“As a Man Thinketh in His Heart”

Disciples of Jesus must learn to think as God thinks, not as man thinks. A pivotal point in the Gospel of Mark is when Peter confesses that this Jesus whom he had been following for the past two years was God’s Messiah, the Christ (Mk. 8:27-30). We may imagine that at that point he and the other disciples have solved the question of who Jesus is (4:41). But Jesus began at that same point to teach his disciples that he must suffer, be rejected, and be killed, and he would rise again. Ignoring that last statement, Peter rebuked Jesus, face to face for saying such things about the one he has just confessed as God’s anointed king. Jesus whirls around and puts Peter behind him saying, “Get behind me Satan!” The problem was that Peter and the other disciples were not thinking like God thinks but like humans think. This becomes the focus in Mark, and in Matthew. Jesus, confronts, challenges, and conflicts with his disciple so that they may learn to think and act like God, not humans.

Learning to think as God thinks was the task for Jesus and his disciples then and it is our task here and now. Jesus learned to think as God thinks (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk. 14:32-42) and by his example and teaching so do his disciples. Today. I will not trace all those teachings in Mark. Instead, I was struck last week by Ken Bever’s little seed and big tree from Jesus’ parable (Matt. 13:31-32). I recalled another tree in Daniel (Dan. 4:10-12) and how similar it was to that tree in Jesus’ parable. Both trees relate to God’s kingdom. The birds of heaven nest in both trees.  And, most importantly, there is the story of how Nebuchadnezzar learned to think as God thinks (Dan. 4:34-37). May we confess with him, I praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are truth, and his ways are justice; and he is able to bring low those who walk in pride. May we also confess with the centurion as Jesus expired, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

—Tom Yoakum