Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

Wow Matthew goes off on this one. Mark and Luke give it the same small section of six or so verses, but Matthew gives it a whole chapter. This is when Jesus tells the apostles to go out on their own and to preach the good news. When he sends them he tells them to only preach to the Jews, and to go without taking any provisions with them (such as food or spare clothes), but instead to rely on the Lord to provide for them through those to whom they minister. I am guessing that the Zealots at this point got a little fired up as Jesus talks about fighting;

"Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, I came to bring a sword."

However, he goes on to focus on loving others, especially those in the church.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

This passage is a jump back in Luke (whose timeline I have been predominantly following). But it falls in line for Matthew and Mark, I will probably go back and rearrange some of these later - but until then this is where it falls .
The passage tells of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of his home town, and being frowned upon as the people there knew him as just the ordinary son of a carpenter. In Luke he gets them so mad that they went to throw him off the cliff outside the town, but he slipped away. He points out to them that he is not the first person to be ignored at home, and to do their best work in foreign towns/countries.

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

This passage covers 2 different Miracles as the telling of the resurrection of Jairus' daughter is split by the story of the woman who touches Jesus's cloak. The passage open with one of the leaders from the synagogue going to Jesus to ask him to heal his daughter, Jesus agrees to do so. Then on the way there a woman who has suffered for many years with a hemorrhaging problem squeezes through the crowd to touch Jesus's cloak knowing that this alone will heal her.


However Jesus detects her presence amongst the many there touching him and challenges the crowd as to whom it was. The disciples point out that everyone is touching him so what is he talking about? He persists and the woman comes forward, but instead of chastising her he tells her to go in peace as her faith has healed her.
At this point messengers arrive from Jairus's house saying it's too late, but Jesus tells them they are wrong and that the daughter is just sleeping (trust me even back then they know the difference between a coma and death as death doesn't involve breathing). Jesus clears out the house and despite being laughed at insists that the girl is asleep and enters the house with the parents and three disciples.


He then commands her to get up, and she does so and walks around the room. Jesus then tells Jairus and his wife to keep quiet about what happened. I'm not exactly sure why he keeps doing this, one person he will tell to go and proclaim the news the next he will tell to keep quiet, I am very confused as to his plan here.

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man

Okay, Okay I guess technically it should be man/men, as Matthew had two of them - but maybe he got confused by the whole multiple personality due to multiple demons thing. I am pretty sure it's the same event though as it happens at the correct time in the time line, and in the correct place.
Now this is a particularly large passage for us and can be summarised as follows:

• Jesus gets out the boat on the far side
  
• he is approached by the demon possessed.
  
• The Demons (not the man) Beg to be sent into the herd of pigs
  
• a ginormous herd of pigs dies by drowning themselves
  
• The locals ask him to leave
  
• The previously possessed wants to follow Jesus, but instead does his bidding and preaches throughout the Decapolis
  

as you can see from this map that was a lot of territory to cover!

Now what I would like to point out here are some of the not so obvious parts of the text:

• Even Demons, (or maybe it's especially demons) don't want to be set into the pit, I am guessing therefore that it's not a particularly nice place.
  
• The locals had a very big pig herd (may not seem important until you consider that pork isn't kosher and they weren't meant to eat it.
  
• Understandably they aren't particularly happy with Jesus destroying all that revenue - maybe they are worried that their sheep or cattle are next. Either way they focus on their money and not the miracle that Jesus just performed.
  
• the man (I don't think we should call him legion as that was the name of the demon inside him) knows who buttered his bread, and rather than wanting to celebrate or go see his family the first thing he wants to do is serve God. Also notice he doesn't think that he needs a degree in theology , or to become a pastor to get off his butt and go and spread the good news - he just does it. How many of us have prayed for something promising God that we will do whatever he wants if he answers it, and as soon as he does answer it we just carry on as normal.

In closing this is a cool text with lotsa stuff - read it a couple of times and if anything else jumps out at you then put it in the comments for us all to share.

Jesus Calms the Storm

Okay this one is kinda weird for me as I have more questions about the first part than the second. Obviously Jesus can calm the storm as he is the creator of the world (you figure that if he can make stuff out of nothing, and turn dirt into man, then just getting it to bend to his will should be easy). What really gets me is that he can sleep through a boat tossing and turning, men's shouting and most of all in cold water up to at least his waist (only his head was on the pillow and the boat was so full of water it was about to sink). I think that if the boat was as they always portray it - little more than a dingy, and Jesus was wearing the clothes they always put him in - a robe. Then sleeping in that kinda situation would be tough - unless you were literally exhausted. Of course I'm no scholar so maybe they had him in a comfy bed on a yacht or submarine, or maybe he was wearing a dry suit?

The True Family of Jesus

This passage is when Jesus's family turns up to see him, and they can't get in past the crowd. Someone tells him they are outside, and then I think he does something that surprises them. Rather than just rushing out to see them, (which I believe he did after he had used this as a teachable moment) He tells them that they all have the opportunity to have that same family bond with him and the father if they only obey God! Wow talk about a cool invite. Jesus has just given you permission to drop by at the drop of a hat without invitation just to hang (or mooch a free meal) any time you want, so long as you obey the Father. I like the way Luke says it the best of the three of them though.

"My mother and my brothers are all those who hear the message of God and obey it."

The Parable of the Yeast

Here Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven with yeast - it really doesn't make much sense until you put it with the preceding parable about the mustard seed

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branches."

Only then does the context enhance it such that you can understand that it is referring to how we can have the tiniest pinch of knowledge of Christ mixed into our hearts it can grow and spread throughout us causing us to fill up the lives of others around us. Note in this reference the yeast is good as opposed to when he uses it to refer to the pharisees

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The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Here the kingdom of heaven is compared to a mustard seed where the tiniest seed grows into a great tree. I think that this is a reference to how we can have the tiniest seed of knowledge of Christ planted into our hearts it can grow into an awesome tree, in which others can take shelter during times of need. I know that I have sheltered in others faith when I have had problems before, and I pray that one day I will have a great tree of faith for them to use me too. Let me know what you think this parable is about by leaving a comment.

A Lamp on a Stand

In this story Jesus points out to us that there is no point in putting a lit lamp under a bowl, (never mind that that would snuff it out - think about that for a sec) but that we should put it on a stand if we want it to be of any use. This passage is often used to talk about us letting our light shine visibly to others. However Jesus focuses more on how the light reveals the truth to us, and that you can still choose to close your eyes and not be able to use the light to see.