Category Archives: Gospels

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Sounds from the Stone Pavement

MARK - Slider NT

In Mark 15:1-20 we come to the final hours of our Lord Jesus as he stands at The Stone Pavement on trial before Pilate.

It is a part of Mark’s gospel familiar to Christians and non-Christians alike. And thus we must recognize that danger lurks in these pages. The danger is that such familiarity constrains our ability to be freshly affected. Spurgeon, when preaching on this text, said, “I hope that you will not be wearied with this subject. If so, it will be the fault of the preacher, for the subject is always full and fresh. Or if the preacher is not to blame, there will be something of censure due to his hearers. If we grow tired of the story of the Cross it will be a sad indication of secret soul-sickness.”1

In God’s good kindness He calls us to look to His word so that our soul-sickness and soul-slumber might be exposed.

THE SOUL’S ALARM CLOCK

For have you ever considered how much the truth of God’s word is like a spiritual alarm clock for the soul? Through His work God speaks and summons us to life and joy because of Christ’s sacrifice. He calls us to wake up! And the sound of this alarm in Mark 15:1-20 has two primary beats on which I want to meditate as we close.

The Stone Pavement calls for reckoning with Christ. We see in Pilate the reality that fascination with Jesus doesn’t equal faith. He is amazed and interested at Jesus, but when the cries of the worldly crowd get loud he figures its time to be done with the supposed king. Some of you like Pilate and the crowd need to reckon with the truths of Christ. He is no mere man to be amazed at, He is the King who demands your faithful allegiance. Every day the enemy of mankind and Lord of mankind call you to a reckoning, whom will you follow? False saviors that make promises they never can fulfill or the Savior who Himself is the greatest promise? Let your reckoning with Christ then lead to the second sound.

The Stone Pavement calls for thanksgiving in Christ. I’ve always wondered what Barabbas did the rest of that Good Friday. Did he make the walk up to Calvary later that afternoon and watch as the Christ was crucified in his place between his friends? Or did he walk away only to give occasional thought to the man who was his substitute? Church, let us acknowledge that so often we do the latter. We walk away from the glorious substitution of Christ and only infrequently remember what He did. Oh, but the every time the gospel is announced it is like a Thanksgiving holiday for the soul! The church’s corporate gathering is a weekly summons to consistent thanksgiving, for it is here we sing and hear the good news. And is there any greater ground for gratitude than this gospel of substitution?

He took the accusation.

He took the condemnation.

He took the humiliation.

And gave you salvation.

Hear the King’s silence before Pilate, see the King’s substitution for Barabbas, feel the King’s shame at the battalion’s mockery, and come to a reckoning with Christ that leads you to thanksgiving in Christ. What joyful news we have and herald: The Son was shamed for sinners.

The post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Savior’s Sentence.”

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  1. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1644. ↩
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Two Movements from Sovereign Strength

Faith and Prayer

In Mark 9:14-27 Jesus comes down from the mountain of Transfiguration to find a demonically-possessed, epileptic boy. In yet another compassionate display of His sovereign Lordship casts out the demon and restores the boy to health.1

Sometime later that day the disciples ask Jesus in 9:28, “Why could we not cast it out?” Remember back in chapter six that the twelve received authority over evil spirits and had successfully driven out many demons before this incident, so why their failure now? Jesus answers in 9:29 by saying, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” It seems that the disciples took for granted the power given to them or they thought was inherent now in them. So they no longer prayerfully depended on God for His power and they revealed their lack of faith. There is something in the disciples’ lack of prayer and lack of faith worthy of meditation.

I love symphonies and classical music. Last week as I was writing this sermon a particular song came on that moved me with its unusual grandeur. We might think of Mark’s gospel as a symphony that is sounding for the strength of this Savior with elegance and power as it moves towards the crescendo at Calvary. And does this symphony move you? Let’s consider two ways, from our text, in which this Savior’s strength should move us.

Two Movements from the Savior’s Strength

First, the movement of faith. This text is all about the power of Christ over the forces of darkness and the faith that power demands from us. In 9:19 He rebukes the lack of faith permeating the crowds and scribes; in 9:23 He says all things are possible for those who believe; in 9:24 the boy’s father cries our, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And the unique thing about this text is how it commends small faith. It tells us that small faith in this strong Savior is enough. The father’s faith was small, but it was still enough for Christ to respond with strength.

Let us remember that salvation depends not on the strength of our faith, but on the strength of the one our faith is in – the one who saves. An illustration might be helpful here.

Several weeks back we had our boys at a playground and I set them up high on ledge and said, “Alright, jump to Daddy.” I’m sure many of you have done the same. Hudson only needed a little prodding to take the leap of faith. He’s done this before and knows that Daddy will catch him. Owen however is smaller, the jump looks much bigger, and he really hadn’t jumped from this height before. He didn’t want to do it at first and it took quite a bit of prodding, but he eventually held his breath and jumped with a shaking little body of fright.

What they placed their faith in (my ability to catch them) mattered more than how vibrant their faith was. The same is true when it comes to believing in Jesus. It’s not the quality of our faith that saves, but the object of our faith – Jesus Christ – that saves. Also, it’s not we see from this text that it not as though God requires a certain strength of faith to welcome any who would believe. Mark 9 reminds us that true faith in Christ, no matter how small it is, is still enough because it falls on this sovereign and strong Savior. See the strength of Jesus and be moved to faith. The second movement in our text is . . .

The movement of prayer. Prayer is little more than faith turned towards God. Both faith and prayer testify that spiritual power is not in us, but in God, and both wait upon His promise to answer. Growing faith will lead to growing prayers. For us as a congregation, we long to be filled with faith in our Sovereign God. One way we show our faith is not only in the fact that we pray often, but that we love to pray often. What then does your practice of and delight in prayer say about your faith? It is not stretch to say that all of us would probably say that our prayer life reveals a faith smaller than we would hold. Rather than fall into the serpent’s condemnation on this point, let’s be encouraged to cry out, “Father, help my unbelief!”

The second half of Mark’s gospel is consumed with Jesus’ mission to suffer and die, and the disciples inability to understand this mission. The exorcism of Mark 9:14-29 highlights the disciple’s spiritual weakness and lack of faith, but thankfully it doesn’t leave us with only negative deficiencies. It shows up the priority of faith and prayer in following Christ. Let us crowd around Him in faith collectively, come to Him in faith individually, and call on Him in faith, beholding His power and remembering: Small faith in this strong Savior is enough.

  1. This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Savior’s Healing,” on Mark 9:14-29. ↩
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What’s as Good as Christ’s Presence?

Word = Presence

The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

In John 4:46-54 Jesus heals an official’s son from a distance and reveals one of the sweetest realities about the power of His word: Christ’s word is as good as Christ’s presence.

Jesus merely said, “Go, your son will live,” and the cure was done. Good Bishop Ryle said, “Christ only commanded, and the deadly disease stood fast.” Do you feel the comfort from this truth? What value it gives to every promise that ever came from Christ. If you have laid hold of some word of Christ, you have set your feet on the solid rock. What Christ spoken, He is able to do. What He has undertaken, He will accomplish. You can trust in this Christ. Luther says it well, “Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.” Oh, see how faith in Christ’s word can be the source of faith for every circumstance you find yourself in . . .

  • If you are fearful. Remember Isaiah 43:2, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”
  • If you are struggling with temptation. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability . . . he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
  • If you are fighting sin. Remember Micah 7:9, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
  • If you are without Christ. Remember Romans 10:9-13, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . . . For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Faith receives and rests on the word of Christ; a word that is His powerful presence in our lives.

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A Portrait of Purpose

Pray and Preach

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” – Mark 1:35-38

In 2010 The Museum of Modern Art hosted artist Marina Abramovic’s performance entitled “The Artist is Present.” For 736 hours she sat immobile in the museum’s atrium while spectators were invited to sit across the table from her. It essentially was an artistic staring contest, but photographers captured incredible shots of people responding with laughter, smiling, and crying to the Serbian’s stares. It’s a fact that we all know from experience, staring at someone ordinarily evokes a response and the response can often be more pronounced than one would have guessed.

Stop and stare at the Savior here in Mark 1:35-38 and those few mornings hours after the Sabbath day. What do you see? What response is bubbling to the surface? What I see in this portrait of Jesus is a pattern for God’s people to hear and heed: Communion with God fuels mission for God. We find in our text Jesus praying, resisting, and preaching and all three points have something essential for us to see tonight as we meditate on the truth that communion with God is essential to mission for God.

3 RESPONSES TO JESUS’ EARLY WAKE UP CALL

First, see the priority of prayer. The start of His ministry has been a resounding success; His authority currently captivates everyone. They clamor for His presence and power, and what is His immediate response? He withdraws to a desolate place in order to pray. Let’s just think about Jesus’ practice of prayer that we observe in the gospels. When He was baptized we are told he was praying (Luke 3:21). When he was transfigured, we are told that His face was transformed as he prayed (Luke 9:29). Before He appointed the twelve disciples, Luke tells us He tells us He continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). After feeding the five thousand all the people want to crown Him as king, but He leaves them in order to pray (Mark 9:23). In the moments leading up to His betrayal, arrest, and eventually crucifixion we find Him crying out in prayer. Our Lord is consistently is found praying, it was a priority that fueled His mission.

