mark 10

Read Mark 10 at Bible Gateway.

“Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Mar 10:17-22

Treasure in heaven caught my attention today. What is it? This passage makes it seem as if providing for the needs of the poor is like making a deposit into a bank account in heaven. But I wanted to be sure, so I looked up “treasure in heaven” to see what the rest of the Scripture had to say about it:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mat 6:19-21

Jesus tells us here not to lay up treasure on earth, but to lay up treasure in heaven!

“Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luk 12:13-20

God calls the one who lays up treasure for himself without laying up treasure in heaven (“rich toward God”) a fool!

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luk 12:32-34

Giving alms was giving to the poor, so Jesus is telling us to sell what we have, and instead of putting the money we have made from the sale, into our money bag, give it to the poor. When we do that, we will have treasure in heaven. This must be because Jesus said,

“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” Mat 25:40

When we give to the poor who are His brethren, it is the same as if we are giving to the King, and that is how the treasure gets into heaven. Now something Jesus said in Luke resonated with me: He said, Do not fear, for it pleases the Father to give us the kingdom. The kingdom which is of heaven, which is where our treasure is stored! The reason we are reluctant to do this word of Jesus, is because what happens when the treasure which we have on earth is at zero, because we sold it all? What happens when it is time to provide for our needs? Jesus is saying, Don't be afraid to do My Word, because it makes your Father happy to provide for you out of His great treasure house which He has in heaven!

I looked up the Greek for “good pleasure” (Strong's G2106); do you realize this is the same word God uses when He says at various times throughout the Gospels, that Jesus is His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased (Mat 3:17 and others)?

The Hebrew word, from whence the Greek is derived, is ratsah, Strong's H7521, which means to be delighted in. The ancient Hebrew pictographs are of the resh, the head of a man, and the tsaday, the path one walks. So it is painting the picture of the chief path, as in 1 Chr 29:17, where the Lord says that He has pleasure (ratsah) in uprightness. When someone is walking His path, He is delighted in that person.

Notice that in our passage in Mark, when Jesus learns from the young ruler that he has kept all His commandments from his youth? (Now we know why he was rich, for blessings are commanded upon the head of those who obey Him, Deu 28:1-2!) “Then Jesus looking at him, loved him ...” (vs. 21).

Didn't Jesus love Him before? Yes, but I believe Jesus shows us that while He loved everyone, and had compassion for everyone, He had a special place in His heart for a few. Even among the twelve, there was the disciple whom Jesus loved (John, Joh 13:23), and the three, Peter, James, and John, who were in His inner circle. Among the Jews, He spent time at the house of Lazarus, whom He loved, and his sisters, Mary and Martha (Joh 11:5).

God is not any different, of course, for Jesus is God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8)! It says in the Scriptures, that God loved Jacob, but hated Esau (Mal 1:2-3). I believe this is the Scripture's way of saying that God has a special place in His heart for His own who walk His path, but for those who disregard Him completely, who do not give a fig whether they are on His path or not, as Esau did, they are not well pleasing to Him. He does not delight in them.

So that is the meaning of, It is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom! He takes delight in doing so! When Christmas rolls around and you have spent the better part of a year searching for the perfect thing that you know will bring so much joy to your loved one, it gives you more pleasure to watch them open their gift than you get from unwrapping any of your own! So we know what it is feels like for God to take delight in giving us His kingdom!

Listen, if the days draw near for the Lord to return, and we are unable to buy, sell, or otherwise participate in the economy of the kingdoms of this world, let us take heart that we can participate in the economy of the kingdom of heaven, where we do not have to be afraid, because it is our Daddy who is the King - who also takes delight in giving us our inheritance in His kingdom! So if we have not been laying up treasure in heaven, now would be a good time to begin!

The other thing I was thinking about as I was reading Mark this morning, was how much of a gift of grace it is sometimes, from the heart of God, that we have not won the lottery, LOL. For His treasured ones, He wants to make certain that they enter the kingdom of heaven, and would not put a stumbling block before our feet, such as the temptation to trust in riches instead of in Him!