Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Suffering King Who Serves (Mark) | Thomas R. Schreiner

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The Suffering King Who Serves (Mark) | Thomas R. Schreiner · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking, the show that extracts the
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essential knowledge from complex sources.
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This the deep dive. Today we're inviting you into a
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really focused analysis of the Gospel of Mark.
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Mark is just famous for its speed, its clarity, and it's
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it's pretty radical picture of Jesus.
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Our mission is to gain a thorough comprehension of this
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short kinetic gospel through the lens of Thomas R Shriner's
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analysis in his work The King in His Beauty.
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Yeah, and we've got a stack of research here indicating that,
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you know, while Mark's narrative sometimes mirrors Matthews, it
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really offers some unique perspectives, particularly in
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how it paces the action and and sets up the central drama.
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Shriner organizes his study around 3 interlocking truths,
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and these are going to structure our deep dive today.
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First, the Kingdom of God. Second, the identity of Jesus,
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which is Christology. And 3rd, the calling on his
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followers, which of course is discipleship.
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Right. And the whole point of Mark, as
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the source explains, is to force us to confront a pretty big
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realization. God's saving rule has arrived in
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the person of Jesus Christ. This arrival well and
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necessitated a complete redefinition of what Messiahship
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even meant. It had to move away from earthly
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triumph and towards suffering. Mark just starts with action and
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races toward the cross, compelling us and you to
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understand what true following really entails.
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We're really setting the stage here for the revelation of a
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crucified king. OK, so let's unpack this core
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concept right away. The Kingdom of God, our source
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material, makes a cruel distinction.
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God is always sovereign, right? The king over all creation, as
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Psalm one O 3 reminds us, that's a fixed truth.
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So what specific reality does the Kingdom of God in Mark
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announced that is different from, you know, God's general
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rule over everything? That's the perfect question to
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start with. What Mark calls the Kingdom of
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God isn't just that general rule God exercises over existence
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itself. It refers specifically to God's
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saving rule breaking into human history.
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This is a moment when God actively interviewed to fulfill
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his redemptive promises. So it's less about a cosmic fact
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and more about a saving act, an intervention.
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Precisely. The arrival of the saving rule
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is the fulfillment of centuries of promises.
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It's the grand historical arc of salvation history finally,
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finally bending toward realization.
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You know, think of it this way. For Israel, this Kingdom was the
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answer to every prayer about exile, about sin, about
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oppression. It signifies the start of a
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whole new era. And when we look at the Old
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Testament promises being fulfilled, we're dealing with
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some of the biggest theological promises in all of Scripture.
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Absolutely. The first great promise that
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victory over the serpent foretold way back in Genesis
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3.15, that's being realized here.
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The worldwide blessing promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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That's being initiated. The perpetual Kingdom promised
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to David is now at hand, but in a a very unexpected form.
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And crucially, it marks the arrival of the New Covenant.
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This isn't just a minor update, it's a new exodus and the very
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beginning of a new creation. This saving rule brings with it
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justice, the vindication of the righteous, and the guaranteed
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judgment of the wicked. Though, as we'll see, that
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judgment is initially delayed and placed upon the King
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himself. OK, here's where it gets really
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interesting for me. The method of the kingdom's
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advance. It's supernatural, utterly
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beyond human manipulation. It's not a revolution achieved
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by human effort or, you know, political maneuvering.
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Shriner points to the parable of the unstoppable seed in Mark 4
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to illustrate this essential fact.
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Yeah, that parable is key. The seed represents the message
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of the Kingdom itself, the gospel as announced by Jesus in
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Mark One. The source explains that the
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Kingdom advances solely through the word of God being
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proclaimed. A man scatter seed on the
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ground, and whether he's sleeping or waking, the seed
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grows. He doesn't know how it grows.
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It grows by its own power. So the human is responsible for
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the scattering, but the growth mechanism that belongs entirely
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to God. That's right.
