QT 14/02/2024 Wednesday Mark 10. Delight in what? 为什么而喜悦？
QT 14/02/2024 Wednesday Mark 10
http://www.esvbible.org/mark10
Mark 10 might not come across immediately as the Good News that is full of blessings and prosperity that everyone wants. This is because the "hardness of heart" theme continues in the narrative.
They had disbelieving thoughts in their hearts (Mark 2:8);
"Hardness of heart" was prevailing (Mark 3:5,6:52,8:17);
"Their heart is far from me" (Mark 7:6);
"Because of your hardness of heart", that was why Moses seemingly made concessions to the "one flesh" vow (Mark 10:5,8).
Those who receive the kingdom "like a child" enter it (Mark 10:13-16) while the rich young man "went away sorrowful" because his heart's passion was elsewhere—wealth (Mark 10:17-23);
The disciples became cynical of His message (10:24,26). They did not understand His mission—going to JERUSALEM to be killed (Mark 10:32-34);
Instead of yielding themselves to the lesson taught, they fought among themselves for places of honour at this critical time (Mark 10:35-44)!
In contrast, the BLIND declared Jesus as "Son of David" twice (Mark 10:47,48). The BLIND after being healed, NOW saw Jesus and "followed him on the way" (Mark 10:52).
Let's NOT lose the big picture - look out for the final EXPLOSION at the end of Mark:-
a. From the viewpoint that Mark is written to the church in Rome, the power centre of those days;
b. From the viewpoint that Mark is proving that Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man;
REFLECTION: Who ultimately UTTERS the correct conclusion about Jesus?
"And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:38-39)
Answer: In the end, it was the ROMAN Centurion who declared the correct answer, “SURELY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD”!
He was supposed to be the REPRESENTATIVE of ROME in Palestine-Jerusalem. He was the EXECUTIONER-IN-CHARGE of carrying out the sentence for the guilty. He was the one whose job was to "make sure" that Jesus died.
Just by hearing His cry and seeing how He died (Mark 15:39), however, the ROMAN Centurion knew the correct answer.
REFLECTION: It is this irony, this sarcasm, that hits at the hardened hearts. What kind of a heart do we have, hardened, cynical, wayward, child-like or servant hearts?
QT 14/02/2024 星期三 今日读经：马可福音9章
http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/Mak/10/
《马可福音》第10章可能不会让人立刻联想到人人都想要的充满祝福和繁荣的好消息。这是因为 "心硬 "的主题在叙述中仍在继续。
(1) 他们心里存着不信的念头（马可福音 2：8）；
(2) "心硬"占了上风（马可福音 3：5，6：52，8：17）；
(3) "他们的心远离我"（马可福音 7：6）；
(4) "因为你们的心硬"，所以摩西似乎才对 "一体" 的誓言做出让步（马可福音 10：5，8）。
(5) 那些 "像小孩子一样" 接受国度的人进入了国度（马可福音 10：13-16），而那个青年财主 "忧愁地走了"，因为他的心在别处--财富（马可福音 10：17-23）；
(6) 门徒们对祂的信息变得冷嘲热讽（10：24，26）。他们不明白祂的使命--去耶路撒冷受死（马可福音 10：32-34）；
(7) 在这个关键时刻，他们不但不屈服于祂所传授的教训，反而为争夺荣誉而互相争斗（马可福音 10：35-44）！
(8) 与此相反，盲人两次宣称耶稣是 "大卫的子孙"（马可福音 10：47，48）。瞎子得了医治，现在看见了耶稣，并 "跟着他走"（马可福音 10：52）。
让我们不要忽略全局--留意马可福音结尾处的最后爆炸：
a. 从马可福音是写给罗马教会的角度来看，罗马教会是当时的权力中心；
b. 从马可福音证明耶稣既是神子又是人子的角度来看；
思考：谁最终得出了关于耶稣的正确结论？
"殿里的幔子，从上到下裂为两半。对面站着的百夫长，看见耶稣这样喊叫断气，（有古卷无喊叫二字）就说，这人真是神的儿子。" (马可福音 15：38-39）
回答：是的： 最后，是罗马百夫长宣布了正确的答案："这人真是神的儿子"！
他应该是罗马在巴勒斯坦-耶路撒冷的代表。他是为有罪的人执行刑罚的刽子手。他的职责就是 "确保 "耶稣的死亡。然而，罗马百夫长只是听到了耶稣的呼喊，看到了耶稣的死状（马可福音 15：39），就知道了正确的答案。
反思：正是这种讽刺、挖苦击中了人们坚硬的心。我们的心是什么样的，是刚硬的、玩世不恭的、任性的、孩子般的还是仆人般的？
