Jody's Devotionals

10When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve began to ask him about the parables. 11And he told them, “The mystery of the kingdom of heaven is given to you, but to those on the outside everything comes in parables, 12so that
They might look, but they won’t see,
They might try to hear, but they won’t comprehend,
Lest they should turn back to God, and he would forgive them.”
13Then he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How can you understand all the parables?”  — Mark 4:10-13 (TFBV)

We make a lot of assumptions about what Jesus would do or say about a particular situation, but one that I rarely hear is this:  Perhaps Jesus would like you to do some serious thinking and work it out for yourself.

Now I’m not telling you to abandon all of your principles and start from scratch, or to ignore God’s clear revelation, but often things are not that clear.

Jesus often didn’t answer the question that people asked.  Do you remember the story of the Good Samaritan?  You can find it in Luke 10:25-37.  The lawyer asked Jesus how he could identify his neighbor.  I suspect Jesus didn’t think that was a very good question!  The question Jesus actually answered was:  Who behaves like a neighbor?

Do you hear some of Jesus’ disappointment in Mark 4:13 when he asks, “Do you not understand this parable?”  He has just told them that the mystery of the kingdom belongs to them.  This is something they should be able to understand, yet he has to explain it to them.  We modern students tend to go straight to the explanation that Jesus gave, but I don’t think that was all that Jesus intended the disciples—or us—to do.

Verse 12 is troubling to many people. Why would Jesus intentionally talk to people in a way that they could not understand?  Why would he not want to make the message clear?  Surely if he just gave people all of the facts, they would understand and turn to the right.

But the problem with the disciples, with the larger audience, and with us is that Jesus has different goals than we do!  We would like to get a list of the facts, so we could follow along easily.  Jesus wants to transform our hearts so we’ll be his type of people.  We want the answers handed to us.  Jesus wants us to learn how to understand the answers.

Jesus wants to change us into a different type of people:  Kingdom people.  To do that requires more than knowing stuff.  It requires more than information.  It requires commitment.  It requires determination.  It requires faithfulness.  It requires action.

Jesus could tell you everything about tomorrow.  He could provide you with the best answer to every question.  He could keep you from having any moments of doubt and uncertainty.  At the same time he would prevent you from ever becoming the joyful, committed, mature follower that he’d like you to be.

For those who are concerned with the last phrase of verse 12, “Lest they should turn back to God . . .” let me just say that I hear a bit of irony there.  In Isaiah 6:9-10 from which Jesus is quoting, these verses tell us that God chose to speak to Israel through folks whose language they could not understand, because they had refused to understand when God spoke to them plainly.  God’s choice of ways to communicate can be seen as turning people aside as they are offended.  Did God cause the fear of the Israelites when he commanded them not to touch the mountain (Exodus 19), and came down with thunder and lightning?  Certainly, he brought out their fear.  In that sense you could say that God made them afraid.  But if God had chosen to come gently, the fear would still have been there and would never be overcome.

If Jesus had taught the crowds directly and plainly at all times, they might well of understood what he was saying, but would that have made them disciples?  No!  There is no shortcut to discipleship.  Part of that process is getting the word inside you, welcoming it, and letting it grow, all of which takes time and effort.

He went out from there and came to his home country, and his disciples followed him. 2And when it was Sabbath, he began to preach in the synagogue, and many were amazed when they heard him. They said, “Where did this guy get these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to him, and the these miracles that happen through his hands? 3Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Justus and Jude and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended by him. 4And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his relatives and in his household.” 5And he wasn’t able to perform any miracles except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed because of their unbelief. Then he traveled in the surrounding villages teaching. — Mark 6:1-6 (HN)

Do you have a really firm idea of how a respectable God will behave and who he can work with?

Think about it for a moment!  It sounds odd when I put it so directly, but have you never wished that God would do things in a more respectable way?  Have you never encountered someone else who thought that?

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were offended that God had chosen one person to lead and one family to be priests (Numbers 16).  God just wasn’t respectable enough for them.  A respectable God would have chosen pillars of the community, like them!

Balaam was offended that God spoke through his donkey (Numbers 22).  A respectable God would have sent an angel that was visible to the human prophet.

The king of Israel was offended because Amos came from Judah, and wasn’t trained as a prophet.  A respectable God would have found a better person.

Jesus was born of a virgin, in a small town, to a relatively poor family, in Galilee, which just wasn’t a respectable territory.  Now we believe in the virgin birth, but imagine what the opponents of Jesus thought about it?  Do you note that they mention his mother, his brothers, and even his sisters, but not his father?  A respectable God would have made sure that Joseph and Mary were married before Jesus was conceived, even if it was going to be a virgin birth.

Jesus died on the cross.  A respectable God would have arranged a better death, assuming he had to die at all.  It just wasn’t nice!

Is God respectable enough for you?

Will you listen if he talks to you through a child?  Will you listen if his message comes through a homeless person?  Can you still hear him if the music isn’t up to your standards?  Can you hear his voice if your pastor’s grammar isn’t perfect?  Are you open to correction by the young person that you know has led a sinful life?  Can you hear his voice through the mouth of another person in your church even if you changed their diapers when they were young?

Is God respectable enough for you?

14King Herod heard, because Jesus was becoming famous. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that’s why these powers are working in him.” 15But others were saying, “It’s Elijah!” and others were saying, “A prophet like one of the prophets.” 16But Herod said, “The one I beheaded, John, it’s him, raised from the dead.” — Mark 6:14-16 (HN)

When we see something new, we try to fit it into a familiar pattern.  It’s a normal human reaction.  In fact, it’s one of the ways in which we learn language.  You see one tree, and you learn it’s a tree.  Over time, you see many trees, and you get an idea of the boundaries of the category tree. Some time later you might be traveling and see a tree fern.  It would have many of the characteristics of a tree, but if you study deeper, you would find that it’s not really a tree at all, that it’s relatives in the plant family are somewhat more distant.

We carry that natural tendency into spiritual things.  Whenever we see something happen, we want to put it into a category of things that we’ve seen before, that we understand.  Why?  It’s comforting!  People discuss labels a lot, and many are quite uncomfortable with them.  Is someone conservative, moderate, liberal?  Are they charismatic, pentecostal, or cessationist?  We talk about the dangers of labels, and yet we continue to label people.

It’s an ingrained habit.  You’ve been doing it since before you can remember.  It makes sense of the world.  It allows you to deal with things that individually might be overwhelming.

The people of Galilee were putting Jesus into a comforting category.  Did you notice Herod’s response?  He had every reason to hope that John the Baptist had not risen from the dead.  He had killed John.  But it’s still easier for him to accept that John has come back from the dead than to look at the possibility that this is something new and different, something for which you just don’t have a good category.

The people also want something comfortable and manageable.  Oh, he’s Elijah come back.  That’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?  But they were missing the possibility of something new.  Others thought Jesus must be a prophet, like one of the other prophets.  That’s still a comfortable category.

But while all these people were doing the natural thing and fitting Jesus into a known category, they were missing the new thing that had come up.  Their familiar categories that had made the world safe and manageable were keeping them from seeing what was really going on.

I’m not going to suggest you quit fitting things into categories. That’s a basic function of thinking.  But I am going to suggest being alert for new things, both physical and spiritual.

When a friend comes to you excited about a new experience, don’t just say, “I’ve seen lots of things like that before.” Consider the possibility that there’s really something new.  You’ll encourage your friend, and you may just open yourself to a new experience.

When something new happens in your church, don’t be too quick to fit it into the existing categories.  Let it be what it is.  Look twice or three times to see what God is doing in that specific instance.

Don’t be afraid of the new.  Test, yes.  But don’t just test to see if it’s familiar and reject it if it isn’t.  Test to see if it’s God moving, and try to recognize something new.