Mark 7:1-23

1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] 

17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

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In this passage, Jesus is teaching us what hypocrites the Pharisees and teachers of the law were. Jesus and his disciples were casually eating and enjoying their food. When the Pharisees saw them eating with defiled, unwashed hands, they were shocked. During those times, it was a rule to always wash your hands before you eat. It was a tradition that stuck for a long time and it never changed. What Jesus and his disciples were doing is like us touching everything outside during this time of coronavirus, ordering pizza, and just eating it without hand sanitizing or washing our hands with soap. These Pharisees took the law very seriously so you can see their shock.

They asked Jesus why He and his disciples were breaking the rules. Jesus responded saying these teachings are "mere human rules" and that the Pharisees are holding onto these human traditions instead of holding onto God's commands. Jesus couldn't understand how they could be such hypocrites saying that they honor and worship God but their actions don't follow.

We are always trying to follow the trend or the social norms of our generation. We are constantly peer pressured by our neighbors whether it's physically or digitally. If the world tells you to dress a certain way or live like everyone else did, our immediate response would be to just follow. However, if you go against the traditions, suddenly the world thinks you're an outcast.

Being a Christian and following God's commands are hard. It's always going to be hard because this world is full of sin and "haters"- people who really don't know God's meaning of love. Many times, the life of a devout Christian is going to go against those social norms and at times, we will be "outcasts". But who do we have next to us? We have God.

Don't feel like you have to be a follower of this secular world. No one has to follow traditions because they are all made up by the sinful people of this world who seek money, fame, and success (whatever that is). The only thing we should follow is God's commands even though it will be hard. He does promise that we will be gifted with something good in the end.

At the end of the passage, Jesus says, "Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them." Defile means to spoil or degrade. The only way we can spoil ourselves is based on what comes out of our hearts. If we keep thinking of evil thoughts, obviously we are feeding our hearts with sin. Therefore, what we should feed our bodies with is what will make our hearts healthy.

If we are going to follow God, let's not be hypocrites. Let's not feed ourselves with the traditions that the world tells us to follow. The journey of a righteous life will be worth it as long as we keep our hearts healthy. God's commands > mere human traditions

Mark 6:45-56

45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

47 Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

-Mark 6:45-56

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In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of us have been taking walks outside just to keep sane and to ward off cabin fever.  Being stuck indoors for so long is tough.  Now for most of us, it’s just walking around town sans the Tenafly track since it’s closed.

Apparently, that’s not how Jesus “takes a walk.”  In the story, he wants to take a stroll and so he walks on water.  Major Jesus flex.  Also, Jesus is a fast water walker.  Notice how in the story it says Jesus was about to overtake them.  Another major Jesus flex.

What is shocking about this passage for me is not just Jesus walking on water and his speed, but what this story tells us about the hearts of the disciples.  It says this in verses 51-52:

“They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.”

Just before, Jesus’ disciples saw him multiply food and feed over 5,000 people and yet the Bible tells us they’re not getting it.  They’re still iffy about who Jesus is and what’s his purpose here on earth.  Not going to lie, while reading this I got a little judgmental toward the disciples.  I thought, “If I were one of Jesus’ disciples and saw him multiply food and walk on water, I would definitely be the most hardcore believer.”

But then the Holy Spirit humbles me.  I realize that God HAS many times performed near-miracles and provided much-needed blessings at crucial moments in my life and at the time I would be like, “That’s amazing!  I believe!”  But then soon after my memory would fade and my faith would weaken.  I’m just like the disciples.

What I love about this passage is Jesus doesn’t give up on the disciples.  Even though Jesus knew that the disciples have hardened hearts and are still a long way from spiritual maturity, he sticks with them, invests in them, and loves them.

Jesus does the same for me and you.  No matter where you are in your faith, Jesus is still sticking with you, he is still investing in you, and he still loves you.  Sometimes we get caught up in the trap of thinking we’re not growing fast enough spiritually.  Or there’s a habitual sin we just can’t seem to shake and it discourages us.  Remember, Jesus is still with you, my friend!

May the truth of God’s faithfulness to us be a source of comfort and strength for you today.

Mark 6:30-44

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

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The disciples had already spent a long day with Jesus. They finally sought to get away from the crowds to rest a little bit, but things didn't go as they desired.

The disciples — desperately wanting some "alone time" — urged Jesus to send the crowds away to get food. But instead of sending the crowds away, Jesus surprised them by giving them more work to do:

“You give them something to eat,” He said.

I imagine the disciples then said something like, "What???!!! But we're tired! We've been with the people all day! Can we just rest, Jesus? PLEASE!"

