Kameron Edenfield (Mark 13)

Beskrivelse

SUMMARY In this sermon based on Mark 13, Jesus predicts the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, foretelling that “there will not be left here one stone upon another” (v. 2). His disciples inquire about the timing and signs of this event, prompting Jesus to warn them against false prophets and reassure them that the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations (v. 10). Jesus describes upcoming tribulations, including persecution and natural disasters, as the “beginning of the birth pains” (v. 8). He emphasizes that the destruction will occur within their generation (v. 30) as a judgment on Israel’s unfaithfulness, culminating in 70 A.D. The sermon challenges modern interpretations that stray into predictions of apocalyptic events, instead focusing on the imminent fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy. It underscores trust in Christ’s words as “trustworthy and true” (v. 31) and serves as both a warning against complacency and a reassurance of his reign and the vindication of his followers. The speaker concludes that while the text was not directly written to the audience, it carries valuable lessons for believers today. TRANSCRIPTION Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, look, teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. And Jesus said to him, do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to say to them, see that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name saying, I am he, and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. But be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my name’s sake to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child. And children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be, let the reader understand. And for those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house to take anything out. And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas, for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days, pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or look, there he is, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard. I have told you all things beforehand. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray together. Amen. You may be seated. Well, greetings from Birmingham, Alabama. I’m one of the pastors at Trinity Presbyterian Church. You had Pastor Lusk here two weeks ago, I believe. He’s the senior pastor at our church. I’m the associate pastor there. It’s a great privilege to be with you all. This morning we’ve been praying for you all, very excited about what the Lord is doing here in D.C. Also very excited about Pastor Brooks Pottinger. He’s in our presbytery, very fond of Brooks, a great and godly man. So thankful the Lord has heard our prayers and y’all’s prayers. Mark 13, when will these things be? When will these things be? That’s the question the disciples ask in this text. Mark 13 records one of the most misunderstood speeches that Jesus ever gave. One of the most misunderstood speeches. It’s a prophetic speech about a momentous event in history, but many have missed the event. Many have just missed it, and as a result, many have misunderstood what Jesus is saying. Many modern interpreters have thought this speech to be about something that’s in our future, something that is yet to happen, the final return of Jesus Christ. And without any context, that’s what it sounds like. It sounds like Jesus is predicting the apocalypse, the apocalypse in the popular sense of that term, this cataclysmic disaster that marks the end of the world, a time in the future when things are going to get really bad. And when you read it this way, it’s usually assumed that this great tribulation will come in our future with wars and famines and earthquakes, the Antichrist, eventually the collapse of the physical world itself. Things are just going to get worse from here on out. That’s the kind of mindset that that reading leads us to. It inculcates a pessimistic mindset. Some have also imagined that this passage teaches a secret rapture. After all, we hear of the coming of the Son of Man, where Jesus will come and snatch up all the Christians from the earth, leaving all the unbelievers left behind, left behind on this cosmic sinking ship. Again, a very pessimistic understanding of where history is headed. Historically speaking, this way of reading Jesus’ words, this way of reading this text known as the Olivet Discourse, it’s recorded here in Mark 13, Matthew 24, Luke 21. This way of reading the text was not really widespread until the 19th and 20th century dispensationalism. I won’t go into all the details of dispensationalism, but I’ll just say that that whole movement gave rise to an entire end times industry, including best-selling fiction series, many books, movies, ministries that are devoted to calculating the return of Jesus based on the sign of the times. Think of Hal Lindsey’s book, 88 Reasons that Jesus is coming back in 1988. Those kind of books. That way of reading Jesus’s words, though, is fundamentally mistaken. It misunderstands what Jesus is doing here. This morning, as we consider Jesus’s words in this passage, I want to show why older interpreters before the 19th and 20th century were closer to the truth than these modern misunderstandings. This moment was something that Jesus was preparing them for, a moment that was coming very soon, an event for their generation. As you read through the rest of the New Testament, maybe you’ve noticed that there are places quite frequently throughout the letters and in the Gospels and Acts where there’s a sense of urgency. About an event that could happen at any moment. This looming, impending event that’s just on the horizon. A major turning point that will mark judgment for some and salvation for others. The New Testament writers use language like, these things must take place very soon. The end of all things is at hand. This is the last hour. All of this sounds like the world could just fall apart. At any moment. Furthermore, this is connected to the New Testament’s teaching that Jesus is coming soon. Revelation 22 ends with Jesus saying three times, behold, I am coming soon. Jesus adds there that when he comes, he’s going to bring recompense with him to repay each one for what he has done. The book of Revelation has several of these kind of statements. The book is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It’s the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written, for the time is near. It’s coming soon. It’s near. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will perceive him. Even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the land will wail on account of him. The book of Revelation is describing the same imminent event that Jesus is predicting in Mark 13. This moment of judgment that is coming soon. It involves Jesus coming. Even those who pierced him, Revelation says, those who crucified and killed Jesus will see it happen. Others, on the other side, who rightly refuse to believe that Jesus or Scripture, could be an error. They’ve tried to stretch the meaning of the word soon. Okay, yeah, yeah, you know, the Scriptures say soon, this is all at hand, but let’s try to stretch this out. Something analogous to how my kids understand the word soon. When I’m talking at a gathering and I say, yes, we’re going to leave soon. Soon is stretched beyond the breaking point. And this eminent language, according to this view, in the New Testament is supposed to provoke something like the every generation is on the brink of a disaster. Every generation is on the brink of these events. 2,000 years later, every Christian needs to be ready because this is probably happening at any moment, most likely in our lifetime. Every generation thinks it’s our lifetime. Again, both of these ways of reading the New Testament are mistaken. Jesus’ words are trustworthy and true. He says, heaven and earth will pass away. But his words will not. We can trust what Jesus says he will do, he does. The thing that he says he will do, he does. His words are reliable. Jesus and the New Testament writers were describing something that was about to take place. They were predicting a major moment in history that was coming soon. Jesus was not predicting the end of the physical world. The Christians out of the world. He wasn’t predicting the end of the world, but the end of a world. Not the end of the world, the physical universe, but the end of a world. The end of the old covenant age, the old creation, the old order. More on that in a moment. He was prophesying about the desolation and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in the year 70 AD. That’s what he’s talking about. This destruction of the temple, this destruction of Jerusalem. This event would be the sign of Jesus coming in judgment upon the generation of Israel that rejected him. This is the sign that Jesus is reigning and that he has come in judgment upon a wicked generation. It would be a sign of his judgment. It would also be a sign of his salvation. It would be a sign to all that Jesus is on the throne, that he’s advancing his kingdom to the ends of the earth. This coming of Jesus is not his final coming. Yes, we affirm that Jesus has a final coming. The New Testament talks about that elsewhere. This is not the last day when he’s going to raise his people from the dead. That’s still in our future. That day is still yet to come. But his coming in 70 AD is the coming of the Son of Man that he talks about here in Mark 13. What happened in the year 70 AD is an apocalypse in the biblical sense of that word. It is an unveiling, a revealing, like Revelation says, a revelation of Jesus Christ, an uncovering of who he is and who his church is. Jesus’ reign and dominion is revealed in this event. And Jesus’ words are ultimately vindicated in that event. Trustworthy and true. And his people who trusted in him were saved from that disaster. The Christians that lived in Jerusalem were saved from that disaster because they listened to Jesus’ words. Now, we can’t cover every detail of Mark 13 this morning. It’s a long passage, as you just heard read. But what I want to do is focus on a few aspects of this passage that demonstrate this understanding that I’m defending here, this understanding of Jesus’ words. And then we will consider what a text like this has to say for us, the church, living 2,000 years later. First, we need to understand the significance of the temple in Jerusalem. You might wonder, why does the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem matter? Why is that such a big deal? Why could it be considered the end of the old creation or the old covenant order? To understand that, we need to understand the temple. And certainly, the temple in Jesus’ day was truly one of the wonders of the ancient world. But this was not just a beautiful building. The temple in Jerusalem was the meeting place of heaven and earth itself. This was God’s unique dwelling place among His people. This was the place of Yahweh’s throne on earth. This was the place where Israel could draw near to her God to receive forgiveness of sins, to commune with God, to have a peace offering meal with God, to offer her worship and praise to God. The Lord intended to dwell among His people. He set up the Old Covenant sacrificial system not to kick people out, not to push people away, but so that His people would know how to draw near. As long as they had the temple, it meant that God was with them, that He would dwell with them, and He would reign in their midst. He would defend them from their enemies. And so they naturally expected this to last, to be a sign that God would deliver them in the future from their enemies. She was unfaithful to the Lord all throughout Israel’s history. Israel was unfaithful in the covenant that the Lord had made with her. She committed idolatry, worshipped other gods. She failed to keep the Lord’s commands. She failed to carry out the Lord’s justice and righteousness. She failed to be a light to the nations. She failed to make the Lord’s house a house of prayer for all nations. She failed to make the Lord’s house a light to the nations. She failed to make the Lord’s house a light to the