Category Archives: Devotional

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.

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.

That one thing – Mark 10:17-22

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Most Christians and many others are familiar with the story of the Rich Young Ruler, which, by the way, takes data from the combined Gospels to know these things (rich, young, a ruler) about him.  Here it is from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10.

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

The man was obviously religious.  He was certainly concerned about the state of his soul and his standing before God, but his commitment also had its limits.  This fellow, by his own assessment, is not guilty of anything scandalous at all.  Jesus does not argue will that.  Christ does, however, point out that there is that one thing, his possessions, that are standing in the way of this man and eternal life.  His stuff had become his idol.  

Based on this story alone, it would be going too far to say that wealth is a problem for everyone or that it is always a problem wherever it is found.  It certainly can be, though, so it makes a good place for us to start in assessing ourselves.  Even poor people can be covetous and overly tied to their belongings.  For rich people the temptation is even worse.

Once we look at the areas of wealth and covetousness, we might actually determine that areas like these are not our biggest besetting sins.  Maybe we are truly generous.  Maybe riches are not, for us, an idol.  Fine, but maybe something still is.

The thing that impresses me most about this encounter of a random inquirer and Jesus is Christ’s ability to see beyond his generally high level of obedience to the commandments of God.  OK, so maybe he is no thief, murderer, adulterer or deceiver in any major way.  But maybe there is something else.  His riches, perhaps?  There is no commandment against owning stuff, only commandments not to be covetous or greedy and to be generous in considering the poor, etc. 

It’s not a simple rubric to use in giving ourselves a grade.  I my give regularly, but do I give enough?  I guess I want this thing or that, but is that covetousness or just a reasonable desire?  How am I supposed to know?  We may not know for sure, but in the case in question, Jesus did.  He pointed out to the man that one thing and it happened to be his possessions.

Perhaps for us there is also that one thing.  Maybe the right question to ask is, “If God asked me to give up anything, is there some request that would cause me to say no?”  Or worded differently, “Is there something Jesus might ask me to sacrifice that would so dishearten me that I would go away sorrowful rather than throw the thing away?”  If there is, we are in the same position as this man in the story.  

Any relationship, possession or position that I might consider more important than Jesus is probably my real god, my dead, debilitating idol.  As we know, God hates idols.  Therefore, so should we.

(Un)Belief – Mark 9:23-24

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Jesus has just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration with three of his disciples.  Now he finds the other nine stuck in a situation for which they can do nothing helpful.  It seems a father has brought his son to Christ’s disciples.  The symptoms the boy exhibits are similar to epilepsy, but are actually caused by a demon,  When the father asks Jesus if perhaps he can help, the following interaction ensues.

23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 

Isn’t this where we so often find ourselves?  We believe Jesus has the ability.  We pray to God, knowing he is all-powerful and all-good.  And still we doubt.  Our faith falls short.  We lack something in the area of true belief.

Eckhard Schnabel, in his Tyndale NT Commentary on Mark, describes the man, “He acknowledges his lack of faith, which is not an unwillingness to commit to Jesus’ power but an inability to believe in the face of immense odds, given that the nine disciples were unable to heal the boy.”

The reassuring thing is that this admission on the part of the father, “I believe; help my unbelief!” turns out to be enough of an expression of faith that Jesus heals the son.  The demon doesn’t come out without a fight, but it is a fight that Jesus cannot help but win.

We need to be willing to express our faith in Christ and the lack thereof.  Our belief and unbelief which somehow coexist in our torn and divided hearts.  It is not a rejection of Jesus so much as a wavering acceptance with a desire for the waves to calm down.  The doubts of the saint and those of the skeptic are of a different species entirely.

We believe Lord, help our unbelief!  And help he will.