The Great Commandment

 

 

 

Mark 12: 28-34

 

June 22, 2020

 

 

The Great Commandment

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”   Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.   And you 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.’   The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”   And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.  And 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, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  And when Jesus saw that, he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

The scribes heard the Sadducees debating with Jesus over the woman that marries all seven brothers and who would she be married to in heaven.  The scribes ask his own question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”  

As a follower of Christ, each day I need to be reminded of number one and number two, for if my focus is not on obeying, my life will be of little or no value to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.   And you 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.’   The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  

But how, that is the question each of us wrestles with, how can I do it, and the answer is you can’t, but God desires to do it all for us; we have to be willing to allow Him to do so.  God does not force His will on His children, but when I want Him more than the desires of the world, then I find He gives me the ability to love Him and my neighbor.

 From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

 

Mark 12:18-27

 

June 21, 2020

 

 

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying,  “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man^[e] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.  There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died, left no offspring.   And the second took her and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.  And the seven left no offspring. Last of all, the woman also died.   In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?   For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.   And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?  He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

In the Holman Study Bible on page 1788, they state the following about the Sadducees: they came about in the second century B.C. during the Maccabean revolt.  They were closely associated with the aristocratic and priestly classes, accepted only the book of Moses (the Pentateuch) as Scripture, denied bodily resurrection, future judgment, the existence of angels, demons, and spirits, and affirmed human free will. (verses Acts 23:6-8)

 

The Sadducees came about during a revolt, and today the United States of America is also in a time of the revolt, but it has been happening longer than most of us realize according to  Dr. Jack Devere Minzey, born 6^th of October 1928, died April 8, 2018, was the Department Head of Education at Eastern Michigan University as well as a prolific author of numerous books, most of which were on the topic of Education and the Government role therein. (Editor's note) This was the last of his works: (Civil War: How do civil wars happen?)  

Our revolt has been taking place for a long time; listen to what Dr. Minzey has to say. 
“Two or more sides disagree on who runs the country.  They can't settle the question through elections because they don't even agree that elections are how you decide who's in charge.  That's the basic issue here: who decides who runs the country?  When you hate each other but accept the election results, you have a country.  When you stop accepting election results, you have a countdown to a civil war.”

Could it be that we have many in the church and in our government who have the mindset of Sadducees?  I always look for the bottom line, and when Jesus speaks, that should be the end of the matter.  Jesus said when addressing the Sadducees, “He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”  I can only hope you heard the reason they were quite wrong; “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?   

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

Paying Taxes to Caesar

 

Mark 12: 13-17

 

June 20, 2020

 

 

Paying Taxes to Caesar

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.   And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”   But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”   And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.”   Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

 

I’m sure most of my readers know what Herodians and Pharisees were, but in this crazy world we are living in, with people everywhere trying to rewrite history or do away with it, history is important to define who they were.  The dictionary defines Herodians in the Easton’s Bible Dictionary as a Jewish political party who sympathized with ( Mark 3:6;  12:13; Matt, 22:16;  Luke 20:20 ) the Herodian rulers in their general policy of the government, and in the social customs which they introduced from Rome. They were at one with the Sadducees in holding the duty of submission to Rome, and of supporting the Herods on the throne. (Compare  Mark 8:15; Matthew 16:6 .)

 

The Pharisees defined it in this way: “From whom did the Pharisees separate? From those, especially priests or clerics, who interpreted the Law differently than they did? From the common people of the land? From Gentiles or Jews who embraced the Hellenistic culture? From certain political groups? All these groups of people, the Pharisees would have been determined to avoid in their resolution to separate themselves from any type of impurity proscribed by the Levitical law — or, more specifically, their strict interpretation of it.” (Christianity.com)

 

This is very interesting in that Sadducees and the Pharisees were a lot like the Republicans and the Democrats of today in not agreeing on much.  They also had this in common: they desired power and authority over the people, with little or no regard for them.  In today's political parties, it is clear that the Democratic party as a whole has a hatred for the things of God, but then all the Herodians and Pharisees were doing was following after religion and its customs and rules, but had no desire for the things of God.  Could it be that many today who go by the title of Christian also find themselves in that same boat?

