Sunday Sermons at the Una Church of Christ: Mark: God’s Servant: Crowds and the Kingdom

July 20, 2014

Mark: God’s Servant

Crowds and the Kingdom

Mark 3:13-4:34

(Advance Slide #1)

Introduction

It did not matter where He went.

(Advance Slide #2)

God’s Servant always encountered an excited crowd.
Had He been a ‘celebrity’ He would have tried to please them.

(Advance Slide #3)

God’s Servant w/drew from the crowds and ministered to His apostles!

Jesus was aware that most of those that came near to Him were shallow and insincere, His apostles did not.
Jesus had to teach His followers:

He had to teach them the truth about the crowds.
He had to teach them the truths about the kingdom.

* In the text we will study today we will see the Lord’s response to pressures of the crowd.

(Advance Slide #4)

Text

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Mark 3:13-19

Great things start small.

First there was John.
Then there was John and Jesus.
Jesus then selected 12 men to help Him.

Peter won three thousand at Pentecost, and throughout the book of Acts, that number steadily increased

In spite of the sins and weaknesses of the church, the message has been carried to other nations, and one day, saints from every nation shall worship before His throne

Lesson

He Founded a New Nation

The number of apostles that were chosen seems significant.

(Advance Slide #5)

In Genesis, God began with the 12 sons of Jacob.
They became a mighty nation!
The nation was now spiritually decays and ready to reject their own Messiah.

These 12 would become the nucleus of this new ‘spiritual’ nation.

(Advance Slide #6)

An ‘apostle’

One who is sent on official service with a commission.
Jesus had many disciples but only twelve apostles...His special “ambassadors.”

Jesus spent all night in prayer before choosing the 12.

As He selected them He had three purposes in mind:

To teach them by personal example.
To send them out to preach the gospel.
To give them the authority to cast out demons/miracles.

*If you were to read a harmony of the Gospels you would find that between vs. 19-20 Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.

Mark did not include this, his emphasis was on what Jesus did!

(Advance Slide #7)

He Established a New Family

People around Jesus didn’t know how to take Him.

His friends thought that He was confused and possibly crazy.
His family came to Capernaum came to ‘take charge of Him to get Him some rest.

* This is the only time Mary is mentioned in this gospel account.

God’s servant are usually misunderstood!

Jesus was not trying to be mean to His family.

He understood that their motives were right but their purpose was wrong.
As always Jesus used this opportunity to teach a spiritual lesson:

His ‘family’ is made up of those that do the will of God.

Jesus felt closer to publicans and sinners that He did His unbelieving family.

He’s not suggestion ignoring your family, but put God’s will above all else.
Don’t let family interfere with God’s Will.

*How do you enter the family of God?

(Advance Slide #8)

He Announced a New Kingdom

We find a comparison between the crowds and Jesus:

Crowds

Hoped that Jesus would deliver the nation and defeat Rome.
Wanted Jesus to behave like a loyal Jew and honor His family,
Expected Him to restore the kingdom and bring back Israel’s lost glory.

Jesus

He called twelve men and founded a “new nation.”
He established a “new family” made up of all those who trusted Him and did the will of God.
He was to announce a new kingdom, a spiritual kingdom.

(Advance Slide #9)

John the Baptist announced the coming King.

Jesus, the heavenly King, preached the good news of the Kingdom:

For sinners to repent and be baptized.

What kind of kingdom was He coming to establish?

To describe the type of kingdom that was coming Jesus used several parables.

A parable is a story or figure placed alongside a teaching to help us understand its meaning.
It gets the listener deeply involved and compels that listener to make a personal decision about God’s truth and his or her life.

Begins with a picture
As we study the picture we then see ourselves!

He wanted them to ‘hear’ the parables...’hear’ is used 13 times in Mark 4:1-34.

(Advance Slide #10)

The Strong Man

The fact that Jesus delivered the man was proof that He was stronger than Satan and that Satan could not stop Him.

The Sower and the Soil

Jesus was not impressed by the large crowds.
Seed = word of God
Soil = human heart

The Lamp

The apostles were like the lamp.
They were called to shed God’s light and reveal His truth.

Growing Seed

There is a mystery to the growth of the seed and the development of the harvest.
From very small beginnings, the kingdom would eventually grow in size and in influence.

PRAYER

Conclusion

(Advance Slide #11)

The growth of the kingdom will not result in the conversion of the world.

In fact, some of the growth will give opportunity for Satan to get in and go to work!

There was Judas in the disciple band
Ananias and Sapphira were in fellowship with the Jerusalem church (Acts 5:1–11).
Simon Magus was part of the church in Samaria (Acts 8:9–24)
Satan’s ministers boldly invaded the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 11:13–15).