Broken for Me, Broken for You (1 Corinthians 11.23-26 and Mark 14.12-26)

Introduction

The week before Easter is usually pretty busy for me.

Looking at my diary Ben will be home so I’ll want to spend some quality time with him. I see I have a school service to lead at Saint Mary’s on the Monday. There are Holy Week services each evening in Long Newton. I, along with all other clergy, have to go to the Cathedral on Maundy Thursday to renew my ordination vows. There is a Good Friday meditation to lead here. Then there are Easter Sunday services to prepare.

That’s on top of the usual meetings and emails and phone calls and stuff that just turns up. I’m not complaining; I love what I do. But that’s the week before Easter and I’m a vicar.

If you were to ask an observant Jew how he or she spends the week before Easter you would probably find it is similarly hectic. Of course, they celebrate Passover the same week.

It’s a highly evocative meal which has its own customs, liturgies, and symbols – all of which have been handed down from generation to generation, not just for decades, or even centuries, but for millennia; they have done the same things every year since the eve of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt about 1,450 years before Christ.

The Preparation

For devout Jews work is cancelled. They are required to take a full week’s holiday the week before Passover. Jewish businesses cease trading for the duration of the holiday. Kosher food producers and restaurants all close down for 7 days.

Actually, the men put their feet up and rest. But the women are expected to undertake an in-depth spring clean of every square inch of the home, from the attic to the cellar.

And in particular, they have to rid the house of every trace of… leaven. Biscuits, cakes, bread, crumpets, muffins, bagels, it all goes in the bin. But also Marmite, beer and a whole host of other stuff… everything with yeast in it has to go.

Every surface is wiped down, every floor is vacuumed, every window is cleaned, every bed is changed; no stone is left unturned – the house must be 100% leaven free before Passover.

Yeast, in the Bible, symbolises sin. Because sin, just like yeast, starts small and unnoticed, but it ends up affecting everything. That’s why unleavened bread for Jews is a symbol of purity and righteousness.

So the women get busy cleaning and the men watch TV. Sounds like a fair division of labour doesn’t it?

However, according to the rabbis, only the man about the house can legally certify that the home is officially yeast free. So they have devised a ceremony called the bendikat chametz in which he goes about with a feather, a wooden spoon and a handkerchief and he has to find the one crumb of bread that she has deliberately left. He sweeps it up, takes it to the synagogue and burns it. You can buy a special kit like the one on the screen for that very purpose.

When the disciples ask Jesus in v12 “where do you want us to go and make preparations for the Passover?” this is what they mean. They have to get a room up to spec, yeast free, before laying the table and setting all the food out. But Jesus tells them the room will be furnished and ready, meaning he has already made arrangements to get rid of all the yeast.

I wonder if you realise why Jesus says to just two of the twelve in v13, “Go into to the city and a man carrying a water jar will meet you”? Why doesn’t Jesus just say, “I’ve booked a room at 47 Bethany Street” for example? Why does he talk in this covert kind of way?

It’s because Judas is right there listening. Jesus knows that Judas is looking for an opportunity to betray him; v11 says he is actually watching for an opportunity to hand him over.

Luke’s Gospel records that Jesus says, “I have eagerly desired to eat the Passover with you before I suffer” but if Judas gets wind of the address where this Passover meal is going to take place, there’ll be a whole bunch of temple police waiting at the door with swords and clubs. The last supper will never happen.

The Meal and its Meaning

Those of us who are Gentiles generally have a pretty sketchy idea of what the Passover meal involves. A few years ago, I invited a friend from an organisation called Jews for Jesus to give a presentation about it in the church I was leading at the time. It blew my mind.

The Passover meal speaks eloquently about what Jesus did for us when he died in our place. He is in every symbol, in every custom, in every commemoration, in every ritual.

Remember, all observant Jews do this every year. The youngest present at the meal begins by asking “Why is this night different to all other nights?” In the upper room, this might well have been the Apostle John.

And the head of the home replies, explaining to everyone gathered. “This is to remind us that God delivered our people from slavery in Egypt and led us into the Promised Land.” These are the words that Jesus would have said.

All Jewish households celebrating the Passover today, following the instructions in Exodus 12, take parsley, dip it in salt water and eat it, reminding them of the tears and sweat of their ancestors while they were slaves in Egypt. And the head of the table explains that this is a reminder to them of the bitterness of life.

These bitter herbs are also made into a kind of paste, like horseradish sauce. They dip their unleavened bread into the sauce and when they eat it, it’s like chopping an onion, tears begin to fall.

When Jesus says, “one of you will betray me, the one who dips his bread in the bowl with me” well, this is the bowl of sauce he is talking about, this bitter horseradish sauce.

In v19 it says that they are all upset. Do you know why? Because everyone present will have already dipped their unleavened bread into this sauce. In a sense they did all desert him and deny him. But Jesus takes bread again later in the meal, dips it in the bitter sauce and gives to Judas saying, “What you must do, do quickly.”

The Passover meal, according to Exodus 12, also contains lamb that must be without defect; no broken bones or malformations. It doesn’t say why. But we know that Jesus is the Lamb of God, without sin, who takes away the sin of the world. Neither Pilate or by Herod will find any wrong in him. His bones will not be broken on the cross, even though according to Roman custom they have to be.

Every Passover meal features a bag for the unleavened bread and it’s called a matzoh tosh. There’s a picture of one on the screen. It’s a bag with 3 compartments, and each contains a slice of bread without yeast.

A matzoh tosh like this is what Jesus will have used too. The rabbis say that the bag is a unity: three breads, one bag, three in one.

The bread in the middle bag is called the bread of affliction. Some rabbis teach that the three breads represent Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Others disagree and say that it symbolises the priests, the Levites and the people. There are other interpretations. But no one really knows why there is this three-in one bag. What could it possibly point to?

Picture courtesy of Lumo Project

At every Passover meal, they play a little game of hide and seek. Taking the second unleavened bread, “the bread of affliction,” out of the middle compartment, they wrap it in a new linen cloth called the afikomen which means “it comes later.”

According to the custom, the afikomen is removed from sight and hidden somewhere in the house. Then, later, the children go and search for it.

And here’s the amazing thing; in every Jewish home at Passover, the head of the meal unwraps a linen cloth and reveals this unleavened bread (symbolising sinless perfection) and they what do they see? They see pierced holes and dark stripes where the bread has been baked. Does that remind you of anything?

Surely, it points to Isaiah 53 that says, “he was pierced for our transgressions and by his stripes we are healed.”

At the last supper with his disciples, in the Upper Room, this is the bread Jesus breaks saying, “take, eat, this is my body, broken for you;” it’s the bread of affliction, marked by stripes, pierced all over, that was taken away but then reappears.

It is a vivid visual symbol of his broken, pierced, scarred body, revealed to all, having been put away in a linen burial cloth.

The Jews then take a cup of wine; the third one of the meal. This third one comes after the supper itself and it is called the cup of redemption which looks forward to the time when the Messiah comes.

This cup of redemption is what Jesus gives to his disciples after supper saying, “Drink this all of you, this my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many.”

One day, maybe soon, the Lord will open the eyes of his beloved people, the Jews. Zechariah 12 says “They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

Perhaps it will be at the Passover table that their eyes are opened to see and embrace their Messiah and ours.

Feasting at the Lord’s Table

Why do we share this simple meal as we have done today? Because Jesus himself told us to, so that we never forget what it cost him to bring us together and win us for himself.

Picture courtesy of Lumo Project

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” We have just been thinking about what happened at the meal in the upper room when Jesus broke bread the night before he died.

He wants us to remember, above all else, more than his birth, or his baptism, or his leadership, or his teaching, or his miracles or his works of compassion - he wants us to remember his sufferings and his death and his resurrection.

This is what we recall this morning in breaking bread and pouring out wine. It’s more than a reminder; it’s a re-enactment. There is nothing else on earth quite like it.

Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, 1 Corinthians 11 says we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. By sharing this meal we publicly identify with the power of the cross and resurrection for us.

Taking bread and sharing a cup is to say openly, “I believe today with all my heart that Jesus really died on a cross, that he actually carried my sin there in his body and because of him I can know God and be healed.” I am not a casual observer. I am part of the story. Jesus didn’t say, “Watch this”, he said, “Do this in memory of me”.

We share this simple meal recalling Jesus’ agonies on the cross. We also share it to express that we belong to a Christian family, we belong to one another, we are members of one another as the Bible puts it. We, who are many, are one body, because we all share one bread. Meeting together at the same table is not just “me and Jesus” but an expression of love for one another as well.

That is why it is important to be right with one another before we come to communion. Jesus said, “If you enter your place of worship and you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you… go to this friend and make things right first.”

But of course, it’s about making sure we are right with God as well as with each other. It is a holy communion.

When we break this bread, it’s just bread. No more. There’s no “abracadabra” or magic words. The wine is real wine. If you drink it all, even ‘consecrated’ you won’t be legal to drive home! The physical ingredients do not change.

But by the power of the Holy Spirit, when we engage spiritually by faith, it’s more than just bread to us. It’s, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10, “a participation in the body of Christ.”

