Mark 12:35-44 - Looking carefully

Jesus has received a bit of a grilling.  Now it's his turn to ask questions and teach people.  He opens their eyes to himself, the religious leaders and a normal lady no-one cares about.  It's stunning stuff...

Mark 12:35-44

Jesus points out something about himself.  People at the time were expecting the Messiah - the one prophesied about throughout their history that would come from God and rescue them once and for all.  Jesus is helping them see that this Messiah they're waiting for would be God himself (which is why David could call him 'Lord') but also from the human line of David (which is why the title 'Son of David' is used).   He's hinting at the fact that he is the Messiah: the God-man.  Jesus is fully human and descended from David's family line but he's also fully God.  He's getting the people to look more carefully at what kind of Messiah they should be expecting.

Then Jesus gets people to look more carefully at their religious leaders.  They look important, honourable and close to God but Jesus sees them for what they really are: hypocrites.  They won't get away with it in the end.  It's not about religion.  

Next, Jesus gets his disciples to look carefully at the rich people making big offerings and one lady who gives a small offering but it's all she has.  He's saying, 'It's not about the rich, it's about people who love God.'  It's not about money. 

So Jesus is getting people to look at things more carefully.  They should be looking for a Messiah who is God himself and also from the line of David.  And they shouldn't assume the Messiah will favour the religious or the rich.  God's more interested in people's genuine love for him than in their money or their religion.  This is only the beginning of what he wants them to understand about himself.

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Mark 12:28-34 - Love God, love others

Jesus has received many questions and everyone's motives are so different.  Some want to get Jesus in trouble, others want to prove he's wrong.  Now at last, we see a question from someone who seems to have decent motives...

Mark 12:28-34

Here's a guy who asks Jesus an interesting and sincere question, hoping for a reasonable and insightful answer.  He probably doesn't yet realise Jesus is God in the flesh - the messiah predicted throughout the Old Testament but he's clearly intrigued enough to ask an honest question.  It's exactly the kind of heart Jesus is looking for.  The other religious people are too religious to see the truth but this guy loves God more than his religion and is ready to learn.

And this time, Jesus doesn't need to answer with another question to expose any hidden agenda because there isn't one.  He answers clearly and directly.  Loving God and loving others.  These two commands come from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18 and Jesus says these two are the most important ones.  In Matthew's account, he records Jesus saying, 'All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments' (Matthew 22:40).  In other words, everything God expects from his people begins with loving him above all and then loving others like he loves them.  Loving God first means learning to love what he loves and this leads to the second one as we learn to love people like God does.

So for example, why is it wrong to tell lies?  Well there are lots of reasons but the best reason not to is because we love God and God is truth.  There is no falsehood in him and we're learning to love truth like he does.  Why is it wrong to murder?  Again, there are lots of reasons but the best reason is that we love God and he is the giver of life and we're learning to love and value life as he does.  God is looking first of all for us to love him back and be like him and here's one man who is aiming to do just that.  

Someone with sincere motives is ready to get real with Jesus and it silences everyone.  Who's seriously going to ask another question after that?  Certainly not anyone with selfish motives.  The Herodians, Pharisees and Sadducees don't dare question him further.

Jesus says this man is not far from his kingdom and I think it's because he's ready to believe what God says, trust in what God's doing and follow wherever God leads.  We're not told the rest of this man's story but my best guess is that he later realised who Jesus is, believed his words, trusted in his work on the cross and started following him for the rest of his life.

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Mark 12:18-27 - Resurrection and marriage

The Pharisees and Herodians have had their go, now it's the Sadducees' turn to question Jesus...

Mark 12:18-27

The law the Sadducees are quoting comes from Deuteronomy 25:5.  In ancient Israel, to be a childless widow made you vulnerable and one of the weakest in that society.  So this law from God for his people was to make sure that women were protected and had family and financial security, even when their husbands had died.   

