The Journey (short version)

by Don Hatfield

Mark Chapter 10

  The Road of the Rich

  Teaching about Divorce (1 - 12)

  We traveled into Judea and beyond Jordan and it was there that I again had to confront myself, my sinfulness and own up to my failures and mistakes. Some Pharisees came up to Jesus and asked Him the following question "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife," this really hit home with me because my wife had left me for another man. Jesus answered them with a question, what did Moses command you? They responded with the following, Moses allowed us to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. Jesus said because of the hardness of your hearts he allowed you to do this. Yes my wife had been unfaithful to me and actually had asked me for a divorce but as Jesus talked about how God had made man and woman and how in marriage the two became one I began to see that I had also been at fault in the divorce. That night in my prayers I asked God to forgive my neglect even though I did not know Him at that time. I could still see my failures as a man and a husband. Jesus again spoke not to the Law of Moses so much as He did to the heart of man. Did these men who claimed to know God and claimed that they were the teachers of others think that just because they had grown tired of their wives or because their wives had grown older and were not as attractive as they once were that they could just leave them for someone else because they felt like it. Was this what they were teaching others and stating that God was in favor of it? The thought that men could be so narrow-minded was astounding to me and yet the thought of John the Baptist came back into my mind and how Herod had justified beheading him because of a young maidens dance. Again a shudder went thorough me when I imagined them doing the same to Jesus. Surely these men were not that calloused to the things of God. In the house the disciples again asked Him about the preceding conversation and Jesus plainly told us that if you divorce your wife or she divorces you and marries another you have committed adultery. I think that all of us realized again how little we resembled the one we were following. It matter not that we had or had not divorced our wives it only mattered where our hearts were for as I was beginning to find out that my heart is deceitful. It often tells me that I am right even when I am wrong. I again learned how far I had to go with the one who was leading us and I determined by God's grace that I was going to stick even closer, listen even harder, and keep my eyes constantly on Jesus

  Let the little Children come to Me (13 - 16)

  It seemed no matter how hard we tried to follow and be like Jesus we were always proving ourselves to be just the opposite. Let me explain, some mothers had begun to bring their little children to Jesus for Him to bless and just talk to for it was obvious that wherever we went little children were attracted to Him. When the mothers came we all grew irritated with them and began to tell them that we did not have time for this. We were too busy with more important things than to have Jesus fool around with little kids. We all became very red-faced when the tables were turned on us and Jesus began to rebuke us. He told us all in very plain words," Let the little children come unto me for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. "This put us all in our place and humbled us as it should but then He added even more when He said, " unless you become like these little children and receive the Kingdom of God the way they do you shall not enter in." He then took them up in His arms and blessed them while we stood there with hung heads. We realized again how much He had to put up with our foolish and unbelieving hearts. Lord let me become like one of those little children that I was so ready to find fault with.

  The Rich Young Man (17 - 31)

  Perhaps as you read this poorly written account of a miraculous life you say to yourself, Ah! I too would become a follower of this Jesus tell me what I must do to gain acceptance into His Kingdom. I will tell you by telling you of the account of another young man who thought He wanted to become one of Jesus followers. We had just started out walking, towards, well come to think of it I did not know where we were going I was only going where He was going. Anyway, we had just started out and had only gone about a quarter of a mile through an open meadow when we were approached by a young man dressed in some of the finest clothes I had ever seen. He was attended on both sides by servants with fruit’s and sweets which he offered to some of us. He went up to Jesus and said," Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered his question with a question before He went on to say more. He said to the young man, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." I think I had a quick insight into what He meant when He prepared the young man for His answer. True goodness as true grace can only flow from the one true God. We men seem to think that by observing certain laws and practices that we will become good in Gods eyes. I can attest that this is not so from my many, many failings in front of the one to whom I had begun to call my Lord, my Savior. Jesus, after making this statement to Him answered the young man's original question on how to obtain eternal life. He laid His hand on the young man's shoulder and in a gentle voice said, "You know the commandments, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother." The young man looked at Jesus in a very respectful way and in a very respectful manner said," Teacher all of these I have kept from my youth up." Let me stop here and say something before I go on, most of us there including myself, Peter and the others knew in our hearts that if things were brought out into the open and our lives were compared to this young man's earnestness and honesty we would come out on the short end of the stick. Then Jesus turned His eyes on the young man and with a look that showed all the love a face could show for another and a voice that conveyed all the hope that could be conveyed to another said very softly," you lack only one thing go sell all that you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven and come and follow me." A face that once had the sun and a glimpse of heaven shinning on it now had the look of the clouds of despair on it. The silence was almost unbearable between that young man and Jesus as they looked at each other. It was almost as if a silent war was being fought in that young, the same war I realize that was fought in each of us at one time or another for example when Peter jumped out of that boat and followed Jesus, or when I turned my back on my blacksmith business, or Matthew turned away from the tax table. That same battle was going on inside of that young man. With one last look of anguish on his face He turned and walked away. Jesus turned to us in a sad manner and said," How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter into the Kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." We were all astonished at this for we were all caught off guard at what He said. Almost in unison we all said who then can be saved as fear began to rise up in us. Jesus calmed us and brought us back to reality when He said," with man it is impossible but with God all things are possible." With just a word He brought us back to faith, the faith that He was showing us. The faith that realized that salvation was not about us and what we do but about Him and what God does. Again my heart felt relief as I realized I was following Him and not Him following me. Peter then said to Jesus, "See we have left everything and followed thee." Jesus replied, " Truly I say unto you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mothers or father or children or land for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecution and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first." Later that afternoon as I sat on a hillside I pondered what Jesus had said to Peter. It was almost as if He were saying if you gave it up you got it back. I thought then what was the use of giving it up in the first place and then in a flash I remembered the story that Jesus had told about Abraham and Isaac. Abraham gave up Isaac to God and God gave him back to Abraham but the picture that I saw was this. Isaac or anything else that Abraham possessed were never the same to him anymore. He had them and could even enjoy them but God had become the one who reigned
on Abraham's throne in Abraham's heart. It was the same with the rich young man his riches reigned on the throne of his heart and he was not about to give them up. I thought when we give up the things for God, He may give them back but in a different way, a way that we can truly enjoy them and not have to hoard them for ourselves. What an amazing man Jesus was and what an amazing way He had of saying things. When would I let the things He said sink down into my heart for they changed my very life? Yes here on earth we have our leaders, kings and queens but to a just and true God who knows the heart of every human. Truly, some of the last in this world will be first in His and some of the first in this world will be last in His. I prayed, Lord, may I give everything to you.

