Devotional Time

Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.


35 Καὶ πρωῒ ἔννυχα λίαν ἀναστὰς ἐξῆλθεν καὶ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς ἔρημον τόπον κἀκεῖ προσηύχετο.

This is a verse that I have had in my email signature because I think that it underscores something that is vital to Christian living.  Today is the first time that I really looked deeply at the Greek.  I think that is because last time I read this I went through it pretty quickly since it is such a familiar verse.

The phrase πρωῒ ἔννυχα λίαν ἀναστὰς does not translate literally into English very well.  The word πρωῒ means "morning," but the word ἔννυχα means "night."  However, it also can be used as a modifier.  The word λίαν means "greatly," so this adds force to a modifier.  The word ἀναστὰς  is an aorist active participle in the nominative case.  The ESV captures the overall sense of this very well.  Basically, what we get is Jesus getting up at what they call "oh-dark-thirty" in the military.  He was awake to see the sky turn from black to deep purple to deep blue to blue.  He heard the first birds chirping.  You get the idea.

This verse starts with Καὶ, so we need to ask what this is tied to.  The previous verse describes His healing and exorcism ministry.  He was extremely busy healing people and casting out demons.  This was His response.  He got up very early in the morning to pray.  He didn't feel like He owed Himself a good lie-in.  He did take some time to Himself, but not to play video games, watch TV, surf porn, or drink Himself into oblivion.  Rather, He sacrificed sleep to spend time with the Father before the pressures of the day started up.

How do we deal with the pressures of life?  Obviously I was making an illustrative point in contrasting Jesus' way with the way that I and so many others have dealt with stress.  He spent time with the Father.  He found that to be refreshing.

This of course should make us question our own practices.  Do we even consider time with the Father to be refreshing?  Do we even think it will be worthwhile to sacrifice some sleep to spend time with Him through prayer and the Word?  Or do we think it is more important to leap out of bed and start the day?  I know that I feel off-kilter if I don't have a little time to myself first-thing every morning.  How about you?

The Heart Matters

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.


23 Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον καὶ τὸ κύμινον καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου, τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὸ ἔλεος καὶ τὴν πίστιν· ταῦτα [δὲ] ἔδει ποιῆσαι κἀκεῖνα μὴ ἀφιέναι.

Jesus is on a roll in this passage.  He has been proclaiming a variety of woes on the scribes and Pharisees.  This probably goes without saying, but the scribes and Pharisees were the serious religious players of the day.  Imagine someone proclaiming a woe on the Pope.  Or, in Protestant circles, imagine someone proclaiming a woe on Billy Graham.  This was simply unthinkable to the people who heard this.

Why did Jesus give them such harsh words?  He told them that they ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου (of course, the verb is 2nd person plural, but you should get the idea).  Translating τὰ βαρύτερα as "weightier matters" is a bit of an interpretive decision, but it is necessary because Greek doesn't have a comparative sense like English does.  Very literally it would be something like, "you neglect the weighty things of the law."  But given the context in how Jesus lists what those matters are, I think that the comparative sense is certainly a valid translation.

When I read these woes my first instinct is to think about who else they apply to someone else.  But as I think more deeply I wonder how they apply to me.  Where am I obeying the superficial things, but neglecting the weightier matters?  Yes, I read my Bible daily, pray daily, memorize Scripture, tithe, etc.  The Pharisees did all that.  But does God have my heart?

I think He does, but this passage still gives me pause.  Is there more I could give Him?  I think so.  How about you?