Mark 12:28-34 Love When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he was being asked what had, by that time, become a fairly standard question that rabbis would ask one another. This teacher of the law, if nothing else, at least recognized the quality teaching of Jesus. Jesus’ response, while not phrased in this particular…
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Lent 2019 Day 35: Mark 12:13-27
Mark 12:13-27 Images and Appearances When Jesus asks the Pharisees whose picture is on the coin, he uses very specific language: “Whose image is this?” This is a call back to Genesis 1. When God created humanity God created them “in the image of God.” So when Jesus asks whose image is on the coin,…
Lent 2019 Day 34: Mark 12:1-12
Mark 12:1-12 A Prophetic Life “Speaking prophetically is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” So my preaching professor ingrained into my head. Examining the Old Testament prophets, this is certainly the case. Isaiah’s message of condemnation to an overly comfortable Israel shifts to one of conciliation given to a nation in exile. Jonah’s…
Lent 2019 Day 33: Mark 11:27-33
Mark 11:27-33 Authority Several Jewish leaders question Jesus. By asking whose authority Jesus is acting under they are simultaneously questioning any authority of Jesus and placing their authority over his. Jesus, knowing that the time of his crucifixion is not quite yet, turns the question back onto them: What about John the Baptist? This puts…
Lent 2019 Day 32: Mark 11:12-25
Mark 11:12-25 Withering Trees Around the retelling of Jesus overturning the tables in the temple (a warning to those who seek to use the gospel solely for commercial gain) we have the interesting episode of the fig tree. Jesus comes to a fig tree, finds out it doesn’t have any figs (and it’s not yet…
Lent 2019 Day 31: Mark 11:1-11
Mark 11:1-11 A King and a Rebellion Palm Sunday is just over a week away, and here is Mark’s account of the day. Jesus enters the city and the people lay out cloaks and branches for a triumphant King. This is not a neutral act. This was rebellious to its core. If Jesus is King…
Lent 2019 Day 30: Mark 10:46-52
Mark 10:46-52 Come Loudly Jesus is interrupted by a man yelling at him. Other’s try to silence the man, but Jesus calls him. Today’s word is a brief one. When you are in need, call out to God. Others will try to make you feel shame, or silence you in other ways. That is never…
Lent 2019 Day 29: Mark 10:32-45
Mark 10:32-45 Headlong into death Today’s passage opens with Jesus “leading them” toward Jerusalem. This is not reluctant savior. This is not someone wishing they didn’t have to die (not now). This is Jesus, who gives a stark and clear picture of what will happen to him, in significant detail, leading the way to his…
Lent 2019 Day 28:Mark 10:13-31
Mark 10:13-31 Of Children and Wealth If you want to enter God’s Kingdom, come as a child. Come knowing nothing. Come trusting fully. Come as a child. There is no shortage of books on what Jesus means by child-like faith. Where there seems to be considerably less, at least in recent years, is on the…
Lent Day 27: Mark 10:1-12
Mark 10:1-12 Properly Oriented Love Jesus is teaching crowd “as was his custom” when some Pharisees come and ask a question regarding the place of divorce. Jesus’ question is about the command of the Law, but the Pharisees respond with what is allowed by the law. Jesus is focused on the positive answer, the Pharisees…
