I’m not sure how you feel about these words here at the end of Mark 16, but I happen to believe that Jesus said them—and that he meant them. Jesus wanted us to fully understand that he expected the very same miraculous signs that authenticated his authority to attend the witness of his followers, validating their testimony as well—not only in the first century, but in the twenty-first century.

Now some Bible scholars believe that this section of verses (Mark 16: 9-20) was not in Mark’s original document. The reason is that these verses are not found in the earliest and best Greek manuscripts of this Gospel.  Their thought is that well-intentioned church leaders added to Mark’s words a couple of centuries later, and therefore no doctrines should be built upon these verses.  However, scholars who doubt the authenticity of verses 9-20 will invariably add that since what these verses say is affirmed elsewhere in Scripture, we should not completely disregard their content.

So back to my point: If Scripture promises supernatural power for Christ-followers, then miraculous signs should be accompanying believers today!  Now don’t get hung up on the individual signs.  I am not proposing that we become snake-handlers (although tossing a rattler into the congregation would certainly pep up a lot of church services and likely boost attendance, at least for a while).  Nor am I proposing that a rat poison smoothie be added to the menu at your church’s coffee bar.  I remember Jesus saying that we’re not to foolishly test the Lord our God.  We probably ought to keep that in mind!

But I am saying that we ought to be expecting, and experiencing miracles in our midst today.  And in many places around the world, miraculous signs are following Christians, even as we speak—usually in areas where people are desperate for God and believers are depending on his intervention just to stay alive.  Yes, miraculous signs are accompanying those who believe…today…in the twenty-first century…right here on Planet Earth!

Since miracles are part and parcel of the Kingdom of God, since they are promised to believers, since they are taking place in the world today, then I think it is reasonable that we should desire them here in America, in your church and mine, and in your life and mine as well.  I may be crazy, but until God shows me otherwise, I am going to keep asking for them.  Not that I want them as some sort of crowd-boosting, attention-getting gimmick,  I simply want them as an authentication of the kingdom, power and glory of God revealed among his people before a watching world!

I think it’s only fair, since Jesus promised them.

“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” ~C.S. Lewis

What If God Took Over

If you agree, then join me in asking Jesus to restore Kingdom authority and supernatural power to his people, to your church and its leaders, and to your life—sooner rather than later.

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Mark’s account of the betrayal, arrest, trial, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus are moving beyond words.  As you read again his description of what Jesus went through, I would encourage you to remember that Jesus didn’t have to go through this.  But he did—and the reason was you.

The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. (Mark 15:16-20)

He did it for you!  Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” What was the “joy” that so motivated Jesus to go through such a humiliating, torturous death? I am convinced, my friend, that you were the joy Jesus saw as he hung there on the cross.  And when he saw that you would one day stand with him as one of the redeemed before his Father’s throne, his heart swelled even as the life drained from his body, and he said, “it’s worth it!”

All the suffering and humiliation of the cross was worth it to Jesus, because you’re worth it.

“At the heart of the story stands the cross of Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.” ~John W. Wenham

What If God Took Over?

Just take a minute before you do anything else today and offer your heartfelt thanks to God yet again for what he did by placing Jesus on the cross in your stead.

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We call it Holy Communion—which it is on both accounts:  It is a most holy moment, and it is communion with the Holy Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—in the most intimate way possible.  It is a very special event for both the individual believer and the collective family of God.

The Gospels refer to the inaugural celebration of communion as the Last Supper, and all four of them picture Jesus eating this meal with his disciples before his death on the cross.  Not only is our ongoing celebration of communion a very moving time for us, but Luke’s account reveals just how special it was (and is) for Jesus.  In Luke 22:15, the Lord said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Whenever you come to the Lord’s Table in the tradition of your fellowship, Jesus is already there, eagerly desiring to meet you and to meet your needs with the full force of that which communion symbolizes, the redemptive love that sent him to the cross.

If that doesn’t make this sacred event special enough, there is a promise within communion that Jesus made to his disciples, and by extension, to you and me, that ought to rekindle the faith, hope and love that we have placed in him.  It is the promise of his return. Each time we eat the bread and drink the cup we are proclaiming a promise that one day soon Jesus himself will be physically present to eat this meal with us as the full completion of our redemption is finally revealed.

