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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Thursday Aug 05, 2021
Thursday Aug 05, 2021
I am including for a few weeks, at least, a summary of another weekly Bible study I help lead, where we look briefly at the Scripture readings for worship for the coming Sunday in our LC-MS churches, when they use the three year series of readings. It can help to look at the readings before you come to worship, for better listening and understanding of what they say and how they fit together. Here are some thoughts for the coming Sunday, August 8, 2021.
The Old Testament Lesson is 1 Kings 19:1-8. Elijah had faithfully followed God and stood up against the 450 false prophets of Baal and by God’s power had eliminated them. Queen Jezebel, however, who favored the false gods, vowed to kill Elijah by the next day. Elijah had to run away and was very discouraged and wanted to die. Instead, God sent an angel to him to provide him with physical food and drink, in the wilderness, and strengthened him to be able to travel to Mount Sinai, where the Word of the Lord would come to him again.
The Psalm for Sunday is Psalm 34:1-8. See the introduction to the psalm. David was the writer and was in danger and had to run away from King Saul. At one point, he had to pretend to be insane to escape from another king. God provided for him, though, with food and kept him safe. (See 1 Samuel 21:6,10-15,22:1) In the Psalm, David praises the Lord for His saving help and calls upon fellow believers to praise the Lord, together with Him. David, too, knows that the angel of the Lord is with him, and he uses the picture image of food, “tasting” the goodness of the Lord and taking refuge in Him.
These readings fit with the Gospel lesson, from John 6:35-51, where we hear again of Jesus calling Himself “the living Bread that came down from heaven.” He is the very Son of God, Who had come from heaven to rescue people. He promises, “Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life.” This is the bread, the food He brings, as He sacrifices His flesh, His body, on the cross. (See also Hebrews 10:5-7,10-13.)
The Epistle lesson continues readings from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 4:17-5:2, Paul speaks of the new life we now have in Christ. By our baptism (see Romans 6:3-4) and the gift of faith in Jesus (see Ephesians 2:4-10), our old life is done away with and we have a new self, considered holy and righteous, through the love and sacrifice of Jesus for us. The old sinful nature still troubles us, though, and we need constant forgiveness and “renewal” through the working of the Holy Spirit in us through the Truth that is in Jesus and His Word and Sacraments. Paul gives many examples of the contrast between the old life and the new life in Jesus, and what Jesus wishes to renew in us.
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Now we hear, in Mark 15:40, of some of the women “looking on from a distance” at the death of Jesus, probably because they were not allowed to be any closer. There was Mary Magdalene, of whom Luke tells us that Jesus had cast out seven demons. See Luke 8:1-3, where she and other women are mentioned who had been healed by Jesus.
Another Mary was also watching the crucifixion - Mary, the mother of James the younger (another of the 12 disciples) and Joses. Salome, the wife of Zebedee and mother of two of the other disciples, James and John, was also there. They and other women had become followers of Jesus and helped support Him and His disciples and came also to Jerusalem with Him for the Passover celebration (Mark 15:41).
They knew that Jesus had now died and watched closely to see what would happen to His body, as they hoped to be able to have a chance to anoint His body with spices, as was the Jewish custom (Mark 15:47, 16:1). Actually, as we heard earlier, another Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, had already anointed the body of Jesus before His death, in Mark 14:3-9. Jesus said of her: “She has done what she could. She has anointed My body.”
Two men, who had been attracted to Jesus but had not been willing to admit it in a public way, now stepped forward to help take care of His body. Mark tells us of Joseph of Arimathea, who was “respected” (the Greek word suggests that he had both wealth and high standing among the Jews) and was also a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council that had condemned Jesus to die. This Joseph had been “looking for the Kingdom of God” to come (see Mark 1:14-15) and may have hoped that Jesus might be the promised Messiah. John’s Gospel also tells us of Nicodemus, who had come secretly at night to talk with Jesus (John 3:1-10) and was also a member of the Council. Both men, now that Jesus was dead, “took courage” enough to want to help out with His burial. Unclaimed bodies were just thrown away in unmarked places. That is likely what happened to the two robbers’ bodies.
Joseph of Arimathea went, though, to Pontius Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead and called the centurion to testify that Jesus was actually dead. The centurion knew that Jesus was dead and also knew of the spear that was thrust into Jesus’ side so that they could be absolutely certain of His death. (See John 19:32-36.) Only then did Pilate release the “corpse” to Joseph (Mark 15:43-45).
The fact that Jesus was certified to be dead was important, as later on, after the resurrection of Jesus, Jewish authorities and others tried to start rumors that the body of Jesus was stolen or maybe that Jesus had not really died, but was only revived by His disciples. See Matthew 28:11-15, for example. Such stories are still told today by some who want to deny the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Jesus was dead; so Joseph, aided by Nicodemus (John 19:38-42), took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in strips of linen cloth, into which spices provided by Nicodemus had been put, and laid the body in a new tomb nearby that he (Joseph) had prepared for himself or family members. This also fulfilled prophecy that the grave of the Messiah, of Jesus, would be “with a rich man in His death” (Isaiah 53:9). Joseph was that rich man, and he made sure that the grave was then properly closed with a “very large stone” (Mark 15:46 and 16:4). All this had to be done quickly, though. Jesus had died around 3 pm, and Jews were allowed to do no work after sundown that Friday, when the Jewish Sabbath, the day of rest, would begin.
The Sabbath lasted from sundown Friday until sundown on Saturday. Only after that could the women, who had hoped to anoint Jesus’ body itself, buy and prepare what they needed for the anointing. Mark mentions the two Marys and Salome. There was also Joanna and likely some other women who came to help, too. (See Luke 8:3 and 24:10.)
They came just after sunrise on what we now call Easter Sunday. They had been worrying about how they could get the huge stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb; but when they arrived, they found the stone already “rolled back” from the entrance (Mark 16:1-4). When they entered the tomb, they found “a young man in a white robe” sitting there.
They were alarmed, but the person, clearly an angel, (angels do not have physical bodies, but this is how they often appear in Scripture), reassured them. They were seeking the crucified body of Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, the angel gave them the wondrous news, “He has risen. He is not here.” The women could see for themselves that the tomb was empty and that there was no longer a body where Jesus had been placed. (Mark just gives the simple fact - Jesus has risen! Mark does not give details that some of the other Gospel writers were inspired to include. He sticks with the basics, as he had done throughout the Gospel of Mark. Jesus had clearly died, and Jesus had clearly risen from the dead. It was a bodily resurrection, too, not just some sort of spiritual resurrection, as some people later tried and still try to claim.)
The women now had a very important job to do - to tell the Good News of the risen, living Lord Jesus. They were to tell the disciples and Peter first. Peter is specifically mentioned, probably to assure him that he was still loved and forgiven by Jesus, even though he had failed Jesus so miserably, in denying Him three times. Remember that Peter was especially helpful to Mark in writing this Gospel with such information, as the Holy Spirit inspired them to do. The angel also gave a promise to give to the disciples and others. Jesus “is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you” (Mark 16:6-7). Jesus had predicted this Himself in Mark 14:28; and He tells this again in Matthew 28:10, after His resurrection.
The women then quickly left the tomb. They were shaken up by what they had seen and heard and by the appearance of the angel, as well, as people often were in the Scriptures. “Trembling and astonishment had seized them,” along with “fear." (From the Greek word for “astonishment” we get the English word “ecstasy.") The women were also amazed and stunned and joyful that Jesus was really alive. At first, “they said nothing to anyone," Mark tells us. But soon, as Jesus Himself appeared to some of them and strengthened them, they were able to share this Good News, as other Gospels tell us (Mark 16:8).
We will talk more about this next week, but at this point, most of your Bibles, other than the King James version, will have a note, indicating that some of the earliest manuscripts of Mark stop as this point and do not include Mark 16:9-20. (The King James Version was translated and published before some of these ancient manuscripts were even discovered by Biblical scholars. The King James used a long recognized “received text” that did not have and thus did not use these undiscovered texts.)
That raises the question of whether they were originally in what Mark wrote or were added later. If there were things in Mark 16:9-20 that contradicted other Scriptures, or could not be found in other Scriptures, then that would create problems. However, the Good News is that everything in these verses can also be found and supported in other Bible passages. Therefore, we will study those verses next week, too, and give other reasons for why these words are reliable for us.
One last comment. If Mark’s Gospel did end with Mark 16:8, why would he end so abruptly? We do not know; but some think Mark is saying, in effect, that Jesus did really die and rise again. That is certain. But what ending will be put on this Gospel for you? Will you, by the grace of God, believe that Good News for yourself? That is what God wishes and can do and will do by His grace and His Spirit and His effective Word for you, too. This is all Good News for you, too, and to be shared with others, as well. God “wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Sermon for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered August 5, 2012
Monday Jul 26, 2021
Monday Jul 26, 2021
Today we hear of the actual crucifixion of Jesus. He had been so badly beaten, as we heard last week, that He could not carry His cross all the way to Golgotha, the place for the crucifixion, outside of Jerusalem. Golgotha means “Place of a Skull,” probably because it was a round hill shaped almost like a skull. The Greek word for skull is “Cranium” - the word still used in medical science for a human skull.
Maybe this hill was chosen for the crucifixion because of its looks and because it was at a place where many people passed by, going in and out of Jerusalem. The Romans liked to do very public executions of this sort, as a warning not to go against their wishes. The Romans controlled the country, so they could also compel a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross of Jesus for Him. Simon’s sons are mentioned, possibly because they were known to Christians who would read this Gospel later on, though we are not sure of that. See the Alexander and Rufus mentioned in Acts 19:33 and Romans 16:13 (Mark 15:21-22).
The soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, because it could sedate Him, stupefy him, dope Him up, so that He would be easier to handle as they crucified Him. Jesus refused, probably because He needed to suffer fully what we human beings deserve for our sins, in payment for them. He also had seven important “words” - simple statements to speak from the cross - and he needed to be clear-headed for all this, too (Mark 15:23).
As God inspired Mark, he told what happened, very simply. He left out many things included in some of the other Gospels and just told things concisely and directly. (Maybe some of the other Gospels had already been written, and he did not need to repeat all that they told us, too.) Mark simply said, “They crucified Him” at the third hour, around 9 am, “and divided His clothes, casting lots" (a form of gambling) for them (Mark 15:23-25, Psalm 22:18). Much of what happened had been predicted already in the Old Testament, in passages like Psalm 22:1, 6-8, 18 and Isaiah 53:3-6, 8-9, 12. Watch for other predictions you can find that are fulfilled in the rest of the crucifixion story.
The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had ordered that an inscription of the charges against Jesus be posted: “The King of the Jews” (Mark 15:26). This was a key charge that the Jewish authorities had emphasized, though they did not really believe that Jesus was a king at all. Pilate also did not really see Jesus as a king who was a threat to the Roman government. He let the charge stand, though, as he realized that the Jewish religious leaders felt very threatened by Jesus and envied Him (Mark 15:10.12). We also hear that two robbers were crucified, along with Jesus, a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12 (Mark 15:27).
Many who came and saw Jesus “derided” Him. Literally, the Greek text says that they kept on “blaspheming” Him. They had earlier accused Jesus of being a blasphemer - one who spoke against God. Actually, they were the ones who were speaking against God, because Jesus was the Son of God, doing His Heavenly Father’s will and speaking the truth. They were “wagging their heads” against Jesus, fulfilling another prophecy, in Psalm 22:7, saying “No” to Jesus and all He stood for. They made fun of Jesus saying that He claimed He could destroy the temple in Jerusalem and rebuild it in three days, when He could not even save Himself and come down from the cross (Mark 15:29-30).
As we have already seen in an earlier lesson, Jesus was referring to “the temple of His body,” which would be killed but then raised from the dead in three days (John 2:19-22). The sanctuary of God was no longer to be in the Jerusalem temple. Jesus was God. He was the sanctuary, the dwelling place of God on earth. In destroying Jesus, they were destroying their own sanctuary and dooming the Jewish temple in the process, as the sanctuary. Jesus had earlier taught that in the future, people would not worship the Father in Jerusalem, but “in spirit and in truth,” in Jesus, Who is the Christ. (See John 4:19-26 and Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple, in Mark 13:1-2.)
The chief priests and other Jewish religious authorities also mocked Jesus, speaking “to one another,” as if Jesus were not even worthy to be spoken to directly, “He saved others. he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:31-32). Notice what they are actually saying: Jesus does not have the power to save himself, by getting off the cross. Therefore, he cannot really be the Christ and the King of all Israel and has no ability to save others; and they will never believe in him. They reject him and his claims completely. In their eyes, Jesus is a failure, because he cannot save himself.
The Jewish religious authorities were missing the whole point of Jesus coming into the world, as Messiah and Savior. He came not to save Himself, but to sacrifice Himself for the Jews and us and all the sinful people of this world. Remember again Mark 10:45. Jesus came “to serve and to give His life as a ransom” to pay for the sins of the world. The Jewish authorities thought they could and had to save themselves by their own efforts to keep the laws they had established. They had self-interest; and grace and mercy that cared for others, as Jesus cared for sinners, did not make sense to them.
Remember the teaching of Jesus in Mark 10:24-27. With man, it is impossible to be saved. But not with God - and the saving work He would do through His Son, Jesus.
