Jesus, Teacher and Savior
Mark 4:2, 'And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,'
Mark 4:1-12 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Parable of the Sower
4 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds [a]of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no [b]crop. 8 But other seed
fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and
produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”9 And He said [c]to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Purpose of Parables
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you, it has been given to know the [d]mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
The Greek word
used here for 'doctrine' means 'teaching' and occurs a total of 30
times in the New Testament. The four gospels refer to Jesus teaching
43 times and preaching 19 times, and six verses refer to Him preaching and teaching in the same verse. This would indicate that Jesus spent twice as much time teaching as He did preaching. Jesus' teaching is the basic building block of making disciples and a stumbling block to the religious.
Why is it that a person who is seeking so hard to please God can be rejected, while a person who has not sought God at all can come into a righteous relationship with Him?
This is an important question and its answer is one of the most profound doctrines in scripture.
The answer is faith and its object, this is the key!
The Jews were zealous for the things of God, but their faith was in themselves. They were trusting that they could earn God's favor by their acts of righteousness. Which is very prevalent with many people today!
Yet, on the other hand, the Gentiles had no holiness to trust in. So, when they heard the Gospel message that Jesus paid our debt for us, they readily accepted His 'gift' of salvation, while the religious Jews could not abandon their trust in themselves for salvation.
The same problem exists today. Millions of church people are trying to live holy lives, but they do not have true faith in Jesus as their Savior.
If they were to stand before God and He was to ask them what they had done to deserve salvation, they would immediately start recounting all their acts of holiness such as church attendance, giving receipts, etc. Regardless of how good our actions are compared to others, they always come short of the perfect standard of God.
The only response to this kind of question that would grant us entrance into heaven is to say, 'my only claim to salvation is faith in Jesus as my Savior.'
Let Him be the object of your faith today.
He is all you need for Eternity.
43 times and preaching 19 times, and six verses refer to Him preaching and teaching in the same verse. This would indicate that Jesus spent twice as much time teaching as He did preaching. Jesus' teaching is the basic building block of making disciples and a stumbling block to the religious.
Why is it that a person who is seeking so hard to please God can be rejected, while a person who has not sought God at all can come into a righteous relationship with Him?
This is an important question and its answer is one of the most profound doctrines in scripture.
The answer is faith and its object, this is the key!
The Jews were zealous for the things of God, but their faith was in themselves. They were trusting that they could earn God's favor by their acts of righteousness. Which is very prevalent with many people today!
Yet, on the other hand, the Gentiles had no holiness to trust in. So, when they heard the Gospel message that Jesus paid our debt for us, they readily accepted His 'gift' of salvation, while the religious Jews could not abandon their trust in themselves for salvation.
The same problem exists today. Millions of church people are trying to live holy lives, but they do not have true faith in Jesus as their Savior.
If they were to stand before God and He was to ask them what they had done to deserve salvation, they would immediately start recounting all their acts of holiness such as church attendance, giving receipts, etc. Regardless of how good our actions are compared to others, they always come short of the perfect standard of God.
The only response to this kind of question that would grant us entrance into heaven is to say, 'my only claim to salvation is faith in Jesus as my Savior.'
Let Him be the object of your faith today.
He is all you need for Eternity.
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