Steve’s Blog

(these are my thoughts as I read through the first two chapters of Mark… listening to Teen Dream by Beach House)

The gospel of Mark doesn’t start out like we are expecting the story of Jesus to being.  There are no angels talking to Mary, no manger, not even the story of his birth.  Instead we are dropped into this weird place with John the Baptist that leaves us scratching our heads and asking “wait, how’d we get here?”  The thing that really stood out to me in these first chapters is how much mystery there is surrounding the story  of Jesus.  Very little is explained in Mark… How did Jesus get here?  What happens during the temptation?  How is he performing all of these healings?  It’s like we’re in an episode of Lost…we are in a weird place where a bunch of crazy things are happening and we have no idea why or how.  But we do know that Jesus is taken very seriously by all those around him.

There are so many cool things that happen in these two chapters but I am always drawn to the healing of the man with leprosy in 1:40-45.  We already have seen Jesus do a couple healings so we know he has the ability help this guy, but it’s their conversation that is a window into the heart of God.  The guy asks Jesus if he is willing to heal him which implies a whole lot about this guy’s faith.  He must have had the faith and confidence that Jesus CAN heal him but didn’t know him enough to know if he would. His plea is one that comes from extreme faith and the answer he gets comes from Jesus’ immense compassion; I am willing, be clean.  One of the hardest hurdles in faith is approaching God with the confidence that this guy did.  How much do we really trust that God has the power to pull off the miraculous?  In the midst of the mystery and difficult situations in life we have a God who is capable and willing to help and guide us.

(here is a video of a gorilla picking the super bowl winner)