Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Mark 1:21-22


Passage

Jesus and His newly acquired disciples went to Capernaum.  On the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach.  The people in Capernaum were astonished at Him because He taught as someone who had authority rather than as the scribes taught.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

On the Sabbath, Jesus went to church (I know, I know.  Synagogue doesn’t necessarily equal church).  But really, think about it for a second.  Does Jesus need to go to church?  Isn’t He God?  Doesn’t church kind of follow Him around?  Jesus goes to church to demonstrate two principles to those who would follow Him.  First, regardless of who you are, worshipping God is a necessary part of a truly godly life and the main reason to go to church.  Second, being in the habit of having a spiritual community and having the opportunity to talk about one’s faith is an important thing.

Why do you go to church?  How often do you go to church?  Do you ever see going to worship God as a sign of obedience to Him?  Does it make you feel good to know that when you go to worship God you are mimicking Jesus?

Second Thought:

Jesus not only goes to church, but while He is there He teaches.  Okay, I get it.  He is the Son of God.  He probably has a few things to say and He’s got confidence in abundance.  We don’t always have those two qualities.  Yet, we should realize that going to worship God should not be a passive thing.  We should not always go to “receive.”  We should go to participate.  We should lift up our gifts and use them in the worship of God.  We should be an active voice that proclaims our relationship with God to others – even in church.

Are you passive about proclaiming your faith when you go to worship God?  What makes it easy to be passive?  When you focus only on receiving from God, what might you be missing out on?

Third Thought:

The people of Capernaum were astonished.  First, they were probably astonished because Jesus actually did have a public faith.  Testimonies of public faith are hard to come by in any day.  Second, and more importantly, they were astonished because Jesus taught as one with authority.  He taught with authority because He spoke the words of God.  He taught with authority because He was in tune with what God was doing through Him.  He taught with authority because He believed in God’s plan.

What is God’s plan for you?  Why is it hard to live with authority if you don’t know what God is trying to do through you?  Who in your life teaches with authority?  What can you learn from their example?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 1:23-26

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