Archive | January 2026

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/30) Mark 8:1-21

Jan30

A 5-day per week study.

January 30 – Reading Mark 8:1-21.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“And He said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?'”  Mark 8:21

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The Gospel according to Mark 8:1-21.

Jesus and the disciples are perhaps still in the Decapolis region on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. (See your Bible map.) It’s a mostly Gentile area. It looks as if Jesus has been traveling around, and a crowd of people has been following Him. He’s probably done a lot of healing and hopefully some teaching as well.

It’s a seasonally dry area with barren soil and dried grass (not like the green grassland where Jesus fed the 5,000, see Mark 6:39).  And Jesus has compassion for this crowd. (Those who had come a long distance probably had food to begin with, but now it was all gone.)

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Vss. 1-10.

As in the other crowd-feeding, Jesus asked His disciples what food they had. They were discouraged to find but seven loaves (rolls) and a few small fish. 

(Now, WHY didn’t they remember the miracle Jesus had done not so long ago and EXPECT Him to do likewise?  Did they so easily forget that astonishing miracle??)

After Jesus gave thanks to His heavenly Father and distributed the food in an orderly manner, there were seven LARGE baskets of pieces left over.  These were not lunchbox-sized baskets as before, but BUSHEL baskets.  A whole lot more bread and fish than they began with. 

THEN Jesus sent away the crowd, their bellies now full and their strength renewed.  He and the disciples got into a boat and sailed straight across Galilee to the area of Dalmanutha (near Magadan or Magdala).

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Vss. 11-13.

They’d hardly stepped off the boat when some Pharisees came and began once again to argue with Jesus.  They wanted “a sign from heaven” to prove that He was the Messiah that He claimed to be.  Yes, Jesus had done tons of miracles (signs),  but they wanted something else, something supernatural from on high.  (An astronomical sign? God’s audible voice? What?)

Jesus knew they weren’t struggling to BELIEVE.  No, they were TESTING Him, to find a fault that they could run back to Jerusalem with.

Sighing deeply, Jesus said, “No sign will be given to this generation!”

With that, Jesus led the men back into the boat, and they went north to Bethsaida.

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Vss. 14-21.

On the long sail to Bethsaida, the disciples realized they had once again forgotten to bring the bread. (What IS the matter with them???)

With that on their minds, Jesus’ words confuse them. He said, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Huh? 

Truly, the disciples had their minds on physical things, while Jesus was thinking of spiritual truths.

(This is so often my own case. I tend to ponder and worry over earthly problems, while Jesus wants me to “set my mind on things above.” Colossians 3:2)

The disciples were thinking about bread to eat. Jesus was thinking about leaven to avoid. 

So…. what WAS Jesus talking about?  He was thinking about the acid conversation He’d just had with the Pharisees. Their stubborn hearts questioned His mission and denied the good news of the Kingdom He was bringing.  They were like leaven spreading in a lump of dough. Not the good everyday bread, but that of Passover, symbolically His body, free from sin. 

Trying to elevate their thoughts, Jesus fired eight questions at them.

  1. Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?
  2. Do you not yet perceive or understand?
  3. Are your hearts hardened?
  4. Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?
  5. And do you not remember?
  6. When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?  Twelve.
  7. And the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?  Seven.
  8. Do you not yet understand?

Did they?  Do we?

The “leaven” of the Pharisees was their false teaching and their hypocritical behavior. The “leaven” of Herod was his immoral, corrupt conduct. 

How to beware of these?  Keep ourselves buried in God’s Word and the teaching of our Lord Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/29) Mark 7:24-37

Jan29

A 5-day per week study.

January 29 – Reading Mark 7:24-37.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“And He entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet He could not be hidden.” Mark 7:24b

After the open confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes about the washing of hands, Jesus gave a simple explanation to the people and further details to His disciples in private about what actually defiled a person.

Then he left the city.  He even left Israel, walking far up the coast into what is today Lebanon.  Jesus probably wanted quiet time to rest and further prepare His disciples.  He did not plan any ministry there.

But our Lord always responds to faith.

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Vss. 24-30. (with verses from Matthew 15:22-25)

Jesus barely had time to take a breath when a Canaanite woman approached Him, crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.“

(NOTE: “Son of David” was a Messianic title, so she definitely had heard about Jesus.) 

Jesus did not answer or pay any attention to her, but she kept up her crying. 

The disciples asked Jesus to “Send her away!“

Finally, Jesus spoke, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But she came and knelt at His feet. “Lord, help me.“

“Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” Jesus said, not unkindly.

“Yes, Lord,” she said. “Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

This unusual conversation was Jesus testing the Gentile woman’s faith, seeing it grow with each statement she made. 

Yes, it was Jesus’ responsibility to offer God’s blessings of redemption and salvation to the Jews first.  Yes, the Gentiles would be offered salvation later as well. (Jesus commanded the disciples to go and preach to all the world after His Resurrection.)  

And Jesus did not use the word for “dogs” that the Jews used in a derisive way towards Gentiles. He used the word for children’s “pets” or “puppies.”

Jesus answered her persistence, “For this statement, you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”

‘”O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” (Matthew)

She went home and found the child lying in bed, the demon gone!

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Vss. 31-37.

“Then He returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.”

If you have a Bible Map, you will see that Jesus did have some time alone with his disciples, though it might have been while walking, hiking, or camping out.  Jesus first went from Tyre to Sidon (about 20 miles north).  From there, He went east through the low mountains and crossed the Jordan River.  Then he went south along the eastern shore of Galilee down to the area of Decapolis (Ten Cities). 

It was in this “Greek/Gentile” area that the demoniac (remember the man with a legion of demons Jesus cast into the pigs?) went and told everyone about how Jesus delivered and saved him.

And the people brought to Jesus a man who was both deaf and a mute, begging Him to lay His hands on him and heal him.

Jesus took the man aside privately (hoping to avoid crowds?).  Using His own kind of sign language to show the man what He was going to do, Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after wetting his fingers with spit, touched his tongue. 

Jesus said, “Be opened!” (in Aramaic) and instantly the man could hear and speak. 

Jesus told them NOT to tell anyone about the healing. (yeah, right!)  This also was Gentile territory, and He’d healed another Gentile. But Jesus’ intention was not to have a public ministry among them. 

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(NOTE: Chapter 8 says Jesus once again has a great crowd gathered around him. It’s here that He again multiplies bread and fish to feed 4,000.  This may have been while they were still in Decapolis, after the deaf-mute man was healed.)

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I am so thankful that Jesus lovingly healed these two Gentiles, since it showed that His heart was for “us” too.  Our time would come, and it did.  Praise God.

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/28) Mark 7:1-23

Jan28

A 5-day per week study.

January 28– Reading Mark 7:1-23.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”  Mark 7:15

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The Gospel according to Mark 7:1-23

Mark begins this section with “defilement” being digested and ends with “defilement” being regurgitated.  (Another nice “Mark” sandwich.)

The ever-watchful Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem begin to harass Jesus, accusing His disciples of not observing the “traditions of the elders.”

Remember, they were not concerned with keeping the Mosaic Law itself, but with the extreme extent to which the ancient rabbis (elders) had padded it and twisted it.

Anyone living through the COVID era has had hand washing drummed into them.  And it IS a good idea to wash your hands before you eat, especially when you’ve been shopping. It was even a better idea in those days when marketplaces openly displayed both live and butchered animals, with their accompanying flies.

But the “elders” had made a ceremonial ritual of the washing.

            Example: Someone had to pour water from a jar onto your hands, with your fingers pointing upward, so the water would run off your wrist. Then another jar would be poured over your hands with your fingers pointing downward.  After this, each hand would be rubbed with the fist of your other hand.   (Notice: no soap.) 

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Vss. 1-5

Jesus and His disciples were probably still in the town of Gennesaret, ministering to multitudes of sick people.  Perhaps they went to a street vendor in the marketplace and bought some falafel-pita sandwiches for lunch.  Maybe they wiped their hands on their robes or on an inside handkerchief. Maybe not. 

Soon they were chowing down on some yummy food.

Like unwanted flies, the religious leaders appear.

“Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat with defiled hands?” the spokesman of the Pharisees and scribes demanded of Jesus.  (At least they were honest about their traditions vs The Law.)

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Vss. 6-16.

They were probably not ready for Jesus’ multi-part answer.

First, He quotes scripture to them.

“’THIS people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of MEN.’”  (Isaiah 29:13)

Then, Jesus nails some of the ways they do that.

  • MOSES SAID: “HONOR your father and mother,” and “Whoever reviles father and mother must surely die.”  (Exodus 20:12 and 21:17)
  • YOU SAY: “If a man tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever you could have gained from me is Corban (dedicated to God).” THEN, you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition. 
  • And you do MANY other things like this!
  • (NOTE: Jesus was not saying that your possessions or land property can’t be given to God as an offering.  He WAS saying that just slapping a “CORBAN” sign on these things while you are still using and enjoying them, because you are mad at your parents and don’t want to help them, is vile, unloving, selfish, and using God for your own purposes.)

Then Jesus tells the Pharisees and the people a parable.  “It is NOT what goes INTO a person that defiles him, but the things that come OUT of him that defiles him.”

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Vss. 17-23.

Later, in private, Jesus clarifies what He was saying to the religious leaders, who weren’t open to His words.

(Remember that Jesus speaks in parables to those He knows have already closed minds and hearts.)

“Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him since it enters not his heart but his stomach and is expelled?”  

  • (Thus, He declared all foods clean, says Mark, reminding his readers about what later happened to Peter in Joppa when God brought down the sheet of unclean animals and told Peter to “kill and eat.”)

Jesus continues,

“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the HEART of man come:  evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.   All these evil things come out from within and DEFILE a person.” 

(In Matthew 15: 20, Jesus adds, “To eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”)

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See also:  Matthew 12:34b-35, Galatians 5:22-24, and James 3:17-18, for the “good treasure” that comes out of the hearts of those who belong to Jesus Christ.

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“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/27) Mark 6:45-56

Jan27

A 5-day per week study.

January 27 – Reading Mark 6:45-56.

Read and believe in Jesus.

Immediately, He spoke to them, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’ Mark 6:50b.

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The Gospel according to Mark 6:45-56

Jesus has just performed a colossal miracle. A crowd of up to 15K have been fed to their fill by a handful of bread and fish. What if He could do it again? What if He could/would do it always? No one would have to work in the fields or go fishing… wow!

According to John’s account (John 6:14-16), this is basically what the well-fed crowd was thinking. “Let’s make Jesus KING!!!” They weren’t at the point of saying it. They were still thinking of Him as the great prophet Moses spoke about. But Jesus could read their hearts. He sent away his disciples before they could be caught up in the fervor, then firmly dismissed the people. To keep any die-hards from mobbing Him, Jesus slipped away up the mountainside. (The Eastern side of Galilee is mountainous, with steep cliffs and a plateau. Perfect for quiet prayer.)

While the crowd dispersed, the disciples began to row across the unpredictable Sea of Galilee, and Jesus fell to His knees and prayed to His Father. (Praise, fellowship, petition, submission. The hours passed. Oh, to have been there!)

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Vss. 47-48.

Meanwhile, that cranky wind over the Galilean Sea was pushing against the disciples’ progress. The sail was of no use, so they got out the oars. The harder they rowed, the stronger it blew. It felt like they were laboring in the same spot for hours. Arm and back muscles began to sting and weaken.

They were tired, and – unbelievable as it seems – they had forgotten to bring those twelve baskets of bread pieces and fish. They were hungrier than before!! And now it was the “third watch,” somewhere between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning.

Jesus saw their plight from the mountain. Not as a speck on the water, but as His own men, struggling, tired, and hungry. So Jesus went to them, walking on the top of the water. Imagine that! The seawater, always yielding to its Creator’s will, supported the weight of Jesus as He went to His disciples.

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Vss 49-52.

In the boat, the men saw what they thought was a ghost (phantom) approaching them. They screamed in fright. They frantically tried to row faster. What else would this endless night bring? But then they heard that familiar voice of their Master.

‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

They recognized His voice and His “I AM” authority. What relief when their Master climbed into the boat, and immediately the wind behaved itself, calming to a breeze, and the choppy water smoothed out.

John’s account (John 6:30-31) says that as soon as Jesus got into the boat, they were IMMEDIATELY at the other shore. What? Wow! What kindness the Lord showed to His bone-weary disciples.

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“Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30

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Vss.53-56.

At Gennesaret (the north-western side of Galilee, south of Capernaum), they moored the boat. As soon as they got out, the people immediately recognized Jesus. They ran throughout the area and began bringing the sick people on their beds to Jesus.

As Jesus and the disciples walked through this town and others in the region, the people laid their sick before Him and begged Him that they might touch the fringe (tassels) of His (prayer) garment, as the woman with the issue of blood had done. And ALL who touched it were made well.

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(Of those who were healed, how many believed in Jesus as Messiah and Savior? Not many. Like the ten lepers who were healed and only one returned to thank Jesus, the people who were made well were excited and happy, but only a few, like the woman with the issue of blood and the demoniac in Decapolis, had faith to believe. After Jesus’ resurrection, only 500 people met Him in Galilee, of all in Israel who’d witnessed or experienced His miracles.

We should be praying for healing, yes, but MORE so for our hearts to be filled with faith and a desire to be with and serve Jesus.)

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/26) Mark 6:30-44

Jan26

A 5-day per week study.

January 26 – Reading Mark 6:30-44.

Read and believe in Jesus.

(Jesus) had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” MARK 6:34

The Gospel according to Mark 6:30-44

The Twelve had just returned from their mission journeys. They were excited and wanted to tell Jesus all about it, but the crowd in Capernaum was growing. The message spread, “The ‘Teacher’ is back!”  Some wanted to hear more of his teaching. Most needed to be healed.

But Jesus knew the disciples needed time to decompress from the excitement of ministry. He also wanted quiet time to evaluate their experience and encourage them.

Again, Mark writes a “sandwich.”  This section begins with “…they had no leisure even to eat,” and ends with everybody having eaten their fill and the disciples collecting 12 baskets (lunchbox size) of scraps, one for each of them to ‘chow down.’

(Watch for these in Mark’s Gospel.)

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Vss. 31-34.

Jesus said, ”Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while,” and they got into a boat and headed across the Sea of Galilee.

When the boat left, many people observed it, and the able-bodied decided to “run around to the other side and get there ahead of them.” (This was about 4-5 miles on foot.)  Their timing was perfect.  The crowd (probably the younger and more fit) had begun to arrive just as Jesus stepped off the boat.

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Were the disciples disappointed that their time with the Master been preempted?  Perhaps they had been able to talk on the boat trip, as they slowly made their way, with little or no wind. 

Was Jesus upset or even angry? Nope.

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As the verse at the top says, when Jesus saw the bedraggled but excited people, He had compassion on them.  He saw them as sheep without a shepherd.  And HE was “the good shepherd.”

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Vss. 34b.

“Jesus taught them many things.” 

Did He use their eagerness or the surroundings to tell parables? 

Or did He teach them simple truths of the Kingdom, as in the Sermon on the Mount?

Did He call to their remembrance how God had been faithful to them in the Wilderness, that other “desolate” place?

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Vss. 35-38.

The day waned, and Jesus knew the people were getting hungry.

The disciples saw it too.  Or maybe it was THEIR OWN STOMACHS that were growling. 

“This is a desolate place,” they reminded Jesus, “and the hour is late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

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(I can imagine Jesus smiling as He looked around at the crowd. He would teach His disciples a bit about “living by faith.” It would be needed later as they journeyed around the world with the Gospel.)

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“YOU give them something to eat,” Jesus said calmly to His disciples.

They must have stared at Him. “Shall WE go and BUY two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat???

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(NOTE: 200 denarii would be 200 days’ wages for a laborer at that time. For a fast-food worker in California today, that would be about $4,000.)

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“How many loaves do you have?  Go and see,” Jesus told them.  They returned shortly with the little boy mentioned in John’s account. (See John 6:9.)  They now had five barley loaves (rolls) and two fish (think sardines).

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Vss. 39-44.

Jesus told the disciples to have all the people sit down in groups of 50 and 100 for an orderly distribution.  They probably still did not understand what Jesus was going to do.  Nevertheless, they obeyed.  Soon, 10,000-15,000 people (including women and children) were seated, with aisles between all the groups. 

Goodness!  Could you even see the people in the back groups???

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Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked to heaven, and said a blessing.  Then He began breaking the loaves and giving them to the disciples to distribute.  Nest he divided the two fish and gave them to the disciples in the same way.

AND they ALL ate and were satisfied!  All those thousands of hungry people ate to their fill!

AND … there were twelve baskets full of broken pieces and fish LEFT OVER!!

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How did that happen?  Jesus, of course.

“Give us this day, our daily bread,” Jesus taught us to pray.

“He shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory.”

Ravens brought bread to the prophet Elijah during a drought and famine.

