The Gospel of Mark Part 9
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I. Fasting or Feasting?
I. Fasting or Feasting?
II. Harvesting & Healing: Sabbath Controversy
II. Harvesting & Healing: Sabbath Controversy
III. The Crowds & The Called
III. The Crowds & The Called
III. The Crowds & The Called
A. The Crowds (vv. 7-12)
9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.
As we talked about last week, Jesus mostly operated His ministry as a man - embracing the total human experience.
Although He is God, Jesus made a request for a safety plan.
10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
Jesus’ healing ministry continues - and He healed “many”! - probably all the sick in the crowd, which were many - meaning that it was a huge crowd!
Notice what they are trying to do in order to be healed: “to touch Him”.
Just the touch of Jesus brought healing!
This situation is what separates the true healing of God from the supposed “faith healers” that we hear about today.
Can God heal today? YES! and He does.
Joni Erickson Tada story
If the gift of healing is still in effect today, why is sickness and disease so prevalent?
Jesus was healing “multitudes” of people - each and every case was verified by all of those that were in the crowd - not only certain sick people brought to the front as a showcase.
· Nor was Jesus’ healing ability limited by the severity of the sickness or disease.
With very few exceptions, Jesus’ healing miracles were always out in the open, within plain sight of crowds of people - the eye witness accounts were available for anyone that doubted!
This is a scene of great commotion!
The crowd makes a lot of noise! - both on their way to Jesus and as they cry out in delight at their healing!
People are pressing in, pushing past one another in an effort to get closer to Jesus!
Demon-possessed people are crying out to Him!
Yet Jesus is always in control! - He heals the sick and He quiets the demon horde.
Even in the chaos, Jesus is in control - a comforting thought as we face the crowds and the chaos of our own lives.
Jesus doesn’t always remove the chaos - but He walks with us through the chaos.
He helps us deal with the chaos - getting a boat lined up, staying calm in the face of the problems, giving strength when we get weak.
Jesus knows exactly what we are facing - He has been there, done that. So He knows exactly what we need to face it.
III. The Crowds & The Called
A. The Crowds (vv. 7-12)
B. The Called (vv. 13-19)
13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
Notice how “immediately” Mark changes the scene!
One moment we are at the shore of Galilee, with the teeming crowds and the noise of demons and of people shouting..
And the next moment we are on a quiet, mountainside retreat, alone with Jesus and His disciples.
It seems to indicate that there were more than twelve - likely the women that travelled with them, as well as other men besides the twelve - out of which Jesus calls these that would be His closest friends and confidants - it was to these 12 that the secrets of the kingdom would be revealed…who would have the privilege to walk with the Lord, up close and personal, and to whom Jesus would take the time to explain the parables that He taught the crowds with.
Like we have seen so many times in Mark, there is an emphasis on Jesus’ authority.
Jesus takes the initiative to go up on the hillside and to call out the 12 men He was commissioning.
Notice that He is giving them their job description - four things that He called them to do…but also four things that He empowered them to do.
B. The Called (vv. 13-19)
To Be With Him
Mark 3:14 (NKJV)
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him ...
The constant presence of Jesus is a transformational presence.
He wanted them near Him!
The word “with” means:
Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (μετά)
μετά meta: to be in the same company with; to be on the same side or party; association; union
Also, this part of the job is given first - it is a prerequisite to everything else.
Without spending time with Jesus, these 12 would not have had the training to do the other things.
It is really no different for the modern-day disciple.
If we desire to serve the Lord, we must first know the Lord by spending time with Him.
No longer His physical presence, but something much better - His Spirit within us and His word for us to read.
We need to be “in association with” and in “union” with our Bibles.
Some people say, “I don’t have time to read the Bible”…but really, we don’t have time NOT to read the Bible!
We have to change how we approach the Bible - stop approaching it like any other book.
We come to the Bible looking for a good story or adventure or interesting facts, and then we come into the “dry” sections of Scripture (disclaimer: with the Spirit’s help, there are NO dry sections)…but we think they are because they don’t hit like a fantasy novel or a national geographic article, so we get bored.
We want the instant fix, but that’s not how the Bible works!
Yes, there are adventures and exciting narratives and interesting historical facts, but that’s not why God gave us the Bible - He gave us the Bible so we could KNOW Him!
Mark 3:14 (NKJV)
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him ...
And how do we, today in 2023, “be with Him”? - by reading the Bible.
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Bible is ALIVE! - It has TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER!
The thing is, we expect a “drive-thru transformation” - where we can read a verse or a chapter, and by the time we get to the next window - problem solved! We expect instant transformation, but that’s not how it works.
Biblical transformation is a life-long journey, requiring us to stick with it for the long haul.
Change happens slowly - progressive sanctification!
We are called by Jesus to “be with Him” and if we are going to be good disciples, we MUST make Bible reading a priority.
B. The Called (vv. 13-19)
To Be With Him
To Preach
Mark 3:14 (NKJV)
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Preach)
κηρύσσω (kēryssō): to “preach, proclaim, tell, announce a message
This is the same word that Mark used in his Great Commission passage:
Mark 16:15 (NKJV)
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Jesus began His ministry as a Preacher, preaching about the Kingdom of God.
In fact, Jesus’ preaching was the cornerstone of His earthly ministry, which is why it is listed first as He commissions His disciples to go out.
It was now time for the disciples to move to the next level in the ministry - to take what they learned from Jesus and apply it in real life.
To imitate Him, to preach what He preached.
So what did they preach?…what was the content of their sermons?…it was what Jesus taught: parables and the gospel of the kingdom.
We need to understand that this call to preach was specifically for these 12 - not every disciple is called to literally “preach” in this way.
However, we are all called to “preach” in the ways that God has given us:
Some preach by evangelism
Some people preach through acts of service
Some preach by listening and being a friend
Some preach with the gift of mercy
Some preach with the gift of administration
But at some point, we need to be ready to speak - our silent witness is God’s gift for us to make connections with other people, but our spoken witness, however quiet it might be, is our way to share the truth that has made us different - has transformed us to be able to show mercy, kindness, acts of service, etc.
What is your life “preaching”?
B. The Called (vv. 13-19)
To Be With Him
To Preach
To Power over Sickness
Mark 3:15 (NKJV)
15 and to have power to heal sicknesses...
Although preaching was His main ministry, healing was a way for Jesus to authenticate His message and to set people free from the bondage of sin and Satan.
Remember the crushing crowds? - Jesus, in His human body, was limited by time and space. This was, of course, by His choice and He did choose to heal at a distance at specific times, although very few times.
This commissioning would allow for more people to be healed at once. This was safer for them and for the disciples.
And it was the training for them to understand the power He was giving them
These job descriptors were not just marching orders - This was also the time when Jesus gave them the POWER to do these things.
We already mentioned the fallacy of the modern faith-healing movement, but let’s look at a couple of Scripture verses that seems to indicate that even In Paul’s day, these sign gifts were fading away:
Philippians 2:27 (NKJV)
27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
Why did Epaphroditus become “sick almost unto death” if he could have just been healed by Paul or some other believer?
There doesn’t seem to be evidence of a healing here - it seems that he was very ill and gradually got better, certainly to the glory of God, but not necessarily through the gift of healing.
2 Timothy 4:20 (NKJV)
20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.
Why did Paul leave Trophimus sick at Miletus? Why not just heal him before he left town?
God certainly has power over sickness, but that doesn’t mean that He chooses to heal through the sign gifts of healing…If He still did this, I believe that this world would be a better place!
B. The Called (vv. 13-19)
To Be With Him
To Preach
To Power over Sickness
To Power Over Satan
Mark 3:15 (NKJV)
15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
This was a vital part of Jesus’ ministry model.
His opposer was oppressing the people and destroying lives, and Jesus had been disrupting his evil work.
And now He called His disciples to work along side Him in the ministry of setting people free.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Jesus wanted to see His ministry multiplied, so He did so by a factor of 12!
This is a model for the church - more people involved means more impact for the gospel and for the Lord!
Jesus had been and would be training them for this, and then they would go out and do it!
The 12 weren’t all clones of Jesus - they imitated Him, spoke the same message, did the same deeds, but they did it in their own skin, their own personality!
And He is still calling His disciples from every walk of life, every kind of culture, language, personality, strengths, and weaknesses.
So now we come to the list of the 12 disciples.
16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
The order of the names is not random - it is on purpose to help us understand the leadership structure within the twelve disciples.
Peter is always listed first in any list of the twelve because he was the leader of the group, under Jesus of course. And we see this played out not only in the gospels but also in the book of Acts as the church age is inaugurated, Peter comes to the forefront as the leader.
After Peter we see the brothers, James and John - why? Because Peter, James, and John formed the “inner three” - the close-knit circle of disciples with whom Jesus spent the most time working with. It was these three that went with Jesus to the mount of transfiguration, into the hime of Jarius, and with Jesus at His most vulnerable hour in Gethsemane.
Andrew is the fourth - right below the inner three and then the rest of the disciples.
Notice who is always listed last, with a disclaimer - Judas, who betrayed Him!
Application: What has God called you to do? Are you a leader of people?…a servant?…a preacher - both silent and spoken?...someone who can be trusted to get a boat when the crowds are pressing in?
Jesus has called all of us to do His work - to accomplish His mission. No, we are not part of the twelve…but we are modern day disciples. Jesus may have not empowered us to do the miraculous things that the twelve could do, but He still empowers his disciples to accomplish the things that He has asked us to do.
God never calls us to do something that He doesn’t also empower us to do.
Matthew 28:20 (NKJV)
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.