A good teaching moment
Gospel of Mark: Jesus a life to serve • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsIt's always a good time for questions, or seazing a teaching moment
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Questions!
Questions!
We best learn by asking questions, sometimes of each other, sometimes of the teacher. Remember what a disciple is, a learner, a follower of a teacher and in our passage today we see one of the greatest teaching moments found with Jesus. But first, let’s talk about questions.
Me first, just a couple of questions, ok maybe 3 to start us off.
What has transpired just before our passage today?
What was the command that was given from the Father (v.7)
What was the instructions from Jesus (v.9)?
In our passage today the disciples bring up a couple of questions, so may we quickly look at the passage then I want to go back and focus on questions themselves then get into the passage more.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. 10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.
11 They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
13 “But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”
What did you see, what did you notice, what sticks out to you?
A word or two about discipleship
A word or two about discipleship
We know what disciple means, but what a disciple does is important too.
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What Jesus expects of disciples
To learn from Him (Mt11:28-30)
To follow His commands (Jn14:15; Mt28:19-20)
To deny himself to follow Him (Mk8:34)
What the Apostles expect of disciples
To grow in knowledge (2Pt3:18)
To increase in knowledge of both God and Christ (Col1:10; Php3:8)
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What Jesus expects of disciples
To learn from Him (Mt11:28-30)
To follow His commands (Jn14:15; Mt28:19-20)
To deny himself to follow Him (Mk8:34)
What the Apostles expect of disciples
To grow in knowledge (2Pt3:18)
To increase in knowledge of both God and Christ (Col1:10; Php3:8)
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
What was to be learned here? (keep it brief)
What Jesus expects of disciples
To learn from Him (Mt11:28-30)
To follow His commands (Jn14:15; Mt28:19-20)
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
What were they told to do?
What the Apostles expect of disciples
To grow in knowledge (2Pt3:18)
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
To increase in knowledge of both God and Christ (Col1:10; Php3:8)
And again, what is the instructions here?
Teaching a disciple, a learner is important. It is important to get an understanding of what the teacher is teaching and that is what the Apostles are going to be doing here in our passage today when we get back to it.
What Jesus expects of disciples
To learn from Him (Mt11:28-30)
To follow His commands (Jn14:15; Mt28:19-20)
To deny himself to follow Him (Mk8:34)
What the Apostles expect of disciples
34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
To grow in knowledge (2Pt3:18)
What were the instructions here?
To increase in knowledge of both God and Christ (Col1:10; Php3:8)
Teaching comes with a purpose, meaning it comes with application and each of these passages have just that, application.
Jesus is not alone in what He expected, the Apostles had expectations of a disciple too.
What the Apostles expect of disciples
To learn from Him (Mt11:28-30)
To follow His commands (Jn14:15; Mt28:19-20)
To deny himself to follow Him (Mk8:34)
What the Apostles expect of disciples
To grow in knowledge (2Pt3:18)
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
What did Peter expect here?
What Jesus expects of disciples
To learn from Him (Mt11:28-30)
To follow His commands (Jn14:15; Mt28:19-20)
To deny himself to follow Him (Mk8:34)
What the Apostles expect of disciples
To grow in knowledge (2Pt3:18)
To increase in knowledge of both God and Christ (Col1:10; Php3:8)
10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
There is so much just in this one verse, but that is not why we are here today, we are here to look at a good teaching moment by Jesus on a trip down the moment, but what did the Apostles expect here?
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
Here we have Paul’s example of being a willing disciple! May we be a willing disciple too and that means there has to be questions.
Role of questions for the disciple
Jesus taught by asking questions
Regarding healing on the Sabbath (Mt12:10-12)
Regarding His own identity (Mt16:13-15; Mt22:42-45)
Regarding divorce (Mk10:3); taxes (Lk20:22-25)
Finally, how about regarding authority (Mt21:24-25)
So asking questions is a great teaching tool.
It is good to ask questions too.
The disciples learned by asking questions
Asking about Jesus parables (Mk4:10)
Asking today asking about Elijah (Mk9:11)
Asking about why could not cast out demons (Mk9:28)
Asking about blind man (Jn9:2) about destruction of Jerusalem (Mk13:-14)
So, as asking questions is a good teaching tool, it is also a great learning tool.
I know I said a word or two about discipleship, a learner, but I think you can see why we took this brief journey.
You want to continue to learn, to grow, to be transformed , learn by asking questions or pondering questions asked.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions in Bible class or in Bible study.
Feel free to ask after a sermon, or drop me a note, E-mail, text with any questions you may have
Don’t be afraid of asking questions, remember questions are a great learning tool and a great tool for teaching too.
Now, believe it or not, now time to get to the passage itself and a couple of points we can get from it.
Questioning themselves about the resurrection (Mk9:10)
Questioning Jesus about Elijah coming first (Mk9:12) and Jesus response (Mk9:13)
What did He mean about resurrection?
What did He mean about resurrection?
Previously told about the suffering (Mk8:31) now we have had the resurrection brought in (Mk9:9) and that leads to questioning among themselves (Mk9:10).
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
then while coming down the mountain says
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.
And that brought about questions
10 They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.
Could you image what the apostles were thinking from what they had just seen and what they were just told? They had to be deep in thought.
Told not to say anything to anyone, they had to wonder why?
Told to be quiet for they did not understand yet why they had seen what they had seen, what it would do to them and for them after the resurrection. They had seen the display of the power of God, but did not understand yet the purpose of the display yet. So they needed to learn still the true cost of Messiahship. Only way they could truly learn is by the cross and the resurrection.
Told about the resurrection, but it did not compute with their belief
They did believe in resurrection on that final day, but Jesus is talking about Himself and on the 3rd day, so that did not make any sense to them.
Remember they also had the wrong concept of Messiahship, they were looking for an earthly king, earthly messiah with earthly kingdom, they were thinking too small.
Now this leads up the second question
But, what about Elijah?
But, what about Elijah?
Now from questioning among themselves they bring a question to Jesus for this did not compute to them either if Jesus is the Messiah.
11 They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Jews believed Elijah had to come before Messiah (Mal3:1; Mal4:5-6) as the forerunner
1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.
And add this
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
The scribes (their Jewish teachers) had taught that Elijah had to come before the Messiah would come, so this was not over their head about Elijah when Jesus says he is the Messiah and they know it and say He is, then did they miss Elijah?
21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
You have to appreciate their honesty, they are trying to get Jesus revelation and God’s confirmation that Jesus is the Son of the living God and the teaching that Elijah must come first, you know Jesus words matching up with Holy Scripture and they were struggling, so they asked the question.
Here is history, rabbinic history, freebie for you.
It was rabbinic tradition that when Elijah was to return prior to the Messiah that he would come 3 days before the Messiah.
Day One: While standing on the mountain Elijah would lament over the desolation of Israel and then cry out “peace cometh to the world”
Day
Day Two: While on the mountain would cry out “Good cometh to the world”
Day Three: Again, while on the mountain would cry out “Jeshuah (salvation) cometh to the world.”
They knew the reason he was coming to restore all things, he would mend all things (families) He would settle all things (regarding rituals and ceremonies); He would cleanse all things preparing the way for Jeshuah, for Messiah to come.
So, no doubt they would have questions, if you are the Messiah did we miss Elijah?
Jesus has to love them for asking the question, now He prepares to answer them in depth, this is the good teaching moment Jesus has been setting this all up for while they are on the way down the mountain.
Words from the Master (teacher)
Words from the Master (teacher)
Here comes the teaching moment, and you have to look and love the way Jesus does it, answers a question with a question then gives them something to think about.
12 And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
13 “But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”
What do you see, what do you notice, what sticks out to you?
There are some bold statements Jesus makes in these verse
What did Jesus confirm (v.12)?
He confirms that Elijah does come first and what he would
What did Jesus say Elijah would do (v.12)?
What did Jesus say was going to happen to Him (v.12)
There is another confirmation in (v.13) what is it?
Remember the prophesy in Malachi (Mal4:5-6)?
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
So, the Jews were looking for this, and John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah (Lk1:17) but still they did not believe and did what they wanted (MK9:13)
17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
And they would know this, so Jesus speaking of His own suffering should not be a surprise to them. Now in reality if the scribes and the Pharisee’s accepted John’s ministry then they would have accepted Jesus ministry and he would not have had to suffer and die and we would still be in our sins.
The apostles still had a wrong view of the Messiah, a world view of the messiah and they were looking for a great show by Elijah for 3 days and then the Messiah would be announced and there would be a great victory over the oppressor Rome and Israel would be restored to its greatest state it once was.
Jesus is helping to to see, and later fully understand,, that they cruelly killed the heard and they would cruelly kill the Messiah and that His life must be offered on the cross.
To the ones who trusted in Jesus it was very apparent that John was the Elijah to come and it was the fulfillment of the Malachi prophesy. May we be a people who trust the Lord and His ways even when we don’t fully understand them. The apostles did not, but they had good questions which helped their learning.
To sum up, questions, ask questions, be ready to have questions asked so that we may all grow together through the Word of God. Don’t be afraid to ask and don’t be shocked when pressed on questions, it is for our maturity in Christ to happen.