people watching, people listening

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-april-2017-7

devotional post # 2049

Luke 20:45-47

Luk 20:45 And since all the people were listening, he said to the disciples,
Luk 20:46 “Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets,
Luk 20:47 who keep on swallowing up the houses of widows and pray lengthy prayers because people are watching. These will receive more severe judgment!”

people watching, people listening

The scribes were meant to be a gift to God’s people. Their calling was noble: to study the Scriptures deeply, to understand them clearly, and to guide others faithfully. They were supposed to be interpreters of God’s word, not performers on a public stage. But the scribes Jesus confronted had drifted far from that calling. Their identity no longer rested in serving God but in being seen by others. They loved the greetings, the titles, the seats of honor. Their ministry had become a mirror in which they admired themselves.

Because their hearts were captured by reputation, not truth, Jesus exposed them publicly. He did not do this to humiliate them for sport, but because hypocrisy thrives in the dark and shrivels in the light. If they felt no guilt for their exploitation of the vulnerable, perhaps they would at least feel shame when their masks were removed. Jesus’ rebuke was an act of mercy as much as judgment—an invitation to repentance for those willing to hear it, and a warning to the crowds who might otherwise be misled.

This danger is not limited to ancient scribes. Any form of spiritual leadership carries the temptation to perform rather than serve, to cultivate an image rather than a character, to care more about being noticed than being faithful. When the applause of people becomes more important than the approval of God, integrity erodes quietly but quickly. And once integrity is lost, ministry becomes hollow.

Jesus’ words remind us that the true measure of a servant of God is not public admiration but private faithfulness. It is doing what is right when no one is watching. It is loving the unnoticed, honoring the vulnerable, and living with a consistency that does not depend on an audience. Integrity is not glamorous, but it is powerful. It is the soil in which real ministry grows.

LORD, make us people of integrity who do the right thing even if no one notices.

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merely or more?

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-15

devotional post # 2048

Luke 20:41-44

Luk 20:41 But he said to them, “What does it mean when they say that the Christ is David’s son?
Luk 20:42 Because David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
Luk 20:43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ‘
Luk 20:44 David calls him ‘Lord’ for this reason, so how is he his son?”

merely or more?

Jesus is not denying His Davidic lineage—far from it. His genealogy is woven into the fabric of Israel’s hope. The Messiah had to come from David’s line, and Jesus fully embraces that identity. But He refuses to let His listeners reduce Him to only that identity. They were content with a Messiah who fit their expectations: a political heir, a national liberator, a king who would reclaim David’s earthly throne. If that were all He was, then His authority would be limited, His kingdom temporary, and His mission confined to the borders of Israel.

But Jesus presses them to consider something far greater. He points them back to Scripture—specifically to David’s own words in Psalm 110. David, speaking by the Spirit, calls the Messiah “my Lord.” That is not the language of a father speaking about a future son. It is the language of a king acknowledging someone infinitely greater than himself. David understood that the Messiah would not merely continue his dynasty; He would transcend it. He would not simply inherit a throne; He would reign at the right hand of God.

This is why Jesus raises the question. If the Messiah is only David’s descendant, then He is just another king in a long line of kings. But if the Messiah is also David’s Lord, then He is more than a political figure—He is divine. He is the One who stands above every earthly power, including Rome, including Herod, including every ruler who might try to claim authority over Him.

Jesus is gently but firmly expanding their categories. They expected a king who would challenge Rome. Instead, they were standing before the King who created Rome. They expected a ruler who would restore Israel’s borders. Instead, they were encountering the Lord who rules heaven and earth. They expected a son of David. They were meeting the Son of God.

The Scriptures had always pointed in this direction. Jesus simply brings the truth into the open: the Messiah is both David’s heir and David’s Lord—fully human, fully divine, the King whose reign will never end.

LORD, thank You that You are so much more than we can imagine.

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He will not forsake us

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-february-2017-28

devotional post # 2047

Luke 20:37-40

Luk 20:37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed at the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.
Luk 20:38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, because all live to him!”
Luk 20:39 And some of the scribes in response said, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”
Luk 20:40 Because they no longer dared to ask him anything.

