Mark 12 DEVO: Stories & Answers That Offend

Chapter 12:
There is a line in the movie, “A Few Good Men”, that states, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” That could easily be the title for this chapter. The beginning story and all of Jesus’ answers afterwards cut to the heart, because truth is like that!
Picture the first scene: The religious peeps are listening intently to the story Jesus is telling and agreeing with what the owner of the vineyard does until it got personal. “Then they looked for a way to arrest him (Jesus) because they knew he had spoken the parable against them.”
Moving on to taxes, the religious peeps were again trying to outwit Jesus & catch Him (futile). But since money means very little to Jesus, he answers so wisely: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” Ching-Ching!
Next – who’s gonna be married to who in the resurrection. This is somewhat of an ironic question when you consider it is coming from the Sadducees who don’t believe in the resurrection (that’s why they’re “sad-you-see”….hehe). But Jesus answers it anyway. We must always remember that, even though earth is all we have to compare with, we can’t compare heaven to here!
Next – Which is the greatest commandment? First = Love God, Second = Love People! I’m intrigued with Jesus’ reply to the teacher of the law: "You are not far from the kingdom of God." In this short reply, Jesus both complimented him and challenged him. He acknowledged his mention of the importance of love, but let him know that love needs to be shown, obeyed and accepted as well!!
Next – Who’s son is Jesus? Ummmm = God’s!
Next – Jesus makes it clear that giving has more to with sacrifice than amount! This certainly offended the big givers who made sure their giving was noticed!
SO WHAT?!
*Can you handle the truth? How are you doing as a student? A spouse? A parent? A friend? Etc…. Want to really know? Then ask the ones who count: teachers, spouses, children, peers, etc… But be ready to take the truth. I asked my son Drew how I was doing as a dad and he told me “ok”. Then I said, “If there were one thing (I limited him) I could do better what would it be?” About 30 minutes later he came back & told me, “I don’t like it when you & mom argue.” It was truth, and like a knife, it cut deep! That night, Jean & I talked and we prayed and asked God to help us to handle the stress better in our home. I believe Drew would tell you we’ve done better. But it took a stab of truth to change us. How about you asking someone for some truth?! Then…………………swallow hard, take it and change to be more like Jesus!
*The Bible talks a lot about finances. God knows they often become an issue in this life, but remember, they won’t be an issue in eternity, so don’t make a bigger deal of them than they truly are. We are managers of all God gives us. Let’s just manage it, not own it.