Mark 3:7-12 - Pulling a crowd

I don't draw crowds.  I've been writing this blog for nearly 3 years now and I'm not even sure there's anyone who reads it.  I play in a punk band and at our last gig we had about 20 people come see us (thanks guys)!  I do assemblies at a local school and have a captive audience of hundreds but that's because the teachers make them! 

Mark 3:7-12

Jesus drew crowds.  He stood out and it wasn't because of hype or advertising and there wasn't any teachers around to make people listen either.  It was because he was doing genuinely amazing things and everyone wanted to make sure they didn't miss it.

Jesus was healing the sick.  And not like the shady, hyped up tricks you see healers doing on Youtube but genuine healings that no-one could explain other than it was the power of God.

The demons that Jesus cast out of people knew the truth too as Jesus commanded them and they had to obey his authority over them.  The Bible teaches that the devil is absolutely real and so are his demons and they want nothing more than to keep people from living life with God.  There are many accounts of demons influencing people's lives today (hear episode 5 of The Peggcast) but Jesus has power over them no problem.  And if Christians have Jesus living in them by the Holy Spirit (which the Bible says they do) then it shouldn't be a problem for them to get rid of demons either.

The other thing I find interesting is that even though Jesus has massive crowds of people coming out to see him and touch him and be healed, he still wants to keep his true identity quiet.  He commands the demons not to let on that he's the Son of God.  It's clearly not time for that yet.  The main thing at this point seems to be the people and Jesus wants to meet and heal as many as he can before doing anything else.  This part of the plan is just as important as the next because Jesus cares about people's physical needs and as well as their spiritual needs and besides, when the time comes for him to start teaching, the people will listen because they know his words have the authority of God behind them.

Some possible questions to reflect on...

• How much does Jesus draw crowds today?
• How is Jesus drawing me closer to him?
• How am I drawing others to Jesus?

Mark blog

A quick run through Micah (chapters 5-7)

Micah Chapter 5 -The Promised Ruler
God now describes more about how his people will see his plan come to pass.  It won't be easy and it won't be quick but it will happen.  Much of the language used here in this passage points us to Jesus, especially in verse 2 where we see a 'ruler' coming from 'Bethlehem' who is 'from ancient times'.  This isn't a last-minute panic reaction from God to save the day.  God knew what would happen before the foundation of the world and his plan was set in his mind even then.  This is an old and ancient plan.

The end result is described.  A remnant will be left (v7).  That means many will be destroyed by sin and it's consequences but a few will be saved and God will make sure his people are not entirely wiped out.  They will live among all sorts of people (v7) and they will be purified from their sin even further (v10-15).

Something to consider today:
Why all this brutal bloodshed and suffering?  It's because God has given his people freedom to choose to follow him or go their own way.  Sin (going our own way) is serious and leads ultimately to death and separation from God but there are consequences here and now too.  Have you realised the seriousness of your own sin and spoken to God about it?  Only when we've realised the seriousness of the trouble we're in can we appreciate the need we have for forgiveness from God (1 John 1:8-10).

Micah Chapter 6 - What does God want?
God has nothing to hide from his people.  He is innocent, even though they may blame him for their struggles with sin's consequences.  He has rescued them from slavery in Egypt (v4) and led them ever since but they still don't get what it is that God expects in return.  He's not looking for dead animal sacrifices even though he commanded them.  He's looking for obedience and he sums it up with three things in verse 8...

• Act justly (do what is right)
• Love mercy (when you and others get it wrong, be patient and forgive)
• Walk humbly with your God (be with God who always acts justly and loves mercy)

Something to consider today:
How much do you do the three things above?  If we're honest, we fail on all three.  There are times when we do wrong (or fail to do right), we give up on people or avoid them when they let us down and we rarely feel close to God.  And yet God has given us the human instincts for these three things.  We want to do right, we want to love mercy (and we're inspired when people show true mercy and don't give up on people) and deep down we want to be in a right relationship with our maker.  What do you make of what God wants?

God again describes the trouble coming to his people because of their unfaithfulness to him. Mercy isn't mercy unless there's any justice and God is holding his people responsible for their choices.

