Tag Mark

Love When Bad Things Happen

Todd R 3 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Sometimes things happening in the world grab our attention and make us assign more significance to them than they deserve.  Sometimes these are natural phenomena, like earthquakes, comets, or eclipses, and sometimes they are manmade phenomena, like wars.

One reason we do this is that passages in the Bible like Mark 13:5-23 describe what events will happen before Jesus returns again.  We want Him to return!  While it’s right to anticipate with excitement that Jesus is coming back, it’s important to sort out such passages by what is describing what will happen (descriptive truth) and what God tells us to do when these things happen (prescriptive truth).  In all circumstances, the God’s primary commandments for us are to love God and to love our neighbor, even if they are our enemy.  No phenomena should pull us off that path, and Mark 13:5-23 recommends that.

In the table below, I paraphrase and categorize Mark’s message into what is descriptive vs. prescriptive truth:

DescriptivePrescriptive
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’See that no one leads you astray
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise against nationDo not be alarmed
Earthquakes and famines in various locationsBe on your guard
You will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sakeBear witness before them and do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say
Brother will deliver brother over to death and you will be hated by allEndure
False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wondersBe on guard

To Jesus, none of the things in the descriptive column are new information.  All were included in His plan from eternity past.  The actions He recommends are not new information either.  The “Prescriptive” column tells us not to panic, but to endure, to keep doing what we should be doing before these bad things happened – Love God, love your neighbor, even if your neighbor is your enemy.

On the other hand, false christs and prophets will tell us current events are unprecedented and a fulfillment of prophecy and they will tell us what we should do.  The false prophet takes the descriptive of evil in the world and creates their own false prescriptive.  They recommend an incomplete and inaccurate narrative of current events as an ultimate solution.  Their own Babel which God must “come down” from heaven to even see (Genesis 11:5).  But the true Christ calmly says, “be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand”. (Mark 13:23). The true Christ comes down from heaven and demonstrates how to create a true ladder back to heaven, offering forgiveness to all, even those who refuse to accept it or practice love.  He will be thoroughly and eternally glorified by manifesting His kingdom as the only eternal kingdom, ruled by love, not by panic over current events.

No matter what we see happening in the news or in the world, Jesus knew it was coming and He told us that in any circumstance we should obey and glorify Him, through love for Him and neighbor.  He doesn’t panic and neither should we.

Amen.

A Surprising Picture of Salvation

Todd R Leave a comment

Yesterday’s post discussed the healing of a leper by Jesus in Mark 1:40-42, which says: “And a leper came to [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, ‘If you will, you can make me clean.’  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”

However, the story continues in Mark 1:43-44 – “And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.’”

Jesus, while unconcerned that this leper was not following Levitical law to remain quarantined, He was concerned that he testify to the priests.  What might the priests learn from performing the cleansing rites for a recovered leper?  The procedure is detailed in Leviticus 14:1-20, which I’ve pulled from below:

“if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop.  And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water.  He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.  And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field…on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish…And he shall kill the lamb…The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and…put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and…shall put [it] on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering…Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.”

While this probably seems confusing, Warren Wiersbe says that “Leviticus 14 presents a beautiful picture in type of the work of redemption.”  How?

Photo by hiva sharifi on Unsplash

“The two birds represent two different aspects of our Lord’s ministry: His incarnation and death (the bird put into the jar and then killed), and His resurrection and ascension (the bird stained with the blood and then set free). The blood was applied to the man’s right ear (God’s Word), right thumb (God’s work), and right great toe (God’s walk). Then the oil was put on the blood, symbolizing the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit cannot come on human flesh until first the blood has been applied.”[1]

After Jesus was sacrificed on the cross, died, and then was raised from the dead, perhaps Leviticus 14 made more sense to the priests who cleansed the leper healed by Jesus.  Perhaps they saw a picture of their Savior.

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Diligent (Mark) (1987).  P. 28.

Compassion is More Than Skin Deep

Todd R 2 Comments

Many miraculous healings are highlighted in the four gospel records of Jesus’ ministry, and many point to a greater miracle: that God, in His mercy and compassion, heals us of the sin that divides us from Him and each other.  Today’s post will focus on a miracle recorded in Mark 1:40-42, where Jesus heals a leper:

“And a leper came to [Jesus], imploring him, and kneeling said to him, ‘If you will, you can make me clean.’  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”

There is more to this story that Mark didn’t write.  What’s missing?  Jesus pointing out that this leper is breaking Old Testament law. 

In Leviticus 13:45-46, Moses wrote that: “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’  He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

Because the kind of leprosy referred to in Leviticus and Mark was highly contagious and possibly deadly, this weird ritual was required to prevent accidental transmission of disease, but this particular leper couldn’t stay away from Jesus, and because Jesus was surrounded by crowds, the leper was potentially putting others in danger.  Mark doesn’t write that Jesus was concerned about this.

But the leper wasn’t entirely at ease, doubting whether Jesus would condemn him as an outcast and lawbreaker, or heal him.  What he did not doubt was that Jesus was capable of healing him, as he said to Jesus: “If you will, you can make me clean.”  To this leper, it was a question of whether this religious leader would be willing to help him.  He probably spent a lot of time being told to go away because of his disease; to follow the Levitical law.  Perhaps even now, in modern times, some might be curious about God’s power, but see religious people as uncaring and unwilling to help someone who is so obviously diseased and sinful.  Perhaps they are uncaring because other people are so obviously diseased and sinful.

In Leviticus chapter 13 there are also rules about how to identify a leper, and it’s usually when the symptoms are “deeper than the skin.” (See Leviticus 13:3, 20, 25, and 30). From this phrase, Warren Wiersbe notes in his commentary on Mark chapter 1 how leprosy is an apt metaphor for sin: “Like sin, leprosy is deeper than the skin (Lev. 13:3); it spreads (Lev. 13:5–8); it defiles and isolates (Lev. 13:44–46) …Anyone who has never trusted the Savior is spiritually in worse shape than this man was physically.”[1]

Not only can diseases be more than skin deep, but inner sin can be more dangerous and contagious.  As Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, murder is an outward manifestation of inner anger[2], and adultery is an outward manifestation of inner lust[3].  Sins “deeper than the skin” may be the most important sins because they are the root of the visible external sins.

Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash

Fortunately, like inner sin and like leprosy, God’s compassion is also more than skin deep.  In Mark 1:41, the phrase “moved with pity” is a translation of a Greek word that suggests not just a passing feeling or sentiment, but something you literally feel in your guts.  The Greek word appears only 12 times in the New Testament, and always referring to Jesus or God the Father.  You might say that Jesus’ compassion for the leper was so powerful that He felt the leper’s pain in his own gut and was compelled to help him.

Unconcerned about whether His actions would condone the leper’s disregard for the law, the compassion of Jesus compelled Him to heal not just the leper’s bodily disease but also his spiritual disease of sin.  As written in Luke 15:10 – “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Jesus had His priorities right.

May we be likewise “moved with pity” for the sick and lost!

[1] Wiersbe, Warren.  Be Diligent (Mark) (1987).  P. 28.
[2] Matthew 5:21-22
[3] Matthew 5:27-30

The Zealot and the Tax Collector

Todd R 1 Comment

Mark 3:18 lists among Jesus’ 12 disciples “Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot.”

Matthew was a former tax collector for the Roman Empire, while Warren Wiersbe notes that “The Zealots were a group of Jewish extremists organized to overthrow Rome, and they used every means available to advance their cause. The historian Josephus called them ‘daggermen.’ It would be interesting to know how Simon the Zealot responded when he first met Matthew, a former employee of Rome.” They learned to prioritize following Jesus, but I suspect it took some time and patience on Jesus’ part.

No enemy of God is beyond His grace, and no enemy of yours is beyond His grace either!

Photo I took at the entrance to Westminster Abbey in July 2022.

Not a Matter of Degree

Todd R Leave a comment

Today is part 2 of a series on the first Beatitude from Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Today’s post highlights that seeing our spiritual condition as a matter of degree or magnitude, rather than as absolute spiritual poverty, keeps us from seeing, accepting, and experiencing Jesus as He is.

We’ll focus on this passage from Mark 10:17-22:

“And as He was setting out on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’’  And he said to him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.’  And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’  Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Did Jesus tell this man that he only needed to do more, or to work harder, to earn eternal life?  Was this man rich in spirit, nearly blessed, and just shy of the kingdom of God?  The first Beatitude and yesterday’s post would suggest not, but how then does this story make sense?

A key to this is Jesus’ first response to the man, which questioned the man’s own premises, and revealed he was not “negotiating in good faith.”  After Jesus’ response, instead of saying “if only God is good, why am I chasing eternal life in my own work?” this man persisted in seeking to earn his way.  Jesus knew the man’s heart was set, and in a way was saying “you know the law, what do you need Me for?”  The man did not see Jesus for who He is – the One who offers Himself.

The man was looking for help on the way he had predetermined for himself; he was not looking for the Way that Jesus offered.  He wanted a God who helps those who help themselves, but that’s not who God is.  In the same way that Jesus does not want us to literally cut off a hand or foot, or gouge out an eye, to avoid sin (Mark 9:43-47), neither does He mean that selling all his goods will save this man.  He “went away sorrowful.”

Warren Wiersbe wrote: “Of all the people who ever came to the feet of Jesus, this man is the only one who went away worse than he came. And yet he had so much in his favor!”  But because he did not know he was poor in spirit, he left without either the kingdom of God or the blessing of Christ.

What exactly does Christ offer?  The infinite and perfect righteousness required for entering eternal life!  He is the only one who ever earned the title of Christian; everyone else gets it by His merit, by His grace, through faith.  99.9% righteous does not count because infinity is the target and insisting on working for that last 0.1% only keeps us from accepting the gift.  Also, if we think we are 67% righteousness, but doing better than someone we see as 66% righteousness, we misunderstand what righteousness is.  Conversely, if our 67% righteousness makes us miserable compared with someone else’s 75%, we misunderstand grace.  It’s not a matter of degree so much as a matter of type, “so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:9)

Any time we ask, “what must I do to inherit eternal life”, we are thinking that what we have, plus some more, is the answer.  Sometimes we are not immediately rebuked but allowed to pursue our own way and eventually realize we’ve become lost.  Sometimes, like this man, we are gently rebuked but refuse to listen.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:3

All this man needed to do was accept the work of Christ on his behalf, but he could not admit his poverty.  And it’s all we need to do.