How does one stump Jesus?

In Mark 12 there were many who were trying to get Jesus to stumble over His words. I love the fact that Jesus turns the tables on them every time. I can just imagine Jesus not even raising His voice while responding to their ploys, just in a matter of fact voice responding. I can even see the people's faces as He responds, like "Alright, what now?" Also in Chapter 12 is another glorious parable of the wicked tenants. In which, Jesus sets a trap of sorts for the leader's challenge of Jesus' authority. This is another attempt to get Jesus to stumble over His words, but He is very clear in His accusation of who the wicked tenants are in this parable without pointing fingers.

Jesus is way cool! He can walk on water and swim on land!

Jesus is the man! He calls for people to follow him and they drop everything and do it, He casts out demons, He heals the sick, and He raises the dead. The other day in class Dr. Foster discussed our expectations for Christ. He talked about how if things go wrong in our lives we tend to blame God and get angry. God is all-powerful and can do anything he so well pleases, but I think people misinterpret that today. God is not like the candy man who gives us what we want. We want, want, want...but do we EXPECT. I want so many things in life, but do I really expect God to work in my life that way? I think that is the problem today..... We know God can do amazing things, but we don't really expect Him to do them.

All in the Family

I am convinced after one of the lectures last week that there should be more of an emphasis of the church as a family today. As we see in Mark's acount, Jesus seemed to really want the people to realize that there is a family we are to belong to as believers. When His earthly family comes, Jesus was quick to say that truly those around Him are really His brothers and sisters. I think many lines would be broken and better ministry accomplished if we would grasp onto the concept that we do have a heavenly father whom we should honor to the utmost and that we have brothers and sisters whom we should love and respect with all our hearts. This concept is not emphasised enough or understood properly in my experience within the church.

GIVE ME A SIGN

In Mark there's a story were the pharisees ask Jesus to give them a sign from heaven if he is God's son. Jesus tells them why do you need a sign no sign will be given to you. This made me think the pharises probaly had heard what Jesus had done they probaly even saw him do miricles before yet they asked him for a sign. With all the proof that Jesus existes why is it that we are like the pharisees before we can put are trust in Jesus we want to see a sign. I think like the pharisees when we look for a sign we end up missing the blessing in front of us. Jesus was right there but the pharisees were to caught up in themselves to see the savior was right next to them. How many times are we like that? We are so close to knowing Jesus but we are caught up in proof or a sign we miss what was right there the whole time.

Manipulating the Person of Christ

I have a new perspective of the passage in Mark 8 in which Peter declares that Jesus is "The Christ" and then shortly after tries to tell Jesus He is wrong for what He is about to do. I always understood Peter as being the disciple who had it all figured out as he seems to know the true person of Jesus (The Christ). But he proves this to be false by refusing to accept the reason that Jesus came. He will accept the fact that Jesus must give His life. If he really knew that Jesus was the Chist, would he not understand this simple reality? Or did he have a different personal view of what the Messiah "should" be like? I think he manipulated the person of Christ and I believe we do the same at times today. We want Jesus to be this or that and sometimes aren't satisfied with who He really is.

The Yeast

“What out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” What is Jesus warning them about? The disciples had already seen Jesus exorcise demons, heal the sick, cure the blind and deaf, calm the sea, walk on water, multiply food, and they still don’t understand who Jesus is and his teachings. The Pharisees harden there hearts, and Jesus warns them not to do the same. I think Jesus is trying to teach the disciples in Chapter 8: 22- 26. Just like at first when Jesus opens the eyes of the blind man, his vision is not clear, and Jesus has to do it again, is like how Jesus keeps revealing himself to the disciples and they still are confused. We see later (8:27-9:1) that Jesus flat out tells them what is going to happen, and the cost of discipleship, but the disciples still don’t understand. I find myself still not completely taking to heart all Jesus teachings. Did anyone else fell convicted after the lecture the other day? I have preached from Philippians chapter two many more than once and I still have problems. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” I still find myself needing to read over it again and again to let it really sink in. Following Christ is about humbling yourself, denying your own selfish ambitions, and following Christ. Just like the disciples and the blind man, Jesus has to keep teaching me so that I can clearly understand and put all my faith in him.

Ignorance...What a Great Word for a Great Group of Men?

:( Recognized as E-Mail of the weAk! 3/7/2005

It's one thing to perform a miracle once, but TWICE!!! Jesus is the man!!!! Ride cosmic cowboy, Ride!!! Early in Mark we see were Jesus fed 5,000 people, and in Mark 8 we see this happening again, but with about a thousand less people. Of course this is still nothing short of a miracle when you only have seven loaves of bread and a few fish. Yet that isn't the part I am harping on as much, but more so of the teachign of Jesus to the Dsiciples in the section following.

See Jesus was telling them to beware of the Pharisees and Herod and their doings and used the illustration of leaven bread, which we learned was a common meataphor for evil. Yet this is how the disciples respond, "Duh...is it because....duh....we have no bread." I mean really that is how I see it going down. The disciples with their finger in their nose wondering what Jesus is talking about, looking at the bogger, and then eating it. Just plain and simple ignorance. And then I could see the expression on the face of Jesus and it is saying something like, "Are you serious?" Note it might seem that I dipping into the text more than is there, but really I am just developing a visual picture. If the Bible didn't say that the Disciples ate their boggers, then they didn't....in this passage at least. Jesus then lays it out for them and in a sense I would say gets a little bit irritated with them, but not falling to sin.

Either way, the Disciples turned out to be great men of the faith and it just proves to show that ignorance doesn't always have to prevail.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Are Signs

God shows himself everywhere. When Dr. Foster discussed this briefly in class, I found myself thinking about when I question God. I remember times in my life where I would pray so hard and cry so many tears that I just knew God was listening and that he would act. As I would drive down the road, especially at night, I woiuld begin to ask God to show me signs. Most of the time I would stare into the sky and just know that I would see a shooting star, which meant that God heard me and that he is who he says he is. So many times I would be discouraged because I did not get the sign that I had hoped for, and instead of me reshaping my view on signs, I slowly began to doubt whether God even existed. It wasn't until later as I began to mature in my faith that I realized that God has signs all around me, to show me who he is, and I realized that God's signs are to display his glory, the way he wants to, not to show me that he will answer my small, and usually selfish, request. Garland writes, "The Pharisees have already recieved plenty of proof in Mark of the source of Jesus' power." That same proof is available to us today.

jesus

Too often while reading the scriptures I find myself with the very wrong feeling that I'm somehow better or more intelligent than the Jews. They should have known that Christ's coming wasn't going to be like they thought it was...of course his leadership wasn't going to be military-like. How self-righteous and just stupid I am. My expectations of how Christ's second coming is probably completely off-base...because my expectations come from things beyond the text...other people's opinions, my imagination, etc. My ignorance is probably much greater than the Jews of that time, because my discipline and knowledge of scripture is greater than theirs.

Praying for deaf mutes

Garland does a good job applying this to modern life. I have been struggling with absence from the trenches. I go to church and see people debating theological complexities and patting each other on the back. Church seems to look more like a Pharisaic reunion than the body of Christ in our presence. I spent two and a half hours at an associational meeting last night. Upon leaving, I felt as though we have accomplished nothing for the lost and dying world around us. I know we need to plan, but (this is probably more of a personal statement) what have we done lately. I am ammused at our evangelism conferences. We have to pump one another up to do what we should be doing already. We try to plan the moving of God instaed of letting God move us. Ironically enough we use this passage of scripture to support our claims that we need to pray to get God to move where we desire him to move. We should be praying so that God can move us where he wants us. It is easy to talk about the church, but I am directing these things at myself. I have sat in many meetings, studied theological complexities, and prayed much for what I want, but has the world seen Jesus in me this last year? I cannot think of one person who has been affected by my life in the last year. It is easy to say the church needs to make disciples, but I cannot say that I have made any disciples this year.

What next Lord?

When Jesus tried to "outrun" the crowd and get across the sea before they did, I can identify with that. Anybody with children can I think. You get up and get them all off to school, making sure that each one of them has everything they need for a day at school. You go to work, but when you get home your children already have 20 questions that they need to ask of you, things they need for you to do. You love them so much and care for them so. . . their needs come before yours. I believe that Jesus needed rest and peace, but the needs of all of the people who believed in Him came first. Makes me wonder how He kept from crying more than He did. Jesus did the very thing that most anyone else would have done with so much to do and so little time to do it. He started preparing the disciples to take up the slack in Mark Chapter 6.

Praying for deaf mutes

Temple Cleansing

I just finished my reading in the DJG and it has me somewhat confused. I had never noticed that there could be more then one or two ways to interpret what and why Jesus threw the money changers out and said what he did. I had always assumed it was a religious or prophetic event that described Jesus cleansing the temple and a refference to his ressurection (as well as that of the church).

I also never thought that the money changers and dove sellers were actually somewhat necassery to the whole temple operation. I guess it makes sense that if people from other lands with diffrent currency need to buy a sacrafice then they would need to exchange their money for the right kind. I also was taught that the money changers had over charged but it seems that they are charging a modest amount. I really don't know how to view this passage anymore but I guess that is what a bible study is for then right? Maybe I will be enlightened this afternoon in Life Of Christ, I guess we shall see.

Turning A Light On

Not Enough?

The healing of the blind man in Bethsaida troubles me. As Dr. Foster said in class, "this is the only miracle in the gospels that takes place in two stages. I am still not sure of why Jesus' power or attempt to heal the man wasn't enough the first time. The man's vision had improved, but he could not see clearly. So, Jesus again laid his hands on the man's eyes and he was healed.
In class, we looked at how this story in Mark, represented the blindness of the disciples more than the blindness of the man. If this story is found in the scriptures only to teach us about the disciples, fine. But what did it mean to the disciples who saw this miracle taking place? Did the twelve think that it took Jesus two times to perform this miracle or did they think he was trying to show them something deeper? I personally believe Jesus had the power, for he didn't even have to use spit, but a simple answer to this miracle's two stages I think is impossible.

If Jesus had a Spitoon

I don't know about anybody else, but I have really been struggling this week after looking at many of the scriptures pertaining to Jesus' use of spitting. I had really never paid much attention to those scriptures until they were brought out in class. I just really do not understand why Jesus would resort to such types of healing. I know that some of the people could have related to the spell-like similarities, but this just seems way out of character for Jesus. I just do not see the good in it. I think there could have been other ways of healing that would not have seen so pagan-like.

What I Learned This Week

What the disciples' perception of who Jesus was and who he really was were two different things. I never actually knew that the Jews thought the messiah was going to be a great military leader. I guess I always assumed that the disciples knew what was going on. That's not quite the case though. I always overlooked the statement "get behind me Satan" and never understood why Jesus said this to Peter. Being in this class and sitting up front (highly recommended) has helped me understand some things that I never really gave thought to. And also, reading the actual greek text to find out what words really mean is the best approach to figuring out some of the questions of scripture.

In Defense of the Disciples

We might find it easy to question the disciples (and Second Temple Judaism) for their understanding of the Messiah, but I find this unfair at times. Yes, their expectations were of a military king who would rule and would conquer the nations. We read the gospels and see how blind they were to the truth that the Messiah would come to suffer and die. Even so, I contend that the disciples were not entirely incorrect in their thinking but in their timing.

