Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Mark chapters 8 and 9 reported two world-shaking events. Peter recognized Jesus as the anointed one, the Messiah. And not long after, Jesus stepped into God’s glory on the mountain, talking with Moses and Elijah. 

After these events, Jesus taught his disciples that he would soon suffer and die. The disciples didn’t believe him. Peter said, “Not so,” and Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mark 8:33). The next time Jesus mentioned suffering and death, his disciples stayed silent. They didn’t pull another Peter, but among themselves, they argued about who would be greatest (Mark 9:33-34). 

This prompted Jesus to make several comments about greatness. 

First, he pointed out that God was planning a Great Reversal. “Whoever is first must be last, must be the servant of all.” he said (Mark 9:35). In the Great Reversal, servants become rulers, the insignificant gain status, and slaves become kings. If you’re following me, Jesus said, don’t count your kingdoms before you are king.

Second, Jesus took a child in his arms and said, “Whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me” (Mark 9:37). The children’s Sunday School teacher is as great as the preacher.  

John, thinking about welcoming children, also thought about who wasn’t welcome. He said, “We saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he’s not one of us” (Mark 9:38). Jesus replied, “You’re making a mistake. Whoever drives out demons or does miracles or even gives a cup of water in my name, is on our side” (Mark 9:39-40). 

Clearly, the disciples needed to expand their view of Jesus followers. Whoever respects the name of Jesus is our ally, whether they are conservative, liberal, or even non-Christians. As Jesus said, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40). 

The disciple’s argument about who was greatest didn’t fare well in Jesus’ views about servants and children and outsiders. Continuing his response, Jesus warned against harming children’s faith. He said, if you cause one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better if you swam with pockets full of stones and drowned. If your hand or eye or foot causes you to stumble, cut it off (Mark 9:42-49). 

Wow. The great disciples aren’t permitted even to lord it over children!

And Jesus warned, “Everyone will be salted with fire” (Mark 9:49). Don’t try to climb the corporate ladder of Jesus’ kingdom. Rather, prepare to go through the fire that will strip away sins and false aspirations, and maybe even the self that you love.

Jesus’ final comment to the disciples was, “Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50).  You’re a salty, earthy, edgy lot of disciples. But there’s no need to argue about who will be greatest. Be salty with each other, but do it peacefully. 

Let’s pray. 

O father, Jesus tells us that in his kingdom, the first are last and the last are first. 

We are the first. We have studied the scriptures and the life of Jesus, and we have worked out how best to follow him. Surely our efforts have moved us up the corporate ladder. 

But Jesus’ instructions bring us down to earth. Care for the children, don’t think you’re above outsiders who serve him. Attend to the small things. Be a servant, do the dishes, shine the shoes, clean the bathtub, sweep the sidewalk. 

O father, give us wisdom and vision to follow his teaching. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

After Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah on a mountain, a man with a demon possessed son was waiting in the valley. “I asked your disciples to drive out the demon, but they couldn’t,” the man said. 

Jesus sighed and said, “You unbelieving generation. How long shall I put up with you?” (Mark 9:19). 

They brought the boy to Jesus, but the demon threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell down foaming at the mouth. The father said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity and help us.” 

‘“If I can”?’ said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 

The boy’s father said, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Jesus healed the boy. 

The disciples, just coming off a successful ministry trip of preaching, healing, and casting out demons, asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” 

Jesus replied, “That kind comes out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29). 

This story repeats several themes Mark has been highlighting in his gospel–lessons that Jesus’ disciples then (and today in 2025) are still slow to learn.  

First, Jesus expressed surprise at how spiritually obtuse the disciples were. “O unbelieving generation,” he said. “How long shall I put up with you?” (Mark 9:19).

Jesus put up with his disciples for three years. I wonder what emotion he was feeling about putting up with them this time. Disappointment? Annoyance? Frustration? I wonder what he feels about me.

Second, Jesus raised the question of faith. “Everything is possible for one who believes,” he said to the boy’s father (Mark 9:23).

Do you believe? Is everything possible for you? If not, what’s your excuse? These are questions I often ask myself. 

A third lesson: desperation trumped proper religious form. The mainline religious leaders argued with the crowd, but could not exorcise the demon (Mark 9:14). Jesus’ disciples were there too, but their faith and spirituality just wasn’t up to the task. 

What touched Jesus was the father’s desperation: “I believe. Help my unbelief!” Jesus accepted how difficult faith can be for humans, he received the father’s pain, and granted his request.

Does this story teach that I need to be more desperate in order to grow in faith? Interesting question, but I don’t see an answer in Mark’s gospel. 

My experience is that sometimes Jesus helps the desperate with a miracle. Sometimes he leads us through desperation to a more stable emotional life. And sometimes he lets us go on being desperate. The lesson I’ve learned is to bring whatever I feel of faith, unbelief, and desperation to Jesus, and wait for his answer.

The last lesson is that, once again, Jesus encouraged the disciples to pray. “This kind of demon comes out only by prayer,” he said. I wonder what was wrong with the disciples’ prayers. Were they praying the wrong prayers? Maybe they didn’t pray enough? Perhaps their prayers lacked fervency and conviction?

Jesus didn’t analyze or correct what was wrong with their prayers. He didn’t give instructions for improving their prayer life. He didn’t tell them how long and how fervently to pray. All he said was, “What you are missing is prayer.” 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, you often went to quiet places to pray. 

But when others came to you, we see desperation, not quietness. The disciples in the storm prayed, “Master, don’t you care if we drown?” The leper prayed, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” The synagogue leader prayed, “My daughter is dying. Please heal her.” 

O Jesus, when we lead lives of quiet desperation, transform and heal us. When we live lives of quiet comfort, teach us to pray in quiet places, as you did. 

Teach us that everything is possible to those who believe. Teach us that we can cast out entrenched sin and even demons by prayer. Teach us to pray. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 8, Peter made his great confession, saying to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the anointed one!” Jesus responded by telling the disciples he will be rejected and crucified. 

This offended Peter. He thought Jesus was on a trajectory to success, not crucifixion. So he took Jesus aside and said, “No way. God’s anointed one doesn’t get crucified. He becomes king.”

Jesus replied, “Get behind me, Satan! You have no clue what God is doing. You’re speaking from a human perspective” (Mark 8:33). 

Ouch. Whiplash. One moment Peter speaks the revelation of God about who Jesus is, the next moment he’s giving Jesus advice from hell. This is almost as chaotic as American politics.

I present three comments about this story. 

1. The word on the street was that Jesus is Elijah or John the Baptist or a prophet. Until this point in Mark’s gospel, only God and the demons understand who Jesus really is. But finally, finally, a former fisherman clues in and says, “You are the anointed one. You are God’s man at the centre of history.” But two minutes later, Jesus is saying to that man, “Get behind me, Satan.” Did Peter understand or didn’t he? 

2. Peter’s confession comes right after the story of the blind man Jesus healed in stages. He touched the man’s eyes, and the man saw people like trees walking. Then Jesus touched him again, he had 20-20 vision. 

Similarly, when Peter declared Jesus to be the anointed one, he was seeing, but not clearly. He was correct that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, but he sure didn’t comprehend what that meant.

3. This is an interesting glimpse into Peter’s spiritual development. And into mine. 

It’s helpful to get a flash of revelation about who Jesus is, but understanding how this plays out isn’t as easy. One day I see Jesus as the world’s savior, the next day he seems absent from the mess of wars and weather and chaos on earth. Where is God’s anointed one today? What is he doing? 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, you have touched our eyes and we see people like trees walking. We see Jesus on the cross and in the tomb and out of the tomb. But current events don’t seem to change under his kingship. Every day we see social chaos, corrupt kings, and natural and man-made disasters. 

Where is the Jesus who saves from sin and promises heaven? What does it mean for us to be disciples of the anointed one and to enter his kingdom? 

Touch our eyes. Help us lose our expectations for the kind of savior we want. Help us participate in the mission of the one who was crucified, was raised, and will soon return.  

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 8, we consider Peter’s great revelation about Jesus. But first, some background. 

In the Old Testament, people were anointed with oil for important jobs.
– Moses anointed Aaron as high priest (Ex 29:7).
– Samuel anointed David as king of Israel (1 Sam 10:1, 16:13).
– God called Cyrus, king of Persia, his anointed one, and Cyrus let the exiles return to Jerusalem (Isa 45:1).
– The prophet Daniel predicted a future anointed one, a new king of Israel (Dan 9:25-26). 

What word do you think the Old Testament uses for all these anointed ones? It uses the Hebrew word “mashiyach” which English borrows as our word messiah. Think of it this way: high priest Aaron a messiah. King David a messiah. Cyrus of Persia a messiah.

After Alexander the Great conquered the world, Greek became the universal language of trade and scholarship. So the Israelites translated the Old Testament into the Greek Septuagint version. But there was a problem. Greek didn’t have a word for “anointed one”. 

Solution? The translators invented a new word by creating a noun out of the Greek verb anoint. 

Their word was christos, which became our English word Christ. In the Greek version of the Old Testament, this made Aaron and David and Cyrus all christs. In the New Testament we meet Jesus Christ, Jesus the Anointed One. 

Now, back to Mark 8, where Jesus asked his disciples, ”Who do people on the street say I am?”  

They replied, “People say you’re John the Baptist, Elijah, or a prophet” (Mark 8:28). 

Then Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” And Peter said, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29) 

Strangely, in my Bible Peter says, “You are the Messiah.” Translators had to decide whether to use the Greek Christ or the Hebrew Messiah translate Peter’s words into English as the anointed one.

Confusing? What does it all mean? 

It means Jesus was special. God’s power and wisdom rested on him, as it did on Aaron and David and Cyrus. 

It also means God’s promise of a Messiah in the Hebrew Old Testament, or a Christ in the Greek version of the Old Testament, was fulfilled in Jesus. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we have long believed you are special. God called you his son. You took up the job of priest that Aaron didn’t finish, and the job of king that David began, and the office of prophet that Daniel honored. 

We confess with Peter that you are the one specially anointed by God–the Messiah, the Christ. You are the new prophet, the new priest, the new king. Be our king. Teach us to live in your kingdom. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Today, I point to an interesting pattern in chapters 7 to 9 of Mark’s gospel. 

In Mark 7, after feeding 5,000, Jesus walked on water and stilled a storm. The disciples were so astonished at his power over the storm that Mark comments, “Their hearts were hard. They didn’t understand about feeding the 5,000” (Mark 6:52).

Then Jesus got into an argument with the Pharisees about clean hands and clean hearts. Again the disciples didn’t understand, and Jesus said to them, “Are you so dull?” (Mark 7:18). 

Next, Jesus healed the daughter of a Gentile woman who asked him for crumbs under the Jewish table, and he healed a man who was deaf and mute. 

What an interesting sequence of stories. Throughout, the disciples have no clue what Jesus is up to as he feeds the 5,000, stills the storm, and teaches about clean hands and clean hearts. They are deaf to his message and blind to his mission. But the woman? The one who wanted crumbs from under the table? She understood, and so did the deaf and mute man who received healing. 

So . . . why doesn’t Jesus heal his disciples too, by helping them hear and understand his message. Why doesn’t he heal their blindness and deafness? 

In the next sequence of stories, Mark repeats the pattern. 

This time, Jesus fed 4,000 and argued with Pharisees. Later, he warned his disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod. The disciples still didn’t get it. “Is Jesus talking about yeast because we didn’t bring enough bread?” they asked (Mark 8:16).

Jesus replied, “Don’t your eyes see? Don’t your ears hear? There were lots of leftovers when we fed the 5,000 and the 4,000. This isn’t about bread. Don’t you understand?” (Mark 8:21). 

Then Jesus met a blind man, healed him just enough so he could see people like trees walking, and touched his eyes again to give full eyesight. 

That completes the second pattern. Jesus fed a crowd, argued with Pharisees, dealt with disciples who didn’t see or hear or understand, and then healed a blind man. 

I sympathize with the disciples. I’m not much better than they in seeing a connection between feeding 5,000 and walking on the water. Or a link between feeding 4,000 and warning about the yeast of the Pharisees. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we are like your disciples. We hear the stories we have always heard, and live the lives we’ve always lived, and see the things we have always seen, and we fail to understand the life of faith you teach. 

What is the meaning of your miracles? Does healing a blind person mean you can heal our inner blindness? Does healing the deaf mand mean you can heal our spiritual deafness? 

O Jesus, open our eyes. Unstop our ears. Loosen our tongues, until we see and hear and speak for you. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

As we move through Mark’s gospel, we encounter a couple strange miracles.  

When Jesus met a deaf mute, he put his fingers in the man’s ears, took them out, spat on his finger, touched the man’s tongue, looked to heaven, sighed, and said, “Be opened.”  It worked! The man’s ears were opened and he spoke plainly (Mark 7:35).  

Weird, eh? 

Jesus did most miracles with a word or simple action. He healed Peter’s mother-in-law by taking her hand and helping her up (Mark 1:31). He healed a leper with a touch and the words, “Be clean” (Mark 1:41). He healed a paralytic by commanding, “Get up. Take your mat. Go home” (Mark 2:11). 

So why, this time, did Jesus stick his fingers in the man’s ears and spit and sigh? 

Mark 8 has another unusual healing. This time Jesus spat on a blind man’s eyes, touched them, and asked, “Do you see anything?” 

The man replied, “I see people. They look like trees walking” (Mark 8:24). 

Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes again, completely healing them.  

John’s gospel also tells about an unusual healing. Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud, applied it to a blind man’s eyes, and told him to go wash in a pool (John 9:6-7). He did and his sight was restored.  

