Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS024031S
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00:12 ♪♪♪ 00:14 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 We're glad that you could join us again. 00:19 We're continuing our journey through the book of Mark, 00:21 and today we're looking at lesson number five, 00:24 and that is "Miracles Around the Lake," 00:26 looking at some of Jesus' miracles 00:28 and the impact that they had on not just the people 00:30 who the miracles were performed for or on 00:33 but also many people since that time. 00:35 We're glad that you could join us. 00:36 Let's begin with prayer. 00:38 Father, we thank You for bringing us together 00:40 as we continue our study of the book of Mark. 00:43 Help us to understand more about Christ, 00:46 more about the plan of salvation, 00:48 and more about how we fit 00:49 into that grand scheme of things. 00:51 And we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 00:55 We're also glad to have with us 00:56 once again this week Tom Shepherd. 00:58 He is the senior research professor of New Testament 01:01 at the theological seminary, Andrews University. 01:04 Tom, we're grateful to have you back again. 01:07 >>Thomas Shepherd: It's good to be with you. 01:08 >>Eric: So this week we're looking 01:09 at "Miracles Around the Lake." 01:11 We talk about the Sea of Galilee in Mark, chapter 4. 01:15 What were some of the experiences 01:16 that Jesus and His disciples had there 01:20 around that sea, around that lake? 01:22 >>Tom: Okay, so the title of the lesson, 01:24 the "Miracles Around the Lake," 01:26 is related to where the miracles happen 01:29 that are described in these-- this end of chapter 4, 01:33 beginning and all through chapter 5. 01:35 It all surrounds the Sea of Galilee. 01:38 Now, we call it the Sea of Galilee, 01:40 but that's a little bit of a grandiose name 01:44 for a lake that's like-- it's like 8 miles across, 01:46 maybe 13 miles long, it's not real big, 01:49 but it's the largest freshwater lake in Palestine, 01:52 so--even to this day. 01:54 So, the events beginning and at the end of chapter 4 01:59 are all linked up with that lake. 02:01 Of course, He's been in Capernaum. 02:02 Capernaum's right on the northern edge of the lake, 02:05 so we've really been in that area. 02:07 And most of Jesus' ministry in--most of His ministry 02:11 was actually spent up in Galilee, 02:13 not down in Judea or Jerusalem. 02:16 So, we were just studying in chapter 4 02:19 about the parables that Jesus taught. 02:23 And at the end of that day-- again, we have this whole, 02:27 you know, one-day kind of experience, 02:30 so, we have--it's like the parables are told in one day, 02:33 and then that evening He goes across the lake, 02:36 and the next day He's in the Gadarenes, 02:38 and then He goes back again across the lake. 02:40 So, you're only in, like, a 24-, 48-hour period covering, 02:44 like, two chapters of this book. 02:47 So, again, it's kind of these vignettes of Jesus' ministry. 02:51 You get a picture and a close-up 02:53 of some kind of scene that goes on. 02:56 So, the first experience starts in chapter 4, verse 35, 03:01 and maybe we should read verses 35 to 41. 03:04 >>Eric: "On the same day, when evening had come, 03:06 "He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' 03:09 "Now when they had left the multitude, 03:11 "they took Him along in the boat as He was. 03:13 "And other little boats were also with Him. 03:16 "And a great windstorm arose, 03:17 "and the waves beat into the boat, 03:19 "so that it was already filling. 03:21 "But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. 03:23 "And they awoke Him and said to Him, 03:25 "'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' 03:28 "Then He arose and rebuked the wind, 03:30 "and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' 03:33 "And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 03:36 "But He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful? 03:38 "How is it that you have no faith?' 