Mark 11:12-33
My favorite verse of this section is verse 17. Do you catch the irony of Jesus turning over tables and causing a huge disturbance and yet the text says that He did this and "as He was teaching them He said..."
I love that! Even while cleansing the temple, Jesus is teaching.
This entire section is about authority and power. With the fig tree, Jesus (who I think was in a really bad mood that day and preparing Himself to clean out the temple) curses it and later we find out it whithers. I wonder if, when Jesus tells Peter that when he speaks, he will be speaking with authority and even nature will obey...so WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! I'm not sure if this kind of power is to be expected in followers today or not. I do know that when we pray, we need to be ready for God to act and holding grudges is an obstacle to this happening.
When Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees, it is clear that Mark knows that we know that Jesus' authority is from God. Mark just wants us to see the dark side welling up in the Pharisees and religious leaders.
Here was my takeaway this morning. In my preaching, I need to remember that I am preaching to those who need Jesus and I can't worry about the religious who might come and not like what I say. My job is to be a testimony of what Christ would do today. I will provoke some ill will at times (He did). I will make the wrong people mad at times. I will make the wrong people happy at times (according to the religious leaders of the day). All this to say, my goal cannot be power and popularity if I want to truly preach God's Word. I must trust that God is my authority and He will shut me up or change me if I am going in a wrong direction. I need to be confident in that.
Some interesting thoughts for a Sunday morning...
Under the Mercy,
Jason
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