Coming to the Lord’s Table calls us to look back with loving gratitude for his sacrifice on the cross. It also calls us to look inwardly with serious introspection to examine our lives in light of his vicarious suffering. And it calls us to look around in appreciation for our spiritual family with whom we celebrates the sacred meal. But communion also calls us to look up with joy in anticipation of Jesus’ imminent return to take us out to dinner—the greatest celebration of the Last Supper ever, the marriage Supper of the Lamb.

“Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb…These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9)

The next time you receive Holy Communion, I hope it will cause you to think about that day when Jesus will come back and you will sit down for the first time since the Last Supper to eat and drink with him in the fulfillment of his kingdom.

“Break one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, the antidote which prevents us from dying, and a cleansing remedy driving away evil so that we should live in God through Jesus Christ.” ~Ignatius

What If God Took Over?

The next time you celebrate communion, offer this prayer: “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”

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A lot of people are wondering these days if we are in the end times—which is okay by me, especially if it leads them to put their faith in Christ as both Savior and Lord. World conditions and human events are causing a lot of shaking and sifting, and with good reason: This present world is heading inexorably toward a predicted finish.

As Jesus speaks of the signs that will precede his return in Mark 13, you realize that we may very well be at the beginning of the end of time. He said at the end of verse 8, “these are the beginning of birth pains.” The “beginning of birth pains” — that means they are only going to get more frequent and increasingly painful before the birthing of God’s prophetic plan. Then Jesus provides us with exacting accuracy end-time conditions that read like the headlines we wake up to every morning:

• The New York Times may report on the increase of international conflict, but Jesus first predicted it in Mark 13:6-7.

• CNN may run story after story on catastrophic environmental upheaval caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and wild, destructive weather, but Jesus first prophesied a chaotic cosmos in Mark 13:8.

• Fox News anchors may ring their hands over global deprivation of basic needs brought on my rising fuel costs, food shortages and the unstable dollar, but Jesus first said it would happen in Mark 13:8.

• CBN, TBN and The Voice of the Martyrs may tell heart-wrenching stories of the proliferation of persecution, but they are only retelling what Jesus told in Mark 13:9.

Yeah, things are going to get pretty ugly at the end—Jesus said so—and it looks like the ugliness has already started.  But that’s okay—it only means better things are on the way. So don’t get upset, depressed or worried sick, your redemption is drawing close.  And if you’ve gotten too comfy with this present world, consider what C.S. Lewis said,

“Has this world been so kind to you that you would leave it with regret?  There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

And for certain, don’t get caught up in the explosion of spiritual deception that Jesus said would be the very first sign that we’re heading into the end times. (Mark 13:5-6) Stay alert, because there will be an exponential increase of teachers, preachers and spiritual leaders who will not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Among the many doctrinal heresies they will promote, my guess is that one of their most convincing doctrines will be that everything is ok, that you should just go about your business, that God wants to make you healthy, wealthy and wise, and give you your best life now.  When you think about it, that is the same message, since the days of Noah right up to the present moment, that false messengers have always promoted right before Divine judgment.

So don’t buy into it.  Your best life is yet to come—and it is just around the corner!

“A time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear.” (II Timothy 4:2-3)

What If God Took Over?

Bible scholar Arthur Pink wrote, “Neither the nearness nor the remoteness of Christ’s return is a rule to regulate us in the ordering of our temporal affairs. Spiritual preparedness is the great matter.” Where are you on the preparedness scale?

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Ouch!  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees weren’t the only ones who incurred Jesus’ ire.  This time he went after the Sadducees, pointing out both their ignorance and their impotence.

The Sadducees were a smaller group than the better-known and more popular Pharisees. They were typically the upper crust of Jewish society, the aristocracy, the ruling class—and real religious snobs. Among the many things they believed—or denied—was the resurrection of the human soul after death. That is why they tried to trap Jesus with this question about marriage after the resurrection. The High Priest, along with many of the regular priests belonged to the Sadducees. They were sort of the modern equivalent of the senior pastor and the pastoral staff, or perhaps more likely, they are akin to the religious elite today—denominational leaders, seminary presidents, Bible college professors who deny the inerrancy of Scripture, the deity of Jesus and the supernatural.

In the case of this “difficult conversation” with these Sadducees, Jesus went after the very thing they were most proud of—their authority—rightly pointing out that they had neither a right understanding of the Scripture, and therefore, no right to lead:  “You do not know the Scriptures or the power of God”, or as the Message translation puts it, “You’re way off base, and here’s why: One, you don’t know your Bibles; two, you don’t know how God works.” If Jesus had been born in Fort Worth rather than Bethlehem, he might have said, “Bubba, when it comes to the Bible, you’re all hat and no cattle!”

