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Mark 6:45-46: Jesus at prayer.

^“45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” NIV UK

We never get the impression from the gospels that Jesus prayed at one particular time. He prayed much, that is obvious. He prayed at different hours and in varying circumstances. I believe we can safely say that His life was soaked in prayer. We can’t help but feel inspired (and rebuked) by His example.

But Jesus didn’t just say prayers; He walked with the Father. His prayers were not religious; they were an expression of a relationship. We, too, are sons of God. No-one else can be a Son of God in the unique way Jesus is. He is the eternal Son. Nevertheless, we are adopted as sons through Jesus, and we too can seek to keep in step with our Father.

In this prayerful enjoyment of God, we will not only say things, and ask for things. We will also hear things. We will receive direction (43) from the Lord Himself. When you run into a storm, it’s a precious thing to recall how you got into this boat in the first place. If Jesus ‘’made’’ you set sail, He has a reason for you finding yourself in these angry waters; tossed to and fro by pounding waves. Everything is right that seems most wrong when you’re in God’s will.

Make it your aim to walk with God; and remember, ‘If you want to meet Him everywhere, you must meet Him somewhere; if you want to find Him all the time, you must find Him some time.’

PRAYER: I believe Jesus is my pattern in prayer, as in everything else. Help me please, Holy Spirit, to follow my Lord into the ‘secret place.’

Mark 6:35-44: Life begins at…

^“35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ ³⁷ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’ ³⁸ ‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ When they found out, they said, ‘Five – and two fish.’ ³⁹ Then Jesus told them to make all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” NIV UK

I saw a card in a shop the other day. It bore the message: ‘’Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.’’ There is no little truth in that. Many of us will have had moments when we heard Jesus say, ‘’You give them something to eat’’ (37a). At least we will have had equivalent times in which the Lord Jesus asked of us something we could not do. Then we found He put into our hands ‘’immeasurably more’’ (Ephesians 3:20).

In his excellent book, ‘On being a servant of God,’ Warren Wiersbe says that ministry takes place where divine resources meet human needs, through loving channels, to the glory of God. That is exactly what you have here in this story. Wiersbe also says that in ministry we are tempted to imagine that God has called us to be manufacturers when He has in fact given us the work of being distributors.

 Jesus asks us to do what we can’t do. We put into His Hands the little we have, and He performs a miracle with it. He puts it back into our hands, bigger and greater than ever it was before, and we share with the world that which He gives to us.

PRAYER: ‘’Why should I ever anxious be, when such a God is mine…?’’

 Mark 6:30-34: The Shepherd’s heart.

^“30 The apostles gathered round Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ ³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognised them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” NIV UK

It’s good to know that we can (and, I believe, should) talk to Jesus about our work. We ought not to speak about it to others in a bragging kind of way, but we can tell Jesus in an honest sort of way. Talk it over with the Lord: the concerns on your heart, the problems requiring solutions, the ministry you have performed and that which still lies ahead. You can tell Him about your successes, and give Him the glory. You can also discuss the failures – whether real or apparent. When I was a little boy, I had a lovely pastor called George. He taught us a simple song that went: ‘’A little talk with Jesus makes it right, alright.’’ It’s amazing how it does. Even if the situation doesn’t change, you will change on the inside as you cast your burden on Him. It’s what He wants you to do.

Jesus knows our needs better than we do. He is aware of them even before we tell Him. On this occasion He knew His disciples needed rest. They had just returned from a ‘ministry trip’, and found themselves in a situation of constant demand. Few of us will ever have been so busy as the disciples were at this time.

Jesus called them into rest. But as well as showing for all time the legitimacy of rest, He also demonstrated that there are times when our own needs must take a back seat to those of others. In ministry, we have to train ourselves to be open to interruptions. Jesus’ Shepherd heart could not hear bleating sheep and not care for them; He could not see hungry sheep and not feed them. However, in the first place, He stepped up and took responsibility. It seems He kept His disciples out of the picture until later in the day. He showed loving, protective concern for the under-shepherds too. After all, were they not also His sheep?

Note that true rest has time with Jesus at its heart; and whatever we do to rest, it will not turn out to be rest if it is not Christ-centred (30, 31, 32).

‘’Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’’ (Matthew 11:28-30).

Mark 6:21-29: Hush my mouth!

^“21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When the daughter of  Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.’ ²³ And he promised her with an oath, ‘Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.’ ²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’ ‘The head of John the Baptist,’ she answered. ²⁵ At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: ‘I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a dish.’ ²⁶ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a dish. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹ On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.” NIV UK

It’s a sad and sordid scene, full of sex and violence – the kind of scenario lots of movie-goers love, to be honest! It seems that when Herodias’ daughter danced her presumably erotic dance for Herod and his presumably drunken (or partially inebriated) guests, the door was opened into further sin. Herod ended up doing what he did not want to do:

• Because of a relationship he shouldn’t have been in;
• Because of a state he shouldn’t have been in;
• Because of words he shouldn’t have spoken (26).

In these moments, Herod showed that he had a backbone of gelatine. Instead of living by his deepest convictions, he capitulated in the face of social pressure. John the Baptist died because Herod made rash promises and didn’t want to look bad in front of his dinner guests.

‘’Do not be quick with your mouth…’’ Ecclesiastes 5:2;

‘’When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise’’ Proverbs 10:19.

Be very careful what you promise. You may be unwittingly setting a trap for yourself.

PRAYER: Lord may my heart be a wise well out of which may be drawn wise words

Mark 6:17-20: Silence the preacher.

^“17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ ¹⁹ So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled ; yet he liked to listen to him.” NIV UK

I have seen this same sort of thing in people. Have you? Where they are fascinated by Christianity. They have huge respect for it, and for particular people they know who are believers. Yet at the same time they feel drawn, they also keep a safe distance. Also, they never seem to fully understand.  Although John’s words must have stung Herod, it was Herodias who wanted him dead. Stories about royals and sex scandals always sell papers. People are very interested in these things, even though they may pretend they are not. There had been a big scandal involving Herod and his brother’s wife. John the Baptist spoke prophetically into the situation and ‘’called a spade a spade, and not an agricultural implement.’’ We don’t like to be told we are in the wrong. Deep in his heart though, I believe Herod knew John was right, and he had way too much admiration (and fear) to want to kill him. But a compromise solution was to lock him up. When the preacher says things you don’t want to hear; speaks penetrating words that expose your sin, you may want to silence him, or her. Such desires are regularly turned into reality in some cultures. Perhaps more likely, you will do your utmost to avoid hearing that preacher. If you have to be in church, then you will metaphorically, if not literally, put your hands over your ears. One way or another, you will silence him. Conviction of sin will make certain people raging angry.

‘’The kingdoms of the world are indeed to become the kingdom of God, but those who speak of this in advance are likely to suffer the anger of those who feel their power slipping away from them.’’ Tom Wright: ‘Mark for everyone,’p.76

Wright also makes the telling point that within a decade Herod had been banished to Gaul; left to die in disgrace in a foreign land. Within a decade, John’s story had been written up by Mark, showing him to be a fearless witness to the Kingdom of God.

PRAYER: Please give me the courage to stand in the face of an oncoming tide of evil, and not be swept away by it.

Mark 6:14-16: Easter Faith

¹⁴ King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,‘John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’  ¹⁵ Others said, ‘He is Elijah.’  And still others claimed, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.’  ¹⁶ But when Herod heard this, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!’

‘’Better the dungeon with John than the palace with Herod, for conscience filled the palace with the ghost of the murdered Baptist!’’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary,’p.423.

These words in Mark 6 show that Jesus was creating a stir. He was arousing curiosity.       I guess we already know this, but it’s underlined here. A debate was sparked as to His identity. There was something about Jesus which defied natural, human explanation. (It may help to know that there was a Jewish expectation that Elijah – who had not died – would return before the end of time, to prepare things for the day of judgment. In the Old Testament, many miracles surrounded the ministries of Elijah and Elisha).

‘’Who is Jesus?’’ remains the great question of life and we must answer it: If we are wrong about Him, we will be wrong everywhere else.

Just now, on radio five live, I heard part of an interview with a singing star. The interviewer said to him, ‘’You’ve been described as a militant atheist. Would you agree with this?’’ He replied, ‘’I’d say I’m a bomb-throwing atheist.’’ I think that meant something even stronger! But I wonder if that man has ever taken a long hard look at Jesus. It is, I believe, a rarity, for an adult to have an open, honest look at Christ and remain unconverted.  There is an irony in Herod’s words, of course. John the Baptist did not rise from the dead, but Jesus Himself was to come back from death. The evidence for His resurrection is compelling, but do we have the courage to examine it as part of a long, hard look at Jesus? Some people would rather just throw bombs at the evidence than face it.

Mark 6:6b -12: Come, then Go!

“Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.  ⁸ These were his instructions: ‘Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’  ¹² They went out and preached that people should repent.” NIV UK

The Anglican rector/evangelist David Watson once wrote that there are two great calls made by Jesus in the New Testament. They are ‘’Come’’, then ‘’Go.’’ We see that pattern here.

