CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mark 10:30. The world to come.—The age which is coming—the Messianic or Christian era, which was inaugurated by the descent of the Holy Spirit—the Life-giver—on the Day of Pentecost. Eternal life begins now, in this present world of sense and time.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Mark 10:28-31
(PARALLELS: Matthew 19:27-30; Luke 18:28-29.)
The all-forsaking spirit and its reward.—The apostles, on witnessing the incident of Mark 10:17-27, could not fail to make a personal application of it to themselves. They remembered the time—not long before—when each of them had been placed in a similar predicament: their own deceitful hearts soliciting them to remain as they were; and the imperious voice of One greater than their hearts saying, “Forsake all, and follow Me.” And so they did. Will any say that these were poor men possessed of nothing worth mentioning, and that it required no great sacrifice to renounce a world which smiles not on such as they? Not so. A man can but give up his all. It costs a poor man as much to give up his daily labour, his mean abode, his little substance, as it does a rich man to part with his great possessions. The world is as dear and the ties of home are as strong to one as to the other.
I. The sense in which this declaration was first made.—The circumstances of the calling of these disciples were not, then, so different after all from those of the young man. But the result was exactly opposite. The one went away sorrowful; the others followed, and patiently continued with Him who called them. They not only acquiesced in their forlorn and destitute condition, but actually gloried in it, when they had respect unto the recompense of the reward. It was no dissatisfaction with their present mode of life, no hankering after the ease and comfort of former days, that prompted the exclamation, “Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee!” We learn from Matthew 19:27 that Peter added the question, “What shall we have therefore?” We cannot suppose that he was ignorant of the nature and magnitude of that compensation, in consideration of which he and all of them had made so great a sacrifice. But in an affair of such importance, where so much present benefit is surrendered, the mind naturally seeks all the satisfaction it can procure in regard to the security of the investment. As the miser is not content to know that he possesses so much gold, but opens his bags and gloats over the glittering hoard day after day, so those who have staked their all for a future and distant good may be excused a little anxiety on the score of the anticipated return.
II. The sense in which we may make the same renunciation.—To “follow Christ” is a common expression to denote almost any relation to or reception of Him. But we cannot properly lay claim to a part of Peter’s profession without accepting the whole. We may forsake all and follow Christ, or we may refuse to forsake all and decline to follow Christ; but to assent to the one and reject the other is impossible and absurd. Strange that men should ever dream of such a contradiction! The mistake arises, doubtless, from confounding the mere act of forsaking all for Christ with the mind and spirit which alone gives any value to the act, and which may exist equally without the act. The act may or may not be required; but no condition of life or change of circumstances can dispense with the all-forsaking spirit. The letter of this principle—“We have left all,” etc.—if universally acted upon, would make the world a desert, and involve laws, morals, and religion itself in one universal chaos: the spirit of it is a spirit of peace, order, harmony, supports laws, perfects morals, and is the life and soul of religion.
III. Wherein the all-forsaking spirit consists, and how it acts.—
1. We may discern it in a Christian’s use of this world’s good. Instead of literally forsaking all for Christ, it may be his duty to hold all for Christ, “ready to distribute, willing to communicate,” “giving not grudgingly or of necessity, but cheerfully.” This spirit is entirely opposed to that cool and calculating charity which is always saying, “Let the children first be fed; let us wait till the end of the year, and see what remains after all expenses are met, and all claims provided for.” That is charity also: that has its praise; but not the praise of those who “seek first the kingdom,” etc. That would have listened complacently to the commandment, “Give alms of thy goods”; but would have gone away sorrowful on being told, “If thou wilt be perfect, give all that thou hast.” That may be called the giving-up-something spirit, not the giving-up-all. The Pharisee who gave tithes of all he possessed is an example of the one; the poor widow who cast into the treasury all that she had is the best illustration of the other.
2. Not in pecuniary sacrifices only, or even chiefly, is the all-forsaking spirit shewn. Ancient history tells of a king who enjoyed such uniform prosperity that he began to fear his good fortune might excite the envy of the gods, and end in some dreadful disaster. To prevent this he was advised to part voluntarily with the most valued possession he had, and that one the loss of which he would feel most. So he bethought himself which among all his treasures answered best to this description; and having found it (a gold ring or some such trifle), with his own hand he cast it into the sea. So the Christian manifests his readiness to give up all for Christ by giving up that which is most precious to him, whatever it be. To some persons their time is the most valuable of all their possessions; and a portion of every day, redeemed from the engrossing cares of business, and devoted to the glory of God and the improvement and benefit of the world, is the best proof of their willingness (if need be) to forsake all and follow Christ. Others, who are not selfish persons, nor wanting in sympathy with the concerns of their neighbours, are yet fond of ease and quiet, and averse to everything likely to involve them in the strife and tumult of the world. These shew a disposition to forsake all for Christ when, from love for Him and His brethren, they give up their cherished retirement, and “go about” doing that good which the mere “liberal giver” can never accomplish.
3. So far we have thought of things which must be voluntarily renounced and cast behind us. Other things there are which, while we have them, we are permitted to enjoy, but which we may at any time be called on to resign. Indeed this is the tenure on which we hold all our precious things: riches make themselves wings, and fly away; the faces of beloved friends fade as we gaze on them; life itself is but a transitory vapour. Now with respect to such things as these the all-forsaking spirit has a twofold operation: when deprived of them, it meekly resigns; while enjoying them, it prepares to resign. Both are hard, especially the latter. It is hard to give up—harder still to procure and preserve that state of mind which is always ready to give up, always prepared to “hear the rod and who hath appointed it.” This is the disposition for all to cultivate who profess and call themselves Christians. It is not the short, sharp conflict of a day, or even the protracted battle of many days, but the continual warfare of life, which ends only with all human affections and all earthly objects. For the Pauline conception of this disposition, see 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; and for the Johannine, 1 John 2:15-17.
4. We should perhaps never think of reckoning among our treasures the lusts and appetites, human passions and natural affections, which belong to us as men. Yet are there no possessions which we can so strictly call our own, or which we are so unwilling to part with, as these. Do they not reside in and proceed out of the heart? And if a man’s heart is not his own, what else, whether within or without the body, can be so called? As, on the other hand, if a man is able at the word of Christ to tear out his own heart and cast it from him, will he not much more forsake all that he hath besides? This is our Lord’s meaning in Matthew 5:29-30. In the extirpation of every thought, desire, and affection contrary to the will of God the all-forsaking spirit has ample scope for all its energies.
IV. The reward of the all-forsaking spirit.—
1. Even the temporal condition of one whose heart and affections have been trained in the self-denying school of Christ is far better than that of those who use this world to the full, who say to their soul, Luke 12:19. What is the great secret of human happiness? Is it not to be “without carefulness”—to enjoy our present comforts and to have no disquieting apprehensions of ills to come—to lie down at night with peace in our heart? Now this state of mind is the assured possession of him who has forsaken all for Christ. He, and none but he, can say, “I shall never be moved.” The changes and chances—even the persecutions—of the world are nothing to him. He is “satisfied from himself.” He brings forth his happiness from “the good treasure of his heart,” and therefore it never fails. He receives a hundredfold more—in the testimony of his conscience, in the love of God, and in the patient waiting for Christ—than if he had grasped these things which crumble at a touch, or clung to these “bruised reeds, on which,” etc. (2 Kings 18:21).
2. “And in the world to come—eternal life.” There the Christian will meet again all those good things which he has, in heart and will at least, if not in deed, forsaken here. There he will find the worldly wealth which he scattered in Christ’s name; the much-loved ease which, to promote Christ’s interests, he was content to be without; the dear earthly delights which it was lawful for him to enjoy, yet more for Christ’s glory that he should give up. There he “rests from his labours,” etc. (Revelation 14:13). There, finally, whatever he enjoys, it is with the delightful consciousness, never felt on earth, that “his joy no man taketh from him,” that his treasure is in heaven, and can neither fade nor fail.
The trials and reward of the missionary.—God, in order to determine His people to a cordial and zealous fulfilment of His will in all things, even in those things which are most trying to faith and repulsive to flesh and blood, employs every kind of influence which is suited to His character and adapted to their nature. He employs the influence of His authority to command them, of His displeasure to warn them, of His love to constrain them, of His ability and willingness to recompense, in order to induce and to win them. And there are in all genuine disciples principles powerfully susceptible of all these influences—meek obedience to His will, awe of His displeasure, constraint by His love, and a holy ambition to acquire the rewards of grace.
I. The call of the missionary to make the sacrifices which our Lord here specifies.—
1. His call originates in the gracious purposes of God to have all the nations of the earth turned unto Himself by the power of the gospel.
2. This call flows from the commandment which the Redeemer has laid upon His Church to proceed in carrying this purpose into effect without delay (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8). The faithful missionary hears the commandment, and hastens to the fulfilment of it, both in his labours and his prayers.
3. The missionary hears himself specially called by God to the service of His gospel in distant lands. He sees the purpose of God, and longs to have it fulfilled; he hears the command of God, and is moved to obey it; he perceives the promises of God to this work, and desires to seek the benefit of them; he feels the love of souls, and cannot be at rest while they are perishing; he sees the sacrifices and the dangers, but is not dismayed by them; he understands the nature of the work required, and believes that he may by grace be made instrumental in fulfilling it. And what is all this but the witness in himself that he is called of God to go far hence to the Gentiles, as if he heard a voice from heaven saying to him, “I have made thee a minister,” etc. (Acts 26:16-18).
4. He feels called by the imploring cry of a perishing world, “Come over, and help us.” He is not insensible to their sorrows because they are thousands of miles distant from him, and seas roll between, and his eye has never looked upon their wretchedness.
II. The sacrifices which are required of the Christian missionary.—
1. As the Church must enlighten the world by the instituted means of grace, some must go forth from it to carry these means and apply them to the heathen nations.
2. The missionary presents himself to the Church as ready to undertake all the labours, privations, and sacrifices in the work, and encounter all its difficulties and perils, if they at home will only support him with their habitual prayers, aiding and encouraging him under his trials, and ministering to his wants as far as his circumstances in providence may require.
3. Missionaries, in going forth to the heathen, must leave behind them not only their country, but relatives, and houses, and lands, and whatever nature esteems dear; and they have the feelings of nature in common with others.
4. They have unnumbered and unknown perils, privations, and sufferings to expect. They are exposed to the perils of the traveller both by sea and by land. The hazards to which they are exposed from climate are none of the least appalling to those who have the same love of life with other men. They are exposed to perils from those among whom they labour—from the barbarity of savage tribes, and the more monstrous enmity and persecution of civilised and nominally Christian colonists. Though they should escape all these evils, they have still difficulties and vexations to encounter in their work itself which are none of the least trying to the spirits of men—difficulties from language, from the inveterate ignorance of those whom they seek to enlighten, their incurable superstitions, or their confirmed habits of vice and ungodliness; while open resistance will usually be raised up by Satan from quarters whence it was least expected and where it proves the most effectual.
III. The motives which determine and encourage the missionary to embrace these sacrifices.—
1. Love to the Redeemer, and desire that He may be glorified.
2. Admiration of the gospel as the “power of God, and the wisdom of God,” “unto the salvation of men.”
3. Compassion and love to mankind for Christ’s sake. He is impelled by some portion of the Spirit of Him who, moved by love for our race, left His Father’s bosom, and tabernacled for a season in our sinful and wretched world, partaking of its sorrows—whose “compassion was moved” to intensity “when He beheld the multitudes, because they fainted,” and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. This compassion may be felt strongly by the missionary even at home, but far more powerfully when he is set down in the midst of the objects of his sympathy and his eye has looked upon their miseries.
IV. Their reward.—
1. They are “chosen vessels” to the most arduous and honourable part of the work of Christ on earth. To be occupied in this work is the highest glory of man, the chief happiness of the renewed mind. It assimilates to Christ, who came not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. It assimilates them to angels, who are occupied in “doing His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.”
2. The honour of eminent suffering for Christ. Paul rejoiced in his sufferings for the Church (Colossians 1:24), and spake of suffering for Christ as an honour peculiarly “given” to such of the saints as were called to it (Philippians 1:29). And truly these sufferings cannot appear a small honour to any who behold in them “a manifest token” that they “shall reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12), and know that they are “working” for them “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”—Joseph Hay, M.A.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mark 10:29. Sacrifice of all.—Let no man say that this sacrifice of theirs was a trifling one. True it is they were poor men and had nothing to part with but their boats and their nets; but let us remember that the little that a poor man hath is as much to him as are riches to the wealthy. If a man be thirsty, it is as hard to persuade him to pour on the ground a single cup of water as to prevail upon another to cast away a whole barrel. It is a triumph of grace, then, when the poor forsakes his little, as well as when the rich counts his abundance as dross for Christ’s sake.—H. Verschoyle.
