Slice of life christian comic strip
Today’s kanji is Gold, you can read it as kin from the chinese reading or Kane. The kanji is used for the money kanji (okane) as people in ancient time used gold as means of trading. Imagine the kanji as lots of gold bar being stacked inside a house :D
木
Today’s kanji to learn is Tree. The kanji can be read as moku or ki from the chinese way of reading. You can easily see the tree and the branches every time you see this kanji :)
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
Mark 2:21-22 ESV
Jesus explains with another 2 examples that when the new one has come and fulfil the needs, why go back to the old way and use the old method? Because indeed Jesus has come to fulfil the Old Testament therefore there was no need to do the old tradition. Jesus has come to forgive the sins of humanity and he stood as the sacrifice for our sin therefore don’t bring the old law and try to forcefully use it as a patch! :) Isn’t it great the fact that we just need to enjoy the new wine in the new wineskin :)
The old is gone and the new has come!
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
Mark 2: 18-20 ESV
Fasting is only told a couple of time in the Old Testament book Leviticus and it’s prescribed for day of atonement. It is done as a symbol of sorrow of sins to show penitence. However in the time of New Testament, among the Jewish religious fasting is a normal tradition and it’s done twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. The people were astonished that Jesus is not following such tradition, instead He answered with an analogy of the bridegroom. That the bridegroom is now here, so the wedding guests should not fast, because it’s the time for feasting instead. However there will come a day when the bridegroom will be taken away… By saying this analogy Jesus is prophesying about his own death.
His coming brings the grace of God by giving us salvation therefore we should rejoice!
Water Kanji is very easy! It’s basically a droplet of water splashing to the 4 directions :)
The old pictographic represents this as a picture of river, but it looks more like a droplet of water!
水
Read it as either Sui or Mizu, the chinese counterpart reading is Shui.
火
You can read it as either Ka or Hi, as you can see the kanji represents flickers of fire :D
Mark 2:15-17 English Standard Version (ESV)
And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eatwith tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Not only that Jesus called a sinners to be follow Him, he is actually breaking bread with him and the sinner’s friend! According to the pharisee this is a practice that defiles their holiness. But Jesus is not like that, he doesn’t go to find righteous people, for righteous people thinks that they don’t need saviour. It’s the sinners who need a saviour, people who can recognise that they’re wrong and they need forgiveness from God, and anyone can get that forgiveness from our loving saviour, Jesus :)
For surely only sick people needs a doctor right? People who thinks they’re healthy won’t even look for a doctor.
