We grabbed hands, palms together, and on the count of three the battle was on. We each tightened our shoulders, worked our elbows and wrists trying with everything we had to force the other to say, no to cry out, to BEG for “Mercy!” I fought this battle against my brothers, my best friends, kids on the playground, and new kids in the neighborhood (I almost typed new kids on the block #ninetiesflashback).

I have to thank Austin Kelly a Senior Broadcast Journalism Major at UA and President of Tide4Christ for pointing out the word “beg / begged” in Mark 5.  After his devotional thought last night, I started looking for the word beg / begged through out Mark and here is what I found:

1. Mark 5:10, “And he begged him not to send them out of the country.”
2. Mark 5:12, “and they begged him, saying, ‘Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.'”
3. Mark 5:17, “And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.”
4. Mark 5:18, “As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.”
5. Mark 7:26, “Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.”
6. Mark 7:32, “And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
7. Mark 8:22, “And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a bland man and begged him to touch him.”

Seven times Mark uses the idea of asking intently or to earnestly invite Jesus to act. In those seven times:

• The demons twice begged Jesus not to punish or destroy them.
• The townspeople begged Jesus to leave.
• The healed man begged to go with Jesus.
• A Gentile mother begged Jesus to help her daughter.
• Friends begged Jesus to help a deaf man.
• Friends begged Jesus to help a blind man.

Today, as I look around me, read, watch, or listen to the news, and as I pay attention to entertainment media I begin to realize people are still begging Jesus in the same way.

People are still begging Jesus.

Some beg Jesus to leave them alone. There are people who want nothing to do with Jesus. There are people who read or learn what Jesus teaches about certain behaviors or choices and they want nothing to do with Him. They beg us not to mention His name, teach His way, or pray in His name. Jesus is offensive to them. They are afraid of what the reality of Jesus might mean, so they beg never to hear of Him.

Some beg Jesus for mercy. In my time in ministry, I have seen people realize the implications of their lifestyle on both their eternity and their life on earth. They realize that their choices are destroying their both their emotional and physical health. They want healing. They want a better life. They learn that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. They understand the grace, healing, and forgiveness found in Him. I will never forget witnessing a young person literally jumping and shouting for joy after they put on Christ giving Him their life.

The truth is everyone will beg Jesus for mercy. I see this truth in the words of the Apostle Paul, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11). Every knee will bow! Every tongue will confess! We will bow and confess Him now and live for him, or we will bow and confess when this life is over after refusing to seek Him during our life.  We will beg for mercy now and receive that mercy or sadly, many will wait until it is too late.

Every knee will bow! Every tongue will confess!

When will you beg Jesus for mercy?

-Scott