Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

 

Mark 14: 26 -31

 

July 3, 2020

 

 

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.   And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’   But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”   Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.”  And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”   But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

It is written, but they were as clueless as I was about where it was written. I found it in the Holman Study Bible, page 1714.  “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.  (Zechhariah13:7)

 

We citizens of the USA have taken freedom for granted, and the freedom of speech and worship as something we will always have.  My prayer is that the Church will awake to how close we are to losing that freedom.  I believe this COVID-19 has taught me how easy it will be to control the masses by fear of getting sick and dying.  We saw mayors and governors in our land who hate the Church, do terrible things, and the Church as a whole was silent.  I was reminded of Hitler’s Germany, only a few Germans were in the Nazi party, but they were willing to use any means to control Germany.  Hitler and his group hated Jews, and the Church was silent when they began to remove them from not only Germany, but also Poland, and all countries they took in the war.  They killed six million Jews, and along with Japan, were responsible for the deaths of around sixty-five million people in a world war that lasted six years and one day.  And by the way, after the Jews, they began targeting Christian leaders.

 

Now you who have Christ living in you are the Church; many a person who goes by the name Christian is like the disciples before the Spirit of God enters into them.  They liked Jesus. He is a leader, and He is good, and we are told that Peter was asked by Jesus, But who do you say I am?  The answer is found in Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replies, in verse 17, and Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”  

 

For anyone to go from denying Jesus three times and standing at Pentecost and proclaiming Christ rose and three thousand people entered into Christ that day, and Jesus entered into them.  A man cannot do that; it requires God to do it all for us.

 

One of my neighbors, who was willing to take my garden Vegetables, told me I was living recklessly because I was not locking myself in the house and having everything delivered.  Folks give me liberty or death, but God is my provider and protector, not a big government or a pretense mask.   I know a little about masks. 3M makes the N95 that, if fitted correctly, will protect you, but many will put their hope in it, and if not fitted correctly, it will not protect you.  The few that believe the government has all the answers, one party is doing their best to place a poor man who has lost much of his mental capabilities into the office of the President.  Why, to do as they please in the darkness, for they hate the light, for it exposes the evil in their hearts?

 

My dad was a student of history, and would often say we do not learn from history, that’s why it is repeated often.  Are we doing that now? A small minority, with the help of the press, are trying to push a lot of garbage down our throats.  

 

From the Back Porch,

 Bob Rice

 

 

 

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

 

 

 

Mark 10:46-52

 

June 14, 2020

 

 

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.   And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”   And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”   And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”  And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”   And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

The Blind beggar has a name, this is how Mark describes him: “Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus”.  Not only does he have a name, but he was also someone’s boy, and Timaeus had hopes and dreams for his son, as you do for your child.

It is early on a Sunday morning, and I hoped to be sleeping, but God needed me to deal with this blind man, for my actions and thoughts are often like some in the crowd.  I do not ask his name, I may drop a coin in his lap, but I gave him a name, not the one his dad and mom gave him; he is the blind man by the road.  If only I had engaged him, what might I have learned about faith?

If we stop for a moment and listen to the Bartimaeus’ of our day, they might become someone of great worth.   We just do not have time,  we're leaving our Jericho, let him be another person's problem.   Or is it that, unlike the Lord, whom we claim to be His followers, we do not do as Jesus did?  He stops, calls him, and asks how I can be of help to you. “What do you want me to do for you?” 

We miss not only the blind man’s name, but we also miss his understanding of who Jesus is, for he refers to Jesus as the “Jesus, Son of David”.  That is a messianic designation. When Bartimaeus heard it was Jesus passing by, he was not about to allow a crowd to keep him quiet.  As I read this account, I cannot help but wonder what is wrong with us, why are we so quiet in the crowds of our lives?

When Jesus called, Bartimaeus not only got up, but he threw off his coat and jumped up and came to Jesus.  When Jesus asked him this question, “What do you want me to do for you?” he responded, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”  Did you get that Bartimaeus once had sight?   The Scripture does not give us insight into his mother or dad, but I can only imagine how often they prayed to the Father for this miracle.  As the great newsman stated, for the rest of the story, Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

 

That brings me to this point: it is now 4:11 on this Sunday morning, and I am so glad the Father awoke me very early, for I needed to understand many things that have seemed to escape me in this busy life, things of great importance!

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

  

 

Mark 10: 32-34

 

June 12, 2020

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,  saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.   And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

 

As Paul Harvey would have stated, we need the rest of the story.  It all began with a young man coming to Jesus, who was very wealthy and wanted eternal life.  Jesus, knowing the man’s heart, said Go and give all you have to the poor and come follow me, but he was very rich, and he went away in great sorrow.  Jesus began to teach His disciples how hard it is to give up what your heart treasures to follow him.

He used the example of a rich man, but it could have been a person whose identity was tied to their business, or their skill at playing ball at a professional level, or their children, or anything you put before Jesus Christ.

