Author: David Petts

Talk 16   Mark 6:1-13   Preaching the gospel in a hostile environment

Welcome to Talk 16 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’ll be looking at Mark 16:1-13. We’ll be concentrating on verses 1-5 where Mark tells us that Jesus was unable to do any mighty miracle in his home town because of the people’s unbelief, and then we’ll see how this relates to verses 6-13 where Jesus sends out the twelve apostles. We’ll begin by reading verses 1-6.

1 Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their lack of faith…

1 Jesus left there and went to his home town, accompanied by his disciples.

Jesus leaves the home of Jairus and travels with his disciples away from the shore of Lake Galilee to his home town of Nazareth. He had been born in Bethlehem, and, as we’ve seen in previous talks, the base for his ministry was Capernaum, but he was always known as Jesus of Nazareth because that is where he had been brought up. So by Jesus’ home town Mark means Nazareth.

2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue

He does in Nazareth exactly what he has done elsewhere. He begins to teach in the synagogue. By saying that Jesus began to teach Mark is indicating that Jesus might well have continued to teach there if only the people had accepted him. Mark doesn’t tell us here what Jesus’ message was, but he would expect us to assume that it was in line with what he has already told us in Mark 1:14-15:

… Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!

But the people of Nazareth would not believe the good news. They took offense at him (v3). Why? Because the good news is Jesus! They were amazed. They asked, Where did this man get these things?  They recognised that he had been given wisdom and acknowledged that he worked miracles. But they could not look beyond the fact that they had known him as the carpenter. So in verse 3 they say:

3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”

Despite the supernatural evidence of the miracles they had heard about, they refused to look beyond the natural. Yes, he was the carpenter. Yes, he was the son of Mary – if they had heard the story of his virgin birth, they had clearly not believed it.

Yes, he was the half-brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon and his sisters. But didn’t the miracles show that he was so much more! He was, in the opening words of Mark’s  Gospel, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And they took offense at him.

The verb that’s used here is closely connected with the noun skandalon which is frequently used in the New Testament to mean a stumbling block or something that trips you up. What tripped up the people of Nazareth was their refusal to see beyond the humanity of Jesus. And Paul, using the same word in 1 Corinthians 1:23, tells us that the Jews in general stumble at the message of Christ crucified. There is a danger that our preconceived ideas prevent us from seeing the whole truth about Jesus.

4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his home town, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.”

This reminds us of Luke 4:24 which records Jesus as saying, No prophet is accepted in his home town. Note the word accepted. The problem with the people of Nazareth was that they refused to accept Jesus. It’s interesting that Luke’s account of this whole incident is far more detailed than Mark’s. He tells us that Jesus read from the passage in Isaiah where it says:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Luke 4:18-19, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2).

Luke goes on to tell us that Jesus went on to say, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (v21), and that the people spoke well of Jesus and were amazed at the way he spoke. As in Mark 6, their amazement sprang from the fact that they knew his family. Their familiarity with his humanity prevented them from seeing his divinity. They had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed in Capernaum and were expecting him to do something similar in Nazareth (v23).

But Jesus knew that they would not accept him, and provocatively stated:

I tell you the truth… no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian (vv24-27).

As a result, Luke tells us that:

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way (vv28-30).

So they not only refused to accept him. They actually tried to destroy him! But, perhaps surprisingly, Mark leaves out all this detail and simply tells us in verses 5-6:

He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith…

Does Mark really mean that Jesus could not do any miracles there? Couldn’t Jesus do anything? We may be tempted to say that Jesus could have but chose not to do any miracle there. But that is not what Mark says. The Greek literally means he was unable to do. So how do we explain this? Of course, God can do anything, but he has sovereignly chosen to work in response to faith. Jesus only did what he saw the Father do (John 5:19). He was unable to work outside of the parameters by which God has chosen to operate. So he was unable to do any miracle (literally, powerful thing) there because of their lack of faith, although presumably a few sick people had enough faith to be healed.

I personally believe that this teaches us a very important principle. We know from experience that miracles seem to happen more frequently in some places than in others and we wonder why. The answer lies in this passage. Community unbelief inhibits the miraculous. If even Jesus could do no miracle in a place because of unbelief, we must not be surprised if we find that the same is true for us today.

But why is faith so important? The answer lies in the message of salvation. Salvation is by faith. Jesus preached, Repent, and believe the good news. He came because God loves us. He came to give his life a ransom for many. He came to take the punishment our sins deserved, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. He knew that we would never be good enough for Heaven by our own self effort. That’s why he made a way for us to be saved by faith. Accepting Jesus, believing in him, is the only way to be saved. That’s why faith is important.

And that’s why Jesus worked miracles and why he commissioned his disciples to do so. He came to die for us. He wanted people to have faith in him for salvation, and miracles encourage faith. They give a practical demonstration of God’s love for us. By working miracles Jesus was giving people every opportunity to believe. But if they refuse to believe despite the evidence of the miracles, they will have no excuse when they stand before God on the day of judgment. Our eternal destiny is determined by whether or not we accept Jesus. But sadly, for the time being at least, the people of Nazareth would not, and so Jesus leaves them and goes around teaching from village to village (v6). But now let’s read verses 7-13.

7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

7 Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits

We know from Mark 3:14-15 that Jesus had already chosen his twelve apostles so that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These verses express Jesus’ purpose in choosing them, but it’s not until now in chapter 6 that Jesus actually gives them that authority and sends them out. God’s timing is so important. He often reveals his purposes for us before he intends us to begin to fulfil them. And he gives us the authority we need as and when we need it. In the case of the Twelve, it was almost certainly so that they might have time to learn from his teaching and example before he gave them authority and sent them out to preach. It was by following him that he would make them fishers of men (1:17).

The specific instructions Jesus’ gave on this occasion are recorded in more detail by Matthew, where it is clear that this was a specific mission to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:6), but not at this time to the Samaritans or the Gentiles. That would come later. And where Mark only mentions that Jesus gave them authority over evil spirits, Matthew includes authority to heal every kind of sickness and disease, to cleanse lepers, and even raise the dead.

Some Christians take the view that these passages are intended to indicate that as Christians we all have the right to ‘take authority’ over these things, but that ignores the fact that nowhere in the Bible are we told to take authority. We only have authority if we are given it. Even Jesus’ authority was given him by God (Matthew 18:19). The fact that Jesus gave this authority to twelve specific disciples at a specific time and for a specific mission does not automatically mean that he has given it to you or me today.

Indeed, these very disciples, after Jesus had ascended into Heaven, had to wait to receive the power of the Spirit. In the Gospels they worked miracles with a specific authority given them by the Lord Jesus, but in Acts he would continue to work miracles through them as they were led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And so it is with us. We can, and we should, expect the Lord to work through us in miraculous ways, but only as we are led by the Spirit.

The fact that he sent them out in pairs provides us with a wise example of how we should work today. Teamwork is essential. However great our gifting or experience, none of us is infallible, and we all need the wisdom, support and encouragement that comes from others who work alongside us. This principle was followed by the disciples in Acts – e.g. Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas etc., although Paul’s apostolic teams were often larger than two. The basic principle is that we should not go it alone.

8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.

Again, these instructions were given with regard to a specific mission, and we should certainly not assume that when we go out on evangelism we must never take any money with us and that we should wear sandals rather than shoes! But we can certainly learn from the principles Jesus was teaching.

We can trust the Lord to meet our needs as we seek to proclaim the good news. How can we have faith to work miracles if we cannot trust God to provide for our basic needs? The Christian life is by faith from first to last.

10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.”

Amazed at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth (v6), Jesus was only too aware of the opposition that he and his disciples were facing. Nevertheless, people must be given the opportunity to accept him, or to reject him. So he sent his disciples out to preach the good news to the surrounding villages, knowing that some would not listen. The disciples were to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against those who rejected the message.

This was something Jewish people did when passing through a Gentile town or village. It was a sign that they were distancing themselves from them because they were different. They were the people of God. But Jesus’ disciples were not visiting Gentile towns or villages on this mission (Matthew 10:5). They were visiting Jewish villages. So by shaking the dust off their feet the disciples were showing the Jews that there is a distinction between those who believe the good news and those who reject it. Only those who accept Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile, are truly the people of God.

In most cultures today shaking the dust off one’s feet would mean nothing to those who might be watching, but as Christians we need to show by what we say and how we live that we are different from those who deny Christ. We have a different lifestyle and a different destiny.

12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

We saw in Mark 1:15 that Jesus’ message was, The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. The miracles were the evidence. They helped people to believe. Sadly, as we have seen in today’s passage, there were those who refused to believe despite the evidence. Could this have been because they were not willing to repent? It’s much the same today. There’s plenty of evidence for the truth of the Christian message, but many refuse to believe it because of the implications it has for their lifestyle.

So what can we learn from this passage about preaching the gospel in a hostile environment? Follow the example of Jesus. Proclaim the good news. Expect miraculous confirmation of the message. Miracles demonstrate God’s love and make it easier for people to believe. Remember that Jesus gave his disciples authority for that specific mission. After he had returned to Heaven they received their authority from the Holy Spirit. As we keep filled with the Spirit he will lead us and empower us. The Holy Spirit will enable people to repent and believe, but he will not force them to do so. If people adamantly refuse our message we should move on to those who will accept it. Whether they accept it or reject it, it’s our responsibility whether people accept it or not to tell them the truth. We are not to blame if people refuse to accept Christ. But it is our responsibility to point out the consequences of doing so.

Talk 15 Mark 5:21-43 More amazing miracles

Welcome to Talk 15 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. In our last two talks we have seen the mighty power of Jesus displayed in the calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and the deliverance of a man possessed by a legion of demons. We now turn to Mark 5:21-43 where Jesus cures a woman with a longstanding problem with bleeding and raises a dead girl to life. As today we won’t be working through the passage verse by verse, we’ll begin by reading the entire story to remind ourselves of what happened.

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?'” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?” 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this and told them to give her something to eat.

The passage begins by telling us that once Jesus had come back across the lake a large crowd gathered around him. We have already seen how frequently Mark tells us that great crowds followed Jesus. In 1:28 we read that because of his miracles, news about him spread quickly over the whole region. In 1:32-34 we’re told that the whole town gathered at the door.

Just notice the references to crowds in the following verses:

2:2      So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door…

2:13    A large crowd came to him and he began to teach them.

3:7      A large crowd from Galilee followed

3:9      Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready….

3:32    A crowd was sitting around him…

4:1      The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat…

And now in 5:21 we read that a large crowd had gathered. And again in verse 24, A large crowd followed and pressed around him and in verse 31 the disciples say, You see the people crowding against you. But, of course, crowds are made up of individuals, and in the passage we have just read Mark tells us of two of the individuals who were part of the crowd. Their needs represent the needs of many in the crowd, and the needs of many even today – perhaps even your need. This passage reveals some important lessons about what to do when, like them, you’re faced with an apparently insoluble problem.

In many ways Jairus and the woman were very different. The woman who, because of her condition, was considered ceremonially unclean, would have been excluded from the synagogue. She was living with loneliness, sickness, and poverty. Jairus, on the other hand, as ruler of the synagogue, was in a privileged and financially secure position, enjoying the respect of the community. He had everything going for him. She had everything going against her.

Yet, despite these differences, there was one thing they both had in common. They both faced insoluble problems. She was beyond medical help and Jairus had a daughter who was dying. But they both found a solution – they came to Jesus. They came in different ways – he came openly, she came secretly – but they came knowing that their only hope of a solution lay in Jesus. But let’s look at each of them in a little more detail.

The woman

First, notice the severity of her condition. It had lasted for twelve years. She had spent all she had in seeking a medical cure, but instead of getting better, her condition was deteriorating. Mark says that she had suffered many things under the care of many doctors. Of course, the art of medicine was nowhere near as advanced as it is today, and we certainly should not take this verse to mean that it’s wrong to avail ourselves of medical help. (I deal with this in some detail in my book, Just a Taste of Heaven – a biblical and balanced approach to God’s healing power). Mark’s intention is not so much to criticise the doctors as to point out the extremity of the woman’s condition – that she had no hope, other than in Jesus.

But notice now what motivated her action. She was clearly very determined, but determination was not what motivated her. It was faith that motivated both her determination and her action. Jesus said it was her faith that saved her and freed her from her suffering (v34). She believed that if she could just touch his cloak, she would be healed (v28). But how did she come to have such faith? The clue lies in verse 27 – she heard about Jesus. Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the word about Christ.

No doubt she had heard about some of the miracles Jesus had already performed. The news had already spread far and wide and the miracles were the main reason that the people crowded around him. This woman was no exception, and she believed that what he had done for others, he could and would do for her. And her faith was rewarded immediately. At once (v30) Jesus’ healing power flows out of him. Immediately (v29) her bleeding stops and she feels it in her body. It’s never too late with Jesus, even after twelve years!

And with Jesus you so often get much more than you’re believing for. She receives far more than the healing of her body. Jesus knew that someone had touched him, and he kept looking around to see who had done it (v32). Why was this so important? The answer lies in verse 33:

33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.

Again, I’m reminded of what Paul says in Romans 10. Salvation comes not only from believing in our heart, but by confessing with our mouth (Romans 10:9). The woman had already shown great faith, but Jesus wanted her to acknowledge what her need had been. This would not have been easy, bearing in mind the stigma of being ceremonially unclean that she had carried for so long. But her public declaration of it made way for Jesus’ public pronouncement in verse 34:

…”Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

There is so much more than physical healing here. The word for healed conveys so much more. It’s used frequently in the New Testament to refer to our salvation. And what a wonderful picture of salvation we see in this woman’s encounter with Jesus! There is acceptance – Jesus calls her daughter. There is peace – the Greek word is the equivalent of the Hebrew SHALOM. And there is freedom. In healing her Jesus restores all that the dreadful condition had stolen from her. And in saving us from our sins he has done the same for us.

Jairus

As we’ve already pointed out, unlike the woman who came to Jesus secretly, Jairus came quite openly. His daughter was dying, and he urgently needed Jesus’ help. We don’t know the nature of his daughter’s illness or how long she had been ill, but by the time Jairus was seeking Jesus’ help she was at the point of death. Her need of immediate attention was even greater than that of the woman. Jairus was intentionally looking for Jesus in the crowd and as soon as he saw him he fell at his feet.

In different circumstances, as a synagogue ruler, he might well have been reluctant to do this, bearing in mind the close connection synagogue rulers had with the Pharisees who were, as we have seen, already plotting to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6). But Jairus was not afraid to risk their displeasure. His daughter was dying, and he knew that Jesus could heal her. Like the woman, Jairus had faith in Jesus’ power to heal, and he was willing to humble himself publicly to beg Jesus to do so. Interestingly, he falls at Jesus’ feet in prayer before the need is met whereas the woman does so in thanksgiving after she is healed. In both cases the action is an appropriate acknowledgement of who Jesus is and what he can do.

But it’s at this point that the woman touches Jesus’ cloak and Jesus is delayed in getting to Jairus’ daughter. We can well imagine Jairus’ anxiety and frustration about this, but as we’ve already seen, it’s never too late with Jesus. So as we pick up the story in verse 36, even when  news comes that his daughter has now died, Jesus tells him, Don’t be afraid. Just believe. The Greek Imperative here means literally keep on believing. Jairus had had faith for his daughter’s healing, but now he needs faith that Jesus can raise her back to life. If ever we’re in a similar situation it will be helpful to remember that faith looks beyond the problem to the person who is able to solve the problem. Jesus was asking Jairus to keep on trusting him. Raising the dead is no more difficult for Jesus than healing the incurably sick.

So Jairus’ faith was tested, but the woman’s was not. Her faith was immediately rewarded. God deals with different people in different ways. Don’t be discouraged when you see others receiving an immediate response to their faith while yours is being tested. Remember that the Christian life is by faith from first to last (Romans 1:17) and that your faith will ultimately be rewarded.

After encouraging Jairus to keep on believing, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to Jairus’s home. On more than one occasion these three were chosen by Jesus to accompany him at critical times in his ministry – at his transfiguration, and in the Garden of Gethsamane, for example. But why he did not allow any of the other disciples to come with him is not clear. However, it seems reasonable to assume that all the disciples were at different stages in the development of their faith and understanding, and this may have been a determining factor in making his decision on this occasion.

If the other disciples thought that it was unfair – and this seems quite likely bearing in mind their indignation when James and John asked Jesus for unique privileges in the coming kingdom (Mark 10:35-41) – what they did not know was that in time they would all witness an even greater miracle than the raising of Jairus’ daughter – the raising of Lazarus. And eventually they would meet the risen Christ. God’s timing in his dealings with us is one of the hardest things for us to understand. We just need to keep on trusting him. He loves us and whatever he gives to us or withholds from us, is for our good. Christ is the head of the church and to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it (Ephesians 4:7).

So they arrive at Jairus’s house and there’s a crowd of people weeping and wailing, as was the custom at the time. Jesus silences them and says, The child is not dead but asleep. He says this to indicate that the child’s death was only temporary, because he knew that he was about to bring her back to life. But, quite understandably, the people laugh at him, knowing, Luke tells us, that she was dead (Luke 8:53). They may have known she was dead, but they didn’t know who Jesus was! To him who is the resurrection and the life (John11:25) raising the dead is no more difficult than waking them up. And the day is surely coming when the Lord himself will descend from Heaven with a loud command and those who have ‘fallen asleep’ in Jesus will rise from the dead. His command is enough. Talitha koum! Little girl, get up! And immediately she stands up and walks around. Yet another evidence of his deity, which, for the time being, must be kept a secret, because his time has not yet come.

But now let’s summarise what we have learnt from this passage about what to do when we are faced with insoluble problems. We have seen that, whatever our differences, we all need Jesus. We all have needs and we need to admit it. We need to acknowledge we’ve got a problem.

But however great your problem, Jesus has the answer. Make a conscious decision to come to Jesus. Ignore the crowd. Humble yourself – don’t worry about what others might think or say about you. Come in faith. Faith comes by hearing the message about Christ. Believe the message you’ve just been listening to. If you need more faith, read the Gospels. What he’s done for others, he can do for you. Trust him.

Sometimes our faith is rewarded immediately. Sometimes it’s tested. Things might seem to get worse before they get better – but keep on believing. Faith looks beyond the problem to the person who can solve it – Jesus. And it’s never too late for Jesus.

And finally, remember that Jesus can do far more than solve the problem you’re currently dealing with. Our greatest problem is our sin. But Jesus offers us forgiveness for all we’ve ever done wrong. He offers you peace, life, freedom, acceptance, restoration, and a home in Heaven when you die.  Acknowledge your need. Come to Jesus. Put your faith in him. He is the only solution.

Talk 14   Mark 5:1-20    Legion

Welcome to Talk 14 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’ll be looking at Mark 5:1-20 where Jesus casts demons out of a man who was inhabited by a legion of them. As the story is well known I’ll not take time to read through the passage in advance, but take it a verse or two at a time, beginning with verses 1-2:

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.

In our last talk we saw how Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea (or lake) of Galilee and how the disciples were overawed, asking the question, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him. They had left from Capernaum at the northern end of the lake and this verse tells us that they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes which is south-east of the lake, so their crossing would have been about ten to fifteen miles. The region was largely inhabited by Gentiles and was part of a larger area known as the Decapolis (or Ten Cities) which is referred to in verse 20. It’s clear that Jesus had a definite purpose in going there (4:35) and this becomes evident in what happens next.

2 When Jesus got out of the boat

Literally, immediately Jesus got out of the boat. Students of Mark’s Gospel will know that one of the characteristics of his writing is the frequent use of the Greek word euthus (immediately). Its significance here may well be to underline that Jesus’ sole purpose in crossing the lake was to meet the desperate need of the demon possessed man. This is confirmed by the fact that in verse 21, as soon as he has dealt with the man’s need, Jesus returns to the other side of the lake.

a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs to meet him

Literally: …there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit (ESV).

Interestingly, in their accounts of the same story Matthew describes him as demonized (8:28) and Luke says that the man had demons (8:27). This shows that the gospel writers use different expressions to refer to the same man and the same condition. And elsewhere Mark himself uses these alternative expressions too. He refers to a person:

Having an unclean spirit (Mark 1:26)

Being demonized (Mark 1:32)

Having a demon (Mark 3:30)

So these different expressions are used interchangeably and it would be a mistake to try to differentiate between them. It’s clear that an unclean spirit is a demon and that a person with an unclean spirit may be said to be demonized or to have a demon. And any of these expressions can be used to refer a variety of different conditions caused by demonic activity. Perhaps that’s why Mark says here with an unclean spirit, when it’s clear from the story that he was controlled by many demons.

But now verses 3-5.

3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

These verses reveal the desperate condition of the man. There was a supernatural force within him that neither he nor anyone else could control. This was no mental illness, though people today might describe it that way. This was demonic power which no amount of medical or psychiatric treatment could have cured. Matthew 4:24 distinguishes between mental illness and demon possession, and it’s vital that we discern the difference, especially as some of the symptoms can be very similar.

But let’s take note of what the demons were doing to him:

·      This man lived in the tombs – he was cut off from society.

·      …no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain – he was beyond human help.  Cf. v. 4 No one was strong enough to subdue him.

·      For he had often been chained hand and foot – despite repeated efforts, nothing could be done for him.

·      … he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet – the demonic forces within him gave him supernatural strength (but only to harm himself further).

·      Night and day among the tombs and in the hills… – there was no relief from his torment

·      … he would cry out and cut himself with stones – he was bent on self-destruction. In John 10:10 Jesus told us that the work of the devil was to steal and to kill and to destroy. And that’s what Satan’s forces do. But Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and to give us life to the full. That was the reason he came from Heaven and that was the reason he crossed the lake.

But that brings us to verses 6-10:

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” 9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.

It’s clear from the passage we’ve just read that everything the man says is inspired by the demons. He seems to be completely under their control. But if he is completely under their control, how is it that he comes to Jesus? The answer must surely lie in the fact that the demons were completely under the control of Jesus. Remember what we said when we were considering Mark 3:23. Jesus has already bound the strong man (Satan). In conquering Satan during his temptation in the desert and by his continued submission to his heavenly Father Jesus had complete authority over all Satan’s forces.

The man comes to Jesus because Jesus has come to him, and for him. There was no way the demons could stop him. All they could do was beg. The verb translated fell on his knees frequently mean worship, but that is not its meaning here. It comes from a verb depicting a dog crouching before its master and licking his hand. The demons cower before Jesus and pay reluctant homage.

7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

Two things are clear here. First, what the man said was in fact the demons speaking through him as they had through the man in the synagogue in Capernaum (1:24). They knew who he was. They knew he had power over them. In fact, Mark 3:11 tells us that

Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, You are the Son of God.

And, according to Matthew 8:29, they pleaded that Jesus would not punish them before the appointed time. The day is coming when at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow… (Philippians 2).

And secondly, the response of the demons was a direct result of Jesus saying, Come out of this man… On seeing the man Jesus immediately commands the demon to come out of him. He does not enter into a lengthy discussion about the man’s problem. He does not ask what the man might have done that could have caused the problem. He knows the root cause and he deals with it.

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”

Jesus asks the man his name. Note, he does not ask the demon its name. There is no sound basis here for asking demons to name themselves, as some have taught. In the Greek text the word for him is masculine. If Jesus had been speaking to the unclean spirit it would have been neuter. So the man replies – but it’s clear from what he says that it’s the demons who are speaking through him – My name is Legion, for we are many. Of course, Legion was not his real name. It’s typical of Satan to try to rob a person of their true identity. To say this is not to suggest that every person with an identity crisis has a demon, but there can be no doubt that the rapid spread of this problem in recent years is of Satanic origin.

The number of demons need not concern us, but in the Roman army a legion would have numbered anything between 3000-6000 men, and verse 13 tells us that there were about 2000 pigs that were drowned in the sea after the demons had entered them. But what’s important here is that the number of the enemy is of no concern to Jesus. No problem is too difficult for him to solve. No enemy too numerous for him to conquer.

10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

No doubt the man himself, his judgment clouded by demonic influence, would be reluctant to leave the area. The tombs, after all, had afforded him a measure of security. One thinks of prisoners who do not want to be released because they’ve become used to the security of prison or of the addict who, despite the dreadful side-effects, is frightened to kick the habit because of the sense of security it gives him.

But it’s clear from the next few verses that the demons are speaking through him too. And they do so repeatedly. They don’t want to leave, but they know that they must because Jesus has told them to. So they ask him not to send them out of the area for fear, Luke tells us, that he might send them into the Abyss (Luke 8:31) the place of confinement for Satan and his minions (Revelation 9:1, 20:1-3).

11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Why did Jesus give them permission to go into the pigs? The demons were a highly destructive force and one suggestion is that it was better that they use it on pigs than on people. Others have concluded that it was to demonstrate his superior authority over the demons and to convince the people that the demons really had come out of the man. But we simply do not know. The one thing we can be sure of is that Jesus knew what he was doing. He knew that the time would come for Satan and his forces to be confined to the Abyss, and that time had not yet come. Perhaps we can all learn from this that when it’s unclear to us why God is allowing things to happen that we do not understand, he knows what he is doing. He knows the end from the beginning, and he is working all things together for our good because we are called according to his purpose.

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man – and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

In these verses we see the reaction of the people to this amazing miracle:

·      Those who witnessed it were quick to tell others about it (v14, 16). This is not surprising. People are usually eager to talk about anything out of the ordinary.

·      Those who heard about it went to see what happened (v14). This is not surprising either. People want to see for themselves. It’s just natural curiosity.

·      When they saw the evidence for themselves they were afraid (v15). The reason for this is not so obvious. But people often instinctively fear anything they don’t understand, especially if it’s clearly supernatural. Even some Christians are afraid when the Holy Spirit is at work in a supernatural way. But we have no need to fear anything God does, because he loves us.

·      They pleaded with Jesus to leave their region (v17). Despite the beneficial outcome for the man, and potentially for the whole region, they ask Jesus to leave. Who can understand the motivation behind people’s decision to reject Jesus? Perhaps they were not ready to face up to the implication for their own lives of Jesus’ lordship so clearly demonstrated by his supreme authority over the demonic powers.

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The people plead with Jesus to leave their region and Jesus gets into the boat. He does not stay where he is not welcome. But clearly the man he has delivered from demons wants to remain in his company, so he asks to go with him. No doubt he wanted to learn more from Jesus, and he certainly felt safe in his company. But Jesus says no. The miracle Jesus has performed is sufficient. The demons will not be back. And the man already knows enough to be able to tell others what the Lord has done for him. (Note the reference to Jesus’ deity here – compare how much the Lord has done for you with how much Jesus had done for him). He knows that Jesus is the Lord. He knows what he has done for him. He knows that he has had mercy on him. And that’s all we need to know to start to tell those nearest to about Jesus. Let’s boldly proclaim the lordship of Jesus, how much he has done for us, and the mercy he has shown us.

Talk 13  Mark 4:35-41 Jesus calms the storm

Welcome to Talk 13 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today our subject is the well-known story of Jesus calming the storm. We’ll begin by reading Mark 4:35-41.

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

So far Mark has given us several reasons why we should believe in the deity of Jesus. He takes Old Testament verses that refer to YAHWEH and applies them to Jesus (1:2-3). He records the words of the voice from Heaven saying to Jesus, You are my Son (1:11). Even the demons knew who he was – the Holy One of God (1:24). When the Pharisees accuse Jesus of blasphemy, asking the rhetorical question, Who can forgive sins but God alone? Jesus responds by saying that he has authority…to forgive sins (2:10) and demonstrates it by healing a paralysed man. He even claims to be Lord of the Sabbath (2:28). And now in the verses we have just read, he demonstrates his power over the forces of nature, leaving the terrified disciples to ask, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!

So this passage may rightly be seen as further evidence of the deity of Christ. Who can calm storms but God alone? But the story also provides evidence of his humanity. He was asleep. Jesus was both fully man and fully God, a mystery that is beyond our human comprehension. But if my tiny mind could fully understand him, he could not possibly be God. So let’s just believe the biblical revelation of who he is and see how this passage applies to us today as we are confronted with the unexpected storms of life.

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.

There were also other boats with him.

Let us go over…

When Jesus called his disciples his first words were, Follow me. So it’s not the disciples who take the initiative here. It’s Jesus who says, Let’s go over to the other side. At first sight this might sound like a suggestion, but it’s clear from Matthew’s account that it was much stronger than that. Matthew says that Jesus gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. The one who spoke the word in the beginning and said, Let there be light, now says, We’re going to the other side. No wonder then that, despite the storm, they arrived at the other side.

They took him along

Again, Matthew’s account is stronger. It says, his disciples followed him. Either way, it’s clear that they were obediently doing what Jesus asked them to. And bearing in mind what was about to happen it’s just as well that they took him along with them. When we’re seeking to follow the leading of the Lord Jesus, it’s important that we ensure that he is with us in every step we take.

There were also other boats with him.

Mark is the only Gospel that records this. The word used for boats here is slightly different from the word used for the boat Jesus was in. The KJV version suggests that they were smaller. If so, they would have been in even more danger from the storm but notice the words with him. Not with them. Jesus is the centre of attention, not the disciples. And the people in the other boats are with him too. The miracle Jesus performs benefits more than the select few. And the miracles he performs for us, in delivering us from the storms we find ourselves in, may very well benefit others too.

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

Make no mistake about it. The problem they were facing was very real. Whatever problem you may be facing right now, it cannot be more serious than theirs was then. The disciples, who were fishermen and knew the lake well, recognised that they were in danger of drowning. In fact Luke’s account states clearly, they were in great danger. And to make matters worse, Jesus was asleep.

38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

As we’ve already said, Jesus was human and his sleep may well have resulted from the weariness that comes to us all when working hard. Preachers and teachers will understand very well what I mean, and if you have experience in ministering to the sick you will know how tiring it can be.

But Jesus’ sleep was not just a sleep of weariness. It was a sleep of faith. He had entrusted his life to his Father in Heaven and he knew that nothing could harm him. When we are asleep things are beyond our control, and when things are beyond our control it can take a lot of faith to believe that all will be well, especially in the middle of a storm.

But what do you do when God is asleep? Of course, God never goes to sleep (Psalm 121:3-4). But Jesus was God and Jesus was asleep. That’s part of the mystery of the incarnation that we mentioned earlier. For God to go to sleep he had to become a man. And as man Jesus was asleep, even though he was still God.

However, in trying to relate this part of the story to our own experience, perhaps we could say that there are times in the experience of every Christian when it feels like God is asleep. What should we do? Well, we could do what the disciples did and try to wake him up! Or we could just hold on tight and trust him to bring us through.

The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

The disciples chose the first option. They decided to wake him up. We do something similar when we hammer on the doors of Heaven and repeatedly plead for an answer. And there are times when it’s appropriate to do that – remember the parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-6)? God understands when we feel the need to pray like that.

But in the light of Calvary, we can hardly accuse God of not caring! I wonder if perhaps it was Peter who asked the question. Years later it’s clear he had learnt his lesson. Not only could he sleep in the prison knowing that, like James, he could be executed the following day (Acts 12), but at a time when the church was facing intense persecution he could write to his fellow Christians to cast all their anxiety on Jesus, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

Yet at the time when the disciples woke Jesus up, it’s clear from their question that they believed that Jesus had the power to save them, but that they were doubting if he cared enough to do so! The fact that Jesus suggests in verse 40 that they still have no faith shows us that true faith is more than believing in God’s power to work a miracle.

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Despite their lack of faith, Jesus works the miracle anyway! Note what he didn’t say. He didn’t say, I’m sorry guys. I’d have liked to have saved you, and I could have saved you, if only you had enough faith. As it is, I’m afraid you’ll have to drown… Of course he didn’t say that. Why? Because he did care. He did love them, and he had a purpose for their lives. And he does love you, and he does have a purpose for your life. Please remember:

GOD’S LOVE FOR YOU IS BIGGER THAN YOUR LACK OF FAITH.

The disciples didn’t need to wake Jesus up. He had said they were going to the other side and his word cannot fail. Believing in God’s power is not enough. Real faith trusts in his love for us.  Interestingly, in Matthew’s account Jesus’ challenge to their faith comes before he calms the storm. Sometimes it’s the condition of our hearts that needs dealing with before the external conditions of the storm we are facing.

Putting Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts together, which are probably only a summary of the events that took place, it seems that Jesus addressed the subject of the disciples’ faith both before and after he calmed the storm. Following Jesus is an ongoing experience of learning more and more how much we can trust him. Our faith in him grows as we understand his faithfulness. His faithfulness will be your shield (Psalm 91:4).

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

They were terrified

Why? They had already seen miracles. In fact he had already given them authority to cast out demons and to heal diseases. But this miracle was different. It clearly demonstrated more than ever who Jesus was. The truth was beginning to dawn on them. They were standing in the presence of DEITY.

Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

God had allowed the storm. It had happened for a purpose. The disciples’ experience of the storm was a step forward in their understanding of who Jesus was. The same is true of the storms in our lives. We may not understand their purpose, but that does not mean that there is no purpose. And when he brings us through the storm we find we have a deeper appreciation of Jesus.

And so they reached the other side.

Of course they did!

And they got out of the boat and sat down on the beach, opened their sandwiches and had a picnic.

Of course they didn’t!

That of course is typical of what we would like to happen. Surely when we’re through the next storm we’re entitled to a break! And that is what sometimes happens. But not on this occasion. Just look at what happened next:

Mark 5:1-4

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

Oh no! Not another problem! Yes, and following Jesus brings with it all kinds of problems. Sometimes it seems like problem after problem. But with Jesus, there’s a solution for every problem. Jesus’ life was far from easy, and he faced many problems. And eventually he faced the greatest problem of all – Death on a cross.

No, that was not the problem. The cross was the solution. The problem was your sin and mine. But Jesus dealt with it once for all at Calvary. He took the punishment all our sins deserved and he died on that cross. But he couldn’t possibly stay dead. He had promised he would rise again! And he did. And to prove it he appeared to his disciples for a period of 40 days and then ascended into Heaven.

And one day soon, he’s coming back, and he will take us to the other side. And then there really will be a picnic!

Talk 12 Mark 4:1-33 Jesus teaches in parables

Welcome to Talk 12 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re in Mark 4 where Mark records three of the parables Jesus used as part of his teaching method. A parable is an illustration taken from everyday life and used to teach a spiritual truth.  Its ultimate purpose is to make the truth clearer, but, as we shall see, sometimes people find it difficult to grasp the intention behind it. So we’ll not only be looking at the meaning of the parables in today’s passage, but also considering some problem verses which might seem to suggest that Jesus used parables in order to confuse people. But let’s begin by reading verses 1-9.

1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:

3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” 9 Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Again we see Jesus teaching from a boat because of the size of the crowd that had gathered to hear him (cf. 3:9-10). Mark tells us here that he taught them many things in parables and in verses 33-34 we’re told that with many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them… and that in fact he did not say anything to them without using a parable. We’ll consider the reason for this a little later, but for now it’s sufficient to notice that the parables recorded in this chapter are just examples of Jesus’ preferred method of teaching.

The parable of the sower in verses 3-9 is fairly straightforward. Using the only method available to him at the time, a farmer scatters his seed and it falls on different types of soil and, depending on where it lands, it produces varied results. That’s it. But what does it mean? Of course we know the answer because we’ve probably already read Jesus’ explanation in verses 14-20. But if we hadn’t I doubt if we’d have understood it any better than the disciples.

We’ll come back to verses 10-13 in a moment, but first let’s look at Jesus’ explanation:

14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 19 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

The key to understanding the parable is found in verse 14. The sower sows the word. Once you understand that, the rest is relatively easy. Jesus’ explanation requires no further explanation. But perhaps it’s worth asking why Jesus told this parable in the first place. He gave his explanation to the Twelve whom he had chosen to send out to preach the word (3:14-15). So was he simply warning them and all preachers of the word ever since that their message would inevitably meet with a mixed reception? That must surely have been part of his intention. As we have seen in previous talks, he himself was receiving a very mixed reception to his message.

But his disciples were themselves hearers of the word before they became preachers of it. And the same is true of us. As hearers we need to make sure that our hearts are right if we are to be fruitful in his service. The parable applies not just to the initial time when we hear the message of the gospel, but whenever the word is preached. We must be careful not to let Satan take it away from us. We must not allow our hearts to become hardened. We must stand firm in times of trouble. And we must not allow worry or wealth or the desire for other things choke the word making it unfruitful.

And now, before we turn to the remaining parables in this chapter, we need to consider verses 10-13:

10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’ 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

These verses present a very real problem because they appear to be saying that Jesus spoke in parables to those who were not his followers with the express purpose that they would not understand him, because if they did understand him they might turn from their sin and be forgiven. But could Jesus possibly have intended that? Surely not, but before we can give reasons for rejecting that conclusion, in seeking to answer this question we need to:

·      bear in mind the overall teaching of Scripture

·      examine the context of the passage from Isaiah that Jesus was quoting

·      see how that relates to the context in which Jesus said it.

Firstly, then, the overall teaching of Scripture. This is totally contrary to the idea that Jesus deliberately taught in parables so that the people would not understand.  God loved the world so much that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him will not perish (John 3:16). God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). And Peter, of course, was present when Jesus originally spoke the words we are looking at. And it’s generally agreed that Mark gained most of the information for his Gospel from Peter’s eyewitness account of all that happened.  So it’s hardly likely that Peter would have understood Jesus to mean what the verse at first sight appears to mean – that Jesus spoke in parables with the intention that people should not be converted!

Secondly, we need to examine the context of the passage from Isaiah that Jesus was quoting. Isaiah was called to prophesy that God was going to punish the people of Judah for their rebellion against him.  They had disobeyed him time after time despite repeated warnings from God’s messengers the prophets. He would warn them again, but he knew from their past behaviour that they would not listen. They would hear him but not obey him. On this occasion forgiveness was not an option. God’s judgment was inevitable. It was the direct result of Judah’s persistent rejection of God. It came in 586BC when Nebuchadnezzar invaded and Judah went into captivity, away from her land (Jeremiah 52:27).

And thirdly, as we look at the context in which Jesus quoted these words from Isaiah, we see that things were not very different in Jesus’ day. He was repeatedly criticised and rejected by the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Even his own family misunderstood him. And, as we have seen in previous talks, although the people of Capernaum came in crowds to hear him, this did not lead to their repentance. The parable of the sower shows that it not the fault of the sower that some of the seed is not bearing fruit. It’s the kind of soil upon which it is sown. If the word is sown in fertile hearts it will grow, but there’s little point in continually attempting to reap a harvest from hearts of stone. So Jesus was quoting the words of Isaiah in a context where people were hardheartedly rejecting him. But if they would change their hearts the way to forgiveness would always be open, as it was for Judah after 70 years’ captivity in Babylon.

But how do we apply all this to ourselves? Every Christian should be a sower of the word. We should tell others about Jesus. But as we do so we’ll find that there are different levels of receptivity among the people we speak to, and, as in Jesus’ day, some will simply not want to know. Perhaps one day they will, but until then there’s little point in trying to nag them into believing. If they’re not yet ready, they won’t understand. Perhaps that’s why Jesus told his disciples:

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave… and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them (Matthew 10:14, Luke 9:5),

something that Paul did in Acts 13:51 when the Jews in Pisidian Antioch rejected his message. What’s significant about this is not the actual shaking of dust off our feet – it’s symbolic significance would mean nothing to people today – but that Paul moved on elsewhere. If people’s hearts are hard perhaps we should prayerfully consider moving on to others whose hearts are softer.

But now let’s consider verses 21-34 which contain valuable truths about the growth of the kingdom of God. In verse 11 Jesus says that his disciples have been given the secret of the kingdom of God. It’s a secret because its truth is not immediately obvious. The kingdom of which Jesus was speaking was very different from the kind of messianic kingdom they were expecting. Now in verses 21-34 he shares three of the secrets of the kingdom:

·      The kingdom of God grows as God’s people let their light shine

·      The kingdom of God grows as God’s people spread the word

·      The kingdom of God grows gradually

·      The kingdom of God grows until the time for harvest has come.

The kingdom of God grows as God’s people let their light shine

21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.

Jesus says, Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? Matthew’s account makes clear what he is saying:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

As Christians we have received the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. We are to let our light shine. And we do so by the way we live, by our good deeds.

The kingdom of God grows as God’s people spread the word

We’ve already seen from the parable of the sower that the sower sows the word (v14). This theme is picked up in verse 26 where Jesus says, A man scatters seed on the ground. But we can only sow God’s truth in the measure that we’ve received it. Look at 23-25:

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

These verses relate to our reception of God’s truth. First we need to hear it. We need to consider it carefully.  Then we need to use it, and the more we use it the more we receive. The motto of one Teacher Training College, when translated from Latin, was Teach that you may learn. Of course, we have to learn in order to teach. But it’s also true that the more you teach, the more you learn. So share what you do know of God’s truth and the Lord will give you more.

The kingdom of God grows gradually

This is clear from the two parables in verses 26-32.

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

The seed is sown. In time small shoots appear. It grows some more, and then, in God’s time – we don’t understand how – it develops into grain which eventually is ripe for harvest (vv26-29). The tiniest seed, given time, may surprise us with the size of the plant it becomes (vv30-32). When Jesus first spoke these words the disciples could not possibly have imagined how the small mustard seed of the kingdom would grow to be the worldwide church of today.

How has this happened? Because Jesus said he would build his church. Yes, he uses us to do it, but as Paul said when talking of how the Corinthians came to faith in Christ:

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

It’s Christ who will build his church. But it’s our responsibility to sow the word and, like the farmer, patiently wait for the time of harvest.

The kingdom of God grows until the time for harvest has come

Jesus says in verse 29:

As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.

We can apply this to our efforts at sowing the word in the lives of others. Paul tells us not to become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9). But the final harvest will come at the end of the world. In Matthew’s Gospel, sandwiched between the parable of the sower and the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus tells the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30).

A farmer sows wheat in his field but at night an enemy comes and sows weeds. Rather than try to pull up the weeds straightaway, the farmer decides to wait until the harvest in case, in attempting to pull up the weeds, the wheat is damaged. At harvest time the wheat and the weeds are separated. The weeds are destroyed but the wheat is gathered into the barn.

In verses 37-43 Jesus explains the meaning of the parable.

The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

In the light of this solemn statement, we must surely rejoice that Jesus, not the devil, has the final word, that good will finally triumph over evil, that there will ultimately be universal justice, and that the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Meanwhile, let us do all that we can to be faithful sowers of the word.

Talk 11   Mark 3:20-35 Jesus’ True Family

Welcome to Talk 11 in our series on Mark’s gospel. Today we’ll be looking at Mark 3:20-35. In this passage we see three different groups of people, and their different attitudes towards Jesus. There were those who thought he was out of his mind. There were those who said he was demon possessed. And there were those who were seeking to learn from him. So let’s see what we can learn about these people. We’ll begin with those who thought he was out of his mind.

Those who thought he was out of his mind (vv20-21, 31)

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

From this we learn that it was his family who thought he was out of his mind. And in verse 31 his family is identified as Jesus’ mother and brothers. But Mary, above all people knew who Jesus was. Remember the words of the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:30-35:

30…But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.“ 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Surely Mary could not have forgotten these words. There’s an important lesson to be learned here. However great a revelation we have received, when things seem to be going wrong it’s all too easy to doubt. John the Baptist too had received the revelation that Jesus was God’s son, but when he was in prison he began to doubt it (Matthew 11:3). And in Mary’s case, her natural maternal instincts took over when it seemed that her son was in trouble. She wanted to take care of him (21).

But why did she, and Jesus’ brothers, think this? The thought came from something they had heard (v21). How often do we allow the things we hear to shake our faith? What they had heard was that such a crowd had gathered that Jesus and his disciples did not have time to eat (v20). Was Jesus becoming a fanatic? Was he working too hard? These were the natural concerns that any family would have for a loved one. But they had not yet fully understood who he was and so did not understand the nature and purpose of his mission.

And why did they verbalise what they were thinking? Perhaps verse 31 can help us here.   We’re told that Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived and that standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. Why did they send someone in? Why not go in themselves? Were they embarrassed? Were they ashamed of him because they thought he was losing his mind?

Of course, we cannot know the answer to these questions, but whatever their motive at the time, in Acts 1:14 we have the assurance that after his resurrection both Mary and Jesus’ brothers were present with those waiting for the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Those who thought he was demon possessed (vv22-30)

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” 23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

If Jesus’ family’s assessment of him was mixed with concern for him, the same cannot be said of the teachers of the law, who, incidentally, are identified in Matthew’s account as the Pharisees. Superficially their accusation that Jesus had an evil spirit may have come from misguided theological convictions – rather like the initial reaction of some of the traditional church leaders who claimed that the early Pentecostals were of the devil, on the mistaken basis that gifts like speaking in tongues are not for today. But Jesus’ response to their accusation makes it clear that their problem was not merely intellectual. Its root was spiritual – the hardness of their hearts.

In fact he deals with their accusation at both these levels. In verses 23-27 he points out that what they were saying was not logical. He bases his argument on the well-known fact that division leads to destruction. Where there is internal division in a household or a kingdom, if the problem is not rectified it will soon disintegrate, a fact for which history provides abundant evidence. A political party is unlikely to be elected to power if the electorate knows there are divisions within it. So, following this analogy, Jesus asks, How can Satan drive out Satan? The accusation that he is casting out demons by the power of Satan makes no sense.

Now, having shown that it cannot possibly be true that the source of his power is Satan, Jesus goes on to reveal the real reason why he has power to cast out demons. It’s because he has already overcome Satan. In verse 27 he says:

In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man.

Just a thief cannot steal the possessions of a strong man unless he has first overcome him and tied him up, so Jesus could not have cast out demons (carry off Satan’s possessions) if he had not already overcome him and gained the mastery over him.  This he had already done during his temptation in the desert and would ultimately do when by his death on the cross he spoiled the principalities and powers triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15). His mastery over Satan was a direct result of his being submitted to God, and James 4:7 tells us that the same is true for us. If we submit ourselves to God we can resist the devil and he will flee from us.

So the reasoning of his accusers was faulty. But that was not the root cause of their problem which was the hardness of their hearts. In verses 28-29 he warns them about this.

28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

Jesus’ critics were saying that he had an evil spirit, that the source of his power to cast out demons was none other than Satan himself. But in fact we know that he did so by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is made clear in Matthew 12:28 where Jesus says:

But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Notice also what Matthew tells us in verses 22-24. In verse 22 Jesus has healed a demon-possessed man who was both blind and dumb. As a result of this miracle performed by the power of the Spirit the people are wondering if Jesus might be the Messiah (v23), but the Pharisees deny this and accuse Jesus of performing his miracles by the power of Satan (v24). In so doing they were hindering others from coming to faith in Christ. They were attributing to Satan miracles that had been performed by the Spirit’s power and it was in response to this that Jesus gave his serious warning about the danger of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit.

But does this mean that the blasphemy against the Spirit, the unforgivable sin, is simply to attribute to Satan a miracle that has been performed by the power of the Spirit? Almost certainly not. None of the accounts tells us that the Pharisees actually committed the unforgivable sin. Jesus was probably warning them that they were in danger of moving towards it. This is backed up by the fact that elsewhere in the New Testament, particularly in John’s writings, it is clear that what is unforgivable is refusal to believe in Jesus as saviour (John 3:18, 36) and a major part of the Spirit’s work is to convict of sin and convert the sinner (John 16:8).

The best way to interpret the blasphemy against the Spirit, therefore, is to understand Jesus as warning the hard-hearted Pharisees (who refused to see his miracles as a sign of his Messianic role and preferred to believe that they originated in Satan rather than admit that Jesus was the Christ) that if they continued along that line of thought they would finally reject all the gracious promptings of the Holy Spirit in their lives and so commit the unforgivable sin of refusing the forgiveness which is freely available in Christ alone.

In the light of all this, how can we best advise those who feel that they have committed the unforgivable sin? We must assure them that the very fact they are at all concerned about it is a sure guarantee that they have not! We must point them to the merits of the blood of Jesus shed for sin at Calvary. There he paid the price and took the punishment for all the sins of all mankind. There is no sin so big that he will not forgive it if we come to him in repentance trusting in his atoning blood. The only unforgivable sin is to refuse the forgiveness he so freely offers.

Those who were seeking to learn from him – Jesus’ true family (vv31-35)

We have already discussed verse 31 when talking about Jesus’ human family. Whatever their shortcomings at this stage in their lives, there was always the opportunity for them to become part of his true family. They may have had their doubts, but they had not committed the unforgivable sin and, as we saw earlier, in Acts 1:14 they were among the disciples who, in obedience to Jesus, were waiting for the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. But we now turn our attention to verses 32-35:

32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

What are we to make of what Jesus says here? At first sight it would be easy to think that Jesus intends his words as a rebuke to his family. And this may have been partly his intention. We remember how he lovingly corrects Mary at the wedding in Cana (John 2:3-4) and how in Luke 2:49 he politely reminds his earthly parents who his true Father is. But even if that is part of his purpose, we need to remember that his words were not addressed directly to his family but to the crowd sitting around him. Jesus is not denying his earthly relationships. He is inviting others to join his family, his true family who are those who, like Jesus himself, do the will of God. Belonging to that family more than compensates for any criticism that may be levelled against us by our human family.

It’s interesting that those sitting around him (v34) are described as a crowd in verse 32. So it’s unlikely that he is referring only to the apostles he has chosen earlier in the chapter. And note the use of the word whoever. This in itself shows that he is addressing a group wider than the Twelve. In John 7:17 Jesus says:

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

He says, If anyone chooses… The invitation to become part of his family is open to all – even to those who thought he had a demon, if only they would repent and believe the good news. The crowd sitting around him were there because they wanted to be with him and to learn from him. And to be like him, to bear a family resemblance to him, means choosing to do God’s will, because Jesus sought, not to do his own will, but the will of the Father who sent him (John 5:30). And the only way to become more like him is to spend time in his presence. Those who have been born again have been born into his family. Here on earth we are constantly being transformed into his image through the work of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18), but one day we will be completely like him because we will see him as he is (1 John 3:1-2).

Thank God, we know better than the Pharisees, and even than Jesus’ earthly family. By the grace of God, we are among those millions who know who he is, who want to learn from him, who want to be with him, and who want to be like him. May that be increasingly evident in our lives every day.

Talk 10   Mark 3:13-19   Jesus appoints the first apostles

Welcome to Talk 10 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’ll be considering Mark 3:13-19 where Jesus appoints his first apostles. I say his first apostles because there were, of course, later apostles mentioned in the book of Acts – Matthias, who was appointed to replace Judas, and, of course, the apostle Paul. I have gone into some detail about this in my book Body Builders where I also mention Barnabas and James, the Lord’s brother, who are just two others named as apostles in the New Testament, and argue that there is no reason why we should not expect to see the ministry of apostles at work in the church today. However, today I will not be repeating those arguments, but rather consider what we can learn from these verses about this important ministry.

13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.

This verse teaches us important principles about how men and women are called to God’s service:

First, he calls those he wants

Actually, the translation wanted is rather weak. Those he wanted is literally whom he willed. In Acts 1:2 Luke refers to the apostles Jesus had chosen, or more literally, chosen out (i.e from among the rest). The call of God is rooted in the will of God. No doubt that’s why Jesus spent a night in prayer to God before appointing his apostles:

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose (or picked out) twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles (Luke 6:12-13).

(Note, we’re not talking about salvation here. We’re talking about the call to apostleship. God is not willing that any should perish, and he calls everyone to be saved. But not everyone is called to be an apostle).

It’s not wrong to want to serve the Lord in a particular way (e.g. to desire to be a church leader – 1 Timothy 3:1), but no amount of wanting will make it happen if it’s not God’s plan for our lives. The gifts and ministries God distributes among his people are given as he determines (1 Corinthians 12:11) and it is God who places apostles in the church (1 Corinthians 12:28). And as Paul was to write later concerning his own apostleship, By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Secondly, he calls those who are already disciples

It’s noteworthy that those he chose to be apostles were already his disciples. Mark has already told us how Jesus had called five of those named in this passage – Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew – to follow him, and in the passage we’ve just quoted from Luke we’re told that Jesus picked out his apostles from among his disciples.  

And indeed, we would hardly have expected anything else. A disciple is a committed follower, someone who is willing to learn, not just one of a curious crowd who has come to see the miracles. Jesus said that the test of a true disciple is if they hold to his teaching (John 8:31). It goes without saying, then, if anyone is to be an apostle, someone who is sent to spread the good news about Christ and speak with his authority, they must first be a disciple.

Thirdly, despite what we have just said, those he called to be apostles had not been his disciples very long

They were called at the outset of Jesus’ ministry. They had a lot to learn but Jesus called them when they were relatively young. The gifts and calling of God are not dependent on age. Paul told Timothy to let no one despise his youth (1 Timothy 4:12). There’s a danger that older Christians sometimes find it hard to accept the ministry of those who are younger, and, conversely, young Christians themselves can be tempted to feel that they’re too young to serve the Lord.

Speaking from personal experience, I accepted the claims of Christ when I was just fourteen years old and began preaching in the same year. Hopefully, my understanding of God’s word has increased considerably over the seventy years that have followed, but the gift enabling me to preach was there from the start. When I was still in my thirties God showed me that I would become the Principal of a Bible College, but I, along I suspect with many others, thought I might be too young. But it happened as God said it would. Don’t be surprised if the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers that Christ is still giving to his church (Ephesians 4:11) arise from the ranks of young people.

And, fourthly, those he called were willing to come

How do we know? Because they came to him. Jesus didn’t compel them. He called them. The choice was theirs. Even Paul, who could say that God had set him apart from his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15), had a choice about it. In saying this he almost certainly had in mind what God said to the prophet Ezekiel:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Ezekiel 1:5).

At first sight this seems as though Ezekiel had no choice about it, but as we read the rest of the chapter it’s clear from God’s warning not to disobey him that he did! Note that in this verse God knows Ezekiel before he creates him and appoints him. The key to understanding the mystery of God’s predetermined purpose for our lives is his foreknowledge. He chooses us in advance because he knows in advance that when he calls us, we will choose to follow him. God chooses us. Then he calls us. We respond. Then he appoints.

14 He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to heal diseases and drive out demons.

The main purpose of these verses is to reveal Jesus’ purpose in appointing apostles, and we’ll turn to that in a moment, but first it’s interesting to consider if there’s any significance in the number 12. And Matthew 19:28 may well indicate that there is:

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

So the number of the twelve apostles corresponds to the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. Now is not the time to enter into lengthy discussion of all the possible implications of this verse, but it does seem that Jesus is here giving an early indication of what was later to become clearer in the rest of the New Testament that the true Israel is not comprised of the physical descendants of Abraham, but of his followers, whether Jew or Gentile, who would believe as Abraham believed. The church was to become the Israel of God (Galatians 6:15-16, cf. 1 Peter 2:9-10, Ephesians 2:11-16). And the apostles Jesus appointed were to have a special role in the coming kingdom of God – which, incidentally, seems to indicate that The Twelve were a unique group and should be distinguished from later apostles like Barnabas, Paul and James to whom I have already referred. (For more on this, please see Body Builders).

But now let’s turn to Jesus’ purpose in appointing these men. We saw in chapter 1 how Jesus came proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God (vv.14-15) and how he called the four fishermen to follow him, saying, Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men v.17). They were to follow Jesus and learn from him how to proclaim the good news, and in so doing win other disciples for him. This same purpose is now made clear as he chooses and appoints the twelve apostles. They are to proclaim the good news and demonstrate its truth by healing diseases and driving out demons. And as we look at these two verses in a little more detail we see four key principles. He appointed them:

·      that they might be with him

·      that he might send them out

·      to preach (proclaim the good news)

·      to have authority to heal diseases and drive out demons.

that they might be with him

Before he could ever send them out to preach it was vital that they should be with him. They had so much to learn. If they were to proclaim God’s truth, they must first learn what it is. However great a person’s communication skills, if what they’re communicating is not the truth, they’ll do more harm than good. These men were to spend three years learning from Jesus and would continue to learn after Jesus had left them as they were taught by the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-13).

We can apply this to ourselves in three main ways.

First, there is no substitute for spending time with Jesus if we want to be effective in his service. Secondly, if we’re called to full time service, a period of intensive training is highly desirable. And thirdly, we need continually and increasingly to be learning what the Holy Spirit is teaching us.

that he might send them out

The word that’s used for send here is apostello. The word that’s used for apostle is apostolos. An apostle is essentially someone who is sent. However, it’s important not to assume that every time the verb apostello is used in the New Testament it’s a reference to apostles. The word is used in a much more general sense to refer to anyone who is sent, as, for example, when Pilate’s wife sent a message to Pilate in Matthew 27:19. For more on this, please see Body Builders.

But with regard to the twelve that Jesus designated as apostles it’s clear that in the context apostolos is used in a much more specific sense.  The word is sometimes used to refer to someone who is sent with a special commission and authority to represent someone else, rather like an ambassador who represents their country in another land, and that’s pretty much how it’s being used here. Paul certainly understood his apostleship in these terms for he saw himself as an ambassador for Christ imploring people on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

But of course, we mustn’t limit the responsibility to be Christ’s ambassadors to those who are called to be apostles. We all have a responsibility to share the good news with others. He sends us out as ambassadors to tell others about the heavenly country to which we now belong and to represent our King as we live in a land which is not our real home, for our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Why not ask God, Lord, who are you sending me to today?

to preach (proclaim)

The word translated preach here is the same as in Mark 1:14 referring to Jesus proclaiming  the good news. I must confess that some of the ‘preaching’ I have heard falls very short of proclaiming. The word means to herald or to announce. That’s what Jesus did and the disciples were to do the same because he had given them authority to do so.

And it’s clear from the last chapter of Mark’s Gospel that the disciples got the message. Jesus told them to go into all the world and preach (proclaim) the good news to all… (v.15). He promised them that miraculous signs would accompany their message, and in verse 20 we’re told that they went out and preached (proclaimed) everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

to have authority to (heal diseases and) drive out demons.

The reference to healing diseases is not found in all manuscripts but is completely in harmony with both Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts. In Matthew 8:1 Jesus gives them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness…

and in Luke 9:1-2 he gives them power and authority to drive out all demons and sends them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal those who were ill.

Taking these accounts together the message is clear. The good news of the kingdom of God is to be proclaimed and demonstrated with miraculous signs. This is to be done by those to whom Jesus has given the authority to do so. But does this apply to all Christians or only to those who are apostles? The answer is neither! It doesn’t apply to all Christians and it is not only for the apostles.

Why do I say this? First, it doesn’t apply only to apostles because it’s clear from Luke 10 that Jesus later appointed 72 others, who are not designated as apostles, and told them to heal those who are ill and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you (Luke 9:9). What’s more, it’s clear from Acts 8 that Philip, who was not an apostle, but an evangelist exercised a similar ministry.

And secondly, we mustn’t assume that it applies to all Christians because Jesus gave this authority to a limited number of people, whose names are given in verses 16-19, and he gave it at a particular time during his ministry. For example, in Matthew 10:8 Jesus gave the twelve people named in verses 2-4 authority to raise the dead, but that doesn’t mean that I can claim it as a promise, because the promise wasn’t made to me. If I am to raise the dead I must have Jesus’ authority to do so. And since Jesus is no longer with us in bodily form that authority can only come through the leading of the Holy Spirit. That’s why, after Jesus left them, even the apostles, who had already worked miracles while Jesus was with them, had to wait for the coming of the Spirit to empower them and lead them.

So the passages we’ve been looking at don’t give us a set of promises that we can appropriate for ourselves, but they do give us a clear indication of the kind of things we can expect to happen as we are led by the Spirit. We should expect miracles to confirm the proclamation of the gospel, but they will only happen as we follow the principles we have seen in these verses. We must spend time with Jesus, we must go where he sends us, we must speak what he tells us, and, as he through the Spirit gives us the authority, we will see miraculous things happen to confirm the good news we proclaim.

For more on this important subject, please see Just a Taste of Heaven – a biblical and balanced approach to God’s healing power.

Talk 9 Mark 3:1-12 Defying the Pharisees and dealing with demons

Welcome to Talk 9 in our series on Mark’s gospel. Today we’ll be looking at Mark 3:1-12. In previous talks we have seen how Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God (1:14-15) and demonstrating with miraculous signs his authority over demons and disease. In chapter 1 he casts an evil spirit out of a man in the synagogue at Capernaum, heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever, and cures a man with leprosy, and in chapter 2 he heals a paralysed man, telling him first that his sins are forgiven.

We have also seen how his authority did not go unchallenged, particularly by the Pharisees, who understood full well the implications of the claims Jesus was making – his right to forgive sins, and to be the Lord of the Sabbath, which entitled him to heal on the Sabbath and to interpret the law of Moses very differently from them. Now, as we turn to the first six verses of chapter 3, we see Jesus once again antagonising his critics by healing on the Sabbath day.

Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.” 4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shrivelled hand was there.

Mark doesn’t tell us which synagogue it was, but it may well have been the one in Capernaum again. The man’s disability would have made him unable to work, particularly if, as early tradition has it, he was a plasterer.

2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

Bearing in mind that there are no chapter divisions in the original text, some of them almost certainly refers to the Pharisees who had challenged Jesus at the end of chapter 2. They had clearly rejected his explanation of why his disciples were allowed to pick grain on the Sabbath, and would have hated his claim to be Lord of the Sabbath. To acknowledge the claims of Jesus would have undoubtedly required not only a massive shift in what they believed, but also a complete change in their lifestyle. People who are unwilling to repent will often look for a reason to find fault with Jesus – or with his followers as we saw in the last chapter.

3 Jesus said to the man with the shrivelled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

Why did Jesus say this? Did he want to draw attention to the miracle? By asking the man to stand up in front of everyone, he would certainly ensure that all those present would witness it. His miracles were signs validating his message about the kingdom of God and he longed for people to believe it. But at this early stage in his ministry, as we shall see later, it seems unlikely that Jesus would have called the man forward just to draw attention to the miracle.

Alternatively, from the question he asks next in verse 4, it seems possible that he did it as a direct challenge to the attitude and teaching of the Pharisees. What better way to expose their hypocrisy and to demonstrate the truth that the meeting of human need is more important than the ritualistic observance of the Sabbath, than to show his compassion by working a miracle of healing on the Sabbath day in front of the entire congregation?

But more probably, in my view, Jesus called the man forward for the benefit of the man himself. In the culture of the day, it would have been natural for people with disabilities to want to keep themselves hidden, partly because many people were revolted by any form of deformity, and partly because these afflictions were widely regarded as having resulted from personal sin. Here, as with the healing of the woman with curvature of the spine in Luke 13, Jesus’ calling the person to the front was a declaration that their disability was nothing to be ashamed of, and their years of embarrassment were now over. It would also encourage their faith.

4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

So far the Pharisees have said nothing, but Jesus knows what they’re thinking, so he anticipates their challenge by asking them a question. The Pharisees had so many man-made rules about the Sabbath that it was virtually impossible to do anything! But to do nothing when someone is in need is to do evil. If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them (James 4:17). Jesus was the only sinless person who has ever lived, and because he had the power to heal the man it would have been wrong for him not to do it. But he not only committed no sin, he was also never guilty of a sin of omission. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). Surely the Pharisees knew he was right, but they refused to admit it.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Notice the strong emotions of Jesus here. He is angry and he is deeply distressed. It’s not wrong to be angry. It’s right to be angry about injustice, about cruelty, about hypocrisy, about anything and everything that spoils the world we live in. And God is angry about sin because he loves us, and sin is the root cause of all that’s wrong in the world.

But here Jesus is not just angry. He is deeply distressed. He grieves over the hardness of human hearts, yes, even over the Pharisees’ stubborn hearts. His anger is mixed with love. He is distressed because he knows there is no hope for those who reject him. Hear the distress in his voice as he weeps over Jerusalem:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (Matthew 23:37).

The simple fact is, we all have a choice. To believe Jesus or not. The man with the shrivelled hand was completely and immediately made whole because he chose to believe Jesus. The Pharisees were lost because they chose not to.

6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

We don’t know why the Pharisees were so opposed to Jesus. Were they jealous of his popularity? Did they hate anyone who didn’t agree with their point of view? Was their social position threatened by Jesus’ radical teaching? Or did his responses to their criticism make them look stupid? Whatever the reason, their opposition reached a point where they began to plot how they could kill him. They were prepared to break the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments to defend their interpretation of relatively minor regulations regarding the observance of the Sabbath!

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 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. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.

7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 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.

The Jewish religious may have rejected him, but crowds of ordinary people were coming from far and wide because they heard all he was doing. Miracles, especially miracles of healing, always attract a crowd. We saw in chapter one how, when Jesus cast an evil spirit out of a man in the synagogue at Capernaum, news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee (1:28). The people brought to Jesus all who are ill and demon possessed (1:32). After the healing of the leper the people came to him from everywhere (1:45). In chapter 2 they gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left… (2:2). And so it goes on throughout the earthly ministry of Jesus.

And it continues in the book of Acts where, in 1:1 Luke refers to the record in his Gospel of all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Through the ministry of his disciples Jesus was to continue to do and teach as they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. Miracles like speaking in tongues and healings drew thousands under the sound of the gospel. And they still do so today, except where cynicism and unbelief are rife in society (cf. Mark 6:5-6 where even Jesus could do no miracles in his home town because of their lack of faith).

Of course, as we have seen in previous talks, although miracles may draw the crowds, they do not necessarily lead to repentance. Some come out of curiosity, others because they are desperate for a solution to their problem, but not all are grateful, as we see in the story of the ten lepers. So, what is the purpose of miracles? They demonstrate God’s love and compassion. They manifest his power. They confirm the message of the gospel. They make it easier for people to repent and believe. And they vindicate God’s righteous judgment on all who, having experienced them, persist in their refusal to repent.

9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him.

This is not the only reference in the Gospels to Jesus teaching from a boat. The reason given here is to keep the people from crowding him. It would also have had the added advantage that more than those immediately next to him would be able to hear his message. Living by the sea I have often noticed on a calm day how much farther sound carries over water than on land.

It’s interesting, too, that the disciples still had access to a boat.  Perhaps Zebedee, the father of James and John was still in the fishing business. The fishermen had forsaken everything to follow him, but God still had a purpose for the knowledge and experience they had acquired before their conversion.  Our natural talents, as well as any supernatural gifts he may entrust to us, can be very valuable in contributing to the spread of the message of the gospel.

10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him.

Of course, Jesus was not afraid to touch or be touched by people with diseases. We have already seen how he touched the man with leprosy without fear of contagion. But we also know that he was able to heal at a distance, something well understood by the Roman centurion In Matthew 8, and the Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7.

11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

Notice the word whenever. Jesus cast out many evil spirits, but they all, without exception, acknowledged who he was. And they knew that he had power over them:

What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God! (Mark 1:24 and Luke 4:34)

He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me! (Mark 5:7 and Luke 8:28)

They address him as Jesus of Nazareth, but they know that he is far more than a man from Nazareth. He is the Holy One of God. He is Son of the Most High God. They know that he has power to destroy them. As James, the Lord’s brother, tells us, Even the demons believe.., and shudder (James 2:19). Had James been present sometimes when Jesus had cast out demons and seen them cower before him? We don’t know, but whenever they saw him they fell down before him. And the day is coming when at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow… (Philippians 2: 9-11).

How did the evil spirits know who Jesus was? Because before Satan and his minions had rebelled against God and were cast out of Heaven they had known him as the Son of God through whom and for whom they were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers, or rulers or authorities, all things were created  through him and for him (Colossians 1:16). No wonder they shudder in his presence.

12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was

Jesus refused to accept the testimony of demons, even though what they were saying was true. Before we attempt to answer why, we need to bear in mind that it was not only demons that Jesus told to be silent. We’ve already seen in Mark 1:44 how he tells the leper he has healed, See that you don’t tell this to anyone. In 5:43 he tells Jairus not to let anyone know about how Jesus has raised his daughter to life. In 7:36, after the healing of the man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, he says the same thing. In 8:30 after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah, and in 9:9, after their experience of the transfiguration, he even tells his disciples not to tell anyone about him.

So, although, in the case of demons, Jesus may have ordered them to be silent as they were hardly reliable character witnesses, this would not account for why he told the people and his disciples to be silent. One explanation that’s frequently offer to this question, often referred to as the Messianic secret, is that if Jesus were openly identified as the Messiah the people would have probably attempted to crown him as their king, which was not, of course, in line with the reason he had come.

This may well be correct, but in my view another explanation is far more compelling. It’s clear that the restrictions Jesus imposed on his disciples were only temporary. In Mark 9:9, after his transfiguration, Jesus tells his disciples to tell no one who he was until he had risen from the dead. And in Acts 1:8 he tells them – and us – to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

So the restrictions he placed on telling others about him were temporary. But why? The answer surely lies in a combination of the two last points we have mentioned. The timing wasn’t right for the majority of people to know who he was, because if they did, they would want to make him the wrong kind of king and this could disrupt the years of training the disciples would need to fulfil their role of spreading the gospel after Jesus had returned to Heaven.

But that leads us to the subject of our next talk when we shall see how Jesus delegates his authority to the apostles he has chosen and gives them authority to heal the sick and cast out demons.

Talk 8     Mark 2:18-28     Jesus Questioned About Fasting and the Sabbath

Welcome to Talk 8 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 2:18-28 where Jesus answers questions about fasting and the Sabbath. As we shall see, these questions arose, partly from a genuine desire to know the answer, but more often from the critical attitude of the Pharisees who, like many people today, were only looking for a reason why they should NOT believe the claims of Jesus.

In the first part of this chapter, we saw the beginning of opposition from the Jewish religious leaders, especially the Pharisees. They question his right to forgive sins. They ask why he keeps company with tax collectors and sinners. Now they’re asking why his disciples don’t fast and why they’re breaking the law regarding the Sabbath. And in chapter 3, which we’ll look at next time, they look for an excuse to accuse him by watching to see if he will heal on the Sabbath day. They even start to plot about how they can kill him. It’s important to bear this overall context in mind as we consider the two issues raised in today’s passage which relate to the disciples’ behaviour with regard to (1) fasting and (2) the Sabbath.

Questions about fasting (vv18-22)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” 19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. 21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting

Although regular fasting wasn’t part of the Law of Moses, by the time of Jesus it had become an important part of Jewish practice and was observed not only by the Pharisees but also by the disciples of John the Baptist. But the behaviour of Jesus and his disciples seemed to call into question the ceremonial law of the Old Testament and how it was currently interpreted and put into practice. In particular, it raised questions about fasting, and, as we shall see, the observance of the Sabbath (vv23-28 and 3:1-6).

Some people came and asked Jesus

The Greek just says, they came and said to him. So, in the context, the question is asked by John’s disciples and the Pharisees. Interestingly, Matthew (9:14) only mentions the disciples of John, and in Luke (5:33) it’s the Pharisees who asked the question. As we’ve already seen, the Pharisees were constantly looking for opportunities to catch Jesus out, but the motive of John’s disciples may well have been genuine.

They were probably fasting and mourning because John had already been imprisoned (1:14), and John would soon be taken from them.

How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?

Whatever the motivation behind it, the question is quite understandable. Why weren’t Jesus’ disciples fasting? Jesus’ replies by using three different analogies – a bridegroom, a patch of cloth, and a wineskin.

Vv19-20 The analogy of a bridegroom

19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

To understand what Jesus is saying here we need to remember that in both Old and New Testaments God’s people are referred to as his bride. For example, Isaiah 62:5 God says:

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

(cf. The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-14, and Revelation 21:2).

God is the bridegroom, and his people are his bride. So, in using this analogy and applying it to himself, Jesus is surely implying his deity. But that is not his primary purpose here. His main point is that the period that he was with his disciples was not a time for them to fast. Fasting was usually associated with repentance, sorrow and mourning. But, in leaving everything to follow him, Jesus’ disciples had already repented and the time of fellowship while he was with them was a time for joy, not sorrow. The time for sorrow and mourning would come when he was taken from them – an early indication that Jesus already knew that he would eventually die for their sins.

On that day (NIV) is literally in those days. This suggests that the time for sorrow and mourning after Jesus’ crucifixion would be limited. It would soon give place to the joy of resurrection and would hardly be true of the disciples after Pentecost. But that does not mean that there is no place for fasting today. It’s clear from the book of Acts (e.g. 13:1-3) that there are times when fasting is appropriate especially when it’s accompanied by prayer.

But personally I see no clear basis in this passage for ritual fasting or for the observance of Lent, and although it’s right to remember regularly Christ’s suffering and death as we take communion (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), whatever the date on the calendar might be, I cannot help rejoicing in the knowledge that Christ is risen! If I mourn anything, it’s that my sin made his suffering necessary.

So the first part of Jesus’ answer to the question was that it was not the right time for his disciples to be fasting because they were enjoying fellowship with him while he was still with them. And, as we have seen, it also includes an implicit claim to deity and a prediction of his death.

But the second part of his answer, where Jesus uses two further analogies, makes another astounding claim. The kingdom of God which he had come to proclaim (1:14-15) could simply not be contained within the framework of Judaism. What Jesus had come to introduce was entirely new.

V21 The analogy of a patch of cloth

So in verse 21 Jesus says:

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.

The old garment of ceremonial Judaism was torn, but the new piece of Christ’s kingdom would only pull away from it, as it very quickly did as we see in Acts 15 with the church’s decision not to insist on circumcision for Gentile believers. The same point is made in verse 22 by Jesus’ use of the analogy of a wineskin.

V22 The analogy of a wineskin

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.”

Wineskins were watertight bags made from a goatskin. New wine was always put into new wineskins, because in time it would expand and stretch the bag. Old wineskins had already been stretched, and so if new wine were put into them, as the wine expanded it would only burst the wineskin. The lesson goes even further than the illustration of the patch of cloth. The new and the old are incompatible. Jesus had come to introduce something entirely new that would not only break free from the old (Judaism) and, if it didn’t, it would ultimately destroy it. But that brings us to verses 23-28 where Jesus is questioned about his disciples’ behaviour on the Sabbath.

Questions about the Sabbath (vv23-28)

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

It wasn’t unlawful for the disciples to pick the heads of grain. This was explicitly permitted by the law of Moses for the benefit of the poor (Leviticus 19:9-10). But Exodus 34:21 did say that even in the time of harvest the people must rest on the Sabbath. This is presumably what the Pharisees had in mind. But what the disciples were doing was hardly harvesting.

It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t get into a debate on the correct exegesis of these Old Testament verses – the Pharisees would probably have loved that – but he gets to the heart of the question, the purpose for which the law was given. It was given for the benefit of man.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (v27). All God’s commandments are given for our benefit. God loves us, and he knows what’s best for us. What matters is not the letter of the law, but its intention. This is made clear in verses 25-26.

25 “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

This is a reference to 1 Samuel 21:1-6 where David clearly broke the letter of the law given by Moses in Leviticus 24:9. And Jesus condones his actions! But why? Didn’t Jesus say that he had not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it? Yes, but he also taught that love (for God and for one’s fellow man) is the fulfilment of the law. So David had acted correctly because he understood that human need must take precedence over ceremonial law. So, as we shall see next time, Jesus taught that the Sabbath was a day to do good (Mark 3:4).

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

God created the Sabbath for our benefit, not his own. The laws about the Sabbath were given to ensure that God’s people took time to rest, did not exploit those who worked for them, and made time to worship the Lord – even the command to worship him was given for our benefit, not God’s.  

It’s noteworthy that in the teaching of Paul, the question of observing the Sabbath was a made a matter of individual conscience (Romans 14) and it’s worth remembering that the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week (i.e. our Saturday), not Sunday which was and – despite the wrong impression created by modern secular calendars – still is the first day of the week. Nowhere does the New Testament refer to Sunday as the Sabbath.

I’m so glad that most churches have now broken free from the restrictions that used to be placed on what Christians were allowed to do on Sundays. For example, we were told that it was wrong to buy anything on a Sunday as that made other people work when they should have been in church. I well remember putting a coin in a vending machine to buy a bar of chocolate as a group of us were travelling to take the Sunday evening service in another church. I was quickly challenged by one of my friends who told me that I shouldn’t be buying anything on a Sunday. Of course, the rebuke was well intentioned, but rather like the Pharisees, they had forgotten the intention behind the rule. The only thing I was making work that Sunday was a vending machine! And, incidentally, as we were travelling by rail to get to our destination, there were real people who were working to make our journey possible. My friend hadn’t thought about that.

But that brings us to the final verse in the chapter.

28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath

Wow! What a claim! We have already seen how, by referring to himself as the bridegroom, Jesus has made an implicit claim to deity. But now the claim is far more explicit. Not only does he again use the messianic title, Son of Man, to refer to himself, but as the last Adam, the representative man who came to succeed where Adam failed, he claims to be Lord of the Sabbath.

In making this statement Jesus is claiming to be the ultimate interpreter of the entire law of the Old Testament. He has the last word on the subject. How often did he say, You have heard it said of old time… but I say unto you? To understand it correctly the Old Testament must always be read in the light of the New, and especially in view of the teaching of Jesus.

So let’s conclude by reminding ourselves of the indications of Jesus’ deity we have seen in Mark chapters 1 and 2.

In 1:1 he is introduced as Jesus Christ the Son of God

In 1:3 the quote from Isaiah identifies him as YAHWEH

In 1:11 God’s voice is heard from Heaven saying, You are my Son…

In 1:34 we’re told that the demons knew who he was

In 2:10 he demonstrates supernaturally his authority to forgive sins

In 2:19 he refers to himself as the bridegroom, a title used of God’s relation to his people in both Old and New Testaments

In 2:28 he declares himself to be The Lord of the Sabbath.

It’s clear that the Pharisees understood what Jesus was claiming. And, as we shall see next time, that’s why they wanted to kill him.

Talk 7   Mark 2:13-17   The Call of Levi

Welcome to Talk 7 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. We’ll begin by reading Mark 2:13-17.

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.

As we saw last time, Jesus’ home was now in Capernaum (v1), a village on the western shore of Lake Galilee. We have also seen how, wherever Jesus went, large crowds gathered. There were two main reasons for this, his teaching and his healing. In Mark 1:22 we read:

The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

And in verses 27-28 we’re told that:

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Mark goes into great detail about the miracles of healing and exorcism that Jesus performed, but he says relatively little about his teaching. Here in verse 13 he simply says, he began to teach them. However, as we’ve said before, the miracles were not the message, but served as signs confirming the truth of the message (cf. Mark 16:20). In Mark 1:14 Jesus proclaims the message that the kingdom of God is near and tells the people to repent and believe the good news. In 2:2 he speaks the word to them, and in verse 13 he teaches them. It’s clear that he used a variety of methods to communicate the message.

14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

It’s important not to miss the connection with the previous verse. Jesus began to teach the people as he walked along. It’s so easy to think of teaching as something that you do in a standing (or sitting) position. But here Jesus is teaching as he walks along. A walk with someone is a great opportunity to share God’s truth with them. (When I was a Bible College principal I sometimes felt that I was able to teach my students more as I travelled in a car with them than when I was in the classroom).

It’s interesting too that Jesus felt able to interrupt his teaching to speak to an individual and call him to follow him. The call of Levi (identified as Matthew in Matthew 9:9) is almost identical to the call of the four fishermen in chapter 1. Jesus is walking along, he sees them, and calls them to follow him. And immediately they do so.

But the fishermen were earning an honest living. As a tax-collector, Matthew almost certainly was not. The story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 indicates that tax-collectors were certainly in a position to extract money under false pretences. And because of their reputation they were outcasts from Jewish society, being treated as traitors as they served the hated Roman authorities. They were viewed as the worst of sinners – but Jesus had come to call sinners to repentance, to seek and to save those who were lost (Luke 19:10).

So, Matthew gets up and follows him. As the fishermen had left their nets, he leaves his tax-collector’s booth (Luke 5:28 says he left everything), to become one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. I wonder if the other apostles were surprised at Jesus’ choice. There is certainly no suggestion that they were, and neither should we be when he calls people with a questionable background into church leadership today. What matters is not what they were, but what Christ can make of them when they repent.

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Luke describes this meal as a great banquet. The angels in Heaven rejoice when a sinner repents (Luke 15:10) and it’s right that we should do so too. Overjoyed at his newfound salvation, Levi throws a banquet to celebrate in honour of Jesus. And perhaps he did it, too,  to provide an opportunity for his former business associates to get to know Jesus. Those who have just found Christ have a unique opportunity to tell others about what he has done for them.

If we are really grateful for what Christ has done for us, we will do the same – at the ‘banquet’ we call the communion service or eucharist, where we regularly remember and celebrate the Lord’s death, and as we testify to those around us of the transforming work Jesus has done in our lives.

We also see in this verse how the sinless Christ was willing to look like a sinner (as he was at his baptism in 1:9) foreshadowing his redemptive work on the cross, where he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He mixes with those seen as the worst kind of sinners. But the fact is that we’re all sinners – or we were, until we met Jesus – and not one of us is worthy of his grace. The word Christian occurs only three times in the New Testament, but far more frequent is the use of the word saint to refer to Christian believers. We who were once sinners God now calls saints.  What amazing grace!

16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

Despite the miracle performed on the paralysed man earlier in the chapter, the teachers of the law are still criticising Jesus. Now the question is not, What right has he to forgive sins? but Why is he eating with sinners? Did these Pharisees really think that they themselves were sinless? Probably not, but they certainly considered themselves a cut above the rest. Jesus’ story of the Pharisee and the tax-collector illustrates their attitude perfectly:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

Of course, Jesus didn’t condone sin, but he mixed with sinners because their need was so great, and he loved them and sought to save them. Luke 7:36-50, where Jesus is in the home of Simon the Pharisee and where a woman who has lived a sinful life anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume, also illustrates what we’re talking about here. The Pharisee can’t understand why Jesus would allow a sinful woman to touch him, making him ceremonially unclean. Jesus explains that those who love him most are those who have the most to forgive. He tells the woman, Your sins are forgiven… your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (to repentance).”

Jesus’ message was that people should repent and believe the good news (1:15). This is what he came for. Of course we know that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and everybody needs to repent and believe the gospel. So Jesus is not suggesting here that the Pharisees were righteous and did not need to repent. But if no one is righteous then everyone, including the Pharisees, needs to repent and receive the forgiveness Jesus so freely offers. It’s true that the healthy do not need a doctor, but if everyone is sick, then everyone needs him.

Note, incidentally, that, although in the context this was not his intention, Jesus here acknowledges our need of the medical profession. Some Christians, because of God’s promises of healing, believe that to consult a doctor is an evidence of lack of faith. The people who take this view are usually those who believe that Jesus died for our sicknesses in exactly the way that he died for our sins. Both in my PhD thesis and in my book Just a Taste of Heaven, I show that this is not what the Bible teaches and that to teach this is not only erroneous but also potentially dangerous.

Although this is not directly relevant to the context of the passage we are studying in Mark 2, because it’s so important, I will conclude this talk by giving you a brief summary of why I believe it’s quite appropriate for us to seek medical help and advice, even though we passionately believe in the supernatural power of God to heal the sick today.

Firstly, it is noteworthy that on at least three occasions the New Testament actually advocates the use of medicinal means. One clear example, is Paul ‘s recommendation to Timothy  to take wine for the sake of his stomach (1 Timothy 5:23).  A further example is the instruction given to the church at Laodicea to purchase eye salve that they might see (Revelation 3:18), and although the use here is clearly metaphorical it seems hardly likely that such a metaphor  would have been employed if the use of medical  means were disapproved of.

Yet another example is the use of oil  and wine in the Parable of the Good Samaritan  (Luke 10:29-37).   In v.33 the Samaritan takes pity on the wounded man and in v.34 dresses his wounds , pouring on oil and wine.   He then takes him to an inn where he takes care of him.   It is clear from the context that the purpose of the oil and the wine was medicinal and Jesus commands his followers to Go and do likewise (v.37).  

Furthermore, there is no clear evidence in either the Old or the New Testament of a negative attitude towards the use of medicine. In fact, as we’ve just seen, there are indications of a positive attitude. This suggests that as Christians today we too should be positive about it and be grateful to God  for the advances in medical science that have been made since Bible times.

But given that the use of medicine and the medical  profession is appropriate for a Christian, the question arises as to when we should avail ourselves of it, bearing in mind that God has promised to heal us. In this connection it is important to realise that it need not be a question of God or medicine. It can, and probably should, be a matter of both. As Christians we should seek the Lord in everything, so we should not, like Asa (2 Chronicles 16:12) , consult the doctor  and forget the Lord. On the other hand, we should remember that God works through the natural as well as through the supernatural. It would seem foolish to ask God for a miracle  when there is a simple natural solution.

A good illustration of this principle is God ’s miraculous provision of food for the Israelites when they were travelling through the desert. Exodus 16 reveals how God provided ‘manna’ as food for his people. There was always enough for each day …until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they came to the border of Canaan (v.35). This is confirmed in Joshua 5:12. The manna  stopped the day after they ate food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year  they ate the produce of Canaan.

The lesson from this is very clear. God  has many natural ways of providing for the needs of his people. It is when our needs are beyond our natural resources that we may expect God to provide supernaturally. God does not work miracles when there is no need for them. Applying this principle to healing, since we are to pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), we should pray as soon as we are ill and continue to pray until we are better. But that does not mean that we should not consult a doctor  or take medicine.  Indeed, in most cases it seems that it is through medical  means that the Lord chooses to heal us. Where human skill is insufficient, however, as Christians we have the assurance that even when something is impossible with man, all things are possible with God .