Mark 11:1-11 The One Who Comes in the Name of the Lord

 

Who is Jesus? This is the question we’ve been asking as we travel with Jesus through Mark’s story of who Jesus is. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, the day that kicks off Holy Week and Jesus’ journey down the path of the Via Dolorosa, the Path of Suffering or Way of Grief. But it sure doesn’t look like a path of suffering or grief today. It’s a day of celebration and waving palm branches; it’s a day where Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah who has come to save his people, and the people recognize that Jesus is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

The people know the promises of a Messiah, and they have different pictures in their heads of what the Messiah is going to be. Jesus uses these images now to show the people who he is. One of the pictures comes from Jacob’s blessing of Judah in Genesis 49, “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.”

As Jesus and the disciples come close to Jerusalem, he sends a couple of them into the city to bring him the colt that they will find there. Jesus is going to ride into Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passover, a time where the people are coming together to remember how God saved them from slavery and oppression in the past, and Jesus is going to reveal himself as the Messiah, as a king who comes to save his people. Jesus is also picking up on what blind Bartimaeus has just called him, “The Son of David.” So, with all the images of kings and colts, of Messiahs and salvation, Jesus is priming the pump for the week coming up.

The disciples are completely misreading the whole story here. They’re getting excited, finally Jesus is becoming the person they’ve been waiting for, the king who’s come to claim David’s throne from Herod, the one who will free them from Rome. They’re thinking of the powerful positions that Jesus is going to give them once he’s king. Now maybe Jesus will stop talking about suffering and dying and crosses. Following Jesus has become all about them rather than about Jesus. This temptation is still with us today. It’s so easy to think we’re following Jesus, but when we actually listen to Jesus’ teaching, to his call to give him our entire life and loyalty, we often find that we haven’t really been listening, but have heard only what we want to hear. We focus on rights when the only rights Jesus gives us is the right to be called children of God. We focus on freedom when the freedom we are given is the freedom to serve.

The disciples find the colt, just as Jesus has said they would, and they bring it to him. As Jesus gets ready to ride the colt, the disciples place their cloaks on the colt for Jesus to sit on. Jesus climbs on the colt and joins the other pilgrims who are walking the last couple of kilometers to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast that’s coming up. The pilgrims recognize Jesus and an excitement begins to build. The people are steeped in the stories of God and his promises of a Messiah. They have been waiting for such a long time for him to arrive. As they see Jesus on the colt, echoes of the prophet Zechariah’s prophecy ring through their hearts, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Could Jesus be the one?

This is quickly becoming an exciting procession into Jerusalem. The people gather branches and spread them on the road, some even spread their cloaks on the road like a red carpet. Could Jesus be the new Simon Maccabees who rode into Jerusalem just like Jesus is doing right now to the cheers of the crowds? Simon was a huge hero to the Jews after freeing them from the oppression of Syria. 1 Maccabees tells the story of how he regained Jerusalem, “Those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going in and out to buy and sell in the country. So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine. Then they cried to Simon to make peace with them, and he did so. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the citadel from its pollutions. On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred seventy-first year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. Simon decreed that every year they should celebrate this day with rejoicing.”

The crowd starts getting into it, shouting, “Hosanna!” which means “Save now!” the people are eager for the Messiah, for freedom. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” They realize, at least for now, that Jesus has come from God, though they don’t quite get that he is God! Mark calls the people a great crowd, though an intense crowd probably fits the situation better. At Passover, Rome usually brought in extra solders to keep the peace, a reminder to the Jews that they were not a free people. Now with the Messiah here, the intensity ramps up big time. The throne in Jerusalem is on their minds; they want their king on their throne, they want the one who comes in the name of the Lord to claim the Lord’s city and people for his own. The Passover is a reminder that God saves, and they want God to save them now! With Jesus’ power and ability to do miracles, how can they fail?

Scott Hoezee and Carrie Steenwyk ask, “What if Mark ended his story here with Palm Sunday?” This is the way the world, and maybe even us, would like the story to end: Jesus is on his way to claim the throne, the people love him, and he has the power to accomplish this; what’s not to love about this ending? This is exactly the end that Satan promised Jesus in the wilderness during the temptation, that Jesus could rule, not only Israel, but all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would kneel before him. Salvation has come, the one who comes in the name of the Lord is on the throne of David, and everyone is happy.

There’s only one problem, this story ending doesn’t solve humanity’s biggest problem: our slavery to sin and its effects on creation. God has written a different ending to Jesus’ story, an ending that leads to all the things Jesus has been warning the disciples about: his suffering, death and resurrection. God knows the story we need and it’s different from the story that we often want. We want the story of the conquering king. Our temptation is the same as the crowd’s, to turn Jesus into a Messiah created in our image. God knows that we really need the story of Good Friday and Easter Sunday; a story of redemption, renewal, of death and new life, of forgiveness and reconciliation. We need the king of Zechariah, a humble king of peace.

Jesus has come as our king and Messiah. Kings provide for their people what they really need, not always what they want; kings protect their people, often from enemies and threats the people may not even be aware of. By refusing the throne in Jerusalem, Jesus provides us with forgiveness and reconciliation with our heavenly father; by going to the cross, Jesus protects us from the power of Satan, ensuring Satan’s defeat. God raises Jesus to the throne at his right hand and gives Jesus authority and power over all creation, making sure that we have eternal life with him.

Jesus is a humble king, a king of peace, a king who defeats our enemies with the greatest love the world has ever seen. Jesus is a king who washes feet and who tells his followers to humbly serve since even he came to serve rather than be served. As you go home today, ask, “What kind of a king have I made Jesus into, and if Jesus is a suffering, sacrificial king, who is he calling me to become as his follower?”

Mark 8:22-9:1 You Are the Messiah

 

Who is Jesus? This is a question that even the disciples asked each other, especially after Jesus calmed a storm with just his words. They turned to each terrified, asking, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!” Jesus has been doing things, saying things that no one else had ever done before on the same scale as Jesus. Jesus has healed diseases, raised the dead, cast out demons, calmed storms, walked on water and fed thousands of people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Jesus is teaching with power and authority and people are listening and lives are being changed. Jesus’ disciples are trying to figure out just who Jesus is.

Marks leads us to the answer to the disciples’ question through the healing of a blind man. It’s a really different kind of healing for Jesus. Some people bring a blind man to Jesus and simply ask him to touch the blind man. They know that Jesus cares and has healed people by just touching them, or by the people touching Jesus. Jesus takes the blind man by the hand and leads him out of town. Then Jesus spits on the man’s eyes and touches him, asking, “Do you see anything?” We expect the man to tell Jesus, “Wow, I can see,” but the man’s answer is slightly different, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Didn’t see that coming! What went wrong? This miracle just went sideways on Jesus, or did it?

Jesus then puts his hands on the man’s eyes and Mark tells us, “Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” Full sight restored, no more walking trees, mission accomplished, but why does it take two tries? Who does Mark tell this story, normally Mark tells us stories about Jesus that make us sit up and go “Wow!” Sometimes to understand one story in the Bible, you need to read the stories leading up to it and the stories that follow in order to see what the writer is getting at.

Mark has his reason for including this story of Jesus’ healing of the blind man here and we get more understanding and a “Wow” moment as we read on. “Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” people aren’t quite sure who he is, there’s different answers, but everyone seems to agree that Jesus isn’t an ordinary person and it’s a good chance that he’s a powerful prophet like the old-time prophets Elijah, or maybe even John the Baptist, though that seems a stretch since it’s John who baptized Jesus.

Now Jesus asks them the question that has been on their mind ever since Jesus had calmed the storm, a question that has been sitting in their hearts as they’ve seen Jesus do miracle after miracle, as they’ve listened to him preach, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Messiah.” This is a “Wow” moment; if Peter is right, then the Messiah Israel has been waiting for, for hundreds of years has finally arrived! Even though Mark already told us Jesus is the Messiah in the first sentence of his Gospel, this is the first time since then that Jesus is identified as the promised Messiah! The disciples get it, they see who Jesus is! Or do they?

This is where we step back for a moment to look again at the healing of the blind man. In the first stage of his healing, the blind man sees people, but they look like trees walking. He sees, but not clearly. It’s the same with Peter, he sees who Jesus is, but not clearly. We see Peter is partly blind to who Jesus is when he begins to rebuke Jesus for telling them that he’s going to suffer, be rejected, and killed, but then will rise up from the grave in three days. Jesus talks about the disciples having to deny themselves, to be willing to give their lives up for him, and take up crosses. Peter and the disciples are not expecting this kind of Messiah. They’re expecting an anointed king from the line of David to claim the throne in Jerusalem and throw out their oppressors. They’re looking for a national and political Messiah, but Jesus never did anything to lead them to think this way. He’s never challenged Rome or shown any interest in Herod’s throne.

Jesus’ intense teaching about suffering, death and crosses draws a rebuke from Peter, but Jesus’ response to Peter is even more intense, “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Ouch! Yet how often, when we think about church, when we look at our ministries and priorities, how often are our concerns more about us than about the concerns of God; do we even think about the concerns of God in our committee meetings, does the subject even come up? Do we ask ourselves, “How much does Jesus care about the people of our community? Do we care that much?” I believe we need to be honest with ourselves and admit that we all have places in our faith, in our lives where we fail to see who Jesus is clearly.

As Bethel Church, we talk about sharing our faith with others, yet how often are we sharing our faith? Is it because we don’t see what Jesus is already doing in their lives because we’re not looking, so we find it hard to share the Good News of who Jesus is? These are uncomfortable questions; we think we know who Jesus is, what he wants, we think he’s happy with how we live our lives, but are we more like Peter than we want to admit, that we’ve created a Messiah of our own creation instead of the Messiah who has come? I wear reading glasses now because otherwise the words on the page are blurry and I find it hard to understand what I’m seeing; the glasses make things clear. If you want to see Jesus clearly, read the Bible. Simply making reading the Bible daily a priority will deepen your faith and help you see who Jesus is more clearly.

Jesus now shares what a disciple of his looks like. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

How do Peter and the disciples hear this? Instead of fame, fortune and power, the disciples are being promised persecution, prisons, and crosses! They’re being called to give up their desires and dreams and to embrace Jesus’ ways, Jesus’ kingdom vision and plans, to put others first. The disciples did not clearly see the kind of Messiah Jesus really is. They, like us all too often, see Jesus through their own wants and desires instead of through God’s will and concerns for reconciliation and new life for his people and creation. The disciples’ Messiah is too small, Jesus wants so much more for us. Jesus wants us to have a rich full life he wants us to experience healing and strength, but that means choosing Jesus as our whole universe, as Ann Voskamp reminds us, recognizing Jesus as the Messiah who offers grace and brings new life. Do you want to grow, to become more? Denying yourself grows you. Allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you in giving yourself away to Jesus’ call to love God and your neighbour, to serve others and make disciples so they can flourish and find healing.

