Jesus The Servant
Paul said, "Be imitators of God." In this book, we are about
to watch God in action as a man--God the Son--God himself
in action. If we can learn Christ, we can imitate God. As
you look upon Christ, learning him, you become sanctified.
There are four beginnings mentioned in the Bible. We know
that God created the angels, and that they are created beings.
God doesn't say when this was, but makes reference to it
in Ezekiel 28:12-17 in the creation and subsequent fall of
Lucifer. Three of these beginnings have to do with man:
The beginning of space and time, John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1.
The recreation of earth after the fall and subsequent destruction
of earth (often called the Gap Theory). (Isaiah 14:12-17
describes Lucifer's fall back to earth. The dinosaur age
contained a bio-system which was not conducive to man. This
was all mysteriously destroyed 65 million years ago. Jesus
remarks that he saw Satan fall like lightning to the earth.
Isaiah 14 describes Lucifer, now Satan trying to ascend to
heaven to throw God off his throne and being thrown back
to earth. Revelation 12:3-4 describes Satan drawing a third
of all the angels into his rebellion. It then describes a
second war in heaven, yet to come, in verses 7-9. This second
war must be very similar to the first, where we see Lucifer
being cast down to earth in Isaiah 14:12-14.) So we see that
Genesis 1:2-31 describes the re-creation of earth with a
bio-system adapted to man, and then the creation of man.
In Mark 1:1 we see another beginning, "the beginning of the
gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God."
Mark starts with the ministry of Jesus Christ. The main thrust
of the book of Mark is that Jesus is the servant of God.
There is more action in the book of Mark, more about Jesus'
actions than his words. The theme for the book: Jesus came
to serve. He came to push the plow and lay on the altar.
Mark 10:45. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." The
book of Mark is a fast moving gospel of miracles, power and
service. John Mark was a young boy when Jesus was around.
It is thought that he may have been writing from the knowledge
of Peter. Peter's words in Acts 10:34-43 correspond with
the account in Mark. As we read through the account in Mark,
look back from time to time and read Peter's account here
in Acts 10:34-43, which states, "Then Peter began to speak:
'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism
but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what
is right. You know the message God sent to the people of
Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ,
who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout
Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached--how
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,
and how he went around doing good and healing all who were
under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the
Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on
a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day
and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people,
but by witnesses whom God had already chosen--by us who ate
and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded
us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the
one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes
in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.'"
It is strongly suspected that John Mark made reference to
himself in Mark 14:51-52, which states, "A young man, wearing
nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they
seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind." This
was when the Romans and temple guard had seized Jesus at
night and were taking him to the high priest.
In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter calls Mark his son, obviously in a
spiritual sense. 1 Peter 5:13.
"She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you
her greetings, and so does my son Mark." Mark most likely
wrote the book in Rome around 50-70 A.D., his main audience
being Gentile. If you lost the book of Mark, all the information
in the book can be found in Matthew and Luke, so this is
probably the first gospel account written. Acts 12:5-12. "So
Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying
to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to
trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with
two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly
an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.
He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. 'Quick, get
up!' he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then
the angel said to him, 'Put on your clothes and sandals.'
And Peter did so. 'Wrap your cloak around you and follow
me,' the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison,
but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really
happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed
the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading
to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went
through it. When they had walked the length of one street,
suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and
said, 'Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his
angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything
the Jewish people were anticipating.'
When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary,
the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had
gathered and were praying."
So we see, John Mark's mother was a believer, and that many
had gathered to pray for Peter's release.
John Mark is a cousin of Barnabas, who was another apostle
(but not of the twelve). In Acts 12:25 we see John Mark was
part of a missionary team made up of Paul and Barnabas. "When
Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned
from [or to in some manuscripts] Jerusalem, taking
with them John, also called Mark." (Read Acts 13:2-5. John
Mark was their helper, as verse 5 states. This is Paul's
first missionary journey, and Barnabas and John Mark were
part of it. John Mark was invited to go along as an assistant.
For some reason John Mark turned around and deserted them
(verse 13). This created a split between John Mark and Paul
that wasn't healed for some time. For years Paul would not
trust him to accompany him, so Mark would accompany Barnabas.
But in 2 Timothy 4:11 we see there was a healing between
Paul and John Mark. "Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring
him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry."
Mark 1:1. "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ,
the Son of God." (NIV) "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God" (New King James Version). Most Americans
don't agree with the Christian perspective anymore. We now
are outnumbered. The situation is changing very quickly.
With the changing of a very few laws in our land our freedoms
as Christians could be gone, and we could become a persecuted
group. Our world no longer thinks the gospel is Good News.
Persecution is coming to the church. As real Christians we
are a very small minority now, even in America. [Nominal
Christians may abound Matthew 7:21-23.]
But this must be our attitude: Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed
of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile." The gospel is indeed Good News to those who receive
it. Simplistically the gospel of Christ is 'You are a sinner,
you need a savior and Jesus is your savior.'
Psalm 33:12. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance." We are no longer
going to be a great nation. But if you want to become like
God, stare at Jesus. You want to know what Jesus would do?
Read the book of Mark. Ephesians 6:19-20. "Pray also for
me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare
it fearlessly, as I should." We mustn't be ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, which leads people to salvation. There
is power in the gospel, "For in the gospel a righteousness
from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from
first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will
live by faith'" (Romans 1:17).
The gospel in action was good news to this man we're going
to read about. This man had all these demons in him, keeping
him a prisoner. Mark 5:1-20. "They went across the lake to
the region of the Gerasenes [Gadarenes]. When Jesus got out
of the boat, a man with an evil [Greek: unclean] spirit
came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs,
and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.
For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore
the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one
was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the
tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with
stones.
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his
knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice,
'What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
Swear to God that you won't torture me!' For Jesus had said
to him, 'Come out of this man, you evil spirit!'
Then Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?'
'My name is Legion,' he replied, 'for we are many.' And he
begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the
area.
A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
The demons begged Jesus, 'Send us among the pigs; allow us
to go into them. He gave them permission, and the evil spirits
came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand
in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were
drowned.
Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town
and countryside, and the people went out to see what had
happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had
been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed
and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had
seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed
man--and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began
to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been
demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let
him, but said, 'Go home to your family and tell them how
much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy
on you.' So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis
how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were
amazed."
How do you serve God, with joy, or grudgingly? Your heart
is important. Mark focuses on Jesus the Servant. Mark 10:45. "For
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give his life as a ransom for many." Malachi 3:14-15. "You
have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by
carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners
before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed.
Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge
God escape." God through Malachi was trying to deal with
this problem. There is no blessing in heartless service.
A true servant serves because he or she loves God. It is
out of love. Psalm 100:2. "Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing." It is our duty to
serve God--serving with gladness.
Jesus gets into this subject when his disciples got into
a dispute about which would be the greatest. Mark 10:42-45. "Jesus
called them together and said, 'You know that those who are
regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and
their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so
with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you
must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must
be slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark starts out with the ministry of John the Baptist. Mark
1:1-8, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: 'I will
send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way'
--[Mal. 3:1], 'a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare
the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him'' [Isaiah
40:3]. And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of
Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were
baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made
of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and
he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message:
'After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs
of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
I baptize you with [or in] water, but he will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit.'" John was submissive, humbly
obedient to God, exhibiting the quality of a servant of God.
Mark quoted Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 here to describe
John's ministry. John is a radical in the eyes of the Jews.
He lives isolated, alone, separated from society. He wore
clothes that were different from what those in society wore.
He was wearing the type clothes Elijah the Tishbite wore.
He was called to be separate. He came with a very bold message--calling
people to repentance in preparation for the gospel. Repentance
meant not just sorrow for your sins, but coming out of them.
It was a very radical thing John was doing, calling people
to repentance and baptism. He drew them to the Jordan, a
wilderness area--a symbol of separating themselves from the
world and it's society.
In verse 4 it states,
"for the remission of sin." The Greek word used for for = with
reference to. i.e. with reference to the remission of
sins. This is because the baptism of Jesus, his death, burial
and resurrection hadn't taken place yet. This baptism was forward looking,
to the sacrifice that would pay for the sins of the world.
Some scholars say John baptized as many as 300,000 people.
In John 3:30 John the Baptist states, "He must become greater;
I must become less." John wasn't offended when signs of the
end of his ministry started to appear. That's the true heart
of a servant--that Jesus would increase and that John would
decrease. We should want Jesus to increase in our lives and
that our own selves should decrease. This is a very deep
thing that will end up going deeper and deeper into our wills.
This always involves some dying of our own wills and desires
in our own lives. "He must become greater; I must become
less." There is an infinite God who desires to become greater
in us. "May I decrease, may you increase (in me)" should
be in our prayers daily.
Verse 8, "I baptize you with water, but he will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit." Mark was talking of the baptism
of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Jesus came and
the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ. There
is a specific baptism or filling of us in the Holy Spirit
to ministry that goes far beyond the initial receiving of
God's Holy Spirit in our lives at conversion or being born-again.
The book They Found the Secret by V. Raymond Edman
[available from http://www.amazon.com ] details this baptism
of the Holy Spirit for ministry. Jesus refers to this ministry
work the Holy Spirit will do in Christians in Acts 1:5-8, "So
when they met together, they asked him, 'Lord, are you at
this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said
to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the
Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes on [NKJs: upon] you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'" [Some believe
the apostles had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them before
Acts 2, and that Acts 2 describes a further empowerment of
the Holy Spirit for ministry. This could be true. There are
indications in Scripture that indicate it could have been
so.] A true servant of God is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
[Refer to the section about D.L. Moody in the Ephesians link.]
Verses 9-11, "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in
Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus
was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn
open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a
voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with
you I am well pleased.'" This baptism of Jesus, although
he was sinless, was placing himself amongst sinners as a
symbol of his coming to save sinners, covering their sins
in his own death, burial and resurrection--which baptism
symbolizes. Jesus said in Luke 11:11-13, "So I say to you:
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who
asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son
asks for a fish will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks
for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though
you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?"
Seek God for a greater work of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Between verses 13 and 14 of Mark 1 is a time omission of
about a year. The events which are missing are depicted in
John chapters 2-3. The territory of Galilee was Herod's territory.
Jesus started preaching boldly, moving into the danger zone.
In verses 16-20 Jesus called his disciples. We see that a
true servant of God abandons all to serve God. Luke 9:23-24. "Then
he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for me will save it."
Verses 14-20, "After John was put in prison, Jesus went
into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God [New King
James Version: preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God ]. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of
God is near.' Repent and believe the good news!' As Jesus
walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother
Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers
of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him. When
he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee
and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without
delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee
in the boat with the hired men and followed him."
The Book of Mark
Mark 1:21-45
What is our definition of a servant of God?
A servant of God is submissive to God.
A servant of God is empowered by the Holy Spirit,
A servant of God is resistant to evil, sin.
A servant of God is voracious for the Truth, God's Word.
A servant of God is one who abandons all for God.
A servant of God is one who is noticed, especially by
the demon world. A servant is also noticed by
the needy.
A servant of God is taught by God.
Add all the letters up that start these words, submissive,
empowered, resistant, voracious, abandons, noticed and taught, and
that spells servant.
Verses 21-28, "They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath
came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The
people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them
as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an
evil spirit [demon] cried out, 'What do you want with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are--the Holy One of God!' 'Be quiet!' said Jesus sternly.
'Come out of him!' The evil spirit shook the man violently
and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so
amazed that they asked each other, 'What is this? A new teaching--and
with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and
they obey him.' News about him spread quickly over the whole
region of Galilee." [The Sabbath-keeping Churches of God use this as one of their proof texts for believing the Sabbath command has not been abrogated or transferred to Sunday. To learn why, log onto:
http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm ]
The ruins of a 4th Century synagogue has been
found in Capernaum. The foundation stones date to Christ's
time! Probably was this synagogue. Synagogues didn't have
any set Rabbi. Rabbi's who preached at synagogues were usually
just passing through town. Most Rabbi's would only teach
what they had heard other higher ranking Rabbi's teach. So
they taught without much conviction. Then Jesus came in and
taught with the authority of very God. He taught with such
great authority and power that it struck like a bolt of lightning.
The presence of Jesus caused this demon to cringe in abject
fear. This demon literally freaked out! After Jesus
cast this demon out, everyone really started to question
and notice. But a servant of God, as we see here, is especially
noticed by the demonic world. The more Jesus is in your life,
the more the demonic world takes notice. If everything is
going smoothly, think about it. Are you on the path of light?
The more Jesus is in you, the more the enemy will attack
you. But God is doing a good work in those who find themselves
in this boat.
Verses 29-31, "As soon as they left the synagogue, they
went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew.
Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told
Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped
her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them." We
see here that the apostle Peter was married. His mother-in-law
was healed by Jesus and then she started to serve in gratitude.
The response of Jesus' healing is to serve Him. As Jesus
heals us our desire should be to serve. Husbands and wives,
give Jesus more room to serve in your family. Verses 32-34, "That
evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the
sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the
door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He
also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons
speak because they knew who he was." After sundown, Jesus
was still serving, still giving, tirelessly. The needy had
come, the demon-possessed--the real down and outers around
Capernaum. Jesus had been going all day long. These were
people no one wanted to be around. His fame had gone all
around town. Now as they showed up he rolled up his sleeves
and started healing all these people. You see here the depth
of his compassion. Now it's late at night, and he's still
serving and ministering to others. No one will ever come
to Jesus or the Father and see he's too distracted or tired
to deal with you. A true servant of God is compassionate,
not trying to avoid others in need. Pray God just open your
heart with love and compassion for others. Here's another
point, a servant of God is noticed by the needy. When
Jesus is there, the needy will notice and come.
Verses 35-39,
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus
got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place,
where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look
for him, and when they found him they exclaimed: 'Everyone
is looking for you!' Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere
else--to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also.
That is why I have come.' So he traveled throughout Galilee,
preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons." After
this late night, the Greek implies Jesus got up around
the last watch, which starts at 3 a.m. in the morning,
to pray to the Father. Peter came looking for him saying
that many had been stirred up in Capernaum and were looking
for him, but Jesus said that he had to go to the other
nearby villages so he could preach there also. Verses
40-45, "A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on
his knees, 'If you are willing, you can make me clean.'
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and
touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately
the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away
at once with a strong warning: 'See that you don't tell
this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and
offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing,
as a testimony to them.' Instead he went out and began
to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus
could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside
in the lonely places. Yet the people still came to him
from everywhere." Here is a man with such a great need.
And Jesus heals him. Jesus pointedly tells him not to tell
anyone about what he had done. But this man couldn't keep
his mouth shut about how he was healed. But because this
guy didn't do what Jesus said, Jesus was hindered in his
intentions of going into any of the area towns to preach
the gospel. Jesus reached out and touched this leper in
great compassion. But as a result he was forced to go out
into the wilderness to preach, areas that would contain
the crowds, allowing him the space to preach to them in
an orderly manner. God is not a God of confusion, but of
order. He wants a degree of control of what's done in his
name.
Mark 1:40-45 and Mark 2:1-12
This is a transcription of two sermons given by Pastor
Al Ebeling, pastor of the Waltham congregation of the Worldwide
Church of God, given on 12 & 19 February 2000.
Mark 1:40-45. "A man with leprosy came to him and begged
him on his knees, 'If you are willing, you can make me clean.'
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched
the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately
the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 'See that
you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the
priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for
your cleansing, as a testimony to them.' Instead he went
out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result,
Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside
in the lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from
everywhere." This is quite a powerful story here in the pages
of Mark, one that catches our sensitivity and emotions. This
Scripture is talking about a couple different things. Leprosy
and healing. This account brings to mind a story that is
somewhat parallel to this in the book of 2 Kings 5:1-15.
This is the story and account of Naaman. He was the commanding
general of the Syrian army, and he had leprosy. One of his
wife's servants was a Hebrew and Naaman's wife through talking
with this servant came to the realization that God could
intervene for Naaman and heal him of his leprosy. This account
goes well beyond what we're going to talk about in the book
of Mark, but it is similar in many ways. Naaman, at first,
didn't believe Elijah's instructions about going into the
Jordan 7 times would bring about his healing. He thought
it was a bunch of bunk, so he stormed off. [Eventually he
followed Elijah's instructions and was healed by God, right
after he did.] Now there's a description of the type of leprosy
in this magazine I'd like to read to you, the type of leprosy
that Naaman had. "Naaman suffered from a disease traditionally
designated leprosy. The range of the Hebrew word, which includes
conditions of effecting clothing (which is from Leviticus
13) and buildings (from Leviticus 14). You know the clothing
couldn't come in contact with anyone else. If a leper went
into a certain building, no one else could go into that building.
So the range of the Hebrew word makes it clear that the word
denotes more than Hansen's disease, which is Hansen's disease,
which is the modern terminology for leprosy, which is caused
by the micro-bacterium lepri-baccilus and effects humans
exclusively. So this particular disease is only known to
humans. Naaman may have been suffering from, in addition
to Hansen's disease, lupus, scoriasis, small pox, skin cancer,
vertigo or a nutritional deficiency such as polagra, etc.
And so here Naaman is a hurting guy. No matter how you look
at his particular health situation, he was hurting. Finally,
probably in utter fatigue he goes and dips himself seven
times in the river and comes out clean. He doubted initially
that he could be healed. Especially, he doubted that it could
be that simple. He would rather have seen some waving arms,
some chants, maybe a few sacrifices here and there, maybe
some gold or silver offered to idols, anything but what was
required, and that was faith, of simply going into the river
7 times. It is curious how this leper in Mark 1:40-45 approaches
Christ, and he simply says to Jesus, "If you are willing,
you can make me clean." Jesus didn't wave his arms, he didn't
chant, he didn't offer sacrifices, he didn't do any of those
things. What Jesus did was he just tenderly and lovingly
reached down and he touched the leper. Jesus did the unthinkable
thing. He touched something unclean, only to make it clean.
Jesus put himself at risk by touching something so unclean
that it was anathema to society. And his loving care and
his grace extended healing.
You know, ironically enough, the verse here, verse 41, that
says, "Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand",
that particular phrase among scholars today is argued. There
are some who say that rather, that translation should be "Filled
with anger" instead of "filled with compassion"--"with anger" Jesus
reaches out and touches that individual. And the reasoning
is, they believe this, because the tone Jesus uses when he's
sending the leper off. When he says, "Now don't go and tell
anyone what I've told you--don't tell anyone who you see
what I did for you." And their thinking is that Jesus is
so upset with the way humanity has to live, that his anger
came to the surface rather than his compassion. But nonetheless,
his strong warning, because of what he did to the leper,
Jesus had to alter his ministry, and wasn't able to just
walk into a community from that point forward. Without, it
says, throngs, multitudes of people waiting for him to enter
that city so that they could be healed. And I'll tell you
what, brethren, today if there was one person, two, three
or more people, that could walk anywhere and all they had
to do is touch you and you would be healed, you couldn't
keep people away. People would come to that individual by
the scores. Jesus knew that. And he asked the man not to
tell anyone. But, for whatever reason, the leper didn't heed
that advice, but rather went and told everyone.
Now I want to change gears. When Jesus came here to earth,
he did so because he had something to tell us. He came with
a purpose. He came with authority. And as a result of the
authority that was given him to come here, he spoke with
authority. He lived with authority. He was God. But more
than that he was God in the flesh. And when Jesus walked
this earth during his earthly ministry he effected people's
lives. Their lives were never the same as a result of an
encounter with him. And I want to ask us that same question.
Are our lives any different because we know Jesus Christ
than if we didn't know Jesus Christ? Are our lives different?
Many people listened to what Jesus had to say. They even
sensed his power. They even sensed his authority in everything
that he said. But even though they did, they did not necessarily
believe what he said. They liked what he said. They appreciated
what he said. They reaped the benefit in some instances of
what he said and did for them. But did they believe him?
You know, the point is, Jesus' word produces results. All
he has to do is say something and there are results. There's
never not a result. You and I have the responsibility to
bear, or as bearers of his Word to make sure that this Word
is heard among a society that doesn't want to listen. Now,
what society do we live in? Many people today suffer from
something called loneliness. And I know you can relate to
it. I know without a doubt you can relate to it. I can relate
to it. You don't have to be a certain type of person to relate
to loneliness. If I were to ask for a show of hands of people
in this room, right now, in this room who are or who have
experienced loneliness I venture to say that we would all
raise our hands. I venture to say that, that we have either
experienced it or are involved with it. But more than that,
some of us live in loneliness. Some of us live in loneliness.
And we can sight various reasons as to why we do. The society
that we live in today, the mechanized society by many instances
lives by computers, where we're isolated at work from any
other human beings because we're on our computer. We're isolated
at home for the same reason at times. We have beepers in
our possession to be in touch with people, we have pagers
to find where someone is. There's a certain degree of loneliness
that can be involved in that. There's also the lonely feeling
of being abandoned by a mother, by a father, by a spouse
[ouch!], and that in turn creates an empty spot in our hearts.
Human situations like divorce, disease, or deformity also
separate us from society. Some of us experience isolation
and rejection from others, as though we're not accepted--we
don't fit in--and so we withdraw. And we also can experience
death, the death of a spouse, death of a child, death of
a parent. Either of those can catapult us into loneliness
that almost seems inescapable. This past week I talked to
my sister who is just a few years older than me. And she
just found out that she has a blockage to her heart. She's
going to have to have some surgery. And in talking with her,
she said, "You know, I've come to a realization." I said, "What
is that?" And she said, "Life is too short." And I said, "Well,
I agree with you there. Is there anything I can do for you?" And
she said, "Just something that you're already doing." And
I said, "What's that?" And she said, "Keep praying for me." Loneliness
is a painful existence. Any one of us can find ourselves
in it for awhile. As we examine the life of this leper, we
find that loneliness is a way of life with lepers. It's a
way of life. This passage includes a lot of information.
But between the lines of this man with leprosy coming to
him and begging on his knees and saying "If you're willing
you can heal me", between the lines there we can realize
that this leper lived a lonely life. He didn't wake up in
the morning and go to work and get that simple pat on the
back from someone. He couldn't look forward to a handshake
by someone who is able to touch. He couldn't look forward
to the warm embrace of a friend or even family, emotions
that you see were missing from his life as a leper. He was
excluded from society, from all corners. He couldn't wake
up or look forward to a hug from his wife, or his child,
or his family. You see, we touch one another every day, not
physically sometimes, but just by being around people we're
touched by people. You know that studies have shown that
newborn babies who even if they're provided food and drink,
but are minus human touch will die. That's sad. When we experience
an event that isolates us, there is no doubt that we go through
many, many emotions. Some of them being anger, denial, hatred,
bitterness. They're all emotions that you and I go through
when we experience loneliness. Can you imagine what it would
have been like five or ten years before we were introduced
to this leper? What was it like in his life before he came
to Jesus? Can you imagine the very first days when he began
to get those little signs that leprosy was within his own
frame, where he began to realize that these sores that were
appearing on his skin weren't going away? And that there
was definitely something wrong with him, something wrong
that he didn't want to face. Eventually these sores would
break open and bleed and cause all kinds of difficulty for
him healthwise. You can imagine living with his fear, the
torment that he was going through, and the apprehension as
he looked at what the future was going to hold for him. Imagine
what it must have been like for him the first time his own
child must have said, "I can't touch you, Dad. You're unclean." That
was the law. What was to follow was a life of banishment,
a life of banishment, of isolation, a life without that familiar
touch from someone like a wife, a child, a brother or sister,
a friend, a neighbor--a life of others constantly staying
away from you. Mothers, as he walked down the street, would
grab their children, to keep them away from him. People would
suddenly turn around and walk the other way. Each day this
man would have to cover his skin to keep the sores isolated.
And then finally the day came when he would have to go to
the High Priest. And he knew what the High Priest was going
to say. The High Priest was going to declare him unclean,
and banish him from living within society. And his life of
isolation and loneliness would be heightened. Now while we
don't have leper colonies today, we still do build walls
around us, and often times we are stuck behind them. If you
are not the run-of-the-mill, the normal, the traditional,
you often wear a label. You might be a drunk, or your parents
might be divorced, or you are divorced. You may be handicapped,
and often if you're deaf you're labeled as dumb, stupid.
You may be crippled, you may have cancer. Sadly our attitudes
sometimes say "We have places that we can put people that
are in this condition. And we don't have to deal with them." "There
are others that will deal with them." Many of these type
of individuals live in voluntary exile, knowing that they
are going to be isolated from society and certainly often
are. And they don't term themselves normal anymore. Then
there are those who are marginalized by society--those considered
the outcasts of the world. It seems as though these are the
people that Jesus was drawn to, those outcasts, those people
who were kind of pushed to the side by society. That's who
Jesus came to. That's who Jesus said "I am here for you." And
yet those considered normal are repulsed by these outcasts,
repulsed by this type of person. If we honestly examine the
message of Jesus we come to realize that he came specifically
to the marginalized people of society. If you'll turn with
me to Luke chapter 4 I'm going to read verses 17 through
19 where Jesus says:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has annointed
me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Jesus said that he came to those people--all the outcasts,
all the misfits, all the geeks that came to him. There is
not one person that would want to associate themselves with
a group like this. People with money often don't want to
be around people who are poor. Those that are criminals we
want as far away from us as possible. Don't we have institutions
for the blind? Most of society can't be bothered, at least
until it happens to you or somebody you know. And then perhaps
your interest may be peaked. When we begin to think in physical
terms we make a serious mistake. I want to say that again.
When we begin to think in physical terms we make a serious
mistake, and we prevent the full understanding of grace and
it's effects on our minds and hearts. Most of us grow up
with the "be good and you'll be rewarded" mentality. I can't
tell you how many times I heard my parents say that one over
the years. You know "If you're good, good things will happen
to you." "Pick up your room and you won't get in trouble." "Do
this and that will happen." And I find myself sometimes saying
the same things. And I'm misrepresenting something that God
so much wants to demonstrate to us as human beings. "Be good
and you go to heaven." How often have we heard that? We relate
this concept to the idea that if we receive physical blessings,
then God must be happy with us. And if we don't receive physical
blessings, then God must be upset with us. How many times
have we thought or felt that way? How many times did this
leper look up into the sky and say "Why me?!?" How many times
have you and I shouted the very same words, because we're
looking at our physical predicament, and we just can't figure
it out. This is not a New Testament teaching. Christians
make a mistake when they equate their physical stature in
life with God's grace. Jesus pronounced very boldly, as he
often did because he had authority, that the age of grace
was upon human-kind. That's what he said, that's what he
pronounced. In fact, he said, "The year of the Lord's favor
is here." That's what he said, referring to the age in which
would be known as the Messianic Age. Jesus Christ came and
demonstrated by his power, by his healing, physically to
show what the eye cannot typically see, that humanity itself
needs the spiritual healing touch of Jesus Christ--the touch
that heals more than the body, more than the limbs--that
reaches inside and it touches our hearts and our souls. When
we look at this particular account of the leper, or the woman
who was taken in adultery [John 8], Jesus' grace was not
limited to "good people." Jesus reached out to the "bad people" and
extended them grace [unmerited pardon] without any hesitation.
In fact, when the young man came to him and said "Jesus,
what good things must I do to receive eternal life?", the
response that Jesus gave him was the keeping of the commandments
was not sufficient for eternal life. He
pointed out that a complete abandonment of what this life
offers, and that an intimate relationship with him--that
is Jesus--was what was necessary for eternal life. He
said, "Unless you are willing to leave everything and come
and follow me," the very same thing he said to the fishermen,
the very same thing he says to you and me. Can you give up
physical for spiritual? That's a very hard thing to give
up, isn't it? That's a very hard thing to look at, that's
a very hard reality to come to. And it's a mistake for
Christians to view the physical condition of people, or their
financial status as having anything to do with blessings
or cursings. I know so many times someone will say to
me "I can't understand why that person is blessed." "They
don't go to church, they don't do this"--and what they're
saying is--"I go to church, I pay my tithes or my offerings,
I do all these things. Why is it not happening to me?" What
are they looking at? What am I looking at? What can I say
to someone like that? You know, I know the success of life
is upon Jesus Christ. That person doesn't. Will they have
to be taught it? Yeah. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal
savior. I know that I have been saved as a result of his
extending to me unmerited grace. I know that. And so many
times we forget it. We do no live under the old covenant,
a covenant that was done so long ago that people forgot that
Christ came. That was "the age of blessings and cursings." But
we now live in the time of grace, the time of grace, where
we have received every spiritual blessing. Let's turn to
Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians 1:3, "Praise be to the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in
the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Every
blessing we have is in Christ. Being in Christ has nothing
to do with our behavior but with the finished work of Christ
on the cross, and his gracious extension of eternal life
to all of us, to all of us.
This leper represents the ultimate outcast. The person in
society that no one wants. In your mind's eye conjure up
a person that no one wants, and it's represented by this
account of the leper. He's an outcast, who didn't accept
his condition, but believed that there was to be a restoration
and redemption. He believed, as an outcast, someone put down
by society, that he could be healed. That's the dichotomy
of this little story. Christ is what every jot and tittle
of the Old Testament pointed to, every one. He is the fulfillment,
and is more than sufficient to save us, to heal us, and to
touch us. God touches us. His sufficiency extends beyond
salvation to being righteousness for us. You know it's funny
because we are called God's workmanship. Every law of the
old covenant, every Holy Day, every prophecy pointed to the
Messiah, and the age of grace that only he could bring, and
only he could fulfill.
In preparation for his encounter with Jesus Christ this leper
had to go on a specific route. He had to go on the route
that would prepare him to be an outcast so he could be accepted
by Christ. It's not an easy route, is it? It's a route though
that we all walk if we want to be accepted by Christ, because
we have to realize that society is without him. When Christ
came over the hill that day the leper jumped out. Let's turn
back to Mark 1. The leper jumped out, and begged him on his
knees. He could not walk along as normal people do and talk
to Christ. He could not be counted among those that easily
blend in with the crowd. You know, this leper had to strategically
position himself so that he could have an encounter with
Christ. And so he waited. And when Christ came over the hill
the leper jumped out. You see, if you're an outcast, you
don't have to worry about much do you? [tape reversal missed
some]...
...[To] my sister-in-law that I would be praying for, I said, "I'll
get on my knees and pray for you." And she said,
"You don't have to pray on your knees!" I said, "You're right.
I could pray standing up, lying down, sideways, anyway." And
maybe you pray a lot of different ways too. There's probably
some pretty extreme ways that we found ourselves praying
but whatever it is that you do, whatever it is that you pray
each week, I want you to open your heart and ask him to show
you how you can reach out and touch someone else, even if
it is only one person, that's a person who needed to be touched.
And as we drive away and as we drive home this afternoon,
I want you to look at people you pass along the road and
ask yourself, "Do I want to be that person, or am I glad
that God is using me?"
Because God is glad he is using you. There is no one else
that God will use in your situation than you.
Let's pray. "Eternal God, we thank you so much for opening
our eyes and our hearts. We ask Father that as we look at
ourselves this coming week that we are able to see you in
more dramatic ways than ever before. We ask that you help
us to see those who are hurting and lonely, those who, Father,
need your assurance and need your touch. It's not easy to
overcome loneliness, but Father we know that you can make
it happen. We have to come to you when we're lonely. We have
to come to you when we're hurting. We have to come to you
when we're isolated. We have to come to you and ask you Father
to help us. And you said that you would, and we thank you.
And we ask for your will to be done in our lives. And so
Father we here collectively thank you for all that you do
for us. And we ask for your inspiration and guidance, for
your blessings, and Father for your will to be done. Help
us to be able to touch those who are out in this world, Father,
needing to be given that hope that we have, that's a part
of us because your Son lives in us. We thank you Father for
your Son Jesus Christ. Amen."
"Friends and Faith"
Mark 2:1-12
Mark 2:1-12. "A few days later when Jesus again entered
Capernaum the people heard that he had come home. So many
gathered that there was no room left, not even outside
the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came,
bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since
they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they
made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging
through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying
on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son,
your sins are forgiven."
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking
to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's
blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they
were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why
are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to
the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get
up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...."He
said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat
and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full
view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,
saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'"
Quite an interesting account here in the pages of Mark. Many
times people want to know by whose authority am I preaching.
Someone said to me recently, "What authority do you have
to say those things to me?" Now, while I'm not taken aback
by some questions, because I realize that sometimes people
just want to know the truth. Sometimes people like to put
you on the spot as they did with Jesus, so it's nothing new.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say "I
don't like the way the church is organized now. In fact,
I don't trust anything that any man does under the
name of religion." Well, brethren, let me tell you something.
It's God the Father who is our authority, period. No matter
what we do in this life, no matter what line of work we're
in, no matter what type of background we have, no matter
what race or culture we are or come from, it is God the Father
who is our authority--God the Father. Now while that may
sound simple enough, it's not understood readily, is it?
In today's gospel message we focus on that very same principle,
the principle of authority. It is only God who has authority.
And he extends that authority to Jesus Christ. Jesus seemed
to provoke, almost deliberately, the teachers of the law,
by saying to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." And
as a result this required them to look at the issue of authority
from which Jesus spoke. Now this particular lesson in Mark
2 focuses on a number of things. It focuses on the divinity
and authority of Jesus Christ. Mark quotes Jesus as saying "Your
sins are forgiven." And we just sang a hymn--what was that
hymn we sang this morning? It dawned on me when we were singing
this, I read the subtitle where the Scripture it says under "Cleanse
me" "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness." And here Jesus said "Your sins
are forgiven" to this paralytic man. In the time of Christ,
and all of the time before Jesus Christ, and all of the time
after Jesus Christ, it is agreed that only God can forgive
sin. Only God can do that. One would have to wonder then
if Jesus was almost baiting those teachers of the law who
were within earshot, because the Scripture does tell us they
were nearby and were listening to what Jesus was saying.
We wonder if Jesus was saying something by his statement
to address this very subject. And we know that the Jews of
his day were struck by that fact that Jesus spoke with authority--with
authority. Jesus didn't have to wonder what he was going
to say or say it and hope that they wouldn't be offended
by it. In fact, his authority allowed him to say things that
people would be offended by--religious people. It's not like
a lot of the lessons that other teachers of Jesus' day were
saying. This particular text is but a selection, one selection
of an account of Jesus that demonstrates the controversy
with which Jesus spoke and his words created in an already
established area of religion. And so what we find is that
Jesus speaking delivered controversy. He claimed, Jesus did,
to have the authority to forgive sins. That claim in and
of itself was one to ruffle the feathers of those that were
listening. He also claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. He
also claimed that he was the one who could heal, and he also
proclaimed that it was only by his authority over disease
could this example of healing take place. And he even healed
on the Sabbath day. I think by seeing how Jesus handles himself,
and the devotion that he had to his Father, we can understand
the piety that was associated with him and as a result us.
In order for us to receive the new wine that Jesus was bringing
we had to become new containers. We had to become new wineskins.
And so he proclaimed freedom to those whom he wanted to associate
with. We also see by this short account here in Mark 2 that
this particular text focuses on the authority that Jesus
had over sin and over disease. Jesus had authority over those
two elements. To the local people who were witnessing this,
this was a new thing. It was more than a new thing, it was
a shocking thing. Before their very eyes a paralytic man,
his sins were forgiven, and he was healed by someone of authority--someone
willing to take on the educated religious leaders that were
standing there nearby. What made it even more complicated
was that Jesus was just a regular man to them. Walking in
the flesh, yet claiming to have the authority of God--so
much so that he said he was able to forgive sin. He was able
to forgive sin. (We're going to talk about that in just a
moment.) And he was able to heal diseases. This isn't what
the vision that the Jews had of the Messiah was all about.
You see they envisioned the Messiah coming to overturn a
political system. They pictured the Messiah as bringing in,
ushering in an era of peace. They didn't envision the Messiah
coming to forgive sins, or to heal the sick, or to reach
out to the lonely. Rather, they looked at the restoration
of Israel and their national greatness. To complicate matters,
Jesus happened to be the son of unwed parents, the son of
a carpenter walking and claiming authority given to him by
his Father to forgive sins. This to many, was preposterous,
especially to the society, to the people and culture that
saw Jesus. They thought he was blaspheming because he was
proclaiming to possess authority. Jesus never stood behind
anything else other than his Father. And he boasted his Father's
authority in his ministry. Yet their judgment about Jesus
Christ was incorrect. Because he was God in the flesh. He
is God in the flesh [cf. John 1:1-11].
The title that I have for this sermon today is "Friends & Faith",
and I want to go through this account again with that little
bit of a background and look at what we have going on in
this particular account, because I think it's quite fascinating.
Mark chapter 2, "A few days later" verse 1, "Jesus again
enters Capernaum." Now we read last week where the man with
leprosy had fallen on his knees before Jesus and was healed
and Jesus asked him not to go and tell anyone. And so the
man, listening to Jesus, goes and tells everyone. And from
that point forward wherever Jesus went, the cities he entered
into, large throngs of people surrounded Jesus because they
wanted to be healed. And so a few days later when Jesus enters
Capernaum the people heard that he had come to them, or come
home. So many people gathered that there was no room left.
Now Capernaum was a small town. And yet it appears by these
simple words that were given here, that word of Jesus return
to Capernaum spread rapidly through the city, so rapidly,
that when Jesus finally entered Capernaum there were so many
people waiting there for him that there was no room left,
it said, not even outside the door. And Jesus began to preach
to them. That's what he did. He preached to them. Some men
came. And this is where we're going to have to start identifying
some characteristics. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic
carried by four of them. Now this paralytic in this account
is well known to us. We never learned this paralytic's name.
We never will. In fact, in this whole little section here,
the paralytic man never says one word to Jesus Christ. We
don't know what he's thinking. We don't know why he became
paralytic. Was it as a result of an accident? Was it a result
of birth? We don't know, really, anything about the man other
than the fact that he's paralyzed. We don't know how he feels
about these men bringing him there. Did they bring him against
his will? We don't know that. We would like to think that
this man came to Jesus for healing, because he heard of the
great powers that Jesus held. But what we find is that some
men came bringing to Christ this paralytic, four of them.
Four because we could think there is one on each side [corner]
of the stretcher as they carried this man to Jesus. These
four men bring this paralytic to Jesus. Next verse,
"Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd
they made an opening in the roof above Jesus." And so here
we find that Jesus was surrounded by people. A lot of times,
you and I, when we try to go to Jesus we think that there's
just too many people for Jesus to see us right now, or for
me to pray to him. But his friends here saw that there were
way too many people in front of them for Jesus to even notice
this paralytic man. So his friends pick him up and they carry
him outside of the building to, it appears to be the side
of the house, and up a back staircase. Now these are his
friends. And then what they do, is says they begin to dig
a hole in the roof. Now if you know anything about adobe
construction, which is this type of housing materials, it's
brick and mud and straw and wood. And they're digging at
it and they don't have their dust-busters with them, so they're
not siphoning up the lose gravel as it's being unearthed
here. Jesus inside the house and those who were around Jesus,
immediately wherever this hole appeared, no doubt, look up
and they see the ceiling beginning to crumble above them.
Debris is now falling on a lot of folks. I don't know which
one of them stuck their head through the opening first, but
someone sticks their head through and says "It's only us.
We'll be right there." They make the hole wide enough so
they can lower this paralytic man through the hole. Jesus,
I'm sure, is watching this with an incredible amount of empathy
towards their scenario. Others are probably wondering "What
in the world are they doing? The roof is going to cave in.
They're going to fall. What are these guys doing?" O.K. They
made an opening in the roof above Jesus and after digging
through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man way lying on.
Now at this point the man is before Jesus Christ. He still
hasn't said anything. He's before the healer. Jesus, it says
here, saw their faith. He doesn't tell us he
saw the faith of the paralytic man. He saw the faith of those
men who brought this paralytic to Jesus and left him in front
of Jesus. Jesus looks at the man, seeing their faith, he
looks at the man and says, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Now
some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to
themselves "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming.
Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Their immediate reaction
to what's taken place is problematic. This man has just said
'Sin's are forgiven' to this man on the mat. Jesus knew in
his spirit that this is what is what they are thinking in
their hearts. And he says to them, "Why are you thinking
these things?" and then he kind of throws a riddle to them. "Which
is easier to say to this paralytic man? 'Your sins are forgiven'
or to say 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?" Which was easier
to say? There have been times when someone has hurt me deeply,
and there are times when I have hurt people deeply. And people
have come to me or I've gone to someone and I've said to
them "I'm sorry. I apologize." And they've said to me "I
forgive you." And I said, "Thank you."
And we go on. You see, it's possible, it is quite possible
for humans to forgive one another's sins, as they effect
us, isn't it? There are times when someone has sinned against
another person. Case in point, a man and woman are married,
and one of the two makes a grave mistake and sins. The partner
is crushed, devastated. But when that individual comes and
is truly repentant, and recognizes the error of their sin
and sees how it has hurt the other individual, and apologizes
probably a thousand times and that other person is able to
say to them and mean it, "I forgive you", that is an overwhelming
human ability to forgive sin. Now, before you say "Whoa,
what is he saying?", only God can forgive the ramification
of sin. Only God can remove the sin as though it never existed.
Only God in his divine authority has the right to forgive
sin. We as human beings have the ability to forgive one another.
We as human beings have the ability to forgive one another's
sins as they effect us. We nowhere can provide authority
or salvation to an individual. You know that's through Jesus
Christ. Jesus says your sins are forgiven. Which is easier
to say? "Your sins are forgiven" or to say "Get up, take
your mat and walk"? "But that you may know that the Son of
man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." This is the
first time Jesus uses the phrase "Son of man", and he refers
to himself as that. And he says "to show you that I have
authority to forgive sins and to heal on this earth, he says
to paralytic 'I tell you, get up and take your mat and go
home.'" He got up and he took his mat and he walked out of
the place. Now, let's draw some analogies here. The paralytic
man was frozen by his sins into a state of helplessness,
whatever those sins may have been. His friends realize his
helplessness and they carried him to Jesus Christ. We don't
know if this man wanted to go to Jesus, but his friends took
him before Christ. And that's where we intervene and we bring
our friends before Christ. Those who are hurting, those who
need forgiveness of sins, those who need Jesus Christ in
their life. Jesus freed this man by declaring that he was
forgiven. And as a result Jesus was stating that he has the
power to relay God's forgiveness on earth. And therefore
we in the church have been entrusted with the power and authority
through Jesus Christ to tell others that they don't have
to be paralyzed by sin anymore. That it is through Christ's
forgiveness and grace that their sins can be removed. And
so we bring our friends to Christ. The paralytic man could
not reach Jesus because the door was jammed with people.
But his friends were not willing to let this deter them.
They didn't see it as an obstacle, they just saw it, "It's
going to take a little more effort to help our friend out." So
in their zeal they were willing to do something that took
a lot of energy and strength, and it took a lot of courage
to do--that is to break through the roof of a home to help
this man out [and this home was fiery Peter's house!]. What
are some obstacles that you and I face when we try to help
one another out? When we try to help those people out that
can't help themselves there are a lot of obstacles that we
will face. There may be relatives, family or friends who
will stand in the doorway and not allow you to bring that
friend to Jesus Christ. That's when we have to take the back
staircase. That's when we have to punch a hole through the
roof. That's when we have to not give up, as
this paralytic's friends didn't. You know, people shouldn't
have to commit acts of desperation to have access to Jesus
Christ. They shouldn't have to do this. Christians, you and
I, are commissioned to make it easy for others to have access
to Jesus Christ, by how we live, and how we include others
in what we do for them. We need a faith that won't quit.
The faith of these friends of the paralyzed man tell us a
compelling story. We don't know any of their names. Yet the
thing that we remember about them is the moment that they
carried their friendship through, because of Jesus Christ.
Many times people are remembered for all the wrong reasons.
There was one mistake that we could make that people will
remember us by forever, no matter how much we apologize or
overcome that mistake. That's unfortunate. That really is
unfortunate. But these particular men, their faithfulness,
has been preserved for 2000 years because of this act of
kindness that they extended to someone who needed it. They
wouldn't take "No" for an answer, or let any obstacles stand
in their way--because they had passion and determination.
They also must have really believed without any hesitation
at all that Jesus Christ could heal the man. Now I know there
will be times when we stumble across people that are our
friends who are hurting, or maybe strangers that will come
up to us and begin a conversation, and it's hard to keep
that conversation going. It's hard, sometimes, even if the
conversation is
"Christian" oriented, to sometimes even bring up the name
of Jesus Christ. I know. And I know that we all feel this
and go through these things. But you know what? That's when
we need to have the faith of a friend, and bring up Jesus'
name because we believe in his name. We believe in his authority.
And to show us how much this means to us, Jesus, not knowing
anything necessarily about this paralytic man's faith (or
I shouldn't say that--I should say) we don't read about the
paralytic man's faith, Jesus sees their faith. I
can't tell you how many times in my life, when I thought
to myself concerning my own mother, that things were going
to work out for me, because I knew my mother was praying
about it. I trusted in her faith. I knew she had faith. And
I knew she was praying for me. And I knew, I had no hesitation,
to feeling that whatever the situation was, was going to
work out because my mother was praying about it. I can't
describe that, but I can tell you that I've felt it a million
times. So Jesus responded to the faith of those men. And
thus we realize that faith can move mountains. I have no
hesitation in realizing that our prayer for a piano player
is going to be answered. I know it is, partly because I've
asked my Mom to pray for it. I know she is, I know God's
going to answer that prayer.
The stretcher bearers had a faith that wouldn't quit. And
there wasn't an obstacle that they allowed to get in their
way to derail them. And then we realize that we can bring
about examples of moving mountains by having faith. And that's
what it's all about. And Jesus gives us faith, but we have
to exercise it. Again I tell you about my stories in gym,
and working out for this past month has been eye-opening
in so many ways. It's made me realize that the more I put
into practice, and it's only the three times a week that
I go there for an hour or an hour and a half, those three
times a week are yielding results physically for me, and
mentally, and emotionally, and even spiritually, because
I'm feeling better. And while I'm working out I think, you
know, this is exactly how the Christian life is. We have
to exercise it, we have to put it into practice, we have
to strain sometimes to take it to the next level. We have
to endure the pain sometimes because we know it's going to
be beneficial. And the whole time we're exercising we have
to drink lots of water to stay refreshed. We need a lot of
the Holy Spirit to stay refreshed, otherwise our exercise
is going to fatigue us more than it should.
Jesus Christ is our redeemer. Only he can forgive our sins.
Only he can do that, because he's purchased them by is own
blood, satisfying the penalty of death with his life on the
cross once and for all. And as a result he guarantees us
eternal life, salvation. Isaiah said, "I am doing a new thing." Consequently
it's important for us to forget the former things. Our salvation
will be, (in Isaiah 43)'our salvation will be unlike what
the Lord did for Israel. The Lord saved them from Egypt and
became their king. Now the Lord says that it is He who blots
out your transgressions, for my own sake and remembers your
sins no more. This is the new thing that I the Lord will
do.' Paul teaches that believers are given the Lord's of
ownership, to show that he is our Master and that God, who
is our gift of comfort and strength, guarantees that we belong
to him. And it's only as a result through these gifts that
our salvation is achieved.
And so we take another look at this passage because it's
so unique that the faith of this paralytic man is just never
discussed, it's never expressed, and he is healed with an
incredible healing. You know, Jesus usually says when he
heals, "Your faith has healed you." And in this account he
doesn't say that. He says "Take up your mat and go home." We
don't even know if this man ever followed Jesus again. We
don't know if this man ever became a Christian. But what
we do know is that the faith of his friends was something
that Jesus saw and responded to.
"A few days later when Jesus entered Capernaum, the people
heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there
was no room left, not even outside the door. And he preached
the word to them..." Jesus, surrounded by throngs of people,
always preached the truth, the gospel message of salvation,
the message of healing, the message of forgiveness of sins. "And
while he was preaching, since they could not get to him because
of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus
and after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed
man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith,
he said to the paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven.'" Now
you and I would recognize this as a miracle. The teachers
of the law sitting there thought to themselves, 'This doesn't
mix with our religion. Why does he talk like this? He's blaspheming
God.' "Jesus, immediately discerning what they are thinking"--because
he knew what their religion was. He knew that their religion
was not centered on faith. He knew that their religion was
centered on something different. He knew that their religion
had become a matter of laws, and that their religion had
become a matter of routine, and that their religion had become
a matter of legality.
"Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts,
says to them, 'Why are you thinking these things? What is
easier to say to this paralytic man you've just seen lowered
from the roof of this building before me, 'You sins are forgiven',
or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you
may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive
sins" he looks again to the man and he answers the question
by saying, "Pick up your mat, and walk out of here" indicating
that it was much easier to say to the man "You are healed"--much
easier to say that, than to recognize the forgiveness of
sins--easier to say that. And as a result, this man gets
up and he leaves. But the undenying emotion that we leave
this particular passage with is that Jesus has the authority
to forgive sins, your sins and my sins. That's the hardest
thing it seems to do. And as a result, he in order to be
able to do that, will sacrifice his life so that your sins
and my sins are forgiven. And the healing is easy from that
point on.
Well, we're going to talk more about this next time. So please
join me in prayer: "Eternal God we thank you for allowing
us to share this particular passage of Scripture with one
another--your teaching us of your authority over not only
our lives, but your authority to forgive sins, and your authority
Father over healing. And we petition you many days for healing.
We know that your authority to do so is there. Father, we
have learned today that our faith can be of benefit to others,
just as it was for this paralytic man who by his friends
faith was healed. Help us to demonstrate that faithfulness
Father, by coming to you and building our faith stronger
every day, our faith in you...the faith that can move mountains.
We ask that you continue to demonstrate that faith in this
congregation. We ask for your presence always in our lives.
We ask for your protection as we travel home this afternoon,
and for all those Father, especially the elderly, whom we
know will have difficulty with this weather, we ask that
you be with them, and protect them. And Father, we thank
you for all you do for us, through the name of your Son Jesus
the Christ. Amen." [This is a transcription of a sermon given
by Pastor Al Ebeling of the Waltham Congregation of the Worldwide
Church of God, meeting in the First Congregational Church
of Waltham, Massachusetts]
MARK 2
Four Principles of Ministry
Mark 2:1-12. "A few days later, when Jesus again entered
Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many
gathered that there was no room left, not even outside
the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came,
bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since
they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they
made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging
through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying
on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
'Son, your sins are forgiven.'
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking
to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's
blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they
were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, 'Why
are you thinking these things? Which is easier to say to
the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get
up, take your mat and walk?' But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....' He
said to the paralytic, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat
and go home.' He got up, took his mat and walked out in full
view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,
saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'"
A ministry needs to be focused on the Word of God--not healing,
not drama, not music--but it must be a feeding ministry,
feeding God's sheep with the Word of God. Healthy sheep beget
more sheep. 2 Timothy 3:14-18.
"Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God
against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only
ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself
to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid
godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become
more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene.
Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered
away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already
taken place, and they destroy the faith of some." Beware
of false teachers and prophets who are not into the Word
of God, but into fables. Today's New Age movement is our
present-day version of these fables. 2 Timothy 3:1-9. "But
mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,
proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control,
brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form
of godliness but denying its power. They are the kind who
worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed
women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all
kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to
acknowledge the truth. Just as Jambres opposed Moses, so
also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who,
as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they
will not get very far because, as in the case of those men,
their folly will be clear to everyone."
In the midst of this house (Peter's house) full of people
listening to Jesus giving this Bible study are some Pharisees
and Scribes, religious leaders of the day. As the story unfolds,
remember they're sitting there.
If you really want something spiritual, you go for it in
faith, and you've got it. These four guys bringing a paralytic
couldn't get in because of the crowd. So they went up on
Peter's roof and start disassembling it, making a hole so
they could lower this man on a stretcher down into the room
below. They had just made a hole in Peter's roof--fiery Peter's
roof, to lower this man into Jesus' presence! They took the
risk of being embarrassed, chased away or being beat up for
vandalizing Peter's house. Verse 5 says, "When Jesus saw
their faith..." You have to have faith, step out in faith,
be willing to risk failure and embarrassment. Understanding
the difficulty of doing a work is measured by the one doing
the work. If God is doing the work in you, great things will
result--if you step out and continue to step out in faith.
Faith is real when it takes risks, takes steps.
A ministry starts out as a desire in the heart that then
turns into a vision. The vision then turns into a ministry.
Now something happens as a result of this healing. Some churches
get distracted on healings or financial prosperity--on the
physical--and not on the spiritual. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Jesus knew
the heart of these Pharisees and Scribes. Their attitude
must have really bothered Jesus. Psalm 139 says God can read
thoughts. Jesus' prime message was that he came to forgive
sin. He has the authority to and came so that all of us could
have our sins forgiven. It wasn't the healing alone that
was important here, but the point Jesus was making, verses
6-12. "Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking
to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's
blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?'
Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they
were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, 'Why
are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to
the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get
up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin....' He
said to the paralytic, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat
and go home.' He got up, took his mat and walked out in full
view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God,
saying, 'We have never seen anything like this!'"
Mark 2:13-22
Four key points. A Christian Church and/or Christian is focused on:
Verses 13-17, "Once again Jesus went out beside the lake.
A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.
As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting
at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' Jesus told him,
and Levi got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors
and 'sinners' were eating with him and his disciples, for
there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the
law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the 'sinners'
and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: 'Why does he
eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'? On hearing this, Jesus
said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but
the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"
Jesus leaves the packed house of Peter's and walked along
the lake, and these people, this large crowd of people, follows
him. As he's walking, he passes this tax collector's booth
and says to it's occupant,
"Follow me." Tax collectors were known for making their wallets
fat. They were a despised element in Hebrew society. The
Jewish tax collectors were really despised by the Jews. They
were excommunicated from the Temple, and couldn't serve in
any official capacity in Jewish society. Matthew (Levi) had
a feast to honor Jesus. He's a wealthy guy. He gave up his
job and wealth to follow Jesus. Jesus probably changed Levi's
name to Matthew, which means "a gift of the Lord to the people."
So Jesus is sitting down with these outcasts of Jewish society, "breaking
bread" with them. Now to the Jews, the breaking of bread,
eating with someone, was a very symbolic thing. When you "broke
bread" with another person, because you and that other person
were eating of the same
"bread," that food became a part of the two of you, part
of your bodies. You were symbolically linked in that manner.
That is why the Jews were so against eating with those they
looked down upon or despised. It was symbolic of a sort of
spiritually linking with another person. The Jew would never
want to be linked in a spiritual union with a Roman or pagan.
The tax collectors and sinners, to them, the dregs of society,
fell into this despised lot the Jews wouldn't eat with or
spiritually associate with. The Jews got downright unfriendly
about this. The Christian Church, on the other hand, both
corporately and individually, should be friendly. Jesus embraced
all kinds, but especially the down and out--the outcasts
of society. He was and is not accepting of sin, but he accepts
sinners so he can embrace them and work a work in their lives.
The church often gets isolated from those Jesus wants to
reach out to and save. That is the attitude of the Pharisees.
Calvary Chapel is a sinner's hospital. A good book to get
and read is Larry Taylor's "Doing Ministry Right." [See if
it's available online at: http://www.calvarychapel.org/products_nav.html ]
Matthew 9:12-13. "On hearing this, Jesus said, 'It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn
what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' [Hosea
6:6] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" Jesus
embraces you right where you're at.
Point four says that Christians and Christian churches must
be flexible in the hands of God. Jesus says we're to go out
to those in need and reach them with the gospel. Don't expect
them to come to you. A prime example of a church doing this
is pastor Jim Cymbala's Brooklyn Tabernacle, where someone
would feel moved by God to go into a real bad section of
New York City, or Brooklyn, and minister directly with the
people, providing food and blankets, and then busing them
to services on Sunday for a church service. The living active
gospel of Jesus Christ was effectively brought to these people,
right to their doorstep, which in many cases was an alleyway
or a cardboard box they were living in. To read of this dynamic
ministry and Christian church congregation be sure to order
pastor Cymbala's book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. [Available
online from: http:///www.amazon.com ].
Verses 18-22, "Now John's disciples and the Pharisees
were fasting. Some came and asked Jesus, 'How is it that
John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting,
but yours are not?' Jesus answered, 'How can the guests of
the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so
long as they have him with them. But the time will come when
the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they
will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old
garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the
old, making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into
old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he
pours new wine into new wineskins.'"
This is the symbolic Monday or Thursday fasting that had
been set up and observed regularly by the Pharisees, to make
a religious show. The Jewish custom was, that after a wedding,
the guests stayed around for a week of celebrating with the
bride and bridegroom, and that everyone attending was exempt
from this religious fasting requirement or custom
the Pharisees had set up. Jesus was making reference to this
when he spoke of the bridegroom's guest's not fasting, and
that he was the bridegroom. He was also making direct reference
to the coming putting away of the old covenant for the new.
God was about to do a new work, and Jesus was saying that
it wouldn't mesh with their old religious system, the old
covenant. The wine represents the gospel, the old wineskin
represents the old religious system, and the old covenant
itself. The Jews weren't flexible. Jesus' point was that
the new system, composed of Christians and Christian churches
must be flexible in the hands of God! As I brought out before,
Jesus says we should be going out to those in need and reaching
them with the gospel. Don't expect them to come to you.
The Sabbath
Mark 2:23-27; 3:1-5
"One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as
his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads
of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they
doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?' He answered, 'Have
you never read of what David did when he and his companions
were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high
priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated
bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also
gave some to his companions.' Then he said to them, 'The
Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the
Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'" (Mark 2:23-27.) [The Sabbath-keeping Churches of God use this as one of their proof texts for believing the Sabbath command has not been abrogated or transferred to Sunday. To learn why, log onto:
http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm ]
Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a
shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a
reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see
if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man
with the shriveled hand, 'Stand up in front of everyone.'
Then he asked them, 'Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do
good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they remained
silent. He looked around at them in anger and, and deeply
distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, 'Stretch
out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was completely
restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with
the Herodians how they might kill Jesus" (Mark 3:1-5).
In Exodus 20:8-11 God instituted the Sabbath into the old
covenant he was establishing with the Israelites through
Moses. As earlier chapters in Exodus show, the Sabbath was
in existence before the old covenant and was being re-introduced
to the Israelites well before they came to Mount Sinai (Exodus
16). This is a sticking point between old covenant Christians
and new covenant Christians, the former saying that if the
Sabbath were before the establishment of the old covenant,
it couldn't be abolished when the old covenant ceased to
be. True, but wait and see what happened with the Sabbath
(and consequently the Holy Day requirements). They weren't
done away with as so many sincere but misinformed Christians
supposed. Something far more interesting happened to the
Sabbath/Holy Day commands. But first let's understand the
intent of the Sabbath command. To do this, let's read it.
Exodus 20:8-11. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh
day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not
do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien
within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens
and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested
on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath
day." God instituted the Sabbath. The heart of the Sabbath
was to rest and seek God. The doctor's of the law, the Pharisees
went banana's detailing just what work was. 24 chapters were
written in the Jewish Talmud defining what was work. They
went to such an extreme in interpreting the Sabbath command
that they made the Sabbath itself a
"works" trip. The Holy Days listed in Leviticus 23 and the
Sabbath were shadows for the works of the Holy Spirit in
us. The physical Sabbath pictured the spiritual rest we now
have in Christ--through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit--and
it pictures the coming future rest we'll all have in God's
kingdom when Jesus returns.
Let's look at what Paul says about this Sabbath rest we have
in Christ. Hebrews 4:1-13. "Therefore, since the promise
of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that
none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also
have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did, but
the message they heard was of no value to them, because those
who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have
believed enter that rest, just as God has said, 'So I declared
on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' And
yet his work has been finished since creation of the world.
For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these
words: 'And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.'
And again in the passage above he says, 'They shall never
enter my rest.' It still remains that some will enter that
rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them
did not go in, because of their disobedience. Therefore God
again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time
later he spoke through David, as was said before: 'Today,
if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.' For if
Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later
about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for
the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also
rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us,
therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that
no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes
of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's
sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes
of him to whom we must give account."
The kingdom of God is here within us right now. Jesus in
us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit quiets our souls.
The kingdom in its fullness will arrive when Jesus returns.
Zephaniah 3:16-17. "On that day they will say to Jerusalem,
'Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The
Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will
take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his
love, he will rejoice over you with singing." What quiets
us but the love of God in us by His Spirit. Isn't this true?
The Pharisees were misrepresenting God and what he required
of them through the commandments.
Isaiah 11:10. "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as
a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and
his place of rest will be glorious."
Some Christians chose to look at it this way. The Sabbath
command under the new covenant has been TRANSFORMED. By the
rest we have in Jesus Christ dwelling in us through the Holy
Spirit we are in the Sabbath rest Paul spoke of in Hebrews
chapter four 365 days of the year. The literal physical observance
of the Sabbath was only a picture, a shadow, of the spiritual "Sabbath
rest" we have in Christ.
The rejection of the Holy Spirit amounts to breaking the
new covenant Sabbath command, because we cease to rest in
Christ without God's Holy Spirit in us. In Old Testament
Israel Sabbath breaking was punishable by physical death.
Paul warns us that rejection of the Holy Spirit results in
spiritual death. You can see here that the old covenant Sabbath
command is a shadow of the new, a type, a picture of the
reality we have dwelling within us. The shadow was physical
and temporary, the spiritual is eternal and will not fade
away. Colossians 2:16-17. "Therefore do not let anyone judge
you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These
are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality,
however is found in Christ." How much clearer can you
get?
Because of unbelief the Israelites that were with Moses never
got into their rest in the Promised Land of Israel. But even
the Israelites (everyone 20 year old and under with Joshua
and Caleb) that did make it into the Promised Land did not
experience a perfect rest. The Sabbath rest talked about
in Hebrews 4 that we experience in Jesus Christ is something
they never experienced. As we just read in Colossians 2:16-17,
the literal Sabbath (and also the Holy Day commands) were
given as shadows of the great things we would experience
in Jesus Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In Deuteronomy we find a description of not dwelling in God's
Sabbath rest talked of by Paul in Hebrews 4. In Deuteronomy
28:65 God is describing the frame of mind the Israelites
would have as he scattered them all over the world for disobeying
him. It perfectly expresses the frame of mind of people without
Jesus Christ dwelling in them. They are without rest and
peace of mind. Deuteronomy 28:65. "Among those nations you
will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your
foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes
weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live
in constant suspense, filled with dread both night and day,
never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, 'If
only it were evening!' and in the evening, 'If only it were
morning!'--because of the terror that will fill your hearts
and the sights that your eyes will see." With the world around
us the way it is, without Jesus in us, haven't many of us
experienced this attitude of mind. Hasn't this be been our
mindset? But this doesn't have to be, with Jesus in us there
is that peace that passeth all understanding, even in the
midst of heavy trial.
In Deuteronomy 23 we also see that the Law of God allowed
you to pluck the standing grain by hand to satisfy your immediate
hunger. The disciples weren't wrong in what they did, but
the Pharisaic law was running against a higher law of mercy
God had given. There was no mercy in their extra Sabbath
restrictions. Look at the next few verses.
Mark 3:1-5.
"Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with
a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for
a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to
see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to
the man with the shriveled hand, 'Stand up in front of
everyone.' Then Jesus asked them, 'Which is lawful on the
Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?'
But they remained silent. [The Sabbath-keeping Churches of God use this as one of their proof texts for believing the Sabbath command has not been abrogated or transferred to Sunday. To learn why, log onto:
http://www.unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm ]
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed
at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, 'Stretch out your
hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians
how they might kill Jesus."
The heart of Jesus is to heal and meet our needs. This rest that
comes from Jesus brings spiritual rest and healing. Jesus
Christ was and is the spiritual fulfillment of the Sabbath
in us--for we rest in Christ. He says, 'Cast all your cares
on me and I will give you rest.' In verse 5 we see that Jesus
was first angry and then grieved by the hardness of their
hearts. Man's traditions are blind to the wounds of others.
The needs of man go beyond the importance of the ordinances
man tacks onto the law. The ordinances that the Pharisees
laid on people added burdens on them, whereas the ordinances
of God tended to unburden people. Jeremiah 17:5-8 shows we
enter Christ's rest through faith. Let's read it and see
what it says. "This is what the Lord says: 'Cursed is the
one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like
a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when
it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man
who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will
be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots
by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves
are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
[ The Holy Days were shadows of wonderful things to come,
both prophetic and spiritual. To see what the Holy Day shadows
represented CLICK HERE.]
Mark 4:1-20
"Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered
around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in
it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore
at the water's edge. He taught them many things by parables,
and in his teaching said: 'Listen! A farmer went out to sow
his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along
the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on
rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang
up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun
came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because
they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew
up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and
produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred
times.'
Then Jesus said, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'
When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked
him about the parables. He told them, 'The secret of the
kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the
outside everything is said in parables so that, 'they may
be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but
never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.'[taken
from Isaiah 6:9-10]' Then Jesus said to them, 'Don't you
understand this parable? How then will you understand any
parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed
along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear
it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in
them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word
and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root,
they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still
others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the
worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the
desires for other things come in and choke the word, making
it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear
the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or
even a hundred times what was sown.'"
An entire nation could be fed from one seed. The Word of
God is like a physical orange seed or apple seed. Think of
the seed that grew the apple tree that produced the fruit,
many apples, from which Johnny Appleseed obtained his seeds
to fill a sack full of them, and then trek across the United
States planting apple trees wherever he went. He is credited
with seeding the entire United States from coast to coast
with apple trees! Think of it. And it started right here
in Leominster, Massachusetts! More and more churches are
turning to man's method's of Pop psychology. Mike McIntosh
had virtually blown his mind on drugs as a young man. [Get
the book about him "For The Love of Mike"] As a young Christian
(new convert), people got him into the Word of God, and as
he did that, over a period of time, his mind began to be
healed. There's power in the Word of God. We don't understand
it, but there's power, a power that goes beyond any Pop psychology
of man. The Word of God interacting with God's Spirit in
a human mind can heal that mind. It's like that little seed
and the power of what it can do, if we plant it and allow
it to work in our lives.
In Mark 4:1 Jesus began to teach by the sea. He started to
teach them by parables. This was an even larger crowd than
he had encountered before. He got into a boat and pushed
out away into the water. The shores of the Sea of Galilee
often form natural amphitheaters. More and more as Jesus
addresses these crowds he uses parables. There's a reason.
The parable of the Sower gave an instant visual picture to
these people who were from an agrarian society. In this parable
four types of soil were mentioned. 1) The soil where the
seed fell on the wayside, 2) the soil where the seed fell
on the rocky ground, and 3) the good soil, but filled with
thorns and weeds in it, and 4) finally, the good soil without
thorns and seeds. Then Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear,
let him hear." I.e. He who has spiritual ears, let him hear.
Many who have hard hearts can't understand the gospel when
it's being preached.
Those already inside the kingdom of God (spiritually speaking,[Colossians
1:13]) have this ability to hear and understand the gospel
message. The parable is used to illustrate the truth. But
many who were listening were already spiritually tuned out
to what Jesus was saying. Many were there just for the miracles,
free food, and healing. Also many Pharisees and scribes were
in the audience, hostile to Jesus and what he was saying.
Isaiah describes those with this attitude. The crowd in general
wanted healing and free food, but they were indifferent
to his teaching. Some feel these parables were given to try
to catch their attention in spite of the hard heartedness
of many in the crowd--talking with word pictures the crowd
could easily understand. [Some other Christians feel the
parables, much like Isaiah 28:8-13 says, were given to hide
the truth--but no matter, the hard heartedness in many people's
minds hides the truth of the gospel from their ever understanding,
regardless of which interpretation you go along with.] The
word parable in the Greek is parabalo. Para means alongside,
and balo means to cast, to throw. You put the
two together and you get casting alongside, or teaching
stories alongside a truth or principle. That's the purpose
of a parable, to illustrate the truth. So Jesus is doing
that and he knows the type of people he has before him, listening.
Mark quotes Isaiah here to show that many had hearts that
had grown dull, hard hearted, so they wouldn't even understand
these parables. For those who wanted to hear, the Holy Spirit
would illuminate what they heard. In verse 13 Jesus now explains
the parable to his disciples. The seed sown on the wayside
is about people who, when they hear, Satan (represented by
the birds in the parable) comes immediately and takes away
the Word that was sown in their hearts. Likewise, the seed
sown on the stony ground is about people who when they hear
the Word, immediately they receive it with gladness, but
they have no root in themselves, so they endure only for
a time, and then afterward when persecution or tribulation
arises for the Word's sake, immediately they stumble.
The seed sown among the thorns are the ones who hear the
Word, but the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches
and the desires for other things choke the Word and so they
become unfruitful.
The seed sown on good ground are the ones who accept the
Word and bear fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold and
some hundredfold.
Jesus explains that the seed is the Word of God--the Gospel.
Most likely the sower is Jesus, the Son of Man himself. But
no doubt the sower can also be anyone who preaches and teaches
the Word of God. Then he goes on to explain about the different
soils, representing the different hearts of people who'll
hear the Word being preached and what their reception of
hearing God's Word would be like. When you teach the Word
you can see by what Jesus taught here that it would be received
differently depending on the state of mind of whoever is
listening. Some will be receptive for awhile until the going
gets rough, then quit. Some will start to receive it, but
Satan and his world will take their understanding away. Some
won't accept at all, and some will grab onto what's said
and not let go. That's just a fact of life about the heart
of man. All these various mindsets could be in an audience
listening to someone preaching the Word of God. It's just
a spiritual fact of life Jesus was bringing out.
The seeds sown by the wayside, the birds that come and eat
the seed up, represent Satan himself and his demon world.
That's true with some. The seed of the Word comes in, and
Satan comes and removes it before it can have any impact
on their lives. Satan comes and seeks to keep the Word of
God from people's hearts, and in some cases he has 100 percent
success. Certain hearts are really hard, and when they hear
the Word of God, Satan comes in and takes that Word, that
seed, before it can really have an impact on them. Paul described
this very fact in 2 Corinthians when he says,
"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those
who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded,
who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them." Paul
makes the same point. If the gospel is veiled, it is only
veiled to those who have hard hearts. [Satan and the evil
broadcast of his attitudes harden the hearts of those in
this evil world and its societies so they can't receive the
gospel. Many Christians and theologians alike don't fully
understand this fact, nor the purpose for which God has allowed
this to be since Adam's time in Genesis 3. Some think they
understand why God has allowed this while others don't seem
to have a clue. In Job 1 we see that the Lord uses Satan
like a pawn for his own good purposes. Never forget that
God is more powerful than Satan, and all his demon cohorts!
Much will be revealed to us by the Lord in the kingdom age
to come that we don't comprehend now, I'm sure.] Paul says, "...whose
minds the god of this age have blinded." So there's folks,
people, many people who Satan and his demons have blinded.
You can share the gospel, the Truth with them and they're
blinded to it. It just doesn't do anything. Paul says again
in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man does not receive
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him, nor can he know them for they are spiritually discerned." He
says the natural man cannot receive the things of God. The
natural man, without the Holy Spirit just doesn't tune in.
They're just not able to receive the Word of God.
The fact that Satan is actually allowed to take the Word
of God from people's hearts ought to show us something. There's
a spiritual battle going on. That should tell us that we
need to pray for the preaching of the Word, that it go out
with power and that Satan is restrained where and when the
gospel is being preached (Ephesians 6:11-20). You know when
the minister comes and ministers, preaches the Word, he is
only one person ministering to a whole group, preaching.
But you can minister also. And that is through prayer! You
can be praying that Satan be restrained, because the enemy
wants to hinder the preaching of the Word and its reception
in the minds of people. He wants to distract people. You
can pray that this not happen, every Sunday morning--before
the service, during the service, you can battle in prayer,
and it will have a great effect. And if two or more are gathered
together doing this the effect will be even greater. The
pastor's preaching will bring forth fruit, and changed lives,
both in the already saved, and those that need saving, sitting
in your midst. Remember Daniel Nash and his companions laboring
in prayer before and during Charles Finney's revival meetings.
