Mark 10:1-16
February 5, 2017
preached by Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“The kingdom of self is heavily defended territory.”

“That’s the whole spiritual life. It’s learning how to die.”

~ Eugene Peterson (1932-present), American-born writer and pastor

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart.”

~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Russian novelist and Soviet dissident

“What makes authentic disciples is not visions, ecstasies, biblical mastery of chapter and verse, or spectacular success in the ministry, but a capacity for faithfulness. Buffeted by the fickle winds of failure, battered by their own unruly emotions, and bruised by rejection and ridicule, authentic disciples may have stumbled and frequently fallen, endured lapses and relapses, gotten handcuffed to the fleshpots and wandered into a far country. Yet, they kept coming back to Jesus.”

~ Brennan Manning (1934-2013), American author, public speaker, and former priest

“If Jesus were keeping a list of our wrongs, none of us would stand a chance. At any second of any day, even on our best days, Jesus could have the legal grounds to say, ‘Enough of this. I can’t do it anymore. You’ve violated my love for the last time.’ The truth is, you’ve never met a wronged spouse like Jesus. You’ve never met a disrespected spouse like Jesus. You’ve never met a spouse who more than carried their weight like Jesus.”

~ Jared Wilson, present day writer, editor and former pastor

“If I get married, I want to be very married.”

 ~ Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993), British actress, model, dancer and humanitarian

“A disciple does not ask, ‘How much can I keep?’ but, ‘How much more can I give?’”

~  Randy Alcorn (1954-present), American author

Sermon Passage

Mark 10:1-16 (NIV)

¹ Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

² Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.