What Do You Know? (Mark 12:28-34)

“The Lord is good and upright; therefore He shows sinners the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep His covenant and decrees” (Psalm 25:9,10). The scribes devoted themselves to the law so that they were considered experts in showing sinners the Lord’s way.

Religious leaders had discovered 613 commandments in the Law; 365 were negative and 248 were positive. The scribes had debated among themselves about which law was the greatest. We know from Matthew 22 that when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had put the Sadducees to silence, that they had gathered together for their turn to trap Jesus. It was with a sense of pride in his knowledge of the Law that the scribe presented his question to test Jesus, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

There was no hesitation in Jesus’ response. “Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The scribe was very familiar with Deuteronomy 6:4, because it was recited twice a day, morning and evening. But Jesus gave more than He was asked for. “The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31). These two commandments go together, because a man cannot love God whom he does not see unless he loves the one whom he does see.

The scribe, who had occupied his life with the study of the law, could not fail to see the wisdom of Jesus’ response. The scribe went on to add from 1 Samuel 15:22, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” “When Jesus saw that he answered intelligently, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’” (Mark 12:34). The scribe was an expert; he had studied, and what he knew brought him close to kingdom of God.

How could it be that the religious leaders who had devoted their lives to the study of God’s word would fail to see the Word Incarnate when He stood before them? I believe it was because they first failed to see themselves for who they truly were, sinners. Psalm 25 says that “He shows sinners the way.” I also believe that their study and expertise in God’s law had made them proud, and their pride had blinded them to the truth. Psalm 25 goes on to say, “He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.” They were so close, but it takes more than knowledge of the law to enter the kingdom of God. Knowledge of the law must first cause you to humble your heart and show you your sin. This knowledge brings you close to the kingdom, but only the Savior can bring you into the kingdom.

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Illumination (Psalm 22)

The year was 1967. I had felt lost and confused in the bustling hallways of the high school. You could spot all the freshmen by their bewildered faces. Finally, I found the classroom and took my seat just as the bell rang. The priest stood and introduced himself and welcomed us to religion class. I breathed I sigh of relief. I was in the right place.

The priest was a recent seminary graduate. He was enthusiastic, and he wasted no time in explaining his goal for our class. He wanted to open our minds by introducing us to the academic world of theology. He explained how this would be different from any religious class we had ever had before. The goal was demythologization. He started with the story of the Red Sea and explained that, though the Bible says that Egyptians who were following the children of Israel were swallowed up by the Red Sea, that the truth was that the Egyptian’s heavy cumbersome chariots got stuck in the mud.

I looked around at the others in class. I saw my confusion mirrored in their faces. But it was more than confusion, it was deep sense of insecurity. Some even left that first class in tears. As time went on and Bible story by Bible story went through the process of demythologization, many of my classmates began to lose their faith. I was reminded of how the candles were snuffed out at the end of mass. There was a darkness that seemed to settle on the souls of those around me.

In the darkness I felt my soul begin to slumber. The passion I had felt for God in my childhood was on the verge of being extinguished. But something happened that woke me up. I was introduced for the first time to prophecy. As I began to read and study prophecy, I felt like I had been given a candle that expelled the darkness. My faith was revived with a new sense of wonder.

When I came to my senior year of High School, the religion class was now a philosophy class. Our final project was to write a term paper about something we had learned from either religion or philosophy. I decided to write a paper on the prophecies Jesus had fulfilled from the Old Testament. When I finished it was a twenty-page, single-spaced paper (I didn’t know that you were supposed to use double spacing).

I gave an oral presentation to the class. I shared the opening words of Psalm 22, “ My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” I showed how these were the very words spoken by Jesus on the cross. I went on to show how we could hear Jesus crying out to His Father from the cross in this Psalm as it described what it was like to be crucified. “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax within me...they pierce my hands and my feet...They divided up my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing” (Psalm 22:14-18). I watched the words of these prophecies about Jesus’ first coming begin  to illuminate the darkness of doubt. After class I was surrounded by those who wanted to hear more. It only takes a spark to relight the candle.

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?Questions? (Mark 12:18-27)

They were well-educated. They were aristocrats with both political and religious standing. They had taken the name Sadducee from the High Priest Zadok, whose name meant “just.” They only accepted the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and rejected all the other writings including the prophets. It was from the Sadducees that the High Priest was chosen. They were powerful. The only time they joined forces with the Pharisees was when they came together against Jesus.

I can almost see the smirk on their self-satisfied faces when they came to trap Jesus with their question about the resurrection. It was well-known that these highly-educated men did not believe in such things as angels and people being reassured from the dead. With an arrogant contempt they laid out their story. It was clearly obvious to anyone listening that their story was intended to ridicule the belief in the resurrection.

“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaves his wife behind, and leaves no child,
his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother” (Mark 12:19). Then they proceeded to tell the story of how seven brothers took the wife and died without leaving an offspring. Finally, the woman died too. With a lifted eyebrow and a half smile they asked Jesus, “In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be, since the seven married her” (Mark 12:23)?

How do you relate to Scripture when it doesn’t make sense to you? It is not only in the time of Jesus that there are those who scoffed at what doesn’t make sense to them. 2 Peter 3:3 says, “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” Someone who scoffs at or mocked the Scripture is following the example of the first one who quoted God. That would be the serpent who asked Eve with scorn, “Did God really say...?”

When Jesus answered their question with a question of His own, it must have cut like a knife. “Jesus told them, ‘Are you not deceived because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God’” (Mark 12:24)? Though they were highly-educated, they had been led astray. They failed to grasp spiritual truth because of their earthly focus. Jesus confronted both their disbelief in the resurrection and their disbelief in angels at the same time. He used a passage from the Torah to do it! Jesus finished by saying, “You are badly deceived” (Mark 12:27). To whom would Jesus say this today?

When I Consider the Heavens (Psalm 19)

There are times when the pressures and the worries of life smother me. Often this happens when I wake up in the middle of the night with a deep sense of my own vulnerability. I find relief when I wrap a warm blanket around myself and go into the night and look up into the heavens. I lift my gaze and peer at the splendor of the stars. I listen to the song of the heavens as they declare God’s glory. My mind becomes filled with the proclamation of His handiwork. In the splendor of His holiness and His sublime sufficiency I hear an invitation to lay aside my inadequacy and instead to clothe my mind with the glory and the beauty displayed in the heavens.

Psalm 19 speaks of the sun like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man who is running his race with joy. “It’s rising is from the ends of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat” (Psalm 19:9). In the daylight I can feel the warmth of the sun’s embrace. As I consider the life-giving light radiating from the sun, my heart is drawn to the Creator who invites me to bask in His light.

What can revive the soul? It is an invitation to know a holy God through His perfect law. What can make the simple wise? It is the voice of God that has gone out into all the world inviting us to know Him. What can rejoice the heart and enlighten the eyes? It is a holy God who has chosen to show us what is right and to open our minds to what is pure by teaching us His commandments. When some hear words like law and commandments they think of being bound and restrained. However, in the light of His glory I find that His rules are true and righteous altogether. Rather than being a restraint they are a key that sets me free. I find my soul singing with the psalmist, “More to be desired are they than gold; even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey from a honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).

Having filled my mind with God’s glory, and having considered this invitation to know Him, my heart voices the same question as the psalmist “Who can discern his errors?” There are hidden faults that I cannot see, and for these I ask forgiveness. In the presence of the Almighty God I also ask that He would protect me from presumptuous sins and keep them from ruling over me. I put my trust in who He is and what He has shown me through His word, and believe that He has heard my prayer and that, “I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13).

Through listening to the heavens declaring the glory of God, the pressures and worries of this life no longer smother me. As I lift up my heart to the light of His presence my focus changes. I go into the day with renewed strength. The prayer on my lips is that both my words and the meditation of my heart would be acceptable in His sight. I have exchanged my vulnerability for confidence in the Lord who is my rock and my redeemer!

God and Government (Mark 12:13-17)

There is an ancient proverb that says, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This is what comes to my mind when I see the Pharisees and the Herodians uniting together to look for a way to trap Jesus. Up until this time they represented two opposing positions. While the Herodians sympathized with Rome, the Pharisees opposed Rome. The only thing that brought them together was their hatred of Jesus.

“Teacher, we know You are truthful and defer to no one, for You don’t show partiality but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay, or should we not pay” (Mark 12:14,15)? They had only been paying this tax for twenty years. A tribute tax was paid by those who had been conquered. It was an insult to the Jews to pay the Roman taxes, so they knew that whatever position Jesus took, it be offensive to someone.

Jesus saw their hypocrisy and asked them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at” (Mark 12:15). When they brought one to Him He asked whose image and inscription was on it. On the coin was an image of Caesar. But what was the inscription on it? “Caesar Augustus Tiberius, Son of the Divine Augustus,” claiming that Augustus was a god, and that would make Caesar the son of god. A zealous Jew shouldn’t have this coin because of the image and inscription on it.

“Jesus told them, ‘Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). And what belongs to God? In Exodus 19:5 God says, “All the earth is mine.” They were amazed at Him. Jesus had taken their attempt to trap Him and had turned it around to show their own sinful hearts.

I have been meditating on the verses all week, watching the political chaos going on. I see a warning as I look at the Herodians and the Pharisees. We as Christians need to guard our hearts and not become like the Herodians who were willing to compromise what they believed to seek protection and profit from the government. Nor should we be like the  Pharisees who complicated God’s law by added to it. Neither of these religious positions could see the Messiah when He was standing in front of them.

Call on the Lord! (Psalm 20)

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob protect you” (Psalm 20:1)! In Exodus 3 God tells Moses that He has observed the misery of His people and that their cry for help has reached His ears. When Moses, aware of his own inadequacies, is overwhelmed by the task that is confronting him, God redirects his thoughts. The victory is accomplished by the strong hand of God.

What was the name of the God of Jacob? “God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known” (Exodus 6:1,2). By telling them His name as not only God Almighty but Lord, He was inviting them to not indulge in discontent and fretfulness but instead to call on Him.

“Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright” (Psalm 20:7,8) This truth was on display when, “The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army—caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-Zephaniah” (Exodus 14:9). But things are not always what them seem. The victory didn’t belong to the chariots and horsemen, it belonged the Lord and to those who called on His name.

When the battle lines are drawn and your heart trembles at the enemies you face, remember that God Almighty is Lord of heaven and earth. So call on the Lord in the day of trouble. When the burden you are carrying threatens to crush you, remember that your cry reaches His ear. When you’ve exhausted your store of endurance, when your strength has failed and you feel like you are being pursued by chariots and horsemen, call on the Lord. He will answer you in your day of trouble.

There is a bigger picture than the one we see with our eyes of flesh. The battles that seem hopeless can become our greatest victories when we put our trust in God. “Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; He has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea” (Exodus 15:21).

Praise The Lord - Imperials

When you’re up against a struggle
That shatters all your dreams
And your hope’s been crushed
By Satan’s manifested scheme
And you feel the urge within you
To submit to earthly fears
Don’t let the faith you're standing in
Seem to disappear

Praise the Lord
He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord
For our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord
For the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you
That they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him

Now Satan is a liar
And he wants to make us think
That we are paupers
When he knows himself
We’re children of the King
So lift up the mighty shield of faith
For the battle must be won
We know that Jesus Christ is risen
So the work's already done!

The Vineyard (Mark 12:1-11)

“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a winepress there (Isaiah 5:1,2). Isaiah’s song must have been been playing in their minds as the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders listened to Jesus tell the parable about a vineyard. The parable that Isaiah had sung ended by saying, “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry” (Isaiah 5:7).

I imagine that their fists were clenched as Jesus told the familiar story of a vineyard. They already knew from the parable in Isaiah that the vineyard belonged to the Lord of hosts and that the vineyard represented the house of Judah. When Jesus began to speak about the tenant farmers in charge of caring for the vineyard, they knew that He was talking about them. They also understood that the mistreatment of the slaves in the parable was a picture of how the prophets had been treated.

These religious leaders were actively pursuing a way to destroy Jesus. Their eyes must have narrowed when Jesus spoke of the owner of the vineyard sending his son. I can imagine that they were grinding their teeth as Jesus told this simple story that unveiled their plot to seize and kill Him. Jesus’ parable ended with tenant farmers throwing the son’s dead body out of the vineyard. And then He asked this question, “What will the owner of the vineyard do (Mark 12:9)? What the man did was destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.

Why did Jesus end this parable by saying, “Haven’t you read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejected—this has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes” (Mark 12:10)? I think it had to do with an argument over that same Psalm that had taken place the day before. The chief priests and scribes had been indignant when the children in the temple complex had been cheering Jesus by quoting from that same Psalm! “Hosanna to the Son of David.” It’s no wonder that they saw Him as a threat.

As I consider this story I’m left with a question. Is it still possible to be so consumed with religion that we lose sight of God Himself?