Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
October 1, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: It is time to decide Who Jesus is and what response to give.
Introduction: In our last several studies we have been looking into a growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leadership of the synagogue. This record explains how Jesus could be The Son of The Man and yet rejected as such by the religious leaders. But, it also sets the stage for a portion of the record in chapter three where a determination is made to try to totally discredit Jesus.
Before we get there, though, we have some other material to consider. The paragraph before us is a part of that material and, believe it or not, we are going to look at the entire paragraph this evening.
- I. The Paragraph in its Place in the Narrative.
- A. Part of the reason we can look at the whole unit in one setting is that it is an overview of the things Mark has already recorded.
- B. One of the large issues: Jesus as "The Son of The God".
- 1. This was introduced obliquely with John's declaration of a Coming, More Inherently Strong, One than he.
- 2. Then it was explained and clarified with the Voice from Heaven after Jesus' baptism by John: "This is My beloved Son".
- 3. And now it is again declared at the end of a paragraph that has a kind of strategic position within the larger section of Mark.
- a. It is pretty clear from 2:1-3:6 that Mark wants his readers to understand the opposition to Jesus from the religious leadership of Judea.
- b. It is also pretty clear from 3:13-35 that Mark is fundamentally dealing with the three basic decisions that Jesus' identity as "The Son of The God" generated in the nation.
- c. Therefore, this paragraph serves primarily as a larger "summary" of the issues that have been the focus of the prior content.
- 1) There has already been a "pattern" to the material in which "evidence" is given to validate the claim regarding His identity and followed up with a record of the response (primarily of the religious establishment) that His identity-claims generated.
- 2) In this paragraph we have a return to a kind of "summary" of the issues involved and that is then followed by a more detailed record of "responses" (expanded beyond the religious leaders).
- d. That Jesus demanded that the unclean spirits refrain from making this aspect of His identity known was fairly important (He censured them greatly...).
- 1) It was not because He wasn't The Son of The God.
- 2) It was that such an identity at this point was beyond the grasp even of "disciples", not to mention all of the rest of those flocking around Him (John 16:12). It can be a stumbling block to be made aware of a truth that is so "out there" that it cannot be readily imagined.
- C. Another of the large issues: Jesus as "popular beyond imagining".
- 1. This is the critical "sticking point" with those leaders whose "leaven" has "leavened them" into "glory-seekers" to the point of "an intention to destroy".
- a. These "beyond the point of no return" people simply cannot stand the reality that they are losing the glory of the synagogue and its "teaching" mechanism.
- b. Seldom do men recognize that, for those fully leavened, in the final stage of loss, murder is settled upon as the way to regain what has been lost, but that is where this leads.
- 2. The level of "popularity" is deliberately described.
- a. A "much great number" (polu plethos in verse seven; plethos polu in verse eight; ton ochlon in verse nine; pollous in verse ten; and polla in verse twelve).
- b. The identification of many geographical places from which the "much great number" came.
- 1) Galilee (north of Samaria and Judea and on the west side of the Sea of Galilee).
- 2) Judea (centered in the land, west of the northern tip of the Dead Sea).
- 3) Jerusalem (the central focus of all of the entire region, and locus of the religious practices and doctrine).
- 4) Idumea (south of Judea; west of the main body of the Dead Sea).
- 5) Beyond Jordan (east of Judea on the east side of the river).
- 6) Tyre and Sidon (north of Galilee on the shore of the Mediterranean sea).
- 3. Then, it is repeated (in verse 9) in the phrase "on account of the crowd" (dia ton ochlon) and doubled down upon (in verse 10) with "many" (pollous) whose presence and pressure threatened to do to Him what the Pharisees and Herodians wanted (mindlessly trample Him).
- II. Mark's Points of Focus Beyond These Obvious Ones.
- A. Jesus "returns" to the sea.
- 1. This has already been presented as having three major theses.
- a. One is Jesus' habit of using the "sea" as a place to go to obtain disciples.
- b. Another one is the reality of the "sea" as a deadly environment that contains a "promise" of life that is delusional.
- c. And the third which makes "the sea" a metaphor for a great host of people who were to be sought out as a fisherman seeks out fish (a metaphor that endures unto the imagery of the Revelation of Jesus Christ; Revelation 13:1).
- 2. Now we have a further development.
- a. Jesus' "escape" from the threat of being trampled is the use of the "sea" as a barrier to the threat.
- b. He forces the vast multitude to have to face their fear of the sea (it keeps them from getting to Jesus).
- B. The masses are acting out their deep-seated narcissism as they mindlessly press their "wants" to a carelessly "murderous" level.
