GracePointe Church of Christ in Elizabethtown, PA

When we behold Jesus dying on the cross, and the confession of the soldier that says, “surely this man was the Son of God” we understand our own mission and join Christ in the mission given in Mark 16:15-16. 

We are going to tell the good part before we go into the details of Jesus’ last hours on earth, focusing on the resurrection passage of John Mark will help us see the climax of his message, that HE IS RISEN; and thus is declared to be the one who brings rebirth to the whole world!

From the anointing of Jesus to the denial of Peter, Jesus is preparing to die.  But Jesus will die alone because it is our tendency to abandon situations that are rough and chaotic, but also Jesus had to do this alone because it was his mission to accomplish so that those who had abandoned God throughout the ages might be reborn in Jesus.

There is a real difference between being a world power and being God’s Kingdom.  At the time of Christ there were several leaders who trusted in the Temple and the Jerusalem walls.  This was where God was, and Jesus warns us against this type of faith.  Jesus tells his disciples that the Temple would be destroyed and the life that the leaders thought would last forever will be over.  We are to KEEP                 ALERT!  We are to be on watch for the Kingdom of God and the abundant life that Jesus gives us…we are to be on guard against the multiple false promises of connecting God to earthly kingdoms that do not last. 

In this text, Jesus starts with a story that condemns those who should have been ready for the coming of the Messiah, and they are uninvited from the great feast of God.  This parable is backed up by the question of the Pharisees about taxes, intended to trap Jesus but used by Jesus to teach them something about human responsibility to both the Government and the Kingdom of God. Additionally, Jesus challenges the Sadducees about the resurrection by asking them some questions about marriage.  Then there are the teachers of the Law who ask Jesus about the greatest commandment, which Jesus sums up for them and shut them up. Mark 12:35-39 is an important text that clearly shows the link between Jesus and his exalted place the Kingdom of God.  And finally, the parable at the beginning fo the chapter comes to life as we watch a poor widow give to the treasury of the temple…a stark contrast from all the                 things we have been experiencing and the only time in the book where Jesus is passive and someone else “serves” the Lord God.