Month: March 2021

Mark 1.12-13

‘At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[a] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.’

How real is spiritual conflict? Is there a difference between temptation that comes from a natural alienation from God’s ways, in other words simply conforming to the pattern of the world around us and spiritual evil? Is it relevant to contemporary Christian life? Hasn’t modern psychology replaced concepts of evil and temptation?

For the Christian the place to first look to answer these questions would be the bible and specifically Jesus’ life. Jesus differed from all other humans in that he was the only one who did not have what is known as a fallen nature. That can be thought of as a natural inclination to reject God and God’s ways. The purpose of Jesus’ coming was to restore the relationship between humanity and God. The angel explained to Joseph following Mary’s conception with Jesus that Mary will bear a son, ‘and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ Mathew 1.22 Jesus though experienced temptation that could not have come from a fallen nature. Mark tells us he was tempted by Satan.

Does that mean that all temptation, even most temptation comes from some spiritual source of evil? Paul recognises that even after his conversion, having personally had a vision of Jesus, having learnt great spiritual insights from the Holy Spirit and in human terms an incredible ministry, he still wrestled with the sin within himself. He graphically describes this inner wrestling, ‘For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.’ Romans7.17-18

There does therefore appear to be a difference between what might be termed an inner temptation and spiritual opposition including temptation that comes from outside the individual. In Jesus case as Jesus was preparing for his ministry through fasting and prayer, Satan tempted him. Mark 1.13 The objective of Satan was to prevent the spread of the gospel or God’s word, he was trying to attack it at source. Through the bible this is a recurring theme starting at the very beginning where in the Garden of Eden account the devil was seeking disobedience to God’s word.

Revelation 12.9 calls Satan, the great deceiver. Paul in 2 Corinthians 4.4 referring to those who have refused to believe says, ‘In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ Mathew in retelling the parable of the sower, where the seed is the word of God, says the weeds who choke the new seedlings are, ‘the sons of the evil one.’ Matthew13.38 Deception to blind people to the truth of Jesus takes many forms including those that disguise themselves with apparent goodness. Paul warns the Corinthians that, ‘Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.’ 2 Corinthians 11.14

Jesus in Mark’s gospel clearly recognises spiritual forces of evil and they also recognise who he is. Jesus is shown to have authority over them. The culmination of Jesus’ victory is through his death and resurrection.

When sharing the gospel do we underestimate spiritual opposition?

Jesus spent dedicated time in prayer and applying God’s word. Do we follow his example?

To live is Christ – Sidewalk Prophets

Mark 1.21-22

‘They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.’

In the opening two chapters of Mark’s gospel he quickly records how Jesus showed his authority through the impact of his words and actions. Without him personally saying he is the prophesied Messiah it quickly became evident that only someone with divine authority could do what he did.

Jesus’ spiritual personality and presence was such that when he called people to follow him they did so immediately. The fishermen, Simon, Andrew, James and John all left their daily livelihoods to become his disciples. Mark 1.16-20 Jesus commissioned them at the very beginning to be people whose role was to be part of extending the kingdom of God. They were to be fishers of men. These were not likely people to choose. They had no formal religious training, they were used to hard physical work, not study or speaking. Yet these were the men who after spending three years with Jesus were given the responsibility of writing major parts of the complex New Testament and starting a movement that has continued for two millennia and expanded to include billions of people. The calling of the disciples echoes the many times in the Old Testament when God called people from obscurity into significant leadership roles equipping them with his own authority.

The way in which Jesus spoke was fundamentally more authoritative than the religious leaders of the time. The people who listened were amazed. Mark 1.21-22 It was not just a matter of rhetoric, he had a depth of understanding of the Old Testament scriptures that was not evident in the teachers of the law. As the gospel of Mark unfolds we see Jesus confounding the teachers of the law with his grasp of scripture. This was a man who apparently had not been trained as they were and had until recently earned his living as a carpenter. At the time it puzzled the people as to where he could have gained his depth of understanding and wisdom.

Jesus demonstrated his authority over evil spiritual forces as he rebuked them and caused them to leave. Mark 1.25 The bible teaches that there is an unseen spiritual world and there is a conflict between evil and God. The evil spiritual forces are hostile to God’s people as well as God himself. Jesus has authority over them and by his death on the cross has overcome their power.

Jesus demonstrated a unique capacity to heal even the most serious sicknesses. Mark 1.29-34, 40-45 His healing differed from our normal understanding of healing in that they were immediately healed. They did not gradually get better following a course of treatment. Miracles such as this in the New Testament were not the main point in themselves. They were of course acts of mercy but they were principally to demonstrate Jesus’ authority and identity.

Finally, Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins. Mark 2.1-12 Jesus’ statement, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’, in response to the extreme act of faith by both the paralyzed man and his friends in breaking into the house through the roof where Jesus was teaching was effectively a claim to divinity. The teachers of the law correctly made the judgement that only God can forgive sins. Mark 2.6 Their error was to accuse Jesus of blaspheming because they refused to recognize the evidence before them. The ordinary people did not have the same response when Jesus pre-emptively demonstrated his authority by healing the paralyzed man.

Do we recognize that Jesus has divine authority?

If not what additional evidence would we want?

Jesus (There is a truth) – Chris Tomlin

Mark 1.1-15

John the Baptist presents us with an excellent example of how to direct people to Jesus in words and lifestyle. Although we do not have to be literal in our interpretation we can be similar. There is a cultural context to all the accounts in the bible and our context will differ.

John was a highly focused individual. He knew his role and his message and he kept to it. He did not compromise his message for the sake of his own comfort. His message was twofold, there is a Messiah and the people should prepare for him.

He used scripture, in particular the Old Testament prophets, to point out that Jesus is Lord. To do this he had to be well versed in the scriptures. He was confident of God’s plan and he spoke plainly so that the ordinary people could understand the urgency of his message. He fascinated and disconcerted the religious leaders of his day. He caused offence, especially to the political rulers, when he made clear how they were disobeying God’s will. However, he did not back down, even when he was arrested and his life was threatened. Mark 1.15

His message for people was to repent and confess their sins, because he knew the natural heart of all men and women is to rebel against God. Mark 1.4 It is impossible to make the step to become a Christian, (although the term was not coined until the authorities first used it for followers of Jesus in Antioch, Acts 11.26) without being aware of one’s sins. Communicating this element of the gospel is not intended to be unnecessarily confrontational. At the time large numbers found his message acceptable and convicting. Mark 1.5

John knew that not only was Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecies, he was as well. He knew his calling was to fulfill the Isaiah scripture, to be the voice calling in the wilderness. Mark 1.3 Similarly, followers of Jesus now ought to know how it is they are obedient to their calling in scripture. Not only in regards to specific roles or ministries but in terms of life style and their relationship with Christ.

John held a realistic view of his own importance. He was not ego driven. His message was not filled with how clever he was. It solely pointed to the coming of Jesus. He understood that his baptism was a sign of an individual’s repentance but the baptism that people were to receive from Jesus was something of an entirely different order. It was to be baptism with the Holy Spirit. Followers of Jesus were to know the Spirit of God filling them and empowering them. Mark 1.8 John himself knew what he was talking about as God had filled him with the Spirit from his earliest times. Luke 1.15 However, on the accomplishment of Jesus’ ministry that blessing was to be for all his followers. John 16.7

John did not use his ministry for his own material advancement. He lived a materially humble life. He was dressed in coarse clothes and ate food he scavenged. There is a very important and timely lesson in John’s example. Over history there have been many examples of Christian leaders who used their ministry as a means of increasing their personal wealth. Along with this attitude there has also frequently been other accompanying sinful behaviour exploiting in one way or another those they are meant to be spiritual shepherds towards. Jesus later warned of sheep in wolves clothing. There have recently been high profile cases where people in prominent Christian leadership have been exposed for using their position and reputation to misuse money for their own sinful purposes. Paul also had a ministry characterised by personal material humility. There should be a clear distinction between Christian leadership and that normally widely seen in the secular world.

John’s words were affirmed by God the Father himself. As Jesus rose from his own baptism in the Jordon the Trinity were perceptibly present. The Spirit descended upon Jesus and God the Father declared, ‘You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.’ Mark 1.11 God affirmed John’s message to those who are listening. John could not control that, he could only witness it.

How clear are we in our message regarding Jesus?

Are we attracted to Christian leadership because of the worldly glamour associated with it?

I know whom I have believed

Mark 1.1-5

If you were given just one sentence to say what the best news you have ever had is, I wonder what you would say? Today for me, Manchester City 0 – Manchester United 2 could be right up there but that is only a temporary thrill. There is nothing life changing about a football result for the casual fan. “Yes, I will marry you,” now that could be someone’s top choice. “I’m pregnant,” is certainly going to be life changing. “I am pleased to offer you the job,” there was a day when that felt like fantastic news. “I am pleased to say the test results have come back and you have the all clear,’ would be amazing to hear. “Today is victory in Europe day,” caused rejoicing throughout an entire nation. I am told it was the last day my Father got totally drunk. Could there be any better news than these happy life changing events. Mark says so.

He opens his biography of Jesus’ ministry with the words. ‘The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet.’ v1 Why is this better news than a promise to marry, the birth of a child, a new career opportunity, healing from a terminal illness or peace in our time? It is because of who he is. This is God in our lives. God is not the bloke round the corner. God is eternal, God is the source of all there is, God who has been prophesied about over centuries is here now and he wants you, me, each of us. We were made for him. The opening sentence of Mark is Mark bursting to say it and cannot contain his good news. He cannot carefully build up to it, rambling over history. No! Here he is and this is who he is. JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD THE MESSIAH!!!

Get ready everybody the show is on. This is really going to change your life. Not just for the next seventy years but for ever, literally for ever. So, sort yourselves out. It is time to, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord.’ v3 How are we to do that? Straighten our lives out. All those crooked paths we have been following, those dubious decisions, those words we should never have said, those harmful passions we indulged, those people we hurt, the cheating, the lying, the selfish acts, the hating, the cruel words we have said and more. It is time turn away from all of that, it’s time to be honest about ourselves, it’s time to be honest to God. More than that it is time to be more than sorry it is time to turn around and change our ways, turning to God and placing him at the top of our list.

Then more than that, it is time to do it publicly. Oh, that hurts. But that is what crowds and crowds of people did when they went out to John and were harangued by his preaching, knew it to be true and were baptized in front of the people who knew them best in the River Jordon. What was so special about the River Jordon beside it being there and deep enough to be baptized in? It was the river the people of God crossed to enter the promised land. Let me into the promised land again was their heart felt cry.

Why is Jesus the best of news? Because our response to him has eternal consequences. Consequences now and consequences that never end.

So, what’s the best news you ever heard again?

When I Cross Over Jordan At Last