"So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

Mark 2:23-28

"So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 2:23-28, looking at the third of three divisions - v28.  Excerpts from the commentary for v28: 

• "Jesus once more puts Himself in the place of and with the authority of God. As the Lord of the Sabbath, He determines what is lawful and unlawful on the Sabbath day. He makes the call, and there is no higher authority."
• "The Pharisees relied on their own traditions for guidance, and in doing so, they missed the Lawgiver entirely. For Christians, He is our anchor of spiritual authority in all things.
• "In sum, “Jesus says . . .” settles all issues. As God, He is Lord of the Sabbath! We do not get to choose whether we will allow Him to be such. It is a fact, regardless of our permission." 

Believers must recognize that Jesus is Lord over all details in the universe (see Colossians 1:15-17), and He knows every hair on our heads (see Luke 12:7a). An excellent resource to better understand God's sovereignty is John Piper's book Providence - which shares how God reigns over nature, Satan and demons, kings and nations, life and death, sin, conversion, etc. - everything under the sun!

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves and saves!  You reign over all the details of my life, over all creation, etc. and You are so good to me.  Thank You for my salvation and for the mercies that never end and are new every morning.  I am not deserving - my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

 Mark 1:23-28

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. Mark 1:23-26

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 1:23-28, which is the text for the second division of the text Mark 1:21-28. Excerpts from the commentary - which poses the question "[w]hy should Jesus have absolute lordship in your life?":

• Yesterday's post provided the first reason from the first division Mark 1:21-22, and 27: because of His teachings.
• This second division provides the second reason: because of His power over demons.  
• As the commentary explores what we should understand about demons, it shares: "[t]hey have authority and can promote disunity, propagate false doctrine, inflict disease, cause mental difficulties, and hinder Christian growth....Demons can oppress but not possess believers."
• "The demon is chiefly concerned with Jesus’ intentions....[the demon] recognizes the threat that Jesus is to their authority and power.
• "Confessing Jesus as the “Holy One of God” is perhaps an attempt to gain some power over Jesus by claiming to know His name. It is more likely, however, a recognition of His deity, His sonship, and the great antithesis that exists between an unholy, unclean spirit and the Holy One of God."
• "The kingdom of God goes head-to-head with the forces of evil at the first public ministry of the Son of God. It is a “no contest” event with an immediate and devastating knockout! The “binding of the strong man” has begun (3:27). The demons are forced to acknowledge, grudgingly, what the Father declared in verse 11!"
• "[Jesus] commands [the demon], “Come out!” It only takes a few direct words from an absolute authority! No spell or incantation is necessary. He says the word and they obey."
• "The disturbance of men and demons by the Servant King of God has begun. Life will never be the same! Demons are expelled, and broken people are made whole. This is God’s kingdom. This is what the great King can do. This is why He should have absolute authority in your life, my life, and every life." 

Evil has existed since the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden where the serpent successfully tempted Adam and Eve (Genesis 3).  Yet we can take comfort that God is provident over evil, and while we may not understand the purpose of evil in a specific set of circumstances (Isaiah 55:8) at a point in time, we know that God ultimately defeats Satan and evil.  See also this post from John Piper on DesiringGod.com to help us better understand why evil exists. Believers also know that He provides the "full armor of God" of God to protect us against Satan's schemes - see also Ephesians 6:10-18a.   

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God that reigns over all the details of my life and in creation - You don't need me nor need me to do anything.  Yet You love me so much that You sent Your Son Jesus to save me and You pour out mercies ceaselessly every morning.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of my salvation nor any of the blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Ecclesiastes 7:14-25

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14

I resume my study of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book. Building on my study yesterday, my focus this morning is Ecclesiastes 7:14-25 and how the takeaway of this text relates to the first division of the commentary: God Has a Design for Everything. Clearly, Solomon's text in v14 describes how God designed and has providence over both prosperity and adversity - God is in both and we should see God at work in both.  The text also shares how this should humble humanity such that - apart from God - we should not think with any certainty we know what happens to us after we die. Yet for believers we know we have eternal life as God promises this and He is faithful.  Surrender your life to Jesus Christ - be saved from sin now and for eternity. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are SO good - I know all things come from You and that You are in all circumstances.  Thank You for using all circumstances to make me more like You.  I am broken without You.  Your grace is amazing indeed.  Thank You Jesus! I am not deserving of the grace and blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this....Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:1-13

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this....Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? Ecclesiastes 7:10, 13

I resume my study of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  This morning, I start an unassisted review of Ecclesiastes 7-11 which is a significant amount of text to cover in one day.  However, by leveraging the commentary outline, which breaks down these chapters not with divisions and associated verses, but simply with divisions that point to text throughout chapters 7-11, I will tackle these chapters in more manageable chunks.  Here are the divisions:

1. God Has a Design for Everything. 
2. Sin Leads to Brokenness and Meaninglessness. 
3. The Gospel Is the Answer to Our Brokenness and Meaninglessness. 
4. The Gospel Allows Us to Recover and Pursue God’s Wise Design.

My focus today is Ecclesiastes 7:1-13.  Here, there are two verses in my reading that emphasize how we should see God's design in all of life's circumstances (and even be thankful per 1 Thessalonians 5:18). V10 is a command that says that in the midst challenges/trials/suffering we may be currently experiencing, we should not look back at better days we had but instead we should see how God is working within these challenges/trials/suffering.  It is a reminder that God is sovereign over all the details in Heaven and on Earth, including our lives.  V13, similarly, describes how God's designs and plans cannot be stopped - His purpose will not be thwarted - see Job 42:2.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God that is before everything and in everything.  You hold all things together and You give me the breath of life.  You most importantly give me salvation.  Thank You Jesus!  I am of course not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16

I continue a pause of my study of Ecclesiastes to study James 4:13-4:17 (primarily vv13-16).  Recognizing that the text focuses on pride, and that my posts this week on this text have explored pride in more detail, its important to explore and understand what to do about pride, so this morning I turn to what John Piper refers to in his DesiringGod.com post The Remedy for Pride. Piper starts by describing a slippery slope as he warns that "[w]hen you take three categories of temptation to self-reliance — wisdom, power, and riches — they form a powerful inducement toward the ultimate form of pride; namely, atheism."  Referencing Psalm 10:4, Piper bluntly states: "[u]ltimately, the proud must persuade themselves that there is no God." Prideful people get to this place because as Piper describes "[p]ride cannot tolerate the intimate involvement of God in running the universe, let alone the detailed, ordinary affairs of life."  Piper admonishes us for the little things that may lead to pride such as ending a social interaction with a friend or co-worker "see you tomorrow."  If we say these things without a humble posture that it is God alone who either wills this or not, this is when we get into trouble and start down the slippery slope.  Pointing back to the text in James, Piper then shares "James says that not believing in the sovereign rights of God to manage the details of your future is arrogance." 

Piper then moves to describe how to battle arrogance and pride.  

1. "yield to the sovereignty of God in all the details of life"
2.  "rest in his infallible promises to (a) show himself mighty on our behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9)", (b) "pursue us with goodness and mercy every day (Psalm 23:6)", (c) "work for those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4), and to (e) equip us with all we need to live for his glory (Hebrews 13:21)."  

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is in control of all things and You give me breath today and most importantly my salvation....thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of these blessings...no I am not...not by a long shot.  My sin continues every single day.  Please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome and turn from my sin and turn towards You to receive the mercies only You can pour out.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me grow in my faith and become more like You every day.  Take me I am Yours.  Please provide Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

James 4:13-16

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16

I continue a pause of my study of Ecclesiastes to study James 4:13-4:17.  This morning, I lean on DesiringGod.com's lab for 4:13-16 (Part 2) where John Piper takes a second pass at breaking down this text in detail.  Part 1 from yesterday focused on how God is sovereign over all, and the key question examined in Part 2 is whether God is sovereign over evil.  

First, Piper shares that this text in James is not the only discussion of God's will.  He then shares that there are two ways in which God's will is expressed in scripture:

1. Will of decree; God decrees something and then it comes to pass; see also Matthew 26:39, Acts 4:27-28, 1 Peter 3:17-18, Ephesians 1:11, Matthew 10:29, Proverbs 16:1, 21:1, Daniel 4:35, Job 42:1-2, Isaiah 53:10.  
   
2. Will of command; God commands something from us (believers); see also Matthew 7:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:18, 1 John 2:17.  
   

 Below is a snapshot definition from the lab video.

 

Connecting how God can predestine his Son to be crucified (will of decree) with how God commands all of humanity to do something or not do something (will of command), by sharing the example command that shall not murder, Piper then describes how God is sovereign over evil without Himself ever sinning...."coordinating, managing, governing" but not ever sinning.  Piper then shares that people are responsible and accountable, AND that God is just.  As he concludes the lab, Piper - in response to a rhetorical question someone might have whether God willed abuse of a child - shares that God commands love and hates sin (abuse).  He could have stopped abuse but He willed not for the abuse to stop (and there are examples of this both in our earthly lives and in scripture). God has omnipotent power and "can override all pain and sorrow and turn it for good."  We should focus on how God never stops loving and caring for us and most importantly He shows amazing grace and saves us. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God and You hold my life in Your hands and You are so full of grace and mercy, saving me from condemnation.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of my salvation and for the incredible mercies and blessings You pour out for me every single day.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.