Opportunity Knocks – Mark 6:37

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opportunity-knocks“But Jesus said, You feed them. With what? they asked. We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” (Mark 6:37, NLT).

Before Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand (or ten or fifteen thousand, actually), He first commanded the disciples to feed them!

Now His command could be interpreted in two ways. Either Jesus was commanding the disciples to let Him empower them to perform the miracle or He was trying to teach them a lesson about God’s miraculous provisioning.

We usually interpret His command to the disciples in terms of the latter, but let’s take the perspective that He was actually commanding them to feed the five or ten or fifteen thousand.

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The Baddest Man In the World – Mark 5:1-20

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MyNameIsLegionForWeAreMany“And Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, ‘Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.’ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea…As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.And he did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (Mark 5:9-13, 18-20, ESV).

As Jesus was preaching on the east side of the sea of Galilee, He encountered a man possessed or controlled by evil spirits or demons.

This man lived alone in a cemetery and he was so bad that the people living in the region had tried to bind him with shackles and chains but he was always able to break the chains apart.

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God Uses Rejects – Psalm 118:22-23

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rejected“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord; it is wonderful in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23, HCSB).

I am a member of a men’s Sunday School class attended by several business and professional men in the community.

I know what you are thinking. You guys just sit around and talk about sports, politics, and business and not much time is spent discussing the Sunday School lesson.

Not so with these guys!  They study and discuss the lesson.

I remember one class where the Sunday School lesson was on the resurrection of Jesus and  the men discussed how God seems to carry out His plans and purposes in the most unexpected ways. They observed that  it was the women, not the apostles that were the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. It was shepherds, not the religious leaders whom God told about the birth of the Savior.

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The Good Thing About Death – Psalm 116:15

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eternal-life-road-sign“The death of His faithful ones is valuable in the Lord’s sight” (Psalm 116:15, HCSB).

While Easter is the time we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection, we are also reminded that just as Jesus died and was resurrected, the only way human beings enter into eternal life is through the death of the physical body.

The Apostle Paul said, “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (I Corinthians 15:36).

Now, maybe it sounds morbid to say that death is the way to eternal life, but the fact is, you have to die to live eternally. As human beings, we strive for eternal life and death and resurrection are the means through which we enter into eternal life.

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It’s Personal – Matthew 28:18-20

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Will_You_Make_it_Personal“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).

In these verses that are known as the Great Commission, Jesus articulates to His disciples their mission just prior to His ascension into heaven.

Jesus simply tasks them with the job of making more disciples. And, to accomplish this task, He said He would be right there with them (and us) to help make more disciples.

The accomplishment of the Great Commission is a process we call evangelism. We develop many strategies and programs for evangelism. But, evangelism is not intended to be as complicated a process as we make it. And, it’s certainly not meant to be done only by ministry professionals such as pastors, evangelists, and youth ministers.

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The Unproductive Disciple – Mark 4:16-19

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The Unproductive Disciple - Mark 4:16-19“The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced” (Mark 4:16-19, NLT).

This well-known parable of Jesus has been taught and preached many times over and most of us know its lessons well.

According to Jesus, when the message of the coming of the Kingdom of God is told, there are four categories of people who hear the message.

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I’ve Got a Secret – Mark 4:10-11

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“When He was alone with the Twelve, those who were around Him asked Him about the parables. He answered them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables” (Mark 4:10-11. HCSB).

Jesus made this statement to the twelve apostles after telling the all-familiar parable of the sower.

Now, a secret is usually some knowledge or information that one keeps hidden from others. But sometimes a secret is knowledge or information that is unknown to others but should be revealed.

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The Discerning Christian – Leviticus 10:10

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“You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean” (Leviticus 10:10, NLT).

Moses gave these instructions to Aaron’s sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, on the occasion of the fiery death of their two older brothers, Nadab and Abihu.

As Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu served as priests in the Tabernacle. As priests they were tasked with keeping a fire burning constantly on the bronze altar of the Tabernacle and supplying coals from the altar for burning incense in the Tabernacle.

Perhaps careless from drinking wine, Nadab and Abihu took coals from another source. This violation of God’s instructions resulted in God’s judgment on them and their subsequent deaths.

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Complete Transformation – Mark 2:21-22

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“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” (Mark 2:21-22, NLT).

Jesus made these analogies in response to questioning from indignant Pharisees as to why Jesus’s disciples didn’t fast like the disciples of John the Baptist (vs. 18).

Jesus responded that the guests at a wedding celebrate with the groom; they don’t fast with the groom (vs. 19).

Jesus was saying that the customs and traditions of the old covenant are incompatible with the arrival of God’s Kingdom.

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You’ve Got to Go Through It – Psalm 107:6-9

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“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He rescued them from their distress. He led them by the right path to go to a city where they could live. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love and His wonderful works for all humanity. For He has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things” (Psalm 107:6-9, HCSB).Psalm 107 contains a powerful message of God’s lovingkindness and deliverance.

The fundamental message of the Psalm is that when people encounter adversity, if they cry out to God for help, He will rescue them from their troubles.

You’ve heard this message before, many times, but the Psalmist’s proclamation of God’s faithful love, His covenant loyalty, His chesed, in this Psalm is so powerful that it warrants further consideration.

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