Mark - Lesson 7...Continued from page 5
Thomas Klock
DAY SIX: Following Christ
1. Jesus ministered once again in a hopeless situation to a hopeless and rejected man. In fact, Jesus Himself was rejected by the people of the area for reaching out to this wretched man! Here this man was at one moment “Satan’s prize exhibit” of what he can do to destroy a life,[xv] and the next restored, sane, saved, and serving Jesus! This isn’t too far really from our own experiences though; certainly most of us we weren’t tormented by multiple demons, but we were equally lost, without hope and purpose. Take a few minutes to think about how Jesus reached out to you in your hopeless state, and record some thoughts about how you’ve now found yourself:
Restored from sin to a place of spiritual sanity:
Saved by His amazing grace:
Serving and following Him in view of the great mercy He has shown:
2. Sadly, some believers have a lack of compassion and joy in what Jesus does for others, especially when it costs them something. “But more than anything else, the drowning of the 2,000 swine was a vivid object lesson to this Christ-rejecting crowd that, to Satan, a pig is as good as a man! In fact, Satan will make a man into a pig! The Lord was warning the citizens against the powers of sin and Satan.”[xvi] Do you get a little irritated and impatient, looking repeatedly at your watch, when the service goes a little long so an altar call can be conducted to reach out to those who need Jesus’ touch? How about when you get mailed requests for help in supporting a child or helping the suffering or getting God’s Word out to those who don’t have it, or whatever it is that is needed in Jesus’ name? Is having a couple less visits to the Mega Bucks coffee store this month too much to ask of you so someone elsewhere in the world can live for another month? Are you too busy just to sit down a minute to write a check or to even pray for the suffering ones who need Jesus’ touch? Is that big game really worth so much to you that you would turn down a chance to reach out to a neighbor, or participate in a crusade or church outreach project? Perhaps you have seen yourself become too much like old Solomon that we studied in the recent past, who in Ecclesiastes had developed a big case of “I” trouble, and this is keeping you from taking up your cross today, denying yourself, and following Jesus.
These things are not shared to condemn or to make you feel bad?in fact they are just some of my occasional personal reflections in the mirror! What are some things that you think you could do to build up your compassion again for the lost and hurting around you? How can your group be praying for you in this? Please share some thoughts here and truly support each other in prayer as you seek to get back to your calling to live for Him.
3. There is another group too who can take courage from this lesson: Those who suffer in some way, maybe even unknown to others around you, in which you feel little or no hope. Yet we saw in this situation a deeply troubled and demonically driven person whose sufferings were not too big for Jesus to come and touch, and to bring new life and meaning. You may have good days and awful days, but still you can be confident that this same Jesus is there for you every day, no matter what, even if you are forsaken and abandoned as a hopeless case like this poor man. How has this spoken to your heart this week? Is there anything you would like to share about what’s been going on in your life so those in your group who do care about you, regardless of what your feelings or thoughts tell you, can be there for you and show you the compassion of Jesus to you? For the rest, what are some other things that specifically helped you this week?
Scripture Memory: Hopefully you now can write out this week’s passage completely by memory. Do so now, and keep on reviewing it so you will be ready to share it with others in your group time.
Mark 5:19b:
[i] Walter W. Wessell, Mark. In Frank E. Gaebelein ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, 1984), p. 657.
[ii] See Walter W. Wessell, Mark., p. 659; James A, Brooks, Mark. In David S. Dockery, The New American Commentary V. 23 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1991), p. 89, 90; and Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 147.
[iii] Unless elsewhere noted, all Greek word/phrase translations are based on the following: A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. In Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1932, 1933, 1997; James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Electronic Edition (Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship; in Bellingham: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996) Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Studies in the New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Co; in Bellingham: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1984, 1997); and Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, Electronic Edition (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, in Bellingham: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1992, 1993, 2000).
[iv] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005), p. 1211.
[v] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. In Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1932, 1933, 1997).
[vi] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Vol. 1 (Wheaton: Victor Books/SP Publications, Inc., 1989), p. 125.
[vii] James A, Brooks, Mark, p. 90.
[viii] This information is based on James M. Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1975, 1979, 1981. 1986), pp. 364, 365; William Evans, The Great Doctrines of the Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1912, 1939, 1945, 1974), pp. 317-319; and Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Knowledge (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, 2000), pp. 704-705.
[ix] John D. Grossmick, Mark. In John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament (Wheaton: Victor Books/SP Publications, 1983), p. 123.
[x] John D. Grossmick, Mark, p. 123; Craig A. Evans ed., The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries, 2003), p. 183; A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament; James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, Electronic Edition; and Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Studies in the New Testament: For the English Reader.
[xi] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, pp. 147, 148.
[xii] James A, Brooks, Mark, p. 91.
[xiii] Joel F. Williams, Mark. In Darrell L. Bock ed., The Bible Knowledge Key Word Study: The Gospels (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries, 2002), p. 130.
[xiv] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, Electronic Edition.
[xv] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004), p. 113.
[xvi] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Vol. 1, p. 126.
© 2005 by Harvest Christian Fellowship. All rights reserved. Written by Thomas Klock for Men’s Bible Fellowship, 2005-2006.
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