The Cost of Following Jesus

Mark 10

​How much? How much will it cost you to follow Jesus? How much did it cost Jesus?

The old Hymn say’s “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”
​
It cost Jesus everything! It’s His life for your eternal life. This obviously glares in the face of today’s easy believism in many circles of Christianity, in that, it will ultimately cost your life; not your good works or works of righteousness, but the surrender of your present life for a new life of following Jesus, His Spirit, and His by faith all the days of your life.

“How much” defines the messages of Mark 10, according to the writings of Warren Wiersbe in “With the Word Commentary.” “How far can I go, how much can I keep, how much will we get?” How much?

Having already visited Jerusalem at least once, Jesus began His final journey to the city where He would die a cruel death on a cross. When some Pharisees asked Him about divorce, he stressed God’s original ideal for marriage.

The rabbis present and throughout didn’t agree on their interpretation of the divorce law; one school being lenient and the other strict.

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.” Deuteronomy 24:1–4 (ESV)

From scripture, Jesus views the “Certificate of Divorce” differently than the parchment of Moses, the Jewish leaders’ greatest hero, and most leaders of the day. Jesus views marriage as more than a piece of paper issued or a ceremony that costs a lot of money. Jesus sees marriage as a life-long covenant and commitment between a man and a woman before God and ordain and instituted by God.

Jesus views the issue of divorce as a “Certificate of Permission” or a way for the married to see how far they could go without complete and unconditional surrender and selflessness. He sees divorce as ripping up a covenant for whom God signed and sealed; even innocent blood being shed in vain; for a covenant marriage is costly, life-long, and sacrificial.

When we live “by permission,” we are tempted to follow those who tell us what we want to hear; not what God desires; not what God designed for us or marriage. Our Lord led the Pharisees back to God’s original plan and interpreted it for them.

“And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:5–9 (ESV)

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Mark 10:11–12 (ESV)

Mark then shares the question of the rich young man, “How much can I keep?”

“And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:17-22 (ESV)

The rich young man was looking for a bargain, the best of both worlds; but he was doomed to failure. Calculation and crucifixion do not agree in the eyes of Christ. At Calvary, there was no bargaining—just Jesus giving His all; for Jesus paid it all with His life and the shedding of His blood for a covenant of salvation and the forgiveness of the sins of all humanity.

Jesus used the sad incident with this young rich man as an object lesson for his disciples: Wealth can keep you from seeing your need for God. However, both present blessings and eternal life belong to those who forsake all for Him.

In the final verses, Mark shares Jesus’ teachings addressing eternal rewards and positions in Heaven by answering, “How much will we get?”

After the Sons of Thunder, James and John, asked Jesus the prideful question of who would get to set on sides of the Jesus’ throne in His glory, he answered them directly.

“And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:39–45 (ESV)

Here, Jesus promises to reward all who faithfully follow Him, but He warns against having rewards as our only motive for service. If we are His disciple, we can expect a cross, a cup, and a baptism, for the servant is not greater than his Lord.

The important question Wiersbe did not ask, he leaves up to you and me to ask ourselves. “How much can or will you give?”

How much is Jesus calling you to surrender, to endure, to give or give up? How far are you willing to go to follow Jesus and His plan for your life, your marriage, your family, your career, your position, your finances, time, energy, gifts, and service? Are you willing to lay down your desires, dreams, your very life?

Know today, “Jesus paid it all, All to Him you owe; Sin left a crimson stain, He washed you white as snow.”

---