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Yesterday, the rich young man approached Jesus, “As He was setting out on His journey…”  Today we learn the destination of that journey: Jerusalem.  With thousands heading there for the Passover feast, it would have been possible for Jesus to attend unnoticed, and certainly would have fit with his pattern of secrecy.  But all of that gets overturned, literally, in just a few hours. 

First, he proceeds into town on a colt – just as the prophet Zechariah had said the king would – and not only do his supporters pick up on this, but He does nothing to stop them making a parade out of it.  Second, after a night in Bethany, He discovers that the Temple has been turned into a profit center for worship items.  Enraged, He drives out the sellers and overturns their tables, and would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 

The remainder of our reading is launched by Mark’s observation that, upon hearing of this, the chief priests and scribes…were seeking a way to destroy Him, for they feared Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching.  The events of the next day – which occupy the rest of chapter 11 and 12 – focus on the various approaches the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes use to try to discredit and entrap Jesus. 

Notice the cat-and-mouse game of this pivotal day.  Jesus is asked a series of questions: “By what authority are you doing these things?”… “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”… “If a woman is widowed seven times, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”… and, “Which commandment is the most important of them all?”   Mark lets you know that each one is a trap, and lets you see Jesus’ agility and boldness in implicating the questioners.  Only once does He answer directly, and readers of the Pentateuch will recognize the references.

As I’ve said many times, notice how Jesus plays the crowd against the Jewish leaders.  At times, the crowd is leveraged to protect Jesus, as when Jesus appears to condemn the Jewish leadership as “ungrateful tenants” on God’s rightful property.  At others, Jesus speaks indirectly to the Jewish leadership through them, as when in His teaching He said, “Beware of the scribes…”.  Mark gives you a front row seat to the rising tension, preparing, it appears, for a final confrontation.  

Our verse for this week is Psalm 138:8: The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Mark 11 and 12.  Now let’s read it!

The first verse of chapter 9 seems better linked to the previous discussion, but it serves well to introduce today’s reading. It is a promise that some who are alive at that moment will witness the power of God’s Kingdom. 

Glimpses of this power are offered in the first two episodes of chapter 9.  Jesus leads Peter, James and John up a high mountain, where events occur that terrify the disciples.  Step back and consider why Jesus took them, and only them, and then told them to keep quiet about it.  Upon descending, Jesus enters a chaotic scene, where in all the arguing between a group of scribes and the remaining disciples, a desperate man and his demon-possessed son are almost overlooked.  Jesus is annoyed, and you can listen and discern what He is most perturbed about.  Also, notice that both the ascent up and descent down the mountain echo Moses on Sinai.

Careful readers will note that three times in chapters 8 and 9 Mark highlights Jesus’ desire for secrecy.  When Peter confesses Jesus is the Christ, Jesus warns him not to tell anyone.  As Jesus descends the mountain after His transfiguration, he asks Peter, James, and John to keep it a secret.  And as He’s passing through Galilee, He did not want anyone to know, for He was teaching His disciples. 

Jesus has asked others in this gospel to keep knowledge of Him a secret – it’s been a running theme – but these three stand out because each is immediately followed by a remark about His coming death.  If these concerns are not linked somehow, then it is a strange literary coincidence. 

The rest of this passage holds a series of vignettes focusing on the disciples, on sin, and on Jesus’ death.  Pivotal to Mark’s plot are the episodes with the Pharisees and the rich young man.  Early in chapter 10, the Pharisees approach Jesus with a legal question: Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”  Mark lets you know this is a test: “Is it lawful?” is different than “Is it God’s will?”  Later in the chapter, a rich young man wants to follow Jesus.  Jesus uses the opportunity to talk about the burden of discipleship, and, more importantly, about the nature of His kingdom. 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 138:8: The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Mark chapters 9 and 10.  Now let’s read it!

Much of today’s reading is wrapped up with challenges from the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were a leading religious sect in first-century Judaism. They were fastidious about keeping every aspect of the Jewish law and the traditions that had emerged over the past 1,000 years.  

When watching Jesus’ interactions with them, keep in mind what Mark has already revealed.  Remember the dinner that Jesus attended in chapter 2, where He dined with “tax collectors and prostitutes?” It was the Pharisees who raised questions about Jesus’ propriety.  Remember Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath in chapter 3, when Jesus sprung their own trap back on them?  The Pharisees responded by holding counsel with the Herodians, seeking how to destroy Him. 

This motivation hovers in the background as the Pharisees and Jesus intersect throughout today’s reading.  To begin with, some of the Pharisees are annoyed that Jesus’ disciples do not hold to the Pharisees’ standards of ritual purity.   Pay attention to Jesus’ piercing sermon, founded on the premise that “There is nothing outside of a person that by going in can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Jesus “immediately” heads north, into the Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon.  Here, as well as later in the Decapolis, His reputation precedes Him and people of need seek Him out.  One of the most intriguing dialogues in this book occurs between Jesus and a Gentile woman, who argues that even she has the right to believe.  

The emotional watershed of the Gospel is created by three events at the end of chapter 8.  In the first, a blind man requires a “double touch” to be fully healed.  In the third, Jesus informs His disciples of His impending death.   Between these is a question, to Peter: “Who do you say that I am?”  Imagine yourself in Peter’s place, hearing this question for the first time, the eyes of Jesus looking straight into yours.  Peter’s answer is as direct as the question, but although technically accurate, his response is clouded, incomplete, like the blind man’s first attempts at sight.  

Our verse for this week is John 3:19: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

Mark chapters 7 and 8.  Now let’s read it!