Mark Lesson #09

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
MARK 6:1-44
LESSON #09
NARROWLY LIMITING THE WORK AND POWER OF GOD

• MEMORY VERSE: JOHN 6:35
• .THE GOSPELS TELL US THAT JESUS MADE TWO VISITS TO NAZARETH, HIS HOMETOWN. LUKE 4 TELLS US ABOUT JESUS FIRST VISIT. HE WENT THERE ALONE, PERFORMED NO MIRACLES AND LEFT SUDDENLY WHEN THEY ATTEMPTED TO KILL HIM. MARK TELLS US ABOUT THE SECOND VISIT WITH HIS DISCIPLES.
• READ LUK 4:16, 28-30

• READ MAR 6:1-6 JESUS’ SECOND VISIT TO NAZARETH
• WHY DID JESUS RETURN THERE AFTER HIS PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN NAZARETH?
• HE RETURNS THERE TO PREACH MORE OF THE TRUTH TO HIS OWN PEOPLE.
• WHY DID THE PEOPLE IN JESUS’ HOMETOWN VIEW HIM AS THEY DID?
• NAZARETH WAS A SMALL, OUT-OF-THE WAY TOWN. THEY DID NOT THINK ANYONE OF ANY IMPORTANCE COULD COME FROM NAZARETH. THEY HAD A LOW OPINION OF THEIR OWN COMMUNITY.
• THEY KNEW JESUS FAMILY BACKGROUND. HIS EARTHLY FATHER, JOSEPH, WAS A CARPENTER. JESUS DID NOT GROW UP IN A WEALTHY, HIGHLY EDUCATED FAMILY.
• THEY THOUGHT THEY KNEW JESUS BECAUSE THEY KNEW ABOUT HIS FAMILY:
• JESUS’ FAMILY:
• JESUS’ HALF BROTHERS:
• JAMES. THIS IS PROBABLY THE JAMES THAT WROTE THE BOOK OF JAMES.
• JOSES. WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM.
• JUDA. THIS IS PROBABLY JUDE THAT WROTE THE BOOK OF JUDE.
• SIMON. WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM.
• JESUS’ HALF SISTERS:
• WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEIR NAMES OR HOW MANY THERE WERE.
• EVEN TODAY, MANY PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW WHO JESUS IS OR WAS WHEN IN FACT THEY DON’T KNOW HIM AT ALL.
• THEY BASE THEIR JUDGMENT ON TOO NARROW A FOUNDATION OF THE HUMAN SENSES.
• IT IS ONLY BY FAITH THAT YOU CAN KNOW HIM PERSONALLY AND IN REALITY.
• MANY KNOW HIM INTELLECTUALLY OR HISTORICALLY, BUT THEY DON’T KNOW HIM PERSONALLY BY FAITH.
• THE REQUIREMENT OF FAITH TO RECEIVE ANYTHING FROM JESUS: (5-6)
• THERE’S A REMARKABLE SPIRITUAL TRUTH HERE:
• GOD LIMITS THE EXERCISE OF HIS POWER TO THE CONSTRAINTS OF MAN’S FAITH.
• READ HEB 11:6
• READ MAR 6:7-13 THE TRAINING AND MINISTRY OF THE TWELVE DISCIPLES:
• WHAT WAS JESUS’ GOAL IN SPLITTING THEM UP AND SENDING THEM OUT WITHOUT HIM?
• HE WAS TRAINING THEM TO MINISTER WITHOUT HIM BECAUSE EVENTUALLY THEY WOULD BE WITHOUT HIS PHYSICAL PRESENCE.
• HOWEVER, JESUS IS TAKING A BIG RISK, BECAUSE UP TO THIS POINT THE DISCIPLES HAVE FAILED EVERY TEST OF FAITH THAT HAS COME THEIR WAY.
• THEY HAVE NOT UNDERSTOOD HIS TEACHINGS. (4:10)
• THEY DON’T TRUST JESUS TO PROTECT THEM (4:28)
• THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND HIS VAST POWERS. (5:31)
• JESUS SENDS THE DISCIPLES OUT TO MINISTER IN GROUPS OF TWO.
