PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2025-2026

We see so many different healing narratives of Jesus involved in making the lives of others complete again, at least physically. But not often, there are a few times, do we see him use some kind of formulaic method to make that happen. Here we see he opens the ears and loosens the tongue of a deaf and mute person, but he does it by putting his fingers into his ears and putting spittle onto his tongue. We didn’t need these details, we didn’t ask for these details, but they were provided and they gave us an opportunity to understand that God can work as God wants, but sometimes we catch a glimpse into how he works. I’ll take it.

It is difficult to skip the feeding of the five thousand, but I will just say a few words. This feeding takes place within the context of Jesus trying to get himself and his disciples away from people so that they can rest and refresh. He has just been rejected in his home town of Nazareth, probably a pretty strong emotional blow, he has just sent them out two by two and they have come back successful in all that they had prepared to do. His cousing, John the Baptist has just been beheaded, another very strong emotional blow to Jesus. We find in vs.31 that Jesus commands them to come away to a deserted place, which is what they were trying to do when the five thousand found them.

Once he feeds them then it states in vs.45 that immediately he made them get in the boat and go to the other side, while he went up a mountain to pray. The requirement to get away, to go by yourself up a mountain to pray, to be refreshed in the presence of the Lord and in the absence of people requiring things from you was necessary for Jesus and necessary for all of us as well. Jesus is able to fulfill that requirement, even though he had to save his disciples from a storm as soon as he gets back.

We have three powerful stories all with lessons that are very different, and yet each important in its own right. The story of legion demonstrates a number of things, not the least of which Jesus’ empathy to the one who had legion, and Jesus’ attempt to ensure that those who were selling pigs, unclean to the Jewish people, knew that commerce was not on the top of his priorities. Jesus’ healing of the woman is a very peculiar story with him feeling his “power” leaving him so he knew that something had happened. We don’t see this type of superpower narrative anywhere else, but it does provide a good plot in order to demonstrate the power of Jesus, even when he isn’t kinds paying attention.

Lastly, the resurrrection/healing of the daughter shows us that those who laugh at the possibilites of life in the face of death will be taught that the power of God is always stronger than the limits that we think we are able to put on it.

We find some parables and some really, really powerful actions by Jesus. Let’s start with the latter. The calming of the storm by Jesus at the end of this chapter will always be burned upon my mind. We spent an evening on the Sea of Galilee, and wouldn’t you know that on that evening there was the type of storm that make you wonder if you were going to make it. We were in a sturdy hotel, but the wind, and the rain were so ferocious, and the lighting and thunder were so loud and present that the disciples’ words, “do you not know we are perishing” ring loud and true. What a great metaphor for where we find ourselves today. We simply cannot perish with the Lord in our midst, we just can’t. It may feel like we are about to, but we cannot be swamped because the Lord will always calm the storm no matter what.

A word stood out a few times in these Scriptures because it was repeated. It also found itself in chapter 2, and it surprised me. The word was house, and now I haven’t done a deep dive into the Greek to see whether it is “his” house or just house, but in the English in 2 when the man is lowered through the roof in vs.1 it is reported that “he was at home.” To me that assumes his home, and we know that it would have been in Capernaum. Similarly here we do read in the English in vs.19 that “he went home.” Again, the assumption would be to his own home. Then he has a parable about a house divided etc. It is Jesus who said foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head or to call home, well, most of the time.

We read in the Gospel of John that all of Jesus’ miracles were actually signs pointing to Jesus as to whom he was. He was the Savior of the world. The healing of the paralytic man is also a sign, which was clearly for those who were arguing as to whether Jesus could actually forgive sins or not. Forgiving someone’s sins in the eyes of God takes a real leap of faith because it is not something that you can see or prove that it has actually happened. Not even when they do are we able to catch a glimpse of them reclining in heaven. There is no way to prove who is right and who is wrong. But wheny ou heal a paralyzed man, well, then everyone knows because they can see him get up and walk hom. Yeah, that man was forgiven.

Mark in many respects contains the least amount of details than any of the other Gospels. Just the facts, as the saying goes. And yet, even just in the first chapter we have some details that none of the other Gospels contain. We see, for example, that Peter had a mother-in-law which meant that he was married. That is a detail that we don’t spend a whole lot of time on, but what does that mean for Peter and his family. Did he ever come home to change the diapers, or did he ever spend time with his wife, who is silent in this Gospel?

We don’t see anything about the birt of Jeuss in Mark, we don’t hear about any of the details of his baptism except the descending of the Holy Spirit. There is no interaction between him and John like the other Gospels. We don’t hear about the specifics of the temptations like we do in the other Gospels. Just the facts, and maybe a few other details like in the calling of the disciples them leaving their nets behind, which will get picked up soon enough in his resurrection, just a short three year journey for them. Did you imagine that Jesus’ disciples were probably older teenagers? Yeah, imagine what that would look like for Jesus and his group.

We find ourselves in the most important chapter of the Gospel, the day of resurrection. The earthquake has to be one of the details of Matthew that is my favorite. It left everyone involved shook. Jesus appear to the women as they were making their way back, which is not seen in all of the other Gospels. This revelation of Jesus provides them with the impetus to go and speak their message without fear. The Great Commission, which we find in vs. 16-20 is at the core of why we go and preach the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus. We are commanded to go out into all the world. What a great way to end the Gospel, especially in view of history and seeing and knowing that the disciples took this to heart and went and did this. Although, when you think about it, it is really Paul who does the lionshare of the evangelizing, and he doesn’t enter the picture until after the Gospels.

And just like that, Jesus is crucified. But look at all the details that Matthew contains that none of the other Gospels contain. The suicide of Judas, the dream of Pilate’s wife. The choice between Jesus or Barabbas, the two thieves, both of whom mock Jesus. The darkness over the land at the crucifixion, the splitting open of the graves at his death, the guards being wary of the disciples and them making up any stories that might turn Jesus into a martyr, without realizing that they had no control over the resurrected Jesus, who makes an appearance next chapter.

Well, that escalated quickly. We find ourselves first with Jesus and the disciples just hanging out in Jerusalem getting ready for the passover festival when Jesus tells them that he is going to be arrested and put to death. A woman prepares Jesus’ body for burial, even while he is still alive, by pouring costly perfume on his feet. The disciples, and especially Judas object, so much so that he then goes out and gets 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus. It seems like for Judas a lot of this was about money, of which he was the holder of the purse.

But then we have the Words of Institution that we find for the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples. From there we find ourselves in the garden of Gethsemane, and then from there Jesus is arrested and taken to the house of Caiphas. As I said, wow, that really escalated quickly. I had forgotten that chapter 26 is really the ending of the life and ministry of Jesus, now comes his death next.