True Evangelism

Mark 5:18-19
(18)  As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.
(19)  And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

(18)  καὶ ἐμβαίνοντος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον παρεκάλει αὐτὸν ὁ δαιμονισθεὶς ἵνα μετ' αὐτοῦ ᾖ. 

(19)  καὶ οὐκ ἀφῆκεν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ λέγει αὐτῷ, Ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου πρὸς τοὺς σούς, καὶ ἀπάγγειλον αὐτοῖς ὅσα ὁ κύριός σοι πεποίηκεν καὶ ἠλέησέν σε.

This is an extremely convicting passage for me.  The demoniac rightly wanted to follow Jesus.  Jesus had just set him free from unspeakable terrors.  I think back to my bondage to pornography as well as to gluttony and laziness, but neither really holds a candle to this.  This man was living in tombs and was clearly out of his mind.  In our society he would be continually jacked up with thorazine and kept in a locked facility.  Jesus set him free from all that.

His reaction was pretty sensible.  Jesus gave him everything, so he was ready to give everything to Jesus.  I can guess that Jesus appreciated the offer, but he commanded something much more useful.  He told the man to go and tell his family all that the Lord had done for him.  The word σοι is in the dative, so you could read it very woodenly as "to you."  

Why does this convict me?  The prospect of telling others (such as you, dear reader) about my past is easier than telling my family.  My immediate family knows my story of course.  However, it is discouraging to see so little immediate fruit from it.  I haven't seen my story lead to any lives that are obviously sold-out for following Jesus.

I guess I shouldn't be too convicted because I have obeyed this verse.  I just have a sense that there is more for me to do.  Maybe I should do more with my coworkers.  Maybe I should actually make some non-Christian friends and tell them about what the Lord has done to me, though I've done that a little bit too.  

I realize that it is my job to sow and God's job to create a harvest.  Yet I still read this passage wondering what else I need to do.  Am I bold enough?  Am I faithful enough?  What if anything needs to change?

Blind Squirrels

Mark 2:7
(7)  "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

(7)  Τί οὗτος οὕτως λαλεῖ; βλασφημεῖ· τίς δύναται ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεόσ;

There's an old expression that "sometimes even a blind squirrel finds an acorn."  Or if you prefer, "even a broken clock is right twice a day."  We usually use this when someone stumbles into something that is typically beyond them.  A good sports example would be when Anderson Varejao hit a 3 pointer with the shot clock running out. That was his first made 3 out of 19 attempts in his career.  These things happen sometimes.

My point is that the scribes and Pharisees are not always wrong.  In this case, the scribes got it right.  Who can forgive sins but God alone?  The answer is no one.  Yet that is just what Jesus did.  He had authority to forgive sins because He was the one that was sinned against.  

A very wooden translation of the final clause in this verse would be, "except one who is God."  We know that God is one.  Therefore, Jesus is part of that oneness that is God.  He is clearly not God the Father, but He is exercising authority as God.

I don't claim to have my mind wrapped completely around this.  But I cannot escape from what the text clearly teaches about this.  Jesus is worthy of our worship because He is God.

Holy Party

Mark 1:10-11
(10)  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.
(11)  And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

(10)  καὶ εὐθὺς ἀναβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος εἶδεν σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα ὡς περιστερὰν καταβαῖνον εἰς αὐτόν· 

(11)  καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν, Σὺ εἶ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν σοὶ εὐδόκησα.

There are a couple of striking things about this passage.  First, note the phrase  καὶ εὐθὺς.  That is Mark's calling card.  We see this as he transitions from one part of the narrative to another.  Taken most literally, this means "and immediately."  There is a sense of urgency and action to this.  I kind of picture the last 10 minutes of an episode of "24" in a way.  You get the image of Jesus hurrying from one activity to another.  This is also why Mark 1:35 stands out so starkly to me.

More importantly from a doctrinal perspective, this is one of the passages where you see all three members of the Trinity in the same place at the same time.  You have God the Son coming out of the water, God the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove, and God the Father speaking from heaven.  I would not take this passage by itself as an ironclad proof for the doctrine of the Trinity, but it is very compelling to me and certainly complements other such passages.

Is the Trinity mysterious?  Absolutely.  However, I would also submit that if we can completely understand God then He is not much of a God.

He is Risen!

Matthew 28:6
(6)  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

(6)  οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἠγέρθη γὰρ καθὼς εἶπεν· δεῦτε ἴδετε τὸν τόπον ὅπου ἔκειτο.

It seems a bit odd to talk about this in the middle of winter.  This is of course a great Easter passage.  Yet this is where I find myself in my reading today.  

What a great truth to meditate upon!  This is what Christianity is all about.  All other faiths either worship or revere someone who is dead.  Christians worship someone who is still alive.  Jesus claimed to be God and then proved it by being raised from the dead (i.e. the sign of Jonah).  

The word ἠγέρθη is in the aorist passive indicative.  I don't want to make too big of a deal out of the aorist, but the passive suggests that this is something that happened to Him.  I'm not quite sure what to make of this theologically, but I do find it kind of interesting.  The point is that He is risen indeed and that is something about which those who follow Him can rejoice.

What does this truth do for you?  Do you realize that the resurrection is historical fact that must be reckoned with?  We cannot ignore it and pretend it didn't happen.  The evidence is simply too compelling to ignore.  I cannot prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, but I do believe that it is the best explanation for the facts.  The point of this truth is that the Christian faith is based on truth, not feelings.  It is not about what it does for us.  It is not about how it makes us feel.  Those are important elements to living the Christian life, but ultimately the faith is based on the truth of the resurrection.  A miracle occurred on that first Easter morning.  How firm a foundation that gives us!

Prepare to Prepare

Matthew 27:61
(61)  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

(61)  ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Μαρία καθήμεναι ἀπέναντι τοῦ τάφου.

This verse struck me this morning as a reminder about the detail of Scripture.  In an effort to discount any supernatural explanation for the empty tomb on Easter morning some have guessed that maybe they went to the wrong tomb.  However, this verse makes that extremely unlikely.  It is certainly possible in the same sense that it is possible that a bunch of men came into my house last night, walked around, took nothing, and left without a trace.  It may have happened, but it is extremely unlikely.  Steven Wright had a joke that someone broke into his house, stole everything, and replaced it with an exact replica.  It's funny because of the improbability of it.

This verse also tells us that Mary and Martha were thinking ahead to Easter morning.  They were going to prepare the body with spices.  They had to know where the body was so they could do that.  While the eleven faithful disciples fled they were at least clear-headed enough to think about preparing the body.

I know that I tend to overlook this verse as I read through Matthew.  Today it bolsters my faith in the historical truth of the physical resurrection of Jesus' body.  What does it do for you, if anything?