Faithful on Fridays Blog

Mark 3&4

As we maintain our cruising altitude over the gospel of Mark we find Jesus drawn back to the synagogue, to minister to His people, with the enemy closing in. The religious leaders, driven by Satan, are watching and waiting for an opportunity to destroy Him; to cut Him off (vs. 6). Isn’t that just like the devil in our lives? He watches and waits until we put ourselves in a place of temptation and seizes the moment.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10 

Jesus, knowing their hearts, needed to expose legalism; they cared more about rules than people. Jesus got angry, He was passionately against their sin, and yet He grieved for them. His deep emotional pain brought such sorrow to His heart; they had become callous, hard-hearted toward the very people of their ministry.

Satan is quite active in Jesus’ ministry and His demons must tell the truth about Him (vs. 11): “You are the Son of God.” Now, that’s authority. 

Jesus carefully chose His followers who watched and learned the ways of God from Him and sent them out to preach with His authority, hmmmmm, sounds like His followers today.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:18-19 

Jesus’ family tried to do an intervention (vs. 20); that’s funny because He’s the Son of God. They thought He was crazy (that’s the Greek word!) and the religious leaders joined in but added demon possession to the charge. Jesus closed out Chapter Three by telling us whoever does the will of God is His family.

Jesus goes into teaching mode in Chapter Four and shows us the simple yet profound technique of telling stories or parables. Understanding the lower story of a parable is the springboard to understanding the upper story or the spiritual significance for us; Jesus even gave the explanation (4:13-20) and we use that as a grid for all of His parables.

Lastly, the disciples asked Him a question (vs. 38) that sometimes arises in our hearts as well. “Don’t you care?” Jesus didn’t pray here; He used His God-authority to verbally warn the natural elements (wind and water) to calm down. Holy awe filled everyone.

What are some facets of Jesus’ Spiritual Identity from these chapters?

1. He’s persistent; He returned to His people.
2. He got angry at sin but grieved over hard hearts.
3. He wasn’t intimidated by His enemies.
4. Jesus had family issues too.
5. He was relevant as He taught simple truths.
6. Jesus demonstrated power over creation; He’s God of the supernatural.

Let’s again look at Jesus and see where we have become like Him.

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1