Mark 9:30-32

The core of Jesus' teaching with the disciples was quickly shifting. Whereas much time was spent on following him, for the third time in two chapters, Jesus foretells of his rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection. There's something to remember there... he keeps including the resurrection part. Based on Peter's rebuke in Mark 8, however, you'd think the disciples could only hear the first three things.

It's not surprising that this confused the disciples. The Messiah who was healing and feeding the masses, the One who was raising people from death and boldly going to the pits of society with His love... how could He be going to a miserable death? If He was going to be rejected by the Jewish ruling establishment, they had to know what it would lead to. Crucifixion was a pretty nasty form of punishment in those days, but it happened and they knew it. As popular as Jesus had become with the masses, I would have found His prediction to be pretty confusing as well, especially after I had accepted Him as the Son of God, the Messiah. Yet, the path of Jesus was, for the third time, clearly laid out for them.

I don't think I would have spoken up either. It wasn't too long before this that Peter had challenged Jesus on this matter. The result was Jesus looking at Peter and rebuking Satan! That had to sting, for the implication was that it wasn't even Peter that was saying those things, but something far more evil. God's Spirit led Him to believe in Jesus as Messiah, Son of God. Satan led Him to refuse to accept that Jesus' path included rejection, suffering, and death (and, by extension, resurrection).

As I read this, I have to ask myself the question... does the teaching still confuse and bewilder me today? Yes, I know it has actually happened. I believe that Jesus was rejected, suffered, and died. The funny thing is that I really tend to focus on that to the exclusion of the last part... that He rose again! If I am doing this, am I not just as confused as the disciples? Is it not evil leading me to underplay this part of the story?

Here's the Message: Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, dwelled with man. He lived a sinless life. He is the Lamb of God who was rejected, suffered, and died at the hands of men who were being guided by the forces of evil. Sin led to this. But love made Him willing. And it is love and the perfect justice of God that also rose Him back to life. It is love that will also bring Jesus back again make the world new.

That's what Jesus taught. That's what the Bible teaches. If I don't accept all of it, am I not even more confused than the disciples who had yet to witness the resurrected Jesus?

Father, open my eyes! Rule in me. Jesus, transform me, and raise me to life in You! Holy Spirit, open my mind and speak to my heart, reassuring me that Jesus died, but that He lives again and in me! Jesus, come soon... I can't wait to see You! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... begin with me!

Mark 9:14-27

I think it's significant the the teachers of the law were arguing with the disciples. The last time we saw them in Mark, they were challenging Jesus to produce a sign to prove who He was. They needed a miracle to believe. So, since the disciples were supposed to be able to do what their rabbi did, it's natural that they would start making the same demands of them.

Then, "all the people" (disciples, gawkers, teachers, etc.) saw Jesus (and the three with Him). It says that they were overwhelmed with wonder. It's interesting to me that the teachers of the law are not separated out from this. Remember, Jesus and the three had just come down from the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. If that was anything like what happened with Moses on Sinai, they would have come down shining with God's glory, just as Moses did.

The teachers of the law were arguing with the disciples. Jesus asked the disciples what it was about, but His answer didn't come from the disciples. It came from a man who brought his son to Jesus to have a demon cast out. Again, as the disciples were being taught to do what Jesus did, it's not a stretch that he would have asked them to do the same. After all, they had done this earlier when Jesus had sent them out in pairs. What they were arguing about was that they weren't able to cast the demon out of the boy. Teachers of the law were arguing with the disciples about this. Interesting. The last time they got into it with Jesus, Jesus refused to comply with their demands. Here it appears that the disciples were trying to do something, then weren't able to do it, and now were into it with the Teachers.

So what does Jesus address here? The "unbelieving generation." He doesn't upbraid the disciples. He responds to the whole group, really. The disciples believe, though. Who was this unbelieving generation? Teachers of the law? The crowd? The father of the boy?

Jesus had the boy brought to him by the disciples (and his father, based on the context). He gets the boy out of the crowd. This can't be about the crowds. It can't be about the Teachers who are probably making the same arguments they made earlier... "If He's the Son of God, He should be able to do a miracle to prove it! Since you guys, his followers, can't do it, He must be a fraud!"

