So, I read through and studied the Gospel of Mark for the first time and I'd like to clarify something. In my entry about Matthew in regards as to the themes of what each book covered I was a little mistaken on the theme of Mark of Jesus being a teacher. While that's not far off It conveys more of a sense of Jesus in action through miracles to display His divinity. Mark has a faster pace than the rest of the gospels and is the shortest of the four. His target audience were Roman Christians and they, who unlike Matthews audience, used a more common language. Another thing I learned is that Mark was not one of the 12 original disciples, but rather a possible friend of Jesus(Mark 14:51), he also joined the apostle Paul on his first missionary trip.
The Gospel of Mark is pretty great and one of the reasons, as I mentioned above, is because of the target audience. Not to downplay their education level, the text is written how a popular novel would read, but Mark fulfilled his mission and didn't need to be super eloquent. One example of the style of writing is actually quite humorous and takes place during the Transfiguration of Christ in Mark 9:3 "His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.", the last half of the sentence crack me up and I expected to next read "For real?" then "Yup", but that wasn't the case. Another reason Mark was a great read is because it continued emphasize the confrontations that Jesus had with the pharisees regarding their "Holier than thou" attitude. Again I think to myself, if there are four books in the New Testament making a point to record Jesus taking this topic head on than it must be pretty relevant, even to us today. To me it's like this, judgement is like closing the door and when we judge non-believers we are effectively closing the door on them and shutting out the love of Christ. While yes, non-believers can harden their hearts towards God, our judgement is helping that matter. The main point of this gospel however seems to be that Christians should be active in ministry like Jesus was when He founded it. How can we serve the Kindgom if we are stagnant? Moving along, I should have brought this up when I covered Matthew, about something I wasn't aware of, which again was mentioned in Mark. Just before Jesus was crucified He was offered wine that was laced with a drug to reduce the pain of suffering(Mark 15:23). He didn't take it. As a Christian I can appreciate what that means. If you're not a Christian, but you are on the fence about becoming one, or open to the idea of accepting Christ, just think about the idea of what it meant for him to refuse it. Consider that He was so willing to die for you that He didn't do it half way, that He was willing to suffer the full amount of weight that history's sin and future sin would do to him. This is not to make you feel any guilt, but to demonstrate the bottomless love that Christ/God has for you. He's all in!
What is faith? What is this concept that the media mostly gets wrong, or Christians sometimes get wrong or at least confused by? Heck, even some pastors get it wrong. Is there a clear definition for it in the Christian life?
Recently, I woke up in the morning and the first thing that popped into my head was The Goonies. It wasn't a slow process, but rather a thought that sprung me awake like lightning bolt to my consciousness, THE GOONIES. It occurred to me that Christians could probably learn a thing or seven from the classic 80's flick especially about faith. So, I will be relating this film to our walk in faith as well as making some arguments about what faith really is and means. Once again, like in my recent posts, I ask you to keep and open mind and open heart to what is going to be said in this entry.
The Goonies? Da fudge is dat?
Hopefully everyone has seen or at least heard of the Goonies, but in case you've been living under a rock for the past thirty years I'll give you the rundown of the movie. Taking place in Astoria, Oregon it tells the story of a group of teenagers who are struggling with the fact they have to move due to a bunch of developers who bought out their parent's mortgages and also bought the surrounding land to build a golf course. Mikey Walsh, the protagonist, is super bummed that he wont be able to keep hanging with his group of friends he grew up with, nick-named the Goonies. So anyways, a bunch of them get together at Mikey's and mope about how their fates are certain unless miraculously their parents come up with the money to stop the deal. Mikey's dad just happens to be a curator at the town's museum and one of the friends, Mouth, suggests that maybe their is something in the attic they can sell to come up with the money since Mr Walsh stashes stuff up there all the time. They find a treasure map and Mikey convinces most of the others to take up the search for One Eyed Willie's treasure. That Desperate Hour Much like Mikey and his friends we all face times of desperation where you are looking for a way out of your difficult situation. You pray and you pray and you pray, then you wait and wait some more. Finally an answer appears, but is it the answer you need? How are you sure it will get you out of your predicament? Who knows? You take the leap anyways! People on tv walk around saying "I've got faith! Hallelujah, I got faith!", but the thing of it is is that faith isn't a possession, there's no bogo offer on it. I would argue that it's an action, Hebrews 11:1 reads "Now faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.(DBY)", some people might get on me for using the Darby translation, but I think it represents my point pretty well. For another example look at Mark 5:25-34 when Jesus heals the bleeding woman, she saw Jesus and took her chance, all she needed to do was touch his robe. When Jesus realized some power went out of him he turned to her and reaffirmed her action, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." In my mind this clearly demonstrates that one aspect of faith is about seizing the opportunity, she had heard that Jesus healed people, it was enough for her and she was rewarded. Of course it was easier when Jesus was on the Earth, there was almost an instant gratification to this healing. We, like Mikey, might have to risk a little more for our answers in faith. All he had to go off of was a treasure map and a doubloon which supposedly led to a treasure, but that seemed enough for him even if he wasn't certain the map would lead to anything.
That's what I said! I said booby traps!
When we exercise our faith that doesn't mean that everything is going to go swimmingly, or that everyday birds are going to sing a Disney tune and everyday is going to be sunny from here on out. Having that kind of attitude would probably lead to a mental meltdown. Jesus himself said that in this life we will have trouble(John 16:33), so while we cannot be certain about the outcome of our risks that we take through faith, we can be certain that God's grace is sufficient enough for us to get through our trials(2 Cor 12:9). We also have this jerk of an enemy, the adversary, who seems ever at our heels much like the Fratellis were to the Goonies, who sets booby traps for the faithful to throw us of the rails. His attacks combined with misconceptions about faith that we might have could serve to damage our walk with God especially when we are already going through something difficult. For example, let's say a person's family member get's severely ill and it interferes with the finances, they get behind on the bills. That person might say, if I just believe enough, have enough faith, things will get better. Then that person gets laid off and has little to no income. How are the medical bills going to get paid? Regular bills going to get paid? How are we going to eat? "I thought if I had enough faith God would carry me through this!"
While some of these events are influenced in the spiritual realm, we must consider the realm of free choice where events are effected by other's choices everyday. As Job's friends learned after they accused him, it wast't his lack of faith that caused his problems. Job was being tested, and through his testing, through the booby traps the devil placed in his life, Job persevered because he ultimately trusted God. With that being said I believe another aspect of faith is perseverance through trust(James 1:12). I'm not sure if Mikey believed in a god, but I know that he did place his trust in the rest of the Goonies to get himself out of some jams. Therefore we must be careful to not set booby traps for ourselves and we can avoid this by examining what faith really is, like author and theologian Greg Boyd asks in his book "Benefit of the Doubt", is a faith not examined worth having?
An Unexpected Treasure
Mikey and his friends took the risk on something they didn't know was a sure thing. They persevered through the booby traps and defeated the Fratellis, however they had to give up the pirate treasure in order to save their own lives. In our walk with faith there are times we are going to have to give things up, maybe it's a friendship, maybe it's a job, or maybe it's a prized material possession. Whatever the case it's important that you line up your faith with what God's will is and I know that sometimes it is the hardest thing a Christian can do, but ultimately it is for our benefit(1 John 2:17). Even though they lost the treasure, the Goonies were still over joyed at seeing their parents, and at the end of the film you could see that they had learned a lot through their experiences. It seemed that they came to terms with the fact the situation was out of their hands and when those country club jerks came around for the contract they decided to sign it, but then something unexpected happened. Mikey's house keeper Rosalita was searching through his jacket and found a marble sack full of precious stones! When we finally submit to God and confess we can't do it on our own anymore, we are opening ourselves to the possibilities of what God can do in our lives, we are putting His will above ours. This is the last aspect of faith I'll be making an argument for, that faith is also submission to God. He will exalt those that are humble to him(Luke 18:14) and you will find comfort in His grace which abounds. If this is the case then God may reveal a treasure that we never thought to imagine.
Hey You Guys!
In this assessment of what I believe faith really is I did my best to make sure I brought as much information from the Bible as I possibly could. I admit that some of what I have argued has been influenced impart by some theological readings I've completed over the past few years. Having said that I made sure that those authors were using a biblical source. In the end some may not agree with my points, but whatevs, I'm always willing to hear arguments that inspire growth in faith.
