[uplifting music]
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[uplifting music]
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>>Eric Flickinger:
Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're glad to have
you back again with us
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this week as we are
looking at lesson number two
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in our study of
the book of Mark.
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We are looking today at "A
Day in the Ministry of Jesus."
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What did a day look
like in Jesus' life?
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We're gonna find that
out here very shortly.
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But before we do, we're going to
start with prayer. Let's pray.
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Father, we thank
You for giving us
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an opportunity
to take this journey
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through the book of
Mark, to get a clearer picture
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of Jesus, His ministry, the
gospel that He had to share,
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and the lives that He
changed and continues to change.
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We ask that You'll
bless our time together today,
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and we thank You
in Jesus' name, amen.
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Well, we're grateful once
again to have with us the author
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of this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson.
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Tom Shepherd, he's a
senior research professor at--
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of New Testament--at
the Theological Seminary,
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Andrews University, and
also a pastor of two churches
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up in Michigan--
Tom, welcome back.
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>>Tom Shepherd: Thank
you. Good to be with you.
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>>Eric: So we're
looking at a day in the ministry
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of Jesus.
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Mark gives us some insights
into the day-to-day life
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of Jesus, and as
we begin this gospel,
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as we're diving
into this gospel,
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Jesus calls His first disciples.
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What did that call look like?
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How did He call them, and why--
well, we're going to find out
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why they felt
impressed to follow Him,
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but let's start with how Jesus
called His first disciples.
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>>Tom: All right, so I
want to turn to Mark, chapter 1,
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verses 16 through 20.
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It's the call of the
first four disciples.
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"Passing alongside
the Sea of Galilee,
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"He saw Simon and
Andrew the brother of Simon
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"casting a net into the
sea, for they were fishermen.
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"And Jesus said to them,
'Follow me, and I will make you
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"become fishers of men.'
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"And immediately
they left their nets
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"and followed Him.
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"And going on a little farther,
He saw James the son of Zebedee
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"and John his
brother, who were in their boat
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"mending the nets.
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"And immediately He called
them, and they left their father
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"Zebedee in the boat
with the hired servants
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and followed Him."
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Well, so what's interesting
is you have these two sets
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of brothers that Jesus calls.
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It almost seems
so, almost by chance;
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you know, He's walking
along, and there they are.
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"Come, follow me," and
they get up, and off they go.
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Now, you know,
you think about that
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for a moment, and if
somebody were to just, you know,
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come knock on your door and say,
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"Hey, I'm starting a
new mission, come with me,"
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most people would say,
"Well, where are we going?
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"Well, what's the pay? Is
there a health plan? [laughs]
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What about vacation?" [laughs]
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And there's none of that here.
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It's just, you know--
really direct words of Jesus.
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Just, "Follow
me," and off they go.
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Now, we know
that these men had--
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from other gospels we know
that they had had, you know,
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been following John the
Baptist; they had had, probably,
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some contact with
Jesus; they knew of Jesus, so--
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Mark doesn't
tell us any of that,
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and the reason he
doesn't is he wants you to sense
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the power of the
authority of Jesus when He says,
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you know, "Follow
me," and up you go and,
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you know, you're on your way.
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The other interesting thing here
is that they're two different,
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kind of, economic
levels, it seems like.
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Peter and
Andrew are on the shore
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of the Sea of
Galilee, they're throwing a net
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into the sea, almost as
though they don't have a boat,
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you know, that they're
not that well off. Now,
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we know from other gospels
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that, you know, Peter
has a boat, okay, but--
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but here he's just described
with his brother just casting
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the net into the sea.
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James and John,
on the other hand,
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there's a boat,
there's their father,
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there's hired servants,
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so, they seem to be, you
know, a little more economically
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on the up and up.
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And so, what we draw
from this is that Jesus
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calls both the poor
and the richer people
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to follow Him,
and the call of Jesus
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is not just for one group.
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He wants
everybody to follow Him,
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and these men
become His very important
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early followers, yep.
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>>Eric: So He calls them;
they've got some experience,
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some knowledge
of Him before this,
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this meeting, but why
would they just drop everything?
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I mean, here they are and
He invites them, and they--
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again, the
appearance is they just go,
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no questioning
about the health care plan
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and retirement
benefits and so forth,
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as you mentioned.
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But why would they leave
all that and just follow Him?
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>>Tom: Well,
again, some of our--
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I think Mark is focusing
on the authority of Jesus,
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and the Lord calls and you go.
