Scripture Readings
Proverbs 11:17
Isaiah 49–50
Mark 11
Psalms 50
Verse Focus (Proverbs 11:17)
Those who are kind benefit themselves,
but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.
Meditation
Day 50. Can you believe it? Praise God for His faithfulness to us this year!
Proverbs 11:17 tells us, “Those who are kind reward themselves, but the cruel do themselves harm.” You might see this as a very specific instance of the Biblical principle that you reap what you sow. It’s actually a little counterintuitive to us to believe that our behavior mirrors itself back onto us. After all, our behavior is directed towards another person. While that person may or may not behave the same way back to us as we behave towards them, Scripture is clear that we will receive that same behavior back to us from someone. Some might call it karma. Sow kindness, reap kindness. Sow disrespect and contempt and reap the same. As Jesus says in Luke 6:38, “For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
I never thought of there being selfish reasons why one might decide to be kind. Or, again, that you might not want to be cruel for reasons of self-preservation. But if this kind of selfishness helps motivate you to behave in honorable ways, what does it matter? God is in the business of transforming your heart and your motives. He can sort it out so that you behave well with integrity.
As I write this, I realize that being on the receiving end of kindness or cruelty is not the only way that this proverb proves true. Your behavior — good or bad — also affects your character, your habits, and your identity. If being kind one time makes it easier to be kind the next time, I win. If I develop habits of being kind and that teaches my character to become more kind, I win. And let’s not forget — those to whom you are showing kindness win too.
Father God, we recognize that the world is severely lacking in kindness, and yet we don’t always make the effort to be intentionally kind. Help us to be kind and loving and gracious in all our interactions with other people through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Isaiah 49:1-6 is the second Suffering Servant song. In these verses the servant speaks of his call from God and his mission to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. When verse 7 begins, the chapter shifts point of view from that of the servant to what God says — which is why scholars identify the song as only in verses 1-6. However, I see the entire chapter as a Messianic prophecy. God is speaking of his servant and what he calls his servant to do.
The servant says that he was called by God even before he was born. His mouth is like a “sharp sword” and he is like a “polished arrow.” With this imagery, I think of the Word of God — the sword that cleaves joints and marrow, revealing the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). A polished arrow conveys the idea of the shaft being painstakingly shaped and smoothed so that the arrow will fly true.
Verse 4 is a little puzzling as the servant feels like his effort has been in vain. “I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity,” the servant says. And yet he remains confident that the LORD will vindicate him and the LORD is the one who holds his reward. Indeed, the servant goes on to say in verse 6 that the LORD has revealed to him that his mission to save Israel is too small of a mission; instead, the mission will be to bring salvation to the whole world: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
While I see Jesus in these suffering servant songs (the parallels to Jesus’ life are astounding!), I also see that part of this prophecy refers to the prophet himself. Isaiah is also one that God made a light to the nations.
As God starts speaking in verse 7, He refers to his servant as one “deeply despised” and yet He also says that rulers will bow down to his “chosen” servant. The LORD speaks of the restoration of Israel. Verse 13 cries, “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones.”
Despite this good news, Zion feels forsaken and forgotten. God declares that He can never forget His people. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you (v. 15).” And then the verse that gives me the shivers: “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” I think of Jesus’ hands, permanently scarred by the crucifixion and see our salvation written deep within those scars.
As the chapter continues into the next, two more phrases stand out to me. In Isaiah 49:23, God promises, “Those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.” Then in Isaiah 50:2, God asks, “Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?”
Isaiah 50:4-7 is the third Suffering Servant song. Many scholars also see verses 8-11 as part of this same song. Here we have the servant speaking. Verse 4 begins, saying, “The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” God has prepared and taught the servant, and the servant will not turn back from doing what God requires even if this garners him abuse. Indeed, the servant is confident of his vindication. The chapter ends with a warning that if people do not obey the servant, they will perish in the fire of their own lights: “You shall lie down in torment.”
Mark chapter 11 begins with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (the original Palm Sunday celebration). We have the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree, cleansing the temple, finding the tree withered, and, yet again, another question about the authority of Jesus.
