The Greatest Ones

They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”
But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
They said to Him, “We are able.”
-- Mark 10:37-39

James and John, the sons of thunder, did not know what they were asking, but they knew with that confidence born of ignorance that they could do it. They wanted to be the greatest ones among the disciples, and they asked first. I have enjoyed a similar confidence once or twice in my life, and we'll just say that ignorance can be a tough and humiliating teacher. And asking first makes no difference to ignorance, it will roll over the first with its full weight as well as it will the last to ask. James and John are granted what they ask. Oh, not the places that Jesus will admit He cannot give, but that cup and baptism they know nothing about. As always with this story, I have to wonder if James and John recalled their request as they saw Jesus crucified with two criminals, one on the right and the other on the left of Him.

The Independence Day holiday begins tomorrow for most of us. May the Lord God bless the United States and redeem us from our sins.

Bucky

Plainly Told 'Em

Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again. Mark 10:33-34

Some weather excitement last night. A little thumping on the roof, but it does not look like any damage in my immediate area. Now imagine that I told a story more like, "Last night a thunderstorm hit and I ran out to grab the cat, and a 15-lb hailstone whacked me into a coma for two weeks!" You would be nonplussed since clearly I just typed this message to you, and you know what a coma is. Jesus got a similar reaction from His disciples this third time He announced exactly what would happen to Him in Jerusalem. The disciples this time were like, "Yeah, okay. Did you guys see that shooting star last night? It was a whopper!" Jesus plainly told 'em, and they clearly blew it off.

Since we're imagining, now imagine you are a disciple and after blowing off three clear prophecies of what would happen, you are facing the risen Lord Jesus. What do you say to Him? Someone in your group has already done the "ghost!" thing out on the sea. So now what?

Love to you in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

But Not With God

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”  Mark 10:27

Another way to be introduced to the Almighty is to hear that with Him all things are possible. Jesus states this in our verse for today in response to the disciples' astonished question, "Who then can be saved?" The disciples had just found out that the things we work for in this life cannot save us. Both religious obedience and wealth accumulation had presented themselves to the Master in one rich young ruler. And Jesus had told him that he lacked just one thing that required quite a list of tasks to obtain. Plus... the obedient young man could not do those tasks at that time. The one thing he lacked must come from God it seems, for with men it is impossible. 

All the things we may do from reading the word to selling all our possessions, from kneeling down and praying at an altar to religiously following the commandments and others may prepare the way for receiving salvation, but only God can provide it to us and for us. And it is debatable that doing all that can even prepare the way, since preparing the heart comes by way of the Holy Spirit. So, it is no wonder to us why the disciples were astonished. Peter even begins right after to say all that the disciples had done to follow Jesus. Sorry, Pete, it is still impossible for us. 

Have faith in God,

Bucky

Make A Little Security?

Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” Mark 10:23

Earthly riches: easy to preach against from the words of our Lord Jesus, popular to preach against because no one considers themselves rich. Seems like a win-win for the preacher. However, that same preacher needs a house, often provided by the church that takes in offerings to pay for the house. Those offerings consist of bits of other peoples riches. Some struggle with that monthly dilemma between wanting to give an offering and being short on the bills of the household. Others may have enough to ponder on where the dividing line might be between rich and not rich, so that they are not left out of the kingdom of God that Jesus will mention in the following verse (v24). For all the struggle and effort we put in to make a little security and not worry about riches, we sure seem to have much to worry over when it comes to riches! And then Jesus went and said to not worry over riches back in the big sermon. Aigh!

You and I are not alone in this. The disciples also were astonished at our Lord's statement. They probably looked to the rich young man with some envy as an example of success in this world. "Obeyed the commandments, got rich, if he can't get into the kingdom of God, who will?!!" they may have muttered among themselves. Actually, that's simply a dramatic version of the disciples' question, "Who then can be saved?" in verse 26. We do not have to worry over rich or not-rich though, but to come to the One who has possible firmly in hand. We will meet Him next time as we continue this story of the rich young ruler.

Love to you in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

What Would Be Your One Thing?

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”  Mark 10:21

Our first response to our Lord's statement this morning might be, "That's one thing?" However the one thing our Lord had for that particular young man might not be the same for you or me. I might ask, "Is there one thing for me or a whole bunch of things I lack?" Of course, the one thing this young man lacked was faith in Jesus. We see in the story that he was good on the commandments, but could not give up his life as it was that day. And that one thing may cause many of us to stumble. 

We can build up quite a castle here on earth, whether we live in a grass hut or a 20-room house on a large acreage. Hut or  house, we will fill our castle with things we need and like, and then protect the walls as best we are able. As much as Heaven is described in the Word of God, it still seems to us kind of out there and ungraspable. It is hard for us to work for something so promised, when things here are touchable and visible. The rich young man could stand on his property, but treasure in heaven was kind of... not there yet? Let us pray for one another that there is no one thing holding us back from all that Jesus would give to us as treasure in heaven. 

May the blessed love of Jesus be with you today,

Bucky

You Know Those

You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother. Mark 10:19

You know those commandments, or do you? Adultery, murder, steal, false witness, defraud...wait, do not defraud? Where is that in the big ten? Yes, the reasoning of the flesh would have us argue with the Master. I'm sure that in those call centers, you know the ones, there are those who would say that what they are doing is not stealing since the 'customer' gave the money to them. Jesus shows us by this that combinations of the commandments can trip us up as well. Bearing false witness - your PC is infected with the doomsday virus! - and then accepting money for fixing their machine so that it can be, oh, unfixed again to get more money, will not slip through a net of the ten commandments when the judgment comes. But, so easily do we see the carnal excuses in others while what, forgetting that beam in our own eye?

Rejoice in the Lord, and let Him split those beams for us,

Bucky

The Only One

So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God."   Mark 10:18

Hmm, certainly lots of Pharisees had a difference of opinion on that. Only One is good, that is, God. It is one of the more astonishing recordings of our Lord's words. Did He just say that He wasn't God? Yet He will later tell His disciples that He and the Father are one. (John 10:30) Or perhaps He says that we, born fallen sinners, are unable to tell who is good, and thus we should begin with God alone? 

The story begins with a man running up to Jesus and kneeling at His feet and asking, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Always with the unbeliever it is the action one may take without God in order to gain everlasting life. "What must I do?" becomes a way to reject what Jesus came to do for all who will believe in Him. When asking after eternal life in worldly unbelief, does the man understand that it isn't a continuation of his life of many possessions? Apparently not, as in the last verse of this story, the man goes away sorrowful. He wanted to know what he could do to gain what he wanted, yet he didn't want to do once he found out what he needed to do. 

Since Jesus did for us what we needed for eternal life, let us just accept His already done. 

And God is good!

Bucky