God’s Law and Human Tradition

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

August 31, 2020

God’s Law and Human Tradition

Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.

Mark 7:9

Read: Mark 7: 1-13

To grasp this truth in today’s reading, we need to remember that an essential part of being a Christian is spiritual discernment. Anyone who desires to become a fully-devoted follower of Jesus will come to appreciate that while spiritual discernment is a skill that can be learned, it is also an art. Part of the art is learning to understand scripture and then test human traditions against it. Jesus is revealing how the religious leaders had blurred the distinction between tradition and scripture. They were teaching people cultural traditions as though they carried the same weight as scripture.

In our world today, many are looking to cultural norms to inform their understanding of Christian morality and ethics. In doing so, many are following into the same trap as the one Jesus described in today’s passage. The followers of Jesus need always to be mindful of this passage from Romans: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

My Takeaway: An affirmation sometimes used when a person made a confession of faith and joined the church included a belief in the Old and New Testaments as a sufficient rule of faith and practice. I think Jesus is pointing to the truth of this affirmation in today’s passage.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Jesus Walks on Water

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

August 28, 2020

Jesus Walks on Water

But Jesus spoke to them at once.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!

Mark 6:50b

Read: Mark 6: 45-56

The theme of presenting Jesus as leading the people on an exodus continues in this passage. As Moses led the people through the water of the Red Sea, here Jesus walks on the water, and his presence takes the disciples safely through the storm. As in the preceding passage, this reading provides us with more solid food for our devotional time.

We all face times of great anxiety. The gale force winds and rough seas encountered by the disciples are a good metaphor for such times in our lives. In those times, if we will but listen, we will hear Jesus say those comforting words, “Take courage! I am here!”

The next verse is quite telling. “They were totally amazed, for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.” The rest of the passage tells of huge crowds coming to Jesus to be healed and have their needs met. This insight helps us understand what the disciples still didn’t get. The miracle of the loaves was about Jesus as God’s Messiah. God’s Messiah is calling us into a relationship where

“we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe;

for indeed our God is a consuming fire

(Hebrews 12:28-29 NRSV).

My Takeaway: This passage is a reminder to me of one of my core values: I come to God to celebrate His glory. Like the people in verses 52-56, I may be tempted to bring God a list of all the things that I think will make my life better. However, my true heart’s desire is to come into the presence of God, with thanksgiving and to celebrate His glory, not just seeking for God to make my life better. My prayer request changes from asking God to change or improve my circumstances, to thanking God for the wonder of His love. Then I ask for wisdom and guidance to respond to my situation in ways that bring glory to Jesus.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

August 27, 2020

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

“How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

Mark 6:38

Read: Mark 6:30-44

The Bible is a continuous story of God working to redeem His people. As such, the themes of the Old Testament redemptive story are woven into the life of Jesus and his New Covenant church. The feeding of the multitude, which is told in all four of the Gospels, is an example.

In John’s Gospel, he mentions the Passover at the beginning of his telling of the feeding of the multitude. While Mark doesn’t mention Passover, the similarities are still clear. Mark is showing us that Jesus is the Messiah, and he is leading people out of slavery, just as Moses led the people out of Egypt in the first exodus. Similar to the Passover themes, today’s passage connects Jesus to the exodus, by setting the scene in the wilderness. In the first Passover exodus, the people were in the wilderness and had nothing to eat, and God provided manna from Heaven. Here, in the wilderness, Jesus distributes food to the people. 

This passage presents us with solid food for our devotional time. We all experience times when we don’t have enough of . . . (insert your particular need). Jesus instructed the disciples to assess what they had and to bring their provisions to him. We too, when we find that we are lacking something in our life, can look around and gather what we do have and give it to God.

My Takeaway: Then we can choose by faith to trust God to take it from there and fulfill his promise to “supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.