The Sadducees don't believe in life after death and so they've concocted this deliberately ridiculous scenario where seven brothers are fighting over the same wife in heaven.  They hope that Jesus will see just how ridiculous the notion of resurrection really is but in fact, it's really just their notion of resurrection that's ridiculous because they've missed the whole point of living forever.  God doesn't want people to live with him in heaven just so they can carry on where they left off.  If the Sadducess knew their scriptures better (our Old Testament), they would have realised God's plan all along is for us to be his people and for him to be our God (Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12, Jeremiah 7:23, 11:4, 24:7, 30:22, 31:1, 31:33, 32:38, Ezekiel 11:20, 14:11, 34:30, 36:28, 37:23, 37:27, Hosea 2:23, Zechariah 8:8, 13:9)!  Heaven is not about carrying on as we are but about being in perfect relationship with God forever.  The whole Bible is about this love story and everything points to Jesus as the one who would make it possible by his life, death and resurrection from the dead.

So in heaven, for those who have trusted and followed Jesus, it's not about being married to other people but about being married to God (Revelation 19:9, 21:1-4).  Even the best marriages on earth are just miniature pointers to this and so when it happens, the pointers will be redundant because we'll have the real thing.  

Steve Curtis Chapman sings a song called 'More to this Life' and in the chorus it says:

But there's more to this life than living and dying,
More than just trying to make it through the day;
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see,
And there's more than this life alone can be

Mark 12:13-17 - Right on the money!

The religious types are riled up about Jesus and are trying to catch him out again but Jesus sees right through their hypocrisy...

Mark 12:13-17

The Pharisees and the Herodians would have disagreed on the issue of paying taxes to Caesar and so they're an unlikely tag-team but here we see them co-operating because of their mutual agenda to get evidence against Jesus.  They're not looking to Jesus to solve their problem.  They want to make one!

The question is a tricky one.  If Jesus openly opposes paying taxes to Caesar, the Herodians would be able to accuse him of treason, which could land him in a lot of trouble.  If he speaks in favour of taxes, the Pharisees and the rest of his fellow Jews, oppressed by the Roman Empire, might start to have a serious problem with him.  Either way they're hoping that Jesus will say something to drop himself in it and eventually get himself killed.

Jesus is insightful and he answers the question with another question to expose their motives.  'Why are you trying to trap me?' (v15).  Unlike the religious leaders who are using flattery and dishonesty, Jesus doesn't have anything to hide and so he can speak plainly and get right to the real issue.  He knows they can't and won't answer this question though, so he continues.  By asking about the inscription on the coin, Jesus is getting them to think about God's perspective and agenda rather than their own.  They're more interested in their own position of control than in what God is doing through Jesus.

This is about people's perspective and priorities in this world.  Jesus is saying, 'Let Caesar have his money but let God have you!'  The religious types have largely forgotten about God and Jesus skillfully challenges their priorities.

To what extent is your 'religion' getting in the way of God?  Or to what extent are your priorities preventing you from getting to know Jesus properly?

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Mark 12:1-12 - In for the kill

Jesus has unsettled the religious leaders by asking them a question they don't dare to answer because of their pride and fear.  And he's not done with them yet...

Mark 12:1-12

The story Jesus tells here is about God, his people and the stubbornness of some who always respond with aggressive doubts like the religious leaders who are listening.

God is the man who works hard in the story to establish the vineyard.  Centuries ago, God had promised Abraham land and descendants that would become a great nation to bless the whole world (Genesis 12:1-3).  God had repeatedly rescued and restored Israel from their enemies, even when it was their fault they were in trouble.  He had tended them like a vineyard and raised them like the perfect loving parent (Hosea 11:1-4).

The servants that get killed in the story are the prophets - God's messengers who were sent to call Israel back to God every time they forgot him.  The prophets were frequently ignored, mocked, beaten and killed and God's heart is broken about this (Matthew 23:37).  Jesus knows that the religious leaders hearing this story have the same stubborn hearts that killed previous prophets and he knows that they want to kill him too.

Jesus is clearly saying that he's the son in the story and the tenants are those who would oppose him.  He's claiming to be the last and only hope for people and he's accusing the religious leaders of opposing God himself.  Jesus even goes as far as to point out that those who oppose him will also kill him and the result will be that God hands over his kingdom family to others who will believe, trust and follow him.

The religious leaders are furious about the story because they understand the accusation all too well.  They're way past recognising their pride problem and are subconsciously set on fulfilling exactly what Jesus' story predicts.  Their anger at what Jesus has said ironically demonstrates that he's right.

In this section of Mark's account, we're seeing that Jesus was at odds with the religious types of his day.  Religion is not always right and religious people are not always good.  Jesus is asking questions and telling stories that are exposing people for who they really are.  And we also get the strong sense that he's only just getting started.  There will be bigger clashes to come.

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Mark 11:27-33 - Questioning authority

Jesus' authority is questioned and yet again, he replies a question with another question...

Mark 11:27-33

The religious types (priests, pharisees, etc) are increasingly annoyed at Jesus and their question is loaded with pride and arrogance.  When they ask Jesus what authority he has, it's more of a complaint than a question.  They're not interested in the truth.  They just want him to stop what he's doing and go away.

Jesus handles them with a question that cuts right through to the real issue.  By asking them about what authority John the baptist had, he exposes their fear of losing their own perceived authority over the people.  Notice how the truth has nothing to do with their consideration of how to answer.  Their religious pride comes first.  They don't want to be embarrassed or exposed. 

The challenge from Jesus is this: 'Get real with me and I'll get real with you.'  If we bring our true selves to Jesus, with all our mess and embarrassing failure and insecurities, maybe then we'll be able to discover the truth about him.  But if we hang on to our pride and hypocrisy, we'll walk away like these guys did - disappointed.

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Mark 11:12-26 - Angry like Jesus

Jesus gets mildly frustrated and then really angry...

Mark 11:12-26

Jesus is hungry and I think a little frustrated that there's no figs on the fig tree but this is nothing compared to how angry he gets when there's no prayer in the house of prayer.  At least the fig tree could say it wasn't the season for figs but those who had turned the temple into a market didn't have any good reason for what they were doing.  And Jesus is the angriest we've seen him.

The Bible never says anger is wrong in itself.  When sin is stealing, killing and destroying the lives of others, we are wrong NOT to get angry.  God gets angry and so should we.  It's when and how we get angry that matters.  We can learn six things about the best kind of anger from the anger of Jesus in the temple...

1. Jesus' anger is intense.  He's not just a little bit cross - he's burning with rage!  John's account of this mentions the messianic prophecy: 'Zeal for your house will consume me' (John 2:17).  The intensity of Jesus' anger is directly correlated to the intensity of his love.  In other words - if Jesus didn't care, he would get this angry.  It's the kind of anger that's only possible when you love someone so deeply and they're stubbornly choosing to rebel against your love and harm themselves and others in the process.  Good parents know about this kind of anger.  It's the kind of anger that CS Lewis says love bleeds when you cut it.  Often our anger is inadequate or buried and we should ask: 'Should I be more angry about this?' or 'Should I show my anger more about this?'

2. Jesus' anger is selfless.  Jesus isn't angry about something that only affects him.  He's angry because what should be a place for people to draw close to God in prayer has been turned into a marketplace and people are missing out on God as a result.  He's angry because people's relationship with God is being further lost.  Often our anger is petty and selfish and we should ask: 'Is my anger about me?'

3. Jesus anger is justified.  Jesus is right to be angry because people have wrongly replaced opportunity for prayer with the chance to make money.  Money has replaced God in the temple and the only proper emotional reaction is anger because what's happening is wrong and destructive.  Often our anger is because we're tired or mistaken and we should ask: 'Am I right to be angry about this?  Or 'Am I right to be this angry?'

