Mark 6
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Transcript
Intro
Intro
Covering Mark
Major Theme: Jesus calls us to be disciples through a relationship with Him.
Relationships take time.
It is true that Jesus calls us into discipleship with Him but often times we feel like when we accept Jesus as our savior we immediately have to become exactly like Him.
Let me ask you this
When you first meet someone do you know everything about them?
Or let’s say you start dating someone, are you going to know everything they like or dislike.
What makes them happy or sad.
No! you just met them, that’s why we spend time with one another getting to know each other.
But the more time you spend with someone the more you get to know them and the closer you become.
A relationship with Christ is just the same, when you first come to know Christ you don’t immediately know everything about who He is, but the more you invest in your relationship with Him the closer you become with Him.
This even happens with the disciples in Mark
As they travel around with Christ they are continuing to build their relationship with Him but they still don’t fully understand who He is.
In fact it’s not for another two chapters that Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ or the messiah.
That often times what it looks like to be a disciple.
We make little steps forward every day as we build our relationship with Jesus.
PRAY
PRAY
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.
Now we are once again picking up in the middle of a chapter so let’s get some back ground context before we begin to talk about this passage.
Context
Context
Jesus had sent out the twelve disciples two by two in verses 7-13 so that they may preach repentance and cast out unclean spirits
Side Note
Side Note
This is not an opinion that is rooted biblically anywhere this is just my opinion but I think the Bible is filled with things that make me wonder.
Sending out two by two was actually a common practice back then for legal purposes, it was the equivalent of catching things on camera.
However, when I read this I thought to myself, during Noah’s ark the animals flooded to the safety of the ark two by two because God was going to flood the Earth because of people’s unrepentant sin.
Now here in Mark Jesus sends out His disciples to preach repentance of sins and He sends them out two by two.
Once again, this isn’t an opinion that is provable but as I was reading that little thought just popped out to me.
The disciples go out two by two preaching, casting out demons, and in verse 13 it even says they anointed with oil and many were healed.
After they had finished they came back to Jesus and they were telling Him about everything that had happened
You know what this would have looked like?
This is what church is.
We gather together weekly and we share with one another our burdens, and our successes.
I have conversations every week on Sunday with people regarding them sharing with their coworkers about Jesus, or one of you telling me you invited your friend to Church.
The disciples are sharing all the amazing things God has done in their lives.
And just like most everyone after church what do the disciples do?
31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
They go and rest! They go to take a nap!
And as they are going they have people recognize THEM
This is most likely because they had just finished going around and preaching and healing!
So this great crowd runs out to this desert and they are following after the disciples.
As they get to shore no doubt they are probably exhausted and now they see this great crowd of people and they are probably super bummed out right, all they want to do is sleep and they get to the shore and it says the crowds had beat them there.
And as they step out it says in Mark 6:34
34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
Jesus saw this great crowd and He began to teach them.
Many of those people in the crowd were not running after Jesus they were going to see the disciples.
33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
They were running after the disciples but ultimately they encounter Jesus
How many of your friends that hang around you do you pray for that they might encounter Jesus.
Jesus sees this great crowd following the disciples and He begins to teach them.
35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
Remember, the last few weeks we have seen the disciples with Jesus as He calms a storm, heals the sick, casts out demons.
Even before this story we see the disciples themselves get sent out by Jesus to preach and cast out demons and they heal many people.
But as soon as Jesus says YOU give them something they get confused by what He’s asking them to do.
He is asking them to once again take part in the miraculous work of the Kingdom.
Some of us go to summer camp and we have this transformative experience and we come back and we go home and we sit and wait for fall retreat, or for DNOW to come around for us to have the next mountain top experience with Jesus.
All along though Jesus is asking you to join Him daily in preaching the gospel and doing the miraculous.
What do I mean when I say do the miraculous.
I mean proclaiming the gospel to your friends.
That might not seem miraculous but Jesus in Mark 2:9-10
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.”
Jesus had just finished forgiving this man’s sins.
Forgiveness of sins is so miraculous that in Luke 15:10
10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And this is what Jesus Christ invites us to do on a daily basis.
Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel
As Jesus invites the disciples to continue to minister with Him they miss it, they miss what Jesus is asking them to do.
But that does not mean that Jesus gives up on them?
No!
38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
Jesus does the miraculous and proves yet again that there is no one like Him.
The disciples did not understand who Jesus was or that He was allowing them to join Him in this miraculous work of ministry.
After Jesus is finished they still don’t understand.
In fact we see this in Mark 6:52
52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
The disciples had spent many months building their relationship with Jesus and seen many incredible things and they were still unsure of who He was.
In fact it won’t be another couple chapters until Peter confesses that Jesus is the messiah
The point that I am making here is this.
Right now each and every one of us are in different places in our spiritual walk with Christ.
Remember being a Christian is something that you do with all your life, for all your life.
It will be a process in which you daily build your relationship with Christ day by day, week by week, year by year.
and when you look back you realize that Jesus has been leading you deeper in a relationship with Him as a disciple.
When you first meet Jesus you may be a little unsure of what He’s asking you to do but the more you invest in your relationship with Him the more your faith grows and the deeper you desire to grow with Him.
PRAY
PRAY