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Judah's Betrayal   Mark 14:10-11 『 And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him. 』 Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver from a priest. He became a disciple of Jesus, but he betrayed and betrayed Jesus. Why did Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus, betray Jesus? Judas Iscariot was chosen as one of the twelve disciples, but unlike the other disciples, he did not use the title "Lord" toward Jesus. Instead, he called Jesus "Rabbi" and did not acknowledge him as anything more than a teacher. Therefore, it can be seen that he did not have faith in Jesus. In John 12:5-6, Judas became so consumed by greed that he betrayed the trust of not only Jesus but also his fellow disciples. Judas may have wanted to follow Jesus simply because he knew that Jesus had many followers a...

Jesus' mother and siblings   In Mark 3:31-35, “ There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. ” And the multitude sat about him, and they said to him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seeking for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. 』 When Jesus' mother, Mary, and his brothers saw him performing his ministry, they thought he was possessed by a demon. So they came to Jesus, and Jesus emphasized that his family was a spiritual family. The obstacle to living a life of faith is physical identity. Physical identity is the self, and is established as a solid castle in the hearts of believers. Jesus told us to deny this. It is a spiritual war against oneself. Mark 10:26-30 『 And they were astonish...

Controversy over the authority of Jesus   Mark 11:27-33 『 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there came to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things 』 When “ Jesus, who announced the judgment of the temple, ” appears again in the temple, the Jew...

Parable of the woman who found her lost drachma   Luke 15:8-10 『 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does she not light a candle, and sweep the house, and diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. 』 This is the second of Jesus' parables. The first parable is about a shepherd losing one of his hundred sheep, and the shepherd goes out to find that one sheep. It is not that the sheep has lost its way, but that it has lost its shepherd. So, the story is about a shepherd leaving ninety-nine in the field and going in search of one. This indicates that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, abandoned his throne in heaven and came to this earth. And, the second parable is a story about a woman looking for a lost co...

Jesus' death on the cross   Mark 15:33-37 『 And when the sixth hour came, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calledeth Elias. And one ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 』 The Jews thought that Jesus was their Christ and welcomed him into Jerusalem with great enthusiasm. But Jesus exceeded their expectations. The "Christ they were waiting for", they thought, should be their king who would save Israel, not a defendant on trial before Pilate. When the Jews' expectations were not met, their welcome turned into betrayal. If they did n...

Parable of the Ten Virgins   Matthew 25:1-2 『 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 』 It is very important to know to whom Jesus spoke the words of the text. Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew is a connection between chapter 24 and what will happen in the last days. The original text of the Bible did not have chapters and verses, but chapters and verses were introduced around the 16th century to make reading easier. Therefore, believers must remember that chapters 24 and 25 are connected from the perspective of the original text. Chapter 25 includes not only the parable of the ten virgins, but also the parable of the talents and the parable of the sheep and goats. Therefore, the object in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins is the same as the object in the parable of the talents or the sheep and goats. As in the analogy of 10 pounds, the...

A woman with an issue of blood for twelve years is healed   In Mark 5:25-34, “ a woman who had been suffering from an issue of blood for twelve years ” thought that if she touched the hem of Jesus ’ clothes, she would give birth, so she came behind Jesus and touched the hem of his clothes, and the issue of blood stopped immediately. So when Jesus asked her who it was that touched her, she told everyone why she had touched her and how she had been healed. “ Jesus said to her, ‘ Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. ’” 『 thy faith hath made thee whole; ( ἡ πί στι ς σου σέ σωκ έ ν σε ) 』 What does this mean? The Greek word for it is “ healed. ” It is an incurable disease that cannot be cured by human methods, but the sick person had a firm belief that Jesus could cure it, and this faith cured the disease. This means that God's power healed the sick through the sick's faith. So what is this faith? “ Jesus is the only one who can cure his illness, ” is t...