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 farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
Mark 10:29-30
How much would you sacrifice to serve Jesus and the gospel? It’s a question that makes some of us cringe. Go into any modern, American church today and see how many people you can find that are willing to sell everything they have to follow Jesus. It’s something with which we all struggle, but serving Jesus Christ by preaching the gospel does not go unrewarded. In today’s passage, Jesus declares that whoever gives up a house, family, or livelihood for the sake of the gospel, will receive back a hundred fold in this life.
A common misconception that many of us have is that our reward for serving Jesus in this life comes fully in the next. In other words, sacrificing here on earth brings eternal rewards but don’t expect to see that divine compensation until after you have passed from this life. We will get to eternal life in a moment, but first let’s reexamine what Christ says about those who make material and relational sacrifices for the gospel. They will receive back “a hundred times as much now in this present age.” God sees and knows everything that we do, sacrifice, and endure for the sake of the gospel. So if we think that our only reward is in heaven, we fail to see that Jesus is teaching us just the opposite. Serving Jesus is the best life (in reality the only life) that you and I could live and it comes with reward, earthly reward.
The world often views the Christian faith as a bunch of “crazies” living for some “pie in the sky” theology that requires blind faith in an unknowable God who only promises rewards in the sweet by and by, but without any tangible, earthly consequences. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Christian life is living in intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe and brings with it all of the tangible blessings that an heir of the King is to enjoy. And today’s passage is a reminder that sacrificing for the kingdom brings tangible, earthly reward as God supplies a hundred fold back to those who make such sacrifices.
Just prior to this passage, we see Jesus engaging a man described as a rich, young ruler. From the title that we are given, we see that this man is young, he is a man of position (ruler), and he has amassed great material wealth. You might say that he is living a life of convenience and comfort. When faced with the opportunity to ask Jesus a spiritual question, he quickly seizes the opportunity and asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” So he begins with the right question and Jesus reveals the answer to him. Now this man claimed to be moral, in that he acknowledges to Jesus that he had kept the whole Law since he was a youth. Because Jesus does not confront the man on this assertion, I will give the man the benefit of the doubt and say that he indeed was a morally, good man. But he lacked one thing? Jesus told him that he needed to sell everything he had and then come follow Him. At this news the man was saddened and walked away because the request from Christ was just too costly. The Bible says that this rejection of Jesus’ offer was due to the fact that the man “owned much property.”
Now the passage reveals to us that Jesus loved this man. By extension that means that God loved this man. But the love of Jesus was not enough to secure this man’s salvation because of his unwillingness to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. You see we all have a choice. God does love us and invites us to participate in the sharing of the good news with the world, but often, in order to accept that invitation, we must make sacrifices in our lives. This rich, young ruler was unable to give up what he had in order to gain eternal life. Based on Jesus’ teaching in our passage today, the man certainly would not only have been saved, but would have received a hundred times what he gave up in order to follow Jesus. But he lost out on both because of his unwillingness to part with his material possessions.
We are instructed in scripture that we are not to store up for ourselves treasure on earth but rather we are to invest in eternal things (Matthew 6:19-21). Jesus tells us that, for this reason, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, a lesson personified in the life of the rich, young ruler (Mark 10:23-25). For the world, investing means obtaining enormous salaries, hefty bank accounts, and diversified investments. While there is nothing wrong with any of these things specifically, living only for material gain to the exclusion of seeking spiritual, eternal things is nothing less than shortsighted and foolish. We are to invest our lives, but our investment is in the eternal and in the things that go before us and follow us into eternity. Jesus says that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, He will add all of the things that we need in this life (Matthew 6:33). Today’s passage parallels that truth by reminding us that when we sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, we will be repaid a hundred times as much “now in this present age.”
But within this tremendous promise is also a sober reminder that following Jesus in this life will require endurance because the Christian life is always accompanied with persecutions. We are to expect persecution from this world since we have been called out from among the world and its system. Jesus says that we would be accepted if we were to engage in the same mindset and activities as the world, but because we do not, we are reviled by them (John 15:19). Facing persecution for the sake of Christ is actually a positive thing and validates that you indeed belong to Jesus. Consider the following:
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
1 Peter 4:14
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12
Along with the benevolence of God and the acceptance and recognition that persecution will come, our passage reminds us that we are always to look forward to the day when we will live with Jesus in heaven. This only happens for those who admit their need as sinners, humble themselves, and call on God for salvation. Jesus says, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). When we walk in this relational knowledge of Jesus, we can then view our worldly possessions in a different light, knowing that nothing really belongs to us rather it all belongs to God. It is a tragedy when someone stubbornly holds on to everything they have acquired in this life and reject the very salvation and promises of God. Scripture tells us that if we seek to keep this life (and everything in it) we will lose it but when we lose our lives for the sake of Christ, we save our lives, now and in eternity (Luke 9:24).
“Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
Mark 10:29-30
Here’s hoping that you are enjoying the fruit of a life fully engaged in the declaration of the gospel and living out the reality that serving Jesus is completely worth it!
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