A Refused Opportunity

Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  Mark 5:15-17

When the time of judgment comes for us, we do not want to be among those who saw Jesus, knew of His work, and responded with a 'go away!'. The evidence sits before them clothed and now in his right mind. They knew well the man's former condition. Jesus brings healing and release of the captives. Their response is to plead with Jesus to depart. Was this for the loss of their pigs? Perhaps it was from all that was new too suddenly? They had their large herd of pigs and their demoniac. Then suddenly they didn't. And Jesus stood there asking for just a little faith in what was new to them. They got together and refused Him. 

Pray that those who refuse Jesus once will get another chance to believe.

Bucky

Knowing Who To Go To

...a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. Mark 5:2-5

As we read in our scripture today, an unclean spirit is no joke. This thing is mean to the man. We can take a peek ahead in the story and see that it is not just one unclean spirit. So between the spirits the man is forced to cut himself with stones, live among tombs, travel between mountains and tombs, cry out, and break apart shackles and chains. The last might sound like a benefit, but human bones, ligaments, tendons and skin do not do well against iron. And though the mean spirits may have lent a bit of strength, they probably didn't help with the cutting, tearing, and possibly breaking of bones that went on with breaking up the iron. The man was a mess, but he knew who to go to for help.

May we always see Jesus as our first help,

Bucky

Immediate Meeting

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. Mark 5:1-2

Jesus hardly has time for a deep breath after another trip across the sea before He is met by the enemy. But, the enemy has a prisoner. For combat, we were trained to kill the enemy if met upon our landings. Training to go in guns blazing back in the day would not have prepared us for the enemy holding our beloved hostage on the beach. It presents a problem where simply blowing the enemy away does not work. What will Jesus do? This introduction begins the famous tale of Jesus and a gang of evil thugs going by the name of Legion. The difficulty comes from this gang inhabiting one of our Lord's beloved humans. As there is much to be analyzed and said about this meeting, I will not pile it all on you today.

Rejoice in the Lord and pray for one another,

Bucky

Have Faith, The Kingdom of God Grows

And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how."  Mark 4:26-27

Some years I can recall where farmers in these parts may have contemplated planting rice seeds in paddies. This year they may be looking for cactus seeds to plant. Whatever combination of soil temperature and composition, sunlight, type of seed, depth in the soil, and of course moisture, causes a seed to burst open and send up a plant has been studied by many sharp people for a long time. I'm sure they are still surprised at times. Any farmer or gardener might tell us that for all the years of consistency, seeds can still have a mind of their own. Like the year I planted a bunch of marigolds in a tub and carrots grew on the roots. Still not sure what happened there. I have been offered several explanations, and I resemble some of them. 

I am completely with the man in the parable today. When my seeds sprout, I rejoice. When they don't? Well, that just shows the level of my gardening ignorance. That same year of my uh, carrotgolds, I planted several rows of leaf lettuce in a raised bed. None of the seeds sprouted. I think the yard windmill must have frightened the seeds. By the parable, I know the same about the kingdom of God. Seeds are scattered and somehow they grow and thrive. I'll just put my faith in God and let it come!

Bucky

Take Heed, And Get More

Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:24-25

Believing in Jesus for our salvation was not the end of our journey but the beginning. As we read and learn from Him, we get more to learn. As we learn more from Him, we gain more understanding in His word. It tells us of a life-long journey with treasures in the word of God to be found all along the way. The second verse for today also warns us of the danger of the dusty Bible.

A frightening concept even for those who believe in Jesus. We see that those who do not have (That is, have never believed in Jesus) face an eternity without what they could have had in Him. Frightening as it should be, it tells of a time when the decision to believe in Jesus will no longer be available.

May God grant all those we love, who do not yet believe, a little more time.

Bucky

Let Us Hear And Heed

"If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given." Mark 4:23-24

Jesus said that a lot. Of course those with ears would hear, wouldn't they? Unless there might be something preventing that hearing? Jesus issued the divine command, "Let him hear." He would not have said it if it were not necessary. And to those who would hear, there was a further command to take heed, also known as pay attention, to what they had heard. And then a promise that with usage, our response to His word, we will be measured out some more of His word. It tells us of a progression. We do not hear His word one day and then we're done. No, we hear what we are able, and then come back for more. The word of God is that food we must eat and then return to for more of His sustaining word.

May our ears hear and heed His beautiful Word!

Bucky

Secret Secrets Coming To Light

Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:21-23

Jesus here makes a promise about hidden and secret things. We might think He means our national capital and the so-called leaks that happen from time to time. Probably not though, since legislative bodies and secret keepers have been at odds since ancient Rome and before. On the other hand, those with ears to hear might recall a time when Daniel was told some prophecies that were closed up and sealed for the time of the end. So have the secret secrets come to light yet?

Treading the ground of the end times may be what we are doing right now. However, that difficult ground tends to make the most experienced of eschatologists feel a bit uncertain, I think. For those of us with less experience, we just, to borrow a favorite expression of my boss, feel stupid. Don't feel too badly though, we are all in it with Jesus when we believe in Him!

Bucky

Trying To Be Good Ground

But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.  Mark 4:20

A person named Christian repents and believes in Jesus, and then reads this parable. Christian of course wants to be the good ground producing much for the kingdom of God. All prepared to go forth and produce, Christian meets the world, and it wants something. The boss wants eight hours of five days, sleep wants eight hours of seven days, the pastor loves his volunteers, and didn't Jesus say something about visiting the sick and prisoners? How many hours do they need?!  "I wanna go see this movie," Christian thinks with a bit of the ol' rebellion.  Christian looks inside and wonders how saved one might be when clearly thinking of the pastor as a thorn. The ground of new faith does not look as good as it did this morning, and those bills in the mailbox definitely look like thorny ground to tread. Christian feels a bit wilted in the heat of life, does the soil feel a bit thin here? Was that the shadow of the evil one passing over? 

We can sympathize with Christian. It seems at times as if the Lord Sower planted us at once in all three bad soils. We try to be a good ground plant, but - phew! - life seems out to get us all around and every day. There is a lot of pastoral metaphor going on here, but just hear and accept the word, little sheep, and the Good Shepherd will bring forth the fruit in us! 

Bucky

Ceding Control

Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  Mark 4:18-19

The butter cuts a little harder and the eggs take a bit longer to fry up this morning. Yes, it's a return to winter for us with single digit temperatures this morning. Wait, the weather commentary, could that be a thorn choking the word just now? While I do believe this parable from our Lord could also refer to seasons of life in our journey with Christ, I'm not sure that worrying over every moment of every day will increase fruit production. Some would shoot the bullets at me right now - faithful in the little things, be a good steward of time, and others - but does such intense fretting produce more fruit or just more worry? Am I to walk with Jesus or to try appointing every one of His minutes? How much time do I schedule for listening to Him? Gosh, what happens if I leave the control of this thing to the One who redeemed me? 

Interesting questions from an interesting parable!

Bucky

Sowing The Word

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.  Mark 4:13-14

Not all of the parables Jesus will tell in Mark's gospel get such a full explanation as this one of the sower. In this parable neither the disciples nor those of us reading these many years later need to guess over the meaning. "The sower sows the word." (v14) And so it is not left to us to wonder whether a farmer with the latest planter and GPS technology could do a better job of it. We know from our Lord that this is His desire that all the seed be spread throughout all the world. The seed of His word falls on people. And these people have cares in this world, stony hearts, and of course that enemy who steals the word. However, we also have the chance to be that good soil and produce the bountiful harvest. Want to be good soil? Follow the Good Shepherd! 

Soil following a shepherd? And I thought Jesus made it hard to understand. 

Bucky

The Aim Of The Sower

Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.  Mark 4:3-8

A farmer today might read this and criticize the waste of inputs as it appears that 75% of the seed was unproductive. As readers of the word, we might wonder over the aim of this sower. Can the sower be this inaccurate? But what if the aim of the sower was to offer the seed to all soils, no matter what challenges they faced that day? 

