New Year’s Resolutions: 4. 2 Chronicles 15:7 – Be hopeful !
Recently Pastor Curtis, one of our teaching pastors at The Summit, used an illustration in his sermon from the Apollo moonshot days. Seems that when they launched the Apollo spacecraft, if they were even two percent off course at the beginning, when they arrived at the moon about 240,000 miles later, they would miss their orbit and sail right on past the moon.
(By the way, this is rocket science.)
Pastor Curtis used this principle to point out that even little changes now, applied over a long time, can result in significant changes in our lives. His point was to encourage us to start making changes in our lives toward godliness. Even if we can only make a small change here and there, we could expect to reap big results later of growth in godliness if we continued.
We should trust God that doing the things He has commanded us to do will eventually bring benefits. In other words, we should never lose hope in God’s promises.
Biblical hope is a little different from worldly hope. When in the world we say we ‘hope’ for something, that means we want it to happen, we wish it would happen, but we have no idea whether it will or not, nor do we have the ability to make it happen.
At it’s best, hopeful people are optimistic, and that’s a good thing. Optimistic people are a lot more fun to be around than pessimistic people like me.
But more often worldly hope is just good wishes–it feels good when someone wishes you well, it can be encouraging, but there’s no power to make it happen beyond your own efforts and determination.
In the Bible, hope is essentially trust in God focused on the future. God has made a lot of promises about salvation and heaven that we don’t see realized yet. Therefore, if we have chosen to place our faith in God, then we sincerely believe, we have hope, that those promises will be fulfilled…in God’s timing.
The message of 2 Chronicles 15:7 seems to fall into four categories. Let’s look at some other verses about these four points.
1. STAY STRONG !
Our strength comes from how strong Godis, not how weak we are.
2. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED !
We can be courageous knowing God is with us.
3. KEEP AT IT !
We will reap a harvest of righteousness if we sow seeds of goodness.
4. TRUST IN GOD’S REWARD ! As articles of faith, we must–
A. Believe God will reward us as He has promised.
B. Believe that exercising discipline for godliness carries a double reward.
C. Believe that even the smallest act of service in Jesus’ name will be rewarded.
D. Believe that God will renew our strength when we feel too tired to go on.
So, as you resolve to make changes in your Christian walk for the New Year…
This story from my family history is intended as a companion to blog G3 26 verses for 2026 – Seek Advice.
I. DIVORCE AND REMARRAIGE:
My dad’s youngest sister, one of my favorite aunts, had been divorced by her husband. They were both small people and they had one child together, who was always small for his age and, in my opinion, a little naive about the things going on around him.
My aunt remarried a man who had been divorced by his wife. They were bigger people and had two children who were on the larger size for their ages.
Unfortunately, the older and bigger boy picked on my smaller cousin.
II. KIDNAPPED!
Eventually my cousin’s dad remarried a woman with two daughters. When she saw how much her new husband wanted his son to live with them, she devised a plan to keep him with them at his next visit.
They called my aunt and notified her my cousin would be living with them for now on. They said his small stature and reports of being bullied by his stepbrother were criminal, and if she objected, they would take her to court and sue for custody on the grounds that she was an unfit mother. My aunt asked to speak with him to verify if it was his decision to stay, but they refused. Furthermore, they said she could not ever come and visit him either.
This devastated my aunt as he was the only child of her body and she loved him very much. The next year when I was visiting, she told me about the situation and asked for my advice. She knew that my mother had divorced my father, her older brother, so she thought, having grown up in a similar situation as a child, I might have some insight that would be helpful.
It seems her new husband was all about charging up there and taking him by force (the bully apple didn’t fall far from the tree in his son). My aunt was a gentle person, that was one of the things I liked the most about her as most of the rest of my father’s family were very brash. I’m sure you’ve heard that opposites attract, and you couldn’t get any more opposite than my quiet aunt and my forceful new uncle.
But there is a reason that opposites attract. You see, sometimes my quiet and unassuming aunt needed a forceful advocate on her behalf. And sometimes my new uncle needed someone to rein in his overforcefulness. They were able to do these things for each other because of their love, appreciation and respect for each other, and they ended up making a very good couple.
My aunt further explained she had sent birthday and Christmas gifts, but didn’t even know if he had received them. She had tried to talk to him by phone many times, but had been refused and threatened each time. Her question for me was, “What should I do?”
III. THE ADVICE:
Whew! I guess you know you have achieved adulthood when a member of your parents’ generation asks for your advice. Turns out I had a lot to draw on for my advice.
I had not only lived in a broken family with its dynamics, but divorce had become increasingly prevalent during the mid to late 60’s, my teenage years; therefore I had the stories and experiences of many peers to add to my own.
But I had more than ‘worldly’ experience to draw on, I had become a Christian while living with my grandparents between my own family’s divorce and remarriage, so I had the wisdom of God and the Bible as part of my life. The advice I gave my aunt would not have been popular, it was not easy to follow, but it was the right thing to do.
I explained that her son’s new stepmother sounded like a manipulator. (*See NOTE at end for more information.) A manipulator will say anything, true or not, to accomplish their chosen goal. A manipulator will spin everything that is said or done in such a way as to support their viewpoint.
I told her (and my listening uncle), that the last thing they wanted to do was to storm up there and try to take back her son by force. The manipulator would have the law out there quickly, hysterically accusing them of all sorts of heinous acts, either hoping something will stick or goading them into some ill-advised act or words that they could spin. It would be ugly.
Instead, they should play it low key. She should continue to send birthday and Christmas presents and cards. She should continue to write him and tell him how much she loved him and missed him. Even if he never saw a single one of her cards or letters, whenever the manipulating stepmother would tell him that his mother didn’t love him, had even deserted him, even my naive young cousin might pick up on how hollow the words were, because even the manipulator knew differently.
I assured my aunt that one day, her son would turn 18, he would leave his new family and he would remember the mother who bore him and loved him.
IV. REUNION:
My aunt and uncle’s chance to track down my cousin the summer after his high school graduation came when a very powerful hurricane made landfall and created a swath of destruction through the area where the father’s family lived. My aunt packed their suitcases, my uncle threw his chainsaw in the back of the car, and they headed in that direction to help with the cleanup.
A terse meeting occurred at the father’s house, but my cousin had moved into an apartment with a friend at a nearby junior college in preparation for starting classes that Fall. My aunt and uncle obtained his address and phone number and went back on the road.
They made a call when they arrived in the area to let him know they were coming and to obtain some directions (this was before cell phones), and the visit was arranged.
The reunion was subdued at first. My somewhat naive cousin was confused between what the manipulator had been telling him the past few years and the totally unexpected presence of the mother who had supposedly abandoned him.
“You never called!” He said. Then my aunt replied, with the calm confidence of the truth, “I called, but they would not let me speak to you.”
“You never wrote!” He complained. “I wrote you every month and sent you Christmas and birthday cards and presents,” she replied.
“How can I know you’re telling the truth?” My aunt countered with the truth, “Every birthday and Christmas, your father would tell me your size and what you needed the most. I always sent you an appropriate gift and a card with a letter. Give me any of your birthdays or Christmases in the last few years and I’ll describe what I sent. Then you tell me if you received it or not.”
It didn’t take long for even my naive young cousin to realize the scope of the deception that had been perpetrated on him the last few years. Yes, he had received those presents, wrapped and labeled as being from his dad and stepmother. No, he had never received any of his mom’s cards or letters.
“What do you want?” finally asked my cousin, reeling from realization of the years of deception, and not knowing who or what to trust.
My aunt stated simply, with tears running down her cheeks, “I wanted to see you, as I have not seen you for so many years. I wanted to talk to you, as we’ve not been able to talk. I want to let you know that I love you, I care about you, and I want to be part of your life.”
(Just in case you’d like to listen to the song I pulled my title banner from.)
Despite my cousin’s veneer of naivety, deep down he knew his mother. He knew that she wouldn’t lie to him, and the truth was evident in every word she spoke and in every line of her body. With that realization finally came the expected teary reunion between mother and child.
Thereafter followed reciprocal visits during holidays and school breaks. When my cousin graduated, he got a job close to his mother. Unfortunately, my aunt died prematurely of cancer, but for many years, she had her only son back in her life and was able to participate with great pleasure and joy in his life as an adult.
V. CONCLUSIONS:
Might this reunion have still happened without the years of suffering and sacrifice? Might they still have come back together as mother and son without her hands-off and month-by-month faithfulness in what appeared to be a hopeless and lost cause?
We can never answer ‘might have’ questions like that. But I was able to give her godly advice that worked. I also constantly supported them in prayer, which allowed me to rejoice with her when she was reunited with her son.
That’s why the Bible instructs us to seek wise, godly counsel when faced with difficult decisions and situations. I am very grateful my aunt was not an impulsive person, unlike her second husband, but I tried to tailor my advice to what I knew about her and about my cousin, as well as general experiences and principles.
The question at this point is, how can we tell who will give us the best wise counsel? There are hints in my story, but I will save that discussion as an idea for another blog.
VI. THE ‘PRICE’ OF GODLY COUNSEL:
So, what is the “price” of (following) godly advice I refer to in my title?
It would have been very emotionally satisfying for my step-uncle to go storming and breathing threats to recover his stepson, but it would not have accomplished God’s purposes. James writes:
Losing one’s temper is easy, holding it in and channeling it into a long-term, constructive plan is very, very hard. Believe me, I know.
I learned a lesson in the 70’s that I have to keep reminding myself about. I learned that we have two choices when it comes to how we react/respond, but we don’t have a choice about what happens afterward. Here is a quote that expresses what I learned:
“Life demands a price. You either pay now or pay later. It is much more expensive to pay later because life charges interest.” — Matt Worthy
(Emphasis added.) So…
1. We can choose to be undisciplined and ‘invest’ in the immediate gratification of sin, but we will find that it results in penalties to us over and over again for a very long time.
2. On the other hand, we can discipline ourselves and ‘invest’ in righteousness. If we choose the path of patience and sacrifice, we may suffer, over and over again for a long time, but righteousness will eventually pay us dividends rather than charge us penalties.
It’s the same decision we face with our money, spend it all now and have nothing later; or sacrifice and save some now and have more later.
VII. NOTE – The ‘Manipulative’ Stepmother:
(AI) The “manipulating stepmother” is an archetype representing toxic behavior within blended families, often characterized by controlling actions, attempts to isolate the child from the biological mother, and causing strain on relationships with the father.
Key Aspects of a Manipulative Stepmother
1. Controlling Actions: A manipulative stepmother may use guilt, shame, and controlling behavior to get her way. This can include controlling communication between the child and the other parent, and otherwise creating a hostile, competitive environment.
2. Isolating Child from Biological Mother: A common tactic is undermining the biological mother by constantly criticizing her, badmouthing the biological mother, and trying to diminish her role in the child’s life by limiting contact and communication.
3. Strain on Relationships with Father. The manipulative mother often feels they can get away with these abusive strategies because the husband/father has chosen her. If he does not remain passive, but attempts to intervene or ameliorate her abuse, then he becomes the target of her insults, threats and other means of keeping him in line.
Psychological and Emotional Impact on Children:
1. Low Self-Esteem and Inadequacy: Constant criticism, belittling, or conditional affection can make children feel unworthy or not “good enough”.
2. Anxiety and Depression: The stress of living in a tense, unpredictable environment often leads to anxiety disorders and depressive symptoms.
3. Trust Issues: Children may develop difficulty trusting others and forming healthy relationships in the future, often fearing that affection is a contract that can be revoked.
4. Emotional Detachment: Children may withdraw from family life, shut down emotionally, or become detached as a defense mechanism.
5. Guilt and Fear: Manipulative tactics, such as emotional blackmail or, in extreme cases, threatening suicide, can leave children feeling guilty or constantly afraid of triggering the stepmother.
VIII. A Personal Response:
A manipulative person doesn’t suddenly become that way just because they married into a blended family. The above manipulative techniques are usually already well-developed aspects of their psyche. I didn’t know my cousin’s dad, but I suspect at least a part of his son’s naiveté was inherited from him.
My other impression about manipulative people and marriage, and a manipulative personality is not limited to women, is they specifically look for a spouse that they can manipulate and dominate. For a manipulative man, that dominance more often leads to physical abuse.
As far as what we can do to help friends or family that we think might be falling under the influence of a manipulative person? I’ve got no great advice beyond praying for them and trusting in the power of God to deliver them.
I do know the first step of a manipulative person is to isolate the potential victim from their friends and family. If we catch that attempt at isolation soon enough, we can try to counter by drawing closer in our relationships with them. If we don’t catch the isolation soon enough, then they can become ‘brainwashed’ and strongly resist any efforts we may try to help them, even seeing us as their enemy.
In the end, I believe there is no hope for deliverance except through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. Here’s a great song about how Jesus can break every chain that ties us down in life.
New Year’s Resolutions: 2. Proverbs 20:25 – First, be thoughtful:
One of the pieces of advice my dad frequently gave me was, “Look before you leap.”
Like most boys, I was impulsive, ‘leaping’ to conclusions or ‘leaping’ into action without taking the time to first think it through.
Jesushad a couple of parables with similar messages inLuke 14. 1. Verses 28-30 – First, count the cost:
2. Luke 14:31-32 First, make sure you can:
3. Luke 14:33 The context of these parables is discipleship…
…and that is the context of these first four verses of the 26 for 2026–resolving to make advances in your growth as a Christian disciple for the New Year.
Today’s message from Joel Osteen was from Joshua 3:5. Joshua told the people,
The verb translated here as ‘purify’ is also translated as ‘sanctify’ and ‘consecrate.’ DEFINITIONS:
📖 Sanctify: a. Set apart as or declare holy, consecrate. b. Free from sin; purify.
📖 Consecrate: a. Make or declare sacred. b. Dedicate formally to a religious or divine purpose.
📖 Sacred: a. Sanctified by connection with God. b. Dedicated to a religious purpose.
As you can see from the definitions, these concepts are all closely intertwined.
Joel explained that the idea of the Hebrew verb is to put some separation between you and those things God doesn’t approve of, those things that are not consistent with who He is.
Joel used a football illustration, appropriate for this NFL playoff season, explaining that in order for the quarterback to successfully throw a receiver the football, the receiver had to create some separation between himself and the opposing player defending him. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be safe to throw him the football, so the quarterback then checks other possible receivers.
In the case of the Israelites in the Book of Joshua, the first miracle coming up was the parting of the Jordan River, similar to, but on a smaller scale, than God parting the Red Sea for Moses. In order to participate in this miracle, Joel pointed out, the people needed to purify / consecrate / sanctify themselves.
Next miracle up was the walls of Jericho tumbling down, but if the Israelites didn’t purify themselves, then Joel said they would be left behind and miss out on the miracles to come.
Joel then applied the concept to us in our time. He said that he believes God has miracles planned for us, but first we must purify ourselves from those things that hold us back in our Christian walk and separate us from God. We need to put some separation between ourselves and our sins.
Paul listed some of those sins that we need to throw off in Ephesians chapter 4:
“Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life… Therefore, putting away falsehood… Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice…”
These qualities are like the uniform for the other team. God is not going to toss us the ‘football of blessing’ if we’re wearing the uniform of the Enemy!
And Paul doesn’t just write about those negative qualities we should cast off, he also lists those positive qualities we should put on in their place:
“…and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. …let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. …and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”.
THIS is the uniform for GOD’S team.
• Instead of being sinful, we’re to be holy and righteous. • Instead of lying, tell the truth. • Instead of being bitter and angry, we’re to be kind. • Instead of ‘clamor and slander, ‘ that is making a fuss and bad-mouthing each other, we’re supposed to be forgiving. And, • Instead of treating each other with malice, we’re to be tenderhearted toward one another.
📖 Definition: ‘Malice‘ means the desire to cause harm or injury to another, stemming from a hostile impulse, deep-seated meanness, or revenge, often without justification. It’s a key concept in law for proving crimes like murder (malice aforethought) or defamation (malicious intent). The Bible calls all that ‘sin.’
Our church is beginning it’s annual 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting today. For the next 21 days, we’re supposed to give up something–a meal, watching a TV show, time on social media, etc.–and spend that time in prayer asking God this question, “God, what do you want?” and then LISTEN for His answer.
We’re supposed to be seeking God in prayer for the purpose of finding out what HE wants us to do for Him individually, and corporately as a church.
One implication of asking God what HE wants of us is that we are committing to do whatever He tells us.
Our second verse for 2026 suggests we should first be thoughtful before we commit to obey. Are we really willing to do what God asks of us? Are we ready to act in F.A.I.T.H? Are we ready and willing to carry it through? Consider these questions first, before you commit yourself to a new resolution.
Happy New Year everybody! My life has been changing at the speed of light the past few weeks, but we mortals still react to change at the same plodding pace. I’ve plenty of opportunities to trust God and to show His grace, but I can always use some inspiration.
I was looking for some inspiration on the Internet the other morning and I came across “26 Verses for 2026.” Just what I was looking for! (Funny how that happens…) So, I’m going to share one each week, along with my thoughts. Maybe you’ll find inspiration from them too.
January: Verses About Resolutions
1. Ecclesiastes 5:5 – Be Commited:
I heard on the news this week that most people are making the same New Year’s Resolutions they made last year–to exercise more, to eat better, to save money, to lose weight–but since resolving to do those things last year didn’t work, what’s the likelihood it will work this year?
You might also have seen practical suggestions for being more successful with your resolutions:
1. Break your goals down into smaller steps and focus on accomplishing one step at a time. 2. Set specific, realistic, and small goals, like something for each day, week, month…3. Focus on developing positive habits rather than just stopping bad habits.4. Find someone you know who is doing the same thing and do it together. 5. Celebrate your progress, but not by breaking your resolution!
One of my resolutions, when I got off my oral chemo last month, was to lose the weight it had caused me to gain. So far I’ve lost 7 pounds. Woo-hoo! Much farther to go, though, but I’m committed to following my plan…
Making changes to your physical and mental habits is hard! But do you know what is even harder? Making SPIRITUAL changes.
You see, God made us in His glorious image, not on the outside, but on the inside. Our character is supposed to be a reflection of who God is. For example:
God is the Creator–we are creativeGod is all-powerful–we are powerful in our own ways.God is all-knowing–we are capable of learning and knowing things.God is just–at our best, we know what is fair and just.God is love–at our best, we too are capable of great love.
Notice my qualifier “at our best.” You see, there’s this thing called “sin.” Humankind at the beginning turned from God in disobedience and this forever scarred our psyche. Instead of living to the glory of God, our nature was turned upside down and inside out, and now we live to glorify ourselves.
That doesn’t sound so bad, until you realize we are supposed to love each other to the point of sacrificing our own needs and desires for other’s good. Turn that around and you get people who love themselves most of all, and who are willing to sacrifice anything and everything of the people around them, to fulfill their own needs and desires. That results in some very ugly things in this world.
Mankind often exercises it’s power for destroying rather than creating.
When we choose to come to God by faith in Jesus Christ, God begins a process of reversing the harm of sin in our lives, both from our sin within and from others’ sin from without. That means fundamentally changing who we are on the inside.
Just as I am…I come
You might wonder, “Doesn’t God accept me as I am?” Yes, He does. He doesn’t require that we try to make these changes before He accepts us, because WE CANNOT!
God meets us wherever we are in life when we come to Him–He accepts us as we are, but then He redeems us from sin and darkness, and He brings us into His glory and light. He loves us so much, He won’t leave us where we are–in a pit of sin, darkness and despair.
But real, deep down change of who we are doesn’t happen immediately. We have to walk out what this means for the rest of our lives. You see, every day is a New Day in the Christian life. Therefore, every day requires a New Day’s Resolution.
So, let’s start each day in our relationship with God by making a committment to Him. Follow through on that PROMISE YOU MADE TO GOD when He first redeemed you.
Even as ‘little Christs,’ we’re not going to be called upon to lay down our lives for the salvation of the world. Actually, we’re being asked to do something much more difficult…
There are several authors who printed variations of a saying used by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his play, “Hamilton,” which premiered in January 2015.
“Dying is easy, beloved. It is living that is difficult.” Leonide Martin, Dreaming the Maya Fifth Sun, published 2006.
“Dying is Easy, its Living that’s hard,” Alden Bell, The Reapers are the Angels, published 2010.
That is the difficult thing God is asking us to do as Christians, to live for Him. Paul puts it this way,
So then, looking at the three divisions of my study summary, here are some ideas about how we can live as Jesus died.
I. Foreknowledge. Have you ever felt like you already knew what was going to happen in a familiar situation? Maybe you knew there would be a person who would argue with you. Maybe you knew someone would get their feelings hurt. Our tendency as ‘nice’ people is to try and avoid controversy or hurting people’s feelings.
If we overcompensate and sacrifice our Christian imperatives, then we end up doing what Charlie Kirk warned about:
Jesus did not run away from what He believed in–His Heavenly Father and God’s plan of salvation–and neither should we.
Jesus did not stay silent about what was right and wrong about the Jewish leaders when it came to God’s commands, and neither should we.
Not arguing and not hurting others’ feelings are good goals, but maybe not the priority they often are over other more important goals. In the Navigators, we tried to always remember that “The good is the enemy of the best,” from Oswald Chambers:
This means accepting something that is merely good can prevent us from achieving something better. Like Jesus, we should prioritize the things that matter most to God. Those things are–being in right relationship with our Heavenly Father; and telling others about Him, His Son, and God’s plan of redemption for humankind.
However, we SHOULD be gracious in how we present Jesus and the gospel. Following are a couple of New Testament guidelines for doing that:
II. INTENTIONALITY / DETERMINATION:
A. There were words in the King James Bible I read in the 60’s that were not a part of common vocabulary. One of those was ‘diligent.’ I had a difficult time figuring out it’s meaning without any real-world usages. Here are a couple of examples from the Bible:
📖 DILIGENT is defined as by Websters as meaning:
Comparing to synonyms, DILIGENT suggests earnest application to some specific objective or pursuit.
B. Use of the word ‘intentional’ in Christian circles is a relatively new one. Websters defines it as meaning: 📖
A comparison of synonyms fleshes out the definition: Intentional stresses intent, an awareness of an end intended to be achieved. (I know our English teachers taught us not to use a word to define itself, but…)
I see the concepts of diligence and intentional as being very close in meaning, which I think is best summed up by a famous sports quote–
III. Those things related to our passage this week that I think we need to be intentional / diligent about are:
A. Sacrificial giving: John takes the concept of laying down one’s life introduced in his gospel a step further in his first letter,
At first glance, we might think John is advocating we be willing to die for each other. Maybe…, but he goes on to explain more specifically what he means,
:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech only, but with actions and in truth.”
So, John makes it clear that our sacrifices for each other are to be more material–to sacrificially give of our possessions to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in the faith (firstly), but also of all those around us.
B. Sacrificial living. As seen in Romans 12:1, we’re supposed to be living sacrifices. Paul elaborates on this concept in 2 Corinthians 5:15,
Peter himself put it this way in his first letter, 1 Peter 4:1-2,
:2 “As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for merely human desires, but rather for the will of God.”
Ultimately there should be a crucifixion going on in our lives. Paul fills out this concept in Galatians,
And most dramatically, Paul’s personal testimony in Galatians 2:20,
Whew! Very high standards indeed.
C. Sacrificial going. In our last section of Mark coming up next week, Jesus commissions His disciples by saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
⛪️ Our church is very much a sending church. Every week, our services end with the phrase, “Summit, you are sent.” (A church ‘sends,’ a person ‘goes.’)
❤ We’re in the middle of our giving commitment month and some of the stats and testimonies for how the church spent our donations this past fiscal year, and the results obtained, are quite impressive. Here is a summary of how our sacrificial giving should be used for the things that are on God’s heart:
1. The Great Commission:
🌎 Fulfilling the Great Commission includes preaching the gospel, baptizing those who believe, making disciples by teaching them, and taking these activities into all the world; and don’t forget, our city, our state and our country are all part of ‘the world.’
2. The Compassion Ministries:
🤟 Looking over the above two lists of ministries, you might think, ‘I can’t do that.’ But there are many things that anyone can do. Rather than focusing on the specialty ministries, such as proclaiming the gospel, teaching the Scriptures, baptizing someone, look at the compassion ministries. Anyone can give necessities–food and clothing–to the poor and needy. Get started somewhere, if you’re not already, and see where God takes you.
3. Widows and orphans (in our time, single mothers and their children, as well as orphaned children):
We have a ministry where single parents can bring their children for an evening of supervised fun while the parent takes a night off. There are a lot of other giving ministries focused on single mother families too.
😇 Anyone can donate a Christmas present in an Angel Tree ministry for children who otherwise might not receive anything for Christmas. (We’ve got one of those too!)
👫 For our small group Christmas project this year, we bought Christmas presents for a boy and a girl in a Christian orphanage from their wish lists.
👀 We are surrounded by people with needs. Be intentional / diligent in finding ways you can give to meet those needs in the Name of Jesus.
✨️ CONCLUSION:
🎁 At work, our Christmas project this year is buying Christmas presents for three needy military families through a Service Assistance organization. One family lost their father to an IED in Afghanistan. Another family has their father, but he was totally disabled by an IED. In the third family, the mother is the service member whose husband divorced her and left her with six children. The other two families have 4 and 5 children.
Gifts for service family #3
🎄We have almost 1,000 employees scattered across the US, with about 100 in the office. Already the stack of presents for each family is impressive, along with many generous donations of cash from our distant employees to buy more. However, in my opinion there is going to be something very important missing; there will be nothing about God or Jesus Christ, except in the word ‘Christ’mas.
👑 We in the church body should not only exceed the generosity of those who are still separated from God, but we should also be taking a witness of who Jesus is, and what He did for us, to others via these compassion ministries. Meeting the material needs is important, but the spiritual and eternal needs need to be met too.
🤓 SUMMARY:
✝️ So, live for Jesus, give and minister to the needy, and take the message of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ everywhere you go. If you’ll do these things, you’ll be living up to the name you bear as ‘Christ’ians. 🙂
This blog is based on my participation in the above Bible study.
In this week’s lesson, Pastor Chan pointed out that there were a lot of different kinds of power on display. Here is a summary of each kind of power as I saw it and some of the implications.
I. The Power of Popularity: There are several places in Mark chapters 11 and 12 where we see that Jesus was popular with the masses.
A. (As Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey…) 11:8 …many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!” (Hebrew, “Pray you, save us!)
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our forefather David!”
B. Reaction of the Jewish Religious Leaders
11:18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Jesus, for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.
11:27 … while Jesus was walking in the temple courts the next day, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to Him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you authority to do this?”
29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
31 The Jewish leaders discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
12:12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.
12:37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to Jesus teach with delight.
🤓 COMMENTARY
1. The advantages of popularity.
A. If you’re popular, people will be very welcoming, they’ll want to give you meals and gifts for free. Essentially, people want to be seen being with popular people to enhance their own reputation. However once you are no longer popular, all that will disappear.
B. Popularity affords you protection from those at the opposite end of feeling for you– those who want to hurt, destroy or even kill you, and remove you as the source of their anger and discomfort. As long as you’re seen to be popular, you’re safe from your enemies. But as we see in the gospels, the Jewish leaders who hated Jesus figured out how to catch Jesus away from His screen of admirers and arrest Him.
2. The Dangers of Popularity
A. Disappointing Expectations: Pastor Chan pointed that the people welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem were expecting the Messiah promised in their Scriptures, who would establish an eternal kingdom and rule from Jerusalem, with the Israelites being His favored people.
Unfortunately, that was not the Messiah that Jesus had come as. First He had to suffer and die so our sins could be forgiven by God, THEN He would come again and establish His kingdom on Earth.
So, the first source of Jesus’ popularity was the expectation that He would give them something they wanted, something they had dreamed of and prayed for after chaffing under Roman rule for so long.
The downside of being popular for the wrong expectation is that when it becomes clear the expectation is not going to materialize, the people will turn on the one who disappoints them and go just as far in the negative direction. We’ll see this later when the crowd shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!.”
B. The other reasons we see that Jesus was popular was His teachings amazed and delighted the crowds. Note that these are emotional responses.
So, what happens when what you say doesn’t ‘amaze’ and ‘delight’ the crowds anymore? They drop you like yesterday’s leftovers and go looking for someone new to ‘delight’ and ‘amaze’ them.
CONCLUSION. The point is, whether individually or en masse, people are fickle and quickly change their attitudes and interests. That is the danger of depending on the power of popularity.
II. THE POWER OF PRAYER
Pastor Chan pointed out there is an incident in the middle of Jesus’ week in Jerusalem that has been difficult to understand to many theologians.
A. Jesus Curses a Fig Tree
11:12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard him say it.
11:20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
Pastor Chan explains that the fig tree is a metaphor for Jesus coming to Israel. The leafy fig tree represented the nation of Israel. It was vibrant and alive, but when looked at closely, there was no godly fruit.
God had expected Israel to be a light to the world. That people would hear and come to Jerusalem, the city of God, and go to the temple, the House of God, and find out who God is. There was even an outer court, called the Court of the Gentiles, for non-Jews to visit. However, in Jesus’ day, it had been turned into a place of business where visiting out-of-country Jews had to exchange their foreign currency for local currency, at a highly unfavorable rate, and buy Temple approved sacrifices at outrageous prices. This was a source of much revenue for the Jewish leaders.
Jesus first public act in Jerusalem this final week was to drive out the money changers and condemn their actions. This immediately put Jesus on the wrong side of the Jewish leaders who then sought to arrest Him and have Him put to death, but Jesus’ popularity with the crowds prevented that.
Immediately after Peter’s observation that the cursed fig tree had died, Jesus launched into a series of teachings on prayer, cementing the connection between the lesson of the fig tree with what Israel had become.
C. Jesus made these points about prayer:
1. Believe and don’t doubt, it will be granted.
2. Believe you have received it, and it will be yours.
3. Make sure you’re not holding a grudge against someone so God can forgive you when you pray and then listen to your request.
This one might seem out of place, but the implication is God will answer our prayers when we are in right relationship with Him and that means being in right relationship with each other.
II. Power versus Authority
Did Jesus have the POWER to curse The fig tree to death, or did He have the AUTHORITY?
People often use the two terms interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same thing. Therefore, I think it is essential that we understand that difference.
The way I had it explained to me was using the example of a police officer directing traffic.
When the police officer holds up his hand indicating you are to stop, he doesn’t have the actual ability to MAKE you stop. You could choose to keep going and there is nothing he can physically do to stop your vehicle. But you can bet that he will take note of your license plate (if you don’t run over him) and you will become involved with the criminal justice system shortly afterward.
So, the point is the police officer didn’t have the personal POWER to enforce his command, like imagined super heroes, but the officer represents a larger organization that has the power to arrest you, to judge you, to fine you and even to incarcerate you. The police officer represents a GREATER POWER, the power of the government, and he has been given the AUTHORITY to give those commands and expect them to be obeyed.
Remember when Jesus commissioned the Twelve and sent them out? Jesus gave them the AUTHORITY to heal the sick and cast out demons. When they spoke the command to be healed, they had no power to heal, but they represented a GREATER POWER, the POWER OF GOD. GOD’S POWER healed people. GOD’S POWER cast out the demons. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, GOD’S POWER worked overnight to kill it. When we pray correctly, it is GOD’S POWER that acts to answer.
Therefore, there isn’t POWER in prayer, there is AUTHORITY in us, disciples of Jesus Christ, when we pray believing. The POWER comes from GOD.
III. CHALLENGES
The Chief Priests Question Jesus’ Authority, by James Tissot
The Jewish leaders understood what ‘authority’ meant. The next day, while Jesus was teaching the crowd in the temple and amazing them with what He had to say, they sent a delegation to ask Him, “By whose authority do you do these things?
We would say, less formerly, “What gives you the RIGHT?”
They were asking, “What gives You the RIGHT to come into our temple, overturn the tables with the money and sacrifices, and run the money changers out with a whip of rope cords? What gives You the RIGHT to come in here and tell us what we can and cannot do?”
“What gives you the RIGHT to speak a parable of condemnation against us, the leaders and teachers of the Jews? What gives you the RIGHT to say who’s right and who’s wrong?”
“What gives you the RIGHT to come here and teach the people something different than what we teach them, the traditions of the Fathers? What gives you the RIGHT to say what is right and wrong?”
Notice that Jesus never answered their question. Instead, He traps them with a question about where they thought John the Baptist’s authority came from. They couldn’t answer what they really thought, that John was not really a prophet sent from God, but just another wannabe who caught the attention of the masses for a short while and rode that wave of popularity for as long as he could. That is, until his big mouth got him in trouble with Herod. If the Jewish leaders had said that, they would have had a riot on their hands as the people attacked them. So, they didn’t answer Jesus’ question.
The Jewish leaders were looking for something they could use to discredit Jesus, arrest Him, and then have Him executed, which they eventually did. The rest of our passage this week shows how each Jewish religious and secular sect tried to trap Jesus the same way He had trapped the temple priests. They weren’t able to because each time, Jesus showed them just how much smarter He was than any of them. You can do that when you’re God.
IV. APPLICATION 🍎
Pastor Chan ended his lesson by referencing where Jesus warned His disciples that they could expect the same kinds of attacks and persecution.
John 15:18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
20 Remember what I told you before: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also…
21 They will treat you this way because of My name.”
The whole thrust of Pastor Chan’s presentation of Mark’s gospel has been discipleship. Jesus came to accomplish three purposes. One of them was to leave behind a cadre of trained and experienced replacements to carry out God’s plan of saving the entire world through the preaching of the gospel. As we approach the imminent departure of Jesus in the story, Jesus doubles down on His time and instruction of His disciples in final preparation.
If we call ourselves ‘Christians,’ that means we have accepted the responsibility to be one of those ‘little Christs’ in our own generation, in our own place in the world.
Approaching the study of Mark for the purpose of learning what Jesus did and taught so that we can do the same as His disciples is very different from the intellectual approach to study that I learned in school, and it’s hard to change how I’ve been studying for so many years.
I began this study because I wanted to learn to be a worshipper of God with my whole heart. What I’ve been learning instead is how to follow Jesus with my whole life.
God is funny that way. He guides you into what you think is one thing, only to find out it is something else…, actually something better, closer to God’s plan, rather than to my own desires.
In the process, I have realized that He’s been changing me behind the scenes in ways I had never imagined possible. I hope as we approach the holiday season, that you are yielding your life to our Lord and Savior in new ways too. AMEN!
In part 1, we looked at situations where things were impossible for people to do or believe, but not impossible for God. In part 2, I’m going back through the same chapters in Mark where the answer was not “Yes.”
1. Peter rebukes Jesus, Jesus rebukes him right back – Mark 8:32-33
When you think your spiritual leader is going astray, you quietly take Him to the side and tell Him so, right?
Jesus said, “NO! You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on those of people!”
Sometimes when we don’t ‘get it,’ it doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Be humble instead and ask for an explanation.
2. Boy Possessed by an Unclean Spirit – Mark 9:14-29
A father brings his demon-possessed son to some disciples of Jesus to be delivered and they think, “We got this!” After all, they’ve been casting out demons for a long time now, right? But…no.
Later, after Jesus casts out the demon, He clues you in. “This kind of demon cannot be cast out without much fasting and prayer.”
Moral of the story: Don’t think just because you know some things and have done some things that you know everything and can do anything. It’s always a good idea to check with God first.
3. Who is the Greatest? – Mark 9:33-37
You’re one of the chosen Twelve out of hundreds of disciples who believed in and followed Jesus, the Messiah, so you’ll be one of the Great Ones too when Jesus establishes His Kingdom, right?
Jesus says, “NO! Whoever receives a child in My name is receiving Me, and not only receiving Me, but God who sent Me.”
Wait, what? Is Jesus saying a child is greater than one of the Twelve? Seems like just another one of those topsy-turvy things in Christendom like:
“If you want to keep your life, you have to lose it.”
“He who would be greatest among you must become the servant of all.”
Jesus had to die and be buried in the earth before He could ascend to God’s throne in heaven.
We have to give up everything in this world in order to receive everything God has for us in heaven.
Doesn’t make sense, does it?
You see some guy you don’t even know, and DEFINITELY not one of your group, casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and you try to make him stop, and then you tattle to Jesus. That’s what you should do with impostors, right?
Jesus says, “NO! Whoever is not against us is FOR us.”
Quite the opposite of what radicals today say, “If you’re not for us, you’re against us!”
Jesus is inclusive. Radicals are exclusive. That’s how you tell them apart.
5. Divorce – Mark 10:2-14
The Teachers of the Law say it is allowed for a man to divorce his wife, so it’s okay, right?
Jesus says, “NO! Moses wrote that Law because you’re a hard-hearted people. In the beginning, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body.’ So they are no longer two, but one.”
6. It is hard for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God – Mark 10:23-37
Rich people have been greatly blessed by God, right? That should mean they’re on the fast track to make it into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus says, “NO! It is easier to thread a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved”
“So,” the disciples ask, “how can anyone be saved?Jesus replied,
That’s the whole point, isn’t it? If we could have saved ourselves, Jesus would not have had to come and die for our sins.
7. The Request of James and John – Mark 10:35-40
You want something really big, really bad and you build up your courage to ask Jesus in private…
…and He says, “NO! To sit at my right or left is not for Me to grant. Those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
What we want is not always part of God’s plan. Leave room for God’s ‘No,’ and be willing to accept it.
8. Christian Leadership – Mark 10:42-45
You can’t wait until you’re in charge so you can tell everyone what to do…
…but Jesus says, “Not so! Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…”
9. Blind Bartimaeus – Mark 10:46-52
This blind beggar sitting behind the crowd as Jesus and His disciples pass by keeps yelling for Jesus louder and louder. “Shut him up!” everyone says…
…but Jesus says, “NO! Bring him to Me.” And the blind man received back his sight.
Sometimes it pays to be the squeaky wheel, even in God’s Kingdom.
APPLICATION – Prayer
So, when will God say “yes” in answer to our request and when will He say “no”? There are several guidelines in the Bible that can help us figure that out.
1. If we ask for something that is within the range of what God wants to do for us or give us, then the answer will be “yes.”
2. So, how do we tell what requests fall within “God’s will”? The best way is to become familiar with what God has promised, because in Jesus Christ…
Note that God has a personal motive for answering our prayers, that He would be glorified through us. God’s number one goal is that people know He exists, and that there are rewards for coming to Him. God wants to reveal those things through us to those around us by answering our prayers and then us letting people know.
Then God’s number two goal kicks in, saving as many people as possible through faith in Jesus Christ, but they’ve got to have this faith first…
3. To claim this promise, we must pray in Christ’s name. Jesus said:
It has been explained to me that asking God for something in Jesus’ means asking for the same thing that Jesus would ask.
So, it’s not just ‘WWJD’ That is, What Would Jesus Do? It’s also ‘WWJA,’ What Would Jesus Ask?
Once again there is a purpose to God answering our prayers in Jesus’ name, that we would be filled with joy. And let me testify how great it is when I pray for something and God comes through!
As for God’s plan of salvation for the world? There is nothing more attractive to needy, hurting people than someone who has their own needs, but is filled with joy because God is answering their prayers about them!
4. And when it comes right down to it, we have to ask! That is the idea of our pastor’s recent book on prayer, ‘Just Ask.’
The Joy of Confident, Bold, Patient, Relentless, Shameless, Dependent, Grateful, Powerful, Expectant Prayer
James said the same thing in his letter,
James also explains why we sometimes get a ‘No’ from God:
The opposite of asking ‘in Jesus’ Name,’ is asking ‘just for ourselves.’ Trying to get something for yourself out of your ministry to others for God will destroy your ministry. So too…
CONCLUSION
So, what will God’s answer to your prayers be, “Yes” or “No”? Whichever one it is, you can be sure of one thing, there will be waiting involved.
When we ask God for something, He’s not like a ‘genie in a bottle’ that has to give us what we ask for, when we ask for it, and how we ask for it. We need to remember that this is the LORD GOD we’re talking about. He is sovereign, which means He’s in charge of everything. He will choose the best way to answer your prayers, when to answer them, and how to answer them.
Also remember that God wants everyone to know it was Him. He often chooses unusual ways of answering and waits until the last moment. One reason for the waiting is for us to display our faith and trust in Him.
So, ask, believe, wait patiently and glorify God when He comes through. He does, He will, and I can testify to that too, AMEN!
This blog is based on my participation on the above Bible study.
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.
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.”
The following is from my participation in the above Bible study.
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.
* Decapolis, “The Ten Cities,” were Helenistic (Greek culture) cities mostly east of the Jordan River and Galillean Sea. The 10th city, not pictured, was Syrian Damascus.
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.
Exhortation_to_the_Apostles_by James_Tissot
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.
This blog is based on my participation in the above study.
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.
A Prophet Without Honor
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…
(c) Free Bible Images, used by permission.
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…
A. Jesus casually walking on water to catch up with His disciples rowing their boat against a headwind. Peter left out the part here where he walked on water too. B. We see Jesus multiply 5 loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5,000 men, with the Twelve each collecting a basket full of leftovers.C. And we see Jesus back across the Sea of Galilee healing multitudes of sick people who lined the road just to touch the edge of His cloak as He walks by.
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.
Luke 4:16 Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him to read from. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,...to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Isaiah 61:2)
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.
Bill's Bible Blog 