Daily Reflections ...

In today’s gospel we see Jesus doing what Jesus does – he brings healing.

We also see the people’s response, ‘they were afraid’, so afraid in fact that ‘they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood’.

Often when I read the gospels, I wonder what my own response would be in the given situation. How would I react if Jesus asked me to come down from that tree, to cast my nets one more time, to open my blind eyes, and the list goes on. Usually for me the real challenge is to put myself in the shoes of the witnesses.

Mark goes to great lengths to communicate that everyone knows the extent of the demoniacs’ possession. There could be no doubt that the man was greatly afflicted and yet rather than celebrate what God has done in their midst they were filled with fear and begged him to leave.

How many times have I done this? How many times have I encountered the action of God in someone else’s life, and immediately began to rationalise, to try and explain it away, in short to not believe God could have done that. So often I say I want to see the power of God at work, and yet when the time comes, I am all too ready to beg Jesus to leave.

Why is that?

Lord, grant us the eyes to see and the ears to hear when through the power of your Holy Spirit you act. Soften our hearts to celebrate the ways you act in our lives and the lives of those we encounter. Amen.

By Arthur Wilson