Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 12-13.

Some years back I read an article which gave some insight into the account of when Jesus was questioned on whether Moses’ Law allowed for paying tax to Caesar.  It made particular point about the fact that the coin used to pay the tax had Caesar’s image upon it (there was a lot more to the article than that, but that is the point which always brings me to my thoughts on this account).  So, when Jesus tells them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s He makes a very profound statement.  Jesus was clearly pointing out that the coin was made by Caesar (or, at least, at Caesar’s command) in his image, making it his.  On the other hand, each and every one of us was made by God in His image.  Therefore we belong to God and should surrender ourselves to Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 10-11.

I know this will come as a surprise to those who regularly read this passage, but I am not sure where I am going to go with this today.  I will start with Jesus’ commentary on marriage and divorce.  He tells us that at creation God made humans male and female and for this reason a man leaves his parents and is joined with his wife.  From that He concludes that one should not separate that which God has joined.  I think this speaks pretty clearly to several issues in our society today.  Then we have the account of parents bringing their children to Jesus, which His disciples thought was a waste of His time and attempted to block.  Jesus rebuked them for that and told them that they needed to receive the kingdom of heaven in the same way that children do.  I have seen many debates on what that means, but I have always seen it in the context of later in this passage when Jesus told His disciples that anyone who wants to be great in God’s kingdom must serve others.  So, in the same way that children generally do not think of themselves as being in charge, we too should not take the attitude that we are in charge.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 8-9.

I want to start by Jesus’ use of yeast as a metaphor for hypocrisy.  Here He makes it clear that a little bit of hypocrisy can spread through, and transform, a group just as much as the righteous acts of a small number can transform society around those who do them.  However, the part of this passage which resonates the most with me is the account of the father who brought his son to Jesus’ disciples for healing.  The disciples were unable to heal the boy and the father was beginning to lose hope.  When Jesus told him that anything was possible for the one who believes, the father responded, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.”  That has been my prayer for many years.  I know that my faith is less than it should be, but this story leads me to believe that it is enough, and my prayer is that God cause it to increase.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 6-7.

I thought about writing on Jesus’ commentary on what defiles a person when it came up in Matthew, but there were other things I felt were more impactful on that day.  When confronted about His disciples not following the tradition of washing their hands before eating, Jesus went off on the Pharisees about their traditions.  He pointed out how they used traditions to nullify God’s commands.  In particular the way in which they created loopholes for themselves.  In fact, today what Jesus says about this particular loophole reminds me of the one which the very wealthy in our society use to evade estate taxes.  More importantly is what Jesus says concerning what does, and does not, defile us.  While we may be made sick by what we take into our bodies, we are not defiled by it.  According to Jesus, we are defiled by how we think about others.

Which leads me to something else important which was not part of what I intended to write today when I started.  Jesus lists sins which He says all come from evil thoughts, and He tells us that those thoughts come out of our hearts.  When we look at what all of these sins have in common we realize that they all come from thinking of others as existing for the purpose of satisfying our own needs and wants.  So, it is not enough not to take actions which harm others, we must train ourselves to not want to harm others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Mark 4-5.

I was not sure what I was going to write about this passage because the incidents recounted here have been discussed from many different angles.  Then I came across what Jesus said to Jairus after he was told that his daughter had died: “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”  This came just after the woman was healed by touching Jesus’ clothes.  She was certainly frightened, but acted on her belief nevertheless.  And earlier in today’s passage we have the story of Jesus calming the storm.  There Jesus asked His disciples why they were so afraid, suggesting that they would not be afraid if they had faith.  So, we have a recurring theme in this passage.  The more faith we have the less fear we will feel.  No, that is not quite right.  The more faith we have the less impact fear will have on our behavior.  So, as we look at the world around us, let us not be afraid but just believe.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.