MARK - My Words (15)

 

The next day Jesus returned to the Temple.  He was disgusted by the commercial racketeering and profiteering of the poor and gullible people.  Jesus challenged the greedy opportunists saying

 “As predicted of old, even the special places when the Creator is honoured are not respected.  You have made it a den of thieves.”  

And with that he began ransacking their shops and the traders made a quick exit.  The leaders of the temple heard about this and began to plot how Jesus might be eliminated.

That evening the friends returned to their base in the countryside.  They passed the fruitless fig tree and were surprised to see it had withered away from the roots up.  Peter pointed it out to Jesus.  “Your words did that”, he said.

“Look” replied Jesus, “When you are in the will of the Creator you will say ‘let this mountain be lifted up and thrown into the sea’, and it will happen.  Be in sync with the Creator, first making sure your hearts are pure.  Make sure you do not hold a grudge against anyone.  In forgiving others you will be free.”

The following day Jesus and his friends walked into the city again to visit the temple.  The authorities saw him coming and aggressively challenged him.  “What do you think you are doing?  What right have you to create this chaos?” 

Jesus replied.  “Remember John.  My authority comes from the same source as his.” 

The authorities were flummoxed because the people respected John and understood that his authority as coming directly from heaven. 

“We’re not sure where John got his authority”, they retorted. 

“And that will be my reply too” answered Jesus.

Yesterday I heard someone talk about how they faced injustice in the workplace.  I asked "what about the by-standers?  The other team members who watched what was going on?  Jesus takes action where others may have wanted to, but were scared.  I also learnt about a group called www.rebelsatwork.com . Challenge and conflict can be a healthy and necessary part of human interaction, so long as no one is harmed.  Jesus knew that he was going to be killed, and his interactions with his friends and others become more intense.

The authorities 'play chess' with Jesus.  'Checkmate!  No, they had forgotten this move.  "Decide where John got his authority from first, then come to me."