Jumping ahead a bit, at the end of chapter 10 we see Jesus healing Blind Bartimaeus. In the verses just before this healing, Jesus reveals exactly what kind of a Messiah he is, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus is the Messiah who comes to serve us by offering his life in place of ours on the cross, the place where he paid the ransom for our sin, freeing us from the punishment for our sin, bringing us hope that there is more, that there is healing and freedom. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to guide us into becoming the people God has created us to be as we see his will and do it. We’re given the Holy Spirit to help us to be servants first, giving ourselves to God for his concerns, giving ourselves to bring the good news of Jesus the Messiah, helping others to see who Jesus is.

Mark 3:13-35 You Are a Son and Brother

 

Our question for Lent this year is, “Who is Jesus, Who is Christ,” and this morning we’re going to get an unexpected picture of Jesus from Mark as someone who changes our ideas and beliefs about what family, community, relationships, and commitment look like. Jesus has been travelling through the area of Galilee and he’s creating a name and reputation for himself. Our story begins with Jesus taking his followers on a mountainside retreat where he chooses 12 of them to be with him so “that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” Jesus is beginning the process of multiplying his ministry by identifying these 12 men to mentor and invest in so they can do what he’s doing. Mentoring and discipleship is the lifeblood of the church.

Jesus and his disciples head back to the village, likely the village where Peter and Andrew are from and they enter a house, again, likely Peter and Andrew’s house. It’s still early in Jesus’ ministry, but he’s already creating quite a stir among the people. He’s becoming well known as a teacher, healer and caster out of demons. They’re hearing about Jesus all the way down in Jerusalem where the teachers of the law send some of their people to check this new rabbi out. The crowd shows up and it gets so crazy full that Jesus and his disciples can’t even eat because it’s so packed in the house there’s no room to eat.

Mark now gives us a glimpse into how hard it is for some people to recognize who Jesus is. Jesus’ family is hearing about all the things he’s teaching and doing and about the crowds surrounding him, so they head out to talk to Jesus because they think, “He is out of his mind.” Now Jesus is the Son of God, but he’s also a son to Mary and a brother to his siblings, and it must hurt to hear how his own family thinks about him. Robert Frost once wrote that “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” but who wants to be the one in the family that everyone thinks is crazy enough that they actually need to head out to seize him to take him home? Yet to be fair to Jesus’ family, Jesus’ ministry is already creating powerful enemies, so much so that just before this story, we hear the Pharisees and Herodians begin planning on how to kill Jesus. How do we react to Jesus’ actions and teachings and claims? C.S Lewis writes that we need to come to a decision about Jesus: either he is a liar, a lunatic or Lord. Yet, Jesus’ family may have been trying to keep him safe, and maybe to keep the family name safe too.

Before Jesus’ family arrives at the house where he and his disciples are, the teachers of the law from Jerusalem show up. They’ve been hearing the stories of what Jesus is doing and it concerns them because of the power of his teaching, the power in his healing, and his ability to cast out demons. Jesus is creating issues for them because he’s reinterpreting how and why they do the faith practices they do. Jesus’ disciples aren’t fasting like everyone else and Jesus defends them, telling the Pharisees that they should be celebrating instead of fasting. Then one Sabbath, when Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field, they pick grain and eat it, going against the Sabbath customs that have been in place a long time. Jesus then tells the Pharisees that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus is telling them that they don’t understand God or him. If that’s not enough, Jesus goes and heals a man on a Sabbath, challenging them, embarrassing them by asking them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

Pastor David Lose writes about the teachers of the law, “Perhaps this is the predicament in which the Scribes find themselves in today’s story. It’s not that their way of relating to God is wrong — they are part of a long and proud tradition of faithful service to God and the people of God. It is just that Jesus doesn’t conform to their structures. Jesus declares that the law, finally, isn’t about regulating our relationship with God but was given by God to help us get more out of life. And so he heals whenever and wherever there is need, even on the Sabbath. And he welcomes all, even those normally excluded by certain religious restrictions or customs. And, let’s face it, he does manage to banish all those unclean spirits. In all these ways Jesus points back to the wildly merciful and unpredictably (and uncontrollably) gracious God who is always doing a new thing.”

The teachers of the law can’t figure Jesus out, he’s got power to heal, he’s a powerful teacher, and he can cast out demons, so they accuse him of being possessed, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” Jesus calls the teachers of the law over and gets in their face, mocking their accusation, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.” Their accusation that Jesus is possessed by a demon in order to drive other demons out doesn’t make any sense at all. They can’t recognize that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, the Holy One of God, even though they’ve studied the prophets and what we call the Old Testament; all they see is a possessed man with great powers, someone to fear.

Now Jesus’ mother and brothers arrive. Mark tells us that they send someone in to call him. They need someone able to squeeze their way through the crowd to reach Jesus. Jesus is told, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” Jesus’ response is kind of shocking. He askes, “Who are my mother and brothers?” What’s going on in that family that’s causing Jesus to distance himself from his family?

When we ask, “Who is Jesus,” Jesus is a son of Mary and a brother to his siblings. They may not recognize him as God’s Son or as the Holy One of God, but they do recognize him as their family. So why is Jesus responding so harshly to his family here? Even if they think he’s out of his mind, they still care about him and are trying to protect him. Mark writes, “Then Jesus looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” James Boyce writes, “It is not status but action in response to the call of God in the person of this Jesus that marks what it means to belong to his “family.” That would seem to sum it all up simple and to the point. Relationships in this family are dynamic; they flow from the encounter and response to this Jesus…. Relationships in this family are couched in terms of “doing the will of God.”

Scott Hoeze and Carrie Steenwyk write, “If Mark 3 makes one thing clear, it is that the work of God in the kingdom trumps all else, no matter how painful a reality that may be. In recent years we’ve heard a lot of talk about “family values” from religious people in the public square. And of course, the church must promote strong families. But Jesus knew that being the Christ of God meant that he could not make an idol out of his own family.” Later on, in chapter 10, Jesus tells the disciples, “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” Jesus’ call on your life comes before everything else. It will cost you to follow Jesus, but the life change you can bring into peoples’ lives with the Gospel news is worth all the sacrifices that being a sister or brother of Jesus costs you.

Jesus has planted the seeds of the church here. He’s creating a core group of people that he’s investing into to carry on his work. He’s defined who they are and what defines them is doing the will of God. Being a part of this new family comes at a cost. Jesus isn’t denying the importance of our families, our families shape us and it’s the place where many of us first meet and learn about Jesus. Our families cannot come before God, no relationship can come before God’s will and Jesus’ call on our lives, but it’s an amazing journey with Jesus!

Mark 1:21-35 You Are the Holy One of God

 

Last week Mark introduced us to Jesus as the Son of God. Now Mark begins to reveal what being the Son of God means and looks like. Jesus is walking through Galilee, in the area where he grew up, preaching, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus has also begun calling people to follow him to learn from him and join him in his work of spreading the good news “that the kingdom of God is near and it’s time to get serious about God and repent and believe.” Jesus has just called the brothers Andrew and Peter who are fishermen, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Further down the seashore, Jesus calls the brothers John and James to also follow him. They pack up their nets and follow Jesus; Jesus’ call has power in it.

Mark wants us to sit up and pay attention. Jesus isn’t doing things the normal way. Most rabbis began teaching and students would then choose which rabbi they would become disciples of. Jesus instead seeks out his disciples, identifying and challenging them to leave their lives and follow him. Jesus chooses us first before we choose him. Now Jesus and his new disciples arrive in Capernaum, a small village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

On the Sabbath, Jesus goes to the local synagogue and begins to teach. As we get to know Jesus more, we see him reveal God in the daily things and events around us, but it’s early in his teaching ministry and the people are amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who has authority, not as the teachers of the law. Have you ever had teachers where you wondered if they really knew what they were talking about, or if they were just parroting something they’d been taught, but really don’t understand that well themselves? The knowledge may be right, but it doesn’t come across with passion or impact. Jesus’ teaching has impact!

Jesus teaches with power and impact because he’s the source of knowledge and truth, he knows exactly what he’s teaching and talking about, it’s part of who he is as the Son of God. The people notice. Jesus is teaching about the kingdom of God, about his kingdom. He’s calling the people to repentance and it’s powerful because he knows their hearts and how to touch them. The Holy Spirit is at work here, touching the peoples’ hearts through Jesus’ teaching and the people are responding to Jesus.

Now Mark comes to the place in his story where he wants us to sit up and pay attention. “Just then a man in their synagogue,” but the word Marks uses is more like, “Immediately, at once.” This man’s reacting strongly to what Jesus is teaching, it’s hitting him hard and we find out why, “he was possessed by an impure spirit and he cries out, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!’” Wait a minute, a demon possessed man is sitting in the synagogue, what’s he doing there? It’s interesting that he first identifies Jesus by his home town of Nazareth.

Jesus sternly tells the demon, “Be quiet!” Satan is the Prince of Lies, twisting everything to make us doubt God and Jesus, doubt ourselves, and even our salvation. It began already with Adam and Eve when Satan planted seeds of doubt in their minds about who God is. Satan made God out to be controlling, insecure, selfish, and not wanting them to be like him, and not completely truthful. You see the same pattern happening already with the demon emphasizing that Jesus is from Nazareth, a place everyone looked down on and mocked at that time. The first thing the demon does is to try to make Jesus look smaller, try to give us a false image of who Jesus is, to make him look like a country bumpkin so the people won’t listen to Jesus. The demon tries to make the people fear Jesus, asking, “Have you come to destroy us?” The demon’s trying to get the people to question Jesus’ motives. The demon knows Jesus has come to save his people, not destroy them. By using a question rather than an accusation, the demon is trying to plant a mind worm in the peoples’ heads to turn them away from Jesus or ignore Jesus.

Then the demon confesses who Jesus is, “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” It may be a demon, but it recognizes who Jesus is, that he is holy, set apart for God’s work and plan, that Jesus is pure and untouched by sin, that Jesus has come to make things clean again, to bring humanity back into a right relationship with God after Satan worked to break that relationship. This is also a confession that Jesus is of God, that God and Jesus are one, as Jesus makes clear in the Gospel of John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

Jesus faces the demon head on, commanding it, “Come out of him!” The demon has no choice but to obey Jesus and after shaking the man violently, it comes out of him with a shriek. The pure overpowers the unclean, Jesus, the Holy One of God cleanses the unclean man of the demon. Normally, when the clean touches the unclean, the clean becomes unclean and needs to be cleansed again. Jesus, the clean sinless one, doesn’t become unclean, but makes the unclean clean again. This is a sign of what Jesus accomplishes for us on the cross when he becomes sin for us so that we can come before our Father cleansed and made new again. On the cross, Jesus confronts Satan and wins.

