Snoopy's Meanderings Through Mark

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unsafe said:
I agree totally with you here -----and that can be create a false hope and sense of security for sure ---another area of bad Preaching ---:angel:
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Yup. I have experienced a few emotionally manipulative sermons in my time.
 
unsafe said:
It can be a Dynamic Preaching or a Shallow Preaching which will effect how I and others will process the sermon -and how effective it is to making us move or not move --is the point --

It is about Effective or Non Effective Preaching ----that determines how one processes it ----
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And what is effective for one person may well be meaningless for the person sitting next to them. What one person finds shallow and another finds deeply convicting and inspiring. It is not always simple to know what will reach people. SO the real challenge of preaching and worship planning in general is to find a mix that reaches all people over time rather than all people on one day. I sense that this is what Jesus was able to do, which may partially explain the differen nuances we see in Jesus between the 4 Gospels.
 
GordW said:
And what is effective for one person may well be meaningless for the person sitting next to them. What one person finds shallow and another finds deeply convicting and inspiring. It is not always simple to know what will reach people.
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GordW ---if the Minister has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit ---they will be equipped to Preach effectively in a dynamic way and the Holy Spirit knows who will be sitting in the pews every Sunday ---man does not ----

-the Holy Spirit knows who's hardened hearts have been changed by God the Father to accept the Gospel on a Sunday morning and what message will impact their lives -----Man does not -----

Jesus preached dynamically and effectively all the time --as did the disciples after Pentecost

Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit a Preacher is preaching from his own human thoughts --- understanding and from Human wisdom ---


From Google
As articulated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:3–5, effective preaching does not hinge on human wisdom or persuasive rhetoric but on the demonstrative power of the Spirit.

This Scripture highlights the intrinsic connection between the Spirit's power and the transformative impact of preaching.

from Google ====

Can you preach without the Holy Spirit?
“If your preaching is to be effective, it must be by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit,”

Ministry, Leadership & Training

The Holy Spirit and Preaching​

26/07/2019 | Kanishka Raffel

The preacher’s task is to explain the content of Scripture and apply the purpose of Scripture. Neither can be done without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Preachers need the illumination of the Spirit to understand the content of their preaching passage before they may explain it to others.

Preachers need the conviction of the Spirit to submit to the purpose of the preaching passage before they may apply it to others.

Preachers need the empowering of the Spirit to preach God’s Word to God’s people with clarity, compassion and courage. To preach without praying is to be thoroughly unprepared.

AI

The Holy Spirit works in the preacher by empowering them with wisdom, guidance, and conviction, enabling them to effectively communicate God's Word and bring about spiritual transformation in listeners. This includes illuminating their understanding of Scripture, guiding them in sermon preparation, and empowering them to deliver Spirit-filled messages​

 
GordW said:
A theme in Mark is that Jesus seems to want his identity/mission to be kept a secret. One argument is that he wants to avoid being so overrun with crowds that it hinders his movement
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We see this theme continuing in Mark 1:40-45. Word spreads after Jesus heals a leper. Jesus has people coming to him from everywhere! He can no longer enter any town openly but must stay in remote places.
 
From google on what leprosy symbolizes in Scripture -----makes sense to me

People also ask

How does leprosy symbolize sin?

Because leprosy was so visible and involved the decay or corruption of the body, it served as an excellent symbol of sinfulness. Sin corrupts someone spiritually the way leprosy corrupts someone physically.

God had some pretty harsh warnings for disobedience in the Old Testament -----

There was no mediator in the Old Testament ----so glad the Father sent His Son to take His Wrath for our Sin ----- :angel:

Leviticus 26:14-17 ERV ---and this is just a few it goes on till verse 46
​

Punishment for Not Obeying God​

14 “But if you don’t obey me and all my commands, bad things will happen to you.

15 If you refuse to obey my laws and commands, you have broken my agreement.

16 If you do that, I will cause terrible things to happen to you. I will cause you to have disease and fever. They will destroy your eyes and take away your life. You will not have success when you plant your seed. And your enemies will eat your crops.

