'Close, But ...' - Mark 14:57-59

Finally, some men stood up and gave this false testimony [against Jesus]: "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this Temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another, made without human hands.'" But even then they didn't get their stories straight!

—Mark 14:57-59 NLT

Key Thought​

Yes, Jesus did say something like this accusation. Yes, it was confusing to those who heard it, even his closest followers. But, Jesus never said such a thing about the literal Temple in Jerusalem. He was talking about his own body, which they would nail to the cross. God raised Jesus from the dead after three days. The point is that Jesus' enemies couldn't make charges against him without "false testimony." He was innocent and yet they were determined to put him to death. Nothing is quite as brutal or corrupt as religion that loses its way.

Today's Prayer​

Guide us, dear Father, into the way we should go and keep us from the blindness of our own selfishness. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Related Scripture Readings​

• Proverbs 14:12
• John 2:13-22
• Matthew 27:40

---

Ⓒ 1996-2020 Heartlight, Inc. This material may not be reproduced in part or whole for commercial use without written consent. What Jesus Did! is written by Phil Ware. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Continue reading...

 

[Intercessor]

“Nothing is quite as brutal or corrupt as religion that loses its way” — True, and yet, let’s further this point...

2nd most brutal and corrupt institution is a political party which looses its way. This is only the 2nd deadliest institution because political power is not thought to be the guiding light to salvation in the same way at all times as religion is presumed to be.

Yes, the truly, most damnable institutions do one of two things, sometimes both of the following at once...

1) They outlaw true religion and in its place present propaganda and adherence of the state in the form of institutional education (in place of Christ, or anti-christ)...

2) They combine the total authority of the state with a state religion that has been compromised to such an extent that the way of salvation is either false (works, blind obedience to the powers that be, which is also anti-christ)...

This is what we are facing in this present hour, and who knows what the saying, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” will fully yield?