Category: Devotionals

You Don’t Really Understand the Bible, and That’s Good

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”  With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.  He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. —Mark 4:30-34

You may be tempted to read the parable of the mustard seed and try to figure it out.  “Oh, the kingdom of God is very tiny, like a mustard seed…This means we only need a tiny bit of faith.  Then it grows into the largest plant in the garden…This means God can do great things with my tiny faith.  You see, simple!”  

But keep reading the passage, for it goes on to say, “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it” (33).  Most were not able to hear what Jesus truly meant by the parables, including the disciples!   “He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything” (34).  Jesus spoke the word in parables only, he did not give interpretations.  However, he explained in private to his disciples.  

This brings me to the truth most people overlook: if his own disciples, who spent every moment of the day with him, did not even understand his parables, then what makes us think we will?  They could see his body language, hear his tone, and feel his gravitas.  They shared his cultural background, spoke his language, and understood the idioms and slang of their time.  They slept with him, ate with him, and walked with him from town to town.  They experienced his emotions, knew the color of his eyes, and met his mom and dad.  Again, if the first disciples couldn’t understand his parables without an explanation, then neither can we!  So be careful of trying to figure out his parables on your own, for they weren’t meant to be “solved” like math problems.  

Nobody enters the kingdom of God with their intelligence.  And just as you cannot think your way to heaven, neither can you act your way to heaven. 

What was the purpose of the parables then?  They were meant to confuse, blind, paralyze, and harden.  They were meant to put the hearer in such a state of shock that he wouldn’t dare to move, out of fear, angst, and bewilderment.  They were meant to leave us shaking our heads, muttering to ourselves, “Then who can be saved?  Who can be saved?”  The parables expose our idols and toxic confidence in ourselves and they keep us from being able to manipulate God, forcing him to accept us because of how we act, what we say, or what we believe.  

The parables force us to go to Jesus and ask him to explain to us the meaning of his words.  Let me say it again, the parables compel us to go humbly to Jesus for help.

The parable of the mustard seed offends us, for no matter what good we do, we are bested by a minuscule seed dropped in the dirt.  It doesn’t need our help.  It starts smaller than we are, yet grows larger than we’ll ever dare to dream.  Its purpose is not flashy, but is satisfied with being a resting place for birds.  While our cravings are legion, the seed only needs dirt, light, and water.  Every day, it stretches out its limbs and praises its Creator, doing what it was planted here to do, both bound to the earth and as free as the birds in the air who shelter in it.

Jesus sought to offend all those who trusted in themselves and the “size” of their spirituality, so he used the mustard seed to accomplish his ministry of offense.  Those who trusted in themselves would point their fingers at others and arrogantly say, “Look at him, he is completely hopeless.  Look at her enormous sin and her minuscule faith.  Look at those corrupt people, who know very little about God.”  Yet the tiny mustard seed grows into the largest plant in the garden.  In this way, the parable of the mustard seed is a celebration of hopelessness.

The effect of the parables is to do to us what God did to Abraham.  God gave Abraham astounding promises; God would give Abraham many children and much land.  Yet, by the time Abraham and his wife were a hundred years old, they were childless nomads.  God had to reduce their hopes and dreams down to the size of a mustard seed.  That’s God’s typical method when dealing out his promises to us.  Before fulfilling the promise, he must empty us of natural strength, opportunity, and realistic parameters.

This prepares the way for grace.  

Likewise, the parables are to get us to say, “That’s completely unrealistic…there’s no way that’s happening!”  When we’ve been reduced down to practically nothing, then God begins to cause growth, for he doesn’t want us to rely on ourselves, but him alone. 

If you can see a way forward in your trial right now, then you’re not small enough yet. God may very well wait until circumstances are even more desperate.  We don’t grow by being rich in spirit, but by being poor in spirit.  True growth begins in the ground.  And it doesn’t end until your limbs reach the heavens. 

The parables aren’t meant to be figured out, but they are meant to get you to put your trust in Jesus. 

The Breakdown

  1. Have you ever felt as small as a grain of mustard seed in the face of your enormous circumstances? Talk to a friend about it or write about it.
  2. How can this parable guide your prayer life?
  3. How can this parable help you to understand true humility?  True pride?

The Gospel in Five Seconds

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Today’s Bible passage, Mark 4:26-29, gives us a succinct and powerful way of thinking of the gospel.  It’s so quick you can read it in five seconds and so powerful it will affect you the rest of your life.  First read the passage and then I’ll give you the five second version: 

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.  He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.  The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”  –Mark 4:26-29

Think of the expression, “You reap what you sow.”  It means you’ll have to pay the consequences for the all the wrongs you’ve done.  You can’t escape your past.  The seeds of sin will become a harvest of punishment and destruction.  

Now for the good news.  Here’s the gospel in five seconds: You don’t reap what you sow, but God reaps what he sows.

At the beginning of chapter 4, verses 1-20, Jesus told another parable about a farmer.  He clearly taught the farmer was God, the seed was the word of God, and the soil was people.  We have no reason not to keep the same understanding of the components of the first parable in our passage today.  

God plants his word into our lives, just as a seed is planted into the ground.  God watches over the seed, day and night, protecting it and caring for it.  He patiently waits for the kingdom of God to grow in our hearts.  As soon as the kingdom of God has grown up fully in us, he harvests it.  

The good news of the gospel is even though I’ve sown many seeds of sin into my life, I don’t reap the harvest of a life of sin.  Instead, I get to keep the harvest of the seed that God has planted in my life.  The fruit of sin is death, but the fruit of righteousness is life.  The harvest of sin is destruction, but the harvest of Jesus is resurrection.  Thank God he put the seed of his word into my life!  

You don’t reap what you sow, but God reaps what he sows and gives it to you.  God plants perfect seed in you and you get to have the harvest!  If you have received the word of God as a seed in your heart, then you will not reap the harvest of your life of sin.  Instead, you will reap the harvest of Jesus’s perfect life of faithfulness and love.  You don’t reap what you sow, but God reaps what he sows in you and then he gives it to you for eternity.     

The Breakdown

  1. What are the “sin seeds” you sowed into your life that you are most concerned about? Confess them to God.  If this honest confession doesn’t ease your conscience, then confess these sins to a trusted person in your life. 
  2. Have you received the word of grace into your life?  Do this by trusting God’s love for you in Jesus Christ.  Rely on the life and death of Jesus to deal with your sin and make you whole and acceptable.
  3. If God has sowed his word into your life, what will he reap?  What is the harvest he will get for himself from the ground of your life?  Do you accept yourself as much as God accepts you?  Why or why not?

