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

Love The Neighbor, Pity The Scribes

Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” Mark 12:38-40

Uh oh, one scribe was close to the kingdom of heaven, but the others were far, far away. We can see various places or situations mentioned here where we face the same temptations. It is nice to get a good seat at an event. If one of us regularly prays in front of others it can become a performance instead of a prayer. The best seat at the feast gets to enjoy hot food, the seat way down yonder not so much. The long robe thing may have passed into history, but each of us has at least some desire to look good when we go out. Of course, underneath the surface temptations may lurk the desire to look down on our fellow humans, to show ourselves superior in some way. Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourselves. Those scribes don't sound very loving, and we can fall into the same trap.

Love to you, dear neighbor!

Bucky

Stretching Faith

Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

‘The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’

Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”
--  Mark 12:35-37

For the past few messages, we have read how Jesus answered the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees questions until none dared to ask him any more. Today, Jesus asks these groups of religious scholars and leaders a question of his own. To answer this question could save them, for it requires faith in David's Lord who sits before them. The Christ, Messiah in Hebrew, asks them to set aside what they think they know and read what the man after God's own heart said of Him. We know from the scriptures that most of them could not bring themselves to do it. We would not be able to do it without the Spirit of God in us. Faith requires us, or those long-ago religious leaders, to believe that Jesus was, and is, and always shall be. That's a stretch even with the word of God in hand for us to read. We can read how the disciple John understood it in the first verses of his gospel. (John 1:1-18)

Testify of the risen Lord Jesus, who was, and is, and always shall be,

Bucky

You Are Not Far

Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
But after that no one dared question Him.  Mark 12:34

A unique scribe answered Jesus wisely. We almost forget that even among the Pharisees there were a couple of them who believed, and this one scribe. Sadly, there do not seem to be any scriptural reports of Sadducees having faith or wisdom. What was that distance separating this one scribe from the kingdom of God? Believing that Jesus was Messiah. Not only was Messiah not far as in right there in front of the scribe, but the scribe was also close spiritually. However, if we recall John 3:16, there needs to be faith in Jesus for salvation. Agreement with Jesus is good, but believing in Him as Lord and Savior is much better. 

Have faith in Jesus!

Bucky

But What Is Love?

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

Jesus gave these two as the greatest of commandments in response to the scribe's question we read yesterday. But one problem presents itself right off, what is this love he speaks of? One definition from the notes states, [of persons] to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.

"That last one really helps," he said sarcastically, "to love is to love dearly?"

Jesus gave us a definition that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for his friends. Paul took up love in an entire chapter of his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13) 'Love is...' appeared on many drink glasses back in the day, but have we tamped down, shaken out, and sorted a definition of the word yet? Love, it seems, is a big word for having only four letters. We know it, but have trouble defining it in a simple way. Love is essential to the two greatest commandments and the new commandment Jesus gave, which was that we love one another. So, you and I will not go wrong by taking up a study of love in prayer and the word of God.

I love you like a pepperoni pizza! No, no, that's not quite the right definition, I think.

Bucky

Listen First

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”  Mark 12:28

As I am at least a little bit on the socially-backward scale, that question burning in my heart would likely wait like this scribe waited. The Pharisees and Sadducees had likely made this scribe acutely aware of his standing as compared to their own in the Jerusalem pecking order. Or maybe he was just polite. Whatever the reason, this scribe listened first. So how do we listen first in our age? There is the Bible, the word of God, where we can 'listen' first by reading, study, and meditation. It is not always easy to think deeply on the word of God, it can poke at the conscience with some force. However, if treasure hunting is your thing, you will find it prospecting in the Word!

Great is the Word of God!

Bucky

Greatly Mistaken

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken. Mark 12:27

The last sentence in our verse for today may be the most quoted or paraphrased line from the Bible. You may even hear it today at your workplace. People like to tell others how wrong they are. Jesus has a group of Sadducees who do not believe in resurrection, and thus make out God to be a god of the dead. Jesus concludes His teaching of them with our verse for today. We can take comfort from this conclusion in that as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have passed away, gone to sleep or died, as we say, they are only dead in the way that the world knows it. As the God of the living, our Lord God waits for us to come to Him in a life that will not end. And as we know by faith, Jesus is the way to come to God the Father.

So, don't be like the Sadducees, there is life to come!

Bucky

Raised To Be Single?

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Mark 12:25

A lot of people get married in this life and believe in Jesus, in either order, and then run into this verse. And you can almost hear even now that moment of shock. As there will be a renewed earth one beautiful day, how does that lack of marriage work with being fruitful and multiplying to fill the earth? Even as a, thus far, single person, I kinda want to know how that will go. The next part causes a bit of concern as well. Like angels but not angels, how does that work? It seems that after we are raised from the dead, we will be learning some new ways. That's okay by me, some of the old ways are not so nice, like that sorrow and pain stuff. So, off to faith in Jesus we go, since we cannot understand all that is to come in our present state.

Life and love to you in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Bucky

What They Thought They Knew

Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?  Mark 12:24

The Sadducees were another of the groups who spent their lives studying the scriptures, or in this case a limited set of them, and debating them. Jesus responded to their absurdly long story question by telling them that they did not know the scriptures. And that is the point of the story. Well, see you tomorrow! 

No, really! Imagine these professors of the scriptures thinking to test Jesus, this upstart rogue preacher from Nazareth. They come up with their question, based on the doctrine of resurrection, which they do not believe in, and He calls out their ignorance and teaches them from their own scriptures! It is one of the proud getting schooled stories that we love from the gospels. But, we also must remember to not become like them too.

Have a great new day in Christ our Lord,

Bucky

Marvelous Answer

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him. -- Mark 12:17

The Pharisees and Herodians had a win/win test for Jesus of Nazareth, or so they thought. If Jesus said to not pay taxes, they could turn him over to Rome. If he said to pay the taxes, they could call him out to the people as not loyal to Israel. Either way, they wanted him to get them out of paying the Roman taxes. Oh wait, no, they wanted to prove that Jesus was a false prophet. They really thought this was the winning question and a great trap for Jesus! But then he answered them.

We stand in awe of our Lord's ability to answer sudden questions and meet tough tests set by the religious authorities. Have you ever experienced that defensive reaction where you tell a lie in response to a challenging question? Yeah, me too. Jesus never did that and his answers were always perfect.

I'm so glad He came to save us,

Bucky

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