Mark 15

Jesus innocent but treated like a criminal
Jesus on the cross for all to mock
Jesus willing to do God's will but asking "why?"
Jesus dies
Jesus' body is laid in a tomb and sealed

After listening to this chapter I feel sorry and then grateful and humbled by the way Jesus dies willing to do his fathers will, he dies so I can be free, so I can have wholeness and eternity, that should've been me, for my sins, he is my replacement, he sacrifices for me, for us, ....Jesus I thank you. I love you .... these pathetic English words just doesn't seem like enough.

Mark 14

Thanks to all those that have been following along in Mark, we're almost done. If you haven't been on in a while here is what I'm up to with this Mark thing. Click on these words to find out.

The first story in this chapter I always find so beautiful. I wish I could do that for Jesus. I find his acceptance of extravagance rather interesting because from my upbringing extravagance for Jesus has not been looked upon with kind eyes. Like those present at the pouring out of the perfume,is how I naturally feel like responding, "What?! Don't waste the money, don't spend money on fancy stuff for the church building or worship service, go practical and simple." yet I see Jesus here accepting this extravagant offering as an act of worship. I am now conflicted. I sometimes wish reading the bible made things easier to understand but in this case it makes things complicated, because Jesus lived such a sacrificial life for the poor and sick. What do you think? Should we be extravagant in order to better worship God, even if people look on saying, "Why this waste? It could have been sold and the money given to the poor." Or should we keep a small worship budget and spend more money on the poor?
Maybe the story no longer holds us to do as the woman did because Jesus says "...You will not always have me." Times changed.
Ya ... so the outcome of that was clear as mud. I love the bible, makes me think.

As i was reading the part about the Lord supper preparations I realized something I hadn't really thought of before. Jesus knew what the disciples would encounter(V.16). He did this with the donkey a few days ago too. Now I am a firm believer that Jesus was fully human and he gave up his godness when he came to earth, that would mean whatever he does on earth is possible for us as well with the holy spirit in us. This to me is fascinating that we can know the future if we need to. What do you think of that?

Mark 14:38 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." This is a verse that I have memorized and recited many times. It is a powerful verse for me because it helps me keep my freedom. I know it would take a lot more words to really explain this but let me try. When I discovered where I was weak, where I was trapped in sin and then found freedom, I had some safe guards to place in my life and this verse was what led me to understand that it is more than pray, it is keeping watch. Watch for where the weak points were in my armor, where the enemy could try to take me captive again. Watch means to me to toss thoughts, small thoughts out of my mind as soon as they come in.... and of course pray. That is the short version. I love this verse.

I was listening to this chapter through the Bible experience (which is the audio dramatized bible on MP3) it brought tears to my eyes and gave me chills. I am like peter sometimes, I am like Jesus accusers sometimes ....am I like Jesus sometimes? - not in this story.

Mark 13

Signs of the end of days- Any day it could be the end of all this, do you ever think of that? I don't normally think about it at all but as I read this it does make me wonder. The world seems to be falling apart, and I wonder, when I think of how long ago Jesus said these words, is it really going to happen? "At that time men will see the son of man coming in the clouds.. this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened....therefore keep watch... I say to everyone: 'watch!'" It has been so long since he said those words, what is God waiting for? .... I guess the part that makes me wonder and seems strange is when he says "this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened." Didn't they all die, we are all still here? What did he mean? .. I guess it's even silly to ask is the end going to come. Of course it is. Jesus said it is. I guess the real question is, am I ready and doing as he commanded in his final imperative of the chapter? "Watch!".

Mark 11

V. 11 "he looked around at everything but since it was late he went." It seems like a strange thing to mention. He doesn't give a speech he just observes. The "but" in there makes me think he wanted to do more that just observe, but time was not available to him.
V. 12-19 Jesus goes the next day when he has the time, and he seems ticked. He "gives it" to the fig tree on the way to the temple and then he "gives it" to the buyers and the sellers and the chief priests and teachers of the law.
V. 22-25 doubt is a crippling enemy and belief in God is powerful to change things.
V. 27-33 Jesus doesn't try to defend himself, he knows it would be wasted words, instead I think by the question he asks the teachers, he is trying to show them the error in their thinking.

What does this chapter say to me? - Don't let doubt in. and ...The image of God being human, again, seems to stand out to me from verse 11 where Jesus is constrained by time. God the age less, endless, creator of time is trapped by it, as he lives as a man among us. Truly amazing that he did this for us.

