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Mark 13:1-Luke 1:80, Week 9

Jesus stated a fascinating contrast according to Mark’s reporting of the Lord’s Supper in Chapter 14.

In verses 17-21 he predicts that one of them would betray him. He ends with this statement: “…It would be better for him if he had not been born” (verse 21b).

In verses 27-28 he predicts that all of the disciples would fall away. He ends with this statement: “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee” (verse 28).

Apparently, betrayal and falling away are vastly different things. Jesus nearly wept over the former, but he regarded the latter as no big deal. In fact, he stated the latter as a matter of fact, and then promised to meet them all in Galilee.

This is not what I learned originally. For me, “fall away” always carried with it the idea of backsliding. It always was a terrible thing, something you hoped never happened to you, but something you always tsk’d over when it happened to others. In short, it exposed the uber-condescending attitudes displayed by we legalists and so hated by unbelievers.

Not so, Jesus. He even took Peter’s denial in stride.

What’s the difference? Falling away is a natural result of our battle with the flesh. There are times when each of us runs for the hills at the slightest provocation. It’s not pretty and we regret it, but there it is. It’s nice to know that Jesus, in fact, runs with us to those hills, and then leads us back.

Betrayal, on the other hand, is the complete rejection of who Jesus is and what he accomplished. It is completely self-serving, but worse, its goal is to destroy others. No wonder Jesus said it would be better not to be born than to betray him!

Falling away is what happened to those “poor unfortunates” to whom I was so condescending.

Betrayal is what I did to them in my condescension.

O Lord, please chisel this judgmental calcification off my heart.

Mark 8:1-12:44, Week 8

Even after Jesus touched him, this wasn’t the case for the blind man in Bethsaida. People of the town brought him to Jesus for healing. Jesus led the guy out of the village, spit on his eyes and laid hands of him. Then Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

You would think his vision would be 20/20. But when he looked up, his vision was blurred. He could see people, but they looked “like trees walking.” This makes you wonder if something went wrong. Did this guy not have enough faith, or did Jesus not have the power to restore his sight? But the story doesn’t end there.

Jesus touched him a second time. When he opened his eyes this time, he could see clearly.

Early in my Christian walk, I heard a preacher use this story as evidence of the second blessing – receive Jesus one day, and then sometime later, receive the Holy Spirit. But that is just not true. The day you receive Christ, you receive the fullness of the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are complete and have been given everything you need for life and godliness (Colossians 2:10 and 2 Peter 1:3).

So why did Jesus touch this guy’s eyes twice? I think He was sending a message to His disciples. Jesus asked them about His identity. Peter confidently delivered the right answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” God the Father had revealed this truth to him.

But as soon as Jesus started talking about His sufferings at the hands of the Jewish leaders, Peter’s vision blurred. He did not understand at all why Jesus would have to suffer and die, and Mark gave the reason why, “he was setting his mind on the things of man.” That will cloud your vision every time.

But Peter wasn’t alone. The other disciples were just as confused about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. In Mark 9, Jesus told his disciples a second time that He was going to suffer and die. They didn’t get it at all. You can almost see them staring back at Jesus with blank looks on their faces. What is sad is that they were afraid to ask Jesus any questions. The fact that their Messiah, the One who was going to restore Israel, was going to suffer and die just didn’t make sense to them.

Then there are James and John in Mark 10? Jesus repeats what will soon happen to Him. His words to them fly in one ear and immediately out the other. All they were worried about was their place in the kingdom. They saw Jesus, but He was like a tree walking.

And then there was Bartimaeus, the blind beggar in Jericho. When Jesus walked through the streets of that town, this blind beggar began to shout, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” Bartimaeus’ spiritual vision was not blurred at all. Unlike the disciples at the time, he clearly saw his need for mercy. The disciples were looking for something else. Until you see your need for mercy, you will never see Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection clearly.

What about you? How is your vision?

Mark 3:1-7:37 — Week 7

On the People to People radio broadcast, we receive calls from time to time from listeners who fear they have committed the unpardonable sin, or blasphemed the Holy Spirit by something they have said to, or about God, or by being angry at God.

But what is the truth about blasphemy? What is it? And how is it committed?

Mark 3 details that Jesus was being followed by throngs seeking miacles, for He had done many in their sight and they pressed Him from every side, seeking to touch Him and, thus, receive healing or deliverance from “unclean spirits”. Verse 11 recounts that whenever unclean spirits encountered Him, “they would fall down before Him and cry out, saying, ‘You are the Son of God!’”

Verses 20–30 make it clear that even the evil spirits recognized and admitted something that the scribes and Pharisees were unable or unwilling to do — recognize Jesus for who He was.

Read Mark 3:22-30 for the full account…

Then God came down to the people in the person of His Son, Jesus. He did amazing things in their sight and revealed wisdom that astounded and confounded even the wisest among them (Mark 6:1-3). But the Jewish leaders said among themselves, if we allow this man to continue the Romans will come and we will lose our place and our nation. So they savagely beat Him and hung Him on a cross to die, despised and rejected.

The third and final witness is the Holy Spirit of God, who comes to testify of Jesus.

“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:30-32)

If the testimony of the Holy Spirit is rejected, there is no further witness, and the one who denies this testimony is, “… guilty of an eternal sin”. (Mark 3:29)

So we see that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, in itself, the unpardonable sin. They are one and the same, and are summed up in denying the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning Jesus.

Week 6 – Matthew 26:1 – Mark 2:28

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”

Have you ever felt that God has left you or turned his back on you? Many of us have. In the midst of trials and tribulations it’s not unusual to wonder if anyone, even God Himself really cares. When faced with life on this earth it is all to easy to focus on ourselves and our troubles. But is it true that God has forsaken us? Is it true that God has turned His back on us?

No.

Why?

Because Jesus took the sins of the world – your sins and my sins – upon Himself at the cross. God never sees our sins again. ‘Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.’ Hebrews 10:17-18

Through this one sacrifice the world was reconciled to God and He no longer counts our sins against us. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 He will never leave you or forsake you.

It was with the reality of His approaching crucifixion and the fulfillment of His earthly task that Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray.

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” He told the disciples. Jesus’ soul was overwhelmed and He prayed. He prayed, not for His will, but rather for the will of the Father to be done. The Father to Whom He knew He could trust His life.

We often forget that Jesus chose to live as a man, humbling Himself and becoming nothing. We are nothing apart from God. And He showed us how to live in dependence and obedience to the Father, even unto death.

Now that we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God we have in Christ Jesus and that He will never forsake us, are we willing to pray ‘Lord, Your will be done’ in the midst of our trials and tribulations?

Week 5 – Matthew 21:1-25:46

So, we’ve arrived at Matthew 21-25. This section starts with the Triumphal Entry and ends with 10 Virgins, Talents, Sheep and Goats. Here’s our opportunity to write the definitive blog regarding eschatology. Right? Wrong!

Frankly, I’m so sick and tired of End Times speculation that I want to scream. There is no end of people willing and able to add their opinions to the noise, and noise is all it is.

Why do I say this? I once was one of those speculators. I did as good a job as any at scaring people into church. And then, one day I noticed that all those scared people didn’t stay in church. I had to ask what was wrong with my arguments.

The answer wasn’t far away, but it took me awhile to find it.

Take a look at Matthew 22:41-46. Whose son is Jesus? David’s or God’s? Is Jesus merely a man in David’s line who had a right to claim David’s throne (if he would just throw out the Romans)? Or, is Jesus God Himself, God in the flesh – fully God and fully human?

Jesus’ question and our answer to it serve as the foundation for everything that happened, His criticism of the scribes and Pharisees, and the parables He told in these five chapters.

If Jesus is only a son of David, then I really need to know what’s coming so that I can prepare for it. In this context, prepare actually means I need to control it.

If Jesus is the God-Man, then I can rest in His completed work. I can walk by faith in the certain knowledge that He is victorious. And, I can take a look at what’s going on in the world around me and rejoice that each moment is one moment closer to His coming!

It simply doesn’t matter if I understand anything at all regarding End Times, as long as I KNOW Jesus wins. That’s what matters. All the rest of it is intended to cement my hope so that I can walk by faith right now. Come Lord Jesus!