GOSPEL MEDITATION # 193

Traditions and Commandments &

What Defiles a Person

Mark 7:1-23

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. We tend to be legalists, yes even evangelicals who preach grace. It is common to the human condition. In the Judaism of Jesus’ day many sought to honor God by being observant of a myriad of rules and regulations.
8. The Oral Law, on top of the 613 laws found in Scripture, 248 permitted acts, 365 prohibited acts, many of them had to do with food and personal hygiene.
9. Jesus, an observant Jew, nevertheless rejected much of the Oral Law, the traditions of the elders, and thus ran afoul of religious extremists. Little has changed.
10. Pride follows in the wake of doing works that are thought to be righteous. Jesus pointed out that it is not the external but the internal where the problem lies.
11. What was true for some of the Jewish religious leaders is true for us today.
12. It is out of the heart and mind and the will–the core of us–where sin and evil begin. And we are surrounded by it in the culture we live in.
13. We are in the world, not of it, but we are all vulnerable to the forces that would destroy us.
14. Legalism does not protect us from that which defiles, and the list Jesus gives is very comprehensive.
15. The reality is, we are all susceptible to being defiled.

Maybe adultery and murder won’t get us, but pride,

slander, envy, or coveting may.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #197

The Pharisees Demand a Sign & The Leaven of the Pharisees

Mark 8:11-21

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. “Show us a miracle and we will be satisfied.” Then one more would be requested, and then another. Heal someone, cast out a demon – then we will believe. But they did not.
7. Seems like a miracle would be enough but it never is. Faith is always a gift, blind eyes must be opened, deaf ears must be made to hear.
8. Jesus had feed 5000 then 4000 and yet the apostles were worried about the apparent lack of bread. Did they want to see another miracle?
9. The guys somehow had forgotten the two most incredible miracles ever, one which showed up the fundamental law of nature – new energy or matter cannot be created. We live in a closed system.
10. Right in front of them, as it had been for the religious leaders, they beheld the miraculous. It was not enough.
11. As yet there was no inner working of the Holy Spirit, who alone confirms forgiveness and salvation. It is a miracle unseen, which is far superior to even a resurrection from the dead.
12. There would be the resurrection of Lazarus, which was like casting pearls before swine; then Jesus’ own resurrection was denied.
13. The Pharisees are like all those who trust in doing good works. Theirs is despair and a longing for proof undeniable.
14. Good deeds are observed while real faith cannot be.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 192

The Gospel of Mark #23

Jesus walks of the Water and

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer

4          Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.

5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Jesus needed to create distance between Himself and the Twelve. There was a danger into being forced to declare His Messiahship following the great miracle.
8. The disciple may have wondered why they had been sent away, but then between 3 and 6am there came Jesus walking on the water.
9. In 1 Corinthians 12 4-11, we find one of Holy Spirit gifts is miracles, and the feeding and the walking fit.
10. He would have passed by except for the invitation; seems Jesus waits for the invitation with us too.
11. A ghost, a “phantasma” from the Greek; the disciples had plenty of cultural and superstitious baggage yet.
12. Not really grasping the 5000 fed, they were again astounded when the wind ceased.
13. Gennesaret, a very fertile valley 1 and ½ miles west of the sea of Galilee that stretched south 3 and ½ miles—again the crowds caught up with the Jesus and the twelve, which is understandable given the incredible miracles they had witnessed—and again, no time to rest and teach.
14. We are desperate when something touches our body; rarely are we troubled when the illness has to do with the heart. And when so, the troubling is a gift of the Holy Spirit. This must be the healing we seek from

GOSPEL MEDITATION #191

Mark 6:30-44

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. The apostles return from their first missionary adventure and report back to Jesus all they had done and taught. This is a precedent for today as well may well be concluded.
7. Jesus wanted a time to refresh, debrief, a time apart from the crowds. Here we see the importance of leisure time and rest.
8. Jesus no doubt was tired, but seeing the people He had “compassion” on them. This is typical of Jesus and is what we are to model as well.
9. His compassion lead to His teaching; and what He said would have more lasting value than what was to follow.
10. Jesus taught for a lengthy period of time or so it could be assumed. So wrapped up in what He was giving them, time was passing and it would be too late to care for themselves. And we know from Matthew 14:21, there were women and children present in addition to the 5000 men.
11. The apostles are aware of the situation, but Jesus tells them to “give them something to eat.” It seemed impossible, was impossible for them, yet Jesus issues the challenge.
12. Five barely loaves, two fish – maybe enough for two, but in the hands of Jesus, after the thanksgiving prayer to God for the food, a miracle occurs in His hands. The supply of food is not exhausted until everyone is satisfied.
13. The disciples give out the food, true then, true today. It is astonishing that Mark reports that everyone was content.
14. Twelve baskets left over. Twelve baskets, one for each of the apostles? Is it going too far to assume the baskets was meant for the Twelve? Perhaps.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 190

Mark 6:14-29

The Death of John the Baptist

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. He married the wife of his brother Philip, which ran counter to the Law of Moses – (see Lev. 18:16, 20:21). Herod both feared John, likely due to guilt, and respected him all at once. A familiar conflict.
7. We are reminded of David’s words in Psalm 51, which were occasioned by Nathan’s rebuke of David for his adultery and murder.
8. Herodias, the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip, was more offended than her new husband. She hated John and wanted revenge. The righteous John made her feel guilty.
9. At an occasion where Herod entertained powerful local politicos, he got very drunk. The daughter of Herodias, Salome, danced a flirty dance and Herod made a terrible mistake, one which he regretted right away.
10. To display his power to Salome and the rest of the partyers, he promised the young woman he would give her whatever she wanted. The request was the Baptist’s head on a platter.
11. This is a story of hate, revenge, and murder. Guilt and paranoia descended upon Herod and this lead him to think that Jesus, whom he heard was doing miracles in the regions he ruled, was actually John raised from the dead.
12. And the result would be guilt for the rest of the lives of that family, from Herod, Herodias, and Salome and those who had to execute John. Sin has a way of spreading out and destroying as it goes.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #189

JESUS SENDS OUT THE APOSTLES

MARK 6:7-13

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Jesus, undaunted by the rejection at His hometown, begins sending out the twelve, two by two, into other parts of Galilee.
7. He does not go with them; likely He continued teaching, preaching, and making people whole as He had done before He called the Twelve to follow Him.
8. He gave the apostles “authority” exousia in the Greek and not dunamis or power over unclean spirits. Miracles accompanied the preaching, which focused on repenting, a message similar to that of John the Baptist.
9. This was certainly risky business for Jesus to commit to; Judas was also among them and none really understood who Jesus actually was.
10. The Twelve were to go out empty handed, without provision. In that part of the world it was customary for travellers to be received as they journeyed. The pairs of two would be recognized as itinerate prophets and thus invited into homes for food and shelter.
11. Jesus strictly charged them not to take advantage of customary sustenance by ‘moving up’ to better accommodations if offered. Have we lost this lesson along the way?
12. Shaking the dust off the feet – a sign that one leaves behind whatever the results of the ministry was or was not. Moving ahead is the point.
13. Miracles accompanied the apostle’s work, as is typical in times of awakening.
14. How we wish for these days.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 188

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Mark 6:1-7

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Luke 4:16-30 has Luke’s account of Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth. The Gospel writer has this event earlier in the ministry of Jesus than does Matthew and Mark. In Luke the rejection goes to an extreme: there is an attempt to kill Jesus. Not known why Matthew and Mark are silent.
7. Jesus taught as one who had authority and it amazed his home town folk since they knew he was not educated as a rabbi. They knew Jesus all too well.
8. They knew he did miracles also, yet this did not impact them or become evidence of something more.
9. Jesus was known as a carpenter, a tekton — A worker in wood, metal, and stone.
10. His family was known to them as well. Joseph is not mentioned as he was likely dead at this point. Four brothers, two sisters, children of Mary and Joseph after Jesus’ birth. James and Judas (Jude) would become disciples of their half-brother and would write letters that are in our New Testament.
11. The whole family “took offense at him.” Shocking, but not so really as it requires the revealing of the Holy Spirit before anyone really knows who Jesus actually is.
12. The old proverb expressing a saying that prophets are not appreciated among those who know them – Jesus much to common to be specially used of God.
13. Little ministry occurred in Nazareth as a result.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 187

