The Two Kings
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Last week we talked about the Two Daughters
The woman with the issue of blood
and Jairus’ daughter
We saw Jesus heal them both in different ways.
The woman touched Jesus garment and was healed.
While Jairus was looking for a healing but instead received a resurrection.
This resurrection actually in large part sets the stage for this next chapter.
is a fascinating and complex chapter
To understand this chapter we need to be able to look at it with a wide angled lens
To understand this chapter we need to be able to look at it with a wide angled lens and also look at it from different angles with that wide angled lens
Most weeks we seek to zoom in and see what is happening in the details of the text.
However, with chapter six I think Mark has once again constructed an amazing mosaic that can only be appreciated when we pull back from looking at the details and see the picture as a whole.
So that is what we are going to attempt to do this morning.
At the heart of this chapter we see another sandwich
We are going to focus on another sandwich
First slice: Jesus sends out the twelve on mission
First slice: Jesus sends out the twelve
Meat: The Death of John the Baptist
Second Slice: The 12 return from their mission/feeding of the 5000
We are going to walk through the chapter skipping the stories of John the baptist and Herod, and then we will come back to that story and see how it fits within the chapter as a whole.
This passage is outlined like this...
Resurrection
Rejection
Sending
Feeding
Crossing
Healing
Resurrection: Jairus’ Daughter
Resurrection: Jairus’ Daughter
Explain context
Rejection
Rejection
Jesus and his disciples leave Jairus’ house and head to Nazareth, the town where Jesus was raised. This is his hometown.
Jesus and his disciples leave Jairus’ house and head to Nazareth, the town where Jesus was raised. This is his hometown.
It is here that he learned to walk, talk, and play
This is the town that Jesus was trained in carpentry.
He had brothers and sisters who still lived in Nazareth, and of course Mary lived there as well.
There is no mention of Joseph, though there are many different ideas of what might have happened to him. It is more than likely that Joseph passed away some time before this.
So Jesus is back in his home town and on the Sabbath he went into the Synagogue to teach.
And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
They took offence to him.
Jesus was not afraid to offend people
The gospel is offensive
Jesus then responds by saying,
And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”
Mark 6:
Jesus the left and went about among the villages teaching. When he did this he gathered to himself the 12 apostles and gave them marching order and then sent them out on mission.
Moses, when going to back to Egypt, his home town, he went before Pharaoh and told him what God had said to let his people go. However, Pharaoh did not listen but only made the work more strenuous on the people. Pharaoh told them to keep making bricks of clay but took away the straw. The work load increased so much on the people that they went to moses and told him that it was his fault. And they would not listen to Moses, in fact, they took offence to Moses.
This begins a very fascinating and complex chapter in Mark
To understand this chapter we need to be able to look at it with a wide angled lens
Retelling as the exodus and the conquest
Moses was rejected by his own at first
Just as Jesus was rejected by his own
Moses gathers the twelve tribes -
Jesus gathers the 12 apostles
Moses sent out twelve spies to survey the land -
Jesus sends out the 12 apostles
Moses fed the people manna in the wilderness -
Jesus feeds 5000 in the wilderness
Moses had to deal with evil Pharaoh -
Here mark tells us about Evil Herod
Moses got them to the edge the promise land, but Joshua brought them in by crossing the sea
Jesus takes them to the edge of the sea and sends them off on their own. Jesus walks on water to lead them to the other side of the sea
Now, we are not going to be able to look at all of chapter 6 today.
This brings us to the Sending
We are going to focus on another sandwich
First slice: Jesus sends out the twelve
Meat: The Death of John the Baptist
Second Slice: Feeding the five thousand.
Sending
Sending
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
Mark 6:7-
Why two by two?
community
testimony
Encouragement
What could they bring?
Staff
Belt - but no money, bags, or bread
Sandals
What is the Way?
Jesus was sending them out with these items for a reason.
In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
Sandals
This was not holy ground
The land needed to be brought into submission to the King.
Staff
Shepherds of the new Israel
Belt (no food, money, or bags)
relay on the generosity of the people
You cannot receive the message without receiving the messenger
Stay at peoples homes
Shake the dust off your feet
Shake the dust off your feet
curse, death, serpent eats the dust.
Oil is the extension of Jesus himself, the anointed one.
Here they are being sent out on Mission with the bare necessities.
In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
Mark now interrupts up mission by introducing the story of John the Baptist.
We will come back to this story shortly but first lets continue with the mission
In verse 30 we see...
The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
Mark
They told Jesus about the healings, about the exorcisms and they told him how they had anointed people with oil and they were healed.
Now as they came back Jesus knew that they needed to rest so he invites them to come away with him to a desolate place and rest for a while
Feeding
Feeding
Mark 6:30-
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.
36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all.
42 And they all ate and were satisfied.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
The crowds saw where they were going and ran to be on the other shore when they arrived
Mark 6:30-44
,
So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
The Feeding
The Feeding
Crossing
Crossing
Jesus came to his own but was reject
Jesus then sends the disciples across the sea while he went off to pray
The disciples were struggling to get across the sea because of a great wind that was slowing them down. The text says they were making headway painfully because of the headwind.
