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Mark 1.1-13 Lev. 23: 23-end Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey’ (Mark 1: 6). These were of symbolic value. The symbol was indicative of the fact that the Kingdom of God did not depend on human initiative to create something new but was God’s initiative that bypassed all human efforts. For instance the clothes of camels hair were not hand woven like cotton or wool, the leather girdle was not hand spun like the jute girdles, the locusts were provided for not by the efforts of any butcher but by natural resources, and the honey was made not on pan or fire in a kitchen by a cook but in nature ready for consumption by human beings. God’s reign and His divine governance came into the world of human history not by the human effort of revolutions or development, technology or ideology, but by God’s initiative. He uses many women and men; righteous and unrighteous to make the rule of righteousness prosper. Inspite of the sore wickedness of human beings, from the extremes of Hitler and subtle maneuverings of the secularists, of the crudeness of terror and of the smooth talk of the politicians especially those who use religious categories for political discourse, of the foolish decisions of the state policy makers and of those who get affected, through all such vicissitudes of history God’s good and benevolent reign finally does prevails. Though we gravely suffer due to the mistaken notions of misusing our freedom, yet God works His way without taking away our freedom and when a human dictator does take it away from us, God hears our cry and ultimately liberty does come out victorious. The crown of God’s initiative was in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not come by human initiative but was of God alone, hence his virgin birth. His first sign of the newness of God’s initiative and reign was in the sign of turning water into wine in Cana. Friends you could be either on God’s side by standing for the godly values of righteousness, truth, sacrificial love (agape), honesty or you could find yourself against God but remember that you will be defeated by the moral forces of love, sacrifice, honesty, truth and righteousness. The choice is yours and so is the responsibility of your consequences. Prayer: Lord give us the courage to believe that moral force is greater than any other force and that the powers of wickedness will not for long stand before it. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 1.35—2-12 Lev. 25: 29-46 Moved with pity Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him (Mark 1: 41). The
most beautiful word in this text is pity. It can be also translated as
compassion. It is a word that brings to our mind the value that is
noble. It is human heart of compassion that brings us very close to
the compassionate heart of God. The feeling of compassion is a
characteristic that is common both to the human beings and their
creator God. However along with the feeling of compassion we grow
closer to God in a greater way by practical action. As we see that
after feeling compassionate, the Lord practically acted by stretching
out his hands to touch the one who was suffering from skin disease. In
our context the Indian cultural norm restricts the action of physical
touch. It has to do with our deep-seated notions of ritual
purity and pollution. We accomplish most of our philanthropic deeds
with a clinical deference keeping the beneficiaries at bay. Many a
times we explain away our pathetic attitudes by providing lame excuses
of health and hygiene. Prayer: Lord give us the wisdom to understand your unconditional love towards us in the compassionate actions of Jesus, imbibe our hearts with compassion and give us the courage to act with compassion like Jesus did. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
John 21.1-14 Psalm 126 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing". They said to him, "We will go with you" (John 21: 3). There were two discouragements that the disciples of Jesus were facing at this point of time. The first was that their master and mentor, Jesus, was snatched away from them rather disastrously bringing shame and fear to this little band of people. As a result they seem to have gone back to their villages and reverted to their businesses to sustain their occupation. Fishing was their familiar livelihood. Peter, Thomas, James, John and Nathaniel were all fishermen. The second discouragement was that they caught nothing that night. Consequently, they would not be able to go to the market to sell any fish and would earn no money for their expenses that day. Jesus came to them right when their spirits and enthusiasm were low. He stood in solidarity with them at the shore of their failure. The first thing he does was to alleviate their spirits. He gave them success in hauling a big catch of fish. Their spirits were uplifted with enthusiasm perhaps of gaining some money at the market. Later he challenged them for a higher purpose than mere fishing, in their lives. In the next section [vs.15-18] he asked Peter to feed his lambs and to tend his sheep. Friends, we also like Jesus need to challenge especially our young people for God’s higher calling of full time ministry. We will have to stand in solidarity with them on the shore of their failure and encourage them. People, who become discouraged, bloom to success with the great sacrifices for the Lord when their confidence and courage, dignity and esteem are restored. Prayer: Lord give us the spirit to encourage and in solidarity sojourn with all those who have failed or have fallen that by our ministry they may receive your touch of healing and empowerment to rise and walk further with hope in their life. Amen ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 3.1-19 Num. 10: 29-11:15 Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart (Mark 3: 5). This is the second time in the gospel of Mark that the feelings of Jesus are overtly mentioned. The first time is 1.41 where at the sight of a leprosy patient he was moved with compassion. Here his feelings were of anger and grief. Unlike the first instance where the object of compassion was the victim i.e. the leprosy-patient, in the second instance the object of anger and grief were the victimizers. The gospel writer was trying to put across to his readers the significance of that sharp distinction that Jesus made between the victims on one hand and on the other hand those who victimized them. In every case of discrimination Jesus stood in solidarity with those who were victimized, for instance he forgave their sins on God’s behalf, he healed them, he defended them, he empowered them with his teachings, he fed them with food and so on. But he was very hard on those who victimized the people. His words are worth quoting at this point: Then said Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, "The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat … they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear and lay them on people’s shoulders …". He called the religious authorities of his times using hard metaphors like hypocrites, blind guides and white washed tombs [cf. Matt.23]. This passage challenges us today to stand in solidarity with those whom the society discriminates and whose voices are not even heard from the margins. Prayer: Jesus, we know how sensitive you were towards those who were discriminated and oppressed. Hear the cry of all those who are discriminated, oppressed and excluded. Amen ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 4.1-20 Numbers 12 Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea (Mark 4:1). In the ancient world
teaching was confined to the elites of the society. As a result the
masses remained illiterate and were treated like herds of animals. They
were seen as objects to be put under the rule of law, never as ones who
could rule. We might find such attitude hard to appreciate in our world
of democracy today. But in the ancient world, understandably it was the
educated few that could play the game of politics, diplomacy,
negotiations, and governance and undertake international covenants. The
educated Prayer: Jesus, you are the light of this world. It the message of your gospel that has enlightened and empowered us to be organized a your people in this land to the praise and glory of your name. Give us the strength to be faithful to the end. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Luke 12.4-12 Proverbs 15: 28-33 Jesus said, "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I warn you who to fear, fear him who after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him!" (Luke 12: 4-5) What ever Jesus taught was not only enlightening but also empowering. One of his recurring themes for the people was that they should not fear. In this text also the Lord teaches the people that they should not fear, and that they should be courageous. Furthermore he actually means that they should have courage enough to die for what is right. The people normally fear the oppressors that they would kill them. On the contrary the Lord points out that one should have no fear of them who kill, rather they should fear God who has the power to throw a person to hell after death. The text above has a pun. The physical reality was that the people of Jerusalem city threw all their rubbish and perhaps dead animals too, outside the walls of the city where the fire burning the rubbish never got extinguished. This place was called the Gahanna. There must have been people especially engaged for scavenging the city. The Lord Jesus using this image of cleaning-up applies it for spiritual sphere paralleling God with that scavenger who in the act of cleaning collects all dead and rotting things and throws them into the Gahanna where the fire is always aflame. God will do this to those who are immoral, unjust and unworthy. Such people are like stinking, rotten heap that will be cleaned up and burnt up in the Gahanna. We are called upon to fear him who performs this permanent clean-up operation. Because the oppressors, immoral and unjust will be permanently swept out when God will establish his reign. But those who have suffered and were martyred at their hands will be raised up and restored to life and dignity. So on this day when we remember Mark, let us recall the fact that the Apostles and many saints died for their convictions and commitment for what they believed and stood for. They were empowered not even to fear death for the sake of rig Prayer: Gracious God, you are the source of all truth and courage. Grant us the courage which comes from you so that for the sake of truth and for the sake of your Son Jesus, who himself is the way and the truth and the life; we might not fear anyone in this world. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 5.1-20 Num. 16: 1-19 Jesus said to the man who was healed from the demonic conditions, " Go home to your friends, and tell them, how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you" (Mark 5: 19). This is the most appealing and touching part in the whole story. The Lord was not interested to hoard a large following of people after him, though such crowds inevitably did follow him in various places. A right attitude towards God and towards one another was what the Lord wants people to have. The healed demoniac also needed to have a sense of gratitude. In fact we all need to cultivate grateful hearts for so many blessings we have in our lives. Is it not true that how much we take for granted and how much we complain and grumble for petty inconveniences we experience from people and in the surroundings where we live? Such attitude breeds unhealthy mental conditions and unnecessary emotional stress. What we need is a constant appreciation for what we have and this will not only help us to enjoy what we have in our life but also keep us in a state of happiness and good relationship with others. There is a song that I was taught when I was a child: In country town or city some people can be found who spend their time in grumbling at every thing around Oh yes, they always grumble no matter what may be for they are chronic grumblers and they grumble night and day. And what miserable lives they must spend with nothing much to enjoy but many things to complain. Such attitudes not only make the person unhappy but their unhappiness spreads to all the rest as well. Prayer: Lord, you have given us so many things in our life, things that we neither deserve nor could even aspire. Grant us one more thing, give us grateful hearts, so that we may never forget all your benefits and all your graces. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 6.1-13 Num. 16: 41-17 end And Jesus came to his own country (Mark 6: 1). We all like to visit our own hometown or village. We expect to meet and greet all those we have known since our childhood days. We look forward to spending time with our friends with whom we have shared our moments of joy in our youth. Of course we expect that we would be welcomed with warmth by our folks back home. We can in a similar way understand the feelings of our Lord when he went to his own country of Galilee, a small region in the north of Palestine. But Jesus was no more, the young boy that people had known. Jesus had come to his country not so much to receive their acceptance and love but to give them the power of God. Alas! People of his country could not accept him in this role. They rejected him. It should make us wonder why? The clue lies in the queries that the people raised at his sermon in the Synagogue. These queries pertained to his identity, his education, his family background and so on. It seems that the people were not prepared to receive the Lord’s message mainly due to his background details. They could not come to terms with the fact that wisdom and maturity of a person does not depend on his/her social background but is the consequence of the development of the person’s mind and heart. Friends, we also are expected never to honour or reject people on their social or economic or cultural background, but to honour them with for what they have cultivated out of their wisdom and out of their experience. Prayer: Good Lord, deliver us from the petty mentality of measuring people on false scales of this world. Give us the intelligence of your spirit to honour people by the measures of your Kingdom. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 6.30-44 Numbers 35: 9-30 Jesus said to his disciples, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while" (Mark 6: 31) Rest is significant for
productive and creative work. Many of us have developed possessive
attitude to our work. As a result we feel that the work we do is somehow
our own work and therefore we feel so heavily responsible for it that we
do not leave the work site at all. However this is not a Christian view
of work. We believe that God works but we also Prayer: Gracious God, we thank you for the provision of rest so that we can unburden ourselves and find rest in you. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Matt.16.13-19 Psalm 23 Jesus said to them,
"but who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You
are the Christ the Son of the living God" Today is the festival
to commemorate Peter, Apostle and Martyr. He became the leader of the
first band of the disciples of our Lord and was the chief among the
twelve Apostles. Two letters in the New Testament are also believed to
be written by him. His character in the Gospel narrative is very
interesting and can touch our hearts in some ways. In Luke 5 we read how
Jesus found him as a fisherman who had failed in his nocturnal endeavour
to catch fish. At the word of Jesus, Peter and company once again cast
their nets, which demanded a good deal of strength and labour, and
enclosed a great shoal. Peter seeing this fell at his feet asking the
Lord to depart from him because he felt that he was a sinful man. No
doubt he suffered from inner sense of unworthiness and low
self-esteem. Similarly when the Prayer: Almighty God, you have conquered the world through the passion, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus all the failings of your people. Remove from our hearts all that fetters our growth and development into the maturity of Christ. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 7: 1-23 Deut. 1: 19-40 Jesus said to the
people, "Hear me all of you and understand: Religions have been
notorious for their emphasis on the outer ceremonials, for instance
fasting, ritual prayer, alms giving, observing the customs of
purity-pollution. Of course the outer visible symbolic elements and
actions are supposed to represent and facilitate the human conscious
spirit to reach the internal, unfathomable depth of the ultimate reality
and supreme mystery of God. In the Old Testament all this internality
was symbolized by four Prayer: Good Lord, save us from the hierocracy of the externals and make us deeply dwell on the reality of the internal. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Matt.13:53-58 Genesis 1.26-2.3 "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?" (Matt. 13:55a). Jesus has come back to Capernaum, after a successful ministry in the neighborhood, one would expect that Jesus would receive a warm welcome in his home town but all he got was rejection. Even though people were amazed at his wisdom and miraculous powers (vs.54), they could not over look the fact that Jesus was a "carpenter’s son". Today, we observe the LABOUR DAY. India may be seen as a major labor force in the international market but the individual laborers are yet to receive the due honor and respect. Good number of them is even denied the minimum wages they deserve. What can we do about it? Prayer: Dear Lord, Let it be our prayer on this day, that the laborers in our land would be given the dignity they deserve. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 8:1-21 Deut.2:16-19, 24-end "Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?" (Mark 8:17b). Disciples of Jesus had just witnessed the miraculous feeding of the four thousand men (vs.9). Jesus blessed few small fish (vs.70) and seven loaves (vs.5). in a way to cater to the physical need of such a great crowd. Disciples are so overwhelmed with this experience that when Jesus uses the imagery of ‘yeast’ to communicate a deeper spiritual truth (vs.15), they ended up looking at the teaching in the temporal sense (vs.16). Jesus wanted disciples not to be like Pharisees, who doubted the divine origin of Christ, whereas disciples were only thinking about the next meal! In our day to day experience, God wants to communicate something of eternal significance but we miss the point because we are engrossed in our immediate concerns. Prayer: Dear Lord, teach me to know your ways and to hear your voice. Amen. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 9:2-13 Deut. 4:1-14 "Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead." (Mark 9:9b). The "Trio" (Peter, James and John) were so frightened with the transfiguration of Jesus Christ that they did not know what to do and what to say (vs.6). Initially, Peter sought the permission to put up three shelters for Elijah, Moses and for Jesus (vs.5). and later, perhaps, they wanted to share this experience with others. However, Jesus asked them to conceal the matter until his resurrection (vs.9). and disciples kept the promise (vs.10). It is important to know when information/ news/ matter has to be concealed or made public. Today we celebrate ‘World Press Freedom Day’. While the freedom of the press should always be upheld, the press should also ensure that they use their freedom- responsibly, so as to promote peace, harmony and well-being and to condone fanaticism, injustice and oppression. Prayer: Dear God,
we thank you for the freedom of the press. ...................................................................................................................................................
Mark 9:30-end Deut.4:32-40 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other" (Mark 9:50). "You are as sweet as sugar"- these words on the card were so impressive to her that she agreed to his proposal and they got married. Years after marriage, they felt that even though things were not always so sweet but their relationship was becoming even stronger inspite of difficulties. They realized that ‘sweet’ words are important but what makes a difference is the ‘saltiness’ of love- that provides depth to marriage. In a simpler way, we need to "salt-up" our Christian life. The only way of not loosing one’s saltiness and to continue to be salty- is to have clean fellowship with our dear Lord Jesus Christ. It is the presence of Christ Jesus in our life that we would continue to be agents of love and peace. Prayer: Lord Almighty, let your son Jesus Christ dwell in my heart that I may ever retain the saltiness of love and peace. Amen.
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