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Rooted in our tradition…. (devo reflection)

Mark 7:4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.

Thinking of some of my family traditions makes me smile. Traditions can be beautiful things that bring a family together over the generations. But the issue in today’s scripture is when the tradition becomes more important than the word of God.

Mark 7:6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Think about your own faith tradition (there’s that word again). How often are things done “the way we’ve always done them”? In John 13:34 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Period. Full stop.

Mark 7:7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

Lord, We do so many things rooted in our tradition that we claim are in Your name. Forgive us when the pull of tradition blinds us to You. Help us to live fully John 13:34, loving as You love—with mercy and compassion, beyond the bounds of expectation. Help us to shine Your light in all we do. Amen.

Mark 7:8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Have a blessed day.

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Jesus partners with me in my own healing…. (devo reflection)

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

Jesus was not very effective in His hometown, primarily because of the lack of belief on the part of those who knew Him before He began His ministry. This, coupled with yesterday’s reading, causes me to think that there is a definite relationship between our belief in Jesus’s ability to work and to heal in our lives and His working and healing.

Mark 6:3 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.

What I mean is this: If I don’t think Jesus can work in my circumstances, He won’t be able to do so. I wouldn’t recognize His work, even if I were staring right at it. It is at once awe-inspiring and terrifying to think that Jesus partners with me in my own healing in this way. “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Mark 6:4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”

Lord, Thank You for making me an active participant in my faith. Thank You for being willing and able to move mountains and work miracles if only I believe. Help me never to lose sight of the fact that: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (Isaiah 55:8). Open my mind and my heart to see the ways in which You are working in my life. Amen.

Mark 6:5-6 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Have a blessed day.

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“Your faith has healed you….” (devo reflection)

Mark 5:17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

Mark 5 contains four very different reactions to Jesus. When the people saw the demon-possessed man healthy, healed, and in his right mind, they pleaded with Jesus to leave, while the man asked to be allowed to stay with Him. The woman was healed by her faith, and the synagogue leader’s daughter was healed in spite of his doubt.

Mark 5:23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”

Jesus worked powerfully in many different types of situations with many different levels of faith and fear present. I feel like there is an important lesson to be learned here. I don’t want to send Jesus away because of my fear. I don’t want to waste time and energy in doubt. I want to trust and be healed.

Mark 5:27-28 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Lord, Thank You for meeting us wherever we are in our faith journey. Thank You for healing our hearts, souls, spirits, and bodies when we allow You to do so. Help me to always believe in You at such a level that allows You to respond (v34) “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Amen.

Mark 5:36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Have a blessed day.

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Jesus makes us a promise…. (devo reflection)

Mark 4:35-36 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

Commentary gave me a new perspective of this section today. It posited that Jesus’s comment in verse 35 was a promise that they would make it safely to the other side. (After all, He didn’t say, “Let’s *try* to make it.”) And it is because He promises them that He questions their faith. (“I said we would make it. Why do you not believe?”)

Mark 4:37-38 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

In Matthew 28:20 Jesus makes us a promise: “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” And as I was reading and studying this morning, I was also fretting about things, worrying, being anxious. My precious Savior spoke directly to my heart with today’s scripture. God has made me a promise. He is with me, no matter the storm. I do not need to fear.

Mark 4:39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Precious Savior, You know I have always had an affinity for this passage in Mark. Thank You for using Your word to comfort my soul this morning. Thank You for Your promise to be with me always. I believe You, Lord. Help my unbelief. Amen.

Mark 4:40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Have a blessed day.

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Stubborn hearts and soft openings…. (devo reflection)

Mark 3:5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

What strikes me here is the fact that Jesus is distressed by the stubborn hearts of the Pharisees and Herodians, but He was crowded by those who were trying to touch Him so they could be healed (v9).

Mark 3:8 When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.

Was Jesus also distressed by the hearts of those people? Did they want healing from Him because of Who He was (or Whose He was) or did they just want to be healed and knew He could do it? Was the fact that they believed in His power to heal them a soft opening for God’s love whereas the Pharisees and Herodians had no such softness and Jesus knew it?

Mark 3:9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.

Lord, There is so much I don’t know, so much I don’t understand. Thank You for the absolute certainty of Who You are and Who You are to me. Help me never lose sight of those truths. Amen.

Mark 3:10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.

Have a blessed day.

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Sticky emotions…. (devo reflection)

Mark 2:6-7 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

I talked before about a poem I teach to my students called “The Guy in the Glass.” It’s about how you can fool the whole world, but you can’t fool yourself. I always think of that poem here because we can’t fool God either. He knows our hearts.

Mark 2:8a Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts….

For me, that fact involves being incredibly honest with God, especially when I am angry or scared. There’s no need to try to fool God because He knows my heart, so I fess up and try to work through whatever sticky emotions are keeping me from Him.

Mark 2:8b-9 …and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?”

Lord, Thank You that You know my heart and You love me anyway. Thank You that You are big enough, strong enough, compassionate enough to help me work through my base human emotions. Help me always to be honest with You and to lay my emotions at Your feet so that I can draw closer to You. Amen.

Mark 2:10-11 “But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

Have a blessed day.

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Understanding unequivocally…. (devo reflection)

Mark 1:8 “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

What fascinates me in this first chapter of Mark is who understands Jesus’s power and authority and who does not. John the Baptist recognizes and preaches who Jesus is. God, in verses 9-11, clearly claims His Son. The impure spirits and those suffering from disease clearly understand His power and authority.

Mark 1:9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

Interestingly, the disciples, who follow Him without hesitation, will question repeatedly “Who is this man.” The Pharisees and Sadducees will question both who He is and who He thinks He is. So many people who should understand unequivocally who Jesus is spend a lot of time questioning who He is.

Mark 1:10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

Lord, You are Jesus, Son of God, Creator of Heaven and earth, Savior of the world and Savior of my soul. Help me never to lose sight of who You are and who You are to me. Help me never to doubt Your love, mercy, compassion, sovereignty. Help me to speak Your truth and shine Your light. Always. Amen.

Mark 1:11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Have a blessed day.

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“Do not be afraid….” (devo reflection)

Matthew 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

What strikes me in these words from the risen Jesus is the compassion. Verse 10 is His first risen utterance and verse 20 is His last in the book of Matthew. “Do not be afraid,” and “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Not only are these words comforting to the followers of Jesus then, but they are words of comfort to us now.

Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

“Do not be afraid.” Jesus had been crucified, a painful, horrible death. Yet not even death could separate Him from His beloved. His first risen words are comfort to His people: “Do not be afraid.” Death will not separate Me from you. “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20a “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you….”

Lord, There is so much in this life that causes us fear, worry, anxiety. Help us to take Your words to heart. Not even death can separate You from Your people. Help us to live confidently in light of this fact, in light of Your words: “Do not be afraid…. surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Amen.

Matthew 28:20b “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Have a blessed day.

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Forgive me, Father…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 27:3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.

A friend once posited the idea that maybe Judas betrayed Jesus to try to bring about Jesus’s reign faster, to force Him into action. Commentary dismisses that theory, but verse 3 makes me wonder. It’s like Judas is surprised that Jesus is condemned. Maybe Judas thought Jesus, as Messiah, would put a military plan into action. How many times have I acted because I thought I understood how something was going to play out?

Matthew 27:22-23 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

The crowd here, falling over themselves a week ago to welcome Jesus, are again acting in mob mentality, yelling “Crucify Him!,” not caring that Jesus is guilty of no crime. And Pilate, who has the authority to stop the madness, literally washes his hands of the situation, after pronouncing Jesus innocent. Father, Forgive us.

Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

Precious Savior, I see my guilt reflected in these three scenarios. Like Judas, I am guilty of trying to force You to act on my timetable instead of Your own. Like the crowd, I am guilty of getting caught up in the emotions of this world and of going along with what everyone else is doing. Like Pilate, I am guilty of being able to act on behalf of the innocent yet washing my hands and walking away. Forgive me, Father. Forgive me. Amen.

Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Have a blessed day.

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Remembrance…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 26:13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

There is much in this chapter about remembrance: the woman is remembered for her lavish anointing of Christ. Judas is remembered for his savage betrayal. Jesus urges us to remember His sacrifice during the Eucharist celebration. Peter is remembered for his cowardice but also for his repentance and how Jesus uses him to build the church.

Matthew 26:14-15 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.

It is more important for our walk of faith to remember than to be remembered, but it is also true that we will all be remembered in some way. And we have a choice about our actions in life, which influences how we are remembered.

Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Lord, I would prefer to be remembered as the woman who lavishly anoints You daily in my life. I fear that I am more like Peter, who swears to never forsake You yet turns his back repeatedly. Thank You that his betrayal is not the end of his story. Forgive me when I get distracted by the world and turn my back on You. When this happens, help me to return and repent so that You can use me to build Your church, to comfort Your people, to praise Your name. Amen.

Matthew 26:35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Have a blessed day.