The lessons for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost are from Genesis 2, Hebrews 2, and Mark 10.
In Genesis God says it is not good for man to be alone. God will make a helper to remain before him. In Hebrews Paul warns us to pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away. And more importantly, he explains how Jesus, through His own death and resurrection, set us free from our fear of death that holds us in bondage. In Mark, the Pharisees try to argue that they have a right to divorce their wives, which Jesus exposes for the treachery that it is. That is followed by Jesus saying, “Let the little children come to me and stop forbidding them.”
The essence of life and basis for life is love.
That comes with the experience of using oneself for the sake of others. It was not good for Adam to be alone because there was no one for him to sacrifice his life for. Jesus, the Creator Himself, demonstrates this truth by sacrificing His own life in order to liberate us. The Pharisees who test Jesus were dead, even while they lived. The disciples should have been making the way for children to come to Jesus, but instead were getting in the way.
If we sacrifice others for ourselves, we lose their lives and ours. If we sacrifice ourselves for others, all lives are saved. These truths are indisputable, yet held in contempt and rejected by our culture and all corrupt human nature.
God bless us in His Word and grace that regenerates and inspires our souls to pursue love and therefore experience life to the fullest.