The Monday of Holy Week... "Curses!"

Text:  Mark 11:12-19

Theme:  Curses!

A mature fig tree

Jesus went into Jerusalem from Bethany, and on the way sees a fig tree that has its leaves out in the spring.  It was not the season for figs, but a fig tree in leaf would already have little, edible, "figlets" that would become figs and were a simple treat to eat.  This tree didn't have them, and so Jesus curses it, because it held the promise of fruitfulness without the reality.  This sets the stage for the next event.

Arriving at the Temple, Jesus, for the second time, attacks the commerce taking place in what is often called "cleansing the Temple."  But he doesn't cleanse it, he "curses" it with words taken right out of Isaiah and Jeremiah rebuking the Israelites for their unfaithfulness.  As rightful King arriving on Palm Sunday, he had looked with a look of evaluation the evening prior before going to Bethany.  Now he has rendered his judgment that the Temple's role was finished.  This beautiful edifice looked "fruitful" religiously, but in fact it had become the opposite through the corruption of its controllers.

The fig tree was an established symbol of Israel.  The Temple was the heart of Israel's worship of God.  In his actions Jesus was passing divine judgment on the nation and its worship.  While both showed the promise of bearing fruit, neither actually did so.

As we consider our walk with Christ during this Passion Week, we might want to do some "fruit inspecting" concerning ourselves.  Do we profess great love for Jesus, but manifest little evidence of it in our lives?  Paul was not above warning professing believers to do self-examination to see if we have true faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).  But even true believers must sometimes acknowledge that our fruitfulness has been adversely affected by a lack of abiding in Christ.  Perhaps our prayer might be that the Father--whom Jesus calls the Vinedresser (John 15:1) might come and do his work of pruning us as branches so that we might bear more fruit (John 15:2).

Palm Sunday: Anticipating A Savior

[This will be the first of seven posts this week about "Holy Week," the time between Jesus' triumphal entry and his resurrection. First posted last year, this post and the following six are offered to help you focus on the events of Holy Week]

In the weeks leading up to what we call the "Triumphal Entry," Jesus had been moving through the region around Jerusalem, Judea, and the region beyond the Jordan, doing a choreographed tour that was designed to avoid direct confrontation with the Pharisees and yet set up a moment of grand tension and climax.

Staying out of site and then coming to Bethany to raise Lazarus.

Joining the pilgrims across the Jordan and making his way toward Jerusalem for his final Passover, healing the blind man Bartimaeus as he went.

Stopping in Jericho long enough to have a party in Zacchaeus' house and welcoming that tax collector into the kingdom.

Heading toward Jerusalem, but lagging behind the crowd so that they would be there when he finally arrived on Sunday.

Having a feast at Lazarus' house, emphasizing that miracle and causing no small amount of despair among his enemies.

Then, finally, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, in fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy.

No one who knew their Bibles could doubt what Jesus was doing or what is meant. The Pharisees and chief priests certainly understood. The king had come to Jerusalem.

There was only one problem. Jerusalem and its leaders didn't want this king--or at least the kind of kingship he represented to them. This was also in fulfillment of prophecy, but it still meant that, by their rejection, they were sealing their own doom and the destruction of their beloved city.

However, the story does not end there. The week between Palm Sunday and Easter, called "Holy Week" by many, was a time of much teaching and preparation by Jesus, pointing to his coming death, but also to the culmination of history, when he would return to earth, again presenting himself as a King. This time, there would be no option being presented, however. He would come in power and glory, taking vengeance on his enemies and redeeming his people.

This Palm Sunday, we can join the chorus of those on the streets crying out "Hosanna"--meaning "save now!"  Thankfully, we know that through his death, he has secured that salvation, and his resurrection is the proof. We also now know that he will be king, and it will be amazing.

Keep returning this week for posts on the events of Christ's passion during Holy Week.

Calling all Greek Nerds

OK, I revealed last Sunday that I am a bit of a grammar enthusiast, especially in my poorly maintained biblical languages. For those who need a continuing review, help is available. I was informed of a great resource called "Daily Dose of Greek" from Professor Rob Plummer of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Plummer teaches New Testament, but I'm especially grateful for his daily emails with a link to short video that takes you through one verse of the New Testament a day, and helps you remember what you once learned.  I do this most every day.

Here is his introductory video.




And here is a sample video for you to view:


1 John 1:2 from Daily Dose of Greek on Vimeo.

Go to the website and sign up for the daily emails if you are interested.

Listening to the Great Preachers of Old

I love the quotes that I find from old preachers, and none is more quotable than Charles Spurgeon [Of course when I say "old" preachers, I do not mean that they were old when they preached, only that they are from days gone by.] Here is one of the best I've seen on the difficulty in understanding how divine sovereignty and human responsibility should be considered.

"The system of truth is not one straight line, but two. No man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once.

I am taught in one book to believe that what I sow I shall reap: I am taught in another place, that “it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”

I see in one place, God presiding over all in providence; and yet I see, and I cannot help seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his actions to his own will, in a great measure.

Now, if I were to declare that man was so free to act, that there was no presidence of God over his actions, I should be driven very near to Atheism; and if, on the other hand, I declare that God so overrules all things, as that man is not free enough to be responsible, I am driven at once into Antinomianism or fatalism.

That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.

