Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 3 Study # 1
October 8, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(112)
1901 ASV
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.
- I. Note On Verse Nineteen.
- A. The phrase, "...and they went into an house..." belongs to the next sentence/paragraph, a fact not noticed by those who decided upon the verse divisions of the Bible.
- B. The link in the prior context/texts between the "coming into a house" and the "multitude coming together [at/in the house] is well established. There is no reason of any kind to make the "coming into a house" a conclusion to the prior material, while there is good reason for making it a part of a new "issue" created by the "house/multitude" theme. Also, there is no reason for telling us that He went into a house except that Mark wished to make the links between "house" and "multitude" significant.
- II. Mark's Presentation of "The Proper Decision".
- A. The previous texts are all leading up to the "decisions" issue that is presented in this section of Mark's record (3:13-35).
- 1. A widely disseminated summary of "decision options regarding Jesus" exists presently in our culture: Jesus was either the Person He said He was, or He was mentally unhinged, or He was a liar (in league with the "father of lies" [John 8:44]).
- 2. Mark's record could easily be the basis for that summary.
- a. 3:13-19 records a list of those who believed that He is the Person He said He is.
- b. In an interesting "record interrupted by another record", 3:20-21 and 3:31-35 record the decision of certain persons who determined that Jesus was mentally unhinged.
- c. And then, within the "record interrupted by another record", we have in 3:22-30 a record of those who determined that Jesus was a "liar possessed by an unclean spirit".
- B. The paragraph just prior to these decisions has all the elements of a "pivot" where the issues involved in people being forced to decide Who and What Jesus is are all revisited [see notes on the previous paragraph].
- C. This third paragraph in chapter three.
- 1. Begins with "And He ascended into the mountain...".
- a. The "ascent" is given in terms of the second time Mark used the verb "ascend".
- 1) The first use is in Mark's introductory material regarding Jesus when He "ascended" out of the water where He was baptized: the heavens were parted, the Spirit descended, and the Voice out of the heavens declared Him to be "My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.
- 2) Is it just a coincidence that this "ascent out of the water" is tied by the same verb to Jesus' "ascent up the mountain"?
- 2. Begins with a reference to "the mountain".
- a. This is an oddity because Mark used the definite article "the" before the word "mountain" without having given us any previous information about any mountain let alone "the" mountain.
- 1) Mark's other references to "the mountain".
- a) 6:46; He went up into "the mountain" to pray immediately after sending those who ate what He provided of fish and bread in the wilderness away.
- b) 9:9; He descended from "the mountain" where He had been transfigured before Peter, James, and John.
- c) 11:1; this text actually identifies "the mountain" to which Mark refers (likewise 11:23, 13:3, and 14:26) as "the mountain of the olives".
- 2) Mark's "generic" references to "mountain/mountains".
- a) 5:5.
- b) 5:11.
- c) 9:2.
- d) 13:14.
- b. But, there is this: a very oblique link to the identity and message of John as the fulfillment of Isaiah 40 and the prophecy there of John's coming.
- 1) In this prophecy, "mountains" are presented as serious obstacles to the building of a highway in the wilderness so that "the Lord" can travel upon it without resistance.
- a) As "obstacles", the "mountains" refer to "attitudes of high arrogance" as an issue of resistance toward God and His plans.
- b) But, as "mountains" this issue of "high arrogance" is only arrogance because it symbolizes the attitude of men toward themselves as "independent" of God, "sufficient" in themselves for the details of life in God's creation, and "insistence" upon their own right to sit upon God's "throne" of "Life" and call the shots for themselves and all others. IF, however, a person possesses the right to "sit upon God's throne", the "mountain attitude" is no longer arrogance. Jesus, after His ascension sat down upon the Father's throne with Him because He had that "right". Thus, for Jesus to go upon "the mountain" to select His future "throne-sitters" (Matthew 19:28) who were to rule with Him in the Kingdom of God is not only "proper", it is a necessary metaphor.
- c) And, when Jesus told the disciples that there were among them some who would not die before they witnessed the coming of the Kingdom with power (Mark 9:1) and then took Peter, James, and John to the fulfillment of that promise so that they witnessed Jesus being transfigured before them into His kingdom glory and speaking to Moses and Elijah, He took them up onto a high mountain for the presentation (9:2).
- 2) Thus, oblique as it may be, John's ministry of preaching "repentance unto forgiveness" as the qualification for any who would enter into the Kingdom has a very definite "Kingdom" element which, in Isaiah 2:2-3, is tied to "the highest of the mountains".
- 3) Then, because of Jesus' identity upon "the mountain", He chooses Twelve and gives them "authority to cast out demons"; a "Kingdom" issue of dominion over spirits of greater identity and power (men were created "lower" than angels/demons). Paul backs this up with his scolding of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6:3.
- 3. Thus, we actually do have a "referent" for "the" mountain (even though it is unlikely that any of those involved at the time would recognize it): that one which represents Jesus' status as God's Kingdom Ruler; John's "Mighty One Who is Coming".