Anthony Hock

Take Home Essay

Jesus: A Man of Faith


The Rich Man (Mark 10:17-31)
Jesus is walking along with his disciples and a man runs up to him and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus says to follow the 10 Commandments and the man says that he has done so. Jesus then replies that the man should sell all that he owns, give his money to the poor, and follow him. The man leaves upset because he definitely is not about to give up everying he owns. For someone porr it would be easier, but not for a rich man who has lots of cool stuff. Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples then ask Jesus who can be saved, and Jesus says, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.”
The Rich Man in the story does not wany to give up everything that he owns because he has so much stuff. Jesus wants us to go past just doing what we are told and what the Church says to like the 10 Cmmandments. Jesus says that we need God for faith, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Everyone needs Gods help, if we did not need God then we would forgot about him and he would evntually die. We cannot have absolute, complete faith without God's help.

The Storm on the Sea (Mark 4:35-41)
Jesus and his apostles are traveling on at boat on the sea. Jesus has fallen asleep on the boat and a storm comes. The storm becomes intense and furious. The Apostles, who have become scared, wake up Jesus. The apostles ask him to do something, and the storms caves when Jesus commands the winds and waves and storm to stop. Jesus asks them, "Do you still have no faith?"
This experience the Apostles had, is not unlike many experiences we ahve in our lives. We have moments in which we are not sure that everything will be ok, we are unsure that we will be safe. These are times in which we questionable whether or not God will help us, just as the Apostles did. This is a challenge of faith for us. Jesus wants us to keep faith. Jesus shows the Apotles that they, as well as us, need to keep faith in him and everything will be alright.

The Healing of Two Blind Men (Matthew 9:27-31)
Two blind men followed Jesus out of town and yelled to Him “Son of David have pity on us!” Jesus asked them if they really believed that he was able to do that and they said “Yes Lord.” Jesus touched their eyes and told them “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Their eyes were opened and they were ale to see. Jesus said not to tell anyone what he had done for them, but they went out proclaiming that Jesus had healed them anyway.
Jesus emphasizes faith here when he questioned the two men's faith. He healed them because they believed in him. It also had to have taken the two men extreme amounts of faith even more than anyone else. They are blind. What tangible evidence do they have that Jesus is the Lord? They cannot see what Jesus has done for others. Jesus tells us that it was only because of their faith that they were healed.