Category: Christ Stream

Posted on

April 21

 

Mark 2:23-4:41

We are in the Christ Stream reading from the Good News Translation this week.

 

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Lord Jesus, you are Lord over the Sabbath, over nature, over diseases and Lord over the Law.  May you be The Lord in our lives too.  Amen.

The Sabbath Laws were so detailed and extreme that they were stifling for people. The trend went to these ends after the Babylon Captivity.  The leadership in Israel had been so wretched from ca. 920 – 722 A.D. that they figured that swinging to the other extreme of feigned obedience would be proper.  On the Sabbath no one could walk more than a few minutes. Food had to be prepared the day before and eaten cold. Even today there are some of this same brand of faith who will not flush their toilets on the Sabbath because pushing the handle down that painful one inch constitutes work (this is true!). Yes, Jesus used the occasion to highlight the sillyness of manmade rules.  He was also addressing the leaderships penchant for majoring on the minor and minoring on the major.  And for what it’s worth, it was Jesus’ teaching and His life lessons about the Sabbath that put the Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Scribes over the edge and their reaction steeled their resolve to eventually crucify him.

 
3 – Imagine these jokers being so cold that a man getting his hand healed [on THEIR wrong day!] angers them. What a sorry bunch.  He is healing and cleansing people of evil spirits and a stampede to Galilee had erupted from even neighboring lands. It be difficult to film such a scene for it requires tens of thousands of people to film it accurately so we’ve not really seen this scene duplicated for what it really was.  The crowds could have easily exceeded 100,000.  The biggest of sporting or music events worldwide rarely reach this size. Jesus is creating a rage of this size in a country outpost!  He tells the demons that he is expelling to keep quiet for he was trying to delay the people rising up to make him King/Messiah of Israel.  He was able to delay it until Palm Sunday a couple years later.
Next Jesus is calling the 12 Disciples. This is also in Mt. 10:2ff, Lk 6:12ff, and Acts 1:13. The order of these vary per list but it’s the same men – that’s a discussion for another day.
Jesus is being accused of having an evil spirit by the teachers of the Law. They were angry that there was so much attention shifting away from them and going to Jesus. It was jeopardizing their income. Jesus warned that calling his work to be of the Devil was a dangerous deed that would not be forgiven. We need to hear this today. Too much of this happens now anytime someone has a ministry style that seems “out there” to us. I’ve heard people call a minister a demon or some such label. Take it easy, that puts US in dangerous territory. We don’t know and need to watch our words here.
Jesus responding that whoever obeys him is His family; his mother and brothers. Some branches of Christendom bristle at Jesus saying this for Jesus’ mother is so revered in some churches. But Jesus said what He said.  We need to make sure WE are in Jesus family through obeying Him and leave complex theologizing alone.
 
4 – The Parable of he Sower is a clear memo to us.  We are to be fruitful soil. We are not to be paper thin characters, or distracted by thorny concerns, or lacking substance like rocky soil. We are called to be rich in Him – like nutrients; growing and helping others grow. And we are to be productive. We are to draw others to God like a lamp in the dark. Too many hide their faith. Today people all over the world are being told to put their Crosses away. NEVER. Broadcast the Faith in Our Jesus that saves. Our faith is a growing enterprise. It engulfs more of humanity than any creed or business or movement ever has. It was small once – 12 guys; rather ruffian in nature, and billions have joined since. We can learn from the mustard seed, can we not?  We’ve been living it for near 2000 years.  And one last lesson about nature – when he orders a storm to be calmed: He has control over nature.
Posted on

April 14

 

Mark 1:1-2:22

We are in the Christ Stream as we start the book of Mark – the expedient gospel. We are reading from the Lexham English Bible this week.

 

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Mark is the expedient gospel. One person compared it to an old detective show where the inquisitor would cut off a testimony that was getting too mired in detail to interject, “just the facts, please …”  Mark jumps straight to the baptism of Jesus to begin his gospel. Jesus is 30 years old.  He wants to make sure that the proof of his wonders gets known to the world.  His is the shortened, most concise gospel. The childhood of Jesus is not in Mark. There are no angel announcements, genealogies, John/Baptist buildup, childhood stories to include Joseph, wisemen nor shepherd visits, Jesus as a baby or as a 12-year-old in the Temple.  We see the word “immediately” in Mark dozens of times, markedly more than in the other gospels. Mark wants us to know the wonders of Jesus and then the next wonder, and the next and next.

