THE WORD 4 ev 1

Read Mark 16 (click here for link)

--SORRY AGAIN FOR THE DELAY--ANOTHER TECHNICAL GLITCH--

Have you ever read the word of God, heard and understood His promises, and yet still not get it when it happens? Unfortunately, that seems to be our nature. We struggle with the contradiction between common sense and “faith sense.” We hope and expect, but our minds tell us that it just can’t be. So why are we so hard on the people that we read about in the scriptures; they are ordinary people just like us. They experienced the pain and watched the events unfold that would forever shape the path of history. Unlike us, they didn’t have the advantage of looking back at an historic account of the events. This is why we often read that the disciples didn’t get the significance of many things until much later when they were able to look back and “connect the dots”.

Jesus tried to prepare them on many occasions:

“He took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” (Mark 10:32-34)

Like the disciples, our ccommonsense defies the message of Jesus Christ raised from the dead. In our world, many would say that this text is nothing but a fairytale. In fact, even the women who witnessed it had a hard time excepting it. The angels told the women in Mark 16, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." Yet the earliest manuscripts of Mark end with verse eight: The women running away terrified, afraid to say anything to anyone. Perhaps they didn’t understand yet!

We may not run in fear today from the preaching of the resurrection, but sometimes I think it is easy for us to put it aside. We wonder, “Does it actually affect me now, today?” As we continue with our read through Scripture, continue to ask this question. Paul says that without the resurrection, our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15). As people of the resurrection, new life is in you. Ponder what that means for you.

Once again, for the sake of Pastor Aaron's sanity, we will take a week break before beginning the Gospel of Luke. Thank you for all who are still continuing this journey with me. God's peace to you during our break.

Pastor Aaron