Categories
Mark Sermon

Is There Someone Worthy to be Followed? – Mark 6:30-44

Good morning church. For our church it’s been marvelous to study the gospel of Mark. It’s been a joy seeing so many different attributes of Jesus. Every week we discover something new and today’s passage is quite a familiar one: it’s Jesus feeding the 5 thousand. Most of us have probably heard this from childhood.

This was probably one of my favorite stories growing up because it involved my two favorites: Jesus and food! And there was plenty of food. As I was studying this passage, God opened my eyes to see some deep rich truths that I want to share with you today.

[30] The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. [31] And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. [32] And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. [33] Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. [34] When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. [35] And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. [36] Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” [37] But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii[f] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” [38] And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” [39] Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.

[40] So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. [41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. [42] And they all ate and were satisfied. [43] And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. [44] And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

If I were to ask you “What motivates you to follow someone?”, what would your answer be? Some may say it’s the person’s charisma: how he looks, how he talks and what he wears but we all know that can only take us so far. That charisma will end someday or another person who is even more charismatic will get our attention. It keeps changing. Someone else might say “it’s the person’s skills and achievements that makes you follow him/her”. But we still know that if the person no matter how skilled he/she maybe if they live a selfish and wicked life, that wouldn’t be someone we would want to follow or emulate.

I believe more than the charisma of the person or the skills of the person, it’s “trust” that truly motivates us to follow someone. Is the person really looking out for us? How much do we know the person? All that plays into deciding to follow someone. In today’s passage Mark is giving us 3 rock-solid reasons why we can confidently follow Jesus. Not 10% or 50% but 100% wholeheartedly follow Jesus Christ.

1. We can confidently follow Christ because He is our Rest

[30] The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. [31] And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. [32] And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

Jesus’ disciples just got back from their 1st missionary journey. They went out 2 by 2 fully dependent on God – they didn’t carry any bags, no extra food, no money and not even an extra coat. They went around preaching repentance, casting out many demons and anointing the sick with oil to heal them. They saw how God used them to perform great miracles as they boldly shared the gospel! They came back excited to share what all happened, but they were also weary after being on the field for several days or weeks.

There was no respite once they got back. People still flocked around them to have some need met. They didn’t even have the time or space to eat food. That’s how tiring ministry got for them. What does Jesus do? He knows that they’re physically and mentally and spiritually exhausted, so he asks his disciples to go away from the crowd to a desolate place to rest.

Jesus is deeply concerned about His people’s rest. If we look back at the OT we see God resting on the seventh day after creating the universe and everything in it. One of the 10 commandments is to observe the Sabbath unto the Lord. That day is to be kept holy unto the Lord. So, we understand that rest is something that God is concerned about. Physically when we rest from work, it allows us to recuperate and rejuvenate us to get back and work with the right capacities.

Spiritually when we rest from work we affirm that we worship God alone and not make a god out of work. John Calvin once said that “man’s nature is a perpetual factory of idols”. We can make new idols every single day. We can make idols out of good things that God has made like “work”. Rest is commanded not just so that we can switch off and switch on again. It’s so that our worship for God is preserved, our affections for God is ignited and our purposes for work is renewed for the glory of God. It for our good!

We live in a culture and a time where “work” and “over-working” are gods. After it begins affecting their relationships and health is when the world realizes how this idol promised so much but delivers very little. How should believers respond? We learn how to rest. At night when we sleep for 8 hours, we humbly accept that we are weak and weary and need rest to recover.

We wake up each morning “resting in God” through the Word. What if we all realized that spending time with God in prayer and Word wasn’t a burden but in fact rest as God intended it. How amazing would that be? Once a week, we determine a day that is our Sabbath – holy unto the Lord. But what do we do during a Sabbath? The inference from these verses is that it involves doing something that you’re not accustomed to doing during other days of the week. It can be taking a nap, going out with your family, going for a stroll in the park, finding ways to serve your community. Also, it should be centered around the gospel – that’s how it’ll be made holy- have an extended time of prayer and the Word, meet & encourage other believers – great opportunity to do that if you are not able to do it on other days during the week.

