The Expansion of the Ministry of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Mark 3:7–19 (ESV)
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea
8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him.
9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,
10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.
11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
15 and have authority to cast out demons.
16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);
18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Intro -
I can remember the first time that I heard the gospel
11-12 years old, youth leader at church,
I avoided it
Came to faith at 21 years old
March 29th, 2009 (15 years ago this week)
But that was after years of hearing the gospel from different people
And I can remember being discipled by men in my life after being saved
Second street college night
former pastors in my life
friends in my life
if it were not for people like this, I may be floundering in my faith today
Main Idea - Our lives should be focused around evangelism and discipleship.
Main Idea - Our lives should be focused around evangelism and discipleship.
As we go through our text today, we are going to be looking at these 2 aspects in the life of Jesus and how we should be doing them as well.
The Crowd Expands (evangelism)
The Crowd Expands (evangelism)
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea
8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him.
we see a transition from the synagogue to the sea, he is trying to get away from people who were trying to kill him (remember that?)
healed a paralyzed man (2:1-12)
hangs out with tax collectors and sinners (2:13-17)
challenged cultural observances on fasting (2:18-22)
allowed his disciples to pluck heads of grain on a sabbath (2:23-28)
healed a man with a withered hand on the sabbath (3:1-6)
he is not well liked. (Pharisees want him dead)
But when he left, he was followed
a great crowd
the following was growing. Why? the miracles were what people wanted
this is around the time of the sermon on the mount that is recorded in Matthew
in Matthew, it is describe as crowds
What is a crowd? Could be thousands (feeding of the 5,000 was only documented as men; many more women and children)
in Matthew, which would be right after this, multiple crowds were coming
Why did the crowd come to him?
“when they heard what he was doing, they came” (not saying)
it was the miracles that they sought after
They were seeking after physical fulfillment not spiritual
this happens again later too (book of John right after the feeding of the 5,000)
26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
what Jesus had was greater than any physical food they could eat, he had eternal life
bread of life, living water
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
he started preaching a hard message (they were following him for actual food, not spiritual feeding)
people today still don’t want to hear that
prosperity gospel, seeker sensitive churches
people need the truth, but don’t want it
so they abandon it (members of our church going to these places)
Jesus experienced this too
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
it was hard for them to hear
the gospel oftentimes is not an easy pill to swallow
die to self, live for Jesus
and because of this, many left Jesus
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
just know that when it says disciples, it does not mean explicitly mean people who are saved
they are his students, he is teaching and they are learning (literally means learners)
eventually, the crowd will begin to disperse
right now though, they are growing (and getting hard to handle)
9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,
10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.
if he stayed in the midst of the crowd he would have been crushed
they were obsessed with jesus. why?
seeking physical fulfillment (healing, exorcism, food, water)
that is what it tells us in verse 10
Why do we seek Jesus? is it for something physical?
if we do not pursue Jesus for the right things, we will be like the crowds that are following him and we will leave disappointed
healing, bread, water
all these things will leave us wanting for more
like going to Logan’s Steakhouse for the rolls (you always want more)
Jesus is enough
11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
demons are a big theme in Mark
fallen angels, spiritual beings
what reaction do we see them have in the presence of Jesus? fright and terror
fall down and cry out
They are terrified of Jesus
does this not give you hope?
when we decide to follow Jesus, we are expanding the crowd just as they did.
are we following for the right reasons?
is it physical? (money, sickness, food, water)
is it cultural? (because my family does, because that is how I was raised)
or is it spiritual? (Jesus is all that I need)
What are we doing to expand the crowd?
really convicted lately of my own evangelism
homeless guy I gave a ride to before church (TJ)
tend to avoid rather than share
let’s expand the crowd
The Inner Circle Expands (discipleship)
The Inner Circle Expands (discipleship)
as we study Jesus, we see his reach
crowds (5,000), congregation (120), circle (120), and the 3 (Peter, James, John)
as of now in Mark, he has only called a few
he knows with the growing crowds that he wants more in his inner circle
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
he secludes himself
what is he doing?
resting, praying, fellowshipping with God
Jesus regularly does this
he knows this is not something to take lightly
he needs more men
in the encounters with demons, he has always forbidden them to speak his name
he appoints men to do the exact opposite
14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach
15 and have authority to cast out demons.
he knew the importance of having men beside him that would take the load off
the crowds were beginning to be so large that he wanted to appoint men to help
But it wasn’t just because of the crowds
Jesus had already warned the disciples he had that he would be going away
Jesus would die and would leave them
so he is giving men authority that would lead in his absence
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
these are the men that the church would be built by (not physical)
they would evangelize and disciple as they went and took the gospel with them
Acts 1:8 “8b and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””
We would see these men in scripture go from hesitant in a lot of ways to fully obedient
think about all they heard, witnessed, and experienced
they sat with Jesus, taught by jesus, instructed by jesus, exampled by jesus
They heard Jesus preach the sermon on the mount
Greatest preacher to ever live
friends sitting under great preachers and great leaders
Jesus was the greatest
and when Jesus went to the cross (death and resurrection) and appeared to them, we see this great expansion of the gospel in the book of Acts
through experiences with Jesus and being right there with him, they knew him and they believed in him
go back to John 6 when the crowd left after hearing Jesus challenge them.
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,
69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
you have the words of eternal life
is this how we hear Jesus?
is this how we treat scripture?
do we obey scripture as if it is the very words of Jesus?
BECAUSE IT IS!!!
when the bible says do it, do it
when the bible says don’t, don’t
obedience is a sign of Jesus being Lord
you are the Holy one of God
do we see Jesus this way?
that he truly came to save us?
that he is holy and therefore a sufficient sacrifice for us to be atoned for?
A.W. Tozer once said, “what a man thinks about God is the most important thing about him”
what do you think about Jesus?
these men who Jesus chose (except 1) would be the catalyst for the greatest gospel movement ever that is still going on today
who were they?
16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);
18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
I said before that one would not be part; Judas
this should be a plain example to us that just because someone says the right things and shows up all the time does not mean they are true believers
this is why I clearly tell us week in and week out what the gospel is
What is the gospel?
Judas betrayed Jesus
does this mean that he was a Christian because Jesus chose him to be an apostle?
no it doesn’t
it means that Jesus chose him to be one of his apostles
did he have power to cast out demons? yes
did he preach? yes
just because someone preaches, doesn’t mean that they have been regenerated
that is what the gospel does, it regenerates people
dead to life
2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
This is what the gospel does
just because someone can preach the gospel doesn’t mean that they are regenerated
(talk about casting out demons and how it was specific to the apostles)
did these men know what they were signing up for? No
but they had faith in Jesus and knew that he was God. And that was enough
These men did not just go on to live quiet lives and retire in peace
they gave their lives up for the advancement of the gospel
they were martyrs for the faith
As we will celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus this week, I want us to look at his followers
How did the apostles die?
Peter - crucified upside down on a cross at the hands of Nero between 64-68 AD
Andrew - crucified on an “X” shaped cross (not nailed but tied) for several days before dying. said to have preached the gospel as people walked by.
James - the first martyr, beheaded by King Herod I in 44 AD
John - the one to positively die a natural death. God kept him to give us the book of Revelation on the Isle of Patmos before going to Ephesus to die.
Philip - died by hanging in 80 AD
Bartholomew (Nathaniel) - Flayed to death by knives
Matthew - ? (some say was martyred, some not) not sure
Thomas - ? (questionable)
James (other James) - either stoned to death, or clubbed to death
Thaddeus - shot by arrows in Persia
Simon - crucified
These men died for what they believed
Jesus carefully and sovereignly chose these men to follow him
build the church
expand the gospel
go to the ends of the earth
He prepared them by discipleship
what is it?
spending time together, studying scripture together, praying together, challenging each other
he had his 3 main guys, but he also did this with the 12
This is where the church is failing
Sunday school is failing
people don’t want to be challenged and grow
people don’t want to confess sin to one another and be encouraged as we fight sin
My challenge
We need to find a way to do things differently
the way we have done this doesn’t seem to work anymore
pray with me as we try to find a way to do this in our church
I don’t know exactly what this will look like, I have an idea
But it may not be exactly what you think it should be
This doesn’t mean to abandon ship
be patient, be encouraging
most importantly, be involved
Build the Kingdom and impact our community
can’t build the kingdom in our church without discipleship
and through discipleship, we will be able to collectively find ways to impact our community.
Conclusion
so that is where we are ending today
evangelism and discipleship
growing the crowd and growing the inner circle
These are things that Jesus did and we should do
for the believers and church members, find ways to do this
We had a class last summer on how to share the gospel
we can do that again
be in prayer for how we do discipleship here
and when we find a good way, be involved
if you have not made a true profession of faith, I want to remind you of the gospel and give you a chance to respond