What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 10

   There is no CCM song that better represents the concept of the Christian life "motor" being run on the "gasoline" of love for Jesus than this song by Jason Gray...

Let's look at Mark 10 to find out what's so awesome about Jesus

      

                                       CHAPTER 10

1. Read Mark 10:35 -45. Many people say Mark 10:45 is the key verse of the book of Mark. We are going to focus on what's so awesome about Jesus is that He was a servant or the greek word diakoneo. Jesus came to be a servant and we, as His disciples, who have taken up our cross and died to self and now live for Christ can be nothing less than servants also.
   Read Phil. 2:5-8. In what ways  did Christ become a servant?


          According to Mark 10:45, why did He become a servant?


         From all we have read so far in the previous 9 chapters (and 10:46-52), give some illustrations of times when Jesus put his personal needs below someone else's needs to wait on or serve  them




2. The disciples, like us, desperately needed to learn this lesson on serving . Read the following passages and tell how their self centeredness is evident or what principles we can learn  from these passages

        Mark 9:33-35 and John 13:12-16



        Mark 9:36,37 & Mark 10:13-16



        Mark 9:38-41



        Mark 9:42-48



        Mark 10:1-10



        Mark 10:35



       Mark 10:37



3 As we look how we should be serving, I looked up all the times diakoneo - or a form of it - appears in the Bible and saw three areas specifically where we are called to "deacon" people. I say "deacon" because this word comes directly from diakoneo. We now have offices in the church called "deacons" which started in Acts 6 because widows' needs were not being met. I can't help but think that since Acts is a history of the early church complete with it's flaws, the office of deacon was only set up because believers weren't deaconing like they should have been so the position had to be created to make sure it got done. Here is what all of us should be doing so we can put the deacons out of a job.(All these verses will have diakoneo in them)

    A.  Meeting people's physical needs
        1. Read Matt. 25:44   List 4 needs we are to meet and tell how you or the church are meeting these.

           a.

           b.

           c.

           d.

       2. Read 2 Cor. 8:2-4 and Luke 8:1-3. What other needs are met here. (notice it isn't gender specific)

         e.

     B. Meeting society's need

         What non- spiritual job serves as a deacon for God in Rom. 13:1-4?


         Read Jeremiah 29:4-7.(not a diakoneo verse but it relates) What principle does this teach us?


      C. Meeting people's spiritual needs.
          1. Read 1Cor. 3:5,6. Paul and Appollos were planting and watering as God's deacons. How would you relate that to your life?


          2. Read 1 Peter 4:10,11. What spiritual gift has God given you to serve (diakoneo) the church?


            How have you used it/them lately?


On a scale of 1-10, how do you rate yourself as a servant?
What is your plan to take it up a notch?



  Summary:

  WWJD was a popular fad a while back. In Mark 10:45 we see what Jesus would do and it is basically 2 things, one of which we can't do. The one we can't do is to give His life as a ransom. A ransom is a price paid to redeem someone captured. We were slaves to sin and Jesus lived a sinless life to buy us back and free us. The price wasn't paid to Satan but rather to God's justice. Tim Keller gives the illustration of a lamp in your house being broken by some friends you had over who were horsing around. You have three options; make them buy you a new one, tell them not to worry about it and you buy a new one, or go without light. All three of them cost something. You can't just say, "I forgive you" and everything is fine. A price must be paid. Jesus paid the price to make right the debt that sin incurred.
     The one thing we can do is to serve. You might say," wouldn't loving be more important? Aren't the commandments summed up in love God and love others?" I recently read a definition of love by Dr. Tim Kimmel which I thought was great. he says, "Love is the commitment of my will to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost". Therefore if we love God and Love others, serving is how we show it. Diakoneo is the hands and feet of love. Many people think hate is the opposite of love. Actually it is selfishness - serving yourself rather than others. You can see how this is the natural bent of all of us passed down from Lucifer who, rather than be the chief serving angel of God, wanted to be equal. You can even see it in his temptations as he tried to get Jesus to feed himself thus meeting His own needs and get glory by His own means bypassing the cross.
    The disciples illustrated this by arguing who was greater, trying to get Jesus to promise them the best seats in the kingdom (any of your kids ever yell, "shotgun"?), saying, "Jesus, we want you to do what we ask"..., and turning children away because they have nothing to offer. (any mother knows that raising children requires service 24/7) It isn't coincidence that a discussion on marriage is squeezed in here too as marriage requires serving and all marital problems are related to selfishness. Although not mentioned in Mark, a great story on selfishness and serving is found in John 13. It was the Passover dinner and all the disciples were sitting around with dirty sandaled feet because obviously the upper room didn't come equipped with a servant to wash their feet. Because no one wanted to move down the pecking order, no one offered to wash feet. Jesus sees this and gives them a valuable lesson in love and serving by washing their feet Himself causing a greatly awkward moment for the disciples. In fact, if you really want to relate love and serving the NIV1984 (oh how I miss you) in John 13:2 says "Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love." And what did He do? Washed their feet!
      We need to realize that serving isn't something we do and get over with so we can go enjoy ourselves - serving is a way of life that brings ultimate enjoyment. The Bible gives us many ideas on how to serve. One way is to meet people's physical needs. The famous sheep and goats passages talk about food, water, health, prisons and clothing. No wonder Christians are famous for soup kitchens, food pantries, drilling wells, cleaning water, rescue ministries, prison ministries, faith based indigent medical clinics, thrift shops, salvation army, etc. We also give money to those in need. A challenge from Ronald Snider in the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience says
 "American Christians live in the richest nation on the Earth and enjoy an average household income of $42,409. The World Bank reports that 1.2 billion people try to survive on just one dollar a day. At least one billion people have never heard the gospel. The Ronsvalles point out that if American Christians just tithed, they would have another $143 billion available to empower the poor and spread the gospel. Studies by the United Nations suggest that just an additional $70 - $80 billion a year would be enough to provide access to essential services like basic health care and education for all the poor on the earth.If they did no more than tithe, American Christians would have the private dollars to foot this entire bill and still have $60 - $70 billion more to do evangelism around the world."

   Is that convicting, or what? We are also to serve one another with our spiritual gifts which God has given to all believers. If you aren't in a church because you aren't getting anything out of it or you can worship God just as well on the lake, you are missing this vital concept that you aren't serving, are depriving the body of your much needed gift, and are following the father of lies by being selfish. If you are being lazy at church, you are missing out on the true enjoyment that being part of the body gives. Use it or lose it!
  Lastly we are called to be good citizens, servant leaders at work, and in general helping our country to be a great place to live subservient to government leaders who are servants of God, whether they bow their knee to Him or not.

    Here is a link to a good message by Andy Stanley on this topic  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwHIBCsegWI

       Lord, Help me serve. It doesn't come natural - I want to serve myself. Even though I know the joy found in serving, I still get lazy and think there is greater joy in avoidance. Change me, Please!!

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 9

We have been studying through Mark chapter by chapter focusing on What's so awesome about Jesus in hopes that by seeing Him either afresh or re-catching a glimpse of Who we fell in love with in the first place, our duty to Christ would turn into acts of love to Him. Our "have to's" would turn into "get-to's". Draining would become energizing. Our word for today is better. Why do we serve Him? Because He is better than anything this world has to offer. In fact He is the best! Watch the following video and see what Ben Stuart from Breakaway Ministries has to say about Him being better.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 9

 

1. Read Mark 8:34 - 9:1. This is how Jesus gives an altar call! How do we know it is a call to all believers, not just the apostles?

 

 

What is on the line here?

 

 

What are the three commands here?

 

1.________________________________

 

2._________________________________

 

3._________________________________

 

Read the following accounts and from these verses and tell - in your opinion - what you think it means to deny yourself.. Luke 15:21, Luke 18:9-14, Luke 23:39-43

 

 

 

Read the following verses and tell - in your opinion - what do you think it means to take up your cross? Phil. 1:21, Gal. 2:20, Col. 3:1-4

 

 

 

Look at the following verses. What are some obstacles to following Jesus?

 

John 6:60-66       

 

 

Luke 18:18-25      

 

 

Matt.8:19,20        

 

 

Matt.8:21,22        

 

 

Luke 9:61,62        

 

 

2. Read Mark 9:2-13. Jesus has just loaded them down with some hard teachings. First of all He told the disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer, be rejected, die, and rise again which was so contrary to their plans that Peter actually rebuked Jesus. Secondly Jesus called Peter Satan, followed lastly by teaching that they too must die in order to live. In context, you can see the compassion of Christ that He would take His inner circle up on the mountain to see that He is worth it - or as Ben Stuart would say, "He is better". Watch the following video

 

 

What does this (loosely) have to do with the transfiguration?

 

 

A lot of principles can be learned from the transfiguration. I want to focus on, "He is better". As Peter wanted to build 3 tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah - kind of a Christian Hall of Fame to come visit and sell tickets -  God the Father speaks from Heaven and singles out His son as the one to listen to and the other two disappear.

 

How is Jesus better than Moses (the Pharisee's hero) according to the following verses

 

Ex. 34:33-35

 

 

Numbers 20:12

 

 

John 6:30-35

 

 

Heb. 10:1 and John 1:17

 

 

How is Jesus better than the prophets (Elijah) according to the following verses

 

John 1:6-9

 

 

Matt. 13:17

 

 

What portions of the Bible are represented on the mountain? Relate this to Mark 8:37

 

 

 

 

Summary

 

This is how Jesus gives an altar call. He says number 1 - deny yourself. I see this as recognizing that I bring nothing to the table. As the hymn goes "nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling." Unlike the Pharisee who boasted of everything he had done versus the publican who beat his chest saying how unworthy he was, the publican was accepted. The thief on the cross said "I deserve the punishment I'm getting. I deserve to die. Please remember me," and he was accepted. The prodigal son came and said, "I no longer deserve to be called your son" while the oldest son told about what a good son he was. The younger son attended the banquet while the older one didn't. Notice who is doing the accepting in these illustrations. We have turned it around in modern Christianity and made it as if we are accepting Christ. We sing songs like "The savior is waiting... why don't you let Him come in"..." to see if you're willing to open the door Oh how He wants to come in". To be honest, Jesus in this passage says that we are unworthy and deserving hell, 9:42-48, because of our sins and our eternal soul weighs in the balance of us falling on our faces before Him and admitting this and then miraculously, He will accept us. If you want more on this, A.W.Tozer writes a good treatise on this that you can find by following this link.  http://www.neve-family.com/books/tozer/AcceptChrist-1.html

 

Number two part of the altar call is - take up your cross. The cross meant death. Jesus says that you must cease to exist. Just as in marriage, those old days are gone. You now have a new identity and that is found in Jesus. Paul says, "For me to live is Christ... I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me... For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." We will talk more about what that means in chapter ten as the disciples wrestled with that.

 

Number three is- follow me. We have seen the obstacles to that already. Some wanted comfort and a home and family. Jesus said to them "are you willing to follow me even if you never have those again? If not you can have the world but you have lost your soul" He says to the rich young ruler, "You can't have me and money, choose one or the other" God hasn't become a part of our life or our co-pilot, He is our life. He is our pilot taking us wherever He wants to go. So many people tell me when I ask them if they are Christians, "I wouldn't have made it this far without the Lord." What does that mean anyway? I am afraid it means "Yes, I have "accepted" Christ into my life and as I go about "my" life I occasionally get into bad fixes and He has gotten me out of them time after time." You see, that is not the altar call Jesus is giving.

 

So why would we want to give up our lives and unconditionally follow Him? Because He is worth it. He is the Pearl of great price. He is Better than anything else, and He shows this on the mountain. He takes off His human shell for just an instant and they see His glory. Unlike Numbers 4:20 and 1Sam. 6:19 (and Raiders of the Lost Ark) Peter, James, and John looked on the glory of God and lived. Even Moses could only see the backside of His glory and live. Jesus came to bridge the gap between sin and God's glory and that was seen on the mount. Peter wanted to build tabernacles for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses but God quickly removed them from the picture and said that Jesus was superior to them. Moses glowed like the moon, Jesus glowed like the sun. Moses brought the law which brought death. Jesus brought grace which brings life. Moses sinned, Jesus didn't. Moses couldn't bring them into the promised land, Jesus could. Elijah was one of many prophets with miraculous power given to them by God. Jesus was the source of the power. Elijah was one of many prophets pointing to Christ - Jesus was the one all the prophets were pointing to.

 

Imagine you were at Ruth Chris' steak house dumpster diving late one night and the owner came out and saw you and asked, "What are you doing"? You said, "I'm broke and my family needs food so I'm bringing some home." The owner says, "Come eat inside from now on and bring your family" For a week you do that but soon you don't show up any more because you prefer eating out of the garbage! Crazy, huh? Well that is what Jesus is warning about here. He is saying," you are eating out of the dumpster and at my cost I am offering you something so much better. Sure you might have to take a bath and change your clothes but those inconveniences are miniscule to the blessings available to you and your family." Let me encourage you, Stop dumpster diving!

 

Father, Thank you for rescuing me from a life eating out of the garbage. Help me continue to discern between what is from your hand and what Satan is using to suck me back in. Help me not to long for this world because frankly there is something inside of me wanting to pull me back in and think I am missing something by following You. Thank You for Your Spirit inside me that aligns itself with You. Help me to listen to Him. Amen

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

 

      

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 8

     Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have pierced.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”  Ps. 40:6-8

     I highlighted the word pierced there because it is a Hebrew word Kara which means to open by hollowing out. Therefore this passage is translated "My ears You have opened" in every other version I looked up except my NIV 1984. Did they get it wrong? I suppose it is possible but the same word is used in Psalms 22:16 when the Psalmist prophesies of the crucifixion when He says, "They pierced my hands and feet..."
    Why am I making a big deal about this? Look at the passage below...
   
