Author: Japanese Congregational Church

Mark 14:1-11

¹It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; ²for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.” ³While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. ⁴But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? ⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. ⁷For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. ⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. ⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” ¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. ¹¹When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

After instructing His followers about the future, Jesus’ arrest and execution are just days away.

Mark writes about three sets of people who are preparing for the death of Jesus – Chief priests and the scribes; the unnamed woman with an alabaster jar of nard; and Judas Iscariot.

The chief priests and the scribes are planning to kill Jesus. They have seen the great power and teaching abilities of Jesus, but since they cannot accept Him as the Messiah, they feel He is dangerous. To their eyes, Jesus is a blasphemer who has great powers. They feel that the multitudes are being misled, and they feel it is their duty to put an end to Him and His movement.

Judas is also planning the betrayal which will lead to the arrest of Jesus. After spending three and a half years with Jesus and being appointed as one of the Twelve, we can only conjecture what led Judas to this action. In Mark’s account, Judas goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus without first being offered money. The money is offered only after Judas agrees to betray Jesus. There has been much discussion about what moved Judas to this point – Dissatisfaction with what Jesus was doing; No longer believing Jesus was the Messiah; Trying to force Jesus into acting like the Messiah of his imagination; etc. – But we do not know, since the Gospel writers do not tell us. They probably did not know either. The only thing we know for sure is that he is the one who betrayed Jesus and accepted money for it.

Sandwiched between these planners of Jesus’ demise is the woman with an alabaster jar of nard who pours the oil onto Jesus’ head. The value of the nard was about a year’s worth of pay for the typical worker of the time – Very expensive oil. Some complained that this was a waste of a valuable item that could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. But Jesus defends the woman, telling them that she is doing a service for Him – That she is anointing Jesus for His burial. Jesus tells them, “She has done what she could.”

What can we take away from this passage? Where do we see ourselves?

We probably do not see ourselves as the chief priests and the scribes, since we would not plan for Jesus’ death. But if we had the same knowledge as them, and lacking the completed New Testament, I am not sure what we can say with certainty that we would not have sided with them. If we believed that the Messiah would establish His eternal kingdom, but Jesus was saying that He was going to be arrested and be killed, it is possible that we too could have concluded that Jesus was not the Messiah. But gracefully, God has placed us in a post-resurrection time and place where we can freely read and learn from the Bible, so it is much easier to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

Judas was planning to betray Jesus, and he did. Later in this chapter, Peter swears that he would never deny Jesus, but we know that he does, not just once, but three times. The rest of the Twelve also said that they would not deny Jesus, but they all run away.

If the Lord were to ask us whether we would betray Him, most of us would say, “No,” but then end up betraying Him. Every time we deny that Jesus is our Lord, we betray Him. Every time we do not witness for the Lord, we betray Him. Every time we do not show love to the needy, we betray Him. Every time we get even with the people who hurt us, we betray Him. Every time we put anything or anyone, including ourselves, above Kingdom work we betray Him.

In contrast, the woman did all that she could for the one who was about to give His all for us. Her action is the only one of the three that Jesus commends. Commendable actions that we can do would be to give our all for the cause of the Kingdom – To spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him.

We will fail Christ, whether we mean to or not. When we do, we repent, confess our sins, ask for forgiveness, and move on to do Kingdom work.

After this, Jesus will have the Passover meal with His disciples and will institute the Lord’s Supper. He will tell His disciples that they will all desert Him when He is arrested. The disciples all tell Jesus that they would rather die with Him than to deny Him.

Peter is especially adamant that he would not desert Jesus. Jesus tells Peter that he would deny Jesus three times before the night is done.

If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will probably not consciously deny Him. We may even be confident that we would not. But just like Peter, we will deny Him multiple times, in many ways – Through our words, through our actions, through our inactions, through our thoughts, through our attitudes, etc.

However, we need to keep in mind that Jesus is willing to forgive our multitude of sins. After all, that is why He came to die on the cross – So that our sins will be forgiven, if we acknowledge them, confess them, and ask for forgiveness.

God loves us and would rather forgive our sins than to see us condemned. And yet, God’s justice is absolute and the wages of sin must be paid. That is the reason that Jesus was sent to earth, so that He could pay the penalty for our sins. And by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, not only our sins will be forgiven but we will be given eternal life with the Lord and His people.

So, let us be like the woman and do all that we can do for the Lord who gave His all for us

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship of November 8, 2026.)

Matthew 5:1-12

1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Here is a summary of our message today in outline form:

A bit of history

• History of All Saints Day, All Souls Day
• Originally had a meaning of remembering martyrs, heroes of the faith
• Later in the 10^th Century, All Souls Day became a day to remember all others, more common, unknown, yet faithful believers
• Where it is practiced in our Protestant churches, it has come to mean a combination of all of these things.  We use the word “saint” as the apostle Paul used the word – to describe all who have been sanctified by the cross of Christ, and who are following Jesus Christ as their Lord.
• In our Japanese churches we usually celebrate All Saints Day in conjunction with either the Spring or Fall Equinoxes – “Ohigan”. We remember those who have gone before; visiting, laying flowers, washing the graves of our loved ones, etc.

Looking Back

• remembering all believers (saints) who have gone before us,
• famous martyrs and believers, as well as unknown followers of Christ.
• We especially remember those in our own lives who led us to Christ, showed us an example of Christian living, who have now passed on.
• We often take special notice of those in our immediate church family who have died in the past year. Names are read, a candle is lit for each. All of this remembering is done in gratitude to God, for their lives and examples of faith.
• Who in your life would be one of these saints that has poured into your life and is no longer with us?

Considering our present connection

• It is also a celebration of how these saints continue on in eternity, making up a large cloud of witnesses, cheering us on! (Hebrews 12:1)
• Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
• We are NOT running alone! We are not solo travelers. The saints from all ages are part of our journey and completion.

Looking Forward

• Finally, looking ahead, to those who will follow us. We are reminded that we are a part of this vast chain of saints, from past to future, as we continue faithfully on our pilgrim journey of faith.

So what does our text for today have to do with All Saints Day?

• The Beatitudes describe those who are “saints” in the kingdom of God.
• Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are they that mourn, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers
• We find described here characteristics of those who are especially blessed of God.
• We see those characteristics also in our loved ones who have passed on. We are reminded that the saints in the kingdom are often VERY different from how our world describes successful people.
• Do the blessed people in these beatitudes describe the successful people in our own world? In our own context? No, in fact in many ways, these verses describe a kingdom – God’s Kingdom – that is literally opposite, an upside down kind of kingdom, that we are all working toward with God’s help.
• Were our ancestors all perfect? No. Did they always possess these characteristics? No.  But Jesus remains our example in all cases.

A helpful quote:

The Beatitudes stand as a daring act of protest against the current order. Jesus cannot very well insist that we be poor in spirit, but he can show us how to look upon such people with new eyes, and so gain entrance to a new world. On All Saints Day, the Beatitudes testify that it matters deeply whom we call “saint.”

Lance Pape / Brite Divinity School / Fort Worth, Texas

Be thinking of someone that you especially remember today, someone who helped and encouraged you in your faith walk, someone who showed you and taught you about God’s love.

As you come forward today for communion, you may want to stop at the front table and light a candle for one of the saints you are remembering and grateful for today. If you wish, you may speak their name, or say something about them into the microphone.

Thank you God for all of the saints who have changed our lives!

(The above is an outline summary of the message shared during our worship on November 1, 2026 – All Saints Day.)

Mark 13:32-37

³²“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. ³⁵Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, ³⁶or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”

As they were leaving the temple, one of His disciples comments about how impressive the temple is, and Jesus tells them that the temple is going to be destroyed. Peter, James, John and Andrew think that Jesus is talking about when the end time is coming and ask Jesus about when this will occur.

Jesus tells them that there will be people claiming to be the Messiah who will lead many astray. There will also be wars, earthquakes and famines, but this will not be the end.

Jesus also tells them about the desolating sacrilege that will be setup, and when that happens, people in Judea must flee to the mountains, immediately, without going back to get what they feel are necessities. There will be sufferings that are greater than what anyone has experienced in history up to that point. And there will be more false messiahs who will wield great power and will try to mislead the people, even the believers.

When the Son of Man does come, it will be obvious signs that no one will miss – The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will be falling from heaven. And when these things take place, we will know that the end is near and that that generation will not pass away until the end comes.

Now we come to this morning’s passage where Jesus tells us a few things:

1. No one knows the day or hour when the end will come, except for the Father
2. Because we do not know when, we are to be on guard
3. It can come suddenly and so we are to keep awake

What does it look like for us to “keep awake”? In this case it is helpful to look at the sections in Matthew that cover the end times – Matthew 24:45 through Matthew 25. Jesus uses four parables to teach us.

The first addresses people in positions of power in the body of Christ. Just because Jesus’ return is being delayed, those in leadership must act as good stewards who are overseeing the church on behalf of Christ, and not for their own gains. They are not to abuse their power over people.

Jesus then speaks of ten bridesmaids, five of them foolish and five of them wise. The wise ones were being resourceful, having more oil for the lamp than necessary, anticipating the Lord to be delayed. Likewise, we are to be wise and resourceful with what the Lord has provided for us.

Then He tells the parable of the talents, which emphasized the great wealth with which we have been entrusted, and use it wisely for the Kingdom. We have all been given different types and amounts of talents, and we are to use what we have been given to increase the Kingdom.

Lastly Jesus talks about the judgment and divides the crowd in sheep and goats. He teaches that whatever we do to the least in the world, we do to the Lord. We are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, take care of the sick and visit those who are in prison.

People have a fascination with prophesies and have tried to determine the timeline and events for Jesus coming back. History is full of failed guesses.

Back in the 1970s, when I became a Christian, one of the best-selling Christian books was Hal Lindsey’s “The Late Great Planet Earth”. Among his many speculations was his interpretation of Mark 13:28-31, the lesson of the fig tree.

²⁸“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁰Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Lindsey interpreted the birth of the modern nation of Israel in 1948 as the fig tree sprouting leaves. And since generation is typically 40 years, this would mean that Jesus will be coming back by 1988.

It is fun to speculate and study various passages from the Old and the New Testaments. Many spend countless hours doing so. Some even have made it their ministry and become speakers and influencers. But from what Jesus clearly tells us, this is a waste of time and there are better ways to spend the time that He has given us on earth.

Jesus clearly says, “About the day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”

Instead of worrying about when, we are to spend our lives being alert and ready for His return. We are to continue to preach the gospel so that as many people as possible will have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before it is too late. “Keep awake” is Jesus’ command to us.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship on October 25, 2026.)

Mark 12:28-34

²⁸One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” ²⁹Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³²Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; ³³and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

After the cleansing of the temple and the fig tree incident, the religious leaders ask Jesus under what authority He is doing what He is doing. In response Jesus tells a parable about a man planting a vineyard.

Some Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus by asking about paying taxes but were unsuccessful.

Sadducees emphasized the Torah and they did not accept any teaching that is not contained within the Torah. They did not believe in the resurrection, since they did not find any reference to it within the Torah.

Some Sadducees try to trip up Jesus, but Jesus turns it around to teach the Sadducees that resurrection is taught within the first five books of the Old Testament.

Jesus’ teaching about the great command is recorded in Matthew, Luke and Mark. In Matthew and Luke, the question is asked to test Jesus, but in Mark this does not seem to be the case. Mark states that one of the scribes who has been listening to the exchanges between Jesus and others thought Jesus answered well and is moved to ask Jesus the question.

Mark is the only one who records that Jesus starts off by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4 – ⁴Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. Scholars think that in Mark’s time, there were Jews who thought that the Christians were preaching polytheism – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. It was important to stress that Jesus stated that there is only one God.

It is also interesting to note that to Deuteronomy 6:5 – ⁵You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might – Jesus inserts, “with all your mind”. This would imply that it is important for us to worship and love God intellectually, along with our emotions, our spirit, and with our body – That is, by our actions.

In recent times, many point out from this passage that there are three objects of love – God, our neighbors, and ourselves. Psychologists would say that we must learn to love ourselves before we can love others. I have also encountered Christians who interpret this to mean we should prioritize our needs and wants and use that as an excuse to get out of serving the church or others, or worshipping God.

This is probably not Jesus’ teaching nor how He acted. Most of us know how to put ourselves first, and that self-love gets more in the way of loving God and others than aids us to be more loving. There is no direct command in the Bible to “love yourself”, or “love yourself first so you can learn how to love others”.

This is in line with Jesus’ teachings in the latter part of this chapter – He denounces the greed and the self-love of the scribes, while commending the poor widow who donated all the coins that she possessed.

