Just the Facts

I remember as a college student hearing Jim Woodroof say that we should read a gospel after every book of the Bible we read. In other words, read one of the 66, then read one of the gospels, read another book, read a gospel. The gospel of John remains my favorite because it tells so many different stories of Jesus' life. Today I started reading the gospel of Mark.
Remember the old Dragnet series? You had Detective Joe Friday who started every episode with, "This is the city...Los Angeles, California..." And when he questioned people he would say, "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts." That's what I get from the gospel of Mark. He begins with with Jesus, switches briefly to John the Baptist, then tells the story of Jesus by John the Baptist. Then he says he went out into the desert with the wild animals. Whereas Matthew and Luke spend a little more time on the temptation of Christ, that's it for Mark. There's a quick story of driving out a demon, then my favorite healing story. The story of the leper. Nine words by the leper, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Five words by Jesus. "I am willing," he said, "Be clean!" I know, he speaks some more later, but don't you get the impression there's more to that story than those few words. Don't you feel there was more than "just the facts, ma'am."? Maybe I'm wrong, but I think there's a lot more.
Last night in our Bible study, we wondered about Judas. Did he have a choice? We know he fulfilled the Scriptures. But there are so many questions. I have a Bible study on Thursday with a lady in a wheel chair. Often we come across things that we really don't have an answer for. It both instances, I say the same thing. "Make a list." We'll ask about it when you get to see Jesus. Then we'll get more than "just the facts." Have a great day. JW