Mark 14:43-52

There's no doubt about it. Even in the midst of evil actions, we humans like to pretend we're in the right.

 

This passage highlights our self-deception twice, first through Judas and then through the crowd that came to arrest Jesus.

 

Judas was performing one of the most wicked deeds ever performed in the history of the human race; he was betraying the Son of God into the hands of His enemies. But even with a crowd at his back, Judas did not have the courage to look Jesus in the face and say, "I brought them here to arrest you." Instead, he greeted Jesus and kissed Him, just as though their relationship was perfectly solid. Did he think that Jesus was blind? That He didn't see a huge crowd with swords and clubs? Did he think that Jesus was dumb? That He couldn't figure out that Judas had led them here, or that He wouldn't realize that the men who stepped forward to arrest Him did so because Judas identified Jesus as the one they were after? No. Rationally, Judas knew that everything was plain and clear. He was betraying Jesus. Judas was identifying Jesus, handing Him over to His enemies. But Judas was trying to make himself feel better about the whole thing by putting on a facade of friendliness. He was pretending, to salve his own conscience, that he was living life rightly.

 

What about the crowd? They came to Jesus in the middle of the night with swords and clubs to arrest him. Jesus pointed out their hypocrisy right away. Couldn't they have arrested him during the day? After all, wasn't he a public figure? He wasn't trying to hide from them, like a robber might. He had been spending his time in the temple courts, easily found in broad daylight in the city of Jerusalem. So why would they go to all this trouble to wait until the middle of the night, when they would usually have been sleeping? Why would they come with swords and clubs to arrest a man who wasn't violent? The truth of the matter was that coming in the middle of the night made them feel like they were after a dangerous criminal. Arresting him while carrying swords and clubs helped them sense that Jesus was someone to fear, and that they were right in their actions. If they had arrested him in broad daylight, it would have been all too plain to everyone that their actions were immoral.

 

How easily we men deceive ourselves and justify our actions! How foolish we are, and how scared to admit our sinfulness!

 

Father, send the light! Help us to see the truth. Make us incapable of hiding our evil intentions and actions any longer. Make us fall on our faces, dismayed at the thought that Your wrath is deserved – every bit of it! And when we think that all hope is lost, show us Your love. Show us how while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Make us a humble and grateful people, amazed at Your patience with us. And teach us to walk always in the light.

 

Mark 14:32-42

I am struck every time I read this by Jesus' anguish as He prepares for His death. I'm sure He knows the plan. Give yourself up, suffer, die, rise again. He has tried to teach this plan to His disciples several times to prepare them for what was to come. If Jesus were only divine, and not at all human, this turmoil would probably not be so evident. But Jesus was/is fully man. Just as we suffer when we scrape our knees or eat food that is too hot, so did He. He was no more eager to suffer physical pain than any of us are. The body's desire to maintain itself and protect itself was alive and well in Jesus. He had no personal desire to be flogged; he genuinely feared the pain, a pain far worse than the spankings we so greatly fear in our childhood.

 

In light of this, He still says, "Not my will, but Yours." Without even knowing what God is asking of us – without knowing that God intends anything but good for us – we fear to say these words. God's plan for my life might never involve prison, or floggings, or beatings, or torture, or painful death. Why do I act as though I believe God intends for me to experience pain each and every day? Why do I struggle to say, "Not my will, but Yours?"

 

One note of encouragement. Jesus feared pain, too. In other words, God does not despise us for fearing pain. He designed us to hate pain, and in most circumstances we are to avoid it. All God wants is our faithfulness – not a form of courage that scoffs at pain. He wants our obedience for the sake of His kingdom – not as robots, but as people who must trust Him enough to override their built-in (by Him) desires.

 

Father, thank You for not being upset with us when circumstances make us think twice about what You are calling us to do. Thank You also that You reveal Your will clearly enough that we can face great pain when we need to, testifying to unbelievers that there is more to life than personal comfort and safety.

 

The Body, the Blood, the Future Drinking of Wine

Mark 14:22-26

 

There’s no commentary in these verses. There’s no place where Jesus says something like, “When I tell you that this is my body, what I mean is... When I tell you that this is my blood of the covenant, what I mean is...” The commentary comes at the cross. After the cross and resurrection, after Jesus taught His disciples the full meaning of all these things, they were able to understand that Jesus really had come to die for us all. His body and blood were broken and poured out for us.

 

Why? For a renewed future. Jesus says in this passage that He will not drink wine again until he drinks it “new (kainon)” in the kingdom of God. It may be legitimate to believe that Jesus was merely saying, “One day I will drink wine with you again, once the kingdom is here.” But it seems even more appropriate to understand that Jesus was communicating something about that kingdom. The wine He would drink in that kingdom would be new wine. Jesus came to redeem the world. Not only will those who believe in Him be redeemed and restored. A new heavens and earth will be put in place. The wine in that time will be better wine in every way than any wine men have experienced since the Fall. And the new wine Jesus here speaks about is just one example of the myriad of ways in which that world will be better than the world we live in now.

 

Jesus gave His body and His blood for us, to bring us into the perfect, new kingdom of God. He makes all things new. And we get to be part of it!

 

Taking a break

I just realized that a lot of my blogging has been about theology recently. Which is good. But most of you who take the time to read what I write probably would like to hear about other aspects of life. Like Michael and Emma.

