CONNECT Worship Gathering: Mark 6:1-6 Cooperating with Grace

Amazement is a common theme in the Gospel of Mark. The people of Capernaum were amazed that Jesus spoke with authority (Mark 1:27) and healed many of their sick. Amazement gripped the crowd as Jesus healed the paralytic (Mark 2:12), and raised Jairus' daughter from death (Mark 5:32). In Nazareth the people were astonished at Jesus' teaching, but even so they rejected Jesus (Mark 6:1-3). When Andrew came running with excitement to tell his friend Nathaniel that they had found the Messiah, Nathaniel had replied, "can anything good come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46). The prophets had alluded to it as they wrote about the "Branch" (Hebrew 'natzer') which is where Nazareth derived its name (Zechariah 3:8-9, Isaiah 11:1-2). The people missed Messiah right in their midst. What's worse is that they assumed they knew Jesus, but sadly, they missed all the blessings that Jesus wanted to do there. Because we are free moral agents, we can resist God's gifts as a patient might reject their doctor's care. God will respond to our resistance by removing Himself. We are limited to God's gifts by our human will. In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis write, "There are two kinds of people in this world, those who say 'God's will be done' and those to whom God says, 'fine, have it your way.' Healing requires not only the power of the healer, but faith and cooperation on the part of the patient. Sadly, here it is Jesus who is amazed at their unbelief in Nazareth (Mark 6:6). I pray Jesus never says this of me. Let us not assume we know Jesus, but to strive to imitate Jesus and learn about Jesus. Let us be good disciples. Let us always cooperate with grace, inviting Jesus to teach, heal, and restore our lives and those around us.

CONNECT Worship Gathering: Mark 5:21-43 Offering Up Our Wounds to Jesus



The Synagogue at Capernaum



         In this text Jesus is on his way to heal Jairus' daughter. He was the leader of the synagogue at Capernaum and was responsible for the upkeep and scheduling of the synagogue. The Pharisees would have watched him closely. In spite of the scrutiny surrounding Jesus, he goes to Jesus to ask him to heal his little daughter. While on the way to perform this miracle the crowd pressed around Jesus. A woman who also needed healing reached out to touch him. She knew Jesus was passing by and this may be her only opportunity to touch the prophet. She had suffered 12 years from constant bleeding, and according to Leviticus 15:25-27, she had suffered much more than physical pain. Her condition made her ceremonially unclean: she couldn't go to worship, she couldn't entertain guests, she couldn't visit any one's home. Anything she touched or furniture upon which she sat were made unclean. In addition to her physical pain, she suffered isolation from family, community, and worship. She was not greeted with smiles by her neighbor's or in the marketplace, for she was unclean. Jesus stopped and turned so she would be restored. How often is our daily agenda interrupted by a "needy" person? By someone we don't want to see coming? We need to imitate Jesus, and allow the upsetting of our agenda to be an opportunity for ministry. Much like the woman's physical affliction, sin separates us from God and from one another, isolating people in hopelessness and despair. We are in the crowd, and we have the answer.

         The woman decided to risk it all, placing her faith in Jesus, "...if I could but touch the tassel of his robe I would be healed." In spite of the crowd, she came up from behind him and was indeed healed. So many were curious about Jesus. So many touched Jesus in this crowd, but only one touched him with faith. Faith was the catalyst that cooperated with grace to heal this woman. The story could have ended there, but Jesus wanted to heal the whole person, to restore her to community, to her family, to worship. So Jesus gave her the opportunity to come forward, and she did, telling Jesus the whole truth. Jesus made the pronouncement, "your faith has made you well." If we are to be healed and offer healing to others, we must bring our wounds to Jesus in faith and honesty. We have the living Christ within us and the power to touch and heal others, sharing Jesus' love, bringing restoration to the lost, broken, and hopeless. The next time someone upsets your daily agenda, remember it is an opportunity for ministry and Jesus wants to use you to bless someone. Become a part of someone's story of redemption by letting Jesus touch others through you.

           Jairus' prayers were answered and in a glimpse of Jesus' commentary on death, "she is just sleeping", we see the resurrection power of Jesus. He commanded them to give her something to eat, because the Jews feared ghosts, and Jesus wanted to assure them this was no ghost, but that the girl was alive and well. Jairus' could have let the Pharisees' criticism of Jesus stop him. He had much to lose by coming to Jesus: his position as leader of the synagogue, the respect of his peers, the increased scrutiny of the Pharisees. But he didn't let any of those things stand in the way of Jesus performing a miracle for his little girl. Again, faith cooperates with grace to accomplish kingdom work. It is through our wounded-ness that Jesus shines, because it is in offering our wounds that we see healing and restoration in Jesus' name!

CONNECT Worship Gathering: Mark 5:1-20 The Healing of the Demon Possessed Man

In this story we find Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee for one purpose - to heal the demon-possessed man in the region of the Garasenes, on the South East side of the lake. People must had heard the rumor, of the crazy man living among the tombs, who broke all his shackles when people had tried to help him. The apostles must have wondered as Jesus gave the order to head to the region of the Garasenes what exaclty was in Jesus' mind, or was he out of his mind? this was no place for good Jews, for Gentile herdsmen watered their herds of swine numbering in the thousands on the freshwater shore of Galilee. Imagine the pig fodder from 2000 swine? Good Jews didn't go to this area, not to mention the rumored crazy man in the tombs. But Jesus crossed to the other side for this purpose, as he had also crossed the threshold of heaven to be born in a dirty shepherd's cave in Bethlehem - He came to save us.

There is no evidence in this text that the disciples even got out of their large commercial fishing boat. Jesus alone stands on the shore as the man comes running out of the tombs to meet Jesus. Whether it was the demon's repulsion of Jesus or something else, this man realizes only Jesus can help him, and he runs to Jesus. The disciples had just seen Jesus' power over nature in the calming of the storm, and now they would witness Jesus' authority and power over the supernatural world as he healed the man. The miracle caused the townspeople to fear, and they begged Jesus to leave. Jesus went out of his way to heal this man. What do we need to do in our lives to "cross to the other side" to bring Jesus' love to people? We can start by nurturing relationships with lost people, and venture out of our regular circle of connections. We may have to walk through "pig fodder" to help someone, it may be smelly and uncomfortable, even scary, but Jesus calls us to "cross to the other side" wherever that may be for you. I don't want to be like the disicples, still in the boat, never mentiuoned in this story.

In the area of the Decapolis (the ten towns) near the Garasenes an ancient Byzantine church has been uncovered. We know the man had wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go home and tell what wonderful things the Lord had done for him. And the text says he preached in the ten towns. Could this have been the man that started the Jesus movement in the Decapolis? That built a church there? Lost people are living among death, as the Garasene man was, and they don't know the way. The Adversary seeks their ultimate destruction, as demonstrated in the herd of swine that met their death. People are souls bound in sin and we must be the light and presence of Christ to bring healing. Pray, think, and brainstorm about ways to nurture relatinships with the lost and "cross to the other side".