Title: Jesus Prepared Thoroughly
The process of the public life of Jesus Christ (2)
(Jesus prepared thoroughly)
Text/ Mark 1:1-13
1. Introduction
Our Jesus, learn the parable of the fig tree. When its branches become tender and put forth leaves, you know that summer is near (Mark 13:28). You say that if the sky is red in the evening, it will be a good day, and if the sky is red and cloudy in the morning, you say that today will be a bad day. You know how to discern the heavens, but you cannot discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:1-4). When you see a cloud rising from the west, you immediately say, “There will be showers.” Yes, it is, and when you see a south wind blowing, you say, “It will be very hot.” Indeed it is. Hypocrites, you know how to discern the weather of heaven and earth, how can this age change? Can't you? (Luke 12:54-56)
When a person dies, the bugs in the person's body add to the person's body. By the time the ship is wrecked, all the mice in the ship leave the ship. Around the time of the flood, the ants migrate to higher mountains. Even small creatures are living with the wisdom to discern the age in which they live.
Jesus lived by discerning, discerning, and paying attention to the times in which he lived. Thus, Jesus lived with the clear purpose of “I must give eternal life to the people of this world by dying on the cross”.
2. Purpose is not achieved without preparation
As our proverb says, <The salt on the stove must be put in to make it salty, and the journey of a thousand li starts with one step. A purpose without action is a cloud without rain. Unauthorized delegation is a colorful apricot. A dragon without a woman, a toothless tiger, and a king without people are useless shells. Preparation and action appropriate for the purpose!. It is the creative order.
The confession of faith that Jesus is true God and true man (vere deus, vere homo) contradicts the logic of reason. But in the logic of faith, it is a very gracious and profound truth. The logic of reason says that if Jesus is God, he can do whatever he sets out to do. But the logic of faith is that Jesus is the true God, so he can do whatever he wants. But Jesus is a true man, so he says that he strives just like humans do for his purposes. Jesus did not accomplish his purpose with superpowers, but he accomplished his purpose through tears, pain, and prayer just like us.
3. How did Jesus prepare?
first. Jesus discerned the times. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was said to be about 30 years old when he began to be active (Luke 3:23), and in the Gospel of John, people said that at that time people saw Jesus as about 50 years old (John 8:57). It is usually said that Jesus was crucified at the age of 33, but it would be more historical truth to say that it is a historical legend rather than a historical fact. What is more important than exactly how old Jesus was when he started his activities is even more important that Jesus carefully discerned when his <your time> was and acted. According to the Bible, “It is not yet my time. Now is the time. Behold, the time has come!> and so on, there are many words about <time>. What does it mean?. These words prove that Jesus was sensitive to the signs of the times and acted accordingly.
second. Jesus did not start out as a single fire general. You are not a person who protruded from the flat ground. Jesus was not the one who ignored John the Baptist, the voice of the wilderness, sent by God first, and started doing something completely absurd that he had never heard of. Rather, he was baptized by John the Baptist and, using him as a starting point, expanded the kingdom of God more magnificently. This is exactly what God meant when Jesus was baptized and came up to the shore, saying, “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
third. Jesus prepared well spiritually before he acted. Jesus went out to a land that was uninhabitable, literally deserted (Desert), into the wilderness because of wild beasts, poisonous insects, and extreme heat and cold. He fasted and prayed for 40 days. And he was tempted by Satan in those three famous wilderness trials.
Before establishing the kingdom of God on this earth, Jesus thoroughly prepared himself physically, mentally, and spiritually, and trained and quenched himself.
4. Closing story
The more deeply we meditated on the process of Jesus' public life, the more we realized that Jesus was not a person who moved recklessly. And you can see that he never gave up on what he started. Jesus was not a sentimentalist, a moody, or a rough-and-tumbler.
What is the purpose of life?. Like Jesus, I pray that all the saints will be able to discern the <time>, find <my John the Baptist>, and prepare for the <complete inner training>.
Weekly <Fountain of the Word>