Last week's lesson below this week: (check for the voice message on Sermons on our home page)

6 July: 

Who Are We Listening To?

Mt 13:3, 9 “And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, . . .. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Last week we looked at Jesus’ healing of the blind man which was accomplished in a two-stage process. My only real conclusion was that in many ways Mark showed the teachings of Christ in real life circumstances as well as through Jesus’ teachings. The question to ask ourselves is are we going to time and again test God’s patience or will we allow our hearts, minds and eyes be open to His what He wills in our lives. Are we open to the Holy Spirit’s influence and guidance.  

Then, Mt 13:13-15 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ….You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull , and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.”

John writes in 1 John 4:6 “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

Just in case we are tempted to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt – just in case we want to sound off like Peter, consider this:  Mtt 26:69,70,75 “Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”

What is the old saying about pride going before a fall? Consider this, it is even worse than you think!   Mt 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me Satan! For you are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Who was Peter listening to? Was he listening to His Lord, the Son of God,    OR            was he listening to his human side? Was he only seeing things from his own personal perspective? 

Would you agree that this worldliness, in the parable of the Sower,  is exactly what caused the seeds in the thorns to become dead – a faith without works, as James put it?

And the bad news does not end there.     Mt 26:49-54 “Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him. And behold, one of those who was with Jesus reached and drew out his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.”   Any guess who it might be with the sword in his hand?

  1. Peter heard what Jesus told all of them about how He was going to suffer, die, and be raised on the third day.
  2. Peter was even chastised rather dramatically for resisting God’s will and trying to do it man’s way
  3. Peter, still, resisted God’s plans on the night of Christ’s arrest

 

What is the correct path for seeing and hearing what it is that God puts into our lives?      1) James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach.”  Go to God in prayer to receive a spirit of understanding and obedience.         2) Rom 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of Scripture we might have hope.”  Go to God’s word with eyes to see and learn from other past people’s mistake and obedience.    Read about Saul’s disobedience and how his kingdom was take from him   AND   remember Shadrack’s faith which led to him being thrown into a fiery furnace and being saved by God.   3)  2 Tim 3:16,17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,  for reproof/correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, - equipped for every good work.”  Go to Scripture and learn:  4) Col 3:1-3 (paraphrased)  “Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is and not on earthly things. For you died and now your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

 

If we were to begin to follow Christ and to learn from Him, what kind of things do you think we would learn?

 

 

  1. We would see the importance of reaching the lost, remembering that was the purpose that Christ came:   1 Peter 3:15 “But  sanctify Christ as LORD in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give and account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”
  2. We would learn to love God first and others second? Would our lives mimic that of the Lord and the Good Samaritan in helping others?  Mt 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”
  3. Would we learn to pray and put ALL others first?   Lk 6:27,28,35 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you.  . . . but love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most Hight; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.’”
  4. We would live our lives so as to bring glory to the Father?    Mt 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

So, Who Are We Listening To and Following? 1 Cor 11:1 “Be ye imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

 

 

 

29 June:   Jesus Came to Heal Blindness

Mark 8:22-26 “22 They came to Bethsaida and some people brought a man who was blind to Jesus and begged Him to touch him. 23 Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting in his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” 24 And he looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” 25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. 26 And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

 

This is an interesting event here and calls for some thoughtfulness. Scripture tells of when Jesus healed Lazarus after being in the grave 3 days and even healing the centurion’s servant long distance. I think I would be correct in assuming that this doesn’t happen because Jesus couldn’t do it in one try and if so, then why did it take two times in this instance? If you look closely at Mark’s Gospel, you can see that he has not just randomly pulled together some parables and events from Jesus’ life. Is it possible, if not probable, that there is some message in the WAY Mark wrote about the things that happened in Jesus’ life?

For example, the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree is told in two parts (11:12–14, 20–25) with Jesus’s pronouncement of imminent judgment on the temple (when Jesus cleared out the temple) inserted in the middle (11:15–19). It seems clear that Mark viewed the stories as mutually supporting, with the fig tree incident understood as an acted-out parable illustrating the Lord’s judgment on unbelieving Israel.

In other words, Jesus encounters a barren fig tree, and He curses it because it is barren. Then the group travels into Jerusalem and the temple where Jesus clears out the temple from those that were desecrating it. Then they leave and as they do so they pass that earlier fig tree and the group sees how it had already withered. Is there not a teaching moment within a teaching moment here where He is clearly illustrating the coming judgement on those who were rejecting God’s Messiah? You have a complete misuse of the temple due to hard hearts, and you have a fig tree which is barren  – and Mark is showing us the condemnation that results in each of these situations.

To continue in this vein, consider the account which immediately precedes the healing of the blind man.  Jesus chastises His disciples and pointedly asks them: “Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?” (8:17,18).      Then after the blind man is healed Jesus begins to tell the apostles how He would suffer many things by the hands of the Jewish leaders and be killed and then rise again 3 days later.  And what does Peter do? He pulls Jesus aside and tells Him that these things are not going to happen. Jesus’ response is to tell Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan. You are thinking like man and not God.” So Jesus tries to get His apostles attention – do you have ears and hear – and then tells them a very hard thing, and sure enough – they aren’t listening with understanding.

So reflecting on the ‘two-part’ healing we started off with - I don’t think we would be too far off the mark (no pun intended) if we see this as yet another parable of Jesus which is being taught in this physical world and not a parable ‘story’ . It is a parable via a real-life illustration.

So, the question then is what are we to do with this? I think the safe bet would be to make sure that we also are not like Peter and this blindman who can not see clearly. We need to make sure that we are seeing God’s will CLEARLY and following it. We need to make sure that our interests are focused on what God wants us to see and do. And what might that be???

 Col 3:1-3 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”     Prov 3:5,6,7 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” And David exemplifies this thought:  Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

Remembering that 2 Tim 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is inspired for the purpose of teaching us and correcting us then we can properly understand how our minds are supposed to be transformed by the Word of God and there is a renewing of our minds as Romans 12:2 tells us.  

Secondly, we can also see that physical healing and spiritual growth are often not instantaneous. We must hold tightly to Jesus, continuing to look to Him to meet our physical and spiritual needs. The answers to our prayers may come quickly; or they may come through stages, or the answers my arrive after extensive waiting;  or   maybe only in the new heaven and new earth. Regardless, God’s grace is to be sufficient. 

Paul illustrates then when he prayed three times that his ‘thorn in the flesh’ would be removed. The Lord’s response told him: “’My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, (Paul says) I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Chris may dwell in me.” And in the coming years Paul finds it within himself, through the Holy Spirit, to declare that not only has he learned to be content in all things, but he finds himself reaching a point in his life where he declares that he has fought the good fight and is ready to be called home for his promised reward.

And in other circumstances we may need to remember what we are told in Proverbs and Hebrews: Prov 3:11,12 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.”  Heb 12:6,11 “because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Finally, we need to remember what the Lord us: Mtt 16:24, 25,27 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. … For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”   James 2:17,20 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”  John 13:34,35 “A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

The only answer I have for the two-part healing of the blind man is that this is the way for the Holy Spirit’s to open our eyes to see that there are many different ways and times in which God may work within us. The question is, are we seeing clearly and hearing and responding to God’s calling in our lives?

In summary, I think we should be very appreciative of God’s patience and His willingness to continue to make the effort to pull us into His kingdom. Let us not be hardheaded about obeying the Lord; let us not be blind or deaf in understanding and obeying God’s will; let us not be hard hearted and fail to appreciate and love the Lord and therefore learn to love all of God’s children. Let us not become like the seed falling into the weeds and be influenced by Satan by - becoming fixated on the things and interests of this world and of this life. Let us become the light to the world in bringing the Lord’s message of salvation to all who will listen.