Tiếng Việt: Mc 10,17-31. Từ bỏ mọi sự, nhận lại gấp trăm
Email: josleminhthong@gmail.com
October 7, 2012
Contents
I. Text of Mk 10:17-30 (RSV-SCE)
1. Preceding passage (10:13-16)
2. Study section (10:17-31) with
three passages
3. Following passage (10:32-34)
II. Context and structure of Mk 10:17-31
1. Context of Mk 10:17-31
2. Structure of Mk 10:17-31
III. Analysis
1. Possessions and discipleship (10:17-22)
2. Enter the kingdom of God
(10:23-27)
3. Rewards for disciples
(10:28-30)
4. The first will be last, and the last first (10:31)
IV. Conclusion
Bibliography
I. Text of Mk 10:17-30 (RSV-SCE)
Our analysis will focus on Mk 10:17-30. This section is linked
with the preceding passage (10:13-16) and the following passage (10:23-34). We
present at first, the preceding passage (10:13-16), then, our study section (10:17-31);
the following passage (10:32-34) comes at the end. Reading all of these texts
can help readers to understand Mk 10:17-31 in the context of the Gospel.
1. Preceding passage (10:13-16)
13 And they were bringing children to him, that he might
touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it he was
indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder
them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever
does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." 16
And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon
them.
2. Study section (10:17-31) with three
passages
a) 10:17-22
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up
and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me
good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not kill,
Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not
defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20 And he said to him,
"Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." 21 And Jesus
looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell
what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow me." 22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away
sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
b) 10:23-27
23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
"How hard it will be for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of
God!" 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to
them again, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to
enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 And they
were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be
saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible,
but not with God; for all things are possible with God."
c) 10:28-31
28 Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left
everything and followed you." 29 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 lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a
hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and
children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal
life. 31But many that are first will be last, and the last
first."
3. Following passage (10:32-34)
32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and
Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed
were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to
happen to him, 33 saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the
Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they
will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will
mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three
days he will rise."
II. Context and structure of Mk 10:17-31
1. Context of Mk 10:17-31
Mk 10:17-31 is placed in the context of Jesus’ teaching. This
section 10:17-31 is preceded by the passage 10:13-16, in which Jesus connects “the
children” with him and with the kingdom of God. He said to his disciples in
10:14b-15: “14b Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such
belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” In our study section (10:17-31),
Jesus calls his disciples “children” (10:24); he also indicates what people must
do “to inherit eternal life” (10:17) or “to enter the kingdom of God”
(10:23,24,25,27).
From Mk 10:17-31 up to 10:32-34, we were told that Jesus and his disciples were
on the road, going up to Jerusalem. On the way, Jesus revealed for the third
time, his passion and resurrection. In 10:33-34, he said to his disciples: “33 Behold, we are going
up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and
the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the
Gentiles; 34 and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and
kill him; and after three days he will rise” (10:33-34). The third prophecy of
Jesus’ passion is linked to the preceding verses (10:17-31) by three ideas: (1)
Detach oneself from possessions and then follow Jesus (10:21); (2) The theme of
persecution in 10:30; (3) The saying “first will be last, and the last
first” can be applied
to Jesus’ passion and resurrection.
2. Structure of Mk 10:17-31
The section of Mk 10:17-31 can be structured in three passages
and one saying.
The first passage (10:17-22) relates a man who wants to inherit
eternal life. At first, this man seems to be a virtuous and pious man, because
he has been observing ethical commandments (10:19) from his youth (10:20). But
when Jesus advises him to sell all that he has, give them to the poor, then come
and follow him (10:21), this man refuses to obey Jesus’ advice: “He
went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions” (10:22). Thus possessions
can become a big obstacle to discipleship. We will treat the themes “Possessions
and discipleship” in the first point below.
The second passage (10:23-27) is a private teaching of Jesus
to disciples. The twice repeated idea is “How hard it is to enter the kingdom
of God” (10:23.24). Jesus’ expression is emphasized with full of imagery. Jesus
said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (10:25). It is difficult and then impossible
for man, but it is possible for God (10:27). Why is the kingdom of God so hard
to enter? We will talk about the subject “to inherit eternal life” or “to enter
the kingdom of God” in the second point.
