Results 581 - 600 of 819
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: flinkywood Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
581 | Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? | Matt 21:19 | flinkywood | 101828 | ||
Makarios, I read your posts several times, yet this event is so jarringly odd that I can't settle completely upon your interpretation; as fitting as it is it just does not fit completely (which is too much to ask of interpretation, actually); however, it is so true to say that Jesus "...first intended to teach the disciples a lesson on faith when He first cursed and withered the fig tree, but caught Himself doing so when they 'marveled' at it." This is nicely said, amigo. I forget sometimes that Jesus did operate in real time. The trouble with scripture, especially the life of Jesus, is how to put myself in the scene, to imagine it as though I had been present. This particular event is so strange that I really come up short. In my mind I'm standing with the others basically scratching my head. I tell you, If I'd been a disciple, I'd have had callouses on my fingers from scratching my head over Jesus. Colin |
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582 | Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? | Matt 21:19 | flinkywood | 101787 | ||
Nolan, Good stuff, and thanks for refining "power THROUGH the Holy Spirit." I was relating Jesus' frequent hints to the disciples about their future in the HS to this particular episode, perhaps awkwardly, but I'm stuck on "...you will not only DO what was done to this fig tree..." (v.21). More on why in a second. Good observation of how the disciples were mystified ("How did the fig tree wither all at once?"), rather than reminded of Jesus' power through this dramatic action, which indicates that Jesus is indeed referring to their weakness of faith with "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt..." But notice that He follows with, "...you will not only DO...", thus accenting the theme of action rather than the theme of doubt. In Mark 11:21-24, the link to active faith and answered prayer is magnified: "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you." And so it appears that Jesus intends this Agent Holy Orange event to demonstrate the power of faith over matter rather than to serve as a parable on false piety. This combined with Jesus' deliberate verbal killing of a thing must have seemed almost magical to the disciples. What must they have thought to hear their Lord say that simply by asking in resolute faith will their requests be granted? And what fuel for quarrels: "I got more faith than you do; I flamed a sycamore tree"; so the lesson can't be along these lines, because it leads either to boasting or frustration. It seems, therefore, that for prayers to be answered they must be grounded in faith, not material, in God's will, not ours. Move a mountain for sure, but only according to God's will, not ours; seek His will first and the action will follow. To quote Chambers: "You labor at prayer and results happen all the time from His standpoint." (MUHH, Oct 17) So if the lesson isn't on seeming in faith but on doing in faith, why death for a tree caught out of season? What is the lesson? Colin |
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583 | Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? | Matt 21:19 | flinkywood | 101666 | ||
Shelly, thanks for your input. I've combined my response to both you and Makarios below. Colin. |
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584 | Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? | Matt 21:19 | flinkywood | 101665 | ||
Nolan, I hadn't thought of that, approximately, and it sounds like a solid answer. Yet isn't it jarring how Jesus follows this act with... "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." (Mat 21:21-22)? The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge ties many fig/fruit references to this event, but could Jesus' follow-up preaching on faith and prayer, His stressing of their combined power, be about the disciples' future power rather than Israel's future condemnation? Could the fig tree be less a symbolic death of the faithless letter than the ultimate defeat of death itself? The tree has aparrent life but its fruit is seasonal: you cannot always feed on it when you are hungry, neither literally nor spiritually. The tree, therefore, represents the death that abides in us until we are reborn in Christ, the true vine from whom we are to bear much fruit, both in and out of season (2 Tim 4.2). For the disciples, who can't possibly foresee their own future power in Christ to give life (literally and spritually), this event is a foretelling of what power they will possess to wither the power of death. Can this interpretation hold in context? Colin |
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585 | Taking a break | Luke 24:13 | flinkywood | 101662 | ||
Hey, Phil, These verses (Hosea 13.14)... "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." (KJV) "Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight." (NASB) ...are apparently contradictory translations. In the former God promises redemption for Israel; in the latter He promises retribution. Why the variance? Colin. |
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586 | Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? | Matt 21:19 | flinkywood | 101243 | ||
In both Matthew 18-21 and Mark 11:12-14,20-24 Jesus curses the fig tree. In Mark 11:12-14 Jesus 1) Is hungry 2) Sees a fig tree in leaf 3) Goes to it to find it fruitless because it was not the season for figs 4) Curses it saying, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." The next day, He and the discples return to find it withered. Assumption: Jesus, who often spoke in agrarian terms, would likely have known that figs were not in season. Question 1) Why then does He curse it to death? Question 2) Why does He say, "Have faith in God", then apply a teaching on the power of faith and prayer to the death of the fig tree? Colin |
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587 | the blood shall never lose its power | 1 John | flinkywood | 101238 | ||
Makarios, I like your answers a lot. You have a gift for the Word (and restraint), big-time Colin |
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588 | "a thorn in the side"? or Not? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 101032 | ||
Okay. Colin |
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589 | "a thorn in the side"? or Not? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 101024 | ||
George, Not meant to be argumentative, just wanting to understand. I read Rom 12: 6-8. I'm still not sure what you mean by labeling as that kind of label is a badge of honor. Colin. |
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590 | "a thorn in the side"? or Not? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 101007 | ||
George, has someone labeled you? I thought it was you who'd called yourself "exhorter". And what boat are you rocking? Colin. |
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591 | Why 4 Gospels? | NT general Archive 1 | flinkywood | 100959 | ||
If you believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Gospel of Thomas will read like a self-help book for lapsed scientologists. Makarios's citation of Galatians 1.6-8 is apt for those who may have once believed, but your rapture for this flaming bunkum indicates you have yet to repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Colin |
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592 | "a thorn in the side"? or Not? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 100745 | ||
Hey, exhorter in Christ, 10-4! I heard this good word yesterday: "Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them." (Ecc 7:16-18) We Christians can range from legalism, to license (both extremes show up on this forum), so I like Solomon's admonition to fear God. I think that's the spirit of preaching. Colin. |
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593 | How do we preach the Gospel? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 100744 | ||
Jehonadab, Do you believe in the risen Christ, the uncreated, co-equal, co-eternal Son of God? Colin |
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594 | How do we preach the Gospel? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 100700 | ||
Jehonadab, Do you believe in the risen Christ, the uncreated Son of God, co-eternal with the Father and Holy Spirit? Colin. |
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595 | "a thorn in the side"? or Not? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 100644 | ||
George, I heard a story yeaterday. A priest is sent to minister to a rifle squad in WWII. The soldiers ask him, "Do you believe there's a hell?" The priest answers, "No". The soldiers say, "Well, if hell doesn't exist, then what use are you? Get lost. But if there is a hell, why are you leading us astray?" There are only 2 choices: high or low, truth or consequences. You present yourself (in print) as a guy who wants to shake people up; maybe you're a bit windy, perhaps self-righteous, maybe more scornful than kind - well, you and me both, so we'd probably get along. I think we must preach the Gospel - sin, hell, redemption - as we're called to do. My question is technical, perhaps: How do we best open the heart of the target to the need for repentance and the need for our Savior? How do we nail them? I like your bio, by the way. Colin |
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596 | How do we preach the Gospel? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 100490 | ||
Radioman2, Yes, I wasn't sure how to reply to these posts. Thanks for hitting it on the head. It seems as though we don't win as many souls for Christ preaching the Gospel unashamedly (Rom 1.16) as Chambers advocates, but those that hear will be sturdier converts. What do you think? My question still is, how do we preach this Gospel into the heart of the prospect (I'm in sales) in a day when sin is for nuns and pornographers, not your average Joe? Colin |
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597 | Prophetic perfect tense in other verses? | Ps 102:16 | flinkywood | 100464 | ||
Justme, I use primarily E-Sword bible software. It's free on the web. I do word studies from it, though randomly and without any formal method or discipline. I just read, hit something that gets me, compare that something in another translation, then either let it lie or start digging. For example, why does the NKJV have 2 Cor 9.7 "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart...", and the ESV, "Each one must give as he has made up his mind..." What about the Word "kardia" makes it either "heart" or "mind". Actually, I think I'll study this and get back to you. This is basically how I stumble into word studies. How about you? Colin |
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598 | Prophetic perfect tense in other verses? | Ps 102:16 | flinkywood | 100424 | ||
New York I speak, Spanish I speak, French I don't, but I started randomly Frenchifying after seeing a Meineke commercial in which a filthy mechanic is yelling into a phone, then turns to the camera with a smarmy "Bonjour". Colin |
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599 | How do we preach the Gospel? | 1 John 2:2 | flinkywood | 100390 | ||
EdB, I'm glad you hopped on this string. George appears to stress God's wrath in his witnessing, you God's love. For George the Gospel is Christ's dying to save us from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10); for you it's the compassion of God in Christ Jesus (Mark 5:19). Both are aspects of the Gospel, no doubt, but Chambers specifically writes that it is far less what Christ has done for you and me than what it is about you and me that killed Him. As believers, as Christians we are not just saved from hell, but from ourselves. "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world." EdB, you speak about passion for the lost, Hallelujah! so how will we break a heart open to the truth of John 1.29? Colin |
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600 | Prophetic perfect tense in other verses? | Ps 102:16 | flinkywood | 100377 | ||
French, Justemoi, French, a language best spoken through a mouthful of cheese and bread. Colin |
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