Bullet Trains

Mark 1:34 And He cured many who were afflicted with various diseases; and He drove out many demons, but would not allow the demons to talk because they knew Him [intuitively]. Reading chapter one of the Gospel of Mark feels like you are riding along the bullet train A bullet train is a high speed train in Japan that reaches speeds of over 200 mph. Yet, in this one chapter Mark records that Jesus was baptized, He was led in the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days and nights, called and chose His 12 disciples, visited the synagogue, cast out demons in the synagogue, healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, healed the sick and cast out demons. I’m exhausted just reading it. But how? How did Jesus do all of these things? Mark one offers two clues: Mark 1:10 And when He came up out of the water, at once he [John] saw the heavens torn open and the [Holy] Spirit like a dove coming down [to enter] into Him. Mark 1:35 And in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed. Did you catch it? He was filled with the Spirit and He took time to pray – first thing, early in the morning.

Bullet Trains achieve their fast speeds primarily through dedicated tracks, electric motors, and electro-magnetic levitation. Everything, but the dedicated tracks are invisible. What really makes them accelerate is what is unseen. It’s unfortunate that when it comes to looking at the things Jesus accomplished that we dismiss the impact of it all by saying, He was God. When our focus dismisses His humanity we fail to see the miracle achieved and modeled. Yes, He was, and is still – God. BUT, He was also human. If you dismiss His humanity you’ve missed the fact that He modeled His life as an example for us all. When we dismiss His humanity we dismiss the fact that He needed to be filled with the Spirit. He needed to pray. He needed to go to synagogue. He needed to read, study, and memorize the Word. He needed thanksgiving and worship. He needed to gather with like-minded believers to share Who God was to them and what He was doing in their lives. When we dismiss His humanity we dismiss His suffering through to the Fathers’ will in the Garden of Gethsemane – a struggle that was so intense He sweat drops of blood. We dismiss His suffering on the cross. We dismiss His being tempted in every way we are tempted. This was what the Apostle Paul was conveying to us: 1 Cor. 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified. If we focus on Jesus simply being God we miss the fact that He lived a crucified life. The crucified life prepared Him for the crucifixion. Everyday of His life was a crucifixion. Everyday he hauled His soul – mind, will, emotions, and personality – onto His Fathers’ will bringing it into submission. But this only happened as a result of His surrender to the “dedicated tracks” the Lord placed before Him.

A few of us are preparing to travel to Kenya for ten days of dedicated service to the people of Mlolongo. Part of our preparation involves reading the Book of Acts. Today our reading was in Acts 24 and one verse stood out to me: Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men. (Acts 24:16) Why did he live this life of dedication? He believed in the Resurrection of Jesus and because of this hope he believed Jesus would raise his body to new life. Now Acts 24:15 states that Jesus is going to raise the righteous and unrighteous to life. Righteous means, rightly related to God and to man. When that day happens do you want to be known as one who traveled the same dedicated tracks as Jesus or one who ran off the tracks? Do you want to rise up to, Well done? Or do you want to rise up to everlasting shame? I don’t know about you but I want to be a bullet train like Jesus.