GOSPEL MEDITATION # 220

Mark 12:38-44

Beware of the Scribes & The Widow’s Offering

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture.
6. Reread them. From memory, determine the central points.
7. In our own day we notice that we, and others, love the admiration and attention of others, and we will go to absurd extremes to receive such. Nothing has changed.
8. Religious leaders—garments, degrees, titles, symbols of authority and power—again, nothing has changed. To these, read US, Jesus issues a warning–BEWARE.
9. Why the warning? Because these will demand too much of us and cause us to look to them for a salvation only God can give.
10. “Greater condemnation”—a chilling thought all around. Is Jesus indicating there are degrees of hell? (see Matthew 8:12, 22:13, and 25:30)
11. In the Court of the Women, in the Temple, were 13 trumpet shaped receptacles used to collect tithes and offerings. Jesus sat by these on probably Wednesday of the last week of His earthly ministry.
12. The poor widow dropped 2 leptas into one of these, each worth 1/64 of a denarius, both together equaled a penny, the minimum.
13. Proportionally it represented a great deal in terms of sacrifice. It was all that she had.
14. Most importantly however, those who could afford to give did it as a show. The coins, as they were deposited in the “trumpets” (and the word describes much) drew attention from others. The widow’s “mite” would not have.
15. What would the penniless widow do now?

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 219

Mark 12:35-37

Whose Son is Christ?

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. The setting–Wednesday of the Last Week. Jesus is teaching at the temple.
8. For a long period, perhaps from the beginning, Israel had supposed the Messiah to be a man, the son of David, a human being only.
9. Indeed, the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah and from the clan of David, the great king, who had lived one thousand years before. (see Matthew 1:2-6 and Luke 3:23-34)
10. Many had announced their Messiahship, raised up small armies, and attempted to overthrow Rome. All failed.
11. At that point, despite the failures, the people yet looked for a human, political/military deliverer.
12. Now, with Jesus’ time running out, He makes a strong attempt to make it clear that the Messiah was also divine.
13. Psalm 110 and verse 1 is where David himself made it clear that “my Lord”, as revealed by “the Lord” who is no one less than Yahweh–the covenant name of God—(see Exodus 3:13-15) must be God as well.
14. The problem would be then, and throughout subsequent history, that the nature of Jesus would be misunderstood.
15. The Body of Christ, the Church, gradually realized who Jesus must be, very God of very God and very man of very man, or in other words, both God and man at once.
16. This is, to us, unreasonable and thus can only be understood by special revelation from God directly.

GOSPEL MEDITATION

Mark 12:13-17

Paying Taxes to Caesar

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Jesus had powerful enemies who desperately wanted Him out of the way, and murder was the end goal.
8. The Roman coin denarius was the yearly tax for every male Jew; it was called a “poll tax.” The Romans would calculate the potential rebel force liable against them.
9. The coin has Tiberius Caesars imprint on it with the words, on the reverse side, “Highest Priest.” The coin was considered “unclean” by the Jews.
10. A calculated plot by the leaders, the Sanhedrin, now combined with the Herodians, a political/religious party that served Roman interests — a perfect chance to trap Jesus.
11. If Jesus denied paying the tax, He would be counted a rebel. If He taught it right to pay the tax, His enemies thought He would lose favor with the people who hated to pay the denarius to the hated Romans.
12. What a mind, what a quick and cutting rejoinder: He asked for a coin, the one used to pay the tax.
13. He asked the obvious, which question pointed out that the coin was minted by Tiberius and therefore belonged to him. He who ruled had the right to tax.
14. Render to Caesar, one of the most oft repeated phrase in human history. So then, pay the tax whether liked or not.
15. But larger is what is owed to God, the Creator, the King of all people – render to Yahweh then what is owed.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #215

The Parable of the Vineyard

Mark 12:1-12

(Also see Psalm 118:19-29; Is. 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21)

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Foreigners rented out land to be worked by Galileans, so the framework of the parable was common knowledge.
8. The owner made it possible for the land to be productive, all at his expense. Thus, the owner of the land had a right to a return on the investment and thus would send others to receive that.
9. The mistreatment of those sent was beyond reason. Here we are to think of the prophets and others God had sent to those of His “vineyard” to receive what was His.
10. One after the other, the owner of the vineyard was rebuffed, ignored, and treated with great disrespect.
11. One emissary was held in reserve – a beloved son. When the time was right, the owner sent this special son supposing this one would be respected.
12. Here we see the nature of the parable: it can be interpreted according to another story line.
13. The son is obviously Jesus Himself, the beloved of the Father, who ought to be received and honored. The opposite occurs.
14. This favored son is killed, which would actually take place within three days. The result would be catastrophic for the workers of the vineyard – they would be destroyed.
15. This scenario had been predicted long centuries before. The son, or in the words of the Psalmist (Psalm 118:22-23), the “cornerstone” would be rejected.
16. We are however startled to discover that the whole of it “was the Lord’s doing” and what appeared to be a tragedy is really “marvelous in our eyes.” And so it is!

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 214

Mark 11:15-19 & 27-33

Jesus Cleanses the Temple &

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. It is likely that Jesus “cleansed” the Temple twice, the first time is recorded in John 2:13-22. So then at the outset and the close of Jesus ministry He protested what worship in the Temple had become.
8. It was at the court of the Gentiles where the money changers set up shop (only the proper shekel could be used to pay the yearly tax and not the Roman denarius.).
9. The animals, from sheep to doves (not pigeons), had to be “pure” and available, so the sellers of animals were there.
10. Noisy, stinky, crowded—not the conditions for worship and prayer. The Gentile court had become a market.
11. Such was not the intention of God and Jesus’ action called attention to that fact.
12. Those who held religious authority were highly upset and thus they challenged Jesus about what He had done on the day after the event.
13. They wanted to know by what authority He was acting under. Jesus did not answer but brought up the matter of John the Baptist whose message is best represented by the words found in John 1:19, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
14. John’s ministry was rejected by the religious authorities, but he was well received by most people.
15. Jesus then asked His questioners as to weather John’s ministry was of God or not. This question is still valid.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 213

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Mark 11:12-14, 20-26

1. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
2. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
3. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
4. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
5. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
6. In between the two segments of this meditation about a fig tree is the story of Jesus cleansing the temple.
7. Jesus “curses” the fig tree, not a good title for this story. He did not curse the tree, He did state it would not bear fruit. He was saying something far different.
8. Israel is spoken of as a fig tree (see Hosea 9:10) and it is generally understood that Jesus, now within days of His crucifixion, stated that the ministry of Israel had come to end, even failed, and another people of God would arise to carry out the ministry that had been intended for the nation. See Jeremiah 31:31-34 on this point.
9. A day later the fig tree had withered completely, a process that might have taken a year or more naturally.
10. Jesus now makes a statement about prayer, indicating that rather than a curse, Jesus had said a prayer and this was why the fig tree had withered.
11. Here now Jesus explains that prayer involves an utter trusting in God for answers to prayer, with no wavering or doubting, which is mostly impossible for even the most sincere and dedicated Christian. But the standard is there.
12. Then we have a teaching that at first sight does not seem completely inline with what went before, but it must be absolutely connected. Here is another opportunity for Jesus to show how important it is that His followers be forgiving people.
13. We are called to be honest about whether there is forgiving work to do.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 212

The Triumphal Entry-Mark 11:1-11

(also see Zechariah 9:9 and John 12:12-19)

1. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
2. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
3. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
4. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
5. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
6. Zechariah presents an interesting, even contradictory account, on the surface anyway, of the arrival of the Messiah—oddly both a king and also a humble man—at once.
7. At the point of history under discussion, the potential arrival of the Christ, was at a fever pitch especially given the situation with the hated Romans.
8. That there was a man who healed, cast out demons, and raised the dead (especially see John 12:9-10) on his way with throngs of followers to Jerusalem had everyone in an uproar.
9. Jesus had arranged, without his disciples knowing it, for a young male donkey that had never been ridden be accessible to him, shows Jesus was thinking ahead.
10. When the disciples saw what was taking place they must have thought, “This is it.” He is going to announce his kingship today.
11. Jesus let the disciples and the crowd have their way. He accepted their praise and adoration since he was in fact was the Messiah and was doing exactly what the prophet Zechariah had announced centuries earlier.
12. “Hosanna” even, Lord save us. The shout that the Messiah is now here was made loud and clear.
13. For quite a time Jesus did as the people expected; he enter the gate, made his way to the temple, and merely “looked around at everything.” That is all he did.
14. Mark says it was “already late” so Jesus simply returned to the Bethany, likely to the home of Mary & Martha.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #211

