Mark 3: The Herodians

I was interested by Mark 3:6 today.  That verse says that "the Pharisees went out with the Herodians and began to plot how they might kill Jesus."  That seems an extreme reaction for a miraculous act of mercy simply because it was performed on the Sabbath.  It is quite amazing that those who claim to be God's followers could value human rules over mercy and the alleviation of suffering.  But I guess the same sometimes happens today.

As I read verse 6, I had a question though: who are the Herodians?  The Pharisees I know. They have been mentioned in Mark already.  We know them from the other Gospels.  Their reasons for hating Jesus are quite apparent.  But who are these Herodians?  A quick search of the NIV shows that the Herodians are mentioned 3 times in the Gospels.  In Matthew 22 and in Mark 12, they appear in parallel accounts, coming to Jesus in the Temple courts during the last week of Jesus' ministry before the crucifixion.  There, along with the disciples of the Pharisees, they ask Jesus a loaded question about paying taxes to the Romans.  The only other mention of the Herodians is here in Mark 3.  Who are these men?

In one sense, the best answer we have is that we don't completely know who the Herodians were.  We know they were a Jewish group.  And we know, as their name makes obvious, that they were allied with Herod.  Beyond this, details get sketchy.  They were most likely allies of the Sadducees.  It is possible that they thought the Messiah would come from the kingly line of Herod.  Both their alliance with the Sadducees and their hopeful outlook for the house of Herod would have made them unpopular with the people.  Most likely these things would have made them an enemy of the Pharisees as well.  The Pharisees were certainly no fans of Sadducees or Herod.  Yet, in every passage where the Herodians are mentioned, the Pharisees and Herodians are working together.

The reason for this strange alliance is obvious.  Both parties hated Jesus more than they hated each other.  While the Pharisees felt a religious threat from Jesus (Jesus challenged their claims of piety and holiness), the Herodians felt a political threat.  The Messiah was supposed to come from Herod's house not the house of a carpenter from Nazareth.  In Jesus, the two found a common enemy.

Some scholars suggest that the Herodians were priests.  If this is true, they were people who were deeply religious as well as deeply political.  Their mix of religion and politics actually became the thing that kept from the mercy that Jesus desired.  Could the story of the Herodians be instructive?  Could they be a warning about the danger of God's people falsely anointing a political stance with God's favor?  Perhaps those questions can't be answered on the little we know about the Herodians.  But perhaps in twenty-first century America those questions ought to be considered nonetheless.                              

Mark 2: Jesus and Religion

Recently, there has been a video about Jesus that has been quite the sensation on YouTube.  Entitled "Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus," the video starts with the words "What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?"  While the video is well-intentioned, it is too extreme in that it overstates its case.  It's hard to argue that Jesus came to abolish religion when He attended synagogue (see yesterday's reading in Mark 1).  Perhaps it is not that Jesus came to abolish religion, but instead He came to abolish a certain type of religion.  It's clear that Jesus was not a big fan of the religion of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  He thought there was a lot wrong with faith as practiced in His day.

Conflict with the religious leaders starts early in Mark.  Here we are in chapter 2 and the sparring has already begun.  The religious leaders are already critical of Jesus.  First, they are critical of His claim to forgive sins.  Next, they don't like the company He keeps.  Then, they don't like His piety and the piety of His disciples.  The religious leaders feel that Jesus and His disciples are not nearly observant enough when it comes to the customs surrounding the Sabbath and fasting.

Jesus has no tolerance for the criticisms of the religious leaders.  First, these criticisms are based on a faulty understanding of who He is.  But second these criticism are based in a false style of religion.  The religion of the religious leaders lacks mercy.  It is arrogant in assuming that there would never be enough grace to forgive certain type of people.  It has a false love of asceticism, thinking that true faith is about repressive denial rather than joyful reception of God's blessings.  It also has no compassion.  It makes rules more important than the legitimate needs of people, failing to recognize that as valuable as rules can be, they have their time and place.  From Mark 2, we learn that Jesus apparently hates a religion that has no mercy or compassion and that elevates man made rules above joy and human need.          

It may very well be that Jesus hates our religion.  Perhaps our faith often is very much like the Pharisees and Sadducees, but that doesn't mean Jesus hates all religion.  He loves religion as He practiced it: a religion of forgiveness and compassion, one that celebrates the joys of God's blessings and does not steal that joy under a blizzard of man made rules and regulations.                              

Matthew 26: It's All in the Timing

Sometimes it is the little details of Scripture that are interesting. Take for example Matthew 26:5. In that verse, having decided to arrest and execute Jesus, the religious leaders state that they will make no move against Jesus during the Feast. By Feast, they mean the Passover Feast. Jerusalem was swelled with pilgrims during the Passover. Many of those pilgrims liked Jesus. They were considered loyal to Him. The arrest of Jesus would have to occur when there were less people around to observe and to be troubled by it.

The religious leaders were clear. No arrest of Jesus during the Feast. Yet, by the end of the chapter, Jesus is well on his way to being crucified. How can this be? Why the change in plans? The pragmatic answer is that the religious leaders stumbled across an opportunity too good to refuse. Judas, who was accustomed to stealing from the poor fund that he managed, gets upset when he sees expensive perfume being poured at Jesus' feet. Wouldn't this money have been better used for the poor, where he could steal it? This is the last straw. Jesus has made it clear he is not going to be the Messiah the disciples expected. He will give His life rather than defeat the Romans. There will be no political glory or power for Judas. Now even the pecuniary benefits of controlling the bag are being taken. So Judas decides he won't walk away with nothing. He decides to make the religious leaders an offer they can't refuse. The plans may have been to make an arrest after the Festival. But with help of an insider, the timetable can be moved up. The arrest can be done at night, outside the city, away from the eyes of the crowds.

That is the pragmatic explanation for the religious leaders' change of timing. But there is a theological explanation too. God is in charge. The timing of Jesus' crucifixion is set by His Father. Jesus is not a victim of the religious leaders. He goes to the cross willingly. The Passover provides important context for Jesus' work. Just as Israel killed the Passover lambs to cover sin, so also is Jesus the spotless Lamb of God, shedding His blood to cover the sins of the world. The cross is not done to Jesus but by Jesus.

There is a verse in Proverbs that paraphrased reads: "Man proposes, but God disposes.". The plans of men cannot thwart God 's purposes. Matthew 26 shows us that God works in His perfect timing to bring about His will.

Matthew 24: I've Got a Secret

I have read Matthew 24 many times, but there was something that I never noticed until today.  The chapter starts with Jesus and His disciples walking through the Temple courts.  The disciples are impressed by the big structures that they see in the Temple complex.  This is not surprising.  Even Gentiles considered Herod's Temple to be something of an architectural marvel.  In the Ancient World, buildings of this size were very rare.  It is very unlikely that Jesus or the disciples would have seen any buildings approaching the scope of the Temple in their lifetime.

Jesus, though, is not as impressed as His followers.  He reminds the disciples that even these huge, massive buildings are going to be destroyed.  Based on the conflict that Jesus has had with the religious leaders in the proceeding chapters, it is clear that Jesus means that these buildings will be destroyed as a result of judgment by God.

Here is what I never noticed.  The text says that the disciples ask Jesus when this is going to happen.  That I saw.  What never struck me was that they don't ask this question until later, until they are in private.  Why?  Why the delay?

A few answers strike me.  At His trial that is only a few days away, Jesus is going to be accused of saying that He would destroy the Temple and rebuild it.  While the disciples have little understanding of what is shortly to come, perhaps they do understand that Jesus' words' about the Temple are irksome to the religious leaders and a public discussion of their question would be impolitic.  Or, perhaps there is another reason.  Perhaps the disciples like secrets.  Perhaps they want to have the inside scoop and inside information.  Perhaps they like the idea of having some important news that nobody else has.  Perhaps they think that secrets give them power.

If a love of inside information is what motivates the disciples in this passage, little has changed.  Today, Jesus still has disciples who love secrets.  He still has disciples who feel that knowing the time of the end gives them a power and rank and importance that others don't have. (See a certain Christian radio mogul for an example that is both famous and infamous).  What strikes me as I read Matthew 24 is that Jesus says there isn't all that much that is secret here.  He tells His disciples not to be deceived.  He says false teachers are going to tell you that Jesus is here or Jesus is there.  Don't believe them.  Why?  Verse 27: "For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (NIV, 1984).  Jesus says don't believe those who say Jesus is here or there because there will be nothing secretive about my coming.  You don't miss a lightning flash in the sky.  You won't miss me.

There are still pastors and teachers who like the power of a secret.  They like to tell us they have got the End figured out when we don't.  Jesus says there isn't much to figure out though.  Rather than spending our time on secrets, we should spend our time on being ready for His return (verses 45-51).              

Matthew 19: Love Those Love Sermons?

This week, we will be studying 1 Corinthians 13 for our Sunday morning sermon.  That sermon of course will be about love.  Typically, people like sermons about love.  In the popular imagination, sermons about love conjure sweet images of hearts and puppy dogs and other cute things.  Plus we imagine that love is easy.  Sermons about love don't seem as horribly convicting as sermons about sin or holiness or something along those lines.

Our affection for sermons about love is misguided. Matthew 19 reminds us that sermons about love can be tough.  The rich young ruler tells Jesus he has obeyed all the commandments.  "Oh really?" Jesus asks.  "Even that one about loving your neighbor as yourself?"

"Even that one."

"Okay, here's a test of your obedience.  Go take everything you own and give it to the poor.  After all, you love yourself enough to meet your own needs.  Now prove you love others enough to meet their needs.  Give it all way."

Suddenly that command about love doesn't seem so easy.

We should never be fooled into thinking that love is simple.  Love is profoundly hard.  It involves completely sacrificing ourselves for the sake of another.  Jesus' words show us that our capacity for love is greatly limited.    Love has to be measured in more than words.  It also has to be measured in action.

We say we love one another in the church.  That love will not be seen in just words.  It will be seen in the sacrifices that we make for one another.  If we can't sacrifice time to minister to the needs of other Christians, do we really love?  If we can't sacrifice money to help provide for other Christians who are wanting, do we really love?  Matthew 19 reminds us that love is never easy.  Perhaps sermons about love are really the most convicting type.            

Matthew 18: Facebook or Forgive?

I read recently about a growing social media phenomenon: people going to Facebook and similar social media sites to air grievances with spouses, friends, co-workers.  It used to be that anger was something that had to be broadcast one poisonous whisper at a time.  But now we have the ability to broadcast our grievances to the entire world with a few quick strokes of the keyboard and a mouse click on post.  In the twenty first century there is a whole new meaning to airing your dirty laundry.

This "Facebooking" a fight runs counter to what Jesus counsels us in Matthew 18.  Where our culture says air your brothers sins, Jesus says work to keep them private.  In Matthew 18, Jesus says that when we are sinned against we should try to resolve the matter one on one.  After that, we may bring along another person, still keeping the matter as secret as possible.  Only in the end may the matter be brought to the congregation.  And even then the motive is clearly not to tattle or titillate but to restore.

It is the end goal that makes all the difference.  Today people run to Facebook to post the wrongs committed against them because they want to punish.  Their hope is to embarrass and humiliate so that they might get their pound of flesh.  Jesus says His followers are not to be motivated by revenge.  Instead they are to be motivated by restoration and forgiveness and correction.  The goal after all is to win the brother over.

Even Jesus' steps to restoration can be abused.  I have seen Christians follow the steps to peace that Jesus outlines here with the real goal of humiliating the one who offended them.  They want to list their brother or sister's sins before the church.  It is no accident that a passage on church discipline is followed by a passage about radical forgiveness.  It is a reminder of what Jesus really wants.  He wants us to love and forgive one another from the heart.

Has someone wronged you or hurt you?  Don't take your battle to the Internet.  Go to that person privately.  Explain why you feel wronged.  Listen honestly and humbly to their response.  And always be ready to forgive in the same radical way that God forgave you in Jesus.                    

Power Failure- Matthew 17

After every mountain comes a valley. That is certainly very often true in the Bible. Moses comes off the mountain, and he finds Aaron and the Israelites worshipping a golden calf. Jesus comes off the mountain and He finds His disciples powerless to help a boy beset by demons. As I read that story, I relate to the disciples. Many times I feel like them. I have a desire to help but the problems I face seem too complex, too intractable for me. As a pastor, I see many people with broken lives. They come to me asking for help. And honestly many times I look at the issues and hurts and say they're beyond me. I wonder where the power of God is.

Of course I know the problem is not with God. He is not short of power. The problem must be with me. But what issues prevent me from knowing God's power in ministry? Jesus suggests two. He says that He is weary of an unbelieving, perverse generation. These are the problems that lead to power failure: a lack of faith and a lack of obedience. Perhaps I don't have the power to make a difference because I'm afraid to trust that God will work. What if I act trusting God and nothing happens? And perhaps I am afraid to do it God 's way because I am trusting in my own plans and strategies.

I think we often fail to know the full extent of God's power to mend broken lives because we doubt and we disobey. I'm glad that Jesus is willing to put up with a wicked and perverse generation.