Who is the unbelieving? Enter verse 22: "... if you can do anything..." In verse 23, Jesus calls the father out on this. It seems kind of cruel, from a human perspective, the father of a very tormented boy being reprimanded. But think about it... miracles, at this point, are down to confirm belief, not prove Jesus' Messiahship.

Jesus goes through with it. He casts the demon out of the boy, and lifts him up to his feet again. He confirms Scripture, and He confirms belief. The father was desperate. It wasn't about proving anything. The teachers of the law just saw an opportunity and pounced on it (arguing with the 9 disciples). This man just wanted his son back. I imagine all the arguing over his son must have been really messing with him. I can picture him seeing the glory of Jesus, descending from the mountain, and having hope again, yet still knowing the doubt the teachers were instilling in the people. "If" becomes more understandable to me in this light. But the best part of this man to me? "Help my unbelief!"

That is an authentic prayer!

Before the crowds could swoop upon them, before he was in the position of proof verses confirmation, he healed the boy.

As for the disciples, they had to know that it wasn't about proving Jesus. Jesus had proved Himself plenty already and had the Scriptures to back Him up. They had to know that it wasn't about them. "Why couldn't we cast them out?" implies something insidious, that in their minds it was about them and proving themselves (and Jesus, by extension). Why else would they argue with the teachers of the law?

Miracles and the power of God can only be effective because of prayer, where Christ's followers are truly submitted to His will and agenda. If they were truly trying to be like their Master, arguing with the teachers of the law wouldn't have been necessary, and proving anything to the crowd wouldn't have been an option. It has to be about loving the person and submitting to God.

• Do I feel a stronger need to prove Jesus or my own belief? Or is my desire to love people and submit each day to God's agenda in my life?
• Do I feel a need to argue the identity of Jesus? Or is my greater felt need to see Him for who He really is in my life and share that without saving face before people?
• Is following Jesus about me? Or is it really about Him? Should I even care what others think about Jesus-in-me?
• If I'm living like this... submitting, loving, glorifying Jesus, witnessing to who He is in me... do I even need to worry about proof? Could it be possible that miracles (healing, casting out demons) will just happen as a natural outflow from this? If this is the case... how many followers are really out there? Kind of challenging!

Jesus, transform me! Teach me to be submissive to Your will. Help my unbelief! Holy Spirit, fill me! Empower me to love and witness. Father, walk with me! Show me Your glory and the identity of Your Son in my life. Fling laboring harvesters into Your fields... begin with me.

Mark 9:9-13

The disciples' world was already rocked. Jesus had told them that on a "rock" of converted pagans and unbelievers, the kingdom would be established. Peter, on behalf of the disciples, confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Then Peter tried to upbraid Jesus over saying that he was going to be rejected, suffer, die, and come back to life. Jesus turned this around on Peter, essentially, calling Satan himself out for planting such thoughts. The ways of Jesus trump the ways and feelings of humans. His path is the only path to true life and finding our true selves.

On the mountain, Jesus confirmed in an astounding way who Peter had confessed him to be. He was God-in-the-flesh. He was the spotless lamb of God. He was everything Peter confessed him to be, and on the mountaintop he showed himself to be the one and the same power that was there at creation, in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, the same one who gave the law to Moses, the "LORD... the compassionate and gracious God," abounding in love and mercy and forgiveness.

Coming down from that mountain, I find it interesting that Jesus was speaking specifically to Peter, James, and John. Those were the only eyewitnesses to Jesus' transfiguration. They were not to tell about it until Jesus had risen from the dead. I wonder why not? Why not talk to the other disciples about it? Would they not have benefited in much the same way as these three?

I know that these three had a very special relationship with Jesus. These guys were "all-in." I think that Jesus loved that about them. But among the disciples was one who would betray Jesus to the very fates that he was talking about. I think that there must have been some who had to come to conclusions about Jesus' identity differently than the three on the mountain. I wonder if they couldn't have handled seeing Jesus in that light, much like the Israelites couldn't stand looking at Moses when he came off the mountain. At any rate, Jesus knew who needed to see this. After having seen that transfiguration, I can't imagine how confusing it must have been to see Jesus on a cross.

