Studies on the first 7 Chapters have not yet been posted apologies.
On The Move !!
( Studies in
Mark
.. No. 21)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
INTRODUCTION. It
is helpful to trace our Lords movements on a map. He withdrew from Galilee for Phoenicia near Tyre ( 7:24)
then journeyed north through Sidon
east into Decapolis ( 7:31)
to Dalmanutha ( across Lake Galilee ) ( 8:10)
back across the Lake
to Bethsaida (8:22) and then on to Caesarea Philippi ( 8:27)
.
The
passage before us will reveal the need for His disciples to receive further
instruction !!
.
(1)
THE PROVISION FOR THE MULTITUDE
8:1 In those days the multitude being very great, and
having nothing to
eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith
unto them,
8:2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they
have now been
with me three days, and have nothing to eat:
8:3 And if I send them away fasting to their own
houses, they will
faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.
8:4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a
man satisfy
these men with bread here in the wilderness?
8:5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And
they said,
Seven.
8:6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the
ground: and he
took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and
gave to his
disciples to set before them; and they did set them
before the
people.
8:7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed,
and commanded
to set them also before them.
8:8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up
of the broken
meat that was left seven baskets.
8:9 And they that had eaten were about four thousand:
and he sent
them away.
.
+
Concerning a Comparison
..
In a previous chapter ( Mark 6:30-44) we read
of the Lord Jesus feeding 5 000 plus women and children. Again bread and fish are miraculously
multiplied and distributed to the crowd by His disciples. And an abundance is left over !
.
+
Concerning the Critics !!
Liberal theologians suggest that this is but
another version of the same story ! It is now generally accepted that we are
dealing with alternative, and somewhat divergent, accounts of the same
incident. ( D.Nineham; Pelican Gospel
Comm.)
Generally
accepted by those who reject the inspiration of the Scriptures, that is !!
+
Concerning the Contrasts .
The Feeding of the 5 000 The Feeding of the
4 000
one day ( Mark 6:35)
3
days (8:2)
Send
away (6:36)
Feed them ?
(8:4)
Green grass (6:39)
ground. (8:6)
5
loaves , 2 fish. (6:38)
7
loaves, some fish. (8:5,7)
12
baskets kophinos Gr. ( 6:43)
7 baskets spyris Gr.(8:9)
Notice, too,
that the Lord Jesus goes on to mention both the feeding of the 5 000 and
the
4 000
He said
When I brake the five loaves
among five thousand, how many baskets (
kophinos ) full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how
many baskets (spyris) full of
fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven
( Mark 8:19-20)
The fact that
Matthew and Mark record both instances is evidence enough the
miracle happened twice, in two different places with two different crowds. (
Mark 6 & 8; Matthew 14 & 15) .
..
+ Concerning Compassion. The Lord recognises the needs of
the people. ( Mark 8:2)
.
(2)
THE PLOT
OF THE PHARISEES ( Mark 8:11-13)
Across the Lake to the western shore
and the
religious leaders of the Jews are waiting to argue !!
8:10 And
straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came
into the parts of
Dalmanutha.
8:11 And the
Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him,
seeking of him a
sign from heaven, tempting him.
8:12 And he sighed
deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this
generation seek
after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no
sign be given unto
this generation.
8:13 And he left
them, and entering into the ship again departed to the
other side.
+ Their request is for a sign from Heaven to prove He is the
Messiah ! This despite many miracles
that had been in accord with Old Testament prophecies concerning His coming. The Pharisees had seen many of
these
and gone so far as to attribute their working to the power of Satan. (
Mark 3:22)
..
+ His refusal stems from the fact
that their request is insincere. (vs. 11)
They have
come to the place where they have hardened their hearts once too often
. they
would not ( could not ??) believe even if one rose from the dead ! (
Luke 16:31 )
..
(3)
THE
PUZZLEMENT OF THE DISCIPLES
After this encounter with the Pharisees it is
back into the boat again to cross the
Lake once more ! Mark is probably contrasting the opposition of these Jewish
leaders with the acceptance of the Lord by the strongly Gentile population of
Decapolis.
8:13 And he left them ( the Pharisees ) , and
entering into the ship again departed to the
other side.
8:14 Now the disciples had
forgotten to take bread, neither had they in
the ship with them more than one loaf.
8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of
the leaven of
the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
8:16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is
because we
have no bread.
8:17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why
reason ye,
because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither
understand?
have ye your heart yet hardened?
8:18 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye
not? and do ye
not remember?
8:19 When I brake the five loaves among five thousand,
how many
baskets full of fragments
took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.
8:20 And when the seven among four thousand, how many
baskets full
of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.
8:21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not
understand?
..
+ The Warning !
Beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and Herod !! ( vs. 15)
.
+ A Misunderstanding !
The disciples think He is speaking of literal bread.( 16)
..
+ A Rebuke !
. The Lord Jesus has often spoken metaphorically.
Now He is speaking of spiritual matters and all they can think about is
food. Leaven, to the Jews, was a picture of evil. The leaven of the Pharisees
is their false teaching
outward observances without inner reality. Legality without spirituality. The leaven of Herod would be
Materialism
eyes fixed on earthly things whilst the things of God are
ignored. Beware, He warns, for
the eyes of the Twelve are looking at earthly things
. Literal bread !
..
+ A Reminder !
So they are concerned about having forgotten to bring plenty of bread
Dont they think that He who provided for thousands on the hillsides can
provide for them in the midst of the Lake ? ( 8: 17-21)
.
(4)
THE PANACEA FOR THE BLIND
MAN.
Now we read of another
miracle
which has a bearing on the
previous incident !
8:22 And he cometh
to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him,
and besought him
to touch him.
8:23 And he took
the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the
town; and when he
had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon
him, he asked him
if he saw ought.
8:24 And he looked
up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
8:25 After that he
put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look
up: and he was
restored, and saw every man clearly.
8:26 And he sent
him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the
town, nor tell it to any in the town.
+ A Curious Healing ! Curious because the Lord has to
touch him twice before his sight is perfectly restored ! Why? Was it because this mans faith was weak ?
One is reminded of our Lords inability to display much of His power among the people of Nazareth because of their unbelief . ( Mark
6:5)
+ An Obvious Lesson !
Our Lord had just rebuked the
disciples for spiritual blindness ( 8:18)
They, too, need a second touch from the Lord. They have but little
understanding of His power , nor His ministry. Their eyes are still on an
earthly Kingdom.
And we, too, may need a second touch to open our spiritual eyes .
Saved, yes! But serving Him as we should ?
.
The Great Confession !!
( Studies in Mark
No.22)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
INTRODUCTION . Now our Lord takes His
disciples further north to the town of Caesarea Philippi. (See map.) This
Caesarea is not to be confused with Caesarea on the coast.) Before their
teaching commences He wants them to make a good confession as to who He
really is. Peter will act as spokesman
for the Twelve
as usual !
(1) THE PUBLIC OPINIONS !
MARK 8:27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 8:28 And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.A few months previous the multitudes had wanted to crown Him King by force !! ( John 6:14-15) His refusal to let them do so by departing from them had led many to doubt if He was the promised Messiah. Now views concerning Him, both erroneous and inadequate, are being discussed. +Today there are those with erroneous views concerning the Lord Jesus
those who take Him to be a created being, a man
no more no less ( as do the Jehovahs Witnesses). There are those who put Him on a par with Mohammed and Buddha and other religious leaders ( as do the Freemasons .)+ And there are those who hold inadequate views of His Person. To them He is a great Teacher , or a Reformer or an Example
all of which is true. But He was more than that!! What think ye of Christ is the testTo try both your state and your scheme;You cannot be right in the restUnless you think rightly of Him ! ( John Newton )
(2) THE PERSONAL CONFESSION .No matter what others may say
what is your answer to the question .. Whom say YE that I am? 8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. (a) Christ is a Title ,not a name. It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah. It means Anointed One In Old Testament days priests and Kings were anointed for a special role. (b) In Matthews account we have the added comment by Peter, The Son of the Living God. (Matthew 116:16) The emphasis on living has to do with the fact that pagan shrines and a Temple to Emperor worship were to be found at Caesarea Philippi. (c ) Then there is the fact of prior confessions
after all, Nathaniel had confessed Him to be the Son of God, the King of Israel. ( John 1:49) And every time someone called Thou Son of David was an acknowledgement that He was the promised Messiah. ( Matthew 9:27;12:23;15:22) So what is so special about Peters confession at this particular moment ? A.T. Robertson writes, It is easy to believe that the early faith ( of the disciples) was shaken by His continued failure to gather armies and set up the expected temporal kingdom, and while still believing Him to have a divine mission they had questioned whether He was the Messiah
( Harmony of Gospels p. 99) Even John the Baptist, so sure of Our Lords Messiahship early in his ministry, apparently came to doubt if he had been mistaken.( Matthew 11:2) And the Twelve time and again the Lord Jesus had found it needful to rebuke them for their blinded eyes. ( Mark 8:17; 6:49-52 etc.) Their eyes were on an earthly kingdom and the Lord Jesus was not living up to their misguided expectations. Even after His death and resurrection they are still harboring wrong views Are you going to free Israel (from Rome) now and restore us as an independent nation? (Acts 1:6 Living Bible Paraphrase )
Nevertheless, Peter now confesses the Lord Jesus to be the Messiah
the One foretold by the Old Testament prophets.
(3) THE PREVIOUS CONNECTION.
Notice
again the previous story Mark has recorded
a blind man who had needed a second
touch !
Mark 8:22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.8:23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.8:24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.8:25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.And now Peter, aware of our Lords Messianic identity, still fails to see our Lords Messianic destiny. For when the Lord Jesus begins to explain His forthcoming death & resurrection, Peter argues that it shall not be. Peter still thinks of deliverance from Rome
rather than a deliverance from sin !8:30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 8:32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. Peter is still blind to the meaning of, and necessity for, our Lords forthcoming sacrifice. He needs a second touch
just as much as did the blind man.! Our Lords refusal to let them tell others ( vs. 30) is explained by the dangers it would incur for Him ( for the time of His death was not yet ) and because of their inadequate understanding of the spiritual aspects of His Kingdom.
..(4) THE PREPOSTEROUS INTERPRETATIONFrom Matthews account .. Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church .. ( Matt .16: 18) comes the claim that Peter was the first Pope ! Such is fundamental Roman Catholic doctrine.
There are numerous reasons as to why
Protestants reject such a claim.
(a) Peter never speaks of himself as being more important than other church
leaders
he places himself on the same level. ( 1 Peter 5:1)
(b) Peter refused homage from men. (
Acts 10:25-26)
(c) Peter was rebuked by Paul for false teaching ! ( Galatians. 2: 4)
(d) Peter was sent with John to Samaria. ( Acts 8:14)
(e) Peter did not preside at the Jerusalem Council meeting; James did ! (
Acts 15:19)
(f) Peter was married. ( 1 Corinth. 9:5)
(g) Peter may never have been in Rome. Nowhere does the Bible say he was
despite the Roman Catholic teaching that he was Pope, in Rome, for 25 years !
(h) Peter was supposed to minister to Jews, not Gentiles in Rome. That was
Pauls commission.( Galatians. 2:7-8)
(i) Paul did not plan to preach
where others had done so .( Romans 15:20) Yet he planned to go to Rome !
Therefore, Peter had not been there.
(j) Peter was not in Rome when Paul was imprisoned there. ( 2 Timothy
4:10-11)
(k) Peter is never mentioned as being Head of the Church in Rome until
Jerome says so in the fifth century. ( Boettner. p. 162)
.
So what is the Rock upon which the Lord
said He would build His church ? (Matt. 16:18)
(a) Some say it is Christ Himself. He is the foundation (1 Corinth. 3:11)
(b) Others suggest it refers to Peters confession
that the Lord Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of the Living God !
