Mark 1:12-28
Introduction--
I want this time to spur on your personal bible study—hopefully you've already received some insights that have helped you!
Last week we began our study of Mark by looking at 3 ways Jesus was introduced
This week we're going to look at How Jesus Began His Life of Impact
Note: We're going to be in Mark 1 for a couple more lessons because I want you to see studying contextually with a reasonable amount of depth and breadth. We're going to increase the amount of verses we look at as we go forward.
To have eternal impact, Jesus was first prepared (vss12-13)
Lets take a quick stab, why did Jesus go through these trials?
Look ahead to the next couple of verses: it was right before His ministry began.
Also read a parallel passage to show the bigger picture: Hebrews 2:14-18
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
God saw it necessary that Jesus first suffer 40 days of extreme trial—like going to boot camp before the war
Here we see the process God has for developing His leaders, starting with the top leader—Jesus, the One we do all things through!
So, what is the benefit of going through trials and temptations?
Jesus went through intense and focused self-denial.
We can't overcome anything till we overcome ourselves.
Jesus first overcame self in order that He could overcome the world!
How many of us rejoice when we go through trials?
But that is exactly what God calls us to do: James 1:2-4
We should rejoice in preparation, but why don't we?
Illustration: How much sense would it make for an athlete to make a significant contribution to the team without practicing with the team? Similarly, or how useful would a soldier be to his commanding officer if he never went through boot camp? Wouldn't you be insecure about visiting a doctor who never went through a rigorous and reputable training institution?
With these kinds of things we understand the need for preparation for a person to have impact in those areas.
Why then do we set off to accomplish great feats without the training it takes to prepare?
If Jesus needed to prepare for His great feats through intense focus and self-denial, can we expect to reach our goals without preparation?
I know the temptation to think highly of ourselves, but we got to think sober—we may think we're standing strong (I'm proud of you who have gone after your physical and academic training), but are you taking seriously your spiritual training.
Juma Ikanga, a long-distance runner whose weekly regimen includes 140 miles of high-altitude training: "The will to win is nothing without the will to prepare."
Jesus went through this intense trial, and as we'll see, it developed a tough attitude in Him toward the spiritual battle
The spiritual war is waging, and all of us must get a tougher attitude—so we too might need to fast a pray.
The person of impact has a message of good news (vss14-15)
Is there any greater message than the one Jesus brought?
Here is the good news of Jesus' message: "The opportunity of entering God's kingdom is laid before you...change your minds and believe this good news!"
What an attractive message that an intimate relationship with God is within everyone's reach!
What if Jesus came saying, "Now listen to me! None of you are going to heaven because of your sins. The kingdom of God is close, but none of you are in it yet because of the sin in your life!"
Instead Jesus speaks what was clearly on the positive side, an opportunity
Although He is upfront that it will come at a cost—what two things are needed from us?
Repentance—literally to change one's mind ("be transformed in the renewing of your minds" -- Romans 12:3)
Belief—holding on to the unseen promises with actions of obedience (James 2)
From what He says, and how He said it, what do you think are Jesus' expectations?
Jesus expected people to would respond positively and immediately!
God wants us to inspire people to follow Him the same way Jesus did.
Not forcefully jamming the message down people's throats—being forcefully insensitive!
But being forcefully urgent is good—people are inspired to take the first step because they see the way we're going after God. How can we inspire people to be urgent if we ourselves are not urgent?
I don't think God wants any one of us feeling overburdened or else He wouldn't of said "cast all your anxieties on me...My burden is easy and My Yoke is light" (Matthew 10:28-30).
Here we do see Jesus' urgency—I don't gather that Jesus was so laid back about people being saved.
He knew "life was like a mist" and "seek God while you have the chance" because the truth is that it may be their last chance or only opportunity!
However, we must also be like Jesus and give people an attainable vision, where they see His kingdom within reach.
So many people feel too guilty and weighed down to see God's good news—they don't see anything good about themselves and so it is hard to believe the gospel.
We need to help those kinds of people—like we see Jesus does—becoming weak to the weak!
Others just don't have direction—not knowing the steps to take in order to have the relationship with God that He desires.
Also like Jesus, we need to show it with our lives and with God's word!
The Call to Impact (vs.16-18)
Jesus began His ministry by calling men to have an impact on the world!
How is that significant?
He could have initially invited them to grace, love, forgiveness, salvation, the excitement of watching miracles—because He would provide all these things eventually
Instead He chose to emphasize "being made fishers of men!"
You catch fish for money and food, now you will catch souls for God!
Just to note: we know from the overall gospel that Jesus began His ministry on the same note He would leave His ministry (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-19), calling those who follow Him to have a life of impact
As we'll see in the study of Mark...the beginning, end, and all throughout Jesus ministry, He was concerned with raising people up to carry on this ministry of impact, which is bringing people into the Lordship of Jesus!
Jesus began His ministry by calling men "to follow" Him
What's significant about Jesus' words, "Come, follow Me?"
It was a call of imitation
Imitating His life-style
Similarly, as disciples of Jesus, we can't back off calling people to follow our life-style!
1Corinthians 11:1 "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
because people need to see Jesus being imitated
seeing Jesus being imitated and coming into that relationship of imitation
It is the challenge to all that call themselves disciples of Jesus to become what we can call people to become—we have God's grace to meet this challenge, and because of that we can't shrink from that challenge!
To make a difference in this world, you must first decide to be different—Jesus is nothing like this world!
Something we can miss, Jesus calls them to be "fishers of men," but do you see how Jesus is fishing/trolling for men by doing it?
Jesus called them to a mutual commitment
What is significant about Jesus' statement "I will make you?"
If they would indeed commit themselves to follow Him, He committed Himself to their ultimate success.
Jesus had that when He physically walked the earth and He has that spiritually with all of us today as His disciples
Mutual commitment is what Jesus wants with us in our personal relationship with Him
It is also the kind of relationships we need to have with one another
Jesus called men of character
What do you notice about their response?
They must have had a tremendous level of respect and humility toward Jesus to follow Him like the did
But it was Jesus who knew who to call—He knew what was in a man!
John 1:35-51 shows the little time Jesus spent with them before this official "calling"
We're not divine like this, but it is true that we can become more spiritually perceptive:
Hebrews 4:12-13 show how God's word deals with people's hearts
It is valuable to be able to recognize the person who has a great attitude and teachable spirit
If we're dealing with the sin of our hearts, we're going to be able to see more clearly into other people's hearts
Jesus called by relating to them
Jesus capitalized on their desire to do something great
Can you imagine that they were a little curious about what it meant to be "fishers of men?"
Also, with His statement, "fishers of men," Jesus spoke in familiar language to them
He also showed them He cared about their interest
Impact begins with individuals
People will do awesome things when they feel special—we need to have people we're investing in
We might think it would be the most effective use of time to preach powerfully to the masses, but Jesus emphasized changing the world one person at a time
Since Jesus believed individual change is how we change the world, we too must also believe in the importance of individuals
(To have Impact) Jesus Called Men to Rise to The Challenge
John 2 shows these guys already spent considerable time with Jesus, even seeing Him perform a miracle
We can estimate the amount of time it took from when they first met Jesus until they came to an "immediate" heart to follow Him
They already traveled with Jesus to Cana and Jerusalem, then they went back to fishing
Jesus showed then His greatness and His interest in them
Acts 4:13 it is good to read this verse at this point to imagine how much Jesus must of believed in these ordinary guys.
We actually have one up on them because we're blessed to have an education!
These guys had sin and character issues just like we do, yet went on to have an impact that reaches us today!
That says more about Jesus' vision for them than anything!
Along with this, what does Jesus calling them "without delay" say about Jesus?
Jesus Took Action (vs.21)
He was a man of initiative—He was proactive—not failing to take action
We need to take initiative to have any kind of spiritual impact on our lost world
It is one thing to have great dreams—awesome prayer requests to God—and another to act on it with faith. God want us to have faithful prayers and to faithfully take action.\
How does it look if we...
Have the prayer to meet someone who gets baptized, and not share with even 2 new people a week?
Pray to be closer to the brothers and sister in the ministry, but you spend little time with them outside of church services?
You pray to have a great walk with God, yet you're praying and reading the Bible daily (listening to Him and talking with Him)?
Jesus took action and so should we!
Jesus: Authoritative not Authoritarian (vs.22-28)
Jesus lets people decide for themselves, but He definitely let them know what they would have to do in order to follow Him
Plus, He let them know the consequences if they chose not to follow Him
John 14:6 "No one comes to the Father except through Me."
How much authority do we have?
Matthew 28:18-20, if we're living with His mission, we have all His authority to carry it out!
What makes us bashful about speaking with authority?
We cannot let the misuse of authority in the past cause us to be shy about acting properly with it—Jesus didn't and people were inspired!
Conclusion-
Looking at the life of Jesus, we learned how to begin to lives of impact:
We must develop character through trials
We must carry the message of good news about salvation in Christ – important to be able to teach it to others
We must inspire people with the vision God has for them
It is a call of Impact
We must take action
We must have confidence in God, speaking His word with authority
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