Micah 7 - Hope!
So is God enjoying watching his people struggle and face destruction?  No!  He's in agony about it (v1) but what's he going to do?  He can't just pretend everything's fine or he becomes an unjust god who turns a blind eye to rape, murder and selfishness.  But he can't completely destroy them either, even though their actions deserve it.  He loves them.  And anyway, God's plan doesn't end in destruction and failure.  Bearing in mind that God knows the end from the beginning, it would be a pretty dumb plan if it did.

There's some incredible words at the end of this book...

    ¹⁸ Who is a God like you,
       who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
       of the remnant of his inheritance?
       You do not stay angry forever
       but delight to show mercy.
    ¹⁹ You will again have compassion on us;
       you will tread our sins underfoot
       and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
    ²⁰ You will be faithful to Jacob,
       and show love to Abraham,
       as you pledged on oath to our ancestors
       in days long ago.

Something to consider today: 
'Who is a God like you?' (v18).  If you're not always convinced about God, one thing you might do is consider the alternatives.  Where else can you take your own weakness and failures seriously and yet find forgiveness, peace and hope?  The God of Micah is the one true God who acts justly and yet loves mercy.  It's not what any of us would have imagined and that's the point.  It sounds too good to be true but that's because it's so good that it is true.  There is always hope with a God like this, especially since this God is actually real and if he's real then our hope and future with him can be just as real.

A quick run through Micah (chapters 1-4)

Micah Chapter 1 - Mad God!

Micah was speaking God's message to people during the reigns of 3 kings of Judah: Jotham (who did right), Ahaz (who did evil) and then Hezekiah (who did right).

God is not pleased (v2).  Micah's words paint a great picture of God's power.  Even the mountains melt like wax before him (v3-4).  If this God is not pleased then who knows what will happen?

Something to consider today: 

The reason God's not pleased with his people is because they've been worshiping false gods (idols) that are just made up inventions of people and have no power at all (or love) and yet God's people seem to prefer them above the one who made them and has given them a way to be with him (v5-7).  Are we in a similar situation today and what can we do about it?

Destruction is coming to put an end to their unfaithful and corrupt actions.  They've had time to come back to God but it's running out.  Enemies are coming to capture them and carry them off into exile (v8-16).

What's the appropriate response that God is looking for?  Sorrow and that seems to be about it.  There's no promise of hope in this chapter.  It looks like God has finally had enough and this is the end.

Micah Chapter 2 - Lies for beer!

The people have had freedom to do whatever they want.  They've had the power to do evil and they've done it (v1-2).  So Micah explains that God is sending disaster on his people and their pride will lead the their downfall and disgrace (v3-5).  They won't be able to save themselves from it and neither will their so-called 'gods'.  The things in which they have placed their trust will ultimately let them down.

The people have other prophets who say what they think is right but they're more like 'yes men' who say just what the people want to hear and they're just as corrupt as anyone else.  That's why Micah makes the sarcastic joke about them offering to give prophesies in exchange for beer (v11).  

Something to consider today:

All the time, people believe the popular messages that say everything's fine and somehow manage to overlook all the injustice and evil that goes on right in front of them (v9-10).  Do we do this and how can we make sure we do better?

But there's hope at the end of this chapter.  God promises that ultimately he will save his people rather than completely wipe them out as they deserve.  There will be a shepherd-like king who will blast open a way back to God.  I wonder who that could be!

Micah Chapter 3 - Raging against the machine!

All kinds of evil acts are being done (v1-3) and the nature of the prophets' messages depend on how much they get paid (v5).  They even kid themselves that they'll be fine because they're apparently trusting in God (v11) but they won't because they're not.  God won't let them get away with it forever (6-7). 

Then we have Micah speaking for himself... 

Something to consider today:

Micah, knowing what is right and wrong (unlike many who had lost sight of justice), is not afraid to stand up and shout about it, making a stand for justice against the powers that had been corrupted.  How much do we stand against injustice and fight to put things right?

Micah Chapter 4 - God's way

Now we have another picture of how God says it will be in the future.  The end won't be complete destruction but God will have what he wanted in the first place: a people who live with him in safety and peace.

