Nov 9

Sep 3

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Embracing our humanity
    In John 11 we see a beautiful overlap of divine purpose and human condition right in the person of Jesus Christ. This is an encouraging account for us as we experience our humanity. After setting the stage the first part of the chapter presents the divine purpose in this event. The fact that Jesus has a clear picture of how things will play out is shown in v.4, 15 and 23 respectively. Yet in the later part of the chapter we see Jesus’ humanity surfacing (v.33, 35). He was deeply troubled and we… Read more »

Aug 19

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Is good relative?
    John 9 offers us a window into the behavior of those who don’t embrace what’s good wherever or however it is manifested. These are the people who believe in what’s good to them. As long as it fits their system, their way of arranging the world, their theology, anthropology etc., then it passes the test for what is good, if not … well, it can’t be good. This approach to reality is not one of openness, where reality informs us, but one that forcefully projects upon reality. In this story healing… Read more »

Aug 12

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Commitment to Scriptures, not to the GOD of Scriptures
    John 7:48-52 is a good window into the way people, especially the learned ones, can confidently say they are biblical, that they are committed to the Scriptures and yet miss the God of Scriptures. Jesus, God in human body, is right in front of them explaining the meaning of Scriptures, history, theology and yet because of their bent toward their particular system of theology they can’t get His message. They are willing to exchange the Truth for their truth of all reasons due to their commitment… Read more »

Nov 3

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Unbreakable, rock-solid support
    What a beautiful picture of a loving God. What a tremendous support. God has our back and he is COMMITED. What can go wrong? Yes we will falter and make mistakes, but that should not scare us or chip away at our hope for life. The only one we should be worry is ourselves. The only way things can go bad is if we purposefully and continually say no to God and we willfully want Him out of our lives. But even this scenario is pretty hard to imagine, though not impossible, because even so God will re… Read more »

Jun 10

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Evaluation time
    As I think about this parable I see so many layers of meaning that I can’t just not stop and give Jesus a hand for His brilliant use of story to convey such a rich and vivid content. It does touch the reader in so many ways. First the main character: the vineyard owner. He had a big heart, very loving and graceful. He puts all this work in building the vineyard. I am thinking he could have hired these people to do the work of building not just give them a finished work. He wasn’t forced to gi… Read more »

Jun 4

May 23

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Seeing beyond the physical reality
    There is a problem Jesus disciples had and many of us today have: they could not go past the surface of the immediate reality. They had a certain way of looking at things: an empirical one determined by sensory perception, what I see, touch, smell, hear and taste. They were so prone to thinking this way that when Jesus used the metaphor of “the yeast of the Pharisees” they really thought He is talking about the actual yeast, so the only connection they could make for what Jesus said was the brea… Read more »

May 19

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus provokes a reaction
    Jesus says something to provoke a reaction. He wants me to know how important this is to me? Am I ready to fight for this or am I going to give up on the first obstacle? How serious am I? How far am I willing to take it? Her answer shows she really wanted this done to the degree she built her case around what Jesus said. It’s significant to note Jesus made His probing statement after she pleaded, begged at His feet. She didn’t just want to ask Jesus to help and if He didn’t then go back home… Read more »

May 13

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution God vs. traditions
    The incessant friction between God’s word and man’s traditions Isn’t it revealing that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law never bother Jesus and his followers on not following the word of God but only when their traditions are not followed? Traditions make people judgmental. Since traditions are man made they tend to become more personal when broken, hence the natural judging reaction. Traditions tend to deal with superficial things where God’s word (commands) goes to the heart of t… Read more »

May 6

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Repentance: what ???
    Words don’t have fixed/static meaning. They are shaped by their use. Repentance is one of these words. The original meaning (metanoia) didn’t refer to a change in the sphere of behavior but to that of mind, to the way we think. Jesus asked his disciples to speak with people not about their life (that would have been judgmental) but about their thinking; that they need to change how they think about life, reality, God etc. Nowadays repentance has come to mean changing how you live, what you do. I… Read more »

Apr 29

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus words spread
    I am amazed at the speed of information and its penetration power through the social spheres in the first century. This was not happening in an information age with the ease of access to the internet and its speed in transmitting information. Yet it spread through the whole society all the way to the top. Why? How? What can we learn from this to help us in our very resourceful world spread the knowledge of God, the same God Jesus came to make known (John 17:26). One thing is sure: some informati… Read more »

Apr 21

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Doing ministry
    Jesus sends His disciples pretty early (too early by our standards). He called them to follow Him not too long ago and He already trusts them to do the work? Did Jesus want them to learn through real life situations? Kind of like saying: it’s time to get dirty, go make some mistakes, it’s ok, that’s how you learn. Or could it be that the essence of the message of the Kingdom of God is not that complicated, it is pretty simple, it doesn’t take too long to get it, even some simple fishermen were a… Read more »

Apr 15

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus respects personal choice
    Jesus doesn’t perform any miracles (healing sick people is not considered a miracle; interesting, huh?!) because of their lack of faith. I see here two realities intersecting. One is God’s plan to redeem people, to draw them back to Himself active in the person of Jesus (miracles were a part of this grand plan). To add urgency to it there is a small window of opportunity (about 3 years). The other is people in deep need of redemption whose only hope is God, with their choices. In this case these… Read more »

Apr 8

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution How is God working in people's lives
    What an incredible incident! It starts by saying “A large crowd followed and pressed around him” (5:24) Why was it important for Mark to mention that they were pressing against Jesus and that it was a lot of them? When we read later on that a woman (of all people) did the same thing except she made something special out of the touch the whole story gets color and it is put in perspective. What a stark contrast! Something happened and only Jesus and this woman knew it. Even the disciples were clu… Read more »

Apr 2

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution People vs material world
    Isn’t it remarkable that even a man heavily possessed by evil spirits is capable of responding to the tug of God in his heart to come and meet Jesus (it is clear the evil spirits didn’t really want to meet Jesus, see v. 7). In the verses 3-6 Mark gives us a picture of this man before meeting Jesus. All society knew to do was to subdue him, to chain him, to force him to conform. When this didn’t work they just gave up on him and isolated him from the rest (Jesus on the other hand advises him t… Read more »

Mar 26

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Discovering who Jesus is
    This is yet another instance where Jesus purposefully creates a situation to make his disciples wonder, start asking questions, stir interest. He could have just tell them who He is and what powers He has (full control over creation, in this case). Yet He chooses to take them on the path of self discovery. He wants them to draw conclusions on their own. It starts off with Him telling his disciples “let us go over to the other side”. As if He would say “I’ve got something for you”. The crowd… Read more »

Mar 24

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus teaching strategy
    Mark gives us in 4:34 a clear picture of the way Jesus taught. Jesus used parables not so much to explain the truth (in a sort of propositional and systematic way), but to stir interest. Those, really in a quest for truth, who want to find out more, would “follow” Jesus (not necessarily committing all the way, as we see in an instance where some of his followers decided this is not for them - John 6:66) and ask more questions. To these He would then explain the truth. [Even to those interested,… Read more »

Mar 21

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Truth is to be sought after
    This is probably one of the most difficult passages in Jesus teaching (at first read!?). Does this mean Jesus doesn’t really want everyone to be forgiven, to find the truth? Well, that’s what this passage clearly states … unless you can read between the lines (and especially the context). Jesus has just finished telling people a parable to say that truth comes alive for those who seek it, who are ready for it. “As soon as he was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him ab… Read more »

Mar 18

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution People: catalysts for God’s kingdom
    Mark tells us that the parable he is about to tell us is just one of many Jesus told (4:2). This makes the point that there’s something about this particular one that is essential in understanding Jesus teaching. What was the point Jesus was making in telling this parable? The kingdom of God can materialize only as people are transformed by it. The kingdom of God as an idea has no value. It becomes increasingly valuable though when it makes its way into the lives of individuals. People are the r… Read more »

Mar 17

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus close circle
    In our world the closest relationships are blood relationships (i.e. immediate family: mother, father, brother, sister). Generally speaking there is a different bond between these types of relationships and the rest. They do have a special place for us. If you’re in the middle of something and you get a call, first thing you do is check caller ID to see who it is from. If it is a friend you let it go to your voicemail and you’ll call him later. If it is from a soliciting company then for sure yo… Read more »

Mar 14

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution How life (kingdom of God) works
    Jesus tells them that God’s Kingdom is the way things work in this world. It is the way of life. It is the law that governs life. You can work with it and draw benefit or you can decide to do your own thing and be left with nothing but frustration, time and energy wasted. Our tendency is to try to understand first and then embrace and apply. Jesus says if you are trying to understand first you will not enjoy results (4:27 “though he doesn’t know how” NIV). The key question is not “why” but “what… Read more »

Mar 12

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus brilliant way of reply
    Jesus responds to their accusation first by showing there’s no weight to it. It doesn’t even make sense, further unmasking a pure desire to just discredit Him. The reason they didn’t believe in Him wasn’t because the evidence wasn’t there to support it, but because they have already made up their mind about Him. He didn’t fit in their matrix and as a result He got voted off. He then takes advantage of this and He goes on to make an important point. The reason He can cast out demons is because… Read more »

Mar 11

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus doesn't want everybody
    This is one of those, admittedly, rare moments in Jesus life where we see Him being SELECTIVE. We’re so used to seeing Him as all embracing, all accepting that when you read this verse it just doesn’t sit well with you. I mean you’re thinking is this some kind of error, some later addition ‘cause it doesn’t fit the portrait of Jesus. But the very fact we do struggle shows us we don’t have the right portrait. These words force us to make changes. Yes, you can say no to people and you can be like… Read more »

Mar 10

  • ciumcium
    ciumcium added a text contribution Jesus' ministry strategy
    Jesus was all about sharing the news of God’s kingdom, which was part of His mission. However He adjusted to the people he was ministering to, not the other way around. Most of the time we see people coming to Him for some other type of needs (health, food, psychiatric, etc.) He doesn’t tell them that this is not what He came for (which is true, this time around He didn’t come to restore all things) and that there will be one day He will take care of all these needs in a new haven and new earth,… Read more »