Mark 1:12-13 Temptation
Today we begin the forty days of Lent. In the Bible the period of forty days is significant of a time of testing and preparation as in the case of Moses at Sinai and Elijah at Horeb. More significantly we think of the forty days when Jesus was compelled by the Spirit to take up the offensive against Satan. What do these couple of verses reveal to us about Jesus and about the battle against temptation?
Jesus is the Son of God, yet still is tempted. The wilderness reminds of Israel’s forty years in the desert following the Exodus in Egypt, where they were tested and tempted. Israel is described as God’s Son – Exodus 4:22-23, Hosea 11:1. So is Jesus in Mark 1:11.
Israel enjoyed a new and unique identity, out of all the nations they were chosen by God and called his Son. That identity is also ours when we trust in Christ, when we experience redemption. But even though Israel had been redeemed out of slavery and brought into God’s salvation, they still experienced temptation. Even though Jesus has been declared to be God’s son he is not rendered immune from temptation. Sometimes we can get discouraged when temptations come, thinking, what is wrong with me, that I face such things? But if even Jesus the Son of God was still tempted, we should recognise them as part of the experience of God’s people, difficult as they may be.
Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean temptations will stop, rather they become fiercer; we are more in Satan’s sights than before. We have a new nature, with the Holy Spirit living within and so we become more acutely aware of sin and its downward tug on our lives. Previously we might have felt bad about ‘big’ sins like lying, stealing. Now the Scripture and the Spirit inform our conscience in ways we never considered before: how are we treating God? How using our lives in his service? Is Christ being formed in our characters? Are we coveting? Is Christ being honoured in our lives?
Where Israel the Son of God failed, Jesus the Son of God succeeded. Jesus is the obedient Son, the servant who will take the place of his people and pay for their failures. When we fail as God’s children today, we can find relief that Jesus has succeeded on our behalf and Jesus has forgiven it by his death on the cross.
The danger for us is to look down our noses at our spiritual ancestors, the Exodus generation, and fail to learn from their failures. Psalm 95 warns us to heed God’s word, to keep believing and not hardening ourselves against it.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 warns us not to imagine we are somehow strong enough to withstand temptation, but to rely on God to provide the way out when we are tempted.
Jesus is a man just like us, able to help us. There is another family likeness in these verses. Jesus is not only like Israel in the wilderness, he is also like Adam. In Genesis 3 Adam was tempted in a garden and failed, he was then thrown out of Eden by God, whereas Jesus is literally thrown into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted, yet there he succeeds. The wilderness shows the devastating effects of Adam’s rebellion, a garden laid to waste. Adam dwelt a perfect environment and enjoyed ideal conditions yet succumbed to temptation; Jesus is tempted in the barren desert, yet he resists. The first Adam was surrounded by animals; he was to be their master but lost control, here Jesus is surrounded by wild animals and yet is unharmed, for he is their master. Adam is expelled from the garden and his return is prevented by angels, whereas Jesus triumphs over Satan and is ministered to by angels. The angels assure Jesus of God’s presence and approval, but the battle has only begun.
In mentioning both the wild animals and the angels together, Mark is perhaps revealing Jesus to be the Son of Man of Psalm 8:5-7: “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field.”
We see Jesus to be the embodiment of true humanity, perfect man and a second Adam, who resists evil and temptation, where we fail and fall. What a blessing that he is able to help us when we are tempted also (Hebrews 4:15-16)!
Mark 1:40-45 Jesus: His Healing
As a family, we play a board game from time to time. It’s called Pictureka (Picture + eureka=I have found it). And the idea of the game is to draw a card with an image on it, and to find the exact match of the image on the game board. And as you might guess, so often you can be looking so hard for something that you never find it, and finally someone else spots it – it was right under your nose all the time.
It is a great picture (!) of what can happen when we read the Bible, sometimes a passage can be familiar to us, or we imagine it to be, that we fail to spot something right under our noses. The story of the healing of the leper might be like that. If we were to tell others what we remember of this passage, it might run something like this:
A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him.
Now look at Mark 1:40-45. See all the details I’ve missed out. We should look, not only at the detail of the story, but the way Mark tells it and the way he has chosen to record it for us. When we do, we’re in for a big surprise or two, and they’ve been there under our noses all the time.
A Surprising Action
Jesus touched the man (41). That surely indicated compassion and willingness to heal, didn’t it? Would you be prepared to touch someone with a skin disease that was highly contagious? – (for the term ‘leper’ covered more than what we call leprosy today.)
But this healing is more than a mere physical healing, wonderful enough as that is. This man had a highly contagious disease, that would slowly destroy him. At that time, there was no known cure, so he was kept apart from the rest of society, from his family and friends.
Chapters 11-15 of Leviticus tell us about people being ceremonially unclean. Those who were unclean, like a leper, were not allowed to enter the temple or tabernacle. Indeed unlike the other types of people with uncleanness, a leper had to live outside the camp itself. They were required to wear signs of mourning; they could approach no one, touch no one. Whenever anyone began to walk near them, they were to call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” as a warning to stay away. This is an experience of living death, a living hell. Social isolation, physical disfigurement and spiritual abandonment were a leper’s lot. But note this man did not say to Jesus, “Make me well”, but “Make me clean.” (40). He was looking for more than mere physical healing. He’s asking, let me enter society again; let me enter the presence of God again.
You can see why leprosy has often been viewed as a picture of sin in the Bible – that’s not to say that leprous people are more sinful, or that the disease comes as a direct punishment. But it is a graphic and visible picture of how sin can infect and affect a person’s life. It might begin in a small way, with a scar or a sore, but in time it encompasses the whole person, painful, disfiguring, isolating. Ultimately it will consume and destroy them, and (at that time) there was no known cure – no man could defeat it. In v. 41 some translations tell us that Jesus was indignant, rather than compassionate – indignant at the effect and hold sin had within this world he had created. It is the anger of the Creator God, not at the man, but at sin and how it mars and spoils the good he intends for us. Jesus is outraged at the evil which has intruded into his Father’s good creation giving rise to this terrible spectacle kneeling before him.
So why did Jesus touch this man? He could have healed the man from a distance, with a word. By touching the leper, Jesus made himself ceremonially unclean. Normally it was certain death, you became infected and the rest would follow. In this touch we have the gospel in a single action. This is what the kingdom of God is about; this is why Jesus came. He did not simply stretch his hand in our direction; he entered our life and experience. He lived among sinful unclean people like us, without ever becoming unclean himself. He lived among the outcasts, like us who were barred from the presence of God. One day he did not simply touch the leper, he took the place of the leper, he became the leper himself. He was made sin for us at the cross, he took upon himself all the uncleanness and wrong and rebellion and selfishness and filth that pollutes our lives. He was treated as a sinner deserved; he was banished from God as an unclean thing. And he did so to make us clean, to make us fit and proper to know God, to be part of God’s kingdom and to enjoy the life of God and life with God, now and for ever.
The leper that day did not pollute Christ with his uncleanness, rather Christ touched him with his cleanness. So it is at the cross, Jesus takes and absorbs in himself our wrong and guilt before God, but he touches us with his beauty, goodness and righteousness to make us new people when we trust in him. This one touch to one man on one day speaks for all time about the good news – It’s about cleaning the unclean and giving life to the living dead, those trapped in the living death of sin.
How wonderful! If, as I have said, this is the gospel in one action, well then this is a message that needs to be heard. Tell the world – get the good news out there! Again that’s what you might expect to happen, but we need to look at what is before us, and here we see another surprise.
A Surprising Command
‘Jesus sent him away at once – literally he threw him out – with a strong warning – literally growling – ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and off the sacrifices Moses commanded you for your cleansing as a testimony to them.’ (43-44).
Jesus threw him out (the same word is in v.12 when the Holy Spirit propelled Jesus into the wilderness) and growled at him to keep quiet about it! Now if that is not your mental image of Jesus, you need to read your Bible more often. Why does Jesus do this; it seems so rude. Had the man offended in some way? Was Jesus not as willing to heal as he first appeared?
The man has to go to the priest and be examined – that’s the law in Leviticus. He needs that clean bill of health so that he can rejoin society and so he can be readmitted to worship at the Temple. I’m sure the priest might never have signed anyone off as being cured from leprosy – what a powerful witness to him and to the man’s family as to the saving and healing power of Jesus.
But why is the man forbidden to tell the world? A thing like that can’t be kept secret and anyway, surely Jesus would want the whole world to know. Unfortunately the man seemed to follow that logic and his good idea seemed better than obeying Jesus. That can happen today also, can’t it?
What is the result? 45 – Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. The man thought he was helping Jesus’ mission, but he actually hindered it.
Jesus has made it quite clear what his priority was in v38 – preaching, telling others about God’s kingdom. But this priority was severely curtailed, he ended up trapped in the desert, not free to roam and preach. Jesus has not come to be a doctor, a one-man NHS, but to be a rescuer. That is why he was prepared to turn his back on a villageful of sick and needy people, so that he could preach in other towns and villages. Jesus has come to deal with a far greater disease, not the one that sends a person to hospital, but the one that sends people to hell! That is what is so graphically depicted in this story.
There were many others who needed to be made clean by Jesus, not necessarily lepers, but all most certainly sinners. That is why he commanded the man to keep quiet. They needed to hear Jesus and respond also. Imagine seeing the town centre thronged by lepers – you would be moved to help them. But that same street would certainly contain many people plagued by the deadlier disease of sin, far from God and in need of Jesus. Are you still moved to help them and to tell them about him?
The message of this healing is not, “Come to Jesus and you will never be sick”, but “Come to Jesus and be clean” – clean of the worst disease that plagues the human race, and confident that in the fulness of time, all other ills and diseases will be gone also in the glorious light and reality of God’s eternal kingdom.
Mark 1:29-39 The Priority of Jesus
“Prove it!” That’s what you might say when someone makes an audacious claim. “where’s the evidence?”
Mark has made a big claim at the beginning of his gospel – Jesus is the Son of God. And Mark is writing to bring his readers to that same conclusion; he presents the evidence. God’s kingdom has broken in with Jesus; God is demonstrating his rule by sending his Son. How do we know Jesus is God’s Son – look at the things he does, and the authority by which he does them.
He can do what the teachers of the law cannot do, he teaches the Bible with authority, so that people hear God speak to their lives. He silences and expels the forces of evil in a person’s life, again something unheard of. Later in Mark we see his authority over the forces of nature, over death and authority to speak God’s forgiveness into a person’s life. He commands people to leave and follow him. He walks around like he owns the place – well, that shouldn’t be a surprise, he does! At a few points in these early chapters he pauses the action for people to ask the question, who is this man? That’s what we should be asking as well – who has the authority to do all these things, except the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and if that is who Jesus is, then the kingdom of God is truly near and to be found in him.
Mark brings us another piece of evidence in this passage – Jesus’ authority to heal. It’s something we’re familiar with from our days in Sunday School, no doubt we have our favourite story or two from amongst the healings. But I wonder if you are aware of this one – the healing of Simon’s mother in law.
A Private Healing The disciples and Jesus visit her home, close to the synagogue in Capernaum. The normal custom of the day would dictate that this lady would have been serving the guests in her home. The fact that she is not able indicates something is truly wrong – a fever like this could lead to death. Jesus not simply heals, he cures the incurable, he brings life out of possible death.
The lady is restored for service (31). When we know the hand of Jesus upon our lives, touching, healing, restoring and raising us up to new life to him, it should lead to service. It’s wonderful to know our sins are forgiven by Christ, that we know God as our heavenly Father and have the power of the Holy Spirit living within us, but we’re not to coast along on our way to heaven, sitting relaxed and at ease until the Lord calls us home. We are to use our gifts, our time, talents, money and position to serve. How are you doing in this regard? Is your life lived as gratitude to the Lord who taken your hand and helped you?
The excitement in the village was at fever pitch. The Healer was to town. Someone had leaked details of where he was staying, and sure enough a crowd had gathered.
Public healings What we have already seen happen on an individual basis, healing and exorcism, now happen to many of those brought to Jesus. As in the synagogue, Jesus will not let the demons speak. Satan’s spin doctors are silenced. That are not allowed to identify him, they cannot control him in any case, but he will not let them spoil his mission. People must recognise who Jesus is and trust him for themselves; he’s not going to have evil spirits preaching the gospel – a lopsided gospel of a king without the cross, of healing and powerful miracles without the suffering and rejection that lies ahead.
