July 9
Mark chapters 1-12
Yeah yeah, I know. I really REALLY wanted to
keep up with this. Not that I haven't been reading - I've been getting
up faithfully at 4:30am and reading my Bible before I even shower or eat
breakfast.
But the heat has only slightly subsided, and my
laptop decided to trick me into believing the hard drive had crashed. I
hooked up the desktop, ancient workhorse that it is (it even has an
ancient monitor, weighs about 25lbs) and then the network card in that
crashed.
Excuses, excuses.
Mark has been less interesting
to me than Matthew was. I understand that the Gospels are all telling
the same stories, but so soon after reading all of Matthew, it's hard
not to skim through Mark.
Mark, however, presents Jesus as a
servant, and really, it's Peter's narrative that Mark wrote down.
Perhaps that's why there's not so many references to Peter's big mouth,
probably because he was a little embarrassed.
And it doesn't
start with the Nativity story. It starts when John is prophesying and
baptising, which is also around the time Jesus called Peter, Andrew,
James and John off their boats.
It seems to me that Peter is telling his own story, trying not to be self-serving and yet accurate at the same time.
The
thing I really love about Mark, though, is the presentation of Jesus as
a servant. In Matthew we heard all about the Kingdom and the King. but
Mark tells of a man, who despite being the God of the Universe, was
also perfectly humble and willing to go to great lengths for the people
who surrounded Him.
In the context of service, Mark tells us that
Jesus was continually hounded by the public, by the religious leaders,
even by His own disciples. And He never said no, not really. God's
perfect love, living as Jesus, opened His earthly heart to encompass
everyone around Him. Everyone.
The rich man who didn't want to
leave his possessions to gain the kingdom. The woman with a flux who
believed that even a touch of Jesus' garment would heal her. The
children who flocked around Him and even sat in His lap while He spoke
to the crowds. The Pharisees who were trying their best to entrap Him -
yes, He loved them, but He didn't put up with their nonsense. And of
course, His disciples, especially the twelve very ordinary men whom He
had called.
Sometimes I feel like all of the above. I'm trying
to talk myself into turning off the cable tv. "But Lord, I need a place
to rest my brain!" "Come to me all who are heavy laden and I will give
you rest" (paraphrase)
"I need a miracle Lord, I am growing
older and less able to do all the things I used to. Please, can't you
just take 20 lbs away, it'll do my back and knees so much good!" Don't
wait for Jesus to come to me, just get on with what needs to be done,
which is to touch Him as best as I can. He'll do the rest.
"Lord,
you know the worship music at church does nothing for me at all - it
makes me want to do exactly the opposite sometimes! It's just not
spiritual enough for me." Love the Lord with all your heart, mind and
soul, Dorinda. Don't wait to be led, just worship.
"God, I don't
understand. You keep telling me you'll take care of all my needs, but
my phone bill is out of this world, and the air-conditioning in the car
doesn't work and I can't get to Ireland to be with David, nor he here
with me. Why?" Because you aren't seeing the big picture, Dorinda. I
AM. Worry about being with Me every minute of every day, and you and
David will be together when the time is right.
That last one is
the hardest, I think. As I've said before, I'm fairly well-versed
(pardon the pun) in Biblical knowledge, but the actual application
stymies me most days. "Lord have Mercy on me, a wretched thing whom you
love unconditionally and lift up constantly."
Mark is full of
Jesus being a servant, loving the people around Him, working to make
their lives work, immediately as well as after the Resurrection and all
the way down to me. I only hope that I can reflect that to all the
people around me too, at least a little bit.
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