Something to consider today:

We have a picture of the future God wishes for us in this chapter.  People will want to spend time with God and be with him and learn from him (v2).  People will go to God to settle their disputes (v3).  War will be over and the tools of destruction will become tools of production (v3).  Everyone will have their own home and will have safety and security (v4).  How does this sound to you and who are you trusting in for it to happen?

Micah states for himself and others who will listen that they will follow the one true God in a world where others go after invented gods and other things.

Why follow Jesus?

There are lots of good reasons to follow Jesus but the best one by far is that he really was telling the truth: He's God (John 1:18, John 14:7) and he's our only way to actually know God personally (John 14:6) and experience God's love and forgiveness (1 Peter 3:18, 1 Timothy 1:14-15). 

If you're not convinced, please don't write it off before you've looked into the evidence for yourself.  It's much better to make your decision about it based on the facts rather than anything else.  And if it is true then it's actually a matter of life and death so it's kind of important!  The following links should help get you started and you can always ask me questions directly if you like.

1. The gospels (a brief blog) 

If we're going to follow Jesus, we need to know the truth about him.  The primary source of information about Jesus is the gospels but are they reliable historical accounts or made up rubbish?  If they're made up rubbish, Christianity falls at the first hurdle.  This blog explores the validity of the gospel accounts we have in our Bibles.

2. The resurrection (a brief blog) 

Christianity hinges on the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:14).  If Jesus is just another dead guy then he was either deluded or a liar.  Either way, not worth following.  But if it's true that he rose from the dead, that changes everything!  This blog looks at the evidence.

3. Two Ways to Live (a website)

So what's it all about anyway?  This website has an excellent explanation of what's so good about the good news of Jesus in 6 straight-forward points.

What next?

Email me and let me know how you get on.  I'd be happy to be of any help I can!  Or for further exploration of the evidence for Jesus try uncover.org.uk.

Mark 2:23-3:6 - Troublemaker

I'm not a big fan of tradition in itself (as we saw in the last blog) and I'm not big on rules either, at least not rules for the sake of rules or rules that have lost all meaning or helpfulness.  When rules do good, bring them on but when rules actually try and prevent good from being done, that should make us really angry!

Mark 2:23-3:6

A friend of mine recently acted out what he thought was going on when Jesus was walking around all cool and calm with the Pharisees and teachers of the law in hot pursuit, creeping along behind him rubbing their hands together, looking for every opportunity to catch him out and slam him with their laws.  Ridiculous but that was pretty much what was actually going on.

Jesus (Creator of the Universe btw) and his mates start picking head of grain on the Sabbath and this, in the eyes of the Pharisees, constituted 'work' - a big 'no no' on the Sabbath.  But of course in reality (because their rules often forgot reality) it wasn't work at all but quite the opposite - it was refreshment!  They were relaxing but walking and it was probably hot and they were hungry and so helped themselves to food.  Refreshment and not work.  So not only were they not doing anything wrong, but they were actually keeping the Sabbath values whilst breaking the 'one size fits all' ridiculous rules of the Pharisees.

Do we have any rules like this?  Even unwritten ones?  Do we have expectations of each other because of cultural (or counter-cultural) norms rather than because of what's actually good?  We need to regularly check ourselves for this stuff because it's so easy for it to creep in and it's lazy to let rules do the work when we should be looking for every opportunity in every moment to do good!

Jesus sums it up really clearly: 'The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath' and he also reminds his listeners that in any case, he's the one who invented the Sabbath idea in the first place!

On the other occasion at the start of chapter 3, Jesus pushes on this one even more by healing on the Sabbath (presumably a much bigger deal than picking heads of grain)!  He gets the guy with the shriveled hand to stand up in front of everyone.  It's going to be a show!  And he sets it up by asking a question about the law and whether or not he should do good or evil - to save life or to kill (v4).  He wants people to realise that he knows full well what their laws say but he also wants them to see that he's God(!) and that laws are meant to do good - not prevent good from being done!

It says Jesus was angry at their stubborn hearts.  Maybe he was hoping they would answer his question.  The answer should have been obvious: 'To do good of course!  To save life of course!'  But the answer wasn't there because they were trapped in their own rules and small expectations and this made Jesus hot with anger.  He then heals the man miraculously and right in front of them.  Maybe that will convince them.  Well maybe it did for some, but for others they were so stubborn that they missed the fact that a miracle had happened right in front of them and instead they began to plan how they could get Jesus killed.  Absolutely, seriously tragic.  They were so lost that God himself standing before them and proving himself wasn't enough to convince them.  And today there are skeptics who are just like that.  I wonder if some people today would kill Jesus all over again if he showed up.  Their hearts are hard.

Let check ourselves when we disapprove or say no to a new idea.  Let's check we're not following rules or expectations for the sake of what's normal.  Let's look with fresh insight for opportunities to do good and for Jesus to be Lord over everything (because he is anyway).  And let's pray that we won't have stubborn hearts that make Jesus angry.  Let's listen to Jesus, follow him and do what he does.

Mark blog

Mark 2:18-22 - Not so fast!

I'm probably not someone people would describe as being 'traditional'.  The fact is there are some things about certain traditions that are valuable and well worth hanging on to whereas other aspects are well worth leaving behind because their time has passed.  In today's passage, Jesus mentions the tradition of fasting (which usually means going without food to make time for prayer)...

Mark 2:18-22

Jesus continues to arouse people's interest by his actions and teachings and he seems to enjoy receiving people's questions here, even when they suggest that he's got it wrong by not towing the line.  He's not fitting their religious mould very well and Jesus seems to be quite deliberately different.  For some reason it's as if he thinks the religious rules and expectations don't apply to him.  Well, that's probably because they don't!  And Jesus doesn't mind explaining why...

When they ask Jesus why his followers don't fast, he says it wouldn't make any sense because of who he is.  The main reason people fasted (if they had the right motives) was to make a special point of drawing close to God in prayer but if God is standing right next to them, why bother?  They'd be mad to try and get any closer to God by missing meals when God himself is having dinner with them!  This is a special time in history where God has turned up in the flesh and for those who had realised it, it was a time for awe and celebration.  Their usual habits and traditions pretty much went out the window because all they could do was watch Jesus' every move and hang on every word he said.  They didn't want to miss a thing.

Interestingly (although this is far from the main point), Jesus isn't saying the tradition of fasting is a bad thing.  He says there will be a time for fasting when he leaves (v20).  Presumably this is because fasting will be useful and appropriate once more and this does make sense bearing in mind what we've already said.

Jesus then illustrates what he's saying about the place of traditions now that he's here.  Just as they would not have poured new wine into old wineskins, they would be unwise to try and make Jesus fit their old traditions because Jesus is a brand new part of God's plan that was being revealed.  What they needed to do was stop everything (even their religious traditions that had plenty of value if done with the right motives) and follow Jesus.  It's as if Jesus is saying, "I'm like new wine and if you try and fit me into your tiny old traditions, I'll just burst right out of them and leave them in tatters like old wine skins.  Look - I'm God.  Are you really going to tell me what my followers should be doing?" What they need is a brand new understanding, a brand new frame of reference - brand new wineskins for this new wine.

We have our own traditions too.  Everyone does.  Our culture does.  I heard one person recently describe our culture's traditions as 'the sausage factory'.  Everyone's on a production line that goes from school, to college, to uni then work then maybe marriage (but not necessarily) and family, etc.  And there's this urge to be as wealthy as possible along the way and end up having lots of cool stuff.  Lots of people's decisions seem to be automatic because it's what's expected and does anyone stop to ask - 'Isn't there a better way?'  How many people are stuck in their jobs, waiting for 5 o'clock every day and waiting for the weekend when their life begins?  How many people would do their jobs for free if they didn't need money?  Would you?

I'm not saying all these things are bad.  They're just some of the most common things that we're expected to do in our culture and if that's what God wants for you then that's great (really it is)!  But what if it isn't?  What if God wants to break into the cycle and do something new, something bigger, something better?  What if your life is more important than just another sausage in the factory?

Let's make sure we're watching God's every move rather than trying to inflict our expectations on him.  Let's watch what Jesus does next and be ready and willing to drop things if that's what we need to do!

Mark blog