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Some of the other gospels,
Luke has this beautiful story
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of Jesus filling
their boat with fish,
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and they have everything. Now,
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somebody might say,
"Well, that would be
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"the least time
that you'd want to leave,
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"is when everything was--
you know, the boat's full;
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"you know, you
have all this fish.
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Why would I want to leave
this now? I'm doing well."
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But of course, it's Jesus
who filled the boat, and it's--
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if you're with Him,
you don't have to worry
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about the boat being
full; He can fill it again.
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So, they-- here in Mark
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there's a strong
sense of authority.
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Now, we're gonna see
that the disciples come across
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as, sort of, people who
don't quite get it always.
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They're sort of bumbling
along, you know, following Him,
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and we might tend to be
a little bit hard on them.
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Actually, there are some
scholars who are fairly hard
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on them, that
they-- they're failures,
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and, you know, Jesus
gives up on them or something,
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but I don't think
that's the case at all,
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but rather that
Jesus will provide,
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and they're gonna be with Him,
so it's quite a powerful kind of
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presentation of the authority
of Jesus in calling disciples.
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>>Eric: Now, last
week, when we came together,
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you talked about this
journey that Mark takes us on,
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this journey to the
cross, really, I mean, this is--
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the book of Mark is
a journey to the cross,
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but Jesus doesn't--
His opening invitation
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doesn't say, "Hey, follow
me, I'm going to the cross."
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Ultimately, that's where
He's going, but He doesn't--
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that's not part
of the invitation.
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Why doesn't He
tell His first disciples
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that that's where
things are going to end up?
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>>Tom: Yeah, so some
people might fault Jesus on this
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and say, you know,
it's a bait and switch,
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you know, "You told us
we were gonna catch men,
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and now we're
gonna take up a cross."
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You see, the expectation for--
of the Messiah in Jesus' day
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was that He would be a
conquering kind of a person
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who would free
them from the Romans.
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And so, they had the wrong view
of what it meant to be Messiah.
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So if you start off
and tell them everything
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about what it's gonna be,
they wouldn't understand it.
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They had to get to know Him,
they had to come to trust Him,
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they had to see His miracles,
they had to have experiences
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preaching before they
could carry the weight of what
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His true Messiahship
was going to be about.
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I like the illustration
that is used for the front
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of the lesson
quarterly and for the front
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of the companion
book where it's like
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Mark is sitting there, and
he's--there's a crown of thorns
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in front of him, and he's
looking at the crown of thorns
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and talking about that.
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This was unfathomable.
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They couldn't imagine
that this would happen.
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And so, He doesn't tell
them that at the beginning.
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He's gonna have
them know Him first
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so that they can trust
Him and then they will be able
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to bear the weight.
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And even then, it was
extremely challenging for them.
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So, that's probably
why He doesn't tell them.
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And of course, they
do become fishers of men.
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>>Eric: And so,
they do follow Him,
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they get to know
Him, and you mentioned
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they don't really
know Him at the beginning.
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However, there are
some who do know very well
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who He is, even at the
beginning of the book of Mark.
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I want to kind of
shift over to this experience
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at the Capernaum
synagogue, and let's talk about
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that experience
and how Jesus is known
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by some but not by others.
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Unpack that for us a little.
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>>Tom: Okay, so
when we start the Gospel,
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we go back to verse 1, it says,
"The beginning of the gospel
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of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God."
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So, the reader knows
from the get-go who Jesus is.
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Jesus is the
Messiah, He is the Son of God.
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So, we have this knowledge
of Him that people in the book--
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you know, who
aren't demon possessed,
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and then we'll come to that--
they don't know who He is.
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I mean, John talks
about Him, and, of course,
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when He's
baptized, the Father speaks
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to Him, not to all the people.
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He says, "You
are my beloved Son,
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with You I'm well pleased."
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So, we know who He is.
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We get--we hear
all these voices,
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but the disciples
and the early people,
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they don't all get who
that, you know, who that is.
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And so, we're kind of
above the fray, watching.
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This is one of the
reason why people look down
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on the disciples. They're like,
"Couldn't these people get it?
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"Can't you hear that?
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"Didn't you hear those
words at the beginning,
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'The beginning of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God'?
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Don't you know who He is?"
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So, we are kind of up
above, and we're like,
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"Oh, we know who He
is," but the disciples, ahh,
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they're sort of, you
know, doofuses who don't get it.
00:10:42.14\00:10:45.67
And so, we have a
tendency to look down on them
00:10:45.71\00:10:48.68
in that sense, but
that's-- there's a special twist
00:10:48.71\00:10:52.55
that comes to this at the end.
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I won't unpack that until we
get, you know, down at the end,
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but they are
going to follow Him.
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They know as much as
they can know at the time.
00:11:03.66\00:11:05.63
Now, when you
come to Capernaum--
00:11:05.66\00:11:08.90
it's interesting, each Gospel
opens or presents the beginning
00:11:08.93\00:11:13.40
of the ministry of Jesus in a
bit differently than any other.
00:11:13.44\00:11:18.64
All four of them
present Him in a different way.
00:11:18.67\00:11:21.18
Book of Matthew
begins with this genealogy,
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ties him
especially to King David,
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and then you have
the wise men coming
00:11:26.78\00:11:30.15
and the whole birth narrative.
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That's not in Mark, right?
00:11:31.92\00:11:33.79
Over in Luke, you also
have a birth narrative.
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It's presented
a bit differently,
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emphasizes certain
people who are holy,
00:11:37.99\00:11:42.20
people like
Zacharias and Elizabeth
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and the Holy
Spirit working on them
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and working on
Mary, and when Luke
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begins the ministry of Jesus,
he has Jesus give a presentation
00:11:51.14\00:11:58.01
in the Nazareth synagogue,
and it kind of lays out
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where everything is going.
00:12:03.08\00:12:05.29
Jesus' big ministry in Matthew
is the sermon on the mount,
00:12:05.32\00:12:08.96
you know, really big. Now, John
begins with a beautiful prologue
00:12:08.99\00:12:14.56
that goes all the
way back before Creation,
00:12:14.60\00:12:17.37
and then he has the disciples
that are mentioned there
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and particularly
focuses on some that
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hardly get any
press anywhere else.
00:12:23.94\00:12:25.84
So, each one
presents in a different way.
00:12:25.87\00:12:28.18
Now, how does Mark
present the beginning
00:12:28.21\00:12:29.78
of the ministry of Jesus?
00:12:29.81\00:12:32.31
It's a, you might
say, a typical day
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or paradigmatic day
in the ministry of Jesus.
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It's a Sabbath day, and
He's going to the synagogue.
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He's going to
church. Jesus went to church.
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You and I should go to
church on the Sabbath day
00:12:43.36\00:12:45.23
just like He did.
00:12:45.26\00:12:46.73
And He goes to this synagogue,
00:12:46.76\00:12:50.97
and there's this
pretty amazing event
00:12:51.00\00:12:53.50
that occurs in the synagogue.
00:12:53.54\00:12:56.64
Maybe we can read
just a little bit of this.
00:12:56.67\00:12:58.61
We won't have time,
maybe, to talk all about this
00:12:58.64\00:13:01.28
in the first segment, but
we can read a portion of it.
00:13:01.31\00:13:04.68
Read verses 21 through 25.
00:13:04.71\00:13:09.15
>>Eric: "Then they
went into Capernaum,
00:13:09.18\00:13:10.59
"and immediately on the
Sabbath He entered the synagogue
00:13:10.62\00:13:13.59
"and taught. And they were
astonished at His teaching,
00:13:13.62\00:13:16.46
"for He taught them
as one having authority,
00:13:16.49\00:13:18.63
"and not as the scribes.
00:13:18.66\00:13:20.70
"Now there was a
man in their synagogue
00:13:20.73\00:13:22.30
"with an unclean spirit.
00:13:22.33\00:13:23.67
"And he cried out,
saying, 'Let us alone!
00:13:23.70\00:13:26.43
"'What have we to do
with you, Jesus of Nazareth?
00:13:26.47\00:13:29.20
"'Did you come to destroy us?
00:13:29.24\00:13:31.27
"I know who You
are-- the Holy One of God!'
00:13:31.31\00:13:34.08
"But Jesus rebuked him, saying,
00:13:34.11\00:13:36.04
'Be quiet, and
come out of him!'"
00:13:36.08\00:13:38.51
>>Tom: Okay, well,
00:13:38.55\00:13:40.18
that's where we can
start in the second segment.
00:13:40.22\00:13:41.95
>>Eric: All right, so that's
a bit of a cliffhanger there.
00:13:41.98\00:13:44.22
We want to figure
out what's going on here.
00:13:44.25\00:13:45.99
But before we go to our
break, I want to come back
00:13:46.02\00:13:49.26
and talk about that companion
book that you have written.
00:13:49.29\00:13:52.76
Share with us a little bit
more about that companion book
00:13:52.79\00:13:55.73
and why it would be
important to help us understand
00:13:55.76\00:13:57.93
what we're
looking at here in the day
00:13:57.97\00:13:59.10
in the life of
the ministry of Jesus.
