Tag Archives: Mark

1 Kings 8, Mark 8

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In 1 Kings 8, Solomon blesses God at the completion of the temple, who had “fulfilled what he promised to David“. Solomon further acknowledges “there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart“. He also realised that Israel would stray from serving God, and seeks God’s forgiveness in advance, if they “acknowledge your name and turn from their sin…then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants.”

This is the God that we worship, a God that keeps His promises, and is merciful and loving to those that follow Him, a God that will hear when we stumble and turn again to Him.

God’s love and mercy is also seen in His son, who said to his disciples, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat”, feeding 4000 people until they were satisfied. Jesus, who patiently educated his disciples about his future suffering, and warned them not to be like the Pharisees, also has a message for us, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  Let’s take that advice, putting the needs of others ahead of our own, following the example that Jesus set for us.

Jeremiah 33, Mark 7

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God’s words to Jeremiah while he was in prison convey an encouraging idea. “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it… Call to me and I will answer you.”  The creator of all we see around us will hear us if we call to Him.Jeremiah is taken care of, even while the city slowly descends into chaos. There is a promise of a better future, “in this place that is waste…there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks”and also a re-acknowledgement of promises already made, “I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel…in those days I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land”.

We read of that righteous branch in Mark 7, highlighting the way the scribes and Pharisees had distorted the law to the extent they were “making void the word of God”.  Jesus also explains that it is the thoughts proceeding from our mind that make us unclean, not the foods that we eat.

Let us seek God with our whole heart, rather than being guided by those “evil thoughts” that offer only death, working to imitate Jesus who perfectly manifested God’s character.

1 Kings 6, Jeremiah 32, Mark 6

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In 1 Kings we read about the construction of the temple that Solomon built for God. It was a lavish building that took 7 years to complete, yet God makes the point that this temple wasn’t the reason God would dwell among the children of Israel.  Rather, it was conditional on them walking in God’s statutes, obeying His rules, keeping His commandments and walking in them.  As God tells Isaiah, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? … this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.“

Mark 6 describes the perfect example of such a person. Jesus, who knew God’s word so well that he could astonish the “experts” of the law, who selflessly healed “many who were sick”, who had compassion on the multitudes of people because they had no shepherd, feeding them spiritually and physically, who interrupted his night of prayer to comfort his disciples caught in a storm. In this Jesus manifested God perfectly, to whom Jeremiah exclaimed “Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands“.

Let’s follow God’s advice to Solomon, and imitate Jesus’ attitude, so that together we are built up as a spiritual house for God.

Jeremiah 29, Mark 3

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Jeremiah sent a letter to the Israelites taken into captivity, to guide and encourage them, and give them hope. They were instructed to live their lives, to build houses, get married, have kids, and not to be deceived by false prophets, knowing that they would only be in Babylon for 70 years.  God had “plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God promised to hear them when they call upon him and pray to Him.

The same advice can apply to us. We are effectively in exile, strangers and pilgrims in a world that is not ours. Buying houses, getting married and having kids is also a part of our lives, but we too need to ensure we don’t lose sight of the future promise of redemption.  We are called to be brothers and sisters of Christ, “for whoever does the will of God, he is [Christ]’s brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 2

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The four men with a paralysed friend paint an inspiring picture. They didn’t see the packed house as an obstacle to their faith, and their friend was healed and his sins forgiven. These are the type of people Jesus was interested in calling, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”.

We should aim to be like those four friends, who looked past obstacles in their life in order to have a relationship with Jesus, and through their faith saved another.

Mark 15-16

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A record of the final hours of Jesus’ life, and the events surrounding that.  One thing that stands out is the faithfulness of Joseph of Arimathea.  Jesus was dead. Not even Jesus’ closest disciples had understood what he meant when talking about being crucified and raised, so its probable that Joseph wouldn’t have understood either.

Yet here is Joseph, putting at risk his position on the council to properly take care of the body of Jesus.  He risked everything he had in life, to bury the man who he’d believed was the Messiah; a man who’d just suffered a cruel, humiliating death.  That takes an incredible amount of faith, courage and self-sacrifice.

We have the benefit of hindsight to help us understand the reason for Jesus’ death and resurrection. Joseph’s faith should inspire us to “seek first the kingdom of God”, knowing that our faith now will be rewarded in the life to come.

Psalms 81-82, Mark 12

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More Psalms of Asaph, drawing lessons from the history of Israel. Verse 7 describes an interesting sequence:

In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

The Israelites called to God in their distress, God heard and delivered them, answering their prayers. But the process didn’t end there, the Israelites were then tested.  Deliverance wasn’t sufficient to develop Israel’s faith and character, they needed to be tested too.

God follows the same sequence in our lives.  He listens when we cry to Him for help, and helps us in our time of distress.  But He is also interested in developing and strengthening our characters, so we too are tested.

By contrast, there is no help to be had from the world in our times of distress.  “They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness”.  We have a great example, a high priest, “the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”.  Let’s follow the example of Jesus, and “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Psalms 79-80, Mark 11

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Asaph mourns the destruction that has come upon Jerusalem.  He pleads for God to have compassion, to deliver them and destroy their enemies.  He compares Israel to a vine that was once tended and kept by God, but now its protection is broken down, ravaged by animals and burned with fire.

These psalms are full of Asaph’s despair at the current state of Israel, but that despair doesn’t prevent him from appealing to God for deliverance and atonement.  Even in this broken, ruined state, Israel was not without hope.

I think this hope is equally applicable to our lives. Whatever state we’re in, no matter how much the world has taken over our life, we can trust in God to help turn things around. Jesus says “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Mark 10

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Life often seems difficult, unfair. But consider Bartimaeus, a poor blind man in a time when such people were regarded as inferior, almost inhuman. His faith in God was sufficient to loudly and publicly seek Jesus’s help, despite opposition from those around him. He didn’t let the constant challenge of blindness or poverty prevent him from doing what he knew to be right.

His faith was rewarded, “your faith has made you well”. Our faith also has the potential to overcome the challenges of our life, culminating in the opportunity to serve God for ever. The “treasure in heaven” that results from following Jesus is within our grasp, if we follow the example of Bartimaeus, swallow our pride, and publicly display our faith.

At times it may seem like no amount of faith in the world could help us, but fortunately “all things are possible with God.”

Mark 8

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Mark 8 records the enormous empathy and compassion that Jesus had. He’d been speaking to the crowd for three days (imagine a talk that went for 3 days!), and the people had run out of food, so again he performs a miracle  to dramatically extend the amount of food still available.  But the miracle is done so that the people wouldn’t faint from hunger on their way home.  It’s not done for Jesus’ benefit.

Jesus “sighed deeply in his spirit” when the Pharisees had again missed the point .  He patiently educated his disciples, explaining his reference to the leaven of the Pharisees.

Following Jesus was not an easy thing to do, requiring one to “deny himself and take up his cross”.  This is our challenge today also, to learn to serve others and deny ourselves, “setting our mind on the things of God”.