What the family says to Pharaoh is that they have come to
"sojourn" in the land. In other
words, they don't expect to stay in Egypt permanently. Little could anyone have imagined that this
sojourn would be many generations, over four hundred years. Likewise, when Jacob comes before Pharaoh, he
says that the years of his sojourning have been 130 years on this earth and
they have been difficult years. Over the
next several years as the famine continued to plague the land, Joseph manages
to get all the money in the land, all the livestock in the land and ultimately
all the land as well for Pharaoh's benefit.
He, Pharaoh, through Joseph's management not only rules the region, he
owns it and all the people are his servants, sharecroppers if you will. They receive seed from Pharaoh to plant in
the land on which they live and in return they owe Pharaoh a twenty percent tax
of all the produce.
Why did Jesus intend to pass by the boat? They were working hard to try and get across
and Jesus was planning to walk right on past them to get across the lake. It is only because they cry out in fear that
He gets into the boat with them to calm both their fears and the wind. It is a strange little detail that Mark gives
us that Jesus was planning to pass them by and he doesn't give an explanation
for it. They were stupefied by the
change and didn't know what to make of it.
Who was He to have such power? The
people of Gennasaret knew what to do about Jesus, bring out all the sick they
could find so that He could heal them. There
was no doubt in their minds that Jesus was a healer, but is that all?
Paul says he is beholden only to the Gospel. He must preach, there is a compulsion laid on
him that can only be satisfied by fulfilling his obligation to preach, whether
he receives compensation from men or not.
He says that while he is free of all, he has willingly made himself a
servant to all, just as he will argue that Jesus did in Philippians. He serves others by submitting himself to the
Lord. Ultimately his service is to the
Gospel. He compares what he does to
runners in a race, an activity that requires discipline and perseverance. Jacob, in our first lesson, sees the years of
his life as few and evil. He has surely
many regrets in his life as he looked back over those years, and some seemed
longer than others. Paul implores us to
run the race in such a way that we don't have those regrets, that we run to win
at all times, keeping our eyes on the prize.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
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