Jesus calls his twelve disciples and orders them to "tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick." They all naturally agreed, but before they went, Jesus said to them, "Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate." This to me seemed very odd. First of all, Jesus is giving all of his disciples his powers which doesn't make him look very good anymore. Second of all, He tells them to go on their journey with inly the clothes on their back, nothing else. This seems very strange to me because if they are going on such a long journey they are going to need these things. "So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick."
We see that Jesus is starting to gain popularity and that even when he tries to slip away the people find him and follow, "But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him." When Jesus, his disciples, and his followers are on their journey they make a stop and order the locals to give them food. “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” This is when Jesus does something that is truly amazing and strange and the same time, "Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!" Now let me get this straight, If there were only five loaves of bread and two fish, How the heck did they eat all they wanted and have seven baskets of leftovers? I guess those are the kinds of things you just have to be amazed by although you don't understand.
The next interesting thing I saw was when there is a kid possessed by the devil and his desperate father asks Jesus for help, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Then Jesus says something that seemed a bit mean, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.” He then casts the demon out of the body and returns the boy to his father, nice job Jesus but, watch the attitude.
Remember when I told you that Jesus told all his followers and disciples that in order to become his followers they must detach from their whole life? Well that to me seemed pretty mean but we can see a very impressive dialog between Jesus and a man:
"As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![l] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
See what I meant when I said it was mean? Well I guess that's the cost of following Jesus.
In the next chapters Jesus said something really cool that I would like to share with you, "Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay." I thought this was very nice and very true, and something I should definitely have in mind when I'm visiting in someone's home because if they don't want it, according to Jesus, I'll get it. When Jesus says that those who work deserve their pay, I could not agree more with him. I believe that what you do, good or bad, comes back to you. Everything you get you deserve.
You know that most of the time I have been in agreement with Jesus, but this next thing he said seemed pretty exaggerated, " A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple." Isn't god all bout love and caring for others? Why then does he say that you must hate everyone including your family and yourself in order to be his disciple? I'm sorry Jesus but under those conditions I wouldn't even consider being your disciple.
The next and last thing I read which seemed interesting to me and probably my favorite in the Gospels was the following, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” This in a way is true and in a way is false. It really depends what kind of person you are. If you are a multi-tasker and a multi-lover, or if you are a mono-lover. I myself would have to choose which to serve and under Jesus's hard conditions I would probably choose money.
No comments:
Post a Comment