Wonderful buildings

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“Take heed that no one deceives you.” Mark 13:1-8

How much of the future should we seek to know? The Bible has always spoken against pursuing knowledge about tomorrow outside his counsel, the most famous being King Saul’s desperate grab for that very thing at Endor (I Samuel 28). Yet at the same time, God speaks in words of prophecy to his people about things to come.

Jesus has completed his teaching in the temple and the band of disciples makes their way back to Bethany at the Mount of Olives. As they leave, one of them is awestruck by the magnificence and splendor of the temple buildings. Jesus turns this into an opportunity for prophecy, saying that these great buildings will be broken down stone by stone, leaving only rubble.

This must have been a shock to the disciples. The temple was the core of Judaism. Without it, the sacrifices for the sins of the people and the nation could not be made. Yet no one remarked on or questioned this saying. Later, four of his closest men came to him while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, and asked “When will these things be? What will be the sign?”

There is a great difference between Saul’s request and that of the disciples. Saul sought information in ways forbidden by God. The disciples asked a natural question of the most natural person: Jesus, the speaker of the prophecy, who just happened to be God in the flesh.

Jesus then gives his famous list of signs: the appearance of false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, nation arising against nation and kingdom, earthquakes and famines. These things, he says, are but the beginning of birth pangs. Yet in the midst of it all, we are not to be frightened, for they must come about. It was if he was saying, “Now you know. Stop worrying.”

But first he gives what may seem to be an unlikely instruction: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” Sometimes it seems we humans jump at the chance to believe anything but the truth. Eve in the Garden is the earliest example. All it took was a little questioning for her to act against what she had previously known without a doubt. Jesus warns his disciples – the apostles – about the very same thing. Don’t be misled. Don’t be led astray.

He warns of someone actively seeking to get us off track. It is not an accident nor a blunder nor a mere misunderstanding. Someone is lying in wait to take us where we would not ordinarily have gone. Someone is cunning enough for us to think it is a good idea, in fact, the best thing to do. This someone would have you believe they come in the name of Jesus. They may even claim to be Jesus himself.

How do we overcome this? There’s only one good answer. You must know Jesus closer than you would know any brother. His voice must be easily recognizable to your heart, as the sheep know the voice of the shepherd. Draw near to him and he will draw near to you (James 4:8). Start today. Sooner is better than later.

Keeping up appearances

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“…and for appearances sake offer…” Mark 12:35-44

The Jews have had enough. They started the game but Jesus kept winning. Now no one dared to ask him any more questions. And they certainly didn’t want to face any more of his. Jesus turns his attention to the crowd that had gathered around him in the temple.

To their credit, the scribes were good students of the Scriptures. They had discovered a great truth: The coming Messiah would be a son of David, the great king and psalmist of old. Yet the Messiah stood there before them, unrecognized. He had fulfilled many prophecies announcing his arrival. Only a handful remained to come true, and in a few days, these, too, would be fulfilled. Why had they missed him? We don’t know the exact details of their thinking, but one thing is certain: the Messiah had not come according to their expectations. He would not be just a mere descendant of David, but David’s Lord. He would be God in the flesh.

The scribes gave the appearance of possessing great knowledge of the Messiah. Yet the people readily saw what they could not. Messiah was right there in their midst bringing the blessings and glory of God to the whole world.

The scribes thought their knowledge and position brought them God’s acceptance and approval. They dressed the part, offering long prayers and earning the respect of the people, who honored them in public gatherings. Yet they failed in very basic ways to practice God’s law and share his love to the people in their care.

Some things seem self evident, but the truth of the matter can be quite different. Jesus moved to the temple treasury and watched as people gave their contributions. People marveled at the rich offering large sums of money. Jesus saw what the others did not notice and pointed it out to his disciples: a poor widow who put in two small copper coins valued at half a cent apiece. She put in all that she had, while the others gave out of their surplus. They had plenty more at home, while she had nothing left. Jesus commended her by saying she had put in more than all the others combined.

You don’t need to be a biblical scholar with a doctorate and hundreds of accolades to be acceptable in God’s sight. You don’t have to be good at Bible trivia or Bible baseball or even know the books of the Bible in order by heart. It’s okay if you can’t remember all Ten Commandments or which one is the Seventh. The only test you’ll get will be at heaven’s gate. And if you know Jesus, you’ve already passed. All that is needed is for him to recognize, welcome and embrace you.

The greatest commandment

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“You are not far from the kingdom of heaven.” Mark 12:28-34

Now a scribe comes with a question for Jesus. He seems to have a different approach as Mark tells us he had been listening as the others asked their questions. He readily saw that Jesus had answered well. The scribes were the theologians. They were experts at interpreting the scriptures, so he asks a scripture-based question: “Which is the greatest commandment?”

Jesus answers without hesitation, “The first: The Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” But then Jesus implies that this is not enough. There needs to be more to make the command complete: “You must also love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

The scribe responds, “You have spoken well,” agreeing with his synopsis. “Such love is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus saw that he spoke thoughtfully, “You are not far from the kingdom of heaven.”

Note that Mark mentions what the scribe thought of Jesus’ previous answers. How did he know this? Mark was not there and the scribe does not reveal his reasoning. Could he have been one of those Jewish leaders who later came to the Lord and believed on him? We do not know for sure, but it is nice to think that he might have. Such is the hope of the gospel. None are excluded, no matter what their previous state had been.

The answer of Jesus is deceptively simple. The scribe’s question boils down to this: “What must a person do to please God?” or, “What must I do to be saved?” It is easy to learn phrases and pat answers and then parrot them back when the subject comes up. It is a much different thing to actually live it. Which commandment would you choose? Would you pick one you thought no one could ever catch you breaking? Or one that God would pick?

The one Jesus picked is harder than it first appears. What does it mean to love the Lord with all your “heart, soul, mind and strength”? Does he really mean all of my affection, desires, thoughts and activity should be directed at him? How is that even possible? I think we all know, either by trying or by wishing, that none of us could even begin to achieve this kind of sustained devotion. That is the point of this and all Law. None of us are able. Our best and only response is to throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus and beg for his mercy. Only through his help and strength can we start to become the people God intends us to be.

The God of the living

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“Do you not therefore err?” Mark12:18-27

The Sadducees now make their move. They were a movement within Judaism that were primarily in opposition to the Pharisees. They differed in important ways, such as accepting only the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) as God’s word and the rejection of the existence of demons and angels. On this occasion, they chose to highlight the absurdity of the resurrection of the dead.

They present to Jesus the hypothetical case of seven brothers. The first brother took a wife but died before he was able to father any children. According to the Law, the next brother must take the wife and raise up children for his brother through her. But, alas! all the brothers died childless, after each took the wife in succession. Finally the wife died. Now the conundrum: in the resurrection, whose wife is she?

Jesus will not be baited and rejects any thought of a conundrum. The problem is due to the Sadducees’ lack of understanding of both the Scriptures and the power of God. He allows no misinterpretation: “when they rise from the dead…” The resurrection is real. He points out that in the Torah, God declares Himself to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – present tense. In other words, these men still exist though they died centuries earlier.

“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

But Jesus also introduces another thought that continues to disturb us even today: “For when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” What is this? Marriage is such a large part of our life here, filled with blessing and satisfaction. Why would it not be available to us in heaven? Will we not see our beloved spouses there? Was marriage not a good thing after all?

Wait, hold your horses. Remember the vow: “until death do we part.” We should have known this was coming. We must be careful not to make the same mistake as did the Sadducees. It’s too easy to look at the world around us, the lives we lead, the way things seem to be, and assume this is the extent of reality. That this is all there is, all that is meant to be and ever will be. It’s like enjoying a sunny day, rejoicing in the warmth and light, feeling it could go on forever. Then along comes a cloudy day. Oh, well, we think, it’s always been like this and always will be. We don’t know what we’re talking about.

We do not know what it will be like forever. Even if God explained it to us, we would not yet understand it. But we know Him and His ways. Therefore we can trust that what ever He has in store, it will be wonderfully delightful in every way. We’ll never look back.

Render unto Caesar

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“Whose image is this?” Mark 12:13-17

When we look at our coinage today, at least in this country, we see the inscription, “In God we trust.” Some who are concerned about the materialism rampant in our modern society point out with heavy sarcasm that it might be more accurate to say, “In George we trust.” And in Jesus’ day, that approach would certainly be accurate, since the Roman coinage (the only legal tender available publicly) said in effect, “In Caesar we trust.”

In fact it went a step further. It proclaimed Augustus Caesar to be God and his son Tiberius to be the son of God. This infuriated the Jewish leaders, who felt the wording was an intentional slam on their belief in One True God. Other nationalistic Jews simply hated the fact they were under Rome’s thumb and rebelled in any way they could get away with, including the nonpayment of taxes.

So when the Pharisees approached Jesus with oily words of flattery, they sought to embroil him in both a theological and a political controversy. A controversy that they themselves avoided, fearing the reactions of both Rome and their own people. Jesus could not help but offend one group or the other.

They came directly to the point, “Should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said so, “Why do you test me? Let me see a coin.” They produced one for him to look at. Quick aside: If they detested the coins so much, they sure didn’t seem hesitant to carry them and use them!

Jesus turned the coin back for them to see and asked, “Whose image is this?” They almost spat out the name: “Caesar’s”. Jesus then gave this famous reply: “If it is Caesar’s, give it to him. But the things that are God’s, make sure you give to God.”

And they marveled at him. This is interesting. They were stymied, and surprised at how easily Jesus defeated their carefully laid trap. For all their words of flattery, they pay him no heed. He is true, but not to be trusted. He speaks honestly, not allowing the opinions of men to sway him, neither do they allow his words to sway themselves. He is a faithful teacher of God’s way, but they fail to follow him. They simply regroup and plan their next attack.

Truthful words are hard to hear and difficult to accept. Our stubborn and rebellious hearts are not easily satisfied with the answers to our questions. We often seek only to reinforce our own biases and opinions. The ability to come up with questions and opposing arguments does not invalidate truth. If our purpose in raising issues like these is to end discussion and deny authority, how can we ever come to the Truth?

Why then?

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“…when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son” Galatians 4:4

Sometimes the question is asked, “Why did Jesus come when he did? Why not today when we have vastly superior means of communication?” Of course, God knows what He is doing, and His omniscience should be enough reason for anyone. But, often the Pax Romana (Roman peace) is cited as a significant reason for the timing since Rome controlled a large part of the world at that time. Nations were not at war with each other. Rome had conquered them and it was not wise to quarrel with Caesar.

This brought about an unparalleled exchange of goods, ideas and thought. People could move throughout the empire with a measure of freedom. People could share the gospel openly at first, spreading the good news far and wide.

But as time has gone by, other reasons present themselves as we begin living in times with changes that were unforeseen back then. Hence the question regarding communication. But something important has not changed: people. Particularly the people “in charge.”

Jesus encountered opposition from the day he appeared on the scene. The religious leaders questioned his teaching and his authority constantly. They tried to discredit him in the eyes of the people, failing in every instance, while at the same time strengthening his credibility. They eventually had to resort to lies and false testimony to convict him of a charge worthy of death.

Here’s where the political people “in charge” came on the scene. The Jews lacked the authority to put a man to death so they appealed to their local Roman governor. Against his better judgment but wanting above all to keep the peace, he complied and executed Jesus on a cross.

But Jesus didn’t stay dead, even though the Jews had posted military guards at the tomb. They bribed the guards to lie and say the disciples had somehow gotten past them and stole the body. Later, they strictly required the disciples to stop preaching about Jesus. The disciples did not comply and the gospel spread further and faster.

Eventually, Rome had had enough of this growing religion and began a fierce campaign of persecution against them. Not just name-calling but horrible tortures and death, yet Christianity survived and flourished, conquering even Rome itself.

Now, is it any different today? If Jesus’ first appearance happened now, how would the people in charge respond? Ask yourself some basic questions:

  • Have news sources ever distorted, misrepresented or ignored a major story?
  • Have lawmakers ever tried to limit the rights of god-fearing citizens?
  • Have publishers and filmmakers refused to cover certain subjects?
  • Have the masters of social media ever shut down discussions involving “misinformation”?

Even with our modern communications abilities, it may well be that it is more difficult now to spread radical news capable of turning the world upside down. Best to stick with the original plan. God’s good news was meant to be shared by word of mouth. By the way, word of mouth is still considered to be the most effective and fastest form of advertising. Word of mouth means person to person contact. Are we willing to put down our electronics and give it a try?

On choosing leaders

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“Give us a king” I Samuel 8, 9 & 10

People in all places and times have sought leaders to rule over them. I’m not sure I know the specific reason people would want this. Perhaps they realize the efficiency of concentrating power in one person in order to focus the energies of all. Perhaps they merely want someone to blame when things go wrong.

The people of Israel were growing uneasy with the prospect of putting Samuel’s sons in charge. The sons had rejected Samuel’s ways and were displaying a knack for dishonest gain, taking bribes and perverting justice. The elders confronted Samuel with a demand to “drain the swamp.” Their solution? “Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

I’m not sure which nation they had in mind. There were not many shining examples of excellence in governance in those days. Samuel was not pleased, but he did something that evidently the people and their elders had not. He prayed to the Lord. And the Lord answered him.
The people have not rejected you, the Lord said. They have rejected Me, just as they have done since the day I brought them out of Egypt. Nevertheless, the Lord instructed Samuel to listen to the people and to sternly warn them about the nature of kings.

A king of course, will reign over you. He is in charge; you are not. You will become his servants. You cannot come and go as you please, but only as the king directs and allows. Your children will be drafted to serve him. Some will fight his wars, some will plow his fields and harvest his crops. Others will cook for him or serve him hand and foot. And don’t forget, all his flocks, fields, vineyards and olive groves used to be yours. All his staff, generals and bureaucrats will have their salaries paid by you, the taxpayer. In time, you will cry out because of your king, but the Lord will not answer you.

Wow, what a deal! Of course the people agreed. They were obsessed with the idea that they needed a king to “be like all the nations.” The cost was not considered until it began to hurt.

Samuel chose a king for them, using a lottery system. The winner was Saul. After some searching, he was found hiding in the baggage. But, he was good looking and taller than anyone else in Israel, so what could go wrong?

Actually, Saul was a pretty good king while he followed the Lord. He won battles and dealt reasonably with people. But Saul eventually turned away and the Lord rejected him. Saul had many advantages, including having had the Spirit of the Lord come mightily upon him. In the end, Saul was just a man and saw only what men see. His vision did not glimpse the power of the Lord, but only the strength of his own arm.

Which is why the New Testament exhorts that “entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). We don’t get to pick and chose – we pray for all of them.

Copyright 2020 David J. Cooley

You talkin’ to me?

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What will the owner do? Mark 12:1-12

The discussion about the authority of Jesus has ended. Or has it? Jesus begins telling a parable about a vineyard in the hearing of the Jewish leaders. Though the disciples often sought explanations to Jesus’ parables, Mark tells us the officials did not. His meaning was plain to them.

Jesus tells of a man who planted a vineyard. He outfitted it with everything needed to protect and operate the venture. Then he rented it out to growers to run the place while he went on a long journey. At harvest time, the owner sent a slave to collect his portion of the crop. The tenants beat the slave and sent him away with nothing. The owner sent others to collect, but each time the tenants treated them shamefully, injured them or even killed them.

Finally, the man sent his beloved son, thinking, “Surely they will respect him.” But the growers figured that if the heir died, the vineyard would belong to them. When the son arrived, they killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard. What will the owner do now? He will destroy the growers and give the vineyard to others.

Jesus drives home his meaning by quoting Psalm 118:22: The stone which the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone. This, coupled with the obvious allusion to the unproductive vineyard of Isaiah 5, left no room for misinterpretation. And the Jewish leaders understood him fully. They realized that Jesus equated them with the treacherous growers. After all, their ancestors had rejected and reviled God’s prophets.

To their credit, the officials did not attempt to shift the blame to others. To their discredit, they excused themselves, rejecting Jesus’ message and that of the scriptures they knew so well. They knew what he was saying, but refused to apply his words to themselves. They could not – dared not – see themselves in that light.

So they acted in the lack of light they had and sought to seize Jesus on the spot. The only thing that prevented them was the presence of the crowds. Fear of the people outweighed any fear of the Almighty in their hearts. So they retreated.

Jesus does not have to document or certify his authority. It is obvious and effective. All pretenders to the throne have to slink away. Any attempt to deny that authority in our own hearts will ultimately fail. Is there anything you need to set right and yield to him?

Copyright 2020 David J. Cooley

The right answer

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“We do not know.” Mark 11:27-33

Jesus returns to Jerusalem in the morning. As he and his disciples walk through the temple area, the Jewish officials approach him en masse: the chief priests, scribes and elders. In other words, this is serious. They want to see his credentials. “By what authority do you do theses things? Who gave you this authority?“

In their own minds, they are the ultimate authority of faith and practice on earth. And they knew with certainty that they had not given Jesus any kind of authority to teach or to act. They are speaking, of course, in reference to Jesus driving out the money changers and other vendors from the temple on the day before.

Jesus counters with a question for them. It is interesting that they take up this question as they are under no obligation to do so. Thus they unwittingly yield their authority to Jesus. His question is, “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer me.”

This was a factual question with a definite answer. But instead of giving an answer based on truth, or even on their own professional opinion, they express fear of the reaction of the people, who no doubt were gathering now to see what was going on. They fall back to a “safe” answer that they hope will not cause too much trouble. So they offer up the pretense that they do not know.

Jesus will not play games with them and states flatly, “Neither will I tell you.” But in a sense, Jesus has already told them the source of his authority. John was indeed a prophet sent from God to proclaim the coming Messiah, whom he identified as Jesus. The officials’ refusal to accept this did not make it any less true, but served as an indicator of the state of their hearts.

The temptation to give a “safe” answer regarding, Jesus, God or the Bible is just as great today. Our modern society has determined we are now “post-Christian” and have been for some time. In other words, we have grown out of this phase in our development and are now able to regard things in a much more realistic and scientific fashion. The concept of God and religion is seen as no longer being useful. In fact it may be downright dangerous, and indeed, anyone holding to these outmoded beliefs is rightfully subject to ridicule, loss of position and power and general persecution.

So, do we go along to get along, or do we stop, stand and proclaim the “right answer”?

Copyright 2020 David J. Cooley