How much was one mite worth?
Mark 12:42
The poor widow gave God all that she had left – one mite. The mite she gave to God was worth 1/64th of a day’s wages.
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The Samaritan woman at the well had lived with five men not her husband and the current one was not. And she was an outcast since she went to the well at noon (Jewish time) or 5:00 PM (Roman time) and everyone always got their day’s supply of water in the morning.
John 4:15-18 – John 4:39-42
No! This woman had gone through the agony of being widowed five times! Could you? True, her sixth was not her husband, but she had been married to the others and lost them probably in tragedies of diseases and accidents and maybe even war.
She was respected in the city. When she told them about Jesus, she influenced the whole city to stop what they were doing, go down to Jesus and hear him.
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How could Nathaniel possibly know instantly that Jesus was the Son of God?
John 1:48-50
Jesus had seen Nathaniel “long distance”.
Whatever the unexpected reason that Nathaniel was in that orchard, Jesus saw him there when he thought he was alone.
The day before, Jesus had spent the day explaining things to Andrew and Philip over in Bethany where John was baptizing. Jesus had seen Nathaniel long distance. Only God can do that.
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When Andrew went to tell his brother, Peter, he had found the promised Messiah, they were at home in a northern province and their city of Bethsaida, along the Sea of Galilee.
John 1:28 – John 1:40-43 – John 2:1
No! John was preaching and baptizing in Bethany in the southern province of Judea. Philip and Nathaniel were down there too. Andrew and Peter may have been down there lining up merchants for their fishing business. Bethany was 95 miles from Cana. They arrived in Cana of Galilee after traveling three days. Cana was only 12 miles from Bethsaida.
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The Book of John
John 1 – 21
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says I AM 24 times
And he says IF YOU 46 times.
THINK ABOUT IT….
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When Jesus’ family came to take possession of Jesus, it was because they thought he had lost his mind.
Mark 3:20-34 – Luke 4:16-31 – Mark 2:1 – Mark 10:9-11 – Mark 3:6
Fact #1 – Jesus had been born and raised in Nazareth, but his former friends rejected him and tried to kill him
Fact #2 – So he moved to Capernaum where he chose his apostles and apparently rented a house. (He and the 12 was a big house full and they needed their privacy. And his mother had to come to see him in his home.)
Fact #3 – But so many people were following him around – both people wanting to be healed and Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem already trying to destroy him – that he and his apostles couldn’t even eat.
Fact #4 – The scribes kept declaring that Jesus was demon possessed because he was casting out demons by the power of Satan.
Fact #5 – The Bible does not say who in the city heard about it, but what it does say what they did (according to the Greek) was to gently try to persuade him to leave with them – in other words, they tried to rescue him.
Fact #6 – But Jesus had powers to take care of himself. So, he told two parables.
Fact #7 – Next, his mother and relatives (brothers, sisters, etc.) came and just stood outside.
Fact #8 – The word often translated “called” him is not a vocal call in Greek, but drawing attention to someone just by their presence. It is also used in “weep with those who weep”, etc.
Fact #9 – When Jesus realized his family was there, he launched into a new speech. (He always took advantage of every situation. Remember, “You shall be fishers of men?”) To the crowd (even his enemies) he looked around and said, “Follow my guide and you, too, can be my brothers, etc.
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Sometimes, even John the Baptist struggled with his faith.
John 1:31-33 – Luke 1:13-17 – Matthew 11:2-11
John the Baptizer and Jesus were cousins born 6 months apart. He knew his whole life who Jesus was. But, after he grew up and began preaching to introduce Jesus to the world, he began to have doubts. Was he preaching a lie or truth? He said he did not know who Jesus was, so the Spirit descended and God spoke out of heaven saying this was his Son. And while in prison with the strong possibility he would be executed, once again, he apparently needed a sign. He sent word to Jesus, “Are you the one?” Despite having moments of doubt, Jesus called him great.
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When Christians die, they go to paradise and have to wait for heaven.
Luke 16:19-31 – John 3:13 – Luke 23:39-44 – Ephesians 4:8; Revelation 22:2 – Philippians 1:21-23 – Revelation 10:6 (KJV)
No! Jesus’ parable of the beggar dying and going to Abraham was before he died and conquered Satan by coming back to life. The Mosaic Law was still in effect. The same with Jesus on the cross and telling the other crucified one he would be in paradise.
All references to where we go after Jesus’ death & resurrection refer to being with Christ
Jesus referred to paradise while he was still alive. But he descended to Paradise to bring captives up in his train, for the tree of life formerly in the paradise of Eden is now in heaven. Now, when the Christian dies, he is immediately with Jesus. Is Jesus not in heaven?
Since in our next life “time will be no more” it seems the Day of Judgment will be for each of us the day we die.
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In the story of THE PRODIGAL SON, the older brother had every right to not forgive his younger and lazy brother who finally came home, but only after spending all their father’s money.
Luke 15:11-14 – Luke 15:22-25 – Luke 30-32
No! It was much more than that. It was jealousy, greed, and a desire for all vs nothing.
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Zebedee, the father of James and John, was betrayed by Jesus when he recruited his sons along with his fishing partners, Peter and Andrew, so that his fishing business would fail.
Luke 5:4-11 – Matthew 27:56 – Matthew 20:20-21 – Mark 15:40 – Mark 16:1-8 – Matthew 8:20 – Luke 9:58
No! Just before recruiting them, Jesus performed a miracle of catching so many fish at the wrong time of day that Zebedee’s nets were about to break. It was a message to Zebedee that his fishing business would do fine.
In fact, Zebedee’s wife, Salome, traveled with Jesus and his mother sometimes, probably donating funds (since he did not have any) and helping with the women and children.
She certainly had enough money to partner with the other women in paying for expensive spices for his “embalming”. Rabbis Joseph and Nicodemus had already bought 76 pounds of spices (at that time valued at some $200,000) and the five women brought even more.
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