Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

The first Passover was celebrated when Pharaoh set his Israelite slaves free. Nine plagues against Egypt didn’t convince him. But the tenth did. An angel of death killed the firstborn in Egyptian families, while passing over Israelite families. That was the “pass” . . . “over”, the death angel sparing Israelites. 

Mark 14 tells how Jesus celebrated a Passover meal, his Last Supper before he was crucified. 

Moses’ instructions for the Passover meal specified roast lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread (a tortilla-like flatbread you might buy at Superstore) (Exo 12:8-9). 

At Jesus’ passover meal, he didn’t emphasize celebrating freedom like Moses did. Jesus said to his disciples, “One of you will betray me” (v. 17). An ominous allusion. Will the death angel from Egypt show up in Jesus’ Passover story? 

During Passover dinner, Jesus passed pieces of bread to the disciples, saying, “This is my body” (v. 22). A human body isn’t normal food. Do you think the disciples heard what Jesus said? Did they find it strange that Jesus wanted them to eat his body?  

Later Jesus passed the wine, saying, “This is my blood” (v. 24). Moses’ law instructed Jews not to consume blood (Lev 17:10-12), so drinking Jesus’ blood was a strange, strange Passover symbol. 

There is no mention of roast lamb at the Last Supper. Instead, at the end of a sobering meal, Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn and went out into the night.

So what do we make of the Last Supper? Here are some thoughts. 

1. It was a difficult evening for Jesus. He knew his crucifixion was near. He knew the disciples didn’t believe he would die. Perhaps he found comfort in a traditional meal with his followers, in believing that God would see him through the next 24 hours. 

2. l find Jesus’ symbolism shocking. Eat someone’s body and drink his blood? 

And yet . . . these graphic symbols express something close to my heart. My flesh-and-blood journey through life is shared with Jesus who also made a flesh-and-blood journey. He encourages me with reminders of his 33 years living in a human body. 

Much of following Jesus is a spiritual and mystical exercise. But the bread and wine served at communion encourages me to live in my body as Jesus lived in his, to let his life-blood flow in my veins, to let his broken body be bread that nourishes my aging body. 

3.  The symbolism reminds me that Christianity is a religion of sacrifice. As a modern, civilized person, I could be offended by symbols of Christ’s tortured body and bloody death. Is there something there for me to eat and drink?

Maybe Christ didn’t come to make me civilized. Perhaps he came to deal harshly and realistically with out-of-control evil, in a world choking on violence and death. Perhaps redemption required the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross.

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, the bread and wine we take at communion reminds us of your body and blood. We eat and drink, barely knowing what it means. But we trust that you, who lived in flesh-and-blood, will guide our lives, and that you who died will carry us through the soon-coming darkness of death. 

O Jesus, we remember you, your stories and healings, your life and crucifixion. Though you were God’s son, yet you learned obedience by what you suffered, and you became the author of eternal salvation for all who obey you (Heb 5:8).

Teach us to obey you. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTuber Text

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 14, Jerusalem is abuzz with preparations for Passover weekend. The religious leaders have decided to get rid of Jesus. But maybe not during the holiday, because his fans might riot. 

Meanwhile, Jesus has been predicting his death, but only he and the religious leaders who hate him believe he will really die.

Now, two days before Passover, Jesus is feasting at the home of Simon the Leper. Unnoticed and uninvited, a woman slips into the feast, breaks open an alabaster jar of high-end perfume, and pours it on Jesus’ head. 

The feasters are annoyed, and heap abuse on the woman. Why, they demand, are you wasting a whole bottle of expensive perfume? 

They point out that she could sell the jar for 300 denarii, about a year’s wage. Like $25,000 if your McJob pays minimum wage. Why didn’t the lady do something useful, like giving the money to the poor, instead of using her perfume to make a scene?  

Jesus rebuked the rebukers. “Leave her alone,” he said. “She anointed me to prepare me for burial. You can give to the poor whenever you want. But her gift is special.” 

Comments. 

1. First, it’s weird that this woman would so publicly demonstrate love for Jesus. When I go to church, I don’t pour perfume on our preacher. Do you think this passage suggests I should?  

2. What magnificent symbolism. Most scriptural anointings commission kings, priests, or prophets. But here’s Jesus, whom God has already anointed and commissioned, getting a second anointing. This time in an inappropriate situation, by an unnamed woman, in a strange, public display of affection, using a whole bottle of perfume, reminding Jesus he will soon die. Awkward!

3. Third, Jesus’ response to her extravagance tells us how God calculates return on investment. God didn’t order a cost-benefit analysis on the best use of an expensive gift. Jesus accepts a woman’s perfume, as he earlier accepted a widow’s gift of pennies.

Let’s pray. 

O father, how strange is this woman’s action. Did she think interrupting a feast was a good idea? Did she understand she was anointing Jesus for burial? 

Or was she motivated by something else entirely? Perhaps love for Jesus with no limits and no boundaries?

Unlike her, we calculate the value of our giving. We do the math on our tithes and claim tax benefits with the receipts. We hoard our alabaster jars and our bank accounts. They are piggy banks for a rainy day, not funds to spend lavish gifts.  

O father, grant us freedom of heart to count less and give more. To value relationships more than money. To exchange our hoarding ways for extravagant love and spontaneous generosity.  

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

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Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 13, Jesus describes the coming apocalypse. Unfortunately, he didn’t provide timelines and prophecy charts. 

Here’s what he said the future looks like. 

International politics and the created world will be disrupted with:
– Wars and rumors of wars
– Earthquakes, famines, and chaos
– A sinister and terrible abomination of desolation, but he doesn’t explain what that is.
– And there will be days of distress worse than anything since creation. 

Sounds like 2025, doesn’t it? Wars, earthquakes, desolations. It’s all here.

Then the disruptions extend from earth to the heavens. Sun and moon darken, stars fall, and heavenly bodies are shaken. 

Astrophysicists concur. As the sun ages and cools, our solar system disintegrates. Unlike Jesus, the astrophysicists provide a timeline. Their take: a billion years from now. Are you ready? (When will the sun die? | Space)

Jesus continues his description of the future. Personally and spiritually: 
– People will hate Christians. Families will be divided. Brothers, fathers, and mothers will betray each other to death.
– Christians are arrested, tortured, and brought to trial. 
– False prophets and false messiahs flourish. 

Then, finally, Jesus comes in the clouds with power and great glory. His angels gather Jesus’ disciples and transport them to the next chapter of their existence.

Fifty-five years ago, in 1970, a prophecy preacher I heard got more and more excited as he explained that almost everything Jesus predicted was already happening. Wars, earthquakes, famines, false messiahs, political upheaval, celestial disturbances–1970 had it all. Then he said, “We’re not supposed to set dates, but I don’t think the world can last past 1986. It’s time for Christ to come.”  

I held that thought for 16 years, wondering if he was right. Then 1986 came . . . and went. The preacher’s prophecy flopped. 

Let’s pray. 

O father, we are fascinated by end-of-the-world predictions. But we quickly forget Jesus’ instructions. 

Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (v. 5). O father, help us know the truth and recognize false prophets and deceivers.

Jesus said, “Do not worry” (v. 11). Deliver us from anxiety about the present and the future. 

Jesus said “Be on your guard” (v. 9, 23, 33). O father, teach us not to obsess on politics, wars, demonic forces, or the future. May we trust Jesus to shepherd us through life and death. 

Jesus said, “Keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will return” (v. 35). O father, help us be faithful in all our work for you, our neighbors, and creation. Help us to always watch for Jesus’ return. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

At the end of Mark 12, Jesus teaches about the least, the great, and the greatest. 

First, the greatest–Messiah. Jesus posed a riddle to the teachers of the law. “We know the Messiah will be a descendant of David,” he said, “but David called him ‘Lord’. We also know an ancestor is always greater than his descendants, so how can David’s son be greater than David?” 

A buzz rippled through the crowd. They loved seeing hoity-toity teachers of the law get stumped. 

Second, Jesus taught about the great–or at least, those who thought they were great.

He warned, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They dress in style with flowing robes. They take seats of honor at the synagogue and banquets. They make long and showy prayers. But watch out! They are peacocks in public but sharks in private. They rip off widows and vulnerable people.”

So what’s that all about?

It’s Jesus exposing the law teachers’ ignorance with riddles about the Messiah, exposing their false motives, their flowery and insincere prayers, and their bankrupt ethical standards.

Yes, that’s Jesus at street-level, Jesus the critic. Who’s next?   

Jesus watched people giving money at the temple. Handfuls from the rich, hardly anything from the poor. Like that widow and her pennies. 

Jesus said, “Who’s most generous? The rich? No. They only give if it doesn’t hurt. Consider the widow.  She’s least in importance, last in social hierarchy, lowest in bank balance, invisible at the back of the synagogue. But she put in her grocery money. Everything! What will she live on now?” 

True greatness is not a show you put on for God or people. It’s not the prayers you pray in public, the diplomas on the wall, or trophies in your man cave. True greatness is the widow, giving everything to God and not worrying what you will live on now or tomorrow. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, like the rich people, I give handfuls of cash, but I’m careful not to let my giving hurt my lifestyle. I dress up for church and pray in turn. Am I like the peacock teachers you criticized? 

In your presence, Jesus, I sense something hollow at the center of my life. What is missing in my commitment to you? What is untrue in my religious observance? What is self-serving in my public life? Or false in my life at home?  

O Jesus, greater son of David, search my heart, cleanse my motives. Hear my prayer. Accept the money I donate and the prayers I offer. 

Be the source and center of my life. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 12, a teacher of the law asked Jesus, “What is the most important law God gave?” (v. 28)

Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Then he added, “The second command is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No laws are greater than these.” (v. 29-30)

“Well said, Teacher,” the man replied. “To love God and love your neighbor is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (v. 32-33)

Jesus said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (v. 34)

In his book The Year of Living Biblically, AJ Jacobs tells about a year he spent trying to follow all the rules in the Bible as literally as possible. (https://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/)

A secular Jew from New York City, Jacobs made a list of over 700 biblical commands, everything from the Ten Commandments to obscure rules like don’t trim the corners of your beard and don’t eat shellfish. Then he set out to follow them for a year.

Oddly enough, his book mentions Jesus’ most important rule, “Love God” only once, in passing. “Love your neighbor as yourself” gets a four-page discussion, where Jacobs concludes, “If you try to literally follow . . . love your neighbor as yourself . . . well, you can’t.” (p. 323) 

But in an interview about what he learned that year, Jacobs said, “My Bible year taught me something I wish I had known the first 38 years of my life: If you want to be happy, pursue other people’s happiness. Do good things for others.” (https://sojo.net/articles/year-living-biblically-interview-author-aj-jacobs) 

I wonder if Jesus would say to Jacobs, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

Hmmm. I wonder if Jesus would say that to me.

Let’s pray. 

O father, we try to follow your laws, to do our duty to you and family and friends and church. But how can we know we love you? 

We know because we are sad when we don’t sense your presence.
Because we grieve when we grieve your spirit. 
Because we are glad when we find ourselves lost in worship. 
Because we are joyful when we hear you say “Well done.”

May we find, as Jacobs did, that obeying your commands changes us. That expressing gratitude, avoiding gossip, practicing sabbath, living with reverence, gives us new life and new perspectives. 

Teach us to live biblically. Teach us to love you and others. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube