Mark 9:2-13

I don't know about you, but for me, this journey through Mark has made me very reflective.  I've always been a read big chunks of Scripture kind of a guy.  This slower, section by section journey while blogging has been a shot of fresh air into my system.  I hope your journey here with me and on your own has been as enlightening.

South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 9:2-13.
O-Jesus was not discreet about having to die and come back to life, but the disciples had a hard time grasping it.
A-What is one thing from God that you over complicate?
P-Pray for clarity and understanding when spending time in the Bible.

Today's passage has a ghostly feel to it.  Jesus takes his top three disciples with him to the top of a mountain and is transformed into shiny Jesus as he talks to ghost Elijah and ghost Moses.  Its understandable to hear Peter, the unscripted loudmouth of the group, try to say something to Jesus during all the commotion.  "Jesus, this is good (cool).  Let us build you guys some tents!"  Then it gets even spookier with God enveloping Jesus and his discussion partners in a cloud and saying to the three disciples, "This is my Son, whom I love.  Listen to him."

If I'm with the disciples during this event, at any given moment I'm off back down the mountain.  I'm not into ghosts.  If I had the courage to make it to Peter trying to butt into the conversation, I would have definitely bailed out when God started talking.  I know the Old Testament.  I know what type of power and respect God commanded.  I wouldn't risk it for fear of ending up charred and crispy.

Yet, the three disciples stay put.  They take in the scene in front of them.  They feel the cloud that envelopes Jesus on their face.  They hear God's voice and live to tell about it.  Even more, they ask Jesus questions about what they saw on the way down the mountain.  Maybe there's hope for these guys after all?

We need to dig into this passage to make it not so spooky, at least for me.  As we dig in, we are going to find some huge parallels to a story about Moses in the book of Exodus.  We need to set some background of that story.  Then, we'll look at our story, and hopefully it will all make more sense.

We need to start in Exodus 19.  If you remember back a few posts, we talked about God saving his people, Israel, from Egypt.  The descendants of Abraham had ended up in Egypt because of severe drought.  You can read all about that in the end of Genesis.  While they are in Egypt, God blesses them.  They become many and they have favor with the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt.  Unfortunately, when a new Pharaoh comes along, they lose that favor.  The new Pharaoh oppresses them.  God intervenes and saves them.  He uses Moses to do so.  You can read all about this in Exodus 1 through 18.

This brings us to our story.  In Exodus 19, God tells Moses that he wants to enter into a covenant with the Israelites.  A covenant is an agreement/relationship between two people/entities.  One entity normally has something that the other entity needs.  They agree to partner together.  Think of it.  God wants to become partners with Israel, just like he promised their ancestor, Abraham, that he would.

Moses tells Israel what God wants to do.  They agree to enter into this covenant.  Then the action starts happening.  Moses goes up on Mount Sinai.  There he meets with God.  God gives Moses the Law--the new way of life that he wants the Israelites to live by so they can be in relationship with him.  Once he's done giving him the law, Moses goes back down the mountain and shares what God has said with the people.  All that God said is in Exodus 20-23.

Then we come to Exodus 24.  The Israelites have heard the Law of God.  In Exodus 24:3 they respond "with one voice, 'Everything the LORD has said we will do.'"  To confirm the covenant, Moses and Aaron, Moses' second hand man, and Aaron's two sons Nadab and Abihu go back up the mountain with the 70 elders of Israel.  They see God.  They eat and drink on the mountain top.  I imagine it was an incredible scene.

Then God tells Moses to come farther up on the mountain.  He clouds over the mountain and makes Moses wait 6 days before coming up all the way.  When Moses enters the cloud on the 7th day, God begins to give him all the details for the tabernacle, the place where God's presence will reside among the people.  He's coming to live in the middle of them!  Scripture says that Moses us on the mountains for 40 days and 40 nights.  Because he has been on the mountain and conversed with God, his face is radiant (Exodus 34:29)

I know.  Its a lot to take in.  See the big picture here.  God wants a relationship with his people.  He gives them a new way of life to live.  Moses is the spokesperson in the middle of it all.  Moses directly interacts with God and his presence was changed because of that.  Now lets look at our passage and pull out some parallels.

Mark tells us that it was 6 days after Peter's confession about Jesus being the Messiah and Jesus telling his disciples that he was to go to Jerusalem, be killed, and then raise from the dead that Jesus and James, Peter and John head up the mountain.  Mark is never concerned about telling us specifics about time.  Yet, in the passage, he clearly wants his reader to understand what is going on by giving specifics.

Another parallel is Jesus going up the mountain.  He takes his top three disciples with him, just like Moses did with Aaron and his sons.  And, just like Moses, Jesus begins to converse with God via Elijah and Moses, maybe talking about establishing this new covenant--one where God's people live out the life of Jesus.  During the conversation, Jesus becomes brighter than anything.  Think of the brightest light you have ever seen.  I would guess that it is dim in comparison to how Jesus is shining.  It is certainly a sight to see.

We don't know what Jesus and his guests were talking about.  We do see Peter become uncomfortable with the conversation.  His statement to build tents possibly points back to an Israelite idea of rallying the troops for war.  Maybe, as I have speculated before, Peter in naming Jesus as Messiah, is thinking the nation hero/messiah that many are waiting for.  Maybe he's just talking to talk because he is uncomfortable.  What is interesting is that God says to them.  God covers Jesus and his guests in a cloud and then says, "This is my son, whom I love.  Listen to him."  Not follow.  Not obey.  Not see.  No, the statement is to listen.

What has Peter had a hard time doing?  He hears Jesus, but he has not fully listened.  He heard Jesus say that he has to go and be killed and resurrected, but he did not fully hear and understand.  This is similar to the other times when they don't get it as Jesus is teaching them, helping them to understand what the Kingdom really is.

Even more, after all is done on the mountain, Jesus tells them to not tell anyone about what has happened until after he has risen.  When I read this this morning, I couldn't help but think that they actually get it right.  They don't talk about it.  I think they partly don't do this because they still don't fully see and hear all they need to.  Yet, after Jesus comes back to life,  they can't stop talking about it...even to the point of being threatened with losing their lives (book of Acts).  Though in this moment there is still confusion in them, we know that they eventually fulfill the following that Jesus has called them to in yesterday's passage.

One more comment and then we'll reflect.  What is the purpose of this whole event?  In the OT, Moses, Aaron and the boys went up on the mountain to confirm the covenant.  In doing so, they saw the glory of God in some way--the OT says that the ground was like the blue sky (Ex 24:10).  Moses is the central character then.  He does all he can to be the go between for Israel and God.  Jesus is the central theme in our passage.  He is the go between for us.  He is the Messiah.  He is showing how to live out the good news.  He is the good news.  He's establishing a new covenant--a new relationship between God and his people.  One where the presence of God is AMONG his people--via Jesus and via the coming Holy Spirit.

The question that comes to mind in all of this is how do I see the bigger picture.  Jesus had a grand idea of what life was like because his life was totally transformed by the Kingdom.  His prayers I'm sure were shaped by the Kingdom and directed at the Kingdom/for the Kingdom.  The disciples, as we see in the book of Acts, get it.  Their lives are transformed and reshaped by the gospel and the kingdom.

Are we transformed?  Do we allow the Kingdom to reshape our lives.  Does it affect our prayers?  What are we praying for.  Do we have long sighted goals or are we simply praying to get through today and tomorrow.  Are we existing and maintaining or are we moving forward?

I feel like I need to stop this journey we are on.  My brain hurts.  My soul hurts.  I see things that need changed in me.  It makes sense that I don't want to change.  Comfort is a place of peace at times.  But is it the right peace?

Lord, give us stamina and tenacity for your word.  Give us stamina and tenacity to live out the good news.  Make us strong for your glory.

Mark 8:34-9:1

Welcome to Monday morning.  Hopefully you've recovered from time change Sunday.  If not, grab some coffee and your Bible and deal with it!

South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 8:34-9:1.
O-If anyone rejects Jesus, he will reject them.
A-How often are we ashamed of our faith, unwilling to share it with the lost?
P-Pray that God will help you to have the courage to always Jesus as your savior.

Ok.  I'm back by my resources today.  We'll do a little back tracking on Friday's passage and then hopefully make some quick work of today's passage.  We talked about our journey through Mark beginning to shift gears some as we worked through chapter 8.  Lets do a little bit of survey work.

In chapter 7, Jesus seems to open up the good news to everyone, both Jew and Gentile.  A simple discussion with the Pharisees about washing your hands before dinner turns into a statement that its not what you touch and eat that makes you clean or unclean.  It is what comes out of your heart--how you live your life.  Jesus then proceeds to have the discussion with they Syrophoenician woman.  There, Jesus shows that that the good news is even for the Gentiles.  He furthers that idea by healing in the gentile region of the Decapolis and feeding the Gentile crowd of 4000 in the desert.

This brings us the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida.  Here, it seems as if Jesus doesn't have his healing mojo up to what it needs to be.  He touches the man and give him sight, but the sight is not clear.  The man tells Jesus "I see people; they look like trees walking around."  Jesus touches him again and he is fully restored.

Some of the scholars I looked at today (since I didn't have my nerd books with me on Friday) draw some parallels with the two step healing and the disciples inability to fully grasp Jesus and the good news.  They get it, but they don't.  They are always second guessing themselves.  We see that previous to this healing of the blind man and we saw it shortly after that with Peter's declaration that Jesus is the messiah which was quickly followed by the rebuking.  In Peter's case, he'll need a few more times to fully get his act together (think denying Jesus three times).

Following the healing of the blind man, we see the disciples and Jesus in Caesarea Philippi.  Its here that our gospel begins to change.  Jesus is now headed to Jerusalem.  Mark's quick telling of the story will slow down.  Its not Jesus going here, then there, then there.  Jesus begins to focus on teaching his disciples in preparation for him heading to Jerusalem to be crucified.

The main scholar I'm leaning on states that Caesarea Philippi is a very pagan place.  It sits on the border of the Gentile north and the holy land (Israel) to the south.  It is here that Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is.  Its here where he first tells them he must suffer at the hands of the Pharisees and the keepers of the Law.  Its as if he is prepping them for the trip they are about to embark on...a trip that is "on the way" to Jerusalem where he will enter as the King of the Jews.

One more thing, then we'll be on to our passage for today.  Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was.  They told him they thought he was the messiah.  At that point, he begins to teach them about what that means.  In Mark 8:31-34,  Jesus tells them he must go and be killed.  Then he will rise again.  Mark tells us he spoke plainly about this.  There were no parables or stories here.  This is direct one to one communication that this is the reality that is going to happen.

Last time we talked about Jesus' rebuke of Peter.  There was one thing I missed.  As Jesus takes Peter off to the side to rebuke him, I wonder if Jesus grabbed him by the arm or cloak.  In the majority of the healings we see Jesus do before this, he reaches out a hand to heal, to show the connection of the good news to the restoring that is happening.  Is this a showing of the good news setting Peter straight.  Even more than that, verse 33 says that Jesus turned and looked back at his disciples.  Why does Mark tell us this.  Is this a simple filling in of the details of the story?  Or is there something more there.  Some scholars connect this looking back as a contrast to Jesus focus of being "on the way".  Peter's rebuke makes him look back from his focus.  They need to be focused on things from above.  Certainly Peter's rebuke has been focused on something that is earthly.  It may even point back to Jesus discussion with his disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod--that they are focused on the wrong things (power, control, the public eye).  Jesus is not these things.  Being the Messiah is not these things.  The good news that the Kingdom of God has come near is not about any of these things.

Jesus goes to great lengths here to help his disciples understand what he means.  So much so that he calls to the crowd that is by them immediately after calling Peter Satan.  Time for a new lesson...a powerful lesson, a lesson of sacrifice--our passage today.

Jesus is very straightforward in the front side of this passage.  If you want to be my disciple--if you want to follow me--live like me you must do the following:

1.  Deny themselves
2.  Pick up their cross
3.  Follow me (Jesus)

We need to unpack these for a minute.  Deny themselves.  This following of Jesus is life altering.  The disciples have lived it.  They left their jobs and their families.  When Jesus sends them out he tells them to take nothing...no extra clothes, or food, or whatever.  Go and share the gospel.  A little bit later in our journey through Mark we'll see Jesus interact with a rich man.  That interaction results in Jesus telling him to get rid of everything he has, give it to the poor, and then follow.  This denying is a total loss of self.  Its no longer what you want or what you need.  Its what is good for the gospel.  It is living for the things above and not for the things of the world. (to look back at Jesus words to Peter).  Its not a half hearted, only on the weekends type of thing.  Its an all or nothing thing.

I know that I am horrible at this first challenge.  Even though I do this thing called ministry for a living, I still don't always put all of my daily living towards the good news.  Yesterday could be a prime example.  I was excited and ready to lead in worship.  But, I was also excited for all the sports things that would be on TV to take in.  I think that as we engage the gospel, we as the church need to talk about, encourage one another, and be more committed to the denying side of being a follower of Jesus.

Then there is the statement pick up your cross.  The reality of this to those hearing it before knowing Jesus would be crucified would be shocking.  For us, the cross is a symbol of something more.  The reality of it, while still harsh, is softened by what Jesus did.  For the hearers of this teaching, the cross was a way of punishment for thieves, wrongdoers, and those who opposed Rome.  It was public humiliation and torture that resulted in death.  Crucifixions were public statements to all who saw them to not cross Rome.  Being a disciple meant full commitment to the fact that your life might be in jeopardy for the good news.

Once you've done those two things, follow Jesus.  Follow his example.  Follow his footsteps.  Live the way he lived--not for himself or for his own gain, but a life that was about proclaiming the Gospel.

Jesus further explains this by stating that if you want to save your life--live for yourself, you will will lose it.  Yet, if you lose your life by living for him, you will gain life.  Gaining even the whole world won't do you any good.  You can't do any amount of anything to save your life.

And, as if this all isn't enough, Jesus adds the fact that if we deny his words, or again put in the words that he used to rebuke Peter--we deny the things of above for the things of the world, he will be "ashamed" of us when he comes in his Father's glory.

Thus, if we want to be disciples, we throw off our own lives and live lives that are fully committed to proclaiming the good news.

This is really hard stuff.  If you were posed the question, does the church live as Jesus calls them to live here in this passage, how would you answer?  If someone asked you point blank, are you living this way that Jesus calls you to live, how would you respond?  Would your living show this?  Does your house show this?  Do your hobbies show this?  Does your marriage show this?

Understand that through this whole process of blogging through Mark each day, I am putting these questions point blank in front of me just as much as I am putting them in front of you.  I would struggle to answer these questions well, just as I assume you would struggle.

What do you need to change?  Take some time today to pray about what you need to change.  Pray and ask God to challenge your heart.  Then, make a list.  Then start to plan out how you are going to change.  Once you've made the list and started to plan, talk to someone about it.  Be accountable and change.  Imagine what God will do with us?

Lord, challenge us to change. Challenge us to be bold in our faith.  Do amazing things for your kingdom through us.  

Mark 8:22-33

If you are hitting this site today or in the next few days.  I ask that you stop and pray for the Michigan Statewide Teen Convention.  There will be 500 plus teenagers converging in Lansing today for the convention.  They'll spend the weekend looking at how they need to connect with God.  Pray that they have open ears and eyes to hear and see what God is calling them to.  Pray for all the youth workers and youth ministers who are facilitating the weekend.  Pray that they have the good news in what they say.  Thanks!

South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 8:22-33.
O-Peter meant to do good by denying Jesus’s declaration of being killed, but Jesus pointed out that Peter’s concern was not Godly.
A-Just because something seems like the nice or right thing to do, examine your motives and reasoning before acting.
P-Pray that you act rightly in all endeavors.

Our passage today begins with yet another healing.  This time it is a blind man in the city of Bethsaida.  Jesus does what we have seen before.  He takes the man outside the village and performs the miracle.  He touches him and makes him see again.  As Mark has done multiple times before, this is another healing account following a story of the disciples not getting it.  Its as if Jesus is continually putting the good news in front of them so the wire will connect and they will fully get it.  They are blind.  Jesus makes someone else un-blind.

Also, as normal, Jesus tells this healed blind man to not go back into the village.  Don't go back and show them what happened.  Go home, which is obviously not Bethsaida.  One would think that a healed blind man will make a scene anywhere he goes, since he was once blind and now he can see.

Our passage then begins to shift. As Jesus converses with his disciples in the region of Caesarea Philippi, he is beginning to turn his focus to Jerusalem and what he must go through there for the sake of the good news.  This transition begins with Peter's declaration of who Jesus is.

Jesus is traveling with his disciples.  Mark tells us they are in the region of Caesarea Philippi.  Jesus poses the questions to his disciples, "Who do the people say that I am?"  They begin to spout off the things they have heard--John the Baptist, Elijah, and a prophet.  Then, he asks, "who do you think I am?"  And Peter, being the loud mouth, forward one of the group says, "You are the Messiah."

Now, we have to think back to yesterday's blog.  This idea of the Messiah is the one who will bring in the reign of God.  Much of Judaism is looking for a leader to rally the Jewish nation.  Its hard to tell whether the disciples fully get Jesus as Messiah.  I really wonder if they are seeing him as the national hero Judaism is expecting or the real messiah that he is.  Its hard to judge at this point.

Jesus "sternly" orders his disciples to not tell anyone he is the messiah.  Its like he's finally revealed his fullness to them, but then tells them to hold it in.  Their thoughts and assumptions have been confirmed.  Jesus is the messiah.

Jesus continues to teach them.  He tells them what is about to happen.  He's going to be rejected by the religious leaders and killed.  Then he tells them that he will raise to life after three days.  Mark says he was quite open with this.

Put yourself in the place of the disciples at this point.  You have changed from your normal lives as fishermen, tax collectors, and what not to following Jesus.  Your life has been a whirlwind since then.  You've seen Jesus to all these amazing miracles.  You've heard him banter back and forth with the religious leaders.  You've seen him walk on water.  You've seen him converse with and cast out demons.  And, he has sent you out with power to do miracles yourselves.  You just heard Peter proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.  And now, the one that all your hope is in is saying he will be killed.  What?  Even crazier than that, he will rise from the dead three days later?  What?  He's the one who has the power to raise people from the dead.  If he's dead, he can't raise himself, right?

There is certainly confusion and frustration.  Peter, being the forward, loud mouthed person in the group steps up to take control of the situation.  He takes Jesus off to the side and starts to set him straight.  Who takes the Son of God off to the side of the room and rebukes him?  And then it happens.

Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things.

Again, I wonder what is running through the minds of the disciples.  "Jesus said what?" "Whoa, Peter just got called Satan!"  "What did he say?"  "I was thinking the same thing.  I'm glad I'm not Peter!"

For me, I get to sit here at my dining room table with my Bible in front of me, and let my imagination wander.  I get to read everything that happens in big and little chunks.  I get to read it three, four, and five times.  I see Peter, who moments before was proclaiming Jesus as Messiah, quickly show his hand in the card game.  He believes that Jesus is going to be this national hero messiah--or at least that's what I think he thinks.

Jesus reveals so much in what he says.  First.  He calls Peter Satan.  That's probably not something you want the Son of God calling you.  Jesus unpacks it more with what follows.  Peter is focused on the human side of things.  Maybe he doesn't want Jesus to die.  Maybe he knows that if Jesus is the national hero messiah, being dead will not allow that to happen.  Jesus says setting your mind on human things makes you Satan--against the kingdom.  Jesus and what he knows he has to do is from above.  Its about God's kingdom.  It is good.

For us, I think the challenge is to use this idea as a measure of who we are and what we do.  Is what I do focused on the kingdom or is it focused on the world.  This could go for anything from what we wear, what we drive, how we talk, what we watch, how we spend our money...everything could and should be held up to this litmus test.  How are our lives showing the good news?  Are they?  What do we need to change to be all in and fully committed to show the good news?

Lord, open our eyes.  Allow us to see the needed changes and to have the boldness to change our living.  You are the Messiah!  May our lives reflect that!

Mark 8:1-21

Good morning y'all!  Too much going on today.  Lets get to it!

South's SOAP for the Day
S-Read Mark 8:1-21.
O-Jesus points out that just a little toxin, the yeast of the Pharisees, is too much.
A-What small piece of toxin do you allow in your life, because it’s only a little?
P-Pray that God will help you rid your life of toxic influences.

Imagine something so good, someone so engaging that you would follow them somewhere and sit and listen for three days without eating.  Sort of hard to comprehend in our day and age where we struggle to focus through a TV show, let alone a three or four hour movie.  I really find it hard to comprehend anyone or anything in today's age that would cause such captivation.  At times, some people will wait in line for something like a movie or the latest, greatest game.  I guess some people wait in line for deals on Black Friday.  Yet, nothing to the degree we see here with Jesus.  He is one who brings hope, healing, and peace.  It makes sense that people flock to him and take it in, rather than worrying about food.

This feeding account if similar to the one we talked about a few days ago.  Here, Jesus is in a mostly Gentile area.  Mark doesn't tell us if its Jews or Gentiles in the desert listening.  With the way things were in the previous chapter, I lean towards this being a more Gentile crowd.  Plus, the numbers involved show significance.

In the previous story, Jesus took five loaves and fed the crowd.  In the end, they collected twelve baskets full of leftovers.  Some scholars see a connection with the Jewish crowd there and the five loaves.  The Torah, the first five books of the bible, are the end all for the Jews.  It holds the Law.  It is seen as life.  Add to that the fact that Abraham, the man God chose to bring his blessing through to the world in the Old Testament, and his family eventually becomes twelve tribes when it is all said and done.  He is feeding Jewish people, who would have had a heightened sense for the occurrences of the numbers 5 and 12.
Out of the five comes twelve.  Huge OT theme there.

In the second story, the disciples have seven loaves.  Seven is a significant number in scripture.  God completes the creation in seven days, with the seventh day being a day of rest.  Israel is to take the seventh day of the week and make it a day of rest.  In the law, Hebrew slaves are given freedom in the seventh year of their service (Ex 21:2).  Every seven years the Hebrew people were to give the ground rest and not plant anything (Lev 25:4).  And, every seventh cycle of the seven years (7 times 7) was the year of jubilee, where all the land sold in those 49 years returns to the original owners (Lev 25:10).  Jesus even gets in on the seven idea with people needing forgiven 70 times 7 times.

Then, you have the 4000 people....4000 Gentile people.  Some scholars think that 4000, being divisible by 4 hints at the 4 corners of a compass, or all directions.  They connect it with the previous stories in Mark--Jesus saying everything is clean to eat or touch, Jesus healing the Syrophoenician woman's daughter and the blind/mute Gentile.  They think this story is symbolic of the fact that while Jesus is focused on the Jews, the coming of the good news is for all nations.

The numbers are intriguing to me.  They help my mind flesh out the differences in the story.  Yet, my big question is what are the disciples getting out of this.  In the first feeding, they told Jesus they didn't have enough money to get anything for the people.  Yet, they saw Jesus take the five loaves they had, bless it, break it, and feed five thousand (another multiple of 5).  Here in our story, their response is that they are out in the middle of no where, they can't go get bread to feed the crowd.  No need to complain about money when you don't even have a place to spend it, right?

Yet, their response, if they really got it should have been, "Jesus, we have seven loaves this time.  Last time you did things with five.  Can you work your mojo again and feed less with more?"  Ok.  They wouldn't have said mojo, but you get the point.

Maybe they respond in the way that they do because they don't think the Gentile crowd is worthy to be fed by Jesus.  They are Gentiles!

And in the end, they picked up seven basketfuls of bread.  They started with seven single loaves and picked up seven basketfuls of bread.

The story then shifts to an interaction with the Pharisees.  They are asking Jesus for a sign from Heaven.  The sign they are asking for was for him to specifically do something to show to them that he is the Messiah.   Now, we have to unpack the idea of Messiah in that day and age.  To do that, we have to do a little history lesson.  Its that important!  Hold on to your hat, we are going to run through the OT in about two minutes.

God created in Genesis.  The creation was good.  He was well pleased with it.

In His creation were Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden.  They were to rule over the earth.  The only thing they were not given to do was eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  They, by the serpent's tempting, chose to eat from the tree so they could be like God.

Wrong answer.  Thanks for playing.  God kicks them out of the garden because they have sinned.  They can't be in relationship with him like they were in the garden.

Fast forward to Noah.  God is frustrated with His creation.  It brings him sorrow.  He wants a mulligan.  So, he tells Noah to build a boat.  He brings the floods.  Creation is re-set.  His relationship with man (Noah) has been restored.  However, not too long after that Noah gets a little drunk and bad things happen.  Man is again separated from their God.

Now to Abraham.  God's going at the relationship with his creation with a different angle now.  He is going through Abraham--a nobody from nowhere.  God's promise to Abraham?  You will be a great nation.  You will have a great land.  My blessing will come through you to the world.  You will be involved in that blessing.  Funny thing, though.  Abraham didn't have any land....and he was old, his wife was old.  He couldn't have kids at that age.  Not a problem for God.

Through the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) we learn of how Abraham's descendants became Israel.  In that journey, God restores his relationship and connection to man via the tabernacle.  The tabernacle was the place where God's presence would be within the people.  They, the people, camped around the tabernacle.  He was their center, His presence residing on the Ark of the Covenant--the symbol of his relationship with the people.  Wherever they went, he was to be.  God came near (we've heard that before).

The rest of the story of the OT is about how this relationship went between Israel and God.  Eventually, they get land that is their own--Jerusalem and the surrounding area.  Unfortunately, Israel had this problem with keeping up their side of the relationship (covenant).  And God sent them into exile...a lot like when he kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden.

After exile, the Israelites have been on the lookout for the Messiah, the one who is going to come and restore Israel to its glory.  Yet, for them, they were caught up in the place, the land, and the political power of what was going on around them.  By the time we get to Jesus coming into the world, Israel--the Jews, are being oppressed by Rome.  Rome owns everything around the Mediterranean Sea.  They rule everything.  This is a problem for the Jews.  They are eager for a Messiah to come and overthrow Rome so they can get back to what Jerusalem and Israel was before the exile--land, the temple, God's presence, etc.

However, this is not the kind of Messiah Jesus is.  As the God comes near again, through Jesus--the good news that the Kingdom of God is near, the Pharisees and the keepers of the Law don't get it.  They are looking for a Messiah who will come in, cast Rome out, and make Israel a great nation again. Jesus is bringing in a new kingdom, one without land and boundaries where the sick are healed, the lame walk, the blind see, the demons are cast out, and the dead are risen to life.  A kingdom where thousands are fed and hope, healing, and peace reign.

The Pharisees have heard the people around them proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah.  They want to see a "sign from Heaven" that will prove he is this messiah they are waiting for.  Yet, Jesus isn't the Messiah they are waiting for.  He is something totally different.   Their understanding of the Law and the scripture is contorted and wrong...they have trained their eyes to see the wrong thing.

Jesus response is pointed.  I think he should have said, "Some of you have seen me heal people.  You balked at me forgiving sins.  You've heard of the story of the dead raising to life.  Is this not the sign you want?  Is this not what the Prophets point to?"  It is.  But not how they read it.  It helps us understand Jesus' words:

Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.

The Pharisees wanted a sign of something Jesus was not.  The messiah is something different.  He's bigger than what they wanted, yet they couldn't see past their own wants.

At times, in the church, we fight to save the church.  Sometimes our perspective of the church is too small for what God wants, yet we can't see past what we think.  It gets even more personal than that.  At times, we ourselves fight for what we think it right for us, for our theology and beliefs, for our stuff...because we have rights.

Jesus' concern is the Kingdom of God.  He is continually showing us what the Kingdom of God looks like within the gospel of Mark.  We would find the same thing in the other Gospels.  We'll find that the whole Bible is about the Kingdom of God.  God wants to be near to His people--His whole creation.  Yet, we are too caught up in ourselves and what we think we deserve to hear and see what the Kingdom truly is.

Lord, help us to learn how to live out the Kingdom.  May we learn to be bearers of your Kingdom.  May we be a place of hope, healing, and peace.  May we produce the fruit of the spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.  May we simply not have this fruit for ourselves, but may we share it with all people so they will know what the kingdom of God is--what it feels like, what it looks like, what it smells like, what it sounds like, and what it tastes like.  Give us the passion that your Son had to be the Kingdom.