Happy New year everyone!

Mark 10

V.15 What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a little child?
V.23-31 Why is it hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven? I see Jesus is asking this man to sell everything. Do the rich really have to sell everything to enter heaven? Or maybe it's harder to simply trust in God when you have other things, like money, to give you security. And maybe that's why he tells him to sell everything because it is hindering him. Verse 27 seems to say it would be difficult for the poor too because it is impossible for people without God either way, which we know well because we are saved by grace alone. Then 29-30 goes on to say it is those that will sacrifice the comfort of family for the sake of the gospel that will receive eternal life. It is a little confusing but what I think Jesus is getting at is that people should not let anything hinder them from coming to the kingdom, not family or wealth or anything else, just come to God like a child and God makes salvation possible.
V.33-34 those words I imagine would have been difficult for Jesus to say, knowing it was about himself.
V. 43-45 This is a key verse in this book. In my opinion this is the heart of what Jesus has been saying and trying to do to this point.

One thing I have begun to notice is that Jesus was intentional about his teaching and healed only when called upon to do so. The stories earlier on where mostly healings, people came to him to be healed but didn't recognize the wealth beyond that that Jesus had to offer. Now in Chapter 10 it seems they are beginning to realize. 10:1 says it was his custom to teach them (it did not say heal their sick). The chapter with a healing because the blind man comes and asks for it. The Blind man calls Jesus "Rabbi" which means teacher. Jesus constantly heals because he has compassion on the people. I love Jesus.

Mark 9

V.4 Have you ever seen a dead person? Or a ghost? The disciples see Jesus converse with this 2 dead guys. It just seems so weird.
V. 15 Jesus is treated like a superstar, but he ignores it and goes straight to the issue at hand in verse 16.
V 19 Jesus is tired of their unbelief, they love his miracles so much but they lack faith and he is frustrated it seems, but he always has compassion.
V. 23 "Everything is possible for him who believes" Jesus says. I hear these words in my life too, and I echo with the boys father in verse 24 "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." Jesus I need your help for so many things.
V. 30,31 Jesus takes his disciples on a retreat. Cool.
V. 35-37 Jesus teaches them again about what he has come to do, he teaches about serving one another. Pride and selfishness have defiantly been the disease of my life, I keep trying to get rid of it but it comes back or I find more of it in my life. Jesus has said a few times in Mark about the way to greatness, it's through being a servant to all, to become like a child. Jesus' kingdom is an upside down kingdom, the way up is down. I think this all means that we need, I need to be less selfish, more serving, more grateful, more generous, relinquish more of what I think is "rightfully" mine. Like I said riding myself of it will be a life long endeavor but I think I'm on the journey anyway.

Mark 8

V. 15, as I read this I wonder what does it mean, "be careful for the yeast of the pharisees." I know yeast is something that even if there is a little it can affect the who batch and once you add it to the dough, under the right conditions, it works all on it's own fermenting all the dough. The Pharisees have just asked for a sign and Jesus seems ticked with them. Maybe Jesus is warning them not to let the Pharisees influence and thinking work into their lives, not even a little. It seems the Pharisees were doubting Jesus' authority.

For the first time in reading the gospels I feel like I am seeing Jesus' healing ministry as a side show. Am I seeing something wrongly? Set me straight if I am. Jesus is healing people because he is so compassionate and can't stop from helping them when they have faith, it's just in him to love and give but it's not what he really came to do. I feel like I am seeing this because he constantly tells people to keep the healing a secret and then he asks his disciples in verse 27-30 "Who do you say I am?" as if he is really wondering if his true intent is coming through to them, but then he tells them to keep that a secret too.... I don't know ...

V. 34-38 gives us another picture of Jesus' intentions on earth, to be an example of a true servant of all.

While examining 34-38 of the chapter I ask myself these 3 questions
1. How do I see this working in my family right now? - Wow I don't see the servant that I should be, I do see boldness though.
2. What new possibilities are here? - A happier home, serving home, with more thankfulness.
3. What would happen if we took these words seriously? - Less hesitation in sharing our faith anywhere and everywhere, more people would know Jesus. We would focus less on gaining in this world and focus on serving and gaining in eternity.

