Stephen M. Miller in Olathe, Kansas, United States - Bible blog of award-winning bestselling Christian author, Stephen M. Miller. for Tuesday, 13 March 2018
"Jesus: 'If I can help'”? by Stephen M. Miller
WHAT'S WITH THE 'IF'? A dad asks Jesus to heal his son if Jesus is able. Painting by Vasily Polenov.
I’M TAKING A FEW DAYS OFF, but I’m leaving you in the good hands of Jesus.I’m working my way through the Gospel of Mark, in paraphrasing the Casual English Bible, and I’m loving the energy I’m finding in the words of Jesus.
There’s a freshness to those words as I read through the research and then try to express what Jesus is saying in words that sound like they would fit in nicely to a conversation today.
Most of the Bibles I read, including the easy-reading versions, don’t quite get to the level of conversational English. They try to lighten up, but they still feel stiff.
I won’t be posting the Gospel of Mark on to the website for several more weeks. But today and Thursday, let me give you a sample of what I’m finding as I try to put the words of Jesus into casual English.
Setting: Jesus and demon-possessed boy
Disciples bring to Jesus a boy who is possessed by a spirit that produces symptoms that sound a lot like an epileptic seizure. As the boy’s dad describes it, “Whenever the spirit takes hold of him, it knocks him down. Then my son starts foaming at the mouth and grinding his teeth. His entire body gets stiff” (Mark 9:18 Casual English Bible).
Conversation: Jesus and the boy’s dad
Jesus: How long has this been going on?
Boy’s dad: Since he was a little boy. I’m telling you, this spirit has even tried to kill him. It has often thrown him into the fire. Sometimes it throws him into the water. Please, if there’s anything you can do to help us, have mercy on us.
Jesus: If there’s anything I can do? What’s with the “If”? Anything is possible when a person has faith.
Boy’s dad: I believe. Help me when I can’t.
Steve gets the last wordI love that Jesus.
I love that boy’s dad, too.
PS, the Good Friday video
If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s my most recent video. I created it with Good Friday in mind.
Story of the suffering and death of Jesus. I adapted it from half the story in a deeply personal video I produced recently: Two Deaths.
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