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28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” ~ Mark 10:28-31
Today we return to our study of Mark 10. In context, the Lord Jesus had just told the Rich Young Ruler to give away all of his possessions and come and follow Him. To that the Rich Young Ruler went away sad. On the heels of that, the Lord Jesus took the opportunity to teach the disciples another aspect of His culture.
In v.28 of today's passage we read, "Then Peter spoke up, 'We have left everything to follow you!'"
When we come to that place where we recognize the identity of the Lord Jesus, we lose sight of all but Him. It took the death of my mom when I was five years old and the death of my dad when I was seventeen years old for me to get to this place. And, the moment I saw it, I was changed. I found that my appetites and my aims began to change. I did not stop sinning, but when I did, I felt different about it than I had before. At that point there was nothing more important to me than to know the Lord for myself. It was a gift, the gift of salvation whereby my spirit was made alive to Him.
Peter and the other disciples had left everything in order to follow the Lord Jesus. But even though Peter had been changed, he still lived out of his poor theology, and this is why he made the statement as he did. Peter was living out of what he left rather than what was before him. He had just heard the conversation the Lord Jesus had with the Rich Young Ruler, and, when we consider Matthew 19:27, Peter was really saying, "So, we left all to follow you, what do we get for it?" He was not fully aware of the salvation that he had been given.
Peter and the disciples wrongly thought they actually had to divest themselves of their fortune and take a vow of poverty in order to serve Christ. They were so saturated in the culture of their world, they thought they were earning greatness. Of course, they had not been born again yet.
Greatness is not earned, it is realized as we learn to say "no" to self and say "yes" to the leading of His Spirit. It is a posture, not a right. To experience the life the Lord Jesus died to give us, we will have invested in that which is substantive and real and purposeful.
In v.29-30 of today's passage we read, "29 'Truly I tell you,' Jesus replied, 'no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.'"
Here, the Lord Jesus reminds the disciples that they had gained a personal relationship with God whom they did not previously know. And, they were given it before they started following the Lord Jesus. When we focus on the leaving, we miss the point. The point is where we are going. The point is that we now follow God. The point is that we have come home to the Father and our eternity is set in the best possible way.
The Lord Jesus was addressing the attitude we have toward the things of this world. For the believer in Christ, all of this is the result of having been born again and awakened to God's culture. The key to His culture is that we recognize that our possessions were given to us not for our benefit alone. Our possessions were given to us in order that we might invest them to advancement of His work in the hearts of everyone we meet here on this earth. In fact, to the extent that we desire to give this gift away is the extent to which we believe it.
In Matthew’s account of this story, the Lord Jesus said, "I tell you, you who have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man will sit on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
During the millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ on this earth after the Tribulation, the disciples will reign with Christ as will all redeemed believers. Soon, all the pretentiousness and facades of people will be stripped away. And many who are last, who apparently have not given up much at all, but because they have had the right attitude about their possessions, will be first of all. And many who seemingly have given up many things, and have gained a reputation as having sacrificed for the cause of Christ, will be told to take the last seat, because they really have not given up much at all.
In v.31 of today's passage we read, "But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
When this phrase occurs in scripture, it refers to the fact that one’s position in this life does not give a person an advantage in gaining eternal life. Every time the Lord Jesus used this phrase, the message was the same. It does not matter who we are in this world or what we have done, eternal life is for those who believe in Him. Those who are "first" in this life will not obtain eternal life unless they trust in His finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of their sin.
There will be many surprises in heaven. Those who have been despised and rejected in this world will be valued by God, but only because they placed their faith in the Lord Jesus. Just because someone was poor in this world will not make them right with God in the end.
Jim Elliot, one of those five missionaries who gave their lives so that the Auca Indians of Equador would come to know God once said, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to keep what he cannot lose." Whoever desires God will increasingly be inwardly free from religion, the dominance of pride, and, confidence in personal goodness. The person that does this will be prepared to serve in the greatest capacity the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords for eternity.
