"Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." v.25
Words to heed on our quest for the "American Way of Life". Wealth tends to breed self-sufficiency and a false sense of security, leading those who have it to imagine they do not need Christ. My husband and I were just talking about this the other day. With the year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, we were talking about other "kings": King of Rock n Roll died at 42, King of Country, Hank Williams, Princess of the people, Princess Diana, Queen of the bomb-shells, Marilyn Monroe, Queen of MGM musicals, Judy Garland, and numerous others that died young. These people were rich and famous but lived very short, tortured lives, leaning on money and fame rather than Christ. Outside of Elvis, I'm pretty sure none of the rest got to enter the kingdom of heaven; the earth was their reward.
However, Jesus did say, "With people it is impossible, but not with god; for all things are possible with God." v.27
I learned from my commentary, "The Jews believed that with alms a man purchased salvation, so the more wealth one had, the more alms he could give, the more sacrifices and offerings he could offer, thus purchasing redemption." Wow, what a prison! There are religions today that pose as Christian, like Jehovah Witnesses, Mormon, that believe the same way.
The passage just before this one talks about divorce and how if you leave your spouse - except for infidelity on his part - and remarry, you commit adultery. - Well, I'm sunk! LOL - It was just one more example that it is impossible for us to be without sin, and our salvation lies only in a relationship with Christ and not of ourselves. "With people it is impossible, but not with God;"...our hope, my hope is in Him.
Starting in v. 35 we see James and John asking to sit at the right and left side of Jesus in Glory. Jesus challenges them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They said to Him, We are able." And Jesus said to them, " The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." v.38-40
In other words, Jesus is talking about His torture, His death; and indeed, James and John did in fact endure suffering, torture and death. But these things would have to be for the Love of Jesus and of God because they would not be able to earn the honors they were seeking. "Honors in the kingdom are bestowed not on the basis of selfish ambition, but of divine sovereign will." MacArthur.
In actuality, the whole of salvation in strictly an act of divine sovereign will. No pulling up of your own boot straps.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Mark 9
The transfiguration. A lot goes into this and even more to take from it.
Before Peter, James and John, Jesus is transfigured into gleaming white and radiance and is joined by Moses and Elijah. I wrote to a pastor friend for help with the significance of this. His words:
"The Jews often called the Scriptures the "Law and the Prophets." Jesus Himself used the phrase in that way (Matt 22:40). Moses was considered the human author of the Law as he was the writer of the first five books of the Bible. Elijah was the most notable historical prophet, though he did not write a prophetic book like Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. To have the two of them together would have been a testimony to the Jews that the Scriptures were pointing to and being fulfilled in Jesus. That's the message behind their appearance to Christ in the transfiguration: they foretold of His coming and His life and works were totally fulfilling their prophecies -- which countered the accusations from the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus was somehow living outside the Law (by eating with sinners!) and had no connection to the prophecies that foretold the Messiah."
Another very confusing, for me, part of the chapter is verse 11: "Elijah must come first." (It turns out that I really had no idea about who or the significance of Elijah until now.)
My same pastor friend, "... goes back to the prophet Malachi (ch's 3 & 4) who promised that an un-named messenger would precede the Messiah's coming (3:1), and that Elijah specifically would come before the big day of judgment (4:5). Jesus said that John fulfilled Malachi's prophecy about the coming messenger (Luke 7:27) and many believe that Revelation 11 speaks of Elijah and records the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy about the great prophet's actual return in the very last days. I would agree with that expectation. John came in the "spirit and power of Elijah" in that he was a great prophet, really, the "Last of the Great Old Testament Prophets" and in God's eyes his importance was ranked up there with the most notable."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_(Raphael) A picture we are all very familiar with. The painting also shows the next part of the chapter, starting with verse 14 where a demon-possessed boy is delivered. The disciples could not rid the boy of the spirit, Jesus needed to do it. We are reminded here that we need to go to Christ and God's power for help in life.
The father of the boy says to Jesus, "But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us". v. 22
Jesus' reply, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." v. 23.
I need to heed the father's response, "I do believe, help my unbelief." v.24
My doubting, goes without saying. Regularly I need to admit to Jesus that I am doubting but want so much to believe and trust Him. I am a worrier to the 10th degree and that essentially is unbelief that Jesus is in control and hears my prayers. I can't even go into my worries, they are numerous - they keep me awake at night. From having kids in college and one looking to start her career, to if the motorhome will fit into the campsite in Yosemite, to what day shall I pay a particular bill, etc. Ridiculous.
"Father, I do believe. Help my unbelief."
My last comment on this chapter. v. 40 (This chapter has taken me all week.) "For he who is not against us is for us."
But by the same token, "He who is not with Me is against Me;and he who does not gather with Me, scatters." Mt 12:30.
Father, I do believe; help my unbelief.
Before Peter, James and John, Jesus is transfigured into gleaming white and radiance and is joined by Moses and Elijah. I wrote to a pastor friend for help with the significance of this. His words:
"The Jews often called the Scriptures the "Law and the Prophets." Jesus Himself used the phrase in that way (Matt 22:40). Moses was considered the human author of the Law as he was the writer of the first five books of the Bible. Elijah was the most notable historical prophet, though he did not write a prophetic book like Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. To have the two of them together would have been a testimony to the Jews that the Scriptures were pointing to and being fulfilled in Jesus. That's the message behind their appearance to Christ in the transfiguration: they foretold of His coming and His life and works were totally fulfilling their prophecies -- which countered the accusations from the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus was somehow living outside the Law (by eating with sinners!) and had no connection to the prophecies that foretold the Messiah."
Another very confusing, for me, part of the chapter is verse 11: "Elijah must come first." (It turns out that I really had no idea about who or the significance of Elijah until now.)
My same pastor friend, "... goes back to the prophet Malachi (ch's 3 & 4) who promised that an un-named messenger would precede the Messiah's coming (3:1), and that Elijah specifically would come before the big day of judgment (4:5). Jesus said that John fulfilled Malachi's prophecy about the coming messenger (Luke 7:27) and many believe that Revelation 11 speaks of Elijah and records the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy about the great prophet's actual return in the very last days. I would agree with that expectation. John came in the "spirit and power of Elijah" in that he was a great prophet, really, the "Last of the Great Old Testament Prophets" and in God's eyes his importance was ranked up there with the most notable."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_(Raphael) A picture we are all very familiar with. The painting also shows the next part of the chapter, starting with verse 14 where a demon-possessed boy is delivered. The disciples could not rid the boy of the spirit, Jesus needed to do it. We are reminded here that we need to go to Christ and God's power for help in life.
The father of the boy says to Jesus, "But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us". v. 22
Jesus' reply, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes." v. 23.
I need to heed the father's response, "I do believe, help my unbelief." v.24
My doubting, goes without saying. Regularly I need to admit to Jesus that I am doubting but want so much to believe and trust Him. I am a worrier to the 10th degree and that essentially is unbelief that Jesus is in control and hears my prayers. I can't even go into my worries, they are numerous - they keep me awake at night. From having kids in college and one looking to start her career, to if the motorhome will fit into the campsite in Yosemite, to what day shall I pay a particular bill, etc. Ridiculous.
"Father, I do believe. Help my unbelief."
My last comment on this chapter. v. 40 (This chapter has taken me all week.) "For he who is not against us is for us."
But by the same token, "He who is not with Me is against Me;and he who does not gather with Me, scatters." Mt 12:30.
Father, I do believe; help my unbelief.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Mark 8
Jesus is teaching His disciples, "...that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter plainly." v.31-32
The disciples, especially Peter, did not want to believe that the Messiah was going to die. But they, like the world today didn't hear the whole message...He would rise again after three days. Jesus always includes the two together: the death and resurrection. The gospel message means nothing without the two being together. The resurrection is just as important if not more than the death on the cross. It is in His resurrection that He appears to Paul, the apostle that wrote most the New Testament. To not believe in the resurrection, is not to be a Christian because it is the completion of the whole story as prophesied in the Old Testament.
These next words are very well known, but takes faith in Jesus Christ to pull off:
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? v. 34-36
These things are not natural for us. We naturally want the world and want attention on us. We are selfish. What Jesus is asking here is impossible without a personal relationship with Him. We cannot will ourselves to deny ourselves and our love of the world. It takes a supernatural strength only given by spending time with Him in prayer and in His word.
The disciples, especially Peter, did not want to believe that the Messiah was going to die. But they, like the world today didn't hear the whole message...He would rise again after three days. Jesus always includes the two together: the death and resurrection. The gospel message means nothing without the two being together. The resurrection is just as important if not more than the death on the cross. It is in His resurrection that He appears to Paul, the apostle that wrote most the New Testament. To not believe in the resurrection, is not to be a Christian because it is the completion of the whole story as prophesied in the Old Testament.
These next words are very well known, but takes faith in Jesus Christ to pull off:
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? v. 34-36
These things are not natural for us. We naturally want the world and want attention on us. We are selfish. What Jesus is asking here is impossible without a personal relationship with Him. We cannot will ourselves to deny ourselves and our love of the world. It takes a supernatural strength only given by spending time with Him in prayer and in His word.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Mark 7
Even by the middle of the first century AD, the elders of the Jewish Church had added so many extrabiblical laws to follow, the Jews were living in bondage. And it still continues today. Christ meant then and means now, Freedom.
"This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." v.6-7
Jesus sits the disciples down to teach them that they can eat anything; the food isn't what mattered. I believe the elders did this because it is easier to follow those "physical" laws instead of keeping yourself pure from this list below:
"Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man form outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." v. 20-23
"This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." v.6-7
Jesus sits the disciples down to teach them that they can eat anything; the food isn't what mattered. I believe the elders did this because it is easier to follow those "physical" laws instead of keeping yourself pure from this list below:
"Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man form outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man." v. 20-23
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Mark 6
Jesus returns to Nazareth, His home town.
"A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household." v. 4
The people of Nazareth saw Jesus differently, in that they knew Him as a baby, young boy and knew His family. Joseph had been a carpenter and in usual practice Jesus would have also been just a carpenter. "The common earthly position of Jesus and His family caused the townspeople to stumble - they refused to see Him as higher than themselves and found it impossible to accept Him as the Son of God and Messiah." My commentary's words.
They also knew of Jesus "illegitimate" birth. Never really thought about this before...but the rumors that must have flown over Mary not having been married to Joseph when she got pregnant and had a baby.
I know from experience that my witness with my own family is pretty void. They've known me my whole life: my pitfalls, awful decisions and times I hid from God. They are very aware of my beliefs but my own example over the years has not been a good representation of a Christian. Conversion with any of my family members will be not of my doing, (it never is) but the hand of God.
I love this! Enjoy...
"A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household." v. 4
The people of Nazareth saw Jesus differently, in that they knew Him as a baby, young boy and knew His family. Joseph had been a carpenter and in usual practice Jesus would have also been just a carpenter. "The common earthly position of Jesus and His family caused the townspeople to stumble - they refused to see Him as higher than themselves and found it impossible to accept Him as the Son of God and Messiah." My commentary's words.
They also knew of Jesus "illegitimate" birth. Never really thought about this before...but the rumors that must have flown over Mary not having been married to Joseph when she got pregnant and had a baby.
I know from experience that my witness with my own family is pretty void. They've known me my whole life: my pitfalls, awful decisions and times I hid from God. They are very aware of my beliefs but my own example over the years has not been a good representation of a Christian. Conversion with any of my family members will be not of my doing, (it never is) but the hand of God.
I love this! Enjoy...
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