Hidden God

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 4:21-25

In the last devotional, we learned about a farmer who sowed seed into the ground (Mark 4:1-20).  Keep that in mind as you read and think about today’s Scripture passage, Mark 4:21-25.  Take the first two verses together: 

And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?”  For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.” (Mark 4:21-22)

In order to understand the meaning of this passage, go straight to the word “for.”  “For nothing is hidden…”  The word “for” gives us the powerful and important underlying principle.  If you want to understand more about God, then you have to know this principle.  It’s that hidden things will be revealed and secrets will be uncovered.  You see, for ages and ages there has been a “hidden” God.  Humanity knew a little about God, but not much.  Religion, philosophy, science, law, art, and human wisdom helped us some, but each of these fell short.  

Although God kept himself hidden from us, he still gave us promises along the way.  These promises pointed forward to the day when the hidden God would reveal himself.  His secrets would be uncovered and light would pour in for us to see what he was like. 

A seed is hidden in the ground and the farmer waits.  Promises are buried in history and the One who promised waits.  Neither is benign, but each throbs with potential, for, when it comes to the mysteries and promises of God, “nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”  It was only a matter of time until the promises came to light.  

After starting with the “for” in verse 22, we can then consider the application found in verse 21, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?”  In other words, things that shine light are put where they can be most effective.  Lamps go on stands, not hidden under baskets or beds.  God’s revelatory word, in the last parable known as the seed, will be placed where it will shine the brightest, because the hidden secret of God will come to light.

The hidden God reveals both himself and his plan for the world.  The light will shine from the right places for us to see what God wants us to see.  What is it that God wants us to see?  What is God’s secret?  God’s secret, which has been both promised and hidden from the foundation of the world, is that he would become a human being, suffer for our sins, and offer us free salvation in Jesus Christ.  The mystery of God, which is now being uncovered, is the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.  The hidden God is now revealing himself as the God who loves us, is for us, and has the perfect plan to redeem us.  

This gospel is the incredible secret of the cosmos, which even angels have longed to peer into (1 Peter 1:12).  

Then Jesus adds in verse 23, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”  Jesus isn’t referring to physical ears, but to a special kind of hearing.  If you can “hear” the secret mystery of the gospel of Jesus, then you will be able to know and understand even more of the hidden secrets of God.  By knowing this mystery of God, then you have a kind of decoder ring, which will help you understand other mysteries of life.  Knowing the love of God opens up the universe to you.

So Jesus goes on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you” (Mark 4:24).  If you put on your special decoder ring and listen to God through the gospel message, then even more mysteries will open up for you.  The “measure” refers to the way you calculate what you see in life.  Think of it like the Metric system or the US Standard system; but instead, it’s the “Gospel system.”  You use the Gospel system, the good news of the love of God, by which to measure all life.  

It’s popular today to measure life with nihilism, which measures life with cynicism and the rejection of morality and divine transcendence.  If the measure you measure life with is nihilism, then you have to make up your own rules, life becomes meaningless, and human politics becomes the highest form of “salvation.”  We’re just a bunch of animals fighting it out to the finish, seeing which group has the most power to come out on top.  There are no guiding principles, no stars to look up to in the sky.

But, as Jesus warns, if the measure you measure with is nihilism, then nihilism will be measured to you.  You become meaningless.  You become rejected.  As Psalm 115 similarly warns, we become what we put on top (Psalm 115:8).

If the measure you measure life with is the love of God, on the other hand, then the love of God will be measured to you!  “…and still more will be added to you.”  Now we’re ready to understand Jesus’s conclusion to this section, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Mark 4:25).  The more light you have, the more of God and his promises you will be able to see.  Picture the scene at the end of the movie National Treasure.  Nicholas Cage held a single torch, which revealed a small amount of treasure in the treasure room; but, then he lit another light and the flames began to spread around the room, illuminating more and more, revealing greater and greater treasure.  The room looked endless and the view of the treasure seemed never to end.  In the same way, once the light of the gospel shines on the love of God, then more light will begin to shine and the love of God will seem to go on forever.  You truly will never be able to see the end of it.

However, if you don’t have the light of the gospel, then the opposite happens.  Since you don’t know God is for you, as the gospel proclaims, then you think God is against you.  And if you believe God is against you, then darkness and despair will swallow you completely, until, “even what he has will be taken away.”  In other words, even the small amount of love and hope you cling to will be absorbed by this darkness and despair if you don’t know God loves you.  

Experientially, we know that life works this way, for if we believe there is no God and no purpose for life, if we believe everything is meaningless, if we believe we are a mistake or rejected matter of the cosmos, then not even the simple pleasures of life can bring us calm, so we might as well give up.  

It’s not up to me to define who God is; God is who he has revealed himself to be.  Much to our joy, God has revealed himself to be the Savior, Jesus Christ.  This is what he most wants you to know about him; this is the secret he whispers to you every day in his word.  As we continue to read the book of Mark together, his whispers will get louder and louder, until they culminate with a shout on the cross.  From the cross, Jesus shouts to us the love of God.

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”  

The Breakdown

  1. What is the mystery of the hidden God?  
  2. Be honest, what “system” do you normally use to measure life?  How do you measure happiness? Sadness? 
  3. What would it look like to measure your life with the “Gospel” system?

Pandemic God

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 4:1-20

It’s alive in the air.  Anyone can catch it, because it does not discriminate.  It’s more dangerous in crowds, which was the case in the story we’re about to consider.  It’s transmitted orally and will change your life forever.  According to Jesus, you have a one in four chance of being irreversibly infected.  

In our story, some put on religious masks so as not to catch it.  They covered themselves with the mask of self-righteousness.  They didn’t want what Jesus was passing on to the crowd.  As you’ve guessed, I’m not talking about the coronavirus, but something much older, more upending, the Christ virus.

This is the pandemic of grace.  

In Mark 4:1-20, Jesus taught a very large crowd by the sea.  It was so large he had to quarantine himself in a boat off the shore to make room.  He told them a strange parable about a farmer who went out to sow seed.  Some seed fell on the path, but the birds came and devoured it immediately.  Some seed fell on rocky ground, but its roots could not go deep enough, so when the sun came out, it withered and died.  Some seed fell among thorns, which ended up choking out the seed, so it produced no grain.  But the last seed fell into good soil, and produced much fruit for the farmer, even a yield of up to a hundredfold.  

