When You’re at Odds w/ God

Mark 8:29-33, The Message - He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”

Peter gave the answer: “You are the Christ, the Messiah.”

Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.” He said this simply and clearly so they couldn’t miss it.

But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. “Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works.”

 

                The text from the last bit of the passage from the last reflection is included here to remind us of what we noticed yesterday.  The disciples’ confession that Jesus is the Messiah (which is the main message of the entire gospel of Mark) marks a critical shift in tone.  It’s been mostly miracles and healings up until this point, but things are about to get hard.  Jesus tries to prepare his apprentices for this by sharing with them what is about to happen.  Jesus will increasingly be opposed, eventually tried, and then be killed.  Three days later, He will be resurrected.  Peter, most likely speaking what the others are thinking, is having none of it.  He tries to get Jesus back “on message.”

                I’ve read this passage dozens of times, so I know Peter is about to be called Satan by Jesus.  Still, I can’t help but empathize with Peter.  I think of half a dozen times in my life where God’s direction and the direction that I think is right diverge.  Things seem to be going well.  Positive things are happening.  Forward motion is gaining momentum.  Then unexplainably, I’m pointed in a different direction.  Peter has a reputation for being a bit impetuous, but that’s not me.  If anything, I’m too passive.  But I have to say, in those moments where the direction suddenly changed, I was “take Jesus aside” angry.  I believe my prayers in those moments probably sounded a bit like what I imagine Peter saying to Jesus in private.  I was not happy about not being consulted about the change and I let God know about it (as if God didn’t already know exactly how I felt).  My conviction is that being completely honest with God about our negative feelings is better than trying to pretend that negativity in us doesn’t exist.  You might as well “get it off your chest” because God already knows what’s in your heart.

                Back to Satan thing.  When we in the 21^st century hear the name “Satan” we hear something completely different than Peter did when Jesus used that word.  What Peter heard would be likened to what we would hear someone say, “get out of my way Adversary.”  Jesus was not calling Peter the Devil.  Jesus was warning Peter that he was now moving in the opposite direction from God, a position with which I am all-too-familiar.  It isn’t fun.  But if we are going to be free to be honest with God, than we ought to be willing for God to be honest with us.  I’d rather be corrected by God than left out of what God is doing.  Peter evidently felt that way too, because Peter takes the correction and moves on.  He will eventually be the central leader of the Jesus movement and He is still revered by Catholics as the first pope.  But that only happens because Peter is willing to admit he is wrong and take correction.  In order to be a leader, one must first be a follower.

                But it’s not easy to let go of what we think is right, even if it is God who is telling us so.  It takes a sense of humility and submission.  To the extent that we are able to empathize with Peter’s resistance, we should also be willing to follow Peter’s example of obedience. 

 

Questions:  Are you able to be called out and corrected when it is necessary?  Can you admit that even on important things, you could be wrong?

 

Prayer:  Lord, give us a teachable spirit.  May we correctable when we are headed in the wrong direction.  May we always hear Your voice and obey, even when it’s hard.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for missionaries all over the world today.

 

Song:  I Will Follow – Chris Tomlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ohvhmGSfxI

The Day the Mood Shifted

Mark 8:27-30, NIV - Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

 

                When Jesus asks, “who do you say I am?” he is asking for more than who the disciples SAY He is.  Jesus is asking them who they believe He is.  If I believe the man in the cockpit is really a fully credentialed pilot, I will get on the plane to fly to my destination.  If I believe that the woman diagnosing my health is a licensed and competent medical doctor, I will submit to the treatment plan she offers.  You can say anything you want about a person, but what you do based on who you believe them to be is what really matters. 

                At this point in the book of Mark, it’s been mostly miracles and healing since the disciples began their journey with Jesus.  The mood is about the change as we’ll see in the next several reflections.  The question put to the disciples by Jesus in today’s reading signals this shift in tone and brings what they really believe about Jesus into focus.  It is also Marks’s way of putting the same question to us today.  Who do we say Jesus is?   And just like Jesus’s first disciples, our answer makes all the difference.

                There are many ideas even today about who Jesus is/was.  If He’s a great teacher, then we will try to learn from Him.  If He’s simply a miracle worker and healer, we might ask for a miracle or healing for ourselves.  If He’s a prophet, we might want to check His prophecies against what has happened since.  But if Jesus is all this AND He’s the Messiah, than we will submit our lives to Him.  The way we live our life each day will be different if Jesus is our Savior and Lord.  So today (or any day) is a good day to ask ourselves the same question and spend some time reflecting on whether or not our everyday lives reflect our belief about Jesus.

 

Question:  Who do we believe Jesus is?  How are the decisions we make each day affected by this belief?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, show us what we believe about you.  May there be integrity between what we say about you and the way that we live.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people you know whose belief system is different than yours.

 

Song:   Who Do You Say I Am? – David Phelps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc0ZWBHIIfI

“Why Didn’t It Work This Time?”

Mark 8:22-26, CEB - Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch and heal him.  Taking the blind man’s hand, Jesus led him out of the village. After spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on the man, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”

The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees, only they are walking around.”

Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again. He looked with his eyes wide open, his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly.  Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village!”

 

                At this point in our trip through the gospel of Mark, reading about miracles has become commonplace.  It seems that almost every day, people were brought to Jesus so that He could heal them.  With the exception of the Syrophoenician woman, Jesus immediately obliged and healed them.  Even though we’ve discussed this with respect to previous passages, we need to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus heals not to show off or even inspire faith, but out of compassion for those in need.  This is why, in the healing recounted above, Jesus takes the blind man to a more private place and then asks

                In the passage above, we see something new.  The complete healing takes is done in more than one step.  Jesus, as he has done before, uses his saliva as a healing agent in the man’s eyes.  Jesus anticipates that it might take more than that with the question, “do you see anything?”  Partial eyesight is restored, for man reports he can see tree-like shapes moving around.  An additional touch from Jesus’s hands fully restores the man’s eyesight.

                It is interesting that, in different situations, healing seems to require different things.  Sometimes, people simply touch Jesus’s clothes and the healing takes place instantaneously.  Other times, Jesus simply touches.  Sometimes He spits.  Sometimes, He performs other actions and here, it takes the combination of spitting and repeated touching.  What never happens, though, is that Jesus fails.   He always gets it done, by whatever means necessary.  That’s what we need to hold onto . . . the healing will come in some form.

                My younger brother Jeff, who had cancer, died this year.  Jeff, a man of deep faith, told me on multiple occasions that he would be healed.  He said it will be here or in heaven.  Though I and everyone who knew Jeff would have preferred that the healing take place here, Jeff no longer has cancer.  He was healed as he said he would be.  We don’t have to like that anymore than the man above liked Jesus spitting in His eye, but Jeff’s cancer is indeed gone. 

                His death has left new wounds, but those wounds will also be healed.  We don’t know what the process will look like, but the outcome is sure.  It may happen here or in heaven, but the healing will occur.  Hold on to that for yourself and for those you know in need of healing.  When it comes to healing, Jesus’s record is perfect. 

 

Questions:  What healing are you waiting for?  What expectations do you have about how and when it will happen?  Are you open to the possibilities that healing may come in a way that you don’t expect and/or prefer?

 

Prayer:  God, we admit that we often don’t understand or even prefer the ways in which You work.  We want to trust You nonetheless for the healing we know will come.  Help us get to that place of unfaltering faith.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for your own healing (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual). 

 

Song:  On Eagles’ Wings – Michael Crawford

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9zEgRsorZ4

Could They Be Any More Clueless?!

Mark 8:14-21, CEB - Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.”

The disciples discussed this among themselves, “He said this because we have no bread.”

Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you grasp what has happened? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing?  Don’t you have eyes? Why can’t you see? Don’t you have ears? Why can’t you hear? Don’t you remember?  When I broke five loaves of bread for those five thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”

They answered, “Twelve.”

“And when I broke seven loaves of bread for those four thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”

They answered, “Seven.”

Jesus said to them, “And you still don’t understand?”

 

Could the disciples be any more clueless?  This is the question that runs through my head as I read this passage.  I think this not so much because the disciples don’t fully understand what is happening with the two feedings of the thousands.  I’ve been reading these stories for decades and I still struggle to grasp the full import of what Jesus is doing here.  But I know it has NOTHING to do with the fact that the disciples have forgotten to bring bread on their boat trip.  Jesus has supernaturally provide nutrition for close to ten thousand people and the disciples are worried about having enough bread for the thirteen people in the boat.  Really?! 

My indignance persists until I remember that, on dozens of occasions, I catch myself worrying about the stupidest things.  I got completely bent out of shape just the other day because my internet connection wasn’t working. Another time, it was because I had missed a minor deadline.  In my sanest and most faith-filled moments, I am just as indignant with myself, possibly more so, as I am with the disciples.  Here’s the truth that is a little hard to hear; Jesus is a bit indignant about it too.  His barrage of rhetorical questions conveys His incredulity at the disciples cluelessness. 

I think we like to believe that Jesus is always “ranibows and unicorns” with us. 

“Oh that’s okay that you worry about insignificant things,” we imagine Him saying. 

“I know you’re just having a bad day. . .it will be better tomorrow,” we fantasize hearing Jesus speak to us.

                But the truth is, sometimes we need to hear Jesus incredulous disappointment to jar us back into spiritual sanity.  And here in this passage, Jesus doesn’t hold back. Jesus walks the disciples through what has happened, prompting them to remember how He provided for them and thousands of others.  He points out with His questions tha, in each occasion, the leftover food was as much or more than they started with in the first place.  Everyone ate until they were full and there were plenty of leftovers. 

I should note that Jesus was also trying to point out something significant by rehearsing the specific numbers of loaves they started with and how many they had left over.  I have read more than half a dozen theories as to the symbolism in those numbers.  I am not overly convinced by any of them, so I won’t list them here.  However, it is clear that Mark was confident that the first readers of his gospel would clearly understand the symbolism.  However, two centuries later, the point is largely lost on us.  What isn’t lost is that Jesus cannot believe that the disciples are still not understanding the whole thing.  He does not mind sharing His disappointment with them and I think they needed to hear it. These same disciples, just a couple of years later, will be the ones who multiply the work of Christ many times over.  But in this instance, they need to hear that they have more growing to do.  They won’t become who God has called them to be if they aren’t held accountable for doing better.

