This is Changing Everything

Mark 1:14-15 - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

 

We are only 15 short verses into Mark and already, prophets foretelling the coming of the Messiah have been quoted. John the Baptist’s ministry begins and ends.  Jesus is baptized, anointed by God the Father, and then spends forty days in the desert.  John is put in prison and Jesus first message is preached.  Mark is definitely an author committed to using as few words as possible!  No wonder people generally like the other three gospels better – they have a lot more juicy details!

 

However, what this economy of words does for us is give us the gospel of Jesus in outline form.  Almost every paragraph is a headline.  Today the headline is this:

 

“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

 

It has been at least a few hundred years since the last Old Testament Prophet has spoken.  Israel lives under the thumb of the Romans.  Most of the Israelites lived in poverty and oppressive taxation.  Place yourself in that position.  Imagine living in those circumstances.  Don’t read any further until you have taken a mental field-trip to first-century Galilee. 

 

Then imagine some preacher walking out of the desert and announcing that the Kingdom of God has arrived.  He is not saying that the Kingdom is coming.  He is saying that the Kingdom is already here.  He invites you to turn from (repent) your way of life and believe that what he has just announced is actually true.  Would you believe Him?

 

I’m an avid Tampa Bay Rays baseball fan.  I have an app on my phone that sends me updates from the Rays’ games so that while the game is going on, I can get quick updates when runs are scored, someone makes an amazing catch, or some other significant moment during the game.  This is fun for me when I’m not watching the game.  However, when you’re watching a game on TV, there is enough of a delay between when the home run is actually hit in the stadium to the moment that you see it happen on TV that the app can actually notify you on your phone before you see it.  The other day, I got a notification, looked down at my phone and read that Ji-man Choi (one of my favorite players) had hit a home run.  I quickly look back up at the TV and watch the home run on the “live” TV broadcast.   I now tend not to look at my phone while I’m watching games.

 

Jesus is giving us that same kind of notification.  The Kingdom of God has arrived.  Only 15 verses into Mark, you might not have seen it yet, but it has happened.  If you turn from what you’re doing right now and pay attention, you will see it and believe it.  Mark is trying to get you and me, the readers to pay attention and look for the reality that has already happened.  We will re-visit this theme throughout the gospel, but for now, look up and see that it is true.  Our orientation is to be constantly looking for what God has already done.

 

Questions:  Do you actively look for signs that God’s Kingdom is active in the world? In your neighborhood?  In your family? In you?

 

Prayer:  God . . .often. . . when we look around, we see nothing but bad news.  Give us eyes to see the evidence that your Kingdom is here.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for me today.  No particular reason. I just know that I need people praying for me.  Come to think of it. . . you should ask people to pray for you today too.  We all need it.

 

Song:  Secret Kingdom - Newsboys

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

Matthew 13:31-35 - Mustard Seeds, Yeast, and the the Secrets of the Kingdom

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric November 2, 2021

Mustard Seeds, Yeast, and the Secrets of the Kingdom

 

Matthew 13:31-35, CEB - He told another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field.  It’s the smallest of all seeds. But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.”

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through all the dough.”

Jesus said all these things to the crowds in parables, and he spoke to them only in parables. This was to fulfill what the prophet spoke:

“I’ll speak in parables;

        I’ll declare what has been hidden since the beginning of the world.” (quote of Psalm 78:2)

 

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed and it’s like yeast.  Both the mustard seed and yeast are indisputably small, but both lead to almost unbelievable results.  The mustard plant is one of the largest plants and the small amount of yeast transforms an entire bushel of flour.  It’s clear from this pair of short parables that Jesus wants us to see that the kingdom that starts out as an easily overlooked blip on the radar of humanity will eventually have a huge and transformative effect on the world.  And of course, two thousand years later, what seemed unlikely to the first hearers of these parables is so obvious to us; Christ and His kingdom have impacted and transformed the world in ways impossible to describe. That would be enough to perceive from these bite-sized parables.

But wait…there’s more.   The mustard seed eventually becomes an enormous mustard plant/tree which provides shelter to the birds in the sky.  Likewise, the smallest of nations, Israel, gives birth to Christianity, which becomes a “shelter” for all of humanity.  And then, there’s even more!  The feminine image of tucking yeast into flour becomes an image of the multiplying power of the kingdom of heaven.  There are other insights possible as well.  The nature of parables is that they have multiple layers of meaning.  They are able to speak on multiple levels to multiple audiences in multiple cultures and times.   The secrets of the kingdom continue to be revealed through these powerful nugget stories generation after generation.  That’s why Jesus used them.  And Matthew sees Jesus’s use of parables as a fulfillment of prophecy uttered in the seventy-eighth Psalm – yet another amazing development growing out of these pint-sized parables.

I love the parables.  I keep coming back to them and every time, I get something new.  And every time that happens, I am once again amazed by the wisdom and cleverness of Jesus.  My determination to continue to learn from Him for the rest of my life is deepened.  I don’t anticipate a time when I will have learned all that He can teach me.  I suppose that could instill a sense of futility, but for me, the opposite has happened.  The possibility that I will be learning the “secrets of the kingdom” until the day of my death is invigorating.  I’m thinking that just how Jesus wanted it.

 

Question:  What are you seeking to learn in your current season of life?

 

Prayer:  Teach us your secrets, Master Jesus.  Help us to see what we need to learn next.  Lead us on the path to deeper understanding.   Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for teachers of all kinds today.

 

Song:  I Love to Tell the Story – Alan Jackson

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