July 28, 2021 – Mark 8-10

Every time I see, in the Gospels, a statement about Jesus' compassion, I am deeply affected. Moved by compassion, Jesus fed the 4,000. So much more did Jesus do for those who were so needy! He is a compassionate Savior. I found myself, last evening, thinking about a particular family I knew that had faced one crisis after another, largely because of one bad personal decision after another. How different would this family’s story be if they had experienced Jesus’ compassion, if they had allowed his gospel savingly to course through their lives, if they had . . . well, if they had known and followed Jesus.

It is not a stretch at all to argue that the world and society will be what the family is and the family will be what individuals are. Broken families get you broken culture and society. Healthy families get you healthy culture and society. Immediately after the transfiguration, Jesus healed the boy with the unclean spirit, and then talked about his upcoming death, but also his resurrection. Prophesied for generations, Christ has come, and he comes to save to the uttermost! To the uttermost! With Jesus everything changes. Everything is new. Life instead of death. Joy instead of melancholy. Peace in the midst of tragedy. Hope rather than despair.

New Life in Christ abundant and free!

What glories shine, what joys are mine,

What wondrous blessings I see!

My past with its sin, the searching and strife,

Forever gone -- There's a bright new dawn!

For in Christ I have found new life. –John W. Peterson (1970)