February 1, 2015

Mk 1:21-28

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him. And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

Have you ever seen someone possessed with an unclean spirit? Me, I haven't, not directly of course, but through media (news reports, movies, etc.) What do you feel when you see such situations? For me, it's terrifying or should I say, bloodcurdling. It's an unexplainable feeling that makes you ask yourself why it happens to such individuals. Is it because, they do not pray, or they lack faith, or are they just easily tempted by evil? There are a lot of speculations regarding possessions of a man's body, but I cannot linger much on this topic because the Bible has far more interesting things to share to us. It is the fact that we have authority over the devil.

In this article, Jesus met a man possessed with an unclean spirit, if we understand this verse deeply and we apply it in the situations today, we can compare people possessed with unclean spirit to those who are easily tempted, easily angered, those who abuse their children and those who have vices like alcohol drinking, taking prohibited drugs (excessive vices, in particular, without question are unscrupulous way of treating the body given by God). So if this situation does come to us, how do we authorize evil to get out of our body and forever leave us? God's words have driven away the unclean spirit from the man's body. Why do His words matter? Why His words do deeply stab into our heart? It's because of the Truth behind His every word. If we learn to become truthful in every word we say, if all we say are words that come from the heart that was the only key in driving away this unclean spirit. It's the authority that Jesus teaches us in this particular verse. It is learning to be truthful in everything you say and do.

The Bible has a lot of lessons that we could ponder upon, yes, it is written many years ago, but it is the only book that can never be classified as outdated because this Book of Life also is one of the keys in driving away all forms of fear and doubt that you will encounter in your everyday life. A priest once said, "The evil thing always surrounds us. Even here in the church, you can be tempted by them. So you should always be protected, have faith in Him and overcome your every fear."

Away, Away, unclean spirit

I won't give you any merit

For I'll make prayer as a habit

You will leave, I'm sure about it

God has given authority

Take over fear successfully

Yes, it was done with difficulty

But never doubt, you can be a winner surely.

Mark 1: 14-20

Follow Jesus Like the Four Disciples

"After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come  after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they left their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him."

The book of Mark has always been like the "Manual of the Warrior of Light" written by Paulo Coelho. Mark teaches the people of the characters of being a disciple of God like the four people in the gospel for the week. Last gospel we learned that if we desire the Kingdom of the Father, we should be like a child. We should have childlike humility, the humble dependence to our mother and expression of your vulnerability. Humility is not a weakness that would discourage you to move forward. It is a tool that we needed to acquire to reach Him. In this gospel, it teaches us to the way of salvation. It is through repentance and belief to His words. Repent is to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life. It's not a simple act of asking for forgiveness. In repenting, you were not supposed to repeat that same mistake or sin and in order to that you should change your current direction. Like right now, you are going towards North, if you repent, you should turn and lead toward South. I believe that changing your perception or view of things would give you new foundation, and new understanding. That's what repentance could do for you. However, not only repent, you should have the faith, the full trust and belief to the gospel of the Lord. Why miracles happen? Miracles do happen for a reason; it's because you believe.  That's  also the reason why Simon, Andrew, James and John followed Jesus, when He said, "Come, after me," it's all because they all believe in the gospel.  What do you think is our similarity with these disciples? Our similarity is that we are all called to come after Him and become fishers of men. They catch men through the use of the gospels. The gospels are not there just for reading or speculating the life of God, it is something we should understand and cherish. I think right now, I am doing it, I'm sharing His words to people who can read this article. How about you? Are we doing the same thing? 

Repent and have faith to achieve salvation

Closeness to the Father brings the joy of transfiguration

Be a missionary, be a teacher to your nation

Like a shepherd doing evangelization

Come join me, he said

Leave you work: instead

Help me, let's share what He preached

To all the people you could reach

Mark 10:13-16 (January 18, 2015, 8:14 pm)

Blessing the Children

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. 

Children are considered the wealth of a nation. To them, we leave all the things we have accumulated, collected and treasured- they are our successors. Now, their opinions and views are very important, and there are times that their declarations enlightened and opened our minds to certain things we have probably neglected due to its simplicity.

However, children in this verse were disregarded. Why is that the disciples rebuked the people who brought them? Nowadays, children, as I have said earlier have a special position in the society, their opinions can be voiced out publicly, unlike in the time of Jesus were children as I would like to quote "children were to be seen but not to be heard in public". Since children in those years were like ornaments for their parents, the disciples probably think that allowing the children to be touched by the Lord would interrupt His works, that they are just mere children, insignificant to the eyes of the adults. However, this attitude of the disciples angered Jesus. Why? In the ancient times, giving attention and seeking the children is very uncommon, but the Lord publicly cares for the children. Not only cared but also blessed and considered them as living model for the people who have the desire to reach the Kingdom of the Lord.

In this verse, I would like to emphasize "indignant", meaning "feeling or showing anger because of something that is unfair or wrong." Jesus was very indignant towards the actions committed by his disciples because He has always said that there is no one who is insignificant to the eyes of the Father. Everyone has a place in His heart, everyone has a story to share, especially the children. As what is written in Mt. 18:1-5:

Who is the greatest?

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever, receives one little child like this in My name receives Me."

Here enters the role of children as a model of humility - childlike humility, in particular. The Lord wanted to remind us that we have to become like a child, not becoming childish. It's not about the age, you see, it is about the virtues and the attitudes we have, we have to be childlike. What do we mean by becoming childlike? It's an act of humble dependence to your Master, showing vulnerability and abundant faithfulness-an expression of humility.

Many people mistake humility for weakness and I am one of those many people. For I always thought that stepping down or being last is an act of a loser, but now I understand that begging or being in the receiving end, is not bad at all. Others said you will only learn complete humble dependence when you are in grave danger, or when you have acquired an illness, and or when you have nowhere to go because I think it applies for me. I learned humble dependence during those times of inner darkness. When loneliness and regret corrupted all your happy memories that is when you really needed humility. However, humility is a hard virtue to attain, that's why we have the children as our models. Learn to have childlike humility for in this lifetime, that's the most important aim.

I sing to thee

Entrust me, childlike humility

I look up to you, and you uncover the child in me

Your Kingdom, Lord, it's where I want to be

I pray to you

For I wish mercy and compassion too

I know you'll listen, I know you'll do

For there is no one who is insignificant to you