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Mark 3:7-35 Sermon “The Society for the Promotion of Madness Among the Respectable Classes”

Drew Boswell Ministries
Drew Boswell Ministries
Mark 3:7-35 Sermon "The Society for the Promotion of Madness Among the Respectable Classes"
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Christ’s Power Over Every Need The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series “The Society for the Promotion of Madness Among the Respectable Classes” Mark 3:7-35

Christ’s Power Over Every Need

The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series

The Society for the Promotion of Madness Among the Respectable Classes[1]

Mark 3:7-35

Introduction

Anyone who goes against the grain of acceptable society has a good chance of being considered mad. Jesus was said to be crazy, Paul was called mad, Francis of Assisi, William Carey – many people who were singularly focused on Christ and His mission will always be going counter to what the culture holds as acceptable.  We as the church today are too respectable, too cautious, too normal – Jesus is considered mad, because he pushed against the accepted norm.

 Prayer

The Crowds Gather (vv. 7-12)

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

(v. 9) Mark doesn’t tell us if he uses the boat or not, but for the first time in the gospel we are getting the idea that there are so many people that it is dangerous; there is a concern of literally being crushed to death by people pushing in to touch Him.

The word for crush used here “means to press hard or to squeeze into a tight place. It was used of pressing grapes in order to extract the juice,”[2] so he wanted a boat so that they could push off from the shore and get some distance.

(v. 10) “all who had diseases” – the word that’s used for diseases is same word for plagues, meaning a widespread disease such as influenza. Many thought that by just touching him, they would be healed, so they were pressing in, pushing to touch him.

(v. 12) uses the imperfect tense four times meaning that something keeps on happening. “The unclean spirits keep on beholding,” Jesus. They kept on falling down before” him. And they kept on crying out,” You are the Son of God,” and Jesus kept on rebuking them that they should be quiet.

Jesus Selects the Twelve Disciples (vv. 13-19)

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

This is the second time so far that have a sense of crisis in Jesus’s ministry. Luke (6:2) tells us that Jesus went up on the mountain to pray, and that this time of prayer went all night. Emerging from this time of prayer and from the group he had invited “up the mountain,” He then chose from them 12 – that he called “apostles.”

Apostle – a title denoting a commissioned messenger or ambassador. In Israelite history during the Diaspora, apostles were sent out to collect taxes. They usually traveled in pairs, these men sometimes preached or taught in synagogues, but their commission ended with their return to Jerusalem. The rabbinic term for such agents was shaliah.

In the OT, the term shaliah is used for four figures; Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel, in the sense of God’s agent by reason of power committed to them to perform miracles on God’s behalf.[3] Jesus is going to send out the apostles as His agents (Son of God), with His authority to preach His message, and to exercise power by casting out demons (overthrowing Satan) and preaching the gospel.

Mark tells us that there were three purposes given for Jesus choosing the 12, “so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons”— They would not be ready to be sent out, until they had been with Jesus for some time and had been trained by Him, (1) to be with him (2) to preach and (3) to cast out demons.

There is an order given here; the disciples/apostles are to be with Jesus, before they go out to preach and cast out demons. They needed to know Jesus, to know the truth of the gospel before they can have any meaningful ministry on His behalf. Jesus says, “Come,” and then “Go.”

“This double ministry of preaching and healing was to mark their work.”[4] Jesus is gathering the apostles and will eventually be sending them out on mission. We will also see below that Jesus’s enemies are gathering to bring Him and His ministry to an end. There are two forces with a strategy, intentionality, drive, etc.

Jesus will continue to preach and teach the multitudes, but now we see He begins to focus a lot of effort on this group of 12. Isaiah 60:22 says “The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation;” one trained and dedicated disciple becomes far mightier than a thousand casual hearers.

Attributing Good and Evil (vv. 20-27)

20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables[5], “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Jesus’s Family Attributes His Behavior (vv. 20-21)

The crowds lingered while Jesus and his select group were up on the mountain. They return to Jesus’s home and the crowd forms again. There are so many people in the house that they can’t rest, can’t sleep, they can’t even eat, and we don’t see Him preaching here (again perhaps because there are just so many people pressing in.)

