Day 2 - In Action

Oh man!  Lot's a good stuff in today's reading.  We get to see Jesus in action, gathering disciples, performing miracles and teaching.  Also, I've been locating the places mentioned in the readings on New Testament maps so I have a better idea of where everything is happening.  Below are the two sites that I've found most helpful in accomplishing this:

http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/gennesaret.html

http://www.ebibleteacher.com/imagehtml/ntmaps.html

Leaving Jesus Behind
The first story in today's reading that caught my attention was the story of how Mary and Joseph leave Jesus behind in Jerusalem on accident.  I know I've read this before, but I always thought he was only gone from them for a few hour, or at most, a part of the day.  They couldn't find him for 3 days!  Could you imagine not being able to find your 12 year old for 3 days?!  Then Mary blames him! "Son, why have you treated us like this?"  They left him behind!  When Jesus responds with "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?", the parents don't understand what he's saying.  I would expect at least Mary to understand what he means.  She knows how he was conceived. I found that a little strange.  Also, at the end of this story, just like yesterday, we read that, Mary "...treasured all these things in her heart".  She must have kept a lot of her emotions inside.

John Tells Us How to Escape the Ax
In the story where John the Baptist is baptizing people in the Jordan River he tells the crowd of people gathering around him "...every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."  Someone asks how they can avoid this fate.  John speaks to three different people and gives them the answer.  What's interesting to me is that two of the three people have unique occupations and they are basically told to stop sinning while on the job.  The third person, however, and it's the first person that he responds to, John simply tells the man to take care of the needy. "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same."  So to escape the ax, we must not sin and take care of those in need.

The Devil
I have more of a question about this story than a comment.  At the end of the story, it says "When the devil had finished all his tempting, he left him until an opportune time."  I did a little research on-line and it seems that this is the only encounter that Jesus has with the devil in the Bible.  Does anyone know any different?

Wishy-Washy
One of the stories in today's readings is of Jesus teaching in a Nazareth synagogue.  He stood up, read a little from scroll of Isaiah, and then rolls it up and sits down. At this point, all eyes are on him and I imagine with great curiosity.  Then he says, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  The story says the "All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips."  But then he goes on to tell them that he can not do miracles in their town and they go crazy! The drive him to a cliff to throw him over and he walks right through them and on his way.  These people seem a little excitable to me.  And I wonder, did he walk around them, or through them?

Simon, Simon, Simon Peter
Another question here.  There is a Simon in today's reading who's mother-in-law is healed by Jesus.  Then the next story talks about Simon fishing, then calls him Simon Peter.  Is Simon, Simon and Simon Peter all the same person?  I was sure about the last two, but not about the first one.  I did a little reading on-line and it appears that they are all the same Simon.  Also, there is a part of this story where Simon says "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"  I can understand this reaction.  If Jesus appeared to me today, I guess a part of me would be pretty frightened.  After all, this is the being that has the ultimate say so in my eternal life.  But I would also like to think that I would be overjoyed to see him.  That I would be worshipping at his feet.  I guess some day I'll know what my reaction will be.

Son of... Man???
I never really understood why Jesus was referred to, and referred to himself as, the "Son of Man".  Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man in today's reading so I decided to try to find out why.  I found a good on-line article that explained it good enough for me (as well as a few that did not do such a good job of explaining it).  The article referenced the prophecy of Daniel 7:13-14 and explained that Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the Messiah that was spoken of in that prophecy.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Son-of-Man.html

Garments and Wineskins
At first read through, this parable didn't sink in.  But I marked it for research and came back to it and read it again.  It seemed to be Jesus' way of saying don't try to fit the New Covenant ways into the Old Covenenat ways.  I've struggled for a few minutes on how best to say put what I'm thinking into words, but decided instead to just paste a link to a web site I found that does a much better job than I could have.  But this explanation leaves me with another question.  Was the New Covenant, salvation through Jesus, even something that the Pharisees could have seen at this time in history?  Surely they could have at least understood that Jesus was the Son of God, due to all of the miracles he was performing, but was it too early at that time for them to understand that Jesus could forgive sins an provide eternal life?

http://www.bcbsr.com/survey/pbl3.html

The Rich
There is another instance of the rich being mentioned in a negative light in today's reading.  The whole passage is Luke 6:20-26, but the rich is mentioned in verse 24:

"24 But woe to you who are rich,
      for you have already received your comfort."

Words to Live By
Luke 6:27-31 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you."

And, Luke 6:40 "Students are not above their teacher, but all who are fully trained will be like their teacher."

Cryptic Jesus
There were two things that Jesus said in today's readings that I didn't fully understand.

Luke 7:23 "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me."   Is he saying here that anyone he heals is blessed?

And, Luke 7:32.  This one is long, so I won't type it out here, but I'm really unclear what this one means?

Wrap It Up
I feel like I've spent a good amount of time today reading and considering what I've read.  We'll start it up again tomorrow at 5am.  That time of the morning seems to work good as a starting point for the day.

Today was sort of a strange day for me, though.  I found out that an old friend had passed away.  He had been battling liver failure for the last 7 years and finally lost the fight this morning.  He had left his family years ago due to this disease and just recently reunited with them.  He has a young son and the last time I spoke with this friend he bragged a lot about him.  This must be an extremely difficult time for his family, but I am so glad that he was able to make ammends with his family and spend time with them before leaving to be with the Lord.  You'll be missed Chuck.