Well, look at YOU! You’ve finished our abbreviated Week One of this study. Well done! I’ve been collecting thoughts and notes on Jesus this first week. Watch later today for a video discussing what I’ve learned. As you listen, perhaps you will have something to contribute as well in the comments. I hope so! After all, we are “Seeking Jesus” in this study. Let’s learn more and more about Him, shall we?
There were several things that stood out to me in today’s reading. First of all, those crowds. Whoa. Big enough and unwieldy enough to crush a person. You know, I suspect miracle healings were not any more common back then than they are now. And when you start to bump into your neighbor who had a withered hand but is now shaking your hand firmly with it or who had moved out to the leper colony and now had baby soft skin … you start to take notice. You want to see this miracle worker. And the more people Jesus healed, the more His reputation spread. What a crazy, busy time that was for Him! And yet He tirelessly and compassionately served. Second, I noticed His emotions at the synagogue when the Pharisees were more interested in the rule of not working on the Sabbath than they were about a man unable to work easily with a withered hand. And yet, as Jesus says elsewhere, those same men would have pulled their donkey out of a hole if it fell in it—even on a Sabbath (see Luke 14:5)!! He was angry and terribly saddened by this. Last of all, I noticed that the disciples did not follow a “school of thought.” They followed … HIM. Jesus. Messiah. They walked with Him and watched Him and learned from Him. As should we!
My recorded verse: Mark 3:5 “He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, ‘Hold out your hand.’ So the man held out his hand, and it was restored.”
My response: Their lack of compassion troubled You, Lord Jesus. You saw the need. You met the need. Lord, when I see a need help me to also respond as You did, showing compassion and a willingness to help.
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Vs 13, “Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out to the ones He wanted to go with Him. And they came to Him.”
Thank you Lord for doing the same thing for me. You called me to Yourself. I pray I would continue to follow You and not go my own way.
I love the simplicity here: “And they came to Him.” Just like that. I agree, Jenny. I want to come to Him that simply, without excuses or delays, each and every day!