What Did Jesus Say? (Mark 1:14)

The first words that Jesus spoke in the gospel of Mark were, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.” I hear the words of Jesus and I see in my mind what Daniel saw in the night visions. “I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13,14). The time had come for the curse to be broken. When the curse was broken the arrogant words of Satan would be silenced and dominion would be given to the rightful king.

I hear in the words of Jesus the long-awaited fulfillment of this prophecy for the coming of the rule and reign of the Son of Man. This is good news! However, I also look with wonder at the setting in which Jesus made this proclamation. John has been arrested. Israel is under the heels of Rome. It doesn’t look like a picture of the Son of Man establishing His kingly rule - His dominion - His sovereign government. But what did Jesus say? “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15).

Those who had been waiting for the coming of messiah believed that he would come and break the yoke of Rome, but there was a greater plan. The messiah had come to break the yoke of Satan in the heart of every man. His rule and reign would include ruling and reigning in the lives of every people, nation and language. In order to establish the kingdom of God, the serpent’s head must be crushed and the Son of Man’s heel must be bruised. The kingdom of God was near because the time had been fulfilled. Jesus had come to break the curse by His death on the cross.

But there was more to this proclamation of good news. There was a call to respond. “Repent and believe in the good news.”  Repent, to change the mind, to accept the will God. This was the message of John, who had gone before Jesus to prepare the hearts and minds of the people for the kingdom of God. Those who had repented were able to hear the good news, but those who didn’t humble themselves with repentance rejected the messiah.

Jesus not only said to repent, He also said to believe in the good news. What does it mean to believe? It means that you put your confidence and trust in the One who came to set up His kingdom. Satan came into the garden offering man the right to rule himself and be his own god. He lied, and man’s rebellion against the dominion of God brought death. Now, at last, the time was fulfilled for the curse to be broken. Jesus came saying, “Believe the truth, reject the lie. The kingdom of God is near.”

How?

My friend and I were talking about diets. Linda is very practical. I sent her a link to a diet that I was interested in. Her response was, “Very sensible stuff. The trick is just to actually DO it.” So, what is the difference between knowing something and doing it? Why is it so difficult? How do you take something you believe and make it something that you live?

I confess there are things I want to do, goals I want to reach. I want my life to be well-lived. I don’t want to be simply a dreamer who wakes up when my life is over to find nothing but disheveled bed sheets produced from sleepwalking. In Colossians 3:2 it says that we are to set our minds, we are to have understanding, to seek for, things above. How?

My first step is faith. Is that right? Is that really the first step? I remember when I was a young teenager telling my mother that I wanted to have more faith. She told me that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. She invited me to wake up with her the next morning at 5 a.m. if I wanted more faith and begin reading the Bible. That was over 50 years ago. How did my actions affect my faith? By hearing the word of God I learned who it was that I was putting my faith in.

Faith isn’t just an idle belief. If I simply fill my mind with lofty ideas of who God is, and I am constantly thinking about how much Jesus loves me, but not allowing those thoughts to affect how I live, then it is the same as being a glutton with a library filled with books about healthy eating. True faith involves action. My faith is seen when I take the intangible truths that I believe in and make them tangible by my actions.

Again I ask, how? How do I take something that I believe in and make it something that I live? Is it because I’ve been waking up early ever since I was a child seeking truth, seeking God? Is it my efforts to act on what I believe that breathes life into my faith? No, it’s more than that. To be more than a dreamer, to be fully awake, you must be made alive in the spiritual realm. It is only when you have put your faith in the word of God, concerning the Kingdom of God, and received the breath of God that is the Spirit of God, that you can be fully alive.

A Life Full of Days

I did the math and was surprised to find that the “ripe old age” that David died at was less than five years older than I am! This stopped me in my tracks. It seems like most of my life is lived in a mad dash focusing more on where I’m going than where I am at the moment. My next thought was that if I will be reaching the age that the Bible considers a full life within the next five years, I should make a five year plan. But wait a minute. Wasn’t my response a continuation of looking more into the future than gazing at the present?

I looked again at the verse that told about when David died, and I was struck by the phrase that he had lived his life, “full of days.” What would my life look like if I focused more on the days of my life than I did the years of my life? God revealed Himself to Moses as “I Am.” In Revelations we are offered grace and peace from, "the One who is, and was, and is to come” (Revelations 1:4)"

There is grace and peace from the One who is, but what else can I discover if I live in the present? “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). I wonder if I sometimes miss the refuge and strength, grace and peace of the day because I’m focused on the worries of tomorrow?

I find a blessing in Deuteronomy 33:25, “As your days so shall your strength be.” Now here is my question, can I claim that blessing too? I think it is available if I ask for it. I think perhaps this is what is meant when Jesus taught us that in prayer we are to ask for “daily bread.”

So, here I am at the dawning of a new day, watching the sun rise and filled with the knowledge of my inadequacies. Do I really believe in a God who calls Himself  “I Am”? Do I really believe that there is “grace and peace” for me from the “One who is”? Is God really my “refuge and strength”? Is He “a very present help in trouble” and can I trust Him to provide the strength that I need for this day? He told me to ask for “daily bread,” and so I will. I will also ask that when my days come to an end, whether it’s five or twenty five years from now, that each day will be full and satisfying. I pray that I might live each day in communion with the One who is. Because isn’t daily communion the same as daily bread?

Learning to Find Peace

I had unexpectedly stepped into a nest of yellow jackets! Suddenly I was swarmed by angry, stinging bees. They were plunging their stingers into my legs, buzzing with fury all around my face. That memory from my childhood still causes me to shudder. There are other memories that draw me back in time to hurts I’d rather forget; memories I would rather not think about. Yet sometimes things happen that reawaken the pain of the past. Recently, I was confronted by such a reawakening and again I felt as if I was being attacked by a swarm of bees.

Negative memories and negative emotions began to haunt my mind. My prayers were childlike and simple, “Father, help me! I don’t know what to do! I don’t know how to respond!” In answer to my prayer I read Colossians 3. In the light of God’s word I saw myself clearly. I felt like a vulnerable child engulfed in the embrace of my Father. I had been heard. I had been answered. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and quickly wrote the words in bold letters and put it on my refrigerator.

Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. Above all, put on love--the perfect bond of unity (Colossians 3:12-14)

I just had one more problem. Although I knew that my prayer was both heard and answered, I couldn’t figure out what the answer meant. Now I had the answer to my my prayer, but I still had all my negative emotions and hurts. So my prayer changed and I began to ask God how I was supposed to put away the anger that I felt and put on love. I wanted to, but to be honest I simply didn’t know how.

I kept thinking about it, reading it, meditating on it, praying about it. I didn’t want to be fake. I didn’t want to pretend. Finally, one day I saw the verse differently. I had been focusing on what I needed to do, trying to figure out how I was supposed to put off all my negativity and put on love. Suddenly I realized what the "therefore" was there for. I could put on love, not because I chose to, but because God had chosen me. I could choose to have a holy response instead of a fleshy response because God had chosen to sanctify me by the blood of His Son. I could choose to love only because God had chosen to love me! With the eyes of my heart finally opened, I realized that by faith I had access to everything I needed. When I understood this, I was able at last to let the peace of the Messiah, to which I was called, control my heart.

Temptation (Mark 1:12,13)

“Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels began to serve Him” (Mark 1:12,13).

With these words the contest between the Antichrist and the Christ unfolds. Satan had slithered out of the garden of Eden having won a victory over the first Adam. In the garden, where every need was met, there was still a lust for what was forbidden. What stood in the way of gaining the wisdom this forbidden fruit promised? It was the word of God that said, “If you eat the fruit of this tree you will surely die.” So, Satan accused God of lying. The word of God was discarded for what the eye lusted after. With that victory Satan began to establish his dominion of darkness.

Death did come. The ground that had produced a garden now produced the thorn. The animals that Adam had named became wild. But all was not lost, because a promise was given that one day the Christ would come and the curse would be broken. John was told that the One that he would see the Spirit descending on and resting on would be the long-awaited Messiah. As soon as Jesus came out of the water from His baptism, the heavens were torn open and the Spirit descended on Him. And a voice came from heaven declaring Jesus to be God’s beloved Son in whom  God delighted. What happened next? “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12).

Jesus didn’t go into the wilderness because Satan lured Him there. He went because the Spirit brought Him to the wilderness with power. It was at the Spirit’s leading. The testing would be set to last 40 days. The 40 days of testing were not dictated by Satan but ordained by God. At no time has Satan ever ruled over God’s authority.

In the wilderness, among the wild animals, Satan tempted Jesus. For 40 days He was tempted, not in a garden where he had plenty, but in the wilderness where he had hunger. In the wilderness as in the garden the accuser took the word of God and twisted it. At the heart of all the temptations, whether in the garden or in the wilderness, was an invitation to join Satan in his rebellion. At the edge of time Satan had determined to raise his throne above the throne of God. In the garden it appeared he had won the contest. He was the ruler of  the dominion of darkness. But now the Christ, the King of Light, had come into the wilderness, fasting and hungry and vulnerable, wrapped in the garb of human flesh. It was here that the Antichrist tested and tempted the Christ.

I have known what it is like to be tempted in the garden where all my needs are met. I have known what it’s like to lust for more even though my life is full. I have known what it is like to be tempted in a wilderness filled with fears that howl like wild animals. If I only look at life with my eyes of flesh and listen with ears in tune to world, I fail. This is what I’ve learned from Jesus’ example:

1) God is in control.

2) God’s word is true and can be trusted.

3) Satan quotes God’s word with a twist.

4) Satan accuses God of not being worthy of our trust.

5) Great temptations often follow great victory.

6) Temptation comes before our appointed ministry.

7) Victory comes when we listen to God’s word with ears of faith and when we persevere, looking with our spiritual eyes at Him who is invisible. We are invited to acknowledge our weakness and to put our faith in His strength. When we do that we find that sometimes we are aided by unseen angels.

The Problem of Evil (Mark 7:1-12)

“So how shall we live in a world that is filled with evil? How can we protect ourselves and our families? We will start with the instruction that was given us but we will improve it. We will build a wall that is high and thick. We will dig a moat that is deep and overflowing. This will keep the evil away.” However, what they couldn’t see was that the one who handed them the improvement to God’s instructions was the evil one they were trying to combat.

The Pharisees and some of the Scribes approached Jesus ready to do battle. They had already determined that they would destroy him, and so they began their attack by aiming at Jesus’ disciples. “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with unwashed hands?” It wasn’t that their hands were dirty, the problem was that they were not following the traditional cleansing. By the time these traditions began to be written in the Mishnah there were over 35 pages devoted to washing alone! If you could measure righteousness by laws of cleansing, all I can say is, they won!

Jesus, however, was not impressed with their traditions. With his piercing eyes he saw their hearts and proclaimed them hypocrites. He quoted Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6,7). Then Jesus went on to show how they had invalidated God’s commandment by elevating their own traditions above God’s word. Behind the mask was the ancient foe seeking once more, through the guise of the commandments of men, to raise his throne of judgment above the throne of God.

The simplicity of the words Jesus spoke next are still rocking the world to this day. “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. If anyone has ears to hear, he should hear” (Mark 7:14-16)! Yet, even his disciples didn’t understand. He had to explain that the heart of the problem was the problem of the heart.

The purpose of the commandments and law of God was to expose the heart. Jesus told his disciples that it was from within people’s hearts that came evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, lewdness, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. There is no wall that is high or wide enough nor moat deep  enough to keep us away from evil when the evil is from our own hearts. The purpose of the law was to point out the need for a Savior.

A Cry For Help (Mark 7:24-30)

I asked my friend to tell her story. She began hesitantly. “I’m not sure what Sarah wanted me to say. The prayers I prayed for my son weren’t eloquent; in fact, sometimes I couldn’t find the words to express what was in my heart.” She told how she had prayed for eight long years while her son was ensnared by drugs. I listened and nodded with understanding. I knew what it was as a mother to pray for my children when words were replaced by tears.

“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon” (Matthew 15:22). My translation says that she kept crying out, but when I looked it up in the Greek it translated the word “crying out” as screaming or shrieking. In Mark it says that Jesus had entered a house hoping that no one would know it. But she had found Him and she wasn’t going to leave without being granted mercy for herself and for her child.

Who was she? In Mark she is identified as a Greek, a Syrophonician by birth. Matthew refers to her as a Canaanite. She was from the same pagan region that the infamous Jezebel had been from. All of these ways of identifying her would point her out as an enemy of the Jews. Yet here she was, crying for mercy and falling at Jesus' feet. Not only that, but three times she calls Jesus “Lord.”

This story is unsettling though, because at first Jesus didn’t say a word to her. Jesus’ disciples assumed that He felt the same way about this intrusion as they did, and urged Him to get rid of the nuisance. Instead, Jesus said to her that He had been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Her simple response was, “ Lord, help me.” Now the picture changed from lost sheep to children, and Jesus asked if was right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs. She had come on behalf of her own child, and she knew Jesus was her only hope. And she refused to let go of Him until He blessed her by helping her child. Her response was a response of faith that even the dogs were allowed to eat the crumbs that fell from the table.

Here is a basic fact: She believed in Jesus. She knelt at His feet in worship. She had a child who was being cruelly tormented by a demon, and because she loved her child, she had come to Jesus for help.

I look at this story and remember why Jesus came. I see a reflection of the Heavenly Father’s heart in this grieving mother. To set His children free from the snares of Satan, He gave His one and only Son, so the everyone who believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life. That “everyone" included this woman who knelt at His feet crying, “Help me!”

He has done everything well! (Mark 7:31-37)

It is an invisible disability. If you were in a crowded room looking around, you would not be able recognize those who were deaf. But a crowded room is the loneliest place for someone who has lost the ability to hear. People who cannot hear are often misjudged. Sometimes they are thought to be arrogant because they don’t respond when spoken to, when in reality they simply cannot hear what is being said. If they have the added disability of a speech impediment, often their intellect is questioned. Sometimes people avoid them because it can be so irritating to try to communicate with someone who is deaf or even hard of hearing. The deep desire to know and to be known often is denied. How do I know this? Because I am one of them, I am partially deaf.

When I first read the story about Jesus healing the man who was deaf and had speech difficulties, I confess I thought it was an odd story. In fact, when I was teaching it I had to simply confess that I had no idea why Jesus would stick His fingers in that man’s ears. I was puzzled. However, as I continued to  meditate on this picture and pursue understanding, it came. And when at last I understood, I was humbled by a God who tenderly, compassionately, and uniquely healed this man’s disability.

“They brought to Him a deaf man who had a speech difficulty, and begged Jesus to lay His hands on him" Mark 7:32). The first thing that comes to my mind is, who were “they”? In Mark 2 we have the story of a group of friends carrying their friend to Jesus. But in this story I wonder if this deaf man was brought to Jesus because “they” wanted  to see a miracle performance. I also wonder how the man felt. After all, he couldn’t hear, so how could he understand why he was being brought into this crowd of people?

When I began to look at this story through the eyes of someone who is deaf, it was like being given a key that unlocked a mystery. First of all, knowing that one of the most uncomfortable places you can be when you're deaf is in a crowd where you are unsure of what is going on, I see Jesus’ compassion. Jesus took him away from the crowd, He refused to make this man a spectacle. Next, Jesus used sign language! That is why Jesus put His fingers in the man’s ears. Jesus used His own DNA when He spit and touched the man’s tongue. When Jesus looked up to heaven He was using a visual clue for the deaf man about where the healing was coming from. I had also wondered why we have the Aramaic expression He spoke when He said “Ephphatha!” until I looked at it from the man’s perspective. The man could read Jesus’ lips! With a deep sigh of compassion Jesus released this man from the disability that had isolated him.

I think that the deep sigh of Jesus was not only for the physical disability of being deaf, but it was for our spiritual deafness as well. There is an ancient baptism prayer called “Ephphatha” (Be opened). The pastor touches the ears and the mouth of the one coming for baptism and says, “The Lord has made the deaf hear and the mute speak. May He touch your ears to receive His words and your mouth to proclaim Him to the praise and glory of God the Father. Amen.”

Not What He Expected (Mark 1:1-11)

When I was a teenager I was introduced to a pamphlet by Campus Crusade For Christ called “The Four Spiritual Laws.” One of the laws said, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” That sounded good to me! As a teenager I was pretty sure what that wonderful plan should look like. However, long before I reached thirty I realized that God’s plan wasn’t the same as mine. When I look at the life of John the Baptist I think there is a strong possibility that his life didn’t turn out how he expected.

At the height of John’s ministry, when crowds were flocking to him to be baptized, he pointed them to the coming Messiah. He told them that he baptized with water for repentance but the Messiah would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The imagery of the Messiah was drawn from the prophet Isaiah. “Then suddenly, in an instant, you will be visited by the Lord of Hosts with thunder, earthquake, and loud noise, storm, tempest, and a flame of consuming fire” ( Isaiah 29:5,6). John pictured Him coming with a winnowing shovel in His hand, ready to clear the threshing floor, gather the wheat, and burn the chaff with a fire that would never go out. Then suddenly Jesus appeared, having walked from the small town in Galilee called Nazareth.

Jesus asked John to baptize him. This wasn’t what John was expecting. John’s birth had been miraculous, foretold by an angel to his father Zechariah. The angel had told Zechariah that his child would, “turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a prepared people”  ( Luke 1:16,17). John’s father was a priest who would have taught him all the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. John was surprised by Jesus’ humble request to be baptized. However, John had been told by God that “The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). John saw and testified that Jesus was the Son of God.

I’m curious if John had ever wondered what his position would be after the Messiah came on the scene? The day after Jesus’ baptism two of his disciples left him and began to follow Jesus. However, it was only after John was arrested that Jesus went to Galilee and began preaching. Why was John arrested? It was because John had been faithful to preach the message of repentance even to the reprobate King Herod who had taken his brother’s wife. I don’t think this was what John had expected to happen after the long awaited Messiah had finally come.

There is no account of Jesus ever going to see John in prison even though he was there during the height of Jesus' ministry. While John was in prison he heard about what the Messiah was doing, so he sent a message by his disciples and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else” (Matthew 11:3)? Jesus responded by saying, “Go and report to John what you hear and see; the blind see, and the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed” (Matthew 11:1-4).

Jesus answered John by pointing to the prophets. “‘Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming; God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy, and water will gush in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:4-6). That, however, wasn’t the only prophesy Jesus quoted. He added another quote from Isaiah. This quote referred to the Messiah as, “a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare” (Isaiah 8:14,15).

John had not expected to be in prison when the Messiah came. However, he didn’t trip over the Rock of offense but was faithful to death. Jesus said of him, “I assure you: among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared..." (Matthew 11:1).

A Promise Kept (Mark 1:4-8)

They were being crushed by the iron heel of Rome. I can almost hear them crying out with the words of the psalmist, “Will the Lord reject forever and never again show favor? Has His faithful love ceased forever? Is His promise at an end for all generations? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger withheld His compassion” (Psalm 77:7-9)?

As if in response God says in Isaiah, “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.” And how does this comfort come? It comes with a promise that they would hear, “A voice crying out: Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill will be leveled; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will appear, and all humanity will see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 40:1-5).

How would they recognize this messenger? In the closing words of the Old Testament we read, “Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:5). Then there was silence, and for 400 years they waited for God to keep His promise.

With a shout the silence was broken! John came into the wilderness just as the prophets had foretold. How was he to prepare the way for the Lord? He came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And, just like a people who had been awakened from an enchanted sleep, they came. The whole of Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Just as in the time of Joshua the Jordan River had to be crossed to enter the Promised Land, so too, John came preaching a baptism of repentance. He called on all who listen to confess their sins. Their hearts were stirred; he held them spellbound, this man wearing a camel-hair garment, whose diet was locusts and wild honey. “Someone more powerful than I will come after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:4-8). And so, with heightened anticipation, they awaited the Promise.

Come With Me (Mark 1:1)

I arose early in the morning to climb the mountain with Moses. I read. I studied. I saw the glory of the Lord as it rested on Mount Sinai. For days, weeks, and months I studied with my heart wide open. I didn’t just want to study it with my mind; I didn’t want to simply see with the eyes of my imagination; I wanted to bathe my spirit in the light and inhale the fragrance of the incense and taste both the bread and the wine of God’s presence. In this place where the eternal God made His dwelling with man I saw Jesus Christ.

I listened with Moses and inhaled the very breath of God. I saw and received the invitation to the feasts of God. Hour upon hour I poured over the words that I found in Leviticus 23. I saw the appointed times of the Lord. I looked at the celebration that began in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, with the Lord’s Passover. I opened each invitation until I came to the feast of tabernacles. When I came to the last and greatest day of the feast I found myself in Jerusalem. I saw Jesus as He stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” In every feast that I had studied I had seen a picture of Jesus. In response to His invitation I cried out,” Fill my cup Lord!”

Next, my studies took me to the Island of Patmos. I was there with John when he was in the spirit on the Lord’s day and he heard a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. I listened to the message that was given to the churches. I found myself praying that I would have ears to hear, that my heart would be tender, and that I would repent of the sins that I saw exposed in the churches. I also heard with John the voice that sounded like a trumpet saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” And so, with John, I went all the way to the end of time and heard the Spirit and the bride say, "Come.” I have heard the invitation to the one who is thirsty to come and take and drink the water of life without cost. I heard with John Jesus say, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” And everything within me cried, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Year after year I have studied. I have taught the Word of God. I have looked through the eyes of Moses and listened with his ears to the instruction of the Most High God. I drew the visions that were given to John in Revelation because I wanted to see the visions too. What followed was a simple childlike desire to simply see Jesus. I wanted to encounter Him through the eyes and heart of Peter.

Would you like to come with me and travel in the well-worn sandals of Peter? Would you like to come and have the mystery revealed to you as it was to him? Would you like to see light penetrating the darkness? Do you need hope in the storms of your life? Do you need to hear good news? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then join me as I travel back in time to “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1).