This quarter's lessons are taken from the Gospel as written by John Mark.

Who was John Mark?

John Mark was a young man living during the the time of Christ.
His father was most likely, a Gentile, (so we see John Mark having a Roman name, Mark}
His mother was Jewish (Thus John Mark was considered Jewish as well)

Colossians 4:10 says that Mark was a cousin to Barnabas.

It is suggested that his mother Mary, a aunt to Barnabas, married a Gentile and was not in Jerusalem during the earlier ministry of Jesus, and when her husband died, she, with her son, moved back to her families estate in Jerusalem. She was a fairly wealthy woman, and appears rather suddenly as a strong supporter of the early Christian church.
John Mark was not a follower of Jesus in his early ministry, probably because he, with his mother were not in Judea during those earlier years.
Another tradition, maintains that the Last Supper (Mark 14) was held in the home of Mary. This is based on the text that the church also gathered in her home to pray for Peter when he was in prison. (Acts 12:12)
The tradition points to Mark 14:51-52, suggesting the young man that lost his garment while fleeing from Christ's captors, was John Mark, who, being intrigued by Jesus, and wanting to know more about Him, had secretly followed Jesus and His disciples as they left the upper room of the house and went to Gethsemane. He was hiding in the bushes watching as the mob came to arrest Jesus, a temple servant spied John Mark in the bushes and tried to catch him.

Next we see John Mark with his cousin Barnabas joining Paul (Saul) on his first mission trip.
John Mark is not used to the rigors of missionary life, and probably complained some and was reprimanded, and finally left on the first ship he could find that took him back home to Jerusalem. (Acts 13:5)

Time passes and Barnabas and Paul come home. Barnabas probably spent time with his aunt and nephew and told them all about the mission trip and the churches they raised. John Mark expresses interest in trying to be a missionary again.

But when Paul and Barnabas make plans for a second journey, and Barnabas mentions John Mark would like to come with them, Paul is adamant, NO WAY! He is not taking that deserter with them again. The dispute becomes so sharp that Paul and Barnabas separate and Barnabas takes John Mark on a separate mission trip with him to Cyprus.

We don't hear too much more, but according to the letters of Paul and Peter, John Mark did become a reliable and good missionary and helper.
Paul refers to him as a ?fellow worker? (Philemon 24) and ?very useful to my ministry? (2 Timothy 4:11)

The early church unanimously claimed the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark the Evangelist, and that he was closely associated with Peter, basing the gospel on Peter?s account.

Mark doesn't waste much time or space introducing the gospel.
In the first 14 verses we learn:

1. A forerunner was prophesied
2. The forerunner came and announced the Messiah's coming.
3. Jesus came and was baptized and received the anointing of the Holy Spirit and verification from the Father.
4. Jesus was tempted (harassed by) the devil.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY IN THE BOOK OF MARK

That theme is emphasized in the book of Mark.
Christ came to save. The devil and his demons fight against him.

It starts in verse 10
Jesus is proclaimed the Messiah by heaven
IMMEDIATELY Jesus finds himself in the wilderness tempted by Satan 40 days.

verse 14
Jesus begins preaching "the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel."
IMMEDIATELY Jesus is the synagogue and a demon possessed man challenges Him. "Leave us alone! Did you come to destroy us, I know who You are the Holy One of God"

verse 30 The sick and demon possessed are brought to Jesus after the Sabbath.
Jesus cast out many demons and did not allow them to speak

verse 38 Jesus suggests they visit other towns
And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and casting out demons. .



" Jesus Christ is the channel of communication of that light to those who are in darkness. Let
one lose his connection with Christ, and Satan seizes the opportunity to lead him to dishonor Christ by words, by spirit, by action, and thus Christ's character is misinterpreted. "

.

A SABBATH WITH JESUS
Mark, in chapter one, tells about a remarkable Sabbath in Capernaum.
.
Jesus has just begun His ministry.
They have just recently arrived in Capernaum

It's Sabbath so Jesus and His newly called disciples, Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John went straightway to the synagogue there in Capernaum, to worship.
They didn't just come sneaking in the back door either. For the next sentence tells us Jesus took the position as MAIN SPEAKER!
1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

Jesus, "Who being the brightness of Gods' glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power," (Heb. 1:2) was here on earth, in human form, teaching in a Jewish synagogue that Sabbath morning, telling them heavenly truths with rich spiritual meanings.

But someone is very angry! Satan and his legions!
One of satan's powerful demons rose up in that synagogue where Jesus was teaching and speaking through a man who was under his control, cried out 1:24 "Saying, Leave us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to destroy us? I know thee who You are, the Holy One of God".

Indeed the demon knew Who Jesus was! But he was not praising Jesus. He was speaking with bitter resentment. That demon had once been in heaven, he had been there listening and accepting Lucifer's lies when the rebellion took place in heaven (Rev. 12) He remembered Who cast him and all his rebel friends out of heaven.

Jesus rebuked the demon, saying, "Hold thy peace, and come out of him." Jesus wasn't about to argue with the demon, but simply told him to be quiet and leave the man; to stop controlling the human that had been brought under the power of demons.

The man wanted to be free. But the demon wasn't about to give up without a fight.



The man was free! He praised the Lord with genuine thanksgiving! The people were dumb with amazement. As soon as they recovered speech they exclaimed, one to another, "What is this? a new teaching! with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." Mark 1:27,

But that wasn't the end of that particular Sabbath.

After the service they went to Peter's house where Peter's mother-in-law lay sick. Jesus healed her, and she got up and made them dinner!

Outside people were talking. "Did you hear what happened at the synagogue this morning?"
Then we see in 1:32 "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought to Jesus all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door."

So all Saturday evening Jesus was busy and healed many that were sick of many different diseases, and He cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
Those demons knew Jesus had come to save people from their control, and they wanted to contest their right to control their victims, most of whom had "played" with the demons thus inviting them in to control their lives. But Jesus won't argue with any demons, He told them to be quiet and leave the victim, giving those people another chance to cling to the ONE, who offers them grace, and life, and liberty from sin!

The Secret of Christ's Power.

1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

As we continue to read Mark chapter 1, we find that Jesus, after an evening helping large crowds of people, Got up very early the next morning to pray.

What was the secret of Christ's power?
Some may think -- well the Bible tells us us, the Word (Jesus) was God, and was with God (John 1:1) the Creator of all things, and was now in human form, (flesh) John 1:14, so why ask such a question, isn't He all powerful?

But Jesus came to this world to live as a man; to face sin as a human.
Humans do not have a power within themselves to resist sin.
As a human Christ would NOT depend upon His own divine power, He would depend fully upon His Father for power to live a righteous life.

And we, looking at His example, see the secret of finding the strength to overcome.
Just as Jesus connected constantly with God the Father Who is in heaven, so we must, through prayer, connect constantly with Christ, our eternal mediator Who is in heaven.

THE LEPER in Mark 1:40-45.



Leprosy was a dreaded skin disease, that caused the victim to be ostracized from society.

n many ways, leprosy is symbolic of sin. Like leprosy, sin is an awful, contaminating, degrading, unclean thing. It starts out small, a little innocent looking spot, but it grows and festers until it takes over the whole person, and ends in death.

The work of Christ in cleansing the leper from this terrible disease is an illustration of His work in cleansing human beings from sin.
The man who came to Jesus was "full of leprosy." He was NOT a handsome sight, the evidence of His disease having robbed him of several functions as deadly poison permeated his whole body.
The prophet Isaiah describes sin in language that could be used for leprosy:
Isaiah 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.


The leper begs Jesus "If you want to heal me, You can!
And Jesus reaches out to touch the kneeling man before Him. That person had probably not experienced a gentle touch for many years. It was against the law to touch anyone with leprosy! To touch a leper was to be defiled.
But in placing His hand upon the leper, Jesus was not defiled. The current was going the other way as His touch imparted life-giving, healing power. The leprosy was gone, the man was cleansed.

Go show yourself to the priest.

What is the priest's role in this story of the leper?
We realize leprosy is symbolic of sin.
The Levitical priesthood foreshadowed the work of Christ.

In what way does the Levitical priesthood foreshadow the work of Christ in this situation?

Hebrews draws our attention to the Great Better Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
In the shadow of the Jewish system, the priest in Leviticus would take the blood of the sacrifice and make an atonement for the sinner.

" the priest shall make an atonement for him and his sins shall be forgiven him." is a phrase repeated over and over in Leviticus.
And so Christ's work in the heavenly sanctuary is to take the amazing benefits of His atoning sacrifice on the cross and apply it to the repenting sinner.
Christ's sacrifice and priestly work in forgiveness for sinners is central!

However, the priest also had another work.
The work of a judge.
In Leviticus 13 we read that the priest was the judge and anyone suspected of having leprosy be brought to the priest who would examine them carefully, and pronounce them either "clean" or "unclean" and anyone pronounce "unclean" would be cut off from society and sent out to dwell alone.

So too, Jesus is our Judge. There is an investigative judgment.

