Matthew and Mark

How many times do you think I've read passages in Matthew or Mark in my lifetime?  How many times do you think I've heard passages in Matthew or Mark read or taught to me?  I don't know the actual number, but it's pretty high I would imagine.

See my recent post on "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ".  After reading that book I had a fresh new perspective and excitemen to read the Gospels.  As a result I read Matthew and Mark straight through in a handful of readings.

Although there is a tremendous amount opportunity to return to those pages for a more scrupulous study it was some more "simple" observations that stuck out to me. 

• The amazing dichotomy, often in the same verse, of Jesus' complete manhood along with his complete deity.  It is cleary a "God thing" to feel healing power leave your body, and clearly a "human thing" to look around to see who touched you.  It is clearly a "God thing" to spend days and nights healing lame people and those with terminal illnesses, and clearly a "human thing" to then need rest.  Amazing.
• Interesting how he was received by the various groups of people in the culture.  Also interesting how he chose to interact and reveal himself to those groups.  In some cases he chose to not clearly reveal who he was, but to his disciples he articulated many of those truths.
• Sad how the man who the Israelites had long awaited was right there in their midst and they chose/allowed him to be put to death.  Tragic for them, but amazing how that tragedy actually brought about the most victorious moment for both God and mankind.
• I can't even imagine what it was like to constantly have crowds of people seeking you for your healing power.  I CAN imagine however why the crowds were seeking him out for his healing power.  If there was a man who could do this in our current culture it would create an absolute frenzy!  It's amazing however that some of the religious leaders saw that healing power first hand but chose to believe it was power from Satan, and not from the God of the universe.
• Question: Why did God only put this much of His Sons story in the Bible?  Why not volumes, and volumes, and volumes?

That's just a few observations.  Not amazing hermeneutics, or exegetical Bible study, but just observations as I read the story of the Christ.