Lesson # 2 | Mark 1:14-31 | THE NATURE OF THE CALL AND THE CALLER

I. Greetings:

            Note:  If someone came to one of our youth groups and said:  "What is your group all about?"  What would we say to them? 

            Q What is our message to our neighbors around the church here?

               An = Certainly we would say we are a "Church", specifically a "christian church".  We are a group that is centered on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. 

            Q So how should we say it?  How could we tell our relatives and neighbors the nature of the "Christian Religion".

               An = Lets see how Jesus Christ defined the "Christian religion"

 

II.  What is Jesus all about?  What is His Message?

>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:14-15

            Q  What are the two parts to Jesus' message?

               An = The two key issues to this summary of Jesus' preaching are:  1)  something is here and 2) here is what you should do about it. 

            Lets look at the first of these items.  Jesus says the time is ripe, the time is ready, and the "Kingdom of God" is at hand.  Something is here, seemingly accessible, and Jesus calls it the "Kingdom of God".

   A.  The Kingdom Of God

            Q What is the kingdom of God?

               An = Let them give their various answers and then simply state:  "The kingdom of God is where God is king.  It is where God has rulership."

            Q So what is Jesus saying has come near?

               An = The place where God is in control, the opportunity for God's control to be manifested is near.

   B. Repent and Believe

            Q What are we to do according to 1:15?  What is our role?  

               An = repent and believe in the Gospel.

            Q What do these two words mean? 

               An = We have heard these words so much there is the risk they can become meaningless.  So lets try a new approach and see if Mark himself explains what these words mean!  Lets allow Mark to begin to tell us what "repent and believe" and the "kingdom of God" mean.

 

III.  The Called:  first installment on what it means to repent and believe.  Mark 1:16-20

>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:16-20.

            Q Did Jesus call the elite to be His disciples? 

               An = No, He called blue-collar workers.  When God came to earth and picked men to carry the most important message the world was to ever hear, He picked blue-collar working class individuals.  He picked men who knew how to work hard with their hands.  Never despise those who work with their hands, God did not!!   >>>>  I Samuel 16:1-13, 17:34-35.

            Q How did they respond?  How did the disciples "repent and believe"?  What did they do that we can do so that the "kingdom of God" can come near us?

               An = They were called, and their call involved leaving things in order to follow Jesus.  It involved a cost.  The disciples had to leave behind their occupation and security.  To be involved with the true Jesus will entail us leaving things behind like our occupation.  

                 Note:  Jesus might ask us to leave behind specific things if we really want to follow Him.  What those specific things might be, I have found to be different for each person.

                        Q  Does the call come to follow an organization (church) or a belief system, or a Person?

               An = If you have been called to anything but Jesus Himself it is not an adequate call.

            Q   Does the call include a calling to a task?  What is it?

               An = That task was not a great career but a task in behalf of others, for others.  We are to fish for men.  We are to seek souls.  We are not to build organizations, or our reputation, but "fish for men".

            Note: = If we are not dominated by the need to reach lost souls then something is wrong.  Maybe this will help us define our first term, the term of "repentance".

            Note:  We said we wanted to see how Mark defined repentance.  First note that the word in Hebrew, literally means "to turn".

            Q What does John, James, etc. turn from?

               An = They left fishing and a parent.

            Q What is bad about fishing? 

               An = Nothing.  Jesus in Mark 2 calls Levi from a job that was sinful, but not all that He calls us from is wrong.  Sometimes "the good can be the enemy of the best".  To obey Him = to follow = to leave = for the sake of the kingdom.  It does matter what, but at times certain things must be left behind for the sake of our involvement in the kingdom.  Even if those things are good parents and good jobs.  Some times good things need to be left behind.

            Where Jesus reigns, where the Kingdom of God is people, hard-working people, are called.  If the Kingdom of God is near then people will be called to Him.  Their task will be reaching souls, and the call will cost them their security and comfort zones.

 

IV.  The One That Calls Us To Follow:  Powerful and Compassionate.  Mark 1:21-31

            Note:  Remember a call also implies a "caller".  It is important to know who it is that calls.  There are perhaps two words that could summarize what Mark tells us about the Invitor:  power and compassion.  

   A.  Compassionate Power Over Demons.  Mark 1:21-28.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:21-28.

            Q How hard did Jesus have to struggle to cast out the demon?

               An = Little or no struggle.  Jesus spoke, the demons tried to make a last hurrah, but had to obey and left the poor person. 

            Q  Is there a parallel to Jesus' authority?  Is there power like His?

            Q  Do the demons understand His power?  Do they try to contest it?

               An =  Jesus stops them a with a word.  He performs no ritual, spell or magical action.  He merely speaks.  He does not struggle, the demon is no match for His power.

            Q  Does Jesus accept the witness of the Devil?

   B.  Compassionate Power Over Illness.  Mark 1:29-31.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 1:29-31.

            Q How does Jesus heal this time?  Does He use words?

               An =  Notice Jesus heals her not with a word but by simply taking her by the hand.  There is no ritual or technique to Jesus' healing.  There is almost a casualness about the means. 

            Q What does Peter's mother do after she is healed?

               An = Notice that when Jesus touches us we are given the dignity of giving back.  This tells us something about Peter's mother. 

            Note:  A great Scottish motto:  "Saved to Serve".  Perhaps, the key thing for some of us today is to realize that if we have received, we need to give.  Perhaps, our own spiritual health is tied to what we can do now that we are saved.

            Q  What do both stories have in common?

               An = In both stories the power of Jesus is beneficial for the human beings involved.  In the first, there is a man, overcome by the devil and in the other a woman, overcome by illness.  Jesus restores them to their "normalness".  He gives them back "health" which is defined in different ways according to different needs.

            Q  Does He charge money or seek to gain for Himself?

            Q  Can these two healings be a clue as to whether someone is truly like Jesus and should be followed as His representative? 

            Q  What are the clues that someone is truly like Jesus from just these two stories?

 

V.  Conclusion a Look at the Aspect of Legitimization: 

   A.  Legitimization of the Caller.  Jesus is worthy to be followed as God Himself is worthy to be followed.  First, Jesus has power.  He is a powerful leader.  Second, His power is compassionate.  It heals and delivers those who are oppressed and those who are sick.  

   B.  Legitimization of the Called.  There can be no true following of Jesus without cost, without leaving something behind.  He calls us to Himself and to a task.  We want to be like Simon's mother.