Week 14

 Monday, March 31

Mark 5:1-20

         

Commentary

            We saw at the end of the last chapter that Jesus has the power to rebuke even the power of a harsh sea storm, and our passage today shows us Jesus’ power to rebuke the demonic and restore the cast out and marginalized. The description we get of the demon-possessed man is pitiful and tragic. He is so out of his mind and so marginalized he lives in the graveyard. Not everyone abandoned him as soon as he started acting like this, since people tried to restrain him from hurting himself, but by this point, everyone has given up. Nothing else could be done to help him, and night and day he would wander around the graveyard and hills nearby, wailing and cutting himself. On his own, this man can do absolutely nothing to help himself; all he can do is hurt himself and cry out in misery. His sorry state is a great picture of how lost we all are without God’s work to deliver us from our sins. All any of us can do to be delivered from sin and Satan is fall on our knees in front of God and beg for his mercy to heal us.

Jesus has mercy on this man, healing him at the cost of the lives of the entire herd of pigs. Jesus cast the demons away from any other people they could harm and he showed that one person is that much more important than any amount of animal lives. Pigs and fish and lizards and puppies are all wonderful, beautiful, good creatures. God made them with love to glorify himself and for us to enjoy, but nothing he created is more important to him than people, who he made in his own image. The man, understandably, wants to go with Jesus, but Jesus tells him instead to go and be a witness of Jesus in his community. The townsfolk saw a drastically different man than they knew – what better way could there be to show how Jesus can heal and change broken lives?

 

Application/Discussion

1. We can trust Jesus’ power. He has power over a hurricane and a legion of demons, power to do what nobody else can, power to turn sinners into saints, power to raise the dead to life, and power to help and comfort us. What problems are you dealing with today? How can you put these problems in his hands?

2. We are called to share Jesus’ love after he saves and heals us. What are some ways you can do that this week?

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for the healing and salvation he gives to us through Jesus.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in loving others and sharing the gospel.

3. Pray for the salvation of a lost person you know well and ask the Holy Spirit to give you an opportunity to share the gospel with him or her.

 

Going Deeper

Russell Moore preached a great sermon on this passage that has stuck with me and still comes to mind when I read these verses today:

·      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fq3pjpnJM0

Tuesday, April 1

Mark 5:21-43

 

Commentary

          This passage is a tale of two ladies – a young girl who is dying and a woman who has been plagued by a health issue for years – and how Jesus brings perfect healing to both of them. The father of the dying girl, Jairus, shows incredible humility. As a synagogue leader, someone who should know his Bible stuff well and knows the religious big wigs hate Jesus by this point, he knows the issue before him is one that only Jesus can help with.

Jesus is very popular at this point, so popular, in fact, that on the way to help one person, he is interrupted by another person needing help. This woman had a bleeding disorder (a lady problem), and despite all her efforts and time, and money, nothing could help her – her problem actually got worse! Nothing in the world could help her. And, because of this issue, she would be considered unclean – all the time, without break. No physical contact with others, no admittance to the synagogue or the temple – she was a lonely and helpless person. She should not have been in a crowd of people, who might accidentally touch her, let alone touch a rabbi! But she hears of Jesus and believes that just by touching part of his clothes she could be made well. Like Jairus, she puts her reputation on the line to receive Jesus’ help.

Jesus knew the woman had touched him – he was, after all, God in the flesh. Like God asking “Where are you?” to Adam and Eve, Jesus asked who touched him to draw out this woman and speak with her. And when he speaks to her, rather than rebuke her for touching him or for hiding, he calls her a daughter and tells her to go in peace because her faith has made her well. How could her faith make her well? Because of who that faith was in, Jesus. Note that Jesus healed both her illness and, by this, the source of her uncleanness. She can be free to live her life in good health and in communion with God and others. That is what salvation and sanctification do: as we learn to love God rightly, we learn to love others rightly.

 

Application/Discussion

1. Jesus was always ready to serve others, whether he was at his destination or on the way. May we also always be ready to serve the Lord – we never know who we might run into or how we can show them Jesus!

2. Reflect on your response to hardship. Trials come upon us all, when they do, will we do? What will we trust in? How can you prepare yourself to keep God’s promises on your mind and put God first in adversity?

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for healing our sin and our isolation from him and his people through the work of Christ.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in having patience and trusting in God in hardship.

3. Pray for God to grant endurance and healing to you and/or loved ones dealing with health issues.

 

Going Deeper

Tim Keller has an excellent sermon on this passage:

·       https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/the-timing-of-jesus

Wednesday, April 2

Mark 6:1-29

 

Commentary

Today, we see just how spiritually blind and deluded people are with God’s saving power in their lives. The folks in Jesus’ hometown looked him in the face, heard him teaching and heard reports of his incredible miracles, yet the only thing they could is ask if he was the neighbors’ boy. This is likely why Jesus “could do no mighty work there” – they didn’t believe in him and thus the miracles would have done nothing for them. If any place in the Bible shows us that signs and miracles will not produce faith, it is here! Despite the unbelief of the town, what does Jesus do while he is there? Heal the sick. Even among an incredibly hard-hearted, unbelieving group of people, Jesus still has compassion for the helpless and the hopeless.

When his hometown rejects him, Jesus goes right on to the next group of lost folks to preach to them. This is a good lesson for us in evangelism – sharing the gospel may not go well every time, but our task is to share and plant seeds, not open closed hearts. Jesus tasks his apostles with this same kind of evangelistic work. Jesus told the apostles to expect two things on their ministry circuit: God’s provision and man’s rejection. Mark’s description of their time in this task is brief, but we see that they did indeed preach faithfully and help many folks.

Finally, we see the persecution faced by John the Baptist, leading ultimately to his death. Here’s an example of one of the soils in the parable from Mark 4. Herod heard the word, received it gladly, and yet, as we will see, the world choked it up and the plant withered. Herod was in an illegitimate marriage, which John the Baptist had called him out on. Thus, Herod, seemingly at the urging of his wife or at least for the sake of her reputation, imprisoned John. Herod was afraid to kill him and gladly heard John’s words, but makes a probably drunken and certainly foolish bet that leads to him having to execute John. Looking at these three connected stories today, we see three sets of “prophets without honor.” Though disrespected by men throughout their ministries, these men did indeed have honor before God. We do not want to hear the praises of men, we want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

 

Application/Discussion

1. If even Jesus faced rejection and lack of respect, why should we expect people would any regard for us? Have you faced rejection or persecution for your faith? What is the best way to respond in these situations?

2. How do you serve God with your life? Do you expect God to commend you for your faithful service? How can you love and serve God this week?

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for sending Jesus to face the rejection and scorn of sinful men and dying for our sins to save us.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in putting God’s kingdom first and strive to live out our faith and share the gospel.

3. Pray for the salvation of a lost person you know by name.

Thursday, April 3

Mark 6:30-56

 

Commentary

We now come to Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, has compassion for lost sheep without a shepherd. He provides for them, teaching them and miraculously feeding them. Much like Psalm 23, Jesus makes them lie down in green pastures and their provision is overflowing. Next, we see Jesus again assert his authority over the elements and protect his disciples. The disciples do not understand that Jesus is this great protector and provider, even after seeing him show this in the miracle of the loaves and fishes. We can easily look down on the disciples for their hard-heartedness – after all, if they have seen Jesus do this many incredible miracles, how could they doubt him or misunderstand him? Yet how many times has God provided for us, and how often do we still doubt or disobey?

Jesus then heals numerous people, showing his love and care. His reputation precedes him when he gets ashore and folks are bringing their sick to him everywhere he goes. A lot of these people probably just wanted a doctor, although hopefully many of them sought out Jesus because they genuinely believed he was the Savior God had promised. For those of us with people to care for – kids, patients, ailing parents, friends with emotional issues or difficult relationships, and so on – takes notes here. Good friends, good parents, good teachers, and so on bring those they are entrusted with to Jesus. If you cannot offer someone anything else, you can always offer them the very best – Christ and his salvation. Share the gospel with those around you, it is the greatest act of love, protection, and service you can do for someone!

 

 

Application/Discussion

1. In what ways has God provided for you in the past? How can this provision encourage you and help you to trust God will continue to provide for you?

2. Take a few extra minutes to read through Psalm 23 and consider how applies to Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for Jesus providing for his by laying down his life as our sacrifice.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in trusting and obeying God, especially in response to what God does in our lives and what he teaches us in his Word.

3. Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower your church members to be faithful witnesses of God’s love and help to your community.

Friday, April 4

Mark 7:1-23

 

Commentary

In this chapter, Jesus challenges the religious leaders’ legalistic and insincere attempts at godliness. First, they complain that Jesus disciples did not wash their hands. This was not a sanitation concern; it was an extrabiblical command that earlier religious teachers had laid down and the Pharisees continued. Of course, as Jesus said, they maintained this tradition not out of love for God, but out of an attempt to buy God’s favor with legalistic ritual. As a further example of these legalistic rituals, Jesus condemns their laws about parental obligation. As part of honoring their parents, children should take care of their aging parents, but the religious leaders had instituted a loophole – children could weasel out of this responsibility by saying they are devoting their resources to the Lord only.

Jesus says they have many traditions that similarly neglect or twist God’s Word in favor of manmade rules and adds that what a person eats, whether certain foods or foods eaten with dirty hands, does not defile a person. Instead, our sinful hearts defile us. James describes this well: “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15) Sin corrupts us all the way to the core, and we need God’s cleansing from the inside out. This can only come from God’s forgiveness and renewal, our attempts at godly living will not remove the root of sin in our hearts or grant us forgiveness. We need a perfect Savior and sacrifice, and that’s exactly what Jesus came to earth to be. To him be the glory!

 

Application/Discussion

1. Do you struggle with legalistic tendencies, or are you more inclined to struggle with not taking sin seriously? How does regularly reading God’s Word, all of it, not just our favorite parts, help us have a healthy balance?

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for seeking and saving us when we are lost in our sin.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in obeying God’s commands and avoiding either legalism or lawlessness.

3. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help for your church’s pastors and teachers, as well as the church as a whole, to be faithful, humble, loving, and evangelistic.

Saturday, April 5

Mark 7:24-37

Commentary

This is quite the passage to interpret, but its one of my favorites. Jesus encounters a Gentile woman who begs him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus tells her something that seems harsh (and confusingly irrelevant), but it makes sense when you understand their context. In Jesus’ day, the Jews called the Gentiles (non-Israelites) all kinds of mean names, one of them being “dog.” What Jesus was saying is that she is a Gentile and his mission is to Israel. He says this in such a strong way that if she was not truly interested in Jesus, if she was just seeking him for magic tricks and problem-solving rather than coming to him in faith, she would just leave. However, she is genuinely interested in Jesus so rather than take offense at his statement, she replies with humility. She acknowledges that she does not truly have a place at the table here, but she asks for Christ’s mercy anyways. Jesus heals her daughter in response to this humility.

Jesus also heals a man who has been deaf and unable to speak. As Alan Cole explained, “The actions used by Jesus were intended to make the man understand that this was not healing by magic but healing by God in answer to prayer. Jesus wanted to create faith in the man before he would heal. So, deafness was imitated by stopping the man’s ears, and healing of dumbness imitated by touching his tongue and spitting out. Looking up to heaven and sighing were visible pictures of prayer that a deaf and dumb man could understand.”^[1] When he heals him, he tells him not to speak about the miracle to anyone. This is the “Messianic secret” motif – Jesus often told people not to speak of him so he could avoid unnecessary controversies or opposition. Yet the witnesses ignore this warning and cannot help but tell others about him. They are amazed by Jesus’ great power. They should have marveled; this was the power of God himself, the divine Son of God anointed by the Spirit of God, coming to save the lost and the hopeless. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

 

Application/Discussion

1. Truly, none of us have a right to God’s help and salvation. We should all, like this woman, acknowledge our unworthiness to take part in God’s blessings.

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for the salvation that is offered to us thanks to the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you be humble and reliant on God.

3. Pray for the salvation of two lost people you know by name.

 

Going Deeper

Tim Keller’s sermon was especially helpful for me as I tried to understand this passage:

·      https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/goodness-and-severity/

 

Sunday, April 6

Mark 8:1-26

 

Commentary

If this chapter seems familiar, you’ll want to look back just a couple pages in your Bible to see the earlier, similar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Jesus repeats that kind of miracle in our passage today, but the disciples are still slow to understand. As soon as there was a hungry crowd, the disciples should have realized Jesus could take care of things. Instead, they are wondering what to do as if Jesus has never done anything miraculous at all!

Even more surprisingly, shortly after, the disciples are out of food and instead of asking Jesus to do another miracle, they discuss it amongst themselves. As Alan Cole wisely explained, “Mark seems to have told this story to underline the total failure of the Twelve to understand, and perhaps to give the reason: they were still too much influenced by the thinking of this world… They should have seen that the yeast of the Pharisees was their whole attitude to life, which would affect the disciples unless they took care. We too need to be constantly on our guard against the ‘spirit of the age’ or the thinking and teaching of the other religions that surround us.”^[2]

Then we see Jesus healing a blind man. Just as Jesus could open the eyes of his disciples to understand his teaching and miracles, he could help this man to see. At first, he sees things faintly, like the disciples are understanding things only partially now, but then, the man can see fully. Similarly, God gradually works in our hearts and minds to help us understand more and more about him. Trust him, ask for his help, and watch as he grows and sanctifies you in mighty ways, all for his service and his glory!

 

Application/Discussion

1. How are you striving to grow in your faith? Are you reading your Bible regularly, both as a family (if you live with family) and as an individual? Are you involved in your church?

 

Points of Prayer

1. Thank God for his saving us from our sin, growing us in our faith, and promising our glorification in heaven if we know Jesus as our Savior.

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in understanding God’s Word, blessing your devotional time, and increasing in love for God and his Word.

3. Pray for the Holy Spirit to bless your pastors as they preach and lead, your teachers as they teach, and your deacons as they serve.

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^[1] R. Alan Cole, “Mark,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 963.

^[2] R. Alan Cole, “Mark,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 963.