Author: thegospelmailman@yahoo.com

Wash Your Hands Before You Eat

Scripture: Mark 7 (Part One)

Mark 7: 1-2

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 

Commentary: The religious leaders sent people to Jerusalem to spy on Jesus. They didn’t like what they saw and questioned Jesus’s disciples about washing hands. Jesus scolded them for keeping the law and the traditions in order to look holy instead of honoring God.

The prophet Isaiah accused the religious leaders of his day of doing the same thing. (See Isaiah 29:13.) Jesus used Isaiah’s words to accuse these men.

Mark 7: 3-4

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

Commentary: Mark explained these Jewish rituals because he was writing to a non-Jewish audience. Before eating, a devout Jew performed a short ceremony by washing in a specific way. The Pharisees thought this ceremony cleansed them from anything unclean. Jesus said they weren’t making themselves acceptable before God just by performing this act.

Mark 7: 5-7

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Commentary: Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they worshipped God for the wrong reasons. Their worship was for profit, to appear holy, and to increase their status.

Part Two of the Commentary on Mark Chapter 7 will cover verses 8-19.

Read more commentary from the Book of Mark

Pay Attention to What You Hear

Are You Spiritually Paralyzed?

Dear Lord, What Shall I Do?

Learn the Truth of Jesus

Scripture: John 8: 42-47

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to[f] my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature,[g] because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

Scripture Commentary: Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.*

Because God loves us, He sent His Son. But we, like the people in Jesus’s time, do not believe. Satan uses our stubbornness, pride and prejudice to keep us from the truth. We may not be conscious of this but our hatred of truth, our lies and murderous intentions indicates how much control the devil has over us.

Satan, both then and now, uses people to obstruct God’s work. Satan has many tools to carry out his plans, and his followers speak the same language of lies.

No one can accuse Jesus of a single sin.

Jesus intentionally challenged His listeners to test Him. Ask yourself, do I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior?

If you answered yes, remember to keep Jesus’s word in your heart. This means to not only hear His words but to obey them and lean on Jesus for His love.

Read the Entire Chapter:

John Chapter 8

* John 1: 17

Read Other Commentary From the Book of John

Jesus, the Light of the World

Do You Recognize God’s Voice?

The Food of Spiritual Nourishment

Scripture: John 4: 34-38

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,”Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open[h] your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready[i] for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from[j]their labor.”

Scripture Commentary:

The “food” Jesus speaks about was His spiritual nourishment. It includes more than Bible study, prayer, and attending church. Spiritual nourishment also comes from doing God’s will and helping to bring His work of salvation to completion.

Don’t let Jesus find you making excuses.

We are nourished not only by what we take in but also by what we give out for God. Sometimes Christians excuse themselves from witnessing by saying that their family or friends aren’t ready to believe. Jesus, however, makes it clear that a continual harvest waits to be reaped. Look around, you will find people ready to hear God’s Word.

The wages Jesus offers are the joy of working for Him and seeing the harvest of believers. These wages come to the sower and reaper alike because both find joy in seeing new believers come into Christ’s kingdom.

There is joy in working for our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, He loves you. He gave His life for you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

John Chapter 4

Read Other Commentary from the Book of John

Do You Know the Gift of God?

You Can Depend on Jesus to Make You Whole

I Once Was Blind But Now I See

Scripture: John 9: 1-3

While He was passing by, He noticed a man [who had been] blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi (Teacher), who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but it was so that the works of God might be displayed and illustrated in him. 

Scripture Commentary: Jesus healed the blind.

I went blind when I was in my early thirties. My wife woke me to take our children to school. I asked her what time it was and if the curtains were closed. She replied that they were not so I asked her to take the the kids to school and then come back. When she got back, I told her I could not see.

I was taken to the doctor and then to the hospital. After a week, the doctors told my family I was blind and regaining my sight wasn’t likely. My family prayed and I saw again. I thanked the doctors and went about my life for thirty years before realizing it was God who gave me my sight back.

God is good all the time!

I tell you this to say how good Our Lord Jesus Christ is. He took a fool like me, healed me, protected me, loved me and gave me this ministry!

What can He do for you? Everything! Our God is truly a loving God who heals the sick, and protects you from harm and you don’t even know it.

How many times have you said that you were lucky? It wasn’t luck; it was Jesus Christ protecting you. Don’t wait years to thank Jesus. Thank Him every day because every day He protects you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

John Chapter 9

Read Other Commentary from the Book of John

There’s A Mansion for You in Heaven

Nicodemus Came to Jesus by Night

God Sent Us the Bread of Life

Scripture: John 6: 35-37

Jesus replied to them, “I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually]. But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. All that My Father gives Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, never reject anyone who follows Me].

Scripture Commentary: Jesus is the bread that supports spiritual life.

Jesus told the people as He tells us today: He is the Bread of Life (the living life). Those who accept Him will have eternal life. Jesus was not talking about the life that we have now. He is talking about a new life that we, as Jesus’s followers, will have with Him.

Jesus satisfies a spiritial hunger and thirst.

People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and sustain physical life. When we accept Jesus as the ‘Bread of Life,’ we are satisfying a spiritual hunger and a spiritual life.

Satisfying God does not come from our works but from accepting Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior. Jesus said that He would not lose one person whom the Father had given Him. Thus, anyone who makes a sincere commitment to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior is secure in God’s promise of eternal life with Him.

Death has no hold on those who follow Jesus.

Those who put their faith in Christ will be resurrected from physical death to eternal life with God. As God’s child, death has no hold on us. God has sent the Holy Spirit to us to show the way to Him. Open your heart; let God in.

Read the Entire Chapter:

John Chapter 6

Read Other Commentary From the Book of John:

Jesus Offers You Living Water to Slack Your Thirst

Jesus, the Light of the World

Do You Recognize God’s Voic

God Has Committed to Forgiving Your Sin

Scripture: Ezekiel 33: 16-19

None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced that which is just (fair) and right; he will most certainly live. “Yet your people [who are in exile in Babylon] say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right;’ but as for them, it is their own way that is not right. 18 When the righteous turns back from his righteousness and commits injustice, he will also die because of it.  But when a wicked man turns back from his wickedness and practices what is just (fair) and right, he will live because of it. 

Scripture Commentary:

I have lived a foolish, wicked life of sin. And the God who loves me, had mercy on me, and has forgiven me. He has committed to forgiving my sin!

How does that sound to you? Your question is likely how, why, and what have I done for God to do this?

(Answer) Did you turn your sinful life around? You can’t be half-and-half and hope God will only look at the good side. Although good deeds won’t save you (only Jesus’s death and resurrection does that!), your salvation will lead you to rightness.

God sees the totality to who you are.

God expects you to make restitution for the wrongs you commit. If you repent and turn to Him, He will wipe your slate clean. He looks at what you are and what you will become, not what you have been.

God gives you the opportunity to turn to Him. Will you take Him up on it? God is waiting for you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Ezekiel Chapter 33

Read Other Commentary from the Book of Ezekiel:

The Lord Will Answer You

Do You Listen To God Or To Yourself?

God Breaks Down Stubborn Pride

Jesus Heals the Blind

Scripture: John 9: 1-4

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

Scripture Commentary: Jesus opens the eyes of the blind.

When you woke up this morning, did you see the light of Our Lord or just the sunlight? Jesus will open your blind eyes if you let Him in.

Seeing with your eyes is only one part of sight. To see God is to know Him and believe in Him. Jesus not only gave the blind man his sight in John Chapter 9 but He also gave the man faith so that he could testify to the world about the miracle that Christ had done.

See clearly the miracle that is your life.

What miracle has God done for you, and have you shared it with anyone? When we follow God we not only gain physical sight but we also gain spiritual sight.

We go through life and things happen. When God works His miracle, many say that they were lucky. This doesn’t give God the glory.

What happens to you isn’t luck at all.

Think about it. Things happen for a reason. We need to open our blind eyes and see and feel the love God has for us.

As with the blind man in the story, your life has been miraculously changed. Don’t be afraid to tell others. You don’t need to know all the answers in order to share Jesus Christ with your friends or enemies.

Read the Entire Chapter:

John Chapter 9

Read Additional Commentary From the Book of John:

Christ Is the True Vine

Confidently Trust the Lord Your Savior

Pay Attention To What You Hear

Scripture: Mark 4: 21-25

He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?  For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”  Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides. For whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Scripture Commentary: Pay attention to how your light shines.

Pay attention to how easy it is for our daily routines to become overcrowded. Worldly worries, the false sense of security brought on by prosperity, and the desire for things plagued first century disciples as they do us today.

A life packed with materialistic pursuits deafens us to God’s Word.

If the lamp doesn’t help us to see, it is useless.

Make sure your life shows others how to find God and how to live for Him. If it does not, ask what “bowls” have extinguished your light.

What could extinguish your light?

Complacency, resentment, stubbornness of heart, or disobedience could keep God’s light from shining through you to others. The light of Jesus’s truth is revealed to us, not hidden. But we may not be able to see or use all of that truth right now.

Only as we put God’s teachings into practice will we understand and see more of the truth. How much we have is not nearly as important as what we do with it.

Be like the seed that was planted in the fertile soil.

Strive to live a Christian life with Jesus. By following Jesus, we will understand that spiritual growth is a continual, gradual process finally consummated in a harvest of spiritual maturity.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 4

Are You Spiritually Paralyzed?

Scripture: Mark 2: 1-7

Jesus returned to Capernaum, and a few days later the news went out that He was at home.  So many people gathered together that there was no longer room [for them], not even near the door; and Jesus was discussing with them the word [of God].  Then they came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, who was being carried by four men.  When they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus; and when they had dug out an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying.  When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  But some of the scribes were sitting there debating in their hearts [the implication of what He had said],  “Why does this man talk that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins [remove guilt, nullify sin’s penalty, and assign righteousness] except God alone?”

Scripture Commentary:  What has you paralyzed?

The paralyzed man’s need moved his friends to action. They brought the man to Jesus. Do you act when you recognize someone’s need?

Many people have physical and spiritual needs you can meet, either by yourself or with others who are also concerned. Human need moved these friends. Let it also move you to compassionate action.

As God’s Son, Jesus can help us overcome sin.

He has the authority to forgive sin. And as a man, He can identify with our deepest needs and suffering.

Before saying to the paralyzed man, “Get up,” Jesus said, “your sins are forgiven.” Repent and live in the light of Jesus. Let Him forgive your sins. Only by repenting can you begin to see and feel the love of God, the Father.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 2

Other Commentary From the Book of Mark:

Watch and Pray; Jesus Will Return

Receive the Kingdom of God with Childlike Faith

The Congregation Lifted Up Their Voice

Scripture: Numbers 14: 1-4

And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Scripture Commentary:

When the chorus of despair lifted up their voice, everyone joined in. Certainly their greatest fears were being realized. Losing their perspective, the people were caught up in the emotion of the moment. They forgot what they knew about God’s character.

What if the people had spent as much energy moving forward as they did moving back?

They could have enjoyed their land. Instead, they never even entered it. When a cry of despair goes up around you, consider the larger perspective before you join in.

God puts us on a path.

We, in our own sinful way, try to leave it. Ask yourself, “If God put me here to follow his Commandments, who am I not to follow Him?”

Finally, God’s path is the only one to righteousness, to glory, to peace, and above all, to everlasting life with Jesus Christ.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Numbers Chapter 14

Other Commentary from the Book of Numbers

Do Not Break the Vow You Make to God