Judah had suffered much during the reign of evil rulers and they longed for a strong king who would rule with justice. But this is ultimately only possible in eternity, when Christ will reign as the Perfectly Just King of Kings.
In the immediate future, Judah would be destroyed and taken into captivity. But when the day comes when Christ reigns as King, sin will revealed as the ugliness it is. Now Satan often disguises himself as an angel of light, but when the blazing Light shines sin can no longer pretend to be anything other than what it is. We may think we have some secret sin hidden away, but when Jesus reigns in our hearts He will expose it because there is no place for sin in the light.
This passage is also a reminder that wealth and luxury bring complacency, and there is truly no room for complacency in the life of a Christian. There is always a spiritual battle going on, and when we become complacent, we risk allowing sin to gain a foothold in our lives.
In our Mark passage we find the feeding of the four thousand. The feeding of the 5000 was to a crowd of mostly Jews, while the feeding of the 4000 was to a crowd of mostly Gentiles. Jesus was showing that not only was He the Bread of Life for the Jew, but also for the Gentile.
Jesus asks the ultimate question in this passage "Who do you say that I am?" Everyone needs to decide what they're going to do with Jesus. It doesn't matter what your parents believe or your friends, it matters what your answer is to that question.
Our passage ends with a heavy hitter - do we ever act as though we're ashamed of Jesus? Do we remain silent when we should share the gospel or take an opportunity to glorify His name? Tough questions and thoughts to wrestle with today.
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Isaiah 34-36, Mark 9:1-29
2 comments:
When Jesus began to teach His disciples about His death, Peter protests. After Jesus rebukes him for this He calls the crowd to join his disciples saying if you want to follow Him, you have to let Him lead. Not an easy thing to do, but a necessity.
Even though Peter didn't like to hear Jesus predicting His death, it was part of God's plan. Jesus will eventually live out verse 35 by losing His life so that our lives might be saved!
I pray that I can be the type of person that Jesus will be proud of to take home to meet His Father!
This stood out for me from the Message:
Isaiah 33: 15-16
The answer’s simple:
Live right,
speak the truth,
despise exploitation,
refuse bribes,
reject violence,
avoid evil amusements.
This is how you raise your standard of living!
A safe and stable way to live.
A nourishing, satisfying way to live.
Live like Jesus lived.
Speak the truth-calling out the disciples when they were worried about not having enough bread when they JUST witnessed having leftovers when feeding 4000 people with a few loaves and a few fish.
Despise exploitation-Jesus never wanted his healing and miracles to be about Him...only a tool for his ministry. When Jesus healed the bling man he said "Do not even enter the village"
Refuse bribes-The Pharisees wanted a sign. Would a sign convince their hard hearts that Jesus was the Messiah? Jesus refused to play their game.
Reject violence-Jesus knew he would die. He told his disciples he was going to die. He accepted a punishment and a death he did not deserve. He did not respond with violence but with love and compassion for those who killed him.
Avoid evil amusements-When we give in to world desires and temporary pleasures we lose it all.
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Post a Comment