Mark 8:27-9:1

“Notice what you notice.” I have often imagined / presumed that whatever Jesus said to His disciples, He was also saying to us today. For example, He could easily be asking us, Who do people say that I am? (v. 27) Or He could be asking us, But who do you say that I am? (v. 29) We need to constantly ask ourselves, for His teachings to His disciples or to the crowds, what He might be saying to us today.

Those thoughts are fully relevant in today’s reading, as the passage closes with Jesus saying, For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38) I ask myself whether the Jewish world in Jesus’ time was in fact so “adulterous”? We could easily believe that of the Gentile world, with its temple prostitutes and its subjugation of women. But were the Jews themselves so “adulterous”? I wonder.

HOWEVER, when I bring Jesus’ verse 38 line into today’s world, the word “adulterous” is wholly applicable. We are truly in the midst of an “adulterous and sinful generation”. Adultery today is seemingly more prominent than faithful Christian marriage. Men and women having affairs while married is the classic adultery. But unmarried people living together also falls outside our traditional understanding of acceptable male-female relationships – to say nothing of same-sex issues!! We’ve long been a “sinful generation”, going back centuries and millennia, but I feel like our 20^th and 21^st century USA behavior has taken adultery to a new level. We are living in the midst of this “…generation”; let’s be bold for Jesus and His words so that He will be bold for us when He returns.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 16:13-28

“Notice what you notice.” My Study Bible notes that verse 21 begins a new phase, a turning point in Jesus’ ministry: From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. This Study Bible comment hinges on the word “began”, that Jesus “began to show His disciples…”. The Study Bible argued that up to this point Jesus had been ministering to the crowds. Now He is turning His attention to the twelve.

I began to think about this claim and came up with at least four items that support that claim. First, Jesus and His disciples were in the district of Caesarea Philippi, which (I believe) was as far north as Jesus traveled. From this point on Jesus is heading south, back into and through Galilee and on to Jerusalem.

Second, Jesus establishes Peter as the leader of the Twelve, and later as leader of the Church. This decision is based on the Father’s revelation to Peter as to Jesus’ true identity: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven…” (v. 17). As Jesus is moving in a direction of ministering to His disciples, He now has a “second-in-command”. He then further elevates Peter by bringing him to the mountain for His Transfiguration (the very next event in Matthew’s Gospel).

Third, Jesus is very straightforward about His cross and resurrection. To this point He has had difficulties with the Jewish leaders, but I don’t recall that He has said that He must die.

Finally, the next event in Matthew is His Transfiguration. In His Transfiguration He is revealing Himself to Peter, James, and John in a very different manner than He has ever shown before.

So now, we watch to see if the focus changes, if there is less crowd activity and more interaction between Jesus and His disciples.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 8:11-26

“Notice what you notice.” Three small items today… I had never noticed that this “leaven” conversation between Jesus and His disciples took place in the boat as they were traveling from the west side of the Sea of Galilee, headed to Bethsaida. The only other occasion that I can recall Jesus speaking with His disciples from a boat was when He calmed the storm at sea. Also, He spoke to Peter when He was walking on the water and Peter was in the boat. Finally, on at least one occasion Jesus preached from a boat (Luke 5:1-11). One item with which I have become more clearly aware this time through Scripture is how often Jesus traveled by boat and how often he crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat. Interesting.

And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (v.15) I have often noted and thought of the “leaven of the Pharisees”, but only this time through do I see the “leaven of Herod”. And what a chastisement it is toward the Pharisees that their speech should be so linked to that of Herod, who was an adulterer and a murderer. For the Pharisees, their behavior was always their defining characteristic. Jesus took issue with them over the incongruity between their traditions (their behavior) and the actual words in Scripture. So to be mentioned in the same vein as Herod was truly an indictment!

Finally as friends bring the blind man to Jesus in Bethsaida, Jesus takes him out of town to heal him. Further, after He heals the man, He tells him not to go back into the town. It’s quite common in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus asks His disciples or someone He healed to remain quiet about what had transpired (see Mark 1:44, 5:19, 5:43, 8:30). Much has been written about Jesus’ commands to keep quiet, mostly that Jesus wanted people to hear and understand His words so much more than to be impressed with His miracles. And over time this message has gotten through to us. We read about and appreciate Jesus’ miracles, but it’s His words that truly move us. We are blessed to be on this side of history.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 16:1-12

“Notice what you notice.” I probably noticed it before – Jesus mentioned the color of the sky; in both cases the sky is red, but in the evening the red sky calls for good weather while in the morning the red sky calls for stormy weather. Small point, but interesting…

And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” (v. 7) “Among themselves…”!! Can you imagine the plight of the disciples? They were headed across the Sea and they forgot to bring bread. Only when Jesus brought the issue of leaven to their attention, did they remember that they had no bread. But rather than “confessing” their forgetfulness to Jesus, they began discussing it among themselves. I can hear them talking: “We have no bread. What should we do? Jesus fed 5,000 and 4,000 recently with very little bread. Should we ask Him? But I hate to bother Him. I’d be embarrassed to be the one to ask.”

So I made up this little vignette, but it raises a point. How often are we embarrassed and unwilling to admit our failings to God? He already knows, just like Jesus already knew that the disciples had no bread. When we confess our sins, we are simply acknowledging to Him what He already knows. But confession can be so hard! So hard, yet so good for our souls…!!

So, force yourself to “forget” breakfast tomorrow morning. Then when you find yourself really hungry, talk to our Lord about what else is missing in your life.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 8:1-10

“Notice what you notice.” Both Matthew and Mark comment that the crowd has been with Jesus for three days. That in itself is compelling! Three days in the wilderness. It’s not like Billy Graham three-day revivals here in the USA, where that people come to hear him all three days, then go home or to a hotel for the night. They were with Jesus for three days in that “desolate place”, some from far away – and presumably Jesus was preaching and healing their illnesses. Yes, the crowd might have been hungry, but Jesus Himself must have been tired also!! Three days…! In the wilderness of the Decapolis…!! The feeding of the 4,000 is certainly a miracle. But I think Jesus’ ministry for three days is equally compelling!

GLORY!

Matthew 15:32-39

“Notice what you notice.” Much is made of the similarities and differences between today’s “Feeding of the 4,000” and our earlier “Feeding of the 5,000”. Some scholars say there was only one feeding; others hold true to what we have in Scripture. Let me offer four major differences:

1. Today’s account takes place in the area of the Decapolis, southeast of the Sea of Galilee while the earlier feeding took place near Bethsaida, north of the Sea of Galilee.
2. Today’s account has seven loaves and seven baskets leftover while the earlier account had five loaves and twelve baskets leftover.
3. Today’s account has 4,000 people, the earlier account had 5,000.
4. Jesus initiates the action in today’s account while in the earlier account the disciples came to Him and asked Him to send the multitude away.

Finally, later (Matthew 16:9-10) Jesus will chastise His disciples for failing to remember, connect or understand the two miracles.

…He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. (v. 36) One of my favorite Bible stories is Jesus and the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke writes at the end, When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. (Luke 24:30-31) The disciples finally recognized Jesus in His breaking of the bread. I wonder how many other times Jesus had blessed and broken bread with His disciples…!! We should probably treasure our Gathering times and our Brunch times with one another more than we do.

GLORY!

Mark 7:24-37

“Notice what you notice.” And He entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet He could not be hidden. (v. 24b) Yesterday both Debbie and I asked why Jesus would stray so far away from Galilee, to Tyre and Sidon – Gentile territory. My sense was that He was just trying to get away for a bit – to leave Galilee and not be troubled by all the demands that were being made of Him. This verse seems to confirm that thought. He entered “a house”. I wondered if that was a “target house”, like maybe He had been invited there by someone He had met in Galilee or if it was just someone offering hospitality to a stranger – or if it was someone who knew of Jesus’ reputation and offered Him a home when he saw Him on the street. Any of those options are possible. But the second part of that verse points to His wanting to get away – he did not want anyone to know! But He was soon found out!

Today’s mention of the Decapolis is the third and last time that it is mentioned in the New Testament. In our readings schedule Jesus has visited the Decapolis before (see Matthew 4:25 and Mark 5:20), so He is known in that region and people bringing the deaf and mute man to Him is not so unusual. It turns out that Jesus using his spit to heal was also not so unusual. There are two other occurrences of Jesus using spit in healing (Mark 8:23, John 9:6). We naturally ask why He would do that – it remains an open question.

Beyond the spit item is another intrigue – And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” (v. 34) I was struck by “He sighed”. Just now I looked up to the ceiling and sighed and asked what sighing might mean to me or to other people. I remember one of my brothers who used to say “Heavy sigh…”, implying some level of incredulity at some circumstance in his life or someone else’s behavior. But that reaction does not fit Jesus here. What does fit is a level of contentment and confidence that His Father would do just what Jesus is asking, that the man’s ears and mouth be opened. Jesus’ sigh is simply a reflection of His inner peace – His equanimity. We’re back at David’s most recent sermon!

GLORY!

Matthew 15:21-31

“Notice what you notice.” Our byline, “notice what you notice” has tripped me up sometimes. I find myself looking for items in these passages that I had not seen before, which is a good thing as we read these passages more intensely, but that byline should not rule out commenting on the old and familiar. And that is the case with today’s passage, the Canaanite (Syro-Phoenician) woman. It is the only occasion that I can recall where someone has a response to Jesus that causes Him to reconsider His plan of action. Jesus puts the woman off by saying, It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs (v. 26), but she comes right back with Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table (v. 27). It is a delightful scene, in that it shows Jesus as totally personable, willing to change direction when gently prodded to do so. I love this passage!!

The second part of today’s reading is also intriguing. This time it is Matthew who is strong in the details. Verse 30 reads And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at His feet, and He healed them… Normally, that’s the “end of the story”, mission accomplished, but not this time. Matthew goes on in verse 31 to report that the crowd … saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. Matthew offers exacting detail to each of the infirmities mentioned in the previous verse! Intriguing!

Finally, I can’t help but comment on today’s geography. If you get out a good Bible map, you will see that Jesus has ventured far to the northwest, some 30 to 50 miles, to the Mediterranean coast cities of Tyre and Sidon. From there Matthew has Him back beside the Sea of Galilee, while Mark has Him traveling east of the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis, and finally back to the Sea. That’s a great deal of walking. If Jesus traveled 20-25 miles a day, He would have had a two-day trip to Tyre, then another day-trip to Sidon. And those are short distances compared to a three- to five-day journey from Sidon to the region of the Decapolis! But beyond those large distances, I wonder why Jesus chose to make those journeys. Did He have a particular target in these destinations or was He just trying to get out of Galilee for a while? But His fame had spread even to these regions and wherever He went, crowds came to Him and He ministered.

GLORY!

Mark 7:14-23

“Notice what you notice.” Sometimes passages are so familiar to us that it’s hard to find anything new, especially when we are reading two or three or four writers’ accounts of the same event. That was the case today – but I did pick up on a small item. Going back to yesterday’s reading, this passage in Mark begins with Jewish emissaries from Jerusalem in conversation with Jesus. After He responds forcefully to their challenge to Him, verse 14 tells us that He calls the crowd to Himself for a one-sentence teaching. Then verse 17 tells us that he left the people and entered “the house” (presumably Peter’s?). So in short order we have Jesus with three interactions – the Jewish emissaries, the people, and His disciples. And He meets each of these groups differently – with some measure of hostility toward the Jewish emissaries, with a matter-of-fact teaching to the crowd, and in full discipleship mode to those closest to Him.

So what can we learn from Jesus? He does not let hostility deter Him from His mission. He continues to teach/preach to the crowd and He continues to work more closely with His disciples. And we should not let unexpected negative outcomes or even temporary setbacks hold us back. We need to move on, trusting that we are in His grace and all will work out. Easier said than done…!

Blessings!