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Day 71: Mark 10:17-31 — You are the Rich Young Man/Woman!

Friday, March 12th, 2010

The story of Jesus’ encounter with the rich man may provide varying perspectives depending on the reader’s socioeconomic status. It can be troublesome for those who live good lives and see the rich man walking away from Jesus. On the other hand, for those who are not wealthy it may bring encouragement. However, if socioeconomic status is used as the interpretive method, it may not recognize the deeper theological meaning. Jesus defines discipleship not as a means to earn one’s way into the kingdom of God but radically calls for faith in God beyond our possessions, ideas, attitudes, human traditions, and degrees of power and prestige to become the fertile soil that receives the seed as the children responded to Jesus. We are called to give everything up and follow Jesus to the cross.

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, an argument can be made that life begins at the cross and we may think our lives are sufficient to enter into the kingdom of God and it is here at the cross that we encounter Jesus as a rich man/woman. We may be sincere, we may have followed the commands, we may have been loyal to our religious traditions, we may have dedicated our lives, we may have unconfessed sins, but the encounter with Jesus should leave us uneasy, torn, and confused and tension should mount in our inner being because we all have elevated something that needs to be left behind. Lamar Williamson writes: “If this message does not take our breath away, if we are not shocked, appalled, grieved, or amazed, we have either not yet heard it or heard it so often that we do not really hear it anymore.”

We cannot complain about discipleship, lessen the call to it, or ignore it because we see that Jesus is on His way to the cross and he leaves it all behind, even His life. Now read Mark 10:17-31 and struggle with the text and your riches.

Tags: Cross, Discipleship, Rich
Posted in Cross, Discipleship, Jesus, Mark | Comments Off

Day 69: Mark 9:42-50 — Following Jesus is Difficult!

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Following Jesus is difficult! I do not understand our contemporary serendipitous mumble jumble that claims Christians can live anyway they want and that worldly faith creates tremendous opportunities for advancement and health. Jesus offers no easy solutions to our discipleship. He doesn’t use platitudes, nor does He condescend us by sweet euphemisms. His teaching smacks of a grim realism that we all must hear and accept. Already in Mark, Jesus has likened our discipleship to taking up a cross and forfeiting one’s life (Mark 8:34-35). In Mark 9:42-50, Jesus warns his disciples of their responsibilities. To follow Jesus, we have to change our attitudes. Pride, egotism, selfishness, and brutality are all negative attitudes that are not acceptable. Our world teaches us to be the greatest (Mark 9:34) and these attitudes cause people to stumble. Jesus instructs us not to seek positions of power. The Christian life is not about our advancement and health, it is about seeking opportunities for service. Rather than causing others to stumble, we must help them advance in Christ and grow healthy in faith to the position that they seek their own opportunities to serve. The matter is so important to Jesus that He uses a shocking hyperbole: better to drown oneself in the sea than to offend a little one; better to cut off a hand or foot, or even pluck out an eye, than to risk throwing oneself into hell over some temptation or self-induced cause of stumbling (Mark 9:42-48). Jesus tells us it is going to be difficult, there will be challenges (Mark 9:49) but Jesus is on the way to the cross. Remember, He already took His disciples off to the side and taught them about it (Mark 9:30-32). There can be no resurrection unless there is a cross. We look forward to Easter in a few weeks but what cross will we bear?

Tags: Cross, Discipleship, Resurrection, The Greatest
Posted in Cross, Discipleship, Jesus, Mark | 2 Comments »

Day 68: Mark 9:14-29 — “My Faith Doesn’t Work!”

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

I don’t know what to write. Normally, I have something that comes to mind. The only thing I can think of are all the times, I try to solve problems of faith and I fail. It may be a poor comparison, but I feel like the disciples sometimes. My faith doesn’t always work. I love this lesson (Mark 9:14-29), but I can’t seem to learn it. I head off from my preachers office ready to solve the faith problems of the world. I return with my head held low and all of my theological arguments wilt in the face of a father with a sick son. I go to Jesus in private and I ask Him, “Why?” I hear His words, “What about prayer Randy?” Oops. I forgot. I forget, we are in Jesus’ hands and things don’t go they way we plan. I forget that life is not about the solutions of all our problems but just the big one. Jesus solved that one on the cross, “Lord, help my unbelief!”

Tags: faith, Help, Unbelief
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Day 67: Numbers 14:13-15:31; Mark 8:27-9:13 — Be careful what you wish for.

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Israel decided to listen to the naysayers, not to the Yahweh. “Who says we should be able to win? We cannot take this by ourselves.” How true. So God fulfilled their worst nightmare, fulfilled their own, self imposed, self condemning limitations. “You will wander forty years. Those who had no confidence in me shall not reach the blessing at all.”

Yet two men saw the reality, that this land was a gift, go out and receive the blessing. And so God fulfilled their confident vision and loyalty to Yahweh. Joshua led them, took the land. Caleb, because he had a different spirit and followed fully was promised, and received the blessing.

Purposefully the Creator told Israel His name was Yahweh, for some Hebrew speakers a verb that essentially means, “He will cause it to come about.” Now they learn, some painfully, some blessed, in experiencing the power of their faith on the one hand and others their distrust on the other: God made their dreams, and nightmares, come true.

Jesus turns the tables. “Who do you think that I am.” Peter says much more than he can fathom, but he will learn later. “You are the Christ.” On the heels of his great answer and statement of confidence, Peter hears, perhaps, some deflating news: It’s gonna cost you, everything. But then, as if to bolster their confidence to empower them for the next step, they witness that wonderful transfiguring, that divine meeting of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. They hear that tremendous voice of the Father, “This is My Beloved Son, listen to Him.” The Creator begins to fulfill their clearing view and confident expectations. This would not play out the way they thought it would in the beginning, but later it would be better than they could have imagined.

When you encounter God each day, what do you expect? Our confidence in Him and the resurrected Lord Jesus will bring blessing and power for living, and promise of life to come. To expect anything else, as a result of lack of faith, well, that may be fulfilled,too. Be careful of what you ask for.

Tags: confession, God's promises, Jesus is the Christ
Posted in faith, God, Mark, Obedience, Trust | Comments Off

Day 66: Mark 8:10-26

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

“How many times do I have to tell you before it sinks in?!” For a guy that was subject to be very hard-headed, I’ve heard that phrase many times in my life. Now that I have kids of my own, I understand exactly why people say this phrase. My own dear, sweet children sometimes favor their Daddy and it is exasperating to tell someone, show someone, plead with someone over and over to get your point across.

Mark 8:14-21 is an example of this frustration. Jesus is trying to teach and his followers are still concerned with trivial, physical things. The group is concerned because they forgot to bring along enough bread. Jesus hears their conversation and becomes frustrated with them. Why? Because they aren’t listening. They don’t see. More importantly, they don’t trust. A very short time ago, Jesus had fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and they have already forgotten. It’s so easy for me to say, “They just saw this! How can they forget so quickly? Jesus is trying to get them to focus on the spiritual and they can’t get past the physical!”

And yet, I doubt him. I worry. I concern myself with trivial matters around me. I’ve see God’s power in everything around me. I’ve seen his work in others around me. May God forgive me for my lack of understanding and strength.

Tags: God's patience, lack of trust
Posted in Jesus, Mark, Trust | 1 Comment »

Day 65: Mark 8:1-8 — “How many loaves do you have?”

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Today’s miracle is similar in many ways to the miracle of feeding the 5,000 that Jesus had performed not many days earlier in Bethsaida (Mark 6:30-44). Once again there’s a crowd nearby, hanging on every word. Having been with him for 3 days, they have nothing to eat (Mark 8:2).

Wait a minute Master — we’ve been without food for 3 days too! I nearly forgot! We’re out in the middle of nowhere; where can we get enough food to feed this stadium-sized crowd?

I can nearly see the look on Jesus’ face. When are you guys ever going to get it? No, I doubt He was really thinking that, but that’s what I’m inclined to think. We knew Jesus instead had compassion — on the crowd too, but He no doubt had great compassion for His closest 12 as well. He knew they didn’t understand yet. He was, after all, on a mission to seek & save the lost (Luke 19:10), but if they were to carry on His mission after the resurrection, this was of necessity a 3-year teaching mission too. Yes, Jesus had compassion on the crowd, but He also had great compassion — and patience — with the 12.

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. (Mark 8:5)

Oh yeah, we do have bread; we can e…

Uh. Psst. Thaddaeus? I forgot totally about when Master fed the 5,000. You think He knows we forgot?

Such a subtle hint. He could have come up with a line that was at once hilarious and at the same time put the apostles in their place for having such short memories. That’s what I would have done, but that’s not Jesus, and that’s clearly not the appropriate response here. He had both compassion and patience. He showed His great love for the crowd by tending to their immediate physical need, but He showed even deeper love for His apostles by tending to their physical need while nurturing their even deeper spiritual need to see the true Jesus and to understand Him who feeds the sparrows.

So, how many loaves do you have? Have you seen the true Jesus, or are you blinded by things that get in the way?

Tags: lack of faith, trust in Jesus
Posted in faith, Mark, Miracle, Trust | Comments Off

Day 63: Mark 6:45-51 — Jesus was going to just pass them on by!

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

I love this story. Jesus has just fed the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44) and then He gets the disciples in a boat and sends them off. He dismisses the crowd and then He goes off for some quiet time with the Father in Prayer. He walks on the water and sees they are having a little trouble with the headwind and decides to just pass them on by.

Did you catch that in Mark 6:48? He meant to pass right by them. It kind of reminds me of one time at Wal-Mart. I saw a Christian brother and decided to pass on by around another aisle but he looked up and caught me so we visited for a while. I guess it is biblical to pass your brother and sister by on some occasions. Anyway, Jesus catches up with His disciples and they think they are experiencing a segment from the radio show Coast to Coast because they think their Lord is a ghost and they are terrified. Jesus quiets them down and gets into the boat and calms the wind. I wonder if he calms the winds for the disciples or because the boat is moving slowly and he needs to get to the other side? Oh well, the interesting thing is that the disciples are astounded and they are fretting over the loaves (Mark 6:51-52).

What a story — you see your Lord feed five thousand and then He walks on the water and you get your heart all hardened because you didn’t get what Jesus did with the loaves. I wonder if they were mad because they wanted to send the people away and Jesus told them to feed the people (Mark 6:36-37). Do we ever harden our hearts because Jesus tells us to do something and we don’t understand? Do we ever get a little upset because we don’t get our way? NAAAAAH!

Tags: Disciples, Five Thousand, Jesus, Mark, Walk on Water
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Day 62: Mark 6:1-6 — Jesus Christ involved in a Scandal!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

This is an action news report. Jesus Christ, the proclaimed Son of God is involved in a scandal. In our contemporary world, we have become accustomed to these kind of reports. However, as I write these words, I feel a little uncomfortable. In Mark 6:1-6, Jesus goes back home and teaches. He does such a good job that his home town folks can’t believe it. They take offense and Jesus marveled at their unbelief. The interesting thing is that the word “offense” comes from a Greek word σκανδαλίζω (skandalízō), it is the word from which we get “scandal”. It can be translated as “a trap,” “stumbling block.” It is not often used with classical Greek writers. It is used more often in the Biblical text figuratively as a stumbling block to someone; to cause to stumble at or in something; or to give a cause of offense to someone. In Mark 6:3, it is used as a scandal of offense at Jesus and Jesus marvels at their unbelief (Mark 6:6).

Earlier, I said I was a little uncomfortable to say Jesus is involved in a scandal. I am not uncomfortable from the biblical standpoint because Jesus was involved in many scandals (e.g., the cross was a scandal). I am uncomfortable because the Christian faith seems to water down the scandal of the cross into a nice clean faith system. I am confused by our desire to attend church to experience a nice clean sanitized rendition of worship. Mark will use this word again with His disciples. They will stumble and fall away because of the cross (Mark 14:27). It was a scandal to believe in Christ. It was a radical change of life to follow Jesus. I wonder which Jesus we really worship? Is it Jesus the stumbling block or Jesus the pacifier that makes us all feel good? I am uncomfortable because I am afraid Jesus is no longer a scandal for we have already taken offense and run him out of town like his hometown did (Isaiah 8:14; Matthew 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 5:11).

Tags: faith, Jesus, Mark, Scandal
Posted in Cross, Discipleship, faith, Jesus, Mark, Worship | Comments Off

Day 61: Mark 5:21-43 — “Who Touched Me?”

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Have you ever been interrupted? I have! There are always interruptions in my day. There was a time in my life when I would lament over the fact that I could have finished all my work if it weren’t for the interruptions. In our reading of Mark 5:21-43, Jesus experiences some interruptions. I know traditionally, we like to talk about the miracle stories that happen. Yet, I was reading and became captivated by the interruptions. Jesus is interrupted by a father who has a sick daughter. Jesus leaves to help the father and then he gets interrupted by some woman touching him and his power is drained. Jesus stops and asks what the disciples think is an absurd question in the midst of a crowd…”Who touched my garment?” It is kind of like being at the end of a Texas football game when Texas A&M is being beat again. All the Aggies flee in shame and are pressing all around and you stop and ask, “which Aggie just touched me?”

Jesus stops in the midst of a crowd and the need to go save a little girl and renders a personal touch to a woman who has suffered for years. We ought to stop and put a little thought to this action. We live in a world of fast paced living that teaches us to ignore what we think is insignificant like faith. Jesus helps me to see our faith and others’ faith may be more important to him than a death of a child. That is hard to comprehend but then again Jesus overcomes death with resurrection, but he never makes us have faith. The advent of faith in a person seems more miraculous to me than the healing of a disease. I wonder if Mark wants us to see that too?

Oh by the way just for fun, the next time you are in a crowd and people are pressing in all around you, stop and yell, “Who touched me?”

Tags: faith, Jesus, Mark
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Day 60: Numbers 2:1-3:39; Mark 5:1-20 — By the numbers, move out

Monday, March 1st, 2010

“. . . and you, men of Zebulun, that’s right, right over there, yes on that side. No, no, no! Don’t touch those! You, there, sons of Merari, please move the framing so they can get by. How many are there of you, again? Yes, Aaron, you and your sons alone are to make the sacrifices, and take care of the service. Everyone know their jobs?” What a sight, bringing order out of the chaos for over two million people. A place for everyone and everyone in their place. Move by the numbers, and every one numbered. Finally! Moving on to the promised land!

Meanwhile, on the sea of Galilee, did they know where they were going? Had they heard the stories? If so, they no doubt wondered why Jesus was going to the tombs. If they had not heard the stories, they soon would hear the wailing and cries of a man in torment. As they secure the boat, Jesus walks straight for the screaming, hulking figure of a monster! “Come out! Come out, demons! What is your name, poor tormented fellow?”

Two readings. So unrelated? No, not really. Among other superlatives, we may consider God the Ultimate Accountant. A friend of mine in Arkansas once commented on all the lists and listings of people, son of this one, son of that one. Why keep all of that? Genealogy for one thing, but more so, God loves His creation, loves people. We all “count”, we are all important to Him. He knows the hairs of our heads, and the lack thereof. He knows the teeming masses of mankind so lost and wandering, the chaos, Matthew 9:36. God planned and created a wonderful place where we all can be counted, and accounted for, in Christ. Before time began He planned for you and me to be counted in that fantastic heavenly multitude, Acts 2:39-40, Ephesians 3:10-11.

Does one man count, really? Jesus says, “Yes.” Jesus knew the demons that plagued that one, sad soul, and He wanted that one, sad soul to be free! “What is your name?” How personal, and touching! “Legion, for we are many.” How so like us, so distraught and torn between so many obligations, fears, and “to do’s”, “must do’s”, and “did I do’s”! When Jesus has finished the miracle, freed that one man of demons, then the work could begin, the rebuilding, the mending, Mark 5:18-20. How tender a moment! Jesus, I want to stay with you, forever! How our longing hearts pray this! And yet He says, not yet, I have a job for you. You are not alone. Yes, I will come back for you. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Matthew 28:20, Acts 1: 11, 2 Peter 3:9.

Israelites, head ‘em up! Move ‘em out. We have a promised land to get to!

Church, head ‘em up, move ‘em out. We have a promised land to get to!

Tags: God loves, Jesus cares, one person matters
Posted in Mark, Numbers | 1 Comment »

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