mark

Know

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Sometimes I forget that even the demons know Jesus. His presence is such that, he doesn’t need to announce himself. They know. I wonder sometimes if the demons would know Jesus in me. Is his presence in me so strong that they would tremble and shriek?

Not only do the demons know Jesus, but they answer to him. So great is the power of the Christ, that in his presence, even the demons must obey his word.

“Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter them.”

So Jesus gave them permission.

Mark 5:12-13a (NLT)

The spirits did not leave the man they were possessing until Jesus gave them permission to do so. Even they knew that, at Jesus’ word, they would have to obey. Remember this: the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in us. The same power that caused demons to flee is in us.

When we know whom we believe (2 Timothy 1:12), we can speak with authority and know that every power of darkness must obey. There is no maybe or if. God promised it, He will perform it. End of story.

Daily Bible reading: Numbers 8-10, Mark 5:1-20

The King and His Thieves

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Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

Mark 3:27 (NLT)

This may be one of the only times where Jesus seems to condone theft. But not just any theft. Let’s give this verse some context:

Jesus has just been doing a bit of his Father’s work by healing people and casting out demons. The local priests have accused him of being possessed by Satan. Jesus is setting them straight by explaining that a house divided cannot stand. If he was working for Satan, why would he be casting out demons? Then he goes on to say that, in order to rob a strong man, an even stronger man has to go in first and tie him up. Wait, what?

The odds that Jesus is actually encouraging people to go into someone’s house, tie him up, and steal his things are, well, none. But in this context of binding the devil, perhaps the strong man Jesus is referring to is Satan himself.

This idea is new to me, so bear with me as I make a feeble attempt to make sense of it all.

We know that, because of sin in the Garden of Eden, man gave authority of the earth to the devil. The earth is now the devil’s “house” and the property in the house is humanity. Salvation is pretty much God stealing from Satan.

When Jesus said that all power and authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him, he’s saying that his is the stronger man who went into the strong man’s house and tied him up. Now the house can be robbed.

Jesus, as the strongest of strong men has done the difficult work. It’s now up to us as the Church to do the rest and go into the house and plunder the goods. To go into the world and preach the Gospel making disciples of all nations.

If we’re stealing back what was already stolen, are we still thieves?

Daily Bible reading: Numbers 3-4, Mark 3:22-35

He’s out of his mind

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Does anyone in your family think you nuts? A little bit off? Maybe they wonder why you do the things you do. They don’t understand your faith. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Even Jesus’ family thought he was nuts.

When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

Mark 3:21 (NLT)

It could very well be that those closest to us, are the furthest from understanding.

Jesus knew what he was all about. He knew what his mission was an the apostles with him, knew Jesus and trusted in him.

But Jesus’ family, the people who should have been the most understanding, thought he was crazy. When the miracles were so numerous that the crowds surrounding him got so large, Jesus and his disciples were unable to find a place to sleep or even eat, Jesus’ family tried to put a stop to it.

They didn’t see the Son of God, they saw the man who forgot to eat. They didn’t see the miracles, they saw the crowds closing in. They didn’t see salvation, they saw a man pulled in every direction.

The point is this: if we wait until everyone around us fully understands what God has called us to do, we’ll never do it. Read your Bible—rarely, if ever, does God’s way make sense to everyone else and sometimes not even to the person doing it.

This isn’t a message to shun your family and break all ties, but it is a word to you to know the One who has called you. This is why Paul said to Timothy, for I know the one in whom I trust. We don’t have to know the what and the why if we know the Who.

Daily Bible reading: Number 1-2, Mark 3:1-21

Hack a hole

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Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. 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.

Mark 2:2-4 (NLT)

Have you ever thought about what this would have been like to experience? Not only being in the presence of Jesus and being able to see and hear him teach while among the crowd, but to have been in the room while a part of the roof was being removed.

I don’t know about you, but as a basement-dweller, I am very much aware of the noise above me. I know the room was crowded and probably on the noisy side, but you can’t tell me that no one noticed as chunks of clay began to fall from the ceiling. Soon, a hole appeared. Someone definitely would have noticed that. And, once the original hole appeared, hands and faces would have been seen as they hole continued to grow.

