Mark 1

[JLG]

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- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 10: But Jesus called them to him and said to them: “You know that those who appear to be ruling the nations lord it over them and their great ones wield authority over them. This must not be the way among you; but whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. For even the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.”

- Yes, those who have power use it for their own benefits!

- Power is never enough!

- They always want more!

- It’s always a competition to be the greatest!

- It shouldn’t be so!

- People should be careful!

- But do they really care?

 

[JLG]

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- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 11: They now come to Jerusalem. There he enters the temple and starts to throw out those selling and buying in the temple, and he overturns the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and he does not let anyone carry a utensil through the temple. He is teaching and saying to them: “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a cave of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes hear it, and they begin to seek how to kill him; for they are in fear of him, because all the crowd is astounded at his teaching.

- It is incredible !

- We see Jesus acting against the robbers in God’s temple !

- And what do the religiuos leaders think about ?

- Killing Jesus !

- They are completely dead !

- They don’t care about God’s temple !

- They don’t care about God !

- They don’t care about the people !

- They only care about themselves !

- They are ridiculous !

- How is it possible to listen to such people ?

- They are blind !

 

[JLG]

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- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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looking for Jesus

Mark 1: There also comes to him a leper, pleading with him even on bended knee, saying to him: “If you just want to, you can make me clean.”At that he is moved with pity, and he stretches out his hand and touched him, and says to him: “I want to! Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy vanishes from him, and he becomes clean.

- All the time we see Jesus expressing his feelings!

- Thus he shows himself a real leader!

- Someone who cares about people!

- Someone who can understand their pain and sufferance!

- Someone who is not corrupted!

- Someone who is not looking for money all the time!

 

[JLG]

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- Get away from this old world of Chaos and prepare for the New World!
- don’t do like the Israelites who stayed in the old world and died!
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looking for Jesus

Mark 1: After evening has fallen, when the sun has set, the people begin bringing to him all who are ill and demon possessed; and the whole city is gathered right at the door. So he cures many who are ill with various sicknesses, and he expelled many demons, but he does not let the demons speak, for they know him to be Christ.

- Jesus spends the whole day curing people !

- But people keep coming !

- And he keeps curing them without resting !

- It tells a lot about his work capacity !

- Of course, he is tired !

- But he cares about people !

- And he doesn’t complain !

- Of course, he knows he works for God !

- Of course, it helps a lot !

 

[JLG]

looking for Jesus

Mark 1: Early in the morning, while it is still dark, he gets up and goes outside and leaves for an isolated place, and there he begins praying. However, Simon and those with him hunt him down and finds him, and they say to him: “Everyone is looking for you.” But he says to them: “Let us go somewhere else, into the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also, for this is why I have come.”

- Of course, Jesus cures many people, there is no doubt about it!

- But his main goal is to teach people about God’s message, to preach them God’s message!

- He tells people to change of attitude and look for God!

- In the Bible, there are many examples not to follow and it is the majority of the examples!

- But there are also good examples of faithful servants of God!

- Jesus let us a testimony, his testimony about God, a user manual how to serve God!

- It is simple and easy to follow!

- The Bible is the personal relationship between God and simple men!

- We must get to know what we have to do by getting to know thes personal relationships!

- It is written!

- it is no imagination!

- We don’t have to listen or read religious leaders to understand that!

- We just have to open the Bible and read it carefully and exchange with others to think about!

- But at the end, we have to make up our minds!

- It’s up to us to choose!

- We can’t others do it for ourselves!

- When this society is going to be replaced, we will have to face our choice, our actions or lack of actions!

- The harvest is now, not when this society will be replaced!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 1: Early in the morning, while it is still dark, he gets up and goes outside and leaves for an isolated place, and there he begins praying. However, Simon and those with him hunt him down and finds him, and they say to him: “Everyone is looking for you.” But he says to them: “Let us go somewhere else, into the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also, for this is why I have come.”

- Jesus came to transmit God’s message !

- He didn’t come to spend his time to cure people or to feed them !

- Everything he made was to transmit God’s message !

- Of course, many were only interested in food and cure or basic needs!

- Many are and were not conscious of their spiritual needs and their connection to God!

- Indeed, we are animals!

- And it is often difficult to see the difference!

- Animals are often more human than men!

- It shows how far this world is from God!

- But Jesus told us how men would behave!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 1: There also came to him a leper, pleading with him even on bended knee, saying to him: “If you just want to, you can make me clean.”At that he was moved with pity, and he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him: “I want to! Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy vanished from him, and he became clean. Then he gave him strict orders and at once sent him away, saying to him: “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing the things Moses directed, for a witness to them.”

- First Jesus is moved with pity!

- Thus he analyzes the situation!

- Second he stretches out his hand and touches the leper!

- Thus he needs physical contact!

- Third he speaks to the leper saying he is going to cure him!

- Thus he communicates to the leper!

- Fourth the leper is cured!

- Thus we get the result!

- Fifth Jesus tells the leper to go to the priest and makes the offer for his cleansing!

- Thus we see Jesus in action where everything is well organized, nothing is left to chance!

- Thus he will be perfect to clean this world when he comes back as a warrior and a king!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 2: When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic: “Child, your sins are forgiven.”

- Jesus expresses his feelings straight away!

Now some of the scribes were there, sitting and reasoning in their hearts: “Why is this man talking this way? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins except one, God?” But immediately Jesus discerned by his spirit that they were reasoning that way among themselves, so he said to them: “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts?

- And he knows what the scribes think!

Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and pick up your stretcher and walk’?

- And he answers them straight away!

But in order for you to know that the Son of man has authority to forgive sins on earth—” he said to the paralytic: “I say to you, Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go to your home.” At that he got up and immediately picked up his stretcher and walked out in front of them all.

- Jesus is not only someone who teaches and who knows what to say at the right time, he knows how to act on time!

- All his actions are well organized and synchronized!

So they were all astonished, and they glorified God, saying: “We have never seen anything like this.”

- The result is efficiency and Jesus proves right!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 2:

- Again he went out alongside the sea, and all the crowd kept coming to him, and he began to teach them.

- When I think of both Jesus and Paul, I see the same zealous people teaching again and again people!

- And as he was passing by, he caught sight of Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: “Be my follower.” At that he rose up and followed him.

- Once again, when we remember Paul, we know that Jesus knew who he was and chose him in consequence!

- With the apostles, it was the same!

- Of course, they were imperfect men!

- But he had time to teach them progressively!

- And he didn’t choose scribes or Pharisees!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 2:

- Later he was dining in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many of them who were following him. But when the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they began saying to his disciples: “Does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”On hearing this, Jesus said to them: “Those who are strong do not need a physician, but those who are ill do. I came to call, not righteous people, but sinners.”

- Jesus came on earth to help everybody to learn about God and to repent!

- He had a special mission!

- He would spend all his time on earth to do it!

- He would train disciples to keep on doing his mission after his death!

- He has always been working with and for God his Father!

- Things have always been clear for him!

- No doubt!

- And it was not an easy job!

- His death was also n ot an easy death!

- But he was ready to do his Father’s will!

- When we think of Abraham, it was the same readiness to do God’s will!

- That’s how we can recognize a true faithful servant of God!

- It also means we have to make strong efforts to look like them!

- Because it is not easy!

- And we must develop excellent qualities!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 2:

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees practiced fasting. So they came and said to him: “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees practice fasting, but your disciples do not practice fasting?” So Jesus said to them: “While the bridegroom is with them, the friends of the bridegroom have no reason to fast, do they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

- We see Jews!

- They are supposed to know their history!

- They are supposed to wait for Messiah!

- They see Jesus’ miracles!

- No one could do the same!

- They were unable to follow Moses’ Law!

- And yet they speak about man’s tradition!

- Their minds and hearts are empty!

- How do you want them to understand Jesus’ message!

- That’s the same today with humanity!

- Why should it be different!

- Man is equal to himself!

- What is our personal choice?

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 2:

- Nobody sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old outer garment. If he does, the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear becomes worse. Also, no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. But new wine is put into new wineskins.”

- Jesus tells us to be careful when we act!

- He did many miracles so people could see he came from God!

- He was able to teach any kind of people!

- He could use simple words!

- But he never forgets his mission!

- He came to tell people about God!

- He didn’t come to feed them or cure them!

- Everything was in connection with God’s word!

- Now there are many Bible translations!

- Did the translators follow Jesus’ example by using simple words or words easy to understand or did they make things to make it more difficult to understand!

- If people don’t understand you, what is the interest?

 

[JaumeJ]

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

[JLG]

- I have already talked about that !

- Basic Greek grammar !

- It’s like many years ago I spoke with a Greek young man about the word stavros and he said in greek it means cross !

- But it was different in the past !

- Moreover, what is translated is often corrupted !

- I have just started to compare different Bible translations and it is a shame !

- Think about John 10:30 : « I and the Father are one » !

- Now if you read I Corinthians 3:8 : « he who plants and he who waters are one » !

- Same expression in Greek and not only in these passages !

- Just unity, nothing more !

- Find the mistake !

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 2:

- Now as he was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, his disciples started to pluck the heads of grain as they went. So the Pharisees said to him: “Look here! Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But he said to them: “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and the men with him were hungry? How, in the account about Abiathar the chief priest, he entered into the house of God and ate the loaves of presentation, which it is not lawful for anybody to eat except the priests, and he also gave some to the men who were with him?” Then he said to them: “The Sabbath came into existence for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the Sabbath. So the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

- The Israelites and the Jews showed themselves unable to follow the Law!

- Jesus came to accomplish the Law!

- The Law was over!

- After Jesus’ death, some Jews who became disciples tried to force the disciples who weren’t Jews to get circumcised!

- The answer from the apostles was clear in Acts 15:

- The disciples should abstain from:

- THINGS POLLUTED BY IDOLS,

- SEXUAL IMMORALITY,

- WHAT IS STRANGLED,

- BLOOD.

- In fact, nothing has changed!

- Even simple commandments are not followed!

- That’s what we can call corruption!

- Man’s tradition vs God’s word!





- When Jesus comes back, do you think he will say good job?

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 3:

Once again he entered into a synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. So they were watching him closely to see whether he would cure the man on the Sabbath, in order to accuse him. He said to the man with the withered hand: “Get up and come to the center.” Next he said to them: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?”But they kept silent. After looking around at them with indignation, being thoroughly grieved at the insensibility of their hearts, he said to the man: “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. At that the Pharisees went out and immediately began holding council with the party followers of Herod against him, in order to kill him. But Jesus departed for the sea along with his disciples, and a great multitude from Galilee and from Judea followed him.

- Jesus does everything openly in front of the Pharisees and scribes!

- And he wants to help people spiritually and physically!

- By curing people and doing miracles, he shows he come from God!

- But he always teaches!

- And he always shows the religious leaders they are wrong!

- Religious leaders don’t care about the people!

- They only think they are important!

- And Jesus is indignant!

- How will he react when he comes back?

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 3:

- Even from Jerusalem and from Idumea and from across the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude came to him when they heard about the many things he was doing.

- People were coming from everywhere!

- We are told about a multitude!

- But the religious leaders rejected him!

- They chose their personal power!

- They wanted to keep doing their business and controlling people!

- They would prevent people from opening their eyes!

- They wanted them to keep sleeping and stay spiritually dead!

- It is still true today!

- It is easier not to think by oneself!

- But then when you wake up, it seems to be that you are in a nightmare!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 3:

- And he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him so that the crowd would not press in on him.

- Jesus is always ready to adapt to new situations!

- We must always remember that!

- We have to follow his example!

- We must use our brains!

- We must keep being active and creative!

- If we want to work for God and Jesus, we must show we are worthy!

- We must bear fruit just like Jesus!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 3:

- Because he cured many, all those who had serious diseases were crowding around him to touch him. Even the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and cry out and say: “You are the Son of God.” But many times he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He ascended a mountain and summoned those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he formed a group of 12, whom he also named apostles, those who were to accompany him and whom he would send out to preach and to have authority to expel demons.

- When Jesus was on earth, many came to him to be cured!

- It was easy to see that he had come from God!

- Many accepted his message, others rejected it!

- The apostles could live with him every day, day and night!

- They could share everything with him!

- He used a progressive teaching to teach them!

- Yet, they found it difficult to understand him!

- They had to wait till his death to understand his message!

- Paul only saw him in a vision, he was taught a lesson and he understood everything straight away!

- We have the Bible!

- We can get to know a lot!

- But many don’t realize its importance!

- Of course, we need to use it, to read it and to think about it!

 

[JLG]

Looking for Jesus

Mark 3:

- And the group of 12 that he formed were Simon, to whom he also gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (he also gave these the name Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him. Then he went into a house, and again the crowd gathered, so that they were not able even to eat a meal. But when his relatives heard about it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying: “He has gone out of his mind.”

- Jesus went to the earth to accomplish his Father’s will!

- He was always busy!

- He was always eager to teach and cure people!

- His personal needs were secondary!

- Think about his family!

- They couldn’t understand him!