October 5–Mark 5-6

“Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.’ And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching”(6:4-6).

It was Christ’s second visit to Nazareth during His public years. The first visit had been ugly and contentious. See Luke 4. After ten months, Jesus came again to His hometown.

No violence this time. Worse, actually. As Jesus preached, He encountered the settled unbelief of His townsmen. They were mired in their questions, “Where did this man get these things?” “Is not this the carpenter?” Reluctant to believe, they were unwilling (despite the miracles) to embrace a larger story. No repentance. No humility. No honor.

“A prophet is NOT without honor,” Jesus said. Prophets (of which He is the Highest) ALWAYS have a few people who recognize the power and authority operating in their lives. A few encouragers. A few friends. “EXCEPT in his hometown, or relatives or immediate family,” said the Lord, finishing His sad observation. Those who are closest to him, sadly even true in His own family, often feel exempt from the duties (and benefits) of giving Him honor. They stop short of reverence. Refuse it. Jesus called it unbelief (v. 6). Compare it, please, to the woman in Mark 5. Her absolute confidence. Her desperate pursuit.

Being too familiar (note the same root word as “family”) can be a problem. It is possible for us to KNOW much about Jesus and not SEE the supernatural reality. It is possible to have an idea of Him that is too small, too cute, too quaint, but resist any attempt to make it larger in reverence or awe. Like the people of His hometown, many in this present day think they know Jesus, but without any change of heart toward Him.

It is self-fulfilling. When we refuse to see Him large, He stays small (in our experience). “He could do no miracle there,” says Mark 6:5. Those who will not see Christ will not see Christ. Insist on a small and comfortable vision of Jesus and it will limit His work in you and your family and your church. Insist on a friendship with Jesus that is never more than familiar and safe and He will move on to other villages, other hearts, to those open to the adventure of His fullness! He is not small, but He will be small to you.

Have we known about Jesus so long that we have lost the wonder and urgency and privilege of it? Do we honor Him, or have we become too familiar?

“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man”(Revelation 1:17).

“When they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some were doubtful” (Matthew 28:17).

October 4–Mark 3-4

” ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?’ But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ ” (3:4-5).

Here is Jesus. Brilliant Jesus. To help people find their way through moral/spiritual confusion He asked questions. In our reading today, our Lord asks six questions, seven in some translations. Can you find them?)

The controversy between Christ and the Pharisees was deepening. In His first year of ministry, Jesus preached and healed with great popularity. In year two, a hardening opposition toward Him formed in the leaders of the nation. Very often, the contention came over Jesus’ interpretation and practice of Sabbath. We fight over strange topics, don’t we?

“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?” Jesus said, carefully framing the question. He knew (and they did, too) that Scripture and common practice allowed some exceptions. He pressed them to see their own hypocrisy (allowing themselves wiggle room, allowing Him none).

Probing their conscience, measuring their compassion, pursuing their souls, He urged them to reckon the hardness of their hearts, their lack of love. They had little concern for the man whose hand was withered, nor for the true purposes of God!

We do well to allow the Lord’s question into our own hearts. Is doing good permissable? Is doing good my passion and pursuit? Or, am I using religion to find personal safety? Do I love God, actively, passionately, sacrificially? Do I love others? These are the deeper questions. Religious rule-keeping is a silly, selfish game compared to the pursuit of true righteousness.

Will you notice the anger of Christ? It is one thing to be wrong. It is another to stubbornly hold on to the wrong when a better path is offered. They had hard hearts. They did not want the truth and it angered and grieved the Savior to see it.

“Is it lawful to do good?” Yes, shouts the Spirit! Why are we uptight, cautious? There is NO law that restricts us from loving God and loving others. If we know God, we must begin.

“I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody” (Lily Tomlin).

“If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, it profits me nothing”(1 Corinthians 13:2).

October 3–Mark 1-2

“Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness”(1:12).

It is Mark’s favorite word. A unique characteristic of His gospel. Euthys, usually translated “immediately”, is a Greek word that meant, “well placed, straightforward, true”. Like a well-aimed arrow. Effective and efficient ACTION. The word has the sense of momentum, of swift, straight-line progress toward a goal.

