Deep-End Discipleship

Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”  Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.”  They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.”  Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus.  Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”  The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.”  Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way. Mark 10:46-52 CEB The Gospel of Mark is full of healing stories, to the point where the gospel glosses over some of them because there are so m...

The Lord said to Moses, "Make a poisonous snake and place it on a pole. Whoever is bitten can look at it and live." - Numbers 21:8 (CEB) -  When my neighbor was fifteen years old, she decided that she needed a pet snake. At first I was skeptical of my friend’s new pet, but to my surprise I learned that there is such a thing as a sweet snake. This snake, named Draco, loved people, sunshine, and tasty mice. Draco taught me that not all snakes are scary! However, it would be foolish of me to think that all snakes are nice. For instance, the snakes seen in this story in Numbers are not nice snakes. These are quite terrifying. The Israelites are in the middle of their forty years of wandering in the wilderness because of their sin and lack of faith in God. In the midst of their wandering, the Israelites sin again. The Lord sent poisonous snakes into the camp of the Israelites. The poisonous snakes did their job: the people realized they had sinned. They turned to...