There are certain things that will always be true of Christ’s disciples:

• We are called to relationship: ‘’Calling the Twelve to him…’’ (7a). First and foremost we are brought into a relationship with Jesus. Everything else flows from that;
• We are called to service (7b). God never calls without also equipping. So, within the call to serve, we are also authorised to do what is asked. The task entrusted to these ordinary human beings was impossible for them apart from the ‘’authority’’ given by Jesus. Our calling is not simply to go into the world and be kind. We are enabled to show a powerful kindness that draws attention to the Lord Himself. We do the things He did (and ‘’greater things’’ John 14:12). When people see us doing what we obviously can’t do left to ourselves, it brings glory to God. God sends His Holy Spirit ‘’to show by works of power that Jesus is Lord’’;
• We are called to teamwork: ‘’two by two’’ (7; see also Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). We need each other;
• We are called to a life of faith (8-11). The specific instructions may differ from one ‘’journey’’ to another, but Jesus wants each of us to learn to trust God – to walk by faith and not by sight. He wants for us to grow as we prove Him for ourselves;
• We are called to spell out how serious a matter it is for people to reject Jesus (11), and urge people to ‘’repent’’ (12) to change their minds about such a stance.

Prayer: Lord, please help us to stay true to every aspect of our calling.

Mark 6:1-6: Family matters.
“Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. ‘Where did this man get these things?’ they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him. 4 Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’ 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few people who were ill and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.” NIV UK

Here is a good reason to kick out unbelief. It seems that it hinders the work of Jesus (5,6). I don’t want to be a party to that. Do you?

This chapter seems to start well (2). It sounds impressive when you read that they were ‘’amazed’’ by the preacher. They certainly stayed awake during the sermon! But it wasn’t a good type of amazement. One verse later we read that they were offended by Jesus. (This is something that hasn’t changed, by the way. Although we shouldn’t try to be offensive, the real Jesus offends people. The gospel offends. There is an ‘’offence’’ in the Cross we should not seek to avoid. You can’t ‘preach’ Jesus and have everybody love you, or, at least, like what you’re saying).

Tom Wright says most preachers will remember the first time they spoke in front of their family. It’s like nothing else. If a child becomes a footballer, his folks will have stood on the touch line many times before he plays his first professional match; if she is a musician, they will have heard her practice on numerous occasions before her first big concert. But there is something about preaching which can make you feel so exposed, vulnerable, naked even. It can also be hard for the relatives to hear one of their own kin expressing such deep and serious truths. We don’t know that all Jesus’ family were in the synagogue on this particular day, but he was speaking to his home crowd. They certainly knew his family, and found it easy to dismiss Him.

‘’Isn’t this the carpenter?’’ This may be one of those occasions (like when Mary thought Jesus was the gardener: John 20:15) where we are meant to see a deeper truth, for Jesus truly does fix things!

We know that Jesus’ own family took time to come round. It was a while before they understood His true identity. But it happened (Acts 1:14). ‘’James’’ (3), for example, became the leader of the church in Jerusalem.

Don’t give up on your family – even though you may feel despair at times. Jesus never gave up on you, did He? You take my point!

PRAYER: Lord, increase our faith.

Mark 5:35-43: Banish unbelief.

“35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’ 36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’ 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.”NIV UK

We should take all possible steps to free ourselves from the straightjacket of unbelief. Here are at least two things to do with it:

1. Ignore unbelieving statements (35). Many of them will rise up within. Give them the cold shoulder. Don’t give them the time of day. Refuse to have your actions determined by them. Discern them, and then dismiss them. Discernment will be needed because factual statements may nevertheless be unbelieving statements. It was true what they said (35). The girl was dead. However, they saw what was true in black and white; Jesus saw it in technicolor (39). He saw the full colour of truth, and it was brighter, deeper and more beautiful than it appeared in monochrome. It was much more nuanced.

2. Put unbelief out of the room (40): The people ‘’laughed’’ at the greater truth Jesus saw and taught (40), and Jesus then excluded from the room all the unbelieving, mocking cynics. Unbelief was removed, and the miracle took place. Evict unbelief in Jesus’ Name. Don’t allow any squatting cynicism to remain in your heart. Choose to be a believing believer.

It’s interesting that the actual Aramaic words spoken by Jesus are recorded here: ‘’Talitha Koum!’’ (41). Not only is it an eye-witness touch, yet again (and remember it is thought that Peter is the eye-witness behind Mark’s account); but the miracle must have made such a deep impression on those few still in the room. The words rang in their heads long afterwards. Apparently, it has in it the idea of ‘Little girl, it’s time to get up.’ After all, she was only sleeping (39)!

PRAYER: Lord, the world on the outside is full of unbelief. But I also have to confess that great geysers of unbelieving messages regularly gurgle up inside me too. Please help me to ignore and banish them, in Jesus’ Name.