Monthly Archives: September 2025

MARK’S GOSPEL…DO OR DONE? – 24

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As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬-‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Another great “Sunday School” story, one that some of us learned when we were knee high to a grasshopper!

…but what is the heart of this story? 

A young man, possibly a Pharisee, thoroughly comfortable with his religion and his money, yet restless inside, came to Jesus. Something was missing. Perhaps, while he was watching, listening, puzzling…Jesus had made a deep impression on him.  

What was it about Jesus that held him spellbound? Jesus had an aura of peace, of security, of authority, of not being caught up in the stresses of life but living above them in another “realm”, that fascinated him. Jesus seemed to be in a space which didn’t depend on circumstances for the serenity that seemed to encase Him. 

Jesus portrayed something he wanted…together with his wealth and comfort, that would make his life perfect. Perhaps there was something he could do that would transport him into the same realm in which Jesus lived. 

When Jesus questioned him about his religious life, he was confident of his performance. Nothing lacking in his strict adherence to the rules, so he thought. He was obviously raised in a strictly orthodox family. He was a stickler for rules. He would have to look elsewhere for the cause of his emptiness inside. Perhaps there was one elusive “thing” he had not yet “done” to fill that hole. 

Jesus smartly diagnosed the heart of his problem. He put His finger squarely on one big obstacle. In the place where Jesus should have been Lord, owning, filling, and directing his life including his bank account, was his wealth and possessions. Instead, his claim to obedience to the law was exposed, a lie! The greatest commandment of all, to love God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, lay in tatters. 

All this man’s “doing” had no heart. It’s no wonder he felt empty and dissatisfied. He, like so many of his own countrymen, was drinking at the wrong fountain. He was trying to quench his thirst for authentic life, for that connection with God that gave life its true meaning and purpose, through earthly substitutes. 

What was the solution? For him it was not “let Jesus have control of your money”! Jesus knew that his love of money and possessions would always clash with loyalty to Him.  The principle is clear…

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This young man already had a master. The only functional solution was “get rid of your money…your master…and put your trust in me!”

He could not “have his cake and eat it”.  There was no such thing as wealth plus Jesus. Hs wealth was not an addition…it was an obstacle. 

The only solution to this man’s issue was to dump forever his notion that doing something was the answer and keep his money in place. The real issue was about “who or what is your master?”

For us, as for him, there is nothing we can add to everything we have and everything we have already tried to do to earn God’s acceptance. One more “doing”, however noble it might seem to be, only compounds our guilt before God. 

The only solution is to cut ties with money, possessions, people, ideologies, beliefs, practices, habits…whatever or whoever is master! There can only be one master…

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬

Lord! Supreme authority! 

This is the only solution to our empty hearts and restless souls, to cut loose, once and for all, from confidence in all our stuff and the notion that we can “do” something to inherit eternal life. Everything that needed “doing” has been done to save us from our self-destroying lives, including our past, present, and future. 

Here’s the solution…

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Did the rich young man mean what he said? Did he really want eternal life? 

“At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, he chose to drink the polluted water of wealth and possessions to the end of his days at the expense of eternal life! He continued to “do” what  Jesus had already “done” for him. 

MARK’S GOSPEL…DIVORCE – 23

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Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭2‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.””

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Divorce! A very current and thorny topic! Divorce is so easy these days that couples can spouses like changing their clothes!

It was almost like this in Jesus’ day, not because God made divorce easy but because “Moses” did, according to the interpretation of the religious leaders. 

There were two mains schools of thought, led by two respected rabbis, Hillel and Shammai. 

Google says…

“Rabbi Hillel permitted divorce for “any cause,” even for trivial reasons such as a husband finding his wife’s cooking unsatisfactory, whereas Rabbi Shammai only allowed divorce for adultery. Hillel’s view was that the term “any cause” in Deuteronomy 24:1 allowed for divorce over any issue the husband disliked, a perspective that became the dominant view in Jewish law (Halakha), though more pious individuals still favored Shammai’s stricter approach.”

The Pharisees tried to draw Jesus into the debate, testing His opinion against those of these two most respected rabbis “with authority”.

Jesus refused to be caught in their trap. As He always did, He referred them back to the source of the instruction…God’s command “at the beginning of creation”. Marriage was a creation ordinance not to be tampered with by foolish humans. 

Jesus not only took them back to the source and initiator of marriage, but He also diagnosed the cause of their deviations!

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,”

Hardness of heart! How true it was then and equally true now! What was and is missing in many marriage relationships that undermines the meaning and purpose of marriage?

““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭23‬:‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Did you get that? Justice! Mercy! Faithfulness! Jesus came down hard on the Pharisees for two main reasons. One…they were hypocrites, play acting in the game of life. They wore the mask of “righteousness”, always doing the right thing in public, but rotten to the core with greed and wickedness inside. Two, they had no mercy for offenders who did not do what they demanded. 

So, if the wife “offended” them, they gave her a “bill of divorce” and sent her away without hope, while they calmly married the woman they had set their sights on… a convenient way of handling 

their unfaithfulness. 

Jesus also highlighted the purpose for marriage that most people don’t understand, ignore, or forget. 

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Marriage is not primarily because two people are “in love”, or for companionship, or legalised sex. Marriage is about two people becoming one to reflect on earth the unity “echad” between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Godhead. Sexual union is the physical symbol of this unity between one man and one woman for life. 

How far, then, has corruption in the human heart degraded marriage in all its perverse practices to what humans have made it today. The only cure for human depravity is to go back to the beginning, as Jesus did, and apply God’s Word, with hearts renewed by God’s grace to faith and obedience. 

It takes God’s grace, His strength for our weakness, to overcome the inborn selfishness of our hearts, to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”, growing in unity as an expression of our love and obedience to Jesus as Lord. 

MARK’S GOSPEL…DEMON -22

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Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭14‬-‭26‬, ‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 

“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

What a contrast between the scene on the mountain and the upheaval in the valley! Three disciples exposed to the glory of Jesus and nine disciples struggling with a stubbornly resistant demon!

This debacle had drawn a crowd…as usual the ever-present, contentious religious leaders, an inquisitive bunch of onlookers, and nine disciples wrestling with a particularly obnoxious demon!

Jesus walked into the situation…ever the Lord of every impossibility. The distraught father of a demon-possessed boy immediately transferred his plea to Jesus, while the impotent disciples hung back because they had no answer to this dilemma. 

Jesus was incensed… angry, frustrated! His diagnosis of the situation hit the mark. 

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” 

To whom was He talking? Who were the unbelieving people with whom He had issues? Not the Pharisees or the crowd… they had no connection with Him. It could only have been the nine disciples who could not budge the demon. 

What was the real issue! No faith! Not just little faith. Faith as small as a mustard seed, as tiny as a grain of salt, would have done the job. No faith meant only one thing…they were relying on their own efforts to dispatch the demon. Faith always has an object, ourselves or someone else. 

A “post mortem” of the event cleared up the mystery for the disciples.

“After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

Some versions add “and fasting”, but the main issue is, “What place does prayer have in casting out demons or, in fact, any intervention of God in any situation?”

Jesus put His finger on the answer. Prayer is the only way to establish the connection with God called faith. First, through prayer, we learn our true place in this relationship between God and ourselves. He is God! We are not! Anything we say or anticipate outside of our place of absolute nothingness at His feet is pure impertinence, insolence! 

Second, our nothingness before God should lead us to recognise our utter dependence on Him for, and in everything. 

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He is the sole object of our faith. The source of this conviction is found in His word. 

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, prayer is essentially, first and foremost, not as we have been led to believe…that prayer is getting answers from God. Prayer is undressing ourselves before God, layer by layer, until we know who we are so that we can learn who He is. It is the application of God’s word that renews our minds, replacing false notions about ourselves and God with truth. Faith is, intended, establishing, once and for all, who has the final authority. 

Many have been taught that  “taking authority over” demonic spirits is the way to exercise authority, to cast out demons, to get anything done. Wrong! Rather, authority only becomes real when we take our place before God in true humility. He can entrust authority only to those who have such confidence in His authority that they act in tandem with Him. 

Through prayer, we cement the conviction that Jesus is who He is and that He will do what He says He will do and what we expect Him to do because He has all authority and He is utterly faithful to His word.

It took a Gentile to define for us the nature of true faith. 

“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬, ‭7‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Authority and faith! Did you get that? If our faith is not firmly founded on the authority of Jesus, it is not faith but presumption. 

Now, His commission makes sense…if we have absolute confidence in His authority.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.””

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MARK’S GOSPEL…TRANSFIGURATION – 21

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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.