Mark 6:4 - April 10, 2010

Mark 6:4 “Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith.”

There is a famous line from an old movie that says “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.” What is clear from these words of Jesus in Mark 6:4 is that this phrase can be applied in both a positive and negative context. In Mark 6 the primary defining attribute of home is an astonishing degree of unbelief found amongst the people of Jesus home town!
Jesus has moved the people of His town with His teaching to such a degree that they are amazed at His authority. His reputation for the miraculous has followed Him with such intensity that the people are talking about the things that He has done and yet the still do not believe. It is in this context that Jesus establishes a principle that still carries on to this day. To our families and those who know us well there is often a degree of familiarity in their hearts towards us that causes them to lose sight of the extraordinary work of God in our lives.
Jesus was so hindered by the lack of faith amongst these people and their attitude towards Him because of the fact that they knew His background history that He could only heal a few sick people. Very few times in scripture does the word provide insight into Jesus’ emotions but this is one of those cases. Mark reports that Jesus was “amazed” by their lack of faith. The hardness of their hearts towards Him actually shut down the work of God. Not because God was not there but because their receptivity to Him was limited by their offense at Him. Jesus said something insightful in Matt 11:6. He stated “blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." NASU He knew that many would be offended rather than receptive towards Him because of the limitations of their own hearts.
This passage in Mark 6 is a great example to us as servants of the Lord. If the master was rejected in His home town so will the servants be. If in His hometown and amongst His relatives Jesus was limited in the works of God that He could perform, we can assume the same thing. Perhaps it is the norm of the kingdom of God that we are given the gift of familiarity amongst those who know us best as a means of guarding our hearts and adding a touch of humility. Perhaps God in His wisdom has provided a place of normalcy for those who serve Him, where they are not the star but only seen as average. Could it be that God allows this as a shield for His people?
When God begins to use you in extraordinary ways prepare your heart for the sobering response of those who knew you before the grace of God. Receive as a gift the cool response of those who know you best at times. If they are not impressed with the blessings and favor that fall upon you elsewhere rejoice and be glad that God has surrounded you with a shelter of humility to protect you! God can hide us in the midst of our own families at times. And when He does find the wisdom of God in it and walk before Him with a humble heart, thanking Him for the grace that He has poured out on you, the grace of hiddeness!

Mark 6:1 - April 9, 2010

Mark 6:1 - Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Imagine this moment in the life of Jesus. He has just completed a couple of days of intensely powerful ministry. He has calmed the storm, cast out the devils, healed a woman, and raised the dead all in a short span of time. But then He goes back to his hometown. Consider the challenge that this represents. He must have been full of faith and thanksgiving for the miracles that He had just been a part of. He must have been confident of God’s work both in Him and through Him as He went to the synagogue that day to bring a message of hope. But look at the response of the people.

People can be so fickle in their reaction to the things of God. He is teaching with great wisdom and power. The initial response of the crowds is amazement at both the wisdom that He speaks with and the power of that is flowing through Him. They acknowledge that something miraculous is taking place. They even recognize that the wisdom and miracles He is demonstrating are something that has been given to Him. It is not of His own conception. And yet they cannot see past their familiarity with Him.

The people see and hear things that they have never seen nor heard before. There is a level of wisdom being presented to them that they have never fathomed. It is so completely contrasted from anything that they have ever witnessed before that they are amazed by it. But they cannot see past the messenger to embrace the message. This people miss one of the greatest potential moments in their lives because they cannot accept the source.

It is not as if Jesus was some former delinquent. Nor was He some psychologically broken youth that has come back to them and because they know how conflicted His past was they cannot trust His message today. Even though God does transform and use people in this way Jesus was not one of them. His only disqualifying feature in this passage was His normalcy. The people could not receive Him as from God because they could not see past the fact that He was not surrounded by mystery. They knew His parents, His family, His trade and their family background. They loved the ministry of Jesus but were so offended by His roots that they could not believe the divine content that was flowing from this God empowered life. Jesus committed the offense of being normal!

People of all generations want to dictate how God will be packaged. Many people want to clothe God in an aura of mystery and majesty that feeds their sense of drama. They cannot conceive of God as a child in a manger. They cannot see him with his hands weathered and calloused as He works a trade. They cannot picture Him walking right amongst them with no trumpet sound nor banners waving to acknowledge His presence. But still He comes. God comes riding on a donkey, dressed in common clothes. God comes in flesh and blood, in forms that carry no drama, and yet He calls us to believe. He presents Himself in humility and calls us to humble ourselves along side of Him. He adorns himself with the towel of the servant and washes our feet and invites us to join Him in a life of service. And we stumble. We are offended by his lowliness, His simplicity. Don’t miss the ministry of Jesus that is reaching out to you because it is coming in a form that seems so familiar. Do not overlook the miracle that may already be present because it is not packaged in bright lights and loud music. God often is hiding amongst the stuff of everyday life, waiting to be discovered by those who will have eyes to see Him.

Mark 5:40-43 - April 8, 2010

Mark 5:40-43 “After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.”

Jesus has now endured firmly in His faith in the face of the mockery of the people. He has reinterpreted the setting by declaring God’s perspective of this situation in opposition to man’s. He has encouraged the faith of the Man who is wrestling to believe. The atmosphere is ripe with confrontation as He speaks against the emotional outbursts coming from a people who are not looking to God. The setting is still hot with emotion and even anger at His rebuke but Jesus does not stop there. Faith compels Him on!

Intensely focused on the conviction that is governing His heart concerning Jairus’ daughter, the Lord adjust one final aspect of the atmosphere around Him. He kicks everyone out! Jesus recognizes that the people who have gathered are stuck in their negative mindset and rather than argue with them over a right point of view He simply cleanses the atmosphere. Argument or contention would have simply prolonged the agony of the parents, deepened their sense of loss and pain and allowed for their grief to more completely take over their perspective. As a result Jesus immediately removes everyone who present so that they cannot hinder the work of God with their unbelief. This is fascinating in the light of how many people would seek to draw attention to themselves through their miracle working; not Jesus. Jesus’ goal is the restoration of the daughter and He allows the miracle to be the message.

After sending the others away, Jesus brings only the parents of the child and His disciples with Him into the room with the child. Jesus demonstrates a model for faith building. The room is now full with more people who believe than there are people who don’t believe. Jesus has changed the setting sufficiently so as to create an atmosphere of faith and agreement. He has encouraged the father’s faith and brought along three men whom He knows will stand with Him on behalf of this young girl.

Now that the setting is right Jesus wastes no time but simply goes over to the girl, takes her hand and instructs her to get up. There is no show, no drama, just a simply gesture and a confident command! With both parents standing by in amazement the little girl rises from her bed in obedience to the Lord and begins to walk around the room. Jesus has now mentored to new witnesses in one short experience, for certainly both parents will become a voice of affirmation to the ministry of Jesus.

The final statement regarding this miracle is rather fascinating for the way it stands in opposition to conventional thinking. Verse 43 tells us that Jesus gave strict orders to the family not to let anyone know about this miracle. He then moves on to another region to continue His ministry. No celebration, no hype! No line up of miracles that were done. Simply the restoration of a child to her family and a message to all who would not believe through the visible witness of a child that once was dead who now walked amongst them again. The message of God was clear. The authority of Christ was even clearer. And the miracle itself became a silent witness to all who were gathered in mourning that day.

Mark 5:37-40 - April 6, 2010

Mark 5:37-40 “He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40 But they laughed at him.”

“But they laughed at Him!” Wait a minute… aren’t we talking about Jesus. This is the man who walked on water. This is the man who fed the five thousand. This is the man who raised the dead and gave sight to the blind. And yet in this moment of intense emotion the people laugh in reaction to his words. This passage is a powerful image of the conflict between faith and reason.

Jesus was with Jairus when the men from his household came with the news that his daughter was dead. He was aware fully of the setting that He was walking into. This was not a case of Jesus misunderstanding the situation. This was not a case of miscommunication. This was Jesus living above the level of the natural mind! In John 11 Jesus also refers to the death of Lazarus by initially stating that Lazarus had fallen asleep. So it seems apparent that when He spoke to those gathered He knew exactly what He was talking about. The message seems to be one of living on a different level than the world around you. In the preceding passage Jesus has spoken to Jairus, encouraging him to reject his fear and to “just believe!” In essence He is working to change Jairus’ point of view, as if to say, “do not look at the circumstances, look at God!”

This situation is rare in its setting because of the fact that even though He is going to a setting where many people are grieving and there will be much emotion He only allows a three of His main disciples to go with Him. They walk into this setting of grief and immediately confront the atmosphere that is swirling around. He is not afraid to contradict their emotion, nor oppose their interpretation of what is happening. Jesus is not hesitant to reinterpret their view of the situation.

It is interesting to note that even though their reaction is negative and they laugh at Him, Jesus is not deterred from His perspective of things. He does not waver as if to yield to the general crowd opinion. He is willing to stand alone in His conviction that the girl will soon be fine. There is such a powerful message in these verses about confidence in God. How many people could walk into a place of mourning and challenge everyone’s perception of the victim’s condition? How many people do you know who could stand in the face of the people’s laughter and not lose their strength of heart? There is a great miracle that takes place before the miracle even takes place!

The miracle I am referring to is the miracle of faith! Faith is does not submit to the doctor’s decree! Faith does not surrender to peer pressure. Faith is not bound to the acceptance of others. At times faith must walk alone! At times faith must go against the grain of popular culture. Can you take control of the atmosphere around you and bend it to God’s will!? Jesus did. He turned a setting that was being governed by emotion and a negative report into a setting that was prepared for God’s power! He recognized that the atmosphere needed to be changed and immediately began the process of confrontation as soon as He arrived. He did not let it perpetuate for any length of time once He was on the scene.

God desires to teach us discernment so that we can recognize the hindrances in the atmosphere that will resist the miraculous. It is God’s desire to teach us wisdom so that we can partner with Him in creating an atmosphere of faith. God’s people must seek wisdom and courage to rightly interpret every setting from the perspective of God’s kingdom instead of the natural man. Look at the God potential in every moment and believe. Stand for God and let Him work with you to do His will.

Mark 5:35-36 - April 4, 2010 Easter Sunday

Mark 5:35-36 “While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher anymore?"36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

Have you ever noticed the intense conflict that surrounds the words of Jesus!? Here in Mark 5:35, while Jesus is still speaking news that directly contradicts the words of Christ is brought to the man who is in crisis. This passage is remarkably similar to the parable of Christ in Mark 4:15 where Jesus said “some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” Jesus has not even finished speaking and already a negative report has come to steal the words of faith that Jesus is planting into Jairus’ heart!

Some well meaning men come to Jairus with the news that his daughter is dead and their attitude is “why bother the teacher anymore?” What happens next is a truly marvelous demonstration of faith. Verse 36 presents to all of those who have ears to hear what the Lord is saying a powerful illustration of the conflict between faith and unbelief. Verse 36 simply states that Jesus ignored the report that these men brought. Instead He turns to Jairus and confronts his temptation to fear. “Don’t be afraid; just believe!” These words ring loudly in my ears.

How many times have you been faced with the contrast between what the natural mind says is reality and what faith says is possible with God. We are called to live in the realms of possibility thinking. In. Mt. 19:26 Jesus teaches his disciples about the kingdom of God and states emphatically “with God all things are possible!” The question is “where will you place your focus, with God or with man?” With God that which man says is impossible suddenly becomes possible! Jesus simply confronts Jairus’ temptation to accept the limitations of what the world says is possible; “just believe.”

He. 11:25 chronicles the faith of those who lived extreme lives for the sake of the kingdom of God; men and women who transcended the thinking of the natural mind and lived with their eyes set upon a kingdom that is eternal and invisible. The pages of scripture are filled with the testimony of people who lived by a higher law, the law of faith. They lived by a higher standard, the standard of the kingdom of God. They lived by a higher calling, the calling of God. They faced their fears. They believed God even when the world around them said despair. Jesus called Jairus to extend his faith beyond what was humanly possible, what was intellectually conceivable and said “just believe.” He is speaking the same message today to anyone who has ears to hear. “Today, just believe!”