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You’re Worth It

Read: Mark 15

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. (Mark 15:24, NLT)

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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Going Out To Dinner

Read: Mark 14

“I tell you the truth, I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”   (Mark 14:25, NLT)

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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Your Best Life Next

Read: Mark 13

“Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many parts of the world, as well as famines. But this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”  (Mark 13:8, NLT)

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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Biblical Ignorance and Spiritual Impotence

Read: Mark 12

Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” (Mark 12:24, NLT)

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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Righteous Indignation

Read: Mark 11

Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. (Mark 11:15-16, NLT)

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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Weekend Meditation: Everything Goes Back To Normal

Read: Mark 9-10

As they went back down the mountain… (Mark 9:9, NLT)

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.