On the way to Jerusalem Jesus teaches on marriage and divorce, receives little children, challenges a rich man, predicts his passion a third time, and redefines greatness as servanthood. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Bartimaeus receives his sight and follows on the way.
1 He arose from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Multitudes came together to him again. As he usually did, he was again teaching them. 2 Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. 7 For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
13 They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation, and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these. 15 Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.” 16 He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
17 As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 21 Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.” 22 But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions. 23 Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!” 27 Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.” 29–30 “There is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time: houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.”
32–34 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
35–45 James and John ask to sit at his right and left in his glory. Jesus: “You don’t know what you are asking… The Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
46–52 Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him, but he cried out more. Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Rabboni, that I may see again.” Jesus: “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus on the way.
Source: ebible.org
The Pharisees test Jesus on divorce. Moses allowed a certificate of divorce. Jesus answers that the permission was given for hardness of heart. From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female; the two become one flesh; what God has joined, let no one separate. The Mosaic concession is not the final word. The creation pattern is. The Son of Man does not invent a new ethic; he restores what was given before the hardness that required temporary regulation. In the transition from the old administration to the new, the creation design is reasserted over the concession that marked a hard-hearted generation. Marriage is not a provisional arrangement under the law of certificates. It is the one-flesh union that God joined.
Little children are brought to Jesus. The disciples rebuke those who bring them. Jesus is indignant. Allow the little children to come; God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these. Whoever will not receive the Kingdom like a little child will not enter it. Status, achievement, and religious standing are not the entrance criteria. The posture of the child — dependent, receiving, without claim — is the posture of the Kingdom. The same generation that measured itself by tradition, wealth, and position is told that the Kingdom belongs to those who receive it as children. The inversion is deliberate. Greatness in the coming order is not what the old order rewarded.
A rich man asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus loves him and names the one thing he lacks: sell, give, follow. The man goes away sorrowful. How hard for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom. With men it is impossible; with God all things are possible. Those who have left all for the sake of the Good News will receive a hundredfold now in this time — with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life. The “age to come” is not an endless deferral. It is the age that was then at the doors: the New Covenant order in which eternal life is the present possession of those who follow the Son of Man. Persecutions belong to the present; the hundredfold and the eternal life belong to the reality that the cross and the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds would establish for that generation.
Going up to Jerusalem, Jesus takes the twelve aside and predicts in detail: the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, condemned, delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, spat on, scourged, and killed; on the third day he will rise. James and John then request seats in glory. Jesus answers that the path to glory is the path of the cup and the baptism he is about to undergo. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The purpose of the entire journey is stated. The cross is not an interruption. It is the ransom. Isaiah’s Servant who bears the sin of many is the Son of Man who gives his life. The many are the people of the New Covenant, drawn from the generation that hears the Good News and from the nations that will receive it. The ransom is about to be paid in Jerusalem.
Outside Jericho, Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuke him; he cries out more. Jesus calls him. “Rabboni, that I may see again.” His faith makes him well. Immediately he receives his sight and follows Jesus on the way. The blind beggar names Jesus as Son of David — the messianic title — and follows on the road to Jerusalem. The disciples have been told three times what awaits there; Bartimaeus sees and walks the same path. Sight is given to the one who asks. The way of the cross is the way of the ransom. Those who follow the Son of Man follow the One who came to give his life for many. The age that was coming has come. The ransom has been paid. The many have been redeemed. We follow on the way.
The ransom has been paid. The many have been redeemed. Marriage is restored to the creation pattern. The Kingdom belongs to those who receive it like children. Riches no longer define entrance. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. We follow him on the way, with sight given to those who cry out for mercy, in the age that followed the payment of the ransom and the vindication of the Son of Man.
Where does the call to be servant of all, after the pattern of the One who gave his life as a ransom, still need to reorder your ambition and your measure of greatness?