As far as rising from the dead, I wonder why that didn't clear up just at seeing Moses there that day, a man who died but was standing there in front of them on the top of that mountain. It seems like that might have answered that question. Just as Moses died but was risen up and taken to heaven, Jesus would be put to death as well and rise again three days later. Yet they were still not clear on what he meant. After witnessing the transfiguration, it would be hard to believe that Jesus was going to be put to death. If you can't fathom the Son of Man being put to death, it would be hard to fathom his rising from death. But Jesus had discussed this with them already. The disciples were struggling with a human idea of success that didn't include such things as death. The path of Jesus was to be preferred, however, for it lead to real living, their truest selves.

So, in verse 11, it's like the disciples are saying, "OK, next subject... we don't get this rising from death stuff... so what about Elijah?" Well, they had just seen him. So the question about Elijah coming first would have been a little confusing now.

Jesus actually directly addresses the question with these three. No parables here. The Elijah part--the teachers got the idea right on that (but not the identity). Interesting... that seems to happen a lot with the establishment. Right idea, wrong identity (and wrong ways of identifying--human ways as opposed to the ways and paths of God).

Elijah will come first and make everything as it should be for the coming of the Son of Man. The Elijah part, however, isn't the biggest part of the picture. The teachers are missing that. They are missing his identity and purpose. Jesus redirects them back to the Son of Man. Why would the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will be rejected and suffer? In light of what they had just witnessed, that should have been the disciples number one question. It should have been the considered by the establishment too. What the teachers keep teaching has already happened, and they pretty much treated him like garbage (look at what happened to John the Baptist). The Scriptures said that would happen, and it happened to the first Elijah too (the guy they just saw on the mountain). Let's move on. Think about what the Scriptures are saying about the Son of Man! Keep your mind on that! Did the voice not say, "Listen to him"?

Seems like good advice. There's a lot of things we can think about. There's a lot of questions we could ask. But what's the biggest picture of all, the ultimate question to be asking? Is it "What does the Bible say about the state of the dead... the mark of the beast... the right and wrong things to do on a specific day of the week?" Or is it "Who is Jesus? What do the Scriptures say about Him? What is He teaching me? What is His path?"

If Jesus is really all, I truly believe everything else will fall into place. Elijah will be understood, and so will anything that is taught about rising from death. There's actually more of that to come one day!

Father, no matter what the subject, no matter what the text, no matter what the discussion... keep my eyes on Jesus today. Take away my faulty and erroneous ideas and perceptions and replace them with the wisdom and sight of Jesus. Reveal yourself to me today. Fill me, Holy Spirit! Transform me, Jesus! Walk with me, Father! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... begin with me!

Mark 9:1, 2-8

It wouldn't even be one week before three of those who were listening to Jesus say this would witness Jesus' words coming to pass. Peter, James and John went with Jesus "up a high mountain where they were all alone." There Jesus was "transfigured" before them.

In the Greek, the word for "transfigured" comes from "metamorphao," the same word we get "metamorphosis" from. It literally means to change into another form. So, right in front of these three disciples, Jesus changed into another form. It wasn't that who he was changed, but what he appeared to be was altered.

I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this. John Mark tells us that "his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them." Aside from what his clothes looked like, however, this account is pretty vague. It makes me wonder about what John Mark had in mind here (remember, Bible writers tend to explain current reality in the language of the people's history). When Moses was taken alone to the top of Sinai, he saw the glory of God and came off the mountain shining so brightly that the people couldn't even look at him directly. Then it was, "The LORD (YHWH), the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God..." (Exodus 34:6). He took the unpronounceable, totally transcendent name of God in that instance. Was Jesus was revealing to these three disciples who he truly was... the One and the same God that appeared before Moses, the One and the same who was at the beginning, through whom the world was made, the One and the same who both gave Moses the Law and was even now fulfilling it? What a powerful moment!

Elijah and Moses appeared there, talking with Jesus. It's as if they were there confirming to these three that this was indeed the true identity of Jesus. The glory of God was really there, on earth, in the form of a man. While Moses and Elijah were taken into heaven (Moses after his death, while Elijah never tasted death), Jesus came down from heaven. It strikes me that these three disciples actually witnessed here, at the end of the story, the condescension of Jesus... the glory and power that he gave up! They bore witness to the glory and power of the God's kingdom, and what Jesus gave up for them!

