God's ways are not our Ways nor are His Thoughts

Mark 2:23-28

At the time Jesus walked on planet earth Rome was mighty and had set up men in Judea and Israel that did what they told them to do.  They left the Priest and Temple worshippers alone as long as they submitted to Rome’s authority.  This was a line the Jews and mainly the religious authority wanted to keep, in that they were a governing body and controlled the people.  So anything that might rock that boat was a threat, Jesus was a significant threat, because He was not submissive to the priest, but Jesus was in total submission to His Father.  Jesus had no will of His own, only to do the will of the Father.

Now the Pharisees were a big part of the religious group, they were the leaders and teachers of the law, and they were fearful of any Rabbi that did not conform to the control, customs and traditions of the high priest.  So they shadow Jesus and His disciples.  In Mark 2:23-24, “One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

The following in Mark 2:25-28, is Jesus’ reply. “And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar, the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

The statement of Jesus where He states; “So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”  It is clear Jesus is talking about authority and affirming His status.  It is no different than in John 10:30 when He stated; “I and the Father are one.”

I would not be loving if I did not ask this question, have you come by faith to affirm that statement in your own life?  If so wonderful, but if not be honest with the Lord, and tell Him so, and begin reading in the gospel of John.  At this point,  ask the Holy Spirit to show you the truth.  Jesus is very clear in what He taught, and He states; “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)  I've been asked if I believe what Jesus said in John 14:6, it is so exclusive!  The answer is yes, Jesus cannot lie, show me any other religion that redeems man from sin by God becoming a man, dying on a cross, rising in three days and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.  You cannot, it is finished, and it is your choice to receive Him as God or reject this love gift and die in your sins.

From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice

The taste of New Wine

Mark 2:18-22

As a new believer in Christ, my mentor Jack Archer gave me a book and its title was “A Taste of New Wine” by Keith Miller.  I’ve passed that book on to someone else and yet today as I began to read Mark 2:18-22, the title of that book came to mind.  If I recall correctly, it was about Keith’s pilgrimage of faith, and this is not an endorsement but just a thought that came to mind as I looked over these verses.

Now lets explore the question ask of Jesus in verse 18; “Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

Never been a time when a group of people has not ask such questions, why can’t Baptist dance or drink, and the answer today is many do.  But in my youth I would ask my mother what is wrong with going to a sock hop at school and her reply was, it leads to other things like drinking and smoking and going to bars, I was twelve.  Now Mom had no clue that my friends Gary, Jimmy and I were already tasting his mom and dad’s brandy and smoking grapevine and then old cigarette butts.  I’m thankful for the brandy, and it made a young man understand that Dr. Pepper was a wonderful thing to drink.

But that question is still asked by many active workers in Church ministry, why are you not doing what we are doing?  It might be helpful if they reread Paul’s teaching on Spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7.

Listen to Jesus fantastic reply; “And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

All who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ have entered into Christ, and He has come into them and have received fresh wineskins so to say, in that a new wine or better said, the Holy Spirit of God now indwells us.  The old man is dead, he has been crucified with Christ and no longer lives, but Christ lives in us.  We still have the battle with our flesh, but are not under its control if we allow the Lord to lead us.

So we need to look at the early Church to understand what a body of believers did after Jesus no longer walked this earth, but now He lives in their hearts and minds.  We find significant teaching in Acts 13:1-3; 14:21-23; it is clear that fasting is and should be part of a follower of Christ’s life.  Make sure you do not become a Pharisee in doing so; Jesus said they did it for men to see.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What is a Christian?

Mark 2:13-17

Follow me was a call to discipleship then and now, but many who go by the name Christian never seem to make that connection.  Much of my younger life in Christ, if you asked me I would have said I’m a Christian, but there came a time I asked what does that mean, the word Christian to others outside and inside the church.  The dictionary defines the word Christian as, professing Christianity or its teachings: the Christian Church.  But that is not what many outside of the church would say; they believe a Christian is more than likely a Republican who is angry and bitter and against almost everything. 

It became clear to me that both the world and many in the church do not have a Biblical understanding of what the word Christian means.  And as I explored, it became clear that it was non-Christians that gave that name to those who were the earlier followers of Christ.  It was around that time, that I dropped the name Christian as who I was and I entered into being a follower of Christ.  When by grace through faith given us by the Father, we ask Jesus to forgive us of the sin of unbelief and we entered into a relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; we came into the family of God.  We get adopted into the family; we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ.

Matthew was just like 99% of us when he got up and followed Christ immediately, and he had little understanding of the fullness of the call Jesus put on his life.  In verses 15-17, we see our Lord having dinner at Levi’s house with his disciples and all the friends of Levi.  One must ask, what kind of friends did Levi have and it is clear they would not be of the religious class in that he was considered by them to be a traitor and a sinner?  We see Jesus and His disciples enjoying a meal with tax collectors and sinners, and this was a big no, no!

Now scribes and the Pharisees were not that different than some people you and I hang out with, very religious in public, now public is the key word but on vacation or home not so much.  I’ve often said, you can’t con a Conner, yet for years I duped myself into believing I was not acting like a Pharisee.  And if a Pharisee today or back then saw a rabbi or teacher doing something like coming out of a bar they instantly condemned them to others.

That is what the Scribes and the Pharisees were doing with Jesus when they ask; “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  And this was Jesus’ answer to them, then and now; “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  If one lives in a culture as we do in 2018, where from birth on it is someone else’s fault and often God gets the blame for anything bad that happens.  Where good is called bad and evil is called good, and evil and sin are removed from the vocabulary, and everyone does what is right in their own eyes, you have no need for a redeemer, for Jesus.  Jesus came for this reason; “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Finite Mind verse Big God

Mark 2:1-12

I’ve not been on many mission trips, but most of the time they are long days and very rewarding, but when getting back home one looks for some downtime.  As we begin the second chapter of Mark, Jesus is returning to Capernaum and He has been home just a few days when the word gets out that He is back.

It was not reported that the people said he was drained from preaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons, let’s not bother him.  No, that is not the account Mark gives us, go to verse 2, “And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.”  Can you imagine this setting; these town folks invaded the home where Jesus was staying to the extent no one could come or go, and no one else could get in the house.

That’s when four guys showed up, Scripture only tells us it was four men, would you want four friends like these men.  They have a friend who is a paralytic and the four of them picked up his bed and brought him to Jesus, but they had a problem, no one was going to give up their place to let him in to see Jesus.

Now I bet these guys were in sales, the key to being good at selling is persistence, if one knows a door closed they then look for other ways to get to the man, often the buyer is referred as, “the man.”  One thing I know I want friends like these guys, they put action to their faith and were not going to take no for an answer.  This is Mark’s account; “And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

The religious guys in the room said to themselves, he said what?  No one but God alone can forgive sin, and they were right on, with one small problem, they did not know God or that His Son was in the room with them.  Let’s examine verses 6-12, “Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

How often are we like the scribes, when God shows up and does something that does not fit our religious expectations?   Let me clue you in, no matter what place your finite mind has put the LORD in, He is never going to fit, for He is bigger and grander than one's mind can imagine.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Difficulty in finding Down Time

Mark 1:35-45

Can you imagine the difficulty our President has in having time by himself, and what about Jesus while in His earthsuit on planet earth, someone was always wanting a piece of him?  The answer is a simple yes, and when one stops to explore how He manages time with His Father, it makes our reasons for not doing so very lame.

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.” (Mark 1:35-39)

Now you believe Jesus is having a hard time going from town to town because of the crowds of people wanting to see Him or get something from Him, but it is going to get much worse.

In verse 40 we find this account, “And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”  Before coming to Jesus a crowd was always nearby, this leper was required by law to tell everyone he was unclean.  At that time, there was no cure for leprosy and Jesus was his only hope.  Today and then there was only one cure for sin, and it was then by the blood of a lamb that was pure and without blemish, but had to be repeated each year.  Today it is the same with one exception, Jesus is that lamb, and by the grace of God and through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, we're cured of the death penalty of sin.  I forgot something essential, it's not an every year thing, it covers you for now and eternity.

But I’ve always been taken by this man's faith, “If you will, you can make me clean.”  I believe many come to Jesus with a serious request, but without faith, it is impossible to please God.  In verse 41, “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”

This is one time Mark used the word immediately that it fit very well in the account; “And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.”  Jesus also gave the leper, the one He made clean this instruction. “And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”  Can you imagine winning a 100 million and them telling you not to share that news with anyone but your pastor? 

