Sermon Tone Analysis

The Things Jesus Knew, Part VIII

*Gospel of Mark            February 27, 2000*

!  

! Scripture: 2Thes.

1:3-12

 

*Introduction:*

 

This morning's message will be our last category in our present topic series on "The Things Jesus Knew."

In a way, this category of Jesus' knowledge of future events is a catch-all category that could not be separated out elsewhere.

But there is a progression to it.

And in a sense, everything that can be said about Jesus' omniscience is his knowledge of future events.

What we will see today is that some of us will fail as Jesus' disciples.

In fact, all of us will fail in some way at some time.

But Jesus knows this and still chooses us.

And he chooses us to receive present and future blessings even to the gathering of the elect.

But this will not be before times of great distress at the end of the age which extends from his first coming to his second coming.

In order to comfort and strengthen us (as we are prone to weakness even as his disciples) he has told us of events near and far.

What happens in the world is not outside his knowledge or his grasp.

And he gives us the key event in the whole scheme of his future restoration plan, the re-establishment of Israel.

Finally, what the whole world will see visibly is his (second) coming in great glory.

But the glory of the cross must come first.

*VIII.

Knowledge of Future Events*

 

*          A.

Failings of Disciples*

 

1.

Jesus Predicts the Falling Away of all the Disciples (14:27)  

 

          It was just after the Lord's last supper, the Passover meal, where Jesus instituted the ordinance of communion as a visual outworking of the next day's events on the cross.

They had gone out to the Mount of Olives and Jesus began to teach the disciples further about the events of that next day.

Jesus knew what it would hold not only for himself, but for his disciples as well.

He told them they would all fall away.

Judas had already done so.

For the rest it would come that very night after his arrest (14:50).

The falling away of Judas would be a permanent fatality, but for the rest it would only be temporary.

We see this in Jesus' statement that he would meet them in Galilee after his resurrection (14:28).

The backdrop of Jesus' quotation of Zech.

13:7, that the shepherd would be stricken and the sheep scattered, shows the inherent weakness of God's people against the overwhelming power of God's grace that he would reveal himself to them anyway.

It shows our need of a Shepherd.

Jesus knows our weaknesses and failings against which he is our perfect provision.

He knows those who are his regardless of whether they are always aware of it.

If it is argued he knew about the scattering of his disciples from Scripture, then he knew the Scripture would be fulfilled.

How many Scriptures of the fulfilling of God's grace does he know will be fulfilled in our lives?

All of them?

(i.e.

Titus 3:5)

 

2.

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial (14:29-31)

          Once again, Peter takes exception to the words of Jesus (S. 8:32-33).

He considers himself exempt from the failing that Jesus just predicted – that all the disciples would fall away.

His overconfidence is once again a foot in his mouth.

If Jesus says we will temporarily fail, then we will do just that.

Must we be so perfectly self-sufficient that we cannot accept failure even when Jesus knows about it and tells us?

          Jesus goes on to tell Peter even more of the details.

Tonight before the rooster crows twice in the morning, he would disown him three times (14:72).

And Peter still denies his coming accusation.

He is in denial of his denial.

Do we know ourselves better than Jesus, our Creator and our God?

He knows the details of all our sins – past, present, and future.

And yet he still loves us.

*          B.

Blessings for Believers*

 

1.

Present and Future Blessings (10:29-31)

 

          Disciples may temporarily fall away, but as believers they will be rewarded.

Peter comments for the disciples on Jesus' handling of the rich young man that they, as opposed to the rich young man, have left everything to follow him.

So Jesus comforts them with the truth that those who have left home, family, and livelihood to follow him and minister the gospel will receive many more times (100 times) as much of the same in the present.

And in the future will be added eternal life.

But there is another gift that Jesus mentions for the present.

It is persecution.

The multiplication of home, family and livelihood come with the church as we serve Jesus in it.

We have a new home, a new family, and a new provision much richer than anything we have known before.

This will never end and will only continue to increase with the blessings of eternal life.

But what about persecutions?

These too are gifts that draw believers together in our common experience of these other blessings.

Persecution is a cement that bonds us together as believers and one very powerful thing that confirms us as believers.

But Jesus goes on to remind the disciples that a proud attitude in sacrificial accomplishments is not befitting of them as believers.

It is persecutions that enforce humility and transform that proud attitude.

So Jesus knows that our sacrificial gifts will be multiplied even in this life, and he knows the degree of rewards that the faithful will receive in heaven.

And he knows how to transform our attitudes in order to properly receive them.

(1Cor.

15:45-49)

 

2.

The Gathering of the Elect (13:26-27)

 

          As Jesus was teaching his disciples about future events during his passion week in Jerusalem, one of the things Jesus mentions concerning future blessings for believers is the gathering together of all his elect at his Second Coming.

They will be brought back together no matter where they are in the universe.

Certainly this grand reunion in his name and by his hand at the administration of his earthly rule pictures the greatly extended family of which he spoke in 10:29-31.

We have not only a new family but a new home in his glorious kingdom as well as our livelihood in helping him to administer it.

And the greatest blessing of all is to serve Christ forever.

As much as we have seen of his omniscience, especially his own eternal life having been raised from the dead, we can also believe this that he has told us about our eternal life.

*          C.

Transitional Distress*

 

1.

Signs of the End of the Age (13:2-25)

 

          Now this discourse that Jesus was telling his disciples about future events contains much more than his closing statement about the gathering together of the elect.

It is a long string of prophecy, some of which has already come true, some ongoing, and some of which shall yet come true.

The credibility of what has come true testifies to the validity of what is yet to occur.

Here the omniscience of Jesus is displayed on grand scale.

Further credibility is shown by what Jesus says he doesn't know.

He does not know the day or hour of his return, just the season (13:32).

This must be left to God the Father.

a.

Events Past: The Destruction of the Temple (13:2)

 

          Jesus accurately predicted the destruction of the temple.

But it happened years later in 70 AD at the hand of the Romans.

The Jews were then dispersed over the face of the earth, losing their Promised Land – for awhile.

b.

Events Ongoing: Deception, War, Natural Disaster, Persecution, Betrayal (13:3-13)

 

          Certain troublesome events will be ongoing until Jesus' return due to the nature of the world in which we live.

Some troublesome events for believers, like deception, persecution, and betrayal, will come because of their belief in Jesus.