It is evident from what follows that Jesus was physically exhausted. He was fully God, but He was in a fully human body that required nourishment and rest. It had been a long day of teaching, probably much of the time sitting or standing in the sun, and it was evening now. If Jesus returned to the shore, the people would have been all up on Him, pressing in insisting on healing and deliverance from demons. So, Jesus wisely said, “Let’s take a little boat ride to the other side.”
The ministry of Jesus in saving, healing, and delivering people is a powerful attraction when it is the real deal. Too many churches have more hype than hope, more music than ministry, and more preaching than power. However, when Jesus is in the house, when He is lifted up, when the authority of His Word breaks the yoke and sets the captives free, people will show up, business will pick up, and prayers will go up.
We live in a world of hurting people, wounded people who think no one cares and who believe we will not look beyond their sins to offer compassion and concern rather than criticism and condemnation. We can care about sinners without condoning sin, and we love the lost without approving of their lifestyle. They are in the darkness, so we must be the light that draws them to Christ. Only He can transform their lives into something beautiful. We know He can, because for that’s our testimony.
As Christians, we try to model our life after the example of Christ and other people in the Bible who exemplified true Christian character. When it comes to a model for motherhood, two of the most powerful examples would be Jochebed, the mother of Moses, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. However, Mary would have to get the top spot because from the beginning she had to overcome obstacles, endure sorrow, and realize that she would never be the authoritative voice directing the destiny of her Son’s life.
JESUS PLANS FOR KINGDOM GROWTH By Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD Mark 3:7-21, NKJV 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things...
JESUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING Mark 1:29-45 29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and...
We thank God when the preacher shows up, and I’m always glad when the musicians and singers show up. I’m overjoyed when I see you coming through the doors on Sunday, but it isn’t until Jesus shows up that the healer is in the house. It isn’t until Jesus shows up that worship is more than songs, sermons are more than noise, and prayers are more than words. Jesus makes the difference. In His name prayers are answered, lives are changed and hope is restored. It just isn’t church until Jesus shows up.
In our text we see a Gentile mother going to a man from Galilee named Jesus—a man some were saying was the Jewish Messiah. Only a mother desperate for her daughter’s deliverance would presume to go to person from an ethnic group who considered her to be an unclean dog. Yet, before this encounter was over, Jesus said this Canaanite woman had “great faith.” This is significant, because only two times in the Bible does Jesus call someone’s faith “great,” and in both cases they are Gentile.
In verse 5 John refers to “the message,” from the Greek anggelia, meaning “announcement, information, or message.” He says they received the message, the information, from Jesus and they were declaring it without distortion or apology. What is the message? It is “that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” God is pure light, meaning there is no impurity or imperfection in God. It is this message, this light from God, that exposes the lies, the falsehoods, and the deception of the heretics and opens the door for people of faith to have fellowship with one another.
PETER’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE PASSION Translation by Mark E. Hardgrove Text: Mark 14:12 – 16:20 The Early Church Fathers believed that John Mark wrote the Gospel that bears Mark’s name. Papias said that Mark derived his content from Peter, whether from sermons Peter preached, or from conversations that Mark had with Peter. As such, the...
