Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out The Weight Of Hopelessness!
The Questions
1) What was the man hoping to hear from Jesus when he approached him?
2) What did Jesus’ response reveal about true hope?
3) Why did the man walk away dejected, despite the fact that Jesus did give him an answer?
Mark 10:17-22
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “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 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”
21 Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.
Original Intent
1) What was the man hoping to hear from Jesus when he approached him?
I can almost hear this man’s thoughts as he runs up and kneels at Jesus’ feet, seeking His approval, and desiring to justify himself. Did you notice the man called Jesus a “good” teacher, and Jesus brought that out in His response? Jesus tells the man that if he acknowledges Him as “good”, he is agreeing that Jesus is a prophet/teacher from God and is therefore owed the authority and deference that would be given to one sent from God. Without saying it, Jesus essentially warns the man, “Remember that you called me ‘good’ when you don’t like my answer.” The man asks Jesus what is required for eternal life. Jesus reminds him of the commandments, and the man quickly responds, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth,” (verse 20). CHECK. AND. DONE. The man had to feel victorious in that moment. Jesus knew the man wanted the easy answer of “you’ve done enough.” The man’s works were the center of his hope. He wanted to hear that he was good enough, had done enough, and was “in” for eternal life. All because of his own efforts.
2) What did Jesus’ response reveal about true hope?
Jesus knew the reality that this man was putting his hope in his own works and earthly possessions before He ever heard his answers, yet it didn’t change Christ’s love for the man. In fact, Jesus loved this man enough to tell him about true hope. Jesus exposed to the man what was still a false hope in his life (his works and his riches). Jesus then shared with him that hope always has to be in a Person, not in things or works. “Follow me” was the only hope this man would ever know and it would require him to let go of all else.
3) Why did the man walk away dejected, despite the fact that Jesus did give him an answer?
Jesus was clear about His expectations and not afraid to ask for more. The man had hoped his works would be enough. But Jesus said there was more required: to give it all up and follow. However, the man’s riches proved to be a hindrance that would keep him from fully following Jesus. The man loved what he had more than what he would gain from accepting Jesus’ challenge. In that moment, the man chose to love his riches and the false hope of good works, over the One who could have given him everything he truly desired.
Everyday Application
1) What was the man hoping to hear from Jesus when he approached him?
Just like the man who approached Jesus, many of us and those we know, look for the same answers: easy checkboxes that say “Yep, you’re good and don’t need to do anything else.” However, the work of sanctification is a lifelong pursuit. We will never fully arrive. We never get to the point of being done and accomplished on this side of eternity. There will always be more growth for us to do. Psalm 39:7 says, “Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.” Jesus alone completed the work of a perfectly righteous life. As humans, we are unable reach that level of perfection. Instead, all we need is to believe that Jesus was the perfect son of God. And His perfection makes it possible that we don’t have to be.
2) What did Jesus’ response reveal about true hope?
Are you willing to hear the truth about hope? Jesus’ teaching proved to be much harder to accept than the man in this passage had bargained for. Often this is our same experience. But just like this man, Jesus loves me, and you, enough to tell us the truth about hope. Titus 3:7 says we are justified by grace through Christ’s death on the cross, which gives us hope. Jeremiah 14:22 warns us that worthless idols can do nothing, so our hope must be in God alone. Ephesians 1:18 promises us the hope that comes through His calling in our lives; He gives us meaning and purpose in a way that nothing else can. 1 Timothy 4:10 says that since our hope is in Christ alone, this is the reason why we labor, rather than in any wasted effort to save ourselves. And what about those you know who are putting their hope in good works? Are you willing to share the truth about hope? To ask them how they will know when they have reached enough? To let them know that hope comes in Christ alone?
3) Why did the man walk away dejected, despite the fact that Jesus did give him an answer?
Unfortunately, I can resonate with this man’s story. For years, my career was the one thing I would bargain with God over. ”You can have anything in my life…please just don’t ask me to give this up.” What about you? Are you clinging to anything over Christ? Like the man in this passage, what do we miss out on when we make that choice? Psalm 62:5 says, “Rest in God alone my soul, for my hope comes from Him.” Trying to earn our way in and do enough is exhausting. Rest comes when we place our trust in Him alone. When we are finally willing to make that transition, our rest and hope will be noticeable to the world around us that is still busy striving to earn something. In those moments, we have the opportunity to share the truth of the gospel, the “…reason for the hope that is in [us],” (1 Peter 3:15). This is our calling. This is why we have been set apart, to bring His hope to the world around us that is still busy striving and looking for more.
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Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with The Weight Of Hopelessness!
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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