The Life is in the Blood

 

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.  --Leviticus 17:11

For is is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  --Hebrews 10:4

It is a fairly common theme in literature for an outcast to be shown grace by the finding of a new will and testament from a benefactor.  Whether set in a family situation in which the black sheep of the family is redeemed by the reading of an elder's will after their passing, or an orphan who is adopted and granted access to the family fortune, we all enjoy stories of people who get what they don't necessarily deserve by right or by heritage.  It is the picture of grace that warms our hearts.

In today's study of Scripture we see this very theme played out for all mankind.  In our last study, we saw Jesus prepare for and partake in a seder or a Passover meal, which had originated in Jewish tradition to show God's hand in the lives of the Jewish people.  For thousands of years Jews have commemorated their peoples' redemption from slavery in Egypt by the very hand of God by participating in a celebratory meal.  We will see in the following passage the institution of a new celebratory meal, not limited to Jews only, but one that has been commemorated by Christians for two millennia.  

Luke 22:20 says, "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you'." (emphasis added, but I'm getting ahead of myself.)

And as they were eating, He took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body."  And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank of it.  And He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.  Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  --Mark 14:22-25

Many theological arguments occur over this passage, because people get caught up in whether "this is my body" means that the bread somehow becomes the actual body of Jesus, or whether "this is my blood" means that the wine somehow changes into the actual blood of Christ.  Without wading in too deep into the argument of transubstantiation versus consubstantiation versus pure symbolism, I want to point out that this is the point at which God provides a new will and testament, so that all of us, whether Jew or Gentile, can approach God and be accepted by Him.

We know that all of those in attendance at this last Passover meal and first Christian communion were Jews, with strict dietary laws.  Levitical law strictly forbade consuming the blood of any animal, much less human blood.  Jesus was not calling them to cannibalism.  Rather, He was presenting them with a new covenant, based on His blood which would be shed on the cross when His body was broken for them.  It is the covenant that is important here.  The Greek word for covenant diathēkē can be translated, "A disposition or arrangement of any sort which one wishes to be valid; the last disposition which one makes of his earthly possessions after his death; a testament or a will." (See Strong's Concordance).

In the arena of estate planning, all are encouraged to leave a last will and testament, a record of one's desires for the distribution of property among family or charities, as well as instructions on how to dispose of one's body.  It was Jesus's express will that His followers (His family, if you will) engage with one another in partaking of this remembrance in the form of communion.  By identifying with Him and with one another in this way, we become members of His Body, the Church.  Unlike the Jewish Passover, in which many lambs are slain in commemoration of the exodus of a specific race of people from slavery in Egypt, the will of Jesus was that we commemorate His death as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

Thank God for a New Testament, a new expression of God's will.  Where we were excluded, now we are included.  Where we were condemned, now we are redeemed.  Where we were dead, now we are alive.  "Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere." (2 Corinthians 2:14)

We've all heard the expression "blood is thicker than water."  We use that saying to justify family loyalty over friendship.  The origin of the phrase, however, is much different.  It is derived from the phrase, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," meaning when you covenant together with those for whom you would shed blood then you forsake your family.  A squad of soldiers who have been through a deadly battle together share a bond that is closer than mere family.  The Christian life should be like that.  Jesus said, "Everyone who has left houses or bothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My Name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19: 29)  Not only is the blood of the covenant thicker than the water of the womb, but the life is in the blood.

The significant sorrowful Seder

 

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.  Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.  None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.  For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.  --Exodus 12:21-23

The Old Testament looks forward to Christ, the Lamb of God.  The New Testament alludes to Old Testament themes and gives them new meaning.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Mark 14:12-21

The Symbolism

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"  --Mark 14:12

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a period of seven days, during which no yeast was to be consumed.  In fact, in preparation for this week, observant Jews would go through and remove all leaven from their homes.  In this way, they were commemorating the holiness of God.  Leaven symbolized sin, and they were using this as a symbol of removing sin from their lives.

During this time, a sacrifice would take place at the Temple.  A lamb without blemish would be killed, commemorating the first Passover instituted by Moses when the people were still slaves in Egypt.  Moses commanded them to make bread without leaven, because there was not time to let the dough rise.  He also commanded them to take the choice lamb, the perfect one without spot or blemish, and prepare it to be eaten.  Each year thereafter, a Passover lamb was sacrificed on the altar in the Tabernacle or the Temple, to memorialize the salvation of the Jews from slavery and bondage.  As Christians, we know that Jesus is our Passover Lamb, without spot or blemish, sacrificed for our salvation.

The Passover meal included lamb and bitter herbs, as well as wine and unleavened bread.  The bitter herbs represented the hardship the people of Israel endured during their time in Egypt.  It took time to prepare so that all the elements could come together when the time was right.  Similarly, God chose this particular Seder, or Passover meal, when all the preparations had been made and the time was right.  "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6).

The Sign

And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us."  And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover. --Mark 14:13-16

When I was growing up, I was taught that Jesus was giving the disciples easy and obvious directions.  Carrying water, according to first century customs, was woman's work.  To find a man carrying water would have been out of the ordinary, and easy for the disciples to see and follow.  

As I was studying for this devotional, however, I discovered that in a remote corner of Jerusalem there lived a sect of monastic Jews known as the Essenes.  These people were set apart from the rest of the Jews, and devoted themselves to studying the Scripture and searching for Messiah. The Essenes were only comprised of men; there were no women members of this sect.  Therefore, if they needed water, it was a man who would go fetch it.

Further, as part of their culture, the Essenes would always have a room prepared for guests.  Jewish tradition held that people should take in travelers and sojourners, and show hospitality to them.  The Essenes held fast to this tradition, so it would not have been unusual for them to have a room ready for anyone that had need.  So while the Essenes are not specifically mentioned in the New Testament, they may have had a part in the life and ministry of Jesus.

In any case, the signs point to Jesus as the Passover Lamb, the symbol of salvation and hope, the one true Messiah.  He is Prophet, as He predicted that these events would unfold as they did; He is Priest, as He intercedes for His people and provides the sacrifice for them; and He is King.

The Sorrow

And when it was evening, He came with the twelve.  And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me, one who is eating with Me."  They began to be sorrowful and to say to Him one after another, "Is it I?"  He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with Me.  For the Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been better for that man if he had not been born."  --Mark 14:17-21

Jesus made a prediction, that one of those in the room with Him that evening would betray Him.  I want you to notice how each of them responded.  This was a time of introspection, of setting aside all pretense.  There were no loud denials, no cries of, "Not me, Lord.  Not on Your life!"  Not even Peter, who had earlier rebuked Jesus when He predicted His death.  No one even said, "May it never be."  Instead, each man humbled himself, and admitted his own sinful nature.  Each of them knew they had the capacity to be the very one of whom Jesus spoke.  As holy as they tried to be, as blameless and perfect as they wanted to appear, they each knew in their hearts there was hypocrisy.

And what of Judas?  For three years he had been in the inner circle of the Son of God.  He had listened to the teaching.  He had seen the miracles.  He had witnessed Immanuel Himself, God with us.  Yet his heart was hardened, and he succumbed to his sinful nature.  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21).

These twelve men were devout.  They had removed the leaven from their homes in preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  They had confessed their sins, and were following close to Jesus, yet even they knew that repentance is met with sorrow.  Yes, the Passover is a celebration of God's provision and mercy, but it includes the bitter herbs, the sorrowfulness for the sin that made grace necessary.  It is with this attitude that forgiveness is best received and appreciated.

The Sovereignty of God

 

Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? --Lamentations 3:37

One of my favorite stories of faith is from a man identified only as "Brother Andrew."  In the early 1960s he felt impressed by God to smuggle copies of the Bible into Iron Curtain countries where communist leaders had outlawed it.  His book, God's Smuggler, recounts how Brother Andrew was able to sneak across international borders and past tight security.  Somehow, God blinded the eyes of the border guards, or distracted their attention, so that the Word of God could be read by underground Christians.

"Persecution," he said, "is an enemy the Church has met and mastered many times.  Indifference could prove to be a far more dangerous foe."  Christian persecution began with Christ Himself, but unless God allowed it, the will of men who meant evil toward Jesus would have been thwarted.  Let's turn to Scripture to see what I mean.

Plotting by deception

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill Him, for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people."  --Mark 14:1-2

The Jewish leaders had finally had enough.  They wanted to take Jesus into custody and have Him put to death.  However, they saw the large crowds that had gathered in Jerusalem for Passover celebration, and they feared riots in the streets if they arrested Him openly.  So they sought ways to sneak around and do it in the dark, quietly without raising a commotion.

The irony was that they were attempting to exert their will on a situation that God had firmly in His control.  One would think that their plan at this point would be to wait until after the Jewish holiday, and make their move when the crowds in Jerusalem disbursed.  God had other plans.  It was His will that Jesus be arrested, tried, and executed in a short time, so that the significance of the Passover would not be lost--Jesus would Himself become the Passover Lamb. 

Preparing for death

And while He was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over His head.  There were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment wasted like that?  For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they scolded her.  But Jesus said, "Leave her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a beautiful thing to me.  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want you can do good for them.  But you will not always have Me.  She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for burial.  And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her."  --Mark 14:3-9

Jesus knew He would be killed, and that the time was near.  If you are familiar with the crucifixion story, you know that because it was the Passover and the Sabbath, His followers were not able to properly prepare His body for burial, but had to go to the tomb with spices and ointments the day after the Sabbath (only to find the tomb empty--but that's another story.)  This is why Jesus said that by anointing His feet with sweet smelling perfume, she was doing the work that was normally done to a dead body prior to burial.  She was not just honoring Him with an expensive gift; she was not only glorifying Him by washing His feet and applying the sweet smelling ointment; she was actually preparing His body for burial.

God will work out His will in His time, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.  Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  We often misinterpret this verse to say that all things work out for our good if we love God; that's not what it says.  God is in charge, and He works out all things for His own good (that is, the way He likes), and we who love God and are called to His purpose recognize this fact and run with it.  We can see the good that God does after the fact, and even though it seems to be for our benefit, it is only according to His sovereign will.  If we abide by His will, we will recognize that whatever He wills is best, whether it benefits us directly or not.

Penetrating the Darkness

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.  And when they hard it, they were glad and promised to give him money.  And he sought an opportunity to betray Him.  --Mark 14:10-11

Both Matthew and John wrote in their accounts that Satan entered into the heart of Judas so that he would betray Jesus (see Luke 22:3 and John 13:2).  If this is true, then even Satan does not work by his own power and will.  God is all-powerful.  He is not subordinate to Satan, and Satan does not hold a station equal to or greater than God, no matter what the world looks like today. 

Remember that the Pharisees were afraid to arrest Jesus during the Passover celebration?  When Judas approached them, however, it was an opportunity they could not pass up.  Here was one of the twelve, one of Jesus' inner circle, willing to sell Him out to them.  Sure, they would go under cover of darkness, but they would conduct His trial and execution during the height of the Passover feast.  God's will above their own.  God's will above that of Satan.  God's will above that of yours or mine.

God penetrates the darkness of sin and sadness to bring us to Himself.  He will accomplish His will, whether it means overcoming our plans or even the plans of Satan, the prince of darkness.  He is King, the Lord over all.  Philippians 2:13 says, "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

How then can we be complacent?  We must do the work of the ministry in order to be used by Him, lest the rocks and trees themselves cry out in praise (Luke 19:40).  He will work out His will, for He is sovereign.  His will above all.

It's not quittin' time

 

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority."  --Acts 1:7

 The Oxford Dictionary defines "object lesson" as "a striking practical example of some principal or ideal."  Jesus was a master teacher, and was masterful at using object lessons.  As He was walking and talking with the disciples, He adeptly changed the subject from the Temple, which they had been admiring, to a leaf on a ripe fig tree that illustrated His point.

Let's rejoin our text at Mark 13:28 and following.

From the fig tree learn its lesson; as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.  So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. --Mark 13:28-31.

Clearly Jesus was speaking of the destruction of the Temple, which occurred in 90 A.D., and not the end of the world.  That event actually happened within a generation of the time that Jesus was speaking.  In all probability, however, John may have been the only Apostle still alive when the Romans destroyed the Temple.

Some dispensationalist denominations teach that every time the Bible uses the term "fig tree", it is a reference to Israel.  Thus, they would make a big deal out of the phrase "budding of the fig tree," or "putting out it's leaves" as referring to the time that Israel became a nation again in 1948.  They believed that within one generation of Israel becoming a nation, Christ would return for His church.  A lot of time has passed since 1948 and some have amended their prediction to say that the Second Coming might occur within one generation of Israel's Six Day War in 1967.  Again, a lot of time has passed since that event, so perhaps a different method of interpretation is needed for this text.  I believe that Jesus and His disciples were walking along and saw some fig trees in bloom, and Jesus used them as an object lesson for the first part of their question, when will His prophecy of the destruction of the Temple take place.

As to the question of the end of the world, Jesus was quite clear: it is not for you to know.

But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard, keep awake.  For you do not know when the time will come.  It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.  Therefore stay awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning--lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.  And what I say to you I say to all:  Stay awake.  --Mark 13:32-37 

 Only God knows the day and the hour of Christ's return, and He didn't tell us.  There is wisdom in this: if we thought that the end of the world was not imminent, we may not be faithful.  On the other hand, if we knew it was coming within the year, or within the month, or within the week, we would be tempted to act differently as the time approached.  I think the point that Jesus was making was that we should not act differently.  The command to "stay awake" means to always live as if He were coming back tomorrow.

When the Apostle Paul was giving instructions to Timothy, a young pastor in the early Church at Ephesus, he wrote these words: "As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."  I think it is interesting that every action movie Hollywood has ever made encourages the hero to fulfill his own destiny.  No matter how discouraged or despondent the main character becomes through the course of the story, someone always appears who will encourage him or her to try harder, to overcome, to fulfill their destiny.

We as Christians, on the other hand, know that our destiny is secure.  Heaven is assured for us, and nothing can take that away.  However, lest we become complacent, we are encouraged to fulfill our ministry.   We each have a ministry given to us by God, who has put in in our current circumstances on purposes.  Like Queen Esther in the Old Testament, we are put in our current circumstances "for such a time as this."

Will there be suffering?  Yes.  Will we make bad decisions sometimes?  Yes, unfortunately; but even if we get a crazy idea stuck in our heads, we are to be sober-minded.  Will we get discouraged and tired of being salt and light, revealing Jesus to the darkness?  Yes, but that is our job, to evangelize our corner of the world.  Jesus Himself said just before He ascended into heaven, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18).

Last week we talked about "the abomination of desolation."  If we get so discouraged about Jesus not coming back after 2000 years that we stop doing the work of the ministry, then we have made being desolate (abandoned by God) our idol (and idolatry is always referred to as an abomination).  In other words, we must never act as if God has abandoned us.  Instead, we are to fulfill our ministry, the work that God has placed us here to do.

The abomination of desolate darkness

 

And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.  --Daniel 11:31

We live in a period of spiritual darkness.  In the 1900 years since the biblical canon was closed (with the death of the Apostle John ca 100 A.D.), there has been no new revelation from God.  With God seemingly silent for so long, Satan has succeeded in confusing the hearts of men as to the true source of light.  Men have called good evil and evil good for so long that at the very least lines are blurred, and at the very worst sin has overcome the world. 

This is what Paul wrote about in Ephesians 6:12: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."  Evil evolves over time to appeal to changes in the hearts and minds of humanity.   With each news cycle comes a new lament, a new injustice that must be made right, yet the solutions put forth by the world have no basis in Truth, because truth is relative; they have no foundation in Faith, because so many faiths lead to an incoherence of inclusiveness.  We have made an idol of Science, yet we refuse to acknowledge basic biology--people born with either an X or Y chromosome can ignore science and determine their own gender based on their own proclivity for sinning.

Christian author Frank E. Peretti wrote in This Present Darkness, "I understand that sometimes the truth of God's word can become a divider, an irritation, a stone of stumbling.  But that's only because it remains unchanged, uncompromising, and steadfast.  And what better reason could there be to build our lives on such an immovable foundation?  To violate the Word of God is only to destroy ourselves, our joy, our peace, our happiness."

I think that's what the Bible means when it talks about "the abomination of desolation."  When God seems so far from us, we feel desolate, and are prone to making choices antithetical to scripture.  In Scripture, there is a close relationship between idolatry and the idea of abomination.  Therefore, when desolation or the feeling of being abandoned by God becomes our idol, and the result is abominable.

Continuing our study of Mark 13, Jesus continues his discourse with the disciples about the end of the world.  If you read my last post, you will recall that the disciples marveled at the construction of Herod's Temple, and when Jesus predicted that it would be torn down with "not one stone left upon another," they thought that its destruction would signal the end of the world.  They asked Jesus about the end of the world, when the Temple would be destroyed.  Jesus tried to separate the two events, but in verses 14 through 27 He transitions from one event (the destruction of the Temple) to the other (the time leading up to the end of the world).

But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.  And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that it may not happen in winter.  For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.  And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.  But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.  --Mark 13:14-20.

As we have mentioned before, Herod's temple was destroyed by the Romans in 90 A.D.  From that time on, animal sacrifices stopped, signifying no further means of atonement for the Jews.  Jesus knew that Jews would be tortured and killed like never before, so He warned them to flee to the hills and take refuge in the rocks.  He prayed that this event would not happen during winter, and He bemoaned the fate of pregnant and nursing women during this period.  Skeptics might look at this passage and say it is patently false, pointing to the holocaust in the 1930's as the worst persecution of the Jews ever.  While the scale may have been greater, I would argue that death by gas chamber is more humane that being dragged through the streets by a Roman soldier, being killed by the sword (a gruesome way to die).  Imagine seeing your friends and family members being dismembered by a soldier's blade, or a pregnant mother having her belly cut open and seeing the unborn child as she slowly bled to death. 

Please understand, I am not downplaying or denying the holocaust.  The death of six million Jews was a terrible thing in world history.  However, the reason there were that many Jews in Europe was due in large part to the disbursement of the Jews, or diaspora, resulting from the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the unspeakable things that happened to them there.

Moving on, Jesus's words regarding tribulation could have more than one meaning.  They could describe more than one event.  This is not uncommon in Jewish prophecy.  Take for example Isaiah 7:14, which is universally accepted as being a messianic prophecy: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."  While we all agree that it pointed to the birth of Jesus some 500 years later, it also had meaning to Ahaz, the king of Israel at the time.  Isaiah goes on to tell Ahaz that before the child reaches the age of accountability, being able to tell right from wrong, the two kings whom Ahaz feared would be dead, and their lands deserted.

Keeping this double-meaning in mind, we can also apply Jesus's prediction of persecution to also mean the future persecution of Christians.  Let's re-read the passage again, beginning in verse 19 and move on to where it obviously means an event occurring in the distant future, not just the next 60 years.

For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of creation that God created until now, and never will be.  And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.  But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.  And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there He is!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will arise and  perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.  But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.  But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.  --Mark 13:19-27

The days will come, Jesus said, when persecution would seem to prevail, but He would protect His chosen people, the elect.  As time goes on, false messiahs would appear, and some would be quite convincing, even to the elect.  We were warned to be on guard, and watch for this to happen so we would not be deceived.

Jesus seemed to foretell a period of time when there would be no light; the sun would be darkened and the moon would not shine.  I believe we are in that period of time right now.  Darkness seems so pervasive that it appears we are abandoned, desolate.  The world has made an abomination of this desolation, proclaiming that there is no God, or if there ever was, He has abandoned us.  Thankfully, we do have something to look forward to.  Jesus will come in the clouds, and be seen in the sky.  He will gather His people, the elect, to Himself to take us home with Him forever.  Then He will judge the Earth.

Peretti wrote in Piercing the Darkness, "No amount of lies, no matter how cleverly couched, will ever outstrip or outlast God's truth, nor will any lie outreach His grace.  The Lord knows those who are His, His sheep here His voice, and the arm of the Lord is never so short that He cannot save." 

Do not be deceived

 

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  --Galatians 6:7

In his poem The Hollow Men, T. S. Elliott wrote, "This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang, but a whimper."  Earlier, H. G. Wells had called the first world war "the war to end all wars."  Despairing of its aftermath, Elliott saw that, although the world had survived the war (the bang), the survivors were empty, their lives bereft of meaning.  A repeated line from the poem speaks of "death's other kingdom", implying that living on Earth at this time was much like hell.

As we look further into Mark chapter 13, we see the disciples marveling at Herod's Temple but Jesus predicting that it would be destroyed, with "not one stone left upon another."  Thinking that this might signal the end of the world (for the Temple was so well built and so sturdy, surely its destruction would mean the world would have ended in a mighty explosion), they asked Jesus for clues, signs to watch for that might signal the beginning of the end.

And Jesus, answering them, began to say, "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My Name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  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 13:5-8

Jesus seems to be telling them not to fear the big cataclysmic, explosive events like wars or natural disasters.  Instead, He warns them against deceit.  It will be lies, not bombs, that will signal the end of the world.  The biggest lie, the one that Jesus warns us against first, is spiritual deception.  He warns against spiritual imposters, those who come in His name and claim, "I am He," or "I am the Christ."  

In the original Greek, the object of the sentence is left off.  Translators added "the Christ" or the pronoun "He" to help the reader, but the original text warned us to stay away from people who might say, "I AM."  Those who have read the Old Testament will recognized that this is how God described Himself to Moses.  In Exodus 3:14, after Moses had asked whom he should tell the people sent him, God answered, "Say to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'."  In identifying Himself with the Father, Jesus said in John 15:56, "Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." 

According to a website called VeryWell Mind, lying can be hard to detect.  "People are surprisingly bad at detecting lies.  One study, for example, found that people were only able to accurately detect lying 54% of the time in a lab setting--hardly impressive when factoring in a 50% detection rate by pure chance alone." (ref https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-tell-if-someone-is-lying-2795917).  Satan is a master manipulator of truth, called a liar and the father of lies in John 8:44.  Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 both refer to Satan as "that old serpent", a reference to Genesis 3 when the serpent deceived Eve.  Even the more obscure biblical names of Satan imply falsehood.  Belial, a common Old Testament reference to the evil one, means "worthless", as in "worthless counselor" (or "counselor of ruin")--see Nahum 1:11.  What counsel is more worthless than deceit?  Abaddon and Apollyon (Revelation 9:11) both mean "destroyer".  This would include the destruction of the bonds of trust, of faithfulness, of truth.

So we see that Jesus warned His disciples not of wars or of earthquakes, but of lies and deception.  He goes on to describe persecution.

But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  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.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  --Mark 13:9-13

Fatalists worry about thermonuclear annihilation.  Environmentalists worry about climate change and rising sea levels.  Anarchists worry about the breakdown of political and social structure, resulting in the destruction of the world.  Jesus's message is that the physical world is temporal, and that the real worry is the suppression of Truth.  When Christians proclaim God's Truth, they will be persecuted; first by religious leaders, and then by political rulers.  These people have souls, and the message of the Gospel should be proclaimed to them, even as a believer is being put to death.  Remember Stephen in Acts 6:8-15?  He was to be stoned to death by the Jewish leaders, but he continued to preach the Gospel up until he was martyred.  One of the people in attendance was Saul, who later was converted to Christianity and changed his name to Paul, and who preached the Gospel to a great number of people and who wrote a third of the New Testament.

Jesus's unspoken message in this passage is to not let fear overcome you, even when you are persecuted.  Satan as the father of fear.  Rather, we should rely upon the Holy Spirit who will tell us what to say in those trying times.  The Holy Spirit is our Comforter.  In other words, don't spend time worrying about what defense you will bring before the council or the judge or the king.  The Spirit of God will be with you, and will comfort you, and will bring to mind the words that your accusers need to hear at that moment.  Some may respond positively to the gospel message, and be converted themselves.  I think this is why Paul was so determined to have his own case heard by Caesar (Acts 25:11).

We should not fear wars that are the destruction of temporal things such as buildings, temples, artifacts.  We should not fear death, for our bodies are temporal as well.  We should instead set our minds on spiritual things.  We should worry about the spread of the Gospel, for the Gospel must be preached to all nations before the end will come (Mark 13:10).  We should not worry about trials and persecutions, for our faithfulness will be a testimony to our persecutors (Mark 13:9).  We should not worry about our last words, but instead be in tune to the words the Holy Spirits gives us (Mark 13:11).  Even when those closest to us (brothers, fathers, children) betray us out of hatred for the One whom we love, we must endure to the end (Mark 13:13).  In this way will God be glorified.  Otherwise, Elliott will be proved true, and the world will end in a whimper.

Signs of the times

 

Now as soon as the army had no more people to kill or plunder...Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple...this was the end which Jerusalem came to.  --Josephus, War of the Jews

Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, "The only constant in life is change."  Every time I drive through my old home town I notice something is different.  The theater or restaurant where we used to hang out is closed or torn down.  New shops and restaurants are popping up all around.  The intersection that once had a stop sign now has a traffic light, or even a traffic circle.  The whole skyline of the town seems different, as does the soul.  Although the changes may be good for the community, they never seem as good as our memories of the way things used to be.

In the book of Mark, the thirteenth chapter begins with Jesus and the disciples coming to Jerusalem and describing the Temple, the most important landmark there, as if they were tourists.  Surely these men had seen the Temple before, but they were still in awe of it. "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!' " (Mark 13:1).  This exclamation is not as strange as it may seem.

History tells us that Herod's temple took over 80 years to build.  Construction began in 19 BC and wasn't totally complete until 63 AD, and the finished product was almost 500 yards long and 400 yards wide.  Historian Josephus said that the temple was covered on the outside by gold plates that were so brilliant that when the sun shone it was blinding.  Where there wasn't gold, there were blocks of marble of such a pure white that from a distance, strangers thought that there was snow on the temple.  So when this unnamed disciple was visiting the temple with Jesus in 32 or 33 AD, it was still under construction.  Perhaps construction workers had just set a slab of marble so white it was blinding, causing the disciple to marvel at the stonework as if he were seeing it for the first time.

Jesus' response, however, was unexpected.  Mark 13:2 says, "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."  Jesus prophesied the utter destruction of the temple, which we now know occurred in 70 AD.  It is said that at the fall of Jerusalem, the last surviving Jews of the city fled to the temple because it was the strongest, most secure building remaining.  Roman soldiers surrounded it, and one drunken soldier started a fire that soon engulfed the whole building.  Ornate gold detail work in the roof melted down into the cracks between the stone walls of the temple.  To retrieve the gold, the Roman commander ordered that the temple be dismantled stone by stone.  The destruction was so complete that today researchers have some difficulty learning exactly where the temple stood.

Almost 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, I'll bet that the disciples looking at the building's construction and materials actually thought the temple would last forever.  If Jesus was prophesying the destruction of this massive building, with stones too large for modern machines to lift, then He must have been talking about the end of the world.  So four of the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him about the end times.  "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)

Signs and symbols were very important in Jewish history and religion.  Many signs or symbols were kept as a remembrance of what God had done for His people.  Moses was commanded to build the Ark of the Covenant, and inside it were placed a jar of manna, to be sign that God provided for them in the wilderness; Aaron's rod that budded, to be a sign of God's direction to them in setting up the priesthood; and the two stones on which God had written the original ten commandments.  Joshua was commanded to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan river, where God had parted the waters so that the people could cross into the Promised Land on dry ground, and set them together as an altar as a sign of God's leadership (see Joshua 4).

Throughout Jewish history, too, God had sent prophets to give signs of things to come.  In 1 Kings 13 an unnamed prophet spoke words against the evil king Jeroboam, saying that another king, Josiah, would be born in the line of David and defeat Jeroboam.  "And he gave a sign the same day, saying, 'This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.' "  Sure enough, the altar was split and the ashes poured out, just as God had said.  Perhaps more familiar to us is the passage from Isaiah 7:15, "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us)."  That was a direct prophecy to Ahaz, king of Israel, but was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:22-23, "For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."  The disciples were Jews, and they asked for a sign to watch for, something that might signal the end of the world.  Jesus responded over the next 30 or so verses, which we will study in more depth in the coming weeks.  

However, I think it is important that we heed Paul's advice when people ask for signs: we should look to Jesus.  Yes, the miracles He performed were signs that He was divine.  The greatest sign of all time was the resurrection of Jesus, because it signals God's love for us--the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus is foundational to our faith; the bodily resurrection is our hope of heaven (see 1 Corinthians 15:17).  

As we wade into the answers that Jesus gave in Mark 13 to the disciples' question about signs of the end times, some of His statements may be hard to understand.  Jesus only gave them as much light as they needed--remember, this was before His death and resurrection, which they could not fathom at the time; how, then, did they think that they could comprehend end times prophecy?  It is the same with us: we have the benefit of 2000 years of history and hindsight, and although Jesus' words are as true today as they were when He first spoke them, we have no more clue what they mean than did those four disciples.  We should preach what we do know: that Jesus is God's Son, that He came to earth to dwell among us, that He died in our place, and that He rose again and ascended to the Father.  That is all we really know, and all we need to know.

In God we trust, not the almighty dollar

 

Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you: "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag."  --Mary Poppins

The one and only time I was in New York City, I took my daughter to see a Broadway play.  Of all the musicals that were showing at the time, she wanted to see Mary Poppins.  The Disney movie had been released in 1964, but we saw it on Broadway over 40 years later.

One scene in particular stands out in my memory.  Jane and Michael accompany their father, George Banks, to the financial institution where George works.  His boss, Mr. Dawes, discovers that Michael has a coin worth two pennies, commonly called a tuppence.  Dawes urges young Michael to invest his two cents in a savings account, where it can draw compound interest over his lifetime, and over time could amount to "a tidy sum."  Michael, on the other hand, sees a poor woman outside selling birdseed for tuppence a bag.  Perhaps realizing that the woman's present livelihood is worth more than his own hope of riches, Michael demands his money back so that he can give it to the woman outside.  Michael's father George warns him that this is a waste of money, but more importantly could be putting his future in jeopardy.

Over my lifetime, I have interpreted this scene differently depending upon my own financial state at the time.  I have seen it as communist propaganda (urging people to share their profits with the poor for the good of society at large); as an encouragement to "buy local" and reward small business (whose markups are very small); and as a plea for charitable giving (two cents may mean "tuppence" to you, but to someone else it may be all that they have for that day.)

I thought of that scene in that musical when I read Mark's story (found in Luke 21 as well) about the widow's two mites.

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  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 has put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."  --Mark 12:41-44

 Jesus had just spoken of the Scribes loving to show off their wealth--their long robes, their best seats in the synagogue, their being invited to the best parties and being given the most prominent seat at the table, perhaps because they "devoured widow's houses" (Mark 12:38-10).  Maybe they profited from holding debt, and then calling in that debt when the primary earner died (leaving widows destitute).  Maybe they made a pretense of helping the widows by buying up their family property at pennies on the dollar, and selling at a profit.  In any case, Jesus watched them put great sums of money into the Temple treasury, knowing that this was for show--it was not a sacrifice for them to give this money away, because they would never miss it.

Contrast that with the two mites that the poor widow threw in.  We think in terms of our currency, that a penny is the smallest unit of money.  In Jesus' day, this was worth even less than that.  Some translations says that the two mites made up a penny. That's not even accurate.  In Roman times the penny was divided into four quadrans, like out dollars are divided into four quarters.  That lowly quadran, a quarter of a cent, was divided into two pieces, called mites.  This is what the poor widow gave: two coins worth a quarter of a cent.  (Dividing money this way was not uncommon--if you read pirate stories, you have heard the term "pieces of eight", which was an eighth of a gold coin.  In fact, prior to 2001, the US Stock Exchange traded in 16ths of a dollar; it was not until April 9 of that year that the Stock Market was converted to decimals.)

Dividing pennies into eighths showed just how poor this woman was, because Jesus said it was all she had.  This offering showed her great faith.  If the Scribes and rich people were "all in" to the treasury the way she was, they would be giving up all of their riches.  The poor woman gave all she had as an offering because she had nothing else to give.  What an act of faith!

In 1 Kings 17, verses 7-16, we read of Elijah testing a certain widow's faith:

And it happened that after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.  Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarepath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.  See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."  So he arose and went to Zarepath.  And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks.  And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."  And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."  So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have any bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."  And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.  For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth'."  So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.  The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

We don't know if the widow that Jesus saw was thinking of this Old Testament story when she brought her two mites into the Temple treasury.  What we do know is that in giving all she had, she was putting her trust fully in God alone to sustain her.  We also know that Jesus noticed; the woman was not flashy like the rich Scribes who came with buckets of money to put into the offering box.  Her two little mites did not make as much noise in the box as the clinking of many gold and silver coins would have made.  Nevertheless, Jesus noticed.  If Jesus noticed, we know that God knew of it.  I believe that God met this woman's needs because of her faith as expressed by her going "all in" with her offering.

In Psalm 37 David wrote, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)   God takes care of His children, who come to Him in faith and pursue Him with their whole heart.  And lest we be deceived, and think that His followers are all meant to be wealthy in this world, we only need to go up a couple of  verses, to Psalm 37:23-24 which says: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand."  What of those who reject Him, who are not part of the elect?  Again we look to Psalm 37, this time verse 22: "For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off."

Friend, everything you have in this world you have by the grace of God.  If you are rich, your riches are entrusted to you by Him.  If you are poor, His grace sustains you.  Do not turn your back on Him.  Do not trust in yourself, for if you put your trust in anyone or anything other than Almighty God, you will be cut off.  If your needs are met, give praise to His Name.  If you are in need, if you want for anything, call out to Him, for He will sustain you.  Even if all you have is a fraction of a penny to your name, give your all to God so that He may give you the desires of His heart.

Truth: Jesus is the Messiah

 

The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."  --Psalm 110:1

Lebanese author and spiritualist Khalil Gibran said, "Many a doctrine is like a window pane.  We see truth through it but it divides us from truth."  Reformed theologian and Presbyterian pastor RC Sproul wrote, "I hear people say, 'Doctrine divides.'  Of course doctrine divides, but it also unites.  It unites the ones who love God's truth and are willing to worship Him according to that truth."  American singer and actor Elvis Presley said, "Truth is like the sun.  You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away."

We have seen that there were different spiritual trains of thought among Jewish religious leaders in Jesus' day.  The four main factions--Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and Scribes--all came to Jesus with questions designed to trip Him up, or at least put him at odds with the masses who followed Him.  In Mark's gospel, the 12th chapter, each of these groups came at Jesus with a challenge, and He turned them all away.  The last one, a Scribe, seemed to frame his question in an honest, sincere way that showed his mind was open to the teachings of Jesus.  The question was not so much designed to trip Him up as to clarify His thinking on the subject of Scripture.  In a manner of speaking, the question was about doctrine.  When His answer was accepted, Jesus told this particular Scribe that he was not far from the kingdom of God.  Would that all our doctrine would bring us closer to God!

As if to emphasize the fact that Jesus' teaching was not in line with the teaching of all Scribes, Jesus began to preach against them generally (even after praising the one specifically).  Let's read:

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?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  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 12:35-40

 Having been approached by four different factions of Jewish leaders with questions, Jesus turns the questions back on them.  In the parallel passage in Matthew 22:41-43, Jesus specifically raised this question to the Pharisees:  "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, 'What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?'  They said to Him, 'The son of David.'  He said to them, 'How then does David in the Spirit call Him "Lord"?'"

The question dealt with their assumptions about the Messiah.  Having been under Roman oppression for about 90 years (Jerusalem fell to General Pompey in 63 BC), the concept of the Messiah had morphed into an image of a conquering war hero, one who would overthrow Roman rule and re-establish the Davidic kingship over Jerusalem.  That image pre-supposed a human being, a mortal man.  

Jesus was teaching them that the Messiah was immortal.  Remember that this verse closely follows verse 27, "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living."  Where in verse 27, Jesus was referencing Moses' conversation with God at the burning bush, where God gave the I AM statement about being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  These men had died hundreds of years before Moses, but they are still alive in heaven.  Using the same logic and similar language, Jesus referenced David saying that the Messiah was alive hundreds of years before, but the Pharisees all agreed that the Messiah (or Christ, in Greek) had not yet come.  If David spoke of the Messiah in the present tense, then He would have the same attributes as God, one of which was pre-existence and pre-eminence.  God is, was, and always will be; so, too, is the Christ.

The verse He quoted from Psalm 110 was universally understood by all Jews to be a Messianic verse.  Jesus uses it to identify Himself as the Messiah.  Remember in Mark 8:27, Jesus had put this same question to the disciples privately: Who do people say that I am?  And who do you say that I am?  Peter speaks up, saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  In fact, Peter used the same verse from Psalm 110 that Jesus did when he explained the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with tongues of flame and the gift of languages in Acts 2:34-36: "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool".'  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

The Scribes (and others) to whom He was speaking would have known the rest of Psalm 110, specifically verses 3 and 4:

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.  The Lord has sworn and will not relent, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

 This is the basis for Jesus' condemnation of the Scribes in Mark 12:38-40.  Volunteers, or ministers, should not seek the lavish robes or high praise in the marketplace or the best seats in the synagogues, or the best places at feasts.  They should not make long prayers, or demand tithes from widows who are in danger of losing their houses (more about this in the next passage).  Instead, they should be like Jesus, who was a Servant of all.  Hebrews 10:11-14 says, "Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  But this Man, after He had offered on sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."

Jesus volunteered to preach Good News to the people.  He ministered to them freely, never asking for anything in return.  Ultimately, He freely laid down His life as a sacrifice for us, so that we who are covered by His blood can avoid the wrath of God and ultimate judgment from Him.  He was holy from the womb through His youth up to the point where the Pharisees had Him arrested and crucified.  Yet even there, He acted as our High Priest, giving a sacrifice without blemish to cover the sins of the people.

This, then, is truth.  It is doctrine.  It is our eternal hope, and should unite us all.  Indeed, all men will bow before Him, either in this life or the next.

Hearing God's voice without preconceived notions

 

Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is One!  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.  --Deuteronomy 6:4-9

About 10 years ago there was a progressive socio-political movement called the Occupy movement.  In September and October, 2011 many independent but loosely associated groups met together to protest social and economic injustices worldwide.  I recall seeing a news clip of one such group, either in New York, Los Angeles, or Portland, Oregon (I forget which location).  The group was too large to hear the one speaking, so messengers would repeat what the leader had said in waves outward toward the fringes of the crowd.  "We must work together!" said the leader.  Then, like an echo, someone about 10 yards away would shout, "We must work together," and someone about 10 yards further out would repeat the same line, until the message was relayed to the edge of the crowd.  I have since learned that the military would use the same tactic when there was no public address system available.

Clearly, some in the group would hear the message, line by line, reiterated several times, especially if one of the repeaters had a voice that carried well.  The repetition served several purposes: first, it allowed all to hear the message at least once; second, it reinforced the message with those who heard it multiple times; finally, it was memorable--by hearing the message and repeating it for others, it became a part of their lives.

Clearly, the Scriptures were written well before the invention of PA systems and loudspeakers, not to mention radio, television, social media, podcasts, etc.  If a message was to be heard, learned, and remembered, it had to be repeated often by leaders of tribes, leaders of families, and heads of households.  That's why the Law of Moses commanded children to be taught this way: their parents were to repeat the message, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God; the Lord is One."  They were to tell it to their children when they awoke from sleep.  They were to repeat it to them when they sat in their houses, and when they walked by the wayside.  They were to tell their children again when they lay down to sleep at night.  Not only that, the parents were to keep these words affixed to their persons, either sewn in their clothing or worn as an adornment on the fronts of their turbans on top of their heads.  And just so they would not forget what they were wearing, the words should be inscribed on the doorposts of their homes.  Many people today have a mezuzah in their doorways that include these words.  Orthodox Jewish families will kiss their hand and touch the mezuzah as they enter or leave through the doorway.  These words were meant to be a reminder, not just to worship God, but that there was only one God.  They were not to worship idols, or to follow the gods of other nations.

In our passage today from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus quotes this command when asked about the greatest commandment.

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?"  Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is this: '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."  So the Scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher.  You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.  And to love Him will all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."  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: 28-34

A bit of background might be helpful here.  Traditionally, Scribes were keepers of the written scriptures.  They laboriously hand-copied the scrolls kept in each synagogue.  As such, they were considered experts in the Mosaic law, and were sought out to provide wise counsel on difficult matters.  Unfortunately, their interpretations added to the Scriptures, which went above and beyond the original text.  For example, when God's law said do no work on the Sabbath, the Scribes added so many layers of meaning on them that modern Orthodox Jews who still follow their teaching will not even push a button on the Sabbath. 

So this was a Scribe who approached Jesus with a question, but the question was a bit different than the previous questions from the Priests, Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees.  Each of those groups intended to trap Jesus, so that He would be caught in His own words and they could arrest Him.  This Scribe, however, appeared to have some degree of wisdom and insight.  Verse 28 says that this particular Scribe perceived that Jesus had answered well all of the prior questions.  It appears, then, that his question was not meant to trap Jesus, but to confirm His orthodoxy and His adherence to the Word of God.  This is commendable.  Later in Scripture we see that when Paul and Silas went on their missionary journey, going from synagogue to synagogue preaching the gospel of Jesus, the Jews in Berea heard the message that Paul preached.  Acts 17:11 says, "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."  In the same way, this particular Scribe was said to have answered Jesus discreetly (or wisely in the NKJV) in verse 34.  The Greek word used here is nounechos and it means prudently--as in having his own mind.  Jesus saw that the man was making up his own mind, and had not bought into the groupthink of the other Scribes and Pharisees.

This is not to say he did not have an expectation of the way he thought Jesus would answer.  He undoubtedly thought that Jesus would say something out the preeminence of sacrifice.  The writer of Hebrews said, "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22).  This is a reference to Leviticus 17.11, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul."  Without sacrifice, there is no atonement for sin, and if we are lost in our sins, we have no access to God.

Jesus surprised him.  Knowing that the Scribe was a religious conservative, Jesus replied in a conservative manner.  Every religious Israelite would know the Sh'ma y'israel (hear, O Israel), the beginning of a prayer that acknowledged there is one God.  Jesus went further than that, however, quoting the whole commandment from Deuteronomy 6:4-9.  Then He went one step further.  He said this was the preeminent command, but there was a second command that was as important as loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and that was to love your neighbor, even as you would love yourself.  Just as James said, "Faith without works is dead," Jesus implied that even if you loved God perfectly, without it spilling over to love for other people who are made in the image of God, then it rings hollow.  Don't misunderstand: this passage is not about self love, or that love is supreme, or that half-truth that the world loves to quote, "God is love."  Taken in its entirety, Jesus is saying to this man, "Since you asked, following the commands of God are important because God is greater than all--He is greater than all other gods, he is greater than other people you may look up to and profess affection for, He is even greater than you yourself.  So with that mindset, the greatest commandment is to love God more than anything--with all of yourself: your entire body, as well as all of your mind, will and emotions.  And the best way to show you love God totally and completely is to love your neighbor as much as you love yourself."

Jesus went beyond the question asked of Him.  The Scribe did not say, "Well, then, what is the second greatest commandment."  Jesus went beyond what he had asked because He knew what the Scribe needed to know in his heart.  When it became clear that the Scribe had heard Jesus' answer and had taken it to heart, Jesus said that he was very near to finding God and serving Him.

By way of application, we can bring our questions to God, but we must be open to the answer He gives.  Whatever new thing we hear, we must verify with the Scriptures--if the new teaching aligns with Scripture, we can follow it; if not, then the new teaching must be discarded.  If God is the one and only Supreme Being, then we must acknowledge Him as being the one authority for our lives, and we must treat Him as Lord and Master.  We must follow Him body and soul, mind and spirit.  We must love Him unconditionally, and love others as well.