Mark 7-8: What? You don't get it yet?

Crazy. I can't imagine being one of the disciples. Every code you've lived by, every authority you've submitted to, everything you've believed in. It's all challenged by a revolutionary man who calls God his Father, who works on the Sabbath, who actually heals people every day. He tells parables, and just when you think you've figured them out, he turns the metaphors inside out, and you just kind of ask, hunh? And then asks, "You don't get it yet?"

No. You don't.

And if that weren't revolutionary enough, this man chose you to follow him. (You know you aren't really all that, so why did he pick you?)

Honestly, you can't not follow him--he's that kind of man. And yet, if you think about it, following him is crazy.

I wish I felt like that every day. I wish I could see Jesus with my eyes and hear his voice with my ears and then just do what he said--not matter what.

Maybe. I would totally have to make some pretty serious choices about what to do, how to spend my time, etc.

Would I follow Jesus? The radical transformer? Or would I cling to the status quo and live my life the way i want to live it. I don't know.

And it's not just cool stuff like telling the Pharisees, those persecutors of the ordinary man, that they're wrong.

He calls his followers to lives of perpetual sacrifice: If any of you want to follow me, you need to be ready to pick up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you'll lose it--and in losing your life for the good news of God's love, you'll actually save your life.

I don't know what I would do.

I mean, the man walks on water. He visibly loves the people, which is more than any of the religious leaders. Who is he?

If he's God, he's worth dying for.
Jesus asks his disciples: Who do you think I am?
They're not sure.

When someone asks us the question, we answer quickly. Maybe we grew up believing Jesus was the Son of God, or maybe we chose to believe in him years ago.

Regardless, our quick answers to a fairly obvious question may keep us from really listening to the question:

Who do YOU say that I am?

I don't need words to answer the question. My actions are the true answer. And if I really believe Jesus is the Lord, if I truly want to follow him, I will give him my whole life. I will lose my life to follow him. I will surrender my fears, my struggles, my expectations, my goals . . . everything.

Incidentally, I have an introduction to my paper, and God showed me how to use some of the writing I've already done to introduce my research. I think I'm going to finish just in time.