Month: October 2020

Jesus and His disciples were walking between Jericho and Jerusalem…with a large crowd following them. This road was well traveled and used frequently, so it wasn’t surprising there were beggars sitting by the side of the road hoping for a few coins to come their way. In this story, two blind men sitting together hear from the crowd that it’s Jesus who’s passing by them…and they begin to yell to get Jesus’ attention. They didn’t just shout His name, but rather called out with a divine insight only the Holy Spirit could have given them. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Now I seriously doubt either of them had gone to Hebrew School and learned the Torah as children and we know because of their blindness they hadn’t been able to read the Torah…yet they almost quoted Isaiah 23:5-6, “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord our Righteousness.” What they were yelling is probably the reason why the crowd reacted the way they did…for they confronted them harshly and probably used the crude vernacular, “Shut up!” in an attempt to silence them. But it says the blind beggars shouted all the louder! It’s at that time Jesus steps into this screaming match and asks them the question, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Now for the crowd it was a no-brainer…they’re blind beggars and why couldn’t Jesus see this. But this question Jesus asked was very important, for it sought to discover their level of faith. They replied to Jesus, “Lord, we want our sight.”…and immediately their faith in Jesus healed them and they could see.

In this Chapter of Mark, Jesus made it very plain…man-made religious rituals, ceremonies, and rites that go against the Word of God are wrong. Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 when He replied to them, “They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” He went on to say, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” For anytime we exalt emotional, feel-good rituals, past experiences of others, or opinions from Church leaders that go against or are not found in the Bible, we are placing traditions and the teachings of men above those of God. That’s because, man-made religion will never stand up to the soundness of His Word.

So what does take up your cross and follow Me really mean…and why is it so hard to do? First, let’s look at what the cross meant to Jesus. It was total obedience to God the Father, it entailed suffering, shame, rejection and humiliation. Finally, it was absolute giving up of Himself for the greater good. Well doesn’t that all sound like a fun time! No wonder we find this commandment difficult…our fleshly desires and need for immediate gratification go completely against denying ourselves anything, let alone placing others above our wishes. But it’s necessary in order to follow Jesus with that abiding fellowship of faith we must have. For bottom line is…it’s about selfless love…or as I John 3:16 says, ” This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

This unnamed woman had just broken an alabaster jar of nard, allowing its essence to cover Jesus and to fill the house with its heady fragrance. But no one saw it as an act of devotion, but rather as a shameful squandering of much needed resources…and they rebuked her sternly for “wasting” the perfume on Jesus. The world will look at many things you do as “wasting” your time/talents/money on Jesus. You may even wonder yourself at times if it’s worth it to keep reaching out to that unsaved friend, or visiting that elderly neighbor down the block, or loving that unlovable family member. Is it just a “waste”? Am I even making a difference? Let me allow Jesus to answer these questions for you…for He responded to their criticism of the woman by saying, “Leave her alone, why bother her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me.” So anytime you do a good work in the name of Jesus, it will never be a waste, for God can use it for His good.

Jesus warned of false signs and wonders and the deception of false christs. Now these false christs don’t necessarily deny the existence of Jesus… but rather claim to be the incarnation of Him. Over the centuries there have been many who have come claiming this…Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones, and David Koresh for a few you might recognize. These false christs amaze the crowds with signs and wonders and claim to have direct insight and communication with God, but in reality are just men and women with very delusional minds. But then there are the anti-christs…which are the consummate false christs. We read in II John 7, “Many deceivers, who don’t acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the anti-christ.” They claim Jesus wasn’t really God incarnate and so preach another christ…a very corrupt christ. Either way, as Believers, we need to be ever vigilant and discerning of things we hear…always applying it to God’s Word.

From the very start of Jesus’ Ministry He made it clear that He was sent to do the Will of God the Father. When asked by the disciples how to pray, Jesus began His prayer this way, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-13 The Lord’s Prayer) At every turn, Jesus exalted God the Father’s Will over His own…even to the point in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said, “Yet not as I Will, but as You Will.” (Matthew 26:39) This is probably one of the toughest things for us humans to do…to defer our Will to His…to submit what we want to God’s plans instead…and to yield our wishes and desires in obedience to His good pleasure for our life. But God’s Will is perfect in every way and we need to be obedient to it. Thus Psalm 143:10 is a good prayer for us all, “Teach me to do Your Will.”

What Jesus was saying here is that complete dedication to Him may sometimes bring about rejection even from one’s immediate family…or as He said in Matthew 10:37, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me…” Our love, trust, and faith in the Lord needs to always be at the top. But when we allow ourselves to indulge others to continue in ungodly beliefs and/or practices, and when we choose to turn a blind eye in order to keep peace in the family, we’re taking God off the throne and placing the person there instead. That’s because when we promote tolerance and inclusivity at all cost…we end up compromising our beliefs for white-washed harmony.

Jesus stated it many times…”If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also.” (John 15:20) And if you are a Believer, you know that the life you have here on earth can’t begin to compare to the one promised in heaven. But many Christians want it both ways. They want God to promise them their best life now, plus a glorious after-life. But that’s not what Jesus taught, and not what His disciple, Peter wrote in I Peter 4:12-19 when he was encouraging fellow Christians to endure the persecution that was prevalent and to prepare them for even more difficult times ahead. As Christians, we are not of this world, and to think we deserve a easy go of it here on earth while Jesus suffered unspeakable trauma goes against all His teachings. Or as James put it into perspective…”Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?”

During His time on earth, Jesus was constantly being questioned by the religious leaders as to who had given Him permission to teach and preach the way He did. For Jesus came commissioned from God with divine authority, and He used this authority to charge the people towards repentance. In Matthew He explained this divine right to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.” (Matthew 28:18) But many feel that when Jesus ascended to heaven His authority here on earth went with Him. We only have to look at Ephesians 1:21 for the correct answer. It tells us that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.” Or as I Corinthians 15:27 reminds us, “Everything is under His feet.” Simply put…all power and authority is the Lord’s and He is and will remain in control.

All during His Ministry, Jesus pointed out and exposed the truth about sin. He never minced words or sugar-coated His hatred for sin and it’s ramifications on the human race. Over and over again Jesus would address the truth and consequences of sinful behavior…but as Psalm 52:3 points out, “You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.”…we would rather remain in spiritual darkness with our dirty little secrets. So the idea today that Jesus has somehow changed His focus to overlooking sin and never correcting His people is completely false. Correction is a good thing, for in Job 5:17 it says, “Blessed is the man who God corrects; so don’t despise the discipline of the Almighty.” We are also told to correct fellow Believers, as Jesus said in Luke 17:3, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” Finally, if angels weren’t spared when they sinned, but sent to hell (II Peter 2:4), how do we think our sins will be glossed over and excused now? Jesus hasn’t changed, and neither has the truth about sin.