You must wonder, as you read about this crowd, how many of them saw more than the immediate, saw more than a gentle healer as they came into that house with their sick? And what about the crowd that gathers in this place in the name of Jesus today – what do we perceive and recognise?
A shocking priority Even at an early hour the crowds were still coming, some staying out all night to get a prime position in the queue. Better to wait a few hours now than to stay on the doctor’s waiting list indefinitely – cheaper too! At least there was a guaranteed cure at the end of it.
Except the Healer had slipped out before the crowd had gathered that morning. By mid-afternoon, news came that he had been seen in the next village. Why was this? Had they offended him? Weren’t they good enough for him? How could he treat them like this? Didn’t he realise the desperate needs of some of the people there? Did he not care? Had he retired from the healing business altogether?
You couldn’t imagine Jesus treating people like that, could you? Surely he would never turn his back on the sick? In the Bible we meet the real Jesus, not the Jesus we imagine him to be, and the real Jesus often surprises us. We find that Jesus did indeed move away from the crowds clamouring for healing (36-38). When Peter tells him, “Everyone is looking for you”, Jesus replies, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
Does Jesus not care? Does Jesus not know? Of course he does. He knows that despite the pressing needs of people’s health and welfare, the real need is for people to know God, to receive his forgiveness and to enter His kingdom. We see that priority elsewhere in Mark, forgiveness ahead of healing (Mark 2:1-12), teaching ahead of feeding (Mark 6:34-36).
I wonder if we recognise that priority for ourselves also. While we care for those who are sick and needy, and rejoice when health and healing comes, we must realise that our greatest need is to have our relationship with God healed, to be made whole spiritually. That is true health and that is the healing which is eternal. Church minister making the announcements: “Mrs. Smith won her battle over cancer yesterday. Her funeral will be on Tuesday at 2 p.m.” How desperately we long for and pray for a cure for cancer, for example. But how wonderful that we already have a cure for sin! Have you been healed by Jesus in this way?
Moreover, that is why Jesus has come (38). Three times in Mark only are we told about Jesus’ praying, at times when he might reasonably be tempted to follow another agenda. Here (1:35) he prays as he enjoys the popularity of the crowds for being a healer, in 6:46 as he enjoys the popularity of the crowds for being a feeder and on the night before the cross (14:32) as he contemplated the agony that lay before him, not shirking from it. We should thank God that Jesus kept to the agenda of God’s kingdom; that he went to the cross for our salvation, rather than staying in Capernaum for the people’s health. Ahead of physical healing or social needs, important as they are, he prioritised the salvation of sinners.
If Jesus’ priority is to preach God’s message, should it not be our priority to hear that message, not only from the pulpit, but in reading the Bible privately and with others?
If Jesus’ priority is to preach God’s message, should it not be our priority as a church to make sure that message goes out clearly to other people also? People can concoct all sorts of remedies and cures for sickness and they get the word out. We have the cure for sin, the deadliest disease of all; surely people need to hear about it? That is a job for all Christians, not just the clergy!
Our health is important to us; we like to get better when ill and we like to maintain our health when well. Should it not be the same with our spiritual health and well-being before God?
Mark 1:21-28 Jesus: His authority
Sometimes preachers try to make a point in a sermon and they come up with something memorable to illustrate it. It’s not always successful, people can remember the illustration, but not the sermon. Like the day the little boy came home from church and said to his father, ‘Guess what happened in church today, Daddy, the Vicar ate a daffodil in the pulpit’. ‘Why on earth did he do that, son?’ ‘I don’t know Daddy!’
I want to share with you four surprises in this story, surprises that get us to look even more closely at Jesus, who he is and why he has come. Like the little boy, I’m going to ask, “Guess what happened in church today.”
Surprise No. 1: Jesus teaches in the church. As a devout Jew, he was observing the Sabbath, going to his place of worship, the synagogue, where the Bible is read and prayers are said. No surprises there, but an important example for us to follow.
Jesus teaches in church. Again maybe a little surprise, but not much of a surprise. We know he came preaching, announcing the good news of the kingdom of God. We might be surprised in that he was not a rabbi, he did not have the formal training and recognition, but it’s not totally unexpected, we’ve already been told Jesus has been preaching the good news (14).
