Mark 10:30: “….along with persecutions…”
Observation: This small phrase comes in the midst of three of the most encouraging verses in the Gospels.
A rich man had just left Jesus in disappointment over the sacrifices required to enter the kingdom of heaven and the disciples asked, “Then who can be saved?” (v. 26)
Jesus’s response begins in verse 29 when he says, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the Gospel’s sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”
Application: Along with persecutions?? Lord, why would you stick such a downer into this otherwise positive passage? Scripture is maddeningly replete with this kind of sober warning. Talk about raining on my parade! Lord if I had left all that I valued in this life to follow you, why must I experience persecution? Isn’t laying everything down the thing that you value? Why can’t you just affirm my sacrifices and let well enough alone?
I hear you answering my question with one of your own: “If I have laid down everything I have held dear and nonetheless am heading toward crucifixion on a Roman cross, should you who desire to follow me expect no less?”
Suddenly I remember that hard teaching in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being conformed to him in death.” The rich man who approached Jesus seemed humble enough, kneeling before him. And he appeared to be genuinely seeking counsel (v. 17). His question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” was a promising one. Then I realize that though I may not be as rich as this man, I do appreciate my creature comforts. After all, I’ve worked hard for them; I’ve earned them. My inclination is always to protect them until his return, when I hope for an upgrade.
I long to be seated at the marriage supper of the lamb, but there you have it: the entry fee. The invitation is before me, along with the fine print of admission’s price.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you voluntarily went to the cross for me, but I confess I’m more like your disciples who could not pray for an hour while you were in the Garden of Gethsemane sweating drops of blood over what you knew lay ahead. Forgive me for not valuing your blood enough to gladly make my own sacrifices. Conform me to your great heart Lord. In your name, Amen.