Mark 10:17-22 (NASB)

17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 But 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 give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But he was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

Sermon Theme: Jesus with love for sinners calls us to complete submission to Him as part of receiving eternal life.

How to miss out on the treasure of eternal life:

1) Be sincere, but mistaken about who Jesus is (10:17-18)

2) Be sincerely mistaken about your goodness (10:19-20)

3) Be unwilling to surrender your earthly treasures to follow Jesus as your Savior/Lord (10:21-22)

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Mark 10:13-16 (NASB)

¹³ And they were bringing children to Him so that He would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

Sermon Theme: Jesus’ blessing of children teaches us important lessons about service, salvation, and our Savior.

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Mark 10:1-12 (NASB)

¹ Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. ² Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” ⁵ But 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 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, 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 no man separate.” ¹⁰ In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Sermon Theme: The Lord teaches about the preciousness of the marriage relationship and explains the sinfulness of divorce.

Outline:

1) The trap/test (10:1-2)

2) The proof text (10:3-5)

3) The truth about marriage (10:6-9)

4) The teaching about divorce (10:10-12)

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Mark 10:1-12 (NASB)

¹ Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them. ² Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. ³ And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man TO WRITE A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY.” ⁵ But 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 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER, 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 no man separate.” ¹⁰ In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. ¹¹ And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹² and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

Sermon Theme: The Lord teaches about the preciousness of the marriage relationship and explains the sinfulness of divorce.

Biblical Marriage:

1) Is Rooted in Creation

2) Is Reiterated by Jesus

3) Reflects  Christ’s relationship with the Church

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Mark 9:42-50 (NASB)

⁴² “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. ⁴³ “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, ⁴⁴ [ where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] ⁴⁵ “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, ⁴⁶ [ where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] ⁴⁷ “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, ⁴⁸ where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. ⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Sermon Theme: Jesus exhorts us to deal drastically with our sins and includes warnings about the reality of Hell.

1) Stern Warning: Don’t be jeopardizing other believers (9:42)

2) Sharp Exhortations: Be killing your sin as believers in Christ (9:43‑48)

3) Sound Reasoning: Be a purifying and preserving influence (9:49-50)

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Mark 9:38-41 (NASB)

³⁸ John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰ “For he who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

Sermon Theme: Jesus teaches that a person’s works (and words) will testify as to whether they are truly with Him or not.

1) John’s ambiguous report (9:38)

2) Jesus’ generous retort (9:39-41)

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Mark 9:30-37 (NASB)

30 And from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. 31 For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” 32 But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

33 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them: “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. 35 And sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And He took a child and placed him among them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

Sermon Theme/Outline: Jesus teaches us that true greatness comes with humbling ourselves in service to others.

1) The Greatest Act of All-Time (9:30-32)

2) The Debate about Greatness (9:33-34)

3) Jesus’ Definition/Description of Greatness (9:35-37)

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Mark 9:9-13 (NASB)

9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. 10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. 11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And He said to them, “Elijah does come first and he restores all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written of him.”

Sermon Theme/Outline: Jesus reminds believers that suffering must come before glory, for Himself and for all who follow Him.

1) A Major Perplexing Question Answered (9:9-12a; 13)

2) The More Prominent Prophecy Addressed (9:12b)

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Mark 9:1-8 (NASB)

¹ And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” ² Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; ³ and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴ Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. ⁷ Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” ⁸ All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

Sermon Theme: The significance of the Transfiguration was that it unveiled the true nature of Who Jesus is — the magnificence of His glory and majesty in a brief preview of the kingdom of God.

Outline: Three facets of Christ’s Transfiguration which enlighten our view of His glorious nature and encourage us to trust, listen to, and follow Him.

1) The promise of the Kingdom (9:1)
2) A preview of the King’s Glory (9:2-6)
3) A pronouncement from the King’s Father (9:7-8)

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