Posted on October 1, 2014
#73: Taking Off the Mask
October is here—the month of changing leaves, crisp apples, cornstalks, costume parties, and trick-or-treat. From toddler to adult, people of all ages will don masks, transforming into princesses and ogres, angels and demons, action heroes and villains. It can be great fun to take on a new identity, pretending to be something we’re not.
Role-playing and masks have been found in nearly every culture, including Rome and Greece in Jesus’ day. Out of the Greek theaters—with their famous comedy/tragedy masks—came a unique compound word for play-acting: hupo, meaning under, and krites, meaning determine or judge. Hupokrites (hypocrites) wearing costumes and masks, led their audience to determine the character being played by the actor under the mask. A skilled actor could make a watching crowd forget he was under mask, convincing them he actually was the character he appeared to be.
Over time, the term hupokrite took on a negative feel, used to describe anyone who presented himself as something he was not. Today, the word “two-faced” might compare.
Jesus, who was infinitely merciful to sinners, had no patience with hypocrites—especially the Pharisees and teachers of the law who pretended to be pious but were actually not. His scathing condemnation of their behavior was summarized with one sentence: “Everything they do is done for men to see.” (Mt. 23:5a)
Get your Bible and read Mark 12:38-40 and Luke 20:45-47. Then check out the expanded account of these words in Matthew 23:1-36, including the seven woes Jesus pronounced upon these “religious” leaders (Mt. 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, and 29). Read More
Posted on September 24, 2014
#72: Jesus, Outside the Box
At the end of a busy day, I love a few minutes of “me” time. I used to unwind with a cup of tea. A good book. A soak in a hot tub. I still like all those end-of-day relaxers. But now, my favorite treat is time on Pinterest.
Have you been bitten by the Pinterest bug? If so, you know how quickly minutes can turn to hours, browsing through ingenious ideas in dozens of categories. Again and again I say to myself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” as I see new uses for items I’d only thought of in one way.
For instance, I used to think an old wooden ladder was helpful when changing a light bulb; now I know there are at least twenty-five ways to decorate using an old wooden ladder! Paper doilies used to line serving trays, but now I can make fifty Christmas ornaments from them. Tissue boxes become attractive storage units. Toothpaste becomes a hole-filling painter’s friend. And pop can tabs! Who would’ve dreamed how many uses pop can tabs have?
Pinterest’s vast appeal centers around creatively thinking “outside the box.” It’s also shown us how easily we fall into mental ruts about the simplest things—and how exciting it can be to open our eyes to the possibilities.
Grab your Bible and read Mark 12:35-37. Also take a look at the companion passages in Matthew 22:41-46 and Luke 20:41-44.
Jesus had been hounded throughout His ministry by champion rut-thinkers: the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They considered themselves experts in the scriptures. They were sure they had the Messiah all figured out—and Jesus definitely didn’t fit their concept. His dealings with them had a common design: to pry open the box they’d put the Messiah in, opening their eyes to the possibility that He was indeed the Promised One. Read More
Posted on September 17, 2014
#71: The Rest of the Story
Paul Harvey, the well-loved radio personality, became famous for his broadcasts called “The Rest of the Story.” In each episode Harvey told an engaging story, withholding a key piece of information (like the person’s name or the story’s location) till the end. The resolution—served up with “And now, you know the rest of the story”— almost always came as a surprise, and people loved these mini-mysteries.
Today’s passage is one that makes me long to know the rest of the story. Pick up your Bible and breathe a prayer for insight. Read More
Posted on September 10, 2014
#70: Are You Spiritually Fit?
Body builders are disciplined people. I have sons and brothers-in-law and friends who push themselves to work out each day, refusing to skip a day. They know how difficult it is to re-establish a routine if they let the daily habit slip. They want to be strong and well-conditioned, so they push themselves to do what’s necessary for top fitness. It takes resolve. But the results are worth the effort.
We can learn a lot from them about spiritual strength and fitness. How can we build ourselves up in our faith, protect ourselves from wrong thinking, and enable ourselves to encourage and support each other? Jesus gives a clue in today’s verses from Mark’s gospel. Read More
Posted on September 3, 2014
#69: What Will Be Your Legacy?
My grandma Hilda died at age 90 after a long, active godly life. Her lifelong “career” of service to Christ began in 1928 when at age fourteen she started teaching a third-grade Sunday school class. After her death, one of her early students—who was by then in her seventies—said to me, “In all the years I’ve known Hilda, I’ve never once seen her do or heard her say anything inconsistent with the faith she professed.”
