“There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.  The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also.  In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven had married her” (Mark 12:20-23).

A person is not property.  A group of Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, are asking a hypothetical question – and a silly one at that.  There will be those who ask questions from the place of unbelief and even hatred.  Suppose these or those facts and then give me an answer.  Prove that God exists.  Prove that you exist, and you will find in seeking the answer the absurdities of this line of reasoning.

Lord, teach me to not get caught up in the games of perverted thinking.  You have revealed the truth.  You are truth.  You have given me the words I need to hear.  When I encounter another, help me so that I do not seek to be clever, but instead answer them simply and honestly.  Guide me so that I see through the world’s traps that others may set before me.  None of us knows what eternity will be like, but in trusting You, we know it will be glorious.

Lord Jesus, You have put up with the doubts and foolish questions of every age.  Help me to move beyond my doubts and not ask foolish questions.  Guide me in the wisdom You give to learn to trust You above all things.  Help me learn from You how to be gentle with those who ask such questions so that I may have the opportunity to share the truth You have spoken.  Lord, You love us all and desire that we would abide in You together eternally.  Help me to abide in You. Amen.

“Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and leaves no child, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother” (Mark 12:18-19).

Another trap.  The ones who do not believe in the resurrection set traps to ensnare those who do not agree with them.  This is the way of wickedness.  Seeking to be clever, they take you down a trail with a trap set at the end.  The truth is the truth and those who twist the truth for their own ends will do what they do to feel good about themselves, even if it comes at the expense of your understanding of things.

Lord, I know there are those in this world who seek their own ends.  Help me to see through them and not to be caught up in their traps.  Guide me through this world’s traps seeing them for what they are.  You have revealed truth and what I may think about things is secondary.  In You alone is the world held together.  Guide me in wisdom to not get worked up by those who are seeking for their own gain.

Lord Jesus, You entertained all these people on equal footing.  You gave each of them their time.  Help me to not put You to the test but instead seek the wisdom which You give.  Guide me to focus on the upward call that You have given me, knowing that in You I have life and liberty.  Lead me in the way of life You are preparing me to live.  Help me to put none to the test, but keep my heart and mind devoted to the Gospel.  Amen.

“They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.”  And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him” (Mark 12:16-17).

This is an amazing answer.  Seeking to trap Him, Jesus turns around and gives a piece of profound wisdom that we can apply to all of life.  The Creator, who created all things, is truly the One to whom all things belong, but He has given us these things for us to use as stewards.  What is used for something belongs to that thing for which it is used.  The principle here is one of honoring the use which has been established.

Lord, You are all wise and know us better than we know ourselves.  For those who fear You, You grant wisdom.  We are to render obedience to the authority which is over us.  We are to render what is due according to the obligations set upon us in this world.  Guide us to understand more clearly the need to be ordered and active citizens in this world to be prepared to be honorable citizens of the eternal world You for which You are preparing us.

Lord Jesus, You guide and direct us into wisdom.  Teach me to honor others knowing that in so doing I am honoring You.  Lead me to be faithful in all things knowing that only through Your Spirit can I be prepared to live with You eternally.  Guide me in the way of honor and teach me so that each day I understand more of what it means to properly render all I am and have according to the Father’s will.  Amen..

“Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at” (Mark 12:15).

The Lord knows hypocrisy.  We are not to put the Lord to the test, but we do it all the time.  “Lord, if You do this . . .”  Our prayers are to be from our heart and without condition, just as our love, in order to be love, should be without condition.  We receive mercy and the Lord has put up with the foolishness of sinners throughout the ages.  His desire is that we would not perish, but come to Him humbly, willingly, and without condition.

Lord, I confess that I too have lived with my share of hypocrisy.  Guide me away from foolishness to follow You alone in the hope that only You can give.  Help me to live according to Your grace and mercy, and not to be tempted to put You or anyone else to the test.  Teach me to live the life You have given me, looking to You as the One who will guide me in the way of living righteously.

Lord Jesus, long-suffering Savior, You have made the way possible for me to move from living a life of hypocrisy toward living righteously.  Help me to have the right fear so that I overcome those places where I am tempted to put You or anyone else to the test.  Guide me in my living so that I humbly walk under Your direction and live the life You have given me to live.  Through You, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I am more than able to do all You command.  Amen.

“Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement.  They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” (Mark 12:13-14)

If a politician cannot sway the crowd with tactic “A,” he uses tactic “B.”  Can you see that nothing has really changed?  Nuances are used, seeking to trap another into a false statement.  There are some religious that do this.  They’ll lead you down a trail, and if you give the wrong answer, declare that they are right.  Be wary of the traps of the wicked ones.  Look to the Lord’s teaching and walk in the way of truth.

Lord, You know all things, and knew the wickedness that was seeking to trap You.  I often do not have the ability to see the traps.  Help me to see the traps of the wicked ones and deal with them  by Your word.  Where I do not have the answer, grant me wisdom to look to You and, if necessary, remain silent.  You alone give the words of eternal life in a world filled with those who seek to destroy,

Lord Jesus, You have come to lead the way through all of those who seek to kill and destroy.  Hatred is their power.  Lead me into the truth of love so that I do not return hatred with hatred, but with the love You give me.  Grant me wisdom to discern, and willingness to serve, that I may humbly follow Your example and live into the life You are giving me.  Guide me always, my Lord and Savior.  Amen.

“And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away” (Mark 12:12).

Wickedness can never stand up to the truth.  Although multitudes in crowds may not fully understand all that is happening, there are those who know enough to know whether or not it is a bald-faced lie.  The world is filled with manipulative politicians who are always playing the crowd.  Jesus comes in and speaks to each one of us personally and asks us to follow Him and not to follow the whims of the politicians of this world.

Lord, nothing has changed.  There are those who seek a power they will never have and the sheep who are constantly being manipulated.  Help me to see the simplicity of truth and shed myself of those things which get in the way of humbly following You, even if it means to be seized by others.  Lord, You have given the words of eternal life.  Where else can we go?  You are true and You have revealed truth.

Lord Jesus, the truth revealed, guide me in faith to face whatever adversity might arise  seeking to lead me astray.  Keep me faithful to You.  You are the foundation upon which, through which, and for which all things have been made.  Lead me into the depths of true living so that I may humbly walk according to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and do what is pleasing in the Father’s sight.  Amen. 

“Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (Mark 12:10-11)

There are those who will receive truth and those who will do everything they can to keep to themselves and reject what is true.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that either we build our lives on the rock or else built upon sand.  What we build on our own will crumble.  The One through whom all things have their being has come to lead You to build everything on the solid rock, which is Him.

Lord, over and over, You tell us what is right and true.  It is amazing that the rebellion runs so deep that the lie seems to be believed more readily than the truth.  I too fall into this arrogance.  Help me to be shed of the insistence of thinking I know when I do not.  Bring me to know that only on You, the Solid Rock, can I build my hopes on the truth of the consistent revelation You have made throughout the ages.

Lord Jesus, You are the Solid Rock, the Foundation, the One who is our Savior.  Only upon You and what You have done can any of us have the hope that springs to eternal life.  Guide me, dear Lord, to not only understand this, but to act upon it and build my life upon You.  You alone provide the grace and mercy we all need to come into the eternal life which has been promised to those who believe.  Help my unbelief.   Amen.

“They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.  What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others” (Mark 12:8-9).

Killing, or thinking about killing the problem never resolves anything.  Authority finally catches up with you.  Solving the problem of sin, greed, and avarice does require death, not to gain, but to overcome.  We must die to these things. The pollution of sin is in us all.  When we die to sin, what is gained is not what we imagine, but something better and beyond the pollution that sin brings, which clouds our thinking.

Lord, I do understand this small-thinking way of seeking to gain what I can never have.  Lead me through what You know I need to overcome in order that I may not look at the world as something to gain, but as Your creation.  Help me to learn to be content with my circumstances and gain the life You offer me through grace.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of everlasting life.

Lord Jesus, You were taken to the cross, but it was not done for Your gain.  It was Your willing sacrifice that we might gain the true inheritance.  Lead me away from this world’s way of thinking and into the truth You have come to reveal.  I am a steward and You have placed me where I can grow in Your image.   Guide me so that I may humbly follow You wherever You lead.  Amen.

“He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’” (Mark 11:6-7)

The devil thinks He can steal what belongs to God.  This world is filled with those who believe things will go the way they want them to go.  The Father sent the Son and they killed Him.  We know it really doesn’t work this way, either in the world, or in heaven, but many act this way all the same.  It really is as simple as recognizing that we are stewards, servants, and we have been created to serve.

Lord, open my eyes to see the insanity of the merry-go-round of sin and the rebellion against You.  You have caused all things to be and in You is all hope and an eternal future.  Lead me, Lord, in the way of living so that I do not seek for myself but live in the way life is meant to be lived.  No matter what we rebels do, You take what was meant for evil and turn it into good.

Lord Jesus, they killed You hoping to gain the inheritance, but through Your death, the true inheritance has been made possible.  Through You, we are heirs of eternal life with You in Trinity.  Through You, we have the restoration of the hope that because You live, we too shall live.  Guide me on the upward way of living so that I no longer scheme but instead seek to do the Father’s will.  Amen.

“Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.  And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others” (Mark 11:6-7).

The amount of legitimized thievery that happens in our day is appalling.  From the miser who relies upon others to provide, to the large companies that wantonly take from those who do not have, our world legitimizes thievery shrouded in excuses.  We are stolen from each day by those who take for themselves.  We should respond neither with envy nor anger, but with a desire to seek to become faithful.

Lord, You know that I cannot correct others in those places of avarice and greed, but I can deal with what You give me.  Teach me my part in this life.  Help me to live according to Your word knowing that You are creating in me a right spirit.  Even if I am the only one doing so, help me to hold fast and do what is right and true.  Guide me according to Your will and help me to not follow the will of this world.

Lord Jesus, I need to be saved.  You know where the infection of this world has taken hold of my heart.  You know those places where my attitude needs to be changed.  Take from me the excuses and claims of inability to be a willing servant at every time and in every place.  Guide me to grow in Your likeness and listen to Your leading by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Lead me to the place of living faithfully.  Amen.