Was It Worth It?

Mark 16

When you think of everything Jesus went through in His crucifixion – you are left with the question: Was it worth it?

All of the degradation, all of the brutality, all of the shameful scorn and torture, could anyone say – especially now that He is dead – that what He had accomplished in His ministry was worth what He had to go through in His death?

I suppose you could ask the man with the withered hand. Was the healing of your hand worth the suffering Jesus went through? Perhaps you could ask the Centurian’s servant. Was your healing from near-death worthy of Jesus’ coming?

To the widow at Nain, or the demon-possessed man at Gadara: Was what Jesus experienced on the cross worth it to you that your son may be raised from the dead, or that the demons may be driven from your body?

For the disciples, can you imagine how they must have wondered if it had been worth it all? Giving up their whole lives, family, friends, work – everything – to follow this wonderful man of God Who was God, (in their eyes and hearts?) Now He was dead. And not just dead, but shamed in death. Degraded in death. Humiliated in death to such an extent it must have also humiliated His followers. Could it be they were ashamed of His death as much as they were horrified by it?

Was it worth this to be a follower of Christ?

What could be done about His humiliation but to anoint His body, which had lain in a borrowed tomb covered by a burial cloth – one final humiliation, (though done lovingly so.)

But now imagine finding the massive stone rolled away…and an empty tomb…and the sight of the angel…and the statement: “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. Go and tell His disciples.”

Your head spins at the news…which is quite overwhelming…and as you head back down the path walking slowly at first…and now running, suddenly it dawns on you as it has dawned on every single person who has seen the risen Christ. Yes! Yes! It was worth it all!

-Pastor Bill

Divine Entry

Mark 11

There is such a conflict going on when Jesus presents Himself to enter the heart of man.

Will I continue in the ways I have always known – or will I allow a new and refreshing way of life to begin?

Why the turmoil as Jesus enters Jerusalem on the Sunday prior to the Passover, the grand celebration of God rescuing the Jewish people from their slavery in Egypt? How had God rescued His people from Egypt? Strangely enough, it had been by the sacrifice of a perfect lamb by each household, and by the application of the blood of that slaughtered lamb to the doorposts and lentil of each house that chose to follow God’s instruction.

How did that work? Well, all we can say for sure is it worked by faith in God’s Word. For every house marked with blood was “passed over” by God’s death angel. In every house that was not so-marked the death of the first-born in that household took place. This provided the final impetus for the pharaoh to expel the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, and into freedom – eventually resulting in their entering the Promised Land.

The same pattern is repeated every time Jesus, The Lamb of God, approaches the heart of man seeking Divine Entry. What had been collective in type is individual in acceptance. Even in the typology employed in God’s Passover, it was the individual heart being impacted rather than a nation. That so many individual hearts were impacted to obedience brought about the creation of the nation of God’s people.

It is the same with the church of God. We look at the church and we see buildings and religious practice, and we are inclined to think of the collective rather than the individual. But Jesus has taught us the temple of God resides in the heart of man – and in truth it has always been this way. The question is: What will you allow God to do in you? How much of yourself will you allow God to possess?

This is the picture played out for us by Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, just four days prior to the very Passover upon which He will be offered as a sacrifice for our sins. Will you apply His blood to the doorposts of your heart that death may pass over? Will you allow His Divine Entry?

-Pastor Bill

Blind Sight is 20/20

Mark 10:32-52

To traverse to Jerusalem always means you are going up, from whatever direction you approach. This would be particularly true when traveling to Jerusalem from the Jordan River valley, which connects the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, which is the lowest elevation on the face of the earth.

From a location just north of the Dead Sea Jesus makes His entry into Israel with the intent of offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

No one seems aware of this save for Jesus Himself, even though it is clearly written in God’s prophetic Word. Over the next several days, Jesus’ entire life will be given over to the visible fulfillment of the prophetic Word.

It would be incredibly important to have loyal eyes viewing the events about to transpire; loyal eyes that could bear witness to the events, and write them down for all to see. (How interesting it is to consider these loyal witnesses had no idea exactly what it was they were bearing witness to.)

