daily java

Daily Java:

Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. (Luke 8:1-3)

There was an old man in my church a few years ago. He got to talking one day and told of how at the age of 17 he ran around on the carrier deck pulling bodies off as the Japanese strafed Pearl Harbor. Here this old man had participated in one of the watershed events of American history.

Another old man had walked across Europe following Patton in World War 2.

You are talking to someone at church, a rather sweet woman, and you realize that before she came to Jesus, she used to live a life of such depravity. Another had been in prison for murder. Another had been a drug pusher and addict and a consequent thief. Another person had almost starved in World War 2 and had eaten tulip bulbs and tried to bake grass into bread. Another had lived on the streets. Another …

There is a scene in a movie with Robert Mitchum as a preacher. He shoots something and the woman (Inger Stevens) says, You sure shoot good for a preacher. His answer I have always loved: Every preacher was something else before he was a preacher.

Every Christian was something else before they were a Christian. When you see people in the context of church, or after they get old or in their homes, it is hard to imagine what all they went through to get to where they are now. They were not always the nice person you see. Some of them came through immense adversity to get to where they are. What you see is the finished product, not the beginning.

The people with Jesus were no exception. The women who went with him were varied. They probably cooked and cleaned for the men (that was a strong part of their culture) and also helped Jesus minister to women who came up needing help.

One was a wealthy woman, Joanna. Others had a fair amount of money and helped Jesus and the apostles just in living expenses.

But there was also Mary Magdalene. Traditionally, she was a prostitute, but the Bible never says that. What it says, however, was pretty horrible.

from whom he had cast out seven demons.

Here was a woman with a bad past. She had been possessed by seven demons. She had been at the beck and call of the devil. Every waking moment was spent being inhabited by demons. What a hell her life must have been.

Whatever she was and whatever she had done in this situation (some in the Bible were used by their owners, or pimps, to tell fortunes), she probably was miserable.

Then one day she is standing there and there is a young man in front of her. He looks at her and says to the demons, Be gone!. And for the first time in many years she felt such peace in her soul.

She would have gladly died for this young man. She began to follow him around and do whatever she could to help him. Because of him, she was free.

I always like to hear people’s stories, the accounts of their lives. And I always ask. Sitting around the dinner table, having coffee, whatever, I say: Tell me about yourself. Tell me your story.

And many of them do. Some do it in astonishment. Here was where I was and here is where I am. I was crazy and now I am sane. I was out of control and now I am in control. I was lost and now I am found. I was hated and now I am loved. I was trash and now I am treasure.

It is only in Jesus that this can happen. And it does daily. Mary is not the exception. She is the rule.

Jesus frees. And people rejoice.