Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 2 Study # 4
October 19, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus' message was proclaimed with demonstrable authority by His disciples so that another "layer" of this message covered the land.
Introduction: Last week we considered Jesus' final instructions in His commission of The Twelve. We saw that He restricted them from accepting hospitality in more than one house in each of the villages/towns where they went, and He instructed them on how to deal with any village/town that rejected their message.
This evening we are going to look as the final issues in this introductory paragraph regarding the spread of Jesus' message and reputation.
- I. The Proclamation of The Message.
- A. The Twelve departed after being commissioned by Jesus.
- 1. There was a highly significant issue involved with the large issue of the commission: the proclamation of the background and outcome of "repentance".
- a. The background of the proclamation of "repentance" in Jesus' terms in 1:15.
- 1) Had, first, to do with the "time" factor.
- a) Jesus announced that "the time issue(s) had reached its end.
- i. There were a host of prophecies of an "end time" Kingdom reality of both great darkness and brilliant light; all of which were given in indeterminate references to the future.
- ii. There was the specific time frame given through Daniel of "seventy sevens" that would transpire before the Davidic Kingdom would be reestablished in Judea.
- iii. The actual timing in which Jesus made this announcement was the sixty-ninth "seven" which had its beginning in 26 A.D. and culminated in 33 A.D.
- b) Jesus made His announcement, obviously, prior to the actual "fulfillment".
- 2) Had, second, to do with the "Kingdom" factor.
- a) According to the prophecies, the arrival of the Kingdom would be preceded by a time of horrific judgment (the "darkness" period of "the Day of the Lord").
- b) Thus, Jesus' early announcement was that the Kingdom was at hand and anyone who wished to escape the final consequences of the "Night" would have to find a way to be "forgiven" so as to be exempt from the final wrath.
- b. The outcome of "repentance" was the specific promise of forgiveness.
- 1) This was not on the basis of a legal determination of "just desserts".
- 2) This was solely on the basis of "repentance", which had nothing to do with prior behavior and everything to do with a fundamental present shift of attitude(s).
- 2. But there was also a highly significant issue involved in the smaller issue of the commission: the specific instructions that were designed to develop the disciples in their discipleship.
- a. For the disciples to develop in their discipleship under Jesus, they had to come to grips with what it meant to "believe" and what the outcomes of "unbelief" would be.
- b. Thus, Jesus' intention in this lesser issue was to compel The Twelve to take actions that would leave them at significant risk if Jesus proved to be undependable.
- c. "Faith", then, was a compelling attitude of expectation that would determine the choices that a "believer" would take.
- II. The Supporting Authority.
- A. Regarding demons.
- 1. When Jesus originally chose The Twelve, He did it in view of "authority to cast out demons" (3:15).
- 2. At this point in Mark's record, he initially says that Jesus "gave them authority of unclean spirits" (6:7), but he ends it with them "casting out many demons".
- 3. The "point" is that people were being delivered, not only from the down-line impact of their "sins" by repentance unto forgiveness, but also from the "spirits" that were the underlying cause of the uncleanness of the nation.
- 4. Involved with this "point" is the fact that "demons" were viewed as enormously powerful in their ability to enslave people to their uncleanness, and the disciples were given significantly great success against them.
- 5. This generated a large impact regarding the reputation of Jesus and His abilities.
- B. Regarding health issues.
- 1. For this point, Mark chose to use a term he had only used once before (6:5) in a setting that "made light" of Jesus' power because the few He healed were not significantly ill.
- 2. This might have made a lesser impact (though these healings did create a groundswell in the reputation of Jesus that reached the ears of the king), but was most likely the result of the level of "faith" that the disciples had at this point in their training.
- C. Regarding the fact that Mark typically used exorcisms and healings to buttress his argument that Jesus was "the Powerful One Who Comes".
