Mark 13-15

Okay, I have to be honest, I have fallen way behind this week!!  So, this is late. I have to do some catch up this week!  But I have to day, I am LOVING this blog!  It has been so fun to read what everyone takes away from the readings. I am learning so much.

I love reading through Mark, because he tells such an action-packed story. There is so much I could say about these few chapters. Gosh, I just love Jesus. He is so cool. How crazy (but awesome) it would have been to be with Jesus as he was foretelling the End Times, Peter's denial, and His betrayal and death? I just wonder what the disciples were thinking.

Whenever I read about Jesus last days before the crucifixion, I am completely humbled and blown away by Him. I am always drawn to the image of Jesus praying in Gethsemane. Just like Brett talked about last week, it shows such a beautiful picture of Jesus' humanity. And my heart just hurts thinking about that sorrow He felt. Then, when His heart was heavy and He felt completely alone, Judas betrayed Him and His disciples fled. I can't even begin to understand what Jesus went through, and how completely alone He must have felt. I can't fathom what God was thinking. But what I can't fathom the most is He did this for US. Now, that is what blows me away more than anything. It is hard to get through this passage without getting emotional, because I just don't understand His love for us. I really don't get it AT ALL. It's easy for me to think that maybe I wouldn't deny Jesus, and I certainly wouldn't betray Him...but the reality is I deny and betray Him on a daily basis. Yet, He still chooses me. What was done 2000-some years ago on that cross is just as true then as it is now. How sweet. I have always loved 15:38, "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." There is no longer any separation from us and God!! So beautiful.

I want to leave you with an awesome rendition of "How Deep The Father's Love"...it is by this band that re-does hymns in a really awesome way. They are wonderful, and this is one of my favorites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxavtdQdi5w



PS--I didn't feel this comment was appropriate in my reflection above, but Shannon pointed these verses out to us last year, and I have not been able to find it for the longest time! And tonight I realized it was 14:51-52, "And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked." Haha, this is just such an odd side note! And it has it's own little section in my Bible called "A Young Man Flees". Haha, I just thought it was random and kind of funny. My footnotes say that many commentators think that Mark is actually the young man in this verse, but he was too ashamed to admit it...very interesting.