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October 21, 2010 Mark 6-7

Jesus went back to His hometown and His message was rejected. He was surprised because people didn't have faith. Jesus sent the disciples in pairs out to the countryside to preach, heal people and anoint people. Some people thought that Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life which was why He could perform miracles. Others, thought He was Elijah. Herod thought that He was John the Baptist come back to life (probably because he felt guilty about having chopped off his head.) The disciples returned and gave a report to Jesus about what they did. Jesus wanted to go someplace where they could be alone to rest, so they got in a boat to row to a place without people. But the crowds saw them and followed on the bank. So Jesus began to teach them and then he fed all 5,000 of them with 5 loaves and 2 fish. They had leftovers. By now it was late and Jesus had the disciples take the boat and row to Bethsaida. He stayed behind to pray in solitude. Between 3 and 6 am Jesus walked over to them on the water. They thought He was a ghost until Jesus told them to have courage and not to be afraid. He got into the boat. They were amazed and had not understood the meaning of feeding the 5000 because their minds could not grasp it. They got off the boat and went all through the land healing people by letting them touch the hem of Jesus' clothes.

Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem and critisized Jesus and His disciples for not ritually cleansing themselves before eating. Jesus quoted from Isaiah 29:13 and repeated "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching." (TEV Mark 7:9) Jesus turned and talked to the people and explained that what comes out of a person's heart is what makes him unclean, not what he eats. Later, Jesus healed a foreigner's daughter because of the faith of her mother. Jesus healed a deaf-mute. He stuck His fingers into the man's ears, spat, and touched his tongue, groaned and said "Open up!". The man could hear and speak without any trouble. Jesus asked the people not to tell anyone, but they couldn't help themselves and told everybody.

Tomorrow read Mark 8-10:12

1 comment:

  1. Just a note about the TEV. That is "Good News New Testament - Today's English Version", which we use for bible study. It is a modern translation which is really helpful.

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