But fortunately for them, they followed their Teacher's command, and started scrounging up food from the crowd... a measly five loaves of bread and two fish.

But this is where the fun starts... Jesus gives thanks for the scraps of food and amazingly is able to feed everyone... all 5,000 and then some!

I know there have been times that I — like the disciples — just wanted to "chill" and take it easy, thinking I had already "done my part" so I could finally watch Netflix or play video games or listen to music or _________ (fill in the blank). First of all, it's totally fine to relax. God wants us to rest, and we do need to rest on a regular basis.

But there are also times when God still has tasks for us... Did you spend time with Him today? Did you say that prayer before you went to sleep? Did you apologize to that person you were supposed to say sorry to? Did you do that chore your parents wanted you to do? Did you talk to that classmate who everyone else avoids? 

If we neglect what God wants us to do, we miss the miracle He has waiting for us. 

The disciples were eyewitnesses to the work of God when the Lord fed 5,000+ people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. What amazing things will God reveal to you when you do as He asks? 

Mark 6:21-29

21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

-Mark 6:21-29

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It’s great to learn more about Jesus and about Christianity, but ultimately you need to make a decision about him.  Is Jesus God and worthy of your obedience or is the cost of following him just too high for you?

Yesterday we mentioned that King Herod didn’t like getting rebuked by John the Baptiser for sleeping with his sister-in-law.  Talk about breaking the bro code.  He was sleeping with his literal brother’s wife.  BUT, he respected John and John’s message about God.

Herodias, Herod’s sister-in-law and lover, didn’t like John rebuking them so she came out with this plan of forcing Herod to murder John.  It worked, she used Herod’s pride and his love of image against him.

Herodias made her daughter request John’s murder at a party filled with important people.  If Herod refused, his pride and his image would have been damaged.  He had a choice to make.  Either refuse the request at considerable cost to his social status or kill John the violation of his conscience and his curiosity about God.

Herod chose the latter.  His pride and his image were more important to him than God’s truth.  For Herod, the cost of believing John’s message was too high.

There will always be a cost to following Jesus.  Many costs in fact—not just to our pride and image, but financially, materially, and socially.  But when we do follow Jesus, the blessings of knowing him far outweigh anything this world can offer.  

Would we call someone stupid for giving up a broken-down bicycle for a brand new Ferrari?  And even this material analogy doesn’t do our spiritual reality justice.  When we bare the cost of following Jesus, we’re simply giving up things of insignificance compared to the full weight of the glory of God.  Do we even dare call what we give up a sacrifice?

Mark 6:14-20

14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

-Mark 6:14-20

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There is a sweetness to the Gospel—the story and teachings of God—even to the person that seem farthest from God.  

King Herod obviously did not care much for morality if he wanted to steal his brother’s wife.  Just a heads up, many scholars believe that his brother’s wife was King Herod’s niece.  Just let it sink in how messed up this all is.  King Herod wanted to commit adultery with his niece.

And while there aren’t many historical accounts of King Herod’s exploits, we know that as a pawn of the Roman empire, King Herod probably had to enact much cruelty to secure his power and protect his authority.  He wasn’t a good guy to say the least.

YET, there was something that intrigued him about John the Baptizer.  John was talking about repentance and the Kingdom of God and those topics touched Herod’s heart in some way.  It says here in Scripture that “Herod feared John and protected him.”  It’s weird to fear and protect someone you’ve put in prison.  What Herod feared was the truth to what John was sharing.

Because we’re all made in the image of God, there’s something with the truth of the Gospel that resonates with each of us, even those who seem far from God.  Don’t ever underestimate people’s desire for the truth.

Right now maybe there’s a King Herod type person in your life who just seems so far from God.  Would you start praying for this person?  Would you ask God to open doors so that you may gently and tactfully share God’s love for them?  You might be surprised that similar to King Herod, they’re going to like hearing about God.

Mark 6:6-12

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

-Mark 6:6-12

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There are no lone rangers in Christianity.  Notice how when Jesus sent his disciples out he did it in pairs.  He didn’t just send someone by their lonesome self to the mission field to do God’s work.  In fact, in this particular case, Jesus asked his disciples to NOT take things with them to demonstrate how God will provide from them along the way.  The ONLY thing he told them to take was each other.  That’s a pretty powerful endorsement for the importance of community.

Our Western culture have become hyper-individualized.  We’re the most individualistic culture the world has ever seen.  We have the “It’s about me” mentality—it’s all about how I can be independent and not depend on anyone else mentality.  Unfortunately, we’ve brought this thinking into Christianity as well.

With time as an AYL leader, I have heard quite a few kids say, “I don’t really need church.  I’m just focusing on my own relationship with God.”  That’s an oxymoron.  No one can focus on their own relationship with God without a community of believers surrounding them and supporting them.

Are you practicing a lone ranger mentality when it comes to your faith?  Get plugged into your local church.  Get involved with your youth group.  Get involved with Christian groups like Harvesters and AYL.  We need one another to help each other grow in our faith, especially in though times like the ones we’re going through right now.

Mark 6:1-6

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

-Mark 6:1-6

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Don’t let your preconceived notions of Jesus keep you away from him.  Our society and pop culture have not been kind in the way they present Christianity.  And for many of us that’s where we learn about Christianity—TV shows, movies, the news.  Our society teaches us that Christianity is narrow-minded, backwards, antiquated, and bigoted.

In Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off hit, the singer addresses being misunderstood without being known in her lyrics: “That’s what people say.  That’s what people say.”   She’s making the point that people stay stuff about her without really knowing her.  In the same way, a lot of people say stuff about Jesus without knowing Jesus.

Some of us might have even experienced this ourselves.  Have you ever felt judged by someone who might have never even ever spoken with you or engage you in conversation?   They already made up their minds about you without bothering to get to know you.

Quite a few of you have shared with me how you get frustrated with your friends from school when they judge Harvesters or AYL without ever coming to a single meeting.  They have preconceive notions and stereotypes about Harvesters and AYL without checking it out for themselves.

That’s what’s happening here with Jesus in his hometown.  The people had these preconceived notions about Jesus—“Isn’t he just a carpenter? Don’t we already know his family?”—and they already made up their minds about who Jesus is without actually engaging with Jesus.

Maybe you have some negative preconceived notions about Jesus or about Christianity.  Before just accepting them, would you consider engaging Jesus first before making a final opinion about him?  

Reading this devotional and reading words that Jesus actually said is a great start!

Mark 5:35-43

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. -Mark 5:35-43

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Jesus was on a healing streak.  At this point he just healed the bleeding woman who we talked about yesterday.  Today, he’s raising a girl up from the dead!

What an appropriate passage for us all today.  Last night, if you checked the AYL Instagram feed, you’ll see that one of our friends Migo have lost his stepdad to COVID-19.  If you read the GoFundMe page for Froilan Magallanes you’ll see that it’s filled with religious imagery of Migo’s stepdad now being united forever with God.

This is what this passage is about.  Jesus has power over death itself!  This miracle act was pointing to the even bigger miracle act that Jesus would perform by his death and resurrection—through Jesus’ sacrifice, we now have an ETERNAL resurrection. 

This little girl who was resurrected, you know she did die again.  This resurrection story is a story of a temporary resurrection.  We don’t know when she died again, but we know she did because she’s not alive today obviously.  Her temporary resurrection is but a foretaste of the eternal resurrection we have in Christ when we belong to him.

I know that 2020 has forced us to confront death in a way that many of us have never had to do. Only a few months ago we as a nation was just reeling from Kobe Bryant’s passing and now we’re dealing it with on a much more personal level with COVID-19 and our loved ones.  

As we’re faced with the sting of death in our lives and in our society, may we as believers continue to remember the eternal resurrection promised to us by Jesus.  May it gives us hope and may it compels us to share this hope with others who need it.

If you’re interested in helping support Migo’s family during this difficult time, I’ve included the GoFundMe page in the link below:

GoFundMe for Migo's stepdad

Mark 5:21-32

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

-Mark 5:21-32

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Jesus doesn’t just want to fix our problems, he wants us.  Let that sink in for a second.

In this passage Jesus was asked to heal a little girl.  On the way to help the girl, a random sick lady comes up to him and touches him and gets healed.  This is my favorite part.  Jesus stops what’s he’s doing.  Why does he stop?

If I were Jesus, I’d be like, “That was the easiest healing ever.  Super efficient.  I don’t have to do anything. This lady just touched my cloak and bam she’s healed.  Let me keep going to heal this little girl.”  But Jesus is not like me.  He stops.

Jesus stops and finds this lady who just got healed via his cloak.  And it wasn’t easy.  He had to look for her because there was a crowd.  It wasn’t easy because even his disciples were impatient about it and was low-key trying to get Jesus to keep moving.  Here’s my second favorite part: “But Jesus kept looking.”

He never gives up looking and finds her.  He engages her in conversation and begins a friendship with her.  For Jesus, it wasn’t just about healing her, it was about knowing her and having her know him.

What Jesus did two thousand years ago, he still does today.  Jesus stops for us.  He keeps looking for us and doesn’t stop until we are found.  Yes, he heals us, but more importantly, he wants to know us and wants us to be known by Him.

May this passage help you to understand that you’re extravagantly loved by the Lord of the Universe.