The early chapters of the Gospel of Mark present a number of aspects of Jesus as healer. They teach of his healing power, his healing touch, and his healing word. In this passage, it is healing faith that comes to the foreground. I would like to assume that you have been impressed by his great power, attracted by his compassionate touch, convinced by his authoritative word. I would like to encourage you to have faith in Jesus the healer. …
The Lord’s Prayer is a wonderful prayer: wonderful in its simplicity, and wonderful in its comprehensiveness. Its several petitions have been likened to the colours of the rainbow. And, like the colours of the rainbow, there is a definite order here: we are taught to pray first about God’s things (his honour, kingdom, and will), and only then about our things (daily provision, pardon, protection).
Just six words, but full of meaning:-
1. ‘Bread’ stands here for the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing.…
Text: Exodus 17:8-16
We stand, as it were, at a mid-point between two vast continents. Behind us lies the immense unalterable past, with its pleasures and regrets. In front of us looms the equally vast future, with all its hopes and fears. The question for the people of God as they move forward into this unexplored and largely unknown new territory is this: Can God be trusted? All we have is his promise, and sometimes that promise seems to hang by the slenderest of threads.…
It’s been a long time since Christmas. 30 years, in fact. The angels have long since returned to heaven. The Wise Men have gone back to the East, from whence they came. The shepherds have retired to a cottage by the sea. Simeon and Anna, who greeted the baby Jesus in the Temple, have gone the way of all flesh. Joseph, too, seems to have died at a relatively early age. That flurry of Messianic fervour seems a long time ago now. …
The miracles are flowing so thick and fast at this stage in Jesus’ ministry that there now follows an account of two intertwined healing miracles. The contrast between the two people who asked Jesus for help is notable. One lesson arising from this is the essential equality of all before God: none are exempt from the ravages wrought by disease and death; and none are beyond the compassionate help of the Lord.
A man named Jairus – It must have been very hard for him to come to Jesus. …
The most common type of employment throughout the Roman Empire was slavery. Slaves – especially in the East of the empire – were often treated quite well. Some were farm workers or labourers. Others became architects, physicians, administrators, philosophers, writers and teachers. Household slaves had many rights. They could marry and earn money. They were virtually members of the extended families of their owners. But they were still slaves, and would have been tempted to be untrustworthy, dishonest and disloyal.…
The miracle which is about to be recounted was one of just three occasions that we know of when Jesus raised the dead. It is therefore one of the greatest of his miracles. It demonstrates to a remarkable degree his pity mixed with power. He had, on the previous day, healed one who was on the point of death. But now he shows himself to be conqueror of death itself.
1. The widow’s affliction
Picture the scene presented by that funeral procession, with the bereaved mother leading the way. …
Some while ago, the BBC ran a series called ‘Reputations’, in which famous figures were shown to be perhaps not quite as perfect as they are sometimes made out to be – Bertrand Russell, Dr Benjamin Spock, John Wayne, Martin Luther King.
Hero-worship is always perilous, because sooner or later your hero will let you down. Abraham had many positive qualities, and these command our respect and admiration. But he could also be downright deceitful, as when he attempted to pass Sarah off as his sister. …
The first reference to prayer in the Bible occurs in Genesis 4, which records the time when “men began to call on the name of the LORD”,. The last reference is in the last verse but one of Revelation, which is itself a prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus”. In between the Bible is full of prayer. Even apart from the Psalms, whole chapters record the prayers of God’s people. Abraham would pray under a tamarisk tree. Jacob famously wrestled in prayer. …
Mark’s Gospel simply bursts with energy. Compared with the other three Gospels, this one focuses less on what Jesus taught, more on what he did. Mark rushes breathlessly from one event to another, brandishing his favourite word, ‘immediately’.
It would be a mistake, however, to regard Mark’s Gospel as a mishmash of frantic activity. The whole of the first half of the Gospel is dominated by a huge question mark. It’s a question mark about Jesus himself. …