This story of Jesus confronting the demon and cleansing the man from the demon is important because Satan still uses the same tactics today, working to give people a false image of who God, of who Jesus is. There are many people today who dismiss God because they see God as insecure, controlling, angry and hate-filled. Often, people see God this way because that’s how they’ve experienced the church, or read about the church. They believe the church isn’t relevant anymore. Often, we fail to recognize God’s love for his precious and dearly loved children.

In Jesus we see a compassionate God, who cares about justice and taking care of the most vulnerable, who frees us from slavery to sin, addictions, and false ways of thinking. In Jesus we see a God who is self-giving, sacrificial, who brings healing and hope, who cleanses our souls from the sins and stains of the past, while challenging us to follow him, to focus on living a holy life, and experience the kingdom of heaven.

Thomas Long and Jan Richardson remind us that in Jesus we see the power and authority of God in casting out the demon and we get a glimpse of the way the world is supposed to be, and insight into how the world really is. Mark tells us that the “people were so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” Jesus shows himself to be more than we expect. While others feared demons, Jesus commands them with authority. Jesus transforms the unclean, the broken, all those not permitted into the presence of God and restores the image of God in them, restoring and renewing them. David Lose reminds us that Jesus comes to us in our own brokenness and experienced our brokenness on the cross so we can experience healing and restoration through his resurrection.

This week, I kept thinking about the fact that this demon possessed man is in the synagogue and no one seems to notice until Jesus begins preaching. There are many people in our churches, in our community who are wrestling with their own demons, with things that seem way too strong to defeat. It may be a way of thinking that pulls us down constantly, it may be an addiction, it may be emotions that fill us and hurt us over and over again such as anger, bitterness, jealousy, or more. There are those struggling with depression and a lack of self worth. Sometimes it may be evil spirits. A former pastor of mine, Pastor Gerrit, served in Red Mesa and elders there taught him about casting out evil spirits from members. Satan adjusts himself to snare us in his chains. But Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery…. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope… The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Jesus has the power to free us from our demons, from the addictions and powers that hold onto us. Jesus has come to cleanse us and make us holy through his holiness. He comes because he loves us deeply and each one of you are precious to him, even if you believe you are unlovable, too broken to be accepted. Through the power of prayer in Jesus’ name, through Christian counseling and therapy, through the encouragement of Scripture, by knowing that there are many of us who fight these battles, by walking together in supportive mentoring and disciplining relationships, we can find hope and healing because Jesus is the Holy One of God with the power to free us and cleanse us from the powers that hold us in chains.

Mark 1:9-25 You are My Son

 

Lent has begun, even though it feels as if Christmas and New Year’s is barely over. Lent is a seven-week period in the church year leading into Easter when the church focuses on repentance. Repentance is about making changes in how we live, refocusing on following Jesus and on how we live with others. The desire for change comes as we gain an awareness of how our sin separates us from God and what it cost God to be reconciled with us and that God’s grace to us comes at a huge cost to Jesus. During Lent, we will be moving through the Gospel of Mark. Mark is often described as the “Wow” gospel. His whole reason for writing his gospel is to get us to sit up and go “Wow” as we discover who Jesus really is.

Right from the get go, Mark tells us who Jesus is, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” There’s no guessing about who Jesus is in Mark’s gospel; it’s clear right from the start, from beginning to end. Scott Hoeze and Carrie Steenwyk write, “All through the gospel of Mark people wonder who Jesus is. A few people hit on the right answer but are repeatedly told to keep it quiet. Only when Jesus dies on the cross is someone allowed to say publicly, “Surely, this was the Son of God!” Once Jesus has given the last full measure of his life, it’s safe to identify him.”

Mark begins his gospel by introducing us to John the Baptist whose role is to point the way to the coming Messiah, the coming Christ. As part of John’s preparing the way for the coming of Jesus, he focuses on calling the people to repentance for the forgiveness of sins; calling the people to turn back towards God and righteousness and right living. John sounds a lot like the Old Testament prophets who kept calling the people to turn their lives and hearts back to God and not rely on simply following religious practices and empty words of faith. John points to Jesus, “And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Only God can baptize with the Holy Spirit, that means God is coming!

In Luke’s gospel, we discovered that John and Jesus are cousins, but there’s no mention that they really knew each other, but when Jesus begins his ministry, the first thing he does is seek John out to be baptized by John. You may be asking, “Why would Jesus feel the need to be baptized since he has nothing to repent about, and especially since John’s baptism is with water while Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit?” By being baptized by John, it identifies Jesus with the people he’s come to save; we call this vicarious sin-bearing. We get an image of this in Isaiah 53, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance for forgiveness. With John’s baptism, we change to receive forgiveness, but John points ahead to Jesus’ baptism where we receive that forgiveness because Jesus takes on himself our punishment for sin to the cross so we can have peace with God. John’s baptism points to turning our lives back to God through Jesus. Jesus’ message is, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus calls us to change the direction of our lives and believe the good news that he is the Son of God, the promised Messiah; that he is the good news. Jesus is all about restoring people, offering them a new identity rooted in the kingdom of God. Right after baptizing Jesus, John’s put in jail. His role is over and Mark’s focus in now completely on Jesus.

