Preparing for Jesus - Mark 6

There’s a lot going on in Mark 6, so let’s get to unpacking.

So for starters, the beginning seems a little odd. All these people who watched Jesus grow up now can’t seem to stand him being thee and preaching. This is probably because when Jesus left, he was simply a carpenter. But he came back a teacher. They knew he had no formal training, (little did they know that he didn’t need it) and so they were angered by the fact that this seemingly ordinary man would have the audacity to just get up and preach to them.

It was disheartening to Jesus, to say the least. See verses 4-6:

“But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”

You can hear the hurt in his voice when he says he’s not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house. These are the people he grew up around, the people that helped raise him and they have rejected his teachings. Rejection is no small thing, especially when it comes from those you love.

So Jesus uses the disciples here. I can’t but help feel like he utilized them in this moment because the people don’t know his disciples. They don’t know where they came from, so they can only assume that they MIGHT have the trainings that they shunned Jesus for not having. So they went out, in pairs, and healed the sick, cast out demons, and preached the word of God.

Next, we’ve got King Herod and John the Baptist. See, John called it like he saw it. If he saw sin, he called it out and didn’t let anything get in his way. They didn’t go over so well with the king and his wife. They were a little upset, especially her, when he told them they needed to repent. She wanted to kill him, but Herod stepped in. Herod knew that John was a holy man, and wanted no part in the killing of him. As a matter of fact, Herod might have actually feared and respected John, if not liking him. 

Herodius is another story. You can tell from the writings that she is out for blood. She doesn’t bother with the niceties or the respect as her husband did. As soon as she had the opportunity, she took his head. It was a grave act, and Herod dreaded it. However, Herod made an oath for his wife’s daughter and decided to stand by it in order to maintain his reputation.

Our reputations will be at risk when we live our lives for Jesus. People will look down on us because we will do what we need to do in order to follow him. That being said, we shouldn’t worry about our reputations here on this earth. Reputation is what killed John the Baptist. Had Herod simultaneously recognized the importance of John and the unimportance of his own reputation, John might not have died that day. The labels of society will drag us down if we let them, and we won’t be of any use to God as fisher of men if we can’t separate ourselves from them.

Lastly, the miracles. Everybody has heard the stories of Jesus feeding the five thousand and of Jesus walking on water. This was a big day for the disciples. They’ve seen the miracles that Jesus performed. They’ve seen him heal people and cast out demons, they’ve even done it themselves. The problem here is that they still have problems believing. I can’t say that I blame them. They brought five loaves of bread and two fish to Jesus and he said, “Okay. Feed these people with that.” Excuse me, what? But Jesus organized these people. He knew what he was doing. He had them sit down in ranks, in assigned amount of people. He knew that he was going to sit down with them and teach them. The disciples I’m sure were in disbelief. But the fact of the matter is that they trusted him in this moment. It took some coaxing, but they trusted him and began to pass out the food. Can you imagine the surprise when they just kept pulling bread out of the baskets? 

Believing is difficult. But when we put our trust in him to accomplish what needs to be accomplished, it WILL be accomplished. It’s not a matter of IF it will be accomplished. We might struggle believing sometimes, but we can’t let that take away from us putting our faith in Him 100% of the time. He should always be first on our minds. When we have difficulties facing the struggles of each day, we have to turn to Him in order to accomplish our tasks. Jesus walked this earth performing miracles in order to show God’s love. It’s now our duty to recognize that and trust that He will have our backs when we have to feed 5,000.

Preparing for Jesus - Mark 5 - Coincidence or Nah?

Do you believe in coincidence? By definition, a coincidence is, “A remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection. We use the term countless times throughout the week. Maybe you see a friend from the town you live in at a coffee shop on the opposite side of the country, and say, “What a coincidence that we are in the same place right now!” Perhaps you happened to go to the same summer camp where you met and got to know a peer who eventually became your spouse. These are only two examples of the many, many occurrences we deem coincidence in our lives. 

As a Christ follower, I don’t believe in coincidence, and I don’t believe things happen on accident or by mistake. As we begin chapter 5 in Mark, it may seem like a coincidence that a demon-possessed man came out of an area with no life in it, burial caves/tombs to be specific, to meet Jesus as he arrived in the region of Gerasenes. 

It’s easy to read the description of this man and assume he is too far gone. Verses 4-5 say, “Whenever he was put into chains and shackles-as he often was- he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day in and day out he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.”

To anyone else, it seems like there is no hope for this man. The enemies within him are too strong, and have taken over too much of the man he once was. He is a man of supernatural, uncontrollable strength living among decaying bodies an isolation away from the life he once knew.

As the chapter continues, it seems as if the spirits are trying to worship and praise Jesus, but it’s really the opposite. 

Verses 6-8: “When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. With a shriek, he screamed, ‘Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!’ For Jesus had already said to the spirit, ‘Come out of the man, you evil spirit.’”

The spirits began to taunt Jesus by tapping into the cultural belief at the time that you have spiritual power over another by saying their exact name. They were trying to take Jesus down with their perceived truth. Jesus soon shows his power and control over them.

Despite attempting to establish dominance and intimidate Jesus with the name “Legion” in verse  9 (Roman legions consisted of about 6,000 men), Jesus proved he did not have to even entertain their superstitions to establish dominance over them given that he already had power over them all. It seems like Jesus also asked the demon’s name to show readers the magnitude of evil this man is filled with, further illustrating His power.

Jesus, being the merciful Father He is, gives the spirits permission to enter a herd of pigs rather than forcing them to a far-away place.

As Jesus arrives back where he came from, a local synagogue leader pleads with Jesus to save his dying daughter. As they journey to the place where the daughter lies, Jesus’ trek is interrupted by a bleeding woman who has entered the crowd with the hope that just one physical interaction with Jesus’ robe will bring healing to her body. Due to the crowds and healing detour, it seems as if they had run out of time. 

Verse 35 says, “While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, ‘Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.’”

If I were the father of the dying little girl, at this point I would have lost my mind. I imagine hearing news of my child dying and immediately falling to the ground, lashing out at anything and everyone around me, and screaming with agony. I would especially want to lash out at the miracle performer who took his time in the crowd of people instead of prioritizing my kid, especially since I called dibs on his power. Thank goodness the story is bigger and better than my mere human perspective. Jesus knew He had enough grace, mercy, and power to tackle all that was before him that day.

I love this passage in Mark because it illustrates that Jesus came for everyone-the demon-possessed and out of control man with no hope, the ostracized “dirty” woman plagued with an isolating illness, and the daughter of a presumably-righteous local religious leader. Jesus offered the same healing power to each of them, regardless of what condition they found themselves in that moment of their lives.

Application Thoughts/Questions

1. Sometimes we feel the need to rush the process and make God work faster. 1. We don’t have that power. 2. There’s no need-he has it all under control and oversees the entire process while we only see the end result (i.e. answers to prayer). In what areas of your life do you need to slow down and trust that God has you in his hands and is handling that which you’ve given Him control over?
2. Are there people in your life that seem too far gone and impossible to heal? Maybe you feel this way about yourself. I encourage you to spend time reading the Bible, talk to people you trust, pursue Truth to combat these lies and embrace Jesus as your healer and Savior, and also pray for those who are in the same boat with their spiritual life.

By Kendra Murray

Preparing for Jesus - Mark 4 - Calming the Storms

There is a lot to write about in Mark 4. But for now I'd like to write about the end of chapter four:

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 

38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Here are some things I notice about Mark four:

- It was Jesus' invitation to take the disciples away from the crowd. Mark doesn't give us any other indication about why this is the case. He doesn't tell us whether Jesus had something on his agenda on the other side, but what I gather from the rest of Jesus' ministry is that Jesus needed the disciples to learn more about who he is, without the multitude around.

- A furious squall came up. The waves crashed over the side of the boat. I've been in boats before, never in a storm, where the waves came up TO the edge of the top of the boat, but never over the sides of the boat. Mark tells us the boat was nearly swamped.

- And while this crazy storm is going on, Jesus is sleeping.

-  This is interesting to me, the disciples eventually come to Jesus and ask him, "Don't you care if we drown?" Like its his fault that they're in this storm, and I guess at some degree you could say it is his fault for initiating a boat ride that caused them to be in this situation. But Jesus was a carpenter, not a boat captain. Wait a minute, aren't there quite a few fishermen on the boat? Shouldn't they be able to guide the rest of the crew through this storm?

- Jesus calms the storm. The challenges their faith.

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There are times, and they should be more frequent than not, that following Jesus will cause us to find ourselves in quite a bit of a storm. Whether it is because we are making righteous decisions in a world that cares nothing about righteousness or whether its putting first things first and sacrificing for them. Sometimes the storms come because Satan sees our life and wants to attack from any angle he can and many times it can cause a storm...and sometimes we can feel like the boat is sinking. 

Do you ever feel like Jesus is sleeping in the middle of your storm? Like he wants you to drown? 

Or maybe its because we try to do everything on our own first and then use Jesus as a last resort. We pray last instead of first. No wonder Jesus is napping when there isn't an invitation for him to contribute in our storm.

Our faith is strengthened when Jesus is our first line of defense, not our last. The disciples are terrified, because they're just now learning the power of God is walking with them, teaching them, and sleeping in their boat. We have the benefit of knowing who Jesus is, yet we why are we so hesitant to call on his power to set the waves in their place, to stop the rain and quiet the thunder?

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Spend some time in prayer today asking God to make it a desire of yours for him to be first. Pray for Him to calm your storm.

By Roger Burns

Preparing for Jesus - Mark 3 - Family is a Powerful Thing

We are only 3 chapters into Mark and already the Pharisees are trying to figure out how to kill him. That’s gotta be some kind of record, right? I mean, we don’t even know his mom’s name yet. WILD.

