Mark-Lesson 14...Continued from page 2

DAY THREE:  Religion

Please carefully read Mark 10:17-22 and answer the following questions.

1.  As Jesus journeyed forth, who met Him, what did He ask of Jesus, and how did Jesus interestingly respond to him (v. 17, 18)?

NOTES: This young man is described as a ruler in Luke 18:18.  This Greek word is archon.  Matthew described him as a neaniskos. The word archon means “a first one,” someone of preeminence. This word is used by Matthew (9:18) for the chief of a synagogue, and Luke uses it for a chief Pharisee (14:1). Josephus apparently understood it as referring to any member of the Sanhedrin. It eventually became a general term for a great man or prince. Neaniskos is a term which describes any age between boyhood and middle life.[ix]

ISN’T JESUS GOOD?

Jesus challenged this man’s faulty perception of good as something measured by human achievement. “No one is good, absolutely perfect, except God alone, the true Source and Standard of goodness. The man needed to see himself in the context of God’s perfect character. Jesus’ response did not deny His own deity but was a veiled claim to it. The man, unwittingly calling Him ‘good,’ needed to perceive Jesus’ true identity (Later, however, he dropped the word ‘good,’ v. 20).”[x] When Jesus responded to his question with “Why do you call Me good?” He didn’t mean, ‘this is not applicable to Me, but to God only.’ The case is parallel to the unwillingness of Jesus to be called Christ indiscriminately. He wants no one to give Him any title of honor till he knows what he is doing. Jesus wanted this man in particular to think carefully on what is good, and who, all the more that there were competing types of goodness to choose from, that of the Pharisees, and that exhibited in His own teaching.[xi]  This young man proceeded along the idea that his religion was the answer, but there was no goodness in him, nor can religion accomplish this; He needed to look to God who alone is and is the source of righteousness and goodness.

2.  What did Jesus ask the young man next, and what was his reaction to this (v. 19, 20)?

3.  We shouldn’t doubt that this young man had made every effort to obey God’s Law since his youth.  But it was obviously mere religious ritual and practice to him.  Jesus looked at this young man, the Greek word meaning to fix one’s eyes on an object, a searching glaze. Mark alone tells us after this intent gaze that Jesus loved him, agapao, which means a selfless love, and speaks of entering into the new condition of loving him.  Yet Jesus knew what it was that was still lacking, as Matthew 19:20 put it.  What did Jesus ask of him, and how does his reaction to this reflect the decision he made (v. 21, 22)?

4.  This young man went away sorrowful, which means “became gloomy,” like a storm clouding his face, because “wanted to get salvation on his own terms, and he was disappointed.”[xii] Mere religious actions and works can never produce salvation, and in the end religiosity apart from a relationship with God through Christ leaves us gloomy and disappointed.  We also saw this young man’s true “god,” his great amount of possessions.  How do the following passages demonstrate how we cannot be saved by merely following the Law, even if we did it as well as this young man?

Galatians 2:16-21; 3:10-11, 19, 22

Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:4-8

Scripture Memory:  Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.

But Jesus ___________________ at them and said, "With men it is___________________________, but not ______________ God; for with God ____________ things are _______________________"                                (Mark 10:27, nkjv).