Sunday
Morning Bible Study
February 6, 2005
Introduction
Jesus had gone up a mountain with Peter, James, and John in order to
pray. While on the mountain Jesus was
transfigured, changed before their eyes.
Jesus was glowing with light.
Moses and Elijah also showed up to talk with Jesus about His upcoming
death in Jerusalem. Peter, James, and John even heard the
Father’s voice as He said, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him”. When they got back down the mountain, the
other nine disciples had been struggling with a problem. A man had brought his son who was
demon-possessed. The disciples had been
unable to cast the demon out of this boy when Jesus showed up and asked what
was going on. When Jesus heard what was
going on, He rebuked the people and said, “O faithless generation, how long
shall I be with you? How long shall I
suffer you?” Then He cast out the demon. Later, the disciples asked Jesus why they had
not been able to cast out the demon and Jesus reminded them that their faith was
weak and that some demons will only respond to a person who has learned to live
a life of prayer and fasting.
:30-32 Jesus’ upcoming death
:30 …and he would not that any man
should know it.
Jesus was trying to avoid the crowds so He could spend time teaching His
disciples.
:31 …The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men…
is delivered – paradidomi –
to give into the hands (of another); it speaks of His betrayal. The word is often used to describe Judas’
betrayal. It is also used of God turning
His Son over to be killed. It is a
“present tense”, the process had already begun.
This is not a new idea. Jesus had
already told them that He was going to be betrayed, put to death, and rise from
the dead back in Mark 8:31 when they were
at Caesarea Philippi. Peter, James, and
John heard Moses and Elijah talking about this with Jesus on the mountain.
:32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
They hadn’t been doing too well lately.
And the last time Jesus told the whole group about His upcoming death,
He had rebuked Peter for challenging Him (8:33).
After having failed to cast the demon out of the boy, Jesus had rebuked them
and the crowd:
(Mark 9:19
KJV) …O faithless generation, how long
shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?
I guess they didn’t want to admit that they didn’t understand what He was
talking about.
:33-37 Who is the greatest
:33 And he came to Capernaum:
and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among
yourselves by the way?
They are probably staying at Peter’s house in Capernaum. This will be the last time that Jesus is in Capernaum
before He begins His final journey to Jerusalem.
Apparently as they traveled from Mount Hermon down
to Capernaum, there were times when
Jesus wasn’t necessarily walking with all the disciples at once. He knew they were discussing something and
it’s time to talk about it with Him.
:34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among
themselves, who should be the greatest.
Could it be possible that Peter, James, and John might have been saying
something like, “Well if we had been
there, we would have cast out that demon.
After all, we are Jesus’ favorites …”
They held their peace – It seems to me that the disciples know that
this discussion is off base. They know
it’s wrong. They’ve been with Jesus for
2 ½ years, they’ve know they’re out of line.
:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man
desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
sat down – this is the position of the Jewish teacher. The teacher sat, the students stood.
Lesson
Greatness through serving
Position in God’s kingdom isn’t determined by status but by service.
(John 13:1-17 KJV) Now before the feast of the passover, when
Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto
the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end. {2} And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him; {3} Jesus knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to
God; {4} He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel,
and girded himself. {5} After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to
wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was
girded.
After spending the day walking the dusty streets of Israel,
it was customary to wash the feet of your guests before dinner. But it was a lowly job, something left for
the hired help. When Jesus and the
disciples gathered in the Upper Room for their Last Supper, nobody took care of
washing the feet. So Jesus did it.
{6} Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord,
dost thou wash my feet? {7} Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou
knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. {8} Peter saith unto him, Thou
shalt never wash my feet.
Peter is humbled at the thought of Jesus washing his filthy toes.
Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
{9} Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and
my head. {10} Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash
his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. {11} For he
knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. {12} So
after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down
again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? {13} Ye call me
Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. {14} If I then, your Lord and
Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. {15}
For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. {16}
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord;
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. {17} If ye know these
things, happy are ye if ye do them.
If Jesus came to serve others, we ought to as well.
Happiness comes from serving others.
Illustration
Judy Rogers (Westerville, Ohio, in Guideposts, Dec. 1988) writes,
In the fourth year of his layoff from his job, Dad gave Mom a dishwasher
for Christmas.
You have to understand the magnitude of the gift: Our old house had its original wiring and
plumbing, and neither could handle the required installation. There was no spot in the small kitchen for
such a large appliance. And we hadn’t
even been able to meet the mortgage interest payments for over six months.
But Dad hated the thought of washing dishes; he would rather do anything
else. And Mom had undergone major
surgery that spring, a radical mastectomy for breast cancer, and found it
difficult to do any work requiring the use of her arms.
No large box appeared, no new plumbing or wiring was installed, no
remodeling of the kitchen occurred.
Rather, a small note appeared on a branch of the Christmas tree,
handwritten by Dad:
“For one year I will wash all of the dirty dishes in this household. Every one.”
And he did. He really did.
Illustration
F. B. Meyer once said: “I used to
think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other; and that the taller
we grew in Christian character the easier we could reach them. I now find that God’s gifts are on shelves
one beneath the other. It is not a
question of growing taller but of stooping lower; that we have to go down,
always down, to get His best gifts.”
Illustration
An admirer once asked the famous orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what
was the most difficult instrument to play.
He responded with quick wit: “Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to
find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second french horn
or second flute, now that’s a problem.
And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”
Illustration
Martin Luther wrote, “God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is
nothing, God can make nothing out of him.”
:36 And he took a child…and when he had taken him in his arms
child – paidion – a young
child, a little boy, a little girl
had taken … in his arms – enagkalizomai
– embrace; to take into the fold in your arms
:37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me
shall receive – dechomai –
to take with the hand; to take hold of, take up; receive
Jesus is still on the same subject of just who is the greatest.
If you want to get a read on your attitude towards being a servant of
others, it will have a correlation with your attitude towards children.
Are they a nuisance or a blessing to you?
If you were to consider what the most important ministry in our church was,
what would you say? Would it be the
preaching? Would it be the music? Would it be the prayer? Would it be the Children’s Ministry?
If being great in God’s kingdom is related to being a servant to others,
and if being a servant to others is related to taking a child by the hand,
doesn’t it follow that if we want to be a great church in God’s sight, that
Children’s Ministry ought to be a bit of a priority for us?
:38-41 For or against us?
:38 …and he followeth not us: and we forbad him
(Mk 9:38
The Message) John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel
demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”
This guy had not only been using the name of Jesus without permission, but
he was apparently doing a better job of it than the disciples. He was apparently successful in casting out
demons while some the disciples had been having some problems.
I think it’s interesting that the subject of casting out demons is still
fresh on their minds.
I wonder if this might have been some of the fuel to the arguments over who
was greater.
:40 For he that is not against us is on our part.
Lesson
How big is your church?
The Corinthian church had broken up into little groups, little “cliques”.
(1 Cor 1:11-13
KJV) For it hath been
declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you. {12} Now this I say, that every one of
you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
{13} Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the
name of Paul?
After church, the people would break into their little
groups. Some people thought that Paul
was the best pastor in the world. Others
thought that Apollos was a better speaker.
Others felt that the church was supposed to be built on Peter. And the really spiritual people claimed to
only follow Jesus, not men.
(1 Cor 3:1-4 KJV) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. {2} I have
fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it,
neither yet now are ye able. {3} For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is
among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as
men? {4} For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are
ye not carnal?
This kind of divisiveness can sound spiritual. We can become proud that we go to Calvary
Chapel. But God says it’s simply carnal,
it’s fleshly, and it is immature.
Illustration
There’s a story about the man who died and went to heaven. After arriving, St. Peter took the new
arrival on a tour. He showed him all the
various wonders, the tree of life, the river of living water, all the places
where the saints liked to hang out. When
they came to a high wall, Peter lowered his voice a little to hushed tones. The man could hear noise on the other
side. “What’s that wall for?” the man
asked Peter. “Oh that” replied Peter,
“That’s the wall around the Calvary Chapel people, they think they’re the only
ones up here.”
People do get saved in other churches.
People do follow the same Jesus as we do and can go to a Methodist church,
a Baptist church, or a Presbyterian church, even a Lutheran church.
Now I’m not saying that all roads lead to heaven. And there are certainly some groups that
preach “another Jesus”. But be careful
of thinking that your church is the only church.
When you find out that a friend at work is a Christian, it’s common to ask
them, “What church do you go to?” When
they reply that they go to something other than a Calvary Chapel, don’t be
quick to change the subject and certainly don’t criticize the other church. Just talk about Jesus. We’re all on the same team. We may do things differently, and we may
prefer to do things the way we do them, but we’re all on the same team.
:41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name,
because ye belong to Christ
If the guy isn’t against us, then he’s on our side. And even if someone gives you a cup of cold
water because you belong to Jesus, he will get a reward as well.
:42-50 Offenses and hell
:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones
shall offend – skandalizo –
putting something in another person’s path to trip them up; This isn’t just
talking about enticing a person to sin, but also the idea of causing a person
to fall away from trusting Jesus.
little ones – Who are the “little ones”?
Children? Yes. Jesus has the child in His arms.
Disciples? Yes.
The exorcist? I think it even
included this fellow that was using Jesus’ name, but wasn’t a part of the group
of disciples. I don’t think Jesus is
just warning us not to mess with kids, but also to not be a stumbling block to
other believers, even if they’re different than us.
:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter
into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that
never shall be quenched:
offend – skandalizo – same
word used in verse 42. Jesus is taking this thought of causing someone to
stumble and saying, “What if you are
the one causing someone to stumble, what should you do about it?”
hell – geenna – Hell is
the place of the future punishment call “Gehenna”. “Gehenna” means the “valley
of Hinnom”, a valley south of Jerusalem. It was the trash dump of Jerusalem
where worm infested refuse was tossed and burned, with the fires burning
continually.
never shall be quenched – asbestos – unquenchable
Lesson
Hell is forever.
There are some who think that when the wicked die, they just sort of fade
away.
The Bible teaches that when a person rejects Jesus Christ, they will have
to pay for their own sins, and that means going to hell.
When you as a believer die, there will be a day when you will be given a
new eternal body, one designed to handle the joys and pleasures of heaven
forever.
But there is another resurrection with eternal bodies.
The unbeliever will also be given a new body. Their new body will be designed to last
forever also. But instead of being
designed to enjoy the joy of heaven, their body will be designed to experience
the pain of hell. Forever.
Hell was designed for Satan and his angels.
And God doesn’t want you to go there.
In fact, God did the ultimate thing to keep you from hell. He sent His Son to die on a cross and die in
your place.
And now the only thing that would cause you to go to hell is if you refuse
to trust in Jesus.
:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Some of the ancient manuscripts don’t include verses 44, 46, but the same thought
is still expressed in verse 48.
:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out
Lesson
Stop at all costs.
This is not teaching that if you mutilate yourself, you will go to
heaven. It’s not even teaching that
self-mutilation is something we should do.
The point is that when it comes to getting away from sin, you need to do
whatever it takes.
Illustration
It was May, 2003. Aron Ralston was climbing
in an isolated canyon in Utah. A boulder shifted. Ralston said he moved quick enough to get his
body and left arm out of its path but couldn't get his right arm out of the way
of the falling rock.
For five days he stayed trapped with his arm under the bolder. He tried all sorts of things to get
free. Finally, after having exhausted
the little supply of food and water he had, he made the decision that the only
way he was going to survive was to amputate his arm. He got his gear together, prepared a
tourniquet and planned his route out of the canyon. Then he broke two bones in his wrist and used
the dull blade of his multi-tool pocket knife to saw through his flesh. Then he
lowered himself to the bottom of the canyon and walked until he found a couple
from Holland hiking with their
son. They walked until they were spotted
by a search helicopter. Aron was then flown
to a hospital in Colorado. The pilot that flew him said, “If he hadn't
helped himself, we would have never found him because of where he was pinned.
We went back in there and looked at the spot that he was pinned, and it was in
such a narrow canyon and the overlap was so bad that we could have flown
directly over it and we would have never seen him down there.”
I have heard so many excuses over the years from people who are unwilling
to give up their sin. They’ve tried this
and they’ve tried that. They’ve tried
programs. They’ve tried treatment
centers. They’ve tried religion. And now they’ve simply stopped trying. Don’t stop trying. Stop sinning at all costs.
:49 For every one shall be salted with fire
What does it mean to be “salted with fire”?
Perhaps here the idea is that we are to let the fire of hell “salt”
us. We ought to be affected by the
reality of what hell is.
:50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye
season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Jesus is saying two things –
1. Stay useful. Stay salty.
Affect your world.
(Mat 5:13
KJV) Ye are the salt of the earth: but
if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is
thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot
of men.
2. Get along. The fellows have been arguing over who was
the greatest.
Could Jesus be saying that their arguing over who was to be the greatest
was a concern to him and that they needed to stop it at all costs?
Perhaps when we argue over who is going to be greatest, we lose some of our
effectiveness, our “saltiness”.