Praying in the secret place … where your Father is!

Posted on January 13, 2024 by PastorDave

Matthew 6.5-6 LSB: 5 “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Hey! You there! Struggling with praying, wondering if maybe after all, you’re just uselessly talking to the air, the ceiling, or the floor!

How would you describe yourself, what do you think of yourself, how do you evaluate yourself … when you are praying to God and desperately seeking an audience with Him?

  • small?
  • obscure?
  • unknown?
  • unnoticed?
  • insignificant?
  • no standing or stature?
  • no influence?
  • a nobody [maybe even to God]?

Do you fear that your praying is all in vain? Maybe because you have no prominent platform, no celebrity status, no ‘others-approved’ creds to offer your Father in Heaven to commend you to Him?

Jesus orders us off of our public platforms, to leave the ‘street corners’ and public marketplaces where we may be even trying to ‘be seen by men.’ If that’s what you’re seeking, then if and when you get the fickle approval of others, that’s all you’re going to get. But you didn’t pray to God.

“Go into your inner room” [‘closet’ (KJV)], and ‘when you have shut your door’ on yourself and God, then ‘pray to your Father who is in secret…’ Because in doing so, you are entering the Very Presence of the Very God. He is there with you, and you are there with Him. “And your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Because Jesus Christ has made the way to God before you and calls us to follow Him there.

Hebrews 9.11-14: 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Hebrews 10.19-22: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a Great Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Yes, you, struggling there alone with God your Heavenly Father – you have not only the invitation and command to ‘enter the Holy Place of the Presence of God by the blood of Jesus,’ but you have also the assurance of your standing and acceptance with God through the merits of Christ’s own righteousness and substitutionary offering of Himself for you.

Christ’s merits which we claim and plead by our personal faith and trust in Him give us an assured confidence, even boldness [Hebrews 4.16] to pray to our Father in our secret places.

And Jesus promises that when we plead His merits, we will have with His Heavenly Father and ours the assurances of:

  • access
  • authority
  • acceptance
  • audience
  • and answers

“…and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” And, after all, our greatest reward which we seek and want more than any other is to be with Him.

And Jesus promises He will be there with you.

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“I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh!”

Posted on December 25, 2023 by PastorDave

Genesis 4.1: “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh!’”

And thus, with the arrival of this first child born after their fall into sin and the imposition of the curse upon the whole creation God had made ‘very good,’ the longing and ‘pining’ for the promised Redeemer of Genesis 3.15 also is born.

But, oh, how bitterly disappointing Cain will be! He was not at all the ‘seed of the woman’ who would ‘crush the head’ of the serpent (Romans 16.20). Cain himself was ‘of the Evil One’ (1 John 3.12).  

‘Long lay the world in sin and error pining…‘

And this same renewed longing and hope would be re-conceived and re-born with every mother and man-child all throughout the Old Testament. The plaintive wailing of “How long, O LORD?” would echo and reverberate for seemingly endless centuries of longing for the birth of their long-awaited and long-expected Savior – only for their hopes to be shattered with everyone who would come after.

They would be known as those who were ‘waiting for the comfort of Israel’ and ‘waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem’ (Luke 2.25, 38).

But … ‘How long, O LORD?’

But then, ‘when the fullness of the time came’ … “Now it happened that while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn Son…” (Luke 2.6-7). God has kept His Word and sent His Son, our Redeemer and Savior as first promised from the beginning! The waiting, longing, and pining is over! The angel of God heralds the announcement: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of great joy which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the LORD! … Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2.10-14).

“And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Romans 16.20).

I am praying and hoping you, also, hear Him, believe in Christ, and rejoice in the yet-to-be-fully-enjoyed hope of the Glory of God!

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The Fall and Rise of the Human Race

Posted on December 16, 2023 by PastorDave

CHRIST IN GENESIS | Lesson 3 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Read Genesis 3.1-24

‘CHRIST IN GENESIS’: MAKING THE CONNECTIONS & SETTING THE CONTEXT

1/ Yes, I know: usually if the two words ‘fall’ and ‘rise’ are used together, they usually ‘rise’ and then they ‘fall’ – ‘the rise and fall of…The Roman Empire / The Third Reich,’ etc. But this time, I’m deliberately titling this lesson ‘The Fall and Rise of the Human Race’ because that’s precisely how we’re going to see CHRIST presented and portrayed in Genesis 3: we ‘fell’ into sin; but CHRIST ‘raises’ us up again!

  • ‘The Fall of the Human Race’ will chronicle Adam’s role in the disobedient transgression that brought upon the human race and the whole creation the curse of sin, separation from the life and fellowship of the Creator, and banishment from the beautiful Paradise the LORD God had planted for him and given him to govern for His glory. Strangely enough, even in his transgression, Adam is a type of Christ, ‘the One who was to come’ [Romans 5.14…also the fuller commentary in vv 12-21].
  • ‘The Rise of the Human Race’ will be told in the stories of the promises of CHRIST, ‘the offspring of the woman’ [v 15]; and in the sacrificial animal that was slaughtered to cover their nakedness [v 21]; and in the ‘guarding of the way to the tree of life’ [v 24] until CHRIST would come to secure our right again to eat of it [Revelation 2.7] … and also in that Gospel commentary, Romans 5.12-21.

2/ There are numerous prominent characters in this narrative: the serpent, the woman, her husband, the man – but no character is more prominent than CHRIST! We will see ‘CHRIST-markers’ [refer to our chart/graphic] in every scene of this story.

I / vv 1-7 / “You shall surely die…” [the Fall of the human race]

1/ These verses will describe the verbal exchanges between ‘the serpent’ and the woman as he deceives her into believing that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be good for her. Adam follows her in the act of disobedience and rebellion against the LORD God. God’s forewarned punishment came true and was fulfilled: “…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” [see ch 2.17].

2/ We are introduced to ‘the serpent’ who will become the arch-enemy of God and everything God has created for His own Glory … until he is destroyed by God in the end. So where is CHRIST in the introduction of ‘the serpent’? We will discover as the metanarrative of the Scripture is revealed, it is really CHRIST HIMSELF whom ‘the serpent’ opposes and seeks to supplant and ultimately destroy.

3/ ‘The serpent’ is also called by a number of other descriptors throughout the Story of CHRIST:

  • Murderer, liar, father of lies [John 8.44]
  • Thief [John 10.10]
  • Enemy [Matthew 13.39]
  • God of this world [age] [2 Corinthians 4.4]
  • Tempter [Matthew 4.3; 1 Thessalonians 3.5]
  • Dragon, ‘that ancient serpent,’ ‘the devil and Satan,’ ‘the deceiver of the whole world’ [Revelation 12.9]

4/ As such, from his first appearance here in the Garden of Eden, the Paradise of God, the serpent’s all-consuming mission has been to wage his bitter vendetta of rage and hatred against CHRIST. John sums up the purpose of the serpent from the beginning in his historic summation in Revelation 12.17: “Then the dragon [serpent] became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

5/ And then, there is this more personal juxtaposition in 2 Corinthians 11.2-3: “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Even Eve’s betrayal was against CHRIST.

6/ We must also keep in mind that the serpent was not created evil. The serpent was among the beasts of the field that God created on Day 6 in ch 1.24, and it was good. But at some point previous to this account, Satan had fallen from his own angelic estate [Jude, v 6; 2 Peter 2.4; Revelation 12.4, 9]; and now Satan enters and takes control of this serpent beast God had created good and corrupts it. He doesn’t approach the woman under his own identity – but through the guise of a wise and shrewd creature [Trojan horse?]. He invades God’s perfect creation to destroy it also and attempt to usurp it as his own kingdom.

7/ All throughout the Scriptures, we are told that Eve, ‘the woman,’ was deceived by the manipulative arguments of the serpent [see v 13; 2 Corinthians 11.3; 1 Timothy 2.11-15]. Here are some of the deceptive perversions and corruptions of God’s words and Eve’s ways of thinking toward God:

  • v 3b / The serpent questioned and cast doubt in Eve’s mind on God’s goodness: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? In other words, “Did God actually create all these good trees and fruits and then tell you you couldn’t eat and enjoy them?”   Actually, what God had said was: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden…” [ch 2.16]
  • vv 2-3 / Eve replied correctly concerning God’s liberties and prohibition – except that she seemed to expand on the prohibition to include ‘neither shall you touch it…’ Whether God had actually said that, we don’t know. What Eve does suggest is that she understood the ‘untouchable’ parameters of the prohibition.
  • v 4 / The serpent now sees a chink and opening in Eve’s questioning of God’s goodness, so now he unleashes an all-out assault on God’s truthfulness: “You will not surely die…” This is now a full frontal denial of God’s honesty and truthfulness as their God.
  • v 5 / The serpent proceeds with the knock-out blow to Eve’s faith in God and her devotion to Him as her Lord and Sovereign. The serpent deceives and convinces Eve that she can become her own ‘god,’ judging and deciding for herself what is good and wise – deciding for herself what she can have and do. She can be an equal with God over the choices and governance of her own life – exercise her own self-sovereignty … and God is being selfish and stingy to deprive and withhold this ‘wisdom’ from her: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
    • Except that: no, you won’t be like God. God can know about evil without being personally corrupted by it. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil for the man and woman meant that when they ate of its forbidden fruit, they would ‘know’ sin by personal experience. They would have the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ in their moral constitution and relationship before God. Before eating of the forbidden fruit, they had only knowledge of good. If they had continued obeying God, they would never have known anything but good – like God. But by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they have now entered the realm of participation and experience in evil [sin], and made themselves ‘alienated from the life of God’ [Ephesians 4.18] and ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ [Ephesians 2.1].

8/ v 6 / Now the woman has been totally duped and deceived. We have a term for what has just happened to her thinking: ‘gaslighting.’ Gaslighting is when someone feeds you a line or narrative that is totally false and contrary to the truth and reality – but they get you to believe it and accept it as the truth. So here’s what Eve’s perception of God’s character and word turned out to be: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”  

  • NOTE: the root of all sin is in our desires [James 1.12-18]. All of our sin is conceived in our heart of desires – what we love and want more than anything else. AND, the expression of all our sin is in giving way to our human sensual desires that are contrary to the character, will, and desires of God. Yes, sin is anything that we think, say, and do that displeases God. But, before the action of disobedience, there is first the desire for something to please our human senses with the pleasure of enjoyment. Eve first saw that the tree was good for food [pleasure of the sense of taste], and that it was a delight to the eyes [pleasure of the sense of sight], and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise [pleasure to the sense of pride, self-will, self-exaltation] – all of it yielding to the desire to enjoy sensual human pleasures that God had forbidden.    

