This concludes my study of Jesus the Christ Chapter 14. All quotes are taken from this resource unless otherwise noted.
Matthew 9:9-17
Mark 2:13-22
Luke 5:27-39
Luke 5:1-11
Mark 1:16-20
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance and not the righteous. He called people to lay down their lives and follow Him. We then shouldn't sit in our ivory towers and self-righteously hang out with ourselves. We are called to follow Jesus, be examples of His followers, and serve ALL his children in need. "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees," Isaiah 35:3. That's a tall order. Little day to day actions as well as the big things matter very much. If I am rude to a store clerk or on the road, I am not a good example. Do I really need to hurry or be first? In 1 Corinthians 13, my favorite passage btw, we are taught this principle in detail.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things," 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Now that the Savior is no longer among us, we should fast. However, fasting like prayer is best done in one's secret closet. "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly," Matthew 6:6. "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward," Matthew 6:16.
Nevertheless, we ought to perform all the shoulds out of love and devotion to Jesus not for some self-righteous demonstration of piousness.
