Ecclesiastes 5:8–20 The Vanity of Wealth and Honor

[8] If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed (Tamah) at the matter, for the high official is watched (Shamar) by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. [9] But this is gain (yitron) for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields. [serves]

[10] He who loves money will not be satisfied (saba) with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. [11] When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? [12] Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

[13] There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, [14] and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. [15] As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. [16] This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? [17] Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.

[18] Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. [19] Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. [20] For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied [ana, humbly occupied] with joy in his heart. (ESV)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Introduction: Jesus has crossed the sea again, this time walking, having just fed the 5,000. Jesus is 1 year away from the cross. Even as you hear of his fame, we are also nearing his biggest rejections, starting with the Pharisees who desire to kill him. Soon the crowds themselves will polarize: many attracted by his feeding them will soon reject his most difficult teachings, the call to repentance and to find their life in Christ Alone.

And there are some who will ultimately have true faith in Jesus as the Messiah, God incarnate from heaven, coming to die in the place of sinners....those who will hear Jesus’ message that must cut to the heart, because the heart is the root of the problem. Not the traditions of man, but the law of God violated from within, arising to violations by action.

Read: Mark 6:53-7:23

[6:53] When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. [54] And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him [55] and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. [56] And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (ESV)

[7:1] Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, [4] and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) [5] And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” [6] And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; [7] in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ [8] You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

[9] And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! [10] For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ [11] But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—[12] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

[14] And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [17] And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. [18] And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (ESV)

Faith looks to Christ for salvation alone, obeying the word of God alone to know how to live. Doctrine, creeds, and confessions, that is, traditions, are only as valid as they are founded in the written word of God. To deny the commands of Scripture is to love yourself and to hate God and your neighbor...which ultimately is to hate your own body and soul.

#1 Faith Clings to Jesus

#2 Man’s Traditions vs. God’s Commandments

#3 EXTERNALISM IS HATRED OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR

#4 The HEART is the HEART of the MATTER.

#1 Faith clings to Jesus

In verses 53- 55 Here simply note the faith of the people to believe that Jesus cares, that he is powerful, that he will help them. They see Jesus, and they recognize him. At once again they go and tell others. Their understanding is partial, But All who touched his robe were instantly and entirely made well. The good, the healing miracles, the feeding of the 5,000 are never questioned as authentic. How great a contrast these good and glad tidings are to the Hearts of the Pharisees.

WHEN THE PHARISEES GATHERED TO HIM...What do they SEE? ...they do not recognize a Messiah; they SEE his disciples are violating their extra-biblical ceremonial washings.

#2 Man’s Traditions and God’s Commandments (vv. 1-8)

[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, [4] and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

The bible does prescribe certain ceremonial cleansing rituals, washings, purification rites in the case of touching dead bodies (and other matters stated in Leviticus and Deuteronomy). But this hand washing is extra-biblical casuistry; that is from the general principles of clean and unclean laws, making illegitimately binding specific details that go beyond the actual law. The detailed hedge around the law of manmade traditions passed down by the scribes, the lawyers, and the weight is placed on the people to do these washings or else be unclean.

A couple things to note... The Babylonian Talmud describes this ceremony: “Hands become unclean and are made clean as far as the wrist, How so? If he poured the water over the hands as far as the wrist and poured the second water over the hands beyond the wrist and the latter flowed back to the hands, the hands nevertheless become clean.”

As a very brief aside, the word for washings here is baptisms, but the action described is clearly Pouring, or Effusion. It matches the sprinkling of blood and pouring of oil in other ceremonial ceremonies actually demanded by scripture. So Mark 7 is a place to help us on the word and language level to understand the meaning of baptism is not literally to immerse as is often claimed but to wash, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and the washing of dining couches fit. In this case the pouring of water over the hands.

But that is Mark’s little explanatory washings 101 lesson so we could understand the point...Nowhere in the bible is this particular washing, this particular purification ritual ever commanded by God:And that reveals the core of the disagreement in verse 5: is it sin to not follow a ritual custom of the elders, a tradition, that everyone is doing IF the bible does not command it? Is it further hypocrisy to dwell on the minutiae of external purification without ever addressing the purification of the heart?

[5] And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” [6] And [Jesus] said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; [7] in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

[8] You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

#2A – What is a tradition of Man, what did they hope from the manmade tradition?

1. Commands Not based on the word of God

2. Hoped for Cleansing via external ritualism. UNCOMMANDED external ritualism. What Galatians calls the elementary principles, do not touch, taste or handle. These things both Do Not guide us into how to live rightly and have No Power to defeat the sin in our hearts.

3. The Westminster confession of faith in chapter 16 “of Good works” is written specifically to battle External Legalism and also a Hedonistic lack of following the Moral law found in the 10 commandments.

a. It says, 16.1. Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy Word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention. ...Also God alone is Lord of the conscience.

4. The pharisees have a blind zeal for human tradition.

i. And we’ll see in a second Jesus shows it’s a “pretense of good” intention but actually lacks love towards neighbors.

#2B – So What is the commandment of God

1. Actual love for neighbor flows from the Law of God defining what is Good and what is sin. Not human tradition.

2. 16.2. These good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.

3. Only The Word of God determines Doctrine. God-ordained commandments, so right doctrine is demonstrable from Scripture, not tradition.

a. So when the pharisees say “how dare the disciple not do this tradition, this good work, and do the sin of eating with unclean hands, we would respond. It is an uncommanded tradition, ONLY God-ordained works are the only thing we should properly call – Good works. What you are morally obligated to do.

i. The summary of the moral law is found in the ten commandments the summary of the ten commandments Jesus says is to Love God and to love your neighbor.

ii. And we must not add to or take away from the moral law.

1. We do not do away with Christian ethics in any generation if something becomes unpopular, like the Christian sexual ethic.

2. Nor do we start doing something the bible commands us to do only when it becomes popular.

b. Jesus applies this to worship as well, only God ordained Worship is pleasing to God not human-invented worship.

c. Only God ordained – Rites, the form of worship is acceptable to him.

i. the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture. – WCF 21.1

ii. This is taught here and throughout the bible. The Pharisees ought to know this

1. Do not ADD do not Take away Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. (ESV)

d. Underneath this is both Sola Scriptura and the Regulative principle of worship or the regulative principle of life.

i. Man lives by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.

4. But second to rightly distinguish Right living from What actually saved and cleanses us, obedience- even grateful obedience is not what makes us RIGHT with God or Clean, that is, not Guilty

i. Jesus’ teaching is an excellent summary and application of Isaiah 29:13–17 [13] And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

ii. He goes on to say the wisdom of their people will perish while God the Potterer, the Maker, will restore by his word understanding. God knows the hearts and deeds of all. There is no basis to think external human ceremonies and workarounds will hide the sin of our hearts, true uncleanness from God.

iii. The only thing that will bear fruit is the rescue of Jesus of sinners. The restoration of our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

iv. Isaiah 28:18ff says that it is by the Word of God that the blind see.

v. But the words of the Pharisees are ruthless and scoffing, and they will cease and come to nothing. They “by a word” make out a man to be an offender....

vi. Jesus has come not to deal with human traditions, but with the real uncleanesses of our hearts. Isaiah 29:23 says that when He is done with our hearts we will from our hearts make his name Holy, stand in awe of God, and only this kind of transformation will allow us to accept the instruction of Jesus here. The call for a new heart. And only then will we bear fruit from the heart, the fruit of the Spirit in new hearts.

5. Jesus would have us to resist the externalism of the Pharisees and embrace the commandments of God alone

6. Further, If anyone ever argues from church history or the church father’s over the written word of God you will find they will be calling you to an externalistic, and legalistic form of Christianity like Catholicism or eastern orthodoxy.

a. Only the word of God tells us how to worship, what is required, and what is forbidden in the Christian life. We like Jesus before Satan says man does not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.

#3 EXTERNALISM IS HATRED OF GOD AND NEIGHBOR

[9] And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! [10] For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ [11] But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—[12] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

- Jesus point is not difficult to understand...Do we use one scruple or area to get out of another more weighty matter of love?

The pharisees....well I don’t have to care for my mom and dad because all my money is dedicated to holy matters. Sorry mom and dad Just gave all my money to a charitable foundation.

For the Christian we might ask: Are there weightier matters to God’s call to love, honor, and glorify God that you ignore only to do what? Wear Christian jewelry and t-shirts as a substitute?

For the unbeliever – do you rebel against God, refuse to repent of your sin, but you have checked all of secular societies demanded affirmations and slogans that rebel against God, against nature, and harm your own soul, and harm others in sin but do not worry? Your social media, your public stances are on the right side of secular humanism?

The only way out is to not be a hearer only of God’s word but to let the whole of the bible search your heart and mind and then to go to Christ. Confessing your sin, and dedicating your life to live with an undivided heart with Jesus as the only Lord and master of your life. To live every moment authentically defining your life’s goals, the right and wrong for your work, family, future, choices, words, what your eyes see, how you spend your time, money, and commitments to the question, What says God in his word?

And the answer cannot be a new checklist....beginning with the external form and a new list you create.

EXTERNALISM IGNORES What Defiles a Person. Jesus says we must go to the root, the well of life, the HEART.

#4 The HEART is the HEART of the MATTER.

[14] And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [17] And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. [18] And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him...

1. v. 14 shouldn’t be pressed beyond Jesus’ discussion of ceremonial clean and unclean laws (of course plenty of sexual immorality and debased acts defile a person because it is a violation of the moral law the ethical...)

a. Jesus in verse 19 is showing that end to the ceremonial law is coming with his work on the Cross. He will fulfill the ceremonial law perfectly. He will fulfill the sacrificial system. He will make his people objectively holy and clean.

2. But the problem will remain even if we make pork an acceptable food for Christians. Even if we don’t worry about shellfish and clothing fabric...We cannot forget the lesson and reminders, of PICTURES of our need of cleansing from sin. But Jesus tires of people thinking if they get the externals right they have solved the internal.

3. Jesus’ point still remains: we think, feel, and do; we will; we act according to our sinful nature.

a. That is, we sin because we are sinners.

i. Romans 5:12, 19 — sin came into the world through one man… by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.

ii. Jeremiah 17:9 — “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

iii. Job 14:4 — “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.”

iv. John 3:6 — “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

v. Ephesians 2:1–3 — dead in trespasses and sins… by nature children of wrath.

vi. Heidelberg Q. 8. Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness? A. Indeed we are, except we are regenerated by the Spirit of God.

4. Jesus is preparing for the radical shift of both the battle against Extra-Biblical man-made laws and SECOND, the fulfillment of the ceremonial law by his death on the cross.

a. But at the end of the day ceremonial handwashing shouldn’t be what scares the pharisees...what the human heart is capable of should be what we cry out against and ask the Lord to save us from by the Holy Spirit uniting us to Christ, putting to death sin in our hearts, and renewing our hearts, our minds, our will, our renewed moral nature restored to uprightness, holiness, righteousness/

b. This is done ONCE for all objectively, “Holy”, “Saints in Christ” and PROGRESSIVELY over time in reality as our hearts are strengthened and changed over a lifetime.

5. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (ESV)

i. Jesus’ list includes sinful actions as well as sinful thoughts, sinful desires. Sins against others and sins against our own body and mind...Sinning against others or ourselves defile our inherent dignity we had at creation made in the image of God.

b. A Couple things here... There are things that God will change suddenly in conversion...And others that weaken in a person over a lifetime of the Spirit working by the Word, in worship, and the fellowship of his people.

i. But note how Jesus names sins. He names sins for what they are, from our hearts.

1. Jesus’ says that if we lust in our heart, that it is sinfully adulterous...He is not equating a sinful desire with a sinful action. But both remain sinful.

2. Sins of the heart ought to be confessed to the root. To the sinful desire level...

3. The Holy Spirit is not interested is taking hedge trimmers to overgrown sins in Christians. He is not interested in harvesting the fruit of sin from the Christian.

a. Isn’t this good news? Jesus will not clip the thorn...leaving the rest in the wound, no he plucks it out root and all and offer healing, cleansing.

4. Boldly name sin and desire to rip Sin out by the root. And believer Ask and pray for God to do this for you. It is far better than offering euphemisms for sin, renaming them culturally acceptable pet names...

5. That has been the project of the last 100 years to invent a new name for every sin that we then celebrate.

For the believer, forgiven in Christ Jesus. We name our sins for what they are. But they do not define and name us as our identity. If we are trusting in Christ Jesus we are free sons and daughters; there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (ESV)

If you are not trusting in Jesus at this moment then Do Not be satisfied with the Pharisees’ ceremonial washings and hypocrisy. Do not be satisfied with secularisms similar external forms, slogans, and rituals.

Ask the Lord Jesus to wash by the Holy Spirit your very heart, to present you holy and justified in his name by the Powerful working of the Holy Spirit.

Then in a grateful response live your life being renewed after the image of Christ, by the word of Christ, and rejoice in the removal of guilt and shame for the believer.

Prayer

Benediction.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

All four Gospels place this immediately after feeding the 5,000. All four Gospels have this account; each one draws our attention to something a little different, but we’ll seek to preach Mark’s points, not all four accounts. Remember, the gospel of Mark intends for us to search our fears, our hopes, and what we believe about Jesus through the disciples’ fears and hopes they experienced while with Jesus.

Read: Mark 6:45–52

[45] Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. [46] And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. [47] And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. [48] And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, [49] but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, [50] for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” [51] And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, [52] for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (ESV)

Prayer of Illumination

4 topics today,

#1 Praying Alone

#2 Painful Headway, and Passing Glory#3 Take Heart, It is AM

#4 They did Not Understand: Hard Hearts

#1 Praying Alone, verse 45

[45] Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. [46] And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

1. The feeding of the 5,000 has taken Jesus to the point of needing to be fully and completely alone with his Heavenly Father in Prayer...

a. John also specifies the crowds were ready to take him by force and make him King...Maybe seeing those invincible armies and physical prosperity in their future, like we mentioned last week...they have False Messianic Expectations...

b. Instead, we know Jesus comes in humility in order to die for sinners in his first coming and in Glory to vindicate his people, and to defeat and judge evil in his second coming. The disciples longed for the glory of the second without going through the humility of the First.

c. So rather than letting them take him to be made king, Jesus disperses the crowds, not letting them get any ideas, and Jesus sends the disciples away and in humility seeks his Father in heaven in prayer, alone on the mountain. More like Moses the lawgiver than a conquering king.

i. A couple thoughts on Prayer

1. The content of Christ’s prayer would be consistent with John 17 his high priestly prayer, the prayers of David in the Psalms are fulfilled in the Messiah, the suffering-servant king, and the instructions Jesus gives in the Lord’s prayer to his disciples.