The parable confused the disciples, even though Jesus said it was the simplest parable.  If they couldn’t understand this one, then there’s no way they could understand any of the other parables (Mark 4:13)!  Jesus explained to them the seed was the word of God.  Then he said the birds along the trodden path were Satan; the rocky ground was the tribulations and persecutions of life; and the thorns were the cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things.  But the seed that produced a harvest were those who heard the word and accepted it, bearing fruit.

The disciples still didn’t understand why Jesus had to teach the crowd with parables.  Since he had such a great opportunity to influence a large crowd, why didn’t he simply make himself as plain as possible?   But Jesus wasn’t interested in clarity, because he wasn’t merely instructing like the Pharisees did; rather, Jesus was doing something else altogether, bringing spiritually dead people to life.  So Jesus told them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” (Mark 4:11-12).

This is where most people are confused about Jesus Christ.  They think he was just a good teacher, but Jesus didn’t come to be a teacher (he came to be a Savior).  In fact, he tried hard to make his lessons confusing, not clear.  Jesus didn’t teach us formulas or definitions, but secrets and mysteries.  “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God…”  Again, why did he do this?  He did it so people would not be able to figure it out on their own, so that, “they may indeed see but not perceive…lest they should turn and be forgiven.”  Wait, what?   Did Jesus teach in riddles in order to keep people from being able to understand and find forgiveness?  Sort of, but let me explain.

Jesus was not interested in educating people so they could figure out life on their own, because he knew it wasn’t possible in this world.  Jesus did not come to give us more rules to learn and keep; God had already given the world a set of commandments, and Lord knows how that turned out.  Instead, Jesus came to give us himself and make us alive.  And the way to do this is not through instruction, but proclamation, which is what’s meant by sowing seed in the parable.  Jesus wanted to confine people to the only pathway to finding forgiveness, which was through him.  To find forgiveness apart from Christ was not possible, the proof being nobody had been able to instruct the soul to forgiveness in the history of the world, no matter what the religion, philosophy, or leader had been. 

So the sower sows the word of God.  The word of God is a seed, which contains the life of God in it.  This seed, even though small, has the potential to plant the kingdom of God in your heart.  You and I are dead because of sin, so the only hope for us is not instruction, but renegeration.  We do not need to be instructed by the word of God, but infected by the word of God.  The word of God needs to hijack every cell in our being, replicate itself, and start a new life from the inside out. 

God’s word needs to be planted into our hearts, take root, grow, and bear fruit.  The Pharisees thought they could bear fruit apart from the word of Jesus, but they were mistaken, as are most people today.  In our time, there’s a movement that revolves around advanced intellectual instruction, via podcasts and other media formats, seeking to help us flourish with the best possible instruction.  I’m thinking of Jordan Peterson, in particular, or TED Talks.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to listen to Jordan Peterson and learn much from him!  On one level, everyone can benefit from this sort of first rate teaching.  But, and here’s the point, this sort of high level teaching has been around for millenia, so there’s nothing new about it.  It will help you for a while, but that is all.  It will improve your life, but that’s its limit.  Jordan Peterson had nothing on the Pharisees, for they could teach just as well as he could, if not better.  

But their teaching was not in the same category of the simple proclamation of Jesus.  

Jesus was talking about preaching the word of God, which makes dead hearts come to life.  This is why he did it in a way some couldn’t figure out, because if you could figure it out with your intellectual skills, then it wouldn’t be a gift of grace.  If you could figure it out on your own, then it would be a religious “work.”  The Pharisees were good at figuring things out, but they couldn’t figure out Jesus Christ and his simple parable of the farmer and his seed!  It wasn’t that it went above their heads, but it went below their heads and bounced right off their hard hearts.

Instruction and high quality teaching do not make the grass grow.  

Instead, we need to expose ourselves to the Christ virus.  We must drop our masks of self-sufficiency and breathe in deeply the orally transmitted, preached word of God.  There is no other way to come alive.  And we know this from experience.  No matter how much we learn, how good our habits, and all the positive practices we attempt to put to use, at the end of the day, we still manage to muck up our lives.  Can you relate?  

I’ve got eleven intellectually informative podcasts I listen to on a regular basis and none of them can keep my heart from envying others.  None of them can keep my eyes from lusting.  None of them can keep my lips from lying to make myself look better.  None can keep my intellect from thinking it’s better than others or from judging those with whom I disagree.  None can keep my conscience from being riddled with guilt and despair, to the point where I want to give up.  Can you relate?

We know from experience that we cannot save ourselves, but if left to ourselves, will ruin ourselves and take out others in the process.  

Jesus didn’t come to give us more of the same, but he came to infect us with the word of grace and bring us to life.  He came to plant a tiny seed of hope in our hearts that would grow into the size of a kingdom, apart from anything we do.  If you’re infected by the Christ virus, you will come alive and then have the potential to infect others to life. 

The application for this text is remarkably simple and clear.  Jesus is calling us to listen to Bible preaching, allowing the Bible to drip feed into our souls.  There’s no replacement for this.  I’m not talking about instruction or fancy teaching, but the word of grace proclaimed to you, week after week after week.  We need to hear about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  We need to be infected by the truths of justification and redemption.  Other teachings might be able to show you where you need to go, but they can’t take you there, for they have no intrinsic power.  The preaching of the gospel, on the other hand, has intrinsic power, just as a seed has life within itself. 

Jesus said there were four kinds of soil: trodden, rocky, thorny, and good.  Since God is the farmer, then surely he knows the difference between good and bad soil; any experienced farmer, let alone a divine one, would know not to plant seed into trodden, rocky, or thorny soil.  So why doesn’t the farmer discriminate?  I’d like to suggest that at some point in our lives, we are all of these.  The farmer doesn’t sow seed just once, but year after year.  Likewise, in the different soil seasons of our lives, we need to continue to expose ourselves to the seed of the farmer.  Let Him sow the seed in good times and in bad, healthy and sick, plenty and want.  

When all else fails, and it will, listen to the preached word of God.  You may think you don’t need it, but so did the Pharisees, whom Jesus condemned.  You may think you don’t need church or sermons, but Jesus is clearly telling us we do; remember, this is the easiest parable to understand.  If you don’t understand why you need to listen to the proclaimed word of God, then nothing else can be done for you.  And it’s not because you’re a bad person, per se, but it’s because you think you’re too good.  Your heart is hard, just like the trodden soil in the parable.  

Faith does not begin with our actions, but ends with them—thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.  Faith begins in secret, with the word of God floating through the air, entering our hearts, and taking root.  And it’s all by grace.  God is not safe, but God is pandemic. 

The Breakdown

  1. Why do you think Jesus chose to represent God as a farmer?  Why did he choose to represent people as soil?  What do they have in common? 
  2. Think about the four types of soil.  Which one seems most like you right now?  Which “season” are you in?  Why?  Be detailed.
  3. When was the last time you heard a sermon based on the Bible?  In our time, it’s easy to access quality sermons; are there any you listen to regularly?  Two Bible preachers to check out are Colin Smith (Unlocking the Bible podcast) and Timothy Keller (Gospel in Life podcast).

The Reframe

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 3:31-35

The families we grew up in have an enormous impact on us as adults; all the wounds we received as children will continue to cause us hurt long after we’ve moved away from home.  Each person unconsciously holds on to the various verbal and nonverbal messages communicated from his or her family of origin and these messages are hard to shake.  Such messages might include: kids don’t matter; I have to sneak to take care of myself; if I want anything done, I have to do it myself; don’t trust adults; my needs don’t matter; I have to be bad to be noticed; or I have to be perfect.  

Jesus also grew up in a family, who, no doubt, communicated certain messages to his maturing self, as well.  In his day and age, families were much closer-knit than ours.  His culture was more a culture of shame than ours, so family loyalty was highly prized.  Especially as a Jew, fidelity to the family was the penultimate value, right behind fidelity to God.  In fact, “honor your father and mother” was the hinge on which the Ten Commandments turned.

As we learned in a past devotional, Jesus’s family didn’t support him or believe in his mission.  As Mark 3:21 clearly stated, they thought he’d gone mad.  “He is out of his mind,” they said.  True, Jesus was not a child anymore at this point, but, we still have to believe that messages like this are hard to absorb from one’s family, even at the age of thirty.  Can you imagine if your family thought you had legitimately gone insane?  There you are, sitting at home with some friends, when you hear a knock at the door.  Your mom and siblings were there to take you away to put you into a home for the mentally ill.  How does this scenario sit with you?

This scenario was not hypothetical with Jesus, but this is precisely what happened.  Let’s pick up where we left off with Mark 3:31-35.  “And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him” (31).  They wanted to take him away, because they thought he was insane.  How would Jesus deal with his family?  In a sense, the fate of the world rested on how Jesus responded to the knock at the door.  

Everyone knows family conflict is the worst kind of conflict, so let’s pay attention closely to how Jesus navigated these troubling waters.  He did something I call “the reframe,” which I’d like to teach to you, so you can better handle conflicts in life.  

“And a crowd was sitting around him [Jesus] and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you’” (Mark 3:32).  They were seeking him to put a stop to him.  They wanted to take him away by force, shut him up, and disband his ministry, because they thought he was a lunatic.  In fairness to them, people were probably giving his family a bad name because of Jesus.  

Let’s be honest for a moment, what would we have done?  You have a direction or idea for your life, but your family doesn’t support you.  You begin to express yourself a certain way and your family mocks you.  You start to hang out with people nobody else likes and your family tells you to your face how much they hate your new friends.  You start to become more spiritual and your family wonders if you’re in a cult or dabbling in the demonic.  All this and more was happening to Jesus.  You or I would have been tempted to have a pity party.  We would have seriously questioned ourselves, wondering if we’d missed the mark.  We would entertain doubt and probably despair, as well.  We may even drop our goals and cave to the pressure of our mom, dad, brothers, and sisters.  Even as a thirty year old, it’s nearly impossible to outrun the messages of our family.

But here’s what Jesus did, he reframed the entire situation.  To reframe is to step back, look at the situation objectively, and retell the ‘story’ to yourself in a positive light.  Think of it like this, just like the modern media seems to put a negative spin on the day’s news, to reframe is to put a positive spin on the day’s news.  As we’ll learn, the very best way to reframe is to put a ‘gospel’ spin on your life.  

So, Instead of falling into the pit of negativity or self-pity, this is what happened:

And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?  And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers!  For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.’ (Mark 3:33-34)  

If Jesus’s family of origin wasn’t going to support and encourage him, he wouldn’t let it ruin his mission—and thank God for that!  In a flash of divine inspiration, he looked at his aggravating situation and put a new frame on it, saying, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”  

A family is supposed to stick together and help each other achieve goals.  The profoundest and truest definition of family is people who help each other do the will of God.  Jesus continued, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”  True family members help each other love God, do his will, and stay the course.  In that moment, Jesus reframed who his true family was, not the ones banging on the door to take him away from the will of God, but those eager strangers who’d gathered around him to hear more about his mission.  

“Here are my mother and my brothers!”  What a way to reframe family conflict!  Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he took joy in the good he could find around him.  And you could do the same.

Maybe your spouse works nights and, as a result, you don’t get to have family dinners together.  Instead of bemoaning this, reframe it: you can have breakfasts together and be the first people each other sees every day!  Maybe you went through a horrible breakup in a relationship.  Instead of beating yourself up and repeating to yourself all the predictable putdowns, reframe your story by celebrating the person you can become.  You have the opportunity to learn more about yourself, grow in character, find a new ministry, and become a well of compassion to others in need.  

Or perhaps you just had a really bad day.  Reframe it and say, “Everybody has bad days and I know good days are to come; one thing I know for sure is God’s mercies are new every morning.”  

By reframing your life, you take yourself out of the victim’s seat and learn to see the positive things that are happening in your life.  It may take some time to get the hang of, but keep at it and you’ll get better.  

Here’s one more thing about learning to reframe.  The best “frame” you can use is the cross.  The cross is the secret power behind Jesus’s words about his new family.  Because Jesus knew about the cross, he was able to foresee it’s profound and eternal effects.  The cross tears down walls between people and unites us all as one.  Strangers and enemies become family, because of the cross.  By peering through the frame of the cross, Jesus could see the reality of his eternal family, even while his earthly family rejected him.  

There will be moments in your life that feel cursed, but don’t let the curses of this world write your story.  The gospel means your story is actually “good news.”  The gospel turns every failure into good news, every loss into good news, every disappointment into good news, and every struggle into good news.  How?  Jesus absorbed all curses on the cross and exchanged them for blessing.  Look through the frame of the cross to reframe your life and discover a treasury of blessing.  

We’ll help you along the way as we continue to dig deeper into Mark’s gospel.  But for now, that’s the end of chapter three!  If these devotionals have been helpful, be sure to share them with your friends!

The Breakdown

  1. Do you have family conflicts?  How does knowing a little more about Jesus’s story help?
  2. What are the negative ‘stories’ you’re telling yourself right now?  How could you reframe one of them?
  3. The cross is a treasure chest of riches for us.  Can you name some of the treasures that come from the cross?  Try to name at least ten of them.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Phariseest of Them All?

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 3:22-30

As we’ve been reading through the gospel of Mark, perhaps you’ve been struck by the various groups of religious authorities.  Mark tells us about the Pharisees, Herodians, scribes, chief priests, elders, and Sadducees.  Have you ever wondered why they are in a story about Jesus?  Afterall, why not just tell us about Jesus and his miracles?  Every story needs a protagonist and an antagonist.  Jesus is obviously the protagonist and, together, the various religious authorities form the antagonist.  As Mark has been telling his story, he has made it clear that Jesus has authority over the world.  He has authority over disease, demons, nature, and even the law.  And, by implication, Jesus has authority over all other religious authorities, which is why they hate him and seek to destroy him.

The urban dictionary way of saying it would be Jesus is the hero and the religious authorities are the villain.  

There’s another purpose for including the various religious authorities, in order to give you a mirror so you can see yourself.  It’s impossible for us to see our blindspots, unless someone else points them out to us.  One of the best ways to point out blindspots is to tell a story in the third person, hoping the listener sees himself or herself in the characters.    

When we read Mark’s gospel, we are to see ourselves in the characters of the religious authorities.  In other words, Jesus is the hero and we are the villain.  Mark’s gospel story is a mirror, showing us what we look like at times.  To riff off the witch in Snow White, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the Phariseest of them all?”

Jesus is constantly showing us his authority over all life and we are constantly challenging him, just like the scribes and Pharisees.  He lays claim on our lives and we seek to evade him.  He shows love to the unlovable and we get hung up on some trivial point of our manmade “law,” missing the forest for the trees.  He is getting all the attention and we’re getting jealous.  He heals and we inflict pain.  He forgives and we judge.  He shows mercy and we demand revenge.  He makes friends with outcasts and losers and we say he’s gone mad.  He casts out unclean spirits and we accuse him of being too cosy with the devil.

That’s where our passage is taking us today in Mark 3:22-30 and I want you to see yourself in it.  “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons” (Mark 3:22).  They also said, “He has an unclean spirit” (30).  At first, you might not be able to see yourself, but step closer to the mirror, and really look.  

Think about a car.  Let’s say you were convinced a particular car had a bad engine, would you buy it?  Of course not!  You wouldn’t trust it to take you where you needed to go.  Likewise, the religious authorities were convinced Jesus had a bad engine, thinking he was powered by a bad or unclean spirit.  They didn’t buy him and surely didn’t trust he could get them where they needed to go.  

Can you see yourself yet?

In response, Jesus told them “all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mark 3:28-29).  

Make no mistake, you will be forgiven for every single sin you have ever done or will do.  “All sins” means all sins!  However, there’s one particular sin that never has forgiveness, and that’s to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.  What does this mean?  It means you think Jesus is powered by an evil engine.  You don’t think he will take you where you want to go.  You think he can’t provide forgiveness and does not have authority over life.  If we think he can’t do what he says he can do, to put it simply, then he won’t.

I love how Jesus tells his life story, turning himself into a streetwise tough guy.  “But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  Then indeed he may plunder his house.” (Mark 3:27).  In just a couple of sentences, Jesus tells us he’s like a thief, who breaks into a house, ties up the musclehead bouncer in the corner, and then steals all his stuff.  That is the narrative of life Jesus is asking us to embrace.  Jesus Christ broke into our evil world, has bound the devil, and is reclaiming all hostages.  He might not be doing it exactly like you or I would do it, but he is doing it.  

He may be staying out late with prostitutes and getting drunk with government officials, but he is doing it.

Again, can you see yourself, yet?

Let me point out where we are located in the story, in case you missed it.  Verse 22 says, “And the scribes…came down from Jerusalem.”  They “came down” to accuse Jesus, because they thought they were above him.  They thought he was below them.  They thought they knew more than he did.  They wouldn’t run the world the way he was running it.  Can you relate?  

Think about your life, are you happy with how God is running it?  Or are you envious of others?  Do you buck at what’s going on at home?  Grumble at your life situation?  Do you think you know better than Jesus?  Do you look down upon him?  If we’re being honest, most of us feel that way at some point.  

By default, we are all Pharisees, until the Spirit convinces us of our sin (instead of us accusing the Spirit of His sin). 

Remember, all sins will be forgiven, no matter what you’ve done, who you are, or how many times you’ve done it.  But the only sin that cannot be forgiven is to believe in your heart that Jesus is driven by pure evil and cannot take you where you need to go.  Jesus can forgive you, Jesus will forgive you, Jesus loves you, and Jesus is causing all things to work together for good, whether it looks like it or not (Romans 8:28).  

“Help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24).                

The Breakdown

  1. In what areas do you tend to judge others the most?  Keep track throughout the day and write them down.  What does this show you about yourself?  What can you learn?
  2. Be honest, do you doubt Jesus’s plan for your life?  Why or why not?
  3. What does Mark 3:22-30 teach you about yourself?  About God?  About others?
  4. Go to the mirror and honestly ask it, “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who’s the Phariseest of them all?”

Top Ten F-Words to Diagnose the Insanity of Jesus

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 3:13-21

This is our 20th devotional in the gospel of Mark!  True, we’re only at chapter 3, but sometimes it’s best to go slowly through the things that are most important in life.  Our verses today pause the action, giving us time to catch our breath and reflect.  The passage includes a list of the twelve apostles of Jesus, along with some other interesting tidbits.  We learn that Jesus’s family didn’t believe in him or support his mission.  “And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21).  His own family thought he was insane!  Why?

The Holy Ghost Notes would like to present to you, for the first time ever in biblical devotional literature history, “The Top Ten F-Words to Diagnose the Madness of Jesus.”  Please enjoy responsibly!

10. Fame

Doesn’t everyone want fame?  High social media stats, to be well known?  Not Jesus!  Jesus told everybody, including demonic spirits, not to tell anyone about him or his awesome miracles.  He did not want any fame whatsoever, but only to help the needy.  Surely he must be crazy!

