Premeditated Victory

But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Mark 13:11

Standing in court, I delivered the final words that stunned the adversary's attorneys with my wit and resource for the hundredth time. Of course this was premeditated in my imagination, probably from growing up with courtroom dramas on the television. It is easy to score the premeditated victory in my imagination, only a little harder to do it when the script gives the character the lines. Court in real life is not so easy, as many litigators can attest. Prepared with a lengthy and difficult education, years of experience, a law firm behind them, and much time spent in study, the attorney may still be surprised by the outcome. And here in our verse today, Jesus tells His disciples to not worry, and even more, don't premeditate the words they will speak in court. This approach to a case would make an attorney turn a pale sort of color, I suspect. 

Faith presents such strangeness to the world,

Bucky

Before You Know It

And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  Mark 13:10

This one sign to watch for could be a tough one. Missionaries have gone out to many far places, have they reached all of them? Broadcast television and radio have reached around the globe, but does it count if the language cannot be understood by every tribe and person? Translations of the story are a big focus now. I heard Dallas Jenkins set a goal of 600 languages for his show, The Chosen, to be translated into. Will that be enough for all the nations though? Shows such as that are available on the internet as far as the internet can reach, but all the nations yet? This sign looks like a sneaky one, it won't be completed for many years, but how many of those years are already past? It is one of those where our parents used to tell us, "It will be here before you know it!" Indeed, counting on this one as giving us time to goof off in our service before our Lord's return would be quite risky, I think. 

Rejoice in Christ Jesus, and spread a little good news to all the nations,

Bucky

Wars And Rumors Of Wars

But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows. Mark 13:7-8

The scripture passage for today starts off so well, except that we think that wars and such are very much a cause for being troubled. Nations and kingdoms going at it, earthquakes all over the place, famines and troubles, and He says do not be troubled? If you were born from 1900 to 2026, and I suspect that includes all of us, then you have lived your entire life with these things going on. The big thing that has changed over those years is that our means of learning about these events has become faster and more universal. Those of us who believe and apply the words of our Lord Jesus are going to look pretty odd not being troubled by these things. Yes, being called apart from the world will do that.

Trust in and look to Jesus, and do not be troubled, as He said,

Bucky

Take Heed

And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you.  Mark 13:5

The response from Jesus known as the Olivet Discourse begins the same way in all three recordings in Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Take heed, meaning to pay attention, watch out for, be aware of, or use caution when the time comes, tells us that deception will be a big effort by someone. In the next verses of the revelation from Jesus we learn that the deception includes even the Christ Himself as deceivers will say, "I am he". And you or I can point out several cult preachers in our lifetime who claimed to be Jesus or the Christ. This warning from our Lord gave us the awareness to not fall for it. But we must continue to take heed as more of them will come. And, each will get better at it until the big one comes, the Antichrist. We, my friends in Christ, may live to see this time arrive. 

Take heed, and keep your eyes on Jesus our Savior!

Bucky

Careful Asking For That

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”  Mark 13:3-4

Jesus had just foretold the utter destruction of the temple, and as curious humans, the disciples come to him and ask after the future. Oh that future! How we want to know what tomorrow will bring. And the end of time, the fulfillment, we may ask small, but we want the big answer about how this world will end. Why do we ask that? The evidence of our lives may tell us that more lives will follow from now until forever. But we seem to have a sense in our heart that out there somewhere is a final end of the world as we know it. John was among those asking, so a few decades later Jesus gave to him the revelation of just how things will go down. And a shocking revelation it is! But that's in the scriptural future. We'll take a look at what Jesus has to say right then as we continue (God willing!) next week. 

Love and joy to you this weekend in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

Stunning Prophecy

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Mark 13:1-2

It wasn't Solomon's Temple, but King Herod had expanded and built up the temple to something pretty grand. One of the disciples thought it pretty cool as well, and he pointed it out to the Teacher. Jesus had His way of looking at things though, and His prophecy could leave a disciple or two stunned. Where disciples like us might see permanence, strength, and stability, Jesus looks up and says, "Nope". We get to read a moment in time where our Lord teaches us to look to Him. Buildings just won't do it for us if we wait on the Lord Jesus.

Find your way in the Way, the Truth, and the Life,

Bucky

Mathematically Nuts

So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.” Mark 12:43-44

From my experience, I can testify that it is easier to give a bunch of money when a person has plenty of money to give from. From our Lord's word, I can testify that there is a different measure, one that appears to make no mathematical sense at all. The notes tell us that the Greek lepta was a small coin worth a fraction of a penny. The widow had donated two of those. We can imagine the church treasurer trying to pay a bill with two slices of a penny in hand. However, we know of a certain man who had another mathematically nuts proposition put before him: how to feed thousands of people with five loaves and two fishes. And God measured that small amount of food differently too!

I pray that you have a great day in Christ our Lord,

Bucky