Author: David Petts

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.

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.

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.

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?

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!

About Eileen – a tribute to my wife by David Petts

Eileen was born on 6^th 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.

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.

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.

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?

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.