Mark 7:14-23

Interpretation:

True defilement comes from our nature not from external factors. It is important to consider this passage with the whole of Mark Chapter 7.

In the first half of chapter 7 Jesus concludes that the law of man is not the God’s true law. The Pharisees could not justify that His disciples were ‘defiled’ because their law held no true moral authority. That authority belongs to God’s commandments alone. Verses 14-23 become Christ’s response to the Pharisees about what true moral defilement looks like. In the first half of Mark Jesus refuses their false moral assessment of His disciples and in verses 14-23 Jesus instructs how to truly assess moral defilement.

Jesus makes the claim in verse 15 that evil doesn’t come from the world but from the hearts of men.  The heart is the focus of Jesus. His Kingdom is in men’s hearts not in the world (yet…).  It is from the corrupt heart corruption enters the world. Nature verse nurture? Nature. True cleanliness and defilement is decided by a man’s heart and not his external relious appearance.

Application:

This parable is unendingly valuable to the believer. It makes it possible for us to believe. If we don’t understand that the problem of sin emerges from ourselves and not from the world, or from God as many argue He is indirectly responsible for our behavior, then we don’t understand the neccesity of a savior. Christ is concerned with our hearts because they are the source of our action.

It is common understanding that bad company spoils the lot but the blame does not rest on the company but on our desire to join in. The reason why an evil group convinces us to do evil is because we are evil too. That’s why its dangerous to spend time around them, they convince of what we already want to do. When Jesus becomes our Lord, which is often summarized as ‘in our hearts’ He becomes the focus and new desire of our hearts. Then when we are presented with evil from an outside source we see it for what it is and we reject it (or we do it and we regret it).

You can use a passage like this to prove you need to be ‘in the world but not of it.’ But it would be better to recognize the power truth of its simplicity: you want (or wanted) to do evil things. God is not concerned with your apparenace of cleanliness because He sees your desires. And if you don’t desire Christ – you’re probably desiring evil.

Mark 7: 1-13

Interpretation:

In this passage Jesus again deal’s with tradition and religion verses truth and belief. The Pharisees again ask an accusatory question of Jesus and His disciples. ‘Why don’t they follow the traditions of the elders?’ And Jesus’ response is basically ‘because they don’t worship the elders.’ By Jesus’ example the disciples ignore the additional ceremonial laws imposed by the elders. The customs they violate in this passage are not customs God ordained for the people of Israel to carry out. Instead they are additional traditions derived from the later interpretations of Jewish elders.

Jesus uses the opportunity in verses 6-9 to point out that it was tradition imposed by men and not an issue of true morality.

Then Jesus points out in verses 10-13 that the real defilement wasn’t the cleanliness of His disciples hands but that the God’s law was abandoned  for the laws of men. He further exposes the hypocrisy by focusing in on their failure to honor their family. The example had to do with the tradition of the elders being used as a loop hole to escape doing God’s law which was ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ Last Jesus points out in verse 13 that there were many other traditions that were used like loop-holes like His example.

Application:

This story asks a heavy question: Do we teach Church tradition as commandments from God?

For some very large Church denominations this is very true. Anytime we equate tradition with God’s law there is trouble. Because in this passage, Jesus makes it very clear to us that human tradition can be used for escape from God’s laws. In all we do we must make sure that the commandments of God are absolutely supreme. If John Piper hasn’t already written it, I can suggest a title for his next book: The Supremacy of Christ in the Church . You are welcome John. The first one is free.

This is as true for the Protestant Church as it is for the Roman Catholic Church. I find it fascinating that if  I say God is triune, I am ‘Trinitarian.’ Or if I believe God chooses us to be saved I am a ‘Calvinist.’ Here I thought  I was just reading the bible.  But if we can name and enumerate God’s doctrines  we can do so in a way that is advantageous to us. We can make the Word say what we want it to. So all believers must be seeking God’s truth, and be seeking and loving His law, or our traditions will swallow God’s word whole. And when the day comes for testing what is true God’s word will reign true and everlasting and our perverted doctrine will wither with us like the grass.

Always look at tradition and judge it against the principle truth of God’s Word.

Mark 6: 45-52

Interpretation:

Right after Jesus feeds the five thousand He commands His disciples to take a boat to Bethsaida. They were commanded to go to Bethsaida so that they could  actually achieve the rest they meant to take before Jesus addressed the five thousand.

Jesus stays behind to dismiss the crowd and then walks on the sea to catch up with the disciples. In verse 48 it says He meant to pass by them. That doesn’t mean He was trying to avoid them, because clearly He could have.  Instead it means more He was trying to give them a glimpse of His glory.

Again, the disciples attribute His passing as a Ghost and are frightened. It has to be a ghost because it couldn’t possibly be Jesus walking on water… that’s impossible. Not to God though. For some reason they still aren’t fully understanding the deity of Jesus.

However Jesus comforts them and lets them not that it is Him and enters the boat and rides with them the rest of the way.

Application:

How can we doubt the deity of Jesus despite the in inexorable proof that He was God?

These men had proof. They saw Jesus walk on water, and then get into the boat. It could not be passed off as hallucination because He got into the boat with them. They knew He did it but their hearts refused for Him to be God.  Verse 51 and 52 show that they were still reeling from the disbelief of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand. So I ask myself how can they doubt His deity after they just had seen Him walk on water?

Lets stop for a moment and realize that these men had only miracles. They saw Jesus do amazing things but we have four biographies of Christ’s life and letters explaining in detail how He is God and how we should respond. We have 2,000 years worth of study and consideration of those letters and biographies. We have universities with professors dedicated to shaping our understanding of who He was and how we should respond. We have pastors and bible study leaders looking to answer our questions. We have the internet with thousands of free sermons.  There is an unfathomable amount of resources available to us that discuss and point towards who Jesus really was – God. So aren’t we more hard-hearted?

Instead of being frustrated with disciples response – lets consider our own. Do we believe Jesus was really God and savior? Do we act like we believe it?

Mark 6:30-44

Interpretation:

In this passage the apostles who were sent out in Mark 6:7-12 have returned. Jesus commands them to rest in a desolate place so they gather together and prepare to leave. A crowd notices who they are and run after them setting up the scene for Jesus to teach and feed five thousand men with the food the apostles took to eat in the desolate place.

Jesus teaches the large crowd because He took pity on how aimless they all were. They were looking for something from Christ and they didn’t necessarily know what it was. Jesus did however and taught them late into the night. The crowd needs food. The disciples have a little and Jesus makes it enough to feed five thousand people and have heaping loads of leftovers.

This story of Jesus illustrates God’s provision and God’s use of us as holders or trustees of His provision.
His disciples ask Jesus in verse 36 to send them away to villages so that they can be fed. Jesus looks at this as an opportunity to serve or provide for the crowd, as He and his disciples had already put aside the rest they sought when the left for the desolate place. Instead of sending them away He tells the disciples to feed them in verse 37. Before assessing how much food they actually had, they respond with a maybe sarcastic jab at how much money it would cost to feed the 5,000. ‘Shall we go buy two hundred denarii worth of bread?’ Denarii was a day’s wages. At $8.00 / hr for 8 hrs (for a day) – you can imagine roughly $12,800 in our day. But money wasn’t the issue.

Jesus asks them what they do have. They had five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took what little they had and prayed a blessing over it. Then everyone is provided for.

When we give what we do have to God to use for His work —- He takes it and uses it beyond our imagination.

Application:

The application is simple. We must give to God what we have.

We think in worldly ways. We think we know how things work. If you want to feed a crowd of five thousand you need $12,800. But what Jesus illustrates in this passage is that you actually need Him. In verse 34 of this passage Jesus says He saw the crowd and had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a Shepard. The point is we don’t know how things work. We sign off all miracle as serendipity, chance, or freak occurrence. We deny that miracle is possible. One way we deny the power of  God is to pretend we know what it takes to get something done.

So lets change or premise from knowing how things work (financing, marriages, learning, etc.) to relying on God’s power to provide and shape our lives.

1 Peter 4;7-11

Discussion

‘We yearn to leave the world a bit better.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry Thoreau described the hollowness of worldly pursuits simply as us ‘living lives of quiet desperation.’

‘For the secret of man’s being is not only to live… but to live for something definite. Without a firm notion of what he is living for, man will not accept life and will rather destroy himself the remain on earth….’

Soren Kierkegaard ‘The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wants me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.’

* What is the meaning of life? Many men have puzzled over this idea. We look around us. We look inside ourselves. We look at war and hunger and hate and violence and we long for a reason for it all. Why? If there is no God why do we long to answer this question? The only reason we ask the question why is because we believe there is an answer.

Phil 1: 21-24 is the answer for the believer.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. In this passage ‘Life in Christ’ means serving the church and spreading the gospel. The ‘die is gain’ basically means death = heaven, rest.

* Based on this passage what is our goal? Building and serving Jesus Christ’s kingdom on Earth – to glorify Him.

Summary 1 Peter 4: 7-11

In light of the end: (1 Thes 5:1-4)

1. Live with self-control (1 Thes 5:12-24 especially verse 23 + 24)
2. and sober-minded for sake of prayers (1 Thes 5: 4-11)
3. loving others – example of hospitality (1 Thes 5:11, Ep 5:20-21)
4. serving the body of Christ (1 Thes 5:11)

In order to Glorify God. (2 Thes 1:11-12)

Discussion (Not what does it look like… But what are we going to do? – Board Meeting)

* Sober-minded and self-controlled? Are we? How do we as a small group improve?
o How can we make sure we are staying self-controlled?
o What if we don’t talk about where we are really at – where we really are struggling?
o Holding each other accountable is one way. Are there other ways to seek, this group, how else can we seek, to be more sober-minded and self controlled.

* Loving each other Love here is speaking of real love. (joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)
o Do we encourage each other in these areas of our lives?
o If not how do we do it? What are your ideas of how we can encourage this love?

* Serving the body of Christ Ask yourself first – do you serve the body.
o If you do not think you are, do you feel comfortable enough to tell us why?
o What happens if we don’t serve?
o What can we all do to serve Hessel this next W.E.L.D.? I need and want you all to be a part.

There are a lot of reasons why we don’t serve. Because our view is limited to leadership or programs or relationships. As God’s body we need to exchange our lives for the building of God’s body. Because otherwise it stops. You die. You go to be with God. And you leave the Church crap creek without a paddle. Trust me – we are the coming church. What are we going to do?

Mark 6:14-19

Interpretation:

Mark’s description of King Herod here seems out of place. It reminds me of the transitions George Lucas makes in the Star Wars movies. A scene will be focused on the protagonist, or hero, and then suddenly the scene shifts to the antagonist, or nemesis. It lends clarity to the plot of the intergalactic drama that’s building. Mark is doing something similar in this passage. The scene shifts to one of God’s enemies, King Herod. And with the shift we see two things that help fill out the effect Jesus was having on the region.

Christ’s Increasing Fame Jesus’ ministry was no longer local to Galilee. Now word had spread about all the great miracles He was accomplishing. Jesus was known by name all over Israel even by the king, King Herod. Verses 14 – 16 is evidence of this increasing fame as people all over Israel had different opinions of who or what Jesus was.  It is very important to understand that at this time the leaders of the land were trying to come to terms with teaching and miracles of Jesus.

Herod’s Interest in Finding Christ Verses 17-29 describe the dispicable beheading of John the Baptist in prision. Herod’s motives are confused by verses 20 and 26. Matthew’s account of this same instance in Matthew 14:5 we see Herod’s real reasons for not killing John the Baptist. It wasn’t so much a holy fear of John the Baptist’s faith but a fear of the uprising that killing him might have provoked. What does this have to do with Jesus? Herod now percieved Jesus as a threat to his authority because of his conviction that Jesus was in fact the ressurected John the Baptist. Luke 9: 9 further evidences Herod’s interest in finding Christ. Now Jesus’ teachings and miracles were no longer just the talk at the dinner table or the quiet conversation while fishing (if there ever was such a time). Now people’s persepctives on who Jesus was would shape history.

Application:

After Herod had made up His mind on who Jesus really was we’ve seen history become rich with His name. Jesus is no longer just a man from Galilee but the most important man in history. What is your perspective on who Jesus really was?

To the christian the answer is obvious.  In light of the answer do we change the way we live? I’ll be the first to admit my perspective of Jesus is skewed. But we have to constantly ground and re-wire our perspectives in the truth of His Word because our perspective is everything. How does that look? Read what Jesus has said and done then make your analysis of who He was.

Mark 6: 7-13

Introduction:

After the rejection at Nazareth and Jesus’ work in the villages surrounding it Jesus sends His twelve Apostles outside Galilee. These men had been trained by Jesus with the message of God’s Kingdom. They were well taught to call people to repentance from sinfulness in preparation of God’s Kingdom. Just as a cultural tidbit regarding Jesus’ packing instructions- ‘these unique instructions serve as signs to Jewish people of peace, defenselessness, trust in God, and urgency.’

The Word Spreads

The apostles head out from Galilee, the center of Jesus ministry. The word is being passed on. The important thing to notice about this passage is that the apostles were supposed to give the same importance to teaching as Christ did. No teaching, no faith, no miracles.  Verse 11  is Jesus’ permission to leave a town if they did not receive the apostles and would not listen to them.

Apostolic Power

This passage is often taken out of context and used in defense of ‘spiritual powers’ in the modern church. This passage shows Jesus hand-assembling teams of two apostles, giving them authority over demons, and the power to heal. Remember, at this time the Holy Spirit was not dwelling inside believers. ‘The Helper’ does not come until Jesus ascends to the Father’s side. This power and authority Jesus gives His disciples here is different that what powers we’re given by the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 4:7-11, Acts 1:8, Romans 6:12-23; 8:31-39, 1 Corinthians 1: 17-18; 15:20-28, 54-57.

Application:

While our purpose and our calling is different than the apostles being sent out in this verse, we do call people to repentance. At least we should be. Where the apostles had symbols to serve as signs to the Jewish people of peace, defenselessness, trust in God and urgency, we do not.

Peace was a sacredly kept idea in the Jewish nation. In many ways it takes prominence our culture to. ‘Peace signs’ and ‘peace symbols’ have shaped the American counter-political and political world for the past 45 years. We are supposed to bring the good news of Christ in peace. The purpose of us telling the gospel is to bring peace to the person we’re telling. The opposite of this would be telling the gospel to purposely hurt the person we’re telling. No. We are out to love the world in proclamation of this message – if you are going out for other reasons it is better you stay inside. Jesus told them to go out like they were instead of violently ‘taking’ the Kingdom of God like they wanted. They wanted rebellion against a corrupt government and religion and Jesus wanted to save them all.

Defenselessness and Trust in God is similar to defenselessness because how can you trust God to protect you if you are protecting yourself? Similarly how can God be trusted with anything if we’re doing everything? Can you trust someone and never let them do anything on their own? No. There is implicit distrust when we withhold from someone the opportunity to work for us or with us. In the same way, if we try to handle things ourselves in ministry and outreach, we deny God the ability to work. Clearly He will do as He pleases, we cannot stop Him from doing anything, but we can sometimes over-plan or over-prepare to the point where we forget God. And isn’t the whole point to honor Him? The more provisions they took the less they looked like they trusted the Lord. So Jesus instructed them to bring nearly nothing.

Urgency means that we have so little time to do this. Because we do not know when the Lord is coming we must assume it could be as soon as today. Otherwise we’ll be caught surprised when He does arrive. Jesus instructs the apostles to dress and pack thier bags a certain way. It was to evoke a sense of urgency. They didn’t have time to buy a pack mule, a new staff, a new cloak, new sandals, or even pack food. Like a scout running from a battlefield to send news to a general these men were dropping everything pressing matter in their lives for the spreading of the gospel. We must drop everything and start spreading the news. You do not have to do blank, blank, and blank before you start to proclaim it. You don’t have to go to college. You don’t have to settle your debt. You don’t have to buy a car. Whatever it is do not let it hold you back from ministry.

