January 11 | Mark 1:29-34

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DAILY READING

Mark 1:29-34

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REFLECTION

Lost Without Jesus

by Judy Webb

I admit, I have not studied the Gospel of Mark, so some background is in order. John Mark (aka Mark): he accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey. (Acts 13:13) Mark transcribed the chronicles of Peter as Peter journeyed with Jesus. Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, co-worker of Peter and Paul. The church started in John Mark’s home. This book, written primarily for the gentiles (Romans), is the shortest and most likely the first one written. Finally, all but 31 of its 660 verses are quoted in other gospels.

As we read and study this book, there is a sense of urgency, as it is quick moving. Mark doesn’t spend time on setting the scene for us but shows Jesus hitting the ground running. No small talk or backstory here. This book opens with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, then moves right to Jesus’ temptations in the desert, then Jesus proclaims the good news of God. Next, he calls his disciples, drives out impure spirits and begins healing many people. Mark records nineteen miracles in this gospel.

One of the first miraculous healings found in Mark was of Simon’s mother-in-law. "Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to wait on them." (Mark 1:30-31)

Word spread fast and “that evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed. The whole town gathered at the door.” (Mark 1:32-33)

It is time that we practice a similar sense of urgency. Most of us know from an experience from our past, that life can change so fast. One day we are healthy and the next a terminal diagnosis stares us in the face. That proverbial bus might come crashing down the street and, just like that, it is all over.

There is indeed an urgency to tell others about Jesus. It is always the right time to share our story, be an example to the neighbor who hasn't found their way to you. Everyone needs to have the hope that only a relationship with Jesus will provide. Today is the day, for there may not be a tomorrow. 

PRAYER

Dear Jesus, give us a desire to share with someone who is on our heart. There is no feeling like the one we have when we allow you to work in us and through us to benefit someone else. Tomorrow isn't a guaranteed sure thing. Open our hearts to share and tell those near us just who you are and why that matters. It could be the difference between drowning or being saved. Amen.

JANUARY 10 | MARK 1:21-27

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DAILY READING

Mark 1:21-27

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REFLECTION

AMAZED

by Beth Voltmann

Mark’s gospel was written to give us a sense of Christ’s urgency as the Servant Messiah, his resolve to do the Father’s work, and his power to bring freedom and hope to a hurting world. After a quick glimpse into the baptism and wilderness testing of Jesus, Mark described how Jesus gathered some of his first followers (Simon, Andrew, James and John) and began to minister in his new community of Capernaum, a move he made from Nazareth shortly after his time in the wilderness. (Mt 4:13)

In this passage, we enter the scene at the synagogue on a Sabbath (the Jewish day of worship). Surrounded by a people seeking God, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. His was a new face, a new voice. Perhaps the worshipers wondered about this young rabbi. What strikes me is the reaction of those gathered together. “The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” (Mark 1:22a)

As if that were not enough, Jesus then freed a man of an evil spirit with just a word. Imagine! Mark made sure to tell us, once again, that “the people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.’” (Mark 1:27)

Unfortunately, our English Bible translations often miss the nuances in meaning from the original Hebrew and Greek. Above, as relating to the people, the word amazed comes from two different words - the first meaning: struck with astonishment (v. 22)—the second: stupefied with surprise. (v. 27)

I am reminded of two places in the 2011 NIV translation of the Bible where the word amazed is used in relation to Jesus’ own emotions. The Greek word in these two passages means: in wonder or in admiration. It will be quite apparent which emotion our Lord was feeling as you read the verses below (but I can guarantee that he was not stupefied with surprise).

“When Jesus heard this,” [from the Centurion] “he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.’” (Matthew 8:10)

Hint: In wonder and admiration

“[Jesus] could not do any miracles there...and he was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:5,6)

Hint: In wonder (but not in a good way).

May we always be amazed by Jesus and His Word and spread the Good News as witnesses of his rule and authority over the darkness...

and may Jesus be amazed at our faith instead of our unbelief!

PRAYER

Father, thank you for the gift of Jesus. We choose Jesus—we want to follow Jesus—we want to serve Jesus. Lord, hear our prayer.

January 9 | Luke 5:1-11, 27-32

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DAILY READING

Luke 5:1-11, 27-32

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REFLECTION

Today We Go Fishing

by Dan Kidd

I come from a family of recreational fishermen. My mom's dad bought the family a houseboat when my mom was a kid. They'd spend summer nights sleeping out on the lakes and rivers that wind through the hills of the Smoky Mountains. Later he would build a house atop a hill overlooking one such lake, and a long wooden staircase that led to the dock and his boat below. In my late teens, my parents built a house at the other end of that same lake, where they continue to live today. When I was young, we spent many a day bobbing around the lake in his little speedboat, with an arsenal of fishing poles extended in 4 or 5 different directions at once, casting out worm-hooked lines and slowly reeling them in, hoping to entice some unsuspecting fish to bite down and be hooked in. In almost every case, we'd be out there for hours catching only a handful of bass, Bluegills, and a rare catfish, capturing them long enough to snap a picture (or, to "measure" for the stories we'd tell later) before returning them back to the water to pursue food that hopefully wouldn't have a hook attached to it. Even now, fishing that lake is a routine summer activity when we visit my parents in Tennessee.

That said, no one who knows me well would mistake me for a tried-and-true fisherman. The boat, the pole, the tackle, the hooks, and lures, and bate—even the spare lifejackets are all items I borrow. And so my imagination can only take me so far into the scene we encounter in today's passage., where Jesus meets and calls his fishermen disciples.

In our initial passage this week, Mark 1:1-20, we heard Mark's story about Jesus walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and there calling Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John to follow him as his disciples, and to "fish for people." "At once," Mark tells us, "they left their nets and followed him." In today's passage from Luke, we hear a Luke's stereo account of calling Simon Peter and his partners, James and John.

If you're like me, you may have only a few points of reference for what it might be like to have been Simon Peter as Jesus approached him that morning and sat down in Simon's boat, asking to be taken out into the water. That said, it doesn't hurt to stretch the imaginative muscle once in a while. Consider reading vv. 1-11 again, putting yourself into the scene—feeling the coolness of a lakeside morning, the perfume of saltwater and sea life drifting in the air, and the hear the sounds of the fishermen and their boats at work. Notice how Jesus interrupts that with a peculiar request, first to go out fishing again, then to join him in fishing for people. What was that like?

And while you're at it, you might lend your imagination to vv. 27-32, joining Levi in his tax booth, and then following Jesus to his house to host a great banquet of fellow tax collectors and neighbors. What might that be like?

Jesus met these disciples amidst the normalcy of their work, and he called them to be fellow workers of the Kingdom mission he was on. The Lord continues to do this now. In the ordinariness of our days, the Holy Spirit seeks to meet us, even interrupt us, as we go about our routines and rituals, in order to follow him and do his Kingdom work. Let us, today, amidst all the ordinary things we have planned, have our hearts and our eyes open to the missionary, people-fishing work the Lord has for us.

PRAYER

Lord, we are so very grateful you invite us to be your disciples. We pray that you would continue to call us and lead us into your Kingdom work around us this very day. Give us your perceptive eyes, to notice the needs, desires, and hopes of the people we see today. Lend us your heart that we would be moved to share with others the generous gifts you've given us, including and most importantly, the good news of you, Jesus. Teach us, Lord, to be interruptible and to anticipate your Kingdom as it comes on earth as it is in heaven.