Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon
5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.1 2 And when Jesus2 had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 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.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed3 man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus4 to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 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.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus’s Daughter
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing5 what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus6 saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
Footnotes
[1] 5:1
Some manuscripts Gergesenes; some Gadarenes
[2] 5:2Greek he; also verse 9
[3] 5:15Greek daimonizomai (demonized); also verses 16, 18; elsewhere rendered oppressed by demons
[4] 5:17Greek him
[5] 5:36Or ignoring; some manuscripts hearing
[6] 5:38Greek he (ESV)
Author: Disciples Church
The Parable of the Sower
4:1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.1 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
A Lamp Under a Basket
21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
The Parable of the Seed Growing
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.
Jesus Calms a Storm
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Footnotes
[1] 4:17
Or stumble (ESV)
A Man with a Withered Hand
3:1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus,1 to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
A Great Crowd Follows Jesus
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
The Twelve Apostles
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,2 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers3 are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Footnotes
[1] 3:2
Greek him
[2] 3:18Greek kananaios, meaning zealot
[3] 3:32Other manuscripts add and your sisters (ESV)
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
2:1 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Jesus Calls Levi
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of1 the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat2 with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”3
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of4 Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Footnotes
[1] 2:16
Some manuscripts and
[2] 2:16Some manuscripts add and drink
[3] 2:22Some manuscripts omit But new wine is for fresh wineskins
[4] 2:26Or in the passage about (ESV)
Categories
Saturday Study
Saturday Study
Revelation 19-22 & Mark 1 (12.7.19)
Grab your Bible and let’s go deeper into Mark chapter 1.
First, who is Mark?
Mark was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ life, but was a secretary/translator for Peter who was one of Christ’s disciples. Mark took Peter’s eyewitness testimony and pieced it together into the narrative that is the Gospel of Mark that we know today. This then helps make sense of the fact that Peter is present in every part of Mark’s Gospel.
What are the Gospels?
The word gospel means “news”, specifically, good news of an event.
THE GOSPEL–the GOOD NEWS–the greatest news of the biggest event in all of history is about Jesus Christ. Specifically, the perfect life, torturous death, miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ that gives new life for those whom God calls to repentance and sanctification.
There are four specific Gospels in the New Testament that tell Jesus’ life story. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. For the next few weeks, we will journey together through the Gospel of Mark as we finish this year’s Bible Reading Plan.What is unique about Mark’s Gospel?
A few things that make Mark’s Gospel unique are:
- It is written in the present tense. A fast-paced, action-packed narrative helps Mark able to be read with urgency and importance as to who Jesus is.
- Mark’s Gospel recounts less of Jesus’ teaching and more of Jesus’ doing. I pray that this is a reminder to us not to just hear but to witness and respond likewise with action instead of contemplation only.
- It is a mosaic of events that tell us about Jesus’ ministry on earth. Even though the overall format of Mark’s Gospel is narrative or story, it does not possess a continuous story line, but is a collection of discrete units. The result is a collage or mosaic of the life of Jesus. As you study, put yourself in the position of Mark’s traveling companion as he assembles his documentary on the life of Christ based on Peter’s testimony.
- Finally, there is one more unique characteristic to Mark’s Gospel and that is that Mark’s telling of Jesus’ ministry is given to us in two distinct acts.
ACT 1 (Mark chapters 1-8) is all about Jesus’ identity and authority as KING over all things. The King of Glory, the King of Kings, the Crown of Gold.
ACT 2 (Mark chapters 9-16) is all about Jesus’ sacrifice and death on the cross and the purpose for it. The sacrificial Lamb, the servant Leader, our substitutionary Atonement, the Crown of Thorns.
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark is said to have been the first Gospel that was written so it is fitting that it begins with that phrase.
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The central figure of the Gospel is Jesus Christ. He is the good news.
He is the central figure of all of life, our world, and all that exists.
Jesus Christ is the most significant man to have ever lived in the history of the world.
In fact, human history is divided around His life. We have B.C. which is “Before Christ”
and A.D. which is “Anno Domini” or “the year of our Lord”. Our history literally hinges on this man.
The Scriptures tell us the name we will sing and celebrate of for all of eternity is Jesus Christ. The Scriptures tell us that the world was created at the word of Jesus.
Jesus lived a relatively simple life. He never traveled more than 200 miles from His home. He never wrote a book.
He never married. He never had children, never ran for political office, never oversaw a large company, never made a lot of money. The first 30 years of His life were spent in great simplicity while working a blue-collar job as a carpenter with His dad.
The part of Jesus’ life that this book covers is the last three years of His life. He spent them doing ministry, preaching, teaching, performing miracles while mentoring a small group of average Joes. Jesus Christ was then falsely arrested & publicly tortured and murdered at the age of 33!
This is the beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
We are given two titles after Jesus’ name. Christ and Son of God.
Let’s look further at these important titles to better understand who Jesus is.
Christ:
The Greek word is “Christos” meaning “an anointed royal figure”.
Christ is also translated in the Hebrew as “the Messiah”.
The Messiah was the ONE foretold in Jewish history who would come reconcile God’s people to God. The Redeemer.
So, Jesus CHRIST is the anointed royal Figure. A KING!
He is not just a KING.. He is THE King. The ONE mankind has been waiting for.
