Week 3

The reading this week focused on various chapters in Luke, Matthew, and Mark. I had the opportunity to read about the Savior declaring that He was the messiah and the calling of the 12 apostles.

When the Savior declared that He was the Messiah, the people that He was with tried to kill him.

Luke 4:28-29- And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, ... And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

After realizing that the people were trying to kill Him, I started to wonder why. I came to the conclusion that they were angry because they wanted a Savior that would come down wielding a flaming sword and that he would then use to kill all of the Romans that were oppressing the Jewish people. They thought that he was blaspheming (not showing respect to God) by claiming to be their savior. I think that some of us are looking for that too; we want God (or Jesus Christ) to come and pluck us out of our problems and make drastic changes in our lives, but in reality, they will do the opposite. They will be gentle, and teach us what we need to do to make those changes ourselves.

When Christ was on the earth, he was limited, in a way, by His body. He wasn't able to be in more than one place at once like He could before he was born. He needed help running His church while He was still on the earth, and He needed people to run His church after His death. Given this, He called 12 men to be his apostles (helpers, if you will) and they were each given power.

Matthew 10:1- And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

This is important to understand because He gave them same power that He had. These men were called to take Christ's place after His death and they were given the power to do so. I think that pretty much rocks.

This week's study principles:

Patterns/Themes- It is important to look for the patterns and themes in the scriptures. It's what helps us learn more than just what's on the surface.

Context- In order to fully understand the stories and principles found in the scriptures, we need to understand the who, what, when, where, and why's of the verses. If we know that Jesus gave power to His apostles, but don't understand why, the meaning of the scripture would escape our minds entirely.