The Parable of the Tenant

The parable of the tenant is a reminder to us all that God expects us to live fruitful lives and that he'll be looking for that when our time on this earth is over. (vv. 34, 41). I take this to mean that God has blessed us and given each of us certain previleges and responsibilities while we are on earth and that we are to utilize our gifts and resources to helping others and to bring glory to God. God has invested in us and expects to see results. The religious leaders failed to produce fruits and Jesus promised that they will meet a wretched end (v. 41). This danger still remains today, as we in the church are given our previleges and responsibities. What have we done, with the lives we've been given? What have we done with the resources God has given us? What can we show to Jesus that our lives are more fruitful than that of the Pharisees? Are we faithful and fruitful?

Posted by Pastor James

The Cleansing of the Temple

He [Jesus] said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?' But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

Mark 11:17

Apparently the above verse and those pertaining to "The Cleansing of the Temple" have been a popular subject for many biblical studies and heated debates resulting from their contrasting views. After reading some of those, I feel less certain about the true meaning/purpose of this passage, as is often the case when one does not have the command of the full context.

So I will keep to the more obvious reflections.

Our passage in Mark chapter 11 features dramatic, action packed events. Christ, the gentle and compassionate One, shows his other side at last! Using the Mr. Stott's words, "the commercialism of the sanctuary of God" and "the gross exploitation of poor pilgrims" precipitate his anger and we have the glimpse of "the wrath of the lamb."

I applaud at Jesus' reaction at the temple court because I am quick to judge the villains and jump on the bandwagon of the righteous. It's 시원해!
Until... I revisit the wrath of the lamb.
I too have desecrated the house of prayer both literally and symbolically. I too deserve and fear that judgement sure to come my way.

Now I come to Mr. Stott's last remark: "It is only after we have seen the tears in his eyes that we are ready to see the whip in his hand."

Mr. Stott's remark refers to Luke's account of The Good News and not Mark's. Luke 19:39, 40 describes the Jesus' confrontation with pharisees during the "Triumphal Entry"and Luke 19:41-44 draws Jesus, overcome with emotion just prior to the events at the Temple court.

At the top of the hill overlooking Jerusalem, Jesus looked over the city.
And he wept.

Was it the profound disappointment at the blindness of pharisees? Was it the eventual outcome of his people who did not recognize "the time of God's coming?" Was it the cost of the sins of his people - the price He has to pay on the cross.

Humanity of Jesus Christ depicted in today's verses moves my heart.
I wonder if this may be the beauty of Jesus Christ Rev. Bill Radford referred to in yesterday's sermon.

Have a great week everyone!

Stott makes a strong statement by saying that Christians "are called to a radical nonconformity to tradition and convention in order to honor the supremacy of Scripture and the lordship of Jesus Christ". Yet, I can' t help but to think that traditions were originally set up for a good purpose. Certain ceremonies, holidays and events are practiced and commemorated to benefit the present and future generation with the great principles handed down from the past. Wedding ceremonies, the season of lent, and even the holy communion are just a few examples. I think that tradition do have a part in Christian life but Stott is right in saying that they are not to replace or even overshadow honoring the "supremacy of Scripture and the lordship of Jesus Christ".
When I think about the pharisees and their traditions, it makes me think back to Adam and Eve and how they tried to cover up themselves with fig leaves. Both parties being afraid of exposure tried to cover themselves with false securities. The pharisees may have had greater insights as to the holiness of God than Christians do in this present age. However, they failed to please God because they did not have faith in what God revealed through the holy scripture. They failed to see and understand the truth of God behind the laws and traditions which God had ordained and saw only the tradition themselves and depended on their own abilities to adhere to them. Instead of using those tradition to remember certain qualities of God and use them to draw nearer to Him, the pharisees used tradition to cover up their short comings. I do believe that they knew and understood God as holy and perfect and knew they had to conform to his holiness but their fatal mistake was to believe that holiness and righteousness can be attained by their own efforts instead of depending on God's sufficient grace.
Another oversight of the pharisees was the security they placed on their ability to keep the laws and traditions. And upon this false security they also built up pride and self righteousness. The pharisees are not the only ones guilty of this-so am I. The tradition or practice of attending Sunday worship service is one example I'll use for myself perhaps you may be able to think of others. Not that I'm perfect in coming to church on time every Sunday, but just even the practice of coming gives me a certain level of security. My heart may be in the wrong place and I may have missed the point of coming to church to worship God, their is a sense of security, familiarity, a sense of satisfaction of having done what I should have done on a Sunday morning-outwardly at least. Like I said, this is just one area of my life where a certain religious practice gives off a sense of security and satisfaction all the while I fail to meet God where I truly ought to- on my knees both literally and spiritually. It makes me re-examine where my heart is what-ever I do. My first reaction to this realization was anxiety and insecurity at my lack of faith and faithfulness in acknowledging what is right and actually doing it. But I am encouraged to remember God's grace and love. And I have to remember that as I spend more quality time in prayer and reading Scripture, that it won't be so much of my own efforts that will make me more like Christ but it will be the work of the Holy Spirit.

Is it my day??

Hi everyone, I'm not too sure if today is supposed to be my day or Kwijung's day. If it is my day, I haven't read my reflection yet. I have a touch of food poisoning and I had to prepare for work and small group.

Nevertheless, I would still like to contribute. Yesterday, I was listening to a late night radio talk show and the guest was an author of a book called "God's Problem." His atone seemed to be objective and well balanced about God's inconsistencies and how Christianity was basically delusional. With the host's help, they both tore down some basic Christian concepts with a false mask of academic neutrality.

All I was thinking was this..."Man I am so lucky that God has shared some of the mysteries of his word with someone pathetic like me."

I think the two main problems that people often experience when it comes to their relationship with God is

1) People limit God to their own experiences and what they can or cannot see.
2) People are pretty much self-centered and full of themselves.

I know I suffer from all this. I go through daily struggles and misery because I refuse to let myself off of the mantle and give God center stage.

I've been reading sermons by Charles Spurgeon that Dulla lent me and he asks a very simple question all the time through his graceful words. "Who do you think you are???"

Pretty much, I sometimes act like a god unto myself. But God in his faithfulness still draws me nearer to him despite my arrogance. And he often does it through this church.. (so I am grateful to you all.)

I get reminded that God's name must be and will be praised and glorified despite our own problems. Like Pastor James reminds us, "hold on to the cross!"

I have food poisoning, severe diarrhea, nausea, my students are annoying me a little bit, my boss is kinda nuts, my mom calls me every two minutes. I worry about the future too much, I'm anxious, weak, hypocritical, idle, lazy, and just now I spilled half of my gatorade all over my nice pants.

I'm unworthy in every way and a selfish pig to boot. But I cling on desperately to Jesus and the cross because I know that even despite myself, He makes me a little bit better every day.

seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeya.

Debate Over Fraternization

So sorry for the tardy post. I had a day off yesterday and did such a great job checking out mentally that I totally forgot my post!

Its very easy to read this account and shake my finger again at those Pharisees till I stop and admit the thin line between me and those I so easily condemn. At the same time, I have to acknowledge an even thinner line between me and those I pretend to defend. With that realization, I read the "woe to you"s soberly reminded of who those words were intended to warn. Its amazing the power of judgementalism and how quickly it constipates me spiritually. As crude as it sounds, I pray for spiritual ex-lax so that God's love would course freely through my life.

Be Careful What You Wish For

you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." matthew 16:23

i'm very sorry that this blog is off-topic from mr. stott's message for today, but i was compelled by il's blog on monday to post the following comments.

the passage in question is matthew 16:21-28, where peter passionately states that he will not stand for Jesus being killed at the hands of the elders, chief priests and the teachers of the law.

peter is immediately rebuked and "brought down to size" by the Lord, who tells him, "you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men".

it is a hard passage to understand at first. peter's protest against Jesus's dying makes so much sense and is so completely understandable from the human perspective.

but what if peter's request had been granted? a failed insurrection with jesus as a political or military leader? no cross, no forgiveness, no hope of salvation.

we are reminded again that God's ways are not our ways; and His thoughts are far above our own.

as in the case of peter, even the best of our motives are often tainted by self-deceit and self-pride when we really examine them!

although we may not see it at the time, we should be very thankful that there are occasions that God does NOT grant the prayers we ask of Him.

many times we don't know what we're asking for. and most times, we lack wisdom as to when to ask for the things we desire.

i can think of examples in the bible and in real life, where people have stubbornly insisted on doing things "their" way, instead of God's way, have insisted on "their" own timing, instead of God's timing etc.

God appears to grant them their request, but does it really bring them the happiness they thought it would?

one example from the bible is in the first book of samuel, when israel insists on having a king, like the "other nations" do.

God is very displeased with this request, knowing that it is a rejection of Him. He warns them repeatedly that they will be ill-treated and led astray by their future rulers.

israel ignores these warnings and clamors for a king, anyway. God answers this request.

how grievously israel sins under the rulership of her kings, and how far she falls into apostasy and idolatry, is faithfully recorded in 1st and 2nd kings and in 1st and 2nd chronicles.

the extent of the suffering both the northern and southern kingdoms of israel eventually endure, especially in their respective declines, is unimagineable.

at the lowest point of judah's (the southern kingdom) torment, during the siege of jerusalem by the babylonians, mothers were reduced to eating their own children.

we should honestly present our requests to God in prayer. but when we insist on requests that we know are displeasing to Him, watch out.

it just goes to show that with God, be very, very, very careful what you ask for . . . you might just get it.

Thursday, February 14, 2008: The Transfiguration

This is one of the events in the life of Jesus that is written in multiple books of the New Testament and mentioned in other passages (Mark 9:1-13, Matthew 17: 1-13, Luke 9: 28-36 and 2 Peter 1: 16-18). It was a nice exercise to look them up and see how one passage supports the other.

John Stott offers four aspects of interpretation: worth further meditation.

I’m just blown away by the visual: as Jesus is praying, his appearance starts to change. His face shines like the sun, his clothes become as bright as a flash of lightning, Moses and Elijah appear out of nowhere and they are all enveloped by a cloud that speaks to them! So many artists have tried to capture this image. When I get to heaven, I would like to ask Jesus to show me what it really looked like.

The cloud reminded me of the exodus of Israel when God’s presence was seen as a pillar of cloud. This too is a kind of exodus—Jesus is preparing to lead us out of the bondage to sin.

Peter, James and John got a peek into the future. They got to see Jesus in his transfigured body - the way he might look after he is resurrected. And even though Jesus has been telling them about the suffering that is to come, and that he will rise from the dead but how could they really know and understand all these things. They were so frightened and the scripture says they didn’t know what they were talking about. But, this is the part I can identify with… being scared and talking too much!

Someday, we will all see Jesus in all His Glory. Will we be frightened? What will we say?