Week 3 (Days 288-294): If I have enough faith, will God heal me?

[♪ music playing and singing in background. Hey Bible readers! Welcome to the Bible Recap Deep Dive. I'm your host, Tara Lee Cobble, and these are your other two hosts. Emma Daughter. How's it going? And Kirsten Miklosky. Hello. And every week, we pull some questions from the Bible Recap's Recaptains Facebook group, and we're gonna go deep on four or five of those questions today, and I'm just so excited to do the deep dive with you this week. We're moving through the New Testament, we're making great progress, and you guys have great questions. So if you want to submit a question, we'd love for you to join the Recaptains and drop your question in that discussion group, because even if we don't get to it, you're gonna get some great feedback from the other Recaptains. So who has our first question today? Me! All right, let's hear it. Question one. Day 288 is where this comes from, and the question is, why does Jesus make Jairus wait while Jesus helps someone else? All right, we're reading the text, it's 20 verses. Which maybe, I think, give us some context. Some context, just so we know. Also, should we just say, I'll say where it comes from. So Mark 5, 21 to 43. Awesome. Okay. Yeah. So I think, first of all, we gotta start with who is Jairus. In simple terms, he's a dad, he's got a 12-year-old little girl, he may have had other kids, we don't know, but he, by profession, was a ruler in the synagogue in Cuperna, which meant big deal. Yeah, he's a well-known religious leader. It kind of be like, hey, he's not the mayor of the town, but he's a figure that everybody in the town would have known about. Like, Cuperna was a big city in that day. Yes. Like, it's in the Galilee, it's on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and it was one of the major towns in that day. So to be sort of the mayor-ish of a large town. The religious mayor. Yeah. It's a big deal. Because he wasn't a priest. I do think that's an important distinction. He was kind of like a very, very integral key leader or volunteer, but it was an official position who was responsible for things like worship services or the literal building, like the facilities. He oversaw it all. Right. So every Jew would know who he was in this town. Yes. Now, in contrast, we meet another woman in the story who would be an outcast. So she's the opposite of Jairus, and she's been bleeding for 12 years. So right away, my antennas go up, the daughter was 12, the woman's been bleeding for 12, there's some repetition there. And so culturally, we start to see Jesus challenge some societal norms. Now, you and I, I think, observed two different things in this. So why don't you share what you observed? Well, so what I was thinking about was the fact that Jesus stopped for this woman, and in doing that, he is bringing her to the same equal standing as Jairus and Jairus' daughter. So that was kind of the take that I was seeing in this story, is that Jesus could have kept walking. She was the one that touched him. So it wasn't even that he was looking around for somebody to heal. She touched him. He could have just kept going knowing that she had been healed, but he stopped. He gave her a moment or a couple moments. We don't necessarily know how long the interaction was. We know some of the things that he said, but he stopped and brought her to that equal status, basically of saying, this ruler of the synagogue who everyone in the city knows is not more important than me also healing you and talking to you and communicating compassion to you. A woman with no status is also an outcast, and he elevates her. Who obviously also would have been poor. She gave all she had to the vegans to be healed. This is also, I believe, one of the only places in the Gospels where Jesus calls someone daughter, and so there's this significant demonstration of faith instantly leading into admittance into the family of God, that he's redefining how she's viewed. This isn't a random woman. This is my daughter, which I think is cool. Something that I found interesting as far as the cultural norms go, at the same time, so all of this is happening, and yes, Jesus is stopping for the woman who would have been less valued in their society. But I think the reaction of the people around Jesus is really interesting. It's almost as if they're saying, hey, don't bother the teacher anymore. Let's keep moving, and Jesus is slowing down, and the disciples are like, there's a gazillion people here. Of course, someone bumped you. Why would you stop for this? I was thinking, if we know that there's a 12-year-old who's dying, as Westerners, we operate in this hierarchy of priority. So you've got a bleeding woman. She's bleeding, but she's fine. Then you've got dying child. As Western readers, we would say, well, you better sprint to the dying child. Why would you possibly slow down? But culturally, people would be on their way similar, and they would take care of whatever came up next, whatever came up next, whatever came up next, whatever's right in front of you. Some theologians believe. And so I had to be reminded, as I read this story, that I'm reading it through my viewpoint as a Westerner, but Jesus being that interruptible would have been normal. Now, it's interesting that he's being interrupted by a lower-class woman. That is a distinct detail, yes. But I also thought it's funny that we would think it's so odd that he stopped, but they more were bothered potentially by the crowd rather than the stop itself. Okay, that's interesting. I never thought about that before. I also thought something that was interesting in the story. In Mark's Gospel so far, Mark's accounted for Jesus' authority over circumstances. He called the storm, his authority over demons, the legions, sickness, the bleeding woman, and now he's delayed, and he's revealing his authority over death itself. His power over death is being put on full display because he's delayed. I'd actually never noticed that before until studying this text for this episode, but it's possible. Why did he wait? He was intentionally revealing his authority over death. Almost like a Lazarus moment. Yes, yes. Like he has to wait for Lazarus to die. Absolutely. And just like touching the bleeding woman would have been defiling, so too would be touching a dead person, but he's more powerful. He's showing his power over death. And isn't Mark's the immediately Gospel, right? Yes, immediately, immediately, immediately. And so even it's interesting that in this moment, his immediate focus is on this woman, who is the poor, the outcast, the lowly, the whatever. It's just whatever is immediately in front of him is what has his attention. Yeah. Well, and I think on that point too, like Mark's Gospel can read really fast because of all the immediate leads, but it feels like, And it's shorter. Right, yeah, sure, sure. But it also feels like this moment where Mark's like, Okay, we're going to slow down for a second and I'm going to like really tell you this whole story, which is kind of interesting. I haven't thought that before. Yeah. And I mean, the thing that when I read this question, I love that you guys took these vantage points of like Dormin and Jairus and my thought is like, how do I feel when God makes me wait? I'm like, yeah, what is, why would he do that? Why would he make somebody wait? Yeah, that was a very relatable question to me. Yes. It's just this feeling of like, and then even watching other people get their prayers answered, yes, when mine still is getting a no or a wait, which are still answers, by the way, God is still answering my prayer if he says no, he's still answering my prayer if he says wait. And it even reminds me of the guy at the pool of Bethesda who's been there for 38 years, watching other people be healed in front of him. And he's even kind of lost hope that healing might be possible for him. But this woman did not. She touched Jesus, reached out, was healed immediately. She believed. Yeah. And what's so cool about that is the culture at that time had this belief that if you were sick and if you couldn't be, couldn't get better, that it's possible there was some sin that you hadn't dealt with, you know, like we see that with the man born blind, like who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind. And Jesus is like, that's not the point. The point is that he has this ailment so that the glory of God might be displayed. It's not about his parents sinning or him sinning. Both are sinners, obviously, but that wasn't the contributing factor. And with this woman, the society around her would have been like, that woman must be mired and sinned, that she's been sick and bleeding for 12 years. And yet her faith was what was put on display. Yeah. Yep. And Jesus stopped for her to say that to all the people that are around. That's really cool. Yeah. Yeah. The thing that I was thinking about alongside with kind of this waiting thing is that Jesus knows the timetable that he's on. And so other people around him or us as we're reading it are kind of like, let's go. There's a dying fellow girl. Come on. And I think that that, again, so relatable of kind of, I'm like, God, I have a plan. And this timetable that you're on is not what I'm thinking for me, you know? And so that's where it is just cool to see kind of in this story where we can kind of picture ourselves. Okay. Like, would we be frustrated by the waiting or would we be confused by the waiting or something? And it just points to God has a timetable. God knows what's going on. He knew what he was going to go do. And he knew that he had all the time in the world to stop and talk to this woman and affirm her before going and also raising Jairus' daughter. So I think that's really cool. I love what both of you just contributed and especially your point, Terri Lee, what you elaborated on. What about when I'm watching other people get their prayers answered? And what I think is interesting is that that's what Jairus is doing. He is literally watching this woman get her lifelong prayer answered while his is being delayed and the people around him say, your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further? And I think that's really interesting because that can kind of be our attitude when we feel like we've been praying for something a long time and God's not answering. Or he's answering with weight? Yeah, or he's answering weight. And we're like, okay, I maybe just need to give up or pray less frequently or whatever. And Jesus' response to that attitude is, do not fear, only believe. And how often do I need to be told that when I'm doubting or when I'm feeling like giving up or growing discontent? And I love the intricacy of God's plan that Jesus is walking out here. There is individual attention to each of these scenarios and yet those scenarios are very much interwoven. And so perhaps sometimes the things that I am praying for involve other people. I'm not isolated. It is not all about me. I'm not the main character. And so there are times and spaces that God's answer to me in the moment might be weight or might be no, because he's working in some other scenario, a timeline that is beyond my capacity that involves so, I mean, can you imagine how many things are involved with running the entire universe? Like there's a lot of play, right? So much. Despite what I wish it were, like I said, I'm not the main character. And so there are other things that have to be considered. And then when we step back and we look at it and we read this story, we go, you did the exact right thing and it blessed all these people. Yeah, all these people got the best possible answer at the best possible time. And I believe because of the goodness and sovereignty of our Father, that's the way it's all working in our stories. And so if you're waiting for something that you feel like God is saying, you know, wait or no, he's answering your prayer. We don't know how he's answering it. We don't know when the answer might change, but I love that, like, only believe. Yeah. Yeah. All right, we got to get, get moving to our next question. Great. It comes from day 288. What is the kingdom of God? And the specific verse reference is Mark 411, which I'll read for us. Mark 411. And he said to them, since Jesus speaking, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything is in parables. So what is the kingdom of God? Yes. So, okay, let's talk a little bit about kind of what it is, what it's not. First of all, can we say who he's talking to here? Oh yeah, let's talk to him. Yeah, who's he talking to? To who, to you has been given. Yeah, the disciples. Yeah. Yeah, so he's talking and like they're in a group of people that consists of people who believe in him and people who don't believe in him. And yet he says this statement to the disciples. Yes. So this is not a statement that is for everyone. This is a statement for followers of Jesus. Like to you has been given the kingdom, the secrets of the kingdom. So yeah, that's a great distinction. Yeah. So the, okay, so the kingdom of God also referred to as the kingdom of heaven sometimes is God's divine sovereign reign and rule. Okay. So he has the authority to reign. He is the only one who reigns and he has reigned eternally. And so that again, that's so good. Makes me so happy. Yeah. Do you want me to say the whole thing again? Yes. Okay. So the kingdom of God is God's divine sovereign reign and rule. He has authority to reign. He is the only one who reigns and he has eternally reigned. I love that he is the only one who reigns. Like, yes, like it brought to your smile. So, and I think what's important about that is that sometimes when we think about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God, the idea that would maybe come to our minds is like it's a place, a literal, a literal place, or a region, or it's the specific people that the kingdom includes. And so these are, these are aspects to it in some regard, but it's, it's better to understand it as God's unmatched authority and his sovereignty as king, which means who's in the kingdom then, those who believe in the king. Exactly. Yep. Exactly. And so this God's sovereign rule and reign obviously applies to everybody, right? But there are people that acknowledge God's sovereign rule and reign in their lives and there are people that don't. And so when we're talking about like, who would be in the kingdom, that would be believers who say, yes, you're Lord of my life, like you are. They're acknowledging the true reality of who God is in the world. Right. And so I think then thinking kind of about the impact. So Jesus talks about this a lot. And so the impact is we are, we are praying for, like if we think about the Lord's prayer, we are praying for God's kingdom to come on earth. We want to see his rule and reign in our world. We want to see it in our life. We want to see it in our neighborhoods. We want to see it in our families, with our friends, in our churches. Exactly. Yeah. But kind of just understanding. For me, it was very helpful to think about it as really like the overarching authority and reign of God versus again, like, oh, is the kingdom a place somewhere that I'm trying to get to? Or, you know, was it only when Jesus was walking around bringing the kingdom? No, that's not what we're talking about. And I would, I would say also that those in the kingdom don't just acknowledge that he has that position of sovereignty and rule and authority, but they delight in that fact. They love that he is in charge. And it is, I mean, it really cuts to the heart of our idea of self sovereignty and our idea of autonomy. But the more like for me, that was something I really wrestled with. I was like, as I was reading through scripture the first time, and the second time even coming to more and more and more delight in the fact that God is the king. Yeah. And just see, it's hard to do that if you don't trust him. And it's hard to trust him if you don't know him. And so if you're a person who's entering into scripture, maybe for the first time and you're seeing things that are hard for you, like, why did God do that? I don't like that. That's not how I would have done things. You might not like that he's in charge. But the more you read and the more you dig in scripture and look for the character of God like we do in the Bible recap, we're always looking for the God shot for the character person of God. The more you see his goodness, the easier it is to delight in the fact that he is the king. Yeah. So that is something that I've seen develop in my own heart over time. At first, I did not like it. I thought I would make a better key. Yeah. And then don't we all. Don't we all. Yeah. And then the more I read, the more just like it's why it brought tears to my eyes when you said he is the only one who reigns. I'm like, right, what a relief. Yes, exactly. And it now it brings you to a place of like, thank you. Right. I am so glad. I feel like I don't even know what I've been thinking about these last couple of weeks or something, but I'm like, I'm so glad you're in charge, God. I, you know, like, thank you for just taking the responsibility that I thought I had, the fake responsibility that I'm pretending that I have and putting it in your capable hands. Not that you don't have responsibility. But you don't have responsibility. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. And even just in a world today where things are chaotic and it's like, oh no, is the enemy going to like win. And it's just a reminder that not only am I not in charge, thank God, but the enemy of my soul is not in charge either. He doesn't get to win. Sin doesn't get to win. God wins. Yeah. And God wins because of Jesus' finished work on the cross. So when we read the mystery of the kingdom of God, the mystery is, is Jesus. That, that's who has been revealed to God's people. And I think that's a helpful, I don't know, just detail. Cause we're like, okay, the kingdom of God, now the mystery, what is the mystery? The mystery is that, that the Messiah has, has come. He has been revealed throughout history. God's people are always like, who's this guy going to be? When's he going to show up? And now he has come. It's not for those who believe it's no longer a mystery. And I love Ephesians three, five, which says this very, very plainly, a mystery is that, which was not made known to people in other generations, as it has now been revealed by the spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets, which I think is good. Or Colossians one 25 through 26, Paul said that he had been commissioned to preach the word of God in its fullness, the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. And I mean, this reminds me of, is it first Corinthians 13, like a, like now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part that I shall know fully, even as I've been fully known, this kingdom aspect or this kingdom term has an aspect to it that is adjacent to what theologians refer to as the already, but not yet, but the already and not yet, depending on which conjunction you prefer. I think both apply. Kirsten, will you talk to us about that terminology? Yeah, I can unpack that a little bit. So I think when I'm, when I'm thinking about the already, not yet, it's the reality of what Emma said. So a redeemer has come, dealt with the sin problem, but we still live in a broken fallen world because it's not over yet. The story isn't over yet. So when we're talking about God's authority and reign and rule, sometimes when we look out at the world, it's like, yeah, who, who is ruling over them? You know, right? It's that you can kind of have that sense of like, wait, what? But that's because of this already not yet concept, which is, which is really important for us to remember as believers, so that we're not discouraged when we're seeing things that are hard, when we're seeing sin, when we're seeing suffering, brokenness in our lives, in the lives of people around us, in the world at large. Like we really need to keep at the forefront of our minds that there is hope because it's, it's coming. It's not yet, but it's coming. There will be the final redemption of all things. So. Which kind of leads us into our next question. Look at that segue the Lord provided. It is. It's a great, great segue. Question three. This comes from day 289. And specifically from Luke 12, 35 to 40. The question is, what does true spiritual readiness look like in everyday life? So do you think, should I read that passage? Would that be helpful? Yeah, why don't you read it? Okay. What, five, six verses? Yeah. Okay. Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline a table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, blessed are those servants. But know this that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. So the point, we're in the already but not yet. In this intermittent, in between time, be spiritually alert, be ready. Jesus could return at any time. So then the question is, okay, I get the point. He's coming back. What does that practically mean for me? How do I live like I'm ready? And I got so excited thinking through this question because there's a huge difference between living with a mindset that's like, yeah, Jesus could return. He could come back or Jesus is going to return. Jesus is coming back. I've made up my mind and that mindset matters. So you think about if you check the weather, you're getting dressed, big day ahead and it's like, 40% chance of rain and you're looking at the hours and you're thinking, we all live in Texas. Like, maybe it'll rain. Maybe it won't. It's not looking super probable. I'm just going to go about my day and if it rains, oh well. But if you check the weather and it says 90% chance of rain, you're going to bring a rain jacket or you're going to wear your rain boots or you're going to bring an umbrella. Maybe all three. You're certain it is going to rain and that's the kind of certainty or even you look outside, you can see it's already starting to drizzle. Like it's pretty clear. You've made up your mind. You're going to act differently because of this belief, this attitude toward the weather. And in the same way, Jesus is saying, don't act like maybe I'll come back. He's saying, I am coming back. Forecast says, 100% chance. 