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And the human response to this advance is often just
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astonishment, particularly from those who reject it.
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They look at this message, this simple narrative of a crucified
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Messiah, and they just can't grasp how it bears fruit, how it
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changes hearts, or how it creates new communities.
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Yet it grows independently of human wisdom or strength,
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continuing silently, powerfully, until the harvest arrives.
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This whole mechanism highlights the sovereign nature of God's
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saving work. It's a core Reformed
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understanding. Salvation is entirely dependent
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on his effectual call, not on our will or our methods.
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Now let's move to the historical context because Mark says the
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scene with the imagery of a new exodus, the message of the king
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him appears suddenly after 400 years of silence and years of
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Israel suffering under foreign rule, a period really similar to
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their enslavement in Egypt. And then John the Baptist
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suddenly appears on the scene. And he appears as the promised
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Elijah like figure echoing 2 Kings.
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His message was stark. Israel needed to confess its sin
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and prepare for God's visitation.
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His preaching in the wilderness and His baptism in the Jordan
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River visually signify that Israel, the covenant people were
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still spiritually stuck in the wilderness.
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They needed cleansing, purification, symbolically
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needing to cross the Jordan River again to finally enter and
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enjoy God's saving rule, the Promised Land.
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You know, Mark opens with a fascinating scriptural
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combination. He cites Malachi and Isaiah, but
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he attributes the whole mix to Isaiah.
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What's the theological instruction embedded in that
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choice? Oh, it's highly deliberate,
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Malachi 3 promises a messenger, but Isaiah 40 describes a voice
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crying in the wilderness, preparing a highway for the
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Lord. By framing the entire mission
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through Isaiah, Mark is telling the readers to interpret the
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immediate events, John's appearance in the desert as the
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beginning of the return from exile.
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The Lord's messenger is appearing in the most unlikely
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place, the desert to prepare the people for the cleansing they
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need before the Lord comes in glory to establish His saving
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reign. It signals the true beginning of
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the new age. And the capstone on this whole
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new Exodus idea is John's massive promise of the Spirit.
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Right, John promised not just water, but a deluge of the
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Spirit. This directly fulfills Old
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Testament prophecies in Isaiah, Zekiel, and Joel.
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In Jewish expectation, the widespread giving of the Spirit
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was the definitive sign that the Messianic Age had dawned, that
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the exile was finally over, and that the New Covenant, the
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Kingdom, was starting. John was the prophesied figure
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who precedes the day of the Lord, which is both the day of
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salvation for God's people and judgement for his enemies.
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So John heralds the arrival, and then Jesus takes over,
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proclaiming that the Kingdom is at hand, calling people to
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repent and believe the good news.
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But we need to look at the tangible physical manifestation
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of this Kingdom authority, the signs of the new creation in
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action. Exactly.
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The arrival of the saving rule is evidenced by Jesus's
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comprehensive, absolute authority over the enemies of
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creation, demons, disease, and death.
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He didn't just teach. His teaching carried immediate
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spiritual authority, which was demonstrated by His ability to
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cast out unclean spirits simply with His Word, commanding
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silence and submission. The people weren't just
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impressed, they were astonished at the sheer weight of his
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teaching. The sources single out the story
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of the Jersey demoniac in Mark 5 as a lengthy and central
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demonstration of this Kingdom authority.
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Why does Mark dedicate so much space to this one singular
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event? It's a critical point about the
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nature of the kingdom's breakthrough.
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I mean, this was no ordinary possession.
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The man was possessed by a legion, a Roman term for
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thousands of soldiers. It symbolizes the complete
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oppression of the demonic realm. This man lived in cemeteries,
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possessed superhuman strength with self-destructive.
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He was totally dehumanized by sin and the forces of darkness.
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When the Kingdom comes, human beings are restored to their
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rightful condition under God. The man is immediately delivered
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by Jesus's authoritative word and restored to sanity, sitting
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clothed at Jesus's feet. And the cultural shock of the
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pigs running into the sea, which can seem a little excessive to
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us now, served as specific theological purpose for the
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people who are watching. It did.
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The swift and total destruction of 2000 pigs demonstrated the
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complete transfer and neutralization of that demonic
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influence. The sheer number illustrated the
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absolute authority Jesus holds when the Kingdom advances, the
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deep seated territorial power of demons is stripped away and
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humanity is freed from everything that breaks it down
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and separates it from community. It's a graphic display of
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spiritual conquest. OK, that addresses the spiritual
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authority. What about the authority over
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physical reality? You know the brokenness of the
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old creation. Well, disease and death are the
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primary indicators of the old creation's brokenness under sin,
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and Jesus reigned over these as well.
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We see the healing of the paralytic, which is so
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significant because the forgiveness of sins preceded the
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physical healing. This teaches us that the
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physical miracles are secondary signs pointing to the greater
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spiritual reality, the cleansing of the soul.
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And the woman with the 12 year hemorrhage offers a fascinating
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reversal of political law. That whole dynamic is crucial.
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Under the Law, anyone who touched this chronically unclean
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woman would become unclean themselves.
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But Jesus's holiness and cleanness were so potent, so
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infused with the power of the Kingdom, that when she touched
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him, his power eradicated her uncleanness.
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He wasn't defiled. She was made whole.
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This authority also extends to conquering death itself, as we
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see when he raises Jairus's daughter.
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The ultimate enemy is just rendered helpless before the
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king. And these miracles, they connect
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directly back to the prophetic expectations for the Messianic
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age. They absolutely do.
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Isaiah 35 promised that when the new Exodus arrived, the blind
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would see and the deaf would hear.
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Mark shows Jesus fulfilling this prophecy, literally making the
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deaf hear and the blind see. But His authority extended even
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further, commanding the disordered creation itself,
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calming the storm, commanding peace be still that demonstrated
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complete authority over the chaos resulting from humanity's
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sin. He is bringing order out of
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chaos, giving us a foretaste of the restored creation.
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And he fulfills the pattern of the new Moses.
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Yes, the parallel is just undeniable.
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The feeding of the 5000 and the 4000 in those wilderness
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settings signaled that Jesus was the new and better Moses.
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He was providing miraculous sustenance for the new Exodus
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generation, proving that lack of provision was no obstacle to the
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King's saving rule over his people.
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This saving rule then brings a complete newness, something that
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cannot be accommodated within the structure of the Old
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Covenant, right? The new wine of the Kingdom has
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arrived, and it cannot be contained in the old wineskins
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of the former religious system. This is a radical reorientation.
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Jesus became the sovereign interpreter of the law, even
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overturning the binding nature of specific purity laws for his
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disciples. This new era anticipated the
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ultimate end of the temple sacrificial system because
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forgiveness would be secured entirely through Jesus's death.
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The sources link this new age explicitly to the forgiveness of
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sins demonstrated through Jesus's willingness to
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fellowship with those considered religiously outside the pale.
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His table fellowship with sinners and tax collectors is a
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profound theological statement. It anticipates the Messianic
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banquet, the joyful celebration anticipated on the last day from
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Isaiah. Sinners may now experience the
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Kingdom's mercy simply by being in His presence.
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The new age has begun because Jesus is the bridegroom of the
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wedding feast. And as we already discussed with
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the paralytic, physical healing is always downstream from the
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deeper issue of spiritual forgiveness.
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This brings us squarely to the essential theological tension
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Mark presents. The already, but not yet.
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The Kingdom arrived with power in Jesus, but the world is
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clearly still suffering. That tension is inescapable.
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The Kingdom arrived in Jesus's person and ministry, manifested
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through the signs of power we just detailed.
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But the fullness of glory, the complete elimination of all
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suffering, is not yet a reality. Death, demons and blindness
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still exist. Shriner stresses that the full
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realization of the Kingdom, the complete salvation for human
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beings, is accessed only through the death of the Son of Man.
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The victory is secured, but the final mopping up operation is
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still ongoing. And because the Kingdom is
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present but not yet fully visible, its arrival isn't
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obvious to everyone, which leads to the parables of mystery.
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The Parable of the Sower illustrates this reality
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starkly. Only some will receive the
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saving word. Many reject it for various
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reasons. The message is snatched away.
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They lack spiritual root and find comfort in the present evil
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age. Or they're consumed by the
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anxieties of life. The kingdom's arrival will not
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be evident to all rational observers.
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It requires God's sovereign intervention.
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He must grant understanding for someone to embrace the saving
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rule. So the hard truth is that those
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who actively oppose Jesus are actively hardened by their own
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resistance, which prevents them from seeing the truth.
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That perspective is consistent with the source material and,
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frankly, with Reformed theology regarding reprobation.
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The Kingdom cannot be tested or evaluated by human intelligence
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or empirical observation. It is a divine revelation given
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by the sun to be received by faith alone.
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The parable of the mustard seed further illustrates the
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invisibility of the Kingdom to human perception.
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It starts tiny, insignificant, and hidden, growing silently
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until it reaches its full stature.
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Only those granted the sight of faith can see that the saving
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rule has truly come. OK, so the saving rule is
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present because the king has arrived.
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Mark connects the good news of the Kingdom directly to the
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gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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Let's pivot now to the identity of this king, focusing on the
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titles Messiah, Son of God, and Son of Man.
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Well, the title Son of God is really the framing device for
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the entire gospel. It functions as what literary
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critics call an inclusio, which is just a fancy term for a
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bookend. Mark starts the narrative with
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his title and ensures that the narrative concludes with the
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confession of the century end of the cross.
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This structural choice dictates how we must read the whole
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story. So the central truth is this
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identity and true understanding of that identity only comes
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through the lens of suffering. Exactly.
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The glory of His sonship is only fully understood in light of his
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suffering and death. If you missed the cross, you
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missed the true definition of the Son of God.
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But initially, Jesus is surprisingly reserved about
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using the title Christ or letting others proclaim him.
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This is the famous messianic secret.
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Given the enthusiasm the Kingdom was generating, why the
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reluctance to embrace the title? It was due entirely to the
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political explosiveness of the title Messiah in the 1st
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century. The Jewish people frequently
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understood the Messiah to be a political and military leader
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who would immediately remove Roman power and establish an
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earthly golden Kingdom, often violently.
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If Jesus had fully accepted that title publicly, he would have
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fomented an immediate political revolution, which was not his
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mission. He was trying to delay the
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confrontation until the right moment, yes.
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He needed to redefine the job description first.
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He commanded those he healed, the disciples and even the
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demons to keep his identity quiet.
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He reserved the full public confession until Peter made it
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away from Jerusalem. It says Rea Philippi.
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And that timing really matters. It happens far from the capital
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city, far from the influence of the crowds and the watchful eyes
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of Rome. And the narrative highlights the
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profound spiritual blindness of the religious leaders in the
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crowds. It's incredibly telling that a
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blind man, Bartimaeus, is the one who truly sees who Jesus is,
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identifying him as the son of David As Jesus is traveling
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directly to Jerusalem to suffer and die on a Roman cross, True
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sight recognizes the king on the path of self sacrifice.
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The irony surrounding his kingship comes to a head in the
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final chapter, Chapter 15. The title King of the Jews
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becomes prominent only when he is apprehended and standing
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before Pilate. Right.
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Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews, and Jesus
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acknowledged that Pilate and his accusers had correctly
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identified him. They were putting him to death
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precisely as the king, but for treason against Caesar.
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Pilots inscription of the cross was ironically true.
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The soldiers mocked him as the King of the Jews, and they were
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in that moment truly hailing the king of the Jews and of the
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entire. Cosmos and the religious leaders
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were shouting at him to come down from the cross to prove his
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messiahship. Their demand showcase their
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complete spiritual failure. They saw the cross as evidence
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of failure, but Shriner points out that he was pruding himself
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to be the Messiah by his crucifixion.
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The Old Testament defined the Messiah as the suffering
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servant. Only by dying could he secure
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the new covenant. One only understands Jesus as
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Messiah if one sees him as the crucified Messiah.
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OK, let's link this sonship identity explicitly to suffering
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and glory. The divine voice declares Jesus
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as the Son of God at 2 crucial moments, and both anticipate the
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cross. The 1st is at the baptism.
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At the baptism, Jesus is anointed for his ministry by the
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Holy Spirit. Crucially, he is identified not
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just as the Son, but the language echoes out of the
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suffering Servant from Isaiah 42.
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So his sonship is immediately tied to the redemptive suffering
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he will undertake for his people.
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He receives the Spirit to complete his mission, which
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involves death. And the second declaration comes
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at the transfiguration. At the Transfiguration, the
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divine voice identifies Jesus as the Son superior to Moses and
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Elijah, who the disciples must listen to.
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This scene offers a dramatic, albeit momentary, unveiling of
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His true divine glory, anticipating the final visible
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power of the Kingdom. However, even in this moment of
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glory, the cross is still anticipated.
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Jesus spoke of rising from the dead immediately afterward.
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The Transfiguration ensures the disciples understand that the
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crucified man is indeed the powerful, eternal Son of God.
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We also need to address the title Son of Man, which
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simultaneously implies both tremendous authority and
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required suffering. The Son of Man title is often
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self referential and it carries deep meaning from Daniel 7.
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It signifies His authority, authority to forgive sins, and
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His lordship over the Sabbath. He is the divinely appointed
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sovereign figure. But Mark repeatedly stresses
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that this lordship is inseparable from the Cross.
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The Son of Man must be betrayed and must suffer, die and rise
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again before He comes again in glory on the clouds.
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And the parable of the wicked tenants perfectly illustrates
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this necessary suffering for final triumph.
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That parable confirms that the sun is deliberately slain by the
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wicked tenants. Yet this slain sun becomes the
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cornerstone of a new temple, a new spiritual structure.
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Through his death and resurrection, God establishes
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His rule in triumphs over His enemies.
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The Son of Man who receives the Kingdom from the Father in
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Daniel 7 does so by first becoming the suffering servant.
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So Mark makes it clear the kingdom's arrival, which we
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discussed in Part 1, is secured only through the cross.
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Jesus's entire ministry, his healings, his teaching, his
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exorcisms all lead to and cannot be separated from his death and
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resurrection. Right.
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Jesus came to give his life as a ransom For many.
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That phrase is the theological anchor for the entire gospel.
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A ransom is a price paid to free someone from slavery or
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punishment. Those enslaved by sin are freed
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because the Son of Man takes their punishment upon himself.
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He is the servant of the Lord from Isaiah, whose sacrificial
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death secures the New Age and the salvation promised to
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Abraham. Let's elaborate on that
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sacrificial language, particularly at the Last Supper,
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connecting it to covenant theology.
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At the Last Supper, Jesus's words over the bread and wine
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signify his impending, violent death.
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The shedding of his blood is covenantal, recalling the
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ceiling of the first covenant in Exodus 24.
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The phrase poured out for many signifies the complete giving of
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his life. The ultimate sacrifice,
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atonement for sins is secured through this substitutionary
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act, saving all who believe. This covenant secures the saving
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rule of God, making us part of the new Exodus generation.
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The sources highlight the explicit teaching of
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substitution here, a doctrine central to a Reformed
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understanding of salvation, and the Barabbas incident serves as
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a striking real world paradigm of this substitution.
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It's a powerful personal moment. Barabbas, whose name suggests
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Son of the Father, was an actual insurrectionist, A murderer
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guilty of high crimes, and he deserved death.
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Yet Jesus, the true Son of the Father, died in his place so
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Barabbas could walk free. The source explicitly states
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that you, the reader, should see your own story in Barabbas.
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We deserve the just righteous wrath of God because of our
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rebellion and sin. But Jesus died in our stead so
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we can enjoy life and salvation. This transaction is the very
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definition of grace. Furthermore, the judgement
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imagery Mark uses during the Passion emphasizes that Jesus
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was taken deserved by Israel and all humanity.
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This is critical for. Understanding the depth of the
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atonement when Jesus was delivered into the hands of men.
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This echoes Old Testament language where Israel was handed
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over to the enemy as a judgement for their disobedience.
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Jesus was voluntarily facing the judgement of God, taking the
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punishment his people deserve for breaking the covenant.
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The enemy's wagging their heads also refers to the mockery and
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defeat Israel faced when under divine judgment and the physical
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phenomena. That accompany his death.
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The darkness that fell upon the entire land was a clear sign
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that God's judgment was falling, but it was falling upon Jesus,
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the darkness. Signifies divine judgment.
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Like an exodus during the plagues, Jesus took the darkness
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of God's just anger upon himself, suffering eternal loss
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in that moment so that his people can enjoy the light of
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salvation and the forgiveness of sins.
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The passers by who mocked him, saying he saved others he cannot
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save himself, spoke a deeper ironic truth.
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If he had saved himself, there would be no hope for humanity.
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He suffered for others, dying in their place, securing the
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Kingdom through his total self sacrifice.
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So Mark establishes. Who the King is and what he
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accomplished to carrying the Kingdom through the cross.
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Now we have to turn to the required response from his
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followers. The first half of Mark focuses
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so heavily on spiritual perception, highlighting how
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difficult it was for everyone to grasp Jesus's true identity,
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especially the need for suffering.
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Everyone struggled. The religious leaders were
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spiritually blind, attributing Jesus's power to the devil,
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Beelzebel. Even Jesus's biological family
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failed to understand, thinking he was mentally unstable.
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While the demons knew who he was, they hated him.
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The crowds were just confused, but the disciples?
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Themselves, the inner circle are consistently depicted as
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struggling with basic comprehension, even after
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receiving private explanations of the parables.
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Oh, they're repeated. Obtuseness is a major theme in
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Mark. After Jesus stealed the storm,
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they were astonished asking who is this man?
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They came to no front conclusion.
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Even worse, when he walked on water after feeding the 5000,
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they were terrified and did not understand about the loaves, but
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their hearts were hardened. They observed the miraculous
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proof of his messianic status, yet they failed to grasp the
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significance and the resistance. Wasn't malice, it was a deep
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seated mental block against the full truth.
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Yes. When Jesus warned them later
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about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of
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Herod, they took him literally, worrying about physical bread.
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Jesus asked them pointedly if their hearts were hardened,
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preventing their comprehension. They lacked the spiritual
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perception needed to connect the dots between the miracles and
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the nature of the King. This ongoing.
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Failure to perceive the true nature of Jesus leads directly
23:02
into that strange miracle of the two stage healing of the blind
23:05
man which the source suggests serves as a symbolic lesson for
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the disciples. This narrative placement.
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Is absolutely deliberate. It's not that Jesus failed the
23:14
first time. After the first touch, the man
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sees people like trees walking, lacking clarity and distinction.
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Only after the second touch is his sight fully restored.
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This miracle precedes Peter's confession and acts as an
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immediate visual metaphor for the state of the disciples
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hearts. So the disciples were like.
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This blind man, they needed a divine intervention to truly
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understand Peter's. Magnificent confession at
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Caesarea Philippi. You are the Christ was the first
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touch. They saw that Jesus was the
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Messiah. That was a clear divine
23:44
revelation. But their vision was incomplete.
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They needed the second touch. They needed to grasp.
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The nature of his Messiahship precisely.
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They still clung to the popular triumphant political king idea.
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They needed the second touch to grasp the necessity of his
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suffering and death. Without understanding the
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crucified Christ, their vision of the Messiah was still
24:04
obscured, seeing reality dimly, like walking trees.
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This tension just. Explodes immediately following
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Peter's confession, when Jesus openly predicts his rejection,
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suffering, death and resurrection.
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And Peter, clinging to that trample vision, rebuked Jesus.
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Peter's reaction. Was immediate and hostile.
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He refused the idea of a suffering Messiah.
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Jesus's response was perhaps the sharpest in the entire Gospel.
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Get behind me, Satan. This was directed not only at
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Peter, but at the deep human tendency, reflected by all the
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disciples to seek glory without the cross.
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Peter's attempt to deter Jesus from the path of suffering was
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fundamentally opposed to God's saving plan.
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Understanding Jesus as Messiah requires embracing his destiny
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of suffering. And here's where a.
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Christology and discipleship become completely inseparable
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jesus's destiny of suffering provides the necessary pattern
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for those who follow him following.
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Jesus means denying oneself, taking up one's own cross daily,
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and being willing to die for his sake.
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Discipleship means surrender, being willing to face the shame,
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the hardship, and the loss that comes from belonging to a
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crucified king. The source states clearly,
25:11
unless they lose their life for Jesus's sake and the gospel's
25:14
sake, they will suffer eternal loss.
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The suffering of the disciples is a direct corollary to Jesus's
25:20
own suffering. Mark structures the.
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Section so powerfully by linking the three passion predictions to
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three explicit teachings on discipleship, showing the
25:29
pattern of the cross in action. Let's let's break down that
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triplet. The first link is immediately.
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After Peter's rebuke, prediction one is followed by the call to
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deny self and take up the cross. This establishes the fundamental
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self sacrificial ethic of the Kingdom.
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Then the second prediction. Is followed by the disciples
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debating who among them was the greatest.
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I mean, they had just heard Jesus discuss his imminent
25:48
betrayal and death, and their immediate response was to argue
25:51
about status their desire for. Status has showed a complete
25:55
failure to grasp the necessary connection between Jesus's
25:58
destiny and theirs. They were still obsessed with
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self promotion and reputation while Jesus was preparing to
26:04
give up his life for others. The true disciple lives as a
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servant of all, receiving children in Jesus name and not
26:11
seeking status or honor. They're also instructed not to
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jealously cast aside fellow disciples who aren't exactly
26:16
like them. And that second teaching.
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Also includes a very severe warning about internal
26:20
discipline. Yes.
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The text emphasizes that sin, anything that causes you or
26:26
others to stumble, must be dealt with radically and completely.
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If your hand or foot or eye causes you to sin, cut it off.
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This hyperbole demonstrates the necessary severity of self
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denial. The disciple must eliminate
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anything that prevents wholehearted submission to God's
26:40
saving rule. Finally, the third.
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Prediction is the most stark, laying out Jesus's total
26:45
rejection, scourging, and execution.
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How did James and John respond this time?
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They immediately asked. For the privilege of sitting at
26:52
his right and left hand in glory while Jesus was Speaking of
26:55
suffering. They were thinking only of
26:56
crowns and Thrones. They were completely self
26:58
absorbed. They needed a radical
27:00
reorientation because they would confront a baptism of suffering
27:04
just like Jesus, and the rest of the disciples were equally
27:07
ambitious, becoming angry when they heard the request and Jesus
27:11
uses. This final moment to instruct
27:12
them on the true nature of authority within the Kingdom.
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Right. Secular.
27:17
Authorities rule over others animated by self-serving
27:20
ambition, but true disciples must be liberated from the
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slavery of that self ambition to become the slave and servant of
27:27
others. Jesus is the supreme model here,
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having surrendered his life as a ransom for many.
