MARK 7-11 THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Mark 7-11 The Authority Of Jesus

And we are here this evening in Mark chapter 7 going through chapter 11 as we look at the chapters that we read this week.

Going through the Bible in three years. The Gospel of Mark, of course, is the second of the four Gospels. And so we're continuing to work our way through the life of Jesus Christ. We saw it through the perspective or the lens that Matthew gave us, looking at Jesus the Messiah.

The gospel of Mark has a little bit different focus, really focusing on that Jesus is a servant and the things that he did more than the things that he said. Mark was writing, we believe, to the Romans. And so we'll even see in the chapters this evening, he explains some of the Jewish customs and things that the Romans were not familiar with. And so he gives a little bit more detail in those things and explaining them.

Mark is, well, we refer to him often as John Mark. We know him that way from the book of Acts. He is also the cousin of Barnabas. He was a companion of Peter. And it's believed that the gospel of Mark was written by Mark as he was recording the

sermons that Peter was preaching in Rome. And so Mark was there, Peter was preaching, he was recording the words of Peter and then concluded the book himself at the end in chapter 16. And so that's what we believe about the gospel of Mark and all of this took place somewhere around 55 to 60 AD. Of course there's always some discussion about the datings of books because

He didn't date it, and so we don't know exactly when it was written, but it seems to make sense it was about that time frame, which is about 20 to 30 years after the life of Christ and the things that we're reading about actually took place.

The geography of Mark is pretty basic because we've been looking at the Gospel of Matthew already. So we start out in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. We head up to Nazareth where Jesus was raised. Then as an adult he moved into Capernaum which is a city right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And then of course in Jerusalem is where he ended his life. At least the crucifixion and such was there. The resurrection, you know,

continues his life. But that's where all this took place. And we'll see Jesus at the conclusion of our chapter this evening, head into Jerusalem for that final journey and head into the final week. And so as you read through your chapters this week in the Gospel of Mark, we're looking at all the things that took place in that final week of the life of Christ. We call it Passion Week.

And he's there in Jerusalem going back and forth between Jerusalem and Bethany which is right across the valley on the Mount of Olives. And so he's staying in Bethany and heading into Jerusalem each day. And there's a lot going on that we'll be looking at in the next few chapters. But we started out this week looking at chapter 7. And we'll begin looking at verse 15 is the key verse. It says...

There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him. But the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

Here as we look at chapter 7, we see first of all in verses 1 through 13, Jesus is dealing with the religious leaders and he tells them, you reject the command of God that you may keep your tradition. Now there's this confrontation that goes on because the religious leaders challenge Jesus and his disciples about not washing their hands before they eat.

Now, what we have to understand about this is that this was not a hygiene issue. This was about a ceremonial washing that they would do. It was a ritual and a tradition that had developed.

And Mark explains that. Again, here's one of the reasons why we believe Mark was writing to the Romans. Because in verse 3 he says,

And so they had a special method in which they would wash their hands in order to eat bread, in order to partake of a meal. And so they had this tradition. Everybody kept this tradition, or at least, you know, the good Jewish people did. But the disciples began to eat bread in this case, and they had not washed their hands in that way.

And so the religious leaders come and are basically accusing the disciples to Jesus and saying, hey, what's wrong with you guys? You're not washing your hands the right way. And so Jesus responds with some pretty clear correction. And he tells them, hey, Isaiah spoke really well of you guys when he says that the people or this people teaches as commands the doctrines of men.

That they take what men teach and they now say, this is what God wants you to do.

Jesus is saying the tradition of washing your hands in this ceremonial way was not prescribed by God. God didn't command this, but men commanded it. And they're saying, now this is the doctrine. This is what you have to do. And so they teach what men teach as if God says it. They're dealing with traditions as if it was God's law.

But on the opposite side of that, Jesus gives another example and he says, you allow people to violate the law of God by enforcing your tradition. So you say, hey, anybody can declare something Corban. That is, you can dedicate it to God.

And then they don't have to give to people who are in need. For example, you know, a child as an adult, you know, has parents who are in need. And the responsibility then is to take care of the parents in need. But if the child says, I declare all my stuff to be dedicated to God, then he doesn't have to give to his parents who are in need. He can still use it.

But it's dedicated to God, so he can't give it away. Nobody else can use it. Only he can use it. This was a tradition that they had developed, which allowed people to violate the law of God and disregard, you know, honoring your father and mother. But they enforced their traditions higher than the laws of God.

This is always an issue with religion and it's something that you and I, we want to continue to guard ourselves against because we can fall into similar types of things. You know, we might think about the hand-washing ceremony and think, you know, chuckle to ourselves and think, oh, you know, that's so funny, that's so silly that they would be so caught up on that. But

But we have our own things as well. You know, for us, I think sometimes prayer before meals can be this kind of thing. You know, if you were raised a Christian, there's just like a, you know, that happens when someone starts eating without praying before a meal. It's like this panic, like, oh my goodness, God's going to strike us down. And, you know, that's a tradition. That's not

a commandment of God. It's not a thing to be legalistic over or caught up about. And we kind of need to get over, not that you shouldn't pray before meal or that you can't, but it's not, you know, like the ceremonial washing. It's not, you know, the highest law of the land. It's a good thing to do to thank God for what he has given to you. So don't hold on to the commands of men and reject the commands of God.

Well, in verses 14 through 23, he goes on to explain why this was not an issue, what the disciples were doing. He says, what comes out of a man defiles him. So their thought was, you're not eating or you're eating without properly washing, the ceremonial washing. So now you disciples are defiled. And Jesus is explaining, no, nothing that goes into a person can defile them.

It's what comes out of a person that defiles them. He's explaining that washing with water

I'm sorry, eating after not washing your hands, that's not defiling as far as God is concerned, your relationship with God is concerned. Now, if your hands are dirty, you know, please, by all means, wash them. But again, this wasn't a hygiene issue. This was a ceremony issue. They're thinking, you don't have access to God. You're not very righteous. You're not holy because you've been defiled because you ate dirty.

Without washing your hands in this special way. And Jesus is saying, that can't happen. Whatever you put into your mouth, that has nothing to do with your relationship with God. That is not defiling to you.

But then in verse 20, he explains what comes out is what defiles. So not what you put in. Jesus is saying, be less concerned about what you put into your body and be more concerned about what comes out of your body. He says in verse 21, for from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,

He says, He says,

But the heart is the real issue and that's what defiles a man. How do you fix that? How do you fix the things that are within?

That defile you. Well of course. First of all you must be born again. And then as we talked about on Sunday. We must abide in Christ. And allow him to change us. And so it's not about ceremony. It's not about praying before your meals. Or otherwise you're not saved. It's about walking with God. Abiding in Jesus. And allowing him to change your heart.

Well then in verses 24 through 30 we see Jesus healed a Greek woman's daughter. He was up in the region of Tyre and Sidon a little bit north of Israel on the coast of the Mediterranean. And we of course saw this account in Matthew as well as the woman comes and asks for Jesus to heal her daughter.

But she's a Gentile and Jesus was sent primarily to the Jewish people. And so she has faith and Jesus understands, you know, what he is doing. And so he challenges her a little bit and he says, hey, I've been sent to the Jewish people, not to the Gentiles. But he refers to her faith.

Lovingly. Don't take it as an offensive thing. But hey, the dogs aren't supposed to get the food. It's the children who get the food. And she responds, oh, but the little dogs, they get the crumbs that fall from the table. And Jesus, amazed at her faith, says, hey, you have your request. Your daughter is healed. And she went home and found it to be so.

Then in verses 31 through 37, we see Jesus healed a man who was mute. He was deaf and mute, and Jesus heals him. And now we move on into chapter 8. Verse 29 is the key verse. It says, he said to them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, you are the Christ. In verses 1 through 10, we have the account now where Jesus feeds 4,000 people. We

We saw a few chapters earlier when Jesus fed the 5,000. Now in both of these cases, when it's the 5,000 and it's the 4,000, the scriptures tell us that this isn't the total amount of people. That's how many men were there plus women and children. So we don't know the exact total. It's actually more than 4,000. But there's this great crowd. So let's say, you know, 6,000 or 8,000 people are there.

And they're hungry. They've been with Jesus for a few days. They haven't had much to eat. And so Jesus tells his disciples, let's feed them. How many loaves of bread do you have? And they said, well, we have seven loaves.

And so the Lord did a miracle. He broke the bread, it multiplied, and he was able to feed the entire crowd of more than 4,000 people. In fact, it was so much so that they picked up and collected seven large baskets of leftovers after everybody had eaten. So the leftovers were more than what they started with after they fed 4,000 people.

That's pretty incredible, right? An amazing miracle that Jesus did in feeding the 4,000. Well, then in verses 11 through 21, Jesus warns his disciples. He says, Now, the disciples were a little bit confused why Jesus was telling them this. And they thought, oh no, he knows. We forgot to bring bread.

with us on our trip and so he's talking to us now about the leaven of the the pharisees they're a little bit confused about what jesus is saying he's warning them against the doctrine and the practices of the religious leaders but they're caught up with the reality that they forgot to bring bread and so jesus now corrects his disciples and i love how he walks them through this follow along with him it says in verse 19

They're worried about, what are we going to do about food?

We forgot the bread. And now Jesus knows us, or knows that we forgot the bread. And so that's why he's saying, you know, watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees. And Jesus is telling his disciples, look, I'm not worried about the bread. That's not what I'm talking about. Why are you caught up in that? You see, what it reveals is that the disciples were kind of stressed out. They were anxious. What are we going to do about food? How are we going to eat? We forgot the bread.

And so Jesus, to help them in this area, calls them back. He helps them remember, okay, let's think back, guys. A few chapters ago, there was a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children. We had five loaves of bread. And how much did you collect after we were done feeding the 5,000? Oh, we brought back 12 baskets. And then here's the 4,000.

We fed them with seven loaves of bread. And how many large baskets? So first it was just baskets. You got 12 of those. But this time you filled up large baskets. Think like laundry baskets. How many of those did you fill up? Well, we filled up seven large baskets after we fed the 4,000. Jesus is saying, you don't need to fear or be worried or stressed out about the bread. I'm going to take care of that. God's got us covered in that.

He asked them to remember. Now, this is a really good practice for us. It's something we forget to do, I think, a lot of times. Whenever you're in the midst of some kind of difficulty or trial, there's something worrying you, there's something that brings anxiety, you're stressed out. Follow what Jesus took his disciples through and go back and remember how God has provided in the past.

Take some time to remember and reflect on what God has done in the past. So that you can be reminded, He is faithful to provide. And He's faithful to meet our needs. He is faithful to take care of us. We don't have to worry and be stressed out and be anxious. We often quote this verse, Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, right? Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

And he says, all these other things. The things that you worry about. The things that you're anxious about. The things that we get stressed out about. Jesus says, I'll provide all those things as you seek first the kingdom of God. So our job is to seek first the kingdom. To put God first. And his promise is that he will provide. And so he looks at his disciples and he tells them, how is it that you don't understand?

I'm able to provide for you. I'm able to meet your needs. Don't get stressed out about the bread. But watch out for the doctrine and the practices of the religious leaders. That's what he's seeking to teach them. Well, then in verses 22 through 26, Jesus heals a blind man in the city of Bethsaida. Well, actually, he walks him outside of the town and heals him and sends him back in.

In verses 27 through 30, he takes his disciples up to Caesarea Philippi in the north of Israel. And he asks them who people say that he is. And of course, the disciples rattle off a variety of answers. John the Baptist, Elijah and such. But then he makes it personal. He says, well, who do you guys say that I am? And here Peter has this revelation from God. He says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.

Peter recognizes who Jesus is. Now, this isn't, you know, just generally saying, you know, hey, do you guys know what my name is? We know Jesus as Jesus Christ. And sometimes we think that's kind of like his first and last name. But of course, that's not what it is. Christ is a title. It's the Greek version of the Hebrew word for Messiah. It means anointed one.

It really means what Peter is declaring is that Jesus, you are the promised Savior, that one that God has been promising ever since Genesis chapter 3, that he would send a Savior, that there would be redemption, that his people or God's people would be brought back into right relationship and sins would be forgiven. And you, Jesus, are that promised Savior. And

And so it was a very important recognition of Peter, one that we all need to come to, that we recognize that Jesus is the promised Savior, the way, the truth, and the life. In verses 31 through 33, Jesus teaches his disciples that he is about to die. Now,

Peter recognized, we just saw, that Jesus is that promised Savior. But although they knew the prophecies of that promised Savior, the Jewish people were a little bit confused about those prophecies because, well, some prophecies of the Messiah have great glory attached to them.

And some of them have great suffering attached to them. And Jesus is explaining to his disciples. He's teaching to his disciples. I'm about to fulfill a different set of prophecies than you have in your mind. When you think of me as the promised savior. You're thinking of me setting up a kingdom. And it's going to be glorious. And that will happen. That will be fulfilled. But that's later on. First.

I'm going to suffer and I'm going to die. In verse 31, he says,

And so Jesus lays it all out for them. There's going to be this suffering, this rejection, there's going to be this death, and then the resurrection on the third day. And so he declares all of what is about to take place to his disciples, although they still don't understand what he's talking about. Verse 34 through 38, Jesus goes on to teach, whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Here Jesus is explaining if you want to follow him, you have to count the cost and understand. He says you need to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me. And he explains why that is. He says if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it. If you try to hold on to your life and be the Lord of your life and make all the decisions for your life and do what you want to do with your life, you'll lose it. Jesus is teaching. He's teaching us that

What comes naturally to us, what the world teaches, what we're kind of raised to think is opposite of the spiritual truths and the spiritual realities. And so if we're looking out for number one, and if we're making all the decisions about our life,

Jesus says, that's a problem. No, if you want to follow me, you got to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me. Because if you lose your life, now he says, for my sake. So there's a lot of things that you could surrender to. There's a lot of people, you know, that you could let them run your life. But that's not what Jesus is talking about. He's saying, let me run your life. Let me be the authority, the decision maker. Let me be the one who gives you direction and

And if you do that to me, you lose your life for my sake and for the gospel's sake, then you will find it. Then you will have the life that I've promised to you, the abundant life that is for my disciples. Mark chapter 9 now, verse 2 is the key verse. It says, Now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them.

In verses 1 through 13 we see this transfiguration. There is Jesus is on a mountain. He's with Peter, James and John. The three troublemakers that he kept close to him so that they wouldn't get in too much trouble apart from him. And he's there with them and

As they're with him, this amazing thing happens. He begins to shine. I like the way that Mark explains things. In verse 3, it's just a classic verse. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

So no amount of bleach. I don't care how good of a, you know, laundry person you are. You couldn't get them as white as Jesus's clothes were. He was shining with great glory there on the Mount of Transfiguration. And so they see this and he's there now with Moses and Elijah. And it, can you imagine? I mean, it was a, it was an incredible scene as the disciples see what is going on. Now,

Peter offers a suggestion. Let's build some tabernacles and stay here because this is really amazing. But I like what Mark also points out in verse 6. He basically says, Peter spoke because he didn't know what to say. Now, just a little bit of a word of advice. It's usually not a very wise move to speak because you don't know what to say.

if you don't know what to say, it might be better to not speak. And so God, the Father responds in verse 7 and he says, this is my beloved son, hear him. In other words, Peter, stop talking and listen. Listen to my beloved son. As they're heading down the mountain from this experience, the disciples, Peter, James, and John, ask Jesus, well,

It's pretty clear you're the Messiah. You're the Savior. So why do they say, the scribes and the teachers, why do they say that Elijah must come first? And Jesus explains he will still come first because that's going to happen before the second coming. But we also saw in the Gospel of Matthew, he says, hey, if you can receive it, he's already come, referring to John the Baptist. And so just as there's the first coming and second coming of

The Messiah. Jesus. There's also the first coming. And second coming. Of Elijah. In the person of John the Baptist. Preceding Jesus. And then in the person of Elijah. Later on. In the. The tribulation period.

Well then in verses 14 through 29 they encounter a demon possessed boy and Jesus heals him. They're heading down the mountain from the transfiguration and there's this crowd around the disciples and there's a father who's brought his son who is demon possessed and the father goes to Jesus and he says I brought my son to your disciples they couldn't cast out the demon but

Jesus looks, he has compassion. He says, how long has this been going on? And the father says, oh, since he was a young child, since childhood. And Jesus, as he's talking with him, invites him to believe. And verse 24 is one of those classic verses for us to remember. It says, immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

As Jesus is interacting with this father who wants his son to be healed, Jesus encourages him to believe. And he says, oh, I believe, but also I wrestle with unbelief. So help me with my unbelief, but I believe. And there's this wrestling internally that you can see happening in this man. And so Jesus responds and he does. He helps him with his unbelief and he casts the demon out of his son and he is healed.

The disciples come to Jesus later on. They're a little bit confused. How come we couldn't cast him out? And he explains in verse 29, this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting. Well, then in verses 30 through 32, Jesus again explains to his disciples what is about to happen. He says, the son of man is being betrayed. He says, he's going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him. And after he is killed, he will rise the third day.

So again, Jesus lays out what is about to happen for his disciples. He's on his way to Jerusalem. He's about to experience these things that he's telling them about. And so he's seeking to prepare them for that. Although they're still not getting it. They're still missing it. Later on, it all makes sense. But they still don't understand what he is saying. And so he's preparing them for his suffering and death that is about to happen.

In verses 33 through 37, he explains that if you desire to be first, then you shall be last. This is a teaching he gives to his disciples because as they were journeying on the way, the disciples were disputing amongst themselves about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God. That is, when Jesus established his kingdom, which they were expecting him to do,

who's going to be the greatest? Who's going to have, you know, that chief spot, the highest honor? Who's going to be the one that really stands out amongst the disciples? And it kind of gives me this picture, you know, Jesus is kind of like walking down the road and the disciples are kind of held back a little bit and they're just disputing amongst themselves about who's going to be the greatest. Now,

Now, maybe they were pretending to be humble and saying, you know, that another person was going to be the greatest. Or maybe they were promoting themselves and saying, no, no, no, I'm going to be the greatest. Because, you know, I cast out these seven demons and worth these four miracles and you only did three. And, you know, so we don't know exactly how it went. But there was this dispute. Who's going to be the greatest? They wanted to be the greatest. And Jesus asked them, hey, what were you guys talking about as we were walking, you know, down the road? And they're like, oh.

We don't want to talk about that, Jesus. Isn't there something else we could talk about? And Jesus says, listen, if you want to be great, I love this because Jesus doesn't rebuke them for that desire. He just explains, look, you're going about it the wrong way. If you want to be great, if you desire to be first, here's how to do it. Be last. Be the servant of all. Serve others, put others first, and that is the way to be great in the kingdom of God.

Just like the song says, if you want to be great in God's kingdom, learn to be the servant of all. Verses 38 through 41, Jesus explains, whoever is not against us is on our side. So,

The disciples let Jesus know, hey, we saw someone who is casting out demons in your name, but he's not part of our group. And so we told him to stop and we just wanted to let you know and you're welcome. And Jesus says, no, no, no, don't forbid him. If he's working in my name, then he's on our side. If he's not against us, he's on our side. So Jesus says not to do that.

Well then in verses 42 through 50, he says that we are to cut off what causes us to sin. So this all flows together, even though we kind of separate these different paragraphs and such. Essentially Jesus is saying, look, don't worry about sin.

People who are doing things in my name. Working miracles in my name. You don't have to control that. But watch out for. And woe to the one who causes others to stumble. That's what you need to be concerned about. And putting a stop to. Not you know those who are working in my name.

And he goes on to explain, hey, if, you know, someone causes a little one to stumble, you know, it's better for him to have a millstone wrapped around his neck and be cast into the sea because of the judgment that will come to him. And so he goes on to go through, you know, some thoughts here. He says, look, if your hand causes you to sin, then cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, then gouge it out. If your foot causes you to sin, then cut it off.

And each time he goes through that, he explains, because it's better to enter into eternity maimed than having two hands and entering into hell, the fire that shall never be quenched. Now, whenever we cover this passage, it's always a little bit necessary to just say, Jesus is not asking people to

to physically harm themselves or mutilate themselves. So please put that out of your mind if that is there. That is not from the Lord. But Jesus is trying to teach the principle that sin is very damaging. And if there is things in your life that cause you to sin, he's teaching you need to cut it out.

Now that doesn't mean physically harm yourself, but deal with the sin harshly. Deal with the sin severely because it will deal severely with you. And so would you rather go into eternity with God having missed out on those things that caused you to sin or to enter into eternity in hell where the fire is not quenched and have enjoyed life

All of those things that cause you to sin. He's saying. You got to take some things out of your life. You got to cut those things. Out of your life. And so. A reminder to deal harshly. Severely. Seriously with sin. To not put up with it. Not dabble in it. Not allow it. Not compromise. But to really flee from sin. And keep ourselves from it. And so.

You know, if there are things in your life that you know it's a temptation that comes with that freedom. And yeah, you have the freedom in Christ, but then also you have the temptation that comes with it. So you could enjoy that freedom and then also endure that temptation and possibly continue on in that sin. But that's a dangerous game to play. So Jesus is saying, just get it out of your life. Make sure that you enter into eternity with God.

Now as Jesus is teaching the seriousness of sin, we also see here very clear, Jesus is teaching that hell is for real. That it's not, you know, just that you cease to exist. He's teaching it is real. It is eternal. It is judgment, punishment. The fire is not quenched. He says in verse 44, and he repeats this each time, the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. So it's not a ceasing to exist. The worm doesn't die.

And also the fire is not quenched. It is a torment. It is judgment that is eternal. It does not end or it's not just for a season. But it is permanent. It is eternal. And that is why we need to deal so severely with sin. Well chapter 10 now verse 25 is the key verse. Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

In verses 1 through 12, Jesus teaches about divorce. And he says, whoever divorces and marries another commits adultery. Now, Jesus is declaring this because they came to Jesus testing him. There was all this testing going on all the time. The religious leaders were challenging Jesus and trying to trap him in his words. And so they come to him in verse 2 and say, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

And there was, in those days, a big debate between different, you know, groups of religious leaders about what was a good reason or a lawful reason for divorce. And so, you know, you had the two extremes, like there always is in any issue, right? And so on one extreme, they said, look, if she burns your toast, you can get a divorce. You have God's permission. On the other extreme,

It said, you know, only in the case of unfaithfulness in marriage, that is adultery or immorality, that is the only real reason for divorce. And that's the only time you have God's permission. And so they kind of come to Jesus and want to test him in this. And what do you think, Jesus? What are you going to say? How are you going to respond to this? Well, I think it's interesting. Jesus...