00:13:59.13\00:14:01.20
>>Tom: Okay, so
the companion book is,
00:14:01.24\00:14:04.44
has 13 chapters, just
like 13 weeks of the lesson,
00:14:04.47\00:14:07.78
and each chapter links up
00:14:07.81\00:14:09.78
with the particular
lesson that we're studying,
00:14:09.81\00:14:12.25
the day and day
of the ministry--
00:14:12.28\00:14:13.45
it's got the same titles,
so you--it's easy to find it,
00:14:13.48\00:14:16.25
and you get extra information
in there that you don't have
00:14:16.28\00:14:19.25
in the
quarterly, and it gives you
00:14:19.29\00:14:21.89
some additional
material, if you're the teacher,
00:14:21.92\00:14:25.19
or if you're one of the
people in the lesson study
00:14:25.23\00:14:28.80
and you wanna, you know,
get a little further insights
00:14:28.83\00:14:31.10
and--very useful for
that. >>Eric: Very good.
00:14:31.13\00:14:34.14
And you can pick that
companion book up very easily.
00:14:34.17\00:14:36.87
Just go to itiswritten.shop.
00:14:36.91\00:14:39.21
Again, itiswritten.shop.
00:14:39.24\00:14:41.01
Look for the
companion book to this quarter's
00:14:41.04\00:14:42.91
"Sabbath School" study.
It's called "The Gospel of Mark"
00:14:42.94\00:14:45.81
by Tom Shepherd.
00:14:45.85\00:14:47.35
We're going to come
back in just a moment,
00:14:47.38\00:14:48.68
and we're going to
pick up that story at the--
00:14:48.72\00:14:50.65
in the synagogue at
Capernaum and continue looking
00:14:50.69\00:14:53.69
at a day in the
ministry of Jesus.
00:14:53.72\00:14:56.36
We will be right back.
00:14:56.39\00:14:57.93
[uplifting music]
00:14:57.96\00:14:59.96
>>John Bradshaw: If
you're looking for resources
00:15:02.10\00:15:03.67
to share with others,
people growing in their faith
00:15:03.70\00:15:06.17
or people looking to
know Jesus for the first time,
00:15:06.20\00:15:08.67
if you're trying to
find meaningful gifts
00:15:08.70\00:15:10.34
or you want to enrich
your own spiritual journey,
00:15:10.37\00:15:13.38
I want to encourage you to
visit itiswritten.shop today.
00:15:13.41\00:15:17.81
Call 888-664-5573.
00:15:17.85\00:15:22.32
That's 888-664-5573
00:15:22.35\00:15:26.09
or text "CSR" to 71392.
00:15:26.12\00:15:29.39
Itiswritten.shop.
00:15:29.79\00:15:31.36
[somber music]
00:15:33.16\00:15:36.13
>>male 1: What does the
Bible say about astrology?
00:15:38.30\00:15:40.30
>>male 2: Why do bad
things happen to good people?
00:15:45.11\00:15:47.51
>>child: What color is Jesus?
00:15:53.52\00:15:55.92
>>John Bradshaw: If
you have a question,
00:15:55.95\00:15:57.25
we'd love to find an
answer for you from the Bible.
00:15:57.29\00:16:00.06
"Line Upon Line"
from It Is Written TV.
00:16:00.09\00:16:02.66
[uplifting music]
00:16:04.86\00:16:09.26
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:16:09.30\00:16:10.80
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:16:10.83\00:16:12.43
We're looking at "A Day
in the Ministry of Jesus."
00:16:12.47\00:16:15.50
Now, Tom, the
synagogue at Capernaum,
00:16:15.54\00:16:18.21
we've--we just read what
happens here in Mark, chapter 1.
00:16:18.24\00:16:21.21
There's an interesting--
it's an interesting introduction
00:16:21.24\00:16:24.65
to this episode
where Jesus is having a--
00:16:24.68\00:16:30.39
I don't know if we'd
call it a discussion--
00:16:30.42\00:16:32.09
He is addressing some demons.
00:16:32.12\00:16:35.56
Why does Jesus tell
this demon to be silent?
00:16:35.59\00:16:38.63
>>Tom: Yes, so the terminology,
actually, when it's--
00:16:38.66\00:16:42.96
"Be silent" is a
nice way to say it. It's--
00:16:43.00\00:16:45.87
the verb in
Greek is "to muzzle."
