Mark 7:14-23 (NIV)

Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is being presented as the New Human who is both modeling the way to be truly human and working to make a way for us to become those kinds of humans... Restored, in his image. In the last passage, Jesus points out the Pharisees’ lack of integrity after they try to call out the disciples for eating with unclean hands.

In today’s passage, once again the disciples are a little confused. In their day, the Pharisees are THE people who are living as righteously as anyone could. But Jesus corrects them as he explains that there is more to becoming a new human than just following a set of rules. The Pharisees think it’s about external regulation, but Jesus is calling his disciples, and he’s calling us, to an internal transformation.

You will know a tree by its fruit. And if a tree produces hollow, rotten or bitter fruit, it’s because there is something wrong inside the tree. Jesus cares about righteousness and holy living…. That’s clear in the words you’ll hear today, but no amount of rule following will get us there… we must be made new.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phrase stood out to you in this passage?

2. Are there ways that you try to be the right kind of human through regulation versus transformation?

3. How would you need Jesus to show up if you were to make yourself available to him to be transformed? Ask that of him now.

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Mark 7:1-13 (NIV)

The other day I was at the Home Depot in the lumber section picking out some wood for a small project at the house. I needed one last piece so I grabbed it and began to walk back to my cart when I noticed that it was not one that I’d want to buy. There were two things wrong with it. First, as I looked down its edge, I could see that it was warped like an “S.” The thing was that it had a large knot at one end that sent a crack across the grain. A piece of wood is only as strong as its weakest point, and its integrity was compromised.

Integrity might seem like a strange word to use for wood, because we often associate the word with honesty, or transparency. But integrity in this case means, being consistent all the way through. This piece of wood looked good from one angle, but when you turned it over and looked a little closer, it was a very different story.

In today’s passage Jesus calls out the lack of integrity on the part of the Pharisees. Their convictions for tradition and ritual purity look good from one end, and they are more than willing to call people out on it. But Jesus turns them over and looks from a different angle, exposing their lack of integrity and their failure to live up to their convictions.

As you listen, be sure to allow yourself to sit in both seats. We’ve all had people who lack integrity call us out, and this passage will comfort us in that. But we all must also examine our own integrity and allow this passage to turn us over and examine our inconsistencies.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you find most challenging about this passage?

2. When have you seen a person   call out someone in one area, then fail to have integrity in another?

3. If you are honest, what area of your life might Jesus point to as an example of your lack of integrity? Bring that to Jesus, who loves you?

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Mark 6:45-56 (NIV)

As we began our series in the Gospel of Mark, we spoke about how this telling of the life of Jesus is designed to impress upon the hearer this question: "Do you see Jesus for who he really is?" It’s full of stories where the people who should get it don’t, and the people who shouldn’t get it do get it. And so far the disciples have stayed clear of that question... but this whole thing with the loaves just gets them.

Right before this passage, the Disciples are tired from a long season of ministry, having been sent out by Jesus to cast out demons and heal people. They couldn’t eat because there were so many folks in need around them. Then Jesus asks them to give up their loaves and fish to feed more people. And here in this passage we find them on a boat with hard hearts, and landing on a shore with more people to heal and minister to.

If we’re not careful, we can miss the tension in these stories. Jews like the disciples were not just following a Messiah around because he performed miracles of healing and walked on water. They wanted freedom from sickness and pain, sure, but they wanted freedom from Rome and true return from exile, and all this caring for people was not what they had in mind. The next several chapters of Mark invite us to ask these questions of ourselves: Is my heart open to Jesus even when he defies my expectations? Am I willing to follow Jesus when it costs me? Do I really see him?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phrase stood out to you from this passage?

2. It’s worth highlighting that the disciples mistook Jesus for something other than who he was. As Mark has penned this Gospel he hasn’t wasted words. That’s in there for a reason. He’s drawing our attention to the idea that the disciples aren’t seeing Jesus clearly. In what ways might you struggle to see Jesus clearly?

3. Imagine the fatigue that the disciples must have felt. A long season of ministry… a long night of fighting the wind… and then they land on yet another shore full of people crowding around Jesus. This commitment that Jesus had to care for these people was probably pretty stretching for the disciples. Is there something Jesus cares about and does now that stretches you? Ask him to help you have a soft heart.

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Mark 6:30-44 (NIV)

Have you ever found yourself really tired and in need of rest? Have you ever been at the end of your rope—I mean, just about to fall on your face emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally? The chance to get a break from the noise and the strain and the pain can become all you think about.  And then, your phone rings… you get a message... a child screams in the other room… or you see reports of the trauma that just hit your city. What do you do in that moment?

A lot of times, we tend to swing to either extreme. On one hand we can buy into the "you do you" narrative, where we turn away from pain and act to secure our own rest while we allow those around us to go without it. On the other hand, some of us go into a hyperactive frenzy. We get to the point where we cannot stop ourselves from “helping” and end up ignoring our impulses to stop and rest. And in the name of sacrifice we never allow the space necessary to recoup what we pour out, leaving us with nothing to give others or ourselves.

In today’s passage, Jesus obliterates our over-individualized notions of self-care as he includes the communities around him in his rest. But ironically he does not go into "savior mode," fixing all the problems himself. He invites his grieving community to make something whole., which is a very different way to think about rest.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage do you find most intriguing?

2. Why did Jesus say to the disciples, “You give them something to eat.”? Is there anything that you might think isn’t enough that you could offer to Jesus to multiply today?

3. This crowd was probably over ten thousand people in size, based on the way that the ancient world counted by number of men. This multitude experienced a communal miracle. How does this challenge your thinking of how Jesus moves? Are there prayers that you pray for yourself that you could make more communal?

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Mark 6:14-29 (NIV)

Throughout the Gospel of Mark we’ve met a Jesus who has authority like no one has seen before, and yet he is generous with his time and presence. He goes to places that powerful people don’t go, touches people that powerful people don’t touch, is touched by people who would be killed if they touched a powerful person in the way they touch Jesus. He shares his power, he does not use it for himself. He’s kinda shy about his power, healing people and then telling them not to mention it to anyone, rather than doing mighty work in a stadium for all to see.

On the other hand we have Herod, a man with power, but a very different kind of power. He’s the kind of ruler who uses his authority to stroke his own ego, and to protect himself. In today’s passage, Mark zooms out to set the story of Jesus within the larger context of Judea and juxtaposes Herod and his power-hoarding impulses with the generous and openhanded power of Jesus.

The people who first heard this Gospel read would have known of Herod. Imagine hearing this kind of story today. How does it contrast with the way of Jesus?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment from this passage stood out to you?

2. What does this passage teach you about the misuse of power? What drove Herod to commit such an act as ordering John's beheading?

3. Consider ways that you have seen power misused in our day. Ask the LORD to bring our leaders under his authority; ask him to establish more leaders who live and serve like Jesus.

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Mark 6:1-13 (NIV)

So far in Mark’s Gospel the character and power of Jesus is being painted before us. The original readers would have found themselves responding out of all of their own assumptions about Messiah just like the people in the stories. With each new scene our awe and understanding of Jesus increases and deepens. He is one with authority, he has power not only to cast out demons and to heal, but he speaks to the waves and they listen, and he shows no partiality. Who is this man?

With all the crowds and wonders you would assume that Jesus' popularity is about to take off, as soon as Jesus has the momentum to make it big as a religious figure, the narrative slams on the breaks and takes a corner. The story brings us to Jesus in his hometown. He’s being questioned and ridiculed. As soon as we might assume a person to influence my accumulated power, he begins to give it away to his disciples as he sends them out ahead of him. The people who should see Jesus accurately don’t and the people who shouldn’t do.

As you listen today, consider what crowd you’re posture towards Jesus in the past year would land you in.

----------REFLECT----------

1.  Which group do you identify with the most—the hometown crowd that’s kind of skeptical, or the disciples who are being sent?

2. If you heard the words that the disciples heard from Jesus about being sent, how would you react?

3. In this story you have two groups that have different levels of faith—the hometown crowd that lacks faith, and the disciples who have much faith. Ask the LORD to give you increased faith today.

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Mark 5:21-43 (NIV)

Sometimes, we can be lulled into believing that our lot in life or our social or economic status can keep us isolated from pain. Perhaps it can, for a time. If we make enough money, collect enough power or accumulate enough friends maybe we can be secure? But on a closer look, you’ll discover that desperation doesn’t care about zip codes. Pain doesn’t care about what position you hold or how powerful your friends are.

And while that can be an unsettling realization, consider this…. Jesus doesn’t care either. He always moves towards those who need him. He doesn’t care about status or affiliations, he doesn’t measure by influence or security. When he sees a human, he sees the Image of God, and he responds.

In today’s passage, you see Jesus display this indifference towards status. He will not be bound by time, space, or by social order. He will transcend it, and bring wholeness and life.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this scene stands out to you?

2. If you were able to walk up to Jesus after these moments, what would you want to ask him?

3. So far in Mark, how has the way you view Jesus changed or developed?

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Mark 5:1-20 (NIV)

So this week my wife took our girls to a really old cemetery in our town. Might seem like a strange place to take a walk but our oldest daughter was curious so they went for it. The one they went to had Confederate and Union Civil War soldiers buried there, and they ended up talking to the curator of the African American museum near the cemetery and hearing some pretty amazing stories. Cemeteries can be really interesting, but no one wants to stay there too long or especially overnight. .

Today’s passage happens to introduce us to someone who did, in fact, live “among the tombs,” a strong man tortured night and day by demons, more at home among the dead than the living.

So far, as we’ve tried to place ourselves in the stories, we’ve probably imagined a lot of different emotional and mental responses to the situations and conversations we’ve heard. Today, as you imagine yourself in this story, you might be kind of freaked out. And that’s ok. It’s a bit of a terrifying scene. But as we’ll see, Jesus is no more afraid of this man than he was of the storm.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What did you see, feel, hear or experience as you pictured yourself in this scene?

2. As MArk wrote in chapter three, A strong man is being subdued… As in chapter 4, something that is out of control is being stilled... Bring to mind some of the things in your life that seem beyond your control… chaotic… destructive.

3. The image of the man sitting there at the end, clothed and in his right mind is, in an incredible picture of the Shalom- the wholeness that Jesus is bringing. Who in your life is in need of this kind of freedom? Maybe from addiction, mental illness, or even spiritual oppression? Take some time to intercede before Jesus on their behalf.

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Mark 4:35-41 (NIV)

I grew up in Florida, and throughout my childhood I spent a fair amount of time at the beach. And while there is plenty to enjoy about the beach, there are also quite a few things that can get dangerous really quickly. One of those things is called a rip current. It’s a really fast, really strong current of water that  pulls anything in it out to sea.

One day I found myself in a rip current. I’m a decent swimmer and knew what was going on, and obviously I made it…. But one of the lasting impressions it had on me was a deep reverence for the power of water.  I mean, when I say there was nothing I could do to fight against it, there was NOTHING I could do. It took every bit of strength I had just to stay afloat until someone came to help.

The sea has always demanded respect. The ancient world considered it a place of chaos and danger. It was only the gods that had influence over the waves, because they knew from experience, like I did, that you can try to fight it, but it will win every time. Jews had history and poetry shaping their view of the world that made clear that only Yahweh controls the water, and last time we saw something like that during the Exodus.

Jesus is about to give his disciples a major clue about the extraordinary nature of his identity. Imagine yourself in this scene.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this story stood out to you the most?

2. Could you imagine being the disciples? Imagine fighting this strom and then everything becomes quiet and calm? What would it mean for you to realize you were standing in the boat with someone who had the power that only Yahweh is supposed to have?

3. Are you up against any God-sized storms in your life or in our world right now? Situations where the wind and the waves are so big and so powerful that it seems like only God could calm them? Take this moment to call on Jesus for that situation.

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Mark 4:21-34 (NIV)

So we recently got a cat… it’s a cute cat, especially when he’s wanting his wet cat food. Every morning as you walk into the kitchen he weaves in and out of your legs until you open the fridge and give him the goods.

Now sometimes if you’re walking around the house he will start following you, and during the times when you are headed to the fridge he gets really excited and starts his weaving. And if you do open the fridge he sits in the way of the door so that you literally have to pick him up to close the door. We have to help him understand that what we’re getting out of the fridge isn’t really what he’s after. He’s so disappointed.

Jesus is doing a similar thing for his disciples…. Stay with me now… They are following him—literally crowds are swarming around Jesus, weaving in and out of these moments with him. And in today’s passage he is trying to help his disciples see that the Kingdom Jesus is going to bring isn’t quite what they are looking for. It’ll come differently, it will look different… It’s far more costly… but it’s also infinitely more valuable.

So as you listen today, try to imagine Jesus trying to help his disciples, help us, see that the God’s Kingdom is going to surprise us, and by the measure we remain attentive to Jesus, so will be the measure of our understanding.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image of the Kingdom stands out to you?

2. What do you find most surprising or curious about that image?

3. Take a moment to ask Jesus to help you hear his voice today and to see His Kingdom as it comes in these ways.

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