A Stark Contrast

Mark 12:35-44, CEB - While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “Why do the legal experts say that the Christ is David’s son?  David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said, The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I turn your enemies into your footstool.’ David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ so how can he be David’s son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.

 

As he was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.”

Jesus sat across from the collection box for the temple treasury and observed how the crowd gave their money. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money.  One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny.  Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury.  All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.”

 

Jesus’s final teaching in the Temple targets the legal experts and leaders with which he has been sparring.  He does so by first pointing out a discontinuity in the legal experts position concerning the Messiah.  Two centuries later, the point is a bit confusing to us where it probably was not to Jesus’s audience that day.  The experts position was that the Messiah would be a descendant of David.  Jesus seems to cast aspersion of this notion by quoting David himself in Psalm 110 where David refers to the Messiah as my Lord.  Jesus asks the rhetorical question, “David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ so how can he be David’s son?” The confusion for us is that Matthew and Luke Gospel take great pains to point out that Jesus, the Messiah, is indeed a descendent of David.  Furthermore, this contention is crucial because it fulfills multiple prophecies.  It seems that Jesus, in this story recalled in Mark, contradicts this notion. 

I’m not convinced that Jesus is actually contradicting this.  I think (and I do stress that this is only my opinion) that what Jesus was trying to point out is that you can use scripture to support or refute any notion you want.  I believe the language used elsewhere in Mark supports the notion that Jesus does see Himself as both as David’s son and David’s Lord/Messiah.  He is taking something his students believe as true and proof-texting scripture to improperly “contradict” it as an example of something foolish anyone can do.  I see support for this opinion in the fact that, from this illustration, Jesus launches His attack on the religious leaders for their hypocrisy when it comes to the scriptures.

Specifically, he mentions the fact that they have used their influence and authority to take advantage of widows who trusted them to steward property on the widows’ behalf.  Jesus is calling out the fact that they have used a scriptural responsibility to take care of widows as the very basis for exploiting those widows for their own gain.  They do so all the while parading around in their expensive robes and elite “sacred” jewelry.  This criticism reaches a climax with Jesus noticing a widow putting all she has into the Temple treasury.  The irony of her giving all she has in support of and trust in the institution that is exploiting people like her is almost too much to take.  Jesus identifies the religious leaders as the principle perpetrators of this gross injustice. 

Lest we too quickly distance ourselves from the abuses and hypocrisy of the leaders Jesus is condemning, it behooves us to remember that almost every long-established religious institution has fallen into such abuses including the Christian church itself.  The reason this teaching is in the gospel of Mark is that Mark’s audience, the early Christian church, needed to hear it.  The twenty-first century church needs to hear it as well.

Scripture is not to be manipulated to suit the ends of those trusted to represent it.  It is neither to justify our own opinions or behavior.  Twisting the words of scripture to serve self-centered outcomes is gross injustice and worthy of the strongest condemnation.  The aim is to have the heart of the generous widow, who exceeded to “prescribed-by-law” amount to be contributed to God.   She follows scriptural teaching and then exceeds it. 

The last point to be made here is that the widow’s sacrifice of all directly foreshadows the sacrifice of all that Jesus will make just days from this event.  He will give his very life for greater good of humanity.  Every story in Mark from this point on will highlight this sacrifice as the basis for Jesus’s Messiahship. 

 

Question:  Have you ever seen scripture “used” to support something you knew was wrong?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, illumine your teachings for us in a way that keeps us from using them for self-serving reasons.  May we see spiritual abuses where they are present and call it out whenever we have the opportunity to do so.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for Bishop Tom Berlin, our new United Methodist Bishop in Florida as of January 1.

 

Song:  Have Thine Own Way – Adelaide Pollard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CYI1zgiWzc

A Question in Response to a Question That’s Actually the Answer

Mark 11:27-33, CEB - Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”

Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.  Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”

They argued among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’  But we can’t say, ‘It’s of earthly origin.’” They said this because they were afraid of the crowd, because they all thought John was a prophet.  They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”

 

                Jesus and His disciples come back to the temple to do some teaching and are met by the religious leaders who are looking for a way to discredit Him.  His influence has become a threat to their own.  So they ask a question, not because they want a real answer, but because the question will stir up the crowd no matter how Jesus answers it.  Even if Jesus simply refuses to answer, He will appear to the crowd as evasive.  This would undermine His authority as well.  Instead of answering or refusing to answer, Jesus offers a deal.  If the leaders can answer His question, then He will answer theirs.  The fun part about this is that the question Jesus asks is the same kind of question as the one posed to Him.  The leaders’ credibility will be undermined no matter how they answer.  The huddled discussion they have elaborates on why this is the case.  They realize they have been beaten at their own game, so they relent by saying, “we don’t know.”    

