Lenten reading March 17th, 2016

Reading Guide for Lent

Each day read the Gospel passage for the day and the Psalm passage for the day (you can read them all at once or do one reading in the morning and one in the evening) and use the reflection questions to help process the passage.

The 32nd day of Lent

Thursday March 17^th, 2016

Now that we have finished one biography of Jesus, the Book of Luke, we will turn to a second account – the book of Mark.  Mark was written by a disciple named Mark who was a close associate of Peter, one of the closest 12 followers of Jesus.  Marks “Gospel” is full of the stories that Peter told Mark.  We will finish Mark on Easter Sunday.

Gospel Reading:  Mark 8

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

8      During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ²“I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

⁵“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

⁶He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. ⁷They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. ⁸The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ⁹About four thousand were present. And having sent them away, ¹⁰he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

¹¹The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. ¹²He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” ¹³Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. ¹⁵“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

¹⁶They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

¹⁷Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

²⁰“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

²¹He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²²They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

²⁷Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

³⁰Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Predicts His Death

³¹He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³²He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³³But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

The Way of the Cross

³⁴Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? ³⁷Or what can you give in exchange for your soul? ³⁸If any of you are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

The Holy Bible : Today's New International Version. 2005. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Psalm Reading:  Psalm 91

¹Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

²They say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

³Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

⁵You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

⁷A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

⁸You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

¹⁰no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

¹²they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴“Because they love me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue them;

I will protect them, for they acknowledge my name.

¹⁵They will call on me, and I will answer them;

I will be with them in trouble,

I will deliver them and honor them.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy them

and show them my salvation.”