2. William Hendrickson reminds us that even as we see Jesus praying on the hillside...that he is aware of thinking of the disciples on the stormy sea...

3. Perhaps even now praying for this next event to display the glory he has had with the Father for eternity.

4. Jesus prayed for them. He prays for you too without ceasing from heaven. Go to him in prayer.

#2 “Painful Headway and Passing Glory

[47] And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. [48] And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,

1. They were 3-4 miles out according to John. Jesus isn’t walking across a stream; he is walking 4 miles on the water towards the other side....John shows once they took him into the boat, they immediately made the other shore, and it was calm.

a. But he initially intends to walk past the boat, that is to say he intends to walk past in full view so they could see him walking on the water.

b. He intends to give them a sign, another full display of his deity. A reinforcement of the calming of the stormwith the added layer of this time not from in the boat but instead him powerfully treading upon the sea.

i. In ancient thinking, it does not get more godlike than to walk on the ocean in a storm. And you need to get rid of any thinking of this too calmly and familiarly, either because you’ve grown up with the story or have had the unfortunate experience of second commandment violating artork of Jesus on the water, which often reduce the scene to little peaceful thoughts of Jesus walking on the sea, all serene and brightly lit. Another reason to forego artwork of Jesus it often distorts our view of things.

ii. We need to recapture the storm, the fear, the supernatural moment, of is this a ghost or demon.

1. Have you ever felt the tension and drama of seeing a tightrope walker far above the ground in a strong wind?

2. What is a fear you have of a dangerous situation? Can you then imagine someone going through that experience with calm, with power, with unexplainable, physics-defying, supernatural force?

3. That is Christ on this ocean....he might as well have been walking on a volcano as he is the ocean; both are equally defying of mere humanity and mere trickery.

4. A stormy ocean is far more terrifying than a little airplane turbulence.

2. The scene is furthermore terrifying as this is in darkness, in a storm, at 2 or 3 AM. Jesus is only made visible by flashes of lightning and by whatever light of the moon makes it through the storm clouds...

3. Mark wants you, as the hearer, to grapple with your own fears, your circumstances, and your faith through the disciples’ fear and danger.

a. Were the disciples in danger? Let’s take it in order

i. Were they in danger while Jesus was on that mountain praying...?

ii. Were they in danger while Jesus was passing them by and they supposed him to be a ghost, an evil spirit?

iii. Were they in danger later as they followed Jesus to Jerusalem, where the scribes and Pharisees wanted to kill them?

1. In a sense, humanly, yes, they are in dangerous situations. Fearful situations.

2. On the other hand, Christ is praying for them; their lives are in his hands, and he loves them.

3. Believer, Christ is seated in heaven; he is praying for you, and he loves you. Is your situation dangerous and fearful? Perhaps yes.

4. Yet also the Lord Father, Son, and Holy Spirit number your days, the beginning and end of your life is in his Providence.

5. And the Father reveals his care for us through the Son. Jesus is the same Christ today as that day. Go to him in prayer, in your fear, and in faith.

6. Saying, “Jesus, if you have an ongoing calling for my life, then I shall not die; I shall not fear this circumstance. I will not be afraid.”

4. Now once again, Mark connects the diminishing of our fear of circumstances to the increase of divine fear, divine awe, divine glory of Jesus...Let’s continue to look at the Fearfulness of the Glory of Christ displayed here.

a. And I cannot say it enough...lay aside all familiarity and know that God the creator of the universe is in the storm in that moment in history. “they all saw him and were terrified” This is FEARFUL....but he is good.

5. Here the ESV study bible connects it well with a couple parallel passages that really stand out to indicate a further claim to deity by Jesus both by the miraculous power of his actions but also the details of it, not just the wonder of it, but the association with God in what Jesus is doing.

6. This help ground our encounter with Jesus in this passage: First in “Job 9, where Job says that it is God who “trampled the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8; the Septuagint has ... “walking on the sea,” using the same words as Mark and also “he passes by me” (Job 9:11, Gk. parerchomai). There is an implicit claim to divinity in Jesus’ actions.” (ESV Study bible).

A second passage is Ex. 33. where God “passed” before Moses

19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Jesus intentionally echoing Job and Moses by his actions actually solves a common misreading that “pass them by” means Jesus was intending to just walk past them to the shore until they accidently spotted him and got scared...No he was intentionally passing his divine glory by them on the sea.

Ex. 33:22 and while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

[Mark as Story... “does not clearly teach Jesus’ divinity...” what? Jesus provides bread...manna, walks on waters, Jesus’ divinity is all over Mark’s gospel. In this passage it is important that God himself, in the second person of the Trinity, is the one who declares our third point...

#3 Take Heart

Transition: they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them....the boat is creaking and groaning, their muscles straining and popping, their hearts are racing, and A MAN, A GHOST, Death? Demons? Who? Terror! Look in 49 with me....

[49] but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, [50] for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” [51] And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,

Now Jesus had said, go on ahead of me [implying what? I’ll catch up to you later]...He sort of did tell them he’d be coming to join them and catch up to them....But this is not what they had in mind.

But the question is in the midst of terrifying circumstances, will they invite him into the boat? [pause] Will you invite Jesus into the terrifying circumstance with you?

And second, ... remember his love for you, his glory, that he is the truly scary one in any circumstances. Will Jesus abandon you in your circumstance?

Does Jesus make the first move to overwhelmed hearts OR do we have to make the first move?

This is a picture for the ordinary means of grace, for the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to sanctify and grow his people.

Are you overwhelmed in your friendships and relationships with what the right course of action is? Young people, does going to your parents with a situation where you are in over your head terrify you? Does your sin frighten you, but the thought of going to Jesus with it terrify you?

Is life spinning out of control at times, and you are straining painfully with your hand on the oar of your job, your relationships, and your habits?

[50] for they all saw him and were terrified. [They are paralyzed. And as frequently happens in the Bible, we get the amazing “things were bad...but God.” But immediately [Jesus] spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” [51] And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,

1. Jesus approached them in their circumstances. He prays for you; he sees your need, he draws near to you.

2. Second, this may initially be terrifying to you in your circumstances, I am not a prophet I do not know what that has been or will be in your life, but I do know this verse is true...Jesus knows your situation

3. And Jesus makes the first move, speaking words of comfort: Take heart! IT IS “I AM”! Do not be afraid!

4. This passage show: 1) Divine initiative. 2) Divine power. 3) Divine grace.

a. Fear not It is I AM, the same I AM of John 14:1 I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life [1] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. (ESV)

b. Take courage, be of good cheer, God loves you, powerfully in Christ Jesus.

Despite all this verse 52.

#4 They did not understand...verse 52.

And they were utterly astounded, 52] for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (ESV)

“for they did not understand about the loaves”

What prevents their understanding? It wasn’t lack of evidence...or wondrous display. Jesus has just multiplied the loaves of bread, creating them out of nothing. He has calmed the storm now this second time.

Application: Sometimes it feels like everyone else must have super faith. They walk through their days, unshaken, always knowing that God is caring for them, loves them, and is watching over them.

Young people you may assume the older “good Christian adults” in your life simply have this Unwavering faith, unfearful faith, a deep-felt sense of provision....And you might think...

Man, if I don’t feel that I can’t follow Jesus. I can’t love Jesus if I don’t always feel it. If I don’t have all my doubts answered, my fears relieved. Sometimes you wonder if your faith outweighs your doubts.

And sometimes, the proposed solution comes: I need a big experience, I need a mountain top experience, I need worship that just knocks me off my feet with wonder, I need powerful emotional encounters, visions, and a miracle right before my eyes....Brothers and sisters the disciples had that...

Thomas as we read last week, requested it to touch and handle. The show me state of Missouri should be the Thomas state.

...Consider the rich man and Lazarus: Luke 16:29–31 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ [31] He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (ESV)

The disciples had watched creation ex nihilo, out of nothing bread; they had seen the compassion on Jesus’ face as he went beyond tired in his body... an exhausted human needing to get away to pray....beyond human in Miraculous power...sins forgiven, paralyzed walk, demons cast out, sick healed, the dead raised....But they did not understand the loaves. Why? Why? Our Passage says why...

For their hearts were hardened...that is dull, unhearing, unresponsive, callous.

What is the solution to hardened hearts?

Louder pulsing music that will hypnotize the emotions? Some spiritual retreats don’t allow people to sleep to get everyone exhausted by the end of it...All are human measures and religious manipulation.

Consider our passage today: surely, Nothing could get their attention like this storm, like the excitement of that bread multiplying as people cheered and ate it and feasted...just hours before.

No we heard the words in the rich man and Lazarus: ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

They need hearts softened by the Holy Spirit, made renewed and shaped by the potters’ hands...Eyes of faith given as a gift, ears to hear the word...

They need the effectual work of the Holy Spirit as Ezekiel 36:24–27 says, to give [them] a new heart, and a new spirit...within [them]. That God himself will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes... [Pause]

Our passage saying they did not understand the lesson of the loave because their hearts were hardened is a reminder that further displays and miracles do not change hard hearts. It is the Holy Spirit working by the Word of God that gives eyes, ears, and receptive hearts.

The principle of the bible is that it is the Spirit by the Word which is effective to give new hearts to grant the gift of faith, and second, the ongoing work of the Spirit to guide and teach us from infancy in faith to maturity.

John 14:26 & 16:13 — “the Helper, the Holy Spirit… he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

One day the Apostles will be the very ones by the Spirit writing the scriptures about these very events whereby we can come to know and love Jesus. But for now, their hearts are dulled to what is displayed before their eyes. Only later coming to a full understanding of what they were witnessing.

Mark’s gospel is very aware that his audience, us, the hearers in the first century, are hearing this from the far side of the Cross. Christ is crucified and ascended into heaven. Now that Christ is physically far because he is in heaven....How does he draw near?

By his Spirit, through his people with the Word of the gospel on our lips...

Let us close with these thoughts, how does this word encourage us today?

As a believer, there will be some days you will have just been fed like the 5,000 with bread, 12 baskets leftover, filled and satisfied...and then you are in the storm, you are fearful....Remember Jesus sees you in your fear, and he will come to you in your fear, to relieve those fears. Tell him of your fears, cry out. Then tell others who are in Christ and pray together.

Because simply being near the things of Christ does not mean your heart is not still hardened...trapped in fear, but remember his love to you, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Jesus says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

The hymn Amazing Grace knows this lesson well:

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev’d;How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believ’d!Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

Prayer

Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Introductory Framing:

Recap – [sympathetic closing of John’s story as Jesus’ cousin, Herod has killed the last true OC shepherd of Israel, John’s disciples over the next 20 years mostly following Jesus], “a true way-preparer for Christ” (Hendrickson, 242).

In our passage today, the apostles return to Jesus and tell him all that they had done and taught...And we might feel, wow, they are following Jesus; they were successful. Look what Jesus’ disciples can provide spiritually to others! And you may fall into this throughout your life...”I’ve got this!” “I’ll supply for people’s needs!”, I’ll go, go, go, and I’ll provide, I’ll give the advice, my words can encourage...And yes, the Lord certainly uses us in others’ lives, he delights to have us as instruments in the redeemers hands, but our passage today is a comfort and a protection. We do not have life and provision in ourselves to supply the physical and spiritual needs of others. Any wisdom, any strength, we have is supplied to us by God.

Note Jesus’ teaching again in the passage, We depend on the WORD of God to supply spiritual things, and the grace and providence of God for our physical provision...Let us give attention to the certain promises from God’s word.

Read: Mark 6:30–44 [30] The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. [31] And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. [32] And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. [33] Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. [34] When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. [35] And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. [36] Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” [37] But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” [38] And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” [39] Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. [40] So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. [41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. [42] And they all ate and were satisfied. [43] And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. [44] And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. (ESV) Prayer of illumination

#1 Interrupted Rest Vv. 30-33

#2 Compassionate Teaching to sheep without a shepherd

#3 Exposed Inability in the disciples vv. 35-38

#4 Abundant Provision: Out of our Meager Provisions, Jesus Provides, bread, life, abundantly vv. 39-44

Our passage today, the Feeding of the 5,000 is found in all four gospels. ...do not underestimate the centrality of this passage to the identity of Jesus, the power of the provision of bread, in that day bread is life, bread was 70-80% of people’s daily food, and Rome had extensive bread distribution as the State. This miracle certainly gets peoples attention—it propels the fame, the threat, and the spiritual meaning of Christ.

#1 The Report of the disciples, busyness! And Interrupted Rest

[verse 30] The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. [31] And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. [32] And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. [33] Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

...So the disciples give their report all of they did and taught. Other accounts make clear we are near the Passover feast, that the crowd is gathering out of interest that he heals the sick...

...they have a great need to “rest a while” so pressed were they that they didn’t have time to eat!

...the disciples at the center of this activity needed a chance to rest. You need to do this in life too: If you pour yourself out for others whether in ministry or serving the community or your work. Take time to get away...Jesus was right to do this. Vacation, breaks, reprieve...For families this is a chance to sit and talk and remember as a family to rest, to discuss your purpose and mission, and whether what you are doing is serving your deepest goals as a family. Find a place where you can eat, rest, and recover.

...now they tried to do this...but were they successful? ...no, they had a security leak, and people saw where they were going, followed them, and got to where they were headed ahead of them...the crowd is striving to outpace Jesus around the lake as they go in a straight line. They desire to get there speedily...as the crowd gathers Jesus planned rest and time with his disciples is interrupted by the people.

· How have you responded to interruptions of your plans in the past?

o An emergency call in the middle of a dinner date, right when the main course arrives...

o Naptime interrupted...vacation days ruined...It can be frustrating.

o How does Jesus respond to us in our need when we interrupt him? Look in verse 34...

#2 Compassionate Teaching: to sheep without a shepherd

[34] When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. [many things maybe its like the Sermon on the Mount.]

1. Compassion, why? How do they feel like neglected sheep who will die?

a. Well, No food, no guides, spiritually lost, and they will die...These sheep are hopeless; all they have is Herod who killed John, Pharisees (conservative but messiah-rejecting legalists), and Sadducees (liberal and aligned with Rome).

2. Jesus fulfills the prophecy that God himself will feed his people as their shepherd

a. This comes from Ezekiel 34, vv. 8–23 Ezekiel in great detail lists the Lord’s anger that his people have been preyed upon by false shepherds, leaders and teachers of Israel, the leaders of Israel lack compassion. They do not feed or care for the sheep...The leaders of Israel are legalists who do not feed the soul of the people of Israel with the way of salvation, they point people away from Christ, they do not feed them the Word like Jesus will. They do not preserve lives.

b. ...[10] Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds...No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

c. Instead, God himself must become their shepherd: verse [11] “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. [... I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, ...I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land [There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. [15] I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.

d. He then rebukes the leaders for trampling the people, muddying their food sources with false teaching. This is much like Jesus warning the disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees...he warns of poisonous teaching.

e. Ezekiel 34:22] I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. [23] And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. (ESV)

f. Jesus, the son of David, has become the good shepherd, the good teacher of Israel once again. He has compassion, and he teaches the sheep and he will feed the sheep. Because Jesus is God himself and the King of David on the throne.

3. On Jesus’ teaching here Hendrickson remarks the many words were, “words of life and beauty issued from his lips, as he told them about the marvelous kingdom of God (lk 9:11), a kingdom in which childlike trust in God’s sovereign care brings peace (matt. 6:24-34), love is law (6:43-48), and truth is on the throne (John 14:6; 18:37).

#3 Exposed Inability: The Problem as Framed by the Disciples, Jesus points out their inability to provide for and nourish this crowd

[35] And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. [36] Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” [37] But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” [38] And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

· Teaching the disciples, John’s gospel makes clear Jesus knew what he was about to do as the Bread of Life.

· Solutions

o Send them away, its too late, We cannot provide for their needs.

§ The human solution is not apparent. Time to bail...the disciples do this often...

§ Should they have beseeched Jesus to be the solution? Turned to prayer?

o Nope says Jesus, you do it; you feed this people...

§ But...We cannot afford to pay for their food.

§ They list the ridiculous cost of this...Money cannot buy this provision at this hour and in this isolated area.

§ We do not have the provision in our midst

· What do they have?...Five Loaves and two fish (other accounts supply that it was a young boy who had them)...math people what portions sizes is that 15-30k ways?..

o Jesus is getting them to consider their lack of ability and to turn them to him in faith, to remember that the Lord is the provider of Israel...

o ....The disciples have many examples by this point to consider

§ Manna from Heaven

§ Jesus has supplied wine in John 2 earlier in the ministry...

§ Jesus is the Lord of the Storm he is the creator; You will find Jesus is the creator, Ryle says, “Here was creative power, beyond all question. Something real, solid, substantial, must manifestly have been called into being, which did not before exist. “ Ryle, 100

§ Let’s look more closely at the miracle.

#4 Abundant Provision: Out of our Meager Provisions Jesus Provides, bread, life, abundantly

[39] Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. [40] So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. [41] And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. [42] And they all ate and were satisfied. [43] And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. [44] And those who ate the loaves were five thousand Company by company, group by group.... How many 5,000 men plus women and children...so easily 15k+

o Literally: “a symposium by symposium” dinner party by dinner party.

§ They are arranged like Israel in the wilderness in orderly groups around the tent of meeting, where they receive manna.

o SIT DOWN in GREEN GRASS.

§ Color reference is rare in the bible and should not be overlooked...

§ Hendrickson remarks “garden bed by garden bed.”

§ ...Hmmmmm. Psalm 23. Sheep without a shepherd...the Shepherd is hear (quote psalm.)

o Psalm 23:1–3 [1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (ESV) [5] You prepare a table before me...

§ And remember that Ezekiel verse I, I myself will be their shepherd on the slopes of the mountains in the green grass.

o Jesus prays, blesses, and broke the loaves and gave it to the disciples...

§ It certainly applies to the Lord’s table...It echoes in Mark’s gospel and others at the institution of the Lord’s supper.

§ Mark 14:22–25 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” [23] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. [24] And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. [25] Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (ESV)

§ Jesus body given for us on the cross takes away our sin and his body raised again is resurrection life and power.

· WHY FISH? Fish are more secondary, certainly the disciples are fisher’s of men...Fish is a gift by a good man over a serpent in the parables of good gifts...the disciples give Jesus a broiled fish to eat to prove his resurrected body is physical...The disciples have an abundance of fish caught in their nets multiple times when Jesus is around...It is food, it is provision

· ...Jesus has breakfast by the sea: children, do you have any fish? They answered no John 21:5....When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. And Jesus gave them the bread and the fish...A meal. Full provision

· They were Satisfied, and more there were left overs!

o They went from the disciples saying even if we blow 9 months of money $10s of thousands of dollars to feed this crowd they would only get a little...But with Jesus they sat together in fellowship took and broke bread together and their was more...and more...and more, in those little companies, the bread of life, the word of God supplied abundantly to their physical bodies. And Jesus’ promise is supply to their souls.

o Their souls was his goal...not just an earthly king who provides bread for his subjects...

§ Supplies chains for armies are always tricky...Jesus could’ve raised and unstoppable army. Who could besiege a city forever...Jesus could’ve fortified Jerusalem in 70 AD and outlasted any Roman siege...But he is not an earthly king...He aims for far more...eternal souls. Heavenly kingdoms.

o He provides for them as the people of God notice the details. V. 43 they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.

§ 12 Baskets...12 tribes of israel...12+12 elders in revelation.

· How does the bible view our needs as the people of God?

· There are Insights for what Jesus expects us to take away from this demonstration from the Manna in the OT

o Israel too often did not rightly understand the Lord’s provision of manna.

§ Ex. 16:4 “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” (Exodus 16:4)

§ Or Deut. 8:3 “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

§ Or Jesus’ interpretation of the manna in John 6, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. … I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:32–35)

· Believing in Christ is to come to him as bread for your soul.

· Apart from Christ and his word we perish.

· Be humble and dependent on God’s word dependent on Christ. As you seek to have what you need for your soul and your daily bread in this life.

- To be human is to be god-dependent.

- The question simply becomes are you depending on life, love, and support from an idol? Money, hedonism, power, self-glory or the living and true God.

But we don’t always look to Christ, what are some of the false sources of life, False Provisions: What are empty things in your life that do not supply? What places are not green pastures? Are not the table of Christ? Ask our hearts, “AM I trying to find life and provision, truth in empty things, in lies?”

What is in your life leaving you hollowed out? What are you feeding your mind and heart that is either empty? Poison to your mind and heart?

Leave it all behind. See where Christ is, where the word of God is, where the people of God are gathering and run there. Run to Fellowship, to the word, to JESUS.

What will you find if you seek Jesus for provision?

You will find Compassion

You will find Supply

You will find Abundance

You will find a Shepherd-King

You will find Bread, literally at the communion table...

How can we implement these truths into our lives today?

· First, Despair of our own provison and look to Christ as Shepherd, King, Bread of Life

· Second, prioritize the teaching of Christ in the Word, feed on the word, take the image of milk, the bible as milk, the bible as honey, and tell yourself when I feed on the word – it is life-giving truth for your soul. Makes me think of French toast

· Third, When you tell someone of Christ or truth from the word you are giving them bread. You don’t have to have all the answers, to in yourself solve the needs of their life you only need to ask God to supply to you and then supply to others out of what God provides.

o You are merely a steward, a guide, a beggar pointing other beggars to bread.

· Fourth, Be willing to lay aside all else and demand of Jesus provision. He is compassionate; cry out in need of your supply. He is the True Shepherd. The Bread of Life. The Teacher of Your Life. And the Provider for your souls need.

o He will do this as he has you sit down as his feet company by company. His plan is to feed you in the context of the assembly of his people.

o Come every week and be fed. Go forth and continue to eat as you open his word and pray to him throughout your week.

Prayer

Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

WCF Chapter 26 Fellowship with Christ and the Body of Christ

1 John 1:1-4 (and other texts)

INTRODUCTION MONOLOGUE: What makes a community? What draws the lines of belonging or outsider-ness? Is a community only bound by blood, shared interest, shared class, shared ideological shibboleths? All communities have expectations and rules, but it is worth asking what the common bond is. And often what that bond is will determine the strength of community and what makes the bonds also establishes what could breaks the bonds. All communities have terms of membership (conditions). Today, we will see the bond of the Church is that we are all sinners, alienated from God and each other, fallen, we were trapped in the deceit of sin, the harm of sin, the separation is causes, the shame it brings, BUT God, But God in sheer lovingkindness sent Christ Jesus to deliver us from the kingdom of Satan and bring us into the marvelous kingdom of Jesus. But we are not just dutiful subjects; the Church is more than the institution....it is an institution...But it is marvelously more. Today we will talk of our union with Christ and our communion with others... fellowship. Two Points today. Several scripture passages. Topically WCF 26 The Communion of Saints.

#1 Union with Christ produces communion with believers

#2 Our relationship with Jesus gives us gifts to serve God and others.

Read: 1 John 1:1–4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—[2] the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—[3] that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. [4] And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (ESV)

Prayer of Illumination

How did we go from being strangers, to being outsiders, from being spiritually dark to alive, secure, loved, and belonging...?

We won’t stay in 1 John, but more than in many places, 1 John highlights teaching that is also seen in Paul’s teaching in Ephesians...Let’s note a few truths in verses 1-4.

The Apostle John, from the beginning of the Church, has witnessed to the vital truth of the Christian faith...Jesus took on our human nature...

In the incarnation, Jesus, as Romans 5 says, became the second Adam. John has fellowship and friendship with Jesus, the Word who became flesh...God taking on our human nature.

John says that in Jesus’ incarnation the way of life was revealed to us, seen by him, touched by him. John saw Jesus give his life on the cross...John saw Jesus take his life back up. And the proclamation of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the truth that must be believed and trusted in...if we are to have Fellowship with God.

The ESV study bible puts it this way, the fellowship (koinonia) with God is: the “personal communion with the Father made possible by the mediation of the Son.”

Our relationship, friendship with Jesus secures not only forgiveness of sins, but friendship with our Heavenly Father, and friendship with each other....we need friendship with God restored in order to have true friendship with each other restored.

Never forget this: salvation in Jesus gives you fellowship with God the Father, the Spirit in your heart, and Friendship with... fellowship with the brothers and sisters in Christ.

And it is a joyful friendship because the basis of the friendship isn’t liking the same music; it isn’t doing enough to earn loyalty and win love...(yes, there will be the law of love found in the ten commandments explaining what loving community must look like...But notice the entrance into fellowship is Jesus. Knowing Jesus. Faith in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. [pause]

And because our relationship with Jesus is secure. Guaranteed by the Holy Spirit who unites us to Christ...therefore, our fellowship in the church is secured in Christ. Knowing Jesus is the best foundation for fellowship with God and each other.

Not to make light, but you know how some friend groups just seem unlikely, maybe there isn’t a lot in common...but what solves the why of the friend group is that there is a singular lynchpin, there is the central hub, one key friend that holds the whole group together initially.

...But over time that central friend creates genuine bonds of love between the unlikely friends...That is what John is writing about. Complete my joy. And his letter will continue to say our joy is complete as we know our salvation and forgiveness in Christ, and as we love one another, as we forgive one another, as we obey God’s law for how to love one another, for how to love Him, for how to put away sin, reject lies, and embrace truth.

But what all those things have at their core is union with Christ by faith, salvation that creates a new Fellowship.

Let’s now move to exploring the confession and weaving together some of the verses and images that should be in our mind when we think of Communion and Fellowship:

Remember the chapter before this is “of the Church”; explaining how Jesus forms a singular holy, universal, in all ages covenant people and the good, the bad, and the ugly of what that looks like in a local congregation’s worship, and doctrine. It deals with people as the institutional church with offices and sacraments, etc...

Now the topic shifts a little closer, a little more personal: saying you are in a relationship with Christ your life-giving head. He is the vine; you’re the branches, and this means you are in a new relationship with other people who are inChrist Jesus. Other men, women, boys, and girls; Who have moved from death to life, from lost to found, from dead in sin to forgiven and alive in Christ, from without the Spirit of God to indwelt by the Spirit of God.

You are now one of many living stones building the living temple; you are the body and have gifts and honor as different parts of the body of Christ; you are a new family, a new kingdom, and a new creation –And the governing word over and over again is IN CHRIST Jesus.

Look in your hand out...

WCF 26.1 Union with Christ produces communion with the Saints

Paragraph 1. All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.

To be a Christian is to be in Union with Christ, but what does that mean? We are not physically conjoined twins...we are distinct persons...Gi Williamson draws three ways we are united to Christ, he is our representative (this goes with the Head and Body metaphor), he is our vital union or life-giving union (the vine and the branches), and it is Spiritual, that is Holy Spirit indwelt union, the Spirit of Christ.

This means we are joined to Christ by the Holy Spirit and by faith

To be joined to Christ is also to be joined to his sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory

Two key passages: Philippians 3 and Ephesians 3...

Philippians 3:8–11 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share [koinonia, participate, be united with] his sufferings, becoming like [morphing/shaped like] him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)

TO be Found in Christ verse 9 is to have him as...representative a righteous not my own...its Christ’s righteousness he is my representative [no longer Adam’s sin, or my own sinfulness]. It is by Faith in Christ that we receive it...and so are reconciled to God and have fellowship with God....But more even we are united to the power of his resurrection...we what? SHARE in his sufferings, like him in his death.... united to his life, but also the cross-shaped life, with the promise that the cross-shaped life will be ours and death cannot hold us. Because our life is hidden in Christ Jesus....Col. 3:4 when Christ who IS your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory!

What does our relationship to Christ do to our relationships with others?

Imagine with me, you were sitting in a café and you over hear two people talking and one guy says to the other, man, I was dead in sin...you think me to, I was a dead sinner...then he continues but Jesus died for my sin after a rescue mission from heaven....and you go wait Jesus died for me to...and you hear...yah and I have had to kill sin in my life, but I talk to Jesus every day, and I hear from him in his word...and you go...I talk to Jesus, I hear from him in his word. I have a heavenly Father...

And you know in these conversations you have a moment, even if it’s just you hearing you are from the same hometown or went to the same concert in the same year. You have to talk to them!

If you and another person were both survivors of 9/11 in NYC. And you then found out the same fire truck crew pulled you out....you now have a bond.

How much more when it comes to your soul, your salvation, you say, I am IN CHRIST Jesus too! I have walked the same path of death to sin and life in Christ...Your union with Christ must mean union with fellow believers....And then it must also mean Fellowship with fellow believers. Shared Communion. A desire to gather with them, to grow together and to not just worship individually but together. To get together often.

All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory:

You with that information can just about anticipate the rest of Paul’s and John’s letters and all the ways they saw to love one another, and assume church membership, and worship, and gathering regularly together...How could we not get together often to encourage each other in our shared JOY

...One more passage: Ephesians 3:17ff. To give context Paul says the gospel brings light...through the church revealingthe manifold wisdom of God...his eternal purposes realized in Christ Jesus our Lord...We are strengthened ‘with power through his Spirit” ‘in our inner beings’ Verse 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19] and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

How do you get this fellowship with Christ and Others....It is by Faith, by trust,

Christ has saved you...not for lone wolf Christianity but to grow together into a home, a family, a living temple, those branches on the vine, the Body where every part has gifts and graces.

[Eph. 3:20] Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

Christ is glorified in the Church when it gathers and grows through the gospel in our lives and the word in our hearts placed there by the Holy Spirit.

Our friendship, our representative, vital union with Christ by faith, is accomplished by the Holy Spirit.

We are made alive by the Spirit, gathered into a living body, attached to the vine...And WCF 26.1 continues, “and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.

This is simply unpacking 1 Corinthians 12:4–6: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; [5] and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; [6] and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (ESV)

1. All believers in their union with Christ are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit. There is no second-class citizens. Not everyone has the same spiritual gifts; everyone has the grace of God in their lives. There is nothing to boast in. Because all we have from the holy Spirit, whether teaching, helping, leading, serving, mercy, help, wisdom, prayer, comes from the Holy Spirit, who Paul in 1 Cor. 12 says glorified Christ as Lord in our lives.

2. The Apostles and apostolic era were granted special revelatory gifts...with the completion of the New Testament in our era we are not impoverished, for Paul himself says that Love...love for the body of Christ is greater than the flashier gifts of the Spirit.

3. We are all one body with many members and a variety of gifts...and he presses us...everyone doesn’t have the flashy gifts, but everyone is necessary, and each of us is to grow in using and maturing in serving others.

4. The WCF says this can happen in unnoticed private ways: some abound in private hospitality, some abound in wisdom and advice given privately, some about in secret prayer, some abound in caring for physical needs. We can see an analogy to deacons and elders with physical and spiritual needs. But the confession recognizes that in the body of Christ we all have opportunity to care for our mutual good for heart and body.

5. How has God gifted you? [2x]

12:18... it is, [God] who arrange[s] the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. [19] If all were a single member, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. [27] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (ESV)

What does this mean? This means if we are in union with Christ, we have obligations to use those gifts and graces, as a duty, both for the mutual Good of others...

If we do this, the duty will be organic...it will be a delight...and the communion of the saints will strengthen the whole Body Colossians 2:19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is [all up to you?! No!] “from God.” (ESV)

Some gifts are expressed not as individuals “oh I have this gift” but only work when we gather together. WCF 26.2 really points this out: Communion is expressed in service to God and others...The blessing of fellowship is as we gather...the blessing of worship happens as we gather regularly, according to God’s command on the Lord’s Day and according to delight and desire to be fed and nourished on other appointed times like the Wednesday Night Fellowship, in our homes, or other opportunities.

Paragraph 2: Saints by profession are bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offers opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

Two passages highlight this need to gather in a worshipping-fellowship and for close enough relationships that we are caring for each other. Heb. 10 and Acts 2.

Hebrews 10:24–25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, [25] not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (ESV)

Acts 2:42, 46. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.… And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

The particular Form Christian Fellowship takes is of WORSHIP, SERVICE, and EDIFICATION [2x]

The first and non-negotiable form is the Lord’s Day assembly...It is a shared family appointment you keep the way you keep a wedding or a funeral because if the communion of the saints is true, and it is across the pages of Scripture, then Worship is where Christ promises to actually meet us together. Ordinarily, promises we can meet with a shared grace and shared gifts...And this gathered worship is a Spiritual service, it is Edification.

Service. Service is the gift of noticing. Noticing we can send Acasserole after the hospital stay. Noticing someone needs a car ride. Noticing covenantchildren, noticing anonymous needs, noticing according to our several gifts andabilities. And when we notice and care that way, it will strengthen ourspiritual service and edification in worship.

Outisde the service we are Edifiedin other ways in our Communion:Hebrews 10 says we gather in order to consider how to stir one anotherup to love and good works, encouraging one another...So Christian conversation isnot only talking weather. It happens when an older woman talks with a younger throughvery practical advice grounded in the gospel over a long phone call. Ithappens when a father reads the bible at the table and just reads the briefdevotion paragraph. Edification happens when we hear ourselves sing andencourage with reminders of biblical truth; ordinary conversation of people whoshare the same Head and therefore refuse to let one another stay shallow orstay stuck in sin.

And when we are gathered this way, we will be like individual coals of fire gathered together; we will burn brighter and longer than we would if you were plucked from that fire....If you find yourself irregular in worship, neglecting fellowship and communion with others, thinking you can do it alone. Realize it is unnatural to union with Christ, it is unknown to the bible, and yields the same result every time...a colder and colder fellowship with other Christians yields a colder and colder fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and to Christ Jesus.

That is not to say every time you gather according to God’s appointed means of Grace, Word, prayer, and Fellowship it will be an aha moment. But it does remind you that if you feel the fire going out, the safest place for your coal, for your heart, is back in the fire.

If you do this, it will be a joyful duty that supports all other duties as a delight: a duty of fellowship, a family duty, a loving duty...

1 Blest be the tie that bindsour hearts in Christian love:the fellowship of kindred mindsis like to that above.

Prayer | Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Introduction: Mark’s gospel has been asking, “will you believe, will you believe the message of Jesus, who he is, and repent and believe the gospel?” OR “will your FEAR, or UNBELIEF, cause you to Reject Jesus like his hometown?

Mark has just finished showing this rejection we next get two more stories wrestling with Jesus’ response to rejection, his instruction to the disciples to like him be faithful in preaching the gospel so long as anyone will give an audience to it, but then we get rising opposition to Jesus, the last prophet of the Old Covenant John is killed and laid in a tomb and so we see the pharisees desire to kill Jesus, his hometown has rejected him, and finally we see just what the political leaders of Jesus’ day do to people who question their moral lives, how they wield their power, and respond to calls for repentance.

Calls for repentance often lead to rejection, not being received, but even more persecution even death. Because Sin does not like being examined under the light of God’s word and the mirror of God’s law.

We need to see that the offer of the good news, of the gospel, takes a recognition of the bad news, our sin, revealed by the Law.

Jesus has been rejected and shocked by the unbelief of his hometown – How does he respond?

Read: Mark 6:6b–29

[6b] And [Jesus] went about among the villages teaching.

[7] And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. [8] He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—[9] but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. [10] And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. [11] And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” [12] So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. [13] And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

[14] King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” [15] But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” [16] But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” [17] For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.

[18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” [19] And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, [20] for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

[21] But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. [22] For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” [23] And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” [24] And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” [25] And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” [26] And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. [27] And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison [28] and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. [29] When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (ESV)

Verses 6b-13

· The Free offer of the Gospel

· The rejection of the gospel warned against.

Verses 14-29

· The Free offer of Moral light and clarity, the call to repentance

· The violent rejection of God’s word.

#1 The Free offer of the Gospel invites Hospitable Acceptance with warning against Rejection (6-13)

[6b] And he went about among the villages teaching.

[7] And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

· Jesus goes from his hometown just as he is about to tell the disciples to do as well. GO and stay, depending on their hospitality until they no longer house you and if they reject God’s word then move on...

· So Jesus continues to preach; he stays faithful; He, depending on the heavenly Father, is able to move past rejection to continue preaching.

· He then sends out the disciples. Remember Apostles means sent ones.

· He does this two by two both because we know two by two is good for support & courage.

o But also two together can be legal witnesses to his message, each can confirm all that is accomplished as they report back as well.

o Two by two is a good principle in all of life.

· But more than practical strategies Jesus also gives them the authenticating signs and powers of this new redemptive age. The apostles who will write scripture shared in Christ’s power. They bear that signs that the kingdom of God is here. This will continue into the book of Acts as the apostles witness to the resurrection of Christ is attested to with signs and power over demons.

Verse [8] He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—[9] but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

· We shouldn’t read into this account or others the long term strategies of a Church planted in an area.

· It is actually quite sad when you read long-term missionaries who moved to Africa and other places who thought it was sinful to raise financial support. Paul’s letter to 2 Corinthians and Romans are also financial support letters for the Church....No this is a short-term mission trip with a very particular message.

· Only take what you have don’t pack a carry on bag...and that second really heavy piece of luggage...And go in complete dependance on the HOSPITALITY of the town. The good news of the kingdom is going to depend on the receptivity and acceptance of at least someone in that town to the Apostles.

o This is all about the reception and rejection of Jesus and his disciples during his earthly ministry.

o It keeps the disciples urgently always moving on to where the people are receptive....not to the disciples but remember they are sent they are apostles it is an acceptance or rejection of Jesus himself.

o This should put a burden on us to both represent Christ well when we go out about our days....And to show hospitality and love to our fellow believers. Especially as we support the missions of the church.

o Third, the lack of supplies by the disciples meant they were pushing people to make a decision now! Will they receive Jesus as the one bringing the kingdom or will they reject him. The disciples are not signing a one year lease. Today is the day of decision if they are rejected they will shake off the dust of their feet and move on. Shaking off the dust was a prophetic sign against the people. They are being shaken off, cast off, rejected for their rejection and hard hearts.

o This is truly a sorrowful sign against a town of Israel; the covenant people of God prove to be, as Sinclair Ferguson says, “geographically within the sphere of God’s covenant [yet] spiritually...stranger[s] to it.”

[10] And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. [11] And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” [12] So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. [13] And they cast out many demonsand anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Pastor Douglas O’Donnell remarks for application that

1. Like the twelve, we should practice a God-dependent lifestyle. ...We aren’t all being called to do an only clothes on our back short-term mission trip but we should all respond to the gospel with missions minded hospitality.

2. And so for us being a local church that is planted and committed to this community means the Missions Hospitality is permanent. So personal hospitality, support of missions, never forgetting that repentance from sin and living life for ourselves is a part of the gospel, and a knowledge that the hospitality, call to repentance, an doffer of the gospel may be rejected or accepted...All we can do is be faithful. O’donnell goes on to remind us not to preach Jesus-lite in order to blend in; we preach Christ crucified for our sins that we might repent and believe and so be SAVED.

The gospel of Mark asks two things: will you repent and trust Jesus? Or will you remain under judgement?

This brings us to The Death of John the Baptist, a case of heinous and stubborn unbelief against the call to repent, where the nature of sin is shown to be ugly. Look In verses 14-29.

The big idea of verses 14-29 isf that Rejecting the Light of Nature and God’s Word Leads to Degradation

· The Free offer of Moral light and clarity, comes from the call to repentance by John the Baptist.

· And Second, both the delay in repenting by Herod and the violent rejection of God’s word by Herodias produce individual suffering and community degradation.

Note this is not the Herod who called for the death of the Bethlehem baby boys...That was Herod the Great...

The family tree is that this Herod, Herod Antipas, is the son of Herod the Great (who wrongly had multiple wives, 9 or 10). Herodias was the wife of Herod Phillip II, who is the Half-brother of Herod Antipas. Both brothers are still alive. Herodias is further Herod Antipas’ niece.

So Herod Antipas marrying Herodias is problematic on several levels

This Herod is paranoid at the beginning of verse 14 because he thinks Jesus is the resurrected John the Baptist...You might say he has a guilty conscience which he did.

Because he had killed John, the last of the Old Testament prophets...Some thought Jesus was Elijah re-incarnate, like Malachi 4:5 says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (ESV) But Jesus clarifies that John the Baptist was a prophet like Elijah. He was the spiritual successor to Elijah. Because Elijah, as a prophet, particularly confronted King Ahab for his wickedness...Ahab’s wife Jazabel was also awful like Herodias.

The bible isn’t afraid to say you have wicked and depraved power-hungry kings...And you have wicked, depraved, power-hungry queens.

And Elijah and John the Baptist both as true prophets of God called out moral compromise.

So Jesus’ fame is rising, and Herod has a guilty conscience...For he had beheaded John.

And verses 17-28 Lists not just a fear and rejection of Jesus, but a rejection of God, his word, and creation ordinances that are meant to protect the image of God.

First, the sacredness of marriage is rejected, particularly Herodias as the passage shows is in on it because she desires power and influence. She is manipulative throughout the passage. ...Herod’s conscience seems guiltier than Herodias’...He seems to “fear John” fear righteousness and holiness.....BUT not enough to correct matters. Not enough to say, I have stolen my living brother’s wife. (Lev. 18:16, 20:21). Not enough to say, I’ve transgressed nature and nature’s God.

One takeaway besides the sacredness of marriage....Is never sit on the fence after hearing the word of God, that is, hearing a rebuke of specific sins but never acting to address them. Especially failing to repent for fear of losing face with others. Herod should have repented and listened to God’s word through John; John has said this challenge directly to Herod, but he listens not to the Word of God but the word of his wife...Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted him silenced, v. 19 says.

So always listen promptly to God’s word even over others guilting you and enticing you to remain in sin with them.

Second: By breaking the sacredness of marriage, Herod had weakened the family structure meant to protect the vulnerable. In this case, children.

Herodias is simply wicked for using her daughter to manipulate men. Women’s beauty is a gift and grace of God meant to be honored and guarded with holiness.

We saw this in 1 Peter 3:2-6: godly women won their husbands with respect and pure conduct...Herodias tells her daughter to manipulate with impure conduct, with dishonorable display.

But Peter replies in 1 Peter 3: Godly women adorned their natural beauty with godliness.

So Herodias’ plan is wicked...taking God’s good gift of making us male and female and distorting the gift of beauty and godly conduct with sensuality...Which we see as she sends her daughter to dance before strangers. That is Herodias’ failures as a mother, but it is not hers alone if further shows two failures on Herod’s part.

First, it does remind us broadly in society that FATHERS ought to guard and protect their daughters. And statistically (in general), biological fathers are the protectors of their daughters....As the family breaks down in America live in strangers are the most dangerous to children.

But second....Above God’s good, created instincts given to fathers, anyone who would style themselves a king, a leader, ought to have immediately objected and protected his step-daughter. He had adopted her; adopted children are children.

It was not just a duty for Herod but a central duty for him to have prevented this....But not only does he not guard and protect, he sins together with these men...And each of these me did not object to this abuse. They didn’t object to the marriage, they didn’t object to Herodias sending her daughter to dance, and later they do not object to an unjust execution.

Third, Herod degrades himself by manipulation. It does not take long to notice as you live in this world, that there is a particularly toxic way of men and women relating:

Women usin beauty for the sake of manipulation, and men are taken in by the manipulation OR take advantage of the loose culture around it. Such mutually manipulative relationships like Herod’s and Herodias’ are modeled in our media as normal, as normal in sitcoms and novels. But the believer hears the word of God and pursues the model of Christ and his bride, the Church.

Fourth, He degrades himself in the image of God with vain and rash vows. It’s a boastful vow to impress the men around him....Sure, It’s a figure of speech; he doesn’t literally mean half his kingdom but he does mean I’ll grant you a boon one request....We also can be tempted like Herod when he is surrounded by nobles and commanders to think what he is doing shows power when really it showed weakness.

I’ve taught a lot of teenage boys through the years and while thankfully most rejected the bravado of it... occasionally one would be taken in by the Hollywood man, the wealthy athlete, the online influencer who is all bravado and throwing money around and treated other humans as if they orbited around him....Ultimately, it is the wealthy Athlete, Actor, and influencers who are the most degraded in their moral character...

The strong and proud images they convey with their clothes and vices are a false image....they are fragile and dependent on their peers continuing to cheer them on and hype them up as they pursue the destruction of their souls and those around them.

Fifth, though Herod sins, fails in his duties as a man, Herodias also fails in her calling to care for her daughter, using her as a tool to get her vengeance....She is particularly cruel and brutal. That man John the Baptist who would not be quiet must be silenced fully and finally! The daughter makes the request for the head of John the Baptist

And verse 26 “the king was exceedingly sorry...” But not enough to have the strength to go to the Priest and repent of a rash and a vain oath...And ask the priest to release him from his oath as the Law permits.

See how many and myriad sins of multiple people coalesce into this act of murder. Verse 27 illustrates it: a family broken but unwilling to repent at every step. A king executes a sinful and rash vow, taken likely when drunk, due to sensuality, pride, and recklessness. A daughter, though a victim of her mother’s schemes, failed to obey God rather than man. And a mother, power- and status-hungry, is unwilling to allow the word of God to sting her soul, unwilling to repent of sin, so the reminder of sin must be silenced.

Multiple pastors have noted that “Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay”

This fallen, broken, and sinful world hounded John the Baptist into the tomb. John was despised, he was rejected like Christ. And yet we must note His body is laid in a tomb and there it remains.

· John was the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord!”

· He was a voice who declared sin, called out against it.

· He was a voice that declared Here is the messiah; here is the one who will baptize hearts with fire. Cleansing from sin.

· But John does not have life in himself. John was not sinless. Even though he was a prophet of God, he too needs a savior.

· John, if you recall, struggled with the humble nature of Jesus’ ministry while in prison are you the Christ?

· Commentators don’t think John had no faith, but similar to the disciples. Jesus, when will you judge sin! Judge this world! Ride on the white horse with sword drawn, defeating evil with blood, guts, and glory.

· But Jesus instead comes in with Mercy; he first must march to the Cross...where, like John the call to repent of your sin for the kingdom of God is here will be met with rejection. Rejection of him as the messiah, as the son of God, as the savior of sinners.

· Jesus’ disciples have been rejected out of towns. John’s message had led to his death.

· Jesus’ message and who he is leads him to a death on the cross. Despised and rejected by men.

· But Jesus does not stay dead. Death does not hold Jesus. He is resurrected. The tomb of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is empty! The Spirit of Christ has been poured out.

· If you grieve your sin, the dysfunction of sin in this world, if you grieve the brokenness of male and female relationships seen in this passage then look to Christ.

· Jesus forgives sinners.

· Jesus restores sinners.

· Jesus restores families and communities.

· The kingdom of God brings reconciliation. Prayer | Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Introduction: Mark chapter 6…Wow, Jesus’ popularity is rising; his disciples have seen his glory and power, his mercy for us both in his rule over creation, his mercy towards sinners and ability to save us from the world, our sinful nature, and even the strength of evil spirits, Satan himself. He has power in himself to heal us from our diseases. Even death itself.

It is all awards and nobel peace prizes from here right? No one questions the miracles. No one questions that the teaching is powerful…Everyone will simply believe in Jesus and the Kingdom of God and the gospel will go from one open and willing heart to the next…

Sadly, that is not the case. Mark 6 shows us that the human heart’s natural state is one of unbelief. And it’s been hinted at already as Jesus’ family came to bring him back, saying He has lost his mind. That, that is still where his family is at...

Read: Mark 6:1–6 Jesus rejected at Nazareth

[1] He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. [2] And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. [4] And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” [5] And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. [6] And he marveled because of their unbelief.

#1 Familiarity Breeds Contempt vv. 1-4

#2 Unbelief, Inability, and the unsaved need of New Hearts vv. 5-6

#3 Spoilers: the Happy Ending to A Sad Rejection (Acts)

#1 Familiarity Breeds contempt

Jesus is in his hometown, literally His Patria, Father-land. And yet in his Fatherland, there is contempt…Familiarity reduces wonder, insight, responsiveness, and gets us into ruts and stuck-patterns, they only see Jesus, Son of Mary (maybe an insult to not name Joseph as his earthly Father, maybe simply Joseph being dead by this point), but they hear his preaching, they even see a few sick healed…but no mighty works…their stubborn unbelief prevents any new information, new signs, new reframing of WHO Jesus is…

o Is he the messiah? Is he a prophet? Is he a miracle worker? Does he forgive sins? Can he save us? Much less Is the….Son of God…My creator, redeemer, and King

§ Ha! We know his family; it is so ordinary with ordinary names and an ordinary job.

§ And here he is claiming to be rejected like the long line of prophets.

§ I am rejected just like Moses had to wrestle with hard-hearted Israel in the wilderness, or Jeremiahbeing tossed in a well, and Isaiah to a people of unclean lips…

§ They view Jesus as not merely human, but uppity/proud, not willing to accept his humble roots, Jesus forgets his class, his people, his status…He is crossing Union lines;

§ if you were in the meeting, you would have felt the growing prideful angry opposition to Jesus, and you too might say, let’s chuck him off the cliff like Luke reports in Luke chapter 4.

o No one is going to give Jesus the throne of their heart, the center of their lives; no one will see the power beneath the humble Christ… Is. 53...he was despised and rejected by man, and they esteemed him not.

o Messianic Secret: And we’ve seen it for quite a while. No one is going to need to be told Hush! Keep it secret because no one has the lightbulbs go off that this is the Messiah! No secret here because it is unbelieving, dull dead hearts.

They are disinterested, and merely gossipy….

Familiarity breeds contempt….It also breeds OFFENSE

Jesus is not having an off day…No, his message was just as good; verse 2 shows the same wisdom and awareness of the mighty works he has been doing up until this point….the contempt of him as a mere carpenter, a builder, a contractor is there.

But they take OFFENSE at him…That is, he scandalized them, caused them to stumble. They are tripped up by him…

· Was it sin that offended them? No, he lived a perfect life among them for 30 years

What about us? Both for how we are responded to and how we respond to Jesus

1. How do we respond to Jesus when you grow up in the Church

a. Familiarity and uncuriousness: does your life show no striving to learn more of Christ and to live the life he calls you to.

i. Whether interest in the bible or writings or conversations on the Christian faith or life.

ii. If so, Ask God to replace familiarity with KNOWING Christ with a growing relationship with Christ....Saving faith in Christ

2. Second question: How do others respond to Christians in lands where they are familiar with them

a. Two things here the response may be to Christians being like Christ or to the fact, little trade secret: True Christian still sin…and even sin in groups. Or unbelievers keep the name “Christian”

b. But laying aside the mistakes…societies can easily forget the blessings and goodness of Christianity. New generations forget due to familiarity that the very blessing much of the west has experienced is not accidental but directly due to our view of God, the dignity of mankind with inalienable rights from our creator, for hospitals, literacy, global abolition of slavery, etc. Familiarity can breed contempt.

c. And so this crowd is angry at Christ even though he lived a sinless life among them for 30 years…And so to there can be in rejecting Christianity an even stronger post-christian spirit than is present in a society that has never had its salt and light. Curiosity is lost

i. We saw this in 1 Peter…We inherit this contempt, provided, provided, we suffer for the sake of righteousness, as Peter calls it in 1 Peter

d. Third, our familiarity of being identified as a Christian can lead us to contempt…For the ordinary, the ordinary 30 years Jesus lived at Nazareth.

i. You may experience it this way thinking: it would be easier to live every day self-consciously as a Christian in a foreign country, a Muslim or Hindu country, a pagan country…Then in a so-called bible belt city.

ii. We presume familiarity with the gospel

iii. It would be safer to blend in, to “not be that kind of Christian” when we are pressed.

iv. But man if we were living in a missionary context we would be Lions for Christ. Remember Christ’s own family coming to him earlier in Mark, quite this come home, and Jesus says it is better to be about doing the Will of God, for the family of God.

v. God calls us to be faithful where He plants us.

1. For 30 years this was Jesus faithfully being a carpenter working with his hands.

2. For you, where you live and move and have your being, God has in his providence placed you. So faithfulness. Work, Family, Church, and community live it all faithfully as Christ did and if you receive incredulous reactions to a small act of faithfulness, Christlikeness, or proclaiming Christ. Remember, you are walking in the humble footsteps of your Savior who loved you.

Apologetic aside, look in verse 3: Brothers and Sisters: This is Jesus’ brothers and sisters born to MARY. Not his cousins. Catholic teaching concerning Mary is false to the text of Scripture. It is a widely held tradition of the perpetual virginity of Mary; even some reformers such as Luther and Calvin held to it. But the plain reading of Scripture contradicts it. There is nothing dishonorable in marriage and children. Genesis 2, shows that it is Good. And it does no harm to Jesus’ nature in the incarnation, for after he is born to mary for Mary and Joseph to have a family. Christ has already been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. And does not have a sin nature. His brothers and sisters have no impact on that.

His brothers, sisters, and Mother also need to follow Jesus not as their brother (or son) but as their savior and their God. …More on that Later. Let us unpack the towns people’s UNBELIEF not just familiarity but UNBELIEF and then we will answer how the story ends in Acts Chapters 1- 2. For Jesus’ family.

#2 Unbelief, Inability, and the unsaved’s need of New Hearts (v. 5)

Verse 5, Why could Jesus only do a few miracles “because of unbelief”

A. – He did no mighty works He did heal a few, He was astonished at unbelief

B. Question: Is this teaching healing or failure to heal for us today is based on the strength of human faith?

a. Or is this something unique about Jesus’ ministry and mode of operating during his ministry?

b. What does this teach us for today?

a. We’ve seenFamiliarity and Contempt are enemies of faith.

a. They were familiar and only saw the human carpenter

b. They had contempt and so would not entrust and go to Jesus with their needs. How large a contrast this is to Jairus’ seeking Jesus out, the Woman fighting through crowds to touch just the hem of his robes, to the demoniac running down that hill barely a man to get to Jesus.

c. And then they just murmur at his job history and family.

i. They can hear the teaching, hear the call to repent, know that by all reports he is compassionate, but only a few entreat him for healing.

Four Observations

A. First, Note the utter lack of demonic activity. Satan has been throwing himself at Jesus chapter after chapter…But here Satan fears nothing. There is no spiritual activity to oppose when the people are already unresponsive not seeing their needs.

B. Second, there was no Press and wave of the people seeking Jesus to be healed.

a. They had unbelief, so they did not implore or entreat him as others have; no one came to Christ save a few.

C. Third, in addition to no press of the crowd generally for healing there was further no one with severe cases and needs pressing him; there is no Jairus with a daughter dying, there is not Lepers falling at his feet. They are absent.

D. Fourth, it does say he “could do no mighty work” (dynamis, unable...but why?)

a. Remember the relationship of Healing and Miracles to salvation and forgiveness.

b. This principle is from Mark 2:9–12 The paralytic: Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? [10] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—[11] “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” [12] And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (ESV)

C. Would it have been right for Jesus to have given an external sign (healing) of an internal change (forgiveness of sins) if there had been no forgiveness of sins. That is if EVERYONE was unbelieving. Not even a household hear or leader or mediator.

a. There is at least tension here….We do see Jesus heal groups like the 10 lepers where only 1 was believing or returned to give praise.

b. We do see Jesus feed a mixed crowd of 3,000 and 5,000 where perhaps most were not believing.

c. But Jesus is not a magician. In the face of thoroughgoing hard-hearted unbelief, it would have been counter-productive to wield signs and miracles in the face of unbelief.

d. In the face of contempt and ridicule and rejection.

D. Sinclair Ferguson, “He could not do any miracles—not in the sense that it was physically impossible, for he did heal some sick folk, but that it would have been morally and spiritually inconsistent. Where the kingdom of God is rejected, it is inappropriate for the King to share its new life and joy.”

Jesus is unwilling to attach his power to unbelief

Whereas, Faith is the instrument that with empty hands receives the good gifts of salvation... they have no faith!

i. They are not open, they have already mocked and ridiculed Jesus

ii. They are Approaching something like the pharisee and scribes’ blasphemy of the Holy Spirit if they had continued...

iii. There may even have been a danger if Jesus had performed mighty works to their faces for it to have provoked speaking blasphemies against the HOLY SPIRIT

1. The Holy Spirit is going to be key, the very future solution to the miserable state of Jesus’ hometown and the his family.

2. The Holy Spirit is the person of the trinity who deals with our unbelief and our hard hearts..

A. Now we get to ask How does the human heart move from unbelief to belief?

B. What would make even these people be able to move from unbelief to belief?

C. These people need new hearts. TO be born again….John’s gospel teaches us this in John 6 & 3 with Nicodemus….

a. In John 6:44 we are told “no man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draws him”

i. It is not an inability in a physical sense (Just like with Jesus’ inability to heal in Nazereth); it is as Ryle says it is a moral inability, not a physical inability.

b. Christ is unable, in that is he is unwilling to attach the sign of healing to a people devoid of faith.

D. And we leave the passage today with Jesus’ family and his townspeople in a sad state...But that is not the end of the Story for two reasons. The death and resurrection of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

a. Jesus tells us of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in John 3:5–8 [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (ESV)

i. Jesus’ townspeople, his family, are still of the flesh....they have no Faith. They have a moral and dispositional inability in their hearts to trust in Christ, right now, his teaching and his presence bring contempt into their hearts.

b. John 6:62–68 says this: Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? [63] It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64] But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) [65] And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

c. And you know Ephesians 2:8–9: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (ESV)

Jesus’ hometown is in dire unbelief; at this point, their contempt, their unbelief. Leaves them dead in trespasses and sins.

This will be true for many of the scribes and Pharisees.

The apostles are struggling even still to see who Jesus is

But praise be to God, He does not leave us dead in our trespasses and sins but, by sheer grace and the work of the Holy Spirit, turns our hearts to Christ. Working faith in us thereby uniting us to Christ.

At this moment, unbelief flowed freely in the hearts of these people.

But after the resurrection, by the work of the Holy Spirit, where do we find Jesus’ family and we trust many of his townspeople in the future??

Closing Point: Spoilers: the Happy Ending to A Sad Rejection (Acts 1-2)

Acts 1:6–15 The Ascension

At the moments before Jesus ascends back to heaven he promises the disciples will “receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [...] Jesus ascends and they “returned to Jerusalem” ... they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, The 12 Disciples minus Judas and who....verse 14: All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

They had been unbelievers and yet now....They are gathered after the resurrection, about to be part of the beginning of the spread of the gospel to the whole earth...

And the Holy Spirit deals with unbelieving hearts....He is the heart surgeon par excellence.

Look in Acts 2:22–24 [The unbelief that led to the murder of JESUS....In these people’s heart is surgically dealt with and replaced with new hearts, new belief.

[22] “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—[23] this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. [24] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

Verse 36...Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

[37] Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart...

Many of these people had been yelling Crucify him just two months ago...Now they ask forgiveness...

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers and Sisters…and I am sure in that number of three thousand souls there were those of Nazareth who had scoffed…the Carpenter…we know his brothers and sisters….And they are cut to the heart. Their unbelieving hearts were made soft by the Holy Spirit and their unbelief turned to belief that received Jesus with Joy.

To do this for us, Jesus had to be rejected, rejected by family, friends, neighbors, the rulers of his nation, and on the cross to be cursed on our behalf, in so far as he represented us as a head he became rejected by the Father.

But Jesus’ sacrifice was ACCEPTED by the Father.

He was raised to new life

He is in heaven….And because he is now accepted you are

Are you familiar with Jesus but have never trusted in him?

Go to him, believe, and he will forgive you and fill you with faith, with hope, with love…And be accepted into the family of God.

Prayer

Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Introduction: Last week Jesus displayed his power by triumphing over Satan’s demons. He took a man trapped in darkness and freed him by restoring his honor and dignity by giving him back his right mind and restoring him to fellowship with God… and his fellow man.

Jesus now returns back to the Galilean side of the Sea of Galilee, and we will see Jesus’ power once again over sickness….disease….But more than that, Jesus wields power over death itself.

Mark’s gospel is going to continue pressing into this theme, which you’ve already heard a lot “fear” or “faith.” “fear or faith.”

Read: Mark 5:21–43 Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter

[21] And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. [22] Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet [23] and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” [24] And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. [25] And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, [26] and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. [27] She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. [28] For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” [29] And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. [30] And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” [31] And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” [32] And he looked around to see who had done it. [33] But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. [34] And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

[35] While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” [36] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” [37] And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. [38] They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. [39] And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” [40] And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. [41] Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” [42] And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. [43] And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (ESV)

Two Needy People: A strong man with earnest faith and a woman desperate faith

Both with quite normal fears of Sickness and death

#1 The Woman’s Fear & Faith (vv. 24b-34)

#2 Jairus’ Fear & Faith (vv. 35-43).

#3 Us Today: Lessons from comparing the woman and Jairus’ kinds of fear and faith.

Right off the boat, Jesus encounters crowds again…and a Man named Jairus. In contrast with our other main character this morning, Jairus, socially, a prestigious man, a ruler of the synagogue. And yet, our passage says “…he fell at [Jesus’] feet [23] and implored/pleaded/entreated him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” [24] And Jesus went with him.

Christ Goes with him. We’ll return to this later….But just remember for the next 10 verses…Jairus is there, earnest, but thinking that Jesus’ ability to help is on a clock, he has faith, but it is limited, and this second need delays Jesus and gets in the way.

So we meet our second character, with no name…

#1 The Woman’s Fear & Faith (vv. 24b-34)

vv. 24b And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. [25] And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, [26] and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

She suffers physically from this chronic bleeding condition, weakness, pain, but also social and religious isolation. She is under the Mosaic law, ceremonially unclean and unable to worship at the temple; she also she must announce her unclean status to others…

Financially She has spent all her earthly riches on doctors in a pursuit to heal herself….Many have spent fortunes in search of physical health, some have spent fortunes battling their minds

So she is truly desperate to be navigating a crowd where she could be scolded for pressing through the crowd….but she does because she needs to get to Jesus.

J.C. Ryle remarks that [though] many are thronging Christ, many are curious about spiritual things, a teacher, a guru…But The disciples have witnessed far more recently in the storm and the demons being Cast out…And here comes a woman with NEED, she works her way through the crowd in desperation because for 12 LONG years she has suffered.

Verse 27, says, “She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. [28] For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”

[Jairus too has said: Come and lay your hands on [my little daughter], so that she may be made well and live]

We should commend both of these desperate sufferers that they took action to go to Jesus, seeing that he has some power in himself to save….Do you just hang around spiritual things to see and hear but view Christ as separate from your true deepest struggles, griefs, and pains? Or do you know your pain, know your suffering, have been in it, whether the sufferings of your mind, your body, and your relationships…Is there anything in your life you can say, I have suffered pain, loss, uncleanness, sorrow for years. …And I think Jesus is the solution.

Matthew Henry remarks of the woman’s faith, “She believed that [Jesus] cured not as a prophet, by virtue derived from God, but as the Son of God—by a virtue [a power] inherent in himself.” (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible)

[Verse 29 highlights the immediacy the fullness of jesus’ power] And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. [30] And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him [that is by nature of Jesus’ identity, his deity], immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” [31] And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

· The disciples are a little bit cheeky, everyone’s bumping into everybody Jesus! But Jesus is asking not out of alarm, not out of accusation, to call out to shame, but to improve upon her healing, her salvation, with ASSURANCES, with Full removal of guilt and shame.

· The ESV study bible is right to say, “ in working her way through the crowd to get to Jesus, she would have touched many other people and thus rendered them ceremonially unclean (cf. Lev. 15:19–27).”

· She is afraid even in her new status, her new immediate cleanness…she is afraid to be caught, and have others consider her very presence as shameful.

· Let’s look at this Fear and Faith a little more closely

[32] And he looked around to see who had done it. [33] But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. [34] And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace [like in the storm], and be healed of your disease.”

She is in Fear, in Awe, in reverence as she approaches him. But still I think in fear about her shame…

But still coming forward in Gratitude. And Jesus’ words show he is commending her for her faith, Giving her an assurance of pardonby his authoritative word, just as Jesus, in Mark 2, He told the paralyzed man with his friends: “Your sins are forgiven, rise up and walk.” The same is implied here. Your faith has made you well! The word is σώζω, saved, well. There is a double meaning here. Healed and Saved. She understood before she uses the passive I will be made well (By Jesus not Her) and Jesus You have been made well, It is done, and definitive.

Note carefully: Jesus Himself is the power. Faith simply lays hold of Him.

“By touching Jesus’ garment, for anyone else she would have made him ceremonially unclean, but we have seen already Jesus renders unclean things clean, and HOLY.

And if she is Clean and Holy that would already be enough….But she is more, she is Daughter.

In the Gospels Jesus’ Physical healing is always the proof that spiritual healing can really occur.

Spiritual healing at the same time does not mean that Jesus did not truly have compassion and continue to have compassion and draw near to those who are physically suffering

…But what Jesus is showing ultimately is that he is the complete solution to our sin and misery. And as our next passage shows, to death itself and the pains of hell forever. …Jesus’ ministry of instantaneous and complete healing promisessalvation in the ultimate sense.

But Jesus is now in heaven, we have the assurance of our salvation, and the encouragement to go to him in prayer saying, yes he answers to prayers in this life, but we pray knowing God can answer yes, and no, or not now, not yet,

Because we also knows when saints depart in this life Jesus is calling them home into his presence in heaven.

We also know that God calls us through trials and sufferings. We follow Christ in humility before we receive glory. The cross before the crown. We have the word of Christ here to remind us of our certain inheritance in heaven, resurrected, glorious Bodies that will not suffer disease or illness, and bodies saved and glorified and souls made clean and secure in Christ….

But it was the faith of desperate need that brought the woman to Christ.

Which brings us again to Jairus, a LEADER, a man of reputation and status and for him it seems health…But his daughter is suffering. He HOPES Jesus will help… vv. 23 implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”

But this hope, it is earnest, but it is not nearly as desperate in its seizing of Christ, it with this news in v. 35….

#2 Jairus’ Fear & Faith (vv. 35-43).

[35] While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why troublethe Teacher any further?” [36] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” [37] And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

“Do not fear, only believe. Again, Jesus defines faith as the antidote to fear (cf. 2:5; 4:40; 5:34). In the face of death, this is a supreme challenge for Jairus.” – ESV Study bible

1. DO NOT FEAR - Believe,

2. Do not fear what?

a. (Sickness, death, cleanness, isolation, the fearful world, Satan and spiritual forces, our own hearts?

3. Believe what?

a. In Christ? About Christ and what he can do?

4. How does that actually impact us? ( today?)

I think some clarity happens when we compare and contrast Jairus and this woman. [markan sandwhiches invite us to do just that].

· Having been saved/healed she still fears coming forward. She IS clean. But there is fear and trembling that the stigma still remains on her, she fears coming forward as it exposes her as having BEEN unclean before in that crowd.

· Christians and unbelievers have this exact same struggle whether a doctrinal misunderstanding or just a right understanding in mind, but it hadn’t penetrated to the heart

· Certainly unrepentance and hard-heartedness in our sin, loving our sin, is shameful….

· But admitting sin, even publicly admitting sin and going to Christ is at the very root and marrow of salvation. We are ALL sinners. And the Bible heaps up for examples of murderers, greedy, liars, and this woman whom Jesus sympathizes with, and we in our hearts say I hope when we read this story say, do not fear He is good! Go to him you are healed, saved even. Forgiven. Let that fear turn to praise and freedom…..Next time you fear your sin and shame, speak this same truth to yourself and believe Jesus’ mind and heart is true of other believers.

· Mark says yes, Have fear in the presence of a Holy Savior and his splendor. But do not fear sin, or death or shame. This woman can now go into the temple and hug her friends. She can walk down the streets dancing proclaiming glory and praise to Jesus the messiah no longer saying sorry unclean sorry stay back.

· Because she came to Jesus in desperate dependence! Faith.

· What was Jairus’ faith like? Jairus, he came to Jesus with a very narrowly calculated trust, and it had to get enlarged to a desperate all-or-nothing moment with the actual death of his daughter.

· vv. 35 Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” [36] But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

· Initially, he has no faith, the desperation actually fades away once it is announced she is not sick but dead…He thinks she has passed beyond anything Jesus can do…So, Why trouble the teacher further?….he’s a teacher who does miracles that’s it….he does not see Jesus as the Lord and Giver of Life.

· For Jairus fear and faith are a tug of war between fear of death and fear of Christ, Fearing Christ with Awe.

