If there ever was a miracle in the New Testament that would lend itself to a movie replete with special effects, it would be this one we study this week. It’s called the “transfiguration of Christ”. Jesus changes physically in His appearance in front of Peter, James, and John. We share what that means not only in history, but in your life and mine in 2019!

There are phrases in the Bible that are often quoted, yet not necessarily understood. All of us perhaps have quoted a verse or phrase out of scripture, not realizing the import or impact on our personal lives. Such a phrase is the words of Jesus where He says “Take up your cross and follow me!” It’s really a dynamic passage not only in Mark, but in your life and mine!

More than 20,000,000 Americans suffer some kind of vision loss. It is a significant problem today, yet nothing statistically to eye problems in the time of Jesus. This week we study one of the numerous times Jesus healed a blind person. Mark is the only gospel that records this specific miracle, where Jesus takes a blind man outside of a town, and privately heals him. The Lord today deals with something far worse than physical blindness: spiritual blindness. It begins at Mark 8:22.

Have you ever thought of a person that Jesus healed, was not healed immediately but in “stages”? It’s the only miracle in the gospels that can be described that way. It’s also the only miracle that is recorded by Mark. Matthew, Luke, and John do not include this event in their particular gospel. I’ve wondered why, but really don’t have an answer. It’s about blindness; we talk also about willful blindness!

The Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah said that “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” What does that mean? It means that we can’t trust the leadings of our own hearts. We can be conned by our heart! Jesus would say in the gospel of Mark that the heart is where all kinds of “bad stuff” have its origin in your life and mine! He further illuminated that thought by saying it’s not what goes into our bodies that contaminates, it’s what comes out the heart that does!

The miracle called, “the feeding of the 5,000” is the only miracle that’s recorded in all four gospels. There must be a reason for that! But it’s much more than a story about feeding a huge crowd, it’s about the difference between pity and compassion. We discuss both in the message this week. You may discover that you are a person who shows pity, but who doesn’t necessarily demonstrate compassion.

This is the only account that I know of in the Gospels where a miracle happens on the way to another miracle. On the way to raise the daughter of one the synagogue rulers from the dead, Jesus is confronted by a woman who was ill for 12 years with chronic bleeding. It’s unusual in that the woman is healed just by touching “the hem of the garment” of Jesus. This is a great story that shows the power of Christ in people’s lives.

Not only is this an “Easter Message”, it happened to be the last message that a brother-in-law of mine heard. You see, he listened to this message on Sunday in person; he then died that Friday at home. The following week we were sharing in his funeral service in Cincinnati and burial in southern Indiana. Some day we will all hear our “last message”. Some people heard their last message years ago, and haven’t’ heard one since. I’m glad my brother-in-law heard this message and text. Let it speak to you this week!

The most dramatic story of Jesus coming against the powers of Satan and hell comes from Mark 5. A man lives in a cemetery, possessed by many demons, too many to count! When commanded by Jesus to identify his “name”, the entity within the man says “legion”. In the Roman army, a legion was 5,800 infantry and 200 soldiers on horses! No small force to deal with in battle!

The Doubleday Dictionary says this: “A miracle is an act or event that transcends or contradicts all known natural or scientific laws and is usually thought to be supernatural in origin.” Christ performed miracles routinely! Today we begin a new series called, “Miracles from Mark”. There is at least one miracle I know of that only Mark shares. These miracles speak of what the Lord can do in your life and mine in 2019.