The Gospel Continues
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Gospel of Mark
Today we are going to be moving at a faster pace than the past several weeks
We are going to be finishing chapter 3
Over the past several weeks we have seen Jesus conflicting with the religious leaders
Now they are going to sit backstage for a while
And now we are going to see the booming growth of Jesus’s ministry
There are going to be some clarifying things that Jesus says and does to show why he has come
So as we read I want you to pay attention to the growth of the ministry
The crowds that are pressing in
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
(SLIDES)
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. 9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And he would strongly warn them not to make him known.
13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve: To Simon, he gave the name Peter; 17 and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
20 Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”
22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
23 So he summoned 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 but is finished. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you.”
33 He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Here we see a lot of new things happening
Our outline for today is:
(SLIDES)
Outline
A New Mission
A New Forgiveness
A New Family
A New Mission
A New Mission
The first thing we see here is a new mission
Now this isn’t a new mission for Jesus
This was a new mission for his disciples
You see up until this point they were simply following Jesus around
But here Jesus empowers them to be on the same mission that he is on
Part of this is because there was too much ministry for Jesus
The needs of the people were greater than Jesus could provide
(SLIDES)
9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him.
We know that Jesus is God
But Jesus was also human—he could only be at one place at a time
He grew hungry, he got tired
Jesus knew that as a human—even He had limits
So Jesus took his 12 disciples and appointed them to be apostles:
(SLIDES)
13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve
Disciple means student—Apostle means ‘sent one’
And notice what he calls them to do:
To be with him
To preach
To have authority to drive out demons
He is giving them a part of his mission
Before they are to do anything they are to be with Jesus
The same is true for us
Before you are sent out into the world to do anything for God
Our first priority is to be with Jesus
It reminds me of a story in Acts:
13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition.
Part of God’s mission is presence—Emmanuel
God longs to be with his people
God wants—he desires—to spend time with you
But not only that, he sends them out
To preach and to have authority to cast out demons
Just like Jesus had been doing
Remember, just like Jesus, the miracles served to prove that the message they were saying is true
The message was that “The Kingdom of Heaven is Here”
The King is here
Now that is the proclamation of the kingdom
But what does this look like?
What does it look like when two kingdoms clash?—there is war
But this isn’t Jesus clashing with the Roman empire—or any other human government
The kingdom of heaven is at war with the kingdom of darkness
The heart of his mission is spiritual
And Jesus makes this abundantly clear
The scribes saw all of the popularity and miracles of Jesus and we read this:
(SLIDES)
22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
23 So he summoned 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 but is finished. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
They were saying that of course Jesus could cast out demons because He has demonic power
To which Jesus points out the flaw in their argument
And he states his true mission:
To bind up the work of Satan and plunder his house
Mark has been alluding this for sometime now...
But there is a spiritual battle behind the scenes
Mark focuses so much on demon possessions and Jesus’s power over them
And as we are talking about this new mission that is given to his disciples
The mission is preaching the good news
But there will be opposition
Any quest/mission will face ‘the bad guys’
But Mark is constantly reminding us that ‘the bad guys’ aren’t who we expect them to be
It’s not the Romans who ruthlessly ruled over the Jews
It’s not the Tax Collectors and other Jews who flipped sides and betrayed God’s people
It’s not even the religious leaders who are leading God’s people astray
The true enemy is far more sinister and powerful than any of these people
And today we find ourselves in the same boat
We have a real enemy
As Christians we have a mark on our back
Peter and Paul both write about this reality:
(SLIDES)
8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
(SLIDES)
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
Battleground not playground (Tozer)
We have an enemy
We have a mission
We have other brothers and sisters alongside us
And this new mission, that Jesus has invited the 12 disciples into, the same mission that we are invited into
Is not against the evil people of this world
But against evil itself
With this in view, God is against Satan, but God is for all people—Humanity is his crowned creation
He wants to save humanity
Which brings us to the next point
A New Forgiveness
A New Forgiveness
(SLIDES)
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
I think we can focus on the negative here—but the positive is quite profound
Everyone is invited to join God’s team
People will be forgiven for all sins
But I have to take a moment to talk about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
Because a lot of questions arise
Is there really an unforgivable sin?
What does it mean?
Have I committed this sin?
One scholar defines it as:
(SLIDES)
Blasphemy against the Spirit—the unforgivable sin—is ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ.
—Kenneth Berding
It is not a one time thing—I said something or thought something bad
It is an ongoing rejection of Jesus—it’s a refusal to repent
Say you’ve wronged me
And I’ve forgiven you
But you don’t want to face me
And a friend is pointing out to you that I have forgiven you but you need to talk to me
A refusal to admit you’ve wronged me, and a refusal to face me is rejecting my forgiveness
You would be unwilling to receive forgiveness—thats right there for you
It’s unforgivable not because God can’t forgive it
But because we won’t let him forgive us
And our hearts become hardened to God
Wax vs Clay and the Sun
The Religious Leaders were on this path of a hardened heart
They witnessed God among them
Jesus performing miracles in the name of God
And their hearts were so hardened that they thought… it must be because he has power from Satan
Their hearts were so hard that they didn’t have room for God
But this is not God’s heart
He is willing and desires all to be forgiven
(SLIDES)
9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
But this brings me to my final point
With all of these people who have been forgiven, and given a mission against the kingdom of darkness, God isn’t making an army—He’s making a new family
A New Family
A New Family
(SLIDES)
31 His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you.”
33 He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus is redefining who family is
It’s not just biology
Especially in a culture where family is everything
No changing social class/climbing ladder
The picture is of a loving and rich father who adopts orphans who are broken and wants to lavish his love on them and change them
So where our mission is against the powers of Satan
Our identity is a child of God
A brother or sister of Jesus
We aren’t grunts in a military
We aren’t servants and peasants to a king
We are beloved children
We have been adopted into the family of God
Not only just as a member to do whatever we want
We are expected to join the family business
The mission
We are expected to love others, glorify God, and make the gospel known
And it’s not that we do these things to earn our position in the family
We do these things BECAUSE we are in the family
And God is creating and sustaining this new family to be his representatives in this broken world
We are pushing back against the kingdom of satan
We are the light in this dark world
And guys, this is the gospel—the good news
We are given an immeasurable forgiveness
We are given a new identity
We are given a new mission
This answers the deepest questions we all have:
(SLIDES)
Who am I?
What is my purpose?
Can I make a difference?
Who are you?
A Child of God
A Member of the family
Over all other identities (primary identity)
What is your purpose?
To be loved and cherished by God—family
To shine a light in this dark world
To fight against the dark spiritual powers in this world
Disciple->Apostle
Can I make a difference?
Yes!
The beauty of this is that it is not about you or your strength
Like Jesus says:
27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
We are in a battle, but it’s not 50/50
We are fighting from victory
David and Goliath
(SLIDES)
one of my favorite verses in the Bible
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Super conquerors
V-Day
Can you make a difference?
Not in your own strength
But in Christ, you are already victors, you can do all things
And so this was a long passage today
But it reminds us of some deep and essential truths
Jesus has called you
To be adopted into the family of God
To join the family business
To change the world
To be a beacon of hope in a hopeless world
We are sent out to this world with Good news
Roman evangelists
When the emperor was visiting
After a victorious war campaign
Our king is here
We have victory in Christ
Reflection Questions:
Reflection Questions:
What is the Good News to you?
What would you say is your mission/purpose in life?
