Contemplative Bible Reading

Mark 6:30-31 (New International Version)

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he {Jesus} said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Resting is a legitimate activity. Per these verses (the words of Jesus), resting is a Christian activity.

There are times when the best thing for a Christian to do is to

go by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest

Consider a “retreat.” In my experience, a “retreat” is a weekend where people from a church go somewhere to be hyperactive, stay up long hours, get little or no sleep, and need a day off from their regular job to recuperate. Not much of a “retreat” in my mind.

I have heard of some other churches who build “retreats.” These are places (homes, camps, cabins, a little cottage on the back corner of a church property) where no one lives, but where someone can live for a short time (afternoon, week, month, even a summer). There is little that they must do. They have time to

be by yourselves in a quiet place and get some rest

Perhaps more of us should provide retreats for Christians and use them per Jesus’ instructions.

Matthew 8:29 (New International Version)

“What do you want with us, son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

This one is a bit odd. The demons in a man are speaking to Jesus. They ask,

Have you come here to torture us?

Most of the things I have read about this points to the end of time when demons and such will be punished for eternity. Perhaps that is the time of torture they are mentioning.

Still, a bit odd, someone begging the Prince of Peace not to torture them.

Mark 10:21 (New International Version)

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” He said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

Jesus is talking to the person known as “the rich young ruler.” This rich person went away sad after Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give to the poor.

It is easy to sit here 2,000 years later, shake our heads, and mumble quietly about this rich man who just loved his things too much. None of us are like this awful rich man.

Ha!

How many people do you know who would walk out the door right now and sell all they have? Would you walk out the door right now and sell all that you have?

But hey, I’m not “rich.” I am fill-in-the-blank in the economic scene. And besides, God hasn’t asked me to sell all I have and give to the poor. I contribute regularly and pay taxes and most of that tax money goes to the poor and if I keep talking I can think of some other way that this sell-all-you-have stuff doesn’t apply to me anyways.

God, you have made me rich beyond measure. Help me to always remember that. Help me to live as an expression of thanks and to do what I can in my life to bless others.

Luke 7:39 (New International Version)

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

This strikes me as an odd thing for the Pharisee to say about the woman.

she is a sinner

Well, no kidding. She is a person. Of course she is a sinner. I gather that the Pharisee thought that Jesus was a sinner because if Jesus was a real prophet Jesus would know that the woman was a sinner.

I have to wonder what this Pharisee thought of himself. I wonder what the Pharisee thought of all the other persons in the room. Was it okay for the Pharisee to be in a room full of sinners?

God, I am a sinner, too. Help me to love all the sinners I meet everyday.

Mark 3:21 (New International Version)

When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Notice what the family of Jesus thought of him,

He is out of His mind

Whoa. I imagine that at times it was a bit difficult to understand some of the things that Jesus did and said during His ministry. But still, surely Mary and Joseph remembered the events of the birth of Jesus. The scriptures even tell us that Mary took those events to heart.

So, how do we reach this point where they thought, “He is out of His mind?”

Perhaps this isn’t surprising. Even today, with 2,000 years of perspective, it can be difficult to understand some of the things that Jesus did and said during His ministry.

Isaiah 51:1 (New International Version)

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD :
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

We all came from somewhere. More to the point, we all came from someone. We all have ancestors. In this verse, God is telling his people to look to their ancestors – Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jews came from this line – from this quarry.

Today, parents don’t grant salvation to their children. That comes through Christ. Most of us, however, have seen Christ live in someone before us. That someone helped us to see Christ and accept His grace. That someone was cut from the same quarry as ourselves.

In times of doubt, look to those rocks who showed Christ in them. Think of that quarry from which we all the believers were hewn. Claim the same strength and solidity of that rock.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 (New International Version)

¹⁴ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” ¹⁵ be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” ¹⁷ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

This passage is a warning to God’s people about having a King. The latter verses are about things the King should not do. Among them:

not acquire many horses

not take many wives

not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold

Now comes the oooops part. Look at the first few chapters of the book of 1 Kings. Read the description of Solomon’s kingdom. Solomon had:

many horses

many wives

large amounts of gold and silver

Things worked pretty well for Solomon, but not that well. His failures were predictable and predicted.

Jeremiah 44:15-18 (New International Version)

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, ¹⁶ “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! ¹⁷ We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. ¹⁸ But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.”

Sometimes you just have to slap your forehead with the palm of your hand and shake your head. Why can’t they get it?

God had punished His people for their sins. The people had been burning incense to “the Queen of Heaven” whoever that may be. Terrible things happened to them as a result. What is their conclusion?

We were okay while we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven, let’s do that again.

Sigh.

It is easy to sit here several thousand years later and see the folly of their thought. They were wrong and their continued actions only led to more troubles. Us? Today? We are all fine; we have everything under control. We know what we are doing; we have this cause and effect thing just right.

Well, do we? Maybe we are a bit smarter today. We sure have some advantages of history and hindsight to use.

God, help us to understand the mistakes of those who came before us. Help us to live as You wish us to.

Deuteronomy 15:7-9 (New International Version)

⁷ If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. ⁸ Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.

There were many laws in the Old Testament – okay, that is an understatement – there were a whole lot of laws. As today, just as soon as someone puts a law on paper (or stone), someone else will find a loophole – a way to work around the law or to cheat.

God is pretty smart. Here He is gives a no-loopholes-in-the-law law. The basic law was simple,

lend to the poor, whatever the poor need

There was also another law about the Sabbatical year,

forgive all debts in the seventh year

Well, if you are shrewd, it is pretty easy to see the loophole,

Don’t lend much during the sixth year because you will have to forgive it all during the next year.

Well, God closes that loophole in the first phrase of verse 9,

Don’t even think about that loophole. I am watching.

In the New Testament we have some guidelines. Sometimes we try to turn the guidelines into laws and then we look for loopholes and then…

Don’t even think about it. God is watching; God knows what is in our hearts and minds.

Luke 2:28-32 (New International Version)

²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
²⁹“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace.
³⁰For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon waited for the Christ. When the child arrived, Simeon took him in his arms and said a few words.

Note verse 32. In two short phrases Simeon proclaims what the Christ was to do for God’s chosen people and for the rest of the world.

For the rest of the world – the Gentiles – Christ is to be the light that will reveal God. Prior to this time, the Gentiles knew there was a god of the Jews, but they didn’t understand, they didn’t come to Him. The Christ would make God known to the Gentiles. His light would shine brightly enough that they could not ignore Him.

But then what about the Jews? What would be left for them? They would bring the Christ into the world. They would live with him. They would crucify him, but that was part of the plan. The Christ would be the ultimate contribution of the Jews – their glory.

Two little phrases by an old man waiting for the Christ. They foretell the future for two groups of people.