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.

A Religion to Kill For

In Matthew 12, the Pharisees' hatred of Jesus boils over.  The chapter is full of conflict between Jesus and these religious leaders.  In fact the Pharisees' hatred of Jesus becomes so great that Jesus withdraws from the region because He knows that the Pharisees will try to kill Him.  What is the immediate source of all this animosity?  Picking grain.  The Pharisees come to hate Jesus because His disciples pick grain on the Sabbath.

I have to say that at first blush I would be on the Pharisees' side.  I like rules.  And the Ten Commandments are pretty clear.  God said honor the Sabbath.  The disciples seem to be violating that commandment.  Couldn't they have picked on Friday and prepared for their needs?  Why did they need to work on that day to be fed?  I am a rules person and if God has spoken that is how it should be.

Jesus, however, introduces another factor into the debate: mercy.  He reminds that Pharisees of a Scripture that seems to show the rules being bent in service of human need.  Jesus seems to say that there are times that the rules can be temporarily laid aside so that people can be loved and ministered to.  This represents a rather creative reading of Scripture on Jesus' part.  It shows a willingness to let narrative and story speak as loudly as dogma and theology.  It may challenge a hermeneutic that wants to see rules as the center of the Biblical project.

The amazing thing here is that the Pharisees wanted to kill to preserve a religion that would tell the hungry that they needed to stay hungry even when the hungry were righteous men on a mission from God.  Religion became more important than mission.  It became more important to be dogmatic than merciful.  Even God had to be sacrificed in the name of correctness and right thinking for the religion to be saved.  God save us all from religion like that.    

Rest Up

I think many of us are looking for rest these days.  Part of the rest that we need is physical.  We are exhausted from the schedules we keep, having far too much to do and too little time to do it.  Part of the rest that we need is spiritual.  We have a gnawing emptiness in our souls.  We are besieged with doubt, with fear, with anxiety, with guilt, and with a general sense of disquiet.  We want to turn the thoughts off in our brain but we don't know how.  Alcohol, drugs, entertainment- those are the things that we unsuccessfully use to try to keep our hearts, our minds, our souls at rest.

In Matthew 11, Jesus gives us a different path to rest.  He tells us how rest for our weary souls is found:

1. We admit that we are weary and tired.  This is implied in the words "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened."  This invitation calls people to admit their weariness and their inability to handle life before they come.  Our society says the answer to feeding our souls is found in looking for the answers inside ourselves and calling on inner strength.  Jesus says the answer to finding rest for our souls is found in admitting that we don't have the answers.

2. We come to Jesus.  "Come to me."  This coming suggests that we are leaving all other things behind.  We are relying on Jesus plus nothing to find the rest that we need.

3. We obey Jesus.  In Jesus' day, the yoke was a symbol of discipleship.  When Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you," he means "Follow Me."  "Obey My teaching."  "Live life as I did."  I think many Christians never find rest because they don't take this step.  They come to Jesus.  They confess Him.  But they never undertake the radical obedience of discipleship.  Without obedience, there is no rest.

It may seem odd to say that Jesus' yoke is "easy."  After all, any disciple knows that following Jesus is hard.  Taking up the cross is inherently painful and even humiliating.  When Jesus says His yoke is easy, He doesn't mean that following Him is without difficulty.  Instead, the Greek word translated easy means well suited or well purposed.  The life may be hard.  The body may not always rest easily.  But the soul knows it has found that meaning for which it was intended.  In confessing our shortcomings, in confessing Christ as our only hope, and in obeying Jesus, we find the rest for our souls that we crave.                

Closet Christian

In Matthew 10, Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for the ministry to which He has called them.  The chapter provides an important reminder that following Jesus is never simply for our own good.  Jesus calls us that we might minister to others.  This message has been lost in the Church today.  Especially in the West and even more so in America, we market a Christianity that is all about self-fulfillment and the meeting of perceived needs.  Jesus never intended His disciples to follow simply for their own good. Instead, Jesus intended that His disciples be trained to minister, to do the very work that He did.


Our Christianity has become ingrown, however.  We lack the missionary vision that Jesus had.  Part of this is because we do live in a selfish culture, one that cares far more about our own comforts and hopes and aspirations than about the needs of others.  But another part of our ingrown Christianity is quite honestly our embarrassment with Jesus.  Miracles aren't received well by scientific skeptics.  Hell doesn't merge well with postmodern notions of tolerance.  Jesus' call to be sacrificial doesn't sit well with our self centered, therapeutic culture.  Many of us have lost our willingness to speak for Jesus because Jesus doesn't always fit well with our culture.  The price of speaking might be high.


Jesus gives a stern warning about this in verses 32-33.  He says there: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."  There is a high price to shame about Jesus.  There is a high price to not being willing to identify with Jesus in front of others.  Jesus' words call us out of our closet Christianity.  They move to us be ministering and to have a Christianity that is about serving Jesus and others not ourselves.             

NT Wright's Translation of the Beatitudes

As we have been reading through Matthew, I have been reading from NT Wright's Matthew for Everyone as a type of devotional commentary.  So far, I highly recommend the book.  Wright provides his own translation of the passage at hand and then writes about it.  I wish I had this book when preaching through Matthew as it really is a treasure trove of illustrations and sermon starters.

I loved Wright's translation the Beatitudes so I will paste it here for you (at least the first 10 verses):

Wonderful news for the poor in spirit!  The kingdom of heaven is yours!
Wonderful news for the mourners!  You're going to be comforted!
Wonderful news for the meek!  You're going to inherit the earth!
Wonderful news for the people who hunger and thirst for God's justice!  You're going to be satisfied.
Wonderful news for the merciful!  You'll receive God's mercy yourselves.
Wonderful news for the pure in heart! You will see God.
Wonderful news for the peacemakers! You will be called God's children.
Wonderful news for the people who are persecuted because of God's way!  The kingdom of heaven belongs to you.

