Author: Megan Langan

Re:Verse passage – Mark 7:1-23 (day four)

Jesus draws a very clear distinction between two forms of the inner life. One is prideful and self-absorbed, making an idol of oneself and “righteous” to a T. The other is one that prays Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

Ironically, the Pharisees would have known this Scripture. It is a vulnerable thing to ask the Spirit to search you, but the more you do, the more you experience God’s gentle conviction and loving kindness. The Pharisees in their pride were not gentle, though. They bullied others with their law-keeping and  condemned them with their self-righteousness.

Which inner life will you choose? What areas of your life do you need to ask the Spirit to search?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:45-53 (day four)

It’s passages like this one that help me understand Jesus’ words in John 16:7, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Jesus’ very presence changed the disciples situation. As he spoke to them on the sea, their fear turned to peace, their chaos turned to calm. Jesus climbed into the boat with them, and they immediately felt courage and comfort.

When Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to his rightful place with the Father, he sent us the Holy Spirit. Now, the very Spirit of God dwells in those who believe. Through the power of the Spirit, people across the world and across time are now afforded the courage and comfort that the disciples experienced on the boat that day. When the Spirit abides in us, we have everything we need to weather each storm. The Spirit speaks the very words of Jesus, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:30-44 (day four)

Jesus wasn’t just filling a physical need when he broke the bread and multiplied the meal that day. He was instilling what would become an important tradition in the family of God.

Consider the subsequent times Jesus engages with others over food. At the Last Supper, he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to those around the table as a sign of the sacrifice he would soon make on their behalf. That meal became a core memory for everyone present. After his resurrection, Jesus appears to the disciples on the beach and cooks them a holy breakfast, also involving a miracle of multiplication. That meal provided restoration of friendship and soothed the disciples’ souls. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish to feed the hungry crowd, he was showing the disciples what was possible in the new rules of the Kingdom of God.

In Acts 2, in the earliest days of the church after Jesus had ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, notice what the disciples do. They devote themselves to certain things: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. The disciples had been watching. Jesus showed them that it was about more than food, it was about building a new, beloved community over that which satisfies the soul.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:14-29 (day four)

There are intervals throughout the gospels where we check in on the Herodian dynasty, and it’s always a grim picture. This seat of earthly power displays paranoia and fear upon hearing the news of Jesus’ birth. This fear led to violence and destruction. As we check in on the dynasty here, we see that same fear and paranoia has only increased. Herod is spinning out of control, and his death grip on power will cause even more violence and destruction than intended in himself and in the community.

Desire for earthly power leads to insecurity, suspicion, and loneliness. That white-knuckle grip on power will hurt us and those around us in unexpected, out-of-control ways. Kingdom power, on the other hand, isn’t a power based on insecurity or exclusion. It’s not scarce or fearful of others. It’s based on the freedom and glory found in Christ. It invites others in, builds unlikely bridges, and leaves peace where there was once chaos. It loosens our white-knuckle grip and lets us live with joy, knowing that God is both powerful and trustworthy.

Rather than finding ways to cozy up to earthly power, how might you walk in Kingdom power instead?

 

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:7-13 (day four)

The disciples were sent on this journey without any supplies for earthly flashiness or status. They were meant to go about this work with humility. The two things they were sent out with, though, are authority and community.

jesus gave them authority. They didn’t have any of their own, nor could they project earthly authority with possessions, but they were given authority in their ministry straight from Jesus, God the Son. Through the power of the Spirit, we’ve been given this kind of authority too. The prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective because Jesus graciously gives us authority for them to be so.

They were also sent out in community. Where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, he is present with them. A community that walks in the authority that Jesus gives them is more powerful than we can comprehend.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:1-6 (day four)

There are two stories in the gospels that tell us Jesus “marveled” at something. Your translation might say “wondered” –  either way, this phrase is meant to portray amazement over something. In our text in Mark, Jesus marvels at the unbelief of the people who “knew him when.” He is amazed at their lack of faith, and that these of all people would sit in the seat of scoffers.

The other story where we see this phrase is with the centurion in Matthew 8 and Luke 7. Though he’s an unlikely candidate for following Jesus, the centurion shows such great confidence of faith that Jesus marvels at him. He marvels over the lack of faith in places where it should be plentiful, and over the greatness of faith in places where it is uncommon.

