You know the Drill..

Mark – Study Four

Jesus’ words & deeds

Acting it out. Apart from His death on the cross, Jesus is famous for telling parables and doing miracles. Divide into groups of 4 or 5 and act out from memory one of the following:

* the parable of the sower and the different types of ground the seed falls onto

* the parable of the lamp on a stand

* the parable of the growing seed

* the parable of the mustard seed

* Jesus calms the storm

* Jesus sends the demons into the pigs

* Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter

* Jesus heals the bleeding woman

To understand what Jesus’ mission was, we need to look at what He did and what He said. In the last study, we focussed on the reactions that people had towards Jesus. Today, we’ll focus on what Jesus’ words and deeds tell us about Him, His mission and the Kingdom of God. And in response to this, what this means for us as Christians today.

Read Mark 3:7-3:35

1. What do we see Jesus doing here?

• Healing,
• Appoints the 12 apostles,
• Preaches/talks in parables

2. What reactions do people have towards Jesus?

• Crowds who came to see Jesus: They came because of his reputation as a healer. The crowds however miss the point of what Jesus means, which perhaps establishes a reason why Jesus didn’t allow the evil spiritsd to talk out loud- doing so may have enflamed the masses, pushing to solve their problems immediately by means of revolution
• 12 Apostles: It is to these people that Jesus will reveal the meaning of his parables to- but as we will see, their knowledge of who Jesus is (as the Son of God) is not yet complete
• Jesus’ mother and brothers: from their suspicion that their son and sibling has gone loopy, it is unlikely that they realise who they are dealing with
• The teachers of the law: they accuse him of having an evil spirit (v30). It is precisely the opposite which dwells in Jesus, however.

Out of all these reactions, what is obvious is that the identity of who Jesus truly is has yet to be recognised by anyone

Read Mark 4:1-34

1. Jesus tells five parables about the Kingdom of God. What are they?

• Parable of the sower (3-20)
• Lamp on a stand (21-23)
• Parable of the measure (24-25)
• Parable of the growing seed (26-29)
• Parable of the mustard seed (30-34)

In v33, the author of Mark informs his readers that these are only a portion of the parables that Jesus told.

2. Each parable tells us something different about the nature of God’s Kingdom. What do you learn from each?

• Parable of the sower (3-20): We see multiple responses to the message which Jesus brings. Each response it illustrated in a particular way, but it’s obvious from the text that the right way to respond is to accept its promise ant teaching.

- If we do, it produces a crop: what sort of benefits do you think Jesus is talking about here?

• Lamp on a stand (21-23): In this parable, the Word is described like a lamp. There are many associations of Jesus and light (John 1), and we should be conscious of its function in illuminating and making us knowledgeable of our need to repent.

- At the same time, we know that Matthew 6:14-16 equates Christians as the ‘light of the world’: through the use of this imagery, we should accept our responsibility to glorify God with our lives seriously:

• Parable of the measure (24-25): This is a warning for Christians who are limiting the areas of their life Jesus has an impact in. It’s like that saying (must loved by Australian!), ‘you only get out what you put in’. If we are to enjoy all that Christ has to offer, we need to be prepared to give Him our all.
• Parable of the growing seed (26-29): When reading this parable, it should be evident that whether the seed produces a crop is out of the man’s control and knowledge. We are called to have faith that Him to began a good work within you will complete it (Phil 1:6)
• Parable of the mustard seed (30-34): It is not God’s way to work according to logic- His foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, after all (1 Cor 25). So in spite of the humble roots of Christianity found in 12 people of different personalities, of homogenous ethnicity, our promise of the KoG is made to encompass people of every nation.

3. What’s the use of parables? Why did Jesus tell them?

There appears to be 2 purposes to Jesus speaking in parables:

i) In v12, the parables are explained by Jesus to be a means of disguising the meaning of Jesus’ teachings.

ii) In v33 however, we can see that a reason for Jesus talking in parables is to condescend to the level of His audiences, and allow them to understand as much as possible. This was a innovative variation on the normal usage of parables, who were often complex and understandable by rabbis talking to other rabbis.

4. Is Jesus being mean by not explaining His teachings to everyone? (See Mark 4:33)

(I had a really hard time with this question…) We know through v33 that Jesus’ application of parables was to accommodate His audience’s limited understanding about the thing He was talking about. However, the reference in v 12 to Isaiah 6:9-10 is troubling: is the implication that Jesus does not want some people to repent?

I think it is important to keep in mind that there are 2 sorts of responses which are highlighted as Jesus teaches in ch 4. Some people, (the Twelve and the ‘others’ (v12)) desire in earnest to discern the nature of Jesus’s teachings and stay back to listen to what He has to say. Some, like the Pharisees regardless of Jesus’ explanation are determined to oppose Him from the very outset. But what is common to both people is that they heard the same message.

Although it is hard to recognise that God’s judgement will come upon those which do not accept His truth, we need to remember that just as Jesus did so in ch 4, we all have had the same opportunities afforded to us (Romans 2:1-16). Whether or not we choose to accept what Jesus has to say comes down to a decision we all must make- we can either reject Him, or acknowledge Him as our Lord and Saviour. The means by which Jesus chooses to explain this to us may be harsh, but this only makes it easier to distinguish the conclusion we have already reached beforehand (Eph 1:4).

5. In the light of this, what is the significance of the phrase “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (4:9, 23)?

The recognition that not everyone will take His message of repentance is well recognised by Jesus. Yet to those who are listening, Jesus is asking them to attempt to understand what He is saying as more than just a teaching (knowledge) or an intellectual puzzle.

Read Mark 4:35-5:43

1. What miracles do we see Jesus doing?

• Jesus calming the storm (v35-41)
• Jesus casting out a demon (1-20)
• Jesus healing the sick woman (21-34)
• Jesus raising the girl form the dead (35-43)

2. Jesus’ miracles show His awesome power and each miracle that Mark chooses to tell us about here shows a different aspect of this power. What does Jesus have power over?

Through these accounts, we can see that Jesus had authority over the physical and spiritual realms. More obliquely, the source of His authority is revealed through these stories: Jesus could only do these things if He truly was (as he said in ch 2) the Son of God.

Application

1. The crowd and the disciples had problems understanding what Jesus taught. Do you sometimes find that it’s difficult to understand what the Bible says? What can you do about it?

2. What do we learn about Jesus’ character? How does this affect the way you relate to Him?

3. What do we learn about the Kingdom of God? What does this mean for us as believers?

4. What is one thing that you will change in your life as a result of this study?

By way of refresher-

Mark – Study Three

Responding to Jesus

Imagine. If a stranger came up to you and asked you to follow him, what would you do?

What would your response be if someone said they could heal AIDS or cancer?

In the last study, we saw Mark’s introduction to Jesus and what he was on about on earth. This week, we see the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and as we follow Him, we see an increasing tension between what Jesus wanted and what others wanted and expected Him to do.

Read Mark 1:14-3:6

1. What are the highlights of the passage?

• Jesus announces repentance because the KOG is near
• Jesus calls his first disciples- Simon, Andrew, James and John.
• Jesus heals the sick
• Jesus heals the paralysed man
• Jesus breaking the rules!- eating with sinners, stealing grain, healing a lame man

2. Who are the people in the passage? How do they respond to Jesus?

IN my mind, there are 2 sorts of people that Jesus encounters in the passage we have just read- those which accept his teachings, and those which don’t.

Section 1 - Mark 1:14-45

1. What is Jesus' objective?

At the heart of Jesus’ ministry, His objective is described in 1:15- ‘the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’

A simple enough statement, but to understand it we need to unpack 3 concepts:

· Kingdom of God- For me, it was difficult to think of Jesus’ promise of eternal salvation in terms of a kingdom. But in truth, this is an accurate description of what is on offer- not so much a kingdom established by physical boundaries on earth, but a kingdom whose dominion/existence will know no end, whose community is ruled by a king/authority whose love, protection and blessings are forever and eternal.

· Repentance- The necessity for Jesus to call us to repentance is highlighted (just as John the Baptist did) throughout the latter part of the passage. For the Jews, the need to hear Jesus’ call to repentance was due to their misplaced belief that complying with the rules of the OT (‘the law’) would restore their relationship with God. As we will see, their devotion to their rules caused them reject the only true path to repentance on offer by Jesus.

Not to single out the Jews, is there something we (I!) need to repent of? Is there something I’ve been placing my faith in substitute of God?

· The Good News- the proclamation that Jesus has come to save humanity. As we will see in the tax collector story, it is a proclamation held out to all people.

Despite informing the reader of Jesus’ objective at the beginning of the passage, we can see there are major obstacles in the way of Jesus getting His message are. These primarily seem to be a distraction by the miracles Jesus as the sole purpose of His coming, or an unwillingness to let go of the OT law.

2. What do the crowds think is His objective? How is this shown?

To the majority of people, Jesus is no more than the sum of his actions- a healer of illness and a person who gives orders to demons. This should be evident through the description of the people, of what the responded to- the crowds would gather after an instance of casting out demons (v28), or healing (v33-37).

Before we go further, we should realise that their response is likely to also be our first reaction, no? Do we not also respond only to the blessings that we can verify, and ignore the gifts God dispenses in more subtle manners?

And yet, for all their showmanship, we must remember that Jesus’ ministry was to usher in the KoG- a gift whose blessings are ultimately not those realised in this life, but the one to come.

Section 2 - Mark 2:1-3:6

1. Why did the Pharisees act in the way that they did?

Under Judaism, salvation could only be earned through participation in the sacrifice system and the observance of Jewish law. Quite obviously as Jesus reveals however (3:1-6), adherence to the rules is not only foolish (2:27-28), but perpetuates evil by relieving people of their duty to lover their neighbour.

In some ways, this there are 2 answers to this question- the reason why the Pharisees acted the way they did was because they adhered to their rules. The other reason is that their sin compelled (as it is in the business of doing) them to reject Jesus as God.

2. Is there anything unholy about what Jesus is doing? Why/why not? What is he doing, then?

In contrast to the Pharisee’s stifling adherence to rules, Jesus breaks the rules on 3 separate occasions:

· Eating with the tax collectors- Because of their employment by the Roman government and their propensity to abuse their position, tax collectors were accorded the same social status as a gentile slave. Anyone who came into contact with them would have to be cleansed- Jesus not only speaks to them, but has an entire meal.

· Exempting his disciples from fasting- According to Jewish tradition, fasting was an integral part of cleansing and being made right before God- in addition to the Day of Atonement, ‘good’ Jews were supposed to fast 2 times a week.

· Healing people/gathering wheat of the Sabbath- The Sabbath was a day set aside in Jewish tradition for the exclusive ‘worship’ of God. Work was not permitted on the Sabbath, in any form.

While all 3 instances point to the same message, the theme of Judaism constituting nothing more than a broken system of rules and regulations is more heavily brought out in the fasting and working on healing on the Sabbath. Jesus’ comments in response to the Pharisees disapproval regarding the lack of fasting by Jesus’ disciples is perhaps the most profound. By using the imagery of the wineskin and old garment, Jesus makes clear that the promise of the KoG that only He can bring is fundamentally and completely incompatible with the old ways of Judaism. In fact, the story of Jesus healing on the Sabbath only goes to point out how the Pharisee’s illogical adherence to the rules would have seen fit to prolong the crippled man’s suffering.

So what does this say about Jesus’ actions?- That they are different, superior and effective of change actively discouraged by the old system. How’s that for a definition of holy?

So how does this relate to his ministry?

