Mark 3:13-19

Mark 3:13-19 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve — designating them apostles — that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

How many of us want to be called up on the mountainside? How many of us want to be chosen as Jesus' special messengers? How many of us want power over the demons, infirmities, and diseases? Probably all of us would raise our hands. All of us would look eagerly to Jesus and let him know by our facial expressions, choose me. But then how many of us would choose to be mocked, ridiculed, and disowned by our own people? How many of us would like to be would like to be persecuted, chased from city to city, jailed? How many of us would like to be stoned? How many of us would like to die an untimely death? I don't know how many hands would go up then? I don't know how many faces would be turned towards Jesus, eager to be chosen. No, I suspect most of us would keep our heads down, muttering something under our breaths such as "I hope He doesn't look this way. He is asking too much." I think sometimes when we do say yes to Jesus' call we are somewhat like Peter. Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!" (John 13:38) Many times hardships and difficulties are part the call of Jesus. "I am preparing you to be my servant. I am preparing you to hear my voice at ALL TIMES." I believe that God uses the darkest times in our lives as we yield to him, and his call can be heard even during during the sorrow of facing an untimely death. He says to the one who is facing death, "I am calling you for myself," or He comforts the sick person and his loved ones with these words, "I am calling you for the sake of those around you who do not know me." A general call that goes out to all who desire him is, "Walk with me and I will make you my soldier, my instrument to defeat the devil at every hand." Do we want such calls, and are we willing to agree to his plans for our lives?

Yes, the mountainside experience is a beautiful one. There, you have been chosen to be special. You have been chosen to be God's unique instrument in his mission to save humanity. But you must realize you will have to come down from the mountain. You will have to travel from city to city, and you will feel like an alien much of the time. People of the world won't readily accept you, for you are not one of them. Your lifestyle, your ideas are foreign to them. They see you as an outsider. They know you are not building for this kingdom, but for another kingdom. The Bible says, "your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:3-4) As sure as they don't understand the message of Christ, they won't understand you. However, Jesus said, "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." (John 12:26) Don't be afraid of the call. The Holy Spirit has come to comfort you when you go through difficulties. He has come to strengthen you on your journey. When you are tired and weak, He is there. And most of all He is with you to remind you that you are a beloved family member of the Most High, and that you represent him. Therefore, your demeanor should be his; your love should display his love. Definitely the Holy Spirit has been sent for you. Now today, many of you are facing great trials, maybe even those that seem to be unto death, but I want to remind you THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE. No one else might understand your situation but Jesus does. When Jesus called the twelve, He knew what lay ahead of them. But He called them anyway out of HIS GREAT LOVE for them. HE KNEW THE BLESSINGS OF GOD WERE FAR GREATER THAN THE TRIALS OF THIS LIFE.

Mark 3:7-12

Mark 3:7-12 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. He had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

The crowd pushed forward to see and to be touched by Jesus. They wanted to get close to him, for He was seemingly a man with supernatural powers. However, the demons, entities from the dark domain, did not want anything to do with Jesus, for they knew him to be the righteous Son of God. They saw him as who He was. The crowd basically saw Jesus as a healer, a worker of miracles, and Jesus wanted it that way. Jesus drew crowds by rescuing many of them from the the throes of disease and illness, but his ministry was confusing to the people because He taught them through parables. He wasn't yet ready to reveal himself as the SON OF GOD; therefore, He gave strict orders for the demons not to proclaim his divine birthright. If he had desired to, He could have ordered all the demons of the world to gather and announce to the people in some great manifestation who He really was, but he didn't. He did not come down just to implant in the people's minds who He was; He came down to fulfill a mission. He came to fulfill the divine mission of giving absolute grace and mercy to a wayward and sinful humanity. He came to die, He came to be resurrected, He came to ascend into heaven. He came to reveal God's love, and to break the chains of sin and death that held mankind in bondage to sin and darkness and to bring eternal life. He came to reveal that light and life would reside forever in all who would put their faith in him and HIS WORKS.

It is interesting to note that Jesus ordered the demons to do his will, for He could order them to be quiet. However, He dealt with men in a different way. He came to convince them to choose to do God's will. Men were made in the image of God. They have the ability to disobey God, to go their own way, to be subject to no one but themselves. Therefore, God presented Jesus his Son to them as the Way to the Father. He sent his Son to convince the world that they should love God. They should willingly sell themselves out to the God of mercy, love, and grace. They should want to be his servants and do HIS WILL ON EARTH. They should accept the privilege to be lights and to bring life (His Life) into every situation. Jesus was pressed by the crowd, not for who He was, but for what He could give them. They followed Jesus until his arrest, but when the people realized that He could not rescue them from their plight anymore, they abandoned him. In reality they knew him only as a man and not as the SON OF GOD. They knew him as a man who could perform healings and miracles. Now in the powerful arms of the Romans, He was nothing to them. Yes, Jesus told the demons not to tell who He was because He had a glorious mission to accomplish. He fulfilled that mission: He revealed God to mankind. Through his life and death He expressed God's love to humanity. He revealed God's love to us, and as a result of our faith in him, we can move into the glorious destiny of being the children of God, people known to be in the intimate family of God, joint heirs with Christ Jesus. As his children, we not only know him as the Son of God, we can experience him in our lives every day and display his likeness to a dying world by doing good works and loving the unlovely as He did, forgiving as He did, seeking the lost as He did. Dear Lord, bless your children today, those you redeemed!

Mark 3:1-6

Mark 3:1-6 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-10 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The Pharisees were constantly following Jesus around on the Sabbath to see if He would do any work. For anyone who did work on the Sabbath was deserving of death. God's covenant with Israel demanded that the Sabbath was to be holy and that no work should be done on that day, not even lighting a fire for warmth. It was a day of self denial. Work of any kind on the Sabbath justified a death sentence. In the above Mark passage, we see Jesus openly healing a man who had a shriveled hand. He wanted everyone, especially the Pharisees, to see this miracle. He wanted them to know that the God of grace and mercy does good on the Sabbath; miracles and goodness did not have to be postponed or stopped because of the Sabbath. Jesus wanted them to know that God made the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a good thing, not a bad thing. The Sabbath was a day when people should draw close to God: a day of rest, a day of meditation and prayer, a day of considering God's greatness and power.

Jesus, in his act of healing this man on the Sabbath, was telling the people that the Lord of the Sabbath was now in their presence. This day of holy rest, this day of God's favor, has come down to us in the form of Jesus Christ. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast." No longer do we have to deny ourselves of the activities of this world or the comforts of this world to please God. God, the creator of the Sabbath, has brought us near to him through Jesus Christ and HIS WORKS. We are now experiencing the day of rest; we are now in the era of God's good pleasure because of Jesus Christ. We are now in a position to please God all the time. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. We are now no closer to God on a special day than any other day. For as Christ is alive today, so are we alive, therefore, near to God. We are alive to do good works. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are alive In Christ to display God through our good works. Yes, we should pray for healings and miracles, for those are good works, but we should also seek out the hurting and the lost to bring them "good news." We should do good to our wives, husbands, sons and daughters, grandchildren, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. We should do good to the stranger, the alien, those who despitefully use us. We are to show forth God's goodness and loving kindness always. That should be our resolution for next year: to display God's goodness while it is YET DAY. We should bring God's goodness by a touch, a smile, an "I love you." As Jesus said, the world should know us by our love. Yes, the Pharisees hated Jesus because He was active and performed a miracle of healing on the Sabbath. They could rightly pass a sentence of death on him. But Jesus knew their hearts were hardened and far from God, for they could not even recognize when God was in their presence. They chose death over life. They chose law over grace. They chose hate over love. Let us know that the Sabbath has come. We are rich in the good things of God; we should be experiencing the Sabbath in our hearts every day. Tell your loved ones you love them, touch them, care for them; and give goodness, grace, and mercy to the world around you. God bless you.

Mark 2:23-28

Mark 2:23-28 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." The Sabbath was made for man's benefit, not man for the Sabbath's benefit. The Sabbath was one day of the week when men would cease from their work and play to meditate on the Lord, to remember his great works. This was a day consecrated to God. This was a day when the children of Israel considered the benefits of being God's chosen people, a day set apart for God just as they the children of Israel had been set apart for him. Therefore dishonoring the Sabbath was to dishonor their special position with God, their chosen people heritage. One reason David could break the Sabbath without the wrath of God being expelled on him was that the “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mankind would benefit from the loins of David, for Jesus Christ would come from his lineage. Therefore, he was in the will of God when he broke the Sabbath, for Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath because He is the great benefactor of humanity. Jesus Christ brought God to man. The Lord of the Sabbath came to man. No longer would man just have a special day to honor God and to experience his presence, for they would be privileged to have his presence every day. No longer would they have to quit their activities to remember God, for his Spirit would abide in them every day.

We Christians have literally quit working to please God, for the Lord of the Sabbath, the day of rest, has come down to us to display God's mercy and grace. Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and HIS WORKS are now in a place of righteousness, holiness, for we are literally in him. He is in our hearts, and we are in him. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58) The Law and its fulfillment has been written in our hearts in the form of Jesus Christ. We now serve God by resting in the work of the cross where mercy and grace flowed down to us. The Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord of Rest, the Lord of Honoring God, the Lord of Worshipping, the Lord of Peace has come down to man in the form of Jesus Christ. We no longer please God by merely not working on one day, but we please him by accepting his Son as our Rest, by communing with him on a daily basis, and by allowing the Spirit of God to change us. We have been set free from the rules and regulations of the Law and are no longer tethered to its restrictions. Since we have been set free by the Holy One who is free inside us, He alone makes us totally righteous, He alone makes us appealing to God, He alone makes us Children of the Most High. PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVERMORE!

Mark 2:21-22

Mark 2:21-22 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

Yesterday, we read about God sending the Comforter to us to shed the light and life of his love into our hearts and lives so that we might bring that light and life to a hurting and dying world. This truly is the "good news" of the gospel. This is the true Christmas gift that we have received, the reason behind every gift a Christian gives, hope for today and hope for a future and eternal life with God the Father. Today's verses reveal the obvious: none of this would be possible without the refining fire of the Holy Spirit. God did not come to fix up the old man, to make us a little better, to polish us up and sand off a few rough edges. No, Jesus came to make all things new, and He paid a tremendous price to accomplish just that. Paul explained this very well in his second letter to the Corinthians. In chapter five, he discusses that even though we still live in our earthly tents (bodies) here on Earth, we are not limited to the flesh, for we have been reconciled to God, and as a direct result have been given the ministry of reconciliation. But he emphasizes that this was made possible by Christ's work at the cross. Paul writes so clearly, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Paul knew God does not patch up the old garment, the old sinful nature; that would not be enough to bring us into right standing with God. The old garment would tear when the pressures of life come. The little worn places (sins) that are left behind would not be able to withstand the fiery darts of the enemy. Soon the garment would pull apart and tattered rags would be the result. No, God made us a new creation with a new position of grace, a new song of praise, and a new place in the family as joint heirs with Christ Jesus. We are raised from the dead in newness of life. The dead man did not just get a second chance to prove himself and have another opportunity to fail miserably. That is why Jesus told the disciples that He must go away so that He could send the Holy Spirit to teach them, to guide them, to comfort them, to bring them into all truth. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. He makes God's new creation strong in the power of his might. In Ephesians 6 when Paul describes the full armor of God, the last part of the armor is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. After we put on that armor, we are not old garments or old wineskins, we are mighty soldiers in God's army, equipped and ready to do his bidding. Yet what does He tell us to do? "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." This is what new creatures in Christ do: they pray for one another, love the brethren, give generously, seek the lost, just plain keep showing up where they are needed most. We were lost, we were tattered and torn, we were old garments in need of restoration. God sent the Good Shepherd to find his lost sheep. "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'” (Revelation 21:5) Now we are found, reconciled, a new creation in Christ our Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Love, Mom (Jacqueline) Sitting in for Dad today who is on the radio with our son, Doug.

Mark 2:18-20

Mark 2:18-20 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

Obviously a wedding is not a place to mourn. When the bridegroom is still present, the feast should continue. Jesus came to wed the church (believers) to himself. He came to give life and light to his beloved. We are the beloved. Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Why mourn, why beseech me, why pray for my presence when I am already here?" Why act as if He is in a foreign country. He told the Pharisees explicitly there will be a time when the disciples will fast, for the bridegroom will be gone for a time from their presence. And as we know in Acts 1 there was definitely a time when He was gone from their presence; there was time when they could feel or see him no more. But Jesus had told them earlier, "I must go away so that I might send the Comforter to you. He, the Comforter, will not only be in your presence, He will be in you. He will strike up a conversation with you when you least expect it." As we see happen in Act 2, "These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." The Holy Spirit came to make them and us the light of the world. Jesus told his followers that they would be the salt of the earth, for they would make life good again, bringing spice, "the good news," to a sick and lifeless world.

Jesus, the bridegroom, is the light and life, and He gives his essence to his bride through the beloved presence of the Holy Spirit within us. Each of us can now carry life to a sick and dying world. We can carry life to each other. Our greetings, our hugs, our words of "I love you" should bring light and life to the recipients. We Christians should walk in the light as He is in the light as John wrote. Our conversations should be light, our walk should be light, our intimate thoughts should be light. Whenever we feel darkness growing inside us, whenever bitterness, angriness, or sinfulness is sprouting within us, we should go back to the place of "newborn" life, the cross, and say, "God, forgive me, heal my insides, make my life worth living again, bring light to the darkness of my soul. I give my life to your Spirit, to do YOUR WILL, NOT MINE." When self-serving, self-indulgent, sorry for ourselves spirits start to inhabit our souls, we should reject that self-life and ask God to energize his life within us through his Spirit. We should pray earnestly, "Oh Lord, let me hear your words not mine." And He will do exactly that, through the WORD OF GOD (the Bible), through OTHERS, and especially through HIS LIVELY SPIRIT within us.

God came to bring light to us, a sick and dying humanity. We Christians are to reveal that light through our lives. The bridegroom is with us in the form of the Spirit. Should we never fast again? No, we can fast to overcome difficult things. We can fast to repress our materialistic nature. But mainly we should rejoice. Rejoice that Jesus has come. Rejoice that He has brought us his life and light. Rejoice that we can bring this same light and life to others. Therefore, hug your children and grandchildren or your friends' children with love today. Be kind to each other. Express goodness to your enemies. Care for those who are hurting. Bring peace to the wounded and the needy. Cry with those who mourn. Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. In each loving activity, you are turning on a light. You are bringing a new light, even a newborn light, to a troubled and a dark world. Remember, the feast is on and we have a place at the banqueting table.

Mark 2:13-17

Mark 2:13-17 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This passage reveals how comfortable Jesus felt around tax collectors and "sinners." Jesus sought them out. We see him telling Levi the tax collector to follow him, and we see him having dinner with tax collectors and "sinners" at Levi's house. This associating with society's ignoble people was anathema to the Pharisees. However, Jesus said that the Pharisees were hypocrites. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23:25) Jesus understood that people tend to look at and judge outward appearances, but He looked at the inside of a person and saw that person's need.

The Pharisees as upstanding members of the Jewish community understood well that these people with whom Jesus was associating were not the right kind of people. They could plainly see that these "sinners" were obviously not synagogue people, people of the Law, and the tax collectors were collaborating with the Romans by collecting taxes for them. However, Jesus must have seen them as people who needed him in their lives. I don't believe these outcasts and misfits were necessarily seeking to be better when Jesus first made contact with them; they probably just wanted to be with Jesus. They undoubtedly felt comfortable in his presence, and Jesus felt comfortable in their presence. Jesus was happy to be with them.

I wonder if He is happy to be with us. Are we Christians too concerned with our religious practices, habits and lifestyle for him to be comfortable with us. Are we too wrapped up in our form of religion and worship to allow him to visit us, spend time with us. Are we too much like the Pharisees: rigid, judgmental and critical. The Pharisees knew the tax collectors and "sinners" didn't worship the right way, didn't wear the right clothes, didn't have the right lifestyle, and weren't reverent enough. They knew these ignoble people were definitely not worthy of God's presence and blessings. How could a holy God bless these kind of people? But the good news is that JESUS CHOSE TO HANG OUT WITH THEM. HE WAS COMFORTABLE IN THEIR PRESENCE BUT NOT IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SO-CALLED RIGHTEOUS. AND FOR SURE WHERE JESUS IS, THERE IS GOD, FOR THEY ARE ONE. Most of the ostensibly righteous were not comfortable with Jesus. They really did not want anything to do with him except to criticize him and his ways. They felt satisfied and comfortable in their own self-righteousness. As far as they were concerned, they were functioning well with God. They knew the Law and they knew how to worship him. They didn't need this Jesus, but they did not understand that without Jesus there is no righteousness, no peace with God. The tax collectors and "sinners" were closer to God than the Pharisees, for they were WITH JESUS, at his side. The tax collectors and sinners did not need holy surroundings and music to get them into right relationship with God; they just needed Jesus' presence.

We also just need to be where Jesus is. He should be in our homes, at the dinner table, in our prayer closet. Our relationship with God doesn't hinge on lifestyle choices or religiosity; it depends on being with Jesus. He sought us out, just as He sought out the tax collectors and "sinners." Therefore, we should enjoy him, talk to him, love him; we should be comfortable around him. Yes, we are the wrong kind of people. The world is full of the wrong kind. But Jesus came for those kind of people. For us He died, came to bring us light and life, and for us He is now our great advocate in heaven. Praise His name forevermore. Glory to the newborn King! Merry Christmas.

Mark 2:1-12

Mark 2:1-12 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

"He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all" is a major theme in the New Testament. The new covenant of faith in Jesus Christ and his works rests completely on the fact that Jesus came to the people and performed miracles that no man could do. He cast out demons, healed the sick, and raised the dead. These miraculous acts separated him from the rest of the religious elite and gurus of that day and evermore. Others might teach sound messages of love, devotion, judgment, or forgiveness; but they cannot raise the dead, they cannot perform the many miracles that Jesus performed. When this former paralytic walked out of the home in Capernaum in full view of them all, the people were amazed and praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” Today, we listen to Christ's words, apply his teachings, and follow his apostles' teaching because of the miracles that He performed. Christianity has existed thousands of years because of Jesus' miraculous deeds. We do not follow Jesus the man just because He was a great teacher or full of godly wisdom. However, sadly, there are many who want to know Jesus as only a good teacher, one who possessed profound and maybe even divine knowledge and wisdom. They turn Christianity into a mere philosophy, a matrix of beliefs. Therefore, Christianity contends with many other ideologies, theologies. Through the ages there have been many people who have started religions by gathering a few devoted disciples and followers around them. Some of those religions still exist today. Also within the church there have been those who have aggrandized themselves by championing their special insights and knowledge of spiritual things, even to the point of equating themselves with Christ, taking on the authority or "robes" of divine prophets or messengers, leading many astray.

But Christians must always remember that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. He alone performs miracles that only God, himself, could do. Because of that reality, Jesus has the power to forgive sins, to make people right with God. No other man, no group of believers, no special messenger, no prophet has been given the power to forgive sins. Jesus brought salvation to the world; He is salvation, "the door." Salvation comes through his cross, his resurrection, and his advocacy on the "right hand" of God. No other man or group of men has that power or authority. Jesus is our great advocate; he alone brings redemption and righteousness to us. He alone brings us into right relationship with our Father God. Therefore, serve him alone. Don't serve a theology of great knowledge or wisdom, or acts of goodness. Serve the divine Christ--the way, the truth, and the light. The knowledge and wisdom we do claim to possess is foolishness to the world. They see us as being mad, for who would still believe in this Jesus thing 2,000 years after his death. But we do. We know He still lives, for He lives in us, abides in us. We know him as our Savior. He sustains us, He succors us. His very breath turns our head, for He is inside us. "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:7) We are people of the BOOK, and we are people of the SPIRIT. Why? Because, Your sins are forgiven. Get up, take your mat and walk. Walk in freedom, peace, and joy today: Christ your Savior has come; He has touched you, and you will never be the same!

Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

"FILLED WITH COMPASSION" in older manuscripts is interpreted as "BEING ANGERED." I like the "being angered" version better than the "filled with compassion," in the above passage, for it espouses the anger God has towards sickness. He is not directing his anger towards sickness per se but at the devil who has contaminated the world to such a point that sickness exists. The Lord is compassionate! He sorrowed over John the Baptist's beheading; he wept for wayward Jerusalem. He sweat blood for lost humanity; nevertheless, He is also fearfully angry at the devil and his deeds. The devil took his perfect and "very good" creation and contaminated it. He took a people who reveled in God's presence and made them fear God. He took a creation in God's image and planted killing and warfare into it. Mayhem came out of peace, destruction out of creation, death out of life. For sure, the devil and his cohorts are God's enemies. God was angry. Jesus was angry at the devil for his corrupting disease of leprosy, but Jesus also had compassion, for he reached out his hand to the leper. To even touch a leper was a sin as far as canon law was concerned because touching a leper made you unclean and therefore separated from God. God will not tolerate sin in his presence. Sin faces a quick and lasting judgment in his presence. But Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law so He could touch a leper without God's judgment. He could touch a leper and not get the disease; He could touch sin and not be contaminated by it. So Jesus reached out in "compassion," too. How else could a sick and dying world be healed unless God touched them.

Jesus, THE GREAT INTERMEDIATOR HIMSELF, had to touch sin and death to bring "newborn" life to a sick and dying world. YES, JESUS WAS ANGRY AT THE DEVIL, BUT HE HAD A FATHER'S COMPASSION FOR A CHILD SICK UNTO DEATH. Jesus came to restore mankind to eternal health, to a full and complete relationship with Father God. No longer would the devil be exclusively mankind's father. No longer would men have to dance to the devil's tunes of bondage. No longer would mankind have an uncaring father who would give a stone to a hungry child instead of fish, who would provide dark, dank caves for a dwelling rather than well-lit, warm homes. No longer would Satan have free reign with mankind as the unfettered "prince of the air." No more would mankind be delivered to eternal death by him, for Light and Life has entered the world. The great Creator, the Prince of Peace came to Earth to set men free, to deliver them from the chains of death and despair. He came in the form of a child. "But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11) He came as a child, depicting that new life has come down to earth. And that life was the light and hope of mankind Now, anyone who believes in him will also have new life, will be "born again." We, too, through faith in him enter into a domain where the devil and sin cannot touch our eternal souls. We, too, one day will hear the very voice of God say, "Well done my child, enter into my eternal rest, for you are now mine, you are finally home. Receive my glory." Yes, Jesus reached out to the leper, to the world, and He is still compassionately reaching out. His compassion for us is great, but his anger towards the devil and his deeds is just as great, for the devil has has encompassed our lives with diseases and sins. However, it is the year of Jubilee: today, is the day of deliverance. Reach out to him, your Savior, Lord, and King; find his mercy, his goodness, his touch. Praise God, He is good! Amen and amen.

Mark 1:32-39

Mark 1:32-39 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

This passage reveals Jesus' work ethic. After sunset he was working; very early in the morning, "while it was still dark" he was praying; and then Jesus tells the disciples, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Jesus' mission to bring grace to the people didn't come without a cost. Grace requires effort. Sometimes we want to fulfill our Christian service, our ministry of grace, without much of a cost. We want to experience a Christian life on our terms, maybe in our Lazy-boy rocking chairs. But notice Jesus: He ministered late at night when he was tired; He got up early and prayed when he still needed rest; He traveled to another city to minister when his body was weary. Grace cost him. Jesus delivered God's grace when he ministered, bringing unmerited favor to the people. He healed their bodies, prayed for their restoration, and taught them about God's love and mercy. Grace in the form of Jesus walked the roads of Israel, ministered in the synagogues and homes, and gathered people at every crossroad and rest area to reveal the kingdom of God to them. Grace cost Jesus in body and spirit. He ministered out of his weakness most of the time, not out of rest and strength. But the Word of God and the will of God were his strength. He came to do the will of God, to deliver the Word. He came to tell the people that the kingdom of God is near. His mission to bring the Father's love and mercy was his motivation. Demons were quieted, various diseases were driven out, sorrow was wiped away. Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to give people unmerited peace and a relationship with God. With his blood, He paved over that scarred battlefield that separated man from God. But for the man Jesus, it was a costly battle of effort and dying daily.

Today, we still have that grace walking among us in the form of God's living church. The body of Christ is alive and well. But the body of Christ is a body of constant effort. The church of Jesus Christ the risen Lord works tirelessly, ministers late at night, gets up early in the morning for prayer, and seeks out the lost and dying daily. We are the body of Christ; each of us is a part of that body. Delivering grace to a sick and dying world takes effort and unrelenting commitment. Let each of us fulfill the mission of the body of Christ by working hard and tirelessly. James said, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." (James 2:14-19) Today, believers say, "We must walk our talk." People are watching to see if there is reality behind our good words. Jesus said they would know we are Christians by our love. . . Who does God want us to love today regardless of the cost?

Mark 1:29-31

Mark 1:29-31 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

Jesus not only healed in the synagogue, He healed in the world. Spiritual activity should not only take place in churches but also in the home and in the marketplace. Mankind should know that we are concerned about their welfare. People should know that we love them by the fact that we pray for them. Healings represent the supernatural power of another being, God himself. Signs and wonders indicate that there is a God, and we are not alone in our finite existence. The world needs to know that. Jesus came performing healings and miracles. Why? To remind people there was a God and that He was from God, and that he was even the Son of God. Human beings desperately need and even long for this knowledge: there is a God who loves them and Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, came and gave himself as a sacrifice for their sins. Without this knowledge, they live and die in death. The short life they now have will end in death. The world needs to know that they are not alone in this human existence. There is a loving deity who not only cares for their souls but desires them to be with him in heaven and made a plan for their eternal salvation.

Why pray for healing? Why pray for the ungodly? Why pray that their lives might be better? We pray first of all because Jesus told us to pray, He prayed, and He taught us to pray. We pray to show the world that there is a God who cares for them and who also desires their fellowship and worship. When we keep all spiritual activity within the four walls of the church, we defeat the purpose of God, which is to show that He loves people and wants to have a relationship with them. Jesus went into the house of Simon and healed his mother-in-law. What did she do then? She began to wait on them. Isn't that what we want believers to do? To serve the eternal God by being a servant to a sick and dying world. There is no substitute for God's presence and his miraculous activities. If we try to take the supernatural out of our existence or to restrict evidence of God's power to in-church activities, we defeat the purposes of God. We must tell the world that we are praying for them. Tell them that we love them. Tell them that we are praying for their healing, for their restoration from trouble. Let them know that we believe in a God WHO CAN DO MIRACLES, WHO CAN RESTORE US, WHO CAN MAKE US WHOLE. Without that belief, we are just another philosophy, another religion: one of many. Let Christ reign in our hearts and activities. Let us be servants of the Lord by seeking out the lost and dying, praying for their reconciliation to their Father God, and believing for the Holy Spirit to fall upon their lives and ours in powerful and mighty ways.

Mark 1:21-26

Mark 1:21-26 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

John 3:19-20 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Evil does not like to be in the presence of good. Evil tears down, destroys; good builds up, restores. Evil brings death, good brings life. Jesus said, "Call no man good." Goodness is only completely resident in God. Because Jesus was God, He was good. But outside of God, mankind is contaminated by evil, sin. Sadly, he tends to be so exceptionally self-centered that his own best actions tend to bring pain and destruction. Notice how we are gobbling up the resources of the earth at this present time without thinking of future generations that might exist hundreds of years from now if the Lord delays his return. Our basic instinct is to cry out to God, "Am I my brother keeper? I am not a servant to anyone. I do my will, not another's will, not even your will, God." We cling to our lives, our selfish plans and purposes, not God's eternal plans and purposes. Even when God gives us the Promised Land as with the children of Israel, and even when He delivers us from all our enemies, we still cannot make a just society, a peaceful community. The warfare within us, our sinful nature, will even destroy God's land of promise and abundance.

Demons are the embodiment of evil, of destruction. We see in the New Testament demons trying to destroy their host. “It (a demon) has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22) Evil destroys, evil hates, evil discriminates; evil lusts, murders, tortures--obeys the bidding of its master the devil. Notice the demon cries out, "Have you come to destroy us?" Us? Well, maybe there were more demons in that gathering of people or perhaps the man was troubled by more than one demon. But a more expansive picture is that Jesus came to destroy all evil. He came to put the stamp of death on all that evil encompasses. The demons knew Jesus' purpose, his mission, and they knew that evil does not co-exist with good. Good, the seeking of God's will and not your own. Good, the servant attitude that does good to those who even abuse and misuse you. Good, the love of others that will prefer them above yourself even to the point of death. God is good and in him there is no darkness, no evil. “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone." (Mark 10:18) We Christians are to display God's goodness to the dark world. Evil abhors good, but we should bring goodness to the world regardless. To the world we represent death, for evil ways will be judged some day. This makes the enemies of God fearful of their fate and stirs up evil. But our attitude should not be to judge or to condemn. Our commission is to help, to restore, to bring goodness to a dying world, steeped in sin and darkness. We should go where darkness abides and bring the light of God's holy love, his unreserved mercy and grace.

Mark 1:16-20

Mark 1:16-20 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Luke 14:23-27 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’” Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

In the Mark passage, we could substitute the word GRACE for JESUS, and we would quickly see what the New Testament is all about. As GRACE walked beside the Sea of Galilee, GRACE saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Unmerited favor found them, called them. Grace permeates the Old and New Testament: God coming to men and calling them, finding them in a crowd, in a temple, in a servant's house, in a palace, by the sea, in the back pasture. We sometimes feel we have to find God, we have to put in the effort to discover him. But the Bible is full of him finding us. God's message of salvation was delivered by his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus walked among men, He went to them. He traveled from city to city to give them the message that God loves them, that righteousness is obtainable, and that ALL MEN SHOULD BE SAVED. Jesus, the Grace of God, carried the cross from the time He was born to the time He died. Jesus, heaven's bright and Morning Star, descended to a sick and dying world to bring God's favor to men. Grace cost Christ. He suffered the ignoble cross and carried the sins of the world on his shoulder, experiencing the wrath of God on sin.

No longer do we pay the eternal price for our waywardness. Jesus has come, He has paid the price, and WE RECEIVE THAT FREE GIFT BY FAITH IN HIS WORK. Yes, Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee. Yes, Jesus saw Simon, Andrew, John, and James. Yes, Jesus said, receive my grace and follow me. But now we see the next act of this grace: following Jesus. QUICKLY, AND EVIDENTLY WITHOUT HESITATION, THE disciples LEFT THEIR LIFESTYLES AND FOLLOWED JESUS. They readily realized that they wanted to be with him; they wanted to see what He was going to see, do what He would do. They wanted their lives to be in his presence. Seemingly, nothing else they were presently doing was worth keeping. They just wanted to follow him. When Jesus comes down the road and calls us, our next decision should be to follow him until the end. Many people decide to follow Jesus for a short time, but some have difficulty signing on for the long haul. I think many new believers become hesitant after they get over the first hill and they can't see home anymore. Where is this Jesus leading me? Where will my next meal come from? Will I have friends? Why did I set out with so little preparation? Maybe I should turn back. At least I know my daily routine, and I have shelter and food back there. And I do miss the comforts of the old lifestyle.

But Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple." A "newborn" life requires newborn thinking, a newborn environment, and a newborn lifestyle and commitment. The old should fade away, the new should be your awareness. There is a cross that each of us carries, symbolizing the death of our old life and the necessity of carrying grace to a sick and dying world. We are now the ones to draw near to people, to bring them God's grace. We must always remember our new life is an eternal one--the quintessential marathon. There are days, weeks, and years when we think we cannot keep running. We think we are too beaten down, too tired, too exhausted. Giving grace to people is too hard; revealing God's grace is just too much work. But Jesus says, "Keep on running. You're my disciple. Don't give up. I have given you the ability to run. Grace has come to you. Let grace be seen in your life." Yes, Jesus has come to you today. He knows your condition. He knows where you are, and He knows you can run. His strength is made perfect in your weakness. So don't turn back. Don't look back to the captivity of Egypt--it is not the Promised Land. There is nothing behind you but the madness of the world: eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. Life is more than that. Life is where God is, where peace, joy, mercy, and grace overflow in abundance.

Mark 1:14-15

Mark 1:14-15 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

John was a heavenly light; he spoke the words of a prophet. He prepared the way for Jesus. But when Jesus arrived on the scene, He brought the ultimate light to the world. He brought God down to men. Jesus' message was repent, turn from your wicked lifestyle, and receive the message of redemption: the good news. Of course the "good news" was that He was the light of the world and the Savior of mankind. He alone would bring in the kingdom of God: the place where men could receive the grace and mercy of God and be received into God's heavenly family. Of course the embodiment of this message was found in Jesus, the Son of God. He was the door to the kingdom of God, and no one could enter into that kingdom without entering through Jesus.

This message that He was the Christ and the door was hard for the Jewish elite to accept. They had been taught that the patriarchs and their teachings were the door to God's special blessings and to favor with God, for weren't they the "chosen people"? Didn't Abraham receive the covenant of blessings? Weren't they, the Jews, the very children of God? How could this man Jesus say that He was the door? How could He claim to be greater than Abraham, and the patriarchs? Jesus certified his claim of divinity and of being the Christ, the Great Messiah, by performing healings and miracles among them. He did such wonderful exploits that they had to acknowledge that no man had done such things from the beginning of time. Nevertheless, for Jesus to claim that He was the way, the door, the "Messiah" was more than the religious leaders and many of the people could accept. This was a contentious message for the Jewish people. They could accept Jesus as a great leader, one to follow, maybe even the person who would deliver them from the yoke of the Romans, but not as the Son of God, not as the "door" to God's blessings. But Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8) And He alone was and is the door. Therefore, for most people, Jesus' message of "repent" and receive the "good news" was especially hard to receive. They believed that they had special access to God himself, so why repent?

However, Jesus did not come to those who thought they were already in right standing with God. He came to those who needed healing, needed a miracle, needed a change of life. So they alone received his message gladly and unreservedly. They knew their lives were not paying off with the blessings of peace and righteousness. They knew they needed a compassionate and loving Lord in their lives. They needed the kingdom of God in their lives. Today the kingdom of God has come; it has come to all those who have entered in through the door by faith. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) Salvation has come to the weak, the sick, the brokenhearted: heaven is open to them, for the Kingdom of God has come. Let all the people rejoice and be exceedingly glad!

Mark 1:9-12

Mark 1:9-12 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

In the above passage, we see Jesus baptized by John, filled with the Holy Spirit, and then led into the desert. We find the Son of God being prepared to minister to a lost and dying world. He was set apart by his baptism in water, consecrated by the Spirit, and finally seasoned by the temptations in the desert. During his time in the desert, the angels ministered to him. We know that the desert experience represents a land that cannot sustain him physically or emotionally. Consequently, angels came to minister to him. How do angels minister? What do they do? And why would the Son of God need them to help him? We cannot really answer these questions, but what we can speculate is that they were desperately needed, so we can assume that they came to remind him of heaven, a better land, his heavenly home. They probably came to remind him of the Father's love, mercy and goodness. More importantly, they reminded him of his purpose, and the glorious victory he was going to win for the human race. They definitely came to feed his spiritual life, for Jesus needed his spirit built up more than his flesh needed strengthening. In other words, he needed daily manna from the heavens above: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." He needed a super jump-start to his spiritual life every day. And the angels provided that for him in this desert place.

We also need that jump-start to our spiritual lives every day, for we are definitely living a desert experience. WE might be baptized in water and in the Spirit, but we are still in a desert place. We are still aliens in this world. This world is not our home; it will not sustain our Christian walk. We will die spiritually if we try to live exclusively off this sparse land we are inhabiting. Yes, for believers there are signs of God's magnificence and presence in this place where we abide temporarily, but that isn't enough to sustain our life in the Spirit. The beauty of the mountains, the valleys, the rivers cannot cause our spiritual lives to flourish. We need the Holy Spirit's intimate, daily presence in our souls to prosper, especially because we are also living with wild animals--those who would seek to harm us, to embarrass us, to defeat us at every turn. They know that we are aliens and that we cannot live successfully off the desert's resources. They know that we don't count this present Earth as our final destination, so they desire for us to fail in our spiritual lives, in our daily walk. They want us to be hypocrites: those who pretend they are alive in God, but who are really just like they are: dead in their sins and trespasses.

However, God has not left us without resources. He gave us his Word to sustain and to enrich our spiritual lives. His Word is our daily manna if we take advantage of it. God's Word through the acumen of the Holy Spirit will keep alive every Christian who partakes of it. These daily breakfasts are written to help you in your walk with Christ. They are written to give you food for today. Yet they are no substitute for your own searching of the scriptures; they are to be an adjunct to your daily devotionals. They should give you something to think about today, something that your spirit can feed upon and add to the table the Lord sets before you. Sometimes I have tried to write these breakfasts prior to the day I send them, but the Lord tells me to write them the morning I send them. He tells me they must be new manna because the old will rot. The previous day's manna will decay before it reaches your mouths. Therefore, today, hear the words of the Lord. Today, allow this breakfast and your own readings to give you strength to face the wild animals and the sparse desert. When Paul speaks of putting on the whole armor of God, the Word of the Lord is your sword. Do not go out to face the enemy of your souls who is a roaring lion without your powerful weapon in readiness to defeat him.

Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 11:16-19 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

"I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John's baptism was one of declaration and commitment: a proclamation that people needed sin to be washed away in their lives, and they needed to make a new commitment to live for God. This was the gospel of repentance. The washing was an outward cleansing that symbolically depicted an inward attitude of wanting to be right with God. This was a man-made effort to please God. This was the best men could do to show God they desired a changed life and they were sorry for their wayward ways. Of course an attitudinal change does not mean rightness with God. Sin is inherent in man. His wayward, self-centered attitude is part of his innate nature. Under the best of circumstances, human beings still have trouble facing the wildness within themselves. Man still has to wrestle with the fact that the consequences of sin is death: eternity without God's presence.

In Matthew 11, the Bible says the kingdom of God was taken by force in the Old Testament. The Spirit of God moved on the prophets of old and made them into men of God, men who were capable of carrying his glory and power to the people. By force of willpower these men changed their outward demeanor and their lifestyle to reveal God and his holiness to the people. As with John, their lives were ascetic, without the normal pleasures of the world--neither eating nor drinking. However, they were without the power to change their own internal nature and lacked the ability to redeem the nature of mankind. John brought a new message, saying, I baptize with water. I work on the "outside" by baptizing you with water, but there will come another who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will encompass your whole being. He will infiltrate your inward man with "fire," burning out the dross that separates you from God. He will make you holy from the inside out. You will no longer be known as children who follow God, but as children of God, for Jesus Christ will make you as He is through his baptism. "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Matthew 11:11)

John represented the best of those individuals who tried to please God through force: their human effort, their willpower. John's lifestyle and demeanor were pleasing to God; yet, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In other words, God's grace given to sinful man through the work of the cross is greater than any man's effort to please God through his own lifestyle and outward appearance or actions. God's grace, mercy, and holiness are given freely to anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as his savior. John could not die to sin and be resurrected into new life outside of Christ and his death and resurrection. However, each person who accepts Jesus as his/her savior, who has died to his/her sins through the death of Jesus, and who has been "born again" through his resurrection is a new creation. Each of us then becomes a container of his righteousness through the presence of the Holy Spirit within us: God abides within us and makes us holy from within. John prepared the way for Jesus by reminding them of their sinful ways and of their need for repentance, but Jesus alone was the only living being, the only begotten Son of God, who could put the people in right standing with God the Father.