Consider This: In and Among

The Bible did not come with chapters and verses. They were added later to help people find specific sections more quickly. One unintended consequence, though, is that sometimes those chapters and verses break up portions of scripture that were meant to be taken together. The end of Mark 6 and the start of Mark 7 is a good example.

First, we get a description of Jesus at the height of his popularity. “Wherever he went – into the villages, towns, or country – they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed” (Mark 6:56).

Next, because the religious leaders, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, wanted to investigate what Jesus was doing, they too went to the marketplace. However, their reaction to being with the common people was very different than Jesus’. “The Pharisees… do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing… When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash” (Mark 7:3-4). To be clear, the Pharisees were not worried about germs. They were worried about being made spiritually unclean by the sinners around them.

In other words, the Pharisees were concerned about getting dirty, while Jesus was focused on helping people become clean. The Pharisees ran away from people. Jesus ran toward them. The Pharisees wanted to be separate (that is what the word Pharisee means – “Separated one”), while Jesus wanted to be with people. The Pharisees had no time for the irreligious, while Jesus said he came to be a spiritual doctor for the spiritually sick (Mark 2:17).

It is difficult to help people you do not know. It is rare to make a difference in someone’s life if you do not interact with them. People will resist even the truth if they do not trust the teacher.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He did that by being in and among them.

We must do the same.

You can make an impression from a distance, but you cannot make an impact from there.

“As the Father sent me, I am sending you!” (John 20:21)

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