{"id":819,"date":"2008-05-15T22:21:19","date_gmt":"2008-05-15T22:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/mark_1023.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:45:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:45:30","slug":"mark_1023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/mark_1023.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Mark 10:23-31 – Wealth & Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 10 has a lot of meat in it and is taking me several readings to dig through. This is the third post and I’m not yet done.<\/em>
\nMark 10:23-31 – This passage, well, at least these words of Jesus have been on my mine lately. That and Jesus inability to work any miracles in his hometown because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13, Mark 6, Luke 4, John 4)
\nThe people of Nazareth knew Jesus too well, that was their problem. He was the carpenter’s son, that kid who used to hang at the synagogue. They knew who he was, you see, there was no way he was capable of anything special.
\nI contend that we have much the same problem in the America. I think that Jesus is far too familiar to us, so much so that he can do no miracles in our midst either. We hear his name on the radio and in church, we see him proclaimed on TV and see his fish on our cars. He’s everywhere, well, at least people are using his name everywhere. He’s common place.
\nIn addition we are wealthy and self reliant. We know the answers to so much now, we have great banking and manufacturing systems. We know how the world works.
\nFrankly, we no longer need Jesus.
\nWe have too much and have accomplished too much and have heard too much empty Jesus talk so that we no longer can see Him being able to transform us. We’ve learned that the world just doesn’t work that way, so Jesus has no power for us. He has no honor here.
\nSeveral weeks ago, when I read about the faith of the bleeding woman who was healed, I wondered why I didn’t have such faith. Why can’t I simply know that by being in the presence of Jesus, I could be changed?
\nA friend who once had a blog called Virusdoc, asked me a couple of years ago if I thought real transformation was still possible. In his view, even religious people simply weren’t transformed. Did it still happen? I wanted to answer yes, but the evidence was on his side. Religious folk talked a lot about living with their sin, but there weren’t many stories of real transformation. Certainly not in proportion to the number of professed believers. I wondered why.
\nGo dig up stories, however, from China or India or Iraq and you’ll find transformations and miracles left and right. It’s amazing. This week, the leaders of the church we support in Indonesia will be here to share what God’s doing there. They’ve done it before, and it’s astounding what happens with their faith, and a bit humbling and scary. Frankly, Jesus simply isn’t doing here in America what he is in Indonesia. The difference? They are poor and know they are in need, we are wealthy and think we are set. As a result, I think their Jesus is still huge and amazing, while ours, like those in Nazareth, is too familiar and routine.
\nI realize that my Jesus is too small, or rather, my faith in myself is far too big. I want to be amazed be Jesus again. I want to know that he is able, no matter how big the odds. I want to reach out and touch his cloak, knowing that a simple brush of the fabric has the power to transform. And hearing his words here in Mark 10, I’m more than a little frightened to be so wealthy. But I take comfort in verse 27:<\/p>\n

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark 10 has a lot of meat in it and is taking me several readings to dig through. This is the third post and I’m not yet done. Mark 10:23-31Read More Mark 10:23-31 – Wealth & Faith<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMark 10:23-31 - Wealth & Faith - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/05\/mark_1023.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mark 10:23-31 - Wealth & Faith - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark 10 has a lot of meat in it and is taking me several readings to dig through. 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Maybe, \"can you do me a favor\" or \"I'd like you to do something for me\", but \"do whatever we ask\"? Wow. Mark 10:37-38 - I suspect they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":840,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/08\/mark_143272.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":819,"position":1},"title":"Mark 14:32-72","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"August 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark 14:38 - When Jesus says to Peter \"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.\", I think it had to be a great encouragement to him. It's like Jesus saying \"I know that you're with me, but your tired and weak. Come on! Pray and hang in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/11\/miracles.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":819,"position":2},"title":"Miracles","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"November 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew 8:18-34, 9:18-34, 13:53-58, Mark 4:35-41, 5:1-43, 6:1-6, Luke 8:22-56, 9:57-62 Matthew 8:18-20, Luke 9:57-62 - These passages always troubled me. I know the traditional explanations of what Jesus likely meant and the explanations of what these men likely meant but it seems a little presumptuous. There's just not much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":226,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/11\/miracles_challe.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":819,"position":3},"title":"Miracles, Challenges and Parables","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"November 9, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew 14:14-36, 15:1-20, Mark 6:34-56, 7:1-23, Luke 9:11-17, John 6:2-71, 7:1 Mark 6:34, Luke 9:11 - Here we see Jesus' teaching and healing was motivated by his compassion. Matthew 14:23-33, Mark 6:47-52, John 6:17-21 - This is one of my favorite miracles of Jesus. He seems to be having fun\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":834,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/07\/mark_13_signs.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":819,"position":4},"title":"Mark 13 – Signs","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"July 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark 13:1-2 - I can see myself with Jesus, impressed by the local architecture, especially if I hadn't been there before. Cool, check that out! I'd be bummed when Jesus threw cold water on my observations. :-D Mark 13:5 - Jesus is asked about the future, when the end will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":808,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/04\/mark_9.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":819,"position":5},"title":"Mark 9 – Moses & Elijah and a Convulsing Boy","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"April 7, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark 9:4 - How did they know it was Moses and Elijah? Did they hear Jesus call them by name? Did Jesus introduce them? \"Moses, I'd like you to meet my friends Peter, James and John. Elijah, come over here ...\" No wonder Peter was a little frazzled. Mark 9:10\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1461,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions\/1461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}