· What is our reaction in different situations when Jesus says “fear not”

o The declaration to not fear either feels silly, or foolish…

o But if he is more than a teacher, the Lord of Life, the Captain of souls then he is the captain before the battle, sayinh “fear not, we win!” It is now a heartening command. And in the very command, Jesus is allowing his glory to peek through shedding light and hope.

o Faith is entirely about who you think it is based on. Remember the Storm on the Sea of Galilee…He CARES, and HE is Able!

o And having just restored the demoniac man to his right mind, this account shows fallen creation, satan and evil, our own flesh and finite frailties from the fall with disease, and Death itself cannot stop Jesus from SAVING those who are his!

· Jesus has just had power and strength flow from himself to heal this woman. So too Jesus has the power and strength over death to say fear not and have it take its effect.

· [Verse 39] And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

· The same powerful word where God can say let their be light can say “she is just asleep” her death is no more powerful than the effort to rouse a sleeping person.

· [40] And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.

· [41] Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” [42] And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

· Fear Christ. Go to him. He’ll enlarge your heart. Pray for him to cast out your fears and shame. And replace it with an Amazement at what he has done not just for this girl, but for all who would trust in him.

· Taking Jairus and the Woman together in this passage, Mark is encouraging us to go to Christ with our sins. Take joy in the double meaning, sozo, healing, salvation is from Christ.

· Fear, “Is what holds the center of your thoughts, your gaze, captivates you, and its sheer presence in your life causes you to tremble…”

· Is this Jesus for your? OR still your sin, the approval of this world, shame, or your suffering?

· This morning for the first or the 1000th time ask Jesus “take my fear off those things and move it to yourself; Lord Jesus, that I may tremble with Joy and not despair?

Ah, but I can’t do that…hear these words from J.C. Ryle

Hope brings an eager expectation of good things to come, Love brings a warm and willing heart. Faith brings an empty hand, receives everything, and can give nothing in return—no grace is so important to the Christian’s own soul. By faith we begin. By faith we live. By faith we stand.

We walk by faith and not by sight. By faith we overcome. By faith we have peace. By faith we enter into rest. No grace should be the subject of so much self-inquiry. We should often ask our-selves, do I really believe? Is my faith true, genuine, and the gift of God?

May we never rest till we can give a satisfactory answer to these questions! Christ is not changed since the day when this woman was healed [or that girl raised from death itself]. He is still gracious and still mighty to save. There is but one thing needful if we want salvation. That one thing is the hand of faith… only touch’ Jesus, and [you] shall be made whole.”” – Ryle, 81.

And do not miss this Final parallel. Where does salvation leave Jairus, his daughter, the woman, and us… v. 34 The woman is left with the idea “daughter” “daughter your faith has saved you.”

And Jairus is told to give his daughter v. 43 “something to eat.”

Salvation from Christ gives us a clear status. We are reconciled; we are at peace with god brought into the family. And it is normal in the sense of humble ordinariness. We go eat our food. For the woman, it restores her to society and to God’s family. Grace restored nature. And Jesus in this moment held back the miseries of the fall for a second—it’s like He for a minute, pries open heaven, allowing her to be healed, this daughter returned, and then the gates slam back, and we are left saying, if God heals, “praise the Lord,” “if the Lord does not heal—then I have that hope of heaven.”

Meditate on this passage and see in Christ salvation, see in each miracle that brief and glorious prying back the veil as the hope of heaven bursts forward from Christ. This is our certain hope. Christ has come, Christ is reigning in heaven, Christ will return in a day when there will be no more sickness, sorrow, or death. Until then, you are certainly saved! If you are in Christ Jesus.

Prayer: Asking the Holy Spirit to work faith in us, remove guilt and shame, and allow us to say we are sinners, yes, but forgiven, washed, and walking with Christ day by day, being renewed after his image in grateful obedience and new morning mercies, Amen.

Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Mark 5:1–20 Demons Disfigure, Christ Restores

Introduction: Jesus has just led the disciples into a storm in order to show He is the Lord of nature, the creator himself. While fear of circumstances shrank the disciples’ faith, they ended the encounter with a fear of the LORD Jesus that one day will transfer into faith that He both cares, and is able to save to the uttermost.

Read Mark 5:1-20: [1] They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. [2] And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. [3] He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, [4] for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. [5] Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. [6] And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. [7] And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” [8] For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” [9] And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” [10] And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. [11] Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, [12] and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” [13] So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

[14] The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. [15] And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. [16] And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. [17] And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. [18] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. [19] And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” [20] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. (ESV)

Prayer of Illumination

Outline:

#1The Miserable Condition (Satan hates the honor and dignity we have by being created in the image of God).

#2 A Hopeful Man, The Son of the Most-High God, and a Fearful Legion (vv. 6-13).

#3 The Delivered Man, His Community’s Response, and Jesus’ Instruction (vv. 14-20)

Question: Did Jesus just happen upon this man? No, Jesus led them into the storm, revealed his glory, the disciples’ fear, and how much more after this instance will they be able to see that the Lord of the Storm, is also the Lord with power over a legion of demons….And also show that he is COMPASSIONATE. COMPASSIONATE ON THIS MAN, look at the demon possessed man’s miserable condition in vv. 1-5.

#1 A miserable condition (bondage to Satan) vv. 1-5

God has a purpose for our circumstances, the disciples I think in this encounter quickly realize that Jesus brought them through this storm so that they could confront this Demon possessed man with the fresh reminder that Jesus is powerful, They step off the boat into Gentile Territory, an unclean graveyard, filthy pigs, and demons: They immediately feel they are on the “wrong side of the sea of galilee, the other side of Jordan, it is not holy land anymore.

But we already saw a demon come into the synagogue; things are not well with Israel, but things are not any better on the other side of the sea.

By stepping outside the bounds of Israel the initial readers will notice that Jesus does not draw power from a little regional deity; He is the Lord of all creation. We just saw this: the Lord of Heaven and Earth; the wind and the waves obey Him.

Mark gives us the most vivid account of the demoniac man; anything that feels extra vivid and detailed, just assume that is Mark.

And what Mark shows us is: The Holy Freedom brought by Jesus, to mankind in bondage and ruin to the fall and under Satan’s rule.

Jesus has the power to free us from bondage to Satan and our sin. This is seen in this account and theologically taught in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:1–5 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

This man’s life is everyone in bondage to sin…only with the added particular focus and torment of what Satan would have be the eternal existence of All of Us.

· The man lives in unclean tombs, the very reality of sin and death

· He has lost communion with his family, his neighbors, and society. We were made to have relationships with God and our fellow image bearers and Satan has not only made those relationships difficult by sin but stolen all community from this man by this demonic possession.

· Note that; this man is helpless to save himself from the demonic possession and even his family and neighbors working together were unable to restrain the power of Satan.

o Both He and others are powerless to overcome and subdue the strength of Satan. Do you remember what Jesus has already called satan in Mark 3? The “strong man.”

o The Pharisees have said Jesus casts out demons by Satan’s power…this is not an individual demon but, as we’ll see an example of some 2,000 demons in one man.

o This is another showdown; Jesus defeated Satan in 1v1 combat in his wilderness temptations; Satan is like the defeated general shrinking back into his army and saying, fine, I’ll just throw numbers at Jesus.

§ We must affirm that Satan has had destructive influence on the world until the time of Jesus.

§ There further seems to be a desperate thrashing about of Satan during the life of Jesus to defeat him. To prevent Jesus coming and freeing Satan of his subjects.

· To summarize: Living among tombs evokes extreme uncleanness and exile:

o This Gentile in God’s providence is allowed to be a parable of lost and exiled Israel being no better; the prophet Isaiah says this of disobedient and exiled Israel in Isaiah 65:3–4; God’s people are a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; [right idol worshippers, disobeying God’s rules for priests, the temple, and the alters being uncut stones.]

o But listen to verse: [4 – A people who] who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; (ESV)

o The disciples in this gentile man are seeing even Israel’s spiritual state. Jesus tells the Pharisees that “satan is their father”

o We often don’t look it on the outside; but we are this miserable man apart from Jesus. We are miserable apart from Jesus, freeing us from the domination of sin and our flesh, and yes, Satan’s real influence.

· The mad man is miserable; Sin and Satan’ power over him are seen in His inability to not self-harm; his un-tame-ability illustrates the destructive bondage of Satan being as Jesus call in Mark 3 “the strong man”

o Jesus says, no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

o Jesus individually and globally will bind the strong man, Satan, at the Cross & by his Kingly rule from Heaven.

· To get this out of the way: A brief aside on us today and spiritual warfare, demons.

o Christians who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit will not be demon-possessed like this man

§ Without divine protection and the work of the Holy Spirit, indeed unbelievers are not safe from Satanic influence and possession. It is however, very difficult for us to with certainty distinguish the effects of the fall, sin, and mental-sickness from demonic influence.

§ But we know Satan’s goals and his fingerprints: by anything that dehumanizes us, leaving us—isolated and self-destructive whether by our doing in our flesh or Satan’s influence.

o We can say that Satan is more restrained but not inactive in this present age;

o There is still demonic activity, the world, and our flesh. The War has been won by Jesus, but there are still battles to be fought as Satan thrashes about in his defeat on his chain.

o Christian’s should be sober-minded about what is sinful and satanic, without panic and thinking of satan as having more power than Christ or near equal in power to Christ.

o Jesus says Fear not, for I have overcome the world! And again, “I saw Satan fall like lightning” and

o Colossians 1 [Jesus] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. [15] [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (ESV)

· How does Jesus respond to this man given the power and authority we have just described about Him?

· Jesus responds with MERCY & COMPASSION towards this man and the dehumanizing results of sin and the demon’s possession.

o The World, the flesh, and the devil all tend towards diminishing communion with God and our fellow man,

o Do you have a sin pattern that isolates you from others, that makes your feel less alive and dignified as a man or woman made in the image of God? The you need verse 6.

#2 A Hopeful Man, The Son of the Most High God, and a Fearful Legion (vv. 6-13)

[6] And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. [7] And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” [8] For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

It is very difficult to distinguish what are the actions of the man and what are the actions of the demons called Legion. The words are from the demons, but the actions seem like the desperation of the Man.

From afar there is a recognition of who Jesus is, not just the famous teacher who is gaining popularity…No, there is from the demons an immediate recognition of the Eternal Second person of the Trinity, the Son of the Most high God who they owe worship and allegiance to who they are in rebellion against….

Jesus gets off the boat, the demons panic—But I believe this Man with his remaining consciousness RUNS to Christ. He—though he never is allowed to speak—Is like the leper who throws himself at Jesus’ feet knowing He can make me WELL! I cannot free myself, but Jesus can make me well! I cannot.

The sin, the isolation, the self-harm, and the language is that it is continual, it is habitual. He has been restrained by others over and over again, and nothing is strong enough to bind him. There is a complete inability to STOP, an inability to be clean, to be away from death, and the torment of demons—Jesus can deliver me from Hell and my living damnation!

He runs to Jesus, The demons run to Jesus…Mark leaves it all muddled….

The man / the demons fall at the feet of Jesus, It is Worship! But the demons are afraid, no trust, no love, no fitness to be at the feet of Jesus. he still cannot save himself, the demons are in control, the sin and its desires, the flesh is weak. Dead in trespasses and sins…And so Legion speaks. Legion drives the conversation to be about the demons not the Man.

Legion, has the audacity and the gall to use the vocal cords of the man he is torturing to ask for Jesus not to torment them..

“Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

YOU SPIRIT are Unclean, this is a MAN….Legion argues….until…

Jesus asks the demon for his name and this is when we suddenly switch to the plural, I think the demons are actually going for intimidation as a defense. My name is Legion, for WE are many…there’s more of us than you!

Commentators point out that Legion is a Latin term; it is a military battalion, if you will, and meant to show a huge number of demons in military readiness.

But no matter the posturing…Legion is begging….the numbers do not matter.

The begging to go into the pigs suggests, as some point out, that demons prefer tormenting creatures “at least give us the pigs”, they perhaps prefer certain areas “don’t send us out of the country”, they know that there is a judgment day coming but suspect that time shouldn’t be yet.

But I doubt they knew the timing, the true extent of their defeat at the Cross, Jesus’ decisive victory.

Demons believe and Shudder (James 2:19), but they have no true faith or trust or understanding of salvation by grace in Jesus.

They would rather remain in unclean pigs than submit to Christ and leave humanity and the rest of God’s creation alone. This is why one day they will be utterly cast out and delivered to eternal judgment. But for this day, Jesus permits them to go to the pigs…Perhaps to demonstrate the number of demons clearly, to show their destructiveness, and to prove that this man was not just crazy; it was a true spiritual oppression.

Jesus is also clever; this will reveal whether the community values this man being restored to his right mind, or if they are more worried about the economic loss of the herd of PIGS.

This man has been ostracized from family and friends for years and under torment.

And indeed, the value of one human soul infinitely outweighs the value of that herd of pigs.

We can say that Jesus truly loved this man; He is rich in mercy…

Peace be still to the storm…And to the demons, as you quake before your creator, I will not shout for you to leave; you will, and you have my permission to get out of my presence before you are judged by your king.

#3 The Delivered Man, His Community’s Response, and Jesus’ Instruction (vv. 14-20)

[14] The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. [15] And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. [16] And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. [17] And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Sin leaves us out of our mind and self-destructive. Even if we are not demon-possessed and oppressed.

In our salvation, the Spirit of Christ restores and renews our mind after Jesus’ image; we have the mind of Christ, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, Faith, Hope, and Love restored to us, as we experience Joy, Peace, Patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

· All are a restored mind.

· Douglas O’Donnell Notes: You can tell when you have anti-Christian philosophies and ideologies at work when societies crumble and torment the image of God…we saw it in Hitler’s Germany, communist countries of the 20th century, the damage of the sexual revolution of the late 20th and continuing in the current day it destroys our right mind and harms our bodies. It destroys self-control and leads to harm to individuals, family, and society… so-called freedom has proven to be bondage, harm, and slavery to our flesh…Leaving us unclean, undignified, and together a shameful culture….You can always ask does this ideology or belief disfigure and harm beauty, body, and mind as God created it? That is what the demons did to this man. Does it take sin and misery and magnify it into a constant torment? Does it put us, if embraced constantly at contradiction with God and his created order? If it does then it is both sin and spiritual warfare against human dignity.

· Instead, we must pray to God that the Holy Spirit would cause us to be born again, freed from sin’s dominion, its penalty, the shame of sin, and that we would be restored body and soul, mind and life.

o That is Dignified, with Sanctity, and as a society, darkness is restrained not celebrated.

· The community of this man did not rejoice in his salvation; they sent Jesus away.

· O’Donnell notes they feared Christ just as the disciples did when he calmed the storm, [quote] “they fear what might happen to their daily routine, relationships, jobs, pocketbooks. They fear that following Jesus might just ruin their lives…[then quoting Calvin]… “What could have been worse than this? They too were scattered, and here is a shepherd to collect them—or rather, it is God who stretches out his arms, through his Son, to embrace and carry to heave those who were overwhelmed by the darkness of death. They choose rather to be deprived of the salvation that is offered to them than to endure any longer the presence of Christ.” (Calvin, Harmony of the Gospels, 1480) (O’Donnell, Expository Reflection on the Gospel of Mark, 145).

Verse 18, The man wanted to accompany Jesus, but Jesus does not call all to full-time vocational ministry; instead, He sent him Home. “Go home in order to tell your friends how much the LORD has done for you.”

o How has the Lord restored you from sin and shame? How has the Lord shown mercy to you…Maybe these are the friends and families who had given up hope that this man would ever be restored to them…Jesus gives him back to them more himself than he ever was, even before the demon possession.

§ Verse 19, Out here in Gentile territory, Jesus doesn’t command silence; no Pharisees and scribes and crowds here…Just a man whose dignity, value, and freedom has been restored by Christ Jesus.

§ He goes into the Decapolis—the ten cities of the region with the good news that Christ delivers sinners…not just any sinners but sinners in bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Those unable to save themselves.

§ This man who has been loved much has a great message for his family and friends.

§ Everyone saved by Jesus is called to be a living testimony to Christ, and we are to speak of him to others.

§ And Jesus is a MARVELOUS, WONDERFUL, STUNNING. SPECTACULAR Savior.

§ Take inventory of this great salvation

o Jesus, by delivering us from sin, restores the dignity and honor we have as men and women made in the image of God.

If you know in your heart this morning that you are not free from your own sinful heart and darkness. Cry out to Christ to save you from your sins, to grant you a heart, mind, and soul that is forgiven, restored, and freed to worship Christ

…he is the friend of sinners, he is able to rescue you from the kingdom of darkness and bring you into his kingdom of marvelous light.

1. And can it be that I should gain an int’rest in the Savior’s blood?… He left his Father’s throne above…’Tis myst’ry all! Th’Immortal dies…

2. Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature’s night; thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Prayer

Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com

Introduction: The problem of anxious hearts, that is, the overwhelmed moments of life.

What are things that bring us Fatigue, Anxiety, and cause us to search about for “who’s in charge here” “who’se going to step in here”

[ROOTS] Running the camp vs. just being there. …it’s a low stakes version of the principle, but in the psalms it was often harder for David, enemies, sins, loss, decisions that impact your family and community…

Our passage today helps us ask: When you are anxious or overwhelmed, who can you always look over your shoulder to see that he is there, that he brings peace, calm, and real meaning to your life? That is what Mark’s gospel wants us to answer today “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? The answer is good news for us.

Read: Mark 4:35–41

[35] On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” [36] And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. [37] And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. [38] But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” [39] And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” [41] And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (ESV)

Prayer of Illumination

Context: New Section 4:35-5:43 Having completed parables on the nature of the Word and kingdom, Jesus will, over the next three scenes as Sinclair Ferguson says, “reign over the forces of nature and chaos (today); over the powers of darkness; over sickness, disease, sorrow and even death itself. Jesus is Lord!” – Ferguson, 60.

Four questions

#1 Who brings us into the storm?

#2 Who cares for us in the storm?

#3 Who do you trust to deal with the storm?

#4 How will you respond to handing control to the one who can deal with it?

Let’s observe this text closely.

#1 Who brings us into the storm? vv.35-37

[35] On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” [36] And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. [37] And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

First, Who initiates events that place the disciples and other boats into this great windstorm? – Jesus Does.

A. Jesus initiates

B. Not in the storm due to disobedience or sin. In fact this started out as another day in the life of fisherman. Another commute. Another school day.

Second, The greatness of the storm and Jonah parallel.

And then WHAM! We’re taking on water, we’re going down, It’s no longer just another commute, its not an ordinary schoolday, its not just another family night something has come in to shatter our feeling of being in control.

We are not omnipotent, omni-competent, all wise, and we are not just fearful but but our fear leads us to forget the loving relationship we have to a heavenly Father. Fearful circumstances shrink our world down to functional atheism.

But the text would not have us believe that this is luck, blind-fate, a disenchanted world where it’s a purposeless and meaningless storm…No it has too many parallels to the first chapter of Jonah, from its sudden onset and its sudden resolution, to the fact that both Jesus and Jonah were asleep on the boat. And further the disciples reaction mirroring that of the pagan sailors in Jonah who ended that chapter offering oaths and worship to the true and the living God….But this storm…

This storm is not like the one Jonah experienced because he was fleeing God,but there are similarities in the fact that God is the one who can send the storm and calm the storm, God hurls the storm in Jonah and God ends it instantly as soon as Jonah is thrown overboard.

· But any hearer of this like us if you know Jonah should be saying hmmmm, did the pagan sailors in Jonah respond better after the calm by worshipping God? The disciples respond with still a hesitant, straddling of the fence, “who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him…

· To restate, we can say, Jesus initiated, it wasn’t sin that lead them there, the Storm is within God’ providence as with Jonah, there response is less than satisfactory perhaps even falling short of the sailors in Jonah chapter 1,

o So firstly remember you can do everything right, and a sudden struggle, temptation, trial, and difficult situation is not necessarily because you did something wrong and God is mad at you.

o Jesus lead them into the storm and it wasn’t because he was mad at them.

o Following Jesus does not exempt you from trials, from suffering, from difficult circumstances.

§ See our study of Pilgrim’s Progress, or J.C. Ryle “if we are true Christians, we must not expect everything smooth in our journey to heavne.” (Ryle, 66).

o Sometimes Jesus is the one who says hop in the boat.

· look in verse 38 it provokes in the disciple the question,

#2 Who cares for us in the storm? Does Jesus care? Does God care?

[38] But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion [only Mark gives this very eyewitness detail, evening, other boats (which invites witnesses), and the pillow) indicating Peter’s close observations given to John-Mark]. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

- Teacher not Lord. Sure, he had been teaching the whole day. But interesting teacher, not LORD.

Sinclair Ferguson calls this a cruel question (Ferguson, 61). And as humans this is our constant accusation of God, of Christ, and against the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Do you care God?

[Ill. Children to parents, they are denied something, a necessary pain is inflicted, “you don’t love me” “you never help out.” “you hate me”

So we say, God you are out to kill me! God is dead or if he’s alive he does not care.

The gospels aim is to persuade us that God is not only alive, but he so very much cares that he sent his only begotten son to rescue us.

[39] And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [40] He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” [41] And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (ESV)

Let’s take these in this order

A. First, let’s ask Does Jesus Care? Our answer is Yes, but the answer is interestingly captured in the incarnation of Jesus. His being true man and true God is displayed in the details of this passage.

So First, Does Jesus Care?

A. Yes, The proof of his love for the disciples and us is contained in him sleeping on that pillow ((The incarnation as the greatest act of love.)). Even in the incarnation he wield divine power and prerogative

a. We need to put two statements side by side and if we do we get good Christology.

i. His Humanity shows he cares: He was asleep on the cushion…He left heaven, came and suffered all the miseries of this life, including subjecting himself to that feeling of exhaustion.

ii. His Deity means he can do something about the storm: He rebuked [strongly rebuked] the wind and said to the sea, “Peace, Be still!] And it was instantly a smooth sea of glass.

B. This reinforces to us that Jesus is demonstrating his divine authority, his God-Man identity. Jesus is fully God and fully Man in two distinct natures and one person. He can equally according to his human nature be asleep on a pillow, exhausted from a days work of preaching….which school teachers you know how draining lecturing and speaking is…Jesus got tired to, truly man, and yet truly God the Lord of the winds and the waves (Psalms reference???) he is able to wake up and exercise his authority over nature by his Word.)

Which answers our third question:…

#3 Who do you trust to deal with the storm? Trust Christ your creator, fear him and trust him.

- Job 28:25,

o Job 28:20–28 [20] “From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? [21] It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. [22] Abaddon and Death say,‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

o [23] “God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. [24] For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. [25] When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure, [26] when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder,

o [27] then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. [28] And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (ESV)

§ God, all-wise, is the creator of the wind and the storm, therefore oh man, who in himself is not wise, who is not the creator, Fear God that is wisdom…

§ We could go off but the bible as it talks about Jesus, frequent connect Wisdom, personified, as the eternal Word, Christ as our Creator with power over creation to wisdom. Christ is our Wisdom….So in the midst of the storm is Jesus who is God who measured the winds weight and apportioned the waters by measure….It would be wise to stand in awe of Christ our wise creator in the midst of what is naturally a very fearful moment and circumstance.

- Ps. 107:25-30; [listen to the many parallels here and remember the bible has many human authors but a single divine author. The bible throughout history is God breatehed and the Psalms anticipate Christ Jesus. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and today. He is the LORD of this Psalm.

o Psalm 107:1–2 [1] Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! [2] Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble (ESV)

o Psalm 107:23–32 [23] Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; [24] they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. [25] For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. [26] They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; [27] they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.

o [28] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [29] He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.[30] Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. [31] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. [32] Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. (ESV)

o Amos 4:12

- Ps. 104:7, “the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.” 106:9, John 14:29

o God the creator rebuked the waters at creation to separate the dry land from the sea, Jesus rebukes the storm in our passage and they obey their creator.

o Divine command, divine fiat belongs to Christ Jesus.

Transition: Peace? Stillness? What does this mean for both Nature and the disciples? For Us?

Look in verse 41 one more time…

#4 How will you respond to handing control to the one who can deal with it?

[41] And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (ESV)

Who then is this? The disciples were asking it then…for us the readers of the gospel it is supposed to reinforce an understanding our relationship with our creator and our God is through Christ Jesus. The human heart, your soul is in union and communion with God your creator through Jesus. You know your creator through Jesus, you know your purpose, your meaning, your ability to lay your head down and night and not be wracked with existiential crisis’, with Nihilism, empty purposelessness, the cold dark void of space, storms, chaos of seas but other chaos’

The chaos of Economy (broad), work, profit…..The Chaos of Nations, politics, human turmoil…The chaos of evil

Instead, in this storm the disciples see the Lord of creation who orders the chaos of the sea. the God who Orders.

The God who calms with Peace

How? Powerful hands, trustworthy hands, calming hands that remove the anxieties of life….

C. Fear of circumstances of this world kills Faith in Christ, that is Fear of Christ above all else would’ve given them Faith in Christ and PEACE against circumstances.

D. Ferguson says, “they had allowed the voice of the storm to silence the voice of the Lord.”

E. You may have allowed the voice of internet doomscrolling, of the social and political darknesses in the world to silence the voice of the savior in your heart.

F. Perhaps you have so come to love a sin or a situation you are in that is wrong that you would be afraid if Jesus told you peace be still. And he removed that entire situation out of your life. Him interfering with the wind and the wave with whatever your circumstance is would be the terrifying thing. It would not be peace to you but frightening silence.

G. He cares for you, he knows what is right for you, go to him in prayer ask him to silence it, to give you peace from sin, fear, and paralysis. Go to him. Be afraid of sin not afraid of the savior of sinners.

H. Fear God not Man. Fear God not sin. Fear God not satan. That is be in Awe of Christ, be transfixed by your creator, behold him, he is glorious.

a. Jesus went to the cross in much the same attitude as in this storm. He spoke barely a word as his trial. A few words on the cross. Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

b. They are a fearful people, a threatened people, forgive them. They don’t get the peace he brought at the cross

c. The sky turned dark, it was finished, who is this? Surely this is the Son of God?

d. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

i. Be Still!

ii. It is Finished!

iii. And creation obeys him.

e. At his resurrection the disciples still treated Jesus with the same trepidation…Thomas unless I see the wounds and place my hand in his side….His fear, his doubt killed his faith….

i. But Jesus subdued the darkness, the storm, the chaos, he does it by a word….Ferguson says of the disciples “for a brief moment they saw the majesty, power and glory of Jesus unveiled…”

ii. The Thomas does, then 72, then Pentecost, how many individuals trapped in darkness have had the Spirit descend like fire into their heart and there is the fear as you see your sin lit up, and then the fear of Jesus Glorious, Sinless, but then you remember…Does he care? Yes, Yes he cares, Jesus is the Friend of Sinners, the bridegroom, he makes you clean, he restores, he is your elder brother, he is glorious, terrifying, but Good and brings forgiveness and PEACE! Go to Jesus ask him to remove your sin, to be every present with you. Pray to him

iii. Let us leave these verses with the comfortable recollection that Jesus is not changed. His heart is still the same that it was when he crossed the sea of Galilee and stilled the storm. High in heaven at the right hand of God, Jesus is still sympathizing, still almighty, still pitiful and patient toward his people. (J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Mark.).

How will you respond to handing control to the one who can deal with it?

iv. When the storms come, say Jesus, I am terrified of this moment this storm this day this relationship problem. Help me, I know you care, you are with me, I in you and you in me.

1. No sin, no passion, no temper, no moment is to great for the Lord not to calm the storm in our hearts, even if he asks you to go through the storm in your life.

v. Look at the Storm, take your fear to Jesus. He is Good. He cares. He has gone through the same suffering and trials in his life on earth, he will be with you. He does care. He does save, entrust your soul to Christ, entrust your earthly trials to Christ. Do not fear.

Prayer

Benediction

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesensley.substack.com