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Breakfast with the Word. Tuesday 8th Week Ordinary Time
Mark 10:28-31.
To live for someone means to care for the well being of the person to the extent you are ready to sacrifice whatever for the person. To live for someone involves our whole being. Therefore, to live for Jesus means to do everything because of the relationship you have with Him. It involves following Jesus to the extent you are willing to sacrifice anything to keep this relationship going.
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Mark 10:28-31, the Gospel of Today.
In today’s gospel of Mark 10:28-31, Peter asks Jesus what their gain is since they leave everything and follow Him.
Jesus promises Peter that no one can leave his brother, sister, father, mother and family for His sake and for the sake of the gospel that will not get a reward even with persecutions.
Jesus promises that such a person will be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and field.
To understand this, we have to read from verse 17 of this chapter. In this pericope, A man ran to Jesus and asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.
Remember the question he is asking, He says what “he must”. That means something that when he does it, he will be certainly convinced that doing that will earn him the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus reminded him to keep the commandments, but when this man told Jesus that he has been keeping them all these while, Jesus now tells him to sell everything and give them to the poor.
The man feels so sad because he has great wealth. Jesus tells the disciples that it is very difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
It is then that Peter asks Jesus that since they have left everything and followed Him what then could be their reward?
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Hence comes Jesus’ promise that no one who leaves his family any possession for his sake and the sake of the gospel will go unrewarded.
The Implication.
1. The man who approaches Jesus needs what He must do to get eternal life but the case there is that he is not willing to sacrifice anything to get eternal life.
To get something, there must be something you have to sacrifice. Thereby if we need eternal life, we have to place it as our top priority.
So, in today’s gospel of Mark 10:28-31, Jesus is saying that he who can place Him and the word of God as a top priority above the things we pursue in this world will also get the reward.
2. The reward He gets also may comprise of the things he abandons and beyond that even to eternal life.
Therefore when we live for the sake of Jesus and the gospel, it is also a way to encounter blessings from God.
These blessings comprise both of the things we have abandoned and eternal life. Thereby the easiest way to encounter blessings from God and yet experience eternal life is to be a disciple of Jesus, sacrificing everything we have for the sake of our relationship with Him.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and other things must be added unto you.
Thereby, we have to be willing to sacrifice our time, energy, and resources for the sake of God. When we do this, do not think God is keeping quiet, He will continue to bless you with abundant graces.
3. To live for the sake of the love we have for God is the secret of blessings. It is the secret of graces, love of God and eternal life.
Therefore, God does not abandon his own. When we sincerely follow Him, take Him first, be willing to give up anything for His sake, and live our life preaching His gospel, He will also be there for us both here and hereafter.
In Matthew 10:32, Jesus promises that whoever can acknowledge Him before others will also be acknowledged in the presence of God in heaven. So, when we live our lives for Jesus, we also prepare for our eternal life.
4. Do not forget that Jesus says that these are not without persecutions. Thereby, this promise does not negate that we must still encounter challenges.
We shall encounter persecutions and hatred from people but despite these, there is victory at the end.
5. To leave everything for the sake of Jesus and the sake of the gospel implies living our lives for God for His word. Jesus promises that whoever can do this, will also get back hundredfold everything he sacrifices.
So, in Mark 10:28-31, Jesus is not saying that we love God but in certain situations, we keep God at the back to do what we want, No. It is not shouting “I am for Jesus but our lives say otherwise.
Also, it is not becoming shy to preach God every place and to people. It is not becoming afraid to say the truth when evil seems to reign.
So, this is not keeping our mouths shut and allowing evil to reign. It is not also putting our worldly affairs before our spiritual lives. It is putting God first and ready to defend our faith despite the crisis.
Yes, we need to feed our bodies but the soul must take priority. To do this also does not go without a reward. So, let us put God first, live firm and continue to propagate His word.
May God give us the grace to live for Him, may He also never allow us to encounter defeats. May He stand with us in the face of evil and persecutions. Amen
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Amen
Amen