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The Habit of Jesus - Mark 10
The Habit of Jesus Mark 10
"And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them." (Mark 10:1)
‘As was His custom’ is an interesting aspect of the life of Jesus. Louw Nida's lexicon defined this word as meaning: "to carry out a custom or tradition—‘to be in the habit of, to carry out a custom, to maintain a tradition.” The Lord was ‘in the habit’ of doing certain things and many of these things are evident to anyone looking at the life of Jesus. One of the great customs of Jesus was teaching the people.
Matt. 4:23 - 23And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
Mark 1:21 - 21And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
Mark 2:13 - 13He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them.
Mark 4:2 - 2And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:
Mark 6:2 - 2And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
Mark 6:6 - 6And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Mark 6:34 - 34When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
Mark 12:35 - 35And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
Mark 14:49 - 49Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”
Can you imagine the privilege of listening to Him teach? How much inconvenience would you put up with to hear Him teach? How far would you go to listen to Him? He is as near as your Bible.
He promised the apostles that the Spirit would bring to their remembrance all things that he had said (John 16:13). With such a promise, He sent them out to ‘make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED (Matt. 28:18-19). They not only went forth everywhere teaching the word, they wrote it down. John wrote that "which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1–3). Paul wrote in order that when we read we can understand his insight into the revealed mystery concerning Christ (Eph. 3:3-5). Peter wrote so that we could have knowledge of the things he taught after he was gone (2 Pet. 1:12-14).
When one accepts the words of these apostles he is accepting the teaching of Jesus, and when one rejects them he is rejecting Jesus (Luke 10:16). Jesus made a habit to teach, we must make it our habit to listen, read, learn, and obey. Hugh DeLong
