Helpless but hopeful!

Mark 4:26-34

Then Jesus said, "God's kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man who then goes to bed and forgets about it. The seed sprouts and grows—he has no idea how it happens. The earth does it all without his help: first a green stem of grass, then a bud, then the ripened grain. When the grain is fully formed, he reaps—harvest time! "How can we picture God's kingdom? What kind of story can we use? It's like a pine nut. When it lands on the ground it is quite small as seeds go, yet once it is planted it grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches. Eagles nest in it." With many stories like these, he presented his message to them, fitting the stories to their experience and maturity. He was never without a story when he spoke. When he was alone with his disciples, he went over everything, sorting out the tangles, untying the knots.

Food for thought!

Wow! Are we that helpless? Jesus today is both revealing our helplessness and our hopefulness. We are helpless in that there are things we don't know and we can't know; there are things we have no idea how they happen. Look at the farmer in the gospel reading: he does not make the seed grow, he does not even understand how it grows. This knowledge is hidden from the farmer. It is the secret of life. Nobody has ever possessed the secret of life; no one has ever created anything in the full sense of the term. We can discover things; we can rearrange them; we can develop them; but creating them we cannot. This is how helpless we are.

I want you to look at the Book of Revelation, chapter 5 to see our helplessness. «I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One Seated on the Throne. It was written on both sides, fastened with seven seals. I also saw a powerful Angel, calling out in a voice like thunder, «Is there anyone who can open the scroll, who can break its seals?» There was no one—no one in Heaven, no one on earth, no one from the underworld—able to break open the scroll and read it. I wept and wept and wept that no one was found able to open the scroll, able to read it. One of the Elders said, «Do not cry! The Lion of the tribe of Judah has won the battle. He is the Root of David. He is able to break the seven seals and open the scroll.»

This is why today's gospel reading says that Jesus «did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.» It means that each one of us is a story, he is a parable, a difficult parable, that only Jesus can explain to us. We are a sealed book that no one can unseal, not even ourselves; only Jesus. All your ups and downs, all your victories, all your failures, all your sins, all that happens in YOUR life, is a parable that the Lord is telling you. A parable that you can't understand on your own. This is the bad news. The good news, is that Jesus can explain everything to you, in private. Yes, it is in private that he will tell you. Imagine if the Lord told in public what each of us is and has ever done in our life! Thank God that he only tells us in private, so that no one knows. Why? Because much of it is shame and shameful.

The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given!

Mark 4:21-35

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’ He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’

Food for thought!

“The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given.” These words of Jesus are very provocative. Jesus is saying that it all depends on us; it means that all is in you, all is in me: the way, the solution, the life, the heaven and the hell; the success and the failure. It means that the amount of effort you apply in anything, good or bad, is the amount you will get out. If you apply yourself to goodness, you will get goodness; if you apply yourself to evil, evil you will get. What you get depends on what you give. What you give you will get back, only more so.

In life there is always a balance. A man's getting will be determined by his giving. It means that you are getting back what you are giving away. This is true of study. The more study a pupil is prepared to give to any subject, the more s/he will get from it. All subjects of study are like that. They give pleasure and satisfaction in proportion to the effort that we are prepared to spend upon them. It is specially so in regard to the study of the Bible. We may sometimes feel that there are certain parts of the Bible which are difficult. May be. But the truth is that if we study these parts they will often turn out to be the most interesting parts of the Bible. A superficial study of a subject will often leave us quite uninterested whereas a really intensive study will leave us thrilled and fascinated.

It is true of Mass. The more we bring to Mass the more we will get from it. When we come to worship in the house of God, there are three wrong ways in which we may come.

(a) We may come entirely to get. If we come only to get, we will criticize the organist and the choir and find fault with the priest's preaching. We must come prepared to give; we must remember that worship is a corporate act, and that each of us can contribute something to it. If we ask, not, "What can I get out of this service?" but, "What can I contribute to this service?" we will in the end get far more out of it than if we simply came to take.

(b) We may come without expectation. Our coming may be the result of habit and routine. It may be simply part of the time-table into which we have divided the week. But, after all, we should be coming to meet God, and when we meet him anything may happen.

(c) We may come without preparation. It is so easy to leave for Mass with no preparation of mind or heart at all because often it is a rush to get there at all. But it would make all the difference in the world, if, before we came, we were for a moment or two still and quiet and companied with God in prayer. As the Jewish Rabbis told their disciples: "They pray best together who first pray alone."

It is true of personal relationships. One of the great facts of life is that we see our reflection in other people. If we are cross and irritable and bad-tempered, we will probably find other people equally unpleasant. If we are critical and fault-finding, the chances are that we will find other people the same. If we are suspicious and distrustful, the likelihood is that others will be so to us. If we wish others to love us, we must first love them; if you want to be forgiven, forgive; if you want to be given, give. The person who would have friends must show himself or herself friendly. It was because Jesus believed in men that men believed in him.

Everything in life is a parable and tells of God!

Mark 4:1-20

Jesus began to teach by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen!, Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and be forgiven.’

He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

Food for thought!

