Jump Start # 769

Mark 8:16 “They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.”

Today, our church family is reading Mark 8. It is here that we read of Jesus feeding 4,000 people. Earlier He had fed over 5,000. It begins with the Lord feeling compassion for the people. Many had come a long way and they had stayed there for three days. Jesus was concerned whether or not these people could make it home.

There are layers of lessons there. First, Jesus cared. He cares not just for the soul but for our wellbeing. Second, the crowds, huge as they were, stayed with the Lord for three days. They came a long way. Amazing!  Stories like that are still told over seas. Villagers walking miles upon miles to hear some missionaries preach the Gospel of Christ. It’s different here in the states. It’s hard to get members to DRIVE in a nice car a few blocks to hear a 30 minute sermon. Come a long way? Stay three days? Without anything to eat? Amazing!

The 4,000 are fed. They leave. Jesus and the disciples get to the sea and get in a boat to travel to the other side. They forgot to take any food. All they have is one loaf of  bread. Their minds are about food. They are trying to figure out what they will do. Jesus is teaching them. He is warning about some serious things and the disciples are focusing upon their bellies and what they will do without any food. They are not paying attention to Jesus. They are not listening. They are so human and Jesus is so divine at this moment.

The Lord reminds them. He reminds them of the feeding of the 5,000 and how little they had gathered and how the Lord multiplied it. There was an abundance left over. He then reminded them of the feeding of the 4,000 which had just happened. Again there was food left over. Both of those miracles were possible because of Jesus. There was nothing special about what they started with. It was all Jesus. They are in a boat with one loaf of bread. They are also in the boat with Jesus. What more do they need. If Jesus could feed 9,000 people could He not feed 12 men? This section ends with Jesus asking, “Do you not yet understand?”

I must wonder how many spiritual lessons are missed because I am thinking about my belly or my house or my bills or my tomorrow or the game or my to do list. The disciples sitting in the boat with Jesus missed it. You and I sitting with Jesus in a church building can miss it as well. The concerns physically often trump the needs spiritually. Our minds can be filled with wondering how things will be physically when our spiritual hearts, our souls, need tending to.

I love this lesson because it is so much like us. The disciples are so human here. It shows that they didn’t always think what they should have. They didn’t always get it. They didn’t always act like super stars. They fumbled. They got in trouble. They didn’t pay attention. I see myself written all over there. The growling belly triumphs over the soul more times than we’d like to admit.

Jesus was patient with them. He didn’t dump them and find a replacement group. There was no B-team to call up. He didn’t bench them. Onward they went. He reminded them. He had taken care of them and would still. He knew that their faith was there, little as it was at that time.

What do we learn from this? We are like the disciples in that boat. Like them, we need to trust Jesus more. We need to build our faith and let it come forth. We need to let the spiritual rise and triumph over the physical. Some of our issues, with worry, fear and guilt, bother us because the physical is winning over the spiritual.

Do you not yet understand? Great question, Jesus. I’m trying. Sometimes I think I do. Then there are other times, well, I suppose I don’t. I guess I’ve been thinking too much about what to eat instead of listening. Do you understand? Remember. Put lessons together. Recall. See what the Lord had done. Stay with it. You’ll understand. You’ll get it. The spiritual will triumph.  It isn’t always easy.

Roger

Jump Start # 768

Mark 7:28 “But she answered and said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”

Today, our church family reads Mark 7. The chapter begins with the Pharisees accusing Jesus’ disciples of violating the tradition about washing before they ate. They didn’t do that. Although they saw the disciples eating bread without first doing the ceremonial washing, they were really agitated with Jesus. This was reason enough to thump the Lord. In a brilliant way Jesus turned their traditions on them by reminding them that they broke commands of God for their man made traditions.

Jesus then travels north toward the area of Tyre. He did this to get away. He is found and Mark reveals an interesting encounter with the Syrophoenician woman. She was a Gentile. Her daughter was demon possessed. She came to Jesus for help. Do you see the intriguing thoughts here?

1. A Gentile seeking help from a Jew. Very odd.

2. A female Gentile talking to a male Jew, even more odd.

3. A Gentile girl demon possessed. The accounts of demon possession are usually among Jewish people.

The Lord didn’t immediately help this woman. His statement seems very rude to us. He said that you do not take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. The children would be the Jews. The dogs would be the Gentiles. That seems offensive and out of character for Jesus. If someone called us a dog, we’d get upset. She doesn’t seem to react that way. The word “dog” means a house pet or a lapdog. The point Jesus is making is that mama doesn’t cook a meal and the first thing she does is fill a plate and feed the dog. Mama cooks for the children. Jesus came for the Jews.

