Day 54 - Chapter 10, Verses 1-12

He set out from there and went into the district of Judea (and) across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them. The Pharisees approached and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother (and be joined to his wife), and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." The Lord calls us to fidelity - as believers and in all our relationships. What does this call to fidelity entail for you?

About Chapter Nine

As the journey to Jerusalem continues in Chapter Nine, you might be struck by the idea that the disciples don't come across as heroes. For more background on what you are reading, download this one page review.

"Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another."

Friday, November 28, 2008

Day 52 - Chapter 9, Verses 42-48

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 3 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'

Gehenna was the Jerusalem garbage dump where there seemed to always be a fire burning. We were not made for sin, but for the glory of God. We don’t belong in Gehenna. Look back over this passage and contemplate God’s hopes for you.

Day 51 - Chapter 9, Verses 38-41

John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

The simplest things, done in the name of Christ, seem to be the way to the Kingdom. What are those things in your life? (Don’t neglect to look further than your own household.)

Day 50 - Chapter 9, Verses 30-37

They left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it.

He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."

Adult grasping and ‘getting to the top’ don’t seem to be the route to the Kingdom of God. Children live in dependence. What does this say about your stance and relationship to God?

Day 49 - Chapter 9, Verses 28-29

When he entered the house, his disciples asked him in private, "Why could we not drive it out?"

He said to them, "This kind can only come out through prayer."

What does this tell us about persistence in prayer? How can you be more conscious of God’s call to you to spend time each day in prayer?

Day 48 - Chapter 9, Verses 14-27

When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. Immediately on seeing him, the whole crowd was utterly amazed. They ran up to him and greeted him.

He asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" Someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I have brought to you my son possessed by a mute spirit. Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable to do so."

He said to them in reply, "O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him to me."

They brought the boy to him. And when he saw him, the spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions. As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth. Then he questioned his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" He replied, "Since childhood.
It has often thrown him into fire and into water to kill him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."

Jesus said to him, " 'If you can!' Everything is possible to one who has faith." Then the boy's father cried out, "I do believe, help my unbelief!"

Jesus, on seeing a crowd rapidly gathering, rebuked the unclean spirit and said to it, "Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!" Shouting and throwing the boy into convulsions, it came out. He became like a corpse, which caused many to say, "He is dead!"

But Jesus took him by the hand, raised him, and he stood up.

Jesus offers this boy, afflicted since childhood, healing and hope. How does Jesus offer that to you?

Day 47 - Chapter 9, Verses 11-13

Then they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He told them, "Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things, yet how is it written regarding the Son of Man that he must suffer greatly and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."

The intent here is for us to see John the Baptist as Elijah. John was the last of the Hebrew prophets, in the Christian tradition.

Do we listen to prophets in our own day? Do you listen to those who try to proclaim the truth in your life?

Day 46 - Chapter 9, Verses 1-10

He also said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power."

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

We have to remember that these disciples lived in real time. What we know now, they didn’t know then.

Have there been any mountaintop experiences in your own life - when you were overwhelmed by the presence or the knowledge of God? How has this experience affected your life since?

About Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight concludes one part of the Gospel and begins another. For more background on what you are reading, download this one page review.

Day 45 - Chapter 8, Verses 32-38

He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life?

Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

Peter is only using logic. Who courts death and disaster? Yet, God has other intentions here. Is God calling you, in any way, to overlook logic and take a leap in faith? Is there something you hold on to that might keep you from being an authentic disciple?

Day 44 - Chapter 8, Verses 27-31

Now Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

They said in reply, "John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets."

And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Messiah."

Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.

Who do you say that Jesus is? Who is he to you? Tell him.

Day 43 - Chapter 8, Verses 22-26

When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, "Do you see anything?"

Looking up he replied, "I see people looking like trees and walking." Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.

Then he sent him home and said, "Do not even go into the village."

