Introduction
The Lord God Almighty created both the seen and the unseen worlds. Many of us focus solely on what we can see and neglect to consider the impact of the unseen world on our lives. God created humans in His likeness, and we are not simply flesh that will one day disappear. We possess a body, a soul, and a spirit. The body of flesh will go one day to the ground, but the soul and the spirit have different places to go, and all of us should wonder what happens to our souls and spirits after our flesh goes to the ground. With great love and mercy, the Lord God Almighty has sent His beloved Son to be the bridge for all humans and find salvation for their souls (see Romans 3:24). The heart that repents and turns back to the Lord God Almighty will find the bridge to come back and glorify Him. Many of us feel that we have enough in this world and believe we do enough to deserve entry into the kingdom of heaven. We might ask the Lord Jesus in our quiet moments, just as the man in Mark 10:17 did: “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” As believers, we may also find ourselves like Peter, wondering what rewards await us for following the Lord Jesus and serving Him throughout our lives. In this blog, we emphasize the answer that the Lord Jesus gave to Peter’s question in Mark 10:29. For completeness, we will also present all the verses from this passage, Mark 10:17-31.
The Good Things One Must Do
In Mark 10:17-31, the Lord Jesus teaches that those who love riches and wealth on earth will have a hard time entering the kingdom of God. Treasures on this earth are like a wall between faith and following the teaching of the Lord. You want to follow, but you have the wall, and when you want to cross over, the love of riches pulls you down. You can have money and things on this earth, but if you do not love them, you will find the way to go to heaven. The Lord does not instruct believers to be poor; instead, He emphasizes that they should not prioritize their love for riches above all else. For further insights into this passage, please also refer to Matthew 19:16-30 and Luke 18:18-30. In this blog, we will focus specifically on Mark 10:29-30, where the Lord Jesus responds to Peter’s question found in Mark 10:28.
Mark 10:17 And as He was going forth on the road, there ran one to Him, and kneeled to Him, asking Him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may 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 observed from my youth.
21 And Jesus looking upon him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack: go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.
22 And his countenance fell at the word, and he went away grieving; for he was one having many possessions.
23 And having looked around, Jesus says to His disciples, How hardly those having riches will enter into the kingdom of God!
24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus again answering, says to them, Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Comments Mark 10:25. In this verse, the Lord Jesus gives a comparison. Compare in your mind what it is: the camel going through the needle’s eye. Think of the needle eye and the size of the animal itself; what can be more difficult for the animal to go through than that? The verse clearly tells us that to enter into the kingdom of heaven, it is not physically difficult; the flesh will transform. But for the internal soul to enter into the kingdom of heaven, “for those who trust in riches,” it is harder than the physical aspect of this comparison.
26 And they were astonished exceedingly, saying among themselves, Then who can be saved?
27 Jesus looking at them says, With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.
28 Peter began to say to Him, Behold, we have left all, and have followed Thee.
29 Jesus said, Truly I say to you, There is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for My sake and because of the gospel,
Comments Mark 10:29. You could use this verse to justify salvation by works, but this verse actually refers to the heart. The Lord Jesus has already done the work, so there is no more work to be done for salvation; we only need to believe and follow Him. In this verse, the Lord does not mean that you abandon your family but that you abandon the inner attachment of the heart to your family to become free in hearing the purpose of the Lord for you. The person who does this will have a special calling or purpose to serve the Lord, but this will not mean abandoning their family. The family is one in the Lord; you can separate for a while for work purposes, but you do not abandon the family; it is never the Lord’s will to separate completely (see 1 Timothy 5:8).
30 if not shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.
Comments Mark 10:30. This verse is found only in the Gospel of Mark.
“If not shall receive a hundredfold now in this time ...” “In this time” does not mean earthly time, but the inner heart and soul time. The heart can feel with the soul, and that is the period of time that is being talked about here. Feeling your heart connecting with your soul is not easy, and not many can feel that. Here, the Lord Jesus is talking about the connection between the heart and the soul, which only at this time on earth do they connect together. When we go into heaven, the heart as an organ doesn’t go; just the soul goes. The heart and the soul, to feel connected, it is not easy in human flesh to experience that, and it is only a short period that a person on earth has that blessing from the Lord. This connection becomes a feeling beyond human explanation, which is why it is a short period of time. This connection is not happening all the time during our life on earth; it is an on-and-off blessing given by the Lord to His chosen people (see Mark 10:29).
“Houses.” Your house and the Holy Spirit’s house in your soul make for houses. Look around you and see what you call a house of this earth. But let your heart feel the house inside the heart itself. In human terms, you would say that you can feel the house of your heart as a palace; Use your inner heart to feel that. Also, remember that the Bible clearly tells us who lives in your heart, so that is the palace of the Holy Spirit that is in your heart, find that. Go to the place that you disconnect from the world, where you will feel left alone from the things of this earth, and meditate on the Word of God in your heart, and you will feel the house of your heart. But all the physical things must be disconnected from you. Don’t concern yourself with hot or cold and don’t worry about your hunger; use your heart to feel the soul, and the body will receive the benefit of that feeling. When you do deep meditation this way, not as the world teaches you to torture yourself, it can revive your physical energy. Treat yourself well, find a place where the body can feel comfortable: outside, in the bedroom, or make a special room to be in where you feel disconnected from the world. Let your body feel complete, that you have paid attention to, and that deep peace of the body will go down into your heart, and the attachment of heart and soul will happen. Use your mouth praising the Lord, no other words but only praising alone. Use that time to meditate on the Word of God. That humans should do: meditate on each word of the Bible. The Bible is called the Living Word of God; meditate on it.
“And brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children.” These are all those who meditate on the Word of God; they are close together as mother, sister, brother, and children, as one family. Those who meditate in the Word of God will be as one family.
“And lands.” Because land is not life; it is an object; therefore, what you consider to be of value on this earth is the meaning of land here. Everything you think has value on this earth that is the “land,” and because you will not feel that you lack anything, that is why you can say you have “lands.” What life needs is not many things; the rest are not what life needs; those are just for show-off. Think of what is needed for life; the rest is nothing. The connection between them (the things and life) is the important thing here. The things that we think have value but do not build up the faith are not important. In between you and the things of the world must be the Word of God. Without the Word of God, those things are not valuable; be close to the Word of God or be far from the Word of God, and that is what will determine if you receive or not receive the things life needs.
“With persecutions.” Because when people see you close to the Lord, the jealousy will come, and that jealousy turns into an unseen weapon, not like any weapon in this world. Jealousy creates harmful words that people use to talk out and hurt someone else knowingly. Jealousy covers the mind, making that person feel uncaring. When you have jealousy, you have a negative way of thinking, and it hurts you and someone else as well. In the unseen world, the jealousy weapon can cut the connection between you and the Word of God by creating doubt. In the unseen world, the most important thing is that no jealousy occupies room in the mind and in the heart. In the unseen world, jealousy has a body, and you can use it in a bad way. If another person has jealousy, the jealousies conflict with each other. A person who has jealousy can use that jealousy to harm someone.
“And in the age to come eternal life.” This eternal life is the life in the unseen world; when you join with the Lord, the eternal life will be the gift you receive there.
31 But many last, will be first; and the first, last.
Comments Mark 10:31. See Comments Matthew 19:30. The meaning of this verse can be linked to verse 29, referring to the cleanness of the heart. This verse refers to people who have a heart that is as clean as a newborn baby and think no wicked things inside of them; this kind of heart can be counted as following the teachings of the Bible. These people look as though they are the first to go to heaven, but there is one problem with their hearts: they have yet to open their hearts to accept the Lord Jesus. On the other hand, you have the hearts of mature persons that do not look clean, yet they have opened their hearts to the Lord, and their heart is cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus; these look as last, but in fact, are the first to go in the kingdom of the heavens (see Matthew 21:31). The heart of the mature person that is cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus that is the one to be first (see Luke 18:9-14).
Conclusions
Many of us desire only good things on this earth, and we may not consider the spiritual implications when we reflect on the Lord Jesus’ response to Peter in Mark 10:30, particularly regarding the experience of persecution. The Lord Jesus promises us many spiritual blessings if we follow Him closely during our time on earth, with the most precious gift being eternal life for our souls in the new world to come. However, while living here on this earth, we may face various trials and persecutions.
Additionally, as followers of the Lord Jesus, we should carefully examine the issue of jealousy in the context of the Ten Commandments. The Bible outlines the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Specifically, Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21 instruct us not to covet our neighbors’ possessions. It is important to recognize that covetousness can breed jealousy in our hearts. This jealousy acts as a spiritual weapon that we should be aware of and strive to avoid. Jealousy can lead to many harmful outcomes, such as strife, conflict, division, hatred, and resentment. If we are not mindful, we may inadvertently become a weapon of persecution for others in the spiritual world. We should all pray to replace jealousy with contentment and love for one another.
Meditation Tasks
- We encourage all readers of this blog to reflect on their feelings of jealousy towards fellow believers and others in general.
- We invite all readers to reflect on the concepts of body, soul, and spirit as presented in the Bible. We also encourage readers to check out our blog article, “Body, Soul, and Spirit: A Biblical Perspective.”