Mark Part Four: The Point of the Fig Tree

Mark Part Four: The Point of the Fig Tree
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

“Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22

There are two parts to the story of the Fig Tree and they sandwich the cleansing of the temple in between them.

In the morning Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree full of leaves but no fruit. It looked healthy and plentiful from a distance, but it was empty when closely examined. It wasn’t the season for figs so its leaves were doubly deceptive, not only did it look full but it wasn’t ready to be full.

Jesus cursed the fig tree and went on to the temple.

In the temple Jesus drove out the merchants who were using the house of God as a marketplace rather than a house of prayer.

The next morning as they passed the fig tree the disciples noticed that it was withered and pointed out to Jesus that this was the fig tree he had cursed.

Mark Part Three: Who Then Can Be Saved?

Mark Part Three: Who Then Can Be Saved?
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Mark 10:26

Who Then Can Be Saved?

I found several answers in my reading of the Gospel of Mark. The distressed (5:30); the unworthy (7:28) the ‘not us’ among us (9:41); the burdened (10:21) the spiritually immature (10:24); and the spiritually blind (10:47) and it all boils down to this: “all things are possible with God.” Man can’t. God can!

“Who touched Me?”
First there was a woman in distress. She had a bleeding disorder which means that she was unclean. People avoided her, if they did not out right shun her. She had spent all her money on treatments that had only increased her misery and had not solved the problem.

She sneaked up behind Jesus, unwilling to face him in her shame. She reached out to touch, not to gain his attention or garner his favor, but to contact the source of healing, contact but not connect.

She only touched the hem of his cloak. The crowd was pressing in around Him, he was being touched by many but He knew the instant faith reached out to Him. (5:30)

And He did not allow that faith to remain anonymous. He kept looking for the faithful touch until the woman stood before him and confessed. Then he took the woman’s fear and suffering and turned it into peace and freedom.

One trembling touch of faith and Jesus responded immediately.

The crumbs of God’s forgiveness
Then there was a woman from Syrian Phoenicia who had faith that even the crumbs of God’s forgiveness held the power to save. She called Him “Lord” She was the only one in all the gospels who called Him “Lord” For such a faith her request was granted. (7:28)

This woman was humble before Christ. She recognized her unworthiness, she was a Gentile after all and the Jews were known for their self-satisfaction as the chosen people of God. She also recognized the authority of Jesus; she called him “Lord” she was, in fact, the only one in the entire Gospel to address him as Lord.

When Jesus told her that she was asking for the bread that belonged to the children she acknowledged that this was so – but – even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs, and with the crumbs she would be satisfied.

In heaven there are many mansions prepared for us, but personally I wouldn’t mind if I had to live in a broom closet, just so long as that broom closet was in the Kingdom of God.

The crumbs of God’s forgiveness are more powerful than the poisoned feast of Satan’s table. And we receive more than crumbs; we are invited to Christ’s banquet in heaven, when we call Him “Lord”

He isn’t one of us
And the man who wasn’t “one of us” as far as the disciples were concerned was “one of mine” as far as Christ was concerned.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” (9:41)

The church is not an exclusive country club. There is only one path to heaven, and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ, but there are many paths to Christ. Peter was not a seminary graduate and this man was not one of the disciples, but Peter was a rock solid preacher and this man was a believer in the power of Jesus' name.

God wants all of us to be one of us. We cannot limit the scope of the works of Christ to the confines of our group.

The Burden of Outrageous Fortune

And that rich young man who wanted to know what to do to inherit eternal life. He already knew the answer before he asked the question. He knew the commandments and had followed them since he was a boy. He knew the laws of God and obeyed them and yet he felt that there must be something more that he could do.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. (10:21) He did not shame him for his lack of spiritual maturity. He recognized the young man’s earnest desire and loved him for it, but Jesus then went straight to the heart of the matter, the young man was wealthy and that wealth hindered him. So Jesus told him to get rid of it.

The young man went away sad because he had great wealth. He chose his wealth over Christ. That young man was earnest in his desire, despite his spiritual immaturity. Jesus looked at him and saw a child of God. Jesus loved him and I have personal experience with the love Christ has for the spiritually immature. Once you approach Christ, once He looks at you and loves you, it is not so very easy to just walk away.

