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Jesus has come to claim you as his, so don’t look for excuses to reject him (Mark 12:13–17)
Leading up to the recent midterm elections here in the U.S., a vocal movement known as the Tea Party began demanding a reduced role for the federal government. The central idea behind this movement was (and is) that the American government is too large and is meddling with the autonomy of its citizens. The government should reduce its role, lowering taxes and cutting back its services.
Now, even the most radical Tea Party activists wouldn’t have held a candle to the Zealots of Jesus’ day. These insurgents hated the Roman empire and its authority over the Jewish state. They longed to see the Romans driven out so that Israel could be restored once again to an independent status, just as it was in its heyday. They believed that to submit to Rome was to reject the Lord God as Israel’s King.
So the big political question among Jesus’ contemporaries was whether one should serve Rome (as a collaborator) or serve the Lord (as a Zealot). The people’s sympathy lay with the zealots, and even paying taxes to Rome seemed like a betrayal of their Jewish heritage.
The Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, were familiar with this situation, and now they were ready to use it to set a trap for Jesus, who had become a thorn in their sides.
The Pharisees represent the popular resentment of Rome, while the Herodians support Rome and its appointed ruler, Herod. Also, they both hate Jesus. So these unlikely bedfellows try to trap him on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, Jesus could say that no, it is not right to pay taxes to Caesar; this would have earned him popular support but probably landed him in a Roman jail. On the other hand, Jesus could say that yes, it is right to pay taxes—and at once the crowds surrounding him would vanish. Either way, the Jesus problem is solved. So his opponents don’t mind a little bit of sarcastic flattery, telling Jesus, “You are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God.”
They’re about to wish they hadn’t said that.
Jesus knows they’re trying to trap him. He knows that they’re hypocrites, mere actors. They aren’t asking him the question because they want to know the answer. They aren’t interested in finding out how to live a life pleasing to God. No, they’re looking for an excuse to reject Jesus.
Of course, Jesus is too smart for them. He asks for a denarius, the Roman coin used to pay the tax (but rarely used in local commerce). The irony is that Jesus doesn’t have one, but his questioners do—he deftly reveals to the crowd that the Jewish leaders have bought into the Roman oppression, not he! And then he asks, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” Puzzled, they give the obvious answer: “Caesar’s.” And then, with a simple reply—Jesus answers, undermines, and exposes his enemies. “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” he tells them, “and to God the things that are God’s.”
What does this mean? Well, obviously, “the things that are Caesar’s” refers to the coin with his inscription. Jesus is acknowledging that the Roman government has the right to tax the people. There is no essential conflict between human government and divine sovereignty. But he chooses to place his emphasis on “the things that are God’s.” Caesar has stamped his image on the money, but he can never stamp his image on the hearts of the people. That is something God alone has done (Genesis 1:26–27). “Let Caesar have his money,” Jesus is saying, “but you give your self to God.”
That’s something the Pharisees have refused to do. Remember, they’re questioning Jesus about the crucial political issue of their time—an issue that will eventually lead to a Jewish rebellion and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. So on the surface, they seem wise in asking him about it. But Jesus knows they are hypocrites. They don’t care about giving themselves over to God. They just want to get rid of this troublesome teacher who is undermining their authority by claiming it for himself.
You may be worried about Obama’s health care plan or tax breaks. You may be worried about whether the government has the right to take what you deem to be yours. But don’t get caught up in the small stuff. The government is demanding your money; Jesus is demanding your life. And if you would rather rely on the government to take care of your needs and wants, perhaps it’s time to place full confidence in Jesus to provide security for you. After all, he has claimed the title of Messiah, the anointed King over all the world.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:7)
Jesus has come to reject those who won’t make him central, so shape your life around him (Mark 12:1–12)
Ever since my sophomore year in college, I’ve lived in houses which I’ve rented from several different landlords. I’m familiar with what it’s like to be a tenant. It’s only in the last few months, however, that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to be a landlord. I’ve been working for an apartment management company, and while most of our tenants are well behaved, it’s the 10 percent that misbehave who give us 90 percent of our headaches. Nearly every day, I come home with new stories about irresponsible or clueless tenants.
But it’s tough to complain when you read about tenants like these.
