Today I read Mark 6. In this chapter the Savior ordains the Twelve Apostles from the disciples that He has and sends them out to preach His Gospel. He sends them out right away and tells them to go without purse or script and to go without a second cloak even but that God will take care of them. Mark does not go into as much detail as Luke does, but he mentions that the Apostles cast out devils and healed the sick all in His name. The Savior also tells them to shake off the dust of their feet as a testimony against those who would reject them. I have always found that a little strange and am glad that is not something modern missionaries do.
This chapter also talks about Herod having John the Baptist killed , which we talked about in a previous post when we read it in Matthew. Despite the fact that men seemed to make really dumb promises back in those days it would seem, it is still interesting that they keep those promises no matter how much they regret making them afterwards. I'm not sure which is worse, living in a society where people make rash promises but they are kept, or one like ours were people don't really promise anything anymore and even if they do, the promises generally aren't kept. I personally would rather live in a world where everyone keeps their word and the promises they make, no matter how rash or grand, are kept and fulfilled.
This chapter also contains the miracle of Jesus feeding the multitude of 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. It's hard to pinpoint which of the Savior's miracles is the most impressive but this one must have been fantastic to see. I can only imagine the amazement of the Apostles as they took up the pitifully small amount of bread and fish fragments and started into the crowd. It must have been truly amazing to watch as the bread not only did not run out but multiplied right before their eyes. Interestingly enough though, it does not record the Apostles reactions to this miracle, although it does not really record any of their reactions except for when Jesus calms the sea and walks on water and a few others, but for most of the miracles, it does not record the Apostles reactions at all. I also wonder if seeing Jesus do miraculous things started to become commonplace and lose it's luster for them? No matter how miraculous it is at first, anything can become commonplace if done often enough.
The final part of this chapter is Jesus walking on the water. This is one of the few miracles that I can reason in my own mind how it might be possible to do it. All the others, like multiplying 5 loaves of bread into however much it was that fed the 5,000, I have no idea. But something like walking on top of the water, that makes sense almost if you understand water tension and how water striders do it. Now, it does not change the fact that it was miraculous and you and I cannot do it, but at least I can understand the physics of it.
Interestingly enough, Mark does not record that Peter tried to walk on the water to the Savior. It merely mentions that they were rowing to the other side of the sea and that the Savior was walking as if to pass them by and heard them become afraid because they thought it was a spirit. It makes no mention at all that Peter tried to walk out to the Savior. I read something about a week ago, when I was preparing to start reading Mark, that stated that most scholars believe Mark made his records by interviewing and listening to the reminiscences and teachings of Peter. Which makes this omission even more interesting because Peter never struck me as one to get embarrassed easily. I would not have thought that Peter would be one to omit his walking on the water for reasons of embarrassment or even forgetfulness, so I don't know what to make of Mark's omission.
I am glad that we have these records of the things the Savior did. As we mentioned above, anything can become commonplace if done often enough no matter how miraculous they first appeared. It is a wonderful thing to have such records of the Savior's ministry and how He interacted with the people. It gives us all something to strive for and become. If everyone would put into practice the things Jesus taught and follow the example He left us of what He did in His life, this world would be a utopia. But it begins with the self and we can only change our own behavior and not any one else's. It all begins with becoming the right type of person. Until tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment