Category Archives: Bible Study

MARK’S GOSPEL…TRANSFIGURATION – 21

Bible Study,

Mark 9:2-5,7-8 NIV

“After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.”

This must have been a shocking experience for the disciples, unexpected, unanticipated, and completely outside of their frame of reference. O yes, their life with Jesus was anything but ordinary. Every day was an adventure, never a dull moment, but this! This is was utterly different. 

Since Jesus was the Son of God, sent by the Father from the other realm, it was inevitable that at sometime during His earthly life, eternity would break into time, even if for a few moments. The closeness of Father and Son demanded a manifestation and reassurance of the Father’s presence at some moment in their separation. 

The first time the Father broke into the earthly scene, His voice, heard by some nearby, affirmed His blessing on His Son after His baptism, before Jesus stepped into His public ministry. What was the purpose? We can only guess that this affirmation was the foundation on which Jesus built His security. Armed with the Father’s presence and support…always, He stepped out into an alien and hostile world. 

On this occasion, on the mountain, the voice of the Father boomed in the ears of the three disciples. Terrified, they crumpled to the ground, hid their faces in the dust, and dared not open their eyes to see the unearthly glory of their earthly Master. 

They had never seen Jesus like this. All their impressions and convictions about Him shrivelled to nothing. What’s more, He was in the company of the two greatest of their religious ancestors, representatives of their great heritage, Moses and Elijah, and they were both alive!

What could they say? Motor-mouth Peter, as usual, said it for them! “Let’s freeze this moment in time! A memorial…that’s what we need!” How typical! Of what value would a memorial be to them? What they needed was not some structure to remind them of this event, but the conviction in their hearts, confirmed by this vivid revelation, that Jesus was the Son of God, upon which to secure their faith, because that faith in Him would be tested to the limit in the days and years to come. Without the conviction of His identity and with it His authority, their faith would be hollow. 

They were to learn that Moses and Elijah, though real and alive in glory, were not the source of their confidence. They were only cogs in God’s great wheel of history, pointing to the one who would come, as God promised. Jesus was the one who must take centre stage. 

These three disciples, representing Jesus’ band of closest associates, had to move on beyond everything they knew about God and the covenant relationship they had with Him. All the rules and rituals they knew were types and shadows, pictures of the real thing that could never produce what God wanted most…sons and daughters who would be like Jesus and would live together in harmony as His divine family. 

So, the Father Himself, real and present in this other-worldly scene, interrupted Peter’s foolishness with a powerful affirmation of His Son and a clear directive of His will…

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“This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 

Never again could Peter, James, and John forget who Jesus was, or His place as supreme over every person and detail of the Old Covenant. They must begin again,  not rejecting but building on what they knew and believed, to a new and fresh understanding of God’s dealings with them as His covenant nation. 

As confusing as it is was to them at that moment, they were in a season  of transition. What was a mystery to them then would become crystal clear after the event…the cross, the resurrection, Pentecost…high drama that would reset the history of their own people and of the world. 

So it is with us now! In the confusion of unfolding revelation in our own experience, we need patience… to wait until Jesus has finished what He started…and faith to give Him credit for His good intentions. Love undergirds all His ways with us. He is still working on the clay. The past will explain itself as we move on. Life is lived forwards but understood backwards. 

Like Peter in later years, with clarified understand, we will testify as he did…

“For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…and, with Peter, we will build unshakeable faith in Him for who He is. 

MARK’S GOSPEL…MESSIAH – 19

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Mark 8:27-29 NIV

“Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

Before we examine the details of this conversation, we must understand its setting. “Caesarea Philippi”, is just a name to us but it was of major significance to Jesus and His disciples. This was Israel’s “ red light” district…a place of unimaginable debauchery. At a shrine near the source of the Jordan River, at the base of a massive rock, there was a temple built to Pan, the goat-god who was worshipped by having sex with goats. There were many pagan superstitions surrounding this geographical site, situated near the city of Caesarea, a Roman city dedicated to the worship of Caesar. 

Jesus purposely took His disciples there to illustrate an important truth to them. Using this  offensive site as background, if they really understood who He was, they would believe that faith in Him would change the hearts of the most depraved people from the “yoke” of slavery to sin to the “yoke” of disciples of Jesus. This rock, at the base of which the temple to Pan was built, would become the very place where Jesus would build His church.

To the disciples, this would be a vivid illustration of the power of Jesus’ yoke…His teaching based on who He was. 

So, in the environment of unspeakable evil, Jesus asked…

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

For once, motor-mouth Peter got it right! Always the first to blurt out an answer!  Was Peter speaking for the group or did he, in a flash of inspiration, really understand what he was saying?

First, Jesus’ reply suggested that Peter was sincere in his understanding of His identity, even if he only partially understood the implications. 

We must remember that the disciples shared the common expectation that the Messiah would come to Israel as a conquering king, dispatching the Romans from their land and setting up His kingdom in the pattern of David’s kingdom. 

Shortly before Jesus’s ascension, they still had the same expectation. 

Acts 1:6 NIV

“Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

So, when Peter confessed that Jesus was their Messiah, he was anticipating that Jesus would act like a conquering hero.

The exchange that followed blew that idea out of the water. Jesus was quick to introduce the other side of Messiah’s role, that of the “suffering Servant.” However, whatever Jesus told them at that moment, and repeated many times in the following days, fell on deaf ears. 

Mark 8:31-33 NIV

“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

In one moment, Peter moved from “inspired by God” to “mouthpiece for the devil.”  How could that happen? His limited understanding of Messiah came right out of his mouth. It would take the death and resurrection of Jesus and the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to complete his understanding of who God’s Messiah really was in all His fullness. 

Jesus intended to reveal to His disciples that the power of the Gospel lies, first, in His identity. Every believer must be convinced that He is the Son of God. Believing in Him means that we receive and honour Him as Lord – as Supreme Authority. 

Second, there is no power on earth greater than He…therefore, every demonic power must bow and give way to Him. There is no place or people on earth too evil to be saved by believing in Him as Lord. 

MARK’S GOSPEL…A GENTILE WOMAN – 20

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Mark 2:24-30 NIV

“Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.”

Jesus’ movements at times were unusual and unpredictable. On this occasion, He left home soil and went into foreign territory. Why? We know that He was led by the Spirit at all times, but more than once He made it clear that He had come, primarily, to the Jews. However, now He was among hated Gentiles. Did He go that long distance for one person? Did He know that a distraught mother needed Him?

If not before the time, at that moment, His purpose became clear. For whatever other reason He might have trespassed into Gentile territory, a Greek woman saw a once-off opportunity to get help for her child. No doubt, Jesus’ reputation went before Him. When she found out He was in her town, she made her move.

Why did Jesus seem so reluctant to help her? Why did He try to put her off? Their conversation sounded like a game, banter between two strangers…she said… He said…she argued back…He responded! What was Jesus testing? Was He trying to determine whether her request was real or some kind of trap?

Jesus actually used some rather insulting language. He said words that conveyed the common Jewish attitude to Gentiles…dogs! Unlike today, dogs were not pampered pets. They were treated like a kind of despised vermin.

The woman’s response shows that she both understood her place but was also bold enough to secure an answer. Dog or not, she would not be put off. If healing her daughter was mere crumbs, she was happy to receive them for her child’s sake. She was not in doubt about Jesus’ ability to heal but her persistence had to break through His reluctance.

Real faith never gives up despite the obstacles. Is this the lesson we learn from the Syro-Phoenician woman? Was Jesus really reluctant to heal her or was He about something more?

The outcome tells the story. The short exchange with her told Jesus that she was genuine. She wasn’t put off by taboos or protocols. She desperately wanted help for her daughter. She pushed through to an open expression of faith in Jesus. “I knew you could do it. I knew you would do it.”

This story not only highlights Jesus’ genuine concern for all people but also fulfills a Messianic prophecy spoken centuries before His coming…

Isaiah 42:6 NIV

“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;

I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and will make you

to be a covenant for the people

and a light for the Gentiles,

to open eyes that are blind,

to free captives from prison

and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness…”

Ever mindful of His role as “the Word of God”, and sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, Jesus did exactly as He was led to do, and another phase of His ministry as God’s Messiah opened up more and more. In the full light of day, after Pentecost, Paul was specifically designated the apostle to the Gentiles, of which this woman was one of the forerunners. 

MARK’S GOSPEL…WORDS A MIRROR – 18

Bible Study,

Mark 7:1-2, 5, 14-15 NIV

[1] The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus [2] and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 

[5] So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”…

[14] Again, Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. [15] Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 

A profound lesson from Jesus! He pulls the rug from under, not only every false religion but also from every perceived insult and “hurt” that sets off a chain reaction of retaliation and revenge.

False religions set much stire on cleaning the outside but have no answer for polluted hearts. They focus on external behavior, hoping that somehow,  what they do to the outside will filter through to their inside. Jesus said it doesn’t work like that!

Mark 7:17-23 NIV

[17] After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. [18] “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? [19] For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) [20] He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. [23] All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

What is the source of so much violent reaction from individuals, groups, and even nations? Perceived injury, emotional hurts, hypersensitive egos?

Jesus told His disciples the truth…all the wickedness in the world comes from the heart of the perpetrator, not from the words or behaviour of the victim.

Wow! That changes things, doesn’t it! Just imagine…the next time you are maligned or insulted, instead of reacting with anger or plotting to get back at your aggressor, you calmly remember that words are a mirror of the soul. Its the person accusing who is guilty , not the accused.

Jesus’ sober explanation of the source of evil should alert us to at least two realities…those who speak evil are inadvertantly exposing their own hearts and…we had better watch our own words lest we, too, reveal our own wickedness. 

The Bible, in many places, teaches us to guard our words because words are powerful tools for good or evil. For example, the well-known proverb…

Proverbs 18:21 NIV

[21] “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

…and James’ warning…

James 3:2, 6, 8-9 NIV

[2] We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check…

[6] The tongue also, is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell…

[8] …no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.”

…and, likewise, Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees…

Matthew 12:34-37 NIV

[34] “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. [35] A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. [36] But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. [37] For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

What is the solution? James said that no one can tame the tongue. If the tongue is the mirror of the heart, then the solution is to change the heart.

God promised Israel that, in a new dispensation, at the right time, He would do a heart transplant on His people through His Spirit.

Ezekiel 36:24-27 NIV

[24] “ ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. [26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

Only by this divine intervention, this divine “surgery”, is it possible to have new hearts that produce the good words of righteousness and truth.

As we arm our minds with truth,  so, our words will reflect what God requires…

Psalms 15:1-3 NIV

[1] “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? [2] The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; [3] whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others…”

So, Paul urges us…

Colossians 4:6 NIV

[6] “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

MARK’S GOSPEL…PASSING BY – 17

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Mark 6:45-52 NIV

[45] “Immediately, Jesus  made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida while he dismissed the crowd. [46] After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. [47] Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. [48] He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, [49] but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, [50] because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately, he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” [51] Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, [52] for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.”

For the disciples, life with Jesus was an adventure on steroids! What would He do next? No matter what happened, no matter what fix they got into, Jesus had a miracle.

The disciples were battling a storm on the lake. Jesus was on the shore, watching them struggle. So, what did He do? He hitched up His robe and set off across the water to go them. Just like that!

There’s more to this story than a seemingly simple miracle. Mark wove into this event a few words that open up a window into the meaning of Jesus’ actions.

According to Mark, Jesus did something that made no sense in the context of the story unless we read it in its broader use in Scripture.

“He was about TO PASS BY them…” Why would Jesus have done that if He had wanted to help them?

Now, let’s examine these words in other contexts…

Moses…

Exodus 33:18-19 NIV

[18] “Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” [19] And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness TO PASS IN FRONT OF YOU, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 

Exodus 34:5-6 NIV

[5] “Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. [6] And HE PASSED IN FRONT of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”

Elijah…

1 Kings 19:9, 11-12 NIV

[9] “There, he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”…

[11] The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for THE LORD IS ABOUT TO PASS BY.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind , there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. [12] After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

So, what was that all about? The expression “pass by” hints at something big…some revelation of God’s character, in Moses’ case, or God’s ways in Elijah’s case that is much more than God simply crossing in front of these men. 

To Moses, God revealed His “chesed”, His covenant love,  so that Moses could appeal to His mercy to forgive Israel’s sin and reinstate them as His covenant people. 

To Elijah, God revealed His ways, not in raw natural power but in the power of His whispered word. He instructed Elijah to go back and carry out His commands as part of His plans through which He would work out His purposes for Israel. 

So, what did Jesus want to reveal to His disciples when He PASSED BY them?

Let’s look at their reaction. 

Mark 6:49-50, 52 NIV

[49]…”but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, [50] because they all saw him and were terrified…

[52] … They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.”

…and His words, “It is I!” or rather, ’I AM!” Jesus, what are you saying!…A revelation of His true identity, the “I AM!”

How terrible for the disciples! They missed the whole point of Jesus’ revelation because of their unbelief! Despite the miracle of the multipled loaves, they had no expectation that Jesus would save them because He was Yahweh, I AM. They had not yet learned to entrust themselves to Him as God in every detail of their lives.

They didn’t see the familiar figure of Jesus. They saw a ghost! What were they expecting?

This story speaks a loud message to us. When we are in trouble and we ask for help, what do we expect? A ghost? Does Jesus answer us with a  phantom answer or with the real thing? Is He really God or not?

Let’s give Jesus credit for who He really is to us!

Matthew 7:9-11 NIV

[9] “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? [11] If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Jesus is looking for real faith, not “situational” faith or “conditional” faith…not the faith that suits our circumstances but the faith that recognises “I AM” in everything.