Posted by Pastor Pat on April 26, 2009
Our text is found in Matthew and Luke, but excluded from Mark. If we follow Mark’s reading, Matthew 12:30 is wedged between the statements concerning the strong one and the sin of blasphemy (Mark 3:27, 28). In looking at the passage there is a primary idea.
Jesus is King, and His kingdom has overthrown the prince of the power of the air. He is removing enslaved citizens of darkness and transferring them into the kingdom of light. The story begun in Genesis is coming to fruition in the arrival of the woman’s seed, the seed of Abraham and of David. Jesus has subjugated sin, separation, and Satan. He has conquered and we are living in His victory. Jesus Christ is the victor. He has destroyed all of His opponents. All who oppose Him will bow before Him.
Early church father, Augustine, noted how, “Christ came to plunder the strong man’s good – the devil’s hold upon the ungodly.” ([emphasis added] Augustine, in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament II – Mark, 41). Jesus has dethroned the Devil; the one who bound others would now be bound. The text shows us two kingdoms in conflict. One sits in a position of possessor, and the other comes to take back what is rightfully His. Ultimately the two lie in mortal combat. It is impossible for the two ever to be reconciled.
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Filed Under: Mark
Posted by Pastor Pat on April 19, 2009
“Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” John 20:17
Often in reading the Scripture, we skim past great oceans of truth and thus fail to appreciate the height, depth, width, and breadth of what we just read. I believe John 20:17 is one of those untapped “oceans.”
In the words of our Lord, something powerful happened because of the cross. The alienated become brethren, the orphaned become adopted and the wayward become worshippers. Jesus uses an Old Testament formula to speak of the relationship His people have to their God, “My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (Ex. 6:7; Lev. 26:12 ['I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people']; Jer. 7:23; 30:22; Ezek. 36:28). “His words are reminiscent of Ruth’s words to Naomi: ‘your people shall be my people and your God my God’ (Ruth 1:16)” (F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p.391). The language is that of the covenant made with Israel and promised to Israel. Let us not miss the slight alteration in our Lord’s expansion of this idea. Jesus identifies Himself with His people. Jesus includes us in His family. Let us for a moment recall the statement of our Lord in John 15:14-15.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 15, 2009
Read Mark 3:13-19
I find this statement intriguing. Why twelve, and why these twelve and not some other group or number? Although the purpose of God is knowable, it is not exhaustible. The intricacies of God’s purpose will forever be shrouded behind the veil of infinity. Even though we cannot exhaust the subject as to why God appointed these twelve to be with Him, it still permits us to note several salient features.
First, what is of interest is that Jesus chose individuals to be a part of a larger community, a fellowship if you will. Christianity is not lived in isolation. The idea of being a hermit for Jesus is untenable.
“The Christian is something which from the beginning had to be discovered and lived out in a fellowship. The whole essence of Christianity was that it bound men to their fellows, and presented them with the task of living with each other and for each other.” (William Barclay, Mark, 73, 74).
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 12, 2009
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
Why should I assemble with the saints of God on a weekly basis? What place or importance is Sunday morning worship to have in my life? Why should I attend weekly gatherings outside of Sunday morning? What contributions do such activities make in my Christian walk?
Often weekly church attendance can have a place of importance until something else comes up. Most of the time we are regular in our attendance, but sometimes other “things” crowd out our weekly attendance. Things like camping trips, fishing trips, family gatherings, or simple laziness can excuse us from attending. What place are “religious” activities to have in the Christian life and why should we attend to these things?
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 10, 2009
Read Mark 3:7-12
The paragraph before us (Mark 3:7-12) forms a transition from one idea (Mark 2:1-3:6) to that of selecting His twelve disciples (3:13ff). It is both a summary and an introduction. In summarizing the ministry of Jesus, no statement is made concerning His teaching ministry. Such an idea is assumed and established earlier in chapters 1 and 2 (1:21, 22; 2:13; 4:1, 2; 6:2, 6, 34; etc.).
Jesus taught. He always was teaching. Jesus used every means at His disposal to preach God and call people’s attention to God. Yet, how do we “mesh” the two ideas of preaching the gospel and helping our fellow man?
The gospel of Jesus Christ addresses the whole of the individual. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not simply proclamational. It is also incarnational. The gospel feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and provides a cup of cold water to the thirsty (Matt. 24). The gospel produces humanitarian activity. Christianity causes us to care. Ministries of mercy are intrinsic to the gospel of Jesus Christ. For many years I was only focused on the proclamation of the gospel, caring little about the physical needs of those around me. I was not taught to care. The church’s “business” was to preach Christ. I still believe this, but I have fleshed out what this preaching looks like considerably in recent years. I now have come to understand the other aspect of the good news. What does this look like based on the statement of our Lord in Luke 4:18? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
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Filed Under: Mark
Posted by Pastor Pat on April 6, 2009
Read Mark 3:1-6
How do we live so as to produce life and not death? Christ brings liberty to the captive, sight to the blind, healing to the sick, and power to the impotent (Luke 4). How do we become ambassadors of such truth without “selling out”? How do we maintain the purity of the gospel without forsaking the purpose of the gospel?
First, it is the truth that sets people free (John 8:32). Paul celebrates this idea in the letter to the Galatians. The power of the cross frees people in captivity. Regardless as to the means, when the content of the cross is shared, people go free. The cross cannot help but do what it was designed to do. It brings hope, heals, and restores wholeness to the despairing, the diseased, and the dysfunctional. Second, from Mark 2:23-3:6 one can see how it is possible for the “shadow” of rules, rituals, and regulations to rob people of their relationship with God. Yet how do we guard ourselves and the ministry entrusted to us from becoming consumed by those things that kill rather than bring life. Is it possible to know if the shadow has become the end rather than the means to the end? Consider the following two thoughts.
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Filed Under: Mark
Posted by Pastor Pat on April 3, 2009
The essence of the Christian life is the relationship His people have with Him. There is nothing else comparable to or capable of replacing this. No amount of form, asceticism, indulgence, discipline, method, structure, program, or religion can replace the centerpiece of the Christian faith which is a relationship between God and His people.
This relationship is secured by God in the offering up of His Son for the sins of His people. The relationship begins in God and is sustained by God. Unfortunately, all we seem to do is clutter the relationship with nonessentials. Everything created and all biblical revelation points us to Him. Somehow in the journey we deviate and find detours that lead us from God by stopping us short of enjoying Him, and we end up existing in the shadow-lands of God’s person and work.
I cannot speak for everyone, so I will not attempt to. What I will do is speak what I know and experience. I have a propensity to replace the best with the good and the good will always be the enemy of the best. Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, singing, reading, and fellowship (to name just a few) are all good things, but none of them were ever meant to be ends in themselves. Such things, if noted incorrectly, will becomes ends, and in so doing, take us away from God and will not draw us to God. Is it not simply amazing how something that is good can become the enemy of the best? When any of our disciplines become duties, then its time to take a break and evaluate why we do what we do. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
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Filed Under: Mark
Posted by Pastor Pat on April 1, 2009
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins,
and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
Read Mark 2:18-22
As a pastor of a long standing fellowship (50 plus years), I find this thought, “New Wine in Old Wineskins,” a persistent tension in today’s church. In failing to differentiate between the message of the gospel and the manner in which it is celebrated, we have generational divide and church families that are only one age and thus one dimensional. This is not the Church Jesus builds. Churches are to be generationally diverse and, if community dictates, ethnically varied. No one would ever think of having a church of only men or only women or only children. This would be unwise and foolish.
Any church that targets, and or has, only one thing will become stagnant and predictable. Such a church is either dying or dead. How can we keep a generationally diverse fellowship and still celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ? It has been a grievous thing to see the young and the old leave the church because of change or non-change. Either the change is too fast or the church is not changing fast enough. Either way everyone loses. The gospel is not changing, but the manner in which it is celebrated must change and that change might happen every twenty years.
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Filed Under: Mark