I’ve never forgotten those words. If God grants me ninety years, I’ll be delighted (and amazed!) if anything close can be said of me. Grandma’s example stands as a lasting influence on me, my brothers, our families, her students, and many others. Hers is a powerful legacy.
Nichole Nordeman recorded a song I love, called “I Want to Leave a Legacy.” A few lines of the lyrics say:
I want to leave a legacy.
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering—
a child of mercy and grace
who blessed Your name unapologetically—
and leave that kind of legacy.
Not well-traveled, not well-read,
Not well-to-do or well bred,
Just want to hear instead,
“Well done, good and faithful one.”
Have you done much thinking about your legacy? We all leave one, whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether good or bad. Today we’ll consider examples of each. Read More
Posted on August 27, 2014
#68: Targeted for Transformation
I love the parables of Jesus—the prodigal son, the sower, the lost sheep, the mustard seed, the pearl of great price, and many more. Jesus was a master teller of “simple” stories with layers of meaning that commentators centuries later are still excavating.
The twelve disciples enjoyed an advantage—the opportunity to ask Jesus privately to explain His parables. At one of those times the disciples questioned Him, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”
Jesus answered, “The knowledge of the secrets of heaven’s kingdom has been given to you, but not to them. . . . This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ ” (Mt. 13:10ff)
In essence Jesus was saying, “Anyone who wants to understand badly enough to focus his sight, tune in his hearing, and open his heart will be rewarded. He’ll be changed, turned, transformed. He’ll be healed, made whole.”
Welcome to Knowing Jesus, our study of Mark’s gospel—and specifically our present look at the last week of Jesus’ life in human flesh. Get your Bible, pray for open eyes and ears, and prepare your heart.
Read Mark 12:1-12. Also take a moment to look at parallel accounts in Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 20:9-19.
Just a few days remained until the cross. Jesus was spending His days in Jerusalem’s temple teaching, aware that His enemies were watching every move and listening to every word. Over the past few years, they’d heard Him present many parables that were hard to understand. But on this day He told a parable with a crystal-clear message, one He wanted them to get. They could choose to open their hearts, receive that message, and be healed. Or they could turn deaf ears and reject His message.
Targeted audience
Jesus introduced a vineyard owner who set up a vineyard. (The Jews’ leaders—and all Jews familiar with the prophets—would understand the vineyard owner to be God, from Isaiah’s prophetic allegory about God’s carefully-tended people Israel who rebelled and failed to bear fruit. Check out Isaiah 5:1-7 and 27:2-3.) With meticulous care the owner prepared his vineyard for fruitfulness, leaving nothing to chance. Then he asked, “What more could’ve been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” (Is. 5:4)
The owner (God) left his vineyard in the care of tenant farmers or stewards. They misused their position, abused the owner’s messengers, and finally killed the owner’s beloved son in hopes of gaining complete power over the owner’s estate. The listening leaders could’ve easily identified themselves as the parable’s villains—especially since some of them were smack in the midst of plotting Jesus’ death at that very moment.
There was no missing the meaning of this parable. He was calling them out, exposing their thirst for power, asking them to acknowledge Him as the Son of God and submit to His authority. They got it, loud and clear. And they were furious, but too cowardly to take public action for fear of the crowds who adored Jesus.
Jesus finished His parable with a quote from the Hallel—the famous set of Passover psalms that included these verses from Psalm 118:22-23 (the same source as His earlier Hallel quote in Mark 11:9-10, from Psalm 118:25-26). Attaching a new significance, He recited, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” As the cornerstone of a new temple (Ephesians 2:20-22, 1 Peter 2:4-8), Jesus was a threat to the “stewards” of the old one. They wouldn’t embrace Him, which left nothing to do but eliminate Him.
Transformed people
So what about us? How do we respond when His teachings target our weaknesses? What do we do when His Word makes us squirm because we know He’s describing us? Do we open our hearts to receive His message and His healing—or do our calloused hearts stubbornly cling to our way, unchanged? Do we have eyes to see and ears to hear what He wants to say to us?
Jesus used one of His last teaching opportunities to plead for open eyes, ears and hearts. He longs to make us whole, transforming us into His likeness (2 Cor. 5:17, 21; Col. 3:10). Will we let Him?