In the third passage (10:28-30), Jesus promises to reward to
those who have left everything and follow Jesus (10:28). The rewards for
disciples are both in the present: “in this time” (10:30a) and future: “in the
age to come” (10:30b). Why does the phrase “with persecutions” interrupt the
smooth and positive flow of the narrative? We will analyze “the rewards of
disciples” in the third point.
The last verse of this section is a saying: “Many that are
first will be last and the last first” (10:31) which describes a reversal. How can
we interpret this quotation in the context
of the narrative? Who is “first” and who is “last”? Those questions will be
treated in the fourth point.
III.
Analysis
We follow the progress of the narrative to analyze four following points:
(1) Possessions and discipleship in 10:17-22; (2) Enter the kingdom of God in
10:23-27; (3) Rewards for disciples in
10:28-30; (4) The saying: “The first will be last and the last first”
(10:31).
1. Possessions
and discipleship (10:17-22)
The story begins with a
man who called Jesus “Good Teacher” and who wants to know what he must do to inherit
eternal life (10:17). In reply, Jesus talks about these two subjects. First,
Jesus attributes the quality “Good” to God only. He said to this man: “Why do
you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (10:18). The adjective “Good”
applies to God in Jews’ tradition, it also applies to many other things (see
Gen 1:4,10,12,18, etc.). Here Jesus recalled the central commandment in Dt 6:4-5:
“4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD, 5 and you shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
As J. Marcus points out, this first commandment “viewed by many early Jews and
Christians as the functional equivalent of the first table of the Decalogue,
which deals with relations between human and God. The second part of the answer
(10:19) quotes from the second table of the Decalogue, which refers to
relations between human beings” (J. MARCUS, Mark 8–16,
2009, p. 725). At the opening of dialogue, Jesus repudiates the virtue
“good” for himself and directs it to God, the source of all goodness who alone
can grant the gift of eternal life. By this remark, Jesus orients the man
toward God, because first of all, “to inherit eternal life” or “to enter the
kingdom of God” is a gift of God.
The commandments which
this man observed are presented in the first part of the narrative (10:19-20).
Only at the end of the story, readers know that this man “had great possessions”
(10:22). In the beginning the man is presented as a good and pious man, because
he has observed the second table of the Decalogue since his youth,: “Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do
not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother”
(10:19). In this list of commandments, Jesus changes the place of the fifth commandment:
“Honor your father and mother” in the list of Decalogue in Ex 20:12-16 and Dt 5:16-20,
so that the order of the commandments cited in Mk 10:19 is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 5.
However, keeping well the commandments
is not yet
enough to inherit eternal life. Jesus said to him: “You lack one thing”
(10:21). This lack suggests that the observation of this
man is not complete, it needs something more “to inherit eternal life”. Ironically, this man who has everything (piety and
great possessions) still lacks one
indispensable thing. What is it?
Jesus advises this man to do what he still doesn’t do, i.e.,
“Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow me” (10:21b). There are two steps in this order: to GO
and to COME. The process of “go, sell what you have, and give to the poor”
(10:21a) will relieve him of all his possessions, still he “will have treasure
in heaven” (10:21b). This means that he will become a rich man again, but his
treasure is in heaven not in this world. The change of place of his “possessions”,
from “on earth” to “in heaven”, gives the man liberty, if he detaches himself
from all that he owns then he can come and follow Jesus (10:21c).
In the Old Testament, wealth and material goods are
considered a sign of God’s favor (see Jb 1:10; Ps 128 [127]; Is 3:10). A pious man was expected to prosper and then to
serve as a benefactor to those in need (see Job 1:1-5; 29:1-25). In general,
a benefactor would earn gratitude from his/her beneficiaries and a good
reputation from society. In the case of Mk 10:21, Jesus does not demand the man
to become a benefactor, he is asking the man to divest himself of all his goods
once and for all, and so deprive himself of the role of benefactor. The man had
to choose between holding on to his possessions or joining in Jesus’ movement
as a disciple. Jesus invites this man to follow him in an itinerant lifestyle, which
must not be encumbered by worldly belongings.
