Jesus returned to Nazareth as a changed man with a vastly different vocation. His baptism in the Holy Spirit had ordained him in his earthly ministry (see Mark 1:9–11).
Nazareth hadn’t changed, though. Here was the carpenter. A brother in a big family. His siblings were likely adolescents and young adults, along with all the dramas accompanying that. Hence, Nazareth was content, even obligated, to take offence at him teaching them the ways of God. We are told Jesus ‘was amazed at their lack of faith’ (verse 6).
Yet Jesus was not content to leave it at that. It’s almost as if he asks the question, ‘Who then will trust me?’ For faith – trust – in him saves. Jesus has to keep giving faith a chance by getting his word to the people. And so he sends his disciples out in his authority to proclaim his kingdom. Yet it’s clear that he knows not everyone will believe, given his instruction to ‘shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against them’ who do not welcome or listen to the disciples.
We can be like both the Nazarenes and the villagers who reject Jesus. Like the Nazarenes, we can treat him like he is still the kid we grew up with. He has little relevance to say to us. Although that’s because we’ve changed, not him. We’ve heard new things from others, had new experiences, conformed to the culture and are all ‘grown up’. Somehow, Jesus just isn’t relevant anymore. Or, like the villagers, we don’t welcome Jesus or listen to him (at least like we once did). You know, like when you once went to church pretty much every Sunday, participated in a home group, set aside your offering, or [insert discipleship thing(s) you no longer do here].
But it’s far from a lost cause. Jesus has to keep giving faith a chance by getting his word to the people. ‘Repent!’ is the chief message the disciples were to take out. Notice how they are the undeniable trusters in this account in the way they take him at his word and still go out, even though his hometown has rejected him?
Repent is still a keyword for us. Except, now, it can be understood in the full gospel revelation of his life-giving resurrection. Still going to take offence, not welcome him and not listen to him?
Lord Jesus, we aren’t as smart as we think we are. Please save us from taking offence at you. Or not welcoming you or listening to you. Forgive us when we have, and give us hearts to receive your faithful commission, just as the disciples did. In your name. Amen.
He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him (Mark 5:39,40a).
Read Mark 5:21–43
We have come to this account in Mark of the healing of Jairus’ daughter after two very public healings: the demon-possessed man and the woman healed in the crowd by simply touching Jesus’ garment.
Now, we have a very odd situation. Jesus is ‘late’ for the healing of Jairus’ daughter (we know God is never late, but sometimes we wonder, don’t we?!), and she has already died. Or has she? Jesus tells the mourners in their wailing that the girl is asleep. He knows she is no longer alive – and he also knows she is about to be raised to life. Jesus can call that sleeping if he wants – he is God!
Sure enough, Jesus clears the house and raises the girl from the dead. So why did he say she was asleep? Next, we also learn that Jesus gave strict orders not to tell about the miracle.
Who knows whether they kept this or not? Why would he do this? Perhaps it had to do with his own ministry plans. Maybe it was to also protect Jairus from controversy since he was a synagogue leader.
His ways are higher than our ways. (Read Isaiah 55:8,9.) Sometimes, the work in our lives is just for us. We may pray or minister privately to a person who may never tell of the work God has done in them. Other times, there is a public testimony and news to share far and wide. There is a time for both. The outcome is the same: The power of God is moving in our lives, and he has his hand on us.
Praise be to him for that!
Lord God, thank you that your resurrection power, which raised Jesus from the dead, is working in my life! I praise you that nothing can separate us from your love! In Jesus’ powerful name, I pray, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel, and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking, and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ (Mark 4:37,38).
Read Mark 4:35–41
Sometimes I read this account and wonder, ‘What if?’ What if the disciples hadn’t woken Jesus up? How does the storm resolve, then? It is hard to imagine any outcome for this story except waking Jesus up. The disciples sound pretty unimpressed with Jesus’ choice to sleep – who can blame them? We know how the story ends; we have the benefit of hindsight, and we may find ourselves being a little too hard on the disciples, who could possibly have had more faith in their teacher at the time.
On the other hand, have you ever felt like Jesus is sleeping through the storm your boat is sailing in? We might ask our closest family, friends or pastor, ‘What is God doing? Why isn’t he doing anything?’ We might read this story and feel like we are in the stormy boat with Jesus, shaking him to wake him up.
Friend, we know that, of course, Jesus cared whether the disciples drowned or not. At that moment, their fear came out as an angry question. We know Jesus loved them all the same. If you are in a stormy sea right now, perhaps you feel Jesus is sleeping through it or, for whatever reason, is not calming the waters you know he can. Forgive yourself if you’ve asked him angry questions out of fear or expressed your frustration to others that way.
Jesus knows your fear. Your life is in his hands. You are safe with him. While we know Jesus was asleep in this boat, we also know from Psalm 121 that the Lord who watches over us neither slumbers nor sleeps (verses 3 and 4). There is some mystery here, but know this: The Lord is in the boat with you. We are never alone.
Lord, thank you for your presence in my storms. Please forgive me for the times I have asked whether you are even in the storm with me, never mind the boat. Help me remember that you are with me whatever I go through, and I pray that you will help me to encourage others with grace when they are struggling through their own stormy waters. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel, and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking, and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain (Mark 4:7,8a).
Read Mark 4:1–20
I recently heard about someone who was daunted to read the Bible and didn’t know where to start. Perhaps sometimes we feel unqualified to read and understand God’s word, which is, of course, freely available to us in Australia and New Zealand – on our shelves and online. Or perhaps we don’t feel daunted so much as preoccupied by many things. We may not even notice that we are being distracted away from God’s word. Some of these thoughts and distractions could be considered the weeds that grow around the plants, choking them.
If you’re a person who enjoys these devotions but doesn’t know where to start in the Bible for your own personal reading, let this parable encourage you. We can hear the words and teachings of Jesus right here. He tells a story and explains it! Sometimes, we are encouraged to consider which type of soil we are. I also like to think we are gardeners, flinging about seeds and letting God judge the soil and the types of plants that spring up. Where do you place yourself today?
Perhaps we are all, at times, the plants themselves that are springing up but are at the risk of being dwarfed or strangled by weeds. Let’s do some weeding today! If God’s word is the seed, what’s stopping it from bearing more fruit in your garden? Lord God, thank you for the privilege of your word, available to me, to enable me to grow and bear fruit in your kingdom. Help me identify the weeds that stop me from reaching the potential growth you want for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel, and they live in Victoria with their six children. Music, theology, literature and languages are passions the family share and explore together. Sal loves writing, speaking, and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35).
Read Mark 3:20–35
In today’s reading, Jesus is in trouble again. Firstly, he is in trouble with the religious authorities because he is casting out demons. Their logic seems to go something like this: We are important religious people, true representatives of God’s people, and we can’t cast out demons. So these demons won’t answer to God. They must only answer to Satan, and if they can be cast out by Jesus, then Jesus must be a representative of Satan. Their argument doesn’t make much sense, and Jesus quickly refutes it. Jesus is God’s true representative because he is healing those people that Satan is seeking to destroy. God is indeed much more powerful than any demon.
Secondly, Jesus is in trouble with his family. They seem to think he is doing too much, isn’t even taking time to properly eat, and is upsetting the religious authorities. They’d like him to dial it back a little, not rock the boat and take things a bit more slowly. It seems like they are ready to stage an intervention (for his own good, of course).
These gospel stories often act as a mirror to our own thoughts and motivations. As proclaimers of God’s kingdom, are we ready to rock the boat? Are we prepared to take on the demons of our time? Or do we believe those messages that the world tells us – you aren’t good enough, you need more stuff to make you happy, you can’t make a difference to injustice and hatred, look after number one because no one else will, don’t rock the boat? Are we too busy caring for ourselves to spend time in the kingdom of God?
The Holy Spirit wants to fill us with the wisdom and courage, to choose life in the kingdom of God. The world wants us to reject God’s strength and depend on our own to choose death, separated from the only one who can save us. Choose life!
Lord of Life, open my eyes to the lies of this world of death. Help me to choose you – to choose life. Amen.
Neil Bergmann is currently the chair of Lutheran Earth Care Australia and New Zealand. A retired computer engineer, he worships at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Queensland. He enjoys reading, cooking and spending time with his family.
Read Mark 2:13–22
There are many aspects of Jesus’ earthly ministry we look to as models for how we can proclaim the kingdom of God. We preach the good news through word and action. We examine God’s word in our Sunday services, youth groups, schools, community service agencies and electronic media. We care for and support our local communities through many different outreach activities, and we support the world’s poorest and most vulnerable through our national and international development agencies. We pray for the sick and provide practical care for friends and families who need it. These are all excellent examples of what it means to choose to spend our time in the kingdom of God rather than in the kingdom of this world.
In today’s story, Jesus models another challenging aspect of the kingdom. He eats with sinners and tax collectors. From our modern Christian perspective, we would rightly believe that we are all sinners (and also all saints), and we can rejoice because Jesus chooses to be with us, even though we are sinners. I don’t think that is the point of this story.
By sinners, I think Jesus is calling us to be in solidarity with society’s outcasts, those that we normally wouldn’t think of inviting, those who make us uncomfortable. And Jesus doesn’t just want us to help them; he wants us to eat with them and spend time with them, get to know them, and make sure they know the kingdom of God is something real and that they are welcome there. Luckily, even though this is hard, we don’t do it alone. The Holy Spirit is there to guide and support us.
Jesus, friend to the outcasts, help us to be generous, welcoming and hospitable to those the world tells us are unworthy. Amen.
Neil Bergmann is currently the chair of Lutheran Earth Care Australia and New Zealand. A retired computer engineer, he worships at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Queensland. He enjoys reading, cooking and spending time with his family.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51,52).
Read 1 Corinthians 15:51–58
My oldest cousin has lived his whole life with autism and intellectual disability. But his parents never treated him as disabled. He was just different. He has lived such a full life; he works hard, flies kites and drones, is a master fisherman, and has an epic model train set he built with his late father since childhood. He loves his TV and loves for me to watch him play Formula One racing games on it! He has attended church faithfully every Sunday since childhood and is now in his mid-60s. As special people in his life have passed away, he wonders what happens when we die. The last time I saw him in person, he asked me, ‘Will there be big-screen TVs in heaven?’
Finally, we get the low-down from Paul. The timetable of how all he has talked about in this chapter will go down:
- Not all will be asleep (in death); some will be awake (alive).
- In an instant, the transformation happens.
- The trumpet fanfare blasts (marking the end of time – the siren that the game is over and your team just won the grand final!).
- The dead are raised and, along with those alive, take on their imperishable body.
How will we feel at that point? It stands to reason we will be happiest beyond what we can fathom. To be beyond our very best – death-proof, suffering-proof, retaining the essence of who we are now but transformed with glorified bodies.
So, how did I respond to my cousin?
‘It’s great that your TV makes you happy. Scripture tells us your deceased brother and dad will be there in heaven, and my mum and dad too – not old and broken – but better than the best they were in their lifetime. I know you will be the happiest you have ever been seeing them whole again and seeing Jesus. Even happier than when you enjoy your PlayStation on your big-screen TV.’
Heavenly Father, we look forward to what you have prepared for us – your house with many rooms. We look forward to seeing those who have gone before with tears of joy and happiness beyond measure. We look forward to this because of you, Lord Jesus, your salvation won for us on the cross. See you soon. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Stephen retired early due to a spinal injury, leaving him largely housebound with chronic pain (documented by Lutheran Media on its Messages of Hope YouTube channel and radio program). As his condition allows, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel (youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic).
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3).
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1–11
When did the religious faith that was passed on to you become your own? Some of us may have had a conversion as an adult leading to baptism. For some of us, the lights came on gradually; for others, it was an epic, vivid experience. Some of us who grew up baptised in the faith just always believed (which was my experience). Yet, I distinctly remember a time in my teens after doing the whole ‘going to church because my parents made me’ thing where I thought to myself, ‘I’m just going to read Gideon’s NIV New Testament and check it out for myself’. I specifically remember reading 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 with wide-eyed wonder, and even with my un-theologically-trained eye, thinking, ‘This must be where we get some of the Apostles’ Creed from!’
This verse tells us so much in so few words. It tells us that faith is meant to be passed on – given and received. It tells us that talking about our faith – what it is and why we believe it – is just what Christians do! It is in our DNA. Faith is meant to be passed on from friend to friend, sister to brother, parent to child (or even child to parent!). In this verse, we get both a personal testimony from Paul and an early creedal statement that did indeed form the basis of latter official creeds of the church.
If you haven’t done it before, here is something worth role-playing. How would you respond if someone asked you what you believe and why? (Maybe spend a minute now or later and write down your response.)
Even in this brief creedal nutshell, Paul personalises this faith statement by owning up to his own ‘warts and all’ experience of railing against the early Christians in verses 8 to 10. I reckon that is pretty gutsy and honest. What is powerful, though, is that he contrasts it with what coming to believe in the gospel meant for him personally; he went from hating on it to heralding it big time!
Holy Spirit, thank you for the way you moved in those who shared the faith with me. Thank you for guiding me to faith. Heavenly Father, give me the opportunity to share my faith with others and give me the courage to do it – warts and all. Thank you for saving me, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Stephen retired early due to a spinal injury, leaving him largely housebound with chronic pain (documented by Lutheran Media on its Messages of Hope YouTube channel and radio program). As his condition allows, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel (youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic).
Everything must be done so that the church may be built up … For God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:26b,33a).
Read 1 Corinthians 14:26–40
Paul seems to be giving some very specific advice in this part of 1 Corinthians. He details exactly how many people should prophesy, precisely who should be allowed to speak in church and when, and how and when people should speak in tongues.
We Lutherans have an established system for how the Sunday service goes, how the church should be run, and who is to run the church. And any decisions or action is made under the orderly guidance of a committee (and, of course, the roughly three to five sub-committees). We’ve really got this instruction from Paul to be orderly down-pat, haven’t we? So good, in fact, that it’s prone to putting one to sleep from time to time (not speaking from experience or anything).
But I want to pause and reflect on the overarching message behind this part of 1 Corinthians. Based on the rest of the letter and Paul’s writings, he clearly wants us to remember that the God we worship is a God of order and peace, not chaos. But more than that, the Jesus we worship always gave space for the quiet, the humble, the people who weren’t always the loudest in public. And you have to think that this is somewhat of what Paul is trying to do here – make sure that certain rowdy Corinthians weren’t just using worship as a time to show off their own talents and skills. As a corporate body, the church should be a space where all feel heard. Where all get to be part of the worship. Not just the loudest or the most charismatic or the ones who have always done the speaking, and that’s just how it is. And that’s what orderly worship should be for – not for keeping the same people in control year after year but for allowing everyone to participate at the right and fitting time.
Some of the most seemingly chaotic/disorganised church services I’ve been to have been where children are involved, or we’ve tried to include multiple languages and people of differing backgrounds. But although these services seemed chaotic, everything still happened at the right time. And most importantly, the joy felt by the people in God’s house was like no other (and there was certainly no one asleep)!
God’s sense of order tends to be a little different to ours: I wonder what embracing that means for your own worship time – both in and outside the church building?
God, you call us to seriously consider the ways in which we worship. We thank you that, throughout the Bible, you demonstrate many ways to worship. Please help us to worship you in a way that is orderly and peaceful but also full of life and inclusive of all your people. Amen.
Emma lives in Adelaide and is studying a Master of Divinity at Tabor College. She also works as a freelance videographer, filming weddings, events and factual videos. She’s currently trying to work out how these two passions can fit together. Emma has a heart for youth camping ministry and for effectively communicating Christian concepts to the younger generations. Despite being in her early 20s, she’s a self-confessed grandma who loves reading, gardening, embroidery, cardigans and drinking tea.