Blogging Bible Study - Mark, Part 3

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

It is Women's conference weekend, y'all, and we have had a great time of exhortation...and I am keeping the ball rolling by diving back into the Heart study.  We will finish Mark today in our look at verses containing words the NIV 85 translates as heart/ hearts

Our first reference is parallel to Matthew 19, with Pharisees asking Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife, with the comment that Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.

"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. -- Mark 10: 5; 'Hearts' is, as it was in Matt. 19,  Strong's G4641, skerokardia - hardness of heart.  I didn't mention this before but the  lexicon entry also indicates that it connotates a  'destitution of (spiritual) perception'. As we saw last week,  Jesus described a hardened heart as belonging to someone who refuses to see, refuses to hear, and refuses to remember what has happened in the past.  And once again, we see that the language describes divorce not as what God required but something that Moses allowed.  I'm not going to deep dive into the nuances of marriage and divorce; our point here is that it was allowed because of hard heartedness.  

Our next passage is from Holy Week, when Jesus and the disciples were traveling to and from the Temple grounds and Jesus was teaching there.  Jesus had pronounced a curse on a fig tree that looked to be fruitful but wasn't, and the next day, when they were passing by it again, the disciples noticed that it had withered.

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth,  if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,'  and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. " -- Mark 11:22-23: 'Heart' is the typical Strong's G2588, kardia - the heart.

This sounds rather 'name it and claim it', doesn't it?  Jesus is not debating motives here.  Just facts.  But their is a difference.  This is not speaking of entitlement, but of someone who is walking with God and knows what it is God is instructing.  Like Elijah on Mount Carmel...he didn't call down the fire from heaven because he wanted to create a spectacle, but because God had instructed him to do so.  He was confident that God would do the thing requested.  Because it was God's idea all along.

If one is following God's instructions, God will do the thing needed.  And if God said it...we can believe it.  

The final mention of Heart/Hearts is the famous exchange between Jesus and the wise teacher, in which the teacher asked the honest question...what commandment is the most important?

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "Is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these."

"Well said, teacher,"  the man replied. "You are right  in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.  To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." -- Mark 12:29-33; both instances of 'Heart' are G2588.

Interesting that Mark includes the reaction of the questioner...he was actually impressed with Jesus' answer, and responded thoughtfully, recognizing the significance of what Jesus had said.  And Jesus answered him again with an amazing phrase..."You are not far from the kingdom of God" (12:34)

Which shows that not all the teachers of the Law were close minded about him.  Some were close to becoming believers.  Who observed, listened and remembered, staving off a hardened heart.