In today’s gospel reading we see Jesus making a new departure. He is no longer teaching in the synagogue; he is now teaching by the lakeside. He had made the orthodox approach to the people; now he has to take unusual methods. Jesus was innovative; he knew to adopt his methods of teaching to the circumstances.

We do well to note that Jesus was prepared to use new methods. He was willing to take religious preaching and teaching out of its conventional setting in the synagogue into the open air and among the crowds of ordinary men and women. There must have been many amongst the orthodox Jews who criticized this departure; but Jesus was wise enough to know when new methods were necessary and adventurous enough to use them. It would be well if his church was equally wise and equally adventurous to try new methods and ways of reaching out to the people, especially reaching out to the non-church goers.

Look at what Jesus did. The scene is the lakeside; Jesus is sitting in the boat just off the shore. The shore shelves gently down to the water's edge, and makes a natural amphitheatre for the crowd.

This new setting needed a new method; and the new method Jesus chose was to speak to the people in parables. A parable is literally a comparison. It is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Something on earth is compared with something in heaven, that the heavenly truth may be better grasped in light of the earthly illustration. Jesus started from the here and now to get to the there and then. He started from a thing that was happening at that moment on earth in order to lead men's thoughts to heaven; he started from something which all men could see to get to the things that are invisible; he started from something which all men knew to get to something which they had never as yet realized.

By so doing Jesus showed that there is a close relationship between earth and heaven. What Jesus is teaching them and us is to see the hand of God in the regular and the normal; in the rising of the sun and the falling of the rain and the growth of the plant. Long ago Paul had the same idea when he said that the visible world is designed to make known the invisible things of God (Rom.1:20). For Jesus, this world’s events and happenings are not meaningless; they are all very meaningful. The things that happen in your personal life, your family, your place of work, your church, are all parables calling for your understanding.

He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable?

Who is your first friend?

Mar 3:31-35

31 Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. 32 He was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, "Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you." 33 Jesus responded, "Who do you think are my mother and brothers?" 34 Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said, "Right here, right in front of you-- my mother and my brothers. 35 Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Food for thought!

I want you to get this scene in your head. Jesus is teaching in the city of Capernaum. He is surrounded by a vast multitude of people. As Jesus is teaching His family shows up. Their arrival creates a moments of tension for everyone there. Jesus is teaching and His family is on the outside of the crowd. They can’t get to Him because of the multitude, so they send word through the crowd to tell Jesus to come to where they are. His family wants Him to stop His teaching, leave the multitude, and go to meet his family. They want Jesus to stop what he is doing and attend to them.  And will not be the last time. You remember this other incident in Mark 3:20-21?

"Then Jesus went to a house [probably Peter’s], but a throng came together again, so that He and His disciples could not even take food. And when those who belonged to Him ( His family) heard it, they went out to take Him by force, for they kept saying, He is out of His mind!"

The lessons. Sometimes it is our dear ones like mother, father, husband, wife and friends that stand in between us and God, that stand in between us and our opportunities. Of course they don't do it out of evil intentions; Mary and the others weren't acting out evil intentions; they were trying to help Jesus, so they thought. This was a misguided help of good intentioned people. Jesus, however used the occasion to teach us all that OBEDIENCE TO GOD, DOING GOD'S WILL, FOLLOWING GOD IS ABOVE EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY. 

Yes, many times, our greatest distraction in doing God's will, and in embracing new opportunities are our relations, our friends. The tendency not to offset our dearest people or our dear past experiences many times make us forsake God-sent opportunities. This is why the burden of what we know already limits us in embracing new opportunities. The old is the enemy of the new. THE TIES THAT BIND US ARE THE TIES THAT BLIND US. (Andrew Hargadon).

Another lesson. There is in this passage a great and practical truth. It is very common to have your closest people to be not your blood family but others not related to you by blood. The deepest relationship of life is not always the blood relationship; it is the relationship of mind to mind and heart to heart (like husband and wife). It is when people have common aims, common principles, common interests, a common goal that they become really and truly friends.

Change your life!

Matthew 4:12-17

When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. 13 He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. 14 This move completed Isaiah's sermon: 15 "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, road to the sea, over Jordan, Galilee, crossroads for the nations. 16 People sitting out their lives in the dark saw a huge light; Sitting in that dark, dark country of death, they watched the sun come up." 17 This Isaiah- prophesied sermon came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here."

23 From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God's kingdom was his theme, that beginning right now they were under God's government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. 24 Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with an ailment, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. 25 More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the "Ten Towns" across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.

Food for thought!

"People brought anybody with an ailment, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all."

With just a simple message of "Change your life", Jesus attracted people from all places, all kinds of people and with all kinds of diseases, mental, emotional or physical. Everybody wanted a change in their life. In all these people there was something common. Though from different villages and towns, different backgrounds, with different diseases, all these people were wanting a change in their lives; they all wanted something different.

The same with us. We may be different in our accents, our professions, our beliefs, our lives, yet we all yearn for some change in our lives. Some people wish for a change in their personal life, change in the family, change in their relationship with the spouse, the children, the boss at work, in their income, etc.

Change is not just our wish, it is also our Lord's command to us all: "Change your life." Jesus is not requesting us to change, he orders us to; he is not suggesting a change in our life, he is demanding a change.

Change is not just our wish, it is not just our Lord's order, it is also according to nature. Susan Hayward once noted that nature demonstrates the necessity of change. She noted that almost everything occurs in cycles. The earth rotates on a daily cycle. The moon evolves around the earth on a monthly cycle, and the earth revolves around the sun in an annual cycle. During the year, the four seasons take us from cold to warm and again to cold as plants and animals cycle from a dormant to an active stage and then, as another winter approaches, again become dormant. Tides flow daily toward, and away from, the shore. Each day closes with a sunset, which is followed by a sunrise. Winter ends; spring begins. And so it goes. Every beginning has an ending, and all endings herald a new beginning. In other words, nature is all about change.

Our lives also change constantly according to seasons and cycles. Each of us experiences an endless flow of beginnings and endings. Every season of our life has a beginning and an ending that leads to a new beginning. Childhood ends and adolescence begins; adolescence ends and adulthood begins; young adulthood ends and middle age begins; middle age ends and old age begins.

D. H. Lawrence said, “We are changing, we have got to change, and we can no more help it than leaves can help going yellow and coming loose in autumn.” For a moment, imagine you are a caterpillar. You have this strange urge to spin a cocoon around your body- meaning certain death! How difficult it must be to let go of the only life you have ever known, a life of crawling on the earth in search of food. Yet, if you are willing to trust, as caterpillars seem able to do (caterpillars are more trusting than we humans),  the end of your life as an earthbound worm may be the beginning of your life as a beautiful winged creature of the sky.

We can see each change as a tragedy and lament and resist it, or we can see each change as a new beginning and a new birth into greater opportunities. What the caterpillar sees as the tragedy of death, the butterfly sees as the miracle of birth.

Much of our resistance to change stems from our unawareness, or inability, to realize that we are one with nature. Often we don’t feel the joy of change, perhaps because we forget that in each change are opportunities. Although change can be painful, it is less so if, instead of resisting it, we look at it as a natural process of nature: as leaves budding in the spring, coming to full leaf in the summer, turning red and gold in autumn, and dropping from the trees in winter. It can be comforting to comprehend that we are an integral part of the great scheme of nature.

So, don’t resist letting go of old ideas and attitudes; practise change. The less resistance we have, the less pain we experience in making the journey through the many cycles of our lives. 

U-Turn!

Acts 9:1-22

Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find. Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.’ The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight, and t  ook neither food nor drink.

A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, ‘Ananias!’ When he replied, ‘Here I am, Lord’, the Lord said, ‘You must go to Straight Street and ask the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight.’

When he heard that, Ananias said, ‘Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.’ The Lord replied, ‘You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately it was as though scales fell away from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. So he was baptised there and then, and after taking some food he regained his strength.

He began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’ All his hearers were amazed. ‘Surely’ they said ‘this is the man who organised the attack in Jerusalem against the people who invoke this name, and who came here for the sole purpose of arresting them to have them tried by the chief priests?’ Saul’s power increased steadily, and he was able to throw the Jewish colony at Damascus into complete confusion by the way be demonstrated that Jesus was the Christ.

Food for thought!

Today, we mark Paul's turn around; his conversion. The First Reading of today tells us of the incident. Every time I read this story, I stand amazed at the grace of God. When I see the Lord taking this great sinner and transforming him into the great saint, I realize that there is hope for people like you and me. The truth is, Saul was a very unlikely candidate for the service of the Lord. Here was a man who was feared and hated by Christians and one who did everything in his power to destroy the name of the Lord Jesus. Yet, God reached down and took this man from where he was and used him to change the world. God used him in such a great manner that Paul's ministry is still reaping fruit today. 

When we look at Paul, we may be tempted to think that he was some kind super saint. We may feel that there is no possible way that the Lord could use us like He did Paul, or that God could even use us at all. Some of you may have asked the question, "Can God really use my life for anything?" The answer is YES.

And he wants to use you in your world, your place of work, your neighbourhood, your family, and according to your skills. He will not remove you from your world; he will send you to your world. Did you notice that Paul still went to Damascus? That Paul stood among the people he was going to imprison and arrest and kill? He went to the same people, not to imprison and arrest or kill them, but to proclaim to them good news. Yes, he still went there, but he went there a different man, with a different message, and different mandate.

You too can proclaim good news to the same people you have known until now, people like you spouse, your children, your neighbours, your colleagues at work. If you have held some resentment against any of these people until now, you can change and hold, not resentment anymore but love and forgiveness. You can change from being a carrier of bad news to carrier of good news. You can and should still go to your Damascus; but take there not hurt but heart; not hate but love.

Let us be another Paul in the world we happen to be. The First Reading says, "And all who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not the very man who harassed and overthrew and destroyed in Jerusalem those who called upon this Name? And he has come here for the express purpose of arresting them and bringing them in chains before the chief priests?’ 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and continued to confound and put to confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus; Paul turned around from hate to love. So can we.

On Companions & Companionship!

Mark 3:13-19

Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or ‘Sons of Thunder’; then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.

