Mark 6:14-29 Prepare the Way of the Lord!

Mark 6:14-29  King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known.  Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”  Others said, “He is Elijah.”  And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”  But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”  For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison.  He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.  For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”  So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him.  But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.  When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.  Finally the opportune time came.  On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.  When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.  The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.”  And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”  She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”  “The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.  At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”  The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.  So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head.  The man went, beheaded John in the prison, and brought back his head on a platter.  He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.  On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Jesus said of John: among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.  (Matthew 11:11)  We know Jesus sorrowed over John's unjust execution.  Jesus and John were undoubtedly close friends all their lives because of Mary and Elizabeth's close relationship.  Yet, we see the greatest among men and most loved by Jesus, dying at the hands of sinful men because a cruel and vindictive woman asks for his head.  Was John's death a surprise to Jesus?  Probably, for we see no indication in the scriptures that Jesus was prepared for John's sudden demise.  Yes, Jesus was God, but He was walking as a man, led by the Spirit to minister to people.  He was doing the work of God, and his divine clairvoyance came within the domain of his ministry such as directing his disciples to a man who would give Jesus a young donkey to ride into Jerusalem.  We know Jesus loved John, yet John died unexpectedly so King Herod could keep a promise and not lose face.  While John was alive, he fulfilled the mission for which God had prepared him.  He completed the work that God had ordained for him to do.  Yes, we see wickedness in the form of Herodias seemingly win a battle over righteousness, but wickedness is never truly successful over God's righteous, eternal plans.  God always wins in the end: eternal victories are his alone.  Because of John preparing the way for the Spirit to inhabit Jesus completely by baptizing Jesus, we have seen millions entering into the kingdom of God through Christ's miraculous works on Earth and through his death, burial and resurrection.  John explained it first when he said: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.  He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.  The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.  (John 1:6-9)  

Are you suffering?  Has death or severe pain entered your domain?  Has unrelenting sorrow or despair of the circumstances of life overcome your spirit of joy?  As a child of God, bought by the blood of the precious Son of God, you are not alone, you are not abandoned.  Fix your eyes on Jesus, the One who told his disciples, Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  (Matthew 28:20)  When John was imprisoned, he sought good news; so he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He were truly the Messiah.  John needed a steadfast hope; a renewal of what he experienced at Christ's baptism.  Jesus told John's disciples to report the following to the imprisoned John: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.  Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”  (Matthew 11:4-6)  Jesus was telling  John, Do not believe because of your personal knowledge of me, but know that I am doing the work of the Messiah prophesied in God's Word.  I am Messiah!  As with John, many of us need that powerful message to arrive in our hearts: Yes, Jesus is Messiah, Redeemer, Son of God.  He has a mission for you on Earth.  He has not abandoned you or your family.  He intends to work through you and has given you work to do.  Sorrow comes and unexpected adverse situations happen to all of us, but we who are ALIVE IN CHRIST know his loving kindness and tender mercy.  He has an eternal work to fulfill in each of us.  We are not alone, neither are we like the world.  When John was in prison, God knew where He was.  God knew his life would be taken, but God determined that John's life would be so profitable that we would be talking about it two thousand years later.  Dear ones, you have relatives and friends who can benefit from your life as you draw closer to God instead of falling back in hard times.  As Paul wrote: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.  (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)  He is our Creator God, and He has a life for each of his children to live.

Sometimes in life when we struggle, we want God's visage to be seen or a miraculous work to be done to give us faith to believe God is in control or to give us hope to believe He will see us through the hard times.  Occasionally, God allows such divine intervention.  We see a miracle or someone shows up with an encouraging Word, just the right scripture to give us the will to continue to serve God with confidence.  But what pleases God most is child-like faith.  When little children fall down and are hurting, they do not want a stranger or even a close relative helping them, they want their Mom or Dad to comfort them.  We are little children in God's eyes.  He calls us his children.  When Jesus prepared to go away, he expressed his love for his disciples and said, My children, I will be with you only a little longer.  (John 13:33)  We are God's darlings.  Run to him little children: cry in his arms if you are tearful; rejoice with him if you are thankful.  Know that He alone has the ultimate purpose for our lives in his hands, and He sees the beginning and the ending and everything in between.  In the song, "Something Beautiful," there is a line, "Something beautiful, something good, all of my confusion, Jesus understood."  Everything you have today, all that is within you, good or bad, bring it to him, and lay it on the altar before him as an offering.  WE CAN TRUST HIM.  When they placed John's body in the tomb, Jesus must have sorrowed greatly, and the Holy Spirit would have ministered to him.  But Christ must also have greatly rejoiced as He knew millions of people would learn of The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  (Mark 1:3)  May each of us carry forth the Good News with renewed strength today!   

 

Mark 6:14-15 The Christ, The Son of God

Mark 6:14-15  King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known.  Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”   Others said, “He is Elijah.”  And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”  

Matthew 16:13-17  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

The belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God provides the foundation of Christianity.  For Christians, Jesus walked this Earth not just as good man who did wonderful works; neither was He simply a wise man who did acts of kindness out of his deep love for humanity, nor was He a mere reformer who wanted to change the world by teaching people about God's great love.  No, Jesus was and is the Son of God who created all things, and because He created all things He has the authority and power to create new life in all who place their faith in his redeeming sacrifice at the cross.  He alone can make all things NEW.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  (John 1:1-3)  Jesus said we must be born again: we must have new life in us if we are going to experience eternal life with God.  Jesus through the Holy Spirit is the giver of that life.  Through his redeeming power, Jesus produces new life in us.  The breath of the living God rests in Christ Jesus.  We Christians believe that fact: we know that in him we live and move and have our being.  (Acts 17:28)  All other claims of knowing God, every theology that excludes Jesus as the Son of God, are antiChrist spirits.  These false religious theologies do not lead to freedom from sin, a transformation of the old self, and eternal life with God.  They might make people better in certain aspects of their human existence: more loving, more caring, more sensitive to other people's problems, but they spawn no born-again life within their adherents.   New life, born-again life, comes from knowing Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as THE LORD, as the giver of all life and in accepting all He has to offer as Lord of All.  HIs works of righteousness are what is important.  He died for us, He was raised for us that we might die with him and be raised with him in newness of life.  We who trust in him by faith have no more debt to pay for our sins.  He paid it all freely with his own life.  Eternal life with him is ours, for we are his new creation, seated with him in God's presence.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  (2 Corinthians 5:17)   

If someone tells you that your goodness, dedication to God, and wholesome worship will get you to heaven, you must take a step back and consider the source of such information.  The new birth in you did not come about by your efforts: it is a gift from God.  Your responsibility is to believe that fact by placing your complete trust in God's work through Jesus Christ's life and death on Earth.  He paid the complete price for your salvation.  Metaphorically, there are no other cards to place on the table; the winning card has already been placed on the table by Christ.  You win!  If  you try to add anything else to insure your success, you lose.  Nothing can be added to the Son-of-God card.  So many times we Christians will try to place something else on the table to insure our success.  We try to play our own self-righteous card to make sure eternal life is ours.  When we try, we evolve into an antiChrist spirit.  We are telling God that his plan is imperfect, that we finite beings have a better, more sure, salvation plan.  We want to tweak God's plan just a little bit.  But nothing can be added if we truly believe what Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God; the Creator of all things.  In you we place our trust.  Paul understood his position in Christ and expressed it well: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!  (Galatians 2:20-21)  He told the church they were foolish to think they could begin in the Spirit and then return to the flesh to perfect their lives.  The same Spirit that worked to bring them to salvation was the Spirit that worked in them to perfect their lives.  We must not ever set aside the grace of God or frustrate the grace of God with our foolish attempts to add to what God had already done through his Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Instead, we must yield to the Lord and allow him to use us to bring others to him.

If we want a victorious life so our lives will shine in a dark world, we must answer clearly and emphatically the question, Who do you say I am?  If we in our human condition truly acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the enticements of this world will fade dramatically.  Compared with the brilliance of Christ, the bright Morning Star, the world's attractiveness loses its hold on us; sin loses its hold.  If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  (1 John 1:7)  When we are in his light, we will dedicate our lives to Christ rather than following after our own fleshly desires.  We will willingly face hardships and ridicule because of our Christian stand, BECAUSE WE KNOW JESUS AS THE SON OF GOD.   Now, if you have any doubts about who Jesus really is, think on the words of Peter who lived with Jesus for three years and who died for him as a martyr.  We did not follow cleverly INVENTED STORIES when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were EYEWITNESSES of his majesty.  For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  We ourselves HEARD this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.  (2 Peter 16-18)  Peter was willing to follow Jesus all the way to be crucified upside down on a cross for the one he called Jesus and Lord.  He knew Jesus not only as his friend and Lord but as the Son of God.  There was no backing down for Peter.  HE BELIEVED, FOR HE HEARD GOD PROCLAIM JESUS AS HIS BELOVED SON.  He could say with Paul: I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.  (2 Timothy 1:12)  Today, believing that truth, you can expect to see Jesus, the Son of God, in your near future, for to God, in the eternal reality, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  (2 Peter 3:8)  God is near you NOW.            

Mark 6:7-13 Jesus Sends Out Missionaries

Mark 6:7-13  Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.  These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff — no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.  Wear sandals but not an extra tunic.  Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town.  And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.”  They went out and preached that people should repent.  They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Jesus sent the disciples out to minister without what we would consider the necessities of life.  He instructed them to take no food, no bag to carry anything, no money to buy supplies, no extra tunic to keep them warm, and no dependable housing plan.  They went out by faith, totally dependent on the mercy of others to supply their needs.  What an evangelism plan!  Would we consider this a good way to develop a ministry in any land?  Would any modern-day missionary organization send out its people with such a commission?  Definitely not!  Missionaries nowadays must raise their support before they leave for the field.  But Jesus sent the twelve out with nothing extra except the assurance that God would provide for them.  The only protection He gave them was the authority over evil spirits and the power to anoint the sick for healing.  The disciples were going to rely on God for the essentials of life.  God would have to line up the people who would provide the basic necessities for them as they were needed.  We learn later, their missionary venture was a huge success; therefore, we know God provided for their daily needs or they would not have been able to complete their journey.  The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."  (Luke 10:17)  Their dependency on God's provisions brought a great deal of excitement into their lives, for they realized God not only subdued the demons of the spiritual world but also was intimately involved with their daily needs in this physical world.  Another time when Jesus told his disciples not to worry about tomorrow--what they would eat or what they would wear because their heavenly father would take care of them, He went on to say, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  (Matthew 6:33)  Jesus wanted his followers to know the most important step was to yield totally to their heavenly Father who loved them unreservedly.

Jesus' instructions to the disciples were pivotal to their success.  He was asking them to become men of faith in all their actions and reactions.  He wanted them to rely on God for their sustenance, for their existence.  We see this scene carried out in the Old Testament in numerous situations where the patriarchs and the prophets as men of faith followed God's commands, his words, rather than doing what their senses told them to do.  They felt God's words were more real and reliable that their rational thinking, their ideas based on what they knew.  As Christians, we are people of the Word, people of faith, people who trust the will of God.  We believe God made everything out of absolutely nothing.  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.  (Hebrews 11:2)   Metaphorically, we believe there were no articles of clothing for God to make a new garment.  A garment did not exist; He spoke it into existence.  The world came into existence by his powerful Word.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  (John 1:1-3)  The disciples in the above account had to believe in this God of creation.  They had to believe that God through Jesus Christ made everything, and He could take care of them even if their rational minds said this kind of mission was impossible without adequate preparation.  But they found out in their journey that God is faithful: He keeps his promises.  He was not only faithful to drive out demons and to heal the sick: He was faithful to provide for them daily as they took up their tasks and obeyed his will.  Obviously, this experience and others like it helped them to face life after Jesus' departure from this world.  They learned to depend upon the leading of the Lord.  

We too in the twenty-first century must believe that the God of creation is more real than anything our senses perceive.  We must believe the Word of God rather than the hopelessness of the society around us.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will never pass away.  The Bible says: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)     God will always exist; He will always be in charge; He will always take care of his people.  The disciples learned this on their mission trip.  They learned God was in control of the spiritual world; He was in control of the natural world; He was also in control of their lives.  God is the overriding power of all things, the ultimate authority.  The demons might take some authority for a while in someone's life, but they will never have eternal authority over anyone.  Only God has that authority.  We might faint from weariness for a time here on Earth because of our troubles and needs, but God is the final arbitrator of every circumstance.  He decides.  In the midst of our weariness, sorrow, and pain, Jesus still says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  (Matthew 11:28-30)  Jesus told his beloved disciples to go out and minister as people of faith.  We too are told to go out and minister as people of faith.  No, we don't have to go with one set of clothes and a staff, without provisions; but we must go in faith, believing God will provide our every need and that He will set people free from their slavery to sin.  We must believe we are his children: HIS DISCIPLES.  Let us embrace lives of faith.  Let us follow his words for our lives, believing that just as Jesus did with the twelve: He has called us; He has sent us out!  Bless you!             

  

Mark 6:1-6 Faithful Persistent Prayer

Mark 6:1-6  Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.  When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.  “Where did this man get these things?” they asked.  “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter?  Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?  Aren’t his sisters here with us?”  And they took offense at him.  Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

In the above account, Jesus was amazed that the people He knew best and probably loved best would not accept the reality He had a resident power within him that would bring healing to their bodies, minds and souls.  Of course, these people knew Jesus before his baptism, before his infilling of the Holy Spirit; they knew him only as a mere man, the carpenter who had lived in their community for more than thirty years.  During that time, he probably provided a very important function for the community, but woodworking was not a divine ability.  He might have been a very skilled carpenter, but in general, they knew him as a man living an average life among them.  They had knowledge of his father and mother, Joseph and Mary; they knew his brothers and sisters.  They knew how the family lived and functioned in this society.  They knew where the men worked and the quality of their work; they knew how the women kept house.  They knew what the family valued and whether or not they were good neighbors.  They knew the integrity of Joseph, Mary and their children and understood their standing in the community.  They knew everything about Jesus and his family.  For them to accept their former carpenter as a miracle worker was an impossible task, beyond their grasp.  Obviously, they were surprised at the wisdom Jesus so freely expressed in the synagogue.  They may have wondered,  “Where did this man get these things?”  But wisdom can be acquired by sitting under the teachings of a sage: to perform miracles involved something else, power beyond their way of thinking.  No, that was too hard to imagine, a bridge too far to cross for the minds of these folk who had watched Jesus grow from child to man, working alongside his father.  The people had not realized that as Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men, it was the hand of his heavenly Father that had guided him to this point in his life, the point where Jesus would reveal the Father's love to a lost world through his miracles and finally his death on the cross 

Christian friends, sometimes we become so familiar with Jesus that we view him merely as a good friend, a close companion who enlivens our lives, giving us wisdom, allowing us to endure because of his presence.   We should see Jesus as the Lord of All, the miracle worker in our lives!  Do you remember when you were first saved and prayed about everything?  There was never a mountain too big for your prayers.  There never was an illness or a problem that Jesus could not and would not solve because you believed his words, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.  (Matthew 17:20)   Sometimes as we walk with Jesus, we stop praying about difficult things.  We let history determine our prayers about the future.  I prayed last time about the situation and nothing happened, so why pray again?  We lack faith when we do not get the answer we want.  Often, we accept a belief that Jesus just wants us to tolerate the sickness, the situation.  In the above account, we see Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, full of power, concerned that the people would not believe in his ability to perform miracle works in their lives.  These people were comfortable with the ideas they had about Jesus: what He could do and what He COULD NOT DO.  For us Christians we might think we know what He will do and what He WON'T DO.  They were satisfied with their assumptions.  Are we satisfied with ours?  They did not even ask Jesus to heal them, to deliver them, to change the difficult circumstances in their lives.  Are we the same way?  They literally stayed away.  He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  Are we of the same mindset, are we staying away, not believing Jesus will enter the difficult, long-term situations in our lives?  Oh yes, we might whisper an occasional perfunctory prayer about a situation, but are we tired of faithfully petitioning God for our needs, believing we can trust him for the answers.  Have we decided to endure rather than to pray earnestly according to the Word  

When Jesus instructs his disciples how to pray, he gives them what we normally call the Lord's Prayer.  Sometimes we lose track of this important teaching where Jesus begins this prayer so simply: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  (Matthew 6:9-10)  Jesus tells us first to ask for the will of God, not our own selfish desires.  James developed this thought saying, You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  (James 4:2-3)  But when we come in faith believing, praying as Christ told us to pray, God is ready and waiting to hear and answer prayer.  He is ready to comfort us in our distress, to encourage us in our trials, to meet our needs.  Immediately after giving his disciples the Lord's Prayer, Jesus gives an exposition on prayer.  He tells about a person who needs three loaves of bread for a traveler who has stopped in at his house.  To provide for the traveler, the person in need of bread goes to a friend who has bread at midnight and knocks on the door persistently until his friend gets up and gives him the three loaves.  Jesus tells us this story so that we might understand that we also should be persistent in our prayers, even though we feel it is midnight, beyond the time prayers will be answered.  Jesus is asking us to be persistent, faithful in prayer.  He also goes on and tells us that God is a good Father.  He does not give us a scorpion when we ask for an egg.  He said, So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  (Luke 11:9-10)  So my friend, keep on knocking so that Jesus will not be amazed at your lack of faith.  There are many doors in each of our lives that need to open.  Christ Jesus stands at the door and knocks.  By faith we must listen and obey: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  (Revelation 3:20)