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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Mark 11
Something I keep noticing about God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness is that you haven’t really received them until they flow through you. That’s why Jesus said, “if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.” (Mk. 11:25b). This goes along with the concept of bearing fruit. If you are truly a part of God’s vine, then you will bear His fruit. That is how people know that you belong to Him. If they can’t see God in you in some way, there is a good chance that He isn’t really in you.
This was the case with most of the Jewish religious leaders. They thought they had God because of all their traditions related to the Law of Moses. But whatever righteousness they thought they had stopped with them. Nothing of God’s character flowed through them to others. Thus, theirs was self-righteousness and not from or for God. I think this was the case Jesus was making with all that occurred in this chapter. The barren fig tree, the results of the curse, the cleansing of the temple, and His words to the twelve were all to make this point. “Have faith in God”, He said (Mk. 11:22b). Let His character, His forgiveness, flow through you and believe that everything opposed to God will one day be leveled to the ground.
John 12
Philip and Andrew told Jesus that some Greeks were looking for Him. Jesus’ response to them is strange. He said nothing about the Greeks, but instead started talking about His pending death and about following Him. I think this was a message to His disciples. What I hear in His response to their question about the seeking Greeks is, “You show them Jesus.” I say this because He said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” (Jn. 12:23), then compared Himself to a grain of wheat. What He was saying was that through His death, those who followed Him would be empowered to take up His ministry. To expand it, actually, as Jesus ministered almost exclusively to the Jews. Thus it is through His death and His followers that not just the Jews but the whole world finds what those Greeks sought.