That saving work culminated in what happened with Jesus in Mark 15:33-38. From the sixth to the ninth hour, from noon until 3 pm, darkness was over the whole land (Mark 15:33). Darkness had often been predicted at times of judgment for sin. See Old Testament passages like Joel 2:1-2, 31; Joel 3:14-15; Isaiah 5:30 and 13:9; and Jesus words in Mark 13:24.
Many of these passages about the sun being darkened have to do with the last times and day of the Lord’s judgment, when Christ returns and rescues all believers and brings final judgment on those part from Christ. In Mark 15, though, it is Jesus Who was being judged and suffering the punishment in our place, for what we and all people deserve for our sins. It was a very dark time for Jesus, and the darkness made that clear.
In Mark 15:34, we have the only words from the cross that Mark tells us about. Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 and cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why (for what purpose) have You forsaken Me?” At that very time, Jesus was suffering the worst punishment of hell for us, in our place, being totally “away from the presence of the Lord.” See 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10. We do not know how this could be - how Jesus could be totally forsaken by His Heavenly Father for our sake and our forgiveness of all of our sins. But that is what happened for us by the love of Jesus for us and this sinful world. See such passages as 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Galatians 3:10-14 and 1 Peter 2:21-25.
The commentator Lenski says, “Jesus thirsts for God, but God has removed Himself. It is not the Son that has left the Father, but the Father the Son. The Son cries for God, and God makes no reply to Him…. Even though God turned from Him and left Him, He cries to Him and holds Him as His God. The divine perfection of Jesus appears as the Lamb without blemish, though made sin and a curse, in the hour of His sacrifice…. Only thus, by Jesus being actually forsaken, could the full price of our redemption be paid… Though He saw only God, and that God was far from Him, Jesus did not waver. (He trusted His Father, no matter what happened.) That, too, was needed for our redemption.”
Some people at the cross misunderstood Jesus and thought that He was calling on Elijah to come and help Him (Mark 15:35-36). Jesus had already taught, though, that John the Baptist was the “Elijah” who was to come and prepare the way for Jesus. John had completed his preparatory work; but only Jesus could complete His saving work for us all. He did so, in His suffering the wrath of God for us and His final work of being God-forsaken for us. Now Jesus could take a sip of sour wine lifted to Him on a sponge; and though Mark does not tell us, Jesus could finally say His last words from the cross, with a loud voice, and breathe out His spirit in death (Mark 15:36-37).
Then, as the commentator Lenski says, “Jesus is dead, His lips are silent; God now speaks a language of His own.” The curtain in the temple in Jerusalem, separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, where only once a year could the high priest enter into the presence of God - that curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. Jesus, by His sacrifice for us and the world, had earned forgiveness for us and access for us into the very presence and blessings and eternal life with our Lord in Heaven (Mark 15:38). That will become even clearer in what we hear next week, with the resurrection of Jesus from death.
The Roman centurion, who saw all this and saw Jesus die, said “Truly this man was the Son of God.” In effect, he said, “Amen. This is most certainly true about Jesus.” This was exactly what both Jesus, and Mark, in writing about Jesus, wanted all people to come to believe. Tradition says that this centurion did become a believer. May the Lord increase our own confidence in Jesus and in His completed saving work for us, through these God-inspired words given us by Mark.
Monday Jul 26, 2021
Monday Jul 26, 2021
Sermon for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered July 29, 2012
Monday Jul 19, 2021
Monday Jul 19, 2021
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was quickly taken to the high priest, Caiaphas, and the ruling Jewish Council, the Sanhedrin (Mark 14:53). (Caiaphas was the actual high priest at this time, but his father-in-law, Annas, had been high priest for a long time earlier, and sometimes was also still called the high priest. See Acts 4:5-6. for example.)
Peter had run away with the other disciples when Jesus was arrested, but wanted to see what would happen to Jesus and followed to the outdoor courtyard around the place where the Sanhedrin met (Mark 14:54).
Several rules of the Jewish Council were being broken in this “trial” of Jesus. There were to be no night trials, but this trial was happening quickly, at night. There was to be an “indictment" with clear charges, before a person could be put on trial. At this meeting, the Council was still trying to come up with some charges, but was having trouble doing so (Mark 14:55). The verdict and punishment should not have been decided beforehand, but it had been (Mark 14:1-2). Also, the Old Testament required that there needed to be the agreement of at least two or three witnesses, before a person could be found guilty, and especially if there was the death penalty involved. (See Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15-21, and Proverbs 19:9 and the 8th Commandment, Exodus 20:16.)