“Do not be anxious, saying, … ‘What shall we eat?’ … for your heavenly Father knows you need it.”
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They may not have been alone, but Jesus DID teach the Twelve a few lessons they would need when they went out to minister in His Name: compassion, trust and obedience, finding opportunities, order, prayer, and abundance repaid.

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/23) Mark 6:13-29

Jan23

A 5-day per week study.

January 23 – Reading Mark 6:13-29.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe.” Mark 6:29a

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The Gospel according to Mark 6:(12)-(30) – one extra verse on either end of today’s reading.

I stretched the regular amount of verses to show something that Mark often does.  He sandwiches something between two incidents or facts. (Jairus’s daughter/woman with issue of blood/ Jairus’s daughter, etc.)  If you follow these, it helps the flow of the “story” he is painting of Jesus and His men.

  • Verses 12/13 – “So they (the Twelve) went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”
  • Verse 30 – “The apostles (sent ones) returned to Jesus and told Him all that they had done and taught.”

Let’s see what happened between them.

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Vss. 14-15.

When King Herod (ruler of Galilee), heard of all the healings and exorcisms that Jesus and His disciples were performing in the towns under his administration, he told his servants, “This is John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him!“  (Matthew 14:2)  And, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”  

John had rebuked Herod severely and openly for his unlawful marriage to Herodias.  Not only had Herod Antipas taken her from his brother Philip’s marriage (adultery) to marry her himself, but Herodias was also his niece (incest).  Herodias hated John for his accusations and schemed to have him killed. 

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Vss. 16-20.

Herod had finally arrested John and put him in prison, probably at Machaerus, his hilltop palace-fortress near the north end of the Dead Sea.  Weirdly, Herod liked to debate with John.  He also feared the prophet, knowing he was a righteous and holy man, so he kept him safe from Herodias’s evil machinations.

But she was more devious.

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Vss, 21-28.

A BIRTHDAY PARTY!! 

To celebrate another of his years, King Herod held a grand birthday banquet for his nobles, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee.  Everyone ate and drank to their fill – especially Herod.  To impress his guests, he called for Herodias’ sexually enticing daughter to dance for them.  She came into the hall on silent slippers, bowed to the king, and began to dance.

The gauzy veils and skimpy, flowing skirts, her sinuous movements, and alluring eyes mesmerized the guests and the king.  The men shouted their approval, and when the dance was over, the king beckoned for her.  When she stood before him, and he said, “Ask me for anything you wish, and I will give it to you.  Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”

The men shouted their approval once more and waited.  

Salome (her name) bowed and, with graceful steps, approached her mother at another table.  A few minutes later, she returned to the king with these instructions.

“I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

The banquet hall was dead silent. No one had expected that, including the king. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes were wide. He did not want to and was even afraid to kill the holy man.  He was sorry for his vow. But he looked around at the men, his guests, all eager to see if he would keep his oath, and he caved.

He ordered a servant to tell the executioner to behead John and bring back his head … on a platter. Then the party went on, even though everyone waited tensely to see what would happen.  Eventually, there was a ruckus at the door, and the big executioner walked into the banquet hall.  He carried a silver platter with the bloody and gruesome head of John resting on it, his long Nazarite hair hanging over one edge.  

He bowed and gave it to Salome. (Did she flinch, grimace, or scream?  Or did she already have her mother’s mindset?)  She brought the platter to her mother, and then to her unlawful stepfather, King Herod. (A vision for future nightmares!)

(Herodias reminds me of the wicked Queen Jezebel, who lusted for the head of the prophet, Elijah. after he killed all her prophets of Baal.)

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Vss. 29-30.

John’s disciples retrieved their teacher’s body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

At the same time, the Twelve returned – joyful and exhilarated – and told Jesus all that they had done. They told Him about some who had repented at their message.  They told Him how they’d cast out many demons, and had anointed the sick with oil, and they were healed.  

I know Jesus was happy to hear them, but He said,  “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”  So they got into a boat and sailed across the Sea to a quiet place by themselves.

Jesus knew they needed rest and privacy.  And he would also tell them of John.  He would explain how discipleship wasn’t all victories and miracles.  There was a cost to proclaiming the Good News.

It might even mean their lives.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/22) Mark 6:1-12.

Jan22

 A five-day-per-week study

January 22 – Reading Mark 6:1-12

Read and believe in Jesus. 

“And Jesus marveled because of their unbelief.” Mark 6:6

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The Gospel according to Mark 6:1-12.

After raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead, to keep the crowds from growing even larger and pressing Him so He couldn’t teach or minister, Jesus took His disciples 50 miles SW to His hometown of Nazareth. It was small and of little importance, and most of the crowds would not follow Him there.

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Vss. 1-6.

On the Sabbath, they went into the local synagogue, and Jesus began to teach. Many who heard Him were “astonished.”

In the synagogue in Capernaum, the people who heard Jesus were also “astonished” at his teaching.  To them, “he taught as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”  (See Mark 1:22)

Not so in Jesus’ hometown.  Notice the questions that came from the people of Nazareth after their astonishment at His teaching….

  • Where did this man get these things?
  • What is the wisdom given to Him?
  • How are such mighty works done by His hands?
  • Is not this the carpenter?
  • The son of Mary? *
  • The brother to James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? **
  • The brother to his sisters?
  • “And they took offense at Him.”

Unbelief, pure and simple.  

And Jesus acknowledged it.  He told them, “A prophet is not without honor … except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own household.”

Jesus could do no miracles there except that He laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

How sad. This town missed out on the huge blessings of Kingdom teaching and miracles … just because they would not accept Jesus for His claims (and Mary’s) 

So, Jesus went about among other villages teaching.

 

*Note: Calling Jesus the ‘son of Mary’ was degrading. Usually, a man was named after his father. (Simon, son of Jonah, James & John, the sons of Zebedee). With this title, they were saying they knew Jesus was conceived by a woman who was not married.)

**Note: Of Jesus’ brothers, James and Judas (Jude) did finally believe in Him and were saved.  James became the leader of the Jerusalem church and wrote the book of James. Judas also wrote the book of Jude and ministered in Galilee.  But now?  Now these brothers teased Him about his “visions of grandeur.”

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Vss. 7-12.

Away from Nazareth with its unbelief and Capernaum with its massive crowds, Jesus began another teaching exercise for the ‘Twelve.” He would send them out in pairs into the towns and villages in the area. And He gave them authority over unclean spirits. (Jesus had all authority, to give to whom He would).

There were requirements for their experience that would prepare them for later missionary work, when they would take the Gospel throughout the known world.

  • They were to take nothing except a staff – used for walking and protection against criminals and wild animals.
  • They were to take no food, no normal traveling sack, and no money. (This would be a faith-builder.)
  • They were to wear sandals, but only one tunic, so they could identify with the common people. (Those with comparative wealth would wear two tunics.)
  • They were to remain in the first house they approached that welcomed them for the duration of their stay. (Even if the neighbor had better accommodations or yummier food!)
  • If any home or town would not receive them, they were to “shake off the dust from their feet” as they left. This would show that the people had rejected Jesus and the gospel, and that they were rejected by the Lord.

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It’s interesting that Jesus chose the pairs of men to send out to different communities.

Don’t you wonder who made up those six teams?   Did the two sets of brothers go together, or did Jesus choose a fisherman with a scholar?  Did He send the tax collector out with the Roman-hating Zealot?  Who was sent with Judas Iscariot?

Jesus knew their hearts.  They each would be learning from the other and adjusting to circumstances every day.

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And so these men went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 

Did Jesus do the same, or did He go to a quiet place and spend days fasting and praying to His father for them, and for His own gruesome mission?

 

 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/21) Mark 5:35-43

Jan21

A 5-day per week study.

January 21 – Reading Mark 5:35-43.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Do not fear, only believe.” Mark 5:36b

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The Gospel according to Mark 5:35-43.

Synagogue ruler, Jairus, had come to Jesus for help. He was in desperate need.  His 12-year-old daughter was deathly ill, at death’s door. “Please come and lay hands on her that she may live,” he had begged Jesus.  And Jesus went with him.

But there was a delay.

Another amazing healing.

A woman released from a daily “death.”

And while Jairus waited, anxious and fearful… his daughter faded.

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Vs. 35.

While Jesus was still speaking (to the woman), there came from the ruler’s house someone who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”

Imagine the pain in his heart. The grief that almost caused him to collapse. The wistful questions, “If only I’d come sooner. If only that woman hadn’t interrupted.”

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Vs. 36.

Jesus overheard the message, although it was probably spoken in a low voice for Jairus’s ears only.  He looked right at Jairus and said, “Do not fear, only believe.”

Jairus had a choice at that moment.  He was to believe.  But whom?  The servant from his own house, or the Teacher-healer, Jesus?

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Vss 37-40a.

When Jesus and His inner three disciples (Peter, James, and John) began walking quickly towards Jairus’ house, the synagogue ruler followed, hope rising in his heart. 

But at his house, the mourners they’d hired (in case) had already begun their loud dirge, weeping and wailing, fists to the sky.  Perhaps Jairus’ hope plunged.  It was true. His little girl was dead. It was too late…

Then Jesus spoke, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping?  The child is not dead but sleeping.”  Jairus’s heart beat wildly. Sleeping?  Not dead? 

But the mourners laughed at Jesus. They were professionals. They had seen death many times. They knew the girl was dead. 

Jesus put them all outside.  Then, taking His three disciples and Jairus and his wife, He entered the room where their daughter lay.  Taking her by the hand He said to her, “Talitha cumi.” (Little girl, I say, arise.)  And immediately the girl got up and began walking!   Everyone (except Jesus) was overcome with amazement!

I can imagine her parents hugging her, running their hands through her hair and down her arms. Yes. YES! She was alive. O praise, God, she is alive!  Our daughter, who was dead, is now ALIVE!” Such joy and celebration. They wanted to tell the world.  

But Jesus strictly charged them not to let anyone know this.  Then, to keep her parents busy and also to help their daughter, He told them to get her something to eat.  (She’d probably gone days or more without food when she was sick.)  

Mark doesn’t tell us, but it’s likely that Jesus quickly dispersed the mourners. They were wrong. She is okay and eating a meal. 

Mark’s next chapter has Jesus leaving Capernaum and going to his hometown of Nazareth.  It seems the miracle of resurrection WAS kept a secret.  Or maybe that’s why Jesus and his disciples left Capernaum for a while. We’ll see what’s next tomorrow.

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( Ponderings:  It’s interesting that this little girl was twelve years old, and the woman with the discharge had suffered her affliction for twelve years. Her illness had begun the year the girl was born, and now it was near the time for the girl to begin her monthly issue.  In a society that honored boys and men, Jesus lovingly took time to touch and heal an “unclean” woman and the “unclean” body of a dead little girl. Another picture of why Jesus came … to ultimately heal our fatal sin problem and give us new spiritual life in Him.  Thank You, Jesus!)

 Now, if I were a historical fiction writer, I would write this story as a book and connect these two “women” in some way.

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/20) Mark 5:21-34

Jan20

A 5-day per week study.

January 20 – Reading Mark 5:21-34.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:34

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The Gospel according to Mark 5:21-34.

Jesus and His disciples had been on the Eastern side of the lake for a day, and now they were back in Capernaum.  It was as if Jesus had just “popped” over there to free the man possessed by demons.  Now he was back “at headquarters,” and again the crowds ‘thronged’ around him, all with desperate needs.

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Vss. 21-24

As soon as Jesus left the boat and began to walk among the crowd, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came and fell at His feet, pleading earnestly, 

“My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”

Jesus went with Jairus towards his house. And the great crowd went along, also calling and pleading for help.

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Vss. 25-28.

In that crowd was a woman who was suffering from a condition that made her not only physically weak but ceremonially “unclean.”  She had “an issue of blood,” and that meant she could not enter a synagogue or the temple.  And if anyone touched her, THEY would become unclean too. All who knew of her condition shunned her… almost like a leper.

We might automatically think this was something to do with her monthly period, but it had persisted for twelve years. Perhaps it was a cancerous tumor that was causing the constant bleeding.

This poor woman had gone to doctor after doctor until her money was gone, but none helped her.  She was desperate. But then Jesus came to her town. She’d seen him with the sick, the paralyzed, the leper.  He was kind. He touched them. And He healed them all. An unfamiliar hope rose in her.  Perhaps, if she could but touch His garment…..

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Vss. 29-34.

Finally, the woman got near enough to Jesus to reach out and touch the “fringe” of His garment. This could have been one of the four tassels on the corners of the prayer garment that all Jewish men wore, including Jesus. It was a flimsy thing, a few blue and white strings.  But this “unclean” woman touched it, and immediately she felt in her body that she was healed. 

She was going to slip away quietly to rejoice and take the ceremonial mikvah (bath), so she would be “clean” again….

“Who touched me?” Jesus said, pausing and looking around, for He had “perceived that power had gone out of Him.”

“Master,” the disciples said in amusement, “You see the crowd pressing around You, and You ask, ‘Who touched me?'”

The crowd had stopped, too. They stood around Him as Jesus scanned the crowd. Did His eyes stop on the woman an instant before she came forward?  She came in fear, trembling, and fell at His feet.  She confessed the whole truth. (Did the crowd move back a step when she mentioned her bleeding?)  She also confessed to the healing she KNEW she’d received.

What would Jesus do?  What would He say?  She and the crowd waited in silence.

“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

 WHOA!  Now she could rejoice openly.  And Jesus’ proclamation of healing had also freed her from condemnation and shunning by the people around her.  Oh, PRAISE GOD!  Her heart must have swelled in worship as she left.

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But what of Jairus and his desperately ill daughter?  He must have been waiting anxiously, fearful, while Jesus took time with the woman.

We’ll catch up with him tomorrow.

 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (1/19) Mark 5:1-20

Jan19

A 5-day per week study.

January 19 – Reading Mark 5:1-20.

Read and believe in Jesus.

“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.” Mark 5:19b

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The Gospel according to Mark 5:1-20

First, Jesus was “mobbed” by the crowds seeking healing. Then He taught the parable of the soils, and it seems the crowd disappeared. Next, Jesus spoke to His own followers, explaining the parables and why He would use them to teach.  And when He decided to go to the quiet of the other side of the lake, the disciples saw the creative power and majesty of Jesus as He calmed the fierce wind and sea with His word. 

“Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?” they asked each other.

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Vss. 1-6.

Arriving at the Eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, in the country of the Gerasenes, when Jesus had barely stepped off the boat, immediately a “crazy” man ran towards Him.  (It seems the disciples remained in the boat, taking it all in.)

First, a raging sea and now a raging man, for indeed the man was tormented and out of his mind. He was filled with so many demons you couldn’t even count them!

Facts:

  • He lived among the tombs.
  • No one could bind him, not even with chains.
  • He broke off shackles and chains like they were threads.
  • No one had the strength to subdue him.
  • Day and night, among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always screaming and cutting himself.

And yet he ran towards Jesus and fell down before Him. (Only in Jesus is there hope for this man.)

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Vss 7-13.

The voices of the many demons spoke through the man’s lips, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

Jesus: “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.”

Demons (through the man’s mouth):  “I beg you by God, do not torment me!”

Jesus: “What is your name?”

Demons: “‘Legion,’ for we are many.”  (NOTE: A Roman legion is made up of 6,000 infantrymen.)  “We beg You, don’t send us out of the country. Send us… into those pigs!”

Jesus: “GO!”

All the demons were instantly transported into the large herd of pigs on the hillside.  The whole herd went instantly mad and plunged down the hill and over the cliff into the sea, where they all drowned.

(NOTE: Don’t, like me, question the sovereignty of the Son of God in this matter.  If nothing else, that huge herd of swine going mad was a picture to the man of what he had been ‘saved’ from.)

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Vss. 14-17.

The swineherds, the men, ran away. They told what happened in the city and all over the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. 

What did they see?  (Not pigs, that’s for sure.)

They saw the formerly tormented man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind.  And the people were TERRIFIED! (NOT relieved. NOT happy. NOT praising God.)  No, they begged Jesus, “Go away, Jesus!  Leave our region!”

And Jesus complied. 

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Vss. 14-20.

As He was stepping back into the boat, the man came to Him and begged to go with them. But at this time, Jesus was discipling only Jewish men.  (Later Gentiles would join His sheep, but not now.) 

Instead, Jesus commissioned the man to be a “missionary” in his own hometown and to his family and former friends.  “Go, tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

And the freed man obeyed.  “He went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis (Ten Greek-influenced Cities east of the Jordan River) how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone who heard him marveled.

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(Jesus knew when He got into the boat with His disciples at Capernaum, that this tormented man would be awaiting them. Perhaps that’s why that fierce storm came, and the disciples called out, “Don’t you care if we perish?”  YES, Jesus cared.  And He cared about this demon-possessed man who was also “pershing”. 

Perhaps the disciples needed to see Jesus’ command of the wind and sea so they wouldn’t completely ‘lose it’ when they saw the man screaming and running towards their boat.  Jesus’ control and calm words over a ‘legion of demons’ were the same as they’d witnessed during the storm. 

Who is this, then?  Truly, the Son of God.