Food for thought!

Jesus has come to a very important moment in his life and work. He has made a very considerable impact on the public mind. But also his critics are growing in their opposition. Indeed, they have already decided to destroy him. If he dies, as he will, what will happen to his message? He had to find some way for his message not die when he dies. As a solution to this practical problem, he has to choose certain people on whose hearts and lives he will write his message and who will continue the message. The messengers die, messengers come and go; however, the message is forever, is eternal. 

Jesus chose a very mixed group of his messengers. In it the two extremes met. Matthew was a tax-collector and, therefore, an outcast; he was a renegade and a traitor to his fellow countrymen. Simon the Cananaean was Zealot; and the Zealots were a band of fiery, violent nationalists who were pledged even to murder and assassination to clear their country of the foreign rulers; today we call such as terrorists. Between Matthew and Simon there were all kinds of backgrounds and opinions, there are all of us. Jesus continues to mix us. 

Judging them by worldly standards the men Jesus chose had no special qualifications at all. They were not wealthy; they had no special social position; they had no special education, they were not trained theologians; they were not high-ranking churchmen and ecclesiastics; they were twelve ordinary men. But they had two special qualifications. First, they were loyal to Jesus. And second, they had the courage to show that they were loyal to Jesus.

Yes, to be with Jesus did require courage. We can all be loyal to celebrities, but not to someone labelled a sinner and a heretic; someone accused of violating all religious rules and regulations; someone heading for an inevitable death. These twelve men had all kinds of faults, but whatever else could be said about them, they loved Jesus and they were not afraid to show it. Do you have in your life loyal people like these disciples of Jesus, who can stand by you, come what may?

Jesus called the disciples to him for two purposes. First, he called them to be with him. He called them to be his steady and consistent companions. Others might come and go; the crowd might be there one day and away the next; others might be fluctuating and spasmodic in their attachment to him, but these twelve were to live with him all the time, day after day; they never go away, never come, because there're always there. They're Jesus' companions. Happy the man or woman with a companion like these.

Second, he called them to send them out. He wanted them to be his representatives. He wanted them to tell others about him. They themselves had been won in order to win others.

For their task Jesus equipped them with a message. The Gospel message, the good news, the word of Jesus is our weapon, it is our stronghold, it is our strength and power.

It is good to do good always!

Mark 3:7-12

7 Jesus went off with his disciples to the sea to get away. But a huge crowd from Galilee trailed after them-- 8 also from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, across the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon-- swarms of people who had heard the reports and had come to see for themselves. 9 He told his disciples to get a boat ready so he wouldn't be trampled by the crowd. 10 He had healed many people, and now everyone who had something wrong was pushing and shoving to get near and touch him. 11 Evil spirits, when they recognized him, fell down and cried out, "You are the Son of God!" 12 But Jesus would have none of it. He shut them up, forbidding them to identify him in public.

Food for thought!

Yesterday, we ended the Gospel with these words: “The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod's followers and ruin him.” Today’s Gospel is a follow up. Unless Jesus wished to be involved in a head-on collision with those religious authorities wanting to ruin him, he had to leave their synagogues. Now, for the first time, Jesus is preaching not from inside a synagogue but from outside, from the open, in a boat. Jesus has left the synagogues and has gone out to the lakeside and the open sky; He who once preached on a pulpit is now preaching from a boat! And he who was preaching to a few hundreds of people in the synagogue, is now preaching to thousands. Irony of things.

A lesson for us. When you hate someone, you turn that person into a hero. This is what has happened with Jesus; the more the religious authorities hate and hunt Jesus, the more Jesus is turning a hero, a superstar, a celebrity. The gospel says that people came from all over the neighbouring districts to touch him and listen to him.

They can take synagogues away from Jesus, but they cannot take goodness away from him; Jesus goes with his goodness and his people skills wherever he goes. As a result people are seeking him from all over. So large were the crowds that it became dangerous and a boat had to be kept ready, just off the shore, in case he might be overwhelmed with the crushing of the mob. His cures brought him into even greater danger; for the sick people did not even wait for him to touch them; they rushed to touch him.

Another lesson. Good is always good; and doing good is always good. Jesus did good in the synagogue (healed a man with a crippled hand), he did good all the time, even on a Sabbath, on a beach, at the wedding, on the sea, on the cross. As a dedicated follower of Jesus, seek to do good to all people, all day and all days and all the time, and in all places where you happen to be. This is what Jesus expects from you and me.  Be good and do good.

Act 10:38

Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country doing good, helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.

Do good at all times!

Mark 3:1-6

Doing Good on the Sabbath

Then he went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. 2 The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath infraction. 3 He said to the man with the crippled hand, "Stand here where we can see you." 4 Then he spoke to the people: "What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?" No one said a word. 5 He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out-- it was as good as new! 6 The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod's followers and ruin him.

Food for thought!

We're back in the synagogue. The setting is like this: there's Jesus, there's his critics the Pharisees, there's a man in need, and there's a Sabbath. What would you do if you were in that synagogue that Saturday? With whom do you identify yourself, with Jesus being watched, with the Pharisees on the watch, with the sick man in need of help, or with the Sabbath to keep? 

Jesus knows what is going on. He knows that he's being watched. He knows that this whole thing is designed as a trap to ensnare Him. But, Jesus also knows that this man needs healing, which only him can give, and Jesus is determined to do the right thing come what may. You see, it is always risky doing the right thing; many people are only interested in doing not the right thing but doing things right. Doing things right means following the rules and laws and people's expectations. Doing the right thing means doing what is good and right even when it goes against the law or against people’s expectations.

Jesus told the man to “Stand here where we can all see you.” Jesus calls him to come and stand before the whole crowd. What Jesus is about to do will not be done in a corner. 

Jesus confronts the obvious hypocrisy of the Pharisees by asking them two simple, straightforward questions: Is it lawful to good or evil on the Sabbath? It is lawful to save a life or to take a life? By calling the man to the front of the crowd and asking these questions was all an effort to awaken sympathy in the hearts of the Pharisees. Jesus was using this moment to try and touch their hearts. His efforts failed! They had hard hearts. No one said a word.

The Pharisees suffered from “hardness of heart”. These men had been confronted with truth many times and they continually rejected that truth. As a result, their hearts became hard. They were outraged when Jesus healed the man on a Sabbath; they were only concerned in doing things right and not in doing the right thing, were interested in keeping the rules and not saving life. Are we any different?

The Pharisees and the Herodians were bitter enemies. They were on the opposite sides of every issue. But, they found common ground in their common hatred of the Lord Jesus. So, they formed a plot to find a way to “destroy” Him. They wanted Jesus dead and they set out to accomplish that end.

There is a bit of irony in this story, as well as a lot of hypocrisy. These men are upset because Jesus gave life back to the man on the Sabbath, but they have no problem plotting to take life from Jesus on a Sabbath day. Many times we do those things we condemn in other people.

What is it that Jesus is teaching us if not that we cannot and should never compromise on doing good; attending to human need has precedence over religious laws and rituals. 

Jesus' religious scandals!

Mark 2:23-28

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going along beside the fields of standing grain, and as they made their way, His disciples began to pick off the grains and to eat them. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing what is not permitted or lawful on the Sabbath? 25 And He said to them, Have you never [even] read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were accompanying him? — 26 How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was the high priest, and ate the sacred loaves set forth [before God], which it is not permitted or lawful for any but the priests to eat, and [how he] also gave [them] to those who were with him? 27 And Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made on account and for the sake of man, not man for the Sabbath; 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

Food for thought! 

Are you ever counted Jesus' "religious scandals"? Jesus is in the business of stirring up trouble! From the time He appeared and began His earthly ministry, to the moment He ascended back into Heaven, Jesus was busy upsetting tradition and tipping sacred cows. Where the Jews were concerned, Jesus was involved in one religious scandal after another.

Jesus' first scandal was when He publically forgave a man’s sins, in Mark 2:5. The second scandal was when He attended a feast with sinners at Matthew’s house, in Mark 2:16. The third scandal was when Jesus and his disciples refused to fast as everybody did, in Mark 2: 18. The fourth scandal is of course today's gospel reading; 

The verses we have read today open up another scandal between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. This time it involves their traditions. Jesus dared to ignore their rituals and they are offended once again. However, this is no ordinary scandal. For this scandal would create such anger and hatred toward Jesus that the Jews would actually seek to kill the Lord because of it, Mark 3:6.

There are people whose primary job is to criticize others; people whose primary goal in life is to set themselves up as judge and jury on the lives of others; people who are critical of every body except of themselves; people who claim to know all the rules but no knowledge of Jesus. These are the Pharisees. 

These people are upset by everything and by nothing! They cannot believe what they see the disciples of Jesus doing. Many people are critical of you, of me, of everyone that's different. Consider what Jesus did to his critics; this is what we should do when people want to argue religion with us, or when they criticize you. He pointed them to the Word of God. He pointed them to the truth. Jesus did not argue with these men; He merely pointed them back to the Word of God. He says, “Have you not read…?”

Many times our problem is the same problem the Pharisees had, we haven’t taken the time to read and understand the Bible, and we criticize others based on nothing. Shame on us!

A LESSON FOR THEM AND FOR US

Jesus proceeds to remind them of an incident that occurred during the life of David. When he was fleeing from Saul, he and his men needed food. In 1 Sam. 21:1-6, David and his men came to the priest and asked for food. The priest told David that there was no bread except the “showbread”.

The showbread was twelve loaves of bread that were baked fresh every Sabbath Day. These twelve loaves were placed on a table in the holy place in the Tabernacle (our Blessed Sacrament and tabernacle come from them). The twelve loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel. They reminded Israel of the Lord’s presence among his people of their dependence upon Him for their physical needs. It was also called the “Bread of the Presence”. The showbread was changed every Sabbath Day and the old bread was eaten by the priests in the holy place.