How easily this Gentile woman could have given up and walked away. It seems that the Lord says, “No,” to her request. But it’s her little girl that is possessed. The mama bear comes out of mothers’ when their children need help. Her answer is our verse today. The dogs feed on the children’s crumbs.

Grasp what she was saying. She was not asking for a whole meal, only the crumbs. The crumbs are never missed. She was not claiming to be as good as a Jew. She was not asking Jesus to take things that were intended for the Jews. She was only wanting the crumbs. She understood that the crumbs were enough to heal her daughter. The power of Jesus’ crumbs was all it would take.

Those thoughts impressed Jesus. He saw great faith in that woman. She understood what Jesus could do. Jesus cast the demon out of that girl.

Mark gives us this story to illustrate great faith. This Gentile woman had a greater faith than many of the Jews did. She had heard of Jesus. They saw Jesus. She believed. They doubted.

Faith doesn’t give up. Sometimes our journey in life takes us through some long valleys and difficult ways. Faith doesn’t give up. Those who are always looking for an easy way will give up when they see the long road ahead of them. They sigh and move on to things that take less effort. Throughout the New Testament, the admonition to be “diligent” is found. Faith isn’t always easy. The answer isn’t always “yes.” The Lord has a way of pulling a greater faith out of us as He did this gentile woman.

• Learning the Bible isn’t easy. It takes time. Some want the shortcuts. Some want others just to tell them. It doesn’t come about that way.

• Fellowship isn’t easy. We can bump and bruise each other on a regular basis. Some seem too nosey. Some ask a lot of questions of us. It’s easy to avoid the folks that are different than I am. It’s easy to surround myself with my chosen clique. It doesn’t work that way.

• Walking with God isn’t easy. Every day there are choices—the right choice or the easy choice…what is good or what I feel like doing. The crowd takes me away from God. The Devil offers many wrong options. Faith compels me to keep walking with God.

The crumbs of God are of more value than the whole meal of the world. The crumbs of God will do you more good than everything in the pantry of Satan. The crumbs of God healed this demon possessed girl.

Crumbs of truth…crumbs of hope…crumbs of forgiveness…crumbs of peace…crumbs of tomorrow…crumbs that build faith…crumbs that restores marriage…crumbs that pushes you forward…crumbs that make you reach out and take hold of God’s hand.

Only a few crumbs…but that was all it took.

Roger

Jump Start # 767

Mark 6:16 “But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

Today, my church family is reading Mark 6. It is amazing all the things that Marks stuffs in a chapter. Mark is unique for all the action and the miracles of Jesus. This chapter shows Jesus healing a few in Nazareth and ends with the feeding of the 5,000. In the middle we find the limited commission. The first real mission of the apostles in which they cast out demons and the their first journey without Jesus. He stayed and they went. The news spread about Jesus. It even caught the attention of Herod.

This is where our verse is found today. Herod had arrested John because he proclaimed that his marriage was unlawful. Herod had married his sister-in-law. John was plain in his speech. He told Herod that it was unlawful for you to have her. We just have to appreciate the boldness of John. Today, many preachers wouldn’t say anything. Those that did might get fired for saying such things. There are consequences for standing with the truth. For John, it meant getting thrown into prison. Herod would bring John out to hear him speak. He enjoyed that, which is interesting. Some like listening to preaching without ever changing or making application to their lives. Herod must have been one of those.

At his birthday party, after what must have been a lustful dance, the wicked women in Herod’s life demand the execution of John. He granted their wish. Herod appears weak. The women know how to get what they want. Kill the messenger and everything will be fine. The message of God’s word doesn’t change when the messenger is silenced. How shallow wicked people think. Herod consents to this evil request. John is executed.

When word spreads about Jesus, Herod thinks it is John. Our verse is interesting. It states that Herod KEPT SAYING that John whom I beheaded, has risen. Apparently, he didn’t just say this in passing, or in secret, or jokingly, instead, he KEPT SAYING it. Herod is bothered. Guilt has besieged him. He knows that he did wrong and now he fears that it is coming back to haunt him. Herod had enough of a conscience to realize that he was wrong.

Guilt works that way, even with us. It doesn’t just go away. There are reminders. It surfaces. We try to stuff it away and some how it pops back up. Guilt is one reason some stay away from church services. They have done wrong and they are trying to run from the guilt. Church services reminds them of God and goodness and how one ought to live. That’s just more guilt upon a guilty heart. So instead of coming home to a forgiving and loving God, they go the other way and surround themselves with other guilt ridden people who pull them deeper and deeper into sin.

Guilt comes about when our conscience runs into the word of God. The more of God’s word that is in us and the more that our conscience is working the more guilt, shame and embarrassment work in our lives. These things serve a purpose. Without embarrassment, shame or guilt, which is driven by our conscience, we’d say anything, do anything and wear anything. When we hear people talking with a sewer mouth, or dressing very immodestly, we wonder how in the world can they do that? They do it because their conscience isn’t working. There is no shame, embarrassment, or guilt for those things. There is no word of God dwelling in their hearts.

Our embarrassment, shame and guilt keeps us from staying in the land of wrong. That guilt drives us back to God. Without forgiveness from God, we would be overcome with guilt and shame. Those that don’t know God experience that. Thoughts of suicide dominate a person who is guilty and without hope. God offers hope. God offers a second chance.

Herod was haunted with his guilt. There is no recorded  passage of Herod finding peace with God. A conscience governed by the word of God is a good thing. It will keep us on the path with God. It will cause us to have a course correction when we get off the path.

Guilt—it’s a good thing when it causes you to turn back to God. Guilt is not a place God intends for you to dwell. The honest heart recognizes the times when one has let God down. Changes take place. A better and more determined effort follows. Good triumphs. In this way, guilt has been helpful to wake a person up.

Herod kept saying…interesting thought!

Roger

Jump Start # 766

Mark 5:5 “Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gnashing himself with stones.”

The congregation I am with are in a plan to read through the New Testament this year. This is a wonderful idea. This week we are reading in Mark. I thought I would share a few thoughts that connect our reading and Jump Starts together.

Mark 5 is a favorite of mine. It is saturated with action and drama. What a great chapter. It begins with Jesus and the apostles coming to shore. They had just crossed the sea in the chapter before. There, Jesus calmed a violent storm. As soon as they reach land, a naked, bloody and loud demon possessed man charges them. What follows is a great encounter between the Lord and the demons.

There are three impossibles in this chapter. First, the casting out of the demon. Second, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood. Third, the raising of Jairus’ dead daughter. Impossibles. There are layers and layers of great lessons to be found here. Don’t miss them. Lessons such as Jesus calling the demon possessed man to go share the story. This is the first person Jesus told to tell. Or, the lesson about Jesus allowing Himself to be interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood. She had that problem for 18 years. Jesus was on a 911 call to save Jairus’ dying daughter. You’d think that Jesus would tell the woman to hold on and wait and come back to her after he saved the sick daughter. He didn’t do it that way. He took time with the woman. He allowed her to tell her story. By the time He was ready to go to Jairus’ house, the little girl was dead. There lies another lesson. The messengers from the house report that it’s too late the little girl had died. That statement reveals that they believed Jesus could have cured her, but once she was dead, even Jesus couldn’t do anything. Another lesson, when Jesus reaches the house, He states that the girl is asleep. Those who have gathered laugh. They laugh at Jesus.

The verse that I have picked out shows how irritable everyone would have been in the village because of the demons. He was screaming night and day. He was screaming from the tombs. He was screaming from the mountains. His screams would have scared small children. Parents would have tried to calm crying children who were frightened by his screams. Adults would lose sleep, night after night. His screams would have made them irritable, cranky and desperate to do something. Anything!

Often the problems of one person affects many others. This is true of grown children who choose to do wrong and dumb things. They may proclaim that it’s their life and they have that right, but what they fail to realize is how it affects others. Often it’s the innocent who must clean up the messes, pay the bills, and try to set wrongs right.

The change of this demon possessed man would have an impact on many others. Quiet nights. Fear gone. Life back to normal. Amazing. Jesus did what the village could not. Their solution was to chain him up and isolate him. That didn’t work. Jesus removed the demon. Often the solutions that society offers, don’t work. They are temporary, shallow and removes the problem from our sight without dealing with it properly.

There are some things that only Jesus can fix. First and foremost, is our problem with sin. Jesus forgives us. Jesus can fix a marriage like no counselor can. Jesus can fix an addiction like no rehab house can. Jesus can change our past and give us hope for the future. It’s wonderful what Jesus can do.

Don’t give up on Jesus. When all seems gone, Jesus is still there. He can do what no one else can. He can turn a grump into a sweet and kind person. He can turn a selfish person into a generous and sharing person. He can turn a cold heart into a good and honest heart

Jesus can. That will help us through those dark and scary nights. Jesus can.

Roger