Sunday, week five: In his absence (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus, Peter, James, and John reunite with the rest of the disciples at the bottom of the mountain. There is a great commotion, for the disciples have been attempting to heal a convulsing boy, without much success.

There is great doubt that anything at all can be done for the boy, even by Jesus. “You faithless generation,” Jesus responds. “How much longer must I put up with you?”

It seems that people have short memories, constant demands, or little faith. Or maybe all three. The minute Jesus is gone and a challenge presents itself, people begin to think, “He healed those people then, but what has he done lately? Can he do anything about this?”

Frustrated, Jesus rants and them and then says, “Bring me the boy.” He asks the father to tell him all about this illness. The father complies. Then he says, “If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

If you are able.

Now there’s a terrible phrase in the life of a believer. Jesus has never had a problem with ability. The only time he has been impotent was when he was in his home town. When people thought they knew all about him and perceived him to be small, he could do next to nothing.

Everywhere else, people have believed. They have demanded that he be big and bold. People have been throwing themselves headlong into his mystery and into his expanding compassion and no one has come away disappointed, except those who want to control him. (They are necessarily disappointed, because there’s no way to control him.)

He steps away for a moment, to go up the mountain and pray, and just like that, doubt is the order of the day.

How does Jesus respond? By saying, “All things can be done for the one who believes.” He responds by healing the boy.

Text for the day:

Mark 9:14-29

Things to think about:

Jesus has infinite power over the things that cast us into water and fire and threaten to destroy us. He calls us to believe in him and his power, especially when it seems like he is absent.

Things to do:

Pray for faith to be present in the believing community.

Jesus, help my own unbelief.

Saturday, week four: The traditions of the elders and faith of a stranger (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

The religious leaders in Jesus’ time are no different than other people in power. They want to hold onto their position and authority. Jesus is a threat. After all, massive crowds are following him, looking to him for teaching and authority, instead of them.

They’ve taken to watching Jesus and his disciples closely. Every move, every choice, every word holds the potential for discrediting him and simultaneously turning the crowd. So they confront Jesus about defilement and cleanliness. Jesus puts them in their place.

Contrast these religious leaders with the woman from Syrophoenicia. She has no pretense about power, authority, or even the right to be in Jesus’ presence. She doesn’t care about religious convention. She doesn’t care about anything except the healing of her child and she knows Jesus can deliver. She’s desperate enough to beg.

This woman is smart enough to know she doesn’t stand a chance of Jesus helping her when anyone Jewish is around. He has been healing Jews left and right since his ministry began. But Gentiles? Even if the demoniac in Garasa was a Gentile, that makes the count of Gentiles healed just one. What makes her think he’ll help?

To be fair, Jesus is in the region of Tyre. Technically, it is in the land of Israel, but the people there never really behaved themselves. They never submitted to Jewish practices. The land was not only considered Gentile, but downright hostile.

In other words, Jesus, having just berated the Jewish religious leaders for misunderstanding religious cleanliness, heads off to a defiled place. No Jew in their right mind would follow him there. Perhaps Jesus goes there to get a break from it all, or just to check it out. Who knows? But there he is.

This is the Syrophoenician woman’s chance. She waits for an opportune moment, then she goes right to the source of healing, enduring every lash of his tongue for disrupting his rest. She begs to find out if his gifts might be for the Gentiles, too.

Text for the day:

Mark 7:1-30

Things to think about:

What is the limit of Jesus’ desire to heal?

Things to do:

Ask someone in your life about their impression of Jesus. You might find a more interesting answer if you ask someone who is not Christian.

God, challenge my boundaries.

Monday, week three: Rejection at home (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus has amazing power everywhere amongst all kinds of people. In the synagogue, home, countryside; with fishermen, tax collectors, outcasts, religious leaders; amongst the bleeding, paralyzed, possessed, and dying; so far there’s been no one Jesus can’t heal or help. Even when Jesus stepped momentarily into Gentile country, he drove a legion of demons into the sea.

Then he goes home to Nazareth.

At first, people are as amazed as everyone else has been. They can’t believe the wisdom in his teaching and the reports of his miraculous works. Then something familiar kicks in.

The people begin to remember “little Jesus,” the one who grew up in their midst. It dawns on them that they know his whole family. They have a million anecdotal stories about his life in Nazareth. They remember him at work in his woodshop and think, “We know everything about this guy. He can’t be the one everyone’s talking about.”

Then they get offended, as if Jesus is trying to put something over on them. Even though they heard him for themselves, they have no faith in his power or compassion.

In the absence of their faith, Jesus can’t do a thing.

He lays his hands on a few who are sick and they are restored. With everyone else, he has no authority at all.

Jesus is amazed at their unbelief. Perhaps he is also amazed at the power of unbelief to stop good things from happening.

Text for the day:

Mark 6:1-6a

Things to think about:

Faith has the power to heal. Unbelief has the power to prevent good things from happening.

Things to do:

Question your own belief. Do you think Jesus can heal you or not?

I believe, Jesus. Help my unbelief.

Sunday, week three: Two daughters (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Back in Galilee, the crowd gathers once again. Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, finds him. He has a sick daughter.

We have seen people flocking to Jesus, bringing their sick and suffering friends, and we have seen Jesus heal them. People with leprosy and unclean spirits have both approached Jesus and recoiled from him, but have been restored either way.

Now Jairus does something new. Rather than bring his daughter to Jesus, he begs Jesus to come to his home and heal his daughter there. Jesus agrees.

On the way, we see something else new. A desperate woman, convinced of Jesus’ healing power, sneaks up on him and touches his clothes. Twelve years of bleeding instantly cease. Imagine her, standing still in awe, as the crowd, pressing in on Jesus, continues to move him forward toward Jairus’ house. He stops suddenly. His healing power has been stolen and he knows it.

“Who touched me?” he says.

It could have been anyone. Everyone is pressing in. The healed woman is off the hook, but she steps forward in admission, throwing herself at his feet. Jesus calls her “Daughter” and says her faith has made her well.

This is a single story of two daughters, one the beloved child of a religious leader, the other outcast, unclean, and without an advocate. Both are near death in their own ways, the child dying of illness, the woman dead to life in community.

In stealing Jesus’ power and causing a delay in the streets, it seems the woman has prevented Jesus from healing Jairus’ daughter. Some people from Jairus’ house arrive to confirm it. The child is dead.

As Jairus is about to leave, Jesus encourages him. The woman’s faith has healed her, his faith can heal his daughter. “Do not fear, only believe.”

Text for the day:

Mark 5:21-43

Things to think about:

We need healing in body, mind, spirit, or relationships. What healing do you need today?

Things to do:

Lend your faith to someone whose faith is lacking: Pray on his or her behalf.

Jesus, give me Jairus’ faith and the woman’s desperation.

Friday, week three: Storms and faith (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Don’t you care that we are dying?

The disciples’ question isn’t so different from ours. When we face our most challenging and frightening moments, we too wonder where Jesus is and how he can allow such things to happen.

Don’t you care that we are suffering? How can you sleep at a time like this?

To add serious insult to the disciples’ injury, Jesus is present, sleeping through their trauma. Don’t we also wonder if Jesus notices or cares about us?

Jesus stills the storm, but there is more to this story than Jesus’ authority over nature. There are two less obvious places to find relief and hope.

First, Jesus is in the boat. That’s cause for reassurance. Whatever danger the disciples face on the sea, Jesus is in it with them. They may be freaked out and terrified, but Jesus is with them. They are not alone. He has made exceptional claims, exhibited extraordinary power, and is with them in the storm.

Second, Jesus is asleep. That’s cause for celebration. The disciples might be terrified, but Jesus isn’t fazed. He’s so calm that he has no problem falling asleep. Jesus isn’t scared at all. If he isn’t scared, why should they be?

Storms come. Storms go. Faith calls the disciples to see what isn’t so obvious. Faith calls them to remember Jesus is with them. Faith calls them to trust in the calm presence of Jesus when they are freaked out and terrified.

Jesus isn’t nearly as interested in the storm as he is in the faith of his disciples. He calms the storm so they can focus on his question, Where is your faith?

Text for the day:

Mark 4:35-41

Things to think about:

This is the disciples’ experience. It says something about the lives and the possibilities of those who are trying to draw near to Jesus in faith.

Things to do:

Wake Jesus up. Ask him for what you most need.

Jesus, help me to see reassurance and joy in my troubles.

Saturday, week two: The faith of friends (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus returns to Capernaum after proclaiming the message in synagogues and casting out unclean spirits throughout the Galilee region. He draws a crowd wherever he goes, and his own hometown is no exception. Once word gets out he’s there, it’s standing room only at Jesus’ house. The crowd is so large that the entrance is blocked. No one is getting in or out.

Some friends of a paralyzed man approach the house, four of them carrying him on a mat. Seeing no way to get near Jesus, these friends climb onto the house, dig a hole through the clay and thatched roof, and lower their friend down to Jesus.

Jesus looks up at the man’s friends. Seeing their faith, he says to the man on the mat, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What a miraculous moment. Jesus doesn’t forgive the man’s sins because of his faith; he forgives them because of the faith of his friends. It’s a miraculous moment for everyone who believes, because this moment tells us that our faith matters. This moment tells us that when we pray and act faithfully on behalf of others, Jesus is moved to make a difference for them. That is a miracle indeed.

The religious leaders in Jesus’ day miss this entirely. They argue about authority and blasphemy. They get bent out of shape because Jesus is talking like God.

Of course, Jesus sees right through them. If it’s rhetoric they want, it’s rhetoric they’ll get. Jesus can play that game, too. He responds by calling himself “the Son of Man,” a title the prophet Daniel used to speak about the One given eternal dominion by God. Then, to demonstrate the extent of his power, he tells the paralyzed man to get up and walk. The man gets up and makes his way out of the house. That shuts everyone up.

In total amazement, they begin to praise God.

Text for the day:

Mark 2:1-12

Things to think about:

Daniel has a vision of the Son of Man interacting with the Ancient of Days. Read about it in Daniel 7.  In chapter 1, Mark calls Jesus “Son of God.” In chapter 2, Jesus calls himself “Son of Man.” What does this mean?

Things to do:

Pray for your friends. Pray for your enemies. Keep faith.

Jesus, be king and God in our world.