That’s three times Jesus healed with saliva. I wonder why. And I wonder why Matthew and Luke didn’t mention this in any of their stories about Jesus. Perhaps they too found it odd.   

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, I’m not sure why you used your saliva to heal. But it’s a profoundly human action. Not like the God of creation speaking the universe into being. More like a man in a body of clay, using saliva and simple words.  

I think you are teaching us that healing can be a process. Like the man who was halfway healed so people looked like walking trees. Like the man with mud on his eyes, stumbling to the pool to wash. Like the man with your fingers in his ears. 

How often we hear but fail to understand. We see, but our vision is muddy.  

O Jesus, heal us. Help us hear, and understand, and obey your voice. Give us clear vision and true hearing and intelligent speech as we journey through life’s impediments.   

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Today in Mark 7, let’s look at Jesus’ encounter with a Gentile woman. Back then, Jews called Gentiles “dogs”. Do you think Jesus will follow this cultural norm? Surprisingly, he does.  

The woman said to Jesus, “Please drive a demon out of my daughter” (Mark 7:26). 

Jesus replied, “It’s not right to take children’s bread and toss it to dogs.” Ouch.

Some commentators soften Jesus’ statement by saying he didn’t use the word for vicious wild dogs. No, they assert, he used the word for pet dogs. Other commentators have it that Jesus wasn’t calling the woman a dog, but was testing her faith by communicating that his main mission was to Israel, not Gentiles.

I respond: Did Jesus need to call people “dogs” to clarify his mission? To me, the dog reference is harsh no matter how you interpret it. I don’t want to be compared to dogs–wild or tame! 

Jesus said, “It’s not right to take a child’s bread and toss it to dogs.” My take? That Jesus was really good at reading people. He and the woman both knew that Jews considered Gentiles as dogs. But she wasn’t on a mission to change the culture or get more respect. All she wanted was: Please heal my daughter! 

So when Jesus made a comment about dogs, instead of taking offense, she flipped it to her advantage. “Even dogs under the table get the crumbs children drop,” she said (Mark 7:28). 

And Jesus responded, “Good answer. I grant your request. Your daughter is healed” (Mark 7:29). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we are flooded with cultural stereotypes and false ways of thinking about people. Teach us to ignore cultural and racial and gender slurs. Like the woman who ignored the label “dogs”, may we be slow to take offense and quick to tell you what we need.  

Teach us to love people across cultural and racial barriers, across divisions of education and gender and status and politics. Speak your healing words to us, and through us to everyone we meet. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Where does sin come from? Did the devil make you do it? Was it your own idea?

Today in Mark 7, consider Jesus’ answer. 

Pharisees didn’t understand why Jesus was so relaxed about long-standing Jewish traditions, so they said to Jesus, “Our religious tradition requires hand washing before eating. Why don’t your disciples follow this tradition?”

 Instead of answering their question, Jesus got angry and lit into them.  “You’re a bunch of hypocrites,” he said. “Your traditions don’t honor God. Here’s an example: If your parents need something you have, but you don’t want to give it to them, you simply declare it dedicated to God. Then you don’t help your parents with it. Do you think God wants you to dedicate your stuff to him? Or does he want you to use your stuff to help your parents?”  

Jesus addressed the crowd. “It’s not what goes into you that makes you dirty. It’s what comes out of you” (Mark 7:15). Really? What if I consume alcohol, nicotine, pornography, and social media? Those things going into me from outside don’t make me dirty? What’s with that?

Jesus explained, “Washing your hands doesn’t make you clean because it’s not dirt on the outside that makes you dirty, it’s dirt on the inside.” Bad behavior is a symptom of a heart that wallows in evil.

Jesus said, “From inside, from your heart, come evil thoughts, immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly” (Mark 7:21-23). 

Listen to what Jesus said. Does he mean that when I lower a bucket into the well of my heart, it comes up brimming with bad behavior? Is he saying my heart is rotten, a snakepit that corrupts and poisons everything I do? 

Hardly an optimistic picture of the human heart. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, the commandments forbid bad behavior. Murder. Lying. Stealing. Adultery . But you say bad behavior is brewed in my heart. How can I change my heart? 

It’s still January, but our New Year’s resolutions have failed. Our self-discipline has fallen into the ditch. Our bookshelf is heavy with self-help books, but they aren’t much help. 

You say the problem is bigger and deeper than our behavior. Our hearts are tangled in self-interest, slaves to forces we don’t understand, infected with diseases we can hardly name. 

O Jesus, wash our dirty hearts. Give us new minds, new spirits, new hearts that will overflow with love instead of evil. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube