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Archives For Bible – Mark

She Shall Not Be Moved: Francis Atwood R.I.P.

February 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the Lord, What desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.

I read this Psalm to Fran as she lay dying in Good Samaritan this last Sunday afternoon. The last time I actually spoke with her was at Gritman a few days before that, and she was pretty worried and she asked me to pray for her. I read some scripture to her then, and I did pray for her. But following that conversation, as I continued to think about her and pray for her, this Psalm kept coming to mind which is why I read it to her this last Sunday as she slept.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” The Psalm describes an enormous storm, a tsunami, a hurricane, with rock slides, earthquakes, the whole world coming apart, shaking violently, nothing holding together.

And in the face of that calamity, that upheaval, the psalmist sings: “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her, and she shall not be moved.” God is in the midst of her, and she shall not be moved. How is that possible? How is it possible not to be moved in the middle of a storm? How is it possible not to be moved in the middle of an earthquake? How is possible not to be moved when a hurricane bears down on your life? Continue Reading…

In Bible - Mark, Bible - Psalms, Evangelism, Funeral Meditation, Sermon Outlines, TRC

First Sunday of Advent: Seeing the City: Gen. 22:1-17, Heb. 11:8-22, Mk. 12:39-13:13

November 28, 2011 — 2 Comments

Introduction
Advent means “coming,” and Advent celebrates God as the God who comes near to His people. This year we are using Heb. 11:10 as the thematic touchstone for the season: “For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Summary of the texts: Hebrews describes the faith of Abraham in terms of cities and homelands. By faith he obeyed when he was called to go out to a foreign land (11:8-9). He and all his descendents died in faith, confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, seeking a homeland (11:13-14). Had they thought about it, they may have wished to go back to where they came from (11:15). Instead, they were looking for a heavenly city, and that’s exactly what God was preparing for them (11:16). Wound through this city/homeland language are specific instances of faith particularly tied to Sarah conceiving and bearing a son (11:11) and Abraham offering up Isaac and receiving him back (11:17-19). In other words, the kind of city/homeland he was seeking is one characterized by obedience and the powerful working of God. This is faith.

In Genesis 22, Abraham is commended by God particularly because he obeyed the voice of the Lord (Gen. 22:18). As Hebrews has noted, Abraham obeys in confidence believing that God will provide one way or another (Gen. 22:5, 8). Abraham was no stoic; when God provides the substitute ram, Abraham’s worship is shaped by God’s provision (Gen. 22:14). The other thing to note is that Abraham’s test takes place on Mt. Moriah, the later site of the temple (Gen. 22:2, 2 Chr. 3:1). Continue Reading…

In Advent, Bible - Genesis, Bible - Hebrews, Bible - Mark, Church Calendar, Sermon Outlines

Last Sunday of Trinity Season: Fourth Commandment 3

November 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

Introduction
Previously, we have seen that Sabbath pushes us outside of ourselves, commanding us to remember the people around us, guarding them, giving them life and rest, making a holy people. Last week, we focused primarily on the Sabbath building project. Sabbath is for giving ourselves and our resources to the building of God’s house. This week we look at the kind of culture over generations the Sabbath ought to create.

Holy Convocations
When sin entered the world dislocations and tensions entered the world in three areas: God and man, man and man, man and the world (Gen. 3:13-24). Sin, guilt, and death make this world a threatening place to be, and fear reigns over all of it: fear of betrayal, fear of loss, fear of death. But Jesus came “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15). In the Old Covenant, the Exodus and the building of the tabernacle are types of Jesus to come: God freed His people from bondage to Pharaoh and brought them to Sinai to build His house. All of this testifies of God’s intention to reconcile all things: God and man (Passover/Sinai), people with one another (Sabbath, Manna, convocations), humanity with creation (Red Sea crossing, life in the wilderness). The Ten Words are the pattern of living that would mark this reconciled humanity, and the Sabbath command in particular is a bridge between our love for God and our neighbor. God knows that even a redeemed people will still fight and bicker and have different ideas and values. So He commanded them to have a weekly meeting (Lev. 23:3) and throughout the year have extended retreats full of meetings (e.g. Lev. 23:7, 21, 24, 35). All successful leaders and organizations know that central to accomplishing goals is regular, clear communication. And when the goal is the salvation of the world, this is even more important. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Ephesians, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Leviticus, Bible - Mark, Culture, Sabbath, Sermon Outlines

Nothing Hidden

October 24, 2011 — Leave a comment

In Mark’s gospel the word “revealed” (phaneros/phanerao) tells a fascinating story.

Initially, after cleansing a leper, Jesus is unable to “openly” enter the city because the leper has proclaimed (lit. preached) the fact of his healing (1:45). Again, Jesus strictly warns the demons not to make Him known (3:12), but later, immediately following the parable of the seed and the sower, Jesus says that “there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed…” (4:22). By 6:14, King Herod has heard of Jesus because “His name had become well known.” And Herod mistakenly things that John the Baptist is risen from the dead. Whatever reasons Herod may have had for this confusion, it functions as foreshadowing. The word is only used two more times in Mark and both times following the resurrection.

First, Jesus “appeared” to two disciples as they walked into the country (16:12), and later He “appeared” to the eleven at the table (16:14).

Mark’s gospel begins with Jesus unable to openly enter the city and warning the demons not to make Him known, but Jesus says that whatever has been hidden will be made known. Nothing hidden will not be revealed. And by 6:14, this is already on its way to happening, with the name of Jesus becoming “well known,” and Herod mistakes it for the resurrection of a prophet.

This lends support to those who have pointed out that Jesus maintains some secrecy at the beginning of His ministry (particularly in Mark) because He wants His death and resurrection to be the main event, the main revelation. It also highlights the role of evangelism and preaching in making Christ known. In the early chapters of Mark, it’s those who have been cleansed and demons making Him known to the extent that His name becomes known to Herod even. And we cannot miss the irony: when the King hears His name, he assumes there has been a resurrection.

That’s the power of the word going forth. The word goes forth in a way that requires faith in the resurrection. When we talk about Jesus, when we tell the story of how Jesus healed us, saved us, when even His enemies cry out in defiance, word spreads and even pagan kings assume there’s been a resurrection. And there has.

That’s what the seed of the Word always does. It goes down into the ground and is hidden. But there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.

In Bible - Mark, Evangelism, Preaching

14th Sunday in Trinity: Diaconal Ministry: Acts 6:1-7

September 19, 2011 — Leave a comment

Introduction
In the last few years, God has granted us growing awareness and opportunities to minister to those in need. While all believers are called to this kind of love (e.g. Js. 2:15-17, 1 Jn. 3:17), the biblical pattern is that deacons are to lead this charge, assessing the gifts, strengths, and assets of the body of Christ and coordinating the relief of those in need.

The Text: In the early days of the church, a controversy arose around the “daily distribution” to the widows (Acts 6:1). This is a specific instance of the kind of community the church was seeking to be: having all things in common, making sure no one lacked, distributing to those in need, gathered around the word and sacraments (cf. Acts 2:41-47, 4:32-37, cf. 2 Cor. 8:8-15). Initially, the coordination and organization of this community life was performed by the apostles themselves (4:35-37, 5:2). But with the significant growth of the church, the apostles determined that a division of labor was necessary, and that other ministers ought to be appointed to “serve tables” (Acts 6:2). The root word for “deacon” is used three times here: the “distribution” is the “diaconal service” (6:1), “serving tables” is literally “deaconing tables” (6:2), and the “ministry of the word” is literally the “service/deaconing of the word” (6:4). This breadth of usage implies the unity of the “ministry,” more on that later. Seven men are chosen who have good reputations, who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and that means they are competent and creative managers (6:3). The apostles determine that the church will be best served if they give themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word (6:4), and as a result of the ordination of the seven, “the word of God spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (6:7). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 2 Corinthians, Bible - Acts, Bible - Mark, Justice & Mercy, Sermon Outlines

As Big as the Creation of the World

August 22, 2011 — Leave a comment

It’s striking that three of the four gospels have opening sentences referring to “the beginning” (Mk. 1:1, Lk. 1:2, Jn. 1:1). Counting Matthew’s “book of the genealogy” (Mt. 1:1) as an explicit referent to Genesis (Gen. 5:1, cf. Gen. 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, etc.), all four gospels begin with creation, insisting or implying to varying degrees that the gospel is as big of a deal as the creation of the world.

The gospel is the re-creation of the world, not a nice “religious” thought.

In bible - John, Bible - Luke, Bible - Mark, Bible - Matthew, Creation

New Covenant Holy War

July 18, 2011 — Leave a comment

Fifth Sunday in Trinity: Ex. 20:1-3: First Word Pt. 2

Introduction
When Moses preaches through the Ten Words in Deuteronomy, he spends a great deal of time on the First Commandment, and he says this means war.

Holy War
The promise to Abraham was to give him the land of Canaan when the iniquity of the Amorites was complete (Gen. 15:12-21), and this promise is explicitly referenced by God when He comes to deliver Israel out of slavery in Egypt (Ex. 3:16-17, 6:6-8). Moses reminds the people of these promises when they are on the verge of entering the land. He says that obedience to the first commandment means conquest (Dt. 7:1ff). Having no other gods means conquering and destroying the pagan nations, making no covenants with them, showing them no mercy (Dt. 7:2). They are not to make marriages with them, giving daughters in marriage to them or allowing sons to date their daughters (Dt. 7:3). The reason for this absolute prohibition is clearly tied to the first commandment: they will turn your children away from following the Lord, to serve other gods (Dt. 7:4). And this tendency has not changed in three thousand years. There is no neutrality: Jesus said that whoever is not with Him is against Him (Mt. 12:30, Lk. 11:23). He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companions of fools will be destroyed (Prov. 13:20 cf. Dt. 4:26, Prov. 28:7, 29:3). As opposed to covenants and marriages, Israel is required to be at war with paganism: destroying altars, cutting down images, burning their carved images (Dt. 7:5). And the reason for this is God’s love for Israel and their unique status as a “special treasure” (Dt. 7:6-8). Obedience to God’s love will result in blessing while disobedience will result in destruction (Dt. 7:9-11). This blessing will be far reaching (Dt. 7:12-15), but they must destroy the nations in the land, take no pity on them, nor serve their gods (Dt. 7:16). They must not fear the nations because the God of the Exodus is with them (Dt. 7:18-21). He will drive out their enemies little by little (Dt. 7:22-24), as long as they remain steadfast in destroying all false gods and hating their abominations (Dt. 7:25-26). Continue Reading…

In Bible - Deuteronomy, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Mark, Bible - Matthew, Bible - Revelation, Evangelism, Family, Justice & Mercy, Sermon Outlines, Worship

Beginning to Shine

May 2, 2011 — Leave a comment

“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.” (Mk. 9:2-4)

Often people think that this is an occasion when the deity of Jesus is revealed. He’s really God even though He looks like a man. So He goes up there on the mountain and gets all shiny because He’s God. But while it is certainly true that Jesus is God, there are a number of clues that Mark gives us indicating that the transfiguration is actually pointing to something else.

First of all, the event reminds us of Moses’ “transfiguration” when he returned to the camp of Israel with a glowing face (Ex. 34:29ff). Moses shows up again here, explicitly linking the two events. And Peter’s suggestion about building the tabernacles is probably related to this fact. He knew that the glory cloud came down off Sinai and filled the tent of meeting, and thus perhaps the same thing would happen here too (Ex. 40:34). Continue Reading…

In Baptismal Meditation, Bible - Mark

Second Sunday in Easter: Easter has Come and Easter is Coming

May 2, 2011 — Leave a comment

Introduction
Many commentators point to 8:27-38 as the center of Mark’s gospel. Chapter 9 begins the second half of Mark’s gospel: the transfiguration of Jesus has several similarities to Jesus’ baptism (e.g. voice from heaven, presence of the Spirit, mission statement, etc.). Here Jesus begins openly describing His coming Passion (8:31-32, 9:12, 9:31, cf. Lk. 9:51). But Mark is not written merely that we might know what happened; it was written after the Resurrection to also explain what it means for us on this side of Easter (e.g. 8:34-38). What Jesus is doing He is calling His disciples to do.

The Text: “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them…” (Mk. 9:2-32)

This chapter puts a lot of emphasis on the disciples. He chooses three to witness the transfiguration (9:2), they don’t understand what he means by the resurrection (9:10), the disciples cannot cast out the demon (9:18, 28-29), his disciples still don’t understand Jesus’ words about his coming death and resurrection (9:32), they are confronted for disputing about greatness (9:34), they are concerned about other miracle workers (9:38), and finally Jesus warns his disciples about people and body parts that cause sin (9:42ff) and exhorts them to have peace with one another (9:50). Putting all of this together, it’s quite likely that some of the disciples believed they had been exalted to some higher position than others. Some had witnessed the glory of Jesus and others had failed to cast out a demon. And this supposed greatness seemed like enough to even forbid others casting out demons. Rivalry is emerging in the ranks of the disciples but all in a quite ironic way: they don’t understand what they are pushing in line about. They don’t understand that Jesus is pursuing death (9:10, 32). Continue Reading…

In Bible - Mark, Sermon Outlines

Mark 3: From the House of Bondage to the House of God

August 23, 2010 — 1 Comment

Introduction
Jesus ministry is focused on rebuilding the house of Israel. And this project is bringing the history of Israel to a radical head. Faithful Israel must follow Jesus as their Bridegroom (2:19) or else be swept away like the temple so many years before.

A Withered Hand
1 Kings 13 records the story of King Jereboam’s withered hand. If the stories are parallels, the presence of a man with a withered hand is an indication of not only uncleanness and deformity in Israel but also of grave liturgical error and compromise (cf. Jeroboam). The synagogue has become a house of demons (1:23, 39) and therefore the rulers of the synagogues are inviting them by their actions. This is proven by their hypocrisy: Jesus asks whether it is right to do good or evil, save life or kill (3:4). And their responses (silence and plotting to destroy Him) indicate that they prefer the latter options (3:6). In this sense, they are far worse than Jeroboam. Given this answer and what follows we can liken this old Israel to Pharaoh and Egypt; it has become a “house of bondage.”

From the Sea to the Mountain to the House
The word translated “withdrew” would probably be better translated “fled” (3:7). Notice the geography of this flight: to the sea, where he is nearly crowed into the sea (3:7, 9), and then to the mountain where the twelve are appointed (3:13-14) and finally into a house (3:19). This should remind us of the Exodus where Israel went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, fleeing from Pharaoh and his armies to the sea. After crossing the Red Sea, Moses leads the people to Mt. Sinai where God claims the twelve tribes of Israel as his own and gives them instructions for how they are to live (Ex. 19-24) and how to build and keep His house (Ex. 25-40). Jesus is reconstituting Israel, remaking His special people.

Beelzebub
The scribes who accuse Jesus, assert that He has “Beelzebub” or “Beelzebul” explaining that he is “the ruler of the demons.” (3:22). If there is a connection or perhaps an allusion or pun on “Beelzebub” then we’re being invited to remember the god of Ekron in 2 Kings 1, where Ahaziah rejected the prophet of Yahweh (Elijah) in favor of another god and is judged severely. His punishment for Baal worship is also a greater judgment on the idolatry of the house of Ahab. Baal-zebub means “lord of the flies.” Beelzebul, however would translate as “lord of loftiness” or “lord of an exalted dwelling” related to the name of Leah’s sixth son to Jacob, Zebulun (Gen. 30:20, cf. Ps. 49:15, Is. 63:15). Regardless, we know this accusation is false because at Christ’s baptism he received the Holy Spirit. But furthermore, with a little help from Luke’s version of this parable (Lk. 11:21-22), we know that the one who binds the strong man must be stronger (cf. Mk. 1:7). Jesus is the one who has entered the strong man’s house and bound him (1:13). Jesus’ ministry of casting out demons is his plundering of the strongman’s house (Israel/Egypt).

A Divided House
The last fifteen verses form what is sometimes called a “sandwich story”. “His own people” (v. 21) and “His brothers and His mother” (v. 31ff) appear to be the same people. At the center of the story of Jesus’ family is a parable about the family of Israel. But if it is wrong to assert that Jesus is dividing the family of Israel, he is at least plundering it (3:27). And this gives some explanation of Jesus’ reaction to His family. He is founding a new family, a family that is tighter than blood. We have already seen this displayed briefly in the fact that Jesus has been going around asking people to follow him. He’s playing the part of a father, giving new occupations (1:17) and giving new names (3:16-18).

Conclusions & Applications
If Jesus came to bring Israel out of bondage, leading them to a new mountain and to a new house, it can be no surprise that this same pattern holds as the gospel progresses in history. The family of God supersedes the family of Adam, and every house will be plundered. The only question is whether you will be a willing house or not. The history of Israel is the story of the failure of the family. Blood is the problem. But in Jesus Christ, the bloodguilt has been paid. This is your family here, and only here are families put back together.