Mark

The Needles Eye and Salvation

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And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto His disciples
“How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”
And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them,
“Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!                            
And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”   And Jesus looking upon them saith,
“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:23-27

Jesus has just spoken with a young man of  great wealth.  He has asked Jesus how that he might inherit eternal life.  Jesus basically tells him that he must obey the Ten Commandments.  When he said that he had been obedient since youth Jesus told him to  go and sell all that he had.  That was too much and he went away.

By his leaving as he did shows us that his heart was away from God so he had not been obedient to the first four of the Ten.  His heart was on His wealth.

Jesus then teaching His disciples that it is hard for the rich to get into heaven, then they ask Him, “Who then can be saved?”

What is that “Needles eye”?  A camel and a needle?  A camel passing through a needle’s eye?  I have known some who say that there is a small gate in the walls of Jerusalem called the Needles Eye Gate, and they say that for someone take a laden camel through that gate they needed to unload all their packs, for the camel to get through.   There are also some who believe that The Needles Eye is exactly that and shows us that we cannot save ourselves, by unloading our sins, but solely by the power of God and His grace.  Jesus said,  “Come unto Me all of you who are burdened, and heavy laden and I will give you rest’

With God nothing is impossible; even getting a camel through the eye of  a needle; and especially a rich man to receive eternal life through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  He died, He was buried, and He rose again.

The First Shall Be Last

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And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them,
“What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?”
But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.  And He sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them,
“If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them,
“Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but him that sent Me.”
Mark 9:33-37

More Tolerable…

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And He said unto them,
“In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”
Mark 6:10-11

Just before sending out His followers to preach the gospel of the kingdom, and heal sicknesses, cause the crippled one to walk, heal lepers He gives them these final words.

In those days if you stayed as a guest the host would wash your feet if you were welcomed in.  If they did not wash your feet that meant you were not welcome there.

So when one of His disciples came to such a home, or city, and their feet were not washed, they were to shake the dust off their feet as they were leaving that city.  That means if they gave no respect to disciples whom the Messiah had sent out, they had no respect or reverence for Him.

Jesus says that it will be more tolerable for Sodom and  Gomorrha than for that city which had rejected them.  Because such a city that refused to hear, refused hospitality to His own, rejects Him.  Sodom and Gomorrha had no witness of God’s love, grace, and mercy.  Judgment awaits any nation, province, island, and/or any government that refuses to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

If the people of the United States of America do not turn from their sins  to Jesus Christ our nation is headed for judgment, even more than we are seeing now.

The word we need to heed is, REPENT.  Turn from your sin to Jesus, the One who gave His life to pay our sin debt by dying on the cross, and was buried, and three days later He rose again, and He lives forever more.

Seeking To Destroy Him

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And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.  And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him.  And He saith unto the man which had the withered hand,
“Stand forth.”
And He saith unto them,
“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?”
But they held their peace.  And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man,
“Stretch forth thine hand.”
And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.  And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Mark 3:1-6

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were keeping their eyes on Jesus, just waiting like a hungry lion to pounce on their prey, and devour Him.  Jesus was going about ministering to the people – preaching and teaching of the kingdom of heaven, healing the sick, the lame walked, and the dead were raised to life again.

The world has not changed much.  The enemy is out to destroy Jesus and all those who love Him.  Millions of dollars maybe billions is spent on decorating for remembering the birth of Jesus, and for giving gifts to one another.

Christmas is a fun time for most children, and some adults, and it should be; I know it is with my wife and I, and the rest of our family.  Yet, there are others who are hurting, because they have lost a loved one to death; or they have lost a job and are currently unemployed; and maybe sickness in the family that takes the joy from their heart and life.

No matter what your situation is in life there is someone who cares about you and the circumstances of your life.  He loves you.  You can have joy again by trusting in Jesus who is the Christ of God, or you can choose to be one of those who are seeking to destroy Christ and all who follow Him.  If you choose not to follow Him then you have chosen the other, and you are God’s enemy and in desperate trouble.

Choose to follow Jesus who died on the cross for you; He was buried, and He rose again.

Having Faith In God

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And Jesus answering saith unto them, “Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:22-26

It is a horrid thing for one to harbor a grudge against someone, especially if you profess to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  We might for a while feel angry, but soon there will be a realization of having received forgiveness from the One who forgives our sins, and paid our sin debt.

Telling a mountain to move into the sea would be a remarkable thing.  It would, in fact be a miracle of God.  Asking God for the things we desire, and receiving them, are things that are from God’s desires (Psalm 37:3-4).

If we are asking for God to do these things, then we need to be sure there  is no lack of forgiveness, toward anyone.   Any lack of forgiveness toward others is a  mockery of our heavenly Father, and we have a greater sin that needs God’s forgiveness.

Dear Lord Jesus, if there is any one with whom I have a grudge  and unforgiveness then reveal this to my heart and mind.  That I might have genuine faith in You.  Amen.

What Jesus Says About Marriage and Divorce

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And He answered and said unto them,
“What did Moses command you?”
And they said, “Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.”  And Jesus answered and said unto them,
“For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.  But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;  and they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
And in the house His disciples asked Him again of the same matter. And He saith unto them,
“Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.  And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
Mark 10:3-12

After The Resurrection and The Ascension

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So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.  And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Mark 16:10-20

Jesus has risen from the dead after He had died for the sins of humanity, by becoming sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).  After He was raised up from the grave He walked with the disciples probably assuring them of their calling, and faith; encouraging them for their mission ahead of them.  Their God called mission, as well as those of us today who are called Christian.  That calling and ministry to to go and preach the Gospel to the whole world.

Jesus gave them and us the commission to go and “Make disciples” of all nations.  After the ascension of Jesus into the “Right hand of God”, the ones who were following Jesus had faith, and waited for the promise of the Holy Spirit, and in Acts 2:1-47, the Spirit of God comes upon a gathering of one hundred and twenty believers, and the presence, and power of God was definite, witnessed to by those who had not yet believed.  The most awesome event in this is not just the giving the Holy Spirit, who is our comforter, our guide, the One who shows us our sin, and causes us to judge ourselves, so we will not be judged; but also the number of people who were added to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.  About three thousand that one day was added.

God added to to the church daily those would be saved (Acts 2:40-47), and He is still adding to the church those who will be saved.  I must ask myself, How am I doing about the mission of telling others about the loving kindness, mercy, and grace God has given to us through His Son Jesus?  I must tell you, Not to well.  I have failed greatly at the mission.  God help me; there are too many who are perishing.  There is a pitiful, passing parade, of perishing people.

I say to myself, and to all who will hear, If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, you have confessed Jesus as Lord, and you believe that God has raise Him from the dead, then, we need to proclaim to those who are perishing, that Jesus died in our stead on the cross, He was buried, and He rose again.

When we begin to pray for the lost/those who are perishing, then God will move in such a fashion as in the early church.

The Fig Tree

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And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry:
And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.  And Jesus answered and said unto it,
“No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.”
And His disciples heard it. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, “Master, behold, the fig tree which Thou cursedst is withered away.”
Mark 11:12-14, 20-21

The fig tree in Old Testament is sometimes used as a reference to the nation of Israel.  Consider for example Isaiah chapter 5:1-7;  Hosea 9:10;  Joel 1:7,  and there are a few more.

On this same day Jesus went into the Temple and drove the crooks and thieves out of the House of Prayer for all nations giving it a cleansing from doing business for the Passover, and ripping people off, stealing by deceit, in order to make money for themselves and the Temple.

What can followers of Jesus learn from this event in the life of Christ?  One thing to me is quite clear – that is that Jesus is not pleased,  nor is He praise fruitlessness.  If this fig tree was cursed , because it bore no fruit, while it was boasting of having fruit it did not have; we are reminded of that we as Christians are to bear fruit for Jesus, and through Him.

Every true Christian is much more than a professor of Christ Jesus.  We have evidence (fruit) in our lives and have confessed that Jesus is Lord of our lives, and  live what we believe.  The fruit we bear will include, love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-26).  Another thing is you will love God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and you will love His people who are His church, and be faithful in attending a local Body of Christ.

I do not want anyone who comes here to leave this site still in a state of unbelief.  I want you to be saved, and very fruitful for the Lord’s sake,  The alternative is not what you would want.  Remember the fig tree that bore no fruit, even though by having leaves said it did.

Out Of The Heart

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And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them,
“Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand: there is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.  If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
And when He was entered into the house from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  And He saith unto them,
“Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”
And He said,
“That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:  all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Mark 7:14-23

Everyone born into this world comes into this world a sinner, except for One.  He is the one speaking above about what defiles us; and that it is not anything outside us.

All the evil that we do comes from an evil heart.  The prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart of man is deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked.  Who can know it?”  (Jeremiah 17:9).  Only God knows what is  in our hearts.  If you have hatred in your heart for a neighbor, a former spouse, your boss at work, even the one who spit in your face and called you a female dog, then that comes from an evil heart.

There is only one answer for out deliverance from evil in our hearts.  The answer is a new heart.  Know that we are not speaking about this blood pump that keeps us going, but we are talking about a changed way of life.  It happens through the work of Jesus Christ and His life; His death on the cross for our sins, His burial, and resurrection.  When Jesus becomes your Lord and Savior your desires will change.  You no longer want live in sinful behavior.  Jesus mentions many of those transgressions in the above text.  You will desire to do what is right, good, and holy to live a life that glorifies the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Would you like to have a change of heart?  Would you like to have an eternity that you can look forward to?  Then  call on the One who gives it to all who will come to Him, His name is Jesus.

It Is A Serious Matter To Offend One Of Those Who Have Faith In Jesus Christ

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And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.  And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.  Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Mark 9:42-50

How do people offend those who believe in Jesus?  By false testimony, accusing us of doing things we did not do, or reminding us of things that we did wrong, but we have already received forgiveness from the Lord.  By torture, and by death, and many otherr ways.

Any one who offends one of these; do you see how serious Jesus takes this matter?  If your offense is done with your hand, you are to cut it off.  If offense is done with your foot, it too, must be cut off.  If the offense is done with the eye, then, that eye is to be plucked out.  These drastic measures of showing repentance are not  necessary, but show to us the extremities that would keep the offender from experiencing eternal death.  If you have offended one of those who believe in Jesus, there is no need to cut the offending hand, the offending foot, or the offending eye and that is for you to believe Him too.

There is only one way to avoid the destruction of sin and death; and that is by way of the cross of Jesus Christ where He died in our place, taking the whole wrath of God upon Himself paying our sin debt.  A debt he did not owe.  He was also buried, and He rose up from the grave very much alive.  Ask Him for forgiveness and He will give it.

When Will Jesus Christ Come Again?

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This is not date setting question. It can mean that someone is questioning whether the promise; or the prophecy; is even true. It also could be that one wants to know what signs tells ahead of time when He is returning.  Our text for today…

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: so ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.  Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.”
Mark 13:28-31

We must understand that no one knows the day or the hour, however we can see signs that His second coming is near. There is a disappearance of all who are Christians, and there are no signs that happening, so we must remain ready to go at any time. That itself will be a sign that His return is very near.

Jesus says, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree” (Mark 11:12,) and the thoughts of the disciples must have brought to mind the fig tree Jesus pronounced death upon in Mark chapter 11 and verses 12 through 14 and 20 through 24. That fig tree had wilted immediately; it was not noticed by the writer of this Gospel until the next day, as they walked by.

The lesson of the fig tree is most likely the rising up of the Nation of Israel again, The fig tree in many instances of Scripture show the prophets and Jesus using the fig tree as an illustration of the nation – a leafed out fig tree with no fruit, and then found dead.

Just to remind the reader, the land of Israel was recognized as a nation by the United Nations on May 14, 1948. That is one of the first signs for this generation.

Jesus stands on His word. The word of God will stand forever. “Heaven and earth will pass away;but My word shall not pass away.” If He said it, and He did, then His word will come to pass. Not one word will fail.  The question now is are you ready to meet Him?

Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, He was buried to take our sins away casting them as far away as the east is from the west – leaving them there, and then He rose up from the grave giving us eternal life and proving every word He had spoken.

Delivered To Die

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And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And He took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying,
“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles: and they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him: and the third day He shall rise again.”
Mark 10:32-34

God Of The Living

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…And Jesus answering said unto them,
“Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God?  For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.  And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.”
Mark 12:24-27

God or Man?

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And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  And He spake that saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him.  But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying,
“Get thee behind Me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.”
Mark 8:31-33

Who Is This Man?

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And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them,
“Let us pass over unto the other side.”
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, “Master, carest Thou not that we perish?”  And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
“Peace, be still.”
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And He said unto them,
“Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:35-41

The Son of Man – The Son of God Coming Again

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“…But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,  and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.  And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven…”
Mark 13:24-27

…He shall rise again

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And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And He took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto Him,
“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles: and they shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him: and the third day He shall rise again.”
Mark 10:32-34

Jesus Went to a Solitary Place and Prayed

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And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.  And Simon and they that were with Him followed after Him.  And when they had found Him, they said unto Him, “All men seek for Thee.”  And He said unto them,
“Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.”
And He preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
Mark 1:35-29

The Vineyard

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And He began to speak unto them by parables.
“A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.’
‘Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, ‘They will reverence my son.’ But those husbandmen said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.’ And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this Scripture; ‘The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”
And they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people: for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them: and they left Him, and went their way. Mark 12:1-12

Jesus is speaking here of the vineyard called Israel. They have rejected God’s ownership of the vineyard, the nation. They have rejected His servants that He sent to receive from them what is due Him and that is their love, respect, and obedience to His word. Also see Isaiah 5:1-7.

The last show of grace and mercy God would give to them was by sending His only begotten Son (John 3:16), and they rejected Him, beating Him and finding nothing in Him worthy of death sentenced Him to die on the cross; the cruelest means of death, by the Romans.

Dear reader, today that show of grace and mercy of God’s Son Jesus; His dying on the cross; was for the redemption of all people who will hear Him, believe His word, and call on His name. He died for you, was buried, and He rose from that grave and came out alive. All who come to Him, He gives eternal life with Him. Reject Him no more. Believe Him.

Hear Jesus

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And He said unto them,
“Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them. And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son: hear Him.”
And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of Man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.                              Mark 9:1-10

Jesus states it many times in the Gospels that if we hear Moses and the prophets we will hear Him. He has also taught that if we hear Him we hear the prophets and Moses.

The Father tells us in the above passage that we are to “Hear Him”, but that does not mean the words of Moses and the prophets are null and void; it does mean all that Jesus says is to hear all that has been spoken of Him.

Hear Jesus today. He is the only way of salvation and eternal life (John 14:6).

He Opens Blind Eyes

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And He cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, “I see men as trees, walking.”
After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And He sent him away to his house, saying,
“Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.”                         Mark 8:22-26

For those who desire to see; He will open blind eyes.

On The Way

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And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His garment.
For she said, “If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.” And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said,
“Who touched My clothes?”
And His disciples said unto him, “Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, ‘Who touched me?’ ” And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth. And He said unto her,
“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”                  Mark 5:25-34

This is an event tied with the story of Jairus’s coming to Jesus to ask healing for his twelve year old daughter. Matthew gives little attention to Jairus in chapter 9 of that gospel account. Mark gives more detail of the event with Jairus, and Luke give account of it in chapter 8.

This woman is not named, neither her nationality, but either way she is “unclean” according to Leviticus 15:25. She has suffered not only from this disease like a scourging of continuing grief, weakness, and the physicians taking all that she had (v. 25). She had heard of Jesus and longed but to touch the hem of His garment. O that we would all long to touch Him in our sicknesses, weaknesses, pain, scourging sin, and longing from Him to receive cleansing and forgiveness.

Remember, Jesus is on the way to Jairus’s home. He is surrounded by a mass of people bumping into one another, some brushing up against Him, and here is this woman in pain who deliberately reaches Him, touches His garment, and she is immediately made whole. The bleeding stops, and she is now clean.

On the way to another place Jesus is touched by a woman who was afraid, timid, and may not have wanted Him to know that it was her who touched Him; but Jesus sensed that someone with faith in Him had touched Him. Jesus asked who it was that had touched Him. I think He already knew. He was calling the one out so that the miracle of her faith would be known, and would be an enabler for others too.

Are you on the way somewhere right now? If you have a need for hope, trust in Jesus. He is the only source of genuine hope and faith. On your way stop at Jesus, and in your pain, sin sickness, uncleanness and disease reach out and touch Him. He is waiting.

Voice of Approval

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And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.  And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him: and there came a voice from heaven, saying, “Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”          Mark 1:9-11

To fulfill the will of God the Father Jesus presented Himself to John the Baptizer for baptism, to fulfill righteousness (Matthew 3:15), and upon doing so fitted Himself to the service and will of the Father.

The Father speaks from heaven His approval of His Son, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” It is a command from God that when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we testify of our faith by way of baptism showing His death, burial and resurrection by immersion. The submerging of the whole body under water; a testimony to others of our faith in Him. If you fail in obedience to baptism, you will fail in your faithfulness to Him.

Believe the voice of the Father concerning the Son. Believe the voice of Jesus that He and the Father are One (John 10:30).

How the Wicked Respond to Jesus Christ

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And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself, and come down from the cross.”
Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.                  Mark 15:29-32

We have three examples in the text above of how the wicked responded to the death of Jesus on the cross.

Number one, was those who passed by.

Number two, was those who were the priests and religious leaders in Israel.

Number three, was those other two men who were crucified with Him; one on His right, and the other on His left.

Will you just continue on your way passing by the One who was nailed to that cross for the forgiveness of your sin? Will you continue in your sin of rejection of your only hope for eternity?

Will you, O you who have great educational degrees; PHD’s and MDivs; or whatever degree you may have; thinking you are more intelligent than our Creator;  will continue to mock and blaspheme His name and then burn in Hell?

Will you who are condemned to die deride, continue in your blasphemy and ridicule of the name of the One who died for you? One of the men who died with Jesus on the cross, awhile later cried out to Jesus, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus responded and said, “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”  Luke 23:42-43

What is your response to the death of Jesus? Will you respond to His love and grace, or will you continue in your wicked, evil way?

When the Son of Man Comes Again

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But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall He send His angels, and shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.                                                        Mark 13:24-27