It’s a bit like a window. You can look at a window; the frame, the handle, the size, the shape… Or you can look through it and see much more.

When we eat and drink, in faith, there is healing and grace. It’s the bread of heaven. In this cup, there’s forgiveness and life forever. As we come in faith, by the Spirit, Jesus is present.

You can see just bread and wine if you want. In essence that’s all it is. But you can also, by faith, look through and taste and see that the Lord is good.

Ending

So this is why we eat and drink with one another at the Lord’s Table. It is a sweet and holy thing. But what about that bit about eating the bread or drinking the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner?

It says if you do that, you “will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” And it goes on. “We ought to examine ourselves before we eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For those who eat and drink without recognizing the body of the Lord eat and drink judgment on themselves.”

Who is not troubled by these words? What does it mean to examine yourself before eating and drinking?

It means this is a serious business between you and God. It’s not a religious game. Don’t do it lightly. It’s a time to remember Jesus’ death and what it cost him to save you from sin. 

But what if you don’t “recognise (or discern) the body of the Lord?” Does the Bible really mean here that if you take Communion insincerely or absent-mindedly you can fall ill and die?

Paul’s words in v30-31 are plain. “Those who eat and drink without recognizing the body of the Lord eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have died.”

It’s true. There’s one who ate the bread and drank from the cup, who dined with Jesus at the last supper, without having examined his heart, someone who died soon afterwards; Judas Iscariot, the one who tragically fell away.

Peter, that same night, denied Jesus too, as we’ll see over the next two weeks. But he turned back in tears of repentance, was restored, and went on to bear much fruit.

I want to end by showing you a testimony of a man, who doesn’t live that far away from here. His story shows why Jesus died, how powerful and life changing that is, and why we come back to the cross when we meet to worship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1n5M9L2EeY

Let’s pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 25 February 2018

Signs of the Times (Mark 13.1-23)

Introduction

I’ve been short-sighted since I was 12. I had to get glasses and I got called names at school about it, but I was so pleased that I could actually read numbers on buses again. I could watch and enjoy TV. I could see what my teacher was writing on the board. My whole world, that had been a blur, came into focus.

About five years ago, I started to have to hold a book away from my face to get the print in focus. I went to Specsavers and the moment had come; I am both short-sighted and long-sighted. So I have to wear bifocals.

To understand Mark 13, you sort of need bifocals. You need a lens that helps you see both close up and far away, because Jesus in this chapter talks about some things that were very close to his time, in particular the destruction of the temple that took place in AD70.

But he also talks about the very distant future, still future for us in fact; the climax of human history, when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. No one knows when that is going to happen.

This is certainly the most difficult chapter in Mark’s Gospel to understand, and I confess that some of it is above my pay grade. I’ll do my best to keep what I do know simple, but you will need to stay with me and focus. So, if you’re up for that, let’s dive in.

And by the way, don’t worry if you can’t spell Armageddon – it’s not the end of the world…

On the screen, you see a landscape. Some hills are nearby and others are far away. You can’t tell the distance between the hills in the foreground and those in the background. It could be half a mile. It could be 20 miles.

This is what Mark 13 is like; it’s one view, but actually, it’s about two different realities.

The part that speaks most about the far future is from v24 onwards, and Isaac will speak about that next Sunday. Jesus refers to the far future as “that day” or “that time.” For example, in v26. “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

This Sunday, when it speaks of the future, mostly it refers to events that are past to us but which were still future to those Jesus was talking to the week before he died. Jesus refers to the near future (the events up to and including AD70) as “these things.” For example, v30. “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

So far, so good. But it’s not quite as simple as that. There are in fact some words about the distant future in the first half, and some words about the past in the second half; they are slightly mixed up, for a very good reason.

It’s because the signs of the times leading up to the destruction of the temple, about 10 years after Mark wrote these words down, and about 35 years after Jesus said them, are very similar to the signs of the end when Jesus returns some day in the future.

In other words, when Jesus returns, history will repeat itself in many ways; so you can learn a lot about the end of the world by studying what happened before the destruction of the temple.

Background

The temple in Jerusalem was an exceptionally grand building for the ancient world, certainly bigger and finer than any pagan temple anywhere in the Roman Empire.

Herod the Great began to build it about 15 years before Jesus was born. The scaffolding was still up when Jesus died. And they didn’t complete it until 30 years after Jesus was raised from the dead. (I’m confident REACh will move a little more quickly than that).  

It towered 45 metres (or ten stories) high. The floor space of the whole complex spanned 144,000m², that’s big enough for 20 football pitches. It was one of the great wonders of the world, probably second only to the larger pyramids in scale.