Here’s the surprise: he’s a teacher with authority. They didn’t expect to find that in church. Note how quickly he takes charge.
It is something different from the usual fare on the Sabbath, the scribes often quoted what they had read or what others had said about the Bible. Whereas Jesus gave something refreshing and authorative from the Scripture. We know that he has been anointed with the Holy Spirit and commissioned by God the Father. He speaks with the authority of God – no wonder they were knocked out by his teaching (22).
What was his sermon? Well, we’re not told, not even given the Bible reading, but I think it’s reasonable to suppose it was along the theme of verses 14-15, “The Kingdom of God is near” – this is fighting talk, a declaration of war in the spiritual realms. Jesus preaches it and he demonstrates it. As this is Jesus’ first public appearance in his ministry, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised at what happens next.
Surprise No. 2: A devil goes to church. They didn’t expect to find that in the congregation either.
Can we really believe in demons, devils, unclean spirits today? We’re 21st century scientific people, we can’t believe in that image of pitchfork, horns and tails. But that’s not the Bible’s picture: it speaks of a spiritual world, and of Satan and his demons as evil intelligent spirits, behind the evil of this world.
We acknowledge the spiritual world in other areas: we believe in the Holy Spirit; is it hard to believe then in the works of unholy or unclean spirits? We hear of angels, can we not also recognise that there are disobedient, rebellious angels also?
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
The devil was in that church. They had the Bible in their own language, the Bible was being read, prayers were being said. It’s astonishing to think that uncleanness and evil of this kind can be found even in the most sacred places. But a church where there is little other than mere ritual, where the mouth recites but the heart is far from God can be a place where powers of evil can feel right at home.
Maybe that spirit was found there, or maybe the man brought the spirit along with him to the service. We can bring uncleanness and evil, not necessary a spirit, but the same attitude, the same rebelliousness with us when we meet together. This man might have had this uncleanness in his life for years and still was a regular worshipper. He had everything under control. He could hide it when necessary. He could come to church with it and no one ever noticed or suspected a thing.
Let me tell you a story: One dark and stormy night a man was driving to a fancy-dress party dressed as a devil – red suit, tail and pitchfork. The man drove off the side of the road and into a ditch. Seeing a small church nearby, he went over to it to get some help. A service was taking place and as the wind howled and the rain came down, suddenly the back doors of the church opened and there stood this man who wanted to use the phone – dressed as he was.
Immediately there were screams and everyone running out through whatever exit they could find. All except for one elderly woman who stood her ground in the middle of the aisle and said, “Now Mr. Devil, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Even though I’m a member of this church – I want you to know I’ve been on your side all along.”
Surprise No. 3 The devil speaks the truth
24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
This spirit is telling the truth on this occasion, he identifies Jesus correctly as coming from Nazareth and the Holy One of God. The spirits know who he is and why he has come, to destroy them, but Jesus doesn’t need evil spirits to proclaim the gospel. They would tell the truth for their own ends, when it suits them, to discredit him from the start, to make the truth appear to be blasphemy. Maybe they also sought to stir up feelings of nationalistic rebellion in Israel: “if the King has come, we can raise an army against Rome.”
The demon tries to control Jesus by saying his name and by telling him to mind his own business. In asking “What do you want with us?” the spirit was telling Christ to stay out of it. That is the way the voice of evil speaks, perhaps even in our lives today. I know who Jesus is, why he has come, but why is he interfering?
No wonder these spirits have to be silenced – there are no no-go areas for Jesus Christ. In October many Christian people are disturbed by the blatant celebration of darkness, evil, fear and uncleanness at Halloween. As for those creatures depicted on the masks and all they represent, here’s the one they fear, here’s the one who can control them. Christians celebrate the triumph of our Saviour over those beings, he muzzles them and expels them. How quickly he takes charge.
Surprise No. 4: Jesus’ is not merely a teacher The people in the synagogue were amazed at his teaching to begin with, no doubt wondering, Who is he? How did he learn to speak like this? The answer was given to them that day. He preaches that God has broken into this world again to reign, and then demonstrates it. The kingdom has come in Jesus – it is no mere talk. He shows his power against the forces of evil, all that is negative and unclean, all that opposed to God’s plan for people. Evil is silenced and the good news about Jesus spreads (28).
Imagine you were there that day, what would you recount over the dinner table? A great miracle occurred that day, yet the people go home remembering the teaching. This is the way those who witnessed the miracle expressed their amazement to the area: “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”(27) The one who taught is the one who gives orders to evil spirits. The authority of Jesus as teacher is linked to his authority over the spirits.
What has the Holy One to do with unclean spirits? Nothing at all, they have no hold over him, they cannot contaminate him. He overshadows them, silences and ejects them. Something new and supernatural has come. God’s kingdom is here and what we see are unclean spirits expelled and broken people restored to wholeness. We pray deliver us from evil, here’s our confidence that the prayer is answered.
Jesus Christ has authority to clean up whatever uncleanness marks our lives and whatever powers possess and control our lives. Not necessarily evil spirits, but destructive habits, evil thoughts, bitterness and rebellion that will control and consume us and exclude us from God’s rescue and loving rule.
If even the forces of uncleanness and evil are to obey his teaching, surely we must also. Since he has authority over the demon, we should recognise his authority as teacher, calling us to repent and believe, and as Lord, calling us to follow him.
Mark 1:14-20 Jesus: His message
What are the most dangerous jobs in the world? You probably might think of a soldier or a stuntman, or maybe someone in the emergency services, fireman or policeman. Ponder it more and you might think of a miner or a coastguard.
Apparently Alaskan Crab Fishermen fishing the crab in ice-cold waters face the highest on-the-job mortality rate.
I’m sure none of you came up with a preacher as a dangerous job, and yet it certainly is in Mark 1:14. And yet this is the role Jesus willing takes on.
The preacher (14)
1:14-15 Preaching is a dangerous business. But God has broken in with his kingdom and so the silence has to be broken. It had to be announced! God sent his Son and he was a preacher, an evangelist, telling the good news of God.
Good News – not good advice, nor good suggestions but good news. If we go to the newsagents we can usually spot the difference between newspapers and advice. The newspapers report what has happened, the magazines tell us how to improve, whether our fashion sense, our diet or our skills in DIY for example. Christianity is not about self-improvement or do it yourself, mere advice or technique. It is a call to hear and respond to news – the good news of God, from God, about God. It’s telling us what God has done. He has kept his promises – the time is now, the kingdom of God is here, the King is here. In a sense the preacher and the content of the sermon are the same. It’s a sermon of 17 words in our English Bibles, but we can understand that to be a handy summary of the vital message.
The sermon (15)
The time has come. The Kingdom has come – NOW. Back in 1:11 we heard God’s voice echoing words from Psalm 2 – a coronation psalm – God saying, “My chosen King is here”. The kingdom of God is here, because the King is here. The kingdom is where Jesus rules. What is His message? “I have come to reign” – the only true response is repentance, a change of mind and a change of heart.
Because each one of us, deep down, has chosen to be our own King. We decide how we wish to run our lives, what goals to pursue, what priorities and passions control our lives. We decide for ourselves what is good and moral for us, and if we’re so inclined we might even think fondly of God and pray to him, but he’s not to challenge us, he’s not to shake our cosy set-up, he not to change our lives. We stay in control. There only room for one king in our universe and that’s us!
“Repent and believe the good news.” Get off the throne, abdicate. Let the rightful King rule. Proper response is to repent, change and then to recognise him as King, trust him to rule. Now you can see why preaching can be a dangerous business, it’s about regime change, toppling kings from their thrones!
Repent is a word that implies we are wrong; we need to turn around, take a different position, face a different way. We don’t usually link being told we’re wrong with good news! But a better King has arrived. Why is it good news that God rules through his Son Jesus?
In Isaiah 52:7-10 we see that the good tidings = your God reigns. We see salvation when the Lord comes to reign v. 10. This is our confidence that our salvation is complete, that Jesus is God’s King who rules – see examples in the next few chapters in Mark. We can only be rescued from sin, death, evil, the chaos and troubles of this world by someone stronger than these things, by someone who rules the entire universe. Because our God reigns in Jesus, he is able to meet these things and rescue us from them securely.