It’s not hard to see who Jesus is pointing the finger at. His opponents, the religious leaders of Israel, recognize themselves right away as the tenants. After all, the prophet Isaiah had also compared Israel to a vineyard (Isaiah 5:1–7), and they saw themselves as tenants of that vineyard. Speaking through Isaiah, the Lord had condemned Israel for its rebellion, and now Jesus specifically condemns the religious leaders who have opposed him.
The tenants in the parable are traitors. They have been given great responsibility to care for the landlord’s vineyard and produce a crop for him. However, they don’t want to serve him; they want the vineyard for themselves. So they humiliate and beat and kill the messengers he has sent, just as the religious leaders of Israel have rejected the prophets whom God has sent, all the way up to John the Baptist. And when he sends his only son, whom he dearly loves—an act of mercy and madness!—they kill him, too, hoping that his inheritance would end up as their own.
Jesus is shredding the righteous disguise of his opponents. They appear to be doing the work of God, but in reality they are opposing his Messiah, the anointed King he has sent to rule Israel. They want control; they want to rule God’s kingdom for themselves.
Even though these leaders have been trained in the Old Testament scriptures from childhood, Jesus challenges them, “Have you not read this Scripture?” He quotes Psalm 118:22–23:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Why would the builders of a palace or temple reject a stone carved out of a quarry? Obviously, it’s because they see some sort of defect in it. It doesn’t fit into their blueprint for how the structure should look. The Psalmist felt like such a stone; he was rejected by his enemies as unfit to be one of them. Yet he and his allies marveled as the Lord delivered him, turning the rejection upside down and giving him victory over his enemies.
Jesus is the culmination of this pattern of deliverance. He is to be rejected, betrayed, and crucified by the powerful and influential men of his day. Then, despite their best efforts to destroy him, the almighty God will raise him from the dead and give him “the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11).
Jesus doesn’t fit into the plans of the religious leaders. He is a threat to their positions of power. If he is put in charge, they can no longer have authority over Israel; they can no longer demand that people follow their traditions; they can no longer run their lives the way they want to.
When the rejected stone is made the cornerstone of the building, then the blueprint must be changed, and the building plans must be altered to fit the new cornerstone. This means that Jesus will not “fit in” to our pre-existing lifestyle. No, Jesus demands thorough and foundational change from you and me. He will not be added as an extra ingredient in your life to make you feel spiritually fulfilled. He insists on being your foundation; he insists that you reorder your dreams and goals and values and morals around him. You must shape your life around him as the center. If you and I do this, his triumph will be “marvelous in our eyes.”
If you and I will not do that, then we appear in this parable as the wicked tenants, attempting to kill Jesus so that we may usurp his throne. But “whoever would save his life will lose it” (Mark 8:35)—the Lord will bring about a great reversal, our kingdoms will be flattened, and his eternal kingdom will be built over their ruins, with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone.
So are you a faithful tenant of the Landlord? Or will you oppose him until he comes, inevitably, to reject you?
Jesus has come to suffer and serve, so you’ve got greatness upside down (Mark 10:32–45)
If you didn’t think Jesus’ disciples were a bit thickheaded before, you will now.
For the third time, Jesus predicts that he will suffer and die and rise again from the dead. What’s unique this time is that now he has set out toward Jerusalem, the headquarters of his enemies. The religious leaders of Israel hate Jesus’ guts, yet he’s leading his disciples right into the teeth of their religious empire. I suppose you could say that it’s an invasion of sorts, and his disciples are “amazed” and “afraid.” And when Jesus announces that it’s a death march, it doesn’t help matters.
However, a couple of his disciples are unflappable. James and his brother John look right past Jesus’ gloomy forecast and see only the glory on the other side. Jesus has called himself “the Son of Man,” and they probably remember from Daniel 7:13–14 that this “son of man” will be given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” They’d like a piece of that, thank you very much.
But how to broach the subject? “Teacher,” they say, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Uh-huh, very subtle. Jesus offers no promises, but they still request, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Jesus tells it like it is: “You do not know what you are asking.” They still haven’t picked up that Jesus isn’t the glorious, victorious political Messiah they’re wanting. He asks them if they’re able to suffer what he will suffer, and they respond, “We are able”—with a healthy dose of naïveté and arrogance. They have no idea what they’re in for. Jesus agrees that they will suffer, but still he won’t promise them the glory they’re looking for. “To sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant,” he says, “but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” He defers to his Father’s sovereign assignments. Positions of prestige in his kingdom can’t be bought with charm or good deeds; they can only be given freely by God.
James and John are finding out the hard way that to follow Jesus requires suffering, and it is not the sort of suffering one endures in order to gain prestige. We’re about to find out why not.
Word gets out to the other ten disciples that James and John tried (and failed) to pull of this power play. So of course they’re ticked. (“No fair! Why didn’t we think of it first!”) If I were Jesus, I’d throw up my hands at these boneheads, but he sees it as an opportunity to show them the upside-down kingdom of God. He reminds them that the present world system, as exemplified by the heathen Gentiles, values prestige, prominence, and the possession of power. In this world system, greatness means gaining power and using it to benefit yourself.
But Jesus tells them, “It is not so among you.” This is not how the invading upside-down kingdom works. Its economy is the exact opposite. In God’s kingdom, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant.” Well, that sounds annoying. Who wants to be at the beck and call of other people, many of whom are more stupid or boring or ugly or evil than you? How about you take it easy on us, Jesus?
No dice. “Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all,” he adds. Not just a servant, but a slave. Not just a slave of a handpicked few, but a slave of all.
Why is this? Where does this upside-down reality come from?
Jesus doesn’t derive it from abstract philosophical principles. No, he draws it from his own person and his own mission. “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,” he says. Remember, this is the same “son of man” in Daniel who is to be served by “all peoples, languages, and nations”! And he has come to serve? Yes! In fact, his greatness in God’s kingdom comes from this mission. He will be the greatest of all because he will “give his life as a ransom for many.” He will give up his life as a price to God to pay for the sins of many. This atoning work will be the ground for the “dominion and glory and a kingdom” which the Ancient of Days will give him. He will receive the all-conquering upside-down kingdom as its King. Anyone who wishes to be great in this eternal kingdom must serve and suffer like he does.
So this is Jesus—the triumphant Son of Man, yet a humble, devoted slave who lays down his life in our place. As Samuel Crossman writes,
In life, no house, no home
My Lord on earth might have;
In death no friendly tomb
But what a stranger gave.
What may I say? Heav’n was His home;
But mine the tomb wherein He lay.
If you and I are his disciples, if we belong to him, then we must also serve and suffer. We have to give up any idea of an easy life. It’s okay if things are hard and painful. And we have to give up any idea of popularity or fame or influence. It’s okay to be small and unnoticed. In fact, it’s far better to serve others in small and unnoticed ways than to have the attention of the world fixed on you. For Jesus will not be disappointed with you.
Jesus has come to submit to God’s will, and so should you (Mark 8:31–9:1)
There’s a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s dive right in!
Today’s passage overlaps a bit with the passage we studied last week, because really it’s all one long story that we’re examining a piece at a time. After eight chapters in which Jesus’ divine authority is on display, his disciples begin to understand what’s going on. Peter realizes, “You are the Christ!” So finally we’re getting somewhere. Jesus is the king, anointed by God, whom the prophets had said would come to rescue Israel.
Unfortunately for Peter’s dreams of a glorious political kingdom, Jesus announces that his mission is to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and rise again. That doesn’t exactly fit into his disciples’ mindset of what glory looks like, so Peter takes him aside to rebuke him. But Jesus turns the tables on Peter and chews him out, calling him Satan and telling him, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Now, I think most of us would agree that what Peter said was wrong. But why does Jesus come down so hard on him? Well, we’re about to find out, because Jesus won’t let this teaching moment slip by. There’s a crowd following him and his disciples, so he calls them all together and tells them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Apparently, Jesus isn’t trying to be Mr. Popular.
Remember from a while back that to be a disciple of Jesus means that you need to be with Jesus and you need to imitate him. To be with Jesus, you need to know who he is—that he’s the Messiah. To imitate him, you need to know his mission, and his mission is to fulfill all that God the Father has in store for him—his suffering, rejection, death, and resurrection. He has come to submit to God’s will. Now, Jesus is also calling his followers to submit. He tells them that they need to deny themselves; they don’t get to choose for themselves how they will live. Every disciple must “take up his cross.” This is a vivid and repulsive image in the mind of the crowd. They’ve seen crucifixions take place at the hand of their Roman overlords. The main point of crucifixion isn’t to torture a person to death; it’s to present that person as a public spectacle of what happens when you defy the might of Rome. A man going to his crucifixion would be led through crowded streets, bearing the crossbar of his own cross. On his public death march, he is no longer acting as a rebel; Rome has won, and he has submitted to its authority. In the same way, Jesus is telling his disciples, “If you want to follow me, you must join me, abandoning your old mindsets and old ways of life. You must come alongside me in absolute submission to God.”
Now, that’s a tough pill to swallow, so Jesus tells us why it’s necessary. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Counterintuitively, a disciple must give up his entire life to God in order to save it. Like the oil in the jar of the prophet’s widow (2 Kings 4:1–7), it can’t be renewed unless it’s entirely poured out. A disciple can’t hold back a few corners of his life for himself. He can’t play it safe. He must devote himself exclusively to his Lord, take risks for him, wear himself out with the Lord’s work. If he tries to hold back, he’ll give up the very life he’s been trying to keep for himself, because God will take it away from him.
You’ll lose your life if you try to keep it for yourself; you’ll save it if you let it go. Jesus explains this paradox: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” If you keep yourself back from God, it won’t be gain at all, even if you got all the approval and money and comfort and pleasure and self-esteem you could dream of. You’ll lose your soul, and you won’t be able to get it back. “For what can a man give in return for his soul?” Jesus asks, and the answer is, “Nothing.” All that honor and luxury you’ve gained won’t be enough to buy it back.
Why can’t you buy back your soul? Jesus warns, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” You can’t buy your soul back because Jesus will be too embarrassed to be seen with you. He’ll be too ashamed to be around someone who prefers “this adulterous and sinful generation” to “the glory of his Father” and the presence of “the holy angels.” No amount of contaminated money or worthless prestige that you can offer will ever wallpaper over that shame. Jesus can’t be bribed.
But then, Jesus delivers a guarantee to the crowd. “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” Jesus won’t allow you to buy your way into his kingdom; he offers it freely. And there are some in that crowd who will consider the cost and still choose to be his disciples. And three of them are about to catch a glimpse of the King with his veil removed and his glory revealed. This kingdom is of supreme worth, more valuable than any earthly kingdom.
So Jesus has come to submit himself to his Father’s will, and his disciples are called to do the same. If you tend to be a self-ambitious person, Jesus is warning you not to seek earthly glory but to submit to God, devote yourself to him, and in this way receive the glory of his kingdom. If you tend to be a lazy person, Jesus is warning you to stop holding back and to start pouring yourself out for God. Go all in. And then…then you’ll begin to see a radiant sliver of the glory that awaits you.
On July Fourth and idolatry of the state
Drew Humphrey posts his thoughts on July Fourth:
Of all the American holidays throughout the course of the year, I find that none brings out the quirkiness of contemporary evangelical theology quite like Independence Day. And when I use the word “quirkiness” I’m probably being far too kind. Because what happens on the Fourth of July every year in many American churches is not just quirky—quite frankly it’s idolatrous. (Read the rest)
That idolatry is found across the political spectrum. Liberals and conservatives both trust in purely political solutions to our problems—big government and the free market are both false gods. I ran across this interesting tidbit from a great USA Today report on the Tea Party phenomenon that is sweeping America:
Their faith in the Founding Fathers is a signature of the movement. Citing links to the Revolution has been a mainstay of American politics since the nation’s beginnings, Lepore says, but the way the Tea Party uses those symbols and language is original. “It is a fundamentalist way of thinking of the past: The founding documents are gospel; they come alive for us,” she says.
Yikes.
I’m sorry, but the U.S. Constitution is a fallible document written by sinful men. It is not eternal; it will pass away when “the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 2:10). If you anchor yourself to the Constitution, you will pass away just as it will. You will pass away just like the things you worship.
So enjoy July 4, and praise God for the freedom we enjoy in this country and the men and women who died to preserve it. But don’t get too excited. Government of the people, by the people, for the people, will surely perish from the earth.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118:8–9)
