Matthew 13:53-58 and Mark 6:1-6

…and coming to His hometown He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” (Mt. 13:54) We had a discussion in our Men’s Group a few weeks ago about Jesus’ deity. I believe we came to the conclusion that Jesus had heard from His mother, Mary, from early childhood on about His miraculous birth and that He was the Son of God. So He lived His first thirty years with that knowledge, living a “normal” life in Nazareth, with the knowledge of who He was, but without the prompting from His Father that it was time to do something about His calling. So with that, I maintain that something extraordinary happened on the occasion of His baptism, when the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove alighting on Him and His Father proclaimed, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.” (Mt. 3:16-17) So then Jesus goes into the wilderness where His calling is now affirmed and His Holy Spirit becomes resident within Him. He then goes on to Cana for a wedding, then to Jerusalem for His cleansing of the temple, then to Nicodemus and the woman at the well, then to Capernaum and vicinity, across the lake to the land of the Garasenes, then back to Capernaum, and finally to Nazareth. He may be in his late-first or second year of ministry when He finally returns to His hometown. He is clearly a changed man from the person who left some many months before. He has “new wisdom” that He had not displayed before, and He now has a track record of miracles performed elsewhere. But to the people of Nazareth, he is still the same guy who grew up in town. Nothing has really changed (in their minds): “He is different, but He’s still the same Jesus that we grew up with.” (Sarcasm intended…!)

See also: May 1 / Matt. 13:53-58; May 2 / Mark 6:1-6

Luke 8:40-56

And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling… (v. 47a) I recall re-reading one of my posts a few weeks ago that our sins are never hidden from God, even though we try to hide them from others and often, even from ourselves. But when we confess our sins, they are no longer hidden – they are brought to the light and are then forgiven and erased forever! I see a parallel in this woman’s faith-healing. She was physically healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, but then she tried to slink away. Knowing that she needed spiritual healing Jesus pushed, “Who touched Me?”. The crowd denied it, and when the woman knew that she would be found out she came forward and was fully healed: physically (…power has gone out from me…, v. 46b), spiritually (…your faith has made you well…, v. 48b), and emotionally (…go in peace, v. 48c). I hear stories at Freedom Road of the physical, spiritual, and emotional healing work that the Lord has done in the lives of my friends. It leaves me to ask if (or why!) I have not truly and fully repented of things I have done in the past. Maybe it’s time…

See also: April 29 / Luke 8:40-48; April 30 / Luke 8:49-56

Mark 5:21-43

A note in my Study Bible indicated that the synagogue official (ruler, synagogue ruler) was more an administrative or sexton-type position, but that Jairus was not a spiritual leader. That is, so many synagogue officials appear to be troubled at Jesus and His miracles and His popularity, but they are (in my opinion) more likely to be priests or Pharisees or scribes. So Jairus coming to Jesus is not like one of the synagogue priests coming to Him.

I’m constantly amazed at the story of the woman with a hemorrhage interrupting Jairus’ interaction with Jesus. I’ve heard sermons on this interruption and our Men’s Group discussed it at length. I try to picture Jairus’ reaction to all this. Would he be exasperated at Jesus’ delay? Or would he be sympathetic to the woman’s plight? Or would he simply understand that Jesus will do what Jesus will do? If I’m Jairus, I’d be frustrated at this delay. After all, my daughter is dying. But for me, it’s more than that. I’m a “top-down” listener and speaker. Often conversations and meetings and ZOOM calls get off topic – often far afield – and I’m one who wants to continue with or finish out the topic at hand. I don’t have much sympathy for interruptions. And I need to get over that! Today’s reading is a good lesson for me, to remind me how important interruptions can be. That “off topic” person may have more to say to me than I could ever imagine. And I wonder how often I ignore the Holy Spirit speaking through someone else because of my “task first” tendency to get things done! Jesus’ interaction with the woman offers a good lesson for me in hearing others speak – even if “off topic”!

See also: April 27 / Mark 5:21-34; April 28 / Mark 5:35-43

Matthew 9:18-34

In the last paragraph in the link below I talk about my own lack of healing faith; I need to provide two updates. Yes, my brother, Richard went through surgery and on a follow-up visit his doctor told him that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes – which to us was a sign of a spreading, aggressive cancer. Now, however, almost two years later, that cancer has not spread. Richard feels no pain, no side effects – effectively, it’s like the cancer is gone. Still, we continue to pray. The second update is one that someone else pushed me on. I said (in the link below) that I had not seen healing miracles myself beyond “normal” medical intervention. However, on one occasion when I was relating the story of the “miraculous” birth of our first child, someone challenged me and said “You told us that you have never seen healing miracles. How is this incident not a healing miracle?” So I was corrected – I have seen a healing miracle!

While He was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” (v. 18) Mark and Luke refer to this “ruler” as a synagogue official. I find it strange that a synagogue official would come to Jesus, given that He has had difficulties in the past with synagogue officials. But a thought just now occurred to me. This synagogue official came to Jesus; they were not in the synagogue at the time. This official might have felt peer pressure from other officials or attendees if he had asked for Jesus’ intervention while they were in the synagogue. But here, on the road outside the synagogue the official was released from that pressure and could ask for Jesus’ help. In addition, this incident is a high tension moment for this synagogue official. His daughter has just died!! He cares not what others may think, his concern is for his daughter’s welfare. And if Jesus can help, so be it! Forget the peer group and public pressure. Go to the source of all healing!!

There was an occasion when I was eighteen years old and in my first year of college when I let peer pressure affect my behavior in an Honors class. I remember going home from that class ashamed of myself, so much so that I dropped the class the next day. I somehow resolved through that incident that I would not let others’ differences of opinion hinder me from speaking my own opinion if I felt strongly enough about the topic at hand. And there have been a number of occasions when I found myself alone on a topic, but satisfied that I was correct in speaking out as I did. Frankly, one such occasion was a direct forerunner to our joining St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. But even as I type this thought, I wonder if I haven’t let my fears of what others might think keep me on occasion from speaking out about Jesus. I have learned to be more bold in speaking of Him, but I do wonder how many lost occasions there have been in my past. Lord, help my unbelief!!

See also: April 26 / Matt. 9:18-34

Luke 8:26-39

The demon speaking: What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? (Luke 8:28b) We often presume that Jesus has moved into Gentile territory, into the region of the Decapolis on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Today this verse “proves” it to me, that Jesus is dealing with Gentiles. The demon referred to Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. Most Gentile religions worshipped a pantheon of gods, only one of which would be the Most High God – Zeus for the Greeks, Jupiter for the Romans. So the demon(s) in this Gentile saw that Jesus had power over all the other gods of this Gerasene region. Small item.

I always try to put myself into the story as one of the disciples or one of the bystanders. Today I was watching the city-folk as they were binding this demon-possessed man with chains and shackles and setting a guard on him. Then I saw him break away from his restraints and overpower the guards and take off for the desert. How scary this must have been! And yet, this man was someone’s son or brother or husband or father. I would think the townspeople would have been more thrilled to see their friend delivered and would have embraced Jesus, yet their collective response was to ask Jesus to leave, for they were seized with great fear. (v. 37b) To me, a strange response…!

As I watched this whole event unfold from my location nearby, I was naturally struck by Jesus’ power – doing what the townspeople could never do for this man. But I was also struck by Jesus’ love for this man – and by the man returning Jesus’ love in kind, …sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind… (v. 35b) But Jesus then sent him back to his home with instructions to proclaim his good news. But would the townspeople accept this “new” man or would their “great fear” leave them bound? I wonder whatever happened to him…

See also: April 25 / Luke 8:26-39

Matthew 8:28-34 and Mark 5:1-20

Demon possession… A scary thought!! I had one encounter with (what I thought was) demon possession. Before we were married Carol and I lived in households a few blocks from each other. Somehow a pair of alcoholics came into our lives – a young man, Bobby, 20’ish, and his female companion, 30’ish. One evening Bobby came to our house, very drunk. My roommates and I had leftovers from our meal together and we set them out on the table for him to eat. Bobby was standing in a corner near our dining table, making strange, unintelligible “gurgling” sounds. I went over to him and put my hand on his shoulder to get him to sit down and eat. He immediately shouted “Thou shalt not touch the son of man!”, and knocked me with his arm into a wall. Once in my construction days my dad had hit me with a backhoe bucket and knocked me into a building about a foot away. Bobby’s arm was less than that force, but it was still a powerful thrust! We immediately called our Bible Study leader (now a well-known “Emerging Church” Christian author) and he came to take Bobby away. I hope I never run into demon-possession again! It’s scary!!

See also: April 22 / Matt. 8:28-34; April 23 / Mark 5:1-10; April 24 / Mark 5:11-20

Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, and Luke 8:22-25

And they woke him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38b) Mark has one take on what the disciples said to Jesus. Matthew and Luke have the disciples with a very different perspective: And they went and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” (Matthew 8:25) I wonder if we don’t approach God in like manner – probably most often asking God for His help, other times almost demanding that He act on our behalf! I find myself asking impatiently why He has not done this or that. Every Sunday we pray for world peace and I often ask God why He does not intervene in those “enemy” nations that have no faith or whose faith encourages violence against Christians. My prayers most often end with “Your will be done”, but I still wonder why His will has not been according to my world view. At times He has reminded me, especially regarding those peoples who seem to hate us the most, that we have brought it on ourselves. Their perception of our immoral behavior is abhorrent to their faith – we’re the ones who have set this immoral standard before them, before the world, and they are acting with righteous indignation. We are reaping what we have planted. Still, God, how will it end? Come, Holy Spirit!!

See also: April 21 / Matt. 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25

Matthew 13:44-52, Mark 4:21-29, and Luke 8:16-18

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous… (Matthew 13:49) It’s worth repeating what Debbie posted a few days ago. At the end of the age it will be the angels sorting the good from the bad. It will not be our job then and it’s certainly not our job now!

Normally I don’t do this, but today I’d like to direct your attention to notes in the links below that I posted in 2019. Many items I picked up in my reading today are some of the same things I saw two years ago. I especially appreciated my observation about the Avanza kids questioning the one man’s unethical behavior! (See below).

See also: April 18 / Matt. 13:44-52; April 19 / Mark 4:21-25; Luke 8:16-18; April 20 / Mark 4:26-29,33-34;

Matthew 13:31-35, Mark 4:30-34, and Luke 13:18-21

He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. (Mark 4:34) Mark adds a bit of an explanatory note in verse 34 as to Jesus’ affinity for speaking in parables. Would that we also could sit at His feet as …privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

…the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. (Mt. 13:32) I saw something new today, that this smallest of seeds (the mustard seed) grows to be the largest of the herbs, so large that the birds make nests in its branches. That’s a tree that is both large and strong. Granted, birds’ nests are not that heavy, but with the eggs hatched and the mother and father providing food – landing and taking off – those nests need the support of strong branches. It’s not like a weeping willow tree! But I wondered at the application for us today, and thought of those nests being our own small groups. Diocesan branches grow from the mustard seed that is ACNA, then other parish branches grow out from those diocesan branches – strong enough to host small group nests. And it’s in those small group nests that we are further nurtured. I have thought quite often of those people who left St. Andrew’s in 2019 – of how few there were who left who had been in one of the five small groups that we had at that time. There is something about small groups that is indeed nurturing!!

See also: April 17 / Matt. 13:31-33; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-21; April 20 / Mark 4:26-29,33-34