Jesus then, between 3 and 6am comes to them by walking on the water.
Moses was rejected by his own at first
Mark says he passes them by and they were afraid because they thought he was a ghost.
Moses gathers the twelve tribes
Jesus tells them to take heart, and not be afraid. He got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. and they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Moses sent out twelve spies to survey the land
Moses fed the people manna in the wilderness
They then make it to the other side of the Sea
Healing
Healing
Moses had to deal with evil pharaoh
Moses got them to the edge the promise land, but Joshua brought them in
people from all over were bringing the sick to Jesus so that he might heal them. Mark even tells us that more people, like the woman with the issue of blood, were healed by touches his garments.
Jesus walks on water to lead them to the other side of the sea
So we have seen this movement through our passage this morning
Jesus restores people from all over the land
Now Jesus taught them many things all the way until supper time.
The people are now hungry so the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away for they are in a desolate place where there is no food,
What they took with them
Desolate place is the same word for wilderness or dessert.
Jesus responds by saying to the disciples, “you give them something to eat”
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
Resurrection
Rejection
Sandals
Sending
holy ground? the land is defiled by Israel’s sin
Feeding
Staff
Crossing
shepherds of a new Israel
Healing
No extra bags, bread, money
relay on the generosity of the people
You cannot receive the message without receiving the messenger
Stay at peoples homes
Oil is the extension of Jesus himself, the anointed one.
vs. 8 “journey” should be seen as “the way”
And we will see this movement again in the middle part of the sandwich which deals with John the baptist’s beheading.
Now this story is not in chronological order. Mark interupts the story of the disciples mission with the events of John’s death at the hand of Herod.
He does this to contrast Herod and Jesus
Two King - Two Shepherds - Two Rulers
The Two Kings
The Two Kings
The middle part of the sandwich starts off by mark telling us that King Herod heard of it, for Jesus name had become known.
what is the “it” that King Herod heard about?
It was the mission, it was the disciples going out and proclaiming that people should repent. It was Jesus’ power and kingship that we have looked at up to this point in the Gospel of Mark.
So when Herod heard about all that Jesus and his followers were doing, some told him that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead - others told him that Jesus was Elijah. and still other said he was a prophet, like one of the prophets from old.
16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
Mark 6:
And here we start the same sequence of events that we have seen throughout the chapter happening again in this story.
Resurrection
Resurrection
Herod is fearful that John the baptist has come back from the dead and Jesus is actually John.
Herod feared John because John was a righteous and holy man.
Because of this up to this point Herod had kept John safe. He didn’t allow people to hurt John.
One of the reasons was because he really enjoyed John’s preaching.
20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
Mark
EXAMPLE: Benjamin Frankland and George Whitfield.
John and Herod actually got to know each other to the point where John had the opportunity to tell Herod that he taking his brothers wife as his own is not right.
When Herod thought that John might have been raised it struck fear into his heart.
When Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter it did not strike fear in their hearts, rather it caused them to be overcome with amazement.
Rejection
Rejection
Herodias, Herods wife, who was the wife of his brother, hated John and wanted to see him killed.
She rejected John’s message - in the same way the people rejected Jesus’ teaching. She took offence to John and wanted to see him killed.
Interesting side note, Herodias wanted to kill John for holding to the biblical view of marriage.
Herod would not kill John but instead threw hin in prison.
However, at Herod’s birthday party his daughter, and the daughter of Herodias was dancing for Herod and his friends.
He was so impressed with her dancing that he promised to give her anything she wanted, even half of his kingdom.
This girl, who was probably about 12 years old (same age as Jairus’ daughter) went to her mom, Herodias, to ask her what she should ask for from Herod.
Herodias told her daughter to ask for John the Baptist head on a platter.
Herod was very sad about this but wanted to save face in front of all his friends.
Sending
Sending
Herod then has his own sending. While Jesus sends out his followers to bring healing and life to the world. Herod sends his executioner to bring about the death of John the Baptist.
Herod orders the executioner to go behead John and the order was carried out right away.
The executioner went to the prison cell where John was being held and beheads him.
Feeding
Feeding
The executioner brings John’s head into the party on a platter - as if he is food for the guests
This is a gruesome passage but it stands in stark contrast to Jesus and the feeding of the 5000
Herod who is a leader of the jews, who slaughters her prophets and feeds them to his friends
Jesus is the good
Jesus is the true king who protects his people, feeds his people, and bring life and healing as opposed to death and wickedness.
Jesus’ actions result in life for his people. it results in healing. Herods actions result in the death of John the Baptist.
This patter of Resurrection, Rejection, Sending, Feeding, Crossing, and Healing not only shows up in Mark chapter 6, and in the story of Herod and John the baptist, but it also shows up in the exodus and conquest of Israel
Resurrection
Rejection
Sending
Feeding
Crossing
Healing
EXODUS
Moses, when going to back to Egypt, his home town, he went before Pharaoh and told him what God had said to let his people go. However, Pharaoh did not listen but only made the work more strenuous on the people. Pharaoh told them to keep making bricks of clay but took away the straw. The work load increased so much on the people that they went to moses and told him that it was his fault. And they would not listen to Moses, in fact, they took offence to Moses.
It starts with Jesus being rejected in his home town as Moses was rejected in his home town, and then continues to make parallels between Jesus’s ministry and the exodus and conquest stories.
Exodus and Conquest
Exodus and Conquest
Retelling as the exodus and the conquest
Background and significance to the Exodus story.
Birth of the nation
God’s greatest act in the OT
This is what Jesus retells in his own life showing that he is the new Moses, Israel, and Joshua.
Exodus and Conquest movement:
The people of God were symbolically resurrected when they crossed the Red Sea
Jesus resurrects Jairus’ daughter
Moses was rejected by his own people when they were in the wilderness
Just as Jesus was rejected by his own people in Nazareth
Moses gathers the twelve tribes -
Jesus gathers the 12 apostles
Moses sent out twelve spies to survey the land -
Jesus sends out the 12 apostles to preach the gospel
God provides food for Moses and the people with manna in the wilderness -
Jesus feeds 5000 in the wilderness
Moses had to deal with the evil king Pharaoh -
Here mark tells us about the evil king Herod
Moses brought them to the edge the promise land, but Joshua brought them in by crossing the Jordan
Jesus takes them to the edge of the sea and sends them off on their own. Jesus walks on water to lead them to the other side of the sea
Jesus in himself encompasses this pattern for all his people.
Jesus is our Resurrection
Jesus was rejected so we don’t have to be
Jesus is the one who sends us
Jesus is the one who feeds us
Jesus is the one who who crossed over from life to death so that he might bring us from death to life.
Jesus is the one who heals us.
Jesus is our good shepherd, we are sheep in need of a shepherd and jesus is the one who has brought us into his fold and he is the one who keeps us safe.
The Lord is my shepherd
Jesus saw that the people were like sheep without a shepherd
Jesus sends his apostles to be shepherds to a lost and dying world
Jesus is our shepherd
The Prophet Ezekiel prophesies concerning this account in Chapter 34
1 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered;
6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
Ezek 34:
I shall not want.
The people were hungry and in need of food.
Jesus as the good shepherd fed his sheep.
Likewise, Jesus is our good shepherd and he will take care of our needs.
When we are following him he fulfills all the desires of our hearts. He gives us good gifts.
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
Though the people were in a desolate land, Make reminds us three times, Jesus finds green pastures for them to sit down in and feast.
My friends, often times it feels like our lives are being lived in desolate places.
Nothing is turning out the way we planned
It seems like God is far away and his blessings are few
But when you run to Jesus you’ll find that he has prepared green pastures for his sheep. He has brought you to where you are for reason and he has not left you alone.
He leads me beside still waters.
The disciples were painfully struggling to make any sort of headway on the sera because the waters were not still.
But when Jesus gets into the boat he leads them along the still waters.
No matter how crazy life may seem, when Jesus is in the boat he leads us beside the still waters.
This does not mean life will be easy, what it means is that for Jesus this storm is nothing. And we cling to Jesus because he is the still waters for our souls.
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Where God sends us he will also lead us.
He sends on mission to advance his kingdom in our lives and he leads us on this mission down the path of righteousness.
And unlike Herod who destroyed John, Jesus restores those who come to him.
He is a good king who
redeems
renews
and restores.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
When Jesus send out the apostles on mission and when he fed the 5000 he did son in the shadow of John’s death. Mark makes this very clear when he sandwiches these two stories together.
And when we are likewise in the valley of the shadow of death we must not fear evil, why, because Jesus is with us.
He is the great king who is stronger than any evil, he is the great shepherd who is always with his sheep. he is stronger than any earthly power, he is mightier than he who is in the world.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
What did Jesus do for the 5000? He prepared a table for them in the presence of Herod.
What did the disciples do when they went out on mission? they anointed many with oil.
This is what Jesus does for his people, He anoints us with his power and glory and he gives us reason to be able to feast together in the presence of our enemies.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
My friends, there is goodness and mercy to be found in Christ.
He, by his goodness and mercy, has brought us into his family, into his covenant, into his house and we will dwell here forever.
This is the hope that we have. That no matter how difficult life may get, no matter how strange circumstances may become we will dwell with christ forever.
We will take part in his RESURRECTION, We will not be REJECTED but rather God will accept us because Christ was REJECTED on our behalf. He is now SENDING us on mission to advance his kingdom so earth begins to look more like heaven. And as we do this he FEEDS us each week when we come to the table. He then will lead us ACROSS those waters of death to the other side where we will receive complete HEALING and every tear will be whipped away. and we will spend all eternity in the presence of our good king, and our good shepherd and our eternal savior!
Lets pray.