Showing posts with label Exposition of Mark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exposition of Mark. Show all posts

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Mark 16 - The Resurrection applied between Unbelief and Grace


The sequence of our Easter meditations at Eastside has followed the chronology  of Scripture:
(i) Palm Sunday -  Jesus received  with Hosanna’s  
(ii) Thursday - the night that He was betrayed, Jesus celebrated the Passover and instituted what we now know as the Lord’s Supper. 
(iii) Friday - the cross  
(iv) Saturday -  the silent  day when Jesus rested  on the Sabbath  day from  His finished  work  on the cross  
(iv) Sunday,   the first day of the week (16:2) -  the day of the Resurrection. 
Everything happened, just as Jesus had said earlier in Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31 and Mark 10:33-34.  
He had said that He would be killed and after three days He would rise again.

On this Resurrection Sunday  I want us to consider Mark 16 which  is not often used because of the controversial ending. I need to briefly  comment  on that note in your  Bibles  which says concerning  the ending to Mark’s gospel, “Some of the oldest oldest and most reliable New Testament manuscripts   do not include Mark 16:9-20.  
The oldest manuscripts referred to here are the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus. The King James Bible of 1611 contains vv. 9-20 without the footnote because the translators of this version used the Textus Receptus, the text handed down through the church age.  Since 1611, however, older manuscripts have been discovered, notably in 1844 when the archaeologist Constantin von Tischendorf discovered ancient manuscripts at the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mt. Sinai. These documents did not include vv. 9-20.The conclusion has therefore been that these verses were added later.  This may disturb some and you wonder whether there has not more tampering in the Bible. We can put your fears to rest. When these more ancient documents were discovered by von Tischendorf in 1844, and later the discovery of the Dead sea scrolls [1]from 1946 onwards, it was found that there were some discrepancies with the Textus Receptus, but not of a major nature. No major or even minor doctrine was affected by the differences. 

But what can we say about what is taught in vv. 9-20?  Apart from verses 17 and 18 there is nothing unusual or controversial here. It is entirely in harmony with the other gospels. So, we are free to focus on the great theme of this chapter, namely the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this chapter we see two repeated thoughts concerning the resurrection:  
The first is, “They did not believe”
The second is, “He appeared“. 

These two phrases dominate the content of Mark Chapter 16. Let’s consider them in greater detail  

1.     The ever present problem of unbelief

Think about this.  Nobody lived physically closer to Jesus than these people here mentioned in our text.  They were privileged to see with their own eyes His real miracles and the evidence of His sinless life. They were privileged to hear His convicting preaching. They heard him say on numerous occasions that He would be killed, buried and raised again.   The sobering reality is that against all this no-one   of Christ’s close associates really believed Him when He said that He would rise from the dead!  Whilst we take note of the recurring “unbelief“ of all concerned, we must not read ‘unbelief’ here as something of a final fact.  These people all had loved Jesus deeply in life.  They were missing him sorely now. They mourned and wept (16:10).  Mary Magdalene owed him her very life, for Jesus had cast out 7 demons from her (16:9). The two walking in the country (16:12) were according to Luke  (24: 13-35) talking about these things on the road to Emmaus. It is clear that they were depressed at this thought   that Jesus had been crucified and buried in a grave. They had no expectation of His resurrection.   The language of the text reveals this.  Now again, this has nothing to do with cynical unbelief. In their minds they were simply not able to bring themselves to believe that Jesus would come back from the dead, even though He had proven that He had the power over death in the raising of Lazarus in John 11. 

Now let’s take a look at a cross section  of these people.

The women: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, after the Sabbath was past, and  early on Sunday morning  they went to  the tomb  to anoint the dead body of Jesus. That in itself is a sign of unbelief. If Jesus said that He would rise on the third day, then there was actually no need to buy and apply these funeral spices. All they needed to do was to wait for the resurrection! But they clearly did not expect the resurrection. So, when they came to the tomb the next day (the first day of the week) they saw that the tomb stone had been rolled away, but still they made no connection. John records that Mary Magdalene had run back to tell Peter about this. She reported (note the language of unbelief) … “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (Jn. 20:2,13). No thought of the resurrection. Even when Jesus appeared to her a little later,   she thought that He was the gardener (Jn. 20:15) supposing that he might have carried the body of Jesus away. Only when Jesus addressed her by her name, “Mary[2], did she recognise Him.   This is the power of unbelief! There are none as blind as those who will not see!  A closed mind chooses to see what it wants to see.  This is what we are up against when we share the Gospel!  However, as I have reminded you, this is not cynical unbelief- and yet we shall see that it is still sinful unbelief.

The disciples:  the angel at the tomb confirms the fact of the resurrection to the women: “Do not be alarmed, you seek   Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here … but go and tell  his disciples  and Peter  that he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he has told you” (vv. 6,7). When they told the grief stricken disciples, they too would not believe her. Even though they have heard the Lord Jesus speaking to them plainly about His resurrection they did not hear Him!  Observe the power of the closed mind, the stuck mind, the power of unbelief! We all engage in selective hearing. We all choose to hear what we want to hear! The doctrine of election is a classic case. How many of us have not initially refused to hear this clear biblical truth and were angry with those that preached it? Jesus repeatedly challenges us to consider carefully how we hear, e.g. Mk 4:9,23,24; 8:18

The 2 men on the Emmaus road : In vv. 12 &13 we find an incident  which described in greater detail in Luke’s gospel (Lk. 24:13-32). Two men are walking on the road to Emmaus. Lost in grief and depressed about the things that had happened to Jesus in Jerusalem, ‘their eyes were kept from recognising him’ (Lk.24:16) as He joined them. Later He opened their eyes to recognize Him (Lk.24:31).  For the first time we are helped to see the remedy for unbelief,… they were helped to see !

The 11 disciples: In v.14 we find   the 11 disciples  in Galilee when Jesus suddenly  joins them. We read, “...and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.”  This is an important insight. Jesus categorizes this unbelief as a sinful hardness of heart!

Now, you may say, “I believe in the resurrection of Jesus with all my heart“.  We, modern New Testament believers, having been exposed to the Easter story for so many years find it easier to believe in the resurrection than the women and the disciples, because we have become so used to hear this familiar story!  So let’s see whether we cannot try another avenue to test our own tendency to unbelief. If you believe in the resurrection of Christ and do not question this because the resurrection is now an established, historical fact, then do you also believe in the second coming of the Lord Jesus?  To get close up and personal: are you living in the constant anticipation of His appearing, whether by your death or by His personal appearing in the clouds? And does it make a difference to the way in which you live now and make decisions now? Do you get the point?

2.      He  Appeared!

This is the act of Grace: He appeared to deal with their unbelief! 
He appeared - this phrase is repeated 3 times in vv.9-20:  
(i) 16:9 “He appeared first to Mary Magdalene” 
(ii) 16:12he appeared in another form to two of them” 
(iii) 16:14Afterward He  appeared to the Eleven themselves...”. 

He  came to   deliver  His beloved people  from  unbelief  by His post  resurrection appearances. And these were not the only.   In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8  the apostle Paul speaks of many more resurrection appearances,  “…he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”  
Paul wrote these words about 20 years after the resurrection. Many of those who met the risen Jesus Christ were still alive at that time. From Paul’s perspective the evidence for the resurrection is utterly overwhelming!  And the resurrection appearances were not that of a ghost. This was   a physical Christ!  He spoke to Mary. He spoke to the men on the Emmaus road. They also had a meal together on that occasion.  The apostles ate fish that Christ had caught and prepared at the seaside. Ghosts don’t do breakfast for their friends!

He appeared says Mark three times. He appeared, says Paul 4 times in the letter to the Corinthians just quoted.  Peter says the same thing in Acts 10:39-41 in the home of a Roman soldier: “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name”

This is what we also affirm today on this Resurrection Sunday. He appeared! And He will appear again  at the second coming.   We have to get over the fact that supernatural is not irrational! Yes, we do not understand how a man can die and live again, but are we saying and assuming that we can know everything? Surely our own experience tells us that we don’t know everything!  
There is the planet Mars, and we have a rover there, but the truth is that we know very little about Mars. But we know that Mars is  there, and we trust that we will see more of it  in years to come. The Resurrection of Jesus is a fact. The evidence is there, and Jesus took care to present the evidence in His post resurrection appearances. He knows how weak and unbelieving we are, and so He took care to strengthen our faith by His post  resurrection appearances.  Don’t be slow to believe all that is written  in the Scriptures.    And thank Him that He works even this day  to overcome our unbelief  with Grace. Thank God for the  gift  of the  illuminating work of the  Holy Spirit given  to us at Pentecost.  

Where does the knowledge of the Resurrection leave us? 

The ending of Mark (16:15-20) like Matthew 28:18-20 leaves us with the Great Commission: The resurrection leaves us with an evangelistic duty.
For almost six weeks before the Ascension,   the Lord Jesus Christ was with the disciples and then He gave them a great commission.  He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”.  (vv. 15,16)
Go and tell!  Do not be unbelieving, tell people about His  life, death  and resurrection.
Verse  20 tells  us,   and they went out  and preached everywhere.” They went out and it was not long before their world knew that there was a resurrected  Saviour  whom God had sent  to save those who would believe in Him, from their sins.  Soon there were believers everywhere – in Rome, in Corinth, Ephesus …in every major city in Asia minor in the Roman and  Greek world,  and spreading into  North Africa and Europe and  into the Far East. Many of them experienced persecution and sufferings; numbers lost their lives doing this work. They endured it all. Would they have done this if they weren’t convinced that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead and had commanded them to go? What else can explain the fact of the growth of the church in the world today?  Do not be unbelieving… Grace has been given  to you not only to believe but to be  active in the sharing of your faith?  Does your neighbour  know  about Jesus? 
Cure the unbelief of the world by the proclamation of the grace of God !

Monday, March 10, 2014

Mark 4:10-20: "The Purpose of Parables"

At face value,  the parable of the sower  and the seed  is a straight forward  story  about a farmer  sowing his seed.  

Jesus spoke  this parable  to   a very large crowd   which  had gathered  beside the sea (3:7; 4:1). The story is about  seed sown,  which  falls in four kinds of soils -  (i) hard, (ii) rocky and shallow, (iii) among thorns, and (iv) also in good soil. Three of the seeds  produce no fruit. Only that seed planted  in  good soil produces  grain – and in varying proportions-  thirty, sixty… a hundred fold. Then He concludes his teaching with these words, “he who has ears  to hear  let him hear.” (4:9) There is  only this story, and very little explanation or application.

We then read,  
[10] And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.  
Now,  if the disciples  whom He had recently  called to be apostles (3:13-19) did not get the point of the parable, how do you suppose the  crowd  would have understood the parable? Is it not  a strange  thing, to just tell a story  about a farmer sowing seed,  and that’s that?  

Be assured that Jesus  is  making a very important  point  here. He is  actually teaching  the crowd something  about the kingdom of God, but He speaks in hidden terms, in veiled language, in  parables,  and  it’s all mysterious to His hearers.  

In response  to their question Jesus  then  answers:
[11] … “To you has been given the secret   or mystery  (Gr. mustÄ“rion) of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, [12] so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.”  

Here is the  purpose of  parables explained:  to reveal  and to conceal the  true nature of the kingdom of God. 

To His disciples He speaks  in parables  in order to help them to understand the nature of the kingdom. To  everyone else, his  parables make no sense whatsoever and it is deeply significant that Jesus here quotes  the prophet Isaiah from 6:9,10 in support of His teaching. Isaiah  sees the LORD in an overwhelming vision, after which he also receives a strange  commission  from God  to  be His messenger  to a people  who will see and not perceive. They  will hear but not understand. 

Isaiah  himself  was a prophet who often spoke and acted in  parables as He made known God's kingdom purposes for the nation of Israel. At this time  Isaiah’s ministry was actually largely  a ministry of judgment, for in that day  God had handed   the northern kingdom over to the Assyrians. However, Isaiah also prophesied that  God would leave a remnant. Isaiah  more than any other prophet spoke about the Messiah – the suffering servant.   Until today the Jews do not understand Isaiah 53  because they refuse to  believe  in  Christ the Messiah  who is the key  to the interpretation of Isaiah's  'suffering servant' passages.  

While we are on that subject, I want you to see that  the life of Jesus itself is a parable and like the  parable  of the sower the lperson and life of   Jesus  makes no sense until we receive  a key to understanding Him  and His work  on the cross. Somebody needs to open up  the door so that we can look inside! And  that is precisely what happens when we are born again, when the Holy Spirit opens up the Word of God to us, and when  He helps us to understand the secrets  of God. We need  help to understand the Word of God.  We need the Holy Spirit  to help  us in this, and we need  to work with  His inspired Word - the  Bible!  Even when we are converted it takes time to understand the unfamiliar  logic of the Bible  and its truth to sink in!   

The disciples  will only  understand the  parables  because Jesus  will help to understand them, but those  who are not helped by the Holy Spirit  and who   do not sit under such instruction will find   this all  to be concealed.  

While the Bible is in many ways  clear in its teaching – even to an unbeliever, the heart  of the Bible  (i.e. Christ and His redemptive work)  is concealed to such. Even believers, at face value do not immediately   get  to understand  everything in the Bible. An example of this is the doctrine of divine election. How many Christians do not struggle  to accept this doctrine, even though it is clearly taught in the Bible?

At face value  the people saw Jesus, but  many did not see Him for who He was – the Son of God - God the Son! Even Christians who do not regularly  sit at Christ's feet having fellowship with Him and with His people  under His Word   loose perspective  on who Christ is. 

And then think about  this. Jesus first taught this parable sitting in a boat just off the shore. He said to them that  the kingdom of God had come. He had  said that at the outset of his ministry (Mark 1:15). In His coming the rule and reign of God had made its appearance in the world. But it was not what  the people  would have expected. He did  not look like a king. He had no army. He did not  conquer the Romans who occupied  the land of the Jews at this time.The Jewish religious leaders  did  not  embrace Jesus spontaneously  and gladly. Even his  family were saying at times,“He is  out of his mind.“ (3:21). The  scribes from Jerusalem maintained that He was demon possessed (3:22).

What then did they see? 
  • They saw  one who  showed   authority in  his teaching (1:27). 
  • They saw one who took on the  religious establishment of the Jews. 
  • They  saw  His miraculous healings and His authority  over demons.  That  was  remarkable, and many were glad that  He had healed and delivered many!  
  • But despite that,   it was not  obvious to these people that this man from Nazareth was no one less than God the Son,  who had now assumed  human nature. At this point  nobody  truly understood Him, and they  did not understand  the purpose of this  parable:
[13] And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?    

Do you see this? The nature of the kingdom  of God  is so different  and so opposite to human reason that it takes divine revelation for people to be able to grasp it.

Many see Christ, but they don’t see Him. There is something in Him, and He sometimes fascinates people, but like the parable of the sower which  hides  a profound story of the kingdom of God, the man  whom we see  is a living parable. He is a mystery  and although He  was standing right  in front of them they did not see that THIS was the mighty Creator of heaven and earth HIMSELF. This  was the longed for Redeemer of God’s people.  
Very few saw  Him for who He actually was: Anna, Simeon, John the Baptist, Mary … at a later stage Peter and the disciples – and then  the three thousand at Pentecost   and so on. 

Judas heard all of Jesus’ sermons. 
He  saw  all His  miracles. 
He even performed miracles himself in Jesus’ name! 
How could  such a man turn away  from Christ? 
How could the Pharisees  who were actually watching Jesus drive out demons and heal the sick say that He was  demon possessed?  

The problem was that nobody  thought  that the  kingdom  would  come that way. Nobody pictured it coming by the way of a tiny, humble  seed that was sown upon the  different soils  of this world, with  different results!  
Nobody thought that the kingdom of God would come in such unassuming  forms, beginning with a humble seed.   
The mysterious,  secret nature of the kingdom of God is no less obvious today. People  still  don’t understand this  today.

So then,  the mystery of Christ and  His kingdom needs explanation  and revelation
That is what  Jesus  now does   for His disciples: To you has been given the secret   or mystery  of the kingdom of God, 
...and then He explains

[14] The sower sows the word. [15] And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. [16] And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. [17] And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. [18] And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, [19] but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20] But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty-fold and sixty-fold and a hundredfold.”

Here  is Christ’s explanation  as to how  the kingdom of God grows in this world. It begins with a sower – a Gospel messenger. He has  seed (a message) which He  sows freely and abundantly on the  different soils   of human hearts  in this world. 
Truly, an  abundance of gospel preaching is not lacking in the world.
  
The problem is not with the sower. It is with the seed and the soil

Some seed  falls on hard paths (hearts) where it lies exposed and  unappreciated, and Satan  snatches it up.  
Other seed  is sown  on shallow rocky soil (hearts) – there is initial promise of growth, but no fruit!  
So it is with the seed that  grows among the thorns  -  the deceitfulness of riches (a very common  and contemporary problem!) chokes  the life out of the seed And then notice that among  that seed  sown in productive soil some  bear a thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold crop.

What does this  all teach us?

The  work of the kingdom is a mysterious  work of God. It is not understood  by conventional  human thought  or through scientific investigation. It is not observed with the naked eye. You will not  understand it until you receive  the key. Jesus and His teaching  will remain parabolic, (literally thrown beside),  until the  Holy Spirit  shows you who Christ is. Until then  He remains hidden  or concealed. The proof of  conversion is in  fruit-bearing.  Promises of initial growth -  a plant  or a tree with green leaves  are not proof  of  genuine conversion . By their fruit you shall know them (Matt 7:20).  Also, note  that not every Christian is a fruitful  as the other.

This then   is the secret, the mystery that  we have been given to understand.  It has been made clear to us with the help of  a parable. But for those who do not have the interpretational key  to  this  kingdom story, it  will remain hidden.  

Those  who don’t see this  will be  disappointed, and in time  they may  ridicule and speak against  Christ. Others   embrace  the gospel  for a short time, but because of lack of Word based teaching, or due to the deceitfulness of riches they will fall away.  But it is also heard and accepted by many and in them it bears a wonderful harvest. 

How important that we should understand  this  parable so that we may have perspective on God's  work in the kingdom of this world  as it  spreads on  various soils,  and  with various results.  

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 
Where does the seed fall in you? 
Test yourself.  (2 Corinthians  13:5) 

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