Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 8 Study # 1
March 19, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus is the only One qualified to call for our submission to His Goal and Method.
Introduction: We have seen that there is a "point" to Mark's record on the front end of his presentation of Jesus of Nazareth's ministry: the establishment of His "authority" to proclaim a "new" doctrine which directly contradicts the "old" Jewish dogma.
In our study this evening, we are going to look at the second part of Mark's "point".
- I. There is Another "Immediately" Introducing This Record.
- II. Mark Directly Links the Two Records.
- A. There is a "having departed (exelthontes) out of the synagogue".
- B. And "immediately" there is a "they came (elthon) into the house".
- C. This linkage means that both paragraphs are "on point" to the same issue: the "authority" of Jesus to proclaim a "new" doctrine.
- 1. The essence of the "old" doctrine is "faith in one's own abilities", driven by "love for one's own goals".
- a. The "goals" of those entrenched in the "old" doctrine were, at minimum, one of the three of 1 John 2:16, and, beyond that, some "mixture" of the three if not all three at once.
- b. The "method" of those entrenched in the "old" doctrine was "self-reliance", which boils down to "faith" in one's abilities to "work the system".
- 2. The essence of the "new" doctrine is "faith in God's gracious willingness to act for us" while we are yielding to (ceasing to resist) "God's stated goals" [i.e., "the love(s) of God"].
- a. The issue of "God's stated goals" is the issue of the "evangelism"/"edification" by the Church that was established by Jesus' declaration that He would make of them "fishers of men" and "menders of the doctrines" by which those men are "sought" (fishing) and "developed" into disciples as they believe the "mended doctrine".
- b. The issue of "God's declared methodology" is the issue of the "whom?" involved in the "faith" of those drawn into the "new" doctrine.
- 1) The "faith" is, at root, trunk, branch, and fruit, an active expectation that God will do as He has promised.
- 2) The classic distortion is that the "active expectation" means that we will do as He has directed (this is simply "law" in camouflage).
- 3) The truth is that it will always be God Who "acts", even when He is acting within our bodies, and using our members in the action.
- a) The point of Romans 6:12-13 is that we are to "yield ... to God" so that He is free to use our members to produce the fruit of righteousness.
- b) The point of Galatians 5:16 is that we are to be walking by the Spirit of God so that He may produce the fruit of the Spirit.
- 4) The "mended doctrine" is that men simply "present their bodies to God" including "the members of those bodies", and then depend upon God's Spirit to do what God wants accomplished.
- III. Mark Identifies the Location and Participants.
- A. The "house" is a move into a certain level of privacy.
- B. To the inhabitants of the house are added Simon, Andrew, James and John.
- 1. The identification of the four is a deliberate call to remember the record of 1:16-20.
- 2. That "record" is a presentation of Mark's thesis that these four represent the concept of "disciple" as it points toward the Church's dual mandate of evangelism and edification.
- a. The "chief" characteristic of "disciple" is that they drop their prior lifestyle at the summons of Jesus.
- b. The "follow Me" was both physical and literal as was the "they left" so they could "follow" (Note verses 18 and 20).
- c. The straightforward implication of this record is that "discipleship" is the goal of "evangelism" (evangelism is not about trying to get people into heaven; it is about persuading men that their "gods" are not worthy of trust: 1 Thessalonians 1:9): Romans 1:5, which should be translated "the submission of faith".
- 1) There is a problem here: the "front loading" of the Gospel by demanding the "presentation of the body and its members" as a "condition of salvation".
- 2) The actual (mended) truth is that people have to experience the goodness of God in "salvation" before they can possibly trust Him with their "members" in the light of His goals.
- 4. The overall "suggestion" of Mark's placement of the record at this point is that he wanted his readers to link the "disciples" to Jesus' "authoritative new doctrine". It is crucial for "faith" that the "authoritative new doctrine" be firmly established first in those who are going to be charged with its proclamation as the fountainhead of everything related to the issue of men relating to God in a way that pleases God and gains His activities of grace on the behalf of those so relating.
- C. "...the mother-in-law of Simon...". (NOT the wife, though she was, apparently, yet alive; 1 Corinthians 9:5).
- 1. We do not know the dynamics of "life with mother-in-law" in that house (it may well have been her house).
- 2. But we do know that Mark's "point" is that Jesus made it possible for the woman to "minister" to them.
- IV. Mark's Use of Another "Difficulty".
- A. The contrast is of the man with the "unclean spirit" (the "spiritual realm authority" of Jesus) and a woman who was "lying down on fire with a fever" (the "physical realm authority" of Jesus).
- B. From the way Mark goes on from this record, it is clear that he sees Jesus as authoritative over the only two realms within our understanding.
- V. Mark's Record of Jesus' "Response".
- A. Jesus responds to the report of the "they" that the mother-in-law is seriously ill.
- B. His response is to so fully "raise her up" that she could immediately set about to "minister" to them (most likely to prepare a meal to set before them, as the day has been significantly spent) in a similar fashion as the angels did with Jesus in 1:13.
