3:1-6 Sometimes the letter of the law contradicts the heart of the law. The sabbath was meant to restore and repair-it is a day of restoration. The ultimate goal of the kingdom of God is to love others. To leave in suffering when healing is available is un-loving. When we condemn those living a gay lifestyle instead of loving them as Christ does, we are using the letter of the law to destroy those we are supposed to love.
3:22&29 Jesus did not use His God-head, His personal authority to heal and cast out demons, but rather it was the Holy Spirit doing the work. When the teachers of the law accused Jesus of casting out demons by beelzebub, they were calling the Holy Spirit satan,since it was the Holy Spirit doing the work. That is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
3:31-35 One of the earliest reasons that the religious leaders had to hate Jesus is that He claimed to be the son of God. Calling yourself the son of in their culture was the same as being equal to, so He was essentially claiming to be God. Here He is going much further and saying that anyone who does the will of God becomes a daughter or son of God thru being brother or sister to Jesus. This was incredulous heresy to the religious leaders. Up to this point, the best one could hope for is to be a slave or servant of God. Moses was a friend of God and King David was a man after God's own heart but now we get to be son's and daughter's. How much more intimate is that? Also, up to this point there is much talk about tribes and the lost tribe (which is the gentiles [me]) being returned. This was the only metaphor Jews could understand. But we have so much more than tribes and land, we have a royal king who is our brother, and a god, the God, who is our father.
Monday, July 28, 2014
thoughts on Mark ch.2
2:1-5 Jesus honored the faith of the paralytics friends by forgiving his (the paralytics) sins.
2:5-12 Saying "your sins are forgiven" is easy, there's no way to prove that it has been done or not done, but to HEAL the paralytic? The proof (in this case) or lack thereof is instant. It is likely the same level of difficulty to heal as to forgive sins, so Jesus proving that He had authority to do one also proves He has authority to do the other.
2:17 In the law, a sick person was cast out, an unbeliever or foreigner was outside the promises and could not be allowed in. Jesus is breaking down their ideology and replacing it with love, love that reaches out and pulls toward the broken, the hurting, the foreigner, the sinner.
2:18-20 Jesus' ministry was a 3-1/2 year mission trip. The disciples were feasting in the presence of the messiah, but when He left, they would mourn and fast for 40 days until they received the promised helper, the Holy Spirit.
2:23-28 The whole of everything God created is for us. To nourish and provide all our needs
after the need for God himself. The plants, the animals, all the earth is to feed and nourish us so we can turn around and praise the one who created it all. The sabbath was created to fill man's needs, not God's. It is a day of healing. Repairing or replacing what has been used up. If we are being down-trodden, or hurt, or broken by way of the sabbath, then the sabbath has no meaning, or worse really, we have reversed God's plan for it, for us.
2:5-12 Saying "your sins are forgiven" is easy, there's no way to prove that it has been done or not done, but to HEAL the paralytic? The proof (in this case) or lack thereof is instant. It is likely the same level of difficulty to heal as to forgive sins, so Jesus proving that He had authority to do one also proves He has authority to do the other.
2:17 In the law, a sick person was cast out, an unbeliever or foreigner was outside the promises and could not be allowed in. Jesus is breaking down their ideology and replacing it with love, love that reaches out and pulls toward the broken, the hurting, the foreigner, the sinner.
2:18-20 Jesus' ministry was a 3-1/2 year mission trip. The disciples were feasting in the presence of the messiah, but when He left, they would mourn and fast for 40 days until they received the promised helper, the Holy Spirit.
2:23-28 The whole of everything God created is for us. To nourish and provide all our needs
after the need for God himself. The plants, the animals, all the earth is to feed and nourish us so we can turn around and praise the one who created it all. The sabbath was created to fill man's needs, not God's. It is a day of healing. Repairing or replacing what has been used up. If we are being down-trodden, or hurt, or broken by way of the sabbath, then the sabbath has no meaning, or worse really, we have reversed God's plan for it, for us.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Thoughts on Mark ch. 1
These are my thoughts as I read thru the book of Mark. I am only putting scripture references in so you'll need to read along with your Bible if you want to know where I'm coming from. In some cases, you might read scripture first and have to go quite a ways through my comments before finding any correlation. I'm on Chapter 7 as I write this in ones and zeros so it's become apparent to me that these early comments are very short compared to ones to come. Please comment or debate if you like but be kind if you will.
Mark 1:4-John preached a baptism of repentance. Baptism was common for Gentiles, but Jews had no reason til now. Confess sins first, then be baptised. Beginning of a new life.
1:10-heaven being torn open-this wasn't like the clouds parting, this was a tearing of the fabric of our universe, our reality, wherein God's reality, the heavenly realm, and our reality, the earthly realm, were exposed to each other.
1:14-15 THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD: The kingdom of God is near.
1:9-25 Jesus did not begin His ministry until He had been baptised and received the Holy Spirit. Then He was tempted for 40 days. This 40 days was the furnace that forged Him for the work ahead. Notice Jesus didn't do any miracles until receiving the Holy Spirit.
1:38 Jesus came to preach
1:40-44 This may be the first person ever who could have fulfilled the law of showing himself to the priest to be declared pure after having had leprosy.-he did not however go to the priest.
1:23-25 & 40-45 Jesus' ministry had a time line and a master plan if you will. He needed to control the when and where or tempo of people's belief and disbelief also, to ensure the cross and fulfill all the Old Testament prophecy.
Mark 1:4-John preached a baptism of repentance. Baptism was common for Gentiles, but Jews had no reason til now. Confess sins first, then be baptised. Beginning of a new life.
1:10-heaven being torn open-this wasn't like the clouds parting, this was a tearing of the fabric of our universe, our reality, wherein God's reality, the heavenly realm, and our reality, the earthly realm, were exposed to each other.
1:14-15 THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD: The kingdom of God is near.
1:9-25 Jesus did not begin His ministry until He had been baptised and received the Holy Spirit. Then He was tempted for 40 days. This 40 days was the furnace that forged Him for the work ahead. Notice Jesus didn't do any miracles until receiving the Holy Spirit.
1:38 Jesus came to preach
1:40-44 This may be the first person ever who could have fulfilled the law of showing himself to the priest to be declared pure after having had leprosy.-he did not however go to the priest.
1:23-25 & 40-45 Jesus' ministry had a time line and a master plan if you will. He needed to control the when and where or tempo of people's belief and disbelief also, to ensure the cross and fulfill all the Old Testament prophecy.
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