The testimony of witnesses about Jesus did not agree (Mark 14:56), and some misquoted and misunderstood Jesus and what He had said (Mark 14:57-59). (See the true account of John 2:18-22, early in Jesus’ ministry, when He “cleansed” the temple in Jerusalem for the first time.)
The high priest, Caiaphas, finally realized that he needed to step in and question Jesus. Jesus said nothing at first, fulfilling Isaiah 53:7 (Mark 14:60-61). (See the comment in 1 Peter 2:22-23, also.) When Caiaphus directly asked Jesus, though, if he was “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed” (the Son of God), Jesus answered, “I am." He used the same words which He had used so often before in His “I am” sayings - “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35), “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6), and on and on. Jesus had even used the Old Testament name of God, (Exodus 3:13-14), “I am Who I am” and “I am” for Himself in John 6:56-58, too.) Jesus always spoke the truth (John 8:44-47).
He then quoted from Old Testament passages we have discussed before, saying that He was “the Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13) Who had been and would be “seated at the right hand of Power, of the Lord” (Psalm 110:1) and would come again “with the clouds of heaven” on the last day (Mark 13:26-27).
The immediate reaction of Caiaphas and the Council was to accuse Jesus of “blasphemy,” of speaking against God, in claiming that He was the “Christ, the Son of God,” the promised Savior. (Go back to that claim of Jesus and the Christian Church in Mark 1:1 and the comments made there, at the beginning of this Bible study.) This was a key, crucial truth of the Christian faith, but immediately rejected again by Caiaphas and the Jewish authorities. Caiaphus even tore his clothes, as a sign of how shocked and offended he was at this claim of Jesus. This was enough to condemn Jesus to die, Caiaphus and the Jewish authorities said (Mark 14:61-64).
They showed their outrage also by spitting on Jesus and hitting Him again and again and mocking Him and covering His face and daring Him to “prophesy” about who had struck Him (Mark 14:65). Again, this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus as the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 50:4-9, in the Old Testament. Jesus had predicted this Himself in Mark 10:33-34. The same kind of treatment would come also from the Roman authorities, Jesus said, as we see happening in Mark 15:15-20.
Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard outside, and a servant girl said to him, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” Peter denied that and pretended that he did not understand what the girl was claiming about him. He moved away from her, and a rooster crowed (Mark 14:66-68). That should have been a strong warning of what Jesus had predicted earlier that evening - that Peter would deny Jesus three times, before the rooster crowed twice (Mark 14:30-31).
The servant girl said again, “This man was one of them” and Peter denied it again. Finally, another said, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” His accent, being from Northern Israel, where Jesus had been known to do much ministry, gave Peter away. Right away, Peter began to curse and swear, “I do not know this man”; and right away, the rooster crowed again. Peter then remembered what Jesus had said and how he had claimed he would even dies for Jesus. How badly he had failed.
Other Gospels tell us that he left the courtyard (Matthew 26:75) and as Mark tells us, “He broke down and began to weep” (Mark 14:70-72). The Greek verb indicates that he kept on weeping for quite some time. He was truly sorry, repentant, for what he had done. He did not end up, though, in total despair, as Judas had done. Later on, after the resurrection, Jesus forgave and strengthened him for future service to his Lord. This is good news for all of us, for things we have done, of which we are very ashamed, in the past. The mercy and forgiveness of Jesus are great! That is why He died for us all, for our forgiveness and new life, as He brings us to trust Him.
The Jewish authorities had a problem, though. They had condemned Jesus to die; but they were in a country occupied by the Romans and were not to put people to death themselves, though sometimes they did. (See Acts 7:51-60. Notice who it is that Stephen sees in a vision of heaven.) The leaders had to take Jesus to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate (Mark 15:1).
The Jewish leaders accused Jesus of many things, but the only thing that concerned Pilate was whether Jesus was claiming to be a King who wanted to rebel and overthrow the Roman authority. Pilate asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus simply said, “You have said so,” and gave him no other answers at this point (Mark 15:2-5). (Other Gospels tell us that there was other discussion; but Mark was satisfied, as God inspired him, just to make it clear that Pilate did not believe the Jewish authorities and did not see Jesus as a real threat to him. In fact, he tried to find ways to set Jesus free.)
Pilate had a custom of releasing a prisoner during the Passover feast. (Mark 15:6). He suggested that he was willing to release Jesus. He realized that the chief priests were trying to get rid of Jesus out of “envy” at His popularity with some of the people (Mark 15:8-10). The chief priests, however, used their influence to stir up many people in the passover crowds to be against Jesus and to ask for the release of Barabbas instead. Barabbas was a rebel and murderer and supporter of insurrection against the Roman government - the very opposite of a person Pilate would have been in favor of releasing (Mark 15:7,10,11). The crowds then cried out for Pilate to “Crucify” Jesus. Pilate even tried to defend Jesus, sensing that He was not an evil man at all; but the crowds kept shouting, “Crucify him” (Mark 15:12-14).
Pilate finally caved in to the pressure of the wishes of the crowd and the religious leaders. He released Barabbas and delivered Jesus up to be crucified. Pilate did one more thing. He had Jesus scourged. This was a unique Roman punishment. Jews used rods to give beatings. The Romans used whips with several leather lashes, with pieces of lead or lumps of bone attached. The skin and the flesh were gashed to the very bone of a person being beaten, in every direction where the lashes hit. It was a terrible beating (Mark 15:15).
Some think that Jesus died sooner than some expected, because of this beating before He was even nailed to the cross. This also might have been why Jesus was so weak that He could not carry His cross all the way to the place where He was crucified, as we will hear next week. Some also think that Pilate might have ordered this beating, hoping that people would see how weak and suffering Jesus then was and have sympathy and back off from calling for His crucifixion. It did not work, regardless of what Pilate might have intended.
Pilate also allowed his soldiers to do whatever they wanted with Jesus, before leading Him out to be crucified. The whole battalion was called in (as many as 600 soldiers, though probably a smaller group than that). They put an old purple robe on Him and a crown made of thorns and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” They struck His head with a reed, driving the thorns in deeper, and spit on Him. They knelt before Him in “mock” honor. Finally, they stripped off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on Him. One can only imagine the agony of that, after his earlier beating. Then, “they led Him out to crucify Him” (Mark 15:16-20).
Next week, we will hear of the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and Mark’s simple, short description of all that, as God inspired him to write it. Remember again that all He went through was for us and our forgiveness and salvation, available now for us and all the world. It was a very “bad” Friday for Jesus, but a very “Good Friday” for us.
Monday Jul 19, 2021
Monday Jul 19, 2021
Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered July 22, 2012
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Another Supplement to Mark 12:28-34
Another question came to me regarding “Love of the Neighbor." Are we really to “love“ our enemies, even if they have badly hurt us? That would be very difficult. Here is a response to that question.
Honest questions are good, and follow-up questions for more clarity are also good. (We have seen lots of times in the Gospel of Mark where the religious leaders, though, are questioning Jesus to attack Him or to try to trick Him and to get Him into trouble. That is not a good way to ask questions, and the questioners usually were not even wanting to listen for the answer or genuinely wanting to learn something from Jesus.)
You are asking a good question about something that is very difficult, impossible to live out perfectly in our lives. Jesus is very clear about love for others, even our enemies. See Matthew 5:43-48. See also the verses just before, v. 38-42. This is part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus describes what the Law of God really means and is calling us to do it perfectly (5:48). If we are honest, we know we cannot do all this as we should. This is the Law at work to show us our sins and that we are hopeless without Jesus and what he did for us.
Jesus did live a life of perfect love for us and the world. He gave His life for us and for the world to forgive all our sins and make us acceptable in God’s eyes. He prayed from the cross for the forgiveness of the very people who put Him on the cross, including us, as our sins helped put Him there (Luke 23:34). Read Romans 5:6-10. We were “weak," “ungodly," “sinners," even “enemies” of God, when Jesus gave His life for us to “reconcile” us to God and “save” us. It was by the “amazing grace," the undeserved love and favor of God for us, in Christ, that we were saved and now can be called “friends” of God.
If Jesus loved us that much, then we are called to try to love others, even our enemies, as He has loved us. That does not mean that we have to “like” others and what they do. We cannot approve of the evil that is done to us and others by some. We can even fight against that evil and defend ourselves. We can also get away from evil people and situations, when that is possible and best for us. At the same time, we are still called to “love” those people, in the sense of caring about them and wishing and praying that they find forgiveness and peace, too, as we have, in Christ.
This kind of “love” is very difficult to have, and not one of us has that love perfectly and at all times. Only Jesus has had that love for us and others, in our place. We too need continual forgiveness for our failures and lack of love. We live only by the grace of God. If there is to be vengeance and judgment, let that be up to God, in His time and way. See passages like Romans 12:14-21 and 1 Peter 2:21-25 and 3:9. And as we know we need God’s mercy, so we try to wish that mercy for others, too. But it is very hard to do, at times.
Much more could be said. God also provides government and courts to keep some peace and order in a very sinful world. Sometimes governmental authorities rightly carry out judgments for wrongdoing. When the Old Testament speaks of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" in the laws of a nation, it is referring to what we would say today in terms of “letting the punishment fit the crime.” But that is for government to determine, not for us as individuals to determine and carry out in our personal lives. We can try to influence the laws of a nation for good; but government has different responsibilities from what we have as Christians and churches. See Romans 13:1-10.
Finally, we can keep praying that the Lord will give us more caring, forgiving hearts, for very difficult people we sometimes have to deal with, and that their own hearts may change over time, too, as we try to reflect Christ’s love and care to them. People may resist all that we try to do, but we at least have tried to respond with care, not hate.
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Monday Jul 12, 2021
As we closed our study last week, we heard of the disciples and Jesus celebrating the traditional Passover meal together on what we would call the Thursday evening of Holy Week. Important parts of the Passover meal included unleavened bread (a flat bread with no yeast) and wine. We hear particularly of Jesus using these elements of the meal (Mark 14:22-24).
While they were eating, Jesus took some of the bread and prayed and blessed it and broke it into pieces and gave some to each of the disciples, saying, “Take; this is My body.” He then took a cup of wine, gave thanks to God the Father, and gave it to each of the disciples to drink from and said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Other Gospels and 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 and other Scriptures give more detail, but we will focus mainly on what Mark tells us, as God inspired Him to write, and by what He was told by Peter.)
In the original Greek, it is clear that Jesus literally said, “This is My body….This is My blood.” “Is” means “is." Many churches say that Jesus was speaking symbolically; but there is no indication of that. He was presenting a whole new meal of the New Covenant that he was bringing into the world.
In the Old Testament, God gave the 10 Commandments and other parts of His will, through Moses, at Mount Sinai. Then animals were sacrificed, and their blood was used to seal the Covenant between God and His people. Read Exodus 24:6-9. The blood of animals was sprinkled on the altar and upon the people. God made His promises to the people, and the people said they would follow God and His will. Moses said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord made with you in accordance with all these words” that He had given. Sadly, many of the people of Israel did not follow God’s will and drifted far away from Him and even worshipped false gods. God then promised that He would bring in a whole New Covenant with people, because the old one had been broken by them. See Jeremiah 31:31-34.
Jesus was announcing and bringing in God’s New Covenant at this meal with His disciples. It also involved the shedding of blood - not the blood of animals but the sacrifice of Jesus Himself, His Body and Blood, on the cross the very next day. Jesus would die for the benefit of “many” - a Hebrew way of saying “for the many," for all people in the world.
Jesus was also introducing a new meal for the New Covenant, what we call the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. When we receive bread and wine, we are also receiving the very Body and Blood of Christ, Mark 14:22-23 tells us. Jesus promised to be with us always (Matthew 28:20), but He is with us in a very special, personal way in the Lord’s Supper; and this and other Scriptures tell that we receive Christ Himself and His real Presence and forgiveness of our sins and strength from Him for our lives, in this holy meal.
We can’t understand or explain it, but we believe what Jesus clearly says. We receive bread and wine; but somehow, in and with and under these earthly elements, we receive also the Body and Blood of Christ. See 1 Corinthians 10:16, for example. This is the meal we are now called to receive regularly, for our own good and benefit (though we can learn some things through a Passover Seder meal, which some churches sometimes do).
Jesus then told His disciples that he would not receive this new meal again with them until He received it new in the Kingdom of God, after His death and resurrection, and in preparing for eternal life, always in the presence of the Lord (Mark 14:25). Here and in verse 30, Jesus said those strong words, “Amen, I say to you." These things are certainly true and are to be believed.
Jesus and His disciples then sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives, and a garden called Gethsemane, near Jerusalem (Mark 14:26,32). This was a familiar place where they went for rest and prayer. Likely, Psalms 115-118 were used during the Passover meal, according to Jewish tradition, and then the closing hymn was from Psalms 120-130. These Psalms are still used by many Jews for Passover.
Jesus then quoted a prophecy from Zechariah 13:7, that the disciples would all be scattered and fall away, when their Shepherd, Jesus, was “struck." In the context of this passage, a prophet would receive wounds on his back, in the house of his friends, as would soon happen to Jesus (Zechariah 13:6). And yet, through all this, “On that day, there shall be a fountain opened” for God’s people “to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”
Jesus Himself would be that cleansing fountain, through His blood shed and His death on the cross (Zechariah 13:1) for the forgiveness of all sins. Jesus also predicted that after His death, He would rise from the dead and see them again in Galilee. They had spent much time in Galilee, as we have heard earlier in Mark’s Gospel; and now some the resurrection appearances of Jesus would happen there and around the Sea of Galilee (Mark 14:28).
As Jesus was “struck," though, He said that the disciples would all fall away. That is exactly what would happen when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:50). Peter thought that he was so strong, however, that he would never fall away, even if the others did (Mark 14:29). Jesus then had to tell Peter that that very evening, he would deny Jesus three times, before a rooster crowed twice. Peter insisted that he would never do such a thing, and the other disciples all said the same thing (Mark 14:30-31). This was the typical Peter - so strong at some moments and then so weak soon after. (Isn’t that so true of all of us, at times in our lives? We need the warning, not to walk away from or deny our Lord, in difficult times, too.)
Jesus had most of His disciples wait for Him and then took Peter, James, and John with Him further into the garden. He asked them to watch and pray, while He went alone to pray. Jesus was full of sorrow and distress, because He knew that terrible suffering and His death were coming soon (Mark 14:33-34).
As a true man, as well as God, and knowing what was coming, He prayed three times that if there was another way to accomplish the work of salvation, that His Heavenly Father would grant that. Yet He trusted His Father and also prayed, Let it be done, “Not what I will but what you will” “Father, dear Father." He knew that it was His Father’s will that He suffer and die and accepted that He would have to drink “the cup” of God’s wrath to receive the penalty, by His sacrifice for us, that we and all the world deserve for our sins (Mark 14:35-36, 39, 41). (You can look back to Mark 10:38-39, and our study at that point, too, where the “cup of wrath and suffering” was discussed much more. Only Jesus, as true God and true man, could do this saving work and drink that cup for the good and forgiveness of us all.)
Three times Jesus also came back to His disciples and found them sleeping, when they were to be watching and praying for Him. They could not even stay awake and pray for one hour with Jesus. He warned them again to watch out for times of temptation. He knew the human condition, even for the disciples. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:37-38, 40-41). That, too, is our own problem, too often. We have good intentions as Christians; but our sinful human nature gets the best of us, and we do not follow through with our Lord and His will as we should. (See Romans 7:18-25, where even Paul speaks of this same struggle, within himself.)
Jesus finally told His disciples that the time had come for all the predictions about His suffering death to be fulfilled, and His “betrayer was at hand” (Mark 14:41-42). At that very moment, Judas came, leading a crowd of religious authorities and the temple guards directly to Jesus. Judas then did what He said he would do to identify Jesus, so that He could be arrested stealthily (Mark 14:1-2,10-11) in this dark, remote garden place. Judas kissed Jesus and betrayed Him Whom he called “Rabbi” - Teacher. People in the crowd then quickly seized Jesus (Mark 14:43-46). Judas had done exactly what he had planned, with all the sorrow that followed for him, as we heard last week.
One of the disciples tried to defend Jesus with a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the Jewish high priest in the crowd (Mark 14:47). Mark does not identity the disciple, but John’s Gospel tells us it was impetuous Peter. See John 18:10-11. We hear from John and from Luke (Luke 22:50-51) that Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, because He, Jesus, had to drink “the cup” prepared for Him. Jesus also healed the ear of the servant - a sign of care even for His enemies.
Jesus also questioned the courage of the religious leaders. They had plenty of chances to arrest Jesus in a public way in the temple, but did not do so. Again, Jesus pointed to the importance of the Scriptures and this event as fulfillment of what the Scriptures predicted. At this point, all the disciples, including Peter, left Jesus and ran away, just as Jesus had also predicted (Mark 14:48-50, 14:26-31).
Also, In Mark 14:51-52, we hear of a young man there in the Garden of Gethsemane who had also been a follower of Jesus. People from the crowd tried to seize him, too, but they could only hang onto a linen cloth he wore, and he ran away naked. We don’t know for sure who this man was, but many commentators think it might have been John Mark himself, the author of this Gospel. This might have been a kind of signature to the Gospel by Mark, who had to admit his own failures and his need also for his Savior Jesus. Whoever it was, the Good News is that Jesus was still willing to go on trial, as we will hear next week, and then to the cross to pay for that young man’s sins and the sins of all the other fleeing disciples and even for the enemies who would soon condemn Him, unjustly, to die - and in love for us, too, to forgive all our sins and weaknesses and failures.
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Sermon for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost, based on:
Sermon originally delivered July 15, 2012