The idea that Jesus, who is fully man but also fully God, would marvel at anything is amazing. He marvels over that which is important to him. These stories give us two options for how we can respond to Jesus. Will we join the prideful row of scoffers? Or will we give him the full confidence of our faith?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 5:21-34 (day four)

Scripture tells of Jesus doing so many miracles, that the reader might mistakenly conclude that they were effortless for him, or that he was just performing miracles right and left. We, in our human thinking, focus on the miracle itself, but this story reminds us that performing miracles was not Jesus’ primary concern.

My favorite professor at Baylor would often repeat, “It’s never about the miracle, but about the message.” This story of the bleeding woman is a perfect example of this. If it were simply about the miracle, Jesus would have perceived that power had left him and kept right on walking – unconcerned with who he had healed. The miracle would still have occurred and the women would have received what she needed. But it’s not about the miracle.

Jesus stopped, intent on finding the person who had been healed. He had something even greater to offer than physical healing – a loving, redeeming relationship with the God of the universe. He ministered to this woman who had lost everything, bringing her into the family of God by calling her “daughter.” Jesus gave her the miracle, but he also gave her the message – the good news of salvation. Miracles are beautiful, but they’re always meant to be a sign that points to the message. The message is this: the Kingdom of God is at hand.

 

Re:Verse passage – Mark 5:21-23, 35-43 (day four)

Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue, which means he had probably heard both the glowing testimonies and the snide complaints about Jesus. If he had never experienced the emergency of his daughter being sick, I wonder what he would have concluded about Jesus? Would he still have committed himself to him and believed? Would he have taken the tone of the other synagogue leaders who looked on Jesus with disdain?

Desperation causes us to say and do things we wouldn’t normally do, but it also shows us what we really believe. Knowing he might later face social consequences from interacting with Jesus, he chose in desperation to have hope that Jesus was the healer others proclaimed him to be. Through this one moment of desperate faith, he and his family experienced the power of God in a way that changed them forever.

In your moments of desperation, have faith that Jesus is as good as he says he is.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 4:35-41 (day four)

Have you ever had to make a road trip that you weren’t all that excited about? It’s one thing to have to travel somewhere you don’t want to go, but if something upsetting or inconvenient happens on the way, it makes the trip even worse. If you pop a tire or get into a fender bender in the middle of a trip you didn’t want to make, that’s enough to make anyone grumpy.

In Jesus’ day, there were different people groups on each side of the Sea of Galilee. The Jews were on the west side, and Gentiles were on the east. When Jesus and his disciples got on the boat in Capernaum to “get to the other side,” that meant they were traveling to the Gentile-dominated part of the area, an area that many of the disciples had probably avoided in the past. This was probably not a boat ride they were thrilled about. And then, a storm picks up. I’m sure they had plenty of unhappy thoughts running through their minds until they finally burst our in frustration and fear towards Jesus.

But in Christ, nothing happens in vain. The disciples were about to see that even the weather responds to Jesus. Next, and perhaps even more impressively, they’ll see through his ministry on the other side of the sea that even the Gentiles respond to him. Jesus uses miracles in the same way he uses parables – to teach us about who he is and the nature of the kingdom of God. When Jesus calms the storm on the way to minister to pagans, we see that Jesus is truly the king of heaven and earth, and that his kingdom is open to every nation. What will our response to him be?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 4:26-32 (day four)

God made this earth and called it good, and all of creation proclaims the glory of God and speaks to his character. Nature doesn’t just make for a great metaphor, it directly shows us God’s goodness and helps us understand how to live as a result. In this parable, nature shows us how to trust in what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin calls “the slow work of God.”

The farmer plants the seed in faith that it will slowly, in the right time, produce fruit. Even if we have a degree in agriculture and understand how plants produce, it is still nothing short of a miracle that God allows fruit to come, slowly but surely, through a small seed. A favorite worship song of mine proclaims, “Oh how nature acquaints us with the nature of patience!”

God is making all things new and establishing his Kingdom in his perfect timing, and we wait longingly for the final harvest when Christ returns in glory. But in the meantime, we have been given everything we need through the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to “trust in the slow work of God.”