Rather than address the question directly, goes back to the original marriage and says, look, this is the model. This is what we need to look at. He goes back to Adam and Eve. In verse 6, he says, from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. And the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. Jesus says, let's go back to the original, the model that God's given to us. Marriage was his idea, his creation. He put Adam and Eve together. He declared they were one flesh. So he joined them together. And so Jesus says, so let's not try to rip apart what God has joined together. In other words, stay married. Don't get a divorce.

He goes on to say, adultery occurs whenever there's divorce and then marrying another after. Now this isn't the only teaching about divorce in the Bible. Matthew chapter 19, Jesus gives a little bit more insight and he does talk about the issue of unfaithfulness there.

And so that's something to factor in if this is, you know, something that you are, you know, not considering. But if this is something you have to face, then read Matthew chapter 19. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 7. And get a fuller picture about, you know, what the scripture says about divorce. But also keep in mind that God hates divorce. And so that is not what he desires. Well, then in verses 13 through 16 says,

Jesus says, let the children come to me. Now, the disciples start rebuking parents as they're bringing their children to Jesus. And I like what Mark says in verse 14. He says that Jesus was greatly displeased with this. He was really upset. It means that he was full of indignation. He got really angry with his disciples. He's like, guys, knock it off. Let the children come to me.

The disciples were always trying to protect Jesus, right? Hey, we saw that guy preaching in your name and so we told him to shut up. We know you're busy so we're keeping the kids away. And Jesus is like, I don't need you to be, you know, my protection. Let the kids come to me. He was greatly displeased with them. And in verse 16 it says, he took him in his arms and blessed them. And so he wanted to minister to and bless these children. Verse 17 through 22, Jesus says that no one is good enough

But God. He says this of course to the rich young ruler. And we have this account in several of the gospels. And so we learn a little bit about this man from each one. In verse 17 I saw an aspect that I hadn't really noticed before. It says that he came to Jesus running again.

And so it kind of wasn't a casual thing, but he runs to Jesus and kneels down before him and says, what else do I need to enter into the kingdom of God? What am I lacking? And of course, Jesus has a discussion with him about the law. And he says, oh yeah, yeah, I keep the law. You know, I've been faithful, but I'm still missing something. What else is there? What else do I need to do? And so Jesus tells him, well, you need to sell everything that you have and give it to the poor.

And then come and follow me. And in verse 22 it says that he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful. For he had great possessions. And so Jesus here addressed the heart and the real issue for this rich young ruler. He had a lot of things going for him. Everything seemed good. But he had this issue in his heart. This idol in his heart of his possessions.

goods, his resources, what he had, and he was unwilling to let that go. And so instead of following Jesus, he went away sorrowful. In verses 23 through 31, Jesus says, all things are possible with God. So as Jesus watches this guy go away sad, he tells his disciples, man, it's really hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And they're like, what? And he says, well, yeah, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And it says in verse 26 that they're greatly astonished at this. And they say, who then can be saved? Now, the disciples, and what was common in that day was people expected that rich people were rich because God blessed them because they were righteous. So if you had means, if you had resources, if you had wealth,

You had to have been righteous. And that's why God blessed you. Because you were righteous. And that's why you're rich. So Jesus says it's hard for a rich man. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Than for a rich man to be saved. And the disciples are like. Well they're like the most righteous people. We're poor fishermen. What chance do any of us have to be saved. If they can't be saved. And of course their premise is wrong. They're thinking wrong.

It's up to them. They're thinking it's about their righteousness. And Jesus, of course, is about to take care of that upon the cross. It's not about how good you are or how righteous you are. It's about your faith in God or faith in Jesus Christ. They thought riches were given to the righteous. And Jesus is explaining all things are possible with God. Yeah, it's impossible for you to be saved.

It's impossible for rich people to be saved. It's impossible for anybody to be saved. But all things are possible with God. And he made a way by sending his only begotten son to die upon the cross. Well, in verses 32 through 34, he explains that the son of man will be betrayed. So a third time now, he explains, okay guys, get ready. We're about to go into this. I'm going to be betrayed. I'm going to suffer. I'm going to die. And then the third day, I will rise again.

