The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The theme that jumps out of Mark 1 today is Jesus’ Authority. He teaches, He casts out demons, and crowds marvel that they haven’t seen anything like this before. They search and inquire among themselves: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” Jesus’ authority still rules His Church, and His Word still advances against a world of darkness and spiritual evil. May God continue to visit us with His authority for our good. One of the first things strikes people yesterday and today, is that Jesus does not teach like everyone else. The rabbis, or Jewish teachers, had their customary way of quoting other supporting ancient teachers and authorities, building their interpretations and reasoning on what others had said before. Never standing on their own authority. Which in a sense is good; men should never presume to usurp G...

            “I could tell you the story of my life before I met Jesus—how I was paralyzed, and who I was before that incredible day when Jesus said my sins are forgiven, and then healed me. But my story is not really so important in the big picture. And besides, I don’t know your story either. I don’t know the sins that marked your life, the doubts or fears, or the physical illnesses and challenges that may face you. All I know is that meeting Jesus changed my life forever. I was one of hundreds of people healed by Jesus—but far more important than our names and backstories was what Jesus did for us, and who He was.             I wouldn’t even be telling you this story if it weren’t for my friends. They had incredible faith in Jesus, that He would heal me. It’s hard to find friends like that, who would stop at nothing to help you when you were truly in need. You have to imagine, that when they carrie...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Did you notice in our Gospel reading, that everything was calm and fine before Jesus and His disciples entered into the fishing boat, to cross the Sea of Galilee? Jesus was leading them into the storm. It reminds me of how the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness after His baptism, to be tempted. Undoubtedly Jesus did so for this reason—to test their faith, and show them who He was in a yet more marvelous way. Do we acknowledge that God may intentionally lead us into some rough sailing, some real, humbling difficulties in life? Not because He wants to harm us, or even that everything has a hidden “life-lesson”, but that God in His own mysterious ways, has crosses for us to bear, and wants us to lean completely on Him? If Jesus lead them into the storm, you see there is no promise or guarantee that we will be spared the storms and dangers of life, or even that we will be rescued f...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today in our Gospel reading, we find the longest and most descriptive passage of Jesus casting out a demon. It’s a startling glimpse into the spiritual world, and the powers that afflict humans under the devil’s influence—but also an amazing proof of how powerless they are against Jesus, the Son of God. The man who is suffering this demon affliction is the most tormented of any demon-possessed person described in the Bible. He is possessed by a multitude of demons, and he has been driven raving mad. Well known to the villagers of that region, he lives in complete isolation, away from human community, choosing instead to live among the graves of the dead. In their attempts to restrain him, they had chained him many times, but he possessed superhuman strength, and shackles could not hold him. It’s truly a despairing and frightening situation both for the man and the people who live...