A Net in Time

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New Testament

Mary Sings a Song

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Today we get to see Mary and her joy.  Mary sings a song showcasing her trust in the Lord God and how she sees him.  It’s a lovely picture that we find in Luke 1:46-56.   Let’s take a look at how Mary sees the God that we love and serve eh?  A continuing look through Unexplainable Jesus. 

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

text: Mary Sings A Song image: mary, mother of Jesus depiction

Mary Sings a Song

Now remember how the baby leapt for joy while yet in the womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit?  This is Mary’s response to Elizabeth calling her blessed among women because of her faith.

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

Oh, such a statement eh?  “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”.   Such a deep statement you know?   To have that joy in the Lord.  I watch my MIL and my own Mom as they are aging, and their steadfast love of God.  When I read these words of Mary, it is their faces I see, their joy in the Lord that is so evident.  They bring these words to vivid life. 

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

Mary sees it you know?  She knows who and what she is.  A girl from a simple family.  Humble in estate.  And yet, God chose her.  God looked upon her and said “this girl will have my boy”. The end result is people know of her.  Her name is revered in the Roman Catholic church.  Everyone knows who gave birth to Jesus and who helped raise him up.  Mary is well-thought of the world over. 

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.

Mary gives all the glory to God.  It is his might who does great things for her.  She sees his holiness.  

I have to stop here for a moment.  I often see God’s hand in my life.  But I rarely pause to consider God’s holiness in the matter.  I see his mercy and his care, I just rarely think of his holiness overarching it all. I should you know? God’s holiness is a foundational part of him.  

Mary Continues her praise

50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.

I wonder if Mary saw, in this moment, how God moved through the life of her extended family.  How his mercy was pivotal in the lives of her people who feared him.  Not in a scared way (though maybe that’s a part) but in a reverential, God is holy, way. 

51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.

Mary goes on to show God’s holiness in a variety of ways.  His strength, His scattering of the proud, how God brings down the mighty and then lifts up the humble.  God is the one who feeds the hungry with good things, and send away the rich empty.  The humble, weak, and hungry need not fear the Holy God. 

I do wonder sometimes about the use of the words rich and mighty though.  Can one be rich pr mighty and still hungry or humble?  Does one condition supersede the other? Can a mighty person still hunger and thirst for more, and seek not for recognition?  We need to remember that for all of God’s holiness he is still our God, our Father, and he cares for us like a parent does a child. So it’s the hungry God feeds. It’s the humble that he exalts.  The proud and focused on wealth folk he corrects. 

God as Father

We really see this in the rest of Mary’s song. 

54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

 According to The Working Preacher the word servant comes from the Greek Pais, which can also be translated child. So where it says He has helped his servant Israel, it is actually saying he has helped his child Israel. God helps his children.  Why?  Because he remembers his mercy to their ancestors.  He remembers his promise to Abraham and his offspring for all time.  Mary saw God’s mercy as she saw his holiness.  Both are clear as can be for this young lady. And she knows how blessed she is by the one she can call Father. 

Read the Passage Carefully

Oh, have you ever read and reread a passage with a thought in your brain and then you read it again?   Mary (and I KNOW THIS) didn’t stay with Elizabeth til her baby was born. I should not have been surprised to read that should I?  She only stayed for three months.  Three months of solace away. Not a total refuge, but a break from the stares and whisperings.  Another way for God to show care eh? 

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Follow Along

I’ve been using The Unexplainable Jesus study as a background to my devotional time.  

Acts 4:5-12

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It’s been a bit but today I am working a short shift and feeling sorta awake!   We’ve had a busy weekend away and I’m feeling like just perhaps I can get back on track.   Anyways, today we are looking at Acts 4:5-12.  It continues the story of Peter and John being brough before the council. 

5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:5-12

The Players

5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.

So we have the rulers, elders and scribes gathered.  Specifically Annas the high priest along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander and those of the high-priestly family. 

Annas – appointed by the Roman legate Quirinus to be the high priest of Judea. He served for 10 years.  This son of Seth’s death is unrecorded. 

Caiaphas – son-in-law to Annas, also served as high priest three years after Annas stopped serving.   He served for about 18 years. He’s also known as Joseph, son of Caiaphas. His family was known for opposing the Pharisees.   

John and Alexander – We don’t know much about these two.  John might have been Johanan ben Zaccai, who is reported to have been at the height of his fame forty years before the destruction of the Temple, and to have been President of the Great Synagogue after its removal to Jamnia.  And Alexander may have been Alexander, the brother of Philo magistrate of Alexandria.   But there is no real proof as to who they really are. 

And as to who the members of the high-priestly families were?  No one really knows.  There was a lot of politics involved in those days with people struggling for power and/or influence. 

The Setting

 7 And when they had set them in the midst,

So here are Peter and John, surrounded by all these people of influence. They will be questioned these simple disciples of Jesus. I’m not sure where they were questioned other than somewhere in Jerusalem.

The questions

they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 

Kinda makes sense you know?  These people of influence seeing these common men talking and raising up controversial issues.  They’d want to know who told them to do this.  Who gave them authority to talk and to heal people?

The answer given

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

See the power of the Holy Spirit?   Peter was not quelled by the august people surrounding him (or maybe he was but the power of the Holy Spirit filled him so he didn’t act like it).  He spoke out clearly and boldly to them proclaiming the power of Christ.   He gave a brief synopsis of Christ’s death and resurrection, and how Jesus is now the cornerstone of their faith. Salvation comes through him alone!

Do we clearly understand this?  And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Jesus Christ, son of the living God, is the only path to salvation.  By him we shall be saved.  No one else can do this job.  No other can be the propitiation for the wrong we do in our lives.

This one that it is so easy for us to reject is the very cornerstone upon which faith is built. 

Trust in him today! 

Follow the Series

 If you are interested in the rest of the series you will find them here eh?   

Acts 3:17-26

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These next few verses are actually part of the previous passage, Peter continuing his conversation with the people amazed at the lame man’s healing.  Let us continuing learning from from the apostles in  Acts 3:17-26.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 

22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Acts 3:17-26

Follow the series

 If you are interested in the rest of the series you will find them here eh?   

Looking more closely at Acts 3:17-26

When we left Peter, he was telling the onlookers what they did.  It’s a damning statement, that they rejected the Holy One.  As Peter said “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.“

Acts 3:17

But then he goes on to say this “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.”  If I heard that, I would feel both ashamed and yet relieved.  He knew we were just being stupid!  Having a monumental brain fart. Can you imagine someone realizing our vast ignorance?  Granted, he first called us to account, but then said he realized we were just being ignoramuses.   But not just us, part of the generic masses, but also those in leadership over us.  All of us just being ignorant. 

Acts 3:18

I don’t know if this is meant to be a relief from the guilt of being ignorant or not, but Peter tells it straight up.  But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 

God knew this would happen.  He foretold it.  And then fulfilled it.  So the ignorance we showed in allowing Christ to be sacrificed was all part of God’s plan. 

Why was this all part of God’s plan?  

Acts 3:18

19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 

So that when we come in repentance our sins can be blotted out.  So they won’t be seen anymore.  Blotters are used to absorb ink, or to document investment trades.   But we aren’t talking about that sort of blotting, but of sin being blotted out.. wiped away, stains being removed, not just covered up or documented in some way, but completely wiped away. 

Acts 3:22-24

22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

Do you see it?  Moses said what God was going to do.  God would raise up a prophet who should be listened to.  Not listening to him has grave consequences.  And every single prophet that followed Moses has spoken to that same truth.    

Acts 3:25

 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 

So just who are we (the audience) that sacrificed Christ?   We are the offspring of Abraham, people with whom God made a covenant so that the all families of the earth are blessed.  Do you understand that?   If you are loved of by God, you are blessed.  

Acts 3:26

26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Hmmm… this verse eh? We who sacrificed Christ, who allowed a really bad guy to go free, are the first to have this chance.  What chance?  To be blessed as we are turned away from our wickedness.  It’s not us doing that turning but God turning us.  We just can’t do it on our own you know? That internal wickedness is so built into us, but then God comes along with this fantastic plan whose end result it to turn us from our wickedness. 

I can’t wait to see what we’re going to learn about next.  What about you? 

To see that despite our ignorance in killing God’s most beloved son, which he knew we would do, God’s plan for us hasn’t changed.  He wants to turn us away from our wickedness.    It’s an amazing story of love isn’t it?    Isn’t it good to learn more of God’s love for us and his plan for our lives? 

Acts 3:11-16

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Technically the next section in Acts is Acts 3:11-26.  This is a rather large passage and rather than trying to tackle it all at once I’m going to divide it in half.   So this week we’ll do Acts 3:11-16, and then later we’ll do the rest. 

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 

14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

 If you are interested in the rest of the series you will find them here eh?   

Acts 3: 11-16

What Happened before Acts 3:11-16

Do you remember that just before this passage Peter, through the power of Christ within, had made a lame man whole again?  When we left them, the man was leaping around praising the Lord God for his healing.  The people surrounding them were so surprised and amazed.  Filled with wonder they were. 

Now moving forward. 

Acts 1:11

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.

If like me you don’t know what a portico is, it is a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals, typically attached as a porch to a building.  

So  they must have been standing in the sheltered area at the temple.  A place where it would be easy for people to gather, a safe area for beggars to hang out in protected from the weather. Anyways, this portico is known as Solomon’s Porch.  If you want to know more about it, I found this helpful resource. 

So they are there, and he’s healed and the people are “utterly astounded”.  I don’t much blame them, they would have been coming to worship God, and expecting the same old same old, and then this man is healed.  And he wasn’t being quiet about it.  It was a miraculous gift from God! 

So everyone did what I would see as totally normal… they rushed over! 

roofed walkway with benches
Photo by Allen Boguslavsky on Pexels.com

Acts 3:12-16

12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 

14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Peter took the opportunity to present Christ to the people. He gave them a bit of a history lesson and put them on notice for what they did. What we all did. We took this man, the son of God, and put him on trial.  Released a really bad guy. And let Jesus die.  

There were witnesses

BUT witnesses saw it! Christ rose from the dead!  There were witnesses!   So it’s true!  Christ is risen.  AND therefore through his name by faith miracles can happen!   

Do you see that caveat… it’s not just by saying the name of Jesus.  It’s the whole “by faith” clause.  One need to have faith in the Lord.   

It reminds me of that verse in Matthew where it says “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”” (17:20)

Faith is Pivotal

Without faith it’s just words you know?

Faith is what enables us as believers to do all the things that God calls us to do.  Even with a small, weak faith, it’s the faith that matters.  Not how big that faith is, just that we have faith.  

It was faith in God that enabled Peter to work a miracle.  It was faith in God that allowed Peter to talk to the crowd about why this miracle happened.  Faith in God is what allows missionaries to go out onto a foreign field.  Faith in God allows ministers to bring God’s word to us.  This faith that causes children to save up money to help other children. It is faith that helps Christian parents raise up their children to know the stories of God, the stories of faith.  Faith helps people do things that seem beyond them (like walking on water, forgiving enemies, apologizing to people wronged, loving the unlovable etc.). 

So the question is: what seemingly difficult thing can my faith let happen?  What can I ask for in the name of Jesus?  or will I let fear beat me?   

Right now, I don’t know.

Do you? 

Acts 2:42-47

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Acts 2:42-47 is my next section in Acts to ponder over.   If you are interested in the rest of the series you will find them here eh?   

In the previous passage in Acts 2 we know that 3000 people turned their hearts to God as a result of Peter’s words.   What happened next is what we’ll discover today.  

Acts 2:42-47 reads as follows

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Looking into Acts 2:42-47

Verse 42

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Those 3000 new believers, they didn’t sit around going, oh, we have a relationship with the Lord and let that be it.  No way.  What they did was

  • devote themselves to the apostles teaching
  • to fellowship with each other
  • to the breaking of bread
  • and prayers.

Verse 43

43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 

So this is what I’m envisioning.  Peter finishes talking, and there’s this huge crowd around him of new believers.  People turning to the Lord everywhere he turns.   But these people are on fire for the Lord so they eat together, spend time with each other, praying for each other.  This becomes more than a one day event.  And as it goes on, people are filled with awe… seeing all that God has done and is doing through the apostles. 

Makes me ask this question: why don’t people sit in awe of what God is doing through his people now? What are we doing differently? 

Verse 44

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 

Is it the lack of commonality we have with each other?  All these divisions within/between churches and there, what should be, spirit-filled, godly people?    Can you imagine being part of a community that shares freely with other and happily spent time with each other? 

Verse 45

45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 

I admittedly struggle with this one.  Mind the older I get the easier I am about giving things away that I no longer need or want to others.  But I struggle with the thought of selling things in order to help those in need.   Like I’ll give my money and time, but selling stuff I need?  Or just selling stuff and using all the proceeds for missions and stuff?   GAH as I write that I feel like a jerk….. like seriously. 

But at the same time it’s true though.  I’ll happily give my tithe, and use those dollars to help others.  But when it comes to going beyond that, I find it difficult.   Like even taking the time to cook a meal for a young family, or individuals who have lost a loved one, and stuff like that.  If it inconveniences me, then I tend to avoid it.  These folks, filled with the Spirit, no less than ANY believer today, chose to freely help each other in whatever why they could. 

What does that say about me? 

Verse 46

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Day by day…. adding to their numbers, this generous group of faithful, new believers.  Changing the world around them by their love for each other, their devotion to the Lord, and how they received food.  

So does my gratitude show who God is? Will it encourage people to see God favourably?   And perhaps heed a call on their lives they didn’t even know enough to recognize? 

What are your thoughts? 

Beloved Let us Love One Another

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I’m looking forward to the next 7 weeks.  I get to be loved by a friend as she drives me back from Bible study.  Being somewhat older now, I get so tired after work that driving home at 9 at night, when honestly I’d rather be sleeping… can be a tad bit dangerous.   I enjoy the bible study, but if I had to drive myself back and forth I probably wouldn’t attend.  But my friend loves me enough to drive me home.  🙂 We have the best conversations sometimes on the way home.  

Why do I tell you this?  Because when I read the verses for the day… that’s what immediately popped into my head.  The tangible love demonstrated to me for 8 weeks a couple times a year.  It is fantastic! 

1 John 4:7-12
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Beloved, let us love one another

Everytime I read this verse I remember a friend who believed that God is love and love is God.   She always kept flipping it like that.  But that is NOT what this passage is saying.

This passage tells us where love comes from.   FROM GOD.  

True love comes from God and only those who know God can truly love each other. 

You know, it’s not easy to love the people around us.  I struggle mightily with it at times.  Some people it’s hard to love them, or to look past their foibles, to the person behind them. 

But God’s love is what draws us together, helping us to look past the difficulties we might have, helping us to seek out ways to reconcile, and truly be the family he has called us to be. 

spark of the knowledge of God

As I’ve pondered this passage, I’ve considered this fact.  You know how every person has a spark of the knowledge of God in them?  If wonder if that spark is our ability to love others even if we don’t have a relationship with God?  That, God’s care for his people, not just his faithful followers, but for people in general, is that he gives us an ability to love, even when we won’t acknowledge that it comes from God.  

John is clear with us.  Love is FROM God.  Not from ourselves, not from some evolutionary building up, or learned behaviour, but FROM God himself. 

God loved us and sent his Son

John is again clear to his writers.  God loved us enough that he sent his Son, his very deeply loved Son, to be a propitiation for our sins.  What does propitiation mean?  Propitiation is the act of gaining the favor of or making things right with someone, especially after having done something wrong.   In other words, Jesus is God’s way of helping us to make things right with him.   He’s the only one who could do it. 

Through Christ we live.  It’s the only way we can truly have life.   The more we know Christ which is God’s love made real for us, the more we truly live. 

So why wouldn’t we want to share that with others?   Love each other well, and you will show God’s love to them and those around them.  Isn’t it good to copy God?   Loving each other and living out life truly to the best. 

God abides in us

Catch this “if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

Do you see it?

Do you see God at work?   

As we love each other, as we practice loving each other, copying God’s love for us, he abides with us.  Abiding is patient being with someone.  It’s more than just living with someone, it holds the connotation of one a patient and steadfast companion.   Our love shows God’s faithfulness in being in relationship with us.  And…. as we love, his love is perfected in us.  Isn’t that amazing?  Oh, to be able to love in a glimpse of the way that God loves. 

An example

I remember reading a book as a teen about a guy who was missionary in a rough and tumble neighbourhood.  He was threatened with death, which he didn’t flinch from. He told the gang’s leader that yes, he could kill him and cut him apart bit by bit, but every bit would say “I love you”.   The depth this missionary was able to display to that hard gang leader is what I imagine when I think about God’s love being perfected in us.  That solid determination to show love to a people fighting against it. 

It’s exactly what God does with us isn’t it? So Beloved Let us Love One Another.  Let us show God in action won’t we? 

People Gathered

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WSo as I’ve pondered this passage from Mark 6:53-56 I thought about how people gathered whenever they recognized Jesus.   In this story they landed at Gennesaret and as soon as they saw him they recognized him.  And when they did… they acted.   Let’s take a moment to ponder that eh? 

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was… Wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Mark 6:53‭-‬56 ESV

people gathered, a devotional on Mark 6

People Gathered

Jesus traveling in a boat with his people, they land, and then people recognize him.  But this story goes beyond mere recognition.   
 
They saw Jesus and recognized him and didn’t just go sit down to wait for him to teach or do something.  They ran around the WHOLE region.  Their purpose?   To bring in the sick and needy to wherever Jesus was.   They didn’t just run around and gather up their sick kin, they went through the whole region bringing folks to him. 
 
It didn’t matter where Jesus turned up, people brought the sick to him, all they wanted to do was touch the fringe of his clothes. 
 
Can you imagine the faith they possessed?
 
They weren’t dependent upon his words or his touch or his spoken prayers for them.  Their faith was so profound that ALL they wanted was for the sick person/people to touch his clothes… and not those solid body protecting clothes but the fringe.  You know that embellishment which helps pull the garment together, but isn’t really important to the function of the garment.  It’s rather an unimportant part if you stopped to think about it right? 
 
And yet… and yet the faith of the people was strong enough that they just wanted to touch it. 
 
If they touch it… they would be made well.  
 
AND JESUS LET THEM!   If he hadn’t do you think Mark would have written the words “and as many as touched it were made well”.  
 
Jesus honoured their faith. 
 
Healing happened. 
 
I read those words and wonder…  what is my faith in comparison to that?  When sometimes I let my skepticism of God’s actions influence my prayer life and my attitude about the things he does.   I know better.  I’ve seen God in action in ways that still, when I think of them, surprise me. 
 
And yet I wonder… would I have been willing to touch the fringe of his clothes?  Would my faith have been sufficient just for that? 
 
I need the faith of those fringe touchers.   I so need to believe that he can and will make me better… make me the person he wants me to be.