Throughout His ministry, Jesus demonstrated His power over demons, casting them out of their victims with ease (Luke 11:14). And His opponents knew there were only two possible explanations for this – either confrontation or collusion. In sum, they knew Jesus was either overcoming the demons by the power of…

God can fix any problem. Any problem. In New Testament times, a woman was completely helpless without a man to care for her and take responsibility for her. And that’s what happened to this widow when her only son died. So, she wasn’t just grieving the loss of a loved…

What’s the secret to happiness? The TV commercials tell us we need a new car, or a new wardrobe, or new furniture for our homes. We might imagine that a new job or a new spouse will make our lives complete. But what do we do when the money runs…

In their legalistic mania to justify themselves in the sight of God, the Pharisees took God’s Sabbath requirement and blew it up to ridiculous proportions. It was work to have a snack while walking through a field (Luke 6:1-2)? It was work for Jesus to do a miracle of healing…

Why does Jesus matter so much? Why can’t we just consider Him a great teacher and moral exemplar and leave it at that? Well, why did the leaders of His own people end up conspiring to kill Him? Oh, the common people turned on Him because He had disappointed them,…

Bible Readings for October 6 – Matthew 8; Mark 2 What do you want from Jesus? As Mark chapter 2 opens, we have no reason to believe that this paralyzed man and his friends wanted anything more than his physical healing. And that’s how we pray for ourselves and our…

Maybe in these days of COVID, you’re feeling alone, isolated from your friends. But maybe you don’t have many friends to begin with. And maybe people have turned away from you because of bad choices you have made or hurtful things you have said. Maybe you feel like you don’t…

What is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ? If you want a one verse summary, look no further than Mark 1:15. “The time is fulfilled.” This means of course that all the long years of waiting for God to keep His promises are over, as they have all…

Recently, we’ve been hearing a lot about injustice in our society. But in today’s passage, we are reminded that injustice is not a new problem at all. Take King Herod, for instance. Yes, he was a Jew, but not a descendant of David. He had been installed on his throne…

When the angels showed up to announce the birth of the Messiah, it wasn’t to the priests in the Temple, or to King Herod in his palace. It was to a bunch of shepherds working the night shift (Luke 2:8). And God didn’t just come to associate with the meek…