Mark 10:46-52

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Note: Matthew has two blind men, Luke has the event taking place west of Jericho as opposed to east in Matthew and Mark. Interesting to speculate on the differences.
8. Pilgrims by the thousands on their way to Jerusalem via the Jericho Road. On this road the good Samaritan came to the rescue of a man badly beaten by robbers. (Luke 10:25)
9. Bartimaeus was doing what hundreds were likely doing—asking alms from the pilgrim–which was traditional.
10. Bartimaeus was hearing reports that Jesus was on the road and heading his way. Amongst the crowd were likely some who thought Jesus might announce himself as Messiah.
11. Though there were efforts to quiet the blind man, he refused to shut up and rather became even more persistent.
12. He identifies Jesus as Messiah (Son of David) and believes Jesus can heal him. His cry, “have mercy on me” has been echoed down through the ages.
13. Jesus called Bartimaeus to himself. We get out word “phone” from the Greek word for call. There is a major theology attached to the word call. See Romans 8:30.
14. Jesus ask Bartimaeus what he wants and once he hears the request, without a touch or even a mention of anything like “be healed” Bartimaeus was healed.
15. Jesus tells him to “go you way” but Bartimaeus does not do so. Rather, he joins the crowd and follows Jesus, apparently, into Jerusalem.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 210

Mark 10:35-45

The Request of James and John

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. “Sons of Thunder” (see Luke 9:51-56), James the elder and John the younger brother, is the nickname Jesus gave them.
8. Matthew (see Matthew 20:20-28) tells us that the mother of the young men approached Jesus with the request that one sit at the right and other at the left side of Jesus when he is the reigning King of glory. In an ‘oriental court’ these places were reserved for the chief power brokers.
9. To harmonize the two accounts, either the boys or the mother was behind the request and my thought it was James and John, though we cannot be certain. In any event, it was a staggering move and unbecoming to the whole family. (James Zebedee would be the first Christian to die for his faith.)
10. It does demonstrate that the Zebedee family had no doubts about who Jesus was. It would be only a matter of time before the kingdom would be established in Jerusalem, as they thought, and despite being warned now three times by Jesus personally that he would be killed, they must have ignored that information.
11. The event provided Jesus a perfect opportunity to reveal the real meaning of being a follower of Jesus. As Jesus came to serve so they would servants as well.
12. Jesus understood power, he was aware of Roman power of course and also of the power of his own religious rulers. The exercise of authority and power, this is the universal core to that which was sin.
13. One more time Jesus reminds his followers that his chief service would be in his dying, the ransom, the supreme payment to the Father for our sinfulness.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 209

Mark 10:32-34

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

(also read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53)

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. For the third time now in Mark Jesus tells, maybe warns is a better term, His disciples what will happen to Him. It is now not long before the actual events will take place.
8. Jesus is aware of this for any number of reasons: one, His dying as a sacrifice had been noted by any number of O.T. prophets; two, His enemies could not allow Him to go on much longer; three, His arch enemy, Satan, had long been working in the background; four, Jesus reasoned the signs of the times properly.
9. The “chief priests” the “scribes” – likely reference to the Council of Israel, the Sanhedrin – who had the power to see to it the Romans would execute Him.
10. Jesus spelled out exactly what would happen to Him, just as it was stated by King David 1000 years earlier and by the prophet Isaiah some 770 years earlier: Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are replete with the events.
11. The Gentiles – a wider grouping than merely the Romans at the time. Romans 3:23 expresses it more exactly: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The all is absolutely inclusive, both Jews and Gentiles.
12. We cannot fully grasp why the Son of God should be abandoned (Psalm 22:1) by God the Father, but to say that the Son must receive the righteousness judgment for our sin. He literally suffered and died in our place.