One Goes Out, the Other Goes In

-


Scripture:

Mark 14:10   Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

Observation:

The anonymous woman had just come into the company of Jesus and his disciples to anoint him. This would have been highly suspect because men and women were to practice social distancing in the day with the woman never having come into physical contact with Jesus. The section ends by contrasting the action of Judas. He had been in physical proximity, near to Jesus for an extended period of time but now he chooses to go out. 

Evidently wanted posters had been placed throughout the city of Jerusalem. Jesus was a wanted man, and his whereabouts came with a reward. Again we find the juxtaposition between Judas and the woman. One found Jesus, entered near and gave him everything, while the other went out and provided information to his whereabouts and made himself rich. 

The religious leaders didn’t want to arrest Jesus in public because they were afraid of the people. They needed an insider who could lead the temple guards to Jesus when he was in a secluded location. Judas went out and met with the chief priests and began planning his betrayal. 

Application:

The spiritual life is a journey in which we are always on the move, either going in, or going out. Far too many think that they can be stationary, having come to Christ but then not growing in their spiritual lives. That’s not really a possibility because life is always about growth and development, movement that takes us in one direction or the other. 

Although Judas was in close proximity to Jesus, he was moving away spiritually. His selfish desires were never given over to the leadership of Jesus Christ. He was constantly concerned about money and Jesus’ spirit of generosity remained entirely foreign. Instead of becoming more like Jesus, he created distance in his heart, soul, and mind that led him in an entirely different direction. 

No wonder we are challenged to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! This provides momentum that continually moves us in the right direction, toward the Savior. When our heart, soul, mind and strength are disengaged from loving the Lord, then we move away, sometimes without even being aware. 

Depending on where you are in the world, the next eight weeks will be a major slow-down in life. Maybe this provides us with the opportunity to evaluate whether we have been going in, or going out. If we’ve not been actively going in, we might want to think about ways to change the momentum. Draw near to Jesus, and bring him everything! That’s what it means to go in. 

Prayer:

Lord, draw me close to you. Amen. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more