² “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ ⁶ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

What I have been focusing on throughout our race through Mark is what Psalms and Exodus are saying here. A lot of people are working for Christ as slaves and frankly, not enjoying it. It is their duty, they know, but they look forward to the day of Jubilee when they will be freed from this difficult Christian life and rest forever in Heaven with Jesus ... their... ex-taskmaster? What if we were able to get a new paradigm where Jesus is such an amazing master that we fall in love with Him and given the chance we would rather serve Him than have our freedom. Wouldn't that make the Christian life "whistling while we work"? Wouldn't that make our reunion in Heaven with Jesus a little more to look forward to - i.e. A wedding feast? David says in Psalm 40 basically that all that duty stuff isn't what Jesus really desires. What He wants is us to say, "I know You own me because I had a debt I couldn't pay so I gave myself to the only one who could pay it. But now that I am here at your service, I find there is nothing better in this life than serving You because I found out what is so awesome about Jesus. So I am yours and I delight to do your will. "

                     CHAPTER 8

The word for today is patience or if you want longsuffering as we see Jesus putting up with the disciples lack of "getting it" time and time again.

1. Read Mark 8:1-10
     Name 5 things that were different between this feeding and the one we saw in Mark 6:30-46

     A.
     B.
     C.
     D.
     E.

   Talk about the significance of any one of these differences.




  Why might Jesus have had to exercise patience with the disciples in these verses?



  2. Read Mark 8:11-13 and Matthew 16:1-4. This is the same account but Matthew expounds on it a little more. What actually is the sign that Jesus will give the Pharisees?


      What is the sign of Jonah? (Matt. 12:40)


      Read Matthew 27:62 - 64 and 28:12 - 15. How did they respond to that sign when it was given?



  3. Read Mark 8:14-21

    From what we have seen so far, what do you think is the yeast of the Pharisees?


     Read Luke 23:8 and Jesus' response to Herod in Luke 13:32. Why might he have been grouped with the Pharisees on Jesus' comment about yeast?


    How did Jesus once again have to exercise patience with the disciples?


   4. Read Mark 8:22-26.
       Did Jesus mess up the first time and have to redo it?

       What do you think is the purpose for the 2 step healing?


       5. Read Mark 8:27 - 33, 9:30-32, and 10:32-34. This may explain the above healing if you see it as a parable within a healing. How was Peter's vision of Christ blurry?


        How was Peter's vision of Christ clear?


        Read Matt. 16:17. How was his vision temporarily made clear?


        Read Luke 24:19-27. Even after the death and resurrection of Christ tell about the irony of verse 21.


        Read Acts 1: 6. Even after Jesus' death, resurrection, appearances and teachings for 40 days, what question did the disciples ask?


       Why was their vision blurry? (see Acts 1:4-5)


      Getting back to Mark, a normally patient Jesus calls Peter "Satan" in  8:33. Read Luke 4:9-13. What was the temptation behind this last temptation?


     How did Peter's rebuking of Jesus or advice to Him compare with Satan's? (Could this have been "an opportune time"?)


      
Summary

   Do you give up on people quickly. And you don't even have to die for them! Thank goodness Jesus doesn't give up on us. In this passage we see the disciples forgetting about the previous feeding Jesus just did several months ago. This new feeding was done in gentile land where the demoniac Legion had gone to tell everyone about his healing. Jesus was telling and showing the disciples that He had compassion on Gentiles as well as Jews - which in the future they will also forget. Christianity Today's book of the year -God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America , recounts the following instances...

"Not only was God supplying groceries; many Jesus People believed that at times he was actually multiplying the ingredients on hand. Marlon Finley remembered being at a Christian commune in Paducah, Kentucky, and seeing “one box of beef stroganoff . . . [feed] twelve people to capacity.”  Brad Davis was living at a “discipleship house” run by the Agape Force in Southern California and claimed that more than thirty young people were fed by a single can of tuna.  Kent Philpott recalled an incident at the Soul Inn in San Francisco in which he claimed that a single can of beef stew cooked over a hot plate fed dozens of homeless hippies—an experience that left him reaching for the phone years later to verify with a former coworker that he had not simply dreamed the incident.  Within the ranks of the Shiloh organization, “the PBJ miracle” was a famous story of God’s provision in the group’s early days. One afternoon, Cathy Stewart recounted in a 1977 issue of Shiloh Magazine, she and another sister in the House of Miracles in Fontana, California, made a number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their housemates’ lunch. Having planned for two sandwiches per person, they were dismayed to suddenly see “all these people from the Riverside house [charge] in the front door .” They were amazed that, when all was said and done, no one had gone hungry: When we went into the dining room to clean up, a whole bunch of sandwiches were left on the platters. It was like seeing something you knew logically couldn’t exist. Everyone had two [sandwiches] and some brothers had eaten six or seven. It was just like the miracle of the loaves and fishes.  James K. Foley belonged to a communal house ministry in Burlington, Vermont, that reported a similar experience . Foley claimed that “at one meal . . . 24 pieces of chicken were put in front of 20 people; everyone had at least one piece, some as many as four, and there were nine pieces left over. No, you wouldn’t believe it even if you saw it!”
Eskridge, Larry (2013-05-31). God's Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America (p. 81). Oxford University Press, USA.

   The Jesus people's instruction manual was the book of Acts. Therefore they lived in communes, shared everything they had, and met daily worshipping and studying the Bible and then sharing Christ during the day. Although there have been pockets of revivals throughout the USA since that time, this was probably the only nationwide revival I have seen in my lifetime. I believe, because they lived totally dependent on God for everything, including their next meal, they saw more of the miraculous happen. I can testify to things happening on the mission field as I stepped out in faith, out of my comfort zone, that I would describe as miraculous. We are just too comfortable here in America to see such things very often.

   Jesus was also patient with the disciples in the boat as they totally misunderstood His yeast comment. As a side note, have you noticed how many times Jesus crosses and recrosses the Sea of Galilee? I think that this may be because this is really the only opportunities for uninterrupted teaching of the disciples that he gets. On land He gets swarmed so much he can't teach, sleep or eat. Anyway, I believe the yeast He is speaking of is outside - in living. The Pharisees were all about attaining righteousness through obeying the laws, those in the Law of Moses and those they added as guardrails to protect the Law of Moses. That is why Jesus calls them whitewashed tombs or cups where the outside looks clean but the inside is dirty. It isn't what touches the outside or what comes in that makes us unclean, it is our sinful hearts. We need a new heart so from the inside, the Holy Spirit inside us, exudes to the outside. This is inside out living. The Pharisees wanted a sign to believe because seeing is believing right? Outside in, right? Wrong. When Jesus gave them the sign of Jonah,three days in the belly of the Earth than bursting out, did this convince them? No way. They posted guards around the tomb so it wouldn't happen and when it did they paid the guards to lie. That's because seeing isn't believing - believing is seeing.

   The two step healing points to the importance of the Holy Spirit to see clearly. We are hard on the disciples but they don't have the Holy Spirit like we do opening their eyes. Even Peter's grand declaration was impossible without the Holy Spirit revealing it to Peter. That is hard to fathom as they have just spent 2 years with Him seeing Him feed thousands miraculously twice, calming storms, walking on water, raising the dead, etc and they still couldn't understand. Even after His death, resurrection, and teaching for 40 risen days, the disciples still wanted to know when He would set up His kingdom on Earth. They still didn't get it. No wonder Jesus said, "Don't leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes." 1Cor. 2:14 says that spiritual things can't be discerned without the Spirit. They are foolishness to the earthly mind (1Cor.1:18) because Satan has blinded everyone's minds. (2Cor. 4:3,4) Therefore God must open our minds before we can receive Him and understand things. (John 6:44). How much time to we spend crying out for God to open hearts before we share the gospel, preach, and teach. We are unknowingly eating the yeast of outside in thinking our clever words, delivery, arguments can win people. They can't. I actually think the best use of apologetics is to convince believers, not unbelievers.
    Jesus coming to die made no Earthly sense to Peter.Even after telling the disciples 3 times, they didn't get it. How do you become king by dying? How can you redeem Israel by dying. Foolishness. Unwittingly, Peter was a mouthpiece for Satan who also said that Jesus didn't have to rise to power by death - He could just do miracles and wow people. But there is the rub - He would wow them from the outside - in rather than die and set up His kingdom inside them. No wonder Jesus warned them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees.

    So what is our excuse? We have the Holy Spirit and we still lack faith, forget, and sin! Yet He is patient and longsuffering with us too! What an awesome God! Lord, let me be patient with people like You are patient with me. And please help me to give you less and less opportunities to be patient with me.