Tag: Mark 11-13
Faith to move mountains!
Scripture reading for October 18th: Mark 11-13
In 1995 my son Marshal and I went on a study trip to Israel. While in Israel, we visited Bethany and walked the road over the Mt. of Olives that went to the temple. It was a walk that made this portion of scripture come alive!
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived in Bethany and Jesus often stayed with them. Jesus had come to Jerusalem to prepare for Passover week. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey as Zechariah had predicted. He arrived at the temple but simply looked around and left. This would have been on Sunday, the first day of the week.
He returned to Bethany and the next morning as He walked back over the Mt. of Olives. Seeing a fig tree, He went to find early fruit. He found none on the tree and spoke a curse, stating that no one would ever eat fruit from that tree again. He went on to the temple and drove out the money-changers. He went back to his friends’ house for another evening. The next morning they went by the fig tree and it had withered from the roots! (Mark 11:20-21)
Mark 11:22-25 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, that whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
As we walked up the mount of Olives in 1995, we could see Bethlehem and a place nearby called the “Herodium” where King Herod, in the years just before Jesus walked that path, had moved a mountain! He took one hill and put it on top of another using thousands of slave laborers. In the distance we could also see the Dead Sea glistening in the valley below. When Jesus spoke that parable, He had an object lesson for his disciples! As Herod had used thousands of slaves to move the mountain, their faith in God would empower them to move mountains with their words!
The Most Important Commandment!
Scripture reading for October 19th: Mark 11-13
As the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry approached, many of the religious leaders were looking for ways to trap Jesus and have Him arrested. They plotted together as to how they might get Him to do or say something that would enable them to get rid of Him. Jesus answered their questions with skill and wisdom, avoiding their traps and silencing them with His replies. His good answers caused one of the teachers of the law to ask Jesus a serious question. “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28b-31) To answer this teacher of the law, Jesus quoted from the book of Deuteronomy for the first commandment. (Deuteronomy 6:4) God had impressed the need for loving relationship with Him on His people. What Jesus quoted was known as the Shema (Hebrew for “listen”), and is still recited twice daily by faithful Jews. This commandment was to be taught to the children and passed on from generation to generation. They were to share it as often as they could in every day life and find ways to so impress this on the children that they would never forget.
The second part of this greatest commandment came from Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” God desired good relationships between His people as well. Love was the word God chose to describe His people’s responsibility to act towards their neighbors. After all, God is love and love is of God! (1st John 4:7-8) He is the Lord of love!
As New Testament Christians, we are people known for our love. We are people that love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! We love because He first loved us and we have experienced that love in Christ. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit brings a river of God’s love into our hearts. (Romans 5:5) We are then able to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Mountain-moving Faith!
Scripture reading for October 19th: Mark 11-13
In 1995 my son Marshal and I went on a study trip to Israel. We visited about 70 sites around Israel and also went to Mt. Sinai in Saudi Arabia where we traced the route of the exodus ending in Egypt. While in Israel, we visited Bethany and walked up the road and over the Mt. of Olives that went to Jerusalem. It was a walk of 2-3 miles but had some very interesting history that made this portion of scripture come alive in a different way!
In our reading today, Jesus and his disciples were staying in Bethany. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived in Bethany and Jesus often stayed with them. They had come to Jerusalem to prepare for Passover week when all Jewish men were required to appear before the Lord. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey as Zechariah had predicted. He was actually the final sacrifice for the last Passover ever needed! He arrived at the temple but simply looked around and left. This would have been on Sunday, the first day of the week, what we know as “Palm Sunday”.
He returned to Bethany and stayed there another night. The next morning as He walked back over the Mt. of Olives, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree, He went to find early fruit. He found none on the tree and spoke a curse over the tree, stating that no one would ever eat fruit from that tree again. He then went on to the temple and did a cleansing job there that caused quite a stir. He went back to his friends’ house for another evening. The next morning they went by the fig tree and it had withered from the roots! Peter called Jesus’ attention to the tree! (Mark 11:20-21)
Mark 11:22-25 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, that whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Here is what we learned by walking where Jesus walked: There was a fig grove on the Mt. of Olives in 1995. From that location one could look and see Bethlehem and a place called the “Herodium” where King Herod, in the years just before Jesus walked that path, had moved a mountain! He took one hill and put it on top of another using thousands of slave laborers. In the distance you could also see the Dead Sea glistening in the valley below. When Jesus spoke that parable, He had an object lesson for his disciples! With faith in God, moving mountains is easy! But watch your heart, forgiveness is imperative!
Today, take time to meditate on these verses from Mark’s Gospel and put them into practice! Use prayer to move the mountains you face in your life! What a blessing it is to walk by faith in Jesus!