Mark 7-9

7:1-22 - An Issue of the Heart - this may be one of the main areas where the wheels of the American church came off during the 60's, 70's & 80's - enforcing outward legalism versus addressing issues of the heart. For every sermon/Bible study on working on your relationship with God through Christ, there were probably 10-20 on "Don't drink, dance, dip or chew & don't go out with girls who do." It's amazing how good we are at this game of being on the "right" side of the issues (with "right" being what people at church think) - all the while, never taking stock of the condition of our heart. It's humbling to work your way through the list in verses 21-22: For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. There are 13 listed here (I don't think He intended this to be an exhaustive list - just a sampling of some of the darkness within all of us) and I probably hit on 7-8 a day. On a totally unrelated note, in verse 18, Jesus basically asks His fellas, "Are you that dumb?" HILARIOUS! Everyone of us has wanted to say (or has said) that. It's probably an unclean part of my heart that resonated with that verse, but I found great comfort there.

7:24-8:13 - Not just for Israel - once again, Jesus is stickin' it to "The Man." "The Man" is the Jewish religious leadership structure. They are on Him earlier in the chapter concerning this issue of "clean" vs. "unclean." In other words, He's not playing their game. After He makes His point verbally, these next 3 stories slam it home. This is another example of the genius of the Bible - it's not a bunch of stories that a human author just threw together indiscriminately. These stories are woven together for greater meaning. In this case, Jesus is confronted by these religious jerks who seem to think God is only on board with the Jews. To show us that they're wrong, he argues His point and then goes to Gentile territory and performs 3 miracles on behalf of Gentiles (on their turf). In fact, the 1st of these 3 stories (the Syrophonecian woman) is given as a sharp contrast of the faith of a Gentile in Jesus versus the stubborn disbelief of the leading Jews. How about this for being dumb (see verse 18)? After performing a mirace of feeding 4000 men, the Pharisees ask Him for a sign from Heaven!! Hello!!

8:27-29 - The Most Important Question of All Time - Jesus asks the fellas who people are saying He is. He then asks the most important question for all eternity: who do you say that I am? The answer to this is kinda important. It is important on 2 fronts: (A) Eternally - this is the line in the sand. This is what separates the sheep and the goats. (B) Daily - it's not just where I'll be in 1000 years. If I answer that Jesus is Savior and Lord, then that has daily (maybe even minute-by-minute) ramifications on every choice I make today: relationally, financially, where I invest my time...it should even affect what I eat for lunch (if I consider my body a tool at His disposal, I would want to be a strong, healthy, effective tool for years and years).

8:31-9:13 - Pretty Confusing - there's a ton of great stuff here (too much to comment on). I was struck, however, by how confusing this must've been for the fellas - especially in light of the fact they weren't exactly processing everything Jesus talked about well. Peter, James & John hear from Jesus that He is going to be killed by men (verses 31-32), and this was not hidden in any parable, but plainly described. Then, 6 days later, they're on a mountaintop with Jesus, Elijah and Moses, where Jesus morphs into a glorified body. If I'm walking down the mountain after this (and I've personally witnessed him calm seas, feed thousands, heal thousands, etc.), I'm thinking, "Who is dumb enough to try to kill this guy? And who has the power to even capture him? I know Jesus said the chief priests and those guys are going to get him, but how are those mere men going to take this guy who clearly does not operate under normal rules?" The answer is that nobody took His life - He willingly laid it down as an act of obedience to the Father and to forever answer the question of whether God loves us - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ~1 John 3:16. That's not confusing now, but probably was at the time. This may be why they can't bring themselves to understand it when He brings it up again in verse 31.

8:14-50 - 3 Punches to the Gut (for me) - here are 3 things that nail me to the wall from this section:

• v.24 - Do I really believe? - this guy who wants his son healed asks Jesus by saying, "IF you can..." Oops. Jesus jacks him up and the guy feels badly. His response to the rebuke from Jesus is "I do believe...help me overcome my unbelief." Oooohhhh, mannnnnn. This goes back to the "Most Important Question" (above). If I say I believe in God/Jesus, then this means I believe He is my Lord and, therefore, I belong to Him (He's in charge; I am not). "Believe" comes from Old English "to live by." If I believe, then why do I have unbelief when it comes to trusting God with so much in my life. Take finances as an example - I believe that God says He will take care of my needs (see Matt. 6:25-33). If that's true, why do I almost lose my breath when the news reports that the stock market dropped another 300 points? This guy just hits the nail on the head for so many of us and exposes that our definition of believing in God and God's definition of believing in Him are probably not the same.


• v. 35 - Being Last - who doesn't like to be 1st in line? I've learned to be okay if I'm not 1st (this goes back to the 1st part of this post - socially/religiously acceptable vs. the heart issue). However, being last seems like too much to ask (especially if the line is moving slowly).


• vv. 43-47 - Dealing Ruthlessly with My Sin - some say this is just hyperbole on Jesus's part to make a point. So be it. The point is still to deal ruthlessly and radically with our sin and this final shot to the gut exposes that we rarely do that. I rationalize and think I can handle everything (this is rooted in my belief that I am lord of my life) and that sin isn't "that bad." Ugggh. I'm supposed to go work out now, but I've already been worked over pretty good by these chapters. Nevertheless, it's good.