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Friday, August 11, 2023

Short Reflection from Mark 1-16

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (LRAU) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[5:58 pm, 10/05/2022] S.R:

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙:𝟚𝟚

"They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."

For preachers to be authoritative, they need to handle the text accurately. That takes a lot of time, effort, and passion!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟚:𝟙𝟛

"And He went out again by the seashore; and all the people were coming to Him, and He was teaching them."

Jesus loved to teach. He was famously and more known as "the teacher" (or the Rabbi in Hebrew) than by any other names.

Even according to the book of Timothy and Titus, what makes a pastor different from other Christians is the ability to teach the word of God!

Teaching Matters

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟛:𝟜

"And He *said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent."

God commanded that they rest on Sabbath. These Jews didn't know why it was so. Jesus knew the commandment not just in words but in spirit too.

There are a lot of exceptions in the Bible. It's necessary to know why they are so. After all, heaven is not heaven if God is not there.

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟜:𝟛𝟡

"And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm."

This is the same God who is with us till the end of the age. You can look at my DP (WhatsApp profile picture) too. I have put up a hymn based on this incident!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟝:𝟚𝟝-𝟚𝟞

"A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse"

This woman had gone to all the doctors of her time, but she never got healed rather lost all her money. The description is not just about the seriousness of her disease but also about the cost of medical fees! Last time, I went for eyes check-up. I paid 800 and was told to visit twice. I was given a blank paper, no treatment, no prescription, no nothing, except to come back next year with 800 again for a check-up. 😂

The Gospel of Luke omits this description. Luke, being a doctor, himself, had some respect for his profession. 😎 He said that the woman's problem was an incurable one😂

The good part is this woman got healing from God. Maybe, we have wasted all our money, energy, time, hope on something here and there, and have nothing to spend more now. Maybe it's time to exercise faith in God and be brave enough to do a crazy thing (to touch Christ for healing)!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟞:𝟚𝟞-𝟚𝟟

"And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison."

What injustice is this! But why did it happen to John the prophet of God in this stupid manner! It's okay to die the death of a martyr, but not like this, the wish of a crazy girl.

And Jesus was alive but He didn't protest about it, nor sought justice for his cousin brother John, nor tried to reform the government!  His business was totally different. Preachers do well to focus on their bounden duty!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟟:𝟠

"Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."

God first.

Men secondary.

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟠:𝟛𝟠

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

“Ashamed”

That's the watchword. People hardly know that they are ashamed or not. And the reality is they are ashamed.

Forget about being courageous, let's pray that we will even recognize, realize how we are ashamed of Christ! O! Pity, O Christians!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟡:𝟛𝟚

"But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him."

Sometimes, people blamed the leaders that they are too intimidating and they aren't approachable. Well, to them Jesus would be also an imperfect leader. Hmm! Unsanctified people have unsanctified ideas, beware!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟘:𝟚𝟚

"But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property."

If you have much, you have much to lose. It's not wrong to have much, and there's no virtue in poverty. But if anything that we have accumulated has distracted us from following the giver of life, we have got to dismantle them!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟙:𝟛𝟘-𝟛𝟛

"’Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.’  They began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'  But shall we say, 'From men'?"--they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they *said, "We do not know." And Jesus *said to them, ‘Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’"

Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is an abdication of responsibility. Saying "I don't know" is one of the most famous demonstrations of ignorance! And often, it means exactly as it was in this story.

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟚:𝟜𝟛-𝟜𝟜

"Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.’"

I often heard from some people that it's difficult to give even 10% when you earn much. And that's stupid. But all sinners are stupid, what to do?

10% of 10,000 is just 1000

10% of 1,00,000 is 10,000

10% of 10 Lakh is 1 lakh. As the amount increases, the 10% deductible amount increases too.

Jesus said the opposite. It's more difficult to give when you don't earn much. And that's common sense too, right? But greed, love of money, and love of pleasure have made people lose their common sense.

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟛:𝟙-𝟚

"As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.’"

The Jews took pride in their temple. They boasted that the temple should be in Jerusalem and not in Samaria. After all, it's the temple of God, so, it was right for them to love the temple. But their attachment had gone corrupted—they loved the temple but not the God of the temple. So, God had to not only desecrate but completely destroy the temple.

Abraham was a friend of God. God gave him Isaac after 25 years of promise. Abraham loved his son Isaac too much that it had become an idol of his heart. God had to tell Abraham that he must give up even his very son for God.

Is there anything we are too attached to? If it has become an idol, the Lord will take it away. But if we like Abraham learn to re-orient our hearts to Him, there's grace as vast as the ocean!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟜:𝟞𝟚

"And Jesus said, ‘I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.’"

Surely, Jesus will come by the clouds. Whenever we see the clouds, let's remember that Jesus could just appear anytime. That's anticipation, not dreadfulness, btw!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟝:𝟙𝟝

"Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified."

Pilate feared the crowd rather than fearing God.

He loved the praise of people rather than loving justice.

Let's not be Pilate!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝟙𝟞:𝟚𝟘

And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.] [And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]   (Mark 16:20, NASB)

The necessity of the proclamation of the good news of salvation.

Salvation is what everyone is after. Even spiderman and superman are all about salvation. No story is inspiring without a plot of salvation. No testimony is worth saying without salvation. The Bible is also about salvation, but the spiritual salvation the real one!