Have a critique to offer to one of the Lord's parables? No problem! Remember His invitation given through Isaiah:

"Come now, and let us reason together,"
Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool."
  -- Isaiah 1:18

Bucky

Them Parables

And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching. Mark 4:1-2

Parables have been mentioned before in Mark's gospel. But here on the shores by the sea, Jesus begins that ministry in parables for which He became famous. Or, was it the miracles that made His name known throughout the world? Here we see the great multitude listening to the parables from that boat in the sea. Did the multitude come to hear the teaching or did they want to see a miracle? For whatever reason they came, parable teaching is what they received.

You or I may have come to the Lord by way of some amazing story we heard. And like this multitude in Mark, we may get a teaching by parable. A person might go to the Red Sea and tell the Lord that he is waiting to cross, but he may wait there and never see the waves divide and stand like walls to either side of the pathway through the sea. Instead, someone may show up in a boat and tell that man a little parable story.

Rejoice in the Lord, and learn from Him!

Bucky

How We Became Family

But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” Mark 3:33-35

In our scripture passage for today we have that most important time when we became family. All those who do the will of God first come to believe in Jesus His Son. And we are named family - brothers, sisters, and mothers - by our Lord Jesus. You come from every nation, people, tribe, and tongue, and you are all family. You may find me offensive, but as long as you believe in Jesus, then we are family. You may despise the spring time change this morning, and we agree on that, but with faith in Jesus the Christ, we are family. So, brothers, sisters, and mothers in the family of Christ, let us rejoice in Him!

After we wake up later, we can rejoice even more,

Bucky

Loving His Spirit

“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:28-30

When someone you love is called an awful name or accused wrongly, you will react strongly to it. Here we see Jesus reacting to His dear Spirit being called 'unclean' by the scribes. We might say in our day that He came out swinging. He certainly did because for the Spirit of God to be called the opposite of what He is by ignorant creatures of His was fightin' words! So strong is the love of Jesus that He does not allow such blasphemy go unanswered. And if a human or other fallen creature should maintain that opposition to the Lord's Spirit, there can be no forgiveness.

Rejoice in the Lord always,

Bucky

Called To Himself

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
-- Mark 3:22-23

After His family had called into question His mental stability, Jesus also had to face the scribes from Jerusalem who never missed an opportunity to say a crazy thing or two. The scribes proposed that the method Jesus used to cast out demons was along the lines of a quarterback going to the defense's line coach and having him remove that defensive end that is causing his offense so much difficulty. We can imagine the reaction a request such as that would cause. So Jesus called the scribes to Himself for some instruction. 

The world has some crazy things to say to the Christ, and He calls them to Himself. Let us pray for them and help them to come for instruction with us. 

Bucky

An Interesting Fellow

Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”  Mark 3:20-21

To have a crowd come together just as you are sitting down for a meal can be deeply irritating. But then your own people, also referred to as 'family', make excuses for you that may not be entirely complimentary...well that can just ruin your day. Of course your family may not actually mean to levy a mental health diagnosis on you, but when it is put into print it does look bad. Does 'out of his mind' count as a term of affection? 

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus and the chosen twelve disciples faced this sort of opportunity and opposition at the same time. A multitude to hear His word and be healed by Him, and a teaching time if they could just get a bit of elbow room at the dining room table. And someone send the publicist out to restrain the family's kidnapping urge and commentary, please! We settle down with the disciples to marvel that at this time the demons proclaim Him the Son of God (He shushes them), while His family calls Him 'out of His mind' (He doesn't silence them). Even to the unbeliever Jesus presents an interesting case. 

Follow Jesus, our most interesting Master!

Bucky

The Twelve He Wanted

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.  Mark 3:13-15

Many questions rise up at this passage. Why twelve? And many others that come to mind in the other gospels where we learn more about the individuals chosen by Jesus. We can only trust our Lord's selection in faith, but then He does something more! Heal the sick? Just like He did with a word of authority or a touch? Plus the authority to cast out demons. Most of us do not even want to meet a demoniac. Uh oh, then there's that 'send them out' bit. Yes, with gifts such as these, the twelve special disciples probably didn't get to go home for the weekend. And preach? The pastor makes it look easy, but public speaking ranks as one of the great fears in our time. No, these twelve may be special, but easy will not be their way. 

Let us have a faithful week in Christ our Lord!

Bucky