Everlasting November 11, 2025 Devotional

MARK 1:23-28 | ²³ Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, ²⁴ and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” ²⁶And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

JOHN 15:20 | ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

The disciples left secure and obscure social locations for a movement that was public and controversial. Fishing on the Sea of Galilee aroused no opposition and the only risks were from the waves and the sea. The Jesus movement quickly came under official question and sanction. One issue was Sabbath keeping, as we see in this encounter in the Pharisees. Another issue was the food laws, and a third was Jesus’ relationship with “sinners” and Gentiles. (See Luke 15:1-2 and Luke 4:28-30) After His first sermon in Nazareth He is nearly murdered!

Jesus warns His disciples that following Him will be controversial and sometimes dangerous.

Have you run into controversy over your faith?

Gracious God,

Help us to be calm under pressure, gentle in confrontation, and firm in our convictions. May we speak the truth in love.

Amen.