The man just had to share what Jesus had done for him, what a contrast to so many who go by the name Christian.  “But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Not much Downtime

Mark 1:28-34

Mark is always in a hurry to get to the next part of his account, I want you as a reader to notice how often he uses words or terms like “as soon” or “immediately.”  “And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.”

Now, this verse may mess with some groups belief system that believes Peter never married, but I do not know how one gets a mother-in-law without being married.  The next observation is Peter’s wife must have been supportive of his ministry in 1 Corinthians 9:5-6, “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?”  We find Jesus renaming Peter in John 1:42 with the Greek word Cephas, meaning stone or rock. 

Let us observe what happen when Jesus was told Peter’s mother-in-law was sick.  “And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.”  Jesus did not speak to the mother-in-law but took her by the hand, and she was healed.  It is incredible the many ways Jesus used to heal those he came in contact with and is that not significant; otherwise people would have a church with only one way to be healed.

Do you recall when the Scripture states that often Jesus went away to a quiet place to be alone with the Father?  In Luke’s Gospel 5:15-16, we find this account; “But now, even more, the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”

“That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door.” (Mark 1:32-33)  Not a lot of downtime for Jesus to rest and spend time with the guys. The whole city has shown up at the door with everyone who is sick or oppressed by demons, and I keep wondering where did all those demons go, could it be to Washington D.C. and the Congress of the United States of America?  Yes, they are there, but they are also in our homes and church schools and local government.  I wonder how long before we are willing to bring them to where Jesus is as did the people of Capernaum?

We will end today with verse 34, “And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him.”  Did you notice it says He healed many who were sick and many who were with demons but it does not use the word all anywhere?  He also healed the sick but drove out the demons from those who had them.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Only One Plan

Luke 4:1-13

After reading the Scriptures, these are some insights I believe are being taught, and the first one is that from the beginning God never had two plans.  He gave the Law to expose our need for grace, look at Romans 3:20; “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

Chapter four begins in this way; Jesus full of the Holy Spirit: Once more we see an example of Jesus depending on His Father, in the same manner, that you and I must.  And the Holy Spirit was leading into the wilderness, and it was there for forty days and nights He was tempted by the devil.  Now you do not want to go forty days without food and water, but if you could, you would be both hungry and thirsty.  In fact, it would consume your actions and thoughts.  Now the deceiver had a plan for Jesus, and he has a plan for you and I.  The program has always been to get our needs met outside of Christ.

The deceiver is big on the “If” word and especially when it comes to God’s authority.  Doubt leads to fear, and fear leaves no room for faith, and that is what the “IF” is all about, it opens us up to look for a more common-sense way.

The old Serpent has one big problem; he longs to be worshipped it is what got him kicked out of heaven.  He wanted the Son’s place by the Father, but his one problem was he was created by the Son, and could never be God.  The deal Satan made that day with Jesus has been offered to many a person since, and though it looks good for a while, he cannot deliver.

What do we know about the devil is at his creation his name was Lucifer, and his title was chief archangel, and it was pride and evil found in him, wanting his seat in heaven to be equal to God’s.  So when he told Jesus he had been given authority to give it to whoever he desired, we do know that Scripture calls Him the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2:2. 

Now we know in Luke 4:13,”When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”  What was that opportune time?  I believe it happened often, and that is why Jesus frequently went away to be with the Father for Jesus’ only desire was to obey His Father. 

Let’s say we agree that Satan has the power to make the world bow down and worship whom he gives that power.  He cannot forgive sin; he cannot change the sin desires, not even his own. 

So Satan cannot deliver on His promise of bypassing the Cross-to bring redemption to a lost and dying world.  For it is written, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  God’s plan never changes.  When Adam and Eve sinned, God killed an animal to cover their nakedness.  Nakedness was not sinning till they sin, but it exposed the sin that was in them, for the first time they hid from God.  Why, because they were naked, no because they had disobeyed the Father?  The law required the killing of a lamb, not any old lamb, but a perfect one, good only for a year.  Jesus took care of the sin problem on the cross, and that was the only plan from the beginning.

I also do not believe Satan had any knowledge of the Cross.  If he did, he would not have put in the hearts of men to kill Jesus.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice