Bill's Bible Blog

In this week’s study, Pastor Chan made this observation:

“In the middle of Mark 9 is a heart-wrenching yet comforting moment. The father of a demon-possessed child knows that faith is the key to rescue. But he needs help. So he asks for it.

“Compare that response to a rich man’s over in Mark 10. In many ways it’s the same request—each man asks something of Jesus. Each time the obstacle is the same: to trust Jesus and surrender. But the response is different. The wavering father asked for help in overcoming his unbelief.

“But the young man left discouraged because he didn’t want to divest his riches and surrender his life to Jesus’ call.

“At the end of Jesus’ conversation about rich people entering heaven, Jesus makes a comforting statement,”

In the vein of what is possible for God, but not for us, following is a summary of my study of Mark chapters 8 through 10.

1. First Prediction of His Death – Mark 8:31

Your Messiah telling you that He is going to die soon might sound foolish.

But not to God.

God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise…” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

2. Way of the Cross – Mark 8:34-38

Jesus saying, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it,” might seem ludicrous.

But not to God.

The cattle on a thousand hills are His (Psalm 50:11).

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  attributed to Jim Elliot. 

Mark 10:29 Jesus promised, “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for Me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

3. Transfiguration – Mark 9:2-20

You’re so frightened when God shows up, what to do or say seems unknowable.

But not to God.

God made us and He will teach us what to say when He calls us to speak. (Exodus 4:10-12)

Also, when faced with a ‘God moment,’ God will give you the words to say to others. In Peter’s case, he should have just stayed silent. Sometimes that’s the best thing to do, just listen.

4. Father and Demon-Possessed Son – Mark 9:14-29

Expecting Jesus to be able to help you when no one else was able to might seem hopeless…

But not to God!

For with God, all things are possible  if you’ll just believe Him.

Besides, God, our Heavenly Father, delights in giving good gifts to His children.

5. Second prediction of death
and resurrection – Mark 9:30-32

Out of the blue Jesus says, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days, He will rise.”You don’t understand what He means, you’re afraid to find out and you don’t know what to do…

But God does. Trust Him, because-

6. Divorce – Mark 10:10-12

Your marriage has deteriorated to the point where you hate each other and you just want a divorce because you can’t redeem it.

But God can.

God is in the redemption business.

7. Don’t Hinder the Children – Mark 10:13-16

Obstacles in the way of getting to Jesus for a blessing might seem insurmountable.

But not for God!

God helps us overcome the insurmountable.

8. The Rich Young Man – Mark 10:17-31

Giving up all your worldly riches in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven might seem impossible.

But not for God.

God can help you accomplish the impossible.

9. Third Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – Mark 10:32-34

That Jesus would die and rise again from the dead on the third day might seem incredible.

But not for God.

God can accomplish the incredible. He does it all the time, and so did Jesus. They’re called ‘miracles.’

In Part 2, I’ll go back through and look at when the answer was not, “Yes.”

Just who is Jesus, anyway? That is the main theme of Mark and that is what Peter was asked to testify about to the Roman magistrates.

We’ve seen a lot already about who Jesus is from Mark chapters one through six. It is interesting to note from the middle of chapters 6 through 8, there is obvious DUPLICATION in the content. There are some new themes introduced in our study passage for this week, but there are also some repeated themes.t

Between chapters 7 and 8 is the break between Peter’s 2nd and 3rd presentations. We don’t know what the interval was between his presentations, whether they were daily or further apart, but we see an important presentation principle utilized by Peter, repetition.

So, let’s look at the six points Peter repeats between the end of session 2 and the beginning of session 3, to see what he’s emphasizing about Jesus to the Roman magistrates.

1. Two miraculous feedings:
• Mark 6:39-44, Jesus Feeds 5,000 with 5 loaves and two fish.  🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🐟🐟
• Mark 8:1-9, Jesus Feeds 4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish. 🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🐟🐟🐟

🤓COMMENTARY
This was a new supernatural power demonstrated by Jesus, the ability to take a relatively small amount of food and multiply it, multiply it  and multiply it until after 5,000 had eaten their fill, the leftovers exceeded the original amount. I can almost see the magistrates looking back and forth at each other. They have already heard some miraculous things attributed to Jesus, but the healings and demon expulsions they probably could explain away. Even the calming of the storm at sea might have been a coincidence exaggerated by worshipful believers. I’m sure they had heard many such coincidences claimed by various religious followers in their polytheistic society as being caused by one god or another. They might even have become jaded by repeated claims of miracles that could not be proven. But this was something different, thousands of people were involved in this miracle. And Peter drives the point home when he begins his third presentation with the second, similar miracle of feeding 4,000 people.

I suspect what Peter had said about Jesus so far had been interesting, but now the magistrates were interested.

2. Two trips across the sea:
• Mark 6:45 to 56 (end) – walking on water with healings at the end. 🌊
• Mark 8:9b-10, 13,14 – crosses to east bank, the Decapolis*, then returns to west bank, Galilee. ⛵️

🤓COMMENTARY:
Peter follows up his first bomb of the 5,000 with Jesus walking on water.  I think without the first bomb, the magistrates would have been able to easily dismiss this claim with a, “Yeah, right…”

But still reeling from the first bomb, like a boxer who’s just taken one haymaker, they’re still so dazed, they cannot muster the skepticism to dismiss Peter’s claim. I see them as being uncomfortable at this point. If this Jesus of Nazareth really was able to do these things, not only witnessed by His 12 dedicated disciples, but by thousands, then this was a person who demanded people’s attention. Maybe even demanded a response. And they were not ready or willing to do that.

In Mark chapter 8, the boat trips back and forth across the Sea are fairly mundane. Just boat trips this time. So, what’s the point? There are six boat trips or sea crossings mentioned in the Gospel of Mark, but only two in Matthew and two in Luke. The extra trips suggest Peter is showing not only how busy Jesus was in His ministry, but that He didn’t limit it to just His home province of Galilee.

It’s interesting to note that Peter left out the part where he got out of the boat and walked on the water himself. One wonders how the magistrates might have reacted if he had included that part? Might they have escorted him to the nearest body of water and asked him to walk across it? Or might this part of the event have caused other problems for Peter? Might he have been seen as less reliable a witness, maybe lying to inflate his reputation?

I’m certain one thing Peter didn’t want to do was come across as a supernaturally powerful person who might have been a threat to Rome. This omission also shows astuteness on Peter’s part, to know his audience and avoid unnecessary, controversial topics.

For whatever reason, Peter thought it was a good idea to leave out this part. It might be helpful for us to develop this skill too, that is, to know what about our testimony to share with a particular interested person, and which details to leave out.

In Speech 101 they taught a very important element of a successful speech was to know your audience and tailor your speech to them. It would appear that Peter knew this principle and was very much tailoring his presentation to the Roman magistrates.

3. Confrontations with the Pharisees, et al.
• Mark 7:1-13 – Why don’t your disciples wash their hands before they eat? 🤲
• Mark 8:11-13 – Give us a sign from heaven. 🌠

🤓COMMENTARY:
The different sects of religious leaders who questioned, opposed and ultimately had Jesus executed, figured prominently in this week’s chapters. Peter mentions Jesus had many run-ins with the Jewish religious leaders, often just generically referred to as ‘scribes,’ and modernly translated as “Teachers of the Law.” The Greek word, grammateus, (Strong’s G1122) would have been familiar to the magistrates as it was used as the title for a Town Clerk. The names of the other Jewish religious sects would have been meaningless without more explanation, as Peter does provide in brief, enough to help the story of what happened make sense. Also, Peter almost always pairs the Jewish sect name with ‘and Scribes’ to help the magistrates follow who’s involved by including this familiar title.

However, Peter specified the Pharisees in Mark 7 and 8, as well as in chapters 2 and 12, which also includes the only named reference to the Sadducees, relevant to their belief there was no resurrection. Most often the Sadducees are referred to as ‘Chief Priests,’ once again a title that would have been familiar to the religiously eclectic Romans  who would frequently have to deal with self-important ‘chief priests’ of one god or another.

These words and descriptions are another example of Peter knowing what his Roman audience would understand, and using more familiar terms with them or providing a brief explanation as needed. Once again, something we can learn from him when sharing our testimony or the gospel with others.

4. Two lessons based on food.
• Mark 7:14-23 – It’s not what you eat that defiles you, it’s the sinful acts that arise from your sinful heart. 💔
• Mark 8:14-23 – Beware the leaven of the Pharisees! 🥣

🤓COMMENTARY
Jesus used a lot of common things and everyday events to communicate spiritual truths. In these two instances in Mark 7 and 8, Jesus transitioned from a confrontation with the Pharisees, et al., to  instruction. This is what we call in education a ‘teachable moment.’

And as the ‘Walking on Water’ story was distinguished by what Peter omitted, the lesson from the first Pharisee conflict is characterized by what Peter added to the Matthew account.

The list of sinful characteristics that flow from a sin-filled heart in Matthew are:

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”(last part omitted in Mark.)

Peter’s list as recorded by Mark:
“For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (underlined words added.)

This extended list of sins suggests that Peter is trying to portray the conflict between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders as not a religious one, but as a moral one.

The Roman view of morality was complex. Key aspects of Roman morality were:

• There was no abstract, codified moral law from any of the various religions. Instead, morality was tied to personal character and social norms.

• Mos maiorum(Customs of the ancestors): Cultural customs and traditions provided the foundational moral code, which emphasized duty, honor, and respect for tradition.

• Pietas(Dutiful respect):  This was one of the cardinal Roman virtues–a deep, personal respect towards the gods, family, and the State.

• Fides(Faithfulness): Trustworthiness was crucial for all social and political relationships. A magistrate, for example, was obliged to act in accordance with both the public interest and his own moral senseof faithfulness to his position of responsibility.

• Virtues: Moral behavior was expected to be characterized by virtues like bravery, tenacity, and frugality.

To be honest, this moral code of faithfulness, respect and commitment to duty are some of the things that made Rome great. But I wonder if the moral decay that eventually led to the fall of the Roman Empire were already evident? The next emperor was Nero and the moral turpitude became increasingly obvious.

The magistrates would probably have been as aware as anyone of the moral decay at the heart of Rome because of their legal duties. I wonder if Peter was emphasizing the immoral acts listed by Jesus to get their attention?  Once he had their agreement with what would be considered ‘sins,’ the next step would have been to show them how Jesus came to both pay for our sins so we won’t have to, and to deliver us from those sins to a more moral life coming from the heart, not social norms. It almost sounds like Peter is sharing the gospel with them, wily old fisherman that he was!  Stay tuned to see how Peter not only tells the story about Jesus, but tailors it into a gospel presentation to the listeners…

5. Two professions of faith.
• Mark 7:24-30 – Jesus, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 🐕 Gentile woman, “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table…
• Mark 8:27-30 – Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” ✝️

🤓COMMENTARY
There is so much going on in these two declarations of faith, but I’ve reached the end of my weekend and go back to a new week’s study tomorrow.

I hope you are spending time yourself studying God’s Word. I must admit it takes a while before you can go as deep as I’m able to delve after 50+ years of doing it, but it’s important to present yourself to God as a student of His Word. Over time, you will learn more from Him and, hopefully, become more obedient in your walk with God.

The best place to start is to listen to messages from Biblical teachers who simply and clearly lay out what the Bible says. Eventually, with enough of a foundation laid by those ahead on the path, you’ll be able to find gems of meaning and understanding in the Bible yourself!

6. Two healings
• Mark 6:27-31 – Healing the deaf and mute man. 🙉🙊
• Mark 8:22-25 – Healing a blind man at Bethsaida.**🙈

🤓COMMENTARY
The significance of both healings is they are unique to Mark. These are both events Peter shared from memory rather than referring to either of the two scrolls of Matthew or Luke. Although, since each apostle had their own copy of Matthew when they left Jerusalem, it has been suggested they annotated it with additions from their own memory. 📜

**Bethsaida means “house of fishing”🎣 a name that reflects its origins as a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee. Significant as the hometown of the apostles Andrew, Peter, and Philip; it was also the setting for many of Jesus’ miracles. 

🍎APPLICATION
So, where are you on the continuum with Jesus?  Are you close to the far positive end like Peter–a 100% committed disciple, doing your best to share the story of Jesus Christ and His teachings with those who will listen?

Or are you maybe closer to the other end–in need of healing, of provision, of deliverance–and wondering if maybe Jesus Christ can provide that for you?

Wherever you find yourself in your faith, who Jesus is demands a response. The powers He demonstrated, the things He said, these demand you accept Him as God’s chosen Messiah, sent to Earth to represent God’s, calling all to repentance, calling all of us back to right relationship with the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the Universe, our Heavenly Father. AMEN!

🙏I pray that you respond appropriately to that call today.

In Mark 6,  we continue to see the themes we’ve been seeing develop and intensify:

I. Intensification of people’s response to Jesus, His message and His miracles.

A. POSITIVE RESPONSES.

We’ve already seen several instances where Jesus attracted a large crowd and they grew larger and larger as His reputation spread. To review:

1. Mark 1:32-33 First we see the whole town of Capernaum gathered where Jesus was staying, bringing those who needed healed. At least they stayed outside this first time.

2. Mark 1:45 “Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”

3. Mark 2:1-2 “Later, when Jesus returned to Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even near the door.”

4. Mark 3:7-8 “Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him.” 

5. Mark 3:20 When Jesus returned to Capernaum again, the house was so crowded He and the disciples couldn’t even eat.

6. Mark 5:21 When Jesus had crossed over again in a boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

7. Mark 5:24 While Jesus accompanied Jairus to his house, “a large crowd pressed around Him.”

8. Mark 6:31 We see the same thing in this week’s chapter, but now Jesus responds to it. “Then, because so many people were coming and going that Jesus and the disciples didn’t even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to the them, “Come with Me by yourselves to a remote place and let’s get some rest.”

9. And then we have the feeding of the 5,000 where we get an idea of the size of the crowd and we also see Jesus’ attitude about these ever-increasing mobs.

Mark 6:32-34  “So they went away by themselves in a boat to find a remote place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

Here we see Jesus had compassion for the crowd and He began teaching them. You can think of this as feeding their spiritual hunger. Later Jesus also takes care of their physical need for food.

So, in summary, we see that Jesus tried to avoid having His reputation spread about when He could, and He tried to avoid large crowds, but when He couldn’t avoid them as His reputation intensified, He ministered to their physical and spiritual needs.

B. NEGATIVE RESPONSES.

Mark 6:1-6 Jesus went to his hometown, Nazareth, accompanied by his twelve disciples. When the Sabbath came, as was His habit, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given Him? What are these remarkable miracles that we’ve heard about Him performing? Didn’t He used to be our carpenter, the Son of Joseph and Mary? Isn’t this the brother of James, Little Joseph, Jude and Simeon? Aren’t His sisters here as wives with us?” And they took offense at Him.

Jesus answered them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” As a result of their lack of faith, He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

1. Rejection. The key word describing why His hometown rejected Jesus was they were offended. This is a common problem when we become Christians and return home a changed person. Everyone there knows who we used to be, what we used to be like. Even though they had heard stories of what Jesus had done and said, and even had gotten a sample of it, they were not able to look beyond their preconceptions and see the Prophet that God had appointed and anointed with the Holy Spirit when He was baptized.

The Greek word for offended is skandalizo, (Strong’s G4624, 29 occurences) from which we get the English term “scandalized.” We consider it a ‘scandal’ when seemingly good people do an egregiously bad thing–they have an affair, they embezzle money, they get drunk and act inappropriately in public. These are good people doing bad things that scandalize us. In Jesus’ case, He was a seemingly ordinary man doing and saying extraordinary things.

So, what is Jesus’ preferred response when He is rejected? He just leaves. They reject Him, so He rejects them by removing His presence. No calling down a curse from heaven. The curse is that the people are robbed of blessings they might have received. As the passage says, He was not able to perform any miracles there, except heal a few individuals who DID believe in Him.

The sad thing is faith begets faith and unbelief begets unbelief. Most people start at a neutral position, kind of a ‘wait and see’ attitude. But there are always those who already believe, and then there are always the skeptical disbelievers. What tends to happen is, whichever of the decided ones goes first tends to tip the undecided their way. If the believing people step up first and receive a healing or other miracle, then many are tipped over to at least a little faith.  However, as at Nazareth, the skeptics stepped up first and spouted their skeptical disbelief, then the undecided were tipped to their side.

There are some lessons for us in there somewhere…

2. Intrigued, but uncommitted. We see this uncommitted response from Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee, not officially a king since his father’s kingdom was divided between four of his sons, hence the official title, ‘tetrarch,’ meaning ruler of a fourth. But Herod had pretentious to be  much, much more.

John the Baptist had gotten in Herod’s face about having divorced his wife, and then marrying his brother Philip’s ex-wife, Herodias, when he divorced her.

This confrontation was a risky move, but consistent with the role of a prophet to confront the king when they sin. The only problem was, despite Herod, who was an Idumean, a descendent of Esau, trying to act like the Jews somewhat, in order to appease them and keep them under control, he was anything but a believer of the Jewish faith.

Herod really didn’t have a choice when John publicly confronted him with what was a sin in Jewish eyes. He had to arrest and imprison John. But Herod was intrigued by John. He knew John was a “righteous and holy man,” so Herod protected him from his wife Herodias’ fury. Because of John’s public denouement of the couple, she wanted John dead, dead, DEAD!

Herod would trot John out from time to time to talk with him, but never made a commitment to believe the gospel. Messages I have heard over the years point out that Herod’s sin and his unwillingness to repent kept him from making this step of faith.

The problem with sitting on the fence of faith and not deciding is it makes you vulnerable to being manipulated by those who are committed to something else. In this case  it was Herodias’ commitment to see John dead for his insults. She waited until Herod’s pride also made him vulnerable and she was able to manipulate her husband into finally having John the Baptist executed.

C. Revenge. Herodias represents the extreme reaction of those who are offended by the gospel and its implications. That is, they try to exact some type of revenge on those who offend them.

Throw Jesus Off the Cliff!

And don’t think an overt sinner such as Herodias would be the only type of person who would respond to the offense of the gospel with life-threatening revenge. Peter read from the shorter account of the rejection in Nazareth for his presentation to the Roman magistrates. In the longer version researched by Luke (4:28-30)…

“All in the synagogue who heard these things were filled with rage. And they rose up to throw Jesus out of the city. They led Him to the brow of the hill on which the city was built, intending to throw Him down the cliff. But Jesus passed through the middle of the mob and continued on His way.”

These were ‘righteousness’ Jews, neighbors and family friends, even relatives by marriage. They had known Jesus as the oldest son of Joseph the carpenter who had taken over the family business when his dad died. Then on His 30th birthday, out of the blue, He had turned the family business over to his next older brother and just left. To where and for what reason? No one seemed to know.

Sure, they had heard the crazy rumors about what Jesus had done in and around Capernaum, all the way on the other side of the country. Those rumors caused Jesus’ mother and brothers to travel there and try to bring Him back home to Nazareth. The rumors were crazy, so that meant Jesus had gone crazy, right?

But here was this eloquent, itinerant rabbi speaking to them. How had He suddenly become such a wise teacher? Did He really perform the miracles they had heard about in Capernaum? It wasn’t possible, in their experience, so there had to be another, more mundane explanation, didn’t there?

II. Intensification of Jesus’ display of  supernatural power.

I don’t have time to go into detail with the rest, but in Mark 6, we see…

III. Intensification of the training of His twelve disciples

And Jesus had another agenda, the training of the twelve men that He chose to be with Him all the time.

A. In Mark 6, we see Jesus give them authority to heal the sick and cast out demons, just like He could, and send them two by two to surrounding villages to proclaim the gospel. When they return to Him, they excitedly share stories of their success.

B. And the walking on water was supposed to be a faith-building exercise for the disciples.

C. As too the feeding of the 5,000. That miracle was supposed to help the disciples grow in their trust in the abilities of Jesus and God, who He represented.

==================================

Pastor Chan has been focusing on this last aspect of what’s portrayed in Mark–discipleship.

His point in chapter 6 is, we need to realize that if we try to be true disciples of Jesus, we will face opposition from some, and we may even lose our lives. His question was, “Are you ready to give your life for Christ as well as give your life to Christ?

An intriguing and challenging thought! Guess you can tell by my choice of words where I am on that issue?

Most people don’t seem to pick up on how important training His disciples was to Jesus. I look at the gospels and see three intertwined, but equally important, objectives that Jesus accomplished while He was in Israel.

1. SACRIFICE Most people know that Jesus came to die for our sins so that we can be restored to a right relationship with God and avoid His wrath against sin at the Judgment. Less well known is the aspect that Jesus’ life had to be completely righteous and without sin. That is the only way His sacrifice could be acceptable to God as sufficient payment for all the sins of everybody in the world, past, present and future. Peter mentions this purpose a little later in Mark:

2. MINISTRY: Many people are also familiar with Jesus’ statement of His purpose in Mark that we saw in chapter 1. We also frequently see Jesus teaching the multitudes, although He often spoke to them in parables. A couple of quotes Jesus made from Isaiah elaborate on this ministry aspect of His purpose for coming.

a. The first is in Luke’s expanded account of Jesus’ Rejection at Nazareth.

21 And He said to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

b. The other time Jesus quoted from Isaiah where the ministry of the Messiah, His ministry, is described was in response to a doubting John the Baptist languishing in Herod’s prison. Matthew 11:3-5 (NIV)

The disciples of John asked Jesus, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied,  “Go back and report to John what you hear and see.”

Putting these verses together with some others, we can say in summary, Jesus’ MINISTRY was to proclaim the gospel to as many in Israel as He possibly could, to teach them God’s word, and to do so with miraculous signs of God’s power as a testimony to His authenticity as the Messiah.

3. MAKING DISCIPLES. Which brings us to Jesus’ third mission, the one most often overlooked, and the one Pastor Chan is focusing on in this study of Mark.

Jesus said, as recorded in Luke, “A disciple Is not greater than his teacher, but all, when fully trained, will be like their teacher.”

That is one of God’s goals for our salvation, that we should become ‘little Christs’ and continue to carry the good news and God’s Word around the world and down through history, as was done for us.

SUMMARY:

To put the whole set of intertwined purposes into perspective, the GOSPEL is meaningless and powerless without the SACRIFICE of Jesus, which is useless without APOSTLES, those who are sent to take the GOSPEL message to the WORLD, and you cannot become an APOSTLE until you’re completely trained as a DISCIPLE.

The sequence for us, then, is, we hear the GOSPEL, we believe, we become DISCIPLES and learn from the TEACHING of God’s Word. Then we are SENT to take the GOSPEL to other people and other places, where we DISCIPLE other new believers, etc.

Yes, this will involve SACRIFICE on our part to go, and it might lead to the ultimate SACRIFICE of our lives, but that is God’s plan for the salvation of the world. We should feel privileged to be a part of that plan.

APPLICATION

So, make sure you are involved in the process of discipleship–either as a learner or as a teacher–and share the gospel and God’s Word with the lost around you. That is God’s plan for the world, that is God’s plan for you.

Week 5 of our study covered 4 events in Jesus’ life and ministry where He demonstrated that He was Lord over something. Some of these things, like showing His authority over sickness and demons, Jesus had already demonstrated, but this week we see He takes even those to a new level.

4:35-42 Jesus is Lord over the storm.
5:1-20 Jesus is Lord over a Legion of demons.

5:24-35 Jesus is Lord over chronic illness.

5:23-24 and 35-43 Jesus is Lord over death.

We see that each of these encounters contain four elements that we can use to improve our own walk with Jesus:

Q1. How did they approach Jesus for help?

Q2. How did Jesus demonstrate His Lordship when He helped them?

Q3. How did Jesus stretch their faith in Him by how He responded?

Q4. How did they and/or those who witnessed what Jesus did, respond?

I. JESUS, LORD OVER THE STORM

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

(See note at the end for an explanation of the underlined text and fingerprint sticker in some of the images )

Q1. How did the disciples approach Jesus for help? The disciples came to Jesus for help in desperation. Maybe they waited until the boat started to be swamped, because four of them were fishermen and thought they could handle the storm, as they had handled so many before. Maybe they waited because they didn’t want to disturb Jesus, who was obviously deep in an exhausted sleep in the back of the boat. I can almost see them frequently glancing back at Him, expecting that the violent tossing by the storm would wake Him up and He would take charge. A key to their feelings at the time was how they started their question, “…don’t you care…?”

For whatever reason or however we ask, we can learn that Jesus will help us, even if we wait until we reach the end of our resources and come to Him in desperation as our final option. Our tendency is to become impatient when we don’t see God act on our behalf. Maybe He’s waiting for us to ask Him? We tend to become impatient, maybe even desperate, when God doesn’t work on our timetable and then we start to look around for other options. Faith is in the asking, but faith is also in the waiting.

If we will do these things in our needs, the rewards are a new understanding of who God is and what He can do…and a fall-to-your-knees awe that creates in you a deep worship of this God of the Universe who DOES care for us.

Q2. How did Jesus demonstrate His Lordship when He helped them? Jesus demonstrated a new ability to His disciples when He showed that He was Lord over the storm. They believed that Jesus was the Promised Messiah with a special anointing from Jehovah God, and they had left everything to follow Him and be His disciples based on that belief, but they did not yet understand the full extent of Jesus’ power.

From this we learn that God and Jesus have powers beyond whatever we might understand or expect. Rather than try to figure out if God can help us or not, we should realize we’ll never understand what He can do, but we should just approach Him in humility and believe that He is able to help us, that He is willing help us, but it will be in a way and time of His choosing.

Q3. How did Jesus stretch their faith in Him by how He responded?

BEFORE: Jesus criticized the disciples for their lack of faith. There were lots of clues that they missed that should have led them to trust Him, no matter what was happening. First He had said they were going to the other side of the Sea. They needed to understand that what Jesus said they were to do, and that He would make sure it happened.

The second clue was that He was blissfully asleep, even during the height of the storm. However, they did not understand how much they should and could trust Jesus, even in the middle of the most desperate situation.

This is the first lesson we can learn from this. Just because He’s not calming the $#!+storm when we think He should, doesn’t mean He cannot. We just need to continue to trust in Him and keep doing what we’re supposed to be doing.

AFTER: When Jesus dealt with the storm by commanding it to calm down, this was a totally unexpected response from Him. The disciples knew they needed help, but apparently they did not know that Jesus could calm the storm, they just knew they needed help, and that Jesus had already exhibited supernatural powers. They found out that Jesus was able to do beyond what they could ask or even imagine!

That is another lesson for us. We have to trust God in how He chooses to respond. We cannot try to fit God’s capabilities into a tiny box defined by our past experience or limited imagination. God’s ways are as far beyond us as the objects in the night sky are from Earth. Ask Him, trust Him, and prepare to be amazed…and you’ll have your concept of God stretched.

Q4. How did the disciples respond to this awesome and unexpected display of Jesus’ power and authority? Jesus rebuked them for being cowardly before they woke Him, Strong’s G1169, deilos, overcome by dread and unable to act, always used in a negative sense. But after they saw the storm calmed and were ‘afraid,’ Strong’s G5399, phobeo, used not only for an overwhelming fear that stops you in your tracks, but also used in a positive sense of a healthy, reverential awe of God’s power and authority. 

This is the appropriate response to God, a reverential awe that overwhelms us and elicits worship of the God who is so much greater than we are. That’s what happened to the disciples, and that’s what will happen to us when God answers our prayers in a totally unexpected way. But we won’t have this experience of God if we don’t ask Him, with what little faith we have, and then humbly wait for Him to act.

====================================There were so many wonderful lessons from our study of Mark this week. I don’t have time to write about them all this weekend. For example:

The woman who had been sick for 20 years who had faith that she would be healed if she could just sneak up behind Jesus and touch the edge of His robe, AND SHE WAS!

The Legion of demons which did not have any more power to resist the authority of Jesus than one demon did.

And the demon possessed man who was in his right mind and clothed properly again. He wanted SO badly to go back with Jesus across the Sea, but instead, he was sent back to his people as a witness for what Jesus had done for him.

Then there was the synagogue ruler who tracked down and asked Jesus to come and heal his sick daughter, but before they could get back to his home, she died!

____________________________________________There are so so many wonderful stories and wonderful lessons in the gospels. I hope I whet your appetite for more to the point you will begin to study them for yourself. 

After all, it’s not just general knowledge we seek to gain from Bible study. Through Bible study AND prayer, we can receive personal messages from God of affirmation, of guidance, of reassurance, and much, much more. Jesus and God wait for you in the pages of your Bible. Take the time to meet with Them there!

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NOTES: The underlined parts of the narrative are unique content to Mark. I believe what modern scholarship says,  that Mark is the third gospel in time, not the first, and it is based on a series of oral presentations by Peter to the magistrates in Rome who had been assigned to investigate the charges against Paul.

When Peter came to Rome to visit Paul, word got back to the magistrates and they wanted to hear about this ‘Jesus fellow’ from an eyewitness. Matthew was the only official gospel at that time, written as a collaborative effort by the Apostles just before they left Jerusalem due to the increased persecution against them.

During Paul’s three years of imprisonment in and near Jerusalem, Luke had personally investigated the stories of what Jesus had done and taught, using Matthew’s gospel as his source material, and then had written his own gospel. Paul asked Peter to legitimize Luke’s gospel, and Peter chose to do so by using both his copy of Matthew and Luke’s gospel as his source material for what appears to have been five presentations, based on internal structure. That is, each section is about 100 verses long and has a clear ending, followed by a clear beginning for the next session, with the verses between mostly starting with ‘And.’

You can often tell which of the two gospels Peter is using for each story, but there are omissions and additional, unique content. As an exercise, I’ve been comparing all three accounts to identify Peter’s additions. I call these ‘fingerprints of Peter,’ and view them as his personal contributions to the gospel narrative.

Peter’s omissions are interesting also. He seems to be portraying Jesus and the disciples in such a way that the Romans won’t see them as a threat. His careful  portrayal of Jesus comes across as provincial and something easily dismissed as a ‘local matter among the heathens way down there on the fringes of Roman civilization.’

Peter also portrays the disciples as clueless provincials, certainly no threat to the Roman Empire either. I especially note that Peter omitted anything that would make himself appear as a threat, without minimizing his key role among the disciples, thus maintaining his position as a reliable eyewitness for the magistrates.

This is largely just an interesting exercise for me. But in whatever way Jesus and the disciples are portrayed, the Gospel of Mark still communicates the truth about what Jesus did and said, and we as Christians can still learn about who Jesus is and what He taught by reading and studying the Gospel of Mark.  AMEN!
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Week 4 of the Gospel of Mark study showed some interesting changes in Jesus’ interactions and in His teachings. Here’s a summary.

I. Four Groups. We saw there were four distinct groups of people who interacted with Jesus and vice versa.

A. The Masses.

This is the change we saw in Jesus’ interactions with the masses–He had started out proclaiming the gospel and teaching from the Word. Now He is no longer speaking plainly to them, but teaching in parables.
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B. His Disciples.

Up until now, we had seen Jesus surrounded by many disciples. Now He chooses a special group of twelve to always be with Him and that He can send out to multiply His work. At that point they will be called Apostles, “sent ones.”

With the change to teaching the masses in parables, Jesus now begins teaching deeper truths about the Kingdom of God to the twelve and any other disciples who are with Him at the time.

C. His Opponents. The opponents of Jesus had been increasing in their opposition to His actions and His teachings. Identified variably as ‘teachers of the Law,’ ‘Scribes,’ (those who made the copies of what we call the Old Testament and who taught the people what it said), and Pharisees (a sect of Jewish lawyers who emphasized purity by avoiding any kind of impure person or thing.) They had began by questioning Jesus’ teachings and lack of conformity to current mores. Then they began criticizing Him. Now we see their opposition take a sinister turn.

3:28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
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Whoa! Jesus was still willing to address their accusations, but it looks like His opponents had crossed a line as He now pronounced one of the most controversial things that He was recorded as saying, they were guilty of the “Unpardonable Sin.”
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D. His Family: Mark has not made mention of Jesus’ family until now, but apparently word of what He was doing and saying had gotten back to them in Nazareth, so they came to see Him where He was teaching and ministering along the Sea of Galilee.

Wow! Doubly harsh! First His family rejects who He is, and then He rejects His family.
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II. SUMMARY
So here are the transitions we see in this week’s section of Mark:

A. The masses–Jesus dissociates from the masses by teaching them using stories, leaving the hearers puzzled about what He is saying. It’s like He’s accomplished His first goal to attract those from the masses who want a deeper relationship with Him as disciples, and now He’s moving on.

B. His disciples. Apparently having accumulated a critical mass of followers, Jesus selects 12 for special teachings and assignment. He now focuses more of His teachings to private sessions with them and other, local disciples who aren’t following Him from place to place.

C. His opponents. The Jewish religious leadership increase their attacks on Jesus and Jesus accelerates right back at them. This is going to set up the final confrontation when they have Jesus arrested and crucified, actually what God has planned.

D. His family. Jesus makes a final break from His family and shows how He is ‘all in’ as far as His commitment to His disciples. By the way, this is the first time we see that there are woman disciples as well as men, even if all the chosen Twelve were men.

III. PARABLES
I’m just going to skip over the parables we looked at this week because what caught my attention was at the end of Jesus’ parable about the lamp and lampstand.

A. To set the scene:

4:24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more, 25 whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
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B. This is the SECOND harsh pronouncement in our reading this week. For some reason I had not taken note of this statemrent at the end of the parable before. But, I WAS familiar with it at the end of another parable. (Images (c) Mark Young Bible Cartoons)

And then, as the moral of the Parable, we have that same statement by Jesus:

C. Now, it was never clear to me exactly what the ‘talents’ (KJV) were, translated by modern versions as gold in Matthew and and coins in Luke. The happenstance of the match with the modern English word, ‘talent,’ referring to natural gifts and abilities we are born with, had always led to the passage being taught as meaning we should use our natural gifts and abilities to serve God and to advance His Kingdom.

I think the repetition of this moral in Mark 4 makes the answer to the question clearer,  though. The parable about handling money is definitely about accountability, and so too is Mark 4. However, now we see it is not about something of worldly value or natural ability, but rather of spiritual, eternal value–the gospel, which gives us eternal life when we believe, and God’s eternal Word, which is able to redeem our souls unto righteousness.

I believe Jesus is warning His hearers, and us down through history, that we have to be intentional in listening to what God is saying, we have to be intentional in thinking about what it means, and we have to respond in obedience to the message and truths that God reveals to us, AND that God is going to hold us accountable for how we use His spiritual treasure.

The first ‘coin’ is the gospel, and the next two parables are about planting the ‘seed’ of the gospel to establish and grow God’s Kingdom here on Earth. The method of ‘investing’ it is to proclaim it to those around us. The implication is, if we are successful in sharing the gospel, God will entrust more ‘treasures’ from His Word to us and we will have another opportunity to invest it in others by teaching and guiding them into obedience. But what if we don’t?

IV. APPLICATION

In the Law, there were blessings for following it and curses for not. We live in a different spiritual age, the Age of Grace, so there are increasing blessings for obedience, and removal of those blessings for not. No punishment, no curses, just loss of God’s hand of blessing in our lives. For example:

There are many, many more blessings that I think we as Christians take for granted until we lose them. I know, because I have.

I was a success at everything I did until I graduated from college and moved to the big city. One of my own transitions. I had spent the last 10 years involved with the Navigators as a part-time volunteer–first in the military, then in college. The Navigators are a para-church organization specializing in disciple-making.

During that 10 years, I had shared the gospel with many people, although no one ever made a decision for Christ. After completing their study curriculum, I began teaching their class on how to study the Bible, as I was very good at that. I met individually with many young men during those years, but I never made any disciples. What I now understand about those 10 years is God didn’t hold me accountable for my success, He held me accountable for my obedience.

After college, starting my career became my focus–teaching, coaching and continuing my education. Although I wanted to bring what I had learned about discipleship to the church, I had limited success and soon settled into a standard Sunday-morning-church kind of Christian.

Sharing the gospel was never a big part of my life, anyway. Without being a part of an organization that did those things, very slowly all of my newly learned Christian disciplines began to fall away. Then everything else I did began to fail. Small failures at first, but bigger and bigger failures until the career arc, and the life I had envisioned having, began to fall apart until it completely disappeared.

Now, I’m in another transition, the final one to the end of my life. I’m under treatment for several potentially terminal health conditions, any one of which could take me out at any time.

As I’m walking this final journey, two things have become prominent in my thinking. First is the verse, “The judgments of the Lord are just; they are always fair.” (Psalm 19:9b, Good News Translation)  I’m willing to accept God’s judgments in removing the blessings of success and health, resulting in failure and sickness, as being justified because I have not been faithful with the treasures of the gospel and Biblical truths that God entrusted to me.

The other thing that has been filling my thoughts has been an almost overwhelming desire to leave a legacy for the Lord. Since i received my terminal diagnosis, I’d been praying for something I could do that would make a difference for God’s kingdom on Earth in the little time I have left, but my options were limited due to my disability and now being debilitated. Through a roundabout series of events, I came to write this blog. I hope that my thoughts, insights and experiences are helpful to you, my few subscribers, in your own walk with Jesus.

There is a possibility, though, that gives me hope for something better. In a recent sermon at Summit Church about Psalm 32 by Pastor Brian Loritts, he showed how David finally came to a place of repentance and confession to God after his sin with Bathsheba…and God forgave and restored him!

Another example he shared was Peter. Peter had denied he even knew Jesus while He was on trial…THREE TIMES! But Jesus forgave a repentant Peter and used him to deliver the Pentecost message where 3,000 responded in faith and were added to the church.

Pastor Loritts pointed out that God is in the restoration business. Jesus is a safe place to take our sins, failures and shortcomings to, because He loves us, He’ll accept us in our repentance, and forgive and restore us to right standing with Him–not condemn or punish us.

That is my hope and prayer before I leave  this Earth; that as I lean into Jesus in my brokenness, He will restore His hand of blessing, and as David said in Psalm 51, which Pastor Loritts said was linked to Psalm 32:

I ask that you pray this for me as well.

Thank you,
Bill

PREPARATION: What are two things you would like to take away from your study of the Gospel of Mark? 1. I’d like to grow in having a devotional attitude as I study the Bible and 2. I’d like to have an attitude of worship toward God that would balance my long-time scholarly/academic/intellectual approach.

Write down a one-sentence prayer for what you would like for the Holy Spirit to change in you as we journey through Mark the next few weeks?My prayer for God to change me during this study is embodied in the classic hymn, Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me:

https://youtu.be/2DtJgaGRav4?feature=shared The Isle of Man Methodist Church

THE STORY Mark 1:1-13, New International Version, annotated. John the Baptist Prepares the Way 1 The beginning of the good news (gospel, evangelon) about Jesus the Messiah, [the Christ=Annointed One] (the Son of God, not in earliest manuscripts).2 As it is written In the Prophets:

And in Isaiah,

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to see and hear him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 

6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. Cross reference:

7 And this was his message: “After me comes One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy (and neither are we) to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with/in water, but he will baptize you with/in the Holy Spirit.” Cross references:

The Baptism of Jesus 9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 

10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven open up and the Spirit descended on Him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my Beloved Son, with you I am well pleased. (Voice = God the Father. Must have been an important event, because the entire Trinity was present!)

SUMMARY: After reading these opening verses to Mark’s gospel, what were the expectations for Jesus? What kinds of things did the people anticipate from Him?

1. The ‘good news’ about Jesus. We started with the point that this isn’t just personal good news like ‘Honey, I got a raise / promotion at work.’ Or, ‘Congratulations you’re going to gave a baby!’ Or, ‘The lab test was negative for cancer.’ These are all examples of PERSONAL good news. It is good, it might even be GREAT news, but it is meaningful only to you and your family.

The good news in Mark is transcendent, it is worldwide. It doesn’t affect just a few people, it is for everyone, everywhere, for all times, for all peoples and for all life situations. I think the readers already knew the basics about WHO Jesus was. They wanted to know more about Him, where He came from, what He did, what He said, where He went–they wanted MORE, and here was the beginning of that ‘more.’

Woo-hoo baby! Strap in, because Uncle Mark is going to take you on the ride of your life! There is a great contemporary song that captures a lot of what a Christian life truly lived can be like, Steven Curtis Chapman, The Great Adventure.

2. The Christ, the Annointed One of/from God is someone who was sent from God with a unique anointing of God’s power, sent for a very special purpose, with a special message. Sent to us, with a message from God for us. If you ever wanted God to speak to you. If you ever wanted God to do something about the mess in the world, this is it. Pay attention. Expect some answers. Expect some solutions.

3. God first sent a special, prophesied messenger to the people of the Bible, to the Jews, God’s chosen people, to prepare the way for the arrival of His Annointed One. This Annointed One was so important that God sent a herald to announce He was coming. ‘Get ready, everyone! The One who God has promised will soon be here. He will fix everything that’s wrong. He will make all things right, all things whole. Get ready, you don’t want to miss this!’

As a result of John the Baptist’s proclamations up and down the Jordan River, there was a sense of excited anticipation in Israel. The Messiah was coming from God, get ready!

4. ‘…and John was calling everyone to repent of their sins, proclaim4ing a baptism for the forgiveness of sins…’ So how do you prepare for the Messiah? The Jews knew that God was holy and the very first step to approaching Him was to be forgiven your sins through animal sacrifice. The Annointed One from God would be like God, so it only made sense that He was holy too. If you wanted to receive Him, if you wanted Him to receive you, you had to be clean.

Now, John didn’t mean you needed a bath on the outside. The Jewish ceremonial washing was just a sign of one’s spiritual cleansing. You needed to be clean on the inside. The straight path that John mentioned was not work on the roads. It was to prepare a straight path for the Messiah to reach your heart. Clean out the sinful thoughts, words and actions from your life, then you’ll be ready to receive Him…and He you.

You have to be holy to approach God the Father. You had to be holy to receive His Son. And then there is God’s Holy Spirit (it’s in the name.) So what we’re talking about here is HOLY HOLY, HOLY. That is God’s expectation of us, because that is who God is.

5. John the Baptist was a big deal in Israel. He was the first true prophet from God in 400 years. (There had been many self-proclaimed false prophets.) John was so popular with the masses that when he began calling the religious rulers sinners too, the rulers were afraid to arrest him because of popular acclaim.

Then John said something absolutely astounding. He said that the One who was coming was even greater, so great that John was not worthy enough to even untie His sandals.

Now, in those days, when someone entered a home, the lowest servant was stationed at the door with a pitcher of water, a basin and a towel. His job was to untie and remove the dirty, nasty sandals after the person had been walking the dirt roads of the time, stepping in mud sometimes, and definitely stepping in what the animals left behind. The servant then washed off anything that might have splashed up on the bare feet inside the sandals so they wouldn’t track anything inside, because they sat around on the floor and who would want to sit in some of that? Then the servant also washed and dried the sandals for when they left.

This was a sometimes nasty job assigned to the lowliest of the low, and John said, he was not even good enough to do that for God’s Annointed when He comes! What must the people have thought when John made that statement? I’m guessing there was a tremendous amount of interest and curiosity. If John, the great prophet of God, as they saw him, was saying, the Coming One is so much greater that John is lower than the lowliest servant, what kind of a Person might the Annointed One be?

6. A thundering voice from heaven, a hole ripped in the sky, a bright, powerful figure flashing out of that hole, shrinking to the size of a dove before it fell on this Nazarene who was just baptized… what in the world was happening? Is this the One? Who is he?

The people were primed to receive the Messiah and the stories about what happened at this baptism must have flashed up and down the country as fast as telephone or radio could have carried them. But these questions remained unanswered because whoever it was, He was whisked away, He fell off the radar, He disappeared for parts unknown.

Without confirmation, the people must have wondered, did something unusual, something special really happen? Was this the Messiah or should we look for someone else? I’m sure this was part of God’s plan, but the why is not clear to me.

SUMMARY: So, the question was, after reading verses 1 to 11, what might be expected from Jesus, what might one anticipate from Him after this introduction by Mark?

I think the expectations were for something great, for Someone great. Greater than anything they had ever known, heard of or seen. Something/Someone so great they had to be totally ready. So great that there were more questions and speculations than there was real knowledge. So great that it might totally blow you away. Maybe too great to comprehend, too great to withstand. Maybe it was some kind of GOD greatness?