Mark 1

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,^[a] the Son of God,^{[b] 2} as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”^[c]—
³ “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”^[d]

 

I draw strength for the fact that God has a plan and He show us through out scripture that His plan has and will continue to come to completion. There is nothing I can do to stop it. I can make mistakes, I often do, but my actions can not stop the will of God. I want to be careful here to not communicate that we can do whatever we want and get away with it because Paul talks about that in Romans and all I mean to say is God is sovereign.

 

In verses 4-7, Mark talks about John the Baptist and his preaching a "baptism of repentance" John talks about he one who comes after him and I think it is neat that he and Jesus are related. I wonder how crowds today act differently from crowds back them. If someone talks of repentance now-a-days, I wonder how it would be received?

Mark gets to the point and Jesus is being baptised in verse 9 and we see God claim Jesus as well as send the holy spirit like a dove. I wonder what it was like for Jesus with out the communion that her had pre-birth and I am assuming did not have on the same level that he does now that he has been baptised. Was he missing part of himself?

 

In verse 12, The spirit "at once" directed Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days and nights to be tempted by satan. The key that I walk away from this verse is that Jesus did not fight/confront satan until he had the holy spirit and that should be the same for us. Spiritual Warfare is real and dangerous. All those that think otherwise have already been fooled and have lost the battle.

 

In versus 14-20, John is put in prison and Jesus is gathering his disciples. In verse 21 he proceeds to enter a synagogue and teach and I wonder if this is natural or if God gave him favor to be able to interrupt and teach. He teaches with authority it is written and then he is challenged by a demon who is cast out. Jesus shows his authority in a couple of ways and does so with out even seeming to try to, it just is who he is. Later he heals Simon's mother-in-law and then in verse 32, Mark says that "after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed." In my mind a see a long long and I wonder if they waited for night to have some privacy or if it was customary. Anyway, Mark makes a clarification between the demon possessed and the sick and I think they are all sick, but I wonder what the numbers were like back them. I know we have demon possessed in today's time, but do we just medicate them or do they blend in and hide better than two thousand years ago. This goes back to spiritual warfare, how can you believe in angels but not demons? I hear that a lot and I do not understand the logic.

 

I verse 35 we see Jesus sneaking away to have some time with his Father. How much do I pray and do I pray with my soul longing to see God move or is it just habit. I am afraid it is the later and I need to pray about my praying :) Got to find humor in life and God is big enough to help me with my hurdles and I think we can all use more faith in our lives.

 

In verse 40 after Jesus heals the man with leprosy, he tells him to not say anything but to go to the priests and be checked out and make an offering. He did not and the final verse of chapter 1 is verse 45 "Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere." the word lonely is used and I am shocked because I would not have thought of Jesus being lonely, but I guess whenever you have a plan and vision and that even though you have people around you, it does not mean they all understand where you are or what you are doing. I do not think we have life missions like what Christ had to endure, but I think there is a lesson there...

 

Matthew 28

Verse 28 starts off with "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb." I wonder if these women are more dedicated of if this was just expected of them. I like how it lists Mark Magdalene and the "other Mary" and it makes me wonder if I want to me a main character in this story or an "Other." I think we are all in a story and we get to choose how active a role we take in that story. Something to think about anyway :)

Next we have a violent earthquake ( i wonder how much seismic activity they have in the middle east), an angel from the Lord comes down, scares the guards, who become like dead men and moves the stone away from Jesus's tomb. The angel greets and instructs the two Marys and sends them to tell the disciples. 

I am not sure why it struck me on this verse, but I wonder about the roles of men and women at this point because these ladies are sent to the disciples and I have never thought about the fact that they were all male. Will need to research this more later, but I know the gender roles in that time are much different from today, but how many people, male or female got to talk to angels???

While the Marys are running to the disciples, the guards have been able to realize they have a problem and are running to the chief priests and we see how corrupt they are yet again.

Matthew ends with the Great Commission. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

Jesus is with us. Even today. Do I live my life in such a way as to acknowledge that Jesus is with me? Lord help me to honor you with all I do! Amen! 

It only took me a year but I finally finished Matthew, Next I get to start Mark!

Matthew 27

This chapter starts off with Judas revealing that he realized what he had done. Verse 4, “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility. Both Judas and the chief priests acknowledge the innocence of Christ. The money was thrown into the temple and and then Judas went and hung himself. In verse 6 "The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” The hypocrisy is amazing. They are willing to pay for the betrayal of Jesus betrayal but the "Blood Money" could not go into the treasury so they used it for foreigners...

In verse 11, Jesus is asked by Pilate if he is the king of the Jews and Jesus answered him but when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. ¹⁴ But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.The governor seems to be playing both sides, he wants to keep the Jews happy while still trying to find a way to keep Jesus alive since he did not think Jesus was guilty. In verse 19, While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” So this brings up the fact that in prior chapters we have seen Gods plan and how there were certain things that had to happen to bring about the fulfillment of the scriptures. If this is true was the dream brought about by Satan as a way of trying to stop the fulfillment of scripture or was it God confirming yet another way that Jesus was innocent.

²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.It amazes me the power that religious leaders have on the general population. The governor tried to help I think but in the end had to give in due to the fear of riots. Jesus was flogged and Barabas was set free. I wonder how many times the crowd looked back on that moment and asked themselves, "What have we done"

Jesus is mocked by the soldiers and tortured prior to the crucifixion.⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,^[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. The curtain being torn is one of the most important and symbolic occurrences that I can think of and one of the main reasons Jesus died for our sins. For every person to have the ability to go before God through the blood of Christ. I guess this also leveled the playing field in the religious circles so that the sacrifices were done, since the perfect sacrifice was done. A perfect and willing sacrifice, wow.

The faith that Joseph showed by going to Pilate to ask for Jesus's body, is amazing. I believe it was divine favor because I am sure the religious leaders would have loved to have the body to prevent future problems, but God is bigger than the plans of men. Jesus is prepared for burial and guards are set at his tomb.

Matthew 26

² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Jesus, did not hide the fact of what was coming. I wonder how I would have responded if I was told something of that gravity. We then read about the plots going on behind the scenes to keep their power and get rid of Jesus. 

In verse 6, "While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper." Simon must have been healed or no one would have been able to be around him and his property would have been taken. Why did Jesus stay here? Jesus seems to always do the unexpected. Next a women places very expensive perfume on his feet and Jesus says that "she has done a beautiful thing... and were ever the gospel goes, she will be remembered"

If I am honest, I think I can relate more to the religious leaders and Judas than the other people. God help me to see when I am acting like something that you do like and I should not be. Then we see how Judas tries to capitalize on what the religious leaders wanted. What selfishness...

Then we get to the last supper and Jesus again warns the others that he will be betrayed. I can not imagine having to go through life and know that you are about to be betrayed and to even know the betrayer. Jesus knows the big picture and I guess that is something we must learn to do. We may not have the knowledge of Christ, but God blesses us with discernment and I think the battle that I face is learning to be patient and wait on God.

But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” This makes me think of all the times I make promises that I shouldn't. This goes back to the big picture and how things must happen to further God's kingdom. How many promises have I made to God and not kept???

Now I am to verse 36 "the garden of Gethsemane" Jesus takes 3 disciples with him and asks them to sit and wait for him. I am assuming that he wants to pray so maybe he is expecting them to pray. I am not sure but what happens is that they fall asleep and Jesus comes back and has to wake them up and this happens not once, but twice. It is hard to image the series of events that led to the garden, but in my mind I assume that with passover and Jesus talking about being betrayed and dieing that there should be some sense of urgency. I wonder how often I should have this sense of urgency about holy things and I fall asleep when I have been asked to wait and pray...

Now in verse 47 Jesus is arrested and these verses jumped out at me.

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

I have noted several times about a series of events and Jesus confirms that with these verses. I still can not wrap my mind around what Jesus knew would happen and then had to allow it to happen, to fulfill scripture. 

The chapter ends with the religious leaders trying to find grounds for having Jesus killed. There were lies and all sorts of trouble but they come back to the comment Jesus made about the temple being destroyed and rebuilt in three days. The moral of this story was crowds of religious people can find many ways to get want they want and the end justifies the means in their eyes or so it seems. They decide he is worthy of death and then Peter denies Jesus 3 times just as he was told he would. The death of Jesus is hard and we are not even there yet, but I can picture the passion in my mind and what it is expected that Christ went through and I am at a loss of words...

Matthew 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins - 5 foolish and 5 wise...

 How often am I in each of these categories. I would hope to think that as I grow and mature that I am more wise then foolish but if we judge based solely  on our actions and take our intentions out of the equation, I wonder what the result would be. I am also hear in the back of my mind Isiah 694:6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags"

SO the Bride groom gets back and all 10 run out to meet him and only 5 will have enough oil to make it. in verse 8, "The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

 How unchristian not to share! I am sure the bride groom got mad at these 5 girls for not thinking of others! In verse 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’. Now this shows me that when it comes to God he is a jealous God and our feelings are not as important as we think they are.

The Parable of the Bags of Gold 

 This parable is a little scary to me. Three servants given different amounts of Gold before that Master leaves and when he returns he has expectations. He expects what he has given to be used and multiplied. What I think most everyone is scared to hear one day is verse 26, 29-30 "His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!"²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 

 I think there is much more wrapped up in this that I am getting at this point, but the base level message I am getting today is that we have been given gifts to use, not to waste. I wonder if this is true of all people or just Christian? I personally think every human has been given gifts but not all will heed Jesus's call.

 The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

For the sake of time, God help me to be a sheep!

 

Matthew 23-24

Chapter 23
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

I had to read this a few time to make sure I did not miss something. Jesus tells us that we are to "be careful to do everything " that the Pharisees tell you but "do not do what they do." This makes me wonder about all the denominations and sects we have today. I am taking away the fact that the teachers of the law should be listened too, but not set as a role model or put on a pedestal. This seems like a DUH statement but it took me a bit to catch this and realize that this is Jesus saying focus on me and my word not those who preach it.


You hypocrites! This was said several times and I get the feeling that the Pharisees did not get or understand what Jesus was saying. They feared what Jesus said without understanding it. I pray that I can  avoid the traps of pride and religion.


Chapter 24
² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

This is the statement that gets Jesus crucified. I don't know why this is interesting to me but I envision people spying on Jesus and his group but could it have been one of his own followers who shared the information to the authorities? 


⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

The above scripture was in response to being asked for signs of the time and Jesus's coming back. We have been seeing most all of these signs. If I understand scripture then the only other events we are waiting on are the preaching the good news to the whole world...


⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

Who will be handed over to be persecuted? Is this for Christians or who??? What does it mean to be hated by all nations. Is it possible to live life while being hated by people. How can we be peacemakers and share lover with people who hate us. We are told to love and pray for these people aren't we???  It says in verse 13 that we are to stand firm even when all the chaos of the world is swirling around us. How do we fix our eyes and grow our faith to not be tempted to be led away by the false prophets.

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.^{[d] 31} And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

I try to image this in my mind and I can not even begin to understand. The elect being gathered by angels, what a site that must me and I wonder at the fear the non-elect will be experiencing during this process... The chapter is ended with the day and hour unknown but that we are to be ready at any time. Am I living my life in a way that I am ready? I really need to check my priories and question my motives because the things of this world seem so important but with eternity approaching at any moment, it makes me wonder why I get so caught up in the cares of the world. God help me to have and keep an eternal perspective!

 

Matthew 22

¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” 

I have been reflecting on the "few are chosen" in verse 14. God does the choosing... WHat can we do to be chosen, absolutely nothing. As prideful as I can be, I am humbled by what God blesses us with on a daily basis

“So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (vs 21).

I use this verse in my work a lot and I am surprised by how people define what is "theirs" and I am thankful for God helping me to be less materialistic. 


³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[c] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[d] 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

Greatest Commandment, enough said!