Mark (Program #44) – The Resurrection and Ascension of the Slave-Savior and His Universal Spreading of the Gospel Through His Disciples

Chapter 16, the final chapter of Mark’s gospel presents three tremendous events in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  First it reveals His resurrection then His ascension for His exaltation and finally the spreading of His gospel to all the creation. All of these matters are important to genuine believers as they relate to the truth of the divine revelation. But they also should be very real aspects of our experience of the marvelous salvation that we have received. But that leads us to a very important question, How can we experience Christ in the reality of His resurrection and how can we experience the exalted and ascended Christ?  Well, this chapter gives us some very helpful signs from some of the Lord’s followers who were living in the reality of Christ in His crucifixion and therefore we are also able to experience Him in His resurrection.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #43) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (5)

The account of the resurrection is unique in each of the four gospels. Each one brings its’ own prospective and emphasis to this greatest of all event.  The account in Mark is typically uncomplicated but deeply and profoundly touching.

Here are the first 11 verses from Mark chapter 16:

“And when the Sabbath was past, Mary the Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him.
And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb as the sun rose.
And they said to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?
And when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was extremely large.
And when they entered into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, clothed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has been raised; He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him.
But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him, even as He told you.
And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary the Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.
She went and reported to those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping.
And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.“

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #41) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (3)

On the day of His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross for six hours, from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon.  During the first three hours, He suffered mocking, slander and humiliation at the hands of all manner of men even though He was dying to redeem.

But beginning at twelve noon something remarkable happen and is recorded in Mark chapter 15 verses 33-34, “And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is interpreted, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

During the final three hours of His time on the cross, the Lord Jesus was no longer been judged by evil mankind. He had taken upon Himself the sins of mankind to such an extend that God the Father even had to turn away from His beloved Son in righteous judgment, as Christ offered up Himself, an eternal sacrifice for all.

As believers we cherish this story and never tired of hearing it. But beyond this message of redemption and hope, this story also bears consideration for what it says about the inner relationship of the three divine persons in the Godhead.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #39) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (1)

The record in Mark chapters 14 and 15 give a striking account of how the Lord Jesus prepared Himself for His crucifixion. Even manipulating those who would ultimately kill Him to do so according to God’s time table and not man’s.

Often overlook in this portion, however, is that the same chapters also record the experiences of Peter. In a very real sense Peter also was being prepared by the Lord to pass through the process of death and resurrection.

It’s somewhat easy to realize that Peter in these chapters is representative of all the disciples. What’s not so easy to see, but just as significant is that Peter’s experiences of failure upon failure eventually resulting in his been striped of any confidence in his natural strength and ability, represents all of us, the Lord’s believers as well.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #38) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (12)

Ephesians chapter 1:7-9 tells us that Christ’s all redeeming death was part of God’s eternal plan and purpose. Yet on occasion after occasion when the Lord Jesus spoke concerning His coming death to His disciples especially Peter, they continually express their natural thought that such a thing should never happen to Him.

Furthermore, on the night before His death they one by one declare to the Lord, that they would never deny Him even at the cost of their own lives. Of course we all know the story, Peter representing all the disciples within a few short hours was repeatedly denying the Lord.

On one hand it seems hard to believe that after the Lord had revealed so much to His disciples, that they can still behave in such a way. In fact Peter and his failure is representative of all our natural strength and fleshly concepts.  Yet by the Lord’s mercy, Peter and eventually even all of us His weak and frail seekers are led through a process of Christ’s death has become much more than just an objective fact. We must become those who like Peter enter into His death so that we can ultimately be ushered into the reality of His resurrection.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #37) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (11)

In Mark chapter 14, the Lord Jesus initiated the Lord’s Supper as we know it today and is very deep in its’ significance.

Mark chapter 14: 22-24  tells us, “And as they were eating, He took bread and blessed it, and He broke it and gave it to them, and said, Take; this is My body.
And He took a cup and gave thanks, and He gave it to them; and they all drank of it.
And He said to them, This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #36) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (10)

It’s no coincident that the Lord Jesus final night before His death was also the Jewish Passover. The Old Testament Passover commemorated the sacrificing of a spotless lamb for the shedding of blood to atone for the sins of God’s people.

That Old Testament type signify that one day God would send the real spotless Lamb to be offered up as an eternal sacrifice not just to atone for sins but to accomplish a full redemption for all who believe.

1 Cor. 5 tells us that Jesus was that perfect spotless Lamb, the fulfillment of the Passover. And so on that more significant night the Lord Jesus shared the final Passover feast with His disciples but then He prepared another feast, at feast that would replace the passover. For all those who believe until He comes again to receive all His redeemed ones and feast with them anew in His kingdom.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #35) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (9)

Just two days prior to His death the Lord Jesus gathered with His disciples in a small house in a tiny village of Bethany just outside of Jerusalem.

This little house, the house of a leper that Jesus had cleansed in the beginning of His ministry has become His dwelling place during His final days. Each night He would depart Jerusalem and return to this very humble and simple home. Now as the hours of His death approaches one of the great encounters in all the scriptures take place. Let’s read the account in Mark 14:1-8

“Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were two days away. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to seize Him by craftiness and kill Him,  For they said, Not at the feast, lest there be a tumult by the people.  And while He was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He reclined at table, a woman came, having an alabaster flask of ointment, of very costly pure nard, and she broke the alabaster flask and poured it over His head.  But there were some who were indignantly commenting among themselves: Why has this waste of the ointment been made?  For this ointment could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and given to the poor. And they were infuriated with her.  But Jesus said, Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a noble deed on Me.  For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you do not always have Me.  She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
And truly I say to you, Wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be told as a memorial of her.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #34) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (8)

Mark chapter 13, is a chapter that’s difficult to understand. In this chapter the Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples by way of prophecies concerning events that must occur before the ushering in of the kingdom age.

Many people studied this chapter focusing on these prophecies while missing the real significance of His speaking.  For in this chapter He is not just predicting the future events in order to entice us to follow the prophecies but rather He was preparing the disciples as well as all those who would follow the disciples to become His believers in future generations. This preparation was with a definite goal and purpose. Not merely to strengthen our faith in His word by accurately predicting future events. No.  Much more than that.; His speaking in this portion of scripture is to prepare all His seeking ones for the producing and bringing forth of the New Man.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

Mark (Program #33) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (7)

At a critical time during the final few days before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus took the disciples to the Mount of Olives. From that spot looking across to the temple in all its’ splendor, He spoke to them of the coming events that would ultimately usher in the kingdom of God to the earth

Let’s pick up His word to the disciples in Mark chapter 13:1, “And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, Teacher, behold, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!
And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings? There shall by no means be left here a stone upon a stone which shall not be thrown down.  And as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately,  Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?  And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray.  Many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ! and will lead many astray.  And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; it must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These things are the beginning of birth pangs.”

This phrase, birth pangs is a clear reference to a  coming delivery, a child is been born. But what is this birth that He spoke of and has it taken place,  even yet?  Many clear signs were unveiled in Mark chapter 13.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS