Hebrews 4:14-16
[14] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the
Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
[15] For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
[16] Let us then approach God's throne of
grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of
need.
Hebrews 12:1-3
[12:1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw
off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us,
[2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and
perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[3] Consider him who endured such
opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Mark 6:1-29
[1] Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.
[2] When the
Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been
given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?
[3] Isn't this the
carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't
his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
[4] Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his
relatives and in his own home.”
[5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands
on a few sick people and heal them.
[6] He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.
[7] Calling the Twelve to him, he
began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. [8] These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no
bag, no money in your belts. [9] Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. [10] Whenever you
enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. [11] And if any place will not welcome
you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against
them.”
[12] They went out and preached that people should repent. [13] They drove out many
demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
[14] King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were
saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers
are at work in him.”
[15] Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
[16] But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the
dead!”
[17] For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and
put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had
married.
[18] For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your
brother's wife.”
[19] So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But
she was not able to, [20] because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be
a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to
listen to him.
[21] Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high
officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. [22] When the daughter
of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you.” [23] And he
promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
[24] She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
[25] At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now
the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
[26] The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did
not want to refuse her. [27] So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring
John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, [28] and brought back his head on
a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. [29] On hearing of this,
John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Challenging Times -
Mark 6:1-29
Introduction
At the end of his account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, Luke concludes Luke
4:13:
[13] When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
The wilderness was not the end, in fact, it was more like 'I have started, so I'll finish'. Except
it is Jesus who finishes off the power of the devil and persists all the way to the place where
that happens, the cross on Good Friday. There the powers of darkness and evil do their
worst but in doing so the price of sin is paid, death is put to death and those powers are
disarmed.
Colossians 2:15
[15] And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross.
On the way there though, Jesus is regularly confronted, directly or indirectly, by these
malevolent powers and it is probably on two fronts:
First, Satan and his taskforce of unclean or evil spirits.
Second, by the earthly powers of
rulers and leaders who mostly opposed him.
We face similar opposition today. There is an increase in the so called 'new age practices'
which are occultic in nature and there is nothing new about them! We need to be aware
and beware and, avoid contact and pray against what folk are doing round about. Also, we
need to pray they come to Christ.
Also, we live in increasingly secular societies which, in varying degrees, oppose, not least,
Christians.
And, of course, in some parts of the world with a complete ban on worship and
the persecution of believers.
Again prayer is in order'
1 Timothy 2:1-4
[1] I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made
for all people—
[2] for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet
lives in all godliness and holiness.
[3] This is good, and pleases God our Saviour,
[4] who
wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Paul's motive for these prayers is for believers to be free to worship and proclaim Jesus!
We live in challenging times, as did Jesus who was constantly facing challenges, and in our
reading today we see another string of them.
1. Struggling to be heard - vv 1-6a
[1] Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. [2] When the
Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were
amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been
given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? [3] Isn't this the
carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?
Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
[4] Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among
his relatives and in his own home.” [5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his
hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] He was amazed at their lack of faith.
The hometown here is probably Nazareth where he was brought up as opposed to
Capernaum where he lived for a time during his public ministry.
The text seems to support
this strongly.
To start with, many are amazed and it is both his teachings and healings that cause quite a
stir, v 2, but this amazement soon turns to offence, end of v 3.
So, what's the problem?
It is because they know and perceive Jesus and the family who still
are round about.
In brief, he is the lad off the street, the carpenter who fixes this that and
the other.
All this fancy stuff: teaching, wisdom and the ability to heal . . . . it's all too much for us to
take!!
The reality is, Jesus had lived among and with them most of his life and this is just not
the Jesus they know - at all!
Here we are again, and not for the last time today, looking at the question 'who is this?'
We
will return to it more fully next Sunday.
For now, let us note, that many today won't even allow that question to be raised with any
seriousness, and like the people there in Nazareth, and many in the land, reject him without
a second thought.
Sad and challenging, then and now. Jesus for his part, vv 4-5, acknowledges the reality with
a quote and is limited, but not stopped, from being able to do much among them.
As we look round the folk around us, we may feel a similar sadness at the rejection and
brush off Jesus receives from many and should pray that eyes will be opened and for the
tide of unbelief and wholesale rejection to turn.
Within that turning is the basic of the
message 'repent' - change your mind and direction of life.
Jesus' sadness is expresses in v 6 - he is amazed at their lack of faith!
Jesus, persists in anther direction.
2. Sending to be heard - vv 6b-13
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. [7] Calling the Twelve to him, he
began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
[8] These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no
bag, no money in your belts. [9] Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. [10] Whenever you
enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. [11] And if any place will not welcome
you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony
against them.”
[12] They went out and preached that people should repent. [13] They drove out many
demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Two things happening here.
First, Jesus continues his policy of travelling far and wide sowing seed here there and
everywhere. He is the first sower of his own parable.
Second, he is not the only one, and he
now starts the in-service practical training of the twelve, note in v 7 'he began to send', to
send them out in twos sharing his power and authority to preach, teach and heal - vv 12-13
describe their mini mission.
We so often think that it is the 'upfront' people who do all the work of mission but the view
of Jesus is that all have a role in it.
The upfront people may be the public speakers whist the
rest have a personal contact role to fulfil with simple guidelines given here.
