Mark 5 & 6

***Mark 5***

What about the poor pigs? 2,000 pigs run into the lake and are drowned. I wonder if PETA would have a problem with Jesus. More importantly than the pigs, what about the guy who owned the pigs, the guy that bought those pigs with the hope to make a living. His whole livelihood went into the lake and was drowned. No wonder the people of the region wanted Jesus to leave.

It's a great story of good versus evil. Jesus encounters a legion of demons, thousands vs. 1... and Jesus wins. Jesus wins, evil loses, the man wins his freedom, the pigs lose their lives, and somewhere in town a man loses his investment. The interesting part of the story is that the demons ask to go into the pigs, Jesus could have sent them straight back to hell, but he allows them to go into the pigs.

Jesus has a list of priorities that rule his life. I don't think that earthly wealth is near the top of his list. I don't think he wanted it himself and I don't think he ever thought about it for others. Instead, I think that love and compassion were at the top of his list... even when it came to demons. Jesus must have know how terrible a place hell is, and he showed compassion on the demons. He didn't allow them to enter into another human, but they could enter into the pigs.

If Jesus had compassion for these demons, imagine the compassion he has for you and I. He sacrificed pigs for demons, he sacrificed himself for us.

***Mark 6***

Wow Mark moves fast! Chapter 6 is loaded with important stories. John the Baptist beheaded as a party favor (apparently they didn't play charades back then), the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water. But what stands out to me is verses 5 and 6. He was unable to perform miracles because of their lack of faith.

These people know Jesus. The have watched him grow up, they know that he makes furniture. They refer to him as the son of Mary... not the son of Joseph, they may not have known that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but they know he isn't Joseph's son. And now, the kid from down the block has come back claiming to be a prophet. (I guess Jesus thought they were more likely to believe he was a prophet than they were to believe he was the Messiah)

Their lack of faith should not be a surprise. But what is a surprise... Jesus could not perform miracles because of their lack of faith.

It's easy to argue that if we want God to perform a miracle, we just have to believe that God can and will do it. I've even heard churchy people say that if God isn't healing you it's because you don't have enough faith. Bologna!

Truth is, God heals some people and not others, that we can not control. What we can control is our relationship with God. We shouldn't wait until we get sick to start asking if we have enough faith... we can pray for more faith right now, and everyday for the rest of our lives.

And who knows, maybe God will do something amazing for us, or through us.