Mark - Most Important

 

Mark - Most Important

Question of the day: What is something that you value greatly?

Today's lesson is an incredibly long passage of scripture, but it really all needs to go together. So Read it all and then see if it doesn't all come together. As you read this I want you to think about the people asking the question. I want you to think about why they are asking it, and their response to Jesus' answer. The answers and what Jesus is saying is important, but for today I want you to think about those who are asking and what their motives are. As you read, I have also taken out all the headings. Who ever reads it in class, please try to read it without the headings. Thanks.

Scripture for today:  Mark 11:27 - 12:34

27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”

31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Chapter 12

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?”

12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax[b] to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.

18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection[c] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[d]? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Let's look at who these people were who were coming and asking questions of Jesus.  

First:  Chief Priest, Teachers of the Law and elders.

Second: They sent Pharisees and Herodians

Third: The Sadducees

And last another teacher of the law.

Let's look at who these people were. 

According to Gotquestions.com

"At the time of Jesus, there were certain groups—the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees—that held positions of authority and power over the people. Other groups were the Sanhedrin, the scribes, and the lawyers. Each of these groups held power in either religious or political matters. The Herodians held political power, and most scholars believe that they were a political party that supported King Herod Antipas, the Roman Empire’s ruler over much of the land of the Jews from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. The Herodians favored submitting to the Herods, and therefore to Rome, for political expediency. This support of Herod compromised Jewish independence in the minds of the Pharisees, making it difficult for the Herodians and Pharisees to unite and agree on anything. But one thing did unite them—opposing Jesus. Herod himself wanted Jesus dead (Luke 13:31), and the Pharisees had already hatched plots against Him (John 11:53), so they joined efforts to achieve their common goal."

What were these groups trying to do?

Why were they doing it?

Jesus was being very disruptive to all their control, to the culture they had cultivated through their teaching.  He was turning things upside down. They needed to put a stop to him and his teaching so they could maintain control and hopefully rekindle some they had lost.

All of these were in effort to trick him, and then he not only demonstrated he was brighter than they were and but he was also calling them out in his parables. 

Then the along comes another teacher of the law.  This one, was different.

He asked but with a different heart, if not to start with, his eyes were opened to what Jesus said, and knew he was hearing truth.  It changed him. 

Have you ever heard something that you NEVER forget? 

This teacher, still had a heart and mind that was malleable. 

This week has been crazy busy.  Thursday I went and heard an amazing speaker David Bailey.  He was talking to a group of pastors and church leaders about race relations and why talking about race is so challenging etc. One of the first things he talked about was really developing our listening skills and giving others a chance to be heard and seen.  He talked about listening with humility.  Listening not for debate but to learn. 

This teacher of the law knew how to really listen and see and realized that debating him was futile and that what he said was truth.  

Today I want you to think about how you read and study the bible.  We often use it to prove points, to be a reference guide for us.  In this class we talk all the time about seeing the big picture, the whole picture instead of pulling out texts hear and their to prove our points.  

How do you study the bible?  Is it to prove your points or do you study and read it with a humble heart ready to learn.  

How do you approach God? No matter how "GOOD" a Christian you may claim to be,  many of us still approach God with a debating heart instead of an open heart. 

In biblical terms we often hear about hardened hearts. Is your heart hardened, or open.  

Tonight my son shared a conversation he had with someone.  In that conversation the other person brought up that Jesus wouldn't lead people astray, so as long as we pray, he will guide us and we won't end up in the wrong place.  My son asked about all the people who do pray and yet make really bad choices and go the wrong direction.  The answer from the person in the conversation was that they must not really be praying.  

It is fascinating to me that the Pharisees and Sadducees and other Teachers of the law came and asked questions and yet when Jesus answered them they still went the wrong direction.  

Perhaps it isn't so much about praying, or asking, or even opening his word as much as it is about having ears that really listen, about having a heart of humility. 

If we want to be like the teacher of the law who got it, then we have to have an open heart and learn with humility.