“Jesus looked at them and said, ““With man this is impossible, but not with God, all things are possible with God.”
~ Mark 10:27
Hi James and Ellen,
How would you have liked to have been able to spend months following Jesus as He went place to place? When God – as God the Son, as an incarnate man – Jesus, went place to place, He walked. A Biblical record has Jesus in the city of Tyre when He healed the daughter of a Canaanite gal. A Biblical record has Jesus – along with three of His disciples – Peter, James and John, in Mt. Herman’s mountainous range when He was transfigured on a high place. Is a little over 30 miles east from the Mediterranean Sea – which is where the city of Tyre was located, to where Mt. Herman is located. Both the city of Tyre and Mt. Herman are on the northern edge of Galilea territory in the land area that had once been Israel’s land area. A Biblical record has Jesus traveling routes that paralleled both sides of the Jordon River as well as taking a route that passed through Samaria territory in the land area that had once been Israel’s land area. A Biblical record has the town of Bethlehem – which is where Jesus was born, as the furthest town or city south of where Jesus spent time in Judea territory in the land area that had once been Israel’s land area. Other than when Jesus – shortly after He was born, had His dad and ma – who were Joseph and Mary, take Him to the country of Egypt to escape being killed by a Herod and where He spent several years with his dad and ma before God – as God the Spirit, led Joseph and Mary to take their kid to their hometown – which was the town of Nazareth – in Galilea territory, where they could safely live. Jesus spent the last three years or so of His life and what He did to enable twelve guys who He chose to be His disciples in a land area that stretched no more than 150 miles north to south from the line in the north between the city of Tyre and Mt. Herman’s region to where He was born in a grotto near the town of Bethlehem. Jesus’ arena for ministry and for teaching and giving experiential learning lessons to His disciples was within about a 6000 square mile land area. Delaware – the United State’s state in which you are living, has 1954 square miles. What would you do if you could only travel by foot around a land area that is about three times larger than your state? The mission agency – Adventures in Missions, in which your grandmaa and grandpaa are now missionaries has a ministry program called ‘World Race’. To be a participant on a ‘World Race’, a guy or gal must be 21 years old or older and been okayed by Adventures in Missions. A guy or gal on a ‘World Race’ will spend a month in 11 countries in three continents. During a ‘World Race’, each guy and gal will because of the stressors that are inherent in a micro community of other guys and gals who are on the same ‘World Race’ squad and because of moving from one cultural/societal environ to another cultural/societal environ will be catalysts for God to begin to uncover in each guy and gal his or her motivation gift or gifts, hardwiring and the burning heart passion that God has embedded in each guy and gal.
Mark may have done an extensive trip throughout the land area that had once been Israel’s land area to gather for his Mark Book information regarding what Jesus did during His trips. Mark 10 is filled with snapshots of Jesus doing ministry. Someplace on the east side of the Jordon River, Jesus debated with Pharisees about the subject of divorce. When Jesus’ disciples tried to shoo away some little kids who had been brought to Jesus by their dads and mas so that Jesus could touch them, Jesus esteemed or honored the little kids in front of His disciples. When a dude who was desperately looking for eternal life fell in front of Jesus, Jesus explained to the guy the financial cost for him if he was to continue to pursue seeking eternal life. While Jesus was on His way to the city of Jerusalem with His disciples, Jesus gave His disciples a heads-up to the things that were going to happen to Him on this trip. When James and John – who were two of Jesus’ disciples, asked Jesus if they could have the right and left hand seats next to Jesus in glory, James and John really had no idea what they were asking of Jesus as well as doing a really good job of alienating themselves from the other ten disciples. Jesus told His disciples that just as He was on planet Earth to serve others that He expected them to also have a servant mindset. As Jesus was leaving the town of Jericho – a town that was located not far from the city of Jerusalem, a blind guy began to shout at Jesus – begging Jesus for His healing mercy. Jesus heard Bartimaeus – who was the blind dude in the city of Jericho, and because of Bartimaeus’ faith, Jesus gave the guy eyesight.
Your grandpaa sometimes says that there are not enough John Marks today who are out gathering information about what Jesus is doing in the lives of guys, gals and kids in places all over planet Earth. When Mark wrote on possibly onionskin his research study on Jesus’ life and travels, Mark not only articulated very clearly each micro snapshot; he condensed each incident into a just few words. Your grandpaa thinks that it is possible that Mark may have trailed Jesus at times – that some of the things that Mark wrote about in his Mark Book are his own eyewitness accounts. If you had the chance to ask Mark today what he learned the most about Jesus’ teachings or about Jesus’ lifestyle or about Jesus’ miracles, Mark’s answer might be what he penned in verse 27, “Jesus looked at them and said, ““With man this is impossible, but not with God, all things are possible with God.”” A ‘World Race’ is really just traveling with Jesus from one country to another country – from one city to another city – from one guy, gal or kid to another guy, gal or kid. Your grandpaa thinks that ‘World Race’ is a great experience for a guy or gal to have.
Mark 10 (902)