job if it is a means of doing the work of God. And can a pastor keeping the money in his pocket preach to the saints, "Let's help the poor"? Then the Devil will surely mock him, saying, "Empty first your pocket, and give the money to the poor!" How can a pastor who has bought his house with church money say to the saints in his preaching, "Offer up money so that we can help the poor neighbors"? If a pastor who has his own house and a large deposit in the bank is in charge of the church where a very poor believer gives offering to God in thanks, would his preachings be authoritative? A rich man is a little unfit to be a servant of God. It is not right for a pastor to use church money excessively for his stable life after retirement. Conduct yourself well: moderately and graciously, without losing saints' respect, without causing them to fall into temptation and disappointment. By the way, Jesus did not say, "Give your riches to us." In fact, when Jesus and his disciples were doing the work of God, they desperately needed support-money; but when Jesus said to the rich man, he respected his free will. “Give it to the poor, ... and come, follow me. (v. 21)” Be careful that my-church-centered mindset can be seen as a pastor's greed to believers and unbelievers.

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Let's also think humanly. How would Jesus feel uneasy when one of his disciples was a very rich man? A rich tax collector was regarded as a lowly man by people, and Jesus had mercy on him and became his Lord although he was very rich. But the rich man in the text today was a man of noble character. Perhaps also his learning was great. If he became a disciple of Jesus without becoming a poor man, he could be in competition with Jesus in the quest for truth and eternal life. Of course, Jesus will not think so, but he and other disciples can think that way. Jesus' words 'Sell what you have, and give to the poor, and follow me' mean 'If you want to follow me, show first your attitude to obey me thoroughly before people!' Can a professor at Harvard University, who has ten million dollars and was awarded the Nobel Prize, follow and serve with pleasure a servant of God of a rural small church, who graduated from an unlicensed theological seminary? At that time Jesus was a religious leader from Galilee, a rural area in Israel. He was the God, but people saw him as a Galilean. Apparently the rich man, having listened to Jesus' exhortation, might have thought, 'This man must be a good teacher (a rabbi), however, should I obey his words like a servant so that I am humiliated before many people?' The reason why he finally refused Jesus' words was the loss of money, which was 49% of the reason, and the humiliation by obeying him, which was 51% of the reason, I think. But the eternal life he was looking for so eagerly was in submission to Jesus' words. Eternal life is not in calling Jesus 'a good teacher', but in obeying him and calling him 'my Lord!' Jesus gave the rich man a counsel which a man can follow only if he recognizes Jesus as the Lord. Because he sought eternal life, Jesus could not help but say that. In church also, it is not easy for an outstanding man, who has much learned, is rich and intelligent, and has competent descendants, to obey with deep respect a humble servant of God. But be very modest! It was for Paul, a man of learning and pious life, that Jesus met him and made him his apostle not during his lifetime but after his resurrection. During his lifetime, Jesus could hear the word 'Lord' only from fishermen and ordinary people in the area of Galilee. If the intelligent Paul had met Jesus then, he probably would have rejected Jesus. Jesus calls people at the proper time. When Paul met the resurrected Jesus, he immediately said, "Lord, who are you?"

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In fact, to speak humanly, the rich man who came to Jesus was a good man. He humbly knelt before Jesus and asked him about the eternal life. This man was quite a nice man, considering many people who opposed Jesus then. Nevertheless, this man could not follow Jesus due to his pride and wealth. Seeing such a nice man fall over his wealth, Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Mk 10:25)" The camel and the eye of a needle are relative. The bigger the pride and greed a man has, the bigger the camel becomes. But the more I throw away pride and greed, the smaller I become, and the larger the eye of the needle becomes, so that at last I can enter the kingdom of God. How is this possible? Jesus says, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God. (Mk 10:27)" If you give your heart to Jesus, he will give you true wisdom to see the glory of the kingdom of God, and will give you the Holy Spirit to make your heart humble and obedient.

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Jesus was a good teacher and taught people the right way of the eternal life, and he himself became a good Lord to us by the practice of love on the cross, not merely by words of mouth. May all of you be Jesus' disciples who resemble him.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                    - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -