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March 19, Sunday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Healing at a Distance — The news of miraculous things Jesus had done in Jerusalem at the Feast was spread not only among the Jews in Galilee, but also to Gentiles. The “royal official” (v. 46) was a Gentile in a high governmental position who lived in Capernaum on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, over 16 miles (27 km) from Cana. Twice, the official asked Jesus to “come” (vv. 47, 49) to Capernaum, but He didn’t need to go there. He had the power to heal at a distance, so He simply told the royal official, “Go…” (v. 50). The miracle was instantaneously done, and the boy was healed (“…your son lives”—v. 50). Jesus made a statement to the official that He repeated many times in future situations, that “Unless you [people] see signs and wonders, you will never believe“(v. 48, both “you” pronouns are plural). Most people had a show-me-first attitude. This Gentile official, however, “believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way” (v. 50). He believed before he saw the evidence. His faith was strengthened even more, however, after he heard the report from his servants that his son was restored: “he himself believed and his whole household” (v. 53). His faith spread to his family after he arrived at home. He had believed that Jesus could heal his son, which is why he went to Him. What he discovered, however, was that Jesus was even more powerful than he thought; He healed at a distance!
I could not find music for this hymn by Charles Wesley,
but it is a wonderful poem that summarizes this story.
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March 20, Monday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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From Marveling to Murdering — After Jesus claimed to be the fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah, the people “were speaking well of Him and marveling at the gracious words…” (v. 22a). That sounds good, but their next comment was a question: “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v. 22b). That was a question of doubt; it was like asking, “How could someone we know claim to be the Messiah?” Jesus recognized their doubt, and He also knew something else about their superficial marveling: they were highly prejudiced against Gentiles. So, Jesus took two examples from Israel’s prophets, Elijah and Elisha. When Israel was plagued by famine, God sent Elijah to a Gentile widow who would care for him (v. 26). Although there were many unhealed lepers in Israel, God sent a leprous Gentile general to Elisha for healing (v. 27). At this point of Jesus’ comments, the people “were filled with rage” (v. 28) and the marvellers became murderers. Jesus knew their hearts and He exposed them. When they tried to kill Him, Jesus produced a miracle by somehow “passing through their midst…” (v. 30). Jesus was a proclaimer of truth, even when it hurt.
Hail to the Lord’s Anointed – YouTube
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March 21, Tuesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Predicted and Proclaimed — Jesus was that “GREAT LIGHT” predicted through Isaiah. It is interesting that this passage was quoted in connection with Jesus’ move from Nazareth, where He was raised, to Capernaum, which was the center of His subsequent ministry. Nazareth was located in the region assigned to the tribe of Zebulun, mentioned by Isaiah, and Capernaum was in Naphtali. This relocation was predicted almost 700 years earlier. Another transition is noted in this short passage when it suggests that “from that time” (v. 17), John the Baptist’s proclamation also became the proclamation of Jesus: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 17). Those are the exact words of John the Baptist’s message quoted in Matt. 3:2. Mankind is required to repent in order to see “the kingdom of heaven,” which is the predicted “LIGHT DAWNED” in Isaiah. The spiritual light of Jesus is seen only if people are willing to repent.
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March 22, Wednesday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Divine Words and Power — Jesus was a great teacher, as evidenced by the great crowds that followed Him. He had to get into a boat to distance Himself from the press of the people. Why was His teaching so great? It was because He was teaching them “the word of God” (v. 1)—divine words. Then, after He finished teaching, He demonstrated His divine power, which also involved His divine knowledge. He didn’t tell Peter to go to a particular spot where He knew the fish were located; He very generally told him to go “into the deep water” (v. 4). He had the fish come to where Peter decided to let down the net. That is supernatural knowledge and power. Jesus was not only Master of the crowds of people, but also of the schools of fish. The result was that Peter, James, and John were filled with “amazement” (v. 9). They knew they were in the presence of God, which is why Peter fell on his knees in a boat full of fish to declare, “I am a sinful man!” (v. 8). The closer we are to God, the more we are aware of our sinfulness. The fishermen’s response was to surrender to Jesus: “they left everything and followed Him” (v. 11).
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March 23, Thursday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Becoming Fishers — Was this calling of disciples simply Mark’s rendition of the same event that we read about yesterday in Luke? There are several differences. Andrew was not mentioned in Luke’s account (cf. Mark 1:16). Luke wrote that Peter was washing nets (Luke 5:2), while Mark said they were casting a net (Mark 1:16). In Luke 5:10, Jesus said only to Peter, “from now on you [singular] will be catching men,” but in Mark 1:17, Jesus said to both Peter and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you [plural] become fishers of men.” If these were two events, why would they leave their fishing twice to follow Jesus? We might not have enough information in these two accounts to properly decide. Three parts of Jesus’ call in Mark’s account interested me. The first was the initial responsibility of the disciples (“Follow Me”): they had to follow Jesus. That involved a deep decision for these disciples; it was an act of courage to abandon their vocation. They were leaving their source of income. The second important part was that it was Jesus’ responsibility to bring them to the point of becoming “fishers of men.” He is the source of power and change. Disciples follow but Jesus changes. The final part is that “…make you become…” implies a process. Jesus lived with them, taught them, and gave them an example over a period of three years before they were thrust out into ministry after Jesus’ resurrection. How is your “fishing” coming along? Are you disappointed in the results of your attempts to influence others toward Christ? Don’t forget that you are still “becoming.” Keep fishing!
I Will Make You Fishers of Men – YouTube
Here is a contemporary song with the same theme:
Fishers of Men (The Newsboys) – YouTube
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March 24, Friday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Astonished and Amazed — There are two reactions of the people in the synagogue regarding what they saw during Jesus’ visit. The first was astonishment: “And they were astonished at His teaching” (v. 22). The Greek word for “astonished” is used 13 times in the New Testament, and 11 of them involve reactions of people about Jesus. Here, the crowd was struck by His teaching because of the authority with which He taught. The people were used to teachers quoting earlier, prominent rabbis regarding what they had said about certain Scripture passages. Jesus only told them what He thought because He was God, the source of the Scriptures. He spoke more like a prophet than a priest. That should alert us to the importance of spending time meditating on passages we read in the Bible, asking God to teach us with His insights. The second reaction of those synagogue people was that of amazement: “And they were all amazed …” (v. 27a). What amazed them in addition to His teaching? It was His control over the demons: “He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him” (v. 27b). Why did they obey Him? It wasn’t because of His higher rank—they had already rebelled against God in disobedience. It seems that they were afraid of Jesus’ power. This demon, representing the whole body of rebellious demons, asked, “Have You come to destroy us?” (v. 24). They knew that their rebellion against God was going to end in eternal punishment, but they didn’t know when. This demon obeyed out of fear that his punishment would begin then. Astonishing teaching and amazing power—let us wonder together at Jesus’ greatness!
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March 25, Saturday
An audio recording of the following reading is available below.
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Gentle Authority — Peter’s mother-in-law was very sick. Mark said that she was “sick with a fever” (Mark 1:30) and Dr. Luke wrote that she “was suffering from a high fever” (Luke 4:38). The four disciples had just seen Jesus cast a demon out of the man in the synagogue, so they brought her illness to His attention. Luke said that Jesus “rebuked the fever” (Luke 4:39), which is apparently the only place in the NT where Jesus spoke to an illness in the process of healing. This seems to personify the sickness and, at least in this example, may connect it to Satan’s involvement. Jesus’ rebuke is a picture of authority. Notice, on the other hand, that Mark’s account also pictures Jesus as being personal and gentle: “He … raised her up, taking her by the hand” (Mark 1:31). Jesus cares about our physical needs. The next time you are sick in bed, think of Peter’s mother-in-law and offer your hand to the Great Physician!
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Meditation: Twice in these three verses, and three times in yesterday’s reading, Mark used a word translated “immediately.” It seems to have been a favorite word for him because he used it 41 of the 59 times it is used in the New Testament. In a few of those places, Mark seems to mean it in the way we usually think of it, i.e., “at once” or “instantly.” In most situations, however, he seems to have used it in a sense that might even be thought of as, “so then,” meaning simply that one event followed a previous event. For example, in Mark 1:29, even if the house of Simon and Andrew were located near the synagogue, it would have taken several minutes for them to get there. When Luke wrote that Peter’s mother-in-law stood up “immediately” (Luke 4:39), he used a different Greek word that seems to have an even more instantaneous meaning. Her healing was instantaneous and complete.
accbibleread.com 
Thanks, Ben, for the insight into Luke 4 today (Monday) that explains the rage the synagogue-goers had toward Jesus when he emphasized that Elijah and Elisha had each healed a single Gentile when many Israelites were also in need of healing but didn’t receive it.
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