The issue is this. Jesus plans to return to earth and gather and bring a lot of "lepers" into the heavenly kingdom. Remember leprosy (the rebellion of sin) was cast out of heaven. How is this possible, that Christ would bring a whole host of lepers back into heaven? And so we see in Daniel 7 the millions of angelic beings watch as the court is seated and the books are opened. Jesus is brought in and declared worthy to define the citizens of His kingdom.
In Revelation 3:5 we see Him defending those who overcame by His power, they are NOT blotted out of the book of life. They are cleansed and dressed in white robes They have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14, and 12:10-11)
They will inherit the eternal kingdom with Christ their King and Savior.

LESSON THREE
CONTROVERSIES
Covering passages in Mark two and three.

The calling of sinners.

Tax collectors were not liked in Judea, especially if they were Jewish and had sold out to Rome in order to gather taxes from their own people and give it to the Romans. They were considered to be the lowest of the low. Traitors, liars, thieves (as they lined their own pockets with the extra taxes collected.

Yet, Jesus, walks up to a man sitting at the tax collecting desk and invites him to follow Him. This man's name is Levi Mathew the son of Alphaeus. And Levi arose and followed Christ.
That seemed bad enough to the disciples and the onlookers. But Jesus did more, going against ridged customs, Jesus attended a supper in the publican Levi's house. Levi had invited many of his tax collecting friends to this supper as well. For many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples.

Controversy breaks out!
Jesus isn't dealing with demons here (not directly anyway) he is confronted by leaders in the church who are very indignant that Jesus, who presents Himself as a teacher of heavenly things, would dare openly to attend a "party" of publicans!
These religious leaders confront the disciples who are probably also reeling a little over Jesus actions.
"Why is the one you call master eating with publicans and sinners?"
The disciples can't answer that question, but Jesus does:
He says, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

A lot of thoughts can be gleaned from that story!

1. Jesus calls sinners to follow Him.
Levi's mouth probably dropped open in surprise, Jesus was calling him, a despised and low down sinner????? Wonder of wonders, Jesus saw something worthwhile in him, and Levi responds and follows Jesus. In his joy he invites his friends -- come see Jesus, this Man has come to save despised sinners like us!
We should never think we are "too sinful" to come to Christ, He will lift us up and cleanse us and set our feet on missions for Him. In fact, God wants us to let Him into our lives, so He can transform our lives.

2. Does this Bible story give us an excuse to go party with sinners? That's a hard question, for the Bible tells us both to forsake all this worldly entertainment and stop mixing with the world, but it also tells us to get out there among the people, where we can reach people, mingle with them and bring them to Christ. Probably the important question to ask is, "Which way is the current going"? Did we come to a worldly party to enjoy being part of worldly things, thus we drift in the downward current of sin?
Jesus, at that party of publicans set the current to move strongly in an upward way. For " many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him".

3. Jesus came to call sinners unto repentance, not the righteous. But there is a hidden meaning here. We are all sinners, who need to accept the call and come to Jesus. So who are these "righteous"? There doesn't seem to be any. Only those who THOUGHT they were righteous.
One of the most dangerous thoughts that can keep us out of Christ's kingdom, is to think we are righteous and don't need to be called to repentance, and thus have no need for a Savior. That is the condition of the Laodicean church -- the church of today, a people who think they have it all together, so they don't seek for Christ. But they need Him just as much as those publics and sinners who came to sit with Jesus at that supper.

4. How do we regard people who are classified as "sinners"? Do we envy them and wish we were "free" to indulge? Do we despise them and flaunt our own supposed "righteousness"? Or can we, like Jesus see their potential as people for whom Christ died to save them (just as He died to save us) and seek to point them to our Savior?

LESSON THREE
CONTROVERSIES continued
Covering passages in Mark two and three.

The Sabbath Controversy.
That is one controversy that seems to hit everyone in some form or other throughout Christian history.

This controversy seems to be based on people thinking, or being told that Sabbath is a ritual.
The Jews had turned it into a ritual by encumbering the Sabbath with a long list of rules of does and don'ts as to what can or can't be done on the Sabbath.

Thus the disciples were accused of Sabbath breaking when they plucked a handful of food to eat, as they passed through a field. It was considered an act of harvesting and harvesting is not done on the Sabbath.

On the other side, many push aside the Sabbath as simply a ritual and since Christians don't do rituals in order to be saved, therefore, they reason the Sabbath is no longer binding.

Either side, have based their wrong concepts about the Sabbath, because, in their minds the Sabbath is simply a ritual. But the Sabbath is not a "ritual", it is a gift from God, an invitation to enter into special time with Him. A time to remember God's creation and love and connect with God without having to worry about business work. Stopping from work, frees us so we can connect with God without the pressures of life distracting us, on this special day.

Jesus meets the controversy by saying
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Therefore the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath Day (Mark 2:27-28)

-- these two verses are important!
1. The Sabbath was created for humans. At Creation (See Gen.2:2) when the Sabbath was made, it was created for humans, not just Jews. In answering the accusers, Jesus reverts back to Sabbath's origin in Eden. The Sabbath was made/created on account of man and not man on account of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was created right after the creation of man, (not invented at Sinai) created for the human race to enjoy.

2. Not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath doesn't demand a round of rituals to establish it's holiness. The institutions that God has established are for the benefit of mankind. The Sabbath was made holy, blessed and sanctified by God at creation for the benefit and spiritual enjoyment of mankind! "Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." Psalm 100:2-4.

3. Lord of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath belongs to Christ. For "all things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." John 1:3. Since He made all things, He made the Sabbath. By Him it was set apart as a memorial of the work of creation. It was made for mankind. The Sabbath is a sign of Christ's power to make us holy. And it is given to all whom Christ makes holy. As a sign of His sanctifying power, (See Ez.20:12)

Which day is the Sabbath of the Lord?
Duet 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:

LESSON THREE
CONTROVERSIES continued
Covering passages in Mark two and three

Sandwiches?
I see these verses in Mark chapter three as the controversy over who is "family"?

There are two contrasting stories woven into one, which at first seem different, but on closer thought deal with the same principle. Who is Christ's family? A central theme is also how much authority over us do family members have?

We talk of our "church family"
and we talk about our "biological family".

But in the center of the story we see who is part of Christ's true family.

The biological family. Here we see Jesus' mother and brothers coming to "protect" Jesus. They think Jesus isn't taking proper care of Himself and doing things that hurt His ministry. Jesus doesn't even have time to eat. And He's getting into more and more trouble with the church leaders. They feel they need to talk to Him to lead a more "balanced" life. To stop irritating the church leaders and try to work in a more harmonizing way with them, and to take better care of His health. They have good intentions.

BUT, while we are to honor father, mother, and treat brothers, and sisters with love and respect. There is also the danger that they may be on the side of the enemy.
Throughout His life, Jesus' mother and His brothers did not comprehend His mission. Their unbelief and attempts to control His work, cast a shadow over the earthly life of Jesus. There was controversy at home, especially from the brothers.
"They thought that He was beside Himself (crazy) in claiming divine authority, and in placing Himself before the rabbis as a reprover of their sins. They knew that the Pharisees were seeking occasion to accuse Him, and they felt that He had given them sufficient occasion.

But Jesus would not be turned aside, He had to do the will of His Father in heaven. That's what He came to earth to do!

The church family
The church leaders were looked up to as the authorities on religious and life style matters. But Jesus faced some serious accusations from these leaders. They felt threatened in their position as leaders. To try to undermine the many evidences that Jesus was truly the Son of God come down from heaven, they said everything He did was by the power of Satan. This was taking their own power struggle as the religious leaders to dangers levels! To attribute God's work to Satan is to insult the Holy Spirit and court the unpardonable sin.

Too often we see destructive power struggles in our churches as well. Hopefully we can discern between those who are fighting to maintain or gain their position of power in the church, from those who are true shepherds leading the flock to Christ.

So who are part of Christ's true family?

"Jesus answered and said unto him that told Him, Who is My mother? and who are My brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother."

All who receive Christ by faith are united to Him by a tie closer than that of human kinship. They, have their thoughts fixed upon Him, they long to become one with Him, and as we draw closer to Christ, we find ourselves close with those who also look to HIM and long to become one with Him.

LESSON FOUR
PARABLES
Covering Mark chapter 4

What is a parable?
A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, a simple yet powerful story that conveys important moral and spiritual truth.

Why did Jesus use parables?
Jesus used parables in giving instruction, and both revealing and concealing spiritual truths.

The Scripture says, "All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; . . . that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world." Matthew 13:34, 35. Natural things were the medium for the spiritual; the things of nature and the life-experience of His hearers were connected with the truths of the written word. Leading thus from the natural to the spiritual kingdom." (COL 19}

Christ had truths He wanted to share, but the people were unprepared to accept or even to understand them. So He taught them in parables. By connecting His teaching with the scenes of life, experience, or nature, He secured their attention and gave them stories they would remember. Afterward, as they looked upon the objects that illustrated His lessons, they remembered what Jesus had said. To minds that were open to the Holy Spirit, the meaning of these parables unfolded more and more. Truths they had found hard to grasp became plain.

Then there were the people who were always following Jesus in order to find fault with Him.
Jesus understood the character of these men, and He presented truth in such a way that they could find nothing that they could take back to the Sanhedrim and use to condemn Him.
With parables He rebuked the hypocrisy and wicked works of those in high positions.
The parables clothed the truth and made it less direct, for had it been spoken in direct language it would have been so cutting, they would not have listened to His words, and would have worked even harder to put an end to His ministry.