Mark 10:10

Mark 10:10 says, And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.  After Jesus's teachings about divorce, when He was in the house, His disciples again asked Jesus about divorce, and He again told them the same thing.  Verse eleven adds, And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.  Verse twelve continues, And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. No matter how many times we may question God, His law is not going to change.  Any man or woman who divorced his or her spouse and married someone else was guilty of adultery.  We are given some grounds elsewhere in the Bible where divorce could be justified, but not where it must be.  Of course, if a marriage is not based on a man and a woman putting their faith and obedience in Jesus Christ as the center of the marriage, then there is something wrong to start with.  We may not like what the Bible says about marriage and divorce, but that does not change it.  Verse thirteen states, And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.  Some young children were then brought to Jesus, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.  Verse fourteen adds, But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. They did not consult Jesus before doing so.  As Christians, we sometimes get in trouble because we act without first consulting God.  When it comes to children, we should want them in church learning about Jesus.  We need to bring our children to Jesus.  Verse fifteen declares, Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.  Jesus said that the kingdom of God was made up of such as the little children.  This would be true I believe for two reasons.  First, we are to come to Jesus with a childlike faith, totally accepting Him without question.  Second, we are born again when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, thereby becoming as little children spiritually.  Verse sixteen adds, And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.  Jesus then took them into His arms and blessed them. 

Mark 10:1

Mark 10:1 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again. Once again, Jesus was on the move, and the people were still flocking to Him.  We need to be moving today to share the gospel and teach God's word even if people don't flock to us to hear it.  Verse two adds, And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. The Pharisees were once again in the crowd that met Jesus.  They were good about attending Jesus's teaching sessions, but were never there to learn, but were there to attempt to discredit Jesus.  There are still people today who come to hear about Jesus, but they don't or won't put their faith in Him. The Pharisees attempted to discredit Jesus by asking Him whether it was legal for a man to divorce his wife.  Verse three continues, And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? Jesus referred them back to the scripture and what Moses had said about divorce, and the Bible should be our source of understanding today under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Verse four says, And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. The Pharisees said that Moses said they could write a bill of divorcement and put her away.  We need to refer people to the Bible today, but they must understand what it actually means when they read it.   Verse five adds, And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  Jesus said that what Moses said about divorce was said because of the hardness of heart of the men in his day.  It was more for the protection of the women than an endorsement of divorce.  Verse six states, But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female   Jesus then went on to explain God's plan for marriage.   Verse seven adds, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; Verse eight continues, And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. God’s plan for marriage is one man and one woman committed to each other for a lifetime under obedience to God's guidance.   It is never just a man and a woman without God.  When a man and a woman are joined in marriage under God they become one flesh during the remainder of this lifetime.  The man and the woman then need to put the other first, above all others, even their father and mother.  Verse nine concludes, What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.  If they are joined together by God, they should never be divided again.  There are reasons for which a Christian can divorce found in the Bible but is never God's plan nor a dictate they a person must divorce a husband or wife in these instances.   Marriage is not a man-made institution, but a God created one, and if we leave God out of it, I believe it is just another ceremony.  We must base marriage on God's law.  Still, I believe that people who have been divorced can have a Godly marriage if they put God in the center of the marriage.  I believe that when a man and a woman divorce, for whatever reason, that they are no longer joined together, since they have left Him out of the marriage, so they are no longer one flesh.  The key is always putting God first, and in order to do that, we must first accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.

Mark 9:41

Mark 9:41 says, Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.  We may often think that we really can't offer much help to those in need, so we just don't try to.  Yet, I believe that most of us can afford a cup of water to give to someone who is thirsty.  We don't have to give them a lifetime supply, but only enough to meet their need.  Still, too often when someone asks us for help we think why couldn't they get this themself, especially if it seems to be something small.  Whatever we do, though, as Christians, should be done in the name of God.  He should receive the glory and not us.  Verse forty-two adds, And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.  Jesus then talked about being offended by little children, which some people in church seem to be.  He said a person would be better off dead than being guilty of doing this.  Verse forty-three states, And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Verse forty-four adds, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Verse forty-five continues, And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:  Verse forty-six concludes, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  Verse forty-seven says, And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:  Verse forty-eight continues, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Jesus then talks about body parts, a hand, a foot, or an eye offending us, or leading us away from doing what we know God calls us to do.  He then tells us that we are better off cutting off or plucking out the offending part than allowing it to lead us into the everlasting torment of hell.  Now, if we have truly accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we cannot be cast into hell, but if any part of our body begins to lead us away from His will, we are still better off without it.  This may seem drastic but so is the power of sin.  We certainly cannot say that since all our sins are forgiven away, it doesn't really matter if we happen to sin again.  This will never be true.  Verse forty-nine states, For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Jesus then said we would all be salted with fire and every sacrifice would be salted.  Verse fifty adds, Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.  Salt is a preservative, but if it has lost its savor, or saltiness, it is worthless.  Jesus Christ is our preserving force, but if He has lost His savor for us in life, we are in danger of losing the joy of our salvation.    

Mark 9:38

Mark 9:38 says, And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.  John came to Jesus telling Him about someone casting out devils in the name of Jesus.  John said the man did not follow the disciples, so they forbade him from continuing to cast out devils.  We need to acknowledge two things.  First, the man was being successful in casting out devils, and second, the man was doing it in Jesus's name.  Just because he wasn't following the disciples didn't mean he was not putting his faith in Jesus, because by his own power he would have been unsuccessful.  We may not always be a part of the same fellowship of believers, but we should never believe that we alone are doing the work of Christ today.  Verse thirty-nine adds, But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.  As Jesus said to John, those who do miracles in His name cannot at the same time lightly speak evil of Him.  At this point, even the disciples did not understand Who Jesus really was, so they were not any more empowered than anyone else. They were only successful when they acted by faith in Jesus, just as we are today. The only difference is that we have the Holy Spirit with us to empower us at all times. Verse forty continues, For he that is not against us is on our part.  Then, Jesus said that those who were not against the disciples and Him were a part of them.  Not all of Jesus's disciples were physically following Him, but they were all putting their faith in Him spiritually.  As followers of Christ, we need to realize that we are no better than any other follower of Christ, and we should all support and uplift anyone who is being successful in doing God's work. 

Mark 9:31

Mark 9:31 says, For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.  Like the disciples, there are many people today who still do not understand what Jesus was saying.  They see Him as a good man and prophet but fail to understand that He died for the sins of all mankind, and do not believe that He rose again the third day, claiming victory over death, which is the penalty of sin.  Verse thirty-two adds, But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him. Like the disciples, people are often afraid or just unwilling to ask Him by faith what He means. Verse thirty-three states, And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, Verse thirty-four adds, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. When they got to Capernaum, Jesus asked the disciples what they had been disputing about along the way, but they didn't tell Him, because they had been arguing about who would be greatest in His kingdom.   We are never going to be able to hide anything from Jesus, so if we feel that He is asking us about something that we are disputing with other Christians about, we simply need to confess what it is.  Of course, we should never set out to be the greatest, based on our own merit.  We will always be but a sinner saved by grace.  Verse thirty-five states, And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.  Jesus sat down with the disciples and told them that whoever wanted to be the greatest would be the servant to all.  If we want to great in God's kingdom, we need to serve others and not look for them to praise us as great.  Verse thirty-six adds, And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Verse thirty-seven continues, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.;  Jesus then took a child in His arms, and said to the disciples that anyone who received one such child received Him, and anyone who received Him received the One Who sent Him.  I believe that God still expects us to receive, or help, all the children in the world today, especially those who are in need, no matter where they are from or who they are.