Mark #3 - Healing In-Laws & Exorcisms

Mark 1:29-39 (NIV)

On Saturday morning my wife made pancakes. The instructions say to take two bowls—the first for the dry ingredients and the second for the wet. You make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in, mixing slowly until it’s all one thing. Strangely, it reminded me of where we’re at in Mark’s gospel. As Jesus arrives on the scene and begins to speak truth to the religious folks and cast out demons, heaven is kind of being poured and mixed into earth. The kingdom of God is working its way into the world, usurping and displacing the kingdoms of darkness. But for a few minutes, let’s try to take off our Western Enlightenment lenses.

Jesus miraculous signs aren’t supernatural strictly speaking, their indeed more natural than the world we know. The point is that it’s actually quite unnatural for heaven and earth to be separate planes, Jesus is setting things right.

As you listen to the passage today (and throughout this series), look for that overlap. Use your imagination to put your feet on the ground, so to speak. What do you see? Hear? Smell? Taste? Feel? How is the reign of a different kingdom working its way into those places?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What details brought the passage to life for you? What stood out?
   
2. Apparently even Jesus needed some “introvert time” with his Father. In what ways do you need to find that space for yourself? In what ways do you need to be sensitive to helping others have that kind of space?
   
3. Take a minute to think back over 2020. We know it was rough. But in all the chaos, fear and uprooting of our lives, where did you see God at work?
   

----------GO DEEPER----------

Bible Project: Mark Overview >>

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Bible Project: Gospel of the Kingdom >>

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