Mark Lesson #13

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
MARK 9
LESSON #13
THE NATURE OF SERVING WITH POWER

• MEMORY VERSE: MARK 9:49
• MARK’S GOSPEL AND THE TRANSFIGURATION
• MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE ALL HAVE THE STORY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION. HOWEVER, MARK’S ACCOUNT IS THE LONGEST. THAT IS SURPRISING CONSIDERING THAT THE GOSPEL OF MARK IS THE SHORTEST AND MOST CRYPTIC OF THE THREE GOSPELS.
• REMEMBER THAT MARK IS EMPHASIZING JESUS CHRIST AS THE BURDEN BEARER, THE PERFECT SERVANT.
• THEREFORE, MARK’S ACCOUNT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION EMPHASIZES JESUS’ PERFECT HUMANITY.
• READ MAR 9:1-13 THE TRANSFIGURATION
• THE LOCATION: THE EXACT LOCATION IS UNKNOWN.
• SOME BELIEVE IT WAS MT. TABOR. HOWEVER, THERE WAS AN ARMED FORTRESS AND A CASTLE ON THAT MOUNTAIN AT THE TIME.
• SOME BELIEVE IT WAS MT. HERMON (9,000 FT HIGH). IT CAN BE SEEN OVER 100 MILES AWAY.
• MT. HERMON IS INTERESTING IN THAT A CLOUD CAN FORM VERY RAPIDLY AT THE PEAK AND JUST AS SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR.
• THE CLOUD AT THE TRANSFIGURATION, HOWEVER, IS THE SUPERNATURAL GLORY CLOUD.
• THE SIGNIFICANCE OF VERSE 1: “…SOME OF THEM THAT STAND HERE, WHICH SHALL NOT TASTE OF DEATH, TILL THEY HAVE SEEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME WITH POWER.” (1)
• WHO ARE “THE SOME”?
• PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN WHO ARE STANDING THERE WITH JESUS.
• WHY DID JESUS TAKE THESE THREE?
• THESE WERE THE THREE OF THE INNER CIRCLE OF THE DISCIPLES.
• SOME BELIEVE HE TOOK THESE THREE BECAUSE THEY WERE THE STRONGEST IN FAITH.
• SOME BELIEVE HE TOOK THESE THREE BECAUSE THEY WERE THE WEAKEST IN FAITH.
• THE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST TRANSFIGURED IS “THE KINGDOM OF GOD COME WITH POWER”.
• THESE THREE DISCIPLES SAW WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS A MERE MAN IS CHANGED BY THE POWER OF GOD.
• THIS TRANSFIGURATION TELLS US WHAT WE WILL BE LIKE WHEN WE ARE RESURRECTED FROM THE DEAD. WE WILL BE LIKE HIM. (1JOH 3:2)
• THE WORD, TRANSFIGURED:
• THE MEANING OF THE WORD metamorphoom (GREEK):
• IN ENGLISH WE USE THE WORD, METAMORPHOSIS, TO DESCRIBE THE CHANGE A LARVA UNDERGOES IN ITS BODY TO BECOME A BUTTERFLY.
• THIS IS A CHANGE IN JESUS’ BODY. IT IS NOT SIMPLY A LIGHT SHINING DOWN FROM HEAVEN ON HIM. IT IS A LIGHT THAT COMES FROM WITHIN THAT IS SO BRIGHT IT EVEN CHANGES THE LOOK OF HIS CLOTHES.
• THE DISCIPLES SEE THE PURITY OF HIS HUMANITY.
• LET’S SEE THE DISCIPLE’S REACTION IN THEIR OWN WORDS:
• READ JOH 1:14
• READ 2PET 1:16-18
• THE APPEARANCE OF ELIJAH AND MOSES:
• NOTICE THAT THE DISCIPLES ARE NOT TOLD THE IDENTITY OF THESE TWO MEN. THEY JUST SEEM TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE.
• THE FIRST QUESTION TO CONSIDER IS, WHY THESE TWO MEN AND NOT OTHERS LIKE ABRAHAM, DAVID, OR NOAH?
• MOSES REPRESENTS THE LAW AND ELIJAH REPRESENTS THE PROPHETS.
• BOTH THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS FORETOLD THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS CHRIST.
• LUKE 9:31 TELLS US THAT MOSES AND ELIJAH TALKED WITH JESUS ABOUT HIS COMING DEATH IN JERUSALEM.
• BOTH MOSES AND ELIJAH MADE AN UNUSUAL DEPARTURE FROM THIS LIFE.
• MOSES DIED MYSTERIOUSLY ALONE ON THE MOUNTAIN AND GOD BURIED HIM. (DEU 34:5 2KIN 2:11)
• ELIJAH WAS MIRACULOUSLY TRANSPORTED TO HEAVEN.
• BOTH MOSES AND ELIJAH ARE SIGNIFICANT TO BRINGING IN GOD’S PEOPLE TO THE KINGDOM.
• MOSES WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN BRINGING GOD’S PEOPLE TO THE POINT OF ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND.
• ELIJAH IS THE FIGURE THAT THE BIBLE PROPHESIED WOULD COME JUST BEFORE THE COMING OF GOD’S KINGDOM. (MAL 3:1 MAL 4:5)
• BOTH MOSES AND ELIJAH HAVE A RELEVANT SIGNIFICANCE IN JUDAISM.
• JEWISH TRADITION ADDED DETAILS TO ELIJAH’S COMING THAT THE BIBLE DOES NOT VERIFY.
• THEY BELIEVED ELIJAH WOULD RESTORE ALL THINGS AND MAKE THE WORLD A PERFECT PLACE FIT FOR THE MESSIAH TO ENTER. THIS INCLUDED THE BUILDING OF A NEW TEMPLE AND THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL EVIL.
• JESUS MODIFIES THIS TRADITIONAL VIEW IN MAT 17:12 BY SAYING THAT ELIJAH (JOHN THE BAPTIST) CAME PREACHING RIGHTEOUSNESS AND REPENTANCE FROM EVIL AND ENDURING SUFFERING AND DEATH JUST AS JESUS WILL DO.
• SOME JEWISH TEACHERS BELIEVED THAT WHEN ELIJAH CAME TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE MESSIAH, MOSES WOULD COME WITH HIM. THIS IS NOT VERIFIED IN THE BIBLE.
• READ PSA 43:3,5
• A QUOTE FROM THE JEWISH “MIDRASH” (INTERPRETIVE TEACHING BASED ON SCRIPTURE) TO PSA 43 AND ISA 42:1.
• “Why do I go about mourning, under the oppression of the enemy. Has not God saved me in the past and does He not tell me now…did I not send you redemption (in Egypt), as it is said, “Please send Moses, his servant, Aaron whom he chose ” (PSA 105:26). Please send us another two as their counterparts as the next verse in Psalm 43:3 says. “Send your light and your truth, they will lead me.” God informed them, “I will send you salvation again” And so scripture says, “behold I will send you Elijah the prophet” (MAL 3:23) so now one has been named. The second one is “yea my servant, I shall take hold of Him, My chosen one (in whom I delight) (ISA 42:1). This is the interpretation of the words of PSA 43:3. “Send your light and your truth, they will lead me; they will bring me to your holy mountain and to your tents.”
• SOME PEOPLE USE THE TRANSFIGURATION SCRIPTURE TO PROVE THERE IS SUCH A THING AS REINCARNATION.
• IN REALITY IT PROVES A RESURRECTION, AND NOT THAT A PERSON COMES BACK TO LIFE AS ANOTHER PERSON OR ANIMAL.
• THE CLOUD AND THE LIGHT:
• THE CLOUD AND THE LIGHT ARE INDICATIONS OF THE SHEKINAH GLORY OF GOD.
• (EXO 13:21-22 EXO 40:34 EXO 34:5 1KIN 8:10-11 2CHR 5:13-14 2CHR 7:2)
• GOD’S DECLARATION:
• “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON OF WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.” (MAT 17:5)
• WE HAVE HEARD GOD MAKE THIS DECLARATION BEFORE. IT WAS WHEN JESUS WAS BAPTIZED BY JOHN THE BAPTIST. (MAT 3:17)
• GOD WAS VERIFYING JESUS’ EARTHLY MINISTRY.
• AT THE TRANSFIGURATION, GOD IS VERIFYING THE CRUCIFIXION AS PART OF GOD’S PLAN OF THE AGES.
• PETER’S RESPONSE:
• THE DISCIPLES ARE FRIGHTENED BY WHAT THEY SEE. BUT PETER OFTEN FEELS A NEED TO SAY SOMETHING WHEN HE IS NOT SURE WHAT TO SAY.
• HE PROPOSES MAKING A MEMORIAL FOR SUCH A SPECIAL MOMENT…THE CREATION OF 3 HUTS SO MOSES, ELIJAH AND JESUS COULD STAY THERE. THEN THEY COULD ENJOY THE PRESENCE AND GLORY OF GOD FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.
• WHY WAS THIS A BAD IDEA?
• MOUNTAINTOP EXPERIENCES WITH THE LORD ARE ONLY TO PROVIDE AND ENCOURAGE STRENGTH IN THE BELIEVER.
• WE DON’T LIVE ON THE MOUNTAINTOP; WE LIVE IN THE DEEP VALLEYS OF PROBLEMS AND SUFFERINGS IN LIFE.
• THE ANOINTING GLORY OF GOD IS TO ENABLE US TO MINISTER TO OTHERS NOT FOR SELF-ENJOYMENT.
• JESUS’ INSTRUCTION TO THE DISCIPLES:
• HE TELLS THEM THAT THEY MUST NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT WHAT THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED. WHY?
• THE REALITY OF THE PURPOSE FOR THE SUFFERING OF THE CRUCIFIXION WOULD BE REVEALED TO THE DISCIPLES AFTER THE FACT.
• AT THIS POINT THEY HAVE ONLY WORDS ABOUT A COMING DEATH WITH NO EXPLANATION OF PURPOSE.
• WHAT WAS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENTS ON THE MT. OF TRANSFIGURATION?
• THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS EVENT IS THE VERIFICATION OF GOD’S PLAN FOR THE CRUCIFIXION AS FORETOLD BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS.
• READ MAR 9:14-29 THE HEALING OF THE DEMON POSSESSED BOY:
• THE PROBLEMS AND SUFFERING AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN ILLUSTRATE THIS FALLEN WORLD WHILE THE MT. OF TRANSFIGURATION REPRESENTS HEAVEN.
• THE NINE DISCIPLES WERE LEFT TO TAKE CARE OF THE CROWD AND MEET THEIR NEEDS, BUT THEY ARE HELPLESS IN THE FACE OF SUCH DIFFICULT PROBLEMS.
• “IF THOU CANST BELIEVE, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH.” (23)
• JESUS REQUIRES THE FATHER TO HAVE FAITH.
• THE FATHER SAID, “I BELIEVE, HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF.” (24)
• THE FATHER HAD SOME FAITH AND HE WAS TRUSTING JESUS TO FILL IN THE GAPS OF HIS UNBELIEF.”
• HE WAS TRUSTING JESUS TO HEAL, BUT HE WAS ALSO TRUSTING JESUS FOR FAITH.
• THE CONCEPT OF BELIEF, UNBELIEF, AND PARTIAL BELIEF:
• THE EMPHASIS SHOULD NOT BE PLACED ON THE AMOUNT OR THE QUALITY OF FAITH, BUT ON THE NATURE OF IT.
• IN OTHER WORDS, THE MAN IS BASING HIS FAITH ON A TRUST RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIMSELF AND JESUS. HIS FAITH IS NOT IN THE MIRACLE. IT IS IN JESUS.
• WITHIN THAT TRUST RELATIONSHIP, THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FAITH TO GROW.
• THE BOY EITHER DIES AND JESUS RAISES HIM FROM THE DEAD, OR HE JUST HAS THE APPEARANCE OF BEING DEAD.
• AT ANY EVENT, THE BOY IS HEALED.
• WHEN THE DISCIPLES ASK WHY THEY COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH THE SAME RESULT, JESUS SAYS THAT PRAYER AND FASTING ARE ALSO REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN DIFFICULT CASES.
• PRAYER AND FASTING INVOLVES A COMMITMENT OF TIME AND EFFORT ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER.
• READ MAR 9:30-32
• JESUS TELLS THE DISCIPLES OF HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION ON THE THIRD DAY.
• NOTICE THAT JESUS ALWAYS PUT THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION TOGETHER.
• READ MAR 9:33-41 MORE INSTRUCTION ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP
• JUST AS JESUS WILL DIE AND BE RAISED AGAIN, SO WILL THE DISCIPLES.
• JESUS GIVES THE SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE OF GREATNESS:
• THE ONE WHO WILL BE GREAT MUST HUMBLE HIMSELF TO BECOME A SERVANT.
• THE REQUIREMENT IS AN ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY WITH ACTIONS OF SERVING.
• JESUS’ EXAMPLE OF THE PRINCIPLE…THE CHILD:
• TO RECEIVE A CHILD IN JESUS’ NAME:
• THE CHILD HAD A VERY LOW POSITION IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD.
• PEOPLE CAN ONLY DO MIRACLES IN JESUS NAME:
• IF THEY HAVE A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP TO HIM
• IF THEY OPERATE ON THE SAME LEVEL IN WHICH JESUS OPERATED…THAT OF HUMILITY.
• IF THEY OPERATE IN THE SAME WAY JESUS OPERATED…AS A SERVANT.
• WHAT MORE DO WE LEARN THAT IS REQUIRED OF A DISCIPLE?
• AN ATTITUDE OF HUMILITY AND ACTIONS OF A SERVANT.
• SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING, WHO DOES THE “CHILD” REPRESENT?
• THE CHILD REPRESENTS LITERAL CHILDREN OF FEW PHYSICAL YEARS.
• THE CHILD REPRESENTS SYMBOLICALLY ANYONE WHO IS WEAK AS A CHILD.
• THE CHILD REPRESENTS SPIRITUALLY THE NEW BELIEVER.
• READ MAR 9:42-50 A WARNING ABOUT HELL
• JESUS’ DESCRIPTION OF HELL:
• A FIRE THAT SHALL NEVER BE QUENCHED.
• JESUS’ ILLUSTRATION OF HELL IS LIKENED TO THE GARBAGE PIT OUTSIDE OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM CALLED, “GAHENNA”.
• IT WAS A PLACE OF PERPETUALLY SMOLDERING FIRES, INFESTED WITH RATS AND ALL TYPES OF VERMIN, AND FOUL SMELLS OF ROTTING GARBAGE.
• IT WAS THE WORST OF IMAGINABLE PLACES JUST AS HELL IS THE WORST OF IMAGINABLE PLACES.
• THE HAND, THE FOOT, THE EYE:
• IT IS THE HAND THAT COMMITS SIN. IT IS THE FOOT THAT LEADS MAN FROM THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS INTO SIN, AND IT IS THE EYE THAT IS TEMPTED TO LUST.
• JESUS USES EXAGGERATED SPEECH (HYPERBOLE) TO GET OUR ATTENTION AND NOTICE THE SERIOUSNESS OF IT.
• HE IS NOT COUNSELING US TO LITERALLY CUT OFF A HAND, A FOOT, OR PLUCK OUT AN EYE.
• “EVERYONE SHALL BE SALTED WITH FIRE, AND EVERY SACRIFICE SHALL BE SALTED WITH SALT.”
• BOTH SALT AND FIRE ARE USED TO PURIFY.
• FIRE BURNS AWAY IMPURITIES AND SALT PENETRATES AND PRESERVES.
• WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE MEMORY VERSE?
• THE CLEANSING WORK OF THE WORD OF GOD IS THE SALT THAT PURIFIES.
• IN LEVITICUS, SALT WAS ADDED TO CERTAIN OFFERINGS (LEV 2:13) (EZE 43:24)
• THE CHASTISING WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE FIRE THAT PURIFIES. (JOH 16:8)
• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION:
• WE HAVE STUDIED THE MARVELOUS SPIRITUAL HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION AND THE OVERWHELMING PROBLEMS AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN.
• THE DISCIPLES NEED TO TRUST IN THEIR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS IN ORDER TO MINISTER TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS.
• THEY MUST BE HUMBLE SERVANTS TO HAVE POWER IN THE KINGDOM.
• THEY MUST LET THE WORD OF GOD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT PURIFY THEM FOR SERVICE.

HOMEWORK
MARK 10:1-31
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND THE HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR CORRECTION

• APPLICATION OF MAR 9
• IN EXAMINING YOUR ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS OF DISCIPLESHIP IN LIGHT OF THE TRUTHS PRESENTED IN MAR 9, WHICH AREAS OF YOUR LIFE NEED THE MOST WORK?
• PRAY AND ASK GOD TO HELP YOU AND GIVE YOU STRENGTH IN THESE AREAS.

• PREPARATION FOR MAR 10:1-31
• READ MAR 10:1-12 MARRIAGE
• WHAT IS THE ACCEPTABLE REASON FOR DIVORCE ACCORDING TO JESUS?
• ALSO READ DEU 24:1-4
• WHAT IS THE ACCEPTABLE REASON FOR DIVORCE ACCORDING TO MOSES?
• READ MAR 10:17-22
• WHAT DID THE RICH YOUNG RULER HAVE TO DO TO BE SAVED?
• HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN JESUS’ ANSWER IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT YOU CANNOT BE SAVED BY WORKS BUT ONLY BY FAITH?

• MEMORY VERSE: MARK 10:15