Truth Baptist Church
Mark 3:7

      • Mark 3:7–19ESV

      • Mark 2:23–3:6ESV

  • Two Wrong Ways of Recognizing Jesus
    Jesus withdraws
    According to Edwards this is the only time Mark uses the term “withdraws” in his gospel account
    Jesus is probably withdrawing from the opposition He has been facing since Ch2:1
    From the (5) conflicts He’s had with the Pharisees
    He’s creating some space between Him and His enemies who are now conspiring to kill him
    Jesus apparently moved out of the bustling town of Capernaum which was along the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee
    And moves with His disciples to a more deserted area
    Jesus was likely attempting to have some intentional alone time with His disciples
    But the crowds continue to follow Jesus
    Where ever He goes they go
    And this sounds like a good thing, at least they’re following Jesus right?
    But their motives are completely self-serving
    They have superficial reasons for seeing and being around Jesus
    But Jesus never stops the people from following Him
    The crowds are growing in size, they were large but they continue to grow still larger
    Word about Jesus has traveled far and wide
    Mark, by the Spirit, describes here the distances people were willing to travel to see Jesus live and in person
    People were coming from Galilee, this is the immediate region right around Capernaum
    They came from Judea and Jerusalem which was roughly 75 miles to the south
    Idumea was a large region in the southern part of Israel about 150 miles away, and included the Southern tip of Israel with the town of Beersheba
    Dan to Beersheba was a popular idiom of Israel’s Northern and Southern most geographical cities
    Beyond the Jordan references people coming from the East
    This would be modern day Jordan
    Matthew refers to this area as the Decapolis
    It was 10 mostly gentile Greek influenced cities on the east of the Jordan river
    Tyre and Sidon were positioned on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and were 50 miles Northwest of the Sea of Galilee
    Mark is telling us that people are coming from every direction North, South, East and West to see Jesus
    This is a hodgepodge group
    Jesus is drawing a large variety of individual’s and social group comprising these large crowds
    There were many Jews, both the deeply religious, and the marginally religious
    We’ve also seen how the outcasts of Jewish society who are attracted to Jesus as well
    Signs also point to gentiles being drawn to Jesus because Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis were gentile cities and areas so it makes sense a large contingency of Gentiles are included in this crowd
    Possibly in an effort to not disrupt life inside the town of Capernaum Jesus withdraws from the town and probably goes just north of Capernaum toward the mouth of Jordan
    This would have been close to where John the Baptist had operated
    But He stays by the Sea of Galilee
    The crowds follow Him there
    And they are jockeying for position to be close to Jesus
    Jesus has His disciples prepare a boat
    From the boat, He can teach, and it will create a natural buffer from the crowd
    And provides some nice acoustics allowing His voice to travel
    That will keep the crowd from crushing Him
    This crowd has some mob like tendencies
    There selfish is displayed by the fact they almost crush Jesus
    James Edwards puts it like this
    The Gospel according to Mark The Open-Air Preacher (3:7–12)

    The crowd is a paradox. Its needs command Jesus’ attention, and Jesus is fully attentive to the misery present in its numbers, but its clamor is not a response of faith.

    A few weeks ago we discussed this paradox that one of the crowds main characteristics was obstructing access to Jesus
    They got in the way of people who really needed to see Him
    The healings Jesus is providing is the reason these people constantly pressing around Him
    Consider the woman who just touched just the hem of His garment and was instantly healed
    Healing power flowed out from Jesus
    These people were clamoring for that healing power
    The majority of this crowd are here to see Jesus for the wrong reasons
    Some are there for a quick fix to a long-time sickness
    And many are healed by Christ and walk away and get on with their own lives once Jesus provides the physical healing they needed
    Remember the (10) lepers that Jesus healed in Luke 17,
    Do you remember how many returned to Him to thank Him for the healing?
    - It was only (1) and he was a Samaritan
    Many were coming for a miraculous show
    They wanted to witness a healing even if they didn’t need one
    Maybe they wanted to witness an exorcism first hand
    They are not interested in the message Jesus is preaching or in becoming His disciples
    Wrong Recognition number 1 just wanting to get something out of Jesus
    Have you ever been a friendship where you felt like you were being used?
    I was 21 years old when I went to college, I worked for 3 years after high school
    Trying to figure out where to go to College, and what to study while I was there
    So I had the privilege of using my car as a freshman because I was 3 years older then most freshmen
    My freshman year I had quite a few friends who took advantage of me having a car
    They would hit me up so we could get off campus and grab some chick-fil-a or some Zaxbys
    But we weren’t real friends
    And I knew in the moment I was kind of being used
    This is a big problem in western Christianity
    Jesus is frequently used to get other things
    To get over an addiction
    A good Christian spouse
    For monetary gain, i.e. prosperity preaching
    To be part of a Church family or social group
    To be around people with similar morals
    Many of us were initially saved because we wanted to ensure we would not end up in hell
    But even ensuring escape from eternal punishment is an ulterior motive
    And these are good by-products of following Jesus, but they cannot be the main reason we follow Him
    All these things are secondary benefits
    Often we are blind to the fact we’re using Jesus to get something else
    We need to honest reflect, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything we might be using Him for and prizing over Him
    We must come to Jesus, just to get Jesus, He is the prize
    He must be our primary motivation for coming to Him
    He is the provider of the redemption we need
    He is the example we must follow Heb 12:2
    Hebrews 12:2 ESV
    looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
    Jesus is both the means and He is the ends
    John Piper says “He is the path of salvation, and He is the Destination the Treasure at the end of that Path”
    Heaven is Heaven because the Lamb who was slain is there
    When He becomes a means for us to have other things, we have replaced His preeminence
    We’ve put the emphasis on the wrong syllable
    We have replaced Him, with something that is unable to satisfy our souls
    Because only He can fulfill our deepest longings
    When our ulterior motives inevitably fail us we find He is the One we’ve been searching for along
    The healings main purpose are to be signs proving His message is from God Himself
    The signs of making the blind to see, and the lame to walk where prophesied in the OT
    These miracles are also a glimpse into what the Kingdom of God looks like in a perfect world
    A world without disease or infirmities
    But Jesus places the emphasis on the message He is preaching
    A message of repentance that He has brought the Kingdom of God near
    And this boat provides a pulpit for Jesus to teach from
    Then we see the remarkable recognition of the demons/ unclean Spirits
    They Recognize Jesus
    The dark side of the spiritual world had deeply penetrated the culture of 1st century Judea
    Demon possession was heavy and pervasive throughout this culture
    Logos says: “The concentration of these encounters in the Gospel narratives emphasizes Christ’s redemptive mission against spiritual oppression”
    Verse 11 says “Whenever” Jesus came in close proximity to a possessed person
    The demons seeing Jesus would fall down before Him
    They act out reverent posture before Jesus, their natural response
    Seemingly an involuntary response
    To seeing Him is to visually demonstrate His superiority over them
    The demons always cry out , honestly acknowledging who He is
    “The Son of God”
    They are the only ones who up to this point, acknowledge the deity of Christ, in Mark
    Edwards points out these demons have a better understanding of Jesus compared even to His disciples
    It’s still early in Jesus ministry and His disciples are still forming their understanding of Jesus by their daily observations and interactions
    The thrust of this passage aren’t the exorcisms Jesus performs but highlighting Jesus’ total control over unclean spirit’s
    It showcases the Power Jesus has over demons
    An Authority that Mark first recorded in ch1:24,
    As we pointed out in Chapter 1 Jesus doesn’t want these demons shouting who He is
    He strictly orders them to be quiet
    Exalting Jesus in Mark says “It is both the wrong source and the wrong time”
    “Jesus real revelation will come at the Cross of Calvary”
    That is when He will be high and lifted up
    The demons acknowledge of Jesus feeds the frenzy of those who believe He is there to overthrow the Romans and setup an earthly Kingdom
    He also does not want, what some could mistakenly perceived as the demon’s implied support
    The demons acknowledge of Him probably created some confusion to the observing crowd
    We are reminded, there is a faith in God that even the demons possess
    Satan knows without doubt that God is real, Satan and his demons have been in the presents of God
    And they are still diabolically opposed to Him
    And are actively working against Him even with their deep understanding of who He is
    Just knowing God is real, it does not create a love for Him
    It does not transform
    The demons are not followers of Jesus and will never be saved
    There is no conviction in their acknowledgement of who Jesus is
    There’s mainly fear and they are just stating a fact, one they are forced or compelled to admit
    But not a fact they will obediently and humbly submit to
    And so I ask is our faith one of simply acknowledging who Jesus is
    Many readily admit Jesus is the Son of God, and believe it to be true
    But that confession doesn’t affect any change on their mindsets or their lifestyles
    And isn’t felt in their hearts
    They aren’t disciples, they are not actively modeling their life after Jesus
    James 2:19 ESV
    You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
    May the Holy Spirit grant us to humbly submit and obey Jesus, and not only recognize He is God without spiritual transformation
    But like Thomas say, My Lord, and my God
    Now that we’ve see (2) wrong ways to recognize Christ
    The Right Way to Recognize Jesus
    In Verses 13-20 we see Jesus’ appointment of the (12) Apostles
    In the choosing of the Apostles Jesus is setting the foundation of His Church
    Ephesians 2:20 ESV
    ...the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
    This is the foundation we are standing on 2000 years later
    Jesus goes up on a mountain to accomplish this work
    Mountains are important in Jesus ministry
    His most famous sermon is the SOM
    He was transfigured on a Mountain
    The great commission was given on a mountain, just before Jesus ascended
    Dr Luke tells us that Jesus had spent the whole previous night in prayer Luke 6:12
    Luke 6:12 ESV
    In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
    This proves the gravity of the choice of choosing of these men, that Jesus would devote the whole night praying about them and over them
    Jesus very specifically choses these 12
    Remember this is different from all other rabbis
    Typically the student would choose the rabbis, like we choose a college
    Jesus specifically and individually calls His disciples
    There is a general call to all “come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden”
    Then there is a specific call John 6:37
    John 6:37 ESV
    All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
    Here we see an even more specific call
    James Edwards says the Greek used here is strongly worded and could be translated this way
    “Jesus summoned those whom He willed”
    Notice: Jesus isn’t calling them to learn the torah, He’s not calling them to show them the way to God
    James says “Jesus is the sole and exclusive subject of the call”
    It’s a fine point I’m trying to drive home here, but I’m doing it because I read over this too quickly, and missed it myself
    And it was Edward’s commentary that woke me up to the magnitude of what it means that little phrase
    Mark 3:13 ESV
    And he went up on the mountain and called to Him those whom he desired, and they came to Him.
    Jesus is calling them to Himself
    We just read verses from Matt, Mark, and John In all 3 of these verses
    Jesus is saying “come to Me”
    These Disciples demonstrate a proper recognition of Christ
    By going to Jesus, just to know and be with Jesus
    We are follow Jesus
    The more Jesus we get the better we understand the heart of God
    Because Jesus is the revelation of who God is
    In Jesus we see the personification of wisdom
    This is displayed in Jesus masterfully handling the traps of the pharisees
    It’s seen in Jesus’ teachings revealing the spirit of the Law in the OT and not His rigid application of it
    Jesus beautifully demonstrates the compassion of God for the downtrodden, the outcast, and the sinner
    The better citizen of Kingdom of God we will be
    The importance of Jesus cannot be over stated
    We must study His life, believe in His atoning Death, and celebrate His triumph resurrection
    And rest knowing He is our advocate with the Father
    Jesus is the bow, we are the arrow, and Jesus is the target and Prize
    Jesus gives these men a specific title of “Apostle”
    It basically means “to send out”
    It carries a deeper meaning than just a messenger
    Logos says: It points to a representative who carried the authority of the person sending them
    They were authorized agents sent specifically by Jesus, very similar to the idea of ambassadors
    Ambassadors are empowered to speak on behalf of the country they represent
    There are charismatic churches who call their pastors Apostles
    But we see Apostle as a title reserved for those who were specially called by Jesus while He was on this earth
    And individuals like Paul, who called himself, “(an apostle) as one untimely born” 1 cor 15:7-9
    And least of the apostles because of his persecution of the church
    Mark provides a basic job description of these apostles in V14 & 15
    They were to be with Him
    This entailed watching Him, learning from Him Matt 11:29
    Matthew 11:29 ESV
    Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
    I’ve heard that when they yoked oxen together for plowing a field or pulling a cart, they would typically put an older mature Ox with a young Ox
    The older ox would guide and steady the younger
    In this verse Jesus calls for us to yoke up with Him, a yoke that He has shared
    Yoke up with Jesus! that’d be a great T-shirt, Don’t steal my T-shirt idea
    They simply followed Jesus
    James Edwards comments that the theme of following Jesus is the third most important one in Mark’s gospel account
    Following closely after the divine Sonship and the authority of Jesus
    “Discipleship is a relationship before it is Task”
    And while Christianity is a religion, at the core it, is our relationship with Jesus
    This again is the uniqueness of Christianity, that we begin a relationship with Jesus where He changes us from the inside out
    Not a religion where you change first then if you are good enough you are deemed worthy of a relationship with Jesus
    These Disciples are going to be the primary witnesses of Jesus, after He ascends back to heaven
    They are going to witness to Him Ministry, His life, His death, and most importantly His resurrection
    Little did they know He would only be with them for 3 short years
    They would be the initial Under Shepherds of a new Church started by Jesus
    Jesus is sending out these Apostles out to preach
    It’s astounding to me how quickly Jesus sends the disciples out to preach
    In ch6 we’re going to see Jesus send these guys out to the mission field sending them 2 by 2
    Jesus again places the emphasis on the preaching of the Good news of Jesus Christ
    These apostles are being sent to preach
    These men aren’t supposed to teach the people about their feelings on God
    They are supposed to share their experience of following Jesus and what He has taught them
    These were men that had little religious training
    Apart from the typical religious schooling Jewish boy would receive
    Yet they are being entrusted with the gospel message
    And finally they are given authority to cast out demons
    Jesus knows they will meet opposition from principalities and powers
    Just as He has and will
    And He grants them a special authority to face and overthrow these powers
    In the authority of Christ, they are to confront demons and not be afraid of them
    Judah is scared to death of the devil, as a family we are more aware then ever of the power of Satan
    Much of my life I tried not to think about him and his forces
    This was because of fear
    But I’m understanding more in my heart, that Jesus might and power is so much greater than Satan
    While we respect the power our enemy has
    We rest in the fact that God’s power infinitely out weights the might of principalities and powers that stand against Him
    And we are thankful for that fact
    Mark names the apostles
    The (3) synoptic gospel accounts provide 12 names each, there are some variations in the name, but we know a lot of these guys had (2) names so that accounts for those variations
    this appears to be written in order of a sort of seniority
    Peter tops the list in the 3 synoptic gospel accounts
    We know that Peter, James and John (made up Jesus inner circle)
    Jesus nicknames James and John the sons of thunder
    Probably due to them wanting to call lighting down on a town that rejected them
    They were a fiery dynamic duo
    Andrew, Peter’s brother, follows
    Then we have Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot
    Men of whom we know little from what is recorded in the Bible
    And that’s ok, because from this point on these men were living to promote one name and one only
    Jesus Christ, But Church history does tell us all but John died an execution death because of the Gospel
    Radically transformed, radically motivated to live and die for Jesus Christ
    Finally we’re introduced to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus
    This is an eclectic group of men
    There were (4) fishermen, a former tax collector, a former terrorist (Simon the Zealot)
    Zealots were known to use violence against the Roman oppressors
    Simon the Zealot probably had a very difficult time getting along with Matthew the tax collector
    As their former careers where diametrically opposed
    But in both being Disciples of Christ they had to learn to get along and work together
    And finally a traitor
    Jesus choses a traitor to be in His midst
    I think He did this, to prove to us that He also knows betrayal at the deepest level
    And will be betrayed by Judas with a kiss
    I’ve said this before but must reiterate, Jesus doesn’t pick these men because of any qualifications they possess or for character He sees inside of them
    But they have been picked because of what Jesus can turn them into
    Edwards points out the word the ESV translates “appointed” in the Greek is more accurately translated “Made” “He made twelve apostle”
    Jesus is not simply refining these men but He’s going to create them into something completely brand new
    And in this sense Jesus could be pointing to a new creation
    This is a form of a new Israel with the 12 tribes, now starting with 12 men
    Closing
    Are we recognizing Jesus in a wrong way?
    Are we using Jesus as a means to get something else
    Do we acknowledge who Jesus is without humbly submitting to Him
    Or are we Disciples Finish with A.W. Tozer quote on Photo

      • Hebrews 12:2ESV

      • James 2:19ESV

      • Ephesians 2:20ESV

      • Luke 6:12ESV

      • John 6:37ESV

      • Mark 3:13ESV

      • Matthew 11:29ESV

  • I Surrender All
Truth Baptist Church
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