BIAY Day 22 - Personal Confession
Mark 7-9, Psalm 18:25-50
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Reading the Bible in a year (or a good portion of it—if this pace is tough for you during this season, consider reading just one chapter from the selections for the day) moves pretty quickly, but Mark’s Gospel itself moves quickly. It is short (only 16 chapters) and is action oriented. Jesus teaches and speaks, yes, but less than in the other Gospels. Chapter 8 is the halfway point but numerically in terms of the chapters, but also literarily. Here are just a few thoughts. There’s too much to do it all justice, but we’re going for the grand sweep right now and the nitty-gritty at a different time.
Hypocrites (7:1-23) - Jesus calls the Pharisees and teachers of the law out by quoting the prophet Isaiah. It’s a tough word and a good wake up call for all of us: “He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (emphasis mine) Whew. Stout. That’s the last thing I’d want Jesus to say about me.
Yeast and Confused Disciples (8:14-21) - Jesus feeds the 4000 (fed 5000 already) and the Pharisees ask for a sign—as if He isn’t putting on a show of signs already! But I love how dense the disciples are in verse 16. Jesus warns them to beware the yeast of the Pharisees. A small amount of yeast impacts the whole dough causing it to rise. In the same way, the “yeast of the Pharisees,” their teaching and mindset, could have a massive influence if spread among Jesus’ disciples. But the disciples think He’s talking about bread. I imagine Jesus just doing a face-palm at moments like these.
Who do you say I am? (8:27-30) - This is a turning point in Mark’s Gospel. Jesus asks the disciples about the rumor mill—“Who do people say I am?” After their replies, He turns the question onto them: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Peter answers correctly, “You are the Messiah.” A huge takeaway from this story (characteristically brief in Mark, longer in Matthew and Luke) is this. It isn’t enough simply to consider who other people think Jesus is. We must each answer the question for ourselves. That’s what it means to have a personal faith.
“Help me overcome my unbelief!” (9:24) - Yet another person possessed by an evil spirit, this time a young boy. It’s a heartbreaking scene. A suffering child, a distraught father, unsuccessful disciples who have tried their best. Jesus seems frustrated with their lack of belief. Then the father offers a candid confession, one that has resonance with all of us probably: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Many of us are a mixture of belief and unbelief. How wonderful that we have permission (1) to name it honestly, and (2) to offer it to Jesus.
Questions:
Who do you say that Jesus is?
Does the man’s mixture of belief and unbelief resonate with you? In what way?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you keep my lamp burning and turn my darkness into light. Keep me trusting in you. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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Love the term, “face palm” ……we just don’t get it!