This healing happens in two stages. Have there been any moments in your life when you feel that God is bringing you slowly to a new place, a new realization? What was the ‘between time’ like? Can you point to how God was present at that point in your life?

Day 42 - Chapter 8, Verses 11-21

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."

Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore. They had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He enjoined them, "Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." They concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread.

When he became aware of this he said to them, "Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?" They answered him, "Twelve."

"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?" They answered (him), "Seven."

He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Pay particular attention to Jesus’ frustration here. It sets the stage for the Gospel through chapter ten.

For each of us, there are times when we feel like we are searching for meaning, searching to understand. At other times, we have it all in front of us, but we can’t see what is happening. Which of those best describes your life right now? How can the Lord help you to see?

Day 41 - Chapter 8, Verses 1-10

In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance."

His disciples answered him, "Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?" Still he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" "Seven," they replied.

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also.

They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over--seven baskets. There were about four thousand people. He dismissed them and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

Once again, we see a feeding miracle. As before, he acts out of compassion. As you read through this, read the description of Jesus’ action aloud. The Gospel writer wants us to hear and remember the Eucharist. What about this story connects to the Eucharist for you?

About Chapter Seven

In Chapter Seven, Jesus is portrayed in conflict with both Pharisees and Gentiles. Beneath these tales of conflict are important messages for us. For more background on what you are reading, download this one page review.

Day 40 - Chapter 7, Verses 31-37

Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.

He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man's ears and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Be opened!") And (immediately) the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.

They were exceedingly astonished and they said, "He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak."

This word, Ephphatha, has come into our baptismal liturgy. The ears and mouth are touched, with the prayer (May the Lord Jesus) touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.

In your reading of Mark thus far, how have your ears been opened? How has your faith been deepened? (If it has been challenged, that is all to the good. Nothing can be stretched bigger without challenge!)

Day 39 - Chapter 7, Verses 24-30

From that place he went off to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

He said to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs."

She replied and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps."

Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

In this story, Jesus does not seem at all kind. This desperate mother comes to him, and he equates her request with giving food to dogs. (Which the Jews thought were unclean animals.) Yet, he applauds her faith and gives her heart’s desire - the health of her daughter. She has been enshrined as the model of persistence in prayer and faith.

When have you felt ‘rebuffed’ by God? What has your response been? Is faith more difficult when your requests are not fulfilled?

Day 38 - Chapter 7, Verses 14-23

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile."

When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, "Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

"But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."

Just in case you thought Jesus was always sort of sweet and delicate, translate his references to excrement into the common ‘street’ language of our day.

But, besides marveling at the earthiness of his speech, consider his point. What kinds of things in your life ‘defile’ you, are indeed filthy? How can the Lord help you in changing this reality?

Day 37 - Chapter 7, Verses 1-13

Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).)

So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.' You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."

He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother shall die.' Yet you say, 'If a person says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"' (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."

Here we see Jesus’ main quarrel with the Pharisees. (He agreed with them on other points.) His point is that we can twist something good into something self-righteous. Is that ever true in your own life? In what ways?

About Chapter Six

In Chapter Six, we see several interrelated episodes that had great significance for Mark's community - and for us. For more background on what you are reading, download this one page review.

Day 36 - Chapter 6, Verses 53-56

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there.

As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

As we have journeyed through Mark, we have seen the contrasts between faith and those who can’t comprehend. Where to do you find yourself? (No need to worry unduly if it leans toward those who see and can’t believe. Consider their subsequent career paths.)

Day 35 - Chapter 6, Verses 45-52

Then he made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.

When it was evening, the boat was far out on the sea and he was alone on shore. Then he saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. They had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke with them, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!"

He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were (completely) astounded. They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.

It seems incredible to us. How can those who knew Jesus so well be so oblivious to who was with them? Yet, it should cause us to reflect? Do we close our eyes and our hearts to the presence of the Lord?