I always feel a little bad for the fig tree when I read the story of Jesus cursing it because it had no fruit. The story begins because Jesus is hungry. Now Jesus was a carpenter, not a farmer. You’d think he would have known that it was the wrong time of year for fruit, but evidently he did not. Verse 13 tells us that Jesus saw the tree in the distance and “went to see” whether or not there was any fruit. And, of course, there was no fruit. It was early spring after all — not harvest time. And Mark makes a point of telling us that it was not the season for fruit. The disciples overhear Jesus telling the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Later on, they discover that the tree had “withered from the roots.” But Jesus turns it into a teaching moment so that the disciples might understand the power of prayer for those who believe.
I have mixed feelings about this whole incident. Am I just to interpret this that Jesus gets hangry too? Perhaps he was already in a bad mood because they were on the way to the temple. He had seen it late the evening before, but now he is on his way there to throw out those who are buying and selling and changing money in the temple. Jesus was upset at how the temple had been turned into a “den of robbers,” and perhaps he takes out that anger on the tree.
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry, but sin not.” Anger is not sinful in and of itself. What we do and say when we’re angry can be sinful, however. Jesus, on the other hand, did not sin. He did get angry from time to time. But he didn’t sin. But I have a hard time understanding the cursing of the fig tree as not sinful. And perhaps that’s because it would be sinful for me to do so — but then, I’m not the Creator. The Creator has the freedom and the right to do whatever he chooses to do.
As I was reading verse 18 today, I was caught by a word in the NRSV translation. The verse said that the “crowd was spellbound by his teaching.” Spellbound. The NIV simply says that the people were “amazed.” But I like “spellbound” because to me it conveys how mesmerized the people were by Jesus and what he had to say. It helps me to understand why the chief priests and teachers of the law were so frightened by the power Jesus wielded.
Psalm 50 is identified as “a psalm of Asaph.” Asaph was one of the song leaders that David specifically commissioned for temple service. Verse 2 says, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.” Verse 3 describes God as a “devouring fire.” The psalmist describes how God gathers the people to speak.
What is most remarkable about this psalm is how God tells his people that He does not need their sacrifices and burnt offerings. In verse 12, God says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine.” Although God does not need food and He does not need the usual sacrifices and offerings that the Israelites give, He does call His people to make a different kind of sacrifice. “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,” verse 14 says.
The wicked hate instruction; they steal, commit adultery, speak deceitfully and slander family. Worse, they think that God is just like them. The psalmist warns the wicked that God will “tear you to pieces (v. 22).” But those who “bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice” honor God; they will see His salvation.
Father God, help me to always to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving. I’m so grateful that it was “too small” for Jesus to save only the Jews. Thank you for what Jesus suffered on my behalf. Thank you for making the way for me to live in your kingdom. Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for adopting me into your family. I pray in the name of Jesus the Messiah, the suffering servant, and your Son, Amen.
Reading Mark 11, I usually think Jesus could have just made fruit on the fig tree. But then it occurred to me I don’t recall Jesus ever doing any miracle that was purely for His benefit. He does expand food volume in some parables, or make a coin appear in the mouth of a fish, but that is for the benefit of others. I wonder if he was constrained from doing miracles for Himself, by choice, or perhaps, in choosing to come be our Passover Lamb, God restricted that ability from Him. So perhaps it was outside His ability, perhaps by an agreement, not to make figs on the tree, when He was the only One wanting them. Lastly, Isaiah 49:16 is a top favorite – literally I am carved into Jesus’ palms.
Good point, Kristina! I don’t think I ever noticed before that Jesus didn’t do miracles for himself. I would guess that would be by choice — he came to serve, and he was also content with the situation he was in.
In my curiosity of the fig tree incident I looked up William Barclay’s commentary. He asks the question ,since the incident doesn’t seem to fit Jesus at all, What are we to make of it? He says if we take it as something that actually happened it would be what he calls an enacted parable. That it would be a promise without fulfillment-the leaves are there-a promise of fruit but there is no fruit there. He says it is a condemnation especially of the people of Israel-They were eager to receive the Chosen one but when he came they did not. He goes on to say that this might also relate to a person who professes to be a follower of Christ but in practice is not. Barclay states that this the most difficult story of the gospel narrative. He concludes by saying”it’s really up to the reader if they take the narrative literally. The point of the lesson though is that uselessness invites disaster.”
“Uselessness invites disaster.” I love that! 🙂