17 I will be against you, so your enemies will defeat you. These enemies will hate you and rule over you. You will run away even when no one is chasing you.

Verse 25 again talks about diseases -----25 You will have broken my agreement, so I will punish you.I will cause diseases to spread among you ---

I say ------So we see this Leper humbles himself and bows before Jesus to heal him -----so he has Faith and confidence In the power of Jesus to cure him -----

So there was no human cure for leprosy ---so Jesus sends him to the priest to get confirmation and proof that he was indeed fully cured -----

Jesus told the man not to say anything but we know he didn't listen to what Jesus ask him not to do --and told people ----
 
Snoopy continues meandering through Mark. In Mark 2: 1-13 we come to another healing story. In addition to amazing preaching in the synagogue & miraculous healings, we learn that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins.

Mark gives us a strong sense of the crowds clamoring for Jesus.

We don't see this today, do we? Church membership and attendance decline as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our denomination.

Some of us may still describe the same hunger for Jesus. The same but different. :)
 
Mark 2:1-13 has some interesting nuggets to look at and to walk away with ----

My view
Jesus' Preaching --teaching ---is so dynamic that droves of people wanted to come and hear His words -----

At this place where Jesus was talking there was so many People there was no more room for people ---they were crowded even to the door -----

There was 4 men bring a paralyzed man to Jesus to be healed ----they couldn't get to the door where Jesus was so they brought the man in through the roof -----

this is an interesting Footnote from the AMP B about the roof in those days ---

Footnotes​

  1. Mark 2:4 The roof of a typical home was composed of clay tiles which were laid on a mat of branches and grass supported by wooden beams. The parallel passage in Luke explains that “they went up on the roof and lowered him through the tiles” (5:19).

So in verse 5 it says Jesus saw their Faith -----well what does this means ---
It means He saw their Faith in action ---their Faith -Confidence and Trust in Jesus to heal-was so great their Faith moved them to find a way to get this man to Jesus -----

This is true faith which requires a positive response and Will propel you to act -----Saving Faith is very Powerful when acted upon will get the right results -----

They removed the roof and dug a hole the scriptures says ---and Jesus knew their Faith in Him was true Faith ---

They get the man to Jesus ---He forgives his sins and He heals the man -----

The nugget here is God the Father is the only one who can change a Hardened Heart to an Acceptable Heart to allow the Faith words to penetrate inwards and be accepted as Truth

Again the scribes who are suppose to know and believe their Scriptures ----have no understanding of who Jesus is --and say He is a Blasphemer--- Their Hearts are still hardened to accept the truth of who Jesus is -----

Jesus picks up on the scribes hostility towards Him and confronts them ---and tells the man to pick up his mat and walk and the man obeys ----everyone is astonished

Jesus then leaves and continues His Teaching by the seashore to a following large crowd ----

paradox3 said:
Mark gives us a strong sense of the crowds clamoring for Jesus.

We don't see this today, do we? Church membership and attendance decline
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No ----we do not see this today ----Church membership and attendance is definitely in decline ---I think because the Cornerstone of the Church has been removed ----God has been taken out of our Society ---out of the Schools --Home --Government ----and Churches -----and our lives --we feel we don't need God in our lives ----we like to live the way we want to with the god we have in this physical world ---we don't care what comes after this world ----

AI
In Christianity, Jesus is often referred to as the "cornerstone," signifying his foundational role in the faith and the Church


And I think because we are in the end times many leaving the Faith is predicted -----

Matthew 24 is about signs of the end times

Matthew 24:10​

10 During that time many believers will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other.
 
@unsafe
At this point in His ministry, I see the healing miracles as the major appeal for the crowds.

The people were amazed by His teachings in the synagogue and that's all we really know so far in Mark's gospel. And of course the four fisherman followed when He asked them to. And oh yes the evil spirits have been silenced for now.

Will watch to see what draws the crowds as I continue reading Mark. I am moving slowly through it (one story at a time).
 
Next up. Jesus goes out by the sea and teaches a whole crowd.
Mark 2:13-17
www.biblegateway.com

Bible Gateway passage: Mark 2:13-17 - New English Translation

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners - Jesus went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him. As Jesus was having a meal in...
www.biblegateway.com www.biblegateway.com
Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, and dines with sinners & tax collectors. The experts in the Law and the Pharisees wonder why He would do such a thing. This is Mark's first hint of potential conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees.

Interesting that there is no mention of physical healing in this story. Jesus alludes to spiritual healing. "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (v.17)
 
So in this section ----We see Levi a tax collector --when Called Follows straight away ----
tax collectors were despised and considered traitors by the the scribes and Pharisees ----and were considered unfit to follow Jesus ----

I don't think God ever in His 613 Laws had a Law prohibiting Jews eating and associating with sinners ----all the Laws for uncleanness are in Leviticus you can look them up ---- The Pharisees added their own unclean law --to God's unclean laws ----and Jesus knew this ---and was defying what they themselves put in place ---

We see How the Spiritually blind the scribes and Pharisees are and are in conflict with Jesus about who He is eating and associating with ---- the Pharisees and scribes who thought they were Righteous thought it to be unclean to associate with the Spiritually sick people ----

When Jesus hears what they are saying ---He quickly replies that the righteous don't need His help only the Spiritually sick need His help -----

In this physical world our doctors can only heal us physically ---they cannot heal us Spiritually ---only Jesus can do that ----

I say -----BUT when one gets healed Spiritually ---this can heal us Physically as well -----

"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." ~ Proverbs 17:22

"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD" ~ Jeremiah 30:17

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body." ~ Proverbs 4:20-22

Psalm 103:2-3​

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.”


I say ------Jesus is still our Spiritual Healer and Physician in this world today --

All Up to us to choose if we want that name change from sinner to saint ---:angel:
 
I always find it interesting that Jesus is pretty explicitly saying he came for the sinners and, yet, there's this heavy focus on righteousness in many Christian circles. I've always found the leadership of certain churches of all branches to be rather more like Pharisees and temple leaders than Jesus or even Paul.

This is one of those stories and sayings of Jesus that I find quite appealing. It's really acknowledging our fallibility (all of us) and saying he is there in spite of that infallibility and to help us through it (the physician metaphor). Spiritual healing, basically.
 
Is it Paul who introduces the idea that all are sinners and in need of grace? Does Jesus ever say this?
 
paradox3 said:
Is it Paul who introduces the idea that all are sinners and in need of grace? Does Jesus ever say this?
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Not sure. This passage certainly doesn't suggest "all are sinners" but maybe there's something elsewhere in the gospels?
 
And I guess to be clear, I do not believe in "original sin" in the sense of a literal event, I do believe that all humans are morally fallible to some degree. If that constitutes "sin" then, yeah, we are all "sinners". However, I find "sin" to be a loaded word and it is not really the lens I usually use to look at people or the world.
 
paradox3 said:
Is it Paul who introduces the idea that all are sinners and in need of grace? Does Jesus ever say this?
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Jesus said
Mark 10:18
AMPC
And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [essentially and perfectly morally] good? There is no one [essentially and perfectly morally] good—except God alone.
 
When Jesus mentions the "righteous" I often wonder if he means self-righteous (as we use the term nowadays).
 
paradox3 said:
When Jesus mentions the "righteous" I often wonder if he means self-righteous (as we use the term nowadays).
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I think he is correctly saying that someone who is truly "righteous" is not in need of his help (if you're not sick, you don't need a doctor). I wonder, though, if he really thinks the temple leadership and Pharisees are "truly righteous" or if he is kind of hinting that they are more "self-righteous" and might need "the physician" without knowing or believing they do.
 
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