Follow the Thread

Discover how following the threads between Scripture’s stories reveals the bigger message Jesus is teaching about Himself, His Kingdom, and how to see.

I have loved walking through the book of Mark with Jesus.

I say with Jesus intentionally because somewhere along the way, the way I was reading Scripture began to change.

I wasn’t simply reading to find out what happened next or looking for a verse I could apply to my life that morning. I started getting curious.

Why did Jesus say that?

Why did Mark tell us that detail?

Why does this story come immediately after that one?

Hasn’t Jesus been talking about this already?

And slowly, I began noticing threads.

Stories I had always read as individual accounts began flowing into one another. Things Jesus said several chapters earlier suddenly appeared again in another form. A parable became an action. A question became an encounter. Something the disciples couldn’t understand became a living illustration a few stories later.

The stories weren’t random.

They were preaching a message.

And I began learning to follow the thread.

Jesus Was Teaching Them How to See

I started thinking about how I teach my own children.

When there is something important I want them to understand, I don’t necessarily sit them down, give them one lesson, and consider the subject finished.

Once the conversation has begun, I notice the lesson everywhere.

Something happens while we’re out and I say, See that? That’s what we were talking about.

A situation comes up between siblings and we return to it.

We watch a movie and suddenly there it is again.

I’m raising their awareness.

Eventually, I hope they won’t need me to point it out anymore.

They will have learned how to see it themselves.

The more I’ve walked through Mark, the more I’ve wondered if this is what I’m watching Jesus do with His disciples.

He isn’t simply giving them information about the Kingdom.

He’s teaching them how to see it.

And they don’t see very well at first.

Neither did I.

Having Eyes, Do You Not See?

Seeing is actually a recurring theme throughout Mark.

At one point Jesus asks His disciples:

“Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?”

—Mark 8:18

They have been with Him.

They have watched the miracles.

They have heard the teaching.

They have seen Him feed thousands with almost nothing.

And yet they still don’t understand what He is showing them.

Their problem isn’t a lack of information.

It’s perception.

They are looking at the Kingdom through the categories they already understand.

Greatness.

Power.

Success.

Position.

Wealth.

Importance.

Enough.

Not enough.

And Jesus keeps turning those categories upside down.

They argue about who is greatest.

Jesus puts a child among them.

They think greatness means position.

Jesus talks about serving.

James and John ask for places of honor.

Jesus tells them that whoever wants to become great must become a servant.

Again and again, Jesus isn’t merely telling them what to think.

He’s retraining the way they see.

The Rich Man and the Blind Man

I noticed this recently in a progression I had never seen before.

A rich young ruler comes to Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life.

He has so much.

Wealth.

Accomplishment.

A record of obedience.

When Jesus mentions the commandments, the man essentially responds, I’ve done all of that.

His attention is on what he brings.

And yet when Jesus asks him to release the thing he trusts, he walks away grieving.

A few stories later, Jesus encounters Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus is almost his opposite.

He has nothing.

He’s blind.

He’s sitting beside the road begging.

He has no impressive record to present and nothing with which to establish himself before Jesus.

He simply cries:

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

And suddenly I saw the contrast.

The rich man comes focused on what he has done.

Bartimaeus comes focused on who Jesus is.

And there’s an incredible irony in the story.

The blind man sees.

Everyone around Bartimaeus can physically see Jesus, but Bartimaeus recognizes Him.

He knows his own need, but he isn’t consumed with his lack.

His need points him toward Someone.

His poverty doesn’t produce scarcity.

It produces dependence.

And his revelation of Jesus makes him audacious enough to cry even louder when everyone tells him to be quiet.

Jesus has been teaching His disciples how to see.

And now a blind man becomes the illustration of sight.

Then Jesus Sits Across from the Treasury

Keep following the thread.

A little later, Jesus warns His disciples about the scribes.

They walk around in long robes.

They enjoy public recognition.

They take the best seats.

They make impressive prayers.

And Jesus says they “devour widows’ houses.”

Then Mark tells us:

“And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box.”

—Mark 12:41

Jesus watches.

Many wealthy people put in large amounts.

Then a poor widow approaches and drops in two tiny coins.

It would have been easy not to notice her at all.

But Jesus calls His disciples over.

It’s almost as though He says:

Look.

Do you see her?

Then He tells them that she has given more than everyone else.

They gave out of their abundance.

She gave out of her poverty.

There were those words again.

Abundance.

Poverty.

And suddenly I found myself thinking about the rich young ruler and Bartimaeus.

The rich young ruler had much, but couldn’t release it.

Bartimaeus had little and came completely dependent upon Jesus.

Now wealthy people are giving impressive amounts from their abundance, while a widow with almost nothing puts everything she has into the treasury.

I don’t think Jesus is teaching that poverty itself is more spiritual.

He’s revealing a posture.

The Kingdom is not entered through our sufficiency.

The rich young ruler looked at what he possessed.

Bartimaeus looked at who Jesus was.

And now, at the treasury, Jesus once again teaches His disciples that heaven doesn’t measure things the way they do.

They see amounts.

Jesus sees differently.

They see impressive gifts.

Jesus notices the widow.

Once again:

Look again.

Sometimes Jesus Finishes the Sentence Three Stories Later

This has completely changed the way I read Scripture.

For years, I often approached the Bible passage by passage.

Read the story.

Find the lesson.

Apply it to my life.

Move on.

And there is certainly value in slowing down and studying an individual passage.

But we can miss something beautiful when we pull every story apart from the conversation surrounding it.

The widow can become:

Christians should give sacrificially.

The rich young ruler can become:

Don’t love money.

Bartimaeus can become:

Have enough faith and keep crying out.

But what happens when we put them back into the story Mark is telling?

Something larger begins to emerge.

Jesus has been dismantling the disciples’ understanding of greatness, power, wealth, righteousness, importance, and the Kingdom.

He’s teaching them how to see.

And suddenly these aren’t three random lessons.

They’re part of one conversation.

Context doesn’t merely protect us from interpreting a verse incorrectly.

Context helps us hear the conversation.

Get Curious

I think this is why curiosity has become such an important part of reading Scripture for me.

I’m not approaching the Bible simply asking:

What am I supposed to do?

I’m learning to ask:

What is Jesus revealing?

What has He already been teaching?

Why does this story come next?

Have I seen this word or idea before?

Is there a contrast here?

What are the disciples noticing?

What are they still failing to see?

What is Jesus showing them about Himself?

What is He showing them about His Kingdom?

And then I keep reading.

Because sometimes the answer isn’t contained within the verses directly in front of me.

Sometimes Jesus introduces something and then lets me watch it play out.

A parable becomes an encounter.

A teaching becomes a person.

A question becomes an illustration.

The thread keeps going.

Revelation Before Application

This has also freed me from needing to immediately turn everything I read into something I need to do.

Instead of beginning with:

What does this mean for me?

I can begin with:

What is Jesus showing me about Himself?

That’s a very different posture.

I can behold before I apply.

I can discover before I define.

I can follow before I formulate.

And strangely, I think the application becomes richer because of it.

I’m no longer extracting a principle from Jesus.

I’m getting to know Him.

I’m learning how He thinks.

What He notices.

What He values.

What He calls abundance.

What He calls greatness.

Who He stops for.

Who He points toward.

What everyone else walks past that catches His attention.

I’m learning to see through His eyes.

And perhaps that’s what discipleship has always been about.

Follow the Thread

I have loved walking through Mark with Jesus because it has felt less like studying a textbook and more like following Someone down a road.

I don’t know what He is going to show me around the next corner.

But I have learned to pay attention.

When something seems strange, I stop.

When a detail feels unnecessary, I get curious.

When a story reminds me of something I read three chapters ago, I go back.

When Jesus asks a question, I don’t rush past it.

And when something doesn’t make sense yet, I keep walking.

Because the stories aren’t random.

Jesus is revealing Himself.

He’s revealing His Kingdom.

He’s teaching His disciples—and us—how to see.

So don’t be too quick to pull out the lesson and move on.

Stay in the story.

Look backward.

Look forward.

Notice what repeats.

Ask good questions.

And follow the thread.

Because sometimes Jesus doesn’t finish His sentence at the end of the paragraph.

Sometimes He finishes it three stories later.

In everything you do -eat, play, and love- may it always be seasoned with Joy!