We would be wise here to be challenged and encouraged by His devotion to prayer. In commenting on this passage, JC Ryle said, “Here is the pulse of our Christianity, here is the true test of our state before God.” How healthy is the pulse of your Christianity? What can we say about those who pray little, what’s the pulse of their Christianity? Let’s confess that this is most of us.  We understand the value of prayer and can even recount blessings untold we have received at the throne of grace, but we progress slowly. What might our prayerless reveal? If prayer, as modeled by Jesus Christ is little more than an act of humble dependence, then prayerlessness is little more than an act of independence. Jesus was dependent on God for strength, wisdom, and assurance, and so He prayed. Might our small progress in prayer be rooted in a soul that finds greater joy in independence from God than dependence on God? We need to see first of all the priority of prayer and . . .

Second, see the pitfall of preoccupation. The disciples cried out, “What are you doing out here praying? The people need you.” We observe here, and will find similar occasions all over the gospels, that a recurring pitfall for Jesus’ mission on earth was preoccupation with earthly concerns. The people’s concern was with health and happiness, not with the King’s demand for repentance and faith. The disciples’ preoccupation with these things not only interrupted Jesus’ communion with God, but also threatened His mission for God. Jesus shows us that no one makes progress in communion with God or mission for God that is not schooled in self-denial. If your life were shot as a documentary for all to see, what preoccupations would the audience see? Any preoccupations that interrupt communion with God or threaten you mission for God? See the priority of prayer, the pitfall of preoccupation, and for this text, most centrally. . .

Third, see the primacy of preaching. This was Christ’s mission, to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Preaching was the God-ordained means to extend the kingdom of grace, and preaching remains the God-ordained means to extend the kingdom of grace. Have you ever thought about how incredible this truth is? That God builds His kingdom on the authority and power of His word? Not through signs and wonders, but through the gospel being preached to the ends of the earth!

Every weekend the church gathers and the element of our worship that gets the most extended time is preaching. You come each week and primarily get to sit and listen to someone speak to you. It’s strange is it not? 1 Corinthians 1:18 says that preaching seems foolish to the world. But let it not be foolish to us! The preacher may not be gifted and the sermons may be meager offerings, but it is God’s chosen grace to extend His kingdom. How then do you think about this chosen grace? Do you even think of it as God’s grace to you? Your commitment to and delight in hearing the word in your church’s gathering is a pretty good place to start your evaluation.

The people in the first century may have thought the Messiah would spend His earthly ministry keeping up the priestly institutions and ceremonies, like the great high priest Aaron. Many thought He would rule and reign in the manner of the great King David. But this Savior defied all expectations and conventions of the day. From the moment of His arrival to the moment of His death, He could be heard preaching, for that is why He came.

Stopping and staring at this portrait of the Savior will evoke a response. Let our responses be renewed interest in the priority of prayer, greater awareness at the pitfall of preoccupation, and strengthened delight in the primacy of preaching. However unexpected this scene was to the 1st century disciples, may the truth of this scene not be unexpected or unfamiliar to us, that communion with God fuels mission for God.

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Don’t Miss This Savior

No One Like Jesus

“And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.'” – Mark 1:271

Back in my soccer days I as able to travel all over the world.. I have been to virtually every country in Europe, but such truth can be deceiving. Weeks spent training and playing in these countries meant that we became familiar with their landscape and culture, but rarely got to experience that landscape and culture. Our lives were eat, sleep, and play soccer. Familiarity didn’t lead to experience.

And we need to understand that it is easy for us to fall into the same trap when encountering Jesus. We can be familiar with the gospel stories and teachings of Jesus, but never experience who He really is. Familiarity is necessary, but not equal, to experiencing Jesus. Mark 1:21-34 is in our Bible to show us not only the kingdom’s advance, but also the absolute uniqueness of its King. Mark is in pain for us to see this one simple truth about Jesus: This Savior is unlike anyone you have ever heard or seen. In many ways, every gospel writer recounts the life and ministry of Jesus so that everyone would get that truth. You could make it the main point of almost every gospel passage. But is clearly is the main point of Mark 1:21-34. The people are amazed and astonished, bringing all the sick and demon possessed to him, because He has an authority they have never experienced before. In order that we see the utter uniqueness of Jesus, I want to give you three things from this text that you cannot afford to miss.

Don’t miss the aim of Jesus. The “whole city” gathers at Jesus’ door, not because they recognized that He is God’s Son and Savior, but because it is rumored that a miracle worker has come in their midst. Jesus had come to preach repentance and the nearness of the kingdom, but the people think only of relief from pain and affliction. They failed to see that the healings and deliverances were windows into who Jesus was, the true Son of God. You are not supposed to stare at windows, but stare through windows. The people should not have stared at the miracles, but through the miracles, for the miracles attest to the identity of Jesus. See the miracles of Christ and look through them to the One performing them.

There is something important for the church in this passage.  Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “The authentic task of the church is not primarily to make people happy; it is not to make people healthy; and it is not even to make people good. The church, of course, is concerned about making people good, and that they should be happy; yes, but that is not her primary function . . . Her essential task is to restore men to the right relationship with God.” It wasn’t Jesus’ primary aim to make people happy and healthy, it was to restore them to a right relationship with God. So, firstly, don’t miss the aim of Jesus, secondly . . .

Don’t miss the assault on Jesus. He shows up in the synagogue, teaching with authority, and quite literally, all hell breaks loose. There is no more dangerous place in town that where the truth of Christ meets dead, devilish religion. Never forget that the world is not friendly to the authoritative truth of Christ. If you are under assault for loving the truth of Christ, you have a friend in Christ. The devils of this world and dead religions of this world assault the authority of this Savior. By dead religion, I want you to see the religious leaders there in the background of the synagogue, leaders who will soon come to the forefront in the opposition of Christ. Men, who knew their Scriptures, but did not know God. They were dead in religion and couldn’t handle the truth, so they wage war against it. This text calls us to remember that one can know the truth and yet be unconverted. Might you be familiar with Jesus and yet still not know Him as your Savior? I invite you to examine your heart before Him and see if you have truly placed your faith in the one who is the Savior for sinners. He didn’t come for us to be merely familiar with Him, which leads to the final thing we cannot miss . . .

Don’t miss the astonishment at Jesus. Jesus’ authority astonished and amazed the people who encountered Him for the first time; He “blew their minds.” To behold this Jesus is to be struck with the holy mixture of fear and wonder. When was the last time you beheld Jesus and were astonished? Amazed? Left in holy fear?

Jesus’ is establishing God’s kingdom, and in the process we see that He is the teacher, deliverer, and healer. Let us not miss the aim of Jesus, the assault on Jesus, and the astonishment at Jesus. For this Savior is unlike anyone you have ever heard or seen.

  1. This post is adapted from my sermon “The Savior’s Authority.” ↩
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2 Ordinary Responses to an Extraordinary Birth

In Excelsis Deo

My favorite character in all of English literature is the legendary consulting detective of 221B Baker Street – Sherlock Holmes. The modern BBC adaptation is, undoubtedly, my favorite show on the “tele” (as the English say).

One of the more humorous parts of Holmes’ personality is his obsession with the extraordinary. A modern rendition of his business advertisement captures the quirk quite well:

I’m Sherlock Holmes, the world’s only consulting detective.

I’m not going to go into detail about how I do what I do because chances are you wouldn’t understand. If you’ve got a problem that you want me to solve, then contact me.  This is what I do:

1. I observe everything.

2. From what I observe, I deduce everything.

3. When I’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how mad it
might seem, must be the truth.

If you need assistance, contact me and we’ll discuss its potential. Interesting cases only please.

The ordinary bores Holmes to a debilitating degree and so he must have interesting cases. I often wonder if we Christians don’t approach the truth of Christmas with a similar distaste for what we think is boringly ordinary.

We saw yesterday how the angels’ song in Luke 2 proclaims that Jesus came to give His father glory and His people peace. No truth is more foundational to our faith, yet it can be so utterly ordinary that we find it to be uninteresting or unsurprising. The Incarnation can become so common to our minds that it gets put on the “Uninteresting Shelf” of souls. And so we clamor and shout for other doctrines, when in reality, outside of the Trinity, no truth or doctrine of Christianity is as mysterious and interesting as the Incarnation. God has come down to lift us up, He has become weak to make us strong, He has been born so He might die. This is most interesting! This is life altering!

See afresh how gloriously interesting the Incarnation is.

The extraordinary truth of Christ’s birth and its purpose – God’s glory and our peace – demands two ordinary responses from God’s people, responses exemplified by the shepherds in Luke 2.

2 ORDINARY RESPONSES TO THE EXTRAORDINARY BABY KING

First, Jesus came to give His Father glory and so we worship. Luke 2:15-16 tell us that after hearing the angels’ song the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found the baby King. 2:20 says, “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.” As we have said, the glory of God is uniquely displayed in the birth of Jesus. The heavenly chorus begins the symphony of God’s glory in redemption that will soon crescendo at the cross. We are invited to join in and worship. Does not your heart want to burst in song with the angels? To glorify and praise God for the miracle of Christ’s birth? If not, ask why not? Have you become so disengaged from God that He no longer amazes you? Is cherished secret sin in your soul pushing out your heart’s ability to cherish this King worthy of all worship? He came to give His father glory, and so we worship.

