Mark 1:1-31 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational [Music] let's pray Bob - thank you for hungry hearts and thank you for good food thank you for truth thank you for the words of the Living God inspired by God carried along by the Holy Spirit not by the whim of men though you certainly use the personalities of these Gospel writers prophets we have the benefit Lord of gleaning from the truth week by week it's a precious treasure and because we have been given so much too much is given much shall be required and so I am thankful for not only people who come out to hear but those who then are involved in spreading the principles by training and disciple another's and getting involved in some sort of body ministry we pray that your Holy Spirit would convict apply inform teach in short transform you know what we're thinking you know how low we've been this week or how high we've been this week we know what we want you know what we need and that's where we rest as we open the book we asked for your blessing now Lord in Jesus name Amen great things come in small packages I have this little gadget that was unimaginable just a few years ago now this is my iPhone and with this little gadget I can check the weather anywhere in the world I can get online and listen to music I can search the internet I can listen to messages of sermons which I do quite frequently or I can even go to people's churches if they do live streaming or archived by using this little device and watching messages online it's amazing it's so small if you remember just a few years ago mobile phones were like this big I would love to have one of those now just because it's like a collector's item it's like an antique unheard-of that's small small package great things oh by the way it's also a telephone but that's beside the point great things come in small packages the Gospel of Mark is a small package that offers great things it is the shortest of the Gospels thus the smallest of the Gospels it's the most rapid reading of the gospel he covers a lot of ground in just a short period of time a reminder that we have four Gospels for very important reasons the four Gospels give us four different viewpoints of the same story I know there's a lot of discussion and debate and it'd be fun to get into that discussion but because of time we just don't have the time and you can chase it down on your own I I've read lots of information especially regarding the Gospel of Mark and where it fits in the Canon and why some people think it's the earliest and that others copied him and lots of nonsense that he's is easily disproved but basically the holy spirit like like a quartet a string quartet setup Matthew Mark Luke and John a string quartet I'm told has a cello two violins and a viola very distinct sounds very distinct notes but all blended in harmony together and so Matthew writes from his perspective Mark Luke and John from their perspectives they tell the story but from just a slightly different angle or if you will the Holy Spirit is like the producer of a film and he sets up four cameras all at different angles all to reveal how the crowd reacts or what the main character says while another one will leave out a certain portion of what the main character says and be panning what the enemies are thinking at that time they're all relating different elements and so Matthew speaks about Jesus as the sovereign the king of the Jews hence all of the references in Matthew's Gospel to what the Prophet said what the Old Testament writers wrote his common phrase so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet he uses that phrase a lot in Matthew Mark on the other hand leaves out not all but quite a bit of those Old Testament predictions that would prove that Jesus is the fulfillment because unlike Matthew who wants to speak of Jesus as the sovereign the king of the Jews mark wants to portray Jesus as the servant so mark is writing for a Roman audience and wants to show in rapid succession what Jesus did not so much what Jesus said Matthew focuses on what Jesus said he covers the three great discourses the Sermon on the Mount the Olivet discourse the kingdom parables in great detail not mark he'll tip his hat to them but not in the detail he's more interested not in what Jesus said but what Jesus did so there are words that are repeated that show this to demonstrate this the little conjunction and the little adverb now are used in the Gospel of Mark 1331 times this happened and and now now also the word immediately immediately he did this and he did that now he did this immediately he went there you see you read just the first chapter and you go just because of this action-packed hyperdrive Gospel of Mark mark was not an apostle in fact Mark was probably born 10 more like 15 years after Jesus Christ was born thus mark was probably in his late teens when all the key events in the gospels were happening many scholars believe that mark was that unnamed young man in the Garden of Gethsemane mentioned in mark chapter 14 the unnamed young man who fled from the garden naked when somebody grabbed his robe and they took his robe that's all he had on so he just streaked out of the garden and went home very unusual evening that was most people think that that was mark in that story it is believed that though mark wrote this book it is largely the testimony of the Apostle Peter who told it to mark because mark wasn't an apostle wasn't there was in his late teens when these things were happening maybe was in the garden yes the early church met in his mother's house in Jerusalem but that it was Peter who led him to Christ discipled him in Christ and then told him the story from Peters perspective and I believe that to be true simply because the majority of early church has store Ariane's bear that out happiest of Hierapolis clement of alexandria a Eusebius of Caesarea Justin Martyr all those early church biographers and historians mentioned that Peter was the one who discipled mark John Mark that's why in Peter in the in the book of Peter he refers to mark as my son mark my son his spiritual son Bobby was the one who led him to Christ now there are two names he goes by his first name is Hebrew name wasn't Mark it was John he's called John Mark in Acts chapter 12 John Yohanan would be his Hebrew name Marcus Marcus would be his Latin name so he went by Mark as I mentioned it was his mother's house in Acts chapter 12 where the early church gathered together after they met in the upper room they were now meeting in her house evidently she had a large home she was probably wealthy and so the early church was gathered and there's a great story in acts 12 when Peter is in jail the early church is meeting in John Mark's mom's house and they're praying fervently that Peter will get sprung out of jail could you hear him Father in heaven you can do anything nothing's too hard for thee we pray that you would release Peter and don't let him get killed that's what that's what they said they're gonna do Pilate said he's gonna kill him Herod said he's gonna kill him release him well while they're having their prayer meeting there's a knock at the door and a young servant girl named Rhoda so John Mark's mother had a servant girl hence again she was probably a wealthy lady the servant girl answered the door it was Peter who got sprung from jail an angel was dispatched miraculously brought him out so they're praying for his release he's knocking at the door I'm here Rhoda left him outside and closed the door which would be dangerous for Peter he's now an escaped criminal she closed the door goes inside to the prayer meeting where all these holy men and women of God are gathered and says hey you wouldn't believe who's at the door the very guy we've been praying for Peter he's at the door and they turn on and go oh you're crazy you're seeing his ghost it can't be him a Peter kept out standing out there knocking and knocking till finally they let him in so filled with faith at that prayer meeting at the house of John Mark's mother further information according to Colossians chapter 4 verse 10 John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas Barnabas is a very very key leader in the early church in the book of Acts it was Barnabas who was the travelling companion of Paul the Apostle in the earlier stages and so on their first missionary journey when they left Antioch in Syria and they went to Cyprus it says in acts 13 they took with them John Mark as their assistant so he got to be with Paul in the very first missionary journey but whatever happened caused John Mark to mid-journey decide I don't want to be a missionary anymore so once they left the island of Cyprus and went to purga in Pamphylia upon the Turkish coastline he decided see you guys I'm heading back to Jerusalem so he goes back to mama this didn't sit well with Paul the Apostle because on their second missionary journey when they're preparing and Paul says let's go back over the same area and minister to those people Barnabas has great idea let's get John Mark Paul goes won't have him don't want him he flaked out on the first missionary journey I'm done so an argument developed between cousin Barnabas and Paul concerning John Mark it became such a heated discussion between them they didn't see eye to eye that the disagreement was so market that they had to split company Paul took Silas and went on his second journey it says Barnabas and John mark went to Cyprus the very place where they first went thank God for Barnabas by the way thank God for Paul but thank God for Barnabas the encouraged er who would come alongside and say John Mark it's not over yet there's still more ministry for you to do and indeed there was because eventually he goes to Rome where Peter is Peter wrote from Rome his epistle and there in Rome he was able to hear the words of Peter and write down the gospel in this Gospel of Mark and just in case you're wondering yes paul the apostle and john mark eventually reconciled because toward the end of his life he writes to timothy neices and bring john mark as well he is useful to me in the ministry and he even recommended him to churches to whom he was sending them so verse 1 the beginning writes mark the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God notice how different the beginning is for mark he leaves out the genealogies that Matthew includes and that Luke includes he doesn't begin way back in time past in prehistory in eternity past like John begins his gospel when he said in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he just says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ we take it for granted but the word gospel our word comes from the anglo-saxon word God spell it is originally based upon the Greek word UN gely on which means great news good tidings so the gospel is good news the beginning of the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God unfortunately many people do not see Christianity as good news they see it as bad news and I think that's largely because not of the gospel itself nor of the Lord of the gospel but because of the representatives of the gospel it has been pictured portrayed as restrictive and no fun and harsh you know you're gonna wear like robes and stuff you're gonna itch a lot have bad breath because you fast all day they don't see good news in that partly they're correct do you know in church history there was a period there was an era there was a time when the gloomier you looked the holier you were thought to be the more spirit so you were thought to be so clergy wore black you were a black robe you were black clothes so you look at anything okay you are either in the ministry or you're a funeral director I don't know which the idea of joy fulfillment can get lost in the representation of the gospel even though the gospel is good news Mark Twain who was so good with words and ideas did go to church though he usually wasn't happy going there once he wrote in his journal I went to church today and I'm not depressed exclamation point as if that's a first this is good news folks and when you share it if you share it share it like it is good news I remember when I when I first picked up on the idea that the gospel wasn't good news to a whole lot of people is when I first started sharing what happened to me and I remember going back to my old friends and saying I've become a Christian and what I'm said oh I'm so sorry you know it's like I announced somebody died that was close to me I'm so sorry to hear that and I said well I'm not sorry beginning of the Gospel as it is written in the prophets behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you now that is a quote from the third chapter of the book of Malachi the last book in the Old Testament verse 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight that's a quote out of Isaiah chapter 40 verse 2 all the Gospel writers Matthew Mark Luke and John all of them interestingly include Isaiah's quote Isaiah's prediction and that the fulfillment of that prediction is in Jesus Christ the voice of one crying in the wilderness John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins I love the way John includes this and introduces John the Baptist he adds a little more of the narrative in John chapter 1 while John the Baptist is baptizing down at the Jordan River people came to him especially from Jerusalem the bigwigs the priests the clergymen and they asked him a litany of questions are you the Christ said nope I'm not the Christ are you Elijah nope not Elijah are you that prophet probably referring to the prediction Moses made in Deuteronomy 18 of the Prophet who is coming he said nope I'm not that prophet so then they said okay so now we know who you're not who are you and John said I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness make straight the ways of the Lord I love that who are you I'm just a voice he didn't say I I'm John from the priestly family of Zacharias who serves in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem he could have said that that was true that could have been an an impressive business card he could have said I'm the one whom the Messiah said is the greatest person who was ever born the greatest man who ever lived that's who I am I'm the kid who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the day I was born that's who I am he says I'm just a voice I'm not the message I'm just the messenger I'm not the word I'm just the voice remember how John began in the beginning was the word the Word was with God the Word was God the word became flesh I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness he's the word I'm just the voice I'm just a road worker for Christ prepare the way of the Lord make a highway for the Messiah then all the land of Judea verse 5 and those from Jerusalem went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River confessing their sins now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist and he ate locusts and wild honey how'd you like to have him over for supper wild looking guy actually I read his description sounds like a lot of the people in the early days of the Calvary Chapel movement honestly wild-looking long hair bearded robed full on the real meal deal hippies you know sort of like a wannabe poseur hippie because I was like a little younger than that but it's like what is what place is this I think John the Baptist would have said dude my tribe I I'm here I'm home his clothing is interesting it's the clothing of the desert desert dwellers wore coarser kind of clothes interesting thing about wearing camel skin it would keep the heat out in the summer it would certainly keep the cold out and the rain in the winter it's an unclean animal the Jews were forbidden to eat it and I'd never have a problem with that commandment it's like okay I didn't plan an ever eating a camel anyway but thanks for that but it was okay to use their hides certainly as a Jewish guy for the protection of the elements as he did what makes John a colorful character is that he did remind people of Elijah are you Elijah they asked because Elijah the Tishbite dressed very similar to John the Baptist in 2nd Kings chapter 1 Elijah the Tishbite is described as somebody wearing a leather belt around his waist and a hairy man he's a hairy man wearing a leather belt John the Baptist was a hairy man with a camel skin and a leather belt he probably took a Nazarite vow now if you go well I don't know what a Nazarite vow is you will when we get to the Book of Numbers in the next book Numbers chapter 6 describes people who want to take the vow of a Nazarite and all it was was a vow of dedication if you're a man you want to take a Nazarite vow in those days the idea is you let your hair completely grow you're not gonna like get puffed up and groomed and slick it back and do what you're just gonna it's a sign of commitment to the Lord long hair you can't touch dead bodies or any object that would defile you ceremonially and you couldn't drink wine or eat anything that is associated with the fruit of the vine that was a Nazarite vow john felt like he was called to live this kind of a life an uncontaminated life he didn't want anything to hinder his ability to be the very best forerunner the very best voice in the wilderness that he could be his diet is also strange locusts did you know locust work oh sure of course you knew that because you were with us in our study in the Book of Leviticus chapter 11 it describes the things that you can't eat the things that you can eat one of the things you can eat are locusts they're suitable for food now the question arises who would want to eat a locust well look at this these are pictures from different cultures in the world who still to this day find them scrumptious a delicacy I've been in places where I've seen these things like this little skewer of locusts never once was tempted even in my hungriest moments locus in ancient times were prepared a number of different ways oftentimes they would take the bugs and just smash them like with a rock or a hammer and then mix the ground-up locust in with flour and bake them into little cakes like crab cakes if you have a little locust cakes now I know that sounds gross but have you ever looked at a crab before you look at the crabmeat you looked at a crab they just kind of look like an ocean locust I mean they don't look really appetizing now they are appetizing and once you get past of how they look and you eat a crap it's really good it could be that way with locusts but I'm not prepared to find out and take the same risk that I've taken with crab other times they would boil them other times they would roast them other times they would saute them in butter mmm scrumptious the ancient Assyrians even figured out a way to prepare them and preserve them so you could take it with you as pocket food and eat it during the day or days later so that would bug me but you know obviously it didn't bother them now I do feel inclined to tell you that not everybody believes that locusts were bugs there are some who believe that the locusts that are mentioned here that John the Baptist's 8 is the carob pod I've ever seen a carob tree the brown carob pod that tastes sort of like chocolate and that it was referred to as wild locust or locust of the desert and it's found in different parts of the Land of Israel and some believe that that's the kind of locust that he ate not sure don't care wild honey is honey extracted probably from the dates rather than from flowers though it could be either/or verse 7 here's John preaching and he preached saying there comes one after me who is mightier than I whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and lose what does that mean to take off a sandal was the job of the lowest servant in a household here is the man of whom Jesus said was the greatest man ever born here is the man who was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb here is the forerunner predicted by Malachi and Isaiah and he says but when I compare myself to Christ the Messiah who incidentally was his cousin Jesus was John's cousin I'm not even worthy to be a household slave to him now to me that adds credibility to the Messiahship of Jesus and the testimony of John the Baptist because I don't know many people who would say you know my cousin is the Messiah my cousin is like God in human flesh people go I've you met my cousin not even close wacky weird but the fact that somebody this close who knew him so well who would have grown up with him especially during the festivals been with him for him to make that kind of a statement and he made many powerful statements like behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world adds to the credibility of the story whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to stoop down and loose I indeed baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit now you have to understand something that baptism is not Christian in its origin it wasn't a Christian and Jesus didn't come along go I got a good idea I'm gonna baptize people John didn't also come up with that it predated John it was part of Judaism in ancient times when somebody who was a Gentile wanted to convert and become Jewish there were three things he had to do number one he had to undergo the instruction of a scribe he had to be taught the law number two circumcision if he was a male he had to be circumcised and number three he had to be immersed in water ritually purified immersed in water or baptized so there were at the time of Jesus and if you ever come with us to Jerusalem I can point them out to you they're all over there's these little carved out pools in the rock and the singular is a mikvah the plural is a mikvah we would say mikvahs but it's mica Vogt a mikvah means a collection of water it's a little pool now you remember from Leviticus that if you became defiled if you touch something and you were to file or if you had a bloody flux or if you had been a leopard and then pronounce a leopard a leper and then pronounce cleaned by the priest after he waited seven days you would also have to go in this ritual bath called a mikvah a baptism you were to get baptized so the mikveh was for ritual purification so a baptism Jewish baptism in the mikveh water purification you would do it yourself for yourself if you were going to go into the temple and worship or if you needed to be ritually purified or number two if you were a Gentile converting to Judaism make sense that's why what John is doing was shocking to people he's not baptizing Gentiles he's baptizing whom Jews Jews don't get baptized to convert to anything they're already converted but this was very different this was a symbol of a heart change that he identifies as repentance repent and be baptized repent and believe the gospel it says in another place and then they would get baptized so it was to be immersed to prepare their hearts for the Messiah this is called the baptism of John now the reason I'm going through this is because evidently this whole baptism of John thing wasn't just this little blip on the radar screen and then it went away this thing had legs by the time Paul the Apostle goes to Ephesus many years later and then he establishes the church and he leaves there's a guy from Alexandria who's in Ephesus his named is Apollo's remember him ever heard his name Apollo's anybody yeah okay if he this means raise your hand typically okay because I just thought man I'm gonna have to go like way back Genesis chapter 1 Apollo's it says spoke the Word of God accurately though he only knew the baptism of John there was a couple named Aquila and Priscilla who were there who took him aside after his great little sermon on the baptism of John and explained the way more accurately like things like dude did you know that John was speaking of a guy named Jesus who came he was the forerunner of Jesus who came who died who rose again and then he understood the fullness of the gospel in the very next chapter chapter 19 Paul goes to Ephesus and he asked the church something you asked those people who had heard a pollicis messages have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed and they looked at each other and they looked at him and they said we haven't even heard of all these spirit and so Paul said into what baptism then were you baptized they said into John's baptism so then Paul said okay verily John baptized with the baptism of repentance but he spoke of one who was to come namely Jesus who was the Messiah and when he explained the gospel to them then he took them and baptized them again this time in the name of Jesus the one that John pointed to but evidently this baptism of John was very very popular and made its way to parts other parts of the world other parts of the Roman Empire amazing it came to pass in those days verse nine that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan typically what amazes people when we take them on a trip to Israel and we drive through Nazareth unusually the first day of the tour toward the afternoon we we're driving through Nazareth what amazes them number one is this is it like this is not a big deal it's like I know we kind of told you it wouldn't be but I know everybody wants to see Nazareth so we take them but it's kind of like okay I'm done there's really not much to see and then it's funny because remember wouldn't have daniel said can anything good come out of Nazareth I think that question is still being asked but what is amazing is that Nazareth is seated in the Hills it's a commanding view the afternoon breezes from the Mediterranean come through Nazareth but here was Jesus view growing up in Nazareth he would look down every day and see a very important valley called the valley of Jezreel known in your Bibles in the book of Revelation is the valley of Armageddon can you imagine what it'd be like to grow up knowing that one day you're gonna come back to a historic worldwide battle that will find its foundation and attack front from that Valley moving toward Jerusalem and you're gonna come back to end it living with that on a daily basis you could see the valley of Armageddon the little village of Megiddo right there that Vance expanse all the way up through Galilee immediately coming up from the water Jesus was baptized he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending on him like a dove then a voice came from heaven you are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased now you'll notice that all three members of the Godhead are present at the baptism of Jesus you have the father speaking to the son you have the son being baptized you the Holy Spirit in a form of a dove a sacrificial animal so that it could be seen by the people but especially by John the Baptist now listen carefully for John the Baptist to see it dove above Jesus Christ indicative of the Holy Spirit would for John the Baptist be the final verification this is the Messiah this is the one because in Isaiah chapter 11 there is a prediction about the coming Messiah it says a rod will come from the stem of Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him he knew his background that he was a stem from the rod of Jesse from the house of David and now that symbolic form of the Spirit of God resting upon him so all three members of the Godhead present at the baptism of Jesus even as all three members Father Son and Holy Spirit are part of your salvation process you receive Jesus into your heart as your Savior he's the one that did the heavy lifting for you on the cross but it was God the Father who sent him and Jesus before he left said I'm gonna send to you the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin righteousness and judgment so all three are active in bringing us to salvation immediately verse 12 the spirit drove him into the wilderness and he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan and was with the wild beasts the wild beasts in the desert would have been I guess snakes scorpions those are the things that live out there and the Angels ministered to him the New Testament refers to the devil about 70 72 times what it does it refers to the devil Satan as a person not an entity not a thing not a force not a principle the Holy Spirit is called a he the devil is called the he and him he's very real heavens opened in verse 10 and when heavens open and activity was happening from heaven on earth you can be sure that hell would be open also remember what you learned in school every action has an equal and opposite reaction it's true in the spiritual realm every act of God every act of man toward God will incite a reaction from Satan anybody who does but does business with God will eventually do business with the devil and I would say that the forces of Hell in your life are directly related to your proximity to God the closer you get to him the more riled up they will become now if you go you know you talk about the devil but it's like I'm never hassled by the devil I go through I'm I don't worry about I never am hassled interesting it says a lot about you because I guarantee you if you are actively pursuing the Lord you would be actively attacked by the enemy now that's not to make you go home and look at the devil underneath your rug or your back or your refrigerator and I'm gonna cast out demons in my toast in all that nonsense greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world I am not afraid of him not because I'm better or bigger he could whip me on my best day but I know he's afraid of the Christ that lives inside of me that's what he's afraid of so I'm all about that [Applause] notice when Jesus was tempted after the baptism after every spiritual blessing the thief comes you find that to be true as soon as Israel is delivered from Egypt Pharaoh comes after them in the wilderness as soon as Hezekiah celebrates the Passover nationally Sennacherib the Assyrian in circles Jerusalem as soon as they see the Apostles see the glorious vision of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration as soon as they get down the mountain they meet a demon-possessed kid to challenge them to attack them JC Reilly even said no where perhaps is the devil so active as in church you go to church the Lord speaks to you you leave blessed you get out on the road flat tire or some crazy guy in a motorcycle cut you off pulls out in front of you or or you get out to your car and somebody broke into your car in the parking lot or your car's been towed we've had all of these things happen not going to that church somebody broke into my car maybe that's the reason you ought to go now after John was put in prison Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom saying the time is fulfilled the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe the gospel John the Baptist was put in prison you remember we covered it in Matthew because John was the kind of a preacher who didn't really care about saying nice things to rulers so he got himself in trouble he leveled an accusation at Herod Antipas because Herod Antipas took and married his niece who also happened to be the wife of his half-brother Herod Philip all of this was unlawful all of this was against Jewish law now Herod wasn't Jewish he was part Jewish he had a background with Jewish parentage is his mother or grandmother but that was enough for John just because you have you're related to Judaism he just like slammed him came against him and so he got arrested put in jail and eventually he was killed now John the Baptist's arrest when he was put in prison most gospel commentators and there are some taters more common than others but most writers of books that give comment on the Gospels will tell you that this marks a new beginning in Jesus ministry John said I must decrease in he must increase so as soon as he's put in prison he decreases and Jesus really starts the public inauguration of his ministry upon the prison sentence of John the Baptist we're told that Jesus went to Galilee why Galilee because it was predicted by Isaiah that he would go to Galilee Isaiah chapter 9 speaks about the Messiah being introduced in the Galilee of the Gentiles for those who sat in darkness have seen a great light so it would be another indicator that this is the Messiah verse 16 and as he walked by the Sea of Galilee you got understand a see in the Bible isn't an ocean okay the Sea of Galilee was a lake the lake of Galilee is about 13 miles from north to south and about 8 miles from east to west shaped like a harp it's a below sea level about 600 feet below sea level but it was called the Sea of Galilee and the other lake that just has an inlet down south was called the Dead Sea of course the Great Sea was always the Mediterranean that's a real sea but this is the Sea of Galilee that lake and he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen and Jesus said to them follow me and I will make you become fishers of men Andrew had been a disciple of John the Baptist possibly Peter his brother was also a disciple of John the Baptist and evidently once John was put into prison they went back to their fishing business like okay well that was fun but that's over Noah wasn't just beginning it says they immediately left their nets and they followed him something that might help you it's called the Sea of Galilee here goes by other names the sea of janessa Rhett you is called if you've ever read that Gannett is a plane a flat little plane to the western side of the sea or the lake of Galilee it's also called the sea of Tiberias because of a Hellenistic city that is on the southwest Shore and it also given the title of the Lake Kinneret or the canary at sea can air it from the Hebrew Kannur which means harp because it's shaped like a ancient Old Testament harp verse 19 when he had gone a little further from there he saw James the son of Zebedee and as John his brother who also were in the boat mending their nets and immediately they called he called them they left their father Zebedee in the boat I wonder what Dad thought Jesus is calling who's that that guy SIA dad left him in the boat with the hired servants and went after him what a journey these two guys James and John would go on all they knew their whole world was a lake that's it their whole world their whole existence was just that little rural agricultural lake of Galilee it's all they knew maybe a trip to Jerusalem every now and then for the feast but that was it but they would be in on an adventure they would see things and hear things they could not even imagine they would fish for men's souls and so at Peter and Andrew Peter will be the guy who will stand up on Pentecost and give the gospel and see 3,000 souls saved John will cast her in Ephesus and get a vision of the end of times the book of Revelation they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught and they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having authority not as the scribes now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit that as a demon-possessed in the synagogue seat not everybody who comes to church is necessarily alright and awesome and filled with the Holy Spirit here's a demon-possessed guy in church that day in synagogue that day and he cried out I would love to be in that synagogue service the tension mounting in the room and he cried out saying let us alone what have we to do with you we being plural meaning he's possessed with more than one demon spirit what have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth did you come to destroy us I know who you are the Holy One of God but Jesus rebuked him saying be quiet I like I just like the idea of Jesus saying be quiet I don't know why but I usually underline this in my Bible because typically people have this sunday-school milquetoast little you know Jesus gentle Jesus meek and mild look upon this little child kind of a there's Jesus high and here's Jesus it's in a synagogue surface and somebody's crying out and he says be quiet yeah I'll follow that guy has Authority and come out of him and when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice he came out of him and they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying what is this what new doctrine is this for with authority he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey Him his fame spread throughout all the region immediately his fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee did you know that the synagogue is a New Testament development you don't read about it at all in the Old Testament ever wonder why it's because the Jews never saw them as relevant or needful there was a temple where they worshiped as long as that temple was there that's where they met that was according to the law but when the Babylonians came and destroyed the temple in 586 BC and took the children of Israel captive to Babylon now they had no temple now they could not practice ceremonial law with the priesthood in a temple so they decided to gather together the word Sunnah go gay synagogue means the gathering together and so Jews in Babylon in captivity gathered together and since they couldn't sacrifice they couldn't practice ceremonial law they could only discuss and teach written law and so they would ask themselves questions like what would Moses do in a situation like this just like we would say what would Jesus do they was what would Moses do and so that's how the oral law developed in the synagogue by the discussion and the application of the written law to their lives okay when they came back from the captivity and rebuilt their temple it had become such an institution that it's stuck in Judaism to this day in ancient times there were different people that worked in the synagogue first of all there was the Hassan or the minister and the Hassan's duty was to keep the scroll the Torah scrolls in the wooden Ark up front he would trim the laps lamps for lighting and he would sweep the floors keep it clean that's the