It was not Jesus’ message in 1:15 that brought the crowds to him, but the miraculous events of healing and casting out demons. In John’s gospel their status (the miracles) is made clear- they are mere signs of the ultimate promise which Jesus brings. If Jesus’ ministry was limited to the instances of healing which he performed during his earthly life, how could He possibly maintain a relevance and meaning for all of humanity? But we know that Jesus’ ultimate expression of love was to make open to everyone the promise of belong to the KoG.

Application:

1. Jesus' divine authority is clearly shown and yet the people respond to Him differently. How will you respond to Jesus this week?

2. How should we respond to Jesus once we know that He has so much authority?

How is Jesus' compassion shown? How can we follow this example?

Mark – Study Two

Beginning of A Gospel

Brainstorm: How would you introduce Jesus in a book?

For the first study, we'll be looking at a short but important passage of the bible. Here we will read through what could be Jesus' “introduction to the world”. Read through Mark 1:1-13

Part I : John the Baptist

An important character has been introduced before Jesus. How can we know who Jesus is and what He is doing on earth unless someone introduces Him? John the Baptist did exactly that. He makes the way for the Son of God and the fulfilment of a promise.

1. What does John the Baptist have to do with prophecies? What do you notice? Why?

Most bibles we have a footnote next to V2,3 of chapter 1. These will likely refer to Isaiah 40:3, and Malachi 3:1 who prophesy the coming of a prophet-like figure before the coming of the Messiah.

If the NT is the fulfilment of God’s promises established first in the OT, then verses like Mark 1:2-3 are vitally important because they draw the connection between OT prophecies and their fulfilment ultimately in Jesus. What is amazing that the OT in its entirety points to its Jesus in great detail- in another book (Case for Christ), the odds of a single individual fulfilling all of the OT prophecies was put to something incredibly small.

2. Why did Mark start off with John’s ministry? What’s the significance?

This question is answered almost incidentally, by q1. It is strange to begin a book about Jesus Christ with someone else, but by doing so we can see that the coming of Jesus was foretold long ago, exactly as it was said.

In v 3, we see that people were confessing their sins and being baptised. There are 2 issues I feel we need to consider:

- The call to repent: In getting people to confess their sins, John was fulfilling the prophet archetype, through which the people of Israel had long been warned by when they were walking astray from God. Seeing John as a prophet also seems to be backed up by the account of his appearance, bearing significant similarity with Elijah. What is so amazing however, is that the judgement which John is speaking of is so vastly different from what was seen in the OT- instead of punishment, we are saved; instead of a series of warnings, we are saved once for all by the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ.

- Baptism: While not completely analogous, Jewish cleansing rituals bear some similarity with baptism. We can make too a logical assumption by the location John was in and what is recorded in v5 that ‘all the people of Jerusalem’ came out to John that the majority were Jewish. For people to convert to Judaism, converts would have to undergo a purification ritual (‘Mikvah’). The call by John the Baptist for baptism of the Jews also declares the brokenness of all mankind and their methods to restore the relationship with God, and foretell the new baptism that we have in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3).

3. What did John preach? Why and what can we learn from John?

This is me just conjecturing, but by beginning with John, the author of Mark seems to set up a direct comparison between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Although John the Baptist had ‘the whole Judean countryside’ coming out to him, by his own admission he was not worthy to ‘stoop down and untie’ the sandals of Him who would come after.

Part II : The Baptism of Jesus

Like all baptisms, Jesus' baptism was a special occasion. Here we see Jesus being “anointed” and a sign of what is to come.

1. What 2 phenomena do we see at Jesus’ baptism? Who is responsible for these events?

We see the HS descending on Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven speaking to Jesus (v10,11). God is responsible for both these events.

2. Why are they important?

Once again, we must go back to the John the Baptist’s ministry- people were confessing their sins and being cleansed/baptised in the river Jordan. However, with Jesus (of whom no sin is found), the baptism is no longer ad admission of guilt, but cause for recognition by God.

The account also gives us a beautiful image of the triune God. WE have God the Father, talking to his Son in which the descends upon.

3. After the baptism, Jesus is tempted. Why do you think that Jesus is taken so soon after his baptism?

In the gospel of Mark, we will see that Jesus is engaged in warfare with Satan.. In doing so, Jesus Christ is made to submit to the very same temptations which plague humanity. By letting the reader know that it was immediately after the HS descend upon Jesus that he was sent off into the desert, we are unable to ignore that part of Jesus’ plan was to combat Satan and later, defeat him on the cross.

All this, for us.

Part III : Reflection

1. Is God well-pleased with us as humans? Why?

2. Could God be ever well-pleased with us? Why?

God- Holy Spirit

Notes out- get it while it's hot.

Read John 14:15-27 and John 15:18-16:15.

1. Who does Jesus say will send the Holy Spirit? And when will this happen?
   
   

Jesus is the sender of the Holy Spirit, who is described in v26 as the ‘Advocate’ and the ‘Spirit of Truth’. Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come when He left (v7).

But that’s the Sunday School answer- let’s pick it up.

The first thing which I want to point out is the consistency to which God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are described as being the same person/entity. In v,26 ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father’… we catch a glimpse of the relationship between these 3 aspects;

i. God as Father; We have Jesus referring to God as Father. In remembering Jesus redefining the concept as God function in a father in the sense of a firm disciplinarian, but as a ‘Dad’ who wants nothing more than to have an intimate relationship with His children, we remember that it Jesus’ usage also illustrates his particular connection to God, as the Son of God.

ii. God as the ‘source’ of the HS; Even as Jesus describes His own actions in sending out the HS, his statement also makes the point that the HS is directly dispatched by God. The overlapping actions between Jesus and the Father both sending forth the HS heavily emphasizes the idea of sameness between the 3 aspects.

At the same time, v26 also reminds us that it is God who has taken the initiative in pursuing a personal relationship with us. It is a powerful refutation of the criticism that God cold and impersonal- it doesn’t get much more personal than the HS dwelling within you.

iii. Jesus sending out the HS; Jesus goes onto say that ‘Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you…’ (v7). The consequence of Jesus’ statement sounds depressing- but what is it really saying? It is helpful to think back to our earlier discussion regarding Jesus being made ‘perfect’ after His death and Resurrection. It is only after Jesus conquers death that He is crowned with the glory of definitely defeating sin and is able to give effect to his teachings as the source of all life. If we take the HS’s character to be one as the ‘Spirit of Truth’ and to glorify Jesus, it would have been impossible for Him to come before Jesus personally defines his importance for humanity.

We’re not done quite yet- so how should we look at our responsibility to spread the Good News in word and deed? (and this is only the first question…)

2. To whom will the Holy Spirit be sent?

While in one sense Jesus is reassuring the apostles specifically that the HS will be sent to them after He returns to the Father( v27), the HS is sent to anyone who loves Jesus Christ and God the Father (v21).

3. What does Jesus say that the Holy Spirit will do? (Concentrate on v8-11.)

If we take a look at v8-11, we see that the HS is supposed to correct the ‘world’s’ understanding of sin, righteousness and judgement.

Sin; We understand sin to be rebellion against God. If one begins with the assumption (substantiated through Scripture) that Jesus is God and through him is the only way to enjoy a relationship with God and eternal life, then it falls to a matter of logic that rejection of Jesus is arguably the most fundamental sin of all- not only is there a rejection of God as Jesus, we abandon our only means to secure that relationship.

Are we then placing our sins in a hierarchy then? Well, if all sin is (not all it is, but you get what I’m saying) is a rejection/rebellion of Jesus, its definition virtually encompasses any of our actions which disobey His commandments. Rejection of Jesus however, is to say ‘No’ to God in the forceful and direct manner.

Righteousness; in v10 Jesus explains the HS as correcting the world in righteousness ‘because I am going to the Father’. Would God as pure goodness allow Jesus to come into His presence were He not perfect?- the answer you should have arrived to is ‘No’. Not only does this emphasize Jesus’ righteousness, but also the souls of those who confess to put their faith in Jesus Christ, and follow in His ways.

Judgement; As the HS convicts us that there is no other way but Jesus to restore our relationship with God, we are also forced to admit that all other methods peddled by the ‘world’ are broken and flawed. At the same time the HS proclaims the exclusivity of Jesus’ solution o the problem of sin, He condemns the ‘prince of this world’ (v11) (the devil) and all who follow in his footsteps in their folly as they stand apart from Jesus and God.

4. Jesus talks a lot about the people who love Him and obey His commands. What does this have to do with the Spirit?

The HS is simultaneously the source of our faith in Jesus Christ and also they key in having an immediate relationship with God. The HS is the source of our faith in Jesus Christ because he will ‘teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you’ (v26). At the same time, those who love Jesus and keep his commands will also be gifted with the Spirit of Truth (v15).

This concept is importance, because we can’t abdicate our responsibility in showing love and keeping Jesus’ commandment even when we feel like we have been abandoned. However, neither can we claim that even our acceptance of Jesus as our own, because it is only by the HS’ guidance that we are able to keep His commandments.

5. Some people believe that there are two kinds of Christians: ordinary and ‘Spirit-filled’. What does the Bible have to say about this belief? (See Galatians 3:1-14, Romans 8:9, Romans 8:14-17, 1 Corinthians 12:13) (If running short on time, just go through one passage)

Romans 8:9 that no one can belong to Jesus without having the HS. The reason why this simple truth is misunderstood is because people mistake the appearance of particular gifts as being more ‘spiritual’, and that the possession of these gifts implies a greater portion of the HS. In Galatians 5:22, the fruit (note; singular) of the HS is described in various forms. What we take away from this however is that no matter the particular manifestation of the HS in our lives, it is all ultimately referrable back to the same source, which is apportioned out equally to all.

6. How would you describe being ‘filled with the Spirit’ (Ephesians 5:15-20)

(I’m actually going to use the example the leaders notes (by Yvonne?) has, because I think it’s quite good).

I’m kinda getting this mental imagery of two people being contrasted: one guy is drunk and the other is filled with the Spirit (v.18) – one is controlled by the alcohol and the lowered inhibitions and everything else; the other is controlled and has his inhibitions lowered/changed by the Spirit. You think differently when you have the Spirit of God living in you.

(Edit; you can tell I didn’t write this, can’t you?)

7. How can we be filled with the Spirit (Acts 5:32; Luke 11:13; 1 John 5:13-15)?

Discovering God- Jesus as Son

Read Hebrews 4:14-5:10.

1. How does this passage describe Jesus?

2. Why does the author of Hebrews mention Aaron (5:5)? Who was he? (See Exo 28:1-3).

Aaron was the first high priest for the Israelites (Ezekiel 7:1-10).

3. What is the role of a high priest? (See Hebrews 5:1-2)

The role of the high priest was to make sacrifices on the behalf of the Israel nation, in response to their sin. Every year the High priest would enter into the ‘Holy of Holies’ and offer up a sacrifice to God.

At this point, I think it is important to draw out the limitations of the ‘high priests’ that came before Jesus. Not only had the position become tarnished since the divine regulation of passing down the high priest position from father to son was lost, inherent to the high priest’s function/solution was an element of imperfection. A high priest had to continually offer up sacrifices for the sins of Israel, and the very fact the high priest had to offer sacrifices for his own ‘weakness’ (v3), meant his capacity for mediation was imperfect.

Contrast that with Jesus, who is described as ‘him who had no sin’ (2 Cor 5:21), and that ‘christ suffer once for sins’ (1 Peter 3:18). We see in Jesus a high priest who is free from the imperfections which had plagued the position up until His coming.

4. How many times is the term ‗high priest‘ is used in these 13 verses?

5. Why does the author of Hebrews emphasise the fact that Christians have Jesus as our

High Priest? Tehillah – Year One

By this time, the position of High Priest had been discredited through the abandonment of the divinely ordained practice handing down the position from father to son. Also, as the David line of kings in Israel also petered out, the high priests would often assume the functions of a monarch. These individuals were characterised with great cruelty, often abusing their power in right of kings and by increasing the amount which had to be paid over to the temple. These high priests were disconnected from the common people and ignorant of their needs.

By the time of the Roman occupation, the position of High priest had been degraded to the point where it was practically sold off to the highest bidder (officially, the Romans were in charge of conferring the position). The High Priest of Jesus’ time were often seen as collaborators of the occupying force.

Jesus corrects both these deficiencies which had come to characterise the high priest position- he is a high priest which people can relate to, by way of suffering in the same way we have. And while Jesus may not be a descendant of Aaron, Paul’s reference back to Melchizedek positions Jesus in an order of high priests before the Aaronic line, one which is defined through.

The question is, what is taking the position of high priest today? (see below…)

6. The high priest was very important in Jewish culture. The Old Testament books of

law show that the high priest performed tasks that could not be completed by anyone

else. If the writer of Hebrews had been writing in our culture, what people might he

have used to illustrate his point?

If we substitute ‘individual’ for high priest, and ‘our’ for Jewish, we establish a notion that I think many people today build their perspectives on. Our society is built around edifying the ‘I’- If ‘I’ work hard enough I’ll get what I deserve, the overwhelming importance placed on self-esteem. Many people today believe that the solution to the sum total of their problems exists within them, if they only have the power to grasp it. However, when it is clear on so many occasions that the problems we face are impossible to answer by our own strength, or that we are the very perpetrators of the problems which plague us, how are we to continue believing in this me-centred doctrine?

7. An unchanging quality of God (Father, Son and Spirit) is that He is perfect. Yet,

Hebrews 5:9 seems to imply that Jesus was less than perfect until His resurrection.

Considering the immediate context of this passage, what might this verse mean?

While Jesus was (and is) perfect in his status as God, His resurrection completes God’s importance for the human race. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that we are redeemed in God’s eyes. It is His perfection however, which brings us back into a rightful relationship with God for all eternity.

8. If Jesus is perfect and sinless, then can He really sympathize with us?

We never want to forget Jesus’ divinity, his status as the ‘source of eternal salvation’ (which coincidentally, is the answer to the next question…). But at the same time, we need to be aware of the fact that Jesus came down to Earth to conduct His redeeming ministry as a man. It is arguable that Jesus faced temptation and suffering beyond what most of us will ever come to experience. Jesus was tempted by the devil himself (Mt 4:1-12), where He was offered the entire world. Similarly too, in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-45) expresses a very human aversion to His impending death.

Jesus’ ‘weakness’ (v2) allows Him to empathise and understand us even when we are under the most stressful of times. At the same time, Jesus is superior to all High Priests who have come before Him, as His weaknesses do not subject Him to the curse of sin.

9. According to this passage, where do we find eternal salvation?

One day you'll understand.

It's hard, but one day we'll understand.

I've been meaning to write about my friend Poporetto and the amazing way he outreaches and shares the gospel with his comics, but I haven't got around to it. Here's just a recent comic by him I thought you'd all enjoy. :)

http://poporetto.deviantart.com/

Was listening to the radio today and there was a news article about an athiest in America that wanted to remove the words "in God we trust" from the coins. He argued that for him and many other athiests using coins with this inscription is akin to blasphemy. On the surface, he seems to be making a very compelling argument.

But really, the issue here is that he has a choice. He can either choose his livelihood (money) or he can choose his faith (athiesm). And the reason why he is trying to get around this choice is because he knows that what he has faith in is not worth choosing. Even if he is faithful to it, it is powerless to be faithful to him.

This little episode really reminded me of how very lucky we are. After all, when early christians (and many christians in other countries today) are often made to make this choice between life and faith. And they choose faith over even life itself because after all

"Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
¹³ if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself." -2 Tim

So I'm so very thankful to God that he is not only powerful, but loving and trustworthy. That no matter what choice I have to make in life, as long as I choose Him I know I will be okay.

Sherman