Month: February 2017

Re: Verse reading–Mark 14:12-31 (day three)

“‘Surely you don’t mean me?’”  It’s hard to take an inside look.  How about this hilarious 2002 statistic from pollster George Barna: Ninety percent of pastors rate themselves as above-average preachers and teachers.  Ninety percent are above average?  Think about that.  Anyway, Jesus kept saying life with him requires that a person deny himself.  But we say we just need a little margin, a little breathing space, a little vacation from the frustration.  If we can have that, we’ll be golden.  No, Jesus says, we don’t need that.  What we need is God’s mercy in the face of our depravity.  As long as we’re in surely-not-I mode, we won’t believe for a moment that our own wickedness is gumming up the works.  And so we claim to be without sin.

Re: Verse reading–Mark 14:12-31 (day two) After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. vs 26

For as long as I can remember I have been haunted by this verse. Both Matthew and Mark Jesus singing with his disciples. There it is stuck between the Supper and the Garden. Why is it so important? What can be gained from this part of the story? This was the final moment that the eleven remaining disciples would be together with Jesus before the cross and his visit to them post-resurrection. The final act in this final gathering was to sing. They sang not as an obligation or as a function of their “ritual.” There is strength to be gained from corporate worship. Jesus, knowing what was before him, requested that they sing together, and in that picture of worship there is unity, power, and strength.

If Jesus, who would go on to endure the cross, would choose to sing before having to face it alone why wouldn’t you? If Jesus models for us how we are to face life’s challenges, then shouldn’t we all line up to sing together before we face the storm? I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to worship this week!

Re: Verse reading–Mark 14:12-31 (day one)
(See also Matthew 26:17-46, Luke 22:7-38, John 13-17)

He planned it carefully.  A final time to be with the twelve.  Just them.

That night, all over Jerusalem, families were celebrating Passover.  In a real sense these men were family.

The arrangements were made in secret.  Jesus did not want this time to be disturbed.  Peter and John left the group earlier in the day.  Went into the city.  Found the prearranged (?) room.  Went to the temple.  Sacrificed a lamb.  Came back to prepare the Passover meal.  Jesus and the rest arrived later.

Nearly 1/3 of gospel material is about the last week of Jesus’ life.  And nearly 1/3 of the material on the last week deals with this night.  Passover. Washing Feet. Judas leaves.  The Lord’s supper.  The Lord’s words (John 14-17). Final hymn. Gethsemane.

The gospel writers all agree.  If you want to understand the Lord, you should pay attention to the events and meaning of this night.

Re: Verse reading–Mark 11:12-33 (day seven)

“And He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ “–v 14

Why don’t warnings work?  They don’t usually. Why do most of us insist on learning things the hard way?  Who teaches us to think that we are “Ten feet tall and bullet-proof”, that none of the warnings of God will ever happen to us or to our families?  Why didn’t the people of Jerusalem believe Jesus that disaster was coming?  Why couldn’t they see the darkness of their own hearts? Why didn’t they repent?

And us?  Why don’t we see that the “God of wrath” is the “God of the path”, that His love is, at this very moment, urging us to follow Him out of danger?

And, why was Jesus so confident?  Why did he teach, with unbending HOPE, that faith and prayer and forgiveness would still work for us?  Even in times of collapse!

Just wondering.

Re: Verse reading–Mark 11:12-33 (day five)

As parents, leaders, and believers we look for “teachable moments” (to grow and mature in our relationship with Christ, to pass on the faith to our children and the next generations, and to make disciples of those in our influence and networks)
His time on earth is growing shorter and shorter. Jesus is well aware and uses teachable moments more than ever. What was on His mind and heart? What were His teachable moments only days before His suffering and death?  Mark 11 has several.

The Lord sees past outward appearances of religion and looks for true faith (fruit) as evidence of love for the Lord. (fig tree)

Prayer is a huge part of the growth, maturity, and strength of a vibrant faith. (temple and teaching on prayer)

God has a larger and clearer view of tradition, custom, and circumstances than we do. (Jews wanted their Messiah to cleanse the temple from the Gentiles, Jesus cleansed the temple for the Gentiles)

What are we sensing, seeing, and learning??

Re: Verse reading–Mark 11:12-33 (day four)               

“My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all the nations.” (Isaiah 56:7)  What exactly did Jesus mean?  Israel had always considered God to be their own private, personal God…they did not want to share Him with anyone outside the nation of Israel.  In Isaiah 56, the prophet taught that the temple should be open for all people.  There were no temples to worship God anywhere except Israel, so a foreigner had to travel to Israel, from wherever in the world, just to have a place to worship God.  (And we worry about people having to drive downtown to worship together!)  When Jesus entered the Temple and saw all of the animals for sale and the ‘religious vendors’ selling their goods, He recognized that no one could worship and pray and praise God in this environment.  Israel was supposed to be God’s lighthouse…a place where the world could see God for who He was.  At the crossroads of the world and possessing the presence of God in their midst, Israel sought personal gain over faithful obedience.

When was the last time we asked God to examine our lives?  Do we offer “all the peoples” an opportunity to know God?  Is our ‘Temple’ cleansed for worship?

Re: Verse reading–Mark 11:12-33 (day three)

“‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!’”  Of course it did.  Jesus spoke without bombast, without pretentiousness.  This is how God uses words.  He spoke all heaven and earth into being.  He gives us power like that—not to that degree, but like it.  We speak encouragement, and people start to hope.  We speak in agreement with God, and others see God in a new light.  We speak a plan to help a person in need, and those we call on do what we ask.  Work that matters begins with words.  The disciples act as if there is no connection between words and results.  But then again they’ve seen a lifetime full of empty words.  These times call for true words.  May we learn them from God, and speak them to one another and to the world.