Reflections on Mark 6:7-13

Take a moment and reflect on your giving to the work of your church. How much of your total income do you give? This is a taboo subject in most churches. When tithing sermons are presented, they generally are accompanied by rejection. The Bible says that a tithe is ten percent. Where did this come from? When Abraham met Melchizedek, the priest of Salem (old name for Jerusalem) he immediately gave him ten percent of everything he had in thanksgiving to the LORD. Imagine if tithing was considered offering thanksgiving to the LORD. Would members of the church give more then? United Methodist reports indicate that people give 1.8% of their income to the church. A far cry from 10%. So, what do you give to thank the LORD for your blessings?

Thoughts on Mark 6:7-13

Several themes are in this narrative. Materialism is one of them. Yeshua had to get his disciples to divest themselves of material needs before they could be useful at building the Kingdom of Heaven. However, the disciples were not yet trained in how to accomplish this. How could they be expected to release all of their beliefs about materialism so quickly? Therefore, Yeshua could have been testing them to learn how much work He needed to put into their re-education.

Reflections on Mark 6:1-6

Have you ever been guilty because of association? When looking at the family point, Yeshua was guilty of not being from the LORD because of His family. Today it may not be because of your family but rather by your friends. While I was in college, I became friends with Douglas. There were several persons in the Hillel group (an organization for Jewish people) who rejected me because I was friends with Douglas. Guilt by association. It was not fair that others judged me because of the friends I had. Guilt by association occurred to me in the church. My first appointment was as the Associate Pastor at a United Methodist church. After the first year, I was told by one member that the mistreatment I received was because of guilt by association. The people believed that I was appointed because of the Senior Pastor (who was not well-liked). It took the people a year to realize that I was not like him—guilt by association.

Thoughts on Mark 6:1-6

Guilty by association comes to mind. Yeshua was rejected as a teacher of the Word of the LORD because the culture of His day said so. The first point is that the people of the town He grew up in rejected him as a religious man because centuries of culture told them. Mark’s author adds the question of family. Yeshua’s family was not a leading religious family. Therefore, Yeshua could not have had the LORD’s spirit with Him. He was not rejected because the people did not like the message. That is a church tradition in which the church wants to condemn Jews. The peoples’ cultural beliefs prevented them from seeing the truth of Yeshua’s words.

Reflections on Mark 4:33-41

Reflections

Yeshua rebuked the evil that came to attack His disciples. Satan wanted to scare the disciples to the point that they would abandon Yeshua. The disciples were shocked that Yeshua was asleep. Was He asleep or waiting to see what His disciples were going to do? It did not take long to realize that they panicked. They were confident that they would die. Yeshua rebukes the storm, and all becomes calm. A lesson is that faith in Yeshua will take you through any storm.

Thoughts on Mark 4:33-41

Thoughts

Let us view this parable differently. It can be interpreted as a metaphor for good versus evil. It is not a view that you will find in the standard lesson books or even most academic commentaries. Yeshua’s work was to show that good always triumphs over evil. Some people say that Yeshua and the forces of good had lost the battle at the cross. However, Yeshua and the forces of good won because of the resurrection. Evil thought it won the battle, but frankly, it did not. The forces of evil are all around us. Whether we are on land or sea, evil will find us. What will you do if evil finds you? Yeshua stood up to evil, the storm, and fought against it. The Gospel passage does not tell us more than he rebuked the wind. What was this rebuke? A fair question with no answer. How do you rebuke evil?

Reflections on Mark 4:26-29

Evangelism is one of the most challenging things to do. In general, people do not like rejection. It is taken as a personal thing. Also, are the churches training disciples to become evangelists? If you are a member of a church, is there training? A more straightforward question, is there an outreach effort at the church? Outreach ministries are supposed to be designed to bring the grace and love of Yeshua to the general public. If outreach ministry is not happening where your church is, then where does the church expect to get its next generation of members? Church membership and attendance have been sliding in the U.S. since 1960. It may be too late to return to Yeshua’s way and spread some spiritual seeds.

Thoughts on Mark 4:26-29

Evangelism is a way to examine the parable. The farmer plants the idea of discipleship to Yeshua. The farmer knows that when he plants the seed that not every seed will germinate and grow. He also knows that each plant will grow at a slightly different rate. Evangelists have to have patience! A large amount of the time discussing religion with a nonbeliever will not change their mind. Many factors come into play when evangelizing. Some of this art was lost when Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. The need to evangelize was unnecessary. After 1960 C.E., the need for evangelism has returned, especially in the United States. Currently, the U.S. is the largest mission field in the world. In the late 1800s, U.S. churches sent missionaries out into the world. Now the rest of the world is sending evangelists into the U.S. It is well past time for U.S. churches to start planting seeds.