The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:23-28 (day two) 

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. vs. 27

As I was studying this passage this morning I referred to the notes in Bible’s commentary section. After referring to the passage that Jesus referenced,   (1 Samuel 21:1-6), it spoke of the difference between the letter and the spirit of the law. I am not a legal scholar, but I do know that Jesus was not trying to be above the law. He did, however, understand why they law existed. He knew the tendency of man to sin and the necessity to point back to a better way. He also knew that meeting people where they are is crucial to getting them to where they need to be. Caring for people is never wrong. Do we see the needs of our neighbors, or do we see how they are not living like us? How can they ever know love if we refuse to see them until they are like us?

 

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day seven) 

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results.” vs 21

These other disciples were stuck trying the same routines and rhythms that had been in place for centuries. To put this verse in to modern context, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” What they were doing was not working (not because of the fasting but because of the mindset behind it). In fact what this verse tells us is that if they continue in these ways, they would make the tear even bigger. Why? Because if we attempt to solve our problems with anything that is of our own doing as opposed to God, we are simply covering up the problem, not fixing it. In order to fix the problem, we must become of the same material in order that we might be sewn together seamlessly. We must become like Jesus!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day six)

A really good question often leads to a really good answer. This question posed by John’s followers and the pharisees certainly fit that description. Although they both may have had ulterior motives, the answer was revealing all the same, if they were willing to see it.

Fasting, as it was practiced, was intended to serve a particular purpose. When genuine it demonstrated repentance (or mourning) and anticipation of God fulfilling his promise to send the messiah. Jesus clearly reveals the purpose of the fast had been fulfilled because the groom has come!

If the disciples had insisted on fasting they would have missed the point altogether; they would have missed Jesus.

So, Jesus asks us too, are there good things in our lives, that once served a good purpose, but now only keep us from seeing and savoring Jesus? Is there anything that now robs us rather than helps us? That binds us or blinds us, rather than setting us free to be his children in a hurting world?

Good questions often lead to good answers. Will you ask them with me?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day five) 

“Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.”  What the Pharisees wanted and practiced (some scholars suggest they were fasting twice a week) was a religion that focused on their “actions, habits, and rituals”. It ignored or minimized the presence and fellowship of God (bridegroom).  It made much of themselves.

In contrast, Jesus was pointing them to His mission and ministry- a right relationship with God through the Son (New Testament bridegroom). Jesus was teaching that the goal of actions, habits, and rituals should be to grow, strengthen, and nurture our relationship with God. His nearness/presence and fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit become reason for joy and celebration!!  It’s the reason we pray and fast- to be near/close.

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

Oh, the pure delight of a single hour That before Thy throne I spend, When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God.
I commune as friend with friend!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day four)

Fasting and prayer are a method to focus our undivided attention on God and to discover His perspective or direction.  The Pharisees fasted because it was part of the law…they did it out of legalistic following of the law of Moses.  They had no desire to really know the mind of God.  They already knew (or thought they knew!) how God’s plan would work out and that a military leader, the Messiah, would come and free Israel from the oppression of Rome.  John’s disciples, on the other hand, fasted because they were truly looking for the Messiah.  They had not yet recognized that Jesus was who they were looking for, so they continued to search.  They thought it was John, but John said no.

Jesus’ disciples recognized Him as God’s Son.  They did not have to ask God to direct them, they just had to listen to Jesus.  The time would come when they would fast and pray, but not while Jesus was with them.  Where are you?  Are you ignoring…are you seeking…have you found…are you serving?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day three)

“One puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

Across the Old and New Testaments, the witness of the Bible is that God shatters the understanding of what’s possible. God is “going to do something new;” he’s “created a new thing on the earth;” the Lord is “making all things new.” And when the Bible says new, it means new: the insignificant soaring to greatness, the weak confounding the strong, the meek inheriting the earth, the blind seeing, the captive tasting freedom, and ultimately, the dead rising to life. What do all these new possibilities require? A place to take root. If God were to confront you with a new possibility – which often looks like something you would least consider to be a work of God – would you recognize it? It’s likely he’s confronting you all the time. Take a second look.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day two) 

“Is this not the fast which I choose,
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the bands of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free
And break every yoke?
“Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58:6-7

If there was a subtext to what Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, surely this was it. Those who should know better were fixating on minutiae rather than the heart of what we are called to do. The prophet Isaiah saw this, Jesus saw this, and it is fair to assume that we still focus on the small details rather than the heart of our call. Our ministry is to help set free those who are imprisoned by their sin. Those who are shackled by the weight of their choices; we are to be a buoy of hope. We must never forget what the true purpose of any ritual we adhere to. If we can’t see the helpless around us, we are likely missing the point.

 

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:13-17 (day seven)

Mark 2:14 – “And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.”

I often think about the willingness of the disciples to drop everything they had and everything they were doing to follow Jesus. Jesus simply says, “Follow me,” and the scriptures inform us of the ready hearts of the people Jesus called. There is no hesitation. The Bible does not indicate that there was any internal debating going on with the disciples. Levi (Matthew) simply rose up from his table and went after Jesus. He even jumped in with both feet by inviting his friends and colleagues to come and listen to Jesus while they ate a meal together.

These verses always make me take an inventory of my relationship with Christ. Am I ready to follow Him more closely, if need be? Am I ready to have the Gospel conversations with the people that He has placed in my life? Am I willing to get uncomfortable to do what He is calling me to do? Am I ready to stand before the Lord today and say, “Nothing stopped me from wholeheartedly following you!”

Is the Lord calling you to follow Him more closely today? Is He pressing on your heart if you are ready to do what He has laid before you?