Mark Chapter 12 Verses 35 – 37

• Jesus is quoting from Psalm 110. What strikes me is that the Pharisees, the priests, the elders, the common people…they all know this Psalm, they’ve all heard it, they all say it…but Jesus specifically calls out whom? The scribes? Why?
• Remember the previous scene. It was a courageous scribe that laid down his pride, pushed past the crowds, had heard him and had come back to hear Him again, seeking Him again in the temple. It was the scribe who asked Jesus an honest question…an excellent humble question, remember? “Jesus, what is the greatest thing?” His heart filled with wonder and openness after watching Jesus, studying Him and finding Him absolutely extra-ordinary…someone so entirely different…
• And after Jesus’ answer, no argument. No hiding. Outright, public confession of faith in Jesus and in His word as he renounces the traditions and to the gasp of the crowd and his peers and probably even his family, places his trust in Jesus! And so now what? What do we see now? Why would Jesus call out the scribes! What are we seeing? Jesus teaching Him! O-M-Good-Gollie! Excuse my language! HA!
• Do you see this?! One hears Him. Goes off the hunt, lowers the weapons and simply hears Him! Finds Him to be intriguing, marvelous, different. So he begins to seek Him…finds Him and comes to Him. There’s that personal interaction! And when he hears for Himself right from Jesus, He accepts what He hears…and Jesus says right then that faith is born. Why? Because the scribe heard Him? No! But because the scribe changed his mental gears man and accepted what Jesus said over what he had thought acceptable his entire life! Placing everything at risk for the sake of following Jesus!!! (And the secret is…that’s when the all the risk is mitigated!!)
• And the truth of it all is this. The mind is a slave to the heart…what we’ve witnessed is a heart change. And so now what does Jesus do with him? Leave him alone? No way! That’s not what He does with us! You’ve been faithful with that, no I’ll give you this! Jesus teaches him!!!! Directly!!! The scribes say!! Not the elders, the priests, the Pharisees, the people…man the scribes! I love this profound detail that once you come to the Lord and allow that heart change then in flows the revelation…Jesus teaches you personally! Don’t miss that!
• And what He says is magnificent! Here’s what you’ve always thought. Here’s whom you’ve exalted. David, your king…was just a man. His wisdom, his strength, capacity, capability, competence…it was never him…it was always Me! And the hidden implication in all that…you’re on the level with King David. No less able, only maybe less willing…
• For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, “The Lord said to my Lord…” Um, wait…that’s two. Yup. The Lord…said to….my Lord…dude wait, what? No it’s ok, let your thinking go there, open your heart to the truth, that God eternally is One and eternally exists in three Persons…the Father, The Lord, the Son, My Lord, and the Holy Spirit…see it there in that one verse? Verse 36, it’s so clear! You don’t even need to stretch just read it as it was specifically spoken by the Savior Himself!   The Holy Spirit, the Lord, my Lord…wow!
• So what is Jesus saying? He is telling them that He is indeed the One. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The Lord of David, and yet the Son of David through Mary. The Christ…the Messiah! BUT, that’s not all that He is teaching His new star pupil! Therefore David himself calls Him Lord; How is He then his Son?
• You see for a man to call his son lord while he yet lived was completely counter-cultural…impossible! Does not compute! As long as the father lived, his word was rule. He cannot become the un-elder…he’s got that old man strenmfff! The father was lord of the land…of the house…of the kiddos…and yet this verse in Psalm 110 shows the unearthly superiority of Christ…something so hard to receive by the elite yet the common people heard Him glady!   With pleasure in the Greek…it’s the Greek word hedeos…Why? Because Jesus is the eternal equalizer! I love that!
• I am a son of David! I am of the tribe of Benjamin! I am of the tribe of Ruben. I am a son of…doesn’t matter!! Are you a son of the Most High? If so then equal we are! Because of the highest of all, the superior of all, Jesus Christ!   And God shows partiality to no man we read in Acts 10 and Romans 2! Why? Because each and every person is the MOST important! Utmost importance!! And yet we in our sin and un-Christ-Like-ness count ourselves superior to others? How satanic! Jesus is the ultimate equalizer and the closer you are to Him the lesser you will think of yourself man…and the result…love. Preference to others…selflessness…service to others…and you’ll love it! Oh freedom thrives man!!!

Mark Chapter 12 Verses 38 – 40

• No doubt as Jesus teaches them of equality, there were some there that were grimacing! And again, “the scribes!” Jesus teaches His new star pupil! Holding up the mirror and exposing truth man but also offering sharp correction. In those days you could not get paid for teaching. It was a cultural thing…but you could receive gifts…and so what was taught very often…how holy and Godly it is to freely give to the teachers! HA!
• And they would go into widows’ houses and they would just pray and pray and pray in order to solicit more pay from the poor lady…so here they are in pretense preserving the house but in honesty stealing the house. Really wicked stuff man!!
• And this bit about long prayers as well. A theologian named Morgan once said, “When a man is away from his wife, and the journey is short, the letters are short. The farther he is from his wife, the longer the letters become.” Makes sense? Morgan said that some people must be a long way from God because their prayers are so long! HA!
• And finally this bit about greater condemnation. What’s that mean? Well, we really don’t know. It’s the real condemnation too…krima…damnation. Maybe they get the blue flames, I don’t know but one thing remains...there seems to be…some sort of greater condemnation. Remarkable in the Greek…maybe even pointing to folks’ hatred of them now in this life…
• And now to the final temple scene of Jesus Christ…

Mark Chapter 12 Verses 41 – 42

• A quadrans was the smallest Roman coin. A mite is equal to about 1/100^th of a cent!!

Mark Chapter 12 Verses 43 – 44

• This woman blessed Jesus! Do you see that? That is worship. Get the scene > Jesus is watching the giving, (which in itself is quite an interesting and important teaching). And here comes one that is poor in the definition of the world. Husband is gone, she has endured his departure and now no doubt has very little, if anything at all. What she gives couldn’t buy bread…but…it could maybe buy her sympathy in the marketplace…right? It’s not without value…maybe the monetary value is very very low but reframe it and it could be turned into something…right?
• Jesus said it is all that she had…and it’s more than we see…only He sees it…I absolutely love that. She takes the money, the potential, the hope, the plan…and she gives it to God. You see when you give its not so much the amount that counts. We get all caught up in this only because we don’t want to give. If we did WANT to give…the amount would not need to be discussed…make sense?
• 10%, 10%, 10% that’s all I ever hear….if you make $1M a year, 10% isn’t even felt is it…? The heart of God is not that we would pay the church or pay our tithes or pay our offerings, it’s that we would invest in the Kingdom of God! It’s that our heart would know Him, swell with love for Him and the natural outflow…bless Him, worship Him…
• All that you’ve been taught, will you yield to God’s perception?
• If what I give doesn’t cause me to purposefully invest in the things of the Lord, then I need to face my fears of not having enough for all that I want…this woman invests her life…do you see that? Money is a tool…money is a mirror…and to invest your life, your money, your livelihood…that blesses Jesus! Because with that, He knows that you are His and that He is yours and you are free…