We as the church of God have been given a new meaning to rest and relaxation that’s different from the world. The world sees partying, splurging and indulgence as relaxation. We as believers can see and appreciate rest in its God given place! We as believers understand that rest cannot be found apart from God. If our hope and energies are fixed on anything else, we will be totally rest-less. Only in Jesus can we truly find rest. Matt 11:28: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

2. We can confidently follow Christ because He is our Shepherd

[33] Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. [34] When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

It’s interesting that Jesus and disciples headed toward this desolate place to find some rest and then they are met with a great crowd. Jesus doesn’t send them off by telling “Actually me and my boys are having a short vacation, so if you could allow us to be by ourselves that’ll be great”. V34 says when Jesus saw the crowd he had “compassion on them”. The word in the original language means “moved with pity and sympathy”. Jesus had pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

It’s the idea of how sheep without their shepherd are clueless, helpless and lost. Where else do we Jesus use the phrase of shepherd and sheep? Yes, the parable of the lost sheep: God leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go after the one who is lost.

Then in John 10, Jesus says He is the good shepherd. The shepherd is not like the robber who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Neither is he like the hired hand who abandons the sheep when a wolf comes to attack. Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep! That’s the love and compassion of Jesus. He didn’t just come to the earth to teach us good things about life. The Bible is Isaiah say “We like sheep have all gone astray. We’ve each gone our way”. We have all denied God by our actions, our words and our thoughts.

We have intentionally left God and rebelled against him. We deserve the eternal wrath and separation from God because of our sins and yet Jesus didn’t leave us to die but instead died in our place to protect us from the deadly sting of sin, Satan and death.

Therefore, when Jesus refers to people as sheep he’s implying their helplessness, their lostness and the grave danger that they face. And he steps in as the Great Chief Shepherd to lead, rescue and protect his sheep.

Where in your life today do you need your Shepherd? Are you feeling lost, helpless and insecure? Jesus looks beyond the facade and sees the deep need that you have. He sees beyond your smiles, beyond your tough exterior and sees your deeply hurt and broken soul that needs repair. Maybe today you’re thinking “I’m the worst one, I don’t deserve to be with the sheep, I’m lost and way beyond rescue.” Let me assure you by the Word of God that Jesus is looking for you. He leaves the ninety-nine to look for you specifically. Not only does Jesus look for you and rescue you, he leads you like a good Shepherd so that you can follow Him confidently.

Check out these words from Jesus: [27] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

3. We can confidently follow Christ because He is our Provider

[41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. [42] And they all ate and were satisfied.

This was certainly an astonishing miracle! Just think about this: there were probably over 10,000 people there including women and children. They were all stuck in a desolate place and it was quite late. The disciples understood the challenge – they knew it would probably take them 6 months of wages to be able to buy food for such a large crowd. And Jesus takes the 5 loaves and 2 fish and multiplies them to feed probably 10,000 people and guess what….they have 12 baskets of leftovers that are collected in the end.

What was the point of this miracle? We know that Jesus wasn’t trying to gain popularity. We know that he wasn’t trying to entertain. Jesus performed this miracle to reveal His glory as the Son of God.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 long years. How did they survive for so long? Because God provided them with manna miraculously for 40 years. They didn’t have to work for it, but God graciously provided for His people. Similarly, Jesus Christ performs this amazing miracle to show how He is the true Son of God who provides for His people in a desolate place. He meets them at their physical need to point them to His divine nature as their Provider.

One of the ways by which I can show my love and concern for my wife is by providing for her. It’s what I promised on our wedding day. When I said to my wife “With this ring I wed thee” I implied that I take the responsibility for providing for her physical needs, leading her spiritually and being with her emotionally. As husbands we are just trying to imitate the attitude of Christ who provides for his people.

I think one of the encouragements I got from this passage is to realize that this is the same Jesus who fed the Israelites in the desert. He is the same one who fed the 10,000. He is the same who provided for my every need from the time I was born. He’s faithful every time. What does that mean for us as believers?

a) Acknowledge His care and provision by thanksgiving

When we say grace before our meals, we do that because we remember and realize His love and care towards us to provide us with food every day.

b) Whole-heartedly submit to Jesus

There’s no other response than to fully submit and love the One who faithfully provides for our every need. You can trust in His instructions and commands for you because of His loving care.

Returning back to the first question I asked. Why should you follow Jesus? What motivates you to follow Jesus? Can you confidently follow Him? Yes, you absolutely can. Because He cares enough to give rest to our weary souls, He cares enough to be our Shepherd even though we once deserted Him, and He cares enough to provide for our every need – physical, spiritual, emotional and mental needs. What more reason do we need to follow Him?

Categories
Mark Sermon

The Cost of Obedience – Mark 6:14-29

Our passage today is from Mark 6:14-29.

[14] King Herod heard of it, for Jesus'[a] name had become known. Some[b] said, “John the Baptist[c] has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” [16] But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” [17] For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. [18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” [19] And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, [20] for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

[21] But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. [22] For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” [23] And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” [24] And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” [25] And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” [26] And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. [27] And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s[d] head. He went and beheaded him in the prison [28] and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. [29] When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

There are two types of parents and the way they bring up their children.

The first type of parents are the overprotective types, they are also called the ‘helicopter parents’, it refers to a parent who constantly hovers over their child physically, emotionally and mentally – these parents think they are helping their children but overprotecting parenting can squash the child’s autonomy.

They create a loving environment for their children and only expose them to the good things, they teach their children how special and unique they are, provide them with the best of resources, best of toys, best of everything.

They tell their children to stay away from bad company, stay away from children who are from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. They teach them to stay and play only with their type of children.

This type of parenting look good for a period of time but the problem arises when these children are taken out of the boundaries of their loving and caring homes into the real world – to work, to interact and to make a living.

The children all of the sudden learn that they are no more special. That they don’t always get the best of things as they used to get from their parents.

They have to now interact with the same kinds of people from whom their parents told them to stay away.

They realize that the world is a cruel place, selfish, sinful and mean, and they were never told about it or even trained for it.

This is one of the greatest problems with the current generation of millennials today. The result is many of these kids turn out to be lazy, depressed, lonely and even suicidal.

The second type of parents are those who create a loving and caring environment for their children but also educate and prepare them for the real world. They teach them how bad the outside world is.

They tell them and prepare them for situations where they will be treated badly, bullied and made fun of.

But they also teach them how to guard their hearts, how to fight their emotions and stay strong in those most difficult hours.

Even during the hard and difficult time, they encourage their children to be different and continue to do the right thing, to love the most undeserving people on earth and become role models and torchbearers for the good of humanity.

We read stories about these great heroes who changed the world and brought a positive impact on humanity, some managed to do it and some sacrificed their lives trying to make it. You will know difficulty they had to face, the pain they had to undergo, the hardships they had to endure to stand and fight for what they believed.

In the same way, I believe even our churches can be like these two parents.

One where the leaders are only in the business of gathering people and trying to create a safe environment for them. Tell them how special they are in Christ and that it is all about them, what they need, what they desire – health, wealth & prosperity. They make Jesus look like a Santa Claus who doesn’t have any other business other than to meet and provide for their needs.

The congregation is told to keep a distance from the world, form their own little believer’s group in college, in offices, in businesses and to stay close to each other.

But eventually, we all know that we have to face the world one way or the other and when the world gets us it gets us hard. It has the potential to crush our souls and kill us from the inside. And all of a sudden we realize that we were never told about it or prepared for it.

But when I read the Bible, the life and words of Jesus, the churches in the Acts of Apostles, this is not the kind of church I see.

In pain, in hardships, in persecution, in death, the church grew and flourished.

Why?

Because they were prepared to face the world, to take all the hatred, yet show love even to the point of death. To them obedience to God was everything and they were prepared to pay any cost.

I believe in our passage today that is what the author is trying to highlight by telling us the story of John the Baptist and his cruel death at the hands of a foolish and ignorant king.

Mark, a good leader, like a good parent is giving us the true picture of how the world is and by giving the example of John and his obedience to God shows us what a faithful response looks like.

On one hand, King Herod is this perfect example of a foolish and an ignorant world who even though acknowledges John as a man of God, a righteous and holy man, yet ends up killing him under the pressure of Herodious, her daughter and the people around him.

Also because his sinful lifestyle mixed with the cultural pressures ends up doing a foolish thing.

Isn’t that how the world is – a foolish, cruel, sinful. Blinded in human cultures and traditions, waiting to pounce on the righteous ones who don’t fit their ideas, lifestyle, and pursuits.

Brothers & sisters! As a good parent and as a servant of the Lord I want you to know that as the children of Light, you will be hated and rejected, tortured and insulted by this cruel world because of your obedience to Christ.

In Mark 13:13 Jesus said “Everyone will hate you because of me”

John 3:19“Even though the light has come into the world, men love the darkness rather than light and their deeds are evil because of that”

But on another hand, we have John the Baptist, the hero of our story, the one who willingly paid the cost of his obedience to God the Father who sent him to the earth.

John could have withdrawn himself from speaking the truth to Herod about his affair with his brother’s wife. He could have avoided this punishment and death by keeping his mouth shut, but he didn’t.

He glorified God through his death and set himself up as a role model for many.

Not just John but even Jesus had to pay the cost of obedience to his Father, the disciples of Jesus paid the cost of being the followers of Christ. The early church leaders, many of them died a terrible death because of their faith in Christ and their obedience to Christ in spreading the Gospel all around the world.

In the light of what we’ve heard so far my question to all of you this morning is “Do you really love Jesus as you say and sing?”

If your answer is “YES” then Jesus would say
If you love me, you will obey me,
If you love me, you will do what I say,
If you love me, you will keep my word,
If you love me, you obey my teaching.

Remember, we don’t obey so we are accepted by God, In Christ, we are already accepted and loved.

The reason we obey is because of his great love, we are obligated to his love that he poured out on us at the cross of calvary, redeeming us from eternal death and damnation to a new hope and life with him in heaven for eternity through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.

Guess what? We already know in what areas in our lives God expects obedience.

From small things to big things God expects us to walk in obedience every single day of our lives, to the point where we are willing to pay whatever cost it takes.

To some of you God will ask you to stop using social media and stay away from the internet, so you can devote your time to God in prayer and studying his word. Are you willing to pay the cost of being called weird by your tech-savvy friends?

To some, he would ask you to give up on your earthly dreams and pursuits and follow his calling. Are you willing to pay the cost of being called a fool?

To some, he would ask you to go against your family and relatives who insist on following the traditions of this world which God hates. Are you willing to pay the cost of being called a Rebel?

To some, he would ask to give up on your ungodly relationships so that you are not unequally yoked with the world. Are you willing to pay the cost of being called Insensitive and hard hearted?

To some, he would call to go and share the gospel with a stranger. Are you willing to pay the cost of being persecuted and ridiculed?

To some, he would ask to show love, grace, and mercy to the most undeserving people in your life, people who hurt you and abuse you. Are you willing to pay the cost of letting your pride and ego been crushed?

To some, he would ask to sacrifice your time and energy for the sake of your friend or a brother, to encourage, to help. Are you willing to pay the cost of your time with family?

To some, he would ask you to give more of your time serving the church and the people.

To some, he would ask you to leave your country and your people and go to an unknown and strange place to serve him. Are you willing to pay the cost of being called a fool?

You will know when God speaks to you and tells you what you need to do and obey. And if you truly love him that way you say you love him then you will obey him and also be willing to pay the cost and Glorify God on this earth by our sacrificial obedience.

Categories
Mark Sermon

The Uninterrupted Mission of God – Mark 6:1-13

Good morning. Before we look at chapter 6 in Mark, let’s remember the scene in chapter 5. Jesus had been ministering with His disciples around Capernaum and he did some amazing things there. He cast a legion of demons out of man, He healed a woman of a hemorrhage without even touching her, and most recently He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. We pick up the story as Jesus travels with His disciples to His hometown of Nazareth. Let’s read this together: Mark 6:1-13.

[1] He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. [2] And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. [4] And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” [5] And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.And he went about among the villages teaching.

[7] And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. [8] He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— [9] but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.[a] [10] And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. [11] And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” [12] So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. [13] And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

This is obviously a crazy scene and, if we’re going to understand what’s happening, we need to understand a few things about Nazareth. I’ve already said that this is Jesus’ home town. This is where He would have spent 25 or more years of His life.

And it’s a small town that most people were dismissive of. There’s no mention of Nazareth in the Old Testament because nothing important happened there. In fact, you might remember in John chapter 1 when Philip reached out to Nathaniel, he told him about this “Jesus of Nazareth” and Nathaniel said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

I don’t know if you have places like that in India (or in Maharashtra) where when you hear someone mention it you’re like, “Oh, that place!” That was Nazareth because of it’s location (it was in the middle of nowhere) and because of it’s size (Archeologists estimate that no more 500 people lived there).

So, you have a small insignificant town where Jesus grew up and His family still lives there. Which sets up for a really awkward scene because everyone would have recognized Jesus when He walked into town, and because the last interaction that Jesus had with His family was when they showed up to take Him back home because they thought He had lost His mind (Mark 3:21).

And now, here He is. He comes walking back into town. And where does He go? He goes right into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and begins teaching and things get even more awkward.

As we unpack this, I want to break it up in 3 sections. I’ll give you these up front and then we can walk through them to see how they might apply to our lives:

  1. You have the people’s reaction to Jesus
  2. You have Jesus’s reaction to the people
  3. You have a picture of the uninterrupted mission of God.

First, let’s look at how the people respond to Jesus. Look again at verses 2 – 3:

“And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.”

So how did the people react to Jesus? By questioning Him and getting offended. This is interesting because you read it and it doesn’t appear that Jesus does anything offensive. He’s just teaching in the Synagogue. So why did they get offended? I think there are 2 possible answers that are more practical. I want to explore those first, but then I want to remind us of a supernatural truth about what’s actually happening here.

The 1st possible answer is something I’ve already mentioned. These people would have known Jesus very well. They would have known Him as He grew up from childhood, through adolescence, to adulthood.

And I’m sure they would have all respected Jesus. After all, He was Jesus! He was perfect, He was humble, He was kind, He served others. The people were probably very fond of Him, but they knew that He was a carpenter. They knew Him as Joseph & Mary’s son.

And, as He left town, the reaction was probably, “We’re sorry to see Jesus go! He’s a great Carpenter, He’s an even better guy.” But that’s all they thought of Him. And now, here He is returning and He’s not alone.

Now all the sudden Jesus has a bunch of students following Him, and they’re calling Him teacher (Rabbi). They’re sitting at His feet learning from Him. There’s no doubt the people are like, “Wait a second, Jesus never sat under the teaching & leadership of a Rabbi. He hasn’t been theologically trained.”

They would have looked at Jesus and none of this would have made sense to them. And so, they became offended. They refused to believe that Jesus wasn’t who they thought He was. They had it in their minds that Jesus was one thing, and it didn’t allow them to see the truth that He was something different.

Doesn’t that still happen today? Where people have it in their minds that Jesus is a certain thing and it doesn’t allow them to see the truth of who He actually is? I think that happens today quite a bit. And, I think it’s very subtle and can easily grab a hold of our hearts. Maybe it’s us trying to turn Jesus into something He’s not so that we can justify our sin or a particular lifestyle. Maybe it’s an entire church that has became comfortable because they think they have Jesus figured out.

I think these people had their minds made up about who Jesus was and it blinded them to the truth. That’s 1 possible explanation, but I think there’s another one. Notice how Jesus didn’t come to Nazareth with a display of miracles (as He had in Capernaum). Just think about this; the people of Nazareth would have heard the stories of miracles being performed by Jesus throughout the region.

And now, here He is. He’s standing right in front of them. Where are the miracles? It could be that they were expecting things FROM Jesus that He wasn’t giving them. Instead of healing people, and casting out demons, and raising someone from the dead, Jesus is simply teaching in the Synagogue.

I can imagine it would have been in the style that Jesus always taught; simple, straightforward and direct, but drilling down to the heart and calling for a response. I can’t help but wonder, particularly as they were confronted with hard teaching, if there was some disappointment in the hearts of the people because they were expecting something from Jesus that He wasn’t offering.

I think that’s also something that we experience today. How often do we expect certain things from Jesus? We want this, or want that, or want Him to heal this, or alleviate that circumstance. And sometimes, when He gives us something different than what we expect, we can become disappointed and even get offended. Has that ever happened to you?

Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” That’s the exact principle that we’re talking about here. When you put your hope in something (other than where it should be), and you don’t get that thing, it makes your heart sick.

I have to confess that I’m really bad at this sometimes. I tend to put my hope in things, in circumstances, in events, in things that I’m really looking forward to. But then, when those things don’t go as planned (or they don’t satisfy me like I want them to), I feel let down.

That’s because we are only meant to put our hope in Jesus. When our hope is in being with Him we’ll never be disappointed, because He delights to be with His people.

So, I think those are the possibilities. People’s expectations of Jesus weren’t being met, or they thought they had Jesus figured out. But, I think it would be good to remind ourselves of something that we know is true and is definitely happening here. And we know it’s true because God’s Word tells us it’s true.

The Greek word for “offense” in this passage comes from the same root word for “stumbling block”. That language should sound really familiar if you’ve ever read the book of 1 Peter. Listen to 1 Peter 2:7-8:

“The honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

Friends, we must be reminded that everything that is happening here is happening exactly as God has ordained it to happen. The fact that people don’t believe and Jesus is offensive them should not surprise us at all because the gospel is offensive.

The gospel calls out our sin and pride. The gospel says to our flesh, “You must be put to death.” And, if we are set on living in the flesh and trying to be our own god, that message will offend us.

Now, I want you to look at how Jesus reacted to the people. Look again at verses 5 & 6:

“And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” “And he marveled because of their unbelief.”

Both of these statements are absolutely incredible! Mark seems to be saying that Jesus couldn’t do mighty works in Nazareth. And then we have Jesus marveling, which means that He’s “amazed”, at their unbelief.

So, how do we interpret these things? I think if we’re going to understand them rightly then we need to interpret them in light of who Jesus actually is. We must be reminded that this is THE ONE through whom & for whom everything was created. This is THE ONE who knows the expanse of the Universe & the number of stars in it. This is THE ONE who is currently upholding the Universe by the word of His power. THIS IS JESUS!

So, this does not mean that Jesus was unaware of their unbelief. Nor does it mean that He was shocked by their unbelief. And it doesn’t mean that Jesus could not perform miracles, as though He was rendered powerless by the people’s unbelief.

God’s power is not subject to people’s response to Him. And His power is certainly not limited in any way. Jesus could have caused all of their hearts to stop beating in that moment. Or He could have caused the scales to fall off of all of their eyes so they could see the truth.

Jesus could have displayed His power. Instead, He chose to act in response to faith. Which is what He’s just done in Capernaum. He commended Jairus & the woman with the hemorrhage for their faith. I think that’s one of the main things that this text is meant to teach us.

Unbelief actually robs us of the incredible blessing that is available to us. There are no miracles performed and it causes Jesus to marvel; both examples that show us how horrifying unbelief actually is in light of Who God Is & What He has done.

So, I think the application is pretty straightforward for us. We all struggle with unbelief, don’t we? Do you believe the gospel & exhibit faith at all times? Of course you don’t, and neither do I.

John Calvin called the heart a factory of idols and he was right. We consistently believe that things are better than Jesus, and we exhibit unbelief as we chase after those things. Which is why the cry of our heart should be like the father of the demon possessed boy in Mark 9. When he “Cried out to Jesus and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!””

Brothers & Sisters, that should be the continual cry of all of our hearts: “I believe that Jesus is better, help my unbelief!” We desperately need God’s help to battle our unbelief.

Now, I want us to end by looking at what Jesus does next. He moves on from Nazareth, but it doesn’t stop His mission. Because the mission of God is uninterrupted. Mark says that “Jesus went about among the villages teaching.”

And, not just that, but Jesus takes this opportunity to send out His disciples. He gives them the power to minister to people in practical ways, He gives them them message of repentance, and He gives them instructions for how to go from town to town.

Now, there are a couple of things that we really need to take away from this section of the text. Notice first how Jesus gives them authority. I cannot overstate how important this is for you & me. We have no other authority outside what is given to us by Jesus. That was true of the disciples and it’s true of us!

In this picture that Mark gives us, the Kingdom of God has broken through and these guys were given the authority to tell people about it. But, think about our position: we live in the end times, the last days, and we have the message of the gospel. We have the message of salvation, the only thing that can bring people from death to life. And we’ve been given the authority by Christ to tell people about it.

Matthew:28“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore…”

2 Corinthians:5“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us…”

God has given us authority to take His gospel to the world, and He’s told us how to do it. In the same way that Jesus sent out His disciples in community, God has called us to bring the message of reconciliation in the context of community with one another. John 13 says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

God has called us to speak the message of the gospel while we show people what the gospel does; which is reconcile people (not just to God but to one another). Church, this is a high calling and an incredible privilege. God chooses to use us in His mission, not because He needs us, but because He loves us.

And — He sends us on mission for Him in a way that requires continual faith. Jesus gives the disciples a list of the bare essentials which means they have to be dependent on God to provide for them. In the same way, God has just given us the message of the gospel with no ability to save people, no ability to affect change in people’s lives. We are completely dependent upon Him to work, which pushes us back into belief, dependence and faith.

Brothers & Sisters, I want to encourage you in 2 ways as we close. First, you must constantly turn back into God in repentance for unbelief in your life and regularly ask Him to help you believe. I believe that’s a prayer that God delights in.

Second, you must realize that your role in this mission is not as much about what you know or don’t know. It’s not as much about what you have or don’t have. It’s about how dependent you are upon God to show up and work in people’s lives. And it’s about a willingness to be used by Him because you believe so strongly that He is the only way to experience life.

