Monthly Archives: November 2019

Spiritual VIPs – Mark 12:38-40

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38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Have you ever been in the presence of someone really, really important?  I remember one time attending a campaign event in New Hampshire in the run up to a presidential primary.  Several political big shots had crammed into a school cafeteria with all the requisite staff, press and random observers like me.  It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the moment.  So much power being wielded in the midst of a crowd interacting in tighter-than-usual personal space! The spectators and the stars were almost literally rubbing elbows.

We might assume all the candidates at that event had no aspirations outside the boundaries of selfless public service, but it probably wasn’t true.  Some people do crave the attention, the respect, the deference to their inherent importance, the awe from others which they see as their just due.

Jesus wasn’t like that, but rather lowered himself intentionally to our level.  When he saw the types that liked to be spiritual VIPs, he had nothing but harsh words. And he pointed out their hypocrisy.

They got attention merely by the way they dressed.  Some clothing automatically looks more spiritual and they wanted people to see them in it.  People saw them dressed in those long robes and reflexively gave them special greetings in the marketplaces.  It was a wholehearted, full-eye-contact “Oh hello, sir!” not just a halfhearted “Hi.”

When they took their place of religious duty, it was a place of honor.  If there was a feast, the host would be sure to seat them somewhere special, because of course he wanted everyone to see what kind of people came to his banquets – spiritual VIPs.

People like this can use their power to take advantage of others.  The grieving widow might someday want to sign over some of her estate.  Be sure to get into her good graces.  Why even wait that long?  Perhaps they would pull on her heartstrings now to lead her to give to their “charitable” cause.

Long prayers are often necessary, but there is no sense in the mind of this VIP to offer them only in private.  Prayers are best offered in pretense, for all to see and hear, sufficiently clogged with spiritual vocabulary and run-on sentences.  Who would ever believe that someone so pious could ever devour the house of a widow?

Many people will be condemned in the judgment, but these will receive greater condemnation.  If there is such a thing as a hotter place in hell, it is reserved for the phony, self-focused, hypocritically spiritual VIP.

Mark 11 Verse by Verse

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Photo for Mark edited

Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  When he exercises his messianic authority, however, that authority is immediately challenged.

Mark 11.pdf

Mark 11.mp3

A Prayer Prompted by Mark 11

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Dear heavenly Father,

Your people have often fallen into times of deep hypocrisy and in this chapter we see Jesus confront a group of people who were in one of those times.

Help us to be especially sensitive to the ways that our lives do not line up with your desires for us.

Let us always remember that you get to set the agenda in our lives individually and in the church.

And help us not to forget the importance of prayer. We know it can be really effective when we truly believe and consistently bring our requests before you.

We also know that before prayer comes a heart of forgiveness. Help us to be those people that refuse to hold grudges and refuse to let unforgiveness cloud our relationship with you.

And we thank you for all the ways and the times that you have forgiven us.

In Christ,

Amen.

Cleansing the temple – Mark 11:15-17

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15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

In the week leading up to his crucifixion, Jesus went up on the Temple Mount and was upset by what he saw.  Money changers and those selling animals for sacrifice were taking advantage of a captive crowd.  

Both law and custom dictated that Jewish travelers would make their way to Jerusalem for certain holidays.  Passover was one of those.  The “Next year in Jerusalem” wish goes back to ancient times.

In those days, when there was a temple, people coming from far away would have to buy their sacrifices on site.  Who, after all, was about to travel with their doves or lambs that great distance?  The new arrival had to exchange currency, likely at a bad rate, as is still the case today with money changers.  They then used these newly acquired local coins to buy their sacrifice, likely at an inflated price since demand was high.

Jesus calls them out for their unfair practices and presumptive sense that everything would always be okay.  That presumption might have been expressed in thoughts like, “Don’t we have the temple of the one true God in our midst?” or “Aren’t we favored above all cities and all nations here in Jerusalem?”

They should have known better.  This kind of overconfidence made its way into the nation’s thinking before.  Jesus references Isaiah 56:6-7 and Jeremiah 7:8-11 to make his point.

We should ask ourselves in what ways we might be exhibiting a similar overconfidence.  Have we or our church become wealthy, hindering simple trust in the Lord?  Are we proud of our doctrine, imagining ourselves to be the purest church on planet earth?  Has any spiritual accomplishment taken the place of humility and utter dependence on God’s grace? 

It happens.  It happened repeatedly the nation of Israel throughout its history and it happens to God’s people today.  Think of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, or the scandals of celebrity preachers in modern America.  May we always seek to serve God in complete obedience, in full reliance upon his ability, mercy and revealed truth to make us whole.