How should we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, all our mind and all our strength?

It implies that we love God with our whole self. We ought to love Him from our heart for what He has done for us. He loved us enough to send His Son to earth and onto the cross so that Christ would take the punishment for our sins.

Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. This should stir up our spirit to love God from our soul.

Instead of just warm feelings, we should acknowledge God and His omnipotence and omniscience with our minds. Intellectually, we ought to acknowledge the lordship of Christ.

And if we acknowledge the lordship of Christ, then it should move us into action, to use our body and strength in the Lord’s service.

Later in this chapter, Jesus teaches us how the poor widow gave all she had to God. She is an example of someone who loved God with her heart, soul, mind and strength.

As to how to love others, Jesus has left us many teachings on this topic.

In Luke 10, Jesus gave us the parable of the good Samaritan on how to be a good neighbor – Risking life, time and money on a stranger in need.

In Matthew 5, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

In John 13, Jesus washes the dirty feet of His disciples to leave us an example of how to love and serve one another. Our love for each other is supposed to be so apparent that the world would know that we are Jesus’ disciples.

In John 15, Jesus said, ¹²“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.   ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Jesus was not just a great teacher; He practiced what He preached. Soon after telling us that the greatest act of love is to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, Jesus went to the cross for us.

Jesus taught love and His life was love. How can we not love Him in return and dedicate our lives to Him?

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship of October 11, 2026.)

Matthew 9:35-38

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Today’s passage is short and concise. I wish to focus on one theme in each verse as follows:

v. 35:  The content of our ministry                     

v. 36:  The motivation for our ministry

v. 37:  The present reality

v. 38:  Our “main” task?

Verse 35  The Content of Our Ministry             

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Without taking a lot of time,  I just want to affirm that here Jesus clearly cares about peoples’ spiritual as well as physical needs. He preaches the good news of the kingdom through words. And he heals the sicknesses of people through miraculous power.  His love for them included both a caring for their souls as well as for their bodies.

Verse 36   The Motivation for our Ministry        

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus looks at the crowds and a great love for them overwhelms him. He feels sorry for them. He sees their tiredness and lostness.

Why do we do ministry and evangelism? Why do we work so hard at preaching this gospel and serving others?  I know that we can all give the proper answer:  in order that others may hear about Jesus and be saved; that they too may become worshippers of the true God.

Yet, I have sometimes had cause to ask myself why?  What are my true motives?

We are human and so our motives will always be mixed. I often felt that my motives as a missionary were mixed. Did I really LOVE people….or was I working hard in order to be able to send a good report to our supporters and supporting churches back home? Was I truly acting from love…orwas I wanting to be seen as a good pastor or productive missionary? As a church, are we excited to reach out because of love…or is our real motive for evangelism  the need to grow our membership so that we will be able to support our budget? None of these are bad things in themselves,  but may fall short of our truly needed motivation for preaching the gospel.

It must be our great LOVE for the people around us. COMPASSION!   Of course, we cannot produce or cook up this love on our own. It must be poured into us by the Holy Spirit. As we love God, and love neighbor, we begin to be transformed by God’s love in such a way that we, too, can begin to more powerfully reflect that love to those around us.

The crowds in Jesus day were not all tired and lost physically. Jesus saw through them to their spiritual state and saw how exhausted, tired and lost they were. Do we see our neighbors in the same way?

Jesus felt a great LOVE for the people. He did not try to start a church, a school, an institution, a denomination. His love for people drove him to teach and heal.

Verse 37: The Present Reality    

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

This was the situation in Jesus day. Do you feel it also applies to us here in Seattle today?  Do you feel that the harvest is great?  I think all of us have felt the lack of laborers in our own church situation.

Are Jesus’ words about a great harvest accurate? I believe they are. We must be careful to understand what Jesus is saying. He did not count church members and say “the harvest is great”. He did not see the size of the church and say “the harvest is great”, he did not count the number of churches and say “the harvest is great”.  He saw the people tired, exhausted, spiritually hungry, lost like sheep wandering around without a shepherd.  If this is the “sign” of a great harvest, then we surely have one here too, at least…a potential harvest!

Verse 38:  Our Greatest Task           

38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We close with the final need and that is the need of more laborers, as well as the need to pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He may send us more laborers.

There is a Pastor Fukuda in Japan who uses this “prayer” as a greeting when he speaks with his colleagues. Often he’ll begin his phone conversation with another pastor with “Hi, have you prayed Matt. 9:38 / Luke 10:2 today? Please remember to pray those verses with me today.”

The Greek word for “ask” in verse 38 is the same word used of the widow in the story of the unjust judge. Pleading, earnestly  begging, unrelentingly asking…  Have we prayed in this way for laborers? 

Is it possible that sometimes God sends laborers but we do not notice or we reject them? Is it possible that we think all of the training for the laborers must be completed before they actually work in the field? Do all pastors need to be seminary trained? It’s a valid question. Is it possible that we are all meant to be laborers?

My parents both grew up in rural Minnesota. During harvest season in the Fall, all children were on “vacation” from school because they were all needed in the fields. All hands were necessary. Age was not an excuse. School was not an excuse! At harvest ALL had to be there. Little children were taught. Old people helped in whatever way they could. It was understood that the work simply couldn’t be completed in time if everyone wasn’t involved.

This is similar to rice-planting when I was growing up in Japan. The planting of rice seedlings into a muddy, flooded, prepared paddy or field is called “ta-u-e” or literally, “the planting of the field.” All family members are needed. 3-4 year olds may be too young to be of much help, but they are not too young to learn. Old people are not as strong. But they are still needed for encouragement in their own way. Everyone is necessary. All must step into the “tanbo” or rice paddy and plant the seedlings. Do we think of our ministry in this way too?

Of course the final point here is that there IS a Lord of the Harvest. It is not our field nor is it our harvest. The Lord of the Harvest will send laborers and will cause the work to be done. We don’t have to produce the harvest. Praise God! We do have to stay “out of the way” at times. We can’t produce a harvest but at times we can be a hindrance to the harvest if we have not correctly heard the Harvest Lord’s voice.

So relax. Take a deep breath. The Lord of the harvest will call you to just that right task, and give you all of the resources you’ll need to accomplish it. After all, it is God’s work and God’s harvest…and he promises to work with us! When we’re tired and exhausted, it’s often because we’re trying to do the work on our own. Jesus himself said “If you’re tired and feel burdened, come to me. Get into the yoke with me. That way, we can pull and work together. You’ll find that working with me is a light burden and a whole lot easier!”

(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship on October 4, 2026.)

Mark 11:12-14

¹²On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Jesus is welcomed by the crowd into Jerusalem. He goes to the temple, looks around and leaves for Bethany.

The next day, he sees a fig tree and although it is not the season for figs, Jesus decides to curse it for not having any fruit and later they find that it has withered.

What is this all about? On the surface, it seems like an illogical demand on Jesus’ part, since it is not fig season, nor did He command it to bear fruit.

 It is noteworthy that Mark is the only gospel writer who sandwiches the cleansing of the temple with the story of the fig tree. After saying to the fig tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”, Jesus cleanses the Temple driving out those who were selling and those who were buying. Next morning, as they passed by the fig tree, it had withered away.

It is interesting that Luke reports only that Jesus drove out the sellers. He does not mention the buyers. So, it is natural to interpret this as somehow those who were selling were taking advantage of the pilgrims by charging more than what is fair and making it a money-making venture. This tends to be the version we remember.

But if we read what Mark reports, Jesus drives out both those who are selling and those who are buying. Jesus is not angered by the method of the transaction, but the place of the transaction. Jesus believes that there should be no business conducted in the temple.

Both the temple and the fig tree represent Israel. On the surface, they seem to be healthy, but they are not producing the type of fruit that the Lord is seeking.

The Jewish religious leaders are opposing God’s plans. Even though they say that they eagerly wait for the Messiah to come, when the Messiah is standing in front of them, instead of welcoming and worship Him, they reject and want to kill Him.

The disciples are surprised to see the fig tree withered, just by Jesus cursing it with His words. This shows that they still do not quite understand the power that Jesus possesses. His power surpasses human power.

On the surface, vv. 22-24 seem to imply that if you totally believe that what you are praying will come true, it will. From experience, we know this is not to be true most of the time. The Seahawks are playing the Commanders right now, and I’m sure there are sincere Christians on both sides. What happens if one prays for a Seahawks’ victory and another prays for a Commanders’ victory, and both do not doubt what happens?

We must accept that Jesus is using hyperbole here. The basic assumption we must make when we pray is to believe that God hears our prayers and that He has the power to grant them. If you do not believe that God has the power to grant prayers, then there is no reason to pray to Him.

Believe that what we are praying for has been directed by the Holy Spirit and that God indeed will hear our prayers and have the power to grant them. As Jesus taught in other places, we should be praying to God the Father in Jesus’ name, directed by the Holy Spirit. Whether God answers in the exact way we desire is up to God. We cannot order Him around. Often, God uses prayer to realign our will to His, by saying “no”.

Verse 25 also teaches that whenever we pray, we must forgive those who we have something against. It is easy to ignore this part of the instructions, since there are those we have a hard time forgiving. Occasionally, out of nowhere, we are reminded of some injustice that was done to us. We may give lip-service that we have forgiven them when we really have not.

What can we take away from this passage? It is not that God is forced to answer our prayers if we do not doubt. Instead, we must believe that God hears our prayers and is able to answer them. But before we ask, we must first forgive others.

Does the Lord seem unreasonable in what He is directing us to do? Then we need to change our mindset from, “That cannot be done” to “If the Lord is calling us to do this, then we believe that He has the power to accomplish it through us.”

Recall the incident where Jesus comes walking on water in a storm. When Peter sees this, he believes that Jesus has tremendous power – enough power to have Peter also walk on water. Jesus invites Peter to walk out to Him and Peter starts to walk out on the stormy water. But once out there, he gets scared by the enormity of him walking on the stormy sea, which should be impossible. So, Peter starts to doubt and starts to sink, and Jesus has to help him get inside the boat. What we plant in faith, do not dig up in unbelief.

There are many around us who have not been saved. Let us continue our prayer ministry, forgiving others, believing that God does listen to us and has the power to answer our prayers. Let us hang onto our faith in God.

(The above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship on September 27, 2026.)

Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “The servant fell on his knees before him. `Be patient with me,’ he begged, `and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.  He grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. `You wicked servant,’ he said, `I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

The title of our message for today is “Forgiveness.” And I should say from the outset that the topic of forgiveness is too difficult, too profound, and too important in our lives to be covered with a short sermon. But our parable for today should at least give us a first step toward thinking about forgiveness.

In this story that Jesus told we have the following:

• A king who wishes to settle his accounts
• A servant who is called before the king with a huge debt that he cannot repay.
• When the servant begs for patience and mercy, the king has pity on him and grants it, forgiving his entire debt.
• This servant then goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him a relatively small sum of money.
• He demands payment, but when the servant begs for patience and mercy, he refuses and has him thrown into prison.
• Word of this gets back to the king, who calls the first servant in again.
• The king is angry saying “I forgave your huge debt….shouldn’t you have shown mercy and forgiven your fellow servant who asked for it?” …in the end, this servant is thrown into prison.
• Jesus ends the story with a warning to his listeners that God would treat them in the same way if they didn’t truly forgive others.

While this parable has had many different interpretations throughout history….I think that it is safe to conclude the following:

• The king represents God, our heavenly Father
• That in the story “debts” can be seen as sin or sins
• The first servant is unexpectedly, and mercifully, granted complete forgiveness for his huge debt, just as we have all been graciously and mercifully forgiven our debt of sin by God.
• However, rather than mirroring the king’s mercy, this servant then goes out and demands payment from a fellow servant for a small debt.
• Thus, the parable pictures the magnanimous grace of God in forgiving our great debt of sin, and the need for those of us who have experienced this forgiveness to mirror that mercy and forgiveness in our own relationships and lives. Failure to do so will not only bring consequences, but will prove that we have not really experienced that forgiveness for ourselves.

Put simply, we must forgive others…just as we have been forgiven.

We are reminded of Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”　

So I don’t think it would be a misrepresentation of this parable for me to preach to you this morning: “Let’s all go out this week and be better at forgiving each other.” There’s nothing wrong with saying that….or becoming more forgiving. But it’s not the message I want to leave you with today.

And that’s because forgiveness can be hard. And forgiveness can be complicated. And we often misunderstand what it even means to forgive someone.

