Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. (Mar 11:12-14 NKJ)

In the midst of the narrative of the disciples getting the colt and Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple, we have this discourse about a fig tree.  Jesus is hungry and sees a fig tree, yet we are told that it was not the season for figs, and yet he curses the tree.  Now, I know that no matter how hungry I might be, if I go out into the garden and think I will find apples on the apple tree, I will be mistaken. No apples and no leaves. But, in that region, figs were prolific producers of fruit, often producing two crops a year.  The fruit is always on the tree in various stages of growth, and we know that this tree had an abundance of leaves, so it wasn’t dead or dying.

What does this mean for us? Like that fig tree, the Christian should always be producing fruit, in times of blessing and suffering.  The leaves represent life in general, and they are evidence that we are not dead.  However, some people have the appearance of life, even spiritual life, yet they don’t produce fruit.  John in his gospel talks about the gardener, pruning and even cutting down and burning the tree that is fruitless. Why, because it is a phony. I have heard people say, when they are questioned about their spiritual condition, “you don’t know my heart.” Actually, I can tell your heart condition by your fruit production. 

If Jesus came to inspect your life this day, what would he find, leaves and fruit, just leaves or dead branches?

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. (Mar 10:46-52 NKJ)

Blind Bartimaeus was in a good spot for collecting aims. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem was known as the ‘Way of Blood.’ The road was narrow and dangerous, but people would sooner travel that way than going through Samaria. He might have been tucked away on the side and easy to be missed.  Bartimaeus was going to have none of that, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Shhh! Be quiet, be happy with your portion in life. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Bartimaeus know that this was his chance, and he wanted to see what the Son of David had for him.

Jesus assumed nothing, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Bartimaeus already knew what he wanted.  Leaving his cloak and begging bowl behind he told Jesus, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” His faith was evident, and immediately, he received his sight.

How would you answer that question, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mar 8:34-37 NKJ)

It’s amazing how that other religions, such as Buddhism, seek to lose all attachments to the world and the consumer mentality.  Christians, however, seem to think that the mark of success is actually to gain more of the trappings of prosperity.  According to the words of Jesus, the only thing we should carry with us daily is the cross.  What does this mean?

1.      It tells us to hold life lightly.  This life is only temporary and is nothing compared to eternity.

2.      Be ready to lay your life down for the sake of the gospel.

3.      When you go to the airport, to fly, they weigh and check your baggage. To much and you will not take off.  Don’t become so attached to worldly wealth that it holds you back

Cars, planes, boats, and homes all look different and certain aspects of the design, make, location determine their value. The cross has no intrinsic value.  In fact, in Jesus’ day, the cross was seen as a means of death, shame, and terror, and yet to the spiritually discerning, it was a new and living way, a doorway to eternal life.  Pick it up; it’s yours.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mar 8:29-33 NKJ)

There was the Christ, and then there was The Christ. Peter’s Christ was going to restore the Kingdom of Israel and remove the Romans. There would be a new king in the land and perhaps a position there for me (Peter). However, the Kingdom Jesus was going to usher in was the Kingdom of God, but first, he would have to go to the cross.

Peter takes Jesus aside to tell him his plan and rebukes him. Jesus, seeing how Peter wanted to settle for the natural rebukes the author of this failed plan—Satan himself. Peter wasn’t demon possessed, but he was listening to the wrong source. Hearing from God? Test the spirit to make sure you’re hearing from the right source.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. (1Jo 4:1-3 NKJ)

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town.”  (Mar 8:22-26 NKJ)

We don’t know why Jesus took the blind man out of the town, but there may have been a spiritual reason for his blindness or the prevailing spirit in the town would have been a source of disbelief. It is interesting that Bethsaida was a fishing village, but over a period of time, the town was left high and dry.

Having taken the man out of the town, Jesus spits in his eyes, almost like cleaning the windows to this man’s soul.  “What do you see?” He doesn’t see clearly at first, but after Jesus lays hands on him again, he sees everyone. Jesus’s instructions, don’t go into that dry place and don’t tell anyone in that ‘dry place’ or you will be back where you started.

Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.”  “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?” (Mar 8:14-21 NKJ)

Not five-thousand, or four-thousand, just thirteen, and one loaf.  What they should have done was to pray over the loaf, believing and break it into thirteen portions, with some left over.  However, they sat in the boat arguing. Jesus warns them against becoming hard-hearted like the Pharisees, seeing but not seeing, hearing but not hearing. 

Having a hard heart will keep faith out. Faith wants to grow from strength to strength.

 October 16, 2017. Gospel of Mark

About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?” Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” “Seven loaves,” they replied. So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them. They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. (Mar 8:1-9 NLT)

Does anyone have a spare $16,000, that’s what it would cost to buy a McDonald’s Big Mac for 4000 people.  Now I am not sure they could handle that size order, and then you got those people that don’t want pickles, some don’t want ketchup—way too difficult.  So, I fully understand the concerned expressed by the disciples. They found seven loaves and a few fish, prayed over them and blessed them. Jesus gave a portion to each of the disciples and sent them out. Each disciple feed would have feed 350 people, and when they finished they still had the same portion that Jesus first gave them, plus there were seven baskets of left-overs—how can this be?

If you take what the Lord gives you, plus faith, you will see miracles happen.  If you wait until you have excess before you do something, you will never have enough—faith is the missing ingredient.

Mark 7:1-15 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs and pots and pans). The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, “Why do your disciples flout the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?” Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

    but their heart isn’t in it.
They act like they are worshiping me,
    but they don’t mean it.
They just use me as a cover
    for teaching whatever suits their fancy,
Ditching God’s command
    and taking up the latest fads.”

 He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command, so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.”

Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you—take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”

In the 1978 film, Superman—The Movie, Superman was given x-ray vision, to see through walls and catch the criminals on the other side.  Advertising, at that time, offered young readers of comics the chance to buy ‘x-ray specs’ for a small fee—they didn’t work.

Jesus didn’t have x-ray glasses; he didn’t need them, he knew the condition of the heart.  The Pharisees were all about the external traditions and ignored or manipulated God’s commandments for their own benefit or convenience.

Should you wash your hands before eating—absolutely. Should you allow God to clean the heart—what do you think?

Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. . (Mar 6:31-35 NLT)

Have you ever wondered what made Jesus so attractive to the crowds, even when he tried to get away to a quiet place, the crowds followed? They didn’t come because of the great facilities, or the music, or even the light show.  They came because he spoke life to them, full of love and grace.

Jesus might be around today in person, but his word is still living and active—let the Word do the work and serve it with love and grace.  Don’t manipulate, coerce, or condemn.  If people are hungry, they will come.

Mark 4:35-41  On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Psalm 23:4   Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

When God says to you, “Let us cross over to the other side”, or that you’re going through that valley, who do you hear, the Devil telling you that it’s the end, and it’s all over, or do you hear the Lord telling you that this is just part of life’s journey?  God doesn’t send trials and tribulations our way for our demise, but for our development and growth.  Remember the same power and authority (rod and staff) that takes us through the valley, is the same power and authority that Jesus used in the boat. It’s the power and authority given to a son or daughter of the living God—we just need faith.

So whatever trail you’re facing right now, see yourself coming out the other side, stronger and victorious.

Mark 4:3-9  “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.  “And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  “But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  “And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  “But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”  And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

There’s no problem with the seed–its the soil.  Soil doesn’t just become good soil, it often starts out full of weeds.  You have to dig it, break down the soil, remove the weeds, adding good things to it and continue to work it and keep it in prime condition.  A gardener knows that they cannot grow the same crop in the same ground every year.  In short, maintaining good soil takes work, preparing yourself to receive all that God has for you also takes work. 

Both Hosea and Jeremiah talk about plowing the fallow ground. “Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” (Hos 10:12 NKJ) Fallow is ground that hasn’t been used or sown for a season.

Digging, turning, adding and exposing your life to the new things that God has with make you ready to produce good fruit.  If we did a soil check today–what would we find?

I want to be premium soil, and I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it.  Is that your prayer–its mine.