The book of Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus by baptizing and preaching baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Even someone like John the Baptist, who was respected by people, knew he didn't have control or power like Jesus did over the lives of others.
And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." - Mark 1:7-8John the Baptist knew to humble himself therefore God exalted him even higher by giving him the opportunity to baptize Jesus Christ, the son of God and the Savior of the world (Mark 1:9-11). However, even Jesus himself didn't have complete control over his life. Jesus even got tempted in the desert for 40 days by Satan right after he got baptized and needed God's help (Mark 1:12-13). The first sign of authority from God to Jesus is seen in the calling of the first disciples. The disciples obeyed and left everything they had behind to follow Christ (Mark 1:16-20). Jesus then begins implementing the authority that God gave him and starts to heal the sick and demon possessed (Mark 1:21- Mark 2:12).God gives Jesus the authority to go against the law by eating with sinners such as Levi the tax collector, and also by redefining fasting and the Sabbath (Mark 2:13-28). The authority of Christ is questioned in Mark Chapter 3, and whether his authority was from the foundation of God or Satan. Jesus's own family couldn't even accept his God given authority (Mark 3:20-21).
Application and Relating this to Our Lives...
Ever since my first day in college I used to not like going to labs. Especially the chemistry labs because 1) They were always 3 hours long, 2) The labs never worked, 3) I didn't like the fact that I had control whether the experiment succeeded or failed. I think out of all the labs, I disliked the filtration labs the most. In this lab you usually separate a material into its good and bad/unwanted parts. The bad/unwanted parts would be discarded and the good parts of the material would be used in the next lab to make something we use in a daily basis. This is how our lives are. We are constantly trying to "filter" out everything into sections of what we think is beneficial or harmful to us. We want to be the chemist and control our lives. But this doesn't work out in our favor because our lives aren't experiments that we just play around with. We have emotions and we feel. We have trials and tribulations that block us from our initial plans in this life and changes its course. As much as we want to be in control it slips out of our hands. Jesus, himself went according to God's authority and plans because he knew that it would ultimately turn out for the best. Even at moments of being tempted and going through trials Jesus let go of his control, surrendered, and kept following what God wanted. In our lives we struggle to give FULL control to God because we forget that our lives are not ours, it belongs to God. We think if we control our lives then we will win in this life, but the complete opposite happens. We lose even more control. To be in control of our lives is to have no control at all and let the one who has all authority over heaven and earth have ALL control instead. If God wins, we win.
- Joselin Mathew
Ever since my first day in college I used to not like going to labs. Especially the chemistry labs because 1) They were always 3 hours long, 2) The labs never worked, 3) I didn't like the fact that I had control whether the experiment succeeded or failed. I think out of all the labs, I disliked the filtration labs the most. In this lab you usually separate a material into its good and bad/unwanted parts. The bad/unwanted parts would be discarded and the good parts of the material would be used in the next lab to make something we use in a daily basis. This is how our lives are. We are constantly trying to "filter" out everything into sections of what we think is beneficial or harmful to us. We want to be the chemist and control our lives. But this doesn't work out in our favor because our lives aren't experiments that we just play around with. We have emotions and we feel. We have trials and tribulations that block us from our initial plans in this life and changes its course. As much as we want to be in control it slips out of our hands. Jesus, himself went according to God's authority and plans because he knew that it would ultimately turn out for the best. Even at moments of being tempted and going through trials Jesus let go of his control, surrendered, and kept following what God wanted. In our lives we struggle to give FULL control to God because we forget that our lives are not ours, it belongs to God. We think if we control our lives then we will win in this life, but the complete opposite happens. We lose even more control. To be in control of our lives is to have no control at all and let the one who has all authority over heaven and earth have ALL control instead. If God wins, we win.
- Joselin Mathew
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