Going Ahead

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

GOING AHEAD

Mark 14:26-31

26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 "You will all fall away," Jesus told them, "for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'   28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."  29 Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not." 30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today — yes, tonight — before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times."  31 But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same.

NIV

We are so very aware of the heart of Peter and how he insisted he was willing to die with Jesus before he would disown him, yet he did just that three times. But we are also aware of the pain in his heart after he did. Although Peter has that in his past, became one of the most powerful witnesses for Christ, and at some point in his life, he did die for his faith in Christ. This narrative might be about the fact that Jesus knew what Peter was about to do, but more than that it is about Jesus knowing that he would not remain dead and he told them as much saying that after he had risen he would go ahead of them into Galilee. There is also the fact that Jesus knew that although they would scatter when he was arrested, they would all gather together in Galilee. We do know that at one point after Jesus had risen, after all the events that happened at the tomb on the risen morning, which he appeared to all his disciple, with the exception of Thomas, in that locked room where they were all gathered. They may have scattered on that night in Gethsemane, but they did not disappear from each other. They remained the group that Jesus had poured his life and teaching into. They may not have known each other very well before Jesus had called them to himself, but now there were one, a unit of brothers, still with the frailty of men, but nevertheless, brothers and sisters who needed and wanted to be together. It was that way when Jesus appeared to them, and it was even more so after he has ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to anoint them with power. Today, we all may be scattered from time to time in some physical sense, living our own scattered lives in various neighborhoods and jobs, but we remain a unit, a group of followers of Christ, the church. We like being with each other, we need to be with each other without each other there remains a sense of loneliness. Although we always have Jesus and feel his presence in us, we still can feel a certain emptiness without being gathered together with our fellow believers. Today, because of this so-called pandemic and this fear of contracting a virus that just might, maybe, cause death, we have become scared and have scattered ourselves, secluding ourselves within our homes, behind closed doors, and almost living in fear, that same fear the disciples felt regarding the Chief Priests and teachers of the law, that if they found them, would have them killed as well. But after the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them, they spilled out into the streets, no fear, and boldly proclaimed their faith. Here, we go, we too have the power of the Holy Spirit and we too should be bolding spilling out of our homes, gathering together to boldly praise our Lord. Our leaders want to restrict us and isolate us, scare us into hiding in fear, scattered, but we will not go silently into the night. We are to live in the power of the Spirit, for Jesus has gone ahead of us into the Promised Land.

 

The Bread and The Cup

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THE BREAD AND THE CUP

Mark 14:22-26

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."  23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. 25 "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."  26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

NIV

There have been great discussions regarding this Passover meal and the meaning of what Jesus did that Mark, Luke, and Matthew all have included with Luke and Matthew have more details than Mark. However, Mark is where we are and he still gives us all that we need to know about the bread and the cup. It has been said that Jesus did this to institute an everlasting act to remember what he did on the cross. This is most likely the most common interpretation of his words, as most, if not all Christian churches, regardless of the denomination have some type of communion service using some form of bread and some form of liquid in some form of cup. What we do not do is the exact act that Jesus did. Perhaps the Jewish people come the closest as they also use unleavened bread and wine. In addition, the Passover meal has been left in the dust by any of the churches we have attended, and, of course, because of the evil stigma place on drinking wine by many of the holiness type churches, grape juice has been substituted for the wine and the bread has been of all sorts is leaven products. But, we still celebrate the act Jesus did, according to our faith. However, in many cases in our communion service, we do not quote Jesus from one of the gospel accounts but rather we quote Paul, quoting Jesus, in his letter to the Corinthians. What seems to me is we miss something else of what Jesus said or overlook it in some sense. Paul is not quoting Jesus when we say that we are to proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. However, that is in some way what Jesus is saying here as Mark records. Jesus makes it clear that he will not drink wine or the cup with his disciples until he does so in the kingdom of God. That is when we all are together in the presence of the Lord in the new creation, the new earth, and the new city that is spoken about in the revelation He gave to John. We might eat some form of bread and some form of cup ever so often as a remembrance of his loving act of dying for the forgiveness of our sin and giving us the right to be called the children of God and to an inheritance of eternal life in the kingdom of God, but what we may not celebrate too often is that we are going to enjoy the Passover meal with Jesus. He is the Passover Lamb and because we are in Him and He in us, having sprinkled His blood on the doorposts of our heart, and we will someday eat this meal with Jesus.

Death by Guilt

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

DEATH BY GUILT

Mark 14:17-21

17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me — one who is eating with me."  19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?" 20 "It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born

NIV

We know all about the betrayal by Judas including his deal with the Chief Priests and his love for money, having helped himself to some of the cash in the money bag that he was in charge of. We know this Judas, and we know he ended up killing himself because of the guilt of what he had done. We also know that Jesus knew all this all along and we have to believe he called Judas to follow him for the very reason he knew Judas would be instrumental in Jesus going to the cross. Jesus did not make Judas a betrayer or caused his heart to be hard. Judas was who he was and Jesus selected him as he was because He knew the outcome, the reason He came in the first place, the cross. However, When Jesus made that statement, the woe to the man who betrays the Son of Man, and that it would be better for him if he had not been born, he reveals a truth about the effects of guilt. There is no doubt that guilt is a killer. It destroys the very core of our being. God did not design us to live with guilt. He created us to be in perfect fellowship with him. Just as the result of the sin of Adam and Eve, death, so it is with man filled with guilt. Jesus came to free us from sin, and the guilt that comes with it. We have been declared holy and blameless in the sight of God. When we do sin from time to time, we repent, and as always we have the forgiveness of our sin. We have always had forgiveness of our original sin, being descendants of Adam, as we have repented and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We have no need to feel guilt over our original sin, however, this personal sin issue is a sin of another color. If we say that we have no sin, then we call God a liar, so let us deal with the fact that we do sin from time to time, in fact, most likely every day in some way. Holding onto this sin can have the effect of guilt, feeling this guilt destroys our relationship with the Lord. He died so that we would have forgiveness of sin, period. If we believe in Jesus there is no reason we should experience death by guilt.  

