Jeff Shelnutt Sermons

The Pharisees take issue with Jesus over allowing His disciples to pick grain to eat while passing through a field on the Sabbath. They consider this "work." Instead of making a case for the ways the Pharisees add to God's Law, Jesus instead focuses on a story from First Samuel 21 about a young David. In establishing that He is in fact the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus also establishes that He is Lord of everything. We can only understand, interpret, and apply God's Word correctly when we are submitted to Jesus as Lord.

Jesus is questioned about the fact that His disciples are not fasting like the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees. Jesus responds with an illustration about a wedding. He then gives two more illustrations that address the greater issue: how the new is not compatible with the old. The Christian follows a Person, not a system.

Levi left behind all that was tied to his tax booth when he chose to follow Jesus. And then, Jesus accepted an invitation to dine with other tax collectors and sinners. Jesus was not afraid that such company would influence Him. He knew the only way to reach those far from God is to draw near to them. We're all sick and need a doctor. It's just that many don't realize it.

In the first of five confrontations with religious leaders in Galilee, Jesus is brought a paralyzed man. So determined are his friends to help their friend, they lower him through the roof into the crowded room where Jesus is teaching. As debilitating as paralysis is, there is a much greater need that Jesus first addresses. Only after a person is forgiven of his sins can he get up and walk in newness of life.

So severe and debilitating was leprosy in the ancient world, it was thought as difficult to cure as raising the dead. Since only God can raise the dead, it's no surprise that Jesus cleansed a leper. Spiritually-speaking, we need more than healing from the penalty of sin; we need a cleansing that fundamentally changes who we are within.

Word quickly spreads around Capernaum about Jesus' healing power and authority over evil spirits. In this passage we answer 1) who to go to for healing; 2) why to go for prayer; and 3) how to experience transformation. Jesus' miracles verified His mission.

When Jesus began to teach in Galilee, His listeners were astonished by the authority with which He spoke. To prove the King was bringing in His reign, Marks records that Jesus cast out an unclean spirit and raised a woman from her sickbed. The One who dispels darkness and brings healing bids His followers to receive and serve.

The Kingdom has come in the King! As Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee, we observe the arrival, the message, the call, and the path of the King. When Jesus says, "Follow Me," we should respond immediately and completely.

Jesus, as the perfect Israelite, identifies Himself with His people in baptism. Then, like Israel before Him, the Son of God is driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Because Jesus submitted to His Father and overcame temptation in the domain of the devil, the Christian receives life through submission to Christ.

In beginning a series on the Gospel of Mark, we discover that Mark does not begin his account with the birth of Jesus, but with the preaching of John the Baptist. John's message of repentance in the wilderness communicated to the Israelites who heard him that God was doing something new. Indeed, Mark focuses our attention in his Gospel on what it means that Jesus the Messiah is the Son of God.