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This is the irreversible pattern of Kingdom leadership and
27:35
living. The path to greatness is
27:37
downward. This ethic requires.
27:39
Genuine humility or what Jesus calls receiving the Kingdom like
27:42
a child. Only those who are.
27:44
Humble, teachable, and completely dependent enter the
27:47
Kingdom. They must recognize their
27:49
complete need for God's saving activity, acknowledging they
27:52
can't earn it. This humility is perfectly
27:55
illustrated by the rich man who follows the rich man thought.
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His moral observance of the commandments qualified him for
28:01
eternal life and Jesus. Pierced through the facade of
28:04
his external observance, exposing his violation of the
28:07
1st and 10th commandments, idolatry and covetousness.
28:11
The man was clinging to his wealth as an idol, and his
28:14
failure to relinquish his riches proved his lack of childlike
28:17
humility and dependence on God. Jesus confirms that entering the
28:20
Kingdom is humanly impossible. It can only be explained by
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God's sovereign grace changing the human heart and making the
28:27
impossible possible. And Bartimaeus serves.
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As the necessary powerful contrast to the rich man,
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Bartimaeus was. Humble acknowledged his complete
28:35
need and shouted out to Jesus as the Son of David, demonstrating
28:39
true sight. When he was healed of his
28:41
physical blindness, he immediately followed Jesus on
28:44
the road toward Golgotha. He was a genuine disciple
28:47
willing to follow the king on the path of suffering.
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So membership in God. 'S saving rule is attained by
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repenting and believing the gospel, not by inherited status,
28:56
wealth, or even rigorous religious observance.
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Mark makes it clear. The sons and daughters of the
29:01
Kingdom are those who are disciples of Jesus.
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They must follow the King's pattern, recognizing that the
29:07
new Exodus has arrived through him.
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Those who belong to Jesus have, in a spiritual sense, cross the
29:13
Jordan and now live in the land of promise, patiently awaiting
29:17
the return of the King in glory. This has been a.
29:19
Necessary and thorough deep dive into the theological structure
29:23
of Mark's gospel, analyzing the connections between God's saving
29:26
rule and the nature of Christ's cross centered mission.
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Let's synthesize the core findings for you, our listener
29:33
Mark, successfully. Presents Jesus as the Messiah,
29:35
the Son of Man and the Son of God who's saving rule.
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The Kingdom has arrived. Kingdom is a curate and realize
29:41
only through the cross, making atonement possible through his
29:44
death as a ransom for many, taking the divine judgement his
29:47
people deserved and Shriner. Stresses the core-mark in
29:50
paradox. The Kingdom is present.
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It is already in the person of Christ, but not fully
29:56
consummated. It is not yet in its final
29:59
glory. It has come quietly, like a
30:01
mustard seed, invisible to the world.
30:04
Self-sufficient perception. The King.
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Astonishingly, brings members into the Kingdom through a
30:09
pattern of suffering and service.
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Those who try to enter the Kingdom seeking crowns and
30:14
earthly greatness cannot enter the true reward.
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Belongs to those willing to relinquish the pursuit of
30:19
earthly status and who live as humble disciples serving one
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another, following the specific pattern of Christ's self giving
30:26
life as you reflect on this. Gospel Consider this final,
30:29
provocative thought. The Centurion, a Roman military
30:32
officer and instrument of the oppressive empire, was the first
30:35
person in Mark to clearly recognize Jesus as the Son of
30:39
God after he died. Consider what this moment of
30:42
confession, coming from a Gentile outsider witnessing
30:44
utter brokenness and apparent defeat, reveals about how God
30:47
chooses to establish and disclose His saving rule in the
30:50
world. He chooses the weak, the
30:52
strange, and the crucified thing to shame the strong and bring
30:55
salvation to all nations. Thank you for joining.
30:58
Us for this deep dive into Mark's gospel, we hope this
31:01
analysis has equipped you with knowledge that matters.