Sunday 1st September 2024 Mark 7: 1-8;14-15; 21-23
Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean—that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should. (For the Pharisees, as well as the rest of the Jews, follow the teaching they received from their ancestors: they do not eat unless they wash their hands in the proper way; nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first.[a] And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote: ‘These people, says God, honour me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me. It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!’ “You put aside God's command and obey human teachings.” Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.” For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly— all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean.”
The Lord Jesus quotes from Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 29:13) chiding the people for worshipping God with their lips, while their hearts were far from wanting a relationship with God. One translation goes so far as to call their worship a farce. The Lord Jesus tells the people that it isn’t what we eat that separates us from a close relationship with him, but the harmful attitudes and thoughts which come from our hearts which cause us to harm others and ourselves. (see v 20-23)
Do our patterns of worship help us to grow closer to the Lord?
Sunday 8th September 2024: Mark 7: 24-end
Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!”. So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!” She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her. Jesus then left the neighbourhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!” At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”
The Lord Jesus plays on the fact that God had called the Jewish people chosen, when a desperate mother comes to him for help. She is not Jewish, so Jesus, the bread of life, teases her that he should surely meet the needs of the Jewish people first. Those days people used their fingers instead of knives and forks, so bread was used instead of a serviette and then the bit of bread used would be thrown under the table for the little lap dogs running around at their feet. We talk about a crumb of comfort, today and that is the essence of what she is saying. “Yes, the family have first call on all you have to offer, but can you offer me a crumb of comfort?” Her quick witted reply reveals her trust and Jesus heals her daughter. We see here how the Lord deals with us individually. In the same way, when he is asked to help a deaf man the Lord takes him away from the crowd and the man experiences the Lord touching him and meeting his deepest needs.
What is your need today? Will you trust the Lord Jesus to touch you at the deepest point of your need?
Sunday 15th September 2024 Mark 8: 27-end
Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Tell me, who do people say I am?” “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered; “others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets.” “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Then Jesus ordered them, “Do not tell anyone about me.” Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life.” He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!”
How quickly we can shift from having the most wonderful insight as Peter did, to being diverted by our own longings. Peter would not have wanted the Lord Jesus to suffer, or to ‘lose’ him. Thankfully we can trust the Lord by his Holy Spirit to bring us back on track when we get side-tracked.
What tough experiences do you have to face? Share them with those who will pray with you for God’s amazing answers to prayer. Paul wrote in Romans 8 36-39 that nothing can separate us from God’s love and overwhelming victory is ours through the Lord Jesus who loves us and intercedes for those who love him.
Sunday 22nd September 2024 Mark 9: 30-37
Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, because he was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.” But they did not understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him. They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them, “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”
How often does it happen, that instead of pondering on something we have read or heard from the Bible, and don’t fully understand, we become restless and argumentative? One of the characteristics of children is curiosity. How often have we heard the word, ”why? “ when we have been in their company? Let’s be curious about the things of God and learn to love one another.
The Lord Jesus said, “Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find.” (Matthew 7:7) Let’s not be satisfied until we find God’s answers to some of the problems of living together.
Sunday 29th September 2024: Matthew 6: 25-33
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group.” “Do not try to stop him,” Jesus told them, “because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me. For whoever is not against us is for us. I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward “If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea. So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’ “Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt. “Salt is good; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? “Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another.”
We need to be careful not to dismiss someone just because he is not a member of our ‘group’. The Lord Jesus makes it plain here that anyone who helps us because we belong to him will be blessed. On the other hand, woe betide us if we harm anyone who depends upon God for protection.
Do we pass the test? Do our friendships have the right flavour ? If not, let’s admit it to the Lord and ask him to help us relate better to one another.