03:41 "And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, 03:43 "'Who can this be, 03:45 "that even the wind and the sea obey him!'" 03:47 >>Tom: Yeah, well, it was a pretty scary experience 03:49 on the lake. 03:51 It says that they take Him just as He was. 03:55 Earlier, He may have been sitting in the boat 03:58 and teaching the people from the boat, 04:01 but He was probably tired, [chuckles] 04:04 and, obviously, He could sleep through a storm 04:07 and a storm that was filling the boat and, you know, 04:11 tossing it back and forth, so He had to be pretty tired. 04:15 We have this experience showing us that Jesus was human. 04:20 He was the Son of God, but He was also human 04:22 and needed sleep just like we do. They wake Him up, 04:25 and there's an interesting question that they say to Him: 04:28 "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" 04:32 I wonder how many people have asked God that 04:35 or said that in prayer: 04:36 "Lord, don't You care that we're perishing, 04:38 that we're going through trouble?" 04:40 Trouble is not an expression that God has left us. 04:45 Trouble comes to us at different times in our life, 04:48 and it's not a demonstration that God has left us. 04:52 Jesus was with them. He was right there in the boat. 04:55 And they woke Him up, He stands up, 04:58 which you don't usually do in a boat, 05:01 but He stands up, and He tells 05:03 the wind and the sea to be quiet: 05:09 "Peace, be still." 05:11 The wind ceases, and there's a great calm. 05:15 Now, I've never experienced something like that, 05:18 but these men are completely shocked by what has happened. 05:24 They're gonna say, "Who then is this, 05:25 that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" 05:27 This is really reminiscent of some descriptions 05:30 of God in the Old Testament. God walks in the storm, 05:34 the clouds and the thunder and lightning 05:36 are His tools and everything. 05:38 He brings the rain. 05:39 There's pictures of Him in some psalms 05:40 that are like a storm cloud, 05:42 God marching in the storm clouds. 05:43 So, this is what we call a theophany, 05:47 the appearance of God, where He shows up, 05:50 and typically, when God shows up, there's human fear, 05:53 and that's exactly what they say. 05:55 Great fear, you know, falls on them. 05:58 And typically, a theophany is a--focused on some message, 06:06 some revelation that God is--wants to bring you. 06:09 You remember the story of Jesus and the--His birth, 06:15 and the angels appear, the shepherds are afraid, 06:18 the angel says, "Don't be afraid," 06:20 and then the angel tells them about the birth of Jesus. 06:22 So here, the revelation is kind of tied up in what Jesus does. 06:28 That's the theophany, you know, He calms the storm. 06:31 But the revelation is, really, 06:33 implied in the question that they ask. 06:36 "Who is--who then is this, 06:38 that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" 06:39 Well, obviously, He's the Son of God, 06:42 who can calm the storm. 06:44 So it is an unforgettable kind of an experience 06:48 of this theophany on the storm. 06:54 >>Eric: So they have this experience, 06:57 but then the boat gets to the other side, 07:01 and they get over to the Gadarenes, 07:04 and if they hadn't had an exciting enough experience, 07:08 everything gets ratcheted up several notches 07:11 when you get over to the Gadarenes. What happens there? 07:13 >>Tom: Yeah, so they arrive on the shore, 07:15 and you can imagine the disciples like, 07:16 "Oh, back on terra firma again," you know, 07:19 they're feeling a little more safe, 07:21 but then a man runs out of the tombs 07:25 and he has an unclean spirit. 07:27 Now, the description of this man is very, is very sad. 07:33 It describes him in very vivid terms. 07:38 "He [lives] among the tombs.... 07:41 "No one could bind him,... not even with a chain,... 07:45 "[he'd] often been bound with shackles... 07:47 he wrenched the chains apart,... broke the shackles in pieces." 07:51 Verse 4: "No one had the strength to subdue him." 07:55 It's just a tragic, you know, picture 07:58 that, sadly, is repeated even today. 08:02 There are people that are in chains with demonic forces, 08:08 people who are in chains 08:10 with the addictions that have overcome them, 08:15 drug addictions, pornography, abuse. 08:19 No one had the strength to subdue them. 08:22 And then this man met Jesus. 08:24 Yeah, that's really the change in his life. 08:27 Now, this whole area is--it just reeks 08:34 of the biblical concept of uncleanness. 08:39 Now, here in the United States, when we think of unclean, 08:45 we think that if you drop food on the floor, 08:47 the floor is dirty, so you shouldn't eat it, 08:50 unless you believe in the five-second rule 08:52 or something like that. 08:55 Then people would throw that away. 08:57 In this setting, it's not hygiene 09:01 that they're talking about. It's ritual uncleanness. 09:05 Throughout Palestine, ruins have been found 09:08 of what they call "mikveh," which were ritual baths, 09:13 where people would walk down one side 09:14 and then walk back up the other side, 09:16 and they would ritually cleanse themselves. 09:18 And so, it was really important to people in Jesus' day. 09:22 But there were certain things 09:23 that were unclean, ritually unclean. 09:28 So one of them was tombs, the dead. 09:31 If you touched a dead person, that was-- 09:33 that dead person was unclean. So, tombs would be unclean. 09:37 Also, the man is cutting himself, so he's bleeding. 09:40 Blood would be ritually unclean. 09:44 He lives in a--he's of course, he's possessed 09:49 by unclean spirits, 09:51 and wherever these evil spirits are referred to 09:54 in the book of Mark, they're referred to as unclean. 09:58 And then, the land is a Gentile land, 10:02 which is considered unclean because of idolatry, 10:05 and idolatry is unclean. 10:07 And then, there's a herd of 2,000 pigs to top it off, 10:10 and the pigs are unclean. 10:11 So it's unclean, unclean, unclean! Everything is unclean. 10:15 So you'd think anybody, any good Jew 10:17 stepping in there would be, you know, become unclean. 10:20 Well, as we've seen before, not Jesus, you know, not Jesus. 10:24 So, the man runs up to Him 10:27 and, like the demon we saw in chapter 1, 10:30 he says in verse 7--well, why don't you read verse 7? 10:33 >>Eric: "And he cried out with a loud voice and said, 10:35 "'What have I to do with You, Jesus, 10:37 "'Son of the Most High God? 10:39 I implore You by God that You do not torment me.'" 10:42 >>Tom: Yeah, so Jesus had said, 10:45 "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit." 10:48 And then Jesus says in verse 9, "Jesus asked him, 10:51 'What is your name?'" 10:53 And the man says, "My name is Legion, 10:56 for we are many." 10:57 So he's filled with many unclean spirits. 11:00 So not just one, it's numerous unclean spirits 11:03 that have filled this guy, and he's just in great trouble. 11:07 Now, it's really interesting. 11:09 He comes, up and he kneels down before Jesus. 11:13 He fell down; verse 6, it says, "He fell down before Him." 11:16 It's the word for "worship." 11:18 So here's a guy with mixed messages. 11:21 He wants help from Jesus, but when he opens his mouth, 11:25 the demons speak and they say, "What have You to do with us? 11:29 What do You do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?" 11:32 And then, almost comically, 11:35 "I adjure You by the living God, do not torment me." 11:39 Now, this seems like very religious demons 11:41 that they're--"Swear to God that You won't torment me." 11:45 Well, you know, are you really gonna ask God 11:48 to keep Jesus from throwing out unclean spirits? 11:51 It's almost comic, you know, the way this is described. 11:56 So the demons beg Him-- 12:01 and this is one of several people who are begging Him-- 12:04 the demons beg Him to not send them out of the country. 12:08 And there's all these pigs, and they say, 12:10 "Send us into the pigs, send us into the pigs." 12:13 So He gives them permission, and they go in the pigs. 12:15 And the pigs, 2,000 pigs, go crazy. 