EmmDev 2025-04-17 [Moments with Mark] The key question in Mark

The key question in Mark

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" (Mark4:39-41)

Mark starts his gospel identifying Jesus as the Son of Man.
Throughout his account, Mark drops bigger and bigger hints that this is not the whole story.

Matthew (who was a land-lubber tax collector and was on the boat) describes the storm as a "seismos" in his gospel. It's unusual imagery and most probably means a storm of earthquake proportions.

Jesus calms it with a scolding "Quiet! Be still!"
In Zulu He would have said: "Tula wena!"

It leaves the disciples gobsmacked, awestruck and terrified.
They've just seen Jesus sleeping peacefully in a storm that scared even the seasoned fishermen among them.
Then, when He wakes up, He simply rebukes this terrifying beast as if it were a naughty child and it instantly calms down, and then He turns it into a teaching session about faith!
I can just imagine Peter with sopping wet hair and beard and a drip of water on the end of his nose saying "What?!?!?! Who is this guy?"

And that, dear Brothers and Sisters, is the right question...

Right now, our world is facing seismic shifts.
The brokenness of humanity is on full display in a storm of unrest, war, politics and economics.

And at Easter Jesus walks into another storm.
Tonight His disciples will be the ones asleep - while Jesus calms the storm within Himself.
"Not my will - but Your will be done."

Tomorrow, the sky will darken and a "seismos" will shake the ground
and a victorious cry will ring out "It... is... finished!"
And a discombobulated Roman Centurion will finally answer the question the storm-sodden disciples asked:
"Surely this was the Son of God!"
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I want to wish you a blessed and profound Easter and pray that you'll be drawn nearer to Jesus in this time.

EmmDevs will take a break for the next two weeks...

GodBless and Love,
Theo

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EmmDev 2025-04-16 [Moments with Mark] Storm

Storm

That day when evening came, He said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 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?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!" (Mark4:35-41)

The pictures above and below are Rembrandt's "Jesus calms the storm."
It's a magnificent depiction of the drama of the moment and a study in Rembrandt's use of colour and light. But it's Rembrandt's ability to convey emotion and character that grabs me...

Working from the front of the boat to the back, let's look at that characters we find in any storm.
In the front is the man with a plan - he's going to do whatever he can to rescue the situation. He is optimistic and his example inspires others to help. But sometimes the storm is just too big.

Then there's the three around the mast. They're following the other guy's lead, but there's a desperation about them - They're not far from giving up. I think the guy clinging to the rope looking out at the waves is the lookout - warning when they should brace.

Then there's the guy just staring into the hold. He seems to have given up - His back is to Jesus. The man in shadows at the back seems lost in fear. He seems to have disconnected completely. There's a poor guy getting sick over the edge - sometimes trouble just makes us sick to the stomach. There's the guy kneeling in prayer before Jesus and although this looks pious, Rembrandt has him in shadow - maybe this is more fear than faith. There are two angry disciples "Don't you care if we drown?" And then there's the guy at the tiller. He's strangely calm. His hands are big and firm on the tiller, his head cocked in expectation - it's as though he has one eye on the storm and one eye on Jesus.

Look at the man who's holding his head and looking back to land (or directly at the viewer) - he's the 13th "disciple" in the boat and many believe it's Rembrandt depicting himself and inviting us to put ourselves in the picture.

The first bottom line: We all react to differently to a crisis. But Jesus is in the boat with us, whether we recognise it or not.

The second bottom line is Jesus. There's a light emanating from Him. His face shows both surprise and compassion as He looks directly at the men remonstrating with Him. He was asleep, but woke when they needed Him and then He calmed the storm with a word.

We are at Wednesday in Holy Week. There is no activity recorded in any of the gospels for Holy Week Wednesday. Jesus rested. He rested because on Thursday He would become the Passover Lamb and on Friday He would lay down His life in the storm of our sin and brokenness and then He'd wake again on Sunday morning to show us that the storm is over.

 

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EmmDev 2025-04-15 [Moments with Mark] Mustard Seeds and Parables

Mustard Seeds and Parables

Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. (Mark4:30-34)

This chapter is all about the Kingdom of God and Jesus has been describing it with parables about seeds.

Mark notes that Jesus used parables for the crowds but explained everything to the disciples. This reveals an important principle: People can only receive what they are ready for. Jesus uses parables, because they are interesting vehicles that can carry unexpectedly large loads... if the listener pauses long enough for the unloading to begin.

The points He makes about seeds (the gospel) are significant.
The seed is powerful. The seed grows all by itself, but it can be hampered by the "soil".
Now, in the final parable, Jesus shows us that the seed can be tiny, but yield big results.
This is important because we tend to look down on small beginnings.

The parables are also little seeds, but they can pack a big punch.
As we review this chapter, here are some thoughts.

1. We need to trust the seed enough to sow generously.
2. We need to be good soil.
3. Sometimes we take our role too seriously, we don't convert people, the Spirit is the one who makes the seed grow "all by itself."
4. We should never look down on small beginnings.

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EmmDev 2025-04-11 [Moments with Mark] All by itself

All by itself

He also said, "This is what the Kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain - first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." (Mark4:26-29)

There is a whole philosophy or theology of Church Growth based on this parable (It is called "Natural Church Development" by Christiaan Schwarz) The bottom line of this approach is that if we remove the obstacles to growth, God will cause the church to grow in quality and quantity.

There is a lot about this model that is attractive. In the parable Jesus makes the point that God has programmed the seed to grow - you just put it in the ground, add water, and the natural God-given programming takes over. Growth is not foreign to the seed - it just does it.

But when there are obstacles in the way (like the hard path, rocky soil and weeds in the first parable) then growth in God's Kingdom seems stunted and hard work. If the obstacles are removed and space is given , growth should occur naturally. This is an exciting concept! If we stop trying to engineer growth and just get out of the way, a healthy church or ministry or individual will just grow! God has given us the instinctive know-how to just get on with growing!

The Jerusalem church grew explosively. These folk had no clue about running churches. The disciples knew Jesus and talked about Him, but they had no church-growth books or manuals and yet their era saw unparalleled church growth.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that reading up on church growth and evangelism methods is wrong. It's also not wrong to have witnessing courses and fellowship group training. The real point is this: if growth seems like a real struggle and feels unnatural, then there is a good chance that we have lost touch with the core-values of loving God and one another and that there are all sorts of obstacles in the way of the reproductive DNA that God has given His church.

How are we doing?
Are there obstacles and unnatural thought-patterns in place that hamper the God-given instincts toward spiritual growth in our lives? What will it take to get these out of the way?

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EmmDev 2025-04-10 [Moments with Mark] Lamps, Ears and Hands

Lamps, Ears and Hands

The sayings of Jesus aren't easy.

I sometimes wish Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had taken the time to arrange Jesus' teachings in a more orderly way. If only they had compiled a chapter on love, a chapter on money, one on marriage, another on forgiveness, and so on... That would have been so helpful!

But instead, they present Jesus' teachings in what seems like a haphazard stream of consciousness. And I think that's because that's exactly how He taught. People were drifting in and out all the time. There wasn't a neat church service with a clear beginning, end, and a half-hour sermon. Instead, people milled around Him - sometimes even pressing Him into a boat. At other times, He taught as He walked or sailed. I think He repeated many of the sayings we find in the Gospels as He moved from town to town and situation to situation. And so the Gospel writers recorded His words as they remembered them and as the Spirit prompted them.

Mark 4 is all about parables and ends with the calming of the storm. Toward the end of the chapter, the parables focus on the Kingdom of God. But at the beginning, Jesus talks about seeds and the sower. This seems to be His "flagship" parable, perhaps because how we respond to the parables reveals the kind of "soil" we are.

He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." (Mark4:21-25)

This chapter is packed with parables. And parables are unusual vehicles: they carry large cargo but often sneak in through the back door. We can be entertained by them and still miss what they're carrying.

But here Mark remembers four powerful truths about truth:

1. Truth is like a lamp.
   Think of the lamps in Jesus' day. They consisted of a a flame, wick and oil. Put one under a bowl and the flame dies. Put it under a bed, and the bed could catch fire! Truth must be put where it can shine.
2. Truth reveals.
   Whatever is hidden will be exposed. Truth has a way of bringing things to light - sometimes even things we'd rather keep in the dark. Are you listening? Truth is powerful.
3. Truth expresses itself in generosity.
   We can't proclaim love, devotion, or faithfulness and not live generously. Jesus (and those who have walked in His footsteps) always gave freely of Himself: Time, Talent and Treasure. Generosity is one of the side-effects of truth.
4. Truth grows in us and through us.
   The more we embrace truth, the more we're entrusted with. But when we resist it, we become less trustworthy and therefore less able to receive or even recognize more truth. This shows up in our hands - in what we do, what we give, what we hold on to, and what we let go of. Our actions reveal how much truth we're living by.