(c) And there are some Protestants
who suggest the reference is to Peter. The Greek words Petros ( Fem.) and Petra ( Masc.) mean
Rock. And The Lord said, Thou art
Petros and upon this Petra I will build
Some commentators say
Petros only means a stone rather than a large rock.
but not all !
However, even if the reference is to Peter ,
it still does not make him the first Pope !!
..
CONCLUSION
The command in Mark 8: 30 does not apply to
us
today !!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Cross Purposes !!
Studies
in Marks Gospel
No. 23. (Mark 8:34
9:11)
..
Having
told the disciples plainly of his forthcoming death and resurrection
and
rebuked Peter for denying that such
could happen
.( Mark 8:31-32)
our Lord now addresses the crowd as well as His
disciples concerning the persecution
that awaits those who follow Him.
(1) A CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP !!
8:34 And when he had called
the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
his own soul?
37: Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38: Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
(a)The Context
Peter had just said, No cross for you, Lord
to which the Lord Jesus
now tells His disciples and all
would-be followers that a cross must needs be taken up.(34).
(b)The Cross-bearing. Those who listened to the
Saviour knew what He meant. Not a sore toe or a grumpy boss. But death ! Death
to self
losing ones life ( 35)!!
Those who took up a cross in those days knew that death was inevitable.
And to those early Christians
and millions since
such has been the case.
(c ) The Confession ! (38) Burn incense to the Emperor and say
Caesar is Lord! was the cry. But thousands met a fiery death
or were torn
to pieces by wild animals
rather than deny their Lord and Saviour. Revelation
12:11 speaks of those saints in Glory
who loved not their lives unto the
death. Thus it has continued down
through the history of the Christian church
.
A CURIOUS PROPHECY
9: 1: And he said unto them,
Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall
not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
Numerous suggestions have been made concerning
the fulfilment of this prophecy.
Notice,
in passing , the chapter division should be after this verse and not before it
!
(a)
The
Interpreters Bible thinks the Lord Jesus was referring to the End of the
World
but that He was mistaken ! ( p. 141)
(b)
The
Destruction of Jerusalem is suggested by the Roman Catholic commentary
and some Protestants . (p. 119-120)
(c)
The Death and Resurrection of Christ
is another view. ( Biederwolf p. 321)
(d)
A number of commentators think our Lord was
referring to His Transfiguration which occurred a week later
. and
which could be interpreted as a foretaste of His coming. Mmmm?
(e)
Personally
I prefer the explanation that the reference is to the Day of Pentecost when the kingdom came with power !! There
is a sense in which the Kingdom was already present
the King was there
but it
came with power when
the Holy Spirit came upon those disciples.
..
(2)
THE CLIMACTIC REVELATION (
9:2-8)
9:2: And after six days Jesus taketh with him
Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by
themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
3: And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on
earth can white them.
4: And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with
Jesus.
5: And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here:
and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for
Elias.
6: For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.
7: And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the
cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
8: And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more,
save Jesus only with themselves.
.
(a) The Time
.. Whereas Mark and Matthew say
after 6 days; Luke says about 8 days. So thats seven !!
(b) The Place. Protestants suggest Mount Hermon which is in the area where they are (8:27) whereas Roman Catholics say Mount Tabor.
(c ) The Trio. Peter, James & John accompany the Lord and fall asleep! ( Luke 9:32)
(d) The Metamorphosis . i.e. the transfiguration of our Lord. Something of the glory of His resurrection body breaks through a preview of what was to be. Or was it a glimpse of the glory He had laid aside to partake of our humanity? Metamorphoo is the Greek word used here to describe the transfiguration. The same word is used of believers, not at their resurrection Day , but now! We are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2) (Also 2 Corinth. 3:18) We should display the glory of God in our lives!
(e) The Visitors . Moses & Elijah appear and speak with the Lord Jesus. They are representative of the Law and the Prophets , both of which spoke of the coming Messiah. ( Romans 3:21)
(f) The
Subject. They speak of His decease ( Luke 9:31) The Greek word
is exodus.
By His
death & resurrection the Lord Jesus will lead His people ( Spiritual
Israel) out of spiritual bondage as Moses led literal Israel out of Egypt 1500
years previous.
What more important theme could there be to consider ?
(g) The Mistake ! Peter, now awake , suggests three tabernacles for the three on the mount. (5) We are told that he didnt know what to say. But the Father spoke from Heaven and said, Hear Him!! i.e. Jesus ! Great as Moses & Elijah were, they are not to be put on the same level as the Lord Jesus. Nor is any other religious leader, be it Mohammed, Buddha or Mary. Hear Him! And they saw Jesus only. (8)
(h) The Memory. Peter and John never forgot this incident.
Peter refers to it in 2 Peter 1:16-18 (we were eyewitnesses of His
majesty !) and John writes, we beheld His glory. (John 1:14)
(3) THE
CONFUSED DISCIPLES.
9:9
And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no
man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
10: And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another
what the rising from the dead should mean.
11: And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Two problems
confront the disciples.
(a)
Concerning the Resurrection of the Lord. (10) They still harboured
views that the Messiah ( whom they now believed Jesus to be ) would conquer the
Romans and establish an earthly kingdom.
(b) Concerning the Return of Elijah !(11) And that is the subject of our
next study !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
DISCIPLES IN DISARRAY !!
Studies in Marks Gospel No. 25 (Mark 9:1-50)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
INTRODUCTION.
In
Mark 9 we are confronted with six different attitudes of our Lords disciples.
The first two we have already considered in the previous studies. ( No. 23 on
Cross Purposes and No. 24
on The Second Coming of Elijah )
..
(1) PRIVILEGED
( 9:1-8)
+ They were privileged in being chosen to be
His disciples in the first place ! They had chosen to follow Him
and He had
chosen avenues of service for them. He does not choose to save some and damn
others as the Calvinists teach, ( John 3:16) but he does choose the avenue of service
we are to fulfill. (John 6:70)
+ They were privileged in being promised to be
partakers of the Holy Spirit on the
Day of Pentecost.( 9:1) He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of
them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the
kingdom of God come with power.
+ Three of them were privileged in seeing the
Lord in all His Glory on the Mount of Transfiguration ( 9:2-8)
.
(2) PUZZLED
(9:9-13)
Coming down from the mount they were puzzled
(a) as to what He was talking about when He spoke of His rising from the dead.
(9:10) Had they not slept during His
discourse with Moses and Elijah( Luke
30-32) they might have understood !
And (b) they
were puzzled by the saying of the scribes that Elijah must appear to
announce the Messiahs coming. (9:11) Had they been studying their Scriptures
more, they might have known it was foretold in Malachi 4:5-6. The Lord explains to them that this prophecy
had been fulfilled by John the Baptist.( Matthew 17:12-13)
.
(3) POWERLESS. (9:14-27)
Down in the valley He meets up with the other
disciples and a great multitude. (9:14)
(a)The Fathers Plea. If thou canst he pleads, Heal my
son. ( 9:22)
if thou canst do any thing, have compassion
on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If
thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Fancy
saying If thou canst to the One who flung a universe into
existence !!! One can almost see the Lord Jesus shake His head in amazement
when He replies, If thou canst
to
the doubting father.
(b) The Childs Affliction. He
is demon possessed. (9:17-18;20) The symptoms are akin to epilepsy
but
that does not mean every epileptic is demon possessed.
(c) The
Disciples Impotence. The disciples had been unable
to exorcise the demon
( 9:18)
despite power to do so being given to
them previously !! (Mark 6:7,12-13)
9:17 And one of the multitude
answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb
spirit; 9:18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and
gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that
they should cast him out; and they could not.
(d) The Saviours Power . With a word the child is
delivered. ( 9:25)
9:25 When Jesus saw that the people
came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb
and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
(4) PRAYERLESS !!( 9:28-29)
9:28 And when he was come into the
house, his disciples asked him privately,
Why could not we cast him out?
And he said unto them, This kind can come
forth by nothing, but by prayer .
In the privacy
of a house , to escape the growing
crowd , ( 9:25) the disciples are told their inability to deliver the lad
stemmed from their prayerlessness. (9:29) Some folk coast along on past experiences
instead of maintaining a constant abiding with the Lord.( John 15:4)
Without Me, you can do nothing ! (John 15:5)
The King James version
reads prayer and fasting but this latter clause is not in the best
manuscripts. Modern translations rightfully omit it. (See notes on Mark
2:18-20)
(5) PROUD
(9:30-37)
On the road to Capernaum
(9:33) the Lord again speaks of His death and resurrection. The disciples are
unable to understand Him. (9:32) Did they think it was some parabolic word?
Instead of seeking to
understand it, or ask Him the meaning, they talk among themselves as to which
of them is the greatest! (9:34)
9:33 And he came to Capernaum: and
being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves
by the way? 9:34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed
among themselves, who should be the greatest. 9:35 And he sat down, and called
the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall
be last of all, and servant of all.9:36 And he took a child, and set him in the
midst of them:
Here, in Mark 9, the Lord
Jesus teaches them a lesson in humility by placing a child in their midst and
explaining that greatness in His kingdom comes from a childlike ( not childish
!) attitude of humility and trust. ( 9:37; Matthew 18:4) But it is a lesson
they fail to learn.
Later ( Matthew 20:20-21)
James and John will get their mother to intercede on their behalf
may her sons
have the major positions of importance in His forthcoming Kingdom ? It is
obvious they are still thinking of the Romans being overthrown, and Israel
being established once again as a mighty nation with the Lord Jesus as King.
Even in the upper room,
the night before the crucifixion, the disciples are arguing (!!) as to who
shall be greatest in his earthly kingdom .( Luke 22:24)
..
(6) PETTY .
(9:38-50)
Like children squabbling
at a street cricket game as to who will bat first
so John gets upset about a
disciple ( who does not belong to the Twelve apostle !) but who was casting out
demons in Jesus name ! ( 9:38)
9:38 And John answered him, saying,
Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and
we forbad him, because he followeth not us
To which our Lord
replies, He that is not against us is for us ! (9:40 )Let us never get so
exclusive in our beliefs that we think our fellowship are the only true
Christians and everyone else is lost ! There are some churches like that !!
A warning follows
concerning the putting of stumbling blocks in the way of fellow believers. The
little one who believes of vs. 42 may well be a reference to the disciple of
vs.38!! A young-in-the-faith Christian who is doing his best to serve the Lord
must not be discouraged by those more mature in the faith !
In rather graphic and
frightening language our Lord warns his disciples against such a petty attitude
! ( 9:42-49)
9:42 And whosoever shall offend one
of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone
were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.9:43 And if thy hand
offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than
having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
9:49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall
be salted with salt.9:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness,
wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with
another.
It is good to act like
salt ( vs.50a) permeating the world the
purifying of Christian teaching ,
But woe betide the
censorious believer who attacks other servants of the Lord. (vs. 50b)
He that soweth discord among the brethren is an
abomination unto the Lord !
( Proverbs 6:16,19)
It is a grim warning to
the Twelve
and to us !
Whilst it is our
Christian duty to expose heretics, at
the same time we are to strive to maintain a spirit of unity with little ones
that believe in me
the little ones
being those young in the faith ( not necessarily in age ) even though they may still be lacking in
some Christian doctrine!!
.
CONCLUSION Notice two things
(a) The solution to the
disciples problems will be the coming
of the Holy Spirit as foretold in Mark
9:1 !!! At the moment the Twelve are
.
+ Puzzled
but He, the Holy Spirit, will teach them . (John 14:26) They will
come to see the Kingdom of God is not of this world. ( John 18:36)
+ Powerless
but He will empower for service . ( Acts 1:8)
+Proud, but He will
infill with the Fruit of the Spirit .. including meekness! (Gal 5:22-23)
+ Petty
. But He will engender a spirit of unity among all
Gods family. (Eph. 4:3)
.
(b) And look again at Mark 9:29
He
that is not against us is for us !
