Posted on July 23, 2014
#64: Mountain-Moving Faith
My favorite type of novel opens with several seemingly unrelated story lines. Slowly, chapter by chapter, the pieces come together. In time it’s clear that the stories are related. As the details fall into place, one cohesive tale emerges—a nice neat ending for this lady who hates loose ends!
Today’s scripture from Mark 11 is just such a scenario. At first, we see three story lines that don’t appear to relate. Then as we look more closely, we see the pieces come together.
Thanks for joining me for Knowing Jesus, our study through the gospel of Mark. We’re in the final few chapters of Mark, taking a look at Jesus’ last week in human flesh. Get your Bible, breathe a prayer for insight and wisdom, and let’s read.
Turn to Mark 11:12-26, following carefully as Jesus curses a fruitless fig tree, clears the temple, and teaches His disciples a brief powerful lesson on faith. (Parallel passages include Matthew 21:12-22 and Luke 19:45-48.) Three story lines—with a related meaning? Read More
Posted on July 16, 2014
#63: Fully Aware
Sunday, the first day of Passover week, was a busy time in Jerusalem. Jews from all over the world came to celebrate how God had spared their ancestors’ firstborn sons during the tenth plague. Exodus 12 told the story of the Lord “passing over” Israelite homes where the blood of a sacrificial lamb covered the doorposts, while bringing death to the firstborn in Egyptian homes not protected by blood. Each year of the centuries since, the Israelites (later called Jews) remembered that event with a feast as commanded by God (Ex. 12:25-28).
Feast time had come again, and all roads into Jerusalem were filled with travelers. The Jews knew the familiar rituals associated with Passover. But they weren’t aware that this year there would be a sacrificial Lamb like no other, whose blood would deliver them and their children from death once and for all.
Welcome to Knowing Jesus, our study through the gospel of Mark. Today begins the final section as we walk with Jesus through the last week of His earthly life.
Pause to get your Bible and read Mark 11:1-11. (Parallel accounts are in Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12.) Read More
Posted on July 9, 2014
#62: The Passion of Jesus
Welcome to Knowing Jesus, our study of Christ’s life through the Spirit-inspired pen of Mark. Our goal is to learn all we can from Jesus, who stepped down from glory into human flesh so we could see how God would live as a man.
Last week’s post finished Mark 10. The remaining six chapters of Mark’s gospel cover one week in Jesus’ life, the final week—what has come to be called “The Passion.” It’s a perfect title. I can’t imagine a better word in the English language to describe Jesus than passion. He lived life with passion. He taught with passion. He completed His mission—death, burial, and resurrection—with passion. And He now intercedes for us with passion, until the day when He brings His Bride home—which will be the most passionate event ever!
Take some time this week to read Mark 11-16. (It’s a longer passage then we usually cover but should take less than thirty minutes to read. It’s good for us to begin our study of Jesus’ final week with a “bird’s-eye view” of the entire week’s events.) As you read, try to view the scenes with all five senses—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching the unfolding story. Read More
Posted on July 2, 2014
#61: Three Forgotten Steps to Christian Maturity
Gerald was a stubborn man. Downright mean to his wife, his marriage had been a matter of sheer endurance for years. Gerald showed up for church services every Sunday at 10:45 on the dot and was proud of never missing a Sunday. He was also proud of his habit of reading the Bible through each year. In any discussion of spiritual issues, he had all the answers. Yet no one who knew Gerald would have referred to him as spiritually mature—except for Gerald himself. The mechanics may have been in place, but there was no evidence of growth. What was wrong? Jesus’ teaching in Mark 10 helps us understand.
Thanks for joining me for this post in our study series, Knowing Jesus. We’ve spent the last few weeks studying Mark 10. Today, we’re summing up that chapter. Get your Bible and let’s read!
Read through Mark 10, making a mental list of the people Jesus interacted with. Then divide your list into two groups—those who frustrated Jesus and those who pleased Him. Can you define what set the two groups apart?
Most sermons or lessons about maturing in Christ include three basic elements: read/study your Bible, pray, and go to church. I’m sure we’d agree those are all good things. But the truth is those steps don’t guarantee maturity. In Mark 10, we met several folks who (1) knew the scriptures/commandments thoroughly, (2) had made a science of prayer, (3) and were regulars at the temple/synagogue. (Two of them were Jesus’ disciples and close friends.) Yet they disappointed Jesus.
I think that’s why we find Jesus, in this chapter, giving three heart-altering ideas about gaining spiritual maturity. Read More
Posted on June 18, 2014
#59: Trashing the Trivial
Maria is a very good Bible teacher. She invests a lot of time preparing sessions for her class of kids. One year for Easter Sunday, she’d worked hard and felt especially good about the lesson she’d planned. Sunday morning arrived and class began. It was fantastic, even better than she’d hoped. The kids seemed to be hanging on every word—until the ego-deflating moment when one little girl’s hand shot up and she blurted out, “My grandma has a mouse in her kitchen!”
Sometimes, the important things we want to say aren’t received with the same weight by our listeners. Jesus had that experience when He tried to talk with His disciples about the fate awaiting Him in Jerusalem.
Read Mark 10:35-45. Then take a look at the parallel in Matthew 20:20-28.
Jesus had just given a very specific and open prophecy about His impending death, a little over a week away. It was weighing heavily on His spirit (John 12:27-28). He needed His friends to listen and comprehend. But He was about to be disappointed by a selfish, trivial response from two disciples who were very dear to Him. Read More
Posted on June 11, 2014
#58: The Last Word
Happy Wednesday! “Hump Day” it’s come to be called—mid-week, when we need a little boost to survive till weekend. Each week I pray that this post gives you a shot of spiritual energy and encouragement halfway between Sundays.
Welcome to Wednesdays in the Word and our current study, Knowing Jesus. We’re scouring the pages of Mark’s gospel to learn all we can about Jesus, who was the exact image of God clothed in human flesh. Grab your Bible and dive in!
Read Mark 10:32-34, and its parallel passages in Matthew 20:17-19 and Luke 18:31-34. These verses are a short but dynamic reminder of Jesus’ purpose and power.
According to Luke, Jesus had resolutely “set His face toward Jerusalem” (Lk. 9:51), leading the Twelve. Jesus had begun quite some time earlier to prepare His friends for future events. In fact, this is the third direct prediction about His upcoming death—each one giving a little more detail. (See the first two in Mark 8:3 and 9:30-32.) In today’s verses, Jesus spelled out in eight short, specific terms what was awaiting Him. More about that in a moment.
The disciples didn’t understand His words but they knew danger was ahead. The Jewish leaders despised Jesus; that was no secret. Then when Jesus raised Lazarus from a grave at Bethany, just two miles from Jerusalem, He set off a new level of popularity and a new level of hatred among the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. These enemies were out to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (John 11:47-48, 53; 12:10-11) in hopes of making His cause fade away.
His disciples feared what a return to Jerusalem would mean for Jesus and for themselves. Thomas (the one we remember as the Doubter), in a fine moment of courage, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go also, that we may die with Him.” (Jn. 11:10)
In Mark 10:33-34, Jesus used eight future tense verbs to describe what was about to happen. Here are the first seven.
• The Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.
• They will condemn Him to death
• and will hand Him over to the Gentiles
• who will mock Him
• and will spit on Him
• and will flog Him
• and will kill Him.
These seven were all acts that would be done to Jesus. He was the passive receiver of these just punishments against a criminal guilty of sin—which is what He became when He took on my sin and yours. Though innocent, He stood with the condemned and bore it all—the sin, the shame, the punishment, and the death—in our place, taking what we deserved and allowing us to go free.
Then comes the eighth verb—the victorious one, the one that showed what would take place once sin and death were dealt with and The Life took command.
• Three days later He will rise. He will rise!
Don’t miss the hope in His words. Yes, trouble was ahead in Jerusalem. But trouble wouldn’t have the last word. Triumph would!
Less than two weeks later, a small group of despairing women would approach a tomb expecting to wrap Jesus’ lifeless body with burial spices and seal it away to decay. Instead, they met two angels who quoted part of His words from Mark 10. “Remember,” they said, “how He told you when He was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’ ” (Lk. 24:6-8) Then they remembered His words and hope began to sprout in their hearts. He was alive!
The wondrous truth of the resurrection is still the triumphant core of our hope—the reason we know that trials are temporary but life is eternal. Dark times will come, but they will not have the last word.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor. 4:16-17) Death is dead, Jesus is alive, and eternal glory is ours—and that’s the last word!
© Diane McLoud 2014
Posted on June 4, 2014
#57: What’s Your Limit?
My new friend Becky has a chicken coop in her yard. It’s a really nice new chicken coop that she and her husband worked hard to build. But it’s empty. No chickens. Not even a peep.
You see, as Becky researched the business of raising hens, she moved from hunger for daily fresh eggs to hesitation at the time and commitment involved. She recognized that at this stage in her life, she didn’t want to be tied down to chickens. She hit a boundary past which she was no longer willing to move forward. Someday there may yet be hens in that coop but for now, Becky has a really nice repurposed storage shed!
With every choice we make we have limits, factors that determine when yea becomes nay. Sometimes the choices are small, sometimes big, occasionally life-changing—even eternal. Today we’ll meet a wealthy young man who faced a choice and met his limit.
Thanks for joining me in today’s study of Mark’s gospel, part of our series called Knowing Jesus. Get your Bible and let’s read!
Look at Mark 10:17-31, and the same account as recorded in Matthew 19:16-30 and Luke 18:18-30. Read More
Posted on May 28, 2014
#56: Like a Child
It had been a long day, begun by a troubling phone call that left me rushed to get to work, then several hours filled with unusually difficult, demanding customers. I came home with head aching and shoulders tight. Sinking into the sofa, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Then two small arms circled my tense neck, and a tiny cheek pressed to my face. My little granddaughter snuggled against me and stayed there, quietly loving away the day’s pressures. Within minutes, my headache was gone.
Cuddling a child is the best stress-buster I know! Apparently, Jesus thought so too.
Welcome to Knowing Jesus, our study of Jesus’ life through the lens of Mark’s gospel. Read Mark 10:13-16. The same account is also found in Matthew 19:13-15 and Luke 18:15-17.
These verses contain one of my favorite snapshots of Jesus. In the midst of His mission, on His way to Jerusalem for the death-defying business of taking mankind’s sin to the cross, we find Him snuggling and blessing little children. Read More
Posted on May 21, 2014
#55: On Marriage and Divorce
Tammie called me one summer morning. From her first shaky hello, I knew something was wrong. “Can I come see you?” she asked. “I need to know what the Bible says about divorce.”
Later that morning, she explained. Her marriage, only two years old, was struggling. She and her husband Troy—both Christians since their early teens—were constantly at each other’s throats. Worse, she’d begun to suspect Troy was attracted to his pretty new co-worker. “We’re in a mess,” she said tearfully. “This isn’t at all what I thought marriage would be. I think we’ve made a terrible mistake. Are we stuck for life?”
Many Christian women have asked that same question. Maybe you’re one of them. I guarantee that one blog post isn’t going to hold all the answers. But let’s take a look at one of Jesus’ most specific teachings on divorce for some help. Read More