12:19 They rush down the steep bank, 12:21 and they're all drowned in the sea, 12:24 and the pig herders run away 12:27 and tell everybody in the town what's taken place. 12:31 So, it's really an amazing picture of what's, 12:36 you know, what goes on at this point. 12:38 We're not quite done with this story, 12:40 but I think we're gonna probably have to continue 12:42 into the second half of our time. 12:44 >>Eric: That's right, and we're gonna continue 12:46 picking this apart, and there's a lot of good stuff here. 12:48 Thomas, somebody wants to get more out of this. 12:52 There's a companion book. 12:53 Share with us a little bit more about that companion book. 12:55 >>Tom: This is the companion book right here. 12:57 It's called "The Book of Mark," 12:58 just like the "Sabbath School" quarterly. 13:01 There are 13 chapters, just like there are 13 lessons. 13:04 Every chapter has the same name as the lesson, 13:06 so it's not hard to find, and you get extra details. 13:09 So, this one, we've been talking about the man and his situation, 13:14 and some of the things I just shared now 13:16 are found in here. You know, it goes beyond the lesson, 13:20 and we also have more information 13:22 about the rest of the chapter, of chapter 5. 13:25 >>Eric: So if you want to pick that one up, 13:26 you can do it very easily by going to itiswritten.shop. 13:29 Again, itiswritten.shop, and you'll find 13:32 the companion book to our quarter's study 13:35 on the book of Mark. 13:36 We're gonna come back in just a moment and continue looking 13:38 at Jesus' ministry around the sea. 13:41 We'll be back in just a moment. 13:42 ♪♪♪ 13:49 >>John Bradshaw: He came into the world 13:50 via a miracle birth, but he met with a tragic death. 13:58 In between times, He lit up the world 14:02 as he prepared the way for Jesus' ministry. 14:06 John the Baptist's life may not have been glamorous, 14:09 but it was a life of faithfulness, 14:12 and he stands forever 14:14 as an example of faithfulness to God. 14:18 Don't miss the latest episode of It Is Written's new series, 14:22 "Great Characters of the Bible," as we look at the life 14:26 of the man born to herald the Messiah 14:30 and as we learn how faith in God can change the world. 14:35 "Great Characters of the Bible: John the Baptist," 14:39 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 14:47 >>John: More and more people are watching It Is Written TV. 14:51 They're watching their favorite It Is Written programs, 14:54 listening to inspiring sermon series, and much more. 14:59 They're watching them here, here, and even here. 15:03 See for yourself why people are turning to It Is Written TV 15:06 to watch their favorite Christian programs 15:08 live and on demand. 15:10 Watch It Is Written TV for free any time on Roku, 15:14 Apple TV, and at itiswritten.tv. 15:17 ♪♪♪ 15:22 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:23 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:25 We're looking at some of the miracles 15:26 around the sea-- or around the lake 15:29 that Jesus performed, and we're talking 15:31 about this casting of the, of legion of demons 15:34 out of the man and into the pigs. 15:38 You'd think that that would be a positive thing, 15:42 but the people of that region 15:43 were not thrilled with what happened. 15:47 Why not? 15:49 >>Tom: Well, of course, 2,000 pigs-- 15:51 let's say each pig, you know, was worth $100. 15:54 Now, that's a low estimate, possibly. 15:57 You know, today, of course, pigs are bigger, and, you know, 16:00 they'd be worth a lot more than that. 16:01 But let's just go a low. 16:03 Even at $100, 2,000 pigs is $200,000. 16:08 This was a financial disaster for the people of that area. 16:13 And I've asked how much is a man worth. 16:16 Is a man worth 2,000 pigs? 16:18 And we would say yes, 16:20 but evidently the people didn't think so. 16:22 And they come and they beg Jesus to leave. 16:26 They come out, they're amazed, 16:29 they find the man is "clothed and in his right mind," 16:32 he had been naked, and the disciples 16:35 probably had some Dorcas clothes with them 16:37 or something or other. "Here's a little something," or something. 16:40 And the man's in his right mind 16:42 and is sitting at the feet of Jesus, 16:43 and they're just-- they're shocked. 16:46 This is, again, another theophany 16:47 where God has appeared in this healing of this man, 16:53 sending out the demons. 16:55 And so, they beg Him to leave. 16:59 Now, the demons had begged Jesus 17:02 not to send them out of the country. 17:05 The man--now, the people of the country now beg Jesus 17:09 to leave their country. So, they're kind of 17:12 paralleling the demons, you know. 17:15 And as Jesus gets into the boat, he says-- 17:20 he comes and begs Jesus. 17:22 So, this is three times that somebody has begged Jesus. 17:26 And they beg--he begs Jesus to be able to go with Him. 17:31 Now, when the pig, when--I'm sorry, 17:34 when the demons asked, begged Jesus 17:36 not to send them out of the country, 17:37 He said, "Okay, go to the pigs, sure." 17:40 When the people beg Jesus to leave, 17:44 He gets into the boat. 17:45 Jesus doesn't stay where He's not wanted. 17:49 But when the man says, "Please let me go with You," 17:52 he begs Jesus, Jesus says no. 17:55 Instead--read verse 19. 17:58 >>Eric: "However, Jesus did not permit him, 18:00 "but said to him, 'Go home to your friends, 18:02 "'and tell them what great things 18:04 "'the Lord has done for you, 18:06 and how He has had compassion on you.'" 18:09 >>Tom: Yeah, so I sometimes describe this story as a-- 18:14 like a basketball game, where there's two points 18:19 for different sides as they make a basket. 18:22 So, the first time is, Jesus, of course, 18:24 comes into, you might say, Satan's territory. 18:27 It's the unclean land, the unclean man, 18:30 the unclean pigs, you know, the idolatry--everything's unclean. 18:34 He's gone into Satan's territory, 18:37 and He cast out the demons. 18:40 All right, two points for Jesus. 18:43 But the demons request that they go into the pigs, 18:46 and He says, "Okay." 18:48 They go into the pigs, and all the pigs drown, 18:50 which is a financial disaster. 18:51 Two points for Satan, all right. 18:53 Then the people come and they beg Jesus, 18:56 say, you know, "Please leave the land." He complies. 18:59 It seems like Satan is winning this basketball game. 19:02 But then Jesus makes a three-pointer 19:06 when He says to this man, "Go home to your friends,... 19:09 "tell them how much the Lord has done for you, 19:11 and how He has had mercy on you." 19:14 >>Eric: So that's pretty powerful. 19:15 Now, Jesus healed this man. 19:20 What made this healed man such a good missionary? 19:23 >>Tom: You would think that this is not the guy 19:26 you would choose to be a missionary. 19:28 Really, the disciples probably didn't see anything 19:33 in this territory that would be profitable 19:37 for the gospel mission, but Jesus did. 19:40 This man knelt down and screamed at Jesus, 19:45 but Jesus could hear the whisper of his heart 19:48 above the scream of the demons. 19:50 And I have experienced that God 19:53 still listens to the whispers of His people, 19:56 and sometimes we don't know what to say, 20:01 but we cry out to God-- I've done that before-- 20:03 cry out to God and say, "Lord, please do something," 20:06 and He responds. 20:08 And so, this guy 20:11 you would think would be the most unlikely missionary, 20:14 but Jesus saw that that wasn't the case. 20:18 This guy had been, like, totally possessed by Satan, 20:22 and now he was set free. 20:25 I mean, he had an amazing story to tell. 20:28 And it says here at the end, "He went away 20:31 "and began to proclaim in the Decapolis 20:33 "how much Jesus had done for him; 20:35 and everyone marveled." 