Mark 10:29
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
There is no one who leaves home, family, or property for Jesus and the gospel who loses the sacrifice without reward, but such a one receives a hundredfold in this life with persecutions, and eternal life in the world to come. Leaving means holding business, social ties, ease, honor, family, friends, enjoyment, and every power in subjection to God's superior claims, letting earthly interests yield to eternal ones. It requires giving the whole self to Christ in a full break with a wrong course, not merely knowing God's will or professing obedience. The return is not repaid as a man pays a debt but given as a king gives a gift from infinite love and tenderness, showing it is not a recompense for human service. The hundredfold is God's abundant care and provision in this life, yet genuine faith will still be tested by bitter opposition, poverty, affliction, and imprisonment.
Sacrifice for Christ's Sake
The saying belongs to an occasion that lays bare the lingering idea that reward is earned by works and sets out instead the true principles of God's free grace. To leave house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for Christ's sake and the gospel's means that business interests, social ties, ease, honor, reputation, family, friends, enjoyment, temporal interests, and every power and capability are to be held in subjection to God's superior claims, with earthly interests yielding to eternal ones. It calls not merely for knowing God's will or professing obedience but for giving the whole self to Christ, being willing to leave all and to make a full break with a wrong course, with members of a household strengthening one another so that together they may enter the kingdom.
Genuine faith will be tested and tried, and leaving may be forced by bitter opposition, even to forsaking houses and lands and relatives. That testing can mean being driven from homes, being made poor, being afflicted by disease and deprivation, or being imprisoned. Leaving also embraces the use of entrusted wealth for works of mercy and compassion rather than for selfish enjoyment, so that faithful giving to meet the temporal or spiritual needs of others becomes part of sacrifice for Christ. Time, interest, money, and influence invested in God's cause in this way become lasting treasure in heaven, beyond the reach of loss or adversity.
Leaving is a costly act of faith that refuses the flattering inducements of the world in order to be a true and faithful witness. It has meant giving up livelihood and security such as common field labor in order to write and publish and preach present truth, trusting that means honestly earned and rightly used is met with strength and provision for the work. So Paul's turning from Phariseeism to the gospel of Jesus Christ, away from popularity and positions of honor and ambitious preferment to service with all its trials and humiliations and at last martyrdom, shows that such leaving is no real sacrifice. When fidelity to God requires separation from a spouse, God can provide homes and people to care for comfort and needs, yet the saying does not make separation a reason to act hastily where there is no evidence that the marriage vow has been broken.
Promise of Hundredfold Reward
No one who leaves home, family, or property for Jesus and the gospel makes the sacrifice without reward, for the promise is a hundredfold return even in this life, together with persecutions, and eternal life in the world to come. Following may require giving up family, home, or possessions and putting earthly interests, friends, enjoyment, and temporal interests below the interests of God's kingdom, yet those who give themselves unselfishly to spread the truth and bring people to God receive rich blessings now as well as hereafter. Such leaving means giving the whole self, not merely knowing the will of God or professing obedience.
The return is not repaid as a man pays a debt but is given as a king gives a gift, flowing from love, mercy, and tenderness, and its very magnitude shows it is not a recompense for human service. For every service, self-denial, and sacrifice there is a guaranteed return, not because anything is owed, but because the heart of God is full of infinite love, mercy, and tenderness overflowing toward His people. Refusing the flattering inducements of the world in order to be a true and faithful witness does not go unrequited, for every self-denial in His service is met in this royal manner with a hundredfold in this life and life everlasting in the world to come.
The hundredfold in this life means abundant care and provision from God, including homes and people to meet comfort and needs when fidelity requires separation, and strength and provision to leave secular work for the work of truth. A faithful worker who makes right use of means honestly earned receives a hundredfold now and, if faithful, a rich reward in God's kingdom. This was shown in giving up livelihood and security such as common field labor in order to write, publish, and preach present truth, trusting the promise while using rightly what earlier labor had earned. The promise does not make separation a reason to act hastily where there is no evidence the marriage vow has been broken.
Christ identifies Himself with suffering believers who sacrifice for Him, including disciples driven from homes, made poor, afflicted by disease and deprivation, or imprisoned, so that ministering to them is ministering to Christ and is evidence of discipleship. The promise therefore encourages support for those who have given up the comfort of home and family for God's cause.
God may provide a hundredfold in this life, though He may also test His servants by taking material blessings away, yet serving at the cost of worldly ease, security, and possessions is never wasted. Time, interest, money, and influence invested in God's cause become lasting treasure in heaven, beyond the reach of loss or adversity.
The rich reward promised to faithful service and unselfish labor should be valued and looked toward, with the believer looking to the reward that follows faithful service. Thoughts are to center in faith on the promise rather than on discouraging features, trusting that heaven waits to work together with living agencies to bless the world.