BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

 Do you remember how Mark’s Gospel first opened?                                                

‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’                                

What did Jesus then say about himself? 10:45                                                  

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many”  

Finally in Mark 16 we see at least two women who have witnessed Jesus’ death and His burial, and who now venture into the streets before dawn to somehow enter the tomb, hoping to lovingly embalm His body.                                

What courage while the disciples hide in fear!

They are met with the greatest news:                                                                                   

“You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified: he is risen...”

Soon they will see Jesus received up into heaven to sit on the right hand of God!

It’s now crunch-time!                                                                                              

Will you and I believe?

THE BODY of JESUS

 

At what time did Jesus ‘give up the ghost’?       

At the ninth hour (from sunrise) – 3pm

What day is this on? (Mark 15:40-47)                                                                                        
After Passover the night before, this is Preparation Day when everyone is madly rushing around buying supplies and cooking meals for the High Sabbath tomorrow that commences the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. The city is packed with thousands of pilgrims from afar, eagerly expecting the long awaited Messiah, promised to appear right now by Daniel the prophet.

So where is the Son of God?                                                                                

Crucified as a common criminal, His bloodied naked body remains hanging just outside the city gates for all to gawk at until after sunset.

The women following Jesus have faithfully watched from a distance and now Joseph shows amazing courage by fronting Pontius Pilate who is surprised.                                          

“Jesus is dead already?”  Yes Pilate, Jesus has been in control – not you.                                                                                                             

He deserves a rich man’s burial... and gets it. Isaiah 53: 9

THEY CRUCIFIED HIM

The Roman Army has flogged this Man so mercilessly he is unable to carry his own cross beam. After refusing a stupefying concoction they strip him naked then crucify him between two thieves. (Mark 15) The chief priests mock Him as ‘Christ the King of Israel’.

Who is He really?

Suddenly at midday – darkness!...for 3 hours!

Who really is it that they have crucified and the Jewish priests have mocked in derision? They are about to find out as this crucified Man cries out with a loud voice - twice - then gives up the ghost.            

The Roman centurion is forced to admit: “Truly this man was Son of God” – exactly how Mark presented Him to us in the very beginning!

What is the undeniable witness to those Priests??                           
The thick veil in the temple rips in half from top to bottom.

Jew and Gentile are now forced to see they have crucified the Son of God.  Why did he come?                                                                                       

“To give his life a ransom for many” 10:45

JUSTICE ON TRIAL

Who really is on trial here in Mark 15:1-20?...Jesus as ‘King of the Jews’... or the Jewish leadership and the Roman Empire? 

Remember that Mark introduced Jesus as Christ, the Son of God, and He has been tirelessly serving humanity.                                                  

• 2 illegal trials have been held overnight
• Guards have been allowed to deal out ‘rough justice’ with punching and spitting
• Jesus answers nothing to the false charges
• They have called an illegal meeting of the full council on the holy Preparation Day
• They beg for the release of a murderer in exchange for innocent Jesus

The Jewish leaders are supposed to be keepers of religious law, with the duty before God to uphold justice in the eyes of the world!

What about the Romans, proud upholders of justice throughout the civilised world?....

"So Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified."

• Governor Pontius Pilate tries to placate the Jews by...
• Releasing a murderer guilty of insurrection against the Empire
• Condemning a man innocent under law
• Personally flogging a man already sentenced to crucifixion
• Allows whole regiment of Roman soldiers to abuse a prisoner

How does Jesus answer?... Nothing!

So who really is guilty here?

TOO HOT!

 Do you remember what Simon Peter proudly claimed?                       

“Even if everyone else is offended, I won’t...                                                                         If I have to die with you, no way will I deny you”

Thru Mark, Peter tells us how he shaped up...                              

While his Master, Jesus, is upstairs telling the truth, Peter is warming himself nicely and repeatedly lying, even cursing and swearing to save his own skin: 

“I don’t know this Man!”                                                              

Even the high priest’s maid knows how to confidently speak the truth!             (Mark 14:66-72)

Mmm...now it’s getting a bit hot for Peter so he decides to leave but oh...the rooster is ready to cock-a-doodle yet again - IMMEDIATELY after the 3^rd denial, exactly as Jesus predicted!

No wonder Peter wails loudly as he realizes God is in control here after all, not some lying fisherman.

What about me?                                                                                       
Have I ever been ashamed of my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ?

CALL THIS JUSTICE?

Passover is the most important Jewish festival – without Passover there would be no Israel; this one in Mark 14 is the highlight of their history, with Messiah expected to show up and untold thousands have arrived in Jerusalem for this momentous event!                                              

Hang on...                                   

What are these 71 Sanhedrin elders doing?...trying this man Jesus late at night with no reliable witness and the sentence of death already decided!

What sort of justice is this? Moses told Israel that the nations will marvel: “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people”. 

He continued: “For what nation is there so great, who has God so near to them...that has statutes and judgments so righteous?”

God manifest in Jesus is right in front of them, while they break their own rules...

• A trial at night
• False witnesses
• Intimidation to force defendant to incriminate himself
• The High Priest rends his garment
• Violent abuse and spitting

How does Jesus respond?                                                            

The Man of Isaiah 53 remains silent until agreeing with the truth:

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of ‘the Blessed’...                                

“I AM and you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven”

...just as Daniel saw Him by vision over 500 years before!

CRUNCH TIME!

Suddenly it’s ‘crunch time’: the betrayal of Jesus in Mark 14:43-54.

Run for it guys!

Notice the detail given by John Mark’s account: the Lord’s disappointment, His agony and His sorrow in prayer. Mark will soon discreetly reveal himself in this picture - fleeing naked in panic!

Let’s try to immerse ourselves in the tension here...                       

All of these Jews - yes, every single one of them - have just enjoyed the intimacy of this profound Passover feast, foundational to the Jewish faith. Later in the evening it is now an ugly scene of threatening violence with swords and staves!

Why oh why??                                                                                                 

“The scriptures must be fulfilled”             

Yes, God is in control – not religious thugs, even if it might look like it!

Can you recall how Simon Peter has just contradicted his Master?... “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I... If I should die with you , I will not deny you in any way” ...and his mates all said the same.

So what happened?    ‘All forsook Him and fled’.                                                                                                           

Peter follows at a very safe distance and makes himself comfortable at the palace fireside.                                        

Those were brave words Peter but... can you deliver on that?

"LET'S GO!"

Jesus has been reclining for a meal in Bethany, even having His head anointed.  Two days later it’s no longer time for reclining  – Passover MUST be celebrated tonight!  (Mark 14:12-42)                        

The question is: WHERE?   There is no need for Jesus to lead His disciples back into Jerusalem just for Passover but that is what He orders...    “Go into the city...”           

Why?...for His betrayal!  Notice how absolutely certain Jesus is...

• “One of you... shall betray me...it is one of the twelve”
• “The Son of Man indeed goes...”
• “This my body....this is my blood”
• “After I am risen...” (always Jesus’ outlook!)
• “The sheep shall be scattered”
• “Before the cock crow twice, you (Peter) shall deny me three times”

Jesus is so like His friends in appearance and none of them seem to know who would betray Him: “Is it I?”                                                                   Peter even proudly vows his allegiance, along with all the others.    

Finally it’s time: “Get up, let’s go, the betrayer is here!”

This is the decisive moment of testing for all - surely they will prove loyal?   .                           

MAN of ACTION

Notice how Mark presents Jesus as the Man of action, with so much happening immediately...

“For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”  (10:45)

Now is not the time for action - Jesus just reclines for a meal (Mark 14:1-11)                                     

Watch what happens around Him in this obscure setting...                                                                     
In the home of Simon the leper, in the small village of Bethany, an unnamed woman breaks an alabaster box of spikenard to anoint Jesus’ head...Nardostachys jatamansi probably from Indian honeysuckle!                                                                                                             

Meanwhile the chief priests and scribes plot to have Jesus put to death thru trickery – only when it suits them – not with all the Passover crowds in Jerusalem likely to riot.  How convenient for them that Judas Iscariote, who thinks his master is a waste of this expensive spikenard (worth a year’s wages) agrees to betray Him....when it’s convenient of course.

Time is of the essence here – the alabaster is broken, Jesus’ head is now anointed for burial...                                                                 

Will they pull this off when it suits them?...or will Jesus reclining at table prove to be in ultimate control?

WATCH!

“What I say to you, I say to all: WATCH!”

Watch what?  Okay there was that strange ‘Abomination of Desolation’ that is meant to be a trigger to flee Judaea - goodness knows why.

Apparently one generation is going to see all of this – EVERYTHING!   

So what else will there be to see? (Mark 13:24-37)

• The heavens will be shaken; the sun and moon darkened
• The Son of man will come in power and glory
• The angels will gather the elect from every corner of heaven and earth.   Notice that the angels gather (Gk:episunagoge) and it is a universal gathering from earth AND from heaven. No, this is not the Rapture of the Church caught up (harpazo) in a   split-second at the shout of Christ himself.
• And there’s one more!...                                                                 

Yesterday Jesus cursed a fig-tree and it completely shrivelled. Today He is predicting the ‘fig-tree’ will one day grow leaves again.  These disciples know this speaks of Israel but they will not live to see Israel revive in 1948 - after 1878 years!

No matter what – we must... W A T C H !!

F L E E !!

Suddenly, very suddenly, things will get a lot worse, especially for those in Israel – it’s time to flee to the mountains!                    

Here in Mark 13:14-23, Jesus is sitting with four of His disciples and leaving with them a warning... that He knows will even get written down!                                              

So which period in the future is Jesus referring to?                  

Does He mean the destruction of the temple immediately in front of them?     

• Nothing as bad will have occurred before, ever since Creation – that includes the Great Flood.  WOAH!
• Unless the Lord shortens these days no flesh would survive – humanly impossible until nuclear war became a reality in 1945
• Not only will the threats be military but also spiritual, with false christs and their miracles

So then, what is the trigger?                                                                  
The ‘Abomination of Desolation’ gets set up ‘where it ought not be’ i.e. ‘the holy place’. Every year since Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes IV profaned the temple, the Jews have been celebrating its re-dedication in Hanukkah, knowing the warning by Daniel: ‘the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up’.

In other words, the temple MUST be rebuilt sometime after its destruction just predicted by Jesus Christ... AND it must be defiled again. Watch this space!

Just as women and babies suffered terribly at the hand of Antiochus, so will they be at risk from this future profanity.

Why?

Don’t stop to ask – just R U N !!

WHEN??

 

Do you remember what Jesus predicted on leaving the temple? (Mark 13)

“There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”          

No wonder four disciples follow Him up with questions on the Mount of Olives!...starting with: “WHEN...?”

Notice carefully that Jesus NEVER answers that question of ‘when?’...but proceeds to teach them about what awaits the faithful remnant of Israel.

In fact, there is NO RECORD anywhere in Holy Scripture of the destruction of that 2^nd temple which can no longer be seen on Temple Mount!                In other words, there is a far more important series of events in the future...

• False christs
• Wars, earthquakes, famines...
• Arrests & beatings
• The gospel preached to ALL NATIONS
• Family betrayals
• Hatred by ALL MEN

...and these are only the ‘beginning of sorrows’ – just like the onset of childbirth pain. It gets much worse!

NEXT: Time to flee!

WHAT BUILDINGS!

During the rule of the Persian Empire, the angel Gabriel was sent to tell the prophet Daniel that a 2^nd temple in Jerusalem (not even built then!)...would later be destroyed by ‘the people of the prince that shall come’ - the mighty Roman Army.

Five centuries later, here in Mark 13 we have the long-awaited Messiah finally leaving that 2^nd temple for the last time.  It seems the disciples haven’t been joining the dots - they think Jesus should be admiring the magnificent architecture as He walks out from where the elders have rejected Him. Instead, He predicts: 

“There shall not be one stone on another that shall not be thrown down.”                                                                                                         

No wonder four of them then chase Him up for answers!

 Did Jesus get that right?

The supporting Western Wall, the only relic left standing today, is mute witness that He did!  

AUDIENCE of ONE

Every day for 3 days, Jesus has visited this magnificent temple where His authority is rejected by chief priests, scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees... plenty of time for them to accept His authority. (Mark 12:38-44)

Jesus condemns the scribes for taking care how people see them and for defrauding widows.  Before leaving the temple forever He has one last thing to do – sit and watch how much people give to the treasury.                                

Who alone has the right to watch what we give towards the service of God?                                                                                                        

Only God - audience of One - so Jesus watches the rich and the poor, even a widow who is giving... all of her living!

We are soon going to see how Jesus gives...whether He casts in all that He has, even all of His living! 

How is YOUR giving towards God?

DAVID'S LORDLY SON

 

Notice the authority of this man Jesus!                                 

The disruptor of temple commerce is feared and hated by chief priests and scribes, challenged by Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees....and now no man dares ask him any more questions! (Mark 12:35-37)

They all know king David’s climactic Psalm 110...

‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies beneath your feet”’

They also know the scribes teach that the coming Messiah will be Son of David.

It’s now Jesus’ turn to ask the questions... 

“David calls him Lord, so how can He be his Son?”

The people are enjoying this but do they know who really is standing right in front of them?

John Mark introduced Him with... 

‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’.

Do YOU agree?

CLOSE!...but no cigar

 Now a scribe thinks it’s his turn to quiz Jesus...                                                           “Which is the first commandment of all?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

He knows only too well that you can’t separate the commandments God gave Moses, so...how will this Galilean dude answer that one? (Mark 12:28-34)

Jesus wisely recites the Sh’ma: the foundation of the Jewish faith, that all Jews know since childhood!

“Hear O Israel (Sh’ma Yisrae’el):                                                                                     the Lord our God is one Lord                                                                                         And you shall love the Lord thy God                                                                                     with all your heart                                                                                                                       and with all your soul                                                                                                                               and with all your mind                                                                                       and all your strength”

  That’s not all Mr. Scribe, there’s a bonus for you!...

“You shall love your neighbour as yourself!”

The scribe unwittingly gives Jesus the Lord our God a big tick, only to hear....

                            “You are not far from the kingdom of God”

No wonder no-one dared ask any more
questions!                                                            

How would you rate yourself on that test?                                                    100%?

GOD of the LIVING

 

The Jewish leaders are desperate after their failed attempt to trip Jesus up over payment of Roman taxes.                    

Here come the Sadducees with their ridiculous poser: some woman outlives seven husbands, so whose wife is she after resurrection?...that SADDUCEES DON’T EVEN BELIEVE IN!

Is this the best they can come up with?... Mark 12:18-27                                               

Most of the Jewish aristocracy including high priests were Sadducees (Sad you sees!) so their religion was merely a ritual without faith in God of the living, the real God beyond the power of death.

Even their great patriarch Abraham believed in resurrection!...

‘He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received (Isaac) back as a type’

No wonder Jesus said: “You don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God”

So, do you?

BOTH BARRELS!!

Mark’s gospel contrasts fear with faith: here in ch12 he tells how this young man Jesus fearlessly confronts the chief priests, scribes and elders who have challenged His authority in the temple.                                                                       How?...by simply telling them a story, then asking one question!

The parable comes from the well-known ‘Jehovah’s vineyard’ in Isaiah 5...

“For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah His pleasant plant...” 

...and Jesus ends the story with:   

“This is the heir, come, let us kill Him and the inheritance shall be ours.” 

...exactly what these leaders had been trying to do only yesterday!                       

So what was the question?...“Haven’t you read this Scripture...?”       - straight from Psalm 118:22-23

Who have they just rejected? The very ‘corner-stone’ of the true temple!

“This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes”

BANG! BANG!... He gives them both barrels because it is far from marvellous in their eyes!

 

BY WHAT AUTHORITY?

This is the 3^rd day that Jesus enters Jerusalem and the tension couldn’t be higher!                                                    

Two days ago He was acclaimed as Son of David, but then yesterday he upended temple trade for thousands.              

How will Jerusalem receive Him today?  (Mark 11)                                                                                                              

On the way, Peter remarks that the fig-tree has shrivelled, so Jesus answers:

“Have faith in God.”

What had they seen only yesterday?... thousands of people with faith in tradition and money.

Notice the responsibility Jesus then puts on his disciples: to forgive others.

However the chief priests, scribes and elders are not so forgiving...

“Who gave you this authority to do these things?”

The Lord who commanded the fig-tree to shrivel replies:                  

“Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Why?

He is the temple of God.

PRAYER or PROFIT?

No, this isn’t Jesus Christ cursing the fig-tree, it’s my old friend Gordon showing me his dormant tree in winter, or almost – there were 2 leaves!

In Mark 11, Jesus has come past Bethpage (‘House of figs’) only to find a fruitless fig-tree – the only living thing He cursed, on His way to the city where He himself will soon be hung on a tree as a curse.                                                                  

Those disciples would know the fig-tree as a symbol of peace and prosperity, and remember that prophet Hosea spoke of the Fathers as ‘the first-ripe in the fig-tree’.  No, it was not unreasonable to expect at least one fig at that time of the year, so this was clearly a sign meant for Israel.

What will Jesus find when He reaches the city?                         Will he find prayer?... or profit?

Imagine the upheaval for thousands of visitors as He shouts:

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations but you have made it a robber’s den!”

...while birds, lambs and money scatter in all directions.

Remember Adam and Eve sowed fig leaves together for aprons?      

Well Israel as a dead fig-tree has been exposed as worse than fruitless!

Where is your interest? In prayer, or in profit?