20:37 I mean, the guy was the person that everybody was afraid of. 20:41 He was the people that they said, 20:43 "Stay away from where he is 20:44 because he'll tear you to pieces," 20:46 and now he's completely changed. "What happened to you?" 20:50 He had a story to tell, see? 20:52 So, each of us, each of us, my friends, 20:56 has a story to tell. 20:57 We have some kind of experience that we've gone through. 21:00 All of our stories, all of our experience is unique to us. 21:04 I have my story, you have your story, 21:06 tell it, tell it. It's what the world needs to hear. 21:10 >>Eric: And that story made a huge difference 21:12 in the lives of the people 21:13 who lived in and around Decapolis-- 21:15 >>Tom: Yeah, yep. >>Eric: ...a huge difference. 21:17 Now, chapter 5 doesn't end there. 21:18 We will read the story of Jairus, 21:21 the woman with--and the woman with the hemorrhage. 21:23 Bring us through these stories. 21:25 >>Tom: Yeah, this is one of my favorite stories, really. 21:28 It's the second of the sandwich stories that appear in Mark. 21:32 Remember, this is where one story begins 21:33 and then it's interrupted by another story, 21:36 and then the first story is concluded. 21:38 So, Jairus' story, the story of his daughter, 21:42 is the outside story, 21:43 and the woman with the hemorrhage, 21:45 her story is the inside story. 21:47 So we start with Jairus' story. He was a synagogue ruler, 21:50 not usually the friends of Jesus, 21:52 and he comes up, and he falls at Jesus' feet, 21:58 "He [implores] Him...saying, 22:01 "'My little daughter is at the point of death. 22:04 "'Come...lay Your hands on her 22:06 so that she may be made well and live.'" 22:08 Every parent can relate to this. 22:12 When your child is dying, your place is where they are. 22:17 The only reason you would have for leaving was if that 22:20 you had some hope that someone could help them. 22:24 And that's what Jairus does. So he implores Jesus. 22:27 I wouldn't be surprised if His disciples 22:28 were kind of watching to see 22:30 if Jesus would go with one of His enemies. 22:33 Without a word He goes. 22:35 And so, even that silent movement with Jairus 22:38 is a lesson book that you should pray for your enemies; 22:43 you should help your enemies. 22:44 If they're thirsty, give them a drink. 22:45 If they're hungry, give them a meal. 22:47 And guess what? They'll stop being your enemies. 22:50 So, that's where the story breaks away 22:52 to the story of this woman, 22:54 and it's a tragic story, you know. 22:58 In Greek, it's a little more, a little more powerful 23:01 than it is in English because it's one long sentence, 23:05 and it starts in verse 25: 23:08 "There was a woman who had had a discharge of blood 23:11 for twelve years," you know, 23:12 "...had suffered much under many physicians, 23:14 "and had spent all that she had, 23:16 "and was no better but rather grew worse. 23:18 "She had heard the reports about Jesus 23:21 "and came up behind Him in the crowd 23:23 and touched His garment." 23:26 Now, in Greek we have-- all of those words 23:28 are what we call participles. 23:30 After this and after this and after this, 23:32 you have da-da-da-da. 23:34 The one indicative verb is "she touched His garment." 23:38 It's just a small act, you know, 23:41 and yet it's like all of her hope-- 23:45 she had been so disappointed so long, 12 years. 23:49 All of her hope goes into one touch. 23:53 And, actually, her story now, after that, 23:56 all revolves around this touch, what she did, 23:59 'cause immediately she's made well. 24:01 She says, "If I [just] touch...His [garment], 24:04 I will be made well." 24:06 And then, of course, the flow of blood dries up, 24:09 she feels in her body 24:11 that she's well from her problem, right? 24:14 What happens then is that Jesus turns around 24:17 and says, "Who touched my [clothes?]" 24:19 Now, in a crowd it's the-- 24:23 I can imagine the disciples saying, 24:24 "Uh, Master, that's the wrong question to ask. 24:27 Everybody's touching Your clothes." 24:29 But He keeps looking, and, you know, 24:31 she's discovered, and she comes and tells the whole story. 24:37 It says in verse 33, "And told Him the whole truth." 24:41 Well, it's been 12 years, so--I don't know 24:42 if you ever met a person like this. 24:43 You say, "How are you?" And they say, 24:45 "I'm glad you asked. It started 20 years ago." 24:48 And you're like, "No, that's not what--" [laughs] 24:53 So, He wants to tell her, 24:54 "Daughter, your faith has made you well. 24:56 Go in peace and be healed of your disease." 24:58 But right then we come back into Jairus' story, 25:00 and somebody comes to him and says, "Your daughter"-- 25:03 it's the same word, "your daughter"-- 25:04 "Your daughter has died. 25:06 Why trouble the Master anymore?" 25:08 Boy! Jesus overhears it, 25:10 He says, "Don't be afraid, only believe." 25:12 He rushes to the house. 25:14 Oh my goodness, I can tell you this story is so striking. 25:19 When we were missionaries in Malawi, 25:21 I had an experience like this 25:22 of taking a dead child to their home 25:25 and the wailing that went on, just tragic. 25:29 But Jesus throws everybody out, 25:31 He takes the little girl's hand and says, 25:33 "Talitha cumi," 25:34 which Mark translates as, "Little girl. 25:36 I said to you, arise." 25:38 But actually, "talitha" is a word for a lamb, 25:43 like a little sheep, a lamb. 25:46 So, it's like, "Little lamb, wake up." 25:48 It's like, you know, a term of endearment. 25:50 So, it's really beautiful. 25:51 Again, the secrecy thing comes up. 25:52 He says, "Don't tell anybody." 25:54 You can imagine Jairus saying, 25:56 "Okay, we'll try our best." [laughs] 25:59 It's a great story. I love it. 26:00 >>Eric: It's tough to keep that sort of thing secret. 26:03 With these incredible things happening, 26:05 these incredible miracles, you'd think that everybody 26:07 would accept Jesus and just go right with Him, 26:09 but His people in His hometown, not so much. 26:14 What did they lack? 26:15 >>Tom: That chapter 6, beginning of chapter 6, 26:18 tells us the story of His hometown. 26:21 "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown 26:24 and among his relatives and in his own household." 26:27 We've already seen that in chapter 3. 26:29 Storm clouds are gathering, 26:31 but we see it here at home where He grew up with them. 26:36 And so there's--familiarity breeds contempt. 26:39 They thought, "Where did He get all this stuff? 26:42 "We know this guy. This is Jesus. 26:45 "This is just the carpenter's son. 26:46 "This is, you know, Mary's son, our--His brothers are all here. 26:50 What's so special about Him?" 26:52 So, they took offense at Him, 26:53 and He couldn't help very many people there 26:55 because they didn't believe--tragic. 26:58 >>Eric: We don't have much time left, 27:00 but I do want to touch on this. 27:01 There's another sandwich story here. Tell us about that. 27:04 >>Tom: Yeah, it's chapter 6; it's the mission of the 12 27:07 and the beheading of John. 27:08 It's an amazing story, and it's very dramatically told, 27:12 but basically what this story does, 27:14 it parallels the mission of the 12 where they go out 27:20 and share the gospel and heal peoples of diseases 27:22 with the silencing of John the Baptist by Herod. 27:25 John had rebuked Herod for marrying his brother's wife, 27:29 rightly so, but his brother's wife, Herodias, 27:34 really hated him, and she contrives a way-- 27:38 because Herod is wishy-washy-- 27:40 she contrives a way to get him beheaded. 27:42 So he dies and is actually reported 27:45 as risen from the dead to Herod when he hears about Jesus. 27:49 So, John foretells what's gonna happen to Jesus, 27:52 and we're gonna see more of that as we go on. 27:54 >>Eric: Fantastic, well, we've still got 27:56 a bit of the journey to tell. >>Tom: Oh yes. 27:57 >>Eric: It's an exciting journey, 27:59 and we invite you to join us. 28:01 We're going to continue our study of the book of Mark 28:03 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 28:07 ♪♪♪ 28:25 ♪♪♪ 28:27 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
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