There are times that we too need to receive this “tough love” even though it is not pleasant.   Sometimes it comes from parents, friends, mentors, or even sometimes our children.  Sometimes it comes from reading a scripture like the one above.  God may use just about anything to do the prompting, but the question is, are we open to receiving correction.  Can we hear God’s disappointment when it comes and respond?

 

Question:  When was the last time you were able to graciously receive correction and respond in a positive manner?

 

Prayer:  Lord, sometimes what we need is to hear that you love us in spite of our fumbling and cluelessness.  Other times, we need a little (or big) “kick in the pants.”  Help us hear Your prompting today in whatever form it comes and respond.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time today asking God to center you spiritually as we begin the busy season of Advent leading up to Christmas. 

 

Song:  10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3K3roEF36k

Pharisee Virus

Mark 8:11-15, CEB - The Pharisees showed up and began to argue with Jesus. To test him, they asked for a sign from heaven.  With an impatient sigh, Jesus said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I assure you that no sign will be given to it.”  Leaving them, he got back in the boat and crossed to the other side of the lake.

Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat.  He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.”

 

Mainstream Christian theology asserts that Jesus was at the same time fully human AND fully divine.  Millions of pages have been written attempting to explain this paradoxical concept, but ultimately, it is best to work to accept it on faith.  Unless Jesus is fully human, He cannot fully bridge the gap between us and God; unless Jesus is fully God, He cannot save us.  Much of the miracles described in the gospels point to the divinity of Christ, but in the passage above we catch a glimpse of Jesus’s humanity.  Mark recalls Jesus’s “impatient sigh.”  Jesus is finding it hard to remain composed in the presence of the impetuous Pharisees.   

Most of us have been there and understand that kind of exasperation.  Someone or a group of someone’s questions our right to be doing what we are doing.  They ask us to prove ourselves even though they have already seen proof.  It seems they are being confrontational simply to tear us down.  We recognize that impatient sigh because it has rushed from our mouths on multiple occasions.

“No sign will be given,” follows Jesus’s sigh. 

Jesus refuses to play their game for He knows that it is a losing proposition.  If a sign was given, it would only be followed up with a request for a further sign.  Signs do not result in authentic faith in those who receive them.  They only placate until a desire for another sign arises. It is faux faith at best.  It is unhealthy dependence on constant “proof” that our trust in God is justified. 

I believe this is one of the reasons Jesus often tells those He has healed to not talk about it too much. Even miracles do not produce a healthy faith.  The high experienced when one witnesses the miraculous is short-lived.  It will take another miracle to sustain it.  Right before this passage in Mark 8, the disciples clearly don’t have faith in Jesus’s ability to provide food for the four thousand even though they witnessed Jesus feed five thousand just days earlier.  They too needed proof that Jesus could do it again. 

The yeast of the Pharisees is this constant questioning and demand for proof.  This is the basis for Jesus’s scolding of his disciples to avoid this yeast.  When Jesus includes “Herod” as part of this yeast, He is referring to the Sadducees, another group of religious leaders who were constantly testing Jesus in the same way.  They were often called Herodians because they supported Herod Antipas.  Jesus refers to them as “Herod” to imply that they were no different than the oppressive ruler himself. 

What Jesus is implying by referring to the Pharisees and Sadducees as yeast is somewhat lost on many modern readers who aren’t bakers.  Yeast is used by bakers to cause dough to rise and expand.  A miniscule amount of yeast is needed to infiltrate the entire loaf and make it grow exponentially. What Jesus is saying is that faux faith quickly spreads.  A particularly current metaphor that could convey the same meaning is to call this imposter faith a virus. 

As we’ll see in the next reflection, the disciples are still not getting the message.  Mark is hoping that, by telling the story, the reader will get it.  Strive for a faith deeper than “faith” that requires constant proof.  Authentic faith in Jesus based on a relationship with Jesus Himself serves as “a vaccine” to protect against this Pharisaical virus. 

This is still true today, although the “virus” has many variants.  Faith that requires answered prayers (defined as getting what I want), success, or any other condition to be met for that faith to be sustained.  The invitation offered to the disciples and to us is to trust that God will give us what we need when we need it.  It is the invitation to trust Jesus’s shepherd-like compassion for us, knowing he will provide for us.  This is hard and all of us seem to catch the Pharisaical virus sometimes. Hence, Jesus issues the warning to watch out and guard against it. 

 

Question:  Have you ever caught yourself placing conditions (ie…seeking a sign) on sustained faith in Jesus?

 

Prayer:  Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who will be alone on Thanksgiving tomorrow. 

 

Song:  Oceans – Hillsong United (Cover by Hannah Davis)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Q1WuWpulY

Feeding Thousands . . . Again!

Mark 8:1-10, CEB - In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and told them,  “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them away hungry to their homes, they won’t have enough strength to travel, for some have come a long distance.”

