#15 Jesus: Pattern For Leadership Series

#15 Jesus: Pattern for Leadership

Series: Mark

April 26, 2020

Chuck Sligh

NOTE: PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives

TEXT: Mark 3:7-19 - "But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, 8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. 9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. 10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. 11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. 14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

INTRODUCTION

We’ve been away from Mark for a couple of sermons on Christ’s resurrection, so today we’re going to jump back into the book of Mark.

The thing that stands out to me the most about today’s text in Mark 3:7-20 is the extraordinary command and authority Jesus exhibits. It’s really a sub-theme of all the Gospels. Jesus was a person who commanded people’s immediate attention and he engendered from His followers either deeply-felt loyalty and devotion…or intense opposition. Whatever the response, He simply could not be ignored. He is not the hero of the Gospel; He is the CENTER of the Gospel. He is the sun around which the planets of humans and angels and devils revolve. He is the most amazing Person who ever lived— the very Son of God!

In our text we see a model of leadership. Merriam Webster simply defines leadership as “the act or an instance of leading.” – I don’t think that quite does justice to Jesus. I think the definition that best captures Jesus is John Maxwell’s, who said, “Leadership is influencing others’ thoughts or feelings to bring about a desired outcome through their actions.”

Let’s look at our text today verse by verse and uncover some characteristics of Jesus’ leadership.

I. FIRST, NOTICE THAT JESUS INSPIRED PEOPLE TO FOLLOW. – Verse 7a – “But Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea…”

Jesus had such charisma, vision and moral authority what He drew devoted followers to Him.

As we’ve seen already, Jesus often withdrew Himself for solitude with the Father

Usually, He left the disciples so He could be alone with God for prayer.

But this time, when He withdrew, His disciples followed Him.

They were inspired by Him and His vision and they wanted to be around Him.

Jesus permitted them to come with Him away from the hustle and bustle of life so He could teach and train them and lay the groundwork for a special calling he would have for a select few we’ll see later in the chapter.

I see in this that if you have the same kind of clear sense of mission and purpose and direction Jesus had, people will follow you.

Illus. – President Clinton once said that running a country is a lot like running a cemetery; you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.

Clinton doesn’t have much of a following these days.

Most of his administration officials were only there for the power, not inspired by any grand vision for America.

On the other hand, a journalist named William A. White wrote of his meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1897 saying, “He sounded in my heart the first trumpet call of the new time that was to be… I had never known such a man as he, and never shall again. He overcame me. And in the hour or two we spent that day at lunch, he poured into my heart such vision, such ideals, such hopes, such a new attitude toward life and patriotism and the meaning of things, as I had never dreamed men had… After that, I was his man.”