Mark 10-11
We are in the Christ Stream today reading about Palm Sunday and more. We are using the Common English Bible this week.
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Commentary by Dr. Drake Travis
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for sharing your endless wisdom, your mind, your life and your eternal home with us. Amen
1 – In case anyone is wondering: Jesus is in the final days – week or two at the most – of His life/ministry before He is crucified. It is the Springtime. If we put our calendar transparently right on top of the local calendar of the era and region we would be calling the month April. If you are into calendars, the Julian and the Gregorian and (it’s a laborious study so we will simply mention it here) The year is 29 A.D.
-Fascinating little study about the dates. But, on to Jesus’ march to Jerusalem. He has just come far south. He is still east of the Jordan and getting mashed in by a crowd again, He is teaching and some Pharisees are there. They ask him if divorce is permitted by law. It’s always amusing when someone asks a question and they are not really on a quest to get their question answered. These Pharisees are tramps! They were the type to divorce and give out easy divorces for … a wife burning the food, for casually stating “she isn’t attractive to me anymore”. They treated women below dogs. And so over the years, most of these clowns had turned their wives into skittish, cowering ladies who lived with little value in their own minds so their own husbands were not drawn to them anymore. They don’t care that the Law forbids divorce. They are just trying to set up a situation where Jesus seems pitted against Moses. Makes one shake their head to watch these guys get “owned” or exposed like crooks in broad daylight. I like to say that Jesus tied them in a knot and left them baking in the sun. OK, that’s not very nice 🙁
Next we see Jesus blessing little children, and the disciples rebuke this. For them, children are a segue to nothing. They can’t be added to the “vital contacts” list. Jesus, always ready to create a teachable moment, does so and portrays “the child” as the ones who access God far more readily for they come to God for love. They come purely. No finesse, no secondary or hidden agenda. No attempt to deceive or be dubious. They just come to Jesus because they want HIM. Adults rarely do that, though children always do. And we better learn something here.
~Then there comes a rich young ruler; he has wealth, youth, time, and power. He wants to add Jesus’ wisdom to his arsenal AND have eternal life. Jesus basically says to him, that Jesus is to be the number one priority in his life. We’ve met people who glance over Jesus’ statement here and declare they can never follow Jesus. This is paper-thin scholarship. Just a few verses later
Jesus tells his disciples that ALL things are possible with God. Jesus asserts that those who serve Him wholeheartedly will be rewarded accordingly and they can “take that to the bank”.
-He tells of his Passion again – remember Jesus does this five times during this season of His ministry – James and Johns’ little “I’m #1” squabble is turned into a teaching lesson for service. Interesting that Christians lead the world in service because of this passage right here!
-in the blind Bartimaeus story, notice that when Jesus calls to him, he throws off his mantle. This mantle was a cloak that was sanctioned by the government meaning he was ‘cleared’ to beg. BarT- throwing it away as soon as he hears Jesus’ voice means he KNOWS he will be healed. Do we come to Jesus’ with that confidence?!
11 – The triumphal entry is the event that is commemorated each Palm Sunday the world over. ‘Pretty bold of him to go straight to the Temple and bash all the bookkeepers and kaBoom the bazaar that had developed into an eternal fundraiser. To charge people for praying was disgusting and Jesus’ made is statement didn’t He.?? The fig tree incident can be analyzed for a lifetime, I’ll just pick one facet and say this, “we need to be producing something for God’s sake. Jesus is hungry and wants a fig. Are we going to be coming to God empty handed forever? Come on! He tells us to be full of faith and quick to forgive. Let’s do what we are told here.
-It ends today with the Temple leaders coming to him again with a question that is just a ploy to ensnarl Him. Again, their “question” is no quest. Jesus throws it right back at them and they fall dumbfoundedly silent. This whole interchange is actually taught in law schools today for it’s brilliance and quick reply that exposes what is really going on.
-Looking over the two chapters today, let’s not come to Jesus with our “educated agenda”, let’s come like Bartimaeus and the children with our needs before us and excitement to be with Him.