Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / March 30 - Mark 11

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March 30 - Mark 11 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Monday.
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  It's the 30th of March and we have almost reached the end of
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  the third month of the year. Wow, how do we find ourselves
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  here? But nevertheless, here we are.
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  I am back. I'm back on home turf after two
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  weeks away, standing out the front of a lecture room
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  instructing our newest group of chaplains, which has been really
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  wonderful. But man, that is a lot of
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  talking and marking and preparing and being away from
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  family and friends and routine and community.
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  So it's great to be back. And this is a big week.
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  This is Holy Week. This is the week that we move
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  ourselves toward standing at the foot of the cross watching Jesus
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  do this incredible thing, incredible thing where he takes
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  on death front on and wins that victory for you and I.
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  And so we are not going to be drawing Avon into a Friday
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  reading this week, but it's going to be our Good Friday
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  reading where we will continue in the story of Mark.
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  And today follows on the story from yesterday.
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  Yesterday was Palm Sunday and today is this glorious Palm
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  Sunday reading filled with this incredible account of Jesus
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  triumphant entry into Jerusalem. So friends, I am good to go.
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  I'm trusting that you are too because you invited me into your
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  day. So Holy Spirit, open us up,
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  reveal your truth to us today as we open your word and spend time
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  learning about you and from you because your word is alive and
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  sharper than any 2 edged sword. Alright friends, let's do it.
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  Let's read together Mark Chapter 11.
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  As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came
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  to the towns of Beth, Phage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives.
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  Jesus sent two of them on a head.
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  Go into that village over there, he told them.
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  As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied
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  there that no one has ever ridden.
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  Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks what are you
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  doing, just say the Lord needs it and we'll return it soon.
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  The two disciples left and found a colt standing in the street,
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  tied outside the front door. As they were untying it, some
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  bystanders demanded, What are you doing untying that colt?
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  They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were
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  permitted to take it. Then they brought the colt to
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  Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.
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  Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of
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  him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the
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  fields. Jesus was in the centre of the
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  procession and the people all around him were shouting.
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  Praise God, blessings on the one who comes in the name of the
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  Lord. Blessings on the coming Kingdom
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  of our ancestor David. Praise God in highest heaven.
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  So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the temple.
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  After looking around carefully at everything, he left because
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  it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with
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  the 12 disciples. The next morning as they were
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  leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
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  He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so went
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  over to see if he can find any figs, but they were only leaves
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  because it was too early in the season for fruit.
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  Then Jesus said to the tree, may no one ever eat your fruit
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  again. And the disciples heard him say
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  it when they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the
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  temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling
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  animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of
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  the moneychangers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he
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  stopped everyone from using the temple as a marketplace.
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  He said to them, The Scriptures declare My temple will be called
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  a House of prayer for all nations, but you have turned
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  into a den of thieves. When the leading priests and
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  teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began
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  planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him
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  because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
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  That evening Jesus and his disciples left the city.
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  The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed,
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  the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up.
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  Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous
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  day and exclaimed, Look, Rabbi, the fig tree you cursed has
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  withered and died. And Jesus said to the disciples,
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  have faith in God. I tell you the truth.
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  You can say to this mountain, may you be lifted up and thrown
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  into the sea, and it will happen, but you must really
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  believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
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  I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe
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  that you've received it, it will be yours.
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  But when you were praying, first forgive anyone you were holding
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  a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive
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  your sins too. Again, they entered Jerusalem.
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  As Jesus was walking through the temple area, the leading priests
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  and teachers of religious law and elders came up to him.
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  They demanded, By what authority are you doing all these things?
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  Who gave you the right to do them?
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  I'll tell you by what authority I do these things.
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  If you answer one question, Jesus replied, Did John's
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  authority to baptise come from heaven, or was it merely human?
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  Answer me. They talked it over among
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  themselves. If we say it was from heaven, he
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  will ask why we didn't believe John.
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  But do we dare say it was merely human?
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  For they were afraid of what the people would do because everyone
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  believed that John was a prophet.
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  So they finally replied, we don't know.
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  And Jesus responded, Then I won't tell you by what authority
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  I do these things. Oh Lord Jesus, we see so clearly
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  in this reading that you, I'm not in the business of playing
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  games. You are in the business of
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  turning people back to you, back to the Father.
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  You are in the business of encouraging us to forgive each
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  other. You are in the business of
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  walking squarely and intentionally toward that path
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  of suffering, back into Jerusalem, back to Good Friday,
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  because you love us and you want nothing more, nothing more in
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  all of your life than to rescue us and make a way for us to be
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  entirely at peace with you and in your presence forever.
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  Ah, thank you Jesus for that outrageous love that you don't
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  just pay lip service to, but you walk boldly towards your own
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  death to prove your love for us and to win that victory for us.
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  Ah, we love you and we just give ourselves to you.
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  We are yours, we are your children, we are your servants,
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  and our lives we offer to you as a living sacrifice, ready to
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  serve you and your Kingdom. And we pray all of this in your
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  saving name, Jesus, Amen.