For today’s reading:

• Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-56)
• Peter Disowns Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75)
• The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:32-61)
• The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10)
• The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20)
• Jesus Calls His First Disciples (Mark 1:16-20)
• Jesus Calms the Storm (Mark 4:35-41)
• Jesus Walks on Water (Mark 6:45-56)

Verse that stood out: When [the townspeople] came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid – Mark 5:15

What makes something frightening? Some people are afraid of snakes. Others of spiders. I’ve known some people who are afraid of butterflies. Fears come in all forms. Still, I wouldn’t think a man sitting calmly and “in his right mind” would be all that frightening to most people. But according to Mark 9, this man, this normal man struck fear in the hearts of ordinary townsfolk.

Why? Well, just that morning he’d been anything but normal. For years, he’d lived in the graveyard up in the hill a menace to himself and all who drew near. He’d been demon possessed. Now . . . now he sat like a man in complete control of himself. He was a man at peace. And he was scaring the living daylights out of his neighbors more now than ever before.

It’s not that we like the brokenness and the evil of this world. It’s just, we’ve grown so accustomed to it. We’ve learned to live in the midst of evil, even if doing so means banishing those who are the most broken to the hills. We’ve learned to expect sorrow. We’ve learned to tolerate pain. We’ve had to in order to survive. In the process we’ve so organized our lives around the brokenness of this world, that when the power of God shows up we’re left terrified, not by evil, but by the good. Remember, the first reaction to the resurrection wasn’t joy but fear.

I don’t guess it can be any other way for us, so long as we remain in a world where normal is really abnormal. God’s breaking in is going to terrify us, just like any kind of surprising interruption does. The real issue isn’t whether or not the moves of God scare us (they will!), but rather, what we do after the initial fright passes by? Do we like the townspeople in Mark 9, ask Jesus to leave, preferring the normalcy of evil over the unpredictability of the good? Or, or do we take a leap of faith and ask to frightened all over again?

For tomorrow:

• Cover to Cover: Mark 8:20-Luke 1:45
• Key Passage: Mark 10:17-31
• Verse of the Day: Mark 10:27