nations. Glory leaves the temple and the house is desolate. That is what Jesus is announcing when he departs from the temple and he goes and stands opposite the temple on the Mount of Olives. He’s opposing the temple. And he says, not one stone will be left upon another. It’s interesting that in Mark and in Luke, the immediately preceding verse is the widow’s might. The widow giving of the last of her money to the temple. This temple that was devouring widows’ houses. The next verse, both Mark and Luke set up, Jesus saying, not one stone will be left upon another. The glory has departed the temple, and now judgment will come upon this wicked generation. Luke 19 records Jesus weeping over Israel’s rejection of her God and tells of the same coming event. Listen to Jesus in Luke 19. He says, Jesus prophesies exactly what Josephus tells us happened in 70 A.D. The Romans surround the city of Jerusalem, destroy the people in Jerusalem, over a million Jews, potentially multiple millions, but at least a million Jews according to one source, and destroy the temple. This generation rejected their God when he visited them, and Jesus’ words came true in 70 A.D. tree in Mark 11, symbolized Jesus curses the fig tree when it does not bear fruit, and as a result it withers away. And now Jesus is pronouncing a curse upon the temple and the generation that rejected him. They too will pass away. Okay, I’m speaking a lot about judgment. There’s another aspect to what Jesus is doing and what the Lord’s doing in the destruction of the temple. It wasn’t only about bringing judgment upon Israel. God still intends to dwell with his people. He didn’t give up on that idea. When Jesus came, he announced that something greater than the temple is here, referring to himself. Jesus came to replace the temple. He came to be all that the temple was supposed to be and more. Jesus is eating and drinking with sinners. He’s healing the sick. He’s casting out demons. He’s doing what the temple and the temple’s leadership should have done all along. The end of the physical temple in Jerusalem means the end of that sacrificial system. You don’t have a temple anymore. You can’t offer sacrifices. Jesus brings an end to that. The end of the whole way of life regulated under the law of Moses. The end of a single site in Jerusalem where God’s presence is uniquely accessed. Jesus is not only tearing down a building. He’s carrying God’s purposes forward. Jesus is going to take Israel’s curse and take Adam’s curse upon himself on the cross. And those who trust in him, who are loyal to him, will receive full and free forgiveness through his once and for all atoning sacrifice. He ends the need for sacrifices. He’s the final sacrifice. Through his death, resurrection, and ascension, and through the sending of his spirit, he’s now building a better temple, a new temple for those who are in union with him, a global temple made up of living stones. His spirit will inhabit his people wherever two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name. Jesus replaces the temple and builds the church upon that foundation. So Jesus is coming in judgment upon the temple, but also in salvation for his people to carry forward his mission in the world. And Jesus warns his disciples and all his followers about what to expect so they can flee the city at the right time. The disciples understandably want to know, when will this happen? If someone were to walk about D.C. and say, look at all these wonderful buildings, it’s all going to be demolished, you might have a few questions. When is this going to happen? When will these things be? What signs should we look for? Jesus answers the when question in this passage. She says, truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things take place. This generation, it’s going to happen during this generation. In the Bible, a generation is 40 years. Think about the 40-year period where Israel was in the wilderness. Numbers tells us they were in the wilderness for 40 years because there was an unfaithful generation that needed to pass away. 40 years is the time period for a generation. Now get this, Jesus is prophesying in Mark 13 around the year 30 AD. That’s when he’s crucified, 30 AD. This is Jesus’ answer to the timing question. This generation will not pass away until all these things take place. And 40 years later, it takes place. Jesus gives them signs to look for leading to the destruction of the temple. These are the things that are going to happen ahead of time before he comes in judgment upon the temple. Most of these signs can be easily spotted in the book of Acts. Jesus mentions false teachers, earthquakes, famines. That’s what Acts records. False teachers, earthquakes, famines, all those things are going on as you read through the story in Acts. Jesus tells the disciples they’ll be delivered over to councils, beaten in the synagogues. They’ll stand before governors and kings to testify. Look at what the apostles are doing in the book of Acts. All of those things. Handed over to the councils. They’re testifying before the kings. Again, all these things are recorded for us in Scripture. So we see the signs that Jesus said must happen before this event, before the destruction of the temple. And they’re laid out for us in the Bible that they happen. There are a few other signs mentioned here that need a little bit more unpacking. And I want to address those briefly here. You might say, well, that’s one that probably hasn’t happened by 70 AD. Can we really say that the apostles preached to the Aztecs or to the Native Americans? Well, no, I don’t think we can. But listen to what Paul says in Colossians in chapter 1. And again, later in the same chapter, he says, The hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. The gospel has come to the whole world, Paul says in Colossians 1. And he’s writing this around the early 60s, so just before the destruction of the temple. It’s been proclaimed in all creation. How can Paul say that? He’s gathered at Pentecost in Jerusalem to hear Peter’s sermon. Men from every nation. And he lists out 17 nations, which is not every nation on the globe in the year 30 AD. But it’s all the nations of the empire. Remember, Israel is under the Roman Empire, which is in charge of this mini cosmos. It’s a mini world in that part of the globe. It’s all the nations of the empire. And Luke can say, every nation under heaven. It’s represented there. That gives us a clue to the meaning of Jesus’ words. When Jesus says the gospel must be proclaimed first to every nation before the destruction of the temple, he’s not referring to literally every nation on earth. He’s talking about the gospel going out to the whole empire before the closing of the old age. The gospel needs to go out to the whole empire before we close down the old creation, the old age. And that is exactly what the New Testament tells us happened. The gospel went out. Paul in Romans says the last place he wants to go is Spain. He’s looking at a map of the Roman Empire. What about the cosmic collapse that we see, the sun, moon, and stars language that Jesus uses, the powers in heaven being shaken? Jesus says in verse 24, Okay, well, that hasn’t happened, right? This is the climax of the time of tribulation that Jesus just described. What does it mean? Well, Jesus is using prophetic vocabulary, symbolic language to describe the destruction of the temple, the collapse of the old order. This kind of language, specifically this star, moon, and sun language, shows up many places in the prophetic literature. Let me give you one example. This is talking about during Israel’s exilic period or before the exilic period. Then it goes on to describe the Lord mustering an army for battle against Babylon. This is how Isaiah puts it. The stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. Okay, there we have sun, moon, and stars language. The lights are being put out on that nation. And then a few verses later, he clarifies what is he talking about? Verse 17 of that chapter. Behold, I’m stirring up the Medes against the Babylonians. Okay, stirring up the Medes against the Babylonians. This is symbolic language. Decreation language. And scripture uses this language in multiple places to describe the judgment of kingdoms and rulers. This describes the judgment of kingdoms and rulers. It always refers to the downfall of rulers or a kingdom, whether Israel or other nations. And you can see this in other prophets like Amos and Ezekiel as well. The sun, moon, and stars represent the rulers. Throughout history, God uses other nations to carry out his judgment in fulfillment of these prophecies. When he says, I am going to do this, the Lord says, I’m going to do this, and then a nation or army comes in, a pagan nation comes in to destroy another nation and conquer, Isaiah says that’s the same thing. Those two things are not at odds. Scripture affirms that God is using that army as a means to carry out his wrath and judgment. So this world-destroying cosmic collapse language is about the downfall of kingdoms and peoples in judgment, not about the literal destruction of the physical universe. These are prophetic and poetic descriptions. Jesus is using the very same language that his prophets, that the prophets of Israel used in their sermons. He talks about sun, moon, and stars, heavens being shaken up. He’s drawing on the same figures of speech. Lastly, what do we make of the language of the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and glory? Isn’t that talking about Jesus’ final return? We haven’t seen Jesus on clouds. He sends out his angels to gather his elect from the four winds. We haven’t seen angels doing that. What’s that about? Again, this is why we need to know our Bibles. This is why we need to read both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This language doesn’t come out of thin air. Jesus isn’t describing first century space travel when he says he’s coming on the clouds. Clouds are part of the symbolism that the Lord uses all throughout Scripture to describe his glory presence, to describe his coming in judgment. Think of the pillar of cloud that leads Israel in the wilderness. There’s numerous passages where the Lord’s riding around on clouds. Psalm 104 says, The Lord is the cloud rider. The cloud is his royal chariot. Jeremiah 4, the Lord’s prophesying judgment that’s about to take place during the exile. And he says, The Lord came on the clouds in judgment in Jeremiah 4. The clouds are stock imagery that the Bible uses to describe the Lord’s coming in judgment against his enemies and bringing salvation. Daniel 7 has the clouds language as well, and Jesus’ title that he uses for himself here, Son of Man. Daniel sees a vision of one like a Son of Man coming with clouds. But in his vision, he’s going to the Ancient of Days. He’s going to heaven to receive an eternal kingdom. Jesus is coming into his kingdom on the clouds in heaven. He’s taking his throne. And that’s what happens in the book of Acts, right? Okay, how do we tie all this together? AD 70 is the proof that Jesus is reigning. That’s what I want you to see. AD 70, what happens with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem is proof, it’s the sign that the Son of Man is on his throne. It’s his vindication. Okay, the Romans did it, but remember, that’s not at all. That’s not at odds with God doing it. That’s not at odds with Jesus bringing his judgment, using a nation to carry this out. He said he is coming soon. He is coming with the clouds. Every eye will perceive it, even those who pierced him, even those who called for his crucifixion. All the tribes of the earth will wail. That’s Israel on account of him. That’s exactly what happens. Jesus did come in power in 70 AD, bringing the Romans against the wicked generation of covenant breakers, destroying the temple and delivering those who trust in him from wrath. This marked the end of the old covenant, the end of the sacrificial system, the end of everything that was necessary before Christ’s work. The apostles were then sent out to proclaim, to herald, that there is a new king in the world, that he’s reigning. They were his witnesses, witnesses to the saving rule of King Jesus. We’ve only scratched the surface here. I’d love to talk with you after if you have further questions, but I hope you can see that it makes sense to read Jesus’ words this way. It makes sense in light of the rest of Scripture, in light of the context here, to see that Jesus isn’t prophesying about the collapse of the world in our future. He’s prophesying about what he did in 70 AD. What do we do with a text like this today? Well, like most of the Bible, it was not written to us, but it is written for us. It was not written to us, but it’s written for us. There are other letters of the New Testament that we read that are not written directly to you and I, but they are written for us. They address specific historical situations, problems that don’t match ours exactly, but the Lord has wisdom and instruction for us in them anyway. Takeaways from this passage. First, the apologetic value. Can we trust Jesus’ words? Can we trust Jesus? Jesus says, my words are trustworthy and true. Can you trust that? Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not. The destruction of the temple in 70 AD, the fulfillment of the signs that Jesus prophesied about, that we see in the rest of the book of Acts, the rest of the New Testament, all of that should give you confidence that Jesus is trustworthy. His words indeed do not fail. Jesus proves himself trustworthy. We can know that he’s on the throne in heaven, ruling and reigning. He’s governing all things. Because Jesus is king, we can have confidence that his purposes will be accomplished in the world. This is proof that he is trustworthy. Secondly, there’s a warning here for us, even for the church today. Jesus judged a wicked generation because of their unfruitfulness, their unfaithfulness. They were members of the covenant, but they were ultimately covenant breakers. They presumed upon the grace of God. They presumed upon the Lord’s kindness. They did not obey them. They didn’t obey the Lord. This is a warning for us today, any who would presume upon God’s grace. Jesus offers salvation to those who will trust in him, who swear allegiance to him, who submit to him, but he brings vengeance upon his enemies, those who rebel against him. The New Testament gives warnings to those in the church who do not turn from their sin and walk in a manner worthy of the followers of Christ. In the book of Revelation, Jesus warns several churches in those first few chapters that he’ll put out their lampstand if they do not turn from their wickedness. They can’t just claim Christ’s name and live however they want. Jesus demands things of us. So this is a warning. It’s also a significant event of God’s judgment upon the wicked, but it’s also a type of the future eternal judgment of the wicked. Those who do not repent, those who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus, to King Jesus, will suffer his wrath. That’s the warning of 70 A.D. Lastly, we see that Jesus is vindicated, and his people who trust in him and what he says are vindicated as well. Think about those Christians who were living in Judea who remembered the words of Christ, who remembered the signs, who paid attention to what was going on leading up to 70 A.D. The historian, church historian Eusebius records that all the Christians living in Jerusalem fled to the mountains. They got out before it was destroyed. There wasn’t a Christian left who died in that great destruction. While the wicked generation was still clinging to their temple, the Christians obeyed Jesus, and they were vindicated. They saw the signs that Jesus gave them, The Lord showed his stamp of approval upon Christ and the church, the new temple, when he condemned and he removed the old temple. Jesus was vindicated in the first century. He will be vindicated yet again at the end of history when everything is brought to light. All who are loyal to Jesus, who trust in him, who walk in line with his kingdom, will be vindicated as well. Christians may be mocked. You might be ridiculed. You might be rejected for clinging to Christ. You stand with one who was rejected by men. You stand with one who was hated by his own. You stand with the vindicated one who will deliver us and vindicate us on the last day. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus’ words will not. Cling to his promises. Trust in his plan and obey his commands. Amen. Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for revealing yourself to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, for showing your grace, extending your forgiveness. We thank you for delivering us from our enemies, from saving us from our own sins, from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Help us to cling to Christ’s trustworthy word and to trust in him above all and give us strength to be diligent and faithful in the work you have given us to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen. show less

Gene Liechty (Mark 10)

SUMMARY In today’s sermon on Mark chapter 10, the preacher highlights key themes of spiritual blindness and the nature of true discipleship through various encounters of Jesus. Jesus teaches about divorce, emphasizing God’s original intent for marriage based on Genesis, countering the Pharisees’ legalistic interpretations. He welcomes children, illustrating humility as essential for receiving the kingdom, and addresses a rich young ruler who struggles to abandon his possessions for eternal life, symbolizing the difficulty of wealth in faith. The sermon culminates with Jesus’ call to servanthood, contrasting worldly notions of greatness with true greatness in God’s eyes, emphasizing that service and humility define true leadership in the kingdom. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he prepares his disciples for his impending death and resurrection, reinforcing the theme of following Him through suffering before glory. TRANSCRIPTION Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our sermon for today comes from Mark chapter 10, all of chapter 10. That’s a lot of verses. And when I preach through the gospel of Mark, I don’t know how many years ago it was now, maybe eight years ago, but I divided Mark chapter 10 into four sermons. And I asked the elders here, the leadership here, if it’d be okay if I do about a two-hour sermon. We’re here, so anyway, buckle up. We’re going to move through this passage fairly fast. I’m going to read all 52 verses, and then we’re going to jump in, and we’re going to make some application, and God’s name be praised. Here we go. Then he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan, and multitudes gathered to him again. And as he was accustomed, he taught them again. The Pharisees came and asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him? Did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her. And Jesus answered and said to them, because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. So then they brought the little children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, Now, as he was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before him, and asked him, So Jesus said to him, And he answered and said to Jesus, But this man was sad at the word and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How hard it is, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is for those who have trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, With men it’s impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say to him, See, we have left all and followed you. So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sister or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first. Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was going before them and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. Then he took the 12 aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to him. Behold, we’re going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill him. And the third day he will rise again. Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. And Jesus said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your right and the other on your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I’m baptized with? They said to him, we are able. So Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink. And with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared. And it is for those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. Now they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples in a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, stood by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, be of good cheer, rise, he is calling you. And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, what do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight. Then Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. Let’s pray together. Father God, as we approach your holy scriptures, deliver us from coldness of heart and wandering of mind that with steadfast thought and kindled affection, we might seek you where you may be found, right here in your holy scriptures, here in Mark 10. It’s in Christ we pray. Amen. Verse 52, really quickly this morning, but we see that Jesus and his disciples, they’re also on the move. They’ve been up near the Sea of Galilee at Peter and Andrew’s home. This is where they’ve been. This is where they were largely where we left them last in chapter 9. And Jesus now begins, he sets his eyes on Jerusalem. He sets his eyes on his death and he swings toward Jerusalem together with the disciples. Jesus is about to lead a great exodus. Just like Moses did. He just met, Jesus just met on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah. They led exoduses, but nothing compared to this exodus that Jesus is about to lead out of the bondage of sin and death for all people, for all time. So as Jesus leaves the Sea of Galilee, as he leaves Capernaum, and he heads toward Jerusalem, scripture tells us that he swung east, the Transjordan. The East side of the Jordan, that’s where we find him today, largely where we find him today. And it’s interesting, as we just talked about Moses, this is the very place where Moses preached his last sermons, the book of Deuteronomy. I don’t know why that’s hard to say this morning. The book of Deuteronomy is largely comprised of three sermons that Moses gave to the people before he went up on Mount Nebo and was taken up into heaven. So the two men that Jesus just met with on the Mount of Transfiguration, it’s interesting, there are all these little details that really enrich the text, but this is where Jesus is at this point. This is also the place where John the Baptist conducted his ministry, and that becomes significant here in the next verses, especially in light of the fact that there’s a question that the Pharisees bring that will take us right back to John. So verse 1 tells us that the crowds gathered to him, the multitudes gathered to him. This is the end of Jesus’ three-year earthly ministry. Everybody’s heard of him. If they haven’t seen him, they’ve heard of his teaching. They’ve heard of his miracles. The crowds gather, and Jesus does what he always does when the crowds gather. He takes advantage of the opportunity. He begins to preach. So the crowds gather, and the Pharisees come. Pharisees come, probably pretty excited that they didn’t have to travel 45 miles north to ask their trick question. Jesus sort of came to them, or at least a lot closer to them, with the question that they pretended to have. They ask, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? And you need, again, to understand that the Pharisees don’t come honestly. They’re not actually seeking an answer here. They’re not seeking understanding. As I was trying to find a common theme to tie all 52, all four of my sermons together, you know, all 52 verses together, I came up with spiritual blindness. You’ll see the title of the sermon in the bulletin. It’s amazing how all the people that Jesus encounters here in most of these verses are suffering from spiritual blindness. The Pharisees are. They didn’t come in the way that they expected, right? So the Pharisees are blind. This rich young ruler is blinded by the lust of the earth and the things of this world. He couldn’t see or he couldn’t give up. The disciples themselves, we’re going to see, are blinded in part because they fail over and over again to understand Jesus. They can’t follow him in his teaching. And then the ironic thing in all of this is that Jesus, at the end of these verses, he’s kind of funny how all this works. The folks with physical eyes to see can’t see a thing. And the blind man knows who Jesus is. He knows who to cry out to for mercy. So anyway, back to the Pharisees, right? They come to Jesus with this question. And you have to remember some things that we’ve already learned if you’ve been following along and if you’ve been part of this congregation for any length of time through the book of Mark. Remember in chapter 3 that the Pharisees and the Herodians conspired together to figure out how they could kill Jesus. And you could hardly find two groups of people who hated each other more than the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Pharisees were all about the law. And the Herodians could have given a flip about the law. They were pleasure-seeking, irreligious, power-hungry people. In the case of Jesus, in their blind hatred for them, they were able to come together. Now, why am I bringing this up? Why am I bringing this up here in chapter 10? Well, I’m bringing this up because of the question that the Pharisees ask. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Back in chapter 6 of the Gospel of Mark, we found some detail in regard to the death of John the Baptist, right? What had Herod done? Well, he’d put away his own wife, and he’d taken his brother’s wife, right? He took Philip’s wife, Herodias. And John the Baptist said, he called him out on it. He said, it’s not lawful for you to do this thing. This is sinful. You must stop. You must take your wife back. Give Philip his wife back. So John the Baptist did not hold his tongue. And Herodias, right, she hated him for this. So John the Baptist was thrown into prison, but that wasn’t enough for Herodias. She gets her own daughter to dance a seductive dance. And then Herod asks her, or he grants her any wish she wants, and Herodias whispers in her ear. And before you know it, you have John the Baptist’s head on a platter, right? Well, the Pharisees wanted Jesus’ head on a platter. The Pharisees wanted Jesus’ head on a platter every bit as much as Herodias wanted John the Baptist dished up for them. Jesus aren’t asking a question because they’re interested in learning. They haven’t come to get educated. They’ve come to trap Him, right? They’ve come to trap Him. So what does Jesus do? Well, Jesus appeals to Scripture, right? He turns to the Word of God. He asks them, what did Moses command you? And they go to Deuteronomy 24, okay? They go to Deuteronomy 24. It says, Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife, to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss her. They appealed to that chapter. In that book, in the blindness of their hearts, they’re taking the law and they’re twisting it. They’re trying to get it to suit their selfish demands. Their approach to the law was, what does the law allow me to do? What does the law allow me to get away with? There’s a clause in Deuteronomy 24. We’re not going to turn there today. We don’t have time. But there’s a clause in there. There’s an uncleanness clause. We don’t have time to clean this clause as a loophole to get away with putting away their wife for just about anything. And this preoccupation with loopholes had the effect of causing them to neglect the weightier matters of the law, namely loving God and loving your neighbor. In just a little while, the scribes are going to come to Jesus in Mark chapter 12. In a couple weeks, you’ll be reading this, but they’ll say, what is the greatest commandment? And Jesus says right there, Hear, O Israel, the Lord God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and your strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But these men before Jesus were primarily concerned with their rights and not their responsibilities. They were more concerned with what they could do than with what they ought to be doing. So Jesus’ question reveals the sinfulness of their hearts. It reveals their blindness. And Jesus says, yes, I’m familiar with that passage. I’m familiar with Deuteronomy 24. He says, let me take you back just a little bit further. He says, because of the hardness of your hearts, this prescript was written. But Jesus takes them back in Scripture. He says, let’s go all the way back to Genesis. Let’s go back to that first book of the Pentateuch. Let’s go back to Genesis chapter 2. And he says in verse 6, And what Jesus is doing here is he’s giving us a pattern for all relationships, for all human relationships. This is to be the pattern for men and women. And if we’re following this, and it’s not hard to follow because this is pretty plain speak here, this excludes a lot of what society wants to allow for today. This pattern that God gives excludes homosexuality, right? It’s not Adam and Steve. It’s not Adam and John. It’s not Adam and Paul. It’s not Susie and Sally. It’s Adam and Eve, right? This excludes polygamy. It’s not Adam and Sarah and Jane and Joan. It’s Adam and Eve. It excludes bestiality. So we can see here that Jesus is arguing the pattern that God set forth that pleases him one man, one woman, one time. That’s it. That’s what he desires. That’s what he wants for his people. Jesus has been talking with the Pharisees. He’s answering their trick question. But the disciples have been listening, and they have questions of their own. So when the Pharisees depart, the disciples come to Jesus, and they say, can you just hit that one more time? Can you go over that one more time? Because we’re not sure we’re following you correctly, which is an indication that the disciples and probably all of the Jews at that particular time the Pharisees for so long that they thought there was nothing wrong with marriage and easy divorce. But again, the issue is God’s word, his pattern, his approval, his desire for men and women. Again, really the issue is the two greatest commandments, loving God and loving your neighbor, loving God and loving your nearest neighbor, and this is one of the big things Mark is trying to show us here. I mean, look at the next section of scripture as we make our way through Mark chapter 10. Children, what about them? Loving them, loving children, receiving children. And so the question becomes, are you loving your neighbor? Verse 13, then they brought little children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. And this is amazing. Actually, because of what just occurred in chapter nine. Do you remember back in chapter nine? I guess Tyler Hatcher would have preached this last week, but they’re sitting in the home of Peter and Andrew. And Jesus even uses a visual aid. He brings a child into the center. I don’t know if he sat him on his lap, but he brings a child into the center and he talks about how we ought to be receiving children. And he contrasted the way Satan receives or abuses and destroys children. Versus how his followers should receive them. And here we have the disciples, once again, not having really ascertained or understood or been able to comprehend fully what Jesus was talking about just a few days ago. Because here we see them acting like bad-tempered bouncers, right? They rebuke the parents and they block access to the children. And Jesus says no. He says no. And Jesus here makes a very direct application for them and for us. He says you should be like them. Jesus says assuredly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. He says let them come unto me. But don’t just let them come unto me. I want you to watch them. You too must become little. In a very real sense you too must become little. You too must humble yourselves. Which is ironic considering the engagement that Jesus is going to have in just a couple of verses with James and John. Right? And their request. It’s crazy how all these things are tied together. But next comes this rich young ruler. Another blind man. As Jesus continues his journey in verse 17. He encounters this young man. And unlike the Pharisees, this guy really does come honestly. All right? He comes honestly with his question. And he asks, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do? This man wants to know what must be done. He thinks it’s all about doing. This young man thinks, this rich young ruler thinks it’s all about striving. He thinks this is what makes a man good. Right? And he addresses Jesus as good. And I’m certain he thinks of himself as good as well. And Jesus says, no one is good but God. And no one can make you good but God. Right? We know it’s for grace you’ve been saved. And this is not of yourselves. It’s the gift of God that no man can boast. We know that. This is the word that God tells us over and over again. And this is what Jesus is telling this rich young ruler. This is what he’s showing this young man is that it’s all God’s grace. Rich young man asks, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus brings the word of God to bear. Do you see that there? He brings the commandments to bear. God determines what is good. He defines it. You know, we don’t like to do that because it’s painful. What we like to do is we like to compare ourselves to others as if God greeted on a curve, right? We want to compare ourselves with our coworkers. We like to compare ourselves with the other women in the congregation or our neighbors. We want to grade on a curve. And compared to some of the folks that I’ve surrounded myself with, I am a pretty righteous man, right? I work harder. I work harder. I’m more diligent, right? I spend more time with my kids than that other guy down the street. I pay my taxes. I don’t cheat on my taxes. I never stole a thing. I covet once in a while, but hey, who hasn’t? So I think I’m pretty good there. You know, you’re always, always, always going to be able to find someone who’s doing worse than you are before the throne of God. As long as you’re grading on the curve, you’ll always be able to find someone doing more poorly than you are. He points him to the standard, God’s standard, his word, his opinion, his desire for nothing else matters. Anyway, Jesus listens to this young man. He presents the second table of the law to this young guy and he says, yes, yes, yes. All these things I have kept, all these things I have kept, remember this guy comes asking Jesus what he must do. So Jesus gives him something to do, right? He gives him something to do in verse 21. Jesus says, all right, let’s just assume you have been keeping the law, right? Not grading on a curve. You’ve just been keeping the law straight up, right? I’m going to give you this one thing to do. One thing you lack, go and sell all you possess and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. So Jesus gives this young man an assignment and asks for something to do. And the fact that he can’t keep the assignment reveals that he hasn’t been keeping the rest of the law either. I hope you can see the irony here, right? He asks for something to do. Jesus gives him something to do and he goes away sad, right? He goes away sorrowful for he had much. Now we don’t really know what happened to this guy. We don’t know whether eventually he was saved or not. We don’t know if the law did its work, sort of driving him to his knees so he’d look to Christ as Savior and Lord and to his Father God. We don’t know about any of that. But we do know it’s possible, and a lot of commentators mention this. It’s possible that the rich young ruler, the man in this story that we’re introduced to in verse 17, is actually Mark, is actually the gospel writer Mark. We know that Mark came to Jesus at an early age, and we know that he was a man of means. So if it was the gospel writer, then we know that he was saved. Anyway, this young man, he leaves, he goes away, and Jesus is left standing there with the disciples, and he says how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. And he even uses a little hyperbole here. He takes the biggest creature in Palestine at the time, right, a camel, a dromedary, about the smallest thing you could find, the eye of a needle. And he impresses upon them the fact that it’d be easier for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle. And the disciples, it’s interesting, are just slack-jawed at this. Never heard anything like this before. It tells us they were astonished at his words. They couldn’t believe them. They couldn’t understand because they equated prosperity with blessing. Didn’t everybody? I mean, wasn’t this biblical? What does it say in Deuteronomy 28? What does it say in Psalm 128? What does it say in Proverbs 10? The blessing of the Lord makes one rich. He adds no sorrow with it. So what are you saying, Jesus? This is the second time in this chapter where the disciples have to sort of pull Jesus aside after he’s with the Pharisees, Jesus’ teaching because it’s so contrary to what they know and what they think they understand, right? And we need to be careful here because we too need to bring all of God’s word, all of Jesus’ words to bear when it comes to any given subject, right? In regard to this one, Jesus says in Matthew 6, right? No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon, right? It says that there in chapter 6. You can’t have both God and mammon. It says you can’t serve both God and mammon. God requires us to have money, right? I’m a provider. My wife is sitting right over there, four kids through college and everything else. If I’m not a provider, then I’m worse than an unbeliever. If I’m not a good provider, I’ve denied the faith. So there’s nothing wrong with having. It’s required in Scripture. The question becomes who you’re serving. He requires you to have money, he requires you to work hard, and he requires you to steward things well. Jesus doesn’t say you can’t have money in God. He says you cannot serve money in God. You see, both speak, right? Both have a language. God has his word and his commands, and money speaks too. Money says, well, that’s not financially prudent. Money might tell you that’s not fiscally wise. God’s word says, what he’s voicing, and what money says, and what money’s voicing, they’re in contrast with one another. They’re in conflict with one another. So the question becomes, whose voice are you listening to? Actually, that’s the question. Now, back to the text. Peter, with some self-awareness, says, hey, we’ve left all. I and the boys, we’ve left everything. Our families are far from here. Our wives and our children are far from here. We left our vocation. You remember James and John, they dropped their nets, they hugged their father goodbye, and they went off and followed Jesus. And this is the story for most of them. So they say, we left all. He points this out. And Jesus says, yeah. He says, yes, you have. And he goes on to praise him. And the disciples, you will receive a hundredfold what you have left for my sake, along with persecution. That’s interesting that that’s thrown in here. You see that in verse 30. Speaking of persecution, Jesus then goes on to remind the disciples of exactly what’s going to happen to him in the coming days as they get closer to Jerusalem and eventually enter the city itself. And if you’ve been paying attention in the Gospel of Mark, you’re going to know that this is the third time that Jesus brings up this subject. And for Peter, James, and John, it’s actually the fourth time that Jesus mentions this because he mentioned it to them when they were coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration. And Jesus’ words here are greeted with silence. Isn’t that interesting? Because Jesus talks to them after the Pharisees have this fake question about divorce. They have questions about divorce. They hear about this rich young ruler, and Jesus gives this statement, this hyperbole about camels, going through the eye of a needle, and they have questions there. But Jesus mentions this, the plan of salvation, for the third time, and it’s greeted by silence, right? Why is it greeted by silence? Well, the disciples are afraid, because this plan of salvation doesn’t match their idea of Messiah and how he’s going to conquer. There was a blindness, again, a spiritual blindness that actually was affecting them so that they could not see God’s plan of salvation. Ironically, Christ’s enemies understood and took more literally what Jesus was saying than what they were. And we know this because the chief priests and the scribes, his enemies, determined that it would be a very good idea to have a guard by the tomb because they anticipated that Jesus might arise from the dead. Anyway, no sooner does Jesus finish outlining the plan of salvation for the world, his path to death, resurrection, ascension, and glory, no sooner does he do this than he’s approached by James and John with a question. They come sidling up to Jesus with a request in verse 35. They say, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Have you ever had your kids come up to you and ask the same question? Promise you’ll say yes. Mommy, promise dad, daddy, promise you’ll say yes. And how do we respond? What’s your question? What do you want? How does Jesus respond here? What do you want, right? And they say, grant that we may sit one on your right and the other on your left in your glory. And this question reveals just how little they’ve understood about what Jesus has been saying. How absolutely little they grasp. Not just here, but over the last several days, Jesus has been talking to them about serving, about giving yourself away, about pouring yourself out. He’s been talking to them about humility and they haven’t been listening. As a matter of fact, it’s just, it’s crazy because back in chapter nine, remember when they’re on the road to Capernaum, right? They’re on the road up there to Peter and Andrew’s house. When they’re on the road, they’re having this argument, this discussion about who’s the greatest. Remember? I think you probably touched on this last week in the service. And Jesus asks them what they’re complaining and grumbling about back there because there’s a bit of a ruckus in the ranks. And that’s greeted by silence because they’re embarrassed. They’re embarrassed to tell their savior, they’re embarrassed to tell their leader what it is that they’ve been arguing about because they know better. They’re embarrassed, but apparently not embarrassed enough, right? They’re still talking about this, obviously. They’re still rumbling about rank and status. And they think, I know that they think that all of this is going to happen when they arrive in Jerusalem. And again, this is so crazy that they would think this after Jesus has been saying plainly what awaits him when they get to Jerusalem, you know? But they’ve been part of this wildly successful ministry, right? Countless exorcism. How many demons have been cast out by now? In this three-year ministry. How many miracles? How many healings? They’d seen Jesus create ex nihilo, right? Out of midair, fish and bread. He fed 4,000. He fed 5,000. They’ve seen him walk on water. They’ve seen him calm the sea. They’ve seen all these things. And using carnal reasoning, what would a man do who could do anything when he got to Jerusalem? After a very successful three-year ministry. What’s he going to do? Well, he’s going to assume the throne, right? He’s going to take a palace. He’s going to start wielding his power. It’s time for awards and victory speeches and whatnot. We’re going to go from strength to strength. And James and John want to be positioned just so. One on the right and one on the left of Jesus. Because surely God’s going to lift him up there, right? Surely he’ll be exalted now. And they’re right. You know, they’re right. Jesus will be, he will be lifted up. And if those disciples had stuck with him, if they’d been true disciples, if they’d remained faithful, if they’d been there with him when he was on trial, if they’d been there with him when he was being scourged, if they would have plainly stated to the crowds that were gathered that, hey, we’re with that guy, then they might have been lifted up. James on one side and John on the other. But this honor went to, two insurgents on that hill called Golgotha. So Jesus looks at these two and he responds with such grace. You’ve got to see that there. He looks at them and he says, you boys have no idea what you’re asking for, right? Are you able to drink from the cup I drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism? I’m about to be baptized, full submersion, right? Incredible pain and sorrow. Well, the other disciples get wind of this request from James and John. And as you can imagine, they’re none too happy. They’re ticked, displeased, indignant. They were furious. And it’s funny, I don’t think they were furious about the sin. They weren’t disappointed for James and John that they would have faltered at this point. And in spite of these two men, I think the other ten disciples were sorry that they hadn’t thought of this first, that they hadn’t come to Jesus just a little bit earlier. You know, here are the disciples. Everyone’s willing to bear a grudge, but no one’s willing to bear a cross. That’s what you’ve got here. And Jesus has been with these men for three years, and still, everybody willing to bear a grudge, and no one willing to bear a cross. And this bickering provides Jesus with just one more opportunity to provide instruction on the nature of true discipleship and his role as Messiah. And this is what we have in verses 42 to 45, and this is sort of where we’re going to camp out. Jesus tries to channel their desire to be great into humble service. Jesus says, you want to be first? You want to be great? You want to be first or great? Then serve. Jesus has already said that it’s the salt of humility that makes all the difference in the world, in everything that we do, in everything that we offer up, in everything we sacrifice, in every endeavor. It’s the salt of humility, right? He says this in chapter 9, have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another. But we struggle with this. We struggle with this so much, because we’re proud, arrogant, absorbed, self-absorbed, grasping people. Humility is so hard to find today. Apparently, not much has changed in 2,000 years, except this, except this. We’ve managed to turn self-centeredness into a virtue. The very thing that Jesus has been preaching against here, has been trying to beat back, we’ve turned into a virtue. And the church has quite honestly led the way in this. Evangelical churches across America have been toting cycle babble as long and as loud as everybody else. You know, before you can truly love others, before you can serve well, you’ve got to figure out how to love yourself. You need to take care of yourself. You need to be careful. You can pour yourself out, but don’t pour yourself out all the way. There’s no way that your strength is going to be renewed in the morning. Never mind what scripture says. Just take a measured approach to all this and make sure you have a good attitude about you and yourself and things. We’ve inverted God’s law and his requirements. He says, love me and love your neighbor and use self-love as the measuring stick, right? Love others as you love yourself, right? Self-worth first. And of course, for many people, this takes a lifetime, right? So they never get around to actually pouring themselves out. They never get around to actually loving others and giving themselves in a way. We live in a culture where the biggest book selection on Amazon is the self-help section, right? You go into a bookstore today, the biggest section in there is going to be on self-help. And Christians don’t think a thing of it. It’s a tricky thing. We have to be careful because we trick ourselves into believing that we’re not proud. And we deceive ourselves. We take pride in the fact that we’re not proud. Humility hates pride. But you know what? Pride hates pride too. The proud don’t like those who are prideful. And you know why? They can’t stand the competition. J.C. Ryle has commented that the world is filled with Jameses and Johns. Go-getters, status seekers, hungry for honor and prestige, measuring life by achievements and dreaming of success. But Jesus’ life and teaching turns the worldly understanding of greatness and success on its head. The greatest work ever done was accomplished by one who gave his life for others. It means to have a servant as a Lord. How can we shamelessly seek after honor and glory when our own Lord gave himself for us in such a shameful way? It also forces us to reflect on our own definitions of greatness and think about how we pursue it, right? Clearly, the world’s notions of rank and honor and privilege are out of step in a church that names Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus says in verses 43 and 44, he says, you want to be great? Do you truly want to be great? He says, then become a servant. You want to be first in the kingdom? You want to be first in the kingdom? Then get to the back of the line, right? Then become a slave of all. For even I, even I didn’t come to be served, but to serve. And you know how you know if you get it? You know how you know if you get this teaching, if you get Christ’s teaching here? If you really understand how to become first in the kingdom and how to become, great in God’s eyes. You know how you know? Well, you know it by looking at how you respond when given menial tasks to perform that the world would judge beneath you, beneath your dignity. God promises tremendous blessing to his people here, blessing and joy here on this earth. He gives the saints mountaintop experiences, but he doesn’t give his saints mountaintop experiences in this world without having them walk through valleys. There’s always a valley. There are always both. There’s always something that God preserves us through. And then the mountaintop. This is God’s way. First the cross and then resurrection. But we want the glory first. We don’t want trial. We don’t want struggle. We don’t want to be humbled. We don’t want affliction. We don’t want any pain and suffering. We don’t want to be refined. But Jesus says no. He says no. Let’s pray. show less

31. mai 202644 min

Tyler Hatcher (Mark 9)

SUMMARY In this sermon based on Mark chapter 9, the speaker emphasizes Jesus’ identity as the great King, Prophet, and Priest, particularly highlighted through the Transfiguration and His miracles, including the healing of a boy possessed by a demon. Jesus instructs His disciples about the necessity of humility and servitude, teaching that true greatness comes from being the last and serving all. He discusses the importance of cutting off sinful behaviors, advocating for a vigilant stance against sin while also reminding them of God’s covenant faithfulness. The sermon culminates in a call to recognize Jesus as the ultimate solution to their internal struggles with envy and disputes over greatness, urging the congregation to maintain a focus on Christ to cultivate peace with one another and live as “salty Christians” filled with His grace. TRANSCRIPTION Choose show more to view the transcription. Transcriptions are AI generated and MAY be incorrect. Rely on the spoken word heard in the audio file. show more Our text this morning is from Mark chapter 9. Before I introduce this, this is another long one. So children especially, give your attention to the reading. Stay with me. These are the words of God. And let us make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son. Hear Him. And so they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising of the dead meant. And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. Immediately when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, What are you discussing with them? Then one of the crowd answered and said, So I spoke to your disciples that they should cast it out, but they could not. And He answered and said to them, So He asked His father, How long has this been happening to him? And He said, Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, Then the spirit cried out, And when he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out? So he said to them, This kind can come out by nothing but fasting and prayer. Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know it. For he taught his disciples and said to them, The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And after he is killed, he will rise the third day. But they did not understand this saying and were afraid to ask him. Then he came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road? But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. Then he took a little child and set him in the midst of them. Then he said to them, Whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me. And now John answered him, saying, Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us. But Jesus said, Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in my name can soon afterwards speak evil of me, for he who is not against us is on our side. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another. These are the words of the Lord. Our Father and our God, we thank you for revealing yourself to us by giving us your word and by sending your Son, our Lord Jesus. We ask as we continue to worship you this morning that you would give us wisdom by your Holy Spirit to understand what you would have us see in this chapter. Guard and guide my tongue and open the ears and hearts of those gathered here. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Please be seated. I bring you greetings from the other coast, from Seattle area, and thank you for orchestrating the weather so I feel right at home. This was very thoughtful of you. It is a pleasure to be with you all, and I do bring you greetings from the saints at Trinity Church in the Seattle area. It is a wonder to see what God is doing here. It is exciting. We pray for you. We are blessed to see you all gathering faithfully to worship in this place, and so thank you. Carry on. It is a wonderful thing. As we dive into this next chapter of Mark, I want to remind us a little bit of what we saw previously. In chapter 8, in the previous chapter, Jesus had asked the disciples who they thought he was. This is towards the end of the chapter, and Peter identified Jesus as the Christ. Jesus asked, who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you are the Christ. This is the Messiah, the anointed one, who would be like a new David, a new anointed king. And he was to be the Lord and king over all the nations. This calls to mind Psalm 2, where we see the Lord setting up his anointed one on the throne. And he says to this anointed one, ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance. And we see this fulfilled then in Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension. But at this point, this all hasn’t happened yet, but Peter identifies Jesus as the anointed one, as the Messiah. He identifies him as the one who’s going to become this king. He testifies to this. And so then Jesus goes into, at the end of chapter 8, describing what it looks like to follow this king. He says that it looks like denying oneself, picking up the cross, losing one’s life for the sake of Christ and the good news in order to save your life. In Romans chapter 12, we are to be living sacrifices before God. To pick up one’s cross is a death sentence, and Jesus calls us to do this denying ourselves daily. We are to be living sacrifices, living before God, and wherever we find ourselves, that is the altar that God has called us to, to deny ourselves and to die. This sort of commitment to Christ. And that is the idol of the self. He does this both by, in two primary ways. In the first half of the chapter, we will see that Jesus hints at, it’s not all fully revealed, but he hints at the fact that he is the great king, that he is the great prophet, that he is the great priest. In other words, Jesus is the greatest. And then this is followed by this dispute that the disciples have, talking among themselves, who is the greatest? There’s this great irony here in this chapter. And then this is contrasted. So this claim that Jesus makes, that he is the greatest, is contrasted with this dispute that the disciples have about who is the greatest. And then Jesus corrects this and exposes this idol of the self. This is obviously a long chapter, and there are lots of things in here that we don’t have time to get into. Lots of questions that I think this chapter raises, and there are lots of details here that we won’t touch on. Keep this theme in mind as we go through. Jesus is establishing in types and shadows, it’s not all fully revealed yet in this chapter, but he’s establishing that he is the greatest, that he is this great king, and then you have this contrast with the disciples disputing among themselves with this envious, covetous sort of argument about who is the greatest. This is the main theme I want us to focus on this morning. Following the disciples’ testimony that Jesus was the anointed, and again, keeping Psalm 2 in mind, the psalm where the anointed one is high and lifted up and is declared to be the one who will receive the nations as his inheritance. So following that testimony from the disciples, keeping Psalm 2 in mind, Jesus declares in verse 1 that some from among the people and the disciples that were gathered with him would not die until they saw the kingdom of God come with power. There were some that were present there with Jesus among the disciples and the other people that were gathered around that would see the kingdom present with power. And then Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, three of his disciples, with him up to this high mountain. They witness Jesus being transfigured before them in such a way that his garments are startlingly white. This is signifying that there is a greater glory bestowed upon Jesus in this moment. In Daniel’s vision, the Ancient of Days is described as having garments that are startlingly white. In this story here, we see Jesus himself bearing these garments, and we’ll see that he’s actually the Son of Man that comes to the Ancient of Days. But there’s some hints here that we should have Daniel’s prophecy in mind. Okay, so there’s so many things going on in this vision. Not vision in an unreal sense, but this thing that the disciples see. Jesus up on a mountain. Okay, so what do we have going on here? This is all hinting at Jesus as the great king. Hinting to Jesus as this great king. Jesus is the greatest king. He’s the king of kings and the Lord of lords. This is a preview of his ascension. The Mount of Transfiguration is a preview then of the ascension that Jesus would take after his resurrection. But at this time, Jesus instructs the three disciples not to discuss it. Don’t discuss this until the Son of Man had been risen from the dead. The disciples obey this. But they are confused by what the rising from the dead could mean. It says they obeyed him and they kept this to themselves, Peter, James, and John. But they’re confused by what Jesus means that the Son of Man would rise from the dead. So this first part of the chapter here, we see Jesus hinting at his ascension, hinting at the fact that he is the great king. Jesus, of course, is also the great prophet. He is the great prophet fulfilling Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18. Moses gives this prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 that there would be this prophet that would come after him, and he is this particular prophet that the people must hear, and if they don’t hear this prophet, they will be cut off. Jesus is clearly here identified with Moses and Elijah, these two great prophets in Israel’s history. As a side note, we also see, many commentators will allude to this, Moses representing the law, and Elijah representing the prophets, and Jesus representing the gospel, all together in unity and communion with one another. But there, Jesus is identified with Moses and Elijah, so his disciples see this, and then as they’re coming down the mountain, Jesus says to them, this is verse 12, he answers, why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? And then Jesus answers, Elijah is coming first and restores all things, and he’ll say that Elijah already has come, and other passages tell us that this is fulfilled in John the Baptist. But in the middle of this part, Jesus says, he asks them, how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? And so he puts in the disciples’ mind that he’s with Moses and Elijah, and he comes down from the mountain, and the Son of Man is to suffer many things, be treated with contempt, which was sort of characteristic of the prophets of the Old Testament. Jesus says in other places that no prophet is received in his own country. He’s treated with contempt in his own country. Okay, but not only this, Jesus, so he’s associated with Elijah and Moses. He then says that he’s going to suffer like the prophets suffered, but then Jesus descends the mountain, and what does he find? He descends the mountain, and he finds a tumult. There’s all kinds of commotion going on, and this, I think, is similar to, the golden calf incident with Moses. Remember, Moses is up on Mount Sinai after having brought the people out of Egypt. God is delivering to him the law, and Moses comes down the mountain. What does he find? He finds the people in all sorts of licentiousness, worshiping this golden calf that Aaron had made for them, all kinds of idolatry and immorality, this huge commotion. In fact, it’s such a big commotion that when they’re coming down the mountain, Joshua says to Moses, there’s the sound of war in the camp. It’s that crazy what’s going on down in the camp of Israel. Similarly, Jesus descends the mountain. He finds this big commotion. When Moses comes down the mountain in the golden calf incident, he notes that the people were unrestrained in their licentiousness. They were unrestrained. Look at what Jesus sees here. Jesus comes down the mountain, and he sees the scribes and the disciples disputing amongst themselves, and he asks what is going on. Jesus comes down the mountain, and he’s confronted with this demon, this spirit, who takes this boy and makes him like one who is unrestrained. This spirit casts this boy into the fire and into the water in order to try to destroy him. I think we’re to see here a similarity back to what Moses says about the people as he comes down the mountain. They’re unrestrained. They are possessed with this idolatry in a sense, and they are unrestrained in their worship of this golden calf. While on Mount Sinai, Moses interceded with Yahweh to not wipe out Israel because of their idolatry. Because of this idolatry, this worship of this golden calf, I’m done with Israel. I’m ready to wipe them out. I’ll make a new line just out of you, Moses. And Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and asks God to be merciful to them for his own namesake. So Moses intercedes like a good prophet, intercedes with Yahweh on behalf of the people. And Jesus we see also coming down the mountain, and he calls the people a faithless generation. He finds out what the dispute is about. He says this is a faithless generation. But he asks this question, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Jesus, this prophet, this great prophet, continues to bear with this generation at least for the time being. There is judgment that is going to come upon them. There is the wrath of God that will be poured out upon them. But for now, Jesus bears with them, almost as though he’s interceding on their behalf, Moses did. And of course, we know that Jesus is the one who intercedes now before the Father on behalf of his people. So we see all these parallels with Jesus being identified with Moses. He sees Moses. He’s going to suffer like Moses suffered. He comes down the mountain. He sees a tumult like Moses saw a tumult. He calls the generation a faithless generation, but he bears with them for now. He sees the people unrestrained in at least a type or a symbol. He is like Moses. But he’s also like Elijah. Remember that the story of Elijah, when God sends him out of Israel and he goes to the widow of Zarephath and the widow that he stays with, her son, falls deathly sick. And Elijah, God, through Elijah, works this miracle to revive the widow’s son. When he revives this son, the widow says of him, now by this I know that you are a man of God. And by the fact that you have raised my son back to life, you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord is in your mouth is the truth. Jesus is identified as the great prophet. He’s the one who’s rebuking faithless Israel and demonstrating his authority through a miracle that his disciples, even though they had been given power to cast out some spirits, they were not able to cast out this one. They were not able to perform this miracle. Jesus is the great prophet. He’s the one who speaks the words of God with authority. And this is why the father says of him, this is my beloved son, hear him. He is being hinted at, being shown to be the great king. He’s also being shown to be the great prophet. And these things are, there are types and shadows here, but there’s a sense in which these things are obvious. Jesus is obviously being glorified to be this great king. He’s obviously powerful with the words of his mouth, able to cast out this spirit, able to revive this boy, faithful as a prophet in calling the generation that he is speaking to a faithless generation. But then, in the middle of this chapter, we have something slightly different. Oh, I’m sorry, I neglected one thing. At the end of this, his disciples come to Jesus, and they ask him, why could we not cast out the demon? Why could we not cast him out? Jesus says, this kind can only come by prayer and fasting. It can only be cast out by prayer and by fasting. But Jesus, there’s no indication that Jesus himself took time to pray and fast in order to cast out this demon. Again, his power is so much greater than his disciples. Okay, so then we come to, if you’re following along, we’re now in verses 30 through 32. Jesus travels on with his disciples, but he does so quietly because he wants to teach his disciples. He has something important that he wants to teach them, and he doesn’t want to be interrupted by the crowds that are coming to see him. So he travels quietly, and he doesn’t want anybody to know it because he has something that he wants to teach his disciples. And he tells them plainly, the Son of Man will be betrayed. He will be killed, and he will be raised from the dead. He tells them very plainly at this time. But Mark notes that they did not understand this saying. Just like James, John, and Peter did not understand when Jesus said that the Son of Man will be raised from the dead. Don’t tell about this transfiguration until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. They didn’t understand that. Now Jesus tells all the disciples, the Son of Man will be betrayed, he will be killed, he will be raised from the dead, and they don’t understand this. But not only do they not understand, this is very striking, Mark says that they were afraid to ask him. They don’t understand, and they don’t want to go ask Jesus to explain it to them. Why might this be? We’re not told exactly why. Maybe it was because they were full of shame because of their bewilderment. Jesus is obviously spending some time to teach us something very particular. He doesn’t want to be bothered by the crowds right now. He doesn’t want to be interrupted by the crowds. He’s trying to give us a very important message, and I don’t get it. So maybe they didn’t come to him because they were sort of ashamed because of their lack of understanding. Maybe they’re concerned that Jesus would chide them for not getting it. He said this a couple of times leading up to this, hinted at the fact that the Son of Man would die and would be raised from the dead, and still they’re not getting it. But in any case, there’s this fear that they have. They’re not really with it. They don’t understand. And they’re afraid to talk to Jesus about it. So what is Jesus saying here? Well, while still in types and shadows, again, Jesus is being revealed so far in this chapter as the great king who would have an everlasting dominion. He’s being revealed as the great prophet whose word accomplishes wonders. And here he speaks very plainly about what is going to happen to him. And we know on this side of the cross, on this side of the resurrection, we know that this reveals him to be the great priest. But here his disciples don’t see it. Maybe they could see that he’s the great king. Maybe they could see that he’s the great prophet. They don’t get that he’s the great priest. They don’t see it. And so then Jesus moves on. They come to Capernaum, verse 33. Jesus and his disciples come to a house, and there Jesus perceives that they are disputed among themselves about who is the greatest. They come into the house, and Jesus says, what are you talking about? And it’s very quiet. Kids, have you ever experienced that? You’re riding in the car, and there’s this something going on in the back, and all of a sudden mom says from the front, hey, what are you guys talking about? It’s suddenly very quiet in the car. Why might that be? And so they’re very quiet. They don’t answer. They keep silent because they know. They know. They know that they were disputing amongst themselves who would be the greatest, and they know what Jesus thinks about this kind of thing. Jesus’ response here is very interesting. It says, Jesus sat down, and he called the 12, and then he says to them. So his disciples are these 12 men that have been with Jesus. They’re kind of a rough-and-ready group. They’re arguing among themselves about who is the greatest. There’s this big dispute that’s happening. Jesus calls them out on it, but instead of laying into them and rebuking them because of their idiocy, he calls them to himself, and he sits down like a good teacher. He says, guys, huddle up for a second. If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. Jesus doesn’t even tell them, like mom and dad sometimes say, well, actually, I know what you were talking about. Jesus, of course, knows what they were talking about, but he doesn’t come out front and say that. Instead, he gives them the word, the exact word that they need to hear. He gives them the exact word that they need to be last of all. They need to be the servant of all. In the midst of his teachings and his revelations that he’s given to the disciples through this chapter, they’ve been confused. Verse 10. They didn’t understand what Jesus was saying about this son of man who would rise from the dead. They were unable. They had been demonstrated to not be greater than their master. They couldn’t cast the spirit out. Verse 28. They’re confused. They’re unable. And then when Jesus is teaching them privately, they are bewildered and afraid to ask him about it. They’re not good students, right? The good student is the student that’s willing to ask the question when he doesn’t understand. The disciples are too afraid to ask. And here’s this great irony, right? The disciples, we’ve seen them fall short and be confused and they’re unable and they’re afraid. And then they have the audacity amongst themselves to have this dispute about which one of them is the greatest. You can understand maybe why this came up. Peter, James, and John had been kind of selected as this center group of the disciples. They got to go up on the mountain with Jesus. And then Jesus tells them, don’t tell anybody about this. So they come down the mountain. You can imagine the other disciples are coming around. What did you see? Maybe they’re talking about this as they leave. There’s this commotion that’s going on right away. Maybe after they depart and they’re wandering down to Capernaum through Galilee, maybe that’s when the disciples say, so what happened up on the mountain? Peter, James, and John say, well, we can’t tell you. You can see how perhaps there might be a little bit of envy and covetousness being stirred up. And the disciples, all of a sudden, they find themselves in this mess, disputing about who is the greatest. Jesus instructs them, though, that greatness is demonstrated by lifting up the lowly. Right? If anyone desires to be first of all, he should be last of all and servant of all. Right? One who serves. Jesus will say the same kind of thing in the next chapter. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And Jesus himself models this as he leads his disciples on. As he continues to shepherd them. He’s gentle with them. He lifts them up. They are this lowly, ragtag bunch of disciples who are acting like a bunch of kids squabbling in the back of a car. And he’s gentle with them. He says, come here. You need to be servant of all. Jesus himself is modeling this. He sits down. He gets down with them. To show them what it means to serve. And he does this having made it very, very clear that he is the greatest. He’s the great king. He’s the great prophet. He’s the great priest. But it’s interesting that in all these things, it’s the great priest that they particularly don’t understand. They don’t know what it means that he’s going to rise from the dead. And I think here we see they don’t understand it because they don’t understand what it means to serve. Jesus is going to rise from the dead because he gives his life. His disciples don’t see this. John then responds to this in verse 38. And he recounts how they rebuked someone who did not follow them but who did cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Just like Jesus had cast out the demons and just like the disciples had cast out other demons, they see this other guy who’s casting out demons but he’s doing it in Jesus’ name. He’s doing it in Jesus’ name but he doesn’t follow with the disciples. And so they rebuked him. They told him to stop it. And Jesus corrects this also. In other words, Jesus is saying it’s not good for them to dispute among themselves who’s the greatest and it’s not good for them to dispute with an outsider and tell him that he can’t do that because they’re the inner circle of the apostles. Jesus says if he’s casting them out in my name, he’s on our side. This reminds us of other instances we see in scripture of this kind of thing. Moses in Numbers chapter 11. Moses tells Joshua, there’s these two guys, Eldad and Medad, in the camp that are prophesying. And Joshua gets up in arms about it and says to Moses, we should go tell them to stop. And Moses says, no, I wish that all of God’s people received a spirit of prophecy like these guys did. Paul says something similar in Philippians 1. Paul is in prison and he says that there are some who are preaching with contempt for him and envy towards him, but they’re preaching Christ. And Paul says, look, as long as they’re preaching Christ, I don’t care. As long as the gospel is preached, I don’t care what they say about me. I don’t care if it’s done with envy and contempt. At least Christ is preached. What’s the point here? Well, the focus for the disciples should not be on who’s the greatest, on who’s inside the group or who’s outside the group. The focus should be on Christ himself. They are to be looking to Christ or him, denying themselves, serving those that are brought in in order to continue to follow Christ. We can imagine that the disciples would not have denied that Jesus was the greatest. They wouldn’t have denied. If you ask them, okay, disciples, you’re having this dispute about who’s the greatest. What do you think about Jesus? They’d say, of course, Jesus is the greatest. They wouldn’t deny this, but this shows our grasping hearts. Okay, we might know who the greatest is, but we want the next honorable place. We see this so clearly on the playground or on the field during recess, and you’re picking teams, right? Everybody knows who’s going to get picked first, and we’re okay with that. We just don’t want to be picked last, right? And so the guy that gets picked first, that’s okay, and then there’s kind of this jostling and kind of stand up straighter, right? Look tough, because you want to get picked. You want to be next, and it’s okay if you’re not the first. But you just better not be last. These are our grasping hearts. We fundamentally don’t want to be last. We want somebody to be beneath us. I don’t have to be the first, but I’m going to dispute about who’s the greatest because I just don’t want to be the last. But what does Jesus say? Jesus says, no, if you want to be first, be last. Be a servant of all. All sin fundamentally is idolatry. All sin fundamentally is saying that I’m going to break God’s law because I know better than God. Or I want things that God has not given to me because God is not really good. He’s withholding from me. All sin is idolatry. It’s worshiping yourself or worshiping some other God than the true God. But Paul twice says in the New Testament specifically that covetousness is idolatry. All sin really fundamentally is idolatry. There’s something specific about covetousness that Paul associates with idolatry. And keeping that in mind then, we come to the end of the chapter. Jesus strikes at any complacency toward the things that lead us into sin. So first he gathers the disciples in together. He’s very gentle with them. But then he speaks very strongly about any sort of complacency with your sin, with the disciples’ sin. In the Gospel, we have him saying, if your hand causes you to sin, you better cut it off. Because it’s better to go into the kingdom of God without a hand than to go burn in hell forever. And if your eye causes you to sin, it’d be better to pluck it out and not have two eyes and enter into the kingdom than burn forever. And if your foot causes you to sin, you might as well cut it off and go into life lame. Because then as you enter into the kingdom lame, rather than go into hell. And on the one hand, this is of course very clear that we ought to be so vigilant toward our sin, or as Jesus ropes in here, causing the weak to sin, that we are willing to cut off the very thing that causes us to sin. Your fight, your battle against your own temptations should be so strong that you are willing to cut those things off if that would stop you from that sin. that our hand doesn’t really cause us to sin. Right? Go back to the Garden of Eden. Would the problem have been solved if Eve cut her hand off so that she didn’t eat the fruit? We know that that’s not true. The problem is not the hand. The problem is not the eye. The problem is not the foot. The problem is the heart. It is our selfish desires, the worship of oneself that really leads us into further sin. And so what is the solution? It’s interesting in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus makes it very clear, connects these things with the sins of the heart. But here, Jesus doesn’t go there directly. Instead, he starts talking about salt. He starts talking about salt. Jesus says that first, everyone will be seasoned with fire. Comparing this with what he has said before about the fires of hell, the fire that will not be quenched, he says that everyone will be seasoned with fire. So either we will be burned in the fires of hell that are not quenched because we worship ourselves and refuse to cut off that sin, refuse to submit to the greatness of Jesus, or we will be seasoned with his fire. John the Baptist said that Jesus would come and would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. That’s the fire that you will be seasoned with, or you’ll be burned and consumed with the fires that cannot be quenched. But Jesus also, so Jesus first says everyone will be seasoned with fire, but then he reminds the disciples that all the sacrifices are to be seasoned with salt. This is not something random that Jesus is pulling up. In the Old Testament, we’re told in Leviticus and in Numbers that, and then it’s mentioned again in the prophets, all of the sacrifices were to be seasoned with salt. And it was called sometimes the salt of the covenant of your God. So the priests were to actually put salt on these sacrifices that were to be offered to the Lord. This reminds the offerer, because it is the salt of the covenant of your God, this salt, this purifying agent, this seasoning agent on the sacrifice, reminds the offerer and the Lord then, the one who’s consuming the sacrifice, of his promises to his people. Jesus indicates to the disciples that they need this covenantal savor in them. They need this covenantal savor, the blessings of God, his promises in them. Because, again, what are they called to do? What does it mean to follow Christ? It means to deny yourself and take up your cross. It means to walk as a living sacrifice. Sacrifices must be seasoned with salt. Sacrifices must bear the covenant grace of God. That must be evident in them. You need to be a tasty sacrifice before God. What does this mean, though? And how is this connected, then, to the solution of these envious disputes, this covetous argument that the disciples had? Consider how the idol of the self makes the disciples themselves unrestrained. We saw how, when Moses comes down to see the golden calf commotion, that the people were unrestrained. And Jesus comes down the mountain, and he sees this boy who is unrestrained because of this demonic spirit that has him. The disciples themselves are unrestrained. They’ve been walking with Jesus, and he’s been declaring to them that he’s the greatest, and they are unrestrained in their covetousness and their envy, arguing amongst themselves who would be the greatest. We need Jesus to cast out this evil spirit, this spirit, this idol of the self. We need him to cast it out from us. The disciples needed Jesus to cast it away from them. Jesus does this with the boy. We read this at the very beginning. Jesus casts out the spirit. The spirit cried out. It convulsed the boy greatly and came out of him. And the boy became as one dead. So that many said, he is dead. We need Jesus. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves and take up our cross. That’s a call to die, to be a living sacrifice. But you need Jesus to cast down that idol. Of yourself. This is not something we can gin up and do in ourselves. You can’t be salty yourself. This is God’s grace poured out upon you. You need the great priest to cast this salt upon you. We need him to make us fall and be left like one dead. But we serve this son of man who himself died and himself was raised from the dead. And he grabs this boy’s hand and he lifts him up and he brings him back to life. This is the solution to the envious disputes. This is the solution to fundamentally all of our sin as followers of Christ. Yes, you need to do battle with your sin. Yes, you do need to cut off the things that fuel your sin. But fundamentally, you need to fall on your knees with whatever that sin is that is restraining you or making you live unrestrained, not following the ways of God. Not following after His law. You need Jesus to cast down that idol. And so, have salt in yourselves, like Jesus says. Remind yourselves of God’s covenant faithfulness. We’re on the other side of this. Jesus is saying this to His disciples, but we’re on the other side. The death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus has already taken place. He already is our great high priest. He already has poured out His Spirit. That’s why we’re celebrating Pentecost. He’s already poured out His Spirit upon you. And so relinquish those idols. Have salt in yourselves. Remind yourselves of God’s covenant faithfulness and that He is the God who has granted you everything. And thus, have peace with one another. This is how Jesus ends. Have salt in yourselves and have peace with one another. The way we deal with those envious disputes and fighting is to remember who really is the greatest. Who really is the greatest. This is what it means to be a salty Christian. It means to have your eyes constantly on Christ. Constantly seeking after him. By means of this then, those sins that so easily ensnare you are set aside. They’re cut off. Not by your own works. Not by your own ginning up the strength in you to do it. But faithfully following after Christ. Trusting in him as you deny yourself and pick up your cross. As James says in James 4, Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, which is a mirror to us. Father, with all this talk about idols and our self and who is the greatest, we need your word to be this mirror to us. Show us where we need to deny ourselves. Where we need to put to death our selfish idols. And Father, we know that we need to deny ourselves. We know that we cannot do these things apart from your grace working in us. And so we ask you to remove the idols in our hearts. And then revive us. And then lift us up. That we might follow more after Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. We sing now the words our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. Amen. Amen. show less

24. mai 202643 min

Kameron Edenfield (Mark 13)

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