Its gates and column decorations were covered with hammered gold which sparkled in the sun and its walls were made of enormous white stones. The largest they’ve found in the small section of the temple mount that still survives is 13 meters long, over 4 meters thick and over 3 meters high.

To give you an idea, the slabs in Stonehenge weigh about 25 tons each. This temple stone has an estimated weight of 570 tons. Archaeologists have no idea how they moved these rocks a single inch!

And it’s this overwhelmingly breathtaking architecture that Jesus’ disciples marvel at in v1. Gazing up at this stunning edifice they can’t help but say, “Look teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

This great spiritual centre, with its Most Holy Place at the heart of it, where God himself dwelt in unapproachable majesty, where people would flock from miles away, just to be near the presence of God, where sacrifices would take place in the hope that God would cleanse and forgive sin… was awesome to behold.

“Yeah, do you know what?” says Jesus (v2). “It’s all going to be flattened. Every stone will be thrown down.”

In less than a week’s time, when Jesus dies as a flawless sacrifice for sin, sins will be cleansed, sinners will be saved, the separating curtain will be ripped from top to bottom, the presence of God will be open to all and the temple will become obsolete and irrelevant.

In other words, the ritual, the sacrifices, the blood, the religion, the priests, the curtain… It’s over. God is finished with it.

Well, they leave the temple, absolutely stunned. Imagine looking at Saint Paul’s Cathedral and being told that in your lifetime, the whole lot will be pounded to dust. It’s scarcely believable. “Did Jesus really say all this is going to be rubble and hardcore?” This sounds like an earth-shattering cataclysm. As far as the disciples are concerned, Jesus must be talking about the end of the world!

So when they get to the Mount of Olives, which looks across the Kidron Valley at the temple, four of them ask Jesus what he meant. “Tell us, (v4) when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled?” How does Jesus answer?

General Warnings of Near and Far (v5-13)

He starts by saying what not to get alarmed about. As I see it, v5-13 are general warnings of what Christians can expect at any time and which do not mean the end is nigh. In fact, Jesus specifically says so in v7. “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

First of all, in every age, you’ll get false prophets and false messiahs leading people astray. Jesus mentions this in v6-7.

You can read a detailed account of the times leading up to the demolition of the temple in the writings of a Jewish historian called Flavius Josephus. And it is striking how similar his historical memoirs are, looking back, to the prophetic words of Jesus here, looking forward.

Josephus recorded that, as the Romans began to encircle Jerusalem, many would-be heroes sprang up saying, “I am from God, I will save you, follow me.” And people were so afraid, many flocked to them. But significantly Christians didn’t, because they remembered that Jesus had said quite specifically to pay no attention to them.

But there are false teachers in every generation. We have plenty today and it doesn’t mean the end must be around the corner. False teachers lead people astray with their false gospels that cosy up to the world. They tell people what they want to hear, they’re soft on sin, they side-step repentance, and they glorify and please men rather than God. Watch out for self-proclaimed Christian leaders who advocate a way of life no different to the liberal and secular culture we’re in.

In v7-9 Jesus warns of perils that will cause great anxiety. In particular, he mentions wars, rumours of wars, an increase in famines and earthquakes.

Again, this is exactly what did happen between Jesus saying this and the end of the temple. There were rumblings of unrest throughout the Roman Empire. There were four different famines during the reign of Emperor Claudius alone. The historian Tacitus wrote about Rome in AD 51: “This year witnessed many signs or omens... including repeated earthquakes.” Josephus wrote that earthquakes were "a common calamity” at that time.

But Jesus said to not be alarmed, as we shouldn’t be by such things today. They may be cataclysmic but they are not necessarily apocalyptic.

In v9-13 Jesus warns that Christians will always be unpopular. And of course they did get the wrong side of the authorities, as the Acts of the Apostles explains in great detail. They found themselves arrested, imprisoned and hauled before the courts. Christians were made scapegoats for every problem imaginable in those turbulent times as they took the gospel to every nation.

There’s talk here about discrimination from all angles; you might be disparaged by organised religion, persecuted by governing authorities and even ostracised by your own family; indeed he says, “Everyone will hate you because of me.” We know this is what happened to the early church. The book of Acts is full of it.

And according to a recent study by Open Doors, reported just last week in one of our daily newspapers, 215 million Christians live in areas with high levels of persecution worldwide. Over 3,000 Christians were killed and nearly 800 churches were damaged last year alone.

But Jesus means to encourage us when he says, “Those who stand firm to the end will be saved.” Not “might be” or “could be” but “will be.” Remember that even if your whole Christian life is marked by suffering, the end will not be bitter, but beautiful.

So v5-13 are general warnings about tough times for Christians that will be true both in the few years before AD 70 and the many years prior to Christ’s return in glory.

Specific Warnings of Near (v14-23)

But in v14-23, I believe Jesus refers only to the particular era of the destruction of Jerusalem because he specifically mentions Judea in v14, which is the area immediately surrounding that city. So we’re now focusing directly on the mountain in the foreground so to speak.

The disciples contemplated the destruction of that temple, and asked, “What will be the sign that all this is about to happen?” Here’s Jesus’ answer.

In v14 he says, “When you see “the abomination that causes desolation” standing where it does not belong – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

This is talking about a particular and conspicuous event that, as soon as it happens, it will be the signal to get out of Jerusalem immediately. And Jesus says, “Don’t even bother packing. Don’t go back inside to grab your valuables – run for the hills as fast as you can.”

And notice, Jesus doesn’t say in v18, “Pray that this won’t happen.” Because it must. There is no going back. Instead he says, “Pray that it won’t happen in winter.” And history records that it didn’t, thank God. The fact that it happened in the spring and summer reduced greatly the suffering of Christians who fled, especially children and expectant mothers.

So what is this “abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong” that Jesus mentions in v14? It’s a phrase that appears 3 times in the Book of Daniel and it means something grotesquely sacrilegious in a holy place.

Centuries earlier, it referred to the time when the Greeks conquered Jerusalem under Alexander the Great, when a man called Antiochus Epiphanes walked straight into the temple, put up a statue of Zeus and sacrificed a pig on the altar. Jesus says here, when you see something like that about to happen again, get out of town as quick as you possibly can.

In the years just before AD 70, the Romans came and surrounded Jerusalem. They arrived with statues of their gods, their idols, and it didn’t take an above average IQ to work out that they were going to put them in the temple where they do not belong.

Here’s what happened. When the Romans arrived, they didn’t attack straight away. They waited several weeks. They gave the population a chance to surrender and during that time people were free to come and go.

But, remembering Jesus’ warnings here, hundreds of thousands of Christians fled to the hills. Tragically, the Jews all packed into Jerusalem thinking there was strength in numbers and that the city walls would protect them. And a shedload of false messiahs sprung up saying “I’ll save you” exactly as Jesus predicted in v20-22.

When the Romans saw they weren’t going to surrender, they laid siege to the city. They cut off food and water supplies. People started to suffer dehydration and starvation. Pregnant mothers miscarried. Babies died from malnutrition. Their mothers resorted to cannibalism.

Finally, when the city was too weak to fight, the Romans launched their attack. Exactly as Jesus had said, they set fire to the temple and smashed it to rubble till not one stone was left on another.

The scale of human suffering was shocking. Jesus, looking ahead to it, says in v19, “those will be days of distress unequalled from the beginning… and never to be equalled again.” It was a bloodbath. The fourth-century historian Tacitus estimated that about half a million died. Josephus put the figure at over double that.

If only they had heeded these words from their Messiah in v14-19 they would have been saved. But because Jesus said it, they wouldn’t listen and they didn’t believe it. It is the most tragic and heart-rending story.

Ending

As I end, I want to just say that Mark 13 is not an almanac. God has not given this to us to help us work out the date of the end. In fact, Jesus said not to do that. This chapter is to remind us to be ready at all times for his return.

Three times in today’s passage, and eight times in the whole chapter, Jesus says to be vigilant, with words like “watch out”, “be on your guard,” ”be alert” and “keep watch.” If you remember nothing else from this morning, remember this; don’t fall asleep spiritually. The main reason why smoke alarms don’t work when there’s a fire is that people take the batteries out.

These days, practically everything you buy has to have some kind of warning on it. Some are faintly ridiculous. Three famous ones are:

•       Sainsbury’s peanuts: ‘Ingredients: Peanuts (100%). Warning - Contains nuts’

•       On a musical first birthday card – ‘Warning - not suitable for children under 3 years due to small parts’

•       Nytol Nighttime Sleep-Aid: ‘Warning - may cause drowsiness’

•       On a shirt label: ‘Warning - do not iron while wearing shirt’

Because warning labels can be so daft, we often ignore them.

On 13 March 1991, one of the deadliest crashes in the history of Britain's motorway network, a 51-vehicle pile-up, took place on a foggy M4 near Hungerford. Ten people died and 25 people were injured.

One man, Alan Bateman, climbed out of his damaged car and ran along the central reservation to warn oncoming vehicles of the accident ahead. Some drivers sounded their horns at him and drove on into the crash.

Jesus warned of danger ahead. He wants people to avoid disaster. Some heed his words. Others ignore him.

