<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Mark 14;1&amp;2<div><br></div><div><b>1. &nbsp;It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him;&nbsp;</b></div><div><b>2. &nbsp;for they said, “Not during the feast, unless there be a tumult&nbsp;of the people.”</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Evil seeks to avoid attention. &nbsp;It does not want to be known in the ‘light of day’.</div><div><br></div><div>The people were in great expectation concerning Jesus. &nbsp;Reports had come to Jerusalem that the man Jesus of Nazareth had called Lazarus of Bethany from the dead (after he had&nbsp;rotted&nbsp;in the tomb, dead for four days).</div><div><br></div><div>Earlier in the week Jesus of Nazareth had arrived in Jerusalem with great acclaim. &nbsp;He rode a donkey as was foretold by the prophet Zechariah, <i>“Rejoice greatly, O&nbsp;daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O&nbsp;daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant, and victorious&nbsp;is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt&nbsp;the foal&nbsp;of an ass.” &nbsp;(Zechariah 9;9)</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>The chief priests knew the people rejoiced over Jesus and had proclaimed Him the heir of the throne of David. &nbsp;T<span>hey had proclaimed Jesus the Messiah, the long awaited promised coming King.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The chief priests knew, crowds could quickly turn to dangerous and&nbsp;uncontrollable. &nbsp;Yet, the chief priests were convinced the people were wrong and that Jesus was a blasphemer who must be destroyed. &nbsp;All the teachings, signs, healings and wonders Jesus had done meant nothing to the chief priests. &nbsp;They were blinded by their desire to maintain the status quo. &nbsp;Their own lives were very comfortable, they had power and wealth. &nbsp;Jesus represented change and we all hate change.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Therefore, they sought for a way to destroy Jesus indirectly. &nbsp;They wanted the Romans to kill Him. &nbsp;That way they would avoid direct criticism or blame from the people.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The impending&nbsp;Passover represented the perfect time, the people would be distracted from the&nbsp;murder of Jesus,&nbsp;by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. &nbsp;They failed to recognize what John the Baptist had declared about Jesus saying, <i>“Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” &nbsp;</i>(John 1;29)</span></div><div><br></div><div>Crowds have power. &nbsp;Our Lord binds us&nbsp;into the one true Church of all true Believers<span>, (quite a crowd).</span></div><div><span>This is why to this day, Satan has labored to divide and fragment the Church. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>The Confessional&nbsp;Lutheran Church is called ‘Evangelical’ because its’ Confessions stand as the&nbsp;unchanging truth founded upon the Word of God, faithful to the ancient Creeds of the Church. &nbsp;It&nbsp;represents a great threat to the kingdom of darkness because it is a ‘Confessional Church’. &nbsp;This means, it is a denomination within Christianity which is founded upon a body of Scriptural truth, the Augsburg Confession (1530), the Apology to the Augsburg Confession (1531), the Smalcald Articles (1537), the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537), the Small Catechism (1529), the Large Catechism (1529), and the Formula of Concord (1577). &nbsp;Such Truth gathers us together as One. &nbsp;This doctrine does not change, Just as God Himself does not change.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>&nbsp;Denominations which change their doctrine&nbsp;(teachings),&nbsp;do not&nbsp;and cannot gather the faithful.</span></div><div><span>Only God’s truth and the Holy Spirit can, <i>“Call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify” </i>us. &nbsp;Therefore Satan labors unceasingly to oppose the Lord at work in His ‘Crowd’ the Church. &nbsp;Satan still fears the Church.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, grant us grace to unceasingly labor&nbsp;to maintain the <i>“unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace</i></span><i>”</i><span>&nbsp; (Ephesians 4;1-6), leading lives of newness, forgiving one another in the love you have poured into our hearts, just as we have been forgiven. &nbsp;&nbsp;Bless us to know the Word, so that we know the Truth,(who is Jesus)&nbsp;and faithfully proclaim Him together&nbsp;as His own Body the Church, ‘</span><span>Your powerful&nbsp;Crowd’ throughout the ages. &nbsp;Make us ‘dangerous and uncontrollable’ to the kingdom of darkness.In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Mark 14;1&2
1.  It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; 2.  for they said, “Not during the feast, unless there be a tumult of the people.”
Evil seeks to avoid attention.  It does not want to be known in the ‘light of day’.
The people were in great expectation concerning Jesus.  Reports had come to Jerusalem that the man Jesus of Nazareth had called Lazarus of Bethany from the dead (after he had rotted in the tomb, dead for four days).
Earlier in the week Jesus of Nazareth had arrived in Jerusalem with great acclaim.  He rode a donkey as was foretold by the prophet Zechariah, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant, and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.”  (Zechariah 9;9)
The chief priests knew the people rejoiced over Jesus and had proclaimed Him the heir of the throne of David.  They had proclaimed Jesus the Messiah, the long awaited promised coming King.
The chief priests knew, crowds could quickly turn to dangerous and uncontrollable.  Yet, the chief priests were convinced the people were wrong and that Jesus was a blasphemer who must be destroyed.  All the teachings, signs, healings and wonders Jesus had done meant nothing to the chief priests.  They were blinded by their desire to maintain the status quo.  Their own lives were very comfortable, they had power and wealth.  Jesus represented change and we all hate change.
Therefore, they sought for a way to destroy Jesus indirectly.  They wanted the Romans to kill Him.  That way they would avoid direct criticism or blame from the people.  
The impending Passover represented the perfect time, the people would be distracted from the murder of Jesus, by the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  They failed to recognize what John the Baptist had declared about Jesus saying, “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  (John 1;29)
Crowds have power.  Our Lord binds us into the one true Church of all true Believers, (quite a crowd).This is why to this day, Satan has labored to divide and fragment the Church.  
The Confessional Lutheran Church is called ‘Evangelical’ because its’ Confessions stand as the unchanging truth founded upon the Word of God, faithful to the ancient Creeds of the Church.  It represents a great threat to the kingdom of darkness because it is a ‘Confessional Church’.  This means, it is a denomination within Christianity which is founded upon a body of Scriptural truth, the Augsburg Confession (1530), the Apology to the Augsburg Confession (1531), the Smalcald Articles (1537), the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537), the Small Catechism (1529), the Large Catechism (1529), and the Formula of Concord (1577).  Such Truth gathers us together as One.  This doctrine does not change, Just as God Himself does not change.
 Denominations which change their doctrine (teachings), do not and cannot gather the faithful.Only God’s truth and the Holy Spirit can, “Call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify” us.  Therefore Satan labors unceasingly to oppose the Lord at work in His ‘Crowd’ the Church.  Satan still fears the Church.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, grant us grace to unceasingly labor to maintain the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”  (Ephesians 4;1-6), leading lives of newness, forgiving one another in the love you have poured into our hearts, just as we have been forgiven.   Bless us to know the Word, so that we know the Truth,(who is Jesus) and faithfully proclaim Him together as His own Body the Church, ‘Your powerful Crowd’ throughout the ages.  Make us ‘dangerous and uncontrollable’ to the kingdom of darkness.In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”



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