BY PASTOR ADAM WYATT

The Gospel of Mark: Seeking the Heart of Christ Copyright 2011 by Adam Wyatt. All rights reserved. Visit adamwyatt.org for a free PDF version of this book.

Why Mark? Of all the different books of the Bible that we could be studying, why look at the Gospel of Mark? As I was looking and praying about what to do this year, I really struggled with knowing what it was that we needed to do. I have been here a little over 6 months and feel that I am just now figuring out where we are as a church, but I have come to at least one specific conclusion about us: we do not know enough about Jesus! At the root, this is the reason that we are going to be looking at the gospel of Mark. We really need to study the life and ministry of Jesus if we want to really find out what it is that Jesus wants from us. I really feel that if we are to grow as a church (and as individuals) we need to fall in love with Christ and seek hard after him and I truly believe that that starts with me as your pastor. I want to commit to you in seeking hard after the Lord this year, especially in my preaching and teaching. I promise that I will do everything that I can to be prepared to preach, and this study guide is one that I can do it. What you will find is am introductory study guide for our sermon series. I have broken down the entire book into small chunks. Each church will be a sermon, and the study information that I have included will go along with my sermon, but will not be all of it. Basically it is just enough so that you can have an idea about I am going to be preaching every Sunday. Each chunk also has a list of questions at the end to help you get more out of it, and this will also allow you to study throughout the week if you want to use this as a part of your own quiet time. Once again, I am really excited about the journey that God has called us all to be a part of and I really want to see some success this year. I promise that I will do all that I can dowill you? Serving. Adam Wyatt

The Gospel of Mark: Background: From start to finish, Jesus is the uncontested subject of the Gospel of Marl, and he is portrayed as a man of action. The action of the Gospel is all-important to the meaning of the Gospel, for we learn who Jesus is not so much from what he says as from what he does. In this respect, Mark writes with a paintbrushrequiring readers to enter into the drama of the Gospel in order to understand its meaning. Although Jesus is often referred to as a teacher, Mark seldom reports the content of his teaching. It is quickly apparent that the person of the teacher is more important than the content of his teachingAbove all, Marks portrayal of Jesus is characterized by three factors: his divine authority, his mission as the suffering Servant of God, and his divine Sonship.1 Author: There is evidence that this book was valued with the early church, and according to the early church leader Papias (AD 60-130) the writer of this book was identified as Mark who who was Peters interpreter. Papias states that Mark wrote down accurately, but not in order, as much as he could remember of the things said and done by Christ.2 The Mark who tradition states is the writer of this book, is evidently John Mark, the son of a woman named Mary, in whose house the early church gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12). The same house was apparently the site of the Last Supper (Acts 1:13-14; Mark 14:14). In the New Testament John Mark appears only in with other more dominant personalities. He is seen with Barnabas and Saul as an assistant on the first missionary journey (Acts 12:25; 13:4), evidently being responsible for travel arrangements, food, and lodging. At Perga, he quit the missionary trip for an undisclosed reason (Acts 13:13). This really upset Paul and apparently this caused a rift between him and Barnabas. Paul considered Marks desertion unjustifiable and was unwilling to allow him to go on his second missionary journey. Paul continued with Silas, while Barnabas returned to Cyprus with Mark (Acts 15:37-41). John Mark is not heard of again until roughly a decade later, when there are some scattered references show him reconciled to Paul (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; 2 Timothy 4:11). A final New Testament reference does how him laboring with Peter in the city of Rome (1 Peter 5:13). According to church tradition, Mark went to Egypt and evangelized there, and planted churches there as well, eventually becoming the first bishop of Alexander.

1 James Edwards. The Gospel According to Mark. Leicester: Apollos, 2002: 12-13. 2 Quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III.39.15. 3

Mark is a guy who got a second chance and he made it count. Although he had basically quit the ministry early-on, because Barnabas gives him second chance, he made the most of it. He went along with Barnabas on his first solo missionary journey and probably had a lot of success. He eventually has enough time to set out to write this Gospel. This is a great lesson for us to learn. Even though we make mistakes, God can still use us for his glorys sake. Another lesson for us in this, is that we all need to be a little more like Barnabas. We need to be willing to give second chances. Just like the way God shows us mercy and grace, we need to be willing to extend those things to others!

Date: It is not clear exactly when the book of Mark was written. The most popular idea is that it was written really close to the time of the death of Peter, generally assumed to be around 6465 AD. Setting: Mark was probably written in Rome and because of this one of the main themes that the readers would have been dealing with was persecution. Peter had just been killed for his faith, and so had the Apostle Paul, so the church was suffering from loses of some of its most important people. Mark is written as a book that focuses on the life of Jesus. The books first concern was simply to collect and arrange various individual traditions of the deeds and teachings of JesusMark Clearly was not content merely to give an account of the life and teaching of Jesus. He wanted to set forth his own understanding of Jesus and thus develop his Christology. He wanted to do so in such a way as to minister to the needs of his own church. Mark is more than a book about Jesus. It is also a book about being a disciple of Jesus. For Mark discipleship was following Jesus in suffering and mission. He saw in the first disciples the same kinds of triumphs and failures that characterized the disciples in his own church, and therefore he set forth the former as examples of virtues to imitate and vices to avoid.3 So Mark shows us a picture of Jesus, but a picture that should actually define our own lives. Mark is a book that should inspire us to be more like Christ!

3 James A. Brooks. The New American Commentary: Mark (Volume 23). Nashville: Broadman, 1991: 30. 4

Overarching Themes: Jesus is the Messiah. The main theme of the Gospel of Mark is to show that Jesus really is the Messiah. While I would argue that every book of the Bible seeks to show how Jesus is the Messiah (and it does, in some way), the Gospel seeks to show this man, Jesus, really was the Son of God who came to earth to redeem mankind. While ultimately this is the goal of the Bible and every book in it, the Gospel of Mark is the story of Christ. It goes through the entire story of Jesus and how it relates to the reader. Miracles. One of the things that we will see throughout the Gospel of Mark is Jesus constantly working miracles. Jesus heals a great multitude of people. He feeds thousands of people with what is basically a small picnic lunch. He walks on water. He calms storms. Jesus shows that he has ultimate power over nature, death, and eventually, Satan, and sin. Jesus performs great miracles and they all point to his being the Son of Godbut also to his actually being God, because only God could do the things that Jesus did. The humanity of Christ. Another big issue in the Gospel of Mark is the humanity of Jesus. Perhaps no other gospel shows the humanity of Jesus as clearly as Mark. This was very important to the original readers, because common Greek thought couldnt believe that Spirit and flesh could be united. Even today, we have a hard time understanding how Jesus could be both spirit and man, but to understand that Jesus was a man means two things. One, it shows us that he really was a man like us, as the book of Hebrews says Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV) So Mark shows how Jesus can understand and sympathize with us so that we have a Savior who really cares. Two, the humanity of Jesus shows us that Jesus can truly be our substitute on the Cross dying as a man for all men. We call this penal substitutionary atonement. To quote pastor Mark Driscoll on the meaning of this On the cross as our substitute, Jesus was made to be the worst of what we are. This does not mean that Jesus ever sinned. Rather, it means that he was made sin. As a result, in that moment when Jesus cried out that he had been forsaken by God the Father, Jesus became the most ugly, wicked, defiled, evil, corrupt, rebellious, and hideous thing in all creation. In that moment, Jesus became a homosexual, alcoholic, thief, glutton, addict, pervert, adulterer, coveter, idol worshipper, whore, pedophile, self-righteous religious prigand whatever else we are. Martin Luther is one of the

few theologians who does not lesson the blow of this truth and calls it the great exchange. As shocking as this fact is, Scripture declares that on the cross Jesus exchanged his perfection for our imperfection, his obedience for our disobedience, his intimacy with God the Father for our distance from God the Father, his blessing for our cursing, and his life for our deathThe Bible teaches that in perfect justice, because Jesus was made to be our sin, he died for usHis death was in our place solely for our benefit and without benefit for himself. Just to be clear, this means that Jesus took the penalty for our sins in our place so we do not have to suffer the just penalty ourselves. The wrath of God that should have fallen on us and the death that our sins merit fell on Jesus. This wasnt something forced on him. Rather, he took it willingly. Scripture repeatedly stresses this point.4 Another big issue in the Gospel of Mark is discipleship. One of the biggest issues for the early church, and for the church today, is discipleship. Mark writes as one who has a passion to see Christians act like we actually know Jesus and have been transformed by him and the power of the Holy Spirit. Mark is more than a book about Jesus, it is a book about being a disciple of Jesus. As one commentator states, For Mark discipleship was following Jesus in suffering and mission. He saw in the first disciples the same kinds of triumphs and failures that characterized the disciples in his own church, and therefore he set forth the former as examples of virtues to imitate and vices to avoid.5 If we are to make a difference for the sake of the Gospel then we need to be growing in our faith. The only way for this to happen is for us to properly engage in discipleship. The relationship between Jesus and family. The multiple mentions to the family of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark prove somewhat difficult to the reader and are difficult to understand. We are surrounded by twentieth-century assumptions about family, and this keeps us from really understanding what is happening in the Gospel. Jesus would have been the oldest brother in the family, and would have been counted on to provide for the family if Joseph died. While we dont know much about their family, we do see throughout the Gospel of Mark that Jesus family did not truly understand that he was the Messiah until later on after Jesus ascension. Mary would become a trusted member of the early Church, while James would become the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. Outline: Each individual Scripture breakdown will be an individual sermon. This should be pretty accurate, but it is possible that I might take a little longer on some sections, or break some sections down into smaller units. Either way, I really think that this is the breakdown that we will use for the entire sermon series. 4 Mark Driscoll, Vintage Jesus (Wheaton: Crossway, 2007): 114. 5 Brooks, 30. 6

Preaching Outline: 1. 1:1-15John the Baptist prepares the way fro Jesus. 2. 1:16-20The Temptation of Jesus and the calling of his first disciples. 3. 1:21-34Jesus heals many different people. 4. 1:35-45Jesus preaches in Galilee. 5. 2:1-12Jesus heals a paralyzed man because of the faith of his friends. 6. 2:13-22Eating and fasting. 7. 2:23-28Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. 8. 3:1-21Jesus heals, draws a crowd, and calls the Twelve. 9. 3:22-35Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. 10. 4:1-20The parable of the Sower. 11. 4:21-34Parables about the Kingdom of God. 12. 4:35-41Jesus calms a storm. 13. 5:1-20Jesus heals a man with a demon. 14. 5:21-43Jesus heals a woman and Jairuss daughter. 15. 6:1-13Jesus is rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. 16. 6:14-29The death of John the Baptist. 17. 6:30-44Jesus feeds the 5000. 18. 6:45-56Jesus walks on water. 19. 7:1-13Traditions and commandments. 20. 7:14-23What really defiles a person. 21. 7:24-30The faith of a Gentile woman. 22. 7:31-37Jesus heals a deaf man. 23. 8:1-10Jesus feeds the 4000. 24. 8:11-21Jesus and the Pharisees. 25. 8:22-26Jesus heals a blind man. 26. 8:27-30Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ. 27. 8:31-9:1Jesus speaks of his upcoming death and resurrection. 28. 9:1-29The transfiguration of Jesus. 29. 9:30-41Jesus foretells his death again, and the disciples dont get it. 30. 9:42-50Temptations and sin. 31. 10:1-16Jesus teaching on divorce. 32. 10:17-31Jesus and the rich young man. 33. 10:32-45Jesus foretells his death a third time. 34. 10:46-52Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus. 35. 11:1-11Jesus Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem. 36. 11:12-32The lessons of the fig tree. 37. 12:1-12The parable of the tenants. 38. 12:13-17Give to Caesar what Caesars 39. 12:18-40The Great Commandment. 40. 12:41-44The offering of the widow. 41. 13:1-36Signs of the end of the Age.

42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

14:1-11The plot to kill Jesus. 14:12-25Jesus celebrates Passover with his disciples. 14:26-31Jesus predicts Peters denial. 14:32-42Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane. 14:43-52Jesus is betrayed and arrested. 14:53-72Jesus is before the council while Peter is denying him. 15:1-47The Passion. 16:1-8The Resurrection. ***16:9-20

VARIOUS RESOURCES: Books on Mark: Tim Keller, Kings Cross: the Story of the World in the Life of Jesus (New York: Dutton, 2011). This a great book that is ultimately about the atonement of Christ as painted in the Gospel of Mark. Keller does a great job of engaging the reader and he weaves a story that shows how the work of Jesus on the Cross is the most important event that history has ever seen.

Technical Commentaries: R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Cambridge: Eerdman, 2002).

Devotional Commentaries: R. Alan Cole, Mark Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1989). Sinclair B. Ferguson, Lets Study Mark (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2002). Ronald Kernaghan, Mark The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2007).

Books on the Cross: James Montgomery Boice and Philip Graham Ryken, The Heart of the Cross (Wheaton: Crossway, 1999). Mark Driscoll, Death by Love (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008) John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1955). 9

Free On-line Commentaries: http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/mark.pdf Dr. Constable puts out great free downloadable commentaries. While I have not read them all, all that I have read is of high quality and I recommend them for anyone who wants some extra study aidthe fact that they are free makes them even better! Free Blogs and Sermons from John Piper: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/scripture-index/mark I generally use John Pipers resources almost every week. Because he has almost 40 years of preaching ministry, he has preached through almost every book in the Bible which allows me to go to a specific passage to see if he has any notes or maybe a sermon on the passage. If he does, I look at it. I highly recommend anything that he has on the Gospel of Mark.

10

1.

1:1-15John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus. Matthew 3:1-17 Luke 3:1-18

Rather than starting off his Gospel with background or events leading up to Jesus public ministry, Mark starts off with the actual beginning of it. What is the gospel? Basically, the word for gospel means good news, and it is closely related to the word for evangelism. Throughout the book of Mark we will see that the Gospel is truly good news, because it is about Jesus himself. The gospel is the story of Jesus, specifically the news that Jesus has come to earth to save us from the penalty of our own sin. Also we must see the importance of the name of Jesus. Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua and both mean God saves. So Mark starts off by expressing that it is the beginning of the gospel (good news) of Jesus (God saves). We must always see that the heart of the Gospel is that Jesus saves, and Mark makes no exception for us here! While other Gospels start with the genealogy of Jesus (which is important because it shows how Jesus is not just a random accident, but actually the promised Messiah that has come to save the world) Mark starts by identifying John the Baptist as the prophet who has come to prepare the way for Jesus. This was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 and also in Malachi 3:1. John is preaching repentance and even baptizes Jesus. This shows how important John was to the ministry of Jesus. He is seen preparing the way for Jesus, and then actually baptizing Jesus. Later, Jesus will state that of those born of women, none is greater than John (Luke 7:28). So John is a great man of the faith, but he is seen here preparing the way for Jesus, but also preaching repentance that is ultimately found in baptism. For John repentance was not a private matter; it was a public matter expresses through baptism in the Jordan River.6 Questions for Reflection: 1. 2. 3. 4. If you were sent to prepare the way for Jesus, what would you say about him? Why do you think Jesus allowed himself to be baptized? What do you think Satan used to tempt Jesus? If you had been sent off to be tempted by Satan, how do you think he would tempt you?

6 Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series). Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2007: 32. 11

2.

1:16-20The Calling of the Disciples. Matthew 4:18-22

The first thing that happens to Jesus after he is baptized is that he is tempted. This is very important for us to see because it shows that Jesus actually understand us. Jesus knows what we are going through. Hebrews 4:15 tells us we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. If Jesus had never really been tempted, then how could he really understand us? The point is that he does. Then we see Jesus calling his very first disciples. But there is more here then a simple chance encounter, because Jesus is doing more than inviting these men to go alongside him. The words come, follow me are in the imperative mood. It was a command, and the four reacted as though they had been issued orders by a superior officerOnly two things are clear from this account. If we cannot say where Jesus would take the four men, we do know something about what they left. One pair of brothers, Peter and Andrew, walked away from their nets and at least temporarily from positions at the low end of the socioeconomic scale. The other two brothers left a boar, their father and the family business. It is as though the encounter between Jesus and the four fisherman had been pared down to make a single impression: the person who spoke was a figure of enormous authoritythese four fisherman did exactly what Jesus expected people to do when they heard the gospel: repent and believe. When they left their boats and careers, they repented in a profound way, for repentance is not essentially a matter of ceasing to commit a particular sin. The fundamental meaning of repentance is to turn away from what we are doing and embrace what God is doing wholeheartedly. That is exactly what Simon, Andrew, James and John did. When they acknowledged Jesus authority, they acted with faith. They put their futures and the livelihood of their families in his hands.7 The idea is that Jesus called regular, ordinary men to follow him. They were not supernatural, or extraordinary. They were normal. What made these men different was that they followed Jesus. They were obedient. The essence of discipleship is that we follow him. Jesus asks the same for us todayto follow him. We can only engage in discipleship when we choose to follow Jesus as he calls us to. This is the meaning of discipleship. Questions for Reflection: 1. Why do you think Jesus called these specific men to be disciples? 2. What does it take to follow Jesus? 7 Kernaghan, 44-45. 12

3. If you were their father, what do you think it would have been like to see your sons leave the family business (which one day you would inherit) in order to follow after Jesus? 4. The actual definition of follow here is to walk the same road. How does this definition mirror what the Christian life is like?

13

3.

1:21-34Jesus heals many different people. Matthew 8:14-17 Luke 4:31-41

One thing that we see throughout the Gospels is that Jesus is all-powerful. This is something that cannot be overstated, because his power showed itself as he healed people from all sorts of illnesses and symptoms. Jesus is shown here not just dealing with sickness of body, but also dealing with unclean spirits. Jesus is shown as more than just a moral teacher. Jesus is shown as having power over all things. This power allowed him to do miracles and heal people, in addition to being able to teach the masses. Either way, the miracles always helped people see Jesus for who he was, because it showed that Jesus had authority. Generally in the book of Mark, Healings seem mostly to happen in response to a pressing need, not as part of a program Jesus set out to follow.8 Sometimes Jesus showed his power and authority in his healing people, and sometimes he showed it in his powerful words. The question for us, is do we see Jesus as all-powerful? Do we see him as the One who has the answers for life? Do we recognize Jesus for who he is? Jesus is always seen as being gracious to those in need. The compassion of Jesus is overwhelming, especially when we see that he never cares what people think about his fraternizing with the sick, or with the outcasts of society. In fact, we see Jesus actually going out of his way to minister to them. We must realize that Jesus always goes out of his way to minister to us and meet our needs, the question is do we do the same for others? Jesus behavior should serve as an example for us, because we need to be more willing to serve those in need. Ben Witherington summarizes this though very well: Are we more concerned with public opinion and with not offending some people by being compassionate to societys outcasts, or are we more concerned with helping those in the greatest need in our society? The answer to this question in Jesus case seems obvious from the very outset in Mark. Jesus did not particularly care whom he scandalized if he believed he was doing Gods work and helping to bring in Gods dominion. He was more concerned with who got the cure than who got the credit.9 I hope that we live in such a way that it shows that we care for others. The gospel must redefine who we are. When we realize how much God has given us, we should be more grateful and willing to minister to those around us.

8 Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: a Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001: 90. 9 Witherington III, 96. 14

Questions for Reflection: 1. What has Jesus healed you from (emotionally, spiritually, physically)? 2. If you had the choice, what would you have Jesus heal today? 3. What is the most amazing miraculous thing that you have seen or heard Jesus do?

15

4.

1:35-45Jesus preaches in Galilee. Matthew 4:23-25 Matthew 8:1-4 Luke 4:42-44

One of the things we see Jesus do that would serve us well is to go off to a quiet place in order to pray (Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:32). While he is trying to have some quality time with his Father, the other disciples are seen trying to locate him. It is interesting to see that even Jesus was intentional about trying to spend time with God. If the Son of God had to be very strategic in finding time alone with the Father, how much more do we? When the leper is healed, notice that Jesus basically forbids him to tell anyone. This is totally against what would be natural. In Jesus day, leprosy was something that kept people from really experiencing life. They were the outcasts of society. If you had leprosy you were required to warn people approaching you by calling out Unclean! Unclean! Imagine that. So when Jesus heals him, it is only natural to assume that the person would be excited that he was healed. However, Jesus does not want him to tell anyone. But why not? All of the miracles of Jesus served as ways to draw people to himself, so why not tell the people of Galilee what had happened? The reason that Jesus wanted the man to be silent is that he didnt want people to follow him because of what he did for them. It is obvious that Jesus does so much for us. Jesus reaches out and physically touches this man and heals him, so there is almost a double healing. He heals his body, and in a way, heals his spirit. But throughout the Gospels, there are people who simply follow Jesus for what he can do for them. Some follow for miraclessome for moneysome for restored relationshipssome for other things. Jesus wants us to follow him for who he is: The Son of God who is the Savior of the world. Jesus is a great provider for us, and does numerous things that are far to great for us to truly count. However, we should not follow him because of what he can do! We should follow Christ because of who he is. This is why Jesus told him what he did. Questions for Reflection: 1. Why do you think it was important for Jesus to go off very early in the morning to a desolate place in order to pray? 2. Why is preaching so important to Jesus ministry? 3. Why is preaching so important to our church ministry today? 4. How has solid biblical preaching affected you throughout your Christian life?

16

5.

2:1-12Jesus heals a paralyzed man because of the faith of his friends. Matthew 9:1-8 Luke 5:17-26

In the ancient world, poverty and disease went hand in hand. Beggars were often disabled or chronically ill. Another issue that surrounded the area of Galilee (or of Israel) was the issue of sin and its effect on people. Many of the people listening to Jesus preach in this house would have assume that the man who lay on the mat had committed some sort of gross sin which God was judging him for. This was a common view of the day. In John 9, there is a story of a man who was born blind. The disciples ask whether he was born blind because of his sin or because of his parents sin. The idea was that God judged people because of their sin, and their physical problems and deformities were because of their sin. In John 9, Jesus tells his disciples that the man was blind not because of any sin, but so that the glory of God could be make known. God is sovereign and in control of everything, and he can use everything for his own glory. This is what Jesus is doing by healing the man who is lowered down through the roof. He is showing that sin did not make this man crippled. He is showing that he has the power to heal all problems and deformities. This man couldnt walk. We dont know if this man had been crippled from birth, but we can only imagine how terribly difficult this mans life was. He would always be at the mercy of others to take him to places. He would have to beg for everythingfood, money, etc. He would have been a social outcast. He obviously had a tough life. However, he did have some good friends. They go through a lot of trouble to see their crippled friend get close to Jesus. While we are not quite sure what they expect out of Jesus, we can only assume that expected a miracle. Warren Wiersbe summarizes these men very well in his commentary: We must admire several characteristics of these men, qualities that ought to mark us as 'fishers of men.' For one thing, they were deeply concerned about their friend and wanted to see him helped. They had the faith to believe that Jesus could and would meet his need. They did not simply 'pray about it,' but they put some feet to their prayers; and they did not permit the difficult circumstances to discourage them. They worked together and dared to do something different, and Jesus rewarded their efforts. How easy it would have been for them to say, 'Well, there is no sense trying to get to Jesus today! Maybe we can come back tomorrow.10 Throughout the Gospels Jesus does many miracles. Jesus heals people; he casts out demons; he raises people from the dead. However, this is one of the only times that Jesus is seen actually forgiving sins. This is a miracle of another sort! It is important for us to see that only Jesus can forgive sins because he is the one who has been sinned against. When Jesus states 10 Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Expositional Commentary, 115. 17

that this mans sins are forgiven, he is stating that he is equal to Godhe is stating that he is God because only God can forgive sin. Many people will claim that Jesus never claimed to be God. This passage of Scripture shows that he did state that he was God. Jesus claimed to be God, because he was and is God. Kernaghan summarizes this passage well: In at least one important way this passage challenges basic assumptions about sin, disease and health in our context as well. The paralytic did not owe his condition to a sin he had committed. Jesus did not forgive his sin as a preclude to healing him. On the contrary, Jesus overturned the wisdom of his day when he healed the man to prove that his sin was forgiven. In this Gospel sin is not the cause of disease, but healing is a sign of forgiveness. One might even say that health is a sign of grace.11 Notice what Jesus does here. He heals this man in a way that he did not expect. The man was crippled and needed help for everything. If he could just be able to walk he would be able to have a normal life. But instead of healing him this way, Jesus heals him in an entirely different way. He heals his sin problem. Jesus knows what this man doesnt: his problems go much deeper than his crippled legs. His problem begins in his soul. When Jesus forgives this mans sin he making a strong claim. Only God can forgive sin. And when Jesus notices that the scribes are questioning what Jesus is doing he asks them a rhetorical question: What is easierto say your sins are forgivenor to heal a crippled man? Obviously, it is far easier to say that this mans sin is forgiven because no one really can see it. The scribes believe that this mans sin is keeping him from walking and they believe that only God can forgive sin. So Jesus forgives his sin and then heals him. The scribes really have no answer for this because when Jesus forgives him of his sin and then heals him everyone sees it. Since Jesus does both miracles, he is not just saying that he is God, he is showing that he is God. That is why they are all amazed. In reality, all of our real problems are really a soul problem. Jesus gives this man what he really needs, just like he gives us what we really need. He gives us salvation. He heals us. It is great to know that Jesus can heal our body and save our souls. This is the genuine miracle.

11 Kernaghan, 60. 18

Questions for Reflection: 1. How much effort to you go through to see your friends come to Jesus? 2. If you could identify one person in your life that really needs to be healed by Jesus Christ, who would it be? 3. Notice the people who were there were all amazed and glorified God. What do you think this really meansand how are we to react when we see Jesus do something amazing like this?

19

6.

2:13-22Eating and fasting. Matthew 9:9-17 Luke 5:33-39

As we have seen, Jesus reaches out to outcasts who suffer from physical problems, we now see Jesus reaching out to social outcast. In the Jewish world, tax collectors were native Jews who worked for the Roman government bringing in money for various Roman projects. According to Jewish custom, they were lumped in to the same category as murderers and thieves, because they made their extra money based upon charging extra on top of the money that the people already owed the government.12 Jesus is seen here having a meal with people who were on the lowest social rung, and were considered the most sinful people of the day. Jesus was seen as reaching out to people out of his love and grace. Jesus always took the initiative in seeking out sinners and this was a new and revolutionary element to religion. While we should not seek to be surrounded by sinful things, we must balance this with an effort to reach out to people where they are. Jesus states, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners (2:17). We must understand that people are made in the image of God, and as such, they all deserve honor. We need to be thankful that Jesus sought after us while we were still sinners and that should make us more humble in our attitude to others. Jesus loves sinnersjust like us. We should be thankful that God chose to love us in spite of ourselves, and because of his great love we should likewise love others. Questions for Reflection: 1. Why did Jesus hang out with tax collectors and sinners? 2. What relationships are you making in an effort to see people come to faith in Christ? 3. Mark 1:21-2:12 shows Jesus healing multiple people, how does this avenue of Jesus ministry compare or relate with Jesus statement I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

12 Witherington, 120. 20

7.

2:23-28Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:1-8 Luke 6:1-5

This is one of the episodes where we see the religious leaders at odds with Jesus and his disciples. This time it is because of what they are doing on the Sabbath. They are plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath, which the religious leaders deem unlawful. Now what we need to understand is that the Pharisees, in order to help maintain religious purity, had put up a multitude of rules and regulations on top of the Ten Commandments in order to help clarify them so that people would be able to keep them. They basically put a hedge around the commandments. The Bible declares that we are to remember the Sabbath day and we are to keep it holy. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11 ESV) The Pharisees claim that what the disciples are doing is breaking what God had declared. Jesus not only states that they are not in violation of God commanded, he reminds them of something that David had done that would also seem to be a direct violation to the Pharisees regulations. David ate the Bread of Presence in 1 Samuel 21:1-6 and what follows is that in case of need actions are permitted on the Sabbath, that might not be allowed in normal circumstances. Jesus usually went against the extremely legalistic interpretations of the Law that the Pharisees held. The issue was that the Pharisees wanted to look good on the outside while they were crooked deep down. They were extreme hypocrites. As John Calvin noted about the Pharisees in this section of Scripture, It is always the way of hypocrites to take license in important matters and to be very devout in ceremonies. When the Pharisees attempted to put a fence around the Sabbath they missed the important lesson about the SabbathJesus wanted them to understand that the Sabbath was created for their benefit. We must be very careful that we do not get out priorities wrong, which is what happened to the Pharisees. We should remember that there was nothing wrong with the Pharisees and their attempt to protect the Law, after all, some of us would try to do the same today, but as they tried to protect it, they added more to the Law than needed to be there. We need to make sure that our priorities are in the right place, because if they arent, what we will end up with is a passion to protect the wrong parts of the Law while we dismiss the parts that are of no interest to us.

21

Questions for Reflection: 1. What are some of the regulations that we add to what the Bible states? 2. What are ways that we can keep the Sabbath and keep it holy today? 3. Do you think that keeping the Sabbath is something that is culturally relevant today, or is it something that we shouldnt be concerned about?

22

8.

3:1-21Jesus heals, draws a crowd, and calls the Twelve. Matthew 12:9-21 Luke 6:12-16

Jesus again has a run in with the Pharisees because he does something on the Sabbath that they dont approve of. What does he do? He heals a man with a withered man. Once again, they completely missed the point. Instead of being excited for the man who was healed, they get upset at Jesus for breaking their rules. That is what religion doesit takes no joy in the goodness of God, instead it takes pride in rules and regulations. The Pharisees failed to see in this man a genuine case of need. We need to understand that sometimes Jesus comes to us and heals us directly like he did with the man with a withered hand. But, sometimes, we have to cry out to God in order to be healed. It is important to note that in the early part of Jesus ministry He had a large crowd that followed him. Also we see in verse 7 an important principle that Jesus followed from time to time: he withdrew with his disciples. Jesus practiced the spiritual discipline of solitude. It is important for us to get away from time to time in an effort to stay spiritually fresh. It is great to get away in order to have time along with God. Jesus repeatedly went away from the crowds in order to get close to His Father, and we should be willing to do the same thing. Notice that Jesus specifically called the disciples for a reason. Luke 6:12-16 states that Jesus spent the entire night in prayer before he made his decision. This is interesting to me because it shows that Jesus had a plan in calling the men that he called. This even means that Jesus really wanted Judas as a disciple even though Judas would betray him. Even knowing all that would happen Jesus still chose these men. It is amazing for us to know that God still loves us, and chooses us in spite of all the things that we have done and will do. This is a great definition of grace. Jesus gives us what we dont deserve simply out of love for us. Questions for Reflection: 1. 2. 3. 4. What is a disciple? Why do you think Jesus called the men that he called to be his disciples? What can we learn from Jesus calling these men? Why do you think Jesus called a man that he knew would betray him?

23

9.

3:22-35Jesus teaches about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and he teaches about who is his true family. Matthew 12:46-50 Luke 8:19-21

What starts this episode off is the scribes coming down to Jerusalem to confront Jesus. There is constant tension between the religious leaders and Jesus. It seems that it is often the religious leaders who oppose the work of God most strenuously, and seem to misunderstand it most willfully.13 Jesus was always at odds with the religious leaders mostly because Jesus was gaining in popularity. The popularity that Jesus was getting, used to be the popularity that the other religious leaders enjoyed. Because the religious leaders were loosing their popularity and influence they began to despise Jesus and this tension continued throughout the Gospels. The scribes came down and accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul. Jesus confronts the ridiculousness of this by stating that if He was exorcizing demons by the power of demons, then he was ultimately defeating himself. Jesus was exorcising demons through the power of the Holy Spirit and nothing else. Jesus power was an initial way that he showed that He was the Messiah. While the crowds followed Jesus because of the miracles that He performed, we need to follow Him for who He is. While Jesus is still all-powerful, we do not need to follow him simply for what He can do for us. He has already secured salvation for us, so is there anything else that He needs to give us in order for us to follow Him? If we follow Him for what He gives us, instead of for who He is we miss the point of Jesus being the Messiah! Let us worship Jesus for who He really is, the risen Son of God. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is one of the most discussed and misunderstood passages in the New Testament. Even after spending time in study over this passage, I still really dont think that I have a good understanding of it. While I want to be able to explain it, I must turn to others that are much more learned in this type of thing. John Piper defines blasphemy of the Holy Spirit as is an act of resistance which belittles the Holy Spirit so grievously that he withdraws for ever with his convicting power so that we are never able to repent and be forgiven.14

13 R. Alan Cole, Mark Tyndale New Testament Commentary (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1989): 143. 14 http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/beyond-forgivenessblasphemy-against-the-spirit 24

Questions for Reflection: 1. If you were to rank sins in order of seriousness, what would be you list of top 5 sins? 2. What do you think blasphemy against the Holy Spirit means? 3. Looking at Mark 3:31-35, what kind of relationship do you think Jesus had with his family?

25

10.

4:1-20The parable of the Sower. Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 Luke 9:9-15

The parable of the Sower might be the most important parable in the Gospels, because, in a way, every other parable is defined through this one. A parable is a simple story used to make a point, and it is important to note that parables generally only had one meaning. Jesus taught in such a way that everyday people could understand. As one commentary noted Jesus taught, not in some cloistered rabbinic school, but in familiar everyday surroundings: and for this teaching, he used homely illustrations drawn directly from that life, for teaching divorced from daily life has no support in the example or word of Jesus. As Anderson points out, parables are not allegories: the story is always a possible true life situation. Obviously, this is why the crowds loved to listen to Jesus.15 The parable of sower was about how people respond. The whole of the Christian life is really about our response to God. Martin Luther stated that All of a Christians life is one of repentance and this is the issue that plagues our churches today. We encounter Jesus, but we do not allow it to penetrate our hearts. The reason is that our soil is hard. Out prayer needs to be that God will soften our hearts so that we can truly experience Him as He is. Questions for Reflection: 1. 2. 3. 4. Why does the sower cast seed in all of these places? What are the thorns in your life that choke out the truth? What are things in your life keeping you from experiencing healthy growth? What are you doing to see others experience healthy growth?

15 Cole, Ibid., 149. 26

11.

4:21-34Parables about the Kingdom of God. Matthew 13:31-32

When we look at these series of short parables, we see that Jesus is teaching several things. With the Lamp Jesus is showing the people that the light has been revealed. Of course, for us, we see that Jesus is the very light that He is talking about (see John 1 for a further look at Jesus being the light and the Word). Jesus tells them that nothing is hidden if it is truly revealed. This applies to us as we begin to understand that Jesus reveals himself to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were lucky, in that they actually physically saw Jesus. We, however, have been shown Jesus through our own illumination that has come from above. In the parable of the Seed, Jesus is going into a little more detail in explaining the Parable of the Sower (4:1-9). It seems that maybe the people had had a little tough time understanding it. Have you ever felt like that? I think that it is important to see that the first disciples had a hard time understanding Jesus from time to time, and it is okay to wrestle with our faith as long as it makes us grow. One of the side notes that we see in this parable, is that growth happens despite what we do. We must be faithful to what God has called us to do, but ultimately, we see growth through the work of the Holy Spirit. Because we know that God is active in saving people, we can be assured that our efforts at evangelization will not be in vain. As one of my favorite theologians J.I. Packer notes, the sovereignty of God in grace is the one thing that prevents evangelism from being pointless. For it creates the possibilityindeed, the certaintythat evangelism will be fruitful.16 Just as the Lamp is not hidden to those whom it has been revealed to, the seed grows simply because God allows it to. Questions for Reflection: 1. What are ways that we keep our lamps under a basket? or what are ways that we keep our faith hidden from others? 2. Even though God is the sower of the seed and the one who makes the seed grow, how to do we participate in the evangelism process?

16 Packer, Evangelism, 116. 27

12.

4:35-41Jesus calms a storm. Matthew 8:23-27 Luke 8:22-25

The miracle of this story shows how Jesus is not just the God of Salvation, but also of Creation. Jesus is Lord of all, and this miracle is toward the start of Jesus ministry and serves to show the disciples who Jesus really was. The disciples were familiar to the Sea of Galilee, and at least four of them were fisherman. The point is that the disciples should not have freaked out at the storm. They had seen Jesus do some great things thus far in their ministry together, but they had yet to see something this powerful, so we must understand their doubt. The disciples do more than simply doubt however. Their questionsdo you not care that we are perishing?is not really a question; it is a sarcastic accusation. The disciples are fearful of the situation. But why? They should be comfortable around the sea and around rough weather why are they fearful? Ultimately, I believe that they are afraid because they are not in control of the situation. This is the main reason that we are ever afraid. When we are in situations that we are not in control it scares us because we think that we can handle anything. Even though the Sea of Galilee is known for sudden storms, Jesus is fast asleep. Reminiscent of Jonah (Jonah 1), this shows us a few things about Jesus. One, this shows us that Jesus is not fearful of the weather. Second, it shows that Jesus was tired. Jesus was an actual man, and we should also remember this when we are reading through the Gospels. It is because of the disciples seeing Jesus as a mere man that kept them from seeing Jesus as He really was. We must balance these two things: the fact that Jesus was God, and that Jesus was man. Jesus was exhausted from teaching people all day, and needed to go the other side of the lake to get away from their needs. This physically exhausted man had the power to speak and make nature obey. While we do not know what the disciples wanted out of Jesus, we are left with them asking each other who is this? This question is of great importance to us then, because we know that He has acted in the storms of our lives Questions for Reflection: 1. In what ways does Jesus calm storms in your life? 2. Even though we know that Jesus is all-powerful and is in control of everything, we do we panic and worry when things in our life go bad? 3. How do we learn to trust Jesus in the midst of the storms in our life?

28

13.

5:1-20Jesus heals a man with a demon. Matthew 8:28-34 Luke 8:26-39

While spiritual warfare is not something that we talk about much in the church today, it is, perhaps, one of the most damaging things that we experience because we are almost ignorant of what it is and how we are to deal with it. This man had been treated in the ways that they knew, and because nothing had worked, he had been kicked out of the town and had resorted to living among the tombs. While this demon-possessed man had enough demonic power to keep him from being restrained, he had enough restraint to bow down before Jesus. The demoniac also asks Jesus to spare him by not torturing him. Ultimately, we see that Jesus will destroy the works of Satan by permanently establishing his Kingdom. However, Jesus saves this man by exorcising the demons. While Legion is a military term meaning 4000-6000 armed men, here it is used either as a proper name, or an exaggeration. The Bible is not exactly clear on how many demons this man had, but what is clear is that there were a lot. Jesus cast them into the herd of pigs17 which then destroyed themselves. As a result of the loss of pigs, the townspeople asked Jesus to leave the area. Once again, we see that the people who should have rejoiced in this mans salvation are utterly disappointment in their financial loss. The saddest thing in the whole story is that Jesus granted their request, and left them. There are times when the worst possible thing for us is that the Lord should grant our prayer. The Gerasenes wanted only to be left along by this frightening supernatural Jesus. It was to be their judgment that Jesus did leave them, to return no more, for there is no evidence, in Mark at least, for any later ministry by Jesus in this area.18 How often are we blinded to the work of God because we look at things through our own way? We want God to do a work, but not at our own expense. We want to see God do something amazing, but we do not want it to cost. Let us be a people who seek the will of the Lord at any cost! Questions for Reflection: 1. Considering this mans situation, what would make Jesus reach out to him? 2. What does the mans response to Jesus reveal about his understanding of who Jesus was? 3. What does the reaction of the people indicate about their hearts? 4. How is the interaction with the demon-possessed man a picture of salvation for us. 17 Which shows, at some level, that animals can be possessed by demons. 18 Cole, Ibid., 162. 29

14.

5:21-43Jesus heals the bleeding woman and Jairuss daughter. Matthew 9:18-26 Luke 8:40-56

The ruler of the synagogue was a very important person in the community. He comes to Jesus in an effort to see his daughter healed. Jairus was going against his duty as a ruler of the Jewish synagogue, because they did not accept that Jesus was the Messiah. So for him to go to Jesus in an attempt to see his daughter healed shows that he had come to his last resort. The womans sense of need, coupled with the news that Jesus was going to be here, led her to fight the crowd in order to get close. While the woman had experienced a dramatic healing, when she publically confessed Jesus, she received a better and deeper understanding of what had happened to her. We do not know what the woman expected. We do know that she had spent everything trying to find healing, but nothing had worked. It is a shame that we do the same. We do everything that we can for healing and when nothing works we go to Jesus as a last effort. One wonders how much better her life would have been had she sought the Lord earlier, and how much better would we be if we were to not wait to seek Jesus. However, sometimes it is when Jesus is our last hope that we truly understand his great power. After Jesus heals the woman, news arrives that Jairuss daughter has died. Jairuss greatest fear had been realized, and what are Jesuss words of comfort? Just believe. Jesus did not ask Jairus to do anything that he had not already been doing. He simply asks him to keep believing. Jairus gets The command to abstain from fear and, instead, to only believe. The one condition of Gods working is that we trust him: this is not an arbitrary demand, but a demand necessarily springing from the very nature of the relation between Godhead and humanity. We are called to trusting, dependent love and obedience, for this is the biblical meaning of faith, not merely intellectual assent. Such faith is the only fitting expression of our helplessness, and the only fitting acknowledgment of Gods power; and so it is an essential to salvation, though it is only the means of Gods working, and not the source.19 This miracles shows that Jesus has power over death and is important because it is an introduction to his ability to defeat death. Ultimately, Jesus will defeat Satan, sin, and death on the Cross, but here, Jesus heals a little girl and restores her life.

19 Cole, Ibid., 166. 30

Questions for Reflection: 1. Why does Jairus ask Jesus for help? 2. Have you ever suffered (mentally, spiritually, physically) and though that you were never going to get better?

31

15.

6:1-13Jesus is rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. Matthew 13:53-58 Matthew 10:1-15 Luke 9:1-6

Thus far, we have seen how faith is almost a prerequisite for the miraculous intervention of Jesus. However, eventually Jesus goes home to the area of Nazareth. And everyone know how difficult it is to return home. Once home, Jesus begins to teach in the local synagogue and the people there are absolutely astonished. They respond with unbelief and sarcasm, Is this the carpenterthe son of Mary What they are really doing is making an issue of the socalled virgin birth. It is sure that the rumors surrounding Jesus birth had to be local knowledge, and the old I-never-had-sex-before-marriage-and-my-pregnancy-is-asupernatural-act-of-the-Holy-Spirit-routine had probably become pretty laughable in the area. Imagine growing up in your normal small-town where everyone knows everyone elses business. This has probably led people to have a very distasteful view of Jesus, and here he is teaching people in the synagogue. I hope you can see the utter disappointment of Jesus here as He responds, A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown, and among his relatives, and in his own household. I hope you can see the pain here. Not only is Jesus being rejected, he is being rejected by the people that he has grown up with. This brief exchange is perhaps, the most painful homecoming ever recorded. However, he then sends out the disciples to go do ministry. Jesus sends them out. The word here is from the word, Apostle. It is closely related to the idea of being sent on an official, authorized mission. Jesus gives them authority over unclean spirits, and encourages them to take nothing with them in preparation for the journey. Basically, Jesus has told them that God will provide for them as they seek to be faithful to their call. The way that Jesus gives this command shows the urgency surrounding the mission. Is there any less urgent call for us today? We all have been called to do missions. All that we do as a church is missionary in nature. Missions is the task of every member, not just a few. In the early church, missions gave rise to theology. Missions isnt just one subject in a seminary curriculum; it lies at the heart of all subjects. Missions is what makes theology relevant. Its what makes seminaries relevant. It keeps seminaries and churches from becoming inward-looking and self-absorbedwhich is a good definition of putting ones lamp under a bowl. There can be no divorce between theology and missions. Theology should inspire missions; after all, Gods word is full of missionsThis means that all Christians are to go and be witnessesto their families, to their neighborhoods, to their cities. In other words, all Christians are called to be missionaries in the broad sense of the

32

word. The is terribly important. The word missionary means one sent on a mission. Every Christian is sent into the world on a mission.20 We must all realize that we have a role to play in missions. If our Church does not rise to the challenge in order to see our Jerusalem reached with the Gospel, then we will have failed to be faithful to the Great Commission. Questions for Reflection: 1. What have you done that would surprise people that you grew up with? 2. Who are people that you grew up with that helped lead toward a relationship with Christ? 3. How do we reject Jesus in our daily lives?

20 Thomas Hale, On Being a Missionary (Pasadena: William Carey, 1995): 6. 33

16.

6:14-29The death of John the Baptist. Matthew 14:1-12 Luke 9:7-9

The name Herod in Scripture is synonymous with opposition to the Gospel. It was this Herods father who had instigated the massacre of innocent children recorded in Matthew 2:16-18. Herod the Greats grandson, Herod Agrippa, died after accepting worship from the people under his control (Acts 12:20-25). This Herod had married Herodias, who was his brothers wife. In this section, Mark goes into a brief history lesson about how Herod had put John the Baptist to death. John had consistently and fearlessly preached the Gospel throughout the area. John also faithfully preached this Gospel to any and everyone. John preached out against Herods marriage to his sister-in-law, which was contrary to the Old Testament laws and should have been dissolved. John realized that Herod was wrong and needed to repent. Johns fearless preaching moved him, and Herod actually grew to admire John. In short, Herod publically made a rash statement that he would give his step-daughter/niece anything that she wanted.21 She asks for Johns head on a platter. So ultimately, John the Baptist dies a painful and meaningless death. The lesson here is that we always need to deal with out sin. John gave Herod opportunity to repent, which he denied. Herod had the opportunity to deal with his sin because of Johns faithfulness but he cowers and instead of dealing with his sin, he continues to cover it up. Another issue here is that we must see that no one sins in isolation, and when we do not deal with it, it grows and does more damage. Unless we silence sin, sin will silence conscience. Unless we heed Gods word, the day may come when we despise Gods Sonand then God will have nothing more to say to us.22 Herods sin affected his entire family, and ultimately, it affected John. John died because Herod wouldnt deal with his sin. We must understand that our sin affects more than just us. For some reason, we have this idea that what we do only affects us. We think that our business is our business. However, Scripture teaches us something entirely different. For example, if we look at Joshua 7 we see that one mans sin caused the entire nation of Israel to suffer. In fact, the Bible says the nation of Israel sinned not Achan. Our sin has consequences. The truth is: no one sins in isolation!

21 Without going in too much detail, this dance pleased Herod and his guests, but was instigated by Herodias, Salomes mother, and Herods wife. She wanted John to die, and was willing to put her daughter in a very awkward situation in order to get what she wanted. As you can see, this entire family was crooked, perverse, and sinful. 22 Sinclair Ferguson, Lets Study Mark (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 1999): 90. 34

Questions for Reflection: 1. 2. 3. 4. Why did Jesus not save John? Have you ever had someone call you out in regard to your sin? What is a situation in your life where your sin had damaging results to other people? What is a situation in your life where someone elses sin had damaging results for you?

35

17.

6:30-44Jesus feeds the 5000. Matthew 14:13-21 Luke 9:10-17 John 6:1-15

To understand the nature of this miracle, we need to understand the attitude that Jesus had. When Jesus saw the large crowd that was following them, he had compassion on them. This is a feeling that we see throughout the Gospels. Jesus is concerned with the well-being of his followers. One of the ways that Scripture identifies Jesus, is Him being the Good Shepherd. A shepherd was known as one of the lowest social classes in the Middle Eastern culture, but Jesus took this role seriously. The Good Shepherd has a heart for his people, and here we see that Jesus is seeking to feed them because He sees that they have a big need. Of course, the disciples could not feed them, at least, not in their own strength. So Jesus gets the disciples to organize the people into groups. Then Jesus takes what little bit of bread that they have and He prays over it and it multiplies so that they are able to feed everyone there. There are 5,000 men who are fed. This shows the great crowd that was active in following Jesus, but it also shows the great need that they had. If 5,000 were fed, then it stands to reason, that 5,000 were not able to supply food for themselves. Watchmen Nee was a Chinese church leader and missionary who spent over 20 years in prison for preaching the Gospel. He wrote a book called Twelve Baskets Full. The title comes from this passage of Scripture, because it is focused on how Jesus provided for the initial need, but also provides enough that there is excess. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who provides for us in ways that we cannot even comprehend. Do we give Jesus the credit for providing for us? Also, do we recognize the need to gather leftovers so that we can be prepared in the future? Sure, Jesus could miraculously provide in the future using any means necessary, but this time, He wanted the people to gather up the leftovers so that they would have food for later. While we need to have faith that God will provide for us, we also must understand that we do not give us a right to be wasteful. Questions for Reflection: 1. Why does Jesus try to get off with the disciples to a desolate or quiet place? 2. How can you show compassion on people as an individual? 3. How can we, as a Church family, show compassion on others?

36

18.

6:45-56Jesus walks on water. Matthew 14:22-36 John 6:16-21

This story is one that is known by almost everyone. Even jokingly people refer to their inability to walk on water as a way to refer to their not being perfect. After the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus sends the disciples across the water to the other side, while He went off by Himself to pray. After Jesus spent time in prayer, He noticed that the disciples were struggling in the water because of high winds that were against them. Jesus walked out on the water meaning to pass by them. What is this about? While in Chapter 4 Jesus was asleep when the disciples were struggling with the storm, here Jesus is not even in the boat. However, while commentators give several different reasons for Jesuss purpose for doing this, it is important to note that while He was going to pass them by, He didnt. Jesus got into the boat with them. Jesus comes to the disciples when their need is the greatest. When Jesus shows up, the disciples think He is a ghost. Why? It seems that after hours of worrying, and rowing against the wind, the disciples have literally worn themselves out and because of this they are in a tough spot spiritually because their hearts are hard. How do the disciples have hard hearts? What has happened to them, for them to have this horrible condition? The way Jesus identifies Himself sheds some light on the problem. When Jesus meets the disciples He tells them it is I. This is a reference to the way God revealed Himself to MosesI am. Jesus is reassuring the disciples that He is the Son of God. It seems that the disciples have completely forgotten that Jesus is the Messiah. While they have seen all of the miracles, they had focused too much on the actual miracles rather than on the One who performed them. This has caused the disciples to have hardened hearts. This is one of the worst statements about the disciples found in the Gospel of Mark. The disciples have taken Jesus for granted, and they now see that their lives are in grave danger without Him. The good news is that in spite of their lack of faithfulness, Jesus is pursuing them. As one commentator notes To believe at some point, even to be in a position of spiritual leadership is not enough. To believe is to keep taking new risksTo follow Jesus is to keep venturing out past our comfort level. The encouragement is that God does not forsake us when our hearts are hardened. God continues to take the initiative, God gives us parables, God comes to us in the night when we are making absolutely no headway. Gods

37

faithfulness is greater than our fear, greater than our sin and greater than our unbelief.23

Questions for Reflection: 1. What are times in your life where you really felt like Jesus was really trying to pass you by? 2. Why do you think Jesus initially wanted to pass the disciples by? 3. How do you react when rough storms hit?

23 Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2007): 132-133. 38

19.

7:1-13Traditions and commandments. Matthew 15:1-9

Once again we see Jesus at odds with the religious leaders. This time, what is the subject of their argument is the tradition of the elders (7:5) which is simply the oral, scribal interpretation of the written, Mosaic Law. Specifically, the Pharisees are stating that the disciples were not properly washing their hands before they ate. Jesus doesnt really answer the Pharisees but quotes from Isaiah 29:13, basically accusing them of being hypocrites because their actions are merely external and do not come from their hearts. As Sinclair Ferguson put it, Their lips said one thing; their hearts spoke a different language all together. They played a public role of being men devoted to God, when in fact their attitudes and actions demonstrated that they did not really know God at all.24 Jesus also is condemning them for following the traditions of men instead of following the Word of God. Traditions are not necessarily bad. The problem is when people get so wrapped up in traditions that they forget about what is really important. The problem was that the Pharisees tradition distanced them from God, because they pretended to be near to Him. Their Pharisees traditions were also problematic because they placed them above Scripture. We must be very careful that we do not allow our traditions to become more important than the Bible. We must also be careful that we do not allow our traditions to be more important than people, because if we do, we will end becoming nothing more than modern-day Pharisees. Questions for Reflection: 1. What are ways that you inspect other peoples lives in order to criticize them (like the scribes who were always looking for ways to trip Jesus up or his disciples)? 2. What are things in your Christian life that you over-emphasize? de-emphasize?

24 Ferguson, 101. 39

20.

7:14-23What really defiles a person. Matthew 15:10-20

What really makes a person defiled? What is the root cause of sin? Jesus attacks the modernday thought by stating that it is not important what goes into a personthe issue is what comes out. The Pharisees focused so much on the Lawor their version of itand they made sure that they were clean on the outside. They made sure that they did not consume anything that was contrary to the Law. They did a great job of obeying the Law. However, even though the Pharisees stayed away from things that made them unclean, they still missed the point. So what is the point? They were supposed to stay away from things that made them unclean, Jesus was not just concerned with what was consume. Jesus was more concerned with what was produced. Jesus was concerned with the heart of the person. Jesus main point is that uncleanliness is moral rather than ritual. The issue for us is that we can observe the Law, and still be completely crooked on the inside. While the Law of Moses focused on the actual observance, and was only broken if one actually committed a sin; Jesus focused on our actual thought process. Jesus went much furtherIt is not enough to simply not do something, now we have to have a complete heart change. Why is this so important? No person can simply decide to have a change of heart. The only way to have a change of heart is to get a new one! This happens through salvation, and regeneration. When we become saved, Jesus gives us a new heart. Throughout our new life, we are constantly given a new heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Here Jesus is teaching something many Christians forget. Mere abstinence from certain activities can never make us holy. The battle against sin must be fought within. Since sin finds different outlets in each of us, one individual may need to guard himself in circumstances which do not threaten another individual in quite the same way. But in every heart lie the seeds of every possible sin. Therefore we must root out sin. We must guard our hearts, because out of them come the great issues of life.25 Questions for Reflection: 1. How does Jesus definition of what defiles a person important for us today? 2. Why does Jesus focus on the inside of a person and why is it so different from what the Pharisees were teaching? 3. What can we do to ensure that we are not living a defiled life? 25 Ferguson, 109. 40

21.

7:24-30The faith of a Gentile woman. Matthew 15:21-28

We see in this story, Jesus helping someone a normal upright Jewish person would never even talk to this daya Gentile. A Gentile is someone a Jewish person would never talk to, let along help, and even more so, a Gentile woman because women were second-class citizens. However, in this context, we see Jesus not just helping a Gentile woman, but caring and healing a Gentile woman. This nameless woman comes to Jesus in desperation looking for help. Because Mark points out that she was a Syrophoenician Gentile, Mark is meaning that she was a pagan Gentile who was on the lowest social rung. This is highlighted by the way Jesus responds to her request, Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the childrens bread and throw it to the dogs. Jesus statement is basically an insult. Dogs were not nice little puppies but nasty street dogs that roamed the streets. The phrase Jesus is using is possibly referring to the practice of giving unwanted bread that was not worth saving to the dogs. Also, it is important to note that Gentiles themselves were often called or referred to by the Jews as dogs. While we dont know exactly what Jesus means here, it is apparent that he is being harsh with her. What do we make of this? There are two ways to look at it. The first way to look at what Jesus says is that Jesus can be saying: the message I bring first is for the Jews, not to you Gentiles. If this is true, her response could mean that she instinctively saw that Jesus had come to be the Savior of the world and not just the Savior of his own people, the Jews. The second possibility is that Jesus had come to this region to find rest and haven from the danger of being seen as simply a worker of miracles. If this is true, then Jesus was attempting to test the nature of the womans trust in him. Did she see him as a simply a magic worker, or something else? He was testing her faith, and she succeeded in responding in the correct way. She recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and in turn, her daughter was saved. Regardless of what exactly Jesus meant, the woman responded in faith and as a result, her daughter was miraculously healed. Sometimesif not alwayswe need to respond with faith despite the way God works in our life. It is often difficult, and it can be confusing, but we need to understand that faith in Jesus can save. It is not our faith that helpsit is our faith in Him!

41

Questions for Reflection: 1. What is so important about falling down at the feet of Jesus? 2. How often do you seek Jesus for help, or do you simply rely on your own strength to get things done? 3. How does God work in your life by responding to your requests in a way that seems harsh?

42

22.

7:31-37Jesus heals a deaf man. Matthew 15:29-31

This miracle is found only in the Gospel of Mark and focuses totally on Jesus healing power. The first thing that Jesus does is take him away from the crowd. Then, since the man couldnt communicate in normal ways, Jesus talked to him in ways that he could understand, by basic sign-language. He put fingers into his hears, showing him that he was about to fix his hearing. Jesus touched his tongue, showing that he was going to fix it as well. Then Jesus looked to heaven, showing that God was ultimately the one doing the work. Immediately the man was healed. This man is able to truly communicate, maybe for the first time in his life. This is a beautiful miracle, but it is also a fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah 35 is a prophecy about the coming age of the Messiah and is about what the messiah will be like: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; (Isaiah 35:5-6 ESV) Mark is showing us how Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of Scripture. He is showing us that Jesus is the Messiah and is doing the things that the Old Testament promised. Not only is Jesus doing miracles, he has done all things well. Why then, does Jesus not want them to talk about what he has done? Once again we see Jesus want to keep his miracle-working quiet but the Gospels do not specify why. I believe that it is because Jesus does not want to be remembered for his miracles only. Jesus is more than a powerful miracle-worker (although he does work miracles still), he is the savior of the world. I wonder if we were to share our faith with someone without telling them what Jesus had done for us, what would we say? Would we actually be able to share about his majesty, and glory? When we worship Jesus for what he does for us instead of worshipping Him for who he iswe miss out on the Gospel. Jesus wanted to make sure that these people followed him for more than what he could do for them. We should too!

43

Questions for Reflection: 1. Have you ever begged God to do something for you? What was it? 2. Have you ever begged God to do something for someone else? What was it? 3. Has God ever answered your request but done so in a weird way? 4. When God answered your request did you zealously proclaim it, or did you keep it quiet?

44

23.

8:1-10Jesus feeds the 4000. Matthew 15:32-39

Once again we see large crowds following Jesus and again we Jesus having compassion on them. Jesus felt for them, just as he feels for us! While we do not know why these people followed Jesusmiracles, teaching, etc.we can assume that most of them had at least heard about what Jesus had done in the past with crowds by feeding them. We also can assume that the disciples remembered the miracle that Jesus did in feeding the crowd. This probably influenced what the disciples felt about the crowd. Their question, How can one feed these people with bread assumes that Jesus will do something to provide for them. Isaiah 55:1-2 prophetically introduces the miracle-working of Jesus in this regard, Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food (Isaiah 55:1-2 ESV). The Gospel of Mark gives more miracles than the other Gospels, but Jesus miraculous activity comes to the peopleand especially to the disciplesas completely unanticipated and amazing.26 The theme of this miracle shows that after the people ate, they were satisfied. When Jesus works in our life, we see that it is always to out advantage. While we should not go around expecting Jesus to work miracles in our life, we should always remember that Jesus is always working to bring about complete satisfaction in our life! Jesus is good, and He is always working for our good in all that He does. As Romans 8:28 states, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. We should rest in the fact that Jesus is always working in our lifefor good! And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ESV) Questions for Reflection: 1. How has Jesus shown compassion on you like he did for the crowd? 2. How do we limit what we think God can do in our lives? 3. Why is it important for us (Christiansthe Church) to meet peoples needs?

26 James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002): 230. 45

24.

8:11-21Jesus and the Pharisees. Matthew 16:1-12

The Pharisees represent the religious elite of Jesus day. They were educated, and most were extremely wealthy. The people held them in high honor. However, Jesus didnt care for them. In fact, it seems that the Pharisees are the only people that Jesus didnt like. They are here asking Jesus for a sign to show that he is chosen one. They want proof that Jesus is who He says He is. Now, before we shrug our shoulders at them, let us think about this. Do we not do the same thing? Or at the very least, have we done it in the past? We are all skeptics by nature, and most of us want Jesus to prove himself to us, so that we are sure that He is worthy of our worship and service. They demand a signJesus gives them none.27 Ultimately we should not seek any type of sign from Jesus to prove himself to us. Jesus has already defeated Satan and perfected our way to salvation. This is proof enough for us! Before of the yeast of the Phariseeswhy? Because a little bit goes a long way. A tiny amount of yeast affects the whole lump of dough into which it is mixed. A tiny amount of the hypocritical heart-nature of the Pharisees can have a large effect on the hearts of the early disciples. Jesus is carefully warning them to stay away from the people that will seek their harm. It is the same for us today isnt it? We should stay away from people and situations that are able to destroy us. A little bit of a bad thing still goes a long way! Let us be very careful. Questions for Reflection: 1. How have you demanded a sign from God in the past? 2. Why do you think Jesus didnt give them a sign? 3. How has a little sin in your life morphed into something extremely damaging and painful?

27 However, if we look at Matthew 12:38-42, we see that Jesus gives the sing of Jonah. Why Mark doesnt include this is unsure, but the sign of Jonah is the prediction that Jesus will die and three literal days later, He will be alive again. In this way, Jesus defeats Satan, sin, and death, and this shows how He really is the Son of God! 46

25.

8:22-26Jesus heals a blind man.

Once again we see Jesus engaging in a miraculous healing in his healing of a blind man but this account is a bit different. After Jesus initial treatment, the man cannot see clearly. We must understand that it is not like Jesus failed at his first attempt, it is just a part of the whole healing experience. In a way, this shows us that sometimes it takes Jesus continued work in our lives for us to maintain spiritual health. Spiritual health takes long-term effort. This is what Paul prays for the church at Ephesus For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:15-18 ESV) What we see is that faith is not passive, it is active. As we begin to see our faith as a long-term commitment we will grow in discipleship. Let us understand that Jesus is always at work in our life, and just as He has made a long-term commitment to us, we must make a long-term commitment to Him! Questions for Reflection: 1. Looking back on your life, can you see a time where God worked very systematically in doing something big in life, but it just took several different steps to get to the final result? 2. How is our faith in Jesus to be active?

47

26.

8:27-30Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ. Matthew 16:13-20 Luke 9:18-20

This is one of the most amazing passages in all of Mark. It is also contains one of the most important questions ever asked: Who do you say that I am? History has been asking this question for the past 2000 years. I submit to you, that knowing who Jesus is, is the most important question that you will ever attempt to answer. The ultimate purpose of the book of Mark is to help the reader identify who Jesus is. Notice that Jesus asks Peter who other people think Jesus is. People have called Jesus a great moral teacher, a rebel, a liar, multiple things CS Lewis spoke of this often in his writings in what has been called the Lewis Trilemma. Basically, it is his way of discussing the divinity of Jesus. He argued that Jesus is either a lunatic, liar, or Lord. Either Jesus was a lunatic, or crazy, for saying the things that he said. Or, Jesus is a liar. Or Jesus is Lord, because he really is the things he said. Lewis said it this way I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: Im ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I dont accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing that we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunaticon a level with the man who says he is a poached eggor else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.28 In reality, it doesnt matter who you think Jesus is. That might sound harsh, but in reality, it really doesnt. Jesus is God whether you think He is or not. He is the Son of God whether you like it or not. While Peter answers this question correctly, no matter what Peter said, Jesus was still going to be JesusJesus was still going to be the Son of Godthe Messiah. 28 C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (San Francisco: Harper, 2001): 52. CS Lewis is one of my favorite writers, and this book is one of the most influential Christian books of the past 60 years. Outside of the Bible, there have been few books that have influenced me as much as this one. 48

Now, we must understand that how we respond to Jesus matters because it determines our relationship to Himbut Jesus is God no matter what we say or think. Peter got it rightand I pray that you do as well! Jesus is the risen, holy, all-powerful, Son of the Living God, who is going to return to judge the living and the dead. Peter understood this. Do you? Questions for Reflection: 1. If someone asked you who Jesus was, what would you say? 2. How are you submitting to Jesus Christ as the Messiah?

49

27.

8:31-9:1Jesus speaks of his upcoming death and resurrection. Matthew 16:21-28 Luke 9:21-27

Interestingly we see that as soon as Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus predicts His upcoming death and Resurrection. Peter goes from being the first person to see that Jesus is the Messiah, to the first person that Jesus called Satan. Thats a pretty big contrast. We must understand that the reason that Jesus came to earth is to die for our sin. He came to pay the penalty for our sin. He came to make intercession for us, in order to make us right before God the Father. This section is a turning point to the book of Mark. In it we see that Jesus is focused on His mission, and we see that the disciples were really not ready for what it mean to follow Christ. As soon as Jesus predicts His death and resurrection, Peter rebukes him because, according to Peter, this is not Gods plan. Peter doesnt understand what Jesus is going to do. This is why Jesus has to take a moment to teach Peter, and when He does, He teaches him that in order to follow Jesus, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. This is the essence of discipleship. Believers must understand that following Jesus is costly, and ultimately, takes all that we are. For too long, we have taken grace for granted and what has resulted is a weak church full of people with no passion for the Lord. Jesus commands us to take up our cross and follow himmake no mistake, this meant death. It always did. Can we ask any less today? Dietrich Bonheoffer wrote an incredible book on this issue called The Cost of Discipleship. Bonheoffer saw the weak state of the church even then. Listen to his words from almost 80 years ago Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly graceThe essence of grace, we suppose, is that the accounts has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothingCheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything, they say, and so everything can remain as it was beforeLet the Christian rest content with his worldliness and with this renunciation of any higher standard than the world. He is doing it for the sake of the world rather than for the sake of graceThat is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs. Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the

50

cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which cause him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ye were bought at a price, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of GodGrace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him.29 What we have, cost God the most he could give. It cost him Jesus. We must see that if we are to follow Jesus, we cannot expect for it not to cost us. We must see discipleship as a call to die. Bonhoeffer later said, When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die. This is the nature of our Christianity, despite what we see lived out. So, do we love the gospeldo we love Christif we do, then we must be wiling to give all that we are. We must be willing to die! Questions for Reflection: 1. Why do you think Jesus predicts and foretells his Crucifixion and Resurrection? 2. What does it mean to carry your cross? 3. How do we live like we are ashamed of Jesus and of his words?

29 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1995): 4345. 51

28.

9:1-29The transfiguration of Jesus. Matthew 17:1-21 Luke 9:28-43

The transfiguration is a great story. Imagine having the opportunity to see Jesus in all of his power and glory. That is what Peter, James, and John saw. They got to see the all-powerful Jesus. What an honor. We do not know why these disciples got this honor and none of the others did. We can speculate that it is because these three disciples made up the Inner Three disciples, meaning that they seemed to be the leaders of the twelve. They seemed to enjoy a particularly close relationship with Jesus. Regardless of the reason that these three disciples were present for this miracle, they were. Notice the way Peter responds. He wants to stay there. This response is understandable isnt it? They are seeing Jesus as He really is, of course they want to stay. We are much the same way arent we? Whenever we are particularly close to Jesus, we want to stay there. We go to a revival service and God shows up big time, we want to stay. We go to youth camp, and God shows up big, we want to stay. When we experience God is a big time way the natural response to want to stay. However, that is never what God wants from us. We always have to go back down the mountain and return to our normal life. So they follow Jesus back down the mountain and notice what they encounter when they get back home. A horrible situation of chaos. This is normally the way it is. We encounter Jesus in a great way, and as soon as we get back to our normal life, we are hit in the face with something. This is tough, but this is the reason that we need to have faith. It would have been easy for the disciples to stay atop the mountain just as it would be easy for us to stay wherever God is at work around usbut, usually, we have to go back home and face our life. The challenge is to be encouraged when we see God at work in order to effectively deal with the challenges that life throws our way. As our faith grows, we can effectively deal with whatever we have to deal with. The great thing to remember is that God allows us to have these brief glimpses into his heart, and as we get them, our faith grows. It is in these moments that we get the opportunity to truly grow into the disciples that we have been called to be. Let us grow when we get these opportunities, but let us not shy away from going back to our life in order to show others the glory of God.

52

Questions for Reflection: 1. Why do you think these three got the honor of seeing Jesus transfigured? 2. Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt the Lord really show himself in a powerful waymaybe in such a way that you responded like Peter, and didnt want to leave? 3. Why does Jesus make the disciples go back down the mountain and go back to their normal life?

53

29.

9:30-41Jesus foretells his death again, and the disciples dont get it. Matthew 17:22-23 Matthew 18:1-6 Luke 9:44-50

Do you find it difficult to understand Jesus sometimes? This is what the disciples are dealing with. Jesus foretells his death and resurrection again, and they completely miss it. But notice what it says about the disciples, they did not understand but it also says they were afraid to ask him what he meant. Ever been there? I think that sometimes we suffer with not understanding what Jesus is doing in our life, and sometimes it seems that we are afraid to ask Him what is going on. While it is completely normal to have doubts, and to not understand what is going on, we must also understand that it is okay to question Him through prayer. Just because we do not get it doesnt mean that we have to get it. After-all, if we understood everything, there would be no reason for us to have faith. The reason that the disciples didnt understand what Jesus was telling them is that their understanding of the Messiah was not quite correct. The disciples had the idea that the Messiah was going to be a great military leader and as he rose to power he was going to kick the Romans out and establish a new dynasty much like king David. If Jesus was going to die, then the question followed, how was he going to set up a new kingdom. Ultimately, the reason that the disciples didnt understand is that they had the wrong idea about who Jesus was. I think that this is really the same reason we dont understand Jesus. We think Jesus is going to do things our way, and when that doesnt happen, we fall apart. We need to learn to look at things the way Jesus does. As we grow in faith, and as we grow in discipleship we will learn to see things the way Jesus does. While we will still have questions, we must have faith enough to grow into the will of the Lord. Questions for Reflection: 1. What does Jesus mean by if anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all? 2. What does Jesus mean by giving a cup of water to people in Jesus name, and how do we do that today?

54

30.

9:42-50Temptations and sin. Matthew 18:7-9

Should there be a bunch of no-handed, no-footed, no-eyed people stumbling around the church? According to Jesus there should be. The issue of sin is one that we must deal with however difficult it is. The point that Jesus is making is that it will take drastic measures for us to defeat sin. It will take all that we are in order to beat it. We must see that the reason that it is so difficult is that it is a part of who we are. Sinfulness is in our very nature. So in order to defeat sin, we must understand that we are defeating a part of who we are at our core. Jesus teachings cut to the heart of the issue and He does not beat around the bush on the subject. He deals with it straight on, as Sinclair Ferguson notes Jesus spoke with great seriousness and concreteness about sin. He does not treat it lightly, nor does he offer cheap and easy remedies. On the contrary, only when we aim at the complete eradication of sin are we likely to have any success against its influence. We are faced with two alternatives: kill sin, or sin will eventually kill us.30 While we assume it would be foolish to walk around after we have engaged in self-mutilation, we must also see how damaging sin is to our bodies. Sin will always affect us and the ones around us. Ultimately, as Ferguson notes, either we destroy our sin nature, or it will destroy us. Questions for Reflection: 1. Why do you think Jesus takes watching 2. How do temptation and sin relate to one another? 3. How do we practically cut our hands off if they are causing us to sinor pluck out our eyes if they cause us to sin?

30 Feguson, 153-154. 55

31.

10:1-16Jesus teaching on divorce. Matthew 19:1-15 Luke 18:15-17

Divorce was a hot-button issue of the day because of the recent divorce of Herod Antipas and Herodias. Herod had secured the divorce of Herodias from her husband who just happened to be Herods brother. So he basically married his sister-in-law. This immoral act caused John the Baptist to preach against Herod, which ultimately led to his death (Mark 6:14-29). The question of divorce was important to Marks readers because divorce was very easy and frequent in Rome and it was very tempting for Christians in the city to be caught up in doing what was normal in their society. The same is true of Christians today. Notice, however, that the Pharisees come to Jesus not really to get some understanding, but in order to test Jesus. They were probably hoping that Jesus would say something that would anger Herod and maybe he would kill Jesus just like he did John. Regardless, the Pharisees wanted to treat marriage as simply a human institution, but Jesus made sure to reinforce the point that marriage was instituted by GodWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. One of the most difficult things to deal with as a pastor is divorce. Words cannot express the pain and tragedy that people experience as they suffer through divorce. While Jesus does not truly answer the Pharisees false question is does defend the glory of marriage. He sees it as something that God instituted for a reason. I dont believe that there is secret to marriage. Marriage is a complete mysteryjust like the gospel. Tim Keller, one of the most influential pastors today, wrote a great book on marriage called The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities with the Wisdom of God. In it he states something that is very profound when thinking about marriage Theres no relationship between human beings that is greater or more important than marriage. In the Bibles account, God himself officiates at the first wedding (Genesis 2:22-25). And when the man sees the woman, he breaks into poetry and exclaims, At last! Everything in the text proclaims that marriage, next to our relationship to God, is the most profound relationship there is. And later Keller states the secret to marriage: So, what do you need to make marriage work? You need to know the secret, the gospel, and how it gives you both the power and pattern for your marriage. On the one hand, the experience of marriage will unveil the beauty and depths of the gospel to you. It will drive you further into reliance on it. On the other hand, a greater understanding of the gospel will help you experience deeper and deeper union with

56

other as the years go onMarriage is a major vehicle for the gospels remaking of your heart from the inside out and your life from the ground up. The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once. The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform usGods saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to ad rest in Gods mercy and graceThis is the great secret! Through the gospel, we get both the power and the pattern for the journey of marriage.31 Jesus makes the point that marriage is one of the great ways that the Gospel is displayed in the world. The Pharisees missed the point, and Im afraid, we do as well. Our cultures normal idea of marriage is just not acceptable. Marriage is one of the most important things that we have, and we must cherish. Questions for Reflection: 1. How is marriage similar to our relationship with the Lord? 2. Adultery is betrayalhow is this like what we do to God when we are not faithful to him?

31 Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God (Dutton: New York, 2011): 21-22; 47-49. 57

32.

10:17-31Jesus and the rich young man. Matthew 19:16-30 Luke 18:18-30

The Rich Young Ruler is one of the most remarkable stories ever told. Why do you call me good? I wonder how many times we have simply just read over this without thought to the reason why Jesus responded to the man this way. Jesus response is ultimately a trick question that doesnt really have an answer. No one is completely good but God alone so this man cannot really address Jesus as Good Teacher until he is ready to accept Jesus as God. On the outside this young man was the type of man we all want to be. He was successful, incredibly wealthy, and religious. He seemed to be the type of person who had his act together. In fact, Jesus loved him. However, he had a tragic flaw inside his heart that he didnt know he had. He had kept the commandments since he was a young man, but his life was missing something. He was centered on himself rather than on God. Jesus sees right through the young man and, like a surgeon, exposes the mans need. He had outwardly kept the commandments, but there was a god in his life which he prized far more than Godhis great wealth. Sadly, once Jesus uncovers his true love, the young ruler turns around and goes home. He was not willing to take the risk of following Christ by leaving his comfort. This story is very tragic in its ending, but as Ferguson tells us, He stands as a perpetual monument to the fact that if we have everything, but have not Christ, we ultimately have nothing. Questions for Reflection: 1. 2. 3. 4. How is Jesus good? Why do you think Jesus loved him (verse 21)? What about this man did Jesus like? What kept this man from truly following Jesus? What keeps us from truly following Jesus?

58

33.

10:32-45Jesus foretells his death a third time, and James and John make an unusual request. Matthew 20:17-28 Luke 18:31-34

This passage shows the nature of Jesus mission on earth with the clueless nature of his disciples. Jesus predicts his death for a third time and the disciples respond with fear. They really didnt understand that Jesus mission was leading him to the cross, even though Jesus was very clear in telling them so. The first time Jesus predicted his death Peter tried to argue with him; the second time, the disciples argue about which disciple would be the greatest. This time, we expect that the disciples would have learned their lesson. However, they dont! James and John make a request from Jesus to sit at his side when he enters into his glory. What this means is that they want to rule with Jesus whenever he becomes the king. Now, they display a certain level of understanding about Jesus here, because they realize that he really is the Messiah. The problem is that they are not thinking along the same lines as Jesus is. Jesus is not coming to set up an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual one. The disciples were looking for a Messiah that was going to kick the Romans out and set up a new kingdom much like the kingdom of David. So when they ask to sit at Jesus right and left hand, they are asking to be chief-rulers in this new earthly kingdom. Jesus teaches them a lesson that we all need to know: the way of the disciple is much different from the way of the world. In the kingdom of God, true greatness is measured by our service to others. Success is not measured in the way we climb the ladder but how far we are willing to go for the sake of others. We are just like James and John because we dont always understand the nature of the kingdom of God. When we do, we will start to live our lives in faithful obedience to Jesus as we serve others. Lets have the mind of Christ as found in Philippians 2. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 ESV)

59

Questions for Reflection: 1. What does it mean for us to be a slave to all? 2. How did Jesus serve all? 3. What does it mean that Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many?

60

34.

10:46-52Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus. Matthew 20:29-34 Luke 18:35-43

Passover was approaching, and during this time faithful Jews made the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jesus was in the middle of one of these crowds of pilgrims. They were now at the city of Jericho, and they encounter a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Being blind has always been a difficult thing, but in this time-period it was extremely difficult. If you were blind you were condemned to a life of darkness and poverty, and ultimately you were reduced to being a beggar your entire life. We dont know much about Bartimaeus, but we do know that when he heard Jesus was coming, he did everything that he could to get to him. He calls out to Jesus and Jesus responds to him. Bartimaeus believed in Jesus because he believed in the Scriptures. Joel 2:32 says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Also we see that Bartimaeus believed that Jesus was the Messiah because he called him the Son of David. The term Son of David was a title given to the Messiah, and this shows that Bartimaeus believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And lastly, we see that Bartimaeus believed that Jesus had power because when Jesus asked him what he wanted, he responded in asking for his sight. Only a truly powerful person could restore sight. This miracle is one of the most dramatic in the New Testament. Batimaeus is a great example of the way we need to approach Jesus. He comes to him as a weak person in desperate need. The only way to approach Jesus is to come to him in our need with the understanding that only Jesus can truly fulfill the need. We must realize that we are not in a position to fix ourselves and the only one who can make us whole or complete is Christ. Bartimaeus realizes this and he walks away able to see. But he doesnt simply walk away, he followed him on the way. We should respond to the acts of the Lord with gratitude and humbleness. This is the only proper response. Questions for Reflection: 1. In what ways does Jesus have mercy on us? 2. What would you ask for if Jesus asked you what do you want me to do for you?

61

35.

11:1-11Jesus Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem. Matthew 21:1-11 Luke 19:28-44 John 12:12-19

This section brings Jesus into Jerusalem and is commonly known as the Triumphal Entry. However, there really doesnt seem to be anything of importance happening here (especially when compared to the other Gospels account). Further, why did Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey? To truly grasp the meaning of this we need to look at Zechariah 9:9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 ESV) What we see is that Jesus is fulfilling a prophecy. Jesus was beginning to finish the mission that His Father had sent Him to earth to fulfill. This entering into Jerusalem marks the beginning of the end for Jesus, because in less than a week, Jesus will be dying on the Cross. All of Jesus life has led Him to these last few days. There were several common thoughts on how the Messiah was going to enter the gates of Jerusalem. Most of these thoughts centered on the Messiah riding in victoriously as a conquering king who had defeated the Roman armies. This powerful man would ride into the city during a massive victory parade because he would have caused the Romans to completely give up their control to him, thus ushering in a new dynasty. This is what most people expected. Indeed, this would have truly been a triumphal entry. However, when Jesus enters Jerusalem in this way, He came in riding a donkey. Sure, He came in as a king; but not like the one they were looking for. The people did not get what they were looking for; they got something much different. Think about what Marks Christian readers who lived in Rome would think about this. For years the people in Rome would have experienced these triumphal entries from various military leaders who had defeated Roman enemies. These readers would have to read this and compare it with Jesus humble entry. Although Jesus entered in humbly, He ushered in a new kingdom. Rome would be destroyed, just like every other world power but the powerful Kingdom of God still stands, and is still growing. The people worship Jesus as He enters into the city. While they do not truly understand what is happeningnor do they truly understand what is about to happenthey

62

worship Jesus as their new king. However, in a few days, these same people will also be yelling Crucify Him! because they do not want the type of kingdom that Jesus is trying to begin. This triumphal entry is a great reminder that things are not always as they appear. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways. While Jesus could have entered Jerusalem with a huge crowd following Him, or with thousands of Angels worshipping Him he chose not to. He chose to come in very humbly and quietly. Jesus begins His relationship with us much the same wayhumbly and quietly. Jesus enters our heart not as a victorious warrior, but as a humble king. Questions for Reflection: 1. How much different do you think Jesus second triumphal entry will be from the first? 2. The people who are worshipping Jesus now will later be a part of the crowd that will be calling to crucify him. How do we act the same way through our lifestyle?

63

36.

11:12-33The lesson of the fig tree. Matthew 21:12-27 Luke 19:45-20:8

This section opens up by stating that Jesus was hungry. While not making a big deal of this, it is very important to see that Jesus was fully human, so he had physical needs just like us. So when Bible speaks of Jesus suffering that is because he really suffered. When the Bible speaks about Jesus being tempted like us, it is because he really was tempted like us. Jesus was human in every wayexcept he was perfect. Jesus goes to a fig tree to get some figs, but there are none, and it is not even the season for figs. So what was Jesus expecting to get? Because Mark includes the statement that it was not the season for figs we must understand that there is more to this than figs. Mark goes out of his way to record this account, but if we look at it by itself it doesnt make a lot of sense. It makes Jesus look like a spoiled brat to go to a fruit-tree to look for fruit when it is not even the right time of year, then not get any fruit and curse it so that it will never again produce fruit. It seems hard to understand why Jesus would misused his power in such a petty way. So we must see that the fig tree account can only teach us something when we look at it connected to Jesus cleaning out the Temple in verses 15-19, because this is clearly symbolic. Jesus goes to the Temple and begins to clean it out by driving out the people that were selling things inside of it. He flipped over moneychangers tables. He passed judgment on the people engaging in dirty business practices within the Temple. In this action we, once again, see the humanity of Jesus because we see his anger at the situation. We must understand that there is nothing wrong with anger as long as we have a justified reason with it, and as long as we respond rightly with it (Be angry and do not sinEphesians 4:26). Jesus is completely justified in his anger here for a number of reasons. What is going on is that the people in charge of the Temple are taking advantage of people. People would come from all around the known world to Jerusalem for Passover. They would need money and animals for sacrifices during this time, but the only money that could be used in the Temple was official Temple money. Therefore you had to exchange your money for the proper money and they were using high exchange rates to rip people off (sort of like those pay-day loan places). They were also telling people that the animals they bought were blemished and making them buy animals from the Temple that were inspected in order to meet the requirements. It is also believed that some of the priests were also selling these animals and not using them for actual sacrifices and turning them around and re-selling them for a huge profit. This horrible practice infuriated Jesus because they really had turned the Temple into a den of robbers.

64

This also led to one of the most heated exchanges with the religious leaders and Jesus. The lesson that Jesus was making with the fig tree is that while it looked good on the outside, and it seemed that it should be able to meet needs it wasnt. Israel showed the outward signs of bearing fruit, but any who approached it to have their spiritual hunger met were met lacking. Are we people that simply look good on the outside, while we are deeply corrupted at our core? Or are we doing all that we can to grow in holiness? Questions for Reflection: 1. What do you think the people that saw Jesus clean out the Temple thought? 2. How does this episode change the way that you feel about Jesus? 3. If Jesus came to our church what do you think he would do to it?

65

37.

12:1-12The parable of the tenants. Matthew 21:33-46 Luke 20:9-19

This parable is a direct rebuke to the religious leaders of the day. It shows the intense rivalry that existed between the religious leaders and Jesus. They did not accept him as the Messiah, and they despised the love and respect that the people gave him. In this parable, Jesus explains that there was a vineyard (a common, and well-known metaphor for Israel) that the owner left with his workers is charge. The owner sent workers to collect the funds from the vineyard, but each time he did the collectors were either beaten or killed. Finally, the owner sent his beloved son to collect, thinking that the workers would respect him. Instead, they killed him thinking that they would be able to collect the inheritance. In this parable the vineyard represents the nation of Israel. The owner is God the Father. The workers left to tend it are the religious leadersthe Pharisees, Sadducees, and othersand the rest of the people who were expected to act in accordance to the Old Testament. Each person that the owner/Father sent was most likely a prophet who the people rejected. Generally the nation of Israel rejected the words of the prophets because they were sent to rebuke and challenge the nation to repent and return to the Lord. This was a very difficult job that the people did not often respect. Therefore the owner sends his only son in order to get things done. They didnt respect him either and killed him. This is a prophetic parable that shows what eventually is going to happen to Jesus. The religious leaders are going to do their part to have Jesus murdered. A couple of things to note in this parable is that it clearly shows that Jesus declared himself to be God. By declaring himself to be the only son he is declaring himself to be the Messiah. While liberal scholars and critics will claim that Jesus never said that he was God, he did, and this is one of those obvious cases. Another issue is that in this parable, Jesus clearly shows his disdain for the religious leaders who did not do what they needed to, and instead lorded their leadership over the people for selfish reasons. It really seems that the only people that Jesus did not like was these religious leaders. Let that be a warning to us who believe that we are better than others because we have Jesus. We must not act like these religious leaders, but be gracious and loving to the people in our community as we seek to see them come to faith in Christ. Questions for Reflection: 1. How are we like the tenants? 2. How have we treated the servants shamefully?

66

38.

12:13-17Give to Caesar what Caesars Matthew 22:15-22 Luke 20:20-26

Once again we see how the religious leaders were doing all that they could in order to see Jesus trapped in some fashion. This time we see some members of the Pharisees and the Herodians uniting in order to see that Jesus states something that will get him into trouble. They come to him under false pretenses, giving him false honor by stating that they believed that Jesus was true when in reality they couldnt stand him. They try to trick Jesus by asking a loaded question. They want to know if they should pay taxes. While obviously we dont like to pay taxes today, there is a lot more here than that. In this time, the Roman government was extremely hated. They had taken over the area through military conquest, and had done a lot to change the Jewish way of life. So this question was designed as a no-win for Jesus, because by siding with the government he would alienate himself with most of the people, and if he did not he would be labeled as a traitor. This is a tough question to answer. They are daring Jesus to tell the truth on the basis of his own reputation of speaking the truth without regard to consequences. But look at how Jesus handles it. Jesus immediately recognizes their hypocrisy and their attempt to trick him. Jesus instead turns the table on them by asking whose face was on the money. Of course Caesars is, and Jesus states that people need to give the emperor whats his, and give to God what is His. This is a brilliant, yet simple answer. In this answer Jesus gives us several things to think about. One is that Jesus shows us that we are to understand that there are certain rights that a government has over its people. We see this more fully in Romans 13:1-7. The state is instituted by the Lord and therefore we are to submit to the government as long as it is not doing something or making us do something against biblical principles. The main thing that we see in this passage is that we must not come to Jesus with any sort of false pretenses. We must come to him humbly, and honestly. Jesus declares that the entire world is his and as such, he deserves our worship. We give to Caesar what is his, but we give to God what is Gods. What is that exactly? Everything, and nothing lessthis is the point. Questions for Reflection: 1. How are we supposed to steward our money? 2. Ultimately, what in our life is the Lords?

67

39.

12:18-40The Great Commandment. Matthew 22:23-23:12 Luke 20:27-47

This entire section is a singular occurrence between Jesus and the Sadducees and a scribe. The Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection, ask Jesus a ridiculous question about a woman and her 7 dead husbands. Jesus completely dismisses the question, and tells them that they are wrong, and more importantly, they know neither the Scriptures or the power of God. Since Jesus doesnt find this question important enough to answer, I think that it really isnt worth explaining either, it simply serves as an introduction to the next part. A scribe sees that Jesus answers this question well and this encourages him to have an exchange with Jesus. While the Sadducees ask a dumb question, this man asks a good question: Which commandment is the most important of all? At the root of this question is a desire to summarize the Old Testament unto the basics. This is ironic, because the religious leaders had taken the 10 commandments and added hundreds of additional rules to them to clarify what God really meant32, and here is a man who wants to know more simply what is important. While Jesus completely dismisses the Sadducees question, he answers the scribes. Jesus uses what is commonly referred to in Jewish life, the Shema. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4,5: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Pious Jews would recite this, among other Scriptures, twice daily to remind them what God required of their life. It is a great way of saying that we are to love God with all that we are, but notice that it starts with the very character of God. Jesus answers this mans question by stating who God is, so what he is saying is that there is more to our Christianity than simply obedience. Our Christianity starts with God! The next thing is that we must love this God, with all that we are and with all that we have. Jesus answer shows us that we must not measure ourselves against the law, because the very first commandment requires our comprehensive, universal, love for God with everything that we have. And, this carries with it a clear implication that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves! The scribe agrees with Jesus, just as we should, but that is not enough because Jesus tells the man, You are not far from the kingdom of God. Notice that mere biblical understanding is not enough to save this man, just like it is not enough to save us! We must leave all and follow him. This is the one that this man did not do correctly. We must love the 32 The scribes had identified 613 separate commandments, 365 of which were negative (dont do this) and 248 of which were positive (do this). They divided them further into heavy and light commandments, or more important ones, and less important ones. (James Brooks, Mark: The New American Commentary, 197) 68

Lord with all that we have, and then love others, but that only really happens when we forsake all and follow Jesus. After this exchange, no one dared to ask him any more questions. Why? Because there was really no more need. Various people had tried to use questions to trap Jesus or trip him up, all to no avail. We must come to Christ as we are, but honestly and understanding that when we come to Jesus our very heart is made bare. As one commentator noted, When humans dare to sit in judgment on the claims of Christ, they find instead that Christ is sitting in judgment on them: they stand either self-condemned or justified by their attitude to him. It is not surprising that, after this, no-one dared to ask Jesus any further question.33 Questions for Reflection: 1. How are the two commandments linked to one another? 2. What keeps you from loving the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength? 3. Why do you think this man was not far from the kingdom of God?

33 Cole, Ibid., 273. 69

40.

12:41-44The offering of the widow. Luke 21:1-4

I love this story, because it shows Jesus watching people. I am a watcher. I love to observe people because when you do, you can learn a lot about people. Here, Jesus sits and watches people as they come to give their offerings. He notices a widow who gives two incredibly small coins. Widows in this culture were very poor, and had very little way of making any money. This account teaches us several lessons. First, we need to understand that God doesnt need our money. He doesnt need anything from us to unsure that his kingdom grows. Second, your money is not yoursit is his! We need to understand that we are to give all that we have to God in service and gratitude. Third, even the poorest among us can make an offering worthy to God. Our giving is to be measured by sacrifice, not amount. I dont care how much money you have or dont have; you need to give. Everything that we own is not just a gift from God, it is basically on loan from him therefore, we need to be good stewards of it. Imagine being an extremely poor widow, and you gave the Lord all that you have. Sure, it wasnt much, but it was enough that Jesus used you as an example of what faithfulness looks like. While this widow didnt know that Jesus was looking, we need to understand that our giving is always in the sight of God. Will we be counted faithful by the way that we give? I am afraid that if we are not found faithful in a little, than God will never in-trust us with more so we need to be faithful in the way that give, and give the Lord what is rightfully his anyway! Questions for Reflection: 1. What is your definition of stewardship? 2. Are you being a good steward of what God has given and entrusted with? 3. Are you giving what you can the way you can?

70

41.

13:1-37Signs of the end of the Age. Matthew 24:36-51 Luke 21:34-38

As I write this, I am being reminded that according to some Mayan legend, the end of the world happens December of 2012. So folks, we got one year leftlets make it count! But seriously In this passage we see Jesus talking about the end of the world or, at the very least, he is talking about what it is going to be like during this time. I do not quite understand the utter fascination with the end times but this is one of the times that Jesus talks about it, so it must be important! As we have already seen, the Temple was the focal point for the Jewish culture because it was the literal House of God to them. When the Israelites were in the wilderness they had to worship in the tabernacle, which was basically a simple tent that they would set up to worship in. Now they had the Temple (built by Solomon) and during Jesus day, Herod had expanded this Temple. The disciples are noticing this expansion when they note to Jesus, Do you see these great buildings? While they are noticing the architecture, Jesus uses it as an object lesson. Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple, which occurred in AD 70. Jesus also predicts the abomination of desolation which likely refers to the Antichrists ultimate desecration of Gods temple.34 The main thing that we see from Jesus here is that he lets us know that at the end of this age there will be great suffering and tribulation. We should interpret this in such a way as to let us understand that if we are here, we may have to endure great suffering. We cannot afford to be blinded by a false hope that we will somehow not have to suffer. Jesus is warning us here. Also, during this time, we must act as witnesses despite the cost! Jesus really is coming soon. He is just coming on his time clock, not ours! We must be busy in evangelism efforts. We must be passionate at seeing others come to faith. We must do what we can to see that people become believers before this horrible time arrives. What we should always do when reading these types of passages is to look for practical applications. Ultimately this passage teaches us to be prepared! Most of the disciples would end up giving their life for the sake of the Gospel. While we may never have to do that, we must be prepared for it. If our faith matters to us, we should be willing to forsake all for Jesus name. While the end will probably not come when the Mayans predicted, after-all, they couldnt even predict their own end, it will come someday, and we had better be ready!

34 Some scholars believe this to a literal thing, which will require the Temple to be rebuilt, and others belief that this is symbolic reference to the people of God. For more, see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, and 1 John 2:18. 71

Questions for Reflection: 1. Why do you think there is a lot of talk about the End Times? 2. If you read 13:32, why do you think Jesus does not know the time of the End? 3. Why does Jesus command us to stay awake?

72

42.

14:1-11The plot to kill Jesus. Matthew 26:1-5 Matthew 26:14-16 Luke 22:1-6

With Jesus predicting the destruction of the Temple, is it any wonder that the priests and scribes were seeking to arrest Jesus and see him killed. Every time that Jesus and these religious leaders have had exchanges Jesus left them looking bad, but now Jesus is predicting that their entire way of life was going to change. People do not like change, and usually do not handle it well and these leaders use the threat of change as a reason to seek the destruction of Jesus. Jesus comes to Simon the lepers house (perhaps he had been healed by Jesus) and as they were having supper, a woman (John identifies her as Mary in John 12:1-8) comes to Jesus and begins to anoint Jesus with very expensive oil. This oil was worth an a years earningsclose to $30,000 in todays money! She is giving Jesus a very valuable heirloom. While we are not told if she really knows what she is doing, she could be anointing Jesus for burial or simply showing Jesus her love and respect. Either way, the response from the disciples is that she should have given it to the poor instead of wasting it on Jesus. While this almost seems admirable, Jesus criticizes their viewpoint. Jesus is honored by her sacrifice. However, the disciples, especially Judas, are not. Judas will leave from here and agree to betray Jesus. Notice the difference between the woman and Judas. She has done what she could (verse 8), but Judas betrays Jesus. Do we really do what we can when it comes to our relationship with Jesus? She does not simple give Jesus a lot, she serves him with all that she has. She interrupts a meal full of menwhich was not acceptable culturallyand gets down on her knees and lovingly serves Jesus. Its difficult enough to see people come to church sometime, let alone give the Lord $30,000 and service. I am afraid that too often, we act more like Judas. We look for ways to criticize others when we ought to be serving Christ with all that we have. Questions for Reflection: 1. Why is it costly to follow Jesus? 2. Why do you think this woman came and anointed Jesus? 3. Why was the womans anointing of Jesus enough to push Judas over the edge and betray Jesus?

73

43.

14:12-26Jesus celebrates Passover with his disciples. Matthew 26:17-29 Luke 22:7-30 John 13:21-30

The Passover was the most important Jewish festival. It goes back to the Exodus story where God redeemed his people from the Pharaoh. If we go to Exodus 12 we see the story of what the Passover means. The Passover represents when the Angel of the Lord passed over the Israelites houses and instead, killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians. The only way the Angel passed over the houses was if there was blood over the doors of the houses. Because of the working of the Lord in this, the people of Israel are released from their bondage, and set free. The Jews were commanded to celebrate this feast in remembrance of what the Lord had done. One of the best explanations of the Passover I have ever read is in Tim Kellers book of Mark, Kings Cross The only way for your family to escape was to put your faith in Gods sacrificial provision; namely, you had to slay a lamb and put the blood on the doors as a sign of your faith in God. In every home that night would either be a dead child or a dead lamb. When justice came down, either it fell on your family or you took shelter under the substitute, under the blood of the lamb. If you did accept this shelter, then death passed over you and you were saved; thats why is was called Passover. You were saved only on the basis of faith in a substitutionary sacrifice. Imagine you were in Egypt just after that first Passover. If you stopped Israelites in those days and said, Who are you and what is happening here? they would say, I was a slave under a sentence of death, but I took shelter under the blood of the lamb and escaped that bondage, and now God lives in our midst and we are following him to the Promised Land. That is exactly what Christians say today. If you trust in Jesuss substitutionary sacrifice, the greatest longings of your heart will be satisfied on the day you sit down for that eternal feast in the promised kingdom of God.35 Jesus goes into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, but more importantly, he comes to establish the New Covenant. The Passover symbolizes that God saved Israel in a powerful way. The Passover also symbolizes what Jesus does for us. He is the first-born Son who dies for usliterally, he dies for our sins. The blood that he shed covers our sin, and keeps us from suffering death. Jesus upcoming death will usher in the New Covenant where we will receive salvation and forgiveness of sin directly from the work of Jesus on the Cross. This Passover also ushers in the Lords Supper. When we celebrate the Lords Supper we are remembering what Jesus did for us. We became our salvation and the substitute for our sins. 35 Tim Keller, Kings Cross (Dutton: New York, 2011): 163-164, 172. 74

It is only because of what Jesus did that we have any security. It is only because of what Jesus did that we have salvation. Through the Lords Supper we learn to focus our attention on Jesus himself. Because Jesus was present with the disciples during the first Lords Supper they would learn that focus of it was not on the bread and wine, but on Jesus himself. The Lords Supper makes us focus on Jesus and remember that our salvation is from him. While the disciples truly didnt understand exactly what Jesus was doing here, we do. We get the proper understanding of what Jesus was doing. Every time we celebrate the Lords Supper, we must celebrate the new life that we have in the New Covenant. Questions for Reflection: 1. Do you find it surprising that after Jesus predicted that one of the disciples would betray him, they all sorrowfully asked Is it I? In other words, they all questioned Jesus if it was them. 2. What does the Lords Supper symbolize?

75

44.

14:27-31Jesus predicts Peters denial. Matthew 26:30-35

In the life of the early church, outside of Paul, Peter might be the most important leader. He is the obvious leader of the disciples and will do much to lead the church in Jerusalem after Jesus ascends into Heaven. Peter is a guy who reminds me of myself because he is always saying things that get him into trouble. He is like most of us, right? We show shades of goodness and leadership, then we fail miserably. We sometimes think we can walk on water, but usually we sink under the waves. I am glad there are people like Peter in the Bible, because it shows us that there is room for people like us in the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells all of the disciples that they will fall away, or that they will all flee Jesus when things get bad. This must be the worst thing that he could have told them. Imagine that. Imagine that Jesus looks right at you and tells you that you will quit on him. This has to be a tough thing to hear, so Peter does what Peter always does and tells Jesus that the rules dont apply to him. Peter is special. Peter is a leader. Peter is the Rock. Peter knows that while the other disciples will tap out and run, he will even die with Jesus. However, history will tell us another story. For roughly three years Jesus has put up with Peters amazing gift of putting his foot in his own mouth. Peter was always saying things that would get him into trouble, but, lets face it, Peter was a leader. When Jesus called Peter the rock, he really meant it. Jesus really was going to build the church using Peter. However, Jesus predicts that Peter is going to totally deny him. How amazing is the fact that despite Peters upcoming betrayal, Jesus still decides to use Peter. Think about this for a minute! Despite the fact that we are utter failures, God still uses us! I find this unbelievable that God would use us in spite of things that we have done, but he would continue to use us despite the things that he knows that we are going to do. Jesus showers us with grace. He gives us what we do not deserve. Even though Jesus knows that Peter is going to betray him, Jesus does not love him any less. Jesus will be going through one of the most horrific methods of brutality ever invented when Peter will deny that he even knows Jesusyet, Jesus loves Peter anyway. Peters passion in denying the fact that he is going to deny Jesus only serves to make Peters failure all the greater. Despite our failures, despite our sin, despite all of our faults, God loves us! Questions for Reflection: 1. What is Peters best quality? 2. What is Peters worst quality? 3. How are you and Peter alike?

76

45.

14:32-42Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane Matthew 26:36-46 Luke 22:39-46

Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane is one of the most iconic, recorded moments from the life of Jesus. This passage shows the internal struggle that Jesus was going through as he awaited his death. All of Jesus life had led him to this moment, and because Jesus knew what was coming he was extremely nervous and stressedstressed to the point that he sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44), an actual medical condition called hematidrosis where intense stress causes one to sweat blood. One of the issues that this passage makes clear for us is the humanity of Jesus. Notice that Mark is very detailed here in showing us how Jesus was feelingdistressed and troubled. Just as Jesus warned us that one day we might have to suffer greatly for following the Lord, so here too, Jesus is suffering for following his Father. The words used for Jesus suffering here are words that are used nowhere else in Scripture showing us that the suffering that Jesus was experiencing was suffering so intense that nobody else had ever experienced. Many people have faced death before without stressing in which the way Jesus did, so what is the difference? Jesus is aware that what is awaiting him is more than simply death. Jesus knows that he is going to give his life as a ransom for many. One commentator explains it this way In Gethsemane Jesus must make the first payment of that ransom, to will to become the sin-bearer for humanity. Jesus stands before the final consequence of being the Servant of God, pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities (Isa 53:45). It is one thing, fearful as it will be, to answer for our own sins before a holy and almighty God; who can imagine what it would be like to stand before God to answer for every sin and crime and act of malice and injury and cowardice and evil in the world? In acquiescing to the Fathers will of bearing the sin of many, interceding for transgressors (Isa 53:12), Jesus necessarily experiences an abandonment and darkness of cosmic proportions. The worst prospect of becoming the sin-bearer for humanity is that it spells complete alienation from God, and alienation that will shortly echo above the desolate landscape of Calvary, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (15:34). Not his own mortality, but the specter of identifying with sinners so fully as to become the object of Gods wrath against sinit is this that overwhelms Jesus soul to the point of death.36 Jesus knows what is awaiting him. Jesus is going to have the sins of the world laid upon him making the wrath of God come upon him as he takes the punishment. Jesus is going to suffer in a way that nobody before or after has ever suffered. Jesus will be arrested, falsely tried, and be convicted and ultimately be sentenced to death on a cross. Jesus knows that the cross is 36 Edwards, 433. 77

coming, but there is more at stake for Jesus. Because the sin of the world will be laid upon Jesus the relationship between Jesus and God the Father will be fractured because God cannot look at sin. It is, then, not so much the suffering itself that Jesus shrinks from, but rather facing abandonment by the one he has known as Abba all this time, and even more daunting, facing the wrath, the judgment of God on the cross. He dreads, as any human would, undergoing such judgment and punishment.37 Because of this, Jesus asks if there is any other way to achieve the will of God than the cross. Jesus asks for this cup to pass. Three separate times Jesus asks for God to reconsider his plan, but three times Jesus also prays for Gods will. In other words, Jesus asks for a change of plan but he also prays that no matter what, he is going to do what God the Father wants. It is not necessarily wrong to ask God for something which he does not intend to do, as long as we are prepared to submit to his will, whatever that is. So the second thing we see from this passage is Jesus submission to the will of the Father. We, like Jesus, must learn to submit to the plans of the Father despite what it might cost us. For Jesus, it cost his life. For us it might cost money, popularity, time, health, familyeverything. The issue is will we lay down our rights in order to be faithful to the will of God? Lastly, we see the disappointment from Jesus at his disciples when they cannot even stay awake despite what Jesus is going through. Jesus asks the threePeter, James, and Johnto pray so that they will not fall into temptation. Three times Jesus goes off to pray and three times he returns to see his closest disciples asleep. We can only imagine Jesuss frustration at his disciples because they dont have enough willpower to simply stay awake while Jesus goes through the roughest time of his life. He is sweating drops of blood, while they take a nap. Eventually Jesus quits praying for the cup to pass because he realizes that this is truly the Lords plan for him. This leads to an interesting discussion. Because Jesus knows all things, he knows that he has come to earth for this one purpose: to redeem the world. Jesus also know another thing: this redemption will come through his death on the cross. So why does Jesus pray for this entire thing to pass? Does he expect something else? I really dont believe so. Does Jesus think that there might be another way to save humanity? Once again, I dont believe so. So why does Jesus pray this way? While I am not one hundred percent sure, I believe that Jesus prays not for a change in plans but for strength in himself. Notice that he prays for the Fathers will to be done. I think that this shows that he wants to do what God wants and is not concerned with his own motives. But, because he knows how difficult it will be, he is praying so that he can be faithful in what God has called him to do. I think that this is a great way to pray. We must pray not for our own comfort, but for strength in which to do the Lords will.

37 Witherington, 379. 78

Questions for Reflection: 1. Why does Jesus ask for the disciples to go with him when he went off to pray? 2. Why does Jesus take the Three (Peter, James, and John) further with him to pray more deeply when he was distressed and troubled? 3. How does Jesus make it possible for us to be honest in prayer? 4. How hurt do you think Jesus was when found his disciples sleeping while he was literally praying his heart out?

79

46.

14:43-52Jesus is betrayed and arrested. Matthew 26:47-56 Luke 22:47-53 John 18:1-11

Betrayal from a close friend hurts. Here we see that Judas, one of the twelve, is at the heart of the betrayal of Jesus. This is even more remarkable when we consider that Jesus spent time in prayer praying over the candidates for being disciples so Jesus hand picked him to be a close ally and disciple. Judas comes to Jesus under guise of friendship and respect giving him falsehonor in the form of a kiss, using an act of love to cover up an act of hate. In fact the English term kiss of death entered into our language from this incident. Despite the fact there are actually 8 men in the New Testament with the name Judas, little is really know about this one. While most of the disciples came out of the region of Galilee where there were tons of fishermen and farmers, it seems that Judas comes from another area. Every time you see a list of the disciples in Scripture you see his name last, showing that he is given a place of dishonor among the disciples (for example, Peter is always listed first). What is amazing is that Judas was essentially the disciples treasurer, or bookkeeper. Judas oversaw the financial aspects of the disciples ministry. This is amazing, because you generally only put people you trust in positions over your money. However, we do see in John 12 that Judas was stealing from this money so we see that Judas was a taker and not a giver. This is ironic when we look back to Mark 14:3-11 and remember that when the woman anointed Jesus with the expensive perfume he was upset because they could have used the money to help the poor. What might have been the case, is that he wanted the money to be put into the pocketbook that he was over so that he could have stolen his share from it. While Judas was a thief, and a betrayer, we must also look at what the other disciples do in this passage. After Jesus is confronted by the mob, they all left him and fled. So while it is easy for us to condemn Judas (and we should) we must also see that the other disciples do not fare much better. Just as Jesus predicted, they all leave him. So here we see the Savior of the World being led away by himself. I often wonder at what point do the disciples realize that they have left their Master. I wonder what was going through their minds and hearts. But more than anything, I wonder why did Judas do what he did. At the end of John 6, Jesus states that one of the disciples is a devil so we know that Jesus knew very early on that Judas was going to betray him. Judas desire was to betray Jesus, and Satan seemed to empower that desire and make it stronger (Luke 22:3-6).38 We must 38 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented 80

understand that Satan and demons are real and they are at work just like Jesus and Angels. Now, lets be sure that we do not give Judas a pass for what he did, because he is totally responsible for his decisions, but ultimately we do not know Why? While there are several lessons that can be learned from this, I want to look at one specifically: sitting under good Bible teaching is not enough. Think about it; Jesus was the Masterteacher, yet Judas still didnt get it. It is not enough to simply be in the presence of a good teacher, or preacher, one must learn theology for themselves and put it into practice. If all we do is sit and listen, and we never go and dowe are headed to failure. Judas had everybody fooled, but deep down he was a crooked man who did not understand the Gospel despite the fact that he was obviously taught the Bible well. Let us be more aware about the significance that have towards actually loving and learning the Holy Scriptures. Questions for Reflection: 1. How difficult do you think it was for Jesus to be Judas leader despite knowing that Judas was going to betray him? 2. Have you ever been betrayed by a close friend? 3. What can we learn about the sovereignty of God in this passage? 4. How does this passage show how God can use evil to bring about his plans?

and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. (Luke 22:3-6 ESV) 81

47.

