Posted on December 25, 2013
#34: God’s Wonderful Contrary Plan
Merry Christmas! I pray you’re having a beautiful season of celebration!
In our current Wednesdays-In-the-Word series Knowing Jesus, we’ve been studying our way through Mark’s gospel. Today, we’re going to take a little jump back to a half-verse in Mark 6 and pause for a Christmas thought.
From childhood, we dream about what our lives will be like—what we’ll be, where we’ll live, who we’ll marry, and so on. Usually, our lives don’t turn out quite as we’d imagined. I’m confident that was true for Mary and for Joseph, neither of whom had anticipated that the Messiah would grow up in their home as a part of their family, with a host of joys and sorrows along the way.
Read Mark 6:3a. Then read Luke 1:26-38 and Matthew 1:18-23. Read More
Posted on December 18, 2013
#33: He Knows the Pain of Loss
Growing up, my cousin Amy and I were very close. We didn’t see each other often but when we got a chance to spend time together, we had tons of fun! We still don’t see each other often; when we do, we laugh about our childhood “adventures”—like when we pulled her parents’ heavy pedestal table over on ourselves and screamed for rescue. Maybe you cherish growing-up memories of a sibling or cousin also.
What about the growing-up relationship between Jesus and his “cousin” John, known as John the Baptist? Exactly how they were related isn’t clear, but we know their mothers were near relatives (Luke 1:36ff). Jesus and John were born a few months apart, each under his own set of extraordinary circumstances. They each had righteous parents who were devoted to God. And they each played an extraordinary role in the coming of God’s Kingdom—though John was adamant that his part was nothing compared to Jesus’ (John 1:19-30).
How well did these two outstanding young kids know each other? Did they only see each other as their parents visited the temple each year? Or more often? When they were together, was there a unique quality to their relationship? Jesus paid John a wonderful tribute in Matthew 11:7-15 (see also Lk. 7:24-28), saying, “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John…. he is the Elijah who was to come.” How early were they both aware of the other’s purpose? Read More
Posted on December 11, 2013
#32: Learning By Experience
“Experience is the best teacher,” a wise saying goes. An ancient Chinese proverbs adds,
“Hear and forget,
see and remember,
do and understand.”
Our Creator knows that we don’t understand the full scope of anything until we experience it firsthand. With this in mind, Jesus sent out the Twelve to get a taste of the ministry that would soon be theirs. They had heard Him teach, they had watched Him minister—but now they would do ministry and really begin to understand its challenges, joys, and frustrations. Read More
Posted on November 27, 2013
#30: Leave Your Past in the Past
Welcome back to our study of Mark’s gospel, Knowing Jesus! So glad you’re here.
Today we sum up Mark’s fifth chapter. In it, we met three people in seemingly hopeless situations:
• a demon-possessed man (vs 1-20; see post #27: Hope for the Hopeless)
• a woman sick for twelve years (vs 21-34; see #28: Changed By His Touch)
• and a dying—then dead—young girl (vs 35-43; see #29: A Platform for Praise).
Read back through Mark 5.
All three “main characters” had two things in common.
(1) Under the Law they were unclean.
(2) Jesus compassionately, fearlessly touched them. He changed their circumstances and their lives, leaving them eternally grateful. Read More
Posted on November 20, 2013
#29: A Platform for Praise
Welcome to Knowing Jesus, our study through Mark’s gospel. Last week, we read about a woman healed by touching Jesus’ robe. Her story is woven into another—of a frightened father and his dying daughter. Today, we’ll learn the rest of their story.
Read Mark 5:21-24, 35-43. (The same account can be found in Matthew 9:18-19,23-26 and Luke 8:40-24, 49-56.)
Jairus was a prominent man. Four times, Mark identifies him as the synagogue ruler (v. 22, 35, 36, 38). Everyone in Capernaum knew who Jairus was. But his position didn’t protect him from pain; his only daughter—just twelve years old—was dying, and Jairus was terrified. Read More
Posted on November 13, 2013
#28: Changed By His Touch
She pushed through the pressing crowd, jostled right and left by others wanting to see Jesus. She pulled her veil closer, trying to stay anonymous. She shouldn’t be there. She was making everyone who touched her unclean. But she was ill, alone, broke, and desperate.
He pushed through the pressing crowd, risking his standing in the synagogue to be there. His only daughter—his little princess—was breathing her last. The mourners were already gathering at his home. He was sick with fright, helpless, and desperate.
For him, twelve years of joy were about to come to a tragic end. For her, twelve years of misery seemed without end. Today, we’ll look at her story; next Wednesday, we’ll look at his.
Read Mark 5:21-34. Also read Matthew 9:18-22 and Luke 8:40-48. Read More