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From the Pastors at Joy

Mark 11-16: Nothing is What We Thought

I saved this post for today, when many of you are concluding the book of Mark.  I hope and pray that your time in the Word has been and will continue to be blessed!

Mark 13 starts with Jesus and His disciples coming out of the temple.  One of His disciples says "Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"  It seems safe to assume that this disciple was expecting Jesus to affirm his statement, to affirm the beauty and majesty of the buildings.  Of course, Jesus does not.  He says "Do you see these great buildings?  There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down."  These structures you love, these buildings you hope in, they will go away.  Just another piece of evidence, in a gospel filled with such examples, that nothing is what we thought! 

The people who were praising God for the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem in the beginning of chapter 11 are, by and large, not true followers of Christ.  The people in the temple who are the high and religious, they are not doing the work of the God they profess to love.  The ones who should be rejoicing at the Messiah's arrival are the ones who look repeatedly challenge His authority and look to have Him killed.  The ones who are throwing large sums of money into the offering box are less admired by Jesus than the widow who gives two small copper coins.  One who has been with Jesus day after day for three years is the one who hands Him over to His betrayers.  One who professes that he is ready to die for Jesus quickly deserts Him when things get too difficult.  Nothing is as it should be, nothing goes as our minds think it should go.

And the greatest example of this is Jesus Himself.  Praise God for that!  No King should come so humbly!  No Son of God should be a servant of man!  No Savior should be stricken with anguish over what would happen to Him.  No Messiah with legions of angels at His disposal should silently go to His arrest.  Jesus should not have been beaten for His declaration of who He is.  He should not have been handed over to death instead of Barabbas, He should not have been mockingly dressed as a king and spit upon.  He should not have been crucified, He should not have felt the pain of being forsaken by His Father, and He should not have died!  This is not what we expect when we hear of a victorious Messiah! 

Nothing is what we thought or expected, so praise God, the story does not end there!  This Messiah IS victorious!  He is raised from the dead!  And because He is raised, we have hope!  He died to pay the penalty of sin on behalf of His enemies (Romans 5:10) - who does that?  He is raised in victory over sin and the grave, the firstfruits of of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20-21).  Adam's sin introduced death into the world, and Jesus' resurrection guarantees resurrection to eternal life for all who repent and believe!  He was not simply coming to earth to eastablish and earthly, temporal dominion, like we thought.  He came to proclaim God's eternal dominion and to eliminate a much greater enemy than the Romans! 

Nothing happened the way we would have designed it, and that is great news.  Because God's designs and plans are infinitely better!  Just as Jesus commissioned His followers to go out and proclaim the gospel, not a gospel of earthly ease or earthly treasure or earthly kingdoms, but THE gospel - that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.  Ponder the great news in those words, ponder how much better a treasure is contained therein, and by God's grace and empowering, tell others this good news!