Son of David

35While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 37David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight. 38As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Mark 12:35-40, NRSV)

How can this be? I don’t understand because logically it doesn’t make sense to me. This is really where we get into trouble because when we want to make logical sense out of things that don’t make logical sense we stop believing them,

A lot of what we believe is completely on Faith. We must step out and say I can not logically explain this, or understand this but I believe it.

Sometimes things don’t make sense to us. We have to have faith and step out and believe.

Have faith.

Steadfast Love, Not Sacrifice

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. 3Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.” 4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early. 5Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:1-6, NRSV)

God: What is that smell?

Me: a sacrifice to you. I couldn’t afford a lamb, so I got a raccoon.

God: a raccoon? seriously you think that is what I want?

Me: I’m trying my best with what I have here.

God: uhm, no not really. I don’t want that smelly thing.

Me: then what can I do?

God: Love as I loved you. I took you when you were smellier than that thing and still loved you. Love like that.

Me: I can’t.

God: I know, but try at love and I’ll help.

Me:

God: just try I’ll be there with you.

Love Your Neighbor

13You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. 14You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. 15You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. 16You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. 17You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:13-18, NRSV)

This whole passage can be summed up in the title, Love your neighbor. Treat the people around you as you would want to be treated.

If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, then don’t do it to someone else.

Love God, Love neighbor.

Hear, O Israel

Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2so that you and your children and your children’s children, may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.4Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:1-5, NRSV)

The Shema is 1 of 2 prayers commanded in the Torah and the last 2 verses here start that. Hear O Israel The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Jews pray this every day.

I wonder how our lives would change if we all prayed this every day before we went to bed. The Lord is our God, the Lord alone, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. How would our lives be different?

I believe we would be less fearful. I know as we live in the time of Covid-19 and we are all washing our hands and singing Happy Birthday or something else, I have started praying the Lord’s Prayer because it is 20 seconds long and is the amount of time needed for proper handwashing, and it puts me at ease, knowing that God is in control and will always provide for my needs.

How would our lives change?

The Greatest Commandment

28One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question. (Mark 12:28-34, NRSV)

Love God and love neighbor. There is nothing above this. We can do all of the good deeds and sacrifice as many animals as we want but none of that matters. All that matters is you love God and neighbor.

Do you love God and neighbor?

Debate on Resurrection

18Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, 19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ‘if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ 20There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; 21and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; 22none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. 23In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her.” 24Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.” (Mark 12:18-27, NRSV)

Sometimes we get so hung up on the rules we miss the real thing. God is the God of the living not the dead, so even when we die we go on living.

We are so hung up on getting things right we miss the people for the person doing something we don’t like.

Let us love as God loved us, picked us up when God couldn’t stand to look at us or be with us and loved us.

Love.

Taxes to the Emporer

13Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. 14And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? 15Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” 16And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” 17Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. (Mark 12:13-17, NRSV)

Why do we put God to the test?

We hear what God wants us to do and we balk and question. We don’t want to do what God asked us or is sending us to do.

We try to get out of it or figure a way to make it different.

But everything we have is God’s and we should give it back as it was given. And follow where we are led and know that God is always with us.

The Chief Cornerstone

21I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.
(Psalm 118:21-26, NRSV)

Today is a gift from God and we should rejoice and be glad God has given it to us.

Let us be glad for another rotation of the earth we get to participate in and let us share God’s love in everything we do.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?” 12When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away. 13Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said. 14And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? 15Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” 16And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” 17Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. (Mark 12:1-17, NRSV)

Give to the emperor what is the emperor’s and give to God what is God’s. Interesting line when we get confused with what is ours and what is God’s.

But the story of the vineyard makes no sense with the tenants beating and killing the servants of the land owner because he is wanting his portion but then it really goes off the deep end with them killing the son so the inheritance of the vineyard would be theirs. Really? Is that how an inheritance works? If I kill the one who would inherit then I get the inheritance? Doesn’t make sense. But isn’t that really how we all work?

We think everything we have is ours and we shouldn’t pay taxes or give anything to God. But God gifted us and gave us the skills to get what we have so technically everything we have is God’s.

So we need to give to the emperor what is the emperor’s and what to God is God’s.

A Question of Authority

27Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” 29Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” 31They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?” —they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. 33So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Mark 11:27-33, NRSV)

When you worry about the answer and how the person will react or what answer they want that is when problems come. We need to speak the truth, in love, and know that is the correct answer regardless of the reaction. We can only control ourselves.

Jesus knew they wanted to catch Him so He asked a question which made them wonder the right answer.

So where did the Baptism of Johnncome from?

And what did you do about it?