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I am using the YouVersion 49 Week Bible Challenge for these devotions. Today’s readings are Mark 1; Leviticus 13; Isaiah 44; 61. In today’s readings, do you notice a promise to trust, a command to obey, a truth to embrace, a warning to heed, or an encouragement to rest in? What do you learn about God, about yourself, or about the world? Is there one verse or thought that stands out to you today? Talk to God about it.
Mark 1:1, 9-24
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,24 “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.”
It’s one of my favorite movie quotes (a paraphrase actually). “Who are those guys? They can’t track us over solid rock can they? Can you do that? I can’t do that. Can you do that? Who are those guys?” Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are on the lamb and being tracked down. They can’t seem to get away because the guys tracking them were just that good.
In this reading from Mark, Jesus is introduced to us as the Son of God. Then Jesus is baptized by John and declared by his Father to be his “beloved Son.” After his temptation, Jesus calls his first disciples, and shortly thereafter he is confronted by an evil spirit with the taunt, “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.”
This Jesus, whom God loves, who is the Son of God, who heals diseases and casts out demons is nothing like the false Gods of which Isaiah speaks:
All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? – Isaiah 44:9-10
And what does the True God do? Hear Isaiah again:
Remember these things, O Jacob,
and Israel, for you are my servant;
I formed you; you are my servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud
and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you. – Isaiah 44:21-22
At his baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and begins the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:
The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD‘s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. – Isaiah 61:1-3
Too often we want to be identified as a Democrat or Republican, gay or straight, pro-life or pro-labor, or any number of ways. Best we take seriously our identity as “oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.”
David Bahn - Reflections 
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