Their chief concern now seemed to be holding on to Jesus, and not letting go. Confronted a third time with Jesus’ powerful explanation of the events about to transpire, (exactly as God’s Word had said they would,) His disciples remained silent, probably in fear or disbelief about His description of the pending events which would see Him betrayed, shamed, and slaughtered like a common farm animal. (In fact, farm animals could expect better treatment.)

Could it even be remotely possible Jesus was going up to Jerusalem to take the ruling throne that was rightly His? Wasn’t this ALSO written in scripture? Is this a time for covering the bases – just in case? John and James think so. What about us ruling with Him on His right and left hand? But what sort of baptism is this that He speaks of in answer?

It seems only blind Bartimaeus sees things correctly. He knows when Jesus is near it is time to cry out – and not remain silent no matter who says to. The reason is because Bartimaeus has a need he knows only Jesus can meet, and he will not be denied by his own silence. His cry? “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

-Pastor Bill

The Way In

Mark 10:1-31

I think if people spent as much time attempting to find a way in as they do to find a way out in this world life would be very different.

The greatest blessing for us is that God is about providing a way in rather than a way out.

Obviously, the Pharisees have come to Jesus to test Him in front of people. They interrupt His teaching rather than listening to it, because they are trying to find a way out of His teaching rather than a way into it.

They question Jesus about marriage, because then as now certain aspects of marriage are controversial. They knew they could divide the crowd following Jesus by asking Him to take a stand, and share His opinion about divorce.

The very root of the word we employ for divorce implies divisiveness. It divides people in ways they were not designed to be divided. What do YOU think about divorce?

This is a common question, because we choose to act as if what people think about divorce makes some kind of difference. Without knowing it, or believing it, these Pharisees have indeed asked the only One Whose opinion matters – and that is God.

So we see here what God thinks about divorce. Do we listen? Do we pay attention to His answer? (Jesus, by the way, answers the Pharisees’ question. He does not shy away from it for fear of dividing His crowd. His answer goes directly to God’s design – indeed His design - of marriage.)

If we have a “good marriage,” then we agree with Jesus’ answer. If we are in a “bad marriage,” we keep looking for a way out because it is about what we want rather than what God wants. That’s really the difference that divides men isn’t it? Some do what is necessary to be under God’s authority, and to have eternal life in God’s kingdom where He is in authority, and some will not.

This is why children are the stuff the kingdom of heaven is made of. They recognize they are under authority, and they do what they are told. The rich young ruler? You?

-Pastor Bill

Allowances

Mark 9:42-50

Jesus is teaching His disciples about the dangers of allowances we make in our lives for association with the enemy of all mankind.

Who would do that knowingly?

And this is just the point. Do we know the harm sin causes – and do we properly consider all the harm it will cause prior to committing the sin?

The answer, generally speaking, is, “No.” And we are fairly free with not only the commission of sin but with excuse-making following all of that. We may even say, “The devil made me do it.”

A better answer would be that I aligned myself WITH the devil WHEN I did it. (Whatever it was, no matter how great or how small.)

The enemy cannot make us do anything. This is the lesson. It is not about what we are made to do – it is about what we allow. Since what we allow comes to our lives in the first place as some form of temptation or other, Jesus instructs us to cut off the enemy’s incursions right there. Swiftly. Surely. Sincerely.

You would never do the sinful things you do if you knew prior to doing them all the harm that would be caused by your doing them. This is why God has warned us away from the commission of the sin He knew Satan would tempt us to. Sin is always harmful. It causes death. God loves us so much He sent His Son to DIE to pay the price for the commission of the sinful things we do.

Does that make it all okay – since Jesus has paid the price? The answer is no because of the harm sin causes in your life and in others. Stop it. Cut it off. Cut it out. Don’t even allow the tempting thoughts which eventuate in the commission of it.

And listen, think first about the others you may stumble by what you allow yourself, and who you allow yourself to be allied with. Could it be your allowances may cause someone looking on to miss eternal life in heaven?

-Pastor Bill