Mark Chapter 10 keeps pressing the question of what it means to follow Jesus.

The disciples have already heard that Jesus must suffer, die, and rise. They have already been corrected for arguing about greatness in Mark Ch9. But in Mark 10, they are still learning.

Jesus teaches about marriage, children, wealth, discipleship, greatness, and mercy. The chapter ends with a blind man receiving sight and following Jesus on the way.

That is not accidental.

Mark 10 is about learning to see the kingdom rightly.

Marriage, Divorce, and Hardness of Heart

The Pharisees come to test Jesus with a question about divorce.

Jesus brings them back to Moses, then beyond Moses to creation itself. Moses permitted a certificate of divorce because of hardness of heart, but from the beginning God made them male and female, and the two become one flesh.

So Jesus says, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

This is serious.

Jesus is not treating marriage as a casual contract that can be broken whenever people want. Marriage is God’s joining. Divorce is not part of the good design of creation. It enters because of sin and hardness of heart.

This connects with Matthew Ch5, where Jesus also teaches that kingdom righteousness goes deeper than surface-level rule keeping.

Jesus is not careless with wounded people, but He is also not careless with marriage. He calls us back to God’s design.

Let the Children Come

Then people bring children to Jesus, and the disciples rebuke them.

Jesus is indignant.

That matters.

He says, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”

This is not saying children are sinless. Scripture does not teach that. But children are a picture of dependence, need, and receiving. They do not come with power, status, achievement, or religious credentials.

They are received.

Jesus says whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this is grace. We do not enter the kingdom as people bringing our résumé to God. We come needy. We receive. We are blessed by Christ.

Jesus takes the children in His arms and blesses them.

That is the heart of the King.

The Rich Young Man

A man runs up, kneels before Jesus, and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.

Jesus presses him with the commandments. The man says he has kept them from his youth.

Then Mark says something very important:

Jesus looked at him and loved him.

This is not cold confrontation. It is loving exposure.

Jesus tells him he lacks one thing: sell what he has, give to the poor, and follow Him.

The man goes away sorrowful because he has great possessions.

Jesus is not teaching that eternal life can be purchased by giving money away. He is exposing the man’s idol. The man wants eternal life, but he does not want Christ above all.

His wealth has him.

This connects with Matthew Ch6, where Jesus said no one can serve God and mammon. Treasure reveals the heart.

The disciples are astonished when Jesus says it is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom. Jesus then says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

They ask, “Then who can be saved?”

Jesus answers:

“With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

That is the key.

Salvation is impossible by human strength.

But God saves.

Leaving Everything and Receiving More

Peter says they have left everything and followed Jesus.

Jesus does not deny that. He says that those who leave house, family, or lands for His sake and the gospel will receive a hundredfold, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

That phrase “with persecutions” matters.

Jesus is not preaching a comfort-centered gospel. Following Him may cost deeply. But nothing lost for Christ is wasted.

This connects with Matthew Ch10, where Jesus tells His disciples that following Him can bring division, rejection, and suffering, but the Father sees and keeps His people.

Then Jesus says many who are first will be last, and the last first.

That is the kingdom reversal.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

As they go up to Jerusalem, Jesus walks ahead of them.

He tells the twelve again what will happen. The Son of Man will be delivered over, condemned, mocked, spit on, flogged, killed, and after three days He will rise.

Jesus is not walking blindly into tragedy.

He knows.

He leads the way.

This continues the lesson of Mark Ch8. Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, but he did not yet understand the cross. In Mark 10, Jesus makes the cross plain again.

The King is going to Jerusalem to die.

James and John Ask for Glory

Right after Jesus speaks of suffering, James and John ask for seats of glory at His right and left.

That timing is painful.

Jesus speaks of the cross.

They think about status.

Jesus asks whether they are able to drink the cup He drinks or be baptized with His baptism. They say they are able, but they do not understand the weight of what they are saying. Jesus speaks of suffering, not earthly promotion.

Then the other disciples become indignant, probably not because they are more humble, but because they also care about rank.

Jesus gathers them and teaches the kingdom way:

Whoever would be great must be servant.

Whoever would be first must be slave of all.

Then He gives the center of the chapter:

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

That is the heart of Mark 10.

Jesus is the Son of Man.

He is the glorious King.

But He came to serve.

He gives His life as a ransom.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this is substitution and redemption. We are not saved by admiring Jesus’ humility only. We are saved because He gives His life for sinners.

The King serves by dying.

Blind Bartimaeus

The chapter ends near Jericho with a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.

When he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, he cries out:

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuke him and tell him to be silent.

But he cries out all the more.

That is faith.

He knows he needs mercy, and he will not be quiet when the Son of David is near.

Jesus stops and calls him.

Then Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus says, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

Jesus says his faith has made him well.

Immediately he recovers his sight and follows Jesus on the way.

That ending is beautiful.

The rich man had sight, wealth, and status, but he walked away sorrowful.

Bartimaeus had blindness, poverty, and need, but he cried for mercy and followed Jesus.

The blind man sees.

And he follows on the way.

The Message of Mark Chapter 10

Mark Chapter 10 shows the upside-down kingdom of Christ.

Marriage is not disposable.

Children are welcomed.

Wealth cannot save.

Human strength cannot enter the kingdom.

Greatness is not status.

The first become last.

The King becomes servant.

And the Son of Man gives His life as a ransom for many.

From a Christian Reformed lens, this chapter humbles us. We are not naturally childlike. We cling to idols. We want status. We misunderstand the cross. We are more like the disciples than we want to admit.

But Christ is patient.

He teaches.

He corrects.

He blesses.

He calls.

He opens blind eyes.

And He goes ahead to Jerusalem to give His life.

Mark 10 calls us to come like children, let go of idols, stop chasing greatness, cry out for mercy, and follow the Servant-King on the way.

The Savior did not come to be served.

He came to serve.

And to give His life as a ransom for many.