Christ?s mission was not understood by the people of His time. The manner of His coming was not in accordance with their expectations. The Lord Jesus was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. Its imposing services were of divine appointment. They were designed to teach the people that at the time appointed One would come to whom those ceremonies pointed. But the Jews had exalted the forms and ceremonies and had lost sight of their object. The traditions, maxims, and enactments of men hid from them the lessons which God intended to convey. These maxims and traditions became an obstacle to their understanding and practice of true religion. And when the Reality came, in the person of Christ, they did not recognize in Him the fulfillment of all their types, the substance of all their shadows. . . .

The gospel of Christ was a stumbling block to them because they demanded signs instead of a Saviour. They expected the Messiah to prove His claims by mighty deeds of conquest, to establish His empire on the ruins of earthly kingdoms. This expectation Christ answered in the parable of the sower. Not by force of arms, not by violent interpositions, was the kingdom of God to prevail, but by the implanting of a new principle in the hearts of men.?Christ?s Object Lessons, p. 34.

The English word parable comes from the Greek word parabol?. This word has a wider semantic domain, or set of meanings, in Greek than the English word parable. The Greek word can also mean ?riddle, metaphor, analogy,? or ?proverb.?1 In the parable of the sower, the sower himself is not actually emphasized nor is he in the interpretation Jesus gives (Mark 4:3?9, 13?20). What is emphasized are the different soils that the seed falls on. Jesus describes four types of soil: a path, rocky ground, ground with weeds, and good ground. For His hearers, this type of description might call to mind how the Old Testament commonly referred to people by using metaphors of fields, plants, or trees (Psalms 1:3; 44:2; 72:16; Isaiah 5:1?7; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 19:10?14; Daniel 4).

Jesus tells the story of four soils, but He does not describe the field as a whole. Rather, He focuses attention on each type of soil by telling its story from beginning to end. Then He moves on to the next type of soil. This manner of storytelling places emphasis on the particular details of each soil and its outcome.

Missionaries are people who, from a spiritual viewpoint, fight at the front line. Frequently they find themselves in special situations and circumstances and are confronted with great challenges that require the support of our prayers. The following suggestions are to help us pray specifically for situations that occur primarily in foreign countries. If you don?t know a missionary in a foreign land, get in contact with your pastor or your church leadership to learn about specific people for whom you can pray, and try to get in contact with them. It will inspire your faith and spark more interest in missionary work.

Ask God for wisdom on how you can tactfully establish contact with foreigners who are guests in your country and neighborhood in order to show them kindness and help. Once they have experienced your love and selfless support they might also open their hearts for the good news of Jesus Christ. Maybe there are immigrants, guest workers, students, or specialists in your area who are from countries where otherwise it would not be possible to preach the gospel. Maybe you can be an international missionary in your own neighborhood.

From the days of eternity, Jesus has been with His Father. They are both God. Both are full of glory and majesty greater than anything we can imagine. Jesus came to our world to show and to share that glory. He came to our dark, sinful planet to shine the light of divine love?to be "God with us." That's why the Bible writer said, "They will call him Immanuel."

Jesus came to this earth to show both humans and angels what God is really like. In fact, He was the word of God?God's thoughts spoken out loud, so we can hear them.

When I accept Jesus' victory in my place, and I ask Him to be my personal Savior and cleanse me from my sin through His blood, God sees Jesus, not me, and I am accepted through the Beloved! Wow! Whenever I try talking to God about a sin of mine hidden in Christ, God invariably resonds with a question, "What sin?"

My dear friend, Matthew proposed to Israel that their history was hidden in Christ. Jesus re-lived and rewrote their story. I invite you to believe the same. Your story is His story. Accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, as the perfect Lamb of God who was slain in your place. Now live in the joy and assurance of your salvation. And when Satan tries to tell you otherwise, in Jesus' name, tell him to take a hike!

A major tenet of dispensationalism is the belief that the establishment of the modern state of Israel in Palestine in 1948 fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies that God would gather Israel into its own land. A superficial reading of these Old Testament gathering promises and a desire to see present-day fulfillment may lead one to conclude this. However, studying these gathering promises in their context reveals an entirely different application. 

God?s plan was that Israel would return to Palestine after the Babylonian captivity, experience a great revival and reformation, and accept the Messiah when He appeared. Under God?s leadership, Israel would prosper and become the greatest nation on earth. In the last days, Israel?s enemies would attack it, but God would intervene and deliver Israel. That is how it would have been if Israel had remained faithful. These gathering promises were conditional, as are all Bible promises.

God?s plan for literal Israel did not happen. Instead, Israel as a nation rejected Christ, who was the very One doing the gathering (Matthew 23:37, 38).

The following is [one of five] of the gathering promises in the Old Testament that are most commonly used to support the false teaching that the return of Israel to Palestine in 1948 was a fulfillment of prophecy. The text is given, followed by a brief explanation. (I recommend reading the text in the Bible before reading the explanation.)

Deuteronomy 30:1?5. Through Moses, God presented the blessings that would come if Israel remained faithful to Him and the curses that would come if the people turned away from Him. He also promised that if Israel returned to God and obeyed Him with all their hearts, He would gather them back. Notice the condition?they must return to God first. God was informing Moses that a time would come when Israel would go into captivity and then be brought back to Palestine. This foretold the Babylonian captivity and Israel?s return from captivity.

Dispensationalists apply this gathering promise to the modern nation of Israel being established as a state in 1948. They describe Israel as being ?gathered in unbelief,? which is in direct opposition to the condition God gave to Moses. The condition in this gathering promise was ?thou shalt . . . return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity? (Deuteronomy 30:2, 3). ...

The definition of who comprises God?s Israel today lies at the very foundation of the difference between the traditional Protestant method of prophetic interpretation (the historicism method) and the popular dispensational method, which incorporates Roman Catholic futurism.

To help us define God?s Israel, let?s look at the conditional aspects of God?s promises to Israel, which are clearly pointed out in such Old Testament texts as Exodus 19:5, 6, and Deuteronomy 8:19, 20. The first says, ?If ye will obey my voice.? The latter pronounces a curse on Israel, ?If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God.? This applies to any nation, not just Israel (Jeremiah 18:5?10). God?s love is unconditional, but His promises are always conditional. To teach that Israel would remain God?s chosen people no matter how they related to Him is like saying a person can be saved no matter what he or she believes or does. That false teaching is universalism, which is very unbiblical.

Sadly, although God had a wonderful plan for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, the people consistently disregarded His plan. Clearly, if the nation of Israel had remained faithful, it would have become the greatest nation on earth. God intended the Israelites to be a light to the Gentiles. However, instead of fulfilling this divine destiny, Israel turned from their God and rejected their Messiah. God, of course, foresaw this and even predicted it through His prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1?7).

In his grateful humility, Matthew desired to show his appreciation of the honor bestowed upon him, and, calling together those who had been his associates in business, in pleasure, and sin, he made a great feast for the Saviour. If Jesus would call him, who was so sinful and unworthy, He would surely accept his former companions who were, thought Matthew, far more deserving than himself. Matthew had a great longing that they should share the benefits of the mercies and grace of Christ. He desired them to know that Christ did not, as did the scribes and Pharisees, despise and hate the publicans and sinners. He wanted them to know Christ as the blessed Saviour. . . .

Jesus never refused an invitation to such a feast. The object ever before Him was to sow in the hearts of His hearers the seeds of truth, through His winning conversation to draw hearts to Himself. In His every act Christ had a purpose, and the lesson which He gave on this occasion was timely and appropriate. By this act He declared that even publicans and sinners were not excluded from His presence. Publicans and sinners could now bear the testimony that Christ honored them with His presence and conversed with them.?Ellen G. White Comments, in The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1120.

John the Baptist?s ascetic lifestyle was compatible with the practice of fasting, and his disciples obviously followed it, as this passage in Mark illustrates.

Just who posed the question to Jesus is unclear, but the query seems to suggest that the questioners were not the disciples of John or the Pharisees. If the Pharisees or John?s disciples were asking the question, we might have expected them to say, ?Why do we fast, but Your disciples do not??

To answer the question about fasting, Jesus tells a little story about a wedding feast, a kind of parable, though it is not described as such. In His commentary, He states the obvious: it would be odd for guests at a wedding feast to abstain from food and drink. Here Jesus is identifying Himself as the Bridegroom and His disciples as the wedding guests. While He, the Bridegroom, is present, it is a time of rejoicing, not a time for crying and fasting.

But in the same breath, Jesus ominously points to a time when the Bridegroom will be taken away. Since we, as Christians, know where this is headed, we see a clear reference to His Passion: His arrest, trial, death, and resurrection. It is likely that those present only vaguely grasped what He meant, certainly not foreseeing the cross. This is one of the first references in the Gospel of Mark that points forward to the cross. It is brief, cryptic, and vague, but it is a signpost pointing to the way of the Lord, leading to the cross.

On this side of eternity, life will never run smoothly or perfectly. But it doesn?t have to be perfect to be beautiful! Beauty meets and greets us unlike anything else in the world. It startles us in breathtaking ways, moving our minds and hearts to consider its Source. The fragrant smell of a rose, the majestic waves crashing on the shore, the affectionate twinkle in a friend?s eyes?each experience of beauty echoes God?s love and reminds us of the beautiful things He has prepared for those who love Him.

Like goodness, beauty is part of God?s created reality. Although it surrounds us, it?s something we often miss. Developing an attitude of gratitude will open our eyes to the beautiful things in nature, the lovely people, and the wonderful experiences in life that we often overlook. Gratitude allows us to be thankful for the simple blessings and valuable people around us, without demanding perfection or satisfaction all the time.  

The Sabbath reminds us that we are deeply valued and loved by the God who created us. It reveals the inherent worth of every human being. According to pastor and philosopher Don Postema, the Sabbath ?affirms the dignity of all people. When no one is working, it is hard to tell the difference between them by their achievements. They are equal as image- bearers of God, as persons loved by God! So Sabbath is a sign of divine grace, a reminder of who we are before God. We have value beyond what we produce or achieve. In fact, we are accepted by God before we do or achieve anything important.?

Adam and Eve were given the task of cultivating the exquisitely beautiful Garden of Eden. However, before they ever lifted a finger to work, they first celebrated the Sabbath? a time of delightful communion with their Creator and dearest Friend. This sequence reveals a valuable lesson: in the mind of God, our work gains its significance out of the time we have first spent with Him.

First of all, remember that you are not perfect?only Jesus is perfect. So after baptism, you will undoubtedly make mistakes, but the important thing is to grow closer to Jesus constantly. Some ways that are helpful in drawing closer to Jesus include spending time in prayer, studying the Bible, and going to church.  

Second, keep in mind that your local church is made up of imperfect people just like you. As Morton T. Kelsey wrote, ?The church is not a museum for saints, but a hospital for sinners? (Caring: How Can We Love One Another? [Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1981], 53). As part of this ?hospital,? think of ways that you can be an instrument of grace and a blessing to others.

An excellent way to become better acquainted with your church family is to subscribe to denominational magazines. Most unions in the North American Division have a free union magazine that will alert you to news and events that are going on in your particular region. Similarly, church members receive a complimentary subscription to Adventist World, which is a monthly publication with uplifting articles about Adventist beliefs along with church news from around the world. 

• Adventist Review
• Adventist World