Latest / The Five Minute Bible Podcast / Mark 11 - Devotion

Transcript

Mark 11 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
• 0:02
  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
• 0:05
  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
• 0:08
  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
• 0:12
  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
• 0:16
  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
• 0:19
  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
• 0:22
  read along episode in this podcast feed.
• 0:25
  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
• 0:27
  now. When you're ready, let's dive
• 0:30
  into God's Word. Together,
• 0:45
  as we reach Mark Chapter 11, we see Jesus entering the last week
• 0:48
  of his earthly ministry before he's crucified.
• 0:51
  At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus is pictured entering
• 0:54
  Jerusalem riding on a colt as men and women welcomed him by
• 0:58
  rolling out a red carpet of sorts, laying down their coats
• 1:01
  and branches they cut from the fields.
• 1:04
  As he entered the city, people shouted Hosanna.
• 1:07
  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
• 1:10
  Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our Father David.
• 1:13
  Hosanna in the highest. This word Hosanna is a Hebrew
• 1:18
  word meaning save us or help us. Jesus was receiving the welcome
• 1:23
  of a king coming into his Kingdom to deliver the people
• 1:26
  from their oppressors. And in reality, that is exactly
• 1:30
  what Jesus was coming into Jerusalem to do to save the
• 1:33
  people. However, the people believe
• 1:36
  their oppressors to be the Roman government.
• 1:39
  Jesus the Messiah knew their oppressors to be their own sin.
• 1:43
  They were under the tyrannical rule of hearts that were, as
• 1:46
  Jeremiah said, deceitful and desperately sick.
• 1:51
  And the only way they could be set free was through the
• 1:53
  sacrifice of a perfect Savior, the death of Jesus on the cross,
• 1:58
  His blood shed for them and for us.
• 2:02
  The next day we see Jesus entering the temple, and the
• 2:05
  very first thing he does when he arrives is to disband the
• 2:07
  makeshift market that has been created in the outer courts of
• 2:10
  the temple. Men looking to make a quick buck
• 2:13
  had set up stands within the temple to exchange money to buy
• 2:17
  and sell animals that would be used to sacrifice this holy
• 2:20
  place. This place intended to be of
• 2:22
  pure hearted worship to God. This place that was to be a
• 2:26
  testimony of to all the nations of God's power and provision,
• 2:31
  this place that Jesus reminds us was to be a House of prayer for
• 2:34
  all the nations had been turned into a robber's den.
• 2:38
  It had been Co opted and commandeered so that men with
• 2:40
  evil motives could pursue their own wealth rather than pursuing
• 2:43
  God. Now here is where it gets
• 2:46
  interesting. After Jesus causes this uproar,
• 2:49
  the chief priests and the scribes immediately began
• 2:51
  conspiring as to how they might destroy Jesus.
• 2:55
  These were the men who had been given charge of God's temple and
• 2:57
  God's people, and these were the men who had allowed this
• 3:00
  corruption to take place. And now their little economy had
• 3:04
  been threatened, their little Kingdom had been rattled by
• 3:07
  Jesus. And in the hardness of their
• 3:09
  hearts, rather than repent, rather than admit that they had
• 3:11
  lost their way, they sought to kill this disruptor, this
• 3:15
  agitator, this Jesus. This scene is not so different
• 3:19
  than that of the rich young ruler.
• 3:21
  These priests and scribes valued their own power and possessions
• 3:25
  more than they valued real relationship with God.
• 3:29
  Their influence and authority had blinded them to their need
• 3:32
  for rescue. Their boat was sinking, but they
• 3:34
  liked the look of it so much that they couldn't dare get off
• 3:37
  to be rescued. What about you and me?
• 3:41
  Where are we putting our hope? Have we built a little Kingdom
• 3:44
  that we would rather not have? Rattled by Jesus?
• 3:47
  Have we invested our lives in something that will not last?
• 3:51
  Take this opportunity to do what the chief priests and scribes
• 3:54
  refused to do. Place it all in the hands of the
• 3:57
  Lord. Let Jesus take control of every
• 3:59
  aspect of your life. Don't go down with the ship.
• 4:03
  Be rescued by the Savior.