Mark 6:6b-13 Traveling light

Jesus is franchising his ministry. He instructs his disciples how they should go and evangelize. They looks pretty different than those of today. The disciples were told to bring nothing with them, except sandals and a walking stick. They were not to bring a change of clothes, money or food. 

Today many evangelists in our culture come with the latest technology gadgets and a well rehearsed words. 

I think what Jesus is attempting to get across is that faith and trust are the key elements that matter. It isn’t a slick program.

He authorized the disciples to be able to cast out unclean spirits and send them on their way. It doesn’t look from the text that he gave them a lot of preparation. Simple instructions, a dose of his power and away they went.

In this way Jesus’ message started spreading.

Prayer: Help me to realize that to serve Jesus I don’t need much, only the power from him and the willingness to do it.

Mark 6: 4-6a A powerful partnership

Jesus is being ridiculed and scoffed at, as the town attempts to bring him down to their level. They are offended that he acts superior to them and they don’t want to believe that he is anything other than a carpenter’s brat. They do not believe he is anything more.

Because they are working hard to bring him down to their level, their faith in his abilities is non-existent. And it says in verse 5 that he couldn’t do much of anything in terms of miracles because of their unbelief.

That would indicate to me that Jesus is dependent on the faith of the recipient to be able to provide a miracle. There is something about connecting that holds an answer. The sick person is connecting with Jesus, and Jesus is connecting with his father, and through that powerful connection, a miracle takes place. All of the participants are working the miracle.

Because the town didn’t believe he could do anything, he was only able to do very little, verse 5 says “except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them”.

God has been gracious enough to set it up so that we become partners with him in performing acts of wonder.

Prayer: Help me to realize how vitally important I am to God, and seek to keep the connection I have with God, intact.

Mark 6:1-3 The limitation of schemas

Jesus comes back home and the town  throngs to hear him. On the road he has been a celebrity. They are amazed to hear his wisdom. Amazed! And then they dismissed him. They are offended by him. They felt threatened. 

I bring up the concept of schemas here. When we come to understand how the world works, we set it into a schema, a pattern of predictable interaction with encountered objects or people.  When we bump up against new thing we measure it according to predetermined schema. It helps us make sense of the world and when we encounter new information.

When Jesus comes into town, the crowds don’t know where to put him in their schema. I’m sure many were frightened because they didn’t understand. Jesus had broken out of their schema. Here was the little boy that the shop clerk had told to go away, and bother someone else!” Here was the little boy that the town talked about as he passed by and pursed their lips when Mary interacted with the town and whispering behind her back about hearing that Jesus is really her bastard son.

Now he comes back into town that they townspeople are amazed at the wisdom in his teaching. They also must have been frightened. If Jesus was this wise then the town had misjudged him. No one likes to admit they are wrong, so it was easier to attempt to pull Jesus back into the schema of the rambunctious  young boy that was running around the town than the articulate voice of wisdom they were seeing. So as a town response they decide to keep the schema they had of him and not update it. They chose being deeply offended. “Who are you to come here and lecture us, you little snot-nosed bastard!”

Instead of forming a new schema that would encompass Jesus the man they were seeing, they chose to stay with their old schema of Jesus the village kid. A good strategy of you didn’t want to admit any wrong-doing on you part.

Schemas are important. They are helpful as we process millions of bits of information every day. But if we are unwilling to upgrade them or renew them when the situation calls for it, when we are unwilling and fearful to say we have made a mistake, those schemas can become a straitjacket, gripping us tight. We might even miss seeing the Son of God.

Prayer: Help me to realize that in order to make room for God, my schemas must change. If they don’t change, I will stop growing and respond badly to the sound of God’s voice in my life.

Mark 5:35-43 The gift of a fool

Jesus is still talking to the woman who had been healed from her bleeding when people from Jarius’ house came to tell him not to bother Jesus any more. It was too late. They had given it their best shot, but it had come to an end. Jarius’ daughter was dead. There were no more options. Let the funeral begin. People are already at the house starting the grieving process.

Jesus overhears, or ignores those people who are saying “it’s over”. His word is to Jarius. It is the same word said over and over throughout Jesus’ life. “Don’t be afraid”.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John proceed to the house alone. The crowds are not there.  He informs the mourners at the house that the little girl is sleeping. They start to laugh and make fun of him. If he wasn’t thought of as a crazy prophet before then, he sure is now. Jesus is willing to suffer ridicule to protect a family.

To the amazement of all, the little girl was raised from the dead.

Jesus cautioned the family not to say what had happened. Jesus not only gave the gift of life and hope to a family that thought it was over. He also allowed the family to stay out of the “freak show”. When Jesus told the crowd that the little girl was only sleeping, he allowed them to laugh at him. When the little girl was up and about and the family wasn’t saying anything the crowd could doubt the original diagnosis of death. This was only a healing, and there had been a lot of them. Why waste time on a little girl that doesn’t know how to explain it anyway. The spotlight would turn towards others more energetic and articulate that could explain the feeling of healing power, and a little girl could live her life out of the limelight.

Jesus was willing to be thought the fool to give the gift of life to a family, and allow a little girl to just be a little girl.

Prayer: Let me understand the depths of your love, and what you are willing to do to heal me and save my life.

Mark 5:24-34 No formula required

Jesus is on the way to honor Jairus’ request, to heal his daughter. Everyone is pressed up against Jesus. Everyone wants to see what happens here. Perhaps they are amazed that after the negative comments coming from the leadership of the synagogue, one of their own now needs help and so is a beggar just like the rest of them.

In all the jostling to be closest to the person of the hour a woman pushes her way through the crowd. She has had a vaginal discharge that has been going on for a long time and there was no evidence that it would be ending anytime soon. Her position in the town was trashed. She was an outcast. Perhaps the reason she could get so close to Jesus was that when people saw who was pushing them, they stepped away, maybe even cursed her because she had mad them unclean, much like stepping on gum in a parking lot.

She had a belief that if she was able to get close to Jesus and touched him, she would be healed. The woman made up an idea of how she could get what she needed from Jesus and implemented it. And it worked! Her self devised scheme paid off. She was healed!

Jesus stopped and wanted to know who touched him. That in itself must have looked like he was eccentric. He had been buoyed by the crowd who were single-mindedly focused on getting him to Jairus’ house to see what would happen. 

“Who touched me?”

The woman sniveled up to Jesus. Perhaps she was pushed up in front of Jesus by the recently unclean people who had touched her. Jesus rewards her for her faith and tells her that her faith has been rewarded. In her own quirky way she discovered healing, not because she came to Jesus in a prescribed way, but because she had faith in his power.

Jesus could have just smiled when he felt his healing power leave him, but he didn’t. He made a spectacle of her act. And in doing so, he points out to all that she is to be accepted back into community with the town. I wonder what happened with all the “unclean” people who had just touched her. With her healing, were they all healed now?

She was!

Prayer: Help me to realize that coming to Jesus and finding healing does not require a formula or a specific ritual. It can be as powerful as just pushing your way in, possibly upsetting a few along the way, and grabbing hold of his robe.

Mark 5:21-23 What tips the scales of belief

Jesus gets back in the boat and heads back to the other side of the lake. When he gets there the crowd is still there.  The crowd must have puzzled over the storm and how it ended.

Out of the large crown the leader of the synagogue came up to him with a desperate plea.  There had to be risk involved for him to ask Jesus for a favor. After all Jesus had had a lot of conflict with the religious leaders in the areas

His daughter’s life is on the line. A good parent will do ANYTHING for their child. ANYTHING! As his daughter has gotten worse, he has become more desperate. As his daughter gets sicker, power, position, prestige, vestiges that kept his status in the community intact have melted away. All that is left in it’s place is a progressive hopelessness that the one that he cares about is not only in pain, but may be lost to him. All that is left to him is standing in the water waiting the arrival of the boat carrying Jesus and begging for intervention.

“Jesus, come quickly, my daughter is dying! I don’t care anymore what happens other than healing for my daughter. I don’t care anymore if I am letting others down. I don’t care about my status in the community or the synagogue. I don’t care anymore if the whole town thinks I have lost my mind! I am desperate! Please Jesus, please come quickly. Please come and save one that I care deeply about!”

Perhaps it is easier to see Jesus and what he can do, if we are delivered from our illusion of the meaning of success.

Prayer: Help me gain perspective of the meaning of things in my life. Let me not be afraid to continue to seek your face, even if it goes against the grain.

Mark 5:13b-20 Processing new information

Upon Jesus’ permission for the demons to enter the pigs, they do. The pigs appear so troubled, and following the same self destructive thinking, commit mass suicide.

In the book “Who moved my Cheese” the idea of managing change is reflected in the thinking of two mice, and two little people. The two mice were able to adapt to change quicker, because there no emotional responses other than move and explore. 

