Mark 10:28-31 28Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, 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, 30will 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 who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Peter, the outspoken verbalizer, steps into the discussion with a comment that reveals the attitude and thinking of the whole group. In looking at their lives, they see their personal sacrifice to follow Jesus. For example, Peter left his fishing career, boat, and probably family to follow Jesus. They left with, basically, the clothes on their back. Their leaving was not based simply on emotions but they saw something in Jesus that moved them to action. They believed but had not fully committed themselves. They had not nailed themselves on the cross but still carried with them their old lives of earthly thinking.
Jesus again sets out the cost of following him. To leave house, family, and possessions behind was part of the self-denial Jesus mentioned in 8:34. Jesus makes clear that discipleship is more than what one gives up. If it was all negative, pain, suffering, and self-denial, no one would want to be a follower of Jesus. The fact is, however (Jesus uses the solemn truly amēn), that there is a great reward of one hundred times what was lost.
Verse 30 answers the lost things of verse 29 with the assurance of God’s blessing and return a hundredfold those things given up. The two time indicators in verse 30 show that the blessings will be experienced in this lifetime and in eternity. The quality of life on earth for believers will be better than for unbelievers. This may not necessarily mean more wealth or a bigger family but in the spiritual blessing that comes only through consecration and putting Jesus as Lord. Unbelievers cannot understand or experience this blessing. The blessing becomes greater the longer and more intensely one walks in full commitment to Jesus.
Many people see this type of life as miserable. They view life as highly competitive and as survival of the fittest, strongest, wealthiest, and most power. The kingdom of God reverses human expectations and flips it over. Those who lose their life for Jesus find the true meaning of life in faith in him. For those who give up wealth, like Jesus invited the rich man to do in verse 21, they will experience spiritual wholeness and peace. Releasing the world enables one to grasp by faith the promises of the kingdom. The sacrifices of discipleship–even in persecution–will have big dividends in God’s kingdom.
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