Verse 35 through 45, he says, to be first, you need to be the slave of all. So kind of piggybacking on the same thought from before about being great in God's kingdom. If you want to be first, you need to be the slave of all. Now this, Jesus is teaching them because, well, there was another need for it. In verse 35, we see James and John come to Jesus and say, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

And Jesus says, well, what is it that you want me to do for you? Jesus is smart. He doesn't just commit to it. Okay, you got it. Whatever you ask, what do you want? No, he says, well, what is it? Let's talk about it first. Here's what we want, Jesus. In your kingdom, we want to be on the right and the left. In other words, Jesus, we want you to settle this. I mean...

We tried to explain to the other guys, but they weren't getting it. We're the greatest. And so, can you just settle this and let everybody know we're the greatest? And just announce right now that we'll be the ones on your right and left. That we're the ones that you're going to honor the most. That we're the ones that you like the best. And we're the ones who are going to have that position. And Jesus says, that's not for me to give. Those are appointed by my Father. It's not what we're going to discuss right now. Now, in verse 41...

It tells us that when the other ten heard about it, they were greatly displeased. This is the same word that was used a few verses earlier when Jesus was greatly displeased at the disciples forbidding, or yeah, forbidding the parents to bring their children. And Jesus is full of indignation. What are you guys doing? Let the children come to me. Now, the disciples are full of indignation.

Because these two approached Jesus and asked to sit at his right hand and his left hand. There was some tension there. Some animosity between these disciples over which one was going to be the greatest. And so again, Jesus is teaching, look, you got to go about this the right way. If you want to be first, be the slave of all. Be a servant of all. Put others first. He says...

In the Gentile world, they lorded over people when they have authority. That's what you're trying to do. You're modeling after the Gentiles. That's not how the kingdom of God works. That's not how Christians are to be. That's not how it's going to be for my followers. No, instead, we're going to serve. We're going to meet other people's needs. We're going to put others first. And he uses himself as the example. Verse 45 is a key verse.

He says, So he's saying, follow my example. I am the most important person in the kingdom of God. But I didn't come to earth to be served. I came to serve and to give my own life for others. And so he says, that's the way to greatness in the kingdom of God. Follow my example, Jesus says. Put others first. Serve others and not yourself.

Well then in verses 46 through 52, we see Jesus encounter a man named Bartimaeus who is blind as they're heading into Jericho. And so he heals him and continues on his way to Jerusalem. That brings us now to chapter 11 of the Gospel of Mark, our final chapter for the evening. Verse 15 is the key verse.

It says,

As he's writing in, the crowds are shouting and praising the Lord and saying, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Quoting from Psalm 118. This is Jesus publicly declaring that he is the promised Savior, that he is the rightful King of Israel. And the crowds that are there are shouting and praising God and saying, Yes, save now. Blessed is the one. You are the King who comes in the name of the Lord.

So that happens on a Sunday. And then the next day on Monday, verse 12 through 19, Jesus goes into the temple and he drives out those who bought and sold in the temple. So verse 15 explains there is these transactions going on. They were buying and selling things.

Jesus also turned over the tables of the money changers. He also turned over the seats of those who were selling doves. Verse 16 tells us he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.

So there was all this transactions going on. This marketplace really that was happening there in the temple courtyard where people were coming to seek the Lord and Jesus says knock it off. This is meant to be a place of prayer, not a place of business, not a den of thieves because in addition to all this marketplace transactions they were taking advantage of people and ripping people off too. So Jesus puts an end to that and drives them out and

And cleanses the temple. Well then in verses 20 through 24. Jesus teaches his disciples to believe when they pray.

This goes back to verses 12 through 14 where Jesus curses the fig tree because it looked like it had figs, but there was actually no fruit on the tree. And so the next morning in verses 23, 24, the disciples are amazed. They say, look, the tree's withered. It's amazing, you know, how you're able to say that to the tree and now it's, you know, come to pass. And so Jesus uses that as an opportunity to teach them, you need to have faith. When you pray, believe. Believe.

And have faith. He says in verse 24, Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. So believe. Have faith. Now, when we come to the Lord and ask, it's not only a matter of faith or belief.

But it's also a matter of what we're asking for. So in the previous chapter, we saw James and John come to Jesus and say, hey, give us whatever we ask you. And so Jesus says, well, what is it that you want me to do? But then later on, when he approaches Jericho and Bartimaeus comes to him, Jesus says to Bartimaeus the same thing. What do you want me to do for you? And Bartimaeus said, Lord, that I would receive my sight.

James and John said that we would have the glorious positions in the whole kingdom. Their hearts were in the wrong place. Their motives were not quite right. Their thoughts were not according to the will of God. And so their request was not granted. No matter how much they believed or how much faith they had. That wasn't an issue of faith. It was an issue of where their hearts were at in that. But blind Bartimaeus...

He approached Jesus by faith, believing that he is the Messiah, the Savior, calling him the son of David. And so Jesus says, what do you want me to do for you? He says, I want to receive my sight. And Jesus says, yeah, that's part of the will of God for you. You're healed. And so believe when you ask.

Don't ask wavering and doubtful, but also ask according to the will of God and not just that you can get what you want and spend it on your pleasures. James deals with that. We'll get to that later on this year. Verse 25 through 26, Jesus says, forgive that your father may forgive you. He says, hey, when you come before God in verse 25, if you have anything against anybody, then you need to forgive them.

If you want to have right relationship with God, you got to forgive people. And you can't hold things, hold on to things and keep bitterness in your heart or not forgiving them. He says in verse 26, So if you want to be forgiven, you need to be forgiving to others as well. Verse 27 through 33 says,

The elders approached Jesus and asked him where he got his authority. So Jesus here has been staying in Bethany, but he'll come into Jerusalem each day. And so he's coming in, he cleanses the temple, he comes in, he's teaching. And the religious leaders say, look, we don't know that you have the authority to do all these things that you're doing. Who gave you this authority? How do you have the authority to do these things? And so Jesus responds, well,

I'll answer that if you answer me one question. The baptism of John the Baptist, was that from heaven or from men? We talked about this a couple weeks ago on Sunday as well. They weren't really concerned about what the truth was, whether it was from heaven or men. They just negotiated amongst themselves, well, if we say this, then we're trapped. If we say this, then we're trapped. We can't win this argument, so we're going to say we don't know. And Jesus says, well, then I'm not going to tell you about where I get my authority either.

They would have answered the question if they would have been concerned about the truth. If they would have recognized that John the Baptist was from God, they would know that Jesus also is from God. But they were unwilling to see the truth. They were just concerned about what people thought and maintaining their position.

Well, chapter 11, now as Jesus enters into Jerusalem, this is his final week of ministry. And it concludes kind of a main section of the Gospel of Luke. Because as we've been talking about, I'm not Luke, Mark. I'm going to be confused for a while probably. Um.

Mark focuses more on what Jesus did and less on what Jesus said. And so one of the predominant features of the Gospel of Mark is the miracles that Jesus accomplished. And so you see in chapter 1, he performed four miracles, and then one, and two, and one, and three, and six, and two, and two. And then all the way now to Mark chapter 11, he performed the miracle and accomplished

Now going forward we're not going to see much miracles until chapter 16 when Jesus is resurrected. And so now we're going to be focusing more on the teaching of Jesus during his final week. We call it Passion Week.

Sunday, the triumphal entry, he rides in on the donkey and he goes into Jerusalem, but he doesn't really do anything. He just rides in, he checks out everything, and then he goes back to Bethany right across the valley and he stays the night there. Then Monday morning he comes in and he cleanses the temple and

And also has that discussion about the fig tree. Then on Tuesday, that's the last day of Jesus' public ministry. And so we got to see a little bit of that in verse 27 and on with the challenge from the religious leaders. But there's more that we're going to be looking at over the next couple days. And so he teaches a lot in that specific day on Tuesday of that final week.

Wednesday seems to be a day of rest. Jesus is in Bethany. He's anointed by Mary and not much else is happening. Thursday is the day that Jesus would have celebrated the Passover supper with his disciples and then later he would be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He would begin real early in the morning with his Roman trial before Pontius Pilate and then ultimately be crucified pretty early in the morning. They were trying to do it fast before, you know, anybody really knew what was going on. Saturday, the tomb was secured as the religious leaders went to Pilate and said, hey, he said he was going to rise again, so let's secure the tomb. But it didn't stop Jesus on Sunday. He was resurrected, and so we'll get to that in a

Mark chapter 16. So that's where we're going to be at this week. Looking at this final days of the life of Christ. The last things that he did up to his crucifixion. And then his resurrection. Let's pray. Lord we thank you.

For who you are and what you've done, Lord, for your demonstration of love and compassion that we see laid out before us in the chapters that we've been reading. But Lord, also the necessity for us to follow you and be submitted to you, to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow you. And so Lord, I pray that you would help us to do so. Help us to lose our lives for your sake and for your gospel.

Lord, that we would be focused on you, seeking first your kingdom, and Lord, trusting in you to provide for our every need. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.