Results 101 - 120 of 166
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Results from: Notes Author: Just Read Mark Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
101 | Who wrote Daniel? | Matt 24:15 | Just Read Mark | 106974 | ||
I find this passage in Matthew particularly interesting because it takes the prophecies of Daniel into a future time (beyond Antiochus) -- perhaps referring to the destruction of the Temple (Herod's construction). -- also, looking to Revelation. I don't find it particurly definitive, in terms of who wrote Daniel. I think Jesus could speak the language of his day, and of the internal language of the Bible -- which would refer to Daniel as the author, and similarly with the books of Moses. So my question, then, is about relating the authorship of Daniel to external historical evidence. |
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102 | What/Who | Matt 25:30 | Just Read Mark | 114959 | ||
Seeing myself cast out. I know I am a Christian; I can be confident in what Christ has done for me. Still, reading these parables in Matthew is chilling. Too often, I behave like those who are cast out. There is the tension between being saved by faith, and having the vitality of faith to take daily risks for the Lord. "Faith without works is dead..." Searcher - your response seems to say that, if we are believers, we have little to fear from these parables. I don't think our salvation-security should shield us from the point Jesus is clearly making: be vigilent, and serve, or else.... It is also interesting to ponder how Jesus' first hearers might have heard these parables -- without the theology of Paul and the knowledge of the cross. It is also interesting to look at Matthew 7:22 -- where people who believe enough to call Jesus Lord are still rejected for their lawlessness. We might dismiss their apeal to the "Lord" as ingenuine --- but then, perhaps we are being smug. Do we dismiss Christ's parables, saying "these warnings don't apply to Christians like me"? Yours, JRM. |
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103 | What/Who | Matt 25:30 | Just Read Mark | 115062 | ||
Sure. I agree with all that you've said. But my question is: how do you, as a believer, respond to Jesus' parable? What do you learn from the banished servant? | ||||||
104 | Why did Jesus remove the man? | Mark 8:22 | Just Read Mark | 85943 | ||
Role of Imagination in Interpretation. I've been thinking about some of your questions. I think people have been hesitant to answer because, simply, the text is not clear. With this website, the goal is to be clear with the text, and not speculative. Still, your questions are good ones. Since the text is not clear, people will interpret the "motives" of our Lord differently. But it is good to ask about motives -- and to try to understand what Jesus is thinking. I agree with prazn -- praying about the text and your own heart is good. Also, I think you can allow yourself to empathize, to imagine yourself in the text. You could come up with a faithful elaboration of the narrative, as a story-writer might do. As long as you recognize that your version is NOT authoritative, as scripture -- I think this kind of imaginative entry into the gospel narrative is good. I have read treatments of gospel passages like this. For instance, telling the prodigal son story from different points of view (the father, the prodigal, the elder brother). If pursued with humility, our God-given imaginations can be so fruitful. I pray that God would grant us "the mind of Christ" -- including the wealth of the Christian imagination. Yours, JRM |
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105 | Empty tomb, but witnesses didn't tell? | Mark 16:8 | Just Read Mark | 82181 | ||
Thank you, Gracefull. The transformation that comes with Pentecost is truely amazing, and their daring is very clear testimony to the risen Christ. I am still puzzled by the ending of Mark, however. It seems that verse 8 leaves us at a very low point, and the verses that follow are later additions: Christians trying to make sense of the confused lack of closure in verse 8. I love the story of Mary M. telling the disciples, then Peter and John racing to examine the empty tomb. What a dramatic image of investigation, searching, and witness. (John 20). But, in the short ending of Mark, the women fail to obey the angel, fail to tell the disciples. Even in the longer ending, the disciples do not believe Mary's witness --- there is no race for the tomb here. Why would Mark end the way it does? |
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106 | The "short " ending of Mark? | Mark 16:8 | Just Read Mark | 85386 | ||
As Narrative. Thanks, Pastor Glen (and Radioman, 2). Let me clarify this aspect of my question. I used the word "bleak" simply because the very last words of the shorter version has the women confused, afraid, and silent. This is bleak, compared to the resounding proclamation of good news we find in the other gospels. The notes in my Bibles (NIV and NRSV) say something like: "The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have the longer ending..." In many other manuscripts, the ending is there, but is marked as questionable. So, assuming the accounts can be harmonized historically (which I believe they can) -- my question is not "Did Jesus really rise?" or "Did the women eventually get over their shock and spread the news?" My question is: what was THIS Gospel trying to say, by ending in such an abrupt and shocking way? I believe, in reading the gospels, we need to pay attention to the structure (what comes after what, the sequence of stories, etc...) So, somehow, this ending carries some meaning. So, any suggestions? Yours JRM PS. -- I, too, am appreciative of the longer ending. I am glad to be able to read it, and acknowledge the wisdom in it -- even if it seems to be a later addition. (I think those "snake handler" churches might have some re-thinking to do, however.) I am not seeking to throw passages out of the Bible. |
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107 | who did luke write to | Luke | Just Read Mark | 83887 | ||
Theophilus. It may be that Theophilus was not an individual at all. The name literally means "Loves God" -- so perhaps it is a symbolic use of the name. Perhaps he addressed it to all who love God (you and me included.) | ||||||
108 | Jesus and the Jubilee Year in Luke | Luke 4:18 | Just Read Mark | 114781 | ||
Prophet in his own country. Emmaus: thanks for the thought provoking post. Not only did Jesus welcome Gentiles to the table, he critiqued the faith of his own community. The transition in the text comes when the Nazarene's wonder, "Is this not Joseph's son?" Perhaps they were feeling a false pride, that this teacher should come from their community. Or perhaps they were discrediting Jesus, knowing that he was "only " one of their own. Either way, they were failing to hear message of Jesus, and he is scathing in his critique toward them. Interesting that this story is recorded in Luke -- the gospel writen by a gentile (also the only gospel to include the Good Samaritan story). JRM. |
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109 | Freedom from what? | Luke 4:18 | Just Read Mark | 114788 | ||
Thanks. It seems we agree perfectly. The reason I mentioned Luke 5 was that Jesus addresses BOTH the physical needs AND the spiritual needs of the paralytic --- indeed, Jesus presents these as inseparable. Sometimes Christians use the "freeing the captives" passage in a way that ignores the call to help people here and now, to work for "shalom." yours JRM |
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110 | Freedom from what? | Luke 4:18 | Just Read Mark | 114789 | ||
Thanks. It seems we agree perfectly. The reason I mentioned Luke 5 was that Jesus addresses BOTH the physical needs AND the spiritual needs of the paralytic --- indeed, Jesus presents these as inseparable. Sometimes Christians use the "freeing the captives" passage in a way that ignores the call to help people here and now, to work for "shalom." yours JRM |
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111 | Freedom from what? | Luke 4:18 | Just Read Mark | 114790 | ||
Thanks. It seems we agree perfectly. The reason I mentioned Luke 5 was that Jesus addresses BOTH the physical needs AND the spiritual needs of the paralytic --- indeed, Jesus presents these as inseparable. Sometimes Christians use the "freeing the captives" passage in a way that ignores the call to help people here and now, to work for "shalom." yours JRM |
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112 | Freedom from what? | Luke 4:18 | Just Read Mark | 114791 | ||
Hmmm?why did this appear times? | ||||||
113 | Freedom from what? | Luke 4:18 | Just Read Mark | 114792 | ||
Duplicate note | ||||||
114 | Blocked Thread? | Luke 12:7 | Just Read Mark | 119614 | ||
Thanks, Ray. Some more to think about. It puts Nehemiah in a broader context. More to think about (some new questions, too...) God, indeed, understands all the details, even when we are confounded. ---JRM. |
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115 | The Ground Cries Out... | Luke 19:40 | Just Read Mark | 170125 | ||
Thanks, Kalos. Of course, it is the blood that cries out... but it cries out from the ground. Blood, in the ground, BECOMES the ground -- resulting in the contamination Guzik speaks of (although any sinful behaviors contaminate the land). I think the imagistic structure still works -- you have inanimate creation, broken by our sin, and crying out. I want to follow the blood/earth connection a little further. Still interested in the "voice" part, and looking for further references. |
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116 | The Ground Cries Out... | Luke 19:40 | Just Read Mark | 170126 | ||
Blood Polluting the Land Kalos' message made reference to this: "So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it." (Numbers 35:33) -- Wow. What a dire situation, beyond hope of redemption until Christ's blood brings healing. Even so, creation groans until the fulfillment of time. I thought I would seek out other verses like this: 1) don't echo the actions of the Canaanites, for those (sexual) actions pullute the land... "For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants." (Leviticus 18:25) 2) "... and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was pulluted with blood." (Psalm 106:39 --- a Psalm recounting the history of Israel as a litany of unfaithfulness) 3) ISAIAH 24 Wow... this whole chapter reveals the Earth as suffering under human folly. It begins with the Lord making the earth empty and waste, as he "distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants." ..."The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth..." - then we see the consequence work out in human culture. - then: not vomit this time, but an earthquake: "The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a hut; Its transgressions shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again. 4) And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols. (Jeremiah 16:18) So, interesting to see the line from Cain's murderous act drawn through all of these texts. |
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117 | The Ground Cries Out... | Luke 19:40 | Just Read Mark | 170127 | ||
The Earth's Praise. So, there are many scriptures that speak of the ground - or more generally, nature - praising God. These are the clearest anticedents to Jesus' statement during his grand entrance into Jerusalem. "Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord." (Psalm 98:8) "The mountains and the hills will break forth into singing before you" (Isaiah 55:12) "Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted" (Isaiah 49:13) So, if this type of verse could be called called "the Earth's Praise" --- what verses would be "the Earth's Lament" ? |
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118 | did we pre-exist as a spirit being? | John 1:2 | Just Read Mark | 136075 | ||
Hank: I really appreciate the contrast between Adam and Eve's creation (molded and breathed into being), and Christ's incarnation. What an amazing book. JRM. (too bad these threads are not kept together, but I see the reason for it.) |
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119 | John21:1-14 , Luke 5:1-11 | John 21:1 | Just Read Mark | 84064 | ||
"Peter, do you love me?" Hello Mommapbs -- thanks for your note. I have thought about the Christ's dialogue with Peter a fair bit. I still think that forgiveness is part of it. Of course, we are all forgiven when we turn to Jesus, as you say. But sometimes it is hard for us to accept it, to truely take on the freedom. God does some work - different for each of us - to draw us into wholeness. I guess the main reason I see it as forgiveness is the threefold repetition. It seems like an unsaid acknowledgement of Peter's threefold denial. Peter, I think, was crushed by his denial of Jesus. Now, the risen Jesus is saying "I know what you did, and I still want you to feed my sheep." While the gospels only show Peter receiving this treatment, I think it relates to all of us. Mommapbs -- as for your comments about "The Rock," I do agree. Peter was called the rock because he professed Christ as the Messiah --- and it is that proclaimation that is at the heart of the church. Still, Peter is a significant figure at the beginning of Acts, so it works both ways. |
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120 | John21:1-14 , Luke 5:1-11 | John 21:1 | Just Read Mark | 84137 | ||
Art and Faith Dear Mommapbs, you asked about art and faith through history. I have started a thread dealing with this --- perhaps you'd like to chime in? See note #84119 |
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