00:16:45.90\00:16:49.04
So, a lot of people would
say, "Shut up," which we teach
00:16:49.07\00:16:54.21
our children, "Don't
say, 'Shut up,'" you know,
00:16:54.24\00:16:56.01
"say, 'Please be quiet.'"
00:16:56.04\00:16:57.71
But Jesus is talking to a demon.
00:16:57.75\00:17:00.18
And so, this is
one of Satan's angels,
00:17:00.22\00:17:02.18
who has possessed this man.
00:17:02.22\00:17:04.02
When you read what the
man actually says to Jesus,
00:17:04.05\00:17:06.22
it's rather
striking. It's in verse 24:
00:17:06.25\00:17:08.62
"What have You to do
with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
00:17:08.66\00:17:11.43
"Have you come to destroy us?
00:17:11.46\00:17:13.46
I know who You are--
the Holy One of God."
00:17:13.50\00:17:15.70
So, he knows, the
demon knows, who Jesus is.
00:17:15.73\00:17:19.90
He also says, "Do You--
have You come to destroy us?"
00:17:19.93\00:17:21.74
Now, who's the us?
00:17:21.77\00:17:23.44
Well, of course,
it's a man talking,
00:17:23.47\00:17:25.14
but the demon's inside
of him, and you could say,
00:17:25.17\00:17:28.58
"Well, he's talking about
the people in the synagogue."
00:17:28.61\00:17:31.38
And so, just think of that,
Jesus the destroyer. [laughs]
00:17:31.41\00:17:35.65
But maybe more likely what this
is describing is the demons.
00:17:35.68\00:17:39.95
Jesus has come to destroy them,
and so I think in some places
00:17:39.99\00:17:45.39
we have the demons say,
"You've come before time,
00:17:45.43\00:17:48.70
"it's too early.
00:17:48.73\00:17:50.80
Have You come before
the time to destroy us?"
00:17:50.83\00:17:53.27
So, Jesus tells him to be
silent and come out of him.
00:17:53.30\00:17:55.94
Well, for one thing,
he was disrupting the--
00:17:55.97\00:17:58.14
His teaching and
His, the service.
00:17:58.17\00:18:00.98
But this is one of those markers
of a motif in the, or theme,
00:18:01.01\00:18:09.08
in the Gospel of Mark called
the revelation secrecy motif
00:18:09.12\00:18:14.72
where Jesus is always
saying "shh" to people.
00:18:14.76\00:18:18.99
And, interestingly,
whenever He does that,
00:18:19.03\00:18:21.00
they never seem to do what
He said. Things haven't changed.
00:18:21.03\00:18:24.93
[laughing] People still
don't do what they're told.
00:18:24.97\00:18:27.47
But He silences this
demon because the demon knows
00:18:27.50\00:18:31.71
who He is, and
to let people know
00:18:31.74\00:18:34.88
in advance of who He was
as Messiah could be dangerous
00:18:34.91\00:18:38.88
for Him, shorten His
ministry. So, He silences them.
00:18:38.91\00:18:42.78
But we'll see
that, actually, there's--
00:18:42.82\00:18:44.95
and we'll unpack
that more as we go along--
00:18:44.99\00:18:46.59
that there's actually--
00:18:46.62\00:18:48.32
this motif has
theological implications
00:18:48.36\00:18:51.16
as well, besides historical, you
know, realities tied up with it.
00:18:51.19\00:18:55.90
This was an
unforgettable church service.
00:18:55.93\00:18:58.53
You know, most of us have some
unforgettable church service
00:18:58.57\00:19:01.77
in our life, you know, either
was where we really messed up
00:19:01.80\00:19:05.27
and just blew it or
somebody did something that was,
00:19:05.31\00:19:10.05
well, unforgettable. [laughs]
00:19:10.08\00:19:12.38
And I'm sure that people never
forgot this church service.
00:19:12.41\00:19:16.55
It's really interesting
that this whole chapter,
00:19:16.58\00:19:19.49
the vast majority of
this chapter, is one day.
00:19:19.52\00:19:23.16
When you think about it,
Jesus has a ministry of, like,
00:19:23.19\00:19:25.96
three and a half years and
we're using 1/16 of the Gospel,
00:19:25.99\00:19:31.90
you know, to just tell one day.
00:19:31.93\00:19:34.77
In fact, Mark does this a
lot, where he will give you
00:19:34.80\00:19:39.41
a vignette, a sort
of a capsule picture.
00:19:39.44\00:19:42.24
You're not seeing the
whole ministry of Jesus,
00:19:42.28\00:19:44.01
but, boy, you're really zeroing
in on one particular day.