I can't blame Peter for what he said. Whenever, in Israel's history, God's power and glory was revealed, the people would set up memorial stones to remind them of what was witnessed. In the heat of the moment, Peter was no more able to process what he was seeing than Moses was on the top of Sinai. I have a funny picture in my mind of Moses standing there with Jesus, watching Peter, and thinking, "Yeah, I was pretty clueless on how to handle this too!" There's nothing that will ever truly memorialize a first-hand witness of God. You can memorialize something he did. Israel did so when they finally entered the Promised Land. Jacob did so after dreaming of a ladder ascending to heaven. But the very glory and presence of God? There are not enough stones in the world.

The part of the story I love most comes next. The cloud appears (kind of like a cloud that led, shaded, and illuminated Israel in the desert?). It covers them and speaks to them (sound anything like Sinai... only even closer?). It says, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

The Father speaks and identifies Jesus. This is the same Jesus that says to the disciples, "I'll establish my church using you, and building it with those who don't believe!" This is the same Jesus that says to his followers, "My path includes rejection, suffering, and death, but ends with resurrection!" And here is the Father, revealing His Son as the One and Only Jesus, the One who walked with them in the flesh. Listen to him! Follow him! As you can see, Jesus' glory and power is far greater than any suffering you might experience, because the world's got nothing on him!

Finally, once again, they saw no one but Jesus. The fullness and glory of God right there in the flesh, incarnate with them. Transcendent, yet human.

I have seen what God can do. I have seen his miracles. All serve as reminders of who Jesus is and what he can do. I have seen hundreds fed and supplied with just a few donations. I have seen a friend brought back from the brink of death. Memories of these things mean something incredible to me.

But God's glory? The transcendent Jesus? Can't say that I've seen it like this before! If I did, I think I'd remember it. But suffice it to say that faith leads me to the conclusion I think Jesus was driving for that day. He is God! He is the one and the same YHWH, Name above all names! He is Creator and King, the full embodiment of the Father, full of Holy Spirit, transcendent in glory, yet incarnate in the flesh. To believe anything less of Him is to cheapen Jesus, and to cheapen Jesus is to nullify everything He has done.

Jesus, You are ALL! You are King of kings, Lord of lords, Creator, and Name above all names! You are the glory of God in the flesh, incarnate Messiah, my only chance! Reveal Your self to me so that my self dies in Your presence. Raise to life my true self, alive in You alone, so that You will be revealed in me today.

Father, walk with me! Holy Spirit, fill me! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field... beginning with me!

Mark 8:34-38

Jesus was speaking to a crowd in this story, but the message gains meaning considering the exchange with Peter that had just happened. To review, Jesus previewed his future of rejection, suffering, death, and resurrection. Peter, the disciple, might have accepted this as coming from his learned rabbi. But Peter (or Simon), the human being, couldn't grasp this idea. Rejection, suffering, and death did not seem like the way to win people to a cause. It went against anything he thought or felt, against his own common sense. To save, even enhance, your own existence and influence was the way of an adulterous and sinful generation. To lose that life to gain the life of Jesus (including rejection and suffering and death) was to gain your true self--the one that is resurrected in Christ.

Peter had lost his sense of his true self moments after acknowledging Jesus as Messiah. Even Satan would acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Messiah for the world. But it's his intent to lead men and women away from this truth. To cast doubt into the way and methods of Jesus... it's Satan as his best. It wasn't Peter's true self that Jesus was rebuking. It was the self that Satan was pushing back into the forefront, and self dies hard.

The true self is not worth sacrificing to satisfy the self of a wicked generation. There is nothing you can offer that will buy your eternal life. There is nothing of your "self" that is worth saving. It will redeem nothing. It is only the way of Jesus that is worth anything, and that way will lead to rejection, suffering, and death, but then resurrection and a brilliant homecoming. To accept anything less than this path is to show disdain for Jesus.

This is hard stuff to consider in an environment that is extremely self-serving. I am constantly surrounded by the temptations of self-promotion, self-satisfaction, and self-exaltation. I have a hard time even considering the path of the cross because it sounds so extreme! Can we even comprehend it in our culture? The possibility of embracing suffering? And what does this even mean? Are we to leave any luxury behind and voluntarily suffer, or does it mean to obey even if suffering comes from it? Am I supposed to pursue it? It's easy to feel guilty at times that I live in relative luxury while others in the world suffer for their faith. My self hates the thought of rejection or suffering or death. I constantly ask the question: how does the path of the cross play out in my life today?

As I consider this, the word "obedience" keeps coming back to mind. Obedience isn't about just keeping a set of rules. It's about daily listening for the voice of God in my life. He knows where I need to be used for the sake of the gospel. I don't. I will come up with my own ideas that are erroneous on the best of days. I think it's a matter of asking in prayer, each day: "Father, where am I to be an agent of the gospel today? Show me where to go and what to do, what to say or not say. No matter what, give me the fortitude and attitude to obey well." Kind of like the radical prayer, isn't it?

Father, kill self in me. Kill my desires and ideas, replacing them with Yours. Please! Fling laboring harvesters into the harvest field... beginning with me!

Jesus... all!

Mark 8:31-33

The disciples had rightly figured out Jesus' identity. They were all-in for him as Messiah. While at the seat of pagan teaching and practice Caesarea Philippi), Jesus taught about his sufferings: rejection by any and all those in authority and death. He taught about the end-game as well, rising again after three days.

In the place, people degraded themselves for the sake of no-gods that would supposedly bring them fertility for body and earth. People sought their "god" through prostitution and bestiality. It was false worship of the worst variety.

Interesting that this is where Jesus would teach plainly about his own plan in the days ahead. The Jewish establishment was not to degrade themselves as these pagans in calling out to their God. They would degrade themselves in another way. In the name of the true God, they worked to destroy His Son. As I see it, what they did was worse. They defiled themselves in God's Name. It's religion at its all-time worst.

The Kingdom of God--which was to be represented by the church Jesus' followers established--was to be planted on the very people they were then surrounded by. People who defiled themselves for no-gods would be the very ones through whom the Gospel would be established and spread world-wide. This was God's plan. Why was it such a big deal that Peter rebuked Jesus? Because Peter was rebuking God's plan. He was seeing things his own way. It seems like his emotional lenses kept him from seeing things through Jesus' eyes.

This is actually a terrible thing. I think it sounds a lot like what Lucifer did in heaven. Through his own eyes, full of pride and selfishness, he rebuked God's plan and rule, leading many angels to do the same. I also think this is why Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan!" It almost seems like Jesus had heard this kind of thing before and wanted none of it.

Jesus' way was to take up a cross each day and follow him. Human concern seeks self-preservation. It seeks relationship and protection of life (good things, actually, when in proper context where self concern is removed) over the perspective of Jesus.

What a lesson! I think it's among the hardest to learn. Even the best of intentions and concerns look tainted with evil in this light. It's not about human perspective, where we choose the setting, the people, and justice. In God's eyes, these things are very different. Even relationships and our emotional desire for a close friend's preservation have to be set aside if in opposition to the ways and plans of Jesus.

In the movie, "Quo Vadis," Christians (men, women, even children) are depicted in the arena with lions as Nero and Roman citizens watched on. Before they went into the arena, as they were stressed and anxious about what they were about to face (certain death), Peter shows up, encouraging them and reminding them that the pain they were to face paled in comparison to the riches they would experience with Jesus, and that even while their blood was spilled, the Message of Jesus would be firmly established. The Christians then faced martyrdom singing hymns of praise.

Do my human feelings and perspectives prevent me from seeing and believing God's plan? Do my desires for relationships (even the best of them) and success blind me to the truth of Jesus' path and the path of a disciple? Do I see people and refuse to believe that the Kingdom of God can be established in them?

Father, I submit my eyes, perspective, and desires to Yours. May I see with Your eyes. My I be full of your feelings and perspectives. May Your goals and definitions of success become mine. Holy Spirit, fill me! Jesus, transform me! Father, fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field, beginning with me!

Mark 8:27-30

Jesus was taking His disciples where they weren't supposed to go.

Caesarea Philippi was, historically, a center for the worship of false gods. The ancients that came before Christ worshipped the god "Pan." In a cliff above the city, people built shrines and temples to him. The city stood at the base of this cliff. Out of a cave there, water flowed.

The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves. To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats. Devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there. That's why when Jesus took the disciples there, it was a bold act.

Jesus would have been a huge contrast to the false hopes of the pagans there who trusted in dead gods. There is a rich biblical context and lesson to all of this when viewed in the light of what the disciples were possibly even witnessing. This story is also found in Matthew 16:13-20 and in Luke 9:18-20. Jesus first confirms His identity with the disciples. Other Jews thought he was a prophet, Elijah, Moses, or whatever they chose to believe. But none of these figures had the power of Jesus. And what was Jesus' power to accomplish?

In Jesus' day, gates were defensive structures. Thus, the “gates of hell” were to be under attack. Where demonic forces rule the roost, Christ and His followers were to “attack,” taking over and building His church.

Christ's disciples are not to hide from evil. They are to storm the gates of hell!

After Luke’s account, He spoke to them about being ashamed of Jesus (Luke 9:26). He knew that as the disciples attacked evil, they would be mocked, ridiculed, and persecuted (even killed). No matter how fierce the opposition, Christ’s followers were to stay on the attack and never hide their faith.

Following Jesus is not an easy life, per se, filled with worldly rewards, but it comes with eternal reward, the only prosperity that matters.We cannot avoid sinful culture, or run from it and hide. Schools and churches need to be staging areas, training followers to storm the gates of hell (go on offense) rather than hide away from the world (go on defense). We are called to confront evil, not avoid it.

For consideration...

• Do I really trust Jesus with my life? Do I live as if He is truly the Messiah? Who is He to me? The Messiah of Scripture, or a messiah of my own making?
• Do I trust that He has truly enabled and empowered and equipped me to do as He calls? Do I live defensively, or am I “storming the gates of hell” as God directs?
• To those who will not acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, the One, should I cease going to them with this information?

Father, You sent Your Son Jesus to be the world's Messiah. Your Spirit reveals to me that He is the true Savior, my Messiah, the Messiah for eternity. May I trust Him as such. May I trust that You are enabling me to follow Him, to storm the gates of hell as you direct. I submit myself to you. I submit my time today to You. May I die, so I can live only in Christ, completely healed, with a new heart and full of Your Spirit, with the nature, mind, and Spirit of Jesus--a completely new person! Please! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today... begin with me!

Mark 8:22-26

On the other side of the lake, Jesus had a dispute with the Pharisees (8:11-12). While in the boat on the way to Bethsaida, Jesus spoke to the disciples of the “yeast of the Pharisees” (self and self-motivation, need for proof of Messiah, power, Jews-only salvation, etc.). The disciples thought it was about bread. But it was not. It was about self and being unable to see reality because of self and the need for gratification. Jesus was a savior better than Moses (bread from nothing), and His miracles should have been seen in the light of Israel’s past. They (the Pharisees and even the disciples) were blind to reality.

Bethsaida was on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee, the “house of fisherman.” Lots of Jesus’ teaching included fishing illustrations (Matthew 4:19) because this region thrived on the occupation and people understood the language of fishing. Bethsaida was part of the “orthodox triangle” around Galilee and full of devout Jews. A lot of synagogues have been unearthed in this region, and most of Jesus’ miracles happened in this area (Bethsaida, Capernaum, Korazin). Peter, Andrew, and Philip were successful fishermen from here. This is where Jesus fed 5,000. It was a prosperous town.

People brought a blind man to Jesus so He would touch them. They obviously knew Jesus could do something about this man. So they had seen his miraculous signs before. Why was touch—why is this significant?

The woman in Mark 5 had touched Jesus and was healed from her hemorrhaging. Jesus took Jairus’ daughter by the hand and brought her to life. He touched the bread, breaking it and feeding 5,000, then 4,000. He placed hands on the man’s ears in the Ten Towns district and gave him hearing (He told the man to be quiet, but he wasn’t). Touch seemed to be associated with a lot of His miracles. People were impressed by what they could see happening. Touch means something to the one healed, I would think.

Jesus did touch the man, but this didn’t bring immediate healing. He led him outside the village. Why would He do this?

They were in a region full of devout Jews. Perhaps there were a lots of rabbis, teachers, Pharisees around. In Dalmanoutha, the Pharisees badgered Him over proving Himself with some kind of miraculous sign. But healing was to be about the one healed, not in satisfying curiosity or the desire for the sensational. Jesus could have been trying to get the man away from these people.

He spat on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him. I always thought of this as pretty gross, actually. Ancients believed that saliva had healing properties. I can’t imagine that this was what Jesus was thinking here. These were devout Jews. In their Scriptures, spitting on someone is only referred to in a negative way, an act of rejection and contempt. People spat on Jesus after His trial on the day of His crucifixion.

But why would Jesus do this? I’ll take a gander, but understand that it isn’t clearly stated, so more thought is definitely due on this besides my own. Could this have been a way of Jesus showing contempt to the blindness and what Satan had been doing? Was it a concession to this man’s possible belief in what the ancient healers had taught (again, I doubt this answer just based on where they were). Was it a supernatural anointing?

Jesus asked the man, “Do you see anything?” Strange. He didn’t do this anywhere else. He didn’t heal in two stages anywhere else either. But think about it! This follows Jesus’ rebuking of the disciples: “… do you have eyes that fail to see…?” I would assume the disciples may have witnessed this healing. Could this be a lesson for them?

Contempt would be God just giving self-centered hearts a sign to indulge curiosity or a need for a sign to reveal truth. Blindness is seeing as a Pharisee, or seeing as a disciple in the boat whining about not having enough bread. You only see “trees walking around,” not with clarity. Jesus’ touch brings healing to a heart who wants true healing and clarity of thought and life. Sight is restored with the touch of Jesus, and healing means that the self is left dead. There’s no need to make a dead man happy!

Jesus told the man to not even enter the village. I might interpret this as Jesus saying (really to the disciples as much as the man), “The ones who brought you, the ones in the village, are blind. They won’t see this with clarity. They’re seeking the sensational to satisfy themselves. I want you to be healed. Don’t stoop to their blindness, trading one blindness in for another.”

Healing: not just physical. It’s healing of the heart. It’s healing of your perceptions and sight into the things of God, giving you clarity to see what’s true versus what’s false, the things of God vs. the things of Satan.

Father, open my eyes! If I seek You to gratify curiosity, don’t reveal what I’m looking for but what You know I need for new, healed, and complete Kingdom life. I want to see the world through Your eyes. I want to see truth, with perfect sight and twenty-twenty focus. I want desire today to please You, to love You, to follow You, forsaking my self, not trying to make that dead man happy.

Fill me with Your Spirit! Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today, wherever that might be. Please, begin with me!

Jesus... all!

Mark 8:16-21

"Enter with the password: 'Thank you!' Make yourselves at home, talking praise."

• Thank you for worship. It is completely life-centering, focusing my heart on what is real and what actually matters.
• Thank you for Sundays and the chance to just be today with family, to relax with pancakes and prosage and the paper! For a little more time to get lost in the Word.
• You have given me so much, and yet so often I catch myself wanting more. Thank you for providing for my every need and then some. May I give the blessing away today.

"By your words I see where I'm going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path."

Read Mark 8:16-21

The Pharisees had accosted Jesus in Dalmanoutha, asking Jesus to prove Himself with a “miraculous guarantee” in spite of the fact He had given plenty. He had ministered to Gentile pagans as well. The “Contaminating yeast of the Pharisees” may have included the desire for more miracles and signs; desire to minister to the right kind of people; to keep the rules; a Messiah that was only for the Jews; to gain power and authority; self; yeast that prevents people from finding freedom in the Lord.

The disciples' reaction to the “yeast of the Pharisees” talk was to turn to their immediate need for bread. They had likely witnessed the confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees. They had also witnessed the freedom Jesus had brought to people: Jews, Samaritans, and even Gentile pagans. Their discussion was about immediacy. It was self-centered. It focused on their needs. It’s almost like they are saying, “The Pharisees would keep us from eating!” A great exercise in missing the point.

As Jesus reacts, I almost get the sense that His radar was out for discussions that revolved around the self/flesh. Hey, for every generation on earth He had witnessed what the self actually did to people. This is the first indication from Jesus that the disciples were way off track. To say this is about bread (physical need, satisfying the self) is to be blind to reality that was happening right in front of them. It proves that their heart was hardened, that Satan was successful in getting them to see this in terms of immediate gratification of the flesh rather than seeing reality with God’s eyes.

So, Jesus basically says, "OK, let’s go over this again. What did you just see, right in front of your face?" In Galilee, Jesus had made a huge meal from nothing, with mostly Jews in attendance. It should have hearkened memories of the Jews’ history with God. Manna and quail in the desert. Creating the world out of nothing. Bringing bread to Elijah at the brook Cherith. God providing when provision seemed impossible. Jesus doing the same, showing Himself to be the Son of God, even better than Moses or Elijah, and providing more than enough. Then He did the same for people who were also Gentiles and pagans. They had not experienced God the same way. For them, this was a new experience. It proved that Jesus was the real thing, not a no-god idol or a myth, but flesh and blood right in front of them, yet more than flesh and blood but God in the flesh! He was what they were searching for, and enslavement to a demonic master was no longer necessary. He is the Son of God, Savior for the whole world! (Maybe pagans and Pharisees weren't really that different, actually... either way of life in that day could easily make "self" into a no-god idol).

Jesus was basically telling them to change their viewpoint… it’s much bigger than they were seeing. It’s not about just you. It’s not about immediate gratification or the flesh. It’s not about just your people. It’s much greater! Open your eyes and see things with God’s eyes! So, “yeast of the Pharisees” changes even a bit here. Their yeast is self. It is immediacy. It is power-hoarding. It is flesh. It is limited and limiting. It is blindness—it is seeing the world through your own human eyes, unable to see with God’s, blind to the greatest reality of all. To them, miraculous signs would have only gratified their own flesh.

There are a few takeways for me here to apply to my life. First, I learn to keep in front of what God has done. How has He provided for me?

• Transportation. I have two vehicles that I didn’t even know I could have a few months ago but desperately needed.
• Family. Really, nothing brings me more happiness than my relationship with my wife. Nothing brings more joy than how awesome my children are.
• I am not hungry. I am not in need of shelter right now. I may take this stuff for granted, but it is a real provision of the Father, not something that I have just done for myself.
• Hope and a future. Not just something immediate, but something eternal in Jesus.

Second, I learn not to turn God’s action and provision for me into self-gratification.

• Don’t abuse the vehicles He’s given me. Care for them. Be good stewards of His provision.
• Daily return to God my family. It’s not my family to do what I want with. It’s His, and He’s given them all to me to care for and cherish, to pray for and with, to lead to Jesus each day.
• Don’t overindulge. He hasn’t sheltered me to want for something bigger and better. He hasn’t fed me to be a glutton. He hasn’t given so I can horde. Be satisfied. Be temperate. Be modest and simple. Look for ways to be generous in spirit and in practice.
• Don’t abuse hope and future. Eternal life isn’t license to do want I want. My future isn’t about my self. It’s about Jesus and who He wants me to be in Him. Value this hope each day with passionate obedience, by caring for the gifts and talents I’ve been given. Die to self daily. Live in Christ. Be full of His heart and His Spirit. Be a new person today!

Father, I plead with you, put me to death. Put me on Christ to be taken to the cross. But put me on Him so that I’ll be raised in Him! Give me a new heart today in place of my old, stony, worn-out and wretched heart. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so I’ll live new in Christ, passionately following You, desiring You and Your Word, obeying You, and growing in You. Give me your mind, thinking, reacting, and feeling as You. Give me Your nature to see, hear, and touch the world as You would, and to speak as only You would speak. May my life be unexplainable except that the Holy Spirit is there and I live in Christ. I am a new creation! I am completely changed! “The old has gone! Behold, the new life is burgeoning today!” May I care for what You have given me, not being a glutton or a hoarder, but satisfied, temperate, and generous.

Fling laboring harvesters into Your harvest field today. Please, begin with me.

"Pile your troubles on God's shoulders—he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people topple into ruin."

• Corine and Tommy
• Cynthia Hunter
• Hester and his family
• Your Spirit poured out on my family, all of us becoming disciples, taking up our cross(es) and following You.
• Your Spirit poured out on Carrollwood. Your protection. More people praying. More people becoming disciples, connecting to Christ, church, and community.
• Godly leadership for East Pasco.

Jesus... all!