                This is the beginning of a very intense conflict that will play out throughout the next chapter of Mark between Jesus and these leaders.  Of course, the eventual result is Jesus hanging on a Roman cross.  However, the issues raised by these conflicts are essentially important.  After all, it is important to answer, “by what authority” Jesus conducts His ministry. And if we are paying close attention, Jesus’s non-answer is a brilliant answer to the authority question.  Mark, is trying to point this out in his account.  By asking the leaders about the baptism offered by John, Jesus is, in effect, answering the authority question.  Great irony is discovered when we realize that the leaders own “strategy meeting” points out why.  Jesus’s authority is confirmed when John baptizes Him.  As Jeus comes up out of the water, the voice of God proclaims from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I dearly love.” (Mark 1:11)  If these religious leaders (the same group that will condemn Him to death in just a few days) admit that John’s baptism was of heavenly origin, then they would also answer their own question about Jesus’s authority.  The leaders care nothing about that; they care only that Jesus’s authority has come to challenge their own and they will not have it. 

                As I have said at least a couple times before in our journey through Mark’s gospel, we more properly hear the message Mark wants us to hear when we put ourselves in the place of the religious leaders.  Instead of making them the villains who we could never be like, we would do well to ask ourselves how Jesus’s authority impinges upon our own. 

 

Question:  If Jesus is indeed Messiah and Lord of all, what claim or authority does He have on our lives?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we admit that is hard to submit to Your authority sometimes, because in doing so, we have to let go of our own authority and power.  Where we are blind to this, point it out for us. Where we are too stubborn to relent, make us humble.  You are God and we are not.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for religious leaders at the highest levels of authority today (Bishops, District Superintendents, etc)

 

Song:  Stubborn – Michael English

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTAnVc1HDFE

Do What They Say, Not What They Do

 

Do What They Say, Not What They Do

 

Matthew 23:1-12, NLT - Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,  “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.  So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.  They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.  They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.]

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.  And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.  And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.  The greatest among you must be a servant.  But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.                       

              

I first heard the phrase, “descending into greatness” used by former mega-church pastor Bill Hybels.  He was giving a talk on the last sentence of the passage above.  The irony of this now is so thick, I can hardly believe it.  Hybels is one of many high-profile leaders that were exposed and brought down by their inappropriate behavior towards women.  Hybels talk, “Descending into Greatness” is another example of what Jesus meant when he instructed the people to do what their leaders say, but don’t do what they do. 

How does one become great through service and humility? I think you already know.  There are people who are high in the ranks of people you and I admire precisely because of their humility and heart to serve.  Mother Teresa is revered as one of the great spiritual giants of all time, but she literally shunned having attention brought to her personally and she spent her life serving the “lowest of the low” in the filthy slums of India.  I think of my friend Fred (name changed to protect the guilty) who literally has spent every available day since he retired serving others. You could add names to the “Humility Hall of Fame,” but of course, that would defeat the purpose.  The crazy thing about humility is that when you have it, you’re the last to know.  But Jesus tells us how we get it – by refusing to exalt ourselves and by always looking to serve. 

Jesus says something else in this passage that is momentous that is very easy to miss.  The teachers of the law didn’t miss it for what Jesus said threatened their prestigious place in the world.  Listen to it again:

 

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.  And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father.  And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.  

 

Jesus says to us here is basically that you don’t need religious leaders anymore to tell you what to do.  No titles.  Nothing that exalts one over another.  No designated teacher.   Now, you have Me.  You know God because you know Me.  You are taught be God because you are taught by Me.  You don’t need to be “fathered” by a religious leader, because you are parented directly be God. 

                What is momentous about this is that our relationship with God no longer has to be mitigated through an intermediary.  With Jesus you now have a direct relationship with God.  It is this passage and others that form the basis for Quakers having no titled leaders among their ranks.  It is also this passage that has caused me discomfort at being called “Reverend.”  I obviously do believe there is an appropriate role for leaders in the community of faith, but what is clear to me from Jesus here is that it is not to grant others access to God or God’s blessings.  That’s Jesus’s job. My job is the same as your job – to serve humbly.  This is greatness in the Kingdom.

 

Question:  Who are the “giants” for you because of their humble and serving hearts?

 

Prayer:  God, give us humble hearts without us knowing about it.  Help us serve with a glad heart. Help to avoid putting anyone on a pedestal other than Jesus. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who provide service to you.

 

Song:  Tim McGraw - Humble And Kind (Official Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awzNHuGqoMc