He will not forsake us

You’re drawing out the heart of Jesus’ argument with remarkable clarity. The Sadducees had framed their question as if resurrection were an absurdity—a puzzle meant to expose the foolishness of believing in life after death. Jesus refuses to play their game. He answers the question they asked, but then He goes deeper, exposing the real issue beneath their mockery.

He is not introducing a new doctrine. He is not unveiling a hidden teaching about the soul. He is simply reaffirming what Scripture had always taught: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who raises the dead. The question is not whether humans possess some inner spark that naturally survives death. The question is whether God Himself continues to live—and whether He remembers those who have died.

Jesus’ answer is stunning in its simplicity. The reason Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob “live” is not because they possess inherent immortality. It is because God lives, and because they belong to Him. Their future resurrection is guaranteed by His character, not by their constitution. The Sadducees doubted resurrection because they doubted God’s power. Jesus corrects them by pointing to the One who cannot forget His people, even when they lie in the dust.

This passage does not teach the immortality of the soul. It teaches the faithfulness and power of God. It teaches that the dead will rise because God refuses to abandon them. Immortality is not a human possession—it is a divine gift. It is conditioned on the love of a God who remembers, who restores, who raises.

That is the gospel issue. The hope of the believer is not that something in us naturally survives death. Our hope is that God will not forsake us to death. We “live to Him” because He holds our future, and because He has promised to call us from the grave when Christ returns.

This is the hope Jesus defended. This is the hope the Sadducees denied. And this is the hope that still anchors the people of God today.

LORD, thank You for the hope of the resurrection.

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sons of the resurrection

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-13

devotional post # 2046

Luke 20:34-36

Luk 20:34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given to be maried,
Luk 20:35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead do not marry and are not given to be married,
Luk 20:36 because they are not even able to die any longer, because they are like the angels and are sons of God; they are sons of the resurrection.

sons of the resurrection

Jesus’ first words in His reply stay tightly focused on the question the Sadducees actually asked, and that alone is revealing. He does not begin with a grand defense of resurrection or a philosophical argument about life after death. Instead, He simply explains the reality of the coming age: those who are raised at His return will not marry. Not because marriage is unimportant, and not because earthly relationships are erased, but because the purpose of marriage will have been fulfilled.

Marriage is a gift for this age—a blessing that provides companionship, stability, and the means of bringing new life into the world. But in the resurrection, the deepest longings that marriage points toward will be fully satisfied in God Himself. And the practical need for children to carry on the human story will disappear, because mortality will be no more. When death ends, the need for replacement ends. When eternal life begins, the structures that support mortal life fall away. Jesus is not diminishing marriage; He is revealing the greater reality to which it has always pointed.

But then comes the sobering part—one we often glide past. Jesus makes it unmistakably clear that not everyone will experience this resurrection life. He speaks of those who are “considered worthy” of attaining to that age. In other words, resurrection to immortality is not automatic. It is not the universal destiny of all humanity. It is the gift God gives to those who belong to Christ, those who have entrusted themselves to Him and are counted among His redeemed people.

Jesus is not teaching salvation by merit. He is teaching salvation by belonging—belonging to Him. The resurrection life is for those who have aligned themselves with the King who brings that life. Some will rise to immortality; others will rise to judgment. The distinction is real, and Jesus does not soften it.

His words remind us that the hope of resurrection is not a vague spiritual comfort. It is a concrete promise for those who are in Him. It is the future God has prepared for His people—a future without death, without decay, without endings.

LORD, thank You for the promise of immortal, resurrection life.

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today and tomorrow

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-12

devotional post # 2045

Luke 20:27-33

Luk 20:27 Now some Sadducees (who insist that a resurrection is not real) came to him.
Luk 20:28 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man has to marry the widow and father children for his brother.
Luk 20:29 There once were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died without children.
Luk 20:30 The second
Luk 20:31 and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children.
Luk 20:32 Finally the woman died also.
Luk 20:33 So, at the resurrection, whose wife will this woman be? Because all seven had married her.”

today and tomorrow

Stopping at the question really does reveal something important about the questioners—and about the worldview that shaped their mockery. The Sadducees weren’t honestly wrestling with the idea of resurrection. They weren’t seeking clarity. They weren’t even curious. Their question was crafted to expose what they believed was the absurdity of the whole concept. To them, resurrection was not just unlikely—it was laughable.

