Jesus Calls the First Disciples
Jesus was near a lake and had a bunch of people gathering around him. He saw a fishing boat at the shore and hopped in. He asked Simon, the owner of the boat, to take the boat a little away from the shore and he addressed the crowd from there. When he was done speaking, he told Simon to drop his fishing nets into the water, he said they had been trying to catch fish all night and didn't catch anything. Jesus said to do it anyway, so he did and they caught a large number of fish. When he saw the huge haul he fell to his knees saying he was not worthy of Jesus as he is a sinner. He then told the guys they would soon be fishers of men. They left all of their fishing stuff and followed Jesus.
They caught a bunch of fish and then just left it at the shore? Seems like they should have either thrown it all back, or given it to the people in the crowd.
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
Jesus heals a guy who has leprosy. He then told the guy to tell no one what happened and to show the priest and make an offering. Reports of what was done spread and great crowds gathered to hear Jesus and be healed.
I don't understand. Jesus told the guy not to tell anyone, but then immediately told him to show the priest. You can't do both things.
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
Jesus was teaching and surrounded by a lot of people. Some men decided to bring a paralyzed guy to see Jesus but they couldn't get to him. So they went to the roof, took off a few tiles and lowered the guy down there. Jesus forgave his sins. The Pharisees watching said it was blasphemy but the guy then got up and walked.
This is the same complaint I've had a few times, but I guess I'll just say it again. I really don't like that he message is that his sins are forgiven now he can walk. It is saying that he is paralyzed because of his sins. It implies that if anything bad happens to us it is because of sins we have committed, when the cold hard truth is that sometimes bad stuff just happens. Some times bad things happen to you that are out of your control and some people take the message that they must have done something bad to make the bad thing happen to them. "What did I do to deserve this?" Sometimes the answer is "nothing, you were just unlucky"
Jesus Calls Levi
Jesus and disciples were hanging out with a tax collector and the Pharisees asked why they hang out with sinners. Jesus says that healthy people don't need doctors.
Seems like a good point, don't just preach to the choir, but go to others and help them.
A Question About Fasting
The Pharisees ask Jesus why his guys don't fast while John and his disciples do. Jesus says they can fast later after he is gone. He then makes a few analogies saying he is new and the old ways are outdated (I guess)
Sounds like Jesus is just rebelling here. I don't want to fast, I am above it. Which honestly suits me just fine, I don't like following rules for the sake of following rules, and I generally don't care about traditions. But this seems to go against other things Jesus said, didn't he say it was important to follow ALL of the old laws? Here is the specific verse I'm thinking of. Is it possible that fasting isn't exactly a law but just a custom or some kind of loophole like that?
I never thought about the leaving of the fish the way they did. You are right though, they should have left it for the poor or something. There is always the possibility that it didn't happen and was a metaphor (like some other things in the bible "were.") I suppose that they were just so memorized thinking "who the f**k is this guy!?" and just decided to go with them and leave their families. Though leaving your family and loved ones or being separated from them sounds like something that cults do or abusers do.
ReplyDeleteThe paralyzed man. It seemed like even through the middle ages, until germ theory came along, that was the explanation of what happened. If you got sick, or had something wrong with you, you deserved it. If your baby was born with deformities, it was due to some sin of the parents. It does seem to be a reoccuring theme of “How do you explain X?” “I'm not really sure how to explain X. Science hasn't gotten that far yet.” “Therefore, God did it.” Even that question that seemed to be the last domain of theologians “How do you get something from nothing” has been tackled now.
I like the last two things he says here as well. The part about hanging out with and preaching too the people that need it and the part about ignoring traditions to do the right thing (even though both these are contradicted elsewhere in the bible.) I think its a big part of being a part of any sect that follows the bible, picking and choosing what parts of the bible to follow. I don't know a single Christian who would have a problem working on the sabbath (Sunday for gentiles and Saturday for the Jewish people I believe) for example.
What you said about the paralyzed man is well put. People don't like to feel helpless and want a reason for bad things that happened. Not knowing is the worst thing. It makes sense from a historical perspective that people would say it is your fault. IMO it doesn't make sense from the perspective of an omnipotent god. It also gives people a way to feel powerful not to have a bad thing happen to them. "If I don't sin that won't happen to me" feel a lot better than "wow, that can happen to me tomorrow and there is nothing I can do about it"
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean. I actually feel IMO that those kinds of things enrich my life. Not the sufferings of others but knowing that it can happen to anyone, including me. I value my health and try to enjoy it. It's also easier I think to be compassionate toward others when you don't believe that they deserve their unfortunate circumstances.
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