Mark 10:28-31 God is not indifferent to our efforts!

 Peter said to Jesus, «We have left everything and have followed you!» «What I'm about to tell you is true,» Jesus replied. «Has anyone left home or family or fields for me and the good news? They will receive 100 times as much in this world. They will have homes and families and fields. But they will also be treated badly by others. In the world to come they will live forever. But many who are first will be last. And the last will be first.»

Food for thought!

Today's gospel reading begins where yesterday's stopped (Mark 10:27). Peter and his disciples must have looked at the rich man go away until he disappeared. And as he went, Peter's mind must have been working, and, characteristically, his tongue could not stay still. He had just seen a man deliberately refuse Jesus' «Follow me!» He had just heard Jesus say in effect that that man by his action had shut himself out from the Kingdom of God.

Peter could not help drawing the contrast between that man and himself and his friends. Just as the man had refused Jesus' «Follow me!» he and his friends had accepted it, and Peter with that almost crude honesty of his wanted to know what he and his friends were to get out of it. Peter's concern is our concern: we sometimes do wonder, if there is any recognition for us for having accepted Jesus as our saviour, for having followed him on a daily basis, for having gone to church every Sunday or everyday for some, for taking time to pray, etc. What is our reward? What’s in this for us?” Jesus' answer falls into three sections.

(i) Jesus says that no man ever gave up anything for the sake of himself (that is, Jesus) and of his good news without getting it back a hundredfold. Jesus is saying that those who follow him have a definite advantage both here and in the hereafter. Jesus reminds us all that God is not indifferent to our efforts; that God sees; God notices; that God records and rewards every sacrifice that is made for him and because of him. Jesus reminds us that what we have walked away from might seem like a lot to them, but God has far more in our future than we left behind in our past. Jesus is saying that we cannot beat God with generosity, we cannot out perform God in giving.

When Jesus speaks of «100 times», he simply means that it is more than you can imagine. He is not saying that if you give a dollar, he will give you one hundred in return. He might, but that is not the point! He is simply telling us that He has far more for us than anything we could ever give up to follow Him.

A caveat!

Jesus also lets us know that the «100 times more» will not come to us unaccompanied; it will come with «persecutions»; that is, there is a price to pay for the prize. Not everyone will be excited to see us taking Jesus that serious. We shall be misunderstood, misrepresented, and in some cases persecuted even by those close to us.

The promise of persecutions removes the whole matter from the world of quid pro quo. This is not a matter of a material reward for a material sacrifice. This is about the honesty of Jesus. He never offered an easy way. He told men straight that to be a Christian is a costly thing.

Second, this is about challenge. It is as if he said, «Certainly you will get your reward, but you will have to show yourself a strong enough man or woman to get it.» The second thing that Jesus added was the idea of the world to come. He never promised that within this world of space and time there would be a kind of squaring up of the balance sheet and settlement of accounts. He does not call us to win the rewards of time. He calls us to earn the blessings of eternity. In other words, God has not only this world in which to repay.

Finally, Jesus adds one more warning: «many who are first will be last. And the last will be first.» This was in reality a warning to Peter. It may well be that by this time Peter was estimating his own worth and his own reward and assessing them high. What Jesus is saying is, «The final standard of judgment is with God. Many a man may stand well in the judgment of the world, but the judgment of God may upset the world's judgment. Still more many a man may stand well in his own judgment, and find that God's evaluation of him is very different.» It is a warning against all pride. It is a warning that the ultimate judgments belong to God who alone knows the motives of men's hearts. It is a warning that the judgments of heaven may well upset the reputations of earth.