Author: Larry Soape

Re:Verse passage – Mark 3:1-12 (day four)

The unclean spirits knew who Jesus was.  They recognized Him right away.  Their proclamation to the people around Jesus though was not meant as praise.  They had no doubt who He was, but they also had no intention of aiding Him in His mission.  Crowds are not known for making wise and calculated decisions.  The group mind tends to run on emotions, resulting in misdirection and chaos.  The unclean spirits sought to derail Jesus’ mission by confusing the response of the people.  They wanted to pre-empt Jesus’ authority and call for Him to respond contrary to God’s purpose.

You would think that proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God would be a good thing.  The end though does not justify the means.  Jesus faced the same heresy in the desert temptation.  Satan sought to entice Jesus to accomplish His task…just not like God had prescribed.  We fall into these same temptations.  Often, we respond to circumstances with a good end in mind, but not according to biblical instructions.  Seek to serve like Jesus!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:23-28 (day four)

One of the tasks of Mark in his gospel was to establish the identity of Jesus.  We are introduced to a new name for Jesus in our passage…”Lord of the Sabbath.”  Jesus was declaring His deity and authority to the Pharisees and it did not go unnoticed by them.

The commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy had been given to free God’s people to be able to focus on and worship God.  In John MacArthur’s commentary, he identifies 24 chapters in the Talmud that regulated the observance of the Sabbath.  The Jews were not freed to worship, they were bound to slavery to a set of extra-biblical rules.  Jesus was confronting, head on, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

Jesus was not one to let things slide.  Are we as diligent to confront false teaching and misunderstood truth with those around us?  We may not be faced with the likes of the Pharisees, but truth and understanding of God’s Word are vital to our right relationship with God.  Ask God to surround you with truth!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:18-22 (day four)

Fasting and prayer are a method to focus our undivided attention on God and to discover His perspective or direction.  The Pharisees fasted because it was part of the law…they did it out of legalistic following of the law of Moses.  They had no desire to really know the mind of God.  They already knew (or thought they knew!) how God’s plan would work out and that a military leader, the Messiah, would come and free Israel from the oppression of Rome.  John’s disciples, on the other hand, fasted because they were truly looking for the Messiah.  They had not yet recognized that Jesus was who they were looking for, so they continued to search.  They thought it was John, but John said no.

Jesus’ disciples recognized Him as God’s Son.  They did not have to ask God to direct them, they just had to listen to Jesus.  The time would come when they would fast and pray, but not while Jesus was with them.  Where are you?  Are you ignoring…are you seeking…have you found…are you serving?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:13-17 (day four)

The books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels.  Synoptic means they each have many of the same parables and stories in them.  John is not a synoptic gospel because it comes from a different perspective…it has no parables.

If we read the account of Matthew’s call as a disciple and the dinner with sinners in the other synoptics, we find that they follow the Sermon on the Mount…3 chapters of authoritative teaching that shook people’s perspective.  The response of Matthew and this room full of sinners was a direct result of the radical teaching of Jesus.

Had the scribes heard Jesus teach?  Probably so.  Had they rejected His teaching and held to their traditions?  Absolutely!  Same words…different ears and different hearts.  How have you heard the words of Jesus?  Have you allowed them to penetrate your heart with truth?  Or…has a barrier in your heart caused you to judge others by your unbelief?  Ask God to check your heart!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 2:1-12 (day four)

Not everyone who comes to church is there because they want a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Here in our passage…even though there were honest seekers of Jesus wanting to get in…there were seats up close that were occupied by scribes who wanted to discredit Jesus.  Their hearts were cold to Jesus and they wanted to find reasons to reclaim their authority over the people.

The people had recognized that Jesus “taught as one having authority and not as the scribes…” (1:22). Now, Jesus’ authority was exemplified by His forgiveness of the man’s sins and the healing of his paralyzed body.  Also, His authority was demonstrated when He told the man to go home.  Suddenly, the crowd that had been too dense for the man to approach Jesus before, found room to create a pathway for his exit at Jesus’ command.

There are many motivations for people to go to church.  What motivates you?  We cannot answer for others, but we are responsible for our own responses.  Are we seeking Jesus for a relationship with Him?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:36-45 (day four)

The leper was humble…he did not demand that Jesus heal him, he asked.  “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  He did not exhibit obedience when Jesus told him ‘to tell no one’, but he did demonstrate enthusiasm and thoroughness.  He was so excited when he was healed, he told everyone…to the point that Jesus could no longer enter a city.

Our Re:Verse says “they were coming to Him from everywhere.”  When you have something people need, your location does not matter…they will find you.  The leper’s enthusiastic witness let everyone know the power of Jesus.

3 Questions:  1) Is your witness for Jesus enthusiastic enough that everyone around knows about Him?  2) Does your church demonstrate the power of Christ so that people want to know more about Him?  3) Will you commit in the coming year to live your life for Christ so that everyone will know Christ?  Like the leper, we can impact our city and region for Christ!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:21-35 (day four)

The demons recognized Jesus…they knew exactly who He was.  They recognized His identity and His authority.  Contrast that recognition with the religious leaders.  They had been looking for the Messiah for generations.  They had built up a picture in their minds of who the Savior would be and how He would relate to the people.  Their incorrect expectations caused them to completely miss the coming of Jesus.

We often do the same thing.  We develop expectations of how God will act in a given situation.  We plan ‘how He should do it’, to the extent that we completely miss how God will act according to His plan.  We have devised an idol in our lives that looks nothing like God.  We believe God fails to answer our prayers or just refuses to act.  In fact, we just don’t recognize His hand at work.  Thank goodness for repentance and forgiveness.  Ask God to open your eyes to His handiwork…ask Him to allow you to see through His eyes.  We miss so much when we depend on our own spiritual eyes!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:16-20 (day four)

Jesus came to preach the gospel…to say the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.  His mission, or call, was to bring salvation to the world.  Jesus chose to use a team of 12 disciples.  Where would you go to find the best men to change the world…a University town, a large city with many opportunities for cultural exposure, a well-known city for influence, or a seat of political power?  Jesus went to a small, rural town on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  Of the 12 disciples He chose, 5 came from this small town of about 200 people, Bethsaida.

No formal training in the world’s wisdom, no financial base for great achievement, and no influence in the power centers of the world…these men certainly had no resume’ to impact the world.  Have you ever felt that you had nothing to offer to change the world for God?  Following a sermon in the temple, Peter and John were being questioned by the Jewish leaders.  Acts 4:13 says they began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.  Let’s follow the lead of the fishermen!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 1:9-15 (day four)

Mark’s goal in writing his book was to accurately communicate the message of Jesus.  He was a close associate of the Apostle Peter and worked with him to portray the message.  Our Christianity Explored class is based on the study of the entire book of Mark.  Mark presents the identity, mission, and call of Jesus.  In our passage this week, we see the identity of Jesus revealed.  In verse 11, Jesus is proclaimed the beloved Son of God.  In verse 15, the call of Jesus is described.  Jesus preached, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

CE answers three questions based on these descriptors…”Who is Jesus?…Why did He come?…and What does it mean to follow Him?”  The question most important in each of our lives is the last.  What are we going to do with Jesus?  Have you answered this question?  If no, don’t go any further until you deal with it in your heart.  If yes, what difference is it making in your life?  Mark wanted to make a difference in people’s lives…we have the same opportunity by sharing the truth!