Costly Grace 2

Mark 8:34

When I entered into the ministry I first had to attend a week-long school with various classes on how to be a pastor. One of the concluding services to that program involved each of us candidates going forward and standing in front of the cross. At the cross we were each to confess to God what it was in our lives that we would give up for God.

In this season of Lent every one of us who call ourselves Christian must examine our faith and our relationship with Christ. Each of us must determine what it is that we can give up for God. We must decide what it is that we will sacrifice so that we might be closer to our Lord and Savior.

In this passage from Mark Jesus is traveling with his disciples in the villages near Caesarea Philippi when he calls his followers to his side. What does Jesus say we must give up? What must we take on?

Jesus gives fairly simple instructions, but presents a challenge that is hard to live out. If any person will follow in the footsteps of Jesus, if any person will try to live a life of holy action and holy thinking, then that person must learn to deny themselves. Such denial goes beyond giving up a particular piece of our lives – refraining from eating certain foods or doing certain actions.

To deny oneself means to put our human desires aside, putting our own wants and wishes in a lower position. This clears the way for the cross we must take up. And the cross is the symbol of sacrifice, the representation of giving and loving completely.

We are to put away the wants of the world – our desires for wealth and power and personal comfort – and replace them with an attitude of service to God. We need to go beyond simply letting go of certain things that may control what we do. Once these are removed they must be replaced with an attitude and desire to be more Christ-like in our thinking, speaking and acting.

The cross we should pick up is the cross of loving others, of desiring what is best for others, and what is best for the Kingdom of God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What cross of costly grace do you need to pick up?

Centurion Views the Cross 1

Matthew 27:50-54

I remember a particular vacation trip when I was a child. My mother was intent on mailing home postcards to friends but she needed to find a post office to buy the stamps. My dad told her to look for a post office and he would be happy to stop. So, as we sped along the road, time and time again my mother would say, “There’s one!” and point behind us. Once we had passed the post office it was a little too late to stop.

As our examination of different views of the cross continues we come to the centurion, the Roman officer in charge of the squad of men who executed criminals. In Matthew’s account of the crucifixion, what happens as Jesus dies? What is the importance of the temple curtain being torn? Why do you think holy people rose from their graves (verse 52)? What realization do the centurion and the guards come to?

Today’s passage begins with the death of Jesus. He cried out a final time and his spirit left him. Then amazing things happen; the temple curtain opens, a symbolic reminder that the separation between sinful man and holy God is removed. There is an earthquake and holy people who have died experience the resurrection we can all expect. And that is when the centurion realizes that Jesus truly was the Son of God. But it is a little too late at that point.

Why did he miss out? The centurion was caught up in doing his job, performing the duties of an executioner. And being focused on his work and his obligations to the government he served, he missed out on seeing who Jesus was until it was too late.

We may not be surprised that the centurion missed Christ’s holiness. He was, after all, a Roman soldier who probably had never encountered Jesus. But we may be surprised that so many people called “Christians” miss out on who Jesus is because they are distracted by the many things in their lives. It is important that we experience Jesus and that we be aware of these experiences. The focus of our faith should be on Christ and who he really is. We should not allow ourselves to be distracted in our lives, to miss out or have a wrong view of the cross.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you remove or overcome the things that distract you from Jesus?

Pilate Views the Cross 1

John 19:4-8

In one of the many “Pink Panther” movies there is a scene where Inspector Clouseau begins to pet a dog, but first asks the inn-keeper, “Does your dog bite?” “No, my dog does not bite.” Clouseau tries to pet the dog, but the dog bites his hand and the inn-keeper shrugs his shoulders. “That is not my dog.”

It’s a silly little scene for our amusement, but if we took it seriously I think most would agree that the inn-keeper knew full well what was going on and should have warned the hapless inspector before any harm came to him. The inn-keeper was side-stepping his responsibility.

In John 18 Jesus is taken before Pontius Pilate, the governor, the man with authority to allow the death sentence. Pilate has a conversation with Jesus, and in that encounter he tries to put the responsibility of the crucifixion back on the Jews. He even has Jesus beaten and humiliated, yet they persist.

What does Pilate say in verses 4 and 6? What do the Jews want? How does Pilate react in verse 8?

Throughout history Pilate has been blamed along with the chief priests with the death of Jesus. But, a person could make a strong argument that Pilate truly was not guilty in the execution. He said that he found no basis for a charge against him. In fact Pilate tries to avoid the decision six times between John 18:31 through John 19:15.

Although in appearance it may seem that Pilate was innocent, the fact is that Pilate had the authority to halt the crucifixion of Jesus but he was afraid to do so (verse 8). Instead, he played a clever game of claiming Jesus should go free, but still allowed the crucifixion to happen. Pilate side-stepped his responsibility, making himself appear innocent when in fact he was guilty of not intervening and doing what was right.

Many Christians are able to play the same clever game. “It is not my responsibility.” “I can’t do that; I have other things to do.” We are given opportunities every day to commit to Christ, to help others, to obey God, to do the right thing. But how often do we avoid our responsibility to serve God?

DAILY CHALLENGE: Can you identify a time in this past week when you have made an excuse to avoid doing God’s work? Can you change that now?

Priests View the Cross 2

Mark 3:1-6

“I’ve got my eye on you.” This is an expression we have all either heard or used ourselves. If we suspect someone of being a troublemaker, or we anticipate problems with another, we will keep our eye on them, watch them closely for any opportunity to attack or correct them.

Such was the situation with Jesus. He had been stirring things up by performing healings and teaching concepts that the religious leaders may not have agreed with. Now they were watching him for any chance to attack.

What problem did “the man” in the synagogue have? How did Jesus handle the situation? What was the response to his question? How did they react to the healing?

It is interesting to note that one of the commentaries I have points out that those people in the synagogue who were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus were watching him closely, not to see if he could heal the man, but if he would heal the man. They knew he could. They were watching to see if it would happen on the Sabbath.

Jesus presents them all with the truth of the matter. Is it okay to do good on a holy day? Isn’t it better to help someone rather than harm?

But there was no answer, even though they knew and we know what the answer is. What is important is the fact that they were going to use whatever Jesus did as ammunition against him.

At the heart of it the question addresses our view of the cross. Is it important to do good and help others? Or is it more important to do things the “right way?”

Unfortunately, we have many people in our place of worship that have similar attitudes. They seem to overlook the goodness of the fact that other people are coming into the presence of God to worship and deepen their relationship with the Almighty. Instead they are caught up in who they are, what they are wearing, how they are behaving, and so on.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Jesus was “deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts.” How would he feel about yours?

Priests View the Cross 1

We apologize for the late publication of the 10/2 Grow, however, schedule and workload prevented timely completion of the devotion.


Mark 12:18-24

As we enter into the season of Lent, that forty-day preparation for Easter, we will be examining the different views of the cross. More accurately, we will be looking at the various ways of seeing God. What motivates or influences the different perspectives, and more importantly, are any of these views or attitudes the correct one?

In one of his many stand-up comedy routines George Carlin related about how he and his friends in parochial school would ask ridiculously hard questions of their priests. “If God is all-powerful, can He make a stone so large even He cannot lift it?” The questions were meant o stump the priest and to stall for time, to distract the teacher from assignments or work, or they were simply asked out of boredom.

This same sort of attitude seems to be exemplified in many of the encounters Jesus had with the high priests and religious leaders. Many of their inquiries seemed to be intent on trapping or fooling Jesus rather than uncovering any truths. In this section from Mark, what complex situation is put forth? What do you think their motivation is in asking the question in verse 23? How does Jesus resolve the entire issue?

The Sadducees, an aristocratic sect of religious leaders, did not have a correct view of the cross. They did not necessarily see God, or at least Jesus, as the powerful and mysterious God of the universe. They saw Jesus, it would seem, as some sort of sideshow in town, some upstart who needed to be put in his place with difficult questions.

These Sadducees did not believe in resurrection or an afterlife, yet they approached Jesus with a convoluted and impossible scenario involving the afterlife. Their intentions were to trip up this teacher, to confuse him, to make him look foolish.

But Jesus swept it all away with a simple and wise response. He simply pointed out that they did not know what they were talking about because they didn’t know the power of God.

What is our approach to God? What is our view of the cross? Do we see God as someone who can be outwitted? Is God an entity that needs to be tricked or one which can be tricked, allowing us in a sense to slip in to heaven through the back door?

We can sometimes fall into this category when we think we understand the Bible, but encounter passages we cannot understand. Instead of accepting that God’s power is beyond our ability to understand, we work out some twisted and intricate approach or solution. We forget the power of God.

Perhaps we need to thoroughly know the Scriptures. And perhaps we need to realize that God has powers beyond our comprehension.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How would you describe the power of God?