This is the longest chapter in Mark. I suspect that whether Mark witnessed this part of Jesus' story first hand or was taking down dictation from Peter, the memories were heightened because of the trauma associated with Jesus' last few days of life before His crucifixion and resurrection. Mark has a lot of details to share with us. So, we are going to take three days to study this chapter, learning more and more about the Lord we love and have pledged to serve. One of the words that stands out to me in this section is "poured." We first encounter this word at a dinner Jesus attended. A woman at that meal did something totally out of the ordinary. She took extremely expensive perfume […] Read more »

The coming of Jesus will be momentous. This second half of Chapter 13 is filled with powerful imagery. No one will miss the Son of God when He appears at His second coming. Let's re-read verses 24-26: "At that time, after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened,     the moon will give no light,  the stars will fall from the sky,     and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory." Oh this fills me with great awe and dread. I can't imagine the sun and moon and stars disappearing on us! The very powers in the heavens will be shaken. And yet, as this startling and […] Read more »

Your Saturday reading is Mark 13:21-37. After that, we start our final week of the study, ending next Friday, November 20. Here are the last readings in our study: Read more »

Studying prophecy is always fascinating. Oftentimes the prophet goes back and forth between speaking as God ("I, the LORD your God will accomplish this") and speaking about God ("He will accomplish all He says"). In addition, lumped into the same prophecy can be events separated by many centuries. It's a kaleidoscopic look at the future, with different pictures coming in and out of view. Jesus' discourse on the future in Mark 13 is similar. He speaks of the immediate future when the temple will be destroyed and they will be on trial for their lives (See verses 2 and 11, for example). He also speaks of future things that have not yet happened. He points to a time when the Good News will be preached […] Read more »

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Today we come to a very important verse for all Christians, and a very influential verse in the founding of Sweet Selah Ministries. Let's read it. Mark 12:29-30:  "Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." We should all know that there is one commandment that is most important of all. Note that it isn't related to hard work or being especially talented or brave or smart. In fact, this commandment can be obeyed by the tiniest child, the frailest elderly person and the sickest among us. What God wants from us first and foremost is our […] Read more »

Today, we take a good look at Jesus' enemies and how He spoke with them. He started with a parable that specifically targeted those who refused to hear what God said through His prophets and then through His beloved Son. Although many parables did not register, this one did. Mark 12:12 tells us:  "The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away." Yet, even when they heard this parable and the message that when God sent His prophets the response was rejection, they continued to reject. So very, very sad. These particular religious leaders were not attending Jesus' teaching times to […] Read more »

Well then. We are seeing a whole new side to Jesus today in the clearing of the temple. It was not a temper tantrum. He had observed carefully the day before and done nothing. When He returned, He returned with a plan and carried it out regardless of what people would think of Him. Let's just stop for a moment and marvel that no one stopped Jesus in the middle of His disruption of the marketplace the temple had become. He stopped all the selling at the temple that day and no one dared stop Him. That is the kind of confidence and authority our Lord Jesus had! And what was His point in this? The temple was designed to be a holy place of […] Read more »

You know what is really sweet? Checking the mail and getting a wee check to help support our online Bible Study! Thank you to the kind participant who doubled the $10 suggested donation and paid it forward. If you want to pop a $10 check in the mail or donate online, just click here: http://sweetselah.org/donations/. And whether you donate or not ... we are so GLAD you are here. Read more »