Mark 1:21-28 (NRSV)
Read Mark 1:21-28 on biblegateway.com
Verse 21They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. Verse 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Verse 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, Verse 24and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Verse 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" Verse 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. Verse 27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." Verse 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Devotion
Sometimes it seems to me, and perhaps to you as well, that the world has simply gone out of control. It seems like it’s spinning out of God’s reach and heading for a big crash. I wonder if that’s how the man with the unclean spirit felt about the forces at war within him. He heard himself, or rather he heard the troubled spirit within him, shouting at Jesus. Perhaps he imagined that there was no coming back, no room for grace or acceptance. We too might remember being in that kind of torment, saying things we would never want to say, and doing things we would never want to do. But Jesus was having none of that. Jesus would not, and did not, abandon the man to his misery. In the same way, Jesus does not abandon us. He is constantly reaching out to us, leading us back to his presence.
Prayer
All powerful God, we thank you that even when we are at our worst, you do not abandon us. Help us to see you reaching out, drawing us out of our misery and back to you. Amen.