Prepared to Passover

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

PREPARED TO PASSOVER

 

Mark 14:12-16

12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?" 13 So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' 15 He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."  16 The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

NIV

We could spend some time on this whole Passover that was established while the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt. It is interesting how that all came about regarding having to kill a perfect lamb, one without spot or blemish, and put its blood on the doorposts of their homes, so the death angel would Passover their homes. The Jewish people have celebrated that Passover to this day, although it is unlikely many of them actually kill a lamb, as the disciples of Jesus did this day that Mark records. Although he does not say that, the Greek version includes the fact they had already killed the lamb and asked Jesus where should they prepare the Passover meal. That would have to include cooking the lamb, and all the rest of the items customary for the meal. Perhaps they had already had cooked the lamb, we just do not know those details. However, there is another interesting truth within this narrative. When the disciples asked Jesus where they should prepare the Passover meal, he gave them instructions regarding finding this man with a water jar and that he would meet them, or there you will meet this man carrying the water jar.  Within the Greek, it may have meant they would meet this man, rather than this man would meet them, which would indicate the man was looking for them. It seems more likely they would be looking for the man carrying a water jar. It is just interesting but may mean nothing that a man was carrying a jar or pitcher of water, a task that must likely was usually done by the women of that era. Nevertheless, they found him, just as Jesus had said and they prepared the Passover. What is notable is that Jesus knew about the man who was carrying the water jar. This again, proves his divine nature and his being able to see all things. What we do not know is if this was revealed to him, or he simply had the divine knowledge because he was God in the flesh. We have to believe it was because He is God in the flesh, and thus knew all things concerning His creation. It is true that He constrained himself in a human form and within the framework of time, time that he created for our purpose. Still, he saw that man which we have to believe there was no prearranged agreement between the man and Jesus. So we are left with the undeniable truth that Jesus is divine and has all knowledge of all things at all times, as before creation, during creation, while he was on earth, and now and forevermore. What that means for us, is that his eye is upon us, He watches over us as a caring parent. We are not without his care, his watchfulness. This would also mean those who are still living outside salvation, have the ever-watchful eyes of Jesus on them as well. Jesus sees all, nothing escapes his watch. Every aspect of our lives is within his sight, and because we accept him as our Lord and Savior, it also means he is our Good Shepherd, whose voice we know as the sheep of his flock and who he knows each of us, as his own. What a joy to have that type of relationship with our Lord, to be so intimate, having Him knowing us and watching over us. Of course, we would also note that as his disciples killed the Passover lamb, Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb, and as we are in Christ, we have sprinkled his blood over the doorpost of our hearts and thus the death angel has to Passover us, for oh death where is thy sting? Death has no hold on us, for it must Passover our hearts, and we are then freed from the bondage of sin and death and are headed for the Promised Land. We have been prepared to Passover.

betrayer

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

BETRAYER

Mark 14:10-11

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

NIV

Before we get in the Passover meal, we need to deal just with Judas for a moment. We know what is going to happen because we have read this narrative many times and it is not news to us of his betrayal of Jesus. We know how and where it is going to happen and we will get to that portion of the gospel in due time. However, before us is this question of why did he decide to go to the chief priest and betray Jesus. Mark does not give us as full of an account of this betrayal as Matthew does. What we know is that Judas bargained with them and asked how much they would pay him to betray Jesus. The price of thirty pieces of silver has some history with the Jewish people. First according to the law if a slave is accidentally killed, or as in Exodus 21, if a bull accidentally gores a slave, the owner of the bull must pay thirty shekels of silver to the owner of the slave. We also know that Zechariah was paid thirty pieces of silver for which we would have to go into great detail and it would take way too long, but the point is the Lord told him to “throw it the potter”, the handsome price at which they price me. All this was to fit together as the chief priests came up with that price that which they were willing to put a price on Jesus. But the question still bewilders us as to why did Judas do this betrayal. We know he was the holder of the treasury of the Lord and his disciples. Judas was the money keeper and we know that at times he helped himself to some of the cash. We are not sure why and what he did with it, but the point being he was still a thief all the while either pretending to be a disciple of Jesus or just could not help himself from sinning because the temptation was too much for him. But then why and who elected him to be the keeper of the money? It had to be Jesus would made Judas the money keeper. We know all the teaching of Jesus about where our treasure is, there also is our heart. Jesus surely was putting his money where his mouth was, in a sense, giving Judas the money. What do we learn from this? First, we also know that this had to be so that Jesus would be betrayed, so he would go to the cross, as this was the full reason for his coming to earth so that he could be the sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sin. We have dealt with the idea of betraying Jesus and that if by some of our attitudes and or behaviors, in some sense do we betray Jesus. Specifically in this concept about money. Have we put too much trust in money, and not enough trust in Jesus? Sure, we trust him for our salvation, but how much do we trust him for all aspects of our life. Let us make sure we allow nothing gets us distracted from following Jesus.

Act of Love

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

ACT OF LOVE

Mark 14:1-9

14:1 Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. 2 "But not during the Feast," they said, "or the people may riot." 3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly. 6 "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." 

NIV

Although we could dwell on the fact the chief priests and the teachers of the law, those who were supposed to represent God to the people were plotting to kill God. Just the sound of that is ridiculous. Then again, there are people, movements today that are trying to kill the idea of God. However, we just should focus our attention on the act of love this lady did in pouring this expensive perfume over Jesus’s head. Matthew and John record this event, but only John indicates that it was Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who also lived in Bethany. It is a question by our scholars regarding the breaking of the jar and we wonder why they would bother to focus any attention on whether she simply broke the seal on the jar, or actually broke the jar that most likely was made of some clay, a pottery jar. The point of this narrative is the act of love Mary did toward Jesus. Sure, some people were more concerned about the financial situation of wasting such an expensive perfume on Jesus. Hold on a minute, wasting money on Jesus, is that what following Jesus is all about? We're supposed to be concerned about the poor, and not about Jesus? Sure, some would say, as these people who were reclining around the table with Jesus, that money spent on the poor is an act of Christian love, and they believe that is what Jesus would want. Of course, this situation about Mary and the perfume was more or less a prophetic act as Jesus pointed out in that she was preparing his body for burial. Still, her act of love was about Jesus, and he made sure to tell the other guests that wherever the gospel is preached, what she did will also be told, in memory of her. It is her act of love that Jesus is talking about, not her preparing his body for burial, although in a sense she was. His body would undergo a far greater smell as he is tortured, whipped, almost to the point of death, His body would reek of the odor of blood and sweat, and any of that aroma of perfume would have long gone by then. No, it is about her act of love that is the main point here. How are we doing in our act of love toward Jesus? We do not think it has anything to do with “Good works” or how much we are involved in church. It may well be our personal act of love within our very being that is what is important. If we come to what Paul says in his letter to those in Rome and think about offering our bodies, that is all of our self, as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, that is setting ourselves apart for God, conforming to him rather than the world, then it is a spiritual act of worship or our act of love. We know Mary loved Jesus with her whole heart, He loved her as well, and He raised her brother from the dead. She spent it all on Jesus, gave her all, and that is the point here. Again, it is not about how much we give at church, but how much of ourselves do we give to Jesus, how much is our worship? Let us give Jesus all our act of love.

Watch

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

WATCH

Mark 13:32-37

32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back — whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'" 

NIV

Once again, this puts all the rest of what Jesus said about the temple and its desolation about the end of time, rather than during a time that happened some forty years after Jesus left. He refers to himself as the man who is going away but will return. While He is gone, or in his going, he has assigned each of his servants with a task. There are several times when Paul, James, Peter, and John have referred to themselves as the servant of Christ in their letters to the churches. Although Jesus has said that he no longer calls them servant but rather friend, and someone has put that to the song, about being a friend of God, we are also to serve the Lord. The words of Joshua ring out when he said that to the people, which includes us, were to choose this day whom you will serve, but for me and my house, we would serve the Lord. We have an assigned task, which and only means an area of service that the Lord has given to us until he returns. This sort of puts this into perspective in the sense that we are supposed to be about this task until he returns, so then there is no point in our lives that we could retire from this task, of whatsoever it might be. Jesus wants us not be to be caught asleep, but we are to keep watch. That could apply to how we live, in the sense of remaining holy, keeping ourselves from sin. We are certainly admonished to be holy as He is holy. But then that word simply means to be set apart, rather than to be spiritually faultless, without sin. Still, we are not to continue to sin so that His grace can abound. We are to make every effort to keep from sinning, but in reality, we cannot be completely free of sin as long as we live in this corruptible flesh. It’s not that we blatantly look for ways to sin, but a thought appears when it shouldn’t, or a word is spoken, when it shouldn’t, or even some behavior that simply would have been best to leave undone, just shows up. However, it seems Jesus is not talking about that aspect of keeping watch as much as he is about our keeping at that assigned task while he is away. We have been put in charge of the household of God, in a certain sense. Jesus has left, and he has sent us the Holy Spirit to give us the power to do that which we have been assigned to do in order to keep the house of God, or the temple, which is us, the church, in good condition until he returns. This also implies that we remain in the house of the Lord, that is we remain in Christ, we do not leave and travel about the world taking on the ways of the world, the thinking of the world, the customs of the world, which is idolatry. We are to remain in the house of God doing that which we have been assigned to do until he comes back. Of course, that does not mean the church building, but staying in Christ. We have to live in the world, but we are not to live of the world. We are to live in and of Christ, and we are to keep watch that we do not get distracted from our assigned task. Each of us has one, whatsoever that is, it is up to the Lord who assigns us our task. We do not get to decide which task we do, it is assigned to us, and therefore we need to keep watch that we keep on keeping on. We will never know when Jesus will come back for us. He says that only the Father knows when he will return, but who cares when, as long as he is coming back. So let us watch!

Passing Away

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

PASSING AWAY

Mark 13:28-31

28 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

NIV

The whole of understanding these words is in the correct translation of the word generation. In some senses, it is used to mean a span of about 38 years, which is interesting in that it was about that many years after Jesus left that Jerusalem was destroyed. Yet, at the same time, this word is referred to as the human race, or genealogy of people, such as the race or nation of Israel. Within the context of both the previous warnings of Jesus and that fact that he mentions that Heaven and earth will pass away, he cannot be referring to just a few select people who are currently living, but to all the “genea”, the whole of this age of humankind. For now, we are in that age of humankind. That is before the beginning of creation, there was only God. Humankind did not exist, there was no generation. All of mankind may have existed within God, in some sense, but we had not yet been formed into our present existence, and one day we will all no longer be in our present existence, for the age, the generation of humankind will be no more and we will once again be within or with God. So then when Jesus says that we, humankind, this age or period of time that we live in, will not pass away until all the events leading up to the Day of the Lord happens. However, he also includes that when it does happen, this heaven and this earth will pass away, which agrees with the revelation He gave to John and that there will be a new heaven and a new earth and a new city that will come down out of heaven and there is where we will live with God, being in a new creation, in a new form, no longer humankind, no longer corruptible, no longer perishable, but in an everlasting eternal form with the everlasting word, that will never pass away. It is also interesting the Greek word translated as words, is logos, which means the word, or an expression of thought, or it can also just mean word, as in Jesus is the word, and the Word became flesh. Jesus will never pass away and thus as we are in Christ then we too will never pass away for we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye. So the day we pass away is the day humankind will no longer be and new creation, a new age, the age of eternity exists.

With All Power and Glory

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

WITH ALL POWER AND GLORY

Mark 13:14-27

14 "When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now — and never to be equaled again. 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect — if that were possible. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. 24 "But in those days, following that distress, "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'   26 "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

NIV

Well, we just had to include all the rest of this prophecy of Jesus. There was no way we could divide it up. Of course, he is using some of the words of Daniel here about the Anti-Christ who will stand at the temple and declare himself to be God. However, once again our historians have determined this had to do with the Romans and one of their generals, or regions putting an end to the sacrifices at the temple prior to its destruction. It is possible this is all been done and there is nothing to be done again, or that the Revelation given to John has nothing to do with this at all. However, there are still the ending words of Jesus which somehow our historians and scholars seem to set against a setting that has already happened. The Sun has not been darkened and the moon has just to no give light and the stars have not just fallen from the sky, and the heavenly bodies have not been shaken. In addition, men have not seen the Son of Man, Jesus, coming in the cloud with great power and glory. We have not seen His angels going to the four winds, or to the ends of the earth gathering believers. If all this has happened as with everything else explained away as happened by our historians, then we have no hope whatsoever and we should just throw in the towel. However, we have to remember the only inspired writings are those contained in the canon, or as we call the bible. Yes, all writings are by the hand of man, but the scriptures have been inspired by the Spirit, by God so as to reveal himself to his creation and His intended conclusion of this period of time that we live upon this earth and the beginning of what we might call eternity upon the new earth under the new heaven within a new city. We cannot escape the reality of the revelation Jesus gave to John. It is to come. It has not happened yet, but it will happen someday. We may end this life in this body before it does, like so many before us, but there will be a resurrection, and we will be gathered together to meet our Lord in the air as he appears with all power and glory. But low be to those who have rejected him in their life on this earth, for they will not see what we will, for their destiny is to perish. A sad day for mankind if they are not believers in Jesus Christ. They will not be able to flee from the wrath of God or from the dreadful day the earth is shaken. It is going to be a glorious day when our Jesus we will see when we look upon his face, the one who saved us by his grace, what a day that will be when we see Jesus coming in the clouds with all power and glory.

Standing Firm

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

STANDING FIRM

Mark 13:9-13

 9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

NIV

Once again, we cannot take the whole of what Jesus says for it is much and we need to garner some truth from each of the points that he is making. It does seem as though some of what he tells his disciples is directly related to them and what will happen in their personal lives rather than for all of us believers. It does not seem feasible that we would be handed over to councils and flogged in synagogues. On the other hand, it might seem possible that we might stand before important people and be required to be witnesses to them. The one thing that does appear, but we cannot be certain is that the gospel has reached every nation, or is preached in every nation. There are nations today that absolutely ban any mention of Christianity. If it is to be preached it must be done on the down-low, in secret, and we doubt that is what Jesus means. Still, as long as the gospel has reached all nations, perhaps once, and now is banned because of the rise of some false religion such as Islam, the gospel was once there so that the requirement may have been met. But then Jesus may have meant the nations that were known at the time of speaking these words. We have to come to terms with whether this is all already been accomplished or it has not all happened. It is possible some has and some is still to come as we also need to see the words of Jesus as timeless in the sense that in reality, He is timeless, and He only inserted himself into time for our benefit, that we might be saved and that we might have the full knowledge of His will. Although some of his disciples were arrested and brought to trial, we too have seen believers throughout the world today arrested and given a trial, perhaps a false one, just to be condemned to death. We may someday have to endure the same thing within our country. Perhaps not death at the hands of leaders, but we are on trial in a certain sense, by non-believers. They watch us, they judge us, they are critical of our behavior and our words, that is if we have made it clear that we are followers of Jesus, born again, bible toten, spirit-filled Christians, and not just this average run of the mill somewhat religious person who believes we are Christian because we go to church once in a while. Being a full-blown all-out follower of Jesus can and in some cases, cause division in our family. Again, we have seen in other religions, when someone becomes a follower of Jesus, their family considers them as dead to them. They turn their backs on them as if they were no longer a member of the family. In our country where Christianity is more or less accepted, we still are divided within families when we become this all-out follower of Jesus. Sometimes we are divided by doctrinal issues, sometimes by the sheer refusal by our family to see Jesus as their Lord and Savior and the need to repent of their sin and be born again. They may still believe they are Christians but not like us. On a personal note, I think of my family and how mixed up it was, a father who never cared about God, a mother who was deceived by false religion, and a sister who incorporated Jesus, although not as divine, Allah, Buddha, and Gandhi and some others into some sort of self-developed system of belief. There was still love, but also a great chasm that was never crossed. I preached the gospel, I witnessed, but there was no acceptance, no crossing over from the darkness into the light of Jesus. Although I may think I know their fate, it is not up to me to decide. Still, there is a pain in my heart when I think about them, but I know one thing for sure and that is I will endure unto the end. I will stand firm in Christ. It does not matter if I am not well-liked or even hated because of my faith, I will stand firm to the end.

Birth Pains

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

BIRTH PAINS

Mark 13:1-8

13:1 As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" 2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."  3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?" 5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

NIV

We are still in this same narrative about the temple stones and when it will happen and that the disciples have asked what are the signs that all these stones will be thrown down. These prophetic words of Jesus have been seen as the end times by some and they have yet to be fulfilled, but will surely be. However, the historians such as Josephus have depicted all this as already occurring in the years following the ascension of Jesus. There was a period of great violence within the Roman Empire and four Emperors in a short period of time were murdered by dissidents within the empire. It is recorded that at Caesarea the Jews and the Syrians battled over the rights to the city and twenty thousand Jews were slain. Nation was rising up against nation. It is also recorded that the earth was shaken violently and many cities were overthrown, even Colossae was mentioned. However, there is something else that we need to tend to. There is far more that Jesus tells them that will happen, and our historians have been able to enumerate them as having happened in the years prior to AD70 and the following years. However, Jesus also tells his disciples something later which would indicate that all this is still in the works because he says, "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. This is after he says more about what to expect that we will also get to. What bothers us is that so many of our scholars have taken the view of the historians and see all this as already happened and thus it would appear we have nothing to look forward to, for they have also explained away some bright light in the sky and that before sunset, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding the cities and a great noise, as of the sound of a multitude, was heard in the temple, saying, “Let us remove hence”. Was that Jesus coming in the clouds with his angels for the elect? Then we have nothing to live for, it all has been done and is over and we are all left on our own. But we know that does not fit into all the scripture. We know that some men, even scholars, and historians are like the Sadducees and do not believe in the resurrection, so they explain away everything that points to there being a resurrection of believers. Jesus has not yet come back for us, and he warned his disciples that many would come claiming to be him. But they have never come from heaven nor have they taken anyone back up into heaven, to that place that Jesus has prepared for us and promised that there were many rooms in his Father’s house and that if he went and prepared this place for us, that he would come back from heaven and take us to that place. This has not happened yet, and thus all the things that Jesus prophesied about are still on the events yet to happen. We can be sure that as long as man lives on this earth there will be wars and rumors of wars, and there will also be earthquakes happening and many have happened in our lifetime. There have been great times of famine, even here in America. We have seen the pictures of people standing in soup lines and farmlands barren because of great dust storms that ruined the land and its crops. No, we have not seen the worst yet, for we are still at the beginning of birth pains. Although we have already experienced the new birth, being born again, we will go through one more rebirth in a sense, one more birth pain, as we leave this corruptible body behind in exchange for an incorruptible one. So let us look forward to these birth pains.

The Temple Still Stands

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THE TEMPLE STILL STANDS

Mark 13:1-8

13:1 As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" 2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."  3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?" 5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

NIV

This is just the beginning of a long response to their question. Jesus tells of many things that will happen, some specifically to them, others to the whole of mankind. However, first, let us deal with the circumstances of the temple stones and that not one of them will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down. What we have learned from history and especially from Josephus who was a Jewish historian during the time of the destruction of the temple in AD 70 by the Roman army. Having been to this site, although not actually on the temple mount itself, we are aware there is no temple, not even the stones of its foundation. Jesus predicted this would happen. What Josephus records are that some of the stones that made up the temple were as large as seventy feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet tall. It would be very difficult to calculate the weight of such enormous stones. We have seen stones of this size in the deepest portions of the retaining wall that still stands on the western side of the temple mount. There is a tunnel that has been excavated under the old city along the foundation of this wall. It is amazing how they even moved them into place, and the temple is said to have been made of marble stones. Josephus tells of how the Romans not only destroyed it but burned it. Why such a destruction is a wonder, although it was prophesied and Jesus said it would be so, but still there must have been such hatred by the Romans for the Jewish people within forty years of what seemed to be a peaceful time under the command of Pontus Pilate, who was instructed by Caesar to do just that. After the conquest of the people of a nation, Rome was more about a peaceful occupation and collecting taxes for its own glorification. Still, forty years and the war was in Israel by the hands of the Romans. Today, for the most part, at least in our country, we live in peace. There are believers who are warred against and their lives are destroyed, both in the material sense and even they are put to death by the hands of those who hate them. Here, we may not be openly hated, but there has been a growing movement to remove any evidence of God from the public square. We are still allowed our churches, although some have experienced hate crimes against them. However this movement against God is still growing and there is in a sense a destruction of the truth of God at hand, the tearing down of acknowledging him it at hand. Humanism is on the rise, and the corruption of the seat of power has become the place of worship by many, looking to this powerful overreaching seat of governance for all their needs, being deceived by those who claim that power. Jesus warned his disciples about not being deceived, that many would come in claiming to have the power of salvation, that they were the Messiah. History reveals this is the case as between the time just after Jesus up to the late seventeenth century there are twenty-four names of men who claimed to be the Messiah. But today we may not have a single named person, but it seems we have a whole group of supposed leaders, who appear to want to replace faith in God, with faith in their ability to provide all our needs. In essence, they may have this Messiah complex and many are being deceived. We cannot ever allow this deception to take hold of us, for our faith resides in Christ and Christ alone. We are now the temple of God and we cannot allow any stone to be removed. Although the temple in Jerusalem has been thrown down, We, the temple, still stand.

A Grateful Heart

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

A GRATEFUL HEART

Mark 12:41-44

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.   43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on." 

NIV

It is interesting that Jesus knew all about this poor widow. He knew her two small coins were all that she had. The exact amount in terms of value that we would ascribe to these two coins is something less than one of our pennies, but then we also do not know the value of soft goods or food on that day. Even in our lifetime, we remember paying one nickel for a candy bar, which today would cost us well over a dollar, maybe even two depending on the new improved over-enlarged size. We could do this with nearly all the soft goods and food of our present-day compared to when we were just children. The point being is all we know is that she could have survived the day or the next on the coins she put into the treasury. However, she put all she had, and Jesus knew it. First, we see the divine nature of Jesus, even in his human form. His divine knowledge of her life reveals that he also has this divine knowledge of our lives. Because he compared her giving to those who gave out of their wealth and told his disciples that she gave more, it has to reveal his knowledge of both the wealthy’s and this poor widows' lives. However, the point that Jesus is making is about the heart of the giver. It certainly is not about the truth that we should empty our bank accounts and give all that we have to the church. However, on the other hand, those rich people did give large amounts of money, but it would not cost them any pain of suffering or loss of any ability to enjoy a full meal while wearing their fine clothing in their well-furnished homes.  Then again, their giving may well have been a showing of their wealth, and position in society. But this poor widow made no show, for she had nothing to show, but just a few small coins, nothing of real value, except Jesus said her giving was the most valuable of all. Her heart was right, for if she gave her all, she also must have had complete faith that God would supply all her needs. To be absolutely penniless, without any means whatsoever to buy food, reminds us of the widow who made bread for Elijah as we are told of in 1Kings 17. She was so poor that when Elijah was told to go to her, she was gathering sticks to make a meal for herself and her son so they could die. She was at her last, barely enough oil and flour to make any amount of bread. Yet because she had faith and made what bread she could, all that she had, those jars of oil and flour never ran dry.  In addition, when her son did die, Elijah petitioned the Lord three times as he laid upon the dead boy’s body and God brought him back to life. This widow was rewarded greatly for her faith in giving everything she had, just as this widow with the two small coins would be. This is a heart issue, not an amount issue. We make such a big deal about tithing, giving a mere ten percent out of our wealth. But again it is not about the tithe, it is not about the amount, it is about the attitude of our heart. Do we tithe out of a sense of duty, or out of a heart filled with joy and gratitude? Do we tithe or give any amount because we are given a tax write-off or for that matter have our giving recorded in the church treasury? Surely not, for we give out of our heart, out of our thankfulness to our Lord for all that he has bestowed upon us. Jesus tells us that with what measure we give it will be given unto us. Luke 6:37-38

 38 Give , and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

NIV

Even pressed down, shaken together and running over, it will be poured into our laps, However, that is not the reason this widow gave her two small coins, yet we have to believe that Jesus knew what she gave, he saw to it more was poured into her lap. It is and always has been a heart issue concerning giving to the treasury of the church. When our heart is right, we need not worry about our life, for our Lord will take care of us, he will provide, he will pour, running over into our lives, with the same measure we use, he will measure unto us. We give, not out of compulsion, but out of a grateful heart.

Who's Looking

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

WHO’S LOOKING

Mark 12:38-40

38 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely." 

NIV

Jesus has very strong language against those who pretend to be religious but merely do so for the praise of men. Again Matthew gives us a little more insight into what Jesus was talking about regarding these teachers of the law. Mark just mentions their flowing robes, however, there is more than just their robes. It was the custom of the Jewish men to wear what is called a phylactery on their foreheads during prayer in the synagogue. This was a little black leather box in which four parchments that had four sections of the Law written out. They also had leather bands on their forearm and tassels on their garments were supposed to be of a specific length, however, these teachers made them longer, to show how greater was their position in the synagogue. They made their phylacteries larger as well, as to be more important, making a big show of their importance. Matthew also includes they put heavy loads on men, preaching what is right in the sight of God, but they do not do as they preach, they do not even lift a finger, as Jesus puts it. This can also translate into prayer, and how they prayed on the street corners, with long drawn out prayers, words, and words of prayer, that appear to be spiritual, using words that were not of normal speech. This devouring widows' houses were all about how they would take advantage of the poor widows, giving them counsel, but at a cost, soaking them dry of all their late husband’s resources. We would never do that in regards to the widows, but we might be in danger as far as trying to look more spiritual than we are, especially in our wordy prayers we offer up in the public or church arena. Why do we feel we need to use special words when we talk to God? Do we pray that same way in private as we do in public? Then there is the issue of feeling the need of bowing our heads and closing our eyes. Is that really needed in order to talk to God? Perhaps we have just developed some traditional practices that make us feel better about prayer or communicating with our Lord. Hopefully, we do not consider ourselves in the upper crust of church society because we have some title or position, such as pastor, elder, deacon, board member, or whatever each denomination refers to such people serving in those areas. We understand we all are simple sinners saved by grace and each member of the body of Christ has a function, a calling, so to speak, for some area of service in the body. If a member of our physical body ceases to function as it should, we would be considered in some sense ill, or sick. So it is with the body of Christ. We all are members who need to do our part. Jesus is making that point, that these men, or for the matter, all of us, need not make ourselves look more important than others for the sake of who is looking.

Our Lord

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

OUR LORD

Mark 12:35-37

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, "How is it that the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet." ‘37 David himself calls him 'Lord.' How then can he be his son?" The large crowd listened to him with delight.

NIV

This is somewhat of a difficult truth to understand if we were to look just at how Mark records it and how the language is used. But if we incorporate how Matthew records this conversation and the language he uses, then we can see how this truth fits all together. In addition, we have to look at the Hebrew language of the 110th Psalm, which is what Jesus is quoting. In Matthew, he records that Jesus asked the teachers of the law or the scribes, who they say is the ancestry of the Messiah, maybe not in those exact words, but that is the intended question and of course, they say the Messiah comes from the line of David or is the son of David. The answer Jesus gives is simple in the sense that Yahweh says to Adonai come can sit at my right hand. Therefore the Father says to his Son, or God says to himself, sit at my right hand, which we know is where Jesus is now. The fact the scribes were looking at a human lineage from which the Messiah would come and Jesus was telling them the Messiah or himself was divine, and not human, although he was fully human at the point of this discussion, and still also fully divine. We, on the other hand, have the perfect knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God who sits at the right hand of the Father, for we have the perfect knowledge given to us by the Spirit of God who dwells within us. We are completely convinced of the three in One, and that God is one who manifests himself in three persons, who are all the One and only True God. Now, there are many people, who we have known over the years, who do not see the truth as we do, for they have rejected the prompting of the Spirit and only have their own weak, imperfect human knowledge. They only see Jesus as a good teacher, perhaps even a prophet, and maybe even someone to model how to live an upright life, but only a human, who came from the line of King David, a historical figure who is dead like all others who lived and died before us. Yet, David called Jesus Lord, or the Messiah Lord, so that even in human thinking, it would be incorrect to think the Lord was solely from the line of David. So if David who was the king of Israel referred to the Lord as his master, how much more should we, who are not kings of anything refer to our Lord as not only our Savior but as our Lord and Master. Although he came not to be served, but to serve, we have been called to wait upon the Lord, or hope or trust upon the Lord, to love him with all our being, and live as obedient children, as sons and daughters of God. Just as Paul in his letter to the Colossians insists the children should obey their parents, we are the children of God and therefore our duty is to obey our Father who is in Heaven. But how well do we do that? Still, here in this narrative, the point is that Jesus is the Lord, and it is the relationship between David and the Lord that Jesus is referring to and therefore he is also pointing to our relationship with Him, our Lord, and we have the perfect, Spirit revealed, knowledge of what it means that he is our Lord.

 

Our Neighbor

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

OUR NEIGHBOR

Mark 12:29-31

29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.   30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'   31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." 

NIV

Having considered loving God, we turn our attention to loving our neighbor as ourselves. What seems really obvious is how much we love ourselves. Which of us would ever do any harm to ourselves, at least purposefully? In all reality, we actually do not know if we are doing ourselves any harm by what we eat or don’t eat, or the lack of exercise or whatever. But the idea is that we do not try to cause ourselves any harm or inflict guilt and unforgiveness upon ourselves. We may even make good excuses for ourselves when we do that which we should not be doing. So to that point, we are alright we ourselves, we love ourselves in that sense. So then we would be of the same opinion toward our neighbors. We would not purposefully cause them any harm, but rather always trust them and protect them, or rather protect their honor. We would never gossip about any neighbor, for that is harmful to their character. We are certainly in no position to judge them in any way, for who of us could cast that first stone? How would we ever think of them as anyone of less integrity than ourselves? How could we think more highly of ourselves than them? How could we ever be rude to them, or on the other hand envious or jealous of them? Are we not all equal in the eyes of God and therefore then we should see ourselves and our neighbors as equals. Of course, the question is as to who is our neighbor? Jesus was asked that question and he answers with the parable regarding the injured man along the road and who had mercy on him, which was the Good Samaritan, rather than the other two who passed him by. So then although the Greek word used here for a neighbor could imply a close friend, or fellow or a Christian, it can also be used as simply another man, a countryman, another person living in the same country or we could extend that to the same earth. Our fellow human beings are our neighbors that therefore there is no room for hatred toward anyone, although it seems we are witnessing an increasing amount of that by so many. Our world has gone farther and farther away from God and we are seeing more and more hatred, even coming from those who are supposed to be leaders of this country. All love for one another has seemed to vanish and we cannot allow that infection to infiltrate into our lives. Just as we are eager to have a vaccine against some virus that has the possibility to kill us, this infection of hatred will kill us in another way. The only vaccine against this virus of hatred that has infected the world is the word of God, and his love for us, that we might love others. We have considered all that fruit of the Spirit as being for others, more than for ourselves, that fruit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. So then it would be or should be easy to love our neighbor, for we have the love of God dwelling in us, lest we forget that we are but sinners saved by grace.

