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Mark 10

Mark 10 centers following Jesus on receiving God’s kingdom, surrendering wealth and rank, and serving as Jesus gives his life.

Jesus teaches crowds in Judea and beyond the Jordan as Pharisees test him about divorce. He appeals to creation, welcomes children whom the disciples turn away, and calls a wealthy man to leave his possessions and follow him. On the road to Jerusalem, Jesus tells the twelve about his coming death and resurrection. James and John ask for places of honor, prompting teaching about service. Near Jericho, Jesus restores blind Bartimaeus’s sight, and Bartimaeus follows him on the road.

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1He arose from there and came into the borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan. Multitudes came together to him again. As he usually did, he was again teaching them.
2Pharisees came to him testing him, and asked him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3He answered, “What did Moses command you?”
4They said, “Moses allowed a certificate of divorce to be written, and to divorce her.”
5But Jesus said to them, “For your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.
6But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
7For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,
8and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.
10In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same matter.
11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
12If a woman herself divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13They were bringing to him little children, that he should touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who were bringing them.
14But when Jesus saw it, he was moved with indignation and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.
15Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.”
16He took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
17As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God.
19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”
20He said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.”
21Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”
22But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions.
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
25It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.”
26They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, “Then who can be saved?”
27Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
28Peter began to tell him, “Behold, we have left all and have followed you.”
29Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News,
30but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time: houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.
31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
32They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him.
33“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles.
34They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
35James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask.”
36He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37They said to him, “Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left hand, in your glory.”
38But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
39They said to him, “We are able.” Jesus said to them, “You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;
40but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared.”
41When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant toward James and John.
42Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant.
45For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
46They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.
47When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!”
48Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!”
49Jesus stood still and said, “Call him.” They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!”
51Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.”
52Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Mark 10:27Jesus answers the disciples’ alarm about salvation by locating its possibility in God’s power beyond human ability.
Mark 10:29Jesus acknowledges the cost of following him, beginning a promise that includes provision, persecution, and eternal life.
Mark 10:6Jesus grounds his answer about divorce in God’s creation of male and female before addressing the marriage bond.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew and Luke share accounts of Jesus welcoming children, confronting a wealthy man, and teaching about the cost of following him. Genesis supplies the creation language behind Jesus’ teaching on marriage, while Jeremiah shares the affirmation that nothing exceeds God’s power.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What does the wealthy man’s sorrow raise for you about possessions and following Jesus?

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How do James and John’s request and Bartimaeus’s request compare with what you seek from Jesus?

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Questions people ask about Mark 10

What does Mark 10:27 mean by all things being possible with God?

Jesus says this after describing how hard it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom. The disciples ask who can be saved. His answer places salvation within God’s power, beyond human ability. The context concerns God’s ability to save; it offers no guarantee that every desired outcome will happen.

Does Mark 10 say Christians must sell everything?

Jesus tells this wealthy man to sell whatever he has, give to the poor, and follow him. The man leaves sorrowful because he has great possessions. Jesus then warns all the disciples about trusting riches. The passage addresses a specific man while placing every reader’s attachment to wealth under scrutiny.

What does ransom for many mean in Mark 10:45?

A ransom is a price paid to secure someone’s release. Jesus describes his coming death as the giving of his life for many. This explains the depth of his service and grounds his teaching about greatness. The verse does not identify a recipient of the ransom or explain every aspect of the image.

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Mark · 16 chapters

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).