Perhaps that explains the pigs’ response as opposed to the man’s when exposed to the self destructive motivation. The man moves away from people, is tormented, and cuts himself. With his emotions, it might have kept him from killing himself quickly. The pigs, feeling the same pressure, know nothing but fright and those possessed rushed headlong. It is unclear whether the demons inhabited the whole herd, or the possessed provoked a stampede response.

The townspeople see the man sitting quietly before Jesus. Off in the distance they could see the carcasses of pigs bumping up against each other in the tidewaters. What do they think when confronted by this information? Their paradigm is being pushed past the red line. In an effort to attain equilibrium, they beg Jesus to go. They don’t know how to process it. And when people don’t know how to process it all, they resort to wanting things the way they were. It just feels safer. 

The man who was demon possessed begs to go with Jesus. Perhaps he was fearful of their return with his new deliverer gone. He apparently obeys. He tells everyone the story of his deliverance and it says the townspeople are amazed at the story.

And the story helps them to incorporate a bigger picture into their lives. As they increase their understanding, they are able to see a bigger world than they knew existed

Prayer: There is fear in my life. Much of it comes from not understanding what I am seeing. May I give myself permission to take the time to absorb information, and the freedom to enlarge my schemata to encompass a much bigger God than I knew existed.

Mark 5:1-13a Mercy even for a demon

Jesus has crossed the lake. His disciples have never been so terrified as they had been when the storm ended. As the boat keel scrapes the sand on the other side of the lake, the first person they encounter is a man identified as a demon possessed man, who is naked running through the tombs, and cutting himself. The verses don’t tell us who got out of the boat and who stayed in.

I guess they just aren’t going to get a break.I’m sure they didn’t want to get too close. But Jesus did. He approaches this man who has been tormented beyond belief. He is in pain and he is out of the control of society.

But Jesus doesn’t talk to the man at this point. He talks to his pain and agony. He identifies the spokesdemon for the man’s suffering and converses with it.

He tells the evil spirit to leave the man. What ensues is a conversation with the demons. They want to know why he is interfering. They explain that there are a lot of them inside of the man. They beg for Jesus not to send them to some “distant place.” And Jesus negotiates with them.

Jesus was in control, but he wasn’t heartless. Jesus had power beyond our understanding, and yet his power was tempered with grace and kindness. He literally strikes a deal with demons. He honors their request. In Jesus there is mercy, even for a demon.

Prayer: Help me never to wield power without the understanding that it is to be used in ways that promote mercy and kindness.

Mark 4:35-41 With great revelation comes great fear!

Jesus tells his disciples that it’s time to go. He tells them he wants to go across the lake. There are some hangers on in other boats. As human beings we tend to hover around places that benefit us. They are going to stick by a savior. Perhaps they were wondering who this person was and were compelled to follow with the understanding that they could figure it out. 

The disciples have been privy to Jesus’ stories and their meanings. Perhaps they felt pretty sure of themselves in their understanding of who this man is.

And then there is a raging storm.

As the storm raged it seems obvious that the boat has the potential of swamping and drowning them. They also seem frustrated that this man who cared about everyone else, doesn’t care about him. So they throw out the “Don’t you care” phrase. It appears that Jesus isn’t concerned, and we find out why. 

It appears that his trust in his authority and his mission is so absolute that this storm doesn’t shake him. 

When he wakes up he stills the storm. The winds stop and it gets calm. While this should have made the disciples excited, they become more terrified. Who is this person? How much power does he have?

The storm scared them. They believed that their lives were in peril. But they could interpret a storm. They had no language for what they had just witnessed. Their terror was even greater as they wondered who this person who had been asleep in the back of the boar really was! It is as if a small corner of revelation was pulled back and the disciples had no way of making sense of it. The view made them stagger.

We know a lot about the nature of human power. But I think if we were ever to gain more than a fleeting glimpse of God’s power, we would be utterly destroyed.

And yet in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son. His mission was to show us the Father. While the disciples are paralyzed with fear in the aftermath of this experience, God is saying to them “don’t be afraid”. Yes, I could destroy you with even an infinitesimal  knowledge of my power, but look at Jesus! Listen to Jesus. He was sent by me to tell you, in ways you that you could grasp, how much I love you, and how much I want a relationship with you. Don’t be afraid. Keep looking at Jesus. 

Prayer: It is so easy for me to walk through life and believe that I have a great understanding of the world and myself. I don’t. Help me to fearlessly follow Jesus, the deciphering image of the Father.

Mark 4:30-34 It’s so tiny!

Another parable Jesus talks about a mustard seed and how it grows into a large plant. Jesus probably uses mustard as one of the most common elements of a Jewish household. It seems that mustard plants grew everywhere. They also had a very tiny seed.

Jesus appears to be searching for a metaphor for the kingdom of heaven and its impact on earth. It starts out tiny, like a tiny baby. born to a young peasant girl. In a way Jesus is telling us his story, and in doing so is telling us about how God sees the story. 

Mary did what she believed God was asking her to do. Jesus did what he was asked to do. From their submission, the kingdom grew. They weren’t large or significant acts. They were obedient acts.

A quote by William Carey. “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.”. Now the quote from Jesus, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds. It seems to me that Jesus is encouraging us to see the little things, and God through the mystery of growth makes it a big. 

Jesus reserved his meanings for the disciples only. The disciples to a person didn’t think they needed to share it, so other than the parable of the sower we are left to interpret things on our own.

Prayer: Help me to not worry about size and get caught up in the greatness of anything. Help me to simply look for the kingdom in the tiny areas, the insignificant areas and let me cultivate the tiny seed.

Mark 4:26-29 It’s a mystery but follow the signs

Jesus tells another parable. He states his purpose as attempting to explain how the kingdom of God is. He talks about a sower throwing seed out there. He knows what will happen, but has no clue how it does happen. In our technology we can describe the process, but at this time it can’t be duplicated. 

Jesus also describes a process. It doesn’t happen all at once. There is a change that starts to grow.

My son just got married. I’m pretty sure that both he and his new wife believe that they will not be changed much if at all b y the decision. I think they believe that they are the same people after the “I do’s”. They are not. Little by little change is working its irreversible impact on the couple and each person. And the change is mysterious. We think that we understand it, but we don’t. It always seems to sneak up on us. 

The farmer has an impact on the harvest based on gardening principles. So the kingdom of heaven is impacted by the choices we make. However, we can’t stop it. We can however watch it grow in ourselves and in others. Jesus describes markers of growth, but in his story he doesn’t identify the markers. We can rest assured that they are there. Perhaps the markers are when we increasingly emulate the love and life of Jesus.

Prayer: I can be more aware of the signs of the kingdom of God’s arrival and growth indicators. Help me to focus on being more like Jesus.

Mark 4:21-25 Letting go and understanding more

Jesus tells his disciples that it doesn’t make any sense to take a lamp and hide it. Hiding it destroys its purpose. It is only useful if it illuminates its environment. He says this in context with his parables. So in a confusing remark he has just quoted Isaiah saying that things will remain hidden and unrevealed with the sole purpose of people not getting it. Now he says that it is silly to cover up the light of a lamp, that the goal of his stories is illumination.

More importantly he states that understanding has more to do with listening skills than with the story. It has more to do with your motivation than it does your understanding. If you are listening for the truth, that your desire is for a greater understanding of God, then the parables will be more understandable. The Pharisees aren’t motivated by the truth. They are motivated to stop him. They are not listening to increase their understanding of the kingdom of God. They are convinced that they already know. In fact they believe they are listening to a description of the duchy of the Devil. As Jesus predicts, they are blinded by the parables. They are not open to it, therefore, their understanding has been removed from them, and they fill it with hatred, fear, and violence.

It is a scary thing to be open to the paths of God. One of the scary things about being open is that you have no idea where that openness will take you. It could carry you along like a wild river. You lose control. You will have to be carried into areas that you are very unsure of.

This is brilliantly illustrated in C. S. Lewis’, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,  the Beavers are describing the great lion, Aslan, to the children.  Mr. Beaver says,

             "You’ll understand when you see him."

            “But shall we see him?” asked Susan.

            “Why, Daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here for.  I’m to lead you where you shall meet him,” said Mr. Beaver.

             “Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy.

            “Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly.  “Certainly not.  I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea.  Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts?  Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”

             “Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe?  I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

            “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

             “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

             “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?  Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.  He’s the King I tell you.”

[C.S. Lewis illustrated by Pauline Baynes.The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. (New York: Harper Trophy) 79-80]

The children are listening and the more they listen the more they wonder if they are making the right choice to meet him. When our assumptions are tested, it is terrifying. The parables and the sayings of Jesus, if we live them out, will be unsettling as well. But we will find understanding.

Prayer: God, it is terrifying to let go of control, to let you take me where you will, and yet that is the only way to know you more. “Lord, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Mark 4:10-20 Clearing up and muddying

Because the disciples are with Jesus, they feel they can ask him about the story he has just told. He affirms them at first, that they are privy to know the secrets of the kingdom but then makes more cryptic statements about the purpose of parables.

He states that the parables are designed to keep people from hearing. The statements he makes, don’t make sense and it is troublesome that he doesn’t explain what he just said to them. It is almost as if he doesn’t want people to be reconciled to God, to be forgiven. He then explains the parable to them.

But he doesn’t explain what seems to be his apparent motive of hiding the truth from those who are “outside”. He is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10, where Isaiah has just had a vision about God asking who will speak for him. He then talks about how the lack of understanding will continue until the cities are desolate. 

Why Jesus brings it up here is mysterious. It is one of those hard statements that seems to contradict the very message of what Jesus was trying to say. So in explaining the parable, Jesus illustrates metaphor. But he then gives his disciples the added weight of trying to understand what Jesus has just said to them. 

Prayer: Help me to realize that I will not be able to explain everything about You. If I could, would you still be God? Help me to remain anchored in the idea that you love me and want me to join you.

Mark 4:1-9 Soil management

Jesus has now caused such a stir that his movements are being hampered. He tells the disciples to be ready with a boat in case he gets pushed off the beach. When he goes home he can’t even find time to eat for the crowds. His family attempts to get him back home and call him crazy. 

Jesus seems to be welcoming this attention or he would have disappeared. He does go out in a quiet natural spot to pray and he decides who he will include to be his helpers. 

At this beginning time he seems intent on building up a crowd of people around him. Was it to help alleviate suffering? Was it to increase the popularity of his message?

I went to a high school play. Afterwards the main entrances were blocked with people wanting to talk to the cast members. As they did it right at the exits, we ended up with people surrounding us and standing there. It was very hard to move through the crowd. And they didn’t want us. I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be to have people seeking another out. The press and the grabbing must have been tough.

It seems that it would be really easy in this press of popularity that one could lose sight of what is important. We can be easily led astray by the attention placed on us.

Jesus went to a quiet place to pray. It seems he went to that quiet place a lot. The massing of the crowds looked pretty intentional but Jesus never once appeared to lose his focus.

Prayer: No matter what the crowds are doing, and even if people are focused on me, let me always remember my focus, that I don’t need to be led astray by popularity. Let me always lock my focus in aligning myself with where you are working.

Mark 3:31-35 A lineage based on love

After being called demon possessed and crazy Jesus takes a step further and says that family relationships are not as important as a relationship with the God he is revealing. He throws this out in a society that takes great pride in their lineage. The leaders even more than others could look back on their heritage with pride and establish their legitimacy.

Jesus once again makes upsetting statements about those who do God’s will are in a much more important family, a family that is much more real and healing than the ones we came from.

In my growing up I was many times encouraged to uphold my lineage. There were many admonitions to not let down the family. That request, which came almost as a command, was fraught with chances to control others into submission through guilt. “Live up to the family name!” It also was fraught with guilt and shame when we didn’t. So we learned to lie in service of the family name.

In the family Jesus is referring to, we are called to love and serve each other. We are not called to elevate ourselves, to look with down at others with a sense of pride that we are more special than others, based solely on what freak of chance deposited one in a specific collection of relatives. 

We are accepted into a family that is rooted in love. It isn’t perfect, but hopefully in this new family arrangement we are able to admit our imperfections, to love and receive love and walk together in our humanness.

Prayer: Help me to understand my true lineage. Help me not to get too hung up on family stuff here, but to focus on my true family and my true home.

Mark 3:7-21 The pressure increases

Jesus has now caused such a stir that his movements are being hampered. He tells the disciples to be ready with a boat in case he gets pushed off the beach. When he goes home he can’t even find time to eat for the crowds. His family attempts to get him back home and call him crazy. 

Jesus seems to be welcoming this attention or he would have disappeared. He does go out in a quiet natural spot to pray and he decides who he will include to be his helpers. 

At this beginning time he seems intent on building up a crowd of people around him. Was it to help alleviate suffering? Was it to increase the popularity of his message?

I went to a high school play. Afterwards the main entrances were blocked with people wanting to talk to the cast members. As they did it right at the exits, we ended up with people surrounding us and standing there. It was very hard to move through the crowd. And they didn’t want us. I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be to have people seeking another out. The press and the grabbing must have been tough.

It seems that it would be really easy in this press of popularity that one could lose sight of what is important. We can be easily led astray by the attention placed on us.

Jesus went to a quiet place to pray. It seems he went to that quiet place a lot. The massing of the crowds looked pretty intentional but Jesus never once appeared to lose his focus.

Prayer: No matter what the crowds are doing, and even if people are focused on me, let me always remember my focus, that I don’t need to be led astray by popularity. Let me always lock my focus in aligning myself with where you are working.

