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