Is our vision of
Jesus big enough? (verses 35-37a)
The religious teachers had been trying to trick Jesus with their questions, and Jesus had stumped them every time. Now Jesus turns the tables on them and asks them a question: David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet". David himself calls him "Lord". How then can he be David's son?'
They knew that the Messiah would be a Son of David, but they did not realise that the Messiah existed before David, was David's Lord, and sat at his right hand. Their view of the Messiah was too small. Jesus is that Messiah who has existed from all eternity and sits at the right hand of the Father.
The fact that Jesus is the Christ/Messiah is central to the Gospel of Mark. In the first half of the Gospel Jesus keeps the fact that he is the Christ a secret. When people begin to see who he really is he says ‘don’t tell anyone.’ That was because the people’s expectation of the Christ was too small. They hoped for a military Messiah who would free their land. If rumours circulated that Jesus was the Christ his ministry would have been hindered for the people would have tried to make him into a political leader.
But then, at the
beginning of this week, Jesus goes public.
He rides into
We can't understand Jesus without seeing His cross. Indeed, we can't understand what it means to follow Him without hearing tell us to take up our cross. Any vision of Jesus that falls short of a crucified, risen and exalted Saviour and King is too small. Call Him simply a good teacher and your vision is infinitely too small. Thing of Him as a military leader, even one as mighty as Alexander the Great, and you vision is also too small.
Do we remember
that he is in control? (verse 37b)
The large crowd listened to him with delight. It seems that the teachers
of the law could not give an answer to Jesus’ question and the people enjoyed
watching them being stumped. these people had been badly treated by their religious leaders and smiles as they saw Jesus put them in their place.
Jesus had been asked a series of seemingly unanswerable questions and had demonstrated his authority by his amazing answers, now Jesus has again shown that he is in complete control of the situation as he asks opponents a question that they cannot answer.
That’s the impression that we are given of Jesus in this week that leads to the cross. Despite the opposition Jesus remains in control. Yes, his enemies will get their way and Jesus will be killed, but not because they got one over on him. He will go to the cross because that is the Father’s plan and that because this is what he is willing to do.
Despite the
opposition Jesus was in control. That
was true then and it remains true always.
If you are trusting Jesus, then what comfort it is to remember His control. Mark has shown Jesus doing things that show us that He is God the Son--he has calmed a storm, walked on water and He has the authority to forgive sin.
J. I. Packer writes, 'I am never out of his mind. He knows me as a friend, as one who loves me; there is not a moment when his eye is off me, or his attention is distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care fathers.' Big thoughts of God the Father and God the Son can bring great comfort to the Christian as we pass through the troubles that inevitably come.
Do we live to
honour him? (verses 38-40)
The teachers of the law had refused to see who the Christ would be. They had not faced up to the fact that he would be far greater than the political leader they hoped for. They were not open to King David’s eternal Lord, as is evidenced by their opposition to him as he stands before them. Their religion focused on themselves. They would not live to exalt the Christ so they lived to exalt themselves.
Their religion was about them. These teachers dressed a different way and people greeted them as ‘rabbi’ or ‘master’. They were given seats of honour at banquets and the Synagogue. They were not allowed charge for their services so they were supported by patrons—they would happily exploit a widow’s generosity in order to keep themselves living well. They made prayers for show. Because they would not exalt the Lord they lived to exalt themselves.
Things never change. Religious charlatans still exploit the vulnerable. I saw a clip of a prosperity gospel preacher encouraging people to go into debt to support his ministry, and so fuel his opulent lifestyle.
If you won’t live your life to exalt Christ you will live it to exalt yourself. The Christians goal is not to bring honour to me but honour to him. When we care for people are we caring for them to genuinely show Christ’s compassion or to make ourselves look good? Do we come to church because people would think less of us if we didn’t or because it gives us an opportunity to minister to each other and be equipped for service? When we mess up are we more annoyed that our reputation has been damaged or that we have let our Lord down? Is our attitude like these teachers of the law or is it like George Whitefield, the great 18th century evangelist, who famously prayed, ‘Let the name of Whitefield be forgotten, only let the name of Christ remain.’
Conclusion
We struggle to have small thoughts of ourselves and big thoughts of Jesus, but if we do our lives will be marked by humble confidence.
There are plenty of people who are arrogant because they have big thoughts of themselves. there are many Christians who are insecure because their thoughts of Jesus are too small--Jesus is big enough to handle any mess that we are in and to forgive any sin we have committed.
The person with big thoughts of Jesus and small thoughts of themselves can delight to be an beloved child, accepted by grace and not merit, secure in the hand of the one who is in control of all things.
Sola Dei Gloria.
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