"Receive the Kingdom" 3-20-22
Overview
Receive the Kingdom
From the cradle on, we are taught to prize productivity. We celebrate milestones, accumulate trophies, climb professional ladders, and measure our worth by the proof we can put on display—homes, accounts, accomplishments. It is no surprise, then, that when the rich young man runs to Jesus in Mark 10:17, his question is shaped by the same instinct: "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He wants the next achievement, the magic formula, one more rung to climb. Jesus, looking on him with love, tells him to give away the very proofs he has spent his life acquiring and simply follow Mark 10:21. He walks away grieved, unable to release his grip on what he has earned.
Set against this scene are the children parents are bringing to Jesus. The disciples, sharing their culture's low estimate of children, try to wave them off as a waste of the Master's time. Jesus is indignant: "Let the children come to me… for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly, I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it" Mark 10:14-15. The Greek word for "receive" here is passive—not seizing, not claiming, not earning. Children bring nothing to the encounter except their need. They are simply washed over by mercy and blessing. That is the posture Jesus commends.
This is precisely why the disciples gasp, "Then who can be saved?" Mark 10:26. If the kingdom cannot be performed into existence, what is left for us? Jesus answers: "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible" Mark 10:27. Paul echoes this in Ephesians 2:8-9—even the faith by which we are saved is God's gift, not our work, so that no one may boast. And in Romans 6:4, we read that "we have been buried with him by baptism into death"—again, the passive voice. God is the actor; we are the recipients. Children are fitting candidates for baptism precisely because they make no claim; they are simply washed, forgiven, and joined to Christ's body.
The pastoral application is freeing. You do not enter the kingdom by accumulating spiritual receipts. You will not present a résumé at heaven's gate. As Luther summarized in the Small Catechism, God's kingdom comes when the Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his Word and live godly lives now and forever. Faith does produce deeds, but the order matters: God's gracious action toward you produces faith, and faith gives shape to your works—not the reverse. Your ticket is the cross. Your entrance is the water of baptism. Your promise is in Christ alone. The kingdom of God is his to give, and yours to receive.
Transcript
We are going to remain in Mark chapter 10. 2s
So if you have your Bibles open, that's wonderful. 7s
It's page 40 in the New Testament of the Pue edition of the Bible. 11s
As people, we value a lot of different things or a variety of things. 18s
And it's interesting, as we are going through the Gospel of Mark, what's interesting is that 26s
we have an entire chapter to cover today. 34s
The entire chapter of 10 and built within the chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark are several 38s
sermons. 46s
But one of the joys that we have in looking at the full chapter is that as we study it, 47s
we read it, certain items are highlighted. 54s
And today we are going to highlight receiving the kingdom and the value in that or what 59s
there is to value. 66s
As people, we are brought up from day one knowing that there are certain values that we 68s
have and that there is proof of what we value. 76s
And when we are born, the moment we roll over, there is value in that. 80s
We hit a milestone. 87s
When we can put the spoon to our own mouths, we hit another milestone. 89s
There is value in being able to feed ourselves. 94s
When our children begin to read, there is value in that. 99s
There is an accomplishment that they have succeeded, that they have done. 103s
And we praise them for that. 108s
We have trophies for accomplishments in sports or academics. 110s
We strive to achieve scholarships. 116s
We strive to achieve raises in that next level in professionalism. 119s
We find value and we have proof of our value when we look at the homes we live in. 126s
When we look at the bank accounts that we have, when we see the achievements that have 133s
followed through our lives that we have worked very hard for. 139s
Productivity is very valuable and very valued in our world. 146s
Now today we have a value on children. 155s
We learned last week that in the second temple period, children were not a very valued part of society. 158s
And part of that was because of the high mortality rate. 168s
But they didn't have much to offer to society. 171s
And today, in today's world, we value children much more. 175s
But I wonder, do we value them for what they bring to society right now? 180s
Or for what they will bring and will do for us in the future? 186s
Jesus really turns on its head the societal norms and the value and the expectation of everything, 194s
including children. 203s
We are going to come back to the children. 206s
But we're going to work through the gospel of Mark chapter 10 a little bit backwards today. 208s
So we're going to actually start with Mark chapter 10 verse 24 B, 214s
where he says children and he's speaking to the adults now, the disciples, 222s
children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God and jump down to verse 26, 228s
where it says they were greatly astounded and said to one another, 237s
then who can be saved? 241s
It is very difficult to enter into the kingdom of heaven, 248s
then who can be saved? 255s
That question is posed by a rich young man in verse 17, 261s
as he was setting out on a journey that is Jesus, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked, 272s
good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 277s
Now of course it goes on. We're familiar with this story where it speaks of this young man's wealth 285s
and there is a sermon there but that's not where we're going today. We're not going to focus on 291s
this man's wealth. We know that this man was successful. We know that he had achieved a lot. 297s
He had been productive. He had done a lot to conquer each step as he grew up. 306s
And to attain and he had the proof of his achievements right before him. 314s
And now he sees there's another thing to achieve, something to do to inherit eternal life. 322s
Jesus, how do I conquer this next step? What do I have to do? What is my next endeavor in this? 331s
And the word used here for do, it's really executing something. It's performing something in order 344s
to obtain. And so he is asking, how do I perform to get eternal life? How do I work to get 353s
the kingdom of heaven? And when he asked this question, I imagine those around him 365s
perked up. What? What? We're going to be told how we can get the kingdom. We can be told what we need 373s
to do to inherit eternal life. It reminds me of a Christmas party within my family. 379s
I have come from a very large family. And my cousin was in medical school at the time. And someone 387s
asked, how do I lose weight? Everyone stopped stared and wanted to know the magic formula for 392s
losing weight. Eat less exercise more. But I imagine that as this man says, what must I do to inherit 405s
eternal life, I imagine that everyone around kind of perked up wanting to know what the magic 418s
formula is, what they needed to do in order to gain or obtain eternal life. Verse 21, Jesus, looking at 427s
him, loved him and said, you lack one thing, go sell what you own and give the money to the poor. 443s
And you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. I love how that begins. That Jesus 453s
looked at him and he loved him. He wasn't condemning this man. Man, he wasn't 462s
rebuking this man out of his love and tenderness and mercy for this man. He is saying, don't trust 473s
in your productivity. Don't trust in what you can do. Follow me. Follow me. Trust me. 484s
And the man walked away sadly because he trusted in his own abilities, his own achievements. 500s
He had proof that he could do anything he set his mind to. But he couldn't give up the proof. 513s
He couldn't give up the value of doing and to just trust and follow. What must I do to inherit eternal life? 528s
Now we come to our text for today. People were bringing little children to him. That's Jesus 550s
in order that he might touch them and the disciples spoke sternly to them. Here we have parents, 558s
bringing these children, these things of little or no value and they were trying to waste 569s
Jesus precious time on them on the children. And the disciples knew the low value of children 578s
and they stopped the parents. They wanted to rebuke the parents and stop them from wasting 590s
Jesus' time. Children, children, they were of no value. They were less important. Jesus needed 597s
to spend his time doing important things and speaking with important people, people that 609s
mattered. But Jesus was irritated. He not only said, bring them to me, but he took it a step further. 616s
Verse 14. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me, 627s
do not stop them. For it is too such as these that the kingdom of God belongs truly, 635s
I tell you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. 644s
And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them and blessed them. It's very interesting 651s
that he says that these children receive the kingdom of God and that we, adults, 662s
are to receive the kingdom of God as a child. And just as the word do that the young man 672s
used when asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, there's very important distinction 682s
that we need to put on this word received. Because there is a Greek word that means received 688s
in the sense that it's something we seize and we claim and that is not the word that is being 696s
used here. Jesus is not saying, claim it. See the kingdom like a child, see this a kingdom. No. 704s
This word that he uses for receive is in the passive voice. It is done for the children. 714s
The children are bringing nothing with them. They are simply receiving the mercy 725s
and the blessing as is. There is nothing for them to seize, nothing for them to do, 736s
but simply be washed in the mercy of Christ. And this is where we get to that tricky aspect 745s
of faith. Because we value productivity. We value autonomy. We value decision-making. We value 755s
what we have to bring to the table in every situation. And here, here Jesus is saying, 768s
you receive the kingdom of God like a child. You enter like a child who brings nothing with them. 780s
And when we hear that, when we hear that we cry with the disciples, we cry then who can be saved? 795s
Because I want to do. I want to have proof. I want to make a decision. I want to have 808s
something that I have to and get to bring to the table. 822s
What are we to do? Who can be saved? Jesus answers that cry in verse 27. 833s
Jesus looked at them and said, for mortals, it is impossible, but not for God. For God, all things 842s
are possible. We cannot produce the action, the decision, or the faith to enter the kingdom. 854s
In Ephesians 2, verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your 867s
own doing. It is the gift of God, not the results of works so that no one may boast. Even our 877s
faith is a gift from God. He doesn't let us bring in anything to the table because we have 890s
nothing to bring to the table. We have nothing that gets us into the kingdom. 902s
But God brings the kingdom to us. In the waters of baptism, we are delivered from death into life. 918s
In Romans 6, it says, we have been buried with him by baptism into death so that just as 928s
Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. So we too might walk in newness of life. 937s
That phrasing there, we have been buried with him. That is in the passive voice. 947s
Just as receiving the kingdom is in the passive voice. God is the actor. God is the doer. God is 955s
the deliverer. And we receive. Children really are the perfect recipients of baptism because they 972s
don't lay claim to anything that they have. They have no claim on anything. And so when they come 987s
to the waters of baptism, they are washed. And it is full. And it is done. They are washed clean. 997s
Given the forgiveness of their sins. Given salvation in Christ, they are joined into Christ's body 1009s
in the waters of baptism. Just as you and I have been joined into the body of Christ through 1019s
the water of baptism. And then as we grow, we grow in faith, we grow in maturity. But it's no 1029s
longer a matter of what we are succeeding in, what we are achieving. But what God is doing through 1039s
us by His mercy. So faith gives action to deeds. Instead of our doing, creating faith. 1048s
It is God who is doing for you at every turn. In the small catacysm, Luther wrote, 1064s
God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit so that by His grace, 1077s
we may believe His Holy Word and live a godly life on earth now and in heaven forever. 1084s
We receive God's kingdom. It does come to us by His grace and His mercy. 1096s
Jesus died on the cross. Rose triumphant over death and the grave. And the Holy Spirit has pushed 1106s
that good news out into the world through the mouths of the apostles and the disciples of Christ 1116s
of which we are. And He delivers to us the kingdom of His mercy, the kingdom of His glory, 1126s
that we can share in that here on earth by living and leaning into the faith that He is so graciously 1138s
given to us. And then we are promised that we have entered into the eternity of the kingdom, 1147s
that we will live in perfect righteousness with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit eternally. 1158s
It is not because you have done anything to be loved. It is not that you have done anything just so 1167s
right that you have that that receipt of proof that you deserve entrance, the ticket into heaven. 1181s
Your ticket is the cross. Your entrance is in the waters of baptism and your promise is 1191s
in Christ and Christ alone. The kingdom of God is ours to receive. The kingdom of God is His 1203s
to give. 1219s