Will you take a moment to review Mark 1-2 for the remarkable use of this word? As always, I am counting on you to read the Scripture before you read my comments. Today will you pause to scan it again with an eye for this particular word? Eleven times, Mark uses it.

The word paints a compelling picture. Jesus was (is) an intelligent, deliberate, decisive man. Not passive. Not powerless. He does one thing and then immediately does the next. Moves swiftly through life with authority. An “action figure” of the 1st Century.

In what seems like a paradox, but isn’t, Mark also presents Jesus as a man of quiet reflection and prayer. “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there” (1:35). Two virtues worked together in creative tension to make Jesus the man He was (is).

Jesus was bold! Uninhibited in action and authority. He was also humble! Dependent on the Father, dedicated to the discipline of prayer. When it was time to act, He acted. When it was time to wait, He waited.

In Proverbs 3, the Bible promises to make our lives straightforward in the same way. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your way STRAIGHT.” Efficient and effective. No wasted effort or distraction. On the condition of trust, God promises to move us forward on HIS perfect path, just as He did in the life of His dear Son.

Friend, does your life presently have the Christ-like quality of momentum and effectiveness? As you trust Him, will you believe Him to move your life “immediately” into His purposes and glory?

“Momentum begets momentum, and the best way to start is to start” (Gil Penchina).

“Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31).

October 2–Matthew 27-28

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”(28:18-20).

Days after the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples in Galilee. It was a glorious reunion. A radiant and victorious Savior! Jesus, His deity and teachings vindicated by the resurrection!

At the end of these hours, Christ was taken up into heaven. Visibly and supernaturally lifted out of their sight. A completely unexpected event. Other Scriptures narrate the disciple’s amazement as Christ is taken to heaven before their very eyes. See Acts 1:9-11.

Before He was taken up, however, the Lord spoke the words we call the Great Commission. Because these are the last words our Lord spoke to the disciples (us), we must give great weight to them. The sentence, as Matthew wrote it, has clear meaning that is often miss in English translation, not subtle in the Greek language.

Make disciples (matheteuo) is the only imperative. (Imperatives in Greek are words that communicate command or instruction or requirement.) The other verbs in the sentence (go, poreuo; baptizing, baptizo; teaching, didasko) are all participles. They modify or explain the main idea, but never stand equal to it.

Disciple others! This was the command of our Savior to his friends (to us). As the disciples in the previous three years, had experienced Christ, learned from Him a completely different way to look at life, so they were now commanded to draw others into the same experience. A disciple is an apprentice, one who learns from the Master in a life-changing union.

On this amazing day, the world changed forever! The cross and resurrection completed, the victorious Christ ascended and honored, He gave His disciples (us) a task!

Having been discipled, they were (we are) to invite others (without limitation as to nation or ethnicity) into the same life-changing relationship with Jesus. Please note: Jesus is always, in every generation, through the Holy Spirit, the Discipler. No one can know God or holiness apart from Christ’s righteousness and training.

Friend, are you learning LIFE from the master? Are you receiving instruction, learning to walk in union with the Father, Son and Spirit? Do you feel the weight and horizon of inviting ALL others to join you? Have you heard His call to disciple others?

“The Lord. . .is not willing for any to perish but for ALL to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, capitalization mine).

October 1–Matthew 26

“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”(26:41).

There was history here.

For three years, Simon Peter observed Jesus in prayer. Heard Him teach it. Watched at the transfiguration, wondered at the power of prayer. Witnessed at Gethsemane the painful struggle and full surrender that true prayer always is. No denying it, Peter saw the discipline and power of prayer displayed in Jesus.

It is, however, one thing to see prayer in someone else’s life. Another to do it. The application of this lesson, the practice of it, was the place of Peter’s failure. Often ours as well.

With no appropriate sense of his own weakness, no accurate perception of the danger present, Peter was deaf to the warning of Christ that night. Ignoring the call of Christ to “keep watching, keep praying,” Peter chose sleep.

His foolish self-confidence left him unprepared. In the terrible next hours, he faced the dangers and disappointments of the cross without supernatural courage or clarity. Without prayer, He, “entered into” temptation. Was swallowed up by it. Overwhelmed. Learned again the weakness of his flesh.

Do we HEAR what Jesus told Peter? His warning? Even when we sincerely love Christ, sincerely want to serve, we will be UNABLE to do so without the invisible advantage of prayer.

