All posts for the month November, 2023

Mark 16:1-8 – Sermon Manuscript

The Resurrection of the Son of God

Mark 16:1-8

-We’ve become so used to bad news (almost to the point that when you hear the word “news” you don’t even need to say it’s bad). But what about those times when there’s good news? How do you respond then?

-Think of the response after WW2, people flooding the streets. Or how people respond after a baby’s born. Or that dreaded day when someone who recently turned 16 gets their driver’s license (sometimes I wonder if it’s even safe for me to be out there)

-Today we’re going to look at how we should respond to good news, and not just good news, but the best news ever because it changes everything about our lives.

READ/PRAY

Anointing the Body (1-4)

-We ended last week hearing what happened to Jesus’ body. Joseph of Arimathea was given permission to take down the body and put it in a tomb, so he did as quickly as they could before Sabbath began.

-Whole week was centered around the practice of the Sabbath, no one did anything that day, it was illegal! That’s why Joseph was so adamant about getting Jesus’ body down before Saturday.

-Anyone remember the names of the women I told you to keep in mind for this week? No peeking! 2 Marys. Today’s text begins with 2 Marys

-Anointing the body was a typical practice in the 1^st cent. You’ve probably seen what Egyptians did with bodies before, that’s where mummies came from. Jews didn’t embalm the dead like that, they allowed nature to take its’ course. The spices were used to cover the smell, and once the flesh was taken care of the bones would be placed in a box (similar to what we do with cremation today). This was a way to continue honoring those who have died.

-The women had waited as long as they needed, Sabbath is done, so they’re now able to anoint Jesus’ body. I don’t always have the best memory, but do you think they’d have forgotten where one of their best friends was buried?

-One of the evidences given against the resurrection was the disciples forgot where Jesus was buried. Do you really think in 36 hours they would have forgotten where the tomb was?

-Not only would that have been completely narrow minded, but it would have been incredibly easy to discredit the news the disciples were sharing. On top of all that, remember what Mark told us about Joseph just a few verses ago. “A respected member of the council.” If you’ve ever driven by a graveyard and seen those giant tomb stones that stand out above the rest, that would have been like Joseph’s tomb. Prime tomb in the prime location that everyone would know about. Hard to miss!

-Very early, but still bright enough to see, on the first day of the week.

-They didn’t have access to electricity like we do, no flashlights or light switches to go out whenever they wanted. They were thinking of most things, but not everything. They didn’t think through how they would get access to Jesus’ body.

-Makes sense! If you’d hung your whole hopes on 1 person who was just killed do you think you’d be all there mentally? Even if it wasn’t your whole hopes, it’s still a big loss that throws everything else in your life off. Emotions are all over the place. Why would we expect people to act any differently?

-I don’t know if you’ve experienced this, but when people get stretched emotionally, there’s a tendency to revert back to your old self. Like this past week if you spent any time with family, you probably felt yourself reverting back to who you were in high school (whether that’s good or bad is up to you!) Similarly here, these Marys had been stretched to the breaking point, so instead of trusting in Jesus, even what He had explicitly told them, they reverted back to unbelief, almost as if they didn’t spend years with him learning from Him!

-After all this questioning, they finally get to the tomb, and the stone in front of it had been rolled back. Then look at how Mark describes it “very large.” That would have made more sense a couple sentences ago! But anyway, they’re able to access Jesus’ body, but after they enter the tomb:

Alarm at the Lack of a Body (5-8)

-Remember, this is a big cave cut out of a rock, so maybe someone else had come to anoint the body as well. Joseph could have come, maybe another one of the disciples wanted to pay their respects. But instead they find: a young man dressed in a white robe. If you go to a graveyard, what do you expect to find? Hopefully no one who’s alive!

-Throughout the Bible we see the way people react to seeing someone who’s sent from God: scared out of their minds!

-Contrary to popular belief: angels aren’t cute little cherubs, none that we know of are named Clarence, a bell doesn’t ring when they get their wings, and trust me, you don’t want to be touched by any angels.

-This is the time of year where we talk about angels a LOT! We don’t often pay much attention to them the rest of the year, though. Think of the way all the people during the Christmas story respond: Zechariah responds in disbelief, Mary worries something is wrong but still chooses to obey, shepherds are (in the words of Linus from Charlie Brown) “sore afraid” To see something as completely holy, unstained by sin as an angel is terrifying! And these Marys know it!

-Thankfully, the angel tells them: Don’t worry, it’s ok! Let me tell you the gospel message: Jesus was crucified, but He rose! He’s not here! So you should go tell other people what happened.

-Think of how Mark started this book: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” And here at the end we have the angel summarizing the whole thing: you’re looking for Jesus, let’s think about what happened to Him.

-But then they are also given a job to do: telling other disciples, specifically Peter. Why do you think Peter was called out specifically by name? What sets Peter apart from everyone else?

-Think back a few weeks ago now when Herb Bloomquist was here and preached on the trial of Jesus. Do you remember what Peter did that last night? He denied Jesus three times, and after the third time, Luke tells us Jesus looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him just a few hours earlier.

-This story is meant to give the rest of us hope. All of His disciples abandoned Jesus, but 2 in were worse than the others: Judas and Peter. Have you ever thought of how terrible the people Jesus chose were in following Him? Literally no one was left on the last night! They were too afraid, too worried about the worldly ways of living that they fled. This tells us that there’s hope for reconciliation and restoration even after betrayal. This tells us that anyone can be brought into God’s family.

-Why don’t they tell anyone else? The angel gave them 1 job, and Mark leaves us hanging with them refusing to obey that 1 command.

-Won’t be believed, waiting to see if they were misled, distrust of this stranger, maybe they themselves refused to believe what they saw! Before we get to the line and the note in your Bible, I think this the correct place to stop our study of Mark. Throughout this book, Mark has been trying to get us (the readers) to respond to the question: who is Jesus? This ending leaves the story unresolved, because we should ask ourselves: how should we respond to this story? What is the proper response to a man rising from the dead? We’ll get there in just a minute, but before we do I want us to think through the question:

-Why do we believe this happened?

1-No body was ever produced. This would have to be the worst hoax in history if Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead. It wouldn’t have been hard to just pull out the body and belittle this upstart little group who claimed to worship someone who people had seen crucified during the busiest time of the year (New Years/Christmas on the interstate) But they couldn’t, and still can’t!

2-Radical change in the disciples. They fled in fear on the last night, but just a couple months later, the same council that condemned Jesus to death holds no power over them. Why the change? Something must have confirmed what they’d been taught! Maybe seeing the resurrected Jesus?

3-Changing in day of worship. Did you notice the in vs. 2 is said “on the first day of the week.” That would be Sunday! But since Israel had been taken out of slavery they’d worshipped on Saturday. Why do you think suddenly this group of people started meeting for worship on Sunday instead of Saturday? Something significant must have happened that would make them throw out over a millennia of tradition, like maybe someone rising from the dead on that day!

4-Lastly, how would someone account for the transformation in Paul and James (Jesus’ brother). We’ve seen Jesus’ family appear a couple times in Mark, and every time they have they’ve tried to discredit Jesus. Yet in the book of Acts, the leader of the church in Jerusalem is James, Jesus half-brother. That’s the biggest reason for me! I have siblings! I don’t believe everything they tell me. James saw something in his brother that made him change his mind.

Excurses: Textual Variants (9-20)

-What do we do with the note in our Bibles? Is everything we just read a lie meant to trick us?

-As we continue uncovering new texts we find older and older evidence that solidify what we have in our Bibles. The Dead Sea Scrolls revolutionized biblical studies, and confirmed that the Bibles we have are correct.

-Nothing in this section is revolutionary or only found here. We have 3 other Gospels telling the same story that tell the exact same story that is contained here. But it’s most likely not written by Mark, and most likely not what God wanted us to have in Mark’s Gospel.

-The translations we have today (note: it is a translation. Jesus didn’t speak English), these translations are trying to communicate God’s words to us in a way we can understand, which is a beautiful gift. Let me tell you, Greek isn’t easy to read! Unfortunately, it’s no longer Greek to me, but it took literal years of my life in order to be able to read and understand the Bible in the original languages (I don’t know how many hours I spent trying to memorize vocab).

-We have more translations than we know what to do with, and all of them will give us notes to help us know and understand God’s message to us today. The problem becomes when we build entire theologies out of these passages that most likely weren’t in the original book Mark wrote. Look at vs. 18. That happened to Paul, but isn’t something that should be practiced today, but some churches hold regular snake handlings to “prove” they’re Christians. Don’t build any theologies or practices from these texts! I’ll talk a little more about this in Sermon Scraps tomorrow,

-What does this mean for us today? Why does the death of a Jewish man 2,000 years ago have implications for us now?

-As the leader goes, so goes the nation. 1 man’s sin led to death, 1 man’s death leads to life (Rom. 5:12) Think of the way we talk after a Viking’s game. WE lost last week. OUR quarterback is now mobile (sorry Cooper’s daddy). Somewhere we all view ourselves as part of a group. The question is which spiritual group are we a part of: Adam or the second Adam, Jesus? Whose family are you a part of, and which family do you demonstrate that you’re a part of in the way you live?

-I remember reading an article years ago where a dad would tell his kids every day they left for school “remember whose you are!” At one point, another parent heard them and tried to correct him “don’t you mean remember WHO you are?” Doesn’t matter who we, it matters GREATLY whose we are! If we’re a part of Jesus’ family, we’ll lack nothing.

-The way I’ve often shared this is all of life is who you know. Who you know can get you jobs, connections, vacations, money, even eternity is literally dependent on who you know. So when you see Jesus face to face, will He know you? The way we show whose family we’re in is by living a life that is true, beautiful, and good.

-How do we model lives that are true, beautiful, and good?

-Podcast this week talking about this very concept. We need to grow in hospitality. Heb. 13:2, 1 Peter 4:9, Rom. 12:13 all command us to show hospitality to others. How do we do that?

-We need to commit to being table people (appropriate for Thanksgiving weekend!)

-Think of God’s first command to Adam & Eve (if you’ve been in Micah’s class, the Adamic covenant). They were to fill the earth and subdue it, and eat of any tree except one. The Fall comes about by eating.

-Abraham, when God comes to him in Gen. 18, prepares food to eat with God.

-Throughout the OT the way God’s people celebrate and remember God’s work in their lives is by feasting (eating)

-I went to a conference right before the twins were born walking through Exodus, fascinating story of God’s covenant with Israel in 24:22 “They [elders, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu] beheld God, and ate and drank.” God invites His people to eat with Him.

-The Last Supper is a meal, eating with His disciples, serving as a reminder of Jesus’ death on their behalf. That practice continues down to us today: we regularly eat and drink to celebrate and remember God’s work in our lives.

-And then what does Jesus say during that last meal? Mark 14:25 “Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

-We are commanded to be hospitable throughout the Bible, I would argue the way you demonstrate you’re hospitable is by inviting people to your table. By building a bigger table, you invite people in so that they can eat and drink of the Lord’s table at church (signifying that they’re now a part of the people of Jesus), which will find its final fulfillment after Jesus returns when we will have the biggest and greatest feast you could ever dream of!

-Are you hospitable? Are you regularly inviting people to your table because Jesus has invited you to His table? Jesus even tells us to invite those who can’t repay us to our tables! Do you long for the day when you will table with the Lord in the new heavens and the new earth?

Mark 15:21-47 – Sermon Manuscript

-The whole story Mark has been telling has been building to this passage.

-Just like any good story, we’ve had the good guys, the bad guys, the conflict, there will be resolution. What’s crazy is this story just happens to be true!

-C.S. Lewis “I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this. Of this text there are only two possible views. Either this is reportage—though it may no doubt contain errors—pretty close up to the facts. Or else, some unknown writer in the second century, without known predecessors or successors, suddenly anticipated the whole technique of modern, novelistic, realistic narrative. If it is untrue, it must be narrative of that kind. The reader who doesn’t see this has simply not learned to read…”

-There are only 2 responses to this event: defiance or discipleship.

READ/PRAY (pg. 497)

Derision Against Jesus (21-32)

-The mockery of Jesus continues. Criminals were expected to carry their cross to their crucifixion site, another form of torture and derision.

-Why was Simon forced to carry the cross? Remember what Jesus had just endured: brutal beating that had killed men before.

-Coming to Jerusalem for the Passover. Not many people are listed by name in Mark’s Gospel, most likely Alexander and Rufus were known to the 1^st Cent. Church. Rom. 16:13 lists Rufus among the members of the church in Rome. (another reason to think Mark wrote this to Roman Christians)

-The names in this Gospel are not accidental or incidental. They give historic accuracy to this story and they share the people who were involved.

-Simon serves as the first disciple. Remember what Jesus said back in Mark 8.

-We don’t often think about discipleship being a death. Death to self, death to sin, death to the world, death to our old way of living. We tend to view it as adding something on, but Jesus won’t let us add him to anything. Either we get Jesus alone, or we don’t get Him at all.

–Podcast on spiritual disciplines/practices as a way of finding yourself. How’s living by worldly standards working out for you? Anxiety on the rise, deaths of despair on the rise. Life expectancy had been rising for a hundred years, started declining the past few. Jesus tells us the only way to find your life (answer all the deepest longings of your heart) you need to lose your life. Let go of trying to control everything, let go of trying to work harder, work hard at trying to achieve your salvation: you can’t. There’s nothing you can add or take away from your salvation.

-Reflecting the past month on the reality that God loves me. We all say we know that, but I don’t think we actually live like that. Every night of the week I sing with my kids “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so,” but that truth hasn’t permeated through my thick skull or into my heart. I view myself as far too independent. Sure, Jesus needed to die to save me, but once I’m saved it’s up to me! What a joke! Unless the I’m “keeping in step with the Spirit” everything I’m doing is useless.

-Finally, notice vs. 38. What have we seen of Jesus’ followers so far in the midst of Jesus’ trial? Where are they? They all ran away! Mark ran away naked! Peter followed at a distance, but then got scared by a little girl and he became a crybaby. Do you think Jesus was talking about the 12 here?

-Brought him outside the city (Golgotha)

-Crucifixion served as a public spectacle. Right along the main road into Jerusalem (think of it taking place by the interstate). Again, the details Mark gives are to demonstrate the historical reality of these events. Lists the exact place where the Son of God was taken to die.

-Offered a sweet wine to dull the senses, potentially make the situation easier, and elongate the act.

-Accounts of people drinking enough to get a good buzz so the pain is more tolerable, similar to us using Tylenol when we get a headache, but He’s going to face something much more painful!

-4 words that speak volumes: “and they crucified him.”

-Isn’t it amazing that this act only gets 4 words. In typical Markan brevity, he just throws it out there and continues on. This doesn’t mean this event is unimportant, but there’s much more to it than just the crucifixion.

-After Jesus was hung on His cross, the soldiers split the spoils among themselves (just as after a war) Once again, this was a typical event for the Romans.

-Took place at the third hour (9 AM)

-Charges filed were meant to be a deterrent to those who witnessed it. Remember, this was a public event. People were supposed to see the punishment doled out to those who opposed Rome.

-Jesus wasn’t alone in receiving this capital punishment, this crucifixion was likely already scheduled. Not a stretch to think these 2 men were affiliated with Barabbas, who we learned about last week.

-Intentional wording here “one on his right and one on his left.” Back in Mark 10:37 James and John had asked Jesus to join with Him in glory sitting in those exact places. Do you think they had flashbacks after they heard what had happened?

-Often we’re in a similar position to them, we want the part after the suffering, but we’re unwilling to walk through the suffering. The J-curve – only get exaltation with humiliation.

-As if this wasn’t humiliating enough, because it was the main road during one of the busiest times of the year, people were walking by and getting their shots in.

-People are asking for the evidence in the wrong order, and they don’t know what they’re asking. The reason Jesus is on that cross is because sin MUST be dealt with. The only way any of those people can be saved is by Jesus staying on the cross, if he doesn’t stay there there’s nothing to believe in.

-And the chief priests join in! They think they’ve finally dealt with their Jesus problem.

-Do you think any of them were in Mark 12:1-11 the parable of the tenants?

Declaration of Jesus (33-39)

-3 hours after He was hung on the cross (noon), a change happens in the weather as darkness descends. At 3 PM Jesus, who was silent throughout His trial suddenly cries out in agony.

-Quotes from Psalm 22, but just the first verse. We studied this Psalm this past summer! One of the most quoted Psalms in the NT.

-Listen to some of the language from this. SLIDE

-Do you think David may have speaking far better than he knew 1400 years before the crucifixion took place? Before crucifixion had been thought up as capital punishment by the Romans.

-Remember from last week the “divine passive.” What appears like passivity to us is God’s eternal plan being fulfilled.

-People start to question what’s happening. Many people believed Elijah would come back as a marker of the end of the world. If injustice was being done, people would cry out to Elijah to save them. The people interpret Jesus’ cry as one of these.

-Why did Jesus take the sour wine, but not the wine offered before?

-A final act of humiliation. The rod that was used to beat Him earlier was now used to quench His tongue.

-Loud cry we know from other gospels was the phrase “It is finished.”

-What is the significance of the curtain being torn “from top to bottom.”?

-Bookends to signify the end of the story, we’ve seen heaven “torn in two” once before: after Jesus’ baptism. The temple was meant to serve as a picture of heaven. Where the first time the tearing open was meant to validate Jesus, this time it’s meant to validate everyone else.

-Theme of Mark has been discipleship. The only way we can be disciples (following after Jesus) is by heaven being torn in two so we can access the perfect Father. Instead of needing to go to a place to spend time with God, we can now spend time with God anywhere in the world! We don’t need a sacrificial system, we don’t need a mediator, we don’t need curtain separating us from God’s manifest presence, He’s always with us.

-We have a marked shift of the response to Jesus from those who speak before Jesus’ death and those who speak after His death. The first person in this Gospel to finally understand who Jesus is, is a Gentile, Roman centurion.

-This is finally good news! If even a Roman (and not just a Roman, a Roman soldier) can become a disciple, there’s hope for everyone! But it begins by recognizing that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s the first step that brings you in to a brand-new world, a brand-new way of living. It replaces all your focuses, changes all your perspectives, and brings you into a new family, marked not by worldly assumptions, but by spiritual/eternal perspectives.

-Jesus had been trying to help His followers understand all these realities, but they kept missing it, and now they were too scared to be seen in public with Him (remember, everyone abandoned Him). But that doesn’t stop Him from continuing to save people, even one of his executioners.

Depositing Jesus’ Body (40-47)

-Not all of His followers had abandoned Jesus, but this is a weird situation, especially for the 1^st cent.

-Women’s testimonies were viewed as unreliable, wouldn’t stand in a court of law. But they weren’t as scared as the men (potentially because they were women!)

-Once again, specific names listed. People who could give eyewitness testimony to everything that happened.

-Finally, a man isn’t too scared to be identified with Jesus! Joseph of Arimathea: part of the council (Sanhedrin, ruling Jews) steps forward to help take care of the body.

-Interesting description “looking for the kingdom of God.” I think that’s a good description of what many people want, but they keep looking in the wrong places (Micah’s class)

-I would argue that everyone you interact with is looking for the kingdom of God. I love the way Augustine said it in the 4^th cent: “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.” No one will ever be completely satisfied until they find the kingdom of God, but the only way to find that (true life) is to lose it. That’s the irony of the gospel message: the kingdom of God is accessible to everyone, but only by becoming a disciple.

-Joseph is also a “respected” member. Jesus’ message wasn’t just for the poor/marginalized, even people who were a part of Herod’s house followed Jesus!

-Sabbath was meant to be a day of rest, body couldn’t be dealt with, Joseph asked Pilate for the body. Pilate was surprised (crucifixion could take days, and death sometimes only came after becoming food for wild animals)

-Joseph is granted his request, so he prepares the body for a quick burial with a linen cloth.

-Tombs were often more communal in the 1^st cent. Room for lots of bodies. Other Gospels tell us this one hadn’t yet been used. Just as today you can buy a burial plot before you die, most likely Joseph had a tomb created for him and his family to be buried together. Looking something like THIS.

-Stone used to prevent grave robbers or wild animals

-Who was there watching where Jesus’ body was laid? Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, that’s important for next week, so keep that in mind!

-What do we do with this embarrassment of a story? There’s a reason everyone abandoned Him – who wants to be seen losing? Jesus’ supposed insurrection was seen as a failure, little does everyone know this is just the beginning of the story.

-JRR Tolkien – Eucatastrophe: a good catastrophe. Sounds wrong, doesn’t it? How can there be a good catastrophe? That’s the way God designed the world to work. What seems wrong and broken is the only way to bring about redemption.

-This is a 2 part story, and most of us know how it ends (spoiler alert, Jesus doesn’t stay dead)

-But that’s next week (as a new song says “Friday’s Good because Sunday’s coming!) This week I want you to contemplate whether or not you’re willing to follow Jesus to death. We saw this passage earlier, but Luke and Matthew add a word to Jesus’ first command: daily.

-The only way to truly follow after Jesus is through death. But where Jesus’ death was a 1 time event, our call is a daily death. We need to wake up every single day and choose to die to our fleshly, sinful tendencies, and decide to walk in light of the empty tomb. And here’s where the “eu” (good) part comes in: we’ll suddenly find ourselves completely content! Jesus’ commands are true and life giving, the only way to truly find your life is to lose it! But by losing it you gain everything.

-Jesus says if you’re tired of trying, tired of searching, or if you’re just tired, come to Him and He will give you rest.

Mark 15:1-20 Sermon Manuscript

-What do we do with sin? There has to be some way of dealing with it, fixing it, addressing the problems we see in the world.

-I’ve never talked to anyone who thinks everything is going great in the world. Wars, rumors of wars, death, sickness, political polarization. Car breaking down, getting a poor evaluation at work, or abruptly losing a job.

-As Christians, we have what I would argue is the most complete understanding of why there are so many problems in the world around us: sin. Everything is broken, down to our cells producing cancer. Did you know that if you live long enough, cancer is an inevitability because even our DNA decays. But what’s crazy about that is Christians believe in what we call “good news.” Yes, the world is completely broken, but there’s a solution.

-In order to deal with the problem of sin, the Creator of the universe came to earth and lived a perfect life, then He died in our place to deal with all the penalties for sin which now means there is hope! Where there once was just wishful thinking, now our hope has a name and a purpose. But at the core of it is this idea of replacement.

-In many cases, we don’t want to be replaced! I remember a call from a boss at my first job out of college where I was going to be pulled from my role to be replaced by someone else because I wasn’t up to snuff.

-But in this case, replacement is the only way for sin to be dealt with. None of us are good enough (perfect) to bear the penalty for our sins. We require a replacement, and that was promised from God all the way back in Gen. 3. But Jesus being the replacement for the world begins with the replacement of 1 man.

READ/PRAY (pg. 497)

Interrogation (1-5)

-After holding the fake trial overnight, things took a different turn today. Why wait until morning?

-Roman trials all started at sunrise so they could break in the later morning for their leisure activities. This shows us why last night was so critical for the chief priests to rush through their trial so they didn’t miss being the first in line the next morning to have their Jesus problem dealt with.

-Theme of bounding (divine passive: 9:31, 10:33, 14:21, 41)

-Look at all the ways Jesus has talked about this up to this point. As you read it, it sounds like Jesus is the passive recipient of all these events. But don’t forget: who’s the Lord of the universe? Who created everything? Who upholds everything by His might? Do you think He is passively sitting back and questioning what’s happening to Him? Absolutely not! He’s in complete control of everything that has happened at each moment of His life. In John’s account of Jesus interaction with Him, Pilate asks Jesus “Do you not know that I have the authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been give you from above.”

-How frustrating do you think this situation was for Pilate? He’s got a no-win dilemma in front of him! This innocent man is being accused of a whole host of issues, but unless he deals with this Jesus guy, he’s going to have a riot on his hands, and then potentially lose his role in the government! So when he tries to reason with Jesus to get some traction with Him it goes nowhere. Jesus doesn’t play the same political game, He’s not worried about scoring point or the response of the crowds. Jesus is worried about what’s right and being obedient to what the plans of His Father. But don’t view Jesus as some passive observer throughout this! And this should give us comfort anytime we’re walking through a difficult season.

-What has God allowed to happen in your life? What kind of testing has God permitted, where you question where God is, but He’s not sitting back laughing at you, He’s allowing you to grow in reliance on Him, to grow in understanding of Him, and to better know and live the life He’s called you to.

-Friends, this is a vital message for us to understand today. Jesus doesn’t promise us an easy life. He doesn’t promise us wealth and prosperity. He doesn’t even promise to fix all our problems. What he does promise is Himself. AND He said if you have Him you will face all sorts of difficulties, what’s different is that He’s with you in the midst of those difficulties walking you through them and ensuring that you’re never alone. But nothing ever catches God off guard or by surprise. What looks to us like passivity is held in God’s sovereign hand, so trust in Him and walk with Him.

-And keep that in mind as we continue walking through the rest of Mark’s Gospel. Everything that happens is the way God intended it to happen. All these characters in the story bear responsibility for their role in these events, but God knew what every person’s role would be, from the chief priests, to Peter, and even Pilate.

-Pilate – real person, prefect of Judea from 26-36 (historicity, helps us date Jesus’ crucifixion)

-Often impulsive and caving to crowd’s desires. There are a couple historical stories that help us understand Pilate’s MO. When he first arrived in Palestine, his army came in with armor that had the images of the Romans emperors (idols to the Jews). Protests broke out, and in response Pilate changed the armor the army wore to not have a revolt. Similarly, another time Pilate had shields brought in that had the images on them again, and he once again got rid of them because he was worried they would complain to Rome and tell him about all the other problems they had with him. Philo quote.

-Pilate was not the most upstanding guy! So when he begins in interrogate Jesus, he takes his typical approach of trying to appease the masses.

-“You have said so” Wesley from The Princess Bride “As you wish.”

-Parallels say “You say it” (Matt. 26:46, Luke 22:70)

-Yes, but we’re talking about VERY different things (John 18:36). Initially the chief priests had accused Jesus of religious sins, but as soon as He’s brought to Pilate it changes to political sins. King of the Jews sounds like Jesus is trying to start an uprising, a revolt against the Roman occupation. What Pilate (and the chief priests) miss is it’s a true statement, but they’re not speaking the same language.

-Accusations continue, Jesus remains silent. Any defense He makes will be twisted and distorted anyway because they’re using a different dictionary.

-How often is this the case? And how often are Christians misunderstood because we mean different things by the words we use?

-Christians were initially accused of being atheists because they only worshipped 1 God. Accused of being cannibals (drinking blood and eating a body). Accused of having incestuous sex parties (brothers and sisters in the faith, communion was called a love feast). Why would we expect anything different from people who are deceived, and looking to the wrong sources of inspiration for how they should live in the world?

-I was listening to a podcast this past week that was talking about the need for Christians to live distinctly different lives, and unfortunately that hasn’t always been true for those claim the name of Jesus on their lives. There are 3 ideas that philosophy calls “transcendentals” things that transcend every human culture and experience. They are: truth, beauty, and goodness. Christianity is true, but it’s not just true, it’s also beautiful and good. And we as Christians are called to live lives that are all 3 of these things. Do you/are you living a life that is beautiful and good? Is your marriage (or singleness) beautiful and good? Is your work beautiful and good? Is your parenting (or encouraging other parents) beautiful and good?

-Friends, this is the call for all of us today! Everyone saw Jesus’ life that was marked by truth, beauty, and goodness, and all of us today are meant to live those exact same lives. And what will the response to that be? Look at the end of vs. 5.

-Why was Pilate amazed? Jesus’ silence. How does the world train us to respond to accusations (even when they’re true!) With anger, bitterness, cancelling, but how does Jesus teach us to respond? With love and graciousness.

-Sam Bankman-Fried (FTX). Crypto-currency company that went completely bankrupt, losing billions (with a B) of investors dollars. What I read about the trial was he made a bold (and foolish) move of taking the stand himself, because he was convinced his testimony would exonerate him. But it did the opposite! The jurors only took 4 hours to find him guilty on all accounts!

-Yet so many of us live like that! We’re trained that we always need to defend ourselves, we view ourselves as the hero of every story instead of seeing Jesus as the hero. I’m just as guilty as anyone else of responding poorly, that’s why we need grace and forgiveness extended to each other on a regular basis. If we live in such a way where we don’t respond with harshness or bitterness we will leave people amazed, we will be a faithful witness to others.

Insurrection (6-15)

-These other sections build off that first one, which is why I wanted to spend so much time on it! These next 2 sections are more detail about what was happening in those first 5 verses.

-The first thing we see is this odd tradition of a prisoner release.

-Again, opportunistic Pilate, follows the theme of Passover by “passing over” a convicted felon. But the felon Pilate chooses to contrast with Jesus is Barabbas.

-Not a lot of info about Barabbas, some early manuscripts name him “Jesus Barabbas” adding even more weight to Pilate’s question. Which Jesus do they want?

-Notice the difference right away between these 2 Jesus’: one was convicted. He had committed murder! The other had done nothing wrong.

-Vs. 10. Pilate wasn’t dumb! He realized it was a sham, and the only thing Jesus was guilty of was influence. The chief priests were threatened by Him, so they deal with him the way they know how: hand Him over to the Romans.

-Pilate tries 3 times to change the outcome of these events.

-First is the ironic title “King of the Jews.” Had this story gotten back to Rome it would have led to major issues for Pilate! The ultimate king of the Jews was in Rome! Tiberius, ruling over the entire Roman Empire! Pilate thought (wrongly) that if these 2 men were contrasted with each other, the people would make the right decision. What he hadn’t counted on was the conviction of the chief priests. Look at vs. 11. These are the same people who had paid Judas to betray Jesus. Conjecture, but wouldn’t surprise me if they were bribing the crowd to ensure their way! Doing anything they could to continue their hold on their power.

-So Pilate tries again. The crowd has chosen the convicted felon to be released, so he asks “ok, fine, but then what should I do with this other Jesus?” The first tactic didn’t work, let’s try just outright asking for His release! But how do they respond? Capital punishment!

-So Pilate tries a third time: What is he guilty of? At this point, the mob mentality has taken over and they will not be appeased until they get what they want.

-Is Pilate more worried about pleasing people or doing what’s right? Just as we read the stories before, he just caves into the demands of the crowd. He’d rather stay in his position of power than live in an honorable way.

-Scourging is nearly a death penalty. Tied to a wooden post, stripped naked, whipped with a rope braided with pieces of bone and rock.

-Historical accounts of people dying merely from this. Read a story of someone who’s intestines spilled out from this beating, another whose bones were showing. I don’t share that to be grotesque, but to help us understand what Jesus went through. The Romans were MASTERS of torture and death, they had to be do continue exerting their influence over the expanding empire. And as if that penalty wasn’t enough, the abuse continues.

Inside the Palace (16-20)

-Most likely those who were stationed at the governor’s palace. A fairly boring, routine night was broken up by the arrival of a newly condemned prisoner who was accused of looking to start an insurrection (but that guy was just freed).

-The irony reaches its pinnacle with the soldiers crowning Jesus with royal colors and a crown.

-The crown that connects back to the original problem with the world: sin. Gen. 3:18 “thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” Instead of being royally crowned as the sovereign king of the universe, the true king is crowned with all the effects and penalties of sin.

-The soldiers thought they were heaping abuse on Jesus, and they were! But it wasn’t any worse than the abuse that was coming because of the problem of sin that was affecting the whole world. In Luke’s account of Jesus’ last week of life, he tells the story of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. He sees the way sin has completely broken all of humanity and it grieves Him. Instead of living in truth, beauty, and goodness, people look to lies, ugliness, and evil, and all that will be heaped upon Jesus to deal with it once and for all. The weight of that burden would be far too much for any of us to bear, yet Jesus did, in full obedience and knowing exactly what was coming, He allowed all this abuse to be heaped upon Him.

-Once they’d finished their humiliation of Jesus, they put his bloody clothes back on Him and took Him to the outside of the city.

-Jesus taking the place of Barabbas serves as a picture for the ultimate replacement Jesus would take for the entire creation order. And that replacement means that for us today, we have a new lease on life. We can now live lives that are marked by: truth, beauty, and goodness. We can amaze others with a life fully surrendered to Jesus, being content in all circumstances. Not by putting on a front or pretending that everything is fine when it’s not, but by living the life Jesus calls us to.

Pastor Mike's Musings

All posts for the month November, 2023

Mark 16:1-8 – Sermon Manuscript

Mark 15:21-47 – Sermon Manuscript

Mark 15:1-20 Sermon Manuscript

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