Tuesday -Holy Week- The Gospel According To Mark

Welcome to daily prayer. Today is Tuesday of Holy Week and in this week our intention is

to gaze on Jesus

to listen to the Word of God.

to be reminded of what Christ has done. 

Most of us listening to this are Gentiles (not part of the people of Israel) and we have been grafted into a story of redemption. 

Our Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. His heart is for all people. He created all people and desires all people to know him. 

He has saved us through a particular people.

Through a particular One named Jesus, the King of Israel who is the Savior of the world.

We look to him for life. 

So as we begin our time together, let’s quiet our hearts and minds before the Lord. 

Lord you have saved us. You have loved us and you’ve taught us to love you with all of our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Give us your heart Lord. We set aside every distraction and we give everyone and everything to you. 

Jesus is the fulfillment of Malachi 3. That the Lord would come to his temple and they were not ready. After the cursing of the fig tree and the cleaning of the temple yesterday, Jesus returns to the Temple Courts and engages in conflict with the religious leaders. 

This is a series of questions. 

Notice the questions that are asked intending to trap Jesus and notice the wisdom and beauty of his responses. 

A Scripture Reading from Mark 11:27–12:44:

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

11 

this was the Lord's doing,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances,[c] but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius[d] and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

18 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man[e] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 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.”’

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

And the great throng heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[f] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

A Prayer of Adoration:

Father, you are the Living God and the God of Resurrection Life. Jesus, you are the Beloved Son who was sent for your people. You have all authority. You were rejected by your own but you are the Cornerstone of true faith.

We love because you first loved us. You loved us to the end so that we could have a new heart and love you til the end. Jesus, we adore you. You are the one the Father spoke of when he said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you are the Lord. 

A Prayer of Confession: 

Lord, we confess that we love the praise of others. That we have lived for the praise of others instead of the praise that comes from you. 

You teach us that we do not understand spiritual things because we do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 

Forgive us for not studying your Word and forgive us of our unbelief in what you promise. 

Teach us to delight in your Word and your ways. 

We confess that we have not loved you with our whole hearts. We have been divided in our love. We have not loved you and we have not loved our neighbor as we love ourselves. Forgive us Lord. 

A Prayer of Trust:

Lord, you made us in your image. We belong to you and are made to reflect you. We trust that you are the God of the living and you will raise us up. 

We trust that the power of your kingdom is the power to love. 

Jesus, we make the good confession: You are the promised son of David and the true Lord of all. 

A Prayer of Intercession: 

I pray that our love would abound. Help us to love you and our neighbors more deeply. Lord, we pray for those who are getting baptized this Sunday. Help them live with wholehearted devotion to you. May the eyes of their hearts be enlightened to know the hope of their calling, their inheritance together with your people, and the great power that is at work in them. Lord, let us a be a people who are focused on the great things of life. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We want to be people who are after your heart Lord.

We close with the Great Commandment:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’