Leviticus 11:1-12:8, Mark 5:21-43, Psalm 38:1-22, Proverb 10:8-9
Today is the 21st day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is truly wonderful to be here with you today and it is wonderful to be back in the rolling hills of Tennessee, from our journey across the world, to the land of the Bible and our pilgrimage in the land has concluded for 2023. It is fantastic to be home. We don’t feel like this is…this is the thing about a journey like that. When you arrive home, your heart is full, but it, things look different. Part of its jet lag, it’s just exhaustion from the time change and days and nights being mixed up, part of it is the whirlwind that we’ve been on together and this is the kind of close-knit community. We, it’s not like we were together for a couple weeks, it’s like we were together for six months. And so, there’s that, missing everybody, missing the rhythm of the…the journey that we are on. And then we been on this journey and other people that are around us wanna hear all about it, but it’s hard to put into words, so many of the things, like you can talk about places and but it’s hard to put into words certain experiences. And so, that just feels a little isolating and it takes like, it takes me anyway, the best part of a week to kind of feel like I’ve got my feet firmly under me. Nevertheless, it is fantastic to be here now with you around the Global Campfire and it is fantastic to be home in the rolling hills of Tennessee. As we get back into the rhythm of things and the rhythm of the Scriptures, every day around the Global Campfire helps with that is our daily bread. This is our daily rhythm and so, we’ve come to dive in for the next step and that next step leads us back into the book of Leviticus. Today, we will read chapters 11 and 12.
Commentary:
Okay, in the Gospel of Mark today, we encounter some just beautiful stories about Jesus today. Yesterday Jesus had gone to the other side of the lake we talk about the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and the man was demon possessed and the herd of pigs and all this, we talked about that and so then as we began today, Jesus got back into the boat went back to the other side of the lake. There were people waiting for him and Jairus, a local synagogue leader came to Jesus, not with you know, questions about what…what, who gives Him the authority to do the things that He’s doing. He comes because he’s in desperate life or death need and he’s falling before Jesus my daughter, my daughter if you touch her, she could live. Come heal her and so, Jesus is going with him. And like that’s what Jesus mission is, is to go to Jairus house but the whole mission kinda gets hijacked because there’s a woman in the crowd. So, there’s this little daughter who’s dying and then there’s this woman who’s been suffering for 12 years. It’s so beautiful to watch Jesus just navigate all this. She decides that Jesus is a healer, at minimum, a healer, like a prophet, maybe the son of the most high God. Like He’s somebody that may be able to set her free and she thinks that, if I could just get close enough, just to reach out and touch the hem, the hem. Like, not to grab him around the waist or anything like that, just to reach out and touch the hem of His garment. And that, she would be healed. And she does get close enough and she does reach out in faith, and she does touch His robe and she is healed. And Jesus knows it and He’s looking around for who may have touched him. And of course, the disciples are like everybody’s touching You, what are You talking about. How can You possibly know like what individual. All kinds of people are touching You and jostling around. There’s the crowd here. But Jesus knows like somebody specifically reached out in faith and He felt the connection and He’s looking for that person. And the woman knows it’s her and it’s a dangerous moment actually for her. This is a moment that could get her in really big trouble. Think about it for second, let’s go back to Leviticus. We were reading today in Leviticus about bleeding and uncleanness and times of purification for when cleanliness or cleanness returns. This woman has lived unclean for 12 straight years, by the law that governs the people, the Hebrew people, she has been ritually impure this whole time. Anybody that she touches becomes unclean. You don’t just go make a rabbi unclean they had all, they know the Pharisees, like they know the position, they know the rules, you don’t just go make a rabbi unclean on purpose. Like that can be, can be, that can be trouble, big trouble. It could be big trouble but she’s determining in herself, if I reach out and touch him, I will be made, I will be made whole. It’s a big risk. It’s a big step of faith and she reaches out and she is made whole. And Jesus wants to know who did it. And that’s this moment where she’s starting to freak out because it’s been discovered what she did and the outcome could be bad, she could be, she, she could be humiliated at the minimum. So, she’s very afraid. The Gospel of Mark says the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of Him and told Him what she had done. So, she’s there on her knees before Him, telling Him, it was me, it was me expecting maybe a rebuke. Like how dare you, kind of thing. And that’s just not Jesus, that’s just not the kind of person He is. He looked for her so He could tell her something. Like He’d stopped the whole ordeal of going to Jairus’s house while the daughter is dying. He looks for this woman to tell her something and its beautiful. Daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace, your suffering is over. It’s beautiful, but it has delayed Jesus on his way to Jairus’s house and in the interim word does come to Jairus that his little girl died and there’s no need to bother Jesus anymore. Like this gives us an opportunity to kind of put ourselves in different positions because we can understand the bleeding woman, we can understand her leap of faith, we can understand that it was a risk, but if I’m Jairus and I saw this happening, I would be like okay, this is great, but my daughters dying. But then to get word that your daughter died while Jesus was healing somebody else. Like I would probably be like why today of all days did you have to decide you’re gonna step into this thing and touch the hem of His garment. Like my daughter died while you were being healed. It’s just that Jesus could see all this going on and He’s like, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid Jairus, have faith. And so, they continue on to Jairus’s house where mourners are mourning, the village has come around. People are wailing and screaming. This is a sign of grief in the area to let everybody know the tragedy has fallen, that loss is upon them. So, there’s wailing and singing and lamenting and crying and all this stuff is going on and Jesus steps into that and all of that and says she’s not dead, she’s asleep and they laugh at him. But the joke is on the mourners because she was raised back to health and given back. Jesus heals a little girl and woman today and the way that he behaves toward both it’s just beautiful, little girl get up, Talitha koum. Get up and she does. The way that he behaves today is beautiful to me. Let’s carry these stories around with us today. They are beautiful depictions of what Jesus was like, which means they are beautiful depictions of what God is like toward us, what a relief.
Prayer:
And Jesus, You are beautiful and in your life, You modeled a human way of being in this world and all of us are supposed to be, this is what humanity is supposed to look like and You have given us a clear picture of that, a model for it, and we realize that we cannot attain it without the transformation of our hearts from within and we can’t do that. You can, so we open ourselves to Your beauty today, we open ourselves to Your compassion, to Your kindness. We open ourselves to certainly receive these things from You. We’re never gonna turn away Your kindness and compassion, but we are praying that You give us Your kindness and patience and compassion, that it might spill out of us from You into the world, into the lives of those that we love, into the lives of those that we know, into the lives of those we don’t know, into the world. May we show the world what You are like through our very lives. The witness of our lives, not just our lip service, not just what we say, by the witness of our lives may we be like You revealing what You are like. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, jetlagged as I might be, waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible. My name is Baya from Washington State. This is Tuesday, February 14th. I’m a first-time caller. Just wanted to let you all know that I’ve joined DAB this year, thanks to my wonderful friend, Christine, that shared the app with me. I am so grateful she did. It’s been a big help. I’m playing catch up since I barely got it a couple of weeks ago. But I’m calling to request prayer for my momma, her name is Maria. She’s 80 and she’s complaining of a lot of left leg pain, from her hip down to her feet, to her left foot. So, please pray for my mama, I don’t like to see her in so much pain. She’s a very active person. And I just pray that God heals her totally and completely. Thank you for your prayers in advance. They’re much appreciated. Love you all and thank you Brian for the wonderful work that you’re doing. May God continue to give you wisdom. Amen.
This is from Junk to Treasure. And I have a prayer request for myself. I feel like I have been placed into like a big Roman coliseum. And I look around for an escape and there’s no doors, to where you could escape. They’ve been cemented over. And all of the villains from all of the movies that you see are all placed in this coliseum with me. And lions and the devil with a pitchfork dipped in poison. And relentlessly being attacked by them over and over. In my finances, in the problems with my home, with health issues that I’m dealing with, and I cannot get one problem solved before there’s 12 more. And just when I think that there just can’t be anything else right now go wrong while I’m struck, still trying to deal with the 4 million of them from years upon years of going through the same struggle, is just overwhelming to me. And the more I pray the more the problems come and then I’ve got my two oldest grandsons that are making some idiotic choices and some crazy things happening with them. My daughter is going through. Our horrendous time right now with things that her husband is doing that has just ridiculous in many different ways. So, I need, I need prayers. Thank you, family.
Well, February 14. And it’s Tuesday. Brian, while you were sharing about the Holy Land, it just made me fall in love with Jesus over and over and over again. And just imagining my walk down the roads to die on the cross for me. Probably in a place where He was selected. The way you shared things just made me feel the presence of God here in my home. You know, just thinking about you guys in the same place where Jesus walked, where He laughed, where He cried, where He made so many miracles. That is just amazing. Thank you for sharing. I feel like I was there. My tears would come out because I can imagine you guys being that same place where Jesus is, or where Jesus walked. That’s amazing. And the simons on the bowl of the Sea of Galilee. When you were worshipping and singing. I felt like if I was there with you guys in spirit. Wow! It was just beautiful. Thank you for sharing everything you share. Take care and we’ll continue to pray for you guys. As you prepare to come back home. God bless you and DABers I have you in my mind, I have you in my prayers. Every time someone calls in to rejoice or ask for prayer. I’m here praying for you guys. I love you guys. I love you so much. You guys are special. Mini from ___ God Bless.
Good morning DABers, it’s February 15th. This is Donna from Pennsylvania with a new name for 2023. The Lord is my Strength and my Song. And I am just rejoicing in the Lord today. I’m praising God for the healing He’s been working in my body, little-by-little, day-by-day. I am thanking God for Brian and his wonderful commentary on the Holy Land. Because the odds are that I will never get there, so, it is fantastic to hear his words. Thank you to the DABers who prayed, who called in to pray with encouragement. And lifting me up. I am praying for those in need of encouragement. For Webster, who is just praying and praying and just doesn’t feel it and doesn’t know whether he believes. For the gentlemen whose wife is undergoing spine surgery and he just doesn’t know how he’s gonna get through that. For the woman whose husband walked out after the 31 years and for the woman who called, I think yesterday, who is single, who’s calling, praying for the single people in the church. I’ve been married, it’ll be almost 30 years in May, but I was single a long time before that. So, I know what that is. And Lord, so Lord, I ask that You would lift up the hearts of those who call upon You. You promised to wipe away every tear in Your time, but I would also pray that in the meantime, You would make your presence known. And lift the hearts of those who are downcast, and I just give thanks to You, I ask for your prayers, I love all the DABers and Brian and Jill and everyone. In Jesus Holy name, praise God, Amen.
Good morning, this is Mandy, calling from Ireland. Today, is Wednesday, February 15th and it’s 730 in the morning. This is a message for Tracy. I have just heard your prayer request today, after the readings. And you asked for prayer for your husband who has left you after 31 years. Tracy, I pray that the Lord will comfort you and support you and I pray that the Lord would fill you with his peace and joy. And that you’ll be able to work this out together. Amen.