Unfortunately, the desire to retain his possessions made
impossible for this man to follow Jesus and to become his disciple. The
attachment to goods become an obstacle when thought and energy given to accumulating and preserving material assets and
distract one from focusing on the kingdom of God. Since wealth and power
generate false security, Jesus rejects them utterly as one of the conditions to
enter the kingdom of God. From a literary point of view, the rapid movement full of enthusiasm and ardent quest
of the man to sadness and resentment is a marvel of narrative art in the Gospel
of Mark.
2. Enter the kingdom of God (10:23-27)
After the man’s departure (10:22), Jesus looks around and said to his disciples: “How hard it
will be for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God” (10:23). The
astonishment of the disciples increases with the declarations of Jesus. Jesus’ affirmations
progress from difficulty to impossibility,
from rich people to all human beings. The whole passage of 10:23-27 can be
structured like this:
The structure indicates three parts of 10:23-27. The first one (10:23-24)
describes the difficulty for rich man (10:23) and for all (10:24b) to enter the
kingdom of God. The translation of 10:24b in Revised Standard Version - Second
Catholic Edition, 2006 (RSV-SCE)
is “Children, how hard it is for
those who trust in riches to
enter the kingdom of God!” The clause “for those who trust in riches” is presented
in some Greek manuscripts, but it is omitted in some other important Greek
manuscripts. We follow the text of Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, (27th Revised Edition), Stuttgart, Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft, 1996: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom
of God” (10:24b). In this case, Jesus does
not only repeat the sentence in 10:23: “How hard it will be for those who
trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God”,
but also he expands this declaration to all people: “How hard it is to
enter the kingdom of God” (10:24b).
The second part of 10:23-27 is a saying in which Jesus describes impossibility
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God by using images of “camel”
and “eye of a needle”. Jesus said to his disciples: “It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God” (10:25). The camel which is the largest
animal of Palestine is proverbial for its full size, while the needle’s eye is
proverbial for its smallness.
Surprised by the obvious
exaggeration between “a camel” and “the
eye of a needle”, some manuscripts represent
an effort to reduce the contrast, to make the impossible becomes “a little bit” possible
by substituting Greek word “kamilon”
(rope) with “kamêlon” (camel). Another
explanation is there was an “Eye of the Needle Gate” in Jerusalem, but according
to J. R. Donahue and D. J. Harrington, “The idea that there was an ‘Eye of
the Needle Gate’ or ‘Camel’s Gate’ in Jerusalem has no historical foundation
and again serves only to blunt the hyperbole” (J. R. DONAHUE; D. J. HARRINGTON, Gospel of Mark, 2002, p. 304).
As P. Minear said, these explanations “dwarf the camel and expand the needle’s
eye” (P. MINEAR, “Needle’s eye”, p. 169).
In fact, the obvious
implication of this pointed saying (10:25) is that: It is impossible for the
rich to enter the kingdom of God. J. Marcus links the camel with the possessions
of rich people: “The already impossible task of a large animal getting through
the eye of a needle is made even more absurd when the animal is loaded down
with possessions” (J. MARCUS, Mark 8–16, 2009, p.
731). Confronted with the context of
impossible thing, the disciples were exceedingly astonished, and said to
Jesus: “Then who can be saved?” (10:26b). In this question, the disciples
expanded the impossibility for all.
Before the impossibility
for human beings to enter the kingdom of God, the positive response of
Jesus is that “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are
possible with God” (10:27). Primarily, “to enter
the kingdom of God” is a gift of God. Indeed, just before our episode
(10:17-31), Jesus talked to his disciples about the children and the kingdom of
God in 10:14b-15: “14b Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to
such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not
receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” It means human
beings can simply enter the kingdom of God by receiving it as a gift of God. Before
the difficulty and then impossibility for all human beings to enter the kingdom
of God, the solution is that “all things are possible with God” (10:27b). The
power of God and the gift of God are linked with the previous passage (10:17-22) about what humans must do to inherit
eternal life (10:17b). In other way, everyone can enter the kingdom of God if
they detach themselves from their possessions, come to Jesus, follow him, become
his disciples, keep Jesus’ commandments and open their hearts to receive the
gift of God. In the next passage, the tone is somewhat more optimistic about human side.
In fact, the disciples leave everything but they lose nothing, they even receive
a hundredfold.
3. Rewards for disciples (10:28-30)
The saying of Peter to Jesus: “Lo, we have left everything and
followed you” (10:28) contrasts with the
decision of the man in 10:21-22; indeed, after Jesus advised this man to leave his
possessions and follow him, “he went away sorrowful” (10:22). This man refuses to
become Jesus’ disciple because he does not want to leave everything to follow Jesus.
In 10:29-30, the response of Jesus to his disciples is interesting, because
even though the disciples have left everything, they would still receive
a hundredfold. Jesus’ answer with two long
clauses has a parallelism in its structure:
The first part of this parallelism comprises eight elements.
The second part refers to two different planes of time: (I) “In this time” and
(II) “In the age to come”. The rewards “in this time” (10:30a) are in parallel
with eight elements in the first part (10:29), except the fifth element. In
fact, there is not reference “fathers” (element
5’) in the list of new relatives in 10:30a, even though they are mentioned (element
5) in the list of leaving family members in 10:29. The element eight (8’) in
10:30a: “with persecutions” is not a
reward. It is worthy to give some remarks and more explanations related
to this interesting structure:
(1) The parallelism
between 10:29 and 10:30 highlights the claim that nothing of consequence will
be lost for discipleship. Indeed, the abandoned elements will be replaced with a
hundredfold “in this time” and “in the age to come.”
(2) Why is there no
parallel in 10:30 (element 5’) with the element “father” in 10:29 (element 5)?
It is possible that God takes the earthly father’s place, because Jesus teaches
the disciples to pray in 11:25: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you
have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may
forgive you your trespasses.” The Father who is in heaven is the Father of
Jesus’ disciples. However, the paternal image can apply to Jesus himself.
Indeed, the word “children” (tekna) appears twice in 10:30 (element 6) and 10:31
(element 6’), with the other words which describe household: brothers, sisters,
mother, father. Strangely, Jesus uses the
same title “children” (tekna) to call his disciples in 10:24. He said to them:
“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God” (10:24). At the time the Gospel was composed, it
is conceivable that Jesus himself functions as the father of disciples in the Markan
community.
(3) The phrase “with
persecutions” (element 8’) interrupts the
smooth and positive flow and occupies a place parallel to “for my sake
and for the Gospel” (element 8). The
disciples of Jesus can be persecuted for Jesus’ sake and for the Gospel. This difficult reality reminds the community that
its participation in the kingdom of God in this world does not remove it from
the mystery of the cross. For the disciples, the rewards “in this time” and “in
the age to come” are fantastic, wonderful and no comparison; therefore they accept
to sacrifice everything else, even their own life, if necessary, in order to inherit
eternal life.
(4) There is a striking
contrast between overabundance of benefits promised for “this time” and the
single reward guaranteed for “the age to come”, which implies that “the eternal
life” is more valuable than all the advantages of “this time”. We can say the
reward hundredfold “in this time” participates in the reward of eternal life “in
the age to come”. In other words, “The list of benefits describes the
inaugurated or anticipated aspects of the kingdom of God to be experienced
already in the Christian community” (J. R. DONAHUE; D. J. HARRINGTON, Gospel of Mark, 2002, p. 305-306).
4. The
first will be last, and the last first (10:31)
The saying in 10:31: “But many that are first will be last,
and the last first” gives the impression as
an independent saying and it has no relation with its present context. But in
fact, this saying has many interesting interpretations in the context of the
narrative. The reversal of values in 10:31 can apply to rich people, to
disciples, and even to Jesus. The word “many” in 10:31 shows that not all of
them, who are “first” in the world, but “many” of them will find themselves
“last” in the age to come.
We can understand the
first reversal in this general saying: “first become last” separated from the
second reversal: “last become first”. We can also interpret this saying as a double reversal: “first become last”, “last become first”.
(1) Single reversal
(a) The first reversal:
“first become last” in the context of narrative can apply to rich people or to
disciples. For those with great possessions (10:22), who have tried to make
themselves “first” by holding on to their property “in this time” (in this
world), will find themselves “last” “in the age to come” (in the eschatological judgment).
For the disciples, the rewards “in this time” (10:30) can be considered as
wealth. The principle of “first
become last” can be understood as a warning against arrogance in the disciples’
community. Some of disciples could tend to be short-sighted, and consider them as “first”.