As some of you may know I decided about a year ago that I wanted to go to school so I could become a pastor. One of the requirements is to have read the Bible completely at least once. Admittedly I have not done that, so over the past year I have skipped around to different books in the Bible and read them. For my 31st birthday my wife got me a life applications study Bible and with it I decided to study the New Testament books in order. I have since devoured the book of Matthew and would like to share a taste of what I have learned. I'd like to ask you to please keep an open mind and an open heart to what I have to say, thank you.
Common Misconceptions
When some people think of the four Gospels they are confused on why there needs to be 4 different books about the same events. In reality they portray Jesus using different themes such as Matthew trying to prove that Jesus is King/Messiah to the Jews of the time. Next we have Mark who's theme is about Jesus as a teacher, then Luke's theme is Jesus as the perfect human being. Lastly, John's theme is that Christ is our only path to eternal life. Another common misconception which is wide-spread due to popular mainstream media is when the "Wise-men" visited Jesus. If you look at pretty much any movie or nativity play the wise men show up right after Jesus' birth, but in fact Matthew states that the Magi as they are called do not show up until 1-2 years after the birth of Jesus. Matthew 2:11 validates this as it says the Magi showed up to the house not the manger. It is also the reason why Herod orders the deaths of male babies up to 2 years of age. It's easy to be dismissive of this this, I mean does it really matter? Yes, in a way it does because it illustrates that most people got there information from other media rather than the original source. People aren't getting their knowledge of Jesus from the Bible, but through TV and that's dangerous because if we have been deceived so easily about something so small, what else have we been deceived about?
Political Climate During the Book of Matthew
At this time period Israel was under Roman rule and the Jews of the time could not stand it. They were supposed to be God's chosen people and they waited for a Messiah to come and lead them to a military, or political victory by destroying the Roman government. There were two main factions of Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees, who followed the laws of the Old Testament and segregated themselves from most non-Jews. Then you had the Sadducees who only believe in the books of Moses and used their beliefs to further their political positions. These two sides often butted heads, but when Jesus showed up on the scene and started teaching they teamed up to get rid of Him. Also during this time in Israel they were sub-ruled by King Herod. He was not appointed by God, but was appointed the by Roman government to keep things orderly. The citizens didn't really like him that much, but he did help to build the temple in Jerusalem so they put up with him. Herod died and then one of his sons took over.
Drawing political similarities to then and now As I said above, the Jewish leaders were expecting their Messiah to crush the Romans and lead them to a political and military victory so that Israel could once again be an independent nation. This got me thinking. We still expect our Messiah to do the same thing today, maybe not in a military sense anymore, but definitely in a political sense. How many times do we see politicians or pundits proclaiming they're on God's side, have the values God would want them to have, all to get the attention of Christian voters so they can get elected into office? Too many times. The problem with this is that God's kingdom is above all kingdoms or any Earthly political office. If you really want to get down to it we see in the Book of Revelation it says that the enemy is the one that gives authority to the Earth's governments(Rev 13:4). Am I saying that everyone in congress or any government is evil? Not at all, but what I am saying is that if you think God/Jesus is going to lead us to some political victory over heathens, unbelievers in an Earthly political sense, than you may be miss-characterizing God's Kingdom. The pharisees and Sadducees did not understand this because they had hardened their hearts towards Jesus and they were so legalistically following the laws and traditions that the traditions became more important than where the traditions were supposed to point to. Look at the walls we build between us with actions like this, when in actuality Jesus came to breakdown spiritual walls. I'm not saying to not use the values of your faith to vote for people who share the same, just don't use them as a violent weapon against others who don't have the same ones. As Christians it is our duty to seek out lost sheep (Mat 18:12-14), not to cast them out if they don't agree with our political beliefs. Remember the greatest commandments; (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV) "37 Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
I ask, how can we do this if we pit Christ against one another politically?
How did Matthew Prove Jesus was/is the Messiah
An important thing to remember while reading the book of Matthew is that he was talking to the Jews of his time, to convince them that Jesus was/is the one they were looking for. For this, he lists the Genealogy of Jesus showing he was the descendant of Abraham and David. Next he called upon Scripture of the Old Testament's prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. The first example of such use is Matthew 2:6-7, which concerns the birthplace of the Messiah. Then of course there is all of the miracles he performed. Miracles are great yes, but it was really the teachings of Christ that showed them and now us how to usher the kingdom of God into this world, what kind of kingdom it would be and what we needed to be like to get into this kingdom. He did most of this by teaching through parables starting with Matthew chapter 13. I'll provide the whole parable to give an example and Jesus' reasoning behind it:
3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Again Matthew displays that Jesus also uses prophecy to reveal he is the King with verses 14 and 15. It also shows how the Bible confirms itself through the Old and New Testament.
Conflict with the Religious leaders Time and time again the religious leader would try to snare Jesus in a verbal trap, but he was already aware of their intent and often made them look like fools with his answers. A good example of this is Matthew 18:15-22 which has the famous verse "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's". I already mentioned that the religious leaders wanted a superhero for a messiah, but another reason why they despised Jesus so much is that he was constantly calling them out on their hypocrisy. They would live so strictly by the law that they forgot the intent of the law, or they would appear so pious on the outside, to receive the admiration of the public, and yet had an immoral lifestyle behind closed doors. The example that's fresh in my mind is Matthew 27:4 upon where Judas realized what a huge mistake he made and went to the temple to tell the priest that he had sinned and wanted to return the money they gave him. They replied "What is that to us? That is your responsibility." Which was wrong because before the death of Christ it was the priest's job to be an intercessor for the people of Israel to God. Essentially the priests turn their backs on their role. Another great example is found in the Gospel of Luke 18:9-14.
It is important as believers to confront our hypocrisy. We all have been guilty of it at times, we are human after all, right? We want to live life as Christ like as possible, but being human we are bound to stumble, much like Peter did a few times. Appearing to be pious on the outside while having a poor relationship with God on the inside is a stumbling block and sooner or later some one may call you out on it. That is why it is important to have a humble heart before God and others, it is not a weakness to admit your mistakes, and more importantly, practice what you preach dawg. The Miracle That Was Right Under Their Nose
It has long been an opinion of mine that humility is one of Christians' most powerful assets. Just imagine how powerful it is in the hands of God, but do most people put God and humility hand and hand? Maybe, maybe not, I haven't asked to many people to be honest and if we look at the definition of the word humility it's not so flattering: hu·mil·i·ty
(h)yo͞oˈmilitē/
noun
1.
a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness.
Not so impressive right? Look at humanity as a whole, we're pretty meek even though we like to act tough with our big weapons, SUVs and what not. Yet, it only takes a natural disaster to wipe us off the map. So then, take the creator of nature and the universe and put Him next to us and surely we are the meekest. The miracle that the religious leaders missed, the sign they were looking for, was that God, creator of the Heavens and the Earth, came down to our level as a weak and humble man, "...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matt 20:28) Just think about that for a minute, even if you're not a believer, just play along and say that there is a God who created the cosmos and everything in it including you, think of a being that powerful. Then think of Him saying I love you so much, I'm going to take on all of your issues, your negative actions, your suffering, your guilt, I'm going to take all of that on to myself and sacrifice my Son, (which essentially Himself) for you so that I can be with you eternally. Is not a being that powerful coming down to our level, OUR LEVEL, a miracle? If that is not the miracle that we all need than I don't know what is. And then of course we have the triumphant Resurrection.
Like I said at the beginning of the entry, this is only a taste of what I learned. If I told you everything it would probably take a year or seven . I hope this encourages you at least a little to pick up your Bible and study it. You may find things in there you never knew about. For example, one thing I didn't know was that after Jesus died, the tombs of holy people who died were opened up, they were resurrected and walked around Jerusalem for a bit. God Bless.
P.S. I say a lot in here about the religious leaders of the time who were Jewish, it is true that they conspired to kill Christ, but we must remember that Christ was destined to be sacrificed, so to be harboring any grudge against a person of Jewish faith today is foolishness.
Moving along, I should have brought this up when I covered Matthew, about something I wasn't aware of, which again was mentioned in Mark. Just before Jesus was crucified He was offered wine that was laced with a drug to reduce the pain of suffering(Mark 15:23). He didn't take it. As a Christian I can appreciate what that means. If you're not a Christian, but you are on the fence about becoming one, or open to the idea of accepting Christ, just think about the idea of what it meant for him to refuse it. Consider that He was so willing to die for you that He didn't do it half way, that He was willing to suffer the full amount of weight that history's sin and future sin would do to him. This is not to make you feel any guilt, but to demonstrate the bottomless love that Christ/God has for you. He's all in! 
