Mark 4:1-20

 Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 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, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive,  and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” ’

And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

Reflection – Karen Hile

As a gardener I’ve always felt a connection to this passage. A seed, like a word or an idea, needs the right conditions to take root and flourish. A realtor might say, “location, location, location,” to explain it. A gardener would get technical, explaining how in addition to the correct exposure you need the right balance of sand, silt, and clay (with perhaps a bit of vermiculite thrown in); the correct amount of water and sun; the right timing to make sure you aren’t planting too late or too early; some mulch and a gardener’s loving hand to keep weeds out and pests away.

Likewise, a word or an idea needs the right conditions to take hold and thrive. Rosa Parks, the Little Rock Nine, and the Sit-In Movement made the soil fertile for the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary M’Clintock [sic], and Lucretia Mott, working together at the 1848 Seneca Falls Women’s Right Convention, laid the groundwork for women’s right to vote, ratified more than 70 years later.

Jesus, too, needed the right timing, the right conditions, for his word of love and forgiveness to take root and grow. He knew that some people – those who were open, yearning, or in despair – would be accepting of his healing and preaching, and allow it freedom to flourish, while others – those who were negative, doubting, or controlling – would deny it space to grow.

As I start this year’s planting, I think about what conditions my plants need to thrive and pray that I will cultivate the right mindset to be open to, and grow, Jesus’s love. I like to imagine Jesus’s hand as the loving hand keeping the pests and weeds away from all as we strive to grow in love.

Mark 3:7-19

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Reflection: Glee Ann Harne

This passage reminds me of the madding crowds that will go to far lengths and expense to follow celebrities or sports for entertainment. Hundreds of dollars to attend and thousands of people at an event!

With Jesus, it was to teach the people who would listen how God really wants us to live and treat each other. His wisdom and charisma drew them in. Thousands eventually would gather to follow Him. In the meantime, out of love and compassion for the human state, He took the time to heal the sick and the lame, which made Him even more attractive to His followers.

Sometimes my faith wanes and then I am reminded of His healing miracles. I am deeply  moved by these miraculous and loving acts. I then continue to believe He is the Savior, sent by our Creator.

Christ was not out to gain popularity; only to do the will of His Father in heaven. He knew there would be only more jealousy, resentments and threats from the prominent religious leaders. Yet, knowing this, He continued teaching and healing as He felt guided to do. Thus the warning to the ” unclean spirits” in the crowd. I love people with this kind of courage, not to mention His healing powers. As a retired R.N., how often I hoped for a miracle for many of my patients. I could only hope to be an instrument of God for the support and comfort for those who were suffering.

Jesus called twelve men to be His close followers. When I think of these twelve chosen disciples, their courage and their sacrifices, I am very, very  humbled. I often wonder what God might expect from me in this day and time.

In the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) there is another verse that I like to read. When the Lord was asked what was expected of the people of his day, the prophet Micah states in Chapter 6 verse 8: “…..To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Maybe I can do, at least, that much.

Mark 2:13-22

Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’

Reflection – Mary Kercher

My Grandma Thompson was one of the most important persons in my life. Hers was a life of walking with Jesus through prayer, fasting and service to those in need of spiritual guidance. She wrote her experiences down in a book called The Voice that Spoke to Me. One story is of a neighbor whose husband was bedfast. His wife asked Grandma to make his favorite dish because she had an icebox and they did not.

Walking to their home, she heard the Voice say, “When you bring food for the body, you must also bring food for the soul.” Now I knew why I was asked to do this favor and I knew what God expected of me. This Voice always makes every demand clear. On entering the sick room, I found one of the largest men, a giant in size and voice. I put the basket of food on a chair nearby and said, “I trust you’ll enjoy what I’ve brought you.” I was trying to bring about a conversation.

 At the same time I discovered his surprise for he knew nothing of this arrangement, and neither was he overly pleased. Soon I asked if he would like for me to offer a prayer and he just gave me a strange look. I could see it wasn’t very welcome. Then the Voice guided me to kneel by his bedside and I placed my hand upon his large ones. I prayed as God directed. Then saying goodbye, I went out of this home. The Voice told me, “You must repeat this visit every other day.” It isn’t difficult when you say, “Where he leads I’ll follow.” So I continued on and on with both food for the body as well as for the soul.

One day I had a visitor, the daughter of this man who had come to help with his care. She had learned of my visits, and I shall quote her exact words. “Oh, Mrs. Thompson, don’t stop coming to see my father. He is a different person since you’ve come into his life.” It seems he had been very cross and so difficult to please. Then, too, he had said, “Mrs. Thompson gets down on her knees by my bedside when she prays. She doesn’t sit in a chair. She is anxious to help.” So you see even the position while in prayer has its effect. To me I feel closer to God while on my knees especially when asking favors.

The story ends with him accepting Jesus as his Savior and dying in peace.

Lord, help us listen to Your Voice and follow Your direction with open hearts and minds towards anyone you send our way.

Mark 1:29-45

 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

 Reflection by Bob Jackson:

Much of this passage in Mark describes people seeking out Jesus for healing, and with their faith in him, Jesus is able to heal them. This passage is of particular interest to me, as I have long felt the need in my life for healing. I find myself both happy for them, and sad for myself, having missed his healing. Have I too little faith? Am I beyond redemption?

I feel the need to be healed of the demons from my past. I have worked to leave behind what I can of these, to forgive where I am able. The forgiveness I fail is forgiving myself, for allowing others to do to me what they have done,  feeling I did not stand up for myself well enough. This is the healing I ask of Jesus, the healing I have not been able to do by myself. I am not jealous of the healing of others, nor envious. I am joyful for them.

In my heart of hearts, I know that healing is possible, through Jesus’ love. I also know that there is work I must do, not to earn healing, but to let Jesus’ love in, to let his healing in, to accept his healing and to finally let go of my past and embrace a future with Jesus. It is up to me to take the first step, to truly seek healing, and to be ready and willing to accept Jesus’ healing into my life, with all it entails. I pray for the strength and courage to take this step.