Giving Away His Vineyard

Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. Mark 12:9

In this story we stand beside the vineyard, watching the events happen as Jesus tells them. After all that, we get this promise from the story in our verse for today. This vineyard owner is a picture of power. He has the power to destroy, but has not done so yet. Some of those standing beside the vineyard with us might deny that the owner even exists in his far country, even as his handiwork stands right there in front of them. The wicked vinedressers, still living the life for the moment, may have started that denial rumor and sold some illegitimate shares in their vineyard venture. A bystander would not want to be holding those shares when the vineyard owner comes at last. But what is this about giving the vineyard away?

The vineyard has not been profitable to the owner. He has lost servants and his son. In his grief, he may just give the thing away. As the owner, it is his right to do so. Would those deniers still deny his existence as he offers them the vineyard?

Believing in someone far away, whom you have never seen or heard, may be difficult, but we have good help in this faith.

Bucky

Cast Him Out

So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Mark 12:8

As the son and heir, the vineyard would have become his, but now he is dead and cast out. Wait, that sounds much like the judgment that comes at the end times. It does, and it fits. Is it any wonder that those who killed and cast out the Son of God would face the same when He returns in His glory? The Pharisees understood that the parable was directed at them, but they could not conceive of their good lives being subject to the judgment. Their solution to the mean ol' parable was to kill and cast out the offending storyteller. Well, just how good is that sort of life?

There will be those who cannot understand that the judgment comes for them,

Bucky

Judging The Master

Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ Mark 12:6

Reading the parable of the wicked vinedressers, we may come to this verse for today and judge the master of the vineyard rather harshly. "No, you fool!" might be the most polite comment when he comes to sending his one beloved son. The scribes and Pharisees got the meaning behind the words right off, and so do we when studying this parable. This parable is pointed - right at the religious leaders of Israel who first killed the Lord's prophets and soon would do the same to His Son, Jesus. So, since we get it, why do we feel the need to judge the Master when He sends His beloved Son in the parable?

Save me from my own nature, dear Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Off To The Far Country

Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Mark 12:1

Aha! Story time. Jesus spoke in parables, and those familiar with the Bible recognize this one immediately. As we read the story, we also get read by the story. A person who prefers control might exclaim, "You fool! Why do all that work and then leave it in another person's hands?" A business builder might say, "Exactly correct! Who wants to be tied down managing the place. Move on to the next project." You will have your own reaction to what this man did, and what you might do differently. One among you might happily retire there to spend years researching and experimenting in his own vineyard, trying to achieve the perfect bottle of wine. After all, when Jesus provided wine at the wedding in Cana, He provided the best wine the master of the feast had ever tasted. So, enjoy being read by one of our Lord's stories, learn something of yourself.

Love and joy to you in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

In A Corner

But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” Mark 11:29-30

Here's a good one for us. When looking at this story in Mark, what is the story? Is it the question Jesus asked, or is it the religious authorities getting together and refusing to answer? Confessing to not knowing is usually a good place to begin learning something. However, in this case the religious authorities used it to avoid answering one way or another. We would say they refused to engage with Jesus.

It began as a familiar exchange: they wanted Jesus to inform them of something, and Jesus countered with a knowledge for knowledge offer. You have this, I have that, let's make a deal. But when it came time for one side to perform, they discussed it and decided that they were afraid to answer His question. Jesus had neatly pinned the religious authorities in a corner, and they decided, in effect, to huddle in that corner until He went away. Oh, but they still wanted Jesus to answer their question. He didn't, and they missed an opportunity to learn and believe.

If you feel sad for these religious authorities, you are quite right!

Bucky

This One Again

(from July 22)

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  Mark 11:22-24

Oh, this one again. And the obvious questions that arise from it. Why didn't I get that thing I wanted? Why didn't this other thing happen when I believed? We often feel the temptation to look at this passage as a magical incantation to get whatever riches or fame we want. Some clues for us aspiring magicians: God cannot be forced to do things no matter what we say. God will not go against His own will. God cannot be made to give us something that is bad for us to have, even if we do not doubt. 

But, a protest comes forth, Jesus did not say that! Bible versions often put in headings, and these headings can separate the words of Jesus so that we stop too soon. Jesus after this says, "And whenever you stand praying..." He says to forgive. So, to believe and receive, I had better have my trespassers forgiven? Yes, a heart not aligned with God's will in forgiving will have trouble believing without doubting. And of course the biggest mountain that needs casting into the sea would be our sinful selfishness. Have faith in God and believe that will be accomplished first, and then see how many selfish prayer requests come to mind.  

Have faith in God, and don't try to be that selfish magician.

Bucky

Serving Forgiveness

And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:25-26

Yow, hold onto that grudge at my peril! This is one of those promises that puts some fear into me. I know that my sins need to be forgiven, and that Jesus died on the cross to pay that judgment the Lord's justice demands. But, here Jesus speaks a promise that no forgiveness from me to others means no forgiveness for me from God. This passage of the scripture is a good reminder for those times when I might feel grumbly-hateful toward someone who I have something against. That lengthy session of imagined thumping of the rascal that I may indulge in carries a real danger for my much needed mercy and grace from God. Better to pray for the strength to forgive quickly and repeatedly than to hold onto that grudge a moment longer.

Quick! To the forgiveness locker, I have some to hand out, even some repeat customers to serve!

Love and grace to you in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

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

Service and Ransom

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

One day in the dusty days of the Roman empire, you are out weeding a field of turnips when your neighbor's kid runs past shouting that the king of the universe is coming... to your house. Oh, dear! You run to gather the family and servants, advance bath day by a couple of days, and have them all put on their finest clothing. The king arrives and you prepare to serve him as best the household is able. 

The king then states, "No, I came to serve you and be a ransom for all your household." 

Ransom? You quickly count heads and find no one missing. How can a kidnapping have occurred? Serve the king, no wait, be served by the king, how will he know where the serving dishes are? Did he bring his chef? Whose food will he use in this service? 

We can easily see with just a short story that this statement Jesus made would shock the disciples. But there's more! That title Jesus used of Himself, Son of Man? 

When the King of kings arrives, will we be ready to be served? 

Bucky

Learning to Serve

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Mark 10:42-43

Danger, there will be some out there who want me to take the current president of a certain nation and have a go at him, but the lesson from our verses for today aims right at our part in this faith. Jesus told us by way of His disciples that if we want to append, the great, to our names as some of our rulers have done in the past, that we must become a servant. Oh, cool! I can serve as CEO, right? Do we suppose Jesus will be fooled by smooshing a few terms until they are unrecognized? We can say things like servant leadership or serving in the top position, but servant in our Lord's context probably meant something quite different.

Perhaps with prayer and scripture study we can learn to serve,

Bucky

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