9/ Adam voluntarily joined his wife in her transgression. She was deceived; Adam was not deceived. Adam is the one who had spoken personally with the LORD God and received the covenant mandates, conditions, stipulations, and prohibitions. Adam was the ‘federal head’ of the human race. All of the succeeding humans who would be born would come from his ‘seed.’ And so, with Adam’s sin, transgression, disobedience, sin came into the world, and death by sin. [See Paul’s commentary in Romans 5.12-21.]

10/ v 7 / Here is ‘the FALL of the human race…’ Then the eyes of both were opened [knowledge of good and evil], and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Immediately, we are made to realize that their self-efforts to ‘save, rescue, rectify’ themselves won’t suffice… We need a Savior!

II / vv 8-13 / “Where are you? … What is this that you have done?”

1/ But God would not allow His human creation to be lost from Him without loving them, pursuing them, saving them, and bringing them back to Himself. Even in these actions, we can see a brilliant ‘CHRIST-marker’ in God’s proactive purposes: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life [John 3.16].

  • God pursued Adam: And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day… And Jesus would say: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” [Luke 19.10].
  • God called Adam: …and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” NOT that God didn’t know where Adam was, but God would require Adam to admit where he was.
  • God confronted and convicted Adam: And he [Adam] said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ He [LORD God] said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ Here we have the first introductions of fear and shame – the roots and streams of sin from which flow many of our human ‘brokennesses’ – expressions of our sinfulness and fallenness.

2/ Immediately upon being confronted with the convicting truth of their sin, both Adam and Eve try to deflect blame and accountability away from themselves toward someone else: Adam blamed Eve, and by extension, blamed God for giving her to him; Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her. This is what sin has done to us: not only does our sin turn us all into liars by denying our own personal guilt, accountability, and culpability … but sin turns us against each other. Sin turns us all into ‘me-first self-justifiers’ and makes us all willing to throw everybody else under the bus if it will save ourselves.

III / vv 14-19 / “I will put enmity … between your offspring and her offspring…”

1/ From this point in this narrative on to the end of this chapter, God’s words will be rich and replete with ‘CHRIST-markers.’ The CHRIST-markers will be seen even in the curses that the LORD God pronounces … because only CHRIST can save us from the curse of sin that is the consequence of our disobedience. And before we even get into this part of the narrative, I will direct your attention all the way to the end of Scripture and history – to the New Creation. Because there, we are promised in Revelation 22.3: No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. But, we’re not there yet! Back here in Genesis 3, the curse is just being pronounced. All of the longing we read about in Romans 8.18-25 begins here in Genesis 3.14-19.

2/ When God created all things very good, He blessed what He had made [ch 1.22, 28; 2.3]. Now because of sin, there is a triple curse: ch 3.14, 17; 4.11.

  • v 14/ The serpent is cursed and consigned to live in the dust and eat everything in the dust.
    • v 15 / HOWEVER … here is one of the brightest rays of Gospel promise and hope in the Scriptures. In fact, we call this promise the protoevangelium or ‘the first good news / Gospel.’ The serpent has been the instrument of bringing all this sin, rebellion, curse, corruption, and death into the world God has created for His pleasure and Glory. The serpent will wreak yet more and more havoc, misery, woe, destruction, and death before he, himself, is destroyed. But he will be destroyed in the end! [see Revelation 20.10]. And He will be destroyed by the very One whom he most seeks to destroy – the ‘offspring who shall come from the woman.’ The serpent surmised that if he could corrupt and destroy the spiritual purity and ‘virginity’ of the woman, then everyone who would be born from her would be corrupted and destroyed spiritually. And we would be without a Savior. But God promises to bring a Savior into the world through the woman – and it will be a virgin woman, too [as He will reveal in ages to come]. There is a warfare that commences between the offspring of the serpent and the offspring of the woman. But in the fullness of time, the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent’s head – effecting his death! Jesus Christ did this on the Cross! [see John 12.27-33; Revelation 12; 1 John 2.8; Romans 16.19-20]
  • v 16/ Even is not cursed, but she is consigned to enduring painful travail during the process of childbearing. Also, since she usurped the role of following her husband’s leadership in the temptation and transgression, she is also to assume the role of competitor and rival against her husband’s headship. However, according to 1 Timothy 2.11-15, she shall be ‘saved’ from disgrace by fearing and serving God and instilling faith in God in her children.
  • vv 17-19/ Because Adam failed to exercise godly leadership over Eve during her temptation, the earth and ground is cursed with the futility with which the whole creation now groans [see Romans 8.18-25 again].

3/ CHRIST has redeemed even the earth from its cursed condition – and by His death, resurrection, and ascension, He is bringing in the New Creation wherein all things will be made new and reconciled back to God [see 1 Corinthians 15.24-28; Ephesians 1.9-10; Colossians 1.15-20].

IV / vv 20-24 / “…to guard the way to the tree of life”

1/ vv 20-21 / Not only did the LORD God promise the Savior to come through the offspring of the woman, but He also provided a type through which their sins would be covered–by the skin of a slaughtered animal. We can’t imagine the emotional and psychological trauma that must have shocked Adam and Eve as they witnessed the LORD God slaughtering one of the creatures they had co-existed with before their sin … and which Adam had named. And now to see that it was their sin that necessitated the sacrifice of an innocent animal to provide a covering for their shame and nakedness. But God was making the promise here also that it was His purpose, will, and desire to provide an ‘atonement’ for their sin. This type would be repeated again and again throughout the Old Testament – but especially in Genesis 22.9-14.

2/ vv 22-24 / Not only had Adam disobeyed the LORD God by eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but he had also disobeyed by NOT eating of the tree of life. It kind of appears that if they had eaten of the tree of life, it would have made them immortal. But as it was, now they had surely died. With an act of mercy, the LORD God drove them out of the Paradise to continue their cultivation of the ground outside the garden among the cursed fields of the earth. Flaming cherubim [fierce angelic guardians were placed at the entrance of Paradise – NOT to keep them away from the tree of life or to keep it from them … BUT RATHER “…to guard the way to the tree of life.” In other words, to provide the way for them to enjoy eternal life and immortality in His Presence and company. Jesus Christ is ’the Way, the Truth, and the Life…no one comes to the Father except through Him!’

3/ Jesus Christ is both the Tree of Life and the Keeper of the way to the Tree of Life. He promised the church in Ephesus: To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God [Revelation 2.7]. And when we see that tree, its fruit is sustaining eternal life and its leaves are healing the nations [Revelation 22.1-5]. This is CHRIST! “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” [1 Peter 2.24-25]

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CHRIST: in Creation to New Creation

Posted on December 10, 2023 by PastorDave

We are just beginning a course of study in our Sunday School class – I’m calling it “CHRIST IN GENESIS.”

We’re not going to do an exhaustive study of the historical narratives and details in Genesis, but we do plan to survey and summarize the progressive narrative sections … and show the ‘CHRIST-markers’ in them:

  • PRESENCE of CHRIST
  • PURPOSE OF GOD in CHRIST
  • PICTURES/Types of CHRIST (‘Pre-enactments’)
  • PROMISES/PROPHECIES of CHRIST
  • ‘PININGS’ for CHRIST (wistful and wishful ‘longing’ for a Redeemer to come Lk 2.25, 38 … chiefly from the failures of man to fulfill their hopes)

I have made some drawings on our class marker board and given verbal explanations of what we’re looking for … so I decided to compile it all on this chart.

I’m just calling it “CHRIST: in Creation to New Creation.” I pray it may help you.

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Love & Marriage: a profound mystery (Ephesians 5.32)

Posted on December 9, 2023 by PastorDave

CHRIST IN GENESIS | Lesson 2 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Read Genesis 2.4-25

‘CHRIST IN GENESIS’: MAKING THE CONNECTIONS & SETTING THE CONTEXT

1/ As we stated in our last lesson, we just want to be sure to keep our focus attuned to the theme of this whole course as we make our way throughout this summary/survey study of Genesis. Our theme focus is: CHRIST IN GENESIS. And so, we are looking for ‘CHRIST-markers’ that are clearly revealed and defined by the New Testament Scriptures.

2/ There are numerous ‘CHRIST-markers’ in our lesson passage – but we will have time only to identify them as we go through the narrative. However, we will give more attention to the narrative scene of Yahweh-Elohim’s creation of the Woman and bringing her to the Man. Why? Because Paul reveals in Ephesians 5.22-33 that when God first introduced love and marriage into His ‘very good’ creation, it was intended to be an enduring physical symbol of His loving, covenantal relationship with His Bride, His married people. Paul concludes that whole section on love and marriage with: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

3/ But, there will other ‘CHRIST-markers’ also. So, let’s get started…

I / vv 4-6 / ‘Toledot’ ‘These are the generations…’

1/ I’m going to introduce you to this Hebrew word even though you may never use it again. Although, if you do learn it, you will be qualified to be among the very few in our church who can go around talking intelligently about the Genesis ‘toledot’ references;) But we will be coming back to it at least ten times as we make our way through Genesis. This word toledot [tohl-daw] is translated ‘These are the generations…’ It can also be translated: ‘These are the descendants’ or as the NKJV has it, ‘This is the history of…’ That’s what a toledot is – it is a brief summary historical account of the subject of the toledot.

2/ As you read through Genesis, you will discover that the book is neatly and intentionally written as a collection of ten of these toledot. The toledot was not so much the story of the ‘father’ who is named first, but of the ‘generations,’ ‘seed,’ or descendants who would come after him.

3/ I’m going to list them for you here:

1.   ch 2.4-4.26 / Heaven and Earth

2.   ch 5.1-6.8 / Adam

3.   ch 6.9-9.29 / Noah

4.   ch 10.1-11.19 / Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, Japheth

5.   ch 11.10-26 / Shem

6.   ch 11.27-25.11 / Terah [father of Abram]

7.   ch 25.12-18 / Ishmael [shortest of all the toledot] see ‘CHRIST-connection’ in Galatians 4.21-5.1

8.   ch 25.19-35.29 / Isaac

9.   ch 36.1-37.1 / Esau

10. ch 37.2-50.26 / Jacob [told in the story of his son, Joseph]

4/ v 4 / But, we’re here in the first toledot of Genesis: These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God [Yahweh-Elohim] made the earth and the heavens. So the narrator is going to ‘zoom in’ and tell us what took place in this ‘very good’ creation that God had completed in the six days of creation described in ch 1.1-2.3. The narrative of this chapter would have taken place on the sixth day, ch 1.24-31.

5/ vv 5-6 / I confess I don’t know exactly what to make of what creation days these conditions refer to. It may mean: [1] when the Earth first appeared out of the gathered Seas, it would have been ‘dry earth’ and barren until God commanded the vegetation to sprout, spring up, and grow – all on the same creation Day 3 [ch 1.9-13]; or [2] the vegetation that was growing was ‘in the wild’ – there was no orderly cultivation of it. WHY? Because two things were lacking: “…for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.” So, even though God had created everything ‘very good,’ still it was lacking in orderly cultivation. So here is what the LORD God does to establish an earthly, domestic Kingdom under His sovereignty.

6/ We will watch Yahweh-Elohim work in numerous roles: as King over His Kingdom [Psalm 103.19], “…as a potter who stoops down and fashions a delicate object (2.7), as a horticulturist who plants a garden (2.8), as a sculptor who fashions a woman from a rib of the man (2.21-22), as a person [dare we say ‘companion/friend’ (dsp)] who walks in the garden (3.8), and as a judge who conducts a hearing and renders judgment (3.9-19).” Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ From Genesis.  

II / vv 7 / ‘…the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground…’

1/ God’s plan was to create and establish a universe of creations and creatures who would obey His will and fulfill His purposes and pleasures [see Revelation 4.11]. He has already brought forth the sky, earth, seas, vegetation, heavenly luminaries and stars, living creatures in the seas, in the skies, and on the earth. But, what there is NOT is a creature who will rule over it all under His sovereign dominion, as His representative ruler on earth. A ruler over His creation who will subdue it, govern it, cultivate it, and steward it all the ways He wants it to be used … and return all the fruits from the earth back to Him with love, worship, praise, and thanksgiving. The LORD God made the Man to fulfill this creation mandate.

2/ v 7 / ‘…then the LORD God formed the man [adam] of dust from the ground [adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.’ Again, this is what it means to be created in the image of God [we call it ‘Imago Dei’]. Go back and re-read ch 1.26-27. We are created and infused with God’s breath – our human soul is in the ‘image and likeness’ of God’s own Being with individual will, self-awareness, and intellect … giving us the ability to relate to God, to know God, to fellowship with God. This distinguishes us from the lower creatures of the animal kingdom.

3/ We see ‘CHRIST-markers’ here from several perspectives:

  • The image of God in which humans have been created is preeminently the image of Christ / Colossians 3.10-11.
  • Thus, the Man [adam] has a dual relationship: he is ‘formed’ or ‘built’ out of the dust of the ‘ground’ [adamah]; yet at the same time, he has been in-breathed and in-fused with the ‘breath of life’ in the ‘image and likeness of God.’
  • The first man Adam serves as a type of Christ [Romans 5.12-21; 1 Corinthians 15.20-28]. Primarily here, as we shall see, Adam stands in the place of the whole human race who will come from him and after him – a ‘federal head.’ Whatever Adam does and will do – the whole human race will do in him. There have been only two federal heads: Adam and Christ.  
  • Christ’s human genealogy goes all the way back to Adam [Luke 3.38]. This places Him as the Head of His new race of redeemed Mankind [Ephesians 2.15].

III / vv 8-14 / “And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden … and there He put the man…”

1/ v 8 / This ‘garden’ is a spot the LORD God selected to establish a cultivated estate or plantation which will serve as a model to be duplicated all over the earth. As it is promised in Isaiah 11.9, “…for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” … so this ‘garden in Eden’ was to be the prototype of the man’s dominion over the earth and subduing it for the glory of God, the Creator. Of course, we all know that the First Adam/Man failed and was consequently driven out of this Paradise – but for the time it remained after its creation, that was the ideal for God’s creation and a model for God’s Kingdom on earth. Hold onto that thought because we’re going to see where this Paradise is now and where it’s going to be in the New Creation.

2/ After the fall into sin, Eden will become only a distant, longing memory [Isaiah 51.3; Joel 2.3].

3/ It will come to be known as ‘Paradise’ [from the Persian language meaning an enclosed cultivated park].

  • This Paradise belongs to Christ, as He promised the repentant criminal who was crucified beside Him [Luke 23.43].
  • It was in Paradise that Paul received his visions and conversed with Christ [ 2 Corinthians 12.1-10].
  • And, Jesus Christ promised the church in Ephesus in His letters in the Revelation: “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” [Revelation 2.7].

4/ v 9 / We will follow up that promise in Revelation by going back to our lesson text in Genesis 2.9. The ‘tree of life’ that shows up in the New Creation [Revelation 2.7; 22.2, 14] is first planted here in Eden, the garden of God. This ‘tree of life’ especially is a major connecting link between the original creation and the New Creation. And this ‘tree of life’ can be none other than Jesus Christ Himself.

5/ When we get to the end of chapter 3, when Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden of Eden – Paradise Lost – God will post flaming cherubim, NOT to keep the ‘tree of life’ from them [or us], BUT ‘to guard the way to the tree of life’ [ch 3.24].

  • The significance of that statement is that: the only way to grant sinners access to the tree of life so we can live forever is for Someone else to come and ‘overcome’ the tests and temptations that Adam failed in.
  • That ‘Tree of Life’ is CHRIST! The ‘Tree of Life’ in the New Creation bears its fruit continually, perpetually, and “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” [ch 22.2].
  • That healing is the healing of sin as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2.24: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” Jesus Christ died on the ‘tree of death’ so He could be in Himself the ‘Tree of Life’ and restore eternal life to us forever … in Himself!  

6/ This Paradise becomes the testing ground or laboratory for Man’s obedience to God, his Creator. God provided every sort, kind, and variety to trees to spring up in Eden/Paradise. Every one of them was beautiful to look at, delicious to taste, and nutritious to eat.

7/ Two distinctive trees were placed ‘in the midst of the garden’: ‘the tree of life…and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ The text seems to imply that if Adam had eaten of the ‘tree of life,’ it would have given him immortality – deathlessness. This seems to be confirmed in ch 3.22. The ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ is just that: if Adam ate of its fruit, he would become knowledgeable of evil. In his original creation state, Adam knew only good – he was innocent [ignorant] of experiential evil. These two trees would test the direction and exercise of Adam’s desires – the love of his heart.

8/ vv 10-14 / But before we get to that temptation/test covenant – our text gives us another connection to the New Creation. “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.” Since this river flowed through Eden to keep it watered, and then flowed out of it, it served as the ‘river of the water of life’ for the Paradise garden. Along with the dews and the vapors that came up from the earth and from the waters of life that flowed through Paradise, there was sufficient and adequate ‘water of life’ to sustain all the vegetation that grew in it – as well as any and all humans who might live and work in the Paradise in the service of their Creator. By the way, we have reason to believe that the geographical location of the original Garden of Eden was at least somewhere in the vicinity of the present-day Euphrates and Tigris rivers [keeping in mind that much of the earth’s topography was changed and re-arranged during the Great Flood].

9/ Repeatedly, Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the ‘I AM’ Rivers of Living Water [John 7.37-38; Revelation 21.6; 22.1-2, 17].

IV / vv 15-17 / “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it”

1/ v 15 / We should just note here that human labor and work is NOT the effect of the curse – only the futility of our labors. But labor and work is an essential stipulation of the creation mandate. The LORD God had planted and established this Paradise garden. The man could not have asked for anything more than God had provided for him. He needed nothing more or in addition to fulfill everything God had mandated and commissioned him to fulfill. Go back and re-read this Kingdom mandate God charged them with in ch 1.26-28.

2/ vv 16-17 / So here are the stipulations of this covenant the LORD God imposed upon Adam:

Work this Paradise garden I have provided for you – keep it for My pleasure and glory

Look at ALL these beautiful, delicious, and nutritious trees I have provided for you and made to spring up – you may surely eat of every tree of the garden!

3/ There is one prohibition – and only one: out of every tree in this Paradise, and there are many … there is only one tree of which Adam may not eat – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. NOTE: This tree in itself is not evil, nor is its fruit necessarily physically poisonous. It’s just that this distinctive tree is placed there and clearly marked to serve as a test of Adam’s obedience to God. “Adam, you see this tree? Do not eat its fruit! This is the only tree in this garden of which you may not eat. Do not eat this tree’s fruit! Because if you disobey Me and eat this tree’s fruit – you shall surely die!”

4/ We all know the rest of this sad story. That will be the subject of our next lesson…

V / vv 18-25 / “And they shall become one flesh…” “This mystery is profound, and I am saying it refers to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5.32)

1/ So now, we come to this beautiful passage of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib [or side].

2/ God had just tasked Adam with naming all the creatures. But the LORD God had already said “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” And then, there was another acknowledgement after Adam had named all the creatures that no one of them was compatible with his human nature – the only creature that would be a suitable counterpart to him would be another human being like him, but different to make up for what he lacked.

3/ So the LORD God created the Woman!

4/ Over the years, I have used the following narrative in my Marriage Ceremony:

Marriage is a high and holy occasion, when two hearts and two lives are bound together by the faithful ties of love and promise. Marriage is a heart contract. It is the sweetest of all love letters, written with the ink of your tenderest affections, sealed with the bonds of your promises, and preserved in your hearts forever, treasured and guarded there as among the most prized of all your possessions. Now, we should rejoice in the glad knowledge that marriage is a part of God’s plan for us. God saw in the Garden of Eden that it was not good for the man to be alone. So, God made a Helper for him. The Man needed the Woman. And, the Woman was perfectly suited to the needs of the Man. The Bible says, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.” And there, among the beautiful flowers of Paradise, while they were serenaded by the songs of the birds which the LORD God Himself had created, Almighty God Himself married the first woman to the first man in purity, innocence, and righteousness. Adam’s heart leaped toward her with instant recognition of love, as he said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘Woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” And the very way God did that teaches us how we should marry. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cling inseparably to his wife, and the two of them shall become one flesh.”

5/ What Paul reveals in Ephesians 5.32 is that when God created the Woman, gave her to the man, and ordained the human institution of love and marriage, it served [at least] two purposes: [1] it sanctified the sexual union of husband and wife [‘one flesh’] for pleasure and procreation / 1 Corinthians 6.13b-17; [2] but more, the blessed union God gave husband and wife is the same union He enjoys with His people! When the LORD God married Adam and Eve to one another, He wanted them to understand that He was also marrying them to Himself in the same kind of relationship! And that is also the ways Christ loves us, gave Himself for us and to us, and brings us into union and unity with Himself – His spirit and body!

6/ God intended for that ‘mystery’ to be proclaimed from the beginning – and Christ fulfills it with us!

And we are anticipating the joyous and final celebration! (John 2.1-11 / Revelation 19.1-11).

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How Christ died for our sins…was buried…was raised on the third day

Posted on November 25, 2023 by PastorDave

MARK | Lesson 10 | Lesson Notes / talking Points

Read Mark 15.20 – 16.8

MAKING THE CONNECTIONS & SETTING THE CONTEXT

1/ We have now come to the conclusion of our brief survey/summary of the Gospel of Mark. So much has been left unsaid, but what we have tried to do is point out and emphasize what Mark himself [under the influence of the apostle Peter] has pointed out and emphasized.

2/ Having said that, I want to point out just a few of the themes Mark evidently had in the forefront of his attention and purpose as he wrote. We know he did because he emphasized these themes by the words he chose and repeated from the beginning of his writing:

  • ‘…the Gospel of Jesus Christ’ [see ch 1.1 & 14]. This is Mark’s accounting of the narrative of Jesus’ Good News – the same Good News that Jesus Himself proclaimed about Himself. It is the Gospel / Good News of God’s saving us and delivering us from our sins. Now in Mark’s concluding paragraphs, he will give us the story of that Gospel. As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15.1-4: Now I would remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you … that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures… This is the story Mark relates to us in these Scriptures.
  • ‘…the Son of God’ [see ch 1.1]. Mark’s purpose in writing and publishing this Gospel narrative was to show how Jesus, in everything He said and did, demonstrated and evidenced His Deity – that He is, indeed, the Son of God, or to say it another way, God, the Son. Every word Jesus spoke and every deed He performed evidenced His Deity. Now, even in His death, even the Roman centurion who was in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion squad, had to acknowledge in ch 15.39: And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that in this way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
  • ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand’ [see ch 1.15]. This was Jesus’ own keynote to His message and the theme of His life’s ministry. ‘Kingdom’ means that He is the King, and that He reigns over all. We have seen that sovereignty and authority exercised over and over – Jesus’ power and dominion over all who resisted and opposed Him. Now, even in the ways He died and especially in His resurrection, He will demonstrably prove His absolute sovereignty and Lordship over every element, force, and person that would challenge His authority: principally over Satan, all His enemies, sin, and finally death. He is not only ‘the King of the Jews’ and ‘the King of Israel,’ but He is also ‘the Ruler of kings on earth’ [Revelation1.5] – all of them … including ‘he who would be king,’ that is, Satan himself.
  • And there are so many other themes and threads that Mark has introduced and woven into this Gospel that are ‘knotted and tied off’ here in this grand climax and conclusion of his Gospel…   

3/ So, with that in mind, let’s summarize this grand finale of the Gospel story as accomplished by Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection … and narrated to us from the apostle Peter through John Mark.

4/ In the title Scripture from 1 Corinthians 15.1-4, Paul inseparably links the ways Jesus died and rose again with the Old Testament prophetic Scriptures. Here are some of those Scripture fulfillments…

I / Mark 15.20-41 / How Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures

1/ vv 21-22 / The Romans invoked their custom and law of angaria which gave them the right to commandeer the property or services of anyone in the nations they subjugated to assist them or do their bidding. Jesus was already physically weakened by the overnight ordeals – and especially by the scourging. John 19.17 states that Jesus began bearing the horizontal cross-beam Himself, but with difficulty. So Simon was compelled into service to carry it. Apparently, by the time Mark wrote, Simon had become a well-known disciple, ‘the father of Alexander and Rufus.’ They arrived at Golgotha [Aramaic / John 19.17] (which means Place of a Skull) which was outside the city [Hebrews 13.12-13]. So must we be willing to ‘take up His cross, bearing His reproach.’

“They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Psalm 69.21)

2/ v 23 / This wine mixed with myrrh’ [see Psalm 69.21] was probably a potion containing a sedative which would lessen Jesus’ pain, discomfort, and His full experience of the cup the Father had given Him to drink. He refused to drink it. [This drink is different than the one offered to Him in v 36.]

3/ v 24 /  The soldiers gambled for His garments to fulfill Psalm 22.18.

4/ v 25 / It was around 9 a. m. when Jesus was impaled and nailed to His Cross to fulfill Psalm 22.16: “They have pierced My hands and My feet.”

“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19.19)

5/ v 26 / The inscription that was nailed to Jesus’ Cross was the indictment or charges that He was being crucified for. The Romans did this to announce and advertise to anyone who might even think of committing such a crime to not do it. Pilate most likely worded it this way as a digging insult to the Jews, as if to say, ‘Don’t even think about declaring yourself to be a king or liberator among our subjugated provinces. This is what we will do to you, too.” Also, this was one of the charges the Jewish council had presented to Pilate when they delivered Jesus over to him [Luke 23.1-5] … and one of Jesus’ enemies’ primary subjects of mockery [ch 15.16-19]. There is an interesting back-and-forth between Pilate and the Jewish council over this wording in John 19.19-22. After accusing Jesus to Pilate of motives of insurrection and sedition against Caesar [John 19.15], now they want Pilate to write only that ‘He said I am King of the Jews’ as if to disown any identification with Him. Pilate answered with a terse ‘what I have written, I have written!’

“And with Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left”

6/ v 27 / These two real outlaws, truly convicted and condemned, were crucified on either side of Jesus. Jesus died both among / in between sinners and for sinners. They were thieves, robbers, murderers, insurrectionists, anarchists – what we would call guerilla freedom fighters for their nationalistic causes. “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was numbered with the transgressors.’”

“All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads … Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion … For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me…” (Psalm 22.7, 12-13, 16)

7/ vv 29-32 / Everyone around the Cross were mocking, insulting, and verbally assaulting Jesus: And those who passed by derided Him [see ch 14.57-58] … So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked Him … Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him… One of these outlaws would see Jesus as the True King of Israel, would repent of His sins, and would appeal to Jesus to ‘remember me when You come into Your Kingdom [Luke 23.33-43]. Jesus would forgive and save him and take him to Paradise that very day to be with Him! So He will do for anyone/everyone who calls upon Him in faith for mercy!

“My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22.1)

8/ vv 33-34 / This is without a doubt the most plaintive cry in all of human experience. And Jesus suffered it in our place! This is quoted from Psalm 22.1, but in all likelihood, Jesus was quoting the whole Psalm, including the parts of the Psalm that express His faith in God’s faithfulness. The Father had no displeasure in His Son, except for our sake. Jesus Christ was ‘bearing our sin in His own body’ [1 Peter 2.24-25], He was bearing our guilt and suffering our punishments for our sins in our place as our Substitute Sin-Offering and Redeemer, that He might save us from the wrath of a Just and Holy God and reconcile us back to God. Jesus was forsaken by God so we won’t have to be forsaken and separated from Him for eternity!

9/ vv 35-36 / The word/name that Jesus cried out was ‘Eloi’ which is Aramaic for ‘El’ or ‘God.’ Some bystanders mistakenly thought He was appealing for Elijah [see again Malachi 4.5-6]. They mockingly jeered, wondering whether Elijah would, indeed, claim Jesus as worth saving in the Name of Yahweh. At this same time, Jesus, knowing His suffering was about to be fulfilled, cried out ‘I thirst!’ [John 19.28-29]. There was another drink available, one the soldiers may have kept around for themselves. This was a wine beverage diluted with water. They put some on a sponge and gave it to Jesus. He took this one, as opposed to His rejection of the previous offering / v 23.

“It is finished! … Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” (John 19.30; Luke 23.46)

10/ v 37 / Jesus voluntarily and intentionally breathed His own last breath [John 10.17-18]. His two last statements were: “It is finished!” [John 19.30] and “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!’” [Luke 23.46]. In so saying and doing, Jesus offered to God both His perfectly sinless life and His sacrificial death as the Lamb of God as an atoning, redemptive offering for our sins – as our Substitute and in our stead. And by His once-for-all offering for our sins, He has paid for them fully, exhausted the Just and Holy wrath of God against them, and put them away – never to be remembered against us anymore! See Hebrews 10.1-7.

11/ And we must add here that Jesus cried and called out His last words ‘with a loud voice,’ meaning that He did not die in defeat, nor did He ‘succumb’ to their atrocities – He was not their ‘victim.’ He died in victory and in the strength and might of the ‘definite plan and foreknowledge of God’ [Acts 2.22-24]. Jesus died in His own time [‘hour’], in His own way, and on His own terms.

“And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom”

12/ v 38 / Since Jesus has made this once-for-all and for-all-time offering for sin, there is no longer any need for the Holy of Holies in the temple [see again Hebrews 10.1-7]. It has already been defiled and corrupted by the practices of the Jews’ religious practices, and He had rejected it from being useful as the place for meeting God and offering sacrifices and services in worship [see ch 11.1-26]. Jesus has already foretold the physical destruction of this temple [see ch 13 & Luke 19.41-48]. Now, Jesus effectively ‘destroys’ their temple by disabling their most sacred ‘inner sanctum’ and rendering it un-useable. Why? Because He Himself is God’s ordained Temple. They thought they had destroyed Him, but in three days, He will raise Himself again from death [see John 2.18-22]. Jesus Christ has now given us access and authority “to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh…” [Hebrews 10.19-22 & also vv 1-14].    

“Truly this Man was the Son of God”

13/ v 39 / This awesome confession by the Roman centurion was his testimony of a new-found faith in the Deity of the Man whose death by crucifixion he had just overseen. Without a doubt, in the following hours and days, he would inquire into who this Man might be – and would learn the truth of the Gospel Jesus had died to purchase and enact. [We didn’t bring this in before, but now would be a good opportunity: even as they were nailing Jesus to His Cross, Jesus was praying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!” – and this would be for both the Jews who had delivered Him to Pilate and for those hands that were on Him to kill Him.Never had he heard such words of grace from any other subject of crucifixion – and surely he had witnessed many! This prayer for forgiveness was for him, too!]

“There were also women looking on from a distance…”

14/ vv 40-41 / As Jesus’ male disciples have abandoned Him out of fear, self-preservation, and maybe even spasms of disappointment and disillusionment [with the exception of John, who was present at the Cross with Mary, Jesus’ mother [John 19.25-27]], this testimony is given to the undying love of these women followers. They are the same women who ‘When He was in Galilee, they followed Him and ministered to Him.’ They also ‘provided for them out of their means’ [Luke 8.1-3].

15/ They stayed until the end and even followed Jesus’ body to His burial…

II / Mark 15.42-47 / How Christ was buried

“Not one of His bones will be broken” (John 19.36)

1/ v 42 / Jesus died around 3 pm on that day [around the time of the Passover sacrifices] – the day before the approaching Sabbath. In three more hours, the Sabbath Day would begin. The Jewish leaders must get Jesus’ dead body removed from the cross to prevent breaking the Law and ‘defiling’ the upcoming holy day [see Deuteronomy 21.22-23]. We never fail to see the irony in the religious scruples of the Jewish leaders. Another glaring example of their hypocritical protests is recorded in John 19.31: Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. It was at that time that the legs of the two outlaws were broken to hasten their deaths … but Jesus’ legs were not broken – He had already given up His own spirit. Numerous other Scriptures also were fulfilled in just this one act: Exodus 12.46; Numbers 9.12; Psalm 34.20; Zechariah 12.10; Exodus 34.24.

“And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death” (Isaiah 53.9)

2/ vv 43-47 / We meet Joseph of Arimathea. He was a well-respected and highly-influential member of the Sanhedrin council – and he was a rich man. He is also described as a ‘closet’ disciple of Jesus [Luke 23.50-51 & John 19.38]. He ‘was also himself looking for the Kingdom of God,’ meaning he had believed in the Kingdom Jesus had been proclaiming and demonstrating.Heretofore, he had been afraid of declaring himself. But upon seeing how Jesus had confirmed all His Messianic claims in the ways He died, ‘(he) took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.’ Pilate consented.

3/ Joseph had carved out this sepulcher tomb for himself – no one had ever lain in it [Matthew 27.60 & Luke 23.53]. He gave it for Jesus’ burial. In three days, he would have it back! Nicodemus also came to assist him with 75 pounds of burial ointments and spices [John 19.39]. They hurriedly anointed His body and wrapped Him in the burial shroud he had bought. The 6 pm beginning of the Sabbath Day was approaching. Jesus is entombed, and the large stone was rolled across the mouth of the tomb-cave…

III / Mark 16.1-8 / How Christ was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures

“Low in the grave He lay … waiting the coming day … Up from the grave He arose!”

1/ vv 1-3 / After the Sabbath rest had passed, very early on the first day of the week, the women came back to the tomb where they had last seen Jesus being laid to His rest. They had been out earlier to buy their own burial spices and ointments, expecting Jesus’ corpse to still be there where they had last seen Him. They were wondering among themselves how they would move the large stone out of the way for them to perform their service. [NOTE: how significant it is that Mary of Bethany had already anointed Jesus’ body for burial ‘beforehand’ / see ch 14.8]

2/ vv 4-8 / But upon arriving at the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away! [Matthew 28.2-4]. Instead, they saw an angel of God [which greatly alarmed them – as awesome angels always do!]. The angel announced to them: “Do not be alarmed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here! See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you!”  

3/ In these ways, all the Scriptures that foretold – and that Jesus Himself had pre-announced – that “the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise!” – THEY WERE ALL FULFILLED!

4/ And all the other Scriptures that are written in the seven-sealed scroll that the Ancient of Days delivered over to the authority of the same Son of Man [Daniel 7.13-14], ‘the Lamb…as though it had been slain’ [Revelation 5.1-7] – they, too, shall all be fulfilled!

Now, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation…!”

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The Trials of Jesus

Posted on November 18, 2023 by PastorDave

MARK | Lesson 9 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Read Mark 14.53 – 15.20

MAKING THE CONNECTIONS & SETTING THE CONTEXT

1/ Jesus has been betrayed [handed over] into the hands of His enemies. Mark uses this word paradidomi 19 times in his Gospel – most of them with reference to Jesus. Jesus had forewarned repeatedly, especially in these last weeks leading up to this climatic event that “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him” [ch 9.31]; and more specifically, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him…” [ch 10.33-34]. That ‘hour’ had now come…

2/ This lesson will survey the numerous hearings and trials which will result in His final ‘condemnation’ and sentencing by both the religious leaders and council [Sanhedrin] … and also the civil Roman governor, Pontius Pilate … all as Jesus had foretold.

3/ There were six of these ‘hearings’ and appearances before the various authorities. They will succeed one another in rapid succession in a flurry of shuttling Jesus back and forth among them as they feverishly work to accomplish their evil designs – all the while fulfilling God’s redemptive purposes and plans: “…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” [Acts 2.23].

4/ We will follow Mark’s account and only refer to the others which Mark doesn’t detail when they will help us see a fuller and clearer perspective of the significance of what was said or done in Mark’s accounting of these events.

5/ Here are the six specific ‘hearings’ which comprise the ‘trial’ events of Jesus:

[1] He is taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas: John 18.12-24. John is the only Gospeler who records this appearance. Annas was the ‘godfather’ of this high priestly family which had become a political system of religious rule among the Jews. Although Annas was not the currently presiding high priest, he retained the ruling influence over everything that was done – nothing was done without his sanction and approval.

[2] He is then taken to Caiaphas, the acting high priest: “Annas then sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest” [John 18.24]. Caiaphas will preside over all the religious ‘hearings’ that will deliver Jesus finally to Pilate to be crucified.

[3] Jesus appears before the ruling council Sanhedrin ‘in session’ to be formally charged, condemned, and sentenced to death according to their ‘religious law’ [Mark 15.1; Matthew 27.1; Luke 22.66-71].

[4] Jesus appears before Pilate for His first ‘hearing’ before the Roman authorities.

[5] Jesus is then hurriedly shuttled off to appear before Herod, when Pilate hears from the chief priests that Jesus is a Galilean: Luke 23.5-12. “But they were urgent, saying, ‘He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.’ When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time” [vv 5-6].

[6] Jesus is then returned to Pilate for the final sentencing to be crucified.

I / Mark 14.53-65 / Jesus before the chief priests: falsely accused and condemned on charges of ‘blasphemy’

1/ Mark will distill the first three appearances I have itemized above ([1] – [3]) into this one account, culminating with Jesus’ formal appearance before the ‘Sanhedrin in formal session’ in ch 15.1.

2/ The chief priests and scribes have been plotting to kill Jesus for probably over 1½ years by this time – going all the way back to John 5.18: This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

3/ Just like Jesus had come for His own holy ‘hour,’ so also these evil enemies also had their own ‘hour, … except that their ‘hour’ was one of evil and darkness. As Jesus had exposed them in the Garden of Gethsemane when they came to arrest Him and take Him into custody: “But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” [Luke 22.53].

4/ v 55 / “Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they found none.” Matthew even adds the detail: “Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death, but they found none…” [Matthew 26.59-60]. Truth doesn’t matter in this court proceeding. These murderous religious leaders have only one purpose: charge Jesus with some capital offense crime according to their ‘law’ that will justify them before the people for delivering Jesus to Pilate to be killed. But before they can make the charges against Jesus, first they have to get witnesses. We can assume that they have for weeks now been planting their ‘informers’ to be gathering this incriminating evidence and have even been setting ‘traps’ for Jesus ‘to catch Him in His words.’

5/ v 56 / “For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimony did not agree.” This is so significant because Jesus Christ was so perfect in His Truth and Wisdom, never did He say anything that was false or against the true Law of God. Their false witnesses were inconsistent at the best … and contradictory of themselves at the worst.

6/ vv 57-59 / “And some stood up and bore false witness against Him, saying, ‘We heard Him say, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.”’ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.” This is the best and worst, most incriminating testimony they could come up with. YET…Jesus never said anything of the sort. What they attempted to do with this false testimony was to cobble together words that Jesus actually did say about their temple … and, at the same time, re-word it, twist it, and construct a distorted narrative upon which to build their incriminating case. We would call it a ‘hoax’ narrative.

  • Jesus NEVER said that HE would destroy their temple made with hands. He did pronounce that their temple would be destroyed by OTHERS [see ch 13.1-2 & Luke 19.41-44].
  • Jesus had also said: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up … But He was speaking of the temple of His body…” [John 2.18-22]. NEVER did He prophesy that HE would re-build their physical temple ‘without hands.’

But, as we have said, truth is not their issue … charging and convicting Jesus with some capital religious offense is their only end. AND, desecrating their ‘sacred’ temple was a most capital offense.

7/ vv 60-61a / “And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against You?’ But He remained silent and made no answer.” He would maintain this non-responsive, silent posture all throughout His ‘hearings’ with the Sanhedrin and Pilate – except in those cases where a self-pronouncement of His Messianic identity was necessary to confirm and clarify who He actually is. As Isaiah had prophesied: “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” [Isaiah 53.7]. And Peter, who was witness to these oppressive proceedings [Mark 14.54], would later confirm Jesus’ humility and submission to His Father’s plan and pleasure: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” [1 Peter 2.21-23].

8/ vv 61b-62 / “Again the high priest asked Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I AM! And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of Heaven.” The high priest needs some admission, some self-confirmation from Jesus to ‘incriminate’ Himself of the charges they intended to press upon Him: that He was calling Himself ‘God,’ and making Himself equal with God. Jesus would not deny those ‘charges.’ However, what Jesus did was to credential Himself from the very Scriptures the Sanhedrin were professing to defend. He identifies, associates, and equates Himself with God, as God, by quoting two Scriptures:

  • Psalm 110.1: “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” So, if Jesus is the ‘my Lord,’ then who are the ‘your enemies’? They knew…
  • Daniel 7.13-14: “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of Heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a Kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

9/ vv 63-64 / “And the high priest tore his garments and said, ‘What further witnesses do we need? You have heard His blasphemy. What is your decision?’ And they all condemned Him as deserving death.” Thus, as far as the Sanhedrin council was concerned, the case was closed. Jesus had ‘blasphemed’ by desecrating the Sacred, Holy Name of the ‘Blessed’ [He who alone deserves our worship, praise, and blessing]. However, Jesus’ word will stand: He will come with authority and Power to judge them – and they will see Him when He comes! See Revelation 1.7.

10/ v 65 / “And some began to spit on Him and to cover His face and to strike Him, saying to Him, ‘Prophesy!’ And the guards received Him with blows. Again, just as Jesus had foretold they would do…

II / Mark 15.1-20 / Jesus is ‘delivered over’ to Pilate to be crucified

1/ v 1b / “And they bound Jesus and led Him away and delivered Him over to Pilate.” We must see and remember here why they needed Pilate’s involvement in Jesus’ death. As for the purposes of the Jewish Sanhedrin, Jesus must die. Problem is: they don’t want it to be at their hands. They want the Romans to put Jesus to death. Also, as we shall see from John 18.31-32, “Pilate said to them, ‘Take Him yourselves and judge Him by your own law.’ The Jews said to him, ‘It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.’ This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death He was going to die.”

The Romans, of course, had conquered and subjugated numerous nations and kingdoms and were occupying them under their dominion as vassal states. The Romans would allow the disparate nations as much liberty and leeway as possible to live under their own laws and by their own customs – as long as they did not jeopardize the sovereignty of Roman rule. But, as a rule, they would not allow the various subject nations to exercise capital punishment for fear they would use that liberty to execute anyone they suspected of being Roman sympathizers. So, if Jesus was delivered over to the Roman governor of the province of Judea, they would have to level some charge against Jesus that would violate Roman law.

2/ So then, what kind of political/civil charges could they accuse Jesus of that would justify His execution by the Roman jurisprudence? Luke 23.2 gives us some insight to understand Pilate’s inquiry in our lesson passage: “And they began to accuse Him, saying, ‘We found this man misleading our nations and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a king!’” So, there it is! Jesus is presented to Pilate as a rival, rebel king to Caesar – a leader of insurrection and rebellion against the Roman rule. This will certainly get Pilate’s attention and gain traction with him. All the Roman governors were charged with and responsible for maintaining the peace in their jurisdictions, preventing rebel uprisings, and being sure Caesar’s sovereignty is not challenged.

3/ v 2 / “And Pilate asked Him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?” In other words, ‘Are you presenting yourself as a rival King to Caesar?’ Jesus will answer affirmatively: “And He answered him, ‘You have said so” – though Jesus will go on to expand that He is, indeed, King, but not in the same sense Caesar is a king, and not in the sense of Pilate’s understanding … nor in the sense that the Jewish leaders are trying to portray Him. You can find a fuller exchange on Jesus’ confession of Kingship in John 19.33-38.

4/ vv 3-5 / Again, Jesus remained silent in the face of His accusers and Pilate’s inquiries.

5/ It was probably at this point that Pilate caught that Jesus was from Galilee and sent Him off to Herod, hoping to relinquish personal responsibility and having to make a judgment in His case. See MAKING THE CONNECTIONS AND SETTING THE CONTEXT, /5, [5] above. This would be only one of numerous attempts Pilate will make to escape and absolve himself from any personal involvement in judging Jesus.

6/ vv 6-15 / Enter Barabbas into the narrative. What an irony Barabbas is! Jesus is being falsely accused of being a rebel and insurrectionist against the Roman government. Barabbas was just that! Barabbas was in prison, not just for leading a rebellion and insurrection, but committing murder in the riot that ensued.

7/ Pilate’s custom was to offer the Jews a ‘peace offering’ to appease and placate them during their prominent feast events: he would release to them one of the political/civil criminals that had been imprisoned. Here is another attempt to release himself from personal culpability: “And he answered them, saying, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.” It may very well be that, by this time, a larger crowd of feast attendees had gathered to witness the action. Maybe Pilate could ‘go over the heads’ of the Jewish leaders and appeal to the populace crowd. Maybe he could both absolve himself and, at the same time, underhandedly ‘hit back’ at the Jewish leaders who were so jeopardizing and inconveniencing him.

8/ vv 11-15 / “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.” The Jewish leaders now have the ‘upper hand’ of influence in whipping up the crowd with their bloodlust. They will have nothing other/less than Jesus’ death … and the death sentence practiced by the Romans was crucifixion. “And Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?’ And they cried out again, ‘Crucify Him.’ And Pilate said to them, ‘Why? What evil has He done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify Him!’” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.” And thus was fulfilled numerous Scriptures: Jesus died ‘the just for the unjust,’ not only as our Substitute in salvation, but even then personally in Barabbas’s place. Barabbas was sentenced to die for his own crimes and sin, but Jesus took his place at that time – just like He took our place to suffer God’s judgment and just wrath against our sins as our Substitute.

9/ vv 16-20 / Jesus had already been scourged. This was not just a whipping with lashes or stripes – it was an excruciating punishment of its own. The scourge was a handle with braided leather lashes. Woven into the numerous strands of leather that made up the lashes were bits of sharp glass and metal. The criminal was bound and tied by his hands to a post. The executioner would lay the lashes across the back and midriff of the criminal, imbedding the pieces of glass and metal shrapnel into the flesh of the victim. When the strands were forcefully yanked back, the flesh of the victim would be shredded. The flesh would be deeply lacerated, and even the internal organs would be exposed and lacerated as well. Many victims of scourging did not survive this punishment even for anything further.

10/ But Jesus was led from the scourging into a larger staging area where probably 600 soldiers were gathered for the abusive spectacle. There, they further mocked Jesus by putting on Him a purple soldier’s coat to spoof a royal robe, wove a crown of thorns to crush into Jesus’ scalp to spoof a royal crown, gave Jesus a walking staff to spoof a royal scepter, and began to ‘salute’ Him with a celebratory chant they offered their Emperor to spoof the praises He should receive as the King of the Jews. They took the mock scepter/staff from His hand and struck Jesus over the head, further driving the thorns into His brow.       

11/ Little did they realize they were fulfilling the predetermined purpose and plan of God – this was God’s provision of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as our Savior and Redeemer. The Cross is yet to come and the dreaded ‘cup.’ But Jesus will obey the Father’s will and pleasure as He promised in John 10.17-18: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

“…by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” [Philippians 2.8]

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The Hour Has Come

Posted on November 11, 2023 by PastorDave

MARK | Lesson 8 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Read Mark 14.1-42

MAKING THE CONNECTIONS & SETTING THE CONTEXT

1/ It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread… So that means we are only three days until Jesus’ crucifixion. The public teaching ministry of Jesus has been completed. Their temple has been rejected from usefulness to God – Jesus Christ Himself has come to replace that temple and inaugurate Himself as our Spiritual Temple going forward. The destruction of their temple has been foretold, and it is God’s historical agenda.  

2/ Jesus is now on His way to His Cross. The events of this chapter will transpire and follow one another very quickly. By the time we get to v 10,  it will be the eve of the Jesus’ crucifixion the next day. So what we will do in this lesson is break up the events leading up to Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane into eight smaller, but distinct, vignettes. We want to show the significance of each to Jesus’ hour for which He had come – His death on His Cross.

I / vv 1-2 / The plot to kill Jesus thickens  

1/ The Jewish rulers had been conspiring and plotting at least for well over a year how they might kill Jesus. Their animosity had morphed from merely being displeased with Him, to publicly objecting to Him and trying to discredit Him, attempting on numerous occasions to publicly humiliate Him by trapping Him in some inconsistency – to making intentional plans to kill Him. See John 5.18. They were now just looking for the first stealthy occasion to arrest Him and bring Him in. See John 7.30, 32, 44-46 for at least one other failed attempt to do so.

2/ Of course, Jesus knew all about this. He knew all things. He knew that this is why He had come. This was the Father’s purpose for sending Him into the world. And, if you’ll compare the parallel passage in Matthew 26.1-2, Jesus plainly announced to His disciples one more time that “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” And, keep in mind, this is also after the at least three separate intense occasions when Jesus had forewarned His apostles that this was going to take place when they came to Jerusalem. See Mark 8.31; 9.31; 10.32-34.

II / vv  3-9 / Mary anoints Jesus’ body ‘for burial’

1/ Mark just says ‘a woman,’ but Mary of Bethany [the sister of Martha and Lazarus] is identified by name in John 12.2-8.  

2/ What we do know about this anointing is that Mary sacrificed and gave this very costly lotion or anointing oil to Jesus as an expression of her exceedingly great love, gratitude, and appreciation. She didn’t just pour some out – she broke the alabaster flask or box and poured it all out on the body of Jesus. She did it in such a way that none of it could be kept back, saved, or used later for her own use. She gave it all.

3/ Although we can’t know for sure what all was in Mary’s mind and intentions – whether she had some intuitive insight into the gravity of this occasion just hours before Jesus’ impending death – Jesus received her offering and act of loving devotion as a pre-anointing of His own bodily burial: “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.”

4/ “There were some who said to themselves [or among themselves] indignantly, ‘Why was this ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.’” Though some of the other disciples joined in with this angry complaint, John 12.4-8 reveals that it was Judas Iscariot who instigated this complaint for his own self-serving, greedy, and thieving interests. And Jesus’ stinging rebuke was targeted and directed toward him personally. [Hold this thought for the next vignette…]

III / vv 10-11 / Judas bargains and strikes the deal to betray Jesus to them

1/ After the stinging rebuke Jesus had delivered to Judas for complaining about Mary’s loving anointing of His body … and knowing that Jesus knew of His traitorous intentions … Judas secretly went to the Jewish chief priests to offer to betray Jesus to them.

2/ The Jewish rulers couldn’t have been more glad and willing to bargain and strike a deal with Judas. Here was one of Jesus’ own intimate followers who was offering to betray Jesus to their custody. And Judas would know how, when, and where to best pull it off. Judas was like an ‘inside, imbedded, co-conspirator with them. He would provide them the intelligence of Jesus’ movements and whereabouts.

3/ This would prove to be Judas’s fatal flaw and undoing. See Matthew 27.3-10.

IV / vv  12-16 / The preparation for the Paschal meal at the home of a friend

1/ “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb…” This, of course, was in remembrance of the first Passover, in the Exodus, when Yahweh delivered His people from the bondage of Egypt. That first Passover lamb was a prophecy and pre-enactment of Jesus Christ [1 Corinthians 5.7].

2/ Remember also that when Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration, the extended conversation He had with Moses and Elijah was about ‘His departure [exodus], which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem’ [Luke 9.31. That hour had now come. Jesus Christ is both our Passover Lamb of God and our Exodus of redemption, deliverance, and salvation from sin and god’s judgment of death against our sins.

3/ Just as God had ‘prepared’ for our Passover from before the creation of the world in the New Covenant that is in Jesus’ blood, so Jesus ‘prepared’ a furnished set up for this last Passover with His disciples. He had made plans already with a householder in Jerusalem for an upper room to be prepared and the table and meal to be set up.

4/ Jesus instructed His disciples where to go in Jerusalem, what man to look for who would meet them, and to follow him to his house. It worked out exactly as Jesus had planned.

5/ We have reason to believe that this was possibly – and maybe probably – the father of John Mark himself. See Acts 12.12.

V / vv 17-21 / Jesus hosts and shares the Paschal meal with His disciples and identifies Judas as the betrayer

1/ The Passover meal was an established tradition with several bowls and dishes on the table around which they were reclining. There were orders in which each item of the menu was eaten along with readings from the Scriptures.

2/ But the centerpiece of the table was the roasted Passover lamb. See Exodus 12.1-13.

3/ During the course of the meal, Jesus dropped the bombshell warning: “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” Even though Jesus gave a subtle sign who it would be [John 13.23], the disciples were still so unsuspecting of Judas Iscariot, they didn’t pick up on it.

4/ By betraying Jesus in this fashion, Judas fulfilled Psalm 41.9.

VI / vv 22-25 /  Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper ordinance

1/ The dishes of bread and cups of wine were already on the table. But Jesus did something that had never, ever, been performed before in all the previous observances of the Passover meal. As He served this loaf, He blessed it by giving thanks to God for it, then broke it into serving portions to pass around to His disciples. As He gave it to them, He said, “Take; this is My body.” What? They had just eaten the roasted body of the Passover lamb, commemorating their salvation from Egyptian bondage in the Exodus. Now, Jesus was announcing “This broken and torn bread is MY body … which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me” [Luke 22.19]. He was clearly announcing His bodily death as our Substitute for our salvation from sin.

2/ Then, He took one of the cups of wine [there were several which were drunk throughout the course of the meal], and again gave thanks to God for it. He passed it around the table with this blessing: “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” Matthew records: “…for the forgiveness of sins” [Matthew 26.28]. “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me” [1 Corinthians 11.25]. The only remedy for our sins is the blood of His death on His Cross.

3/ But then, Jesus also gives the forecast and promise of the complete and final fulfillment of this memorial. When He gave us His body and blood in His death on His Cross, it was to purchase and redeem us forever. This first Lord’s Supper was only the preamble to the future Marriage Supper of the Lamb when the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness [Revelation 1-9.1-6]. “Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.”

4/ Again, as Paul comments in 1 Corinthians 11.26: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”  

VII / vv 26-31 / Jesus foretells Peter’s denial

1/ “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Their tradition was to recite in a singing fashion the Hallel Psalms 115-118.

2/ Jesus announces to His disciples that they will desert, forsake, and abandon Him to save themselves in fulfillment of Zechariah 13.7. …Even though He also gives them the promise and hope that He will see them again after His resurrection.

3/ No one of the disciples has any inkling or suspicion that he would do such a thing. And especially Peter: “Peter said to Him, ‘Even though they all fall away [desert, leave you], I will not.’” Simon Peter always meant well and had good intentions. But he was blind to his own weaknesses and foibles. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.’ But he said emphatically, ‘If I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And they all said the same.”

4/ And, as we all know, Jesus was right. Peter did deny Him three times in the courtyard of the high priest that very night because he was afraid [and maybe ashamed] to be identified as one of Jesus’ disciples.

VIII / vv 32-42 / Jesus agonizes and prays in Gethsemane … commits Himself to His Father’s will – death on the Cross

1/ Now we come to Jesus’ agonies in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember that our human history started in a garden [Eden], and the first man, Adam, was tempted whether he would obey God or not. He failed, and our whole human race was lost to sin.

2/ Now, the Last Adam [or Second Man / 1 Corinthians 15.45-47] is in a garden of temptation as our Substitute and Savior – to test whether He will obey the Father or disobey to save Himself.

3/ The struggle was real: “…and [He] began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And He said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.’” This is where Luke records the depth and intensity of His stress: “And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” [Luke 22.44]. This was physical stress and real blood oozing even from His skin.

4/ Jesus left eight of His disciples at the entrance of Gethsemane. He took Peter, James, and John with Him a little farther into the Garden to accompany Him, encourage and support Him in His agonies. They would end up being of no use as supporters and encouragers. Jesus then went a little farther into the Garden to pray to His Father alone. He did this three times.

5/ The burden of His prayer was summed up in these words: “…if it was possible, the hour might pass from Him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’” These are the agonizing words with which He wrestled in His soul.

6/ So, what was Jesus’ struggle? Was He doubting His mission? Was He trying to find a way not to fulfill what the Father had sent Him to accomplish? NO! The key word is ‘cup.’ In Scriptural writings, the word ‘cup’ is most often associated with God’s wrath. Jesus knew what lay before Him. But it was not the physical agony and pain of everything He would endure that He was most dreading. Rather, it was the wrath and displeasure of His Father against our sins. Never, from eternity, had Jesus had any other relationship with His Father but that of sweetest intimacy with His Father and enjoyment of His Father’s pleasure in Him.

7/ And, make no mistake about this: the Father will be pleased with Him and His offering of Himself as our Substitutionary Passover Lamb. The Father had thundered from Heaven in John 12.28 after Jesus publicly prayed, “Father, glorify your Name. Then a voice came from Heaven: ‘I have glorified it [Himself, His Name], and I will glorify it again.’” The Father was glorified and pleased with Jesus’ death for our sake.

8/ But, in so doing, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” [2 Corinthians 5.21]. “Yahweh has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” [Isaiah 53.6]. And that iniquity that was bearing upon Himself as our Sacrificial Passover Lamb could be put away, punished, and paid for only by the death of a Sinless Substitute. THAT was the ‘cup’ Jesus was dreading.

9/ Jesus knew that this was the only ‘possible’ means to fulfill His mission for our sake. He obeyed His Father by submitting to the Father’s will. “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” [Philippians 2.8].

10/ If we are going to be obedient also in our own hours of temptation to sin, we must stay alert and prayerful. The disciples didn’t. While Jesus was praying in agony ‘about a stone’s throw’ from the disciples, they were napping, oblivious to His struggles. It was this same attitude of apathy and complacency that would trip Peter up, causing Him to deny Jesus in just a little while. “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And so is yours … and mine.

11/ After coming the third time and finding them asleep again, Jesus woke them up to make His final announcement: “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”   

“…Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…!” / Revelation 5.12

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From the destruction of their temple to the end of this age

Posted on November 4, 2023 by PastorDave

MARK | Lesson 7 | Lesson Notes / Talking Points

Read Mark 13.1-37

MAKING THE CONNECTIONS & SETTING THE CONTEXT

1/ Our last lesson was about the temple in Jerusalem which had been corrupted from its Divine purpose by those who had hijacked and usurped it for their own religious self-advancement. When Christ entered it, observed it, and ‘cleansed’ it, He was announcing His rejection of it. That same rejection was symbolically pronounced by the ‘sign-act’ of His cursing of the fig tree [ch 11.12-14, 20-21]. In all those same acts, Jesus was announcing and instructing His disciples and us about His coming agenda to restore and re-enact the building of His spiritual Temple – which was Himself. See Ephesians 2.11-22; 1 Peter 2.4-10; 1 Corinthians 3.16-17; 2 Corinthians 6.16-18; John 2.18-22 & 4.19-24; Revelation 21.22; et. al.

2/ We must see this overall Divine plan in everything Jesus is saying and doing in order to understand what He will be teaching us in this lesson. Because when He announces the destruction of that temple, it is so He can enact His plan to re-build His Temple in Himself through the effective proclamation of His Gospel of the Kingdom – even while at the same time we must endure much tribulation, suffering, rejection, and opposition as we faithfully follow and serve Him.

3/ So what Jesus will do in this message is to prepare, strengthen, and embolden His disciples [and us] to know what to expect and how to successfully navigate our Gospel witness through it all – until He comes to save us in the end and bring in the fullness of His promised Kingdom.

4/ We will try to stay within the narrative of Mark’s account of Jesus’ message [as it was related to Him by the apostle Peter], while at the same time flesh out some of the interpretations by referring occasionally to the parallel narratives in Matthew 24 [what we call ‘The Olivet Discourse’] and Luke 21.5-36.   

I / vv 1-2 / Jesus foretells the destruction of their temple

1/ His disciples point out to Jesus the beauty, grandeur, and majesty of the temple construction and buildings. And it was. This is what we call the Second Temple. The first temple [Solomon’s] was destroyed by the Babylonians in 585 BC. This much smaller re-building of the temple began when the Babylonian exiles returned to Jerusalem [Ezra 3.8-13]. Then Herod the Great began a years-long project to enlarge and beautify it [John 2.20] until it was then double the size of even Solomon’s first temple. In fact, those ‘re-modeling’ projects were still going on at this time and would continue until close to the time it was re-destroyed as Jesus will predict. It was a beautiful structure – and they were proud of it! Could it be they were trying to commend its beauty to Jesus in an effort to ‘sell’ Him on its significance to them…and should be to Him?

2/ Jesus knows what He will do…and what will become of this temple. He had come to establish Himself as the ‘chief cornerstone’ of God’s spiritual Temple. This temple was marked for destruction because of their chronic disobedience to Him and to make way for the New Covenant Temple in Himself. And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” He is announcing to them the coming destruction of their beloved temple and city by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD. In truth, He had already wept over this coming destruction as He was entering Jerusalem a few days before in His ‘Royal, triumphant entry’ [see Luke 19.41-44].

3/ These words – along with His prophetic promise in John 2.18-22 will be thrown back in His face as He hung on the Cross [see Mark 14.57-58 & 15.29].  

II / vv 3-4 / ‘When will these things be…and what will be the sign…?’

1/ These questions are more loaded than we can expand upon here. But this is yet another shocking declaration from Jesus. They had had to process so many such declarations in the past few weeks. But we have to try to understand as best we can what the disciples were asking in these two questions? [1] What? Our temple is going to be destroyed? When is this going to happen? [2] and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? Here is one of those junctures where we need to draw on Matthew’s account of their question: …and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? [Matthew 24.3]. Because they couldn’t even think of the destruction of their temple in any other context than ‘it must be His coming to bring this present age to its end and usher in the fullness of the everlasting Kingdom they were anticipating and expecting.’ They were still holding on to their traditional Messianic expectations of Christ establishing the fullness of the Kingdom of God by His coming to sovereignly and publicly ruling over an earthly Kingdom…then and there. They would have to continue to grow into Christ’s Gospel agenda in the coming days. Even when Christ was ascending into Heaven and promising to send the power of the Holy Spirit on them in a few days [Pentecost], they were still thinking that maybe that was the coming and establishing of the everlasting Kingdom of Glory: ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ [see Acts 1.1-7.

2/ At the time of these temple questions in Mark 13, they were still in that ‘end of the age’ and ‘Christ’s coming in power and glory’ expectation mindset.

3/ So we need to hear in Jesus’ answers that He doesn’t make any attempt to answer their question about ‘when will You return? when will You come to publicly rule and reign over the whole earth in Your Kingdom?’ He does promise them that He will return, but it will be only after many other events take place in the meanwhile of this present age. But He also announces to them that there will be many experiences they will suffer through during the interim between that present time and the time of His coming of the fullness of His Kingdom.

III / vv 5-13 / See that no one leads you astray … be on your guard

1/ What will follow in Jesus’ warnings is many-fold – and they would begin immediately and continue for a yet-undetermined span of time during this present age – both local, universal, and cosmic:

  • vv 5-6 / Many will come in His Name – claiming to be the Christ or speaking authoritatively for Him – saying that they are the Christ who is to come or claiming to know when He is coming.
  • vv 7-8 / There will be local and international warfare – repeatedly, constantly, chronically – because that is the nature of sinful, fallen, rebellious mankind.
  • v 7 / There will be universal upheavals – earthquakes and famines – as the course of the ages
  • vv 7-8 / But these events will not be ‘signs’ of His immediate return! ‘This must take place, but the end if not yet … These are but the beginnings of the birth pains.
  • v 9 / Christ’s faithful witnesses will be persecuted, beaten, falsely accused and condemned – but it will be for the purpose of our giving witness to Christ and His Gospel!
  • vv 10-11 / And from that then-present time, ‘…the Gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations…’ [see also Matthew 24.14]. They would learn in a few weeks following Christ’s resurrection, that there was yet a ‘Great Commission’ to be carried forth, proclaimed, and fulfilled before Christ would come.
  • vv 12-13a / Family members will betray one another because of their profession of Christ and their faith in Him – indeed, you will be hated by all for my Name’s sake – the whole culture of the generations to come will hate, persecute, oppose, and even kill those who remain faithful to Christ.

2/ v 13b / But those who remain faithful to Christ though it all will be saved in the end by His coming and by bringing them into the everlasting Kingdom He has promised … at the same time those who opposed them and Christ will be destroyed.

3/ But we must keep in mind also that Jesus is here announcing what kinds of ‘signs’ would accompany the times that were beginning immediately at that time and would continue on until ‘the end of the age.’ BUT no one of those same ‘signs’ nor all of them together will in themselves be announcing the time or season of His coming – only that He is coming!

4/ In truth, Jesus gave ‘the parable of the ten minas’ in Luke 19.11-27 just prior to His royal entry into Jerusalem to preface and prepare them to not interpret this event nor the time and season it was announcing: As they heard these things, He proceeded to tell a parable, because He was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the Kingdom of God was to appear immediately [that is, in its fullness].

IV / vv 14-23 / The abomination of desolation

1/ But now … Jesus returns to the exchange they had to begin this discourse in vv 1-4…

  • His announcement that their temple would be destroyed: “And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’”
  • and their question: “Tell us, when will these things be…?” Now, Jesus WILL tell them how they can know that the destruction of the temple is impending and upon them.

2/ Here’s the ‘sign’ they need to look for: But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand)… We have heard this phrase many times. It means simply: a person or thing who is an abomination [morally or ceremonially unclean] to God who wreaks havoc, destruction, desolation. There has been much discussion and debate re: what it means and when and how it will come to pass. Volumes have been written about it. And when Jesus repeats the little phrase “(let the reader understand)” He is alerting us that we need to pay close and careful attention to what He is saying so that we do indeed understand and not misinterpret what it means and what it refers to.

3/ Where does this phrase come from? Jesus is quoting and referring to the Book of Daniel. In truth, here is Matthew’s account [Matthew 24.15-16]: So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…[etc]. This is essential to our understanding of the first, most immediate, and most applicable identification and interpretation of what and who the abomination of desolation is. THEY will see it – those who are in Judea … and he [it] will be standing in their ‘holy place,’ which will include both their temple and city.

4/ These Daniel Scriptures Jesus quotes are found in Daniel 9.27; 11.31; 12.11.

  • Daniel 9.27: And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. This refers to the historical 70 AD destruction of the temple by the Romans – as we shall see in Luke 21.20.
  • Daniel 11.31: Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. This refers to a previous desecration of the temple by one of the Greek kings, Antiochus Epiphanes, in 167 BC … which sparked the Maccabean revolution and temporary liberation of Jerusalem in 164 BC.
  • Daniel 12.11: And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. This refers again to the 70 AD destruction of the temple which ushered in ‘the times of the Gentiles’ [those ages during which the Jews will again be dispersed, oppressed, and ruled over by Gentiles ‘until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled’ [Luke 21.24] … and continues to this very day.

5/ And so, the most immediate identification and interpretation of ‘the abomination of desolation’ is, as Jesus says in Luke 21.20 is “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.” Jerusalem had been surrounded, held under siege, starved, invaded, massacred, led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles many times before – but this abomination of desolation will last until the end…until the time of the end…at the end of the days [Daniel 12].

6/ But still, as horrendous, catastrophic, and cataclysmic as this event shall be, it will not yet at that time be ‘the end of the age.’ It will be a ‘pre-enactment’ of the end of the age, and it will be the catalyst and igniter that leads to the end of the age – but ‘the end is not yet’ [Mark 13.7] and ‘These are but the beginning of the birth pains’ [v 7].

V / vv 24-31 / But in those days, after that tribulation…

1/ The ‘tribulation’ that Jesus foretells has been on-going from that time and is continuing to the present day [see again vv 7-8]. See also John 16.33; Acts 14.22; Romans 8.35; Revelation 1.9; et. al. But now, Jesus does tell the disciples that the ‘end of the age’ will come ‘after that tribulation.’

2/ What Jesus describes here is the cosmic disturbance and disruption which will accompany His appearing. This is His promised coming of Acts 1.10-11; Revelation 1.7 / 6.12-17; 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18; 2 Peter 3; etc., et. al.

3/ At this coming – …in those days, after that tribulation… – Christ will both ‘save,’ deliver, rescue His people from their tribulations … and He will begin the systematic, progressive, comprehensive destruction of His enemies … and commence the events of the ‘passing away’ of the present cursed creation to bring in the New Creation [see again 2 Peter 3.8-13]. There will be many other accompanying events during these cosmic upheavals in the creation, and God has determined how long those final judgments upon the earth and its inhabitants will last.

4/ Jesus offers the fig tree to serve as another illustration [not necessarily to be confused or equated with the cursing of the fig tree in ch 11.12-14]. The fig tree was like most other fruit-bearing trees, but it was one of the most common to their experiences. In the spring, long before it bears its ripe fruit, it will begin to leaf out. So when all of these events Jesus has foretold beginning in v 5 begin to occur like leaves unfolding from their buds to full leaf, numerous events one after another – many simultaneously – repeatedly over the centuries from that time to this time … until the end … we are to see them all as promises of His coming. As Jesus says in Luke 21.28: Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Or, as He says here in Mark 13.29: So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near, at the very gates. [See also James 5.9]

5/ But no one of them, or many of them occurring simultaneously or in clusters even, should be interpreted as a ‘sign’ that the coming of Jesus is immediate. It may be, but then again, these calamitous events have been repeatedly occurring in continuous sequences in every generation from that time to ours. But the very fact that they keep occurring and Jesus has not appeared as of today is only a stronger confirmation and consolation that He is coming as He promised! “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay…” [Hebrews 10.37] [See again 2 Peter 3]

VI / vv 32-36 / ‘And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’

1/ Jesus will now sum up and make His application to His disciples and all His followers in all the generations who would come after them. He has already taught them that they must be prepared for time to continue on from their day until ‘the end of the age’ yet to come in an unknown and unannounced day … But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows…

2/ During this interim, intermediate, and meanwhile time – however long it turns out to be – they must be faithful witnesses to Him. In truth, they must prepare from that time and place to proclaim the Gospel to all the nations [v 10; Matthew 24.14 & 28.18-20; Mark 16.15-16; Luke 24.44-49; Acts 1.8; Romans 16.25-27; et. al.

3/ So, after reminding them [and us] throughout this message to “Be on your guard…” [vv 9, 23, 33], He teaches us that the way we remain on our guard is to “keep awake!” which He will repeat four times in these six verses. The ways we ‘stay awake’ are: recognizing He is in full and sovereign control over all the events of our lives and the world in which we live; committing ourselves to be engaged in faithful Gospel witness to all the nations of the world; remain faithful to Christ and His words even during the most trying of persecutions, tribulations, adversities, and chaotic world events. Jesus is coming! And we win in the end!

And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations – and then the end will come! [Matthew 24.14]

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