Owner

"They perceived he told the parable against them," Mark 12:12.

What parable? The one where the successful corporation owner had hired a capable manager and a sharp financial officer to run the company. When it came time to collect the profits, these hired help turned against the owner, beat up his messengers, and even killed his own son. Stupidly, they thought they'd get to keep it all. How absurd not to know the owner would come and destroy them for this? OK. So. What's Jesus really talking about? About the outcome of the temple and its managers who failed to keep it a house of prayer for all nations. Yeah. The chief priests got it that he was talking about them. That their day of withering away was tomorrow.

We meet a brother or sister today humbly honoring a holy God whose will will not be thwarted by the likes of us. And we, from out of every tribe on earth, respect Jesus deeply who redeemed us as God's holy temple of prayer.

Leafed

"The fig tree withered away to its roots," Mark 11:20.

Yesterday the tree leafed out in green, but fruitless. Today it's totally withered under Jesus' curse from yesterday. His followers marvel and say, Wow! And Jesus? Always Jesus. Yeah. Jesus. Talks faith in God and prayer and moving mountains and getting whatever. Everybody gets on that bandwagon about doing wonders and getting cool stuff. But Jesus. Always Jesus. Jesus says: Faith in God must lead somewhere, and that's not quite it. Faith must yield forgiveness. Must. Forgive. Anybody. For anything. Fewer people get on that bandwagon.

So as we meet with a brother or sister today we forgive each other, trusting that God will forgive us. And together we give thanks to God who works the biggest marvel ever in our hearts.

Answers

"By what authority are you doing these things?" Mark 11:28.

Who's asking? Chief priests (and others). Jesus answers with a question about baptism. (Baptism? how weird is that?!) Yeah. Was John's baptism from heaven or from men? Baptizing John was a prophet-priest from the tribe of Levi. He had baptized Jesus, who, coming up out of the water, received the Holy Spirit as a Voice from heaven (!) declared: This is my beloved Son who makes Me very happy. A voice. From. Heaven. The priests' deliberated, political answer: They don't know. So. Jesus won't answer their question either. But he did. They just didn't want to get it.

We meet up with a brother or sister today to recognize Jesus' authority to change the order of things and to forgive whomever. And together thankful, we praise God who loves his Son so. And loves us as well.

Obliterate

"They were seeking how to obliterate him," Mark 11:18.

They who? Chief priests and scribes. The highest, mightiest, and smartest religious authorities in the country. Obliterate? Yes. To wipe him out, and his words, utterly. Him who? Jesus. Why? because he scared them. Scared them how? By teaching. Yeah. He taught right in the middle of the crowded city. What did he teach about? God. The kingdom of God. About God's temple a place of prayer for all nations. (Read: All, including Gentiles.) And when day was done, Jesus left the city and went to his hideaway.

We pray today with a brother or sister because Christ opened the real sky temple for us all into God's presence. And together with every other ethnicity we say, Thank You!

Season

"It was not the season for figs," Mark 11:13.

So what? When the Creator of the universe tells wind and waves to stop storming, they yield to quiet calm. They know the Master. When the Creator tells demons to leave a terrorized man, they yield to serenity. They know the Master. When the Creator tells disease to cease, it yields to health. It knows the Master. When the Creator tells death to back off, it yields the little girl to life. It knows the Master. When the Creator looks for figs, and the tree fails to yield them, he strikes it unfit for ever. It did not recognize the Master. When Jesus entered Jerusalem's temple for prayer, it failed its place of prayer for all nations. It did not recognize the Master. What will he do with it?

We visit carefully with a brother or sister today giving way to the Master's will. And, no matter the season, we yield thanks together to God for delivering Jesus to soften hardened hearts.

Date

"He went out to Bethany with the twelve," Mark 11:11.

Question: Where was Jesus' secret retreat after teaching the crowds all day long in Jerusalem? Answer: Bethany, a couple miles away. Why secret? because religious authorities wanted to kill him (but only when nobody was looking). They needed a spy to let them know where he was when the throngs weren't around. And Jesus wasn't ready to be caught. Yet. He still had lots to teach. He really, really wanted to share Passover with his friends first. And that wasn't until Thursday but today's Sunday. Lining up all the events for human redemption didn't come easy. A date with the cross was no accident.

When we visit with a brother or sister today, we wonder about our God who really, really loves us so. And grateful along with the crowds we praise him: Hosanna!

Password

"The Lord needs it," Mark 11:3.

That's the password. Password? Yes. For what? For the challenge question. What challenge question? This one: Why are you untying the colt? (?) Password. Challenge. What's this about? About Jesus' secret life. He's coming into Jerusalem to die. Authorities seek him alone from the crowds. But he will not die until he's ready. So he had already woven secret moments. Secret: How does he come into town? (Rides a colt through the crowds.) Secret: Where's Jesus staying when he's alone? Secret: Where's the space he hosts a Passover meal later in the week? Secret: Where does Jesus go to pray when day's done? The authorities need a traitor. Even closest friends didn't know until a moment unravels. And neither did we.

We meet with a brother or sister today to marvel in God's secret plans to ensure our salvation. And together we give thanks to God for the now revealed mysteries leading to the cross, to human redemption.

Roadside

"Jesus stopped and said: Call him," Mark 10:49.

Who's he talking to? People in the travelling throng. Who's he talking about? A blind beggar at the roadside. Who? You know, old Timaeus' son. (Never heard of him.) Blind Bartimaeus, you know? (Nope. That didn't help.) Well, nevermind who; the people at that time knew. Anyway. What got Jesus' attention? Bartimaeus kept yelling at the top of his lungs for Jesus to pay attention. And the crowd kept telling him to shut up. So Jesus said, What do you want? He said, To get healed. So Jesus did. So he followed Jesus to Jerusalem where he must die.

We encourage a brother or sister today in our travels with Jesus faithful to the end. And together we give thanks that after the end he gifts life that does not end.

Hallelujah

"Jesus our Lord was delivered over for our trespasses and raised up for our justification," Romans 4:25.

He is risen! We believe in God. In God who raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead. We believe in. In. In him. And so God will count our trust in God as righteousness. Just like God counted Abraham's faith in him as righteousness. Christ is risen. And so, too, will we be! In his faithfulness.

And so when we meet with a brother or sister today we speak of God's gospel promise. And together we sing, Hallelujah!, to the praise of our God and of his Christ.

Spit

"Going up to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed," Mark 10:32.

Amazed? Why? Because he led them all the way to the city where he must die. Yeah. And, followers were afraid. Jesus told them (again!) religious and civil authorities would condemn him to death. They'd mock him. They'd spit on him. They'd flog him. They'd kill him. Authorities who should have welcomed the Son of God onto planet earth in peace. (But peace is not our way of doing things, is it?) The way we welcome the Son of Man reveals the nature of our persistent problem. Sin. So that's why he must die. And then rise three days later.

We get together with a brother or sister today and mourn the way we treat each other. And together, forgiven at the cross, we praise God who draws us into Jesus' peace.

Gifted

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself," John 12:32.

Jesus said that to show how he would die. A moment earlier he had said that this world was being judged right then. That the world's ruler was being thrown out. Right then. And just before that the crowds had heard a loud voice, maybe a thundering angel? From the sky it boomed: I will glorify my name again! But just before that Jesus had asked: Shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? (He answered his own question with: No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.) And then he called on God to glorify his name. Jesus, lifted up from the earth onto the cross, invites us all to come and to give glory to God.

We meet with a brother or sister today to glorify God who lifted Jesus on up from the cross to his throne in the sky. And together we give thanks for life gifted beyond death.

Passion

"The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise," Mark 8:31.

Jesus said that. About himself. Four things must happen. Must. Are necessary. Have to be. What must? To suffer. To be rejected. To be killed. To rise. Jesus spoke quite clearly about this. No parable. No metaphor. No joke. Plain language. But his closest friends didn't get it. Not a clue. One dressed him down. And Jesus redressed him that his language was devil-talk, not God-talk. God talks about the cost of redemption. Man talks about devilish conspiracies.

We visit with a brother or sister today to reset our minds on the things of God. And together, in humility, we give thanks to God for Jesus' passion and resurrection to save us from the coming wrath.

Maker

"God gives life to all things," 1 Timothy 6:13.

God. The Life Giver. All life throughout space. All life throughout the universe. Only the Life Maker gives life to any of it. Nothing in all creation creates life of itself. Once received, a living being perpetuates life to the offspring (maybe). Never gives it. And once taken away, the dust left behind never regenerates life. But God. God. The Life Giver. God raised dead Jesus back to life. God raises the dead and gives them life. And the Risen Christ gives life to whomever listens to him. Resurrection!

When we get together with a brother or sister today we share the promise of the life-giving Spirit. And together we give thanks for God's promised resurrection.

Imperishable

"He alone has immortality," 1 Timothy 6:16.

Who he? God. Has what? immortality. Who else? None else. God alone. Yeah. But wait a minute! What about immortal souls? You know, souls that float out of bodies when they die? Well. Hmm. Actually. (This is hard to get.) The Good Book does not ever mention humans with immortal souls. Not ever. Not even once. Now, it does talk about resurrection. Yeah. Anyway, there are all sorts of religions (and lots of Christ followers) in the world that talk about immortal souls, but the Book insists that God, and God alone, has immortality. It's one of the basics that make God, God. Too, one of those basics is that God can give immortality to whom he wishes. And he does. Through Christ. He abolishes death. He brings life and immortality to light through the Gospel. That's what our hope of resurrection is about.

We meet with a brother or sister today so that we may praise God's sharing of his divine nature. And thankfully together we commit to our Lord Jesus with imperishable love.

Sleeping

"Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep," John 11:11.

Why did Jesus speak of dead people as though they were sleeping? because he knew their death was temporary. He would bring them back to life. He would wake them up. He woke up a sleeping little girl. He woke up Lazarus. (They had been dead, right?) Sleep followed by waking up is like death followed by resurrection. Big note: without resurrection death and sleep have nothing in common. Jesus claimed: I am the resurrection and the life. He declared: Whoever believes in me, though they die, yet shall live. (No one else has that promise.) That's the only reason we can say with confidence that believers who died in Christ are asleep in Jesus. They go to sleep in anticipation of resurrection. Of waking up to for ever life. Not by their sleepful ability. But by God's power.

When we visit a brother or sister today we confess life in Christ wins. And together we give thanks to God in whom alone dwells immortality.

Summons

"Against hope in hope Abraham believed," Romans 4:18.

He believed? He believed in. In. Believed God and believed in God. When God told him he would become the father of us all, the father of many nations, he believed it. But Abraham and his bride Sarah both were practically dead in their age. Childless, old and withered. What possible hope did they have for a child? None. No hope. But believing in God, he had hope anyway. In God who makes dead people live and summons what does not exist into being. God counted him righteous for that faith. And we, too, believing in God who raised Jesus from the dead, we get counted as righteous. By faith in the God who makes dead people live. Our hope.

We meet with a brother or sister today reminding each other of the hope. And together we glorify our God able to call nothing at all into something eternally valuable.

Bloody

"You have not desired sacrifice and offering," Psalm 40:6.

David, the prophet-poet-king, sings to God about the Christ. God does not want bloody sacrifices. Rather, he wants someone to hear. He wants human ears to hear. Ears to hear his will. And to do his will. God wants a person to live out God's will for real. In a real body. It's been testified somewhere Jesus was that very real man. He did God's will to the death. And. He abolished God's former covenant of law-keeping. And. He established God's new covenant of holiness. Of forgiveness. Of salvation. Of eternal life. Resurrection.

We meet a brother or sister today and talk of God's gracing us with a new will. And together thankful, we live out lives in praise to our God through Jesus' righteousness.

Angel-like

"Angel-like, they cannot die anymore since they are sons of God being sons of the resurrection," Luke 20:36.

(That's Jesus talking.) Cannot ever die again? Who? People deemed worthy to attain the resurrection age. Worthy to be resurrected from the dead. (Deemed so by whom? by God, of course!) So these people turned into angels? No! they are humans, not angels. But like God's angels don't die, neither do they. Wow! Never die anymore. How does a person get deemed worthy of that age? To be a child of the resurrection? To be God's child? By becoming dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, in this age.

We get together with a brother or sister today and tell of God's coming age of life forever. And together we give thanks to God for Jesus' resurrection to life over death.

Hades

"You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see decay," Psalm 16:10.

David, the prophet-king, wrote this a thousand years before Jesus was born. (OK, if you speak Hebrew, Sheol is the place where the dead go; if you speak Greek you say, Hades, meaning the same thing.) But, in fact, David died and was buried and his grave held his dusty rot for centuries even to Jesus' own day. But about 7 weeks after God raised Jesus from Hades, God poured out his Holy Spirit on the witnesses to his resurrection. Peter, one of them, announced that David had prophesied about Jesus. That Jesus was alive! And that God made Jesus Lord and Christ. And everyone who calls on his name will be saved from abandonment in Sheol, shall not rot in Hades; rather, shall have resurrection to paths of life.

We meet with a brother or sister today to remind each other of God's promised life in Christ. And together we give thanks to him through eternity. Hallelujah!

Caller

"Some will awake to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt," Daniel 12:2.

The prophet foretells that sleeping, dead people will wake up reconstituted out of earth's dust. Centuries after that prophet, Jesus referenced the same notion as he asserts the dead will hear his voice and will come out of their graves. He affirms that those who've done good things will be resurrected to life. But those practicing worthless things will be resurrected to judgment (not to life). Nonetheless, Jesus' voice makes dust come to life. It takes the Caller to awaken life's aliveness into random matter. We, the grateful living, hope in him to hear the Voice when we are dead.

We visit with a brother or sister today to hear the sweet voice of Jesus. And grateful together, we anticipate expectantly God's command for Jesus to make that call.

Purged

"The wise will shine like the brightness up in the sky," Daniel 12:3.

So writes the prophet five and a half centuries before Jesus' birth. He had just written: Many who sleep in earth's dust shall awaken, some to eternal life (but others to everlasting shame). Resurrected to shine like the stars for ever! Then, centuries later, Jesus tells about the end of time when causes of sin and evildoers are purged out of the kingdom. In reference to Daniel he says: The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. So says the Word: Awake, O sleeper! Come up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!

We meet with a brother or sister today to tell each other about the shine to come after all this dust. And together we give thanks to God our Father who awakens his children in Christ.