00:19:44.05\00:19:48.28
So, this is the beginning
of that--the Sabbath morning
00:19:48.32\00:19:51.75
where He's in that synagogue,
and everybody's amazed,
00:19:51.79\00:19:55.29
completely
amazed, by what goes on.
00:19:55.32\00:19:57.93
>>Eric: So we start
getting a picture of who He is
00:19:57.96\00:20:00.83
in His
interaction with this demon,
00:20:00.86\00:20:04.53
or the man who's
possessed by the demon,
00:20:04.57\00:20:06.97
but in Mark,
chapter 1, as you mentioned,
00:20:07.00\00:20:09.44
there's more that happens.
00:20:09.47\00:20:11.61
There are two
people in Mark, chapter 1
00:20:11.64\00:20:13.84
who are touched by Jesus.
00:20:13.88\00:20:15.18
You have Peter's mother-in-law,
00:20:15.21\00:20:17.21
and then you
also have this leper.
00:20:17.25\00:20:19.05
What was-- talk with us
00:20:19.08\00:20:20.95
a little bit about this touch
that Jesus had that He gave.
00:20:20.98\00:20:25.19
>>Tom: Okay, so,
first of all, we'll say that
00:20:25.22\00:20:27.96
this is the beginning, you
know, sort of the introduction
00:20:27.99\00:20:31.26
of Jesus' ministry,
00:20:31.29\00:20:32.96
and the typical day of
Jesus' ministry is the Sabbath.
00:20:32.99\00:20:36.30
Now, that's encouraging for
us, as Seventh-day Adventists,
00:20:36.33\00:20:38.90
that Mark presents this as
the, you know, the, sort of,
00:20:38.93\00:20:42.97
the paradigm of Jesus' ministry.
00:20:43.00\00:20:45.04
You get a similar
thing in Luke when he gives
00:20:45.07\00:20:48.21
His sermon in the
synagogue at Nazareth, and that
00:20:48.24\00:20:51.85
sort of lays out
where He's going.
00:20:51.88\00:20:54.08
So, Jesus will heal many
people in this book of Mark,
00:20:54.12\00:20:59.62
and sometimes He touches
them, sometimes it's not touch,
00:20:59.65\00:21:03.63
but He, when He
leaves the synagogue,
00:21:03.66\00:21:05.79
in verse 29, it
says, "And immediately"--
00:21:05.83\00:21:08.16
that's one of
his favorite words,
00:21:08.20\00:21:09.76
by the way, "immediately"--
00:21:09.80\00:21:11.23
"And immediately
He left the synagogue
00:21:11.27\00:21:13.44
"and entered the
house of Simon and Andrew,
00:21:13.47\00:21:15.47
"with James and John.
00:21:15.50\00:21:17.04
"Now Simon's mother-in-law
lay [sick] with a fever,
00:21:17.07\00:21:20.18
"and immediately
they told Him about her.
00:21:20.21\00:21:23.04
"And He came and took her
00:21:23.08\00:21:24.38
"by the hand and lifted her up,
00:21:24.41\00:21:26.65
and the fever left her,
and she began to serve them."
00:21:26.68\00:21:29.28
So, first of all, we
know that Simon was married.
00:21:29.32\00:21:33.05
Paul tells us
that as well, actually,
00:21:33.09\00:21:35.06
but he has a mother-in-law,
so he had to have a wife.
00:21:35.09\00:21:37.59
And there's actually,
in the ruins of Capernaum,
00:21:37.63\00:21:40.20
you can go there
today, and there's a house
00:21:40.23\00:21:42.46
that's been designated--
was it really the case?--
00:21:42.50\00:21:45.10
don't know, but
there's a house been designated
00:21:45.13\00:21:47.77
as Peter's house, and
it is kind of a octagonal,
00:21:47.80\00:21:50.97
if I recall, shape
and kind of interesting.
00:21:51.01\00:21:54.28
So, He goes there,
and his mother-in-law
00:21:54.31\00:21:59.28
is sick with a fever,
some think it might be malaria
00:21:59.31\00:22:02.85
or something she had,
and He takes her by the hand,
00:22:02.88\00:22:06.79
and the fever leaves.
00:22:06.82\00:22:08.62
We'll see other times
when Jesus touches people,
00:22:08.66\00:22:11.13
but it's rather, you know--
well, should we say touching?--
00:22:11.16\00:22:14.23
when somebody touches
someone to comfort them.
