Review:
o Mark establishes Jesus' authority
o Mark emphasizes the conflict over the spiritual leaders to Jesus' claim of being the Messiah, and also the son of God
· In 3:1-6, the leaders are looking for a capital offense, so they have obviously reached a decision
Mark 3:11-12 (NIV) Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.
· For those who say that the first three gospels do not make a claim of Jesus deity, this is the fourth major reference in Mark alone. First, the baptism, second, his authority over all things, third, his claim to be Lord of the Sabbath, and fourth his quieting of the demon-possessed because they knew his true identity.
Mark 3:20-21, 31-35 (NIV) Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
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31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
· A number of points about the Catholic doctrine of Mary
o Some people interpret brother or sister to mean near relative or in the Christian generic sense
· There is a word for near relative, which the scriptures do use but is not used here
· The generic use of brother and sister does occur often in scripture, but the context is very clear. Here is would be difficult to argue a non-blood usage
o Note that the term family is used, which implies plural
o Note who is there, Mary, but not the Father mentioned, therefore who is the plural
Mark 3:22-30 (NIV) And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."
23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."
· Obviously, the leaders have come to a conclusion regarding Jesus. He is possessed by Beelzebub
· Mark shortens a much longer discussion (seen in Matt 12) in to two short points
o First, it does not make sense for Satan to oppose Satan
o Second, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is defined (i.e., the unpardonable sin). In context, what is it?
· The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is having Jesus in the flesh before you, doing miracles and wonders, and speaking God's word, and saying (vs 30), that he has an evil spirit (Fruchtenbaum's argument)
o In Matt 12, we find that Jesus pronounces judgment on "this generation"
· The offer of the kingdom is withdrawn from the nation, but still open to individuals
· The nation will be destroyed and scattered
Mark 4:1-8 (NIV) Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
· A very familiar parable, but is the context for the next two sections
Mark 4:10-13 (NIV) When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
"'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
· Jesus makes a couple of key points
o The parables are intended to keep some things secret
o The disciples are given the secret of the kingdom of God
o Understanding the sower and the seeds is important to understanding other parables
Mark 4:14-20 (NIV) The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop — thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
· Seed: word of God
· Sown on path, open to birds. Birds: devil. No fruit
· Rocky places: no root, trouble or persecution causes them to fall away. No fruit
· Thorns: cares / worries of this world, deceitfulness of wealth, and desire for other things choke the word. No fruit
· Good soil: hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop. Fruit varies but ranges from 30 to 100-fold
· APPLICATION:
o Enemy of the word: Satan, the world, and the flesh
o No distinction is made as to who is a believer or not, except for the final soil
· Some insist that three of the four are believers
· Other only the last
· And still others that all but the last can represent believers and unbelievers (since we are discussing the impact of the word and not necessarily salvation)
Mark 4:21-25 (NIV) He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
24 "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you — and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
· If you take all these verses together, as one context, what is the warning?
o If we do not use the things God has given or revealed to us, even those things will be taken away
· APPLICATON:
o I believe that the biblical growth does not include a principle of plateau-ing. You are either growing or you are regressing. There is no middle ground
Mark 4:26-29 (NIV) He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain — first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
· This parable may be the corollary to sower and the seed, except we are only talking about the final soil type. What is the point?
o The kingdom will grow mysteriously
o Like Jesus parable of the wind to Nicodemus, you can't see it but you see the effect
o And ultimately, there will be a harvest. We are expected to produce fruit with our Christian lives
Mark 4:30-32 (NIV) Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
· Last point. The kingdom of God starts out small and grows to a huge size. But one other things happens. The birds rest in the branches. Jesus said you couldn't understand the other parables if you didn't understand the parable of the sower. In that case, what might the birds refer to?
o Followers of Satan, those who try to take the word of God away, will roost in our churches. That, of course is true (see churches in Revelation).
o In this case, the kingdom of God might be more properly entitled "Christendom," because not everything that calls itself Christian is in fact Christian
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