They will find themselves disqualified by the same principle of eschatological
reversal and become “last” “in the age to come”. For example, when the disciples of
Jesus discussed among themselves who was the greatest (9:34), that means they
wanted to become “first”. Jesus taught them: “If any one would be first, he
must be last of all and servant of all” (9:35b). Indeed, everyone, included the
disciples of Jesus, can be tempted to become “first” in this world.
(b) The second reversal: “last
become first” in the context of 10:17-30 can apply to the situation of
disciples. They have given up everything and have become “last”, in order to be first”. They become “first” in this world because they live in an already bountiful
“family life” within the experienced Christian community. As disciples of Jesus,
they become “first” in this time, in the age to come, and inherit
eternal life.
(2) Double
reversal
A double reversal: “first become
last”, “last become first” can be applied to Jesus’ life and to the disciples’ life.
In the narrative, the saying of 10:31 is juxtaposed forward with the persecution of
the disciples (10:30)
and juxtaposed backward with the prediction of Jesus about his “passion –
resurrection” (10:32-34). Jesus said to the twelve in 10:33-34: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son
of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will
condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock
him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he
will rise.”
Jesus, who by rights is “the first”, the Son of God, become “the last of
all” by his suffering and shameful death on the cross. Then “the last” will become
“first”, the resurrection makes Jesus “the first of all”. The disciples
of Jesus follow the same progression in situation of persecution. They become “the
last” by following Jesus by the way of suffering life and death. Then they will
experience eschatological power of the resurrection after physical death. The
life of Jesus and his disciples point towards a double reversal: the first
becomes last in order ultimately to become first again. This double reversal
can also apply to everyone. Instead of becoming “first” by all kind of worldly possessions
and hold on to the
value of this world, Jesus proposes the reverse, that become “last” (in this
world) and by following him, they will become “first” (in the world to come).
IV. Conclusion
In the section of
Mk 10:17-31,
Jesus answers the question of the man: “What must I do to inherit
eternal life?” (10:17) and includes the situation of the disciples who have
left everything and followed Jesus (10:28). Jesus’ response is also for the readers
nowadays. The story does not disparage the wealthy nor exalt the poor. Here
Jesus does not encourage the man to share his possessions with the poor and
become a benefactor, but Jesus demands that man “sell what he has and give to
the poor” (10:21), just once and for all. For the twelve disciples, they left
everything and followed Jesus. The choice is between “holding on to the possessions”
and “coming and following Jesus” (10:22) in the case of the rich man; or
between “holding on to everything” and “leaving everything and
following Jesus” (10:28) in the case of the twelve.
The high point of the story is the invitation to come and to follow Jesus;
that means to become his disciple. Everything else that hinders one to engage in
this discipleship must be secondary. In this perspective, “It is not a crime to be rich but only to trust
in one’s riches (cf. 1 Tim 6:17)” (J. MARCUS, Mark
8–16, 2009, p. 730). Thus we can understand
the sentence “those who trust in riches” (10:23) in many ways. People may “trust
in riches” which include material possessions, great talent, power, merit and success.
The idea “difficult and then impossible” for human beings to
enter the kingdom of God reminds everyone that foremost the kingdom of God is a
gift. People need to open their hearts to receive this gift of God and to
follow the instruction of Jesus. Everyone who has the courage to give up everything
and become a disciple of Jesus will receive a hundredfold now “in this
time” and eternal life “in the age to come” (10:30). The rewards are so great; so
disciples of Jesus accept to sacrifice everything, even their own life, if necessary, for
Jesus’ sake and for the Gospel. That is the principle of this reverse saying: “First
will be last, and the last first” (10:31)./.
Bibliography
DONAHUE, J. R.; HARRINGTON,
D. J., The Gospel of Mark, (Sacra
Pagina 2), Collegeville (MN), The Liturgical Press, 2002, xv-488 p.
MANN, C. S.,
Mark, A New Translation With Introduction
and Commentary, (Anchor Bible 27), New York (NY), Doubleday, 1986, xxvi-715 p.
MARCUS, J., Mark 8–16, A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary, (Anchor Yale Bible 27A), New
Haven & London, Yale University Press, 2009, i-lx; 571-1182 p.
P. MINEAR, “Needle’s
eye”, JBL 61 (1942) 157-169.
October 7, 2012
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