00:22:14.30\00:22:18.17
Now, I'm a
pastor, and I visit people
00:22:18.20\00:22:20.54
in the hospital, and I
go to church members' homes,
00:22:20.57\00:22:25.67
I'm a chaplain at a prison,
and touch is really important.
00:22:25.71\00:22:30.78
You touch somebody, you
make a connection with them,
00:22:30.81\00:22:33.01
it lets them know
that you care about them,
00:22:33.05\00:22:34.62
and I think that's
part of what's going on here
00:22:34.65\00:22:36.79
with Jesus, with this touching
of Simon's mother-in-law.
00:22:36.82\00:22:44.43
Now, the other
person who is touched
00:22:44.46\00:22:46.63
in this chapter is
a little bit later,
00:22:46.66\00:22:49.43
and that is after
that paradigmatic day
00:22:49.46\00:22:54.77
of Jesus' ministry.
00:22:54.80\00:22:56.20
It's at the end of the chapter
where He is met by a leper.
00:22:56.24\00:23:01.34
Now, leprosy that's referred
to here is not necessarily
00:23:01.38\00:23:07.22
what we call
today Hansen's disease.
00:23:07.25\00:23:10.12
Leprosy in the Bible
could refer to a number
00:23:10.15\00:23:13.96
of skin diseases.
00:23:13.99\00:23:17.13
Could be--include
psoriasis, could--eczema things,
00:23:17.16\00:23:21.36
different kinds of diseases,
00:23:21.40\00:23:23.06
so, not
necessarily leprosy leprosy,
00:23:23.10\00:23:25.43
but this man may have
been that leprosy leprosy,
00:23:25.47\00:23:29.07
it had arrived in Palestine
by that time, and he comes
00:23:29.10\00:23:35.01
and implores Jesus,
kneeling down before Him,
00:23:35.04\00:23:38.55
and says, "If You
will, You can make me clean."
00:23:38.58\00:23:42.35
So Jesus is moved with pity.
00:23:42.38\00:23:45.59
He stretches out His
hand and touches the man.
00:23:45.62\00:23:47.79
Now, if you read
the Old Testament,
00:23:47.82\00:23:50.33
you'll see that
you weren't supposed
00:23:50.36\00:23:53.86
to touch people
with leprosy because
00:23:53.90\00:23:56.56
they were ceremonially unclean,
and if you touched them,
00:23:56.60\00:24:02.50
you became ceremonially unclean,
00:24:02.54\00:24:05.11
and people
didn't want to do that.
00:24:05.14\00:24:08.04
And so, they would stay
away from touching those people.
00:24:08.08\00:24:11.01
Now, Jesus,
however, is not defiled
00:24:11.05\00:24:14.75
by touching the leper.
00:24:14.78\00:24:16.75
He has power that
cleanses the leper.
00:24:16.79\00:24:19.95
So, I would say to
students sometimes,
00:24:19.99\00:24:23.53
"Which is
stronger, clean or unclean?"
00:24:23.56\00:24:26.76
And usually, the perceptive
students would recognize
00:24:26.80\00:24:29.33
that unclean was
stronger than clean.
00:24:29.36\00:24:31.50
It's like if you're
playing rock, paper, scissors,
00:24:31.53\00:24:33.77
you know, and one is
stronger than the other.
00:24:33.80\00:24:36.24
Well, unclean has the
power to make the clean unclean,
00:24:36.27\00:24:42.11
but not in the case
of Jesus because He has--
00:24:42.14\00:24:46.28
He's Jesus, He has this
power that can cleanse it away.
00:24:46.31\00:24:49.72
And that's exactly what
happens. The man is cleansed.
00:24:49.75\00:24:52.42
"And [He] sternly charge[s]
him and sent him away at once."
00:24:52.45\00:24:54.59
He says in verse 44,
00:24:54.62\00:24:56.29
"'See that you say
nothing to anyone'"--
00:24:56.32\00:24:58.26
there's that secrecy
again-- "'but go, show yourself
00:24:58.29\00:25:01.23
"'to the priest and
offer for your cleansing
00:25:01.26\00:25:03.77
"what Moses
commanded, for a proof to them.'
00:25:03.80\00:25:06.33
"But he went out and
began to talk freely about it,
00:25:06.37\00:25:08.47
"and to spread the news,
so that Jesus could no longer
00:25:08.50\00:25:11.31
"openly enter a town, but
was out in desolate places,
00:25:11.34\00:25:14.34
and people were coming
to Him from every quarter."
00:25:14.38\00:25:17.41
So, again, here He is, He says,
00:25:17.45\00:25:20.28
"Don't say anything about
this." And what do they do?
00:25:20.32\00:25:23.49
They go, and they say
things about it and tell people.
00:25:23.52\00:25:26.25
So, yeah.
00:25:26.29\00:25:28.82
>>Eric: And it makes
His ministry more difficult.
00:25:28.86\00:25:30.63
You sometimes wonder, if
people had just listened to Him,
00:25:30.66\00:25:33.46
how much more effective
might His ministry have been?
00:25:33.50\00:25:35.56
Speculation, you know,
maybe one day we'll find out.
00:25:35.60\00:25:38.97
We don't have too much time
left, but I do want to touch
00:25:39.00\00:25:40.97
on something very significant
here, and that's the role
00:25:41.00\00:25:42.97
of prayer in Jesus' ministry.
How important was that?
00:25:43.00\00:25:46.94
>>Tom: Well, you come to
the end of that typical day,
00:25:46.98\00:25:49.64
and you find that
Jesus, you know, they--
00:25:49.68\00:25:53.08
people come after
sunset, so they knew,
00:25:53.11\00:25:56.25
the readers evidently know
how Sabbath ends at sunset,
00:25:56.28\00:26:00.36
and people wait to come
to Jesus until after sunset,
00:26:00.39\00:26:04.06
and the whole city
gathers at the door.
00:26:04.09\00:26:05.43
Now, that took time,
to heal all these people,
00:26:05.46\00:26:08.73
but then early in the morning,
He gets up, and He goes out
00:26:08.76\00:26:11.00
and prays in a lonely place.
00:26:11.03\00:26:13.34
So, yeah,
prayer was very central
00:26:13.37\00:26:15.44
to the ministry of Jesus,
and we find Him in prayer,
00:26:15.47\00:26:19.91
the Gospels report Him
in prayer, to the point
00:26:19.94\00:26:22.24
where the disciples ask
Him to teach them how to pray.
00:26:22.28\00:26:25.98
You get the Lord's
prayer in Matthew and in Luke.
00:26:26.01\00:26:29.18
So, yeah, it was very central
to His power, His connection
00:26:29.22\00:26:32.45
with God, and His miracles.
00:26:32.49\00:26:35.12
>>Eric: So a huge role, prayer,
and it should be a huge role
00:26:35.16\00:26:38.29
in our lives as well.
00:26:38.33\00:26:40.53
And we hope that as
you're going through
00:26:40.56\00:26:42.16
this quarter's
lesson, as you are delving
00:26:42.20\00:26:44.37
into the book of Mark and
getting a picture of Jesus,
00:26:44.40\00:26:48.04
we hope that you're going
to see as well how important
00:26:48.07\00:26:50.57
it is that prayer
be a part of our lives.
00:26:50.61\00:26:54.31
Because without prayer--
you can study all you want,
00:26:54.34\00:26:57.98
but it's only your
intellect and your knowledge
00:26:58.01\00:27:00.38
trying to
understand, but with prayer,
00:27:00.42\00:27:02.45
Christ enters into it, the
Holy Spirit enters into it,
00:27:02.48\00:27:05.12
and you'll see things that
you have never seen before.
00:27:05.15\00:27:08.59
So, we are looking
at the book of Mark,
00:27:08.62\00:27:10.36
delving into it and helping
us to see a clearer picture
00:27:10.39\00:27:13.93
of Jesus, His
ministry, His love for us.
00:27:13.96\00:27:16.83
And we are on the second
week of a 13-week journey,
00:27:16.87\00:27:21.34
the second lesson
of a 13-lesson journey
00:27:21.37\00:27:24.44
digging into the book of Mark.
00:27:24.47\00:27:26.04
And next week we are
going to look at something
00:27:26.07\00:27:28.58
very fascinating, and
that is some controversies
00:27:28.61\00:27:31.78
that surrounded Jesus.
00:27:31.81\00:27:34.45
A very, very fascinating study,
00:27:34.48\00:27:36.79
and we look forward to
having you join us once again.
00:27:36.82\00:27:40.69
Next week we'll be
back with Tom Shepherd,
00:27:40.72\00:27:42.62
the author of this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson,
00:27:42.66\00:27:44.86
and we're looking forward
to having you with us as well.
00:27:44.89\00:27:47.36
Until then, God bless
you, and we'll see you again
00:27:47.40\00:27:49.66
next week here
on "Sabbath School,"
00:27:49.70\00:27:51.13
brought to you by It Is Written.
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