Tag: Mark

“If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Scripture: Mark 5: 24-34

So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”  But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.  Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Scripture Commentary: “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 

The women in Mark Chapter 5 had a seemingly incurable condition which caused her to bleed constantly. This condition had kept her from most social contact. She desperately wanted Jesus to heal her. But she knew that her bleeding would cause Jesus to be unclean under Jewish law if she touched him. Still, the woman reached out by faith and was healed.

God is always ready to help you.

Sometimes we feel that our problems will keep us from God. But He is always ready to help. We should never allow our fear to keep us from approaching Him.

Jesus wasn’t angry with the woman for touching him. He knew she had touched him but he stopped and asked who did it in order to teach her something about faith.

Genuine faith causes action.

Although the woman was healed when she touched him, Jesus said her faith caused the cure. Genuine faith causes action. Faith that isn’t put into action is not faith at all.

Jesus’s words in the midst of crisis speak to us as well. “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” In Jesus’s mind, there was both hope and promise. The next time you feel helpless and afraid, look at your problem from Jesus’s point of view. He is the source of all hope and promise. We should never let our fears keep us from approaching him.

What are you looking for God to do?

Have you been suffering with something in your life? Whatever it is, give it to Jesus. He is the healer. If you trust him and have faith, he will bring you through.

If you are reading this message, then God has given you another day and time to come to him. Jesus accepts us the way we are. Have faith that He loves you. Jesus died for your sins, and he rose from the grave.

Thank you, Jesus, for your love!

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 5

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Mark:

Watch! Be Alert For Jesus’ Return

Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

Watch for the Morning

Scripture: Mark 13: 34-35

For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

Scripture Commentary: Jesus is the bright and morning star

What time is it? Are you on the watch for God? Are you ready if He comes calling this morning or tonight? In this parable Jesus is telling us that He, in human form, is going away. The hour of His return is unknown.

But He is leaving us instructions (The Bible) on what must be done. We are the servants. We have in our possession the Word of God. The question is why are we doing what is not in the Book?

There’s work to do for God!

Do we not believe, or do we think we have all time on our side? We do not know the second, minute, hour or day when our time is up. So why act as if we know?

These verses tell us to work now because we can’t do anything in the grave. Each day that God gives us is a day for the Lord’s work. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to each of us but if we don’t ask the Spirit to awaken in us, it will stay asleep.

We don’t know the day or hour but we do know that Jesus is coming. Watch and pray!

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 13

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Mark

Are you Spiritually Paralyzed?

Levi Immediately Witnessed for Christ

Evil Thoughts Defile the Person

Scripture: Mark 7 (Part Three)

Mark 7: 20-28

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy,[i] slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

24 He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre.[j] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile,[k] a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she replied to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

An evil action begins with a single thought.

Jesus traveled to Tyre and Sidon. The city of Tyre was an evil, wicked place. Its king even claimed to be God.

Tyre rejoiced when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C. It is here that Jesus brought His message. A Greek woman whose daughter was possessed by evil spirits asked Jesus to heal her. Many Jews would lose God’s spiritual healing because they rejected Jesus. On the other hand, many Gentiles, whom the Jews rejected, would find salvation because they recognized Jesus.

Mark 7: 29-37

Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.

31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through[l] the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33 So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man’s ears and spitting, he touched his tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!”[m] (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. 36 He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.

37 They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Don’t miss the real message.

This miracle shows that Jesus’s power over demons is so great that He doesn’t need to be present physically to free someone. His power transcends any distance.

Jesus asked the people not to talk about this healing. He didn’t want to be seen only as a miracle worker. He didn’t want the people to miss His real message.

We must not be so concerned about what Jesus can do for us that we forget to listen to His message!

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 7

Other Commentary from the Book of Mark

What Was Going to Happen to Jesus?

God’s People Are the Salt of the Earth

What Tradition Do You Follow?

Scripture: Mark 7 (Part Two)

Mark 7: 8-9

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

Commentary: The Pharisees added hundreds of their own petty rules and regulations to God’s holy laws. They worked to force the people to follow them.

Mark 7: 10-11

10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 

Commentary: The Pharisees used God to put money in the temple treasury rather than to help the parents or people in need. God’s law tells us to honor fathers and mothers (Exodus 20:12) and to care for those in need (Leviticus 25: 35-43).

Mark 7: 14-19

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”[e]17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”[f] (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 

Commentary: Jesus points out that sin actually begins in the attitudes and intentions of the inner person. Jesus didn’t degrade the law. He paved the way for the change made clear when God removed the cultural restrictions regarding food. (See Acts 10: 9-29.)

We are pure on the inside as Christ renews our minds.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 7

Read other commentary from the Book of Mark

Jesus, Son of God; Son of Man

Watch and Pray; Jesus Will Return

Receive the Kingdom of God with Childlike Faith

Wash Your Hands Before You Eat

Scripture: Mark 7 (Part One)

Mark 7: 1-2

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 

Commentary: The religious leaders sent people to Jerusalem to spy on Jesus. They didn’t like what they saw and questioned Jesus’s disciples about washing hands. Jesus scolded them for keeping the law and the traditions in order to look holy instead of honoring God.

The prophet Isaiah accused the religious leaders of his day of doing the same thing. (See Isaiah 29:13.) Jesus used Isaiah’s words to accuse these men.

Mark 7: 3-4

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

Commentary: Mark explained these Jewish rituals because he was writing to a non-Jewish audience. Before eating, a devout Jew performed a short ceremony by washing in a specific way. The Pharisees thought this ceremony cleansed them from anything unclean. Jesus said they weren’t making themselves acceptable before God just by performing this act.

Mark 7: 5-7

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Commentary: Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they worshipped God for the wrong reasons. Their worship was for profit, to appear holy, and to increase their status.

Part Two of the Commentary on Mark Chapter 7 will cover verses 8-19.

Read more commentary from the Book of Mark

Pay Attention to What You Hear

Are You Spiritually Paralyzed?

Dear Lord, What Shall I Do?

Pay Attention To What You Hear

Scripture: Mark 4: 21-25

He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?  For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”  Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides. For whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Scripture Commentary: Pay attention to how your light shines.

Pay attention to how easy it is for our daily routines to become overcrowded. Worldly worries, the false sense of security brought on by prosperity, and the desire for things plagued first century disciples as they do us today.

A life packed with materialistic pursuits deafens us to God’s Word.

If the lamp doesn’t help us to see, it is useless.

Make sure your life shows others how to find God and how to live for Him. If it does not, ask what “bowls” have extinguished your light.

What could extinguish your light?

Complacency, resentment, stubbornness of heart, or disobedience could keep God’s light from shining through you to others. The light of Jesus’s truth is revealed to us, not hidden. But we may not be able to see or use all of that truth right now.

Only as we put God’s teachings into practice will we understand and see more of the truth. How much we have is not nearly as important as what we do with it.

Be like the seed that was planted in the fertile soil.

Strive to live a Christian life with Jesus. By following Jesus, we will understand that spiritual growth is a continual, gradual process finally consummated in a harvest of spiritual maturity.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 4

Dear Lord, What Shall I Do?

Scripture: Mark 10: 17-22

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

Scripture Commentary: What shall I do to be saved?

This young man wanted to be sure that he would have eternal life. He asked, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said that he’d never once broken any of the laws Jesus mentioned. Perhaps he had even kept the Pharisees loophole-filled version of the law.

Jesus lovingly broke through the young man’s pride with a challenge that brought out his true motives. “Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor.”

Don’t let God’s challenge be your barrier to Him.

This challenge exposed the barrier that could keep this man – and us – out of the kingdom: his love of money. Money represented his pride of accomplishment and self worth. Ironically, his attitude made him unable to keep the first commandment, which is to let nothing be more important than God.

He could not meet the one requirement Jesus gave. He was unable to turn his whole heart and life over to God. This man came wondering what he could do. He left seeing what he was unable to do.

What barriers are keeping you from turning your life over to Christ?

What does your money mean to you? Your reaction may show your attitude toward money. Is money your servant or your master?

Your only true master should be your love for Jesus Christ.

Read the Entire Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:

Mark Chapter 10

Jesus Spoke Plainly About His Purpose

Part Two: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Son of Man. Jesus spoke plainly about His purpose.

Scripture: Mark 8: 32

He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Note: Peter was not considering God’s purpose but only his own natural human desires and feelings when he rebuked Jesus. Peter wanted Christ to be king, not the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 53.

Peter saw only part of the picture.

Like the other disciples, Peter was ready to receive the glory of following the Messiah but not the persecution. He was often the spokesman for all the disciples. In singling Peter out, Jesus may have been addressing all of them indirectly. Unknowingly, the disciples were trying to prevent Jesus from going to the cross and fulfilling His mission on earth.

Satan also tempted Jesus to avoid the way of the cross (see Matthew 4). Whereas Satan’s motives were evil, the disciples were motivated by love and admiration for Jesus. Only after Jesus’s death and resurrection would they fully understand why He had to die.

What does it mean to take up the cross?

The Romans, Mark’s original audience, knew what taking up the cross meant. A prisoner carried His own cross to the place of execution, signifying submission to Rome’s power.

Jesus used the image of carrying a cross to illustrate the ultimate submission required of His followers.

Read the Entire Chapters of the Scriptures Referenced:

Mark Chapter 8

Isaiah Chapter 53

Matthew Chapter 4

Watch and Pray; Jesus Will Return

Scripture: Mark 13: 33-37

Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Scripture Commentary:

We go through life doing what must be done. We pay our bills, buy food, and whatever else we need to do to make it through. But are we so wrapped up in things that we have forgotten God? Watch and pray for Him.

Is the journey we are on leading us away from Jesus?

We go to church, pray, go home, and that’s it. When we leave God’s house, what are we doing next?

Jesus has given us all a task. Are you working at yours? When Jesus returns, what can you say to Our Lord about the task He has given you? Will God find you asleep or doing His work? Are you giving God your best?

Mark chapter 13 tells us how to live while we wait for Jesus’ return. We don’t know the time or the day it will happen. So what are you doing until then?

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 13

Receive the Kingdom of God with Childlike Faith

Scripture: Mark 10: 13-16

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” he took the children in his arms,placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Scripture Commentary:

Jesus was often criticized for spending too much time with the wrong people: children, tax collectors, and sinners. These people needed Him most. Of the children, He said that we needed to be like a child to receive the kingdom of God.

Some, including Jesus’s disciples, thought Jesus should spend more time with important leaders and the devout. They felt this was the way to improve His position and avoid criticism. But Jesus didn’t need to improve His position. He wanted to speak to those who needed Him most.

Jesus revealed Himself to the little children.

Adults are not as trusting as little children. Jesus said that people should believe in Him with a childlike faith. We should not have to understand all of the mysteries of the universe. It should be enough to know that God loves us and provides forgiveness for our sins.

This does not mean that we should be childish and immature, but we should trust God with a child’s simplicity and receptivity.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 10