• Forgiveness is NOT denial – pretending that an offense did not really happen, or that it didn’t really cause damage or brokenness, or that we just need to let “bygones be bygones”  In that sense, forgiveness is just the starting line to a much longer process.
• Forgiveness is NOT the same as healing…or reconciliation. Healing can take years! And reconciliation with an offender can often be impossible.
• Each of us can think of times that we were hurt by others, or imagine the many situations we read about or see on the news: violence, murder, rape, sexual abuse…war – and so forth. Are the victims of these crimes really expected to forgive their offenders? When we think of the 78 years that Israel has fought with its neighbors in the Middle East, do we honestly think that Palestinians and Jews will wish….or even be able to consider forgiveness as a solution? Will the Hatfields and McCoys really want to end their feud….and consider sitting down together for a reconciliation?!
• How do we balance the difficulty and the seeming impossibility of forgiveness with the very real demand that is made in this parable? And what about the Lord’s prayer. “Forgive us our debts…..as we have forgiven our debtors.” This is serious stuff!

So now, let me get to the message that I would like to leave you with. And this will NOT solve all of our questions or issues:

In my study for today I came across several statements that make sense to me. Here’s one:

“Forgiveness is not primarily God’s expectation of us, but rather, first of all, it is God’s gift to us.” 

In other words, maybe the parable is not primarily saying “You need to learn how to forgive like the king forgave”….. but instead, “You must first truly experience God’s forgiveness before you will be able to live in that posture…..and to mirror that mercy and forgiveness to others.” Here is another similar phrase:

“Forgiveness is not effectively received unless it is shown, for God’s forgiveness transforms.”

The ability to forgive is not something we cook up and create for ourselves….but is the natural result of truly experiencing forgiveness ourselves. When we have experienced it deeply, we will begin to mirror it. And a final phrase:

“Forgiveness not shown….is forgiveness not known.”

So in this parable, rather than immediately try to identify with the king’s unlimited grace and forgiveness, hoping that we can learn to mirror that…..perhaps we should simply try to identify with that first servant. His problem was NOT that he went out and demanded payment from another servant. He probably had the legal “right” to do that. His sin was that he had been so profoundly and mercifully forgiven….his life was suddenly and dramatically changed…and yet he hadn’t noticed. And because of that, it had not transformed him or changed him in the least.

So this week, before we attempt to improve our “forgiveness game”, why not take time to truly contemplate, to bask in, to pray for insight into the unlimited love, mercy, and forgiveness that has been given to us by our heavenly Father? Could we start there?

Then, with God’s grace, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we may, little by little, be transformed into people who can imagine forgiveness and even mirror it.

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on Setember 13, 2026.)

Mark 10:17-31

¹⁷As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” ²¹Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” ²²When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

²³Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?”²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

²⁸Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”²⁹Jesus said,“Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

After Peter, James, and John witnessed Jesus being transfigured into His glorious state, they all come down from the mountain. Jesus heals a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit and then foretells again about His coming death and resurrection.

The disciples do not understand what Jesus is telling them, and instead, they argue about who is the greatest of the group. Jesus tells them that if they want to be great, they must become a servant to others.

 They then go back to Judea where some Pharisees come to test Jesus by asking whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus tells them that the law of Moses does allow divorces, but that the intent of God was for a man and wife to stay together.

Jesus then tells the disciples to stop preventing the children to come to Him, and that people need to receive the kingdom of God as a child if they are to enter it. From what follows, it becomes clear that Mark’s message is that one can only enter the kingdom if they are willing to let go of worldly things. We will see that for children who do not have many worldly things, entering the kingdom is less burdensome than for ones who have many worldly things.

In this morning’s passage, a rich man comes to Jesus and asks how he can inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him that he should follow the commandments. The man is confident that he has been following the commandments. Jesus tells him that he lacks one thing – Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and follow Him.

The man could not do this and went away sad.

This was also shocking to the others who heard this, since most people believed that wealth was a gift from God and that it was an indication that God was rewarding a wealthy person because he or she was good.

How do we interpret this passage and apply it to our lives? Historically, there have been three major ways to interpret this.

In the earliest days of the church, the literal interpretation was probably prevalent. Christians believed that Jesus would return soon to close out this age. In Acts 4:32-37, we see that the believers gave up private ownership of their possessions and considered them as being held in common by the church. This literally fulfilled what Jesus had told them – “There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields.”

Then as time passed and it was apparent that it might be a while before the Lord returns, the church started to interpret this still literally but applying not to the entire Christian community, but to a small minority within that community.

Today, especially within the Protestant churches, we tend to apply it to all disciples but no longer take it literally. Jesus’ command to sell all applied to that particular man, because love and dependence on wealth was what was getting in the way to becoming a disciple. For all disciples, however, its spiritual meaning is that we must root out of our lives whatever may hinder our following Jesus and doing what He commands of us.

Even though Jesus may not be commanding each of us to sell all that we have and give the money to the poor, there might come a time that we are asked to give up things that are precious to us, whether as individuals or as a church. If that time comes, trust in the Lord’s provisions and promises and boldly step out in faith and follow Him. Do not go away sad like the rich man

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on September 6, 2026.)

John 1:43-51

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

In our text for today, we see an interesting pattern of how faith in Jesus is shared and transferred from one person to the next. It always happens person-to-person.

In the verses preceding our text, we read about Andrew, who after spending time with Jesus, believes him to be a prophet – the Messiah. He immediately goes to his brother Peter and says “We have found the Messiah.” Andrew then brings Peter to Jesus, and Peter becomes one of Jesus’ followers.

In today’s text, Philip, when called by Jesus, follows him. He then goes to his friend Nathanael and says, “We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” When Nathanael expresses doubt – “Can any good thing come from Nazareth?”, Philip responds with an invitation, “Come and see for yourself.”

This, in fact, is the most powerful manner in which the Christian faith has been passed down for 2,000 years. Person-to-person. One person says to their friend, “I have met Jesus, and this is what he has done for me. I would love to introduce him to you.” Sometimes, like Nathanael, our friends express doubt. When that happens, we say, “Just come…and see for yourself.”

Many examples abound in the New Testament:

• An Ethiopian returning to his home country from Jerusalem is puzzled by a scripture passage in Isaiah. Philip explains to him the meaning of the passage and introduces him to Jesus. He believes and is baptized. (Acts 8)
• Peter, when led by the Holy Spirit, visits the Roman centurion Cornelius and tells him about Jesus. Cornelius and all his family believe and are baptized. (Acts 10)
• If you are a believer today, it is because someone took the time to tell you about Jesus, to introduce Jesus to you. Of course, we may learn about Jesus from books, through the Bible, through music and movies. Yet, invariably, it always involves an invitation…a person-to-person connection somewhere along the way.

Nathanael’s example in today’s text:

• Nathanael moves from doubt and unbelief…to a life of faith and following Jesus.
• What causes this change?  Meeting Jesus! – and realizing that Jesus already knew him!
• How does it happen?  Philip invites him. “Come and see!”

Our task as followers of Jesus is not:

• To persuade or convince people to become Christian
• To “prove” the truth of Christianity

As a missionary in Japan, I was blessed with many Japanese friends, both in and outside the church. Often conversations with those who were not Christians would turn to religion. Sometimes a comparison between religions, sometimes questions about Christian theology. And I enjoyed these conversations and discussions. But sometimes I felt as though I needed to explain….or prove….the Christian faith to my friends. That if they didn’t believe in Jesus….that somehow I was a poor missionary.

But the truth is that while those conversations can be great and helpful, scripture does not command us to prove, explain, or convince others of the truth of Christ. That is the work of God…the Holy Spirit.

Our task is:

• To invite our friends to “Come and see!”
• To tell of all that Jesus has done for us.  (“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard…” I John 1:3)

Our true joy in being followers of Jesus….is in the relationship we are offered with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is near….in all of our trials and joys.

It’s also our joy to invite others to meet Jesus. Not out of a sense of guilt, or heavy responsibility (!) but simply telling others of all that God has done for us.

This week I pray that each of us will have natural opportunities to do this.  Amen.

(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on August 30, 2026.)

Mark the date for this year’s annual Japanese Women’s Christian Luncheon! A wonderful opportunity for fellowship, outreach, and networking. Invite your “not-yet-believing” friends to a great program and a delicious lunch. This is a wonderful way to introduce them to Jesus. The guest speaker will be Mari Fukusaku, mother of 4, grandmother of 2, and serving as the Associate Pastor at the Vancouver Japanese Gospel Church.

September 25, 2026 (Friday)

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Westminster Chapel / 13646 NE 24th St. Bellevue, WA 98005

(Ticket Sales close on September 18th)