9. Followers

Take a look at his followers.  None were educated and all were subordinary working class men, a few of which were hated by their communities.  Put another way, Jesus picked all the losers for his dodgeball team, like any fool would do. 

8. Friends

His chosen, closest friends were the scum of society, notorious, dirty sinners.  He partied with those who could give him nothing in return.  They provided no social standing, material possessions, emotional support, or intellectual inspiration.  Only a madman would choose these no-good friends. 

7. Foes

Don’t you want the approval and acceptance of the leaders of society?  Not crazy Jesus!  He made enemies out of the well-to-do, respectable, educated community leaders of his day.  Jesus easily could have won them over to be his friends and allies, but he wanted them to be his foes. 

6. Family

His biological family didn’t support him, but Jesus didn’t let this get under his skin.  Instead, he chose a handful of listeners in an ordinary crowd to be his new mother and sister and brother (Mark 3:34).  Everyone knows we can’t choose our families, but Jesus must not have gotten the memo.  

5. Fasting

You know that one weird family that doesn’t participate in Halloween or Christmas?  Jesus was that guy.  On one of the biggest holy days of the year, Jesus didn’t fast like everyone else, risking his neck with the religious leaders and his standing in the community.  But then, on an ordinary day, Jesus fasted from food so that he could spend time with more people (Mark 3:20)!

4. Feasting

When he was supposed to be fasting, Jesus was feasting with tax collectors and sinners.  When questioned about this, Jesus told the authorities their day of fasting was like a day of feasting at a wedding celebration to him!   He got everything backwards. 

3. Foreshadowing 

Starting here in Mark 3:19, Jesus begins to foreshadow his death.  After picking the disciple named Judas, we’re told, “…and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”  Jesus purposefully picked a traitor to be on his team, whose purpose would be to hand Jesus over to death.  Jesus will talk about his looming death frequently now, like any other nut. 

2. Father

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, making God his Father.  Not only did people think he was an inflamed narcissist, but also they suspected his theological chops.  Only a crazy person would say that divinity could birth humanity.  But Jesus insisted that God was his Father. 

1. Forgiveness

Along these lines, perhaps the most outrageous claim of this madman was he could forgive the sins of the whole world.  For Jesus to do this, he would have to be both God and human; he would have to be the Judge, the judged, and the judgment price, all wrapped up into one perfect person. 

The prevailing way to deal with a guy like Jesus is to say, “He is out of his mind.”  But the thoughtful way, the dangerous way, is to use one more F-word, which is faith.  Faith, after taking a long look at the world around us, says, “No, we are.” 

The Breakdown

  1. What does the average person think about Jesus?  Do you think it lines up with who he really was? 
  2. What surprises you about Jesus? 
  3. How does Jesus turn our world upside down and how is he calling you to live your life differently? 

Maybe Your Church Needs More Demons

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 3:7-12

After Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees and Herodians held an official meeting to decide how best to destroy Jesus.  Jesus caught wind of their plot, so he and his disciples withdrew to the sea for protection.  But the crowds knew how to find Jesus.  It’s amazing to see how fast and far Jesus’s influence had spread.  By this time, people were coming from all over to see him: Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, Tyre, and Sidon (Mark 3:7-8).  “When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him” (Mark 3:8).

In a crowd that large, it’s inevitable there will be those with unclean, demonic spirits.  In fact, in any crowd, including today, there are those with unclean spirits.  How do they react to Jesus?  “And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’” (Mark 3:11).  In order to maintain as low a profile as possible, so he could minister as long as possible before the authorities caught up to him, Jesus strictly ordered the unclean spirits not to make him known (Mark 3:12). 

So What’s up with Demonic Confessions? 

Have you noticed that so far in Mark’s gospel, the boldest and most accurate confessions of who Jesus is have come from demons?  Let’s recap.  In Mark 1:24, a demon said to Jesus, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”  Then in Mark 1:34, Jesus forbade some other demons from speaking about his true identity as the Son of God, “because they knew him.”  And now, here in chapter three, many more demons are crying out loudly, “You are the Son of God” (Mark 3:11).  In fact, no humans in the story have yet to give such clear and consistent testimony to the identity of Jesus. 

Darkness knows who Jesus is.  Think about that for a moment.

Ranking the Key Characters

If we were to rate all characters so far in the story, concerning their knowledge and witness of Jesus, the ranking might surprise you.  Using a scale of 1-10, let’s make one the lowest, those who don’t recognize Jesus’s true identity at all; and, let’s make ten the highest, those who know for certain that Jesus is the Son of God.  (I’ll be honest, I’m just making a judgment call on these numbers, based on the evidence so far in Mark’s gospel; nonetheless, I think these are good, educated guesses.)

  • The Pharisees, scribes, Herodians, and other religious leaders—1
  • The disciples—4
  • The crowds (and all those who wildly flocked to Jesus)—5
  • Tax collectors and sinners—7
  • John the Baptist—8  
  • Those Jesus healed from disease—9
  • Those Jesus healed from demons and unclean spirits—10

Let’s summarize.  The Pharisees and religious leaders were completely out of touch with reality.  The disciples were slowly beginning to pick up on the truth.  The crowds were quicker to realize who Jesus was, as evidenced by how they were pursuing him.  The tax collectors and sinners, no doubt because of their great need, knew Jesus was a great Physician.  John the Baptist knew who Jesus was, though he had his struggles, asking Jesus at one point, “Are you the one to come or shall we expect another?” (Matthew 11:3).  Those who had already been healed of disease, the paralytic, man with the withered hand, and Simon’s mother-in-law, were convinced of Jesus’s true identity.  Finally, the demons themselves had no doubt about Jesus’s identity and couldn’t refrain from confessing his divinity; in fact, Jesus had to order them to put their constant testifying chatter on pause. 

Drawing a Few Conclusions

Here are a few observations from this ranking.  First, the more “religious” you looked on the outside, the less you knew who Jesus actually was.  Second, the harder and darker your life got, the greater your knowledge of Jesus.  Third, the darkness and all therein knew exactly who Jesus was.  Fourth, it took the actual disciples longer to understand who Jesus was, compared to those with darker, harder lives.   

Go into Your Darkness

So how can knowing these things help you?  The principle is this: the deeper into your own darkness you go, the more you will learn of Jesus Christ.  Does this surprise you?  The more you learn and understand your own evil, your personal, unclean spirits, the more you will come to know Jesus Christ in all his majesty and love, if you only look for him. 

For in the darkness, there is constant chatter about Jesus Christ. 

We know this experientially, too.  Think about your worst moments, when evil and darkness overwhelmed you.  As you think about those moments, think about Jesus, too.  The closer to evil we get, the greater our sense of the divinity of Jesus Christ.  When things are really bad, we know that Jesus is really good.  We will confess Jesus the Christ more easily in our worst moments than in our best. 

Don’t disdain your darkness, for it holds a precious testimony of Jesus. 

In contrast, the more out of touch with your darkness you are, the less you will be able to see and identify Jesus in your life.  You’ll be like the Pharisees, who believed they had no sickness, so they could not see the identity of the Great Physician at all.  Another way of setting up our ranking is with the terms “truth” and “deception.”  On one end of the scale, the demons could clearly see the truth; on the other end, the Pharisees were blinded by deception. 

When you enter your darkness honestly, humbly, and openly, you’ll begin to see Jesus Christ clearer and clearer.  If you avoid your darkness, cover-up your darkness, deny your darkness, or project your darkness onto something/one else, then you won’t be able to see who Jesus is at all.  You’ll think he’s just another Pharisee, with little to offer you.

The Church and the Demonic State

The church today needs more people who are willing to look at, acknowledge, and embrace the evil within themselves, and less who walk in superficial religion, pretending they’ve found the answers, have it all together, and claim not to struggle with personal, persistent demons.  The true enemy of the church is not darkness or evil, but hypocrisy.  It always has been.  We can see Jesus in the darkness, but he will remain unseen in the artificial glow of our jerry-rigged, pasty self-righteousness.  Demons make Jesus known, but Pharisees won’t.  Surely Mark wishes us to see this ironic truth and apply it to the church today.

If your church isn’t experiencing Jesus as much as you’d like, then maybe it needs more demons—or, at least, recognize the ones that are already there.

The Breakdown

  1. What are your darkest struggles? Can you name them?  Be thorough and honest. 
  2. Where would you place yourself on the scale?  Why?
  3. What are you afraid to talk about with others?  Here’s a principle to learn: whatever you can’t talk about, has power over you.  Remember, Jesus loves honest sinners, but he has less patience for hypocrites. Remember, exposing your darkness to trusted leaders is a gift to the church.

The Emotions of Jesus

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

Mark 3:1-6

There were no desk jobs in Bible times.  That may seem incidental, unless you were the man with the withered hand.  He needed both hands in order to make a living; rather, he needed both hands in order to live.  Unless you were royalty, every job available required complete physical fitness.  So when Jesus asked the Pharisees, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” he spoke honestly about the predicament of this man.  To heal or not to heal his withered hand was a matter of life or death.

Too bad the Pharisees were too caught up in their religion to care.  They’d been following Jesus, waiting to accuse him of breaking the law, which, as we saw last time, was ironic, for they were working on the Sabbath as well, working at following, spying, accusing, and condemning Jesus.  Here’s a good sign your religion is useless: if you use it to justify hurting another person, or—even subtler—if you use it as the reason not to help someone in need. 

Take note of Jesus’s emotions.  “And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand’” (Mark 3:5).  Jesus was angry and Jesus grieved.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with my emotions.  It’s hard for me to name them, experience them without shame, process them, and accept them.  So whenever I read about the emotions of Jesus, I sit up and take note, for he experienced his emotions perfectly, every time.

That’s the right choice of words, too, by the way.  Jesus “experienced” his emotions, just like everybody else.  In other words, emotions happen to us.  We don’t choose them, but we are passive participants.  It’s kind of like the chemicals in your body.  Your body is constantly producing all sorts of chemicals in response to the environment around you and the needs within you.  You can’t stop your body from doing what it does.  It’d be ridiculous to think you should be ashamed of producing insulin, for instance, or urine!  In the same way, your body and soul produce various emotions; and you shouldn’t be ashamed of them, either.  You can’t control your emotions, not even Jesus could.

However, emotions are a great gift from God, which, when used the right way, can make the world a better place.  We must learn to listen to our emotions, just as Jesus did to his.

When Jesus saw the Pharisees were unwilling to allow him to heal on the Sabbath, he became angry.  Is it a sin to be angry?  Of course not.  When Jesus realized the extent of their hardness of heart, he was filled with grief, which is another emotion.  Is it a sin to be sad?  Of course not.

Think about the word “emotion.”  Notice it contains the word “motion” in it.  That’s a good clue on what we’re to do when we feel various emotions: we are to get moving!  Jesus didn’t reject or bury his anger and grief; rather, he let these emotions put him in motion toward those around him who were in need, in this case, the man with the withered hand.  His emotions told him he’d better get moving, following his gut and his God on what to do next, despite the fact that the Pharisees might kill him for it!  You see, sometimes in life, we need a little extra help from our emotions to get us to do what we know we need to do.  Think of your emotions as lighter fluid, helping you kindle the next action into flame. 

If you don’t sense any emotion in yourself, then chances are you’re living a stagnant, stuck life.  If you have fear or anxiety, on the other hand, then most likely you’re challenging yourself to push beyond what’s comfortable or normal.  Having emotions is an indication you’re trying to change the world, are in a place to grow, and are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. 

The trouble is when we bury, deny, or reject our emotions, because someone once communicated to us they were bad.  Plenty of men will not accept their sensitive emotions, for instance, so they reject that part of themselves.  Or they reject their anger, just because they’ve seen it get out of control in others.  But without tears and ire, how will you move out into the situations around you to genuinely help? 

Jesus ended up healing the man.  His emotions played a role in this astounding miracle.  That’s how I want you to think about your emotions, as you seek to process them in a healthy way.  Yes, there are many ways of processing emotions in an unhealthy way, as mentioned above.  Your emotions will play a vital role in bringing help and healing to life around you.  Your emotions, just like those of Jesus, play a role in miracles happening.  In other words, good things will happen in your life less and less if you keep your emotions to yourself, for they are a gift to the suffering, needy, hopeless world around us.  To be clear, I’m not saying emotions were the cause of the miracle, but they played their necessary role. 

Here’s one more observation.  Just because you process your emotions the right way, doesn’t mean life will turn out to be all sunshine and rainbows.  In contrast, and this is partly why some are so afraid of their emotions, sometimes your emotions get you into trouble.  Afterward, the Pharisees began to come up with a serious plan on how to “destroy” Jesus—not just kill, but destroy.  Emotion begets emotion.

