Tuesday, week five: Another exorcist? (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus isn’t the only one with power. Apparently, there is another exorcist enjoying modest success. That has the disciples a little on edge. John tells Jesus that they even tried to stop him.

Jesus responds with a news flash: Casting out unclean spirits is not a competition. All healers are on the same team.

Then Jesus begins to talk about little ones and children. The child he held in his arms in Capernaum is still in the room, and Jesus begins to talk about the disciples’ influence upon her.

Children, he says, will look up to them. Children will look to them as examples of faith, healing, and action. Children will look to them for good news. Whatever they say and do will be the model others follow.

So, if you say healing is a competition, it will be. If you say it is a team effort, it will be.

Jesus implores them to analyze what they are doing, keep the things that are effective, and eliminate the rest, for everyone’s sake. They are beginning a ministry together, and whatever they say and do will set the standard for everything that follows.

It’s better to do the difficult, painful work now, than for the whole endeavor and everyone involved with it, to end up on the garbage heap with the worms and the burning trash.

Everything Jesus has worked for is at stake. This new empire, the proclamation of the good news of the nearness of the Kingdom of God, and the miraculous healing that takes place in it, rest with these twelve getting it right. Everything and everyone will be tested with challenges and trials. If the foundation is not solid, nothing and no one will stand. There won’t be any second chances.

Text for the day:

Mark 9:38-50

Things to think about:

Young people and people new to faith are watching you as an example of faithful living.

Things to do:

Identify your bad habits and confess your sins. Pray Psalm 51.

Jesus, give me integrity.

Thursday, week five: Spit with the power to heal (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus heals everyone who begs. He heals people who beg for their own healing. When people beg for the healing of others, he heals them, too.

Word has definitely gotten around about him, so it’s no surprise that the people in Bethsaida beg him to heal a blind man. He can, after all, do anything.

Jesus leads the blind man by the hand out of the village to a private place.  For some reason, Jesus doesn’t want anyone else to see or hear what’s about to happen.

Perhaps Jesus is protecting the man’s dignity. After all, this is not a side show.

When they are alone, Jesus spits on the man’s eyes and lays his hands on him. “Can you see anything?” he asks.

The blind man looks up. It’s as if some sort of fog hovers in front of him. He can tell there are people in the distance and he can tell they are moving about, but nothing is clear.

Jesus lays his hands on the man once again. The man concentrates and tries to focus. Suddenly everything becomes clear. People look like people.

Jesus tells him to go home. “Don’t even go into the village.”

What a strange thing to say after an even stranger sort of healing. Won’t the whole village know about what has taken place anyway? And what about the people who begged Jesus to heal the man in the first place? Don’t they deserve to celebrate?

Text for the day:

Mark 8:22-26

Things to think about:

We may be able to see, but that doesn’t mean we are able to see clearly.

Perhaps the healing Jesus gives takes forms we cannot see.

Maybe Jesus is more interested in the healing that takes place than in what people think or say about it.

Things to do:

Beg for the healing you, your friends, your family, and the world need.

Jesus, spit in my eyes and help me see.

Sunday, week four: Openness (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Jesus sticks his fingers in the man’s ears, spits in his hand, and touches it to the man’s tongue. Then gazes towards heaven, sighs, looks at the man and says, “Ephphatha.” He speaks directly to his body parts, as if they are alive and can take orders.

He has done this before, this speaking to things that don’t seem to be alive. Storms, fevers, invisible spirits and demons, and now ears and a tongue.

“Be still.”

“Come out.”

“Be opened.”

They all obey. They all comply. There is no contest. Jesus has complete authority.

Jesus performs this latest miracle in private, but when the deaf man appears able to hear and speak plainly, everyone knows what has transpired. Jesus orders these “witnesses” to keep quiet, but they cannot contain themselves. They, like the ears and tongue, are quite open.

From the very beginning of Mark’s story, Jesus has been proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” He has also reiterated that proclamation of this message is his ministry.

Apparently the “repentance” of tied tongues, closed ears, and raging storms is easily accomplished. Jesus speaks to them, and immediately they make 180-degree turns. But people are another matter. Jesus commands people again and again, but they ignore him completely and keep doing what they’ve always done. They act from their emotions and reactions, completely disregarding him.

In fact, people seem to be the only things in Mark’s story that disobey Jesus.

Text for the day:

Mark 7:31-37

Things to think about:

There are debilitating conditions in people and circumstances in the world that Jesus sees as distinct and animated entities that can be spoken to and commanded.

Things to do:

Practice seeing people as whole, complete, and perfect. Refuse to interact with their illnesses, complaints, or failures. Tell those things (and the ones related to them) to be quiet.

Jesus, command me.

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.

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.

Monday, week two: Rules, rituals, and righteousness (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

What was true then is true now: Jesus’ ministry affronts those in ministry. Jesus’ practice of religion challenges those who practice it.

To people around him, Jesus seems to be bending and breaking rules. He seems flippant and just plain wrong. He even seems antagonistic.

People are misreading him. His aim is not to insult people, but to free them.

Religion dictates it’s time to fast, but can you fast when you are elated? Or celebrate when you are sad? Can you schedule a time to cry?

Sometimes the seasons of life are too powerful for our plans, and there is nothing to be done except to be swept up in them. Trying to maintain a schedule or force an outcome, even a religious one, is just unnatural. There is a time to work, a time to play, a time to rest, a time to worship. Sometimes human need interrupts all of that. If someone is hungry, cold, or suffering, isn’t their need greater than your plan?

The schedule will resume once the tide has turned.

People matter more than rules. The needs of a person in front of you trump everything else. That’s why he heals the man with a withered hand. Jesus elevates his neighbor above his own worship; he honors the people around him more than his own fasting. He compels us to honor the people around us, even at the expense of our rules, rituals, and religion.

Is Jesus saying that rules, ritual, and religion have no value? Of course not.

He is actually demonstrating the power of them. Perhaps Jesus is able to set aside the laws and rituals of his religion only because he has practiced them deeply. Perhaps those things have made him right enough with God to care more for one in need than for his own worship.

Text for the day:

Mark 2:18-3:6

Things to think about:

When might “religion” get in the way of loving God and others?

Things to do:

Set aside your plans to meet someone’s need today.

Where I am withered, O God, restore me.

Wednesday, week two: The healings begin (Devotions for Lent from the Gospel of Mark)

Simon’s mother-in-law has a fever and things aren’t looking good.

In our time, a fever is generally no big deal. We take two fever reducers, bundle up, hunker down, and wait it out. If that doesn’t work, we consult someone capable of making an accurate diagnosis and begin treatment.

But in Jesus’ time, a fever was a big deal. A fever could knock you out, and because Jesus lived in the time before the discovery of germs and the invention of vaccinations, advanced medications, and surgical procedures, a fever was often the first sign of the beginning of the end.

Upon entering the house, they tell Jesus about her at once. Most likely they are not worried about their dinner. They are worried because her life is in danger.

What happens next happens quickly. No consultations, tests, lab results, or waiting for medications to take effect. Jesus takes her by the hand and lifts her up. The fever leaves and Sabbath life resumes.

Jesus had demonstrated a new teaching with power and authority just moments before in synagogue, the world of Jewish men. He does so again here, right across the street from the synagogue, in the world of Jewish women. He is Lord of the Sabbath, synagogue, holy scriptures, and those who study them. And he is Lord of the home, Sabbath meal, and those who prepare it.

Unlike Caesar, who calls himself “The Son of God,” Jesus exhibits power and authority in the places that matter most to people, in the heart of their worship and in the places they live and rest. Unlike Caesar, he exhibits a kind of power that demands nothing from anyone; not taxes, not military service, not even allegiance. He demonstrates that he is an emperor worth following.

Text for the day:

Mark 1:29-31

Things to think about:

In Capernaum of Galilee today, you can visit the ruins of the first century synagogue and the house of Simon’s mother-in-law, which are directly across the street from one another. It is possible to stand in the places where Jesus’ power and authority were first displayed, and noticed that he didn’t travel far to change worlds.

Things to do:

Take a self-inventory. Are there any places in your life where you are unwilling to have Jesus demonstrate power and authority?

Jesus, demonstrate power in my heart and home.

you are healed of your ailment

Much suffering is healed when people realize they are seen. 

Jesus sees a woman bent over; he says to her, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." Then he lays his hands on her, she stands up straight, and immediately begins praising God.

This story has me thinking about healing in general. Somehow, when we are hurting, the experience of being alone, going unnoticed, and remaining unseen, makes matters worse. However, when we feel important, like we matter, things shift. Even if our situation or our circumstances remain awful, somehow we find hope and new strength when we realize we are known; when we are seen. 

The story of the women "bent over and quite unable to stand" occupies my attention for another reason. When Jesus says, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment," that word "ailment" can mean many things. In the New Testament in the original Greek, that word is used in various places to describe illness, weakness, helplessness, lack of energy, sickliness, affliction, distress, oppression, calamity, inefficiency, dubiousness, and hesitancy.

Thank God.

Because this word has so many uses, we can hear Jesus saying to the woman quite unable to stand, "Woman, you are set free from whatever it is you are carrying that is too heavy for you."

Thank God, because Jesus does the same for you and me.

Jesus sees you. He sees what you are carrying and your bent-over-quite-unable-to-stand-ness. He pronounces, "You too, are set free from your ailment." 

Jesus sees you. 

You matter.  Want more? Click here to read Luke 13:10-17, the story of the woman quite unable to stand.