Their hypothetical scenario about marriage in the resurrection wasn’t a sincere inquiry. It was a joke disguised as theology. It revealed their underlying assumption: life moves through its seasons, it ends, and that’s that. Death is final. Nothing follows. The idea that God could reverse death, restore life, and inaugurate a new creation was, in their minds, childish and irrational.

This is why their question matters. It exposes a worldview that limits God to what human experience can already explain. If we have never seen resurrection, then resurrection must be impossible. If death appears final, then it must be final. Their skepticism wasn’t intellectual—it was experiential. They trusted what they could see, not what God had promised.

And that same posture is widespread today. Many people treat the resurrection as a metaphor, a symbol, or a poetic way of talking about hope. The idea of a literal, physical resurrection seems to them as absurd as it did to the Sadducees. Modern skepticism often hides behind sophistication, but at its core it is the same assumption: when life ends, it ends. Nothing more.

But Jesus’ response shattered that assumption. He didn’t just correct their theology—He exposed the smallness of their imagination. They assumed resurrection meant a simple continuation of earthly life. Jesus revealed that resurrection means transformation into a life beyond decay, beyond marriage, beyond death itself. They mocked what they did not understand.

Their question shows us that unbelief often masks itself as cleverness. But Jesus shows us that the God who created life is fully capable of restoring it.

LORD, give us eyes to see beyond our assumptions and hearts to trust Your promise of life beyond death.

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the way of God

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-11

devotional post # 2044

Luke 20:20-26

Luk 20:20 Watching him carefully, they sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to take advantage of what he might say so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
Luk 20:21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
Luk 20:22 Is it proper for us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar or not?”
Luk 20:23 But Jesus understood their deceit and told them,
Luk 20:24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.”
Luk 20:25 Then he said to them, “You should give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Luk 20:26 For this reason, they were unable to trap him with his own words in the presence of the people. And baffled by his answer, they stayed silent.

the way of God

The experts in the law and the chief priests understood far more about Jesus than they ever admitted publicly. They knew He was not a political revolutionary, not a zealot, not a threat to Rome’s military power. They knew His entire ministry was centered on teaching “the way of God in truth.” And that was precisely why they feared Him. His authority exposed their hypocrisy. His clarity revealed their confusion. His purity highlighted their corruption.

So they devised a trap. If they could force Jesus to make a political statement, they could discredit Him—either with Rome or with the Jewish people. The tax question seemed perfect. To them, it was a no‑win scenario. If Jesus said taxes should be paid, He would appear to support Rome over Israel. If He said taxes should not be paid, He could be arrested for sedition. They assumed the categories were fixed: you could be a loyal Roman or a loyal Jew, but not both.

What baffled them was that Jesus refused to accept their false dilemma. He exposed the flaw in their thinking. Caesar had his realm, but God had His. A person could render what was due to earthly authorities while still living fully under the reign of God. Jesus revealed a larger, deeper reality: allegiance to God does not negate responsible citizenship, and responsible citizenship does not diminish allegiance to God. The kingdom of God is not threatened by earthly structures, nor is it confined by them.

Their trap failed because their worldview was too small. They could not imagine a life shaped by the way of God that also lived peaceably within the structures of society. Jesus showed that the people of God can honor earthly authorities without compromising heavenly loyalty—so long as God remains the highest authority.

That wisdom is desperately needed today. We live in a world of polarized loyalties, where people are pressured to choose sides, to collapse their identity into political or cultural categories. But Jesus calls us to a different way—the way of God, the way of peace, the way of integrity. It is possible to live faithfully before God while living peaceably with others. It is possible to honor earthly responsibilities without surrendering spiritual allegiance.

LORD, show us all how to live the way of God, at peace with all whenever possible.

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social disconnect

Posted on June 10, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-10

devotional post # 2043

Luke 20:16-19 JDV

Luk 20:16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “This would never happen!”

Luk 20:17 But Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

Luk 20:18 Everyone who stumbles over this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Luk 20:19 Then the experts in the law and the chief priests wanted to arrest him at that hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

social disconnect

The people of Jerusalem were caught in a painful tension—one they could not resolve without confronting the truth. On one hand, they desperately wanted to believe that their leaders were righteous, wise, and trustworthy. To admit otherwise would have meant admitting that the entire religious system they depended on was corrupt. On the other hand, they were drawn to Jesus. His authority was unmistakable. His compassion was magnetic. His miracles were undeniable. They wanted to believe in Him too.

But those two loyalties could not coexist forever. The leaders feared the crowds, so they hesitated to arrest Jesus openly. The crowds admired Jesus, but they hesitated to break with the leaders they had long revered. This social disconnect—this attempt to hold on to incompatible allegiances—created a fragile, unstable moment. And eventually, it collapsed. When pressure mounted, the crowd that once shouted “Hosanna” became the crowd that shouted “Crucify Him.” Their desire to honor their leaders outweighed their desire to honor their Messiah.

That same dynamic is alive across the world today. We elevate the wrong people as heroes—celebrities, influencers, political figures, cultural icons—and we try to hold on to Jesus at the same time. We want both: the world’s approval and Christ’s lordship. But divided allegiance never lasts. Eventually, the pressure of culture forces a choice. And unless our hearts are anchored in Christ alone, the drift will always move toward betrayal, not faithfulness.

The tragedy of Jerusalem is not simply that they rejected Jesus. It is that they tried to keep their heroes and their Messiah at the same time. The tragedy of our age is similar. We worship the wrong people, and then wonder why our devotion to Christ weakens.

True discipleship requires a decisive renunciation of false heroes. It requires the courage to say, “Only one deserves my allegiance. Only one deserves my trust. Only one deserves my worship.”

LORD, we renounce our worship of all heroes except You.

 

 

 

 

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a change of tenantship

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

devotional post # 2042

marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-9

Luke 20:9-16a JDV

Luk 20:1 Then he started telling the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time.

Luk 20:10 When harvest season came, he sent a slave to the tenants so that they would give him his portion of the crop. However, the tenants beat his slave and sent him away empty-handed.

Luk 20:11 So he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him terribly, and sent him away empty-handed.

Luk 20:12 So he even sent a third. But they wounded this one, and threw him out.

Luk 20:13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; maybe they will show respect for him.’

Luk 20:14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; We should kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’

Luk 20:15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

Luk 20:16a He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

a change of tenantship

The parable of the vineyard cuts straight to the heart of Israel’s story, and you’re drawing out its weight exactly as Jesus intended. Both John the Baptist and Jesus had already warned that judgment was coming—not because God had suddenly changed His posture toward His people, but because His people had persistently rejected His messengers. The prophets had spoken for centuries about a coming cleansing, a pruning, a reckoning in which God would deal with unfaithful shepherds and corrupt leadership. Jesus’ story simply revealed why that judgment was now unavoidable: the tenants had refused the Owner’s authority, mistreated His servants, and were about to kill His Son.

The question you raise—Does this mean God was abandoning Israel?—is the very question early believers wrestled with. And your suggestion is deeply rooted in the New Testament’s own way of reading this parable. Jesus does not say the vineyard will be destroyed. He says the tenants will be replaced. The vineyard remains precious. The Owner still cares for it. What changes is the stewardship.

Seen this way, the “new tenants” are not a replacement of Israel but a renewal of Israel’s leadership. The twelve apostles stand as a symbolic re‑founding—twelve new patriarchs, not erasing the twelve sons of Jacob but fulfilling what they were meant to be. The early church understood itself not as a new religion but as the restored people of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself as the cornerstone.

In that sense, God was not abandoning Israel. He was rescuing it from failed shepherds. He was reclaiming His vineyard. He was ensuring that His purposes for His people—and through them, for all nations—would not be thwarted by corrupt leadership. Judgment was real, but so was mercy. The pruning was severe, but the vine remained alive.

And the story widens even further: the vineyard now includes all who confess Jesus as Lord, Jew and Gentile alike, grafted into one flourishing people under one rightful King.

LORD, save Your nation, and all nations, for Your Son.

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agnosticism exposed

Posted on June 8, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-8

devotional post # 2041

Luke 20:1-8 JDV

Luk 20:1 Then one day it happened: while Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and explaining the gospel, the high-ranking priests and the experts in the law with the elders stood up

Luk 20:2 and this is what they said to him: “Tell us: what gives you the right to do these things? Or who is it who gave you this right?”

Luk 20:3 He replied to them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me:

Luk 20:4 John’s baptism — was it from the sky or from people?”

Luk 20:5 So they debated this with one another, deliberating, “If we say, ‘From the sky,’ he will say, ‘And you did not believe him?’

Luk 20:6 But if we say, ‘From people,’ the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

Luk 20:7 So they replied that they did not know where it came from.

Luk 20:8 So Jesus said to them, “I am not going to tell you who gave me the right to do these things either.”

agnosticism exposed

The religious leaders’ fear of John the Baptist reveals far more than they intended to show. They recognized that something real was happening in his ministry—something they could not easily dismiss. The crowds flocked to him. Lives were being changed. His message carried the weight of heaven. To deny the movement outright would have exposed them as opponents of God’s work. But to join it would have required repentance, humility, and a willingness to relinquish control. So they chose the middle ground of silence. It looked cautious, even prudent, but it was actually fear disguised as neutrality.

When Jesus arrived, however, their silence evaporated. Their hatred of Him pushed them off the fence. And in confronting them, Jesus exposed the truth: their so‑called “uncertainty” about John—and about the kingdom—was not intellectual hesitation but spiritual resistance. Their agnosticism was not the product of careful thought; it was the product of fear, pride, and a refusal to surrender.

That same posture is common today. Many people claim to be “agnostic” about Jesus—not because the evidence is unclear, but because commitment feels costly. Declaring allegiance to Christ means acknowledging His authority. It means admitting that He is Lord, not merely an interesting historical figure or a moral teacher. For some, it feels safer to remain undecided, to keep options open, to avoid the implications of belief. Fence‑sitting becomes a strategy for self‑protection.

But neutrality toward Jesus is not actually neutral. To refuse to acknowledge Him is, in practice, to reject Him. The truth of His lordship is too bright, too compelling, too well‑attested to be ignored without consequence. The danger is not in choosing wrongly—it is in refusing to choose at all. The kingdom of God does not allow permanent indecision. Eventually, every heart must answer the question Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”

Courage is required—not only to believe, but to confess. To step off the fence. To declare that Jesus is Lord, even when doing so may cost us approval, comfort, or safety. But that courage is precisely what the Spirit gives, and precisely what the world needs to see.

LORD, give us the courage to believe and confess allegiance to Christ.

 

 

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ministry in the line of fire

Posted on June 7, 2017 by Jefferson Vann
marmsky-devotions-pics-june-2017-7

devotional post # 2040

Luke 19:45=48

Luk 19:45 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling things there,

Luk 19:46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of robbers!”

Luk 19:47 He was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate him,

Luk 19:48 but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

ministry in the line of fire

I have always admired military chaplains because their calling captures something profoundly Christlike. They step into dangerous places not to take life but to preserve it, not to command troops but to care for souls. They wear the insignia that makes them a target, yet they carry no weapon. Their presence says, “I am here for the wounded, the frightened, the dying. I am here to serve.” That kind of courage is not loud, but it is unmistakably real.

Jesus’ final days in Jerusalem carried that same shape. He walked straight into the line of fire. The religious leaders had already decided He was a threat. They watched Him, plotted against Him, and waited for the moment to strike. Yet He did not retreat. He did not soften His message. He did not avoid the temple courts where corruption had taken root. Instead, He kept teaching, kept healing, kept calling people back to the heart of God. He defended the sanctity of His Father’s house even though doing so intensified the hostility against Him.

Spiritual leadership has always carried this risk. When you stand for truth, someone will resent it. When you protect the vulnerable, someone who profits from their vulnerability will oppose you. When you call people back to God, someone invested in the status quo will feel threatened. Faithfulness paints a target on your back—not because you seek conflict, but because darkness resists light.

Yet this is precisely the path Jesus walked. He did not minister from a safe distance. He entered the danger so others could find life. He absorbed hostility so others could find peace. He stood firm so others could stand at all.

To follow Him is to accept that spiritual leadership may draw fire. But it also means trusting that God’s presence is stronger than any opposition, and that the ministry done “in the line of fire” is often the ministry that matters most.

LORD, give us the courage to follow Your example and minister even when we become targets.

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