Pastors Jared and Jerrica's Thoughts

 Mark 14:1-11 /////////// At the House of the Leper Today’s text is the final story in the Gospel of Mark before the series of events begin starting with the Last Supper (tomorrow) leading to the crucifixion (Friday), then with Jesus in the tomb (Saturday) and risen on Easter morning (Sunday). It is interesting to me that Mark tells this story at this point because of what is about to happen. At the tail end of today’s text, we read about the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, which will swing a series of events into motion for the Son of Man to be lifted up. I still remember the first time that I put in my first pair of contacts. I was in the 8 th grade before my parents realized that I couldn’t see very well. I had no idea that I needed glasses! When everything is blurry, you begin to think that it is just normal to see that way. It wasn’t so blurry though that I couldn’t make out the writing on the chalkboard or anything, so I got by. That day that my dad took me to get my first eye e...

 Mark 11:20-13:37 /////////// Shema There is a lot in the texts for today as we continue our journey with Jesus to the cross. Jesus has entered Jerusalem, the central hub of Jewish culture and worship on Sunday. Yesterday, we looked at Jesus cursing the fig tree and cleansing the temple, which I'm sure angered a lot of people. In today's reading, we have several instances of the religious leaders pushing back against Jesus's authority. Several different groups of leaders come to him several times and question him, trying to trap him in his words. They ask him about the authority that he acts under, they ask him about paying taxes, they ask him about resurrection, and they ask him about the Law of Moses. Jesus doesn't sugarcoat things- he tells a parable that explains how terrible the "chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders" have been. In 12:38-40, Jesus outwardly speaks against the religious leaders in the city. Finally, in chapter 13, Jesus be...

 Mark 11:12-26 ////// The Fig Tree with No Figs Have you ever walked in on someone doing what they were not supposed to? Maybe it was a child or a friend. Or maybe that someone was you and someone caught you in the act! For me, I remember a time when I was in second grade and my friends and I decided that we were going to say some bad words on the playground for fun. The problem with this was we weren't aware of who was listening in on our conversations. I still remember the look that Mrs. Robinson gave me as we got back into the classroom. I thought to myself, Please don't tell my parents (I was a pastor's kid). In the passage from Mark, there is a lot of symbolism here that we must not miss. This is a passage that I think we skip over some and concentrate on this vision of Jesus who loses his temper in the temple and begins flipping over tables. There is a reason that this story of Jesus in the temple is bookended by the fig tree, and for this devotional, this is where I...