Lev. 25
Not much to say except that this chapter really seems to stress the thought that everything we think we own really belongs to God and that it is important for us to remember and recognize that fact. Interesting that the one thing they were truly allowed to call their own were the slaves they purchased from other nations, presumably because those people did not belong to God. Not sure what to make of all that right now, except that it seems to encourage the idea of living generously, especially toward fellow believers.
Mark 11:1-18
Mark sure likes the word, “immediately”….
People fear the truth, especially when it interferes with what they want. The religious leaders in this passage had a tidy little game going in the selling of temple sacrifices. It sounds as if they were not living generously, as God’s law requires, but were using the details of the law to profit at others’ expense – not good! They feared Jesus, because He was and is the Truth, and He threatened their empire. Remember that concept of reward here and now or reward for eternity? These people were all about the here and now. Let it not be so with us.