October 20 - Mark 12-13: Way Off Base

It's getting confrontational.  Not just Mr. Jesus Nice-Guy, healing the sick and hugging on children.  The gloves are coming off.  He tells an indicting story that's directed toward the religious leaders, "they knew the story was about them" (12:12).  They come back at him with incriminating questions.  He lets them  know that they're not getting it:

Jesus said, 'You're way off base, and here's why:  One, you don't know your Bibles; two, you don't know how God works."  (12:24)

I would be devastated and embarrassed if Jesus (or anyone) said that to me.  After a conversation with Him this morning about some perceived injustices and some veiled attempts to assert my rights, He let me know that He is saying those very words to me.  He knows that I'm going through some motions to love others and to be hidden in Christ, but my heart is actually pleading that I receive something in return for what I believe to be a big sacrifice.  In response to my demands, Jesus makes it clear what He wants from me:

'The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' (12:29-31)

The beauty of the simplicity of the gospel summed up right there.  Simple, yes.  Easy, no.  He wants all my passions focused on Him not my love of food or my family or my desire for a more beautiful home or recognition.  He wants all my prayer spoken to Him, not in words for others to hear, not just my list of needs and desires, not even in complete sentences.  He wants all my intelligence wrapped around His thoughts, not my own thoughts of myself, my hurts, my compulsions.  He wants all my energy poured into Him, not into my task list or into ministry that brings me praise or into avoiding my fears.

What happens if I laser-focus my life like He commands here?  At first glance, it feels like I'll be giving up myself, my needs and desires, the very relationships and things that I've worked so hard for.  But Jesus doesn't stop there, He goes a step further.  Don't just love Him with all that I am and all that I have, but love others like I love myself.  That really feels risky, like I'm being asked to not only pour my life out for Him, but now to pour it into others - messy, undeserving, unlovable others.  It's the self-sacrifice (8:36), the "servant of all" (9:35), the "refining fire" (9:49), the "risk of faith" (5:34) that He's been demonstrating all along that He wants from me.  I know He's at work, but there are still so many times when I find my responses, conversations, and thoughts far from this kind of sacrificial love.

"...all life-changing love is substitionary sacrifice."  (Keller)