Mark 10:18, 20-22, 37-39, 43-45 NIV “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.10.18-37.NIV
A morally good man came to Jesus for salvation but left spiritually bankrupt. He obeyed God’s laws but he lacked God’s Spirit. He appeared to have God’s blessings but He didn’t have God’s presence. He was called to commit everything to Jesus but he was only willing to commit some things to Jesus and so he left Jesus unsaved, placing his eternal soul in jeopardy of the fires of hell. Seeing this the Apostles sought prominence because they had committed everything to Jesus. Yet there was still more to give. The baptism and the cup Jesus drank were the same, they were the way of suffering unto death in obedience to God. The Apostles would later know this suffering unto death for obeying God’s command to make disciples. They would indeed give everything and no doubt their reward is great but perhaps they are not even the greatest to have served God. God wants more than our goodness, He wants our unconditional commitment to Him and His work of reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus the Savior. Most of us are willing to be good but we want to be blessed in this world. We want to be the rich man who is saved. Jesus calls us to unconditional surrender of all we have and all we want in order to do all He has for us to accomplish then He will reward us on His terms in His kingdom which is to come and is not yet here. Do we want God’s reward later more than we want man’s reward now? Are we willing to drink Jesus’ cup and be baptized with His baptism of suffering in order to be raised from the dead as good and faithful children of God whom the Father rejoices to reward? The Christian life on this earth has nothing to do with this world’s material gain but is to be a road of suffering for Jesus’ Name while making disciples of all peoples in all nations by all those who want to be like Jesus Who was raised King of kings and Lord of lords.
