Author: Don Guthrie

RE Verse reading–Mark 12: 28-34 (day six)
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied.  “You are right.”  (vs 32)  Jesus is brilliant.  Morally.  Spiritually.  “O how I love Thy law.  It is my meditation all the day.  Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies.”  (Psalm 119:97-98)  His answer to the scribe’s question was breathtaking in balance.  It perfectly diagrammed the duty of man.  First we are to look upward to God.  Worship.  As we perceive His character we are to emulate.  “You be Holy, because I am Holy”.  Second we are to look outward.  If God is love then we must love.  Him and others.  The opposite of self-centeredness.  Third we are to look inward.  Our obedience must be in the heart rather than an outward conformity to rules.  What perfect perspective the Lord has on true life!  What practical wisdom He has for all who declare Him Lord!  May we all say with the scribe, “Well said, teacher, you are right!”

Mark 12:28-34 (Day two)
Mark rarely tells of someone from the religious establishment being commended by Jesus. “You’re not far from the kingdom of God” is a glowing commendation. What made him different? Was it his knowledge of the Bible? He clearly knew not only the facts of the Old Testament but also the intention behind it. Possibly. But there were other Jewish teachers who discerned a deeper significance. Mark notes two characteristics unique to this man. First, he is the first of the scribes to approach Jesus alone. Coming to Jesus requires the courage to come alone if necessary. Second, he “heard…and saw that Jesus answered them well.” These details appear insignificant, but they mark out the characteristics of a true disciple. A follower of Jesus must hear, see and understand. Not to have these abilities is evidence of a “hardened,” unbelieving heart (8:17-18). So check your heart. Do you have courage to follow Jesus “though none go with me”? Do you perceive that Jesus answers “well” the questions of our day?

RE Verse reading–Mark 12:28-34 (day one)
“Hear , O Israel, the Lord our God is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all of your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  (vs 29)  It seems strange for Jesus to say that God is one.  Isn’t Jesus the proof that God is two?  Two persons, the Holy Spirit being three as we speak of Trinity?  Jesus means one in essential being, one in life, one in mind, nature and value.  A brief review of paganism (ancient and modern) will demonstrate the importance of this doctrine.  What if attention to “the sun god” had the possiblity of offending the “moon god”?  Endless cycle of jealousy if ultimate reality is many parts.  Jesus declared what the Jews knew.  There is ONLY ONE ultimate reality.  One person to be satisfied.  We do not (and should not) divide our attention. ONE God.  ALL of me.  Simple.  True.  Life-changing.

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:45-52, 8:1-21 (day seven)
“He came towards them. . . walking on the sea.  He intended to pass them by.”  (6:49)  It is not God’s purpose to remove all struggle from life.  Even for His children.  Problems can have positive educational effect.  “If I never had a problem, I wouldn’t know that God could solve them”, sang Andre Crouch.  “Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines”  says the writer of Hebrews.  Not every struggle is caused by Christ, but every struggle is useful to Christ as He conforms us to His image.  Sometimes He intends to pass us by as we stuggle, knowing that the time is not right to remove it.  Our hearts still have something to learn.  In the storm and in the stuggles, we come to know Him better, and ourselves.  “Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:10)

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:45-52, 8:1-21 (day six)
“After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray”  (6:46)  When Scripture says “be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger”, (James 1:19) it makes a huge requirement.  None of us does this easily.  A certain caution is required.  It makes me wonder.  What was Jesus praying about that night when he sent the disciples ahead?  Just speculation, but surely it was already obvious to Jesus how SLOWLY they were understanding His words.  Was He frustrated?   Was part of the night of prayer dedicated to knowing what He should say and when?  A lesson for both home and church.  I never regret taking time to pray about the things and people who disappoint before I say anything. I appreciate the same when I am the one needing correction.  “I have prayed for you”, Jesus told Peter before his great/public failure.  (Luke 22:32)  A wise step for us all, I think.

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:45-52; 8:1-21 (day three)
“Don’t you remember?” (8:18)  From time to time, scarce food became plenteous.  Fierce storms would recede.  Those who witnessed Jesus pushing back on what they saw as a cold and menacing universe thought that surely here was someone worth following.  But they had it wrong.  Jesus was not winning an occasional skirmish with a cruel cosmos.  He was Maker of heaven and earth.  If they would pay attention, they would see that he carried himself as a man who knew intimately everything about “summer and winter and springtime and harvest; sun, moon and stars in their courses above.”  Jesus is unafraid of this universe because it is his.  Here is someone worth following indeed—not because he bullies the universe into submission, but because he is its Maker, its Lord.  And yours.

RE Verse reading–Mark 6:45-52, 8:1-21 (day one)
“Then He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign?  (6:12)  “Then He said to them (disciples), ‘Do you not yet understand?’ ” (8:21)  Salvation is a free gift.  No argument.  It is possible, however, to be genuinely saved and still a great disappointment to the Savior.  When means of grace are ignored, when He provides the necessary proof and we still don’t “get it”, we face His frustration and even discipline.  “But I have this against you” Jesus says to the Ephesian church. (Revelation 2:4)  Mark 6 and 8 is a story of a patient Savior who is disappointed with the lack of progress in his disciples.  Even in the face of repeated miraculous events, they seem unable to grasp and apply the obvious truth. . . God Himself is among us and worthy of our trust/obedience.  Do we ever disappoint Him?  Do we lag behind when we should be “getting forward?”

RE Verse reading–Mark 7:1-23 (day seven)
“For it is from within, from the human heart that evil intentions come. . . and they defile a person”  (vs 21)  The word that we translate defile is koinoo, “to make common”.  (Notice the similarity  to koinonia, “to have things in common”)  Sad but true, the sins of mankind are “normal behavior”.  When any of us act in ways detailed in vs 21, we are being “so ordinary”.  Want to be special?   Uncommon?   “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful who will not allow you  to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will provide a way of escape also, so that you may be able to endure it.”  (1 Corinthians 10:13)  The only way for an individual to rise above the ordinary life experience and eternal destiny of the human race is to God.  A trust/obedience relationship with Him makes a soul uncommon.  Uncommonly beautiful.

RE Verse reading–Mark 7:1-23 (day six)
“For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders.”  A subtle clue.  Unnoticed by most readers.  When Mark takes time to explain the tradition of handwashing, he signals  his intended audience was probably Roman.  Culturally sensitive.  A thoughtful act toward outsiders who would have otherwise been lost or confused.  Do we do the same?  Are we regularly and deeply aware of the people outside of religious circles, those who require some explanation in order to comprehend what we are doing or saying?  In Colossians 1, Paul says, “We proclaim Him, admonishing EVERY man and teaching EVERY man. . .that we may present EVERY man complete in Christ.”  (vs 28)  If we have the same purpose, we cannot be satisfied to preach only to insiders or people who easily understand our message.  With great thoughtfulness we must address our message to a wider audience.

RE Verse reading–Mark 7:1-23 (day one)
“There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”  (vs 15)  One difference that Jesus had with the Judaism of His day was its externalism.  Over attention to what was touched, done or eaten.  The issue for Christ was deeper–in the heart.  The heart is the “inner man” consisting of both thoughts and intentions.  See Hebrews 4:12.  The heart is who we really are.  It is the place that is either cleansed by grace through faith or remains resistant to the Lordship of Christ.  Part of Jesus’ purpose was to expose the human heart in all of its deceitfulness.  Jeremiah 17:9.  An urgent warning to us lest we rely on religious tradition and duty (even done sincerely) to reach deep enough inside to address and cleanse the real problem.  “This people honors me with their lips, but their HEARTS are far from me.”  (vs 6)