Too Old to Spank

Remember, as you read through the Gospels, put yourself in the story. Yesterday's reading schedule was Mark 1 and Luke 2.

Did anyone else have the feeling or thought "I would have spanked him for being gone three days, after finding out he was o.k. and calling off the Amber Alert"? Well, Jesus would have been too old to spank, but I'm sure his Mom and Dad were not happy campers! I wonder if they "grounded" kids during that point in history?

Here are some other thoughts I had concerning the passages (hopefully a little more spiritual).

• God is always at work, but much of the time it is hidden.
• When the glory of God shows up, there is genuine fear, not shouts of "hallelujah". God is not nearly as interested in us "glowing" with His glory as He is in us walking in grace in truth. We tend to want to "glow in the dark". God desires for us to demonstrate His grace and truth to people on the prairie.
  
• Jesus cried when he was circumcised. He was fully human, you know.
• The New Living Translation reads, "Simeon... eagerly expected Messiah to come and rescue Israel." Simeon got it right, but he got it wrong. Have you ever gotten it right yet wrong? He anticipated Messiah's coming, but he also expected Messiah to overthrow the Romans. He was wrong, but he was right.
• Notice: the nations were in the heart of the Spirit.
  

From Mark one I was struck again with the baptism of Jesus, considering He was sinless and that the multitudes were baptized by John following the confession of their sins. Some additional thoughts are:

• Jesus made an announcement: "The Kingdom of God is near." The message of Jesus was the message of the Kingdom of which He is King.
• Would you just up and leave your business at the invitation to follow a man you did not know? Amazing!
• The church-going-crowd was not amazed that there were demons; they were amazed at the authority of this teacher named Jesus.
• The leprous man said, "If you want to, you can make me well again." And Jesus continues to reply today, "I want to."

Tomorrow I will be commenting on Matthew 3 and Luke 3, the readings for today.

May the Father say of us, "I am fully pleased with you."

PrairieParson
JB