Eat, The Bread

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Mark 14:22

Jesus had done some extraordinary things up to this time in His ministry, but then He does this we read in our verse today. Jesus symbolically has His disciples eat His body by way of the bread. As we have read many times before, He will do a similar thing with wine and call it His blood. To the outsider and critic, this eating the body and drinking the blood is grounds for many jokes and much criticism. Symbols, no matter who may scoff, are important to the faith.

A stop sign is already stopped. It does not need to stop. However, it is a symbol telling a driver to stop the vehicle at a certain place. Jesus tells His disciples and us that this symbol of the communion tells us to take Him into ourselves. The body and the blood, we see it as His salvation and His cleansing of us, or His presence by the Holy Spirit and His word by the Bible, and others. As drivers we have at times wished the stop sign that other drivers flagrantly ignored was able to do the stopping for them. In the Communion, we get our wish in that Jesus as He comes to live inside of us by His Spirit, does all the work of saving, cleansing, educating, and in all ways making each of us suitable for presentation to His Father.

May God have mercy on the scoffers,

Bucky

Never Been Born

The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.” Mark 14:21

Hardly could a stronger warning have been given to Judas Iscariot to stop his progress down the road of betrayal. Jesus, the Son of Man, was following the prophecy road to His crucifixion, and He did not need the help Judas was giving. If the betraying man had never been born, then he could not do that terrible act he would become infamous for. It seems obvious to us now, but for Judas the warning goes right by him. Jesus gives the word and off Judas goes to his infamy. Can we pray for Judas these many years later? I believe so. Will it be useless? Maybe, but we can look upon it as a test of keeping our love warm and alive. And it reminds us to pray for those who are alive now, and yet our prayers appear to do nothing toward their repentance.

Pray in love, pray always,

Bucky

Judas, My Social Skills Hero

In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?” Mark 14:17-19

It has been written, I read it the other night in Patriot Games by Tom Clancy, that in order to betray one must first be trusted. Here this morning we see Jesus drop a heavy rock into the still waters of the Passover dinner. The twelve disciples are trusted and they trust one another, so much that each has no idea who will do it. As we know from the story, even when pointed out Judas raises no suspicion in the mind of the other disciples. Judas has credibility, he is probably a very likeable fellow. Unlike this writer, Judas has those social skills I have heard about. When Jesus all but stands and paints 'Betrayer' on his cloak, Judas comes out smelling clean and generous. We know from the gospels that the disciples think that Judas left to give some alms to the poor. We also know from the gospels that Judas becomes the worst sort of traitor - the well-liked and beloved disciple sort of betrayer who leaves his Savior to hang.

Maybe I don't need the Judas kind of social skills...

Bucky

Of Course They Did

So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. Mark 14:16

It reads easily after we know the outcome, but for the doubting disciples in their day the things Jesus said could be difficult to believe. As we read last time, even the seemingly simple things Jesus said required considerable preparation and foreknowledge. Jesus also aligned all He said with centuries of prophecy. Which brings me to think of me. No, not in the usual old selfish way, but as in, "What has Jesus plainly said of these end times that I have doubted?" From our dear brothers in Christ, His disciples, we can see one thing - it will be just as He said it will be.

In Christ Jesus our Lord, love and grace to you,

Bucky

A Pre-arranged Meeting

And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”  Mark 14:13-15

Any spy novel could start out in a similar fashion. Some of them may have taken inspiration from this passage of scripture. Meet a person described by a singular feature, follow, give a sign to another, receive the countersign, and carry out your first assignment. Of course this must all be set up ahead of time, and the timing must be arranged. It wouldn't do to have our first contact missed a mere minute or two. We note in the scripture that the room has been prepared, but for whom? Did someone not make an appointment? Or was the appointment arranged by God and made ready for Jesus and His disciples?  From donkeys to Passover meals, nothing in our Lord's final week was left to chance. 

Maybe those things that seem random in life aren't so random after all?

Bucky

The Famous Betrayer

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.  Mark 14:10-11

The disciples were indignant, then they were embarrassed when Jesus came down on the side of the woman. But one among them went to embittered or maybe even enraged, enough that he decided to betray Jesus to the religious authorities. Judas Iscariot put his name down in history right then. Balaam had held the position of negative lesson in the scriptures for centuries, but Judas blew that old prophet away. Judas even underbid him! Where Balaam spoke of a room full of gold, Judas ends up doing the betrayal for a mere 30 pieces of silver. Of course no fame or money is worth what would soon happen to Judas Iscariot. 

The most charitable suggestion I have read for a reason is that Judas wanted to motivate Jesus to be the Messiah that Judas thought he should be. As we know from the Word of God, Jesus was always going to be the Savior the world needed. Judas could not see that. Don't be a Judas.

Bucky

Answering The Uproar

But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”  Mark 14:6-9

As a memorial to her, I will do my part this morning. The desire to criticize has blown up, the uproar reaction of the flesh had its say, and now Jesus our Lord answers. Priorities, why take the time to criticize and trouble the one doing a good work for Him whose time is so short? And this should not be a surprise to them as Jesus has told His disciples at least three times now that He has come to Jerusalem to die at the hands of the religious leaders and Romans. Prioritize! The time to give alms to the poor will be long, but the time to do good works for the Son of Man is almost up. Jesus defends the one woman, while His twelve disciples act like a bunch of Pharisees. Oh, oh, we want to criticize the disciples now because that temptation to act the Pharisee is still with us. 

Let us instead remember that woman, Mary of Bethany, as we rejoice in Christ today,

Bucky