The response (16-20)
We hear a particular response to a particular sermon in verses 16-20. Jesus’ call to repent and believe to the fishermen means they are to leave and follow. Mark is supplying a good example, a model for us to follow (and of course one he might well have heard from the lips of Peter himself!).
Jesus calls them to follow and be fishers of men. In the Old Testament God is described as the fisher of men: Jeremiah 16:16; Ezekiel 29:4f. but these are gruesome pictures – nations being hooked and caught ready for the judgement. Jesus turns this picture around: they are to catch people for God with the good news, so that they will be hooked and ready for judgement, not to be judged but to be saved in the net of the gospel.
There is no mention of any preparation or prior contact leading up to this call. It’s likely that these men had heard Jesus before, but Mark is telling the story in an abrupt way. He wants us to see two important things: Jesus is in charge, and when he speaks, we are to obey.
You might ask, who does Jesus think he is? He tells two fishermen to give up their careers, for a life with no prospects, no fixed income. He tells two other fishermen to leave their father and the business. “What do I tell my wife? The mother in law?” “What do we tell our father?” Who can just say a word like that and expect instant obedience?
Jesus has the right to rule – he is God’s King, he demonstrates it later by giving orders to evil spirits, the wind and waves, by conquering sickness and death, by forgiving sins. The one with the right to rule all these things has the right to rule your life also.
And so when the King speaks, you do it. Perhaps your ears have grown deaf, hearing dull. The stories are familiar, but you see them as just belonging to the past and out of touch with reality. Perhaps you need to hear that call today and recognise the immediacy of obedience. Is it the case that “the time has come” for you. Time to recognise the King, realise he has the right to rule your life and give way to him. Let it really sink in that he is not merely someone who comes to bring helpful advice, take it or leave it, but that he calls people to put him ahead of their family, ahead of their career and anything else they might cherish. For you is it not time to give up the life of a rebel, a polite, nice rebel, but still a rebel, living in God’s world without God’s King.
Time to step out and be different by following Jesus. James and John’s father and hired men did not follow Jesus; they stayed where they were. Your family, friends and neighbours might think you are nuts for following Jesus. We don’t like to be thought of as odd or different, stepping out of line. But surely we’d rather be caught by the gospel of Jesus and living under his rule and care than cast adrift in the sea of God’s judgement.
Time to step out and be different by fishing for people. To tell others the good news of God is to follow example of Jesus who came as an evangelist (a teller of good news) and of the disciples, fishers of men.
John 1:43-51 Come and see
Have you heard of the six degrees of separation, the idea that everyone is on average only six steps away from any other person on Earth, through introductions, friends of friends and so on? What an exciting idea, if true, for reaching the world with the good news about Jesus, that Christians introduce their friends to Jesus, and these friends introduce others to Jesus, and so on. Far fetched? It is part and parcel of the Christian life that as we come to know God personally through Jesus Christ we are to tell others about him – not in a sermon necessarily, but through our conversations and contacts with other people. That is what we see Philip doing in John 1, as soon as he meets Jesus, he seeks out Nathanael to tell him also.
Nathanael goes to see Jesus Philip has made the greatest discovery anyone can make – he has found Jesus and he has followed Jesus. Not surprisingly he wants to share this with other people, his friend Nathanael, for example. “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (45).
The first piece of evidence we can find about Nathanael is here – he is someone who reads his Bible.
Moses, the Law and the prophets are mentioned here – if Nathanael was not a Bible reader, these words and phrases would mean very little to him. Philip must have known something about Nathanael, that he was a man familiar with the Bible and the promises of God in the writings of Moses and the prophets. Moses said that one day the Prophet would arise, one even greater than Moses. The prophets spoke of a king greater than the greatest of them all King David. They said there would be a Servant who would offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the people to bring them back God. Well, that man has now come, said Philip, we have met him and his name is Jesus.
While Nathanael has been waiting and hoping for God’s promises to come, perhaps he has become a little tired, a little cynical as to whether it might really be true. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Maybe he can’t make sense of it, didn’t the prophet speak of God’s king coming from Bethlehem? Maybe he is a little bit prejudiced – Nathanael came from Cana (John 21:2), Nazareth’s neighbouring town in northern Israel, has local rivalry taken over and clouded his thinking?
