A House Of Prayer

Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’ ? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.

Where is the good news in this? In His first question from Isaiah, Jesus reminds us of a prophecy about the temple. That the Israelites in our Lord's day were preventing it with their unlawful commerce does not mean that it will not still happen. A house of prayer in Jerusalem for all nations sounds like a time of peace on Earth. His disappointment was extreme because His people were stealing when they should have been facilitating the prayer place for Gentiles. The good news is that God's promise will come whether His chosen people work with Him or not. And of course seeking to destroy Him is about as uncooperative as it gets. However, God would use that murderous desire to facilitate a death on a cross to save the world!

Have a joyous new week in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

Driving Them Out

So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Mark 11:15-16

Jerusalem, the temple, a place of worship and quiet contemplation of the Lord. Except there was a thriving marketplace going on at this time - noise, animals, money, and crowds. Jesus was not against markets, but He was against a market being held right there. But He also had a name for this particular marketplace here in Mark - "den of thieves" (v17). It would seem this market was not entirely on the honest side of commerce. Into this den of thieves comes one some may have thought of as always nice. He makes a shambles of the marketplace. He is angry. And He leaves. Gentle and kind, humble and lowly of heart, but also angry when the situation demands, and nice was not called for by this den of thieves. Jesus is, and did not fit inside the box that some would place Him in. 

So, if you are one who thinks that Jesus will be nice because you are so nice, you might want to talk to some of those money changers who were no doubt quite nice to the clients as they fleeced 'em blind in the temple of the Lord. And maybe Jesus was being nice when He cleared the temple. 

Bucky

The Triumphant Entry

And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Mark 11:6-8

A big moment in the ministry of Jesus begins with this colt. And things have gone just as our Lord said it would for the two disciples fetching the colt. Jerusalem has been prepared and stands ready to receive her king, or so it seems. Clothes and tree branches are spread on the road before Him. People shout out the verses foretold from the prophets. Surely this is how the Messiah will make everything right in the city and Israel will soon be great again. A great silence falls over us, broken only by a slow, steady drip of water into a pool. This was the same crowd who would soon shout to Pilate, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Within a week? What happened? Yes, reading the gospel accounts of that week, it is difficult for us to place the same people at either end of it. But that is how quickly hardened hearts can turn on their Savior.

Repentance or rejection, it seems like eternity should not be so quickly decided. Yet, it often is.

Bucky

A Test Of Faith

He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.” Mark 11:2-3

Two disciples were sent on a mission. This mission appeared to be a mission of theft. Just take it. An equivalent for our time might be to get into a brand-new car that has just been delivered to a house and is sitting outside the garage. Jesus gave the two disciples specific instructions, but the response they were to give might not have felt all that solid to them. Saying, "The Lord has need of it," does not seem like a password that would work in an age of unbelief. However, when sent out, Jesus reminds the disciples in His special way, they may run into a believer just waiting for their chance to shine in the Lord's service. And the mission goes just as our Lord Jesus said it would.

All the two disciples had to do was believe and obey.

Bucky

When Your Way Becomes His Way

Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.  Mark 10:52

Bartimaeus had called out in faith and he wouldn't be shooshed. Okay, not an official, dictionary word, but we know his faith kept calling out as the crowd told him to shut up. Jesus then tells him that it wasn't the ability of Jesus but the faith of Bartimaeus that made him well. Do you doubt, go ahead, but it's the word of the Lord that was spoken. Of course we also know from scripture that it was the power of God in Christ that healed. Jesus said this thing about faith to others who were healed. However, when Jesus tells Bart to go his way, the healed man's way became following after Jesus. Faith does that. When we believe in Jesus, His way tends to become our way. 

It may not seem like it yet, but you and I are coming around to His way,

Bucky

Is That All?

So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Mark 10:51

At the end of Mark 10 we come to the story of a man outside Jericho begging. He was also blind. Jesus comes by, and the man calls out for mercy. And then Jesus asks the question we read in our verse for today, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The man was begging, we might see him asking for wealth so that he could give up his occupation. But the man wanted to see, as other people did all around him. We can almost hear Jesus sighing within himself, "Is that all?" The man had called out for mercy, and mercy we all need. But not for our physical limitations, we need mercy for our sin.

The story brings up one of our most common failings. We pray often for the short-term problems of this current life and set aside the spiritual need of forgiveness of sins for eternal life. I understand, I feel them too. Those problems of the body and emotion hurt right now. We keenly feel our pain and limitations. If pain grew muscles, we would all look like comic-book superheroes by now. But Jesus did not go to the cross because Bartimaeus was blind or we feel some pain. He died to save us from our sin.

A little more prayer for mercy, forgiveness of sin, and grace, may be in our eternal best interest,

Bucky

The Son of Man

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

Yesterday I promised more in the Son of Man title that Jesus used of himself. If you saw the episode in The Chosen show, Jesus causes the Pharisees to nearly fly out of their sandals when he uses the title from the prophet Daniel. That, for our edification, refers to Daniel 7:13-14, where one like the Son of Man comes with the clouds of Heaven to the Ancient of Days. The Pharisees would know the passage well, since it promises that the Son of Man will receive a gift.

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion. (Daniel 7:14a)

This is what the Pharisees and Israel expected of the Son of Man, and then Jesus comes along and says what is in our verse for today - to serve. The Pharisees refused to believe that the Son of Man could come to serve first, and then later receive His kingdom. They decided it was a blasphemy and to oppose Jesus. From their obstinacy, we the Gentiles gained the opportunity to believe in the Son of Man, so let's make the most of it!

To our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ, we believe in You!

Bucky