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name He may give you” (John 15:16, italics mine). Will you please read these words again? In the mind of Christ, HIS call and OUR prayers work together. We require both!

“When we work, we work. When we pray, God works”(J. Hudson Taylor).

Friend, are you learning this lesson? What did you ASK of God today in prayer? Did you ASK God to keep you from temptation? Did ASK and BELIEVE strength to live a holy, fruit-bearing life? Did you CALL OUT for the kingdom to come, for people to be saved and sanctified?

Will you?

September 30–Matthew 24-25

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be”(24:37-39).

As the cross came near, Jesus talked often about the judgement to come, and the days of hope that would immediately follow it. Traditionally called, “The Olivet Discourse,” these words were spoken by our Lord to the disciples as He sat on the Mount of Olives, looking over the city.

He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem. In v 4-28, Jesus declared the defeat and destruction of the city in 70 AD. This great tribulation, “such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world,” was unique in world history because it marked the rejection of Israel. The grafting in of the Gentiles. (Romans 11)

Jesus also predicted His own coming. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days (destruction of Jerusalem) the sun will be darkened. . . And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming with great power and glory” (vs. 29-30).

At a moment in the future, the cosmos will be disturbed and Christ will come! The word “immediately” does not denote shortness of time, rather order and sequence of God’s plan. After Jerusalem is destroyed, the next event in the drama of redemption will be the coming of Christ! The world is supernatural in its creation. It will also be supernatural in its conclusion. Christ will come in great glory!

Sadly, our Lord predicted the general unawareness of men. Despite the warnings of Spirit and Scripture, as the day draws near, dullness and distraction will be the norm. Just as the people in the time of Noah were unaware, so the world will be oblivious and unprepared when the Lord returns.

“This world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending we lay waste our powers,” said William Wordsworth. Busy with the details and demands of physical life, most do not notice heaven’s clock ticking down to zero.

Friend, as you read the warnings of Jesus today, does your heart stir into awareness and action? Do you believe Jesus? Will you take hold of this powerful hope? Will you allow it to shape and motivate your daily decisions? When He comes, will you be ready?

“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”(Luke 18:8).

September 29–Matthew 22-23

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling”(23:37).

The last days of the Lord’s life were marked with a particular grief, not for His own death, rather the coming destruction of Israel. With sinful men, God is patient, and then He isn’t. “A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy” (Proverbs 29:1). Luke reports that Jesus wept as He spoke of the fearful judgement ahead for Jerusalem. See Luke 19:41.

Over time, again, and again, God reached out to Israel in grace. Invited them to safety. Prepared a lavish banquet. See 22:3-4. Despite His kindness, the people remained unwilling and eventually angry and abusive. Note the growing anger toward Spiritual truth in our day. Our world is on a very similar path.

Ultimately, resistance toward God receives wrath from God. He is not willing for any to perish (not in the sense that it is His preference or choice), but He is also not willing to be mocked and denied His rightful authority. He will not force a person into a love relationship, but neither will He allow humans to continue in self-declared independence from His legitimate authority. The sad result for Israel? “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate” (23:38). In their pride and unbelief, the nation was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.

As with Israel, God’s tolerance toward our stubbornness will ultimately and reluctantly be set aside, too. Apart from repentance and a deep reordering of our lives, God will accomplish in judgement what was previously offered in grace.

Friend, are you stubborn with God? Ignoring the example and teaching of Christ, do you resist the Spirit’s call to union with God? Even today, HE wills you trust and worship and walk humbly with Him. Are you willing?

” ‘Shall I not punish these people?’ declares the Lord, ‘On a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself?’ “(Jeremiah 5:29).

“You brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Jesus, Matthew 23:33).

September 28–Matthew 20-21

“So the last shall be first, and the first last”(20:16).

The final days of the Lord’s life were tense with predictions of coming judgement. Over and over He warned the Jewish nation. They were about to lose their place of privilege.

The proverb was a favorite of His. Three times the Scriptures record Him saying it. The rich, young ruler–Matthew 19. Lessons of Judgment Day–Luke 13. The parable of the vineyard–Matthew 20 (today’s lesson). No telling how often Jesus actually used this proverb in conversation and teaching.

