For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Mark 9
What were the disciples arguing about…again? What was Jesus’ response? It is often difficult to tell, when reading through scripture, where one thought stops and another begins. Translations often group passages into themes, but I wonder if this sometimes causes us to look at thoughts separately that are meant to flow together. The second half of this chapter is a great example of what I mean.
The apostles had been arguing about who was the greatest. Though they did not admit to it, Jesus knew. And so He answered the question they were too afraid to ask. Then, out of the blue, John mentioned a man outside their group who had been driving out demons in Jesus’ name. Was this a random shift in the conversation, or was John’s statement prompted by Jesus’ words? Could it have been something of a confession? What was it about Jesus’ statements that brought that incident to John’s mind?
Jesus then gave another lengthy response, which He ended by telling them to be at peace with each other. Since this entire passage started with an argument and ended with an admonition to be at peace, I have to think it is all part of the same thought. Perhaps that changes, or at least deepens, my understanding of Jesus’ words. There are several, seemingly separate thoughts here:
- The first and greatest must be the last and the least.
- What you do for or to Jesus’ followers, you do for or to Jesus and, thus, to God.
- Anyone not against us is for us
- Causing a believer to stumble is not good!
- Be at peace with fellow believers.
So how do we view all of these ideas as one cohesive thought? I’m not 100% sure. But it seems to be the seed for much of the apostles’ later teachings regarding unity, love, and fellowship among Christ’s body of believers. And whatever all the inner details might mean, I do catch an overall theme. Self-importance and pretentious arguments have no place in a believer’s life.
Jer. 41-42
Why do you think the Lord waited 10 Days to answer Jeremiah? What did Johanan and the people promise Jeremiah? What did they do? Do you have any unfulfilled promises to God? There are so many details in some of these Bible stories that I just don’t get. This whole recounting of the fall of Jerusalem and subsequent events over the past several chapters of Jeremiah is one such detail-ridden story. And so I step back and adopt the 30,000 foot view approach, as I did in Mark 9. What I see from there in all of this is that God was faithful to His word. He promised that there was no place His people could hide, nowhere they could run, and no one they could trust to escape His judgement. He promised they would die by sword, famine, or plague no matter what they tried.
There was, however, an exception to that promise. We saw it with Ebed-Melek, the Cushite who saved Jeremiah from the cistern. God told him, “I will save you…because you trust in me” (from Jer. 39:18). We see it again in God’s response to the remnant in Jeremiah 42. God asked this group to face their fear and put their trust in Him. If they did so, He would save them. If, however, they continued to put their trust in other things, they, like all the others, would fall under God’s wrath. Interesting, how Jeremiah knew before they told him their decision that they had already made up their minds. And interesting how what God asked of them is the same thing He asks of each of us today.