He is the One who would redeem God’s people from the slavery of sin and death and deliver us to eternal victory in life with God.
Son of God:
Mark ups the stakes all the way by also using the title SON OF GOD.
In other words, He is “Divinity”. He is God.
A minute ago, I said He was not just “A King” but “THE King”.
SON OF GOD takes His kingship to another level. He is not just a King, not just the greatest King to wear a crown. HE is the KING OF THE KINGS, THE LORD OF LORDS, the Creator and RULER of the Heavens and the Earth.
He is The SON OF GOD. Upon which NOTHING holds a higher rank! NOTHING.
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In the first twelve words of the Gospel of Mark, we are told that:
this is a story
about a man named Jesus
who is the Christ, the anointed royal One, the Messiah
who has been foretold since the most ancient roots of Israel that He would come and reconcile God’s people once and for all to God Himself.
And if that were not enough:
this Christ, this Messiah, this royal Redeemer is not an angel, not just a man, but the Son of God in human flesh. He is the divine Redeemer King.
To cement and validate this epic introduction, Mark refers back to Isaiah’s famous prophetic passage about the man who would announce the Messiah’s arrival.
Mark 1:2-3 It is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—
a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
Then in verse 4, he goes on to say that John the Baptist is the announcer, the preparer, the messenger, the voice!
Mark 1:4-6 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
The wild hippie man, John the Baptist, was the one who would announce the arrival of the Messiah, the Redeemer, the LORD.
John definitely understood the power, the magnitude of the One he was setting the table for. As he says in Mark 1:7-8, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Not even worthy to untie his filthy sandals. That is like me walking up to you and saying, “I am so below you that I am not worthy to wipe snot from your nose with my bare hand.”
Now, this is either a recognition of how low you are or how HIGH the person you speak of is.
In this case, it was both. He understood how low he was in the towering shadow of the Son of GOD!
Back to Mark’s introduction of Jesus to us.
He has made it clear that Jesus is royalty like no other the world has ever known and the One who has been prophesized about and expected like no other. He is the KING.
Our first glimpse of Jesus in Mark’s telling of his story is not His birth or childhood experiences like other Gospels tell. Instead Mark skips right to His baptism. This is Jesus’ commissioning for ministry. In His baptism, we get to see an even fuller picture of who the SON of God is.
Mark 1:10-11 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
In these two verses, we get to see the Trinity at work.
The Triune Godhead, a tri-unity, or three in oneness.
The Scriptures teach us that there is one God who eternally and equally exists in three Persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each Person is fully God and the three make up our ONE GOD.
Here we see Jesus, GOD THE SON, being baptized.
GOD the Father saying “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
GOD the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus like a dove.
Now the imagery of the dove to you and me is not unusual if you have been in the church for any amount of time.
But, it is super significant here. The only other time in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is likened to a dove is in Genesis 1:2, “… the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The way the Hebrew rabbis would commonly translate Genesis 1:1-3 is like this:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God fluttered above the deep like a dove. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Just as all three were active in the Creation of the universe, they are active in Jesus’ baptism.
Mark, right out the door, wants us to see the Trinity. Not just Jesus! But all three as GOD.
He wants us to see that God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is going to be instrumentally active in the redemption process and renewal of all things.
Now, look at what follows. The Trinity is at work in Jesus’ commissioning to ministry.
Mark 1:12-13 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
The first glimpse of Jesus in MARK is at His baptism where the Trinity commissions Jesus to ministry.
But where does it go next? To the desert where Jesus will be tempted by Satan just like Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden.
Jesus, like Adam, will know and experience the amazing perfection of the Trinity and then have to contend with temptation and the threat of death.
Now, that is the end of our passage for today. The question here needs to be, “So, what?”
Why is this good news? This is good news to us because the first Adam failed.
Mankind chooses to be self-centered and rebel against life, against God.
We try to make this life around our self-centered, sinful existence.
In this, we choose the battlefield that we now know as life in this world–full of sin and death.
This is what Satan tempted Adam and Eve with, “Eat the Apple and make the world revolve around you.”
Now, Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptation doesn’t tell us what the temptations were.
But Matthew’s account does. The temptation is the same thing Satan used successfully on Adam.
He basically tells Jesus, “You can make it all about you. Have it all revolve around you!”
BUT, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer King, He stood face to face with the enemy on the battleground you and I face every day and instead of saying, “Ok. Let’s make it all about me.” He chooses to stay in the dance of the Trinity. He chooses to not be self-centered, but to remain other-centered, to remain in LOVE and the glory of the Godhead. He chooses life.
Now watch this:
God told Adam and Eve to obey Him regarding the tree in the middle of the garden. Right?
DO NOT eat of it. But they did eat of it and denied God and chose death. We all did.
God the Father told God the Son, Jesus, to obey Him about a tree too. That tree was the cross.
But the flip was that in obeying God the Father, Jesus would die.
He willingly stepped into the heart of the battle so that He could draw you and me into the heart of the Trinity–into LIFE.
What Jesus has known and experienced for all eternity is the beauty and love and satisfaction of the dance and He has come to offer it to you.
He has come as the KING of royalty above all other kings but He has also come as the King of sacrifice who would exchange His crown of gold for a crown of thorns so that you and I could live forever with Him and for His glory.
This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. May our entire lives be all about it.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Joshua Kirstine
Disciples Church