Mark 4:21-32

Jun 042011
 

Let your light shine!
Mark 4:21-32

Wow, this is a meaty little passage, and each section talks about spiritual growth and the Spirit that is within us.  I am convinced that each person is born with a desire to know God.  Some find Him early, some late, and some never, but it seems that all human activity is centered around trying to fill the hole in our lives that can only truly be filled by the Spirit of God.  Let’s look at the different aspects of the spirit in these passages:

Mark 4:21-23 – I used to sing a song based on this as a child.  Anyone who has ever been in Sunday School knows the song “Let it shine.”  What is supposed to shine?  The Spirit within us!  We should exude God’s love.  Hide it under a bushel (or a peck measure)? No!  I’m gonna’ let it shine.

Verse 22 takes a turn from this thought to explain that Jesus’ parables contain hidden messages so that they might be revealed.  These hidden messages are revealed to us today through the Holy Spirit, who helps us to interpret, and guide us in our daily lives.  Verse 23 contains a phrase Jesus uses a lot, “If anyone has ears, let him hear.”  What does it mean?  I see it as sort of a prayer to the Holy Spirit.  If anyone wants to understand the meaning of the parable, Holy Spirit, make the hidden meaning clear to him or her!

Next up is a warning (vs. 24-25):  Be careful what you listen to!  I like the fact that it follows the little prayer about listening.  Listen to good things, and more understanding will be granted.  Listen to things not of God, and even what you have learned from listening to good things will be taken away.

Finally, two parables about seed:  The seed is the Word of God (what we read and hear about God) planted in the hearts of men (our spiritual “hole”).  Parable one (vs. 26-29) says that once planted, the seed will grow until it becomes mature.  We don’t know how this happens, but it does.  Parable two (vs. 30-32) talks about a mustard seed (the tiniest of faiths) and how it can become one of the largest of trees.  The mustard seed was the Biblical equivalent of the atom in today’s terminology.  There was nothing considered smaller back then.  A little faith goes a long way.

A recap about the spirit:  if we have even a little faith that what God’s Word says is true, our faith will increase, our spirit will grow, and we will understand more.  The change from within as we grow closer to God will exude like a beacon of light that others can see.  This outward change will be infectious.  Don’t hide it!  Let your light shine!

Mark 4:1-20 — take 2

Jun 042011
 

The Sower and the dirt
Mark 4:1-20

Last time, I talked about the sower and the seed, Jesus’ first parable in the book of Mark.  I got an interesting and profound reply from Lori Sievert, a dear friend of mine, on that parable.  Here’s her take on this parable. . .

I often think the common names associated with parables are really ways we have devised to NOT see what Jesus was really implying.  Take the name of this parable: “The Sower.”  God through His Spirit sows the word — it does not go out and return without results (see Isaiah 55:10, 11). Even the same metaphor is applied. What I often think of this parable is “Dirt.”  We are “dust to dust,” formed from clay (at least our first parents were).  We are soil.  We go through phases in life, starting as rolled, packed, walked upon soul-soil.  What’s the spiritual jackhammer that breaks us up?  That water of the Spirit — it’s what we need to break up and prepare the soil.   Move to the rocky stuff along the way.  We’ve been broken up enough to accept the seeds planted, but not enough to let the word produce its results.  Is this where and why we see so many shallow Christians?  We are once again softened and tilled and broken and weeds are introduced to our lives. Fear, not faith lives here.  Weeds to a farmer are merely unwanted plants that rob the soil of the nutrients necessary for the desired plants to grow.  Weeds are easy to grow, and once they establish themselves, they are next to impossible to remove entirely.  I was told by my grandfather that certain seeds could lay dormant for up to 50 years! I am astounded by the weeds in my life that continue to crop up.  No wonder the fruit has such a hard time coming through the weed patch. When soil is finely broken up and the right “amendments” have been added, it becomes the tool to produce what is desired by the Sower.  Who made the amendments?  The Sower — not the soil.  We can’t add our own fertilizer, or remove our own weeds, or break up the clods.  We are just the dirt.  We have to let the Sower do his work.  Only then will our lives be fruitful — produced in our dirt, but planted by the Spirit by the Word.

That’s the scoop on the dirt.
LS

Mark 4:1-20

Jun 042011
 

The Sower and the seed
Mark 4:1-20

Mark 4:1-20 is the parable of the sower of the seed.  This oft told story is justifiably famous because it tells of the various responses to God’s word, and it can help us assess where we are in our Christian lives.  It is also a very useful story for a new Christian because it is one of the few places that Jesus bothers to explain what he means in the parable AND he explains what a parable is.  I suppose this is why it is the first parable found in the book of Mark.  It’s a primer!

What is a parable?

So far in the book of Mark, Jesus has used miracles, Biblical passages, and the occasional metaphor to explain who he is and what he is about.  Now he’s ready to teach spiritual truths.  He uses parables, as he explains in verses 11 and 12, so that those who know God will gain understanding, and those who do not know God will become curious and want to come back to hear more.  The parable then is a metaphoric “teaching” story that only a few will understand.  To the rest, it will be a mystery.

So why does Jesus explain this one?

This teaching in parable form, it would appear, was as new to the disciples as it was to everyone else; either that or they just didn’t get it (those who had Greek teaching, “Hellenized Jews,” would have been familiar with Aesop’s fables, which were also in parable form).  In verse 13, Jesus becomes a bit ruffled by his disciple’s lack of understanding, so he explains the meaning of the Sower of the Seed so that they might have a point of reference, or a formula to work with.  Today, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us in our understanding of these passages (plus 2000 years of Biblical commentary – thanks guys!).  They had Jesus, the ultimate teacher.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you in this passage, and then read Mark 4:1-9.  See how well your “ears hear,” then read Mark 4:14-20 for the true meaning of the parable.  How did you do?  What kind of seed are you?  What kind of seed do you want to be (the answer is “Good Seed” hopefully)?  How can this parable help you to see the traps the Devil is placing in front of you?

Mark 3:13-19

Jun 042011
 

A little number background
Mark 3:13-19

Today we find some numbers in the text.  What are these numbers, and what significance did they have in Jewish culture?  Also, Jesus finds some disciples.  Find out who they were.

In this snippet of scripture, Jesus names his twelve disciples.  Why twelve?  As we get into the Bible more and more, you will see a host of special numbers (1, 3, 6, 7, 12, 40, etc).  The Hebrews made symbolic use of numbers, so the numbers themselves mean something.  Knowledge of these special numbers can enhance your understanding of the scripture.  One (1) is God, or unity; Three (3) is the trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost); Six (6) is “less than perfect,” or evil; Seven (7) is “perfect,” or holy; Twelve (12) is the number of tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people; Forty means (40) “a long time.”

So… Today, Jesus, being one with God, and part of the trinity, chooses twelve who will represent His chosen people.  Let’s meet the twelve:

Simon, whom Jesus named Peter (which means “the rock”)
James, son of Zebedee
John, son of Zebedee (both sons of Zebedee were known as the “sons of thunder, perhaps because of their youth, zeal, and energy)
Andrew
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew (the tax collector)
Thomas (the doubter)
James, son of Alphaeus
Thaddaeus (also named Judas)
Simon “the Zealot” (Zealots were fanatics against Rome)
Judas Iscariot (who eventually betrayed Jesus)

Peter, John and Matthew eventually write parts of the New Testament that we see today.  All eleven (Judas Iscariot Being dead) go out in all directions to preach the Good News after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Mark, whose Gospel we’re in today, was not one of the twelve disciples, but may have been follower of Jesus, and was a follower of Peter.  His Gospel is based on Peter’s account, as told to him.  There is a book of James in the New Testament, but it was probably not written by either of the disciples named James, but by Jesus’ half brother James, who became the first official leader of the church after Jesus ascended.  Of the twelve disciples, only John died of old age.  The rest were martyred (killed in nasty ways) for their teaching of Jesus.

Mark 3:1-6

Jun 042011
 

Jesus lifts the burden of the law again
Mark 3:1-6

As we saw in chapter 2, Jesus knows how to heal the afflicted, which he does here again in a public setting: but Jesus always includes a lesson to be learned from the healing.

In the synagogue, there is a man with a crippled hand.  Jesus has no problem healing the man, except that it seems to be the Sabbath again, and

Rabbinical Tradition (not God’s law) states that no healing should occur on the Sabbath unless the man is near death.  Only then can basic care be given so that he might live until the following day when full-service care can be given.  In some cases, inaction or modest action could result in the harm or death of a person!  Does this seem ridiculous to you?  It did to Jesus too, so he asked the question in verse four, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?”  The teachers of the law either didn’t have an answer, or they just wanted to see what Jesus would do next.  In any case, they kept silent.

But Jesus knew their hearts and was deeply grieved because of it.  The man with the crippled hand received physical healing, but it was the teachers of the law who were near death because of the hardness of their hearts.  After Jesus healed the man, the teachers of the law went out in a huff to go ask the Jewish rulers (the Herodians) how they might kill Jesus.

Do we do harm to others because we do not act?  Do we get in the way of the progress of others?  God wants healing for His people.  The time to act is now!  May we have the heart for God today, and a heart for others, not just head knowledge and theory.

Mark 2:18-28

Jun 042011
 

Jesus lifts the burden of the law
Mark 2:18-28

I met a lady about a year ago who had spent a lot of her life reading the first five books of the Old Testament and counting God’s laws contained within.  She wrote a book about it.  She counted 613 laws, which she divided into Restrictions (365) and Obligations (248).  It sounded pretty heavy to me, but these laws, she said, gave her comfort, for she was Jewish.  I admired her for her devotion to the Law, but that law wouldn’t save her – only the love of Jesus could.  (Please pray for Penny’s salvation, as she is very old and her time is near)

Now, can you imagine in Jesus’ time when all they had was the law, and not only God’s law, but man’s?  The Jewish leaders had added another 670 or so “Jewish” laws that were also to be followed.  “The Law,” (God’s law) which was intended to keep God’s people pure, had now become a burden to all thanks to the human laws.  Jesus would address this in this passage of scripture.

2:18-20 Fasting was a part of the Jewish tradition.  At one point in the Bible (see Zechariah 7:4-11), the Jews were fasting two months of the year.  This was done so they could contemplate God.  They rarely did — they just starved.  Jesus (the bridegroom) in this passage tells us that while he’s on earth, there is no reason to fast, because God, in the form of Jesus, was with them.  They can fast and contemplate him after he’s gone.

2:21-22 … Now to those laws I was telling you about…  I still do not entirely get it, but it goes something like this – You can’t combine the many old laws in the Old Testament, and the additional laws that the Jewish leaders created with the new teaching of Jesus.  It just won’t work.  The “Old religion,” Judaism had become cumbersome and the laws served no purpose except to make people miserable.  They were a burden.  Jesus came to show us that the spirit of the law is what mattered.  If the law caused people not to be saved, then the law needed change.  Jesus streamlined the law by stating that if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor (all people) as yourself, then you are fulfilling God’s intent of the law.

Jesus offers the law of love.  What a simple yet beautiful concept!

2: 23-28 Well, here’s an example of what Jesus was talking about… Jesus and his disciples were picking grain, which equated with working on the Sabbath (“the day of rest,” our Sunday, their Saturday), a real no-no in Jewish law (I emphasize Jewish law; this command was not found in the Old Testament Law).  The Pharisee is understandably upset because Jesus and his followers were not obeying the letter of the law.  Jesus’ response?… Man was not created just so he could rest once a week; God set aside one day a week for man to contemplate His many wonders.  A more modern version for us might state that God did not create a church just for our mandatory attendance on Sunday, he created a place that we might get together voluntarily to worship and praise God because of all that He has done in our lives.  We worship God today because of love, and hopefully not out of obligation.

Mark 2:13-17

Jun 042011
 

Jesus came for the sinners, not the “saved”
Mark 2:13-17

Don’t you just hate self-righteous people?  Well, Jesus was no fan of them either.  At the house of Levi (a tax collector), Jesus was hanging around with IRS agents and prostitutes.  The teachers of the law (kind of like pastors) were also there and they thought Jesus should be with a different crowd.  What was Jesus’ reply?

Don’t you just hate self-righteous people?  Well, Jesus was no fan of them either.  At the house of Levi (a tax collector), Jesus was hanging around with IRS agents and prostitutes.  The teachers of the law (kind of like pastors) were also there and they thought Jesus should be with a different crowd.  What was Jesus’ reply?  Jesus replied with his mission statement: “I came to save sinners, not those who are already “saved.”  Well, of course he came to save the sinners.  That’s why he came to earth, died, and rose again.  Who though was “saved” in Jesus’ day?  Who was Jesus talking to?  Jesus actually used the term “righteous,” which means “right with God.”  The Pharisees (Religious leaders, Jews, who believed that a messiah was foretold in the Bible, and that he would be resurrected) certainly thought they were right with God, or “saved,” but they were deluding themselves.  The Bible states that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10).  We all need the savior Jesus.  The Pharisees could not see the very savior they were looking for standing right in front of them!  They were so wrapped up in their religion; they were blind to their need for God.

We as Christians can fall into the same trap of “playing church;” not understanding that we need Jesus to be saved.  God wants our hearts and our worship, not perfect church attendance.  I like the old saying that sitting in church makes you no more a Christian, than sitting in a garage makes you a car.  It’s true!  Acknowledge your need for Jesus today.

Mark 2:1-12

Jun 042011
 

Jesus heals the paralytic
Mark 2:1-12

Can you imagine this scene?  Jesus is inside a house with a crowd around him when suddenly, bits of roof start falling down.  A hole appears in the ceiling, and a man gets lowered down in a basket right in Jesus’ lap.  Sounds incredible, but it actually happened!

Today’s reading is a favorite of mine!

First off, pray.  Always pray that the Holy Spirit will guide you through your day, and through this reading; that you come to understand the passage and that you can apply it to your daily life.

This is a great story of faith.  Four friends desperately want to have their crippled friend healed, yet the crowd is so large that they cannot get near Jesus.  While some might turn away, these guys do some big time “thinking outside the box” and decide to go through the roof.  Mind you, this was not a common practice and it certainly ruined the roof, but such was their love for their friend that they dug through anyway.

So, down plops the crippled man and what does Jesus do?  He heals him, but not in the way you might think.  He forgives the man’s sins.  Some of the people in the crowd started grumbling about Blasphemy (setting yourself up as God in this case, which Jesus was), which could have gotten Jesus stoned.  Jesus addresses the issue of forgiveness by saying, “hey, what’s harder, to forgive sins or to make this man walk again?”  Today we might think the latter, but in Jesus’ time, only God could forgive.  They would both have been impossible to the Jewish mind.  So Jesus tells the man to get up and walk, and he does.  The people were amazed.  They had “never seen anything like this,” and in restoring the man’s ability to walk, he also, by inference, stated that he could indeed forgive the man’s sins.  Jesus was God after all!

Jesus can forgive your sins too.  Why not ask Him to take that burden off your shoulders today.

