looking for Jesus according to Mark

[JLGJLG]

45) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- And he began to teach them many things with illustrations, and while he was teaching, he said to them:“Listen. Look! The sower went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seeds fell alongside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil, and they immediately sprang up because the soil was not deep. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and they withered because they had no roots. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them, and they yielded no fruit. But others fell on the fine soil, and growing up and increasing, they began to yield fruit, and they were bearing 30, 60, and 100 times more.”


- Do you understand Jesus!


- It is not possible to stay on your chair!


- Everybody must do his part!


- Everybody must speak and tell and teach about God’s word!


- Otherwise Jesus will say I don’t know you!


- Go away from me!


- And it is not necessary to be a super teacher!


- Just participate and do the best we can!

- Thus we will improve our abilities!

 

[JLGJLG]

46) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- Then he added: “Let the one who has ears listen, listen. Now when he was alone, those around him with the Twelve began questioning him about the illustrations. He said to them: “To you the sacred secret of the Kingdom of God has been given, but to those outside all things are in illustrations, so that, though looking, they may look and still not see, and though hearing, they may hear and still not get the sense of it; nor will they ever turn back and receive forgiveness.”


- Do we really want to listen to God’s word!


- Or do we only take what we want?


- It is either everything or nothing!


- Do we ask God for help again and again?


- Do we really want to understand?


- Do we really want to turn back and receive forgiveness?


- Or do we only want to have a quiet life and close our eyes and ears?

 

[JLGJLG]

47) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- Further, he said to them: “You do not know this illustration, so how will you understand all the other illustrations?

- That’s the question!


- Do we really want to know?


- Or do we prefer to stay with what we have or what we have been told?


- For many, when they don’t they feel more secure!

- Thus they don’t have obligations!


- But today it is getting more and more dangerous!


- Because when Jesus comes, he will ask us if we really strive to know!


- And when we try to hide behind religious leaders who are not better than political leaders, it will mean big trouble!


- And there won't be any more possibilities!


- God takes time, he is patient because he wants people to make up their minds and repent!


- But when the time arrives, it will be too late!

 

[JLGJLG]

48) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- “The sower sows the word. These, then, are the ones alongside the road where the word is sown; but as soon as they have heard it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.


- Do we still eat milk or solid food!


- God needs hard workers!


- The earth must be a paradise again!


- It implies a lot of work to turn what is today a trash can into a jewel it used to be!


- But we must look like God and Jesus!


- They don’t need people who are selfish!


- They need people who are active and ready to help!


- They need real human beings with brains and hearts!


- They don’t need artificial ones which look like machines!


- They need people who are spiritually alive, not dead!

 

[JLGJLG]

49) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- Likewise, these are the ones sown on rocky ground; as soon as they have heard the word, they accept it with joy. Yet they have no root in themselves, but they continue for a time; then as soon as tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, they are stumbled.


- They accept it with joy!


- But they have no roots!


- And they stumbled!


- It is like a thermometer of our faith!


- What is the degree of our faith?


- Is it getting half-hearted? Is it getting cold? Is it getting hot?


- There are only two ways!

 

[JLGJLG]

50) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- There are still others that are sown among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard the word, but the anxieties of this system of things and the deceptive power of riches and the desires for everything else make inroads and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.


- The scale is unbalanced!


- On the one hand, people hear the word!


- On the other hand, you get anxieties and the deceptive power of riches and the desires for everything!


- Ah man, man!


- He will never change!


- too predictable and for the worst!


- If only it were for the best!


- There is the word dreamer, I would say “nightmare” if it was possible!


- Or man is a nightmare for himself!


- Why does he always make the bad choices!


- Of course, you get the bad influences of others!


- You may want to do one thing but the group is there to have you make another decision!

 

[JLGJLG]

51) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- Finally, the ones that were sown on the fine soil are those who listen to the word and favorably receive it and bear fruit—30, 60, and 100 times more.”


- people have different abilities and different motivations and different levels of spirituality!


- But it can always be improved!


- It means reading and studying the Bible and speaking about God’s word!


- Listening and favorably receiving it and bearing fruit!


- The more active we are the better we get!


- The most basic logic!


- No action, no improvement!

 

[JLGJLG]

52) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- He also said to them: “A lamp is not brought out to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not brought out to be put on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden that will not be exposed; nothing is carefully concealed that will not come out in the open. Whoever has ears to listen, let him listen.” He further said to them: “Pay attention to what you are hearing. With the measure that you are measuring out, you will have it measured out to you, yes, you will have more added to you. For whoever has will have more given to him, but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”


- We must work in the light!


- We mustn’t have anything to hide!


- We must look for a simple life without lies!


- We must do our part!


- Jesus must know who we are!


- He must know us as good workers!


- Faithful servants who are active!


- He must learn how to trust us!


- And it depends on our actions!


- No action, no trust!

 

[JLGJLG]

53) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4


- Jesus compares God’s Kingdom as when a man casts seeds on the ground!


- When he gets up in the morning the seeds sprout and grow tall and he doesn’t know how!


- And it bears fruit!


- Then it is harvest time!


- But if nobody does anything you can’t expect a good harvest!


- A good harvest needs good workers!


- The more people care the better!


-You can’t get anything if you don’t do anything!


- Jesus was a hard worker when he was on earth!


- And he showed us an excellent example to follow!


- We can close our eyes and shut out ears but the images will stay in our memories!

 

[JLGJLG]

54) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4: Jesus compares God’s Kingdom to a mustard grain!


- It is the tiniest of all the seeds on the earth and it becomes greater than all other vegetable plants!


- Thus we can visualize Jesus coming on earth to teach men and at the same time Jesus coming back as a warrior to clean the earth and to repay everyone according to ones’ deeds!


- He first came in peace!


- He will come to fight and to kill!


- It is going to be a terrible scene!


- And each time he will play his part!


- He will act according to his part!

 

[JLGJLG]

55) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4: Jesus used to speak to people with illustrations!


- And he would explain them privately to his disciples!


- In fact, people who really want can understand with illustrations!


- If they don’t it is because they don’t really want!


- It was also possible to see how Jesus lived!


- He was a living example!


- Now even if he would teach his disciples privately, they didn’t understand him till his death!


- And he was using a progressive teaching so it can get into them little by little!


- On the contrary, with Paul, it was a lot more intensive, if the word is the right one!


- But the conditions were different and the activity too!


- But if we try, from time to time, to meditate on one of his illustrations, we can see how deep they are!


- And we can always learn from them!

 

[JLGJLG]

56) Looking for Jesus


Mark 4: Jesus decides to go to the other shore!


- So they take a boat!


- There are other boats with him!


- Then a violent windstorm occurs with big waves crashing into the boat!


- But Jesus is sleeping quietly!


- And the disciples wake him up because they are terrorized!


- So Jesus tells the storm to calm down!


- He doesn’t understand why they are afraid!


- And they feel an unusual fear when they see what Jesus does!


- What about his teaching?


- Jesus did miracles only to prove who he was and where he was coming from!

 

[JLGJLG]

57) Looking for Jesus


Mark 5: Jesus meets a possessed man who lives among the tombs!


- Nobody can bind him!


- He always frees him!


- And he keeps crying out in the tombs!


- But when he sees Jesus he runs and bows down to him!


- And he calls him Jesus, Son of the Most High God!


- His name is Legion because many spirits are inside him!


- And they ask Jesus for permission to go into a herd of swine!


- And they rush over the precipice into the sea, about 2,000 of them and they are drowned in the sea!


- It is funny to think that all the demons recognize Jesus but not the religious leaders!


- Despite all his signs!


- And he keeps reprimanding and teaching them!


- Of course, they know who he is but they don’t want to recognize him!


- Of course, they are liars with empty speeches!


- Of course, they know what to say to people!


- Or people are used to listen to what they say!

 

[JLGJLG]

58) Looking for Jesus


Mark 5:


- The herders flee and report what has just happened in the city!


- People come to see what has happened!


- They see the man who was possessed!


- They are afraid!


- So they ask Jesus to go away!


- It tells a lot about the type of people they are!


- Something incredible has happened and they are afraid and they ask Jesus to go away!


- They should have wanted to know more about Jesus!


- What would we have done in such a situation?


- It is easier to close our eyes and ears!


- The only problem is it is a question of life and death!


- Everything we do or don’t have consequences!


- What are we doing now?

 

[JLGJLG]

59) Looking for Jesus


Mark 5:18-20

• So Jesus cures a demon-possessed man!
• But He wants to follow Jesus!
• But Jesus tells him to go back to his relatives and report to them what has happened to him thanks to jesus!
• So he follows Jesus’ advice and he goes to Decapolis and starts proclaiming everything that has happened to him thanks to Jesus!
• Definitely someful who is grateful for what Jesus has done to him!
• And at the difference of today’s people he finds it logical to act to demonstrate he is grateful for Jesus!
• Are we grateful to Jesus?
• What do we do for that?

____________________________________________________________

Remember:

• If you think like today’s people, you will never understand the Bible!
• They used to write differently!
• They used to speak differently!
• They used to think differently!
• They used to act differently!

__________________________________________________________________________

 

[RedRoseAndy]

Several people over the years have asked if they could pray for me, and then proceed to think about my head area in their prayer. All this does is cause a few false visions. More popular still is praying against someone, which leaves a feeling of depression which leaves as soon as the praying stops. (This led to me inventing humming hymns in order to fight depression.

I have developed a way of praying that involves praying for the whole body. After permission to pray is given, you imagine coming up through the feet of the person and up into their whole body in faith. The effect is at first laughter, and then on to an angelic plain. Here the person being prayed for can ask the Angels for a state of grace to overcome what has been troubling them. A feeling of elation is left after the event. A cancer cure can be asked for at this time.

It is possible to form a ring of Christians, all of whom pray for the person to their right. In this way all of them can reach the Heavens, not in body, but in spirit, and the feeling of elation gives new meaning to our faith.

 

[JLGJLG]

https://www.gotquestions.org/John-Mark-in-the-Bible.html

John Mark, often just called Mark, is the author of the gospel of Mark. He was a believer in the early church mentioned directly only in the book of Acts. John Mark is first mentioned as the son of a woman named Mary (Acts 12:12), whose house was being used as a place for believers to gather and pray. Later, Mark is mentioned as a companion of Barnabas and Paul during their travels together (Acts 12:25). John Mark was also Barnabas’ cousin (Colossians 4:10).


John Mark was a helper on Paul and Barnabas’ first missionary journey (Acts 13:5). However, he did not stay through the whole trip. John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia and left the work (Acts 15:38). The Bible does not say why Mark deserted, but his departure came right after a mostly fruitless time in Cyprus (Acts 13:4–12). Only one conversion is recorded in Cyprus, but there had been strong demonic opposition. It’s likely that the young John Mark was discouraged at the hardness of the way and decided to return to the comforts of home.


Some time later, after Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first journey, Paul expressed a desire to go back to the brothers in the cities they had previously visited to see how everyone was doing (Acts 15:36). Barnabas agreed, apparently upon the provision that they take John Mark with them. Paul refused to have Mark on the trip, however, citing Mark’s previous desertion. Paul thought it best not to have a quitter with them; they needed someone more dependable. Paul and Barnabas had a “sharp disagreement” about John Mark (verse 39) and wound up separating from each other and going on separate journeys. Barnabas took John Mark with him to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas with him through Syria and Cilicia to encourage the believers in the churches in those areas (Acts 15:39–41).


Barnabas, the “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36), desired to forgive John Mark’s failure and to give him another chance. Paul took the more rational view: pioneering missionary work requires dedication, resolve, and endurance. Paul saw John Mark as a risk to their mission. Luke, the writer of Acts, does not take sides or present either Paul or Barnabas as being in the right. He simply records the facts. It’s worth noting that, in the end, two groups of missionaries were sent out—twice as many missionaries were spreading the gospel.


John Mark sails off to Cyprus with his cousin Barnabas, but that is not the end of his story. Years later, he is with Paul, who calls him a “fellow worker” (Philemon 1:24). And near the end of Paul’s life, Paul sends a request to Timothy from a Roman prison: “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). Obviously, John Mark had matured through the years and had become a faithful servant of the Lord. Paul recognized his progress and considered him a valuable companion.


John Mark wrote the gospel that bears his name sometime between AD 55 and 59. There could be a veiled reference to John Mark in Mark 14:51–52. In that passage a young man, roused from sleep on the night that Jesus was arrested, attempts to follow the Lord, and the mob who had Jesus in custody attempts to seize him. The young man escapes and flees into the night. The fact that this incident is only recorded in Mark’s gospel—and the fact that the young man is anonymous—has led some scholars to surmise that the fleeing young man is actually John Mark.

____________________________________________________________

Remember:

• If you think like today’s people, you will never understand the Bible!
• They used to write differently!
• They used to speak differently!
• They used to think differently!
• They used to act differently!

__________________________________________________________________________

 

[JLGJLG]

• Mark was also called John Mark!
• His mother’s house was used as a place for believers to gather and pray!
• He was a companion of Barnabas and Paul during their travels together!
• Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement about Mark!
• They separated, Paul took Silas and barnabas Mark!
• But Mark matured with time!

____________________________________________________________

Remember:

• If you think like today’s people, you will never understand the Bible!
• They used to write differently!
• They used to speak differently!
• They used to think differently!
• They used to act differently!

__________________________________________________________________________

 

[JLGJLG]

59) Looking for Jesus


Mark 5:21- 24

• One of the presiding officers of the synagogue named Jairus comes to see Jesus!
• He knows who he is!
• He knows about his miracles!
• They knew who Jesus was!
• He falls at Jesus’ feet!
• His daughter is extremely ill!
• Jesus doesn’t hesitate!
• He goes straight away!

 

[JLGJLG]

__________________________________________________________________________

Remember:

• Mark was also called John Mark!
• His mother’s house was used as a place for believers to gather and pray!
• He was a companion of Barnabas and Paul during their travels together!
• Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement about Mark!
• They separated, Paul took Silas and barnabas Mark!
• But Mark matured with time!

____________________________________________________________

Remember:

• If you think like today’s people, you will never understand the Bible!
• They used to write differently!
• They used to speak differently!
• They used to think differently!
• They used to act differently!

__________________________________________________________________________