Mind Meld of A Different Kind

STARTING TOMORROW! PSALMS - BOOK ONE

MARK 16:9-20 (Longer ending)
After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened. But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.

Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.

Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.

And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

Signs of belief
It is not surprising the disciples did not believe Mary or the two disciples when they said Jesus was alive. It did not make sense. They were sure the answer was something else. I think they wanted to believe, but it sounded like one of those of fish stories your uncle tells you. “I once went fishing and caught a 22 pound bass out of that pond. It was so big it almost pulled me into the water.”

When Jesus appears to the whole group simultaneously he is not very happy with those who refused to believe. He rebukes them, but then he sends them out and not just with words but with power. God verifies the testimony of the disciples with works of power and miraculous signs. People believe when they see miraculous signs.

Look around today and you will find people flocking into witchcraft, dark magic, and new age spiritualism. Why? These things have miraculous signs as well. The book of Revelation predicts that people will be persuaded to follow the anti-Christ because of his miraculous signs.

In the church today we shy away from miraculous signs because we are skeptical of them. We are even afraid to pray for healing many times because we are not sure that prayer will be answered. If God blessed the first century Christians with miraculous acts through the power of the Holy Spirit why not today? Certainly acts such as we find here are not the proof of God’s work, or magicians would be the most authentic disciples. Neither, however, do we need to fear the miraculous acts of God when they spring from true belief in the risen Christ.

If God chooses to bless us today with miraculous acts then celebrate it. Give him the glory for the blessings he bestows. Let’s not run from God’s power just because we can’t explain it.

Jesus, your resurrection from the dead was and is the greatest miraculous sign ever. I believe you are alive today and want to embrace your power in my life and in the church however you choose to display it. - Dan Jones

And the disciples went everywhere
Sure there is some hyperbole in this amazing observation. Literalists will observe that the disciples didn’t step foot on every square inch of the Mediterranean world, let alone the globe. But this misses the forest for the trees. Jesus’ earliest followers spread in every direction and entered virtually every layer of society.

It was a hardly imaginable word-of-mouth invasion of the first century world. The words spread like foot and mouth disease! Everywhere Christian feet went, Christian mouths spoke about Jesus. And wherever those kinds of words spread they found a home in a few more hearts.

What amazes me most is not the reality of healings, the gift of languages, demons cast out or even the instant healing of Paul when he was bitten by a snake, but that people’s lives where actually changed. The faith, hope, and love found in Jesus really did transform lives.

The power of simple words.

Such words encountered much resistance, instigated more than a few riots, and eventually provoked periods of intense persecution. Why would words that offered Good News provoke such hostility - unless they indeed had the power to transform lives, and in so doing began to radically rework the fabric of every society where they took hold?

As a disciple in the 21st century, I need to copy the practice of my 1st century predecessors. I and my fellow disciples today need to go everywhere with words about Jesus. And even after all these centuries of telling, these ancient words will still take root in new hearts, and do their usual thing. Transform lives and in the process rework the fabric of modern society.

And couldn’t we use as thoroughgoing a rework of society as did the ancient Roman world! If the experience of these disciples is any indicator, it’ll happen because disciples like me – and you – open our mouths once again with Good News.


Father, forgive me for failing to speak where my predecessors would have spoken. Grant that your Good News become front and center on my tongue. Help me to speak of it wherever I go, with boldness and grace. - Mike Leamon