His parable referred to Jews and Gentiles. In the kingdom of God, the Gentiles, recent recipients of the gospel, were payed equally. They were last in order, but first in honor. In contrast, the Jews who had long carried the identity and privileges of spiritual service, by their rejection of Christ, were first in order, but last in honor. It was the father’s choice to do so. See 20:15. The older brother must never be jealous or resentful of His father’s kindness toward the younger.

The proverb also referred to coming judgement. Those who are esteemed and valued on earth are often in danger of missing the glory of heaven. It is, and always has been, hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. (See 19:23 in yesterday’s reading.) Without faith, those who are first in earthly privilege will be last in Heavenly honor.

Be careful, dear one. Never presume on God’s grace. It is possible for advantages to become disadvantages. The Jews were first in, “adoption and the glory and the covenants and the Law”(Romans 9:4). For most of them, however, these privileges did them no good. “The word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard the gospel”(Hebrews 4:2).

Have we had the gospel so long that we presume on it and lose our place as a result? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it” (21:43). “To whom much is given, much will be required.” A head-start does not guarantee a successful finish.

“Run in such a way that you may win”(1 Corinthians 9:24).

Friend, are you being careful with the grace of God? Do you realize how easily (often) the first in privilege become the last in reward?

September 27–Matthew 18-19

“Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”(18:4).

He didn’t scold them. Didn’t even challenge their question.

The disciples were ahead of most of us, at this point. They perceived the kingdom to be a real and valuable future event. In v. 28, Jesus called it,”the regeneration.” Lovely word. Powerful truth. Life will begin again! A new world is coming!

The disciples were arranging life in preparation for this glorious future, and the Lord had no argument with their thinking. “Send treasures ahead,” He told them often. See Matthew 6:20. See also 19:21.

Neither did the Savior chide them for wanting to be great. Selfish ambition is harmful, no question. Even so, the desire for attainment or reward or excellence can be a virtue when it is focused on the Spirit. God is not a soccer coach who gives a trophy to every player, no matter their performance or attitude. “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). The unworthy slave in Matthew 25 was rejected because he had been lazy.

The Lord is, however, concerned to teach humility. It is the first virtue in God’s kingdom. The key to true greatness.

He illustrated it with a child. Perhaps a small boy was working at chores nearby. When Jesus called him, he came. Children had few rights in the ancient world. They were expected to listen and obey. They were praised for respecting elders and for innocent trust.

In this sense, Jesus Himself was a child. Compliant, trusting, humble. Whatever the Father asked of Him, He did. He was humble. It was His beauty and glory.

Do you wish to be great in the kingdom of Christ? Repent from self-will, from ego-driven independence! With a soft and humble heart, accept the assignments that come from the Father! Without complaint, learn obedience and patience, finding joy entirely in God’s friendship and approval!

Beware! Earthly success may work against you. “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom” said the Savior in 19:23. It is hard for a rich man to be humble. Hard for him to pay the price of true greatness because he enjoys a substitute.

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. . .He humbled Himself. . . For this reason, God highly exalted Him”(Philippians 2:5,8-9).

September 26–Matthew 16-17

“While He (Peter) was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him’ “(17:5).

It is an important lesson. Those who love Christ must learn to listen to Him. To stop talking. To ignore the noisy anxiety inside our hearts. To focus our attention on the still, small voice. “Be still and know that I am God,” says Psalm 46:10.

Parents recognize this important moment in a child’s development. Often, and sometimes only after discipline is applied, the child begins to listen! Our relationship with God is similar.

“In the beginning was the Word” From the first day of Creation, God had something to SAY. He declares His message in every sunrise and every Scripture. With even greater clarity, He speaks to us in His Son.

Listening, however, is hard work. Peter’s story proves it so. Even for those who sincerely love Christ, listening is learned behavior and demanding discipline. Being still denies my anxious need to control the conversation. It humbles me. It opens my mind and heart to conclusions and directions that are higher than my own. Listening is part of what it means to deny self. See 16:24.

Friend, what has the Lord been saying to you, recently? When you are still and quiet, what do you hear from the Lord of Love? Will you dedicate time and attention today? Will you listen to Him?

“You are short on ears, and long on mouth” (John Wayne).

“Mary was sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. . .and the Lord answered, ‘Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her’ “(Luke 10:40, 42).