During Jesus’ baptism, heaven’s torn open; the Jordan River has become a meeting place for heaven and earth. We hear echoes of Jacob’s dream of a ladder between heaven and earth where angels travel up and down on heaven’s business. As Jesus comes up out of the water, the Spirit comes down from heaven and descends on Jesus in the form of a dove and a voice from heaven declares, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” What a wonderful image of being baptized with the Holy Spirit! We see a picture here of the inter-connectedness of God with the Father declaring his love for the Son and the Spirit anointing the Son for the father’s business on earth. You don’t get one person of the Trinity without the others. It’s also important to remember that when God speaks, we listen. So often we talk expecting God to listen, but when God does speak, we need to listen.

No matter how other people in Mark’s gospel respond to Jesus, Mark clearly lets us know that Jesus is God’s Son. Those of us reading or hearing Mark’s story of Jesus’ life are never in doubt about who Jesus is. At Jesus’ death, after the temple curtain splits wide open and the Holy Spirit flows out into the world, using the same word as the heavens opening here with Jesus’ baptism, that we hear a Roman centurion confess, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” In Mark 3, Mark even records an evil spirit falling before Jesus and confessing, “You are the Son of God.” Both heaven and hell acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God; it’s those of us on earth that have the hardest time confessing Jesus as the Son of God. This is why there are so many off shoots of the Christian faith, most of them seeing Jesus as a good man, even as a demi-god, but having a hard time with the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, fully God. If we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, then we have no excuse for not following him and everything he taught.

Faith is all about relationships, our relationship with Jesus and our relationships with each other. The main image is that of family; family is a key image in the Bible of our relationship with God. Here we have the God the Father and Jesus the Son shown in a close relationship filled with blessing and love. Through Jesus we are adopted as daughters and sons into God’s family where we experience God’s love and blessings. Families can be funny things, but they are held together by bonds of love and commitment to each other, by sacrificial love, wanting the best for each other and being there for each other. Cain and Abel are the first brothers in the Bible. Cain kills Abel in a fit of rage and God asks Cain where Abel is and Cain asks, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” God doesn’t reply because the answer is obvious, “Yes, you are supposed to care for, protect, and act in love towards your brother.” Jesus, our older brother, God our Father commit completely to us, they’re so committed to us that Jesus dies for us. Jesus tells us that people will know we belong to him by our love for each other, our commitment to us, an echo of Jesus’ commitment to us.

Right after Jesus’ baptism, Mark’s story takes a surprising turn, “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels attended him.” Pastor Scott Hoeze writes, “When the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus and God expresses his love for him, the first order of business is a blunt, brutal engagement with evil. Why was Jesus baptized and, furthermore, anointed by God? It certainly wasn’t step 1 to a comfortable life of fame and glory. “He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” The animals in question here aren’t squirrels and raccoons—they’re threats to life and to human flourishing: lions, jackals, and other predators. In the Bible the wilderness is shorthand for chaos, the precise opposite of the cosmos God created “in the beginning.” Israel saw the wilderness as a place to seek God and be shaped by God spiritually, learning trust and dependency on God. Jesus seeks out the Father to prepare for his ministry. We see God providing for Jesus, even in testing by being attended by angels.

Jesus comes as the Son of God to bring shalom. Shalom is peace, it’s blessing; living well with God and each other, looking to bless each other and be a blessing. Satan brought chaos into the world through sin and he continues to stir up chaos and brokenness. The Son of God has come to restore shalom: shalom between the Father and us, shalom into our world again. Jesus calls us and equips us, his brothers and sisters, with his Spirit to be shalom bringers and creators in our community. As we see the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to each other in beauty and harmony, we turn and look into our own community here in Lacombe and ask ourselves, “How can we be agents of healing and shalom, where is God already working so we can join him, how can we bring beauty and harmony into Lacombe as followers of the Son of God?”

Genesis 45:1-18 Sent Ahead by God

 

We’re at the end of our series on Joseph, we’ve skipped a few chapters because of the start of Lent next week, but this morning’s story brings Joseph’s and Judah’s story full circle. Judah’s responsible for selling Joseph into slavery and now Joseph and Judah are face to face again, though Judah’s not aware of that at the moment. I encourage you to read through Joseph and Judah’s story again at home to get a feel for the power of the moment here in Joseph’s throne room. Joseph’s been in charge of Egypt for about nine years now, his dreams of ruling has come true, even his brothers have kneeled before him. Now they’re back again to buy more food, this time Benjamin’s with them, as Joseph had commanded them.

Joseph stuck his silver cup in Benjamin’s sack on the brothers’ way home and now they’re cowering in fear before this powerful ruler. Judah has just begged to take Benjamin’s place in slavery to spare Jacob more grief, Judah’s willing to sacrifice his life for Benjamin’s. Judah admits that this trouble is because of the sin they committed in selling their other brother into slavery. Judah’s changed over the years, just as Joseph has. Both have become mature leaders who take responsibility seriously. Judah’s developed a sacrificial heart as well along the way.

Hearing how Judah has changed, how sorrow for their father and regret for his past have shaped Judah’s heart, seeing his brothers take care of each other, Joseph breaks down; the emotion of seeing his brothers moves him to reveal to his brothers who he is. Joseph’s emotions and weeping are so powerful that all the Egyptians in the palace are able to hear him, even though they were all sent from the room beforehand. Joseph’s servants are concerned and let Pharaoh know what’s happening. Joseph turns to his brothers and now we see a powerful moment of forgiveness and grace, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?”