Categories
Mark Sermon

How do you respond to your worst fears? – Mark 5:21-43

Good morning church! We’ve been reading through the gospel of Mark as a church for a few months now and it’s been an amazing journey trying to know and understand Jesus through this gospel. Last week we learnt about the demon possessed man who had an army of demons in him. Jesus sets him free and gives him a new life and a new identity. The man is sent back to his family and friends to tell them of how much the Lord has done for him. That’s our story too. Jesus freed us from sin and gave us a new life and a new identity and we’ll spend the rest of our lives telling people how much the Lord has done for us. And that’s how we arrive at today’s passage:

[21] When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. [22] Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. [23] He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” [24] So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. [25] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [26] She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. [27] When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [28] because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” [29] Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. [30] At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” [31] “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” [32] But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. [33] Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

[35] While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” [36] Overhearing[c] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” [37] He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. [38] When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. [39] He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” [40] But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. [41] He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). [42] Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. [43] He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

In our lives when we are faced with impossible situations and we ask ourselves “Is God big enough to deliver me from my circumstance”, how must we respond? And I believe today’s passage offers a lot of hope and encouragement. There are two amazing stories of faith mentioned in this passage and let’s look at what can we learn from them.

1. We must approach God with earnestness

22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”

Not a lot is said about Jairus except that he was a ruler of the synagogue. The synagogue setting is a little similar to our Sunday Gathering or GC setting. The OT Scriptures would be read and then explained to the people gathered there. So Jairus’ role was to select the readers and teachers each Sabbath. He had to examine the messages and make sure everything was done orderly and according to the traditions. Clearly he was a religious leader who had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures and Jewish traditions. He probably followed Jesus’ ministry closely. But even though he was so established in his religion, he needed to let go of his pride in order to approach Jesus. He needed to admit that he required help from God. He needed to believe that Jesus was the only person who could heal his daughter. The other aspect to earnestness was that he desperately pleaded with Jesus to come with him. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come and lay hands on his daughter because that was his only hope.

In Luke 18, Jesus told a parable to show them how they should approach God with earnestness. In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared man nor God. A widow kept coming to him with the plea “Please give me justice against my adversary”. He refused for sometime but then he thought “even though I don’t fear God or man, I’ll still make sure she gets justice so that she’ll eventually stop coming to me”. And the Lord said that “If the unrighteous judge responds in that manner, wouldn’t God give justice to his people who approach him earnestly? Will he delay in responding to them? He’ll give them justice quickly.

We should really consider what our approach to God is when it comes to difficult situations in our lives. It might be that you are praying for a godly partner to be married to. You’ve waited and prayed but haven’t received an answer yet. Well this passage should encourage us to not stop praying about it but trusting in the authority of God and the only one who can help, we should continue to approach God earnestly. Or it could be a struggle with sin where you’ve thought “I’ve tried a million times and a million different ways to stop sinning but I can’t”. If that’s where you are then it might mean letting go of your pride which also involves our self-righteous acts and falling at the feet of Jesus crying “Lord, please help me. I need you and I can’t conquer this on my own. On my own I’ll end up failing everytime. Only you can rescue me!” What it mean for you to approach God with earnestness today?

2. We must view our situation through the eyes of faith

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

As we are reading through the story of Jairus and his daughter, we see another story sandwiched between the two. It tells us of a woman who had a blood discharge disease for 12 years. She suffered quite a bit: there was the physical pain that she had to endure with multiple doctors and treatments. She was probably bedridden the whole time. Financially she was in a bad place because she spent all her money in treatments but nothing got her better. She was a social outcast because her disease made her unclean. Anyone who touched her would’ve also become unclean. It was a traumatic 12 years for her. And then she heard reports about Jesus. She thinks “I’ve spent so many years going behind all these doctors and treatments but they have been useless but Jesus can heal me. All I need to do is touch his cloak and I will be made well”!

This was something new because before Jesus came on the earth no one had ever heard of something like this – touching the cloak to get healed. And neither was Jesus wearing a magic cloak with magical abilities. So what was the secret? Faith. V34 Jesus says “Daughter your faith has made you well”. Later on when Jairus is told that his daughter is dead, Jesus tells him “Do not fear, only believe”.

What is faith? It means fully trusting and relying on who God is, what He says He will do and being assured that He knows what’s best for us. That’s why salvation is also received by faith. It involves us trusting in the holy judgment of God over sin but also the mercy of God through His Son. It involves us trusting in what Jesus said that if we believe in Him we will have eternal life. It also involves us in trusting that God’s way is the best for us.

Faith is the means by which God unlocks his glorious purposes and grants answers to our deepest longings and needs. It’s like God is stretching out his hand, and faith is the means by which we receive what God wants to give us.

Matt 21:22: If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask in prayer.

James 1:6: But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt.

But does it mean that God will give us answers as we would like every time? God’s answers are all in accordance to His will and His purposes. Sometimes God’s answer to prayers is “Yes”, sometimes “No” and sometimes “Not yet”. Faith isn’t a way to arm twist God into doing what you want but resting in the assurance that God will answer as He knows best.

Maybe we have an illness for which the doctors haven’t found an answer to. But we know that even in those cases we can turn to God in faith because He is our Creator. He speaks things into existence that never existed. He commands and all of creation obey – be it the sun, moon, stars, wind, humans and even demons. He brings back dead to life. He gives sight to the blind. He heals the broken hearted. We can persist in praying for healing because we know that God is pleased and delighted in genuine faith.

Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

At the same time, we rest knowing that God will answer as He knows best. God’s answers might be contrary to our expectations. Nabeel Qureshi – a man of God who passed away last year due to cancer till the last moment was praying for healing. Not just him but his family and so many other supporters upheld him in prayer during that 1 year of treatment. Do you think he died because there was a lack of faith? No, sometimes God’s answer is different from what we expect but even in those moments of us waiting on God, God is working and making us more like His Son. In fact our faith grows stronger during moments of waiting.

3. We must desire intimacy with God more than immunity from problems

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

One of the interesting things I noticed in this passage is that Jesus looked around asking and trying to find out who touched his cloak. The Son of God who is all knowing already knew the woman before she was born and knew what she was going to do even before she did it. Why did Jesus have to meet with her? Didn’t she already get healed? Why have the personal conversation?

I believe the answer is in v34. The word that Jesus used for “healed you” has two meanings in the original language.

The obvious meaning is healing but it also means “saved”. Even though the physical need was already met, Jesus wanted to make sure that her deeper spiritual need was met. And we’ve already seen a similar thing earlier: when Jesus heals the paralyzed man, he forgives his sins before he performs the miracle. The real disease that all of us suffer with is the disease of sin. It’s more lethal than cancer and its effects will last for all of eternity. I wish God would give us eyes to see this as a disease in ourselves and others. In order to rescue us from this deadly disease, Christ came and died for us. He took on the punishment which killed him but He rose again on third day to give healing and life and vigour to all those that understood their need of help and looked to him for rescue. That’s the real need.

The main issue with the prosperity gospel is that it makes you desire and exalt immunity from problems more than intimacy with Jesus. And you don’t need to be a believer to make immunity from problems your main goal in life. Every human on this planet by nature is trying to do that. What makes a believer different from the rest of the world is that he desires Jesus more than immunity from problems. In fact a believer wants to give up all his treasures to get the real lasting treasure – Jesus. Also, if you are inviting people to follow Jesus by telling them that if they believe then they’ll receive health and wealth, then you are making Jesus a means to an end. You are dishonoring the Holy Son of God and making him out to be like a discount coupon which can be used to redeem a luxury item. People need to see Jesus as He displayed Himself to the world – Creator, Savior and Lord.

As I was pondering on this point, I asked myself “I’m not into the prosperity gospel but do I desire intimacy with God more than immunity from problems?” If all our problems were solved in a single second, would we still want Jesus? And that can easily answered by looking at our prayers. What’s the content of our prayers? When was the last time we spent time with God just to say “Jesus, I love you so much. I’m so thankful for what you have done for me on the cross. I’m thankful for being united with you. I want to know you more. I want to become like you”. I know it seems very basic but we have to always remind ourselves that that’s what we have been invited into – fellowship with Jesus. Let’s take out time each day to remind us that intimacy with God is most important. More important than the problems at work, more important than the illnesses and relational conflicts we may experience. There is a time and place for all these issues but let’s make intimacy with God the main thing.

Is God bigger than the greatest fear that I am facing right now? Yes, so how do we respond to it? By approaching God with earnestness, seeing our situations through the eyes of faith and desiring intimacy with God more than immunity from problems. He’s so precious to us that even in our worst of times facing our worst of fears we still desire to be with Him. This makes God look big and valuable to a lost and dying world around us.