Jesus goes on and explains the next type of soil. It's the
soil where the seed lands on stony ground. At once they hear
the Word and receive it with a lot of joy, but then due to
a lack of root in themselves, he says, they stumble when
the heat is turned on, trials come their way--when persecution
and tribulation come. Those who have no depth of root can't
handle the heat. And that describes this kind of heart, they
receive the Word of God with joy, but when the tough times
come, they stumble. The danger is when a person's reaction
to the Word of God is only an emotional response. Faith in
Christ is an issue of the will and sometimes there's no emotion
involved. That's where our roots have to go, beyond mere
emotion, down to the level of the will. Jesus was describing
people who come to him but only on the emotional level, only
because it tickled their ears, but it didn't effect their
will. But when the heat of the day comes, when persecution
or difficulty comes which comes as being a part of the church,
they stumble and leave. Coming to Christ is an issue of the
will, really, not an emotional response.
Persecution, in that sense, is good for the church. It separates
the real Christians from the want-to-be's. Our prayer ought
to be Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3, "...that Christ would
dwell in our hearts through faith, that we would be rooted
and grounded in love and be able to comprehend with all
the saints what is the width, length, and height to know
the love of Christ that passes knowledge, that we would be
filled with all the fullness of God." He prayed that we would
be deeply rooted and grounded in love.
The third category in verse 18, Jesus now deals with those
seed sown among the thorns. In verse 19 it shows that these
are the ones who hear the Word, but the cares of this world
and the desires for other things choke the Word, and then
because of that they become unfruitful Christians. The first
two categories are definitely not made up of believers, but
this third category could very well be made up of believers,
who are just barely going to make it into the kingdom of
heaven. You see this a lot in church. You see them in church,
attending but maybe there isn't a lot of fruit in their lives.
The reason, Jesus says, is they're entangled in the world--they've
got two masters. They have Jesus, and they have the world.
Jesus warned the Church of Laodocia, 'I'm about to spue you
out of my mouth...I'm not into this half-hearted devotion.'
That's what he's talking about when he talks about these
thorns, choking out the life. He labels these things that
choke us thorns of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and
desires for other things." It's not riches in themselves
but the world's siren song that you need riches which is
deceitful. It will not give you what you want, but it will
take from you the good stuff, the fruit of God--what God
wants to do in your life. If our focus starts to turn from
Christ to the world, it's going to choke out the fruit--the
Christian growth in the Spirit. That's what Jesus says here.
I think of Paul in 2 Timothy when he says to Timothy, "No
one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs
of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as
a soldier, and also if anyone competes in athletics, is not
crowned unless he competes according to the rules." Paul
says, if you're a Marine, you're devoted to your Captain,
to try to please him and do well. And also an athlete is
focussed on the crown, the prize and goal, and he doesn't
get side-tracked. That's what Jesus is saying, if you're
running the Christian race and get side-tracked, entangled
in the cares of the world again, you're going to miss out
on the crown Christ has reserved for you. You're in danger
of becoming a fruitless believer. What kind of fruit is he
talking about? He is talking about love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, and self-control (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). If these
things aren't a part of your life, your spiritual make-up,
then maybe this is the reason, you're being choked by the
cares of this world, you're distracted. A good way to
know you are drifting spiritually is when you start seeing
things again in your life that were once removed. This
is talking about things that are being re-introduced into
your life that the Holy Spirit once removed before, but now
are slowly coming back into your life. (This is talking about
sins, habitual sins, that were once removed by and under
the influence of the Holy Spirit.) If you're not growing,
you are not really stationary, you're actually drifting backward.
To hedge against drifting you must get anchored in Christ.
Hebrews 2:1, "Therefore we must give the most earnest heed
to the things we have heard, lest we drift away." Unless
you do this you will drift away, seeing things come back
into your life that were taken out. Paul said in 2 Corinthians, "While
we do not look at the things which are seen but at the things
which are not seen, for the things that are seen are temporary,
but the things which are not seen are eternal." The rest
of the stuff (which riches bring) are great if you are blessed
with them, but they are still temporary. Don't get focussed
on them.
The last category Jesus mentioned is the seed that fell on
good ground. This is the soil that when seed falls on it,
it just bears fruit and fruit and more fruit. People in this
category just keep on bearing spiritual fruit and fruit in
multiple amounts. Luke says that these are people that hear
the Word, those that receive it, and those that keep it--hearing,
receiving and keeping the Word, three vital things that make
one fruitful. That is the power of the Word of God when applied
properly in a person's life. It's amazing, the harvest that
can come from the Word of God planted on good soil--a receptive
mind that hears, receives and keeps the Word of God.
In conclusion, let's look in John 15. Jesus said in verse
4, "Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless
you abide in me. I'm the vine, you are the branches. He who
abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me,
you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is
cast out as a branch, is withered and they gather them and
they throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you
abide in me and my words in you, you will ask what you desire
and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified,
if you bear much fruit, so you be my disciples. Jesus says
here in John, if you abide in Christ, in him, you will grow.
In verse 7 he says, 'If you'll abide in me and my words abide
in you--as you obey my words and they begin to grow in you,
you'll be fruitful, and you're going to grow in Christ.'
That's what David said in Psalm 1. He said, "Blessed is the
man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand
in the way of sinners or sit in the way of mockers, but his
delight is in the law of the Lord, and he meditates on it
day and night. He's like a tree planted by springs of water
which will yield its fruit in season. Whatever he does prospers..." As
the Word of God goes out, if it's properly assimilated, it
will cause you to grow. That's what Jesus says in John chapter
15. 'If you want to grow, just abide in me...it will take
place very naturally.'
Then John says in 1 John 3, not only will abiding in Christ
cause good stuff to grow, but it will also cause the bad
stuff to be pushed out of you. 1 John 3:6, "No one who lives
in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has
either seen him or known him." John says, if you abide in
him, you're not going to sin. If you abide in him it's going
to produce fruit in your life, causing these beautiful things
to grow. And it's also going to cause the things that you
wish weren't there to just go out of you. You may not even
be able to understand how this takes place, but it will just
take place.
Mark 4:21-34
Mark 4:21-34. "He said to them, 'Do you bring in a lamp to
put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on
its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed,
and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into
the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.'
'Consider carefully what you hear,' he continued. 'With the
measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more.
Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even
what he has will be taken from him.'
He also said, 'This is what the kingdom of God is like. A
man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he
sleeps or gets up; the seed sprouts and grows, though he
does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain--first
the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because
the harvest has come.'
Again he said, 'What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,
or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a
mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the
ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest
of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds
of the air can perch in its shade.'
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them,
as much as they could understand. He did not say anything
to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with
his own disciples, he explained everything."
Think of it this way. The spiritual truth is like we have
this spiritual valve on our heart and God has the water pressure
of his spiritual truth all the way up. But we control this
spiritual water valve. For some of us he's standing there
waiting to pour his love into our hearts, but that valve
is closed shut. In some cases some people have cracked that
valve all the way open. Most of the people God has used greatly
started opening up to God at a young age. Charles Spurgeon
gave his first sermon at age 16. Greg Lorie started a Calvary
Bible study at age 19 which within a year was packing out
the Anaheim Convention Center. Billy Graham was in his early
20's when he was president of a college, Joan of Arch was
just 14 when God radically used her. Many young don't have
a lot of baggage we old people do and just open that heart
valve all the way open. Don't forget, Jesus said, "With the
measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Mark 4:21, "He said to them, 'Do you bring a lamp to put
it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its
stand?'" John in his gospel said Jesus is the true light
that gives light to every man. John 1:1-9. "In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things
were made, without him nothing was made that has been made.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood
it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was
John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,
so that through him all men might believe. He himself was
not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The
true light that gives light to every man was coming into
the world." John 3:19-21.
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but
men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were
evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not
come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that
it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God."
Jesus is probably about the mid-point of his ministry, but
the hearts of many around him have grown cold. As a result
he's changed his teaching style--teaching in parables. The
purpose of teaching in parables, as we learned, wasn't to
hide the truth, but to draw attention to the truth. It's
to draw the attention of his audience because their hearts
have grown cold. This point he is making in verse 21 is that
although he's sharing in parables, he is the
light. He is the light of the world and he's come to give
light. A parable does not hide the truth. But to those whose
hearts are hard, it seems to hide the truth. To those who
have dull hearts the truth seems to be veiled to them. But
to those whose hearts are soft, a parable will draw you to
the truth. Jesus says that in verse 22, "For whatever
is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed
is meant to be brought into the open." I.e. If your heart
is open, if you'll crack open that valve on your heart, the
truth will come to you. The light will come to a willing
heart. Solomon says the same thing back in the Old Testament. "It
is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of
kings to search out a matter." Once again Jesus says "If
anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." He says that many
times in the Bible. He's talking about having a spiritual
ear. Matthew quoted Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the
light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they
put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the
house. In the same way, let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father
in heaven." In other words, whatever we've heard we should
go out and preach. A healthy church body is a body that is
evangelistic. In 1 John it basically says that if you love
God, you'll love your brother. He says, 'If you do not love
your brother, you do not love God.' Light and love go together.
You've got to put your vanity aside, you've got to put your
pride to the side when you evangelize--going out to care
for people who you've never met before. That is not the normal
human response. You will do this only if the light and love
of God is in your heart. Then you begin to go out and to
share the gospel. John is saying, 'If you love your brother,
you're one of my [God's] kids.' God is saying that through
John. In verse 20 of Mark 4 Jesus was talking of a fruitful
Christian. Then he goes on in verse 21 and talks about light
and love and evangelism. I think that's very interesting,
just this order because there is no doubt that a fruitful
Christian is a witnessing Christian. Every time you see a
Christian who is bearing much fruit, one thing is for sure,
he or she is doing a lot of evangelizing. The two indeed
go together. When it comes to spiritual growth, one thing
is for sure, you plateau spiritually if you do not overflow.
You'll grow a little bit, but if you're not overflowing,
if you're not evangelizing, you're going to plateau. You
grow when you overflow. Have you opened your heart to the
light of Christ? And are you reflecting that light to others?
If you're not, you're effectively a lamp under the bed, and
that's silly. Is that valve on your heart open to the light
of God at all? There are hearts [in this world] that aren't
even open, they're just shut tight.
How do we open that heart valve? Good question. You open
that valve by faith and by belief. In John 12 Jesus said, "A
little while longer, the light is with you. Walk while you
have the light, lest the darkness overtake you. He who walks
in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you
have the light, believe in the light, that you may become
sons of the light. (John 12:35-36)."
Verses 24-25, "'Consider carefully what you hear,' he
continued. 'With the measure you use, it will be measured
to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more, whoever
does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.'" Consider
his words carefully, he's saying. These words are the very
words of life (spiritual life). The degree that you open
up to the Lord is what you're going to get. If you open a
little, you'll get a little, but if you open up wide he will
just pour his love into your life. That's the truth that
he's talking about. But be careful, the way you judge the
Word of God is going to determine how you're going to be
judged by it.
Verse 26-29, "He also said, 'This is what the kingdom
of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night
and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and
grows; though he does not know how. All by itself the soil
produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the
full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he
puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.'" The
kingdom of God [that spiritually comes into a persons heart
by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit] is as if a man scattered
seed on the ground, and then he went to bed, and then he
woke up in the morning, and he was surprised, he didn't do
anything but sleep, but sprouts began to come up, as the
seeds had been sown. And eventually it even matured and there
was a harvest. And this is about the wonderful truth about
the Word of God and the effect it will have on people when
it is sown. There is incredible potential and power in the
seed, the Word of God. The Word of God is supernatural. As
a ministry we don't need gimicks to try to draw people here,
we don't have to come up with these great little marketing
pezaz things--just preach the Word, teach the Word, and it
goes out, and the hearts that receive it will prosper there.
We don't receive when we lack faith. Sometimes we're like "No
way man! Can't do it. Reading the Bible, it will not do it." But
you're mocking God when you say that, because he will honor
his Word above his name. He will bless his Word if we will
receive his Word. If we preach his Word, he'll honor his
Word. That's the way it works. And God's Word will go into
your life, even though you don't comprehend sometimes how
it works. And that light that's there will begin to shine,
and it will push out the darkness. There are people that
like the darkness. You've already read the verse, they like
to stay in the darkness. Too bad they do, because there's
light that God wants to share with them.
Jesus is sharing in parables with them now because people
like the darkness. "I want the miracle, Jesus, I want you
to heal my body, I don't necessarily want to hear this sermon" is
what they're saying. So Jesus has gone to parables at least
to try to grab their attention. Well maybe you're like somebody
in the crowd around Jesus, and your heart has become dull
to the Lord. That can happen, you can be doing great, then
after awhile, you don't know how it's happened, you kind
of become dull, dull to the Word of God--dull to his music,
his overtures as he plays and tries to speak to you. Well,
maybe what you need is some gardening. Jeremiah said, "Break
up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise
yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your
hearts." He says, 'Break up the fallow ground of your heart.'
If your heart is hard, if it has become dull, he says,
"Break it up, you have the choice, go in, break up the fallow
ground.' The Word of God can be planted there. Remove the
thorns, ask God to circumcise your heart. We can get dull
to the Word of God so it's not impacting our life. So Jeremiah
says in essence, 'Break up that fallow ground, ask God to
remove that hardened flesh, so it will be soft and receptive
to his Word.' God says in Hosea, "Sow for yourselves righteousness,
reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it's time
to seek the Lord, till he comes and reigns righteousness
on you." At these times we need to pray and ask God, "Make
me sensitive to you again." And then he says he'll come and
he'll reign righteousness on you. He just pours it on, pours
on the power and love. God uses broken vessels, he uses broken
men and women, those are the ones who are receptive. A broken
vessel is usable by God because a broken vessel is not attractive
on the outside. An unbroken vessel can't be seen on the inside,
but a broken vessel's contents flow out of it--God's love
shines out to others from it. Breaking is sweet, but it hurts
to be broken when God has to take you through that time.
But in a most amazing way, a sweetness comes from it in your
life.
Verses 30-32,
"Again he said, 'What shall we say to the kingdom of God
is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It
is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you
plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes
the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches
that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.'" A
mustard seed was very tiny, but a mustard plant would grow
to about the height of the head of a horse. You put this
tiny seed in the ground and this big plant comes from it.
( Giant sequoias come from a very tiny seed also, and yet
they grow to be the largest tree on earth. A company I
worked for had the name of Sequoia. On their coffee mugs
was a logo,
"Sequoias Are Known For Their Size, But They Too Start Small.")
The mass of that tiny seed is multiplied millions and billions
of times over, and Jesus says that is like the kingdom of
God. Just a small seed of the Word of God, what it can do
in our lives. It'll just grow and grow. Maybe you're sitting
there, looking at your spouse and thinking, "Wow, rough edges." But
the seed of God is there, and it will grow and will begin
to bring forth growth like you wouldn't believe. It's amazing,
that little seed, and what can come from it in your life.
When you read a parable, you need to read it and just pray,
and the understanding will come to you. Not all the little
details are there to have a spiritual truth to them. Some
of them are there just to add color to the story, to help
illuminate the central truth. Here in this parable you have
this large mustard tree or bush, and now you have these birds
in the branches. And some people have taught on the birds,
but I think in this case when I read it in Mark I think the
birds are there just to add color. But when you look in Luke
the birds are also there, and Jesus is drawing attention
to the birds and wanting to make a note. In Matthew this
parable follows the parable of the wheat and tares, where
Jesus says this guy goes out and plants this good seed and
it starts to grow, but another guy in the middle of the night
goes out and plants this bad stuff. They both grow. Now you
have the good seed and the bad seed growing together. And
right after that Jesus talks about this. Jesus shows the
kingdom of God just growing and expanding. But sometimes
there's even a natural growth, in a sense, where the birds
of the air represent Satan and his buddies, moving in and
beginning to nest in the tree in the kingdom. And that can
happen, and we see it taught that way in the Scripture, where
the kingdom of God is growing, but some bad seeds have gotten
in there now, and in the parable of the wheat and tares it
is the angels in the end who determine what the tares are.
(Or who they are.) So in some cases we're not going to know
what or who the tares are and what the birds are until we
get to the end (and it is revealed for us). I know I'm not
a tare, I know I'm wheat, personally. I hope you all know
that. But ultimately God knows somebody else's heart, I don't.
But that does happen, the growth comes and there's this great
work of God starting in this little mustard seed--Boom!--and
then the institution mentality sets it, and now we've got
this religious system going, and the birds just come in and
light on the branches and begin to move in. And then you
have trouble. And that is something I think Jesus is trying
to bring out too.
Verses 33-34, "With many similar parables Jesus spoke
the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did
not say anything to them without using a parable. But when
he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything." So
he explains to his disciples. They in privacy must have said,
'I don't quite get it.' And so the Lord shares it with them.
That is what happens with us. If the light is in us, we want
to know the truth. So we just get alone with the Lord, and
the Lord will begin to illuminate these truths to us. Turn
to John chapter 14. I want to share a thought with you I
found in E. Campbell Morgan's commentary. Jesus says in John
14:16, "'I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me. If you had known me you
would have known my Father also. From now on you know him
and have seen him.' Phillip said, 'Lord, show us the Father
and it is sufficient for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I
been with you so long and yet have you not known me Phillip?
He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say,
'Show us the Father?' Do you not believe that I am in the
Father and the Father in me? These words that I have spoken
to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father
who dwells in me does the works.'" G. Campbell Morgan made
the comment that "Jesus is the ultimate parable." Obviously
as the Logos [cf. John 1:1-14] he's sharing these parables
to draw people to the Word, to the Truth, but Jesus is the
Logos, the Word. He is the Life, he is the Truth. And he
says here, and has used the imagery here, "If you've seen
me, you've seen the Father." That's kind of like a parable.
He's saying, "If you look at me, if you've seen me with those
spiritual eyes, then you've connected with the Father."
Mark 4:35-5:43
"No Reason To Be Afraid"
Mark 4:35-43. "That day when evening came, he said to his disciples,
'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd behind,
they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were
also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the
waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus
was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke
him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?'
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet!
Be Still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to the disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still
have no faith?' They were terrified and asked each other, 'Who
is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him?'"
"A number of years ago it was reported that the newspaper counselor,
Ann Landers, receives an average of 10,000 letters each month,
and nearly all of them are burdened with problems. She was
asked "Is there any one problem that predominates the letters
you receive?" And her reply was "The one problem above
all others seems to be fear." People are afraid of losing their
health, their wealth, their loved ones, people are even terrified
of life itself. The dictionary says that "Fear is a feeling
of alarm caused by expectation of danger, or a state of dread..." and
in some cases, fear is a healthy thing God has created in us.
You know when you're on the subway in Boston, you're going
through a T stop that isn't that safe, and you think, as you're
passing through this T stop, you get this sense of fear which
overtakes you. And you sense you need to get off the subway
as quickly as possible, and you get off. And you come to find
out that God was leading you to get off the subway. There was
a danger on the subway, some person that was going to mug you
or something. I give that to you as an example because there
are times when God puts that sense of fear in our hearts for
a reason, to get us to move because of impending danger. That's
a healthy fear to have. There's also other healthy fears to
have. A fear of God--that's a healthy fear. Look in a concordance.
There are hundreds of verses that speak of fearing God. In
Psalm 111 we're told that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom." This is a fear that is being in awe of the Creator,
in awe of God, of his presence and power. It's a healthy fear,
a good fear to have, an awe of God. Another fear that is healthy
to have is a fear of sin. Paul shares about confronting an
elder in sin. He says in 1 Timothy "Those who are sinning" (this
is talking about an elder)
"rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear." We're
exhorted in the Scripture to have a fear of sin, to fear sin
and it's consequences.
So there are times where we are to have a healthy fear, but
as the letters to Ann Landers show us, reveal to us, there's
often fear in our lives that's very unhealthy. And this is
what we're going to look at this morning.
Faith and fear, that is, unhealthy fear, cannot co-exist.
You either have one or the other.
Either you're walking in faith or you're going to have fear.
You can't have the two at the same time. If fear is in your
heart, if you're afraid of the future, then you're not walking
in faith. The two do not co-exist at the same time. When one
is present the other leaves. John writes in his letter, in
1 John he says,
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been
made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us." So
John tells us that when you have that perfect love of God,
that love casts out fear. And he says God first loved us. So
I rest in that. It's a perfect love. And as I accept that in
faith, the result of that is to cast out fear. The fear just
subsides and goes away as my heart is filled with faith in
his love and his power.
Also God says to us in Isaiah, as his children he says that
we're not to have fear, and the reason why is because he
is with us. He says, 'Don't fear, I am with you.' Isaiah
41, "Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your
God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold
you with my righteous right hand." Maybe today you find yourself
struggling with fear. There are things in your life causing
you to be afraid. God just wants to remind us, as a child of
God, we do not need to be afraid. There's no reason to be afraid
as the children of God. God desires that we have peace and
it's a peace that passes understanding. We'll see today in
Mark, you know as we go to this gospel we see Jesus, the more
we learn, as Paul says, we can count all things loss compared
to knowing Christ. As we go to this gospel we see Jesus. And
as we look today, it's clear, you and I have no reason to be
afraid, because God, Jesus is with us. We don't need to fear
the storms of life. We don't need to fear any bondage's of
life, of the world. We don't need to fear suffering. We don't
need to fear man, his failures, his rejections. We don't even
need to fear death itself, as we look at this text this morning.
And if there's no fear of death, then there isn't anything
left to fear. We're told in Scriptures that you, as a Christian,
don't need to fear death. David worships and says in Psalm
23, "Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil." And then he says why, "For you
are with me, your rod and staff, they comfort me." He says,
'I have nothing to fear. You are with me God.'
Let's look at verse 35, chapter four of Mark, "On the same
day when evening had come he said to them, 'Let us cross over
to the other side.' Now when they had left the multitude they
took him along in a boat as he was, and other little boats
were also with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves
beat into the boat so that it was already filling. But he was
astern asleep on a pillow, and they awoke him and said to him,
'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' Then he arose
and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!'
And there was a great calm. And he said to them, 'Why are you
so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?' And they feared
exceedingly and said to one another, 'Who can this be that
even the wind and the waves obey him?'--Who can this possibly
be?" As a child of God you and I don't need to fear the storms
of life. It's been a long day here for Jesus and his disciples,
as we kind of put all the events together as we've been studying,
and it's evening and now he says, "Let's go to the other side
of the sea." And it seems most likely that Jesus is very tired,
there's a multitude if you remember from last week. He's already
in a boat, the multitude was so vast he actually had to step
into a boat to effectively communicate and teach this crowd,
teaching in parables. And it's been a long day as you put all
of the events together and probably he's physically tired.
He is a man. He's God, but he is a man. And the disciples probably
need some rest too, and so the only place they're going to
get rest is away from the multitudes, so he says, 'Let's set
sail to the other side of the sea.' And you read there as they
do that, some other little boats, some other folks still want
to follow, so they jump into their little boats and they follow
him. So he doesn't completely get away from the crowd, but
at least he got an opportunity here to find rest. But the multitude
has taken its toll. And due to the exhaustion, I at least see
a lot of exhaustion in Jesus' body, because you see there that
he has fallen asleep on a pillow in the stern of this boat.
And he sleeps through quite a situation there. As they begin
to make this journey across the sea of Galilee--it's just a
few miles, it's not a very large body of water--a storm begins,
a windstorm suddenly comes down upon the vessel. The geography
shows us storms can come quickly upon the sea of Galilee. There
are very tall mountains right around the sea, they're very
steep, rising up very quickly. Then you have the sea of Galilee
700 feet below sea level and you have the Jordan valley there.
Wind storms can come in very quickly due to the thermal gradients
in the air and things, and they can really come upon you surprisingly.
That's what happens here to the disciples. I know when we were
there last December and we were in a boat that set sail across
the sea of Galilee, that I took a picture because the water
of the sea of Galilee was like glass. It was like a mirror,
perfectly still, a you saw the reflections of the mountains
and things. But just moments later it began to be very choppy.
Very quickly it changed. And that happens, and that's what
happens here to these disciples and Jesus and the others as
they have set sail across the sea of Galilee. The storm in
this case is so intense that waves of water begin to come into
the boat. And with that the disciples are now in fear. They
begin to really question whether they're going to make it across,
because the water is coming into the boat to such a degree.
And all along now you see Jesus is so exhausted because he's
been giving life, pouring out his life that he's sleeping through
this storm as the boat is tossed to and fro as the wind is
blowing and all the screaming, he's still sleeping in the stern.
Well, in frustration the disciples go to Jesus and they awake
him and say, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Maybe
you can relate to that. Maybe you've been there before. "Do
you not care that we're perishing here, do you not care?" What
a picture here in these verses of what happens to you and I
sometimes. Life might be going along just fine and then this
wind begins to pick up and then waves begin to increase and
this storm is all of a sudden howling, and enters our life,
sometimes very unexpectedly. Sometimes it's a ferocious storm.
And as the waves come and the wind blows we begin to get afraid,
asking, "What is going on here? Am I gonna make it through
this storm? This is intense. I didn't expect this." Especially
the storms that last awhile can really begin to put a fear
in your heart. And in that state what often happens is that
you begin to question God. "God, this isn't very fair. Why'd
you allow this into my life?" "What is going on here?" "I didn't
deserve this." You even question his character and say, "Are
you really good? You say you're good, but this doesn't seem
like a good thing that this would happen to me in my life." "I
don't understand, what did I do to deserve this?"
You begin to question even his love. "You say you're a God
of love, but well, this doesn't seem like you're a God of love
with the things that are going on here." [The Christians in
Yugoslavia during World War II could have been saying exactly
these same things, but many weren't. You can read there story
in Marie Chapian's book "Of Whom The World Was Not Worthy",
available online at http://www.amazon.com for
$7.99.] That's happened to me in my life. Sometimes those winds
when they're blowing and howling can be very difficult. I remember
one storm that came into my life awhile back. It was going
and going and eventually I couldn't take it. This despair began
to set into my heart. I just started to struggle. Each time
I weathered the storm and thought the storm was over, the wind
would howl again and the waves were bigger than before and
would knock me down. That can really get you down, as it continues
to happen. I was there once, it just kept getting worse. I'd
say, "Hey, this is bad enough Lord." And the next day it got
even worse. You know, at one time, I began to question whether
I was even going to make it. I began to even be afraid of life.
Despair was really deep in my heart...But you know God spoke
to me (in my heart) and he spoke to me twice on two different
occasions, and I finally had to stand one day and say, "Lord,
you've told me twice you love me, you've told me twice that
you're with me and you've told me that you're going to bless
the future. I need to accept it by faith." And I stood up and
walked and I went ahead and I pressed forward in faith. [And
this particular pastor now has a congregation of over 100 people,
a radio ministry, and they're desperately looking for a bigger
building to meet in. It started out with about five people
meeting in the tiny radio studio building.] You know, if there
is fear in my heart, your heart, there's no faith. And it's
hard to live a life of fear. But to walk in faith is to get
up, to press forward, be strong and stand strong.
Verse 39, He stands up and he rebukes the wind and says, "Peace,
be still!" And as you read, the wind ceased and there was a
great calm. Amazingly Jesus quiets the storm. Image being one
of the disciples on this boat. Jesus has been able to heal,
cast out demons. He's even indicated that he can forgive sin.
But there's still a lack of understanding just of who is
in the boat with them. They don't understand that the Creator
of the universe is laying in the stern of that boat. That hasn't
quite sunk in yet. So Jesus stands up, to them a man still,
and he says, "Peace, be still!" And this storm stops. I mean,
these guys are like stunned, they're in awe. I think then a
healthy fear enters their heart, as you read there in verse
41. "They were exceedingly fearful." But I think now a good
fear, as they're saying 'God is in our boat!' 'This is God
that we've been walking with.' [cf. John 1:1-11.] Because Paul
says in Colossians chapter one, "For by him"--that is Jesus--"all
things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, and all things were created through him and for
him."
God used this storm to reveal to these disciples again who was
in the boat. They needed to learn a little bit more about who
he was--that God was with them--in the boat with them. And
he was the one--the only one--that was able to stand up and
stop the storm. Well now, the disciples were able to see that
the Creator was there, the controller of all things. They saw
omnipotent power, there, right before them. And that was going
to help them later on in life with all the persecution and
trials they would face. This experience, this reality wasn't
just a head knowledge thing. Now they knew that Jesus could
even stop the wind and stop the waves. He's omnipotent, he's
God, he's Creator. So when the challenges that would come later
arrived they'd be ready and could stand through that, and even
extend faith and courage to others as the storms of life pass
through. Storms come into our lives so you and I can learn
more about the character of Jesus. You know, we can have the
Bible study head knowledge, but God has got to bring those
storms in so that you and I know it by experience and therefore
can grab onto it and walk in it in faith that Jesus can stop
the wind, he can stop the waves. Initially, when those storms
come we begin to doubt his character. But when the storm is
stopped and now we're there in the calm of the aftermath, we
begin to just stand in awe of the beauty of his character and
of his power. It increases our faith, and the life of faith
is a beautiful life to live.
Are you currently in the midst of a storm? Has fear or despair
set in? Sometimes that happens. It's happened to me. Is Jesus
asking you "Why are you so fearful? Why do you have no faith?" If
you don't have faith, the fear just comes right in. Jesus wants
to remind you that HE IS WITH YOU. HE IS THE CREATOR OF ALL
THINGS. His love toward you is a perfect love. He wants to
remind you today of that. Receive his Word in faith, and when
you do, the fear begins to subside, you get up and you press
on. If you believe in his power, if you believe in his love
and faith, that is a conquering faith. That's the type of faith
God wants to give you. So he takes you through these storms
so you can come to believe in his power, and believe in his
love. You don't just have this head knowledge but you believe
in it. And then you can conquer in faith as things come, you
can stand strong and even extend faith and encouragement to
others. And with every storm that comes into our lives, every
storm will one day pass. And the calm will come. God has allowed
storms in your life for a purpose. And in the calm of the passing
storm we learn what we're exhorted hundreds of times in the
Bible--to fear God, and that's an awe of him.
Let's look at Mark 5:1-20, "And they came to the other side
of the sea to the country of the Gadarenes. And when they had
come out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs
a man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the
tombs. And no one could bind him, not even with chains. Because
he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains
had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces.
Neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day he
was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting
himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar he ran and
worshipped him, and he cried out with a loud voice and said,
'What have I to do with you Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I implore you by God that you do not torment me.' For he said
to him, 'Come out of the man, unclean spirit.' And he asked
him, 'What is your name?' And he answered saying, 'My name
is Legion for we are many.' Also he begged him earnestly that
he would not send them out of the country. And a large herd
of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons
begged him saying, 'Send us to the swine that we may enter
them.' And at once Jesus gave them permission and the unclean
spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about two
thousand. And the herd ran violently down the steep place into
the sea and drown in the sea. So those who fed the swine fled,
and they told it in the city and the country. And they went
out to see what it was that had happened. And they came to
Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had
the Legion sitting and clothed, and in his right mind. And
they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it had
happened to him who had been demon possessed, and about the
swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart from their
region. And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed
begged with him that he might be with him. However Jesus did
not permit him, but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and
tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how
he's had compassion on you.' And he departed and began to proclaim
in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And all marveled." With
Jesus, when he's with us, you and I don't need to be afraid.
We don't need to be afraid of the storms and we don't need
to be afraid of the bondage's that we find in the world.
Sometimes that can be the most fearful thing in life. You have
this thing, this grip of evil on your life that you're in bondage
to, and you can be afraid of even the next day. This thing
consumes you and controls your life. Well, the disciples have
been through a storm and then they had quite an experience
watching Jesus kick out a legion of demons out of a man they'd
possessed for years. It must have been exciting being with
Jesus. You go from the storm to deviled ham with all the pigs
jumping into the water. This man comes to Jesus as they come
to the shore. He comes running, he sees Jesus. And this man
is a man that is a picture of great bondage, a tremendous bondage.
Nobody could help this man. Many tried to shackle him and to
hold him, but nobody could help this man. He was in such bondage.
In fact as he says who he is when Jesus asked for the name
of the demons, they say, 'My name is Legion for we are many.'
A Roman legion of soldiers was over six thousand soldiers,
six thousand eight hundred and twenty six men. Is there six
thousand demons in this man? It's bad enough having one demon
in your life, let alone six thousand dwelling there. I wonder
if anyone else has been possessed with so many demons and been
in such bondage as this man. We're given this story so we can
see somebody in the greatest depth of bondage, yet we see him
encounter God. Look at the anguish of soul. Also you see what
bondage's do as he's cutting himself with stones. Hating even
his flesh and what's going on. But, in this story, he comes
and falls at the feet of Jesus. And Jesus does a work. Maybe
you feel the grip of evil in your life. Maybe you're afraid,
because of that bondage. Sometimes we are, living in some kind
of bondage and fear. You can see what we need to do, and that
is to go and fall at the feet of Jesus. He is the only one
that can deliver us. So we can see somebody in the greatest
depth of bondage, yet we see him encounter God. Look at the
anguish of soul.
Alcoholics Anonymous points people to seek a higher power,
but you can miss by a mile if you don't get Jesus. If you don't
get Jesus, you do not have a higher power to rely on. He is
the only one who is going to deliver you from the bondage you
may find yourself in. Buddha's not going to do it for you,
Mohammed's not going to do it for you, the New Age meetings
aren't going to do it. You may have a little success on your
own, but when it's bondage, the bondage of the world, the grip
of evil, there's only one, and that is Jesus. You have drug
addiction, alcohol addiction, the mind begins to change and
the chemistry that goes on with alcohol addiction. Pornography
can work the same way, different things the enemy can bring
into our lives that can just be a bondage to us. Jesus Christ
is the power that can keep you from stumbling, remove the bondage.
In AA, some people find that power, but many don't.
These demons, in other gospels you get the sense they don't
want to get sent into the abyss, so these demons ask to be
sent into the swine that are there. And then as you read later,
this man goes to the Decapolis. If you're in bondage, Jesus
can help you from stumbling, he's the power. There's no need
to be afraid. Fear is because you don't understand the power
and love of God. But he wants to bring power into your life
and deliver you.
Verse 17 is a sad thing. The guy who is taking care of these
pigs is thinking, 'What is going on here?' as he sees the pigs
running into the water. So he goes back to town and tells them
about everything that happened. So the whole region came out
to see this event. But what a sad verse, they come out and
plead that he would depart from their region. They're more
concerned about the money and pigs and things of this world
than the things of God. [The Roman's would vacation when off
duty in the area of the Decapolis. They had recreation areas
in this region and the demand for pork products must have been
very high making the raising of pigs a very profitable business.
And this would explain why this region, a part of the Jewish
nation bordering on the cities of the Decapolis, grew whole
herds of swine.]
This man was naked, cut up and scarred, a sad picture of a
man. And now he's dressed and sitting there in his right mind.
Not strange or bizarre, just very healed before them. And that
same man said, 'Hey, I want to go with you.' But this time
Jesus does something different. Up until this point he always
told the people not to say anything. But in this case he says
'Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the
Lord has done for you, and how he's had compassion on you.'
And that's what Jesus tells this man to do. [This is an essential
key or part of spreading the gospel on a personal level, telling
others, your friends and acquaintances what Jesus has done
for you.] And this man goes and does what Jesus told him to
do, and many people hear and marvel in the cities of the Decapolis.
[As can be seen, one of Jesus' jobs is that of being the healer
of our minds. This man's mind must have been virtually fried,
considering he had a legion of demons in his mind for who knows
how long. The field of modern psychology has tried to usurp
one of the things Jesus is best at, healing sick or hurting
minds. Who knows the architecture of the mind, both in the
hardware and software better than Jesus, who the Bible says "created
all things." Now the field of modern Freudian psychology has
made dangerous inroads into Christian churches, where pastors
and laymembers alike have become trained in psychology steeped
in Freudian theory and attempt to bring healing to members
of their congregations, all the while forgetting that Jesus
can do a perfect job in this area, with no botched jobs. To
read more about this danger and understand what's going on
within our churches, be sure to order the excellent booklet "The
Psychologizing of the Faith." To order online click on http://www.thewordfortoday.org ,
and click on "Product" and then on "Other Materials". Then
click on "Books", and then on "Calvary Basics Series." Scroll
down until you find "The Psychologizing of the Faith." This
is a thorough and clear Biblical treatment of the subject.]
Last couple of points. Verses 21-43, "Now when Jesus had
crossed over by the boat to the other side a great multitude
gathered to him. And he was by the sea. And behold, one of
the rulers of the synagogue came, Jarius by name. And when
he saw him he fell at his feet and begged him earnestly saying,
'My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay
your hands on her that she may be healed and she will live.'
So Jesus went with him and a great multitude followed him and
thronged him.
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years and
had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent
all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse. When
she heard about Jesus she came behind him in the crowd and
touched his garment, for she said, 'If only I may touch his
clothes, I shall be made well.' Immediately the fountain of
her blood was dried up as she felt in her body that she was
healed of the affliction. And Jesus immediately knowing in
himself that power had gone out from him, turned around in
the crowd and said, 'Who touched my clothes?' But his disciples
said to him, 'You see the multitudes thronging you and you
say 'Who touched me?' And he looked around to see her who had
done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing
what had happened to her came and fell down before him and
told him the whole truth. And he said to her, 'Daughter, your
faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your
affliction.' While he was still speaking some came from the
ruler of the synagogue's house who said, 'Your daughter is
dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?' As soon as Jesus
heard the word that was spoken he said to the ruler of the
synagogue, 'Do not be afraid, only believe.' And he permitted
no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother
of James. Then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue
and saw the tumult of those who wept and wailed loudly. When
he came in he said to them, 'Why make this commotion and weep?
The child is not dead but sleeping.' And they ridiculed him.
But when he had put them all aside he took the father and mother
of the child and those who were with him and entered where
the child was lying. He took the child by the hand and said
to her, 'Talitha Koum!' which is translated 'Little girl, I
say to you, arise.' Immediately the girl arose and walked,
for she was twelve years of age, and they were overcome with
great amazement. But he commanded them strictly that no one
should know it, and said that something should be given her
to eat."
What a contrast. You have a 12 year overlap. This young girl
is 12 years of age and this lady with an issue of blood has
been suffering for 12 years. Initially when it started, she
started going to the doctors, saying, 'What's going on in my
life?' She tried to get some help and time passed and more
time passed, and eventually it turned out to be years of suffering.
And when all this started, this girl was born, born to this
Jarius, a very significant person in the community, some would
say even the chief person in the synagogue, wealthy, influential.
So she's had a blessed life, you could say of just being in
a prosperous and blessed home. But recently she's had a change
of events in her life as well. She was near the point of death.
God will allow suffering into people's lives that will last
for years. And God has it for a purpose to his glory. But for
some of us life is easier. But the day does come when the storm
does blow. God has a purpose in it. Sometimes life can be easy
and then the phone will ring and a real grave storm will come
and you'll drop to the floor when you hear what's being told
to you. Something can happen so quickly in some of our lives.
And you see the contrast here with these two women. Well, with
Jesus you and I do not need to fear suffering. We don't like
pain, but we don't have to fear it. We don't have to be afraid
of men. We don't even need to fear death. Paul said in 1 Corinthians,
'Death? Where is the sting of death?' We don't fear it as a
Christian. We're told in the Psalms that 'precious is the death
of saints in the eyes of God.' And that's because we're going
to be with him. He's waiting to welcome us into his kingdom.
The death of the wicked he looks on in pain as we read in Ezekiel
33, hoping that they would turn.
Jarius comes, he's been a strong man, successful, but God is
going to do a work in his life and has brought him to his knees.
God works through broken vessels, so he breaks us sometimes
to teach us about his character and power and love. If you
think you're standing on your own, woe to you, because you
are going to fall.
So God keeps us broken. We'll Jarius pleads with Jesus, 'Jesus,
come. My little girl.' And this is close to home for a Mom
or a Dad when a child is near the point of death. So he is
just hurting, you can imagine. That's Jarius, he just burdened.
So Jesus goes with him. Jesus has more to teach him. But now
he's finding hope as Jesus is walking with him. And then the
crowd stops, I would image, much to the frustration of Jarius.
But there's this lady and she's quite the picture of suffering,
has this blood flow for 12 years. She was ceremonially unclean
because of that so she was kept outside away from people because
anyone she touched would become ceremonially unclean (for 24
hours). She's a lonely lady who's been seeking answers for
12 years. She's gone to people to get help and they've taken
advantage of her, taking all her money for cures that didn't
work. The Talmud had all these recipes for healing and none
of them worked. They were just goofy if your were to read them,
strange and bizarre, and none of them have worked. So she's
suffered a long time. And now maybe she's in fear of man, untrusting,
because of all that's happened to her. She presses through
this crowd understanding that if she touches Jesus, he will
heal her. And Jesus does. (Jesus can heal you at this very
moment if you have an affliction. If he's not decided to do
it, it's because he loves you and he's doing a work in you.
But you are right in his loving control.) Well, this lady touches
him and she is healed. And you see the situation where he turns
around and says 'Who's touched me?' And the disciples are like,
'Hey, there's people all around. What are you talking about?'
But this lady comes and says 'I've done it, you've healed me.'
And he says to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well.
Go in peace.' The two go together, faith and peace. You walk
in faith and you experience peace. If you walk in fear you
miss out on the peace.
Well now Jarius, you can just imagine, he's so frustrated.
If I were Jarius I would be throwing Jesus in the back seat
of the car and doing 90 down the highway! We wouldn't be wasting
time here for red lights or anything, we're going. But they
stop. You can just image the struggle going on in his mind.
And then the worst things comes, the people come from his house
and say, 'Hey, it's too late. You've taken too long. Your daughter
has died.' But Jesus has allowed that for a reason because
he has something very important to show Jarius, and to show
us. He says to Jarius, 'Don't be afraid, only believe.' Well
as Jesus continues on, he takes a few of the inner guys and
they go into this house. They actually have to go past this
group who in that culture have been hired to just weep and
wail. And he goes by and says 'Hey guys, why make all the commotion?
The child isn't dead. The child's just sleeping. [And Paul
calls death a sleep. Many might wonder if Jesus were telling
a lie here, but he wasn't. Paul called death a sleep when he
spoke of the resurrection, because to God, death is merely
a sleep. To the very One who can raise the dead, death is nothing
more than sleep. Jesus was speaking of a higher reality which
this hired crowd couldn't comprehend.] And if you put the gospels
together and in the Greek tense and everything, they ridiculed
him and they continued to do it as he goes in the house. But
he takes the family and this inner circle of disciples and
they go to this bed, and he reaches to this little girl and
he says 'Talitha Kuom,' which is 'Little girl, I say to you
arise' or 'little lamb, arise.' And he speaks and this little
girl who was dead gets up. And they fear, and people just marvel,
overcome with amazement as Jesus raised this dead child back
to life again.
You know, you and I don't have to fear death as God's kids.
God wants to remind you here that there's nothing at all in
your life, ever, to be afraid of. There's some healthy fear--fear
of God, fear of sin, maybe a little fear for a moment where
there's impending danger and he wants you to realize that.
But afraid type fear where you don't have faith, you don't
have to have that fear anymore. When you walk by faith you
don't have to fear the storms, you don't have to fear suffering,
you don't have to fear man, his rejections, we don't have to
fear bondage's of the world, and we don't even have to fear
death itself. And if you don't have to fear death, you and
I can walk by faith. And to walk by faith is a life of peace.
God wants you to have a peace that passes understanding."