Each of these sayings is powerful on its own. But together, especially in the context of the parable of the sower, they give us a compelling picture of the impact and importance of the truth of the Gospel.

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EmmDev 2025-04-08 [Moments with Mark] How to miss fruitfulness...

How to miss fruitfulness...

Apologies - I wrote this yesterday and then COMPLETELY forgot to send it!

Jesus is explaining the imagery of the seed and sower parable.

The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." (Mark4:14-20)

Last week we looked at how powerful the seed is.
But there is time between sowing and final reaping.
During that time, the seed (or plant) is fragile and can be affected.
There are short, medium, and long-term threats for the seed.

In the short term, the seed could land on a hard-packed path.
This is when we procrastinate, trivialise, or intellectualise the Word we have heard.
Sometimes we procrastinate when we sense God knocking or prompting: "I'll deal with it later, I'm just too busy right now..."
There is also the possibility that we trivialise or intellectualise what we have heard: "Ah, that's for someone else," or "Hmmm, that's a great thought... let me write it down and think about it some more."
Then the distractions come, and before we know it, the seed is gone.

In the medium term, the seed could land on rocky soil.
This is when we jump into it and don't count the cost.
We run on emotions and the energy of others, but we don't see it through.
We rush into it and don't let the roots go deep.
Often, this happens when we are trying to live for others instead of drawing near to God and hearing what He wants us to be doing.
When the going gets tough, we run out of steam; all because our roots (motivations) were not deep enough.

In the long term, the seed lands in thorny ground.
This is when the seed has great potential to grow.
The soil is good, the roots have sprouted and gone deep - but there are invaders.
There is competition for our attention, affection, and loyalty.
Someone said: "The more I gather, the more I have to protect, and the more I have to lose."
The weeds are clever. They start small and grow quietly, but before we know it, our time, energy and money flow endlessly into things that will not last - and we find it very difficult to focus on the things that do last for eternity.

You'll notice that I've used "we" throughout.
I don't think the parable is only about the seed of the gospel.
As Jesus says: "The seed is the Word."
Every time God speaks to us: every time He calls us to make a course correction, help a neighbour, follow a prompting, or pray for someone - it is a seed being sown.
The key question is: What kind of soil will that seed fall into?

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EmmDev 2025-04-04 [Moments with Mark] Powerful Seed...

Powerful Seed...

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around Him was so large that He got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in His teaching said: "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." (Mark4:1-8)

Although we know this parable so well, the thing that people don't always notice is how powerful the seed is.

When it lands in good soil, it produces a harvest: thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown. Imagine for a moment that the farmer sows equally, perhaps even generously on all types of soil. (He's probably wise enough to aim more at the good soil, but let's keep it simple.) Say one seed falls on each kind of soil: three get eaten by birds, scorched by the sun, or choked by thorns. But the one that lands in good soil produces at least thirty, possibly up to a hundredfold. So for every four seeds sown, you still get a yield of thirty to a hundred. Those are good odds!

So the good news is that the gospel is powerful and transformative.
We need to believe that it can change lives and maybe we need to be more generous about spreading it.
In this parable the farmer is generous - throwing the seed widely. Who knows, we could be surprised where it does grow!

We have a beautiful and amazing message: We are created and loved by a God who sent His Son who conquered sin, death and Satan for us. He sends His Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we can be transformed from the inside out and be part of God's life-changing and life-giving kingdom.

Maybe we need to take more risks: sharing our faith gently, easily, widely and naturally like the farmer does. He doesn't stress about what people might say about his technique and his knowledge about farming. He just trusts the seed.

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EmmDev 2025-04-03 [Moments with Mark] Unforgivable Sin

Unforgivable Sin

"But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." (Mark3:29-30)

Many people are worried that they have committed the unforgivable sin.

