bible talk notes on mark's gospel

ProgramWk Passage vss Content Title

1 Mark 1:1-15 15 Jesus Christ, Son of God. J the B, baptism, temptation, starts ministry Essential Jesus

2 Mark 1:16-45 29 First disciples, healings, The Jesus who takes the world by storm

3 Mark 2:1-17 17 Paralytic forgiven, Levi called The Jesus who has the nerve to forgive

4 Mark 2:18-3:6 17 Fasting, eating on Sabbath, man healed on Sabbath, The Jesus who blows away protocol

5 Mark 3:7-19 12 crowds, messianic secret, Apostles appointed The Jesus who has a cunning plan

6 Mark 3:22-35 14 Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ mother & brothers The Jesus who pulls no punches

Mid Semester breakMid Semester breakMid Semester breakMid Semester breakMid Semester break

7 Mark 4:1-25 25 Parables - Sower, reason for parables Jesus - you’d better listen to him

8 Mark 4:26-34 9 Parables - Seed, mustard Jesus - more significant than you realise

9 Mark 4:35-5:20 27 Stilling storm, Gerasene demoniac Jesus - who is this guy?

10 Mark 5:21-43 23 Jairus’ daughter & bleeding woman Jesus - Death is no obstacle

11 Mark 6:1-29 29 Rejected at Nazareth, Apostles sent, John the Baptist killed Jesus - A respectable religion?

12 Mark 6:30-56 27 Feeding 5000, walk on water Jesus - What’ll it take for you to believe?

13 Mark 7:1-23 23 Traditions & sinful hearts, Jesus - He shows us what we really are.

Mid Year breakMid Year breakMid Year breakMid Year breakMid Year break

1 Mark 7:24-37 14 Syrophoenician woman, Deaf mute healed How Jesus puts an end to racism

2 Mark 8:1-26 26 Feeding 4000, yeast of pharisees, healing blind man, How Jesus meets our needs

3 Mission Week preparationMission Week preparationMission Week preparationMission Week preparation

Mw1 Mark 8:27-38 12 Peter’s confession, predict suffering, call to follow How Jesus gives purpose to life

Mw2 Mark 9:1-32 32 Transfiguration, epileptic boy, predict suffering How Jesus does something about suffering.

Mw3 Mark 9:33-10:34 52 Who is the greatest, who is not against us, temptations to sin,

divorce, children, rich young man, predict suffering How Jesus brings us to God

5 Mark 10:35 - 11:25 44 James & John’s request, blind Bartimaeus, Triumphal entry, clear

temple, fig tree, How Jesus turns this world upside down

6 Mark 11:27-12:17 24 challenged by priests, parable of vineyard, paying taxes How Jesus challenges authority

7 Mark 12:18-44 27 Sadducees on resurrection, the greatest command, Son of David, Widow’s mite How Jesus exposes hypocrisy

8 Mark 13:1-37 37 Predict destruction of Temple & last days How Jesus wil wrap up history

Mid Semester breakMid Semester breakMid Semester breakMid Semester breakMid Semester break

9 Mark 14:1-25 25 Anointed by woman, Judas, last supper If Jesus was the Son of God, why did he plan to die?

10 Mark 14:26-72 47 Gethsemane, betrayal, arrest, trial, Peter’s denial If Jesus was the Son of God, why did everyone turn against him?

11 Mark 15:1-20 20 Pilate, Barabbas, mocking, Simon of Cyrene If Jesus was the Son of God, why did he allow himself to become a victim of evil?

12 Mark 15:21-47 27 Crucifixion, burial If Jesus was the Son of God, why did he end up dead?

13 Mark 16:1-20 20 Resurrection, commission If Jesus was the Son of God, what does his coming back from the dead mean?

‘Throughout the Gospel the Evangelist treats the identity of Jesus as an open question about which the audience has to make a decision. Mark tells the story not simply to instruct but to elicit a response.’ Kernaghan, 20

The Bible Talks @ Flinders 2012

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‘It is intended to be neither a formal historical treatise nor a biography of Jesus, but proclamation.’ Lane, 1

"Mark made his assertion, who was also named stubby-fingers, on account that he had in comparison to the length of the rest of his body shorter fingers. He was a disciple and interpreter of Peter, whom he followed just as he heard him report. When he was requested at Rome by the brethren, he briefly wrote this gospel in parts of Italy. When Peter heard this, he approved and affirmed it by his own authority for the reading of the church. Truly, after the departure of Peter, this gospel which he himself put together having been taken up, he went away into Egypt and, ordained as the first bishop of Alexandria, announcing Christ, he constituted a church there. It was of such teaching and continence of life that it compels all followers of Christ to imitate its example." Anti-Marcionite prologue.

Acts 10:36-41 (Peter’s sermon) follows same structure as Mark.

Content TitleTitleTitle Wk

Meet Jesus(Mark 1-3)

Essential JesusEssential JesusEssential Jesus 1


The Jesus who takes the world by stormThe Jesus who takes the world by stormThe Jesus who takes the world by storm 2


The Jesus who has the nerve to forgiveThe Jesus who has the nerve to forgiveThe Jesus who has the nerve to forgive 3Meet Jesus(Mark 1-3) The Jesus who blows away protocolThe Jesus who blows away protocolThe Jesus who blows away protocol 4Meet Jesus(Mark 1-3)

The Jesus who has a cunning planThe Jesus who has a cunning planThe Jesus who has a cunning plan 5


The Jesus who pulls no punchesThe Jesus who pulls no punchesThe Jesus who pulls no punches 6

Break

Jesus?(Mark 4-7)

You’d better listen to himYou’d better listen to himYou’d better listen to him 7

Jesus?(Mark 4-7)

More significant than you realiseMore significant than you realiseMore significant than you realise 8

Jesus?(Mark 4-7)

Who is this guy?Who is this guy?Who is this guy? 9Jesus?

(Mark 4-7) Death is no obstacleDeath is no obstacleDeath is no obstacle 10Jesus?(Mark 4-7)

A political revolutionary?A political revolutionary?A political revolutionary? 11

Jesus?(Mark 4-7)

What’ll it take for you to believe?What’ll it take for you to believe?What’ll it take for you to believe? 12

Jesus?(Mark 4-7)

He shows us what we really are.He shows us what we really are.He shows us what we really are. 13

Break

How Jesus...(Mark 7-13)

...puts an end to racism...puts an end to racism...puts an end to racism 1


...meets our needs...meets our needs...meets our needs 2


(Mission Week prep)(Mission Week prep)(Mission Week prep) 3


...gives purpose to life ...does something about suffering ...brings us to God 4 MWHow Jesus...(Mark 7-13) ...turns this world upside down...turns this world upside down...turns this world upside down 5


...challenges authority...challenges authority...challenges authority 6


...exposes hypocrisy...exposes hypocrisy...exposes hypocrisy 7


...will establish the Kingdom...will establish the Kingdom...will establish the Kingdom 8

Break

If Jesus was the Son of God...?(Mark 14-16)

...why did he plan to die?...why did he plan to die?...why did he plan to die? 9


...why did everyone turn against him?...why did everyone turn against him?...why did everyone turn against him? 10If Jesus was the Son of God...?

(Mark 14-16) ...why did he allow himself to become a victim of evil?...why did he allow himself to become a victim of evil?...why did he allow himself to become a victim of evil? 11If Jesus was the Son of God...?(Mark 14-16)

...why did he end up dead?...why did he end up dead?...why did he end up dead? 12


...what does his coming back from the dead mean?...what does his coming back from the dead mean?...what does his coming back from the dead mean? 13


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Mark 1:1-15Essential Jesus

1:1Three meaning-laden phrases:• Gospel - An announcement of significant news• Christ - Not Jesus’ surname, but a title - literally ‘God’s chosen King’.• Son of God - Someone with a significant & unique relationship to God

1:2-3 - The story so far...A snapshot overview of the heart of the whole Old Testament (ie. History up to this point)

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.

Malachi is the final book in the Old Testament, and the last prophet. The Jews have returned from exile, and are struggling to re-establish themselves in the land God had given their ancestors. They are wondering whether their God is actually still with them and for them, and whether his promises to their ancestor Abraham to make them a great nation and to bring blessing to every nation through them will ever come to pass.God’s message through Malachi: the day will come when He will show up. So far God had used images and symbols and rituals to communicate who He is and what it means to be in a relationship with Him. The day is coming when He will show up in person - but will they be ready? (and are we ready?) Will God showing up be a positive or negative experience?Isaiah 40:3 1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

The heart of God’s promises is that he will make a way for people and God to be brought together. This will happen through an act of reconciliation - the forgiveness of sin. This is what makes the ‘Gospel’ good news for those who accept it.It will not be merely about dealing with guilt and shame - ‘The glory of the Lord shall be revealed’ - people will see and recognise and celebrate God for who he truly is.This will not only be for the Jews - ‘All flesh shall see it together’ - ie. This is a promise for human beings, not for one race or tribe or nation. Other OT prophets describe this occasion as the day when God will ‘pour out His Spirit’ on people, with the purpose being that they will be brought into an intimate and person relationship with God, know His presence, and be caught up in the wonder of His purposes for this universe.

1:4-8 - A locust-eating weirdo: ‘Get ready...’So what does John the Baptist have to do with all this? For over 400 years since Malachi there have been no (legitimate) prophets. Malachi has said that he is essentially the ‘penultimate’ prophet - there is one more to come, and then God will fulfill everything He has promised. John the Baptist’s turning up is the indication that God is about to do what he promised through Malachi and Isaiah. This is something spectacular - the hopes of God’s people are about to be finally met, and this is going to flow out into the whole world.

John’s clothes and lifestyle mark him out as being in the flow of the OT prophets. In a way, the Old Testament ends with him. His message is twofold:


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Kings

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Priests

Promises

1. Repentance - ie. Are you ready to meet God? Make sure that this will be a positive experience not a negative one. Repentance isn’t starting to be a good person, but a change of heart attitude towards God, from rebellion.

2. The giving of the Holy Spirit. The one John is announcing will do what was promised - bring people into a relationship with God by giving them HIs Spirit. This is the ‘Christ’ - in Hebrew, ‘Messiah’ - the one who Himself has the Spirit, and is authorised by God to give the Spirit to others.

9-11 - Jesus: God has shown upThe Father makes it very clear that Jesus is this one. A visible manifestation of the Spirit, so no-one can doubt that the Spirit has come upon him. ‘You are my Son’ confirming that Jesus has this special, unique relationship to God - but not just a relationship: We see in the NT that Jesus actually shares God’s nature. This reveals that God is ‘triune’: the Father who sends Jesus is the Son, who both give the Spirit. ‘My Son’ means Jesus is not a mere man, but God in person.

12-13 - Jesus: God in our shoesYet this Jesus is also fully human. John was baptising people as a way for them to express that they needed to be forgiven by God. Jesus’ unique relationship with God meant he did not need to be forgiven, but he was still baptised as a way of showing that he has come and has fully identified with our human situation. He was a real man who knew what it was to hunger and thirst, be tempted (ie. battle with what he knows is right and the fierce pressures to live contrary to that), and to be one who is completely dependant on God for life and breath and everything.

14-15 - Are you ready?What is the Gospel? The announcement that in Jesus God’s kingdom is breaking into this world; God is establishing his rule; God is showing up. In Jesus we come face to face with God himself. We need to ask ourselves the question: Am I ready to meet God face-to-face in the person of Jesus?We cannot write off Jesus simply as a teacher who shows us how to live or be good people. Knowing the true Jesus will revolutionise our whole world.


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Mark 1:16-45The Jesus who takes the world by storm

Review of last session:Jesus is- God’s appointed ‘messiah’ - the King who has come to bring a fulfilment of all of God’s promises, which are summed up in the promise draw

people to Himself so that we may know God in a personal and intimate way and live for his honour.- God’s Son - One who has not only a significant and unique relationship with God, but who actually shares God’s nature, and who perfectly reveals

God to us. Jesus is God in person, God in our shoes.The message of Jesus is ‘groundbreaking’ news that turns our lives upside down, especially if we take notice and believe.So, are we ready to meet God in the person of Jesus? Is it good news or bad news for us?

One of the first things Mark records about Jesus’ activity seems to be ‘back-to-back’ miracles.What is a miracle?Some immediately discount these stories, assuming they were made up later, or were attempts by superstitious people with little or no medical knowledge, in a pre-modern society, trying to explain things they didn’t understand - the ‘God of the gaps’. It is not the place here to try to prove or disprove the miraculous. We will assume that the stories are true, as the fact of the miracles is of secondary importance to their significance.We may tend to view miracles today as being in the realm of magic, a demonstration that someone has ‘superpowers’. Often people who claim to be miracle workers do so in order to gather a following for themselves. However Jesus seems to work against this (as we will see through Mark). He commands the demons to be silent (34) ‘because they knew who he was’, and he doesn’t make himself known to the crowds who are looking for him (37), instead he goes ‘somewhere else’ to preach (ie not to perform more miracles). Jesus is avoiding celebrity status. It seems that the miracles are a side act to the main thing he was on about.So if Jesus wasn’t performing miracles in order to gain a following, why did he do them?Some say miracles are God intervening in the natural course of events - something out of the ordinary, ‘supernatural’. Some suggest that Jesus’ miracles prove that he is God, because he is able to intervene in the natural course of events, and break the laws of physics. The only problem with that argument is that none of Jesus’ miracles are unique - you can find all of them being done by Old Testament prophets. So his miracles don’t necessarily show his divinity.His miracles are actually the opposite of ‘supernatural interventions’. Instead of being events that are out of the ordinary, they are actually glimpses of the real, the natural, the Kingdom of God; the way God originally designed the world to be. They show us that the state of this world and our lives is not normal but abnormal. God’s plan for this universe is one where there is no fever, unclean spirits or leprosy (and the stigma associated with it). Jesus’ miracles verify that Jesus is God’s messiah, since he is doing the things that God promised would take place when He acts to deal with the problem of sin, suffering and death.The New Testament often calls miracles ‘signs’. A sign points to something that is not itself; something that is far more important and significant than itself. The sign at the bottom of the freeway saying ‘Melbourne 730km’ is designed to point us to Melbourne, which is vastly superior to the sign. Jesus’ miracles are simply signs designed to make us sit up and notice Jesus, and to take notice of who he is and what he is saying.One other miracle that we may easily overlook, if we are just looking for the spectacular (in our thinking). 16-20 - who in their right mind would quit their job, desert their most valuable possession and the tools of their trade, and their family, and go off to follow a complete stranger who says, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’?While it may seem completely random to us, in that day/culture it would have been considered a privilege to be called to be a follower of a Rabbi/teacher. We learn from the other Gospels that these men had already encountered Jesus; they had spent an evening with him, and some of them already considered him to be the Messiah. This wasn’t random religious fanaticism; they had considered the claims of Jesus, and were ready, when he called them, to leave everything and follow. Faith is not blind - ‘believing really hard in something we


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know isn’t really true’. Faith is responding to what God reveals to us about His son. He has given us copious amounts of information about himself and what he has done for us to believe.Even if we want to discount the reliability of the ‘spectacular’ miracles, one thing that even non-Christian historians will agree with is that Jesus had followers, and that these followers were largely a rag-tag bunch of fishermen and misfits - not the kind of people you would gather together to start a religion. The ‘sign’ that we should sit up and take notice of is the fact that these men saw and heard in Jesus something that made them happy to leave everything the world had to offer to follow him - and eventually all of them would be killed or exiled simply for proclaiming the gospel that Jesus has died, had risen from the dead, and is now God’s appointed King, and will return as this world’s judge. The reason they were able to do this is because of what Jesus accomplished in his death and resurrection - which is why half of Mark is devoted to that part of Jesus’ story.The one miracle to noticeIn Matt 12:39, 16:4 Jesus said ‘an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given them except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ Jesus explained that Jonah’s experience of being swallowed by a

big fish and being spat out three days later was analogous to Jesus dying and being buried in the tomb for three days, and then being raised from the dead. A recently discovered Ossuary (bone box), considered the earliest evidence for Christianity, has engraved on it a picture of a large fish spitting out a man - a symbol of the Christian hope of the resurrection.The heart of Jesus’ message and life was this event. This is the way in which the Kingdom of God would arrive - by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and his appointment by the Father as King. The Gospel is that

this Jesus, who is King of God’s kingdom - is also the one who has laid down his life as a sacrifice for sin.Are you willing to listen?1:15, 21-22, 27, 38Jesus’ main activity was preaching - ie. Proclaiming the Gospel: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand...’ and calling people to repent and believe. Deuteronomy 8:3 ‘...man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.’ Jesus not only preached about God, he is God’s final and complete communication to us. Are we willing to listen to this communication? If not, we have nothing left that is certain.


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Mark 2:1-17The Jesus who has the nerve to forgive1-5 When Jesus disappointsJesus cannot shake his ‘celebrity status’. Why were people crowding into his home? Some may have been there simply to see another ‘performance’ of miracles, others to hear his teaching. As we saw last time, Jesus’ priority was to communicate ‘the word’ - ie. What God is saying. (2,13) This was his core activity. Possibly some came to see the ‘miracle worker’ and instead encountered a preacher...‘A picture is worth a thousand words’. Normally a positive quotation, but the down-side is that a picture is open to many and varied interpretations; often we cannot be sure exactly what is being communicated by an image. Words however are precise, specific and clear (if they aren’t clear, it’s not the fault of the words, but because of some problem either with the speaker or the listener). This is why God has communicated to us in words, and words that have been written down and preserved for millennia, and one reason (albeit no the main reason) behind why God forbid the making of images as an aid to worship for the Israelites (the second commandment). This is why Jesus’ priority was speaking, teaching, proclaiming. The ‘visual’ (such as a miracle) is merely an aid to help us understand and believe the message. So some Bible scholars call miracles ‘parables’, because they communicate not just that Jesus is the one who has brought in God’s Kingdom, but they tell us something about that Kingdom and what it means to enter and be a part of the Kingdom.Possibly the friends of the paralysed man (and the man himself) may have felt a bit disappointed when they went to all the effort of dismantling a roof and lowering their friend, only to have Jesus say, ‘My son, your sins are forgiven.’ - and leave the man paralysed.The link between sickness and sin. A strong belief among the Jews was that any suffering was God punishing a person for specific sins. They would even go so far as to say that a person who was sick or disabled from birth was so because of their parents’ sin. Jesus knocks this idea on the head several times, including on this occasion. People would have assumed that this man was paralysed because of some secret sin he hadn’t confessed. Probably his own conscience would have been racked with guilt, thinking that there was some sin that even he himself was unaware of, and he was doomed unless he could work out what it was.Jesus cuts through all this guilty crap by what he immediately does and doesn’t do. He tells the man his sins are forgiven - ie. He has no reason for guilt; and he doesn’t heal him straight away, showing that his paralysis is not God’s punishment If so, the paralysis would have vanished at the moment of forgiveness.6-12 What is easier?This is the first glimpse we get that not everyone liked Jesus. Up till now he seems to have widespread celebrity status, but this is the beginning of the opposition that will eventually lead to his arrest and execution. The Scribes were those who had the responsibility to study and teach the Scriptures - they were among the respected religious leaders of the day. They also knew their ‘Bibles’ back to front, and so they knew something very important: Only God can forgive a person’s sins. In this they were right. God is the only ultimate judge, before whom we will all have to stand and give an account of our lives. Just as God alone can condemn, so also God alone can acquit a person of their sin. This is because at the heart, sin is not ‘naughty things’ we do, but rebellion - high treason - against God himself. So they were rightly shocked. Either Jesus is blaspheming, of he is God in person. They went with the former...‘Which is easier...’. Jesus uses a simple logical argument. The implied answer to his question is ‘It’s easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, because no-one can really prove that they aren’t. If you are going to claim a person is healed, there must be tangible proof.’ So, Jesus does the ‘less easy’ thing by healing the man, as a sign that he is able to do the ‘easier’ thing of acquit people of their sin. Both the man’s paralysis and his healing was a ‘parable’, showing us what the real issue is: sin, and the need for forgiveness.13-16 The real paralysisThese verses are really a parallel to what has just happened. In the house he tells the paralysed man to get up and walk; here he calls Levi the tax collector to get up and follow him. Tax collectors were paralysed, but in a different way. They worked for the occupying Romans in collecting tax, and were allowed to extract as much extra they wanted as ‘commission’. Most tax collectors were wealthy as a result, but they had essentially betrayed their own people by siding with the occupiers. Most people despised them as traitors. Even if they


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had regrets about their choice, they were trapped in their lifestyle both by the disdain of others, and the allure of their money.Real forgivenessLevi (whom we generally know a Matthew, the author of one of the other Gospels) was obviously one of many in this situation, along with others who, for various reasons, had cut themselves off (and were cut off by others) from the community of God’s people because of their chosen lifestyles. Jesus, by spending time with these people (and eating with them - ie. Giving and receiving hospitality was a cultural way of saying that you accepted/approved of someone), was no only announcing forgiveness but practicing it. God’s forgiveness means not merely a ‘clean slate’, but the entry into relationship with him. Forgiveness doesn’t mean, ‘Now you’re off the hook, you can go on living life as you please,’ but, ‘You have been restored as a person: everything is going to be different from this time on.’17 Will the real hypocrites please stand up?‘I came not to call the righteous but sinners’. Jesus is foreshadowing what is to come - the purpose for which he came: the cross. God cannot flippantly disregard sin, pretending it isn’t what it is: an affront to who he is; high treason against Him. He announces forgiveness not to those who think they’ve got their act together and have somehow earned their way back into God’s favour (‘the righteous’). This is how his critics saw themselves. Instead, he announces it to those who know and realise they’re in trouble.An irony is that some who criticise Christians for our belief that those who reject Christ will suffer eternal punishment tell us we’re being judgemental, and therefore contradicting Jesus’ teaching, ‘Do not judge, lest you be judged’ (Matthew 7:1). We need to notice that Jesus doesn’t merely say, ‘Do not judge,’ full stop. He says it with a warning that if we judge we are in danger of [god’s] judgement. So not only is it a misreading of this saying, but those who quote it to refute the teaching of Judgement are rather arrogantly claiming to be good enough to escape that judgement.A Christian is not someone who thinks they’re good enough to be accepted by God; they are someone who acknowledges they will never make it, and they need grace and mercy for their sin to be forgiven. The first qualification for being a Christian is to recognise you’re a hypocrite - that your life will never match your profession of self righteousness - which is why you need forgiveness.


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Symptoms: sickness,

pain, suffering, hopelessness, death...

The real issue: Sin

Mark 2:18-3:6The Jesus who blows away protocolTwo key practices that Jesus is criticised for ‘breaking’ - Fasting, the Sabbath.Both were considered important practices for anyone wanting to demonstrate their devotion to God - and possibly were popular for that reason - they could be done publicly, so that everyone would know you were a pious, spiritual person.18-20 FastingThe only ‘mandatory’ fast given in the Bible is the fasting that was required leading up the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:26-32). It was to be a time of preparing for the event of a sacrifice being made to turn aside God’s wrath upon people’s sin. All other instances of fasting in the OT were times of mourning, loss, grief and when people realised their sinfulness and their desperate need of God’s forgiveness and mercy.By the time of Jesus, many other times in the calendar had been added as days to fast, all of them in memory of a great tragedy, such as a significant person’s death or a defeat in war. It had also become a practice for those who were considered serious about their religion to fast two days a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. These were essentially an act of personal consecration to God, and it was how you showed God (and others) that you meant business. This was the practice that Jesus criticised in the sermon on the mount, as it was being used as a public display of piety, in order to gain respect and status.So fasting had become, instead of an expression of our desperate need of God, and that ‘I don’t live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’, to something I do to earn and keep God’s approval. (“I depend on God for everything” ...or... “God, look what I can do for you!”?)

2:23-3:6 The SabbathThe Sabbath was foundational to Israel’s identity. It was an observance that was unique among the ancient world (and which we have to thank for our weekends!) It’s purpose essentially was about rest, recreation and celebration. Because God ‘rested’ from his work of creation on the 7th day, so too His people were to rest. This did not mean that God was worn out from his hard work and needed a break; but that the Creation was completed, was declared to be ‘very good’, and God celebrated and rejoiced in this goodness. And so the Sabbath was to be a regular reminder for the Jews of the goodness of God their Creator, and of the fact that life as we know it, with its hardships, suffering, toil, weariness and often futility is not that way things are meant to be.The reason the command is given in the negative (ie. Things you shouldn’t do on the sabbath) is because in order to really celebrate and enjoy life as it is meant to be, we often need to push aside the things that can rob life of its joy.However, like fasting, Sabbath observance had become an act of personal piety. The Teachers of the law had come up with specific instructions for what was allowed and forbidden on the Sabbath:CarryingBurningExtinguishingFinishingWritingErasing

CookingWashingSewingTearingKnottingUntying

ShapingPloughingPlantingReapingHarvestingThreshing

WinnowingSelectingSiftingGrindingKneadingCombing

SpinningDyeingChain-stitchingWarpingWeaving

UnravelingBuildingDemolishingTrappingShearingSlaughtering

SkinningTanningSmoothingMarking

So for many the Sabbath had become a burden, not a joy, as they would be concerned about their meticulous observance, and wondering if they had slipped up and incurred God’s wrath. (“Let’s celebrate God’s goodness” ...or... “Don’t do that or God will zap you!”?)

Jesus gives an answer to both of these issues which exposes their misuse of them:Fasting: (19-20) The arrival of the Messiah, God’s king and saviour, is a reason for celebration, not mourning. (and he hints at the event of the cross, when he will be ‘taken away’ for a short time; but even though that will


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be a ‘day’ of mourning, their sorrow will turn to joy when he rises from the dead and the realise that his death meant salvation and forgiveness.)Sabbath: (2:25-26, 3:4) God’s law is not given as a burden, but for our good. God is not going to begrudge those in need, and say, ‘You cannot eat this bread, even though you are desperate and starving, because it is ‘special, holy bread,’ or ‘You cannot be relieved of your crippling disability (ie. Experience rest) today because it’s the Sabbath and technically the person healing you isn’t allowed to ‘work’.2:21-22 Get set for the NewSandwiched between these two issues are two statements that answer both of these issues and objections (and any other objections people may have to how they though Jesus ‘misinterpreted’ or ‘broke’ God’s law). Both pictures illustrate a principle: when something new (and by implication better) has come, it’s time to throw out the old and embrace the new. Jesus’ arrival was the beginning of a new era not just for the Jews but for human history. Everything up to this point was preparation for this momentous event; Jesus’ coming didn’t just cause people to understand the true meaning of these two practices of fasting and sabbath keeping. He brought to them a whole new meaning, in a way that fulfilled their purpose as a preparation for His arrival, and even made the ‘OT way’ of practicing them obsolete.When we come face to face with Jesus we need to reassess everything we considered to be right and true. Jesus confronts our assumptions, blows away protocol, and causes us to re-evaluate who we are and what we’re on about. We can no longer assume that what we thought was right actually is right, and that the way we do things is the right way to do them.3:6These confrontations led to the religious and political authorities deciding that they wanted Jesus dead! We may feel this to be extreme. Yet how do we respond when we are confronted by God in a way that threatens to take away something that we hold dear, and cherish, and especially if it is something we have achieved and are proud of, and makes us feel good in ourselves. We will always feel threatened and angry when God seems to be knocking us off the throne, when we consider ourselves to be the master of our destiny and the arbiter of our own truth. But that is precisely what must happen for us to know salvation and forgiveness. The Gospel is that Jesus is King, and therefore we are not; and this Jesus who is King is the one who laid down his own life for us - took the path of humility - and is God’s appointed king essentially because he has done that.


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God’s LawPractices preparing the way

for JesusFulfilled in Jesus

Freedom of a life lived by faith in Jesus

Old Testament

New Testament

Mark 3:7-19The Jesus who has a cunning plan3:7-12 A reluctant celebrityThe opposition to Jesus has not discouraged the crowds. This is one of a number of times that Jesus uses a boat when teaching - he would stand in the boat, a little way out from the shore, and the beach would serve as a ready-made amphitheatre. We don’t know the exact content of his teaching on this occasion, except that it would have been on the Kingdom of God - what it is, and what it means to live in the kingdom. Yet we also see - again - his reluctant to fully disclose the details of who he is and why he came. He knew the tendency of a mob mentality, and that people were checking him out (for good or bad) to work out whether he would be the one who would deliver them from the Roman oppressors through military strength, and re-establish the Kingdom of Israel to be like it was in the past - the stories they knew of King David.Jesus would not be a part of this - he was not going to carried along by popular notions of what people felt God was supposed to do. His coming was part of a plan - a plan established before the creation of the world by the Father. It was a plan that would be accomplished not by worldly or military might, but by his coming not to serve but be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)3:13-19 The beginning of a ‘strategy’.Jesus in many ways did what was standard for Rabbis of the time, but he also broke the mold:Rabbis would have a core group of disciples, normally 12, symbolising the twelve sons of Jacob who became the twelve tribes of Israel. The number 12 occurs repeatedly through Israel’s history, scriptures and culture, not as numerology, as if it has special power, but simply as a reminder - a Jew who knew their people’s story, would be reminded, when hearing or seeing the number, that their identity as God people was based on God’s choosing them, and creating out of the 12 brothers the nation that they are. 12 came to symbolise the completion of God’s people (and is used extensively in the book of Revelation). Especially for Jews at the time of Jesus, when many of the tribes had been lost among the nations, and those who knew their tribe were still scattered throughout the known world, they were looking for the day when God would keep his OT promise to regather and reunite his people. A rabbi gathering 12 followers was symbolic of this. Maybe someone who chose to follow a Rabbi had the hope that they would be a part of a new movement to restore the Kingdom of God.In this Jesus may seem like just a regular Rabbi. But there were two significant differences: 1. The usual practice was that disciples would choose a teacher to follow. They would ‘shop around’, and

make a decision about which Rabbi they would choose to learn from, based on the school of teaching they followed. Jesus did the opposite. He chose his disciples. He would walk up to people and say, ‘follow me’, and expect them to be prepared to leave everything, and then he spoke much more about their allegiance to him, rather than to his teaching. Becoming a follower of Jesus was not the end of a process where I work out what I think is best for me, and decide that Jesus is the one for me (even if he’s not the one for others). Jesus simply says, ‘Follow me, and know one thing for sure, if you follow me you must be prepared to lose this world, your life and everything; yet by knowing me you will actually know true life to the full, and you will receive so much more than you have given up.’

Jesus said in John 15:16, ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit will last...’

We cannot wait until we have worked everything out, and gathered all the information so that we can make an intellectually sound decision about Jesus. He calls us into a relationship with himself, and it is a relationship of learning.

2. Those whom Jesus chose. In order for a Rabbi to accept you as his disciple, you would need to prove your worth. You would need to be from good Jewish stock, and from a good Jewish family, and of good standing in the community.

Jesus chooses (from what we know of the 12 disciples): Several uneducated Galilean fishermen (Galileans were considered second grade - like Salisbury to a Burnside resident), at least one Tax collector (considered


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traitors), and two zealots (those who advocated a violent revolutionary takeover of Jerusalem to oust the Romans). One of these revolutionaries (Judas) was known right from the start by Jesus as a traitor.

These twelve are not only chosen to be disciples though. They were not mere students. ‘He designated them apostles’ - An apostle, literally ‘One who is sent out’, was a person in Judaism who had the role of travelling around and visiting the synagogues in all the cities where the Jewish people were scattered, to make sure that each synagogue was towing the line and teaching the right thing in line with orthodox Judaism, and to report back to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. They provided a ‘support network’ for the synagogues. Jesus’ designation of these 12 as Apostles meant he was essentially appointing them to be the leaders of a new movement: a renewal of God’s people; those who will be living a God’s people in the Kingdom of God established by Jesus.

So was Jesus either insane or irresponsible to appoint such a group of losers, misfits and trouble-makers? He would be if his plan was to start his own religion.

26...consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

We cannot come to God on our own terms, or on the basis of who or what we are. The only qualification we need to come to Jesus is that we are a sinner who needs mercy and forgiveness. What made these men ‘Apostles’ was not their decision, however well informed, to be followers of Jesus, but his call of them to himself. If you believe in Jesus, that is his gift to you to even be in a place where you are able to say ‘yes’ to him. Jesus deliberately chose and called the misfits and the most underserving (in our eyes) so that we will be able to say, ‘If this person could know Jesus, then I can too, because it has nothing to do with my ability, goodness, or spirituality, but everything to do with Jesus and what he has done by dying for my sin, rising again, and by pure grace bringing me to the Father.’

Jesus’ carefully selected “Dream Team”Jesus’ carefully selected “Dream Team”Jesus’ carefully selected “Dream Team”Jesus’ carefully selected “Dream Team”Uneducated fishermenUneducated fishermen Matthew, tax collector Zealots NobodiesNobodies

Peter JohnMatthew, tax collector

Simon James BartholomewPeter John‘Doubting’ Thomas

Simon James BartholomewJames Andrew ‘Doubting’ Thomas Judas, thief & traitor. Thaddeus Phillip

God chose what is low and despised in the world... So that no-one may boast’ (1 Cor 1:28-29)God chose what is low and despised in the world... So that no-one may boast’ (1 Cor 1:28-29)God chose what is low and despised in the world... So that no-one may boast’ (1 Cor 1:28-29)God chose what is low and despised in the world... So that no-one may boast’ (1 Cor 1:28-29)God chose what is low and despised in the world... So that no-one may boast’ (1 Cor 1:28-29)God chose what is low and despised in the world... So that no-one may boast’ (1 Cor 1:28-29)


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Mark 3:20-35The Jesus who pulls no punchesWhen we are confronted with the reality of Jesus, we are forced to draw a conclusion about him - who he was and what he was on about. There are really only three conclusions we can draw, and we see all three in this passage:20-21 ‘He’s out of his mind’If someone sincerely believes themselves to be God’s chosen messiah and saviour, the ‘Son of Man’ and ‘Son of God’, and they’re not, they must have a screw loose. Psychiatric wards are the place to find people with delusions of grandeur. We cannot consider Jesus to be a wise teacher, and suggest we should follow his teachings, if we consider his identity claims to be the product of a misguided or deluded mind.There is a particular poignancy here in that it’s Jesus’ immediate family saying this about him. They needed to recognise Jesus as their saviour as everyone else needed to, not just as their brother or son.22-27 ‘He’s in league with Satan’ If Jesus was not out of his mind, then he must have been very conscious of the implication of his claims, and if the claims were false, then he was a charlatan and a deceiver. Today we may be reticent to describe this in the spiritual terminology the religious officials used. ‘Beelzebul’ was probably a local colloquial term for Satan/the Devil. Satan literally means, ‘Adversary’ - ie. one who stands in opposition. Satan’s core mission is to oppose God, undermine his works, and wants to ultimately dethrone Him. He does this primarily by attacking those made in God’s image; his opening gambit in Genesis 3 was to say, ‘Has God really said...?’ and by doing so he incited humanity to rebellion against God. It was clearly understood - and confirmed by Jesus in other places - that any one who stands against God is in partnership with Satan. There are only two camps - no neutral ground.Therefore if Jesus is deliberately misleading people about his identity, and claiming sonship with God when he wasn’t, then he is working for evil, and the last 2000 years of christianity has been the worst travesty foisted upon the human race.Jesus’ direct answer to this charge: 23-27 ‘How can Satan cast out Satan?’ - ie. their logic was flawed. If he was working for Satan, why was he going around destroying Satan’s works and denouncing him? Rather, what he was doing was demonstrating that he is, figuratively, going into Satan’s (‘the strong man’) house and binding him - ie. He is the ‘stronger than ‘the strong man’ man’. His ultimate strength was displayed at the cross, where he willingly lay down his life to be a ransom for sinners. That is where God not only defeats his enemies, but he also makes his enemies his friends.28-30 The scary bitBlasphemy against the Holy Spirit: ‘The conscious and deliberate rejection of the saving power and grace of God released through Jesus’ word and act.’ William Lane (Commentary on Mark 3:28-30)This is a stern warning to these religious authorities, but also to anyone who rejects or discounts the truth of God. Jesus as the Messiah came as the one who would give the Holy Spirit to people, and it is through the Spirit’s presence they would come to know God personally. The gift of the Spirit was central to what Jesus had come to accomplish; the cross, in dealing with our sin, means we are ‘washed clean’, and made a suitable habitation for God to dwell in by His Spirit. So,to reject (blaspheme) the Holy Spirit is to reject God’s agenda, and God himself. The only action we can point to and say ‘That is and unforgivable’ is when someone, in unbelief, looks at Jesus’ work at the cross and says, ‘That is not the work of God; it is foolish and offensive, and I refuse to believe that Jesus died for my sin.’If a Christian is worried that they may have committed the unforgivable sin, they need to know two things:1. They have. Ultimately what sends us to ‘Hell’ is the unforgivable sin. Anyone who remains under God’s

wrath forever is there because they have rejected the saving power and grace of God. In the end that is the heart of sin - all our other ‘sins’ are simply our way of expressing that rebellion.


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2. They haven’t. Justification means that God wipes the slate clean, declares us not guilty, and remembers our sins no more. By Grace, through faith in Jesus, God looks at us and sees no sin that is unforgivable (no matter how big or extreme we see it to be), because he gives faith to us as a gift that pushes aside our unbelief; so by his grace we are no longer in a place where we are rejecting the saving power and grace of God. When want to sit down with God and talk about our past sin, he says, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’

If we had committed and were committing the unforgivable sin, we would not be concerned with this question, because it has been our conscious choice to reject the truth - we have done it willingly, and so convince ourselves that it’s OK; it doesn’t trouble our conscience.At times God allows us to recall, remember and even relive the shame of our past, to remind us of the depths from which he has redeemed us, what great price he paid in the blood of Christ, and how wide and deep and infinite is his grace that restores us; so we will learn to live in the certainty that comes by grace, instead of the fear that comes by law.31-35‘He shows us the will of God’There were those who saw Jesus for who he was - and could see that his claims were authentic. They recognised the authority with which he spoke, that the faithfully taught God’s word and was true to God’s law; they looked beyond the miracles and exorcisms to that which they pointed - the arrival of God’s Kingdom in Jesus, and they wanted to be a part of this - to be people who knew God and did His will. To ‘do God’s will’, in the context of the Gospels is not a statement about moral living, but about doing what God wanted people to do in sending Jesus - to repent and believe (trust) in Jesus. (John 6:29). All of the lifestyle will flow from that.

"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 lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

While we are rejecting Jesus for whatever reason we may have - dismissing him as a madman or opposing him as evil, or whatever excuse we may have, we are living in a state of unforgiveness, and it is that which will ultimately be our condemnation. However if we believe and receive and trust that Jesus is who he said he was, and who his followers have been saying he is for nearly 2000 years, we will know the freedom of forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and an assurance that there is no sin left that is too big for God to forgive.


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Mark 4:1-25Jesus - You’d better listen to him2, 10-12 Why did Jesus use parables?Our default answer - to make things easier to understand. However Jesus seems to give the opposite answer in 10-12 - in order to stop people understanding!Isaiah 6:9-10 Isaiah was sent to preach to the people of Judah primarily to announce God’s judgement in the coming exile (See Isaiah 1:2-5, 5:7). God is a God of justice, who will no leave evil unpunished (see 5:15-16). His purpose in this is not malice - he is not a spoilsport - but purification. The fires of God’s judgement are like a refiner’s fire (see 4:2-6)Jesus, by quoting this passage is in effect saying, ‘God is doing today what he did in the time of Isaiah. The establishment of the Kingdom will mean judgement for those who are rebels.Isaiah’s preaching exposed the hearts of the people, so that there could be no argument when the judgement came that they had rejected the Lord. Jesus’ parable do the same. His conclusion to the parable (9) is ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ His parables drew a line between those who were willing to hear (shown by their desire to understand the parables) and those who weren’t (shown by their dismissal or misinterpretation of the stories).13-14 The Parable about the parablesThis parable of the sower is an parable about the purpose of the parables - if you don’t get this parable, you will not get any of them.The sower is Jesus, the seeds is the word of the gospel he was proclaiming. Those who hear this word are like the plants that grow from the sown seed. The parables are pictures of God at work in this world through his son Jesus; and they communicate what the required response is from those who see Him at work. They are not about morality or ethics, but the breaking in of the kingdom and the implications for us. The key to understanding (all) the parables is to have ears that are ready to hear what Jesus has to say about the Kingdom.15-19 What you trust affects how you hearIn each case there is something that prevents an ongoing hearing and acceptance of the word - Satan, hardship, persecution, cares of the world, temptation of prosperity etc. This implication is that these people have responsibility for these things - they are not helpless victims of them, as if they want to accept the word but are prevented.The issue with Jesus’ listeners was the same as that of the Jews in Isaiah’s time: they had replaced God as the centre of their affections with other things, and they thought that they could gain through things in this world what only God can give. ‘...to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts’ Martin Luther on the first commandment (I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods)The words of Jesus expose the idolatrous state of our hearts. To have Satan snatch the word away means we are more willing to listen to his word than God’s; to have suffering cause us to fall away means we are more interested in comfort and peace in this life than in the blessings that come through God’s loving discipline; to have the cares of this world choke the word means we prefer to serve the world and money over serving God. The fact that the word does not remain in these people is an expose of their hearts.18The contrast with the last group is that they not only hear the word but also accept it. The result of this is radical transformation. We cannot go away from hearing Jesus’ words and simply say ‘That was nice teaching, I wonder how I might be able to incorporate that into my life somehow?’ If we accept the word there will be a change. A farmer in the 1st century would have considered a 30-fold harvest (ie for every grain they sow, thirty are harvested) to be an extremely good year. 5 or 6-fold would have been standard. Jesus is either completely ignorant of agricultural practice, or he is making a point that the power of the word of the Gospel has implications that are beyond our wildest dreams.


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21-25 Two types of people: earless and earedIf Jesus and his teaching about the Kingdom of God seems hard to grasp, the problem is not with the message, but with our hearing. Jesus has not obscured or hidden the truth, but made it plain, like a lamp on a stand. The question for us is, ‘Do you have ears to hear?’ There is a great promise for those who hear and believe - insight and entry into the Kingdom of God, fruitfulness in life. But there are only two types of people - those who have and those who have not. We cannot say, ‘I’ll acknowledge Jesus as having something important to offer.’ and then largely ignore him. In the end, the result will be for us as if we had never heard of Jesus. However if we say, ‘I am going to listen, explore, press in, seek to understand who this Jesus is, what he said, and what he did, then we will find Jesus is willing to make things clear and plain to us.We do not find this ability to hear within ourselves. ‘Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ’ (Romans 10:17) God is the one who opens our ears to hear and believe the truth. You cannot get a deaf person to hear you, no matter how hard they try. They need to be cured of their deafness first. So we cannot take any credit if we hear, understand and believe - that’s all God’s doing. Yet we cannot cop-out by saying ‘Therefore it’s not my fault if I don’t hear,’ because our deafness is our fault, of our doing.


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Mark 4:1-15 The words of Jesus expose the idolatrous state of our hearts Mark 4:1-15 The words of Jesus expose the idolatrous state of our hearts Mark 4:1-15 The words of Jesus expose the idolatrous state of our hearts Mark 4:1-15 The words of Jesus expose the idolatrous state of our hearts Mark 4:1-15 The words of Jesus expose the idolatrous state of our hearts

Jesus speaks to me about the

Kingdom of God established in his death and resurrection

Satan takes the word away from me. I’d rather listen to Satan than to GodJesus speaks to me about the


I fall away when faced with suffering. I value comfort more than knowing God



Temptation chokes out the word. I want to get from the world what only God gives


Kingdom of God established in his death and resurrection The word bears fruit in my life I accept Jesus as the only way I can know God

‘...to have a ‘god’ is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.‘ (Martin Luther)‘...to have a ‘god’ is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.‘ (Martin Luther)‘...to have a ‘god’ is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.‘ (Martin Luther)‘...to have a ‘god’ is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.‘ (Martin Luther)‘...to have a ‘god’ is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.‘ (Martin Luther)

Mark 4:26-34Jesus - He’s more significant than you realise‘The Kingdom of God is like...’ Monarchy in an age of democracy?What do you understand by the term ‘The Kingdom of God’? ‘...the reign of God over his people in the environment he creates for them.’ GoldsworthyWe may feel a sense of disconnect from the concept of the Kingdom of God, especially in Australia where the Queen is simply a figurehead, and the monarchy has very little, if any, impact on our lives. We are used to the idea that those who lead are not ‘rulers’ but ‘representatives’. We can tend (even arrogantly) to look down on countries that still have some kind of monarchical system, as if we are more advanced, civilised or clever than them. Yet kingdoms still feature in much of our popular culture - movies, novels, fairy tales etc. We still have a sense of the rightness of kingship, provided the monarch is benevolent and wise. A danger of democracy is that we can arrogantly think the destiny of the race is in our hands; we think we cannot trust God to give us a just and fair ruler, so we want to take the government into our own hands. Ironically Democracy is also a stop-gap to try to prevent the abuses that come from human authorities - we need democracy not because we’re good, but because we’re bad! Isaiah 9:6 - ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ God’s promise (at a time when the monarchy in Judah and Israel had fallen into chaos over generations, and the kingdom was about to fall apart) was that He would appoint a ruler who would take responsibility for governing His people, and he will be the benevolent, just ruler that we all know we need.Many of Jesus’ parables are ‘The kingdom of God is like...’ Jesus tells these two because he’s in the swing of the seed imagery. They answer the question some may have had (and we may have today): If Jesus is the King who is bringing in the Kingdom of God, then why is there no a spectacular worldwide revolutionary transformation? Why does the world seem not much different? Christians received this kind of criticism a number of years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, when it had been proclaimed that Jesus would return: ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ (2 Peter 3:4). Peter says (3:9) that the key to understanding this is that God is patient! What we consider slow or insignificant, is actually the outworking of God’s gracious patience, because ‘the patience of our Lord means salvation...’ (3:15)26-29 The growing seeds - can we make the kingdom happen?There were many people who were keen to see Jesus establish God’s kingdom by starting a revolution, overthrowing the Roman occupiers, and setting up an earthly kingdom. Jesus avoided the crowds for this reason - there was even enough fervour that people wanted to take him by force and make him king (John 6:15).This parable communicates that the Kingdom of God is not something we can establish or make happen by our effort or in our time. If the farmer sat and watched his sown seed, he would not be able to see it grow. Yet he has a confidence that allows him to sleep at night and go about everyday life, knowing that the seed is growing, and in time he will have a harvest. (Even today, with our advanced agricultural techniques, farmers are still dependant on God for their livelihood.) 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’Much of what God is doing in this world is hidden to our eyes (like the seed germinating in the ground), or with seemingly little or no change. Yet the farmer’s confidence in the growth of the seed enabled him to be ready for the harvest. If he had given up waiting for the growth, or wanted things to happen in his time, then he would have not stuck around for the day when the harvest was ready, and he would have missed out. Jesus describes a time of ‘harvest’ when he will return, and like the farmer, gather to himself all those who know him (or rather, that he knows).How can we have a confidence that we will be ready for that day? Our confidence comes by seeing what Jesus has done to make this kingdom a certainty: his death and resurrection. Trusting in Jesus’ death for our sin and his resurrection to defeat death will bring the assurance that our future is secure in him.30-32 The mustard seed - the reason we can’t


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Jesus prefaces this parable by a statement that explains something about the parable we may not realise: ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?’ is a rhetorical question; he is saying that the Kingdom cannot be fully described using everyday objects; we can only get impressions; or understand one aspect of the Kingdom. In a sense the parables are only teasers - they point us to the reality which, when we see it is way beyond comparison. This is what the next parable communicates.Jesus paints a picture of a tiny mustard seed growing into a tree, big enough for birds to nest and find shade. Something that seems small and insignificant grows into something big and significant. Again, Jesus is going against what would have been known by farmers of the day - a mustard plant is a shrub, normally growing no more that 1.5 m high, and has straggly, thin branches that would neither give shade nor support a bird’s nest. This tiny mustard seed that the farmer has sown has exceeded all his expectations, and turned into something that he would not have predicted. It has defied our logic, and so in that sense it is like nothing else we experience in this world.The Kingdom of God begins with something seemingly small and insignificant - one man, who is eventually rejected by all his friends, arrested and executed by crucifixion - considered the most shameful of all deaths by the Romans, and a sign for the Jews that he was under a curse from God. Yet this single act has brought results that we would have least expected if we saw it simply from a human perspective. Jesus’ self sacrifice has secured the kingdom of God, because it is the defeat of God’s enemies, and the reconciliation of all those who will be part of the Kingdom. The seed of Jesus’ death has turned into the great tree of the Kingdom of God. ‘...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...’ (Philippians 2:8-9)


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Mark 4:35-5:20Jesus - Who is this guy?4:35-41 A storm on the lake‘The other side’ is the other side of the Sea of Galilee, a lake a bit smaller than Lake Alexandrina. Jesus was most likely in Capernaum, on the North west coast, and they sailed across the top of the sea to the North East coast, probably a distance of about 10 km. S of G, while being a lake, was known for its rough windy weather, which could spring up very quickly without much warning.It may be surprising that Jesus’ disciples reacted with that much fear, given that probably half of them were seasoned fisherman, and would have encountered rough weather in the past. Maybe more surprising is that Jesus was sleeping through the storm. Some have put this down to him being the Son of God, who had no reason to fear. It most likely was also because he would have been exhausted! Jesus was no superman. As the Son of God, he had taken on human flesh and bone, and this flesh and bone needed rest, and food and drink just like anyone else. Jesus got tired.To understand the disciples’ fear, we need to understand some of the folklore they were used to. Many Jews took the figurative language of the Bible literally, thinking of heaven (where God dwells) in (above) the sky, and the place of the dead (hades, sheol) being underneath the ground. The sea was seen as an entrance to this underworld, since it seemed to be bottomless and was considered the home of spirits. Folk-law saw the restlessness of the sea, and particularly storms, as being indicative of dark spiritual forces. In the book of Revelation the restless sea is symbolic of the people of the world raging against God in their alliance with Satan (Revelation 13:1, 17:15). So to be on a boat in a storm and in danger of drowning in the sea would be considered by many to be the worst nightmare. Even for experienced fishermen, this fear would have been in their minds every time a storm came.A super-powered Weatherman... Or God’s chosen King?Jesus does not explicitly endorse this view of the sea being demonic. However his miracle of stilling the storm communicates something about his role as Messiah. He comes as God’s appointed King not just to rule over one little kingdom, but to rule the nations, and to bring an end to their raging in opposition to God.Psalm 2. How do we feel about this view of the Nations? We are so used to a benevolent government (and 1500 years of church-state alliance). We tend to see international strife as being primarily an issue of human rights, which is all it will be if we think human being are at the centre of the universe. God sees it for what it is - fighting to rule this world in the place of God.Revelation 15:2-4 God’s rule is one of peace - the sea is so still it is like glass. Jesus comes to establish the reign of God, and his word is not jut to the sea but to all creation, ‘peace, be still!’ Peace will not come with human striving and negotiation. It will only come with the Kingdom of God. ...who brings peace through his crossAll dark evil spiritual powers are defeated at the cross. How? Behind all dark spiritual powers is Satan, the Adversary. His mission is God’s downfall, and he aims to do this by showing God up to be inconsistent and unjust. So his greatest - and only -weapon is guilt. He is called ‘the Accuser of the brethren... who accuses them day and night before our God. (Revelation 12:10). At the cross Jesus bears all the wrath of God against our sin - and so guilt has gone, and Satan has nothing to accuse us of!5:1-20 A personal stormThis is illustrated even more clearly when we see why Jesus wanted to cross the lake. If the storm experience was not bad enough, the disciples would have been appalled by the place Jesus brought them to. It had every element required to make a good Jew want to die. It was a Gentile populated area (Jews did not associate with Gentiles). There was a herd of 2000 pigs feeding nearby (Pigs were unclean for Jews). It was an area full of tombs (Which were full of unclean dead bodies, and considered a haunt of spirits). And to top it off there was an crazy, violent, self harming, naked, multiple-demon possessed man running around crying out. (‘Is this what we signed up for when we agreed to follow Jesus?’).


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It may seem initially that Jesus is following the instruction of the demons by doing what they requested. However he is not, as their being sent into the pigs resulted in the pigs drowning in the sea; effectively the demons are consigned to the same fate that the disciples were fearing the night before; the demons are sent to the ‘abyss’ to await judgement from God. And, the man is restored to his right mind and given his dignity back.‘Tell them how much the Lord has done for you’Jesus has set this Gentile man free from death and Satan. And he does something he never did back home in Israel - he commands him to go and tell everyone about it! Not only does he know he doesn’t have to avert the risk of them making him a king by force; he is demonstrating that his role as Messiah king is not just for the Jews, but for every nation. This is foreshadowing the time when he will send his disciples out to proclaim the Gospel to all nations with the same message: ‘...how much the Lord has done for you, and how much he has had mercy on you.’‘Tell them how much the Lord has done for you’This story also communicates something very important. Jesus comes as the King not just to bring and end to the raging of nations on a large scale; his work as King is also very personal and impacts individuals. This man was not merely a puppet used to illustrate a point. He was a real person who had been restored to peace and dignity by this stranger Jesus who had battled a storm on the lake to come to set him free. The Lord had done this for him, and had had mercy on him. The problem with the nations raging is not that the system is corrupt, but that the people who run the system are corrupt. The nations rage against God because those who make up the nations rage against God. Jesus has come to bring an end to that rage by reconciling us to God, dealing with his wrath against us in his death on the cross, and renewing us and giving us hearts that love God instead of hate him.


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Mark 4:35-41

The restless sea: Entrance to the underworld, haunt of ghosts

and spirits, symbolic of rebellious humanity (Rev 17:15)

Jesus: ‘Peace, be still’

A great calm (Rev 15:2-4)

Psalm 2:1,6,10,12

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my

holy hill.”

O Kings, be wise... Blessed are all who take

refuge in him.

Jesus the crucified and risen Messiah does the same work in subduing the rebel nations

Jesus the crucified and risen Messiah does the same work in subduing the rebel nations that he does in subduing the hearts of

Jesus the crucified and risen Messiah does the same work in subduing the that he does in subduing the hearts of rebel people

Jesus the crucified and risen Messiah does the same work in subduing the that he does in subduing the hearts of rebel people.

Colossians 1:21-22

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind,

doing evil deeds...

...he has now reconciled in his body

of flesh by his death...

...in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before

him.

Mark 5:1-20

The Gerasene: Gentile (unclean), living among the tombs (unclean), with pigs

(unclean), demon possessed (unclean)...

Jesus: ‘Come out of the man, you unclean

spirit’

Clothed and in his right mind

Mark 5:21-43Jesus - Death is no obstacle25-34 The shame of an ‘unclean’ womanOn most occasions the sick are brought to Jesus, or they themselves come to him or call out for him to heal them. This woman seems to not even want to be noticed by him (or anyone else). The reason for this that she bore a great sense of shame because of her condition. To understand the nature of this, we need to understand something of the OT Law.Clean, unclean and holyThe law stipulated three basic categories into which people and things fell: Clean, unclean and holy. If a clean person touches something/one unclean, they are made unclean. Something/one that is clean can be set apart (sanctified) to be holy, dedicated exclusively to God’s service by being associated with that which is holy. The priests and the objects used in the temple must be both cleansed and sanctified to be suitable for the temple service. But if an unclean person touches something holy, they are destroyed. Isaiah 6:5 ‘“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”. He expected to be destroyed by being in the holy temple of the Holy God when he was unclean (and he represented an unclean people).A person could be made unclean by the guilt of sin, and by things that are the consequences of sin, eg. disease. This sometimes led people to equate the two, hence someone sick or disabled was automatically accused of sin. Jesus rejected this reasoning, not to imply that most of us are clean, but because we are all unclean because of our sin! God’s design in these laws was to highlight those things which are wrong and abnormal and contrary to his good design for creation and humanity. When a person came to the Temple to offer a sacrifice, they would need to be clean in order to enter, and their sacrifice would need to be clean, and their understanding was that their sacrifice being accepted by God would be a sign to them that they were both cleansed of the their sin and sanctified (made holy) (See Hebrews 10:10).1 His promise in the Gospel is twofold: He will both remove our uncleanness, and make us holy. We are not just saved from sin, but also saved to God.This woman would have fallen squarely into the ‘unclean’ category, because of her condition. Mark uses terminology straight from Leviticus 15:25, which stipulates the uncleanness of a woman who has an abnormal menstrual cycle; obviously a very intimate issue. Technically she should not have been in public mingling in the crowd, as she was making everyone who touched her unclean. This explains her ‘sneakiness’. She did not want to be noticed by anyone, least of all Jesus whom she knew was ‘the Holy One’.Jesus mucks things up... with graceThe astounding thing is that her touching the holy Jesus in her uncleanness did not result in her destruction but in her healing! She must have had an inkling that this is what may happen for her to take the risk; but her healing did something even more remarkable that just physical healing. It removed her shame. She now had the boldness to publicly admit what she had done and why she had done it.This is not the first time Jesus has come face to face with uncleanness and rather that judging those who are unclean, he has removed the uncleanness. We saw this last time when he crossed the lake to set free to unclean gentile with a host of unclean spirits. And this incident with the woman is an interlude in another incident in which he deals with the greatest ‘uncleanness’ - death.22-24, 35-43 The greatest ‘uncleanness’Culturally, Jairus the Synagogue ruler would have been considered among the ‘most deserving’ of Jesus’ attention, not to mention the urgency of his need. Aside from the fact that this child’s death is a great tragedy (which would have been foremost on his heart), the laws of uncleanness stated that anyone coming into contact with a dead body was unclean for 7 days. It would mean that you could not be around other people, people would not come into your house, and if you were a Synagogue ruler you would not be able to perform your responsibilities for 7 days.


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1 The laws requiring an unclean person to be ‘cut off’ or separated from the people may sound harsh and callous to us. However it did not mean they were banished from Israel nor considered to have lost their place within the people of God. Particularly now that we see clearly that justification is, was and always has been through faith, and that the entire sacrificial and temple system was simply a type or shadow pointing to Jesus, we can also see that those who were ‘unclean’ because of things beyond their control, could still know the assurance of God’s grace and forgiveness; while outwardly they were wasting away, inwardly they were being renewed.

We may feel Jesus is being a bit slack in stopping and being distracted by the bleeding woman. I’t wouldn’t be the only time he has seemed slow to respond when people are dying; he waited several days before going to see his friend Lazarus, so that by the time he arrived Lazarus had been dead for 4 days.Not dead but sleeping !?Jesus obviously has a different view of death to us; to the point where he prefers to call it ‘sleeping’. This is not a euphemism (making it sound nicer than it is to avoid the negative connotations). It’s not even expressing belief in some kind of ‘afterlife’ in the way we think of it (a spiritual existence once this physical existence has ended). It is a phrase that would be used by someone who believes in the Resurrection of the dead - that those who are God’s people will be a part of a renewed and restored physical creation in which we will know the undisputed reign of God. The Christian hope is that, because Jesus has been raised from the dead, therefore death is a defeated enemy, and we may have the certainty that we are part of this ‘New Creation.’ Death is no longer seen as the end. It is not the ‘stop’ button, but the ‘pause’ button. The most common word used in the NT to describe those who have ‘died’ is ‘fallen asleep’.Jesus’ approach to this girl is very personal and intimate, just like a parent waking their child from sleep. ‘Talitha’ means not just ‘little girl’ - it’s a term of affection, like ‘darling’ or ‘sweetheart’. ‘Koum’ means simply ‘get up’, word you would say to someone when it’s time to wake up in the morning. For Jesus death is no obstacle; not because he is the eternal Son of God who gives life (he is), but because his mission in life was to deal with death for us through his own death and resurrection; he does this because his death and resurrection deal with sin, and death is the result and judgement for sin. Ultimately death is behind all uncleanness. All the things that made a person unclean are the outworking of death, which has spread throughout all creation. Jesus has shown that he deals with the uncleanness of Gentiles by making them acceptable to God, and with the uncleanness that existed within the people of God, and now he demonstrates why: because he will deal with the power behind all uncleanness: death.


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Mark 6:1-29Jesus - A respectable religion?For centuries Christianity has been considered the ‘respectable’ religion for people in the West. In most parts of European culture ‘clergymen’ had status, and a family would be honoured if one of their sons chose that career path. Today this is far less the case; partly because it is not considered a lucrative career, but also because Christianity is no longer seen as a respectable religion. However we still generally want to have a faith that is acceptable to most people. Those Christians that are still respected by the culture are those mainly involved in helping the needy, and those who are willing to compromise their moral standards and go along with what prevailing culture says is right.If we are thinking that somehow by following Jesus we will become successful and respected, we have misunderstood what Jesus is all about.We saw earlier in 3:6 that there were some who did not accept Jesus, and wanted to destroy him. In 3:22 there is a delegation sent from Jerusalem to assess Jesus and his actions and teaching (probably at the invitation of the Pharisees and Herodians in 3:6). These men declared that he was demon possessed and doing the work of Satan. The tension has been building, and Mark gives us three accounts that continue to paint this picture of the ‘tide turning’ against Jesus. This is leading us up to the main part of Mark that starts in chapter 8, when Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, knowing full well that there he will be arrested and killed. (Mark 1-7 cover 3 years of Jesus’ life, 8-16 cover just a few weeks!)1-6a Do you want a domesticated Jesus?Mark simply says ‘he began to teach in the synagogue’. What actually happened is fleshed out in Luke 4:16-30. They were used to teachers coming and explaining to the the meaning of the Scriptures, and telling them how they could obey the Law. Jesus’ sermon is simple: he doesn’t explain the Scriptures, but makes the claim that the Scriptures speak of him. People who make such a claim are normally considered insane or leaders of a cult.Jesus has stepped outside the bounds of social acceptability. It would have been OK if he had simply been a wise teacher, and brought a bit of fame and respectability to Nazareth. They wanted a domesticated Jesus who fitted into their definition of respectability. They were not willing to accept that their understanding and presumption of familiarity with Jesus was wrong, and that they needed to see him for who he actually was.They were ‘scandalised’ (3) at his claims. In Luke we see that this was a violent opposition, in that they tried to throw him off a cliff! We cannot be ambivalent in our view of Jesus. If we are, we have a wrong idea of who he is.6b-13 Do you want to be accepted by people?It is with this backdrop that Jesus sends his own disciples out. They would by now be under no delusion that they are going to be popular for following Jesus. Knowing this, they may be tempted to ensure their own security rather that to trust in God to provide. A traveller with no food, bag or money was essentially at the mercy of others; they would have to count on the hospitality of people as they went; hospitality was a strong cultural obligation, especially towards those who were teachers. Yet there was also a strong obligation to not welcome those who known (or officially declared) to be false teachers; to show them hospitality was endorse them. They were going out representing Jesus, who had been officially opposed by Jerusalem; and their message was that people should repent - ie change their minds, and get ready for the Kingdom of God to come in Jesus. Whether a person extended hospitality to them thus became an indication of where they stood in relation to Jesus and the Kingdom of God.Their actions when they were not received were to be very strong. A Jew, when entering the land of Israel from a foreign country would clean the dust of their shoes, in case any of the ‘unclean’ Gentile dust was carried in and contaminated the holy land. This was a sign of the contempt many of them had for non-Jews. For the disciples to do this when leaving a Jewish town would have been burning their bridges. They were essentially saying ‘You are just like the Gentiles - without God and without hope - because you have rejected Jesus,


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God’s messiah-king.2 The message of the Gospel will cause people to want nothing to do with those who share it. Following Jesus will likely mean losing friends.14-29 ...Do you want to got the way of the world?Opposition to Jesus and his disciples was not just on a personal or community level; it was also on a political level. Herod was a puppet of the Roman Emperor. He knew that the Jews were trouble makers, and had a reputation for rebellion against the occupying power, and that they considered themselves a kingdom, and so he allowed the Herods to be called ‘kings’. The Herod dynasty were not even Jews, thus breaking the first rule of kingship (Deuteronomy 17:15), and everything was downhill from there. Herod was more concerned with his status before his officials, and the approval of his manipulative wife, than he was with upholding what he knew to be the truth, and since this event his conscience must have been plagued by what he had done. His conclusion when he heard of Jesus was that John had been raised from the dead. Regardless of how corrupt he may have been, he still had an inner sense of the justice of God: that John the Baptist was righteous, and so God vindicated him by bringing him back from the dead; and the flip side must also be true, that he himself face God’s judgement.This is the last we hear of Herod in Mark. We know from Luke that Jesus appeared before Herod during his trial, but all Herod did was make fun of him. Mark is painting a picture for us of the state of the Kingdom. ‘Ruled’ by a Gentile, self interested king who had not desire for justice. The earthly kingdom of Israel was completely defunct, and not only that, stood opposed to God and His purposes be rejecting both John who announced that God’s King was coming, and the King Himself. It is a picture of the hopelessness of any system or person who resist’s God’s grace and love in Jesus.If we belong to Jesus there is no promise that we will be welcome in this world. We will be seen as foolish, weak, and even an enemy to society. Jesus himself said, ‘Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.’ (Luke 6:26) But for those for whom Jesus Christ is the most precious, most valuable thing in the universe, there is a joy that far outweighs everything that this things of this world - including status, acceptance, approval and recognition can give.


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2 This is very different to standing in the Mall and telling everyone they are going to Hell. The disciples’ actions of rejection are clearly a response to the people’s rejection of the Gospel. We can only speak definitely about someone remaining under God’s wrath if they have clearly and deliberately rejected Jesus.

Our citizenship in each kingdom requires a death.

Here lies me

Mark 6:30-56What’ll it take you to believe?Possibly the two most famous of Jesus’ miracles, even among non-believers, used more in popular culture than others. Also, therefore, the most contested or explained away - eg. Jesus walked on a sandbar; the willingness of the boy (as we see in John 6) to share is lunch inspired the crowd to be generous and share what they had (Dodd).The feeding of 5000 is recorded by all four Gospels, and walking on water by all but Luke. John’s account tells us that this happened not long before the feast of Passover, and so there were many travellers on their way to Jerusalem. John also tells us that Jesus did not attend this Passover, as the Jews were trying to kill him, ad it was not yet his time. So this is about 1 year before his death (he was crucified at the time of the passover the following year.)Mark gives us hints through this story that these two events point us to something else - something they are saying about Jesus and what he has come to do. Many of these are in ‘incidental’ comments that aren’t vital to the story, but which when seen together paint a picture for us:31 Jesus calls his disciples to come away and find rest (Exodus 33:12-14)34 Jesus sees the crowds like sheep without a shepherd (Ezekiel 34:1-16)39 They sit on the ‘green grass’ (Psalm 23).40 They sit in groups of 100’s and 50’s (Exodus 18:25)42 Everyone eats and has enough (Exodus 16:14-18)43 All the scraps are gathered up... (Exodus 19)... Into 12 baskets (12 tribes)45 The disciples commanded to cross the sea (ala ‘reed’ see)48 A great wind was blowing on the sea at night (Exodus 14:21)50 ‘Do not fear’ (Deuteronomy 1:19-21 etc.), Isaiah 43:1-5Jesus is ‘re-enacting’ the most significant part of Israel’s history - the Exodus, and his provision and care for them as they left Egypt under Moses’ leadership, and travelled through the wilderness to the promised land. John records that the crowds, after the feeding, say, ‘‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14), referring to Deuteronomy 18:18 where God promises, ‘I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him...’. The crowds saw the hints, and made the connection with Moses. Peter in Acts 3:22-26 also makes this connection by quoting Deut. 18:18, and then saying, ‘God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.’ (Acts 3:26)Jesus is also blending this with the picture of God as a shepherd of his people. Two of Israel’s key leaders (Moses, David) began life as shepherds. The kings of Israel were commanded by God to be shepherds of his people; yet the indictment of them in Ezekiel 34 is that these kings had failed, acting more like butchers than shepherds, and so God himself promises to shepherd his people; he will be the ‘good shepherd’.There were two important lessons that Israel was to learn from these events:1. Deut. 8:3. The manna was symbolic of the fact that they depended on every word from God; Jesus comes

and says, ‘I am the bread of life (John 6:35). We cannot say we believe in God or believe His word yet reject Jesus as the Son of God and the King of God’s kingdom. He is the Word of God to us, and so we will not have life unless we put our faith in him.

2. Exodus 14:13 (31). ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.’ The crossing of the reed sea was the final act that sealed God’s salvation of Israel from the Egyptians. They were trapped between the sea and the Pharaoh’s army, and could do nothing except wait for God to act. Jesus’ coming, death and resurrection is God’s decisive act of salvation for us, from slavery to sin and to the fear of death. We are helpless to save ourselves, and like the disciples in the boat, no amount of self effort will get us anywhere. Jesus has stepped in, walked across the water and rescued those who will trust in him.


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Mark 7:1-23Some thoughts

- Mark has already touched on issues of clean/unclean in previous chapters, and so this is part of an ongoing point that is being made through the Gospel about Jesus dealing with uncleanness. Mark was written at a time (ie the first century) when Christians were wrestling with questions about the inclusion of Gentiles in the church and what that meant in terms of Jewish dietary laws - did they apply to Gentile converts, or were they abolished for Jewish converts? Acts 10, 15 and Galatians would be good background reading for understanding this issue, esp Mark’s comment in vs 19 ‘thus he declared all food clean’. Jesus scandalised the Jews by rejecting their distinctions between clean and unclean (eg. Jew vs. Gentile, healthy vs. sick, etc.), essentially showing that the distinction is false because all are unclean, but that he has come to remove people’s uncleanness by the action of Grace.

- The Jews’ rules about washing before eating were not strictly scriptural (although they would argue they were), but were part of the ‘traditions of the elders’ - extrapolations on the Scriptural laws about unclean foods - they would wash in case their hands had come into contact with anything unclean, and they contaminated their food and unknowingly made themselves unclean. While the principle behind this was not technically wrong, and may have come from good motives, they had changed from what someone might do if they wanted to be diligent in obeying the law, into a prescriptive rule that had been elevated to the same level as the command, and so the assumption was that anyone who eats without washing is by default unclean - so washing became something that determined your right standing before God.

- Jesus is laying a serious charge on the Pharisees by quoting Isaiah 29:13 and saying that they are the fulfilment of this. Yet it’s important to see the context of the Isaiah quote, and that immediately after this statement God promises salvation - ie. Because the people’s hearts are far from Him and they have replaced the Law with traditions, he will ‘do wonderful things with this people’ (Is 29:14). The fact that the state of the Pharisees and Judaism reflects what Isaiah describes at the time of the Exile means that Israel is ready for salvation!

- The irony is that while Pharisees are considered by us to be legalists (upholding the Law too much) they are actually antinomian (doing away with the law); they used their traditions as an excuse for not actually keeping God’s law. Jesus uses the example of how dedicating something to God (‘corban’ - it would be good to explain this tradition) gave them an excuse to not provide for their parents; for the sake of their own personal piety they neglected their parents, and thus broke the 5th commandment, even though they would argue that they were obeying the laws of tithing etc. A good point here is that we can and will use a veneer of ‘goodness’ or ‘morality’ to disguise the reality of our rebellion against God. We can be very sophisticated in our sinfulness, making our sin appear to be righteousness. The world is full of moral happy pagans who think they have no need of salvation and whose view of God is ‘Moral therapeutic Deism’ (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralistic_therapeutic_deism)

- Jesus goes on to challenge a basic assumption the Pharisees had (and which most people have today) which really had led to their development of these traditions: that I am can observe the Law of God and stay in His favour because I am able to - my righteousness is something that originates within me and my actions, as someone capable of obeying the law. So I am by default ‘clean’, and I can preserve my cleanness by avoiding unclean things. Instead, he says that we are by default ‘unclean’ because of our sinful hearts and by implication we need something to happen that will make us clean. The only thing that can originate from within us is the things Jesus lists in 21&22. The reason things from outside cannot defile us is because we are already defiled. That is why they and we need Jesus and the cross.

- The application of non-believers should be clear: throw away any notions of self righteousness and goodness, and recognise that you need God to save you by changing your rebellious heart by applying what Jesus has done to you (ie. Repent).


26

Mark 7:24-37Jesus has just come from a confrontation with the religious leaders, who were sticklers for the Jewish food laws. Their very rigorous rules were designed to prevent themselves from becoming ‘unclean’ by eating anything that was unclean or contaminated by something unclean. Jesus’ response was to say that, ‘There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.’ (15). This was a call to self examination, showing that sin is less ‘what I do’ or ‘what happens to me’, but ‘what I am’. It also exposed their hypocrisy, virtually showing that those who considered themselves to be God’s ‘elite’ were actually unclean and no better than those whom they condemned.The next thing Jesus does is take a trip to two locations that would have been considered unclean, and deals with two people the Jews would have considered unclean. This is a recurring theme in Mark - Jesus seems keen to communicate that he came not just for Jews but also for Gentiles. (This fits with the idea that this Gospel was written primarily for Romans.)24-30Tyre and Sidon were two Port cities well north of Israel’s borders, in Phoenicia, located in present day Lebanon. This is well outside the comfort zone of most Jews, although it is likely there were Jews living there, and that it would have been a Jewish house he stayed in. Yet it is the only time recorded that Jesus actually leaves the land of Israel in his ministry. On the surface it may seem like he had to travel this far to try to escape the crowds and those who were plotting to kill him, but as usual we see that there was a ‘divine appointment’ for him there with this gentile woman. Just to make it clear how foreign this woman is, Mark emphasises that she is a Gentile, and a Syrophoenician by birth. There was no doubt that she was a un-Jewish as anyone can get.Jesus’ interchange with her may sound strange - even mean - to us. It’s important to remember that this most likely took place in a Jew’s home, with other Jews (at least the 12 disciples) watching and listening. His first statement echoes (or may have been a direct quote) the common sentiment of the Jews at the time, which sprung from two things, one good and one bad. Firstly, it was understood that God’s salvation would come to the world in two stages: The promise to Abraham stated that God would bless Israel, and then in turn, through Israel, bless the nations. This is the principle behind Paul’s statement in Romans 1:16, ‘...the gospel... Is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.’ and his practice of always going first to the synagogue in any town he came to. Jesus himself gave priority to Jews, and taught his followers to also do so when he sent them out to preach the Gospel. This principle doesn’t make gentiles second-class; it’s simply a statement of chronology, and the fact that the special responsibility that came with the privilege of being one of God’s people was to be the instrument by which God’s blessing would flow to the nations.Secondly, the Jews had failed in this responsibility, and had taken their privilege to mean that Gentiles were not just second class, but untouchable; excluded from the covenant, and therefore only worthy of disdain. Hence, they would call them ‘dogs’ - an unclean animal for Jews, that were scavengers who lived in the rubbish dumps and carried disease. No sincere Jew would have a dog as a pet, nor even allow a dog near their home. So in their eyes this was a fitting nickname for Gentiles.Jesus is putting this statement out there for two reasons:1. He was about to challenge his disciples and the other Jews about their prejudice and wrong interpretation of

the idea of ‘first to the Jew’.2. And by doing so, He was about to affirm the faith of this gentile womanThis woman had a remarkable insight into God’s design, and seemed to understand the mission of Jesus more than his own people. She refers to ‘the dogs under the table’. As a Gentile who had no sense of ‘unclean animals’ she would have known dogs not just as wild scavengers, but also as pets. Like many pet dogs today, they are almost a part of the family, and would sit with the family during meals and be fed with food from the table. So her take on ‘dogs’ is very different to that of the Jews. If she is a ‘dog’ that means she is included in the family, and expects that the blessing that the children (Jews) have should flow to her. The Jewish listeners would have done a massive double-take here. One second they thought Jesus was affirming their prejudice, and then they realised he had demolished it in one sentence.


27

31-37This is the same region he visited a few chapters earlier when he cast the demons out of the man into the pigs in the tombs. Jesus shows deep compassion for this man. He understands the communication barrier, and so uses sight and touch to communicate to him what he was doing by touching the man’s ears and tongue - the parts of his body that needed healing. It’s possible that this was the kind of thing he normally did when he healed people, as the people’s expectation (32) was that he would ‘place his hand on him’. But Mark gives us the intimate details here because of the context of the earlier conversation about clean and unclean. In contrast to the teachers of the day who would avoid a diseases gentile like the plague (literally!), Jesus is not afraid to come into contact with those who might ‘contaminate’ him.We have said already that Jesus’ miracles are not simply party tricks designed to amaze, and they are more that him having compassion on those who are suffering (although they are that). His miracles are signs that tell us about who he is and what his mission is. God the Son did not consider it beneath Himself to enter this world and take on humanity - to ‘place his hand on us’ - and by doing so to be ‘contaminated’ with our weaknesses and mortality. And His great love of us allowed him to ultimately become contaminated with our sin and guilt as he went to the cross in our place to take the wrath we deserve, and in exchange to give us the gift of His own perfect standing before the Father.It’s no coincidence then that some Christians talk about their encounter with God as being ‘touched’ by Him, and that this results in two things happening that also happened to this man: our spiritual ears are opened to be able to hear clearly what God is saying to us in Jesus, and we are enabled to speak. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak’. Jesus sets us free to be who we are created to be - people who hear God speak, and in turn speak back to him and to one another in love.


28

Mark 8:1-13Can you have your own ‘personal Jesus’?

Mark 8:1-9 A hungry crowd, take two.This story is very similar to the one in 6:31-52, the more well known feeding of the 5000. Some of the numbers and details are different, but the general format - A desolate place and a crowd, a miraculous feeding with plenty of leftovers, and afterwards Jesus and his disciples are in a boat on the lake.3 One significant difference is the location. The feeding of 5000 took place in Bethsaida, a largely Jewish area; most if not all of the crown would have been Jewish. Things took place as reminders to the people of their own history, specifically their ancestors in the desert being led by Moses and fed miraculously by bread that appeared overnight (Exodus). For example, the 12 baskets left over spoke of the 12 tribes. That miracle communicated that just as Moses led the ancient Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, Jesus is the ‘new Moses’ who by his death and resurrection sets his people free from slavery to sin and death.This feeding takes place in the region of the Decapolis. Probably this crowd is mainly Gentiles, most likely those who heard about what Jesus did for the demon possessed man in chapter 5 and the deaf man in chapter 7. (Matthew 15:31, the parallel, says that these people ‘glorified the God of Israel’, implying they were not Israelites themselves) The Exodus imagery would have been lost on these people who probably knew nothing of the story. However there is an aspect that Mark highlights that is both similar and different to the feeding of 5000. There are baskets of leftovers collected afterwards, but instead of 12, there are 7. While the number 12 had symbolic significance of the Exodus story, 7 had significance both for Gentiles and Jews as a number signifying completion4. So in a similar way that the 12 baskets symbolised God caring for all of His Israelite people in the wilderness, so this speaks of God’s concern not just for Jews, but for all peoples of the world. What God did in ‘microcosm’ for the Jews, He intended to extend to people of all nations. Israel is the ‘sample pot’, but God’s plan is to do the full paint job.10-13 Give us a sign...We don’t know the exact location of Dalmanutha, but it is back on the West of the lake, in Jewish territory again. It seems the Pharisees are waiting for him to return so they can continue their argument and criticism of him. It’s almost like they are waiting for him to return so they can say, ‘And another thing...!’ They are probably quite riled about the fact that Jesus has just spent some time not only mixing with Gentiles, but even telling them that what they Jews have is actually available to the whole world...They are asking for a ‘sign’. They have seen his miracles, and in 3:22 they made the assessment that they were being done by the power of Satan. It had become a standard of testing of someone who claimed to be a prophet that they would need to do something that was unmistakably from God to prove that their prophecies and miracles were from God (eg, Isaiah 7), as a miraculous act is not self authenticating. Jesus seems exasperated at this. This is for two reasons. Firstly, this standard if testing is not a Biblical one, bot one of the may ‘traditions’ that the Jews held to. Not bad in itself, as it was designed to guard and protect the truth, but it could not be insisted on as if it had the same weight of authority as the Scriptures. Jesus’ constant criticism of the Pharisees was that they nullified God’s word by holding onto traditions. Secondly, they did not need a special sign, as Jesus’ identity was obvious. In John 5 Jesus points to several ‘witnesses’ that showed he was authentic: John the Baptist (33), the actual works Jesus was doing (36) (ie. Not one in particular, but the combination of all of them together painted the full picture), the actual voice of the Father (37) spoken at his baptism, and the Scriptures (39) which were being perfectly fulfilled in all Jesus did and


29

3 This similarity has led some Bible scholars as well as skeptics to conclude that they are two versions of the same incident, which had changed over time and by being passed on, and were later incorporated into Mark’s Gospel as two different events. Theres a few reason why this is not the case: 1. Mark and his readers were not dumb. If it’s so obvious they are two versions of the one story, he wouldn’t have put them in the same document as two separate events. 2. He is writing at a time when many of Jesus’ original disciples were still alive. If Mark was wrong, his gospel would not have been accepted. 3. People (especially Jews) were very meticulous about accurately passing on their stories. 4. All the gospels are simply a snapshot of Jesus’ life and ministry that spanned 3 years. We can reasonably assume that many things he did and said were not done once, but were repeated many times through his life as he faced different people and contexts. For all we know, Jesus may have fed a crowd on a dozen occasions. 5. The two have significant differences, and communicate something unique. Mark doesn’t repeat something just to emphasise a point, as his gospel is short and concise.

4 The canaanite gods tended to do things in sevens, but only because they were ‘copying’ the true God who also did things in sevens!

said. Jesus’ whole person and mission, not one clever sign, was indication that He was and is truly the Messiah. So the statement ‘No sign will be given to this generation.’ means ‘I will not pander to their demands, and do something that will make me fit into their religious categories.’Do we want Jesus to fit in with our preferences?If we are waiting for something spectacular or significant on our eyes to happen to us before we will consider Jesus, then we will be waiting for a long time; or else we will find something that will end up giving us a view of Jesus that just fits our felt needs and desires - our ‘own personal Jesus’5 - rather that knowing the true Jesus who speaks for himself and demands that our lives be changed to fit with the reality of who he is. It was the same Jesus who fed the 5000 Jews that also fed the 4000 gentiles, because fundamentally their needs were identical despite their massive political, cultural and religious differences. Sometimes becoming a Christian is described as ‘Making Jesus your Lord.’ We don’t make Jesus into anything - He is already Lord, and becoming a Christians means that we are changed by him.In Matthew 12, 16 and Luke 11 we see Jesus qualifying his refusal to give a sign - “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39-40) Jesus’ death and resurrection, and all that it accomplishes, including the bearing of God’s wrath upon our rebellion, and his position now as the ultimate ruler and judge of humanity, is the only ‘sign’ we need to know that Jesus is our only hope and the only way to God.


305 A song by 80’s band Depeche Mode, covered by many since.

?OR

Jesus tells me how

things really are

I am transformed to fit

His real world

How do you live...I decide how

things should be

I find a ‘Jesus’ who fits into my

world

Mark 8:11-26Do you have eyes but do not see?11-13 Background: A frustrating encounter with religious peopleAs we saw last time, the Pharisees demanded a sign - proof - from Jesus that he was doing the works of God and not the works of the devil. He is exasperated because they are not able - nor willing - to see him for who he is, and that his words and actions are all the signs they need to come to him and have life.14-21 Who was supposed to bring lunch?His conversation with his disciples in the boat flows out of this confrontation with the Pharisees. Verse 14 is Mark letting us in on some background information that helps explain what happened next. Jesus’ comment is not in light of the fact that they only had one loaf, but their misunderstanding of it lead to their discovery that they had no bread. Two things about the language can help us understand what’s happening here:1. The word ‘leaven’, which literally means ‘yeast’ - that which you put into bread to make it rise, was generally

used to refer to leavened bread. Most likely Jesus is using it in this sense, as his disciples don’t talk about whether they have yeast, but bread.

2. The Aramaic word for leaven (which Jesus would have used, as he spoke Aramaic) was a homonym of the word for teaching (ie. They sounded and were spelled almost the same, yet with different meanings (“whether the weather will weather the wether”)

Jesus has clearly presented himself through the two miracles of crowd-feeding as the true bread from God that gives life and sustains - both his teachings, and he himself as the Word made flesh.The bread of legalism or the bread of grace?The teachings and lives of the Pharisees are the opposite. Instead of giving life, their harsh regulations bound people and made them slaves to guilt and fear and shame. Because their religion was bound up in earning and maintaining favour with God, they had developed what was essentially a spiritual class system, which often leads more towards working out how to keep the unworthy out than how to bring them in. It put people in boxes - be it unclean, gentile or any other category.By contrast grace abolishes all class or status barriers, because it demands that we see all people as equal - and that the basis for our equality is that we are all, without exception, unworthy sinners deserving only death. It says that those who are ‘in- in terms of being those who know God’s favour - are only so by the free gift of grace, and so a saved sinner is in no way superior to nor do they have higher moral ground than a non-believer.So Jesus is warning his disciples against this legalistic, moralistic religion that only brings death. In doing so, he is highlighting that He alone is the only way to know freedom and grace and true life.However the disciples don’t get it. They take his words literally, and think somehow that he is pointing out the fact that they don’t have enough bread. What they said in their discussion we’re not sure - maybe an argument about who was supposed to organise supplies, maybe a discussion about whether Jesus is going to do the bread-multiplication trick again to feed them... It’s not that they are dumb and just don’t get the concept of a metaphor. It’s that their affections are still grounded in the things of this world - they are more concerned with filling their bellies than they are in seeing the Kingdom of God break into this world. Jesus wanted them to look beyond just the physicalness of what he was doing to the reality to which they pointed: His identity and mission.22-26 A two-stage healing?Jesus’ next miracle is an object lesson to his disciples. He takes the blind man right out of the village, probably to remove him completely from the crowds. The only witnesses are his disciples.We might at first think that Jesus’ healing was a failure. On every other occasion the healing or deliverance was instant. This one seems to take two attempts, or at least two stages. What is He doing? Is he losing his power? Walking man-trees...


31

This is an illustration to the disciples of their condition of ‘Having eyes but failing to see’ (8:18), and what needs to happen in order for them to truly see. His partial healing of the man is deliberate. It is a picture of what it’s like when we try to work things out ourselves; when we think we can know the truth by our own reasoning or climb up to God by our own efforts. This is the ‘leaven of the Pharisees’ that Jesus had warned the disciples about, and which they were dangerously close to being led away by if they continued depending on themselves....and a real eye openerWhat was needed was a complete ‘eye opener’. In verse 25 the text stresses the clarity of sight; literally, ‘clearly from afar’. This was 20-20 vision, probably better than most people knew. He may have been happy with people looking like trees, but not now that his healing was complete.Jesus’ healing the blind was a sign that he was the Messiah, not just because that’s what was promised the Messiah would do (eg. Isaiah 35:5), but also because he came to open the eyes of those in spiritual blindness, who have eyes but cannot see. With our sophisticated learning and philosophising we may come up with something that we think resembles the truth, but it will be as much use as mistaking people for walking trees. Only when God the Father, by the work of his Holy Spirit, opens our eyes to see Jesus, will we have true vision of God and His kingdom.


32

D.I.Y. religion:✤Find a ‘Jesus’ to fit your

religious mold.✤Try earning favour with

God by your works.

True religion:✤Trust the crucified, risen

Jesus as your only saviour.✤Receive God’s favour as a

free gift.

‘I see men like trees walking’

‘I see everything clearly’

?

The only t ime Jesus does a two-stage heal ing. This is an object lesson for h is d isc ip les to i l lus t ra te the ‘b lur red v is ion ’ that comes wi th legal ism, and the c lear s ight that comes wi th a revelat ion of Jesus’ person and work.

M a r k 8 : 1 1 - 2 6 ‘Do you have eyes but do not see?’‘The leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod’

Jesus the bread of life

Mark 11:1-25Jesus the KingWhat Jesus does over these two days seems very calculated and planned, and with specific Old Testament passages in mind. Three times in chs 8-10 Jesus has predicted his death and resurrection. In 10:32 we see Jesus heading for Jerusalem for the last time. In 10:45 Jesus states explicitly the purpose for his death: to be a ‘ransom for many’. The rest of Mark’s Gospel is focussed on these predicted events.Some background to the symbolism:The fig tree is often used in the Bible as a symbol of Israel - God’s people are to be like a fruitful tree that produces an abundance of sweet, nourishing fruit. In Luke 13:6-9 Jesus tells a parable of a man who owns a fig tree (as most families would) that fails to bear fruit.‘This mountain’ Jesus speaks of is not any mountain, but Mt Zion, on which stood Jerusalem and the Temple. It stood for the nation and the government as a whole, in the same way that we may speak of ‘Canberra’ to speak of Australia as represented by our government.1-11 A king on a donkeyZechariah 9:9 predicts the arrival of the King on a donkey. Jesus would have known this scripture, and so he planned to arrive in Jerusalem on a donkey. After 3 years of telling people to be silent about him, and avoiding the crowd, Jesus now comes out in the open, declaring by his actions Who he is. What he couldn’t have planned though, was the people’s response. The events about to happen in Jerusalem are what his whole life has been aimed at: it was the reason for his birth and life and ministry. The crowds6 have wanted to make him a political king who will conquer by force; now they will see the true nature of his kingship: humble service and self-sacrifice. The irony is that this same crowd that is welcoming him joyfully as their king, would in a few days be violently calling for his crucifixion.15-19There are a number of parallels - both literal and symbolic - between this story and Malachi 3:

• The Lord will appear ‘suddenly’ in the Temple (3:1) ie. When you least expect it, or have become complacent and are no longer looking for his arrival.

• This arrival will be the action of judgement against corrupt practices in the Temple (Malachi 3:2-3)• He will specifically judge those who are ‘robbing God (Malachi 3:9)• It will be for the sake of ‘all nations’ (Malachi 3:12)• There is a call for those who will live by faith in God (Malachi 3:16-17), and a clear distinction between them

and those who are disobedient (Malachi 3:18)The state of the Temple demonstrated where the hearts of the people were really at. Jesus was offended by three things: Firstly, the Temple had become a place of commercial enterprise, and people were making a nice profit from pilgrims who had to change their currency to pay the Temple tax, or to buy a sacrificial animal. Secondly, this activity was taking place in the courts of the Gentiles, which were reserved for people of any nation to come and pray to the one true God. Thirdly and most importantly, it demonstrated an overall disregard for the honour of God, whose house this is. It should be a place of reverent and awe-filled worship, where people came to solemnly to confess their sins, pray and receive mercy from God.12-14Mark says it was not yet fig season, so it may seem strange that Jesus goes to look for figs. Surely he knew it was too early? By this time there should already have been the small, immature fruit appearing, and this immature fruit was edible (even if not appetising). Jesus would have known if this tree was a fruit bearing tree or not. It was also fairly early for a fig tree to be ‘in leaf’, as the leaves would be just emerging, not in full growth. You could say this tree was promising figs, but failed to deliver.He was using the tree as an illustration. From a distance the tree looked green and healthy, as if it were a fruitful tree. Yesterday’s events painted this picture of Israel, as the people celebrated the arrival of Jesus, and


336 Jerusalem would have been crowded, with thousands arriving for the Passover (it would have gone from around 30 000 to 80 000).

proclaimed him to be their king. But was this genuine, or just a bit of religious fervour, brought on by the fact that Jerusalem was buzzing with pilgrims who were there to celebrate the most important of their annual festivals? Was their welcome a sign of true devotion to God? Did they see him as the One who would turn their hearts back towards God the Father, or just as a political revolutionary?20-21The withered tree was an illustration of the real state of Israel - empty formalised religion; paying lip service to God when their hearts were far from Him; religious ‘elite’ restricting access to God for the underprivileged; and rejecting their own Messiah when he arrives and announces that the Kingdom of God has arrived. What happened to the fig tree is what will happen to Israel if they continue to reject Jesus as their Messiah.22-25These verses are sometimes taken right out of context to support the idea that we can ask for anything we want, and that if we believe hard enough our faith and prayers will somehow move God to do what we want. The image of a mountain being moved by faith-filled prayer wasn’t an original idea, however the way Jesus uses it is original. By ‘this mountain’ Jesus is referring to the whole corrupt religious and political system that had been built up and which was refusing to accept him as the Messiah-King; the system that was shutting the door of the Kingdom of God in people’s faces. Jesus, shockingly, is teaching his disciples to pray for the downfall of this system; the downfall of Jerusalem and the Temple, to make way for the new ‘system’ of grace in which Jesus is the Temple, and those who live by faith in him are the ‘New Jerusalem.’7

This whole story stand as a warning to all who would look at Jesus and refuse to come to him. What we see God doing in and for Israel is a microcosm of how He deals with people of all nations. God has been immensely patient with this world, as He was with His Old Testament people, but the world has a use-by date. Jesus promised that the day would come when He will return as the world’s Judge, and that all who reject him will remain under God’s judgement forever. The only way to escape the wrath of God brought by Jesus, is to flee to Jesus himself.Malachi 3:3-4 told us,

‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.’

Jesus came as our ‘great high priest’ and, on behalf of the entire priesthood (sons of Levi) he offered a final sacrifice - the only one that has been truly sufficient to deal with all our sin, and therefore the only one truly ‘pleasing to the Lord.’ The one who is our king and judge, is also the one who has died for us.


347 In AD 70, the Romans ransacked Jerusalem, and destroyed the Temple, which has never been rebuilt.

Mark 11:27-12:12Jesus the Cornerstone27-28 Who is in charge of the Temple?Jesus’ third visit to the Temple in three days. Presumably the Temple had been restored to the way it was before Jesus cleared it; possibly word came to the authorities, ‘He has returned to the Temple’, and there was a fear that he would do what he did yesterday, so they came to confront him before he cause more commotion. Their challenge to him is strange. They have to authority to have him removed from the Temple, if he is doing anything wrong or against the Temple. One of the accusations against Jesus at his trial (Mark 14:58) was that he claimed he was going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days (in actual fact he said ‘[You] destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,’ speaking of his body - John 2:19-22). Blasphemy against the Temple was equivalent to blasphemy against God himself, since the Temple was the place of God’s presence.Yet they know two things: First, what Jesus did was technically right, as it was unlawful for this commercial trading to be taking place in the Temple; and second, it was their job to oversee what went on in the Temple, and therefore it was their job to remove the traders, but they hadn’t. Jesus’ actions had shown up their own corruption, and so the only thing they could say to him was to question his authority - what right does he have to assume the role of ‘Temple guardian’ and usurp their authority?29-33 Calling their(our) bluffJesus’ response in the form of a question calls their bluff and exposes their hypocrisy. John the Baptist had been a thorn in their side for the last three years. The people saw him as a prophet, but the religious leaders didn’t, as John both preached against their hypocrisy, and proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah. Their dilemma was that they wanted to remain in the favour of the people (otherwise there may be a revolt, and they would lose their positions of power and privilege), but in their unbelief they refused to accept John’s testimony that Jesus is the Messiah.Jesus has already made very clear where his authority came from. His self designation as ‘the Son of Man’ which came straight from Daniel’s vision of the ‘Son of Man’ who is given universal authority by God (Daniel 7), his riding into Jerusalem two days earlier in fulfilment of Zechariah 9, and his direct quoting of Scripture from Isaiah and Malachi, would have been enough for them to know that His authority came from God himself. So their ‘clever question’ was really a cover-up for their refusal to believe.Before we self-righteously point the finger at these men, we need to see that this dynamic is not just present in hypocritical organised religion. Romans 1:21-22: 21For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools...’ A human heart that does no want to face up to or admit our rebellion will come up with all sorts of clever sounding arguments to try to rationalise our unbelief. ‘I can’t believe because there is not enough empirical evidence;’ ‘I can’t believe because there are Christians who are hypocrites;’ ‘I can’t believe because it just sounds to silly and superstitious;’ or in the case of these men, ‘I can’t believe because you don’t have the proper authorisation and aren’t following the rules.’Do I disbelieve because I can’t, or because I won’t?We cannot set the criteria for determining whether God exists or whether Jesus is the Messiah. If God is our Creator, then He is the one who determines how it is that we may know Him; he tells us what evidence is sufficient evidence for believing. If Malachi - a prophet whom these men claimed to believe - said, ‘1“Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.’ (Malachi 3:1), then they have all the evidence they need, having had John the Baptist prepare the way for Jesus, and now Jesus is here, standing in the Temple. In their understanding, the fulfilment of prophecy was conclusive evidence in itself, and in Jesus they have witnessed innumerable instances of fulfilled prophecy. Yet they had rejected this evidence.Romans 1:19-20 speak of us: ‘For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.’12:1-9 The only parable they got


35

The reality of rebellionJesus’ normal practice was to tell parable so that those who didn’t want to hear his teaching would miss the point - they were ‘for those who have ears to hear.’ Yet this time there is no question in the minds of these men that this parable is about them. They are the tenants who want to think they are the owners. Their job was to care for and maintain the vineyard that didn’t belong to them, and to give the fruit back to the Landlord; they were there to serve the people, so that the people may become the blessing to the nations they were supposed to be. The servants are the prophets, who God continually sent to His people to call them back to the covenant and to remind them of HIs faithfulness and mercy, as well as their responsibility to be the people he had called them to be. But all the prophets were rejected, persecuted and killed. And the full extent of their rebellion is exposed when the Son of the Landlord comes, in the full authority of his Father, and they kill him. Their rejection and murder of the Son is equivalent to rejection and murder of the Landlord Himself. The certainty of judgementThe implications are crystal clear: By rejecting Jesus, they are making themselves subject to God’s judgement. ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.’ (John 3:36) The wonder of God’s grace is that this action of killing the Son - the greatest crime ever committed by human beings - is also the means of salvation. It was an evil action done by evil men, aided and abetted by an evil crowd; yet at the same time is was in the plan of God to offer His Son as a payment for our sin of rebellion and refusal to believe and obey.10-11 Where do you stand in relation to JesusWhere we stand in relation to Jesus’ death will shape our response to him. Will we be the foolish builder who rejects the most important stone in a building - the cornerstone - throwing it on the rubbish pile? Or will we see in Jesus the ‘Lord’s doing’ and say ‘this is marvelous!’?


36

GentilesOutside the

Kingdom, strangers to

the covenant,

without hope or God in this

world.

Hum

anity

dist

illed

into

one

Man

In AdamOutside the

Kingdom, strangers to

the covenant, without

hope or God in this world.

In ChristIsrael & Gentiles

united through faith to the resurrected

Christ.

IsraelPolitical, ethnic,

geographical expression of the

Kingdom of God

Mark 12:13-44The last series of public teaching. These short snippets are all sandwiched by two conversations about paying tax. In a similar way in which Mark uses the withered fig tree as an illustration of the state of the people’s hearts, he seems to use these two conversations about tax to illustrate two attitudes we may have to God.13-17 A divided LoyaltyThey had been trapped by Jesus’ clever questions. Now they try to trap him using his own strategy - the same methodology of question, in which (they think) he will be in trouble no matter how he answers.Buttering him up by complimenting him on his teaching (who are they fooling?). Their logic: if he says ‘yes’ then they can accuse him of being a Roman sympathiser, and no better than a tax collector. This would discredit his claims to be the Messiah. If he says ‘no’ then they have grounds to bring him before the Romans and have him arrested for telling people not to pay taxes (Luke 23:2 ‘We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar...’). Jesus know their hypocrisy: the Pharisees (as well as chief priests etc) were working with the Herodians, most likely a political party who swore allegiance to King Herod. Herod was a stooge of the Romans - put in place as a token in an attempt to keep the Jews passive by allowing them a ‘king’. By being in league with the Herodians, they are effectively in league with the Romans (John 19:15: ‘...Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”). 8

The Pharisees wanted him to be either-or, but Jesus was both-and. Pay your taxes to Caesar - but don’t use this as an excuse to give less to God. Yet this begs the question, ‘If this Roman money is Caesar’s, what is God’s? How amy I to work out how much to give to Caesar and how much to God’?41-44 A single LoyaltyThis widow wasn’t concerned with clever sounding arguments about how we are to use our money. She understood the command ‘Give to God what is God’s’ - and understood that all she is and has is God’s. Her attitude to her money betrayed her attitude to God: being able to come before God in worship and prayer was more important to her that whether she got a meal that night. A person’s standing with God does not hinge on how they do their tax return. However the way you do your tax return (or manage your worldly possessions) may be one indication of where your heart is with God - do you do it as if money were the most important thing, and so your return needs to be maximised because, really, you need to be in charge of your life and destiny? Or are you trusting God, thankful for everything you have as a gift from him?The next two stories show an example of these two attitudes towards God:18-27 The masters of strawmen‘The Sadducees were sad, you see’ because they did not believe in the resurrection - ie no afterlife, no future for a person when they die (regardless of whether they are good or bad). Most Sadducees were wealthy, as they obviously sought to make the most of this life, since it was all they had. Maybe because they were a minority group, they had to work hard to defend their position, so they were good at setting up strawmen - such as this one-in a million scenario of a woman who marries seven brothers in succession. Their thinking is, ‘Because we can’t think of a solution to this extreme (but admittedly still possible) hypothetical, therefore the whole doctrine of the resurrection is false.Jesus sees this, and calls their bluff on two levels:


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8 Jesus’ answer is not like the non-committal one the Chief priests gave him (‘we don’t know’, 11:33) He says that it is not mutually exclusive to obey the law of the land and still honour God. Christians are told to ‘Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17Honour everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the emperor.’ (1 Peter 2:13-17) This is in light of the fact that we are ‘aliens and strangers in this world’ (11) - we follow the rules, but our ultimate allegiance is to the Kingdom of God.

1. Their strawman is built on the assumption that marriage is to continue into the new creation (ie. Beyond the resurrection). This is not the case, and so their whole argument falls apart.

2. The scriptures teach life beyond the grave. Jesus argues this not by quoting a verse that states the resurrection, but by an ‘ontological’ verse - one that makes a statement about the nature of God. Because God is the God of the Living, therefore Abraham Isaac and Jacob knew God as their God even after their physical death.

The reason they are wrong is twofold: they didn’t know the scriptures, nor do they know the power of God. Not only was their reading of the Bible wrong/deficient, but they had a limited view of God - God in a box - who was not big or powerful enough to raise the dead. If God is not a God who (can) raises the dead, then what pint is there in trusting in Him?28-34 Is anyone too far away?By contrast, this one scribe (maybe he is not named to protect him?) comes with one of the few genuine questions Jesus has received from the religious leaders. He appears to have recognised that Jesus is speaking the truth, and so he asks a simple straightforward question, not designed to trap him, but out of a genuine desire to know how he may be a person who pleases God. His response to Jesus is not a patronising ‘Yes you got it right, well done.’ It is essentially a confession of faith: ‘Jesus speaks truly, and so I should believe what he says.’So in the midst of the arguments and opposition and negativity, we see that Jesus is still drawing people to himself - and even someone like a scribe, who would have been well ingrained in the religiosity and corruption of the religious elite. The difference: this man was willing to believe, and so he could see the simple truth and be set free by it. The others refused to believe, and so were caught up in the complexity of their own arguments that rationalised their religion.35-37 How to give to God what is God’sMark opened his Gospel with that statement that Jesus is ‘The Christ, the Son of God’ (1:1). Some of the teachers claimed that the promises given to David (2 Samuel 7) about his son, that he would use him to establish the kingdom and build a house for God, was fulfilled in Solomon, David’s son by Bathsheba, or by the succession of kings that were descended from David. Jesus is arguing not only that it wasn’t Solomon or these other kings, but that this ‘Son’ of David was more than a mere man - he is one whom David himself calls, ‘Lord’. This not only shows the Christ’s superiority over David, but it also shows that the Christ was around at the time of David, for David to speak in this way. When we see this in conjunction with 12:37, we see that Jesus is essentially arguing for his divinity: He was there for David to call ‘Lord’, and he is here now calling people to call him ‘Lord’.The widow ‘gave to God what is God’s’ by essentially entrusting her whole self to God. Jesus now stands here as God-in-the-flesh - ‘to give to God what it God’s’ is to entrust yourself to Jesus.


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Mark 13:1-371-4 When will these things happen?Popular understanding is that this passage speak about the ‘end times’ - ie the period of time just before Jesus returns, including what will happen at his return. This conclusion is often based on the terminology in 24-27 which seems to be end-of-world terminology, and speaks of ‘the Son of Man coming...’ However there are other things Jesus says that actually make this a difficult interpretation:30- ‘Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.’ Jesus is saying that the event he describes will happen within the lifetime of his disciples.3 - The four disciples ask, ‘when will these things be, and what will be the sign...’ the ‘these things’ are referring to Jesus comment in 2, saying that the Temple will be thrown down. They ask this as they’re sitting looking at the Temple. So Jesus’ answer is referring to the events that would happen in the future - and actually happened in 70AD when the Romans ransacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, which has never been rebuilt in the last 2 millenia.This passage parallels Matthew 24, in which we see that the disciples actually asked, ‘“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (Matt 24:3). So mark only records half of the question, but he also only records half of the answer - Matthew 25 is Jesus’ teaching on his return. In the disciple’s thinking, the destruction of the Temple would have to be the end of the age and Jesus’ return, since they saw it as so magnificent. If God were to destroy the Temple, then that would have to be the end, right? However Jesus teaches that this will not be the end. His return will be some time afterwards.Jesus is preparing his disciples for this event, which will be traumatic, violent, with a lot of pain and distress (And in doing so he also prepares any Christian at any time for facing similar events):5-8 Trusting Jesus in hardshipFirstly, Jesus warns his disciples to not be led astray by false messiahs. They may be saying ‘I am Jesus’ or ‘I am the Messiah’ (the text is not conclusive what ‘In my name’ means). The implication is that Jesus will not be physically present with them any more, and they will be living in anticipation of his return. As trouble comes to Jerusalem, there will be self-proclaimed ‘messiahs’ who will attempt to rally people together. The temptation for the disciples will be to think either that Jesus wasn’t Messiah after all, and this new person is, or that this is actually Jesus come back in a different form (as some people thought Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead.) Wars, earthquakes, famines will happen, but these do not indicate that the ‘end’ is near (7). Instead, they are just the beginning of birth pains (see Romans 8:18-25). So wars and natural disasters are not a reason for us to be fearful, or get overly excited or led astray.9-13 Trusting Jesus in persecutionSecondly, he tells them to get ready for persecution. They will be arrested, and brought to trial. But the assurance in this is that this will be an opportunity to proclaim the gospel to governors and kings. 10 is not a statement of chronology but of priority. When you are arrested and brought to trial, what should be your focus - self defence, or testifying to Jesus? The promise is that while this seems like a huge ask, they can be assured that the Holy Spirit will be with them and in them to give them the courage and the words to speak.This persecution will not only be on an official state level. Loyalty to Jesus may mean even being rejected, betrayed and even killed by family members!John 15:18: ‘If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.’ We must never lose sight of the reality that behind all human sin and disbelief is ultimately hatred of God and His appointed King Jesus. This kind of hatred is able even to demolish family relationships, and cause those who love one another to turn against each other. Christians are hated by association with Jesus; opposition to Christians is (or should be) only a veiled opposition to Jesus. In this is also a promise: an assurance of salvation for those who endure even to the end (ie of their lives). This is not a conditional statement, making salvation dependant on our ability to endure; rather is is an assurance that even if you lose your life for the sake of Jesus, you are still secure. Jesus is reminding them of the promise of the resurrection.14-23 The sign of the timesThe sign for the disciples that the Destruction of the temple is soon to happen is ‘The abomination that causes desolation’. This term appears 3 times in Daniel 9,11 & 12. In each case it is associated with the putting to an end


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the sacrifices - ie the Temple itself will be desecrated, made unclean, so that it can no longer be used for worship, and is no longer a suitable house for God’s glorious presence. In 68AD, with tension between the Jews and Rome on a knife edge, the Zealots (Judas was a member of this group), who saw that the Kingdom of God would be brought in only when they rebelled against Rome and took Jerusalem by force, had the High priest and those loyal to him murdered, installed their own man ‘Phanni’ as High Priest, and turned the Temple into their fortress. IN 70 AD the Romans attacked and destroyed the Temple; and there was a mass exodus of Jews from Jerusalem to escape the brutality of the Romans. Many of these were Jewish Christians, who had been warned by Jesus’ words.At this time of turmoil, Jesus warns, there will be those who claim to be the Messiah, either calling people to join the Zealots, fight against them, or at least stay in Jerusalem expecting God’s deliverance from the Romans.24-27 The Kingdom transitionThese verses sound like the second coming, with similar images as Revelation, with the universe falling apart, and the statement, ‘they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory’, and the angels gathering the elect. Yet as we have seen, Jesus says ‘all these things’ would take place within that generation; and there is another way to understand these verses. Firstly, 24-25 is the type of language used in the OT to speak symbolically of a political upheaval, or the end of an era and the start of a new era, when God shakes the nations (eg Isaiah 34). It is also like the imagery used by Peter on the day of Pentecost when he quotes from Joel. Some of the things in Joel’s prophecy didn’t happen literally on the day of Pentecost, yet he could still claim the passage was being fulfilled, because the symbolic language in Joel was being fulfilled by the actual events of Pentecost and what was to follow.Secondly, 26 is imagery from Daniel 7, in which the Son of Man comes before the throne of God and receives a global kingdom:13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

In Mark 14:61-62: ‘...the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”’. Jesus is saying that these men will witness an event that will establish for them the reality of Jesus’ kingly authority - a reality that necessarily means the fall of other kingdoms that are set up against his.The destruction of the Temple was God’s word of judgement upon the Jewish people who had rejected their Messiah. He had been patient with that generation, waiting for 40 years, during which time the Gospel was being proclaimed throughout Judea and Samaria, and the hostility of Jews towards the Gospel only increased. He was now putting an end to the sacrifices, because the era for the foreshadowing of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice had ended. In a way he was saying, ‘The time for my kingdom being expressed through the chosen nation of Israel has ended; my rule will now be through my Son, in the true Israel: the church.Thirdly, the word ‘angel’ in greek literally means ‘messenger’. The word can apply either to spiritual beings, or to human messengers. In Acts 8, Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted, and were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, and as they went the Gospel went out as they preached wherever they were. Verse 27 is a description of what has been happening ever since right up to now - Jesus sending his messengers throughout the earth to ‘gather his elect’ into the kingdom, expressed by the community of the church.28-37 Living in the tensionIf the disciples were to know exact dates of events they wold be tempted to become complacent (‘We’ve got a whole 40 years - that’s plenty of time to get things done!’) of to begin working out a will planned 40 year strategy. Instead, they are to live in the tension of knowing the day is coming (31), yet having to depend on God an trust Him and HIs timing. If Jesus was content with not knowing the day or hour, they should too.In Matthew 25 Jesus makes the same statements about His return. We live in the same tension today; we are to live always ready and longing and looking for his coming as if he is coming today, yet be loving others as if he will not return within our lifetime. The destruction of the Temple was a ‘mini apocalypse’ that foreshadows the day of Jesus’ return and the judgement that will extend beyond Jerusalem to the whole world; the lessons Jesus taught his disciples are important for us today as we await his appearing.


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Mark 14:1-25If Jesus was the Son of God, why did he die?Two threads run through this narrative: The evil scheming of Judas and the religious leaders, and the woking out of the Father’s plan by Jesus.1-2 ‘Not during the feast...’The chief priests and scribes are ready to launch their plan to kill Jesus. Maybe they suspect that Jesus will try to do something public and significant at the Passover, so they need to act quickly to get him out of the way.3-9 Wasteful, macabre, or beautiful?Possibly the disciples had prided themselves on the fact that they managed their money well, and made sure they budgeted for giving to the poor, even though they themselves had given up their livelihood to follow Jesus and become poor themselves. We can understand their indignation then when they witness this woman ‘wasting’ this perfume. Nard was an expensive perfume, imported from the Himalayas, and this jar - a pint - would have been worth around 300 Denarii - a year’s wages, equivalent to $70,000!Instead, Jesus defends her, affirming what she did. She came with no pretence of worthiness. For her to own such an expensive item, there would only be two possible explanations. Either it was her dowry - an expensive item that would be given to her husband when she married, or she herself had saved up and bought it from working as a prostitute, possibly thinking that it would provide a means for her to marry and finally be set free from that lifestyle. Either way, this perfume represented her future. The whole identity and dignity of a woman at that time was bound up in her marriageability. Yet in Jesus she had discovered that which far exceeded anything this world can offer. We don’t know if she had met Jesus before, or if he had said anything to her, but she must have at least heard him teach, and say to people with all the authority of God, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ She knew that she could not rely in any way on her own effort, self righteousness, or even working hard to make up for the things she had done.Her action also showed her faith in how Jesus would deal with her sin and shame. Jesus says, ‘She has anointed my body beforehand for burial.’ She know that her sin could not be merely swept under the carpet and ignored. She knew that for her to be truly forgiven there must be one who would willingly take her place - to die the death she deserved, and to give her his own life - life that is knowing God the Father, and having the freedom to approach Him at any time without fear, shame or condemnation. This is the faith that Jesus saw in this woman as she anointed his body for burial.10-11 The plot thickensJesus’ doom seems certain, as one of the inner 12 is revealed as a traitor.12-16We see here who is really in control. Judas and the chief priests may have been plotting, but Jesus has already made plans. Mark makes a point of explaining what normally happened on this first day of the feast of unleavened bread. This feast was a re-enactment of the very first Passover night, when the enslaved Israelites in Egypt sacrificed a lamb, painted its blood on their doorposts, and then ate the lamb with unleavened bread. That night the angel of death passed through Egypt, and in any house that did not have the blood of a sacrificed lamb the firstborn would die; the culmination of God’s judgement upon Egypt that set the Israelites free.17-21There is a ‘tension’ between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of people. Jesus holds together in the same statement (21) the inevitability of God’s predetermined plan, and the terrible accountability of Judas for his actions of betrayal. There is a mystery here that if we try to resolve it with a watertight solution we can risk trying to understand the mind and nature of God Himself. There are three key things we need to see in this:1. God is free to use whatever means He chooses to fulfil His good purposes. Judas is not the first and won’t be

the last person whose evil actions have been foreknown, allowed, used, and even predestined by God to bring about salvation. Seeing God at work in, through and despite evil people and their actions is a demonstration of His power and sovereignty, and an assurance that ultimately evil will not hold the trump card.


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2. God’s foreknowledge and predestination does not make Him the author or condoner of evil. Judas was not a robot; he acted from his own volition, knowing fully the implications of his actions. He still bore full responsibility for his actions; he could not say to God, ‘The devil made me do it!’

3. None of us has the right to stand in judgement over Judas. The response of the other disciples in 19, ‘Surely not I?’ (better: ‘Is it I?’) is very telling. They don’t look at each other and ask ‘Is it you? Is it him?’ It is as if in that moment they realised that they themselves had the capacity to betray Jesus. Judas was no more evil than any of us - give the right circumstances and opportunity, any of us would have chosen to take the same path.

22-24The timing of Jesus’ death is no coincidence. It was not just the consequence of a heightened religious fervour among the Jews at the most important feast of the year. It was planned and timed by God, so it could be clearly seen that Jesus fulfilled the Passover imagery. The ancient Israelites ate the sacrificed lamb as an act of identification. Jesus is now linking this same meal with his own death: HIs body would be sacrificed in our place, as the lamb was for the Israelites; and just as the blood - verifying the death of the lamb - caused death to pass over their house, so Jesus’ blood defeats death and releases us from that which enslaves us to death - sin.25A brief foreshadow of the resurrection: I will not drink the fruit of the vine until that day... he is going to his death, but he sees beyond the cross the resurrection, and the fact that that will be the establishment of the Kingdom of God, where all evil will be triumphed over.


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Mark 14:17-21

Jesus declares his

betrayal

Mark 14:22-24Jesus the Passover

lamb

Mark 14:1-2Chief priests’ plot

to kill Jesus

Mark 14:3-9Woman anoints Jesus

Mark 14:10-11Judas betrays Jesus to Chief

priests

Mark 14:12-16

Jesus plans Passover

meal

The evil schemes of men and the sovereign plan of the Father converge in the cross of Jesus

Mark 14:25Jesus

foretells his resurrection

Mark 14:16-7226-31 Jesus, we’re living for your name...The first half of the chapter highlighted the evil schemes of men, and that God in his sovereignty not only allowed, but used and included their schemes to accomplish His good purpose of giving His Son. We saw that the disciples were not to see themselves as being any more righteous or free from temptation than Judas. Could it be that now that Judas had left and was known to be the traitor, they were relieved, and thought ‘I knew it wasn’t me. I’, better than that. I’m really committed to Jesus. Jesus, we’re living for your name, we’ll never be ashamed of You. Woa-oh... I’ll only ever give it all...’Jesus makes the devastating statement: ‘You will all fall away.’ It’s even been predicted in the scripture (Zechariah 13:7). How would that make you feel, to have Jesus predict your backsliding? Yet he doesn’t leave it there. God never pronounces judgement in this life where he doesn’t also pronounce the hope of deliverance from judgement. In loving judgement he hands us over the outworking of our sin, so that when grace comes it may be seen for the lavish grace it is.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16

The purpose of these stories about the disciples’ failures is not to teach us that we should do better than them, but to point us the Grace - to see that if Jesus was patient, gracious, forgiving with the mess his disciples made, then we can have a confidence about him working in our mess too. ‘When I am raised up...’ They need to lose all confidence in themselves, and place it all in Jesus and the promise of the resurrection (ie. the sign that all their sin and betrayal is dealt with by his death)Peter’s bravado sets him up for disaster, and shows how foolish it is to make promises to God that we have no ability in and of ourselves to keep. If Christianity became illegal in Australia, and a capital offense, would you stand firm for Jesus? We can only answer ‘yes’ if we understand that it is only by grace that we stand, and only the Holy Spirit gives anyone the power to not deny Jesus.66-72 Our unfaithfulness...It’s helpful to remember that Mark’s Gospel is actually Peter’s gospel, dictated to Mark (see 51-52, possibly an insertion by Mark to include himself), and that at the time of writing Peter was still a key leader in the early church. It is quite a thing then that this story is here. What kind of strategy is it when starting a new movement to portray its key leader as a failure? This is one of many stories of sin, failure, deceit and outright rebellion in the Bible that ultimately show us that what triumphs in the end is not the indomitable human spirit, but mercy and grace. How could this weak, rash, disingenuous man end up as one to whom Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep’ apart from the grace of God that heals, restores, and causes a person to live constantly dependant upon God’s mercy in Jesus Christ?32-42 ...and his faithfulness.The unfaithfulness of the disciples is contrasted with the faithfulness of Jesus. It has been suggested by some that Jesus’ suffering for sin - ie the weight of the sin of the world - begins here in the garden.9 The one we may feel has been cool, calm and collected is suddenly ‘greatly distressed and troubled’, and tells the three that his sorrow is so great it is almost killing him. We can only imagine his experience; if our individual shame from a few sins seems unbearable to us, what were the state of Jesus’ emotions as he began to experience the shame of the whole world? So Jesus is not asking for an opt-out from the cross; simply that he may be able to endure this time of distress without dying, so that he may still fulfill the Father’s plan and go to the cross. Yet he knows that the Father will not put him through what he will not be able to bear; he can entrust himself to the Father’s will.36 - This is the most intimate part of the whole gospel story; the only time it is recorded that Jesus prays ‘Abba, Father’ not just ‘Father’. Suffering is designed to lead us to utter dependance on God; here at Jesus’ deepest point of sorrow and distress, his complete trust is in his ‘Abba’.43-52 ‘Remember who is in control here...’


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9 Some have also suggested that Jesus’ prediction of being, like Jonah, ‘Three days and three nights in the depths of the earth’ refer not only to his physical death, but to this period of time - starting on Thursday - when it was the ‘hour when darkness rules’.

As we have seen, Judas’ betrayal and the arrest was no surprise to Jesus. They have had plenty of opportunity to arrest him. ‘Let the Scriptures be fulfilled’ is another way of saying, ‘But this is going to happen according to God’s plan and timing, not yours.’ (remember v 21 - ‘...the Son of Man goes as it is written of him...’53-65 The trial‘Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter...’ Our first response when falsely accused would be to speak out to defend ourselves. We may even consider it to be a mark of integrity to be able to speak eloquently to make sure the truth is heard. But Jesus is silent when the false witnesses are brought out. This is not about his own honour or integrity or reputation. He is not bothered for himself if people believe the false witnesses, because he is not here for himself. He is here to lay down his life for his sheep.What happens to Jesus in his physical suffering, including the trial, mocking, intimidation, beating and crucifixion is not so much the suffering by which he saves us - it is the outworking of the real suffering of being abandoned by God. In Old Testament theology, a person who is already under God’s curse should expect to see distress, sorrow, grief, and his enemies triumphing over him - it is the result of being abandoned by God, and having God’s hand of protection lifted from him. The Psalmists (eg 27 &35) expect that God will rise up to defend them against false witnesses, and call us to ‘wait for the LORD’ (Ps 27:14). Jesus does not need to defend himself. The Father will do it, in His time. But for the moment, he walks through the valley of the shadow of death, and the false accusations are part of being under the curse he is becoming for sinners.‘You will see the Son of Man...’62 -However he is not silent when called to testify about his identity. In fact the only things he says during his trial are testifying to Who he is. His statement echoes his prediction in chapter 13 about the Son of Man coming in the clouds, and is an open declaration that he is the Son of Man seen in Daniel’s (7) vision. He is saying to them: You will see the establishment of the Kingdom of God - and I am God’s appointed King (and you aren’t!).We need to see that while they have many trumped up charges they bring against him, ultimately the only charge that sticks is his own testimony that He is the Son of God and the Messiah. Before God they could not plead ignorance, ‘We didn’t know he was the Messiah!’ Instead, they can only admit, ‘We heard, saw and knew he was the messiah, and we rejected him.’

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Acts 2:36-37

The division between people - the saved and the unsaved, heaven and hell, sheep and goats etc. is not a division between good people and bad people, but between those who confess Jesus as Lord and those who are rebels. Our good or bad actions are the fruit, a display of our allegiance. Becoming a Christian means repenting of our rebellion, and trusting that our King Jesus will forgive and restore us on the basis of his own sacrificial death.


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Stolen from http://christthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/the-importance-of-not-being-too-earnest-2/

Mark 15:1-201-5 ‘...they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles...’ (Mark 10:33)Contrary to popular opinion, the Jews were allowed under Roman rule to carry out the death penalty for matters pertaining to their own law. We see this happen a number of times in the Gospels and Acts. However in cases of sedition or treason against Rome, the execution must be authorised and carried out by the Romans. So why then did they take Jesus to Pilate? The charge for which they found him guilty was blasphemy - claiming to be the Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man. Blasphemy was a capital offence for the Jews, but it was no concern of the Romans, who couldn’t really care less about Jewish religious matters.Passing the blameEven though the whole trial was a sham, there was nothing stopping them taking Jesus out and killing him that night, and in the morning he would have just ‘disappeared’; except that they feared the people, and knew that his disciples - witnesses to the arrest - had escaped and were at large, and would tell people what had happened. So in order to cover up their actions and absolve themselves of responsibility for Jesus’ death, they handed him over so that the Romans would bear responsibility. In order to do this, they needed to switch the charge from blasphemy to sedition. So even though the verdict had been ‘guilty of blasphemy’, they twisted justice and told Pilate that the charge was sedition against Rome, using half truths: he had claimed to them that he was their King, but it was his linking of his kingship to his sonship that made them consider it blasphemy.PIlate is a sad figure. Most likely posted to Judea - a troubled corner of the empire - as a demotion, we know from the other Gospels that he went against his conscience, and the advice of his wife who had a dream, in sentencing Jesus. Ultimately he was trapped between the requirements of Roman law and his fear of stirring up a violent reaction among the Jews. He caved in to their demands in an attempt to pacify the religiously fervent crowds.6-15 ‘He took my cross’

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.’ (Matthew 23:23)

This hypocrisy comes to a head as the chief priests choose to release into the community a violent murderer rather than have Jesus released. This is not primarily a problem for general community safety, but the fact that the zealots were a growing movement in Jerusalem, and it was their actions that eventually led to the desecration of the Temple and its destruction (which Jesus predicted in chapter 13). Their actions in releasing Barabbas was an implicit endorsement of movement that would ultimately destroy them as a nation!But this account is not just an indictment upon the Jewish leaders. There is also a personal dimension:

‘Barabbas must have looked at his hands and wondered how it would feel to have the nails ripping through his flesh. He must have remembered scenes of crucifixion, death, and the slow agony of the victims who suffered, at times, for a day or two before merciful death came to release them. He must have awakened with at start, if he heard any hammering in the jail. And, his mind must have anticipated the sound of the clanging hammers that would bring death near to him.

And then, in his prison, from his cell, he hears the vague roar of the crowd that is roaring outside like the roaring of a troubled sea. He thinks he hears his own name. He can tell that there are angry cries, and fear rises in his heart. Then, he hears the sound of a key in the lock. The jailer comes to him and unbinds him from the chain that is wound around him. He must have thought that his time had come. But the jailer takes him to the door, opens it, and tells him – he is a free man. A free man!’

He was the only man in the world who could say that Jesus Christ took his physical place. But I can say that Jesus Christ took my spiritual place. For it was I who deserved to die. It was I who deserved that the wrath of God should be poured on me. I deserved the eternal punishment of the lake of fire. He was delivered up for my offences. He was handed over to judgment because of my sins…. Christ was my substitute. He was satisfying the debt of divine justice and holiness. That is why I say that Christianity can be expressed in the three phrases: I deserved hell; Jesus took my hell; there is nothing left for me but His heaven. (D.G. Barnhouse)

Quite literally, Jesus’ cross would have been prepared for Barabbas; the the two criminals crucified with him were probably Barabbas’ accomplices. Barabbas serves as an image of what Jesus is about to do: take the place of us who in God’s sight are rebellious criminals, deserving death for high treason against the King of the universe.16-20 ‘...and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him...’ (Mark 10:34)


45

The mock coronation: Humanity rejects our KingSome have used the preceding account to justify anti-semitism, and sadly there is a history of professing Christians hating Jews as ‘Christ killers’. While it’s certainly true that the main plot against Jesus is from the Jewish leaders, and the whole nation is implicated in Jesus’ murder (as we see from the sermon on the day of Pentecost), what happens here is essentially an indictment of everyone else; the Romans essentially rules the ‘known world’. A Battalion would be anywhere between 300 to 1000 soldiers, and they would have been deployed for this crucifixion because of the swollen population of Jerusalem and this high risk of mob violence as three Jews were crucified at the start of their most significant festival. However a point is being made as Jesus is mocked in front of the assembled troops. It is not just a statement of Roman might over anyone who might dare to challenge them; it is also a statement of organised human rebellion against the authority of God. Each thing they do to him - the cloak, the crown, the salute, striking his head, spitting (anointing), kneeling, was a parody of what would actually take place in a real coronation ceremony. The King of the Universe comes in the flesh to a humanity created and designed to honour an worship him, and receives a mockery of a coronation that actually communicates, ‘If you think we will submit to your authority, think again. We hate you.’Romans 5:6-11. For whom did Jesus die?Paul uses three terms, showing they are synonymous: ungodly, sinners, enemies. Sin is not mere breaking some rules; it is blatant defiance that ultimately wants God dead. Yet this passage was written to to condemn us, but to highlight the Grace of God that pardons rebels. We will see next week in 15:39 that the centurion, supposedly the one in charge of the crucifixion, sees Jesus die and confesses, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God.’ For Mark this man stands as a representative of the Romans. The original readers of Mark sat under the threat of the Roman empire that persecuted and killed Christians. For most of them a Roman Centurion is a bad guy, yet God;s grace in Jesus extends to the baddest of the bad.


46

Why Jesus’ trial was illegal (according to the regulations of the day)

➡ Even before the trial began, it had been determined that Jesus must die.➡ Jesus was arrested illegally.➡ He was examined by Annas in a secret night proceeding.➡ False witnesses were brought to testify.➡ The judges were not impartial, as they were also his accusers.➡ The Sanhedrin court illegally held its trial before sunrise.➡ They illegally tried a capital offense on a day before an annual Sabbath; ➡ The trial concluded in one day.➡ No case for the defence was given.➡ No all members of the Sanhedrin were present.➡ Cases were to be tried only in the council's regular meeting place. ➡ The accused person was not to be asked self-incriminating questions.➡ The charge and verdict was later switched from blasphemy to sedition.

Mark 15:21-47

21-23Three short comments which may seem trivial to us, but say something significant both about the nature of Jesus’ death, and provide some evidence for those who may be challenged about the historicity of these events.Simon of Cyrene. The detailed identification indicates that SImon and his family were most likely Christians, and were alive at the time of writing and able to bear witness to these events. It would be hard to imagine that Simon’s life did not change in some way after this experience! If he had heard Jesus’ teaching, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Mark 8:34) this would have hit home to him, as he experience some of the pain and shame associated with this call, especially since many of the crowd who didn’t see the swap would assume that he was to be crucified. (Interestingly, 600 years later the religion of Islam emerged, and taught that it was not Jesus who was crucified, but someone who looked like him.)The ‘place of the skull’. Another detail that verifies the authenticity of the report. Not only does the name of this place convey a significance - then as now the skull represents death; but it’s location is of significance, simply in that it is outside the city:

...the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. (Hebrews 13:11-13)

The sacrificed animal in a sin offering had become unclean by virtue of the offerer’s sin being transferred to it. (Exodus 29:14) To be crucified outside the city spoke of being unclean, under God’s curse, cut off from the community of God’s people. Jesus became a curse for us, that we may have the curse removed from us and come back into God’s favour.Wine mixed with myrrh. Crucifixion victims would be given this mixture, which was essentially a crude narcotic or analgesic. Most likely it was provided by locals, not the Romans; the Romans probably allowed it because their main aim in crucifixion was not torture as much as humiliation and intimidation. People were crucified publicly, and often took up to two days to die. Sometimes their dead bodies would be left to rot and be eaten by vultures, and in this the Romans communicated to the public: ‘Resist the power of Rome, and this will happen to you!’Jesus rejects the drug. He goes into this with his eyes open and his senses about him. He fully understands what he is doing, right to his last breath, and he has no desire to be numbed or partially conscious. He is doing this ‘for the joy set before him’, and in loving obedience to the Father; right to the very last this is an act of his will.24-32The humiliation motif continues as he is crucified. As he hangs there he sees the trivialising of his death by the soldiers as they gamble for his clothes. (See Psalm 22:18)The sign - the charge for which they were condemned was normally attached to a victim’s cross. Consider the irony of a bloody, crucified dying man with the sign ‘King of the Jews’. What kind of king is he if he cannot defend himself? The reality is not that he could not defend himself, but he chose not to. He had the command of all the angels of heaven, yet he instead allowed himself to be conquered.The two criminals. Modern translations leave out verse 28 due to a strong likelihood that it was not in the original manuscript of the Gospel: “So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors." Whether or not this verse is authentic, what is says is true in highlighting the significance of this. We saw last time that Jesus took Barabbas’ physical place, being crucified on the cross intended for Barabbas, and that these two men would have been Barabbas’ accomplices. Anyone who didn’t know Jesus would have assumed him to be just another common criminal; a fool who had challenged Rome.Mocking. Jesus hangs here as a man rejected, despised and reviled by all. The romans, the Jews, the passers by, and even those crucified with him. This is the climax not only of Jesus’ life, but of the entire history of human rebellion. He has come as the saviour for all people, and the entire human race for whom he came rejects him.33-39


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Psalm 22:1-18 - Some suggest Jesus quoted the first line of this Psalm in order to make people think of the whole Psalm. R.C. Sproul: ‘I don’t think Jesus was in a Bible-quoting mood!’. Jesus says this because it is true. This is not the one moment that he is abandoned by God; all that has led to this point, beginning from the Garden - his betrayal, abandonment, false trial, mocking, beating and crucifixion are all symptoms of a person who has been abandoned by God. They are all the things we deserve a people who have sinned against God, and here is God’s beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, hanging there in our place, as a curse for us.Psalm 22:19-31 - In the midst of his suffering the Psalmist knows the faithfulness of God. Jesus has gone to the cross knowing he is accomplishing something. Mark 15:38 - the temple veil is torn - access to God’s Holy place is now made, and this room where atonement was made each year on the day of atonement is now obsolete, as a once for all atonement has been made.‘All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.’ (27) The first response to the death of Jesus is the Centurion. The man in charge of the execution, most likely the one doing the humiliating earlier. ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’ (Mark 15:39) God is in the business of reconciling enemies to himself. The Centurion was the first of millions of which Psalm 22:31 speaks: ‘...they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.!’


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David’s suffering foreshadows Jesus’ sufferingDavid’s suffering foreshadows Jesus’ sufferingDavid’s suffering foreshadows Jesus’ sufferingDavid’s suffering foreshadows Jesus’ sufferingDavid’s suffering foreshadows Jesus’ sufferingDavid’s suffering foreshadows Jesus’ sufferingPsalm 22Psalm 22Psalm 22 Mark 15Mark 15Mark 15

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?""My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 34

7All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag

their headsAll who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag

their headsthose who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and

saying, “Aha!those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and

saying, “Aha! 29

8 “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

“Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe.”

32

15my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to

my jawsmy strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to

my jawssomeone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a

reed and gave it to him to drink,someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a

reed and gave it to him to drink, 36

15 you lay me in the dust of deathyou lay me in the dust of death Joseph...laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock.Joseph...laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. 46

16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles meFor dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one anotherthe chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another 31

16 they have pierced my hands and feet they have pierced my hands and feet they crucified himthey crucified him 24

18they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they

cast lots.they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they

cast lots. they... divided his garments among them, casting lots for them,

to decide what each should take. they... divided his garments among them, casting lots for them,

to decide what each should take. 24

27 31

all the families of the nations shall worship before you... they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet

unborn, that he has done it.

all the families of the nations shall worship before you... they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet

unborn, that he has done it.

when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of

God!”

when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of

God!” 39

Mark 16:1-8(Why end at verse 8?)9-20 does not appear in the earliest, most reliable copies of Mark that we have, which is why many versions have it as a separated section. It probably indicates that it was not part of the original Gospel. The court is still out on this, and Christians have different views on whether it should be considered as 1. Truly Mark’s ending, 2. Not Mark’s ending, but still fully scripture, 3. Not Mark’s ending, and not fully authoritative (yet indicative of the early church’s teaching).15:40-47 Some details that support the historicity of the events (eyewitnesses, both women and a member of the Jewish council), highlighting that Jesus was truly dead (‘dead’ used 3 times in vss 44-45). There could be no claim that Jesus had simply fainted (‘swoon theory’) and had revived in the cool tomb, or that the women mistakenly went to the wrong tomb on Sunday morning.)1-4Time had run out on Friday to give Jesus a proper burial. Touching a dead body would make a person unclean for 7 days (Leviticus 19:11), however the only exemption to this was if the passover fell during this time of uncleanness, in which case they were required to keep the Passover regardless (Numbers 9:10) So it was probably simply the Sabbath regulations against working - including preparing a body for burial - that made them wait for their next opportunity, Sunday morning.This was not embalming. The only record of a Hebrew being embalmed in the Bible is Joseph, who at the time of his death was an Egyptian official. The standard Jewish custom was to bury the dead as soon as possible, on the same day as death if possible. However the period of mourning was 7 days, and often the mourning was performed at or even in the tomb. Quite likely the practice of covering the body with spices and perfumed ointments was simply a way of masking the smell of death as the body began to decompose (Lazarus (John 11) was already stinky after 4 days) So, these women were going to commence this mourning process, starting with anointing the body.5-7Just as Mark gives a concise description of Jesus’ death, so he give a concise description of the resurrection. He is not concerned so much with the how, but the simple fact. None of the Gospels give us a statement on the meaning or reason for the resurrection; it is assumed that this is obvious: Jesus is the Son of God, of whom the Father says, ‘This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased’; God’s chosen and anointed King who does nothing but what pleases the Father, to his dying breath. The wages of sin is death (and all have sinned, therefore all die), but also God promises to vindicate the righteous and reward them with life. The Psalmist (Psalm 16:10) (quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost) says, ‘You will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your holy one see corruption.’ Because Jesus’ sacrifice was the culmination of all Jesus did in his God-pleasing life, the Father’s response to this action is to declare Him to be the Son of God and King by raising him from the dead.8To us this may not seem like a very satisfying conclusion, especially as we are used to Hollywood movies that end with a moving speech, a song and the hero riding off into the sunset. However Mark, in his succinct way, is simply stating the facts, and the way he does has a ring of authenticity about it. If someone were inventing the story of the resurrection, and making it the lynchpin of their whole religion (ie. without the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus, the whole of Christianity is pointless), we would expect them to embellish the story to make it believable. Instead Mark records the authentic response of the women.How would you respond after a traumatic weekend of seeing Jesus tortured and killed, and expecting to find his body in the tomb, but instead encountering an angel who tells you he is alive? Would you immediately believe, or would it take a while for the reality of it to sink in? This was not just one miracle - the last in a long list of 3 years worth of miracles. Jesus’ resurrection means not merely that the man Jesus is alive again against all odds. It marks the start of a cataclysmic, history making, destiny forming, earth shattering reality of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and the resurrection not just of one man but of the entirety of humanity, which will in turn mean a total renewal and liberation of the entire universe. The enormity of this had gripped them, and according to the NIV their response was, ‘trembling’, ‘bewilderment’ and ‘fear’ - three word which have almost wholly negative connotations for us. The word translated ‘bewildered’ is ‘ekstasis’ - ‘ecstasy’. ‘Fear’ is not terror, but extreme awe.


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And so their ‘trembling’ (‘tromos’) was not a disturbed trembling, but one of joyful anticipation, like a child may tremble as they stand before the Christmas tree on Christmas morning, or a contestant on X-Factor.‘They said nothing...’ obviously doesn’t mean ever, otherwise we would not have this account. Rather, it simply means they did not speak to anyone as they fled, as they had been commanded to report to the disciples.Marl ended his Gospel at this point possibly because of the purpose for which he wrote: it is thought that Mark was especially an ‘Evangelistic’ Gospel - ie written not for Christians but for non-Christians who had heard the Gospel proclamation of the crucified, risen, reigning Jesus, and wanted more background to the story. He leaves the ending somewhat open - as if to say, ‘What do you now make of all these events? What is your conclusion about Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of Man and the Son of God; who healed the sick, proclaimed the arrival of the Kingdom of God, and willingly laid down his life to be a ransom for sinners; who predicted both his death and his resurrection?One writer has suggested that Jesus, his miracles and the resurrection simply give us useful symbols to help reflect on the paradox of life and death. However Mark presents his account of Jesus as historical fact, with geographical and biographical references to confirm this. If the claim of Mark and the rest of the New Testament that Jesus literally rose form the dead is true, as well as the implications it gives for the hope of our own resurrection and the renewal of the entire universe, we ignore Jesus at our peril. So what is our response to the news of Jesus’ resurrection? It may be rattled off as one in a list of core Christian beliefs, and we may talk about it so often that we end up taking it for granted, and it no longer grips us with awe, ecstasy and trembling like it did the women. However we view verses 9-20, it is an indication that this reality of the resurrection captured the hearts and lives of the disciples, and that they were unable to contain the wonder of all God’s promises being fulfilled - being ‘Yes’ - in Jesus; what resulted was a revolutionary, world and history changing explosion of the Gospel going out to all nations. This is what we are a part of, and God calls us to continue to be part of this explosion.

9-14

It took a while for the reality of the resurrection to be believed. People believed only when they saw the risen Jesus (We normally pick on Thomas as the doubter who had to see to believe). 14 - Jesus is affirming that the testimony of the resurrection is adequate for us to believe. We do not have to have seen Jesus physically in order to know the reality of his resurrection and its significance for both us and the entire world.

15-18

What is the responsibility of those who know that Jesus is risen? Proclaim this Gospel in the whole world. Through the Gospel Jesus has been breaking down the existing divisions between clean & unclean, Jew & gentile, etc. There is now only one division in the human race: those who believe and those who don’t believe. Baptism is an outworking of saving faith, not a condition of salvation; it is the initial ‘public’ expression of a person’s faith in Jesus. (if baptism were necessary for salvation, he would have said, ‘whoever does not believe and is not baptised will be condemned’. In the climate of the 1st century, baptism meant taking a step from which there was no turning back. Being baptised could mean the rejection of your family, the loss of your job and livelihood, and even the loss of your life. It was not a flippant cultural ceremony like it can be today. It was a physical, whole person way of saying, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ Still today in some countries being baptised (or baptising others) is like signing your own death warrant.

The ‘signs that will accompany believers’. We see all but the poison drinking happening in the book of Acts, and there are many stories of this and other things happening throughout the history of the Gospel. They are signs of the kingdom of God breaking into this world. It is important to see that these things ‘accompany’ those who believe. We cannot make them happen, nor insist that if they don’t happen then we are not true believers (if we insist on one - eg tongues - then we must be consistent and insist on all.)


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bible talk notes on mark's gospel

Documents

jesus wil

mustard jesus

jesus christ

hypocrisy8 mark

obstacle11 mark

forgive4 mark

lifemw2 mark

realise9 mark