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

The Parable of the Tenants

                                                                       Mark 12: 1-12

 

June 19, 2020

 

 

The Parable of the Tenants

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.   When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.   Again, he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.  And he sent another, and him they killed. And so, with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.   He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally, he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’   But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’   And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.   What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.   Have you not read this Scripture:“‘The stone that the builders rejected

 has become the cornerstone;  this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?”

 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So, they left him and went away.”

I often ask myself, what’s happened to common sense? How did we get to a place of not being willing to listen to other opinions?  When did we allow greed and power to destroy a family, a church, a nation?  The answer is from the fall of man, it is not a new thing if only we would read and learn from history.  The enemy of all mankind, the enemy of God, said, If I remove all the history, all the statues, then I will get them to hate and even kill all authority, and replace it with a godless man they will worship.  Folks, that is where we are going, and the Church is silent.  It is not a new thing when you say so, you only show your ignorance of history, have you read 2 Chronicles 24:19-22, “Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’”

But they plotted against him, and by order of the king, they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.  King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”

 If you are a follower of Christ, have you not read Matthew 24, and for the sake of keeping this a paper and not a book, let me share what Jesus has stated about the signs of the close of this age in verses 9-14.  “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.   And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.   And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.   And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.   But the one who endures to the end will be saved.   And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

It is close to homecoming, and it is time to let those in your circle of influence know that Jesus loves them and has the answers they are looking for.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

                                                                     Mark 11: 27-33

June 17, 2020

 

 

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him,  and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”   Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.   Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”  And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’   But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.    So, they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Have you ever wondered where authority came from? Romans  13:1, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities?  For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”  We have the earthly authorities coming to Jesus; they are not happy with the actions He took cleaning the temple of money changers, and they want answers to whose authority He did this under.  Now they were part of the ruling body of the Sanhedrin, and we know they were getting the authority to rule from the Romans, who ruled over them.  Unlike Jesus, who was the only Son of the Father, they were not looking to God; they were trying to please Rome to keep the people in line.  They were hired hands of the Romans; they did not do what God said but what Rome said, and they were not under the authority of God but of Rome.  

Be very careful not to sit under a pastor that is a man-pleaser and not a God pleaser, Jesus talks about such men in John’s gospel chapter 10:12, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.”  If you are in that church, leave because that pastor is also referred to as a hireling.  He has no authority or power from God’s Holy Spirit, and will always say whatever is pleasing to the ears of those who have employed Him.

They ask a question and Jesus says, I will tell you, but first answer me, 'Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”  Now they were fearful but not of God but of man, so they would not answer, and this was Jesus' reply: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Is there a time when God has given us the authority to tell the government we will not do as you require?  The answer is yes, read the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3, or what about Peter and John before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4?

You will recall they healed a man in the name of Jesus and were arrested, put in jail, and the next day, we're told to no longer speak or preach about Jesus; this was their reply.  “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.   But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!   As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Will I have the faith to go to my death as happened in Daniel's account, or in the case of Peter and John, to be beaten and find the joy that you were worthy to be punished for speaking of Jesus?  We are not at that point yet, I do believe it is not far off, so what is our problem, is our faith that small?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

How can I Love My Enemy?

 

 

 

How can I Love My Enemy?

 

         Shall we begin with Webster’s definition of love: 1.) a strong affection for or attachment or devotion to a person or persons.  We should also look at the definition for the enemy: 1.) a person who hates another, and wishes or tries to injure him; a person hostile to an idea, cause, etc.; adversary; foe.  Now that we have an understanding of the subject matter, let’s go deeper.

