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Talk 34 Mark 11:11-33 The ‘cleansing’ of the Temple
Welcome to Talk 34 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. In this talk and the next we’ll be looking at Mark 11:11-33. This passage contains two stories – the cursing of the fig tree and what is often referred to as the ‘cleansing’ of the Temple (although I shall suggest that this is not the best description of what Jesus was doing). The fact that these stories are interwoven in the text and that they both happened within the same 24-hour period strongly suggests that they have a common theme.
As we shall see, it’s possible to see both these events as two enacted parables announcing the termination of the temple as a place of worship and God’s rejection of Israel because of his anger that they have rejected his Son, something which is backed up by the parable of the tenants which immediately follows in 12:1-12. Today we’ll concentrate on the temple. Next time we’ll consider why Jesus cursed the fig tree. But first, let’s outline the story.
Verses 11-14. Jesus curses a fig tree because of its lack of fruit.
Jesus and the apostles are staying in Bethany, possibly with Martha and Mary. On the way into Jerusalem Jesus is hungry and seeing a fig tree in leaf he goes to find out if there is any fruit on it. Finding nothing but leaves he says, May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And, jumping to verse 20, we see that the fig tree has withered from the roots. But first, we have verses 15-19.
Verses 15-19. Jesus cleanses the Temple.
When he reaches Jerusalem, Jesus goes into the temple and drives out the people who are buying and selling there. He overturns the tables of the money changers and won’t allow anyone to carry merchandise though the temple courts. He reminds them of what God has said in Isaiah 56:7 – My house will be a house of prayer for all nations – and, quoting Jeremiah 7:11, adds, But you have made it a den of robbers. This angers the Jewish religious leaders and they start to look for a way to kill him. In the evening Jesus returns to Bethany.
Verses 20-25. Jesus teaches a lesson on faith from the fig tree which has withered.
The next day, as they’re going back into Jerusalem Peter points out that the fig tree Jesus cursed is withered. Jesus replies:
Have faith in God, I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
We’ll be looking at this in more detail next time, so now verses 27-33.
Verses 27-33. Jesus is challenged by the Jewish leaders.
They arrive back in Jerusalem and Jesus is confronted by the Jewish religious leaders who challenge him over what he has just done in the temple. By what authority had he done it? Jesus avoids answering their question but counters with another one. Was John’s baptism of divine or of human origin? Realising that whatever answer they gave could lead them into criticism, they say, We don’t know. So Jesus replies, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
So, having now outlined the passage, let’s begin by considering the significance of Jesus’ actions in the temple.
The significance of Jesus’ actions in the temple
To understand this fully we need to look back into the Old Testament. If you know your Bible well, you will know that there were in fact three temples built in Jerusalem:
· Solomon’s Temple, which was Israel’s first temple
· Zerubbabel’s Temple, built to replace Solomon’s Temple after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar
· Herod’s Temple, the temple at the time of Jesus.
However, the purpose for which the original temple was built remained the same, and we can learn much about this from Solomon’s prayer of dedication in 1 Kings 8:12-61.
A place for God to dwell for ever (v13)
Although Solomon’s purpose was for the temple to be a place for God to dwell in, he knew that God couldn’t be contained in a building, however magnificent it might be. Note what he says in verse 27:
The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
And in verse 30 he recognises that heaven is God’s dwelling place:
Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive (cf. vv. 39,43, 45).
But what perhaps Solomon didn’t understand was that God’s ultimate plans were not for a physical temple made by men (Acts 7:48), but for a spiritual temple comprised of God’s people themselves (1 Corinthians 3:16, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:21-22, 1 Peter 2:4-10). More on this later.
A place for the Name of the Lord (vv. 17,18, 19, 20, 29,43,48)
What does Solomon mean when he talks about building a temple for the Name of the Lord? In Bible times a name was not just a label, but something intended to represent the true nature of the person holding that name. The Name of the Lord has been defined as God himself, actively present, in the fulness of his revealed character.
And in the Psalms his name is linked with his righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, holiness, goodness, mercy, love, truth, and glory. If the temple was to be a place for God to dwell in, a place for the Name of the Lord, it must be a place that stood for and demonstrated all these divine qualities.
A place of prayer for all the peoples of the earth (vv. 28, 29, 30, 33, 38, 41-44, 48, 49)
From the number of references to prayer in 1 Kings 8 it’s clear that prayer was to be its primary purpose. Indeed, God himself was to say later through the prophet Isaiah:
My house will be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7).
Note that it was not only to be a house of prayer, but a house of prayer for all nations. This aspect of Solomon’s purpose in building the original temple is expressed in his prayer that God would even answer the prayers of foreigners and do whatever they ask of him so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel… (vv41-43) and may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other (v. 60).
So Solomon’s purposes in building the temple were that it should be:
A place for God to dwell in for ever
A place for the Name of the Lord
A place of prayer for all nations – a place where people might come to know the Lord.
But it’s clear from Jesus’ actions that these purposes were being frustrated by the Jewish people. Foreigners were treated with contempt and fleeced by the money changers. The qualities associated with the Name of the Lord were entirely absent. It was certainly not a fit dwelling place for God. And Jesus was right to be angry. Anger is not sin. It’s right to be angry about sin.
But were these the only reasons for his actions? Was he really cleansing the temple? Or was he perhaps declaring by his actions that the time for the temple was about to come to an end? In Mark 13:2 he certainly predicted its destruction, something which was literally fulfilled in AD 70. Could this have been the significance of his cursing the fig tree? We’ll come to that next time, but today let’s consider how God’s plans for the temple relate to Jesus himself, and then to his church.
Jesus as God’s temple
As we bear in mind God’s original purposes for his temple, we see that these are wonderfully fulfilled in Jesus himself. If the characteristics of the divine nature were not being displayed in the temple as they should, they most certainly were in Jesus, in whom dwelt all the fulness of deity in bodily form (Colossians 2:10). Jesus embodied all that the Name of Yahweh stood for. He was God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16 KJV). Jesus himself was the true temple. If that sounds strange, bear in mind that in Matthew 12:6, referring to himself, Jesus said, In this place is one greater than the temple. He also referred to his own body as the temple (John 2:19-21).
All the purposes of the temple were fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. With his death, about to take place in less than a week, the temple was to become redundant, its veil torn in two from the top to the bottom. The middle wall, the barrier that separated the Gentiles from the Jews was destroyed (Ephesians 2:14). We need no longer look to the temple for the answer to our prayers. It’s not in the temple, but in Jesus that we have the answer. Because of his sacrificial death on the cross, all who believe, both Jew and Gentile, have access to God through Jesus.
The church as God’s temple
Despite Solomon’s prayer that the temple he had built would be God’s dwelling place for ever, God himself never intended the temple in the Old Testament to be permanent. It was a prophetic symbol of Christ himself and of his church. Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthians. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16).
And he tells the Ephesians that all who believe in him, whether Jew or Gentile, are:
Members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
And 1 Peter 2:4-10 describes Jesus as the living stone, rejected by men, but precious to him, and tells us that we too, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. We are his chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation… we are now the people of God.
And 2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
What a privilege. We are the temple. But privilege always carries with it responsibility. We need to learn lessons from the mistakes God’s people made of old. But let me first remind you of what we have said so far. I have suggested that, rather than cleansing the temple (i.e. making it fit for purpose), Jesus was actually expressing his anger at the way the temple had been defiled by the people of his day and that by his action in driving them out he was declaring an end to the temple which was shortly to be destroyed. It was no longer fit for purpose. It was no longer the dwelling place of God, no longer a place that represented all that his Father stood for, no longer a house of prayer for all nations where all the people of the world might come to know the Lord.
I have suggested that during his time here on earth the Lord Jesus himself was the true temple, the dwelling place of God, one who did represent and manifest all that the Father stood for, and that since his departure to heaven it is his purpose that the church, which is his body should fulfil the same role. The question is, are we? Or is it possible that we too are defiling God’s temple?
Are we defiling God’s temple, the church?
Let’s be clear. We’re not talking about a church building. We’re talking about the company of God’s people, the church. Each of us needs to examine our heart on this matter, but it might help to call to mind some of the areas where some of the early Christians sometimes failed:
· Thinking of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), are there times when we are not always strictly honest with each other?
· Thinking of the Corinthians, are we defiling the temple by our divisions, especially over church leaders?
· Are we sometimes guilty of failing to put the needs of others before our own as the Corinthians were at the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11)?
· Is there sexual immorality among us as there was with them (1 Corinthians 6)?
· Are there idols in our lives (2 Corinthians 6:16)?
If we really want our gatherings to be times where
· we experience God’s holy presence
· where the Name of the Lord and all that he stands for is honoured and exemplified
· where we can expect our prayers to be answered
· and where people of all nations may come to know the Lord
let’s examine our hearts and put right anything that might hinder the church from being the temple God intends it to be. In both Old and New Testaments there were serious consequences for defiling the Lord’s temple. But, thank God, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we really want it, our church can be just what God wants it to be. May it be so, for the sake of his Name.
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Talk 33 Mark 11:1-10 The Triumphal Entry
Welcome to Talk 33 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at what is often referred to as Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is found not only in Mark 11:1-10, but also in Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19. We will be concentrating on Mark’s account, but we’ll also refer to the other accounts where they enrich our understanding of this wonderful event in the life of Jesus. But first, let’s read Mark 11:1-10.
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'" 4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" 10 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
Today we’re going to look at six things this passage teaches us about Jesus, but first let’s set the scene in the overall context of Jesus’ life and ministry. Jesus had spent three and a half years teaching his disciples, meeting the needs of the people, forgiving sinners, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, driving out demons, giving sight to the blind, cleansing the lepers, and raising the dead. He is now on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with his disciples and where within less than a week he will be crucified.
The Passover was the annual festival celebrated by the Jews in memory of their ancestors’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It was called the Passover because the angel of death sent by God as the final judgment on the Egyptians passed over the Israelites when he saw the blood of a lamb sprinkled on the doorposts of their houses. What Jesus was to do later that week was to become the final Passover Lamb whose blood was to be shed on the cross to save not only the Israelites but those of all nations who would trust in him as the atoning sacrifice for their sins.
Few, if any, in the crowd who were praising Jesus as the coming king would have understood this. It’s more likely that they were expecting him to use his miracle working power to overthrow the Romans, but God’s plan and purpose was far bigger than that. Jesus had not come to save Israel from the power of Rome, but the entire world from the power and consequences of sin. So Jesus comes, not as a military conqueror riding on a horse or in a chariot, but as the humble king of peace, riding on a young donkey as prophesied in Zechariah 9:9:
Rejoice greatly O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
So, having set the scene, let’s now see what the passage teaches us about Jesus. As we saw right at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, Mark’s intention is to proclaim Jesus as the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God. This has been clear throughout all he has taught us about Jesus so far, but nowhere is it clearer than in today’s passage. First, we see that
Jesus was a man with authority
He tells his disciples what to do, and they do it. Note the words of instruction in verses 1-3.
Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you… you will find a colt tied there … Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"
Jesus expects unquestioning obedience from his disciples, and this includes the owner of the donkey – Tell him, The Lord needs it. In fact, with the exception of the Pharisees (Luke 19:39-40), everyone in the story accepts the authority of Jesus. Even the crowd of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover festival acknowledge that Jesus is the one who comes in the name of (with the authority of) the Lord (v9). They even proclaim him as the King of Israel (John 12:13).
And finally, it seems that even the young donkey seems to have accepted his authority. No one had ever ridden him (v2). He was an unbroken animal. But the lowly beast submits to the authority of his Maker and carries Jesus on his final journey into Jerusalem.
Jesus was a prophet
He was a man who received supernatural revelation and this gave him detailed foreknowledge of future events. Notice what he says in verse 2
:
Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
Now Jesus was on his way up from Jericho where he had healed blind Bartimaeus and the village where the donkey was was ahead of him. He had certainly not been there recently. He had travelled over 100 miles from Capernaum at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. There is no suggestion that he had made a private arrangement with the owners. Yet he knew exactly where the donkey was – just at the entrance of the village. He knew it was tied there. He knew that no one had ever ridden it. He knew it would be available.
Of course, if you have a mind to, you can possibly think of a natural explanation of how Jesus knew all these things, but please bear in mind that Jesus frequently knew things by supernatural revelation. He knew that Peter would catch a fish and find a coin in its mouth, enough to pay the temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27). He knew that the woman of Samaria had had five husbands and that the man she was living with was not her husband (John 4:17-18). And in Mark 14:12-16 he knew that when he sent two of his disciples to go and prepare for the Passover meal, when they went into the city they would find a man carrying a waterpot.
And in Luke 19:41-44 when he finally reaches Jerusalem he weeps over it and predicts in detail the tragic events which were to take place there some forty years later in AD 70.
So the Gospels are very clear that Jesus often knew things supernaturally. But was this because he was God, or was it because as a man he received supernatural revelation through the Holy Spirit? In answering this question it’s important to stress that Jesus is and always was God, and God is omniscient. He knows everything. And Jesus did not cease to be God while he was here on earth. However, although he was God, it seems that as man he did not know everything. Returning to our passage, we see in verse 3 that, although he knows about the donkey, he says, If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' rather than Someone will ask you. And, as we’ll see in our next talk, there’s another illustration of this in verse 13 where we’re told that:
Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he (Jesus) went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs (v13).
So in my view, the flashes of supernatural revelation Jesus received while he was here on earth are best understood to result not from his deity, but from the revelation of the Spirit. If they do not in themselves prove his deity, they certainly show how close was his relationship with his Father in Heaven. They were supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit, and if we keep filled with the Spirit, similar gifts may be ours too as, of course, the Holy Spirit determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). Remember how Peter knew that Ananias and Sapphira were lying (Acts 5)? Peter was not God, but he received revelation from God, the Holy Spirit. Jesus, even though he was God, was also man, and he received revelation in the same way. But that brings us to the next lesson about Jesus.
Jesus was the Messiah
Now if, as we have just been saying, Jesus received prophetic revelation through the leading and power of the Holy Spirit, the same is true of the miracles he performed. The miracles were the reason for the people’s joy on Palm Sunday:
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen (Luke 19:37).
They were longing for the coming of their long-awaited Messiah, which in Hebrew means anointed one. You will remember, of course, that when he was preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus had read these words from Isaiah 61:1-2:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed 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 favour (Luke 4:18-19),
and had gone on to say, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (v21).
In saying this he was claiming to be none other than the anointed one (the Messiah), and he had gone on to prove it by preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, and releasing the oppressed. So the people on Palm Sunday were praising God not only for all the miracles they had seen, but because those miracles might well indicate that at last the Messiah had come. So they acknowledge Jesus as the Son of David, (Matthew 21:9), the king who comes in the name of the Lord (Luke 19:38).
So Jesus was a man of authority. But he was more than that. He was a prophet. But he was more than that. He was the Messiah. So what does our passage teach about what should be our attitude towards him?
Jesus is worthy of our worship
Among the crowd around Jesus on that first Palm Sunday, there must have been surely a variety of opinions and attitudes. There were the twelve disciples who had already come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. There were undoubtedly other followers who had either already formed the same opinion or who were at least on the point of doing so. There may also have been those who, caught up in the excitement and emotion of the moment joined in the celebration without really understanding what was happening. And there were of course those like the Pharisees who understood what Jesus was claiming to be and who wanted to kill him because of it.
So can we really say that they were all worshipping Jesus? Three things suggest to me that many certainly were. First, their actions indicate it. Some threw their cloaks and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road in front of Jesus (v8). Secondly, their words, taken from all four Gospels, imply it:
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in Heaven and glory in the highest!
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!
Blessed is the King of Israel!
And thirdly, the Pharisees seem to have interpreted it as worship. They said to Jesus:
Teacher, rebuke your disciples!
But Jesus replied,
I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out (Luke 19:39-40).
So if this wasn’t worship, it certainly looked like it! And their worship was centred around three main things:
o What Jesus had done for them (working miracles)
o Who he was (the Son of David, the King who comes with the authority of the Lord)
o The coming Kingdom of God.
And these are just the reasons we should worship him too.
Jesus is worthy of our trust
But Jesus is not only worthy of our worship. He is worthy of our trust too. The two disciples he sent ahead to get the donkey had come to trust Jesus, even when what he asked them to do might have been questionable. But they had not always. Remember, for example, the feeding of the 5,000? Jesus says, You give them something to eat. But, they reason, that would take eight months of a man’s wages. Again and again, they had questioned his instructions, but by now they were learning to trust him. They obey his instructions and, of course, find things just as Jesus has said. They had learned to trust him, because they had discovered that Jesus knows best. And we can trust him too. He sees what we cannot see. He knows what we do not know. He has detailed knowledge of future events.
And, of course, we can trust him, not only because of his knowledge, but also because of his power. He is not only omniscient. He is omnipotent. He is no longer here on earth as man, exercising power as he was led by the Spirit. He is seated at God’s right hand. All authority has been given to him in Heaven and on earth. We can trust him because he has the power and authority to accomplish whatever he knows is best for us.
And we can trust him because he is good. An all-powerful God who was not good would not be someone to trust, but rather to fear. But our God is not a king who comes to terrorise his people. Like Jerusalem of old, we can rejoice greatly because our king comes to us gentle and riding on a donkey. The gentleness, the humility, the goodness and love of Jesus assure us that we can trust him. And finally…
Jesus is worthy of our obedience and sacrifice
We have already seen the trust and obedience of the two disciples Jesus sent to get the colt. But we also see the sacrifice of those who spread their cloaks on the road (v8). No thought of how dirty or how damaged they might get, not only from the hooves of the donkey but also from the feet of the crowd who were following Jesus. Their worship was expressed in an extravagant disregard for their worldly possessions. And they did not understand that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem to suffer and die for the forgiveness of their sins. But we do. How much more extravagant should be our commitment to the Lord Jesus?
But now, one final thought. We have seen in this passage that Jesus was a man of authority, a man who received supernatural revelation of future events. We have seen that he was the Messiah, the Son of David, the king of Israel. And yet the story reveals that he needed something. He needed a donkey! Note those words in verse 3 – The Lord… needs it. The Lord, the Creator of the universe needed a donkey! It was to play a part in the fulfilment of God’s purposes. And, believe it or not, he needs you too. Of course, he could fulfil his purposes without us, but he has chosen not to. He has chosen to use donkeys like Peter and Andrew and James and John, like you and like me. Do you know who he is? How extravagantly will you worship him? How much will you trust him? To what extent will you obey him? Jesus is worthy of your sacrificial obedience. He won’t enforce it. But doesn’t his love demand it. Isaac Watts certainly thought so:
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an off’ring far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
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Talk 32 Mark 10:46-52 Blind Bartimaeus receives his sight
Welcome to Talk 32 in our series on Mark's Gospel. Today we are looking at Mark 10:46-52. It's the story of how a blind beggar called Bartimaeus receives his sight. It's a short passage so let's begin by reading it.
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49 Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." 52 "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
We'll begin by looking at what this passage has to tell us about Jesus. Then we'll consider what we can learn about Bartimaeus, and finally we'll see how this story may well have an application in our own lives. Firstly, then, what does the passage teach us about Jesus?
Jesus
The first thing we notice is that Jesus is accompanied not only by his disciples but by a large crowd. This clearly indicates his popularity. We know from what we have already seen in Mark's gospel, Jesus was opposed by the Pharisees and other religious leaders, but it's also clear that the common people heard him gladly. This was almost certainly because of the miracles of healing he was performing as well as the wonderful things he was teaching.
Secondly, we see indications that people were beginning to realise that Jesus was the Messiah. Notice that in verse 46 the passage makes a distinction between the disciples and the crowd. The disciples had left all to follow Jesus. Many in the crowd would have been following just because they hoped he might heal them, or that at least they might see some amazing miracle. The disciples on the other hand had begun to understand who Jesus was. For most of the crowd he was at best a prophet, known to them simply as Jesus of Nazareth. Some, however, like Bartimaeus we're beginning to wonder if he might be the promised Messiah. Notice that Bartimaeus refers to him by the messianic title, Son of David.
Thirdly, the recognition that Jesus was the Messiah sprang from the authority Jesus clearly possessed. We see this in verse 49 in the way Jesus gives clear instructions and is immediately obeyed – Call him. So they called him… They have just told Bartimaeus to be quiet, but at one word from Jesus they immediately change their tune. And, of course, Jesus’ authority is even more evident in his power to grant Bartimaeus his request – Go, your faith has healed you. And immediately Bartimaeus receives his sight.
And finally, our passage reveals the compassion of Jesus, not just in healing the blind man, but in the fact that he stopped (v49) to do so. Remember verses 33-35. He was on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified – probably in only a few days’ time. The very next thing Mark records is the triumphal entry into Jerusalem which happened less than a week before Jesus was crucified. But despite the knowledge of his imminent suffering and death, Jesus takes time to stop and to meet the need of a beggar. But what does the passage teach us about Bartimaeus?
Bartimaeus
The first thing we notice is his desperate need. He was blind and he was a beggar. In those days there was little else that the blind could do, other than beg. His needs were physical – he was blind. His needs were financial – he had to beg. But less obvious perhaps was his need for acceptance in the society in which he lived. It was commonly believed that blindness was caused by sin – either the sin of the blind man or of his parents. This is very clear in John 9:2 where, in connection with another blind man, the disciples asked Jesus:
Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
Jesus was quick to correct this wrong assumption, but the fact that even his disciples made it is evidence of the view prevalent at the time. So, although it’s not mentioned here in Mark 10, it’s not unreasonable to assume that many of the people regarded Bartimaeus’ condition as the result of sin. However, as we shall see, it’s spiritual blindness that results from sin, not physical blindness.
So the first thing we learn about Bartimaeus is his desperation. Closely connected with this is his determination. Imagine the scene. He’s sitting at the roadside begging. He can see nothing, but he can hear. And he hears a commotion. There’s a crowd of people coming down the road. He wonders what the noise is all about. And then he hears that it is Jesus. Now he must have heard about Jesus and the miracles he had been performing. He had possibly heard about the blind man Jesus had healed in Mark 8, or the many blind people who had been healed in Luke 7:22. And now Jesus of Nazareth is passing his way. Faith is quickened in his heart and he’s determined to be healed. He cries out:
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.
The people rebuke him and tell him to be quiet. But this only makes him shout louder. And when Jesus calls him, he responds immediately. He jumps to his feet. He wants nothing to hinder him coming to Jesus, so he throws his cloak, possibly his most valued possession, aside, and he comes to Jesus. Why? Because he wants to see (v.51).
But why did he so earnestly want to see? Was it only to meet his physical and financial needs, or could it also be that he wanted to find the acceptance in society that we were talking about earlier? I find it interesting that many people today who were born with a disability have no real desire to be healed. They want to be accepted for who they are, just as they are. And rightly so. But while I understand and respect their position, and certainly have no intention to criticise, I sometimes wonder if one reason we see so few outstanding miracles of healing in such cases is that there is no real desire to be healed – but of course the reason could easily be a lack of faith on the part of those who pray for them. Thank God that in the case of Bartimaeus there was no lack of faith on the part of Jesus or of desire on the part of Bartimaeus.
But that brings us to the third thing the passage reveals about Bartimaeus – his faith in Jesus.
We know that Bartimaeus had faith because Jesus said in verse 52 that it was his faith that healed him. Yet we know that it was Jesus who healed him because he asked Bartimaeus, What do you want me to do for you? There is no contradiction here. Jesus healed Bartimaeus because Bartimaeus had faith in him. Faith alone is not enough. What matters is who you have faith in. The evidence of Bartimaeus’ faith in Jesus is that he called out to him, he came to him immediately Jesus called him, he took Jesus at his word when he said, What do you want me to do for you?, and he believed that Jesus could heal him – Rabbi, I want to see.
But where did that faith come from? The key is undoubtedly in that little word heard in verse 47. Romans 10:17 tells us that
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Of course, we’re not told how Bartimaeus came to hear about Christ, but as we’ve already suggested, he must surely have already heard what Jesus had been doing for others. And had he heard what Jesus had said in the synagogue at Nazareth when he read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah quoting the words he has anointed me to… proclaim recovery of sight to the blind? (Luke 4:18). We don’t know, but somehow Bartimaeus had come to understand that Jesus was indeed the Son of David, the Messiah. His faith sprang from a recognition of who Jesus is and an acknowledgment that what Jesus had done for others, he could also do for him.
And as a result he immediately received his sight and became a follower of Jesus. The NIV translation of verse 52 doesn’t quite do justice to the text. Translated literally it says he followed Jesus in the way. Admittedly this could mean just what the NIV says, along the road. But by the time Mark wrote his Gospel, Christians were becoming known as followers of the Way (cf. Acts 9:2; 18:25; 19:9) and he may well have intended us to understand that Bartimaeus became a Christian. At all events, he became a follower of Jesus. His faith had not only healed him. It had also saved him. But that brings me to the significance of what Jesus says in verse 52 – Your faith has healed you.
The Greek word used for healed here can also be translated saved. Sozo is used in a variety of ways in the New Testament. It can refer to the salvation of the soul, or to the healing of the body, or to deliverance from danger, for example. Exactly the same Greek wording is used when:
· Jesus heals a woman with bleeding (Matt. 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 8:48)
· He cleanses the grateful leper (Luke 17:19)
· He saves a sinful woman (Luke 7:50).
Of course, only the context can tell you whether sozo should be translated heal or save etc. But sometimes it can mean both, and here in our passage the context suggests that Bartimaeus’ faith had not only healed him, but saved him too. He followed Jesus in the way. He didn’t just go away and do his own thing, as so many seem to after receiving a touch of healing from the Lord. The only right response when God has wonderfully met our needs is to do what Bartimaeus did, to follow him in the pathway of his will for our lives.
How does all this apply to us?
The lessons we learn from the story of Bartimaeus apply to all of us, whatever our needs may be. So let’s summarise what those lessons are:
1. Bartimaeus had a desperate need for which there was no human solution.
2. He recognised his need and wanted to find a solution.
3. When he heard about Jesus he did not delay in asking him to have mercy on him.
4. He would not let anything or anyone deter him from coming to Jesus.
5. He took Jesus at his word believing that he could do whatever he asked him.
6. So he was specific in his request.
7. When it was granted, he became a follower of Jesus.
If you’re already a follower of Jesus, you have already recognised who Jesus is. If you have a desperate need you need to recognise that. Don’t pretend you haven’t got it. It may be that you need to honestly ask yourself if you really want to be free from it. You need to let nothing hinder you from coming to Jesus and asking him to meet it. Don’t let other people put you off. Be determined. Let no one and nothing deter you. Don’t put off the decision. Come to Jesus immediately and be specific in your request. Tell him what you want him to do for you.
Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. If he could meet Bartimaeus’s need, he can meet yours too. You have already trusted him for your salvation. Trust him for this too. He may well surprise you with an immediate answer. And if the answer is not immediate, remember that Jesus loves you and he will do what is best for you. If he says to you, as he said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), you need to trust him that he knows what is ultimately best for you. Sometimes our prayers are answered immediately. Sometimes they’re answered gradually. And sometimes they’re answered later. The important thing is to keep on believing and to keep on following Jesus in the way.
However, there is one prayer that God will always answer immediately. Bartimaeus prayed, Jesus… have mercy on me. Mercy is more than pity. Pity is feeling sorry for someone. Mercy means much more than that. When we ask God to have mercy on us we are asking him to grant us something that we don’t deserve. This applies first and foremost to the forgiveness of our sins. You may not be physically blind, like Bartimaeus, but if you have not yet come to Jesus and asked him to forgive your sins, you have a more desperate need than physical blindness. But Jesus can open your eyes to the truth. Do you want to see? The lessons we learnt from Bartimaeus apply to you too. If you recognise your need and realise that only Jesus can meet it, all you need to do is ask him to save you. Resist the temptation to delay. Reject the attempts of others to dissuade you. Rely completely on Jesus – take him at his word, and you will receive your sight. And when you do, become a real follower of Jesus.
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Talk 31 Mark 10:32-45 Jesus teaches the way of sacrificial service
Welcome to Talk 31 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today our passage is Mark 10:32-45 where Jesus again predicts his death and resurrection, deals with a request from James and John that they might sit next to him in the coming kingdom, and teaches us that the way to true greatness is sacrificial service. The passage is also a healthy reminder about how we should pray, and has much to say that’s relevant to church leadership today. We’ll begin by reading verses 32-34:
32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."
The NIV translation of verse 32 seems to suggest a distinction between the disciples and those who followed. However, although there may well have been people following who were not among the disciples, the word disciples is not in the Greek text and Mark almost certainly intends us to understand that all those who were following Jesus were both astonished and afraid. They may well have been astonished by what Jesus had said in verse 31 – Many who are first will be last, and the last, first. And his mention of persecutions in verse 30 could easily account for them being afraid.
And what Jesus says next could hardly have made them feel any better! He tells them what is going to happen to him, and this time in more detail. In Mark 8:31 we read that
he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again (Compare Mark 9:31).
But now he tells them he will be betrayed… condemned him to death… handed over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. This information was both astonishing and terrifying, and it seems unlikely that they had any clear idea about what he meant by saying that three days later he would rise. Of course, it’s easy for us, with the benefit of hindsight, to know what he meant, and of course so did the disciples after he had showed himself to be alive by many convincing proofs over a period of six weeks (Acts 1:3). But they clearly did not understand it in advance. Even as late as resurrection morning, John 20:9 tells us that they still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
But Jesus himself knew what he was saying. He knew that he would be betrayed. He knew they would condemn him to death. He knew they would mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. But he went up to Jerusalem anyway because he knew that he must give his life as a ransom for us (v45). For you, for me, and for people like James and John whose self-seeking attitude we read about next:
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." 36 "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. 37 They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." 38 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" 39 "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."
The main purpose of these verses, and those that follow, seems to be to teach us the importance of having a servant heart and not to seek great things for ourselves, but they also teach us some important principles about our attitude when we come to God in prayer. James and John want Jesus to do for them whatever they ask him. This certainly revealed some faith. They believed that Jesus could do whatever they asked. And according to Matthew 20:20-28, along with their mother, they also believed in his coming kingdom. And didn’t Jesus say elsewhere that If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24)? So what was wrong with James’ and John’s request to sit beside Jesus in his coming kingdom?
Three things. Firstly, their motive was wrong. It was selfish. They were seeking personal greatness. In the letter that James the Lord’s brother wrote to first century Jewish Christians he stresses the importance of having faith when we pray (James 1:6-7), but he also warns of the possibility of not receiving what we ask for if we ask with wrong motives (James 4:3).
Secondly, they didn’t get what they asked for because they didn’t know what they were asking (v38). Promises like the one we have already referred to in Matthew 21:22 must be balanced with what John was later to write in 1 John 5:14, when he says:
This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
I wonder if, when he wrote this, John had in mind Jesus’ refusal to grant his request in today’s passage. The truth is that, unless we have received a clear revelation from God in a certain matter, we too do not know what we are asking. We never fully understand the implications of what we ask for in prayer. Our requests should always be made in faith, but also in an attitude of submission to God’s will.
And thirdly, closely connected to the last point, they did not understand that even Jesus could not grant their request without reference to his Father. In verse 40 he says your request is not for me to grant. In John 5:19 he said:
The Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees the Father doing…
Everything Jesus said and did was in dependence on what he saw the Father doing. Each of the members of the Trinity works in complete harmony with the others and does not work independently. And while he was here on earth Jesus as a man did not know everything. He did not know the day or the hour of his second coming. Only the Father knew that (Mark 13:32).
So these verses teach us much about how we should bring our requests to God. Our motives should be right. Our requests should be brought in submission to God’s will, recognising that we do not always know the significance of what we are asking, and if there were some requests that even Jesus did not have the authority to grant, they are certainly not for us to claim! God’s perfect will for us may be, as it was for James and John, a pathway of suffering (vv38-39).
But before we leave the subject of prayer, just one more thing. In verse 36 Jesus says, What do you want me to do for you? He actually asks the same question of blind Bartimaeus in verse 51. More of that next time, but just for now please notice that the question does not guarantee the answer we may be looking for. For Bartimaeus his request was granted. For James and John, theirs was not. Beware of preachers who tell you that Jesus is asking you, What do you want me to do for you? implying that whatever you ask you will get. Of course it's fine to tell Jesus what we’d like him to do, but we need to understand that, because he knows best, his answer could be No.
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 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. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 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."
Quite understandably, when the other ten apostles heard about James’ and John’s request, they became indignant. Who do they think they are? I hear them saying. So Jesus calls all twelve of them together. It’s important to notice here that, although Jesus’ teaching in these verses would be of value in society as a whole, in the context what he says it’s addressed to the future leaders of the church. And he stresses that church leadership must be very different from the style of leadership we see in the world. So let’s look at what Jesus says here and then see how his teaching was reinforced by his own example and by the teaching of apostles like Peter and Paul in the New Testament.
Firstly, then, Jesus himself. In these verses he teaches that true greatness is expressed in a willingness to serve, to become a slave for the sake of others (vv. 43-44). Even the Son of Man, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (v.45). This reminds us immediately of two passages of Scripture, John 13 and Philippians 2. In John 13 Jesus literally fulfils the role of a servant and washes his disciples’ feet, and after he has done so he says:
12 …Do you understand what I have done for you? 13 You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger (Greek, an apostle) greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:12-17).
We hear a lot about apostles in the church today, and I truly believe that this ministry is essential for the church in every generation – see Body Builders, Chapter 2 – but the signs of a true apostle must surely include a willingness to take the role of a lowly servant. That’s what Jesus did, for, as we read in Philippians 2:
…being in very nature God, (he) did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11).
And, as we have seen, Jesus told the apostles that they should follow his example. But it doesn’t just apply to apostles. Listen to what Peter says:
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1 Peter 1:1-4).
Here in verse 3 Peter is reflecting the words of Jesus in today’s passage when he talks about the rulers of the Gentiles lording it over those who are under their authority, and says Not so among you. Peter is referring to every aspect of leadership in the church. He refers to the elders as shepherds (or pastors), and as overseers (or supervisors or bishops). Now is not the time to discuss the significance of each of these terms – for more, please see Body Builders, Chapter 5, where I deal with the matter in more detail – but what is abundantly clear is that, whatever the role of leadership, what’s required is a servant heart.
This does not mean that church leaders should not be honoured and respected. They certainly should. But it’s not for them to seek that honour or respect. Respect must be earned, not demanded. While I welcome the renewed emphasis on the importance of apostles in recent decades, it’s a sad fact that in some quarters, abuses have occurred to the detriment of all concerned.
There is a desperate need for a biblically balanced understanding of the subject. So let’s finish with a brief look at two words that are frequently used in the New Testament to describe what church leaders should be – diakonos and doulos.
Diakonos is the word used in today’s passage where Jesus says in verse 43, Whoever wants to become great among you must be you servant. See also Matthew 20:26 and Mark 9:35 where it’s used in the same way. Its basic meaning is a waiter or someone who runs errands. It’s used in this way in John 2 to describe the servants at the wedding feast in Cana and in Acts 6 we have the related word diakonia to describe the ministry of those who were to wait on tables and supervise the distribution of food to the poor. It may be that this was the role of those who are described as deacons in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8-12.
But it’s also used more widely to refer to anyone who serves the church in whatever capacity. There are too many examples in the New Testament to mention them all, but it’s noteworthy that in 1 Corinthians 3:5 Paul refers to himself and Apollos as Only servants through whom you came to believe – as the Lord assigned to each his task.
But in fact he often uses a far stronger word than diakonos to describe his ministry. He uses doulos which means slave – a word also used by Jesus in Mark 10:44. It’s the very first word Paul uses to describe himself in his letter to the Romans – Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Yes, he’s an apostle, but first he is a slave. Compare also Galatians 1:10, Philippians 1:1 and Titus 1:1. In these verses he’s a slave of Christ, but in 2 Corinthians 4:5 he goes even further and says:
For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves your slaves for Jesus’ sake.
He is not only a slave of Jesus Christ, he’s the Corinthians’ slave too! His apostolic authority came from none other than the Lord Jesus, but his right to exercise that authority was his willingness to serve not only Jesus, but those to whom he was called to preach.
And finally, it’s worth mentioning that it was not only Paul who saw his ministry in this light. That’s how James saw himself too (James 1:1), and Peter (2 Peter 1:1), and Jude (Jude 1:1), and John (Revelation 1:1). It seems that they had all learnt the lesson taught and exemplified by Jesus:
Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all (Mark 10:43-44).
My prayer is that we may learn it too.
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Talk 30 Mark 10:13-31 The Kingdom of God
Welcome to Talk 30 in our series on Mark's gospel. Today we're looking at chapter 10 verses 13-31 where we read of how Jesus blessed the little children, and about a rich young ruler – Mark calls him a man. Matthew tells us that he was young. Luke tells us that he was a ruler – who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. We’ll work through the passage reading each section as we come to it, so we’ll begin with verses 13-16.
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
v.13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
Mark has already shown us how powerful the touch of Jesus could be. It could bring healing to the deaf and mute, cleansing to the leper, and sight to the blind. We’re not told why the people wanted Jesus to touch these children. It could be that they too were suffering from some such affliction, or it could simply be that they wanted Jesus’ blessing on their lives. Matthew also tells us that they wanted Jesus to pray for them, but we’re not told what for.
Neither are we told why the disciples rebuked them. Perhaps, like many people in those days, they considered children unimportant. If so, that would account for Jesus’ indignant response in the following verses.
14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
These verses teach us first and foremost about the importance of little children or babies (Luke 18:18). We are to do nothing that would hinder them in coming to Jesus, or to put it more positively, we are to do everything we can to help them come to him. Perhaps we should be asking ourselves if there is anything more we could do to reach children for Jesus.
But we also see in these verses important truths about the kingdom of God. There are no less than five references to the kingdom of God in today’s passage, two in the verses we have just read and three in verses 23-25 where Jesus stresses how hard it is for the rich to enter it. We’ll turn to the story of the rich young ruler in just a moment, but first let’s compare what Jesus says in verse 15 with what he says in verse 25. In verse 15 he says:
I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
and in verse 25 he says:
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
There’s nothing wrong with being rich, but the problem can be that people who are rich can easily become self-reliant. Instead of depending on God, they can come to depend upon their wealth. How different is that from little children, who are totally dependent on their parents. So Jesus is saying that the only way to enter the kingdom of God is with childlike trust and total dependence on God our heavenly Father. But what does he mean by entering the kingdom of God? That will become apparent as we now turn to verses 17-22:
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good – except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.'" 20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
There are quite a few things we can admire about this young man’s attitude. He’s enthusiastic. He’s respectful to Jesus. He asks a very important question. But what he says reveals a deep misunderstanding. This becomes clear as we read Jesus’ answer.
18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good – except God alone.
Jesus is implying two things here. First, since only God is good, to call Jesus good is to acknowledge his deity, something which Jesus does not deny. And secondly, he is saying that no-one is good enough to inherit eternal life. There’s nothing you can do to achieve it. You can only enter the kingdom of God by total dependence on him and childlike trust in his love. But since the young man thinks he can achieve eternal life by doing good, Jesus says:
19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.'"
To which the young man replies:
Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy (20).
We wonder if the young man was hoping that this would be enough, but Jesus makes clear that it is not. He loves this young man, but love does not hide the truth. He says:
21 One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
Preaching the gospel involves pointing out that people have a need and then showing them how that need can be met. What was the one thing this young man lacked? Not the selling of everything he had, but the childlike dependence on God that would enable him to do so.
And so we read that
22 He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
The wealth of this world deprived him of the treasure in heaven that Jesus so wanted him to have.
And finally, before we move on to verses 23-27, please notice that throughout this passage entering the kingdom of God refers to having eternal life in heaven. The rich young ruler asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus shows him the way to have treasure in heaven and comments to his disciples that it hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. But that brings us to verses 23-27:
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
As we’ve already explained, there’s nothing wrong with being in rich – most listeners to this podcast will be richer than 98% of the rest of the world’s population – the problem arises when we put our trust in riches. God does not expect every Christian to sell all they have and give to the poor – though the early Christians in Acts certainly did so (Acts 2:45, 4:32) – but he does expect us to be willing to do so. Following Jesus means total commitment. We cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24).
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
The disciples are amazed, but Jesus reemphasises what he is saying by using an extreme illustration. Various suggestions have been made about what he meant by a camel going through the eye of a needle. For example, in koine Greek the word for camel (kamelos) is almost identical to the word for rope (kamilos), so it’s suggested that Jesus was actually referring to a piece of rope, which it is argued makes more sense. But Jesus’ purpose is not to make sense. He is using hyperbole, extreme exaggeration to make his point. Remember how, when talking about not judging others, he uses the word plank to contrast with speck in Matthew 7:3-5. And the same goes for the idea that the ‘eye of a needle’ was a reference to a small gate in the wall of Jerusalem through which camels found it difficult to pass. Both these suggestions water down the extreme emphasis Jesus is placing on what he is saying.
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
The disciples’ question is quite understandable. If entering the kingdom of God is as hard as Jesus is saying, how can anyone be saved? And now Jesus goes even further. Salvation, entry into the kingdom of God, is not just hard, it’s impossible! At least, it’s impossible with man, but it’s not impossible with God. We saw earlier how, in calling Jesus good, the rich young ruler, without realising it, was actually implying that Jesus was God. Salvation would have been impossible for us, if it were not made possible by Jesus, who, because he was good enough to pay the price of sin, was able to unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in.
So far, we have seen that entering the Kingdom of God means being saved, receiving eternal life, and having treasure in Heaven. Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God belonging to little children (v14), and about it being received (v15). But the thing he mentions most is entering it. Putting all these things together we see that to enter the kingdom of God means to be saved, to receive eternal life, to know that you are going to Heaven, because the kingdom of God belongs to you because you have received it as a little child. And this is something that is only possible because of Jesus. But in the final few verses of our passage we see the rewards that Jesus gives to those who follow him.
28 Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!" 29 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
28 Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
Peter and his fellow fishermen had not given up as much as the rich young ruler was asked to give up. But they had left their means of livelihood and followed Jesus the moment he called them (Mark 1:16-19). It was not the forsaking of these things that earned them their salvation, for, as we have seen, salvation cannot be earned. What saved them was the childlike trust in Jesus that enabled them to do so. Nevertheless, there are abundant rewards for doing so, and this applies to all.
29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
The ultimate reward is eternal life in the age to come, but salvation brings its blessings down here. The blessings of the future kingdom are in some measure available now. Throughout the New Testament there is an eschatological tension between the present and future aspects of the kingdom of God. It’s already, but not yet! But that’s a subject for another time.
There are abundant blessings in this present age, even if at times they come for some with persecution. I am reminded of what the writer to the Hebrews says talking of the heroes of faith:
Others were tortured, and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection (Hebrews 11:37).
In Heaven there are rewards for suffering for Christ and there are rewards for service, but our passage ends with the serious reminder that we may be surprised when we get to Heaven. Jesus says:
31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
The standards of God’s kingdom are not the standards of the world. It’s the meek who will inherit the earth. It’s those who humble themselves as a little child who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:4).
I'm so glad Jesus has made it possible for me to go to heaven. And I'm glad for the opportunities to serve him I've had down here. What little I have given up for him is nothing compared with the abundant blessings he continues to shower upon me. It's by his grace that we are saved. It's by his grace that we are privileged to serve him, and whatever blessings may be stored up for us in the age to come will only be ours because of that amazing grace. Lord, please help us to continue to trust you like a little child and to learn to live in total dependence upon you. Amen.
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Talk 29 Mark 10:1-12 Jesus answers questions on divorce
Welcome to Talk 29 in our series on Mark’s gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 10:1-12 where Jesus answers questions on divorce, and in so doing teaches us key principles about the nature and sanctity of marriage. Of course, in a talk of this length, it won’t be possible to go into the subject in great detail or to refer to the wide variety of opinions that are held on the matter. But in my view, there are some things that stand out very clearly from what Jesus has to say, and it’s those things that we’ll be concentrating on today. So let’s begin by reading Mark 10:1-12.
Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. 6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."
So far Jesus’ ministry has centred largely on the region of Galilee, but now, and for the rest of Mark’s Gospel, it has transferred to the region of Judea where the people were very different from those in Galilee. But whatever the region, some things never change. Jesus continues to teach. Crowds come to listen. And the Pharisees are determined to catch Jesus out by asking him trick questions. And it’s in that context that we need to understand his teaching on divorce in this passage.
We need to bear in mind that the Pharisees had seen on several occasions how Jesus was radically reinterpreting the Law of Moses. They were so annoyed about this that they were already trying the find ways to have Jesus killed. (Mark 3:6 tells us that they had begun to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus, because he had healed a man on the Sabbath day). John the Baptist had already been executed by Herod for speaking out against divorce and adultery (Mark 6:17-28). So it seems likely that the Pharisees’ purpose in testing Jesus in this way was to have him killed.
That’s why we mustn’t see Jesus’ reply to their question as a full-blown theology of marriage and divorce, but rather as a wise answer that avoided the trap the Pharisees had set for him. However, what Jesus does say reveals vitally important truths on the subject, as we shall see as we work through the passage. But before we start, just one more thing. Matthew’s account of the same incident (Matthew 19:1-12) includes a little more of Jesus’ reply than we find in Mark. For example, in verse 2 where the Pharisees ask Jesus, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Matthew’s account includes the words for any and every reason.
And in verse 11 Matthew includes the words except for marital unfaithfulness. This, of course, does not mean that Matthew is contradicting Mark. He is simply including more of what Jesus actually said, and we’ll be taking this into account as we seek to understand what Jesus was saying. And in case you’re wondering why Matthew, Mark and Luke sometimes have slightly different accounts of the same incident, it’s probably worth mentioning that each writer had a different audience in mind. For example, Matthew was writing for a largely Jewish audience while Mark, who was probably based in Rome, would have had a readership that was largely Gentile.
But now, putting Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts together, let’s look at the implications of what Jesus says about marriage and divorce. The Pharisees begin by asking Jesus, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" The question was relevant because at the time of Jesus there were two schools of thought among the Jewish rabbis. The followers of Shammai maintained that only unchastity or adultery were grounds for a man divorcing his wife. On the other hand, the disciples of Hillel allowed divorce for the slightest reason – even something as trivial as bad cooking!
Jesus answers their question in Matthew 19:11 where he says that divorce should be limited to cases of porneia – adultery or marital unfaithfulness. But his first response to their question is to ask them, What did Moses command you? To which they say, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. But in saying this the Pharisees are not being honest with the text of the very passage they are referring to. All that Moses says in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is that if a divorced woman marries another man, and if he also divorces her, she may not be remarried to her first husband.
Jesus, however, refuses to get embroiled in an argument about the interpretation of the Law of Moses, but tells them the reason why it was given: It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law. (Notice incidentally that Jesus interprets the scripture by looking at the reason for which it was given in the first place. When we’re interpreting scripture it’s always important to ask why it was written). Even the Pharisees had acknowledged that Moses had permitted divorce. He had not commanded it. Now Jesus explains why Moses had permitted it – because your hearts were hard (v5).
But what does Jesus mean by saying because your hearts were hard? Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately sick (ESV). This is true in all generations because of our fallen nature, and at the time of Moses that was particularly evident in the context of marriage, because men saw themselves as free to put away their wives for any reason, no matter how trivial.
And it’s important to note that there was no provision in the law of Moses for a wife to divorce her husband! Men tended to view their wives as their property – something which may be reflected in the tenth commandment where women are listed as things that should not be coveted, alongside houses, servants, oxen and donkeys, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour (Exodus 20:17).
So man’s heart was hard because of his fallen nature, and this was reflected in the way they viewed the role of women in general and their wives in particular. But Jesus takes the Pharisees back to long before the law was given and reminds them that divorce was not God’s intention from the beginning. In verses 6-9 he says:
6 "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
He is referring, of course, to Genesis 2:22-24, which says:
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
So in going back to Genesis Jesus sidesteps the trick question set by the Pharisees and takes the opportunity to reveal the true nature of marriage and God’s purpose in it. From his answer we see very clearly five things.
1. Marriage is between male and female
In verse 6 Jesus says that at the beginning of creation God made them male and female.
Now notice what he says in verse 7:
For this reason (i.e. because God made them male and female) a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife.
Here Jesus is quoting directly from Genesis 2:24. Now in both the Hebrew of Genesis and the Greek of Mark’s Gospel, the word translated as wife in our English Bible is exactly the same as the word used elsewhere for woman. So both the Hebrew and the Greek literally say,
A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his woman.
This shows very clearly that from a Biblical perspective there can be no such thing as a same sex marriage. It’s a contradiction in terms.
2. Marriage is a uniting of male and female
Now let’s add verse 8 to verse 7:
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his woman, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one.
This is an obvious reference to sexual intercourse, where a man and a woman are physically united. They become one flesh. But more than that, they are no longer two but one. The implications are surely more than physical. God’s intention for marriage is that the love husband and wife have for each other should result in unity, not merely of the body, but of purpose, intention, faith, heart, mind and soul. How different from the attitude of the Pharisees is the New Testament teaching that husbands should love their wives as their own bodies, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her (Ephesians 5:25-33).
3. Marriage is intended to be permanent
It’s interesting that Matthew makes something clear that is not obvious in Mark’s account. In 19:5 he records Jesus as saying that God said the words recorded in Genesis 2:24. It was the Creator himself who at the beginning said, They will become one flesh. And on the strength of this, Jesus says in verse 9, What God has joined together, let not man separate. Jesus is not referring here to what happens in the ceremony we call a wedding. He is referring to what God said at creation. God intends marriage to be permanent, and so should we.
Two or three years after Eileen and I were married, a fifteen-year-old girl in an RE lesson I was teaching asked me a question: Sir, how do you know you will still love your wife in 10 years’ time? To which I replied, Oh, that’s easy. Because I’ve promised to. Love is more than a romantic feeling. It involves an act of the will. And for a Christian, knowing that in God’s sight marriage is for life should be the determining factor in the decision to keep on loving and to stay married till death us do part. But where does that leave the matter of divorce?
4. Divorce was a concession but not God’s perfect plan
As we’ve already seen, even the Pharisees acknowledged that Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife (v4). In the next verse Jesus does not deny this but says that it was only because of their hardness of heart, which we’ve already talked about. God’s perfect plan was that people should stay together. But because of the weakness of our human nature, he allowed divorce in certain circumstances, but NOT for any and every reason as the followers of the school of Hillel were teaching. But that brings us to our final point.
5. Divorce for any and every reason followed by remarriage leads to adultery, except where there has been marital unfaithfulness.
We’ve already mentioned that Matthew includes some words of Jesus that are not recorded in Mark. In Matthew, Jesus says:
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."
In the Greek, the word for marital unfaithfulness is porneia. This word has a fairly wide range of meaning (adultery, unchastity, prostitution etc.) but is invariably connected with some form of sexual activity. That’s presumably why NIV translates it as marital unfaithfulness. This appears to be the only basis on which Jesus allows a man to divorce his wife – or presumably a wife to divorce her husband. I say this because Mark 10:11-12 indicates that what applies to the husband applies to the wife too. But how does all this apply to us today?
First, let me say that I’m well aware that sincere Christians have very different views on this and that we all need to tread carefully as what we teach may have a serious effect on the lives of people who are divorced or who are facing very real problems in their marriage. But, having said that, as Christians we must take the teaching of Jesus seriously and should never attempt to water down what he has said. We also need to bear in mind that there are other NT passages which deal with the subject of marriage and divorce and in this short talk I have not attempted to deal with them.
What we have said with regard to this passage is that in the answers Jesus gave the Pharisees he was not attempting to give a full-blown theology of marriage and divorce. He was answering a trick question based on how Deuteronomy 24:1 should be applied in the context of first century Judaism. Nevertheless, what he says relates beyond the context of the day because he takes us back to God’s intention for marriage from the very start. Marriage is between a man and a woman. It is the uniting of that man and woman in a lifelong relationship. Man must not separate what God has joined together.
Nevertheless, there are, Jesus tells us, certain circumstances in which divorce may be permitted. Those circumstances are cases of marital unfaithfulness, a term which, as we have seen, can cover a variety of forms of sexual activity. But is this really the only legitimate basis for divorce? Could the term be extended to mean unfaithfulness of a nonsexual nature like persistent physical violence, for example? If a man commits adultery, he is breaking the covenant that he made with his wife. Would he not also be breaking that covenant if he beat her black and blue? Would she not have the right to divorce him?
If we insist on the letter of what Jesus said, we would have to say no. But Jesus’ example teaches us (as we have seen in this passage) to look beyond the letter of the law to the reason behind it. To say this is not to legitimate divorce for any and every reason. But such an approach does allow us to consider the spirit rather than the letter of the law and to apply it with sensitivity and compassion to those who find themselves, through no fault of their own, in an impossible marital situation.
I offer this suggestion in a spirit of humility, knowing that there will be those who radically disagree. All I can say is that after more than 60 years in church leadership I know that there is no easy answer. Every case is different and church leaders need to pray for wisdom and the help of the Holy Spirit in seeking to understand the scriptures and to apply the principles that the Lord Jesus has taught us.
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Talk 28 Mark 9:30-50 Self-denial and total commitment
Welcome to Talk 28 in our series on Mark's Gospel. Today we're looking at Mark 9:30-50 where Jesus teaches his disciples lessons that are essential for all those who would follow him. The passage begins with the statement that Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples (vv30-31). And, as we look at the passage, we discover that what Jesus is teaching is self-denial and total commitment. But first, let’s read the rest of the passage, beginning in verse 31.
He said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."
38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." 39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
42 "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."
Jesus begins by reminding his disciples what he has already told them more than once. He is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise (31). The disciples don’t understand this yet, but it will be essential that they do. The reason Jesus came to earth was to die on the cross to save us from our sins. It would involve self-denial and total commitment – saying No to self and Yes to God. And this would be the example he set for his followers (1 Peter 2:21). And now he is teaching his disciples in advance that following him will mean following his example of self-denial and total commitment.
And in today’s passage we see various ways how Jesus challenges us to do the same.
The challenge of self-denial
There is to be no self-seeking among the followers of Jesus (33-37)
In our last talk we saw how the disciples were arguing with the teachers of the Law. Now we discover them arguing among themselves (v33). And they’re arguing about who was the greatest. We’re not told the details, but it may well have been over who they thought would get the best positions in the Messianic kingdom Jesus was about to bring in. Perhaps Peter, James and John felt they had a claim to greatness because of the privilege they had had to be present at the transfiguration. We know that James and John had aspirations like that because of what we’re told in the next chapter where they ask Jesus:
Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory (10:37).
But to such ambition Jesus replies:
If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all (9:35),
and taking a little child in his arms he says:
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4) and adds:
Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me (Mark 9:37).
Selfish ambition may bring glory to oneself, but it doesn’t bring glory to Jesus. It only causes division and dissention among the followers. So there is to be no self-seeking among the followers of Jesus, but, closely connected to this, our passage also shows that there is to be no competition among them either.
There is to be no competition among the followers of Jesus (38-41)
In verse 38 John tells Jesus that they have seen a man driving out demons in Jesus’ name but that they stopped him because he was not one of us. But Jesus replies
Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
It’s certainly possible that the disciples’ reason for stopping the man was well intentioned. They knew that as his disciples they had been specially chosen by Jesus and that he had designated them apostles (Mark 3:14). They had been in his close company since he first called them to be fishers of men. What right had other people to think they could speak in Jesus’ name (i.e. with his authority)?
Their motivation could well have been like that of Joshua in Numbers 11:28, when out of loyalty to Moses he asks him to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying because they had not been in the Tent of Meeting when the Spirit had come upon them as the rest of the elders had been. To which Moses replied, I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.
Moses was secure in his God-given position of leadership and had nothing to fear from what may have appeared to be a challenge to his authority, and how much more secure was Jesus in the knowledge that he was God’s well-beloved Son. He had nothing to fear from a man who was not one of his immediate disciples driving out demons in his name. And a person using his name to do so could not possibly say anything bad about him (v38).
But what does he mean when he says, Whoever is not against us is for us? Did he not say on another occasion, He who is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30)? Of course there is no contradiction in these two statements. In God’s sight there are only two kinds of people in the world – not Jew or Gentile, not male or female, not black or white, not rich or poor etc. – but those who are for Jesus and those who are against him. Neutrality is not an option. And on that hangs our eternal destiny.
But Jesus’ statement also implies that there are those who are actually for him whom we believe to be against him. The Lord knows those who are his. We’re reminded of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10 who protested to God that he was the only one left who was following him and to whom God replied that there were 7000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (v18). I’m sure that when we get to Heaven we’ll be surprised at some of the people we meet there!
So we need to be careful that we don’t assume that Christians who worship differently than we do, or who do things differently from us, are not really Christians at all. Of course we need to contend earnestly for the precious truths of God’s word, but our motivation in doing so should never be for the reputation or position of our own group or denomination. For example, I don’t believe that infant baptism is scriptural, but that does not mean that some of those who practise it are not being powerfully used in healing and evangelism. Jesus said that anyone who gives you a cup of water (i.e. seeks to help you in the simplest way) …because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward (v41). There must be cooperation, not competition, among the followers of Jesus.
But that brings us to the second major challenge that Jesus presents to his disciples in this passage – the challenge of total commitment.
The challenge of total commitment (vv42-50)
In these verses Jesus warns his disciples about the seriousness of sin. Our sin can, not only keep us out of Heaven, but also keep others out too. He challenges us to a life of total commitment, a life that pleases God.
Verse 42 contains a strong warning about causing anyone else to sin, especially those who are children, but it could also be taken to refer to those who are young in their faith. A spirit of competition among Christians or a personal ambition for greatness can easily do just that. Such attitudes are a poor example to set to new believers. There’s the twofold danger that they either follow the example we are setting, or that they will be completely put off the faith because of it.
Sin is so serious that in verses 43-47 Jesus uses what may seem like an extreme illustration to make his point. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off… if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off… if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. In other words, Get rid of anything that causes you to sin. If your sin is not dealt with, Jesus says, only hell awaits.
If this seems harsh, we need to remember that Jesus has already provided a way for us to get rid of our sin. That’s why he died, taking the punishment our sins deserved. We get rid our sin and its consequences when we receive Jesus as our Saviour. Heaven, not hell, is our destiny. But that does not mean that the moment we become Christians we start to live sinless lives. In fact, if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves (1 John1:8), but, thank God, If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
But God’s promise of forgiveness does not mean that we should go on sinning. Our sins are forgiven, but sin is still serious. That’s why Jesus tells us to cut off anything that causes it. And cutting something off can be painful. Giving up something we enjoy or someone we love may well be costly, but if we know that it or they may lead us, or others, into temptation, we also know that it will be worth it in order to maintain our right standing with God.
As we’ve already pointed out, our sin can affect the eternal destiny of others if it leads them to follow our example or abandon the faith. That’s why Jesus says in verse 50:
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.
As Christians we can make a real difference in the world we live in, rather like salt changes the flavour of food (Matthew 5:13), and just as salt preserves food from decay, we can counteract the moral decay we see in the world around us. If, like the disciples in today’s passage, we’re arguing and quarrelling among ourselves, how can we expect to influence the society in which we live? If we cannot live at peace with each other, we will lose our saltiness and we’ll be of little use in the Lord’s service. That’s why, as we’ve already seen, there must be no self-seeking or competition among the followers of Jesus. He challenges us to self-denial and total commitment.
And if that seems hard, just remember that that is exactly what Jesus did.
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Talk 27 Mark 9:9-29 Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy
Welcome to Talk 27 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. In our last talk we were considering what we can learn about Heaven from the story of Jesus’ transfiguration at the top of a high mountain. Today we’re looking at Mark 9:9-29 where Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy. In verses 9-13 we read how, coming back down the mountain, Peter, James and John ask Jesus about a verse in Malachi which said that before the Messiah came, Elijah must come first. In Matthew’s account Jesus identifies this ‘Elijah’ as John the Baptist who had already been rejected and put to death for what he had preached. And Jesus then reminds his disciples that it would also be necessary for him to suffer too.
But verses 14-15 tell us that at this point they saw the other disciples and …a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. And that …as soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
When Jesus asks them what they’re arguing about (v16), a man in the crowd answers.
Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not (vv17-18).
I expect that most of my listeners will be familiar with this story, but let’s just remind ourselves of the details by reading verses 19-29:
19 "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered.
22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
23 "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead."
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
This passage teaches us four main things:
· The desperate condition of the boy
· The cause of the problem
· The inability of the teachers and the disciples
· The secret of Jesus’ authority.
The desperate condition of the boy
He was unable to hear or speak
He was possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech (17)
Jesus says, You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him (25).
He suffered violent convulsions
Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid (18)
When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth (20)
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out (26).
His life was often in danger
It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him (22)
His condition was longstanding
Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered (21).
His condition was incurable
They saw the other disciples and a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them (14)
I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not (18)
The cause of the problem
The passage makes clear that the boy’s condition was caused by a deaf and mute spirit that needed to be cast out of him. However, the symptoms of his condition were very similar to certain forms of what we refer to today as epilepsy. As a result, some have assumed that all those with epileptic symptoms have a demon that needs to be exorcised. However, since epilepsy is usually treatable with the right medication, and since it seems unlikely that demonic forces could be controlled by medical means, this view is clearly mistaken, especially bearing in mind the pastoral difficulties that would almost certainly arise if this theory were put into practice.
Equally mistaken is the view that demons do not exist and that in those days, without the knowledge that we have today, people mistakenly assumed that all sickness was caused by evil spirits. But if that view were correct we would have to conclude that Jesus himself was mistaken when he said:
You deaf and mute spirit …I command you, come out of him and never enter him again (v25).
So what’s the solution? Quite simply, in some cases epileptic symptoms may result from the activity of evil spirits, but that does not mean that they always are. It’s interesting that in Matthew 4:24 those having seizures are distinguished from the demon-possessed making it clear that they’re not the same. But Jesus healed them all. Prayer for healing is always appropriate, but we need always to be led by the Holy Spirit in how we pray. Attempting to cast out something that isn’t there will cause more harm than good.
But this passage reminds us how evil Satan is. We see how he torments and tries to destroy. As Jesus said in John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. And as we look around us at the world today we see abundant evidence of his work. Not only the thousands of lives being destroyed in war zones like Ukraine and Gaza, but the young people being led astray by his lies in so many different ways leading them to do things that are contrary to God’s natural created order of things. The Holy Spirit has clearly stated that
…in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4:1)
and this is undoubtedly being fulfilled before our very eyes. Satan not only works through demon possession, but by putting perverse ideas into people’s heads that are even now being taught to the children in our schools, and have led to an unprecedented crisis in mental and emotional health.
The inability of the teachers and the disciples
When Jesus came back down the mountain, he found the disciples and the teachers of the Law arguing. When he asked them what they were arguing about, the boy’s father answered telling Jesus about the desperate condition his son was in and his disciples’ inability to help. So it seems that the argument was about the boy.
We don’t know the details of the argument, but perhaps the teachers of the law were challenging the disciples’ authority to drive out the demon. But if so, why didn’t they drive it out? In Matthew 12:27 Jesus acknowledged that some of the Jews were exorcists. We don’t know the answer to these questions, but what is clear is that while they were arguing, the boy was still being tormented. Could it be that even today people are suffering because we Christians are too busy arguing with the opposition rather than using the authority Jesus has given us to set them free?
But that brings us to why the disciples couldn’t drive it out. Mark 6:31 tells us that they had already cast out demons. However, on this occasion they were unable to do so. The Greek verbs used in verses 18 and 28 imply that they were not strong enough and did not have the power to deal with this demon. The passage gives us two reasons why:
· Lack of faith (v19) Cf Matthew 17:20 Because you have so little faith.
· Lack of prayer (v29).
So which was it? The answer must surely be both. There is no contradiction here. Faith comes by hearing from God, and prayer, communing with God, is how we hear from him. It’s through prayer that we know what God wants us to do and receive the faith to do it. But that brings us to:
The secret of Jesus’ authority
Notice:
The authority with which Jesus speaks
in verse 19: Bring the boy to me.
In verse 25: I command you, come out of him
The immediate reaction from the demon
in verse 20: When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion.
In verses 26: The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out.
Matthew 17:18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Why did Jesus have such authority over the demon?
It’s clear from these verses that Jesus had total authority over the demon. But why? Not just because he was God, because it’s clear from verse 19 that he expected his disciples to have been able to do it. The secret of his authority lies in the answers he gave the disciples when they asked why they had been unable to do it. Because of the communion he had with his Father through his prayer life, Jesus had faith. Look at verses 22 and 23 again. The boy’s father says, If you can do anything, take pity on us… to which Jesus replies:
‘If you can'? …Everything is possible for him who believes.
The emphasis here is on the word if, not on the word you. Jesus is not saying that if the father can believe, the boy’s healing will be possible – though that is not to deny the importance of having faith when we come to God with our requests – what Jesus is really saying may be paraphrased as follows:
You are doubting if I can, but I assure you that I can because I believe, and everything is possible to those who believe.
Jesus works the miracle, not because of the father’s imperfect faith, but because he himself had faith. He had faith in his own authority because he lived his life under the authority of God. That’s how he had conquered Satan in the wilderness. He knew what the Father wanted him to do, and he did it. He only did the things he saw the Father do (John 5:19). He was a man of authority because he was a man under authority (Matthew 8:8-10). The secret of his success lay not in his deity but in his submission as a man to the absolute authority of God. With that kind of authority, there is no need to argue as the disciples had. When we know we have heard from God, and only when we know it, we have authority to speak the word of command knowing that in Jesus’ name, with his authority, we too can drive out demons and heal the sick (Mark 16:15ff). But there are no shortcuts, no magic formulae. This kind can come out only by prayer and the faith that results from hearing from God.
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Talk 26 Mark 9:1-8 The Transfiguration – a Glimpse of Heaven
Welcome to Talk 26 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 9:1-8 where we read of a truly awesome event in the life of Jesus and three of his disciples. It’s what is known as the transfiguration. The chapter begins with Jesus saying:
I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.
There has been much discussion about what Jesus meant by this, but in my view the explanation is almost certainly found in the following verses where we read how Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain and he was transfigured before them (v2). So let’s begin by reading verses 2-8:
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
Transfiguration is not a word that’s in common use today, but its basic meaning is transformation. The Greek word that’s used in verse 2 is metamorpho’o from which we get our English word metamorphosis which we use to mean a change in the form of a person or thing into a completely different one, as, for example, when a caterpillar turns into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly. In the case of Jesus, Mark tells us that
his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them,
but in 2 Peter 1:16-18 Peter himself describes what he saw:
16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
He refers to the transfiguration as the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Compare this with what Jesus said in verse 1 about the kingdom of God coming with power). He uses words like, majesty, honour, glory, and God’s voice coming from the Majestic Glory. It seems clear to me that what Peter is describing is nothing less than a glimpse or foretaste of Heaven itself.
Of course, the day is coming when Jesus will finally come in power and great glory, a day Jesus refers to in 8:38 when he talks about the Son of Man coming in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. But that was not to happen yet. Jesus must first suffer and die and rise again (v12). The transfiguration was not the second coming, but it was certainly a prophetic foretaste of it, a revelation of Jesus in power and glory, that Peter wanted to assure his readers was not a cleverly invented story. He had seen it for himself. He knew it was true. And, as he was approaching the end of his earthly life, his hope and his faith for eternity were securely founded on the revelation of Heaven he had received on that mountain.
So, with this in mind, let’s look at the passage and see what we can learn about Heaven.
What is Heaven like?
If you know Jesus as your Saviour, you’re already on your way to Heaven, but do you have any real idea what it’s going to be like? My wife, Eileen, went to Heaven recently and I’ve been trying to imagine her there. Actually, I’ve found it quite hard, and I’ve realised how little we know about Heaven. Of course the Book of Revelation paints a certain picture for us, but it contains so much symbolism that it’s hard to know whether some passages are to be taken literally or metaphorically.
Even the great apostle Paul had to admit that now we know only in part (1 Corinthians 13:12) and that we cannot yet imagine the things that God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). So it looks as though we’ll have to wait and see. But that does not mean that we know nothing about what Heaven is like, and today’s passage gives us some clear pointers.
Heaven is a place of dazzling purity and awesome majesty
In verse 3 Mark tells us that Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. In Matthew 17:1 we’re told his face shone like the sun. Paul on the road to Damascus had a glimpse of that brightness. Testifying before King Agrippa he says:
At midday, I saw in the way, O king, out of heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round me a light – and having fallen to the earth…I heard a voice… (Acts26:13-14).
John on the Isle of Patmos saw it too:
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:14-18).
Heaven is a place of dazzling purity and awesome majesty. But it’s a place where it’s good to be – a place where you’ll want to stay! Notice what Peter says in verse 5:
Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.
Of course he didn’t realise what he was saying. Jesus, Moses and Elijah would not have needed shelters! All Peter knew was that he wanted the experience to last.
Heaven is a place where the righteous dead are still living
v4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
The Sadducees, who did not believe in life after death, once asked Jesus about a woman who had had seven different husbands because they all died one after the other. In the next life, whose wife would she be? Jesus replied that they were making a big mistake because they neither knew the power of God nor understood the Scriptures.
Quoting the well-known passage in Exodus 3, he pointed out that God had revealed himself to Moses, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The point here is that God did not say, I was. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had all died centuries before God said this. Yet God still said I am. He was still their God centuries after they had died, so they must be still alive!
Now, in today’s passage, we have another evidence of this. Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking with Jesus. They had both died centuries earlier and Moses had died well before Elijah was born. So they were still alive long after they had died. What’s more, they were recognisable. We don’t know how the disciples knew who they were. Perhaps they overheard them referring to each other by name – it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that in Heaven we will be able to recognise and communicate with each other, even with Christians of earlier generations whom we have never met.
Furthermore, they were not only recognisable, they seem to have been still serving God. It must surely have been God who sent them to have this conversation with Jesus. The exact details and the purpose of the conversation we do not know, but Luke tells us that they were speaking about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). More of this later, but I’m glad that in the life to come it seems that God will have something for us to do!
Heaven is a place where Jesus is recognised for who he is
At the transfiguration God declares Jesus to be his Son (v7). The disciples are to listen to HIM. He is exalted above both Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the prophets). He fulfilled them both and supersedes them both. All authority is given to him.
No wonder Peter could say that Jesus received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Heaven is a place where Jesus is recognised for who he really is, and only those who recognise it will be welcome in Heaven. In the end the disciples are left seeing no-one except Jesus (v8). In the final analysis, Jesus is all that matters. Not the Law. Not the prophets. Just Jesus. It’s our response to him that will determine our final destiny.
Experiencing a foretaste of Heaven
I have already suggested that the disciples’ experience of the transfiguration was a glimpse or foretaste of Heaven itself. But that raises the question whether it’s possible for us today to have such a foretaste – obviously not an identical one, because that was unique, but is there any sense in which Christians can experience a taste of heaven today? And the answer is certainly yes. They are rarely, if ever, as dramatic as that of the disciples at the transfiguration, but Hebrews 6 tells us that as Christians we have tasted the heavenly gift and… shared in the Holy Spirit… and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the coming age (vv4-5).
In my book, Just a Taste of Heaven, I have sought to show that the supernatural healings we receive now through the power of the Spirit are best understood as a foretaste of the age to come, when we will enjoy permanent good health in the new imperishable bodies we will receive when Jesus comes again (1 Corinthians 15:52-54). But of course, healing is not the only foretaste. All the supernatural gifts of the Spirit are available, as he determines, to bring us into a new dimension beyond the natural level of our everyday lives.
This is confirmed by Paul’s use of Greek words like arrabon and aparche to refer to the Holy Spirit. Both these words indicate that through the Spirit now we may receive a foretaste of what Heaven will be like. But these experiences are of course just a taste! There’s much much more when Jesus comes again! But for a detailed explanation you might like to take a look at the final chapter of my book, The Holy Spirit – and Introduction, or listen to podcasts 022-024.
Meanwhile, as we wait for Heaven, there’s a sense in which we ourselves are being transformed. The same verb as is used for Jesus being transfigured, or transformed, is used elsewhere about Christians. In Romans 12:2 Paul encourages us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And in 2 Corinthians 3:18 he tells us that
…we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
For us the transformation is gradual. The extent to which we reflect the Lord’s glory will depend on how much time we spend in his presence renewing our minds. Remember, the disciples experienced the transfiguration while they were alone with Jesus (v2).
What makes Heaven possible for us
We said earlier that the transfiguration was a metamorphosis – a change in the form of a person into a completely different one – not a different person, but a different form. But actually this was not the first transfiguration. Jesus had changed his form before.
Look for a moment at Philippians 2:5-8, which translated literally reads like this:
Jesus, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself empty, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!
The word I have translated as form is morphe from which is derived metamorpho’o, the word used to refer to the transfiguration in Mark 9. So the first ‘transfiguration’ was the incarnation. At the incarnation he remained God but took upon himself the form of a man. At the transfiguration, he remained a man, but took again for a brief moment the form of God which he later resumed after his resurrection and ascension. Our salvation was only possible because Jesus was willing to take the form of a servant, to be made in human likeness, to appear as a man, and to humble himself to death on a cross.
As we have seen, he came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets, to live a sinless life in obedience to his Father, to suffer and die in our place. We mentioned earlier that Luke tells us that Elijah and Moses were speaking with Jesus about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment (or accomplish) at Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). The word used for departure in this verse is exodos which means a way out. Jesus’ death on the cross was to be his way out.
But it was also to be ours. As God provided a way out of slavery in Egypt for the Israelites in the Book of Exodus, so Jesus has provided a way out for us from the slavery of sin and the death penalty it brings. One day we shall all be transformed into his likeness, for we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). Meanwhile let us seek to be daily transformed by the renewing of our minds and to allow the Holy Spirit to be constantly changing us from one degree of glory to another as we spend time in the glorious presence of Jesus.
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Talk 25 Mark 8:27-38 The Challenge of the Cross
Welcome to Talk 25 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. If you listened to my Easter Sunday message recently (which was not part of this series), you will remember that we concentrated our attention on the repeated emphasis on the use of the word must in connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection. One of the verses we referred to is found in today’s passage:
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
We saw that it was necessary for Jesus to suffer and to die and to rise again because that was the only way we could be saved. But in today’s passage we see that this was clearly something the disciples, especially Peter, didn’t want to hear. Nevertheless, Jesus went on to insist that not only was it necessary for him to suffer and die, but that if anyone wanted to follow him, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow him (v34).
This presented an enormous challenge to his disciples then, and, if we take Jesus’ words seriously, it is equally challenging for us today. In this passage we see three challenges:
· The challenge of confessing who Jesus really is (27-30)
· The challenge of acknowledging that his death was necessary (31-33)
· The challenge of taking up our cross and following him (34-38).
The challenge of confessing who Jesus really is (27-30)
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" 28 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." 30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
The important thing here is not what other people – your parents, your brothers and sisters, your friends – say about Jesus. What matters is what you say. And notice that the word is say, not think. Of course, what we say will be affected by what we think, but if we believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be, it’s important that we say so. Paul tells us that
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
Of course, Peter had not yet come to understand these things, but by divine revelation (see Matthew 16:17) he had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and was not afraid to say so. Others might see Jesus as an outspoken preacher like John the Baptist, or as a powerful miracle worker like Elijah, or as just another prophet or religious leader, but salvation depends on the acknowledgement and confession that JESUS IS LORD. But, as the next few verses make clear, Jesus was not the kind of Messiah that Peter and the other disciples were expecting. They were certainly not expecting a Messiah who would suffer and die.
The challenge of acknowledging that his death was necessary (31-33)
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
The disciples would have understood that the Son of Man was a title used for the Messiah in Daniel 7:13-14.
And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is and everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This was almost certainly the kind of Messiah they would have been expecting, and Jesus’ claims that as the Son of Man he had authority on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10) and to be Lord of the Sabbath (2:28) would undoubtedly have backed up their conviction. And later in today’s passage Jesus uses the title in connection with his coming in his Father's glory with the holy angels (v38), a theme which he repeats in 13:26 and 14:62. So their expectation was not entirely wrong. But it was only half the story.
Jesus now had to teach them that certain things had to happen first. The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed. We should not be surprised at Peter’s reaction. Surely suffering and rejection and death could not possibly be the role of the Messiah? But in fact they were not only possible. They were essential. The Son of Man must suffer… And Jesus not only rebukes Peter strongly for remonstrating with him, but he repeats the message again and again in chapters 9 and 10 (Mark 9:12, 31; 10:33, 45).
But why was his suffering necessary? Why must he die? Because this was the only way that we could be saved. He died for our sins. He died in our place. He took the punishment our sins deserved. He died, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.
There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in.
To be saved we must acknowledge that his death was necessary. Our pride holds us back. Human wisdom rejects the message of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-19). We hesitate to admit that it was our shortcomings that made it so. But there was, there is, no other way. The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), for me, for you, and if it were not so, would the Messiah have allowed himself to be crucified? The challenge faces every man and woman, every boy and girl. The challenge must be faced, and it must be embraced. To be saved I must accept the fact that Jesus died for me.
The challenge of taking up our cross and following him (34-38).
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
Having begun to teach his disciples that it was necessary for him to suffer and die and rise again, Jesus now includes the crowd. What he is about to say applies to everyone. Notice the use of the words anyone and everyone. There can be no exceptions. Acknowledge Christ and be saved or deny Christ and perish. The way of the cross is inevitable, not only for Christ, but for all who will follow him. If he must suffer, then we must expect to suffer too. We must take up our cross and follow him.
Peter, from whom Mark probably obtained most of the material for writing his Gospel, writing to Christian slaves who were being unjustly punished, reminded them of the suffering of Christ and told them:
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21).
If the opponents of Christ treated him unfairly, we must not be surprised if they treat us unfairly too. But Jesus said that whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Throughout the world today there are thousands who are losing their lives because of their faith in Christ.
But suffering for the cause of Christ must not be confused with the things we suffer along with the rest of humanity. By no means all that Christians suffer is caused by persecution. Most of our suffering is caused by the fact that we’re living in a fallen universe. In Romans 8 Paul tells us that, ever since the Fall, creation has been in bondage to decay and has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time (vv21-22). But our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (v18). Meanwhile we are still eagerly waiting for the redemption of our bodies (v23). So suffering is inevitable. We are not exempt from it. Until Jesus returns we suffer along with the rest of humanity. The difference is that we Christians have hope. If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.
So suffering along with the rest of humanity because we’re all living in a fallen universe is not the same as suffering for the sake of Christ. It is not taking up our cross to follow Jesus. Yet this is required of every Christian. Jesus says, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. This will mean different things for different people, but if I am not denying myself and actively choosing to make sacrifices for the cause of Christ, can I really call myself a Christian?
This choosing to deny ourselves and to live a sacrificial life for Christ is a practical demonstration of what is known as our identification with Christ. When we first came to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, believing that he died in our place, God counted Jesus’ death as our death, and we too were accepting his death as our death. That’s why Paul could say that we died with Christ, we were crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, made alive with Christ and raised with Christ. In short, we are identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection.
With this in mind, let’s compare verse 31 with verses 34-35. First Jesus teaches them that he, the Son of Man, must suffer many things and be rejected … and that he must be killed and … rise again. Then he says that as his followers his disciples must expect the same:
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
The pattern is the same. Rejection and suffering, followed by resurrection and reward. But of course, we don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to be rejected. But neither did Jesus. Hear him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane,
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death… My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will (Matthew 26:38-39).
Taking up one’s cross means saying this daily. Not what I want, but what you want. Jesus didn’t want to suffer and die, but he chose the way of the cross, and so must we. But of course, the cross was not the end of the story. He rose again, and so, says Jesus, will we. What a wonderful promise to all who will accept him, but how serious a warning to those who reject him:
If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels (v38)
And then he will reward each person according to what he has done (Matthew 16:27).
And in Matthew 10 he says:
32 Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. …38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
The choice is ours. And the consequences of that choice are eternal. What choice will you make? Will you accept the challenge of confessing who Jesus really is? Will you acknowledge that his death was necessary for you? Will you take up your cross and follow Jesus?
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It had to happen – or did it?
This week, as I was reading through the Gospel accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, I was struck by a statement in John 20:9 which tells us that the disciples did not yet understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.
I found myself asking:
· Why didn’t they understand?
· What was the scripture that John was referring to?
· Why did Jesus have to rise from the dead?
We’ll deal with the first two questions fairly quickly, before answering in more detail why Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Why didn’t they understand?
Four possibilities:
Some things we don’t understand until after they have happened
Their minds were clouded by unbelief – too good to be true?
Jesus had not yet opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45)
They had not yet received the Holy Spirit who would guide them into the truth (John 16:13).
What was the scripture that John was referring to?
It’s clear from Acts 2:24-32 that Peter, having been filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, now understood Psalm 16:8-11 to be a clear prophecy that Jesus would rise from the dead. He says in verse 24 that God raised (Jesus) from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Quoting where the psalm says
my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay,
Peter applies it directly to the resurrection of Jesus, saying in verse 31 that David saw what was ahead and
spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.
There are, of course, many other OT passages which prophesy the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ (notably Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53). But we can’t be sure exactly what scripture John had in mind because he doesn’t tell us. What we do know is that Jesus himself had explained to his disciples that
he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life (Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22).
But notice that these verses not only say that he must be raised to life, but that he also must suffer and be killed. So that now widens our question. We need to ask not only why Jesus must be raised to life, but why he must suffer and die in the first place.
Why did Jesus have to suffer, to die and to be raised to life?
Because:
· The Scripture must be fulfilled
· It was the only way that we could be saved
The Scripture must be fulfilled
Matthew 26:53-54
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"
Luke 24:25-27
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Luke 24:44-47
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Why are these references to the fulfilment of Scripture so important? Because what God says in the Bible MUST come to pass. He said, Let there be light, and there was light. What he says, happens. Jesus had to rise from the dead because in the Bible God had said he would. We’ve also seen that it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Why? Because he was God’s holy one.
But why did Jesus have to suffer and die. The NT gives us clear reasons for this, but, before we come to that, we need to think about what the words had to mean in this context. Did he really have to die? Didn’t he have a choice about it? Yes he did. Notice what he said in John 10:17-18:
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.
So Jesus didn’t have to suffer and die. But before man ever sinned he voluntarily chose to do so, because he loved us. He knew that if he chose not to, there would be no hope for us. The only way to save us from the just punishment our sins deserve was to take that punishment for us by dying on the cross. So in Gethsemane he ratified the decision he had made before the world began. He knew he must suffer. He knew he must die. It was the only way that we could be saved.
It was the only way that we could be saved
Let me explain it like this. Because God loves us, he wants what's best for us.
Because he knows what's best for us he sets boundaries for our actions.
If we go beyond those boundaries, there can be serious consequences.
For example, we heard about the tragedy in Baltimore recently where a bridge collapsed.
I imagine that as soon as it happened, they erected a NO ENTRY sign to prevent traffic from crossing the bridge. If anyone ignored it the consequences could have been fatal.
It’s like that with God. NO ENTRY signs like You shall not kill…You shall not steal… You shall not commit adultery… You shall not lie are there for a good reason.
And the Bible has a word for ignoring God’s NO ENTRY signs. It calls it sin.
And if we disobey those signs, there’s a price to pay.
And the Bible is clear that this applies to all of us:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
There is no one who does not sin (1 Kings 8:46).
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8).
And the Bible warns us of the seriousness of sin. Sin separates us from God.
Our sins have hidden his face from us (Isaiah 59:2)
And unless our sins are dealt with, our separation from God will be eternal.
Jesus himself talked eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46).
Paul tells us that the price we pay for our sin is death (Romans 6:23)
So sin is serious. It separates from God. And there is nothing we can do about it.
We cannot hide it, for our sin will find us out (Numbers 32:23).
We cannot cleanse ourselves from it.
Turning over a new leaf today won’t eradicate yesterday’s sin.
No one can be righteous in God’s sight by keeping the law (Romans 3:20, Galatians 2:16).
We have all sinned. We are all separated from God. There is nothing we can do. We all need a Saviour.
And this is why Christ died.
He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
He died on the cross to reconcile us sinners to God (Colossians 1:20).
He did this by offering himself as a sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).
He died in our place. Because of our sin, we should die. Instead, Christ has died for us.
He took the punishment for us. He was wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5).
He suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
We deserved to die because of our sin, but because he loved us, he came and died in our place, so that we could live.
So why did Jesus have to suffer and die? So that we could be saved.
But what must we do?
You must be born again
Listen to what Jesus once said to a very religious man called Nicodemus:
I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again… You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
Of course, Jesus was not talking about physical birth. He was talking about a spiritual birth where God so completely changes us that we become a new person. This happens when we repent of our sin and trust Jesus for forgiveness, relying on the fact that he has already taken the punishment for us when he died on the cross. The Bible also calls this being saved and it’s important because it’s the only way to get to Heaven. Jesus said,
I am the way… no one comes to the Father except by me (John 14:6).
And Peter said
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
And that’s why the gospel must be preached.
The gospel must be preached
Mark 4:43
But he said, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God …because that is why I was sent."
John 9:4
As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Mark 13:10
And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
And finally, in 1 Corinthians 15 we find two more MUSTs.
1 Corinthians 15:22-25
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1 Corinthians 15: 50-53
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
Your immortality is as certain as his reign!
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About Eileen – a tribute to my wife by David Petts
Eileen was born on 6th January 1939 in Stockport, Cheshire. Her parents, Cecil and Sarah Littlewood, were from a Methodist background but were not regular church goers. However, they did send Eileen to Sunday School, and when they moved to Dagenham their nearest church was Bethel Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God or AoG) and it was there that, at the age of seven, Eileen accepted Jesus as her Saviour. From that moment on she never doubted and unswervingly followed the Saviour she had come to love so much.
When the family moved from Dagenham, she attended Hornchurch Baptist Church where she was baptised in water at the age of fifteen. I was attending Elm Park Baptist Church and when we were both 18 we met at a joint youth rally held in the local park. That meeting turned out to be the beginning of a wonderful sixty-seven year long relationship. At that time I was expecting to become a Baptist minister, but in September 1959, having heard about the baptism in the Spirit from some Pentecostal friends, we both started to attend prayer meetings at Dagenham AoG and were both baptised in the Spirit in the very church where Eileen had received Jesus as her Saviour.
We were married three years later as soon as I had graduated from Oxford, and moved to Colchester where I became the pastor of the AoG church in Straight Road, Lexden. Eileen held down a very responsible administrative job in the Colchester Education Office until Deborah and Sarah were born (1964, 1965). Although a busy mum, Eileen always made room in our home for the thirty teenagers who crowded into our small lounge every Sunday afternoon for Bible Class and who had come to Christ in the youth meetings we held in our church.
In 1968 we moved to Basingstoke where I had accepted the pastorate of the AoG church. During the ten years we were there Eileen was responsible for setting up and running the pre-school playgroup for 40 children held five mornings a week and teaching the teenage Bible class on Sundays. She also played an active part in organising and preparing the meals for up to 150 teenagers at the New Forest Pentecostal Youth Camp we held annually during the 1970s.
During this period my ministry was becoming increasingly in demand both nationally and internationally, and, although she now had three young children, Jonathan having been born in 1970, Eileen never complained, but totally supported me in all the Lord was calling me to do. And that support became all the more important when I was appointed to be the principal at Mattersey Hall Bible College.
Eileen served as Matron of the college from 1978 to 1999. Her responsibilities included supervision of all kitchen and domestic staff, organising the rotas for the regular domestic duties undertaken by the students, and attending weekly Faculty meetings. Although she was well equipped for these responsibilities by her administrative skills and experience, she often felt rather inadequate for the task and constantly depended on the Lord to help her. But by far her most important role was as my support, encourager, and advisor throughout the 27 years I led the college.
Eileen was very conscious of the privilege the Lord had given her in fulfilling this role, especially as, when the children were grown up she was able to travel with me in connection with my responsibilities representing Assemblies of God attending meetings of the Pentecostal European Fellowship and the World Pentecostal Fellowship. She greatly appreciated the fellowship with other like-minded Christians around the world, especially at the annual EPTA conferences where we met with other Pentecostal Bible College workers from across Europe.
When I retired from Mattersey in 2004, we moved to Devon and became members of Brixham Community Church (AoG) where Eileen used her gift of hospitality in organizing garden party cream teas for the over sixties, barbecues for the neighbours, and serving coffee after church on Sunday mornings. She also continued to travel widely with me both in ministry and on holiday.
Sadly, this all came to an abrupt end when Eileen was left severely disabled by a massive stroke in June 2016. Despite all the frustration that this caused to a woman who had previously been so active, Eileen never lost her sense of humour and was convinced that God had a purpose in what he had allowed to happen, knowing that one day she would walk again. That day has now come, and, no longer in a wheelchair, she stands in the presence of the Lord she loved and served for so many years.
Although I am missing her already, I am full of joy, knowing that she is now where she wanted to be. Until we meet again in Heaven, I will remember her for her love, her faithfulness, her devotion, her patience, her sense of humour, her impact on our children’s lives, her smile, her perseverance in suffering, her courage in face of adversity, and above all, her childlike trust in Jesus and her total commitment to him. I thank God for the precious gift of Eileen and the privilege of being her husband for sixty-two years.
The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Talk 24 Mark 8:22-26 The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida
Welcome to Talk 24 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 8:22-26 where Jesus heals a blind man at Bethsaida. Jesus healed many blind people during the course of his ministry. Luke 7:21 tells us that he gave sight to many that were blind and the healings of Bartimaeus in Mark 10 and of the man born blind in John 9 are well known examples. But this incident, which is found only in Mark’s Gospel, is particularly interesting because it’s the only occasion where Jesus needed to lay his hands on someone twice before they were completely healed. So let’s begin by reading the passage together.
22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spat on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" 24 He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village."
The first thing I’d like you to notice in this story is that some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. Of course, it’s understandable that a blind man would need others to bring him to Jesus, but what’s most significant here is that it is the people, not the blind man, who beg Jesus to touch him. This is quite different from the healing of Bartimaeus who is discouraged by the people as he seeks healing from Jesus and who calls out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, and to whom Jesus says, Your faith has healed you (Mark 10:46-52).
In fact Jesus uses this expression on several different occasions in the Gospels:
· After giving sight to Bartimaeus (Mark 10:52)
· When speaking to the woman who touched the hem of his garment (Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, Luke 18:42)
· to the grateful leper he had cleansed (Luke 17:19).
· and to the woman who poured perfume on his feet and received forgiveness for her sins (Luke 7:50)
It’s exactly the same Greek expression on all these occasions, and it shows the important role personal faith plays in receiving forgiveness and cleansing and healing. But there are other occasions in the New Testament where it’s the faith of other people that brings about the healing:
· The faith of the four friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus (Mark 2:5)
· of the Centurion for his servant’s healing (Matthew 8:10)
· of the SyroPhoenician woman for the healing of her daughter (Matthew 15:28)
· and the faith of the elders when anointing the sick with oil (James 5:15).
And here in today’s passage it’s the people who bring the blind man to Jesus who are begging him to heal him. It’s by no means clear how much faith the blind man had, but it seems safe to assume that he was in full agreement with his friends’ request.
The second thing we notice in this story is that Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village (v23). We’re not told why Jesus did this, but it reminds us of the deaf and mute man that Jesus healed in the last chapter. Jesus took him aside away from the crowd (Mark 7:33). We suggested there that he may have done so because he wanted to get the man’s full attention, to show him that he was not just one of the crowd, but an individual he cared about personally, or that perhaps Jesus himself felt the need to get away from the crowd, to get a moment of quiet when he could hear what God was saying about how to deal with this man’s need.
And on this occasion Jesus may have done so for similar reasons. However, in this case it seems that Jesus might have had a further reason for taking the man out of the village. Notice that, after he has healed him, Jesus says, Don't go into the village. We have seen on several other occasions in Mark’s Gospel how Jesus tells those he has healed to tell no one about it, and it’s possible that this is just another such occasion. Jesus was concerned that his miracles
should not be the focus of people’s attention. They were signs to confirm the truth of his message. He wanted people to hear what he said, not just to see what he did.
But the fact is, we simply don’t know why he led the blind man out of the village. What we do know is that Jesus only did what he saw his Father doing (John 5:19) and the reasons for Jesus’ specific actions were related to what God was telling him to do, and to the individual needs of the person he was ministering to – a principle we should all be aware of when we are praying for the sick, and which is particularly relevant to the next thing Mark tells us:
When he had spat on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"
We’re not surprised that Jesus put his hands on him, but spitting on the man’s eyes is not what we might have expected. Of course, we remember how, when he healed the man who was deaf and mute, Mark tells as that Jesus spat and put his fingers in the man’s ears. We may also remember how, when he healed the blind man in John 9, Jesus spat on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes (v6).
There were no doubt specific reasons why Jesus used saliva in each of these three cases – one suggestion, for example, is that the man in John 9 was born without eyes and that Jesus was creating eyes for him from the dust of the ground, as God did when he created Adam. But, in the absence of any clear explanation in the Scripture, it would be unwise to jump to conclusions. It’s all right to suggest what the reasons might have been but beware of people who are over dogmatic on such matters.
As far as following the example of Jesus is concerned, we can learn from this that the Holy Spirit might lead us on rare occasions to do something out of the ordinary when ministering to the sick, but we need to be very sure that we are hearing God correctly, and we should remember that the New Testament authorises two main ways of ministering healing, the laying on of hands (Mark 16) and anointing with oil (James 5). But even with these, the important thing is to hear what God is saying. The New Testament offers no formula for healing.
Notice next, still in verse 23, that Jesus asks the man, Do you see anything? There is, of course, a simple explanation for this. It’s not immediately obvious to anyone except the blind person who has been prayed for (or treated medically for an eye condition) whether or not they can see. We have to ask them. But surely Jesus would have known. He was God, wasn’t he? Yes, but he was also man.
This simple question to a blind man reveals one of the great mysteries of the incarnation (cf. 1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus was both God and man. Not half God and half man, but 100% God and 100% man. Our finite minds simply can’t grasp it. But a God who can be fully understood by my tiny mind couldn’t possibly be God at all, could he? But the Bible is clear that while Jesus was here on earth, as man he did not know everything. He grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). Even though he never ceased to be God, when he was hungry and saw a fig tree he had to go and find out if it had any fruit (Mark 11:13).
So, here, to find out if the blind man can see anything, he asks him. There’s no need to look any further for an explanation. Neither do we need an explanation for how a blind man knew what people and trees looked like. After all, we’re not told that he was blind from birth. But what does require an explanation is why the man is not completely healed immediately. Why did Jesus need to lay hands on him twice?
Answers to this seem to fall into three main categories:
· Jesus was aware that the man was lacking in faith
· Jesus was teaching his disciples that some healings would not be instantaneous
· Jesus was illustrating his attempts to get his disciples to ‘see’ the truth about him.
Let’s consider each of these ideas in turn.
Jesus was aware that the man was lacking in faith
As we saw earlier, Jesus was constantly looking for faith in those who came to him. Sometimes it was the faith of the person who was in need. At others it was the faith of the friends or relatives who asked Jesus to help them. Whichever it was, it seems that it was the person who was bringing the request who was expected to have faith that it would be granted.
Now if this man was lacking in faith, we are certainly not told that he was. What’s more, it was the people who brought him to Jesus who made the request. And there is no mention of a sudden increase in faith before Jesus laid his hands on the man the second time, although we can imagine that his faith was encouraged by the improvement he experienced after Jesus laid hands on him the first time. However, we cannot say with any certainty that the reason why the man’s healing was not immediate was lack of faith.
Jesus was teaching his disciples that some healings would not be instantaneous
I suspect that this idea comes from the fact that healings today are often either partial or gradual. Of course we do see immediate answers to prayer for healing, especially in an evangelistic context when a miracle of healing is granted to help people come to faith in Christ (cf. Mark 16:15ff., John 20:30-31 etc.). But there are many cases where people ‘receive a touch’ of healing but are not completely healed. At other times, even when there is a full recovery, this may take some time before it is complete. And in attempting to explain the reason for these incomplete healings, it’s easy to refer to this passage as biblical evidence.
However, it’s surely clear that, in the case we are looking at, if the blind man’s healing was delayed, it was not delayed for very long! And it could hardly be described as gradual. Jesus lays hands on him, and there’s an immediate improvement. He lays hands on him again, and the healing is complete. If Jesus really wanted to show his disciples that some healings are not instantaneous, this was hardly the best example give them. Furthermore, there is no evidence of gradual or partial healings in the ministry of his disciples. That is not to say that healing does not sometimes happen gradually or in stages – there’s plenty of evidence that it does. But I think it unlikely that this was the reason that Jesus laid hands on this man twice.
Jesus was illustrating his attempts to get his disciples to ‘see’ the truth about him
The merit in this suggestion is that it takes into account the context in which the story is set in Mark’s Gospel. As we saw in our last talk, Jesus was often disappointed with his disciples for their lack of faith and slowness to understand, and only a few verses before today’s passage we hear him saying:
Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember?
The disciples had physical eyes to see, but they were spiritually blind. But Jesus did not give up on them. He persevered with them. And it’s possible that Mark included this story at this point in his narrative as an illustration of Jesus’ determination to persevere with his disciples until their spiritual eyes were opened to see who he truly was.
And this makes all the more sense when we consider what follows. Jesus takes his disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asks his disciples who they think he is. And Peter replies, You are the Christ. His eyes have been opened, but not to the whole truth, for when Jesus tells them about his coming death and resurrection, Peter refuses to accept it. His eyes has been opened to part of the truth, but he had yet to see clearly the whole truth.
I confess I find this explanation very appealing because of the context in which the passage is set. However, if Mark does include the story here as a kind of living parable illustrating how Jesus will persevere with people until they come to see the truth about him, that need not necessarily mean that this was why Jesus did it in the first place. The simple fact is, we simply do not know why Jesus healed this man in this way. The evidence for all these suggestions is inconclusive. And whatever explanation we prefer, we must be careful not to be dogmatic. What we can say with certainty is that Jesus did not leave this man unhealed.
So what other lessons can we learn from this passage?
We see that:
Nothing is impossible with God
He responds to our prayers
We may not understand why he answers in the way he does
What he does he does perfectly
He keeps on working in us until we see everything (including Jesus) clearly.
Once he could see clearly, the first thing this man saw was Jesus.
One day we will see clearly. Now we see through a glass darkly, but then (when we get to Heaven) we will see face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Only a day before making this recording my darling wife Eileen went to be with Jesus.
Now she sees him perfectly. Oh hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. And one day we shall too.
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Talk 23 Mark 8:1-21 Feeding the Four Thousand
Welcome to Talk 23 in our series on Mark's Gospel. Today we are looking at Mark 8:1-21. This passage includes the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000, which is similar in many ways to the account of the feeding of the 5,000 recorded in Chapter 6. As a result, liberal scholars have suggested that this is just a variant account of the same miracle rather than a totally separate one.
So today we’ll begin by looking at the biblical evidence that this was indeed a distinct event which took place at a different time, in a different place, and with a different group of people. We’ll then consider what lessons we can learn from the passage with regard to Jesus, his opponents and his disciples. So let’s begin by reading Mark 8:1-21.
During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance." 4 His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" 5 "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven," they replied. 6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." 16 They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread." 17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. 20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven." 21 He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"
So, to begin with, what’s the evidence that this is not a variant account of the same miracle as the feeding of the 5,000 recorded in Chapter 6?
Why this is not a variant account of the feeding of the 5,000
We need not spend much time on this. If you take seriously the authority of the Scriptures, you will quickly see that this is a completely different miracle from the feeding of the 5000. Firstly, both Matthew and Mark record them closely together as two separate accounts of two separate miracles. Secondly, despite the similarities, there are also many differences in the details of the two accounts. Thirdly, the two miracles took place in different places and with different people. The feeding of the 5000 took place in the largely Jewish region of Galilee. The feeding of the four thousand was in the Gentile region of the Decapolis. And finally, and most important of all, Jesus himself refers to them as separate events. In verses 19-20 he says:
When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. 20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"
There is no way that Jesus could have said this if the two stories were variant accounts of the same miracle. And if Jesus was able to perform such a miracle once, he was certainly able to do it twice! But that brings us to what we can learn about Jesus in this story,
Lessons about Jesus
When we looked at the feeding of the 5,000 in Talk 18 we noticed three main characteristics about Jesus:
· His compassion for the people
· His concern for his disciples as he seeks to train them to trust him
· His confidence in his heavenly Father.
And we noticed that these qualities are seen over and over again throughout his ministry. So it’s not surprising that we see them here as he feeds the 4,000. Again he has compassion on the people because they have nothing to eat (vv.2-3). Again we see his concern for the weakness of his disciples’ faith and their lack of understanding (vv.4, 17-18, 21). And again we see his confidence in God as he gives thanks for the few loaves and fishes he has (vv.6-7) and feeds a multitude with them. But perhaps there’s just one more thing we can learn about Jesus from this passage. The repetition of such a miracle shows us that if Jesus has done something once, he can do it again. And if he could do it again then, he can do the same kind of thing again today.
Lessons about his opponents
The Pharisees are mentioned in verses 11 and 13. In verse 11 they come to test Jesus and ask for a sign from heaven, to which Jesus replies
Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it (v.12).
And in verse 15 Jesus warns his disciples
Be careful…Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.
Two questions arise from these verses:
1. Why does Jesus refuse to give his opponents the sign they are asking for?
2. Why does he warn his disciples to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees?
Why does Jesus refuse to give his opponents the sign they are asking for?
First, it’s worth noting the significance of the particular wording Jesus uses here. Although it’s not clear in our English translations, his hearers would have understood him as taking an oath. So his refusal to give them a sign was extremely strong. He was determined not to take a course of action that he had already firmly rejected when Satan had tempted him to throw himself down from the highest point of the temple (Matthew 4:5-6).
Secondly, please note that his refusal is recorded in all four Gospels. In Matthew 12:39, for example, Jesus also says that a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign and goes on to say that the only sign that would be given it would be the sign of his resurrection from the dead (cf. Luke 11:29-32). And he knew that even then, despite the clear evidence for his resurrection, they, like many today, would still refuse to believe. Notice what he says in Luke 16:31 when talking about rich man and Lazarus:
If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
By mentioning Moses and the Prophets Jesus was referring to the Old Testament, the only Bible they had at the time. If people are determined to reject the testimony of Scripture, they will also reject the evidence for the resurrection. God does not work miracles in an attempt to convince those who, in their hearts, really do not want to believe, those who, like the Pharisees, only wanted to test him.
He does, however, work miracles to help those whose hearts are open to his word. John’s Gospel records seven signs to enable people to believe and in chapter 20 it says that
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (vv30-31).
It’s by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that we have eternal life. And miraculous signs are given to help us to believe. So when Jesus sent his disciples into all the world to preach the gospel, he promised them that signs would accompany their preaching (Mark 16:15-20). But, as may become clearer as we answer our second question, he does not work miracles for those who, like the Pharisees, have no intention of believing him.
Why does Jesus warn his disciples to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees?
v. 15 Be careful…Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.
Yeast, or leaven, is what is needed to make bread rise. You only need a small amount and it will soon spread throughout the dough. In the New Testament, with only one exception (Matthew 13:33), yeast is used to symbolize evil. It’s an unseen influence that can spread quickly in any society or church. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Paul says:
Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Here Paul was referring to the Jewish custom of clearing the house of yeast before Passover. He sees the church as an unleavened batch of dough because Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us. We are unleavened. Sin has been cleared out because of what Jesus did for us. So we are told to be what Christ has already made us. In effect he is saying, Christ has made you holy, so BE holy. Live holy unleavened lives. And he uses malice and wickedness as examples of leaven or yeast, and sincerity and truth as examples of unleavened bread.
So if yeast represents something bad, what exactly does Jesus mean when he talks about the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod? The answer surely lies in what we have already seen about their attitude to Jesus. We saw in Talk 17 (Mark 6) how Herod:
· Hardened his heart to God’s word through the preaching of John the Baptist
· Refused to repent (of his adulterous relationship with Herodias)
· Insisted on preserving his reputation at all costs
· Was eventually complicit with Pontius Pilate in the crucifixion of Jesus (Cf. Acts 4:27).
And we have repeatedly seen how the Pharisees too persistently hardened their hearts against Jesus, even accusing him of being demon-possessed. Their reputation and social position were more important to them than the truth, and they were already seeking a way to kill him. Their words and their actions against him were expressions of what was already in their hearts. The ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees was essentially an attitude of heart that is persistently opposed to Christ.
And there are two possible reasons why Jesus warns his disciples to guard against this yeast. He knew that the attitude of the Pharisees and Herod (or Herodians) would eventually spread like yeast to make the entire population rise up against Jesus and he wanted his disciples to be aware of this. But it’s more likely in my view that he was warning them of the danger of allowing such an attitude to develop in their own hearts. Paul was later to warn the Corinthians that a little yeast leavens the whole lump. A wrong attitude of heart among Christians can spread very quickly in a local church and we must be careful not to allow our thinking to become like that of the world (Romans 12:2).
Lessons about his disciples
But that brings us finally to what we can learn about the disciples from this passage. In verse 4 they’re still asking the same kind of question as they did before the feeding of the five thousand: But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them? They were still thinking at a purely human level, and even after Jesus has worked a similar miracle again, he has to say to them:
17 Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. 20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven." 21 He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"
They had failed to understand. They had failed to see and hear. They had failed to remember. But before we get too critical of these men, we need to examine our own hearts and ask if we are still prone to the same hardness of heart. The disciples had failed understand:
· Who Jesus really is
· Why his resources were not limited to the natural
· Why they themselves need not be limited to their own natural resources.
They had eyes to see and ears to hear, but they were blind to what God wanted to show them and deaf to what he wanted to tell them. Are we so very different? I think not.
So what’s the cure? The key is in that word remember. We need to remember what God has said to us in his word. We need to remember what we have seen him do already in our own lives. And, most important of all, we need to remember who Jesus is. As we take our eyes off the problems that face us and our limited resources to solve them, and remind ourselves of who Jesus is, and the infinite resources at his disposal, we will learn, as the disciples eventually came to learn, that nothing is impossible to those who believe.
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Talk 22 Mark 7:31-37 Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute
Welcome to Talk 22 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at the story in Mark 7:31-37 of how Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute. But before we turn to the passage, let me begin with a testimony of a similar healing that happened in my own family.
From my earliest years I can remember being told of how one of my aunts had been miraculously healed in answer to prayer . Her name was May and in the 1911 census she was recorded as being ‘deaf and dumb from birth’. When she was in her twenties, my grandmother took her to a divine healing meeting conducted by the evangelist, George Jeffreys , who placed his hands on her and prayed for her.
That evening, as they were travelling home to Poplar in the East End of London, they went down to catch the underground train. While they were waiting on the platform, suddenly, with a shocked expression on her face, May put both hands over her ears. She could hear the roar of the train as it came through the tunnel approaching the platform!
Until that moment, from the day she was born she had never been able to hear, but now she could hear, and within a few weeks was beginning to speak. My father was her younger brother, and when, years later, I was told at school that miracles did not happen, he was quick to remind me of my aunt’s healing. I suppose that’s why I’ve never doubted God ’s miracle working power and firmly believe that we should expect to see miracles today. But now, to the passage in Mark 7.
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spat and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
This miracle is recorded only in Mark. It’s the simple but wonderful story of a man’s need and how Jesus met it. Jesus leaves the region of Tyre and Sidon and goes down to the region of the Ten Cities known as Decapolis. Some people bring him a man who is deaf and can hardly talk. There is no mention of faith in this story, but, as we saw last time, faith comes by hearing the message about Christ. How much these people were able to communicate with this deaf man is not clear, but they themselves had heard about Christ and had enough faith to bring him to Jesus. It’s interesting that in the New Testament it is often the faith of others that results in healing, and not always the faith of the person who is sick. Note too that they don’t specifically ask Jesus to heal the man, but just to place his hand on him.
But let’s look carefully at what Jesus actually does. The first thing we notice is that he took him aside away from the crowd.
He took him aside away from the crowd.
Why did Jesus do this? We’re not told. It can be great to be part of a crowd, especially where miracles are happening, but sometimes the crowd can be a distraction. The miracles Jesus is performing on others can in certain circumstances take our eyes off what he might want to do for us. Jesus deals with us as individuals. And in this case he wants to get the man’s full attention, to show him that he is not just one of the crowd, but an individual he cares about personally. Perhaps the man’s condition, unable to hear and hardly able to speak, made these personal moments with Jesus all the more necessary.
And perhaps Jesus himself felt the need to get away from the crowd, to get a moment of quiet when he can hear what Father is saying about how to deal with this man’s need. When ministering to the sick it’s so important to take time to hear what God is saying in each individual situation, and not be rushed into trying to deal with the needs of everyone who is asking for prayer at the same time.
He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue.
Jesus usually healed by a touch or a word of command, and his disciples sometimes healed by anointing people with oil. On one occasion he even healed a blind man by anointing his eyes with mud made from the dust of the ground and Jesus’ own saliva (John 9:6). But occasions like this, and the one we are considering in today’s passage, were exceptional, and should certainly not be seen as a methodology of healing. Jesus’ only methodology was to hear what the Father was saying (John 5:19.)
So why does Jesus on this occasion put his fingers into the man’s ears, spit and touch the man’s tongue. It’s possible that he was miming. The people who had brought the man to Jesus had shown a measure of faith just by bringing him, but it’s possible that Jesus was also looking for faith in the man himself. And, as we have seen, faith comes by hearing… But the man could not hear. But by miming Jesus could well have been indicating to the man that he was intending to heal him, and the assurance that would give the man would create faith in his heart.
But another aspect of Jesus’ unusual actions is how personal and intimate they are. He is not just touching the man; he’s putting his fingers into his ears. He’s spitting and touching the man’s tongue, presumably with the saliva! Today we might say, He’s invading his space! But if we want God’s blessing in our lives, we must be prepared to let him invade our space. We must make room for him.
When he left heaven and came to earth he was, in a sense, invading our space, but he only did so because he loves us. And he’s constantly looking for that intimate relationship with us where he’s involved with every aspect of our being. If we allow him to do so, the reward, as it was for the man in our story, will be wonderful.
He looked up to heaven
Jesus often looked up to heaven when he prayed. He did so before he blessed the loaves and fed the five thousand (Mark 6:41). And the fact that he does so here suggests three things. First, Jesus had constant contact with heaven. He was sinless. There was no barrier between himself and God. At his baptism the heavens were torn open and the Father’s voice was heard saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mark 1:10-11). Jesus lived under an open Heaven.
Secondly, by looking up to Heaven Jesus would be reminded of what Heaven is like. In Heaven there is no sin, no suffering, no sickness. He taught his disciples to pray, Your will be done as it is in heaven… God’s will is that earth should be like Heaven. And Jesus had come to do God’s will (Hebrews 10:7). Jesus knew that in the age to come earth would indeed become like Heaven and he had come to show us by his sinless life, his love and compassion, and by the miracles he performed, what a foretaste of Heaven could be like.
And thirdly, looking up to Heaven was a sign of his submission to heaven’s authority. As we have already said, Jesus only did what he saw the Father do (John 5:19). He looks up to Heaven in submission to Father’s authority before he speaks the word of command – be opened. And we should never presume to speak a word of command in Jesus’ name without first receiving by the Spirit authority to do so from Heaven. We can not take authority. We only have it if it is given to us.
He sighed deeply
It’s been suggested that Jesus’ sigh reflects the cost and pain of ministry. And Jesus certainly did pay a heavy price, not just by his death on the cross to save us from our sins, but even through the years of preaching, teaching, healing, and training his disciples, he warned those who thought that following him might be easy, that Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Matthew 8:20).
But I think it more likely that Jesus’ sigh was an expression of his compassion for the suffering. Jesus’ compassion was the motivation for his healings. In Matthew 14:14 we’re told that he healed their sick because he was moved with compassion for them. It was because of his compassion that he gave sight to the blind (Matthew 20:34), cleansed the leper (Mark 1:41), cast out demons (Mark 5:19), and raised the dead (Luke 7:13).
It is also possible to see his sigh as an expression of anger with this man’s affliction. Does not God, who is holy, have a right to be angry with sin? Yes, but his anger with sin springs not only from his holiness, but also from his love. He hates sin because he knows what it does to our lives. He hates sin because he loves us. And he hates sickness because of the havoc it wreaks in human lives. It’s because of his compassion for this man that he is angry with the affliction that bound him, and no doubt with any Satanic forces that may have caused it.
So Jesus looks up to Heaven and sighs, and then he says, Ephphatha, BE OPENED.
He said to him, Ephphatha… BE OPENED
Just one word – Ephphatha. One word from Jesus is enough. It was enough because it had all the authority of Heaven behind it. Jesus only did what he saw the Father do. He who said at the beginning, Let there be light, now says, Be opened. Now notice what it says in verse 35:
35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly.
Th word translated at this literally means immediately! Immediately he could hear. Immediately he could speak – plainly. No wonder the crowd said, He has done everything well (v37). And, as my aunt’s testimony shows, the age of such miracles is not past, though admittedly she did not speak immediately she was healed. I think that perhaps her inability to speak had been caused by her being deaf. Once the Lord opened her ears she was able to begin to learn to speak. But this man began to speak plainly immediately. My aunt’s experience does not in any way suggest that miracles today cannot be as great as Jesus performed while he was here on earth. Did not he say,
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12)?
No, my aunt’s experience simply shows that God deals with different people differently. What doesn’t change is his love, his compassion, and his power. But is there perhaps also a spiritual message in this miracle that applies to us all? Look at verses 36-37.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
When we met Jesus our ears were opened to his word and our tongues were loosened to speak it out. Have we begun to speak plainly to others about him? Are they overwhelmed with amazement? Does our testimony about Jesus cause them to say, He has done everything well? Do they keep talking about it?
But finally, let’s remind ourselves that Jesus opens more than ears, and mouths, and eyes. He opens the door to Heaven to all who will believe. There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, He only could unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in (C.F Alexander). He is the one who opens and no-one can shut (Revelation 3:7). He alone can open the book (Revelation 5:7). And in John 5:28 Jesus tells us that a time is coming when the graves will be opened and
all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
And Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that
the Lord himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command (a shout) with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ shall rise…
I wonder what that shout might be. Could it be Ephphatha?
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Talk 21 Mark 7:24-40 The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman
Welcome to Talk 21 in our series on Mark's gospel. Today we will be considering Mark 7:24-40 where Jesus casts a demon out of the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman. In recent talks we have seen how Jesus often tested the faith of his disciples, and today we will see him testing the faith of a Gentile.
The story is also recorded in Matthew 15:21-28 where Matthew adds some details that are not mentioned in Mark’s account. So, as I read the passage in Mark, I’m going to weave into it the extra details we find in Matthew. (If you’re looking at the notes the words in brackets are from Matthew).
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre (and Sidon). He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was (a Canaanite) a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter (crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession’. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said). 27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs (that fall from their master’s table)." 29 Then he told her, (Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted). For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter. (And her daughter was healed at that moment). 30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus travels about 30 miles from the shore of the sea of Galilee to Tyre and Sidon which were Canaanite cities on the Mediterranean Sea just north of Israel. He must have been known at least to the Jews living in that area and was probably staying in the home of a Jewish disciple.
Mark tells us that he didn’t want anyone to know he was there. We’re not told why, but it was almost certainly so that he could take time to rest and to pray. But it wasn't long before the news got out about his presence in that territory and a woman whose little daughter was demon possessed came begging him for help. From all we have learnt about Jesus so far, we can have no doubt that he had compassion on this woman, but on this occasion he did not respond immediately to meet her need.
There are two possible reasons for this:
· She was not a Jew
· He was testing her faith
She was not a Jew.
Jesus says that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, and adds,
First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.
The woman would have understood what Jesus meant by this because the Jews frequently referred to the Gentiles as dogs.
At first sight it seems that Jesus is dealing with this woman very harshly, but we need to remember when he said it. God’s ultimate purpose was that the good news of the kingdom would be preached to all nations, but that was to take place after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that by his death Jesus broke down the wall of the temple that separated the Jews from the Gentiles, but during his earthly ministry Jesus’ purpose was first to give an opportunity to the Jews – the lost sheep of Israel – to repent and believe. But that did not mean that even then the blessings of his kingdom were completely unavailable to the Gentiles, if only they would believe. The true Jew, the true descendant of Abraham, has always been the person who believes as Abraham believed. Because of her faith this Gentile woman not only received healing for her daughter, but also became one of God’s children. But that brings us to the second reason why Jesus did not immediately grant her request.
He was testing her faith.
The fact that God sometimes tests us does not mean that he does not love us, but by being tested our faith is strengthened. Reading the passage, we see various facets of this woman’s amazing faith that provide important lessons for us today.
1 She heard about him
In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet (v25).
How had she heard and what had she heard? We don’t know. But Mark 3:8-12 might give us a clue:
When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God."
She had almost certainly heard about the healings and the exorcisms. Why else would she come to Jesus to ask him to help her demon-possessed daughter? Her faith came by hearing the message about Christ (cf. Romans 10:17). The more we learn from God’s word about who Jesus is and what he did, and the more we learn of what he is still doing today, the greater will be our faith. And if we want others to come to faith in Jesus, we must tell them about him.
2 She acknowledged who he was
She cried out, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me (Matthew 15:22). Admittedly, the Greek word kurios could be used then, as it still is in Greece today, as a polite form of address, rather equivalent to Mr. or Sir. But the use of the Messianic title Son of David surely implies that here it means something more. She certainly seems to have had an understanding of Jesus’ authority, rather like another Gentile, the Roman centurion, who came to Jesus for help, believing that Jesus could heal at a distance, and of whom Jesus said, I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith (Matthew 8:10).
So faith begins as a result of hearing about Jesus and coming to recognise who he is. When we do, the appropriate response is to humble ourselves. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
3 She humbled herself
· She fell at his feet (v25)
· She begged Jesus to drive out the demon (v26)
· She recognised her need for mercy (Matthew 15:22)
· She came and knelt before (worshipped) him (Matthew 15:25)
· She admitted that she needed help (Matthew 15:25)
· She acknowledged that she was not one of God’s children (vv27-28)
But despite all this she boldly persisted.
4 She boldly persisted
Notice that she begged Jesus.
The word used for begged here means that she kept on asking.
But Jesus doesn’t reply.
The disciples urge him to send her away because she keeps crying out after us.
Now Jesus speaks. I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.
Undeterred she comes and kneels before him and says, Lord, help me!
Jesus responds by saying that his first responsibility is to the Jews.
But she still persists. Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.
To which Jesus replied, Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted.
Sometimes faith is rewarded immediately. Often it’s demonstrated by a dogged persistence that is determined to believe despite adversity and disappointment.
5 She believed
Why did Jesus tell her that she had great faith?
· She believed that Jesus had the power to deal with an impossible situation.
· She believed that he could do it at a distance. (She wouldn’t have expected him to come to her house).
· She believed because her eyes were on Jesus, not on her ethnicity or inadequacy.
· She kept on believing despite Jesus’ initial silence and apparent denial.
· She declared her faith.
6 She declared her faith
In verse 27 Jesus says:
First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs.
The word used for dogs here means little dogs and refers to family pets. It’s possible that what Jesus meant by this was that his first priority was to provide food for the children (teach his disciples), and not to allow pets to interrupt the family meal. But, as I have already mentioned, the Jews commonly referred to Gentiles as dogs. So there is also the implication that the time for the Gentiles had not yet arrived. Despite this, however, the woman replies:
Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs (that fall from their master’s table).
And it’s at this point that Jesus says:
Woman, you have great faith. Your request is granted. For such a reply, (literally, because of this word), you may go; the demon has left your daughter.
Notice that it’s because of her reply that Jesus says she has great faith. He clearly sees this as a declaration of faith. And the declaration of faith is important. In 2 Corinthains 4:13 Paul says:
It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken’. Since we have the same spirit of faith, we believe and therefore speak.
And in Romans 10:10 he says that it’s with our mouth that we profess our faith. But this is no ‘Name it and Claim it’ teaching. He does not say, I spoke, therefore I believed! He simply means that if we really believe something in our hearts we will declare it. On another occasion Jesus said, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Jesus saw the woman’s declaration as evidence of the faith that was in her heart, and that was enough for him to grant her request.
7 She received what she asked for
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
She received a foretaste of the blessings that would soon become available to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. And we too have received a foretaste of future blessings. In the gift of the Holy Spirit we have tasted of the powers of the age to come (Hebrews 6:4-5). For example, the ultimate healing takes place when we receive new bodies when Jesus comes again, but by the Spirit through the gifts of healing, which are distributed as he determines, we may receive by faith a wonderful foretaste of the age to come.
So, to conclude, if Jesus is testing your faith right now, remind yourself who he is, keep your eyes on him and not on the problem, humble yourself before him, persist in asking him to help you, and decare your faith in him. And at the right time, he will do it.
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Talk 20 Mark 7:1-23 Beware of the Pharisees
Welcome to Talk 20 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 7:1-23 where the Pharisees see some of Jesus’ disciples eating food without first giving their hands the ceremonial washing that was required by Jewish tradition. So they ask Jesus about this. Jesus replies by quoting a passage from Isaiah where God says:
These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.
He then adds:
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.
As an example of this, Jesus points out that they were getting around God’s command to honour your father and mother by a practice known as Corban. Instead of helping their parents when they were in financial need, they would say that whatever money they had was devoted to God, and so they were unable to help them. In doing this they were setting aside the commands of God in order to observe their own traditions!
Jesus then calls the crowd to him and tells them that
Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'
When his disciples ask him to explain what he means by this, he tells them that what we eat or how we eat it can’t make us unclean because it doesn’t go into our heart but into our stomach and then passes out of our body. Mark then adds that
In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean."
Jesus then says that what makes you unclean is what comes out of your heart – things like evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. These are the things that make us unclean.
So what can we learn from all this?
Notice first the continued opposition of the Jewish leaders to Jesus.
The continued opposition of the Jewish leaders to Jesus
They seem to have been against him right from the start. They have challenged his authority to forgive sins, they’ve criticised him for eating with tax-collectors and ‘sinners’, they’ve complained that his disciples have done what is not lawful on the Sabbath, they’ve accused him of being demon-possessed, and they’ve already begun to plot how they can kill him. And now they’re complaining about the behaviour of his disciples again:
Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands? (v5).
And that was the root cause of their opposition – the tradition of the elders. There’s a clear contrast in this passage between man-made tradition and the commands of God.
The contrast between man-made tradition and the commands of God
Notice the repetition of the word tradition in this passage:
3 …the tradition of the elders.
4 …they observe many other traditions
5 …Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders…?
8 …You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.
9 …You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
13 …you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.
What stands out in these verses is that traditions are made by men, not God. They are handed down by men. And there is the danger that in following man-made tradition we may not only let go of the commands of God, but even nullify his word. It can also easily lead to hypocrisy.
The danger of hypocrisy
Look at verses 6-8.
6 He (Jesus) replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word hupokrites which means actor. In ancient Greece plays were performed in amphitheatres by actors who wore masks. So a hypocrite is someone who covers up who they really are, pretending to be someone else. This was just what the Pharisees were guilty of, honouring God with their lips, but far from him in their hearts. Their hypocrisy involved insincerity and dishonesty.
As a result, Jesus said that they worshipped God in vain. They were not honouring God by teaching his word, but rules taught by men. They knew what God had said, but they had let go of his commands. In Matthew 23, talking of the Pharisees, Jesus said:
…do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. "Everything they do is done for men to see… (Matthew 23:3-4).
In fact, to get a full understanding of Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees, it’s worth reading the whole of Matthew 23, but the verses we’ve just quoted give a clear idea of the nature of hypocrisy. Their motivation for what they did and said was clearly wrong. They did not practice what they preached, and by their nit-picking rules they placed heavy burdens on people’s shoulders and were totally unwilling to lift them. But that brings us to the next key principle we see in today’s passage – the freedom that Jesus has brought us.
The freedom that Jesus has brought us
The legalistic regulations imposed by the traditions of men stands in stark contrast to the liberty that Jesus introduced through his teaching. Notice Mark’s statement in verse 19 that Jesus declared all foods clean! (Compare Peter’s experience on the rooftop at Joppa in Acts 10). What a contrast to the strict food laws imposed by Moses! As we saw in Talk 8, the kingdom of God which Jesus had come to proclaim could not be contained within the framework of Judaism. This is reflected in what Mark says in verse 3: The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing.
Admittedly it had taken some time for the church to break free from the restraints of Judaism, but the Council of Jerusalem (c.48-50AD) was a great step forward towards the freedom that Jesus had so vehemently proclaimed. I have dealt with this subject at some length in my book, The Voice of God, where I point out that the decision made by the church leaders in Acts 15 regarding food was an ad hoc decision motivated by the Holy Spirit to deal with a specific problem facing the church at that time. It was not binding on all Christians for all time. As we have seen, Jesus had already declared all foods to be clean, and this was clearly the understanding of the apostle Paul when he says in Romans 14:17-20:
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
The underlying principle in this teaching is love. When a Pharisee who was an expert in the Law asked Jesus, What is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied:
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments"(Matthew 22:37-40).
Notice that Jesus says, All the Law and the Prophets. Not just the ceremonial law. All the law. The Ten Commandments are included. And everything taught by the prophets. The entire Old Testament. As Christians we are free from it all! But of course, if we really love God with all our heart and soul and mind, and if we really love our neighbour as ourself, we will not kill or steal or commit adultery etc. The Law was given to show us our sin and our need of a Saviour (Galatians 3:23-25). But now we are free. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free and we are to stand firm in that freedom (Galatians 5:1). As Paul says in Galatians 5:13-14:
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’.
The importance of the heart
In verses 18-23 he says that nothing you eat can make you unclean because it doesn’t go into your heart. It’s what what’s in your heart that makes you unclean. In Matthew 5:27-28 , for example, Jesus warns against adultery in the heart. This is because, as he says here:
…from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'
This list is clearly connected to the Ten Commandments, where theft, murder, adultery, and coveting are strictly forbidden. But whereas the Ten Commandments relate largely to a person’s actions, Jesus is here emphasising the motivation behind those actions and the source from which they spring, the human heart. In Jeremiah 17:9-10 God says:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds (ESV).
The desires of our hearts influence the thoughts of our minds, and our thoughts determine our actions. But as those who have received Christ as our Saviour, Hebrews 10:19-22 tells us that we have confidence to enter God’s presence because Jesus has made a way for us by dying for us and as a result we can:
draw near to God with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience…
What’s more, Galatians 4:5-6 tells us that we have been redeemed from the law and adopted as God’s children, and God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. That’s why, rather than giving in to the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), we are able now to follow the desires of the Spirit allowing the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives:
Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
How different these qualities are from the attitudes and actions of the Pharisees. From their bad example there is so much we can learn to avoid. Even as Christians we can fall into their ways as even Peter did briefly (Galatians 2:11-13). As those who follow Jesus we should never:
· Put man-made traditions before the word of God.
· Find ways of getting around God's commands to further our own interests.
· Impose heavy burdens on others by our legalistic rules.
· Be more concerned with outward appearance than with true holiness.
· Act like hypocrites, honouring God with our lips, but far from him in our hearts.
And, of course, unlike the Pharisees, we must practise what we preach.
If we don’t want to fall into their ways, we need to examine our hearts.
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Talk 19 Mark 6:45-56 Jesus walks on water
Welcome to talk 19 in our series on Mark's gospel. Today we are looking at Mark 6:45-56 where we read the remarkable story of Jesus walking on water.This story, which takes place just after Jesus had fed the 5000, is a wonderful example of how Jesus continues to challenge and to strengthen the faith of his disciples. In it we see how:
· The disciples were very slow to learn and to believe.
· Jesus deliberately challenges their faith.
· He supernaturally intervenes to bring them safely through the problem they are facing.
The disciples’ slowness to learn and to believe
Jesus was training his disciples to become fishers of men.
The most important part was teaching them to understand exactly who he was – the Son of God. He did this by the things he taught and the miracles he performed.
But the disciples were slow to learn and to believe.
Even after Jesus had risen from the dead he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen (Mark 16:14).
They were amazed when they saw the miracles, but again and again they reveal their lack of faith. Remember the storm on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus asks, Do you still have no faith?
And, in Chapter 8, when the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread with them, Jesus asks:
Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8:17-21).
It seems that Jesus was constantly working
· to bring his disciples to a deeper understanding of who he was
· and to develop their faith in God’s love for them
· and his ability and willingness to meet their needs.
And believe it or not, he’s doing the same for us too.
So let’s look at the passage in more detail,
bearing in mind that Jesus’ aim is to strengthen the faith of his disciples – and our faith too.
Jesus challenges their faith
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
Notice that Jesus made them get into the boat. The verb can be translated compel.
So he must have had a definite purpose in sending them on ahead of him and putting them at some distance from himself.
Part of that purpose was so that he could be alone and pray.
Perhaps he was talking to his Father about the disciples’ lack of faith.
And perhaps he sent them on ahead to test and strengthen their faith.
Soon they would be facing a storm without Jesus being physically present with them.
This is made clear in the next verse.
47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake and he was alone on land.
John 6 tells us that the boat was about three and a half miles from the shore.
Matthew 14 adds that it was buffeted by the waves.
The disciples are in trouble, but Jesus is alone on the land.
At least in the earlier storm he was with them in the boat, even if he was asleep!
How often when we face problems do we feel that Jesus is no longer with us, no longer aware of our need? Help seems miles away. But look at the next verse.
48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night (i.e. between 3 and 6 am) he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them…
The disciples were having a hard time. The wind was against them.
They were straining at the oars. They were finding it difficult to cope.
But even though it was dark, Jesus saw them. He saw the problem.
And he sees us too, even when our circumstances are so dark that we cannot see him.
Jesus intervenes supernaturally
So …he went out to them, walking on the lake.
He found a way of getting to them, even though it was humanly, scientifically, impossible.
He walked on water! If he can do that, surely he can do anything.
Mind you, walking on water wasn’t his usual way of getting places. He only worked miracles when there was a need.
But why was he about to pass by them? Or he intended to pass by them.
He had come to help them, so why pass by them?
You would have expected him to go straight to them.
Was it to test their faith? To get their attention?
We don’t know, but sometimes when it seems that he’s passing us by, he’s doing it to test our faith or get our attention. Maybe he wants us to really cry out.
Note that when he hears them cry out in fear he immediately encourages them by speaking to them.
His power to answer is not limited by the way we ask for help.
Even when we cry out in fear he is there to help. Look at verses 49-50.
49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Why did they think he was a ghost?
Because it couldn’t possibly be Jesus, could it?
Surely nobody, not even Jesus, can walk on water.
So they settled for another, even more implausible, supernatural explanation – a ghost.
And it’s very much the same today. So many prefer other forms of ‘spirituality’ rather than believing the solid evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
But Jesus says, Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid!
But how can we take courage when we’re being buffeted by the waves?
How can we not be afraid?
The key is in those three little words IT IS I.
In context it could simply mean, It’s not a ghost. It’s me.
But literally translated we can understand it to mean far more than that.
Jesus actually says I AM. The name by which God revealed himself to Moses.
The eternally self-existent one.
If we wonder how it was that Jesus could walk on water, and how he could give Peter the power to do so, we have only to remember who he was –
The I AM with whom all things are possible.
But Mark doesn’t mention Peter walking on the water.
It’s Matthew who tells us. At this point in the story before Jesus gets into the boat, Matthew tells us that Peter says, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.
And Jesus says, Come.
Then Peter gets out of the boat, walks on the water and comes towards Jesus.
But when he sees the wind, he’s afraid and begins to sink.
So he cries out, Lord, save me!
And immediately Jesus reaches out his hand and catches him.
You of little faith, Jesus says, Why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:28-31).
We won’t take time to discuss why Mark does not include this amazing miracle. Any attempt to do so would be sheer conjecture. What’s important here is that
· Jesus is giving one of his disciples an opportunity to exercise faith in him
· Peter actually walked on water
· He soon wavered after Jesus told him to come.
This is so typical of the fluctuating faith of all the disciples throughout the Gospels,
and, if we’re honest, of ours today.
But back to the passage in Mark.
51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
Notice that Jesus didn’t rebuke the wind this time.
It died down as soon as he was in the boat.
His very presence was enough to calm both the wind and the anxious hearts of the disciples.
But what does Mark mean when he says that they had not understood about the loaves, and that their hearts were hardened?
And how do we reconcile this with Matthew’s account which says that they worshipped him saying, You are the Son of God!?
The reference to the loaves, of course, relates to the feeding of the five thousand earlier in the chapter.
It’s clear that they were not expecting such a miracle,
and, even when it happened, they did not fully understand the full significance of it.
Surely miracles like this were pointing to the fact that Jesus was the Son of God, and yet they hardly dared to believe it.
They were amazed because they hadn’t understood who Jesus was.
And so, as we’ve already pointed out, their faith frequently fluctuated, up one minute, down the next. Or, down one minute, up the next!
And this may explain why Matthew could say that the disciples worshipped Jesus and said, You are the Son of God.
They’re doubting one minute, believing the next.
Their initial reaction is amazement. They want to believe, but they hardly dare to.
But after they witness the miracle of Peter walking on water their faith rises and they worship Jesus and acknowledge who he is.
Compare Peter’s confession in Matthew 16.
The realisation of who Jesus is comes by revelation from Heaven.
The process of coming to this understanding was gradual, reaching a climax in a flash of revelation. And it doesn’t just happen once. We need repeated revelation, and repeatedly to confess who Jesus is. And this was Jesus’ purpose – building their faith and bringing them to a steadfast understanding of who he is. It was a gradual process, as it is with us.
But however wavering our faith we can be sure that his faithfulness will always bring us to the other side. As verse 53 tells us – they crossed over, they landed… and they anchored there.
So, to summarise, in this incident we see how Jesus tests and strengthens his disciples’ faith. He sends them ahead without him. He allows them to go through another storm, but he still has his eye on them. He does the impossible by walking on water to encourage them and even allows Peter to walk on water too, despite his wavering faith. And of course, he gets them all safely to the other side. It was Jesus who had told them to make the journey in the first place. And all this enables them to appreciate better who he is.
But before we leave Mark 6, let’s read the last few verses of the chapter.
54 As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55 They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went – into villages, towns or countryside – they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.
These verses are a summary of Jesus’ ministry at that time. Notice the words wherever he was, wherever he went. The healings recorded in the Gospels were no isolated incidents. They were happening everywhere, in villages, towns, and countryside. As we saw in earlier talks, they were evidence of the truth that the kingdom of God was among them and that Jesus was who he claimed to be, the Son of God.
The need for any of us to walk on water today would be exceptional, but the need for healing is always with us. In the passage we have just read five facts stand out:
They recognised Jesus
They ran to him
They requested (begged) him to heal them
They reached out and touched him
They received their healing.
Is it always like that today? If we’re honest, the answer is no. The extent to which miracles of healing are happening varies from place to place. As we saw in Chapter 5, even Jesus’ power to work miracles was limited in Nazareth because of their unbelief. And there were times in his ministry when he didn’t heal everyone as we see from John’s account of Jesus healing at the Pool of Bethesda. The key to his miracles, and indeed to his whole life, was that he only did what he saw the Father do (John 5:19).
We cannot tell God what to do, but we can like Jesus spend time with God and let him tell us what to do. So the five points mentioned above are not a formula for healing. There’s no such thing, and the belief that there is can lead to bitter disappointment. But in our search for healing we can and we should recognise that Jesus is Lord, run to him with our request, and reach out in faith, believing that we will receive our healing in God’s own good time. He does work miracles of healing today, but we need to remember that all healing in this life is temporary. The ultimate healing will take place when we receive new bodies when Jesus comes again. Meanwhile, keep your eyes on Jesus. He will get you there.
For more on this important subject, please see Just a Taste of Heaven – a Biblical and Balanced Approach to God’s Healing Power, available from my website: www.davidpetts.org
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Talk 18 Mark 6:30-44 Feeding the Five Thousand
Welcome to Talk 18 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’ll be looking at Mark 6:30-44 where we read of the amazing miracle of how Jesus fed over 5000 people with five small loaves and two small fishes. Mark tells us that these people were, as so many are today, like sheep without a shepherd, and today I want to concentrate on what the passage shows us about the people, about the disciples, and about Jesus.
But first let’s read the passage to remind ourselves of the details of what happened.
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.
33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. 36 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." 37 But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"
38 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five – and two fish." 39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
The people
So let’s begin by considering the condition of the people. Verse 34 tells us that they were like sheep without a shepherd (34). To understand what this means we need to remember that the role of a shepherd was to lead and feed his sheep. This is well illustrated in Psalm 23 where David says:
The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
But these people were like sheep without a shepherd. Notice the word like. We’re not told that they were sheep without a shepherd. The Greek literally says they were like sheep not having a shepherd. But surely they had a shepherd. Wasn’t the Lord their shepherd? Didn’t Psalm 23 apply to them? Of course it did. The Lord was their shepherd, but, as so often with Israel of old, they were acting as though he were not, some because they were ignorant of it and others because they were unwilling to be led by him. And if you’re not willing to be led, you can’t expect to be fed! A sheep without a shepherd will probably find food somewhere, but it won’t find the green pastures and quiet waters that only the shepherd can provide.
What’s more, one of the great things about being led by the Lord is not just that he takes care of you and meets your needs, but that he gives you a sense of direction in life. He leads you. But the people in this passage, like so many people today, were aimlessly running to and fro, without any clear purpose in life other than to get their needs met. They ran on foot from all the towns (33). They were constantly coming and going (31). The word going here literally means departing. Why didn’t they STAY? Of course, some did. The disciples did. But many were departing. They were in a constant state of flux.
The key to understanding the root cause of this is found in verse 34, where we’re told that Jesus began teaching them many things. This shows very clearly that they had a lot to learn. Of course they would have known well enough about the current political situation with the occupying Roman forces as a constant reminder. They would have known about the history of their nation and of God’s deliverances in the past, and they were well aware of the religious laws of their Bible as they were interpreted by the rabbis in their synagogues. But there was still much that they needed to learn, that only Jesus could teach them. Only Jesus could show them the way to Heaven.
And it’s just the same today. Most people know something about politics and history and law. Some even know something about the teachings of the Bible, but there is still much coming and going, still no clear understanding of truth. Despite all the advances of science and our knowledge of the natural world, people are still living in uncertainty, with no real sense of direction and purpose in their lives. Refusing to be led by the good shepherd, they are failing to find the green pastures to which only he can take them. But that’s where our role as Jesus’ disciples is so important. It’s our responsibility to make sure that everyone at least has the opportunity to know the truth. It’s by knowing the truth that people are set free (John 8:32). So let’s now see what we can learn about the disciples in this passage.
The disciples
At the start of our passage the disciples have just come back from the mission Jesus sent them on. They were excited to tell Jesus all they had done and taught (30). They had preached that people should repent and they had cast out demons and healed many who were sick (12). And by the end of the passage they had become instruments in one of the greatest miracles Jesus ever performed. They were truly a privileged group of people.
But they were also in many ways quite ordinary people, and our passage reveals some of the weaknesses that are sometimes seen in our lives as Christians, and perhaps especially of those God uses in miraculous ways like healing. It’s clear from verse 31 that the apostles were under pressure from the demands of the people. So many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat (31) and, when Jesus suggested they go somewhere quiet to get some rest, it must have been frustrating for them to see that the people had got there ahead of them (33).
I can’t help wondering if the disciples were irritated by this. I know from personal experience how easy it is for this to happen. Just when we think we might have found a solution to a problem, it can so easily crop up again when we’re least expecting it. Problems do sometimes seem to get there ahead of us. And the ‘problem’ on this occasion was the very people whose problems they were there to deal with! They wanted Jesus to send the people away (36). The reason they gave might suggest that they were genuinely concerned for the people:
…so they can go …and buy themselves something to eat.
But was this really their motivation, or were they more concerned for themselves than for the people? After all, hadn’t Jesus told them that they needed a rest? Of course, we can’t be sure what the disciples’ real motives were, but if we’re honest we know how easy it is to think of a good reason for doing what’s most convenient for ourselves. Only Jesus was entirely selfless, putting the needs of others before himself.
But before we turn our attention to Jesus, we need to point out another weakness in the disciples that we often find in ourselves as well. Despite all the miracles Jesus had already performed, and indeed the healings and exorcisms they had experienced in their own ministry, the disciples still had a tendency to doubt when the problem they were confronted with seemed insoluble. When Jesus told them to give the people something to eat (37) they responded by saying, That would take eight months of a man's wages!
It seems they thought that Jesus was making an unreasonable demand. And at a natural level it probably would have been. It’s unlikely that they carried that much money with them, so how could they possibly feed a crowd of several thousand? Their mistake was to forget that when there was no natural solution, with God there might aways the possibility of a miracle. And, of course, with the benefit of hindsight, we know that that’s exactly what Jesus had in mind.
So is it wrong to seek a natural solution to our problems when we know we have a miracle working God? By no means. We mustn’t limit God to working in one way only. We certainly mustn’t limit him to working naturally, but neither must we limit him to working supernaturally. For example, he may heal by natural means, or he may heal us supernaturally. Proclaiming the kingdom of God means proclaiming that God is king. That means that he decides! We should never forget that he is able to work a miracle, but that he may choose to work through natural means.
When looking for a miracle the important question is, Have you heard from Jesus? The disciples had the benefit of hearing directly from him and when they followed his instructions they discovered that on this occasion his purpose was a miracle rather than a natural solution to the problem. But that brings us to the person of Jesus himself. What does this passage teach us about him?
Jesus
Perhaps the most important thing we learn about Jesus in this passage is his compassion for the people.
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
They were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began to teach them. We were all like sheep going astray (1 Peter 2:25), but like the shepherd in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7), Jesus sought us and found us and has rescued us by laying down his life for the sheep (John 10:11). That’s what Jesus is doing for the people here in this passage, and Matthew and Luke tell us that he was not only teaching them and feeding them, but he was also healing them. Jesus was giving his life for them even before he died on the cross. And if compassion is not our motivation, then any words that we may say or any miracles we may perform will be of little value.
And Jesus’ compassion is evident not only in his care for the crowds. It is also seen in his concern for his disciples. They had just returned from a mission of preaching and healing and he knew they needed rest. So he says in verse 31, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.
It’s interesting that he does not say, go away and get some rest. He says, Come with me… He knew that they needed to be alone with him. In Mark 3:14 we read that he chose twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach… Now, as they return from the mission he sent them on, it’s just as important that they spend time with him even as they rest. It’s vital that Christian workers learn this lesson. We all need time to rest, and to rest in him.
And Jesus’ concern for his disciples is also seen in the training he gives them. He tells them, You give them something to eat. He involves them in one of the greatest miracles he would ever perform. He guides them step by step through a lesson in faith that so far they have never experienced. Notice the following six things:
1. He asks them to assess the seriousness of the situation.
"How many loaves do you have? Go and see."
2. He directs them to prepare for the impossible.
…have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.
3. He prays.
…looking up to heaven, he gave thanks.
4. He acts in faith.
He broke the loaves.
5. He involves them in the miracle.
Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people.
6. He does not allow anything to be wasted
the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces
(cf. John 6:12 Let nothing be wasted). Perhaps for them to eat later?
He was not expecting this kind of miracle every day. Neither should we.
So in this passage we have seen Jesus’ compassion for the people and his concern for his disciples. But before we conclude we need to take note of Jesus’ confidence in his Father. He did nothing except what he saw the Father do (John 5:19) and so before he breaks the loaves and the fish he looks up to Heaven – unlike the disciples who looked around for the solution (36). He has already organised the people into groups ready to feed them although as yet he had only five loaves and two fishes. But his eyes were not on the paucity of natural resources, nor on the immensity of the multitude. His eyes were on Heaven.
And the qualities we see in Jesus in this passage are qualities that are seen over and over again throughout his life. He lived and died because of his compassion for us sinners who were like sheep without a shepherd. He was able to do this because of his complete dependence on and obedience to his heavenly Father. And he is still training disciples and involving them in miraculous provision to demonstrate his love and compassion for a world that is lost without him.
So let's be aware of the condition of the people around us, let's try to avoid the mistakes the disciples made, and let's follow the example of Jesus and love those who reject our testimony, even if necessary by laying down our lives for the sake of the gospel.
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Talk 17 Mark 6:14-29 Herod and John the Baptist
Welcome to Talk 17 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 6:14-29 which relates the terrible story of the beheading of John the Baptist. The passage is set between Jesus sending out his disciples to proclaim the good news and their return to report to him all they had done and taught (v30). At first sight, the beheading of John the Baptist might seem to be something of a digression, but, when we remember the theme of our last talk, it becomes clear that there’s a very real continuity of thought in this passage.
Last time we saw how the people of Jesus’ home town rejected him and how, when Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against any who rejected their message about him. Today’s passage begins in verses 14-16 with the theme of people’s attitude to Jesus and his message, and continues with the story of how one particular person, King Herod, hardened his heart against the preaching of John the Baptist and ended up by ordering his execution. And we know from Acts 4:27 and Luke 23:12 that this eventually led to his conspiring with Pontius Pilate against Jesus himself.
But let’s begin by reading the passage to remind ourselves of the details.
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." 15 Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago." 16 But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!" 17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. 21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." 23 And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom." 24 She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered. 25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter. 26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
The fact that Jesus' name had become well known (v14) is not surprising, bearing in mind the miracles he was performing and the great crowds who gathered around him. The miracles were causing people to wonder exactly who Jesus was. He reminded them of what they had heard about Elijah and the miracles he performed. Some even thought Jesus was Elijah, possibly basing their assumption on Malachi’s prophecy that God would one day send Elijah back before the day of the Lord came (Malachi 4:5). (Although Jesus said in Mark 9:13 that it was actually John who was the promised ‘Elijah’). Others thought that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead. This included King Herod who said, John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead! (v16).
Mark then goes on to explain how and why Herod came to order John’s execution, but before we go any further it’s important to identify which Herod we are talking about, as the New Testament makes reference to no less than four different Herods, all of whom were unpleasant characters, to say the least. Perhaps it will be easiest to say which Herod this is NOT. This Herod is not Herod the Great (so-called) who wanted to kill the baby Jesus and massacred the baby boys in Matthew 2. He is not Herod Agrippa I, who was smitten by the angel of the Lord and died because of his pride in Acts 12, neither is he Herod Agrippa II before whom Paul conducted his defence in Acts 25-26. The Herod who executed John the Baptist was Herod Antipas whose final attitude to Jesus is found in Luke 23:7-12.
There we’re told that Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who happened to be in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ trial, because Jesus came from the region of Galilee where Herod was the ruler and was therefore under his jurisdiction. Herod was pleased to see Jesus because, from what he’d already heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He asked him many questions, but when Jesus refused to reply, he ridiculed and mocked him, dressed him in an elegant robe, and sent him back to Pilate, who then became his friend although up to that point they had been enemies. Herod was thus complicit in the crucifixion of Jesus as Acts 4:26-27 makes clear:
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to conspire against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed.
So Herod and Pilate banded together against the Lord and conspired against Jesus. And now, as we return to our passage in Mark 6, we see that it was by hardening his heart to God’s word through John the Baptist that Herod took the first steps that led ultimately to his role in the crucifixion of Jesus. His attitude to God’s servant, John, was finally to determine his attitude to God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus once said:
Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me (John 13:20).
To accept Christ’s message through the messengers he sends is to accept Christ himself, and to reject his message through the messengers he sends is to reject Christ himself. In rejecting God’s message through John, Herod finally came to ridicule and reject Christ.
But this need not have happened. Herod had every opportunity to accept John’s message of repentance. Verse 18 tells us that John had been saying to Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And the tense of the Greek verb indicates that he had done so repeatedly. But instead of repenting, Herod had John put in prison where John continued to preach the same message.
So Herod had plenty of opportunity to repent. He knew that John was a righteous and holy man. He feared him and he liked to listen to him but was greatly puzzled by what he heard. This verb (aporeomai) is sometimes translated in the New Testament as perplexed and can also convey the idea of doubt. The mental confusion that caused Herod to doubt sprang from the fact that he knew what was right but was unwilling to do it. There were so many voices clamouring for his attention – the voice of conscience telling him that his relationship with Herodias was sinful, the voice of John the Baptist constantly confirming that he must repent, the voice of Herodias demanding John’s death, and the voice of the flesh telling him that he must protect his own reputation at all costs. No wonder we’re told that he was perplexed.
And so, although for a time he protected John from Herodias’s thirst for his blood, the time came when, trapped by his own foolish vow, he murdered, without a fair trial, the man who Jesus said was the greatest person who had ever lived (Matthew 11:11), and in so doing involved a young girl [1] in the bloody process, undoubtedly psychologically damaging her for the rest of her life. But we know the story. It remains now for us to summarise where Herod went wrong.
It began with his decision to break God’s law and live in adultery with his brother’s wife. Instead of listening to the voice of conscience and repenting at the preaching of John the Baptist, he chose to continue to disobey God. Embarrassed by John’s public denunciation of his lifestyle, he attempted to silence him by putting him in prison. Infatuated with a young dancing girl he made a foolish oath, and when, at her mother’s instigation, she made the most outrageous demand, he lacked the moral courage to refuse it for fear of what others might think. This series of wrongly motivated decisions led finally to the ultimate decision – the rejection of Christ.
But before we conclude this message, let’s turn our attention away from the evil Herod to the man he beheaded, God’s faithful servant, John the Baptist. As we saw in Mark 1, the heart of the message God had called John to preach was that everyone needed to repent in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, and vast crowds came to be baptised in the Jordan confessing their sins. It’s clear from Luke 3 that the message was for all – soldiers, tax-collectors, religious leaders, and even for political leaders like King Herod. As we have seen, John told him in no uncertain terms that his relationship with his brother’s wife was wrong, and rebuked him for all the other evil things he had done (Luke 3:19) which led to his arrest, imprisonment and eventually his execution.
John was imprisoned before Jesus started his public ministry in Galilee (Mark 1:14) but his execution took place some time later. We know little of the time John spent in prison except that Matthew tells us that:
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me" (Matthew 11:2-6).
John’s question shows that he was beginning to doubt if Jesus really was the promised Messiah despite the evidence of the miracles Jesus was doing. He was doubting the testimony of Scriptures like Isaiah 61:1-2 which Jesus said was being fulfilled in his miraculous ministry, and he was even doubting his own testimony that Jesus was the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. More serious still, he was doubting the testimony of God himself, who at Jesus’ baptism had declared that Jesus was his beloved Son.
These serious doubts would have been caused by the circumstances in which he found himself, unjustly imprisoned, and cut off from fellowship with like-minded people, but also perhaps by the expectation that the Messiah would proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18). If Jesus really was the Messiah, why was John still in prison? It’s all too easy to doubt when circumstances tell us that God has not kept the promises we believe he has made us, and John was no exception.
But fortunately, there is a remedy for doubt. John sent a message to Jesus and Jesus gave him the answer. Note that even though John was doubting who Jesus was, he still made contact with him. If you’re doubting God, it might seem illogical, but contact him anyway. When my philosophy tutor at Oxford confidently asserted that he could disprove the existence of God, as soon as the tutorial was over I said, God, if there is a God, HELP. And he did! My AV Bible fell open at Psalm 119:99 where I read:
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation.
And my doubts were gone. So if your circumstances are causing you to doubt, do what John did. Keep in touch with Jesus, and if it seems that he’s not keeping his promises to you, let him remind you of the things he has done for you and of how he has worked in the lives of others. Faith is not the absence of doubt. It’s trusting the Lord despite our doubts and leaving the outcome with him. In the KJV Jesus’ final word to John was:
Blessed is he who is not offended in me (v6).
John’s doubts were leading him towards the danger of taking offense at Jesus like the people of Nazareth in Mark 6:3. The Greek word is the same, and as we saw last time it’s frequently used in the New Testament to mean a stumbling block or something that trips you up. What tripped up the people of Nazareth was their refusal to see beyond the humanity of Jesus. For John the potential stumbling block was that if Jesus really was the Messiah, why was he not setting him free from Herod’s prison?
One lesson we can learn from this is that we must not be offended by God’s will for our lives. Some promises – especially with regard to the body – will not reach final fulfilment until the redemption of the body at the resurrection. When circumstances are against us, and when we’re not yet experiencing the fulfilment of one of God’s promises, it's all too easy to give way to doubt. The remedy is to concentrate on the many wonderful promises we have seen fulfilled in our lives and to rejoice in what we hear God is doing for others, even if we are not yet experiencing the same blessings that they are. If the great John the Baptist could come to the point of doubting the very truth of what God had called him to preach, we should not be surprised or feel condemned if we are tempted to doubt.
Eventually, of course, John was liberated from the prison, but perhaps not in the way he was expecting or hoping. Death, for those who believe in Jesus, is the ultimate release, whether it be from imprisonment, or sickness, or any other form of suffering. Death is the gateway to Heaven where there is no mourning, or crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4). John’s headless body was laid in a tomb, but he himself was already enjoying the rewards of Heaven, far beyond the reach of evil people like Herod and Herodias.
[1] The Greek word korasion is used of Jairus’s daughter who was only 12 years old (Mark 5:41, 42).
- Visa fler