“For My sake.”—These three words make secular things sacred. You may go to your farm, or to your merchandise, you may sing songs, or paint pictures, or build houses, or make shoes, or heal bodies, and all these things become sacred if they are done for the love of Christ: “For My sake.”—F. Harper.
Mark 10:30. “An hundredfold now.”—What shall we say to this bountiful promise? Shall we say it is merely a flourish of words from the lips of Eternal Truth? God forbid! These are the words of truth and soberness. Looking back on the first disciples, we see this promise fulfilled: but how?
1. Though the disciples had but little left, or afterwards received but little in the stead of what they had lost, yet had they a good title to that little, and you can without difficulty conceive a man having greater enjoyment in the possession of one acre of land on a good title than ten acres on a disputed one. The child of God holds what he possesses as a gift conferred upon him in virtue of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice; the ungodly holds his possessions as things already forfeited by his sin; hence it is written, Psalms 37:16.
2. They had, besides, the capacity given them of enjoying their little, which is often denied to the most affluent. Contentment is the handmaid of real godliness; when it is joined to godliness there is great gain, because it gives a sweet relish to the most slender provision, it transforms straitness into abundance.—H. Verschoyle.
The Christian’s gain in this world.—The Christian gains back again already in this world, in the higher form of real spiritual essence, whatever in the physical and symbolical form of his life he has forfeited: houses enough, in the entertainment afforded him by his spiritual associates who receive him; brothers and sisters, in the highest sense of the term; mothers, who bless and tend the life of his soul; children, of his spirit; lands, of his activity, of his higher enjoyment of nature, of his delights; and all this ever purer, ever richer, as an unfolding of that eternal inheritance of which it is said, “All things are yours,” in spite of whatever persecutions of the world which dim the glory of these things.—J. P. Lange, D.D.
Mark 10:31. First and last.—On occasions that call for a great prompt sacrifice in the interests of a worthy cause, or upon the altar of truth and principle, have you not seen, now and again, some very religious and virtuous people wonderfully outdone by some who had had but little credit for conscientiousness or moral seriousness, men to whom you would never have looked for anything like the magnanimous spirit and conduct that distinguish them? The very greatest are often behind others for a while, like your dull, slow schoolboy, who turns out afterwards a brilliant man, while his more brilliant schoolmate, who got all the praise and prizes, dims and fades beside him, the tortoise in the end beating the hare. The best are often the tortoise in development, just because they are the best, and have so much more in them to develop.—S. A. Tipple.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10
Mark 10:28. Choosing Christ.—The poet George Herbert was so highly connected, and in such favour at court, that at one time a secretaryship of state seemed to him not unattainable. But he gave up all such prospects for the work of a humble clergyman, and in looking back upon the time when he made his choice, he could say: “I think myself more happy than if I had attained what then I so ambitiously thirsted for. And I can now behold the court with an impartial eye, and see plainly that it is made up of frauds and bitters and flattery, and many other such empty, imaginary, and painted pleasures—pleasures which are so empty as not to satisfy when they are enjoyed. But in God and His service is a fulness of all joy and pleasure, and no satiety.”
Mark 10:29. “For My sake”—George Müller, the founder of the Ashley Down Orphanage, once said that more than £800,000 had been given him towards the support of more than eight thousand orphans—a work of which a sceptic once remarked that it came nearer proving the truth of Christianity than anything he had ever seen before. But the history of it all may be written in three words—“For My sake.” And how many hospitals too have been built because Christ healed the sick! You may grave “For My sake” on a good many of the foundation stones. Again, Christian people are found to live and work in the East End of London—Christian people who have the means to live in comfort and luxury elsewhere, but who choose to live where they do in order that they may “rescue the perishing and care for the dying.” Why? “For My sake.” How is it that loving hands all over England are willing to sew and make garments in order that the gospel may reach the zenanas of India? Here again (and the list might be multiplied indefinitely) it is done “For My sake.” Young men of wealth or talent forsake home and friends and all in order to preach Jesus Christ in India, China, Japan, or Africa. Henry Martyn leaves his books, David Livingstone his loom, Mackay the engineering shed, Charles Studd the bar, and Stanley Smith fresh from the University crew—all these and myriads more of whom the world is not worthy have gone forth for life or death, and here again the only explanation is, “For My sake.”