Why Can't I....? - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portraits of a Radical Messiah

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We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.


Last we looked at the transfiguration of Jesus – the moment His glory broke through the veil of His human flesh – the holy glow.


Today we’re moving from the glorious mountain top experience back down to the valley of daily life.


So let’s read Mark 9:14-29….


I know we’ve all experienced that moment after we’ve been exposed to a glorious mountain top experience with Jesus where life’s reality reaches up and smacks us in the face. Often it’s just having to go back to work on Monday morning.


Jesus and the three disciples who were on the mountain with Him experience the same thing in this passage. This reminds me of the story in Exodus when Moses and Joshua are coming down mount Sinai after Moses received the Decalogue (10 Commandments) in a mountain top experience and as they were walking back to camp they hear a loud noise that Joshua thinks is caused by battle but Moses hears it and says “it’s not the sound of war but the sound of a wild party! What are these people up to?”


As they get close to camp they see the people not only partying, but worshiping a golden calf idol that they had made! Can you imagine what kind of a Monday morning experience that was?


Jesus faces that here. The first thing He encounters when He returns from the mountain is a huge group of people standing around watching a big argument between the other disciples and those nifty scribes. I think that’s the reason Jesus took Peter with Him, He probably expected something to happen while He was away and figured it was better if Peter was where He could keep and eye on him.


This argument started because the disciples couldn’t cast an evil spirit out of a young boy. They had tried but nothing happened and that gave the scribes an opportunity to try and undermine them and their teacher. Of course when you try to upstage someone they get all defensive and the next thing you know there’s a fight. That’s just great.


But let’s face it we’ve all felt that way at times haven’t we? You know what I’m talking about, those times when we pray from someone and nothing happens?


Sometimes we feel like God’s left us hanging out there on a big ol’ limb. Am I right, isn’t that how it feels?


Do I have your permission to be even more blunt? O.k.? For some, if not all of us, it has at some level caused a crisis of faith. Not to the point where we’re thinking about abandoning the faith, but it has caused us to question some of what we believe about divine healing and other miracles. It may have even caused to hesitate to pray for others, or even changed the way we pray.


Don’t we sometimes feel like we have to make excuses for God? Am I crazy here or am I on to something….


Then you read a passage like this and you may have an idea what the disciples were feeling. But the interesting thing to note is how Jesus responds. He doesn’t try to make them feel better about their doubts; in fact His response is almost like rubbing salt in the wound. How would you feel if you asked Jesus “Why?” and He answered back “How long do I have to put up with you?” That’s kind of rough isn’t it?


When we feel that way only have a couple of options: we can quit or we can get aside with Jesus and learn from Him. This happened in two ways.


Look at the father of the boy in his first request in vs. 22 where he basically showed a lack of faith and said to Jesus “if you can…” Then after Jesus challenges his faith in vs. 23 with an ‘if you can’ question of His own the father gets it and says in essence according to R. Alan Cole “ok then help me just as I am, a doubter.”


The father learned to approach Jesus with faith no matter how small it seemed to be. Don’t come to Him with doubt; come to Him humbly and honestly with whatever measure of faith you have. You might as well what have you got to lose!


Then we see the disciples learning from Jesus. Still hurting and humiliated by what they had just experienced they asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demon. I think their question says a lot about where they were coming from. Based on their question “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” who were they more concerned with? Themselves and their reputation. If they had asked “Why couldn’t we help that boy and his father?” it would have shown a mature level of compassion and humility.


So Jesus sees right through this and gives them a quick lesson in humility: This kind can only come out by prayer and fasting (some mss. leave out and fasting but there’s strong evidence that it should be included).


I’m not discounting the importance of prayer and fasting, it’s obvious that Jesus meant what He said, but why did He say it? In the past Jesus had sent out the disciples in twos and had given them authority to cast out demons. They had done it before so they were completely confused as to why the formulas of the past didn’t work this time.


I believe Jesus answer was intended to show them that they couldn’t rely on a method or formula that worked in the past.


The disciples had to learn to rely on an abiding, humble reliance on God’s power. Prayer and fasting isn’t about a formula for ministry success, it’s about setting everything aside and drawing near to Jesus and drawing in His strength and power. It’s admitting that we’re weak and He is strong and through His strength we can do all things. (Phil. 4:13)


If we pull back from doing powerful works of compassion because we’re afraid of how we’ll look if we fail then we need to go back to Jesus for an attitude adjustment and prayer and fasting is a great place to start.


So let’s ask ourselves this morning do we care enough about the hurting people around us to get on our faces before God and ask for His help to make a difference? Are we willing to put aside everything else so that we can encounter our loving and powerful savior in such a way that we can then serve others with His compassion poured into our hearts?

True Colors - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portraits of a Radical Messiah

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We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

Last week we looked at 5 ‘snapshots’ from the gospel of Mark that reveal an insight connected to living in a dynamic relationship with Jesus.

Today we’re going to see a sequence of events that ups the ante on the disciples. They had seen Jesus doing good works, taking on the religious establishment, and performing miracles. It was clear to them that He was greater than any of the other messianic pretenders who had come before Him. But as we can see by the disciples reactions to the various events that occurred they still weren’t completely sure just who Jesus was and what it meant for them.

They’re about to find out.

So let’s read Mark 8:27-38….

The idea that Jesus might be the Messiah was being floated around by this time but Jesus had never been explicitly said that’s who He was. He had never said that He was the Christ or the Messiah? But all of the signs were there.

Jesus was beginning His journey toward Jerusalem. He knew what awaited Him there. Jerusalem would be the place where He would suffer and be crucified. So it’s at this point that the story line of the gospel of Mark begins to shift. He performs 2 more miracles after this, but His focus changes to preparing His disciples for what was to come and teaching them how to carry on His ministry.

As they are walking along Jesus asks a fairly simple question: “Who do men say that I am?” Of course the disciples would have answer to that because they worked the crowds with Jesus and heard what people were saying about Him. I’m sure some of their family members had opinions that they shared. So the answers they gave weren’t all that surprising. John the Baptist, Herod thought Jesus was a resurrected John. Elijah, he was the prophet that was most closely linked to the Messiah, then the prophets.

It’s interesting that many today are content to label Jesus as a prophet of God. That’s pretty safe and in some ways a comfortable title.

But then almost as if Jesus Himself is testing the waters to see if it’s time to shift into this new phase of ministry and preparation asks a follow up question that’s loaded with meaning “But who do you say that I am?” I think it’s important to note that Jesus didn’t say “Who do you think I am?” The word ‘say’ suggests that He was asking them who that said He was during the moments when they were talking around the campfire in the evenings, or walking along the roads as they traveled from place to place.

But it’s also important because no one can know what you think until you say it. By asking this direct question Jesus is putting the disciples on that spot. There’s no place to hide and no one to hide behind. I’m sure there was a moment of awkward silence.

There are two sides to revelation: what it reveals about Jesus and what it reveals about us. We all face that awkward moment where we have to confess what we believe instead of repeating what someone else believes.

Then Peter as the leader answers “You are the Christ.” Since Jesus had never used that title or even said anything about it how could Peter have known? In Matthew’s gospel Jesus points out that the only way Peter could have known is if God had revealed it to Him. The time had come for the turn toward Jerusalem and it was important that even though they knew His true identity they didn’t understand it enough to share it with others.

Now that the disciples knew who He was Jesus has to prepare them for what this means for Him and for them. In vs. 31-33 Jesus tells the disciples that He will have to suffer and die, but that He will arise from the dead in 3 days.

But that was just too much for Peter, that didn’t match up with his image of the conquering Messiah He was looking for. With all of Jesus’ miraculous power how could He possibly be subjected to suffering and death? That sounded too much like losing to Him. So Peter took Jesus aside and decided to correct Jesus.

But Jesus needed to send a strong message to Peter and the disciples. That’s why he looked around at them; He wanted to make sure they were all listening. Jesus would not allow anyone to try to persuade Him to abandon His mission.

Do you remember at the very beginning of Jesus ministry when He was tempted 3 times by Satan? At the end of the temptations the Bible says that Satan left Him alone until a more opportune time. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus points out that Peter’s actions were being orchestrated by the Satan. It’s almost as if Jesus is speaking past Peter as He’s speaking to him.

While the ‘Satan’ thing gets all of the attention I think the most important line in this whole exchange is “You are not mindful, or you don’t have your mind set on, the things of God.” Peter, and frankly the other disciples were more focused on their own ambitions for themselves and Jesus than God’s. Jesus stern rebuke was a warning to them, and us, that..

Survival as a follower of Jesus demands that our minds be firmly established on the things of God. Because things won’t always look the way they we thought they would. Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Now Jesus reveals to them the true cost of discipleship. In vs. 34-38 Jesus spells it out clearly. If we have a desire to follow Jesus it will cost us everything. It will demand the complete and total surrender of our life to Him. We can have the things of this world or we can have Jesus, but we have to choose.

When we receive the gift of salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, we give up eternal separation from God and inherit eternal life with Him. That life starts the moment we say yes to His offer. But we also receive a new life that we live here and now. That life is as a citizen in God’s kingdom and as His people we now live for Him and not for ourselves. We give up our crummy old life and get a brand new one, but this new life demands that we live it entirely for Him.

The enemy will try to convince you that that’s a raw deal, a bait and switch. He’ll try to convince you that following Jesus demands too much and isn’t fair. But think about it for a minute. That’s exactly what Peter and the other disciples must have thought. They were following Jesus and they understood He was the Messiah, the savior of the Jewish nation and now Jesus tells them He’s going to Jerusalem to suffer and die. That’s not what they signed up for. They must have thought it was a raw deal too. But that was because they were listening to the wrong voice. Satan wants us to focus on what we will lose instead of what we will gain and God is shouting through Jesus that if we will die to our self we will gain eternity and…

The start of dying to self is admitting that we really don’t have a better option

Funny thing is that we seem to think we do. What’s the better option you keep turning back to?

The Wave Walker - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portraits of a Radical Messiah

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We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

Last time we looked at a story that presented another challenging situation that stretched the disciples. It was the feeding of the 5,000. This miracle was so important that it’s the only one of Jesus’ miracles that is mentioned in all 4 gospels. One of the reasons for this is that it so clearly identifies Jesus as the Messiah. If you weren’t here last week I’d like you compare the story in Mark 6:30-44 with Psalm 23.

Today we’re going to look at another miracle that is unusual. I guess by definition all miracles would be unusual or they wouldn’t be miracle, right? I guess what I mean is that of the miracle of Jesus this one is unusual in that the most amazing part of it wasn’t necessarily for the direct benefit of another person.

In Mark 6:45-53 we find the story of Jesus walking on the water. Let me see some hands if you could tell me that story from memory. Lot’s of hands. It’s probably not surprising that this story is told in 3 of the 4 gospels and it’s probably even more well known than any other miracle that Jesus did because it’s taken on a ‘proverbial’ meaning in our culture. When people sometimes come across and arrogant you will often hear someone say “They think they can walk on water,” or something like that.

But remember this event really happened and it has more meaning than just the sum of its parts. So let’s read it together this morning. (Read passage)

Now I want to start with the end. Is that ok?

What does vs. 52 have to do with what just happened? If this idea of bread only came up here in this account we could chalk it up to a mystery, something we might ask Jesus on the other side. But in the gospel of John, Jesus talks about the bread from heaven right after He walks on the water. So there’s some kind of link between walking on water and feeding 5,000 people.

In Mark’s and John’s accounts Jesus challenges the motives and faith of the people involved. So this is a very important thought that Jesus is trying to communicate to the people and ultimately to us.

Jesus wants His followers to do two things:

Learn the spiritual truths revealed by God’s physical intervention. Jesus diagnoses the condition of the disciple’s hearts by their reaction to this miracle. Keep in mind that Jesus knew that their hearts were hardened. It was clear from their actions on several occasions. They just weren’t making the connections between what Jesus was doing and what they needed to learn.

They had already seen Him calm a storm so why did it amaze them this time? They saw Him feed 5,000 people with almost nothing but they were amazed that He could walk on water. Just look at their reaction when they first saw Jesus. They thought He was a ghost when they could have just as easily assumed it was Jesus.

It seems they had more faith in the mythology of the sea than in the Messiah who could heal the sick, raise the dead, feed 5,000 and calm the sea. But doesn’t that describe us sometimes? When we’re faced with frightening and difficult challenges do we automatically assume the worst instead of trusting the God who is able to do all things well?

Why do we doubt? We all do it, don’t we? Why? I’ve been reading Job lately and this man lost everything, actually God allowed everything to be taken from him, and Job says “Even if He kills me, I will trust Him.” Sounds like Abraham. When God told him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, Abraham believed God would raise his son from the dead if He had to in order to keep His promise.

The stories of these two OT men should have revealed that God’s ways man be perplexing to us, but they stretch us search deeper for His heart so that we can more clearly understand His ways.

Apply their knowledge of God’s ability to their present circumstances. Jesus allowed the disciples, actually pushed them into a situation where they would be tested to apply the lessons from the past. In vs. 45 it says he ‘made’ or forced them to get in the boat and go. Then later on in vs. 48 it says Jesus saw them ‘straining’ at the oars. The Greek word used here means testing.

Let’s not move too quickly past this point. Jesus intentionally put the disciples in a situation that would test them.

Popular teachers today will promise you that if you follow their ‘teaching’ and do what they tell you that you won’t face trials in life. What’s interesting to me is that Jesus seemed to intentionally put the disciples in very difficult situations forcing them to deal with their baggage, doubts, and fears.

They struggled to apply what they knew of God to their situation and all of these years later we have the benefit of learning from the disciples experience in the boat that day.

Here’s what we know about Him….

Jesus intercedes for us vs. 46 He went up to the mountain to pray but did He pray about? One thing we know based on all of Jesus’ other recorded prayers is that He prayed for His disciples. It says in Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He (Jesus) is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Jesus has His eye on us vs. 48 Jesus had His eye on them long before they were aware of Him. Like a mother who watches her child from afar. The little one is unaware of their watchful eye, but when a threat appears mom comes to their side. Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy…

Jesus will be with us (even if He has to walk on water to do it!) vs. 48-49 It certainly didn’t happen the way the disciples would have wanted, but it all came together just the way Jesus did and there was nothing that could separate them from His presence.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Knowing the stories about Jesus wasn’t what He wanted. He wanted them to learn what it meant to follow him and see that truth transform their thoughts, actions and ultimately their life.

What’s your trial today? What impossible situation are you facing that God is allowing so that you can apply what you know about Him?

OneSentTwo - Mark's Portraits of a Radical Messiah

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We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

Last time we looked at a story that showed us that Jesus can relate to the rejection we can feel when we follow Him.

In the story we’re looking at today there’s a new twist. Up to this point Jesus has been doing all of the ministry with the disciples observing. But today we’re going to see Jesus sending His disciples out on their own.

So let’s take a look at it: Read Mark 6:7-13; 30-32

Now, you noticed that we didn’t read a big section here. It’s the story of how John the Baptist was martyred by Herod and I’d suggest you read it when you have a chance. But today we’re going to focus in on Jesus and the disciples.

Try to put yourself in the place of the disciples. Up to this point they had been serving with their ‘training wheels’ on. Jesus was doing everything and these guys were following along and watching and learning. But now Jesus is going make a radical change. He’s going to send them out on their own. Can you imagine the lumps in their throats and the hard swallows and butterflies?

Jesus used ministry to stretch His disciples beyond their level of comfort. Here are 5 of them. There are probably more here and you are welcome to find your own.

Ministry starts with Jesus not us (He called them to Himself) vs. 7 I think We have a tendency to believe that since we’re American that we have a right to pick and choose what ministry we’ll do and when we’ll do it. But that’s not the way it works. Looking at the disciples I can imagine that if Jesus had given them a choice they probably wouldn’t have chosen the assignment Jesus was giving them in this passage. They probably would have preferred to have more time to prepare or would have liked to choose the place they were going, but Jesus doesn’t give them that option. He didn’t have to.

Here’s the deal, while it’s possible that Jesus may give you a ministry assignment you like He will also give you some that will test you and cause you to wonder why. My advice is to get used to the idea of obedience and things will work out for the best.

Ministry throws us together (sent them out together) vs. 7 I have a hunch but I can’t prove it, that Jesus probably pared the disciples up in such a way that they had to serve with someone who they didn’t particularly want to be with. Not that Jesus was being ornery with them, but He knows that if we’re going to grow in our capacity to serve we have to learn how to serve with other people whoever they may be.

It’s also true that ministry together also helps to keep us on track and keeps us accountable. I know for me it helps to have someone along side of me who is counting on me to be there. It gives me incentive and cuts way down on my lame excuses for not doing what Jesus wants me to do.

We may not like each other but we need each other and helps us learn how to love each other.

Ministry makes us dependent on others (He gave them power) vs. 7-10 If there’s one thing that still causes me stress in ministry it’s that I can’t do it on my own. If it weren’t for other people I couldn’t even put our worship gathering together.

The disciples couldn’t do what Jesus was asking them to do without being given the power to do it. Not only that they wouldn’t have had anything to eat, or a place to stay if it weren’t for the generosity of the strangers they would meet along the way.

Can I tell you something? If you can do a ministry on your own then you’re doing you ministry instead of Jesus’ ministry. Look through the NT and see if you can find an example of someone who did ongoing ministry alone. You won’t find one. There may have been short seasons of alone time, but each one was keenly aware of their dependence on others. The apostle Paul even says in

2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.

Yes, dependence on others can be frustrating at times, but the sooner we learn that we’re not Superman the better.

Jesus gathers us to account for our ministry (The apostles gathered to Jesus) vs. 30 Now let’s fast forward to the end of the disciple’s trip. They have done what Jesus told them to do and when they return they had some great stories to tell about healings and deliverance. They told about people entering the kingdom of God when they preached the good news.

There were two things going on here. First they were being accountable to Jesus for their ministry and they were sharing their experiences with each other. Even in this there was a learning process. I can imagine that some of the disciples met more opposition than others. Some of them probably saw more people healed or miraculous provisions while others may have had to sleep in a stable.

But in sharing they came to understand that Jesus was less interested in their results than their obedience and faithfulness.

Always remember that. Jesus doesn’t measure your ministry by the numbers, He’s much more interested with your heart.

Jesus encourages us to rest (come aside ….rest a while) vs. 31 Did you expect to see rest in this list? We’re so culturally brainwashed that we think if someone isn’t going 24/7/365 they’re not up to par. In fact we feel guilty when we’re resting because sick people rest. But Jesus took time to rest after ministry and He encourages the disciples to do the same.

It’s not a sin to rest. It’s a sin to be lazy and slothful (I love that word) but resting is a God thing. In fact God Himself rested after ministry and even set aside a whole day for rest.

Genesis 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Why is that so important for us? Because when we go aside for rest it allows God to refresh us and we gain strength and perspective. Remember your physical needs affect your emotional and spiritual health.

Rest also allows us to have some alone time with God where we can commune with Him and listen for His heartbeat.

Let’s step off the treadmill and spend some time with Jesus so that we can increase our effectiveness in ministry.

"Relational Revolution" - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah

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We’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

Last week we talked about how we can rely on Jesus to help us with the “squeeze” of life. Jesus experienced pressures in His life and ministry and He understands what we go through.

Today being Mother’s day and all we’re going to talk about relationships. How many of think Jesus was a good son to His mother?

How would you feel if you went to visit your son and when you got there it was so crowded that you couldn’t get in? Then when you sent a message to him telling him you were outside wanting to see him, you got a message back like “He said someone else was His mother, brother and sisters.”

Would you agree with me that as a mom that reply would have bothered you? Most of the moms I know would have told the messenger to “march right back in there and tell him I gave birth to you so get out here right now!” or something to that effect.

In this section of Mark’s gospel Jesus makes it clear that following Him would revolutionize the way that relationships were understood.

In the culture of Palestine family bloodlines were the primary glue of the society. Entire communities were often named in honor of ancestors and people often took the name of their community as their own. In that day there weren’t any government programs to care for the young, the sick or the elderly. They didn’t have food stamps or unemployment benefits. All of this responsibility fell on the family. Everyone worked together to care for one another.

But there was also a dark side to this because the family and racial lines defined who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’ which led to a closed society.

In our passage today we see that Jesus revolutionized the definition of relationships to open the doors to the kingdom of God.

Let’s read Mark 3:13-35

Jesus revolutionized relationships with others. Mark 3:13-19 What do you think would have happened if at the very beginning Jesus would have said “Hey Pete, go and find 11 more guys for our ministry team.” We know one thing for sure His list would have looked different than the list in vs. 16-19. Here are some names that probably wouldn’t have made the list: James and John because they were competing fishermen and kind of hot headed. Matthew (aka Levi) the evil tax collector. Thomas the doubter, Simon and Judas because they were zealots and would draw the wrong kind of attention. And finally, James the son of Alphaeus because he was from a different family group.

The disciples didn’t choose Jesus, He chose them and because Jesus was doing the choosing the disciples had to enter into relationship with people who were much different than they would have chosen themselves.

When we follow Jesus we give up our right to pick and choose who we’ll connect with. It can’t be any other way because if we don’t there will lot’s of people who would never be invited to the table.

Jesus revolutionized the priority of relationships. Mark 3:20-30 Up to this point the family relationship took priority over everything else. Keep in mind that at that time family and religious life was so intertwined that they weren’t seen as separate pieces of a bigger puzzle. To be a Jew meant you had an obligation to your family and to your religion.

The sudden change in His priorities caused His family; His people to open assume that He had lost His marbles. Instead of tending to the duties and responsibilities of His people Jesus left them and His job to wander the countryside with 12 strangers healing the sick and teaching people about the kingdom of God.

Jesus, however answered to a higher authority which created friction with His family and with the religious leaders. Because He didn’t do things the way they assumed He should they began to label Him. His family labeled Him as crazy and the religious elite labeled Him as demonic.

But Jesus explains that He’s not divided in mind or in Spirit because He couldn’t do the things He was doing if He was.

When we enter into a relationship with Jesus it puts some stress on our other relationships. They won’t understand the changes they see in us and in some cases they may reject you or even accuse you of losing your mind.

Keep in mind Jesus isn’t providing us with an excuse to be irresponsible and abandon our families and shirk our responsibilities. What He’s challenging and revolutionizing is who we are ultimately accountable to. When we enter into a relationship with God through Jesus then we answer to a higher authority. His claim on our life takes the place of all others.

Jesus revolutionized the relationship with the kingdom of God. Mark 3:31-35 Up to this point the bloodlines of the Jews determined who was included as God’s people. If you were a descendent of Abraham you were ‘in’ if you weren’t then you weren’t. It was that simple.

But Jesus paves the way for the demolition of this wall of separation when He includes as part of His family anyone and everyone who obeys the will of God through faith.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

When we say ‘yes’ to Jesus invitation to enter into relationship we are obeying the will of God. And as we continue to obey His will for us we grow to become more like Jesus.

When Jesus came He upended everything and that includes our relationships but it all starts with a relationship with the most revolutionary relationship of all our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus said if we believe in Him that we will be saved. With that belief has three parts. The belief that we need forgiveness of sins, the belief that we need to stop sinning, and the belief that Jesus is the only one who can help us with both of those things.