Releasing People from Poverty in the Name of Jesus | Mark 10:32-52
Have you ever heard of the by-stander effect (or apathy)? It is a phenomenon in which people are less likely to help someone in an emergency due to the presence of other people. In other words, you see something bad happening and you see other people around and think that they will help. The problem is that everyone else thinks the same thing and the result is that the person in the emergency is left without any help. The apostle John says, “if anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in Him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:17-18) In the church today, we need a little less talk and a lot more action. How did John learn that? He learned it from personal experience with Jesus.
For the past three chapters, we have been walking with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Along the way Jesus is having interactions with people, his disciples, his enemies, and people in need. Jesus’ next two interactions are going to be with three sons: the two sons of Zebedee and the one son of Timaeus. All three are blind to some degree; two are partially blind spiritually and one is totally blind physically. Mark brings these two interactions together to teach us what it means to be truly loved by Jesus and to love like Jesus. Being loved by Jesus and loving like Jesus means that we are not seeking our own glory and that we do not pass by others in need.