 

         The Scripture goes into great detail that God is love.  In the book of 1 John, chapter 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  Skip to verses 11-13, and we begin to understand that God wants us to abide in Him.  “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.  By this, we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”  We could fill this page with verses on how God loves us, but verse 16 of 1 John 4 is a great place to stop.  “So, we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

 

         Two things that I should point out from above are: first, the word “beloved” is what God is calling you, if you are in Christ.  How can you be “in Christ”? Verse 15 of the chapter above spells that out for us: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”  The second word is “abide,” and therein lies our problem.  How do we abide in God?

 

         I have been reading a book by Dan Patrick titled “The Second Most Important Book You’ll Ever Read,” and I quote from page 67.  “Before any person can feel truly good about his outward actions, he must feel good about his inward relationships with God and others.  And before he can feel good about his inward relationships, he must know that he is loved by God, forgiven by God, and fully accepted and counted as worthy by God.  Once a person knows that he is loved, forgiven, and valued by God, it is easy to live by God’s commandments.  All of the “have to” attitudes associated with the commandments are replaced by “want to” attitudes!  That is Dan Patrick, who is the Texas Lieutenant Governor 

         Jesus taught this: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words.” (John 14:23-24)

 

Dan goes on to remind us that the Bible also commands us to love our neighbor, and Jesus made it clear that he’s talking about the guy next door, the guy we work with, and the ones He has placed over us in authority.  How do we love our neighbor?  The same way we love our enemy.  We have to abide in God.  How do we abide in God?

 

         First, let me state that Dan hit it on the head: “he must feel good about his inward relationship with God and others.  And before he can feel good about his inward relationships, he must know that he is loved by God, forgiven by God, and fully accepted and counted as worthy by God.”  I also believe you have got to deal with this statement: “He is God and you are not.”  

 

         The sovereignty of God must be dealt with in your heart and mind.  Have you agreed with these truths: 1) The term sovereignty means “independent from external control.” 2.) The concept includes the idea of supreme authority and power or the rule of a monarch. 3) Sovereignty means God is in control of it all.  4) God is way beyond our figuring out. 5) God is sovereign in business and world events – yesterday and today! 6) God can use anyone and anything to accomplish His purposes.  (The above was taken from the book titled “Gripped by the Greatness of God.”

 

If you agree that God is sovereign, then you must come to this conclusion: I can thank God for trusting me with this experience even if He never tells me why.  I will be obedient when told.  That means I will obey the authority God has placed over me in my business and government.  I will live a righteous life when tempted and will be submissive when tried.  I will not try to play god, but I will abide in Him.

 

         I will close with a prayer I read from “Gripped by the Greatness of God”.  Sovereign Lord, according to Your promise, You work all things together for my good when I love You and respond to Your call and purpose for my life.  Help me learn to love and obey You so I can experience Your best in all things.  And help me trust You when I don’t understand all You allow to come my way.  Open my mind this week to understand your sovereignty. Amen.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Triumphal Entry

  

 

 

Mark 11: 1-11

 

June 15, 2020

 

The Triumphal Entry

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.   If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’”   And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it.   And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”   And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.   And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.   And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.   And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!    Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

 

Mark’s account of this day shows the King of Kings entering Jerusalem on a borrowed colt, which has not been broken to allow a man to sit on it. Mark goes into great detail about what is taking place with the colt, and it is amazing for man, but a small thing for God.  

 

Think for a moment about the ones that went to get the colt, were they amazed when it was Jesus who told them, maybe, but they went, and when asked why they were taking the colt, they did as Jesus told them and were allowed to take it?  Do you believe their faith was strong in Jesus after this mission?  How often we miss the message that the Holy Spirit is teaching by not considering what effect it has on the men and women in the story.

 

As Jesus entered the city, it was about two miles from Bethany. He went to the Temple, where he was most alarmed. Was it the Romans who ruled, or the Religious leaders who feared losing power?  We will look at that a little later, but we know a lot from all the gospels about the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  In Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19, Jesus descends from the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem, and the crowds lay their clothes on the ground to welcome him as he triumphantly enters Jerusalem.

 

From the Back Porch, 

Bob Rice