Erasmus believes that the “so that they could not even eat” is a reference to the crowd – that there are so many people gathered, in such a short period of time, that food is running out for everyone.[6] It could also mean, that so many people were in the house that they could not prepare a meal (in the kitchen).

Jesus’s family are concerned about his health – he’s not eating, not sleeping, staying up all night praying, he’s physically tired and exhausted. So, they are looking for Him to physically seize him (this word also means to arrest) to take care of Him. They are saying, “all this has gone too far, we are concerned about you and your health, you need to take a break from all this. You need to stop.”

It is possible to love someone and want to see that they are healthy, happy, safe – and be working against the plan that God has for them. Here Jesus’s family don’t understand what He is called to do, so they are inadvertently working against God’s plan. Remember they have traveled from Nazareth to Capernaum to seize him.[7]

Jesus’ Enemies Attribute his Behavior (vv. 22)

(v. 22) begins with “And” – Jesus’ own family are hunting for him to seize him, to make him stop “and” now the scribes are back. They’ve been talking, and planning, and scheming, and now are seeking to discredit Jesus by making the claim that His power to heal is from Satan. Remember, Jesus had not just cast out one or two demons but many, and “they fell down before him and cried out.”

 “It is possible that they were official emissaries from the Great Sanhedrin who came to examine Jesus’ miracles and to determine whether Capernaum should be declared a “seduced city,” the prey of an apostate preacher. Such a declaration required a thorough investigation made on the spot by official envoys in order to determine the extent of the defection and to distinguish between the instigators, the apostles, and the innocent.”[8]

(v. 22) “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul” The intention of what Jesus is saying is not immediately obvious in English, but the name Beelzebul means “lord of the heavenly dwelling” or “lord of the heavenly house.”

Jesus is asserting that by casting out demons He had entered into the strong man’s house (Beelzebul, “lord of the flies” or the “lord of the heavenly house”) and had spoiled his goods! He was able to do this because He was stronger than the “strong man” and bound him. If Satan cannot cast our Satan, then one greater and stronger than Satan must be present! The only one greater than Satan is God himself!”[9]

Jesus’s argument goes like this, “I have just cast out demons. Now if I am doing it by Satan’s power, then Satan is actually working against himself. But that would be absurd. Just as a house (v. 25) or a kingdom (v. 24) cannot stand if it is divided against itself or opposes itself, so Satan will bring about his own destruction by working against himself (v. 26). Furthermore, in order to enter the house of a strong man and plunder it, one must first tie up the strong man (v. 27).”[10]

How can Satan be overcome by the use of Satan’s methods and power? How can we accomplish good ends by evil means? Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech “A House Divided” says, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

Their accusations now brand Jesus’ work as unlawful, and he is consigned to the category of a magician. He will continually be charged with sorcery.

Jesus’s Warning to Those That Get It Wrong (vv. 28-30)

28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

This is meant to be understood as a solemn statement, “I tell you the truth.” Forgiveness is available for all sins and blasphemies of men, except one, the “blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.” and Jesus goes on to say that it is an eternal sin – the unpardonable sin.

 “Ascribing to Satan what is perhaps the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, that of rescuing those who are in Satan’s power.” One who does this not only rejects moral values but reverses them. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit denotes the conscious and deliberate rejection of the saving power and grace of God released through Jesus’ word and actions.[11] When Jesus released a person from the stronghold of Satan it was a revelation of the Kingdom of God and this revelation called for a decision.