Now, if you’re sitting in church and suddenly a hole appears in the roof, I have a difficult time believing that the service would go on as usual. Surely, even if the pastor didn’t stop teaching, someone would send an usher or security team member out to see what was going on and try to put a stop to it. But no one did.

Jesus allowed these men to continue to hack a hole in the roof of Peter’s house. He allowed bits of clay to rain down onto the heads of the people below. He didn’t command that they stop and a path be made clear so that the men could walk into the house. Jesus allowed the entire situation to play out before first forgiving the sick man and then healing him.

One commentary calls these men the eager group of interrupters. When the crowds were too dense to pass through, they didn’t turn around and go home. When they received glares from the men in the room (who, by that time wore a dusting of clay), they didn’t stop digging. These eager interrupters didn’t stop what they were doing until their friend was able to walk from the home on his own steam.

At what point would you have stopped? When the crowds were too much? When the climb to the roof with an invalid was too difficult? When the clay on the roof was too thick? When the men below gave you the look of death for disrupting their meeting? When Peter gasped at the sight of the giant hole in his roof?

These men had more opportunities than most to give up, yet they did not. But I believe the most important part of this encounter is Jesus allowing it all to happen. He could have made the job easier, yet he did not. These four crazy friends worked for their buddy’s healing. Their faith took action and nothing was going to stop them, not even Jesus.

Like the strength a butterfly gains from escaping its cocoon, I believe that there are also times where the easy way is not the best way. Would the man’s healing and forgiveness held as much value if they’d been able to walk right in?

Just because Jesus allows difficulties, doesn’t mean he is no longer willing to come to our aid. Perhaps he is rooting for us to build our own strength and faith first.

Daily Bible reading: Leviticus 26-27, Mark 2

I am willing

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A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!”

Mark 1:40-41 (NLT)

I am not a people person. There are days when, if I know I will have to be around more people than normal for an extended period of time, I’ll lock myself away to be alone. I don’t take kindly to interruptions on those days.

Yet Jesus, no matter what day it was—if a close relative or friend died, if he’d already been surrounded by people for days, if he’d been preaching for hours—never turned anyone away. Not only did he not turn anyone away, he willingly healed them.

I am constantly in awe of Jesus’ compassion. It knows no end. We can go to him with anything at any time and he is willing.

He is willing.

Daily Bible reading: Leviticus 24-25, Mark 1: 23-45

House Rules

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Growing up, we had house rules. There were certain guidelines anyone living or coming in to our home were expected to abide by. There were different rules at my cousin’s house. Different rules at my grandparent’s house. Different rules at all of my friends’ houses. Every house has its own set of rules.

All through Leviticus, God is telling Israel to be holy because I am holy. He basically tells them that they are who they are because of Him. He is Lord. He is holy. Because He is Lord, they have the opportunity to be made holy. He says, “I am the Lord who makes them holy.” (Leviticus 21:23) House rules.

So long as Israel called themselves set apart to be God’s people—along with anyone else who may be living with them—they were set apart. To continue to be set apart, there was a rule book to comply with. A pretty strict set of instructions, if you ask me, but those were God’s house rules. So long as you abide by them, you can stay in the house. If you break them, out you go.

Though we no longer abide by the Levitical law, there were still a great many things that Jesus told us to do: love God, love your neighbours, repent from your sin, follow me, keep your word, don’t lust, seek first the kingdom of God… Jesus outlined what a life following him should look like. He taught it. He lived it. He wrote new house rules.

My question to the Church would be this: if you don’t keep the house rules, what makes you think you’re still able to live in the house? The rule always was (and still is) that, as long as you live under this roof, you abide by these rules. God basically said the same thing in Leviticus and Jesus reiterated it in the Gospels. Where do we get off trying to break the rules and think we get to stay in the house?

We can be made holy by one thing and one thing alone—the blood of Jesus Christ. By accepting his blood, we accept his teachings, and we accept his name as our own. We make the decision to live a life set apart. We live by a different rule book. And here’s the catch—we don’t make the rules and we don’t get to change the rules. It’s not our house. It’s God’s house.

Daily Bible reading: Leviticus 22-23, Mark 1:1-22

Forsake

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“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mark 15:34b (ESV)

As Easter draws near, many people around the world are made more aware of the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus, the death and resurrection being the main focus. And so they should be. Without either, our faith is nothing but an empty shell.

In reading this verse again, I began to think of what the cross really meant, not for us, but for Jesus. As he was held to wooden beams with thick, heavy nails driven through his flesh and bones, he not only experienced unbearable physical pain, but, as he cried out, he felt the pain of abandonment.

What does it really mean to be forsaken?

To quit or leave entirely; to desert; to abandon; to depart from.

To abandon; to renounce; to reject.

To leave; to withdraw from; to fail.

In scripture, God forsakes his people, when he withdraws his aid, or the light of his countenance.

How would it have felt to know that your father, The Unfailing God, failed you? To know the one who would never leave has left?

Jesus felt on the cross what no other human being in history ever felt – to be completely and utterly forsaken. Never once before or since has anyone ever been so thoroughly separated from the rest of the world. And never before or since was there anyone less deserving to have endured what Jesus endured.

Next time you feel alone, left out, abandoned, remind yourself that you are not alone. You are not left out. You are not abandoned. Jesus endured it all so we would never have to.

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 28, Mark 15:27-47

Silence

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Silence truly is a virtue. I’ve spent much of my life merely observing. And those times when I chose to participate, my mouth often gets me in trouble.

But he [Jesus] remained silent and made no answer.

Mark 14:61 (ESV)

In the face of his accusers, Jesus chose silence over argument. He already knew what was to come, there was no use in trying to change the situation.

I think I can safely say that none of us has ever faced crucifixion. But we will often face questioning when our words will get us nowhere. Rather than making an attempt to argue your point when you already know what the outcome will be, try silence. Be the bigger person. Avoid further conflict.

There are times for words and there are times for silence. Silence is often more valuable.

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 23-25, Mark 14:51-72

Costly

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When was the last time you gave until it hurt? Maybe not literally hurt, but pained you to do so?

A woman approached him with an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She opened the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.

Mark 14:4b (NCV)

When was the last time you poured out a year’s salary? That’s what this woman did. The perfume she poured over Jesus was worth roughly the annual wage of an average labourer. Of course, Jesus’ disciples balked at the action seeing only the value of the offering and not the offering for what it was:

This woman did the only thing she could do for me; she poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial.

Mark 14:8 (NCV)

We read the story now and shake our heads at the disciples (as we often seem to do), but the woman is honoured.

I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her.

Mark 14:9 (NCV)

Her costly honour of Jesus put her into history books – literally. She gave a costly gift, not because she wanted to be praised for the expense, but because she wanted to honour Jesus sacrifice with a sacrifice of her own.

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 17-19, Mark 14:1-25

Stay Awake

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Be on guard. Keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

Mark 13:33 (ESV)

I like to sleep. I love to sleep. As much as I love church, I most often wake up on Sunday mornings thinking about the nap I’ll take in the afternoon. There’s a time change this weekend. I’ll lose an hour of sleep. But I get to nap on Sunday afternoon. Sleep is good.

While sleep is good and necessary for the body, the Church as a whole is pretty sleepy these days. Jesus told his disciples to be on guard. Don’t fall asleep! Keep watch! When the Church gets dozy, the world starts to fall apart.

We can blame politicians all we want, but where is the Church when morality sinks a little lower? Where is the Church when war breaks out? Where is the Church when hearts are broken? She’s asleep. Like the disciples when Jesus went to the garden to pray. They only had one job – stay awake and pray, but they fell asleep when Jesus needed them the most.

Jesus needs us. If he is coming back for his bride, the bride had better be ready. She had better be prepared. She had better be dressed in white. She had better be awake.

And what I say to you I say to you all: Stay awake.

Mark 13:37 (ESV)

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 14-16, Mark 13:14-37