Mark: Out Of My Mind
“He is out of his mind!” Those were the words and thoughts of Jesus’ family as they watched Him in His earthly ministry. They saw Him say and do things that went against the cultural norms of the day, and seemingly was at odds with the way He was raised in the Jewish faith. He was saying things that were foreign to them, and hanging around with people that were considered outsiders, those on the fringes of their society. To them it really did seem as if Jesus had lost His mind.
For the Pharisees, and other teachers of the law, Jesus’ behaviour was nothing short of demonic. They thought the only way He could be doing what He was doing was through supernatural forces. Like usual, they were correct in their assessment but still so far from understanding the truth.
Jesus’ actions and behaviour caused a strong reaction in everyone He met. There were those (His disciples and other followers) who were beginning to see and understand the truth and so were drawn to Him, while others didn’t understand and couldn’t see the truth and so saw Jesus as a threat to their way of life.
This is still true today. People are either drawn to Jesus, or repulsed by Him — there is no neutral ground. We cannot make Jesus fit into our lives or mindset — we cannot control Him. We either accept Him and allow ourselves to be changed, to become more like Him, or reject Him and stay the same. And if you accept Him, there is no doubt that you will stand out and look odd compared to the rest of our culture. To those who don’t follow Jesus we should look like we’re out of our minds! This Sunday we’ll be looking at Mark 3:20-35. Our gathering begins at 6pm – hope you can join us then.
I also hope that you’ve been reading through Mark, and perhaps have already read through the whole book. There is a great resource called “Into the Word” in which Paul Carter reads and teaches through the whole gospel. You can find the website at this link: www.intotheword.ca.
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