Jesus sometimes uses enacted parables or ‘prophet theatre’ to make a powerful point. This enacted parable calls us to put our faith in God’s absolute power to bring salvation for his people, despite the failed religious structures surrounding his people.
Jesus is the Messiah King and praised by the crowd as he approaches Jerusalem in a carefully managed processional. But there is a great anti-climax as he enters the Temple. The welcome and acclaim quickly falls away. Those who ought to have recognised their Messiah most readily are silent, absent or mocking.
Having laid out his teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus concludes by calling his hearers to action. Doing as has taught results in a house that stands firm. Hearing Jesus’ teaching but failing to put it into practice results in loss. @Growing-Disciples
Central to the life of Jesus’ disciples is to be their trust in the goodness of God to provide for them. They need not store up treasures on earth nor serve ‘money’ as though it were a ‘master’. The disciple has but one Master, who will supply their every need. @Growing-Disciples
Our ‘acts of righteousness’— the things we do in response to God’s grace— include generous giving, prayer, and fasting. They are important. More important, however, is our motivation for doing them. We do them not for public acclaim but for God and his approval alone. @Growing-Disciples
The Law of Moses provided the basis for community ethical life for Israel. The bar seemed high, but Jesus shows the extent to which we all fail to meet God’s holiness standards. We are left wondering, “How can the Law ever be fulfilled?” At this moment, we recognise the importance of Jesus’ mission: he has not come to condemn the Law but to fulfil it on our behalf. @Growing-Disciples
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes— statements of blessing which seem to turn conventional wisdom on it’s head. What seems ‘challenging’ in the present results in future ‘blessing’ in the presence of God in his Kingdom. We learn that the Kingdom is ‘not yet’ but our present realities find their fulfilment in the Kingdom to come. @Growing-Disciples
The most breath-taking realisation in Jesus’ school of prayer is that we are invited to share in the interpersonal life of our Triune God. We are not outsiders and strangers, but insiders to the life of God himself.
Jesus’ parable of the Unjust Judge encourages us to persevere in all our prayers, but particularly in our prayers for the kingdom. We continue to pray that God’s rule will extend, one life at a time, so that more and more people embrace him as Lord and Saviour.
Jesus’ two scenario stories, with a block of teaching in the middle, teach us to be bold in our asking, knocking and seeking. We should actively ask for what we need, trusting that God will determine what is good for us.
The Lord’s Prayer is foundational to the Christian’s life of prayer, but perhaps we know it too well. Perhaps we need to ‘slow down’ to appreciate the privilege of praying this prayer together with the Lord Jesus. It is simple, but not simplistic. It is short, but we never get to the end of praying it.
From the very beginning of his ministry Jesus set aside time to pray, and on a number of occasions, he invited his disciples to pray with him. Why? Because disciples learn to pray by sitting in on Jesus’ prayers. Surely there is no better way to learn than to attend to Jesus as he prays. And so that’s our plan for this week— to learn to pray with Jesus by listening in on his prayers.
This is a parable in two parts. The first part of the parable establishes Jesus’ point that there is going to be a delay before the arrival of the Kingdom of God. But it is the second part of the parable to which his disciples need to pay attention in the meantime— while they wait for the return of their Master.
This parable focusses the spotlight directly on the problem of wealth for Jesus’ disciples. The crowd are flabbergasted. If the man with everything going for him does NOT qualify for eternal life, then who can be saved? If a person is rich, do they really have to give it all away in order to become a disciple of Jesus?
Initially, this is a confusing parable. It turns out that Jesus is calling his disciples to be clear sighted, wise, and purposeful in using whatever wealth they have now in a way that will be to the future benefit of the kingdom. The key that opens up this parable is its time frame: the manager knows his time is short and so he acts quickly for the sake of his future.
Initially, this is a confusing parable. It turns out that Jesus is calling his disciples to be clear sighted, wise, and purposeful in using whatever wealth they have now in a way that will be to the future benefit of the kingdom. The key that opens up this parable is its time frame: the manager knows his time is short and so he acts quickly for the sake of his future.
We can be very rich, and yet desperately poor in relation to God. This parable causes us to ponder the characteristics of the person who is rich towards God. What will it take for us to become rich in relation to God?
What is the minimum standard of ‘love for our neighbour’ we are obliged to meet? If Jesus defines ‘neighbour’ as these people but not those people— then the bar is set. All we have to do is jump high enough to get over that bar. And if we do, we have fulfilled all righteousness. We have ‘done’ the Law of Moses and can get comfortable in God’s good nooks. But Jesus’ answer in this parable turns our ‘minimum standard’ question back upon us. The real question is are we acting as a neighbour.
In Mark 7 Jesus is surrounded by Pharisees and Teachers of the Law from Jerusalem. As the debate builds, Jesus calls the crowd to draw near and speaks to them in a parable. As in Mark 4, the meaning of the parable remains unclear, until Jesus privately explains it to his disciples. Ultimately, Jesus calls for a good diet… of the mind.
