Devotionals: Mark Archives - Page 2 of 13

The Power of Prayer

By Andrew YoungAugust 4, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mark 9:29) Bible Reading: Mark 9:28-29 It is tempting, though not safe, to skip over the last little section of this story of Jesus healing the demon-possessed boy. We have noted how Jesus denounced the faithlessness of the generation in which he lived, and also the all-too-common mixture of belief and unbelief that exists in the human heart. But there is one more lesson that we need to learn from this incident. There is a carryover of the exorcism event in the “house” that Jesus and his followers enter afterwards. There, the […]

“Help My Unbelief”

By Andrew YoungAugust 3, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Bible Reading: Mark 9:20-27 After denouncing the faithlessness of the generation he had come to, Jesus orders that the demon- possessed boy be brought to him (Mark 9:19). He did not intend the boy himself to continue in his suffering, nor his distressed father in his grief. At the very sight of Jesus, the demon convulsed the boy, causing him to fall to the ground, roll around, and foam at the mouth (v. 20). Jesus asked the father how long this had been happening, and received a sorry tale of such life-endangering episodes since […]

A Faithless Generation

By Andrew YoungAugust 2, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you?” (Mark 9:19) Bible Reading: Mark 9:14-19 Jesus and his three disciples (Peter, James, and John) have come down from the “Mountain of Transfiguration” and are about to reunite with the other nine disciples (Mark 9:14). When they come to them, they find them surrounded by a crowd and immersed in controversy with scribes (theologians, we might call them). Upon seeing Jesus, the crowd runs to him and greets him. Furthermore, we are told that they were “greatly amazed” when they saw him (v. 15). Why, do you suppose, that was? […]

A Command for Silence

By Andrew YoungAugust 1, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“As they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen…” (Mark 9:9) Bible Reading: Mark 9:9-13 On their way down the mountain after the transfiguration experience, Jesus” charged” Peter, James and John to “tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (Mark 9:9). Ever mindful of what such a report might do to the crowds, and how their adulation might obscure his purpose and hinder his way to the cross, he commanded silence until after he had died and risen again. Somewhat perplexed, no doubt, […]

The Kingdom Coming with Power

By Andrew YoungJuly 31, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” (Mark 9:1) Bible Reading: Mark 9:1-8 Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Messiah (Mark 8:29). He and his fellow disciples thought that meant that an uninterrupted path to glory lay before him and them. But that was not to be the case. Jesus spoke of his rejection, death, and resurrection (8:31). He also spoke of a path of suffering and martyrdom for those who followed him (8:34-35). But he also pointed to an […]

The Worth of a Soul

By Andrew YoungJuly 30, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“For what can a man give in return for his soul?” (Mark 8:37) Bible Reading: Mark 8:36-38 Jesus had just made the dramatic statement, “Whoever will save his life will lose it…” (Mark 8:35). By “losing” it, he was clearly thinking of eternal outcomes. A person might choose to live as they please in this world, but tragically, they will lose out in the world to come. And, Jesus goes on to say, nothing we might gain in this world can compensate for missing out on the life to come. This is how he puts it: “For what does it profit […]

The Cost of Following Jesus

By Andrew YoungJuly 29, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) Bible Reading: Mark 8:34-35 Jesus and his disciples had evidently been on their own when Jesus asked the Twelve about his identity. But after Peter’s confession, and the rebuke that followed when Peter rejected the idea that Jesus must suffer and die, Jesus “called the crowd to him with his disciples” (Mark 8:34). He had something important to say to them, and to all potential followers through the ages. “If anyone would come after me,” he declares, referring to the decision […]

“Get Behind Me Satan!”

By Andrew YoungJuly 28, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God….” (Mark 8:33) Bible Reading: Mark 8:31-33 The twelve disciples had reached a high point in their time with Jesus. They had recognized and confessed him to be the Christ, the Messiah (Mark 8:29). That provided Jesus with an opportunity to “teach them” new things, things about what lay ahead as he fulfilled his Messianic role. Little did they expect to hear him say what he did! Rather than tell of conquests over the Romans, Jesus told them he was going to “suffer many things”, that […]

Who Is Jesus?

By Andrew YoungJuly 27, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“And he asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” (Mark 8:29) Bible Reading: Mark 8:27-30 Jesus and his band of disciples are still moving about on the fringes of Galilee. From Bethsaida on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, they travel to “the villages of Caesarea Philippi”, the region where the Roman Governor made his base (Mark 8:27). As they travel, Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (v. 27). We have already noted in connection with the death of John the Baptist that people at large were discussing this question (6:14-16). And […]

A Second Touch

By Andrew YoungJuly 26, 2016Devotionals: Mark

“Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again… and he saw everything clearly” (Mark 8:25) Bible Reading: Mark 8:22-26 It is not surprising that having so recently rebuked his disciples for their spiritual blindness, Jesus should next heal a blind man (Mark 8:22-25). But more importantly, that he should heal him with “a second touch.” Jesus and his disciples are back on land again, on the western side of the lake at the town of Bethsaida. While there, “some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him” (v. 22). Taking the man by the hand […]