Daily Reflection with Aneel Aranha

They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Jesus taught like no other person in human history. Little wonder, because he was like no other person in human history. He was sent by God from heaven, to live among man, not as part-human, part-God, but fu

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” How many of you worry? I’m guessing pretty much everybody. And why not? There is plenty to worry about, right? Unfaithful spouses. Errant children. Angry bosses. Declining health. Depreciating assets. Mounting debts. Oh, and of course earthquakes and t

He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. The Parable of the Growing Seed can be found only in the Gospel of Mark. Although

He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” The famous author H. G. Wells once wrote a story titled “The Country of the Blind”. It told the story of a hiker who accidentally stumbled into a village of people who have been blind for generations. He remembered a saying that “in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” and, therefore, believed the people would make him their leader, appreciating the fact that he could see. Instead, they think he is mad because of the things that he describes, and set about “curing” hi

Again he began to teach beside the sea. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the sea and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” This comment by Jesus is not intended to disparage Mary, as some might suggest, because there was perhaps nobody in human history (other than Jesus himself) who has been so obedient to the will of God as Mary. Neither is this comment intended to minimize the importance of a biological family. This comment is to let his listeners know that there was a new way that everybody was going to relate to each other because of their faith in him. In his gospel, John writes:

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Today we honor the conversion of Paul. You might know that Paul, also known as Saul, was a devout Jew who was a persecutor of the early Church. Then one day he had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and overnight he went from persecutor to evangelist and is one person who did more to spread the gospel than perhaps anybody else. He made three missionary journeys across the ancient world, sowing the faith and planting churches wherever he went, despite all the obstacles and hindrances that came h

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending  the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. The Roman Empire was at the height of its power 2,000 years ago. The Romans controlled everything, and had a say in every aspect of society. Even the Jewish authorities paid allegiance to the Romans, including Herod, who was as corrupt as they come. Enter Jesus, who says four things to kick off his ministry:

. Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” Today’s passage is only two verses long, but is packed with enough questions to reflect upon for an entire week — or an entire lifetime. In this passage we find people thronging to see Jesus. However, the things he is saying are so far beyond their scope of understanding they believe he is out of his mind. If Jesus were to be with us today, and say the same things that he said to the people two thousand years ago, would we think any differently? Wouldn’t we, too, believe that he was out of his mind? How often do we believe that what Jesus asks us to do is not just impractical in today’s world, but impossible too?  Let us, for instance, consider this instruction that Jesus gives, “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also” (Luke 6:29). How many of us would actually do

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John theh brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Simon, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, another James, another Simon, and Judas. What a strange assortment of people. Four fishermen, one tax collector, one political radical, and six other men whose names never appear again in Mark’s gospel except to reveal one as a betrayer. These were twelve men who changed the world, even Judas, because he too played a part in the story

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. In this passage, we see that Jesus is becoming a kind of superstar, moving from national to international fame, as people in great numbers come from everywhere to meet him. They recognize him as a man of God — who else could heal the sick and drive out demons? — and are drawn to his ability to heal and deliver. These are, as this passage, describe them, the “great multitude”. But this passage, short thoug

  Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Doesn’t it bewilder you that religious leaders can be so filled with hate they become hell bent on destroying someone filled with love? Consider today’s passage. There is a man with a withered hand. Luke mentions it was his right hand, suggesting his handicap affected his livelihood. He is in the synagogue, praying, which indicates he is a man of faith. Don

One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” We can often become obsessed with following rules. This is not a bad thing. Consider speed limits on roads. Following speed limits enhances the safety of drivers and pedestrians as well as ensures a smoother flow of traffic. While most speed laws limit your speed on the road, there are other laws that demand you maintain a certain speed and

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.:"No  one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.” Jesus loved to eat. So did his disciples. They seemed to be eating all the time, even on days when people traditionally fasted. This confused the people who observed them. “The disciples of the Pharisees fast,” they said to J

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). In today’s passage we find John the Baptist introducing Jesus to two of his disciples as "the Lamb of God." “Look,” he

Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Let us begin this reflection with a question: “Are you perfect?” The spontaneous response is  going to be “No” because we would have to be God to say we are! Therefore, let us spend a few moments thinking about our imperfections. What are the things that stop us from bei

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So I many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,    “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and t

A  leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter. One of the most powerful images we can find in Scripture is of the Prodigal Son returning home to his father. He has squandered his father’s inheritance on wild living and is totally broke. He is also bedraggled and dirty, smelling like the pigs he was feeding recently. Yet, when his father meets him, he doesn’t

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the messag

They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Have you ever noticed that some teachers and preachers speak with total confidence and authority whereas most do not? What is the difference? It is experiential knowledge. Their knowledge doesn’t come from h