What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 15

                                    CHAPTER 15

   We have been taking a rapid trip through Mark looking at what's so awesome about Jesus in hopes that we can rekindle that amazement awe and wonder for Christ leading to the ultimate motivating factor in living for Jesus and that is loving Him. In this clip from City Slickers, Billy Crystal is talking with Jack Palance (Curly), a fearsome cowboy who gives him this piece of advice

 

The next day Billy goes to get more information on the "one thing" and finds Curly dead. Thus he never finds out what that one thing is. We find out what it is in Matt. 22:36-38. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment.
   If we love God, everything in else falls into place!
       
  Read 1Peter 2:21-24. According to this, how was Jesus able to suffer, be insulted, etc. without retaliating?

      What does it mean to entrust yourself?


      Read 1 Samuel 24:11-15. How did David model this principle?


  What's so awesome about Jesus in this chapter is He entrusts Himself to the Father in at least 5 different ways that we will look at. He not only left us an example as 1 Peter 2:21 says but He bore these things on His back on the cross so we wouldn't have to. Louie Giglio in his message on Isa. 53 says, "Every wrong that we have done and every wrong that has been done to us has been swallowed up in every right that Jesus has done and in every wrong that has been done to Him." Lets look at these 5 examples and stripes that Jesus bears for us in this passage in Mark on the crucifixion.

1. Jesus didn't feel the need to defend Himself
    Read Mark 15:1-5 and Isa. 53:7. What amazed Pilate?


    What crimes were they accusing Jesus of?
   A. Luke 23:2

   B. John 19:7

   C. Mark 14:58

  Read 1Peter 3:16. What defends us better than words?

 
  By no means does this mean we should not argue our case or try to defend ourselves when accused falsely. There are just times when you can't convince people, just let it rest and let the Father defend you and let Jesus take your false accusations on His stripes. The truth will eventually come out, if not in your lifetime, in eternity. Give an example of a time you were accused falsely and how it turned out;



  2. Jesus didn't feel the need to prove Himself

    Read the following verses and tell how He could have proved He was the son of God
    Luke 23:8-12

    Luke 22:64

    Matt. 27:42.
       What is contradictory in this verse?


    How did Jesus prove who He was in different ways than they expected?


    Do you ever feel the need to let the world know how great you are?
    Give an example when you felt the need to show or tell someone how great you were, maybe when you were being slighted or someone less "worthy" than you was being exalted.


  3. Jesus didn't feel the need to hide His vulnerability or weakness

    Read Mark 15:21,34. What 2 ways did Jesus show His vulnerability in these verses?


    Look back at Mark 14's lesson. How were the 3 early leaders of the church - Peter, Paul, and James vulnerable?


     In what ways to you hide your weaknesses in front of fellow Christians especially, to save spiritual face? Give some examples.


   4. Jesus didn't feel the need to be pitied.

      Read Luke 23:27-31. How were the women showing Jesus pity?

      How did He respond to that?

      What are some practical applications for that in your life?


    5. Jesus didn't feel the need for revenge

      Read Luke 23:32-47 and Matt. 27:44. How did Jesus respond to those who had wronged Him?


       What were the positive results?

       Read Rom.12:19-21. What does Paul say in regards to this topic?


      Have you ever sought to get revenge or are currently biding your time until you can get revenge? Describe it. How has it turned out?


 Summary

      You might say, "That's all well and good but Jesus was God and I'm not. There is no way I could do all these things." Well, there is a clue to how Jesus managed to succeed. If you get a red letter Bible and go through Matthew 26,27 Mark 14,15 Luke 22,23 and John 18,19 looking at all the things Jesus says matching them with cross references to the Old Testament you can see that in His times of crises and mistreatment He lived and breathed scripture. Are you in the Word everyday so that you are able to see past the temporal into the eternal and entrust yourself to the One who judges justly? Then look at these red letters and count how much time in His hour of abuse did He offer prayers to the Father. I know - Bible Study and Prayer - Sunday School answers. Might as well add witnessing too! OK if you want to, He does a lot of that too! Whether these are trite answers or not, these are what Jesus did and we must also if we want to be able to thrive in these areas.
        Entrust yourself to the Father knowing that He loves you so much that He allowed all this abuse to be heaped on His Son because this was the ONLY way to save you. Jesus carried this abuse on the cross so you can give it up instead of carrying it yourself. He proved Himself by staying on the cross when He could have come down. He proved His Godliness by forgiving the people that did this to Him, and saving people by not saving Himself. Look forward to the times when all the wrongs will be made right and entrust yourself to the one who is in charge of all that.

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 14

                                CHAPTER 14

Read Mark 14 (all 72 verses!) and circle every time the word broke appears.  Now read Matt. 21:44. According to this verse how must we come to Jesus?

     Watch this old Fram oil filter commercial and tell what it has to do with this verse.

             
  We are to come to Jesus broken like the following video and allow Him to pick up the pieces and put them back together in the shape He wants. Unfortunately (well, actually it's not that unfortunate it just complicates matters) we usually come to Jesus as kids and rather than being broken we just incorporate Him into our lives. Because of that, our lives are a series of breakings where God is peeling off , usually painfully, areas of unbrokenness in order to transform us into the image of His Son. Lets look at this Mark passage and see how this all pans out from these three episodes of brokenness.

  1. Read John 12:1-8 and Mark 14:1-11. In these we see that this episode of anointing, done by Lazarus' sister Mary, probably occurred the Saturday before Palm Sunday. Mark is including it out of order because he is explaining why Judas betrayed Jesus. According to John, what was the last straw for Judas?

     How much was the perfume worth?


    How was it gotten out of the bottle?


     What do we learn about brokenness from this episode?


     What did her brokenness enable her to understand that no one else seemed to "get"?


     Read Mark 12:43. How is Mary like the widow?


    Read Mark 10:17-23. How is Judas like the rich young ruler?


    Read Mark 14:12-19. Look at the response of the disciples in regard Christ saying one of them would betray Him.  What is surprising about the way they responded?


2. Read Mark 14:22-26 and 1Cor 11:23-26. How was Jesus broken at the crucifixion considering no bones were broken?

     What if I told you the Greek for broken in this context means "broken off". How was Jesus broken off for us?

      Still struggling? Look at "cup" in the following verses and tell what cup Jesus was going to receive and why He wanted to avoid it.

        Job 21:20

        Isa. 51:17,22

        Jer. 25:17,28

       Jer. 49:12

       Lam. 4:21

       Ezek. 23:31-33

      Hab. 2:16

      Zech. 12:2

   Look at the end of verse 36. What is the hallmark quote of a broken person?

   Read verses 60-64. Jesus basically incriminated Himself. What does that tell you about Jesus?


3.  Read vs. 27-31. What was Peter's bold promise?

     Read vs. 66-72. Did he keep it?

     Read vs. 37,38. Give one reason why he "chickened" out?

    Read John 18:26. Give another reason.

    In vs. 72 we see Peter "broke" down and wept. (NIV) The Greek for broke here is epiballo which means to throw one's self upon. Wow, deja vu. Remember how we started (Matt. 21:44)? Peter throws Himself on the Rock. He is broken to pieces. Now Jesus can use him. Read Jesus' cryptic warning to Peter in  Luke 22:31,32. Because Peter fell, was broken, and put back together again, what was he able to do?

   Peter was one broken leader of the early church. Read Acts 9:1-18 and explain Paul's brokenness experience.


    Read John 7:3-5,  Acts 15:12-21, 1Cor. 15:4-7. Speculate on the brokenness experience of James, the half brother of Jesus.


Have you had a brokenness moment? Describe it.



