There is little upside to comparing ourselves to others. (Matthew 19-20; Mark 10: Luke 18)

19:16-17

I love compliments. I love praise. It’s a problem. “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” Even Jesus Christ didn’t want to accept praise. He wanted to give credit to his Father. He didn’t want an ounce of pride to be near him. He didn’t need compliments. He did things for the right reason. We can learn from him of course.

19:20-25

“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” That question that the young man asked is a brave one. For any of us to sincerely ask to know what we lack takes some mental and spiritual toughness. I heard Elder Bednar say that we can ask the Holy Ghost to reveal this to us - if we feel like we are ready for the answer. Clearly, this young man wasn’t quite spiritually prepared for the answer.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” This was the thing that he was lacking. He loved the things of the world. Perhaps he was good at this game of life and was winning. He had acquired a lot and enjoyed what he had. He obviously enjoyed the benefits of having much.

The problem with acquiring riches is that you grow to love them. You feel power as you’re able to do exactly what you want. You can do what you want and have what you want. That’s an addictive state of mind. To give all of that up for “perfection” promised by someone would be hard.

To do this, we’d have to have a very clear understanding of the plan of salvation and have a selfless love for our fellow man. Our perspective has to be unworldly to give up the riches of this world.

19:23-24

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Why is this? Even his disciples were surprised. “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?”

Marci and I are not poor. So, is it harder for us to enter the kingdom of God? Yes it is. Why?

• It appears that we can provide for whatever we need without help from anyone else - including God.

• It’s easier to believe that we are better than poor people. We have nicer things - so we appear to be better. We could argue that we are smarter than others because we have been able to acquire wealth.

• We may begin to believe that we are more chosen by God. Because we have so many blessings, we could conclude that God loves us more than others.

• Over time, as we view ourselves as wise and accomplished and superior, we would be less teachable. We’d be less open to instruction/direction from church leaders - or even the Holy Ghost himself.

• We may be missing the worldly struggles that others deal with. This would eliminate any opportunities to rely on the Lord for help and support.

• We become used to others serving us. We hire cleaners. We get served at nice restaurants. We have concierge at nice hotels that make arrangements for us. We are, right this second, driving in a car in Israel - driven by someone who we’ve pad to be our guide. When we arrive at the hotel, the owner is preparing a dinner for us. It is nice.

As a result, we can become prideful and unteachable and self centered. This is the opposite of what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught that we must be meek and lowly in heart. He taught that we must offer up a broken heart and contrite spirit. Rich folks have additional obstacles on the road of giving up our own will.

Riches may be one worldly challenge that is deceptive on its face. We don’t equate riches with a trial. But, if our goal is to be like Jesus and become like our Heavenly Father, it can be a spiritual killer.

Like everything, there is a good reason why Jesus said what he did. He couldn’t be more right.

19:26

This is one of the most beautiful scriptures ever written. “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” We cannot save ourselves. We are young and dumb. We don’t truly understand how heaven and eternity works. The oldest among us are babies.

We can never overcome the natural man on our own. We require help from Jesus. Period. We must accept it. The sooner we share the burden of progression with Jesus Christ, the faster we will progress. The good news is that this unbearable burden of becoming like our Heavenly Father is not on our shoulders alone. We can be yoked with Christ and not feel this burden’s weight.

It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a principle that we must have faith in.

20:1-16

This is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. The householder hires laborers in the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 11th hour. He offered the initial workers a penny. He pays the last first. When the early workers see that he’s paying the later workers a penny, they assume that hey will get more. When they don’t, they get agitated. “But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?”

This illustrates a couple of important points.

1. We should not compare. It is pride that leads to comparison. I’ve heard it said that pride doesn’t care how much we have, it only cares for how much MORE we have than others. Our eyes shouldn’t be focused on analyzing the faith vs. reward of others. We should only be focused on our own path of progression and how we can BLESS others.

2. The timing of our conversion doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if we are converted as a child and never step off of the path OR we convert when we are 90 and led a sinful life up until that point. The key is our trajectory. Is it upward or not. An upward arrow reaches infinite potential regardless of the starting point (or the angle of the trajectory btw).

Sometimes, the early workers may be less enthusiastic workers when compared with the later hires. Those who don’t get hired until late had to live with the stress and anxiety of NOT knowing where they were going to be working.

Consider someone who isn’t a member of the church until later in life. Compare him with someone who hasn’t strayed off of the path since he was eight years old. It’s possible that the continuously righteous person doesn’t appreciate Jesus Christ as much as someone who is converted later and has a LOT of repenting to do.

There are advantages and disadvantages with both situations. We cannot attempt to do celestial math through our mortal eyes. As this parable teaches, we just shouldn’t compare what we receive to what others are receiving.

20:21-28

After Christ gives this parable, James and John’s mother asks a question of Jesus. “She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.” It’s kinda funny to me that, after Christ teaches about comparison, she wants a confirmation that James and John are going to be special compared to everyone else.

“And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Jesus makes the point that the greatest shall be the servant. This is true with Jesus and Heavenly Father. How much are they doing for us? When you consider all of creation, who is serving whom? Certainly God and Jesus are working very hard for us. They are truly the SERVANT to ALL.

It will be the same for us. Once we progress to a certain point, we will work for the immortality and eternal life of others.

Mark

10:2-9

"And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

Currently, the Church grants divorces. The Church will marry you after you've divorced. I know because I have been divorced and remarried. However, I believe that God would prefer that it not be this way.

He would prefer it if we would unconditionally love each other as couples. He would like us to show empathy and forgiveness. He would like us to put our spouse's needs above our own. He would like us to be Christlike to each other. If we were, there would be much less divorces. Maybe almost none.

But, we don't unconditionally love, so perfect empathy, forgive, act selflessly, etc. We aren't anywhere near perfect at behaving this way. We're still good people. We still can be faithful disciples, working to be better every day - and still be in situations where marriages fail. I believe that, because of human nature, God allows divorces. To never divorce is a standard that most of us can't live by. God doesn't force us because he doesn't work that way.

10:47-48, 52

"And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." I like this story about Bartimæs. He is desperate. He was blind. He knew he needed Jesus.

There were those around him that were embarrassed or something. But, he wouldn't be silenced. He had faith and no person was going to get between him and Christ.

We should be this way. We should not be shy or silent about our testimony in Jesus Christ. We should be quick to speak up at every opportunity to praise Him or testify of Him. Our faith in Christ should be the most important thing in our lives - more important than our reputation among the people around us.

The best part is the end. "And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." The man didn't heal himself. It wasn't about faith in himself. It was his faith in Jesus Christ that made him whole. It will be the same with us. Our faith in ourselves matters much less than our faith in Jesus Christ. It is him who will make us whole. There is no other talent or blessing or gift of the Spirit that can make up the difference between us and perfection. It is only Jesus Christ that can make us whole.

In Luke's account, he adds, "And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God."

I do love that the man didn't just get healed and run away. He followed Jesus. Some people may be exercising faith in Jesus Christ because of an inheritance. Our faith may be transactional. I think it says something that this man followed Jesus AFTER he had received his miracle. It wasn't transactional for him. He followed Jesus because he wanted to follow Jesus - not because of something that he would receive. This Bartimæs is a great example.

Luke

18:5, 7

There was an unjust judge. He didn't care about God or other men. A widow wanted him to "avenge mine adversary." He kept coming and making the plea. The judge finally did something. "Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me." Even though he didn't care about what anyone thought, he was going to respond to the widow's request simply to get her to stop bothering him.

Jesus then makes the comparison to God. "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" This is the point. If an imperfect, even corrupt, man will respond to the nagging of a widow, won't a righteous God respond?

The point is that, often, repetition of a request will make a difference. There is some benefit to the repetition for us. I believe it helps us be more dependent and patient in God's timing. To make a request once and then quit if it's not answered doesn't show humility and determination. But, if we are willing to humbly make a request of God over and over again, we can become more humble.

The key is to have faith that God will eventually answer our prayers.

18:10-14

"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." The comparison is instructive.

First, I think it's awesome that Christ is calling out the Pharisees. He could have just said "a man." Instead, he goes right at the Pharisees.

It's interesting that the Pharisee "prays with himself." After he initially addresses God, he only talks of himself. His prayer is reviewing his self righteousness. There is no supplication to God. There is no asking for forgiveness. There is no communion with God. A relationship with God is not being developed.

The publican is the opposite. His prayer is simple. He simply asks that God be merciful to him as a sinner. This is an example of a man who knows that he has much he can improve. If someone believes that he can improve, he will. If he believes that he is perfect already, what progress can be done?? This life is about progress and humility is the foundation for any progress.

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." We should remember this parable anytime we start feeling like our righteousness places us above anyone else.