Archive for month: January, 2023

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 14:1-11.  Let’s go!

Mark 14:1-9 (NIV)
1  Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him.
2  “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”
3  While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
4  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?

On verses 1-9:   In Matthew 14:1-11 we see three groups of people: (1) those who have never been with Jesus, don’t understand Jesus and are looking to eliminate him (e.g. the chief priests and teachers of the law – v1-2); (2) those who are closer to Jesus and committed to honouring Him (v3-8); and (3) those who have committed their lives to Jesus before but end up leaving him (v10-11).  It’s from this second group, in particular the woman with the alabaster jar, that we learn some important truths about what worship is.

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 13:28-37.  Let’s go!

Mark 13:28-29 (NIV)
28  “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
29  Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.

On verses 28-29:  “When you see these things happening”, Jesus says, “you know that it is near” (v29).  What things?  What’s near?  For us today the significance of these words are this:  When you see Jesus coming in the clouds in power and glory (v26) and God’s people being gathered to him (v27), you know the end is near. 
 
Mark 13:30 (NIV)
30  I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
 
On verse 30:  “This generation” can be interpreted narrowly to mean the disciples and their contemporaries living at that time (see for example, Mark 8:12 and 9:19).  Or “this generation” can be interpreted broadly to mean a group of people who come from one common ancestor, and thus “generation” here is sometimes translated “race” as in the human race.  

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 13:14-27.  Let’s go!

Mark 13:14-27 (NIV)
14  “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong–let the reader understand–then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
15  Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out.
16  Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak.
17  How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
18  Pray that this will not take place in winter,

On verses 14-27:  Many scholars believe that verses 14-23 are referring to two periods of time: first, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and second the end times when Jesus comes again.

To the extent that these verses deal with the end times, what can we learn from these verses?  While we don’t need to obsess over trying to figure out when exactly the end times will happen, Jesus does want us to be alert and aware of what the end times will look like.  Jesus describes the end times as “days of distress unequaled from the beginning…and never to be equaled again” (v19). 

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 13:1-13.  Let’s go!

Mark 13:1-2 (NIV)
1  As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
2  “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
 
On verses 1-2:  Even as the disciples were admiring Jerusalem’s pride and joy, the temple, as well as the surrounding buildings, Jesus predicts that all these builds will be destroyed one day.  Jesus was right.  In 70 AD, about 40 years after Jesus made this prediction, the Romans burned down the temple and demolished Jerusalem’s other buildings.