Preachers can have a good effect but witnesses from all walks of life who are often not seen
as whatever preachers are seen as by folk, can have a real, vital and powerful impact.
In addition, the upfront people have a role and responsibility
to equip,
encourage and
enable the bigger aspect of mission and gentle evangelism.
We are the body of Christ.
3. Being heard but . . . vv 14-16
. . . . Misunderstood by the people - 14-15
[14] King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were
saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous
powers are at work in him.”
[15] Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
This mini mission and work of Jesus were having a growing impact all round, v 14a, which
included king Herod. The conclusion of the people, here we go again, 'who is this?' is that
Jesus is JTB back from the dead or even Elijah or even one of the prophets.
This is stated again by the disciples when Jesus later asks them the questing, 'who do people
say that I am'. The answer is the same. Of course, he then goes on to ask them, the all important question, 'but who do you say that I am?'.
It is a persistent question and remains
so today.
Back to the people at the time in the passage.
At least they are asking and answering the question that Jesus poses by who he is and what
he does and says. They also are giving him a decent, albeit incorrect, affirmation. They don't
see him, as the teachers of the law and Pharisees have as the prince of demons. Nor do they
see him as his home town did, the carpenter, Mary's son etc.
Could he be Elijah, another prophet or JTB back from the dead? All of them were important
and significant figures.
Oh, that today people would up the stakes as to who Jesus is because then we can take
them by the hand, so to speak, and lead them on to see who he really is and what he has
actually done. I say it again, 'pray'.
And there's more, because all this is also . . .
. . .
Misunderstood by Herod - v 16
[16] But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from
the dead!”
There's a difference to note. The folk are looking in interest as to who Jesus could be but
part of their answer leaves Herod quaking in fear that JTB has come back not to haunt him
but confront him once again with his evil and sick ways in his personal life, a wrong marriage
- vv 17-18, his stupidity at a feast - vv 21-26, and his callousness to acquiesce to a request
born out of personal grudge held by Herodias v 19 and executing him, JTB, whom he feared,
protected, viewed as a holy man and liked to listen to - v 20.
What could happen, what was in this sinister man's head at this dawning realisation?
When Jesus is on trial Herod finally gets his chance to meet Jesus as Pilate sends him there,
Luke 23:8ff but he gets no answers from him there at all.
[8] When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been
wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a
sign of some sort. [9] He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.
4. Seeing Power, Pride & Frivolity go horribly wrong - vv 17-29
That's how I choose to entitle this horrible event which I briefly outlined under the last
heading and here don't want to look at it in any more detail as I think the text itself is clear,
sad and graphic enough.
I want to look at this from another standpoint - that of Jesus.
We are not told he was told but undoubtedly, he would know most of what we read at
some stage or other.
My title is 'Challenging Times' and I am sure that Jesus hearing about this would have found
it challenging at the very least.
Remember, Jesus and John were related and they were born a matter of months apart. They
couldn't be direct cousins as there was a generation gap. John's mother, Elizabeth was old
and past childbearing until the Lord intervened.
Mary, a direct relative of Elizabeth, was at
the other end of the spectrum and very young - it's all there in Luke's early birth narrative.
So, in brief, John and Jesus were close blood relatives. They possibly played together as
children but more than that, John had fulfilled the significant, highly significant, biblical role
of being the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Lord - none other than Jesus.
If Jesus wept at the grave of a friend, Lazarus, hearing now that John was dead must have
struck a deep, sad and painful note for him.
Herod, was a weak, stupid man who let party merriment be an opportunity for revenge
from and evil woman. I wonder what was in the mind of Jesus when on trial he stood before
Herod? Perhaps all this answers Jesus' silence.
The powers and authorities, human and spiritual, all bear down against Jesus.
We have seen his reaction to people, today, in Nazareth. We have previously noted the
attitudes, actions and reactions of the teachers of the law and Pharisees and their criticisms
and accusations of Jesus.
We know nothing of Jesus' reaction to this with JTB and so can only surmise.
Those in leadership both within the church and elsewhere need prayer.
Power is a
precarious thing and so easy to misuse and abuse - we see and hear about it far too
regularly. We are also aware that in many places people are under not just suffering, but
long term suffering through power abuses and they are wide ranging in their scope.
Pray as
we are exhorted so to do in Scripture.
Also, let us examine our own use of power and authority at personal and church levels!
Too
often the home, the street and the town can be a microcosm of the larger world and its
problems. We need to live in an attitude of repentance and constant change.
Conclusion
When I included Hebrews 4:14-16 I had no conscious intention to coming back to it but now
feel I must because Jesus, who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did
not sin, strikes a chord here.
He faced challenging times, he went through the mill, he was stirred and shaken, beaten
and tortured, etc from straight after his baptism until he died on the cross.
He remained true to his Father's will and the eternal plan for the Kingdom, and the salvation
and changes it brings .
As we look, reflect on life, our lives, God and all he knows, does and how he acts for us, can
take heart and 'run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 'fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith' knowing he ran that race first, won the victory
and shares it with all who profess him as Lord and Saviour.
Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid, says, Jesus as he walks on the water during a storm and
when he rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he does so to face the ultimate storm and
challenge of his life.
Next week we will come to both events in some shape or o
