Old Jerry

I think that the characteristic that Mark is trying to convey is one of humility. Maybe the characteristic that the disciples were displaying was one of protecting the Master from becoming burdened with the children. When that disciples were arguing about who was the greatest, they were showing their pride. We need to yield ourselves to Jesus and learn from Him. The children were humble and he wanted his disciples to be humble also.

The Pharisee is so convinced of his righteousness because he is following all the rules that God had given him and the rules that they had made up. His actual sin that is obvious is pride. He probably had others but this one stands out. The tax collector is a sinner and wanted to be forgiven. We are always wanting to show people how much better we are then they therefore we promote ourselves. Jesus probably knew that they would get big headed and he wanted them to know that they should be a humbling person.

There is nothing greater than my relationship with Jesus. It is our deeds that objectively prove that we have put Jesus first on our lives.

The meaning of taking up our cross daily is to be studying the bible daily and doing the commands that will remind you of who the real King really is. We should be willing to lay down our lives for the King. The consequences in one’s Christian walk in committing to Christ is that the world will be looking down on him. He may not get a job because of his commitment to Jesus.

Yes, Jesus’ demands of his disciples are uncompromising but if we start compromising on his commands then we will be like the rest of the world. I know that I am too compromising with the world’s demands. It seems like every time something comes up, I am required to compromise Jesus’ commands in order to fit in.

These three analogies are telling us that if we are to follow Jesus, we have got to put him first in our lives. Jesus is so urgent because we have only a short time to sever him. If we are going to serve him, we need to do it with great enthusiasm.

I find that the unique message of the Parable of the Narrow Door is that we should do everything possible to enter the narrow door. Even if we have to push and shove. I think that we have to be aggressive in order to enter the Kingdom because we have an aggressive world and they will do anything to keep you from entering the Kingdom. I think that Jesus told this parable to his disciples to warn them about the things to come. They would be persecuted and the world would try to keep them out of the Kingdom.

The thorns prevent the Word of God from maturing in our lives because there seems to be other things that we want to do then to call on God and follow him. A genuine “disciple” will be doing the will of God and that he knows God’s word.

Some people fall away because they haven’t really repented. They have been corrupted by the sins of the world and don’t want to change it.

The true shepherd “lay down his life for the sheep” because he knows that the sheep would scatter and be lost. He knows that predictors will attack when he turns his back. Jesus did this for his disciples and me when he died for us on the cross and rose again. Jesus knew that we must be willing to lay down our lives trying to evangelize the lost. I can think of plenty of people that have laid down their lives for others.

Knowing the Shepherd’s voice and obeying it is important to us because there are a lot of voices out in this world. If we can’t recognize the shepherd’s voice, they we will be lost. If we try to independently act on our own, we will be lost in a hurry and only here the call of the voice of the devil. The things that cause sheep to stray is the calling of the world. We think we need more of what we don’t have so we can fit in.

Jesus intended his disciples to learn that He was teaching something new and it wasn’t going to fit into the old traditions. We are tempted to say “that the old wine is better” because it is what we are use to and we don’t want to go to something new. I’m sure that there are some church traditions that limit the Holy Spirit’s work, but I have fallen into those traditions and I can’t see them. I can see if there is something new that a newly planted church would be a better choice.

Jesus wanted the disciples to learn from the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast that things start our small and will grow. The disciples might be discouraged by the “size” of the Kingdom because they might have known that the ministry was going to grow and they needed to know that there was plenty of room for them in heaven. Sometimes we are discouraged in Christian work because there seem to be everybody against us. A lot of ruling of the Supreme Court are against us. We have to believe in the things that we haven’t seen and hope for best.

In the Parable of the Binding of the Strong Man, the strong man is Satan. Jesus is the stronger warrior and is more superior to him. Sense Jesus is the stronger Man he can do things that we can’t do so He can cast our demons. If we just believe in Jesus, we are free because Staten can’t take away Jesus’ power.

The way that the bread and wine remind us of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins is because after they had supper, He broke the bread and told them that they were to remember Him for the sacrifice that he had made. The same is with the wine. By participating in the communion, we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes back.

I think that people want to distort Jesus’ saying of the Camel and the Needle because they think that there is nothing that is impossible. They want to think that they can accomplish everything on their own. We human have a corrupt heart therefore salvation is impossible for humans to accomplish this on their own.

I think that the flowing or living water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit flowing in us. If we are following Jesus, then the Holy Spirit makes us thirsty for the Spirit. These promises are fulfilled in believers when we move into Heaven.

The way that the becoming a believer in Jesus is similar to a second birth is because we have to start all over again. We have to relearn how to live our lives. We have to be born of the Spirit and water. We don’t know where the spirit comes from, except it comes from God, and we don’t know where it will be taking us.

The Parable of the laborers in the Vineyard teaches us that God is very generous and especially to me. He has had to forgive me for many things. His grace has protected me. I think that anything that I have been overlooked and taken for granted is largely due to my pride.

The things that I see that is similar about the Parable of the weeds and the Parable of the Net is that every thing is gathered together and the bad are weeded out and thrown away. I think that the belief that these two parables are meant to counter is the belief that everybody is going to go to heaven. The ultimate triumph of the righteousness is encouraged because it doesn’t matter what we suffer here in earth we are going to be with the Father in the end.

The sheep are complimented for taking care of those that are down trodden. The goats are condemned for forgetting those that are in need. This is not salvation by works. It is our faith that is coming through. Jesus identifies with the “least of these my brothers” by calling them brothers. I suppose that Jesus told this parable because he wanted his disciples to see that all that they had suffered was going to be rewarded. It should motivate all of us to care for the poor.

The rich man’s sin that landed him in hell was he was selfish God’s gift and was not compassionate with the poor around him. Even in hell he still thought that he could order Lazarus around. I think the point of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is we need to put the gifts that God has given us to help others. Our church donates moneys to originations that feed the poor.

I think that the first son that did what the father asked are the tax collectors and prostitutes in this parable. They did what Jesus had told them to do and they repented. It is harder to actually obey because we have to do something. If we just mouth something then we don’t have to take any action. This lesson can be compared to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders because neither is following Jesus commands.

The thing that’s humorous about the Parable of the Speck and the Beam is a beam being in one’s eye. We can get to the place where we can see with clear spiritual eyes if we study God’s laws daily and put them into practice. Paul insists that we members correct sinning Christians with gentleness so that we don’t lose that person to the outside world. Judgmentalism is judging others by our sins and calling out someone else for the same thing. That is hypocrisy.

It is necessary to seek the narrow road because that means that if you follow it you will live. Jesus concludes this brief parable with the phrase, “and only a few find it” because He knew that there weren’t going to very many looking for it. This parable will strength the disciples because He knew that they were going to have to go down a difficult road that the culture will try influence them to abandon.