Any Changes?

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

ANY CHANGES?

Mark 12:28-34

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.   30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'   31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."  32 "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

NIV

We know this to be the truth, yet have we really grasped the fullness of this truth? Why is it that we still want to pay so close attention to the commands of God, especially the Ten Commandments when Jesus has said that within these two commands all the law and the prophets hang on these two, which Mark does not tells us, but Matthew records that Jesus said that as well? Jesus said that he did not come to cancel the law, but to fulfill the law, which means that if we are in Christ then we have, in essence, fulfilled all the law and the prophets and we are left with these two that Jesus says are the first and second most important of all the commands. That would have to mean these two are more important than the Ten Commandments as well as any of the Old Testament commands given to Israel. The question that remains is what does loving the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength look like. It seems easy enough to understand loving our neighbor as ourselves, but then we fail so miserably at that all too often, because there are just some neighbors we simply do not like or people that just rub us the wrong way, or are rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. But, let’s go back to loving God with our whole being. How does that work exactly? Have we replaced loving him with the idea of doing good deeds as our form of loving God, or our neighbor for that matter? It is interesting that in Greek the word heart is sometimes seen as thoughts, but in this context, because Jesus included the mind, which that Greek word means deep thoughts, that which we study and contemplate, the word for heart is also interpreted as feelings, as in the feelings of the heart, or our emotions. Sometimes youth confuses love as an emotion when in reality we should decide to love, as this command implies. We decide to love the Lord our God, we decide to ponder on His deep truths, to study his word, looking into it for its truth in our lives. We decide to love Him with our spirit, which is who we actually are, as it is also called our soul, or our immortal soul, or our core being. Then we are also to love him with all the force of our being, our strength, every ounce of force we have, all our power, or ability. Would this not mean when we take all four of those areas of our life, that there is nothing else left that is as important that God in our lives? How then do we still spend so much time in the pursuit of our own desires? It’s not that we don’t do things at church or are involved in some portion of ministry, for we are, and we love doing whatever it is the Lord has gifted us with, or what member of His body we are, what function He has assigned to us. But what is the central focus of our lives? Do we just do this sort of part-time, as it were, while we spend far more of our time or days doing that which we have planned out, as far as our careers, or plans for life, such as working toward that retirement plan or whatever? Certainly, the Lord has placed us on this earth and it does require effort to sustain ourselves as he told Adam that he was to work by the sweat of his brow all the days of his life for his sustenance. So we do have to work for our sustenance, yet all while doing that we are to love the Lord our God with all we are, every fiber of our being, so that all we do is for his kingdom, as we seek him and his kingdom first and foremost above all else. Maybe we need to leave this loving our neighbor till later, for that is entirely a horse of a different color. So, let us just consider if we could improve on loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and ability and if that would make any changes in how we live our daily lives. Do we need any changes?  

The Reality of Resurrection

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THE REALITY OF RESURRECTION

 

Mark 12:18-27

 18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" 24 Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising — have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" 

NIV

Here come the Sadducees with a question they do not even believe would happen because their question is based on a resurrection, which they do not believe in. It is interesting that they thought they could trap Jesus and at the same time show how smart they think they are regarding the Law of Moses. However, Jesus gets right to the point right away telling them they are in error because they do not know the scriptures and they do not know the power of God, which it would seem he is telling them there is a resurrection and God is going to prove it with Jesus. He does not say if the dead rise, he makes sure to say when the dead rise so that they are being told they are in error about everything. Death is only the gateway into eternal life for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all died in the flesh, however, Jesus makes sure to let them and all of us know that all three of those men are alive, living an eternal life in the presence of God. Some would say this is our great hope, but it is not a hope, it is a reality. It is strange how the Mormons conduct sealing ceremonies, even after one of them has died, having someone stand in proxy for the dead partner so that a married couple remains married in the afterlife when Jesus makes it clear that is not the case. It is sad in some sense that the one person here on earth that we love so very much and spend most of our lives with sharing everything together will not be married in that sense when getting to heaven. Certainly, we will know each other as we will with all the others that we know here on this earth, but there is no marriage other than all of us being the bride of Christ. Nevertheless, we all will be together in the presence of our Lord, and in that there is a great joy. This idea of us being like angels is rather interesting as well, not in the sense of having wings which some have portrayed angels, but that we will be able to do that which angels do, travel at the speed of thought, or whatever. It does appear, at least as far as we have observed that angels have an identity, a name and the ones we have been given have been what seems to be male names. Nevertheless, that may reveal we still will have our genders if that matters. The main point is that there is a resurrection, it is a reality, and we all will be together, all the same, all with Jesus. What else matters?  

 

God's Due

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

GOD’S DUE

Mark 12:13-17

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn't we?" But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it."  16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. 17 Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him.

NIV

First, we were told that the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders tried to trap him, and now they have sent the Pharisees and the Herodians to try to catch him in his words, next we are going to see the Sadducees try, but for now, let us consider this question and the response of Jesus and how, or if that applies in our lives. There is a point of interest here in that there are two types of currency in Israel at this time. There were the Roman coins such as this Denarius, and the Jewish Shekel, the fact they had a Roman coin available to give to Jesus was a problem. The annual tribute to the temple was to be in the shekel, but the tax to the Roman tribute was to be in the Denarius. This could have been what Jesus was referring to in that he meant for them to go ahead and pay Caesar his due with the coin that had his image on it, the Denarius, but that did not relieve them from paying tribute to the temple of God in their own currency, the Shekel. However, there is also this idea that God is due far more than an annual tribute of money. Jesus was most likely telling them to give God what is God’s as a way of telling them they should give God their hearts, lives, property, and influence all to God, as his due. We know they were not as concerned about God as they were about their own influence over the people,  their positions, and their wealth. They dressed in the finished of clothes and pretended to be religious on the street corner, so to speak. Here again, we could take this as a lesson in that it has been true in some cases, in some churches, of course, not all churches, but some, that the people with the most money have the greatest influence in the church. They get picked to be the elders, or church board, or whatever churches call the highest group of influencers who gather to direct the affairs of the church. The average parishioner, or congregate has little influence over the direction of the church. Jesus is not interested in this form of worship, or church, but that the church, the members of His body give their heart, their lives, and their wealth to God. This does not mean we give our homes and the whole of our bank account, but that we give God ourselves, our lives, all that we are, to God. Of course, we need money to live in this life, Jesus was not telling them to give it all, but to give God was is His, and we are His, so we give him ourselves, our heart and soul. We do not split our loyalty between God and money, which goes back to what Jesus said about serving two masters. We do not live for the pursuit of money, but for the pursuit of God. We are told to seek first His kingdom and He will add the stuff to our lives, he will provide the way for us to live in this life, we follow Him, not the ways of the world, not the pursuit of wealth. We give to the world what is the worlds, so we pay our taxes in money, but we give to God that which he is due, ourselves. We belong to God, not the world.  

Yielding A Profit

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

YIELDING A PROFIT

Mark 12:1-12

12:1 He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 7 "But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven't you read this scripture: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

12 Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

NIV

There is no question that this parable is about how Israel treated many of the prophets that God sent to them, His vineyard. Israel is known as the chosen people of God. He elected Israel to reveal himself to the whole world. The idea here is that a vineyard is a valuable portion of land, as it produces profit, it is the source of income for the owner and it is not usual for the owner to rent out his vineyard, so as to not labor in it himself, but only receive a portion of the profit from his renters. So Jesus used a parable that was very common to all the people. From history, we know many of the prophets were killed. It is said that some were sawed in half, others stoned. But Jesus is also talking about himself and that those who are supposed to be Israel’s leaders will kill Jesus thinking they will maintain their leadership instead of the rightful heir. How do we apply this truth to our lives today, if indeed we are supposed to? Is this only a narrative of past events for the purpose of informing us about Israel’s rejection of Jesus? Surely we are not in any way wanting to kill Jesus, for he was already killed, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day and appeared to many then he ascended to the right hand of the Father and there intercedes for us. There is a sense that as we might want to keep some of the profits for ourselves. That is, as we have thought about before, that we may want to maintain a certain amount of control over our own lives, seeking to enjoy the fruit or the praise for our labor, rather than giving the Lord his due. However, we could see ourselves as the vineyard of God in the sense that we are his valuable people because we have been given the right to be called children of God, due to our accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So then, as the vineyard of God, we should be producing the fruit of the vine. We have been compared to the branches as Jesus is the vine. He has used that parable about us remaining in the vine and that we would produce much fruit. Of course, in the sense of a real vineyard that would be grapes, and they after harvest would be pressed and the juice of the fruit would run down into the pit, or cistern and gathered to be fermented into wine. We, on the other hand, are to produce the fruit and it is to be pressed out of us and gathered up for others to enjoy the wine, so to speak. This also can be seen that as we produce the fruit, we are doing so for the profit of the owner, who is our Lord. We do not produce the fruit for ourselves, but for the Lord. We have seen this in our also being compared to that fruit tree that is planted by the water that brings forth its fruit in season. Trees and vines bear fruit so it can be picked to be enjoyed by others. We are the vineyard of God, let us yield a profit for Him.

Truth Be Known

 

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

TRUTH BE KNOWN

Mark 11:27-33

27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?" 29 Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John's baptism — was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!"  31 They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' 32 But if we say, 'From men' . . . ." (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) 33 So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." 

NIV

The truth be known is the theme of this narrative. Although Jesus had all the authority to heal people, to do miracles, and to even raise people from the dead, the Pharisees did not want to acknowledge the truth about him. Non-believers will find anything or question everything regarding the authority of Jesus so as to not acknowledge that he is the Son of God, that, in fact, He is God. These Chief priests, who are supposed to be honoring and serving God in the temple and the teachers of the law who are supposed to be fully versed in all of scripture, including all the prophets who speak directly about the Messiah and reveal who Jesus is, and the elders who are supposed to be the senior Sanhedrin members all refuse to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, the long-awaited Savior of Israel. It would appear, as we have been revealed to before that they did not want anyone taking their power over the people away from them and Jesus was gaining more and more influence over the people and so these false leaders, who were only in for the power, and prestige hated Jesus and wanted him dead. It is amazing how power can corrupt even the most well-intentioned, when given that power and honor that comes with the position. Truth holds no honor among types like these three groups Mark tells us about here. So Jesus, knowing their intent to dishonor him, to trap him into something they can then accuse him of speaking against God, uses the truth to trap them instead. They could not bring themselves to even deal with the truth because as they considered it, because of their greed for power and control over the people, they would not answer with anything other than “We don’t know”. The question we should be asking internally is if we would rather ignore, or not want to acknowledge certain truths, in order to maintain control over our own lives. Sure, we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and that mainly maybe because we cannot save ourselves, and we want to go to heaven when we die. But what about all the truths within the scripture? We have dealt with so many that are centered on faith, around believing everything Jesus said, as well as all the inspired epistles. How much of the truth from the word of God are we actually applying in our lives? Just the simple things like accepting His rest, His peace, and His joy are at times difficult as we face various aspects of life. However, what we have to consider is how much of the truth do we want to set aside so that we can make our own choices, pursue our own agendas, or our own passions? What we should be doing is looking into the scriptures and allowing the truth to be known.