Mark 7

V. 8 I wonder if Jesus might have this to say about some things we do?
V.24, 36, 37 Again Jesus is trying to be secretive. It is almost as if he is willingly doing the miracles because of his compassion but yet doesn't want to do them for some other reason. Just a thought here, maybe the people were all seeking him for the wrong reason, selfish motives, wanting to be amazed, wanting healing, not truth and understanding and maybe Jesus feels he is getting too much glory and he wants His father to get the glory instead.

1.What does the text say? - Jesus is healing people, Jesus opposes the pharisees who are following traditions that are nullifying the word of God.
2.What does it mean? - Jesus is more powerful than physical ailments, God cares about our physical well being, Jesus was a compassionate man, traditions need to be evaluated by scripture to see if it nullifies the word of God.
3. How will I respond? - Be more compassionate like Jesus and remember to ask for healing on mine and other ailments, evaluate my traditions(as best I can) in light of scripture.

Mark 6

For those of you that might be just joining me, I'll let you know, I am reading and journaling through Mark over the holidays and I'm hoping you'll join me in doing the same. I really appreciate the accountability.
I will be taking a 2 day blog break on the 25th and 26th, so you have time to catch up if you're behind.

My random thoughts on Mark 6
V.1-6 Faith is a big deal. These people in Jesus home town did not see him like others did and they lacked faith. To them Jesus was just too familiar, he'd just always been around, part of their life. And it seems that because of his familiarity to them he was nothing too special, and so they didn't have faith in him. As I am writing this I am noticing something similar between the people in Jesus home town and my experience from a Christan upbringing and this predominately Christian town. When one has grown up in a Christian home the freshness and excitement of Jesus is often missing, he's just always been there. I hear it all the time from young people when talking about their testimonies, "My testimony is boring, I grew-up in a Christian home, I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 3, I never did anything really bad.blah blah blah..." The realization of Jesus' power is missing, the realization and expectation of a miracle is missing. There is nothing wrong with knowing Jesus from child up but I guess the question is - How do we keep being captivated anew with radical faith in a "Jesus bubble", where Jesus is familiar and has always been there? How do you create an expectant faith filled atmosphere as we raise our kids? (I'll have to explore this father in a future blog post)
V. 34 Jesus has compassion on them. I love these words about Jesus.
V. 46 Jesus need to get with his father again and so he makes the time for it.
V. 48 Funny that Jesus was about to pass by them, wasn't he heading to them? Maybe he was playing a joke on them?
V. 56 "All who touched him were healed." Amazing, Jesus these stories are amazing, I want to see action like this in our time too. There are so many sick and hurting people in our day too, if we have faith can these events take place in our time? Are they happening? Where? How? Lord help me to have faith. Increase the healing in our day.

Mark 5

V. 17 Jesus was just too much for them to Handle, they were afraid of what they didn't understand about the situation, so they send him away. I wonder if sometimes we do the same, Jesus is doing something amazing but it is way to different or scary for us so we have a choice to distance ourselves from him or follow him one step at a time in faith.
V. 19-20 "Go home to your family and tell them." Jesus gives the man his mission, to reach him family and home town, as opposed to going to far and distant places. I think this is an encouragement for people who don't feel God's call to distant places, but to stay near their family and neighborhood to be the missionary right where they are.
V. 43 I wonder why Jesus didn't want anyone to know what happened? and I always find I interesting that despite his wishes the story ended up being written in the most popular book of all time(also God's own word), still being read 2000+ years after it happened. Obviously he didn't really want it to be secret forever.

I like the story from 21-43. One of the reasons I like it is because it shows a day in the life of Jesus more than other stories seem to. Jesus is on the way to one miracle and another one "happens" on the way. I thought "happens" was a strange word to use for a miracle but it was the best word I could think of because from everyone but the woman and God's eyes it just suddenly happens. This day in the life of Jesus is filled with 2 kinds of people, those with faith and those without faith. Each persons experience with Jesus hinged on if they had faith or not. Because of faith Jairus got his daughter back, the woman stopped bleeding and was freed from her suffering, Peter, James and John got to witness an amazing miracle. because of their lack of faith the others had fear and sorrow, others ignored them, Jesus ignored them and left them out of the amazing things he was about to do, they did not witness a miracle or experience one themselves.
After reading this story I feel challenged to have faith, reminded to just believe Jesus will do what he says he can do and will be who he says he will be.

Mark 4

V. 2,34 he taught them(all the people) many things by parable and he only tells his disciples the meanings of the parables. The rest of the people had to figure it out. I don't really understand why he does this, it doesn't seem fair.
V. 40 It seems that Jesus expected brave and bold things from the disciples. Maybe with the fact that they had the inside scoop on the parables Jesus also expected more of them on account of it. Actually I think that is what V.24 and 25 says.
V. 41 I love this questions, I can feel the awe in it. " Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" I read this stories of Jesus and I get so excited. Let's be honest we don't always "feel" it, I mean "feeling" like Jesus really did this, sometimes it's just a story, but the closer I get to know him the more I really believe and "feel" it. It's a powerful thing to know it's reality. Jesus instantly calmed the storm. Anything seems possible.... I am in awe of You Jesus.

2 questions I ask myself
1. What do I see in this chapter that is already at work in my life? - I see good soil in my life (V.20) where truth is producing good fruit. I see being a disciple of Jesus is enlightening(V.34), I just wish sometimes he was here in person.
2. What new possibilities are found here? - Blessings of more understanding will be found as I use the knowledge/understanding I already have(V.24). Great and wondrous things will happen when I have faith and am not afraid (V.40), like the calming of the storm.

Mark 3

Jesus is not so interested in keeping a list of rules, he has his Fathers business in mind, which in this first story(v.1-6) includes Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath, which was considered work by the rule keepers. Jesus is concerned about reconciling the world to right not keeping rules, even to the point of taking great risks(the pharisees are now plotting to kill him because he does this) As I read this I wonder am I willing to take great risks to do the work of reconciliation? Risk like Jesus did?.... Lord make me willing to do your will no matter what it might do to my "image".

What questions do I have after reading this chapter?
V. 12 Why did Jesus not want the evil spirits to say who he was?
V. 14 Did Jesus only give power to preach and authority of demons to the apostles? Or was that also given to other believers?
V. 29 What does eternal sin mean?
V. 34, 35 Does biological family really mean nothing to Jesus?

* For those in the Young Moms Bible Study that are following along here, I just want to make a note about the lists of questions we gave you, feel free to deviate from those questions, as you can see I don't follow them. I actually have found it difficult to follow them. The point is to find what works for you and do it and learn from scripture.

Mark 2

The first story(v1-12) is Jesus healing the man who was lowered through the roof. The part that has caught my attention is the miracle of forgiven sins. We often see the physical healing as, "wow-Amazing" but take the forgiveness miracle for granted, at least I do. I know forgiveness. I've experienced that a lot but physical healing not so much, only a few times in my life have I specifically identified my healing as a miracle. We, or I should say I, need to be more wowed over forgiveness because they are equal miracles.

Jesus a friend of sinners, Jesus not for the ones who think they're religious(v.13-17).
1. What does this say to our world? - Jesus is for them.
2. What does this say to our country? - Jesus is for them.
3. What does this say to our community? - Jesus is for them.
4. What does this say to our congregation? - Jesus is for us and we need to move out from our 4 walls and 101 self-serving programs to be Jesus to our world, country and community.
5. What does this say to our family? - Jesus is for them
6. What does this say to me? - Jesus is for me and I need to remember to extend grace and that Jesus is good news for sinners and I need to be their friends too.

Mark 1

Journaling Mark 1
As I read the chapter my mind didn't settle on just one story or passage but several points that stand out.
I notice it is interesting that Jesus is tempted(v.12) and yet in James 1 says God can not be tempted. Not a discrepancy, I don't think, it just shows me Jesus was able to be tempted because he was fully human, which I feel brings Jesus closer to really knowing and understanding what I go through. Oh Jesus you know what I go though, your strength will be my strength.
Verse 35 seems to highlight, Jesus gets up early to pray in solitude. He's getting his fathers priorities for the day..... Jesus I want to be like you... I don't know how often Jesus does that, it doesn't say, we always assume it was daily maybe it was weekly maybe monthly does it really matter? I know my day goes in a wonderful way when I can get up in the house while it's still calm and quiet and have some solitude with my heavenly father, to get his priorities. Jesus thanks for teaching us how it's done.

1 What is the question to which the text responds?
- Was Jesus really tempted like us? Does Jesus need to get direction from God? What does Jesus do to get directions from God?
2 What do these passages say to you about relating to others?
- I will know the fathers priorities in relating to others when I spend time with him in a quiet place like Jesus did.