Lent Week 1—Tuesday

 

                Psalm 47        Genesis 37:12-24 1 Corinthians 1:20-31       Mark 1:14-28

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin was put in prison. Time to get out of Dodge; after all, it was not yet Jesus’ time to die.  Jesus had great courage, something we lack at times, maybe, most of the time. Now that John the Baptist is locked up, Jesus travels north to Galilee. 

He proclaims “The time has come; The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” His ministry has begun.  Many Jewish people believed their Messiah was to be a great Military Leader like David, but Jesus pointed out that the

Kingdom He announced was not for those seeking political, military or material benefits. It was only for those who humbly and wholeheartedly turned from their sins. What a downer for many people when they realized that. Many probably grumbled “But what about those dastardly Romans?!”

Time to recruit disciples. He called people who worked for a living: Peter, Andrew, James and John. They were disciplined and hard-working fisherman, with no special education or ministerial training. I’m sure they questioned what this ministry was supposed to look like and what their role was to be, but as they questioned all of this, they continued to follow Jesus. Something we should emulate. 

But what a ragtag band of disciplines He called.  If you and I were forming a Spiritual Team to change the world, we probably would have called a whole new group of people, ones with better “resumes”, but Jesus knew their heart.

What must have gone through their minds as Jesus entered various Synagogues to preach?   

”People were amazed at his teaching as he taught them as one with authority, not as the teachers of the Law.” Their education was beginning.

Jacques Lasseigne