In verse 24 Jesus doesn’t single out the rich but says “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God.” For there are many burdens which hinder us. Not just wealth, but anything that we hold onto like grudges and envy and power or position. There are many burdens that Jesus would have us get rid of and follow him.

Who then can be saved?
The disciples asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” and Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible.” Man cannot save himself.

But

“With God all things are possible.”

God can save man; in fact God can make the eye of the needle so large that even a camel can walk through it. What we have all that we have, is on loan from God. Once we realize that the bounty of life is not ours to possess, giving it away becomes easier. Not easy – Simple ain’t easy – But easier.

What the blind man saw
Which brings us to Bartimaeus the blind man. When he heard that Jesus was passing by he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And when the world tried to silence him he shouted louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (10:47)

Jesus sent his disciples to call the blind man who was searching in the darkness. When they brought him to Jesus he asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus replied, “Rabbi (teacher) I want to see (understand).

And Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” And where did he go? He followed Jesus because what the blind man saw was the road home.

Simple - Ain't - Easy
But it does get easier
Wendy

And in case you’re just joining us here are the links to:
Mark: An Overview of the Gospel
Mark Part One: One Good Hour With God
Mark Part Two: What Jesus Said to Me

Is anyone out there currently reading the Gospel of Mark? I would be interested in what God is saying to you.

Mark Part Two: What Jesus Said to Me

Mark Part Two: What Jesus Said to Me
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, “I am willing,” he said, “Be clean!” Mark 1:41-42

The Bible was written for all men but it is also an intimate message for you personally. When I read the Bible I am always looking for that intimate message. 

Throughout the entire Bible God tells us what He is going to do and then He does what He says. God said “Let there be light” – and then there was light. God told Noah that there would be a flood and then there was a flood. God told Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and then God made him the father of many nations.God means what He says and He says what He means and as I was looking over my notes from Mark, I was struck by what Jesus said to the people who came to him.

Mark Part One: One Good Hour With God

Mark Part One: One Good Hour With God
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

“I tell you the truth…” Mark 3:28 and “Listen!…” Mark 4:3

How I Study

I make my reading plan, so I don’t miss a thing, and then I read one book at a time and take notes. I take notes in long hand and on notebook paper. When I finish the book I'm reading I read over my notes. Sometimes I reread passages or travel through the rest of the Bible, searching for passages that may shed light on any questions I may have about what I read.

I try to make sure God is finished talking to me before I move on from one book of the Bible to the next.

One Good Hour With God

I spend a good hour with God every morning. I am not a morning person. I get up and make my coffee and spend a good 30 minutes prying my eyes open in the morning. I eat breakfast, check my e-mail and shuffle through my stack of stuff to do today, writing down the first few things to DO NOW on a list that I leave on top of my stack of stuff to do. Then I close the computer, set aside my stack of stuff and open the Bible and spend one good hour with God.

Mark - An Overview of the Gospel

Mark - An Overview of the Gospel
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1

I usually start my Reading Plan with Mark. He is the lickedy-split Gospel. Things happen ‘immediately’ in Mark. He moves quickly form one episode to the next and covers the life of Jesus from the beginning of his ministry to his death and resurrection in 16 short chapters. He hits all the high points: miracles, parables, teaching, the humanity of Jesus and the divinity of Jesus.

The early church unanimously credited John Mark with writing the Gospel of Mark and generally agree that he was an associate of the apostle Peter. Peter preached, Mark wrote it down.
Mark serves as a good overview of the Gospel

If you have never met Jesus this is probably the best place to do it. John Mark’s mother opened her home as a meeting place for believers. When believers got together the stories of Jesus flowed forth, and John Mark was there, listening.

Bible Reading Plans

Bible Reading Plans

by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

I don't want to miss a thing

I use Bible Reading Plans because I don't want to miss a thing.I just worked out my Bible Reading Plan for the next while. I don’t put a time limit on my Bible reading, I especially do not try to cram the whole Bible into a single year. That means reading 3 or 4 chapters a day and some of those chapters have really meaty chunks to digest. I am a voracious reader, but the Bible I ponder, I savor, I think about and talk things over with my father. I don’t want to miss a thing so I don’t try to hurry through the chapters. I don’t want to.

So what I do is I list the books of the Bible and how many chapters each book has and I mark them off as I read them.

Biblical Order: Genesis through Revelation
The books of the Bible are put together in groups:

God's Psychiatry

Recommended Reading – God’s Psychiatry
God’s Psychiatry by Charles L. Allen

I love this book. It is the application of scripture to the healing of the mind and the soul. It does what I love to do – it ponders each verse in a passage, specifically Psalm 23, The Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer and The Beattitudes.

I like his subject titles as well.
How to Think of God – Psalm 23
God’s Rules for Living – The Ten Commandments
How to Talk to God – The Lord’s Prayer
The Keys to the Kingdom – The Beattitudes

In How to Think of God he prescribes the 23rd Psalm 5 times a day for 7 days. Its power is not in memorizing the words, but rather in thinking the thoughts.

I love his descriptions of the sheep and the shepherd throughout Psalm 23. The idea of Christ as The Good Shepherd is much more powerful if you fully understand the intimate relationship between a shepherd and his sheep.

In God’s Rules for Living you come to understand that when you break the law the law stands. What lies in broken pieces is the man.

In How to Talk to God the words become more than something to say they become something to pray.

In The Keys of the Kingdom you find that unless the keys are used they are useless.

How you think matters.
What you store in your heart matters.

“If we really desire God we will do those things which will cause us to experience God.”
            Charles L. Allen

Simple – Ain’t – Easy
Reading Helps
Wendy

Who Controls What You Think?

Who Controls What You Think?
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

Who Controls What You Think?

If you think the obvious answer is YOU then think again. Superstition, tradition, what you learned at home, what you leaned in school, what you learned in Sunday school, and what you learned in at the office gossip party 20 minutes ago all play a part in what you think.

Garbage In – Garbage Out
There is an old computer saying, “Garbage In – Garbage Out.” It means that if the code you write is garbage then the computer program will spit out garbage. It works for the mind as well. Your mind is a huge and complex computer that accepts every piece of data from every source that you encounter.

Whatever is Lovely

Whatever is Lovely
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Philippians 4:8

I’ve been reading about Mindful Meditation lately. I can’t get the image of a crossed-legged person with their eyes closed attempting to empty their minds and let their minds float. Actually they are supposed to be concentrating on a single thing, like breathing, and bring their minds back to that single thing when the mind wanders away.

Mindful or Mind Full

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance - Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading – Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Do you know how many times the word ‘fear’ appears in the King James Version of the Bible? I do, because Dr. James Strong spent 35 years counting them. He had help, more than 100 colleagues, but no computer. These men had the Bible and they made a list of every word in every verse. Then they listed the words in alphabetical order and then they listed every verse where each word appears.

Their work was first published in 1890: Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.

Why Believe in God?

Why Believe in God?
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. 1 Corinthians 14:33

I have been researching the history of isms. Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Baptism… Actually I started by looking up the Puritans and why they came to America. Religious Freedom led me through the different isms and why they became chasms. Which led me to start thinking about why I believe what I believe.

Awestruck

Awestruck
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Hebrews 11:3

I am a Wikipediate! I admit that I can spend days happily tracing all of the connections between articles on the Internet. Anyone can use Wiki but to be a true Wikipediate one must be an avid reader and I started early, way back before the Internet. Way back then I was an Encyclopediate. You know - the book form of Wiki. Encyclopedias come in sets, one book for nearly every letter in the alphabet. My mom got us a set when I was in grade school and I devoured them. It was in the Encyclopedia that i first met the duck billed, web footed, beaver tailed platypus.

His picture looks like a lot of left over parts joined together, but look him up, he is no mash up of spare parts. He is in fact, a really cool individual.

Z is for Zeal

Z is for Zeal
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! Luke 12:49

What does it mean to be 'on fire' for the Lord?

We had to cut a tree down two years ago. The trunk was cut up and hauled away for firewood. The limbs were piled in the back of the yard. This year we began burning up the limbs. Pile after pile of twigs and small limbs. Seasoned wood, two years dead and dried out, and it burns pretty well. At the end of the day we hose the pile down, rake through the coals and hose it down again. 

Getting the embers in the center of the pile exposed and hosed is a bigger chore than hauling the limbs down to be burned. Ashes cover embers and keep them warm. If we don’t get the whole thing hosed down it could blaze up again in the night.