If you follow this study but haven’t been receiving it by email, take a moment to subscribe on my web site, www.dianemcloud.com. Each post will be delivered straight to your inbox on Wednesday mornings. Your email address will be used for no other purpose. Thanks for reading Knowing Jesus!
© Diane McLoud 2014
Posted on August 20, 2014
#67: Living Light
For their fiftieth anniversary, John and Barbara planned a trip overseas. During the flight, their plane suffered engine failure. The pilot announced that an emergency landing must be made and that the only land available was an uncharted island. “We’ll survive,” the pilot said, “but it’s unlikely we’ll ever be found. We may spend the rest of our lives on this island.”
John turned to Barbara and asked anxiously, “Darling, before we left home did you pay the electric bill?”
“No, dear, I didn’t,” she said, her lips quavering.
“Well, did you make the house payment?”
“No, I didn’t,” Barbara answered.
“What about the credit cards? Did you pay the credit card bills?” John asked.
“No, I didn’t pay those either.”
John gave Barbara a big kiss, leaned back into his seat and relaxed. “Then they’ll find us,” he sighed.
If you’ve ever been hounded by bill collectors, you can relate! You know how uncomfortable borrowed living can be. But there is one type of “borrowed” living, modeled by Jesus, that can free us. Read More
Posted on August 13, 2014
The Beginning, Revisited
It’s wedding week at our house. This coming Friday evening, our son Michael and his fiancé Hilary will be married. So I thought this busy week would be a great time to look back at the first post in this study, Knowing Jesus—just to be reminded of what we’ve set out to learn. Here is post #1: The Beginning. . . .
Read More
Posted on August 6, 2014
#66: Who’s In Control?
Once upon a Passover, a group of Jewish leaders and teachers sat spellbound in Jerusalem’s temple. The week-long celebration had just ended and most visitors were headed home. But here in front of the teachers sat a straggler, a twelve-year-old boy from Nazareth. It hardly seemed possible he was so young. His wisdom and maturity seemed to fit one much older.
Hour after hour, they exchanged questions and answers. Whenever He spoke, the teachers would nod to each other. This was a prodigy of the first degree. What was His name again? Ah yes, Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth.
Suddenly a commotion in the courtyard drew their attention. A frantic man ran into the portico, crying out in relief when he saw the boy. “Jesus! Oh Jesus, come quickly. Your mother is so worried! She’s waiting.”
Joseph hurried Jesus to the outer court where women were permitted. Mary was pacing and praying. When her eyes fell on her Son, she broke into tears. “Child, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been searching desperately for you!”
With a few words, Jesus reminded His mother that the scope of His life and purpose went far beyond their little family circle. “Why were you searching for Me? Didn’t you know I would be about My Father’s business?” (Lk. 2:49) Mary didn’t fully understand, but she knew He wasn’t referring to Joseph or carpentry.
As the teachers watched Jesus walk away, they must have agreed that the boy had a bright future.
Welcome to Knowing Jesus, our study through the gospel of Mark. Get your Bible and glance back at Mark 11:15-18a, then read Mark 11:27-33.
Fast-forward twenty-one years to another Passover. Read More
Posted on July 30, 2014
#65: Forgiveness and Answered Prayer
I remember the first time I saw Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. I sat in a dark theater watching one scene after another roll by in a story I’d heard since childhood. The film was graphic and moving—a powerful depiction of what Jesus had endured to take away our sin. But for me, one moment was spiritually stunning: when Jesus, beaten, bloody and exhausted, hanging suspended and suffocating on the cross, forced from His swollen lips the words, “Father, forgive them.” Through sudden tears I prayed, “Lord, what hurt could I ever refuse to forgive if You could forgive this?”
And yet I struggle to forgive. We all do. I once heard forgiveness defined as “the death of revenge.” The process of forgiveness takes us through stages of grief over letting go, just like any other death would. I completely get the analogy. I’ve grieved over letting hurts go. Just when I think I’ve accomplished it, I turn a corner in the grocery store and see the one I’ve “forgiven”—and feel a painful rush of emotion that tells me the battle is not yet won.
So when I read Jesus’ words about forgiveness in connection to prayer and faith, I feel a special need to pay attention.
Take a moment to pray for God’s guidance, then open your Bible. Read Mark 11:22-26, then read it again. Do you notice important elements to prayer that God can freely answer? Conversely, what might keep our prayers from being answered? Read More
