Week 37 Mark 10
Mark quoted Jesus: I tell you the truth. No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
One hundred times as much. I’ve seen religious media-stars who – if the source I read is correct – are millionaires. I don’t know what they gave up ‘for the gospel’s sake’ but materially they’ve done pretty well. On the other hand I know a guy who gave-up a lot for the gospel. Unless he has hidden offshore money I don’t think he’s gotten a 100Xs return.
The second part of the verse says that gospel-followers will also get eternal life. That’s a future promise – non-testable – and can’t at present really be shown to be true.
My big concern is doping out what the 100Xs return in this life means. For now my What-Information-I’ve-Got list only includes:
I choose to leave my friends and resources behind for the Lord’s sake
I don’t leave them behind with the aim of recouping a bigger & better return
I do get some sort of return (but what exactly that 100X return is remains a bit of a mystery)
I also definitely get some degree of persecution as part of the transaction
And then in the end I also get eternal life.
Note: quote from Mark 10:29-30 (NIV)