If, then, I find taught in one place that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find in another place that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is my folly that leads me to imagine that two truths can ever contradict each other.

These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity: they are two lines that are so nearly parallel, that the mind that shall pursue them farthest, will never discover that they converge; but they do converge, and they will meet somewhere in eternity, close to the throne of God, whence all truth doth spring."

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon from his sermon “Sovereign Grace and Man’s Responsibility,” originally delivered Sunday morning, August 1, 1858, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens, London.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/adrianwarnock/2010/12/giving-spurgeon-the-last-word-on-arminianism-and-calvinism/#ixzz3TG9bJHbU

Loving ISIS: Remembering Jesus' Words When I Don't Want To

As someone who scans my Twitter feed once or twice a day, I appreciate the many and varied links and headlines people share there. One of them bothered me, though, after the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya. It was from one of the more "progressive" evangelical voices, and I'm not usually a fan. He called on Christians to pray for the families of the 21 victims, and then he called on us to pray for their murderers.

My first reaction was anger--how could he equate the two? That diminished the martyrdom of these Christians! They should not be mentioned in the same sentence, breath, or prayer as the ISIS villains who killed them.

But a few seconds later (after that first wave of indignation), I realized that I was absolutely wrong, and this "tweeter" was reflecting only what Jesus would have said, and did say. He taught, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you," remember? If not, see Matthew 5:44. And when he was being crucified and mocked, he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Yesterday, I joined with some others who were going to pray for the persecuted church, and I listened and joined in as prayers were offered for both the persecuted and the persecutors. I could agree, because I remembered my humbling reaction from a few days before.

But it became much more personal a few moments after our prayer time, when I was sent a link to a broadcast on a Christian TV station that blankets the Middle East. On a call-in show, the brother of two of the martyred Egyptian men shared his joy that his brothers had been faithful to the end. He thanked ISIS for not cutting out the audio on their broadcast so that his brothers could be heard calling out to Jesus as their Savior and Lord. When asked what his mother would do if her sons' murderer was to walk down her street, she answered that she would invite him in and ask God to open his eyes. This man then prayed for his brothers' killers, asking God to open their minds to the truth and free them from the lies that they have been taught. You can watch the video here. Or, watch it from the link on my Facebook page.

This living demonstration of faith and obedience in loving one's enemies was something that moved me powerfully. Not having these kinds of enemies, I can still find it hard to overlook slights and insults. Yet what Christ calls us to is so radical that it can and does look ridiculous to the world--and maybe to some Christians, too. 

ISIS represents evil in so many ways. I pray for their defeat. Yet, that does not mean that its adherents are beyond the saving grace and forgiveness of God. Remember, one of Christianity's chief spokesmen was complicit in the murder of Stephen. May God raise up dozens of Saul/Paul types through the martyrdom of Christians, even from among the murderers themselves.

Moving from Error to Apostasy? The Continuing Saga of Rob Bell

This may seem like simply repeating old criticisms, but new developments make me even more concerned about one man's downward journey. A while back,  I wrote about my serious concerns with Rob Bell's movements away from orthodox Christian belief as he left

Rob and Kristen Bell appeared with Oprah Winfrey on her
lastest "Super Soul Sunday" special. 

his pastoral ministry and entered into a working partnership with one of the world's most popular "spiritual" people--Oprah Winfrey. He has already taken many views with which I disagree, and which I believe are in conflict with what Christians have always believed based on the Scriptures. In this latest broadcast, Bell addresses the question of gay marriage and says that the church is moments away from embracing it (as he does). Again, this is no surprise.

But in what is the most troubling of statements in the interview, Bell says that the Church simply looks more and more irrelevant when its best defense against the arguments for gay marriage "is quoting letters written 2,000 years ago." Those "letters" are the books of the New Testament, and if his view is that they are simply outdated letters, then Bell has moved publicly away from submission to the authority of the Word. I can disagree with someone on interpretations but still admit that both of us seek to submit to Scriptural authority. But this is a dismissal of appealing to Scripture as authoritative.

I would hope that the church that ordained him would, upon hearing this, conclude that he is no longer orthodox in his view of Scripture and would revoke his ordination. I would hope that believers would realize that this makes Bell no longer a teacher of Christian faith, since that faith derives from the message of these letters (we would not know of Jesus without them).

Not only has Rob sacrificed his "evangelical credentials" (I don't think he cares about that); he has aligned himself with those who "went out from us" in 1 John 2:19 (one of those letters he now feels make the Church irrelevant when we quote them). My heart's prayer, right now, is that he will repent from the blindness that Oprah's aura seems to have stricken him with. I fear for his soul, especially as one who still has influence over other souls. He may not believe that the wrath of God is real and will still fall on those who reject God's truth, but I do.

Great words from a past master to today's teachers

Howard Hendricks was one of the great teacher/preachers of my life span so far. I just saw a link to one of his sermons on video on YouTube, and watched it. I'm glad I did. The sermon was entitled, "The Ultimate Final," and it was from 2 Timothy 2:15. He suggested three questions anyone who would be a person of influence in a broken world should ask themselves based on this passage:
1. Is the Lord well pleased? A passion for a Person.
2. Is the work well done? A passion for excellence.
3. Is the Word well used? A passion for truth.

Great and probing questions for me and for you. Another great quote: "When I try, I fail. When I trust, He succeeds."

Watch the message below.