The Everyday Prayer

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

The Lord is King! Let the earth rejoice! Let the farthest coastlands be glad. – Psalm 97:1

This was the Psalm I read early this morning, coffee in hand, on our first full day in Scotland. The rest of the team was still sleeping, recovering from a long travel day—vans, planes, trains, trams, and a wee bit on foot. At 11 PM, we finally arrived at our hotel, exhausted but grateful.

Just as Jesus sent His disciples out two by two to proclaim the Kingdom, we have been sent to Glenrothes, Scotland, to a small neighborhood called Colleydean—another “coastland” under His reign.

The Lord is King over every place, from tiny villages to vast cities. As His people, we are called to live as Kingdom servants wherever we are, inviting others to receive the Kingdom through Christ.

Pray that we do this faithfully in the days ahead. Pray that this “coastland” will indeed be glad!  And know that we are praying the same for you.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:7-13 (day five) “and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—”

I love to look at the way Jesus teaches. He wisely uses parables, actions, questions, decisions, and here, (in our Re:Verse passage) even instructions. It is worth noting the first and only thing He tells His disciples to bring on this assigned journey is a staff. Practically this would serve them as a walking stick. This was to be a physically demanding excursion. But, perhaps more importantly this staff would serve as a reminder of their role and perspective in this mission trip- a shepherd. They were being sent on mission to do evangelism and ministry as a shepherd would. In love, compassion, kindness, and humility. It might have been easy to be conceited and even arrogant doing this ministry. After all, they had been given authority by Jesus Himself. They could have had the wrong perspective and motivation. A good reminder to us, we should not beat people up in our participation in ministry and evangelism. Rather we should faithfully speak, serve, and encourage in love and humility- like a shepherd. It will be this kind of shepherd’s love and humility that often facilitates listening, learning, and trusting. “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”   “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”

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 6:7-13 (day three)

“They went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.”

The timeline can seem wrong in this passage. First comes Jesus, then comes the crucifixion, then comes the resurrection, then comes the Holy Spirit, and then comes the preaching in power. Right? That’s orderly and clean. Except that’s not what the Bible shows us here. The disciples begin seemingly ahead of everything else that was to come, so was this just a dress rehearsal? Repentance from what? To what? When Jesus taught in the synagogue from the book of Isaiah, he said to the people, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And so it is. Wait not for future things when Jesus is right here, right now. Go with him this moment.

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

And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs…v. 7a 

It is notable all the things the disciples are instructed not to take, but it struck me today what they did take. They were sent in pairs. This is significant in that Jesus knew the disciples would be aided by the encouragement and accountability of a partner in ministry. Ministry (the kind to which we are ALL called) can be a daunting and draining journey. Each of us will have periods in our call where we feel beat up. There were specific times in Jesus’ earthly journey where he sequestered himself to pray, but how much more did he surround himself with partners in ministry? When we are on mission together we are better. Who are you praying with? Who are you sharing your journey with? Who had Jesus sent to accompany you on your call to serve?

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

And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. vs 5

Mark wanted to make it plainly clear that the unbelief of the Nazarenes was directly correlated to the lack of miracles being performed. When doubt and skepticism are present, then the full potential of the Holy Spirit will not be manifested. Many today feel that many of the gifts of the Spirit have ceased to exist in modern context. Why don’t we see miracles or mighty works of the Spirit like we do in the New Testament church? Is it possible, that it is because of the doubt and skepticism of the Church? It wasn’t the doubt of Jesus that was causing Him to not be able to perform miracles, but it was the skepticism of the people around Him that stifled the Spirit in the moment.

If we want to see the Spirit at work amongst us today, we must first cure our unbelief. Not just your own, but corporately and universally. How can you help those around you today believe in the Power of Jesus? It starts with the people in your classes and pews!

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

³ Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Mark 6:3

In Mark 6:3 (and its parallel in Matthew 13:55-56), we get a rare glimpse into Jesus’ early life—his brothers are named, his sisters are mentioned, and his trade as a carpenter is noted. Few passages in Scripture give us such personal details about his upbringing.

The people of Nazareth knew Jesus well. They had watched him grow up, play in the streets, and learn his father’s trade. Many had likely hired him for carpentry work. They were familiar with his humanity—his daily routines, his ordinary life as the son of a tradesman.

Mark seems to highlight this intentionally, drawing our attention to Jesus’ full humanity in contrast to his divinity.

Yet, this very familiarity became a stumbling block. His neighbors couldn’t reconcile the Jesus they had always known with the reality of who he truly is—Emmanuel, God with us.

But that is precisely what Mark wants us to see. Will we recognize and embrace him daily for who he is, both his humanity and his divinity?

 

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:1-6 (day five)  They were so close- those familiar with Jesus since His childhood. They saw. They heard. They encountered. They witnessed firsthand the Son of God growing up. They even asked the right questions…Where?? What??  Yet, they missed it. They missed Him- for who He really was. The reaction was spot on- amazement/astonishment. The response was way off base. How? Why?  Let me suggest because they turned inward instead of upward. They began to answer those really good questions and observations on their own (amongst themselves)- based on their own understanding and experiences. “This is what I know and understand from my limited perspective”.  “This is what we’ve always known and seen”. What could have happened if they had asked Jesus those questions?  Those amazing words of life taught by Jesus in the synagogue fell on deaf ears (just like the soils). What if Jesus was given the opportunity to unpack the truths He was teaching instead of the slander and accusations that quickly bubbled up?  A lesson for us as read we the scriptures and listen to sermons (every time). Where is the source of our answers and responses? Our own wisdom and experience, or from the One who has “the words of eternal life”.

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?