Everything Jesus said 35 years beforehand about AD 70, including the complete destruction of a building that seemed built to last forever, came true in every detail. You can trust his word for your future too.

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 4 February 2017

Hostility All Around (Mark 11.27 - 12.27)

Introduction

There’s a story about a young boy who asks his father, “Dad, why does the wind blow?” The father thinks about it and says, “I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it really.” “Dad, where do the clouds come from?” “I’m not sure, son.” “Dad, how do rainbows form?” “No idea, son.” “Dad, do you mind me asking you all these questions?” “Not at all, lad. How else are you going to learn?”

I was saying to Kathie this week that of all the talks I have prepared in the last 5 years, this is the one I have learned most from by looking at the passage closer. It is full of surprises.

Last year, a report in the Independent noted that children ask 73 questions every day on average. We ask fewer as we get older but life is full of them. Some are more important than others. At one end of the scale there’s “Which brand of butter should I buy?” And at the other, there’s “Are my health struggles life-threatening? Is my relationship breakdown irretrievable? Is this challenge in my job manageable for me? Is this addiction in my life breakable?”

I want you to know that whatever question you throw at Jesus, he can handle it. Nothing fazes him. Nothing bewilders him. Nothing stumps him.

In the Gospels, Jesus is recorded asking 157 different questions. Jesus is always looking for a response from people. But he was asked loads of questions too; possibly as many as he asked.

That is exactly what’s going on in today’s Bible reading. Take a look. For each question Jesus is asked here, he asks one back. It’s like a game of question tennis. 15-love. 15-all. 30-15. 30-all. 30-40. Ooh, advantage Jesus.

And then, a lightning serve from his critics; it looks like it’s going to be an ace, but just when you think he’s in trouble, Jesus sends a devastating backhand return over the net, twice the speed of the serve. And it’s game, set and match Jesus.

Chapters 1-10 of Mark’s Gospel cover a period of about 3 years. But chapters 11-16, over a third of the book, focus on a single… week; the last week of Jesus’ life and the day of his resurrection. Mark’s Gospel is like an express train that’s hurtling along, and then suddenly brakes hard and pulls slower and slower into the station.

We’re going to unpack that one climactic, decisive, explosive week of Jesus’ life in the next three months on Sundays here.

As we saw last week, Jesus has just

·         ridden into Jerusalem on a colt as a servant king,

·         he’s told his mates to take someone’s donkey without asking,

·         he’s vandalised the most iconic religious building in the whole of Judaism,

·         he’s insulted pretty well everyone there by calling them crooks,

·         and he’s caused permanent environmental damage to an unsuspecting tree.

I love Jesus, big time, but I can see why he made enemies! In fact, in our reading, everywhere Jesus turns there is deep, seething antagonism against him.

There are no less than six entirely separate hostile groups here (Chief Priests, Teachers of the Law, Elders, Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees) who all come to confront him.

These groups are very diverse. You’ve got establishment and grassroots, religious and political, clergy and laity, aristocrats and commoners, liberals and arch-traditionalists – they are all rivals in many ways. But they all have one thing in common – they all hate Jesus. They want him dead.

So basically, they ambush him with three carefully planned questions; the first is personal, the second is political, and the third is philosophical. Next week, Gillian will preach on a question that is sincere, where the questioner genuinely wants to know the answer.

But this week, each question has two calculated aims. Jesus’ enemies want to (a) publicly discredit him and get the crowd on their side and (b) they want to make him fall foul of authorities and land himself in trouble.

Actually, much of the hostility that Christians face today follows the same pattern. Some people set out to make us look silly. “You Christians and your imaginary friend, we can’t take seriously people who believe in leprechauns and fairies at the bottom of the garden!” That sort of thing...

But others claim that our faith is no laughing matter; it’s poisonous, we are dangerous and bad for society. “If there were no Christians there would be fewer wars in the world, all you people do is spread your hate” is a sentiment I come across quite often.

1) Who Do You Think You Are? (11.27 – 12.12)

So let’s look, one by one, at these questions that Jesus faces. How does he answer them? Life is great when everyone loves you, but how do you deal with hostility? What does Jesus do?

The first hostile question (in v28) is personal. It’s Passover week, there are huge crowds in the temple. Everybody is watching. There is tension in the air as in walk Jesus’ critics, with faces like thunder. We’re talking about (v27) the chief priests, scribes, and elders - these are the top-ranking, elite, religious scholars who make up the ruling Sanhedrin.

Here’s the question (in front of everybody, remember): “By what authority are you doing these things?” In other words, “Show us your credentials! Where’s your degree? What Theological College didn’t you go to? You haven’t been ordained or accredited by anyone, have you?”

