Mark 11-13

Jesus is the donkey breaking, fig tree cursing, temple clearing, Elder baffling, Pharisee fooling, Sadducee dissing, scribe dissing, crowd teaching, future warning _____________.  It is difficult for those who saw him before His death to really grab hold of who he was and fill in the blank for themselves.  We see in Jesus that he is our Savior and Messiah, the forgiver of our sins and the giver of eternal life.  But those present before his Crucifixion didn't have it totally figured out until after the resurrection.  This is the same with people all around us.  We assume the message is easy to grasp because we believe and it is so clear.  But there are many still trying to figure out who Jesus is.  Our job is to help them see the whole picture.

One other note.  It occurred to me as I read about Jesus riding into Jerusalem that the donkey he rode on had never been ridden.  It would seem that this donkey would not have been very happy to have someone sitting on his back for the first time and would seek to throw off that weight.  But Jesus tamed that donkey (or so it would seem).  Maybe that is the real parable of this section.  But people are more difficult to tame than donkeys.

That's what I heard.  What about you?

Mark 8-10

In this section Jesus:

1. Has compassion on those who were with him 3 days without anything to eat,
2. Refuses to give a sign to Pharisees who were seeking one to test him,
3. Confused his disciples with talk about the leaven of the Pharisees,
4. Healed a blind man after leading him out of the village,
5. Asked his disciples who they thought he was,
6. Began talking about his death and resurrection (3 times),
7. Showed his glory to Peter, James and John,
8. Cast out a demon that his disciples could not cast out,
9. Taught his disciples that it is not about them, but about others first,
10. Taught about the importance of marriage and the importance of children,
11. Pushed the faith of a rich man,
12. And showed mercy to another blind man.

 What is the most clear message of today?  We have a tendency to think that God should do things in a certain way instead of trusting that God's way is the best way.  The Pharisees and the disciples (and even the crowds) always seem to try to steer Jesus in a particular way.  But Jesus would have none of that.  I wonder how often we attempt to steer Jesus to our way of thinking and doing?

That's what I am challenged by today.  What about you? 

Mark 6 and 7

I wonder how often we teach as doctrines the commands of men? (7:7)  The Pharisees were complaining that the disciples were not washing before dinner.  Even though that might be dirty and unsanitary (which was the purpose of the given code), it has nothing to do with a relationship with God.  Jesus focused on the inside, the inner life which needed to be clean first.  The outside responds to the inside.

Question: Do we label people as "unclean" because of sanitary issues?  Or what is worn?  Perhaps the amount of make-up worn or the car they drive.  If not these, perhaps we make doctrines out of other laws of men like, music or worship style or what we watch on TV or in the movies.  It is not that these things may give a clue to what is going on inside a person, but we must be careful not to make a doctrine out of it that separates the wheat from the weeds.  We can twist the scriptures and make them say anything we want them to say.  This has been done throughout history to decide who is acceptable to God and who is not. 

Let's honor God with our lips AND have hearts close to God. 

That's what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Mark 4 and 5

People react to the things that Jesus does in a variety of ways:

When he shows his power and authority (calming the sea, casting out demons, healing a woman) the response is fear.  Who wouldn't bow is fear at the display of a power that we cannot fully grasp? 

When he teaches by parables the response tends to be either confusion or a seeking to understand the depths of the teaching. I like that he explained these things to his disciples when they were alone.

When he talked about the impossible (the girl is not dead) people laughed at him.  When we speak about doing the impossible through Christ don't people scoff?

And when he raised the girl from death, those with him were amazed.  How often are we amazed at what God does in someone's life?

How do you respond to what Jesus does (and has done)?

That's what I read.  What about you?

Mark 1-3

It seems apparent to me that as Jesus bursts onto the scene everyone was trying to figure out what Jesus was all about.  They were trying to categorize him as to which "party" he belonged to.  Was he a "law guy (Pharisee)?"  Or maybe he was a man of the people.  Was he an extension of John the Baptist's ministry?  Perhaps a blasphemer, one who was speaker wrong things about God.  He could be a healer as the crowds were willing to crush him just to touch him.  Was he possessed by a demon since he cast out demons?

What we discover is that there is no category to fit Jesus into, try as we might.  As Jesus himself said, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins."  Instead of trying to put Jesus into our categories, we need to put ourselves into Jesus.  Then we will understand who He is and why He came!

That's what I heard.  What about you?