Looking for Jesus according to Mark

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Remember:

• Mark was also called John Mark!
• His mother’s house was used as a place for believers to gather and pray!
• He was a companion of Barnabas and Paul during their travels together!
• Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement about Mark!
• They separated, Paul took Silas and barnabas Mark!
• But Mark matured with time!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark1: The Sabbath begins and Jesus goes into the synagogue to teach people. They are astounded as they listen to him because his teaching is made with authority, quite different from the scribes.

- Knowledge vs Ignorance!

- Imagine you were there!

- What a privilege!

- What would you have done?

- Listening to a man with incredible knowledge!

- They are astounded as they listen to him because his teaching is made with authority!

- You remember when Jesus was 12 in the House of His Father!

- And the teachers when listening to him were astounded!

- And he started his ministry when he was 30!

- Thus he had plenty of time to mature!

- Jesus died young but he had good human experience to prepare for leading the future kingdom of His Father!

- And he chose 12 apostles to keep doing the preaching work after Him!

- But they had no experience so he had to train them a lot!

- It was progressive teaching!

- And they needed his death to open their eyes and to fully understand his message!

- Nevertheless, Jesus chose the apostle Paul to preach to the nations!

- He was well trained in Judaism!

- And he had a strong background and culture!

- And he could go beyond Jewish tradition!

- Or he could free himself from it!

- And when Jesus chose him, he first needed years to meditate and prepare for his ministry work!

- But from the start, he kept straight away, never going to the left or to the right!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 2: Jesus forgives the sins of a paralytic. Some scribes think he is blaspheming because God is the only one who can forgive. Knowing what they think, Jesus asks them why they think so and he asks what is easier to cure the paralytic or to forgive his sins. And the paralytic gets up and walks and they glorify God!

- Thanks to Jesus’ miracles, the religious leaders get all the evidence necessary about Jesus but they don’t care, they only try to oppose him!

- Jesus knows who they are and what they think!

- And he takes care of people and he cures them whereas the religious leaders don’t care about the people, they are just selfish, they only think about their own interests!

- So powerful!

- Jesus does not only teach, he also proves what he says with his actions or miracles!

- And he did so many that it was evidence!

- Such a difference with the religious leaders of his time!

- But human leaders will always be what they are people who try to take advantage of their positions!

 

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Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 2

- Jesus and his disciples are dining with tax collectors and sinners!

- The scribes and the Pharisees don’t understand!

- Jesus explains that he came for sinners just like a physician must cure those who are ill!

- Knowledge vs Ignorance

- What are religious leaders good for? Nothing? Useless? Predators? Out of reality? They live in their own bubble? Lead people to destruction? Blind?

- When we think about religious leaders, we may remember the three men who were supposed to help Job but who in fact acted to destroy him!

- And in fact, they were saved by Job!

- The question is: who is supposed to help whom?

 

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Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 2:

During the Sabbath Jesus’ disciples pluck heads of grain from the fields!

- Then the Pharisees tell Jesus it is not lawful!

- But he tells them about David and his men who ate bread which could only be eaten by the priests because they were hungry!

- And he ends the discussion by saying that the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath!

- God gave many laws to the Israelites to show them they were unable to respect them and it happened to such an extent that the promised land they received from God was taken away from them and they lost everything! They were completely and totally rejected as a people but not as individuals because individuals can be faithful to Yah.weh! Moreover, since Israel became a nation again, it has always been at war!

- Jesus lives in the present, the religious leaders in the past!

- Yah.weh is a God of precision!

- Jesus shows the same precision!

- We must show the same precision!

- We can’t be amateurs!

- The Hebrews showed themselves amateurs!

- Mankind has shown the same attitude!

- When we study the Bible seriously, we can’t show the same attitude!

- Otherwise we show we don’t understand anything!

- And we don’t want to understand!

- Once again, it is free will just like in the case of Adam!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders


Mark 3:


- Jesus enters into a synagogue!


- There is a man with a withered hand!


- They want to know if he is going to cure the man on the sabbath!


- They are looking for a way to accuse him!


- What a powerful verse! Then again we see the HUGE difference between Jesus and the religious leaders! He listens to his heart, always being ready to help people by teaching them or curing them whereas religious leaders look for their own interests, they have no hearts, only thinking about what they can get, being selfish and calculating!

- Human vs non human!

- They are completely dead!

- Are we dead or alive?

- If we don’t do our part of the job, we are dead!

- Do we show our interest in Yah.weh?

- If not, how can we expect him to show interest in us?

- Jesus enters into a synagogue!

- Yah.weh is a God of ACTION!

- Jesus is showing the same attitude!

- Do we show the same attitude?

- Do we want to become one with them?

- First, we must understand what it means!

- Everywhere in the Bible we are told about this UNITY!

- Why is it so difficult to understand this way!

- Because there is only one way, one direction to Yah.weh and Jesus!

- The other way is going away from them!

- It is so easy for men to take this second way because man is CONFRONTATION, man is OPPOSITION, man is DISUNION, man is HATE, man is GREED, man is SELFISHNESS!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders


Mark 3:

- Jesus asks them if it is lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill!

- But they keep silent!

- Thus they show insensibility!

- Jesus looks at them with indignation!

- And he cures the man!

- And the Pharisees hold council with the followers of Herod in order to kill him!

- Is that not clear, there is no excuse, they show who they are and their followers are also responsible, they can’t say as Adam said accusing Eve but he followed her so he is as guilty as her or even more! Well, Jerusalem was destroyed and the inhabitants had to pay a very high price! But history keeps on going and people never understand!

- Religious and political leaders working together to defend their own interests as usual!

- They don’t care about men!

- Jesus does and will always do!

- it is easy to choose who we want!

- Someone who cares about men and about the earth!

- But we must demonstrate who we choose with our actions!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 3:

- Then he goes into a house, and again the crowd gathers, so that they are not even able to eat a meal.

- Another big difference, serving Yah.weh with PLENTY OF ZEAL which is perpetual motion and life itself like a devouring and consuming fire!

- A devouring and consuming fire!

- In comparison this world is tasteless!

- If we remember Jesus in the temple when he was 12 or later when chasing the merchants, there is always this burning fire, this incredible strength!

- Then you may wonder what faith is!

- How can we feed it to develop the same strength?

- How can we fuel it to develop the same strength?

- In the Bible there is no difference between visions and dreams!

- The quality of our faith must make us see and hear what others can’t see and hear!

- We must be special!

- It is not possible to be normal when we see such a zeal!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 3:

- The scribes say Jesus expels the demons by means of the ruler of the demons!

- How is it possible to be so ignorant? Through man’s tradition? And they can see all his miracles! How is it possible? Unfortunately, everything can happen in this world again and again!

- How is it possible to be so stupid?

- This kind of stupidity is normal today!

- That’s modernity!

- Superficiality!

- No more senses!

- Only man’s tradition!

- No more sharpness of thought!

- So why 66 books?

- Why so much diversity?

- Why so few faithful servants of Yah.weh making shining so much faithfulness among so much darkness?

- Unbelievable!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 4:

Then he adds: “Let the one who has ears listen, listen.”

- How do they want people to listen to them if they are not able to listen themselves!

- Jesus is able to speak and listen at the same time that is why he goes directly to the point!

- It is hard to learn how to listen carefully but it is easy to speak for nothing!

- In fact, first it is necessary to listen carefully and second you can speak meaningful words!

- The reverse doesn’t work!

- It is the same when studying, you need to deeply penetrate the context, otherwise you will only bring what is superficial!

- Can we learn how to hear with the brain?

- Can we learn how to see with the brain?

- Can we learn how to smell with the brain?

- Can we learn how to touch with the brain?

- Can we learn how to taste with the brain?

- Can we learn how to get inside?

- It is a never-ending trip!

- There is no frontier for the one who really wants to learn!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 4:

- Jesus tells us about receiving more when we have and being taken away when we have nothing!

- Religious leaders have nothing to offer, they lead people to destruction: that’s what we find in the Bible!

- But if they have nothing to offer, it means that those who follow them won’t receive anything from them except destruction! So we must be careful about what we do if we don’t want to pay the price!

- Think about what happens when parents don’t educate their children and look at the world today: the result is clear!

- Receiving more implies making efforts to learn more and more!

- We must never be satisfied!

- We must never be superficial!

- We must always give arguments!

- We must not speak emptiness!

- We must not speak empty words!

- We must not speak for nothing!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders


Mark 6:

On the Sabbath, Jesus starts teaching in the synagogue, and most who hear him are astounded!

- They don’t understand such wisdom!

- They don’t understand such powerful works!

- Because he is the son of the carpenter and of Mary!

- And they know his brothers and sisters!

- They clearly don’t want to listen and understand Jesus’ words!

- Of course, they don’t accept him because he didn’t go to their schools!

- And he doesn’t speak according to their own interests!

- So they are ready to find any excuse!

- They can hear his teaching and see his miracles, but no!

- They have their own decisions, their own responsibilities, their own choices!

- We can’t let others make decisions for us and decide for us!

- We must understand!

- We must see!

- We must hear!

- We must act!

- We must demonstrate our faithfulness!

- We must demonstrate we have something to offer!

- We must demonstrate we are alive and not dead!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 5:

- Jesus tells us about a woman who has been having a flow of blood for 12 years.

- She has suffered much at the hands of many physicians and has spent all her resources, and she is no better but, rather, has become worse!

- When she hears the reports about Jesus, she comes up behind him in the crowd and touches his outer garment!

- She thinks she can be cured just by touching his outer garments!

- And the Pharisees don’t know that!

- Come on, it is ridiculous!

- You get people coming to Jesus from everywhere!

- Thus the Pharisees are stupid or they don’t want to listen to Jesus!

- And immediately her flow of blood dries up, and she senses in her body that she has been healed of the grievous sickness!

- Immediately Jesus realizes in himself that power has gone out of him, and he turns around and he wants to know who has done it!

- Jesus is close to people, they can approach him easily except when there are too many people! We can’t say the same of religious leaders!

- Jesus lives among people! We can’t say the same of religious leaders!

- Jesus eats with people! We can’t say the same of religious leaders!

- Jesus lives like people! We can’t say the same of religious leaders!

- Do we show such a proximity in terms of learning?

- Are we always ready to tell about the Bible?

- Are we always ready to share about the Bible?

- Are we always ready to transmit about the Bible?

- Do we live with the knowledge of the Bible?

- Do we see the knowledge of the Bible?

- Do we hear the knowledge of the Bible?

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 7:

- The Pharisees and some scribes see some of his disciples eat their meal with defiled hands, that is, unwashed ones. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, clinging to the tradition of the men of former times…

- Once again we hear about the religious leaders who follow man’s tradition!

- How easy it is to become blind or to stay blind because of man’s tradition!

- It prevents us from understanding Yah.weh’s Word!

- It prevents us from opening our eyes and ears and heart!

- It makes us insensitive!

- It leaves us in the past when we must live in the present and prepare for the future!

- It is so easy to forget the basics!

- It is like being dead while still alive!

- It is like being in a coma!

- We need to wake up instead of sleeping!

- We need to be hot instead of cold!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 7:

- The religious leaders follow many traditions such as baptisms of cups, pitchers, and copper vessels!

- Once again, the religious leaders are only interested by man’s tradition!

- In fact, they put a heavy load on ordinary people!

- They mix man’s tradition with God’s teaching!

- They dilute God’s teaching!

- How do you want ordinary people not to be puzzled?

- What a responsibility!

- Man’s tradition kills us!

- Man’s tradition kills our faithfulness!

- Our faithfulness must be sharp!

- It’s a never-ending process!

- If we don’t keep sharpening it, we can lose it!

- It will never be sufficient, never enough!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 7:

- The Pharisees and scribes accuse Jesus’ disciples of eating their meal with defiled hands and thus not observing the tradition of the men of former times!

- Jesus tells them that Isaiah prophesied about them, calling them hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, for they teach commands of men as doctrines.” You let go of the commandment of God and cling to the tradition of men.”

- How powerful!

- How accusing!

- How striking!

- How real, unfortunately!

- How sad!

- May people remember these words of Jesus!

- What about our lips, what about our hearts!

- Do we really show what we have inside?

- Or does it stay outside?

- Alive or dead?

- Dead or alive?

- There shouldn’t be any doubt!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 7:

Jesus tells the Pharisees they disregard the commandment of Yah.weh in order to keep their tradition. Thus they make the word of God invalid by their tradition.

- They use man’s tradition against God’s word to serve their own interest!

- They turn the truth into falseness and falseness into the truth!

- They turn people away from Yah.weh!

- They just bring emptiness!

- Remember: a translation is only a translation!

- You must always check the original!

- You must never be satisfied by what people tell you!

- You must learn how to sharpen your mind!

- You must learn how to sharpen your spirituality!

- You must learn how to fight for Yah.weh!

- You must learn how to fight for Jesus!

- You must never be satisfied!

- It is an extreme serious matter!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 8:

- Jesus warns his disciples against the Pharisees and their leaven and the one of Herod!

- Yes, the religious leaders are dangerous because they look for their own interests!

- They are more interested in man’s tradition than Yah.weh’s word!

- It can only lead to the wrong way!

- Remember the destruction of Jerusalem!

- The foreign army would come and leave and come again to stay!

- When they first left, it was the signal to go away!

- But the religious leaders didn’t follow Jesus’ advice!

- And Jerusalem was destroyed and the inhabitants who didn’t listen to Jesus but to the religious leaders paid a high price!

About Mark:

- Yes, I prefer to do like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who used to carefully examine the Scriptures daily to check what Paul was telling them!

- But concerning what happened after Jesus’ death is another story!

- It went in all directions and the religious leaders were eager to defend their own interests and pay more attention to man’s tradition!

- Remember the “super apostles” Paul speaks about!

- And Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire and they mixed everything!

- It became an exotic mixture which had nothing to do with Jesus’ teaching!

- The religious leaders were busy going nowhere except serving their own interests!

- Is that the lambs among the wolves or the wolves among the lambs?

- Death or slavery!

- And the scenario didn’t happen once!

- Exactly the same situation and the same end!

- Faithfulness to Yah.weh is priceless!

- It is extremely precious!

- The way you speak expresses how you value it!

- If you care about man’s tradition, faithfulness has no value for you!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 8:

Jesus tells the crowd and his disciples that to come after him means disown oneself and pick up his torture stake and keep following him!

- Losing his life for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the good news means save it!

- There is no worth gaining the whole world and losing his life!

- Yes, the religious leaders want to gain the whole world and lose their lives!

- It is not possible to get both!

- it is not possible to serve two masters at the same time!

- We need to make a choice!

- But you can’t let the religious leaders decide for yourselves!

- You must do it yourselves!

- Today it probably means a strange message for the majority!

- Because of superficiality!

- We must start learning again about spirituality, about looking for knowledge!

- We must completely renew our minds and hearts!

 

[JLG]

Jesus vs the religious leaders

Mark 9:

Jesus asks his disciples about what they are arguing about on the road!

- They don’t want to answer because it is about who is greater!

- So he tells them that the one who wants to be first must be last of all and minister of all!

- Religious leaders, political leaders and commercial leaders want to be greater!

- They are only looking for power!

- But power leads to destruction!

- Each empire went up and down!

- And the world is going down!

- But the worst is that it is going down faster and faster!

- But religious leaders, political leaders and commercial leaders are not going to last, they just think about the present, they don’t care about the future!

- They just need illusion, they don’t care about reality!

- Do we want to be destroyed with them or do we want to be saved?

- We must not put our confidence in them!

- We must put our confidence in Yah.weh!

- And we must demonstrate our confidence in Yah.weh!

- When it is still time!

- And if we have found the right direction, we must keep it!