Daily Archives: October 6, 2025

A WALK THROUGH THE LORD’S PRAYER – 1a

Prayer, ,

I think that most nations or cultural groups within a nation have some overriding issue, characteristic, or consideration  that controls their lives or that occupies their attention. Take Israel in Jesus’ day, for example…

Israel was a religious nation, with their leaders being representatives of their religious system, but with pagan influences because of its occupation by Rome, a pagan nation. 

How did this play out in their daily lives? The temple and temple worship, together with its rituals and sacrifices, played a central role in the beliefs and behaviour of its leaders and which filtered down to the ordinary people. 

The Jews were traditionally God’s covenant people. They had a history of rebellion and disobedience to the covenant which bound them to the God who had rescued them from Egyptian slavery and had led and settled them in their own Promised Land. However, they failed to honour the terms of His covenant. 

After centuries of conflict between themselves and their God, their religion had become one of rule and ritual with little heart, exemplified by their rulers, the scribes and Pharisees. The people were expected to follow their leaders slavishly and, when they didn’t, they were “cancelled” in the eyes of their superiors. 

Jesus came to restore to them the reality of the God who loved them, who was a Father to them, and who wanted a relationship with them as His sons and daughters. He hated the hypocrisy of their leaders who taught one thing but did the opposite. He set out to correct their belief system by teaching and modelling the truth of a Father/Son relationship. 

Jesus’ first task was to teach His disciples about the way His kingdom would operate on earth. He had to dispel the false beliefs that had crept into the minds and lifestyles of His people through the control of their religious teachers and leaders.

Matthew’s version of “the Sermon on the Mount”, recorded in Matthew 5 to 7, is a sample of the way Jesus taught His disciples to live as God’s family under His rule. He had to correct “Halakah” –  the way to behave based on the Talmud which regulated the lives of the people. 

“In simple terms, the Talmud is the central and authoritative text of Rabbinic Judaism, a vast collection of Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, and lore that serves as a guide for Jewish life. It is composed of the Mishnah, a codification of oral laws, and the Gemara, which is a commentary and elaboration on the Mishnah and the rabbis’ discussions about it.” (Source: Google)

For the ordinary Jew, life had become burdensome and almost impossible to live under the religious system their leaders imposed on them.  

Jesus offered them His alternative, His yoke, …., a life of rest and freedom from suffocating rules by trusting Him and following His way….

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…in place of the heavy religious and heartless yoke of the Pharisees. 

How would Jesus, the Son of God, initiator and representative of a new covenant in which prayer was to be the centre of their experience of God, set the record straight? 

Through the mystery and miracle of prayer, personally interacting with their Heavenly Father, they would get to know Him. They would throw off the burdensome, man-made laws imposed on them. They would learn to partner with Him in the administration of His heavenly rule which Jesus had come to restore. 

The first step was to correct the wrong practices of Pharisees and pagans. 

The Pharisees loved to be noticed, their obedience to the law acknowledged and praised. They were the model for the ordinary people and revelled in the attention they received. 

So, Jesus warned…

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus used the terms ”Pharisees” and “hypocrites” interchangeably because that was what they were… play actors who wore masks to hide their true identity. 

“That’s not the way to receive your Father’s reward,” said Jesus. Man’s reward is empty and worthless… God always rewards those who pray with the right attitude and motive…

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, according to Jesus, God rewards the sincere prayer of His children, directed in faith to Him, obviously by answering us, but it’s much more than that…

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Fruit! Union with Jesus bears fruit. What kind of fruit? 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The character of Jesus produced by the Holy Spirit, becomes woven into our lives as we gaze at Him…

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 …which is exactly God’s purpose…

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, if we pray only to impress people, that’s all the reward we will get!

To be continued…

MARK’S GOSPEL…NOT HETE! – 43

Bible Study, ,

Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

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What a starling announcement! Not here! “But He is supposed to be here! We saw His body being carried here. Why is He not here? Who carried Him away? Where is He?”

A thousand questions flooded the confused thoughts of these two women. Who is this young man? What is he saying? The last thing on their minds was…Jesus is alive! That was an impossibility beyond common sense. 

The stone slab on which Jesus body lay was bare…empty…the body gone! A faint bloodstain was  the only evidence that a broken body had indeed been on that piece of rock, but where was He?

They hardly heard the young man’s explanation. Risen! That was not possible. Nobody can simply rise and walk away from his own burial place, especially since the entrances was blocked by a massive, immovable stone!

They could not deny the fact that the tomb was empty… so, where next? 

“Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid…

‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Terrified out of their wits, the women fled the scene, ignored the angel’s instruction, and went to ground, hiding their secret from even their closest associates…and here Mark’s story abruptly ends. What happened to the end of the manuscript?

There is no explanation for this inconclusive conclusion except that the final triumphant declaration of the resurrection might have somehow got lost or deliberately been removed. Who knows? 

However, this magnificent story  could not have been left incomplete. The message must be told. “He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”

Some unknown writer closed the gap. In a brilliant summary, taking into account all the events after the resurrection of Jesus, including the disciples’ stubborn unbelief until they themselves saw Him, and the unseen world of Jesus’ exaltation, we are assured of the truth, “He is risen indeed!”

“When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 

When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. 

Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭9‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