Mark 1:40-42 "And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean."
Jesus has been preaching, teaching, and healing throughout the land He is in and here He is approached by a leper. Leprosy was a term used to cover a multitude of diseases, primarily those that affected the skin. To be labeled a leper in the community was devastating. You had to wear certain clothing, could not be within a certain distance of people, and had to yell out what you were. Imagine living that life. You are deemed untouchable. Not only do you lose interaction with people, but you lose even the slightest human touch. You are worthless, despicable, a nobody.
Many walk through life this very way. They may not have a disease that makes them untouchable, but they have had life situations, sin, or people's perceptions placed upon them to make them "untouchable". So, imagine the boldness it took, the courage, the faith, the humility to come to Jesus and make this request to be healed. Jesus could have had this man killed for approaching Him unclean. Instead, Jesus is moved by compassion or pity and He touches the man. Immediately the curse has left him!
In my quiet time I found myself asking, "What do I consider in my life untouchable?" You see, we have sin, hurts, pains, thoughts, life situations that all seem untouchable. No one can know about it, no one can should see it, no one would even come close to helping even if they did see it. The beauty of this historical account with the Savior is that Jesus is willing and able to touch the untouchable. Much of our "untouchable" issues are the deepest, hardest, worst issues we have and with pride we cover them up even to God the Savior. Yet this man, with humility, courage, and faith stepped forward to Christ and asked for healing. His statement of "If you will..." is not about whether Jesus was capable. It was whether Jesus even wanted to. Compassionately, He steps forward and touches the man! The touch of the Savior spoke more to this man than even Jesus' words. Why? Because there is power in His touch. Daniel Akin states, "As the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:4, He takes on Himself the infirmities of this man, cleanses him, and make him whole!" (Christ Centered Exposition Commentary: Mark, 37)
The gospel was never made clearer to me in this encounter before this morning. We all have a leprosy of the heart: sin. It permeates our very being, our existence. And for many, sin is deemed too much for God. It is untouchable to be taken away. Yet, Jesus shows that is the very reason He has come. To take away the sin of the world and man by His saving grace. We only have to trust in who He is, what He has done and can do, and allow Him to heal us by His saving grace. Like this man, some will be immediate healing and some will take time. But, are you willing to give your "untouchables" to Him?
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Thursday, March 23, 2017
My "Brand" of Discipleship
Mark 1:16-17 "Passing
alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of
Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
We all search for something in this life to bring purpose and meaning. The idea of being called to something is used more now than I remember hearing. That may not be the case, but I feel like I hear it used more regularly about even every day jobs. It is likely that the men mentioned in the above verse knew their calling was to be fishermen. It was a family business that would provide. Instead, this man comes along and gives them a new calling, a calling of discipleship.
Interestingly, Jesus' call to these men was different than other teachers of the time. Why? He chose them, they didn't choose Him. Daniel Akin in the Christ Centered Exposition Commentary on Mark explains, "In rabbinic schools of the day, the aspiring student sought out the respected rabbi."(20) So, discipleship was something the disciple wanted, but there was more to it than just choosing your teacher. Akin states further, "Further, the student's allegiance was to the Law, not to the teacher. Jesus' form of discipleship is fundamentally different! Jesus seeks them out, and their allegiance will be to Him." (20)
Did you catch that? Disciples sought out a person, but really aligned themselves to the person's teaching. So, they in some ways looked to a teacher's "brand" of discipleship. Jesus however, wanted the allegiance of His disciples to Him, not simply to His teachings. Why? To follow just the teachings of Jesus really leads to moralism and not salvation. Salvation alone rests in the Person of Christ. His teachings lead us to Him. Jesus didn't want followers to be simply "good people". He wanted followers who believe and trust in Him and that He carries the power to make His teachings alive in the follower.
This made me think more about American Christianity today. Do we sometimes find ourselves becoming a disciple of a particular Christian leader's writings, sermons, or YouTube videos? In a world of celebrity Christians do we have more disciples of Matt Chandler, David Platt, Lysa Terkeurst, JD Geear, Lecrae, etc? I would assume the people I listed are pointing people to Jesus and not themselves, but perhaps we adhere ourselves to their particular "brand" of Christianity.
So what am I saying? I am not saying stop listening to podcasts or reading books by important leaders of our time. We still need their leadership and guidance as well as those local to us. What I am saying is check yourself. Do you find yourself more influenced by the people or their particular "brand" of discipleship or by Jesus and His Word? Do you find yourself seeking answers to life or "doing church" more from the next person's book or from the Creator of life and the church? Remember we become what we worship/give our attention to. We are called to be disciples of Jesus, not the people He calls to do His work.
We all search for something in this life to bring purpose and meaning. The idea of being called to something is used more now than I remember hearing. That may not be the case, but I feel like I hear it used more regularly about even every day jobs. It is likely that the men mentioned in the above verse knew their calling was to be fishermen. It was a family business that would provide. Instead, this man comes along and gives them a new calling, a calling of discipleship.
Interestingly, Jesus' call to these men was different than other teachers of the time. Why? He chose them, they didn't choose Him. Daniel Akin in the Christ Centered Exposition Commentary on Mark explains, "In rabbinic schools of the day, the aspiring student sought out the respected rabbi."(20) So, discipleship was something the disciple wanted, but there was more to it than just choosing your teacher. Akin states further, "Further, the student's allegiance was to the Law, not to the teacher. Jesus' form of discipleship is fundamentally different! Jesus seeks them out, and their allegiance will be to Him." (20)
Did you catch that? Disciples sought out a person, but really aligned themselves to the person's teaching. So, they in some ways looked to a teacher's "brand" of discipleship. Jesus however, wanted the allegiance of His disciples to Him, not simply to His teachings. Why? To follow just the teachings of Jesus really leads to moralism and not salvation. Salvation alone rests in the Person of Christ. His teachings lead us to Him. Jesus didn't want followers to be simply "good people". He wanted followers who believe and trust in Him and that He carries the power to make His teachings alive in the follower.
This made me think more about American Christianity today. Do we sometimes find ourselves becoming a disciple of a particular Christian leader's writings, sermons, or YouTube videos? In a world of celebrity Christians do we have more disciples of Matt Chandler, David Platt, Lysa Terkeurst, JD Geear, Lecrae, etc? I would assume the people I listed are pointing people to Jesus and not themselves, but perhaps we adhere ourselves to their particular "brand" of Christianity.
So what am I saying? I am not saying stop listening to podcasts or reading books by important leaders of our time. We still need their leadership and guidance as well as those local to us. What I am saying is check yourself. Do you find yourself more influenced by the people or their particular "brand" of discipleship or by Jesus and His Word? Do you find yourself seeking answers to life or "doing church" more from the next person's book or from the Creator of life and the church? Remember we become what we worship/give our attention to. We are called to be disciples of Jesus, not the people He calls to do His work.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Meeting God in the Wilderness
Mark 1:9-13 "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him."
Jesus' ministry begins with an identifying with man through the act of baptism and then it immediately goes to the wilderness. While in the wilderness Jesus is tempted by Satan as Jesus is fasting and enduring the natural environment of the wilderness. What strikes me is that truly Jesus' wilderness experience doesn't really end after this particular event. We see in these verses that Jesus is declared the Son of God and later will be recognized as the King of all. He is a foreigner in this land, a King living as a peasant. He walks the wilderness of life in order to pull humanity out of it's sinful nature and leads a "2nd Exodus". The question is how is Jesus' life a continued wilderness experience?
Outside of the fact He is a foreigner, remember and imagine all He faced. He experienced being hated, people wanting to take His life, family turning their back on Him, disciples slowly figuring out who He is and even walking away from Him (some permanently, some return). Jesus experiences the loss of a close friend and mourns the death. Jesus is misunderstood, sometimes people try to use Him for just His supernatural ability, and He is ultimately led to His own death/murder.
Did Jesus experience some good things too? Absolutely! However, we forget so many times that Jesus' entire life relates to our own.
What is your current wilderness experience? Perhaps all of life seems to be one right now?
Remember this: the Father never leaves Jesus through all of His wilderness experience. In fact, it is through the wilderness that God meets with Jesus and ultimately meets with man.
So, you may be asking, "Why this wilderness experience?" "Why would God allow me to walk this?" Because it is often in the wilderness where God truly meets with His people. The wilderness can reveal who we truly are and opens us up to the ministering of God to our hearts and to prepare us for what lies ahead.
Embrace the wilderness because you may find you will be embracing the One who has walked it already and will carry you through.
Jesus' ministry begins with an identifying with man through the act of baptism and then it immediately goes to the wilderness. While in the wilderness Jesus is tempted by Satan as Jesus is fasting and enduring the natural environment of the wilderness. What strikes me is that truly Jesus' wilderness experience doesn't really end after this particular event. We see in these verses that Jesus is declared the Son of God and later will be recognized as the King of all. He is a foreigner in this land, a King living as a peasant. He walks the wilderness of life in order to pull humanity out of it's sinful nature and leads a "2nd Exodus". The question is how is Jesus' life a continued wilderness experience?
Outside of the fact He is a foreigner, remember and imagine all He faced. He experienced being hated, people wanting to take His life, family turning their back on Him, disciples slowly figuring out who He is and even walking away from Him (some permanently, some return). Jesus experiences the loss of a close friend and mourns the death. Jesus is misunderstood, sometimes people try to use Him for just His supernatural ability, and He is ultimately led to His own death/murder.
Did Jesus experience some good things too? Absolutely! However, we forget so many times that Jesus' entire life relates to our own.
What is your current wilderness experience? Perhaps all of life seems to be one right now?
Remember this: the Father never leaves Jesus through all of His wilderness experience. In fact, it is through the wilderness that God meets with Jesus and ultimately meets with man.
So, you may be asking, "Why this wilderness experience?" "Why would God allow me to walk this?" Because it is often in the wilderness where God truly meets with His people. The wilderness can reveal who we truly are and opens us up to the ministering of God to our hearts and to prepare us for what lies ahead.
Embrace the wilderness because you may find you will be embracing the One who has walked it already and will carry you through.
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