Day Nineteen – January 16, 2020

Read Mark 3:7-12 New Revised Standard Version

This map shows the regions in which Jesus’ ministry took place.  Many of the names are familiar, with the exception of Idumea.  Herod the Great was from this region and many people from Idumea would one day come seeking Jesus.  Herod the Great died around 4 BCE.  After he died, Caesar Augustus divided the kingdom between Herod’s sons, but he refused to give the sons the title.  The sons were known as Herod Archaelaus, Herod Antipas and Herod Philip. It was Herod Antipas that will feature prominently in the gospels.  Jesus referred to Herod Antipas as “that fox” in Luke 13:31.   

Jesus’ authority has expanded to include women, men and children, and diverse crowds of Jewish, Idumean, and Gentiles (beyond the Jordan, Tyre and Sidon. 

The crowds are now so large that Jesus fears being crushed, so he asks his followers to get him a boat.  The people pressed around trying to touch him. 

Jesus’ Identity

The unclean spirits continued to recognize him as God’s own son.  Jesus tells them not to tell.  Why?  This pattern of asking for silence is found in several places in Mark.  Did he tell them not to tell, knowing that they would tell anyway, and his message would spread even more quickly?  Did he tell them not to tell because he was not yet ready to fully reveal who he was and what he had come to do?

Jesus is certainly healing people on a physical level, but it is deeper than that.  Jesus’ powers were spiritual.  They were about restoring people’s souls.

 

 

Visual Liturgy:

Music:

You’ve Always Been by Unspoken

 

Give Me Jesus by Fernando Ortega

 

Prayer Focus:

In both yesterday’s reading and today, people were seeking to touch, or be touched by Jesus.  Where do you need to experience God’s touch in your life?

 

 

Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins