Could you please say that again?

It is hard to believe–in fact you might want to sit down–but the Rays are in first place in the American League East and they have the best record in the American League. How about that?

 

Amen!

American Christianity

In today’s world it is an easy thing to criticize American Christianity.   In fact the phrase “American Christianity” seems to have been loaded down with such negative connotations that you have to say it with a scowl on your face.  Many of these negative connotations are self imposed.  However, I am not ready to throw the baby out with the bath water.  There are a lot of things that the the Church here in the States needs to reform (or it will be enveloped by the culture), but there are also a lot of good things about the Church here in the States. 

Along these lines, an interesting question to consider is what has been America’s greatest contribution to Christianity?  Our roots are in the East, Europe gave us the Reformation, but what has America done for the Church?  In response to this very question Christopher Catherwood poses an interesting response.  Here is an excerpt from his book Church History: a crash course for the curious on the subject:

…We forget that the Reformers tool a long time to realize that state power should not be used coercively in Christian doctrinal disputes. (This is, I think, a discovery that is perhaps one of America’s greatest contributions to Christianity.) pg. 89

Could it be as Catherwood says?  Or, maybe its the modern missions movement that came from America?  Could it possibly be a resurgence of expository preaching (If it is going to be this then we still have some work to do)?  What do you think?   

True Christianity

Christ measures true discipleship (Christianity) with the yardstick of spiritual priorities, total commitment, and personal sacrifice.
Dr. George Zemek

In light of the above quote we must ask ourselves what our priorities are; where are commitments lie; and what sacrifices we are making? If this is how Christ measures true discipleship, then how are we doing as disciples. 

I had quite a few thoughts that I wanted to share on this subject, but they quickly became quite convicting and I think that the quote speaks for itself.  The only thing that I would add is an exhortation to honest evaluate how you are doing as a disciple. 

The Authority of Jesus on Display - Mark 1:16-45 (pt. 2 )

II. The Authority of Jesus as a Teacher (vv. 20-28 )

In addition to having the authority to call men, Jesus also has authority as a Teacher.

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

After picking up a few new disciples Mark tells us that Jesus went in Capernaum which would have been on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee. This was an important location because it became Jesus’ headquarters for ministry. Since this would be Jesus’ headquarters it was fitting for Him to participate in the local synagogue. It is not surprising that that He would also be asked to teach. Upon hearing Jesus’ teaching the people were amazed. The people had heard the Rabbis teach the Old Testament before, but it was never like this. This teaching was different because it was authoritative. Jesus’ authority was not derivative; it was intrinsic in His nature. A great example of this authoritative teaching is found in Matthew 5:21-22. Jesus was simply explaining the Scriptures and all the implications that they have on our lives.
The power of this authoritative message was too much for one particular individual in attendance. One of the individuals attending at the synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit. This spirit, or demon, was controlling this man. He knew that this authoritative teaching was trouble for him and all demons. He was scared, because He knew who Jesus was (James 2:19) and what He could do.
The Divine authority of Jesus’ words is on full display when Jesus rebukes this demon and silences Him. It may seem strange that Jesus would not let this demon—or any demon—admit that He was God, however Jesus had several good reasons for doing this. First, Jesus wanted to avoid any accusation that He was associated with demons (cf. 3:22). Second, Jesus wanted to avoid mass frenzy over His ministry. He needed the time and freedom to complete His earthly ministry before He would be crucified. In fact, He had just called four new disciples that would need to be trained before He left. So, Jesus exercised His authority over this demon and kept him quiet.
At all of this the people were again amazed. Mark tells us that they questioned what this new teaching was. They knew it was authoritative, but they did not understand it. Unfortunately the authority and teaching of the Scriptures was something new to them. From what Mark tells us they did not respond appropriately. They were occupied with the effects of Jesus’ teaching rather than on the spiritual implications. They were more interested in the demons that were being cast out, than the teaching of the Messiah who was in their presence. They were only interested in what Jesus could do for them in the “here-and-now.” They had no concern for obeying Jesus’ teaching because they did not recognize His authority. We must guard ourselves from this kind of faulty thinking and obey Jesus’ authority.

The Authority of Jesus on Display - Mark 1:16-45 (pt. 1)

Over the next week (and possibly into next week) we are going to be looking at Mark 1:16-45. In this passage Mark provides for us four accounts that all center around the Authority of Jesus. This passage is all about the authority of Jesus which is clearly a topic that we often think wrongly about. In studying this passage we will see Jesus’ authority clearly displayed in four different areas: 1) Jesus has the authority to call men, which means we must follow Him; 2) Jesus has authority as a teacher; which means we must obey Him; 3) Jesus has the authority to heal; which means we must trust His power; 4) finally, Jesus has authority over the priorities of man, which means we must trust His plan. Jesus’ authority is so clear in this passage, and yet we still ignore Jesus’ authority in many areas of our life. We must not ignore the authority of Jesus. We must submit to Him. I hope that from this passage we will see Jesus for who He is and respond appropriately.   

I. The Authority of Jesus to Call Men (vv. 16-20)

The first thing we see in vv. 16-20 is that Jesus has the authority to call men:

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus was continuing His preaching ministry in Galilee along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is actually a large fresh water lake that was home to a large fishing industry. As Jesus was passing alongside the sea ministering Mark tells us that he saw Simon and Andrew out casting their nets. This is the first time that these fisherman are mentioned in Mark’s account of the Gospel, but they actually have some history with Jesus through their association with John the Baptist (John 1:39-40). They had probably gone back to fishing after John had been arrested. But now Jesus had arrived, and He came to them. Luke fills us in on a few more of the details in Luke 5:1-4, and reveals that Jesus was ministering to a large number of people and needed their boat.
Jesus offered these two men an opportunity to change the course of their lives forever. He promised to make them “fishers of men” if they would simply follow Him. They could not have known the full implication of this—they were going to become Apostles—but they did recognize Jesus’ authority. They had seen what He was capable of (Luke 5:1-11), and they immediately followed Him. They had no hesitation in leaving their nets behind because they recognized how amazing Jesus was. They did not hold onto the things of this world because they knew that Jesus was better.
This was not the only time that this happened. Mark tells us that Jesus went on a little farther and saw James and John. These two men were also fisherman who would have been familiar with Jesus’ ministry. They were probably Jesus’ cousins (cf. 15:40; Mt 27:55-56, and John 19:25). In a similar fashion Mark tells us that Jesus called these two and they immediately followed Him. They were willing to give up their careers and family (Mark makes it clear that they did not abandon their father. He had the help of the hired servants, and he is never found objecting to his son’s decisions) in order to follow Jesus.
In this passage Jesus is calling men who would become His special disciples and eventually apostles. However, this is illustrative of how we are all called. Left unto ourselves we would never follow Jesus; however He authoritatively steps into our lives and calls us to Himself. As we see in this passage, this is no ordinary call. This is a call to put Jesus first, and let everything else in this world become secondary. We need to recognize this authority of Jesus, and obey His call on our life by following Him.

 

The Inauguration of the King - Mark 1:9-13 (conclusion)

III. The Initiation of Jesus into His Ministry (vv. 12-13)

a. Sent out by the Spirit
Now that Jesus has been affirmed by the Father and equipped by the Spirit it is time for Him to begin His ministry. In verses 12-13 Mark tells us that this is just what he does: “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.” In verse 9 we read about the Spirit coming to equip Jesus for His ministry, now here in verse 12 we see the first instance of the Spirit’s help. Mark tells us that he “drove” Jesus out into the wilderness. This word that mark uses is a very strong word. In fact, if I were to use a Greek word to describe someone throwing a baseball this is the word that I would use. It is the same word that Mark uses to describe Jesus “casting out” demons. Mark uses it here not to imply that Jesus didn’t want to go out into the desert, but rather to demonstrate the strong sense of compulsion from the Spirit. You see, Jesus had to go out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He was taking upon Himself the role of a representative for man, and upon the inauguration of this ministry it is obvious that He had to be tempted. Jesus was not the first representative for the human race. The Bible teaches that Adam first represented mankind. However “Adam, when tempted, failed. So Christ ‘the last Adam’ must now be tempted, in order that by his victory over the tempter he may, for all who believe in him, undo the results of the first Adam’s failure.” This is exactly what Paul meant in Romans 5:19 when he said, “For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man’’ obedience the many will be made righteous.”

b. Tempted by Satan

From God’s perspective Jesus had to be tempted by the devil so that Jesus could undo the failure of the first Adam. However, Satan had a different aim. All the way back in Genesis 3:15 God promised to send One who would defeat Satan. Now He had arrived, and Satan was fighting for His life. He knew that if he could get Jesus to sin he would win, and so he pulled out all the stops. Mark tells us that Jesus was in the desert for forty days undergoing this temptation. This temptation was not from within, but was solely an attack from the outside by Satan. When we are tempted it is usually because of our own sinful nature, and the conflicting thoughts that we have. But this was not the case with Jesus because, as God, He was sinless (James 1:13). Even though He faced temptation from the outside—just like we do—He never desired to succumb to this temptations. Consequently, He was successful in overcoming Satan’s temptation. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. The idea here is that not only did Jesus experience this temptation, but he also overcame it. If Satan’s temptation had been successful then it would not have lasted forty days. If I had been tempted in the wilderness it would have only lasted about one day before I would have succumbed to the temptation. However, Jesus did not succumb. Even though He was tempted in every way as we are, He never succumbed to this temptation. Not in the wilderness, or ever! What an amazing thing to have a Savior who has experienced what we have experienced, and overcome what we were not able to overcome. Mark adds a couple of details that may seem insignificant, but they bring out this very point. Mark says that Jesus was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to Him. Why do you think that Mark adds this to the details of the event? Mark adds this to emphasize the difficulty that Jesus faced. This was an area full of boars, jackals, wolves, hyenas, and all sorts of dangerous animals. Additionally, Mark tells us that the Angels were ministering to Him in order to point out that there was no one else there with Jesus. Jesus was all alone while he went through this trial. This is why Hebrews 4:15 says that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus is our representative and High Priest. He overcame temptation, lived a perfect life, and provided a cleansing sacrifice. Apart from His work we will never be able to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, however through Jesus we can bee freed from sin and death and made alive to Him.

Conclusion:

As we look back on the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry it is clear that He is the Messiah who came to save us by becoming a perfect sacrifice. He submitted to this ministry by being baptized, He received confirmation of His ministry from the Father, and He was initiated into His ministry by being tempted in the wilderness. This is the person that we must put our faith in. We must trust Him with our lives because He can identify with us in our times of trouble and more importantly because he can save us from our sins.