You could play it safe, hide your thoughts and feelings from the world, not risk taking a stand for what you know to be true.  Or, you could embrace the full wonder of your humanity, just like Jesus, and help to free people from their suffering. 

Too many of us live lives of total adaption; we adapt to the hardness of heart of those around us, who are not touched by the suffering around them.  I want to be more like Jesus, who didn’t constantly have to seek permission to be himself.  Instead of relinquishing in adaption, Jesus chose action.  His life was that of motion—rather, emotion. 

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand.  And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.  And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”  And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.  And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.  The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.  —Mark 3:1-6

The Breakdown

  1. What are some of the injustices you see in the world around you?  How do they make you feel?  Name these emotions.
  2. By focussing on the emotions of Jesus, we’re able to see how fully he embraced being human.  Why is it so important to realize Jesus was fully human, just as much as you or me?
  3. Does your religion or faith tradition keep you from helping those in need?  How?  Or, have you ever used your religion as an excuse, keeping you from doing what you knew/felt to be right?

How to Find out Where You Suck

Posted on by holyghostnotes in Book of Mark, Devotionals

What is the basis of your identity?  Is it how you measure up to a certain standard?  Or is the basis of your identity your frail humanity, which often is hungry and in need?  As we’ll see, the Pharisees based their identity on their moral performance.  They tried to keep God’s law perfectly and attacked those who fell short.  

It was the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday on our calendars.  Jesus and his disciples were hungry and in need of food, so as they walked through some grainfields, they plucked heads of grain to eat.  The Pharisees caught them and accused them of working on the Sabbath day of rest.  According to their rules, this was a capital offense, punishable by death.  “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Mark 2:25).  

Jesus reminded them of a story in the Bible when King David and his men also broke the rules, eating consecrated bread from the temple that was meant only for the priests.  Jesus asked them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry…how he entered the house of God…and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” (Mark 2:25, 26).

Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Again, the Pharisees got their sense of meaning and identity from being excellent keepers of the law.  If we’re honest, we’re the same as them.  More often than not, we get our sense of meaning and identity from being those who can perform well, who can meet or surpass a standard.  For instance, if we don’t commit any crimes, then we think we’re better than those who do.  If we have a certain income that can afford certain purchases, then we feel better about ourselves.  If we have achieved specific career goals or have a family, then we think we must not be too bad a person.  If we listen to the right pastors, read the right blogs, or go to the right church, then we’re better off than others.  

But all who build their identity on performance metrics will fall and cut themselves on Jesus’s razor sharp rule, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”  

If you can’t see what he means yet, let’s put it in other terms:  “Career goals were made for man, not man for career goals.”  “Family was made for man, not man for family.”  “A nice home was made for man, not man for a nice home.”  “A good reputation was made for man, not man for a good reputation.”  “Success was made for man, not man for success.”

This razorsharp rule of Jesus has the potential to cut you free from the identity project that is enslaving you, releasing you to discover your ultimate identity, which is being a needy, hungry, hurting, beautiful, beloved, weak, wild child of God.

You were not meant to serve your home like a slave.  You were not meant to serve your appearance like a slave.  You were not meant to serve your so-called reputation like a slave.  You were not meant to serve your job or kids or friends like a slave.  Don’t put these things in the place of God.  Use these things to get more of God, but don’t use God to get more of these things.  

To me, the most precious sentence in this story is, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry” (Mark 2:25).  And then later, did you notice the new name Jesus called himself?  He called himself the “Son of Man,” as if to identify with the frailty of humanity (Mark 2:28).  If you cannot embrace your need, your hunger and pain, weakness and want, then most likely you have an ulterior identity project you’re nursing on the side.  The Pharisees would never admit to need or failure.  In fact, they were ready to kill Jesus and the disciples for breaking a rule, in order to do something as fundamental as eating!  

For some people, one of the hardest things in the world is to admit their need, for they want to appear to have everything under control.  Why?  Because they’re caught up in their identity project of moral performance, which does not allow them to be real, flesh-and-blood human beings.  

Some people keep God’s rules, denying themselves, not because they love God, but because they love the accolades they get from others.  Ironically, the more ‘godly’ we become, the greater the chance we might fall out of love with God and more in love with ourselves.  The opposite is also true, the more we are able to embrace our humanity and need, the greater the chance we have to grow in godliness and our love for God. 

When we base our identity on our moral performance, then we’re in danger of becoming entitled, thinking we deserve something better, because we’ve been so good.  Or we might even think we deserve to be bad, because we’ve been so good.  You should know, however, that a sense of entitlement leads to a lack of empathy toward others.  This is why the Pharisees could not accept the tax collectors and sinners.  

Here’s one last observation that flows from Jesus’s words.  Think about how the Pharisees noticed Jesus and his disciples plucking grain, even though they were far out in a field.  The only reason the Pharisees noticed was because their lives (personal identity projects) depended on it.  You see, the things you notice others doing wrong are the things you want others to notice you doing right.  For whatever reason, you’ve made that thing you noticed others doing wrong your personal identity project, which is the thing you’re using to create your own pool of self-righteousness.  

The thing about self-righteousness is that it never rests.  It’s like an angry sea, constantly churning up muck and grime.  It’s constantly noticing a particular behavior from others, because, as I already said, it wants to get approval for not failing in that way.

But, as you might have guessed, the Pharisees were guiltier than they themselves realized.  Did you notice the Pharisees were also working on the Sabbath?  The very thing they accused Jesus of doing, they were doing, too.  Jesus was only picking some grain to eat, meeting a basic human need.  However, the Pharisees were doing the work of spying, following, accusing, plotting, and condemning!  They were much busier than Jesus on the Sabbath!  When your heart starts to condemn someone else, realize you do the same thing, because you wouldn’t have noticed it in the first place.  This is how to find out where you suck.  “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” (Romans 2:1).  

God has given you much with which to enjoy him.  You’ll find him more enjoyable as a real, needy human being, than as a strong, self-sufficient model of faith.

One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain.  And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”  And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?”  And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. —Mark 2:23-27

The Breakdown

  1. Think about the identity that might be enslaving you, then fill in the blanks: “The _______________ was made for me, not me for _______________.”  
  2. Is it hard for you to appear weak to others?  Why or why not?  Write your answer in a journal.  Take time to dig beneath the surface.
  3. What do others do that bugs you in particular?  What do you really notice that stirs you up?  Now, be honest with yourself, and realize you do the same.  Think of the ways you’re guilty, too.