Jesus Teaches and Calls us to Follow Him (Mark 10.1-52)

Scripture: Mark 10.1-52

Translation: ^10.1And when He got up from there He went into the mountains of Judah on the other side of the Jordan. And the crowds traveled together to Him. And as He was accustomed he taught them. ²And as they were approaching, the Pharisees asked Him if it was allowed for a man to divorce a woman, for the purpose of testing Him. ³And to answer, He said to them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴And they said, “Moses permitted [people] to write a scroll containing the divorce-notice and divorce.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this command for you to address your hardheartedness! ⁶Yet, from the beginning of creation, He made them male and female, ⁷Because of this a man will leave his father and mother behind [and be united to his wife], ⁸and the two will become one flesh, with the result that they are no longer two but one flesh. ⁹So, what God has yoked together, a man had better not separate!”¹⁰And in the house again the followers asked Him about this. ¹¹And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹²And if after divorcing her husband she marries another man she commits adultery.”

¹³And they brought children to Him, so that He would touch them. But the followers reprimanded them. ¹⁴And seeing [this] Jesus got angry and said to them, “Let the children come to Me! Don’t try to stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to these kind of people. ¹⁵Amen I say to you, whoever doesn’t welcome God’s Kingdom like a child, can never ever go into it!” ¹⁶And hugging them He blessed them by placing His hands on them.

¹⁷And when He traveled out to the road someone running up to [Him] and kneeling down asked Him, “Good Teacher, what should I do, so that I can inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you say I’m good? No one is good except One, God. ¹⁹You know the commands, “Don’t murder, don't commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie in court, don’t scam/reject, honor your father and mother.” ²⁰And he said to Him, “Teacher, I’ve kept all these things from my birth.” ²¹But Jesus looking at him loved him and said to him, “One thing is missing for you. Go, sell whatever you have and give [it] to poor people, and then you will have treasure in Heaven, and then come you will be following Me.” ²²But because he became depressed because of the message he left grieving, because he had lots of stuff. ²³And looking around, Jesus said to His followers, “How difficultly those who have riches come into the Kingdom of God!” ²⁴But the followers were amazed at His words. But Jesus to respond again said to them, “Children, how difficult it is to come into the Kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s hole than for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God!” ²⁶And they were beyond shocked, saying to themselves, “Is anyone even able to be saved?” ²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, “For humans it is impossible, but not for God, because all things are possible for God!” ²⁸Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed You!” ²⁹Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you: there is no one who left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields because of Me and because of the Gospel, ³⁰if he would not receive a hundred times as many brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields now in this time with persecution, and in the coming era eternal life! ³¹But many people in first place will be last, and the last first.”

³²And they were going up on the road into Jerusalem and Jesus was leading ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those following Him were scared.  And taking the Twelve aside again, He began to say to them the things that were about to happen to Him, ³³“Look, we are going up into Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scholars. And they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the nations. ³⁴And they will make fun of Him and spit on Him and whip Him and kill [Him], and after three days He will be raised up.

³⁵And James and John the sons of Zebedee approached Him, saying to Him, “Teacher, we desire that You do for us whatever we ask You. ³⁶And He said to them, “What do you desire that I do for you?” ³⁷And they said to Him, “Give us that we can sit in You glory, one on your right and one on the left.” ³⁸And Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup, which I will drink, or to be baptized with the baptism, which I will be baptized?” ³⁹And they said to Him, “We can.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup, which I will drink, you will drink, and the baptism, which I am baptized with, you will be baptized with! ⁴⁰But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to give, but who it is prepared for." ⁴¹And when they heard, the ten began to be angry about James and John. ⁴²And summoning them, Jesus said to them, “You know that those seeming to rule over the nations lord it over them and the great ones of them abuse their authority over them. ⁴³But it is not that way among you. Rather whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. ⁴⁴And whoever among you wants to be in first place will be a slave of all people! ⁴⁵Because even the Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many people.”

⁴⁶And they came into Jericho. And when He was going out from Jericho along with His followers and a sizable crowd, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting near the road. ⁴⁷And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to yell and say, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸And many people reprimanded him, so that he would be silent. But how much more he yelled, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹And Jesus standing still said, “Summon him.” And they summoned the blind man saying to him, “Cheer up. Get up. He’s summoning you. ⁵⁰And taking off his robe, standing up, he went to Jesus. ⁵¹And Jesus to answer said to him, “What do you desire that I do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabbuni, that I will see again!” ⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved/healed you. And immediately he could see again and he followed Him on the road.

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Jesus Teaches on Marriage (vv.1-12)

b.      Jesus Teaches on the Children and the Kingdom of God (vv.13-16)

c.       Jesus Teaches on Eternal Life (vv.17-31)

                                                              i.      Jesus Calls the Rich Man to Repentance

                                                            ii.      Jesus Promises Rewards for Those Who leave everything to follow Him

d.      Jesus Teaches on His Immediate Future (vv.32-34)

e.       Jesus Teaches on Rank and Authority and Leadership (vv.35-45)

                                                              i.      James and John ask for the top two spots in the Kingdom

                                                            ii.      Jesus tells them real leadership and rulership is about service and sacrifice

f.       Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus (vv.46-52)

2.      Themes

a.       Faithfulness/Importance of Marriage

b.      Importance of Children

c.       Risk of Riches

d.      Reversal of Expectations

e.       Authority

f.       Humility

g.      Suffering, Death and Resurrection of the Son of Man

h.      Following Jesus

i.        Faith

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus died for our sins!

b.      Jesus is Humble!

c.       Church leaders should be humble!

d.      Jesus is worth losing everything!

e.       Marriage is for life!

f.       Children are precious!

g.      We have to trust that Jesus will hear and respond, despite opposition

h.      Salvation is a work of God, it does not happen because of humans, but by God: saving someone is God’s work, which means that works don’t work to save people

Applications

1.      We are rich, but in our day it may not just be money, it can be entertainment, and it can be that that we refuse to give up for Jesus. However, it is also very likely our money and stuff. We don’t use our money for the sake of others, but for ourselves. We hoard our money. We don’t give it up for God. Look, many of you may be poor, but perhaps there are others who are even more fully poor. But really the problem is a heart issue, it is that we always want more and more and we won’t let it go. How come if we make $1000 we feel like we were generous to God because we gave Him $20. How come we are not ever willing to give God enough money that we actually feel the loss? It’s not about percentages, God understands when you are going through money problems and may have given you the money He had given you specifically so you can pay your bills, and perhaps that is even how He expects you to use most of your money, but what if He gave us enough, just enough that we would still feel the tension between loving money and loving Him?

2.      Marriage is life. Divorce is a horrible thing. A lot of times when we look at people getting married we say, “Oh isn’t it so cute that these two people are getting married” but only thinking of it as a human decision and a human action and a human commitment. But marriage as far as Jesus is concerned is not a human initiated action, it is God bringing to people together and sealing them together and making them truly one unity of flesh. That is a beautiful thing. That is what makes marriage special, it is that God is doing a miracle between two people. Jesus sees every marriage as being arranged and done by God. God didn’t just make Adam and Eve perfect for each other and marry them to each other, no, as far as Jesus is concerned God does that for every marriage that ever happens! That’s why divorce is so bad, because getting a divorce is fighting God. Moreover, it is because God is the arranger of all marriages ever, that we can trust Him to give us the right person, and the kind of person that He promises for us. The Bible explains that Christians should marry Christians, and if you are all interested in someone who is not a Christian and you start acting on your attractions, it is fundamentally a rejection that God will marry you to the person best for you, and He has told us that best for you, if you are a true Christian does not include a non-Christian or someone of the same gender. Faith is just as key here as anywhere else. And it is because marriage is for life that you don’t want to marry someone who is not a Christian anyways, because you will be condemning your life to unnecessary pain, struggle, and very possibly a loss of faith. Moreover, the reason people get divorced is because they refuse to embrace what God has called them to. Hardheartedness is the same thing that Jesus says about people who won’t follow Him—the problem is the same, sticking it out and making a happy marriage and following Jesus both require that people are not hardhearted, insensitive to God’s will! Why do people reject their marriage, which is an act of God, and why do people reject Jesus, God’s Son, because they have hard hearts!

3.      Children are important, and you have to be humble and accepting and trusting like a child to be with Jesus. Jesus loves children, so please, treat them with respect! Love them! Want them! So many people say they love other people’s kids but then never want any or many of their own, that’s not how Jesus saw kids! He loved kids!

4.      Jesus is always worth the sacrifice of following Him, He will be worth it now, and for forever!

5.      Jesus is teaching us what leadership in the church is like, and what Jesus is even expecting of followers of Jesus in general: Humility, service, sacrifice! Jesus wants us to follow Him in serving others at our own expense!

6.      Jesus wants us to trust Him to answer our requests, James and John did, Blind Bartimaeus did. However, sometimes Jesus wants us to trust Him and call out to Him, even when people try to stop us, when they tell us to be quiet because God doesn’t want to hear your prayers, or that God can’t because He doesn’t exist—Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from calling out to Jesus for mercy in faith! 

Jesus God to be Believed and Obeyed (Mark 9.2-50)

Scripture: Mark 9.2-50

Translation: ^9.2And after 6 days, Jesus took Peter and James and John along with Him and brought them up into the high mountain by themselves alone. And He was transformed before them. ³And His clothes became shining, very white, which no cloth refiner on earth can whiten so much! ⁴And Eljiah was seen by them with Moses and they were having a conversation with Jesus. ⁵And responding Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good we’re here. And we should make tents, one for You, and one for Moses and one for Elijah!” ⁶because he didn’t know what he was saying in response, because they were terrified. ⁷And a cloud came shadowing to them. And a Voice came from the cloud, “This is My Loved Son! Listen to Him!” ⁸And suddenly when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone, but Jesus alone with themselves. ⁹And while they were going down from the mountain, He ordered them that they should not tell anyone what they saw, except whenever the Son of Man had raised from the dead. ¹⁰And they held on to the message, while discussing among themselves what “rising from the dead” was. ¹¹And when they asked Him by saying, “Why do the scholars say that it’s necessary that Elijah come first?” ¹²And He said to them, “On the one hand, Elijah who comes first will restore all things.  And how it is written about the Son of Man that He would suffer many things and be treated like a nobody? ¹³But on the other hand I say to you that indeed Elijah has come and they did whatever they wanted to him, just like it was written about him.”

¹⁴And coming to the followers they saw a huge crowd around them and scholars arguing with them. ¹⁵And immediately the whole crowd, because they saw Him, were really excited and running to [Him] they said hello to Him. ¹⁶And He asked them, “Why are you arguing with them?” ¹⁷And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I’m bringing my son who has a speechless spirit to You. ¹⁸And wherever it seizes him it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and he gnashes his teeth and is paralyzed. And I said to Your followers that they should throw it out, but they weren’t strong enough.” ¹⁹And to answer He said to them, “Oh faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰And they brought him to Him. And when He saw him, the spirit immediately sent him into convulsions. And falling on the ground he rolled around foaming at the mouth. ²¹And He asked his father, How much is the time that this has been happening to him?” And he said, “From the childhood. ²²And many times it even throws him into fire and into water, so that it can destroy him. But if anything is possible, help us because you have compassion on us!” ²³And Jesus said to him, “‘if it is possible’ all things are possible for the person who believes!” ²⁴Immediately, the father holding his son tightly said, “I believe! Help my unbelief!” ²⁵And when Jesus saw that the crowd was running together, He reprimanded the unclean spirit by saying to it, “Speechless and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and don’t go into him anymore!” ²⁶And screaming and sending [him] into many convulsions, it came out. And he became like a dead person, such that many people were saying that he died. ²⁷But Jesus holding his hand, raised him and he stood up. ²⁸And when He came into a house, His followers privately were asking Him, “Why couldn’t we throw it out?” ²⁹And He said to them, “This kind is not able to be thrown out by anything, except by prayer.”  ³⁰And going away from there, they traveled through Galilee, and He didn’t want anyone to know, ³¹because He taught His followers and said to them that the Son of Man will be handed over into the hands of men, and they will Him, and when He was killed after three days He will be raised up. ³²And they didn’t know what He was saying, and they were scared to ask Him. ³³And they came into Capernaum. And when He came in the house, He asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴And they were silent, because they were arguing with one another on the way about who was greater. ³⁵And sitting down He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and a servant of all.” ³⁶And taking a child, He stood him/her in the middle of them and hugging him/her, He said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes one of these kind of children on the basis of My Name, welcomes Me. And whoever would welcome Me, doesn’t welcome Me, but the One Who sent Me!” ³⁸And John said to him, “Teacher, we know someone throwing out demons in Your Name and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” ³⁹And Jesus said, “Don’t try to stop him, because there is no one who will do a miracle in My Name and will quickly say bad things about Me, ⁴⁰because whoever is not against us is for us! ⁴¹Because whoever would give you a cup of water to drink in [My] Name, because you are the Messiah’s, Amen I say to you that he won’t ever lose his reward! ⁴¹And whoever would trip up on of these little ones who believe in Me, it is good for him rather if a donkey’s millstone was put around his neck and he was thrown into the sea! ⁴³And if your hand trips you up, chop it off! It is good that you enter into life deformed than while having two hands to be go away into hell, into the inextinguishable fire! ⁴⁵And if your foot would trip you up, chop it off! It is good that you go into life crippled than although having two feet to be thrown into hell! ⁴⁷And if your eye would trip you up, throw it out! It is good that you go into the Kingdom of God one-eyed than although having two eyes to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸where their worm doesn’t end and the fire doesn’t get put out. ⁴⁹You see everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰Salt is good, but if the salt becomes saltless, what do you season it with? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another!”

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Jesus is Transformed on the Mountain (vv.2-8)

b.      The Conversation on the Way Down the Mountain (vv.9-13)

c.       Jesus Exorcises a Possessed Boy His Followers Couldn’t Exorcise (vv.14-29)

d.      Jesus Prophecies His Suffering, Death, and Resurrection (vv.30-32)

                                                              i.      Jesus prophesies

                                                            ii.      His Followers don’t get it

e.       Jesus Teaches on What is Really Important (vv.33-50)

                                                              i.      Jesus teaches on humility and leadership (vv.33-37)

1.      Jesus calls out His disciples lack of humility

2.      Jesus tells them the first rank person is a servant

3.      Jesus shows them children are important

                                                            ii.      Jesus teaches on humility and mission (vv.38-41)

                                                          iii.      Jesus Warns about What’s Better (vv.42-50)

1.      Death is better than wrecking the faith of a child (v.42)

2.      Losing a hand is better than going to hell because of sin (v.43)

3.      Losing a foot is better than going to hell because of sin (v.45)

4.      Losing an eye is better than going to hell because of sin (vv.47-48)

                                                          iv.      Jesus tells His followers to be Salty (vv.49-50)

2.      Themes

a.       Resurrection

b.      Jesus as Yahweh

c.       Jesus as Teacher

d.      Jesus as Lord over all

                                                              i.      Jesus as Lord over Knowledge

                                                            ii.      Jesus as Lord over Demons

                                                          iii.      Jesus as Lord over Faith (cf. Help my unbelief assumes Jesus can change his unbelief)

e.       Mission

f.       Humility

g.      What is better

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus is Yahweh

b.      Jesus is the Ultimate Prophet, Lord over the Bible

c.       Jesus is Lord over all

d.      Jesus is humble

e.       Being a leader is about humility, without humility we will subvert the mission and fight with each other

f.       Hell is a real place and going there is a real possibility for those who trip up on sin or cause others, especially kids, to be tripped up in sin

g.      Unity and peace is a really necessity

h.      Our common mission should give us some unity and humility and concern for other people serving and preaching and healing in Jesus’ Name

i.        Jesus really did raise from the dead, and it guarantees our own resurrection in Him!

4.      Notes

a.       Everyone will be salted with fire or everyone in the fire will be salted, it is hard to choose between seeing fire as testing that gives believers a salty quality or if it is saying that our lives as living sacrifices to God need to be salty, holy and reflective of Jesus and His transformative distinctness

Applications

1.      Jesus is the Ultimate Prophet, the Final authority on the Bible, because He is no mere prophet He is Yahweh, God Himself! Jesus tells us what the Bible means, because ultimately He is its Author!

2.      This means that when we seek to understand the Bible, we should go to Jesus for insight and understanding and correct application

3.      Jesus is Yahweh, so obey Him and worship Him

4.      Jesus’ resurrection really did happen, so we can trust that if we trust in Him we too can have resurrection

5.      Jesus really does care, He cares what you are going through, even if it is really bad, He cares if you are neck deep in sin, or being afflicted by demons, He cares! So come to Him for help, come to Him in faith!

6.      Jesus is the Lord over faith, so if you feel like you need faith, if you have secret doubts that you don’t know what to do with, come to Jesus, because He is the Lord over faith and will give faith!

7.      Hell is the destiny of all who love sin more than Jesus, it is a real place that really hurts, it doesn’t matter how much it hurts, make sure you don’t go there! Do drastic things to draw close to Christ if that is what it takes!

8.      Be like Jesus, be salty! Make a difference in your schools, among your friends, in your family, in this church!

9.      We need to be unified, not trying to compete with other churches and ministries, but partnering with them!

10.  We need to be humble, if you want to be a real leader, someone who is really important, someone Jesus will put in charge, then be a servant, be last! 

Don't Miss the Point (Mark 8.1-9.1)

Scripture: Mark 8.1-9.1

Translation: ^8.1In those days because there was a huge crowd again and they didn't have anything they could eat, after summoning the followers, He said to them, ²“I feel compassion for the crowd, because for three days they’ve already stayed with Me and not had anything they could eat. ³And if I dismiss them to their homes starving, they will collapse on the way. And some of them are here from far away.” ⁴And His followers answered Him, “Where can someone [get] bread from to feed these people here in the desert?” ⁵And He asked them, “How many pieces of bread do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶And He told the crowd to sit down for dinner on the ground. And after taking the seven pieces of bread, while giving thanks He broke [the bread] into pieces and gave [it] His followers, so that they could hand [it] out. And they handed [it] out to the crowd. ⁷And they had a few fish. And after blessing them He said to hand these out too. ⁸And they ate and were fed full. And they picked up leftovers, seven baskets of the broken pieces. ⁹And there were about 4000 people. And He dismissed them.

¹⁰And immediately after He got into the boat with His followers, He came into the regions of Dalmanutha. ¹¹And the Pharisees came out and began to debate Him, looking for a sign from Heaven from Him, for the purpose of testing Him. ¹²And groaning loudly with His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? Amen, I say to you, if a sign will be given to this generation!”

¹³And leaving them, He got in the boat again and went away to the other side [of the sea]. ¹⁴And they forgot to take bread and they didn’t have [any] with them in boat except for one piece of bread. And He gave them orders by saying, “Watch out! Look out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!” ¹⁶And they were discussing with one another that they didn’t have pieces of bread. ¹⁷And because He knew, He said to them, “Why are you discussing that you don’t have bread? Don’t you know or understand yet? Do you have hardened hearts? ¹⁸Since you have eyes, don’t you see? Since you have ears, don’t you hear? And don’t you remember ¹⁹when I broke the 5 pieces of bread for the 5000? How many full baskets of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰“When [I broke into pieces] the seven [pieces of bread] for the 4000, how many baskets did you pick up, things filled up with broken pieces?” And they said, “Seven.” ²¹And He said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”

 ²²And they came into Bethsaida. And they were bringing to Him a blind guy. And they were urging Him, so that He would touch him. ²³And holding the hand of the blind guy, He brought him out outside of the village. And spitting into his eyes, putting His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴And looking up he said, “I see humans that I see like trees walking around. ²⁵Then He put His hands on his eyes again. And he opened his eyes wide and restored and he saw absolutely everything clearly. ²⁶And He sent him into his house saying, “Don’t even go into the village!”

²⁷And Jesus went out along with His followers into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way He questioned His followers saying to them, “Who do the men say that I am?” ²⁸And they spoke to him saying, “‘John the Baptist,’ and others ‘Elijah,’ but others ‘one of the prophets.’” ²⁹And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” And to answer, Peter said to Him, “You are the Messiah!” ³⁰And He commanded them, so that they would say nothing about Him. ³¹And He began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and to be rejected as a fake by the elders and the high priests and the scholars and killed and after three days to rise up. ³²And He was speaking the message with bold clarity. And taking Him aside, Peter began to reprimand Him. ³³But turning around and seeing His followers, He reprimanded Peter and said, “Go behind Me, Satan, because you don’t think the things of God, but the things of humans!”

³⁴And summoning the crowd with His followers, He said to them, “If someone wants to follow behind Me, he had better deny himself and pick up his cross and follow Me! ³⁵Because whoever would want to save his life will destroy it, but whoever will destroy his life for the sake of Me and the Gospel will save it! ³⁶Because what good does it do for a man gain the whole world and lose his life? ³⁷Because what might a human give in exchange for his life? ³⁸Because whoever would be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him, whenever He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels!” ^9.1And He said to them, “Amen, I say to you that some are standing here, who most definitely can’t taste death until they would see the Kingdom of God coming with power!”

Interpretation

1.      Structure

a.       Jesus feeds 4000 Gentiles (8.1-9)

b.      Jesus refuses to give a Sign (8.10-12)

c.       Jesus gets frustrated with His followers (8.13-21)

d.      Jesus heals a blind man in two stages (8.22-26)

e.       Jesus asks His followers Who He is on the road (8.27-30)

f.       Jesus teaches His followers what will happen to Him and rebukes Peter (8.31-33)

g.      Jesus explains what being a true follower is all about (8.34-38)

h.      Jesus promises some people will see the Kingdom of God before death (9.1)

2.      Themes

a.       Seeing

                                                              i.      The theme of seeing comes out in different ways in this section

                                                            ii.      It comes out in 8.18 when Jesus says the followers don’t see even though they have eyes

                                                          iii.      Immediately after this, Jesus heals a blind man in two stages, with multiple words for seeing and looking being used (8.22-26)

                                                          iv.      Later Jesus looks at His followers before rebuking Peter in front of them, so that it is clear that Jesus is looking at them and they see what He says to Peter

                                                            v.      Finally, Jesus promises that some will see the Kingdom of God before they die

b.      Bread

                                                              i.      This appears several times in 8.1-9

                                                            ii.      It also appears in 8.13-21, where Jesus’ disciples misunderstand what He is saying, by thinking that He is talking about bread, which then makes Jesus explain one of the points of the His feeding thousands of people.

c.       Discipleship

                                                              i.      This is an undercurrent throughout the whole section

                                                            ii.      Jesus is teaching about discipleship when He feeds the 4000

                                                          iii.      Jesus teaches about discipleship when He refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees

                                                          iv.      Jesus tries to teach about discipleship when He warns His followers about the “yeast of the Pharisees and Herod”

                                                            v.      Jesus teaches about discipleship by explaining one of the implications of His feeding the 5000 and the 4000, and more specifically how the disciples are those who should understand the implications of what He does

                                                          vi.      Jesus when He heals the blind man

                                                        vii.      Jesus tests the discipleship of His disciples when He asks Who they think He is

                                                      viii.      Jesus teaches on discipleship when He rejects Peter’s correction, by say that really discipleship is about having God’s aims and understandings control one’s actions and words and not those of humans

                                                          ix.      Jesus teaches on discipleship when He explains that following Him means following Him to the death, that there is high cost, but avoiding risk to save your life will get you killed

                                                            x.      Jesus also explains that following Him means not being ashamed of Him, but He also promises that the sacrifice of following Him will be worth it, because it will give us life as well as affirmation before God by Jesus when Jesus comes

d.      Understanding

                                                              i.      Jesus talks about understanding mainly when He is interacting with His closest followers

                                                            ii.      Jesus expects them to understand the implications of His actions and His words, but they don’t always do that

                                                          iii.      He also expects them to understand that God’s priorities and methods take precedence over human priorities and methods, but they don’t always get that either, in particular when it comes to Jesus’ Mission to suffer and die and rise from the dead

                                                          iv.      But what the disciples do understand that is at the core of being a true disciple is that Jesus is the Messiah

e.       Rebuke/reprimand

                                                              i.      This is a key word/idea in vv.27-33, where Jesus first reprimands/commands His disciples not to talk about Him as the Messiah.

                                                            ii.      Then Peter reprimands Jesus for saying He is going to suffer and die and rise

                                                          iii.      Then Jesus reprimands Peter for reprimanding Him

f.       Healing

                                                              i.      Jesus is clearly a healer and as He heals the blind man, He reinforces the truth that He is Lord over the human body, Lord over blindness

g.      Feeding

                                                              i.      Jesus again cares firstly about their souls, since it would appear that He spent 3 days teaching and probably healing and exorcising before feeding their bodies

                                                            ii.      When disciples misunderstand one of the implications of Jesus’ feeding the 5000 and 4000 people crowds, Jesus point is that He can feed people whenever He wants, He doesn’t need more than enough bread

h.      Compassion

                                                              i.      Jesus’ again reveals His compassion by explicitly saying that He felt for the crowd and that it was for that reason that He wanted to feed them

i.        Life

                                                              i.      This theme appears in both the negative (death, loss of life) and the positive (resurrection, gaining of life)

                                                            ii.      For the negative, it starts with Jesus prophesying His suffering, mock trial, and death, but it continues in His explanation that following Him means death and losing one’s life, and that gain means little if you lose your life

                                                          iii.      In the positive, Jesus promises His resurrection, He promises life to those willing to die for Him, and later Jesus promises no death will come to some before they see the Kingdom of God

j.        Rejection

                                                              i.      The Pharisees reject Jesus by asking for a sign

                                                            ii.      The disciples reject Jesus’ mission of suffering, death, and resurrection

                                                          iii.      And Jesus warns of rejecting Him in society by being ashamed, which comes with the threat of Jesus later rejecting those who rejected him in shame

k.      Following

                                                              i.      Jesus explains that following Him means following His lead, following His pattern of life, and following Him to the end, despite the costs

3.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus is the Messiah

b.      Jesus is Lord over food, feeding, hunger

c.       Jesus is Lord over His Ministry/Mission

d.      Jesus is Lord over His Followers

e.       Jesus is Lord over the Crowd

f.       Jesus is Lord over Blindness

4.      Notes

a.       Jesus’ first prediction of His suffering, death, and resurrection is in 8.31-33

b.      Jesus’ promise that some wouldn’t die till they saw the kingdom of heaven in 9.1 probably refers to what will happen right after that in ch.9, specifically the Transfiguration

c.       The 4000 are probably gentiles

d.      Jesus predicts that He will come back from Heaven one day, He is Yahweh

Applications

1.      Jesus really can provide all of our needs!

2.      Jesus really can do the impossible!

3.      We dare not have a “prove it” attitude with Jesus!

4.      One of the biggest dangers we face is missing the whole point of these stories that we are reading, of missing the implications of the stories. Of course, this means that we will have to be thinking about these stories and rereading these stories and having these stories actually mean something to us!

a.       One of the reasons I’m not going to just tell you this is the only way this applies to your life or my life is because the significance of the story is more than even a hundred sermons could explain

b.      It is so easy to be spiritually blind, while physically fine; But Jesus can and will open the spiritual eyes of those He chooses to be His true followers

5.      The application of course is to trust that the Lord of All is Lord of all and knows what He is doing! But moreover, the point is to follow Jesus, the point is to die, the point is to not be ashamed in our schools, in our families, in our communities, in our areas, in our stores, in our group of friends, in our coffee shops and workplaces, on our trains, planes, and sidewalks. Are we willing to be shamed? Are we willing to die? Jesus is not saying it will be easy, He is saying it will cost you, but He is also saying that following Him boldly and selflessly will one day pay off big time!

6.      One of the reasons Jesus gets so upset with Peter is that 1) Peter is trying to Jesus what His Mission from God is, 2) Jesus knows that if Peter doesn’t get His mission, He won’t get Him; and 3) Jesus knows that if we don’t get Jesus’ mission, then we won’t get our mission from Him following Him!

7.      Jesus is calling us to let God’s things control our thinking and not human things!

8.      Following Jesus really is like walking behind Him on the road, we have to go where He goes, do what He does, lose what He lost, if we want to gain what cannot be lost, Jesus’ Himself. The end of our journey with Jesus is Jesus, our long road ahead of us full of death and self-denial ends with us entering into a big hug from Jesus and into the rewards He has for us with Him, His Kingdom of God! 

Don't Let "Knowing" Jesus Keep You from Knowing Jesus (Mark 6) @CYC

Scripture: Mark 6

Translation: ^6.1And He went out from there and came into His hometown. And His followers followed Him. ²And when it became the Sabbath, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many people who were listening were amazed, saying “Where did these things come from to Him? And what is the wisdom that was given to Him? And such great powers that are happening through His hands? ³This Guy is the child, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judah and Simon, isn’t He? And His sisters are here with us, aren’t they?” And they were tripped up by Him. ⁴And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not disrespected except in His hometown, and among His relatives, and in His household.” ⁵And He wasn’t able to do any powerful miracle there, except by putting His hands on a few sick people He healed. ⁶And He was amazed because of their unbelief. And He went around the villages in the surrounding area teaching.

⁷And He summoned the Twelve and began to send them two by two and He gave them authority over unclean spirits, ⁸And He commanded them that they should take nothing for the road, except only a staff, not bread, not backpack, not money for the belt. ⁹“But although you can put on sandals, don’t put on two shirts.” ¹⁰And He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you leave from there. ¹¹And whatever place doesn’t welcome you and doesn’t listen to you, when you travel away from there, shake off the dust under your for the purpose of a testimony against them. ¹²And going out, they preached that they should repent. ¹³And they threw out many demons. And anointed many sick people with olive oil, and they healed.

¹⁴And King Herod heard, because His Name became well-known. And they were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead and because of this the powers were working in Him. ¹⁵But others were saying that He was Elijah. And others were saying that He was a prophet like one of the prophets. ¹⁶And Herod after hearing said, “John who I beheaded—this guy was raised! ¹⁷You see, Herod himself by sending [soldiers]  arrested John and chained him in prison because of Herodias the wife of Philipp, his brother, because he had married her, ¹⁸because John way saying to Herod, “It’s not allowed for you to have your brother’s wife!” ¹⁹And Herodias was ticked at him and wanted to kill him. And she wasn’t able to, ²⁰because Herod was scared of John, because he knew he was a righteous and holy man, and so he was protecting him. And when he listened to him, he didn’t understand many things, and he gladly listened to him. ²¹And when an opportune day came, when Herod made a dinner for his birthday festivities with his high-officials, military-officers, first-ranking people over Galilee. ²²And when his daughter by Herodias came in, and when she danced it was pleasing to Herod and those eating dinner with [him]. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give [it] to you!” ²³And he swore an oath to her, “Whatever you ask me for I will give to you up to half of my kingdom!” ²⁴And when she went out she said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” and she said, “The head of John the Baptist!” ²⁵And when she came in, immediately with speed she made her request to the king, saying “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on plate right away!” ²⁶And becoming completely sad the king because of his oaths and the dinner guests he didn’t want to reject her. ²⁷And immediately the king after sending for the executioner commanded to bring in his head. And after leaving he decapitated him in the prison. ²⁸And he brought in his head on a plate and he gave it to the girl. And the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹And when they heard, his followers went and took his corpse and buried it in a tomb.

³⁰And the apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported to Him what great things they did and what great things taught. ³¹And He said to them, “Come on, you yourselves, on your own into a deserted place and rest a little while,” because those who were coming and going were many people. And they didn’t even have the opportunity to eat! ³²And they went out in the boat towards a deserted place on their own. ³³And they saw them going and many people figured out and by land from all the cites they were running together there and went ahead of them. ³⁴And when He went out, He saw a huge crowd and felt compassion for them, because they were “like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd” and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵And because the hour was already getting pretty late, His followers coming to Him were saying, “This place is deserted. And the hour is pretty late. ³⁶Let them go, so that by going away into the surrounding farms and villages they can buy something to eat for themselves.” ³⁷And to answer He said to them, “Give them [something] to eat yourselves.” And they said to Him, “Should we leave and buy loaves of bread for 200 denarii and give [it] to them to eat?” ³⁸And He said to them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go. See.” And when they knew, they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹And He gave orders to them that all the people should sit down for dinner in different groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰And they lay down in different groupings by a hundred and by fifty. ⁴¹And taking the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looking up into Heaven, He blessed and broke apart the loaves of bread and He was giving [them] to His followers, so that they could pass [them] out to them. And He divided up the two fish for all the people. ⁴²And all the people ate and were fed full. ⁴³And the broken pieces were what filled up twelve baskets and some of the fish. ⁴⁴And the people who ate were five thousand men.

⁴⁵And immediately He pressed His disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead to the other side, towards Bethsaida, until He dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶And saying good-bye to them, He went away into the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷And when it became evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸And seeing them being tormented by what was forcing them around, because the wind was against them, around the fourth watch of the night He came to them walking on the sea. And He wanted to go past them. ⁴⁹And when they saw Him on the sea walking around, they thought that it was a ghost. And they screamed, ⁵⁰because they all saw Him and they were freaked out. But immediately He spoke with them, and He said to them, “Be courageous! I am! Don’t be scared! ⁵¹And He went up to them into the boat and the wind stopped. And they were very shocked in themselves, ⁵²because they didn’t understand about the loaves of bread, rather their heart was hardened. ⁵³And having made it across to the land, they went into Gennesaret and they were anchored in the harbor. ⁵⁴And when they went out of the boat, immediately because they recognized Him, ⁵⁵they ran around that whole region and began to carry around on stretchers the people who were sick wherever they heard  that He was. ⁵⁶And wherever He would go into the villages or the cities or the fields, in the markets they would put the sick people and they would urge Him, so that if own they could touch the edge of His clothes, and whoever touched Him, was saved/healed.

Interpretation

1.      Themes

a.       Teaching

b.      Sending

c.       Opposition

d.      Miracles

e.       Healings

f.       Exorcism

g.      Storm

h.      Crowds

i.        Rejection

j.        Repentance

k.      Jesus is Lord over ALL

2.      Doctrines

a.       Jesus is God

b.      Jesus is Omnipotent

c.       Jesus is Omniscient

d.      Jesus is compassionate

e.       Jesus provides

Applications

1.      Don’t fall into the same trap that Jesus’ hometown did. They all thought that because they knew Jesus they could discount having to really trust Him, but it doesn’t work like that

2.      Jesus sends people out with a message no one wants to hear, and it gets opposition, and it can be dangerous, but that can’t stop us

3.      There is the same danger for us to miss the point of Jesus’ miracles and His work in our lives, and so not really trust Him, and be hardened against full faith in Him

4.      Jesus really can do anything, and He wants us to truly trust Him to do the impossible

5.      Moreover, Jesus really cares, that is why He acts the way He does, so we have to really believe that Jesus cares and understands and that He will therefore act like He cares

6.      Moreover, understand that Jesus gave us the Bible, gave us pastors and teachers, because that is what we really need. That is the mindset I need to have when I preach and teach, that Jesus loves you and He wants you to have teaching and preaching. The truth is that is why I preached at two different churches today, because that is what you and I really need! I want to love you like Jesus, and for me that means teaching and calling us all to trust in Christ and turn away from ungodly actions and thoughts and words and beliefs!