Day One - January 7th
Mark Chapter One
Note: Just a quick reminder that very strong tradition tells us that Mark (known as John Mark in the Bible) wrote this Gospel while in Rome under the influence of the apostle Peter. The uniqueness of Mark's Gospel is in the "action" orientation of these sixteen chapters. It is the briefest of the Gospels and tends to move from event to event rather quickly - focusing more on the things that Jesus did than what Jesus taught (which the other three Gospel writers did in greater detail).
What struck me from today's reading?
For me it was the two words that both fascinate me and scare me. What are those two words? "Follow me." Jesus spoke those words to Peter and Andrew, as well as James and John. And we are told that "immediately" they left their boats and followed Jesus.
I remember this Bible story from my Sunday School days (which is pretty amazing since most days, I can barely remember what I did the day before, and what I'm suppose to accomplish today). But I remember the flannel-graph (which was definitely not high tech but I thought is was fun) as the flannel Jesus came up to the flannel Peter or John and their flannel boat and spoke those words. And "immediately" they were ready and willing to go wherever Jesus would lead them.
And then there's me - a grown up version of that Sunday School kid from the east side of Detroit who is still fascinated by those two words, but truthfully wonders how many days I'm ready to "immediately" get up and follow Him. I suspect there are many more days in my life that I call out to Jesus with those same words: "Follow me." I've already set my agenda. I've already finished by to-do list for the day. I've already hit the ground running and I'm calling back over my shoulder ... "Jesus, come on and follow me. I may need you."
So honestly, that's not how I want to live. I know where my life ends up when I'm trying to call the shots and asking Jesus to bless them. I end up in a stressed out mess of my own making. So I"m thankful to begin this NT 5.1 journey with these words jumping out at me. "Follow me," Jesus says, and my prayer this morning is that I will do more than simply listen to those words. I'll act up them. I want to see where He'll take me.
So what do you think? What words jump out at you? Feel free to comment below.
What hit me when I was reading this was how often Jesus went off to a solitary place to pray and regroup. He needed is alone time to think and pray. It's a good reminder for me to spend time in quiet to pray and meditate. He was constantly mobbed by people and in in verse 45-46 it says..."Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet people still came to Him from everywhere." I wonder if Jesus was lonely...even though He was surrounded by people...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we're doing this. It will be great to see what everybody writes.
ReplyDeleteWhat stuck out at us during this reading was how James and John trusted Jesus enough to just drop everything and follow Him. They did not question and they did not look back. Our discussion continued with "what would we do in that situation?" How would we trust that we could just forget our lives as we know it and just follow Him? This world is filled with many distractions and we often forget that we are supposed to leave all things behind and just follow and trust our Lord.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing notes in my Bible from past studies or college theology classes - one that really jumped out at me in this chapter is when Jesus was in the desert being tempted, the mention of wild animals. The LAMB was surrounded by "lions" (literal animals and the prowling lion, the devil), but one day, that strife will be over, and the prowling lion will have no more power and the lion and the lamb will lie down together - all at peace.
ReplyDelete~Laura Battaile