Mark 3:13

Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him.

The calling of the twelve disciples is a fascinating moment in Jesus’ ministry. It’s greatly significant that he chose to work with a group of people and not operate alone. In this, he affirmed the importance of fellowship. However gifted we may be, we need one another and our very different outlooks and abilities. Going it alone is never Jesus’ way. I remember as a teenager meeting a very enthusiastic Christian who was determined that my home town should all follow Jesus. It was a wonderful vision to have, but he was quite clear that he was going to do this by himself. He had a large leather bag full of Christian tracts and he was confident that he would be able to get the job done. His enthusiasm was commendable, but his method was sadly wrong. We are never called to go off on heroic solo adventures but to work closely with our Christian brothers and sisters.

Jesus’ disciples were a fascinatingly mixed group. Matthew was a tax collector, working for the Romans. Tax collectors were regarded as traitors because of their close relationship with the occupying forces and were particularly despised because they often became very rich in the process. Another disciple was Simon the Zealot, and he likely belonged to a group that was seeking to kick the Romans out of the land, by force if necessary. Just imagine having Matthew and Simon in the same group! They probably had some heated conversations during the time they worked with Jesus, but what united them all was their commitment to him.

I also find it interesting that so many of the disciples are either largely or completely unknown to us. When we think of the disciples we immediately think of Peter, James and John, but there were twelve of them and each one was crucial to Jesus’ mission, even those whose words were never recorded. Whoever we are, however small our role and few our words, we all have a vital role to play in Jesus’ mission.

Question

Why is it so important to spend time worshipping and working with other Christians?

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for calling me to follow you. Help me to work well with my Christian brothers and sisters. Amen

Mark 2:27-28

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Some years ago, I spent a couple of months living in Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, which is home to a very large number of ultra-orthodox Jews. I very soon learned, to my surprise, that the Sabbath begins late afternoon on Friday, when the first star is seen in the sky. From that moment, the shops shut and people go home to begin their rituals to mark the start of the Sabbath. There is something incredibly special about setting aside one day in seven as a day of rest. This was the example that God set when he created the world, and the law of Moses protected the day with a penalty of death for anyone who worked on the Sabbath.

Over the centuries, the laws of the Sabbath were developed extensively, and by the time of Jesus, there were scores of laws regulating people’s activities on the day. There were, essentially, 39 forms of work which ranged from burning, writing and erasing to washing, sewing and cooking. The Pharisees were strict observers of the Sabbath and, in their eagerness to trip him up, they carefully watched Jesus and his disciples on the Sabbath. When they spotted the disciples walking through a field and breaking off the heads of grain to eat, they had their moment. The disciples were caught red-handed, guilty of a number of Sabbath violations, including walking and reaping.

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees was to indicate that they had completely missed the point. God had given the gift of the Sabbath in order to be a blessing to people, not to tie them up in legal tangles. In a society that is busy seven days a week, we have a real challenge to keep Sunday special, but in doing so we will receive many blessings. We need to work hard to ensure it doesn’t get squeezed into the mould of the other six days.

Question

What more could you do to make your Sunday special?

Prayer

Lord God, I thank you for the gift of Sunday. Help me to use it in order to get to know you better. Amen

Mark 2:22

[Jesus said:] “No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”

We all know what happens to leather after a few years: it becomes hard and brittle. Just imagine what happens when you put wine into an old leather wineskin – the wine inevitably leaks away. In Jesus’ day, wine was largely stored in wineskins, so everyone got the point. If you want to keep your wine, you need to make sure that you only put it into new wineskins.

Jesus’ teaching was radical and new. He was telling people about the new wine of the kingdom of God. This wonderful new wine was so precious that there was no point in trying to put it into the old wineskins of Judaism. There needed to be a complete revolution. It was vital for them to be born again. A new life needed to begin.

Many people hear the teaching of Jesus and conclude that they need to turn over a new leaf. They need to start being more loving, and stop being so selfish. However, if we are just making a few amendments to life, it isn’t going to work. We will soon fail in the attempt. What we need is a completely new start in which we hand over our lives to God and allow him to lead us by his Holy Spirit. This is the key to all of Jesus’ teaching. As we allow the Spirit to lead us, we will naturally produce the fruit of the Spirit. We won’t need to go on training courses to learn about how to love more or be more peaceful or find more joy in life. These things will inevitably flow as we allow the Holy Spirit to take control. Miraculously, we will find that he gives us gifts to enable us to be more effective for him. Often, they will be gifts related to skills and abilities that we already have, but sometimes they will be totally new gifts which the Spirit gives us for a new situation. Receiving the new wine that Jesus wants to give us will transform every part of life, so we wouldn’t want any of it to leak.

Question

In what ways have you seen the new wine of the kingdom?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I invite you to take charge of my life and to fill me with the new wine of your Holy Spirit. Amen

Mark 2:17

[Jesus] told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Jesus’ way of life was a shock to the respectable religious leaders of his day. So far as they were concerned, the priority was to ensure they were ritually pure so they could participate in the temple worship. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan powerfully describes the situation. The first two people who walked past the wounded man were a priest and a Levite. Jesus wasn’t suggesting that they didn’t care – their priority was to remain ritually clean so they could perform their duties.

Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be bothered about staying ritually clean according to the Jewish law. He gladly associated with dodgy people, even though he must have known that this would offend the religious leaders. Here, Jesus explained the reason why he did this: he had come for the sake of people who knew that they were sick, and not for people who were spiritually perfect. Of course, Jesus knew that everyone needed forgiveness, but he also knew he couldn’t help people who thought they were perfect.

One of the persistent problems doctors face is that people often don’t take action when they have a medical need. A lump grows or another bodily change takes place and they shrug it off, assuming it will resolve itself. Until a person takes action and visits the doctor, there is not a thing that the doctor can do. It is very much the same with God. He would love to forgive us, but first we must recognise that we have a problem.

Question

How would you describe your own spiritual health?

Prayer

Lord God, forgive me for trying to pretend that I was spiritually fit when I needed to come and seek your healing. Amen

Mark 2:5

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralysed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

I love this story. Four men had decided that, however difficult it might be, they were going to get their paralysed friend to Jesus. They knew it would be a challenge because Jesus was already very popular and large crowds were following him. On this particular day, Jesus was preaching in a house in Capernaum where he had been staying. The house was already crammed with people, so there was no possibility of the men getting their friend to Jesus through the door. They needed to use their initiative, and for them the obvious answer was to break through the roof. The owner of the house probably wasn’t quite so thrilled with their conclusion but it was, nonetheless, effective, and the paralysed man was brought to the feet of Jesus.

Everybody could see what the need was. The man was paralysed and needed healing, so surely Jesus, who had already acquired a reputation as a miraculous healer, would reach out his hand and heal his paralysis. However, Jesus’ first response was not to heal the man but to pronounce forgiveness. This really wound up the religious teachers, who knew that only God could forgive sin. They were still a long way from recognising Jesus’ true identity.

When we look at other people, it is often very easy to spot their immediate problem. They may be ill, poor or anxious. Understandably, we are eager to fix their problem as quickly and effectively as possible, but everybody’s first need is forgiveness. Only when we have a restored relationship with God can we move forward into the new life that he wants for us. Until we have received God’s forgiveness, we will continue to lug around sin, guilt and failures from the past. God’s miraculous forgiveness is on offer to anyone who will own up to their sin and receive his gift for themselves.

Question

How has God’s gift of forgiveness affected your life?

Prayer

Loving God, I have let you down in my thoughts, words and actions and through those good things that I have left undone. Please forgive my sin and set me free to live for you. Amen

Mark 1:35

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.

Although Jesus’ ministry had only recently begun, he was already very busy. His authoritative preaching and miraculous healings were attracting great interest and he had little time to himself, but he knew that his authority came from God his Father, so he needed to keep in close contact with him. He had to work hard to find a special time and place to pray. He knew that his ministry relied upon it.

As we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we need to work just as hard to find our special times and places to pray. One thing is certain: personal prayer won’t happen without discipline and determination. We will always be able to fill our time with other activities. The key thing is for us to become convinced that prayer is our priority and that other activities, however worthy and enjoyable, are of lesser importance. That’s often hard to accept because we tend to judge ourselves, and others tend to measure us, by our activities. For the person who doesn’t understand how God works, prayer could easily look like a complete waste of time.

The place where we pray is often very important. You may have a special place in your home where you can sit and pray. In a busy household, this might be hard to achieve. I once heard someone claim that the only quiet place they could ever find in their home was their loo! Maybe you have a park where you can walk. Wherever your special place is, you need to cherish the opportunity to meet with God in quietness.

William Wilberforce, famous for his involvement in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, once wrote: “Of all things, guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer.” Whoever we are, and whatever our life looks like, we all need to listen to those words and make prayer a priority, just like Jesus did.

Question

What is your special time and place of prayer?

Prayer

Loving Father, thank you for the privilege of being able to pray to you. Help me to always make it a priority. Amen

Mark 1:16-18

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.

I will never forget the first time I saw the Sea of Galilee. I was with a friend and we had been travelling for a couple of hours up the Jordan valley. It was incredibly hot and our little car didn’t have the blessing of air conditioning. We greeted our first glimpse of the lake with great excitement and, as we saw it, it was so easy to imagine Jesus walking along beside it, coming to a couple of fishermen and inviting them to follow him. The truly incredible thing is that nothing has changed. Two thousand years ago, Jesus invited people to follow him, and he still does!

It's the personal nature of Christianity that makes it so different from other religions and philosophies. Religions normally have a set of beliefs and rules that you have to subscribe to, and then you’re a member, but for Christians, it’s all about a person, and living a life that follows and pleases him. Life is instantly redefined when you follow Jesus. Nothing looks the same. Someone once described the difference as being like seeing life in colour after only seeing it in black and white.

