Don't Be Fooled by What You Read

We've all heard the expression, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true." Seldom has this been more accurate than the present day. Someone on social media says something people want to hear, and a multitude immediately lose their minds retweeting the statement without once checking as to the accuracy of the statement, or if its originator has any credibility. End result? A whole lot of people look foolish.

If I'm going to intentionally look like a fool, it'll be because I believe a Man was crucified in my place for my sins, then rose from the dead three days later. Not to score non-existent points with the crowd.

The new Cephas Hour episode focuses on passages from the Gospel according to Mark. Music is by:

• 2nd Chapter of Acts
• 77s
• Bob Dylan
• Crystoria
• DeGarmo & Key
• Larry Norman
• Mark Heard
• Oden Fong
• Rachel Wilhelm
• Steve Taylor
• Undercover
• Van Zant
• Veil of Ashes

The show is available on-demand at its website (https://cephashour.com/2024/09/19/cephas-hour-episode-132-release-date-september-19-2024/) or wherever you get your podcasts, Spotify excluded because they haven't a clue. Hope you enjoy it.

It’s a commonly held belief by Biblical scholars that the four Gospels were each written with a specific audience in mind. The Jews were Matthew’s target audience, hence its emphasis on pointing out how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies regarding the coming Messiah. Luke wrote his gospel for the Greeks, hence its emphasis on detailed history. John addressed the parts of Asia that were known back then, thus explaining why it delves so deeply into the mystic. And Mark was written for the Romans, which is why it emphasizes Jesus as a Man of action.

Assorted oddball tchotchkes at your local Christian bookstore aside — assuming you still have one — portraying Jesus as an action figure, to the Roman mind, the image of Jesus rising from the dead three days after His torture and brutal execution on the cross must have been mind-blowing. The Romans were not of the “spare the rod and spoil the child” mindset, especially when it came to ruling over conquered lands. There is no mistaking why Mark included in his gospel:

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

I’ve often wondered what happened to that centurion. Certainly, he heard about the empty tomb. Did he buy the official account, or did he investigate the matter in a fashion that ultimately led to faith? Prayerfully, we’ll find out one day.

In the second chapter of Mark we read:

As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The attitude by the Pharisees was, “I cannot associate with you because you are not of my religion; therefore, I cannot have fellowship with you.” Jesus, by His action, said, “Because of my religion, I am compelled to associate with you because I want to have fellowship with you.” Jesus went to the people, and through this, the people came to Him.

The nail-pierced hands stand ready to embrace all who come to Jesus.

In the seventh chapter of Mark we read:

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Jesus wasn’t exactly PC or employee happy talk-prone, was He?

Final look at Mark for this episode, this time from the ninth chapter.

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”

There’s an often overlooked side theme in this passage. Far too often, we put ourselves down because we’re not out there doing what we would consider great works for the Lord. It may come as a surprise to us that God loves and uses us anyway.

The grandiose is not always grand. No matter how slight it may seem, the meaningful gesture from a graceful and grace-filled heart matters. Seek to do what you are capable of doing, and do that well. It may receive little, if any, notice. But God notices, and the person you touch notices. You do matter, and you do count.