Mark 13:4   This is the beginning of perhaps one of the most difficult passages in all of the Gospels. Jesus will, in answer to their question, give them a discourse upon the coming history of the world. It is very important, then, to understand his words carefully. Rushing into this is very unwise. The Word…

Mark 13:3   The backdrop is perfect here. The Mount of Olives is a very significant place to be when speaking about the last days. It is here that Jesus will return at the end. The site of the second coming is still waiting for him today. It’s continued existence is yet another testimony to the…

Mark 13:2  The destruction of the temple is quite complete. One of the most important things to understand about Scripture is that no other book predicts so much, and is right about all of it. The fact is that to attempt to fake a book like the Bible one would have to have a history-long…

Mark 13:1   We are easy to impress aren’t we? The existence of a building is not nearly as grand as the permanence of it. How many grand structures have been torn down and trodden under? The many wonders of the ancient world are all but graveyards now. It is not the grandeur of our buildings,…

Mark 12:44   Of course, Jesus knew everything there was to know about this woman. However, anyone could see very easily that her gift was given at great cost to her. Before Jesus pointed her out, surely no one even noticed her. Imagine if you will the great honor that the Lord of Heaven and Earth…

Mark 12:43This illustrates for us how God thinks of value. We see value in dollars and cents, but God looks at the big picture. A faithful Christian will give more to the work of the Lord in his or her lifetime than two or three millionaires will give to charity. And how so? By percentage.…

June 21-26

Mark 12:42   The coin this woman dropped in would have been the smallest possible unit of money that could be possessed. It was worth precious little, and there being two meant little more. A working man could easily make this amount in the time it took for this woman to come by and give her…

Mark 12:41  This was the temple treasury. People could cast freewill offerings in here. There was no requirement, but it was seen as appropriate to have an offering for sure. The rich were able, of course, to give hefty amount out of their great store. Heavenly Father, help us in our giving! We must be…

Mark 12:40The scribes had evidently worked out a system by which they could ‘care’ for widows. However, their purpose in this was to take possession of and profit from the widows’ property. Also, though praying for a long time is not wrong, it is often done pretentiously, especially in public. Heavenly Father, thank you for…