~ Regarding Understanding, 6 ~
Introduction
~ This series is about questions
involving Jesus. Some were asked by
individuals involved with Jesus Christ while He walked on earth. Others are questions that Jesus Christ asked
others. We will look at questions on over
160 topics (some may split into two or more posts). Even so, it is far from an exhaustive
list.
Scripture
~ “Now before the Feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from
this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved
them to the end. And
supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas
Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given
all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose
from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and
began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which
He was girded.
“Then He came
to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord,
are You washing my feet?’ Jesus answered
and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you
will know after this.’ Peter said to
Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’ Jesus answered him, ‘If I do not wash
you, you have no part with Me.’
“Simon Peter
said to Him, ‘Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!’ Jesus said to him, ‘He who is bathed needs
only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all
of you.’ For He knew who would betray
Him; therefore He said, ‘You are not all clean.’
“So when He
had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them,
‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say
well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord
and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s
feet. For I have given you an example,
that you should do as I have done to you.
Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master;
nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if
you do them” (John 13:1-17).
Other
Scripture ~ “Jesus
said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded
forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do
you not understand My speech? Because
you are not able to listen to My word.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you
want to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not
believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of
sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you
not believe Me? He who is of God hears
God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God” (John
8:42-47).
“And He said
to him, ‘You have rightly judged.’ Then
He turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do
you see this woman? I entered your
house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her
tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.
You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since
the time I came in. You did not anoint
My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are
many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves
little.’ Then He said to her, ‘Your sins
are forgiven’” (Luke 7:43-48).
“Then Peter
answered and said to Him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ “So Jesus said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you
not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is
eliminated? But those things which
proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but
to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man’” (Matthew 15:15-20).
“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?’” (Mark 8:17-21).
“[Jesus
speaking] ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into
the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to
shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad
away. So it will be at the end of the
age. The angels will come forth,
separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of
fire. There will be wailing and gnashing
of teeth.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord’” (Matthew
13:47-51).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
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