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March 19 - Mark 6 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's Sean here.
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  It's Thursday, it's the 19th of March, and it's so good to have
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  your company as we continue reading through this phenomenal
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  story that Mark has written for us.
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  And I was chatting with one of my boys and he said, so tell me
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  about the genre of gospel. Where did that word come from?
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  And what other examples are there of gospels?
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  And do you know, friends, the word gospel, the whole genre of
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  gospel was invented specifically for these four books, Matthew,
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  Mark, Luke, and John, because there is nothing else in all of
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  the literary world which is anything like these.
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  These are the stories of the Son of God who changes the face of
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  humanity forever through his life, his death and his
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  resurrection. So it is so exciting.
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  So let us just dive in. This is such a massive chapter
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  with so many incredible hard hitting stories.
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  Let's just dive straight into it.
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  I'm excited. Holy Spirit, open us up.
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  Reveal yourself afresh to us today.
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  All right, friends, let's do it. Let's read together Mark Chapter
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  6. Jesus left that part of the
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  country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his
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  hometown. The next Sabbath, he began
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  teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
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  They asked, where did he get all this wisdom and the power to
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  perform such miracles? Then they scoffed.
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  He's just a Carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of
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  James, Joseph, Judas and Simon and his sisters live right here
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  among us. They were deeply offended and
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  refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them a prophet
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  is honoured everywhere except in his hometown and among his
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  relatives and his own family. And because of their unbelief,
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  he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his
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  hands on a few sick people and heal them.
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  And he was amazed at their unbelief.
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  Then Jesus went from village to village teaching the people, and
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  he called his 12 disciples together and began sending them
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  out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil
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  spirits. He told them to take nothing for
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  their journey except a walking stick.
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  No food, no traveller's bag, no money.
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  He allowed them to wear sandals, but not to take a change of
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  clothes. Wherever you go, he said, stay
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  in the same house until you leave town.
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  But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you,
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  shake its dust from your feet as you leave, to show that you have
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  abandoned those people to their fate.
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  So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to
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  repent of their sins and turn to God.
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  And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people,
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  anointing them with olive oil. Herod Antipus the king soon
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  heard about Jesus because everyone was talking about him.
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  Some were saying this must be John the Baptist, raised from
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  the dead, that is why he can do such miracles.
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  Others said he's the prophet Elijah.
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  Still others said he's a prophet like the other great prophets of
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  the past. When Herod heard about Jesus, he
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  said John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the dead.
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  For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprisoned John as a
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  favoured to Herodias. She had been his brother
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  Philip's wife, but Herod had married her.
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  John had been telling Herod, It is against God's law for you to
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  marry your brother's wife. So Herodias bore a grudge
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  against John and wanted to kill him, but without Herod's
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  approval. She was powerless.
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  For Herod respected John, and knowing that he was a good and
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  holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed
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  whenever he talked with John, but Even so, he liked to listen
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  to him. Herodias's chance finally came
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  on Herod's birthday. He gave a party for his high
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  government officials, army officers, and the leading
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  citizens of Galilee. Then his daughter, also named
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  Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased
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  Herod and his guests. Ask me for anything you like,
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  the king said to the girl, and I will give it to you.
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  He even vowed, I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my
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  Kingdom. She went out and asked her
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  mother What should I ask for? Her mother told her, ask for the
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  head of John the Baptist. So the girl hurried back to the
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  king and told him, I want the head of John the Baptist right
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  now on a tray. Then the King deeply regretted
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  what he had said, but because of the vows he had made in front of
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  his guests, he couldn't refuse her.
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  So he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut
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  off John's head and bring it to him.
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  The soldier beheaded John in the prison, brought his head on a
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  tray and gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother.
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  When John's disciples heard what had happened, they came to get
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  his body and buried it in a tomb.
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  The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and
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  told him all they had done and taught.
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  Then Jesus said, Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and
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  rest awhile. He said this because there were
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  so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles
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  didn't even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet
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  place where they could be alone. But many people recognised them
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  and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along
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  the shore and got there ahead of them.
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  Jesus saw a huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he
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  had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a
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  shepherd. So he began teaching them many
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  things. Late in the afternoon, his
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  disciples came to him and said, this is a remote place and it's
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  already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can
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  go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to
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  eat. But Jesus replied, you feed them
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  with what they asked. We'd have to work for months to
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  earn enough money to buy food for all these people.
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  How much bread do you have? He asked.
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  Go and find out. They came back and reported we
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  have 5 loaves of bread and two fishes.
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  Then Jesus told the disciples to help the people sit down in
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  groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of 50
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  or 100. Jesus took the five loaves and
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  two fish, looked up toward heaven and blessed them.
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  Then breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread
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  to his disciples so they could distribute it to the people.
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  He also divided the fish for everyone to share.
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  They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward the
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  disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover bread and fish.
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  A total of 5000 men and their families were fed.
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  Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that the disciples get
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  back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida
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  while he sent the people home. After telling everyone goodbye,
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  he went up into the hills by himself to pray.
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  Late that night, the disciples were in the boat in the middle
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  of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land.
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  He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and
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  struggling against the wind and waves.
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  About 3:00 in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the
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  water. He intended to go past them, but
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  when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror,
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  thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when
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  they saw him, but Jesus spoke to them at once.
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  Don't be afraid, he said. Take courage, I am here.
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  And he climbed into the boat and the winds stopped.
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  They were totally amazed, for they still didn't understand the
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  significance of the miracle of the loaves.
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  Their hearts were too hard to take it in.
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  After they'd crossed the lake, they landed at Ganasserate.
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  They brought the boat to shore and climbed out.
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  The people recognised Jesus at once, and they ran throughout
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  the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they
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  heard he was, wherever he went, in villages, cities or the
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  countryside, they brought the sick out to the marketplaces.
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  They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his
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  robe, and all who touched him were healed.
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  Jesus, as I read this, I'm just so struck by the fact that you
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  were tirelessly giving, and when you were tired and needed rest,
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  your compassion drove you to keep on loving Jesus.
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  Your heart for us is so big. Not interested in your own
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  needs? You came down giving up your
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  divinity and glory to take on this broken human form, and then
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  through your life, this ceaseless service of others, and
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  then ultimately you gave up everything on that cross for us.
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  You are the God and we ought to be serving you, but here you are
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  serving us. It is a paradox that eternity
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  would not be long enough to ponder, and so we just accept
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  it. We just say thank you.
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  Thank You that against all rational reason and logic, you
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  love us and you serve us. And Lord, I pray that our hearts
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  would just be overflowing with what you have given to us.
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  So the only response we can do is to serve You and each other.
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  You are the greatest and we love You.
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  And we pray all of this in your name, Jesus, Amen.