Thoughts From the Bible

M ark 12: 28- 34-   One of the scribes approaches Jesus and in this   short passage, Jesus and the s cribe  gave us the  condensed version of Christianity. In answering the scribe Jesus said the following in verses 30 and 31,  (30)  “And you shall love, the Lord, you God with all y our heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. (31) And the second, like it, is this; You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater th an these.”     The scribe then gives a sinner’s response to Jesus’ word when he said,  (32) So the s cribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. (33) And to love Him  with  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 offering...

Read Mark 12: 18- 27-  Jesus works through this hypothetical brought to Him by some Sadduc ees. Jesus tried to get them to see beyond their hypothetical situation and paint a small picture of h eaven while getting them to focus on God rather than the law. Verses 25, 26 and 27 say,  “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heav en. (26) But concerning the dead, that they rise have you not read in  the  book of Moses in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and t he God of Jacob?’ (27) He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”   Many people like to say religion is just a series of  do’s  and don’ts. Those individuals  are no different from the Sadducees. Most of the time, those people are only focused on what they can criticize. They are not looking at the life that is embedd...

Read M ark 12: 13- 17-   I n this passage, Jesus is responding to people who had approached Him to trick Him into saying something that would be contradictory to Ro me. They assumed they would catch in the conversation siding either with Rome or with the Jews. They did not understand the wisdom of Jesus. In verse 17, Jesus said  this,  ‘ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to C aesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”’   Jesus is telling us we need to respect the authorities of the civil structures where we live. This instruction allows for  civil order and avoids chaos. We may not agree with how our taxes are used and that is why we have the power of protest  and  the power of voting  to create  changes,  but civil order is important and Jesus acknowledges this.     Proverbs 10: 16- The labor of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked to sin.  

Mark 11: 27- 33-   Authority. The religious leaders wanted to challenge Jesus in a  way that He would discredit Himself.  When He answered their question with another question  regarding  John the Baptist,  they would not make a commitment. In verse 33, this is writt en,  ‘(33) So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to the, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”’   I need to always be ready to  speak definitively on my belief in Jesus Christ. I cannot be like the religious leaders and  attempt  to rationalize any of my spiritual belief and especially my trust in Jesus Christ. I need to be fully  committed  in  words  and in deed.    Proverbs 10: 14-   Wise people  store up  knowledge, but the  mouth   of  the foolish is near destruction.   

Read Mark 12: 1- 12 -   Jesus challenged the religious leaders with a parable about the vinedresser and  how the vinedresser’s representatives and then his son  was  abused or killed. Jesus was making this statement  in order for  the religious leaders to understand He knew their intentions  were not spiritually motivated.  Verse s  ten  and eleven it  says, “ H ave you not even read this scripture,  ‘ (10)  The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. (11) This  was the  Lord’s  doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’”   The religious leaders were motivated by fear,  greed,  and hatred. Those three things built upon each other to cause them to  cast themselves against Jesus. They were afraid Jesus would take their influence and positions away which would  impact  their standing in the  community,  and they hated Him for this.  One of t...

Mark 11: 25- 26-   Jesus is still working to educate the disciples on the messages He wants them to preach going forward in their lives. These two verses are very impactful  not only for the disciples but for us.  “(25) And wheneve r  you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you your  trespasses .  (26) But if you do not forgive, neither  will  your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”   This is a simple lesson for us to learn yet something that is  very hard  for us to do at times. There are times when the world will tell us some offense is unforgivable. We cannot have that wor d in our vocabulary if we are going to work to live our lives as God would have us live. I need to continually work on better learning how to forgive.   P roverbs 10: 13-   Wisdom is found on the lips of  him who has  understanding , but a rod is for the back of him ...

Read M ark 11: 20 -24-   Jesus is continuing to teach the disciples and providing guidance on our intents in prayer. Verses 23 and 24 speak loudly to  connecting  our faith and  our prayers.  (23)  “ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not  doubt in  his heart, but believes that those things he say s will be done, he will have whatever he says. (24)  Therefore,  I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will   have them.”   I know these two verses can open up  to  much debate about faith and answered prayers and God’s will in our lives.  We can get many opinions about the dynamics of prayer,  faith  and God’s will but what is my part in this  situation.  I feel I  need to make sure I do not over-complicate the situation and do my part. I need to pray for those in need ...

Read Mark 11: 1 5-19-   Jesus wanted the temple that had been dedicated to God to be respected. The religiou s leaders of the time had allowed the process of sacrifice for sin to become big business around the temple. It was more business than it was a spiritual review of their souls. In verse  17 we read,  ‘Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ , but you have made it a den of thieves.”’  There are churches today in our society that have bookstores  within them. This is done to provide Christian books and  paraphernalia  for Christians.  This is not similar to what was going on around the temple.  The religious leaders were taking  animals brought by those wanting to sacrifice them for their sins and then routing those animals back to an area where they could be bought by people who did not have an animal for sacrifice. The religious leaders were swindling the pe...