• WHY TWO?
• TWO PROVIDES THE MINIMUM OF MORAL AND SPIRITUAL SUPPORT.
• TWO PROVIDES THE LEGALLY REQUIRED NUMBER OF WITNESSES FOR ANY CONTESTED EVENT. (NUM 35:30)
• THE DISCIPLES’ PROVISIONS:
• JESUS GIVES THEM POWER OVER EVIL SPIRITS.(7)
• THEY CAN TAKE A STAFF AND SANDALS FOR WALKING, BUT ONLY 1 COAT.
• THEY WERE TO TAKE NO MONEY OR BREAD. WHY?
• THEY WERE TO TRAVEL LIGHT ONLY ON SHORT TRIPS.
• THEY WERE TO GO ONLY TO JEWS.
• THEY WERE TO ACCEPT THE HOSPITALITY OFFERED THEM.
• THEY WERE TO LEARN TO DEPEND ON GOD BY FAITH TO SUPPLY THEIR NEEDS. PERSONAL COMFORT WAS NOT TO BE THEIR TOP PRIORITY.
• THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DISCIPLES’ MINISTRY:
• PEOPLE WOULD BE SPIRITUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT THEY HEARD FROM THE DISCIPLES AS THOUGH THEY HEARD IT FROM JESUS HIMSELF, OR DIRECTLY FROM GOD, THE FATHER.
• “SHAKE OFF THE DUST UNDER YOUR FEET FOR A TESTIMONY AGAINST THEM” (11)
• IT WAS A JEWISH CUSTOM TO SHAKE THE DUST OFF YOUR FEET IF, AS A JEW, YOU TRAVELED THROUGH GENTILE LAND.
• WHEN JESUS EXTENDS THIS CUSTOM TO SHAKING OFF THE DUST OF JEWS WHO REJECT THE MINISTRY OF THE DISCIPLES, HE IS EMPHASIZING THE SERIOUSNESS OF THAT JEWISH REJECTION.
• THE DISCIPLES SUCCESSFULLY PREACHED REPENTANCE FROM SIN (12)
• THE DISCIPLES SUCCESSFULLY CAST OUT DEMONS.
• THE DISCIPLES ANOINTED THE SICK WITH OIL AND THEY WERE SUCCESSFULLY HEALED. (13)
• THIS IS THE FIRST NEW TESTAMENT PRACTICE OF ANOINTING WITH OIL FOR THE PURPOSE OF HEALING, AND THIS PRACTICE OCCURS IN ONLY ONE OTHER NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE, JAMES 5:14.
• READ JAM 5:14
• THE OIL IS USUALLY OLIVE OIL AND SYMBOLIZES THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• THE ANOINTING WITH OIL COMES FROM MANY OLD TESTAMENT USES. (FOR EXAMPLE: PSA 23:5)
• READ MAR 6:14-29 A REVIEW OF THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (MAT 14:1-12)
• HEROD WAS A VERY SUPERSTITIOUS MAN FILLED WITH GUILT. HE WAS A WEAK MAN WHO KEPT A FOOLISH OATH AND BROKE A GREAT LAW. HIS GUILT AND PRIDE KEPT HIM FROM ADMITTING HE WAS WRONG. HEROD WAS AFRAID OF JESUS AND HIS POPULARITY. BECAUSE HEROD HAD KILLED JOHN THE BAPTIST, HE THOUGHT JESUS MUST BE JOHN, RAISED FROM THE DEAD.
• JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD ACCUSED HEROD OF STEALING HIS OWN BROTHER’S WIFE AND LIVING WITH HER IMMORALLY.
• HERODIAS WAS A VERY IMMORAL, VENGEFUL WOMAN. SHE PUSHED HER TEEN AGE DAUGHTER INTO PERFORMING AN IMMORAL DANCE. THIS WAS SOMETHING A PRINCESS DID NOT USUALLY DO. SUCH DANCES WERE DONE USUALLY BY DANCING GIRLS.
• READ MAR 6:30-44 FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND (MAT 14:13-21 JOH 6:1-14)
• THIS IS THE ONLY MIRACLE THAT OCCURS IN ALL FOUR GOSPELS.
• THE JEWISH PASSOVER WAS NEAR AND PEOPLE WERE TRAVELLING TO JERUSALEM TO CELEBRATE IT. ALL JEWISH MEN WERE TO GO TO JERUSALEM FOR THE PASSOVER. AS A RESULT, THERE ARE GREAT MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE ON THE ROAD.
• THE BIBLE SAYS THERE WERE 5,000 BUT THEY COUNTED ONLY THE MEN, NOT THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
• THE CHARACTER OF JESUS:
• HE SHOWS COMPASSION FOR THE PEOPLE.
• HE CONSIDERS THEM LOST SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD.
• AS A SHEPHERD, HE FIRST TEACHES THE PEOPLE, AND THEN HE FEEDS THEM.
• HE SAID A BLESSING BEFORE HE SERVED THE FOOD.
• THE JEWISH GRACE BEFORE MEALS SAID, “BLESSED ART THOU, JEHOVAH OUR GOD, KING OF THE UNIVERSE, WHO BRINGEST FORTH BREAD FROM THE EARTH.”
• THE JEWISH TALMUD SAYS, “HE THAT ENJOYS AUGHT (ANYTHING) WITHOUT THANKSGIVING IS AS THOUGH HE ROBBED GOD.”
• THE NATURE OF THE MIRACLE:
• WHY DID JESUS USE THE 5 LOAVES OF BREAD AND THE TWO FISHES? HE COULD HAVE DONE THE MIRACLE WITHOUT USING ANYTHING.
• REMEMBER THAT THE DISCIPLES ARE BEING TRAINED. THEY NEED TO LEARN TO LOOK BEYOND THE PHYSICAL INSUFFICIENCIES TO GOD’S ABUNDANT SUPPLY.
• IT WAS WHEN JESUS BROKE THE BREAD THAT THE FOOD MULTIPLIED BY GOD’S GRACE.
• THE BROKEN BREAD IS ONE OF THOSE SHADOWS OF THE COMING CRUCIFIXION THAT MARK PUTS IN HIS GOSPEL.
• THE BROKEN BREAD IS A REMINDER OF HIS COMING LAST SUPPER.
• IT IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF JESUS’ BROKEN BODY THAT RELEASED GOD’S GRACE ON MAN.
• THE MORE THE DISCIPLES SCATTERED THE FOOD, THE MORE IT MULTIPLIED.
• THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBERS:
• 5 LOAVES FOR 5,000 MEN
• 5 LOAVES OF BREAD:
• JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE, BROKEN THAT WE MIGHT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
• THE NUMBER 5 IN THE BIBLE IS A ROUND NUMBER MEANING, HE WILL FINISH WHAT HE HAD BEGUN.
• 5 LOAVES PLUS 2 FISHES = 7, WHICH IS THE NUMBER OF COMPLETENESS IN THE BIBLE.
• 2 FISHES
• MANY OF THE DISCIPLES WERE FISHERMEN. ALL THE DISCIPLES WERE TO BE FISHERS OF MEN. THEY WERE TO MINISTER TO THE NEEDS OF MEN.
• THE NUMBER 2 IS THE BIBLICAL NUMBER FOR “WITNESS”.(DEU 19:15)
• 12 BASKETS FULL:
• ONE FOR EACH DISCIPLE.
• THERE IS AN OVER-ABUNDANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD…MORE THAN MAN NEEDS.
• THE NUMBER 12 IS THE BIBLICAL NUMBER FOR GOD’S PEOPLE…12 TRIBES OF GOD’S PEOPLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND 12 DISCIPLES THAT REPRESENT GOD’S NEW TESTAMENT PEOPLE.
• THIS MIRACLE IS TO WITNESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE ALL-SUFFICIENT GOD, WILLING AND ABLE TO SUPPLY OVER ABUNDANTLY ALL MAN’S NEEDS.
• WHAT LESSONS DID THE DISCIPLES LEARN FROM THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND?
• THEY WERE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THE LITTLE THAT THEY HAD TO JESUS AND LET HIM MULTIPLY IT.
• NOTHING IS WASTED IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. EVERYTHING WAS EITHER EATEN OR KEPT FOR ANOTHER DAY.
• THE MULTIPLICATION ACTUALLY OCCURRED IN THE HANDS OF THE DISCIPLES WHICH TOOK FAITH ON THEIR PART.
• WITH WHAT CHALLENGES DOES THE MIRACLE CONFRONT THE BELIEVER TODAY?
• WE ARE CHALLENGED TO LET GOD MULTIPLY WHAT LITTLE WE HAVE IN THE WAY OF GIFTS AND TALENTS, SO WE MIGHT MINISTER TO OTHERS.
• WE ARE CHALLENGED NOT TO WASTE ANYTHING THAT GOD GIVES US.
• WE ARE CHALLENGED TO SEE THIS EVENT AS A DAILY WAY OF LIFE FOR THE BELIEVER WHO NEEDS TO TAP INTO THE OPERATIVE POWER OF GOD.
• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION:
• WE HAVE SEEN HOW MARK CONSISTENTLY CONTRASTS GROUPS OF BELIEVING PEOPLE WITH GROUPS OF NON-BELIEVING PEOPLE.
• HOWEVER, EVEN AMONG THOSE WHO HAVE SOME FAITH, THEY ALL ACTUALLY MISS THE POINT OF WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THEIR MIDST:
• THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS RIGHTLY RELY ON THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR HISTORY AND PROPHECY, BUT WRONGLY INTERPRET IT FROM TOO NARROW A PERSPECTIVE, BELIEVING THAT GOD CANNOT DO SOMETHING NEW IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
• MEMBERS OF JESUS’ FAMILY WERE RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT HIS PHYSICAL WELL-BEING, BUT WRONG TO INTERPRET TOO NARROWLY THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS BIRTH IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF GOD’S PLAN.
• THE TWELVE DISCIPLES WERE RIGHT TO READILY FOLLOW JESUS, BUT WRONG TO INTERPRET TOO NARROWLY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGDOM THROUGH THEM IN THE PLAN OF GOD.
• THE EVIL SPIRITS WERE RIGHT TO PERCEIVE EXACTLY WHO JESUS WAS BUT WRONG WHEN THEY DID NOT WORSHIP HIM.
• THE MULTITUDES WERE RIGHT TO SEEK OUT JESUS, BUT WRONG IN THEIR INTERPRETATION THAT NARROWLY LIMITED HIS POWER TO THE CURRENT PHYSICAL NEEDS OF THE DAY.
• MANY OF THE DIVISIONS AND DENOMINATIONS WITHIN CHRISTIANITY IS A RESULT OF THESE SAME NARROW LIMITATIONS THAT MEN HAVE PUT ON GOD.
• THE MORE NARROWLY WE VIEW JESUS, THE MORE WE LIMIT HIS POWER TO MOVE MIRACULOUSLY IN OUR LIVES.

HOMEWORK
MARK 6:45-56 AND MARK 7:1-23
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF MAR 6:1-44
• IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU LIMIT THE POWER OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE?
• FIND SOME SCRIPTURE THAT WILL REASSURE YOU IN THIS AREA, REMEMBERING THAT FAITH COMES BY HEARING THE WORD OF GOD.
• PREPARATION FOR MAR 6:45-56 AND MARK 7:1-23
• READ MAR 6:45-56
• WHAT DID THE DISCIPLES LEARN WHEN JESUS RESCUED THEM IN THE STORM?
• READ MAR 7:1-23
• WHY DID THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS CONDEMN THE DISCIPLES?
• WHAT WAS THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS’ “TRADITION OF THE ELDERS”?
• WHAT LESSON DID JESUS GIVE TO THE CROWD THAT HAD GATHERED?
• MEMORY VERSE: MARK 7:23