I find it fascinating that as soon as Jesus invited the fishermen to follow him, he gave them a job. You might have thought that Jesus would have given them a while to get to know him and understand his teaching first, but no – following Jesus always involves finding others to follow him. And that’s the way Jesus’ earthly ministry concluded as well. When Jesus ascended to his Father in heaven he commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations.

Whatever you are doing today Jesus says two things to you. He invites you to follow him and asks you to recruit other followers as well.

Question

Who might you be able to encourage to follow Jesus today?

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for inviting me to follow you. Help me to follow you more closely each day and to encourage others to do the same. Amen

Mark 1:14-15

Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

We all know what we need to do when we are driving in the wrong direction: turn around. These days, I rely on satnav for most of my journeys, but every now and again, I trust my memory. Most of time that works brilliantly, but I have had a number of embarrassing experiences when I got things wrong. I remember one time when I was driving home at the end of the day. I wasn’t far from home, but I suddenly realised that I was driving north when I needed to drive south. All I could do was swallow my pride and turn around! That’s repentance – turning from the wrong direction to the right one.

Just like John the Baptist, Jesus preached a message of repentance because he knew that it was the only way for people to discover the good news of God’s forgiveness. Repentance is much more than merely regret or remorse. It’s being sorry enough to stop and walk in a new direction.

On the day of Pentecost, the punchline of Peter’s sermon was that the people needed to repent. That day saw the birth of the Church as people turned to God in repentance and were baptised. As they did so, Peter told them they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we turn our backs on the way we have been living, we need enormous encouragement and strength to head in a new direction. It’s not something we can possibly do by ourselves. No amount of human effort will be enough. We are completely reliant upon God’s Holy Spirit to fill us each day and to help us to walk in a new way.

Question

What has repentance meant for you personally?

Prayer

Lord God, I repent of the fact that I have so often gone my own selfish way. I ask you to forgive my sins and for the power of your Holy Spirit to help me live a new life in your strength. Amen

Mark 1:12-13

The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.

We’d probably all like to think that if our lives were totally led by the Spirit like Jesus’ was, we would be able to avoid all challenges and difficulties. Life would be one long succession of blessings and smiling people. The experience of Jesus shows us that this isn’t how the Spirit works. Led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus faced temptations, injustice, opposition and violence, but as he did so, he was given the wisdom and strength to face every challenge.

The New Testament is incredibly candid about the challenges which face those who follow Jesus, and he himself was very clear about this. He saw it as an inevitable consequence of living in a broken and sinful world. In Jesus’ teaching to his disciples before his death, he said: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

If you look back through the past couple of years, you can likely identify many temptations, challenges and difficulties that you have had to face. That’s life! The same will be true in the months and years ahead, but we need not be afraid because as the Holy Spirit leads us through these experiences, he will also give us the wisdom and strength to cope with them. When Jesus sent his disciples out on their first mission, he assured them that it would be tough. He said he was sending them out like sheep among wolves. He told them they would be handed over to the courts and flogged with whips in the synagogues. On the face of it, everything would go wrong, but Jesus told them not to be fearful because God would perfectly equip them. He told them not to worry about what they would say when they were arrested because the Spirit would give them the right words.

I totally understand why we all shrink from the idea of temptations, problems and opposition, but with the Holy Spirit, we have nothing at all to fear. As we trust him, we will have all the wisdom, strength and words we need.

Question

How does this teaching help you as you look to your own future?

Prayer

Loving God, I invite your Holy Spirit to fill me, and to guide me every step of my life. Amen

Mark 1:9-11

One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptised him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”

Here, in a gentle yet spectacular way, we see God the Trinity at work. Having been baptised by John, Jesus saw the Holy Spirit descending upon him, and God the Father spoke from heaven confirming his identity. As Jesus stepped into his new ministry, it was essential that the whole Trinity was involved. Jesus continually sought to be close to his Father in prayer and was led by the Spirit. People often struggle to understand the Trinity but it is in Jesus’ ministry that we see most clearly how they all work together.

We must be constantly aware of the presence and blessing of God the Trinity in our lives. God is our creator and we bring our worship to him through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is quite clear that they are distinct from one another, and yet absolutely one. At the dawn of creation, all the members of the Trinity were present. God the Father spoke his word – and John’s Gospel explains that Jesus was that word – while the Spirit hovered over the surface of the waters. Then at Jesus’ baptism, the Father, Son and Spirit met in the River Jordan.

People often say that they find the Trinity confusing, but the Bible never explains it to us like some sort of complicated mathematical puzzle. The Trinity is presented to us as the basis of our worship. God is always infinitely beyond our understanding but as we see the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Spirit, we are invited to join in relationship with them. At the heart of that relationship is love. God the Father loves us so much that he sent Jesus into the world to be our saviour, and when Jesus ascended to his Father, God sent his Spirit to us to lead us to Jesus and to enable us to do even more than could be achieved in Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Question

How does Jesus’ baptism help you in your understanding of the Trinity?

Prayer

Father, Son and Spirit, I thank you that you love me and call me into relationship with you today. Amen