The idea of a conquering King may seem foreign to those who focus on the ministry of Jesus. He healed and taught. He suffered and died. We do not find any swords "which smoked with bloody execution," to borrow a line from Macbeth, but let us consider the Messiah's works eschatologically. If the Lord is going to judge the world one day and if he will rule over the nations, then perhaps the disciples' image of the Messiah was not far off. Second Temple Judaism's (henceforth, STJ) perception of the Messiah as the conquering King-Messiah might not be entirely inaccurate.

I believe their timing was off as well as their belief concerning the Messiah's methods. The "day of the Lord" seems to be a fearsome prospect to face if you are not of God, but for the believer, it is a day of redemption. Sounds similar to STJ's thinking, doesn't it? Maybe they were right, but they merely didn't know God's plan to save those of every race through the death and resurrection of his Son. Perhaps the disciples weren't as stupid as we sometimes think.

Let the little children come to me

:) Recognized as E-Mail of the WEEK! -3/7/2005

Hi all, from beautiful Honduras. Got the opportunity to get to a computer so thought I would try to blog for this week.
From reading the other entries it looks like you've made it up through about chapter eight so far. I'd like to direct my comments to a passage somewhere in the first part of chapter ten. Likely, Dr. Foster will cover it before I return. Its the passage where Jesus tells the disciples not to deny the children access to Him. We all know the passage, about how Jesus says "for such is the kingdom of God" when referring to the children. I'm staying and working at an orphanage my denomination (General Baptist) has here in Honduras. I've had the privilege of coming a handful of times on short-term mission trips to help construct the buildings, lead VBS, and other ministry projects. This year we are putting a roof on a 30x120 addition to the school. Tonight we attended the children's weekly worship service. We have 84 children here, ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years. Tonight being in service with them was terrific. Listening to them sing God's praises with such sincerity was very moving. These are children that either have no parents because they have died, children who were abandoned on the streets, or (the lucky ones) children whose parents brought them to a place like this and voluntarily gave them up for the good of the children. All of these children are so hungry to love and be loved. They find someone to love, and to be loved by in this place. Here, they meet the love that God has for them through our missionaries, house parents, school teachers, and short-term mission team members. When Jesus made His radical statement about the children, it was truly radical! Dr. Foster's lecture on this is a good one, don't miss it. Children had no voice in Jesus' culture. It is much the same in Honduras. Jesus made radical statements indicating that God's kingdom would be a place where children were honored. We are attempting to give these children voice here. If we can introduce them to Jesus, educate them and prepare them to be productive citizens, them someday they made change all of Honduras. Who knows, we may be loving the next Honduran president!
To see and be with these children always reminds me how good God truly is and how all He really wants from me is all I really have to give--my time on this earth. My life is His, He could take it whenever He pleases. All that I have is His, He could take it whenever He pleases. But the time He allows me in this life, and the abilities and gifts He blessed me with, how I use them is up to me. May my life be full of worship that is as pure as these childrens'.

Two-Stage Miracle

Dr. Foster said "yeast" is a metaphor for "evil". Mark 8:15 states, "Be careful, Jesus warned them. 'Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod'." Since "yeast" is "evil", Jesus is telling them to watch out for the evil of the Pharisees and the evil of Herod. Herod had John the Baptist beheaded. The Pharisees were highly religious and devout, interpreted and applied the torah to everyday life, believed in angels and the resurrection, and looked for a messianic figure who would be a great teacher of the law.

Dr. Foster had also stated that John depicts Jesus. The foreshadowing of John sets a pattern for Jesus. Heroditis and Judas are parallel in that they betray; Herod and Pilate are caught off guard; John and Jesus are violently killed.

After Jesus tells them to beware of the evil, there is the Two-Stage Miracle. The turning point of missunderstanding about everything:
1) what it means to be a disciple,
2) inability to know spiritual truth,
3) blindness as to what is meant to be the Messiah,
4) the death of Jesus,
5) Kingdom of God come with Power
6) End of Time as they know it (Two-Stage Miracle)