MUSTARD SEED FAITH (42 OF 52)
Scripture: Mark 4:21-32
This content is part of a series.
Mustard Seed Faith (42 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 4:21-32
All too often we latch onto phrases and sayings getting them out of context. We rip them out of their historical settings and misrepresent what they are all about. We use the phrase ''piss poor'' and ''don't have a pot to piss in'' all the while forgetting that poor people used to sell their urine for use in the tanning of leather. We use the term threshold, forgetting that it originally referred to a barrier placed at the door to keep the straw scattered on a slate floor from tracking outside the house. When it comes to the Bible and Jesus' sayings we get further afield from simply missing the origin of the sayings. We often misinterpret them completely.
We take Jesus' words about faith in relation to a mustard seed and focus on the size of the seed, as though that were the important part of the matter. Is it? We convince ourselves that having just a little bit of faith is a powerful thing. We assert that a little faith is all we need. We try to overcome our fears that our faith is too weak, poor, undeveloped, and powerless. We tell ourselves that life will turn out alright if our faith seems insignificant, weak, and diminutive. We digress from looking at what Jesus was truly teaching by focusing on feeling our faith to be inadequate. In so doing, we miss what Jesus was actually trying to say. We ignore the context of his words because we are too wrapped up in our sense of inadequacy.
Of the three gospels that portray Jesus speaking of the mustard seed, Mark gives us the fullest picture of Jesus' words, developing better its context. Jesus did not simply preach in phrases, he preached in stories and response to particular situations faced by real people. His words were offered and written down for us within a structure we call context. Mark places Jesus' words on faith and a mustard seed in the structure of a parable in concert with several others. They wor ...
Series: Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
Mark 4:21-32
All too often we latch onto phrases and sayings getting them out of context. We rip them out of their historical settings and misrepresent what they are all about. We use the phrase ''piss poor'' and ''don't have a pot to piss in'' all the while forgetting that poor people used to sell their urine for use in the tanning of leather. We use the term threshold, forgetting that it originally referred to a barrier placed at the door to keep the straw scattered on a slate floor from tracking outside the house. When it comes to the Bible and Jesus' sayings we get further afield from simply missing the origin of the sayings. We often misinterpret them completely.
We take Jesus' words about faith in relation to a mustard seed and focus on the size of the seed, as though that were the important part of the matter. Is it? We convince ourselves that having just a little bit of faith is a powerful thing. We assert that a little faith is all we need. We try to overcome our fears that our faith is too weak, poor, undeveloped, and powerless. We tell ourselves that life will turn out alright if our faith seems insignificant, weak, and diminutive. We digress from looking at what Jesus was truly teaching by focusing on feeling our faith to be inadequate. In so doing, we miss what Jesus was actually trying to say. We ignore the context of his words because we are too wrapped up in our sense of inadequacy.
Of the three gospels that portray Jesus speaking of the mustard seed, Mark gives us the fullest picture of Jesus' words, developing better its context. Jesus did not simply preach in phrases, he preached in stories and response to particular situations faced by real people. His words were offered and written down for us within a structure we call context. Mark places Jesus' words on faith and a mustard seed in the structure of a parable in concert with several others. They wor ...
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