reading for: 27 JANUARY

Mark 1:21–28

Christ has Authority over Controlling Spirits

• READ

In the Gospels, we often see Jesus healing the sick or exorcising demons and we usually think of these actions as signs of Jesus’ compassion for the people with diseases or as proofs that Jesus is God’s Son. However, the Gospel writers treat Jesus’ miracles as acts that raise questions about who he is and whose power he employs. In this first miracle in the Gospel of Mark, we see an excellent illustration of this understanding of miracle. 

The man who is afflicted with the unclean spirit is really not the focus of the story. Nothing is said about the man himself, his background, his faith, except that he was afflicted with an unclean spirit. Jesus’ conversation is with the evil spirit, and Jesus’ action is on the evil spirit. After the exorcism, the man is not even mentioned. Jesus is teaching, he casts out the unclean spirit that presents itself, and the final report returns to the issue of Jesus’ authoritative teaching. 

When the story opens, Jesus enters the synagogue in Capernaum, where his teaching amazes people because he teaches “as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (1:22). The contrast between Jesus and the scribes is important for us to note, since the scribes were regarded as important and knowledgeable teachers in the Jewish community. 

When Mark says that Jesus’ teaching has “authority,” then, he means something more than its credibility or reliability. He means the ability to command and require obedience. 

The unclean spirit bursts into the synagogue and confronts Jesus with a challenge “Have you come to destroy us?” and with a title “the Holy One of God”(v24). As in other parts of Mark’s gospel, unclean spirits and others who are outside the religious power structure recognize who Jesus is, while those who might be expected to know Jesus do not. Despite this display of knowledge on the spirit’s part, it obeys Jesus’ rebuke. 

Most miracle stories, including exorcisms, conclude with a demonstration of the effectiveness of the cure and the response of those who have observed it. However, here the demonstration drops out altogether and the response that comes from bystanders is a curious one: “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 

Jesus’ power over the unclean spirits reinforces the earlier judgment that his teaching is authoritative. The story climaxes in the question “What is this?”(v27) and this leads us to ask a more profound question: “Who is this?” Who is this man? What is the source of his power? What do these events mean? 

• REFLECT

  Today’s demons (controlling spirits) are just as destructive, deceptive & distractive as those in the days of Jesus. They draw out from our sinful nature fear, oppression, disorientation, corrosion, numbness, pride, envy, deceit, greed, gluttony, shamelessness, laziness and rage in us. They tempt us with an ungodly drive for perfection, helping others, efficiency, authenticity, knowledge, security, ideals, justice that we try to attain apart from God. They try to make us believe that we have the right and authority to pursue all these good things without God’s involvement and direction. Only Jesus has the authority over these deceptive spirits. As we abide in Him, and surrender ourselves to him, He comes to destroy them all and set us free. Pray and ask the Lord to have full authority in your life.  

reading for: 28 JANUARY

Deuteronomy 18:15–20

God authorises His Prophetic People speak for Him through our lifestyle

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  This passage occurs in a section of Deuteronomy where Moses authorises a series of leadership roles, judges, king, and priests, as well as prophets. All these leadership roles are to guide and guard Israel when it comes into the land, so that the community of faith may maintain its peculiar identity and vocation as Yahweh’s people, even in the face of powerful seductive cultures that surround them. 

  Verse 15 starts with laying out God’s plan and intent. Moses, God’s prophet, says to the people, there will be a prophet “like me”. Here we see an intentional, identifiable series of prophets, in each generation, being raised up to take on the role of Moses. And that prophetic role of Moses is to maintain, through teaching, the distinctive character and identity of Israel as God’s prophetic people, living as model citizens among surrounding nations, through obedience. 

  Their lifestyles are to be ‘countercultural’. They are not to adopt Canaanite practices like child sacrifice, divination, soothsaying, consulting spirits, and seeking oracles from the dead. They are to rely and wait on God’s leading and not depend on human attempts to gain power and knowledge about an uncertain future.

  The prophetic voice in Israel is not an accident, an intrusion, or an extra in the life of this community. It is part of what it meant to be the people of God. Although it can be demanding and discomforting, hearing God’s voice through the prophet is to be the norm and this community, by its very character and destiny, is mandated to hear and obey the prophet. Because the prophet speaks with God’s authority, he must be taken seriously and honoured. 

  Unfortunately, the prophets are regularly an unwelcome voice in Israel. They are commonly not heeded, but are disregarded, ignored, and even treated with hostility. While the people are warned if they do not obey God’s voice through the prophet (Deut. 18:19), the the prophet is also warned to speak only what God commands (v. 20). The prophet he must stick to what God of the exodus, the covenant, commands, and promises of Sinai. And because being faithful to this is so demanding, those in prophetic authority are often tempted to tone down the word, which compromises the message of God.
  

• REFLECT

  The church today, is to carry prophetic voice of God. We are both a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) and a prophetic people. Just as Israel was called to be a model nation for other nations around, as Rev Dowdy reminded us on Sunday, in our own natural and LG families, we are “called to model and demonstrate how families should live under the Rule of Christ with all His provision”. What is one way your natural family can be a model for those around? How is your LG different and distinct from other social groups and gatherings? 

reading for: 29 january

1 Corinthians 8:1–13 

Godly Authority comes from loving others

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  The eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians itself contains several controversial matters. For example, is the question being addressed here “concerning food sacrificed to idols” (8:1) whether at private dinner parties to eat food that had been purchased in the marketplace and previously consecrated to an idol (as in 10:23– 11:1), or whether to eat food while in attendance at the pagan temples (as in 10:14–22). Within the Christian community love is to take priority and precedence over the exercising of individual freedoms. 

