Universal Reactions

Mark 16:6-7

      The entertainment industry loves universal reactions. They want something that gets everybody reacting the same way. They can use that reaction to their advantage. If it is a universal negative reaction, then their product can solve it! If is a good reaction, then their product gets connected to images of their product. They try to find emotional responses that as many people as possible have when presented with a repeatable stimulus.

      There is one reaction that we see repeatedly in the Scriptures. Every time a being from Heaven shows up, there is fear. We usually identify these creatures as angels, God’s messengers. When they show up, people always react in fear, visible fear. This is the kind of reaction advertisers could use!

      The problem with this is that you can never predict when angels are going to show up. They just won’t respond to the advertisers’ advertisement for angel actors. They won’t send resume’s and they don’t appear in headshot photos. Angels seem like uncooperative creatures!

      Angels are not the Precious Moments creatures we have created here in the United States. We wouldn’t want to invite them to spend a few hours playing with our children in the back yard. We probably wouldn’t like having figurines made four our mantels, unless we collected warrior figures.

      Angels, besides bringing messages, messages that always start with “don’t be afraid”, they fight battles on God’s behalf. They show up and win decisively. And they are efficient in their killing.

      An angel shows up inside the tomb where Jesus’ body should be. These women have come to finish the burial and this angel is where they don’t expect any life. But the angel tells them to stop being afraid, to stop fearing. I’m not sure telling someone to not be afraid really helps. If fear has struck, it can stick around for some time.

      So what message does this angel bring? He starts by stating the facts. He wants them to know that he knows what they know. They are here for Jesus. He was crucified. Those are the facts as the women know them. He makes sure they are on the same page of music.

      And then he brings them up to speed on what he knows. He knows much more than they know. Jesus isn’t dead anymore. He is alive. He isn’t there in the tomb. The place is empty.

      Notice that the angel tells them in short statements. He tells them in several different ways. He is risen. He is not here. The place is empty. If He is risen, He could still be there, but He isn’t.  He is going to meet the disciples in their old stomping ground. This is some good news, news that might be hard to swallow. I can see the puzzled look in their eyes. This does not compute.

      They came ready to finish the burial, and now a terrifying angel has told them Jesus is alive and will be seen by the disciple back in Galilee. And if they had been paying attention, this is what Jesus said would happen all along. Somehow they had missed it.

      The first people to carry the message of the Resurrection are these women. Jesus often picks people that we don’t expect to be His vessels. Not many wise, Paul says, are called. These women were not among the expected, just like the disciples. None of them should have been in any position to be used by the LORD, and yet this is exactly what happens, and the world is changed.

Making an Entrance

Mark 11:1-11

      We are familiar with big entrances, the Hollywood stars arriving in their limos to flashes and name calling. They arrive in their ridiculous dresses, often covering much less than is decent, with a suited man in tow. They walk up the carpet with plastic smiles and obligatory poses for the photographers. In a business driven by looks, looks are what get covered, both by the media and by makeup.

      The church is not exempt from grand entrances. Most often it is with big name ministries. Cameras flash, autographs given, TV footage captured, the focus shifted to the personality and not to Christ. But even normal people like us can make an entrance. We time our arrival to the event so that others are there first, that way when we arrive, the focus shifts to us. We are consistently late, signaling we think we are better than others, that our time is more important, that we are busier.

      Jesus’ arrival in Judaism’s capital city, Jerusalem, for the central religious ceremony of the year doesn’t come with much fanfare, at least not the normal kind. You would expect someone who was supposed to be setting up an alternative kingdom with political and territorial authority to arrive with an army to back up the claims. If Jesus is going to do that He needs more than a few crude weapons and twelve ill-trained followers.

      Jesus doesn’t arrive riding a military horse with army in tow. He doesn’t send His emissary to the ruler with conditions of surrender. He doesn’t gather His leading military men and disseminate the battle plan.

      Instead, we find Him walking in a crowd of common people, arriving a little late in the day, and riding a lowly donkey. Not exactly the picture of military might. No army is in tow. They aren’t even waiting outside the city for an ambush if surrender doesn’t happen. There is no Army, for the battle Jesus is going to fight and win is the battle against sin, the battle never before successfully won.

      The common people do their best to make it a grand entrance. They make a carpet of coats and branches for the donkey to walk on. They express their own hopes and dreams about Jesus’ mission in calls of celebration. They expect salvation to come as Jesus comes. It does, but not in the way they expected.

      Sometimes things don’t go as we expect. Often our hopes are not fulfilled. Disappointment is part of life. But perhaps we need a shift in perspective in those moments. If the people of Jesus’ day had known that He was going to solve the sin problem, I can bet there would have been a much larger crowd welcoming Him that day. I can bet all those who had been touched would have shown up to throw their weight behind His ultimate sacrifice. Their cries of rejoicing would have been much louder, probably filled with tears of gratitude.

Busted

Mark 2:18-22

      There are certain things that are expected of religious people. These might change depending on the culture, but there will be expectations placed on those who claim a spiritual connection. For those who claim to be Christians, the expectations are high. In the past here in the United States, Christians didn’t smoke, drink alcohol, dance, swear, play card games or dress certain ways. The expectations were almost universal. And when someone violated those expectations, they were socially shunned.

      And Scripture states certain expectations for Jesus-followers which cross time and culture. I will give you one example. Christians should never rape. It doesn’t make any difference what culture you are in or in what period of history, rape is always wrong for Jesus-followers. Even in cultures where rape is an accepted part of the culture at large, Christians should not participate. There is no wiggle room or arguing about the definition of rape. Rape is wrong. Sexual violation can never be a tolerated behavior. “Love” doesn’t change that.

      Just as there are prohibited behaviors for believers, there are also proscribed behaviors, things that we must do if we claim to be Jesus-followers. For instance, we must gather together as believers in worship and encouragement of one another. That might look different in a Muslim country under the cover of darkness than here in the West, but it must still take place.

      In Jesus’ days here on earth the Jewish expectations of a “good Jew” were very well spelled out. One of the things done was fasting. The Pharisees were the most religious people around. They kept careful tabs on their behavior, and the behavior of others. They were not afraid to point out other’s failures. Don’t you just hate it when people do that to you!

      Jesus did not live up to their expectations as a Jewish Rabbi, a teacher, let alone as a Prophet. He and His disciples didn’t look like any other group of teachers and students. They didn’t have proscribed dress or religious restrictions like the Pharisees did. And some people notice this point it out to Jesus and His disciples.

      Jesus answers that there is an appropriate time to fast, but this is not that time. There will be a time in the future when fasting is appropriate for the disciples. They will fast then. Fasting now would not fit with the new and complete revelation of God in Jesus. Trying to fit fasting into the picture would ruin the message of completion and fulfillment that Jesus is bringing.