 

Mark does make a point that all kinds of people were coming from all over to be baptized by John in the Jordan. The managers of all the synagogues had to wonder “where is everybody?” Matthew notes this detail too as he also was writing to Jews mainly. Wait until Jesus comes along and the crowds looking to encounter him grow exponentially! Then there’s really going to be sparse crowds left behind for the priests to speak to. Only Mark mentions John/Baptist’s ‘impressive’ outfit and diet.  At any rate, Jesus is baptized and all four gospels include that the Holy Spirit came down upon Jesus at that time.

Mark’s piece on Jesus’ temptation is very brief whereas Matthew and Luke are quite descriptive.  There is a year of time or thereabouts that passes between Jesus’ temptation and the Galilee ministry; [btwn Mark 1:13and  v.14.]   Biblical scholar Robert Stein refers to this as Jesus’ ‘year of obscurity’.  John tells of Jesus doing about eight notable things during this timespan. The pressure from the Pharisees must have been growing worse, so Jesus retreats to the north to do his earth-changing ministry around Galilee.  This Galilee portion of ministry that begins Mk. 1:14 goes through Mk. 10:1 when Jesus left for east of the Jordan and Judea to the south.
 
He then calls four of the disciples (two sets of brothers) Simon and Andrew, then James and John. Remember, “Simon” is the prominent disciple; Peter. They all follow Jesus immediately. James and John were Jesus’ cousins.  Their mother Salome was Mary’s sister; Mary as in Mary and Joseph- yes, that Mary. So their mothers being sisters makes them ‘first cousins’. [ Following Jesus was a family matter.]  Mark sets out then to assert Jesus’ ability astonish people. He teaches … and people are in awe. He drives out a demon and the reaction is the same. Then more people came at dusk. They came in large numbers. This is the time that people wrap things up and go home for the night. But this is different. This visitor is different.  His results are different. The entire city comes to Jesus and more. And He demonstrates inexhaustible ability to heal and cleanse. Jesus thereafter travels all over Galilee. He does a salient deed in healing a leper with a skin problem. By now, all Galilee and Judea and leaders from Jerusalem were present to witness Jesus at work.  The stage is set for a very prominent story: …
 
Mark 2 – The paralytic let down through the roof is a miracle that becomes a great hinge in Jesus’ ministry. He gives the initial assertion by declaring the paralyzed man forgiven. He then proves that it is not empty talk when he heals him. This verifies Jesus ability to heal and save and that the link between the two is secured –> and that the source of those two gifts is Jesus.  The resentful scribes and Pharisees think it’s their secret right to question Jesus who then announces his reply to a question that was not openly asked. Surprise! Jesus sees through everything and executes a move that echoes through ministries for all time. The rest of his ministry results and can be perceived in light of this miracle and the statement tagged with it. Jesus HEALS AND SAVES. Again, all are in awe – all except the leaders who sense their grip on the people slipping away.
Jesus then calls Levi; Matthew (a sinful tax collector for Rome!) to be his disciple. Interesting that the phrase, a tax has been ‘levied’ still applies today and it comes from biblical literature.     The reading today ends with a question about fasting.  It comes from John’s disciples. John has been imprisoned and so the focus is completely past him and moved to Jesus and Jesus’ followers are acting rather differently than John’s. Jesus responds with three illustrations: the bridegroom, patching a garment, and wineskins. Jesus is the bridegroom. As for patching? Quit trying to patch the old with old ideas. It’s time for the new. The wineskins – same lesson proved a different way.  Jesus has so much to teach them.  And Jesus is not discarding the old Law of Moses.  He just told the leper in the prior story to go show the priest like Moses commanded. Jesus reveres Moses too.
 
Lord, you are talking to us when Jesus is talking to us.  The people saw it and came running to you.  The leaders saw Jesus and resented Him. We want to pay attention to all that you have to show us.  Thank you for coming to us.  Amen.
Posted on

April 7



Matthew 27-28

Today we are in the Christ Stream and we will finish the book of Matthew. We will cover our first reading of the crucifixion and resurrection as we read from the World English Bible this week.

 

Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis

Today we read of what the world has been waiting thousands of years for.  History builds to this event.  The remainder of history reflects back on this event and draws inspiration to finish our call of Destiny.

 
27  – is the trial, crucifixion, and burial.  We are going to look at some of the distinctions of the other gospels compared to Matthew this time through.  If you wish to reference some of this, they are Mk 15, Lk 23, Jn. 18
 
Matthew says the chief priests and elders took counsel.  They had already met with Annas and Caiaphas and been convinced that it was better for one man to die instead of the whole nation…wrong intentions but they did supply the right answer.  They want him dead but they want Pilate to drop the gavel. Only Matthew gives detail of Judas here. Keep in mind that Matthew was a government worker prior to being a disciple -and the only one of the 12 to be so. Legal matters are more of an issue to him than to Mark, Luke and John.  All the disciples were from Galilee in the north except one; Judas.  Interesting that Matthew is possibly making an insinuation here about where “faithful ones” come from and vice versa.  When Matthew tells of him before the governor, John is describing this scene in much greater detail as being before Pilate, the discourse, the back and forth, and the frustration of all involved. From here Matthew tells the most in describing Barabbas, while John merely mentions him. Only Luke describes the scene of him in front of Herod. Matthew tells of the crown of thorns and the mocking as does Mk and John.  Lk doesn’t have that part.  At this point only John tells of Pilate being practically desperate to release Jesus as he addresses the crowd and then Jesus, back and forth. Finally Pilate delivers Jesus to them and washes his hands [only in Matthew] to symbolize that the guilt of killing Jesus is not on him. Only Matthew and Mk reference Jesus being scourged/whipped, but all four gospels say that Pilate then handed him over to be crucified.  Luke gives the most dialogue from when Jesus is going from Pilate to Golgotha (the Hebrew word for “skull”).  “Calvary” comes from a Latin derivative; a translation that plays out later.

Jesus is offered wine mixed with gall -Mark calls the gall–> myrrh.  And then He is crucified

The sign “This is Jesus, King of the Jews” is placed above him.  Mk /Lk only reference
“… King of the Jews”.  Matthew describes the whole sign for his gospel is written specifically to tell Jesus story to the Jews living in Israel/Jerusalem. [Mark writes to Jews everywhere, Luke write to Greeks, John writes to the whole world (Jn.3:16, “God so loved …the what?”  John [alone] describes the bantering over Jesus’ outfit. Mt, Mk, Lk all tell of Jesus being scoffed at; while Matthew tells the most about the derision. The thieves beside Jesus are merely mentioned by Mt./Mk.  Luke is the one who fully describes the dialogue between the two thieves and their contrasting attitudes. And Luke is the only one who describes the beautiful dialogue between Jesus and the penitent thief.  “Today, you will be with me in Paradise” is one of the most beautiful things ever spoken.  It is also a marvelous testament to “being saved by grace”.
The death of Jesus is told by all four who focus and highlight various things distinctively.  Matthew gives the greatest description of the natural phenomenon: curtain tearing, earthquake, ground splitting, tombs breaking open, and multiple resurrections!  Only John tells of Jesus’ side being pierced. Matthew gives the least detail about Jesus’ burial, but he is the only one to tell of the issue of guards at the tomb and more guards being added.
 
28 – Looking only through Matthew for the finale~ here, He tells of the women going to the tomb, the earthquake (more nature detail), and the angels informing them of Jesus Resurrection.  Now they must also go tell the others. Then Jesus appears to them! and also tells them to tell the disciples that He’s alive and they must go to Galilee to meet Him there.  Hey, what better assignment to give to a group of ladies? What do they love better than spreading good news with no other agenda but to be spreading good news.  God knows how to spread the word around, eh?!
Meanwhile there’s a scheme afloat back among the chief priests to spread false rumors about the Resurrection being faked.  — good luck with that.
 
Jesus had other appearances, but Matthew focuses on the Galilee scene next to highlight the Great Commission mainly.  He tells them to take this gospel to the whole world and to obey all His commands and assures them that He will be with them always until the End of the Age.   These words have motivated more action than any other sentence ever spoken.  Hundreds of thousands come to Christ daily even today because of this word from Jesus.  It triggers more missions and publishing and evangelism and salvations and related activity of ministry than any other single thing ever … ONE SENTENCE.  Matthew is so focused on making this the finale~ of his book that he ends with it.  ‘doesn’t even mention Jesus going up and ascending back to God.  Good Heavens.  We need to obey this verse here.
 
Lord, you went through it all so we would have all of you and take all of you to all of the world.  Thank you for being with us still and that you always will.  Amen