The brothers are horrified. The brother they thought was dead, the brother they sold into slavery is now the second most powerful man in the land with the power of life and death over them. Now we see just how wise in the ways of God Joseph has become, he sees his brothers’ fear and acknowledges their sin in selling him into slavery, but he also recognizes that this was part of God’s working out his plans to save his people, “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” Joseph sees God’s hand at work, even in the hard times.

It’s easier to see God’s hand at work looking back. During hard times, we focus on getting through, we look for next steps forward or ways to escape; looking for what God is doing through the hard times often only comes later on. God was looking way ahead, putting in place a plan to create a safe place for his people to grow, to provide for his people. This is where the sermon first started, but as I looked more at Joseph’s story, the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation stood out more and more. This is a story of God at work, as Joseph recognizes, “But God sent me ahead of you to prepare for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” This is about God’s long-term plans; God’s thinking years and generations ahead, putting in place his plan of salvation.

Joseph’s story points us ahead to Jesus who came to save his people. Jesus saves us by a great deliverance whose beginnings were already set-in place right after Adam and Eve first sinned. This is where the switch in the sermon began this week. Joseph could have responded in so many negative ways; ways that used his power to punish his brothers. He could have chosen revenge over forgiveness, bitterness over grace, anger over love, power over humility, vengeance over reconciliation. Over the past few weeks, we have watched how God has been with Joseph, no matter the situation, how God was shaping him, not just to lead Egypt through the famine, but also to protect and provide for his family and to provide Joseph’s family with a place of plenty to live out the famine. This will help Joseph’s family to grow into a nation, a nation who will be a blessing to the other nations as promised to Abraham.

Joseph’s forgiveness is real and his desire for reconciliation is genuine. Joseph recognises that God took evil and turned it into good, used it to move forward his plan to save people, this insight gives him the ability to forgive his brothers and to seek reconciliation with them. Paul hits on this in Romans 8, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose… What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

We see how Joseph has matured in his faith and as a person. Joseph chooses forgiveness, grace, love, humility and reconciliation. He holds his brothers responsible for their past choices, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt,” but he also points to God’s hand in everything that has happened to save lives. Later on, after their father Jacob dies and the brothers are afraid Joseph will take revenge on them, Joseph reassures them, “Do not be afraid. You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, so that many people should be kept alive.” Forgiveness is hard work and it takes time. When you need to offer forgiveness because you can feel your heart becoming hard and bitter, or others see in you and are brave enough to confront you about it, it doesn’t happen overnight. Joseph misses his family; he wants to be part of the family again. Yet, as the brothers know, if you have power, you may feel you don’t need to forgive because you can take care of justice yourself. Forgiveness flows out of our relationship with Jesus.

Rev. James Howell writes that when Jesus said on the cross, “Father forgive them for they do not know not what they are doing,” Jesus could easily have said the same as Joseph, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, so that many people should be kept alive.” God saves, Jesus saves, not just so people don’t die, but so that we can be reconciled with God, but also to call us to reconciliation with others that we’ve broken relationships with. Reconciliation means taking an honest look in yourself and coming to a knowledge on how much we need God’s forgiveness and we’re humbled, moving us to extend forgiveness to others in a desire for reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5 is the reconciliation chapter in the Bible. Reconciliation is about healing, renewal, new life, confession, repentance and life change, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

God reconciled us to himself through Jesus and calls us to be ministers of reconciliation in the world. As a sign of what God has done for us through Jesus, we practice gracious reconciliation shaped by sincere confession and a determined repentance with each other. What an amazing calling! Rev. Howell recognizes that “Reconciliation takes time, a long time. Reconciliation isn’t forgive and forget; it’s genuine healing for everybody involved. Joseph needed the healing as much as the brothers and their father did. The beneficiaries of this reconciliation? Not just this family, but people who had never known them!”

Reconciliation is costly, it cost Jesus deeply, he was separated from the Father and Holy Spirit for the first time ever on the cross. Think about that! At the heart of reconciliation is love and compassion for others; the same love and compassion God has for us; that led Jesus to the cross, that saves us from the chains of slavery to anger, hatred, vengeance and bitterness. Reconciliation is healing of wounds, healing of relationships, healing of the soul. It begins with God and is then lived out here among each other. Is there anyone you need to work towards reconciliation with? Is there confession, repentance and healing needed with others? As your pastor, I would be honoured to walk that journey with you as you seek reconciliation and healing.

Genesis 41:1-40 From Prison to Ruler

 

Dreams, dreams, and more dreams. There is no one’s life more impacted by dreams in the Bible than Joseph’s. It began with Joseph’s dreams about ruling over his brothers, then the next two dreams that impact Joseph’s life come while he’s in prison and the Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker each have a dream that Joseph interprets with God’s help. Now we hear about more dreams that end up impacting Joseph and these are given to Pharaoh, the most powerful person in Egypt, the man whose prison Joseph is running.

Two years after Pharaoh’s cupbearer is reinstated to his position and forgets about Joseph, Pharaoh goes to bed one night and has two dreams. These two dreams are both really similar to each other: they’re dreams of opposites, dreams of change, dreams that start off wonderful and quickly turn into nightmares. The first dream is of seven wonderful fat sleek cows. These are the kinds of cows every farmer dreams about. Then comes a horrifying change, the seven fat sleek cows are swallowed up by seven ugly, gaunt cows, but they stay ugly and skinny. In the second dream, Pharaoh sees seven healthy full heads of grain, the kind of grain every farmer is praying to grow every spring. Then comes the horrifying change, these seven beautiful heads of grain are swallowed up by seven thin, scorched heads of grain, but they stay ugly and thin.  Pharaoh doesn’t understand these dreams, and it bothers him because he senses there’s a message in them.

Pharaoh calls his magicians and wisemen to the throne room and tells them his dreams, but not a single one of them has any clue what they mean. Now a light goes off in the cupbearer’s head and he remembers his own dream and who interpreted the meaning of it for him. He turns to Pharaoh and tells him, “I know someone who can interpret your dream for you. He’s a Hebrew prisoner, but he’s good at this kind of thing. He helped me understand my dream when I was in prison and things turned out exactly as he said they would.” So, Pharaoh sends for Joseph, and Joseph’s quickly brought up out of the prison, cleaned and washed, because you don’t go in front of the Pharaoh smelling of prison. Joseph is now in the presence of the most powerful person in Egypt; what is God’s plan here; we sense that this has to be a God moment.

Pharaoh says to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Once again, Joseph points straight to God, giving God the credit for being able to interpret dreams. Joseph tells Pharaoh, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” Joseph is confident that God has placed him here to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams, he hasn’t lost his faith and trust in God and keeps turning to him, no matter what’s going on. Joseph remains humble, telling Pharaoh that God is the source of his wisdom.

Pharaoh describes his dreams to Joseph and tells Joseph that none of the magicians could interpret them. Joseph tells Pharaoh that the two dreams point to the same thing and that God has given him two dreams to show him what God is about to do. Seven years of prosperity and great abundance are coming, it’s going to be an amazing seven years, but they’re going to be followed right away by seven really hard years of famine that’s going to wipe all the prosperity away. The famine will be so severe that no one’s even going to remember the seven wonderful years. Sounds a bit like Alberta’s economy. Joseph tells Pharaoh that God gave him two similar dreams to show Pharaoh that there’s no changing God’s plan and it’s going to happen soon. This is not a good interpretation, especially since there’s no changing God’s mind on it. Hard times are coming.

Joseph then takes a really bold step of faith, he tells Pharaoh, “Now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of the Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.” Remember, Joseph is an administrator, someone trained to organize people and systems so that the organization or business runs efficiently and their goals are met. He sees that if Pharaoh’s not proactive in responding to the upcoming famine, then Egypt and the countries and people around Egypt are going to suffer greatly.

Think about this for a moment. Joseph’s a Hebrew slave offering the most powerful person in Egypt advice on how to do his job and run his country. Why should Pharaoh listen to a slave? He has plenty of capable administrators in his own country, people that understand the culture and values of Egypt and able to figure out a way forward. There’s no need to listen to a foreigner. Just because Joseph can run a prison and a household, that doesn’t mean he knows anything about running a country.

Now we see God’s hand directly at work in raising Joseph up out of prison and into a place of influence. Pharaoh turns to his advisors and asks, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?” Now Pharaoh’s not expecting anyone to disagree with him, that just doesn’t happen, and now comes one of the greatest life changing moments in history, “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” In Acts 7, as Steven, the first martyr, testifies about God’s faithfulness and plans, he remembers Joseph, “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So, Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.”

This is more amazing than we first realize. Pharaoh has just acknowledged the power of Joseph’s God here in Egypt; raising up Joseph, God’s man, to a place of extraordinary power, a foreigner who answers only to Pharaoh. Pharaoh has also raised Joseph’s God to a prominent place in the pantheon of Egypt’s gods. Pharaoh sees that Joseph’s God, unlike other gods, is not limited by geography. The most powerful person in the land acknowledges God’s power and that what’s coming cannot be stopped by Egypt’s gods. We hear an echo here to 400 years into the future when God once again will show his power over Egypt’s gods when he leads his people back to the Promised Land. That fills us with hope still today as we know that God is God of gods. We see God’s power when Jesus comes to earth, fully human and fully God to raise us up out of our prisons and slavery to sin to set us free to love and serve him by defeating sin, Satan and death on the cross.

While God’s working in the background of Joseph’s life, Joseph remains faithful in all the lesser roles God places him in to prepare him for this moment. Joseph’s life reminds us that our gifts and talents are given to us in order to serve the Lord by serving others. Over and over again, Moses reminds us that no matter where Joseph is serving, God’s with him, giving him success. Pete Wilcox writes, “the proper response to the revelation of God’s good will and purpose, for Joseph as well as Pharaoh, is not resignation and the abrogation of responsibility, but faithful action.” Joseph is put in Egypt for just such a time as this, just as Esther was in Babylon for such a time as she was in, just as Bethel has been placed here in Lacombe for just such a time as this to reveal the Gospel news, to make new disciples, to use our gifts to reveal a glimpse of God’s already and not yet kingdom that the Holy Spirit is building right here.

Faithful action that flows out of following Jesus, loving each other, serving our community and sharing our faith because our hearts are filled with the desire for all our neighbours, friends, co-workers, fellow students and others to know Jesus’ amazing love and grace and power. May we always be asking God, “What now, where do you want me to serve you and others; help us see where you are already at work so we can join you.” May the Lord give us the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the hearts to respond to his kingdom call on our lives.