Twist family Bible study: the Gospel of Mark

[Wayne]

The use of the mustard plant though seems strange. I mean, it really doesn't get that big...   

I'm probably being too literal with this one!   

An opposing perspective can be found at "Guru Jesus My Foot"

http://oaks.nvg.org/mustard-and-jesus.html

   

[injest]

maybe it was a mistranslation?

[Wayne]

Now about "faith" ... One definition of faith is "belief in the supernatural"       http://dict.die.net/faith/

So faith can refer to belief, but there's also

     "Consistent with truth or actuality: a faithful reproduction of the portrait."

http://www.answers.com/topic/faithful?cat=technology

There is a long-standing debate over faith versus works, but this kind of faith means works.

A mustard seed accomplishes what it does because it has the instructions. It knows what it is supposed to do because of its DNA.

[Wayne]

maybe it was a mistranslation?

Yeah, wouldn't be surprising at all, considering that whatever Jesus said he said in Aramaic, and the story was handed down orally for a good while before it was written in Greek.     

[injest]

Yeah, wouldn't be surprising at all, considering that whatever Jesus said he said in Aramaic, and the story was handed down orally for a good while before it was written in Greek.     

that is why I don't really get too worried about individual words...I do know that there are some things that are mentioned in the Bible that didn't grow in the Middle East and when they translated it into English they used plants they knew from where they lived in Europe. I think it is the message that is more important. What is the meaning behind the parable.

there is something about what you said about the DNA of the mustard seed that I am thinking but I can't figure out how to say it....let me think... and maybe I can figure it out before tonight! LOL!!

[Wayne]

In Mark 5, Jesus casts out a Legion of demons from a man to a herd of 2,000 pigs who then drowned themselves. My usual rationalizations don't explain this very well. If the man had a mental illness, it's hard to picture why the demons needed to go somewhere else. So in this case the demons are clearly presented as beings, rather than a condition.

Now this time the local people were not happy with the net effect. Even though the man had been cured, the herders had lost their pigs. (Obviously this was in gentile territory east of lake Galilee since they kept pigs.)

The man who was healed asks to stay with Jesus and the disciples. But Jesus says no, instructing him to tell his own people about what happened.

Back in Galilee, a woman in a crowd secretly reaches to touch the hem of Jesus's garment. He "feels the power proceeding from him" and turns to find her. He tells her that her faith has healed her of a 12-year hemorrhage.

[Wayne]

A synagogue official named Jairus comes to Jesus saying that his daughter is at the verge of death. When Jairus and Jesus arrive at the house of Jairus, everyone is crying that the girl has died.

But Jesus says "she is only sleeping." He takes the girl's hand and says "get up."  She does, and everyone is astounded.

[Wayne]

So to take stock, the first 5 chapters of Mark cover several miraculous healings and one storm-stilling.

Jesus is at odds with the traditional religious leaders for healing on the Sabbath and for just generally not taking the scriptures literally enough.

I don't think he's said anything yet about the gays.     

[injest]

and you would think that he would be applauded. I guess it goes to show that human nature hasn't changed much in two thousand years..


off topic (kinda)

did you hear Mitt Romneys speech today about religion?

[Wayne]

Mitt Romneys speech

  No, I didn't! What'd he say?