FEBRUARY 23 READING…Mark 10
There is much corrective teaching by Jesus in this chapter of Mark. I hope you see this also as a form of great service…we serve others by speaking truth into their lives. Jesus always spoke truth, with clarity, and with concern that those who heard the teachings of God understood what they really meant. Not everyone that asks questions of the Lord sincerely want the answers…there are those like that in today’s church, as were the Pharisees in the time of Jesus. They came to Jesus with their questions, more that anything else, to catch Jesus in error and to discredit Him in the eyes of the people. They did this with a question on marriage and divorce…and why Moses allowed it. It seems they wanted to use Moses as an excuse for their disobedience to God’s Word…Jesus told them that it was really because of the hardness of their hearts that their divorces and broken marriage vows existed. Jesus also clarified God’s intention for marriage…that it was to be between a man and a woman for life. Jesus gave instruction on how we are to encourage and serve the children by not hindering them from coming to the Lord. A rich young man came to Jesus to ask about eternal life…but when Jesus told him the cost, he left sad, because for him the cost was too great. Jesus then spoke about the eternal danger of trusting in riches, rather than in God.
Once again in our reading Jesus spoke of His coming crucifixion. He told them that the Jewish religious leaders would hand Him over to the Gentiles to do their dirty work. Jesus then continued His teaching to His disciples concerning the economy of God’s kingdom. If we want to follow Jesus, we must serve others the way Jesus did. It’s not about personal honor or position…its about humbly serving one another in the power of the Holy Spirit. Power is a powerful drug to we humans…it’s what the world seeks, it’s what the world desires. Look around you…people will spend enormous amounts of money to hold positions of power. Sadly, not to serve…but to rule over others. Our reading closes with Jesus on His way to Jerusalem for the final time before His crucifixion serving a blind man named Bartimaeus by healing him of blindness. What a tremendous word picture…the world walks in blindness, and the only hope for any of us to have sight is to come to Jesus. Again, sadly there are far too many people who love living in their blindness…they will never ask Jesus to give them their sight.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW'S READING…Mark 11
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