Mark

March 8, 2018

ONLY WHAT’S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST
On the Wednesday of Passion Week, Jesus and His disciples took a day of rest a short distance from Jerusalem in a town called Bethany. While eating a meal at Simon the leper’s house, a woman anointed Jesus’ head with an expensive perfume worth a year’s wages. This was an incredible gift, so costly that Judas Iscariot was offended by its extravagance. Yet, Jesus rebuked Judas and commended the woman for her gift. Her deed has been remembered to this day, just as Jesus predicted.

This reminds me of a line from a poem by C. T. Studd:
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

March 7, 2018

GOD’S ETERNAL WORD
Jesus answered the disciples’ question concerning the last days by describing the signs leading up to it. He talked about how many things would come to pass, but concluded that His words would never disappear.

When we study, memorize and apply God’s Word, we are investing our lives in that which will never disappear. There is no other investment greater. Even as the ages roll on, we will still be chewing on and growing in our understanding of God’s eternal Word!

March 6, 2018

JESUS WATCHES THE OFFERINGS
Jesus sat near the Temple collection box so that He might watch who was giving and how much they were giving. He did this to illustrate a lesson to His disciples. As they witnessed the rich tossing handfuls of coins into the collection box, the heavy coins made a loud metallic sound as they rattled down the trumpet like opening of the Temple treasury. Surely everyone nearby could hear when the rich gave. Then, a poor widow carefully dropped in two small coins. They barely made a sound as they rolled into the treasury.

Christ’s teaching on this scene was that while the rich seemed to be giving a lot, it was in fact only a tiny part of their surplus. But the poor widow quietly gave all that she had.

Yet, there is another lesson here that Christ gave not by words, but by behavior. Christ is interested in our giving. He watches our generosity. He cares about our giving, how much we give and what motivates our giving. Therefore, when we give, we shouldn’t care whether others are watching, only that Jesus is watching.

March 4, 2018

HAVE YOU NOT READ THE SCRIPTURES?
Jesus questioned whether the religious leaders and teachers had read a particular Scripture from Psalm 118 concerning the stone the builders rejected. Even as they rejected Jesus, His question pointed them to the biblical prophecy which predicted their rejection. Shouldn’t biblical evidence have changed their view of Him? It should have, but it didn’t. Their view of Jesus was not based on a study of the Scriptures, but on their own political interests.

Believers today, especially those that are called to be teachers and preachers of the Bible, must be careful to base their lives, teachings and sermons on the Bible itself. Human opinion has no authority or power. Only God’s Word can be trusted. But it must be read, studied and taught with the illumination of the Holy Spirit in order to be understood and applied.

In an age when most of us have a Bible in every room and access to dozens of translations online, what an embarrassing question it would be to hear from the lips of Jesus! “Have you not read the Scriptures?”

March 3, 2018

FAITH THAT CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
On the Monday morning of Passion Week, Jesus cursed a fig tree that was barren of fruit. The next morning as He and the disciples passed by the tree, Peter pointed out that it was “withered from the roots up.” In response, Jesus offered a lesser to greater argument (i.e. “fig tree to mountain”) that the disciples would be able to do even greater miracles if they only had faith.

As we consider this amazing promise from Jesus, let us be careful not to misunderstand the doctrine of faith. First, faith is not some neutral force with a power of its own. No, faith requires an object. And as Jesus taught, the object of biblical faith is God. Notice how Jesus began His teaching, “Have faith in God.” Jesus did not teach us to have faith in faith, but to have faith in God. We can believe something with all of our heart, yet nothing will happen unless God acts. Second, having recognized that biblical faith’s object is God, we must recognize that our requests must be according to God’s will. Consider these two Scriptures:

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3).

So, our faith must be in God whose power and will are paramount. Yet, having understood this, we must not forget the point of Christ’s teaching: Our faith in God can move mountains! Don’t focus on the mountain. Focus on the God who can move the mountain! For it’s not the size of your faith, but the size of your God that counts. As Jesus taught, just a little faith in a great God can move mountains!

“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt. 17:20).

It is not great faith in God, but faith in a great God that moves mountains!

March 1, 2018

DOES JESUS LOVE SINNERS?
When Jesus looked upon the rich man who expressed his desire to be a follower, He loved him. Why did Christ love him? Did the rich man understand that “only God is good?” No, it seemed that he thought he could be good too. Was he able to sell his possessions, give them to the poor, and follow Jesus? No, he went away sad, choosing his possessions over following the Person of Christ. So, what was the trait or condition in this rich man that moved Jesus to look upon him with love? It wasn’t the condition of the rich man, but the unconditional love of Jesus that moved Jesus to love him. As the apostle Paul wrote, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Jesus loves sinners because He is all love and He loves with an unconditional love (“agape”). As the apostle John wrote, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

I wonder. Should we love sinners too?