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter

Mark 5:1-20

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Jesus was unable to get away from crowds of people.
7. Jairus, the president or ruler of a synagogue (Capernaum?), had a 12 year old daughter, an only child, who was dying. He came to Jesus believing He could do something about it.
8. While walking to Jairus’s home, a woman who for 12 years suffered terribly from an unknown malady, thought that if she merely touched Jesus’ garment, she would be healed.
9. The woman was healed instantly, and Jesus, in a way that is unexplained other than “power had gone out from him” then searched for the woman and spoke with her.
10. Jesus said her faith had healed her, and then said, “be healed of your disease.” One must ask, what was the nature of her healing? She sought Jesus–perhaps this is the key. She had faith Jesus could heal her but that alone did not result in her healing. It was the work of Jesus alone.
11. In the midst of the healing of the woman, word comes that the little girl is dead. What use then of Jesus? But He continues. As per custom, the mourners had already arrived and the scene was chaotic. Taking only the inner three with Him, and the parents, Jesus enters the room. Those gathered laughed at Him when Jesus said she was only sleeping.
12. One must again ask, why did Jesus say this? He knew she was dead. He took her hand, and speaking Aramaic, told the corpse to rise up. She did and there was no trace of disease. Jesus did not want news of this first of three resurrections to be broadcast about. Curious for sure.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 186

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man Mark 5:1-20

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Now Jesus and the disciples, having crossed the Sea of Galilee from west to east are in an area known as Gerasenes. Luke and Mark have Gerasenes, Matthew has Gadarenes. The two districts are separated by about 75 miles, Gadarene being to the south.
7. It was a desolate place where outcasts like lepers and dangerous people lived, many in caves used as burial places.
8. A demon possessed man, wild and powerful, confronts Jesus. He acts like one deranged, out of his mind; and there was no hope for him. He falls on his face before Jesus.
9. His demons speak; they know who Jesus is and their utterance is not one of reverence or respect, but a taunt, a challenge, and a cry of fear also. The demons know Jesus has authority over them. The demons plead with Jesus to leave them be.
10. Jesus begins ordering the demons out but they do not obey at once. Jesus pauses, and asks for the name of the lead demon.
11. “Legion” is the answer and means there are many demons in the man. More pleading from the demon; they desire to remain. What is meant by “out of this country” is a mystery.
12. Begging Jesus again, the demons wish to be cast into a herd of pigs that were nearby. For a reason we do not understand, Jesus permits this. The invading demons panic the pigs who run headlong over a cliff and are drowned in the Sea of Galilee.
13. The inhabitants of the area, fearing Jesus, ask Him to leave.
14. The man now freed of unclean spirits begs to follow Jesus, but He prefers the man proclaim the mercy of God to those who live nearby–an area of Greco/Roman cities known as the Decapolis, or 10 cities, in which were both Gerasene and Gadarene.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 185

Mark 4:30-41

The Parable of the Mustard Seed and Jesus Calms a Storm

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Mustard seed, very tiny, not the smallest of all seeds, so we see a proverbial phrase that simply means – little.
7. Of greatest significance here is that this first parable Jesus tells has to do with the kingdom of God.
8. The tiny seed grows into a large plant, almost a tree. In that part of the world the mustard plant would grown 10 to 15 feet high and when the branches stiffen, birds would nest in them.
9. Jesus loved parables and Matthew and Luke have many more, but this is the last one in Mark’s Gospel.
10. The crowds, including the Twelve, did not always understand the parables but Jesus would explain them. Only a few of Jesus’ interpreted parables found their way into the New Testament.
11. Jesus wanted to sail east across the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee, perhaps to get away from the crowds.
12. We see He was extremely exhausted so that when it was time to depart, Jesus appeared not to be ready. No explanation is given for such, but most assume it was because He appeared so tired out.
13. We reflect on the humanness of Jesus then; could He have summoned strength from the Father? If so, He did not.
14. Sea of Galilee, about 7 miles long, 3.5 miles wide, was 600 feet below sea level and when the sun went down, there could be a drastic temperature change. Sudden squalls would occur.
15. Jesus was so tired out that He slept through part of the storm.
16. The disciples were afraid and woke Jesus who was resting on a ‘headrest’ probably made of wood at the stern of the boat.
17. The disciples were upset with Jesus and accused Him of not caring whether they lived or died. Yes, storms happen even when Jesus is present, both then and now.
18. Jesus told the wind to stop and the waves to hush and be muzzled.
19. The disciples saw something about Jesus they had never known.