“Come and see.” That is the best answer to give to the question. Nathanael wasn’t really asking about Nazareth, it would have been such a waste of time to give a long answer as to why Nazareth should be the town. Today people have intellectual questions about the Christian faith, and sometimes they are genuine and real concerns, but sometimes people ask these questions but they’re not the real questions they want answered – is God really there? Does he care? What about my life? The best answer we can give is “Come and see” – investigate Jesus personally, look at who he is and what he has come to do, is he a man of his word and a man of integrity to be trusted?
So Nathanael makes his way towards Jesus. But before Nathanael reaches, sees, or assesses Jesus,
Jesus sees Nathanael. “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” (47) This is the second piece of information we have about Nathanael, he was an honest man.
As this conversation progresses we are given little reminders and hints of Jacob the father of the Israelites. He was a cheat, a deceiver and a swindler from birth, and yet God changed him – it was a struggle but his name and his character were changed. Nathanael is an Israelite, a son of Jacob, but unlike his ancestor, he is not a deceiver, there is no guile, nothing false in this man’s life.
Naturally Nathanael is astonished: How do you know me? Answer: “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” What does it mean to be under a fig tree? Literally it means to sit under its shade, but it might also mean to be at home (1 Kings 4:25, Zechariah 3:10), or the rabbis spoke of a fig tree as a place of prayer. So we might even say Nathanael was a praying man. Had Nathanael been reading the story of Jacob recently from the Bible in these times of devotion? Perhaps Jesus is telling Nathanael here, “I know your prayers, I know how you met with God, I know that spiritual experience that no-one else knows about.” How could Jesus know this, unless he was God?
Nathanael realizes this also, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” (49) Jesus is more than a rabbi or teacher, he is Son of God, King of Israel.
Nathanael will see greater things Nathanael has believed because of a miracle – Jesus saw him and knew about him. But Nathanael will believe and be convinced about Jesus because of greater things that he will see. “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (51).
Now we never read of such an event in the New Testament, nowhere does Nathanael, or any other disciple witness such a sight. Jesus is drawing Nathanael back to the story of Jacob in the Old Testament. In Genesis 28, Jacob has a dream of a ladder with the angels ascending and descending, with God almighty standing at the top. Jesus is telling Nathanael, as you follow me, as you share life with me and see me, you will see God, you will see the way to heaven, you will see glory. And that glory isn’t simply seen in miracles to make you go ‘wow’ and to make people happy, that glory will be seen on a bloody cross, in my death on a lonely hill. That glory will be seen as I become that ladder into heaven, as I open heaven up to sinful, deceitful people, that way for people to know God and to meet God.
Nathanael’s ancestor Jacob was a cheat and a conman. He needed to be forgiven and a new start if he was to know God and be part of God’s kingdom.
Nathanael was a good man, and an honest man. He still needed to be forgiven and a new start if he was to know God and be part of God’s kingdom. Even though he was a man who read the Bible and a man who prayed, he needed to come to Jesus if he was to know God and know God’s life in his life. The same is true for us, no matter how good, honest, moral and upright we are, no matter how religious we are, how much we pray or read the Bible, we need to come to Jesus Christ. If we want to know God, to know that God has forgiven us, to know that we have life with God here and in heaven, we need to come to Jesus Christ.
- “Come and see” is a wonderful exciting invitation for us. That’s what God would invite us to do. That’s how it all begins, have we responded? Are we honest people, willing to look at Jesus honestly and openly to see for ourselves if this is the God’s Son, God’s King?
- “Come and see” is only the start of it. It is a continuing invitation. Nathanael came, he saw, he was told he would see greater things. Are we growing in our relationship with Jesus, talking to him and discovering new things about him day by day?
- “Come and see” is such a wonderful exciting invitation. Have we given that invitation to others also? It might be an invitation to a church meeting or event, giving a gospel leaflet or having a quick chat about Jesus. Not go and see, but come and see – journey with people, parents with children, husbands with wives, friends coming together to discover and meet Jesus Christ for themselves. It’s too good an invitation to keep to ourselves!
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