First trip to Jerusalem

July 10, 2010, 7:33 am by dc-agape.

Mark 10:24-52

In Mark this is the beginning of Jesus’ first and only trip to Jerusalem.  I do want to emphasize Jesus’ response to the rich man, I feel I cut it short two days ago in (To Be a “disciple of Jesus”).  Here is also where Jesus repeats his plan to be killed.  Is includes another story of how arrogant the disciples are and ends with a blind man receiving faith healing.

I don’t think I can stress enough what it required to be “saved”.  The watered down crap of Christianity is just that crap.  Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus tell his followers to “pray him into their hearts”.  In contrast he says this:

Mark 10:29-30 “I tell you the truth”, Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields – and with them, persecution) and in the age to come, eternal life.

Read that “I tell you the truth” again…think on it.  This is a promise that you will receive from YHWH these things only if you leave your home, your family, and your job!  Notice that Jesus separates home from family and home from fields.  He is telling his disciples to leave their families, their homes, and their properties, and their income.  Why do I not see any “Christians” do that today?  And no, missionaries don’t count…they return home and they get paid for their services (payment for spreading the word will be an upcoming Biblical Topic). 

At the beginning of the only trip to Jerusalem in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus again warns his disciples about his plans to be killed.  But he promises to rise after three days.  Sometime after that but before reaching Jericho, two of the disciples get a little too big for their britches.  From Perea to Jericho (Wikipedia map) is one of Jesus’ shortest trips, since Perea is an area and not a distinct place.  This trip could have been as short as crossing the Jordan river.  During this trip is when James and John get a little too arrogant.  After all the times that Jesus tells his disciples that the first will be the last, that the first must serve everyone else…still these two request to be given the highest place of honor in heaven.  He repeats this one more time for them:

Mark 10:43 Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave to all.

This is the root of Christianity; Jesus attempts to convey this message over and over again.  Today “christians” have so watered down this passage that servant and slave mean to be paid speakers and teachers.  Sorry, but that is not Jesus’ concept.  The first part that verse “Not so with you” describes the difference between power hungry authority and what the disciples should be like.  Neither of these concepts are even visible in the Church today.  Why has the Traditions of Man nullified the Word of Jesus?

Finally, the chapter ends with the story of Bartimaeus.  In Jericho a blind man attempts to get Jesus’ attention.  Many people attempted to stop him from getting Jesus’ attention, but this only made him try harder.  Jesus does hear him and calls him over.  Bartimaeus asks for Jesus to heal him, because Jesus asks what the man wants…Jesus does not know that a blind man wants to see.  Odd, the son of Man is not perceptive enough to know what the man wants.  But immediately Bartimaeus can see.  Here we have another faith healing…all it took for Jesus to heal this man was the faith that Bartimaeus had.  Compare that to the blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26).  Why in Jericho, where Jesus has not been yet, can Jesus heal by a word, yet in the city of Bethsaida, where Jesus travels to and from often, does it take two tries to heal the man?  In fact, there is another difference between the two stories: in Bethsaida he does it in secret while in Jericho he does it in front of a huge crowd.  He is obviously attempting to attract attention at this point.  Why would he be afraid to attract attention earlier (as most Christians assume), he had YHWH protecting him…things will work exactly the way YHWH wants them to.  Unless, Jesus is not 100% certain that this is what YHWH wants.  It in fact, looks more like a normal man making plans and hoping that YHWH will be with him, instead of the Son of God coming to do exactly what YHWH wants.  Remember, YHWH has complete control of any person’s actions that he so desires (freewill).

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