Jesus Meets His Critics

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Don Merritt

Mark 2:1-12

Parallel Texts: Matthew 9:2-8; Luke 5:17-26

In this passage, Jesus has returned to Capernaum from His Kingdom Tour, and the people are excited to have Him back in town. During this period, Capernaum is His ‘home base’. As the crowd grew with the usual curious listeners, sick and damaged people, it became impossible for everyone to gain entry into the house where Jesus was staying as He preached, and a very enterprising group of men climbed up to the roof, bringing a paralyzed man on a stretcher with them. They opened the roof door which was a common feature in those flat-roofed houses, and lowered the paralyzed man into the room where Jesus was teaching.

When Jesus saw this, He went over to the man on the stretcher and told him that his sins were forgiven.

There was a group of teachers of the law in the room, who may have come from Jerusalem to investigate the report that had reached the city about the Kingdom Tour, and these guys were pretty amazed at what they saw. It occurred to them that Jesus had just made a mistake in telling the unfortunate man his sins were forgiven, because only God can forgive sins: Blasphemy… Gotcha!

Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Mark 2:8-12

I love this part! Jesus, knowing their thoughts goes over to these guys and asks a question: So boys, what’s easier, to tell this guy his sins are forgiven, or to tell him to get up, pick up his mat and walk?

Who says Jesus had no sense of humor?

Then, He went back to the paralyzed man and told him to get up, take his mat and walk… and that’s just what the guy did!

I can just imagine what those old boys from Jerusalem thought then… hilarious! Boy, did they have a report for the bigwigs back home.

Of course everyone was amazed at what they had witnessed, but I wonder if they fully comprehended the scene. Right in front of the teachers of the law, Jesus had forgiven a man’s sins, the teachers were correct in what they were thinking, for only God can forgive sins. Jesus read their thoughts; a little miracle nobody seemed to notice, and went right for the jugular, so to speak. He told a paralyzed man to get up and walk, and the man was made whole again, and did just that. Thus, Jesus had taken upon Himself God’s role to forgive, and then backed it up by making the man whole physically.

Wholeness, spiritually and physically: Jesus removed the consequences of sin, at least symbolically , right in front of their eyes. To state what happened in another way, Jesus had just shown the whole crowd that He was the Son of God… and the teachers of the law, by definition if nothing else, would have had to know that.

So, what do you think was in their report to HQ?

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The Kingdom is at Hand

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Don Merritt

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Mark 1:29-45

Healing People

Mark 1:29-34

Parallel Texts: Matt. 8:14-17; Luke 4:38-41

Galilee Touring

Mark 1:35-39

Parallel Texts: Matt. 4:23-25; Luke 4:42-44

Growing Crowds

Mark 1:40-45

Parallel Texts: Matt. 8:2-4; Luke 5:12-16

 

If Jesus were to make a tour like this today, a promoter might call it ‘The Kingdom Tour”.  Certainly His early ministry in Galilee was tumultuous, with ever-growing crowds of admirers, lines of the sick and lame, the demon possessed… and of course His critics.

More than anything else, Mark , with his brief glimpses of one incident after another, paints for us, a picture of the Kingdom Tour as it advances from one Galilean town to the next. With this somewhat disjointed picture, we start to see a pattern of sorts, images connected together by a theme. We know that the theme is “The Kingdom is at Hand” and the trends are that Jesus preaches the Kingdom, heals the sick and lame, drives out demons and crowds grow larger. They grow so large that Jesus can no longer enter the towns, but instead meets the people in the nearby countryside.

This Kingdom Jesus is preaching brings with it God’s righteousness, a new energetic life, forgiveness of sin and healing. There is something different going on here, nothing like this has swept through Galilee before; this has an other-worldliness about it. It is hard for any of us to reflect upon this period and see the Kingdom as a mere metaphor, or a simple abstract idea, no this is different. Think about the healing that is going on; not only is sickness being swept away in Jesus’ path, but so is infirmity and even death itself. It is as though this Jesus can undo the consequences of sin.

Yet, this isn’t the only healing that is being done right out in the open. Jesus is driving demons out of people! These unclean spirits that have taken over human lives are being given orders to cease and desist… and they know exactly who they are dealing with; Jesus is acting to prevent them from telling the people who He is; why? Where did these demons come from? Were they always there? I’ll post a Bonus Post about demon possession soon, but for now let’s just say that we can add spiritual cleansing to Kingdom activities in this amazing picture of the “Kingdom Tour.”

However you slice it, Jesus was making a splash, and He is attracting attention as the news of His tour reaches Jerusalem, where the authorities will want to find out just what is going on up there in Galilee, from whence nothing good ever comes, as the action moves into the second chapter tomorrow morning…

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Jesus in the Synagogue

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Don Merritt

Mark 1:21-28

Parallel Text: Luke 4:31-37

Jesus went to the synagogue at Capernaum and taught there. Mark doesn’t tell us what He taught, just that He did teach; the exact content isn’t the issue in this text, the reaction of the people is the real message. The people were amazed not so much by His content, apparently, but at His manner.

I know a preacher who is more than capable of bringing a brilliant sermon to his group, but as he does so, it is obvious that he is uncomfortable, nervous and insecure.  By the time his people have finished their lunch, they have forgotten what he taught only an hour earlier. Other preachers I know present really weak content with confidence and an air of command that their groups recall and consider greatly inspiring. Jesus had both content and an air of confidence and authority; He really made an impact on the people and that was quite a contrast with what they were used to hearing.

Then there’s this guy…

The guy was possessed by an “impure spirit.” This impure spirit starts talking to Jesus:

“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Mark 1:24

Now this is something you don’t see every day! Did you notice that the spirit is the only one in the place who knows who he’s talking to? Oh yes, they know exactly who Jesus is, and they tremble. They also know who indwells you and me, and they tremble!

Jesus responds to the spirit by telling it to be quiet and come out of the man…. and the spirit obeys; authority again.

Before this, the people were amazed, now they are beyond amazed:

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Mark 1:27-28

Take a moment and consider the reaction of the people. If you consider these words carefully, you should be more amazed than those people were. Jesus had just taught in the synagogue with authority. Then he was accosted by an impure spirit who recognized Jesus as the “Holy One of God” and Jesus told the spirit to shut up and get lost… and the spirit obeys, and the people say, “What is this? A new Teaching – and with authority!”

The people had heard Jesus teach, and they were impressed by His authority. Then they saw His authority confirmed in a way no one had ever seen before. They also heard the spirit tell exactly who Jesus was, but all they could comprehend was teaching and authority. Doesn’t this remind you of something common in our time?

“Jesus was a great moral teacher, but not the Son of God.”

There is a lesson for us to learn here: Never underestimate the capacity of human beings to miss the obvious. (You may quote me on that!)

Even so, the word spread about Jesus…

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Mark Wastes No Time

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Don Merritt

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Mark 1:12-13

Parallel Texts: Matthew 4: 1-11; Luke 4:1-13

Jesus Returns to Galilee

Mark 1:14

Parallel Texts: Matthew 4:12; Luke 3:19-20; John 4:1-4

Jesus Teaches in Galilee

Mark 1:15

Parallel Texts: Matthew 4:17; Luke 4:14-15

Jesus Calls Disciples

Mark 1:16-20

Parallel Texts: Matthew 4:18-22; Luke 5:1-11

I don’t know if you’ve been reading the verses I’ve listed above, but if you have, you can see just how pithy this gospel is. See where Matthew and Luke are by the end of this, while Mark has only written a few verses for these incidents? Matthew is well into chapter 4 and Luke is well into chapter 5 while Mark is not halfway through chapter 1! I keep having to remind myself that I’m covering Mark, and not the life of Jesus, so tempted am I to fill in the blanks…

Mark does, however, give us something really interesting to sink our teeth into in verse 16 ff.

This is His first command to His disciples: “Follow me.” I always enjoy pointing out that His ministry begins in earnest with “Follow Me” and ends with “Go and make disciples”. In between these two commands Jesus makes disciples and saves the world. If you stop and think about that, you will surely gain wisdom, for you will be looking right directly at the eternal purpose of God.

Another interesting aspect to this story is that when Jesus walks up to these guys and says “Follow Me,” they actually drop everything and obey His command! What would I do if some 30-year-old kid walked up to me and said that? If I was in a really good mood I might say, “And you are… who exactly?”

These guys just dropped their nets and answered His call, and when you read that they dropped their nets, understand that those nets were their profession not their amusement. Jesus has called you and me to do a number of things. He’s called us to love one another; do we drop our nets and follow? He has called us to make disciples, do we drop our nets and follow? I’m sure you can see where this is headed, and no, we usually put up a bit of a fuss with Him when He calls us to do something.

Yes, even though Mark rushed through some things, there’s always a zinger lingering somewhere!

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Jesus Appears on the Scene

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Don Merritt

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Mark 1:9-11

Parallel texts: Matthew 3:13-17;  Like 3:21-22

Mark continues the action, after having described briefly the ministry of John the Baptist, here comes Jesus down from Nazareth to be baptized by John. Since John was operating near Jerusalem, Jesus would have traveled about 80 miles on foot through some pretty rough terrain to join John at the Jordan. Mark doesn’t record the exchange between the two that Matthew describes, probably because it wouldn’t mean much to a Roman, but he does record the most important and significant aspects of this scene.

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:10-11

First, you no doubt noted the words as Jesus “was coming up out of the water”. I point this out because it indicates that Jesus and John had been down in the water in the first place. As if the meaning of baptize (Greek baptiso “to immerse”) weren’t enough to indicate what is going on here, Mark describes a scene in which immersion has taken place in the river, and thus Jesus had to come up out of the water.

Next, Mark shows us an amazing scene. Jesus has just been baptized, and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him like a dove. you have seen other passages in the Bible where the Holy Spirit is described as being like fire, but here the Spirit is like a dove; gentle, harmless and peaceful. This makes perfect sense since Jesus’ ministry was not about condemnation or judgment, but rather it was a ministry of reconciliation, peace and love. I also like to point out that the Holy Spirit descended after He was baptized, just as the Holy Spirit is gifted to the Christian after baptism (Acts 2:38). Then, another amazing thing: The voice of the Father from heaven, announcing that Jesus is the Son for the first time.

Three times in the New Testament, the divine voice of the Father is heard. Here, at the transfiguration, and in Jesus’ last week in John 12:28. In this case, the Father not only announces that Jesus is His Son, but indicates that the Father is well-pleased with Jesus… why now?

Jesus has been baptized to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15) and it strikes me that this would imply an obedient act on Jesus’ part. The Father is pleased now when Jesus has been obedient. This is not to say that Jesus wasn’t pleasing in God’s sight before, but remember that Jesus has come to the earth do His Father’s will, and this act of obedience is an example to us of doing His will.

We should also note here, that in this scene are all three Persons of the Godhead: Father (voice from heaven), Son (Jesus coming up out of the water) and Holy Spirit (descending like a dove). You just don’t see a scene like this very often!

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Here or at Don’s place

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Don Merritt

In his great post of earlier today, paulfg (Just Me Being Curious) commented on something I posted recently here on The Life Project, an idea that I’ve been kicking around to increase the level of community among Christian bloggers. In the original post, I mentioned that putting together a group of bloggers via Skype as a fellowship or accountability group or a small group study… or all of the above. Before I ended the post, I threw out an idea that came to me as I wrote: Anybody interests in a small study of MarK? And Susan Irene Fox spoke up with a “Yes” reply. In Paul’s post today, two others quickly said yes to being in a group conversation, and after seeing that, I thought it was time to send out a little invitation:
Hey everyone, do any of you skype?
Would any of you be interested in becoming part of a small group on skype, periodically for fellowship, conversation, Bible study, or…? (Suggestions very welcome).
Please consider yourself invited!
Let me know, either by leaving a comment or by email at: lifereference@gmail.com and please let me know your time zone.
By the way, if you have never used skype before, it is free, it is easy and all you need is a computer, internet connection, and an inexpensive web cam and microphone (mine together cost about $25 total.) I really hope to hear from you!
Here’s Paul’s post, in which he (an experienced skype user, tells about how much of a newbie I was the first few times he and I visited on skype; if I can do it, so can you!

paulfg's avatarJust me being curious

Blogging brought me a bunch of wonderful people. Blogging also extended my comfort zones hugely! Blogging has changed me. Because God makes no distinction, that I can see, where we gather in His name.

Church is still often “the building”, and “the services”, and “the congregation”, and the turning up and signing-in. Nothing wrong with that – unless it is the whole – not just part of this “relationship thing” – like in the “who is your relationship with?” thing.

Who is your relationship with? The familiar crowd on a Sunday you see through the week (or don’t)? The minister, pastor, cleric or collar? The routine, the habit, the locality? Where does “God and you” transport to other relationships, other communities, other formats and settings?

Blogging, for me, became community became skype fellowship. First one other blogger, then another, then a local minister, then some more bloggers. The odd thing I have…

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Off to a Fast Start!

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Don Merritt

Mark 1:1-8

Parallel Texts: Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-18

As you can see, Mark doesn’t get into the birth of Christ, or the genealogies or anything else, he jumps in right where the action begins with John the Baptist preparing the way. Ironically for him, he does so with his only extended quote from an Old Testament prophet, in this case Isaiah.  Notice how Mark quotes the prophet and immediately follows with “and so…” It’s almost as if God spoke through Isaiah, and bam, there was John preaching. As you will come to recognize, this is Mark’s style: action and facts, then more action and more facts.

Notice that John is preaching a baptism of “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (1:4) As you know, this revolutionary development will get the attention of the Jewish authorities, who are not only well aware of the prophecy in question, but they are also well aware of the fact that in the Law of Moses, there was no such thing as “baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”

In verse 5, we encounter Mark’s first use of hyperbole when he writes that the “whole Judean countryside” and “all the people of Jerusalem” went out and confessed their sins and were baptized by John. Sounds like a big claim to me, and frankly I can’t quite imagine the Pharisees and the High Priest hopping in the Jordan with John. I think Mark was saying that many did so. You’ll see a lot of this as we go on.

In the remainder of this passage, Mark describes the eccentric costume of John and then gets to the important fact that John was only the messenger sent to prepare the way for the One who was to be sent. This is a very important detail because everybody knew that the Messiah was coming.  Not only the gospels tell us this, but also the historical sources from that time, for Daniel’s prophecies were well-known. Unlike many scholars of our own time, they could do the math in relation to Daniel’s seventy sevens in Daniel chapter 9; they knew Messiah was just about to appear and were on the lookout.

Now Mark has set the stage, and we will meet Jesus for the first time when we pick up at verse 9. Next time.

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Introduction to Mark

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Don Merritt

The best way I know to introduce this book is to compare it with the other three Gospels. Of course, it is one of the three synoptic Gospels, meaning that it is written with a chronological perspective, moving logically from one scene to the next. John, the non-synoptic Gospel, is not written in chronological order which makes it seem more difficult to many readers. It’s often helpful for students of the Bible to recognize that each of the four Gospels is written for a different audience. This aspect of differing audience has a unique result for each book that, when understood, makes the books easier to understand in relation to each other; the result being that they are in harmony with each other rather than in conflict. Each one tells the truth about the life of Jesus, and yet they don’t all tell exactly tell the same stories in exactly the same way, but when you understand that they are written for culturally diverse groups of people, each coming to understand Christ from their own points of view, we can not only comprehend them more easily, but we can also take an important lesson about sharing the message of Christ with diverse people in our own day.

Matthew was written for a Jewish audience, and this is why it is full of instances where its author points out what was done to fulfill prophecy. You don’t see much of that in Mark and Luke, since their audiences didn’t know the Jewish prophets all that well. Luke was written by a Greek so, go figure, he wrote it for a largely Greek audience. It is full of descriptions that are similar to those found in Greek literary and philosophical traditions, of actions followed by explanations of the actions with Jesus playing the role (so to speak) of the Master, and the rest of us being the disciple (student) who is being taught the lesson.

John is unique in that he wrote to the mass audience, but unlike things written for mass consumption today, it isn’t dumbed down to the least common denominator, it is kicked up to a heavenly point of view. I would suspect John’s approach would have been confusing to many gentiles in his day, but in our day it ties all of humanity together as one family.

Now we come to Mark. While the Jewish perspective was centered on law and prophecy, and the Greek mind tended towards philosophy and intellect, Mark appealed to the man of action, and in the first century there was a very large audience composed of people who came from a culture that had little time for speculations about ancient prophecies and philosophy, for they were busy running the world; the Romans. Interesting isn’t it, that if you look carefully, you’ll find these three paralleled today in Christianity.

Mark’s gospel is a busy book full of action. He flies right past the Sermon on the Mount, preferring to move on to the next miracle, and he describes miracles with a flourish not found in the other gospels. If you like action, you’ll love Mark!

How did that happen?

Unlike Matthew and John, Mark was not an eyewitness to most of the scenes he described, in fact there is only circumstantial evidence that he was present at any of them. He was not an apostle, and he isn’t associated as one of the “big” followers of Jesus, but he does appear in Scripture.

John Mark, our author, was the son of a well-known woman named Mary, who was a leading follower of Jesus at the time of the death of James. Her home in Jerusalem was an early gathering place for the disciples there, and is the place Peter returned to when he was released from prison in Acts 12:12 ff. where “John who is also called Mark” is mentioned. Mary was also the sister of Barnabas of the Jerusalem church. (Col. 4:10; Acts 4:5-6, 37; 9:26-27; 11:22-24) Thus, from the earliest days of the church, and maybe before that, John Mark would have frequently found himself in the company of the apostles who had been closely associated with Jesus during His earthly ministry.  Can you imagine being a youth hanging out with the apostles day after day in your own home?

As the years went by, John Mark was closely associated as the assistant for Paul and Barnabas (Acts 12:25; 13:5; 15:37-39) and later with Peter (1 Peter 5:13) and again with Paul (Col. 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11).  Certainly, then, Mark had every opportunity to have heard the eyewitness accounts of the apostles, and showed that he was far from a casual believer.

Some more recent scholars have suggested that Mark couldn’t have written an inspired account of the life of Jesus. I’m sure these scholars are much smarter than I am, because I can’t see the point of such speculations, unless Mark hasn’t reported something in a way that it fits nicely into a particular scholar’s theological conclusions, and if that is the reason, then it’s a bad reason. It also strikes me as odd that a “Christian” scholar can’t see that God can use anyone for his purposes, as though one must go to the “right” school to be taken seriously. Luke wasn’t an eyewitness either, but few, if any, question his gospel, since Luke was with Paul. John Mark was with all of the apostles and spent years with both Paul and Peter. In fact, many believe he wrote this account with Peter’s oversight.

You are free to think what you will of course, but as for me, Mark is as valid an account as Matthew, Luke or John, and is well worth our careful attention and study.

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Photo of the Week: February 24, 2016

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Don Merritt

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The Image of God; a few final comments

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Don Merritt

I think we’ve reached a point where we can bring our journey of exploration to a close… for the present, anyway. I qualify that because the image of God is such a vast subject of inquiry, the implications so huge, that one can never be entirely satisfied that there isn’t still more to find.

I must say that I have found this to be one of the most rewarding and amazing adventures that I have ever been involved with in blogging. Most of the reason is the subject matter itself, but the other is, in a word, you. This series has been the most interactive ever at the Life Project, and I want to share with you my heartfelt thanks for your participation. In roughly ten days, I received well more than 500 comments, and while for many bloggers this may not be an impressive stat, for my little blog it is unprecedented, even though I do get my fair share of comments as a rule.

Thank you!

For those few dozen who sent me emails of encouragement during this time: Thank you!

I think we’ve run into something very important here; important in two ways:

First, is the subject matter. In looking back at my manuscript (I write posts in Word so that a series of posts is one long Word document) there is information there that might be useful for people who aren’t on Word Press, and I am considering some possibilities for a book or… something (not sure what yet).

Secondly, is the community that is developing here. It isn’t often that this many people come together from such a diversity of background and doctrine in a Bible study; I have a few ideas banging around in my head about ways to make this blog more interactive, more relational, more “community”. I use Skype fairly often these days; I wonder if we could use Skype to get to know each other better, have small group studies or accountability groups or …? Any ideas you may have would be appreciated.

Finally, there is always the question, “Now what?”

I have recently begun a small group study here locally on the Gospel of Mark, and I thought I might also blog through Mark at the same time, which would be convenient, so I think I’ll begin posting on Mark, probably tomorrow, and of course, since there was a very good response to the idea of “Nakedness as a Biblical Metaphor” I’ll get to work on that, with the first post no later than early next week.

As I was typing this a thought came to mind: Anybody want to do a small group study of Mark on Skype? If so, shoot me an email!

Once again, thank you dear readers, you are more of a blessing than you can possibly know.

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