Participants:
Series Code: THI
Program Code: THI000025S
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00:23 Welcome to
00:23 Timeless Healing Insights. 00:24 I'm Dr. David DeRose. 00:26 Today 00:26 we begin a new 00:28 multi-part series 00:29 going through 00:30 the gospel of Mark, 00:31 believed to be the first 00:33 gospel written. 00:34 We're looking at 00:35 healing insights, 00:36 things that can make 00:37 a difference 00:38 for your physical, 00:39 mental, emotional 00:40 and spiritual health. 00:42 I am excited about this series 00:43 because I know that 00:44 God wants to use it 00:46 to make a difference in my life 00:47 as I go 00:48 on this journey with you 00:50 and in your lives 00:51 as you tune in. 00:52 Join us now for part 00:54 one in this multi-part series. 00:58 Father in Heaven, 01:00 thank you for your word 01:03 that you promise 01:04 that it will never return to 01:05 you void. In that confidence 01:08 we open your word 01:09 today. Please, 01:10 you know what each one of us 01:11 in this congregation needs. 01:13 You know what I need. 01:14 And so I ask you 01:14 to guide my mind 01:15 and to guide us collectively 01:17 as we engage 01:18 with the scriptures. 01:19 For we ask it all 01:20 in Jesus name, Amen. 01:28 I find it to be one of 01:29 life's great ironies. 01:30 And you might say, well, 01:32 maybe it's not surprising 01:34 as an author, 01:36 as a physician, as a pastor, 01:37 that I would find this ironic. 01:39 But it's true. 01:40 I find it extremely ironic 01:42 how many millions of dollars 01:44 are spent on books 01:46 designed to help 01:47 people be healthier. 01:49 They might be self-help books. 01:51 They might be books 01:52 that are educating you 01:53 about certain 01:54 disease processes, 01:55 but millions, 01:56 millions 01:57 of dollars are spent on books. 01:59 But the irony is, 02:01 then, the most powerful book, 02:02 I'm convinced 02:03 the most powerful book 02:05 when it comes to giving 02:06 health insights 02:08 and health power, 02:10 is actually none other 02:12 than the Bible. 02:14 The scriptures that we hold in 02:15 our hands have powerful health 02:18 giving insight, 02:19 and not just because it creates 02:22 in us a desire 02:23 to unite 02:23 with a divine healer, 02:24 not only because God 02:26 reveals himself here, 02:28 but the Bible has powerful 02:31 health insights 02:32 and so as we begin a new series 02:35 today, we're 02:36 starting on a series 02:37 that I'm calling 02:38 Healing Insights 02:39 from the Gospel of Mark. 02:41 I want to put it in 02:42 the context of helping us 02:43 see that 02:44 not just the gospel of Mark. 02:45 Itot something unique 02:47 about Mark's gospel 02:48 when it comes to healing. 02:49 But it is something 02:50 that characterizes 02:51 the whole Bible. 02:52 The whole Bible is a book 02:54 that is designed 02:55 for whole person health. 02:58 I'd like you 02:59 to do something with me 03:00 as we 03:01 put the Bible in that context. 03:02 I'd like you to think with me 03:04 about God's revelation 03:07 in Holy Scripture. 03:09 And what I'd like you to 03:10 think about is simply this. 03:13 Really, 03:14 do we need healing today? 03:17 Do we need the healing 03:18 that the Bible offers? 03:19 Now some of you might say, 03:19 that's a stupid question, 03:21 but I'd like you to 03:22 just think about what 03:23 we're dealing with on planet 03:25 Earth today. 03:26 As a physician, 03:27 one of the things I realize 03:28 people are dealing with 03:30 chronic life 03:31 threatening diseases. 03:32 Many of you here 03:34 might be dealing with 03:35 a health condition 03:36 where you got a diagnosis 03:38 that could have been 03:38 many years ago. 03:39 But the prognosis is 03:42 not all that good 03:44 and you need 03:45 healing power today. 03:47 One of the things 03:47 that the Bible connects us with 03:48 is with the healing 03:49 power of relationships. 03:51 I want you to see that first, 03:53 and I want to draw you 03:54 to the medical research first, 03:57 and then we'll see 03:57 how it interfaces 03:58 with the scripture. 04:00 Some years ago, an amazing 04:01 study came out 04:02 from a huge data set. 04:03 I think 04:04 all of you have heard of it. 04:04 If you know anything about 04:06 epidemiology, 04:07 that's the science of things 04:09 that happen to people groups. 04:11 That's the 04:11 the kind of entry level science 04:13 as we gather connections 04:15 about people 04:16 and their lifestyles and things 04:18 that happen to them 04:19 and disease processes. 04:20 But one of those great data 04:22 sets comes 04:22 from Harvard University 04:24 and the Health Professionals 04:25 Data sets, 04:26 the Nurses health study 04:28 and with sometimes 04:29 called the Physicians 04:30 Health Study. 04:31 This is data that was published 04:32 some years ago 04:33 from the Nurses Health Study. 04:34 They've been following 04:35 tens of thousands of nurses 04:37 for decades. 04:38 And at this point in the study 04:40 back in 1992 through 2002, 04:44 they identified 04:45 nearly 3000 women 04:47 that had been diagnosed 04:48 with breast cancer. 04:50 These women 04:52 ran the whole gamut 04:54 of breast 04:54 cancer stages from early breast 04:56 cancer, stage one 04:57 to advanced 04:58 metastatic breast 05:00 cancer, stage 05:00 four, breast cancer 05:01 that it spread 05:02 throughout their bodies. 05:03 And they did 05:05 something interesting 05:06 in this research. 05:06 They didn't 05:07 just take note of the fact 05:09 that they had this diagnosis, 05:10 but they also measured 05:12 their levels of social support. 05:14 How connected 05:15 were they with other people? 05:17 And what they found over 05:18 this ten year 05:19 period was striking. 05:22 They found that those women 05:24 who were the most connected 05:26 compared to those 05:27 who were socially isolated. 05:29 Those women 05:30 who are most connected 05:31 had less than half 05:32 the likelihood of dying 05:33 from breast cancer 05:34 over the course of the study. 05:37 What was even more remarkable 05:39 to me as a physician is 05:40 I looked at that data. 05:41 It wasn't 05:41 just about breast cancer. 05:43 If you looked at all 05:44 causes of mortality, 05:46 what they found was striking 05:48 those women 05:49 who were socially isolated. 05:51 66% increased risk of dying 05:56 from any cause. 05:59 Social support is powerful. 06:01 And you might say, well, 06:02 we all kind of know that. 06:03 But what is it about 06:04 social connectedness that 06:06 gives us these benefits? 06:09 Well, if you were to read 06:10 the research 06:10 literature, you'll find that 06:12 social connectedness 06:13 and social support 06:14 can be broken down 06:15 into all kinds 06:16 of different ways, 06:17 depending on the researchers. 06:18 They've looked at it 06:19 in different ways, 06:20 but it's, 06:20 there's various facets 06:22 of social support. 06:24 One is emotional support 06:26 that might be 06:27 the one that you immediately 06:28 think of. 06:29 But there's also what 06:30 they call instrumental support 06:32 that can come in the form 06:33 of tangible support 06:34 or informational support. 06:36 You say, Oh, 06:36 why are you giving us 06:37 all these terms? 06:38 Let's just stop 06:39 and break down the terminology. 06:40 And I want to 06:41 help you see why 06:42 this is so important 06:43 and then will connect it 06:44 with the scriptures. 06:46 First of all, 06:46 emotional support. 06:47 I think we all know 06:48 what this is. 06:48 This is 06:49 that person that comes up 06:50 alongside of you, right? 06:51 They may give you a hug 06:52 when you're down 06:53 and they say, cheer up. Right. 06:55 You can relate to this 06:57 emotional support, but it's not 07:01 that that is the only form 07:03 of social support 07:04 that's needed 07:05 and that can help us. 07:08 Some of the tangible 07:09 forms of support 07:10 that we can get 07:11 include something 07:12 called informational support. 07:15 You might go in 07:16 to see your health 07:17 care provider 07:18 and they might give 07:19 you information 07:20 about a diagnosis. 07:21 Maybe you're new in a community 07:22 and I've met some of you. 07:23 You've recently relocated 07:25 or you're back 07:26 here, you've been traveling 07:27 or you're here 07:27 for a little while, 07:28 and you say, Well, 07:29 where's the best place to get 07:31 whole wheat pasta? 07:33 And you talk with 07:34 somebody, right? 07:35 So you get 07:36 informational support. 07:38 Now, here's what's interesting. 07:40 There's another 07:41 form of support. 07:43 And that support is 07:44 sometimes simply called 07:46 tangible support. 07:47 And it has to do with really 07:49 some practical things 07:50 that we do in this church. 07:51 I'm thankful that we have 07:52 a community services ministry 07:54 and what do we do there? 07:56 We give people special help. 07:58 Maybe they're needing food. 08:00 Maybe they're needing clothing. 08:01 Are you following along? 08:03 Now, here's 08:04 what's so interesting. 08:05 As we look 08:06 at these different domains 08:07 of social connectedness, 08:08 you can be getting help 08:09 in one area 08:10 from a given person, 08:11 but they may not be giving 08:13 you support in another area. 08:15 Let's look at a Bible example. 08:16 This comes to us 08:17 from the Gospel of Luke. 08:19 Remember, 08:20 we're going to be focused, 08:21 especially in this 08:21 series on Mark's gospel, 08:23 But I'm trying to make a point 08:24 that the whole Bible 08:25 is full of health 08:27 giving insights, 08:28 and especially 08:30 as it relates 08:30 to social connectedness. 08:32 Jesus told this story. 08:33 He said, There's a guy 08:35 and he has a visitor, 08:37 comes to his house 08:38 middle of the night, 08:39 it's midnight. 08:40 And what does he do? 08:41 He's got no food. 08:44 He goes to his neighbor 08:46 and he says, Would you lend me 08:48 three loaves? 08:50 A friend of mine has come to me 08:51 on his journey 08:52 and I have nothing to set 08:53 before him. 08:54 Now, some of you are saying, 08:55 Well, what? 08:56 I mean, midnight. Come on. 08:57 You shouldn't 08:57 be eating that late anyway. 08:59 Well, 09:00 let me just tell you something. 09:01 What I understand 09:02 about Middle 09:03 Eastern culture is 09:04 that is protocol even today. 09:07 By the way, it's true 09:07 in many countries. 09:09 My wife and I, 09:09 as we've traveled, 09:10 we have been in 09:11 more than one place 09:12 where we have landed 09:14 after traveling for many hours 09:17 or maybe driving 09:18 for many hours, 09:18 and we come to some town 09:20 or village. 09:21 It may be after midnight 09:23 and you think 09:23 everybody's asleep? 09:25 No, everybody's awake. 09:27 And they're not only awake, 09:29 they've got a full course 09:30 meal there 09:31 waiting for you to eat at 12:30 09:32 or 1:00 in the morning. 09:33 What am I thinking about? 09:35 Yeah, going to sleep. 09:36 That's all I'm thinking about. 09:38 But they want to show 09:39 their hospitality. 09:40 That is the culture there. 09:41 Okay. 09:43 And so I get this sense 09:45 that there was this 09:46 cultural obligation 09:48 for this gentleman, 09:49 but maybe it was something 09:50 even more pressing than that. 09:51 Maybe the person 09:52 was hypoglycemic, I don't know. 09:54 But whatever it was. 09:55 This fellow was doing what? 10:00 Knocking on the 10:01 door of his neighbor. 10:02 Now, I'm told something else 10:03 about many of those homes 10:05 in the Middle East 10:07 in Jesus day, 10:08 people would all live 10:10 in a common room. 10:11 They'd be all sleeping 10:12 together. 10:13 Okay, let's 10:14 just read on how 10:15 Jesus described it. 10:17 What did he say? 10:18 I cannot rise and give you why? 10:22 The doorhut. 10:23 The children are with me 10:24 in bed. 10:26 Everybody's sleeping 10:27 and I'm sure he's whispering. 10:29 And what is the friend saying? 10:31 But I need it. 10:32 I need it. 10:32 I've got to have it. 10:34 Please. Please. 10:36 You get the picture, right? 10:37 And so this 10:38 drama is playing out. 10:40 And Jesus says, 10:42 though 10:42 he will not rise and give him 10:43 because he is his friend, yet 10:46 because of his persistence, 10:48 he will rise and give him. 10:50 How many loves you need? Three. 10:52 Take four. 10:52 Take five. 10:53 Okay. 10:53 You get the picture right? 10:55 Now. let me ask you a question. 10:56 We're talking about 10:57 different forms 10:57 of support, social support. 11:00 Did the fellow 11:01 who walked away with the bread, 11:03 did he get tangible support? 11:06 He did. 11:07 Right? 11:07 He walked away with food. 11:09 But did he get 11:10 emotional support? 11:13 I don't know about that. Okay. 11:16 I don't know how much 11:16 emotional support he got. Okay. 11:19 Here it is. Just take it. 11:20 Just get out of here. Okay. 11:21 So someone can help you. 11:24 They can give you 11:24 a social support. 11:25 Maybe we talked 11:26 about informational support. 11:27 You may feel 11:28 your doctor 11:29 gave you some good information, 11:30 but he or 11:31 she gave you 11:31 no emotional support. 11:33 I've heard that 11:33 before from patients. 11:35 They usually don't tell me 11:37 that I didn't give them 11:38 emotional support. 11:39 They might tell another doctor 11:40 that I didn't, 11:40 but they usually talk 11:41 about some other health care 11:43 provider that gave them 11:44 no emotional support. 11:45 Can you relate? 11:46 But he may have given them 11:47 some very good health 11:49 information, may 11:49 have saved their life. 11:53 Yes, there's all 11:53 of these different 11:54 domains of social support. 11:57 I would like to suggest to you 11:58 the Bible connects us 11:59 with all of them. 12:01 Some of them direct 12:02 through the words of Scripture, 12:03 but other through 12:04 God, connecting us 12:06 with a community of believers. 12:08 Now, let's just look 12:09 at some of these dimensions 12:10 and how powerful they are, lest 12:11 we think that it's 12:12 only emotional support 12:14 that matters. 12:15 Some years ago 12:15 they were doing a 12:16 study of individuals 12:18 who had had recent heart 12:20 bypass surgery. 12:22 Over a thousand 12:22 individuals were identified 12:24 and they followed them 12:25 over some six months. 12:28 They were interested 12:29 in one specific question, 12:31 and that was 12:32 if you were getting 12:34 practical, tangible 12:36 social support, 12:37 did it make any difference? 12:39 Were you getting 12:39 instrumental support 12:40 in that way? 12:41 Where were people helping 12:42 you take care of your needs 12:43 as you were recovering 12:44 from surgery? 12:44 And did it make any difference? 12:46 Here's 12:47 what the researchers found. 12:48 They found that 12:48 those who got more 12:51 instrumental support, 12:52 more of that tangible, 12:53 practical support, 12:54 they had better mental health. 12:57 And it was especially important 12:59 for those whose mental health 13:01 wasn't the greatest 13:02 to begin with. 13:03 No surprise, right? 13:06 The Bible is a book that 13:08 doesn't limit itself 13:10 to just giving you rules 13:11 about how to live. 13:12 By the way, 13:13 there's plenty of spiritual 13:14 books out there, 13:15 and some of them have 13:16 all kinds of rules 13:17 and principles for living. 13:19 Have you heard about things 13:19 like maybe 13:20 you've even read them? 13:21 But what is the Bible? 13:23 What's so unique 13:23 about the Bible? 13:24 The Bible is a relational book. 13:26 It tells about how God 13:28 is interacting with people 13:30 and how he 13:30 how he wants to 13:31 interact with you. 13:33 So 13:35 think about it this way. 13:36 If you go to the very beginning 13:38 of the Bible, we find a creator 13:41 who connects personally 13:43 with his creation. 13:45 Think about it this way. 13:47 Genesis chapter one, God Speaks 13:51 and what happens? 13:52 Let there be light. And what? 13:54 There's light. 13:55 Could God have spoken and 13:57 created man and woman? 13:59 But he didn't. 14:01 In Genesis 2:7, it says, 14:03 God forms man 14:05 out of the dust of the ground, 14:07 and he breathed 14:08 into his nostrils 14:09 the breath of life 14:10 and man became a living being. 14:12 Do you catch the picture? 14:13 So what's going on here? 14:15 So God is actually physically, 14:18 socially, 14:19 connecting with humanity. 14:21 And it's not just that 14:23 as you read the next chapter, 14:24 you see, 14:25 even after Adam and Eve sinned, 14:27 what do they do? 14:28 It says they heard 14:29 the sound of the Lord 14:30 God walking in the garden 14:32 in the cool of the day, 14:34 and Adam 14:35 and Eve hid themselves. 14:37 Now, what's going on here? 14:39 Do you hide yourself 14:40 from a spirit? 14:41 No. 14:42 God was physically present 14:43 with them. 14:44 He was connecting with them 14:45 socially in Eden and Adam 14:47 and Eve hide when they sin. 14:50 So here's what 14:51 I want you to see from 14:52 the very beginning. 14:53 In creation, 14:54 God is a God 14:54 who connects 14:55 socially with people. 14:56 He connects socially 14:57 with his children. 14:58 But it doesn't stop there. 14:59 When the Bible comes 15:00 to its high point, 15:02 really, everything in the Bible 15:03 is focused on the cross. 15:04 If you think about it, right? 15:06 It's either 15:07 things leading up to 15:08 Jesus ministry 15:10 and his sacrificial death 15:11 for us, 15:12 or it's what follows that. 15:14 That's the dividing line 15:15 between the New 15:16 and the Old Testament, right? 15:18 The Ministry of Jesus. 15:20 But if you look at 15:20 Jesus as our Redeemer, 15:22 he didn't just come down 15:24 for a few days to die 15:26 on the cross. What did he do? 15:29 He lived 15:30 and He worked among humanity 15:33 for 33 years. 15:34 And as you read 15:35 through the gospel 15:35 accounts, as we'll see 15:36 as we go through the 15:37 the gospel of Mark, 15:39 you see that Jesus spent time 15:41 socializing at weddings. 15:44 He ate in people's homes, 15:46 He taught in their synagogues, 15:49 He taught in the open fields, 15:51 and He healed the sick. 15:53 Jesus was socially connecting. 15:56 He was socially supporting. 15:58 He was giving 15:59 informational support 16:00 and teaching. 16:01 He was giving what 16:02 tangible support and healing. 16:04 He was giving emotional support 16:06 and coming close to people. 16:08 Now, if you're to put 16:10 these in 16:11 some kind of hierarchy, 16:12 some researchers, depending 16:13 on what they're looking at, 16:14 they will tell you 16:15 that emotional support 16:16 is the most important. 16:17 At least that's the one 16:19 that the researchers 16:20 of the Nurses Health 16:21 Study looked at 16:22 when they were talking about 16:24 these nurses 16:25 that did so much better 16:27 as far as their survival. 16:30 They put it this way 16:31 that emotional support 16:32 was more important 16:33 than instrumental support. 16:35 Why? 16:37 As you read their research 16:39 and others, 16:40 they'll tell you things 16:41 like social emotional support 16:43 actually interacts 16:45 with some complex systems 16:47 in your body. 16:48 If you read the 16:48 medical literature, 16:49 they talk about relationships 16:51 between the hypothalamus, 16:53 a region in the brain, 16:54 your pituitary gland, 16:56 a gland at the base 16:57 of your brain, 16:58 your adrenal glands 16:59 that lie alongside 17:00 your kidneys. 17:02 These glands 17:03 are all involved in what? 17:05 They're involved 17:06 in the stress axis. 17:10 And if you have 17:11 social contacts, 17:12 if you have people 17:13 supporting you, 17:14 if you have emotional support, 17:15 what happens? 17:16 When you go through stresses, 17:17 the researchers are saying, 17:19 they don't hit you so hard 17:21 and they don't hit you so hard. 17:22 What happens? 17:23 It helps 17:24 your immune system work better. 17:28 1989 I actually remember 17:30 when this study came out, 17:33 David Spiegel and his 17:34 colleagues at Stanford 17:36 had embarked on 17:37 something that back then 17:38 was thought to be a fairly 17:40 risky study. 17:41 I don't know how they got it 17:42 through their 17:43 institutional review board, 17:44 but here was the dialog 17:46 in the medical community 17:47 at the time. 17:48 They were saying, 17:48 Should you get people 17:49 who are dying 17:51 with cancer 17:52 in the same room together? 17:55 Would this be a good idea? 17:56 And a lot of people said, 17:58 I don't know about this. 17:59 I mean, these people are, 18:00 you know, on death's door. 18:01 Well, 18:02 you know, one day 18:03 you're going to come back 18:03 to this support group 18:04 and you're going to say, 18:05 well, where is Janice? 18:06 And they can say, well, 18:06 she died last week 18:08 and the next week, 18:09 you know, it's going to be the. 18:10 Yeah. 18:11 There was a lot of misgivings 18:12 about this. 18:13 Would it make a difference 18:14 to have people 18:15 going through this serious 18:17 cancer journey 18:19 with end stage cancers 18:20 and having them come together? 18:23 It was amazing 18:24 because what they found 18:25 is that the women who were 18:26 put in those groups 18:28 randomly assigned 18:29 to the emotional supportive 18:31 -roup therapy, 18:33 it doubled their lifespan. 18:35 Now, remember, 18:36 these were very sick people. 18:37 They didn't 18:38 have a long lifespan, 18:39 doubled it from about a year 18:40 and a half to three years. 18:42 But this was remarkable. 18:44 Was remarkable. 18:45 What were they doing? 18:46 They were rendering 18:47 emotional support 18:49 to one another. 18:52 Yes, powerful stuff. 18:54 And it helped most. 18:56 The ones who you think 18:57 would be the most destabilized 18:59 by being in that group, 19:00 those who are 19:01 already distressed. 19:04 Social support is a key 19:05 element in Mark's gospel. 19:07 But we're going to see 19:07 that's not the only health 19:09 giving insight that we gain 19:11 from this series, 19:12 on healing Insights 19:14 from the Gospel of Mark. 19:15 But I do want you to see 19:17 this very important point 19:19 because, well, 19:21 I just got to say it to you 19:22 this way. 19:22 It's unprecedented 19:23 in my experience. 19:25 Absolutely unprecedented. 19:27 Have you ever 19:27 thought about this? 19:29 There's 19:30 there's this whole genre 19:31 of literature 19:32 called authorized biographies. 19:35 Are you familiar with this? 19:36 You know, 19:37 some famous person 19:38 says, well, hey, 19:38 listen, everybody's 19:39 saying all this stuff about me. 19:40 I want to make sure 19:42 I have an authorized biography. 19:43 I'm going to hire this writer 19:45 and I'm going to, 19:46 you know, help supervise them 19:48 so that this biography has 19:50 you know, it's 19:51 going to be the truth about me. 19:52 You螁heard this havenឍou? 19:54 Authorized biographies. 19:55 It may be 19:56 the person involved themselves 19:57 who who 19:59 commissions 20:00 the biography to be written, 20:01 or it may be the heirs 20:03 of someone. 20:04 Maybe after someone's 20:04 passed away, they say, Oh, 20:05 we want mom to be remembered 20:07 as she was. 20:07 We don't want all these, 20:08 you know, these gossip 20:09 columnist columnists 20:10 writing about her. 20:11 Now, I know most of you 20:12 don't worry about that 20:14 at this point in my life. 20:15 I'm not worried about it 20:16 either. Okay. 20:17 But some high profile people, 20:18 they are very concerned 20:19 about this. 20:20 Who is a higher profile 20:22 person than Jesus 20:23 in earthistory? 20:25 Now, here is what's 20:26 amazing to me. 20:27 Think about this. 20:28 I have never heard of this. 20:30 An authorized biography 20:32 being written by four authors 20:36 and written independently. 