Gospel Of Mark Reflection

“I got this”, “I don’t need help, I can do it”, “Leave me alone, I’ll figure it out”. Do any of these phrases sound familiar? We have all thought or said these at one point or another, and continue to do so. We live in a society that teaches us to be self reliant. We are constantly being measured, whether it’s through grades in school, a performance review at work, waistline, or materialistic accumulations such as your bank account, car, clothes...etc. This can be seen overflowing into our relationships. “I was wrong to do this, but at least I didn’t do that”. The standard of measurement we seem to use is based on what we justify as good/bad, convenient goodness, often coming from a selfish point of view. The only unit of measurement that matters, is that of God’s standards.

So what are God’s standards? They are found throughout the Bible, however Jesus came to help us simplify it. “Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”” (‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:29-31‬ NLT‬‬). When we love God with all of our hearts, our desires change, as we seek to have God’s will be done above our own.

Mark 10:17-31 teaches us many things through the young, rich ruler. One thing it points out is that God looks at our motives, at our hearts. He cares that we are genuinely good, both in behavior and heart. We must not put anything else above God, for he loves us, wants a relationship with us and for us to rely on Him, and not ourselves. Jesus points out, in verse 29, that “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”. Here He paints the picture of a very large animal attempting to go through a smaller door. For us, we need to get on our knees, humble ourselves before God and realize that it is about what God has done and will do, and not about the works that we can perform. We must not make anything an idol, to replace God.

The textbook definition of self righteousness is: “having or characterized by a certainty, especially an unfounded one, that one is totally correct or morally superior”. Every believer is plagued by this attitude in one form or another in our lives. Our sinful nature leads us to believe that we must do something in order to merit our salvation. Our prideful hearts struggle to understand or appreciate the costly freedom of grace. It was bought for us by the blood of Jesus, with no contribution from us. Grace is a gift, freely given to all. We can not earn it, we do not deserve it, yet it has been given.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

We find it much easier to compare ourselves with one another rather than recognize that we cannot measure up to the standards of our Holy God. Through Jesus, we can know the forgiveness of sin that we receive through grace. He stood in our place, suffered and died for us, that we may benefit from His sinless life. Jesus’ sacrifice provided us the way to face our sin, bring it to the cross and know the grace that covers us. It was Jesus who destroyed sin, conquered death and defeated the constant tendency toward self-righteousness in our hearts.

Eternal life starts now. If we know that Christ is our Saviour, if we accept Him as our King, and recognize the significance of His death, trusting in His resurrection, we see and experience God’s intention for human life now. This Word from God, demonstrated through Jesus’ life, teachings, death, and resurrection, once accepted, changes everything. It is life-giving.

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭28:19-20‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word. Thank you for taking me on a journey through the Gospel of Mark, and opening my eyes and my heart to You. I pray that I can continue to seek Your word and put it into practice in my life. Help me to grow deeper in my relationship with You. I want to put You first in all that I think, say and do. I pray that the teachings of Jesus remain in the forefront of my thoughts, and that I can exemplify them. Keep me from being self righteous, I pray for more of You and less of me. I praise You and thank You for all things, in Jesus’ name, Amen.