Mark 6: 1-6

Introduction:

In the beginning of Mark 6 Jesus leaves Jarius’ home for His own. He goes into the synagouge and starts teaching. Everyone becomes offended at what He’s teaching because to them He was just some… guy. Christ’s origins were simple but He is the most important character in the history of the universe.

Simple Origins – Powerful Change

Jesus was teaching about the coming Kingdom of God, where He would rule in men’s hearts and men would be free from sin. We don’t know how much He was disclosing to them but we do know it was enough to make them offended.  It was blasphemous for a simple man to claim He was God. But He wasn’t simply man. Unfortunately, like every E! True Hollywood Story, people in His life doubted His potential. Even if they thought He was going to be a great man, a great rabbi, they certainly had problems believing He was God. You probably would too if you changed His diaper. If you watched Him play. If you watched Him learn. What we get from Nazareth’s rejection is that His manhood was 100% real. But His Godhood was still going to change everything.

Heartbreaking Disbelief

Jesus’ response in verse 4-7  is heartbreaking. First, in verse four, He relates that no one thinks your special, they wont honor, if you grew up with them. Our families and friends can be our greatest skeptics. But it wasn’t just His family and friends it was the whole town. It was so bad that He only healed a handful of faithful people. He couldn’t do any miracles because Jesus doesn’t force His power on anyone. To heal someone who did not have faith in Him would be to heal the flesh. Christ came to heal the soul and the flesh followed suit. So we can observe from how few the miracles, how faithful Nazareth was – not very.

Application:

You’re just some guy or girl. But the message you carry is very powerful. The harshest critic’s you’ll have will be at home. They will be your friends. Your teachers and everyone that is close to you. Because they know you. 

But you’re not just you anymore are you? Your different. There is something about you. Christ is important to you. The Holy Spirit is inside of you. You think God is real! And most of the time you act like He is real…

At the end of  verse 6 we get Jesus’ response to disbelief from His family and friends, ‘…And he went about among the villages teaching.’

Jesus didn’t stop. He shared His message with strangers and they believed because they could see past His body and recognize His spirit and hear His message. So you shouldn’t stop.

The best possible way to honor your parents is to submit yourself to the Lord’s will. The best possible way to honor your hometown is to submit yourself to the Lord’s will.

Because you cannot tell me that Jesus did not honor Mary and His brothers by continuing despite their disbelief and discouragement of His ministry.

And you certainly know the name of Nazareth. How many other cities can you name in Israel?

Mark 5: 21-24, 35-43

Interpretation:

In Mark 5: 25-34, we see Jesus’ journey to Jarius’ house interrupted by the girl who touched Jesus’ cloak. Verse 35-43 show’s Jesus’ journey to Jarius’ house.  While they were still talking to the girl who touched Jesus’ cloak some people came from Jarius’ house. They tell Jarius’ his daughter is dead.

Let’s stay in context, Jarius is probably pretty worked up right here. Jesus tells the group in verse 36 ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ This is the same thing Jesus said on the boat to His disciples in Mark 4:40 ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ Except the words are less harsh.

Jesus then takes His three closest companions and apostles (Peter, James, and John) along with Jarius to Jarius’ home. They move everyone outside and Jesus returns Jarius’ from death to life. A miracle set apart from the others He’s been working. Supreme authority over nature in the sea and now superiority over death and life.

Rewind to verse 35. The people who come to share the news of his daughter’s death ask Jarius ‘Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ because the matter was said and done. She was dead. Jesus, however, pulled together His closest disciples with Jarius and said ‘Don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of it – don’t you believe I can handle this?’

And He does handle it. She is resurrected from death to life.

Application:

We tend to give God a lot of credit for working in our lives but I think we tend to inwardly disbelieve it’s actually Him working or doubt His ability or willingness to do so. Have you ever been surprised that God has provided for you?

These people that come to Jarius’ home don’t necessarily doubt Jesus. They recognize Him as a teacher, a rabbi, but they don’t recognize how powerful He really is. I have no problem recognizing God for who He is, a mighty and all powerful creator, savior, and ruler above everything we know. Despite this knowledge I am still  surprised when He takes care of me. Things I think that would never happen – do happen.  Why don’t we remember God’s greatness when horror fills our lives? He is in control. Nothing has changed. Except us.

Consider this passage an equation: The more you believe the less fear you have.

In this example, Jesus has power over death. If Jesus raised someone from the dead, what can’t He do in your life?

Disclaimer: This does not mean that if you are faithful your life will be without discomfort. You’ll still lose a job when you need it most, you’ll still lose someone you love dearly, and you’ll still need something you don’t have. But your belief in God’s ability to change your situation glorifies God and reminds you that you live only for that glory. If you recognize and glorify God for being supreme in all circumstances you will not fear because your situation, your life, and the people you love lives’ are in the hands of a good and supreme commander who can change those situations at any moment.

Jarius saw and believed. Will you?

Mark 5: 25-34

Interpretation:

verse 21-24: Describes Jesus and His disciples arrival on the eastern side of the sea of Galilee. Jarius, a ruler of the synagouge comes and petitions Christ to heal his dying daughter. This story will be covered in more detail tomorrow.  Let’s focus on the woman who interrupts Jesus’ travel to Jarius’ daughter.

Look up Leviticus 15:19-27.

The woman who is healed was suffering from a ‘discharge of blood for 12 years!’ This poor woman was a walking impurity factory. People who touched her would be considered unclean. Going to temple was out of the question. In fact, whenever she entered into the  public she had to announce that she was unclean. But what do we see her do?

She sneaks through the crowd, everyone she’s touching is becoming cermionaly unclean, and then who does she touch? JESUS!! But instead of Christ becoming unclean He makes her clean. Both spiritually and physically … allowing her to roam in public without shame. There is a joke to go along with this idea of Christ not becoming unlean. When Chuck Norris jumps into the pool he doesn’t get wet – the water gets Chuck Norris. When she touched Christ He did not become dirty but He made her clean.

Application:

Mark 5: 33 – 34 points out an interesting attitude for us to examine. Despite every threat around her, and despite a good reason for her to stay away from Him, this woman pursued Christ in way that was honest and risky.

Letting the ‘throng’, or gathering crowd, of Jews surrounding Jesus know that she had rendered many, maybe all, unclean from her presence would not of gone over well. Especially not with Jesus’ disciples and Jarius, a ruler of the synagogue. In fact, she may have even incited some kind violence.

Maybe we could say she was wrong in her approach to Christ. That there is some validity to the frustrations caused by her failure to announce that she was unclean. That it was selfish of her to forsake everyone else’s worship for her own. It is probably down right stupid of her to risk Christ’s cleanliness for her own healing. But what is behind it all is what Jesus finds most valuable from us: reckless abandon. Faith driven, God powered, reckless abandon.

Holy and Reckless Abandon (3 parts)

Fear and Trembling:verse 33 ‘But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling.’ The woman is not afraid of the crowd but of Jesus. She recognized His authority. We are to fear God but we should also be faithful to push through the crowd to get to Him anyway.

Submission to Christ’s Authority: verse 33 ‘…and fell down before him…’ This is the classic submission pose. She recognized that she was healed and was amazed. She fell to his feet. She was at his command and at his mercy. She recognized that she was cerimonially unclean but she also knew His power had healed her. We should also recognize our own cerimonially uncleanliness (daily sins, failures, etc.) and submit ourselves to the power that has healed us.

Confession: verse 34 ‘…and told him the whole truth.’ She explained everything. The uncleanliness, her sneaking approach, her purusit of touching His cloth. She was honest about her cerimonial uncleanilness , she confessed it.  We cannot come to Christ without confession of what we have done.  In order to be healed we have to admit to God we are sinful – otherwise we make it look like we don’t His grace.

Because of her reckless and intense faith He heals her in verse 35 .