The scribes were so set on rejecting Jesus and his message of forgiveness or sin, and their rejecting that the miracles prove that He was the Son of God – that they lost the ability to discern good from evil. There will be people who are so set on rejecting Jesus, in favor of their own sin, that they can no longer see sin for what it is. Hobbs says, that with the Holy Spirit moved out, “No conviction, no repentance; no repentance, no faith; no faith, no salvation. Thus the unpardonable sin.”[12]

Family Tension (vv. 31-35)

31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

There are many believers who have faced this tension in their lives. Jesus said, Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus calls us to be His disciple, and in that we distance ourselves from our biological family. This not a battle with hate, but with love. Missionaries who leave their families behind for the sake of sharing the gospel to a lost people group have to have this battle.

Love for biological family can put up walls, close highways, and stop the calling of a person. “A family should be a harbor from which the ship leaves to sail the sea, and not a dock where it ties up and rots.”

Life for me has almost come full circle. I left my home at 20 to pursue a calling into ministry (which is by far easier), and now the ships are leaving our harbor to sail upon life’s sea.

“And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.” They are asking Jesus to stop his ministry, because they want what they feel is best for Him (safety, health, provision, stability, etc.) at the expense of the greater need for the salvation of others.

______________________________

[1] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 7 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 691.

[2] Herschel Hobbs, An Exposition of the Four Gospels, Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1970) 57.

[3] George Arthur Buttrick, Dictionary Editor, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Volume A-D (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 171.

[4] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 1 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1930) 280.

[5] This is the first occurrence of the word parable in the book of Mark, a parable “is a unique literary device consisting of riddles, metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech, even at times allegory.

[6] Alexander Balman Bruce, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Grand Rapids Book Manufacturing, Inc. 1967) 360.

[7] Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1984) 644.

[8] William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdsmans Publishing, 1974) 141.

[9] James McGowan, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, The Gospel of Mark (Chattanooga, Tennessee; AMG Publishers, 2006) 40.

[10] Gaebelein, 645.

[11] Lane, 145.

[12] Hobbs, 65.

Mark 1:1-13 “The Beginning of When the World Was Changed”

Drew Boswell Ministries
Drew Boswell Ministries
Mark 1:1-13 "The Beginning of When the World Was Changed"
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Christ’s Power Over Every Need The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series “Five Characteristics of Religious People” Mark 2:1-3:6

Christ’s Power Over Every Need

The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series

Five Characteristics of Religious People

Mark 2:1-3:6

Introduction

Mark now moves from five stories about Jesus beginning his preaching ministry (calling disciples, astonishing teaching, casting out a demon, healing many, healing a leper) to now five more stories that deal with Jesus and how the religious leaders react to Him. So, Mark’s gospel is not chronological but put together in concepts. So, let’s define who Jesus is going to be arguing with.

Scribes – In pre-exile days of the nation of Israel, scribes were responsible for the care and storage of documents, and eventual copying of documents, including legal findings, laws, and deeds of purchase, etc. Over time they became known as “doctors of the law.” Because they were so familiar with the actual biblical documents and the commentaries of other teachers about the books of the Bible. By the time of Jesus, “The main business of the scribes was teaching and interpreting the law.”[1] They were essentially religious lawyers.

Spiritual Blindness (vv. 2:1-12)

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

(v. 1) “it was reported that he was at home” – word gets out that Jesus was back home, so people began to flood to see and hear Him. Many gathered so that there was a great crowd, “And he was preaching the word to them.” Jesus left the previous town because (even though there were great crowds) they would not receive his preaching – but here the focus of the evening was preaching and not healing.

The men bring their paralyzed friend but can’t get through the crowd. They go up to the roof, tear away the tiles (unroof the roof) and lower the man down in front of Jesus. “when Jesus saw their faith” – the four men showed faith in Jesus’ ability to heal their friend by going to great effort to get their friend close to Jesus. They believed that Jesus had the capability to heal their friend.

The scribes are mentioned in Mark 1:21 “And they were astonished at his [Jesus’] teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” So, word had spread of Jesus returning to Capernaum, so the scribes go and see what his teaching was like (for themselves).

Jesus is expected to heal the man, but Jesus once again focuses on teaching and preaching. He is making a point, “that all suffering is rooted in man’s separation from God. For this reason, Jesus must call attention here to man’s deepest need; otherwise the testimony of this healing would be nothing more than the story of a remarkable miracle.”[2]

(v. 7) ““Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Blasphemy is irreverent, profane, impious speech about God; and its penalty in the Old Testament was death (Lev. 24:16).

The scribes are right – Jesus was claiming to be able to forgive sin, and only God can forgive sin (Isa. 43:25); Therefore, Jesus has to be God in order to forgive sin. “Their fatal error was in not recognizing who Jesus really was – the Son of God who has the authority to forgive sons.”[3] They “were not looking with open minds and hearts at a work of amazing mercy and power. They could see nothing but a departure from their tradition.”[4]

(v. 10) “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” Jesus preached and taught the Word of God, Then He presented a situation where there can be no question as to His claim to be God, and then proves His claim by healing the man.

“Here appears for the first of fourteen times in Mark the term, “Son of Man.”[5] It was Jesus’s favorite way to refer to himself. It was ambiguous in that it could refer to a supernatural being; It could mean humanity or divinity. “By using the term, Jesus forced people to make up their minds as to what kind of person he was.”[6] The term “Son of Man” was also a reference to His destiny. The one who is truly human must suffer and die. But this same person is more than a man, and he must also be raised from the dead and return to glory.

(v. 12) ““We never saw anything like this!” – Here is a clear distinction between the Jewish religion and Christianity.

Earn Your Spot (vv. 2:13-17)

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

(v. 13) “as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” With the fishermen who were called to be disciples, there was a connection to John the Baptist, and a seeking for the Savior. Here, with Matthew, there seems to be no relationship other than Matthew hearing the Word preached “by the sea.” If you were religious, and were following Jesus’ ministry the absolute last person expected to be called a disciple by a teacher would be a hated tax collector. This was not acceptable conduct by a Jewish teacher.

“Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.” – the call of Christ upon your life is one of action. Matthew got up, and began walking with Jesus. A disciple of Jesus is moving – not sitting around waiting for the world to come to him; he is moving with Jesus.

The question of the scribes of the Pharisees causes us to ask the question, “How long does it take for a person to no longer be considered a “sinner?”

Jesus is being criticized for associating with undesirable people, sinners. Mark is wanting to show how Jesus’ presence in their lives changed them. He is reenforcing the idea that Jesus can forgive sin, “for there were many who followed him,” Many who? There were people who the religious scribes saw as sinners, but as they circle around Jesus, he has forgiven their sin.

Jesus’ message begins in Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” There were people who repented and believed the gospel, yet would still be called “sinners” by the scribes. Jesus is not saying remain in your sin – no He is preaching repent (turn from) of your sin.

He is not saying that robbing people, or prostituting your body, or in any way sinning is ok to continue doing – but if you desire to be forgiven of that sin, to turn from it, Jesus, as the Son of God, would forgive you – and these people were circling around Jesus. It was the scribes who continued to call them “sinners.”

This is the difference between the Jewish and Christian concept to the forgiveness of sin, “No jew would have denied that God forgave people of their sin. It was the assertion ‘that God loves and saves them as sinners without waiting for them to become righteous an deserving of salvation . . . repentance to them would have meant evidence of change and the adherence to the Law’s regulations.’”[7] Why would Jesus sit at a table and eat with people who had not shown themselves to be righteous?

(v. 17) “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – I think this is Jesus using sarcasm. “You are righteous (in your mind), you don’t want to have anything to do sinners, I’ll focus on them, and you guys do you.”

“Jesus’ call is to salvation, and in order to share it, there must be a recognition of need. A self-righteous man is incapable of recognizing that need, but a sinner can.”[8] No Jew would deny that the Messiah would save them from sin, but they would need to assert that God loves them and saves them as sinners.

The law was given by God and for mankind (before Jesus) was to be followed. But over time, religious leaders and teachers added to the law rules that they felt would keep people breaking the law – a wall in front of the law. So, between the law and the wall was a grey area. Jesus made the religious leaders angry because He kept jumping over the wall, and running around in that grey area.

Doing Things That Don’t Make Sense (vv. 2:18-22)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”

In the Old Testament law the only required fast is on the Day of Atonement.[9] However, over time, more and more annual feasts were added by the religious leaders, so that by the time of Jesus, truly religious and pious people were fasting twice a week.

How do the people know that John’s disciples and the Pharisees are fasting? How do they know that Jesus’ disciples are not fasting? So the people have been observing religious people, and Jesus and His disciples are claiming to be religious (teaching and preaching in synagogues and along the sea, etc.) Because that’s what religious/pious people do.

In response to the people’s question, Jesus gives a series of three illustrations (a wedding, a piece of cloth, and wineskin). Explain. Why would you fast at a feast? Why sew unshrunk cloth to a shrunk cloth? Why put new wine in an old wineskin? Jesus says, “these things don’t make sense.”

Also, in each example that Jesus gives, there is something old being connected to something new. Singles now wedded (married people can’t act single), old cloth connected to new cloth, old leather coming into contact with new wine.

 There is a constant tension between the old and the new. Damage is done by trying to keep the two at the same time. Jesus’ new cannot be contained by the old traditions of the religious leaders. We must not try to limit what God is doing now, because it doesn’t fit into what we have experienced in the past. Remember these old practices are keeping people from the forgiveness of sin – they are keeping people away from God.

Tradition First, People Second (vv. 2:23-28)

23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

“Much more significant to Judaism than fasting was the observance of the sabbath. The sacredness of the day was traced back to God’s creative work (Gen. 2:1-3), and the charge to keep the sabbath day holy is one of the ten commandments (Ex. 20:8-11).”[10]

“The main point at issue was not the act of harvesting the heads of grain (v. 23). Such activity as Jesus and his disciples were involved in was explicitly allowed in the law: “If you enter your neighbor’s grain field, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain” (Duet. 23:25). What the Pharisees objected to (v. 24) was doing this (regarded as reaping) on the Sabbath.”[11]

Jesus responds to their accusation by asking them a question from 1 Samuel 21:1-6, where David and the men with him were hungry and they ate consecrated bread, “twelve loaves baked of fine flour, arranged in two rows or piles on the table in the Holy Place. Fresh bread was brought into the sanctuary each Sabbath to replace the old ones that were then eaten by the priests.[12]

Jesus is not saying that the Sabbath law has not been technically broken but that such violations under certain conditions are warranted. Human need is higher than religious ritualism.

Hardness of Heart (3:1-6)

3 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

 By the time we get to Mark’s fifth story of Jesus’ encounters with the religious leaders, we see that instead of accepting him as the Son of God, or Messiah, or Son of Man they are intentionally looking “so that they might accuse him,” and “how to destroy him.” They were there not to worship God, but to catch Jesus.

 Notice that they fully believed that Jesus had the ability to heal, “And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath.” So, the issue was not could He heal, but would He heal “on the Sabbath.” Think about their reasoning; it is better for a man to suffer another 24 hours, than to be healed.

Why were they so angry with Jesus? Jesus refuses to submit to the adding on of man’s traditions. He didn’t recognize the Jewish leader’s skewed interpretation of the law (which He is the author). Even in the fact of healing proof, they held to the traditions of men.

Why is Jesus so angry with the religious leaders? Because he was “grieved at their hardness of heart.”[13] They are accusing Jesus of breaking the sabbath, while at the same time plotting to kill him. They don’t see the hypocrisy in their own hearts. It is more important for these religious leaders to hold on to an old way, even if it is keeping sinners away from God.

_________________________

[1] This consisted mainly in the transmission of traditional legal judgements, known as HALACHAH, and distinguished from HAGGADAH, or edifying religious discourse. The scribes’ real interest – and this applied especially to the Pharisaic scribes – was less in the plain meaning of the text than in the preservation of the legal system built upon it. . . . It  was to their faithful transmission of the religion of Israel in the Greek and Roman periods that we owe the preservation of our OT scriptures, together with the foundations in Judaism of the Christian religion.” George Arthur Buttrick, Dictionary Editor, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, R-Z (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1962) 248.

[2] Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1984) 632.

[3] Geabelein, 633.

[4] Buttrick, 671.

[5] James A. Brook, The New American Commentary, Volume 23, Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1991) 59.

[6] Brooks, 59.

[7] Clifton Allen, The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 8 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1969) 281.

[8] Geabelein, 635.

[9] Lev. 16:29, 31; 23:27-32; Num. 29:7

[10] Allen, 284.

[11] Geabelein, 637.

[12] Exod. 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Lev. 24:5-9.

[13] “According to the passage in Romans 1:18-32, the wrath (or anger) of God followed this pattern: (1) men who knew God nevertheless did not honor him but followed their own willful thoughts: (2) this resulted in futile thinking: “their senseless minds were darkened” (v. 21); (3) God gave them up to themselves, their own choices, their own baseness; (4) they received in their own persons the due penalty for their error” (v. 27); and (5) they came finally, no matter what they may have understood earlier to be right, blindly approve of evil (v. 32). This description of the workings of God’s wrath is also a description of hardness of heart.” Allen, 287.

Christ’s Power Over Every Need The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series “The Beginning of When the World Was Changed” Mark 1:1-13

Christ’s Power Over Every Need

The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series

The Beginning of When the World Was Changed

Mark 1:1-13

Introduction

As we begin our study of the gospel of Mark we need to understand that each gospel is different yet united by telling the same story. They are like the southern accent. Many people think there are two southern accents (Redneck and Plantation) but I can assure you there are many varieties of southern speak. And just for your information, I know how to properly wear a pair of overalls, I do not let one side hang down, undone, and no I do not know how to play the banjo.

Matthew – has lots of facts, full stories, so this accents rolls around in the mouth like those in Tennessee. They are thinking about the words as they say them. They use the word y’all, and talk about football, and whose playing this weekend.

Luke-Acts – two large accounts of Jesus and the church beginning, is like southerners in Savannah or Montgomery. Full, large words, you take time to unpack the words, and they are spoken in the back of the throat. S-A-V-A-N-A-H – this is the Long Horn Leg Horn southern.

John – as the synoptic gospel is doing it’s own thing. It’s used to its own space. This is Alabama, their mouths are open wide, noses scrunch up, and they talk nasally. “What’s Ya’ll doing Friday night? We are going to mamas for lunch after church.”

Mark – is like going to the bayou of Louisiana. People speak quickly, words are cut in half and combined with other words. You add in Cajun and French, When Mississippi people are talking you better hang out to figure out what’s going on. “do like that there.” “Living in uptown.”

 Prayer

The Introduction of Jesus

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. This is when it began to move from town to town, person to person, from the country roads of Galilee, to the city streets of Jerusalem. It made it’s way to the poorest of the poor, and to the wealthiest and most powerful. It made it’s way through generation, after generation and when I was nine years old, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God made it’s way to my VBS classroom and took root in my heart.

“The gospel does not mean a book, or the message delivered by Jesus, but “the Christian proclamation of the divine message of salvation through Jesus Christ.”[1]

We are told quickly that this account is about Jesus who was the Son of God, “later demonic forces acknowledged Him as “the Son of God” (3:11; 5:7) and at the cross the Roman centurion asserts, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (15:39).”[2]

 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.[3] 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.[4] 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

(v. 2) “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet” – more specifically it says, “just as it is written.”[5] It was foretold that this would happen, and it did happen “just as it was written.” This is an exact prophetic fulfillment. Mark begins his account by stating how Jesus fulfilled prophecy, even from “the beginning.”

The quotation is from Isa. 40:3 verse 2b is from Exodus 23:30. The gospel is not something new that has suddenly appeared – it has long been anticipated since Genesis 3:15 “. . . he [Jesus] shall bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise his heel.” Since the beginning of time there was a promise that a Savior would come and save mankind from sin – this is the beginning of that great story.

“It had been at least three hundred years since a word had come from God.”[6] It had been a long time since God gave Israel a “word from the Lord.”

John is not crying out in the marketplace or cities, or temples – the Baptizer was “one crying in the wilderness” The desert region in which John started his ministry of baptism is sometimes in the Old Testament called Jeshimmon, which means “devastation.” The people who had not heard from the Lord in generations, now as foretold John the Baptizer was yelling out in the wilderness, “the Savior of the world was coming,” and he’s coming to devastation. The world had been devastated by sin, and now God is going to make it right again.

So out in the wilderness there was a great movement of God, “all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him” His cry was that someone was coming and we need to prepare ourselves for His arrival.

And his message was “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, — God’s Word applies to us today, so how does one today, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight? It is what John the Baptist said then, yet we are still to take it and use it today.

We are given hints to the answer to this question in what follows in Mark’s account – John’s actions (baptizing for the forgiveness of sin; His dress (simple and humble camel hair and a leather belt), His diet (eating what is around him), His understanding of himself (there will come one who is greater than I) but ultimately all of these things point to John’s message “repent of your sin.”

“The preparation was to be made in their hearts. The way of the Lord is through the heart. They prepared “the way of the Lord” by preparing and making their hearts fit for receiving the Lord.”[7]

There was a massive movement of God where “all the country of Judea, and all Jerusalem” (v. 4) “John appeared,” (egneto Ioanes) The word used for appearing is not in reference to an event (en), but an epoch (egneto).[8] His appearing marked the beginning of something new, and God highlighted by moving in thousands of people’s hearts and minds. “John is treating the Jewish nation as pagans who need to repent, to confess their sins, and to come back to the kingdom of God.”[9]

“Jerusalem is at least twenty miles from the Jordan River and about four thousand feet above it. It was hard going down the rugged Judean hills to the Jordan and even harder coming back up.”[10] Those going to see John were feeling the drawing of God to repent of their sin. “It is not remorse; not admitting mistakes; not saying in self-condemnation, “I have been a fool.” This is more than saying, “I’m sorry for one’s sins.”

[Repentance] It is a moral and spiritual revolution.”[11] It is a radical mindset change toward sin. It is “a change that will have, if genuine, its appropriate “fruits.””[12] (v. 3) “baptizing in the wilderness” – another word to define baptism is to be overwhelmed. John’s baptism was a picture of a people overwhelmed by the guilt and weight of their sin.

The road is made straight in our lives, and the way is prepared (for the Savior) when we humble ourselves before God and say, “I am a sinner” and I hate the sin that is in my life – I want it gone. (v. 5) says that they were “confessing their sins.” In this admission and understanding, you are not alone; Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Our introduction of Jesus is that it begins with a recognition that we have a sin problem – the good news is that God has provided an answer. Many of John’s disciples left John to become followers of Jesus because now that we have seen our sin for what it is, and we repent and seek righteousness – we can do nothing with our sin. We need a Savior.

Before we leave John, I want to highlight his words, “I am not worthy” – thousands of people were coming to see John and to be baptized by him. Anywhere he went, he would have been recognized. There was a mighty movement of God surrounding him. He was preaching constantly – yet, in the original language it says, “I am not suitable, a fit person – to do for him even this most menial service.”[13]

This was his humble utterance of a comparison between him and the Savior before Him. None of us are suitable, none of us are fit to do anything for the Lord. Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (like filthy rags).

(v. 8) John says, “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” – John’s water baptism was a symbolic picture of people being overwhelmed with their sin and wanting to repent from it – so they show this inward heart’s feeling by being overwhelmed in water. When we place our faith in Christ, we are overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He (Jesus) will overwhelm you by surrounding you, immersing you, with the Holy Spirit.

Before Jesus began his public ministry there were two events that took place first;

his baptism by John, and the temptation.

The Baptism of Jesus

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee[14] and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The first time we see Jesus in Mark’s gospel is at His baptism. No shepherds, no wise men, no angels appearing to Mary and Joseph – our journey with Jesus begins with a voice from heaven. Mark was not written for “a people who would have little interest in the genealogy of Jesus, or anything but the work by which he had become precious to them. So while John begins from eternity, Matthew from Abraham, and Luke from the events that preceded the birth of the forerunner, Mark finds the forerunner already at work, and introduces Jesus at the time of his baptism.”[15]

(v. 9) “9 In those days” – When the movement of God was in the wilderness, and people were being overwhelmed by their sin – “Jesus came from Nazareth” There was a calling, a direction by God, to put down his carpenter’s apron and hammer, and go to where God was moving among the people. He was waiting for the right time – for the announcement.

Jesus “was baptized by John in the Jordan” – Jesus is being overwhelmed, not with a weight of sin, but with the calling to begin His ministry. He was officially beginning the Messianic work of being the Savior of the world. So that when John brought him up from the water – immediately “he saw the heavens being torn open.”

“the Spirit descending on him like a dove” – At Jesus’ baptism is the only place that the Holy Spirit is described to us to be “like a dove.”[16] When Jesus begins his public ministry, He asks for a scroll of Isaiah to be brought to him, and he reads Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”

 “And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son” – In verse 1 the reader is told that what we are reading is, “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” and now here is a voice from heaven affirming that Jesus is the Son of God. Now the story that unfolds in the rest of the book, is not about a good moral teacher, or a historical narrative of a Jewish moral man – it is the story of how salvation was brought to humanity through the Son of God, Jesus Christ[17] (who is loved by God the Father).

The Temptation of Jesus

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Now that the Spirit has descended upon Jesus, the first thing the Spirit does is to lead him toward the Temptation for forty days. But even though Mark’s account is brief, it does give a detail that is not found in the other accounts, where it says “And he was with the wild animals.”

Mark doesn’t tell us any details about what happened between Jesus and Satan, whether the animals were against Jesus or for Him; and we don’t know what the angels did in the wilderness to minister to Jesus. Only that Jesus and Satan were battling for forty days.

“For the first time since events in the Garden of Eden, Satan confronted a completely sinless person. However, whereas Adam was created a sinless being, Jesus was sinless by virtue of His being the very Son of God!”[18]

A. Ironside remarks, “It was fitting that he should be tested before He began His gracious ministry. His temptation was not to see if perchance he might fail and sin in the hour of stress, but rather to prove that He would not fail, because He was the absolutely sinless One.”

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[1] George Arthur Buttrick, Commentary Editor, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 7 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 648.

[2] James McGowan, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, The Gospel of Mark (Chattanooga, Tennessee; AMG Publishers, 2006) 10.

[3] “The outpouring of the Spirit was understood traditionally as an established characteristic of the messianic age (Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 36:25-27; Joel 2:28); however, John’s use of the expression “Baptize you with the Holy Spirit” here, was both new and unique.” McGowan, 11.

[4] See Also https://drewboswell.com/matthew-31-10/

[5] Buttrick, 649.

[6] Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary, Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 2000) 7.

[7] C.E.W. Dorris, A Commentary on the Gospel According to Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; The Gospel Advocate, 1970) 17.

[8] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 1 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1932) 253.

[9] Robertson, 254.

[10] Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1984) 620.

[11] Buttrick, 649.

[12] Clarke, 16.

[13] Clarke, 18.

[14] “Jesus probably began his public ministry about A.D. 27, when he was approximately thirty years old.” Gaebelein, 621.

[15] W. N. Clarke, An American Commentary on the New Testament, Mark and Luke (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Judson Press, 1950) 15.

[16] Clarke, 21.

[17] On two other occasions God spoke from heaven about Christ (Mark 9:7) – at the Transfiguration and during the last week at the temple (John 12:28). . . Jesus did not “become the Christ” at His baptism. He was already the Messiah, already God manifest in the flesh. This event dramatically inaugurated His public ministry.” McGowan, 12.

[18] McGowan, 13.

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