cousin the minister then there was the ruler of the synagogue he would plan the service for the community every time they met on Sabbath or for feast days the ruler of the synagogue did that now we know the name of the ruler of the synagogue in the city his name was anybody gyrus gyrus had the daughter little girl who died and came to Jesus the ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum Jesus come my little daughter has died while Jesus was teaching so we know his name then up at the front of the synagogue there were seats for the elders of the synagogue the principled men of the community then there was a special attendant called the attendant of the congregation who would come and read the Bible text and give an explanation and on this day it was Jesus he was teaching he'll be given the Torah school and he would teach out of it then next to him was the interpreter because the scriptures were written in Hebrew but they weren't speaking Hebrew they were speaking the language of the captivity Chaldean Aramaic he saw the movie The Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson the whole film was done and resurrected Aramaic it's a dead language hadn't been around they found documents and they resurrected it for the film to make it accurate that's what they were speaking in those days the language of the Babylonian captivity then there were also in the congregation a group called all manners 2 or 3 all manners took the alms the offerings for the poor or items for the poor and distributed them in the community that's a synagogue in ancient times if you want to know what it was like it would open with the ruler or the Hasaan singing a prayer called the Shema Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai elohenu Adonai Akkad here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and everybody would say Amen thank you then the attendant of the congregation Jesus in this case would get up open the scroll read from it give an explanation like you did in Nazareth Luke chapter 4 close it there would be some more activities the very end would be a better diction hands would be raised facing Jerusalem so let's see in the synagogue in Capernaum since it faces south they would have had their hands raised and been pointing to the right because Jerusalem was down south from them so that's a typical service if you wanted to know what it was like in the David of Jesus that's what happened now as soon as they came out of the synagogue they entered the house of Simon and Andrew Simon and Andrew were not from Capernaum they were from a little village a couple miles away called Bethsaida on the shores of Galilee but they moved to this town when Jesus moved to this town with James and John but Simon's wife's mother lay sick with the fever now this tells you about something about Peter the first pope what does it tell you he was married he had a wife and his mother-in-law was living with him Peter's wife's mother the first pope was there mother was at his house it also tells a lot about Peter's integrity and character that he would allow his mother-in-law to be at his house and that he would take care of her evidently her husband died don't know that for sure but I'm guessing that and she's sick and he loved his wife and he loved his mother-in-law and to honor her that was only fitting that she was there and they told him about her at once so he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and immediately the fever left her at evening when the Sun had set they brought to him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed now there's a very interesting reason why they waited until evening but we have to wait until next week to discover what that is because it's 8:31 so let's pray always like to leave a little thing hanging at the end it is father we see the simplicity of people who gathered even 2,000 years ago in a very rural area of Galilee in a gathering place a synagogue the place of gathering and it was simply consisted of song and the word and the explanation of the word prayer at the beginning prayer at the end very similar to this synagogue this gathering place there's prayer and song there's worship there's the word and the explanation of the word the interpretation of the word thank you for the testimony of John the Baptist the voice the road worker who said make a straight highway for the Messiah we appreciate the testimony of John mark an impressionable teenager who became a disciple by the witness of Peter a missionary worker who failed who was restored by his cousin who went on to sir Peter in Rome and gave us this glorious and fast-paced book [Music] thank you once again for those whose hearts are hungry to week-by-week be fed truth more than wanting tricks more than wanting pablum or just a few flashy flip phrases of exhortation they want the depth and the teaching of truth in the scripture thank you I pray Lord that the blessing you get them wouldn't be stolen after the church service in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 13,069

Rating: 4.8362575 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Church, Skip Heitzig, Mark, John the Baptist, John Mark, synagogue, missionary, New Testament, clergy, baptism, satan, devil, King of the Jews, kosher, law, disciples, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John

Id: FyPzpLR8XFo

Length: 58min 9sec (3489 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018