What is The Feast of Dedication that is mentioned in John 10:22?

Sincerely,
I Like Parties!

Dear I Like Parties,

The Feast of Dedication was a national Jewish holiday – but not one instituted by God.  Just like Americans have Veteran’s Day, Independence Day, etc., the Jews had several holidays that they regularly observed that had nothing to do with Old Testament law.  Judas Maccabee, a famous Jewish warrior (his nickname was Judas the Hammer), instituted the Feast of Dedication in 164 BC in commemoration of the day when they cleansed the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes.  The feast began on the 18^th of December and lasted eight days.

    Was Mary, mother of Jesus, a physical descendant of David like her husband Joseph?  If not, then who did she descend from?

Sincerely,
Tracing The Tree

Dear Tracing The Tree,

Yes.  Mary was a descendant of David.  If you look at the two genealogies given for Jesus (one in Matt 1:1-17 and another in Lk 3:23-38) they aren't exactly the same.  The reason for this is that one lineage for Jesus follows Joseph's family and the other one follows Mary's.

     When a person hears the Word, accepts Christ, repents, confesses Christ, is baptized, I understand they are put in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  Now, this is followed by a life of obeying God's commandments, enduring temptation, loving one another, and living for God.  But are God's commandments just to believe in Christ and love one another?  What are the commandments we have to obey?

Sincerely,
I’d Like A Checklist

Dear I’d Like A Checklist,

After you are baptized, you become a christian (Acts 2:38).  As you said, after that, you spend the rest of your life growing and following God’s commandments (1 Pet 2:2).  All of the specific commandments are too numerous to list here because the whole Bible is full of God’s commands (Ps 119:160).  All of God’s teachings can be summed up in “love God” and “love your neighbor”… that is what Jesus said on the matter (Matt 22:36-40).  All the rest of the Bible is full of specific rules and principles that help us to properly love God and our fellow man.  A life dedicated to God is built upon the Bible’s teachings (Rom 10:17), and His Word, in its entirety, should be the guide for our lives (Ps 119:105).

     Who wrote the Gospel of Mark, and how do we know the author was inspired by God?

Sincerely,
Genuine Article

Dear Genuine Article,

The Gospel According to Mark is generally agreed to have been written by John Mark.  This is based upon early church historians and comments made by early christian writers.  It isn’t necessary that we know who penned the book of Mark, but that is the general consensus.  John Mark would have been in a perfect position to write an account of Christ’s life having been a traveling companion of both Paul and Barnabas (Acts 12:25) and being a part of a family of early converts to Christianity (Acts 12:12).

We know that the Gospel of Mark is inspired for the same reason that we know the rest of the New Testament is inspired.  Mark’s book repeats the same details as the other gospels, it shows all the same characteristics of inspiration as the rest of the Bible, and the early christians (who would have personally known the writer) accepted it as an inspired account of Christ’s life.  Read “Who Wrote The Bible?” for a more in-depth explanation of evidence that God authored the Bible.

(This post is in response to “Destination: Known”)

You just stated that Jesus went to Paradise when He died, but aren't you forgetting 1 Peter 3:18-19 where it states that He went and preached unto the spirits in prison?  Although there might be differing interpretations of this verse, the Bible indicates Jesus did something.  He went and preached.

Sincerely,
Missed A Verse

Dear Missed A Verse,

1 Pet 3:18-19 is a very difficult passage, and there are a number of different interpretations of what it means that Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison”.  Some believe it refers to Jesus literally descending into the darkest depths of Hades to preach to those awaiting eternal punishment, but this directly contradicts other Scriptures where Jesus specifically says He was going to Paradise (Lk 23:43).  Either Jesus was wrong, or that interpretation of 1 Pet 3:19 is wrong – we here at AYP will trust that Jesus knew where He was going after death.

The other options for that verse are numerous, but the two most likely are:

1. That the spirits in prison were the people that Jesus preached to before or after His resurrection.  Those enslaved to sin are most definitely imprisoned spirits (Jhn 8:34).
2. The other likely option is that Jesus, through Noah (2 Pet 2:5), preached to the pre-Flood world and showed longsuffering to them, just as He does to us today.  After all, 1 Pet 3:20 identifies the “spirits in prison” as those who were disobedient during the days of Noah.  Most likely, 1 Pet 3:18-20 is making the case that Jesus has always been patient with the disobedient, but that unless we choose Christ, we will perish just like they did.  In either case, it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus went to Paradise at His death, not to torments.