  Jesus Foretells His Death A Third Time (32 - 34)

  As I look back on what eventually happened to Jesus I can see how He tried to tell us over and over again what was coming but it just would not sink into our thick heads. We were much too concerned with ourselves and the great plans that each of us had in our minds for the way we thought things were supposed to happen. Nevertheless Jesus never quit trying to show us. I now know that He knew that we would be able to look back as I am doing now and remember His words and learn from them. What I now tell you is just another instance of how He tried to warn us of coming events. We were on our way to Jerusalem when Jesus took His twelve disciples and began to talk with them. John later related to me what Jesus had said to them. Jesus had said, "See we are going to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles and they will mock Him and flog Him and spit on Him and kill Him and after three days He will rise." Again as I look back on it and think about these statements I am amazed at our response to His teaching. I am amazed at our lack of consideration for Him. It seemed we could only think of ourselves.

  The Request of James and John (35 - 45)

  This concern for our own concerns did not take long to come to the surface again. Jesus had just told us that He was going to be delivered up to the Scribes and Gentiles and that He was going to die when up stepped James and John with a request for Him to do something for them. Jesus asked them what they would have Him do for them and they stated that they wanted to sit next to Him when He came into His glory. I am not sure but I think James wanted to sit on the right and John on the left. Jesus stared at them for a short while as if He could not believe what He was hearing. Jesus then said to them," you do not know what you are asking." He then ask them," Are you able to drink the cup which I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?" Both of them replied with a bold, "We are able." Jesus again stared at them and then slowly shook His head up and down and said," yes you will drink from the same cup I drink and be baptized with the same baptism I am baptized with but to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." Now when the other ten heard what was said they began to clamor about and they became very upset with James and John but I think they were more afraid that one of them would get something that the other would not get more than having a concern for Jesus. I know I was feeling envious at the moment that I was not in that elite circle so that I could get what I thought I should get. Then Jesus shut us all up as He always did with just a few words. If you remember He had just told us that He was going to die but we were so self-absorbed that we really did not hear that. He now told us how to be great in His Kingdom with the following words, "you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them but it shall not be so among you. But whosoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. Now after these few years of telling others about Him and His teaching, as I sit here looking out of my cell at the gallows they are preparing for me I am not one bit frightened. I only look forward to the day when I shall see Him again. I know now and I am sure that the others also know that when we see Him we will not care where we are sitting and that just to see Him and be with Him again will be enough. I lay my head down on this stone to fall asleep and remember as I pray how it was to walk with Him and I dream of how it will be to walk with Him in glory.

  Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus (46 - 52)

  I felt as we made our way to Jerusalem that things were going to change, that the wind was blowing a bad storm our way. But as was normal we only showed our concern for our position and place instead of following just what we had been told about being a servant to others. As we approached Jericho a blind beggar named Bartimaeus set along the road. When he heard from the shouts of the crowd that Jesus was passing by he began to cry out, "Jesus Son of David have mercy on me!" How this blind man knew that Jesus was a descendant of David I will never know. I do suspect however that God had revealed this to him and that somehow he knew that not only was Jesus descended from David but that He also came from God. Sad to say that none of the disciples nor I took note of him calling Jesus the son of David, no we only began to rebuke him because we thought our business to important to be bothered with by a blind beggar. Now I know different and realize that we all are blind beggars sitting by the road. How few call out to the Son of David to have mercy on them as this one did. Jesus as usual paid no attention to us but went about His earthly business in a heavenly way and stopped and said to all of us," call Him." Of course when we saw that Jesus was going to speak with him we all put on our best spiritual front and said to him," take heart, get up He is calling you." Bartimaeus jumped up and threw off his cloak and though blind went straight to Jesus as sheep go to their shepherd. Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you? Bartimaeus without any hesitation said, "Rabbi let me recover my sight." Again I do not think that any of us noticed that the blind beggar now addressed Jesus as Rabbi giving Him the honor that was due Him. But in the next instant I now realize that Jesus discerned that the beggar realized in his heart who He was. Then Jesus said to him," go thy way your faith has made you whole." How slow we were to learn to the lesson that we were to serve one another not ignore each other because of our own grandiose misguided feelings as to how important we are.