Jesus, Our Teacher - The One Year At His Feet Devotional
Jesus, Our Teacher
Read: Mark 1:35-39
“Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages— so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
Mark 1:38
“. . . dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.”
—Charles Wesley
IN WORD We like the idea of our own private Jesus. We celebrate the Bethlehem miracle as our own personal advent—not just Immanuel, God with us, but “God with me, personally.” It is not wrong to understand Jesus this way; He is the Savior not only of the world but of us as individuals. But it is wrong to understand Jesus only this way. And while we would readily admit that Jesus is for everyone who believes, we often act as if He is strictly a personal matter—relevant to ourselves, marginal to others. Jesus reminds us that He is not in an “us against them” relationship. He is always reaching out.
Jesus is the gospel. And the gospel did not remain in Bethlehem. He did not remain in Galilee, and He did not remain in Israel, even during Jesus’ earthly lifetime. Over time, He did not remain within the Roman Empire. Today, He continues to spread into the far reaches of the world. The gospel does not sit still. There are always other villages, and Jesus always seeks them out. That is why He came.
IN DEED Do you see the teaching of Jesus as universal property? We certainly accept its universal application as a theological tenet. But is that global focus part of our own outlook? It needs to be. The Jesus who dwells in our hearts does not sit still, and if we are sensitive to Him, He will not let us sit still either. Whether He takes us to the other villages is not the point; the question is whether we are responsive to Him when He says that’s where He wants to go. Like the disciples, we are probably aware that “everyone is looking” for Him (v. 37). Like them, are we willing to accept His reply? It may surprise us that He did not respond by welcoming those who were looking for Him. But Jesus is always aware of the many, many sheep in this world who have no shepherd. Are you?