Mark 1:14-45

Jun 042011
 

The Authority of Jesus
Mark 1:14-45

Today’s text is all about authority.  Once Jesus started His ministry, look out world!  He was a man with the heavenly authority to do anything!  Immediately, people started to notice that Jesus taught with authority, commanded people to follow Him with authority, drove out demons with authority, healed people with authority.  Where did this authority come from?  From his Father in Heaven, powered by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus still has this power today (Matthew 28:18), and we too can tap into this power (Luke 9:1), but only through Jesus.  We ourselves don’t have this power or authority, though often we act like it (our sinful nature – pride, self-centeredness).  Only Jesus has the authority.  We need to be obedient to him!

Notes

Jesus picks up 4 Disciples in Galilee – Jesus starts gathering his 12 disciples, starting with Simon, who Jesus renames Peter (which means “rock”).  These four are fishermen by trade, and Jesus cleverly tells them that soon, they will be fishing for men(‘ souls).

The unclean spirit – This person was “demon possessed.”  The Jews did not know how to get rid of demons because they taught from an authority, the Bible, but they themselves were not authorities.  Jesus was the authority, so he was able to drive the demon out.  Later, Jesus granted us, as Christians, the ability to drive out demons based on his authority.

Leprosy – Leprosy is a degenerative skin and bone disease that still plagues third world countries today.  No one really knows where it comes from, but people who live in unclean conditions seem to pick it up easier.  The Jews knew this, which is why lepers were considered perpetually unclean.  They believed that leprosy was caused by an unclean soul.  They were literally “untouchable,” yet the first thing Jesus did was touch the man.  This would have driven the Jewish leaders insane.  Because of this and his other miracles, Jesus quickly became a “big deal” and had to spend the rest of his ministry out of the towns so he could handle the crowds.

Mark 1:1-13

Jun 042011
 

Prophesy fulfilled
Mark 1:1-13

Today we start the book of Mark.  It is the shortest of the four Gospels, and it concentrates on the three-year ministry of Jesus.  A full third of the book is devoted to Jesus’ last week on earth!  It’s not that Mark doesn’t care about the rest of the life of Jesus, he does, but he doesn’t want us to miss the important bits; so important bits are all you’ll find!  Mark is so excited about telling you the story of Jesus! The Gospel of Mark is a book of excitement and action.

Mark starts his Gospel by quoting not one, but two prophesies about the coming of John the Baptist.  John the Baptist was a prophet who came before Jesus to announce Jesus’ coming (A prophet is usually a person who forecasts the future).  Mark quotes from Malachi (3:1-3) in verse 2 and Isaiah (40:3) in verse 3, to remind us that the coming of John was prophesied, and that when John came, Jesus would not be far behind.  It was Isaiah who foretold the coming of John 700ish years before the event and Malachi 400 years before John came.  John now tells his listeners that Jesus’ arrival is imminent.

To “prophesy” means to tell the future, but it also means to proclaim.  The word “professor” comes from this word and professors proclaim what they believe.  This was John the Baptist’s specialty (Professor John?).  He foretold the coming of Jesus, baptized him and proclaimed that this was the man to follow as soon as Jesus got out of the water.  Today, we to can profess that Jesus is the one to follow also!

John baptized his disciples with water.  According to Acts, this is the right thing for us to do to as well if we are to become Christians (Jesus lead by example, as we see in this passage).  But Acts also tells us that when we are baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, which I think is way cool.  The Holy Spirit instructs us, guides us, makes us feel good in times of worship, bolsters our guardian angel to help protect us (yes, we do have one), and gives us peace.  Upon Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus out to the desert to prepare him for his mission.  God also sends us to dry places from time to time to prepare us for greater things.  It’s a good thing Jesus had the Holy Spirit with him!  We do too if we know Jesus and accept what He did for us.

One final note: It says in this passage that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee.  Galilee was sort of like Hillbilly country — not a place you wanted to come from or go to.  Apparently, the Galileans had quite an accent, so everyone knew if you came from there.  Jesus spoke Aramaic with a twang!  This just shows me that God can use anyone from anywhere to serve His purposes!

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