  Paul understands the beliefs of those who see no problem in eating the food that has been offered to idols, and to a point, agrees with it. He affirms that idols do not really exist, and “for us there is one God … and one Lord, Jesus Christ” (8:6). But more importantly, he is concerned for those who have not yet understood this truth or they might agree with it in their heads but whose hearts are still worried about idols. They cannot be ignored or run over. Love demands that their feelings are be taken seriously, so they join in the meals and end up violating their own consciences. 

  The sensitivity and love for the particular family member within the body of Christ takes precedence over principles. The ethic is other-directed. When deciding to do something, Christians cannot stop with how we feel about ourselves or how we think about the action in and of itself alone. We have to take into account, of the people around us, their stage of spiritual growth and maturity. As Paul puts it later in this letter, love “does not insist on its own way.”(13:5).

  While knowledge and freedom are not to be despised, what determines Christian decisions and behavior, is love for those within the community of faith. This means of course that the health of the Christian community becomes a priority. The text does not raise the question of what impact eating the food might have on outsiders, what sort of “witness” is born to non-Christians. The decisive factor concerns the insiders, those who, for whatever reason, cannot shake the notion that idols somehow exist and that eating food associated with idols is a sin. For Paul, who identifies himself with those who discount idols, the fundamental sin is in injuring members of the family, in leading them to act against their conscience. It is a “sin against Christ” (8:12). To put it another way, the diversity of the church is to be carefully and deliberately maintained. “Love builds up” (8:1). It keeps the various segments of the community from splintering into warring factions. It provides the adhesive that enables Jew and Greek, bond and free, male and female in reality to be one in Christ. Love puts limits on rampant individualism. It reflects the divine compassion that enables very different people to experience genuine community in Christ. Notice that in advising some members of the church to refrain from using their liberty as “a stumbling block to the weak” (8:9), Paul’s effort is not to protect the weak from being offended, but from imitating the behavior of others to their own hurt. He asks that every member of the community be taken seriously (even those without “knowledge”) as a person for whom Christ died, and that one’s actions reflect a compassionate and even restraining consideration for fellow members of the body of Christ.

  
  

• REFLECT

  In the US, the issue of wearing masks during this pandemic has surfaced the tension between personal liberty and collective safety. What would you advise a fellow believer (living in the US) on the issue? Can you think of a similar issue with an LG member? What would you say your LG member based on your understanding of Paul’s teaching?

reading for: 30 january

Psalm 111

Praise God whose power, authority and glory extend over all Creation

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  This psalm is a celebration of the activity of God in human life, especially in the life of Israel. It is also a celebration of the nature of God, who is proclaimed to be righteous and just, merciful, gracious, and awesome. The setting is clearly a worship service, where an individual (a priest?) speaks on behalf of the entire congregation (v. 1). 

  After the opening affirmation, which states the purpose of the psalm (v. 1), there is an extended body (vs. 2–9) in which both God and the works of God are praised. Full attention is given to both God’s nature and God’s activity. The works of God, which are described as “great” (v. 2), “full of honour and majesty” (v. 3), and “wonderful” (v. 4), include the following: the provision of food (v. 5) the giving to Israel of the possessions of their neighbours (v. 6) the acceptance of Israel into a covenant relationship (vs. 5,9) God’s works are such that they cannot be forgotten (vs. 4 and 8). As for God’s nature, it may be observed in the works of God, yet the latter are dependent on the former, not the other way around. God is not only righteous today, but righteousness is a permanent condition (v. 3). The Lord is “gracious and merciful” (v. 4), God’s name is “holy and awesome” (v. 9). The connection between God’s works and God’s nature is this: because the worshiping community has learned to trust the activity of God, they/we may also trust God’s teaching (v. 6). 

  The conclusion of the psalm echoes texts found in Proverbs (1:7; 9:10; 15:33) and also in Job 28:28; Eccl. 12:13. For the psalmist, God’s nature and God’s activity in human life the two are intimately related. The works of God are a “window” through which we can see and study the very being and character of God (v. 2). 

  And it is because the works of God point to the nature of God that the two subjects are discussed almost simultaneously, concentration on one flowing smoothly into concentration on the other (v. 3). The psalm boldly affirms the value of observing the world and his journey and faithfulness to Israel, which leads to a true understanding of God. 

  When we trust that first Creation is a mirror of God’s nature that we can confidently affirm that since we may trust what God has done in human life, we can also trust what God (instructs) about human life(v. 7). This Epiphany season affirms that the connection between the deeds of God and the being of God is true.

  Of course when we look at fallen creation today and our broken humanity, it is hard to say that what we see is a complete reflection of God’s nature. Yet, at the heart of our Christian belief is that God has not remained hidden. In Christ Jesus, God has stepped forth from the shadows, and He is shaping and reshaping our humanity and our world so that we may see the divine face. Christmas, Good Friday and Easter, are the most decisive moments in human history in which God fully reveals himself. Because it’s in the incarnation and in the crucifixion and resurrection, that God reveals His deep and ultimate concern and personal involvement to bring forth His glory, through the glory of His image (us humans).

• REFLECT

  Go for a nature walk or run alone or with your LG members and purposely ‘waste time’ observing the beauty around you. Or ‘waste time’ remembering and thanking him for his faithfulness. Praise Him for who He is when you gather for LG and at Sunday Services.