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Mark 6:30-33

 

30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

 

I have just a quick thought from today’s reading. The disciples went out and worked for the sake of the gospel. They returned to Jesus and shared with him the results of their ministry. It has been a busy time. It had been a time of hard work.

 

What did Jesus do with them? Jesus suggested to his disciples that they all get away for a little while, to rest and recharge. Jesus was recommending a retreat, a little rest and relaxation. Jesus called his disciples to take a vacation.

 

What’s cool about this is that Jesus did not tell his disciples how sad it is that they needed to get away. He did not bemoan the sin condition of the world that would require such a time away. Nor did Jesus make the disciples feel guilty for not being able to hack another full month of ministry. He just told them to come with him somewhere else.

 

Now, for those who know the context, the rest that the guys planned was interrupted. But, I do not think that is relevant to the truth that Jesus encouraged his disciples to take a rest and recharge.

 

God has made people and patterned for us rest. The Lord himself rested from labor on the seventh day, and he made that a practice for humans to model. This was not the result of sin, but simply of goodness. Later, with the nation of Israel, God set a pattern of work and rest. He set a pattern of months of labor followed by celebration and feasting. God is not anti-rest or anti vacation.

 

Of course, it is quite possible for a person to make an idol of leisure. It is possible to become so into the down time that you have no up time. But, it is important to understand that work and rest are both part of the good human existence.

 

Lord, I would ask that you help me to work well and to rest well as glorifies your name. Help me to know when I need to press into work and when I need to take time away. Let me be used for your glory in all that I do, at work and at rest.

In my reading this morning, I came across this passage with one of the most misapplied verses in Scripture. I include a good deal of text below, because I want to show it in its context.

 

Psalm 50:7-15

 

7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;

your burnt offerings are continually before me.

9 I will not accept a bull from your house

or goats from your folds.

10 For every beast of the forest is mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know all the birds of the hills,

and all that moves in the field is mine.

12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and its fullness are mine.

13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and perform your vows to the Most High,

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

 

Verse 10 is the misapplied verse: “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” Most often, you will hear this verse used by fund raisers and church planters who desire the comfort of knowing that God is rich beyond our wildest imaginings. We want to know that God can and will supply every need that we have. He already has the funds in his account. We have a rich Father, and thus we need not fear financial failure.

 

By the way, it is most certainly true that God has all the resources we need. He could not possibly lack the ability to provide for us. But, that is not what God is saying in verse 10.

 

In verse 10, God is talking to the people of Israel who were proud of the sacrifices they were making. God wanted them to know, in no uncertain terms, that he did not need their sacrifices. While sacrificing to God is right, it does not benefit God in any way.

 

Consider that, in ancient times, people who sacrificed to idols often believed that their sacrifices were food for their gods. The people were feeding their deities. God wants it to be known that he does not need Israel to feed him. He does not eat their meat. Nor would he need them to provide for him if he did. He owns the world and everything in it. No person bringing him a sacrifice is in any way enriching him.

 

Friends, we should give to God in worship. We should sing his praises, read and obey his word, and give financially to the ministry. These things are right, and they greatly honor God. But do not think for a moment that they enrich God. The Lord is over all. He already owns everything. We do not give because he needs it. We give because we desire to display that God is our God, worthy of our praise and our lives.

Psalm 49:7-9 (ESV)

 

7 Truly no man can ransom another,

or give to God the price of his life,

8 for the ransom of their life is costly

and can never suffice,

9 that he should live on forever

and never see the pit.

 

No ordinary man has the ability to ransom the life of another man. Why? The cost is too high. The need is too great. We lack both the value and the perfection.

 

This passage is a good look at the gospel mystery, hidden but present, in the Old Testament. The psalmist understood that our lives are in need of rescue. We all have earned death. The death that we have earned is because of the sin of humanity in general and our own in in particular. And none of us can say to God that we will give our lives in order to purchase the pardon of another.

 

Imagine two death-row inmates. Both are guilty of murder. One says to the judge, “Take me. Execute me. Let him live!” What would you expect the judge to say. If both men are guilty, if both are headed for execution, it makes no sense. The judge would have both executed, because that was the destiny and just punishment for both.

 

 

Or, how about another scenario? Two heads of state have warred. One captures the other and sentences him to death for his war crimes. Now, the guilty one says, “Instead of punishing me, here is a private in my military. He will stand in my stead.” The victorious leader would reject this offer, as the private is not nearly of a rank to purchase the pardon of a president or king.

 

What could serve as a sacrificial substitute? Only one who is of equal or greater value and only one who was innocent could serve as a sacrificial substitute. We see that in this psalm, and it points us to Jesus.

 

This helps me to consider better how to present the gospel, and I look forward to trying to share it with others.

 

Lord, thank you for Jesus and his perfect sacrifice. I ask that you will help me to live in gratitude for you and what you have done. I also ask that you give me the opportunity, quite soon, to share this with others.

Mark2:28

 

“So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

 

Jesus is here making a pretty big claim. As the religious teachers were scolding his disciples for snacking on some grain on the Sabbath day—an act which was perfectly legal—Jesus begins to talk about the Sabbath. He first points out that David did something far more questionable when he ate day-old show bread. Jesus then pointed out to the religious leaders that the Sabbath was actually put in place for the good of man, man was not created to serve the Sabbath.

 

Here, Jesus was not attempting to say that the laws of God do not matter. Neither did he allow his disciples to break any of God’s actual laws. Though, for certain, Jesus did not require his disciples to submit to man-made, extra regulations.

 

At the end, however, is the amazing statement. Jesus, referring to himself as the Son of Man, claims to be lord of the Sabbath. That is a huge claim. As we read this Sunday in church, Genesis 2:1-3 describes God’s resting on the seventh day and his setting that day apart for man to rest. God is lord of the Sabbath. No man could claim this lordship. However, Jesus does. Yet again, Jesus claims equality with God. Logically, to claim equality with God is to claim to be God.

 

The application here is simple. We worship Jesus. He is God. He is lord over all the law, because he is the originator and giver of the law. He knows exactly what the law is for and to what the law applies. And, by his life, death, and resurrection, he perfectly fulfilled the law of God on behalf of those who come to him for grace.

 

Jesus, I worship you. I believe you to be God in flesh. I believe that you are lord over all rules and all law. You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I pray that you will help me to live to follow you faithfully, under your grace, for your glory.   

Deuteronomy 14:21

 

“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.”

 

This was an interesting one today. As God gave commands about how Israel could live, we get the verse above. Israelites were not allowed to eat any meat that died of natural causes. I’m not totally sure what that would say about road-kill deer, but that is a good way in the future from when the verse was penned.

 

OK, here is what I found interesting. God did not forbid the Israelites from giving that meat to those who were living among them but who were not Israelites. And God explains that the Israelites are to be holy to the Lord.

 

This is a really helpful verse as we consider some of the laws of the Old Testament about being clean or unclean. God was not saying that it was morally wrong to eat the meat of an animal that had died naturally. Nor was God declaring it to be dangerous or harmful. If he were, it would be sinful for the people to give such meat to their sojourning neighbors, as it would be cruel to allow them to give others something that is actually sinful or harmful.

 

Instead, note what God says is his reasoning. He forbids this stuff from Israel because he wants them to be holy, which means set apart or different. This is not about right or wrong. It is about different. It is about doing what God says, not because there is a big moral mandate about everything, but simply because God says so.

 

The application is pretty simple. The Lord is God. He has the right to make commands. We do not have to justify those commands. He is God. He has the right to tell us what to do. No matter how logical an alternative position to God’s commands may seem, if God has made the commands, they are right and perfect. He has the right to command that those who follow him look and act differently from others. 

 

Lord, I thank you for your word here, even in a passage that sounds strange to me from this age. You have shown that you want your people to be different. You have every right to make such a command. I also thank you that you have chosen to call believers to follow you, but you have also declared all foods to be clean. You have chosen a new way for us to look different. Help me, I pray, to be set apart for your glory as you wish. Forgive me for the times when I have looked like the rest of the world. I pray that you will be glorified in my life and the lives of my family.

Mark 1:40-42

 

40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

 

In this early section of Mark’s gospel, Jesus is demonstrating his identity and his compassion. We have seen him healing the sick and driving out demons. He is doing miracles that show his authority over both the physical and the spiritual hardships of this world.

 

This healing is singled out. A leper comes to Jesus and humbly asks for healing. Jesus most certainly could have commanded the disease to be healed. But, the way that Jesus does this has my attention.

 

First, we see that Jesus is moved with compassion. He cares about this man’s hurts. Second, Jesus actually reaches out and touches this man, something that nobody in their right mind would do in that day. But Jesus did it, because Jesus was defeating the darkness and bringing healing and restoration in the man’s brokenness.

 

It is good for me to see this part of my Savior. He is powerful. He is also kind. He heals, which is great. That he is moved with compassion, that he touches the untouchable, that is more than great. He is far more kind that me. He is far more willing to get dirty in order to make the world into what God designed it to be. He is worthy of not only our worship but also our admiration, our awe, our love.

 

Lord Jesus, thank you for healing this leper in this way. Thank you for showing us that you are not only powerful, but you are also kind. Help me to remember this tenderness that you display. Help me to display such tenderness to others.  

Deuteronomy 6:20-25 (ESV)

 

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

 

Here we see Moses instructing the Israelites about how to explain the purpose of the law and the ceremonies to their children who did not witness the Exodus. In this little passage two things stand out to me.

 

First, in verse 22, Moses highlights the powerful and deadly things the Lord did to the Egyptians, saying, “And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household.” God used his might to lead the people out of Egypt. He sent a series of plagues upon Egypt, plagues resulting in death and destruction. The Lord also swallowed up Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, drowning soldiers and horses alike.

 

The reason that this stands out to me is that it is so far from being culturally acceptable today. The truth is, though many people generally say that they are OK with the idea of God, they are not, not at all. It seems to me that most Americans I know do not like God any more. They do not want to allow for the possibility that God is exactly who he claims to be or that he has done what he has claimed to do. Most people I hear want to sit in judgment over God, allowing him to be or do the things they approve of, but rejecting the notion that God might be or do things that do not fit modern, American views of morality, tolerance, or gentleness.

 

But, we must recognize that God is far greater than us. His ways are perfect. His holiness is as far from our ability to capture as the heavens are above the earth. God is not like sinful man. Nor is God subject to our present version of morality.

 

This week, I have been reading other ancient creation stories. In both the Greek and Babylonian creation accounts, the elements are all separate beings, forces which often oppose one another in a battle for supremacy. In both instances, one deity rises above the other through violent conquest in order to become supreme. But, in all of those other stories, the deity is subject to external standards of what might be called justice, rightness, etc.

 

But our God is not like the mini-deities in the creation stories of other religions. He is not one among many. He is not subject to external sources of morality. What makes right actually right is that it comes from the character of God. God’s character is not measured against another standard, because God’s character is the standard for what is perfect. Thus, when God forgives graciously or when God destroys justly, he is right, because he is, by definition, the measure of righteousness.

 

  Also, in verse 25, Moses said, “And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.” The call to the Israelites was to remember and to obey. I wonder how far obedience has been removed from modern Christian teaching in the 21^st century. I’m a big opponent of legalism. I hate the idea of making up rules God did not make or thinking that certain behaviors are what earn our favor with God. Yet, I also understand that the word of God does call the people of God to obey the commands of God. We are not told to simply sit around, be forgiven, and wait for Jesus. We are told by God to grow, to know his word, and to do what he commands. We do not obey to earn righteousness, but because of the grace of Christ already given to us.

 

Lord, this morning I ask that you would help me to remember first that you are who you are, perfect, holy, and righteous. I do not have any right to look at your actions and judge them. Your actions are right because they are your actions. You are the standard of righteousness. You are not subject to my opinion or to the opinions of all of humanity combined. You are the Holy One, and I submit to your rule.

 

I also ask that you would help me this day to remember the call to obedience. Please, Lord, help me not to take your grace for granted. Yes, you have granted grace to me as a gift. Yet, you also have commanded me to follow you. So, help me to obey your commands for your glory and for my joy. 

Deuteronomy 5:24- (ESV)

 

24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!’”

 

Just after reminding the people of the Ten Commandments, the terms of God’s covenant relationship with the nation of Israel, Moses reminds the people of their response to hearing the voice of God. The nation was terrified by the incredible experience of hearing God’s voice speaking out of the fire atop the mountain. So, the people begged that God not speak where they could hear him. They asked that God use Moses to speak to them instead.

 

God, for his part, commended the people for their fear. He saw it to be good that the people would realize that his voice and his holiness are actually scary. He said that it would be good if future generations would grasp the fact that we do not naturally have the right to hear the voice of God and treat him and his word with proper respect.

 

What grabbed my attention here is the way in which God is pleased with the fear of God among the Israelites. I think of that in comparison to how I and others often speak of being in God’s presence. And, this all causes me to be of two trains of thought.

 

First, I recognize that it is good to fear the Lord. Modern people do not often fear God. This is true of the lost and the saved alike. Far too many people among the saved do not consider the presence of God to be a frightening place. Far too many of us have given into the softened modern notion of God as a simple grandfather whose lap we hop into. We do not see him as the one whose throne is full of lightnings, thunders, and earthquakes as is seen in Revelation4.

 

It would be wise, very wise, for us to realize that any communication with the Lord is communication with the Holy One. It would b wise to remember that we are sinners, and we do not naturally have the right to approach him. In fact, should we approach him sinfully, without his protection, he would rightfully destroy us.

 

On the other hand, I also recognize that God has given us the right to approach him in a way that is far greater and far closer than he gave the Israelites. He has given us his Son. He has given us his Holy Spirit. And now he allows us to approach him freely and confidently as we see in Ephesians 3:12. God is our loving Father. He welcomes us.

 

I’m not totally sure how to build the proper balance. God welcomes us. God loves us. Yet, God is the consuming fire and Holy One. He is worthy of our respect, our fear, and our aw. At the same time, he has given us his love and his welcome. To borrow from the idea of C. S. Lewis, he is not tame, perhaps not even safe, but he is good. 

 

Lord, you are holy. I have no right, in myself, to approach you. I pray, therefore, that you will remind me of your greatness, your majesty, and your holiness. You are King, and I am your subject. Help me not to approach you in any form of irreverence. At the same time, you have also welcomed me into your family in Christ. So, I also ask that you help me to understand your love and your welcome. Lord, help me to worship you and approach you rightly, in the way that will best glorify your name.

Acts 26:16-18

 

16 “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

 

Above is Paul’s description of what the Lord Jesus said to him upon his conversion. Paul had a mission given to him from the moment of his salvation, one clearly prepared for him from long beforehand. Though Paul had been an active persecutor of the church, God was going to use Paul in ministry.

 

Paul’s job would be to be “”a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.” Jesus has revealed himself to Paul. Later, Jesus would teach Paul the truth of God. And Paul’s job would be to serve God in that truth and to tell others the truth that God had shown him.

 

Jesus would send Paul to the gentiles. Paul’s sharing of the gospel would have an amazing result in their lives, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me [Christ].”

 

The reason that this all stood out to me today is that Christians have so much of the same mission. We are to be servants and witnesses to the word of God. We are to obey God’s word. And we are to share God’s word with a world that vehemently opposes it.

 

What will happen when we share the truth of God with the world? Well, of course we know that not everybody will believe. But, some will. Some will turn from darkness to light. Some will turn from the rule of the devil to the family of God. Some will find salvation through faith in Christ.

 

This all reminds me that my job is to love God, love his word, and tell the truth. That is all of our calling. And I need the help of God to do this well.

 

Lord, I thank you for salvation in Christ. I thank you for your word. I thank you that you have chosen to let me know how it is that I might obey and serve you. I pray, Lord, that you will grant me the courage, wisdom, and opportunity to share your truth with others. Help me to be honest and genuine with others. Help me to see others move from darkness to light. I ask that you would use me to help people to become part of your family and to follow your word faithfully. I cannot do this on my own. I lack the power and the wisdom if you do not give it to me through your Holy Spirit. Let me be a witness to you and a faithful servant of your word.