Sermon Outine:
A strategy (vs 13-14)
A calling (vs 14-15)
A listing (vs 16-19)
Sermon Content:
Ill:
• British sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein was once visited in his studio;
• By the eminent author and fellow Briton, George Bernard Shaw.
• The visitor noticed a huge block of stone standing in one corner;
• And asked what it was for.
• Sir Jacob Epstein replied: “I don’t know yet. I’m still making plans.”
• Shaw was astounded.
• “You mean you plan your work. Why, I change my mind several times a day!”
• “That’s all very well with a four-ounce manuscript,” replied the sculptor,
• “But not with a four-ton block.”
Quote
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"
The Bible makes it clear that God is a planner:
• The Bible teaches that he had a plan for his world:
• Before he was ever the creator, he was the redeemer!
• Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4-5: tells us that you and I as believers were:
• “Chosen before the foundation of the world!”
• God had a plan for his world;
• And while he was in the world Jesus had a plan concerning his ministry.
(1). A strategy (vs 13-14):
• As you read the gospels you soon notice that there is a strategy in what happens;
• Jesus did not just wonder from place to place;
• He had targets, goals, aims – we would say a strategy!
• Jesus had a plan for his ministry:
• i.e. He worked to a timescale; we often read those words “My time has not yet come”.
• i.e. Another example of that plan is seen in verse 13;
• Where Jesus would choose for himself twelve disciples.
• i.e. Another example of that strategy is seen in our reading today:
• A new phase of Jesus’ ministry is under way:
• It begins with the calling of the 12 disciples,
• And ends with them being sent out on their mission (chapter 6 verses 6-13)
Note:
• We have seen in our studies of Mark’s gospel over the last few weeks;
• That Jesus was rejected by the religious establishments of his day,
• Not once did Jesus ever break any of God’s laws;
• But he constantly, at times deliberately broke the man made rules of the religious leaders.
• When the synagogue and the towns were being closed to him;
• By the religious establishment;
• He decided to take his message away from them & their influence;
• And outside into the open-air.
• Verse 7: “Jesus went out to the lake with his disciples, and a large crowd followed him”
Ill:
• A similar thing happened in our own country seventeen hundred years later;
• By John Wesley (one of the founder of the Methodists Church);
• Wesley was being persecuted by clergymen and magistrates;
• Because he and his followers preached the gospel;
• Without being ordained or licensed by the Anglican Church.
• This was seen as a social threat that disregarded institutions.
• Ministers attacked them in sermons and in print,
• On a regular occurrence mobs attacked them physically.
• But Wesley had a plan, a strategy;
• If Churches were closed to him he would preach in the open-air.
Ill:
A page from John Wesley’s Diary reads as follows:
• Sunday morning, May 5, preached in St. Ann’s,
• Was asked not to come back anymore.
• Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John’s,
• Deacons said, "Get out and stay out."
• Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude’s,
• Can’t go back there either.
• Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George’s,
• Kicked out again.
• Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else’s,
• Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
• Sunday p.m., May 19,
• Preached on the street, kicked off the street.
• Sunday a.m., May 26, Preached in meadow:
• Chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the services.
• Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town,
• Kicked off the highway.
• Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon service,
• Preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear me.
• What happened to Wesley the servant;
• Happened seventeen hundred years earlier to Jesus the master!
Verse 6 tells us that the religious establishment had rejected Jesus:
• Not only that they had planned to kill him:
• “They plotted with the Herodian’s how they might kill him”.
• Normally Jews would have nothing at all to do with the Herodian’s;
• They despised them.
• ill: This coming together with the Herodian’s is like;
• The FAR-right British National Party joining with the Unite Against Fascism Party.
• Yet here, in their hatred towards Jesus;
• They put aside their differences and join together in the hope of destroying Jesus.
Verse 7 tells us that Jesus made a strategic withdrawal:
• This was not the time to go head-to-head with the religious leaders;
• Others needed to hear the good news;
• And he had not yet chosen his twelve disciples, those who would continue the ministry.
As with John Wesley – the people flocked out into the open-air to hear Jesus preach:
• Verse 8 tells us where they came from:
• Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem are part of Israel.
• Idumea, Transjordan, Tyre & Sidon mark the southern, eastern & northern borders.
• People came often on foot great distances to listen to Jesus;
• e.g. Jerusalem was about one hundred miles away.
Question: Why had they come?
Answer: Verse 8: They had “heard all that he was doing”
• They came because they were fascinated and impressed by Jesus’ miracles;
• And they came to see the miracle-worker.
• They did not yet really understand who Jesus was;
• Or the true nature of his mission.
• The miracles of Jesus were signs pointing him out as the Messiah;
• ill: The purpose of a sign is to move you on to the actual place or destination.
• Because these people only wanted the sign;
• And not the one they pointed to – Jesus made a decision.
He once again makes a strategic withdrawal:
• Verse 13: “He went up a mountainside and called to him those he wanted”
• Jesus got alone with his disciples to implement the next stage of his plan.
• The early chapters of Mark’s gospel show us how Jesus had impacted the public mind:
• But for his ministry to make an even bigger impact;
• He had two very practical problems to overcome.
• First, he had to find some way of making his message permanent;
• He knew he was here for a limited time (three years) and then what?
• Second, he had to find some way of disseminating his message,
• Getting his message out to the people.
Ill:
• And in an age when there was no such thing as a printed book or newspaper,
• No radio or TV.
• And no way of reaching large numbers of people at the one time,
• That was no easy task.
(2). A calling (vs 14-15)
“He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons”
Question: Did you notice Jesus threefold plan for his disciples?
Answer: It is there in verse 14-15.
FIRST: “THAT THEY MIGHT BE WITH HIM”.
Ill:
• A Peanuts cartoon showed Peppermint Patty talking to Charlie Brown;
• In which she said,
• “Guess what, Chuck? The first day of school, and I got sent to the principal’s office.
• It was your fault, Chuck.”
• Charlie Brown responds, “My fault? How could it be my fault?
• Why do you say everything is my fault?”
• To which she declares, “You’re my friend, aren’t you, Chuck?
• Then you should have been a better influence on me.”
Jesus chose 12 disciples to be an influence on them:
• He called them to be his steady and consistent companions.
• Others might come and go; the crowd might be there one day and away the next;
• Others might be fluctuating and spasmodic in their attachment to him,
• But these twelve were to identify their lives with his life and live with him all the time.
• Jesus chose 12 disciples to be an influence on them:
• His plan was to change their lives and the lives of those they encountered.
Application:
• Christian have you been with Jesus this week?
• Have you listened to him from the word?
• Have you shared with him through prayer?
• Jesus chose us – his followers to be an influence on us:
• His plan is to change our lives and the lives of those we encountered.
SECOND: “THAT HE MIGHT SEND THEM OUT TO PREACH”.
• Jesus wanted these men to be his representatives.
• They might be a rag bag mix of society, but Jesus wanted these men to be his representatives.
• In spite of their differences in temperament, in background and personality,
• These were the ones Jesus wanted to tell others about him.
• They themselves had been won in order to win others.
• The Greek word used in this verse translated as ‘sent out’ is a violent one;
• It was used for throwing out the rubbish. To thrust out.
• The idea being they need a good push to get them going!
• Ill: Kick up the pants!
Application:
• Jesus wants us (men & women) to be his representatives.
• Whether we preach, speak, gossip the gospel to our neighbours;
• The principle is the same - we are his witnesses!
Ill:
• King George I was King of England from 1714 to 1727!
• But King George I had a problem...he could not speak English!
• Being born and raised in Germany, he never learned to speak English
• And he did not make an effort to learn English.
• He simply left the running of the country to his ministers.
• Think of it - a representative of a country who could not speak the language;
• Sadly just like some Christians!
• Who do not testify of the Lord’s love, because they have never bothered to learn of it!
THIRD: “AND TO HAVE AUTHORITY TO DRIVE OUT DEMONS”.
• Jesus gave his disciples supernatural power to do an impossible job!
• He knew in heir own strength they would fail!
• They needed supernatural help;
• To do a supernatural work
Application:
• Likewise Jesus has given each believer supernatural help to complete the job;
• Ill: Acts chapter 1 verse 8:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
• If you have the Holy Spirit (You received him at conversion);
• Then you are equipped to do great things for Jesus!