There’s real contempt here. This is upper-class toffs looking down their noses and saying, “Who gave northern riffraff like you the right to come in here as if you’re as important as we are? Who do you think you are?”

So Jesus says, (v29) “I’ll tell you. But first, one question from me. Tell me, John the Baptist, remember him? Was he a self-appointed ‘prophet’ or was he sent from God?’”

They go into a corner and discuss their answer. Well, this is a bit awkward really. These top-level leaders never rated John the Baptist at all. He didn’t wear the right clothes. He wasn’t Bishop John the Baptist. He wasn’t from an “official” denomination or anything.

But he was hugely popular. Crowds went out to see him and they loved him. They can’t trash him in front his fans. So what are they going to say?

Notice in v31-32 they make no effort at all to inquire into the truth of the situation. “What do we really think? Could it be this man was actually anointed by God or was he just a cult figure?” They… don’t… care. Their little meeting is about one thing only; what will make us look good to the crowd? If we say he was a nobody, we’ll lose the crowd. If we say “he was a man of God” people will say, “Well, why did you ignore him then?” In the end, they bottle it and say, “We’ll pass on that one.”

So Jesus says in effect, “Well, if you don’t want to know the truth about John the Baptist, I won’t tell you the truth about me.” Bam! Take that! Never try and win an argument with Jesus. He is devastating.

But what about you? Are you going to sit on the fence like these guys? Do you actually believe that Jesus has all authority? Do you really live as if Jesus is properly king over your life? Or is there some root of unbelief, or an unwillingness to give him your whole heart, or some lifestyle issue that limits Jesus’ lordship over your life?

Some people complain that Jesus doesn’t answer their question. He’s like a politician who changes the subject. No, he’s not. He does answer it in the next section, 12.1-12.

Jesus says, “Let me tell you a story now about an absentee landlord.” The meaning of the story is quite obvious. Everyone understands what it means. Verse 12 says, “They knew he had spoken a parable against them.”

Here’s the meaning: The vineyard is Israel. The owner is God. The tenants are the people listening to Jesus right now. The messengers are the prophets over the years. And the beloved son is Jesus.

Remember, Jesus here is just days away from his death. The very people he’s talking to are going to ruthlessly crush him. And in the story, they murder the beloved son. This is all about to happen. Jesus is saying, “I know you are going to kill me. So what do you think God ought to do about you chief priests? Answer: hand the vineyard over to someone else. God is finished with your corrupt, sterile religion. It’s over.”

And here’s the answer to their question about his authority. “You ask me by what authority I’m doing these things in this vineyard. I am the Son of the Owner.” As a boy of 12, he had stood in that very place and said, “This is my Father’s house.”

And so they say, “What are we going to do? The crowds are flocking to this man. And he’s made us look like a bunch of muppets. So let’s get someone else to ask an impossible question in front of everybody so we can humiliate him and trash his reputation.”

2) Should We Pay a Controversial Tax? (12.13-17)

So v13 says they set up the Pharisees and Herodians. These are different people to the ones who asked the last question. It is a very improbable coalition. They dislike each other. They have virtually nothing in common. Just one thing; they both hate Jesus and want him dead.

The Herodians are politicians who are stooges of King Herod and are therefore hated by most Jews. They like taxes to Caesar because they prop up their hero Herod who is Caesar’s lap dog. They do very nicely out of it thank you. There’s not a lot of love for the Herodians.

The Pharisees on the other hand, are an exclusive sect, holier than thou purists, who don’t want to be defiled by grubby politics. They hate having to pay these taxes because they support a tainted, immoral regime.

But it’s not just that. As the footnote in the church Bibles says, this poll tax was a special tax levied on subject peoples, but not on Roman citizens. So you can imagine how that blessed everyone in Israel. It’s one thing having Johnny Foreigner marching into your country and making all the rules, but it’s another when he tells you you’ve got to pay extra for the privilege.

So in v13 they flatter Jesus with some two-faced compliments and ask a simple question but, again, notice they ask it with the specific intention to catch him out. It’s a simple ‘yes or no’ question. “Is it right to pay this poll tax to Caesar? Caesar, you know, that big ego in Rome calling himself ‘god’ with his slaves, his drunken orgies, his enemies going to the lions in the Coliseum. You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Caesar would you?

This question is a bit like being cornered by two bullies, asking you which one of them you like the best. Whatever answer you give, you’re in for a beating.

I love the way Jesus sees straight through them. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asks. “Bring me a coin.” He doesn’t ask for a coin to show he is poor. He asks for a coin to show everyone the money that is already in their pockets. They buy their food with it. They pay their bills with it.

Jesus’ reply is to say, “Look, it’s Caesar’s face on the coin, so pay him back what’s his.” And it’s important to notice that Jesus changes the vocabulary. They ask him about paying tax. But Jesus uses a word that means not ‘pay’ but ‘pay back’.

In other words, what he’s saying is this: the taxes we pay are not some kind of scandalous extortion. We get benefits for what we pay. It pays for roads, education, police, hospitals, firefighters, street lights, rubbish collection, policing, national defence and so on.

Jesus is saying “Look, you have already benefited from these services, so you have a duty to pay for them. You've already had the blessings of good Roman roads, security, public services – so you owe. So you Pharisees, give to Caesar what’s his.”

But he also says this: “And don’t forget you get blessings from God too. You’re nothing without him. You owe God obedience, and praise and thanksgiving. So you secular Herodians, give back to God what you owe him.”

I’m sure everybody is thinking, “This is hysterical!” For days, these guys have been cooking up the perfect question to ensnare their man. Finally, they think of a corker. They walk up to Jesus, put him on the spot, and fold their arms waiting for the comedy gold moment of Jesus being stumped in front of the crowd.

And in an instant, Jesus utterly confounds them all and makes them look like amateurs. You cannot outwit Jesus. If you live your life thinking you’re smarter than Jesus (as most men love to do) you’ll end up looking a total mug. That’s because Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth.

3) How Do You Know about Eternity? (12.18-27)

The first question is personal. The second question is political. The third is a hypothetical, academic sort of question, typical of the wealthy, theologically liberal people who asked it; the Sadducees.

They saw themselves as grown-up and somewhat superior, and they looked down at people of simple faith. They accepted only the first five books of the Bible and were sceptical of the supernatural.

In particular, they said that there is no personal afterlife. Imagine there’s no heaven, above us only sky… all that stuff. We live on only in people’s memory when we die, which is probably what most people in this country think today.

So they come up with a question in v19 that they think is very clever and sophisticated. It’s a conundrum, a brain teaser, and once again it is intended to make Jesus look stupid.

They invent this convoluted story about a woman who has seven husbands, all of whom die, one after the other. Problem; if there really is an afterlife, whose wife is she going to be in heaven? They’ll all be fighting over her. Unless she was a bit of an old dragon, in which case they’ll be saying, “No, no, you first, I insist…”

It seems a silly question. But actually, it has a modern equivalent. People sometimes ask me, “How will I ever be happy in heaven if my family, who are not followers of Jesus, won’t be there with me? I’ll miss them too much. If my husband or mum or Uncle Des aren’t going to be in heaven I’d rather not be there myself.” Have you heard people say that kind of thing?

How does Jesus reply? As usual, with a question, v24. “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?”

So many so-called trick questions are little more than a display of ignorance about God's word.

They don’t know the Scriptures. He reminds them of what God said in Exodus 3, a part of the Bible they did accept where God says “I am [present tense, not ‘I was’] I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

They don’t know the power of God either. By the power of God, we will all be changed in the next life. We will have resurrection bodies that never age, perfected character that never sins, and new relationships that never strain.

A month from now I’ll conduct a wedding for Katy and Jonathan and they will promise to each other exclusive love “‘til death us do part.” At death, the marriage ends. There is no married life in heaven; it’s for this world only. In the next world, we’ll all be like angels who are not married, have no children and never grow old.

In heaven, relationships will not be the same as the family relationships we have on earth; instead, everyone will be equally closely related to each other as brother and sister in Christ.

Ending

As I draw to a close, some final thoughts…

Are you living under Jesus’ authority? Is he really number one in your life? Or are you avoiding bringing your whole life; your time, your gifts, your relationships, your money, your leisure, your professional conduct under his lordship?

Are you rendering to Caesar what is his? Do you pay tax cheerfully, thanking God for the blessing of living in a country with free healthcare, good schools, safe roads, provision for the elderly, adequate street lighting, an incorrupt judiciary, and so on? Do you need help from God to make that step today?

Are you rendering to God what is God’s? For the blessings of this life, your creation, salvation, friends, work, enough to eat and drink, a home to live in, a church family… do you show your gratitude in worship, in giving, in serving? Do you need help from God to make that step today?

Like the Sadducees, would Jesus say of you, “You are in error because you don’t know the Scriptures”? Should you invest in your knowledge of God’s word this year? Why don’t you sign up for Theology for Everyone? Or join a Life Group?

Or would Jesus say of you, “You are in error because you don’t know the power of God”? Do you believe God has the power to change things – not just between earth and eternity, but as heaven breaking in now, bringing healing to broken bodies and restoration to troubled minds?

Let’s stand to pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 14 January 2018