In today’s episode, experience the impact of Mark Chapter 2 not just as a biblical text, but as a source of life-changing inspiration. Alan J. Huth provides a moving testimony of his own spiritual awakening from the finance world to full-time ministry. We will see how faith transcends barriers in unexpected ways, igniting not only personal transformation but also fostering global spiritual awakenings, evidenced through touching stories like that of Karthika in India.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in Mark’s Gospel, Chapter 2. We’ll listen to our guest reader, Tom Siekmeyer, the editor and proofer of AdBible transcripts, as he reads the 28 verses of Mark, Chapter 2.
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Mark, Chapter 2. And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all. so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this. He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, Follow me. And he rose and followed him. And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, and people came and said to him, Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh skins. One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? And he said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him? how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the priest, and ate the bread of the presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priest to eat, and also gave it to those who are with him. And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
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In 1986, I read Mark chapter 2 and 3 on the same day. Concerning chapter 2, I wrote, And as he passed by, he saw Levi, and I put a parenthesis, Alan, sitting in the tax office. And he said to him, Follow me. And he rose and followed him. Let me step aside for the journal for a moment to explain that parentheses. Often I like to put myself in the text that I’m reading. So if I read that passage again, it would read like this. He saw Alan sitting in the tax office and he said to him, follow me. At two previous stages of my career, I certainly could have been considered sitting in a tax office. At one point in my career, I was on the legislative staff of the Colorado General Assembly, and I was in the finance area, so I was in the tax office as I was staffing the House and Senate finance committees. The second stop in my career, I was with the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, and I was the tax lobbyist. So again, as he passed by, he saw Alan sitting in the tax office, and he said to him, follow me. Have some fun once in a while. Put yourself in the text you’re reading in the scriptures. Back to my journal in 1986, I continue to write about chapter two. Put new life filled with the Holy Spirit into a new vessel to serve. The old vessel is not good enough for the new life in Jesus. Again, I step aside from my 1986 journal entry to personalize what we’re talking about. At this very stage in my life, I had left those previous occupations and I was now in full-time ministry. So again, I was personalizing these verses. Put new life, filled with Holy Spirit, into a new vessel to serve. The old vessel is not good enough for the new life in Jesus. In 1996, 10 years later, I was no longer in that position of full-time ministry. I was back in the workaday world. And I read Mark chapter 2 and I wrote, Jesus preached the word to them. Oh, how we need this again from our churches. Just preach the word and revival would come. I continue to write, when Jesus saw their faith, he acted. They acted on their faith and Jesus responded. He will respond to our faith today. And then I continued, scribes reasoned in their hearts. Jesus perceived in his spirit. Help me be in touch with the Holy Spirit who lives within me. Then I continued to write, the crowd was more amazed with physical healing than the power of forgiveness of sin, which is more eternally important. I finished my journal entry in 1996 with this, Jesus was with sinners, not with church people. We need to get out into the world again. In 2006, I was reading the Old Testament and New Testament together on the same days, and on this day, when I read Mark chapter 2, I wrote, Jesus performed the healing of the paralytic at home in Capernaum. He gathered crowds by speaking the word to them. He proved he had the authority to forgive sin by healing physically something people could see. As we finish off Mark chapter 2, I want to share another story that I’m familiar with as a member of the Gideons International. My understanding is that it rains quite a bit in the southern part of India, and this particular town got flooded out. And a young 12-year-old girl named Karthika was walking through the water, not realizing that an electrical pole had also fallen in the water. And yes, she came in contact with the wire and was electrocuted. She was unconscious. Her little village was in an uproar. Her parents were mourning and crying. But her 14-year-old sister had just received a copy of scripture from the Gideons of India at her school that week. She shared with her parents that she was reading a story about some guys who dropped their friend down the ceiling of a particular home and some guy named Jesus was there and he healed this paralytic. When she shared the story, she suggested maybe the parents and her should pray for her sister Karthika. So they were hopeless. So they prayed to this Jesus and Karthika begins to breathe again. She regains consciousness. And the parents, the sister, and the village are all very excited. Now you may know that in India, in the Hindu religion, there are thousands of gods. But this family had never experienced any god like this Jesus. So they did not add Jesus to their god list. They became Jesus followers only. That family in India is now a Christian family thanks to the passage in Mark chapter 2. Praise God for the power of his word. Are you just reading or listening to the scriptures or does it have that kind of power in your life? And when they saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven. Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, Why do you question things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise, take up your bed, and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. Do you believe, do you have faith, that Jesus, the Son of Man, has the authority to forgive sins? Or like the scribes, do you question this in your heart? Jesus provided a physical miracle to prove his authority to forgive sins here on earth. Verse 10, but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. In your heart of heart, do you know that? Have you allowed him to forgive your sins? Father, we thank you for the power of your word. Through the word, you not only healed the paralytic, you healed Karthika in the nation of India. Through the power of your word, you can heal us today. Heal us from our sinful condition. Forgive us of our sins. We need no more proof. We are convinced that the Son of Man, Jesus the Christ, has the power to forgive sins on earth. And we praise you and thank you for that wonderful gift. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. You will find helpful and inspirational tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. Today I want to review the three tools we see most listeners getting. First, Club 365. This is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all AddBible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire Day by Day through the Bible devotional series. By joining Club 365 for only $7 a month, you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the Bible. Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you’re reading Matthew or Isaiah or Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications, and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today, like so many others have. Secondly, another hot seller are our Bible reading journals. We offer two. One is a chronological Bible reading journal that contains a daily Bible reading plan chronologically. You don’t have to buy a chronological Bible, just get our chronological Bible reading journal. It has over 200 pages, so you can journal your way through the entire Bible. 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