Author: Megan Langan

Remember

Re:Verse passage – Luke 24:1-12 (day four)

Have you ever gotten emotional whiplash? When the events of life come at you so quickly with both bad news and good news that it’s hard to catch your breath? The women had just witnessed their Lord die a traumatic death, and in their grief they intended to do what they knew how to do – care for his body with respect and dignity. They arrive expecting to find a quiet, somber scene but instead find the tomb empty and angels in their midst! I would have passed out on the spot.

But the angels speak a word of peace to them, “remember.” The women were close enough to Jesus to have been there when he had foretold of his suffering, death, and resurrection. They were in the inner circle enough to have heard these things that they didn’t quite understand. The angels prompt them to remember that Jesus had already given them the blueprint of how things would turn out. He had already prepared them and given them everything they would need. Remembering his words filled them with hope.

We have likewise been given everything we need in this life through the witness of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. What words of Jesus do you need to remember? What promise has he given you for you to meditate on? Return to those words and be filled with hope.

Contrast

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:28-44 (day four)

While Jesus didn’t enter his coronation parade like a typical king, robed in purple and mounted on a war horse, he was still surrounded by pomp and circumstance. While Luke focuses on the reaction of the disciples, we know from the other gospel accounts that a large crowd had gathered, echoing the disciples’ praise, calling out Hosannas, waving palm branches and loudly worshipping.

In the student guide for this Re:Verse series, Patricia Beck points out the irony of this moment beautifully. While the disciples and the crowd are rightfully praising Jesus as king, Jesus isn’t reveling in glory, he’s filled with sadness. When he made the final turn in the parade toward Jerusalem, he wept over the city. We don’t know how the crowd reacted to this or who witnessed his emotion, but it’s a stark contrast to the mood of the triumphal celebration behind him.

Jesus laments over the city of Jerusalem, knowing that they would soon suffer violence and destruction. They had “missed the time of their visitation.” Their minds laid superficially elsewhere as they remained concerned about their political standing with Rome, not their spiritual standing with God. He had come to them, Immanuel, yet they missed it. How heartbreaking this scene is.

As the Holy Spirit constantly works and moves among us, may we not become so focused on earthly trials that we miss heavenly miracles. The promised one has come. Hosanna!

Search

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?

Spirit

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.”

Breaking Bread

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.

Power

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?

 

Authority

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.

Marveled

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?

Miracle and Message

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.

 

Desperation

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.