I don’t want to be like that, and I’m sure you don’t either! As we used to say in Sunday School when I was a little kid, the Sadducees were “sad, you see”, and the reason was exactly what Jesus exposed in them: Biblical ignorance and spiritual impotence. Let’s never allow either our Biblical education or our spiritual position to create a barrier to real knowledge and true power.  The antidote for being either a Sadducee or “sad, you see”, is simple faith in God, childlike openness to his Word, and humble obedience to his will.

“There are Christians today who are very much like the Sadducees of old…Although they claim to be Christian, they do not actually believe in the resurrection, especially the resurrection of Jesus. And to them, doctrines of angels (and demons) are mythical expressions from a primitive mentality. Their form of Christianity has been submitted to modern reason… they are above the common Christian’s simplistic faith.” ~Allen Ross

What If God Took Over?

In matters of faith, belief and practice, go back to what Scripture plainly says and ordinarily means—and obey it!

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Jesus was no pushover, was he?

For sure, he was a man of love and peace, but he had a huge capacity for anger—righteous indignation—never for what was done to him, but for what was done to others.  He knew how to get angry and stay good—the perfect blend of “good and angry”.

In this case, he exploded with anger at people who were disgracing the temple! They had turned it from a place of prayer into a place of commerce—and even at that, they were ripping off vulnerable worshipers. But this wasn’t the only time Jesus blew a gasket: His anger flashed at the Pharisees who didn’t want him to heal a crippled man just because it was the Sabbath. He castigated his disciples for shooing the children away from him. He publicly chewed out Peter when he tried to substitute a cross-free plan for salvation.

Jesus knew how to be angry at the right time for the right reasons and never angry at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. He didn’t go around picking fights, but when he saw injustice, or man-made barriers to the abundance of God or spiritual strongholds that got between people and salvation, it really ticked him off.

So what ticks you off? David Seamands writes, “Anger is a divinely implanted emotion … If you cannot hate wrong, it’s very questionable whether you really love righteousness.” The person who is not angry at things that thwart God’s love and purposes for people is therefore incapable of experiencing or advancing God’s kingdom. As a general rule it is never right to be angry for any insult or injury done to ourselves. Christians should never be resentful or reactionary, but it is appropriate to be angry at injuries and injustices done to other people.  Selfish anger is always a sin; selfless anger can be one of the great change-dynamics in this world.

Where is God’s kingdom being deliberately prevented in the world around you—by Satan, or worldly systems or manipulative people?  Be very prayerful, and be very careful, but consider the possibility that a little righteous indignation may be in order.

“A man who cannot be angry, cannot be merciful.” ~B.B. Warfield

What If God Took Over?

If God truly rules your life, then you will learn to get angry in the right way for the right reasons at the right time.  If your anger does not meet that standard, then at best, you are expressing unproductive anger, and at worst, destructive anger—and for that you ought to repent.  But if there is no anger at the things that anger God, then you ought to repent of excessive angerlessness and ask God to give you the mind of Christ so you can begin to see things as Jesus did.

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In Mark 9:2-13 we come across one of the most fascinating and mysterious stories about Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus takes Peter, James and John to the top of a mountain, and there before their very eyes, for a few moments at least, his humanity morphs into the dazzling brilliance of his divine being.  And if that weren’t enough to knock their sandals off, Moses and Elijah, Israel’s two great historical and theological figures, suddenly show up and begin to encourage Jesus about his upcoming death.

As you would expect of Peter, and as you can understand, the unpredictable disciple offers to set up shop for this impromptu triumvirate. At that, a cloud covers the Jesus and his heavenly guests, the Voice speaks a word of Divine authentication from the heavens, Jesus is suddenly left standing with Peter, James and John and everything goes back to normal.

“Everything goes back to normal!”

That’s when Jesus leads them “back down the mountain” to the real world.

Here’s the deal: God never intends for us to fixate on “spiritual highs”; we are not to build tabernacles around them.  They are simply means to an end, fuel to empower us for some spiritual assignment.  Jesus didn’t have this encounter with Moses and Elijah just so he could feel special.  The same account of the transfiguration in Luke 9:31 (NLT) tells us that these two Old Testament prophets came to encourage Jesus about his upcoming departure—literally, in the original text, his “exodus”. He was about to face the greatest assignment of all—the cross.  This mountaintop experience was meant as fuel—encouragement, strength, a reminder of his life’s purpose—for his impending death for the sins of the world.

I am not down on “spiritual highs”. They are wonderful, and necessary.  Just don’t fixate on them.  Resist the urge to erect a shelter and live in their warm afterglow.  Don’t rate the rest of your Christian experience against them.  Simply see them for what they are: Fuel for the assignment ahead.

Then get back to normal.  Climb down off your mountaintop experience and get back in the game.  Lost people are still lost down there in the real world and the proclamation of God’s kingdom from your lips and the demonstration of it through your life is still the only way they will be found.

“Serve God by doing common actions in a heavenly spirit, and then, if your daily calling only leaves you cracks and crevices of time, fill them up with holy service.” ~Charles Spurgeon

What If God Took Over

Is there a “spiritual high” from your past (an ecstatic experience, a fruitful time of ministry, a wonderful season in an amazing church family, a dramatic period of spiritual growth under a gifted spiritual leader) against which you tend to measure current experience?  Stop doing that!  Repent of worshiping that experience and instead ask God to show you how he intends for that “high” to fuel you for the kingdom assignment setting before you today.

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Does God have feelings?  Does he feel sadness, compassion or hurt for the things that make people cry?  Does he ever feel happy and laugh at the funny things people do?  Does he swell with pride, brag about his kids, delight when they come for a visit?  Does he feel all these emotions over me?

I am on pretty sure Scriptural grounds, I believe, in answering “yes” to the above questions. Yes, God feels, and among the loads of Biblical evidence to the affirmative, all you have to do is look at Jesus, the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15, NLT), to see that God has a wide range of emotions. God the Son cried, was angry, expressed wild joyfulness, and felt deep compassion for the hurts and needs of people. Yes, God is emotional. And we humans, who were made in the image of God, had to get our emotional capacity from somewhere; we came by it supernaturally.

In the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000, this outstanding miracle arose out of the concern and compassion the Lord had on the people who had been hanging around, listening to his teaching, waiting to be touched, hoping for a miracle, for three days.  They were so hungry to encounter God that they had neglected their physical appetites. And since Jesus was about to send them home, he was worried that they would become faint along the way. So he arranged for one of the greatest impromptu lunches of all time, and the crowds left happy and full.

Jesus felt for them—he feels for you, too. So does his Father. And though you might think that is pretty common knowledge, in truth, that is not how most of the rest of the world sees it. You see, for most of our history, man has viewed the universe as dangerous and the gods as hostile.  The gods didn’t care about humans and they certainly gave no thought to serving them—humans existed to serve and please the gods, not vice versa. G.E. Lessing, an 18^th century scholar from Germany said if he had one question to ask the gods, it would be, “Is this a friendly universe?” You can be certain that this universe is indeed a friendly, perfectly safe place for you because of your Father’s closeness, care and competence. Jesus said so, and he showed so!  Both the Father and the Son teamed up to prove it. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:32,

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

If you ever wonder if Gods feels—either for you, or for the rest of the world—just take another look at that cross where the Father sacrificed his Son. You will never again doubt how much God feels for you.

“We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem so small to Him who sits on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love.” ~R.A. Torrey

What If God Took Over?

Memorize Isaiah 49:15-16, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

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It would be normal for us to focus on the unusual healing methods Jesus employed to heal this man with deaf ears and tied tongue.  What a strange thing—Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears, then apparently, removed them, spit on them and then touched his tongue.

Yikes!  I’m glad Jesus wasn’t setting a pattern for praying for the sick today.  What Jesus did for this man—or more accurately, how Jesus prayed for this man—has nothing over some of the strange antics and overt showiness of some of today’s so called faith healers.

But don’t miss the first thing Jesus did when this poor man’s friends brought him to Jesus for prayer: He pulled the man aside so he could minister to him in private.  Obviously, Jesus didn’t want his methodology to be the thing the crowd focused on.  Nor did he want to turn this man into a sideshow or use him as a trophy that could build a greater following for Jesus.  The Lord never used people in that way, so he simply, quietly healed the man in the most respectful way possible.

So why the weird methods?  I’m not really sure, since Jesus could have simply spoke a word and the man would have been healed.  But he had his reasons, and the bottom line was a man who had been victimized by this horrible physical bondage was miraculously, fully and gratefully set free.

Nor should we miss the greater message behind this event.  It is a message, in fact, that runs throughout the entirety of Mark 7.  What is that message? It is that God values “humility”.  It is the lack of humility that frames the opening encounter between the religious elite and Jesus. When the scribes and Pharisees criticize Jesus and his disciples for not observing the man-made minutiae of the Jewish Law, Jesus rebukes them for their arrogant, manipulative and abusive misapplication of God’s true law.

On the other hand, it is the presence of humility that moves Jesus to respond to the woman who comes to him to get her daughter delivered from a demon.  Jesus initially puts this Syro-Phoenician lady through her paces in order to bring out her faith—actually telling her she doesn’t deserve to be healed (really—check out Mark 7:27, NLT). But the woman, who is from a much wealthier, more prestigious culture than this simple, uncouth Galilean, won’t take “no” for an answer, so she humbly makes her request of Jesus, who grants gladly grants it.

Then, as we’ve seen with the healing of the deaf man with a speech impediment, Jesus rejects any form of showiness by doing in private what God does—restoring not only hearing to deaf ears but dignity to the human soul.

Nothing turns God off like arrogance.  And nothing turns God on like humility.  That’s because nothing is closer to the core of God’s character than humility, which the Apostle Paul reminds us of in Philippians 2:1-11 through the example of Jesus. That is why humility is arguably the greatest virtue.

The next time you see an arrogant religious leader in action, turn off the TV or turn around and walk away if you are in their presence.  Next time you see a person humbly appeal for help, turn toward and humbly serve them as the Servant would.  And the next time you’re tempted to think, feel, act or speak in any manner other that true humility, go back and read Mark 7.

“In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” ~Paul (Philippians 2:3-4)

What If God Took Over?

Ask God to reveal any form of pride that may reside in your life and remove it from you.  Then humble yourself before him and ask for his help in exhibiting the attitude of humility exemplified by Jesus.

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Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded, and most likely, Jesus was grieving John’s loss when he suggested to his disciples, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” (Mark 6:31, NLT)  Of course, both Jesus and his disciples were in an incredibly busy season of ministry and the needs of the crowds were emotionally draining, but add the sorrow of this personal loss to an already demanding situation and you have the perfect storm of spiritual and emotional exhaustion.

Yet when the needy crowds found Jesus in his place of retreat, he responded in a way most of us would find impossible under such an exhausted state: He has compassion on them. He saw their need.  He saw their vulnerability—they were like shepherd-less sheep, unprotected, unfed, unguided. So Jesus tapped into a source of inner reserve of grace and “began teaching them many things.” (Mark 6:34, NLT) Then he performed one of the outstanding miracles of the Bible by feeding “five thousand men and their families” from five loaves of bread and two fish. (Mark 6:41-44, NLT) And, as if he needed to do anything else to prove his deity, Jesus topped it all off by walking on the water. (Mark 6:47-52, NLT)

So what are we to make of all this, other than Jesus was not only a great guy, but without a doubt, God come in the flesh?  Let me offer three things for you to consider:

First, Jesus’ compassion for people reveals the heart of God for you.  If Jesus could set aside his own emotional grief and physical tiredness to minister to hurting, hungry and helpless people, you can be certain that nothing will get in the way of him coming to your aid, too.

Second, Jesus’ willingness to find a place of retreat to refresh the tired spirits of both he and his disciples is a reminder that you, too, ought to honor the rhythm of renewal the Creator has hardwired into your DNA.  If even the Son of God got tired, if even the Creator of the Universe rested from his work on the seventh day, perhaps you’re not so important and indispensable to interrupt your busyness to renew yourself once in a while.  Rest is an act of worship that honors your Designer.

Third, Jesus’ willingness to interrupt his grief and take a time out from his time out to minister to hurting people shows that the best therapy for what ails you is to find someone worse off than you and serve them. God never calls you to deny your pain or ignore your woundedness, but at some point, serving others is God’s prescription for our own recovery.

Mark 6:34 ends by saying, “Jesus began teaching them many things.” He can teach you a few things, too!

What a person should do if he felt a “nervous breakdown” coming on? “Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone in need, and do something for them.” ~Karl Menninger

What If God Took Over?

No matter what you are facing today, God’s therapy is the cure for what ails you.  So which of these three things that Jesus teaches you do you most need to lean into today?  Do you simply need to marinate in God’s compassionate love for you? Do you need to honor the Creator’s rhythm of renewal?  Or do you need to find someone worse off than you and do something for them?  Whatever God shows you to do, just do it!

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