For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Mark 10
Mark makes yet another interesting statement in this chapter. When the rich man asking Jesus about eternal life declared that he had kept the commandments his whole life, just before Jesus told him what he lacked, Mark wrote, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (Mark 10:21). Matthew and Luke don’t make this statement in their telling of this encounter. It is interesting to me because it gives me a sense of Jesus’ compassion and sorrow over those who are hindered from coming to Him. I don’t get the sense at all that “Jesus looked at him and loved him” because he had kept the commandments. Rather, it was because Jesus knew that the man would not be able to let go of what he thought he had in order to gain what he really needed.
It wasn’t so much that Jesus cared what the man did with his riches. The point was that Jesus wanted the man’s heart. He wanted to lead the man to true riches in God’s kingdom and give him eternal life. Jesus wanted these things for this man because He loved him, even though He knew the man would walk away.
Jer. 43-44
What truths does Jeremiah teach those who have disobediently escaped to Egypt? Wow – the narrator of Jeremiah certainly nailed it when he said, “all the arrogant men”. (From Jer. 43:2). When this group made their decision to go to Egypt regardless of what word Jeremiah brought back to them, they decided to completely turn their backs on God. They accused Jeremiah of lying to them. They accused his scribe, Baruch, of plotting against them, wherever that came from. And they totally disregarded God in all of it. What’s worse, they went on to attribute their former blessings from God to their Queen of Heaven! They believed she blessed them when they worshipped her and that disaster came when they stopped. Never once did they consider the disaster a result of their failure to wholeheartedly serve God.
Their final arrogance of attributing God’s blessing and wrath to their so-called Queen of Heaven, got my attention. It reminds me of when the teachers of the law accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebul. Jesus told them, “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:28-29). It seems to me that when you reach the point of attributing God’s work to the evil one, you have reached the point of complete rejection of God.
Ps. 125
In what two ways does the psalmist use mountains as a metaphor? What an image this Psalm paints! I’ve never really noticed it before, but I sure see it this morning. First, it compares those of us who trust in God to Mount Zion, which is the habitation of God. That’s awesome enough in itself. But the Psalm goes on to say that God is a surrounding mountain to us. This made me think of the wilderness tabernacle setup, where God was in the middle of His people. They gathered around Him, but they were still exposed to the outside world. In the image of this Psalm, however, that will no longer be the case. This Psalm tells us that when God’s kingdom comes in full, God will surround us like the mountains so we will no longer be exposed to evil. Then we will remain faithfully His forevermore. Beautiful!