Summary

      Obviously, the word for today is brokenness. We must fall into Jesus and be broken to pieces so He can put us back together into what He wants us to be. For most of us, this is a lifelong process rather than immediate. When you compare a broken Mary to an unbroken Judas, you see a person who views money and possessions as worthless compared to the Pearl of great price vs. a person who sees Jesus as an investment to cash in on. He was with Jesus for the ride until he saw that the investment was about to go south and Judas "cashed in". Before we are too hard on Judas, we all, like the disciples have a little bit of him inside. Notice when Jesus said, "someone will betray me" they didn't say, "It's Judas isn't it?" They said "is it me?" Even though they had thought they had left everything to follow Him, when the time came we see them hang on to their lives. And when their hope is gone in John 21 we see them going back to fishing. Mary, like the flask of perfume, was spent. It was all or nothing for Jesus. There was no going back and because of this, she alone understood that He was going to die and she anointed Him. She broke the expensive flask (which maybe they bought because Lazarus died and they didn't need it anymore) and poured it on Jesus and the perfume was spent. It was gone. It could be used on nothing again. It was all used on Jesus. Our lives are to be that way. There should be no plan B, no safety net. We are all in for Jesus.
      The next episode of brokenness shows that Jesus was all in for us. The agony in the garden probably was caused by a foretaste of the wrath of God, the cup, being poured on Him as our sins were placed on Him. This rejection, not the fear of the agony of the cross, was probably what made Him desire plan B. However, there is no plan B. People say, "I can't believe in a God that is so narrow minded that He would only give one way to get to Heaven. Believe me; if there was another way, don't you think He would have spared His agonizing Son! Yet we see Jesus saying the key phrase of the broken - all in life; "Not my will but Thine be done"
     The last episode is when Peter broke down and wept after denying Christ. The Greek word could be translated "to throw oneself upon".  When we look at the broken verse in Matthew 21:44 we see the 2 options; throw yourself upon Christ and be broken to pieces so He can put you back together or have Him fall on you at judgment time and be crushed by His judgment like the following video:

              
 Simon threw himself on the rock, was broken, and rebuilt by the resurrected Christ and the Holy Spirit as the rock (Peter) that the church was built on. Imagine Saul on the road to Damascus being blinded by the light and confronted that he was trying to stamp out the truth by the Truth. He sat in the dark rethinking his whole wasted life for days until Annanias came to heal him and point the now broken Paul in the right direction. I am reminded of Jacob being broken by the wrestling angel and being renamed Israel. What is it about broken people being renamed? Lastly, James the brother of Jesus making fun of his half brother until his brother raises from the dead and appears to him. When James realized his error he was completely broken and became the early leader of the church.
      We all need to be broken to be used. If you are going through trials and trouble take heart that God is chiseling away the unbroken parts of you to reveal His masterpiece underneath.

Kids Video Devotion - Looking on the Bright Side

1. Watch the following Doug episode

        2. Doug trivia -
          What are the names of the Beets band members?

      3. Name all the bad things that happened to Doug and Skeeter. How many things did they cause?

       4. Name all the good things that happened to Doug and Skeeter.

       5. Do you think they will look back on this and consider it a good experience or bad? Why?

       6. Do you know who the first king of Israel was? Do you know how he got to be king? Read 1Samuel 9:1-20 and 10:1. What bad thing happened to Saul? What good thing happened to Saul?

       7. Now look at Joseph. Read Gen. 50:15-21. What bad things happened to Joseph? What good things happened to him?

        8. Read Rom. 8:28. What does this verse mean to you?

        9. Have you ever had something bad happen that turned out for good? Explain.


Note to parents/teachers

       The Bible is full of examples of people who had bad things happen to them, some due to their own bad choices, that God used for good.Joseph got sold into slavery to save his family from a famine. Saul lost his donkeys to meet Samuel and get anointed king. Persecution broke out in Acts which made the Christians flee which spread the gospel. Paul was shipwrecked so that he could end up on Malta and bring the gospel there. He had an illness that landed him in another town. He ended up in jail so he could lead the jailer to the Lord. Not to mention Jesus who for the glory set before Him and the salvation of the world died on the cross.
    God has a plan for your life that only you can accomplish and He is going to allow things into your life, some of them painful, some of them caused by your own stupidity or sinfulness, that are going to shape you and move you into a place where you can do that job for Him. In this episode, Doug missed out on tickets but then got some from Judy. Then he met a real live trucker but then missed his ride and was stranded in the middle of nowhere. Then a policeman took him to the concert but he didn't have his tickets. Then he got back stage passes and met the Beets. As Christians, bad things always happen for a purpose. Non-Christians believe in fate, luck, etc. because they have rejected the One who created them and rejected His plan over their life. Their life will have an unhappy ending. That's why we desperately need to witness to them. Our life will end at something more glorious than a Beets concert and maybe if God allows it, we will even get to see why we went through the tough times here on Earth before He explains it all to us in Heaven.When bad things happen don't get too bummed out. Look for the good that God is going to bring through it.

Kid's Video Devotion - Lying

1. Watch the Doug episode

       2. Doug trivia
          Give 2 out of 3 of Doug's cousins' names. (real cousins not made up ones)
     
       3. Read Genesis 12:10-20  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+12%3A10-20&version=MSG   What lie did Abraham tell?
     Why did he tell it?
     Who all was affected by it?
     Read Genesis 26:7-9   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+26%3A7-9&version=MSG   Who else was affected?
     What principles can you learn about lying?

      4. Who all lied in this episode of Doug?
      5. Have you ever told a lie? Did you have to tell more to keep it going? Did other people have to lie for you?
     6. Read John 8:44 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8%3A44&version=TLB
   What is so bad about lying?
    7. What should Doug have done when Connie asked him to the dance? Is that what you would have done?

Note to teachers/parents;

   In this episode, Doug lied to Connie because he wanted to go to the dance with Patty. Suddenly he risked being exposed as a liar so he had to bring Porkchop, Skeeter, and Judy into it. Lies take on a life of themselves. Look at the athletes that have denied taking steroids. They have to keep lying over and over and eventually hurt their friends. Better to tell the truth the first time. It is hard because we are embarrassed. afraid, ashamed, etc. but all that shows we care more about what people think than what God thinks. God is the father of truth and satan is the father of lies. Anytime we lie it makes Satan happy. Do you want to make the devil happy or God. Well then, always tell the truth!

What's So Awesome About Jesus? A Chapter by Chapter Study Through Mark - Chapter 13

                                 CHAPTER 13

1. Read Mark 13:1,2. What was Jesus' response to the disciple's comment?


     What point do you think He was making?


     Last week we learned about Jesus being focused. Look at the following passages and tell how Jesus is focused in them:

      Luke 13:1-5

      Luke 10:17,20

      John 3:1-3

    How do they compare to Mark 13:1,2.

     Here is a historical description of Jesus' prophecy being fulfilled in 70 AD although only John would have been alive to hear of this.

     The Jewish zealots, reacting in opposition to Caligula’s campaign began a revolt against Rome, a revolt which led to Roman legion soldiers from Syria destroying the food stocks of the Zealots and the local Jewish population. The inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem died in great numbers via starvation. (Luke 21:20-23) Roman General Titus encircled the city, (later became Caesar) and began the siege of Jerusalem in April, A.D. 70. He posted his 10th legion on the Mount of Olives, directly east of and overlooking the Temple Mount. The 12th and 15th legions were stationed on Mount Scopus, further to the east and commanding all ways to Jerusalem from east to north. On the 10th of August, in A.D. 70 – (the 9th of Av) -- in Jewish calendar reckoning, the very day when the King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C., the Temple was burned again. Titus took the city and put it to the torch, burning the Temple, leaving not one stone upon another.
Thus, Jerusalem was totally destroyed and as Jesus had predicted, and not one stone was left upon another. When the Temple was set on fire the Roman soldiers tore apart the stone to get the melted gold.

2. Read Matthew 24:3. What question do the disciples ask?

     Who is His audience?

      Is there any significance to the fact that this is a question answered in private?


3. Read Mark 13:5-37 and underline every time deceive, watch out, on guard, alarmed, stand firm, don't worry, and be alert appears. Why do you think He is telling the disciples this information?


   What part of this passage may or will occur in their lifetime? (9-13)


     What promise is given them in that pertinent passage?


     What warning is given to them?

4. Read Revelation 6. List the untoward events that these 2 passages have in common.



      What does this tell you about Jesus?

 
  5. Read Mark 13:14. What is the abomination of desolation? (opinion)


      According to Daniel 9:27 when does it occur?


      Note "let the reader understand". What does this tell you about Jesus?


      Who is Jesus "writing" this for?


       According to your eschatology, who are the readers going to be?


       What does that tell you about Jesus?


6. Read Matt 24:13 and 2 Peter 3:11,12. These verses have inspired multiple churches and organizations to missions. Explain why.


      In context with the tribulation, read Rev. 14:6,7. How might this also explain this Matthew passage?



Summary
     A lot of Christians really get into prophecy. My family is one of them. Growing up in the 60's and 70's I was exposed to the furor with Israel becoming a nation in 1948 or 1967 officially. Therefore passages like "this generation (is that 40 or 100 years?) will not pass away until this is accomplished..." took on meaning it hadn't since the Bible's completion. We were convinced since the fig tree (Israel) had blossomed, Jesus would come back at least by 2007! Here we are in 2014 and we see how difficult it is to understand prophecy. There was even a book 88 reasons why Jesus will come back in '88 which you can see from 1948 + 40 year generation how people bought into this. My parents, my dad passed away in 2013, moved to a retirement community in Boca Raton Florida called Bibletown, which no longer exists, and they were treated to weekly conferences of speakers 50% of whom talked about prophecy. With this sub population of 70+ year olds, all of which wanted to avoid death and be raptured, you can understand the interest. The Jesus movement of the 60's and 70's was spurred on by Hal Lindsay's book, The Late Great Planet Earth and one of the hallmarks of the Jesus movement was the teaching of the immenent return of Christ.
    Although prophecy is something to study as seen by the fact that Jesus spent a whole chapter of His 16 chapter book of Mark discussing it, in a book that has very little teaching and mainly action, it is one of those topics that we need to be careful about. First of all, it isn't meant for unbelievers; there are much more important things to share with them. Notice Jesus takes the disciples aside and gives Mark 13 in private. Secondly, it can divide us and Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17 pleaded with the Father to make us one. The common thread has to be to live as if He is coming back tomorrow and live urgently and keep the Kingdom of Heaven in mind at all times to live effectively here and please the Lord. (Heb. 11:14-16) Anything more than that is not to be argued about because "the Lord's servant is not quarrelsome". Lastly, as seen in Chapter 12, what's so awesome about Jesus is that He was focused. People tried to get Him off track with political, social, theological arguments and He kept coming back to what really mattered. Throughout the gospels we see this; Nicodemus said, "We know You are a teacher sent from God..." Jesus response -"You must be born again" When asked about natural disasters in Luke 13 His response was basically, "If that happened to you do you know where you will go?" When the 72 came back and said "Even the demons submit to us" Jesus response - "Rejoice rather that you are going to Heaven". And in this passage we see the disciples rightfully marveling at the splendor of the temple and Jesus basically says,"It's all going to burn" (which btw it did in 70AD) The point is that we need not get sidetracked but focus on loving God and loving people until He comes back which might be soon so we better get busy.
      With all that in mind, we approach this passage and realize that it really wasn't written to the 12. Like John 17:20 where Jesus is praying not only for the 12 but future believers, he comes right out in Mark 13:14 (and Matt. 24:15) and says "Let the reader understand". As Jesus is talking to the disciples, He is also writing the Bible! He knows what He is saying will be written down and read by us. Now certainly the part about standing before authorities in persecution related to the disciples and encouraging them that this is to be expected, not feared, and don't fall away - but most of the rest won't happen in their lifetime. In fact, if my eschatology is right, it won't happen in my lifetime either. I believe these signs begun in Revelation 6 will be during the tribulation and we will be raptured. I believe this for 7 reasons
    1. Biblical examples of Lot, Noah, Rahab, even Joseph removing his family from famine. These were all people taken out before judgment occurred.
    2. We are told we don't know the day of His return. Actually if we are here it will be 1260 days from when the antichrist sits in the temple and declares himself to be god. (Rev. 12:6)
    3. we are told to live urgently as it will come unaware. If we will be here we will have plenty of signs to watch for so we can slack off
    4. We are the salt of the earth - we are the preservative. When we leave the restrainer - the holy Spirit - will be taken out of the way (2 Thes. 2:6-8) and make way for the tribulation
    5. God's people are not appointed for wrath 1Thes. 5:9
    6. Jewish weddings last a week. When the bridegroom comes and takes us away to the wedding feast (Rev.19) it will last 7 years and then we will come back with Him to face Armegeddon
    7. Rev. 1-4 mentions the church but it is missing chapters 6-18 during the tribulation.

  Anyway, if that is true, not only is Jesus not writing this for the 12 or us who believe, but rather He is thinking of those who rejected Him until it was too late, so He gave them one more chance and wrote them a tribulation playbook so they wouldn't lose their faith. He is writing Revelations before John! What's so awesome about Jesus? While He should be the one needing consoling about His upcoming crucifixion that He is willingly walking into, He is consoling and warning those who will deny Him, flee from Him, fall asleep on Him, and reject Him. What amazing love. Normally we extrapolate His love for us by seeing how He loved Biblical people but here we see Him directly loving us out of the Bible times people and this during His last days on earth. Love outside of time. That is what is so awesome about Jesus!