Thursday, February 25, 2010

Read Mark 2:23-3:12

In Mark 2:23-3:12, Jesus demonstrates to the Pharisees that He is His own man, and that He has come with God’s agenda not man’s. He allows his disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath, and He heals on the Sabbath. He reminds the religious leaders of their history and states clearly that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” With that the Pharisees began to plot His death.

Our first thoughts may be that these scriptures remind us that we are not slaves to our doctrines, laws, rules, and regulations if it means that the elderly, homeless, hungry, infirm, poor, etc., will not be cared for. Secondly, we may think of the present quagmire in the U.S. Congress over Health Care Reform. Surely, no matter how we feel about Health Care Reform, we need to continue to call and write our representatives to remind them that they cannot allow what they cannot do to keep them from doing what they can. They and we must do all we can to ensure we do not become indifferent to human need. We all must look beyond the barriers that face us and do the right thing. Reading on in these scriptures, we see even more.

In the last part, after healing the man’s hand, Jesus withdrew to the lake where He asked the disciples to have a boat waiting in case the crowd became too large. As He healed people, evil spirits recognized Him and called Him the Son of God. Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell who He was. So, we see Jesus making preparations then taking on hard tasks and making sure that He would not get the credit.

The lessons for us are to know our history, to prepare ourselves to help others, and to make sure what we do actually help people and do not leave them helpless. We need to help in the name of God the Father without expecting fame, gain, reward, etc.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving Son Jesus the Christ who died for us that we would have eternal life. May we carry that memory with us throughout this Lenten season and always, and may our actions always bring honor to your holy name. Amen

Janis G. Pressley