100% chance. He is coming back. And the last three things he says is I'm coming soon. I'm coming soon. I'm coming soon. I'm coming soon. So then if our attitude leads to our actions changing, what should then be my action if I believe 100% chance he's coming back? And I was just thinking about my priorities should reflect this. And so I started thinking through, like, okay, if the sermons are ready in the middle of the night, that's inconvenient. And other things that I'm avoiding because they're taking my time, they take time, whatever. And I was convicted because I was realizing like, okay, what are my spiritual priorities? In one responsibility we have is to share the gospel. And I knew that as I wrote this episode, there was a text message pinned at the top of my text. It was a spiritual conversation that, quite frankly, I was just procrastinating responding because it would take time for me to type out the response. And I was so convicted because I thought, gosh, that is not spiritual readiness. Like if I know this person wants to talk about Jesus, why would I ever delay? And so that I think really helped me. For me, I mean, I really, you guys know, and you guys, anybody who follows me on social media, I am regularly posting reminders like, hey, heads up. Jesus is coming back. Jesus is coming back soon. Like soon. And it makes me so excited. And I know like, there are some, I'm going to use a big word, eschatological views, like views of the end times, eschatology is that word that talks about like end times doctrine and various views might make you very afraid. But one of the things Jesus says when he talks about this is don't be afraid. Do you not be afraid? Like nothing he taught about his return was intended to produce fear in us. It was intended to produce excitement and urgency. Yeah. And so this makes me very excited. And I want other people to feel that excitement. And I want to talk about it. And so one of the things that for me, spiritual readiness looks like on a very practical level, it has impacted a lot of how I spend my time, like the things I give my time to. And one of those things is, so I'm a single person, I live alone and I work from home. So I want to be really intentional about getting myself around other believers and getting myself around my friends who are not believers for the purpose of those spiritual conversations. And so I have, I kind of created like a friendship manifesto of like, these are the people that I want in close proximity to me. And they have to be people who are about the things of the Lord, who are obedient to the Lord's promptings and obedient to his word. And people who want to be in relationship with me on a regular basis, because I need depth, not width. It's on mission together on mission together. And I need a few people to go to like do a deep life with. I don't need a hundred best friends. I need the people to really be in the trenches with me. And then what that does is when you have those deep roots, then you can soak up the nutrients that you need to grow your branches, bury your fruit that will feed, that will shade many, that will feed many. And so actively seeking out, like I'm taking two trips this year to a place where friends of mine who are unbelievers, who are willing to have conversations with me, where they live, I have not told them this, but the express purpose of me going to that place is to engage in spiritual conversations with them. And to like, these are people who've been listened to this podcast. We're coming. If you do great, you know why I'm coming. We're talking about the Lord. But it really is like getting in the trenches with my people to be fortified, to go on mission. I just don't have time in the same way that Jesus is like, Hey, the lukewarm, like that's sort of how I feel. I want the people who are impassioned and the people whose hearts are like, I don't know if they're hard hearts or what, but they're people whose hearts have not yet been turned to him. And so I just don't, my days are not filled with people who are fringe Christians. And I'm sure there are people who that is, who God has called them to, and to minister to and do life with. But for me, the spiritual readiness means I've got to have people who are deep in it with me. And then I want to evangelize the lost. Yeah. And I think I love that you brought up at the end kind of like, this is, this is the way that you're really feeling led in that, because I think that part of spiritual readiness is obviously knowing who God is. And so everyone who's reading and doing their Bible studies, listening to this podcast, like you're, you're on your way to spiritual readiness. You are, you are getting what you need to be equipped. And I think too, it's a, there are certain things that we're all called to do. We're all called to share the gospel. We're all called to pray. We're all called to be generous. You know, so those, those things you can even just kind of look at your life, think about your priorities and that kind of thing. The fruits of the spirit. Right. What is following Jesus producing us. Right. And just kind of looking and being like, am I, you know, am I demonstrating this? But then I think too, it's a great opportunity to ask God, lead and guide me in this, you know, am I spiritually ready? Yeah. Am I ready to talk to someone who doesn't know you? Do I know what I'm supposed to say? I had a conversation with a friend over dinner a couple days ago. And it was very interesting, because I don't know her very well. She's more of a friend of a friend, but she was talking about, she's a believer, but she was, the way she was talking about salvation, I was kind of like, I'm not red flag. I feel like you were, yeah, I'm just not sure if you're really getting the way that this is different than a lot of other religions. And, you know, so it's basically kind of a workspace versus a grace based salvation. And, and it was just interesting to have that conversation with her, because I in that moment thought that my other friend who knew her better would probably say something, but she passed it to me. And I was like, okay, I guess that I am equipped to talk about this now, you know, and so we're just talking over dinner. So that's one example in my life. This is something I'm so passionate about right now is the articulation of the gospel. This book contains a lot of truth. It contains law. It contains gospel. It contains stories. The whole thing isn't the gospel. The gospel is news. Good news. That's what gospel means. It means good news. It is not good news if I have to earn or maintain my own salvation. No, that's terrifying news. That is, I'm a lost cause, you know, the good news is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross to save me from my sins, to put me in relationship with God the Father. My sin has separated me from him. Your sin has separated you from him. And Jesus came and bridged the gap fully, God fully, man, the only person who can translate between those two realities and bridge the gap so that we can be in relationship with the Father forever. And there's so much more that is adjacent to that good news about how, like the redemption of the whole world, you know, the redemption of all creation, that is really good news to the spirit. Yes. Yeah. But I think in the world today, there are a lot of Christians, there are a lot of churches who cannot articulate the gospel. And I think spiritual readiness is adjacent to you being able to understand and articulate the gospel. And so if that's something that you don't feel equipped to do, if you don't feel equipped to have that conversation that Kirsten had, go do some digging and look into what the gospel is and how to share the gospel. The gospel is different than your testimony. Yeah. When I was in college, there was a gal who'd been a missionary in China. She was back stateside and she was discipling some college students, some college girls. And she had us go home and practice talking through the gospel out loud in our dorm rooms. And I remember she had us practice, like use this illustration, draw it out, now practice, pretend you don't have the illustration, use the salt shakers on the table. Can you share the gospel if you don't have your tool? And that, that discipline, I'm, I mean, you care about with you. Yeah, I carry that with me. I don't know how I was sharing the gospel before that. Really? And when we see in scripture, people sharing like the testimony, they're not telling like, well, I used to drink and now I don't drink. Like, it's not like how they have changed necessarily. I mean, like Paul does share part of that in his story, but it's mostly the testimony of Jesus Christ of what he has done. And so find out what Jesus has done. Learn how to be able to share that with people. That's going to be spiritual readiness. We can talk about this forever. I want to. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I'm sorry. Day 290. This question for this is question for coming from day 290. Was Jesus really not able to do a miracle in Nazareth? What's that about? What? Yeah. Let me read. Actually, what is that about? Mark 6, 4 through 6. Yeah, it's like, huh? Here it is. Village is teaching. Yeah, I think this is a very interesting question because of the way that Mark specifically frames it. And so I think what we need to start off with is that God can do anything. So it is not that we know that it's not that Jesus couldn't do a miracle. We know that that's true. Also, because right after it, it says that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. He did do so. I feel like we saw that. So I think it's kind of more about like, what is Mark doing here with the language? Why would he phrase it this way? What is it trying to get us to think about? And so one commentator had an interesting thought on this that I want to read. So he said, God and his son could do anything, but they have chosen to limit themselves in accordance to human response. Even in the present instance, Jesus healed a few, perhaps some who did have faith or who were too sick to have an opinion about him. The statement clarifies that Jesus was not the kind of miracle worker whose primary purpose was to impress his viewers. He wasn't trying to put on a show. Right. So I would assume that the people that came to him that were sick and really wanted to be healed and really believed that he could and would do it, that those are the people that he addressed. But kind of this mighty work of maybe whatever whatever the people were thinking he should do, that wasn't what he did. I think, you know, Mark, if listeners, viewers, if you're unfamiliar with the phrase synoptic gospels, what that refers to is Matthew, Mark and Luke. Those three gospels often share the same story. Often you will find that each has their own lens for it. Luke often includes the most detail. And so Luke shares this story in chapter four of Luke. And one of the things that he points out is like they marveled that the Messiah was from their hometown. They're like, oh my goodness, like we know his parents. And we talk about this in TBR on the day that we cover Luke four. Their problem was when he told them that he's not come only for them, not just for the Jews, but he's come for Gentiles as well. This is wildly offensive to them. And so that's when they reject his divinity. And so what we see is in their response, when they're rejecting his kingdom agenda, they have disqualified themselves as people who are on his mission under his agenda. They've disqualified themselves as people who believe in him, which means they've disqualified themselves for the miraculous. And so not that he can't perform miracles to people who don't believe, he did. Like I feel like what happened with Paul was absolutely that on the road to Damascus. And so that's why we know when Mark is talking about it, it's not a, it's not a, every single person specific statement, but it's a general statement of like, you guys, you guys don't believe. Yeah, you, you are rejecting me for rejecting me. Yeah, you rejected this. And so you're going to miss out on the good things that are kingdom adjacent. Yeah. Which raises the question of the purposes of miracles, I think is a good, a good thing to get into. I am, I believe a guy named Blake Holmes created this, this framework. He's been one of my pastors throughout my life, but he gave the four E's for unpacking the purposes of miracles. They're eschatological. They're, we just learned that word. Yes, you, we did. Look at that. We didn't even plan that. They are evidential, empathetic and evangelistic. So you go through those words, eschatological to declare the kingdom of heaven is here. Jesus is coming back. This is the Messiah. They are evidential. They authenticate the messenger. Like Jesus has power behind him. Yep. They're empathetic. They demonstrate God's character, his love for people. And they are evangelistic. They do at times, illicit faith like Saul to Paul is a great, is a great example. But I, I like those E's because I think it sums up in any story you read where you see a miracle. Okay. What is God doing here? What is Jesus doing here? What is he trying to show or teach or reveal? I like those four E's too. I wish they were easier words to remember. I know. I just feel like the first one is, I think they're like, I had even pronounced them. Yeah. Eschatological, evidential, evangelistic and then empathetic. Okay. Maybe I'll remember that. Yeah. You could, you could boil it down to like end times, evidence, empathy, evangelism. That's, yeah. End times. That's easier. This is spark notes. That's good. Clip notes. Thank you, Emma. You're welcome. You're welcome. Okay. So we've agreed that Jesus could do any miracle at Nazareth. We're just clear on that, right? Okay. Perfect. Just want to make sure everyone heard that. Yes. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Okay. Shall we move on to our final question? I think it's time. Okay. And this one kind of even ties in a little bit. Yeah. Actually, that, yeah, that's cool. The way it works. So question number five, day 294. Question reads, if we have enough faith, will everyone be healed? This question stems from the lack of faith mentioned in the story of the disciples inability to heal, which we see in Matthew 17, 14 to 20 and Mark nine, 14 to 29. It's such a good question because it's, it's so natural to long for God to fix something or heal someone or help us. And so I'd imagine that if somebody's out there asking this question, it's because they desperately want God to move and to change a circumstance. And that's hard when you feel like, gosh, God isn't doing anything. Doesn't he see that we're hurting? Doesn't he see that we need help? And it's also a valid question because Jesus does rebuke the disciples for their lack of faith. Yeah. And so that can lead us to think, oh my gosh, Jesus isn't helping us because there's something wrong with me. Yep. And that's not necessarily true because the scriptures never teach us that healing is guaranteed if we can muster up enough faith. Like that is nowhere in the Bible. So the answer is no, you could have a ton of faith that God's going to move and still not get your desired outcome. You could be the most faithful, believing, confident person and not get what you want. And on the other end of the spectrum, you could also not believe and he could do it anyway. Yes. Like with the man who is lame at the pool of Bethesda and Jesus is like, do you want to be healed? And he's like, I don't even think that's possible. And Jesus is like, let me show you. Yeah. Rise and walk. Yeah. Here we go. Yeah. It's like faith isn't a mechanism to control God. Yes. That is so important. Faith evidences our trust or our belief in his character and that his plan is best. And we see this in a lot of places throughout scripture, like this, this principle that faith doesn't guarantee healing. And in several instances, one being Jesus saying, hey, in this world, you will have trouble. Jesus didn't say, hey, in this world, it's going to be hard. But if you have enough faith, it'll be easier. He didn't say that. Or when Timothy's sick and Paul gives him practical advice, rather than like, pray the sickness away. He's like, no, drink this. It will help you. He gives a practical solution. So I like, you had an example, the thorn in Paul's flesh. Was that one? Yeah. Yeah. So I was thinking about Paul praying in 2 Corinthians or where we hear about Paul praying to God to remove the thorn in his flesh, which again, people are a little bit debated on what exactly that is. Some people think it might have been some sort of disease or physical blindness or just difficulty seeing something with his eyes. And God said to him, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. And but the thing that I, the thing that I think I just, we want to address with this question is that this is a hard thing. Because if you're listening to this and you're sick and you want to be healed, if you're listening to this and you know someone who's ill, you know, like it is so hard, I think to read, it's hard not to read this passage that we're, that we're addressing this from. It's hard not to read it literally, at least for me, where Jesus says to them, so this is Matthew 17, 19 and 20, when the disciples came and asked him, like, why couldn't we drive out this demon? And he says, because you have so little faith, truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. And so if you're just reading that, and you're like, clearly, I don't have enough faith, that can be the only answer. Right. And that's not the only answer. Because if anyone's faith should have been able to heal them, it should have been Paul. Yeah. And so that's why it's important to read the whole council of scripture and not just pull these verses out, because we can really mess up our theology when we isolate these verses. And that's, it's such bad theology to have any sort of equation with the Lord. Yes. Oh, okay. So if I just have enough faith, so my faith equals enough of it, plus praying for healing equals healing. And that's, that is not what we see. And so that can be really damaging if, if someone's telling you that that's the case, if they're kind of, you know, it's insult to injury. I think about Job's friends. They're a great example of this. Like, they're looking at Job and they're like, well, you must have done something wrong. Right. For all this, all this to happen. And that's how people get hurt. It's been said, ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims. And the idea is just if you're operating out of an equation that's based in one verse, not the whole council of scripture, it's probably not a good equation. And I think it's so important the way we talk about this, when we talk about healing, we talk about lack of healing, we talk about God in these spaces. The terminology we use to describe God is so important because, um, so candidly, uh, I had a sister who had brain cancer and she got brain cancer. I didn't, I mean, the diagnosis, the prognosis, it was bad. And I did not believe God was going to heal her and the Lord did the miraculous. Uh, and she was healed and people said to me, Oh God is so faithful. And I remember thinking God, that's not the word to describe what happened here. Cause God didn't promise that he was going to heal her and to be faithful is to say you're going to do something and then to do it, right? God didn't promise. So the, the, the word was generous. God was generous to heal her. Uh, he was merciful. He was, he was gracious. Faithful is not the right word there because if his faithfulness were contingent upon him healing her, then he would have been unfaithful when the brain cancer came back three years later and she died from it. Cause that's what happened. And so we have to be careful. The terminology we use to describe God in these instances because you can wound other people. You can really damage your own theology. You can make your heart closed off to the goodness of God. If you have determined that there has to be one outcome that makes him good and we can really miss what he wants to teach us in those spaces. I love, uh, in Daniel three, Shadrachmi Shach, the Vendigo, they're in the fiery furnace and they, they're, they're talking about, okay, if I'll just read it. It's, it's, Daniel three, 17 through 18. I'm reading the NIV. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it. So there's a confidence God could, and he will deliver us from your majesty's hand, the king. But even if he does not, it recognized the reality. That's great theology. Even if he does not, we want you to know your majesty that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold that you've set up. And I've heard that referred to as the even if prayer, like God, even if you don't give me the outcome I desire, I will still praise you because you're good and I trust your plan is perfect. And that I think might, might be a good handhold if you're listening and you're thinking, okay, but what do I do now? I know someone who has brain cancer, do I pray for healing? It's a both yes, yes and. Yep. Yeah, that's really good Emma. Thanks for bringing that up. I feel like that is such a helpful prayer. That's all we got for this week. We did it. Man, thank you so much for watching with us and thanks for diving deep with us. We'll see you next week as we continue to read, understand and love the Bible and the God who wrote it.