14:53-72Jesus is before the council while Peter denies him. Matthew 26:57-75 Luke 22:54-65 John 18:25-27

While Jesus is going through his first round of interrogations at the hands of the Sanhedrin the highest ruling court of the JewsPeter is enjoying the fire. The Sanhedrin had modeled themselves after Moses and the early ruling elders of ancient Israel. They existed during this time as basically Israels supreme court. While extremely powerful, they did not actually have the authority to sentence anyone to death, but that is exactly what they wanted for Jesus. Generally, in normal circumstances, the rules of the Sanhedrin gave the benefit of the doubt to the person that was accused, but it is obvious from Mark that some of the members had already decided on a guilty verdict for Jesus before the trial had even begun. They clearly wanted to put Jesus to death, so they brought false witnesses forward, even though their testimony did not agree. Notice that Jesus did not answer these false witnesses or the false charges, because he didnt need to respond. Isaiah 53:13 states, He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth, so by Jesus silence he was making a very bold statement! There are numerous problems with what the religious leaders did in regards to this trial. First, trials could not be held at night. They probably did the trial at night, so that they stood a better chance of winning because most of Jesus supporters would not be there. Second, a verdict in a capitol case couldnt be reached until the second day, and therefore trials could not be held on the eve of the Sabbath or on a feast day. Third, witnesses had to able to give accurate, firsthand testimony. Fourth, those who were being accused of blasphemy could be convicted only if they reviled the Divine Name. Fifth, trials could not be held in the palace of the high priest. Sixth, the Old Testament doesnt even list crucifixion as an appropriate punishment.39 While illegal trials and perversions of justice have occurred throughout all cultures and societies throughout all time, no injustice should be excused. They wanted Jesus to be condemned, and obviously were willing to compromise on their very own belief system in order to see it happen. The only thing that Jesus answered was the question of whether or not he was the Christ, in which Jesus answered with an emphatic yes! Jesus claims to be the Son of Man (direct allusion from Daniel 7:13) and he also states that he will be seated at the right hand of God (from Psalm 110:1). Ironically, in both of these titles Jesus is referring to his return as Judge. At the end of this trial, the Sanhedrin turn Jesus over to Pilate so that they can get their desired outcomeCrucifixion. 39 While there are many other possible errors in this trial process, these are the basics that were involved to show that this trial was in reality a farce set up to kill Jesus James Brooks, Mark: the New American Commentary, 239-240. 82

While this is going on, Peter is having a crisis of his own outside. While all of the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested, Peter is the only one who made his way back. So we should give him a little credit. However, in the end, Peter denies that he even knows Jesus and he does it in front of a slave-girl. It would almost make sense if it had been in front of the authorities, or someone who could throw him into jail; but Peter, he quits on Jesus in front of someone who is of very little significance. We must see that Peter does what we all do at some time: deny Jesus with our lifestyle. Jesus is looking for some consistency from us in our faith-walk. What will we do in times of testing? How do we respond? Ferguson notes, our personal weaknesses need only the least pressure from temptation to bring us to our knees. In the end we have two broken disciples: Peter and Judas. Placed side by side, and they both fail. But while one was lost, the other was saved, redeemed, and ultimately used for the Lords glory. What was the difference? Peter remembered the Lord in his sin, and repented. Judas simply felt sorry for himself and eventually committed suicide. When we fail, we must repent, and return to the Lord and allow his grace to renew us and reshape us into the people that he wants us to be. Despite Peters low point here, he will become one of the greatest leaders that the church has ever had. Questions for Reflection: 1. What does this passage show us about Peter? 2. In what ways do we betray Jesus during our life?

83

48.

15:1-47The Passion. Matthew 27:1-61 Luke 22:66-71 Luke 23:1-56

While the entirety of chapter 15 is a long unit, I think that it needs to be read as a single piece, because it really is a single event. So, while there is a lot going on, we will look at this entire unit together. There are a lot of different people involved in this episode and each play a different role in the event. Pontius Pilate. Pilate is one of those leaders who might not be remembered if were not for the role he played in the Crucifixion story. Pilate was the fifth Roman governor of Judea, and held the office from 26-36 AD. Both historians, Josephus and Philo, described him as being cruel and without any sensitivity for Jewish beliefs of practices. He is also mentioned in Luke 13:1 as having done some sort of mixing Galilean blood during a sacrifice which would have been unthinkable for the Jews. Pilate asks Jesus the same question in all of the Gospels, Are you King of the Jews? Jesus answer, also, is much the same: basically, is it as you say. The truth is, Jesus was a king, just not in the way that the people or Pilate understood. The chief priests charged Jesus with many things, although the Bible is silent on them, we can probably assume that they were additional false charges stirred up to make Pilate condemn Jesus to death. Verses 6-15 show a traditional goodwill thing that Pilate did around the time of Passover in order to show good intentions. He would release a prisoner as an act of gracious leadership and rulership. Pilate assumes that if he brings this up the people will ask for Jesus to released instead of a convicted murderer, however, Pilate is wrong. The people cry out for Jesus to be crucified. Notice that Pilate finds no reason to sentence Jesus to death, and knows that the only reason the chief priests had delivered Jesus up was out of envy but he still hands Jesus over to be crucified after he sends Jesus off to be scourged. Let us make sure that we call Pilate what he was: an evil leader who had bowed to the local peoples pressure and had him killed. He could have released Jesus but choose not to. He is guilty of what he did, but we will see that the hand of God was at work. Before Jesus is crucified, he is dressed up as a king and beaten and mocked. The irony here is that Jesus really is a king. He really is the Messiah. These people just dont know or understand what they are doing. They actually are helping to fulfill Scripture (Micah 5:1; Isaiah 50:6; 53:4-5). Mark is emphasizing that Jesus kingship was characterized by humility and servanthood and was different from all the kingships of the rest of the world. Notice that the actual crucifixion story here is very brief and simple. Crucifixion was invented by the Persians and was eventually handed over to the Romans were perfected it. It was the

84

ultimate Roman punishment for slaves and provincials, but it was not used for Romans citizens. Crucifixion was probably the most horrible method of torture and death ever evented. In fact the word excruciating literally means out of the cross. The cross was almost more than Jesus could handle. Despite Jesus young age and good health, Jesus was so physically devastated from his sleepless night in prayer, miles of walking, severe scourging and beating, he collapsed under the horrific weight of the cross, unable to carry it alone. This is why Simon was urged to help Jesus carry it. Jesus the carpenter, who had probably driven many nails over his lifetime As Jesus hung on the cross the sins of the world were on him. Sin fractured the relationship between God the Son and God the Father. In the Cross we the dark, painful cost of sin: death. The fact that Christians celebrate the murder of Jesus as good news is very strange unless we understand the reason Jesus died. Traditional we call this entire thing penal substitutionary atonement. The Old Testament showed that when sin entered the world it ultimately fractured the spiritual relationship between us and God. The Old Testament law showed us that the only way that we can have forgiveness for our sins is for blood to be shed. The Law provided for a substitute, a lamb, that would be slaughtered once a year for the sins of the people of Israel. At the Cross, Jesus changed all of this. He took the punishment for all our sin at the Cross. He paid the penalty for our sin at the Cross in his death. The wrath of God that should have rightfully fallen on us fell unjustly on Jesus. So in penal substitutionary atonement, the sinless Jesus literally stood in our place and suffered and died for us taking away the curse of sin. This is why Jesus came to earth. This is why we celebratethis is the Good Newsthis is the Gospel! While we dont usually have to suffer like Jesus did here, but in the Cross we learn that ours is a faith not of victorious living, but of life that that is ultimately found in death. Mark Driscoll summarizes some of his thoughts on the Atonement in this Jesus welcomes us to pick up our cross and die. In our age of religious gimmicks and tricks that promise a victorious life without pain and deathTo be a Christian is to be a little Christ. In fact, the name Christian was originally a term of mockery given to us by our enemies. But Jesus said that to be a Christian is to pick up our cross and die. Die to sin, die to pride, die to comfort, die to anything and everything that fails to glorify God alone as the object of our affection and the source of our joy. While I could spend a ton of time talking, and writing, about the Atonement and what it means to usor what it should mean to usI realize that we will never truly understand the depths of love demonstrated by Christ here. Jesus died on the cross to secure our salvation and this is the main idea! Martin Luther calls this the Great Exchange, meaning that Jesus exchanged his righteousness for our sin. We get the better of the deal and as a result of the work of Christ we stand before God the Father and Judge justified. The grace that Jesus

85

showers us with allows us to be right before God and it also allows us to stand secure in our salvation because we know that our salvation is not dependent upon anything that we have done or will doit is based upon the completed work of Jesus! We stand secure! Questions for Reflection: 1. Some tradition states that Pontius Pilate later became saved and even became a pastor and bishop a bishop. While this is highly unlikely, what do you think happened to Pilate after dealing with Jesus? 2. Why was the Temple curtain torn in two? 3. Why do you think Jesus cried out My God, My Go, why have you forsaken me? 4. When you think of the Crucifixion, what is it that speaks to you the most?

86

49.

16:1-8The Resurrection. Matthew 28:1-7 Luke 24:1-12 John 20:1-9

It is a shame that the resurrection is not talked about much. Generally, pastors and churches only talk about the resurrection on Easter. However, if not for the resurrection the cross would have no meaning. If Jesus had just come to earth and died then we would still be waiting on the Messiah. If we are to look at the crucifixion account we must look at it with resurrection colored glasses on because without the resurrection there would be no defeat of Satan, sin, and death. We owe a lot to the resurrection (I got this list from one of pastor John Pipers sermons):40 What we owe to the Resurrection of Jesus: 1. A savior who can never die againFor we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again (Romans 9:9). 2. RepentanceThe God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savor, to give repentance to Israel (Acts 5:31). 3. New birthBy his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3). 4. Forgiveness of sinIf Christ has not been raised, your hope is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). 5. The Holy SpiritThis Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear (Acts 2:32-33). 6. No condemnation for the electWho is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34). 7. The Lords personal fellowship and protectionAnd behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). 8. Proof of coming judgmentGod has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:31). 9. Salvation from the future wrath of GodWe wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10; Romans 5:10). 40 I highly recommend John Pipers website www.desiringgod.org for a multitude of free resources: books, sermons, audio, and video. John Piper is a very highly skilled theologian and pastor and he gives away most of his resources for no cost. 87

10. Our own resurrection from the deadWe know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence (2 Corinthians 4:14; Romans 6:4; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20). We owe much to the resurrection. Without the resurrection we would have no hope, but because of the resurrectionwe have forgivenesswe have salvationwe have a savior. When we look at the cross, let us weep at the great cost; let us weep at the price that was paid; let us weep at the depth of our sin. In the resurrection, however, let us celebrate and worship the great savior who fulfilled the plan of God and saved us from ourselves and paid a debt that we could not pay. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Questions for Reflection: 1. How would you have responded to the news of an empty tomb? 2. What would the Crucifixion mean if it wasnt for the Resurrection? 3. When Jesus raised from death, what did it actually accomplish? 4. How has Jesus set you free from Satan, sin, and death?

88

50.

16:9-20The End?

The ending of Mark is one of the major textual problems in the New Testament. The Gospel of Mark ends in verse 8, at least it does in the two earliest and highest regarded and reliable manuscripts: in one inferior Greek manuscript, in most Greek lectionaries, in one Syriac manuscript, in one Coptic manuscript, in some Armenian manuscripts, in the two oldest Georgian manuscripts, and in several of the early Christian writers (including Clement of Alexandria and Origen). There is also important testimony from the early church leaders Eusebius and Jerome that in most of the Greek manuscripts that they knew (which have not survived) had nothing after verse 8.41 The two oldest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament (around the fourth century), Codex Sinaiticus (Aleph) and Codex Vaticanus (B), plus many other old manuscripts, do not contain verses 9-20. Some interpreters believe the vocabulary, style, and content of these verse are not really consistent with the rest of the book of Mark and this furthers the idea that they are not a part of the original. However, this has led many scholars to question, if they were not part of Marks original Gospel, where did they come from, and are they truly part of the inspired Word of God? Ultimately we do not know whether or not Marks Gospel ends in verse 8 or 20. The question for us will that be okay, or will we allow it to be a problem? Regardless, it shouldnt matter that much to us. The extended content of verse 9-20 do not add or subtract enough for us to change any doctrine. It wont change anything that we believe. Whether it was a part of the inspired original or was added at a later time, it doesnt change anything. I prefer to stop our study at verse 8 due to my belief that it was added at a later time. Either way, it is not something to fight about or make a big deal about.42

41 Brooks, 271-272. 42 However, it is interesting to note that some denominations (I use this term loosely) use verse 18they will pick up serpents with their handsas their reasoning for snake-handling in their churches. I find it very ironic that these denominations and churches would tale a verse like this, that is considered skeptical at best, to form their entire church ministry and way of doing things. These denominations tend to be King James Only type of churches, and I find it funny that they usually do not know much about theology. 89

12/22/2011 My prayer for this sermon series is that we will have fallen more in love with Christ by seeking to understand more about who he is. I really believe that we need to know more about the person and work of Christ as found in the Gospels. I hope that this study guide will have proven a valuable tool that helped us all reach deeper into the wealth of knowledge that is the Gospel of Mark. At the root, Mark is book that shows us how Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the true Son of God. He came to take away our sins by absorbing the wrath of God on the Cross. He came to give us abundant life here on earth, in order to prepare us for eternal life in heaven. As I have studied through Mark for the past three months I have grown to love its simplicity and straightforwardness. My hope is that you have fallen in love more with Christ as a result of having come into contact with it. My hope is that we at WhiteStone come to grow in our faith so that we begin to make a difference in our community for the sake of the Gospel. Because God loves us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, we get the blessed opportunity to make a difference in this messed-up world. What a great challenge and privilege it is to serve such a mighty God. Humbly serving. Adam Wyatt To quote the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation: Sola scripturaBy scripture alone Sola fideBy faith alone Sola gratiaBy grace alone Solo ChristoThrough Christ alone Soli Deo GloriaGlory to God alone

90