Mark 3:22-30 Unforgivable

This is a puzzling text. It seems Jesus is saying that every type of blaspheme will be forgiven EXCEPT that against the Holy Spirit. That, Jesus says will never be forgiven.

Jesus calls those who accuse him of having a devil, idiots. He rightly tells them that if he is shooting his own army, it won’t win anything.

I try to put myself in the shoes of the opposition. Here is a man who has risen up from a little town, and is a small time itinerant preacher. How are they supposed to know that he is the Son of God?

Perhaps Jesus is telling them, don’t be afraid to share your power. You want it all for yourself and for protecting your position. He comes along and claims to be from God. The least they could do is tolerate it. They don’t have to denigrate and slander the messenger. If you do and it is from God, you run the risk of isolating and protecting yourself and missing the kingdom that has arrived.

Prayer: Help me not to be so quick to dismiss what may be from God. Help me to manage my discomfort and security to accept that God may be doing a work around me that doesn’t fit my mold.

Mark 3:1-6 Don’t mess with my beliefs!

Jesus is being more deliberate in his confronting the pharisees. He has said in the last chapter that the Sabbath was made for people. It was to be a day of rest. The pharisees are now going to prove that they believe otherwise. Man was made for the Sabbath, because that is what they believed. They have devoted their lives to this belief system and this itinerant preacher from some back woods town is undermining that belief with the people who they re responsible for.

Jesus continues his “new wine in old wineskins” tour. On the Sabbath he brings a man up with a withered hand, with the intention of angering the pharisees even further.

Jesus succeeds. When he asks them a question, they do not answer him. They are not interested in dialogue. They are only interested in compliance. They are demonstrating in stark detail that they are unable to take new wine, because they have old wineskins and refuse to upgrade them. The conflict increases.

After Jesus defies them they go out and start planning to kill Jesus. Why is there such a need to destroy? They want to kill Jesus. They have tried to discredit him, but that doesn’t seem to be working. So destroying him is the next best option. Killing him will be tough because the people love him. The pharisees know these common people who’s lives “depend” on them. They know that it may be difficult for a while because Jesus is so popular, but in the end they will come back to what they know because they have to.

There is a real danger in becoming too firm in belief systems that it attempts to puts constraints around God. As soon as that happens you have “God in a box”. He doesn’t fit there, but it makes some feel better that they can wrap their mind around him. The message loud and clear with Jesus in this passage is that he refuses to be contained, and if you do attempt to put constraints around Jesus, you will be the one who is frustrated and threatened.

Prayer: Help me to constantly be aware that You are bigger than anything I could imagine. Don’t let me attempt to box You in, but constantly seek to be the new wineskins, flexible to expand to see God working in ways that challenge the very core of my belief.

Mark 2:23-28 Serenity and slavery

Jesus is being watched now. Those who are watching him are hoping to trip him up by showing how incorrect his teaching is, and in doing so, discredit him. I think they don’t want to admit they have been wrong. They have been so caught up in their teaching, believing “the right way” that they have lost the ability to change.

This time they catch Jesus disciples picking grain and eating it while they were walking. They were not eating a meal, they were snacking. The religious teachers called the action “harvesting”. They were quick to point out that harvesting is forbidden on the Sabbath. 

Jesus counters them with reminding them of the pillars of their faith, King David going and doing far worse by eating what belonged to the priest. How did that square with what the disciples were doing?

Jesus deftly points out the relationship between man and faith. Faith is to serve people, not people serving faith. As soon as it gets to that point, relationship has been lost. Serenity can turn quickly to slavery. And that is never what God intended for his creatures.

One thing I remember growing up is that we were taught to witness to others. We were made to feel guilty if we didn’t. As a result we stopped looking at people struggling with their problems, trying to find a way home. Instead what we saw were marks to help us alleviate our guilt. We stopped looking at them as human beings and looked at them more as a way to make God happy with us. We learned how to ask trick questions that would draw them in and if they didn’t accept Jesus as their “personal savior”, we went to find someone else, because time was slipping away. 

God instituted faith to serve us, not for us to serve faith. As soon as we cross over into serving faith, we lose the perspective that we are valuable to God.

Prayer: Help me understand that life in You are freedom. Help me understand that doctrine can help define my relationship with You, but should never be used as a weapon against another.

Mark 2:18-22 The party that changes everything!

Some asked Jesus why if the Pharisees fasted and the disciples of John fasted, why didn’t his group fast. Jesus responds that when a marriage celebration was going on no one acts the way they do in their other life.

