Finishing Up Mark

Mark 13-16

13:11 - Freedom - this has to be one of the most liberating verses concerning sharing our faith in the Bible. I find it to be a truth that engenders boldness. This is obviously a conditional promise - the Holy Spirit can/will speak through you IF you are living by the Spirit. The Spirit's job in the life of a believer is to remind us of what God has said. The implication is that we have spent time putting God's words into our lives. He can't draw water out of a dry well. In the times when I've been able to share my faith with people, almost every time a verse that I did not memorize or an illustration I've never considered before comes to mind. I believe this is the fulfillment of this promise.

End Times - watch out for getting too wrapped up in eschatalogical (seminary word for "how it's all gonna shake down in the end") details and theories. If Jesus says that even He doesn't know the exact time, then I'm fairly certain we don't need to spend a ton of time on this. I've just seen people who become absorbed with trying to figure this out, while their neighbor needed help cleaning out his gutters. Which do you think God wanted him to invest his time in? Here's the main stuff we need to know: (A) Jesus is coming back (B) We don't know when (C) Everyone should be prepared for this.

14:3-11 - Church Money - Judas's response to the lady "wasting" a jar of perfume on Jesus was to run to the chief priests and begin a plan to hand Jesus over. Apparently, Judas so disagreed with this use of resources, it pushed him over the edge. Even though Jesus explained the bigger picture of worship here, he just couldn't take it - he couldn't get his focus off of money and on to the Messiah. Unfortunately, we see this same kind of thing in churches today. I had a person ask me the other day, "Well, what did we give all that money for?" There has been a disconnect between giving to God or giving to the organization known as the local church. When I place my tithes/offerings in the plate, to whom am I giving? I believe I give to God as an act of worship and obedience. Where that money ends up is someone else's problem/issue/responsibility. When I give, it's with no strings. Giving to God is not the same as paying taxes. When I pay taxes, I'd like to believe I also get a say in where that money goes (remember "no taxation without representation" - Boston Tea Party stuff). This is not the case when I give to God. I hope we don't allow the issue of money (and where it is spent at your local body) to distract us so much we miss true worship.

14:29-32 - Reminds me of Camp - Peter, after hearing from Jesus that all the Disciples will deny Him, puffs up and says, "Even if all fall away, I will not." I'm sure he was caught up in the emotion of the moment, but when I read this, I always think of Thursday night at youth camp when we all declare that we're going to go back home and "win our school for Jesus!" Ecclesiastes 5:2 says Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Why? 14:72 answers this.

14:51-52 - ??? - A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. Awesome! Not sure what it has to do with this, but...anyway.

14:53-15:20 - Unfair - this is the most unfair situation that has ever transpired. Even today, when we see these stories on the news of guys who have been in prison for 15 years and now DNA evidence has proven they were innocent (of that crime), we feel really badly for them. Having said that, the "innocence" of these guys in these news stories is not comparible to blameless Jesus. It is one of the greatest, most supernatural, most powerful, most self-controlled, most miraculous events of all time that Jesus basically kept quiet through this entire ordeal. The irony, to me, is that my sense of fairness (right and wrong) comes from God, yet He seems to not play by those rules (in a good way). Salvation, for instance, is for anyone - regardless of how good or bad (read: right or wrong) you've been. The second I (or we) feel that we've been slighted or treated unfairly by life, we immediately think of God and how He needs to do something to rectify the situation. Sometimes, I wish I had no knowledge of fairness - that would make life here easier.

15:34 - Forsaken - wow! I am struck by the idea that Jesus, who had/has perfect relationship with God, allowed Himself to have that severed (temporarily) so that I can have relationship with God (eternally). I, now, will never know what it's like to be separated from God (see Rom. 8:35) because Christ provided me this opportunity - an opportunity that involved having God the Father look away from Him. That's bigtime.