Thoughts From the Bible

Mark 16:  19-20-   ‘ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into  heaven and  sat down at the right hand of God. (20) And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord workin g with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.   Mark is tell ing us about Jesus’ place in the world. Mark is also showing us how the disciples went to work to do as Jesus told them to do.  The Book of Ma rk ends affirming Jesus as Lord of us all and showing us what our mission is.  The Lord is great!   Proverbs 11: 12-  He who is devoid of wisdom desp ises  his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace .   

Read Mark 16: 9- 18-  Jesus is appearing to His closest followers, but some are not believing what they are hearing. These are finite people. Even though Jesus had said  He would return from the dead, they did not believe it had  actually happened . Even though they had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, they did not believe Jesus was  alive.  Then we read about the scene in verses 14, 15 and 16,  ‘Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at a table, and He rebuked their unbeli ef and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. (15) and He said to the, “Go into all the world and preach  the  gospel to every creature. (16) He who believes and is baptized will be  saved , but he who d oes not believe will be condemned.”’   Jesus gave the disciples their marching orders. Jesus expects for us to do the same. We are to spread the word of Jesus’  sa ving grace  and share what we ...

Read Mark 16: 1- 8-   The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Verses  5,6 and 7 say,  (5) And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on   t he  right side and they were alarmed. (6) But he said to them , “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is  risen ! He is not here. See the place whe r e they laid Him. (7) But go, tell His disciples, and Peter, that He  is going before you into  Galilee;  there you will see Him, as He said to you.   As we approach Easter, it is important for me to realize this day is set aside to celebrate the  one who gave His life  for  me.    Proverbs 11: 9- The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.  

Read Mark 15: 42- 47-   Joseph of Arimathea is a  well-known  figure in the Bible.  He provided a service to Jesus as noted in verses 43 through 45,  “ (43) Joseph of  Arimathea , a  prominent council  member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,  coming  and taking  courage , went into to Pilate and asked for eh body of Jesus. (44) Pilate marveled that He was already dead and summoning the  centurion , he asked him if He had  been dead for some time. (45)  So,  when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ”   Joseph saw the need  of Jesus’ body.  In spite of   possible repercussions  due to Joseph’s position on the religious council, he respected who Jesus was.  Joseph took what he ha d to provide for what Jesus needed at that time.  Joseph did what he could do. That is my lesson from Joseph of Arimathea.  I need to be prepared to meet pe...

Read Mark 15: 35- 41-   In verses 37, 38, and 39 we see God’s love and power,   ‘ (37) And  Jesus  cried out with a loud voice, and breather His last. (38) Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (39)  So,  when the centurion, who stood  opposite   Him , saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last , he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God.”   For me, it is  very difficult  to  read through  this passage in the book of Mark and have a full appreciation for how the people and the environment responded when Jesus died. The writing of the response of  the centurion helps with attempting to realize the physical and emotional impact of that very moment.  The realization of what had just happened to Jesus Christ caused a Roman centurion to  identify  Jesus as  deity . What must have happened in that enviro nment that caused someone like the centurion to make such a st...

Read M ark 15:  27- 3 4 -   Religious leaders and others continued to mock Jesus as He hung on the cross. The  harshness of the age was on full display and then the whole environment changed. Verses 3 3  and 3 4  say,  ‘ Now when  the  sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama  sabach thani ?” which is translated, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”’   God controls the environment. The darkness that  came,  some might  say  was just a passing solar eclipse. Some will say thick  clouds from a storm system just happened to come as Jesus was being tortured on the cross. The timing of the  darkness was not coincidental. God provided a sign to the people about His power and about Jesus’ role in His plan for  mankind .  The people would see more surrounding Jesus’ crucifi...

Mark 15: 15- 26-   This is the  crucifixion  of Jesus. Mark does us somewhat of a favor by not writing the gory details of the reality of the  situation .  We also see humiliation. Verses 24, 25 and 26 we read,  ‘ (24) And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them  to   determine  what every man should take. (25) Now it was the  third  hour, and they crucified Him. (26) And the inscription of His accusation was writte n above, “The King of the Jews”.’  Not only did Jesus pay a deep physical price and then was killed,  but the people also  surrounding the event worked to humiliate Jesus was much  as they could. This highlights the grace Jesus extends to us and this is a lesson for us. We should work to avoid humiliating people beca use of the demeaning nature of the action. Humiliating others feeds directly into what Satan wants to see. We need to show more respect for others and av...

Read Mark 15: 1- 14-  Jesus' march to death continued through this passage. We see the  chief priests and religious leaders acting out of fear and envy. Verses 11 through 14 show us their devious natures, ‘ (11) But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should  rather release  Barrabas to them. (12) Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with  Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” (13)  So,  they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” (14) the Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” Bu t  they cried out  all the more , “C rucify Him!”’   This is a passage that   brings to mind  the evil surrounding the treatment of Jesus. I also  know this was what God had planned  in order to  bring redemption of sins for me. In my human mind, I want to wish there  was  an easier way for God  to have Jesus be our redemption, but this was His plan, all designed ...