The focus of Jesus

It is amazing just how fast we can lose focus and our attention be everywhere else, except where it should be. In the New Testament of the Holy Bible there is a passage from the Book of Mark that describes just such a situation. Thee scripture passage reads, “As Jesus was leaving eh temple, one of his disciples said to Him, “look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” Mark 13:1. Imagine the situation. You have been running around with, hanging out with, sitting and listening to and going wherever Jesus goes. Just imagine? You’ve no doubt recognized that what He is saying, the miracles He has been performing, the teachings He has been sharing, add all these together have earned Him the reputation that Jesus is a lot more than just the son of Joseph and Mary. Every time Jesus teaches, speaks, tell a parable, peopler are asking, who is this guy? As you can imagine, everyone has an opinion about who Jesus is too. The Pharisees believed Jesus was an imposter. Jesus to them, was someone that acted like He had authority. Jesus talked and acted like He had authority and this alone touched every nerve in their bodies. They never liked Jesus and they were plotting and scheming ways to shut Him up and stop Him from their first encounter with Him. Eventually they determined the only way to handle Jesus was to kill Him. In Jewish society there was a Scribe in every village. The role of the Scribe was to handle matters of law. Getting a divorce as one example. But anything that had to do with the law, they handled. They were challenged by Jesus because Jesus said He came to fulfill the law. You, no doubt can image the frustration, when the job you’ve been doing, is all of a sudden challenged, because this guy named Jesus show up in town. Yet for followers of Jesus, they are excited, they are believing He is the Son of God. Followers of Jesus believe He is the Messiah, the promise of God to the Jewish people. This is the situation, can you imagine? In the scripture passage from Mark chapter 13:1, Jesus has been teaching, instructing at the temple. The conversations have been serious, these question raising conversations have been challenging, Jesus is preparing His followers and those who are seeking to understand who He is what the Kingdom to come is all about. Jesus has also been attempting to prepare His followers for the death He is going to experience, so we can have eternal life and forgiveness of our sins. Again, its easy to imagine why those “in-charge” are upset, bothered and frustrated with Jesus. However, the one thing Jesus is working towards is that His followers will understand. So imagine, you been listening to Jesus, you are a follower and the first question you have or the first comment you have, after sitting under His teaching is one about how beautiful the stones are that are a part of the temple and how beautiful the buildings are. In my lifetime I know what it is to lose focus, to get distracted from the main thing, to chase a rabbit, to get lost in my own world too. The business of Jesus is and should always be our main concern as followers. It is easy to think that Jesus business is Jesus business and its separate from our other affairs. It takes a lot of discipline to make the business of Jesus a part of all our business interest. For followers of Jesus we can get lost in handling and dealing with the affairs of life and eliminate the thoughts and teachings of Jesus, by thinking those are separate. In my friendships, I need to remind myself as I am a friend to my friends, that I need to be the type of friend to them, that Jesus is to me. In my work relationships. I need to remember how I handle business affairs, treat co-workers and fulfill my responsibilities, should be the way Jesus taught us to handle our interactions with others. If we are not careful in life, we will get to living life and admire the wrong things, when Jesus should be our total attention and we use our happenings in life to further His cause. Be careful not to admire stones and buildings when people are the focus of Jesus. Until then