Mark 12:38-44 - Jesus Teaches In the Temple

This is how I introduced the 52nd sermon in this series on Mark, the last sermon in chapter 12:

“Remember last week how no one else dared to ask another question, so Jesus went ahead and asked one of his own? Remember what that question was? If Jesus is the Son of David, as the scribes say, then why is it that David, through the Holy Spirit, calls him Lord? If the Messiah is David’s Son then how can he also be David’s Lord at the same time?

And Mark did not record an answer for us, as if he wanted us thinking about the deeper implications of the question. As well we should. Modernism has fooled us into thinking that the Bible is a simplistic book. It is anything but. Men have dedicated their lives to understanding it, and more has been written about it than probably anything else in human history.

Because of the perspicuity of Scripture . . . You might be saying, what is that? What is the perspicuity of Scripture? In short, it means the clarity of Scripture. In the words of the Westminster Confession of Faith: "...those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them,”

You might say that this teaching, this idea of the clarity of Scripture has taken off, that it is has so been embraced in American evangelicalism that everyone who has attended Sunday School as a kid or has been in church any time at all thinks he has a pretty good grasp of just about all the Bible has to say. As a result, the reality of something else, the profundity of Scripture, has been lost. While we affirm the former we must not miss the latter. It is too easy to think that because we have learned a few things that we somehow know it all or know enough. We don’t.

The people in that crowd that day in the temple to whom Jesus was speaking knew a lot. They knew much more of the Old Testament Scriptures than we do. They had been steeped in it their entire lives. They had learned to read from it in early childhood. They had memorized large portions of it. They had recited it and prayed it and sang it and listened to it read aloud and explained over and over and over again. Yet they had failed to grasp some of the most important aspects of it. If Messiah was the son of David then how could he also be David’s Lord? The crowd didn’t know, and the scribes somehow had not considered it. Yet there it was. There was something deeper to consider and Jesus was challenging them to consider it.

You and I should consider this and be humbled. We have a long way to go ourselves. There is much that we need to consider. And when we approach the Bible we should approach it with a humble and teachable spirit. Lord, instruct me. Teach me. What is it I may have missed? No matter how much I study this book, no matter how much I dig, it always yields up more treasure. And the treasure is always worth the effort. Lord, help us today to grow deeper into your word.

That question, though, that Jesus asked, was not the only thing he had to say, nor was it the end of his public teaching. But this morning, when we get to the end of chapter twelve, we will have heard the last of Jesus’ public teaching as recorded by Mark. So let’s take a look at it.”

To listen to this sermon just click the link below. You know the drill—a new window will open up in your browser and you will have the option of streaming the audio or downloading it for future listening. God bless you. 

Click here: Mark 12:38-44 - Jesus Teaches In the Temple


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Mark 12:35-37 - Who Is the Messiah?

In my continuing series of sermons through the gospel of Mark this is the next in line. It was preached on the first Sunday of 2018. Here is a part of the introduction:

“Mark presents several events in sequence, all of which took place most likely on one of the famous porches of Herod’s temple and on the same day. The Pharisees and scribes ask Jesus by what authority he does these things. He then turns and gives the parable of the wicked tenants. After, he is asked three questions, first a political question, then a theological question, then a question about the law. The latter of those three is the only sincere question. In all of these events Jesus’ dynamic authority is on display. In fact, Mark tells us ‘after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.’ That’s where we left off last week. Now it’s Jesus’ turn to ask a question, since no one else dares do so.”

The question Jesus asks is this one: 

“How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?”

I’ve linked the audio recording to this sermon below. I invite you to click and listen and may you grow in grace as you grow in your understanding of who Christ is and what he came to do. God bless you.
Click here: Mark 12:35-37 - Who Is the Messiah?


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Mark 12:28-34 - The Great Commandment

From the introduction to this sermon:

“Let’s take a moment to remember the tug of war that’s been going on since Jesus arrived at Jerusalem. Jesus enters the temple and takes charge, enforcing the rules that were not being enforced by the chief priests and declaring the rulers of the temple to be in contempt of the temple. At the same time he curses the fig tree symbolically illustrating the end of both the Jerusalem temple and the sacrificial, priestly system forever. It’s time is over. It’s fulfillment has come. He then encourages the disciples that they can still pray in faith through the new temple which is replacing the old—Jesus and his body the church.

At the end of chapter 11 Jesus is challenged on his authority to do what he’s been doing. His response is to ask the scribes to tell him whether or not John the Baptist was from God. They decline to do so for political reasons, showing that their motive is power and staying in it. Since they are not interested in truth neither will Jesus tell them by what authority he does these things.

The challenge had been public and now Jesus responds by giving a public parable to the crowds right in front of those scribes, a parable which exposes their wickedness and pronounces impending judgment on them. They perceive the intent and message of the parable and, ironically, plot to kill him in response to it, but can’t because of the people.

What happens next is that they shift gears and begin to try to entrap him. The Pharisees and Herodians go first. Is it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar or not? This attempt fails. The Sadducees are next. They challenge him on the resurrection. His answer is so stunning it silences them completely. And now comes a scribe who witnesses these discussions and apparently is impressed with Jesus’ answers.”

What happens next is that this scribe asks a very important question, and his answer gets right to the heart of the matter, right to the heart of what is wrong with second temple Judaism, or, more precisely, where it has gone wrong. And the heart of that problem is precisely that—the heart.

Below is the a l8nk to the audio from the sermon I preached from this passage back at the end of December. To listen just click the link below and a new window will open up in your browser where you will find an MP3 file containing the audio for that sermon. I hope you will take the time to listen. God bless.

Click here: Mark 12:28-34 - The Great Commandment


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Mark 12:13-27 - Jesus Disputing In the Temple

This is the 49th sermon in my series through Mark. We are in chapter twelve and just a couple of days away from his crucifixion. The following is straight from my introduction to this sermon.

“We are in the temple now and will be through the end of this chapter. Jesus passed judgment on it in the previous chapter and when confronted by the temple authorities and asked directly by what authority he did these things, he told the parable of the wicked tenants and foretold the end of the Jewish authorities then in place over God’s people. The old covenant is giving way to the new. The physical types are giving way to spiritual realities. Israel has failed, as have all the children of Adam. True Israel has come, the second Adam, to succeed in their place and new Israel, expanded Israel, is about to rise.

In today’s sermon and in the next couple of pericopes, what we will see is Jesus being challenged by the Jewish authorities, each in turn, trying to entrap him because they understand who he claims to be and they reject him. They cannot openly arrest him, because of his popularity, and because that would be seen for what it was. What they will try to do instead is try to entrap him in his words and get him to give them something they can use against him. The first pericope we will look at this morning is particularly clever.”

In this sermon are covered the question of the Pharisees and Herodians concerning paying taxes to Caesar, followed by the question of the Sadducees about the resurrection. Jesus’s answers are both artful and profound. Take a listen and see if looking at what Jesus says challenges you to re-think the way you look at the kingdom and the future state. More importantly, in seeing the gospel plainly I hope you are growing in your faith and understanding and commitment to follow Christ faithfully. To listen click below.


Click here:Mark 12:13-27 - Jesus Disputing In the Temple


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Mark 12:1-12 - The Wicked Tenants

Jesus is teaching in the temple. He has just been confronted by representatives of the Sanhedrin asking him, demanding to know, by what authority he does these things. “These things” certainly includes his teaching, but it also includes his overturning of the tables of the money changers and his driving out those who sold animals there. “These things” include his pronouncement of judgment on those who were in charge of the temple, and the temple itself.




Jesus’s response to the challenge of his authority was to ask his challengers whether John the Baptist was from God or not. They declined to answer and so Jesus declined to answer their challenge. Inherent in the answer to Jesus’s question was the answer to their challenge to Jesus. But because they did not want to face up to his question, they exposed themselves as unworthy to challenge Jesus on his authority. Chapter eleven ended right there.

But when chapter twelve begins the scene has not changed. We are still in the same place—the temple grounds, probably Solomon’s porch—and at the same moment. Immediately after their challenge Jesus turns to the crowd and gives a devastating parable. That parable is the subject of this sermon I preached back in December. It is the parable of the wicked tenants.

The audio of this sermon. Is found at the link below. When you click on the link a new window will open up in your browser. The website opened is located within the domain of SoundCloud and it will allow you to either stream the sermon for immediate listening or download it for later. I hope you will take the time to do that. Just click the link below. God bless.

Click here: Mark 12:1-12 - The Wicked Tenants


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Mark 11:27-33 - The Authority of Jesus

An alternative title I gave to this sermon was “Jesus—Lord of the Temple.” This is the last of four sermons from Mark 11, four sermons dealing with Jesus’ inspection of and judgment of the Temple and his rejection of Second Temple Judaism. The Message of the entire chapter could not be more clear. What was taking place was not the true worship of Yahweh God of Israel and Yahweh God of Israel has come to judge and replace it with what God intended for it to be all along. 




But this last sermon from chapter eleven is less about the Temple and more about the one whom the Temple represented and pointed forward to—namely Jesus. Here is a portion of my introduction to this sermon:

“As I’ve already said, the temple was the center of Jewish worship. It had replaced the tabernacle which had dated back to the time of Moses. It was the center of all priestly activity and the priests rotated in and out of service there on an annual basis. And the Jewish people made regular pilgrimages there from as far away as Rome, wherever they had been scattered in the dispersion. At least once, if not twice a year the faithful would make the long trek up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover or Yom Kippur or whatever the occasion might be.

And now Jesus has come and made inspection, and rebuked its leadership and pronounced doom upon it, and in so doing has displayed an audacious claim to authority. Who does he think he is? Well, he’s acting in the role of a prophet, but as we will see as we consider this incident this morning, he is claiming even more authority than that. So let’s look at it.“

I hope that you will take the time to listen to the audio of the sermon, which I’ve linked below. Just click the link and a new window will open up in your browser and you’ll be able to stream the audio or download it for later listening. God bless you!

Click here: Mark 11:27-33 - The Authority of Jesus


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Mark 11:12-14, 20-25 - Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

The week before I preached this sermon, when I put the sermon text and title on our church sign, I thought about calling it “Jesus Curses” just for the fun and the reaction. But since I don’t really like the idea of turning the church into a circus I didn’t do it. But in this portion of Mark 11 Jesus does curse. He curses a fig tree. Why would Jesus curse a fig tree? And why here in Mark 11? Well, that’s what this sermon is about.




What makes this particular incident even more difficult to comprehend is the apparent “innocence” of the tree. Mark informs us that it wasn’t even the right time of year for ripe figs, but Jesus looks for figs and, not finding any, curses the tree for its fruitlessness. On the surface it all seems rather odd. However, there is a point to it. All of it is tied into the temple and what Jesus is doing there. For a full explanation just listen to the sermon. I’ve linked the audio below. Just click and go. God bless!


Click here: Mark 11:12-14, 20-25 - Jesus Curses a Fig Tree


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