October 10–Mark 15-16

“Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified”(15:15).

I must remember. It is a great mistake to surrender my conscience to culture. To join the crowd. To believe what they believe and shout what they shout. The world has no righteousness and cannot help me have it. Political correctness (PC) is Spiritual cowardice.

Sad story. Pilate KNEW that Jesus was an innocent man. Knew that Jesus was righteous. Early in the process, Pilate saw the true motivations in play. See 15:10. His conscience told him the right thing to do.

But, Pilate also KNEW that defending Jesus would be costly. Controversy-creating. Enemy-making. So, he ignored his conscience. Took the easy road. Yielded to the crowd. Political correctness made him complicit.

Sound familiar? It does to me. Pilate’s choice is a daily dilemma in my own life. Two roads are presented. One walks with the crowd. Whatever “they” say, I affirm or allow. Sometimes, if only by my silence.

The second path is more courageous and more dangerous. It calls me to “walk humbly with God”, sets my focus on “things above”, requires me to listen to God as He speaks in my conscience. On this path my duty is to attend to Scripture and the “still, small voice” of the Spirit.

Having heard God, I am then to obey it and to speak His word to others. Speaking the truth in love, I am to go public. No apology. No safety net. I am to acknowledge Him, to love Christ above my own safety.

Cancel culture threatens me if I take a stand. The judgment to come threatens if I don’t. Pilate’s predicament reminds me of my own, and of the better path.

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way” (Luke 6:26).

October 9–Mark 13-14

“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. . .What I say to you, I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’ “(Mark 13:26, 37).

The Bible says “for the joy set before Him (Jesus) endured the cross”(Hebrews 12:2). By focusing on the future, and the joyful outcomes ahead, He found strength to stay faithful in sorrow.

Our Lord teaches His children this same wisdom. For believers, a confident expectation of the coming victory of Christ is daily bread. To imagine and expect the day of the Lord is to borrow strength for the present from the future. Friend, have you learned to deliberately and courageously hold this hope before your own heart as inspiration?

As the events of the cross came near, Jesus grew bolder and bolder with the prediction of His own glorious return. While He offered no date on a calendar, He was absolutely clear that history would eventually come to the great climax of His return and the restoration of the world. This coming day gave Him optimism and confidence.

The King WILL return in power and glory! Order and righteousness WILL be restored. Faithfulness WILL be recognized and rewarded. A sovereign God will finally overrule human sin. His glory will fill the earth. The best days of the universe are still ahead! “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

To have and to hold this thought is what Jesus called “being alert”. To wake each morning with certainty that, “He is standing at the door,” gives a believer power and energy. As you make your way through the events of this day, will you think about the coming day? Will you breathe deeply the oxygen of this coming joy?

“Bible teaching about the Second Coming of Christ. . . is the only ray of hope that shines as an ever brightening beam in a darkening world” (Billy Graham).

“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him”(Revelation 1:7).

October 8–Mark 11-12

“Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty”(12:41).

It was Tuesday of last week. On Sunday, Jesus entered the city in triumph. Monday, He cleansed the temple. On Tuesday, our Lord endured a long series of ugly confrontations with His enemies. The deeply threatened leaders of the nation attempted to trap and embarrass Jesus. I must be careful, here. Jesus encountered heavy artillery. So will I. There is no easy path for those who walk by the Spirit.

Late on this weary afternoon, Jesus sat down to observe people bringing gifts to the temple. Not WHAT they gave, but HOW. Not the amount, but the manner and motive. See 12:41. What He saw encouraged Him.

In every age, there are some who have ears. And hearts! They love God. Look to Him. The “remnant” Scripture calls them. God’s people. Proof of the kingdom’s silent progress. God watches over them. Delights in them.

Comes a widow. Poor. She puts in two small coins. Makes no effort to be noticed. Just the opposite. Her eyes are not on what people think. This mindset itself is a miracle! The very work of God.

She is acquainted with grief, but poverty and pain have not destroyed her. Instead, her heart is filled with true faith. Her eyes are on the Lord. Her offering was an act of simple, sacrificial love.

Jesus called His disciples. “She gave MORE,” He said. His words were no figure of speech. Instead, a statement of the hard economics of an invisible (eternal) world. God’s economy is different than the one we know. In city where the streets are made of gold, money is not the highest value. What is “more” in God’s house is love that rises from faith.

Friend, do you hear what Jesus was teaching His disciples (us)? Do you LOVE Him? Sin teaches me to love self. The Spirit and the Savior teach me to love God, to answer His generosity with my own. It has little to do with money, Heaven’s MORE is love!

“Go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me”(Matthew 19:21).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

October 7–Mark 9-10

“Immediately, the boy’s father cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief’ “(9:2).

We sympathize with this tortured man. Here is a father who is agonized by the suffering of his child. He seeks help for his son by coming to Christ.

The disciples have been powerless to help. Familiar disappointment. We seek help from Spiritual leaders, only to discover they are as baffled and empty as we are. CHRIST is our healing. Pastors, other believers, churches, may be sign-posts on our journey toward Him, but only so. The power we need does not come from any man.

Notice the gentle pressure that Jesus applies to the man’s mind and expectations. The father asks for “anything”. Any measure of help. Sub-consciously, he is managing expectations, trying not to be disappointed. Jesus insists he embrace the possibility of “all things”. Only this kind of faith accurately grasps the nature and reality of God in Christ. If a real relationship with Christ is the goal, small thinking is unacceptable.

“You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that created it” (Albert Einstein). The stricken father is stretched by Christ toward faith.

With joy, we hear the “birth-cry” as the man declares his trust. “I believe!” he says with sincerity. Immediately, we also hear his dependency on Christ. With great humility, and true insight, the father also prays, “Help my unbelief!” We need Christ as much for the second step as the first. As much for the third as the second.

Jesus is pleased. A small step is sufficient so long as it is a true step up onto the rock of Christ. We are safe in Him, but not safe to stop seeking Him.

Friend, do you need Christ? Do you realize your need? Do you see within yourself the areas and attitudes that must eventually be transformed? One step. Then, another. True faith begins and continues. We need Him every step of the way.

“The irony is that God doesn’t need us, He still wants us. We desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time” (Francis Chan).

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him”(Hebrews 11:6).

October 6–Mark 7-8

“Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s”(8:33).

I must always remember. In every situation, part of the problem, at least potentially so, is the evil still within me.

Humans (natural state) are separated from God by sin. Our hearts and thoughts and preferences are flawed and distorted by self-rule and lawlessness. Self is our default. Even when we are unconscious of it, our old heart is actively pursing its own agenda. “Evil comes from within,” said Jesus in 7:23.

Small wonder that Jesus challenged the value of religion and tradition! See 7:8. Religion doesn’t go deep enough. It often only masks the true illness. Do you know any religious people who are selfish and angry? Very involved in church or charity, but proud and self-willed? “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me,” said the Savior in v. 6.

The presence of sin explains the fierce reaction of Jesus to Peter in 8:33. The Lord was not saying that Peter was Satan. He was, however, challenging the malignant “wisdom” of the Devil coming from Peter’s mouth, the stubborn influence of sin on all (even sincere) people. He called Peter out for his disloyalty. Called him to deny self (again), to reject (again) carnal logic and ambition.

How patient is the Lord with His children! How grateful we should be that He never surrenders this fight! When we drift back, our faithful shepherd will rebuke us.

Apart from the Spirit, our old hearts resonate with the “solutions” of the world. Without even realizing it, we prefer the world and oppose the Spirit. The New Covenant does not take away the sinful heart , but it DOES give the believer a NEW heart that lives in powerful agreement with God.

Friend, do you have a new heart? Are you focusing your mind and thoughts on the Spirit? Are you on alert that within you still lives a traitor whose daily counsel will be toward independence and the wisdom of the world?

“We have met the enemy and he is us” (Walt Kelly).

“I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”(Jeremiah 31:33).

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

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?