6-13-21 A Small Boat: Mark 3:7-12

It’s good to be back! Thank you for allowing us to take a vacation and for continuing to pour your hearts out before the Lord even though Autumn and I weren’t here; it makes me happy that each of you continues to press into the Lord day by day, week by week, and hour by hour. I think you all had evidence that God delights in you Sunday as the Holy Spirit showed up in a mighty way and brought His refreshment of heart. Maybe we should take more vacations. But a special thank you to Craig for preaching, Krystal for administrating, Jon Post (even though he isn’t here) for leading in worship, and of course, each one of you for your continued full participation in what God is doing during service. Jesus never takes a vacation, did you know that? He’s always on duty whenever we need Him, whenever we choose to press into Him, He’ll show up in a powerful way. I know it’s a bit predictable, but we’re back in Mark today. Two weeks ago we watched Jesus heal a man with a withered hand. Jesus called the man to step forward, to step out in faith, to step up and be identified as a follower of Christ. But his hand wasn’t healed instantly; after the man obeyed the first command, Jesus gave him another, a command to stretch out his hand. And as the man stretched it out, he was healed. Jesus still heals today as we choose to step out in faith and obedience. Jesus still calls us to be identified with Him as His followers, and Jesus is still faithful and true to do it, even if it’s on the sabbath. Remember, God loves people and their growth in holiness and relationship with Him, more than religious rules and regulations for their own sake. Let’s pray before we pick it up again in the Mark chapter 3. Father in Heaven, thank you for who You are and thank You for this time we have together. I ask that You would bless Your word today. Open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to Your Holy Spirit today. Breathe Your new life, new refreshment, and new power for living on us today as we come to You. Help us honor Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, by everything we say and do in this place, and pour out your healing and A Small Boat | 1 comfort this morning we ask. Teach us to surrender to You more fully and to hear You more clearly, and to respond to Your promptings each moment. We love You Jesus, and we welcome Your Holy Spirit here to move. In Jesus Name, amen. We’re looking at Mark 3:7-11 this morning, but I’m actually going to put up verse 6, too, because it connects the dots from the last story we looked at. It was the sabbath day when Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, and after the man was healed, the Pharisees went out purposefully plotting to kill Jesus, where Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue and went to the sea. Mark 3:6-12 NKJV Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 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. 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.” Verse 7 says that Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. The greek word for ‘withdrew’ is a compound word. That means it’s two words put together, like the words notebook or bookstore - the words that are put together become one word. Yay grammar. But it doesn’t mean to draw with - like we drew a picture together, and it doesn’t mean we’re with a person named drew. There wasn’t a person named ‘drew’ with Jesus. That’s dumb, I know. But ‘withdrew’ is a compound word in the greek that means to ‘back up and make room for.’ In other words, there is a physical moving, backwards, in this case, and a making space for, or a creating room for something. A Small Boat | 2 Now in this context, Jesus is literally withdrawing, or leaving, departing from the synagogue. But his withdrawal is in contrast to the Pharisees ‘going out,’ for a few reasons. One is they are leaving to go to different places. Jesus is going to the sea, while the Pharisees, presumably, go to dark meeting rooms somewhere. The bible doesn’t say where they went, probably because it isn’t that important. What’s important is what they departed to go do. The pharisees went out to plot a murder, but Jesus goes out to heal, to touch people with the power of God, to minister new life and salvation to any who would come to Him. So physically, Jesus and the Pharisees go to different places to do different things. But the spiritual context is different, too. The Pharisees ‘went out and plotted.’ Mark 3:6 NKJV “Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” The way they leave the synagogue is hasty, quick, full of rage and anger. It’s both fleshly and demonic. God warns us about these attitudes of heart that lead to plotting against the ways of God. Ephesians 4:31 NLT “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.” Well, the Pharisees seem to have all of these stirred up as they go out to plot. I want you to notice here that Paul goes after attitudes of the heart; bitterness (big one), rage, anger, harsh words, and slander before he talks about behavior modification. He says, “get your heart right - get rid of bitterness! Then also fix your behavior. We talked about this a few weeks ago; but God isn’t interested in changed behavior only, He’s interested in changed hearts. Transformed behavior that lasts only comes as an outflow of a changed heart. Because it’s out of the heart that thoughts, attitudes, intentions, flow - and that affects behavior. The Holy Spirit will help us change how we operate if we choose to get rid of attitudes contrary to God’s hearts. That can be tough, I know; but the Lord will help us as we press into A Small Boat | 3 Him day by day. That’s why Paul says Ephesians 4:23-24 NLT “Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” My point is that the Pharisees leave the synagogue in a huff with all kinds of evil heart attitudes, but Jesus withdraws with His disciples to the sea. Now I brought up the word ‘withdraw’ for a reason. I said that it means we ‘back up and make room’ for something. In contrast to storming out and giving into the flesh, Jesus backs up and makes room for the Holy Spirit. Water symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Jesus and His disciples, after the man with the withered hand is healed, back up and make room to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit so they can figure out what to do next. They didn’t stomp away in anger, they surrendered to the voice of God. As they withdrew to the sea, Jesus and the disciples were allowing the Holy Spirit to renew their thoughts and attitudes, just like Ephesians says. They were regrouping spiritually after a confrontation, they were making space to hear God’s voice. How many of us need to learn this concept of withdrawing, of making room in our lives to back up and make space to listen to the Holy Spirit and what He wants to say. How many of us could grow in backing up in our thought life and making more room there for Jesus? Backing up in our schedule so that Jesus can have more room there? Backing up in our relationships so that we can give Jesus more space? I think I can say with confidence that we all can grow in that way in some area - we can all find ways to withdraw to the sea and listen to God’s voice. One commentator sees the sea as a place of renewal, where God pours out His grace upon us so that we can be refreshed. John 1:16 NKJV “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Grace here is God’s free gift of love to us, and this “grace for grace” that God wants you to have is like the waves of the sea coming in and going out, over and over and over with the flow of A Small Boat | 4 the tide. The waves represent the pure, passionate love of God, unending, washing over our lives. Once we have experienced the renewing nature of the sea, of God’s love and God’s presence, then there is no substitute for the rhythm of its waves, we’ll accept nothing else in our lives other than God’s grace, and then more of His grace, and then more of His grace. My point is that Jesus expects spiritual renewal and refreshment as He withdraws to the seaside with His disciples.1 Jesus wants you to be able to experience His renewal and refreshment each day, too, as you withdraw to the sea of His grace, mercy, and love. So Jesus goes to the sea and a great multitude, or a whole lot of people, follow Him there. Now I want to tell you that whenever you choose to make space for the Holy Spirit, to surrender to Him, to make room for Him in your life, you will probably be followed by things that want to crush you, things that want to stop you from receiving God’s renewal. Mark 3:9 NKJV “So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.” Jesus goes to the sea and tells the disciples to get a boat for Him so He won’t be crushed by the sheer amount of people who follow Him! The word for ‘crush’ means that the people were pressing Him hard and closely, troubling Him, or afflicing Him. Listen, whenever you choose to make more room for the Holy Spirit in your life, you can expect to be pressed on every side, to be troubled, to be afflicted, to go through some sort of tribulation. This same word for ‘crush’ is used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NKJV “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 1 McKenna, David L. The Preacher's Commentary, P104. Edited by Lloyd J. Ogilvie, vol. Vol. 25: Mark, Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 1982. Scribd. A Small Boat | 5 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” There will always be different pressures of life, different ways that the world, the flesh, and the devil try to push us down and take away the space reserved for Jesus. But no matter how much pressure you might face today, I want you to know that believers in Christ will never be in such a tight corner that there is no way out. It is characteristic of Christians that, even if they are physically, emotionally, or mentally confined or pressed down in some difficult environment or circumstance, there is always an escape route into the spaciousness, the rest, the refreshment of God.” One of the most notable things about the martyrs is that it was in their most difficult times that they had their sweetest times with Christ. As Joan of Arc said, when she was abandoned by those who should have stood by her, ‘It is better to be alone with God. His friendship will not fail me, nor his counsel, nor his love. In his strength, I will dare and dare and dare until I die.’ Psalm 27:10 NLT “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”2 Maybe you’re here today and someone close to you has abandoned you or left you alone or failed you in a major way. Jesus will hold you close, Jesus will be your strength, your hiding place, your strong tower, your refreshment, your comfort, and your friend through whatever it is you face. And this verse from the Psalms is a promise to you that no matter what presses you, no matter what comes your way from the world, the flesh, or the devil, that Jesus will hold you close in His arms as you choose to withdraw with Him, to make room for His voice, His words, and His ways in your life. And in this pressing, through the trials we go through, we know that we might be at our wits’ end, but we’re never at our hope’s end. There are times when 2 Barclay, William. The New Daily Bible Study: The Letters to the Corinthians, P308. Edinburgh, Saint Andrew Press, 2002. Scribd A Small Boat | 6 we do not know what should be done, but even then we should never doubt that something can be done. There are times when we cannot see clearly where life is going, but we should never doubt that it is going somewhere good in Christ. If we must, to quote the poet, ‘stoop into a dark, tremendous sea of cloud,’we still know that they will emerge, we will come out for God’s glory. There are times when, as Christians, we have to learn the hardest lesson of all, the very lesson which Jesus himself had to learn in Gethsemane – how to accept what we cannot understand and grow in faith and trust anyway.3 My ultimate point is that even though the multitude, the crowds, were pressing Jesus, He had a way out where He was still doing what God called Him to do. He was out on a boat so He wouldn’t be crushed, but He was still preaching from the sea, still healing people and walking in obedience to God. That’s the other part we have to talk about - God will take us out to the sea to be refreshed, and will always make a way for us to get out of being crushed by the world, the flesh, and the devil, but He also expects us to obey His voice, to continue His mission of bringing light into the darkness, of being beacons of hope in a lost and dying world, of being God’s ambassadors of healing and grace to hurting people. Jesus does this, even though He’s out on a boat. Mark 3:9-10 NKJV So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. I want you to notice here that anyone who had an affliction was healed. Everyone who pressed forward to touch Jesus received healing. We’ve been talking about the multitudes pressing Jesus and almost crushing Him - but there is a different greek word used here for what the crowd did in order to touch Jesus. 3 Barclay, William. The New Daily Bible Study: The Letters to the Corinthians, P309-310. Edinburgh, Saint Andrew Press, 2002. Scribd. A Small Boat | 7 When the mob moves to crush Jesus, He withdraws to the sea; but when individual people rush forward to press into Jesus, He heals them. You see, the word used here in verse 10 for “press,” to describe what the people did actually means, “to fall into one’s embrace.” In other words, if you will make the choice today to “fall into Jesus arms,” He’ll heal you, He’ll refresh You, He’ll comfort you and build you up. When you’re pressed, press into Jesus. When you’re crushed, crawl into Jesus arms, when you’re persecuted, let Jesus hold you close and bring His refreshment and resurrection life into Your situation. And so, as we close, I want you to see that to withdraw with Jesus to the sea is to surrender to His will, His ways, and His love. It takes complete surrender to Christ in order to fall into His arms fully. Did you ever play that trust game where someone stands behind you and you fall backwards, expecting them to catch you? It’s kind of like that when it comes to our relationship with Christ; no matter what situation we face, if we will choose to fall into Jesus arms, let Him catch us, lift us up, and direct us, if we will choose to fully surrender to God and His ways, He will bring His waves of mercy, grace, and empowerment over and over and over, day after day after day. And you’ll look up and see the face of Jesus, kind, loving, and victorious over all of sin, death, hell, and the grave. Let’s go to the last part of this story; Mark 3:11-12 NKJV 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.” The enemy is struck down - it says the demons ‘fell down’ it means that they were lying prostrate face down on the ground. The enemy can have no power over you as long as you remain in the arms of Your Lord and Savior, walking in obedience to His will. Romans 14:11 ICB “Yes, it is written in the Scriptures: “Everyone will bow before me; everyone will say that I am God.” A Small Boat | 8 We see this happen in the story - the demons bow before Jesus and say, “you are the Son of God.” And my point is that Jesus is all-powerful and reigns victorious over all. And He is ready to share that victory with you and me as we come and simply choose to surrender, to obey His call to make room in our lives for the voice of the Holy Spirit. Let’s pray first, and then, as we go back into worship, I want us to take some time, to make some room in this service for the Holy Spirit to move, to have His way, to bring His refreshment, His healing, His love, and whatever else is needed today. Jesus is here now, and He is waiting for us to press into Him, to fall into His loving arms and receive what we need today. A Small Boat | 9