Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. – Mark 11:11

Today's Scripture Reading (December 14, 2020): Mark 11

On January 9, 1982, Mark Thatcher, the son of then-current Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, went missing. The incident took place during the Paris–Dakar Rally. Thatcher was finally spotted by searchers six days after going missing. The incident caused his mother great international embarrassment, and she insisted on personally paying £2,000 toward the cost of the search for her son. Later, Mark Thatcher would admit that "we stopped. The others stopped too, took a note of where we were and went on. But … instead of telling everyone we were 25 miles east when they finished the section, they told them we were 25 miles west." Thatcher and his compatriots simply made a mistake identifying where it was that they were.

Our reality is that to get anywhere, we first have to know where we are. As we make our way through life, it is the question that we have to repeatedly ask ourselves; "Do we know precisely where we are." Too often, we make decisions that seem ridiculous because we simply do not know where we are. And it is the number one reason why we get lost. If we are wrong about where we are, we can never make it to where we want to go.

It is also one of the criticisms that I have heard during the 2020 pandemic. There are many theories offered by both professionals and amateurs concerning what the government should do to curb the transmission of the virus or any virus at any time. But the differences evident between the various solutions often rest on the fact that the authors of the remedy differ on where they believe we exist as a society.

Jesus enters into Jerusalem and goes to the Temple. It is late in the day, but Jesus wanted to take a look. But he is not on a sightseeing tour; he wants to evaluate the nation's spiritual health. He wanted to know where the people were spiritually. It was a visit that fulfilled the words spoken by Malachi; " 'I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' says the Lord Almighty" (Malachi 3:1).

What does Jesus find? The rest of Mark 11 reveals Jesus's response to the assessment of what he saw on that first day. As he arrived at the Temple, he observes people who lacked faith and depended too much on ritual and a religious system that had made a practice of exploiting the poor and the vulnerable. It was where the people were spiritually, but it was not where Jesus wanted them to stay.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 19