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

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

Mark 6 records one of Jesus’ most famous miracles, feeding thousands with five loaves and two fish. 

But first, a different story about hunger. Once, when Jesus finished a 40-day fast, the devil suggested, “Since you’re the son of God, solve your hunger by turning stones to bread.” Jesus said, “No thanks. People don’t live just by bread, they need God’s words” (Mat 5:2-4). 

But in Mark 6, Jesus fed the crowd with a miracle. Five loaves and two fish became a feast for 5000. So . . . why didn’t Jesus do for himself what he did for the crowd? 

Here are three suggestions. 

1. The stones-to-bread miracle was the devil’s idea. Jesus didn’t trust suggestions from that source.

2. Turning stones to bread is weird. Time and erosion turn stones to sand, not bread. But nature multiplies food. Fish breed more fish; wheat produces more wheat. Jesus respected nature. He didn’t do unnatural things like making bread from stones. 

3. Remember Adam and Eve eating forbidden fruit in the garden? Their action clearly said: we can manage our own lives just fine without advice from God. They used God’s gifts in a way that disregarded their relationship with the giver. Didn’t work well for them, did it? 

The serpent from the garden showed up in the New Testament to invite Jesus to make the same statement . . . to use his miracle-working power to manage his own life, disregarding his relationship with God to feed himself. 

Jesus didn’t fall for it. He said, “People should attend to bread and to God’s word.” His whole life–hunger, miracle-power, mission–were gifts from God. Jesus used the gifts to honor his relationship with God.  

Notice that before the miracle of loaves and fish, Jesus had compassion on the crowd, because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:32-56). The people needed the words of God that Jesus taught and the meal Jesus provided. 

They enjoyed his teaching, but lunch? That was special. It’s a good day when someone else picks up the tab. After lunch, the crowd fell quickly into the Adam-and-Eve trap. They wanted to manage the situation, to make Jesus king, and they suggested he could by supplying another miracle meal. They wanted to use Jesus as their gravy train (John 6:14-15, 25-35).  

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Eat my flesh, drink my blood” (John 6:51). 

“Too weird,” said many followers, and they left (John 6:60-66). 

The 12 disciples didn’t understand the miracle either. A short time later, when Jesus walked on water and calmed the storm, Mark tells us that the disciples were amazed by the new miracles because they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hard (Mark 6:52). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, thank you for your compassion for the crowd. We too are like sheep without a shepherd. Teach us the words of God and feed us with daily bread and spiritual food. 

Help us understand the miracle of the loaves and fish, to see that you provide all the gifts we need–bread and teaching and safety in the storm. Soften our hard hearts. 

Help us to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the word of God you speak to us (Book of Common Prayer, Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent). Live in us and through us. Teach us not to define our own mission in life, but to participate in the work you are doing in the world. Help us not to live the self-managed life, but the life of walking with 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”.

In Mark 6, Jesus sent his 12 disciples on a ministry tour. There was no fundraising–Jesus told them to travel without food or money or extra clothes, and to enjoy whatever hospitality was offered along the way. They preached, drove out demons, and healed the sick. 

I find it surprising that the disciples were ready for this ministry. Until now, the only thing we’ve heard about their spiritual development is Jesus’ comment on a stormy night, “Have you no faith?” 

But here they are, embarking on an amazingly successful  experience of faith and ministry. 

Perhaps our spiritual development is like that of the disciples–slow and faltering, until one day Jesus trusts us with ministry.

Meanwhile, King Herod heard stories about Jesus and wondered. “Who is this man?” Someone suggested Elijah, someone else a prophet, and some said “It’s John the Baptist raised from the dead” (Mark 6:14-16). 

Mark explains why Herod adopted the John the Baptist theory. 

It started with Herod’s complicated love life. He got a divorce and his step brother got a divorce, and Herod married his step brother’s ex. John the Baptist stepped forward and told Herod that this violated Old Testament marriage laws. Time for John to be cautious . . . Herod’s wife, Herodias, did not like a prophet interfering in her love life. She convinced Herod to throw John into prison. 

Then at Herod’s birthday party, Herodias’ daughter danced for the guests, pleasing Herod, who offered her any gift she wanted–up to half his kingdom. She consulted her mother who said, “Ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter.” Not your average mother, I think.

So Herod beheaded John to please his wife and stepdaughter. But he didn’t feel good about it. When he heard about Jesus, he thought John the Baptist had come back from the dead to remind him of his sin.

After this brutal story, Mark resumes the disciples’ ministry story. They reported to Jesus everything they did and taught, and then left with him to get some rest. 

Two comments on this string of events.

1. John’s ministry ended in martyrdom, but the disciples’ ministry so far has been full of miracles and exorcisms. Hard to predict where following Jesus might lead you. 

2. We don’t learn much from Mark about how the disciples grew and matured as they followed Jesus. We know that early in the story, Jesus criticized the disciples for lack of faith. Near the end, Peter denied Jesus three times. Between these bookends, Mark tells us almost nothing about their spiritual formation. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, we feel the horror of Herod beheading John the Baptist. But brutal violence continues in our world. School shootings in America, genocide in Sudan, unrestricted warfare in Gaza and Ukraine. 

But your mission on earth continues. As when John was in prison and the disciples preached and healed and drove out demons. Jesus too was teaching and healing. 

Make us disciples of Jesus. Help us grow spiritually, like the disciples did. Teach us to see and follow your heart, to hear and obey your voice, to love you all our life, to be faithful to you in death. 

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 6, Jesus arrived in his hometown and taught in the synagogue. 

His audience was amazed, but not in a positive way. They asked dismissive questions. 
1. This man is a carpenter. Why does he think he can teach? 
2. This man is weird. Where did he get power to do miracles? 
3. This man is not so special. We know his mother and brothers and sisters, just your  average family.

The hometown people couldn’t make the leap from the ordinary kid they grew up with to the extraordinary person Jesus had become. To them, he was still just the neighborhood carpenter. 

I’ve felt that way about some of my high school classmates. They were ordinary types, nothing special. I was the extraordinary one who got good grades. But in the long run, some of them have been very successful in ministry and life and business. It’s me who’s struggled to achieve even ordinary. 

Jesus responded to people’s disdain with a saying. “A prophet is honored everywhere, except at home” (Mark 6:4). Gospel-writer Mark says Jesus had to be content with just a few minor healings before he left town. 

And—listen for it—Mark says Jesus was AMAZED at their lack of faith. It’s the only time in the gospel Jesus was amazed. 

Here’s a question. I wonder sometimes if Jesus is amazed at my lack of faith. 

Let’s pray. 

Our Jesus, we are like the people in your hometown. We live ordinary lives, ruled by  routine. Even the stories about your miracles and healings have become ordinary to us. 

Break into our lives we pray. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear the extraordinary in your life. Help us wonder at your teaching and long for your healing and hope in your salvation. Fill us with awe at the creation you sustain, at the words you speak to us, and the example you set for us. 

May your presence make our ordinary lives extraordinary.

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”.

One of my favorite passages in Mark’s gospel is the interweaved stories of a distressed father and a chronically sick woman. 

Jairus said to Jesus, “My daughter is dying. Please come to my home and save her.” In the translations I use Jairus asks Jesus to “heal her” instead of “save her”. Maybe because translators want Jesus to heal sickness and save souls. 

But the original language uses the same word for bodies and souls. Jairus asked Jesus to save his daughter from dying.   

As Jesus left for Jairus’ home, a woman was stalking him. She had suffered much under the care of many doctors, and spent all her money, but she kept getting sicker and sicker. That’s not a glowing endorsement of the medical profession that Mark gives us. 

In Luke’s gospel, the story says the woman had been sick for twelve years and no one could heal her (Luke 8:43). Dr. Luke didn’t even mention the medical profession that Mark disparaged. 

Luke says the woman needed healing, using the Greek word “therapy”. But this woman had had enough therapy from many doctors. She wanted someone to save her from–to save her from her illness and from the professionals who had taken all her money. She said, “If I touch Jesus’ clothes, I’ll be saved” (Mark 5:28). 

So she stalked Jesus in the crowd and got close enough to touch his garment. Mission accomplished. Then she disappeared. 

But not so fast . . . 

Jesus sensed he’d just healed someone and said, “Who touched me?” His disciples said, “You’re being ridiculous. In this crowd, everybody touches you.” But Jesus kept looking until the woman re-surfaced to tell her story. Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Mark 5:32-34). 

What do you think? Was she healed or saved? 

Meanwhile, what about Jairus’ daughter? Messengers arrived and reported that the girl had died. That didn’t deter Jesus. He said, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe” (Mark 5:35-36). Can Jesus save this situation? 

When Jesus arrived at Jairus’ home, mourners were already wailing outside. Jesus brushed past them, entered the house, and raised the child from the dead. “Maybe she’d like something to eat,” he suggested. 

What do you think? Did Jesus save her or heal her? 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, two people needed to be saved. Jairus wanted you to save his dying daughter. The sick woman wanted you to save her from 12 years of illness.  

We also come to be saved. To be saved from chronic medical problems doctors cannot cure. To be saved from persistent mental illness for which psychiatrists have no answer. To be saved from ourselves, from anxiety and depression and attitudes that grow hard and harder and more unwelcoming. 

Save us from ourselves, that we may find our life in you. 

O Jesus, look at us when we reach out to you, feel our hand touching your garment. Accept our meagre faith. Give us life and health and gladness. 

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”.

We now come to the strangest story in Mark’s gospel. It started when Jesus and his disciples crossed a lake, to an area where Jews and Gentiles lived (Mark 5:1). 

A man with demonic superpowers met them. He lived in a graveyard, shouting,  screaming and cutting himself. The locals tried restraining him, but he broke chains and ankle-irons, and resumed his cemetery existence. 

Jesus said to the demon, “Get out of this man!” The demon replied, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Don’t torture me” (Mark 5:7).

Surprisingly, Jesus negotiated with this spiritual terrorist. “What’s your name?” he asked. 

The demon replied, “My name is Multitude, because there are many of us here. Don’t send us far away. Why don’t we go into the pigs on that hillside?” (Mark 5:9). 

“Ok,” Jesus said. “Leave the man and go into the pigs” (Mark 5:11-13). 

So the multitude of demons made the move, and 2,000 pigs raced down the hill into the lake and drowned. 
– That can’t be good for the pigs
– And it can’t be good for the lake 
– And it can’t be good for the local farming economy 
– And we can’t tell if it was good for the demons, but apparently that was what they wanted.
– We do, however, know it was good for the man Jesus delivered. 

The newly unemployed pig herders became journalists, reporting the disturbing story everywhere. People came from all over to see the man Jesus healed, now sitting quietly and acting sane. Then they asked Jesus to go away (Mark 5:14-17). 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, we don’t have your experience with demons. But we see pictures of demonic devastation–war-torn cities where cement buildings are reduced to rubble graveyards of rubble, marked by shattered metal and broken glass, where desperate searchers listen for desperate cries, where ambulances rescue the wounded and retrieve the dead. O Jesus, the demons you confronted still torment our modern graveyards. 

O Jesus, free us from demons that attack our minds and sanity. Free us from demons that drive our society. Free us from demons of war and destruction. 

Allow us, as you did the man you saved, to sit quietly at your feet, clothed and in our right minds. 

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 4, after a busy day of teaching, Jesus and his disciples rowed across a lake. A furious squall nearly swamped the boat, but Jesus? He wasn’t worried. He was snoozing on a cushion in the back of the boat (Mark 4:35-38). 

The disciples woke him and said, “Teacher! Don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38).

Listen again to that question, full of panic and accusation. “Don’t you care if we down?” Always a good idea to ask your friends if they care. Perhaps they quit caring since yesterday. Do you think Jesus’ cared?  

The gospel writers Matthew and Luke don’t like the disciple’s tone, asking Jesus if he cares. So they quote the disciples as saying, “Master, save us. We’re going to drown” (Mat 8:25, Luke 8:24).

Responding to their panic, Jesus woke up and stilled the storm. 

Then he asked, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). 

What a great back and forth. The disciples ask, “Don’t you care?” and Jesus responds, “Don’t you have any faith?” 

This exchange is too prickly for Matthew’s gospel. He softens Jesus’ response to, “O you of little faith, why are you afraid?” And Luke changes Jesus’ reply to the more neutral, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25).

I enjoy the wordplay between the disciples and Jesus. Clearly, the gospel writers struggled to put the right tone and inflection into the disciples’ panic and Jesus’ response. 

And here’s a question for you, if you care. How do you think the story would read if the disciples did have the faith Jesus was looking for? Would faith have kept them rowing helplessly while Jesus slept? Should they have stilled the storm themselves by faith?  

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, like the disciples, we row through a stormy life, feeling swamped. 

We ask, “Do you notice? Do you care? Are you sleeping?” And you reply, “O you of little faith, why are you so afraid?” 

O Jesus here is our little faith. In faith we bring our troubles to you. In faith we say that however abandoned we feel, we believe that you are with us and that you care.  

O Jesus, prince of peace, send us your peace. Still our fears, fix our creaking boat, calm our storms, and guide us to your city of light. 

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 the kingdom of America, Donald Trump, the king-in-waiting, is choosing staff and announcing policies. In Mark 4, Jesus, when he was the king-in-waiting of the kingdom of God,  gave hints about his policy and practices.  

Jesus asks a question:  “If you want light in your house, do you hide your lamp under a basket?” (Mark 4:21). The answer is obvious, but Jesus applied this image in a surprising way when he said, “What’s hidden will be disclosed, and what’s concealed will be seen by everyone” (Mark 4:22). Hmmm. Do you think I want my hidden stuff displayed in public? 

Then Jesus told how things are measured in the kingdom of God. He said, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Mark 4:24). I’ve seen that: stinginess begets stinginess, generosity begets generosity. But Jesus continued, “Whoever has, will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them” (Mark 4:24). Sounds like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Isn’t that a bad thing? 

The next story says the kingdom of God is like wheat seeds scattered on the ground. The farmer ignores the field while day and night the grain grows into a harvest (Mark 4:26-29). I wish my investments grew with that little worry or attention.

Jesus also compared the kingdom of heaven to a tiny mustard seed that grows into a plant large enough to welcome birds (Mark 4:30-32). 

Four stories and four hints about the kingdom of God. I make four observations. 

First, the kingdom of God is like a lamp. If you hide stuff, watch out. Whatever is hidden will be out in the open for all to see. 

Second, with the measure you use it will be measured to you. The kingdom of God rewards generosity. If you give Christ full access to your life, his kingdom will come in full measure. If you’re stingy about giving God access, you will lose out. 

Third, the grain grows while the farmer sleeps. You’re not in control of how God’s kingdom grows in your life. You must receive God’s word, his seed, and wait while he waters and cultivates. 

Fourth, like the tiny mustard seed, the kingdom of God in your life has way more potential than you could ever imagine. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, though we find Jesus’ stories obscure, we thank you for the hints he gives us about how your kingdom will come in our lives, in our church, and in the world. 

Help us receive the kingdom you offer.  
– We invite your light to shine, even in the dark where we hide. 
– We invite your kingdom to come in full measure.
– We invite your seed to grow without our help and supervision. 
– Though your seed is vanishingly small, we invite it to grow until it dominates our lives. 

We pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  

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”.

God created the world in six days. Day 1 he said, “Let there be light.” And things lit up! Day 2 he said, “Let there be sky”, and the sky appeared. Grand new things appeared whenever he spoke.   

In Mark 4, Jesus told a different story about God’s word. 

As a farmer scattered seed, some fell on the path and birds ate it. Some fell on rocky ground where it grew quickly, then quickly withered in the sun. Some fell in a weedy patch, where thorns choked it to death. Some did what seed is supposed to do–it fell on good ground and produced a harvest (Mark 4:1-20). 

This story confused the disciples. What was Jesus getting on about? Jesus explained that the seed is the word of God. Sometimes it falls on poor soil and doesn’t grow properly. Sometimes it falls on good ground and grows into a harvest. Not like God’s word at creation, where every word God spoke produced amazing creative results.

In a class I attended, a student asked, “When we preach the word, why don’t people’s lives change more?” He felt that the good seed he spread should produce a great harvest. 

What is the problem? Would you say, “There’s no problem with the word you preach. Blame the listeners. They are the rocky soil.” 

I think when Jesus was on earth speaking God’s word to the disciples and crowds, he was planting seeds. Small, hidden truths scattered everywhere. Small beginnings, easily lost, easily choked out, easily withered. But for people then and now who receive and live by Jesus’ words, they grow into a wonderful, life-changing harvest.  

Paul tells us that in Christ we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). He said, “God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts” (2 Cor 4:6). 

Jesus’ stories, his words, shine in our hearts and grow in our lives, drawing us into a new creation. 

Let’s pray. 

Our father, in our struggle against sin, we wish you would speak a powerful word to   cleanse our thoughts and heal our diseases and make us saints in one day. 

But your word is a seed in our lives, not a bulldozer. A grain of wheat for us to water and cultivate and protect from weeds.

The psalmist said, “Your word I have hid in my heart” (Ps 119:11). Help us cherish and cultivate what you have sown. Help us to be good soil, where your word grows and produces a harvest. 

Amen. 

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

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube