Today’s Pray-As-You-Go Jesuit podcast reading was out of the Gospel of Mark. It was the account of Jesus having to get into a boat and push out into the water so that he could speak. We are told that people were coming from every region to see and hear him. In this particular account, there were so many people crowding around him that he could not even speak – thus the need to get out into the water.
Jesus was an amazing teacher. When he spoke he spoke with authority – like no one before him. It was fresh and real and people just knew it was the truth. People were drawn to him. Sure, some were drawn because of the miracles and maybe even the thought of a free meal (funny – a free meal still works today).
I believe people are still drawn to Jesus – the real one. Not the one that we sometimes fabricate in our churches. But the one in scripture – the only ONE.
In Jesus’ day, there was no internet, no cell phones, no newspaper. The word about Jesus spread solely by word of mouth. And yet, there were so many people seeking him out from all over the region that he could not even speak without getting into a boat and pushing out into the water. What would happen today if we got the word out about Jesus. If we were to use the resources at our disposal to proclaim the news about Jesus we should see our world turned around.
Jesus, when he was talking to his disciples, made the statement that he would be lifted up and when that happened, he would attract all people to himself (you can see the discussion here). Now not to take this out of context because he was referring to being put on a cross explaining how he would die – but the truth of his words are still true today. I believe that when we put Jesus first, when the focus of our ministry is to promote Jesus – to lift him up – people will be drawn to him. What if that was our only focus today?
How will you lift up Jesus in the next 2 hours?
Clay in the Hands 
Leave a Reply