Category: The Word (Page 28 of 34)

The fix is in.  The Sanhedrin (the 70-member Jewish Supreme Court) holds all the cards.  Jesus doesn’t have a chance.  After arresting him that night at Gethsemane . . .

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire (Mark 14:53,54).

The first hint the fix is in:  instead of taking Jesus to the temple (where trials were normally held), they take him to the high priest’s house (Peter follows them “into the courtyard of the high priest”). 

The second:  looks like Sanhedrin members were ready to come at a moment’s notice in the middle of the night.

According to Mark, the third is no hint at all . . .

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.  Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.  Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him:  “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.'”  Yet even then their testimony did not agree (Mark 14:55-59).

The fix-hints are piling up.  Take the matter of Jewish law.  It required a minimum of two independent eyewitnesses whose testimony agreed in every detail.  Mark (probably getting this information from two Court members who followed Jesus—Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea) reports . . .

“Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.”  It’s starting to look like the Keystone Cops.  No two could get their stories straight.

So the court apparently had their witnesses lined up, but somebody dropped the ball when it came to coaching them.  There were other “witnesses” who claimed they heard Jesus plan to destroy the temple—a serious charge since the whole Roman world considered destroying a place of worship a death-penalty crime.  But, as before, the charge didn’t stick:  one said Jesus planned to burn it, another that he would tear it down with bare hands (or something like that).  No agreement; no credible witness.

Can’t you see the high-priest’s red face?  His blood pressure’s rising to the red zone.  What kind of idiots are these “witnesses”?    Everything had gone so well.  They had Jesus.  But now they can’t even find two schmucks who can tell the same story!  He’ll have to do it himself . . .

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark 14:60,61).

To be acquitted Jesus had to answer charges against him.  But Jesus knew the charges were fabricated.  He was innocent.  The sure-thing trial had crumbled into an embarrassing fiasco.  The high priest shot his strongest salvo:  “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”  This one Jesus answered . . .

“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62).

I’m guessing several seconds of silence reigned with not a few mouths hanging wide.   He was calling himself Messiah according to prophecies like , , ,

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7:13,14).

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” (Psalm 110:1).

Then, the instant it all sunk in . . .

The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.  “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.  Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him (Mark 14:63-65).

Meanwhile, Peter is doing precisely what Jesus predicted–what Peter vehemently dismissed . . .

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by.  When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.  But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.  When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.”  Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”  He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”  Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept (Mark 14:66-72).

Despite our promises how weak we are!  And how merciful Jesus is!  After resurrection, the angel specifically names Peter as one disciple Jesus wants to welcome back (Mark 15:7).  For now, Peter weeps.

* * * * *

Here’s the compelling question:  Just who’s on trial here?  Clearly Jesus.  He stood bound and accused and finally condemned before the Jewish authorities.  I suggest, though less clearly, it was the Sanhedrin members who voted Jesus worthy of death.

This was their last, official opportunity to acquit Jesus.  They knew his miracles and teachings.  They knew the witnesses offered fabricated testimony.  They knew Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah based on Scripture.  Nothing he had done proved any different.  The high priest was actually obligated to recognize Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. Yet in their pride and greed they incited each other to a guilty verdict and actually beat him.  At his Coming, Jesus  will stand in judgment over them.

We assume, when we hear the Gospel, that we evaluate Jesus, that we sit on the judge’s bench and Jesus in the defendant’s chair.  But in reality, Jesus judges us.  What he decides is truly a life-or-death matter.  We’d better understand just who’s on trial here.

From The Last Supper to his last breath, Jesus was alone.  Not without people, without friends.  Not solitude for renewal, desertion for death.

Sheep Scattered.

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”  Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”  “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “Today– yes, tonight– before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”  But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same (Mark 14:26-31).

After singing a final hymn , Jesus leads his disciples to the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem.  There,  under the night sky, he tells them they will all desert him and be scattered like sheep (in  fulfillment of Zechariah 13:7).  But, he promises, he will rise and gather them again in Galilee.

Peter (the one whose foot seems permanently planted in his mouth) declares he’ll stay, even if he’s the last man standing.  Jesus, however,  predicts Peter will deny knowing him three times. Peter found room for his second foot when he insisted no way that would happen.  All the rest shouted “Amen!”

How often I’ve prayed prayers of devotion and sung songs of allegiance to Jesus.  (” . . . and nothing I desire compares with you.”)  With shame, I’m reminded how often I’ve chosen something other than Jesus or been silent when I should have spoken his name or withdrew because he didn’t do what I wanted.  How firm my faith before the test!  When the fearful, the unexpected, the irrational hits, only then I realize how like Peter I am.

But What You Want.

Gethsemane was a  tree-grove on the Mount of Olives.  There, Jesus prayed alone.

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”  Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.  “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?  Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”  Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.  When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.  Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Mark 14:32-42).

Mark has reported Jesus healing the incurable, stopping a killer storm, driving out fierce demons, and out-debating his public enemies.   Here he shows Jesus in a different light:   terrorized (“deeply distressed”) and tormented (“troubled”).  Jesus, admits he feels as if his soul is drowning to death in grief.

When he walks further into the darkness, he leaves the three disciples to stand guard and pray.  Instead, with hour late and stomachs full, they fall asleep.  Jesus is alone.

He prays like a child: “Abba (“Daddy”), Father, you can do anything.  Take this cup from me.”  Three times.  Lying prostrate on the ground. Pleading that his destiny of suffering might by taken away.  The cross’ shame and pain. The weight of the world’s sin.  The separation from the Father.  Devastating, drowning distress.

I understand why Jesus would pray, “Take this cup from me.”  But I can’t comprehend what he prayed next:   “Yet  not what I will, but what you will.”  Such love for the Father and us—it’s  beyond me.  I can’t say, “It’s like
__________”,  because there is no ‘like’.”

Arrested.

Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.  Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”  Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.  The men seized Jesus and arrested him. 

Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.  “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?  Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”  Then everyone deserted him and fled.  A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him,  he fled naked, leaving his garment behind (Mark 14:43-52).

A dark comedy.  The Sanhedrin commissions an armed mob of temple police, maybe with a few rented Roman soldiers added.  Like sending the National Guard to arrest a handful of book readers protesting a library’s shut-down.  But they didn’t succeed due to the size of the mob.  It was because ” . . . the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”   And that fulfillment included ” . . . everyone deserted him and fled.”  Jesus alone.

Oh, the young man who ran off naked?  Probably Mark.  Either too humble or too ashamed to name himself.  (I would have omitted me entirely.)

For Us.  My disability often leaves me feeling weak and vulnerable, especially when I’m  by myself around  even a handful of other people.  So I’m always glad when Lois comes with me.  I don’t know if Jesus felt weak and vulnerable on the Mount of Olives that night.  But I do know this . . .

Jesus was alone so, no matter how I feel, I never have to be.

Just finished listening to  morning news on TV. ( I was exercising and shaving—not at the same time.)  Terrorism topped the reports:  ISIS’ threat spreading globally , , ,  Complaints growing over the president’s response , , ,  A poll showing most Americans think terrorists will strike soon again.

I turn it off and open my Bible to Mark 14:12-25.  There I find quaint ceremonies—Passover and the Lord’s Supper.  Compared to radical Islamists killing to take over the world, they seem irrelevant.  So I wonder:  when I steal away from the news to the Good News of Passover and the Lord’s Supper, am I leaving reality for fantasy?  Or am I leaving what will soon pass away like a dream for a better-than-dream reality?

Passover.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”  So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.  Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’  He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”  The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.   (14:12-16).

Jesus’ instructions sound like a spy story.  Why the intrigue?  Jesus is a wanted man.  Jewish authorities are on alert, anxiously awaiting the traitor’s tip-off to arrest Jesus and kill him.  So in secret two disciples prepare the Passover in a real guest room in a real house in Jerusalem.

Passover commemorated a genuine historical event.  It was about 1400 B.C.  The Hebrew people were slaves to the Pharaoh of Egypt.  Despite nine devastating plagues, which Moses claimed came from the Lord, Pharaoh refused to let his free labor go.

So Moses announced the Lord would send one final plague.  He told the people’s elders to instruct the people to slaughter a lamb for their family, spread its blood around the door frames of their homes, then eat the roasted lamb with unleavened bread, ready to leave Egypt.  That night, Moses warned, the Lord’s death angel would sweep through the land and kill every firstborn in Egypt.  Only homes marked with blood would be spared.  So as the Hebrews ate, the death angel slaughtered, and wailing was heard in every Egyptian home that night.

This is the saving act of God in the Old Testament.  It’s what Jesus commemorates with his disciples now.  But early on it’s a Passover tainted with treason . . .

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.  While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me– one who is eating with me.”  They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?”  “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born” (14:17-21).

“Surely not I?” The anxious question circled the table one by one. When it came to Judas, was he dipping his bread in the bowl?  When Jesus warned, ” But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born”,  did Judas cringe?

So Jesus and the Twelve celebrated a Passover that had been born in harsh slavery, devastating disasters, a ruthless ruler’s contempt, and blood from countless sacrificial lambs that ran the earth red on a night death dreadfully visited every Egyptian home to set the slaves free.  This isn’t a “once upon a time in a land far away” story; it’s authentic history, as real human trafficking, terrible tornadoes, ruthless dictators, and bloody battles we read about today.

The Lord’s Supper.

Jesus would have celebrated the typical parts of Passover—prayers, Psalms 113–118, cups of wine, unleavened bread and roast lamb.  At one point, however,  Jesus interrupted tradition with what has become known as “the Lord’s Supper”—and what essentially fulfilled what Passover only anticipated.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my body.”  Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.  “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.  “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God” (14:22-25).

So Jesus initiated the Lord’s Supper during days of harsh Roman rule in Israel, being verbally and soon violently attacked by jealous and hostile Jewish authorities, suffering betrayal at the hands of a chosen disciple, facing imminent arrest, mockery and unspeakably cruel execution.  The Supper wasn’t a religious, make-believe party;  it was a solemn anticipation of Jesus’ very real death—as real as the State’s execution of a guilty criminal, as real as ISIS crucifying Christians today.

 “Real” World Reality.

It’s critical we view the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of a real, historical event.  I think we tend not to.  Somehow we see it as separate from “real life”, an important religious doctrine but one reserved for the “religion closet” of our lives.  It’s a little space on the top floor of our house at the end of the hall that we visit once a week (unless we have an emergency).

And when we see the Lord’s Supper as a quaint ceremony fenced off from “real life”, we don’t allow what it recalls to influence how we view and how we live all of life.  What does that quaint in-the-sanctuary-ceremony have to do with my job, with my money, with my time, with my sex life, with how I relate to my husband/wife or children, with my entertainment, with my friendships?  If we let it be walled off as a “religious ceremony”, nothing. 

But if we see it for what it is–a remembrance of the turning-point event of all human history and our salvation from corrupting sin and consequential death–it becomes more important than the latest news alert and more influential than radical Islamist terrorism or who will be the next American president or how the stock market performed last week.  It becomes the defining lens through which we see all of life.

The air turns ominous and the pace picks up as we step into Mark’s Gospel chapter 14.

At week’s start Jesus had triumphantly entered Jerusalem.   The paraders hoped he was Messiah.  Yet  why a little donkey, not a majestic stallion?  The next day Jesus had angrily shut down the temple business, which led to Jewish authorities debating him in the temple courtyard the following day, hoping he’d incriminate himself.  He hadn’t (11:1–12:44).  Leaving the city late Tuesday afternoon and stopping on the nearby Mount of Olives, Jesus predicted wars, famines, earthquakes, false messiahs, persecution for the future, and then the temple would be ravished (13:1-23).  It fell to the Romans 40 years later.  Finally, Jesus told of an indeterminate period after which heavenly bodies would quake before the Son of Man’s coming with great power and glory for his chosen ones (13:24-27).  They must “stay awake” (13:28-36).

Now in 14:1-11 Mark  shows us an unexpected scene of beautiful adoration sandwiched between two covert kill-plots.

Kill-Plot Scene One.  It’s Tuesday night.  Chief priests and law-teachers are meeting privately . . .

Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him.  “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot” (12:1,2).

The Greek word translated “sly way” is dolos—literally “bait for fish.”  The authorities still want to “bait” Jesus so he’ll “hook” himself on his own words and they can arrest him.  He’s been on their kill list for years , way back when he first  broke the Sabbath law (3:6).  According to Exodus 31:14, that called for the death penalty.  But now, since he desecrated the temple, their plot takes on greater urgency.  Still, they must wait until after Passover and the seven-days of Unleavened Bread or his followers will riot and bring down the Romans on them all.

A Beautiful Thing.  Meanwhile, Jesus and his disciples are spending the night, as usual, in nearby Bethany.

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.  “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.  She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her”  (14:3-9).

Mark (informed by Peter) doesn’t identify the woman.  Who she is is less important than what she does.  She carries a white, translucent jar of very valuable perfume extracted from the nard plant (native to India).  Approaching Jesus at the table, she breaks the top of the jar and pours the costly oil on his head.  As the scent fills the room, disciples rebuke her for such waste when the oil could have been sold to help the poor.

Jesus silences them.  “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Ignorance:  the disciples are ignorant of the authorities’ plot; the woman is ignorant of the hour’s darkness.  Events  rush inexorably toward Jesus’ death.  Unknowingly, the woman  has “poured perfume on [Jesus’] body beforehand to prepare for [his] burial.”  A beautiful thing.  An act of adoration.  She has played a precious part in the heart of the Gospel.  “She did what she could.”  At worst, it seemed a waste.  At best, an inconsequential act.  Jesus called it “a beautiful thing to me.”  And promised her humble homage would be told wherever the gospel would be preached.

Kill Plot Scene Two.  That same night, while the chief priests were meeting . . .

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.  They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over (14:10,11).

Judas would find a way to hand Jesus over.  The priests were delighted and they would pay the traitor.  From that moment on, he would watch for the right moment.

The Continuing Contrast.  The authorities, whatever their motivation, are assassins.  They’re asking, “How can we kill Jesus?”  The woman, whatever her motivation, is a worshiper.  She’s asking, “How can I show Jesus my love?”   And both are acting at the same moment.

Except perhaps for radical Islamists, I doubt many people want to do away with Jesus today.  More typically, Jesus gets treated with indifference (except for emergencies).  Like clicking “off” on a TV remote, people mostly turn him off.  A bloodless form of rejection by people who want to manage their lives as they wish.

Are there many unknown women today?  Women who approach Jesus with whatever their best is?  Women who break open their hearts and pour out words of devotion and praise?  Doing what they can to honor him, even if no one else understands?

I’m an old man of little consequence.  In the world’s cities the wealthy and powerful rule the nations—and fight to keep their prominent places .   They don’t know whom they’re rejecting.  Meanwhile, let me be content to go to Jesus in a simple house and bring  him the best I have.  Let me give him words of adoration and a life of love that spring humbly from my heart.   And may Jesus say in response, “He’s done a beautiful thing to me.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes.  A World Trade Center tower, hit by an airliner, its  fuel a blazing inferno, was collapsing under its own weight in a thunderous cloud of ash  (see video).

As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”  “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down”(Mark 13:1,2).

The Jerusalem temple described by Josephus, the 1st century Jewish historian: “The outward face of the temple in its front lacked nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes, for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. This temple appeared to strangers when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow, for, as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceedingly white.”

For 40 years King Herod had been rebuilding Solomon’s temple (destroyed by the Babylonians, 586 B.C.—Jeremiah 52), more stunning and secure than ever.  Magnificently ornate,  it occupied 1/6 of Jerusalem’s land area.  Here sacrifices for sin were made.  Here God’s presence dwelt among his covenant people.  From here his blessings flowed.  The temple was the religious center and capital of the nation.  Its destruction was as unthinkable as terrorists taking down the towers.  Were it to happen, it would mark a life-change for Israel too dreadful to contemplate.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” (13:3,4).

Jesus with his disciples had walked east-southeast out of the city through the narrow Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives where they enjoyed a panoramic view of Jerusalem and the temple. 

Four of them pulled Jesus aside and whispered anxiously, “When will this happen and what signs will show they’re about to happen?”  Jesus’ answer challenges correct interpretation because, like all biblical prophets, he mingles the immediate future with the distant, so we have what scholars call “double fulfillment.”

I hold the view that Mark 13:5-23 applies to the first century believers.  Within that segment, Mark 13:14-23 predicts the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 A.D. (about 40 years after Christ).  And Mark 5-13 describes events characteristic of the time leading up to that fall and after.  Here are those three paragraphs . . .

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.  Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.    When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains (13:5-8).

“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.  When you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say.  Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.  ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child.  Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved ()13:9-13).

The Fall.  “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong– let the reader understand– then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.  Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  Pray that this will not take place in winter, because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now– and never to be equaled again.  If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.  At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it.  For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect– if that were possible.  So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time” (13:14-23).

At the same time, I believe in Mark 13:5-8 and Mark 13:9-13 Jesus gives signs that indicate all history’s movement toward its end.  Signs: (1) false Christ’s (or spreaders of false “truth”), (2) wars, (3) earthquakes and famines, (4) Christians’ persecution; (5) the spread of the Gospel toward the end of all nations’ hearing.

In view of those signs, Jesus gives his disciples and us these exhortations:

“See that no one leads you astray” (13:5).  The spirit of antichrist is in the world.  False worldviews, false philosophies and false “truths” abound.  The media pound them into our minds.  The only objective truth we can trust is the Bible, God’s Word.  We must not be misled from it however popular the alternative and however few hold to it.

“Do not be alarmed” (13:7).  America’s main security threat is terrorism.  We drift  between assuming it can’t happen here again to fearing it will happen to me.  Jesus tells us not to be alarmed, because the worst they can do is kill our bodies.

“Be on your guard” (13:9).  I don’t think I’m being fanatical when I say Christianity is being less and less tolerated in America.  By this warning Jesus doesn’t mean, “Keep your faith a secret”, but, “Know that going public may get you in trouble.”

“Don’t be anxious . . . what you are to say” (13:10b).  We may be questioned, interrogated even.  The questions may be honest or hostile.  In any case, Jesus couples his encouragement with this assurance: 
” . . . say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (13:11b).

” . . . the one who endures to the end will be saved” (13:13b).  This is an eye-opening warning—endurance may be required.  “Endurance” is “the ability to deal with pain or suffering that continues for a long time.”  This is also an eye-opening promise—the consummation of God’s saving work through Christ awaits those who endure!

Finally, Jesus makes a compelling statement at the end of 13:8—“These (false Christs, wars, etc.) are but the beginning of the birth pains.”  By this Jesus cautions us not to look at world conditions, then grab our white robes and stand waiting on the highest hill for his imminent coming.  At the same time “birth pains” is a glorious term.  Every mother knows labor pains are excruciating.  It’s the one time I say, “Thank God I wasn’t born a woman!”  I haven’t felt your pain, but I’ve heard your screams.  However . . .

“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world” (Jesus, John 16:21).

So Jesus’ caution contains a full-of-wonder expectation.  Breaking into the darkness and death of this age’s last days ” . . . they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and great glory.  And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (13:26,27). 

The new creation will be born!

“You will have died and resurrected three times and still be trying to figure out [how many federal criminal laws exist today],” said Ronald Gainer, a retired (U.S.) Justice Department official (The Wall Street Journal, 2011.  In the first century Jews could and did count Torah laws (Genesis–Deuteronomy):  615 commandments—365 “You shall not’s” and 248 “You shall’s”.  A pittance compared to the U.S., but still formidable.  And a daunting challenge to determine the most important one.

Should I care?  Since God created the heavens and earth and all that’s in them (Revelation 10:6), and will hold each of us personally accountable regarding how we have lived as his creatures (Romans 14:10b-12), we’d better.  Knowing God’s highest law, then,  isn’t academic, but life and death. 

It’s Tuesday before Jesus’ Friday crucifixion.  Conflict between Jesus and Jewish authorities publicly is boiling.  A failed onslaught in the temple courtyard  from authorities trying to prove Jesus a fraud has quieted (11:27-12:27).  Now a law-teacher, impressed at Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees, asks,  “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.  To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions (Mark 12:28-34).

Jesus answers immediately.  No research hours at the seminary library.  No search time at Google.  “The most important one is this:  ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Jesus takes his answer from Deuteronomy 6:4,5.  Known as the Shema (sha-ma), from the Hebrew for “hear”, this was the signal creed of Israel’s faith recited by devoted Jews every morning and evening.  “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

When I think of “love” I think of Lois—53 years of married love.  I think of my three adult children —and reminisce about raising-experiences.  And I think of my 8 grandchildren—the joy they bring, the treasures they are.  “Love” is affectionate, emotional.  I get teary-eyed with wonder.  “Love” is also protective, strong.  I’d lay down my life for them.

When I try to grasp what Jesus means by “love the Lord your God”, I page back to Deuteronomy since Jesus answered from there.  The book records the renewal of the Sinai Covenant with the second generation that came out of Egypt.  I read what P.C. Craigie wrote about ancient covenants:  “A number of scholars have argued convincingly that there is a relationship in form between the Hebrew covenant and the ancient Near Eastern vassal treaty . . . The Hebrews adapted the treaty form for their own use in order to express the nature of their relationship to God” (The New International Commentary, The Book of Deuteronomy).  I read William L. Moran’s insightful statement”  “‘Love’ in ancient Near Eastern political covenants means allegiance to a sovereign, the opposite of which is treason” (“The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Deuteronomy”).

And I remember learning how, after conquering another tribe or nation, a Near Eastern king offered them a treaty.  He would provide them with all the benefits of his reign, if they would “love” him—that is, if they would pledge their allegiance to him.

It’s then I begin to understand God’s highest commandment.  His law declares, “Love me with all your being—heart, soul, mind and strength.”  That love is emotional.  How could it not be?  But at its core it’s allegiance to the Lord our God who has conquered me and pledged to provide me all the benefits of his reign.  And that allegiance isn’t like a Nazi swearing devotion to his fuehrer; it’s a sinner pledging devotion to the God who first loved him.

Love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus takes this answer from Leviticus 19:18–“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”  No self-justifying question here as in Luke 10 (“Who is my neighbor?”)  The law-teacher is impressed.  “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.  To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

The answer reveals the ceremonial religion opposed by this connected-commandment.  To love God and to love my neighbor are more important than water baptism or the Lord’s Supper, just as they were more important than Israel’s burnt offerings and sacrifices.  To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is to love him with all our being.

And to love my neighbor as myself is to want the same good for my neighbor I want for me.  Is my neighbor poor?  I should share.  Is my neighbor ill?  I should bring chicken soup.  Is my neighbor lonely?  I should bring myself.  Wanting the same good for my neighbor as I do for me implies helping him have it.

A young couple recently moved in next door.  Lois met them.  I’m ashamed to say I don’t even know their names.  But God’s most important two-part law is love them!

“Lord it is my chief complaint that my love is cold and faint;
Yet I love Thee and adore; O for grace to love Thee more”
(William Cowper, 1773-1800).

“Lord, most days I don’t even think about my neighbors:
Yet I want to obey your highest law;  O for grace to love the people next door.”
(Allan Babcock, 1943–)