We went though a wedding a while back. We lived our normal lives until the day of the wedding. At that time, we suspended our normal lives and didn’t worry about anything. It was a night to celebrate. The next day we slowly came back to reality. 

God was in their midst. There was reason to celebrate. They could get back to a sort of normal routine when he was gone.

Weddings change everything. After the vows all relationships are forever redefined, and what worked before will not work now. After the vows the couple become responsible for and to each other. Parents “lose” children and “gain’ children. After the wedding the nature of how the couple have been regarded has changed.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that we are the same people, that the wedding hasn’t changed us, but time will reveal to us the fundamental change that has occurred.

Jesus uses unshrunk cloth on old cloth and new wine in old wineskins to illustrate that this fundamental shift cannot be overlaid on existing frameworks. It is wholly different. And if you attempt to just place it within an existing structure, it will damage the existing framework, much like if you continue to act as if you are single, you will damage the marriage.

Prayer: Help me understand the radical nature of being joined to You, how relationships are totally redefined, not just modified. Help me to live in this new relationship and resist the temptation to make it just an extension of old thinking. Give me eyes that are willing to accept something new.

Mark 2:13-17 Attracting scum

After the healing Jesus in his preaching about the kingdom sees Levi, a tax collector. He calls Levi to follow him while he was sitting in his booth. What made Levi leave his income? Was he tired of feeling guilty for cheating others? For whatever reason, he leaves, seemingly without hesitation.

That night Levi throws a party where all his acquaintances are invited. The religious leaders aren’t at the front of the action. It sounds like they are outside looking in, and for good reason. They would never associate with “scum” as the NLT puts it. They want to be up front when teaching is being done so they can put their stamp of approval on it. But they will not taint themselves with the common riffraff. They want to make sure they stay above reproach.

So they talk to Jesus’ disciples. They want to know why Jesus is so willing to pollute himself with the seamier side of humanity. And with all the people who were attracted to Jesus, it wasn’t the religious people. When the religious leaders ask the disciples, they sound demeaning and shaming. 

Jesus apparently didn’t sound that way. Common undeserving people seemed comfortable with him. The gospels report these types of people coming to him and hanging around him, much to the consternation of the religious people.

When Jesus gets wind of the complaints he responds with a mission statement. People who are sick need a doctor. His desire was for wholeness. He points out that the mission statement of the religious leaders was for correctness, for compliance, for adherence. 

Jesus seems to make it clear here that he will go to where the need is realized. Levi leaves a possibly lucrative career. Why? Was he unsatisfied and there was something in Jesus’ gaze that told him there was a way out? There was hope? Whatever it was, he jumped in a life-changing way. The religious leaders had been around him for his entire life, and they had offered nothing that would make him change his ways.

And change his life it did!

Prayer: Keep me from the pride that separates the people who know it all from the people who don’t have it all together. Help me to not level judgments at anyone, but keep an open mind to who You have invited into the kingdom.

Mark 2:1-12 In the way

The crowd brings a paralytic man to Jesus. He is carried by four men. I guess when the crowds got there, they forgot about the man, because men 

couldn’t get through to see Jesus. All seemed interested in what Jesus was teaching. Teachers of the law are there in the room and partly the reason why the man can’t be brought before Jesus. I imagine they are there to insure that the ignorant townsfolk aren’t swayed by incorrect doctrine from this country preacher. I can only imagine how seriously they took their job.It seems that everyone had their place, and no one was willing to lose it.

The four are not deterred and figure out that they can get through the roof. When they get through everyone is waiting for what comes next. Maybe some of the crowd were ashamed that they hadn’t made room for him to see Jesus. More likely they were pleased that the man was before Jesus and no one had to lose their place, much like when I see someone in need and somebody else helps them which absolves my responsibility

The first thing Jesus does when He sees their faith is that he forgives the paralytic’s sin.  What sin does a paralytic commit? Whatever sins they were, hey would have to be sins of thought as he couldn’t do more than that. Is that why the four worked so hard to get the man through the roof, to have his sin forgiven? Jesus hadn’t forgiven the sins of the four that had ripped open the roof. Was the man grateful for that gesture?

Apparently Jesus had chapped the hides of those scribes that were sitting in the front and partly the reason why the man couldn’t get through in the first place. It seems clear that God is using the man to drive home a point for those who are insuring correct teaching. Jesus read their thoughts.

He then heals the man to prove that just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. The miracle backed up Jesus’ claim.

What insures proper belief, correctly thinking about God? I’m sure there were many coming through town claiming to have a word from God. The scribes were there to insure that the town wasn’t swayed by men claims of revelation.

Jesus flies in the face of their thinking and shows why they should believe His claims. He backs up His statements with actions, and all are amazed.

Prayer: Help me to realize that if I decide I am one to insure right thinking and doctrine I may be blocking someone’s access to You and to restoration. I need to be very aware that in my desire to get things right, I may be in the way. I can rest in the understanding that  You, the One True God, will clearly reveal Himself to all.

Mark 1:40-45 Hope rewarded

Mark has been talking about how Jesus was healing a lot of sick and demon possessed people.  For whatever reason Mark decides to talk about how one healing went down. 

A man with a skin disease came and begged Jesus to heal him. There was courage to say something, an expression of hope, and a pitch to his kindness. “If You wanted to, You could end my suffering.”

Jesus agrees to heal him, and in that moment, the outcast of society is able to rejoin the community. Jesus not only restored his health, but his status as well. At least after he showed the priest that he was not sick any more.

Jesus tells him to not say anything to anyone. This is a weird command. The man talks all the way to the priest. He has been restored to community, accepted back into society. He is not going to shut up. Because of his story the crowds get larger around Jesus.

Hope can be a powerful thing. This man, desperate and discouraged by being ostracized by this disease, is restored. Hope rewarded in the man, creates hope in others. And the crowds grow as each person tries to get a piece of the hope promised. 

Prayer: Help me to admit my diseased places and come to You for healing. And when healing occurs, let me not be afraid to talk about it.

Mark 1:16-34 Authority

Jesus gave a talk at the synagogue and impressed a lot of people in Capernaum. They were amazed that He taught them from His own authority and not referencing a lot of other people in His teaching.

His fame started to spread when He cast out a demon and healed Simon’s mother-in-law. After that people came from everywhere to seek healing and having demons cast out. In verse 25 Jesus orders the demon not to speak. In verse 34 he orders all demons He casts out to not speak His name or reveal who He is. 

Evil has its own agenda. Evil distorts, and sometimes in ways that seem to make sense and are very close to the truth. Jesus kept their mouth shut because He didn’t want others interpreting who He was, based on the speech of those who were liars and tormentors.

It would make sense that Jesus wants us to understand who He is based on what He has said and what He did, as much as is possible. It seems that He believes that if you listen to Him, you will be able to discern His relevance in your life. Jesus seemed to be very concerned that the message is as pure as it can be and not be distorted by those who had their own agenda.

Prayer: Help me to understand that I need to form my own understanding of who You are in my life and be very careful about the voices around me eager to define Jesus for me.

Mark 1:1-15 Getting ready

The book starts out with John preaching repentance. Jesus comes to him to be baptized and is identified with God. Everyone else is being baptized to confess their sin, Jesus is identifying with the people He has come for. After being tempted, which Mark doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about, Jesus comes back and says “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; Repent and believe the gospel.”

Jesus is walking through the country saying that prophecy has been fulfilled. It is time to get ready for good news. 

This works for any kind of good news. When we got married that was good news, but it took adjusting. When we had children, that was good news but we needed to adjust. Everything that has changed our lives has required adjustment.

Jesus is saying “It is time to adjust” It is time get ready for good news, because your life is about to change.

Prayer: Help me to understand that good news is something that I need to prepare for, that it doesn’t just happen. Help me to make that preparation.

Mark 1: 35-39 Finding my place

Jesus gets up in the early morning to pray. Possibly because of Jesus’ prayers, He and the Father agree that Jesus needs to move to another town. 

Simon and the others including the townspeople go looking for Jesus. If I were Simon, I would be frustrated at what Jesus is asking me to do. Simon was asked to follow Jesus. He and others left their jobs to follow Him, but he has no special knowledge about what Jesus is doing. He and the other disciples are running around attempting to locate Jesus along with the townspeople.

When Simon finds Jesus he is informed that they are moving on. I wonder if Simon became frustrated by the lack of communication. “You asked us to follow You, and and you treat us like the rest of the town.! And then when I find You, You tell us that there is a change of plan. Where You see me fitting in??

Much of the time for me, I would like to see a bigger picture. I’m not always happy dependent on someone else to tell me what I need to do or where I need to head next. I become frustrated when I am asked to be a part of things and then am not part of the decision making process.

All I am left to conclude is that the disciples moved with Jesus to the surrounding towns with a greater degree of acceptance than I may have had.

Prayer: God, help me to follow Your will even if I don’t understand it or I don’t feel like I have a higher place than others in Your plan.