But the opposite is also true .. The Lord Jesus said, He that is not for Me
is against Me ! ( Matthew 12:30)
Both texts are teaching
us that there is no such thing as neutrality in ones attitude to the Son of
God.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Five out of Ten !
Studies in Marks Gospel
Chapter 10. (No.26)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
INTRODUCTION
. In Mark 10 we find
five episodes in the Life of our Lord Jesus. He is traveling
south up to Jerusalem
with the disciples trailing along behind.
The Pharisees meet Him and confront him with a question concerning
divorce ( vs. 1-12);
little children are brought to Him
. and afford Him with an illustrated sermon ! ( vs.
13-16); a rich young ruler comes to Him
with a vitally important question. (
vs. 17-31) ; our Lord rebukes James and John ! (vs.32-45) .. and He restores
the sight of Bartimaeus.(vs.46-52).
.
(1)
THE QUESTION CONCERNING DIVORCE.
Actually, the
problem arises not with divorce but remarriage and whether the New
Testament teaching permits such. Good evangelical commentators are divided on
the subject.
Some take a rigid
no remarriage stand.
Some teach that
the Bible does not forbid remarriage.
In Matthew 19 we
have a fuller account of Mark 10
..and it is good to consider both as we try to
sort this matter out.
MATTHEW 19.
19:1 And it came
to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee,
and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan;
19:2 And great
multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.
19:3 The Pharisees
also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man
to put away his wife for every cause?
( Note that the question is to trap Jesus
they are tempting Him. Rival
Rabbis held two different views concerning divorce. Rabbi Hillel said it was permissible for any
cause
e.g. the wife burnt the toast ! This was based upon a phrase in
Deuteronomy 24:1 where divorce was permitted if the husband doesnt like something about his wife
(Living Bible).
On the other hand Rabbi Shammai limited
divorce to immorality.
Our Lord
replies by pointing them, not to what
the Rabbis say, but to the Scriptures.
19:4 And he
answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the
beginning made them male and female,
19:5 And said, For
this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife:
and they twain shall be one flesh?
19:6 Wherefore
they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together,
let not man put asunder.
It was Gods original plan that marriage should be permanent.
19:7 They say unto
him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put
her away?
The Old Testament permitted divorce
and re-marriage
except for a priest (Lev.21:7)
Nor was a man to remarry his ex-wife after she was
divorced from her second husband !!
(Deuter. 24:1-4)
Even God
divorced Israel !!!( Jeremiah 3:1-8)
The reference in
Malachi 2:16 to God hating divorce has to do with those Jews who were
dumping their wives to marry heathen
women.
But because of
the hardness of mans heart ( vs. 8)
divorce was permitted in Old Testament times. And remarriage. A bill
of divorcement was written out to end the marriage. ( Deuteronomy 24:3)
19:8 He saith unto
them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away
your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
That is, it was not Gods original intention but because of sin in this
world of ours, certain concessions needed to be made.
19:9 And I say
unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and
shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put
away doth commit adultery.
Lets paraphrase this
The man who puts away his wife
(without a bill of divorcement
which means she is still legally married to him
) commits adultery if he remarries.
Likewise
if she remarries whilst not being properly divorced ( in
writing ) she and her new husband are committing adultery.
( Now lets look
at the same incident in Marks account .)
MARK CHAPTER 10
10:2
And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put
away his wife? tempting him.
10:3
And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
10:4
And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her
away.
Note
the emphasis upon the bill of divorcement
some Jews were putting their wives away and remarrying without this
official act.
10:5
And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote
you this precept.
10:6
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
10:7
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
10:8
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one
flesh.
10:9
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
God
planned for marriage to be permanent.
But not all marriages are God-ordained ! The drug influenced teenage
couple who tie the knot hardly knowing what they are doing
was that of God ? The woman who marries a
man to get his money ? Was that of God? The husband
or wife
who is given to
physical violence
10:10
And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
10:11
And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife,( without a proper
bill of divorcement) and marry
another, committeth adultery against her.
10:12
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she
committeth adultery.( if she is not legally divorced ).
Bear in mind that the Lord is not recommending divorce
. But
permitting it !
And bear in mind that the hardness of mens hearts is still with us and not all of todays
marriages are ordained of God.
..
(2)
A LESSON FOR THE TWELVE !
When mothers of Salem,
their children brought to
Jesus
the stern disciples drave
them back
and bade them all depart
...
Well
. The original Greek
language makes it clear that it was the fathers , not the mothers who
brought their little ones to the Lord Jesus for His blessing. Tradition has it that one of the children
grew up to be Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch.
The disciples may have been
well-intentioned, knowing the Lord Jesus wanted rest and privacy. But
.
Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world ;
Red & yellow, black & white
All are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Children are trusting, obedient
( well, some are !!) humble , dependent
.. such are the qualities
expected in His followers. ( vs. 15)
(3) THE PROBLEM OF RICHES !
This rich young ruler comes
sincerely to Jesus. This question, unlike that of the religious leaders, ( vs.
2) come from the heart. And Jesus loves him ! ( vs.21) He is morally upright
to the best of his
ability he has kept the commandments ( vs. 19)
but, says the Lord Jesus ,
one thing thou lackest!
This mans love of money stood
in the way of his following Jesus. And the love of money, not money , is a root of all kinds of
evil. ( 1 Timothy 6:10)
He went away sorrowful. The
Lords command for him to sell all he
had and give the money to the poor is not a universal law for everybody
but
the principle remains. That which stands in the way of a persons following the
Lord should be put away.
..
(4) THE REBUKE OF ZEBEDEES SONS !! (
vs. 32-45)
Again the Lord Jesus speaks of
that which awaits Him in Jerusalem, the arrest and mistreatment, the
crucifixion and resurrection. (33-34)
But Luke tells us the disciples
understood not the things that were said. (Luke 18:34)
Instead the argument of
greatness in His Kingdom surfaced again. ( C.F. Mark 9:34) And He has just
instructed them to be child-like ( Mark 10:15), not ambitious.
Nevertheless, James and
John ( and their mother, Matthew 20:20)
request that they will have prime positions when He reigns. ( vs. 37)
To which Jesus replies
he who
would be great
let him be a servant of all. ( vs. 43)
What they are asking is the
worlds way of thinking . ( vs. 42)
And there is the solemn
word concerning their facing a
baptism of suffering for His sake
are they willing to remain loyal to Him in
the face of coming persecution. ? ( vs. 38-39)
(5)
A HEALING FOR A BLIND MAN ! ( vs. 46-52)
As the Lord leaves old Jericho (
Luke 18:35) and approaches new Jericho that had recently been rebuilt by Herod ( Mark 10:46) Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, calls out to
Him.
Despite the rebuke of the crowd, Bartimaeus cries all the louder. And he
calls the Lord Jesus, Son of David!
a Messianic title !( vs. 48)
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The
Triumphal (?) Entry
(Studies
in Marks Gospel
No. 27)
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11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto
Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his
disciples,
11:2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you:
and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never
man sat; loose him, and bring him.
11:3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord
hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.
11:4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door
without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
11:5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye,
loosing the colt?
11:6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let
them go.
11:7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him;
and he sat upon him.
11:8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down
branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.
11:9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying,
Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
11:10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the
name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he
had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went
out unto Bethany with the twelve.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
INTRODUCTION
. In less than a week the crucifixion will
take place. ( John 12:1)
It is nearly Passover time and Jerusalem is crowded with over two million visitors.
The Lord is staying in Bethany, just a couple of miles east of Jerusalem.
In Mark 11-13 we will read of him
journeying to and fro on three successive days
and the events thereon.
First Day
what we call Palm Sunday ( but was it a
Sunday ? )
the Triumphal entry ( but was it a triumphal entry ? (Mark 11:1-11)
Second day
on the morrow (12) ..
the cursing of a fig tree & the cleansing of the Temple. ( Mark 11:12-18)
Third day
in the morning (19)
the Lord teaches a
lesson from the barren fig tree
clashes with the religious
leaders and teaches His disciples concerning the forthcoming destruction of
Jerusalem. ( Mark 11:19- 13:37)
Then Mark tells us that only two
days remain before the Passover
( 14:1)
(1)
AN HISTORICAL LOOK
Our
Lord is now ready to announce His Messiahship publicly!!
(a) The Pre-arranged sign.
He sends His disciples to find an ass. It is not necessary to read anything miraculous
into this. The Lord Jesus had arranged with someone to leave the
animals there
and a certain reply to be given if anyone asks the
disciples what they are doing.(3)
(b) The Prophetic Implication.
The
prophet Zechariah had foretold how the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on the
colt of an ass. ( Zech. 9:9)
Matthew, writing to Jewish readers, actually quotes this verse.
(Matthew 21:4-5)
but Marks Roman readers would not be conversant with it.
The fact that He rides an ass and not a horse
is also significant. For a conqueror coming
in peace rode an ass. Riding a white horse however, as the Lord
is depicted in Revelation 19:11, would
speak of war !! Hence the phrase
triumphal entry might be better
reserved for the Second Coming !
(c ) The Praise-filled Pilgrims.
Hosanna,
they cry. (vs. 9) It means Save us
now ! and to the mind of the crowd and
the disciples it meant Save us from
Roman domination. Restore our nation as
it was in the days of Solomon. They
even call Him by his Messianic title, Son of David! ( Matthew 21:9) John tells us that this multitude were those
who had seen the Lord Jesus raise Lazarus from the tomb a week or so previous.
( John 12:17)
(d) The Prior Assessment
!!
After weeping over Jerusalem (John 12:41) He entered the Temple and looked around
(vs. 11),
and sees the thieving money-changers
back in business. He had cast them out over three years earlier (John
2:13-16). Tomorrow He will return and
do it again ! ( Mark 11:15)
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(2) THE GOSPEL APPLICATION !!
The
Ass is an illustration of a sinners
pilgrimage
from being lost to found.
(a) UNTAMED
Upon which never man sat. ( vs2) It did its own thing, not that of any
master. Rebellious. A picture of the person without any allegiance
to their Maker.
(b) BOUND
tied
and whilst the unsaved
may think they are free to do as they please, the Bible says that they are in
bondage to Satan. ( Romans 6:16)
(c) SOUGHT
The Lord Jesus sends His disciples to
find this colt
and it was He who
came to seek and to save the lost. He took the initiative ! (1 John 4:10)
(d) NEEDED ! For
the Lord has a plan for your life
He wants to use you in His service.
(e) MET !!! where the two
ways meet. ( vs. 4) And in a very real
sense it is at the Cross-road
where the sinner must decide as to which way He will go.
(f) LOOSED !! The believer can sing
My chains fell off, my heart was free !
I rose, went forth and followed
Thee !
(g)
CONTROLLED . Now,
I let Him hold the reins and direct my ways. ( Psalm 37:23)
When Jesus looked around
Or Spiritual
Stocktaking!
( Studies in Marks Gospel
No. 27b)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MARK
11:11 And Jesus entered into
Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all
things, and now the eventide was come, he went out
.
..
INTRODUCTION ..
A week before the Cross and He takes a look at the ungodly money-making racket taking place in the Temple. The next day He will return with a whip !
But the text
also reminds us that where two or three gather in His Name , He is
present. ( Matthew 18:20) And He still looks around
at what takes place in His House.
He looks at the preacher
and He looks at the
congregation.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
(1)
THE PREACHER
(a) Is he well-prepared. Has he
poured over his Bible and consulted
reliable commentaries , are his illustrations accurate, is his pronunciation
correct, is his geography clear. Or does he just waffle on !!! ( 2 Timothy
2:15)
(b) Has the sermon been bathed in
prayer ? (John 15:5)
(c) Is his motive to please the congregation
or God ? (Galatians 1:10)
(d) Does he believe the Bible to
be the very Word of God
or has he succumbed to the onslaughts of modern
criticism ? ( Psalm 119:160)
(e) Is his dress standard
becoming as one who is an Ambassador
for the King of Kings or does he look as if he is coming home from a football
match? (1 Cor. 11:3-7)
(f) Does he use language that is appropriate for a child of God
or slangy
and crude expressions ? (Colossians 4:6)
(g) Does his personal life square with what he proclaims. Does he
practice what he preaches ??? ( Titus 2:7-8)
(h) Was it the message God had
laid upon his heart
or just his own
hobby-horse. Or did he even steal someone elses sermon !!! ( 2 Peter 2:1-3)
(i) Was his sermon one that exalted the Lord Jesus? ( John 5:23)(2 Corinth.
4:5)
(j) And did the his sermon seek to produce results ? Or was it more like a
take-it-or-leave-it lecture? Preaching demands a verdict on the part of the
hearer
lecturing does not ! ( 2 Corinth. 5:20)
What does the Lord Jesus think when he sees me
in the pulpit ?
.
(2) THE CONGREGATION . ( and that includes
me, too !!)
(a) Does He see an empty place where I ought to be.? Was it
too hot or too cold to attend
? Maybe it was a bit late getting to
bed on Saturday night ?( Heb. 10:24-25)
(b) Am I attentive? Is there an Amen to the preachers prayer? Is the
sermon demanding of my attention ? ( Matthew 13:13-16)
(c) Are the words of the hymns meaningful to me
and sung with a heart filled with praise ?
( Psalm 150:6)
(d) Do I dress like one coming to fellowship with the Lord ? (
1 Corinth. 11:3-7)
(e) Is the music conducive to worship or more like a performance at a Rock
concert?
(f) Is my giving an act of worship
out of a thankful heart
or a habit that
hasnt changed with the last six pay-rises ? ( 2 Corinth. 9:7)
(g) Am I a hearer of the Word
but not a doer? What about baptism and
Bible study and prayer and witnessing, etc
( James 1:22).
(h) Am I in harmony with other members of the congregation ?(1 Peter 3:8)
(i) Do I greet visitors and make them feel welcome ? (1 Thessalonians
5:26!!!)
(j) Do I help to make the church
premises look attractive
even if it means picking up some scattered leaflets
off the floor? ( 2 Thessalonians 3:13)
(k) Am I regularly in prayer for the one who ministers the Word of God
and
the church officers? ( 1 Thessalonians 5:25)
What does the Lord Jesus see when He looks
around our church ?
.
CONCLUSION
On that first Palm Sunday the Lord Jesus looked around Gods House in Jerusalem.
He would have seen some fervent worshippers
trying to pray in spite of the din and
stench of the animals there tethered and the clink of the money-changers
coins. And He wept. ( Luke 19:41)
And He
would have seen the money hungry blind leaders of the blind
the religious
leaders. And He was angry.
And Jesus came to Northcote, and entered in
to the Baptist Church
and looked around
I wonder what His reaction is ( not would be ) when He looks around and sees you .and me.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
When Jesus cursed a Fig Tree !! ( Mark 11:12-25)
( Studies in Marks Gospel
No. 28)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
INTRODUCTION . It is less than a week
before the crucifixion.
During the triumphal(?) entry
the crowd had expected this Jesus to be the one who would deliver them from
Rome. But when He rode into Jerusalem
that day it was on an ass
( a symbol of peace) and not
on a horse ( a symbol of war !)
Instead of going to the Fortress of Antonio to declare war on the Roman
garrison there stationed, (as they expected) He went to the Jewish Temple and
assessed the situation ready to cleanse it the next day. Judgment begins at
the House of God !! ( 1 Peter 4:17)
And now it is
the next day
(Mark 11:12)
..
(1) CURSING THE TREE !!
MARK 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into
the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the
eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from
Bethany, he was hungry:
11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he
came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found
nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat
fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
.
(a) The Critics
.. William Barclay, for
example, says that this is the most
difficult story in the Gospel narrative
.
It simply does not ring true ! ( Commentary on Mark. p. 280) Of course, his
statement is an attack on the inspiration and reliability of Scripture. If we
deny this story as historically true
where do we stop when it comes to other
passages that present difficulties? No wonder Barclay eventually denied the
resurrection of Christ !!
But we will see the solution to our Lords act in later verses
.
(b) The Cause
He was hungry ( vs. 12)
It is a simple reminder of our Lords perfect humanity. Probably all night had
been spent in prayer somewhere on the Mount of Olives.
.
(2) CLEANSING THE TEMPLE
MARK 11:15 And they come to
Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold
and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and
the seats of them that sold doves;
11:16 And would not suffer that any man should carry
any vessel through the temple.
11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written,
My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made
it a den of thieves.
11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and
sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people
was astonished at his doctrine.
.
(a) The Critics
.again !!
The fact that John tells us the Lord cleansed the Temple at the
commencement of His ministry ( John 2:13-25) whilst Matthew, Mark and Luke
place it during this closing week makes
the critics think that John got it wrong.
(Interpreters
Commentary p. 296) Which ,
again, is an attack on the reliability of Scripture.
There is no difficulty in believing the Lord Jesus cleansed the Temple
twice
!
(b) The Comparison. What the crowd sees is another Judas
Maccabaeus who, in
165 B.C., had come as a mighty
Jewish military conqueror, overthrowing their enemies and cleansing the Temple
of that day. The Syrians had defiled it with their anti-Semitic practices. Now
this Son of David, Jesus, is
repeating the cleansing process of those days.
.
(c ) The Claim
.. By acting as He does, the Lord is fulfilling yet another Old Testament
Messianic prophecy
Malachi 3:1-2 . The
Lord whom ye seek (i.e. the
Messiah ) shall suddenly come to His Temple
. But who may abide the day of His
coming ?
For it will be a day of judgment
not blessing.
(d) The Clause
Whilst both Matthew and Luke record this event, there is one clause
unique to Marks gospel
.
Is it not written, My house shall be called of all
nations
the
house of prayer?
..
(e) The Consequences
. This market in the Temple was the money-making racket of Annas, the
deposed High Priest, father-in-law of Ciaphas !
Jesus, they said, must be stopped !! ( vs. 18) Even killed !!
(3) CLARIFYING THE TIRADE !!
11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw
the fig tree dried up from the roots.
11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him,
Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith
in God.
11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall
say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and
shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he
saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have
ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you
your trespasses.
11:26 But if ye do not
forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
..
So why did the Lord Jesus curse the fig
tree? Or did He ?????
(a)
The Translation Problem. Our Lords word may have been a simple
statement of fact , after all, it is
Peter who says He cursed it ! .(vs. 21) But the Lord simply said No man (will) eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. Nor
is it possible to translate His tone of voice. Some sentences can be spoken
in anger
some in sorrow
yet exactly the same words are used.
(b)
The Time Problem. Why
did the Lord expect to find figs on the
tree when it was not the season for figs ?( vs. 13) Figs would appear about June . But this was Passover time
April !! However the fact that the leaves had appeared ( vs. 13) is an
indication that the small early ripe figs that ripen with the leaves,
before the main crop should have been present. (
Tyndale Comm. P. 177)
Now lets learn three
lessons as to why the Lord cursed (?) the fig tree.
(a) A Lesson in Parabolic Teaching. The Lord Jesus was a Master
Teacher
and He knew the eye was a better pupil than the ear. We remember more
of what we see than what we hear. So here was a visual aid for a lesson He
wanted His disciples to remember.
Old
Testament prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah had often employed the same use of
visual aids
acting out their sermons. ( Jer.13:1; 19:1,10;
28:10)(Ezek.4:1-4;5:1-4)etc.
..
(b) A Lesson in Prayer. Our Lord says that we, too, can see God work wonders in
answer to our prayers! ( vs. 23)
But hold it !! There are some pre-requisites for such prayers to be
answered.
(1) It must be believing what
He says will happen. ( vs. 23) If we
are asking for something that is
not according to His will
dont count on it !! There is a danger, however,
that He will respond to our request
and well regret it !! ( Psalm
106:15 !!!)
(2) And it must be a prayer that comes from a forgiving heart. ( vs.
25) Perhaps we should say a heart willing
to forgive if the person repents of the evil done to us.
( Luke 17:3
note the if. )
God loves sinners
but
bear in mind that forgiveness is conditional.
Even He only forgives if and when a sinner repents
So it is, if our heart is full of
enmity against another, it will short-circuit the effectiveness of our prayers.
(c ) A LESSON IN PROPHECY .
(a) The Symbolism . Numerous times in the Old
Testament the Fig tree is used as a symbol of the nation of Israel. (
Jeremiah 24: 1-8; 29:17) (Hosea 9:10, 16) etc.
Despite all their outward ritual ( leaves !) there was no fruit !!
Therefore the sentence of judgment was upon them. Within a generation
in 70
A.D
the Jewish nation would be
destroyed by the armies of Rome.
..
(b) The Context.
The abominations so prevalent
in the Temple spoke of the corruption
at the very root (vs. 20) of their religion. The Fig Tree was a reminder of this same truth
plenty of outward
show
but bearing no fruit for God.
(c ) The Application. Sadly, what was true of Israel then is often true of the Church now!
And even of an individual
churchgoer
..
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Death in the Vineyard !!
Studies in Marks Gospel No. 29.
( Mark 11:27-12:12)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
INTRODUCTION. Commencing with the explanation
the Lord gave to His disciples concerning the withered fig tree ( 11:20-25) we
have our Lords Day of Confrontation with the religious authorities.
We know more about this single day in our Lords life than any
other !!
Mark 11:27-12:12 ..they question Him concerning His authority. ( 11:28)
Mark 12:13-17
they question Him about paying taxes ! (12:14)
Mark 12:18-27
they question Him about the Day of resurrection. ( 12:23)
Mark 12:28-34
they question Him concerning the Commandments.(12:28)
Mark 12:35-37
He questions them concerning Psalm 110:1 !!
Mark 12:38-40
( See also Matthew 23:1-39) He pronounces 7 Woes !!!
Mark 12:41-44 A lesson on Giving.
Mark 13:1-37
The prophecy
concerning the Temple !
..
Notice that on this day He is questioned by
The disciples ( 11:21)
The chief priests. ( 11:27)
The Pharisees & Herodians (
12:13)
The Sadducees ( 12:18)
The Scribes (12:28)
And then He questions them ! ( 12:35)
..
(1)
THE VINDICTIVENESS
AND ITS
CAUSE. ( 11:27-33)
MARK 11:27 And
they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come
to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
11:28 And say unto
him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this
authority to do these things?
The these things of verse 28 refers to our Lords act of cleansing the Temple the day previous.(
11:15-18) Who does He think He is, they demand!
To which He replies that He will answer their question if they first
answer His. ( 29)
MARK 11:29 And
Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and
answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
11:30
The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.
This put the
religious leaders on the horns of a dilemma.
If they said John the Baptist was Gods messenger, then they would be
forced to admit that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. He was the One, John had
testified, who was greater than me.
But if they denied John the Baptist was sent by God
they would have a riot on their hands. The people had flocked to John in their
thousands
( Matthew 3:5)
MARK
11:31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven;
he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?
11:32
But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John,
that he was a prophet indeed.
11:33
And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering
saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
But the Lord Jesus is not finished with them
He goes
on to speak the Parable of the Vineyard.
.
(2) THE VINEYARD AND ITS OWNER. ( 12:1)
MARK 12:1 And he began to speak unto them by
parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and
digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen,
and went into a far country.
In Isaiah 5:1-7 the prophet had likened Israel to a
vineyard. God was the one who had
planted them .
ISAIAH 1: Now will I sing to my
well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a
vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with
the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a
winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought
forth wild grapes
..
7: For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of
Judah his pleasant plant:
(the choicest vine )
watched over and cared for it ( the tower) and gave it joy ( the
winepress ) and looked for fruit
but like the withered fig tree
it was
all outward show . And fruit there was
none.
So it is in this
parable .
The owner ( God )
lets out his vineyard to certain
tenants to care for it
.. a picture of the religious leaders to whom the Lord
Jesus was now confronting ! ( 11:27)
(3) THE VIOLENCE
AND ITS RESULT ! ( vs. 2-8)
MARK
12:2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might
receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
12:3
And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
12:4
And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and
wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
12:5
And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some,
and killing some.
And when He sent His servants to receive some fruit , the tenants refused to
listen to the Owners message that they brought
instead they mistreated them .
So it was through the Old Testament. God sent His prophets to call the wayward
nation to repentance and to bring forth fruit
spiritual fruit
and the
prophets were rejected and some were even
put to death. ( Hebrews 11:36-37)
But things grew worse. The Owner of the vineyard sent
his son ; His only son
MARK
12:6 Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto
them, saying, They will reverence my son.
12:7
But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill
him, and the inheritance shall be ours.
12:8
And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
In these verses the Lord Jesus is claiming to be the
Son of God
. and foretelling His own death. Moreover, He goes on to speaks of
the judgment that will burst upon the nation that has rejected Him
(4) THE VENGEANCE AND ITS FINALITY !! ( 12:9)
MARK
12:9 What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy
the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.
It was a generation later that the Roman armies came
against Jerusalem and destroyed it. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us
500,000 Jews died as a result of the famine that swept through the city during
the 4-year siege; 600,000 died by the
sword, and one million were carried
into slavery.
Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord, I will repay! (
Romans 12:19)
(5) THE VERSE
AND ITS APPLICATION.( 12:10-12)
MARK
12:10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders
rejected is become the head of the corner:
12:11 This was the
Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
The Lord Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22-23.
It is a Messianic
Psalm. The crowds , just two days previous, had cried out Save now ! (
Hosanna !)
Blessed is He that cometh
also quoting this same Psalm
and applying it to the Lord Jesus. ( Mark
11:9) ( Psalm 118:25-26)
The stone was also a well-known Messianic title (
Exodus 17:6; Daniel 2:34; Zech 4:7;
) Thus it was the Lord Jesus was speaking
of His rejection .. but also of His subsequent exaltation.
He would be
the chief corner stone in Gods spiritual Temple!( 1 Peter 2:6-7)
Realizing the parable was spoken against them, they
wanted to kill Him !!
MARK 12:12 And
they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he
had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.
In a couple of days time, they
would find their opportunity to have
Him arrested and crucified.
.
(6)
THE VOW
AND ITS FULFILMENT
!! ( 12:9)
MARK 12:9 What shall therefore the Lord of
the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the
vineyard unto others.
Matthew 21:10 has it that the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof.
That is; taken from the Jews
and given to a new nation
the Church. We
are Gods chosen people today. 1 Peter
speaks of the church as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation !
It is a nation comprised of all who have placed their
faith in Christ
whether they be Gentile
or Jew ! ( Galatians 3:26-29)
GALATIANS 3:26 For
ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
3:27 For as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
3:29 And if ye be
Christs, then are ye Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Such was the Lords promise ,
and such has come to pass.
.
CONCLUSION.
Israel had been cut off
the
saved Gentiles grafted in ( Romans 11:13;19). Why were the Jews broken off
?
because of unbelief. ( Romans
11:20)
ROMANS 11:21 For
if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
11:22 Behold
therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but
toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also
shalt be cut off.
A solemn warning if one is all
show
and no fruit !
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Four Questions -- and Two Cautions !! ( Mark12:13-44)
(Studies in Marks Gospel
No. 30)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
INTRODUCTION
. The Day of Confrontation
continues.
(1) A QUESTION CONCERNING TAXES.
(12:13-17)
12:13 And they
send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in
his words.
12:14 And when
they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and
carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the
way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
12:15 Shall we
give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them,
Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
12:16 And they
brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And
they said unto him, Caesars.
12:17 And Jesus
answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to
God the things that are Gods. And they marvelled at him.
..
Notice (a) The Two Parties. Pharisees & Herodians !!
The Pharisees were anti-Roman
the Herodians were pro-Roman ! Poles apart in
their political outlook, yet they join forces to gang up on the Lord Jesus.
Their question is a trap. ( vs. 14-15)
If He answers Yes the
Pharisees will accuse Him of being a traitor to Judaism. And He will lose face with the common
people. But if He says No
the Herodians will accuse Him of stirring up
insurrection among the Jews.
(b) The Two Coins . The Jewish people at this time
had two coinage systems
there was the Temple money ( hence the money changers;
Mark 11:15) and their coinage used in daily
business. This latter coin is the one requested by the
Lord. On one side was an image of
Caesar ! ( vs. 16)
(c ) The Two Responsibilities. Our Lord replies that we have a
responsibility to the
State
we are to pay our taxes! But we also have a responsibility to God.
His image
( vs. 16) is stamped upon us. And if it be the State goes against Gods
Law
. We ought to obey God rather than man. ( Acts 5:26) There is a sense in which our Lords reply
left each hearer to answer personally
what he owed to the Emperor
and what he owed to God.
..
(2) A QUESTION CONCERNING
THE RESURRECTION. ( 12:18-27)
12:18 Then come
unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him,
saying,
12:19 Master,
Moses wrote unto us, If a mans brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and
leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed
unto his brother.
12:20 Now there
were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
12:21 And the
second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.
12:22 And the
seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
12:23 In the resurrection
therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven
had her to wife.
12:24 And Jesus
answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the
scriptures, neither the power of God?
12:25 For when
they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage;
but are as the angels which are in heaven.
12:26 And as
touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how
in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
12:27 He is not
the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
(a) The Sadducees Question.
Despite the fact the Sadducees
did not believe in any future resurrection ( Acts 23:8) they ask the Lord Jesus
this question concerning a seven-times married woman and her relationship in the Life to come. Also it
should be noted this
religious party only accepted the Five Books of Moses as Scripture.
(b) The Saviours Come-back !!
(a) He accuses them of
being ignorant of Gods Word.
(vs.24)
He quotes from one of the Books
of Moses :- Exodus 3:6.
There God said I am the
God of Abraham , etc.. ( vs. 26) long
after Abraham had died ! ( He did not say I was
but they are dead now !)
Abraham had been promised a future city !( Hebrews 11:9)
Not just a shadowy life in Sheol ( Hades
the unseen world ) but a resurrected life in the World to
come. But the patriarch had died without receiving that which God
had promised
therefore, the Lord Jesus is saying, he is still awaiting
resurrection day ! ( Hebrews 11:13)
(b)And He accuses them of being ignorant
of Gods Power . God will raise the dead
and in that World to come
we will be like the angels. There will be no marriage
relationships. ( vs. 25)
(c ) It is also important to
notice that the Lord Jesus regarded the Book of Exodus as reliable
inspired of
God
and written by Moses.( vs. 26-27)
Critics of the Bible deny this.
.
(3) A QUESTION CONCERNING THE LAW. ( 12: 28-34)
12:28 And one of
the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that
he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
12:29 And Jesus
answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord
our God is one Lord:
12:30 And thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
12:31 And the
second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is
none other commandment greater than these.
12:32 And the
scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one
God; and there is none other but he:
12:33 And to love
him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul,
and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than
all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
12:34 And when
Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from
the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Now comes a question from a
Scribe
a Teacher of the Law
concerning which is the greatest commandment. (
vs. 28) Matthew tells us the purpose of the question is to trap Him. (
Matthew 22:35) In reply, the Lord Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:4 and Leviticus 19:18 ( vs. 29-31)
(a)
There is a Vertical Aspect to our
Love.
It is to God!
And every Jew would have
agreed
even if they didnt always put it into practice !
(b)
But there is a Horizontal Aspect to that
Love
showing love to our fellow man.
Even if he is a Gentile !! And that was not
to the liking of the Jews. ( 1 John 2:10-11)
This scribe, however, acknowledges that what the Lord Jesus said was
true.(vs. 34)
(c ) Incidentally, the
Seventh Day Adventist prophet, Mrs. E.G. White, taught that the Sabbath
Commandment was the greatest
. Ha!
.
(4) A QUESTION CONCERNING THE MESSIAH !(12:35-37)
Now it is the Lords turn to confound His opponents with a question
12:35 And Jesus answered and said,
while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of
David?
12:36 For David
himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
12:37 David
therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the
common people heard him gladly.
(a)
The Inspiration of the Spirit. (vs. 36) It was not just what David thought or guessed. .It was a
Messianic prophecy given through David by the Holy Spirit. ( 2 Tim. 3:16) As usual, the liberal theologians deny that
Psalm 110 is Davidic or inspired
or Messianic !!
(b)
The
Cross-examination of the Scribes
If the Messiah (i.e. the Christ )
is Davids descendant, how is it David called Him my Lord? The answer is found in the Pre-existence of
the Messiah . (John 8:58)
He is not just the Son of David
( as many had already acknowledged ),He is the Son of God (Matt 16:16)
.
(5) A CAUTION CONCERNING THE SCRIBES .(12:37b 40)
12: 37b
..And the common people heard him
gladly.
12:38 And he said
unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long
clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
12:39 And the
chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
12:40 Which devour
widows houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive
greater damnation.
Over and over again the New Testament warns the reader of false teachers. Out of the 27 books in the
New Testament, twenty-three refer to
these blind leaders of the blind.
(a) Their Appearance
is Showy.(36) They love to be
seen of men.
They
wax eloquent with long prayers . (40)
(b) Their Attitude is one of Superiority. (39)
(c) Their Actions are Self-seeking . They prey on widows
..(40a)
(d) Their Agony is Sure
(40b) Notice that this
text implies degrees of punishment in Hell
just as there are varying rewards
for the saints.
(6) A CAUTION CONCERNING STEWARDSHIP. (12:41-44)
12:41 And Jesus
sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the
treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
12:42 And there
came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
12:43 And he
called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That
this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the
treasury:
12:44 For all they
did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she
had, even all her living.
We may tend to evaluate our spirituality be the amount we give. This
incident points to the fact that the Lord is more interested in how much we
keep for ourselves !
(a)
The Widow
maybe one of those preyed upon by the scribes ? (40;42) She gave the smallest
coin in existence. Notice how Mark explains its value to his Roman readers.
(42)
(b)
The Watcher
.
The Lord Jesus saw the devotion behind her offering. And He saw the rich who
gave more
but who showed no gratitude
to God in doing so. (41) The rich mans
gift was no sacrifice as had
been the widows.
The world sees how much a
man gives; Christ sees how he gives.
The world looks at the
amount; Christ looks at the motive.
.
CONCLUSION
..The Lamb of God , our
Passover, has been tested and is found to be without blemish. ( Exodus
12:3,6)
. in three days time He will be an acceptable sacrifice
for the sins of the world.
.
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The Woman who understood what the Disciples did
not !
Studies in Mark 14:1-11
( No. 32)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
INTRODUCTION. Mark 14 is the longest chapter
in this Gospel. It takes us on to holy ground
in the very shadow of Calvary.
(1) THE ENMITY OF THE RELIGIOUS
LEADERS.
Mark 14:1 After two days was the feast of the
passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought
how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
14:2 But they
said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
(a)The Ruse.It is the intention of these men
to have the Lord Jesus arrested and put to death
but not during the
Passover festivities, due to commence in two days time.
(b)
The Reason !About three million
Jews have turned Jerusalem into a tent-city ; many of them from Galilee where
they had even wanted to make Him their King. (Jn.6:15)
Besides , the Passover commemorated
deliverance from Egypt
what better time for an uprising to overthrow ( or try
to overthrow ) the yoke of Rome? Riots would ensue.(vs.2)
(c ) The Over-Ruling !! But the plans of
these men did not square with that of God. It would be at the
Passover season the Lamb of God would be slain in fulfillment of the Old
Testament typology.
(2) THE SACRIFICE OF MARY (OF BETHANY )
14:3 And being in
Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman
having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake
the box, and poured it on his head.
14:4 And there
were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste
of the ointment made?
14:5 For it might
have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the
poor. And they murmured against her.
14:6 And Jesus
said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
14:7 For ye have
the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye
have not always.
14:8 She hath done
what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
14:9 Verily I say
unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,
this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
It is in Johns Gospel we learn
that this act of devotion was performed by
Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. ( Jn. 12:2-8)
(a)The Critics. As usual, the Liberal
theologians attack the inspiration of the Scriptures saying that this is
another version of the incident recorded in Luke 7:36-38.
There the Simon was a Pharisee,
this Simon had been a leper, possibly now healed by the Lord Jesus. There the place was Galilee, here it is in Judea.
In Lukes account the woman is
a despised gate-crasher , in
this story Mary is a guest and sister of the one serving.
They are two separate stories.
(b) The Cost !! John 12:5 tells how the
ointment was worth 300 pence. In a day when a penny was a days wages !!!
(Matthew 20:2) And the breaking of the
flask was an Eastern custom, signifying no lesser person would ever
touch it. ( Barclay. Mark. p. 342)
(c ) The Comparison. Mark has just recorded the story of the
widow who gave two mites.
( 12:41-44) But that offering was just as precious to the Lord Jesus as
this very costly offering made by Mary.
It is not the amount given that the Lord sees, but the gratitude and love that inspires the
giving.
(d) The Condescension . Three times we read
of Mary of Bethany in the Gospel story
and each time she is at His feet! (
Luke 10:39; John 11;32; john 12; 3)
(e) The Carping
i.e. finding fault petulantly . It is Judas who criticizes Marys
devotion
and leads the other disciples to echo his complaint ! ( John 12:4;
Matthew 26:8)
So many young Christians have their faith wrecked by the unjust
criticism of other church-goers !
Judas, apparently, was not converted. John tells us that he was a thief ! ( Jn.
12: 6)
(f) The Commendation
. For the Lord
Jesus praises her act of love. She
knows that I am going to die, He seems to say. She knows what the
rest of you do not understand . She has even kept it ( Jn. 12:7)
this ointment
to anoint me
she did not
even use it for her brother Lazarus when he died. She kept it for Me!
Moreover
her act of devotion will be spoken of throughout the whole
world.( Mark 14:9) What an incredible
prophecy !! An obscure village maiden would be remembered until the end of time
throughout the world!! And yet so it has come to pass.
..
(3) THE BETRAYAL OF THE LORD JESUS.
14:10 And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve,
went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
14:11 And when
they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought
how he might conveniently betray him.
Tomorrow night in Gethsemane the arrest will take place
and Judas will
have second thoughts about this awful bargain .
What motivated his betrayal ? Just the love of money ?
Or was it envy of those disciples who seemed closer to the Lord than he
?
Was it an effort to force the Lords hand and make him raise an army to
overthrow Rome ? Whatever
Luke tells
us Satan entered into Judas. ( Luke 22:3)
The Prophecy that saved Thousands of lives ! (Studies in Mark. No. 31)
INTRODUCTION We now come to Mark 13
one of the most difficult chapters in
the New Testament. At least, so
William Barclay says. (p. 317)
It is known as the Olivet Discourse because it is given on the Mount of
Olives. It is the longest sermon in
Marks gospel and is also found in Matthew
24 and Luke 21.A comparison of all three will help us understand that to
which our Lord refers.
(1) A Passing Comment
Mark 13:1.
(2) A Predicted Catastrophe !! ( vs. 2) The magnificence of the Temple
and the incredible size of
many of the stones makes our Lords
words seem impossible of fulfillment. Yet in less than 40 years it would all be
fulfilled.
(3) The Problematical Question. But when will this take place.?( 3-4) And
what SIGN will there be before these things take place.? Note the added
questions in Matthews account. It cannot refer to the Second Coming
for the disciples
do not even understand that He is about to be crucified
nor that He
will rise again. It is a reference to
the destruction of the Temple which they equate with the End of the Age.
(4) The Perplexing Commentators
Some,
(e.g; W. Wiersbe ; I.Powell ; Dr. Scofield ;
V.McGee ) take Matthew 24 and Mark 13 to refer to the End Times ( the
Tribulation & the Second Advent). But Luke 21, they say, has to do with the
destruction of the Temple in 70A.D. by the Romans !
Others see the whole passage as primarily
referring to the events of 70 A.D.
with a transition to events at the End of
the Age in Mark 13: 24
or 32
or 36 !! So we will tread carefully realizing
that good Bible-believing Christians differ in their interpretation.
..
(5) THE PROVIDED CLUES
. To help us determine that which is under
consideration. The End of the Age
or 70 A.D. ? Notice the similarity between all three gospel writers. It seems
obvious they are all recording the same words of our Lord, on the same
occasion, in response to the same
question
To make Matthew & Mark refer to the End Times whilst Luke is
speaking of the Destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. seems a very forced
interpretation !!
John Wesley says the best commentary on these
verses is found in the writings of the Jewish Historian, Josephus, who actually
lived at the time of the Temples destruction.
Notice that the warnings here given are NOT the
signs ! (vs. 7. Matt. 24:6; Luke 21:9)
Between the time this prophecy was uttered (
about 30 A.D. ) and the events of 70 A.D. there were false Messiahs (Mark
13:6), and wars in the Roman empire (8). There were earthquakes and plagues and
famines ( 8)
all recorded for us by
contemporary historians. Persecution against believers is evident from
the Book of Acts. ( 9) And the gospel
did go across the world of that day prior to 70 A.D. (Matt. 24:14)(Coloss.
1:23).
But none of these were the sign ! ( Mark
13:4)
(6) The Proffered Calculation
. Now the Lord Jesus reveals that which will
indicate the destruction of the Temple is imminent.
Comparing Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 with Luke 21:20 reveals the
meaning of the cryptic phrase, The abomination of desolation. It is
Jerusalem besieged by the Roman
Army ! And that took place from 66A.D. to 70
A.D.
The carcase of a dead Judaism was given over
to the Romans with the eagles on their standards. (Matthew 24:28.)
Great indeed was the tribulation of those days.
( Matt. 24:21) It is said 600,000 corpses were hurled over the walls of Jerusalem,
those who had died during the famine that swept the city. Over one million
perished in the siege, and 97 000 were taken into slavery. And the Temple was
razed
one Roman officer even used a plough-share to tare up the foundations of the Temple ! ( Dr. A.
Barnes Commentary p. 250)The prophecy of Mark 13: 2 had come
to pass.
But notice our Lords warning to His followers
to flee when they see the sign.
( Mark 13:14-18) Josephus tells how the siege was temporarily lifted without any reason in the world ( Wars
of the Jews; Book 2:19:7) And those who
recalled our Lords prophecy
and believed it !
fled from Jerusalem as from
a ship when it was going to sink. (Book 2:20:1)
It is also noteworthy that in Daniels prophecy
of the abomination of desolation he
says it is the people of the
Prince who will destroy the city and
the Temple. ( Dan. 9:26) And it was the Roman soldiers who did it in spite
of the orders of the Prince, Titus !! ( Book 6:4:3)
(5) The Problematical Clause
.. for reading these verses sounds very much
like a description of the Second Coming.
( Mark 13:24-27) But darkened sun and falling stars are a part of Old Testament imagery. Such language is used
to depict the fall of Babylon ( Isaiah 13:9-10); Edom ( Isaiah 34:4);
Samaria ( Amos 8:9); and Egypt
( Ezek.
32:7-8). Likewise the Lord coming
with the clouds is a prophetic picture of His coming in judgment as depicted
in the Old Testament.
And subsequent verses tell of the events
of which He has just spoken being
fulfilled in the lifetime of his contemporaries . ( Mark 13:30) That is
in 70
A.D.
The word angels in vs. 27 is simply the
Greek word for messengers
and may mean that the great harvest of souls ,
Jews and Gentiles, would be gathered into His church from across the Roman empire.
There are those commentators . however, who see
this as a reference to the Second Coming
and the gathering of believers home to Glory.
(6) The
Parabolic Close
. ( Mark 13:28-31)
Just as one knows it is nearly summer when a fig tree begins to blossom
so when you see this sign ( vs. 2; 14 ) you will know the destruction of the
Temple is about to take place.
(7) CONCLUSION
..
But..
!!! ( vs. 32) whilst there are signs that indicate one might know when those
days ( Matthew 24: 19, 22, 29) will be that the
abomination of Desolation will appear
there is no indication as to when that Day ( Matthew
24:36) ( Mark 13:32) when the Lord
shall return. Even during the days of His earthly pilgrimage our Lord had laid
aside the use of His omnipotence and did not know the time of His
return. ( Mark 13:32)
Therefore, He says, be ready all the time !! (
Mark 13:34-37) For when He comes, one
is taken ( not in any secret rapture as many teach, but in judgment as it was
in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:38-39) ) and some are left to enter the New
Heavens and New Earth.
Therefore be ye also ready
( Matthew 24:44)
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The Day of the Cross ! ( Studies in Mark ..No. 33)
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From Chapters 1 9 it is non-stop action. In Galilee
.with our Lords
popularity evident. Nearly the first three years of our Lords ministry
in 9
chapters.
Then
in chapter 10 we are off on a new
track, if you
like,
from Galilee to Judea.
Now
we slow down . We have reached our destination.
Chapters
11-16 cover the final week !!
Chapter
14:12 to 15:47 cover the events of the day of the crucifixion. !
Bear
in mind the Jewish method of reckoning is from sunset to sunset.
6pm 9 12. 6am 9 noon 3 6pm mdnt
. .
. . . .
. . . .
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E2
E3
A
.. Last Supper
..
..( Mark 14:12)
B
Gethsemane
.( Mark
14:32)
C
Arrest
( Mark 14:43)
D
Jewish Trials
..(Mark 14:53; 15:1.)
E
Roman Trials
( Mark 15:1)
F
Crucifixion
( Mark 15:21)
G
Darkness ( 3 hours)
.(
Mark 15:33)
H
Death
( Mark 15:34)
I
Entombment.
( Mark 15:42)
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(1) THE PRE-ARRANGED ROOM.
14:12 And the
first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples
said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the
passover?
14:13 And he
sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city,
and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
14:14 And
wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master
saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my
disciples?
14:15 And he will
shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
14:16 And his
disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto
them: and they made ready the passover.
A Lesson in
Planning ahead. !! Because the
population of Jerusalem swelled from 50,000 to about 3 million during Passover
time , one of the compulsory Jewish feasts , it seems obvious the Lord had
planned ahead that a room would be available to have this last meal with His
disciples. The sign of a man with a water-pot on his head is copparable to a
man today carrying a pink umbrella on a sunny day ! Carrying water-pots was a
womans job !
There is no need to read a
miracle into this story
as some commentators do !
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(2) THE PRE-PASSOVER MEAL !!
Why Pre ??? Didnt the lord Jesus eat the Passover with
His disciples?
Some writers think so.
Others point out that this
was the day the lambs would be slain (vs. 12) in about 20 hours time !!! And
the Passover meal would be eaten after that had taken place !
Read verses 12-16 again
carefully. Did Jesus say it
or the disciples ? They expected to eat the
Passover, they prepared the room
for it , they told the un-named
man that they were going to eat the Passover. Little did they know that on that
Passover night
24 hours hence
they would be like scattered sheep and the Lord
Jesus would be
dead ! ( Matt. 26:31)
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(3) THE PREDICTED DEATH.
14:17 And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. 14:18 And as they sat
and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me
shall betray me. 14:19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one
by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?
14:20 And he
answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in
the dish. 14:18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you,
One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. 14:19 And they began to be
sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?
14:20 And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth
with me in the dish. 14:21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of
him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for
that man if he had never been born.
The Old Testament
Scriptures had foretold our Lord would give His life as a sacrifice for
sinners. ( vs. 21) He came to save the lost
and that by means of His death
at Calvary .
Isaiah 53 is but one of the
great prophecies of this climatic event.
It was even predicted that He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. ( Zech 11:12; Matthew 26:15)
But it did not say that
Judas would be the betrayer. That was
his own decision. God did not force him to do it. On the contrary, even at the
last moment it seems the Lord Jesus attempted to swerve him from his evil
design. ( Luke 22:48 )
·
Did
not the disciples realise Judas was the betrayer when the Lord Jesus dipped
in the dish with him ? No. He dipped
in the dish with all of them as the
dish was passed around ! As a result they all asked Is it I ? ( Matt. 26:22)
When Judas asks, the Lord says Yes! ( Matt. 26:25) Judas leaves the feast to
betray His Master
..
(4) THE PREFIGURED SACRIFICE
14:22 And as they
did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and
said, Take, eat: this is my body. 14:23 And he took the cup, and when he had
given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 14:24 And he said
unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Bread
broken among them
and wine, the pure blood of the grape ( Deuteronomy 32:14) prefigured the
coming crucifixion. ( Notice that pure unfermented grape juice is called wine in the Old
Testament. ) And these emblems would be memorials of
the Saviours sacrifice throughout the history of the Christian Church. ( 1
Corinth. 11:24-25)
The words This is my
body is a figure of speech. Like when
He said I am the Door or
I am the True
Vine. It is metaphorical language.
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(5) THE PRE-EMINENT COVENANT !!
14:24 And he said .., This is my blood of the new testament , which is
shed for many.
A testament is a
covenant
an agreement
in this case , one made between God and man. The old
Covenant . made at Sinai with the 12 tribes
was based on obedience to His law.
And they failed !
The new covenant is made at Calvary
based on faith in the Saviours sacrifice
!
The Law said Do!
And judgement brings
But Grace says Done!
And gives me wings !!
(6) THE PREDESTINED REUNION
14:25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the
vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
Notice some heretical
teachings derived and/or contradicted
by these verses.
Romanism. For it is here the Church of Rome derives its doctrine of
Transubstantiation
the belief that the bread and wine are changed by the
priest at the Mass into the actual, literal body, blood, soul and divinity of
Jesus Christ. This is not a memorial but a re-enactment of the sacrifice of
the Cross.
Calvinism
.which teaches the Lord Jesus
only died for some
the elect; chosen to be saved before time began
whilst others ( known by
Calvin as reprobates ) were chosen to
be damned in Hell ! ! Which comes from a misunderstanding of that word
many ! ( Mark 14:24)
.
Universalism
the teaching that everyone
will get to Heaven. None shall be lost, they say. But how do we explain our Lords words if there is no judgement
to come ?
Mark 14:21
but woe to that man
by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never
been born.
..
Liberalism. .. typical of this new attitude to
Gods Word is the book by Ralph Sutton
( Uniting Church; Perth) who simply denies that the Lord Jesus would
have said a thing like that !! ( Mark 14:21)
Liberal theologians pick and chose the parts of Scripture they want to
accept
and deny the rest.
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CONCLUSION
.
It is tragic to realise that the ordinance
founded by our Lord in this upper
room has become a source of
division.
In
Dark Gethsemane Studies in Marks Gospel No. 34.
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INTRODUCTION
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(1) THE LORDS WARNING (Mark 14:26-21)
14:26 And when
they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
14:27 And Jesus
saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is
written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
14:28 But after
that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
14:29 But Peter
said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
14:30 And Jesus
saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night,
before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
14:31 But he spake
the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any
wise. Likewise also said they all.
..
He speaks of His imminent death;
of their desertion and His
resurrection. And of His re-appearance in Galilee.( vs. 27-28)
Peter, as usual, blurts out that he will never desert Jesus. To which the Lord replies that before sunrise
in about 6 hours time ..
Peter will deny Him. And again Peter protests at such a suggestion. And
all the disciples murmured in agreement ! (31)
Beware of Peters word
nor confidently say
I never will deny
Thee, Lord,
but grant I never may!
Mans wisdom is to seek
his strength in God alone;
And een an angel would be
weak
who trusted in his own.
(
W.Cowper )
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(2) THE LORDS DISTRESS. ( vs. 32-42)
14:32 And they
came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit
ye here, while I shall pray.
14:33 And he taketh
with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very
heavy;
14:34 And saith
unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
14:35 And he went
forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible,
the hour might pass from him.
14:36 And he said,
Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me:
nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
14:37 And he
cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou?
couldest not thou watch one hour?
14:38 Watch ye and
pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh
is weak.
14:39 And again he
went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
14:40 And when he
returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist
they what to answer him.
14:41 And he
cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest:
it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners.
14:42 Rise up, let
us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.
..
In Gethsemane, the Saviour gives
Himself to prayer.
+ There seems to be the danger
on imminent death
even there in Gethsemane !!
Luke, the Doctor, tells of the great drops of blood that fell from
His brow. He prays that
this cup pass and an
angel is sent to strengthen Him. ( ( Luke 22: 42-44)
Note Hebrews 5:7 in this regard
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had
offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
God the Father did not save Him from death
upon Calvary, for that is the purpose for which He came
but it seems the Lord
Jesus was saved from death here in Gethsemane. To
have died in the garden instead of upon the cross would be a victory for Satan
!
+ There was the disappointment
of the sleeping disciples.
Three times He finds them asleep
. unaware of the terrible events about
to transpire. And unable to grasp the truths He had revealed to them ,
even on the way to Gethsemane.
Truly, their spirit was willing,
as evidenced by Peters strong denials ( vs. 29;31)
but their flesh was oh! so
weak.
+ There is the difficulty
of translation in verse 41
He certainly did not say Sleep on now
let us go all in the one sentence ! He said, Sleep on
now ?? ( at a time like this ?) Let us be going ..
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(3) THE LORDS ARREST. (vs. 43-50)
14:43 And immediately,
while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great
multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and
the elders.
14:44 And he that
betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same
is he; take him, and lead him away safely.
14:45 And as soon
as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, master; and
kissed him.
14:46 And they
laid their hands on him, and took him.
14:47 And one of
them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and
cut off his ear.
14:48 And Jesus
answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords
and with staves to take me?
14:49 I was daily
with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be
fulfilled.
14:50 And they all
forsook him, and fled.
..
(a)
The Treachery of Judas. In the darkness of the garden
and dressed in similar garments, Judas points out to the armed mob which one is the Lord Jesus
with a kiss. Verse 45 is interesting
it has been pointed out that there is
no record of Judas ever calling Jesus,
Lord! ( There are many today who
look to Him as Teacher or Example but refuse His Lordship.)
(b)
The Power of the Lord Jesus
. John
tells us that with a word He slays in the Spirit those who have come to
arrest Him.
. They went backward and
fell to the ground! ( John 18:6) But He allows Himself to be taken prisoner for this is the way that leads to the cross
and such is the purpose for which He
came. ( vs. 49)
(c)
The Courage of Peter . In contrast to Judas cold
heart of hate is Peters flaming heart of love. ( Barclay) He swipes with his sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priests servant ! ( vs
47; John 18:10) And the Lord
gently rebukes His brave disciple and
restores the ear to its rightful place
! It is Luke alone, with his medical knowledge, who is interested enough to mention
this miracle. ( Luke 22:51)
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(4) THE LORDS FOLLOWER !! (
Mark 14: 50-53)
14:50 And they all
forsook him, and fled.
14:51 And there
followed him a certain young man,
having a linen cloth cast about his naked
body;
and the young men laid hold on him:
14:52 And he left
the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
14:53 And they led
Jesus away
..
Whilst the eleven apostles fled,
as both the Lord and the Old Testament
prophet had foretold ( Mark 14:27
;Zechariah 13:7) a young man does follow the mob as the Lord is led away. Some
ruffian sees him , seeks to grab him but only gets the sheet in which he is
wrapped
.( vs. 51-52) .
So who was this certain young man ?
(a)
The consensus of theological thought is that
the certain young man (vs. 51) was none other than the author of this
Gospel. (I. Powell p. 378)
(b)
It is only Mark who records this incident.
(c)
In Acts 12:12 we read of the disciples meeting
in the home of Mary, mother of John Mark. Was this the same room where the
Lords Supper had been instituted ? Had
Mark, just a lad at the time, watched
and listened in the corner of that room earlier that evening. Perhaps
jumped out of bed clothed only in a sheet , and followed them to
Gethsemane ?
(d)
The
failure to give a name may also be an indication
. just as John never mentions his own name in the Fourth Gospel
(e)
Mark may well have been the only eye-witness
of our Lord praying whilst the
disciples slept.
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Trials & Denials
( Studies in Mark
No. 35)
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INTRODUCTION
.
The arrest in Gethsemane has taken place. Now the Lord faces
THREE JEWISH TRIALS before
Annas
..about 1:00a.m.
Ciaphas & the Sanhedrin
about 2:30 a.m.
Ciaphas & the Sanhedrin.. at
daybreak.
..
During this time Peter is
firstly in the courtyard and then on the porch of the High Priests palace. And he denies knowing the Lord three
times.
First Denial
about 3:00 a.m.
Second Denial
about 4:00 a.m.
Third Denial . Just before Daybreak . (Luke 22:59)
Mark 14:53 And
they led Jesus away to the high priest: and with him were assembled all the
chief priests and the elders and the scribes.
14:54 And Peter followed him afar off, even into the
palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at
the fire.
14:55 And the chief priests and all the council sought
for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none.
14:56 For many bare false witness against him, but
their witness agreed not together.
14:57 And there arose certain, and bare false witness
against him, saying,
14:58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple
that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made
without hands.
14:59 But neither so did their witness agree together.
14:60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and
asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness
against thee?
14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing.
Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed?
14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son
of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
14:63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and
saith, What need we any further witnesses?
14:64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And
they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
14:65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his
face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did
strike him with the palms of their hands.
Nevertheless, the death
sentence is passed
(vs. 64). Problem was
the Jews had no power to execute
the death penalty. That was Romes prerogative. Hence the visit to Pontius
Pilate. And a third trial is hastily convened by the Sanhedrin just after
day-break
to put a semblance of legality on what had taken place during the
evening hours.
Mark 15:1 And straightway in the morning the chief
priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council,
and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
.
(2) The Unblameable Lord.
More than that
He was sinless! His followers are called to be
unblameable
( Philippians 2:15)
there is a difference!
As a result He is cruely treated
(vs.65)
How art Thou pale with anguish,
With sore abuse and scorn;
How does that visage
languish
Which once was bright as
morn
(Bernard
of Clairvaux)
Mark 14:66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace,
there cometh one of the maids of the high priest:
14:67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she
looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
14:68 But he denied, saying, I know not, neither
understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock
crew.
14:69 And a maid saw him again, and began to say to
them that stood by, This is one of them.
14:70 And he denied it again. And a little
after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for
thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
14:71 But he began to curse and to swear,
saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.
14:72 And the second time the cock crew.
And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock
crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
(a) His Courage! At least he was there ! The other disciples , except John (, had
gone into hiding.
(b) His following
alas! It was afar off .
( vs. 54) To not walk close to the Lord is ever the recipe for spiritual
disaster
(c) His Speech. Galilaeans had a distinctive accent. ( vs. 70) And folk we meet
should be able to tell we are His disciples by the way we speak
and what we
say
Mmmm?
(d) His Denials. Whilst the Lord Jesus is affirming His Lordship to the Sanhedrin,
thus signing His own death warrant ( so to speak) Peter is denying that
Lordship to a servant girl !
(e) The Fulfilment. Just a few hours previous
the Saviour had foretold this incident.
( Mark 14:29-30) Thus it was, whilst the Lord
was being mocked as a false prophet
( vs. 65)
Peter was realising that He was a true one !
(f) The Cock-crow. Interestingly enough, not
all commentators are agreed that it was
a rooster !! The roman bugle which sounded during the night watches and
again at daybreak was known as the ,gallicinium, ..which is the Latin word for
cock-crow.
(
W.Barclay p. 371) ( I. Powell p. 386) (etc !)
(g) The Repentance
. Peter wept ! (vs. 72) How
seldom it is we see tears of repentance in our day. Mmmm
.
CONCLUSION
In 1730 young Joseph Grigg wrote the hymn
Jesus, and shall it ever be
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days ?
Ashamed of Jesus? That dear friend
On whom my hopes of Heaven depend
?
God
forbid that it might ever be so
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The Puzzling Case of the
Perplexed Procurator !
( Studies in Marks Gospel
No. 36)
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INTRODUCTION We now come to the three Roman trials from just after daybreak to about 7:30 a.m. The four Gospel writers all need to be studied to get the complete picture. ..
(1) THE FIRST TRIAL BEFORE PILATE
Mark 15: 1: And straightway in
the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes
and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him
to Pilate. 2: And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And
he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
The religious leaders have changed the charge against the Lord Jesus from that of Blasphemy to Treason against Caesar. Otherwise Pilate would not have been interested in this trial. ( Jn. 18:31) But these Jews want the death penalty for the Lord Jesus and only Rome has the power to pronounce that. Asked if He is a King, the Lord replies Yes ( vs. 2 for that is what Thou sayest it means . V. McGee p. 171; C. .Morgan p. 310; Tyndale Comm. P. 233; A. Barnes p. 303;)
But He adds that His Kingdom is not an earthly one ! ( John 18:37) Pilate then confronts the Jewish mob outside, apparently taking Jesus with him, and says that He finds no crime in Him. (Jn.18:38)
3: And the chief priests
accused him ( Jesus) of many things:
but he ( Jesus) answered nothing.
Back into the
palace
and again Pilate questions the Lord.
4: And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold
how many things they witness against thee. 5: But Jesus yet answered
nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.
The prophet Isaiah had foretold concerning the Messiah that as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not His mouth. ( Isaiah 53:7) But there were times when He did speak ! When asked concerning His person and ministry, He answered ( Jn. 18:36-37) But when being falsely accused He said nothing !
(2) THE TRIAL BEFORE HEROD
ANTIPAS.
Because someone cries out that Jesus is from Galilee, Pilate sends Him acroos to Herod, Tetrarch of that province, who happens to be in Jerusalem for the Passover season. Only Luke records this incident. ( Luke 23:5-12) But the Lord refuses to speak to this evil ruler and Herod sends Him back to Pilate.
(3) THE SECOND TRIAL BEFORE
PILATE .
6: Now at that feast he
released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. 7: And there
was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection
with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
8: And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had
ever done unto them. 9: But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I
release unto you the King of the Jews? 10: For he knew that the chief
priests had delivered him for envy.
11: But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather
release Barabbas unto them.
12: And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that
I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13: And they
cried out again, Crucify him.
14: Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they
cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
Pilate seeks to escape the dilemma of sentencing an innocent person to death , as he knows Jesus is, (Mark 15:10) by suggesting that he release a prisoner as the custom is at Passover time. So the notorious Barabbas is brought from prison and the mob is given a choice Which shall I release? Pilate asks. (vs.8) To his amazement ( vs. 12) and in spite of his protestations,( vs. 14) they cry Crucify Jesus!
15: And so Pilate,
willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered
Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. 16: And the soldiers led
him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole
band. 17: And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of
thorns, and put it about his head, 18: And began to salute him, Hail,
King of the Jews! 19: And they smote him on the head with a reed, and
did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
20: And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and
put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
Now Pilate has the Lord scourged, perhaps hoping
this will satisfy their lust for His death. (vs.15) Here the Lord was inhumanly treated and then displayed once more to the mob. Behold the Man ( John 19:5) said the Procurator
But to no avail. Still they clamor for the
Lords death.
Warned that he will be reported to Caesar by the Jewish authorities if he lets Jesus live, Pilate relents and passes the death sentence. ( John 19:12-16)
A few hours later, it has been suggested, we would have seen Barabbas standing among the crowd at the Cross. And perhaps he mused . Jesus is dying in my place!
And such is the message of Calvary . He died in my place and yours!
..
Along
the Via Dolorosa
Studies
in Mark
No. 37
.
INTRODUCTION
Having been
condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, the Lord now bears his cross to the place
outside a city wall. He stumble
and a dark-skinned man from Egypt is forced to carry the cross for Him
.
(1)
THE DISADVANTAGED PILGRIM ( Mark 15:21)
Mark 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
( a)
His Distress
Simon has traveled from his home in North Africa to Jerusalem,
presumably to attend the Passover. Now, at the very gate of the city, he is
confronted by a procession of condemned men on their way to be crucified. And
when One stumbles, Simon is compelled to bear the cross for Him. But touching this instrument of death
disqualifies him from partaking of the Passover feast !!! And yet , as Ivor Powell comments, every
angel would have willingly changed places with him !
(b)
His Delight !!! However there seems to be evidence that this encounter with the Lord
Jesus turned from distress to delight
and Simon was converted.
His sons
are named! ( vs. 21) Obviously because
they were well known to the Christians
in Rome to whom Mark was writing !! And in Acts 13:2 we are introduced to certain leaders of the church
including Simon
the Niger ( i.e. dark-skinned from Africa !) and Lucius of Cyrene. It could well be the same Simon who bore the cross .
(2)
THE DISCONSOLATE WOMEN ( Luke 23:27-31)
27: And there followed him a
great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
Among those who witness the
Lords walk along the Via Dolorosa (
The way of Sorrows ) are some of those women who had ministered unto Him during
His earthly pilgrimage. The disciples are not to be seen
but nowhere in the
Gospel story does it speak of women deserting or denying their allegiance to
the Saviour. Christianity raised the
status of women greater than any other religion the world has known. The worst
moral monstrosity in this world is the woman who does not love Jesus
Christ! writes P. Ruckman
( p. 667 ) Wow ! Think about it
!!
(a)
Veronica
the legend !! Roman Catholics believe a lady named
Veronica wiped the Saviours face with her
napkin and His face was imprinted upon it! No fewer than four
napkins, each claiming to be
authentic, can be seen in European churches. (D.Smith in The Fashion of His Countenance .
p. 28)
(b)
Luke
his emphasis ! Luke is the only gospel writer to mention this
event. And it is in keeping with the place he gives to women in his Gospel. He,
alone, tells us of Elizabeth ( ch. 1)
; the facts relating to Mary and
the birth of the Lord Jesus ( ch. 1)
: of Martha and Mary of Bethany
10:38-42) ; of the widow of Nain ( 7:12-15) ; of the sinful woman ( 7:37-50)
and of the ministering women ( 8:2-3) .
(c ) Jesus
His prophecy !
28: But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not
for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29: For, behold, the days are coming, when those who have never had
children will be counted as fortunate indeed. ( Living Bible)
30: Then shall they begin to
say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
31: For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in
the dry?
It is a
warning concerning the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. If He
says ( vs. 31) , they do these things
whilst I am here, how terrible it will be when I am gone
A generation later His word came to pass.
(3)
THE DYING THIEVES ( Luke
23:32-33)
Luke 23:32 And there were also two
other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
33: And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there
they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other
on the left.
Two criminals, possibly of the band led by Barabbas, are also led out to be
crucified. Imagine their surprise when
they saw they were accompanying, not their leader as they had expected, but
Jesus of Nazareth .
(a) The Place
. They are on their way to the place of a
skull ( Mark 15:22)
Mark 15:22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being
interpreted, The place of a skull.
Golgotha
is the Hebrew word (John 19:17) and
Calvary is Latin. Nowhere,
incidentally, does it say that the crucifixion took place on a
hill far away ; it may well have been at the foot of Golgotha.
(b) The Time
. Mark tells us it was now the third hour ( Mark 15:25)
whereas John told us that Pilate had pronounced the death sentence some time
earlier at about the sixth hour! ( John 19:14) The solution seems to be that
Mark is using Hebrew time
the third hour of the day is 9:00a.m. John ,
however, is using Roman time , similar to ours , and about the sixth
hour means about 6 a.m.
(4) THE DEFIANT PROCURATOR ( John 19:19-22)
Pontius
Pilate, angry at being threatened and bullied by the Jewish authorities, now
gets his revenge! A title is placed upon the cross stating that this One on the center cross is The King of the
Jews! The chief priests complain
but
Pilate remains adamant !
John 19:19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the
cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20: This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was
crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and
Latin.
21: Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The
King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
22: Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
The Title is written in three languages
Hebrew, Latin and Greek! .. the three
great languages of the ancient world. And it is symbolic of the fact that the
Lord Jesus is not just King of the Jews but those out of every nation and
kindred and tongue who place their
faith in Him !
(5) THE DIS-INTERESTED SOLDIERS (John 19:23-24) ( Mark 15:24)
John 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments,
and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat
was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
24: They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast
lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which
saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast
lots. ( Psalm 22:18) These things therefore the soldiers did.
To them
it was just a job. Just another crucifixion. Good riddance, they said to
themselves, to another trio of Jewish trouble-makers. And they gambled at the
foot of the cross. Barclay tells us
that Jewish men wore five articles of
clothing
they divided four such between themselves and cast lots for the
robe.
(a) The O.T. Prophecies
in spite of the fact that
they had probably never read the book
of Psalms, here they were fulfilling an ancient prophecy. For this act of
gambling for one piece of the
Messiahs clothing had been foretold a
thousand years previous !
Another
prophecy fulfilled at this time revolves around a drugged wine offered to the
Lord Jesus at this time to deaden the pain of crucifixion.
Mark 15: 23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
He would
suffer for our sins with the full use of all His faculties!
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Calvary
Studies in Marks
Gospel
No. 38
.
INTRODUCTION
..
We look at nine reactions at the Cross of the Lord Jesus
and three
events.
.
NINE
REACTIONS
(1) The Compassionate.( 23)
Some women offer the condemned a sip of drugged wine to ease their suffering. The
Lord refuses to taste it. He will not
enter in to His role as Sin-bearer without the full use of His
faculties. But six hours later
just before his death, He cries I thirst and
this time He does drink. ( vs. 36)
For by this time the price of sin had been paid
the sacrificial aspect
of His death was past.
(2) The Disinterested
( 24)
Soldiers, gambling for His robe
.
(3) The Defiant
(26)
See Pontius Pilate refusing to acquiesce to the request of the religious authorities!
(4) The Condemned (27) Two thieves
who initially join in their cursing of the One on the center cross. (
32b) But as the hours drag on, one
comes to see the Lord Jesus as a
King
and desires to be part of His Kingdom.
(5) The Scornful .( 29-32) Passers by and religious leaders both mock
the Lord Jesus.
(6) The Converted ? ( 39)
the centurion confesses that the Lord
Jesus is the Son of God. !!
(7) The Distressed. ( 40) The faithful women who followed the Lord are
present at the back of the crowd. The
disciples , except John , are not to be seen
(8) The Courageous ( 42-47) Joseph
of Arimathea offers his new tomb for the Lords body. In spite of the fact that
he was a member of the Sanhedrin, he had been a secret disciple of the Lord.
Now his cowardice gives way to courage
even to the extent of confronting
Pilate
with this unexpected
request. As the Sabbath is about to commence
just before
sunset
the Lord is entombed.
(9) And all mankind are there
. For it is beneath the cross of Jesus we are forced to decide our
allegiance to Him.
..
THREE
EVENTS
(1) The Saviours Question. We
cannot plumb the depths of this. During the three hours of darkness during
which time He bore the punishment of our sins
did He just feel forsaken by
God the Father? Or had the Father really turned His face from His only beloved Son ?
Well might the sun in darkness
hide
And shut her glories in
When Christ, the mighty Maker died
For man, the creatures, sin!
..
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