4. Jesus' anger is controlled.  He's aggressive, even violent (with tables).  In John's account of this event, he records Jesus making a whip and using it to drive out the animals (John 2:15).  But we don't get the sense that Jesus lost his temper here.  His actions are energetic and forceful but also deliberate and calculated.  Often our anger is out of control or we get snappy or spiteful with our words and we should ask: 'Am I losing it?'

5. Jesus' anger is effective.  Jesus' anger gets the job done!  The marketplace is turfed out and the temple is free to be a place of prayer again.  What was wrong has been put right.  Often our anger makes matters worse rather than better and we should ask: 'Is my anger helping?'

6. Jesus' anger is attractive.  Immediately after Jesus drives out the buyers and sellers, we read that people are listening to Jesus' teaching and are fascinated.  Often our anger drives people away and we should ask: 'What (or who) is my anger pointing people to?'

So we see Jesus getting angry and it's about a lack of prayer where there should be prayer and connection with God.  Jesus uses the fig tree he was frustrated at earlier to illustrate the power prayer has to change things.  It's not a magic formula that changes everything we want in just the way we want because Jesus is God and not our personal genie.  But prayer is nonetheless a connection with God, who is quite capable of changing things when he chooses to.  Jesus also warns us against holding grudges when we pray because forgiven people forgive people.

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Mark 11:1-11 - Donkey

Jesus shows us several key things about himself in this next short section of Mark's gospel...

Mark 11:1-11

Again we see that Jesus knows the future.  He accurately describes the whole donkey scenario ahead of time and it happens exactly as he said it would (v2-6). 

The arrival of Jesus on a donkey is the fulfillment of a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 (one of over three hundred ancient prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus' life).  The mathematical probability of one man in history fulfilling all these prophecies is so close to zero that the only logical explanation is that God knows the future, said what would happen and then did it.

Jesus arriving in Jerusalem on a donkey has significant meaning.  Kings would usually arrive on spectacular horses, armed to the teeth and looking important and powerful.  Jesus arrives in almost laughable humility.  He's a king (the King of kings) but his status is not rooted in human recognition.   And Jesus arrives in peace.  He's not come to make war, but to die.

The cry of the fickle people will soon change from 'Hosanna!' to 'Crucify!' later on but it is also another throwback to Old Testament writings, quoting almost word-for-word from Psalm 118:25-26.  God is doing what he promised and giving plenty of clues that Jesus is the one all the prophecies were pointing at.

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Mark 10:46-52 - Seeing things

In this passage we have a man who can see quite a lot about Jesus, even though he's blind...

Mark 10:46-52

Bart sees that Jesus of Nazareth is also the 'Son of David' (v47).  This title is significant and unique.  It's the idea from ancient prophecies in the Old Testament (like Jeremiah 33:15-16 and many others) that the Messiah (God's chosen rescuer) would come from the line of King David.  So when Bart calls Jesus the Son of David, he sees that Jesus is the Messiah - the one the world has been waiting for.  God in human flesh.  Saviour of the world.  Bart is one blind man who sees quite a lot.

Bart sees that Jesus is his only hope.  No-one can stop him calling out.  His faith is strong enough to overcome objections (v48).

Bart sees that Jesus is worth taking risks for.  He has the courage to jump up, leave his cloak and make his way to Jesus without assistance (v50).

Bart sees that Jesus is able to meet his need.  Jesus' question in verse 51 seems obvious but he's giving Bart the opportunity and dignity of saying what it is he wants and Bart is able to ask with confidence and hope.

This is all before Bart receives his sight.  He has faith enough to see that Jesus is God's chosen rescuer, our only hope, worth taking risks for and able to meet our need.  When Bart receives his sight, it's not surprising that his next move is to follow Jesus down the road (v52).  This is his new life and it can be ours too if we can see things as clearly as he could.

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