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March 14 - Mark 6 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it is shown here and it is a new day.
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  It is a Thursday. It's the 14th of March and
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  welcome welcome to another day where you and I on this A
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  chapter, A day Bible reading podcast Get to well Yep, read a
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  chapter of the Bible. How fantastic.
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  And we are continuing to read in the book of Mark.
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  And let us just pay attention for a moment and remember that
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  Mark is not capturing the life of Jesus day by day by day, but
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  he at the end of his life as he reflects on sitting at the feet
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  of the apostles, He wants to put together this argument, put
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  together this convincing portrait of a man so that you as
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  the reader can have full assurance that her Jesus says he
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  is, is in fact the truth. So everything he shows and
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  today, today he shares quite a lot.
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  In chapter 6 we are going to talk about Jesus being rejected,
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  sending out his disciples, the death of John the Baptist,
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  feeding the 5000 and walking on water.
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  There is a lot going on here. And each one of these things
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  Mark shares with us as he builds this case, builds this momentum
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  of overwhelming evidence to say that Jesus is God.
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  It is a glorious document, a glorious letter, a glorious
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  communication from our God to us so that we would know what he is
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  like. How amazing.
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  We do have a gracious God who doesn't just leave it to chance,
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  but captures this man named Mark to write down this story so that
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  you and I today can hear it and know more about him.
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  So let's do that. Let us read together this next
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  chapter. Mark Chapter 6
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  Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his
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  disciples to Nazareth, his hometown, the next Sabbath.
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  He began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard
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  him were amazed. They asked where did he get all
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  this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?
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  Then they scoffed. He's just a Carpenter, the son
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  of Mary and the brother of James.
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  Joseph, Judas and Simon and his sisters live right here among
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  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 turned 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 Antipas, 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 the
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  dead. That is why he can do such
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  miracles. Others said here's the prophet
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  Elijah. Still others said he's a prophet
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  like the other great prophets of the past.
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  When Herod heard about Jesus, he said John, the man I beheaded,
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  has come back from the dead, for Herod had sent soldiers to
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  arrest and imprison John as a favour to Herodias.
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  She had been his brother Philip's wife, but Herod had
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  married her. John had been telling Herod it
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  is against God's law for you to marry your brother's wife.
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  So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill
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  him. But without Herod's approval she
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  was powerless. For Herod respected John, and
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  knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him.
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  Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John,
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  but Even so, he liked to listen to him.
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  Herodias's chance finally came on Herod's birthday.
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  He gave a party for his high government officials, army
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  officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee.
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  Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed
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  a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests.
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  Ask me for anything you like, the king said to the girl.
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  And I will give it to you, he even vowed.
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  I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my Kingdom.
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  She went out and asked her mother What should I ask for?
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  Her mother told her Ask for the head of John the Baptist.
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  Said the girl hurried back to the king and told him I want the
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  head of John the Baptist right now on a tray.
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  Then the king deeply regretted what he had said, but because of
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  his vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn't refuse
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  her. So he immediately sent an
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  executioner to the prison to cut off John's head and bring it to
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  him. The soldier beheaded John in the
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  prison, brought his head on a tray and gave it to the girl,
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  who took it to her mother. When John's disciples heard what
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  had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a
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  tomb. The apostles returned to Jesus
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  from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and
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  taught. Then Jesus said let's go off by
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  ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while.
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  He said this because there were so many people coming and going
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  that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat.
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  Said the left by boat for a quiet place where they could be
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  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 said 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 fish.
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  Then Jesus told the disciples to have 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, looking up toward heaven.
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  He blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into
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  pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could
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  distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for
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  everyone to share. They all ate as much as they
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  wanted, and afterward the disciples picked up 12 baskets
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  of leftover bread and fish. A total of 5000 men and their
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  families were fed. Immediately after this, Jesus
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  insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head
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  across the lake to Bethsaida while he sent the people home.
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  After telling everyone goodbye, he went up into the hills by
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  himself to pray. Late that night the disciples
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  were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone
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  on land. He saw that they were in serious
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  trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and
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  waves. About 3:00 in the morning, Jesus
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  came toward them, walking on the water.
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  He intended to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the
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  water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost.
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  They were all terrified when they saw him, but Jesus spoke to
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  them at once. Don't be afraid, he said.
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  Take courage. I am here.
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  Then he climbed into the boat and the wind stopped.
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  They were totally amazed, but 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 had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret.
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  They brought the boat to shore and climbed out.
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  The people recognise 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
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  marketplaces. They begged to let the sick
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  touch at least a fringe of his robe and all he touched him for
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  healed. Oh Jesus.
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  It's exhausting just reading these accounts of how people
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  just flocked to you. Wherever you went, you are quite
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  something else, and I can just imagine the people just
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  revelling in your company wanting more of you.
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  More time, more love, more miraculous acts, our Lord, as we
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  read when you are exhausted and just need time to yourself to
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  recover. But the crowds won't relent.
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  You're filled with compassion and you teach them and you heal
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  them again and again. Lord, sometimes it's hard to
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  imagine why you continue to bother with us.
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  When we keep on making poor decisions, we keep on acting
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  selfishly. But here we see you with a heart
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  so full of compassion. Lord, help us know that your
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  compassion is for us too. Help us know that we are loved
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  no matter how foolish we are, no matter how many errors we make
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  or how many times our stubborn hearts get in the way of our
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  better intentions. Thank you for your love and your
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  patience, your goodness. When you're mercy, unfailing as
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  it is, we just love you and we thank you that you love us too.
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  That's in your compassionate and loving name that we pray all
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  these things. Ah man.