KJV Mark 10 28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Peter made a statement -
ιδου ημεις αφηκαμεν παντα και ηκολουθησαμεν σοι
Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
The non-Greek readers can easily see, by matching letters, that Jesus answered, using the same verb.
αμην λεγω υμιν ουδεις εστιν ος αφηκεν...
Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left...
As Lenski has written in his Interpretation of Mark, the list from Jesus is not supposed to include every item for each person, but a selection of what followers could leave behind in following Him - yet having one hundred fold "now, in this time..."
One example from the Reformation was Philip Melanchthon. Because he identified with Luther, his uncle disinherited from his own library of extremely valuable books, each one worth a small fortune. In those days, books were chained to the wall of libraries because of their value. Any book collector can identify with the pain of loss. We love special books, even if they were snatched from the used market for a few dollars.
Family and friends will abandon someone who takes the Gospel seriously. Missouri and WELS have long craved being accepted by the apostate mainline groups. Instead of clinging to their first love, Justification by Faith, initially approved and published in both synods, they have made Justification without Faith - OJ their fool's gold, marketed as the pearl of great price.
Objective Justification is a hellish dogma, as proven by its adoption in ELCA, the Vatican, and various other Synagogues of Satan. They may feature this or that absurd practice, but the root of it all is the denial of faith. Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they believe not on Me." John 16. Thus unbelief is the foundation of all sin, not the springboard into Justification.
I have found family and friends disappearing over the decades, but they have been replaced many times over. Jesus defined the family by faith in Him, but not by blood relationship or superficial friendship (Mark 3:31-35) The economy downsized us, too, but we ended up with the right home and car for us, so we are no longer slaves to bigness, newness, or impressiveness.
That is why Pilgrim's Progress has meant so much to generations of believers. Christian sets off on a journey, leaving the City of Destruction - and his family - behind, trudging toward the Celestial City, bearing an enormous burden of sin while studying the Scriptures. That is why the peculiar image above is often used as the symbol of the book. In the second installment, his wife and children follow.
The journey is one which any believer can understand. We fall into the Slough of Despond and get trapped in the Doubting Castle by Giant Despair. The allegory has plenty of ironic humor to pry us away from the dangerous side-trips of Christian. Luther wrote, "Only someone who has suffered spiritual onslaughts can comfort me." Thus Luther and Bunyan still provide comfort for Christians today. Spiritual wisdom from the Scriptures does not emerge from the happy-clappy popcorn and soda class of clergy.
If someone wants to teach the Scriptures - and there are many ways and opportunities to do so - that person must take the same journey as Christian.
Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Objective Justification is a hellish dogma, as proven by its adoption in ELCA, the Vatican, and various other Synagogues of Satan. They may feature this or that absurd practice, but the root of it all is the denial of faith. Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they believe not on Me." John 16. Thus unbelief is the foundation of all sin, not the springboard into Justification.
I have found family and friends disappearing over the decades, but they have been replaced many times over. Jesus defined the family by faith in Him, but not by blood relationship or superficial friendship (Mark 3:31-35) The economy downsized us, too, but we ended up with the right home and car for us, so we are no longer slaves to bigness, newness, or impressiveness.
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| Lutheran Librarian - Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. |
That is why Pilgrim's Progress has meant so much to generations of believers. Christian sets off on a journey, leaving the City of Destruction - and his family - behind, trudging toward the Celestial City, bearing an enormous burden of sin while studying the Scriptures. That is why the peculiar image above is often used as the symbol of the book. In the second installment, his wife and children follow.
The journey is one which any believer can understand. We fall into the Slough of Despond and get trapped in the Doubting Castle by Giant Despair. The allegory has plenty of ironic humor to pry us away from the dangerous side-trips of Christian. Luther wrote, "Only someone who has suffered spiritual onslaughts can comfort me." Thus Luther and Bunyan still provide comfort for Christians today. Spiritual wisdom from the Scriptures does not emerge from the happy-clappy popcorn and soda class of clergy.
If someone wants to teach the Scriptures - and there are many ways and opportunities to do so - that person must take the same journey as Christian.
Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
