The Garden of Agony - 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.

The last week we looked at the Lord’s Supper and how it represented the shift from the Law of Moses to the gospel of grace and truth.

Today we come to one of the darkest points in the entire story of the life of Jesus; His agony and betrayal in the garden of Gethsemane. While we’ll never quite endure what Jesus did there is a lot we can learn from the example of Jesus in the garden of agony that night.

Let’s read Mark 14:32-52

Vs. 33-34 tells us that Jesus knew that the time was coming when He would be betrayed, abandoned, and denied by His friends. All of this was weighing heavily on His mind and heart.

We’ve all faced situations that we knew were coming but we dreaded them just the same. I mean does it make the surgery less painful when we know its coming? Does the loss of a loved one hurt less when we know its coming? In fact in some ways knowing what’s coming can make it worse and the dread and anticipation may be even harder to take than the actual event.

There’s an old joke I like to tell it goes like this: “I would rather die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather rather than screaming in terror like the people who were riding in the car with him.” I know booo…., but it does ring true doesn’t it? Knowing what’s coming doesn’t necessarily make it easier. So lets get that cleared up right now.

Just because Jesus knew what was ahead it didn’t minimize the suffering He endured and it didn’t minimize His human need for friendship and His spiritual need for prayer.

Speaking of prayer, Vs. 36 reveals His inner turmoil and struggle to come to terms with His Father’s will. Because He was a man and had walked among the sick and poor He had seen and experienced first hand what He knew; sin had taken a terrible toll on the people and the world He had created and He knew that very soon He would be taking on the full weight of that sin and the full separation that it would bring between Himself and the Father.

Three times while He’s praying He stops and goes to find His disciples, its almost as if His lonely sorrow becomes almost unbearable and He needs the companionship of His friends. How discouraging do you think it was when He found them sleeping? In someway this was just a foreshadowing of what was to come.
Vs. 42-43 is the transition as what was anticipated begins to happen. Looking at the events of this passage it seems to me that Jesus had a general knowledge of what was going to happen but not such clear precision to know exactly where and when. He said “Rise let us be going” as if to flee. Maybe He was trying to protect His disciples, we don’t know but we do know that the very things Jesus dreaded were now upon Him as Judas betrays Him with the words Rabbi, Rabbi. and a kiss. The words Rabbi, Rabbi showed that Judas was betraying Him intellectually and the kiss represents His emotional and spiritual betrayal. In other words Judas’ betrayal was complete and total.

Judas had worked out this sign because he probably wanted to avoid a messy confrontation. At night there would be fewer witnesses, it would be harder to see and it would be easy for the mob to get confused and grab the wrong man. By kissing Jesus and calling Him Rabbi there wouldn’t be any mistakes. The fact that Judas wanted them to take Him away safely showed that He didn’t want anything to do with a violent arrest in the garden.

But Judas wasn’t the only guilty one in the garden that night. Vs. 50-52 tell us that everyone abandoned Him in the hours of His greatest need they all ran away. They ran away in such a hurry that at least one young man left his clothes behind. But leaving clothes behind was the least important thing they left that night.

Looking at this messy, chaotic scene reminds me that if life can be messy and painful for Jesus then we’re not going to be immune to these things. The facts are these: If we haven’t experienced the tragic, chaotic, messiness of life we will and if we have experienced it we can be sure that we will again. So what can we learn from the “garden of agony?”

Jesus’ actions and words tell us that authentic prayer is essential. I think its important to see that Jesus didn’t candy coat or deny how He was feeling. His experience in the garden prayer was raw and gritty. No pious platitudes or denial of reality. If we were to pray this same prayer in our modern speech it would be “Dad and Father, I know you can do anything you want to do and I want you to make this all go away. I don’t want to go through this but I will if you want me too.”

There’s almost this war going on between His flesh and spirit that is mirrored in His words to Simon Peter “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

There's a genuineness to His prayer that we should remember when we're desperate.

Jesus showed us how to stand and face our circumstances. One of the temptations we face in hard times is to try and run away or make a deal to get out of it. But Jesus didn’t try to escape or cut a deal with them. He showed a strong resolve to follow God’s will.

We can't really run away from our problems, even if we try they catch up with us. And making a deal with the devil to try and ease our situation will only make matters worse. But strong resolve to face our trials in the strength that God supplies will see us through.

There’s one final thought I’d like to share with you. In vs. 32 it tells us that this event takes place in Gethsemane. Gethsemane was a garden that was on the Mount of Olives just outside of Jerusalem. It was called the Mount of Olives because there was a grove of olive trees there. We know that olives can be eaten but olive oil was the real treasure so every olive grove had to have a ‘gethsemane,’ the Hebrew word for an olive press.

Olives had to be pressed and crushed to release the real treasure, the oil that was stored inside. At the right time olives were harvested and placed in an olive press and crushed with a heavy stone. This was done twice with the first pressing producing the purest oil and second pressing was the pulp and it produced oil mixed with water. The collected oil was then used in almost every part of the daily lives of the people. The oil was used as fuel for lamps to light their homes; it was used in their cooking, for ointment to heal their wounds, and in perfumes and beauty treatments. Olive oil was also important in the symbols of their faith.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that Jesus was in “Gethsemane” the olive press on this night. As the weight of that night and the events that were to come pressed down upon Him Luke’s gospel tells us Jesus sweat great drops of blood. But like the olives that were pressed in this place to provide the oil that touched every part of their life Jesus knew that the pain and suffering He would endure would touch lives for eternity.