 

Returning to the conversation with His disciples,”   And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”   Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”   Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”   Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.   But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

You now understand why they were hanging back and fearful; it is the third time Jesus has told them what awaited Him in Jerusalem.  Often we need to be reminded of the price our Savior paid for us, and as man and God, Jesus understood that taking our sins and mine would make Him estranged from His Father.  God the Father and God the Holy Spirit could not have fellowship with sin, and Jesus became sin for you and me.  Jesus, being God, overcame sin, death, and the grave and on the third day was restored to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus told them three times, and also in the garden, and yet they did not understand; they were like you and me, very slow to grasp the truths of God.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

Truth-Seeker

 

 

Truth-Seeker

  

 

 This thought came into my mind: What if we, the Church of the Living Christ, became seekers of truth?   And I do mean you and me, beginning today. Jesus said in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  We have become more like the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate when he replied to Jesus with this question; What is Truth?  The society of 2025 often will say your truth is not my truth.  But there can be only one truth.

 

Would you be willing to say that the truth does not change, and what is a fact today is also tomorrow?  That is exactness and precision, and as a seeker of truth, you will want to always seek to have accuracy in what you send on the internet, and in your speech.

 

It all begins with you, not with a political party, not with your boss, or even with someone you look up to; it must begin with you.  If you want deception, then listen to the talking heads on TV, the media, or many people in a public office.  As a truth-seeker, your role is to not believe without verifying, always believing that all men are liars and only God is the truth.

 

Let me tell you if you desire to be a seeker of truth, where to begin, by checking out these words of Jesus.  Jesus said in John 14:6-7, “Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

 

I have found out that a follower of Christ has been given a promise of a Helper, which you will find in John 14:15-17. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.   And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

 

Remember, we serve a God of the second chance. He loves you and will forgive, so confess the need to be a seeker of Truth, for in doing so, you will find Jesus!

 

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Church did not follow Jesus, during the time of great need

 

 

 

Mark 10:23-31

 

June 10, 2020

 

 

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”   And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!   It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”   And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be  saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”   Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”   Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.   But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

The world is going through a Pandemic, and it has not brought out the best in the human race. In the USA, the lack of leadership at the State and Local governments has exposed the true heart of many governors and mayors. Many have shown their hate for the Christian Church, many have tried to expand power beyond their office, and many have just been outright goofballs. We, the people, need to do a better job of picking leaders.  

 

But the one thing that has shown up in people who say they are Christ-followers is the thing Jesus tells us often do not to fear.  In my opinion, it is not the Church's best hour. People who go by the name Christian have been fearful of losing their wealth, and many have locked themselves in their homes, fearful of dying.  If you have health problems, I am not referring to you in these comments.  

 

I can state before man and God Jan & I have not allowed the amount of money we are losing to be a concern, nor have we been fearful of dying, if I recall to die is gain and to live is to keep on keeping on with being a follower of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and God.  

 

I’ve shared often that my flesh is not good, I like to be noticed, to be chosen, and to stand in the front of the line, but each day I choose to put others first, to be noticed by 
God and not by man, and yet some days I find that old flesh has me wanting you to think more of me than both God and I know to be true, and I wonder do you understand your flesh?  If we were giving a test, are you able to say you have not been fearful of death or loss during this time of the Pandemic? 

 

Now I have not done all that well with those lawless and the greed I’ve seen on the local news, as mom always said, a wrong done does not give you the right to do wrong.  If there was ever a time to humble ourselves and pray, it is now. We need the Church to awaken in the authority of Jesus Christ.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Judas to Betray Jesus

 

 

Mark 14:10-21

 

July 1, 2020

 

 

Judas to Betray Jesus

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.   And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

 

If you are having trouble understanding Judas' betrayal of Jesus, John 6:70 gives the answer: Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”

The Passover with the Disciples

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”   And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him,  and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’   And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”   And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

 

Why was it added that they found it just as He had told them, because they had the same problem as many of us, a lack of faith?  We often think not me, if I had been with Jesus, if I had been chosen, but you were, and you still doubt.  In Ephesians 1:4-5, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”  What about 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

 

And when it was evening, he came with the twelve.   And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”   They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?”   He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me.   For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

 

We understand that Judas hung himself, and yet we have no understanding of what eternal hell will be for Judas, and you do not want to join him.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

  

 

 

 

 

Mark 14: 3-9

 

June 30, 2020

 

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head.  There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that?   For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her.  But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.  And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

If you look at John 12:2-3, John identifies the woman as Mary of Bethany, who is the one who pours expensive fragrant oil of nard on Jesus' head.  Most of the people (these are my thoughts) who were upset by Mary’s actions did not give a flip for the poor, but self-greed.   The denarius was a day’s wage for a common worker, so it was about a year’s wages.

“Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.   For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.”

Not much has changed in that regard; the world of 2020 is very similar to the time of Jesus, in that they were materially-minded, and our culture is consumed with the desire for more stuff.  We do not know that much about Mary of Bethany, but she was the sister of Lazarus and Martha.  She was also rebuked by her sister for not helping get a meal ready for Jesus and others because she was sitting, listening to Jesus teach.

“And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”  

If you want to have people tell about you, invest in their spiritual lives and tell them about what Jesus has done for you.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice