Mark 5

There’s a lot here that is a repeat of what we read in Matthew.  There’s a lot of healing, a lot of disbelief, a lot of faith, and some unclean spirits.

The first thing I noticed was that the man with the unclean spirits, Legion, immediately “ran and bowed to the ground before him.”  Even the unclean spirits bow to Jesus.  They know who he is, what he can do.  They don’t doubt him at all.  I guess you could say that even they had ‘faith’ in him.  In this instance, faith meaning belief.  And they obviously feared him as well.  

That’s something this chapter carries all the way through, faith, belief, trust, knowing, even by the demons.

And at the same time, it carries those who don’t believe who Jesus is, those who don’t have faith, or trust, or a knowing of him.

After Jesus cast out the spirits into the pigs, the people of the area asked him to leave.  No faith, no understanding, no trust.  FEAR, just fear. They didn’t seem to trust even their own eyes as to what Jesus did.

Then we meet Jairus whose daughter is dying and also the bleeding woman.  Both had incredible faith in Jesus and what he could and would do for them.  And then there were those around them who didn’t believe, who didn’t trust, who laughed at Jesus.  Even his disciples laughed when he asked who touched him because they couldn’t believe or understand  how he would know a specific person touched him in the crowd.

All this say, I’m not sure what more to say about this that I didn’t say about the same or similar stories in Matthew. 

I thought about skipping chapter 5 and moving right to chapter 6 but as I read it, I realized that it just might not be the scripture that I’m struggling with writing, it could be that with all that is happening, I’m just finding it hard to focus on the scripture with my mind clear. 

I can’t stop thinking about the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and countless others who we probably don’t know about, others who have just disappeared and their families don’t know where they are, and so many who have been beaten and terrorized.  

My heart breaks for them and their families and friends.  It makes it hard to focus on the scripture that I’ve laid out in front of me.  I want to go read the scriptures that tell us to love our neighbors, that tell us to welcome the stranger, that tell us murder is wrong, that show Jesus flipping tables in anger at what people are doing in the house of God and my list goes on… But the purpose of these reflections for me, was to read in context from beginning to end of each book.  

So, all that to say, our reflections timing may be off for a while.  They might be late, they might not be to Sunday and Wednesday and I may just skip a day or even week sometimes.  Sorry about that but well, it may just be what I need to do for now.

But I want to say one more thing.  We aren’t helpless, though I do feel helpless, we can write and call our Congress people.  We can donate to help those in need, those who will help to end this.  We can make our voices heard.  Talk about what it happening, be open and honest.  Research.  Don’t just believe everything you hear.  Use your own eyes to see what is happening and BELIEVE them.  Just don’t be silent.  Silence is complacency.  We can’t be silent anymore.

Until next time…♥️

If you’re longing for a quieter, shared space of reflection, I’ve opened a small monthly circle. You can learn more here.