Day 34 - Chapter 6, Verses 35-44

By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat." He said to them in reply, "Give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?" He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out they said, "Five loaves and two fish." So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to (his) disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate (of the loaves) were five thousand men.

The disciples feel that they have been asked to do the impossible. In response, Jesus astounds them. God’s abundance seems to have no limits. What does this miracle tell you of God’s wish to share all good gifts with us?

Day 33 - Chapter 6, Verses 30-34

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.

So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Jesus must have been tired. He sees weariness in his disciples. Yet, when they come to the other shore, more work awaits. How do we react when we see ‘one more thing that must be done, one more person who needs something’? What motivates our reaction? What motivates Christ’s?

Day 32 - Chapter 6, Verses 14-29

King Herod heard about it, for his fame had become widespread, and people were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him." Others were saying, "He is Elijah"; still others, "He is a prophet like any of the prophets." But when Herod learned of it, he said, "It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up."

Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.

Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.

She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias's own daughter came in and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you." He even swore (many things) to her, "I will grant you whatever you ask of me, even to half of my kingdom."

She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" She replied, "The head of John the Baptist." The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request, "I want you to give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her. So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders to bring back his head. He went off and beheaded him in the prison.

He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl. The girl in turn gave it to her mother.

When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

This is a horrifying story of a family. It is a tragic end to a prophet. It can’t fail to stir one’s emotions. What must it have been like for John to know that he met his fate because of a dreadful whim of another? How do we respond to cruelty in our own day and time?

Day 31 - Chapter 6, Verses 7-13

He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick--no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them." So they went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Part of discipleship is being on a mission - helping to bring Christ to the world. These leave with comparatively little resources. What do you think you would need to take on this journey? Can you ask the Lord for what you need to be a disciple on a mission?

Day 30 - Chapter 6, Verses 1-6

He departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching.

Try to put yourself into the place of the people who had watched Jesus grow up, maybe have come to his shop for some work. Their wives or daughters might have gossiped with Mary at the well. Is their disbelief easy for you to understand, or difficult?

About Chapter Five

In Chapter Five, we see the drama intensify, as Jesus confronts the demonic, social ostracism and death. For more background on what you are reading, download this two page review.

Day 29 - Chapter 5, Veres 35-43

While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.

So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child's father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. (At that) they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Raising this child from the dead has many meanings. The most immediate is Jesus’ compassion for a grieving family. It also shows his power over life and death, the power of God. And it certainly calls to mind his own resurrection. Which of these aspects has the most meaning for you right now? Why is that so?

Day 28 - Chapter 5, Verses 25-34

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured." Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?" But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction."

As you re-read this story, put yourself in the place of this woman, who is too frightened (and bound by social convention) to ask Jesus directly for help. How does his response affect you?

Day 27 - Chapter 5, Verses 21-24

When Jesus had crossed again (in the boat) to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live."

He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

We all have moments in our lives when we are desperate to implore the Lord for help. Spend some time ‘reliving’ the emotions of the father who is ‘pleading earnestly’ for his daughter’s life. What does it feel like to be so totally dependent?

Day 26 - Chapter 5, Verses 1-20

They came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.

The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.

Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!" (He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!") He asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion is my name. There are many of us." And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, "Send us into the swine. Let us enter them." And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened.

As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But he would not permit him but told him instead, "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you." Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.

Once again, the demons are the ones who recognize Jesus, while the disciples are still trying to figure things out. Can you look back on your life and see ways that God has been active, although you didn’t understand it at the time?

About Chapter 4

Chapter 4 begins with the Parable of the Sower. How and why did Jesus use parables? You might like to download this two page review to explore some background. If you have other questions, feel free to add them in the comments!

Day 25 - Chapter 4, Verses 33-41

With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.

Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"

They were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

They have been traveling the roads with Jesus, but this shocks them. How can one man have within him the power over creation? What surprises you about Jesus - or evokes awe, wonder, faith?