GOOD NEWS PRESENTED BY MARK
Study of the Gospel According to Mark
As you read Mark, be aware that you are reading the very first written account of the ministry of Jesus – a fact well documented by credible Bible scholars. Quite naturally, we want to know who Mark was, and we find that he is mentioned frequently in the New Testament.
What we know about him is that he was the son of a very well-to-do woman in Jerusalem; her name was Mary, and her home became the center of early church get-togethers. So, you can imagine that Mark was there when Jesus’ closest followers came to his mother’s house for a “church council” meeting. Peter the chief elder referred to Mark affectionately as “my son.”
Mark was also the nephew of Barnabas who talked Paul into letting the youngster go with them on one of their missionary journeys - which, you may recall, resulted in Mark’s falling out of favor with Paul by leaving and going back home. However, it’s interesting to note that, years later, when Paul was in prison, facing execution, he asked Timothy to bring Mark with him, “for he is a most useful servant to me.”
I suppose Paul saw in this young man a Christian who had the ability to write; and, apparently having redeemed himself, he could now be counted on to carry out Paul’s wishes. This explanation is plausible because Mark had served as Peter’s scribe and, as such, had written much of what Peter related to him about his eye witness account of the ministry of Jesus.
MARK SERMON V – MARK 6:30-52 . . .
NO REST FOR THE WEARY WHEN LIVES ARE AT STAKE
“No rest for the weary?” If your life has been like mine, you recall times when you found it difficult to place one foot in front of the other. You were so tired that all you wanted to do was find a place to lie down and take a nap.
Yet, your responsibilities to your family and others kept you going; some way, somehow, you did what you had to do when you had to do it for as long as necessary! Exhausting!
When the disciples of Jesus returned from carrying out an assignment given to them by Jesus - to go into the towns and villages to minister in His Name - they were so tired that Jesus invited them to go with Him to a quiet place to rest awhile --- Mark 6:30-32 . . .
When you get too busy to eat, you are busier than you ought to be. Been there, done that! “Type A” personalities stay busy round the clock; even when they do find time to rest, their minds keep on ruminating.
“Slow me down, Lord; ease the pounding of my heart and the racing of my mind with an injection of serenity!” Jesus advised His disciples to “slow down” – but, the crowd wouldn’t let them - Mark 6:33 . . .
Oftentimes the pressures of a “crowded” life – providing for family and pleasing an employer – keep people from taking much-needed time off. In spite of the pressures, though, there are times when we must make time to “come apart and rest awhile” - or else we run the risk of “falling apart”.
Don’t you find it significant that most of those who ran to the place where the disciples were headed did so because they “knew them”?
Can it be said of you that folks want to be where you are simply because they “know you?” Perhaps your life has been a blessing to them, or, your closeness to the Savior draws them rather than repels or rebuffs them. Shouldn’t you and I, like Jesus, be in the business of “drawing” people to us rather than driving them away?
As we learn about Jesus’ attitude toward people, isn’t it easier to understand why they clamored to be near Him? Mark 6:34 . . .
Everyone wants to be treated with dignity . . . to be respected . . . to be looked upon as “somebody” . . . to be thought of as a very important person whose need for love and compassion is real; and that’s exactly how Jesus related to folks who came to Him for help. However, His disciples were human beings like you and me, so at times they grew “weary in well doing” and felt “put upon” by people -- Mark 6:35-36 . . .
Do you sense that the disciples had “had it” with demands people were making of them, and therefore were looking for an easy way out?
Would you agree that these guys could indeed make a pretty good argument for urging Jesus to just “send these folks away”? Yes, of course; but even though they might have felt justified in saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s really not our problem”, as Christians, their attitude was wrong!
In response to His disciples, Jesus said in effect, “They are your responsibility” – Mark 6:37 . . . “We can’t just send them away!”
What a contrast between Jesus’ attitude and that of His disciples! The disciples wanted to shift responsibility onto someone other than themselves.
How often do we see this same kind of attitude among professing Christians in our day: “Let somebody else take care of them.” But, wouldn’t it be more in keeping with a Christ-like spirit to respond to an obvious need by saying, “Together we can solve this problem!”?
Remember how the paralytic was brought into the presence of Jesus when our Lord was visiting in a home? How many concerned persons did it take to carry the paralytic’s four-cornered pallet? Would you agree that, together, they solved the problem of getting a victim of paralysis into the presence of the Great Physician?
One caring person enlisted the help of three others. A really strong, courageous, caring leader - especially if he or she is a committed Christian - is going to employ whatever techniques are necessary for coming up with, and implementing, the right plan for responding to the challenge of meeting human needs - Mark 6:38-44 . . .
In most places in our country, if we take inventory of what we have, or have access to, and exercise faith in God who gives us wisdom and strength to use our resources wisely, needs can and will be met.
“In the hands of God, little is much.” The best we may be able to do is contribute a little of our time . . . talents . . . ability . . . material blessings; but if contributed for the right reason and the right cause, the little we do have – placed in “the hands of God” and blessed by him - will be multiplied many times over and used to meet the needs of people.
“How many loaves do you have?” Not many? Take stock of what you do have, commit it unto the Lord, and He will bless it to the good of others.
Mark’s Gospel presents this miracle of feeding the five thousand as one of “the mighty works” of Christ. So great and mighty was this act of good will that the blessing of that day overflowed - literally and figuratively.
Not only did the people on that particular day see God supply needs by satisfying physical hunger but, through the ages, followers of Christ have witnessed the mighty works of God, with thousands upon thousands turning their lives over to Christ - and through them, our Lord and Savior has accomplished mighty things to the glory of God!
Having responded to the crowd’s spiritual hunger by sharing with them the “bread of life”, having responded to their physical hunger by multiplying available resources, and having assigned His disciples the task of distributing provisions, the time came for those who had been fed to go their way; but the One who had met their needs went into seclusion to pray.
When folks get together, the least we can do is to share with one another. When the same folks are apart from each other, the best we can do is to pray for one another. Even when God’s people go apart to rest awhile, their resting and relaxation is for the purpose of regaining strength – physically, mentally, and spiritually – for going forth again.
As Jesus made His way to rejoin His disciples – which He did after reassuring the crowd then spending some time in personal prayer – a strange thing happened --- Mark 6:45-52 . . .
Some of the most significant moments in life occur when the crowds have gone and we are left alone to contemplate all that has happened and to meditate upon what we should do from this point on. Life goes on!
For Jesus, the continuation of His redemptive mission was no doubt uppermost in His mind; so He set out to rejoin His disciples and, with them by His side, He was ready to move forward toward His ultimate destination - where all things would come together as prophesied for the culmination of God’s plan of salvation for all mankind. He never lost sight of His goal!
Wouldn’t you know it? As is the case with all of us: the absence of Jesus stresses folks out due to the “winds of circumstance” that blow our minds and threaten our security! We “row and row and row ourselves to death” trying to go up against the winds of adversity, but so often we get absolutely nowhere. Then we remember Jesus – the miracle worker!
“Fear not, for I am with you.” “Peace, be still.” “In the midst of the storms of your life, there I am to comfort, strengthen and guide you.”
Folks, we are all “in the same boat” when it comes to feeling afraid and insecure during the trials of life. Yet, we have learned, in whatsoever situation we find ourselves, therein to be content – but this happens only if we sense the spirit and presence of Christ!
He says to each one of us, “Take heart; it is I; have no fear.”
The seas of life may roar around us and beat upon our rock of faith, as if we are about to get caught up in the swirling waters of fear and doubt, which threaten to drown us in despair; but, then we look UP and see Jesus hanging on a Cross . . . Jesus rising in victory over sin and death . . . Jesus ascending to God’s throne in Heaven; and even today we hear Him say,
“Take heart; it is I; have no fear.” And I say - may this year be a year of courage for each and every one of you called Christians! Amen.
