A Desperate Father (14-29)
-Coming off the “high” of the transfiguration, very quickly brought down “low” by a scandal brewing.
-Last week, we took some time to pray for those who will be going to serve at camp this summer, and if any of you went to a camp growing up, you understand the high of camp vs. the reality of coming back home. The high lasts for a little while, but at some point it seems that shine wears off, and people generally go back to how they were before camp.
-The other 9 disciples have gotten into a bit of a showdown with the scribes. Remember who they are? The experts of the law, think of them as lawyers! From first glance it appears to be an unfair fight: think of a high school graduate vs. a lawyer. From the outside perspective it’s an unfair fight (I would love to have a battle of the wits, but you appear to be unarmed)
-Not just scribes & disciples, a crowd is watching. But the crowd only wants Jesus, the disciples are second class (as will be explicitly demonstrated in a bit)
-What were they arguing about? Enter a desperate father.
-Looking for healing for his son: a demon that manifests symptoms like epilepsy. We’ve seen people coming to Jesus for healing throughout this whole book, and this man is no exception. People have seen and heard the good news about the healing Jesus brings and are flocking to Him for help. Unfortunately for the father, Jesus was a little busy hanging out with Moses & Elijah!
-So he asked Jesus’ remaining disciples to perform an exorcism, but they were unable
-Disciples represent their teacher. Jesus had sent out His disciples before in Mark 6. And listen to the way this was described back then: “So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” This should have been old hat for the disciples! They’d done it before, and apparently very successfully because Mark says “MANY demons.”
-Because the disciples represent their teacher, the scribes would have jumped at an opportunity to throw doubt on Jesus’ rising fame! Suddenly the fight between the scribes and the disciples is crystal clear: the scribes are doubting the validity of Jesus’ ability to heal, meaning He’s not worth following. If the disciples heard that, the natural response would be to fight back, wouldn’t it?
-But Jesus isn’t worried about the same things as the people nearby. We’ve seen that repeatedly! Jesus keeps trying to teach His disciples, but they continually miss it (as do the crowds, and the scribes) I think we do too! I’ve been really struck by our study so far how quickly Jesus brings things back to teaching (either the 12, the crowds, or individuals). Jesus based everything on His teaching, His words (which weren’t just His words, but His Father’s words). Why do we think Jesus’ words aren’t effective today?
-We see an interesting response from Jesus. A faithless generation. There’s the real problem! They don’t believe who Jesus is (including the disciples). I love the way the CSB translated the second question: “How long must I put up with you?” I think we’ve seen examples of this before, but in those cases Mark just said “Jesus sighed.” Healing the blind/mute man and being asked to give a sign. Instead of just saying that Jesus sighed, in this case Mark lists what He sighed. Who is Jesus thinking of with these questions? Disciples? Scribes? Crowds? Father?
-All of the above! William Lane: “The rhetorical questions … express the loneliness and the anguish of the one authentic believer in a world which expresses only unbelief” They’re expressing belief, but it’s aimed in the wrong direction: toward themselves!
-Because of that, just like the prophets of the OT, Jesus implores them: how long will you not get it? God to Moses in Num. 14:27 “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me.”
-Take heart here, church! Disbelief has been a marker of God’s people from the beginning! Even when God answered prayer after prayer, need after need, dealt with problem after problem they continued to not believe. Walking across a dry seabed, manna and quail coming every day (just enough!). And how often do we do the same today? In the bad/difficult seasons we blame God, ask Him what’s going on, only to be brought through every difficulty and go right back to living as if we don’t need Him anymore. We can manage things in our own strength.
-This has been hard for me the past month! I feel like the past month of sermons has been me preaching to myself: do you believe that God will provide what you need? Do you trust Me? Do you believe that God will provide for you for the next day, just like He provided for you yesterday? Tuesday, I was praying for our ultrasound and asked God for some good news, when it hit me: I’ve already gotten it. George Herbert: “Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just a gardener.” Dear church, we can rejoice in the midst of suffering, even death, because we know everything will be made right again, even if it’s not on this side of heaven! Keller: “All death can now do to Christians is to make their lives infinitely better.”
-But in this case, Jesus decides to show what that healing will look like here and now: and He reaches out to the boy
-spirit tries to distract and destroy the child again, and what’s the trigger? Seeing Jesus. There’s no wonder that some people get very angry when confronted with the realities of Jesus, because following Him means you’ve got 2 options: either die to yourself, or die to Him, but there’s no alternative. We’re in a cosmic battle that is fought not with swords or drones, but with prayer and holiness.
-Jesus addresses the father again, invites the man to share some of his story. Once again, we see Jesus treating people as people! He’s never too busy, never too distracted, never too good. Everything He does is geared towards glorifying His Father and helping other take 1 step closer to Himself.
-But notice where the father lands with his story: in desperation. IF you can do anything, have compassion and help! Multiple times Jesus has been moved with compassion (both feedings of thousands) why would this time be any different? But this father doesn’t know that! It’s the job of others to tell him! The disciples, instead of fighting to defend Jesus’ honor, should have been looking for opportunities to proclaim the realties of who Jesus is, they just realized it in the last chapter, but unfortunately, they remain blind
-Jesus responds: IF!? What’s this “if”? You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means! God can do anything for someone who believes in Him! In God’s economy, there’s no “if.” There’s a “when,” but there’s no room for doubt when someone believes in Jesus! And the father sees this and learns far quicker than the disciples have!
-He responds with what should be our prayer everyday: I believe! Help my unbelief! How much belief does it take for Jesus to work? Matt. 17:20 faith as small as a mustard seed.
-The point isn’t the strength of the faith, it’s the object of the faith. You can have the biggest faith imaginable in pixie dust (like Peter Pan) you’re not going to be able to fly! But you can have faith as small as a mustard seed in Jesus, and it’s enough to transform your entire life, and not just your life, every life around you and all the rest of creation.
-Jesus, looking at the crowd, heals the boy, but not before one last attack, and the boy looks dead.
-Lit. “Jesus raised him, and he was resurrected.” Jesus has just been teaching the disciples about His upcoming death, and then modeled it on this boy!
-Finally withdrew with the disciples to “the house” (potentially Peter’s house again, homebase of operations) Didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of the whole crowd, so then they ask what happened!
-Did Jesus pray before He healed the boy? No!
-What does prayer signify? Complete dependence on God. Keller: “Pray is both conversation andencounter with God.” We answered that question today: “Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.” AKA communing with God. Not some mystical “mmmmm” where we sing kumbaya, but being in a relationship with the Creator of the universe.
-An outworking of 1 Thess. 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.” Were the disciples not living this way? To answer that we need the next section
- Desperate Disciples (30-41)
-Most of Jesus’ ministry has been centered in Galilee, but now they’re moving on. Trying to stay hidden because He needs to focus on training His disciples before His death. What’s the teaching centered on? His upcoming death, burial and resurrection.
-Why do you think they were afraid?
-Didn’t want to be embarrassed, had just been accused of being faithless, Jesus had questioned their hard heartedness before, yet they continue on in their misunderstanding. As we’ve seen before, this is a theme of God’s people throughout the whole Bible! And remains a theme for us today!
-What the disciples are forgetting or unaware of is: questions aren’t an issue or problem, we’ve seen that with the Father, I do believe, but help my unbelief! The problem is staying stuck in your unbelief! I’ve had conversations with people (the Bible is anti-science, we don’t know what the Bible actuallyshould say) There’s answers to the questions, but not if you don’t ask them!
-When they arrive, the underlying issue comes out: they used the time to fight about which one was the best.
-Would have been a normal conversation in the 1st cent. Remember, I’ve shared the humility was a vice and pride was a virtue! Even Jewish writers frequently discussed what the seating order would be in Paradise! There was a prescribed order for sitting around the dinner table (where Jesus eating with “sinners” was so shocking)
-Another teaching moment for the disciples. Greatness isn’t measured the same in God’s kingdom! Jesus’ ordering flips everything upside down.
-First must be last, servant of ALL. I was told when I finally gave in to a call to ministry: that means you need to be ready to clean toilets! Friends: no gifting in Christ’s church is better than the other. In fact, those who deserve the most recognition probably won’t get it until heaven, but that’s what we should be looking for in the church! It takes all of us working together, using our gifts, not comparing ourselves to others, not worrying about who gets the recognition, but day after day striving to glorify God and encourage each other.
-The gospel message that Jesus brings completely frees us! We’re far worse than we could ever imagine, but we’re far more loved than we ever dreamed. Because of that, who cares what others think about us, we have a Father who loves us unconditionally!
-To demonstrate this reality, Jesus uses on object lesson. Children weren’t viewed like we view them today (little innocent cherubs whose cheeks we want to squeeze) Children were to be neither seen nor heard! The lowest rung of the totem pole in society.
-Doesn’t say to be like a child, says to receive (don’t like that word, prefer welcome) This is the same as saying “whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.” Jesus calls us to be really weird in our relationships. Instead of viewing people as a means to an end, or a way to climb a social ladder, or a way to improve our own status in life, we’re supposed to go out of our way to serve others, to look for those who can’t return the favor and invest in them!
-But poor John this time doesn’t get it. Look the pronouns he uses: YOUR name, WE tried, not following US.
-Where John expects commendation, Jesus condemns. Don’t stop him! If people know about Jesus and what He brings, why does it matter what team they’re on? Another example of serving the least of these is like serving Christ.
-Now we see why the disciples couldn’t heal: they thought they could do it on their own. We have the secret key/code, we can do the same things Jesus does. Nope! Without Jesus they’re nothing! They need to continue relying and trusting in Him (which is demonstrated by prayer!) Prayer forces us to admit we’re needy, prayer forces us to face our sins, prayer forces us to acknowledge who we reallyare, it opens blind eyes, and deaf ears and allows us to rightly understand who God is.
-How often are you the same as the disciples? You know the right words to use, you share issues but only the superficial ones with others, you tithe regularly, you serve regularly, but it doesn’t impact or influence the way you’re living the rest of your life? Jesus isn’t looking for more recognition, Jesus doesn’t need you, but He wants you completely because anything less than that isn’t worth your time! He wants to radically reorder your life! He wants you to live the best life possible: but there’s a catch: it only comes about through service, through dying, through weakness. Keller: true humility is not thinking less about yourself, it’s thinking about yourself less. “If you met a truly humble person, you wouldn’t think him/her humble, but only that they were happy and incredibly interested in you.” Are you interested in other people, or are you only interested in yourself?
- A Desperate Messiah (42-50)
-Who are “these little ones”? The poor & marginalized who are following Jesus. Uses graphic language to communicate how they should be treated! Robert Murry Mc’Cheyne “The greatest need of my people is my own holiness.” For decades we’ve only been looking to gifted people to push into leadership of our churches, to our detriment. We’ve seen the falling out of that with the #ChurchToo movement, the abuses of pastors, the covering up of horribly graphic sin in Christ’s church!
-This is why it matters so much how you live. This is why one of the most important ministries in the church is kid’s and student ministry. This is why it’s a blight on the church when abuse is revealed: because Jesus Himself says it’s not to happen! Now: this doesn’t mean that just because someone claims abuse means that’s true, but this is why it’s so important to ensure that people’s giftings don’t outpace their spiritual development.
-But it’s not just causing someone else to sin, what about the sin you have in you?
-John Owen “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” What do you do to pursue holiness in your life? Easy to run to hyperbole (Jesus didn’t mean this literally, obviously) but it’s graphic language to make a point.
-If social media causes you to lust after people or things, disable your socials. If your TV causes you to become lazy, move it to a different place in the house or get rid of it all together! If food is a temptation for you, find ways to limit food in the house. If you use your phone too much or have become addicted to it, get a flip phone or a nothing phone. This is hard and at times inconvenient! But dear saints: it’s worth it! It’s FAR better to limit yourself here and come to Jesus unburdened in heaven than to have what you want here but lack in heaven. I’ve heard a pastor say that this is either the closest to hell or the closest to heaven you’ll live. Which way are you aiming and pursuing?
-Then Jesus starts talking about the need to be salty (not angry)
-What is salt used for? Seasoning, fertilizer, preservative. Everyone salted with fire: preserved, put through fire as either test or eternally.
-Salt is one of the most stable compounds we know! VERY hard to get it to break apart, how would it lose its’ saltiness? True, genuine salt can’t lose it’s saltiness, just like true faith can’t be lost if it’s in Jesus.
-We, as Christians, are called to serve a preserving function in our society, meaning that the communities around us flourish because we’re here. But Jesus doesn’t just leave it up to us to try to figure out what that means, He says it: “be at peace with one another.” Don’t be argumentative, keep short accounts, and live as peaceful people. Remember, Jesus also said that the way we get along is meant to demonstrate whether or not we’re believers. The world should see a difference in us! Do they?
Pastor Mike's Musings 