Flabbergasted!
Theme of the Week: Easter: Still Scary Stuff
Mark Galli
Monday, March 24, 2008
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Key Bible Verse: They were filled with awe and said among themselves, "Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?"Mark 4:41.Bonus Reading:Mark 4:35-41
A group of recently arrived Laotian refugees asked to join the church I pastored. I suggested we study the Gospel of Mark together for a few weeks to make sure they knew what a commitment to Christ and his church involved. After we read the passage in which Jesus calms the storm, there was dead silence. Then one man hesitantly asked, "Do you mean Jesus actually stilled the wind and sea in the middle of a storm?"
"Yes," I replied, "but don't get hung up on the details of the miracle. We should remember that Jesus can calm the storms in our lives."
My Laotian friends looked puzzled until another replied, "Well, if Jesus calmed the wind and the waves, he must be a very powerful man!" At this, all nodded vigorously and chattered excitedly in Lao.
Weeks later, when we read Mark's account of the Resurrection, there was flabbergasted silence. They hadn't known how this Gospel ended. One younger woman shook her head and said, "I don't believe it. That's impossible. People don't rise from the dead!"
They saw it for what it was—a scandalous act of divine power that demanded either rejection or submission.
—Mark Galli in Jesus Mean and Wild
My Response: How can I peel back familiarity with the Resurrection account to sense its staggering impact?
Adapted from Jesus Mean and Wild (Baker, 2006) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
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Lord, let me glimpse the staggering nature of the Resurrection, and its transforming power.
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