This bread was not to be eaten by non-priests, according to the Law, but because they were hungry, it was given to David and His men to eat. The clear teaching here is that human needs are more important than a legalistic keeping of the Law; that persons are far more important than rituals; that the best way to worship God is to help man; that the best way to use sacred things is to use them to help men. That, in fact, is the only way to give them to God; the sacred things are only truly sacred when they are used for man. The showbread was never so sacred as when it was used to feed a starving man. The Sabbath was never so sacred as when it was used to help those who needed help. The final arbiter in the use of all things is man and not law.

Be open to new new ideas!

One day when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Why is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of fasting while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they could not think of fasting. But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then, on that day, they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; if he does, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh skins.

Food for thought!

The man who walks with Christ walks in radiance of joy. This is what Jesus is trying to teach us on innumerable occasions. This time round, he compares this joy to a wedding joy. At the wedding the bride enjoys the company of the bridegroom, and the bridegroom enjoys the company of the bride. All this means that it is good for our souls to be with Jesus, and that Jesus too enjoys our company. Think about it, Jesus enjoys to be with you. Do you enjoy Jesus moment? Do you have in your day any JESUS MOMENT? 

It also tells us that no human joy lasts for ever. John's disciples were at this time sad because John was already in prison. For Jesus' disciples that time of sorrow would come when Jesus is imprisoned. It is one of the great inevitabilities of life that the dearest joy must come to an end. All humans and their joy pass away. Jesus alone is the same yesterday, today and for ever; God alone abides amidst all the chances and the changes of life. The dearest human relationships must some day come to an end; it is only the joy of heaven which lasts for ever, and if we have it in our hearts, nothing can take it away.

This also means that days will come, days of challenges, of hardships, of suffering. It means that life was not meant to be easy. Life is a challenge. Even for Jesus there was a moment of agony; he could not and did not escape it. Jesus was never under any illusions; clearly at the end of the road he saw the Cross awaiting him. He knew that for him the way of life was the way of the Cross, and yet he did not swerve one step aside from it. Here is the courage of the man who knows what God's way costs, and who yet goes on.

So, seize the moment, seize the present joy, seize the week and all its opportunities. Don't shut your mind for new ideas. We should never be afraid of adventurous thought. If there is such a person as the Holy Spirit, God must ever be leading us into new truth. Just look at the many inventions in technology, in computers, in cell phones, in medicine, etc. How would medicine fare if doctors were restricted to drugs and methods and techniques three hundred years old?

Many people are afraid of new methods, new innovations, new ideas. That a thing has always been done in certain way may very well be the best reason for stopping doing it. That a thing has never been done may very well be the best reason for trying it. No business could exist on outworn methods; a business allergic to innovations is doomed to die. The same with many of us; either we innovative or we perish.

Jesus' plea to us is to be open minded! 

He takes away our sins and guilt!

John 1:29-34

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

Food for thought!

Jesus, as John himself had rightly observed, is the lamb of God that takes away our sins. 

Jesus, and only Jesus, can free us from our guilt and from our guilty conscience. This is really good news for us who believe in Jesus. We know that Jesus' profession is getting rid of sin; his business is deleting our sins. That's why He is the lamb of God that takes away our sins.

This "Jesus - Sin" connection may be disturbing to some people. But if you remember these words below you would understand easily why Jesus' business is our sins:

1 John 1:8

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

In other words, because all of us are sinners, Jesus has all of us to deal with. Nobody, in their right senses, can say that they don't need Jesus.

If we don't deal with our guilt, our guilt will deal with us. It is a powerful thing that easts us from inside out. It will eat you alive. You can’t run from it. You can’t hide from it. You can’t escape its words. It shows up when you are alone. Guilt comes calling in the dead of night. It gnaws at the soul and eats away at the mind.

The only solution for guilt over past sins is to bring those sins to Jesus. When they are brought to Him, Jesus forgives the sin and removes the guilt. He can set us free from the monster of guilt! Jesus is the lamb of God that takes away our sins, John the Baptist told us.

Another good thing to know is NO ONE WHO LIVES DEEPLY IN CHRIST SINS. It means that without Jesus, there's nothing that is holy, that is good. It inversely means that all that is done in Jesus and with Jesus is holy and good. Jesus does not only take away sins committed, he also takes us away from committing sin. He is our Saviour!

Do you remember the words of that old hymn:

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Refrain:

Are you washed in the blood,

In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you walking daily by the Saviour’s side?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;

There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,

Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

The gospel according to Matthew!

Mark 2:13-17

13 [Jesus] went out again along the seashore; and all the multitude kept gathering about Him, and He kept teaching them. 14 And as He was passing by, He saw Levi (Matthew) son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, Follow Me! [Be joined to Me as a disciple, side with My party!] And he arose and joined Him as His disciple and sided with His party and accompanied Him. 15 And as Jesus, together with His disciples, sat at table in his [Levi’s] house, many tax collectors and persons [ definitely stained] with sin were dining with Him, for there were many who walked the same road (followed) with Him. 16 And the scribes [belonging to the party] of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with [those definitely known to be especially wicked] sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, Why does He eat and drink with tax collectors and [notorious]   sinners? 17 And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of  a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin).

Food for thought!