To understand what this is all about, we need to remember that one of the main activities of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to the place where we can recognise Christ as Lord. The Spirit is always drawing us closer to Jesus. He wants us to recognise Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

Jesus talks about "blasphemy against the Spirit" in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In each case He is confronting the hard-hearted Pharisees and Saducees who persistently refuse to recognise who Jesus is:
- In Matthew they argue that Jesus does His miracles by demonic power
- In Mark they say that Jesus has an evil spirit
- In Luke the context is God's provision on the one hand and disowning Christ on the other and Luke puts it into the context of the final judgment.

So "blasphemy against the Spirit" is to reject His "core business" which is to help us recognise Jesus for who He is.

Theologians agree that this is a process and not an event. We don't commit blasphemy against the Spirit by accident or as a once-off. This is something that is a stubborn hard-heartedness and we don't care about it. To "blaspheme against the Spirit" is to stubbornly resist the "seed-planting" work of the Holy Spirit to the end of our lives or to the point that our hearts are so hard that we will never change.

The point: If we are resisting the working of the Spirit, then we won't care whether this is forgivable or not. And so I say to folk: "If you're worried that you have committed unforgivable blasphemy against the Spirit, then you haven't!"

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EmmDev 2025-04-02 [Moments with Mark] When the Religious Leaders can't see...

When the Religious Leaders can't see...

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." (Mark3:22-30)

Between the verses about Jesus' family departing and then arriving to "take charge of Him" come our verses for today...

They have also travelled, coming 160km from Jerusalem to confront Jesus.
It is a bitter pill.
They should have recognised that He was the fulfillment of prophecy.
They should have been struck by the wisdom of His teachings.
They should have realised the significance of His healings and exorcisms
They should have been amazed at His miracles.

Instead they come with the childish tactic of attributing His power to demons.
Today people still "demonise" those they are threatened by or don't agree with.
"They're evil - I just know it!"

Jesus calmly and with almost childlike simplicity explains the foolishness of their argument.

• Why and how would Satan drive out Satan?
• Why come all the way from Jerusalem if your enemy is busy fighting himself?
  Why not just stand back and watch the divided house fall?
  Because, if Jesus is indeed Satan's lackey, then the lackey by healing and driving out demons is destroying Satan's work!
• And when it comes to demon possession, only someone stronger than the demonic forces can do that!

And so Jesus clearly shows up the foolishness of their argument.
But this is foolish to the point that it is downright insulting.
It is blasphemous because it does not recognise the true power at work - the Power of the Holy Spirit.

This is dangerous behaviour, dangerous enough for Jesus to warn about an unforgivable sin - and we'll dig into this tomorrow...

For today, let's consider the heartache of rejection Jesus experienced, both from his family and the religious people who should have been the first to recognise Him.

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EmmDev 2025-04-01 [Moments with Mark] When family don't understand

When family don't understand

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." ... 31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." 33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." (Mark3:20-34)

In the closing of the section about choosing disciples, Mark writes "and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him."

This seems to trigger a line of thought about betrayal that Mark continues to the end of ch.3.

The first of the betrayals is difficult. Jesus is followed by the crowds to the point that it is even difficult for them to eat. Jesus' family in Nazareth hear of this and they set off to "come and take charge of Him" because, according to them, "He is out of His mind."
They will travel 30km from Nazareth to Capernaum - probably a two day journey on foot.

Then, for effect, while they are ostensibly traveling, Mark then segues to the resistance Jesus experiences from the teachers of the law. This "fills the gap" while the family are traveling. In verse 31 Jesus' mother and brothers arrive. They're figuratively holding the "restraining jacket" with a place booked at the local mental institution. They're here to "take charge" because things have gotten out of hand.

This is one of the reasons I love the Bible. It doesn't sanitise its characters. We're told the truth about each character, the good, the bad and the ugly. Mary, revered and elevated by some traditions, gets it wrong here. She does not understand her Son's mission and she thinks He's "out of his mind."

For Jesus, this is a tough moment. The teachers of the Law (who should recognise Him) have rejected Him. His family of origin who know about Bethlehem, shepherds, wise man and all the wonder of His birth, have succumbed to the sharp tongue of gossip and scandal and don't recognise Him either.

This still happens to people today and Jesus warns about it in Mark 13. Families can get divided over faith in Christ.

But there is another family - the family of faith.
This family of faith will accompany Jesus in His journey, but even they will abandon Him in Gethsemane.

Jesus ultimately walks this road alone, but brings them all back to Himself.
After His resurrection He appears to His disciples and to His brother James.
He rebuilds the bridges that were broken.
I think we can hope for the same.

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