1.
Jesus' Gospel
Mk
1:1 The
beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God
How
easy it is to think about the Gospel in almost mechanical terms, ‘the
abc' of the Gospel, whereas in fact it is all about a person, the Son
of God. The Gospel is all about coming into a living relationship with
God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit – and that
all because of what Jesus did on the Cross for us.
Yes,
it is really a two part thing: what Christ did for us on the Cross (past
history to be apprehended today so it becomes meaningful for me and
is the means to bringing me into a new life) and then the living out
of that life under Christ's direction as he directs me from the throne
room of heaven by the means of his Spirit here and now.
So
Mark is going to open up the story so that we can see what to believe
and why we can believe it. It is a unique story; there is none other
like it in all the earth or in all of history, for it is the story of
God coming to the earth in human form. That is a staggering claim but
that is what this Gospel is all about. This book is ALL
about Jesus. What is frustrating
about it sometimes, is that it seems to come over as the notebook of
a college student who sat on the sidelines (sometimes getting totally
involved!) making notes. There is so much more that could have been
written – but wasn't!
Notes
are easy to read but frustratingly limited and so the intelligent reader
may have many questions but you'll have to hold on to them until you
get to heaven. In the meantime there is plenty to keep you absorbed.
There is sufficient here upon which to build your faith in this God-man,
Jesus Christ.
The
challenge comes, will I take this in and devour it like a starving man
or will I treat it with familiarity and thus with contempt? I am about
to read the most incredible story that has ever been written. I am about
to read historical accounts which should blow my mind away. This is
the unique story of the Son of God. There never has been and never will
be anyone else like him because he is God in the flesh – and that blows
my mind to start with.
Lord,
I'm going to need help with this. I've read this simple Gospel many
times. Please deliver me from the curse of familiarity and make it come
alive like it is the first time I've ever read it. Help to realise afresh
the wonder of what is here. Amen.
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2.
Prophets?
Mk
1:2 It
is written in Isaiah the prophet:
I
once heard of a group of people who said we didn't need the Old Testament,
but I find the Gospels and, indeed, the whole of the New Testament littered
with quotes from the Old. I wonder if we just take them for granted?
We shouldn't do for they produce a unity and harmony in the Bible.
Do
we take for granted (or perhaps ignore or deny) the presence of these
figures in the Old Testament who are referred to in the text as prophets?
These were men who, it seems, had an open ear to God and a mouth that
passed on what they heard. There are massive chunks of the Old Testament
that display the writings of these men.
The
prophets say to us that God is a God of communication. The writer to
the Hebrews declared, “In the past
God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times
and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to
us by his Son.” (Heb 1:1,2). There it is: God spoke – again
and again! Back then He spoke through prophets, but now he has spoken
through His Son, Jesus. No wonder John in his Gospel describes Jesus
as ‘the Word': “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. The Word
became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace
and truth.” (Jn 1:1,14). A word is a means of communication!
So
we have these ‘prophets' who spoke out during the Old Testament period
and who, every now and then, made reference to a coming One. It is said
that there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that find their
fulfilment in Jesus Christ, over 300 times that God's heart was picked
up by these listeners, these prophets, who caught something of the divine
plan. It seemed like God couldn't keep a secret! He had to let out little
bits and pieces of the plan that has been formulated, the Scriptures
tell us, from before the very foundation of the world.
Today
we speak of ‘government leaks' when someone lets out a bit of privileged
information. God was giving it all the time to His chosen people. Jesus'
coming was no surprise to those who listened to the prophets. Lord,
give me an open ear to catch what you are saying in your word and in
your world today. Help me be a listener.
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3.
Prepared
Mk
1:2,3 "I
will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"--
"a voice of one calling in the desert, `Prepare the way for the
Lord, make straight paths for him.' "
The
next verse will tell us that this refers to John the Baptist but here
is the marvel, that God revealed His strategy by dropping these hints
into Isaiah's spirit centuries before it actually happened. Many squirm
at this, that God knew and so spoke about it before bringing it about.
It reveals three things about God: first that He knows the future, second,
that He speaks to us and, third, that He acts and brings things about.
This shouldn't surprise us because He is almighty God, the Creator of
all things, the Bible says, and so it shouldn't come as any shock to
hear these things.
But
it says something else as well. It says that the Gospel writer, Mark,
was inspired to link these prophetic words to John as one who would
prepare the way for Jesus. Perhaps we take this for granted, but we
shouldn't, this ability of the Gospel writers (for they all do it) to
tie in the present circumstances with the declared will of God through
the prophets of the Old Testament.
And
there's something else about the content of these words: it implies
that Jesus needed help, that John would prepare the hearts of the people
– through his preaching and baptizing – for Jesus to come and be received
by them. The other side of this particular coin is that the people needed
preparing; the state of the land was obviously such that if Jesus came
without any warning it would have been harder for him to be received
by the people.
But
why was it important that he be received, especially when we know that
near the end of the story it was important for him to be rejected and
crucified for our sins? He had to be received so that he had opportunity
to teach and to reveal the love of his Father in heaven. It wasn't only
about the Cross (although that was vital); it was also all about revealing
God to His people.
Lord,
thank you that you know the future, thank you that you speak to us today,
thank you that you act into this world of yours and bring changes. Thank
you also that you inspire us and that you send us help in the form of
your Holy Spirit and through other human beings. Thank you that you
want to reveal your love to us. Help me understand and learn these things
and may they be a reality and not mere words.
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4.
The Messenger
Mk
1:2,3 "I
will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"--
"a voice of one calling in the desert, `Prepare the way for the
Lord, make straight paths for him.' "
Watching
the way the Gospel writers use references from the Old Testament is
a strange thing. The first part of our verses today is from Malachi
3:1 and the latter part from Isaiah 40:3. One suspects that these verses
from the Old Testament were in common usage by the early church. It
is thought that this Gospel was written by Mark a protégé
of Peter's and that Peter either dictated it or told what he knew so
Mark then wrote it, neither being particularly well educated. But however
they put it together they still had in the back of their minds these
verses from the Old Testament that were generally considered to be prophetic
words speaking about what had recently happened.
So,
said common knowledge in the Church, the Lord had promised through Malachi
that before He sent His anointed one, the Messiah or deliverer, He would
sent someone else as a messenger bringing God's word to prepare the
way for the Messiah, preparing the hearts of the people to receive him
when he appeared. Moreover, said common knowledge in the Church, this
messenger is going to appear in the desert, as Isaiah had prophesied,
preparing the way for God to come to the land. When rulers came, a small
army of engineers would go out ahead and clear the road to make it easy
going for the ruler, making it a straight road so it was the shortest
and more direct route. That is what this messenger is going to do, clear
away the rubbish from people's hearts so that the way was clear and
direct for the Messiah to be taken directly to their hearts when he
came.
Now
of course all this wasn't realised before it happened and so these prophetic
verses would only be recognised for what they were in hindsight. But
isn't that exactly how it so often is with the Lord. He speaks and we
nod wisely without understanding. Then He acts and we suddenly realise
what we had heard was Him and that this was a sovereign act of God we
have just witnessed.
Lord
open my eyes and ears that I may see and hear and understand when it
is you speaking into my life. Help me to see your hand moving in this
world, doing exactly what you said you would do. Please forgive me that
so often I am slow of understanding and don't realise what I am hearing
and then what I am seeing. May I be someone who understands the times
(1 Chron 12:32).
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5.
Repentance
Mk
1:4,5 And
so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The
whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem
went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in
the Jordan
River .
And
so we arrive at the first historical facts of this Gospel. At a particular
place in time-space history a strange prophet appears in the wilderness
of Judea
and starts preaching. He tells anyone who will listen that they need
to repent. Talk of repentance always implies there is something wrong
in our lives and we need to turn away from it. Now this is all very
strange because if you were a preacher wanting to turn the hearts of
your people back to God, the obvious place you would go would be to
towns where there are people – for this is exactly what Jesus did when
he came. But John doesn't; he operates in the desert where people don't
reside.
Presumably
he stops passing travellers and challenges them. Soon people hear there
is a prophet in the wilderness and they start going out to listen to
him. There is clearly a hunger in people's hearts and people flock out
to hear him. He has an uncompromising message: repent! So they do! This
tells us two things: first that the nation was in spiritual decline
that this needed to happen; second, that there was a hunger in people's
hearts. It had been centuries since there had been a prophet from God
in the land. Over four centuries had passed since God had spoken to
this people. That is a long time. Perhaps many thought that God had
utterly given up on them. Where were the days of their history when
God spoke and acted into the life of this nation? Is this a sign that
God is coming and speaking again?
But
he also baptises them. Baptism is first and foremost a sign of being
washed clean. If you have truly repented then show the sign of it by
being washed clean in the River Jordan. So the crowds came, listened
to him and, one by one, confessed their sins to him and were baptised
by him. God is surely at work in all this for this seems just like a
revival where God sovereignly moves on the hearts of people and brings
them to repentance.
Lord,
please have mercy on our nation. Come and speak and convict and turn
the hearts of people back to yourself. Bring about a national repentance
that moves people to confess and forsake their sins and turn back to
you!
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6.
The Marks of a Prophet
Mk
1:6 John
wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist,
and he ate locusts and wild honey.
Real
prophets, I suspect, are fairly few and far between. Prophetic gift,
I believe, abounds. You've only got to do a simple study in 1 Corinthians
14 to see the use and benefit of the prophetic gift in the local church,
but prophets are a ministry to the wider body. John is a prophet in
the mould of the Old Testament prophets – even in appearance: “They
replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather
belt around his waist." The king said, "That was Elijah the
Tishbite." (2 Kings 1:8)
Why
such rough clothing? I suspect the answer is so that you didn't need
to change your clothes often, especially if you lived in the desert
and didn't have a wardrobe with you! It may also be a sign of their
austerity; these are men who don't care much for the values of the world;
their head is in heaven even if their feet are on earth.
Why
the diet? Simply because that was all that was around. Locusts were
a ‘clean food', although some suggests this refers to a form of plant.
That's what he ate because there wasn't a supermarket nearby!
The
thing about prophets is that they stood out like signposts to heaven.
They sometimes did freaky things. Isaiah, for instance, went round for
three years, probably only in a loincloth (see Isa 20:1-4) as a sign,
at the Lord's command. Ezekiel had to publicly lay on his side for a
long time as another sign (see Ezek 4:4). Virtually all of the prophets
seemed to get opposition from kings and the people. They acted as a
conscience for the nation and as such, especially in times of apostasy,
they were unpopular. We aren't told of anything similar in the New Testament
but there were clearly prophets operating (e.g. Acts 11:27
,28) who stood out more by the
message they brought than for anything else. Today in many churches
prophetic gift is common although prophets are fewer.
Lord,
open my ear to hear what you are saying about our world today and what
you want us to be doing in it. Your word reveals you as a God who communicates
with His people, yet so often they did not ‘hear' because their minds
were closed to you and they had turned their backs on you. May that
not be true of us in your Church today. Open our ears to hear what you
wish to say to the Church and to the world today.
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7.
The Message of a Prophet
Mk
1:7,8 And
this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than
I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
You
wonder what people though when they listened to John. Initially his
message was one of repentance but it was repentance for a reason. The
reason? There was one coming after him who was coming with power! But
there was more than that; John considered this person so great that
he, John, wasn't even worthy enough to be his servant. But why would
he think that? Surely John could have been a servant to a king? So this
person is going to be greater than a king? What sort of person is this
coming one going to be?
So
what more did John say about him? He is going to baptize people in the
Holy Spirit. What does that mean? Well John immersed people in water
as a sign of their cleansing, so this coming one is going to immerse
people in God's Spirit? How can that be? What do we know from the past
of God's Holy Spirit? He brooded over creation (Gen 1:2), He came on
a man and filled him with creative ability to design and make materials
for the Tabernacle (Ex 31:3), He enabled seventy elders to prophesy
(Num 11:25), He came on Balaam and enabled him to prophesy (Num 24:2,3),
He came upon a variety of judges to empower them to lead (Jud 3:10,
6:34 etc.) He came upon Saul and enabled him to prophesy (1 Sam 10:10
) and also stirred him to lead
Israel
(1 Sam 11:6) and came on David to lead (1 Sam 16:13
).
In
other words, whenever the Holy Spirit came, He brought power and change.
So this coming one is not merely coming with words, he is coming with
the power of God to change people! This is a new era! So far God's people
have sought to follow God's rules (the Law) in order to be God's people,
but now it sounds like God Himself is coming in power to change His
people on the inside. Is this what Jeremiah meant when he prophesied,
“ I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be
my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother,
saying, `Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least
of them to the greatest," declares the LORD.” (Jer
31:33,34)
Lord,
let your Spirit transform my life and keep on transforming it. Thank
you for the wonder of what you have done already by your Spirit because
of what Jesus achieved on the Cross.
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8.
Baptism
Mk
1:9 At
that time Jesus came from Nazareth
in Galilee
and was baptized by John in the Jordan
As
far as the public were concerned this was the first recorded appearance
of Jesus as an adult. John is baptizing people in the Jordan
in Judea
and Jesus travels down from Galilee
in the north to be baptized. Luke
records that Jesus was about thirty years old (Lk 3:23
). Matthew who records the most
about John's ministry, records John as objecting to Jesus to baptizing
him: “John tried to deter him, saying,
"I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus
replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill
all righteousness." Then John consented.” (Mt 3:14,15)
John was Jesus' cousin and so John would know him and had drawn his
own conclusions. He knew something of who Jesus was and his conclusion
was a) Jesus didn't need baptizing and washing free from sin and, b)
he John needed the baptism that Jesus came to bring.
Yet
Jesus insists and is baptized. In the next meditation we'll see what
happened, but for now we simply note that, for the sake of appearances,
to appear to do the right thing, Jesus was baptized. The Greek word
for baptism is the same word used for a ship sinking into the sea or
a cloth being immersed in liquid. It is all about being immersed completely,
being washed completely. But the apostle Paul also used it to suggest
a picture of dying and being buried. It is an act of dying to self and
then of being raised to a new life. It is a very powerful picture and
is often accompanied by a powerful change in the believer when they
are baptized.
Not
only was Jesus baptized and not only were his disciples baptized but
both he and they taught baptism. It is an outward sign of commitment
and of what has already taken place at conversion – a washing clean
of sin, a dying to self, and being raised to a new life. No wonder it
has often been a point of contention in some Christian circles and been
replaced by sprinkling of infants which in no way conveys the same things
as what has happened to an adult believer.
Lord,
please forgive us that we have watered down this amazing picture that
is conveyed through baptism – of commitment of an adult, of being washed
clean, of dying to self and the old life, and of being raised to a new
resurrection life, empowered by your Holy Spirit. Thank you for these
wonderful truths that are conveyed in baptism, realities of what has
happened and is happening in our lives as believers.
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9.
Affirmation & Revelation
Mk
1:10,11 As
Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open
and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from
heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Jesus
is being baptized. He has gone down into the water and as he comes back
up out of it something happens. Who the ‘he' is, isn't quite clear.
Is it Jesus or is it John. I suspect John. He is a witness and he is
the one who testified to what he saw.
It's
an interesting description: “he saw
heaven torn open.” When you tear something you
do something forcefully. It isn't natural; it is something done to the
cloth. It is like it is saying the presence of Jesus caused heaven to
be forced open so that the Spirit and the Father would be revealed.
What
happened? The Spirit came down on Jesus. How did John see that for the
Spirit is spirit – unseen! I don't know. Perhaps in his spirit he saw
this happen. The fact that it is described as “like
a dove” means that it wasn't a dove but it come down gently.
Does this mean that this was when Jesus became the Son of God as some
heresies insisted? No, he had always been the Son of God from the moment
he was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. This was simply a reinforcing
or reassuring. That is supported by a voice that came from heaven affirming
Jesus. How beautiful.
What
is taking place has a double effect. First of all, I suggest, it was
affirming Jesus. The human side of the Son of God needed that. Second,
it was revealing Jesus for who he was; we needed that. It is a significant
point of history. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all manifested at
the same moment. That was a rare thing, at least that clearly. There
is a sense that in everything Jesus did, all three were involved (see
Jn 5:17 ,19)
but this is a special occasion. It seems to confirm that what Jesus
did by being baptized was very right, exactly in line with the will
of the Father. It pleases Him that His Son is walking the path they
laid down from beginning of time.
Lord,
may it be that my obedience pleases you. Lead me, guide and show me
the way, that I may walk in it and please you. Remember my humanity,
Lord, and grant me regular encouragement, that I may walk in the light
of your revealed will. May my obedience be a blessing to you and may
I know the further equipping of your Spirit.
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10.
Tempted
Mk
1:12,13 At
once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert
forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and
angels attended him.
Theologians
debate whether Jesus, as the Son of God could ever sin. Satan obviously
thought, as a man at least, Jesus could, otherwise he wouldn't have
bothered trying. Moreover, if this hadn't happened, we wouldn't have
had Jesus' example of how to overcome temptation – speak out the will
of God in answer to every temptation, because that is what Jesus did
every time when he was quoting Scripture.
Does
temptation only happen when Satan is around? James stated that, “
each
one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and
enticed.” (Jas 1:14). It
is ultimately our sinful nature that Satan appeals to, so in that respect,
he was on a losing wicket with Jesus! Yet he still tried.
What
is always fascinating in these verses is that it was the Holy Spirit
who initiated this episode. The Holy Spirit initiated a time of vulnerability
and weakness in Jesus, (being hungry from a forty day fast) so that
Satan, seeing that vulnerability, would come and try to bring Jesus
down. God clearly wanted to show us that it is possible to overcome
even when we are feeling very weak. Our cry that “Satan made me do it!”
is revealed by this episode to be a groundless and false cry. If Jesus,
in his humanity, and in his utter weakness, could overcome, by simply
declaring the will of God each time, so should we.
Our
vulnerability comes, however, from the fact that we allow wrong thoughts
or wrong attitudes to prevail in our minds and it is these that Satan
plays upon, and because we have accepted them for so long, it makes
it doubly difficult not to give way to his wrong suggestions. Our insecurities
and our fears make us negative about other people and so Satan can tempt
us to speak out badly against them, or even act against them, and when
we do, we sin. In this sense Satan simply reveals our sin or wrong attitudes
or, in Jesus' case, his absence of them!
Lord,
thank you that you overcame temptation, even at your point of greatest
weakness. Thank you for the example you gave us. Thank you that you
have clearly revealed your will. May you find in me one who sticks steadfastly
to it and, by the help of your own Spirit, overcomes and thus resists
the works of the enemy.
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11.
Changeover
Mk
1:14 After
John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee
,
proclaiming the good news of God.
If
we were first time readers of this Gospel we might, at this point, be
somewhat startled by the abruptness of what we read: “After
John was put in prison.” Pardon? How did that suddenly happen?
Where did that come from? Why was John put in prison? Peter, who we
believe is the source behind Mark, has this somewhat abrupt style. Often
we find the word ‘suddenly' being used by him. It was all a bit of a
rush in his eyes, a surprise. I'm sure if you were a disciple of Jesus,
life was like that. You got up in the morning never knowing what the
day was going to bring, and when it did come, it was a surprise. Perhaps
that is one of the reasons behind Peter's style.
We
have to wait until chapter 6 to see what happened with John and so for
now we'll simply note it happened and move on. But it is necessary to
say that he was imprisoned and killed at the hands of a sinful Herod
and his family. It wasn't a good thing. So, we might have thought that
Jesus starting his ministry, waiting until John was gone, was a planned
thing, but the events that remove John are really out of his hands.
We
might wonder what might have happened if John hadn't gone to prison.
Would he have just stopped preaching and let Jesus take centre stage?
Of course we don't know. It just happened. That's how life is so often.
It just seems to happen and so we have to take the circumstances and
get on with them. So John, who has been preaching in Judea
in the south, is off the scene
and so Jesus starts his preaching as a continuation, it seems, but he
moves north to Galilee
where he spends most of the next three years exercising his ministry.
Why
Galilee ?
Perhaps because it was furthest from Jerusalem
and possible interference from
the religious authorities based there. God certainly knew that this
is what would happen: “ in
the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the
sea, along the Jordan-- The people walking in darkness have seen a great
light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned.” (Isa 9:1,2). The
light has now arrived, just like Isaiah had prophesied!
Lord,
thank you for coming into this world and revealing yourself. Thank you
for the light you bring us. Lord, help me to just take the circumstances
that I find facing me today, and live with your love and grace - whatever!
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12.
Good News
Mk
1:14,15 Jesus
went into Galilee
,
proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he
said. "The kingdom
of God
is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Repentance
is one of those words in the Christian vocabulary which is necessary
but so often disliked. Because of that sinful nature we were all born
with, none of us like to be told to change. Change is what repentance
is all about. Some people describe it as making a hundred and eighty
degree turnabout. It is turning from unbelief to belief, from being
self-centred to God centred, from being unrighteous to righteous.
So
Jesus came proclaiming good news. Again many people, if you ask them
about the Christian faith, say it is a bunch of ‘you must not' or ‘you
should not' things, yet Jesus came bringing good news and those things
by most people's standards don't constitute ‘good news'. No, good news
is news we all like.
So
what was this ‘good news'? It was that the time had come, the kingdom
of God
was about to be revealed. Yet
again that old sinful nature doesn't like the sound of that – God's
kingdom? What about my own? What about my rule, what I think? And therein
in the deception because if we were able to think about it dispassionately,
we might concede that, so far, we haven't made the best out of our lives.
The truth of the Gospel is that God is far better at getting the most
out of our lives than we are, and that is what He wants to do when we
hand the reins over to him. That is what ‘the kingdom' or rule of God
is all about, but we struggle to believe that.
No
wonder that Jesus had to cry that out: turn from your unbelief and turn
to believing that God loves you and wants to bless you and make the
most out of your life. Believe this good news! How the people, the religious
authorities and even Jesus' disciples struggled with this. How we still
struggle with this! It is a sign of the old sinful nature that clings
on, that we find it so difficult to believe these wonderful things –
that God loves me and has come in the form of His Son to set me free
from that old unbelieving nature and to release in me a new hope and
a new wonder.
Lord,
I am so sorry that I am so slow to believe the wonder of the Good News
that the New Testament speaks about – that you love me whole heartedly
and have plans for my life that just mean goodness and more goodness
for me. I believe it! I really do!
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13.
Ordinary Men
Mk
1:16 As
Jesus walked beside the Sea
of Galilee ,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for
they were fishermen.
I
used to live near the sea where there were fishermen who went out in
their boats everyday to make their living by catching fish. They tend
to be a breed a bit apart. They don't live comfortable lives; they live
according to the constantly changing tides, and they have little to
do with the rest of us. And the first people that Jesus chooses to travel
with him for the next three years are fishermen. No scholars, not religious
people, not especially good people, not pillars of society – but fishermen.
Very ordinary people. This is a new day, a new religion obviously!
Why
does God choose who He chooses? The only answer I can come up with is
that He chooses people He knows will respond to Him and who will change
as He leads and guides them through life. I have wondered if Jesus chose
some fishermen because they were rugged individuals who didn't care
about the creature comforts of life and who could cope with all the
travelling that would be involved in following him in the three years
ahead.
I
have been especially struck as I have read the Bible over many years,
how God chooses ordinary people, and then how He changes them. Peter
(or Simon as he is called here) was a rough and ready individual who
was constantly opening his mouth and putting his foot in it, yet in
the course of the years he would be transformed to become one of the
leading apostles, a leader of the new church. Who would have believed
it? Jesus would! For this is the key, Jesus knows people and knows what
we can become. God had had centuries of working with mankind and knew
what He could do with ordinary people. Take Jacob, for example, a twister
and a schemer, and yet by the end of his life he is the father of a
nation, a prophetic patriarch and a man who receives respect from kings.
Or take his son, Joseph, a spoilt brat who is transformed into a wise
and compassionate world leader. Amazing! So now Jesus chooses these
first two men who will not have a clue what is coming – but it will
be good!
Lord,
I marvel at the way you take ordinary people and transform them, not
because they are good but just because they are available. I marvel
at what you have done with my life over the years – and I am so grateful.
Please continue your work of changing me and may I be an instrument
who helps others come to you and likewise be changed.
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14.
To follow Jesus
Mk
1:16-18 they
were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I
will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and
followed him.
I
fear that sometimes, for some of us, the Scriptures become so familiar
that we lose the dramatic nature of what we read. I feel sure that that
is so here. We observed in the previous meditation that these were ordinary
men. Now John's Gospel tells us that Andrew at least, had been a disciple
of John the Baptist (see Jn 1:35
-40) and had gone on to meet Jesus
and then introduced Simon to Jesus, so they clearly had a spiritual
awareness before this incident. Luke gives us a fuller picture of what
happened (see Luke 5) which indicates that it was a rather more dramatic
incident than is recorded here.
Yet,
whether we take the shorthand version here or the longer version in
Luke, this is a dramatic incident. These two ordinary fishermen encounter
Jesus again and when he calls them to follow him, they just get up and
leave their livelihood to go after him. Note that it is a calling to
follow a person, not a religious way of life, in fact if you read on
through these Gospels you will find that life with Jesus was far from
the normal view that people might have of a religious life.
The
key thing about following Jesus is having to place complete trust in
him without knowing where he is going. There are one of two places in
the Gospels where Jesus indicates where he is going next (e.g. Lk 4:43
Mk 10:33
), but mostly the role of the disciples
was to just go with Jesus wherever he went.
Of
course the word ‘disciple' not only means a follower but it also has
the sense of a learner about it. A disciple followed a master and learnt
from him. He was a master mentor. The only thing Jesus told these two
men is that he would make them ‘fishers of men'. How do you ‘catch'
men? That is what they were about to find out, but I am fairly sure
that at that point they really didn't have a clue what was coming. Today
we ‘follow' Jesus by surrendering our lives to him at conversion, seek
to obey the teaching of the New Testament, and respond to the prompting
and leading of his Holy Spirit.
Lord,
when you call us, you call us not to follow a set of rules, but to enter
into a living relationship with you. Open my ear so that I may be alert
to your leading in my life. Teach me and guide me and take me where
you will.
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15.
Variety of Followers
Mk
1:19 When
he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother
John in a boat, preparing their nets.
Two
meditations ago we considered how Jesus chose such ordinary men. Here
are now two more very ordinary men who get called by Jesus to follow
him. These two however later get the nickname ‘Sons of Thunder' because
they started out being such fiery followers. That is strange because
John ends up being the apostle who was most aware of God's wonderful
love and that brought about such an incredible pastoral heart in him.
These
may be just some more fishermen but they are unique individuals. There
are some cults of which it is said they just produce clones. That could
never be said of mainstream Christianity because the Lord takes individuals
and keeps them as individuals and in fact develops their uniqueness
and individuality. Here is a mystery for the New Testament also speaks
of the Church as the body of Christ and the emphasis is on the individual
parts and yet they all work in harmony.
Chinese
Christian leader, Watchman Nee, wrote a book emphasizing the difference
in calling of these men, Peter who was called after fishing and who
became the ‘Great Fisherman' and then John who was called ‘preparing'
or ‘mending' his nets and who role and writings in the New Testament
seemed to focus on mending or strengthening the early Church. Peter
ended up being martyred while John was the only one of the twelve apostles
to die of old age. Both started from the church in Jerusalem
but Peter ended up in Rome
while John ended up in Ephesus
before and after a period of exile
on the island
of Patmos .
Yes,
when you become a Christian you need not have any fear that the Lord
is just going to clone you and make a uniform pattern Christian out
of you. There is no such thing! Each one of us is unique and we have
a unique calling and a unique experience of the Lord. Some of us the
Lord will turn into apostles, others prophets and others Pastors or
teachers and other just unique witnesses. He sees our character and
He sees what we are capable of and uniquely draws us out to be that
unique person, gifted by Him.
Lord,
thank you that you do not try to make me be like anyone except your
Son, Jesus. Thank you that you have made me a unique individual and
you love me as an individual and you will take me and use me as an individual.
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16.
Separation
Mk
1:20 Without
delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat
with the hired men and followed him.
“Without
delay” – such simple words we might even miss them. But why say that?
Was it that they had already witnessed what had happened with Andrew
and Simon and so there didn't need to be any preliminaries? Did Jesus
just say to them, “OK, you saw what happened. I want you to join us
too.” Whatever it was, it was a brief encounter resulting in them leaving
the family business. Wow, this is slightly different from Andrew and
Simon, this means a separation from father who probably ran the business.
What
was it about Jesus that could call forth this sort of commitment that
meant abandoning even the family? Now that might have happened with
Andrew and Simon but there was no mention of it. This accentuates the
significance of the calling and the separation it calls into being.
Later
Jesus was to declare, “Anyone who loves
his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves
his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
(Mt 10:37) This is a unique call that Jesus brings: if you are going
to follow me it has got to be utterly wholehearted. If family try to
call us away from Jesus we are not to heed them. Our loyalty to him
has got to surpass family. He is the Son of God and He knows best for
us. If family challenge that, they we have to reject family advice to
heed what Jesus says.
That
is the measure of the call to separation that comes with the call to
follow Jesus. There can be nothing or no one who competes with his call.
That may be difficult sometimes but it is a case of, will we listen
to God or to those close to us?
Now
we should never do this out of bad feelings about our family. It only
comes when we recognise our plight and realise that Jesus alone is the
answer to it – and that is not about a single commitment at a particular
point of history, although it is that; it is a lifelong response. It
is what we give ourselves to for the rest of our entire lives. Jesus
doesn't say just follow me for the next week or the next month or the
next year. His call is without end!
Lord,
I surrender my life to you for you to lead it, both now and for ever
more.
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