Mark 15-16

I really feel for Pilot.  He sees that Jesus has done nothing wrong and try's to get the people to free him and is completely confused by them wanting to set a murderer free instead.  I would also have loved to seen the look on the religious leaders faces at the moment the curtain in the temple ripped down the middle when the realized what they had just done.

I really wonder whats going on in Jesus head when he sends Mary and Mary to the disciples to say that he is risen and they don't believe them.  Talk about the epic I told you say when they finally realize that its true.

These last two chapters are the stories that hold so close to our hearts when I read them. I try my best to envision myself there at this time to try and feel the full gravity of the whole situation.

Read chapter 13 very carefully and think of all the conversations that you hear everywhere you go.  There are doomsday deceivers everywhere, don't let yourself fall into this trap.  The bible is very clear on this one; nobody knows when the end of the world is going to happen.  It’s our responsibility to be good workers until it comes.

I couldn't even begin to pretend to be able to imagine the thoughts going threw Judas head as they sat at dinner when Jesus announced someone sitting at the table was going to betray him.  We think of Judas very badly, but his actions were a necessary evil to set the events In motion for the crucifixion that paid the price for our sins. 

So we read about Jesus riding in on a donkey.  So what is the significance of this? Zechariah 9:9 Tells us that the king of Zion will be riding on a donkey.  So this act of riding the donkey into town fulfilled the prophecy, and told everyone that he was the Messiah.
 
In the world we live in today we have thousands of rules and laws to tell us what we can and can't do chapter 12 lays it out real nice and simple for us all though.  Love the Lord our God with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.  If we could all figure out how to do this no other written law would be needed.

Things are getting pretty exciting as Jesus is beginning to prepare his disciples for his death and resurrection.  You can really start to feel the urgency in these teachings for he knows his time is getting shorter.  I think of myself with my boys and knowing I've only got a short time to teach them all I can before they go out on their own.

There are three things here that I hold close
  1. if there are no if's among the believers anything is possible
  2. messing with the children of God is a really bad idea
  3. Following God is so serious that if your own hand distracts you from him its not worth having.

We've read about many miraculous healings by now and most of them are followed with Jesus telling the people that he's healed not to say anything about it and yet they can't keep it to themselves. They immediately run out and tell everyone they see about what has happened.  Isn't our salvation so much more important than physical healing and yet we seem to just want to keep it to ourselves.

It amazes me that the disciples after having seen Jesus feed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish they question him about how to feed 4000 a short while later, and then argue amongst themselves about forgetting to pack their own lunch just after that.  Its easy for us read this and wonder what their problem with trusting God is but I think we are all a little guilty of forgetting about what he's already seen us through and worry for no reason about little things that are still ahead.

Chapter 5 starts us off with the story of the madman.  What I like here is just as we saw in the first two chapters whenever evil spirits see Jesus they immediately recognize him as the son of God and fall to their knees.  That is the God I serve, the God that doesn't have to proclaim who he is and what power he has over darkness for the darkness already knows and trembles at the mere thought of him. They make no attempt to fight him; only beg for his mercy.

We finish chapter 6 with the fact that everywhere Jesus went everyone brought their sick for healing. We live in a world that is sick with sin and Jesus is still healing. It's up to us to let them know where they can get it.

Ah, the parable of the sower.  This is what helps me as I go out and plant seeds. It seems sometimes like nobody wants Jesus in their life.   Thankfully we have this story to help remind us that not every seed is going to grow, and we'll never know the rhyme or reason for which seeds will grow or not.  It is simply our jobs to spread the seeds and disciple those who do accept Christ.

 It’s truly hard to just think of a couple of notes for the first two chapters of Mark when there's enough material for months of sermons.  These chapters are filled with wonderful accounts of the start of Jesus' ministry.  Stories of people being healed, people leaving their lifelong jobs to follow Jesus, others stopping at nothing to get to Jesus for his healing touch (the paraplegic).  All the while the Pharisees and religious scholars are getting angrier with him.

I think my main take away though would have to be just after Jesus baptism the spirit pushed him into the wilderness.  This is how I felt when I first accepted Jesus into my life.  My worldly friends were no longer by my side and the church hadn’t really welcomed me and that was about the most alone I had ever felt.  During that time it would have been very easy to just go back to my old way of life.

I challenge you to not let anyone feel this way.

Mark Wright is blogging the book of Mark beginning Feb. 15. Enjoy his fresh perspective on this action packed gospel account. Also, there are still several N.T. books that remain unclaimed. If you are interested in blogging a book, contact me at rwhitlow@livingwaterchurch.tv.

P. Randy