Jesus showed us that suffering is redemptive. It’s clear from Jesus’ prior words that He knew the greater purpose of His suffering. God's plan for the redemption and reconciliation of His children to Himself ran through the suffering of Jesus. But I think we can forget that our suffering is redemptive too. God allows and uses our suffering for our good. Through suffering we can more closely identify with Jesus in His suffering and God has made a promise to us in Romans 8:28 that God works ALL things together for our good.

If we suffer because of personal sin in our life then God allows it to draw us back to Him. If we suffer for doing good then God allows it be an example of His glory in us that will draw others to Him.

Isaiah 61:1-3 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to [those who are] bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees (olive?) of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

Beauty for ashes (oil was used as a beauty treatment), The oil of joy for mourning (oil was used in all of their celebration feasts) But this also tells us that this happens so that the people He has redeemed and healed will be His olive trees of righteousness that He may be glorified.

So as we experience the crushing pressure of life’s tragedies and pain we can be sure that the oil produced by our suffering will not be wasted because we’re His trees of righteousness.

It’s been said that God never wastes anything. We may not see the big picture but we can be sure that…

God collects every tear and uses them to water the seeds of His grace planted in our hearts.

Costly or Conveniently? - 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.

The last time we looked the ‘end times’ warning that Jesus gave His disciples in Mark 13. He warned them, and us, about 4 spiritual dangers that we will face as time draws to a close. They are Dependence on religious or political power for security. Deception by false messiahs, Distraction by world turmoil and being Discouraged by the severity of persecution. In addition to that He gave them the best promise of all He would return someday to establish His eternal kingdom on the earth and to right every wrong.

Today we’re going to look at Mark 14:1-11. Mark 14 is the turning point in the Passion Week story. We know that Jesus will be crucified by the end of this week and this chapter marks the final turn toward that moment in history.

Let’s read Mark 14:1-11

When I was reading over this passage there were two words that jumped out at me. The first word is costly. That’s the word in vs. 3 that is used to describe the oil that the woman, most likely Mary Magdalene, poured out on Jesus’ head.

The second word was conveniently found in vs. 11. That’s the word that is used to describe the actions Judas would take to betray Jesus.

This passage starts out in vs. 1-2 with a little back story about what was happening behind the scenes out of public view. The religious leaders had stopped trying to test and trap Jesus and now they were going full out to plot a way to kill Jesus without inciting a riot among the people. For them it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. Their minds were made up; Jesus was too much of a threat. They couldn’t ignore Him. They couldn’t defeat Him and they couldn’t discredit Him. It was clear to them that Jesus had to go when there was a convenient time.

In vs. 10 and 11 we see that they had an unexpected friend in Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples. It appears that Jesus’ response to what Judas considered a waste of money by the woman who poured the costly oil on Jesus was the straw that broke the camel’s back and sent Judas off the edge.

He went to the chief priests and made a deal to turn Jesus over to them for some money. It might be just me, but doesn’t it seem that those who love money also love convenience? It’s almost as if one feeds the other. A desire for things that will make life more convenient and comfortable leads to a desire to have more money to get those things and what ends up happening is we get on a treadmill that we can’t seem to stop.

Both the chief priests and Judas were looking for a convenient way to get rid of Jesus. They wanted some way that would keep their actions and motives from being discovered. They didn’t care about the legality of what they were doing. They weren’t even concerned about the spiritual implications of their actions. All they cared about was making sure that they got rid of Jesus and that they looked like they were doing something good and righteous. They didn’t want to have to deal with a big mess.

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths we will go to try and cover up our sin. Why is that we work so hard to look good to people when what they think of us really doesn’t matter when it comes to things eternal.

We need to keep that in mind. What they didn’t realize and we need to remember is that…

Convenience in Spiritual things usually looks good on the surface but in the end it costs more than you bargained for.

Let’s be honest don’t we fall into this trap? When we know what the Bible says we should do but we do something else aren’t we taking what seems to be the convenient, easy way out? We all do it. We make excuses and rationalize our sin when we should repent of them. That’s the convenient thing to do, but we fail to consider the true cost. If I read my Bible correctly that convenience will only lead to pain and alienation from God and others. That’s not a good trade if you ask me.

Now let’s turn our attention to vs. 3-9. Jesus is sharing a meal with His disciples and the family of Simon the leper when a woman comes in with a very costly flask of oil. It was a fragrant perfume that probably cost her a year’s wages. How she got that much money isn’t known but there were very limited options for a woman in those days which has led some to suggest she was a woman who sold herself to others.

Jesus is sitting at the table of a man who is possibly an unclean leper, and having His hair soaked in perfume by a woman who was possibly a sinner. Now there’s a picture for you. The convenient thing for Jesus to do was to stay somewhere else and tell the woman to leave. The costly thing was to do what He was doing and risk the hits to His reputation. But this was only one aspect of this costly situation.

If we didn’t know what was coming later in this passage we might be inclined to agree with the disciples about this whole scene. On the surface it looks wasteful and strange and Jesus allowing it and even defending it would have seemed awkward. I mean how would you feel if some woman came in off the street while I was preaching and started washing my hair with perfume? I can assure you that I’d feel weird and not a little freaked out.

Jesus took it in stride because He knew that there was a deeper meaning to all of this and it was so important He made sure that what she did would be remembered forever.

What did it all mean? The woman’s actions were remembered for two reasons: In vs. 8. Jesus said that she had done what she could.

She gave a costly gift to Jesus simply because she could not because she had to. Her devotion to Jesus compelled her to offer what she could.

Remember the widow who put the two small coins in the treasury in ch.12? Jesus said she gave more than anyone else because she gave everything she had. Her ‘costly’ gift was only 2 small coins but she gave it because that’s what she could give. Giving one would have been more convenient and giving three was impossible. She gave what was costly. Jesus admires both of these women because they gave what they could.

Why did this woman’s gift impact Jesus like it did? The second part of vs. 8 says that she came to anoint His body for burial.

Her costly gift was a symbol of Jesus’ costly sacrifice. She broke the alabaster container symbolizing how the body of Jesus would be broken by the cruelty and beatings He would endure. She poured out the perfume symbolizing His blood that would be poured out for our sins as He would be nailed to a cross and pierced with a Roman spear.

It’s interesting to note that those who thought it was a waste were the same ones who thought His crucifixion was a waste. There was no way that any of them could have known the powerful witness her actions would provide or even how they would have a ripple effect on the heart of Judas to betray Jesus.

The woman (and the widow) offered what was costly to them because they could and they weren’t concerned about what they would have left over.

The priests and Judas wanted to get rid of Jesus conveniently because they were worried about what they would have left. The priests their reputation and position and Judas the money he would have when he was done with Jesus.

When we’re more concerned with what we’ll have left we miss out on what could have been. We trade our opportunities for convenience when we could offer what is costly to Jesus. While they may not have much value in the eyes of the world….

When we offer our costly things to Jesus (our time, our talents and our treasures) we bless His heart and they become tools in His hands to touch people beyond ourselves.

Fair Warning - 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 year.

The last time we looked at three themes from Mark 12. Jesus established the guilt of the religious leaders for allowing Israel to fall away from God, then we looked at how Jesus disarmed the traps of the religious leaders and finally we took a look at the danger of reliance on the external signs of success and religion to justify ourselves.

Today we’re going to look at Mark chapter 13 which in the last 40 years or so has become one of the most controversial, and at least in my opinion, one of the most misused passages of scripture in the Bible.

How many of you were active believers in the 70’s and early 80’s? What was the most talked about topic during those years? There was a surge in Charismatic ideas and the health and wealth gospel but both of those were tied to the end times narrative. I can remember ‘rapture drills’ that feeling of fear when you thought the rapture happened and you were left behind. Songs, movies and so many other things convinced us that we were in the last days.

It was at that time that this passage and others became front and center in preaching and teaching. The problem was that they were often used without considering their context and they were often used to support the particular belief or bias of the teacher.

This morning I’m going to attempt to share this passage without allowing my particular bias about the end times influence how we look at it. Of course since I’m not a machine some of my bias will get in there but we’ll give it a go.

Even today there is curiosity about when the ‘end of days’ will come. In 1988 there was a book called “88 Reasons the Lord will Return in 1988” then of course we all remember the Y2K scare.

Now apparently we have a good date to work with thanks to the Mayan calendar. We now know the world will end in 2012, the only question I have about that is if the Mayan’s were so good at predicting the future how come they disappeared? Why didn’t they see that coming?

So here’s what we know: The world will end in 2012, prince Charles is the anti-Christ, and Ronald McDonald is the false prophet. What? You didn’t know that last one? OK so none of these things are true, but one thing we know for sure is that someone is going to get the date right at some point because at the beginning of each year someone will predict its this year.

Enough of that, let’s get to the Scripture.

Let’s read the first section Mark 13:1-37….

Let get something out of the way right now: Jesus was not trying to predict, set a date, or even give a specific list of things that would tell us when the ‘end’ would come. I think vs. 32 makes that clear.

So the question we have to consider is ‘Why did Jesus say this?’ What was the point?

If you look at what is happening here Jesus is going to be crucified in a couple of days and His disciples won’t have His continued physical presence to guide them. In fact they will have to rely on a new ‘Helper,’ the Holy Spirit to guide them (vs. 11) and it will take them some time to get used to this new way of doing things. Add to this that people have an addiction to their own flesh which fights against the Spirit and life can get very confusing sometimes. Jesus knew what they were facing and He takes this time to give them some warnings about what to watch for in the future.

But this passage is interesting in another way because it’s clear that Jesus is speaking to a larger future audience than just this group of 12 disciples. He’s speaking to His disciples of all ages to come because He knew that we would all face scary and confusing times and the things mentioned in this passage would be true of every age to come.

With this in mind I believe Jesus is giving His disciples fair warning of 4 spiritual dangers:

Dependence on religious or political power for security. Both are man made attempts to create security. The Jerusalem temple represented both of those things to the people. The other name for the temple was ‘Herod’s Temple’ because he was the one who used his political skill to gain permission from Rome to build the temple for the people to use in worship. It was a symbol of the merging of religious and political power.

Jesus warns the disciples that this temple and all it represents will be torn down and destroyed leaving all of those who look at it for their hope devastated, crushed and without hope.

This warning is just as important today. If our faith is placed in anything or anyone but Jesus we are in trouble.

Deception by false messiahs. False messiah’s have been around for 2,000 years. Paul encounters a false Messiah named ‘Bar-Jesus’ on His first missionary journey and that was only 20 or so years after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Today we have cults all over the world who claim to have a new revelation or a new way deceiving many, even some that were followers of Jesus. Be careful who you listen to and make sure they are teaching and living the Bible. They won’t be perfect but they will be honest, accountable, and humble.

You need to consider carefully what the teachers you follow are saying in the light of Scripture. Keep in mind there will always be some differences of opinion about some things but a trustworthy teacher will never claim that their ‘truth’ is above question.

Distraction by world turmoil. This week in Haiti, and for that matter these past 8-9 years we’ve experienced some of the most traumatic events we’ve ever seen. Unless you consider the Great Depression, the Dark Ages and black death that wiped out almost ½ the population of Europe, 2 world wars and the Holocaust, the Civil War and slave trade, etc. etc. The point isn’t to dismiss or diminish the tragic and turbulent times we’re in now but to show that there will always be tragic and turbulent events in the world that can either distract and consume us or help us to focus on being salt and light in dark times.

Discouraged by the severity of persecution. In America by the grace of God we’ve been spared persecution for our faith. The thing we fear the most in America is people making fun of us or being disrespected. But there are places in our world where people face real persecution, and even death for their faith.

Again we aren’t dismissing the possibility that things will get worse and more widespread, but persecution of Jesus’ followers has been around since Jesus came. In fact the first persecution was when Herod murdered the infants in Bethlehem trying to kill Jesus.

The early church believed they were living in the last days. The apostles all lived and taught that Jesus’ return was immanent and they based that belief on what Jesus had warned them about. The apostles continued to remind the church not to hide in fear or get caught up in the distractions and the deceptions of their day.

This created a sense of urgency and gave them a laser-like focus on taking the gospel to the ends of the earth and serving the sick and poor in their communities.

Jesus promised 2 things in this passage: The world won’t get better and Jesus will return. His return could be today it could be in 2012. No one knows the hour or the day and the Church, the followers of Jesus have a choice to make. Will we be absorbed in self pity and self protection because we fear the future OR will we be compelled to follow Jesus into the harvest fields of hurting, abused, and troubled people?

We have no excuse to be afraid or caught by surprise because Jesus has given us fair warning about what to expect but He also gave us this promise:

Vs. 26….. they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.. 

What Do You Know? - 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 week.

The last time we looked at Jesus’ confrontation with the religious leaders over who had real authority and we compared that to our struggles with Jesus’ authority in our life.

Today we’re going to look at Mark chapter 12 together as a group. As I was looking this over I had a hard time breaking it into sections so we’re going to take it all together.

From our past weeks we know that this event takes place during Jesus last week before His crucifixion. Up to this point Jesus had tried to steer clear of confrontations with the religious leaders, but now He has entered Jerusalem and is pushing the leaders to do something about Him.

Jesus had exposed their hypocrisy and established His authority and now in chapter 12 He’s exposing their self serving interpretations of the scriptures and their impure motives.

In this chapter Jesus sets up the confrontation with a parable that challenges and exposes the corruption of the religious leaders which provokes the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes to try and entrap Him.

Let’s read the first section Mark 12:1-12….

This parable is based on Isaiah 5:1-7 which portrays Israel as God’s vineyard. One of the interesting images from Isaiah is of God’s desire for a fruitful vine, but the vineyard produces wild vines instead and God promises to clean it out.

In using this parable Jesus is saying to the religious leaders that they are guilty of allowing the vineyard to become unfruitful because they wouldn’t listen to the word of God sent through the prophets and they actually persecuted them because they wanted to be in control. Jesus was also saying that they were even more guilty than the previous generations because they are about to kill the Son of God.

But Jesus is also telling them that His actions are the start of God’s judgment on them and Israel. He has come to start the vineyard cleaning work and He’s starting in the temple which represents the heart of their religious life. When they crucified Jesus they set in motion the very thing that is mentioned in vs. 9. They intended to remove Jesus but they actually removed themselves and opened the door of God’s vineyard to the gentiles, people like us.

As a side note I thought it was interesting that the OT was written for the people of Israel and the last word’s that God spoke to them are through the prophet Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."

Then God goes silent until the Apostle Paul comes along and is inspired to write the letters to the churches. Up to this point God had communicated to Israel, now God communicates to the church and the church to the world.

We are the fulfillment of verse 9! So turn to your neighbor and say “It’s nice to meet a fulfillment of a prophecy.”

As you can imagine the leaders weren’t very happy with this and they were even more angry when Jesus asks them if they even read the scriptures (they were after all the teachers and interpreters of the scriptures). While there is probably some plotting going on behind the scenes the religious leaders feel forced to entrap and silence Jesus because they sense the people beginning to move toward Jesus.

In vs. 13-17 the Pharisees try to trip Him up with a political trap about taxes. The Herodians represented the political lobbyists who were helping the Pharisees trap Jesus. If Jesus says taxes are not to be paid then they could turn Him in to the Romans. If Jesus said that taxes were to be paid the people would reject Him as a Roman puppet. But Jesus doesn’t allow Himself to be pulled into this political argument.

In vs. 18-27 the Sadducees try to tangle Jesus in a theological trap. The question they ask Him isn’t a major issue of concern to them, they just want to force Jesus into an endless no win discussion. If you’ve ever been in one of those you know how frustrating it can be. The Sadducees believed that the 5 books of Moses (Gen. Ex. Lev. Num. Deut.) were the only true Scriptures so if Jesus was going to turn this around He would have to use the Scriptures they accepted. Jesus uses Exodus 3:6 to prove that they were mistaken and discredits them.

In vs. 28-34 a Scribe is next and asks Jesus a question of interpretation. It’s not clear if this Scribe is genuine or trying to trap Jesus, but even if He is honest those listening would use Jesus’ answer against Him. Jesus again uses Scriptures from the 5 books of Moses that everyone accepted and answers wisely.

Jesus gives us the example for responding to challenges to our faith that we have to deal with.

First we have to be led by the Spirit because if we lean on our own understanding we’ll get tangled up in a mess that will end in nothing good. John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

Second, we have to be wise about the challenges we take on because if we enter those kinds of endless winless arguments we’ll be distracted and led away from the things we should be focused on. Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.

Third, we need to know the Word of God. In each situation Jesus used Scripture to disarm the traps. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Finally Jesus draws a comparison that we need to pay attention too. In vs. 35-44 Jesus reveals that the Scribes who look very spiritual and all religious are actually just hiding the corruption that’s really in their heart. There’s a key phrase I want you to see in vs. 40 that connects it to the story of the widow’s two mites. It says they devour widow’s houses. They take from them to line their own pockets and could care less about what happens to them.

Then as Jesus is watching the hypocritical show of the offerings in the treasury when one of the very widows who the Scribes have devoured comes in and gives an offering of what she has left and Jesus points out the purity of her actions. What she did was far more than give and offering, she was in that act of giving surrendering herself into the care of her God.

The phony hypocrites were all about what they had left for themselves and the widow was all about Who she had left.

Are we more concerned with what we have or Who we have?

Hardened Hearts in Holy Hands - 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.
The last time we looked at how in trying to maintain purity we can actually sow the seeds of our own destruction. Not that purity is wrong or the pursuit of personal purity is worthless. But if we settle for external rules and regulations to maintain purity we’re going to discover that we miss the mark and end up farther away than when we started by having a form of godliness but no real power to change our heart.
Now in some ways the first verses of chapter 10 are a continuation of this idea.
So let’s read Mark 10:1-16….
Now after reading these verses, especially vs. 1-12, does anyone want to come up and take over for me and teach on this? It seems to me that the only people who would volunteer for that duty are ultra conservative or ultra liberal in their theology. Let me ask “Why do you think this passage is such a hot potato?”
If you’ve ever been divorced and remarried you’d have to admit that this passage causes you some discomfort. You can’t ignore such a direct statement can you? We all, at the very least, know someone who is divorced and remarried and when this topic comes up it can make us swallow a little harder than usual. Am I right?
Let’s start off by looking at the purpose of this passage. Jesus didn’t sit down on a hillside and start teaching on divorce and remarriage. The Pharisee’s decided to test Jesus on this topic because He had taught about it way back in the Sermon on the Mount. At that time Jesus had said that divorce was not allowed except for the cause of adultery yet the Law of Moses clearly said that divorce was permissible for cause.
The Pharisees reasoned that if Jesus affirmed this teaching then they could accuse Him of despising the Moses and if He backed away from His original teaching they would accuse Him of being inconsistent and not worthy of being followed. Which means that Jesus saw through this situation and saw the hardness of their hearts. They weren’t interested in the truth about marriage and divorce they wanted to use this heart rending issue to create division.
That doesn’t mean that Jesus was ducking the issue. He means what He says it is God’s intention that marriage is forever. But it’s also God’s intention that people not steal, covet, take the Lord’s name in vain, etc. The fact that other people do it doesn’t excuse the sin, but it does point out that….
Because of the hardness of our hearts we will sin and we need the grace and love of a savior who has made a way for even the worst of our sins to be forgiven, even the sin of divorce.
Divorce isn’t the unpardonable sin and because someone remarries it doesn’t make them a perpetual adulterer. I’ll also admit that I don’t have all of the answers but here’s how I council those who come to me considering divorce. Unless your spouse has been unfaithful, deceptive (like saying they were single when they were actually married), or abusive (that doesn’t mean they’re cranky, stubborn) then you have an obligation to do whatever it takes to work out your differences and make your marriage work because God hates divorce. It violates His desire for a man and a woman to live as one.
I’ve been around long enough to know that just because one spouse wants to reconcile it doesn’t mean that both do. It may end up that no matter how hard you try it just won’t work out, but as a follower of Jesus you are obligated to patiently wait for them to come around. Yes, it’s the harder way, but Jesus told us that His way is a like a difficult, narrow road with limited options.
Following Jesus means that we go the extra mile to work things out with others especially our spouse.
However, in the event that things don’t improve and divorce happens, then remarriage needs to be pursued with the same prayerful consideration. It may be that your former spouse may have an encounter with God that changes their heart making reconciliation possible. If you rushed into a new marriage it would only make matters worse.
I realize that I haven’t covered every possible angle here and I’ve probably raised a few more questions but this isn’t an episode of ‘Divorce Court’ so some things will have to be dealt with at another time.
Then we come to vs. 13-16 and Jesus reveals another type of hardness. The disciples were getting in the way of children who were coming to Jesus. This happened after Jesus had already taken a child up in His arms as an example, one that the disciples obviously didn’t get. Parents wanted their children to be blessed by Jesus and He gave no indication that they weren’t welcome but the disciples were so engrained in their own past that they assumed children were not welcome in the presence of such a great teacher.
Jesus once again points right to the hardness of their hearts. He was angry at them and tells them not to get in the way, and that their hearts had to become like a little child’s in order to enter the kingdom of God. A child’s heart is soft and vulnerable toward others, especially toward God.
The real issue is always our heart…
Is our heart soft and pliable toward God and others or hard and bitter causing division and pain? The reason for divorce and for causing children to stumble is hardened hearts. There’s only one cure for a hard heart.
Ezekiel 11:19 "Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh”
The fact is simple we can’t change our own hearts; we can’t make things all better. The best we can do is throw ourselves on God’s mercy and ask Him to change 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?

Hungry? - Wild Heart: Mark’s Portraits of a Radical Messiah

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After a month’s hiatus we’re continuing our series Wild Heart: Mark’s Portrait of a Radical Messiah this morning.

Last time we looked at how Jesus created a ‘holy’ tension in people by challenging them to search their hearts by showing them how they were relying on traditions and religious rules to keep them ‘holy’ instead of a living and dynamic relationship with God.

That’s easy for us to do too if we’re not careful. It seems much easier to create a list of “do’s” and “don’t’s” to keep us on the straight and narrow, but in the end if those ‘rules and traditions’ aren’t grounded in our relationship with Jesus and guided by biblical truth we’re no better than the religious leaders that Jesus was so critical of.

Today we’re going to look at 5 ‘snapshots’ from the gospel of Mark that reveal an insight connected to living in a dynamic relationship with Jesus.

I’ll admit that this ‘connection’ came to me while we were sharing this past Wednesday evening.

So let’s read Mark 7:24-8:30….

Other than the fact that Jesus spit on two men there’s a underlying theme that connects all of these events. They all wanted something from Jesus.

The gentile woman kept asking Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter.

The deaf mute man’s friends begged Jesus to heal their friend.

The 4,000 were hungry.

The Pharisees sought a sign from Him.

The disciples wanted bread.

The blind man’s friends begged Jesus to touch their friend.

I thought it was interesting that:

Those who recognized that Jesus was their only hope were the ones who went away having received what they desired.

I also thought it was interesting that the people who had been blessed with the most insight and understanding of God, the religious leaders and the disciples came away empty handed.

What this suggests is that:

We have to be careful not to become overly confident in our own ability to provide what we think we need.

The Pharisees were seeking a sign to compare Jesus to their traditional ideas of who the Messiah would be. As we know Jesus did plenty of things that were clear evidence that He was the Messiah, but those things didn’t match up with what the Pharisees were expecting and they were content to stay with what they knew and controlled.

The disciples were another story. Even after seeing what Jesus could do they became distracted by their failure to bring bread for their trip. Jesus then took the opportunity to sneak in a little lesson to show them that their emptiness for lack of bread was the spiritual equivalent of the emptiness of the Pharisees who trusted in their knowledge instead of looking to Jesus for help.

But the disciples missed the point and figured that Jesus was mad at them for forgetting the bread. That’s when Jesus got mad because the disciples were missing the forest for the trees. They had seen Jesus provide for multitudes with only a few loaves of bread but they were sure Jesus was mad because they only had 1 loaf.

The disciples were trusting in their own ability to provide for themselves then they assumed that Jesus would be mad at them because they didn’t do enough for Him.

Jesus doesn’t need to defend Himself or do anything to prove Himself to us. What we think about Him doesn’t change Him. If He never did anything for us it doesn’t change who He is.

Jesus doesn’t need us to do anything for Him either. He’s gotten along just fine for eternity without our help, thank you very much, but He sure wants us to do things with Him. Remember Jesus said in John 15:5 “without Me you can do Nothing.” He really means that.

So those who are content to have things their way come away empty because inside they don’t really think they need anything.

The people who came away full were the ones who fell on the mercy of Jesus. They came in humility knowing that they couldn’t do anything about their circumstance without Him.

They came with faith because they heard that Jesus could help them.

They came hungry because they knew Jesus could fill their need.

Are you really hungry for what Jesus can do in your life today?

Is there something burning inside that’s telling you there’s more for you than what you’ve settled for?

Only Jesus can satisfy the emptiness we feel inside. We try to fill it with everything but Him sometimes, but deep down we know it won’t last.

I want to invite you to search your heart and see if you’ve become content with less than the fullness of the Spirit that Jesus offers. What have we substituted for our relationship with Him?

Here’s the truth if you’re not hungry enough to seek Jesus then you’re full of something else. You’ve allowed your soul to become hostage to something that will leave you empty, battered, and separated from the only One who can help you.

There’s only one problem you can’t create this hunger. When you’re full you can’t make yourself hungry. Something you can’t control has to happen. When it comes to things of God you can’t make yourself hungry the only thing you can do is be honest with yourself and confess that you’re really satisfied, and ask God to create a hunger in your soul that only He can fill.

Are you hungry?

Healing Wings - 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.

Two weeks ago we looked at the miracle of Jesus walking on the water and how it revealed that the disciples had failed to learn how to apply the lessons Jesus was teaching them. They had seen so many things but for some reason they couldn’t put the puzzle together in a way that would allow them to put the lessons into practice.

Does that sound kind of familiar? How many times have we had to learn the same lesson over, and over again? You’ve all heard the line “Been there, done that and got the t-shirt” well if you’re like me in some cases you have two or three t-shirts and a couple of bobble heads for good measure.

Jesus wants us to apply what we learn from Him in our daily walk with Him.

This week we’re looking at a summary of miracles that occurred as Jesus was traveling near the Sea of Galilee. Let’s read Mark 6:53-56….

Gennesaret was a region that was very close to Jesus’ home. The area was fed by a natural spring that helped make it very pleasant and fertile. Abundant crops were grown and supplied the people of the area with food and resources. It was a beautiful place that was also known as the “King’s Garden.”

But this place of such bounty and beauty was scarred by the brokenness of sickness and hopelessness. People who were sick were considered defiled which meant that anything they touched or anyone or anything that touched them was considered unclean and had to stay separated from everyone else.

Even in the cradle of plenty people suffer from sickness, pain, and isolation. That’s the way things had always been until Jesus came to them.

I began to wonder why Mark included this particular summary in his gospel account? A while back I had read an article and by another pastor who shed an interesting light on an OT passage that I thought was interesting.

Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall–fed calves.

What this pastor said was that one of the meaning for the Hebrew word translated ‘wings” is the corner or fringe of a garment. Which means that you could read this verse as “The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in the hem of His garment.”

Fast forward now to our story today and as Jesus walks among the people they reach out to touch the hem of His garment and are healed. This passage is the fulfillment of a prophecy that again shows that Jesus is the Messiah.

The presence of Jesus brings healing within reach for everyone.

Gennesaret was close to the place where the woman with the issue of blood was healed so it’s not to surprising that the people recognized that touching the hem of Jesus’ garment would bring healing to them.

Something that caught my attention was that this passage points out that the sick were carried to Jesus by their family and friends. It was also close to where Jesus had healed the paralyzed man after his friends had carried him to Jesus.

Like the friends of the paralyzed man they did this even though it would be very difficult for them. They didn’t have ambulances or mass transit. They would have had to carry them from town to town looking for Jesus. It was hard for them and for the sick but hope compelled them to do whatever it took to get them to Jesus.

When compassion and faith come together there is power. Their friends were motivated by compassion and the sick put their faith into practice based on what they had heard. When compassion and faith came together they were healed.

When we have compassion on other people and bring them to Jesus the potential exists for God’s power to touch them. When they hear about what God has done for other people it can cause their faith to rise. They may experience a physical healing, or a spiritual awakening of their need for salvation. We can’t know exactly what may happen but we can be assured that something WILL happen.

Jesus the messiah is still the healer and it’s possible that you or someone you know needs to touch the hem of His garment today. Reach out in faith and be healed today.

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?

The Desperate Touch - 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 two stories that showed us how Jesus provides radical peace. Jesus told the sea to be still and He gave peace to a troubled soul with a word. Because Jesus is the Son of God it shows He has authority over the natural world and the spirit world.

This morning we’re looking at two more stories that show us the power of Jesus. One of the unique things about these stories is that they mingle together into one story. An interesting twist to these two stories is that touch was the active ingredient rather than the spoken word Jesus.

So let’s take a look at these verses: Read Mark 5:21-43

When you look at these stories what do you think the participants were feeling?

The woman: shame, desperation, weakness, fear

Jairus the father: fear, desperation, anxiousness, hopelessness

I want to focus in on desperation.

Desperation will drive people to overcome their fear with action. Mark 5:22 & 27

Both the woman, and Jairus had huge hurdles to jump over to get to the point that they were willing to come to Jesus with their trouble. Jairus was the ruler of the synagogue which meant that he had to deal with the scribes and Pharisees. For him to seek out Jesus would put him at odds with them it could even possibly cost him his position. This was no small matter. But desperate situations call for desperate actions and when your child is dying you’ll do whatever it takes to help them.

The woman was sick, broken, and poor. She had been abused and now was rejected and without hope. Here condition made her ‘unclean’ and to be honest it meant that even being in the crowd on that day was against the law. But again her desperation drove her to overcome her fear. What’s the worst that could happen to her now? The only thing she had to lose was her reputation and what good is that if you’re dying?

Why is it that nothing seems to trigger our faith like desperation? Just take a minute and think about the times when your faith really popped. I’d like 2 people to quickly share in a sentence story of desperate faith….

That day this sick and bleeding woman somehow summoned the faith to reach out and touch the hem of Jesus robe and that single desperate touch brought immediate healing, and the personal attention of Jesus. I think it’s important to notice that…

Jesus responds to desperate people. Mark 5:34-38 The woman was desperate and Jairus was desperate and both encountered a powerful Messiah who was Lord over everything.

In the middle of this scene Jesus experiences a supernatural power drain that caused Him to wheel around and ask who had touched His clothes. The disciples though that was a dumb question, but Jesus insisted on finding the person and this trembling, fearful woman pour out her story still carrying on her body the evidence of her former sickness and Jesus fully accepts her and calls her daughter. Now who would call a woman daughter unless it was a Father, even in this Jesus was claiming equality with God.

But now a larger enemy descended on the scene, because Jesus had been delayed word came to Jairus that his daughter was dead. It’s one thing to heal the sick, calm the storm, and deliver the oppressed, but this last enemy was far stronger. But Jesus was even more powerful. He has authority over death.

Jesus encourages Jairus not to give in to his fear, but to believe. Mark 5:36

Why are we so prone to react in fear instead of responding in faith?

I think one reason is that we are often surrounded by people who seem determined to discourage us. Even Jesus faced this challenge when they ridiculed Him. Now I don’t know if this is the point, but if we’ll trust Jesus He’ll kick the doubters out of the room for you.

Don’t listen to the voices that tell you your situation is hopeless. Don’t listen to the doubters, just get close to Jesus. Follow His lead and trust Him.

In these two stories we see tenderness toward these hurting desperate people. A tenderness that invited them to come near and touch Him. That same Jesus invites us to come near and reach out to Him. If your desperate enough to overcome your fears and doubt you will be welcomed.

Radical Peace - 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 how Jesus used parables to probe and test the hearts of the people. Instead of telling stories with nice neat morals to help people understand the Word of God, He told these stories in such a way that the truth could only be revealed if the hearer’s heart had been prepared by the Spirit of God.

Today we’re looking at something that we hear about all the time but rarely really see. It’s peace. Have you noticed that the peace sign has made its way back into the main stream? In fact the other day we were walking around at the mall and one of the major department stores is running an marking campaign called “The Summer of Love” sound familiar complete with hippie clothes?

Peace is something we desire but rarely ever seem to experience. It seems that there’s always some pressure or conflict going on in our life. Everything from the stress of relationships to the stress of the rent payment we’re feeling it on the inside.

Most of the turbulence we feel is caused by things that we can’t control. And it seems that the harder we thrash around trying to control our environment the worse things become. Anyone here know what I’m talking about?

During the time of Jesus the Romans were occupying Israel/Palestine and they brought with them the Roman ‘Pax’ which means peace. They had conquered everyone else so no one was fighting with them anymore, but the Roman peace wasn’t real. It only managed the surface because they couldn’t change the hearts of people. The Romans tried to impose peace but that only stirred up more turmoil.

Human effort can never bring lasting peace (shalom).

The two stories we’re going to read this morning are snap shots of the kind of peace that Jesus offers. We find this description of Jesus in the prophet Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Then at the birth of Jesus the angels announced Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

These stories don’t just tell us about what Jesus can do, but they also confirm who He is.

Let’s read: Mark 4:35-5:20

Jesus asks His disciples to cross the sea. It was dusk so they would be crossing in the dark. That was a little unusual and dangerous but they did it. Anyone want to venture a guess why Jesus wanted to cross the sea? No, not to get to the other side, it was to get away from the multitudes. It’s not that Jesus didn’t love the people; it was that He didn’t want to create a situation where the Romans and Jewish leaders felt threatened and forced to intervene before He had accomplished what He came to do.

Anyway the other side of the lake was safer because it wasn’t part of Israel so Jesus didn’t have to worry about being watched.

This storm came upon them suddenly and was so violent that the waves were filling the boats. But Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat. He was the picture of peace in the middle of the storm. But the disciples became panicked and woke Jesus up with the accusation “don’t you care?”

Instead seeing the peace of Jesus they were looking at the storm. Isn’t that true of us as well? Don’t we get caught up in our storms of life, our troubles, and allow fear to drive our actions? We can even begin to doubt God and even accuse Him of not caring about us. But Jesus never panics. Jesus gets up and rebukes the storm and then speaks peace and the sea became calm. The wild sea had met it’s match with an even wilder Messiah.
When they get to the other side of the lake they are met by a demoniac man. Some vacation.

This man is so overpowered by demonic spirits that he is wild, and out of control with superhuman strength to break chains. This demoniac also practices self mutilation cutting himself with stones, crying out night and day and he lived among the dead, he was a dead man walking.

But when Jesus steps on shore this wild man was about to encounter and even wilder messiah. The demoniac rushes to Jesus and bows down before Him. You’d think the last thing a demoniac would want to do would be to come to Jesus. While it doesn’t say it here I wonder if they intended to challenge Jesus but when they got there met such an overwhelming power in Jesus that they had to bow before Him?

We don’t know why but they bowed and Jesus told the evil spirits to leave. But Jesus does something unusual (FYI It’s not an exorcism formula as some would take it.) He asks for the name, or identity of the demons and they respond with “Legion because we are many.” A Roman legion was about 7,000 men so that meant this man was in really bad shape.

One wild messiah, one wild man, 7,000 demons and 11 freaked out disciples, a herd of demon possessed pigs and some scared herdsmen. What a party! But when it was all done a man who had known only torment was sitting, clothed and in His right mind.

Interesting note: In both cases the immediate response of the people who witnessed the miracles was fear. This was a fear that was awe inspiring as if these witnesses were so overwhelmed by what they saw that their immediate response was to withdraw from Jesus. Even after all they had seen they still didn’t ‘get’ who Jesus was.

Here are some observations:

The disciples experienced the storm even though they were doing what Jesus told them to do.

Peace came at the word of Jesus. (vs. 4:39, 5:8) His word is powerful (Heb. 4:12) and when we are in distress His word can bring peace. By reading and hearing the word of God we can find peace. His word is also the only thing that stays the same. Jesus changed methods often, but His word was constant.

Jesus proved that He has authority over all things. (vs. 4:41, 5:13) There is no power greater that Jesus. He is above all powers and His peace passes all understanding (Phil 4:7). The demons couldn’t do anything without His permission.

Jesus helped them even when their faith was weak. (vs. 4:40, 5:7) The disciples were even rebuked for their lack of faith and the demoniac obviously didn’t have any. They even asked for help the wrong way and Jesus still helped them.

This wild Messiah can still do the impossible. If you need peace today just come to Him no matter what your frame of mind and heart. He is your Prince of Peace.