Anyways. If you’ve been keeping up with the blogs, or even if you know me at all, you know that I really get a kick out of it when Jesus breaks rules or makes people uncomfortable. So Jesus healing on the sabbath is awesome, especially considering he uses it as a teaching moment. I love how in verse 4, Jesus uses their laws against them. 

“Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.”

Doing work, including healing, on the Sabbath was deemed unholy and illegal by the Pharisees. These people claimed to love God and the Holy Spirit, but they would rather let someone die on that day than to risk breaking one of their laws. Jesus calls them out on that, wondering what would be the better path to take. 

We need to think about the rules that we’ve established in our own lives. What can we change in order to help somebody else? Roger’s theme from Mark 2 carries on into the beginning of Mark 3; what could we have in our lives that’s hindering us from saving a life? 

Sometimes some self-evaluation is all we need to make a drastic change. Jesus helped initiate some self-evaluation in a lot of people during his time on earth. He used this tactic down in verses 23-29. It can be a little confusing at first, but he’s basically telling people to use their heads and to think before they speak. At this point, people are running around claiming Jesus is possessed by the devil, yet they’ve seen him drive out demons from others. Simply put, Jesus wants to know who in their right mind would think that Satan would drive out his own demons. 

My favorite part of this passage, though, is verse 35. Sometimes it can be hard to pin-point family. Everybody grew up in a different family life. Some of us had both parents, some had one, and still some had other legal guardians. Some of us had siblings, some didn’t. No matter what lifestyle you grew up in, occasionally you might be left wondering who you can call family. Jesus makes that real easy.

“Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Family is a powerful thing. That bond between Christians, allowing us to provide a family for each other, is enough to keep each other on the right track for God and carrying out his deeds.

By Josh Litscher

We are having some technical difficulties with blogger right now. 

We are trying to get the rest of Preparing for Jesus up to get caught up to date. 

Use this time to get caught up. We will try to have Mark 3, 4, and five up by Friday.

(Hopefully this posts.)

Preparing for Jesus - Mark 2 - Pick up your mat

As Mark 2 begins, people have started to hear about this Jesus guy, the man of miracles shaking things up in their town. News has spread so much that Jesus found himself in a home full of people waiting to see his next move. Due to the home being at capacity with standing room only, some people didn’t quite make it inside to witness Jesus work or receive healing. This obstacle didn’t stop four men from getting a paralyzed man to the Healer. Chapter 2: 2b-5 says:

“While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’”

When I read this verse, I thought to myself, “Wow-they were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend to Jesus.” Then I immediately felt convicted and asked myself, “How desperately do I pursue Jesus?” I need Him each minute of the day, but do I do what is necessary to draw near to him and spend time with him consistently? 

Later on in the chapter Jesus challenges a group of teachers questioning his authority to forgive sins by performing a more “tangible” miracle. Check it out in verses 9-11:

“Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

Jesus didn’t owe these people any kind of explanation, but he was willing to provide visual evidence for His power and authority given by His Father. As frustrating as it can be to read the passages where Jesus’ authority is questioned, I know it resonates with my tendency to sink when I am walking towards him on the water and trying to trust Him when things get hard. From the very beginning Jesus does whatever it takes to prove He is trustworthy, a man of his word, and the Son of God.

As I read verses 9-11 written above, I thought about the times I’ve been paralyzed in my faith-unwilling or unable to move spiritually. I know there are times Jesus probably looks at me and thinks, “What are you doing? Pick up that mat and go!!” Can you think of things hindering steps of faith in your life and movement towards Jesus? Maybe it’s a lack of time in His Word, isolation from a community of believers to share life with, or dependence on your local church to make you grow without tending to your own faith. Perhaps you have emotional walls up because you have been hurt and don’t want to let Jesus into your heart, or maybe you feel like there is nowhere for you to serve and use your gifts at church. Maybe you feel like you have nothing to offer the Kingdom. Whatever it is keeping you from getting up, picking up your mat, and walking toward Jesus, I would encourage you to consider a first step in breaking down the obstacles in order to pursue Jesus in your daily life. Reach out to someone you trust, spend time in prayer, and read His word telling you of the abundant life He has in mind for you. I can assure you that abundant life is not one lived passively on the sidelines. 

Pick up your mat and walk today!!

Preparing for Jesus - Mark 1 - I want more!

This post is a little bit different than others. There is so much in Mark 1. We're not in John anymore, and that obvious.

John is the story teller. He captures us with the details and the gravity by setting the scene and writing about the emotion involved.

Mark, just tells the story. Mark's main purpose is to tell the story of Jesus in a way the proves he's the Son of God. And he does it by telling a lot of different stories in the first chapter but not giving a lot of great detail to any of them.

When I was finished with Mark I was left wanting more.

I want more.

I want more.

Man, I bet Jesus loved hearing me say those words. I bet he loved hearing me say, I want more of God's word, I want more of Jesus.

What if that was our prayer through the rest of Mark. I want more. I want more. I want more.

And the correlation that I know comes with wanting more, is that we'll get moreGod, givers us more!