 

Both are growing up. Michael is only four months old, but he has already cut his first two teeth. He loves to be held. He does not like to be put down. Positive and negative, I guess. Emma is quickly becoming a two year old. She says “no” often. But she gives the best hugs ever. And kisses. She likes to do everything on her own. She brushes her teeth. She hunts down a blankie and pacifier for Michael. Sometimes she reads to him.

 

The other day she was in nursery. All the other kids were crying. Emma was going around to each of them, giving them hugs and helping them feel better. The childcare workers said she was the third childcare worker. She gets really concerned for other people. I love it.

 

I’ll try to post more “normal” things. Maybe not fewer theological thoughts (that’s too much a part of who I am and want to be). But more about the rest of life.

 

Inner Motivations & Outward Actions

The Pharisees are often depicted as men who did good things outwardly, but whose inward thoughts were terrible. God condemns such a life, because He knows the heart. But what about when people today have good thoughts inwardly, but never express them in actual words of prayer or in actual service to others? What if I desire for my neighbor to know Jesus, but I count those desires as my prayers and never pray for him with my wife and children? What if the desires of my heart never result in my inviting his family over for supper? What if I only desire his salvation, but never develop a relationship with him that allows me to tell him about Jesus and the good news?

 

I think that this is the state of much of American Christianity today, including my own. We have good thoughts and motivations, and we tell ourselves, “It’s the thought that counts. God sees our hearts.” But we usually do not talk the way we want to. We certainly do not act the way we want to. And nothing gets done for the kingdom of God. This is the kind of faith James speaks about: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:14-16, NIV). James’ conclusion is sobering: “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17, NIV).

 

Which is why I am writing this now. I believe these things to be true, according to God’s Word. And we Christians all need reminded that faith and life go hand in hand. I am one person, Matt Harner. It does not make sense for me to be one way on the inside and another way on the outside. Inside and outside should both display the one life I am living. All of us need to live this way. We need to believe the gospel enough that we live it. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (James 4:17). This is true in the way we pray, the way we lead our families, the way we work, the way we talk, everything! So if I want my neighbor to be saved, I need to pray for him. And I need to pray for him with my family. And I need to invite him over. And I need to speak the gospel to him. All of these things work together. None of them is enough by itself.

 

May we as Christians live one life in Christ Jesus, a life in which our faith and works are one!

 

Opportunities for Evil - Prevented

Mark 14:1-2

 

Yes, this is pretty obvious. But isn’t it amazing how the high priests and scribes were seeking to kill Jesus? These are the moral leaders. And they’re seeking to seize Him by treachery. They’re seeking to protect themselves by avoiding a mob. All these desires are working in their hearts, but they can’t figure out what to do until Judas steps up and offers to betray Jesus (Mark 14:10-11). The only thing that prevented them from following through on their evil intentions any earlier was the lack of opportunity.

 

It just makes me wonder how much evil God has prevented me from doing simply by not giving me the opportunity for it. Add yourself to that thought. And then add the rest of the world in. Suddenly, I’m realizing that the world could be a lot worse, as evil as it is. God has restrained us from ourselves so often. He is good.

 

The Greatest Commandment

“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

 

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

Mark 12:28b-31 (NIV)

 

By His grace and righteousness.

 

Death and Christians

I’m reading one of the early church fathers, Athanasius. He describes the purpose and reality of Christ’s incarnation, defending it through a variety of arguments.

 

The argument that is the most striking to me right now is the argument about the eagerness of Christians to die. Why? Because it seems to me that most of today’s Christians are not eager to experience physical death. Including me.

 

In Athanasius’ eyes, death is shown to be powerless. We ought to scoff at death and death’s threats. Our decisions should certainly not be made based on whether or not our actions will lead to our deaths. Jesus Christ is our Life and Resurrection. We have nothing to fear from death, and should be eager to show others how powerless it really is.

 

Paul questions at one point whether he will die or continue to live, concluding that he will continue to live because it is the best thing for certain others. So there are certainly good reasons to go on living. But Paul’s decisions were not made in such a way as to enable him to go on living. All that Paul did was for the purpose of proclaiming the good news of life and righteousness in Jesus Christ. This pushed him to death’s borders multiple times. At any point God could have decided that it was better for Paul to die.

 

And that ought to be the crux of the matter. Do we Christians so utterly believe in Jesus’ victory over death that we leave all our decisions and actions in God’s hands, not concerning ourselves with whether we will live or die? Do we actually prefer death for the sake of experiencing the presence of Jesus, and gladly proclaim God’s truth and love in the face of death’s threats? Do we leave the timing of our actual passing in God’s hands? Or do we seek to hold death off, fearing it to the end?

 

I pray that my decisions may from this point onward submit to God’s, and that I might never make a decision not to speak or act for the kingdom of God simply because of death’s threats again. If you’re a Christian, I pray the same for you.

 

Hebrew Study

One of the issues making this semester interesting is my study of Hebrew. Hebrew is often a part of seminary life. However, very few students study Hebrew on their own. But I need to. Why? Because the program I am in does not include Elementary Hebrew. I studied Hebrew in college, but I have mostly forgotten it. So I have to study Hebrew on my own to be prepared for Intermediate Hebrew in the next semester or two.

 

I am really enjoying it! I set up a schedule for myself, and – believe it or not – I’m following it! I bought an elementary Hebrew grammar and its accompanying workbook, and I am understanding Hebrew far better than I ever did before. We’ll see whether this continues, but it’s looking good so far.