In order to understand Jesus' way of doing things, let us look at the kind of man Levi was. He was a tax collector.  In Jesus's time, the Jews were under occupation of the Romans. The Romans collected taxes on everything and on every activity of the Jews, including the fish that were caught on the Sea of Galilee.  As a tax collector, Levi worked for the occupying authority, the Roman government. 

The Romans had come up with a tax quota system for each province in the empire. They allowed their nobles to bid on the contracts for collecting the taxes in each area. These nobles usually hired locals to collect the taxes. As long as they met their quota, the Roman government didn’t care how much more they collected. As a result, the tax collectors became very rich, (like Zacchaeus, Luke 19:2), as they overcharged the people, paid the Roman government and kept the difference for themselves.  

Because of the system, all tax collectors like Levi were notoriously dishonest, and as a result he was among the most hated people in Israel. He was viewed as public sinner, isolated in the community. He would not have been allowed to go to the Temple or the synagogues. He was a social outcast, who could only socialize with other tax collectors and sinners. This is the reason why at dinner he invited others like him, "when Jesus, together with His disciples, sat at table in his [Levi’s] house, many tax collectors and persons with sin were dining with Him, for there were many who walked the same road with Him."

This is the kind of man Jesus saw and called to be his associate. Did you notice that it was as he walked along the lakeside that he called Levi (Matthew)? Even as he was walking along, Jesus was looking for opportunities and partners. Jesus was never off duty; he was always on the look out, always looking for opportunities, because opportunities are everywhere and in everybody. Train yourself to be on constant look out for opportunities.

Of all the people Jesus called to follow him Matthew gave up the most. He literally left all to follow Jesus. Peter and Andrew, James and John could go back to the boats, for they were fishermen. There were always fish to catch and always the old trade to which to return; but Matthew burned his bridges completely. With one action, in one moment of time, by one swift decision he had put himself out of his job forever, for having left his tax-collector's job, he would never get it back. For many people, his decision was the most reckless thing anybody could do.  

A certain famous man had the habit of going for long country walks on the river. When he came to a brook that was rather too narrow to cross comfortably, the first thing he did was to throw his coat over to the other side. He made sure that there was to be no turning back. He took the decision to cross and made sure he was going to stick to it. Matthew was the man who staked everything on Christ's word, "Follow me"; and he was not wrong. When and if Jesus says to you "come", leave whatever you're doing and go to where he tells you. He knows best.

From his decision Matthew got at least two things. (a) He lost one job but he got a far bigger one. It has been said that Matthew left everything but one thing--he did not leave his pen, for the first gospel was written by Matthew. With his orderly mind, his systematic way of working, his familiarity with the pen, Matthew was, the first man to give the world a book on the teaching of Jesus. 

(b) The odd thing is that Matthew's "reckless" decision brought him the one thing he had been looking for -- be of use not just to a few but to as many people as the whole world. Today, all who own a Bible own the gospel according to Matthew. Had Matthew refused the challenge he would have had a local coverage. But because he answered the call he gained a world-wide coverage as the man who gave to men the record of the words of Jesus. We need today daring people like Matthew.

Like Matthew, sometimes the Lord challenges us to leave our comfort zone, our old jobs, our old mentality, our old beliefs, our old friends to move on to territories known only to him. We do well to remember Mary's advice to the servants, (Jn 2:5) "Whatever He says to you, do it."

Dare to do the difficult thing!

Mark 2:1-12

1 AND JESUS having returned to Capernaum, after some days it was rumored about that He was in the house [probably Peter’s]. 2 And so many people gathered together there that there was no longer room [for them], not even around the door; and He was discussing the Word.3 Then they came, bringing a paralytic to Him, who had been picked up and was being carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him; and when they had scooped out an opening, they let down the [ thickly padded] quilt or mat upon which the paralyzed man lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith [their confidence in God through Him], He said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven [you] and put away [that is, the penalty is remitted, the sense of guilt removed, and you are made upright and in right standing with God]. 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, holding a dialogue with themselves as they questioned in their hearts, 7 Why does this Man talk like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins [ remove guilt, remit the penalty, and bestow righteousness instead] except God alone? 8 And at once Jesus, becoming fully aware in His spirit that they thus debated within themselves, said to them, Why do you argue (debate, reason) about all this in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven and put away, or to say, Rise, take up your sleeping pad or mat, and start walking about [and keep on walking]? 10 But that you may know positively and beyond a doubt that the Son of Man has right and authority and power on earth to forgive sins—He said to the paralyzed man, 11 I say to you, arise, pick up and carry your sleeping pad or mat, and be going on home. 12 And he arose at once and picked up the sleeping pad or mat and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and recognized and praised and thanked God, saying, We have never seen anything like this before!

Food for thought!

Four men wanted to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but couldn’t get him there because of the crowds that blocked the door into the house where Jesus was teaching. You already see how egoistic sometimes we get! Imagine: here's is a sick man on a stretcher wanting to get to the divine healer and be healed, and no one lets him do it. It is like the people are saying, we don't mind about you and your sickness as long as we are OK and listening to what Jesus is saying; don't disturb us with your problems. I am imagining the sick man pleading with the people to have mercy on his situation ...!

The sick man was lucky, he had friends (a friend in need is a friend indeed). His friends having gotten fed up with the people's attitude, must have said to their friend, "don't mind them, these people are also sick, may be sicker than you; they may be physically ok, spiritually they are not; they too need Jesus." So the four men took their friend where there was nobody, onto the roof of the house, broke up the roof and lowered their friend down to Jesus through the hole in the roof.

These four men who brought their friend to Jesus were willing to do whatever it took to get their friend to the Lord. They dared to do what was difficult. Whenever you are faced with a choice between doing two things, always choose the most difficult and the most unlikely. That's where the blessing is lying disguised. It was not easy to carry that grown up man up on the roof. It was a difficult task. The gospel says, "And when they could not get him to a place in front of Jesus because of the throng, they dug through the roof above Him."

The people dared to do the unusual. They were willing to think outside the box! They were innovative! For them, it was not business as usual, it took ingenuity to think of breaking up the rules. Yes, sometimes we must do the extraordinary in order to get the ordinary; we must break the rules and go against everyone's expectations. In the eyes of the people, the four men were breaking the rules and going against the normal thing, against the "good" thing. For Jesus, however, these four men were something else, they were heroes. What Jesus saw in these men was not folly but faith.

If you think you are lacking these men's faith and courage, if you believe that you need a turn around in your life, if you feel some people or someone is stopping you from getting to Jesus, is stopping you from achieving your dream, if you feel you are like that sick man in need of genuine friends to carry you forward to Jesus and to healing and to forgiveness and to holiness and wholeness ... I pray that you learn to dare.

"Jack of all trades, master of none!"

Mark 1:29-39

29 Directly on leaving the meeting place, they came to Simon and Andrew's house, accompanied by James and John. 30 Simon's mother- in- law was sick in bed, burning up with fever. They told Jesus. 31 He went to her, took her hand, and raised her up. No sooner had the fever left than she was up fixing dinner for them.

32 That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil- afflicted people to him, 33 the whole city lined up at his door! 34 He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew his true identity, he didn't let them say a word.

35 While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. 36 Simon and those with him went looking for him. 37 They found him and said, "Everybody's looking for you." 38 Jesus said, "Let's go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I've come." 39 He went to their meeting places all through Galilee, preaching and throwing out the demons.

Food for thought!

Do you notice Jesus' day and life? And do you see any similarity with yours? Jesus began his day in the synagogue. Synagogues were places of listening to the Word of God; sacrifices were done only at Jerusalem. So Jesus started his day at the Lord's feet, listening to the Word of God.

From listening to the word of God, Jesus went to work. In other words, the word of God should prepare us for our work. FROM WORD OF GOD TO WORK OF GOD. God's word prepares us to go to God's work. Each one of us has or should have some work to do. And all our work, all that we do, our job, is ultimately God's work. We're all serving the Lord. There's no work that is too small to qualify as work of God. That's why we must always do well whatever we do; we're serving God when we serve God's people.

Work, work, and work is no good work! The gospel says " While it was still night, way before dawn, Jesus got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed." Jesus began the day with the word of God, then went to the work of God, now he finishes the day with God. I hope you understand the difference between the work of God and the God of work. We cannot let the work of God make us forget the God of our work; we cannot work 24/7. It is not good for our bodies and souls.

As Jesus was praying, people were meanwhile looking for him; they still needed his services; they wanted more of him. "Everybody's looking for you." They said. To everyone's surprise, including ourselves, Jesus didn't heed to the people's plea. He instead said, "Let's go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I've come."

Jesus is telling us that his trade is to preach. What is yours?

"Jack of all trades, master of none!"

Does Jesus interfere with your life?

Mark 1:21-28

21 Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law. 23 Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting, 24 "Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" 25 Jesus cut him short. "Be quiet! Come out of the man," he ordered. 26 At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him. 27 Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. "What sort of new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!" 28 The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee.

Food for thought!

Everybody's words are powerful. But Jesus' words are not just powerful; they are power. When Jesus spoke in the synagogue, the gospel says, "The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority-- quite unlike the teachers of religion."

Jesus taught like nobody else. He was unique. No one to compare with. He was himself the authority. He was not quoting anybody else because he was God speaking. Jesus could teach and touch everybody, including the devil. The gospel says that as Jesus was talking "Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting, 'Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-- the Holy One sent from God!'"

What was a devil doing in a holy place like a synagogue, and among worshippers? Why would a devil be there? Why were the worshippers ok with a devil among them? What does this teach us? That sometimes we go to church full of hidden problems; in our churches we sit besides people with serious problems of every kind, financial, social, professional, family, spiritual. Yes, many times we have problems unknown to others, just as this man was among those worshippers! Quite but suffering alone.

That is the bad news. The good news is that where Jesus shows up, everybody shows up in their true colours; we cannot hide before Jesus. The gospel says that as Jesus was teaching, the devilish man denounced himself: "Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-- the Holy One sent from God!"

Until Jesus comes into our lives, our homes, our offices, our churches, our families, we can never say we are ok. The Bible says, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable." (Heb 4:13).

This fact is not meant to frighten us. Because the following text to this one says very encouraging words: "So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."