Mark Chapter Six

This week we looked at the first 13 verses and summed it up like this: "Sharing Jesus with Others."

The Bible divides these verses into two sections which makes sense. It's interesting how they relate to one another...

Jesus in his home town (vv. 1-6) suggests that we can expect our family members and close friends to reject the Jesus we believe in simply because they know us.

Jesus sending out the 12 disciples (vv. 7-13) suggests that we need to share Jesus with others even though they may reject him. Our responsibility is to "Share Jesus with Others," it is not our responsibility that they accept him.

A couple of things to think about...

1. Do we respect and honor our own pastor the same way we do a visiting evangelist or prophet? Do we expect the same results after they're done preaching?

2. If Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of the people from his hometown and was only able to "lay hands on a few sick people and heal them," what does that say about our faith if we are not seeing healings and miracles?

3. How often do I not share Jesus with others because I expect them to reject him?

any comments?

Mark Chapter Five

We met for the first time since July on Wednesday morning. I had each of them share what caught their attention throughout the chapter and here are some things that were mentioned...

• Jesus has power over the worst-case scenarios (vv. 2-13).
• Jesus took the time to save a man that no one cared for (vv. 2-13).
• The townspeople were afraid...they had never seen anything like this and they had concern that Jesus' work would change their way of living. They would have to give up their own "herd" (job, possessions, etc.), in order for others to be saved. They asked Jesus to not be a part of their lives and told him to leave (vv. 14-17).
• The man who was freed from demon possession wanted to follow Jesus. However, Jesus did not let him, but instead told him to return to his family to testify about what the Lord had done for him (vv. 18-19). How many times do we get so involved in "following Jesus" (ministry) and neglect our own family?
• The man went back to his family and testified (v. 20). This was the beginning of the preaching of Jesus to the Greek in the Decapolis.
• Jairus was a leader in the synagogue, it took humility and a strong belief in Jesus for him to "fall at his feet" and ask healing for his dying daughter (vv. 22,23).
• The bleeding woman had to have strong faith in order to approach Jesus the way she did. By Jesus asking "who touched me?", he gave her the opportunity to continue to put her faith into action and publicize it. Jesus said, "your faith has healed you" (vv. 24-34).
• Jesus ignored the claims that Jairus' daughter was dead. This bit of information could've disheartened Jairus, but Jesus encouraged him in his sorrow and said, "Don't be afraid; just believe" (vv. 35-36).
• As they approached Jairus' house, Jesus claimed that the girl was only sleeping, not dead. Despite being laughed at, Jesus continued and did not let the people's ridiculing bother him. He healed the little girl (vv. 38-43).
• The fact that the bleeding woman's story was right in the middle of Jairus' daughter's story suggests that it was a reinforcement for Jairus' faith...something to help him continue to believe.

CONCLUSION: Jesus cares for those who are suffering and wants to free them. The man was freed from demon possession and mental anguish. Jairus was freed from the suffering of losing a loved one. The bleeding woman was freed from the 12 year sickness in her body.

Your comments?

Meeting again

After arriving from our trip to Washington, the guys are ready to meet again...hopefully next week we'll look at Mark 5.

Chapter Three...Relationships (Part Three)

Towards the Disciples.

Chapter Three...Relationships (Part Two)

Towards the Crowds...(7-12)

The thing that really jumped out at all of us while talking about this passage was how many people there were and what happened to them after Jesus touched them?

Lots of people showed up from many different places.  That's great, but what happened to them after Jesus touched them?  After they got what they wanted?

What happens to us after Jesus touches us?  After we get what we "want"?  What are our true motives for following Jesus?  

It appears as though Jesus is willing to touch all who come to him, even if they are coming out of their own convenience.  How should we treat those that do the same with us?

The relationship that Jesus had with the crowd was not a deep relationship, but he loved them and touched their lives anyway.  For lack of a better word, the relationship was "superficial."

What is your relationship with Jesus?

Chapter Three...Relationships (Part One)

Towards the Pharisees...(1-6)

This could really be a continuation of the previous passage about the Sabbath.  The Pharisees once again are there to accuse Jesus of breaking the law.  With the man with the shriveled hand standing up in front of everyone, Jesus asks the Pharisees, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  No one said anything and Jesus became angry and "deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts."  Jesus does good on the Sabbath, he heals the man with the shriveled hand.  In turn, the Pharisees use that to accuse Jesus and plot a way to kill him.  Ironically, the ones who were so tight with wanting to obey the law turned around and contradicted themselves, plotting to kill.

It looks to me like this was not so much the Pharisees wanting Jesus to keep the law, but a way to get rid of someone who was accumulating a gathering; another way to look at it is that Jesus was attracting people to his congregation and their former pastors were upset...jealous!  Does that really happen today?  Do Pastors get jealous because someone in their congregation decides they want to go to a different church??

One word comes to my mind when I think about the relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees...TENSION.

What kind of relationships are you involved in that can be described this way?  Who is right?  Where does the tension come from?  Is there a way to resolve it?  How should we really treat one another?  If we really want to "fulfill the law," what should we do?  See Romans 13:8-10.

Chapter Three...Relationships

As we looked at chapter three, we saw six different relationships in which Jesus was involved:

• Towards the Pharisees
• Towards the Crowds
• Towards the Disciples
• Towards his Earthly Family
• Towards Satan
• Towards his Spiritual Family

We just finished this chapter.  It was exciting as the guys involved themselves in the discussion and it was neat to see that God is speaking to their hearts.