Second, Jesus came to give His people peace and so we witness. With haste the shepherds go to find the baby and when they arrive 2:17 says, “They made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.” They bear witness. This is the pattern of the Christian life: the vertical response of worship and the horizontal response of witness. 2 Corinthians 5 says God is bringing peace to the world through Christ and so “we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” Ambassadors bearing witness, heralding the good news, imploring the world to be reconciled to God, this is ordinary the response to Christ’s coming and bringing His people peace. Do we have this kind of joyful earnestness to announce His terms of peace? I suspect we all feel humbled by the shepherds’ response. Let us pray for God to embolden and empower us through His Spirit to boldly and clearly proclaim the wonder of His Son.

To the distracted world in which we live, the Christmas story was just a small, insignificant acorn that was just a blip on the canvas of history. But the Incarnation, this truth that is more fantastic than fiction, this little acorn would soon grow into an oak of redemption that shines forth the majesty of God to the universe. So sing with joy, in peace, and from love this Christmas because Jesus came to give His Father glory and His people peace.

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Singing with Angels

In Excelsis Deo

In his classic book Knowing God, JI Packer wrote, “It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie . . . The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.”1

To see the truth more fantastic than fiction we turn to the well-known story of shepherds and singing angels on that first Christmas night in Luke 2. In the short span of one verse the angels reveal the purpose and wonder of Christ’s incarnation. We might summarize their chorus by saying, “Jesus came to give His father glory and His people peace.” This is the purpose of Christmas according to the angels. I want you to encourage you with three things from the angels song: 1) Sing with Joy this Christmas, 2) Sing in Peace this Christmas, and 3) Sing from Love this Christmas.

SING WITH JOY THIS CHRISTMAS

They sang, “Glory to God in the highest.” What does the song’s first syllable tell us? That God is supremely glorified in salvation. The Bible tells us that everything in creation resounds unto God’s glory. He is glorified in every drop of dew that falls on the morning grass. He is glorified in every plant that blooms in forests men rarely see. He is glorified in the bird that glides on His air. From the smallest minnow to the largest whale, the creatures in the sea sing of His glory. The bright stars and far of galaxies proclaim His glory to the universe. Every lightning bolt and crack of thunder contributes to creation’s concert of God’s glory. But creation does not represent the highest movement in this symphony of glory. It’s the incarnation of Christ that finds the angels singing glory to God in the highest. Spurgeon said, “There is more melody in Jesus born in the manger, than there is in worlds upon worlds rolling their grandeur round the throne of the Most High.”

How is it that God is so supremely glorified in the birth of Christ?

  • Jesus’ birth glorifies God’s wisdom. This is what it would take to save men, God become man. From eternity past God decreed His Son would come and add humanity’s flesh to His divine nature. What wisdom!
  • Jesus’ birth glorifies God’s justice. No creature could satisfy God’s justice toward the sin of men. Only Jesus, the Son of God, perfect in nature and obedience, can satisfy His just Father. So the birth of Jesus uncovers the glories of God’s wisdom, justice, and thirdly . . .
  • Jesus’ birth glorifies God’s holiness. Our holy God demands holiness from His creatures, but we all have fallen short. Holiness is impossible for us to grasp or achieve. The demand of holiness can only be met in Christ, the Holy One. Thus it was that He came.
  • Jesus’ birth glorifies God’s mercy. He is just and holy, as such He stands opposed to all our sin. But see His mercy in Christ. The Father does not desire to leave men in sin, He is going to use them as mirrors of His mercy. And so Jesus came as the ultimate merciful gift for sinful man. His mercy will triumph over man’s misery. 

So yes, creation glorifies God, but not in the way Jesus’ incarnation and redemption does. Do you see how we are to sing with joy this Christmas? His wisdom, justice, holiness, and mercy are instruments for our joy.

Every Christmas season I like to listen to Handel’s famous work The Messiah. This piece is ingrained within popular culture because of its infamous “Hallelujah Chorus.”  If you go to a performance of Handel’s masterpiece, you will notice something rather interesting. As the second part of the oratorio rolls to its climax, the iconic “Hallelujah’’ chorus, people will begin to stand, it’s a tradition that supposedly dates back to the mid-1700s. Call it traditionalism or deference for greatness if you want, but historically the act was done out of reverential joy.

The angels’ chorus ought to cause our soul to leap up with joy. What about you? Does your soul remain seated when you read and hear of the glory of Christ’s birth? Or does your soul leap for joy because His birth signals that salvation has come? His birth is is like a turbo-charger of joy. Let us be reminded, in the words of John Piper, that joyless faith in Jesus is an oxymoron in terms. Sing with joy this Christmas, and now, as the song continues we are encourage to sing in peace.

SING IN PEACE THIS CHRISTMAS

2:14 continues, “and on earth peace.” The great design of Jesus’ birth was peace on earth. Have you considered that peace is man’s greatest need? Ever since the fall of Adam man is in a state of war and rebellion against his Maker. In our sin we all have renounced allegiance to and dependence on God, and instead we claim allegiance and dependence only to ourselves. So we are now against God and God is against us. The soul was created to be at peace with God, but now it isn’t, so we strive in sin to give it peace through everything but God.

Some of us think money and materials will provide peace to our soul, but as many of you know from experience, things can’t give true peace. So some people strive for peace through people. Marriage and parenting does bring joy, but they don’t calm a soul at war with God. Some people think pleasure will calm a soul of doubt, fear, and struggle – things that are nothing more than the fruit of no peace. So they turn to drink, drugs, food, or flesh to give peace, but it never comes. Some people think following the rules and laws of God with utter perfection will sign a treaty with God, but such legalism is a tyranny.

Where then is peace found? In this baby lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. The long expected Prince of Peace will soon be surrounded by animals and shepherds. Ephesians 2 tells us, “He is our peace.”  Have you come in faith to the peaceful prince? Maybe you are reading this and you are not a Christian. The Bible tells us that you are far off, separated from Christ, without God or peace in this world. The good news of this baby king is that He came to bring peace on earth. Through the blood he shed on the cross He brings near those who are far off and He gives peace to those at war with God.

Sing with joy, sing in peace, and now sing from love.

SING FROM LOVE THIS CHRISTMAS

Peace comes to “those with whom he is pleased!” It is popular to conceive of God as some sort of spiritual Santa so you better watch out, because He’s making a list, and checking it twice, gonna find out, who’s naughty and nice. Those who are nice get the present of peace. But that’s not what the angels are singing here. “Those with whom he is pleased” is biblical language for election. We can think of Deuteronomy 10:14-15, which describes the pleasure God had in choosing Israel from all the peoples of the earth:

“Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it; yet the Lord set his heart in love upon your fathers [literally:“the Lord delighted in your fathers to love them”] and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples.”

The peace of God comes according to God’s sovereign pleasure. And are not the shepherds the perfect example? One commentator on the text said the shepherds “were much more like a group of tattooed rednecks than anything else.” And God chose them. Merit and achievement has no influence on the sovereign grace of God – a fact that might need to comfort some of you and discomfort other of you. He does not choose people because of their prominence or grandeur or distinction. When he chooses he chooses freely, in order to magnify the glory of his own mercy. His sovereign pleasure is the foundation for His praise.

You’ll notice this golden chain of salvation if we work backwards through the song: The sovereign pleasure of God provides the peace of Christ, and the peace of Christ propels the praise of God. Because this baby king was born we sing with joy, in peace, and from love because He loved us first in Christ.

  1. This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “In Excelsis Deo.” ↩
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Two Responses to Sovereign Strength

Soveriegn Strength

He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” . . . Jesus said, “Do not fear, only believe.” – Mark 4:40; 5:36

In Mark 4:35-5:43 we are given three distinct stories that all tell us something of the sovereign power of Jesus and how people ordinarily respond to His strength. 4:35-41 show He is sovereign over storms, 5:1-20 show He is sovereign over demons, 5:21-34 show He is sovereign over sickness, and 5:35-43 show He is sovereign over death. Mark’s point, of course, in setting theses stories next to one another is to show that Jesus is in fact the very Son of God. These various displays of power all happen over the course of one day and the day concludes with 5:42 saying the people “were immediately overcome with amazement.” How about you? Does the sovereign strength of Jesus amaze you?1

I think war soundtracks are the most appropriate sermon preparation music. Last week I was listening to the soundtrack from the movie The Gladiator while preparing for my sermon on this passage. There is a moment in the film where Maximus – the movie’s hero and protagonist –  is in the gladiator ring, he swiftly dispatches of a competitor, and then cries out “Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?” It was a display of strength that generated amusement from the crowd, which Maximus’ questions imply is the wrong response.

The sovereign strength of Christ is on full display in Mark 4:35-5:43 and how should we respond to it? The text says there are two right responses for those who behold the power of Christ.

First, see the sovereign strength of Jesus and respond with fear. The disciples see Jesus’ sovereignty over storms and seas and they were filled with mega-fear (4:41). The townspeople see the healed demoniac and the Jesus’ power over demons and they were afraid (5:15).

It’s quite fascinating to see that the disciples’ fear of the windstorm was exceeded by their fear at what Jesus had done. They ask in 4:41, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” So, the presence of supernatural strength is even more terrifying than the most destructive of natural disasters. In this instance, God’s nearness in Jesus is not something reassuring but something profoundly unsettling, and even terrifying. Such a sense is entirely appropriate according to this text and the rest of Scripture. You should fear this God and Savior for nothing can stand against Him, nothing can rival Him, and nothing can compete with Him. Mark wants us to see that not only is such fear appropriate, but such fear ought to drive us to the second response . . .

Second, see the sovereign strength of Jesus and respond with faith. Fear the Lord and put your faith in Him, these are the responses to omnipotent power. In what does your faith lie? Looking normally consists of what our two eyes see and if we are to respond in faith to Jesus we need use the two eyes of faith in this text:

  1. See the total inability of man. The disciples could do nothing to calm the waves; the people could do nothing to subdue the man possessed by Legion; doctors and money could do nothing to heal the woman’s disease; Jairus’ status as a synagogue ruler could do nothing to prevent or help his daughter from dying. Faith means seeing the total inability of man, and second . . .
  2. See the total ability of Christ. With a word mega-calm comes over the waves (4:39); with a word demons depart (5:13); with a touch a woman is healed (5:34) and a daughter is raised to life (5:42). Behold your God who is able. Behold your Lord who is strong. “Do not fear, only believe.”

One of the universal realities of humanity’s fall into sin is that we have fears and phobias. What do you fear most? What doubts cripple your soul? In this text we find people in the first century suffering under fears that are still common today – fears of thunder and lightning, of spiritual oppression, of physical suffering, of the death of loved ones. The main point of these stories is for us to see that “faith in Jesus drives out fear.” Consider that our worldly fears come in areas where we believe ourselves to be sovereign, to be in control? If we have control, fear is a natural response because we might bungle it all up. But the reality is that Jesus is sovereign over everything. Respond to His control over all things with reverent fear and childlike faith, and rest in the glorious reality that faith in Jesus drives out fear.

  1. This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “The Savior’s Power.” ↩
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A Most Difficult Passage

MARK - Slider NT

On Saturday I preached on Mark 4:1-20 and the parables of the soils. Here is how I tried to explain what is arguably the hardest truth found in Mark’s gospel:

Mark 4:10 says, “those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.” Jesus had already mentioned the parable of the soils, but the plural use of parables here indicates there were others he mentioned. These followers are apparently confused why Jesus speaks in figurative language, they seem to say, “Why not speak plainly Jesus? You’re confusing everyone.” Jesus replies in 4:11-12, “And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that

“they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.”

One commentator says of 4:11-12, “These verses are among the most difficult in the entire gospel.” 1 Careful attention needs to be given to this passage as it is paradigmatic for all Jesus’ teaching in the gospel. 4:11 says the disciples have received “the secret of the kingdom of God.” But, Jesus says, “for those outside everything is in parables.” Some people understand His preaching and others don’t. We all understand that reality, but the difficulty is found in 4:12’s purpose clause where Jesus says, “I speak in parables so that those outside will not understand lest they should turn and be forgiven.” Jesus apparently speaks in spiritual code to make sure the hardened sinner will not repent of his sin. A difficult truth no doubt. Note that Jesus is quoting a passage, specifically Isaiah 6:9; so we need to understand Isaiah 6 if we are to truly understand Mark 4.

Isaiah 6 is Isaiah’s commissioning service as a prophet, as he sees the holy God lifted up on His throne and surrounded by the seraphim. Isaiah is told by God to take to the people a message that will cause rejection from the hardened nation of Israel. “Preach the gospel so that their hearts will reject me and I will bring upon them the judgment they deserve.” Jesus sees the exact same thing going on in Mark 4: like ancient Israel, the people see God’s work in Jesus but fail to perceive it. They hear the words of Jesus but fail to understand them.  Now Matthew 13 sees the parables as a response to hardened hearts and Mark 5 sees the parables as the cause of hardened hearts. Although the two seem in tension with one another, they are both right: parables are the response to and cause of hardened hearts.

The best way I can illustrate it is through what Exodus tells us about Pharaoh, the leader of Egypt. We are told that he hardened his heart, but also that God hardened his heart in judgment in order that the entire world would know He alone is God. We have to acknowledge that the biblical writers do not appear to have the tension we do with these realities. He hardened his heart and God hardened his heart. They hardened their heart and God hardened their heart. It is one of those occasions where we have to place our hand over any sinful objections that would come from our our mouth and say, “Lord I am not sure how this works out, but I trust it’s true because it’s in your word.”

So then the purpose of parables is to reveal the truth to humble hearts and conceal the truth from hard hearts. The word of Jesus will either harden or humble your heart. The purpose’s difficulty need not cause us to miss two glorious truths about the kingdom revealed through parables.

First, receiving the kingdom rests on God’s generous grace. Did you notice in 4:11 how Jesus said the disciples were given the secret of the kingdom? The secret of the kingdom is what the rest of the New Testament calls the mystery of the gospel, the good news that Jesus came to save sinners. God graciously gives His kingdom to those He calls. We don’t earn or achieve the kingdom, but instead receive it by grace through faith.