20:39 I mean, who would do this? 20:41 But Jesus inspires 20:44 through the Holy Spirit 20:45 four men 20:46 to write the story of Jesus. 20:49 It's amazing. 20:50 Why did he do it that way? 20:51 Have you ever 20:52 thought about this? 20:52 Why not just have one? 20:54 Why don't you ask? 20:54 Do you want to read the story 20:55 of Jesus? 20:56 Here it is. 20:56 It's the harmony here. 20:57 They're all harmonized. 20:58 They're put into one book. 20:59 Now, I know some of 21:00 you may have thought 21:00 that would be better 21:01 and easier. 21:02 I think there was a time 21:03 in my life 21:03 where I thought 21:04 that would be better. 21:05 But that's not the 21:05 way God did it. 21:08 If we understand who 21:09 these four 21:09 gospel writers 21:10 are, we're going to spend 21:11 most of our attention 21:12 with Mark. 21:13 But I want you to catch 21:14 what God is doing 21:16 in all the lives 21:17 of these four gospel writers. 21:18 Let's first look at Matthew. 21:20 Just who was Matthew? 21:23 Who was he? 21:24 Some of you know, you say, yes, 21:26 he was a tax collector. 21:27 Matthew introduces 21:28 himself this way in Matthew 21:30 chapter nine, verse nine. 21:32 He says, Jesus saw him, 21:34 a man named Matthew, 21:35 sitting at the tax 21:36 collectors booth. 21:38 Follow me, said Jesus. 21:39 And Matthew 21:40 got up and followed him. 21:45 Now what were tax collectors 21:46 like in Jesus day? 21:50 Well, what are tax collectors 21:52 like today? 21:53 How many of you, 21:54 if you got a call 21:55 and you know 21:56 your phone is vibrating, 21:57 you're really not supposed to 21:58 look at it in church. 21:59 That's supposed to say 22:00 as a pastor 22:01 and you look 22:02 and it says 22:03 Internal Revenue Service. 22:05 Okay, 22:06 how many of you are thinking, 22:06 well, this is my good day, 22:07 I probably have a refund, 22:09 right? 22:10 No, that's not 22:10 what comes to mind. 22:11 Let me just say for the record, 22:12 I have known some Godly 22:14 IRS agents, Christians, 22:17 wonderful people. 22:19 So 22:20 but for some reason, 22:21 even with that experience, 22:23 I don't know. 22:24 When you say IRS, it's not like 22:26 I just think, 22:27 you know, warm fuzzies. 22:28 Okay. 22:28 I'm just letting you 22:29 know, I'm just telling you 22:32 this is 22:32 nothing 22:33 compared to what it was like 22:35 in Jesus day, 22:36 because the publicans, 22:38 the tax collectors of that day, 22:40 they worked 22:41 for a hated, dominating power. 22:45 The Romans weren't 22:47 in that part of the world 22:48 because they were invited. 22:49 Okay? 22:50 They were this 22:51 conquering power. 22:52 And when they came in, 22:53 they also brought 22:54 along with them 22:55 well needs for 22:57 supporting the government. 22:58 And so you've got these 22:59 tax collectors 23:00 working for the hated Romans. 23:02 And by the way, 23:03 history tells us 23:04 one of the ways 23:05 they made a better 23:06 living for themselves 23:07 is by collecting 23:08 more than the Romans 23:09 were asking for. Okay? 23:11 How endearing 23:13 would that be to you 23:14 when you saw your local 23:15 neighborhood tax collector? 23:19 Okay, Traitors, 23:24 I don't know what term 23:25 you want to use. 23:29 Extortioners 23:32 was not a good look, 23:34 but what did Jesus do? 23:35 Jesus reached down to this perso 23:37 who was a social outcast 23:39 and said, 23:39 I've got a place for you, 23:40 not only in my kingdom, 23:41 but I want you to write 23:43 one of my authorized 23:44 biographies. 23:45 If you don't catch 23:46 the sense of this, 23:46 just keep reading. 23:48 In Matthew nine, 23:49 Matthew 23:50 has them all over to his house. 23:51 A number of his colleagues. 23:52 Jesus comes. 23:53 We're talking about Jesus 23:54 being socially connected. 23:56 And what's the response 23:57 of the religious leaders? 