Mark - Lesson 1...Continued from page 5
Thomas Klock
DAY SIX: Following Christ
1. Mark reminded his readers and us today of some of the key New Testament terms involving one’s salvation and walk with God. The act of being baptized for these Jews would have been a very humbling experience, because the only baptism like this was an act traditionally only for those non-Jews who converted to Judaism. This challenged their very tradition about salvation; this baptism put everyone on the same plane, and meant that all people must to come to God on His terms.[xx] It was also not just an external action, but involved a changed life through repentance and the confession of sin. Baptism in water is an important action that symbolizes our confession of our need of God’s forgiveness, taking steps to repent from the things that grieve Him, and symbolically dying to ourselves so we can walk in newness of life in Christ. There are two things we should consider here in applying these things to our lives:
(1) For those who already have received Christ and have been born again, have you taken the step of obedience of being baptized to publicly proclaim this? Or are there areas of sin that have been creeping back into your life that you have not dealt with before Him that you need to confess, and in His power and strength forsake them? What do you personally need to do about this?
(2) Some of you doing this study may realize that you, like the Jews, have depended on your religion or ancestry to try to achieve salvation, and you have seen that maybe you truly haven’t put your complete trust in Jesus by faith to save you from the penalty of your sins. Will you today confess to God that you need Him, ask Him to forgive your sins and to help you be born again, turning from the sins that have separated you from Him, and experience the new life God has for you? Your group leader and others in your group would be happy to lead you to make this commitment to Christ and encourage you in your new relationship with Him.
2. What a tremendous example we have seen in John the Baptist this week! He truly lived what he preached, and pointed people away from himself to the One who he felt unworthy even to be the slave of. John didn’t need a crusade team to go before him to get things ready; he didn’t use a clever advertising campaign; he just lifted up his voice with the good news, and people came in droves![xxi] He humbled and emptied himself of worldliness, and God was able to mightily fill and use him to set forth the way for the Messiah, much in the spirit of Elijah. Fortunately, God doesn’t call many of us to go out and live in the desert, wear an itchy camel hair suit, and dine on honey covered locusts! But He does call all of us to deny ourselves and to follow Him, and to let Him use us. As you read the following passage, please think about it and what you learned from the example of John, then record your thoughts about this:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice?the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. As God's messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others (Romans 12:1-5 nlt).
3. As we’ll see throughout Mark’s Gospel, discipleship is a central concept.[xxii] Jesus especially saw and perceived those He called to follow Him then, and He has done the same for us today. Jesus called these men (and us) to follow Him, or literally to walk the same road and have a joint participation with Him; but notice He doesn’t expect perfection from us. Jesus didn’t tell them to follow Him and have it all together; rather, He said “I will make you become fishers of men.” It is a learning process. As A. T. Robertson well put it, “It would be a slow and long process, but Jesus could and would do it. He would undertake to make fishers of men out of fishermen.”[xxiii]
In this year of studies ahead, it is our prayer that you too would seek to become His disciple, not just one who knows Him, but one who makes an impact on your own world for His kingdom. What are some of the things that you feel that He needs to help you work on to become more of the type of person He wants you to be? How can your group be praying for you in this? Perhaps by the end of this study year, you will be able to look back and rejoice in how far the Lord has brought you in these things. Share some of your thoughts here.
Scripture Memory: Hopefully you now can write out this week’s passage completely by memory. Do so now, and keep on reviewing it do you will be ready to share it with others in your group time.
Mark 1:17:
[i] Joel F. Williams, Mark. In Darrell L. Bock ed., The Bible Knowledge Key Word Study, The Gospels (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries, 2002), p. 113.
[ii] All word definitions in this study, unless otherwise indicated, are based on the following: A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 5, 6 (Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1932, 1933, 1997); M. R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (Bellingham: Logos Research System, Inc., 2002); Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; Logos Research System, Inc., Bellingham, 1984, 1997); and Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, Electronic Ed., Logos Research System, Inc., 1992, 1993, 2000).
[iii] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005), p. 1195.
[iv] Walter W. Wessell, Mark. In Frank E. Gaebelein ed., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, 1984), p. 620.
[v] William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark. In Gordon D. Fee ed., The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), p. 47.
[vi] David Daube, The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1956, 1998), p. 21.
[vii] Joel F. Williams, Mark, p. 115.
[viii] Richard L. Niswonger, New Testament History (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1988), p. 97.
[ix] Walter W. Wessell, Mark, p. 622.
[x] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament (Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 136.
[xi] R. C. H. Lenski, Commentary on the New Testament: Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1946, 2001), p. 54.
[xii] Richard L. Niswonger, New Testament History, p. 242.
[xiii]John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1196.
[xiv] J. D. Douglas; P. W. Comfort, and D. Mitchell eds., Who’s Who in Christian History (Wheaton: Tyndale House), in Logos Research System, Inc., Bellingham, 1992, 1997.
[xv] John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1196; also see John D. Grossmick, Mark. In John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament (Wheaton: Victor Books/SP Publications, 1983), p. 107.
[xvi] George R. Berry, A Greek-English Lexicon and New Testament Synonyms. In Baler Book House, Interlinear Greek-English New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), p. 119.
[xvii] John D. Grossmick, Mark. In John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck eds., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament (Wheaton: Victor Books/SP Publications, 1983), p. 108.
[xviii] William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975), p. 27.
[xix] T. Friberg; B. Friberg; and N. F. Miller, Analytic Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books), in Logos Research System, Inc., Bellingham, 2000.
[xx] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament, p. 135.
[xxi] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004), pp. 18, 20.
[xxii] John D. Grossmick, Mark, p. 108.
[xxiii] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 5, 6 (Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1932, 1933, 1997).
© 2005 by Harvest Christian Fellowship. All rights reserved. Written by Thomas Klock for Men’s Bible Fellowship, 2005-2006.
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