Well, today is the day the disciples and Jesus celebrated Passover. It also marks the first communion. If you follow Mark’s account (14:12-26) it seems Jesus and His disciples are celebrating an early Passover. Scholars tell us Jews would have observed Passover on Friday. Ben Witherington III suggests the idea of the disciples and Jesus sneaking into the city under the cloak of darkness to celebrate the Passover early. They would have to be somewhat quiet about things if they were doing this meal early. I was also thinking of all the commotion Jesus stirred up by entering Jerusalem and clearing the temple. The religious leaders are chomping at the bit to get at Him. So, if they are celebrating an early Passover they probably don’t want to draw a lot of attention to themselves.
It seems Jesus has set up a place, a “guest room,” (TNIV) to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. To me it seems obvious He has made some pre-arrangements for it (14:13-15). If they are trying to be sneaky about this whole thing, because they are doing it a day early, then the signal Jesus gives to the disciples; “A man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.” makes a bit more sense. This is going to be a very special meal. Passover is a meal about freedom. It was the last meal the Israelites ate before leaving Egypt. It meant God had acted on their behalf and was rescuing them from bondage in Egypt. Their God was showing that He alone is the only true God.
While eating Jesus predicts He’s going to be betrayed by one of the disciples (14:17). Jesus had spent 3 years of His life with Judas and I’m sure He was on to his crooked ways. What’s surprising is that none of the other disciples know its Judas. Their response in verse 19, “Surely not I?” indicates they are more worried about it being themselves than someone else. Judas fooled the disciples but not Jesus.
Somewhere towards the end of the meal, Jesus asks His disciples to eat bread that symbolizes His body and drink wine that symbolizes His blood which will be “poured out for many.” They then top off this new meal by singing a hymn.
Some questions I was thinking about with this passage:
- I wonder what the disciples were thinking as they listened to their teacher talk about what each of the elements meant?
- Did they really understand that Jesus was going to die and give up His life?
- Did they think He would die a heroic death by the sword?
- What were they thinking?
- What do you think they were thinking?
Showing posts with label The Book of Mark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Book of Mark. Show all posts
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Time with God
I have been studying Mark 1:35-39 in anticipation of preaching on it. I got sick the night I was supposed to preach so never had that chance. Now I have a sermon in by back pocket ready to go. So, I thought I would share a bit of what I've been learning in this passage here. Actually this is just a look at verse 35. Verse 35
The scripture tells us it is very early in the morning, in fact it is still dark out. Jesus wakes up and goes off by Himself to a solitary (lonely) place to pray.
This is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry that Mark mentions this in his Gospel. Why? I think he wants us to know Jesus’ commitment to time with God and prayer. This is a key characteristic of Jesus – One who spends time with God and who prays. Listen to what these other scriptures say about Jesus:
- Matthew 14:23 – Jesus goes off alone to spend time with God and pray.
- Luke 5:16 – He withdrew often to lonely places to spend time with God and pray.
- Mark 8:6 – Prayer before feeding the 4,000.
- Matthew 26:36 – Spending time with God and praying at Gethsemane.
- John 17 – Prayer for disciples and us.
Time with God and prayer are key components of Jesus’ life. This is why He can speak as if He knows what God the Father is up to because He does. Time with God and prayer are evidence of a relationship.
Questions
- If someone were to evaluate your life would you be described as a person who spends time with God and who prays?
- How important is it for you to spend time with God each day?
- How important is prayer to you and to your day?
- Does your family see you spending time with God
- Do they see you as a prayer warrior?
- Do they know that you spend time with God and in prayer?
- Do they come to you and ask you for advice on how to spend time with God and how to pray?
Application
Here’s my advice if you want to become a person who spends time with God and prays: Practice it! Mark off a time during the day or week in your calendar when you will do it (even if it’s only 5 minutes!). Ask someone to hold you accountable to times with God and prayer. Start a time with God and/or prayer journal where you write down your experiences and/or prayers and how God answers them. To not practice it would be like wanting to ride a bike all your life and not ever getting on one.
The scripture tells us it is very early in the morning, in fact it is still dark out. Jesus wakes up and goes off by Himself to a solitary (lonely) place to pray.
This is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry that Mark mentions this in his Gospel. Why? I think he wants us to know Jesus’ commitment to time with God and prayer. This is a key characteristic of Jesus – One who spends time with God and who prays. Listen to what these other scriptures say about Jesus:
- Matthew 14:23 – Jesus goes off alone to spend time with God and pray.
- Luke 5:16 – He withdrew often to lonely places to spend time with God and pray.
- Mark 8:6 – Prayer before feeding the 4,000.
- Matthew 26:36 – Spending time with God and praying at Gethsemane.
- John 17 – Prayer for disciples and us.
Time with God and prayer are key components of Jesus’ life. This is why He can speak as if He knows what God the Father is up to because He does. Time with God and prayer are evidence of a relationship.
Questions
- If someone were to evaluate your life would you be described as a person who spends time with God and who prays?
- How important is it for you to spend time with God each day?
- How important is prayer to you and to your day?
- Does your family see you spending time with God
- Do they see you as a prayer warrior?
- Do they know that you spend time with God and in prayer?
- Do they come to you and ask you for advice on how to spend time with God and how to pray?
Application
Here’s my advice if you want to become a person who spends time with God and prays: Practice it! Mark off a time during the day or week in your calendar when you will do it (even if it’s only 5 minutes!). Ask someone to hold you accountable to times with God and prayer. Start a time with God and/or prayer journal where you write down your experiences and/or prayers and how God answers them. To not practice it would be like wanting to ride a bike all your life and not ever getting on one.
Any thoughts to add?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sermon on Mark 1
Preached on Mark 1:1-8 Sunday night. My big idea for the message was that repentance plays a key role in preparing us for Jesus and change. Here is a snippet of my message for those of you interested (or for those of you needing a sermon for Sunday, ha!).
- What does it take for you to get ready for change?
For me, I like to have a heads up. For me to get ready, I want to be prepared and know about the change. Knowledge is power, right? But even that sometimes isn’t enough. When Jesus comes He brings change. He brings radical change. 2 Corinthians says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the new has come and the old has gone.” Jesus brings change.
- What does it take to get ready for the Lord Jesus and the change He brings?
- What does it take for you to get ready for the Lord’s coming? (When He comes He brings a renewal and a revival to our hearts.)
- What does it take to get ready for a revival? To be awakened to the fact that God’s kingdom is here. It’s all around us just waiting for us to enter into.
- What does it take?
How many of you find it pleasant to be woken up by an alarm clock? I haven’t found an alarm clock yet that has a pleasant sounding alarm. Your dreams are usually interrupted abruptly by the brash beeping telling you loudly that a new day is here. Wake up! An alarm clock is a great symbol for change. There is a new day here. The old day is gone. Change has come. An alarm clock is also a great symbol for John the Baptist and his ministry spoken of here in the Gospel of Mark.
Before we get into talking about John the Baptist, Mark makes it clear in the first few verses that what we are about to be woken up to is very important. This is what was promised in the Old Testament. It is very good news.
Verse 1
That’s the word used in the opening line here (the Good News/Gospel). In Jesus’ time to announce the Gospel was to announce the arrival of the Messiah. The arrival of God’s Anointed One. The Jewish people of Jesus’ day would have known with the arrival of the Messiah comes freedom. Freedom from Satan and his kingdom and the dawning of a new kingdom. This word is just loaded with meaning and good news. In a nutshell it means the good things God has done through Jesus. It means a change is coming and something new is brewing.
Verse 2 & 3
Mark goes on in verse 2 and says this was written in Isaiah, but this is actually a mixture of Isaiah and Malachi (common practice in those days to just mention more prominent prophet). He wants us to know that this Good News is something God said He would do and promised in the Old Testament. The most important day in history, and in the world, is when God took on human flesh and made His dwelling among us. What’s about to happen is more important than any day we have (e.g., landing on the moon, 4th of July, September 11th discovery of America, discovery of electricity, etc.).
Think about this day like this. If your favorite actor/athlete came to town and no one told you about it, you would be bummed and feeling like you missed out on something special. Thankfully, the Jews had someone to give them, and us, a heads up about this important day. The alarm clock is buzzing very loudly to wake them up to this new day. His name is John the Baptist. Verses four through eight tell us about this man and his ministry.
- What does it take for you to get ready for change?
For me, I like to have a heads up. For me to get ready, I want to be prepared and know about the change. Knowledge is power, right? But even that sometimes isn’t enough. When Jesus comes He brings change. He brings radical change. 2 Corinthians says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the new has come and the old has gone.” Jesus brings change.
- What does it take to get ready for the Lord Jesus and the change He brings?
- What does it take for you to get ready for the Lord’s coming? (When He comes He brings a renewal and a revival to our hearts.)
- What does it take to get ready for a revival? To be awakened to the fact that God’s kingdom is here. It’s all around us just waiting for us to enter into.
- What does it take?
How many of you find it pleasant to be woken up by an alarm clock? I haven’t found an alarm clock yet that has a pleasant sounding alarm. Your dreams are usually interrupted abruptly by the brash beeping telling you loudly that a new day is here. Wake up! An alarm clock is a great symbol for change. There is a new day here. The old day is gone. Change has come. An alarm clock is also a great symbol for John the Baptist and his ministry spoken of here in the Gospel of Mark.
Before we get into talking about John the Baptist, Mark makes it clear in the first few verses that what we are about to be woken up to is very important. This is what was promised in the Old Testament. It is very good news.
Verse 1
That’s the word used in the opening line here (the Good News/Gospel). In Jesus’ time to announce the Gospel was to announce the arrival of the Messiah. The arrival of God’s Anointed One. The Jewish people of Jesus’ day would have known with the arrival of the Messiah comes freedom. Freedom from Satan and his kingdom and the dawning of a new kingdom. This word is just loaded with meaning and good news. In a nutshell it means the good things God has done through Jesus. It means a change is coming and something new is brewing.
Verse 2 & 3
Mark goes on in verse 2 and says this was written in Isaiah, but this is actually a mixture of Isaiah and Malachi (common practice in those days to just mention more prominent prophet). He wants us to know that this Good News is something God said He would do and promised in the Old Testament. The most important day in history, and in the world, is when God took on human flesh and made His dwelling among us. What’s about to happen is more important than any day we have (e.g., landing on the moon, 4th of July, September 11th discovery of America, discovery of electricity, etc.).
Think about this day like this. If your favorite actor/athlete came to town and no one told you about it, you would be bummed and feeling like you missed out on something special. Thankfully, the Jews had someone to give them, and us, a heads up about this important day. The alarm clock is buzzing very loudly to wake them up to this new day. His name is John the Baptist. Verses four through eight tell us about this man and his ministry.
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