Jack Berger
Chapter 4 Journal

1. The key idea mentioned in this chapter is that of being called to be compassionate. There are many examples of this shown throughout the chapter. One of the biggest examples of this is the compassion of Jesus shown. Either through his miracles or putting up with the disciples not understanding, he is shown as being very compassionate to everyone. Another is having to be compassionate to become a disciple. In order to be a good disciple we have to be compasstionate to everyone. The Peace Pilgrim is another good example. She was compassionate with the world and its problems and walked many miles to try and get other people to make a difference.

2. The first thing I want to remember from this chapter is the meaning of the parable of the sower. This parable can give us insight into how well our "soil" is prepared to let Jesus grow in it. The quality of our soil is based upon how we respond to the word of God. Even if we have a low quality soil Jesus can still help us overcome this and be open to him. He always invites us back to Him. I want to remember this because this is a very important and talked about parable so a good one to have knowledge on. Also, I can think of trying to make better soil when making decisions in my life.

The second thing I want to remember is Mark's techniques. Two mentioned are framing one incident with another and the threefold pattern. Framing one incident with another is used to help understand two stories at once. It is used in the story of the fig tree. The threefold pattern is used all throughout Mark's gospel in things like the three seed parables, three denials by Peter, three failures to stay awake in the garden, and more. These two techniques are important to know because they can help me understand and read the gospel of Mark better.

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4. What made Jesus choose the apostles he chose? Was in purely random or did he have certain reasons for each of them?

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