This week as we continue our journey through the gospel of Mark find ourselves in the Temple with Jesus. It is a couple of days past Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding on a colt with crowds following him and proclaiming “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Jesus is walking in the Temple and confronted by the Chief Priests, scribes, and elders of the Temple. The leaders of the Temple and all of its activities. The Temple is the center of life for Israel. It is the location where they come to worship and offer sacrifice to God in accordance with Torah. When I say the Temple is the center of life for them. It is the center of all things secular and religious. There is no separation of church and state. God is Lord and king over all things. The centrality of God is the focus of the Temple. The centrality of God in the life of Israel has been present since the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Ark of the Covenant.

The centrality of God in the life of Israel or as Pastor Doug reminded us last week leading a fruitful life in the way of the Lord is found in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus Christ is central to our lives and leads us in living a fruitful life therefore, He has authority over our lives. The question of authority and Jesus’ authority and what that authority means is the focus of the reading from Mark 11:27-33. To reflect and explore Mark 11:27-33 I ask you to contemplate the following:

Is God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit THE authority and central in your life?

What does God’s (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) authority mean for living a fruitful life?

To God be the glory now and forever! Amen

In Christ,

Pastor Tim