Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS024033S
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00:11 [uplifting music] 00:13 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:14 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 We are taking a look at the book of Mark 00:20 this quarter, and we are making our way through. 00:23 In fact, this week we're on lesson number seven, 00:26 and we're taking a look at "Teaching Disciples." 00:29 This is part one of two. We're glad to have you with us. 00:33 Let's begin with prayer. 00:35 Father, we want to thank You for giving us the time, 00:37 the opportunity, the ability to join You on this journey 00:42 through the book of Mark. 00:43 We ask that You would bless our time together 00:45 and help our lives to be changed, 00:48 impacted, transformed, as we see the gospel 00:51 through Mark's eyes. 00:54 We ask that You'll bless our time together today, 00:56 and we thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 01:00 Well, in addition to being glad that you are here with us, 01:02 we're also glad that the author 01:04 of this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson 01:06 is here with us as well; that's Thomas Shepherd. 01:08 He's the senior research professor 01:10 of New Testament at the theological seminary, 01:12 Andrews University. Tom, welcome back again. 01:15 >>Tom Shepherd: Thank you. It's good to be here. 01:17 >>Eric: So this is part one of two 01:19 in "Teaching Disciples." 01:20 We're now in chapter 8 of the book of Mark, 01:24 moving sequentially through, and there's a turning point 01:28 in the book of Mark. 01:29 Help us to understand this turning point. 01:31 What do we turn from and to? 01:34 And what is that pivot point? 01:35 >>Tom: Okay, so if you remember, I think, from our first lesson, 01:38 we talked about the Gospel of Mark 01:40 divides into two halves, fairly even. 01:43 The first eight chapters are especially about 01:45 who is Jesus. 01:47 The answer is He's the Messiah. 01:49 The second half is where is He headed. 01:52 He's headed to the cross, and, of course, after that 01:54 comes His resurrection. 01:56 But those two ideas are major dividing places in the book. 02:01 So we're now arriving at the place where 02:06 it's this dividing point where we're going to say, 02:09 where is Jesus going? 02:12 But first, before where Jesus is going, 02:15 we have to see that He prepares His disciples for this. 02:23 So go ahead and read verses 27 to 30. 02:26 >>Eric: "Now Jesus and His disciples 02:28 "went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; 02:31 "and on the road He asked His disciples, 02:33 "saying to them, 'Who do men say that I am?' 02:36 "So they answered, 'John the Baptist; 02:38 "but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.' 02:42 "He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' 02:45 "Peter answered and said to Him, 'You are the Christ.' 02:48 "Then He strictly warned them 02:50 that they should tell no one about Him." 02:52 >>Tom: Okay, so we'll stop there at this point. 02:56 This is the real turning place where Jesus asks His disciples-- 03:00 they've been with Him now all this time--and He says, 03:03 "Well, who do other people say that I am?" 03:05 And they all say, "John the Baptist, Elijah, 03:08 one of the prophets," all insufficient names 03:13 or monikers for Jesus. 03:14 He's not that, He's not John, He's not Elijah, 03:17 He's not one of the prophets, 03:19 and then the question comes to them straight: 03:21 "But who do you say I am?" 03:23 And Peter, speaking for the group, says, 03:25 "You're the Messiah. You are the Christ." 03:28 And it surprises us that He strictly charges them 03:30 to tell no one about Him, 03:32 but that again fits into this revelation secrecy motif 03:36 that runs through the book. 03:38 On a historical level it's very clear 03:41 that Jesus tamps down saying that He's Messiah 03:43 because people had the wrong expectation 03:45 of what a messiah would be. 03:47 And on a theological level, we have this back and forth 03:51 between revelation and secrecy where the real truth 03:55 cannot be hidden. 03:57 It's going to come out, see? 03:58 So there's the secrecy, but it's going to be revealed. 04:02 And we'll see how that, you know, shows up at the cross 04:05 and adds to the resurrection of Jesus. 04:07 So now we want to read verses 31 to 33 to see 04:11 what Jesus now proceeds to from that point. 04:15 >>Eric: "And He began to teach them 04:17 "that the Son of Man must suffer many things, 04:19 "and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, 04:23 "and be killed, and after three days rise again. 04:26 "He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside 04:30 "and began to rebuke Him. 04:31 "But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, 04:34 "He rebuked Peter, saying, 'Get behind me, Satan! 04:38 'For you are not mindful of the things of God, 04:40 but the things of men.'" 04:42 >>Tom: Okay, so immediately upon their understanding 04:46 that He is the Messiah, now He starts to explain 04:49 more of where He's headed. 04:51 And it's rather shocking. 04:54 He says He's going to be rejected, 04:56 He's going to be killed, and after 3 days 04:59 He's going to rise again, all right? 05:01 So this is His what we call passion prediction. 05:04 We call it the passion of Christ because "passion" comes 05:06 from a word that means "to suffer." 05:08 And so He's going to suffer, and He's going to be killed, 05:12 and then He's going to rise again. 05:15 Now, they just couldn't understand that. 05:18 You know, He speaks plainly to them about this. 05:20 So, you know, we might say, "Well, why didn't He 05:25 tell them that at first," you know? 05:27 He didn't tell them that at first 05:30 'cause they couldn't understand it; they couldn't accept it. 05:32 They had to get to know Him; they had to trust Him. 05:35 I remember the Gospel of John in chapter 6, 05:38 when Jesus tells people they have to eat His flesh 05:41 and drink His blood, a lot of people 05:44 don't go with Him anymore. 05:46 He says to the disciples, "Are you going to leave too?" 05:49 And they say, "Lord, where would we go? 05:52 You have the words of life." 05:53 So He had to prepare them. 05:55 They had to reach the place where they trusted Him. 05:59 And then He could explain to them the deep truth 06:03 of where He was actually headed. 06:05 >>Eric: So even here, once He's done that preparation, 06:07 they're still having a hard time grasping this concept-- 06:11 >>Tom: Oh yes. >>Eric: ...because it doesn't 06:12 line up with where they think He's going. 06:15 >>Tom: And, in fact, there's three passion predictions, 06:18 and each of them, they don't get it. 06:20 They're in the dark still, yeah. 06:24 >>Eric: And I think, to some extent, 06:25 that can kind of happen to us. 06:26 If we get our minds going in one direction, 06:27 even if we read something very clear 06:29 that's something different, we have a tendency 06:31 to make those same mistakes. 06:33 So maybe we don't want to treat them too harshly. 06:36 >>Tom: No, no, no, agreed. 06:38 >>Eric: So what about this cost of discipleship? 06:40 To follow Jesus, it costs something. 06:44 They were anticipating glory and power and so forth, 06:49 but it's a little bit different. 06:50 What is the cost of discipleship? 06:52 >>Tom: There's a famous book that's written by a guy named 06:56 Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "The Cost of Discipleship." 06:59 It's a pretty striking book. 07:02 It's, you know, hard-hitting in terms of where is your faith 07:06 and what does it mean and what does it cost you 07:08 to be a Christian. 07:09 And Jesus here, it's interesting--in verse 34, 07:12 He calls the crowd. He doesn't just tell His disciples this. 07:15 "Calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, 07:16 "He said to them, 'If anyone would come after me, 07:20 "'let him deny himself and take up his cross 07:23 and follow me.'" 07:25 Now, we have glorified the cross. 07:30 We put it on our churches. 07:34 There's nothing wrong with that. It's a symbol of Christianity. 07:36 It's become a symbol of Christianity. 07:39 But it wasn't a symbol of Christianity 07:41 in Jesus' day. 07:42 It was the most ignominious, the most terrible way to die 07:48 that the Romans used. 07:50 They would reserve this for criminals that were, you know, 07:56 rebels against the government, 07:59 and it was basically to shock all of the populace 08:04 into staying away from whatever got that guy on the cross. 08:10 So if you were, you know, if you were to do this kind of thing, 08:15 that's where you'll end up. 08:17 It was a terrible way to die. 08:19 It was not something that happened quickly. 08:22 There was not much blood loss in crucifixion. 08:25 So a person could survive on the cross for days. 08:28 They would be open to the elements, animals, insects. 08:34 They were commonly crucified naked. 08:38 It was--nobody would want this, you see? 08:41 So for Jesus to say this is to utterly deny yourself. 08:48 That's what He says is the cost of discipleship. 08:51 And so each of us has to ask the question: 08:55 am I a follower of Jesus? 08:57 Am I truly a follower of Jesus? We make it too pretty sometimes. 09:01 We make it too nice and too easy, I guess. 09:04 We don't always lay out, 09:07 what does it really mean to follow Jesus? 09:09 It means to deny yourself. It means to live for others. 09:12 It means to be a blessing to others and not be selfish. 09:15 >>Eric: So the cost of discipleship is very high, 09:19 exponentially high, 09:21 almost ridiculously high. >>Tom: Yeah. 09:24 >>Eric: But in order to choose that route, 09:28 there must be some reward. 09:31 >>Tom: Yeah, some of these people would say, 09:32 "Well, if that's what discipleship is, 09:34 why would anybody want that?" 09:35 >>Eric: Exactly, so there's got to be something positive 09:37 to counterbalance that cost of discipleship. 09:42 What does Jesus say about the rewards 09:46 of discipleship? 09:48 >>Tom: All right, so let's read verses 35 09:49 through the end of the chapter, verse 38. 09:53 >>Eric: "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, 09:57 "but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's 10:00 "will save it. 10:01 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, 10:04 "and loses his own soul? 10:06 "Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 10:10 "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous 10:13 "and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man 10:16 "also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory 10:19 of His Father with the holy angels." 10:21 >>Tom: All right, so here's the topsy-turvy world. [laughs] 10:25 And it's the paradox of Christianity. 10:28 He says, "Whoever would save his life will lose it, 10:31 "but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's 10:35 will save it." 10:36 So He had talked about denying oneself, 10:39 but then He immediately ends up describing 10:43 what it is that is going to give you value. 10:48 You know, He talks about worth. 10:51 If you lose your life, you'll save it. 10:54 "What does it profit if you gain the whole world 10:56 and forfeit your soul?" 10:57 Well, you know, they say you can't take it with you. 11:02 It's really true. 11:03 You get these people who are extremely rich, 11:07 and they say, "Extend my life, doctor." 11:10 And the doctor says, "Well, I've done everything I can," 11:13 you know? It's money that can't buy eternal life, you see? 11:18 But following Jesus does. 11:20 So, "What can a man give in return for his soul, 11:22 "for whoever is ashamed of me and my words 11:25 "in this adulterous and sinful generation, 11:28 "of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes 11:31 "in the glory of His Father [and] the holy angels"-- 11:33 "with the holy angels." 11:34 So there's a glorious day coming when Jesus will return-- 11:38 not as a crucified Savior, but as the conquering Redeemer 11:44 coming to redeem His people. 11:46 So, you know, you have to weigh it: 11:50 Which is really worth more? 11:51 Well, what's really worth more is eternal life with Jesus. 11:55 So, it's--I think it's John Elliott who said, 12:00 "A man is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep 12:05 to obtain that which he cannot lose." [chuckles] 12:09 And it's, you know, really the truth of Christianity. 12:12 You give up what you can't keep anyways, 12:15 but you gain that which you cannot lose, 12:17 not because of you, but because of God's great promise. 12:21 >>Eric: So a beautiful pivot point, a shift 12:25 in the focus in the book of Mark. 12:27 And this shift, I expect you probably talk 12:30 a little bit more about in the companion book 12:33 that we have for this quarter's-- 12:35 but tell us a little bit more about what's happening 12:37 in this chapter of that book. 12:38 >>Tom: Yeah, so again, it's the companion book. 12:41 If you want to learn more than what the lesson quarterly says 12:44 or what the teacher's lesson quarterly says, 12:46 you get this book, and it talks about 12:49 the cost of discipleship, describes it there. 12:52 And then it goes on in this chapter to describe 12:54 what happens in chapter 9 where Jesus meets a boy 12:56 who is demon possessed and how Jesus heals him. 13:03 And then the interesting ending of chapter 9 about-- 13:07 we'll talk about that more in the next section, maybe, 13:10 or in the next lesson. 13:11 We'll find out more about how chapter 9 ends 13:14 with the healthy man in hell, so. 13:18 >>Eric: So, lots that you want to pick up on that will add 13:20 more depth and breadth to your study of this, 13:24 of the book of Mark. 13:26 Where can you find it? Very easily at itiswritten.shop, 13:29 itiswritten.shop, and you'll find 13:32 the companion book to this quarter's 13:33 "Sabbath School" lesson right there. 13:35 We're gonna come back in just a moment 13:36 as we continue looking at disciples. 13:40 [uplifting music] 13:45 >>John Bradshaw: The Bible is filled 13:47 with stories of flawed human beings God called 13:50 to serve Him in incredible ways. 13:53 He took a violent, impulsive, racist fisherman 13:56 and transformed him into one of Jesus' 13:58 closest disciples and one of the most influential leaders 14:02 of the early church. 14:04 Join me for another episode of our series 14:06 "Great Characters of the Bible" as we look at the life of Peter. 14:11 Peter was far from perfect. 14:13 He was overly confident. 14:14 He made promises he didn't keep. 14:16 But his experience is an encouragement 14:18 to anyone who knows the feeling of messing up as a follower 14:22 of Jesus, of falling short and wondering 14:26 if you'll ever get it right. 14:28 God stuck with Peter and helped him grow. 14:31 And if you let Him, He'll do the same for you. 14:34 "Great Characters of the Bible: Peter," 14:38 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 14:45 [uplifting music] 14:49 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:51 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:52 We are on lesson number seven of 13. 14:55 We're looking at making disciples. 14:57 Tom, we get into here in chapter, 15:01 end of chapter 8, chapter 9 we're heading into now-- 15:04 the transfiguration. 15:06 What's the significance of the transfiguration? 15:09 I mean, to suggest that it's insignificant 15:11 would be foolish, but it is clearly significant. 15:14 What are some elements of that significance 15:16 that we need to make sure we grasp? 15:18 >>Tom: Okay, so Jesus had just talked about, 15:20 at the end of chapter 8, 15:21 about the terrible cost of discipleship. 15:24 You had to deny yourself, take up your cross, 15:26 and follow Him. 15:27 Then He talks about how valuable it is 15:30 to be a Christian and that, you know, there's this, like, 15:34 eternal reward that you have from it. 15:36 Now, He starts at the very beginning 15:38 of chapter 9--this is in His next breath-- 15:40 "He said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, 15:42 "'there are some standing here who will not taste death 15:45 "'until they see the kingdom of God 15:46 after it has come with power.'" 15:48 Now, immediately this raises a question 15:50 in some people's minds. 15:51 "What? Did Jesus say that He was gonna come back 15:54 "in their generation? And has that failed, 15:56 "obviously, that He didn't come back then? 15:59 So is the gospel not true?" 16:01 Well, no, that's not the case. 16:03 He says, "Truly...there are some standing here who will not 16:08 "taste death until--until they see the kingdom of God 16:12 after it has come with power." 16:13 Okay, so "some" means not everybody is going to, 16:18 you know, see what is coming here, 16:20 "standing here who will not taste death 16:22 until they see the kingdom come in power." 16:24 So they're gonna taste death. 16:26 Well, if they see the coming, the kingdom come in power, 16:29 how can they come, how can they taste death? 16:32 You would expect that they would go to heaven 16:34 with the Lord, you know. 16:36 So what He's actually describing here, 16:38 what He's predicting is this transfiguration. 16:40 Now, remember that He has just described 16:44 that He was going to go to the cross. 16:47 And so now He's going to take three of His disciples 16:51 up on a mountain, Peter, James, and John, 16:54 leads up on a high mountain, and He's transfigured 16:57 before them. 16:58 "His clothes become"-- it says here-- 17:01 "become radiant, intensely white, 17:03 as no one on earth could bleach them." 17:05 They had these people called fullers, who would take 17:08 and bleach clothes, and evidently they had 17:11 pretty strong lye [laughs] that would really bleach it 17:16 and make it, you know, really white. 17:18 And He's like--no, but it's intensely more white than that. 17:22 You know, it's shining white. 17:24 He is there, appears to Him Elijah and Moses, 17:28 and they're talking with Jesus. 17:30 "And Peter says, 'Rabbi, it is good'"-- 17:34 this is verse 5 of chapter 9-- "'it is good that we are here. 17:37 "'Let us make three tents, one for You...one for Moses 17:41 "and one for Elijah.' For he did not know what to say, 17:44 for they were terrified." 17:47 All right, so this transfiguration 17:51 is where Jesus is now radiant. 17:54 It's like He's gonna, when He comes back 17:56 the second time; He's gonna be radiant. 17:59 Moses and Elijah are talking to Him. Why these two? 18:02 Well, these two show up interesting places together. 18:04 They show up in the book of Revelation, 18:07 and they show up here, and they're representatives. 18:12 Moses died and was raised back to life, 18:15 as the book of Jude alludes to. 18:18 And Elijah, of course, went to heaven without seeing death. 18:21 So they represent two groups: one is the group, those who died 18:25 and will be raised back to life; 18:26 Elijah, those who never face death, 18:29 which would be really nice, you know, 18:31 not to die but to live until the Lord returns. 18:34 And this is a typical, what we call typical theophany. 18:39 There's this cloud that overshadows them, 18:41 says, God's voice, "'This is my beloved Son; 18:44 "listen to Him.' 18:46 "And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone 18:51 with them but Jesus only." 18:54 I remember reading this in the book 18:55 "The Desire of Ages," that beautiful chapter, 18:57 "The Transfiguration." 18:58 She ends the chapter with this high note. 19:01 They looked around, all was gone, 19:05 and they were alone on the mountain with Jesus. 19:08 You know, it's like, "Whoa," you know? 19:11 They just had this incredible experience, 19:13 probably almost couldn't believe their eyes, 19:15 couldn't imagine-- did that really happen? 19:18 And then here they are all by themselves with Jesus, 19:22 a most amazing experience. 19:24 And when they're coming down the mountain, 19:26 He tells them not to tell anybody about it. 19:29 Well, again, it's that picture of the secrecy and revelation. 19:37 They just had the amazing theophany, 19:39 the amazing appearance of God. 19:41 Jesus is very clearly the heavenly Son of God, 19:45 and that's no doubt a encouragement to them when, 19:50 after He goes through the cross and their hopes are dashed, 19:55 but they would have this memory that He was transfigured 20:01 on that mountain. He really is the Son of God. 20:03 The Son of God was crucified. 20:05 Now, when He was crucified, they--I don't think 20:07 they understood that, but eventually that memory 20:10 came back, and they could put the two together, 20:13 two plus two. 20:14 >>Eric: So an incredible experience 20:16 that they saw, that they had, a sight that they beheld. 20:21 And then we come down, not too many more verses, 20:24 and we run into, well, here's another demoniac challenge, 20:28 a demoniac problem, this boy who's with the mute spirit. 20:32 Why did Jesus take so long to deal with this boy? 20:37 He could, you know, snap His proverbial fingers 20:41 and fix things, but it doesn't work that way. 20:46 >>Tom: No, it doesn't. He comes down the mountain. 20:48 The scribes are arguing with the nine disciples 20:50 who were down below. 20:52 They probably were quite kind of upset 20:55 that they didn't get to go up on the mountain, you know; 20:57 it's kind of like you're not chosen. 20:59 [laughs] Why didn't they choose me? You know. 21:02 When I used to play baseball, 21:04 I was such a lousy baseball player as a little kid 21:07 that I was like the person they chose last, 21:09 and they put him out in right field 21:10 where nobody would hit, 21:11 so, you know, 'cause I couldn't catch things real well 21:14 and throw things real well. 21:16 So you can understand how they might feel. 21:18 "And [Jesus] asked them, 'What are you arguing about 21:21 with them?'" And the man says, the father speaks up, 21:24 "Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a spirit 21:26 "that makes him mute. 21:28 "And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, 21:30 "and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. 21:33 "So I asked Your disciples to cast it out, 21:36 and they were not able." 21:39 It had to be discouraging. 21:40 Jesus really, you know, says, "[You] faithless generation, 21:43 how long am I to be with you?" 21:44 You know, it had to be kind of discouraging to Him 21:47 that they just never seemed to get it, you know, 21:51 and they couldn't do this. 21:54 And they're going to ask later on, 21:57 "Why couldn't we cast it out," you know? 22:00 But He says, "Bring the boy to me." 22:04 So they bring the boy, and the spirit convulses him. 22:08 He falls down; he foams at the mouth; he becomes rigid. 22:10 I mean, it's this terrible demonstration. 22:13 And Jesus seems to take His time, you know. 22:16 He says, "How long has it been happening to him?" 22:19 The father describes all this trouble that he's had. 22:23 And you think about this father, you know. 22:25 He brought his boy who was demon possessed, 22:29 He brings him to where Jesus was. 22:31 "Jesus isn't here, He's up on the mountain, 22:33 but we can pray for your boy to be healed." 22:36 They pray, the demon mocks him; he doesn't go out. 22:39 The scribes come and start arguing with them 22:42 and say, "Ah-ha-ha, this is a spirit that you can't throw out. 22:44 I'll bet you Jesus can't throw him out, either," you know. 22:47 And so the disciples are like, "Oh my goodness, 22:49 this is no good." 22:50 Jesus comes down, and then He takes all this time 22:53 to ask the guy about it. 22:55 So the man's faith just kind of withers. 22:58 And he makes this really interesting statement. 23:01 And he says, "But if You can do anything, 23:04 have compassion on us and help us." 23:08 And the Greek here is interesting. 23:11 Jesus says, the English translation says, "If You can." 23:16 The Greek has, it's kind of like He's quoting the father, 23:19 the "If You can," which is like, 23:23 "The real problem is 'if You can.'" 23:28 So suddenly the father realizes that his lack of faith 23:34 could result in his son not being healed. 23:38 I think any parent can ponder that 23:41 and think about that a moment and say, "Oh my goodness, 23:46 I'm going to be-- it's my fault," you know? 23:50 The problem, see, here wasn't just the demon possession. 23:54 The problem was the lack of faith 23:56 on the part of the father. 23:57 So I like what the father says. 24:00 He says, "I believe; help my unbelief!" 24:03 Throws himself on Jesus' compassion. 24:05 Anybody who comes to Jesus for help in the Gospels 24:08 always gets it. 24:10 So Jesus throws out the demon, and he cries out, comes out. 24:14 The people say he's dead, but Jesus lifts him up, 24:17 and, you know, everything's okay. 24:19 They come into the house, and the "disciples 24:22 asked Him privately, 'Why could we not cast it out?'" 24:26 They'd done it before. 24:27 You know, they'd cast out demons before. 24:29 "He said to them, 'This kind cannot be driven out 24:32 by anything but prayer.'" 24:34 Now some manuscripts say "prayer and fasting," 24:36 but some just say "anything but prayer." 24:40 So they had let their hearts become filled with envy, 24:47 and that took the place of the power of God. 24:50 So it's a good lesson, [laughs] good lesson for us. 24:53 >>Eric: So Jesus stretched this one out so, among other things, 24:55 we could benefit from learning a little bit more. 24:58 >>Tom: You could say so, that we get 25:01 the benefit of their mistakes. [laughs] 25:03 >>Eric: That's right. That's right. 25:06 All right, latter part of chapter 9, 25:09 Jesus starts talking about cutting off hands and feet. 25:14 Now, we hope He's not being literal here, 25:17 but what is He talking about? 25:19 >>Tom: All right, so if we go down to verse 43-- 25:20 again we have to skip over a part 25:22 of some of the passages, and we come to verse 43: 25:26 "And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. 25:28 "It is better for you to enter life crippled 25:30 "than with two hands to go to hell, 25:32 "to the unquenchable fire. 25:34 "And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. 25:36 "It is better for you to enter [into] life lame 25:38 "than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 25:40 "And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. 25:43 "It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God 25:45 with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell." 25:47 Whoa, you know, that's really powerful language. 25:51 It's hyperbole. It's hyperbole. 25:53 I'm a cellist, and I would not want to lose 25:57 any of my hand, either hand or my fingers. 25:59 You use the left hand to move the position 26:04 and use the right hand to bow. 26:06 And that would be a bad thing to lose your hand or even a finger. 26:10 Jesus says it's worse to sin than it is to do that. 26:15 The hyperbole is that, you know, you think that 26:17 when you go to heaven, everything's going to be 26:19 all healed up and well. 26:20 He's not telling you to cut off your hands, 26:22 but He's like, "You know, it'd be better to go in a hand-- 26:25 "with one hand to go into heaven than to have both hands 26:28 and be in hell." So this is the healthy man in hell, 26:30 where--you would expect the healthy people 26:32 would be in heaven, but He said no; 26:34 it's the people who have, you know, given up on sin. 26:37 They've said, "I'd rather lose a hand than sin." 26:40 Boy, that's really something. 26:42 So again, it's the high call of discipleship 26:44 that He's put before us. 26:46 >>Eric: So a beautiful coming together of ideas 26:50 here at the very end. He says, "What are your priorities?" 26:53 And I think He gives us a good idea, 26:56 to put our priorities in the right direction. 26:58 And we still have a little bit of distance 27:01 to go in the book of Mark, 27:02 still a few lessons that we're going to be looking at 27:05 as we continue marching through the remainder 27:08 of the book of Mark. 27:10 And we're glad that you are joining us for this journey. 27:13 Again, if you happen to have missed 27:15 any of our previous episodes as we've covered 27:18 chapters 1 through 8, you can find those 27:21 at itiswritten.tv or on our YouTube channel, 27:25 a variety of other places as well, but there's 27:28 much, much more, so make sure that you get caught up 27:30 and don't miss any of the remaining episodes 27:33 as we continue and in a few weeks 27:35 finish our study of the book of Mark. 27:39 But we hope it won't be the end of a study of the book of Mark 27:41 for you; hopefully, it'll just be the very beginning. 27:45 Between now and then, we wish you the very best, 27:47 and we look forward to seeing you again 27:48 next week here on "Sabbath School," 27:50 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:52 [uplifting music] 28:22 [uplifting music] 28:24 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2024-08-08