I love that Wright renders the word that is usually translated "blessed" as "wonderful news."  I think that, that really communicates the meaning and the emotional intent of this passage.  Great stuff.  Here is a link if you are interested in finding out more about the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Matthew-Everyone-Chapters-Tom-Wright/dp/0664227864/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325792666&sr=8-1

What Would Jesus Say?

A few years ago the letters WWJD were all the rage in evangelical circles.  Those letters of course stood for What Would Jesus Do?  The implication was simple: whatever Jesus did we should do the same.  The problem was that determining what Jesus would do sometimes seemed tricky.  What one person thought Jesus might do seemed to be the very opposite of what someone else thought He might do.  WWJD proved not to be an easy thing to figure out at all.


Perhaps a better question would be WWJS: What Did Jesus Say?  Perhaps the words that Jesus spoke give us a better insight into what Jesus did and what we should do as well.  In Matthew 4:17, Matthew summarizes the preaching of Jesus in a single sentence.  He says the whole of three years of preaching comes down to this one relatively simple expression.  Matthew writes: "From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'


The phrase kingdom of heaven is rendered the kingdom of God in other Gospels.  Matthew, writing to a Jewish audience with deep cultural concerns about taking God's name in vain, was probably trying to avoid unnecessary use of God's name and thus substituted the word heaven.  This might confuse us into thinking that Jesus was speaking about some future time and future place.  But Jesus was not.  He was not preaching repent so that some day you might be ready for an eternal kingdom.  Jesus' preaching was more than that.  He was preaching that God now is breaking into history and all need to be ready.  All need to turn from disobedient and selfish actions to be ready to be a citizen of and participant in God's kingdom.  


The kingdom of God is here now.  God is spreading His rule and His reign in this world.  And we participate in that reign and rule only as we have faith in Jesus and only as we turn from our sin and obey His Word and command.             

Religious Not Welcome

Who would think it?  The religious not welcome at a revival! That is the very thing we find in Matthew 3.  When the Pharisees and Sadducees make their first appearance in Matthew's Gospel, we see the sneers on their faces.  We hear the boos from the crowds gathered there to see John.  We know the Gospels and we know how the story ends.  We know that these religious leaders are not the good guys.  But those who witnessed these religious leaders come to John did not know the end of the story. They most certainly did not see the religious leaders as bad men.  Sure the Sadducee's were the party of power and privilege.  They associated with the upper classes and had a liberal religion that didn't often win the favor of the crowds.  But to say they were bad men might be strong.  And the Pharisees, they were beloved.  Men who were the very ideal of holiness to their generation.  Yet, John tells them to repent and calls them a brood of vipers.  How can this be?  The answer was simple.  They relied on their genealogical status to make them right with God.  They thought biological descent was the key to their salvation.  But John tells them to look at their deeds.  He says produce fruit if you want to know you are God's children.  And maybe the religious need the same lesson today.  Maybe we need to know our assurance is not about having a branch on the evangelical family tree.  Maybe we need to know that our assurance is about the fruit of our faith, the obedience that shows in our lives.    

Another Year, Another Try

Another year has arrived and with it another recommitment to blogging.  I have been inconsistent with my efforts here (to say the least), but this year I am determined to make a go of it.  Since I now have the ability to blog from my laptop, my phone, and my IPad, there really isn't much of an excuse is there?

Our year starts with a reading of the book of Matthew.  A chapter a day shouldn't be too taxing.  Of course, the idea is not just to read the chapter but rather to meditate on it and hear the Spirit speaking through it so that we can be better disciples of Jesus.

Matthew 2 has the danger of being so familiar that it is hard to hear the message. I feel as though there is not much that can be said about it that hasn't been said already.  The chapter is disturbing with Herod's violent slaughter of the innocents.  When one reads that dozens of baby boys were slaughtered because God drew the Magi to Bethlehem through Herod, one wants to ask wasn't there another way?  Couldn't God have brought His son into the world in a way that didn't cause mourning for all these families?  I think many want to approach Matthew 2 as an indictment of God, but there is no doubt that is not what Matthew intended.  Herod was known as a cruel, capricious ruler and that is certainly what Matthew intends us to see.  He wants us to be shocked that the King of Israel, who has benefit of special revelation, opposes the Messiah while pagan, astrology loving Gentiles worship and adore the King.  Matthew 2 is the world turned upside down.  The Gentiles love Jesus while Israel rejects Him.

In this chapter, Matthew is setting up one of the themes of his book.  Most likely, by the time Matthew recorded the Gospel, it was pretty obvious to most that Christianity was becoming a largely Gentile movement, flourishing not in Israel but in the Greek world through which Paul  traveled.  Assuming that Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience, this would have been an apologetic issue.  Jews readers would have asked how could Jesus be Israel's Messiah and be accepted by Gentiles but not Jews?  Matthew's answer starts to be seen here in chapter 2.  Christianity is a Gentile movement because it is Gentiles who have accepted him while Israel has largely rejected Him.  This reaction goes all way back to the time of Jesus' birth.

This chapter reminds me that having the Bible is not enough.  Herod had the truth but did not act on it and so was lost.  As we start reading through the New Testament this year, Matthew 2 is a good reminder that reading is not enough.  We not only we have to read.  We have to have faith.  We have to have have obedience.  If not, God can find others to come and worship.