(3). A listing (vs 16-19)
“These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him”.
Note:
• I think it is very significant that Christianity began with a group of people;
• They were called to live together, share together and grow to love together.
• The plan was these 12 men would live with each other and for each other.
• This was the very opposite of the Pharisees – the opponents of Jesus;
• The word ‘Pharisee’ meant ‘Separated one’;
• And it was a religion that separated them from their community.
Notice: Christianity also began with a very mixed group.
• It would appear that Jesus deliberately chose opposites;
• And extreme opposites at that!
Ill:
Matthew & Simon:
• Matthew was a tax-collector and, therefore, an outcast;
• He was a renegade and a traitor to his fellow countrymen.
• Simon the Zealot;
• And the Zealots were a band of fiery, violent nationalists;
• Who were pledged even to murder & assassination to clear their country of the foreign yoke
Christianity began by insisting that the most diverse people should live together:
• And the secret to them being able to cope, put up with and even love one another;
• Was due to the fact they were all living with Jesus.
Ill:
One hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other!
Notice:
• The men Jesus chose had no special qualifications at all.
• They were not wealthy; they had no special social position;
• They had no special education; they were not trained theologians;
• They were not high-ranking churchmen; they were twelve ordinary men.
Ill:
• As we go through life, many different people call our name.
• And it’s amazing to me just how many different messages that can be conveyed to us,
• Depending on just how people call our name:
(a).
• When we’re growing up, our parents call our name.
• Sometimes that is done in a very calm, gentle, loving manner.
• But other times, especially when they use our full name,
• It conveys a completely different message.
• Of course I only know that because’
• My parents often had to do that with my brothers and sister!
(b).
• Then when we go to school, our teachers call our name.
• And the way they call our name can convey all kinds of emotions:
• From delight to disgust, from reward to reproof.
(c).
• As a married man my wife often calls me names!
• Oops I meant calls my name.
• And the way she calls my name can either let me know she’s in an amorous mood;
• Or that I’m in big trouble.
The names of the 12 disciples are listed 4 times in the gospels:
• Matthew chapter 10 verses 2-4;
• Luke chapter 6 verses 14-16;
• Acts chapter 1 verses 13;
• Mark chapter 3 verses 16-19;
(a).
• Simon Peter is always listed first;
• And was clearly the leader among the disciples.
(b).
• Judas Iscariot is always listed last;
• No prizes for guessing why.
(c).
• Verse 17: James and John are given the nickname ‘Sons of Thunder’.
• Not because they were dynamic followers;
• But rather because they were prone to temper tantrums.
• Another example of how Jesus sees us as we are, but also as we could be!
(d).
• Andrew is listed next;
• As you night expect we will meet these first four disciples again and again in this book.
• Interestingly none of the other disciples are mentioned again in Mark’s gospel!
(e). Concerning three of the disciples:
• James, Thaddeaus, and Simon the Zealot;
• All we know about them are there names!
• Yet the calling of Jesus to be a disciple;
• Was as clear and important to these 3 men just as clearly as it was to Peter & Matthew!
• Remember it’s not what they were,
• Or what they became known as (title: apostles),
• But rather what God called them to do, and whether they did it that matters
• Jesus called them and they responded!
• We don’t know their particular personalities or ministries;
• But we do know that with these twelve men Jesus would turn the world upside down!
Application:
Remember all of us have a calling in our life:
• God is calling us into a right relationship with Him.
• God is calling us to be His witnesses here on earth.
• God is calling us to be ministers of the Gospel, ambassadors, ministers of reconciliation.
• God is calling us to be godly men and women.
• And when we are united and obedient to that calling;
• Maybe then Jesus will be able to use us to turn the world upside down!
Ill:
• In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels,
• Threatening him with her fist if he didn’t.
• Linus. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?”
• Lucy replies; “These five fingers…….
…Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit,
They form a weapon that is terrible to behold.”
• Linus replies:
• “Which channel do you want?”
• Then turning away, he looks at his fingers and says;
• “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
• God wants us his people to be united, in harmony with each other:
• That they might impact this world for Jesus!