His disciples responded, “How can anyone get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy these people?”

Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

They said, “Seven loaves.”

He told the crowd to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them apart, and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they gave the bread to the crowd.  They also had a few fish. He said a blessing over them, then gave them to the disciples to hand out also.  They ate until they were full. They collected seven baskets full of leftovers.  This was a crowd of about four thousand people! Jesus sent them away, then got into a boat with his disciples and went over to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

Only Matthew and Mark include this story in their accounts along with the feeding of the five thousand (which all four gospels include).  This should cause us to ask, “why tell a very similar feeding miracle only few paragraphs after you’ve told the first story.  If you are the gospel writer and you want people to know about the second similar miracle, why not just quickly mention that Jesus “did it again” and move on.  Mark does this with other types of miracles saying things like, “He healed many others.”  Why not do the same thing here?  The reason is in the details.

Many of the details are exactly the same.  Jesus has compassion for a crowd that has been following Him and is hungry.  The disciples are almost offended that Jesus asks them to feed the crowd and they complain about how much it will cost. Jesus asks them what they have, the disciples take inventory, report to Jesus, and then Jesus uses whatever they have to feed everyone.  There is not only enough to feed everyone, but there are leftovers.  Mark takes care to use a lot of the very same words to tell the two feeding stories.   What He wants to stick out like a sore thumb is that the disciples have learned nothing from the previous feeding miracle.  If they had, they would not wonder about where the food is going to come from.  They would have known this meal will cost nothing because Jesus will provide.  Jesus will take whatever they have available and multiply it.  There will be enough and then some.  In fact, in both the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand, there is at least as much leftover as they had to work with when they started. 

We, the church of Jesus’s continuing disciples, are the people Jesus has chosen to continue His compassionate ministry to those who are hungry and in need.  Like Jesus’s first disciples, we sometimes “don’t get it” either.   Though we have seen Jesus provide in the past, we wonder if He will provide in the present, even in almost identical circumstances.  We complain that we don’t have enough resources or the cost is too high.  We fail to believe that, somehow in miraculous and mysterious provision of God, the little bit we have will not only be enough, but we will not really lose anything; the needs will be met and we’ll still have as much as we had before if not more.  As we’ll see a couple reflections from now, Jesus is frustrated with His disciples lack of understanding.  I’m pretty sure his frustration persists with us.

 

Questions:  When have you witnessed God’s miraculous provision when it seemed obvious that there would not be enough?  When have you witnessed ministry not being undertaken because the cost is high or there didn’t seem to be enough resources?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, forgive us for our lack of faith and inability to learn from what You have done for us and through us in the past.  Have patience as we learn to trust in Your provision. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for churches that are struggling to stay open right now.

 

Song:  Battle Belongs – Phil Wickham

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtvQNzPHn-w

Ephphatha

Mark 7:31-37, CEB - After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities.  Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing.  Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.  Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up.”  At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly.

Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone. But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news.  People were overcome with wonder, saying, “He does everything well! He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can’t speak.”

 

We encounter yet another healing story today, but with some peculiar details.  As we have journeyed through Mark, we often seeing healings take place passively.  That is, the power goes out from Jesus almost without His participation and people are healed.  In this story, Jesus takes the deaf and mute man aside and performs some odd actions that invoke the healing.  He sticks His fingers in the man’s ears. Jesus then spits in His hand and then touches the man’s tongue.  He then speaks the word meaning “open up,” and the deaf mute can immediately hear and speak clearly.  It seems a bit strange if not unsanitary to our 21^st century ears. I do wonder why sometimes Jesus heals people actively (performing specific actions) and sometimes he simply allows the healings to take place passively.  I’ve read a couple of ideas from various commentators, but none of them seem compelling to me.  If you have thoughts, let me know. 

 Jesus’s use of his hands and spit recall for me multiple occasions when my mother would take a napkin, lick it, and then use the napkin to wipe off dirt on my face.  Sometimes, when she didn’t have a napkin, she would just use her finger.  I remember hating it at the time, but in my mind now, it is a tender memory.  This seemingly unsanitary detail in the story above also recalls an article I just read about saliva (spit).  Apparently, saliva contains many anti-microbial properties and can actually promote healing of small wounds in specific situations.  Maybe Jesus knew this before anyone else.  Go figure.

                My mom would generally not use her spit to clean my face in public and I am grateful for that.  That, for me, connects my own experience with my mother to this story.  Jesus takes the man away from the crowd to perform this healing.  Jesus is doing this to care for a single human being with tender care, not perform a miracle for public consumption.  He didn’t want the healed man to become a public spectacle; Jesus desire was simply that the man’s need be met.  Afterwards, he even tells the people to not make big deal about it.

                Of course, the crowd was not able to comply; they told everyone they knew.  I’m thinking Jesus knew this would happen, but out of concern for the healed man, he tried to keep a lid on it.  This concern for the man as a human being is what runs through the story from beginning to end.  I mentioned a few reflections ago that I have personal knowledge of more than a few healings in my years.  The interesting thing to me as I recall them now is that only a couple of them occurred publicly.  In most of those cases, only a couple people witnessed the miracle personally.  In a few of them, only the person healed knew that it happened.  It seems that God prefers to heal people in response to their suffering, not so people will hear about the healing and be impressed or even have faith.  In my experience as a pastor, I can confirm that miracles are an unreliable basis for lasting faith.  I know way too many people who have witnessed and acknowledged God’s power to do the miraculous who no longer have no active faith.   Faith that requires a constant “feeding” of miracles fails quickly.  Lasting and resilient faith is built on the basis of an ongoing relationship with God that based on personal interaction with God through the spiritual disciplines.  In the context of such a faith, miracles are welcomed and celebrated, but not required. 

 

Question:  What role do miracles play in your day-to-day faith?

 

Prayer:  Lord, heal me of my brokenness, blindness, and sickness.  Make me whole again.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Take time to pray for people who have wandered away from their faith in God.

 

Song:  Even If – MercyMe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y&t=2s

Talking Back to Jesus

Mark 7:24-30, CEB - Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter. He responded, “The children have to be fed first. It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

“Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.”  When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

 

This passage is uncomfortable to read for me.  Only Matthew and Mark tell this story and I can certainly understand why a gospel writer might leave this story out.  Jesus seems a bit snippy, if not even a bit cruel.  Because of this, many commentators go through great mental gymnastics to try and show that Jesus is not really being unkind.  I’ll just come out and say it.  Jesus was mean to this desperate woman.  He all but admits it.  And that is precisely why I’m glad Mark (and Matthew) leave this story in their accounts.

The commentators I mentioned above do make some valid points worth mentioning.  First, in Mark’s account.  Jesus is tired and was trying to hide from the crowds that constantly plagued Him.  He needed a break, but He doesn’t get one because this woman barges in and makes her plea for help.  I am generally a person who takes interruptions well, but I totally get Jesus wanting to “just chill” for a while before re-engaging in His appointed mission. 

Second, Jesus makes a statement that compares this woman to a dog.  There is no getting around that.  He did it and it was an unkind thing to do.  However, Jesus does intentionally soften the comment in a way that is lost in the English translation.  Jews regularly referred to Gentiles as dogs in a derogatory way, but the word most often used was a word that specifically referred to wild dogs who were often dirty and a nuisance.  The word that Jesus uses is the word for a dog that is a loved family pet.  It wasn’t the racist slur that the other word would have connoted.  Still, no one wants to be called a dog, even a lovable family pet dog. 

Though Jesus was unkind to the woman, the woman persists.  Her driving persistence recalls that of the woman with the flow of blood.  Then, even when tired Jesus tries to put her off with an unkind comparison, she remains undeterred. She doesn’t care if Jesus has equated her with a dog if she can get His help for her daughter.  It is at this moment that her faith in Jesus breaks through his exhaustion and crankiness.  Jesus realizes that he has forgotten Himself for a moment.  He has been unkind and yet, this woman’s love for her daughter and her faith in Him persists. 

                It’s important to note that Jesus could have made a different choice at this moment.  He has just been challenged and so it would be understandable if He had acted defensively, maybe even doubling down on the unkindness.  He could have simply dismissed her and had her removed from the house.  My guess is that, had Jesus done that, we would have never known this story.  But Mark and Matthew find it important to tell this story because Jesus made a different and surprising choice.  Instead of being defensive, Jesus chose to publicly lose face and applaud the woman’s persistence and faith.  Jesus changed His mind and granted this nameless woman’s request.  Her daughter was delivered from demonic oppression.

                I understand the felt need for Jesus to act perfectly in every situation, because I feel that too.  I don’t want to admit that God-in-human-flesh could falter even for a moment.  At the same time, I am also comforted by Jesus’s moment of unkindness in the same way I am comforted by the times he shed tears of sadness and cried out that God had forsaken Him.  I am sometimes unkind.  I have so many moments of desperate sadness.  I have times when I feel like God is no where to be found.  Because of that, I am drawn to Jesus who experienced all those things AND shows me how to move through them to a better place.

                In this case, it involved the humility that He was not kind to the woman and a willingness to be corrected and change course.  I see in Jesus that I don’t have to be driven by defensiveness and a need to always be right.  He even lifts her up as a shining example of faith at His own expense.  Because I see that in Jesus, it gives me hope that I can act similarly.  I hope you can see that too.

 

Question:  How do you normally react when being called out for a less-than-ideal choice? 

 

Prayer:  Jesus, thank you for your humility.  Help me to honor you by willing to be corrected when necessary.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for all our newly elected and/or re-elected leaders as they prepare to begin their term of public service.

 

Song:  Make It Right – Maverick City Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edaA71kMKgg

They Regretted Asking Jesus This Question

Mark 7:1-23, CEB - The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.  (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

 

“‘These people honor me with their lips,

    but their hearts are far from me.

 They worship me in vain;

    their teachings are merely human rules.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)—  then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother.  Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.  Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?  For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.  For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,  adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

 

Questions:  Do you have rules and/or traditions that you follow without question that you have no knowledge of the purpose or origin of said rules/traditions?  Are you aware of established laws and/or customs that once served an important purpose, but now actually fulfill a purpose contrary to the original purpose?

 

  We start with the questions today because it lies at the heart of this conflict between Jesus and the pharisees.  The pharisees notice that Jesus’s disciples are eating without properly washing their hands.  This is a violation of dietary laws and is considered to make someone physically and spiritually unclean.  The pharisees are calling out Jesus for allowing his disciples to commit this violation.  Jesus’s answer and explanation points out that the pharisees are not technically wrong, but they are wrong nonetheless. 

  The laws that the disciples are breaking were laws originally put in place for public health reasons.  Handwashing is a good idea before you eat even today.  However, the Pharisees had spiritualized these practices.  Instead of pointing out a potentially harmful health hazard, the pharisees were seeking to discredit Jesus morally and spiritually for this violation.  Jesus not only calls them out for calling Him out, He moves toward discrediting them morally and spiritually. 

  The laws given to the Hebrews in the Old Testament had been tweaked and changed over the years to serve not God’s purposes, but the purposes of the pharisees.  They had established loopholes in the God-given laws that allow people to ignore the original laws in favor of the man-created loopholes.  The example Jesus uses concerns one of the ten commandments, which is to “honor your father and mother.”  The pharisees had commissioned a technicality that would allow people to give resources to the Temple that would normally be set aside for taking care of their parents.  As managers of the Temple funds, this pharisees benefitted.  In this way they effectually legitimized the breaking of one of the core Ten Commandments.  Jesus says this is just one example of the corruption for which the pharisees are responsible.  Unlike Jesus disciples, the pharisees ARE morally and spiritually compromised. 

  Then, Jesus uses the occasion to give what would have been a revolutionary teaching. People are not spiritually/morally compromised by what goes into their bodies; they are compromised by the deeds that flow out of their corrupted hearts.  Handwashing might be a good idea, but failing to do it doesn’t make you a bad person.  Seeking to discredit a ministry so as to prop up your own does corrupt the people who do such things.  Jesus, without saying it explicitly, is subjugating the dietary laws (and other laws that govern human habits) to the law of love.  All the sins Jesus list at the end of the passage above are all ways that we destroy human relationships.  They are ways in which we betray love.  When we betray love, we betray the very heart of God for God is Love. 

                The manipulation of laws and norms by those in power to benefit themselves to the detriment of others is still a moral and spiritual blight that should be called out for what it is – corruption of God’s intended order.  Institutional systems that create advantages for some and oppression for others still exist and Jesus is still calling them out.   God’s people called the church are not any more immune to this corruption than the pharisees of Jesus’s day.  It is the call of those who seek to live out this teaching of Jesus to find ways to level the playing field for all and encourage all to live by the law of love in all relationships.

 

Prayer:  Lord, illumine the ways in which we propagate laws and traditions that cause harm and betray Your law of love.  Teach us the heart of your kingdom.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  If you don’t do this regularly already, spend some time asking God for forgiveness for the specific wrongs in which you have participated.

 

Song:  Turn My Heart – Lynn De Shazo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QhJKj4e8o4

From Fear Back into Faith

Mark 6:45-56, CEB - Right then, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and go ahead to the other side of the lake, toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.  After saying good-bye to them, Jesus went up onto a mountain to pray.  Evening came and the boat was in the middle of the lake, but he was alone on the land.  He saw his disciples struggling. They were trying to row forward, but the wind was blowing against them. Very early in the morning, he came to them, walking on the lake. He intended to pass by them.  When they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost and they screamed.  Seeing him was terrifying to all of them. Just then he spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.”  He got into the boat, and the wind settled down. His disciples were so baffled they were beside themselves.  That’s because they hadn’t understood about the loaves. Their minds had been closed so that they resisted God’s ways.

When Jesus and his disciples had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret, anchored the boat,  and came ashore. People immediately recognized Jesus  and ran around that whole region bringing sick people on their mats to wherever they heard he was.  Wherever he went—villages, cities, or farming communities—they would place the sick in the marketplaces and beg him to allow them to touch even the hem of his clothing. Everyone who touched him was healed.

 

  Coming off the feeding of the thousands, Jesus herds his disciples into a boat.  Remember, he had been trying to get them some rest when the crowd showed up.  In the hustle to take care of this enormous need, Jesus does not forget that his apprentices need rest and that is his intention.  He would send the crowd home while they got some time away by themselves. 

  They are still out on the lake, when Jesus is ready to go meet them on the other side.  He sees them struggling a bit, but it seems He was going to let them work through it, because Mark reports that Jesus had intended to walk on pass them.  Mark is the only gospel writer to include this detail, and we’re not really sure why he does.  It’s possible that Mark wanted to explain that Jesus is not walking on the water in order to show off.  The disciples had gotten a head start and so Jesus is simply taking the “short cut” across the lake instead of the many more hours it would take to walk around.  Walking on the water was the practical solution, not an occasion to show off. 

  In any case, the plan changes when Jesus inadvertently terrifies His disciples.  They take Him for a ghost and they scream.  Jesus comes to them to calm their fears.  He gets into the boat with them, calms the winds, and helps them to the other side of the lake. 

  Mark, as we have talked about before, is mostly a “just the facts” author who seldom offers extra commentary.  But here, he does:

His disciples were so baffled they were beside themselves.  That’s because they hadn’t understood about the loaves. Their minds had been closed so that they resisted God’s ways.

It is baffling that the disciples were baffled.  By this time, Jesus doing the miraculous had become commonplace for them.  Jesus traveling companions had seen countless healings, demon exorcisms, and even a resurrection.  He had commanded storms to cease and he had just fed thousands of people with two baskets of food.  Seeing Jesus walk on water seems like a rather minor party trick in comparison. But Mark breaks from reporter-mode to make sure we know that these disciples were “beside themselves” because they had somehow not understood what happened earlier in the day with the crowd of hungry people.  

  I’m baffled myself until I remember how many times that I have totally missed the miraculous because I had been “thown off my game” by a barrage of distractions and/or busyness.  I can identify with getting so consumed with the work I’m engaged in that I become oblivious to the fact that I have just witnessed a miracle.   It seems the disciples had gotten so engrossed in taking care of the crowd that they had not really noticed the miracle in which they themselves had fulfilled a role.  In their worn-out stupor, Jesus taking a stroll on the lake sends their minds spinning.  I can relate.

  These disciples were not faithless dolts.  They themselves had just completed their first mission without Jesus by their side.  They have performed the miraculous themselves.  But after a long stretch of ministry without enough rest, a perceived ghost on the water crumbles them momentarily.  “Their mind had been closed so that resisted God’s ways.”  I want to say, “may that never happen to us,” but the reality is that if it hasn’t happened already, there’s a pretty good chance it will. 

 Jesus doesn’t seem too worried about it.  He doesn’t utter anything like a “ye of little faith” like He has at other times.  They get to the other side, and ministry picks up right where it left off before.  The trip across the lake has taken them from fear back into faith and that’s a good thing.  There is more work to be done.  Onward and upward. 

 

Questions:  Have you ever been “beside yourself” because of something that, in normal circumstances, would not be a problem at all?  How do you handle such times?

 

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, bring us back to faith in times where we lose ourselves.  Help us establish healthy habits of rest and recreation so that we can keep up faithful service to You and others.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for victims of violence that you are aware of right now.

 

Song: The Breakup Song - Francsesca  Battistelli

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0wpP5o7xpI

Big and “Little” Miracles

Mark 6:30-44, CEB - The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.  Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.”  They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?”

He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.”

After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”

He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass.  They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.  He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.  Everyone ate until they were full.  They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish.  About five thousand had eaten.

 

This miracle is the only miracle recorded in all four of the New Testament gospels.  It is even more remarkable how similar all four accounts are.  This suggests that this is one of the more famous events that occurred during the earthly life of Jesus.  Given the fact that there are five thousand men present, it is estimated that there may have been as many as fifteen thousand people present.  That’s an incredible number of witnesses to this miraculous provision of Jesus.

There are echoes in this miracle of two Old Testament miracles. The more obvious of the two is God’s provision of manna (a bread-like food) for the Hebrews during their lengthy time in the wilderness. (Exodus 16) The second, though not as impressive, was when the prophet Elisha used 20 small loaves of bread to feed over a hundred men (2 Kings 4).  The detail that really seems to be echoed in Jesus’s miracle is the mention of plenty of leftovers after the meal.  Certainly, in the crowd fed by Jesus, there would have been musings that in this very moment, these people found themselves in the middle of an event that, like manna in the wilderness, would be spoken about for generations to come.  They were present for movement of God comparable to the days of Moses and the prophets. 

While I haven’t been present for a mega-scale miracle like this, I have many experiences when I realized God’s power was tangible.  Sometimes, they are worship services with a large number of people, but more often, they take place in way more ordinary circumstances.  I realize that God has put exactly the right person in my path at exactly the right time.  Serendipitous circumstances that only God could have orchestrated come together to provide just what was needed in the moment.  There have even been a couple of times when I realized that a vision of that God had placed in my heart had been realized many years later.  While the scale of this miracle is mammoth, the same kind of thing is going on.  People are hungry and need to be fed.  There doesn’t seem to be enough resources, but somehow, God provides anyway.   

The reality is that miraculous provision is being made for us all the time.  The feeding of the five thousand should remind of us of that truth and open our eyes to the “invisible” provision around us. The oxygen that keeps us alive every moment is no less miraculous than multiplying loaves and fishes.  Spend some time taking note of the miracles taking place in the space around you today.

 

Question:  What is something that points to the power of God at work right in this moment and space where you are right now?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, help us see Your mysterious provision for us in the ordinary moments of life.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are hungry right now.

 

Song:  Ordinary Miracle – Sarah McLaughlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqZE4ZDnAkQ

Why are We Telling This Story Now?

Mark 6:14-29, CEB - Herod the king heard about these things, because the name of Jesus had become well-known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and this is why miraculous powers are at work through him.”  Others were saying, “He is Elijah.” Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the ancient prophets.”  But when Herod heard these rumors, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised to life.”

 

He said this because Herod himself had arranged to have John arrested and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. Herod had married her, but John told Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry your brother’s wife!”  So Herodias had it in for John. She wanted to kill him, but she couldn’t.  This was because Herod respected John. He regarded him as a righteous and holy person, so he protected him. John’s words greatly confused Herod, yet he enjoyed listening to him.

Finally, the time was right. It was on one of Herod’s birthdays, when he had prepared a feast for his high-ranking officials and military officers and Galilee’s leading residents.  Herod’s daughter Herodias[a] came in and danced, thrilling Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the young woman, “Ask me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”  Then he swore to her, “Whatever you ask I will give to you, even as much as half of my kingdom.”

She left the banquet hall and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?”

“John the Baptist’s head,” Herodias replied.

Hurrying back to the ruler, she made her request: “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a plate, right this minute.”  Although the king was upset, because of his solemn pledge and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her.  So he ordered a guard to bring John’s head. The guard went to the prison, cut off John’s head, brought his head on a plate, and gave it to the young woman, and she gave it to her mother.  When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came and took his dead body and laid it in a tomb.

 

Often, when studying scripture, getting curious about what seems odd about a particular text can lead to important insights into the meaning of the author.  I believe that Mark’s account of the death of John the Baptist is a great example. 

First, Mark’s account of this event includes much more information than the other Gospels. Matthew (14:1-12) omits several of  Mark’s details, Luke (9:7-9) barely mentions the event, and John only mentions that John was arrested.  As I have mentioned before, it is usually Mark that gives a bare-bones streamlined version of many of the episodes of the Jesus story.  On the few occasions that Mark includes a more detailed account, it is a clue that Mark believes the event is central to the meaning of the gospel itself.

Most of the extra details Mark includes have to do with Herod Antipas’s relationship with and perception of John the the Baptist himself.  In Matthew, Herod wants to kill John but fears the angering the people with whom John is revered as a prophet.  Mark contends that Herod is obviously annoyed with John because John has publicly condemned Herod’s marriage to Herodias, but Herod refuses to kill him because He respects John and is sympathetic to John’s mission.  It is not until Herod makes a nefarious promise that backfires on him that he is forced to kill John.  What I would invite you to hold onto for a quick minute is how similar this is to, later in the Gospel, Jesus is condemned to die by a ruler (Pontius Pilate) who is sympathetic to man and mission of the one he is condemning.  Pilate also makes the decision to execute to avoid breaking a promise despite his misgivings about doing so. 

The other extra details Mark includes have to do with the identity of Jesus.  Matthew, like Mark, mentions that Herod believes Jesus is John resurrected.  However, Mark adds that others were telling Herod that Jesus was Elijah resurrected. Luke, in his very brief account, actually highlights this same question of Jesus’s true identity.  But Mark takes that issue farther. 

This leads us to the next peculiar detail about Mark’s account.  The story of John’s death seems to be included in a very strange spot in the order of the gospel.  Jesus has just sent out His disciples on their first mission without Him.  Then, abruptly, the scene changes and Mark tells the story about John being killed.  In true Markan fashion, there is no interpretation of the meaning of John’s death.  The story simply ends with John’s disciples collecting and laying John’s body in a tomb.  Immediately after this, the scene rejoins the previous narrative and reports the disciples returning from their first mission.  Why is John’s death reported in between Jesus sending the twelve and the twelve returning?

All this together seems to suggest that it is really important to Mark to clearly distinguish between the identities of John and Jesus for his readers. Even decades after Jesus’s resurrection, the notion that Jesus was simply the return of John or Elijah was popular.  Mark starts his gospel with his explanation of who John is.  John is the one who will prepare the way for Jesus.  Luke starts with Jesus’s birth, Matthew starts with Jesus’s genealogy, and John starts with a theological explanation of how Jesus is God taking human form.  Only Mark starts with John the Baptist right after he says that his mission is to announce “the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son.” (Mark 1:1)  Mark wants his readers to avoid misunderstanding who Jesus is.  He is the very Son of God, and John is nothing more than the preparer of the way about which Isaiah prophesied.   The first expansion of Jesus ministry (the sending of the twelve) has just begun when John’s ministry has ended.  Like John, Jesus will be executed, but unlike John, Jesus will be resurrected.  Mark wants us to see these distinctions.  Jesus is God’s son.  John and/or Elijah are not. 

To be fair, all the gospel writers want that same truth to sink deeply down into our bones.  They go about it differently and I believe that is why it’s important to read all of them carefully.  Understanding the same truth from multiple angles gives us deeper roots in that same truth.    Jesus is God’s son and only Jesus is God’s son – no one else.  No one else deserves the same place in our hearts, minds, and souls.  No one. 

 

Questions:  Who, precisely, is Jesus to you?  If you were writing a gospel account, what would be your angle on Jesus’s identity?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, forgive our frequent misunderstandings of Your truth.  May we experience Your truth in the deepest part of our souls.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for our country as we once again go through a period of uncertainty about the outcome of our national elections.

 

Song:  There’s Something About That Name/All My Hope is In Jesus – Tauren Wells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAZHom9775k