Second, advancing the kingdom rests on God’s mysterious providence. The kingdom of Christ is advancing, in mysterious ways. Jesus is calling radically ordinary people; those traditionally assumed to be on the inside are finding themselves on the outside; the kingdom isn’t advancing with bright political banners or military might, it is advancing in the hearts of those who believe. It is an “undercover kingdom” advancing through God’s mysterious providence. It’s a mysterious providence revealed in the power of parables to harden or humble a heart.

  1.  Wessel & Strauss, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Mark, 754. ↩
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3 Encouragements for Pastors

Pastoral Ministry

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” – Mark 1:35-38

In 2010 The Museum of Modern Art hosted artist Marina Abramovic’s performance entitled “The Artist is Present.” For 736 hours she sat immobile in the museum’s atrium while spectators were invited to sit across the table from her. It really was little more than an artistic staring context. Yet, photographers were present to capture the spectators response(s) while sitting underneath the Serbian’s stare. Many responded with laughter and excitement, while others saw sadness and were thus pictured with tears streaming onto the table. Abramovic’s performance highlighted a fact of life that many know, staring evokes a response.

Mark 1:35-38 is a scene pastors need to stare at and I believe the staring will produce a response. Three insights from the text are of particular value:

First, see the priority of prayer. The start of His ministry had been a resounding success; His authority captivated the crowds in Capernaum. They clamored for His presence and power, and what is His immediate response? He withdrew to a desolate place in order to pray. Let’s briefly consider Jesus’ practice of prayer as presented in the gospels. When He was baptized we are told he was praying (Luke 3:21). When he was transfigured, we are told that His face was transformed as he prayed (Luke 9:29). Before He appointed the twelve disciples, Luke tells us He tells us He continued all night in prayer (Luke 6:12). After feeding the five thousand all the people want to crown Him as king, but He leaves them in order to pray (Mark 9:23). In the moments leading up to His betrayal, arrest, and eventually crucifixion we find Him crying out in prayer (Mark 14:32-42). Prayer was clearly a priority that fueled His mission.

Pastors would be wise here to be challenged by the Savior’s devoted to prayer. In commenting on this passage the great Bishop Ryle said, “Here is the pulse of our Christianity, here is the true test of our state before God.” 1 Pastor, how is the pulse of your ministry? I’d encourage you to consider what your practice of prayer reveals about your soul. The prayers of Christ are expressions of his dependence on God for strength, wisdom, and assurance. If prayer reveals dependence, what then does prayerlessness reveal? In a word, independence. Might our small progress in prayer be the rooted in a heart that finds greater joy in independence from God than dependence on God? Without prayer, pastoral ministry has no power. Charles Bridges famously quipped, “Prayer is one half of our ministry; and it gives to the other half all its power and success.” 2

Second, see the pitfall of preoccupation. The disciples cried out, “Where have you been, Jesus? You do not have time to seclude Yourself in prayer. You have ministry to perform. Your fame is spreading everywhere, and the place is filled with seekers. You need to be there not here.” We observe here, and find similar occasions all over the gospels, that a recurring pitfall for Jesus’ mission on earth was preoccupation with earthly concerns. The people’s – and disciples’ – concern was with health and happiness, not with the King’s demand for repentance and faith. The disciples’ preoccupation with secondary issues not only interrupted Jesus’ communion with God, but also threatened His mission for God. Pastor, what earthly preoccupations might be interrupting your communion with God and threatening your mission for God? We see in Mark 1 that no one makes progress in communion with God or mission for God who is not schooled in self-denial. There were compelling reasons for Jesus to stay and minister in Capernaum, but more compelling was leaving to fulfill the mission for which He was sent.

Third, see the primacy of preaching. This was Christ’s mission, to preach the gospel of the kingdom (Mark 1:38). The people wanted His healing and casting out of demons, but our Lord says He has come to preach.

We see that the spirit of the 1st century is just like the spirit of the 21st century. It’s a spirit that says, “This isn’t the time for preaching, this is the time for power. Signs and wonders will make people believe, but preaching will not.” Yet Jesus is telling us that in His kingdom, preaching is the highway to faith. We live by faith, not by sight. A kingdom built on signs and wonders is a kingdom built on sight, but a kingdom built on the Word is a kingdom built by faith. Preaching was the God-ordained means to extend the kingdom of grace, and preaching remains the God-ordained means to extend the kingdom of grace.

Pastor, God gave you to His church so that you would feed them with His word. This is the sum and substance of your work. Preaching builds, comforts, challenges, motivates, and sends the church.

A new week begins today. Let me encourage you to see the priority of prayer, the pitfall of preoccupation, and the primacy of preaching.

 

  1. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Mark, 18. ↩
  2. Bridges, The Christian Minsitry, 148. ↩