23:58 What do the Pharisees say? 24:00 Why does your teacher eat 24:01 with tax collectors 24:03 and sinners? 24:04 You got it in the same breath. 24:06 Tax collectors and sinners. 24:08 What is so remarkable 24:10 is Matthew's 24:11 background influences 24:13 how he tells Jesus story. 24:15 And so as our Bible was 24:17 put together, 24:18 Matthew's gospel was put first. 24:20 By the way, historians 24:21 tell us 24:21 it is likely Mark's gospel 24:23 that was actually 24:23 the first one written. 24:25 But Matthew's gospel is first. 24:26 And when you open 24:27 Matthew's gospel, 24:28 go ahead and do it with me. 24:29 Open to Matthew Chapter one. 24:31 I want you to see 24:33 how Matthew was impressed 24:35 that there's a God 24:36 who reaches down to people 24:38 who are not valued socially. 24:41 And as he's writing his gospel, 24:43 he is inspired 24:44 as he begins 24:46 to start 24:46 telling Jesus genealogy 24:49 and he does something 24:50 totally remarkable, totally 24:52 again, unprecedented. 24:54 Hebrew genealogies, genealogies 24:57 in antiquity, 24:58 they didn't include women, 25:01 but Matthew includes 25:02 four women, 25:03 and they are not 25:04 women of outstanding pedigrees. 25:07 They are women like Tamar. 25:09 Some of you know 25:09 the story of Tamar, 25:11 she ends up in an 25:12 adulterous relationship 25:13 with her father in law. 25:15 They end up having twins. 25:16 One of them is named Perez. 25:18 You read about her, by the way, 25:20 in Matthew 1:3, 25:24 that son Perez becomes 25:27 the progenitor, 25:28 the great, great, great 25:29 whatever grandfather of David, 25:32 who of course, is the 25:34 progenitor of Jesus himself. 25:37 You keep reading. 25:38 You go through 25:39 Matthew chapter one 25:40 and you come down to verse 25:42 four and five. 25:44 And in verse five we read about 25:47 Rahab. Who was Rahab? 25:48 She was a prostitute. 25:50 She was a Canaanite 25:51 a gentile from a tribe 25:53 that was wicked. 25:55 Okay, but what happened? 25:57 She connected 25:58 with the God of heaven. 25:59 She reverenced 26:00 the God of heaven, 26:01 and God rescued her 26:03 from a social state that most 26:06 Jews would have 26:07 said was terrible. 26:10 Keep reading. 26:11 As you read through 26:12 Matthew one, 26:13 you'll see 26:13 in the very next 26:15 words in verse 26:16 five that you read about Ruth. 26:18 Ruth was a Moabitess 26:20 the, Moabites 26:22 from a nation conceived in 26:25 drunken incest, 26:26 perennial enemies 26:28 of God's people 26:29 cursed as a people. 26:32 But Ruth 26:33 related to God loved God 26:36 and was rescued, was redeemed. 26:39 And then what can I say 26:40 about Bathsheba? 26:41 You know this story 26:42 all too well. 26:43 That adulterous relationship 26:45 that David had with her, 26:46 the murder of her husband, 26:48 Uriah, orchestrated by David. 26:50 You'd want to 26:51 purge all these names 26:52 youthink from the 26:54 genealogy. 26:56 But Matthew puts them 26:57 in talking about a God 26:59 who rescues 27:01 who rescues us 27:03 from our backgrounds. 27:05 God loves you 27:06 right where you're at. 27:08 It doesn't matter 27:09 where you grew up, 27:10 what you've done in the past. 27:12 He wants to bring 27:13 you into his family 27:14 to socially connect you 27:17 with the God of Heaven. 27:24 We are in for an exciting 27:25 journey. 27:26 God is connecting us with Him 27:28 and with one 27:28 another as we go 27:29 through the Gospel of Mark. 27:31 If you want to connect with us, 27:32 you can do it on our web site. 27:36 WWW.TimelessHealingInsights.org. 27:39 Share it with your friends. 27:40 Discuss things together. 27:42 Maybe have a study group 27:43 using the free handouts 27:45 that we have there. 27:46 Let me pray for you, Father. 27:48 Continue to bless us 27:50 as we go on this journey 27:51 of healing 27:52 through the gospel of Mark. 27:53 Thank you 27:54 that we can trust in 27:55 your guidance. 27:56 In Jesus name, Amen. |
Revised 2023-02-15