Reading 9—“He has done everything well”

Mark 7:1-37

In this chapter of Mark, we see a lot of dissonance between Jesus’ ministry and the traditions or social norms of the society in which He lives. The Jewish traditions required a ceremonial hand washing before a meal, but Jesus allows His disciples to eat with unwashed hands. The Greek mother was seen as an outsider, and yet Jesus took the time to heal her daughter of an impure spirit. The stories reveal to us that Jesus is the kind of Messiah that transcends human understanding in His work to bring the love of God to a broken world.

And yet, by the end of the chapter, Jesus has left quite an impression on the people, as they exclaim “He has done everything well.” If they are uncomfortable with the ways Jesus is breaking down the laws and rulethey have been taught, they are even more overcome by the good works of this Messiah, the light and love He is bringing to the world around them.

It’s easy, in our world today, for our good intentions to get tangled up with and obscured by the norms of the world around us, the ways we are told to live our lives. But the gospel reminds us that Jesus is a force of good that surpasses the comfort of tradition. I have faith that, through this tangle of life we live, Jesus has done everything well, and longs to do well through each and every one of us. What a new, beautiful kind of comfort that brings!

What are some ways you have seen the love of God transcend human understanding in your life?

Are there ways in which you let tradition and social norms obscure your view of God’s loving presence in the world?

Surprising Messiah, thank you for surpassing our understanding with your light and love! Amen.

Barbara Ramsdell is a rising junior at UNC Chapel Hill studying environmental science. She is active in the Lutheran Campus Ministry at Chapel Hill and is a counselor at Lutheridge over the summer. In her free time, she enjoys gardening and reading.