Monthly Archives: May 2024

Gospel of Mark

After the Storm: Mark 5:1-2

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After the Storm

5 1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

Mark 5:1-2

Horsham, 30th May 2024

Part of my process as I move through Mark’s Gospel is to imagine I was there, watching and listening as events unfold. Sometimes I see things that I have never noticed before. I’ve spent quite a lot of time thinking about the calming of the storm over the past few days. I’ve been thinking about the chronology of the trip, following the disciples as they travel across the lake. Something which grabbed my attention. Those precious missing moments, after the storm.

You know the story. Jesus and his disciples decide to cross the Lake, so they get into a boat somewhere near Capernaum. They set off during the evening (Mark 4:35), presumably in good weather, and set out to travel the 20km to the far side of the Lake. It’s been a busy day, and Jesus falls asleep in the back of the boat. Part way into the journey, they are overwhelmed by a serious storm, and are in danger of drowning. The disciples awaken Jesus, who rebukes the storm. In an instant, the wind drops and the violent sea becomes calm. You can read the full story here.

The journey from Capernaum to Gerasenes is about 20km / 14miles. On a good day, with the wind blowing in the right direction, the boat would travel under sail power at around 4 knots (6-7kmh / 4-5 mph), so the journey should take 3-4 hours.  If there was no wind at all, the disciples would have needed to row, which would have taken much longer. If the wind was blowing from the wrong direction, the journey would have been slow, with the need to tack regularly to make progress. There’s a great post about the climate of the Sea of Galilee here.

We have no idea which way the wind was blowing, but we do know that part way through, the boat was hit by a very serious storm. That would have slowed them down considerably.

In my mind, I see the boat travelling quietly before the storm, the waves lapping gently against the wooden boards. Lulled by the gentle progress of the vessel, Jesus is asleep. The disciples in his boat would be chatting in whispers so as to not awaken Jesus. Then, out of nowhere, the sudden and incredibly powerful storm. The sail is taken down. The wind is roaring. The waves quickly build until they are crashing over the side of the boat. The well of the boat is filling with water. Everything, including the disciples, is soaked. There is fear. There is screaming. Jesus – ‘Wake Up!’ – ‘Master, don’t you care that we’re drowning!’

In an instant, Jesus calms the storm. After the raging wind and crashing waves, the silence, broken only by the waves, once more lapping gently against the wooden boards, must have been extraordinary.  The chastened disciples, filled with terror at what they have witnessed. Exchanging silent glances. Tired arms keep rowing, steering, adjusting sails. Cold, wet clothes. Exhaustion. The gentle splashing of the water.

Jesus, sitting – perhaps sleeping again – in the back of the boat. How long? How many hours of this extraordinary silence?

They left Capernaum in the evening. Now it is morning.

And then they arrive on the other side. A beach in the area called Gerasenes. And here is a man who is suffering from what appears to be serious mental illness.

And so the story continues.

After the storm.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

Gospel of Mark

Calming the Storm: Mark 4:35-41

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Calming the Storm

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Mark 4:35-41

Horsham, 28th May 2024

There is so much I want to say about this story.

It appears in very similar form in both Matthew (Matthew 8:23-27) and Luke (Luke 8:22-25).

We have already seen several dramatic miracles performed by Christ, all of them directed at individuals. A man has been cleansed of a spirit. A paralytic, a leper and many others have been rescued from sickness. Here we have an extraordinary account which demonstrates Christ’s power over the very forces of nature.

I want you to see the journey across the lake as symbolic of our own journey through life. We have times of calm, and we have times of unexpected and sometimes dramatic challenge. For followers of Jesus, he is present in both. In Matthew’s version, he emphasises that it is Jesus who gets into the boat first (Matthew 8:23). In our journey through life, Jesus goes before us.

In this post, I want to focus on  the three rebukes.  The Disciples, one of them at least, rebukes Jesus for being asleep during the height of the storm. Jesus rebukes the storm, which immediately becomes calm. Jesus then rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith.

I’ve been in a storm at sea, although always on a boat many times bigger than the disciples were using. It can be a very scary place. No wonder these guys, even the experienced fishermen, were frightened. The waves are crashing over the boat. The boat is filling with water. They’re losing the battle to survive. Yet somehow in the middle of this, Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. I can hear the panic in the voice… ‘Teacher! Don’t you care if we’re going to drown…’   This is the rebuke that says, ‘don’t you care that we’re sinking! Get up and start bailing out!’.  The first rebuke.

Jesus gets up. His response comes to us in English sounding pretty gentle. ‘Peace! Be Still!’. Yet the phrase used is the same as when Jesus rebuked the demon in Mark 1:25.  It’s a strong rebuke. In a word, it means ‘STOP!’. The wind drops. That’s a miracle. An even greater miracle is the calming of the sea. When the wind stops blowing, it can take hours for the energy in the waves to dissipate.  Not here. One word from Jesus and in an instant, the wind stops and it’s completely calm. The second rebuke.

The Disciples are somewhere between absolute relief and sheer terror. Jesus turns to them. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The third rebuke.

Let’s touch base again with our own journey through life. Scripture says Jesus goes before us. He is always with us. During the calm times, we can easily forget he’s there. We get out of practice of relying on Jesus. We get out of practice of telling him about our lives. As if he’s asleep in the back of the boat.

That becomes an issue when we hit the challenge. Our default is to try to deal with the problem ourselves. Only when we run out of options, when our boat is overwhelmed and sinking, do we remember he’s there.  Then we shout.  ‘Don’t you care that I’ve got this exam…’ ‘Don’t you care that I’m broke and I’ve got this bill to pay..’ ‘Don’t you care that someone I love is sick..’ ‘Jesus! Don’t you care?’ The First Rebuke.

Of course, we’re great at telling him what he needs to do. We’ve been dealing with the problem – we know what we need him to do.  We’re sinking – bail us out! But this is the Christ who is capable of doing much more than we would have thought or believed (Ephesians 3:20). This is the Christ of supreme power. This is the God who sees the big picture and delivers what we really need. This is the God who helps us to confront the challenge in His strength, although his solution is not always what we expect. This is the God who rebukes the wind and calms the raging storm. The second rebuke.

This the Jesus who looks  our own suggested solutions and sees far beyond them. He looks at the constraints of our perspective and smiles. Learn to trust me! Practice depending on me! Think bigger! ‘Where is your faith!’ I, the Son of God, am here with you. “Why are you afraid?” The third rebuke.

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

There really is so much I want to say about this story.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

Contemplative

Pentecost: Acts 2:1-13 (Speak your own Language)

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The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Acts 2: 1-13 (NIV)

Horsham: 18th March 2024

Tomorrow is the day in the Church calendar when we celebrate Pentecost. For the Jews in first century Palestine, Pentecost was a festival which celebrated the time when the Law was given to Moses. (You can read the story on Exodus 19 and 20). It also celebrated the start of the new harvest. To us, Pentecost is the time when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. We remember the day when 3000 people committed to become followers of Jesus (Acts 2:41). We remember the day when a new harvest began, a harvest for the Kingdom of God which continues to this day.

2000 years ago, the festival of Pentecost would have attracted thousands of pilgrims from across the known world, and was taking place in Jerusalem about ten days after the Ascension of Jesus. The Disciples were all together in Jerusalem, in obedience to the last instruction of Jesus.

 Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.

(Acts 1:4-5)

When Jesus gave them that instruction, the disciples can have had very little idea of what to expect. When something did happen, it was one of the most powerful and dramatic events of Christian history.

Speaking about the Ascension, William Barclay writes ‘The Ascension must always remain a mystery, for it attempts to put into words and describe something that is beyond description.’ (i) The same, I think applies to the release of the Holy Spirit on that morning in Jerusalem. Something like a powerful wind… Something like tongues of fire… It’s one of a series of events of Scripture which defies description.

I’m not going to retell the story here – you can read it for yourself – but there is a point I want to make.

After their encounter with the Holy Spirit, this small bunch of Galileans, most of whom were not very well educated, came out full of excitement onto the bustling streets. People from far flung countries, from north, south east and west, from places we would now call Syria, Egypt, Crete and Iran, heard these men speaking about the wonders of God in their own languages. These people are all Jews or God fearing people – Gentiles who had converted to Judaism. To some extent or other, all these people would have all been able to speak Aramaic, the common language of Judaism at that time, but the fact of hearing the gospel message in their own language stopped them in their tracks. No surprise that to many of the locals, who only spoke Aramaic, these foreign languages sounds so strange that they might assume the disciples to be drunk.

I recently spent some time with the leaders of a local Church. They sense that they have become rather out of touch with their local community, but have little appetite for change. It made me reflect on the fact that some of our our Churches use practices, hymns and worship styles which would have been familiar to our Victorian forebears. Not so surprising that they are inaccessible to people around us.

The explosion of the Church started with the Holy Spirit enabling the followers of Jesus to speak to people in a language they would understand. It occurs to me that if we sought the enablement of the Holy Spirit to enable us to talk about the wonders of God using the same language as the people around us, we might find ourselves witnessing a wonderful and eternal harvest for Jesus.

Don’t be waiting for the sound of rushing wind and the visible tongues of fire. If you are a follower of Jesus, you already have the Holy Spirit within you (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19). Whatever your background. Whatever your culture. Speak about Jesus using the language people around you will understand. Speak about what Jesus has done for you in your own language.

Pentecost. The Holy Spirit. Now and forever. Immanuel – God with us.

Just a thought.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

Contemplative

The Ascension of Jesus: Luke 24: 50-53

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The Ascension of Jesus

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

Luke 24:50-53, NIV

Horsham, 9th May 2024

You probably didn’t hear this on the news today or pick it up on social media, but today is Ascension Day.

When I was a child, my entire primary school were marched down the road to the village Church for the Ascension Day service. That almost certainly wouldn’t happen today.  Whilst it’s a really important date in the Christian calendar, I’m kind of disappointed that relatively few Christian Churches will be celebrating it today.

So, what is Ascension Day and why is it important to me? Let’s start with a bit of important context.

Good Friday

Jesus was crucified a Friday morning just before the start of the Passover festival in Jerusalem. His death was hugely dramatic, and restored the relationship between mankind and God. Because of his death on the cross, Jesus offers salvation to eternal life for those who believe in Him as the Son of God (John 3:16). In spite of the absolute horror of execution by crucifixion, Christ’s death opens the opportunity of a right relationship with God (which is a good thing) so we call that day ‘Good Friday’. You can read the story of His death in Luke 23: 26-49.

Easter Day

Good Friday, then, commemorates the day of Christ’s death. We regards the Friday as the first day of his death. The Saturday, the second day, was regarded as the Sabbath. Jesus’ friends could not visit his tomb to anoint the body on the Sabbath, so they went there at dawn on the Sunday, the third day. You may remember the story, that when they arrived, the large stone which had covered the entrance to his tomb had been rolled away and the body was gone. You can read the events of that extraordinary day in  Luke 24. The eyewitness accounts speak of the risen Jesus.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day – the Sunday – which we celebrate as Easter Day.

‘The disciples didn’t need to see Him rise, because they saw Him risen.’ (i)

Resurrection

The story of the Gospels is that the death of Jesus was not the end. The risen Jesus is seen by his disciples repeatedly after his death over a period of 40 days. We call this the period of his resurrection. Resurrection means ‘raised from the dead’. He appears to his friends and disciples. This isn’t a vague ghostly apparition. Jesus talks to them. He allows them to touch him and even eats with them. He speaks to them in ones and twos, and sometimes in much larger groups (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

Ascension

40 days after his resurrection he leads them out to a hilly area just outside Jerusalem, above a village called Bethany. Jesus, we read, lifted his hands in blessing over his disciples, and as he does so, he is lifted up towards the sky. I have no idea how that worked – but he ‘ascended’ in front of them, until a cloud hid him from their sight. Because he ascended, this is commemorated as ‘Ascension Day‘ 40 days after Easter Day. That’s today.

‘The Ascension must always remain a mystery, for it attempts to put into words and describe something which is beyond description.’ (ii)

Why does it matter?

This is one of the most extraordinary moments of the account of Jesus. Theologian and preacher Charles Spurgeon describes the highlight dramatic events of Christ’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension as being like four rungs of a ladder, with the foot on earth and the top in heaven (iii).

So here are three reasons why  Ascension Day is important to me as a follower of Jesus.

  1. It marks the end of the ‘resurrection’ phase of Christ’s ministry in the most dramatic and extraordinary way;
  2. It is a moment of blessing, assurance and preparation for the next phase in the establishment and development of the Church at Pentecost; and,
  3. It is a visible point of transition from the experience of Christ on earth to the visible certainty of Christ in heaven.
(You can also read an account of the Ascension in Acts 1: 1-1.)

So there we are. Ascension Day and why it’s important to me!

Happy Ascension Day!

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK

(i) John Wesley, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
(ii) Wm Barclay, Daily Study Bible, Acts, p.353
(iii) Spurgeon, ‘Commentary and Sermons on Acts’ Kindle Edition, ref 25673

Gospel of Mark

Parables: Timeless Stories Mark 4:33-34

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33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Mark 4:33-34 NIV

Horsham, 6th May 2024

These verses make clear that parables were really important to Jesus. We need to remember that the people he was speaking to had huge expectations of what God’s Kingdom and the coming Messiah would be like. They expected the Messiah to be a strong King of the old style, a true military leader who would restore Israel and evict the Roman occupiers. We begin to understand that when Jesus started his description of God’s kingdom as a tiny mustard seed, many people would miss the point he was making. He was trying to lead them through a transition to understand the truth of the Kingdom of God, one step at a time.

The parables are simple stories with a purpose and a meaning. I want to focus in this post on the timeless nature of them.

I’m really fascinated by the conversations which are going on right now about  a roman artefact, being called a dodecahedron. The word means ‘twelve sided object’, and very few of them have been found. It’s a fascinating and complex object, cast in bronze. The interesting thing is that we have no idea at all what it was called by the Romans, or what it was used for.

The reality is that the Roman world, and first century Palestine in particular, was rich in objects which would mean little to us today. In the same way that my grandson has no idea and little interest in what an 8 track stereo system was (very prestigious let me tell you in the late 1970’s), a story about a dodecahedron (or whatever it was called by the Romans) would have meant nothing to me today. It would have failed the test of time.

Mark offers a small selection of parables. Matthew and Luke offer several more. It’s almost certain that Jesus would have spoken dozens, hundreds even a thousand more which have not been preserved for us. The Apostle John affirms that not everything Jesus said or did was written down (John 21:25).

How incredible, then, that in those parables to which we have access, the images Jesus used make sense. For all of our technological advances, we understand the image of building your house on a rock, rather than the sand. We have a pretty good idea what an oil lamp looks like. We can get our head around the idea of a tiny mustard seed growing into a large tree.

We can still miss the point of Jesus’ parables. My point is that in spite of all the changes in culture, technology and human understanding, 2000 years later, the stories he told are still accessible. The parables of Jesus still make sense. Timeless.

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK