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Jesus has come to expose pretentious “disciples,” so don’t be too impressed with yourself (Mark 12:35–44)

If you want to show off the strength of a movie hero, you have his opponents launch brutal attacks on him which he easily deflects, then have him crush them with his own blows.

The gloves are about to come off. It’s time for Jesus to take the offensive against his opponents.

Up till now in Mark’s account of Jesus’ life, the religious leaders of the Jews have been trying to find ways to disgrace Jesus. They feel threatened by his popularity, and they (correctly) suspect that he believes himself to be the long-awaited Christ, the Messiah or anointed king sent by God himself to rule on the throne of his ancestor, David.

Unfortunately for them, everything Jesus says and does has been unimpeachable. “He has done all things well!” the astonished crowds are saying (7:37). He has been perfect in every way. So they’ve tried to trap him in his words, getting him to say something that will expose him as a fool or as a threat to their Roman overlords. But Jesus has answered their questions wisely and uncovered their own ignorance.

Now, Jesus shifts tactics. His opponents are too afraid to interrogate him anymore. So he begins teaching the crowd in the temple, the seat of his enemies’ power. He quotes for them a verse from Psalm 110, which describes the coronation of God’s anointed king:

The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”

This psalm was written by David, and it features the Lord God speaking to the king he will appoint. Now, so far, this fits well with what the scribes (the religious teachers) have told their people about the Messiah. He is a king descended from David. But Jesus then points out, “David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” You don’t call your son your master.

So, as Jesus has asked, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?” His point isn’t that the Christ is not a descendant of David. Rather, his point is that he is more than that. He is not just a great king; he is the great King. The scribes haven’t accounted for this. They’re supposed to be able to recognize the Messiah, but how can they possibly recognize him if they are clueless about who he really is? Jesus has exposed the scribes, shredding their supposed knowledge; they have an inadequate grasp of who the Messiah is. It’s no surprise that they’ve rejected Jesus.

Not only do they have an inadequate grasp of the Messiah, but the religious leaders also behave in wicked ways. Jesus continues, “Beware of the scribes!”—and lists a series of charges against them. They behave in an arrogant manner, wanting others to look up to them. They even take advantage of the financial resources of widows. Jesus declares, “They will receive the greater condemnation.” For a Jew, this would have been a shocking statement. Most Jews looked up to the scribes as holy and learned men. But Jesus is telling the crowd to beware of them! They have been placed in a position of great privilege, having a tremendous knowledge of the scriptures and a deep respect from the people. But they’ve abused their prestige. And all who associate themselves with the scribes, imitating them rather than being wary of them, will find themselves sharing in their condemnation.

The religious leaders not only behave in wicked ways, but even their supposedly righteous deeds are not as impressive as they appear to be. We next find Jesus sitting in the outer court of the temple, watching people drop their donations into the offering box. There are plenty of rich people pouring huge sums of money into the box, but it’s a poor widow who attracts Jesus’ attention. She drops in two lepta, copper coins that were nearly worthless. Jesus pulls his disciples together at once and tells them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.”

Now, if that’s not an upside-down statement, I don’t know what is! Jesus explains, “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

This woman’s act of severe generosity exposes the religious leaders as frauds. Even if they were to donate huge sums of money to the temple, they could never match the piety of this poor widow, who gave her whole life to the Lord. And they will never be able to match Jesus himself, who will give his whole life as a sacrifice before the week is up. Their good deeds are just not that impressive.

You can become a leader in your church, graduate from seminary, teach from the Bible, earn the respect of your whole church and community, and still be a clueless and evil wretch, a false disciple who consistently opposes Jesus. The guy at your church who flips burgers for a living may be a much more holy and righteous person than you are. And no matter what, you can never match the righteousness of Jesus. When placed next to the cross, nothing you do is really all that impressive.

Deep within your heart is a stubborn pride which wants people to recognize you for what a great person you think you are.

But you’re not Jesus.

Posted on by Dave 0

Your work is valuable in God’s eyes (Part 2: When you’re working a non-career job)

McDonald's, Employees
Image by The Consumerist via Flickr

Maybe back in January, you read my reflections on scripture which teaches that your work is inherently valuable to God. And maybe you’re in a job that has nothing to do with the career path you’d like to follow. It’s a lot harder to maintain an attitude of hope and purpose in that sort of environment, isn’t it?

With this in mind, I asked one of my friends about her thoughts on the matter. Ashleigh works as an assistant manager at a restaurant in town, and I’ve noticed that she has done a great job representing Christ in her workplace, even though she’s planning to pursue a career elsewhere.

Ashleigh, some people might say that your work isn’t that important since it’s not where you want your career to be. What would you say in response?

Everything we do is important. Whether it is increasing experience in transferrable skills or getting better at the skills we have, we should do our best. Even though food service is not anything near what I want to do, I still think it is important because practically it helps me get better as a worker in general. Specifically, any job gives you a mission field to those surrounding you.

How do you maintain a positive and Christ-centered attitude in your working environment?

Sometimes it is very hard to keep a Christ-centered attitude. I have to purposely choose to not lash out in anger, or to do the hard thing instead of the easy thing. Things that help are people who know me and what I’m trying to accomplish. They encourage me and congratulate me when I do well. Even though I might grow frustrated and want a different job, I know that my actions are supposed to represent Christ. So, it is not necessarily what I do, but it’s what God allows me to do. I could not have a good attitude many times without God giving me encouragement or the right mind set.

What kind of impact are you able to have on your coworkers and customers?

It has been humbling when I hear what coworkers have to say. Several of them come to me for help with personal problems. But more importantly, I have people ask about God and say that they know I am a Christian…so what do I have to say about a particular issue or problem they are facing? By being a good worker and doing my best, it allows them to see how Christ impacts me and how living a Christian life is a good thing, not just “a bunch of rules.” I’ve been amazed and happy about the conversations I’ve had about God with my coworkers.

Posted on by Dave 0

concise biblical theology of work (via spreading the fame)

Part 2 of Your Work Is Valuable in God’s Eyes is coming later today. Until then, take a look at Justin’s Concise Biblical Theology of Work as well as a few resources which will help you learn more!

concise biblical theology of work Happy, Monday! Welcome back to work! With the long work week ahead, I felt it necessary to encourage all your labors. God loves work. Did you know God has set in His Word a theology for work? 1.    Working is a good and basic part of being human in God’s world. Ever since the Garden of Eden, mankind has worked [Genesis 1:28-31]. 2.    Since, Genesis 3, work is cursed and frustrating, but it still is good, worthwhile and necessary. 3.    Followers … Read More

via spreading the fame

Posted on by Dave 1

Jesus has come to judge what’s most important, so don’t challenge his authority (Mark 12:28–34)

Here’s the problem with most debates. Usually, a debate consists of two people who disagree with each other and aren’t interested in learning or changing their minds. Neither is really listening to each other; each just wants to catch the other person and vindicate himself.

Up till now in Mark’s gospel, Jesus has been confronted by several factions of religious leaders who have no intention of learning from him. They’ve been trying to trap him in his words, to get him to say something unpopular so that the crowds will become disillusioned with him. It’s not working, though. Jesus has outmaneuvered them at every turn, demonstrating his command of scripture, his superior wisdom, and the hypocrisy of their hearts.

What’s about to come, however, is a bit of a respite from all this conflict.

The scribes are teachers of the law of Moses. On the whole, they oppose Jesus (see, for example, Mark 3:22). This scribe is different; he observes the disputes and sees that Jesus has answered his opponents well. So instead of trying to trap him, he decides to see if he can’t learn a few things from this surprising Galilean rabbi. “Which commandment is the most important of all?” he asks Jesus. It’s a fairly common question among Jewish scholars that invites plenty of debate.

Because this scribe has asked a straightforward question, Jesus gives him a straightforward answer. He quotes the Shema, the great commandment from the book of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Now, Jesus isn’t the first Jewish teacher to identify this as the greatest commandment. The Shema was central to first-century Jews just as the Lord’s Prayer is to modern Christians. The Shema establishes that the Lord is the one and only God, and thus he requires the exclusive and complete devotion of his covenant people. The rest of the law merely details what this devotion looks like.

What’s unusual is that Jesus pairs the Shema with a second commandment from Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These two have never been connected to one another in Jewish thought. So not only does God require the self to be devoted to him alone, he also requires a love for one’s neighbor. In other words, you can’t put yourself on a pedestal. The people around you are just as important as you are, and you are therefore to show them the same attention and dedication which you show to yourself and your own goals and dreams. Taken together, these two commandments tear down the citadel of self, the age-old lie that sets one’s self up on a throne where only the Lord belongs.

Now, when this scribe hears Jesus’ answer, a light bulb turns on inside his head. He’s been part of a temple system which emphasizes the importance of ritual sacrifices and ceremonial laws. In contrast, Jesus is saying that love is what God’s law is all about. What the scribe realizes is that Jesus isn’t pulling this idea out of thin air; it’s found throughout the Old Testament. Not only is it taught in the two passages that Jesus mentioned (Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Leviticus 19:18), but in other scripture God has made it clear that he wants loving, devoted, broken-hearted followers more than he wants adherents to a sacrificial system (1 Samuel 15:22; Psalms 40:6–8 and 51:16–17; Hosea 6:6). So the scribe takes Jesus’ teaching and runs with it, saying that love for God and one’s neighbor “is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” It’s what’s inside of you that counts more than your religious duties.

Jesus sees that this scribe is connecting the dots. So just as he judged what was the most important commandment, he announces his judgment of the scribe’s spiritual condition: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” This is the highest praise he gives to any of the religious leaders! The scribe hasn’t committed himself to Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, but all signs seem to indicate that he will.

Now, this story tells us a lot about the law and God’s purpose for it. But don’t forget that Mark’s gospel is about Jesus first and foremost. And what we learn here is that Jesus has the right to judge the very law that God has given, to decide which commandments are most important. He also has the right to judge people as to whether or not they are a part God’s kingdom which is invading the present world.

It’s not insignificant that “after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.” Jesus has demonstrated an unmatched authority and wisdom. He is not to be questioned. Rather, you and I are to live as his disciples, loving God and one another, recognizing him as the Judge of what’s most important.

Posted on by Dave 0

Jesus has come to correct small views of God, so align your thinking to his (Mark 12:18–27)

Sometimes people refer to God in a flippant way. He’s “the man upstairs.” Or (worst-case scenario) “Jesus is my homeboy.” Nearly everyone who is deeply religious bristles at such casual treatment of the one “who dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16).

Unfortunately, it’s also possible to devote yourself to a small, handcrafted god who is not the God you think you’re worshiping. You may be taking the one true God too lightly.

Jesus has drawn the attention of the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin. His teaching is a threat to their political power structure. So they’ve sent delegations to him to trap him in his words. Every time they do this, Jesus evades the trap and demonstrates that he is superior to his opponents.

This particular delegation from the Sanhedrin is composed of the priestly, upper-class Sadducees. They are a group that is skeptical of most of the Old Testament; they only accept the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) as scripture. As a result, they deny many doctrines which the Pharisees, most Jews, and Jesus himself affirm. One in particular is the resurrection from the dead. There isn’t much Old Testament teaching on this subject (though see Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:12), and there seems to be none whatsoever in the Torah. So the Sadducees believe that once you die, that’s it. If there’s any afterlife at all, it’s found in the gloomy confines of Sheol, the underworld.

The Sadducees deny the resurrection for another reason as well. They’re convinced that it’s logically incoherent. To prove their point, they present Jesus with a hypothetical situation. What if a woman marries a man who dies? According to the Jewish custom of Levirate marriage, the man’s brother is required to marry her and raise up an heir for him. The Sadducees take this to the point of absurdity—suppose seven such brothers died!—but it would only require one death for the woman to have married two husbands in this life. So “in the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be?” they ask.

Note that, once again, we have Jesus’ enemies asking a question when they’re not genuinely interested in learning from him. They just want to humiliate him. They’ve already decided they’re not going to believe.

Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush here. “Is this not the reason you are led astray, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” he tells them. Now, this is a slap in the face! The Sadducees were fanatic students of the scriptures, and they stood in positions of great political and religious power. Yet Jesus is saying to their faces that they are wayward and ignorant.

Jesus explains what he means. The Sadducees clearly don’t know the power of God because they have made wrong assumptions about the resurrection. They’ve assumed that the next life will be an extension of this one; people will get married and raise families and go on living like they do now. Jesus is telling them that God will reorder everything; those who are resurrected will no longer marry. In fact, marriage will no longer exist; it’s a temporary institution that will pass away. God is powerful enough to recreate the world in a way that exceeds the wildest dreams of man.

Jesus continues to pile it on. He quotes Exodus 3:6, in which God told Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”—his ancestors. The eternal, self-existent I AM had chosen to identify himself with these patriarchs, to bind himself to them with an eternal covenant, to make promises to them which had not yet been fulfilled. None of this makes sense if they have simply ceased to exist. Would God really identify himself with something that no longer exists? Would his promises to Moses be reliable if he had no intention of fulfilling his promises to the (living) patriarchs? No! “He is not God of the dead, but of the living,” Jesus says. Then he adds, “You are led greatly astray.” And he’ll drive his point home in the final chapter of Mark, when he himself rises from the dead.

The Sadducees are a monument built for us, a warning that it’s possible to be a devout person, to be a student of the Bible, to be in a position of power in the church, and yet to be ignorant and easily deceived. Jesus insists that all of his followers contemplate and adhere to the words of scripture—all the words, not just those which we want to believe! Jesus wants you and me to expand our understanding of who God is. When you try to grasp who God is, do not be quick to draw conclusions about what he can’t or shouldn’t do. He is powerful, and you are in no position to question him. Instead, align your thinking with his written Word, lest you stray from the path and into deadly error.

Posted on by Dave 0