Jan and Feb Calendar

Date       Passage         Life Group                 Preaching

Jan 3      Acts 1.8           Vision Discussion        Missional Vision
8-9                                 RETREAT  
10          6..8-29              Disciples/Herod           TBA
17          6.30-56             5000                            TBA
24          7.1-23               Clean/Un                     TBA
31          7.24-37             Gentile belief               Nepal Report
Feb 7      8.1-26               4000                           6.8-8.26
14          8.27-9.1            The Christ                    Call of Christ
21          9.2-13               Listen to Him               This is my Son
26-27                             RETREAT                      9.14-11.11

Retreat 3 Learning Outcomes

Thank you for investing your time in in-depth scripture study and team development this weekend! I know these retreats are costly, and you have many demands on your time, and many other ministry commitments. So my prayer is that the Lord meets us afresh from the pages of Mark, knit us together as a community committed to serious scripture study and application, and equip us to better serve our fellowship in these sermon-based life groups.

We’ve intentionally crafted this weekend retreat to meet specific learning outcomes.

For Friday evening our desired learning outcomes include:

• Tell our group stories from last fall and rejoice in the Lord’s activity among us
• Renew and develop our vision by discussing Lou’s Jan 3 sermon, and reading one article
• Recap Mark pages 1.1-12.21
• Overview Mark 12.21-20.20

At the end of this evening’s session, please jot down a couple of comments about your own learning in these past hours in light of the learning outcomes listed above.









For Saturday morning our intended learning outcomes are:

• Understand the main themes of Mark 12.21-20.20
• Note a main point for each individual story in this section
• Brainstorm and practice an externally focused ministry
• Review our Winter and Spring schedule
• Pray

At the end of Saturday’s session please write your thoughts on your personal experience with these learning outcomes. Please share these thoughts with us by email, of by phone.

The Trivialization of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
December 13, 2009:
Mark 6:1-13

The Trivialization of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
Listen

Discussion Prompt Mark 6.1-6

The Text: Mark 6.1-6, Page 12.9-21

• Read the text aloud to each other.
• What impacted us from the sermon on this section?

Discussion Questions:

• Spend a few minutes gathering observations: who, where, what, connections to previous passages, repeated words…
• Talk about the questions people are asking and boil these questions down to just one question – what do you think the people are really saying? And why are they offended by Jesus?
• How do you understand Jesus’ comments about a prophet without honor? Why is Jesus amazed?
• What prevented Jesus from doing any miracles (other than heal a few sick?) What miracle do you think Jesus was hoping to do?

Application reflections

• Have you ever been offended by something the Lord said to you, or allowed to happen to you, or led you into? How did you respond?
• Does our faith really impact what Jesus is able to do for us?
• What makes is so hard to share our faith with those who know us best? Have you found anything that helps in these situations?
• If you have time go back and skim the four miracles that come before this story – the storm, demoniac, sick woman, and Jairus and his daughter – and note everything you can learn about faith. Is there anything that strikes you as new, a different way to express your faith in Jesus? 

Community Building

• Brainstorm a way to share your faith with friends and family that is inoffensive.

Pray

 

The Restoring Power of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
December 6, 2009:
Mark 5:21-43

The Restoring Power of Jesus
Ken Anderson
Listen

OIA Mark 5.21-43

Observations

• Who: Jesus, great crowd, Jairus, little daughter, woman w/ chronic disease; disciples, some from Jairus’ house; Peter, James and John; mourners; father and mother
• Where: back on the West side of the lake, by the sea; walking to Jairus’ house; at Jairus’ house; in Jairus home
• When: just after healing the demoniac and traveling back over the Sea of Galilee; one day after the parables?
• What: huge crowd thronging Jesus; Jairus’ desperate request; woman responds to reports about Jesus by seeking secret healing; woman is healed, and has conversation with Jesus; disciples ridicule Jesus for asking who touched me; Jesus perceives power transmission; Jesus initiates personal conversation with woman; Jesus teaches about faith, the woman, and Jairus, and Peter James and John; Jesus restricts the group to see this miracle; Jesus questions mourners; raises the little girl; gets her a snack.
• Repeats: fall before Jesus; faith and believe; fear; daughter;
• Contrasts: dead/alive; chronically sick/restored; Jesus’ perception/disciples incredulity; mourners weep/laugh; crowds thronging/small groups witness miracles; fear/faith; sleeping/dead; laying as if dead/walking; overcome with amazement/ordered to remain silent; dead/eating; man of high social position/unclean woman.
• Connections: two more hopeless situations; falling at Jesus’ feet; begging; thronging crowds miss the point; explicit expressions of faith and definitions of what faith looks like in the kingdom; disciples miss the point; women has ears to hear; connections to clean/unclean
• Responses to Jesus:
• Jairus, in desperation, begs Jesus for help for his daughter; responds to Jesus’ command to not fear but believe; is overcome w/ amazement.
• Woman responds to what she has heard about Jesus; falls before Jesus, and tells her story, and receives shalom
• Disciples doubt Jesus
• Reporters say Jesus’ cannot help anymore; this is beyond hope.
• Mourners: laugh and ridicule
• The 3: come with Jesus, and are amazed by the healing
• Mother and father: amazed
• Little girl: got up and walked, and had a snack 

Interpretation

• These two stories continue Jesus’ demonstration of the kingdom following the kingdom parables. Jesus has, in the kingdom parables, described his kingdom theology, and in these four stories is demonstrating kingdom power.
• Each of these stories shows people in extreme need, in hopeless situations; in each case Jesus restores kingdom shalom into utterly chaotic and hopeless situations.
• A leader of the synagogue: a non-professional, a layman, responsible for taking care of the synagogue building and for planning weekly services. Most likely a respected member of the community, dependable, living a moral life, and perhaps witness to some of Jesus’ earlier visits to the synagogue. Into this man’s life, through no apparent fault of his own, comes a nightmare: his little daughter is dying. Those who study grief and life stress rate the loss of a child as perhaps the worst experience humans face. Hoping against all hope, this man begs Jesus for help. The word ‘implored’ is the same used of the leper begging Jesus, as well as in the demoniac story.
• The woman: it is worth following the narrative here to sense the despair and hopeless plight of this woman: 12 years…suffered much, spent all she had…grew worse…a gripping story of despair and hopelessness. Under Mosaic Law this woman was ceremonially unclean due to this issue of blood (cf Lev 15.19-27) and as such was excluded from the temple, and anyone who touched her was also unclean until undergoing purification rites: for 12 years she had endured this exclusion. Blood loss probably meant she was always exhausted, unable to be productive in her home and work context. (If you like bluegrass, here is a link to a song about this woman: http://new.music.yahoo.com/dry-branch-fire-squad/tracks/touch-the-hem-of-his-garment--1749383)
• This is one of the classic sandwich stories in Mark, A1-B-A2, where the middle story interprets the larger story: these stories are about faith, and its opposite, fear. The woman demonstrates Mark’s definition of discipleship: she hears, and having ears to hear, responds by seeking Jesus and secretly, and humbly, touching his clothes; Jesus calls her ‘daughter’: cf Jesus redefinition of family: those who do the will of God as has this woman by responding in faith to what she has heard. Jesus is so sensitized to human faith that he perceives her healing and not content with only physical healing, deals with the woman’s fear and isolation by blessing her face to face with his confirmation of her faith.
• It is fascination to note that many in the thronging crowd would have touched Jesus’ garments as well: but only this woman of faith connects with Jesus’ kingdom power for transformation. What is it, in our church, our home groups…that makes the difference between a transforming connection with Jesus, and just the casual encounter of the crowds?
• The story of the woman defines the story of Jairus, his daughter and wife, the three disciples chosen to see, and the other disciples who remain part of the thronging crowd: it is a story of faith vs. fear. Jairus has also met Mark’s definition of discipleship: he has eyes to see Jesus (yes, perhaps opened by his desperation, but at last he sees Jesus as his chance for salvation); Jairus demonstrates faith: he throws himself at Jesus’ feet begging for help; he sticks with Jesus during what must have been an interminable delay with the woman, and in the face of those who reported his daughter’s death, and so Jesus’ inability to help. Jairus trusts Jesus’ command to not fear, only believe: the proof: he sticks with Jesus, and sees his daughter raised from the dead, and is overcome with amazement at Jesus’ power to restore.
• All four of these stories – storm, demoniac, Jairus, Woman – end in a way that is curious: normal life: calm seas, sent back home to tell the story, sent off in peace – rest and wholeness, the OT calls this shalom, the girl is given a snack. We expect the kingdom to produce spectacular results; Jesus seems to see the kingdom restoring a sense of normalcy to lives disrupted by the chaos of sin and sickness. Perhaps here is a vision of a kingdom that starts as a growing seed, as a mustard seed: Jesus is willing to let transformation, and impact of his kingdom, happen over time. He does not call for CNN cameras and Oprah: he sends healed people back to a life of shalom, wholeness. How fitting, that most people have an inner sense of a normal life, of healthy relationships, and meaning: yet how often this expectation is thwarted by alienation and suffering. The kingdom offers shalom, normal life that is often inaccessible in our troubled world.

 Application

• The kingdom of God has power to restore people from helpless chaos to normal life.
• Jesus’ kingdom is one of faith, a faith that centers on Jesus and his power.
• Faith and fear are opposites.

 

Discussion Prompts Mark 5.21-43

The Text: Mark 5.21-43, Page 10.27-12.9

• Read the text aloud to each other. Notice the story within a story and be thinking about how the story of the healed woman shapes the meaning of Jairus’ story.
• What impacted us from the sermon on this section?

Discussion Questions:

• Discuss everything we can learn about Jairus in the first few verses: his position, his need, his approach to Jesus…Why do you think Jesus agrees to go with Jairus?
• Discuss everything we can learn about this woman: her condition and situation, her secret approach to Jesus, her fear at Jesus’ seeking her. Why does Jesus have this public conversation with her? Why not just let the woman alone? How has the woman demonstrated faith? Why do you think Jesus calls her ‘daughter’?
• Discuss everything we can learn about the disciples, and the crowds: how does their experience of Jesus differ from that of Jairus and the woman? Why? Surely some of the people in the thronging crowd touched Jesus’ garments – why were they not healed? Why are the disciples so sarcastic?
• Finish discussing Jairus and his daughter and wife. What does Jesus want Jairus to learn from the woman’s story? Does Jairus demonstrate faith? How? How about Jairus’ daughter?

Application reflections

• Are any of us in situations like that of Jairus and this woman – we’ve exhausted all avenues of hope and help available to us and our culture? What does faith mean for us? How can we have faith in Jesus, and not be overcome by fear? Are there practical steps we can learn from Jairus, and the woman, about expressing faith in Jesus and his kingdom?
• What allows people to connect with Jesus’ transforming power? That is to be like Jairus and the woman, and not like the thronging crowds and the sarcastic disciples?
• Mark, in these four stories, presents the kingdom of God as a comprehensive solution to human helplessness and despair, to the failures of science and technology. Do you agree with this idea that the kingdom God is the ultimate solution for human well-being?

Community Building

• Brainstorm a way we can demonstrate faith in contrast to fear this Christmas season. 

Pray

The Freeing Effect of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
November 29, 2009:
Mark 5:1-20

The Freeing Effect of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
Listen

OIA Mark 5.1-20

Observations

• Who: Jesus, disciples, people in other boats, man w/ unclean spirit, legion, herdsmen, city folks
• Where: In the boat, on the Sea of Galilee, the country of the Garasenes, the tombs, a steep bank, the sea, the city, the Decapolis
• When: directly after calming the storm, the day after telling the parables of the kingdom
• What: unusual conversation between Jesus and the man/unclean spirit; unclean spirit cast out; pig herd destroyed; man restored to sanity and normalcy; townspeople afraid, ask Jesus to leave; man asks to join Jesus but instead Jesus sends him home to tell his story.
• Repeats: beg
• Contrasts: life in the tomb/clothed and in right mind; concern for self-destructive man/concern for economic destruction; be with Jesus/go home and tell
• Connections: a hopeless situation; unclean spirit vanquished; people afraid; proclamation of the kingdom
• Responses to Jesus:
• Man runs and falls before Jesus and is transformed
• Legion bargains, and is obedient
• Townspeople beg Jesus to leave and Jesus grants their request
• Man: begs for healing, and to accompany Jesus; is obedient to Jesus’ direction 

Interpretation

• It is important to see this story, and all four of these miracle stories, as a continuing revelation of the kingdom that Jesus proclaims. These are not random stories thrown together by Mark in his effort to write Jesus’ story; rather they are carefully placed to explain the kingdom Jesus is proclaiming and demonstrating.
• “DECAP'OLIS (Gk. de-kap'o-lis; "ten cities"). A district containing ten cities in the NE part of Galilee, near the Sea of Galilee (Matt 4:25; Mark 5:20; 7:31). The cities were Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Raphana, and Damascus. Damascus is the only one now entitled to the name of city. They were built originally by the followers of Alexander the Great and rebuilt by the Romans in 65 BC, by whom they had certain privileges conferred upon them. These were typical Greco-Roman cities with their forums, pagan temples, baths, theaters, hippodromes, and other accoutrements. They were a thorn in the side of the Jews because they introduced nonsupernaturalistic ideas and elements of non-Jewish life-style and architecture into Palestine during the Roman period. The excavations at Jerash (Gergesa, which see) especially illustrate the nature of these cities.” (from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright © 1988.)
• Jesus intentionally enters Decapolis. This particular visit is a quick in and out; but in the next couple of chapters Jesus will spend significant amounts of time in Gentile regions – Tyre, Sidon, Caesarea Philippi, and in chapter 7 back in Decapolis.
• Jesus encounters opposition on the trip to Decapolis, upon arrival, and from the locals. It is as if Jesus’ intention to invade this Gentile region with his proclamation of the kingdom evokes heightened opposition: from nature, from evil personified, and from local preoccupation with the things of this world.
• This man is an example of a life almost completely devoured by enslavement to evil; in fact the man lives a life in some ways worse than dead: alive, but in the tombs, abandoned by his society after exhausting all normal means of help; left to his living death. Scripture is silent on how this man reched this point of despair, beyond the ability of cultural solutions. But we can imagine a series of wrong choices leading to this extreme dissolution of self: substance abuse, courting the occult, persistent sexual depravity: whatever the circumstances this man has so given himself to multiple evil that he is now enslaved, yet with enough self-awareness to understand, and cling to his condition.
• This story offers a fascinating look at prayer: those who should not get what they ask for, do; and the man, who we would tend to think is entitled to have Jesus grant his request, is denied. There is more to answered prayer than our merit, or desire: there is Jesus’ kingdom agenda: proclaiming the mercy of God to a lost and Gentile region.
• One of the most dreadful contrasts in this story is the townspeople who, when shown a man restored to normal life from the hell of a living death, can think only of the economic risks of the kingdom of God. These people would rather have their pigs back than their friend! It is probably that Jesus allows the demons to destroy this economic asset as a way of confronting these people with their value system that finds pigs more important than people, wealth more important than restoration.
• Having said that, it is interesting to conjecture on Jesus’ designs in sending this man back to his friends to tell his story. Perhaps there is further healing and restoration for this healed man as he re-engages normal life, gets a job, establishes a ‘normal’ life. Perhaps the Lord has far more in mind for the region of Decapolis than only the restoration of this one person: perhaps this man is himself a mustard seed, a seed that will grow, first the blade, then the leaf….perhaps the emergence of the kingdom in unexpected ways that are totally dependent on the power inherent in the seed itself!
• A final thought in interpretation: a ‘normal’ life is what most of us expect: reasonable health and wealth, satisfying relationships, meaningful work….yet in our world today this level of ‘normalcy’ is in fact abnormal; the twisting result of sin is what we encounter instead of hoped for normalcy: divorce; sickness; mental illness; substance abuse: only in the kingdom, and by the power of the Lord, are we allowed to enjoy the blessings of a normal life!

Application

• Like the possessed man, we sometimes find ourselves so tied up with our sin that we are unable to break free and are even ambivalent about wanting to be free. In unhealthy relationships we call this codependency; we can become codependent on residual evil. We need to beg Jesus for release, for a return to sanity, and proper behavior.
• We who have a rational, scientific worldview have technological solutions for all of life’s ills. Yet we face persistent problems, both personally and societally, that are immune to all human solution. Only the kingdom of God is able to deliver on its promise of restoration.
• Kingdom values may be dangerous to our financial wellbeing. The question for us: what do we value more: our investments, or transformed lives? The way we treat the least – immigrants, low price employees – may reveal more to us about our real values that we would like to know.

Discussion Prompts Mark 5.1-20

The Text: Mark 5.1-20, page 9.23-10.27

• Read the text aloud to each other. This is the second of four stories that demonstrate the power of the kingdom of God in hopeless situations, and follows directly from Jesus’ kingdom theology found in the kingdom parables. It is helpful to view these stories and events as part of an unfolding understanding of the kingdom of God.
• What impacted us from Lou’s sermon on the great storm?

Discussion Questions:

• Discuss some observations from this text. In particular note both the story’s location and the contrasts described in this story.
• What words describe the unclean man’s condition? What is the relationship between the man and Legion? What steps had people taken to deal with the man? What do we do in our culture with people like this?
• Discuss the interaction between Jesus, the man, and Legion. Who is talking when? Why does the man beg Jesus not to send the demons away? Why does Jesus grant this request?
• What is Legion’s request? Why does Jesus grant this request? Why the pigs and their destruction?
• Why are the townspeople afraid? Why do they beg Jesus to leave their region? Why does Jesus grant their request?
• Discuss all the reasons the healed man begs Jesus to be allowed to come with Jesus? Why do you think Jesus denies this request? Why does Jesus send the man back home to tell the story of Jesus’ mercy?
• Application reflections
• Have we ever been in contact with someone like this possessed man? Or does anyone feel themselves to be in a similar situation of hopeless enslavement to destructive forces and desires? What does it mean to us practically that Jesus demonstrates the power to return us to a state of normalcy – clothed and in our right minds?
• Spend some time reflecting on the contrast between Jesus’ focus – on restoring the helplessly enslaved man – and that of the townspeople – obsessed with wealth and blinded to human suffering and Jesus’ transformational power to restore. Can we identify ways that we, living in perhaps the most wealth-obsessed culture on the globe today, share the callousness of the townspeople? What are specific things we might do together as a group to help us overcome this obsession?
• What new insights do we gain about the kingdom Jesus is proclaiming and demonstrating by Jesus’ decision to enlist this man as a partner in proclaiming the good news? Why is it significant that this commissioning occurs in Decapolis, a gentile region?
• What are ways we can tell of Jesus mercy to us among our friends and family?

Community Building

• Discuss one group activity you might do before Christmas to act out some aspect of this story.

Pray

 

The Calming Effect of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
November 22, 2009:
Mark 4:35-41

The Calming Effect of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
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The Kingdom Parables of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
November 15, 2009:
Mark 4:1-34

The Kingdom Parables of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
Listen

OIA Chapter 4.35-41, Page 9.11-23

Observations

• Who: Jesus, disciples, the crowd, people in the other boats
• Where: In the boat, on the sea of Galilee: sailing from west to east, from the Galilee side of the lake to the Decapolis side of the
• When: directly after telling the parables, that evening
• What: Jesus gives instructions and the disciples obey; other boats come along; a great windstorm; Jesus sleeps during the storm; disciples awaken Jesus and question his concern for them; Jesus rebuked the storm, and it became calm; Jesus questions their lack of faith and fear; the disciples were terrified and question Jesus’ identity
• Repeats: asleep, fear; two questions
• Contrasts: crowd/in the boat; great storm/great calm; scared sailors/sleeping Jesus; fear/faith;
• Contrasts: great storm/great calm; demoniac’s lifestyle/sitting clothed in right mind; Jairus’ panic/amazement at healed daughter; dead girl/walking and eating;
• Connections: faith (paralytic and friends specifically; all who have obeyed Jesus more inclusively); sleep – the seed grows while the sower sleeps; rebuke 2x to unclean spirits; authority
• Responses to Jesus:
• Wake him up
• Doubt Jesus’ care
• Terror
• Question his identity 

Interpretation

• This story begins a section of four stories that directly follow the parables of the kingdom; you might consider these as a continuation of the parables: the parables describe Jesus kingdom theology; these four stories demonstrate kingdom power.
• There are key common themes in this section: faith/fear; hopeless/restored; failed human technology/efficacious spiritual power; out of control/calm, and others
• The men in this boat were professional fishermen years of experience and good technology; they were better equipped to meet this crisis than most people would be; their assessment of their situation is that it is hopeless: we are going to die.
• The disciples were doing the right thing, just what Jesus told them to do, and they get into a life-threatening situation with the result that they experience Jesus’ power and authority in a way that terrifies them. We sometimes have the idea that if we are doing the right thing, we are promised a smooth path; Mark refutes this idea by showing here, and in other stories, and following Jesus may in fact lead to real risk, conflict, and self-doubt. This is a significant discipleship learning theme in the pages to come, and begins to prepare the reader for the ultimate shock: Jesus will be killed, and those who follow him will meet the same fate!
• This is the first time the disciples have spoken since they found Jesus alone praying; in many ways their question is the question of the entire gospel: Who then is this! The disciples ask this question here, and this section ends with the people from Jesus home town asking a very similar question.
• Jesus seems willing to provoke, or at least allow, an extreme crisis to come into his disciples lives; as a result they are forced to confront their own fearful faithlessness, and their limited understanding of Jesus identity and power. Jesus seems to value this type of experience, even see is as fundamental to following him.
• When Jesus allows, or provokes, such a crisis, people tend to respond like the disciples: don’t you care about me? This story pushes us to a new understanding of what Jesus’ care means.
• Fear is contrasted with faith: not what we might expect!
• This story takes place while Jesus is on his way to a Gentile region where he will restore a man from a living death, and send this man as his first missionary. This may well be an illustration of the macro-conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil: the enemy would like to keep Jesus out of the Gentile region. Jesus sleeps while this conflict rages (c/c the sleeping sower in the parable of the growing seed); the disciples are caught in the conflict and fear first their own death, and then Jesus! Following Jesus is more that an inner peace, and a happy life: it is partnership in the battle between God and the enemy; and consequences are real.

 Application

• Jesus has the power to control the wind and the waves with a word. Have we experienced that kind of power in our relationship? How did we respond?
• How do we react to the idea that Jesus may lead us into crisis situations as a way to awaken spiritual development, to increase our dependence on him?
• Have we experienced this type of opposition in following Jesus?
• How are faith and fear contrasted?

Discussion Prompts Mark 4.35-41

Community Building

• How are we doing on an externally focused activity? A couple of new ones seem to be developing: Habitat for Humanity is planning to build some homes here in Chico; and we may have opportunity to partner with an organization that does after school programs. More to come…

The Text: Mark 4.35-41, page 9.11-23

• This story begins a new section in Mark; before you read this section aloud to each other, take a couple of minutes to scan up to 6.6a, or page 12.21
• What impacted us from Lou’s second sermon on responsiveness and kingdom dynamics? 

Discussion Questions:

• Make a few observations on this story: who, what, when, where, contrasts, connections…
• How do the disciples get into this situation? How bad is the storm – what words describe the severity of the storm? Discuss the fact that at least some of the disciples were professional fisherman – they had the experience and equipment to meet this crisis.
• Why is Jesus asleep?
• Spend some time discussing the disciples fear: what do the fear, and why. Why is their fear of Jesus even greater than their fear of the storm? Are faith and fear really opposites? 

Application reflections

• Have we been, or are we now, in a situation that seems hopeless, beyond our resources? Can we identify with the disciples’ idea that Jesus may not care about us? What do we discoverer about ourselves, and Jesus, by encountering life’s great storms?
• Have we ever been terrified by Jesus? How? Why?
• Jesus seems to lead the disciples into this crisis – they are doing exactly what he asked of them: going to the other side. How does Jesus’ seeming willingness to bring us to crisis situations, beyond our control, impact our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus?
• How do we answer the disciples’ question: Who then is this?

Pray

The Parable of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
November 8, 2009:
Mark 4:1-34

The Parable of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
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Discussion Prompts Mark 4.1-34 Part 1

Community Building

• Continue to brainstorm about externally focused activities you might try for Thanksgiving and Christmas season: follow up on your Love Chico involvement, invite international students to your holiday celebrations, volunteer at Jesus Center or Torres Shelter, Christmas gifts to foster home children…….

The Text: Mark 4.1-34, page 7.12-9.11

• Ask someone who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses.
• What impacted us from Lou’s sermon on this parable?

Discussion Questions:

• Make some basic observations: who, what, where, repeated words and themes, contrasts, definitions….
• Pass out the sower worksheet and explain that we will discuss these parables in two sessions: this one devoted only to the parable of the sower; and next week focusing on the other stories and parables.
• Discuss the questions on the worksheet and any other insights that really strike you.
• Make a one sentence summary of the central point of this parable. 

Application reflections:

• What was it in you that prompted you to respond when Jesus planted his word in you heart and mind?
• How are you doing in terms of fruitfulness? Is there something hindering you?
• Reflect on the idea from this parable that Jesus initiates change in our life: his word causes us to respond. How can we best cooperate with the transformational impact of this word? 

Pray

Discussion Promts 4.1-34 part 2

Community Building

• Choose externally focused activity and calendar your plans to carry out this plan. Pleas share your plan with the other MYM leaders so we can pray for each other’s group activity.

The Text: Mark 4.1-34, page 7.12-9.11

• Ask someone who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses.
• What impacted us from Lou’s second sermon on this parable, focusing on responsiveness? 

Discussion Questions:

• Review your discussion from last week about the parable of the sower and explanation.
• Pass out the secret worksheet and discuss the questions on the worksheet and any other insights that really strikes you.
• Take plenty of time to wrestle with this section!
• Discuss a one-sentence summary for this section.
• Discuss how this summary expands your understanding of the parable of the sower.
• What is the main point of the parable of the growing seed? Of the mustard seed?

Application reflections

• How are you doing on your responsiveness to Jesus? Which of the responsiveness indicators describes your experience: having, and getting more? Of not having, and losing ground?
• How is it a comfort and encouragement that the kingdom grows on its own?
• How might your externally focused activity be like the mustard seed? Or the growing seed? 

Pray

 

 

Sower Worksheet

“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold...The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Sower?
Seed?
Soils?
Path:
Rocky:
Thorny:
Fruitful:
The kingdom of God in the parable of the sower:

Secret Worksheet

And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

“Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

What is the secret of the kingdom?

Why is a lamp brought in?

Why measure carefully?

How do these sayings re-define the parable of the sower?

Summarize Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God:

OIA Chapter 4.1-34, Page 7.12-9.11

Observations:

• Who: Jesus, crowds, disciples
• What: teaching, parables, questions, explanations, exhortations; a secret;
• Where: in a boat, alone with disciples, public, private
• Repeats: parable, seed, sow, hear, word, soil/ground 11x, secret 2x, Listen! 4x
• Contrasts: fruitful/unfruitful; secret/known; hear/understand; get more/loose all; inside/outside; hidden/revealed; small/big;
• Connections: Jesus is focal point of system; responsiveness to Jesus is essential; responses to Jesus and the kingdom he proclaims continue to be mixed

Interpretation:

• These kingdom parables are central to understanding Mark’s presentation of the kingdom; they explain the variety of responses to Jesus so far in the book, and form the framework for understanding the rest of the book. And a clear understanding of the secret of the kingdom is essential for understanding Mark’s presentation of discipleship: responsiveness and proximity to Jesus: the disciples never do quite get in right even up to the conclusion of Mark’s narrative; but they do stick with Jesus, and keep asking questions, even if they are the wrong questions; I think this is Mark’s definition of following Jesus: stay in his presence no matter what, and keep responding: this is what Mark calls faith.
• The sower story explains Jesus activity of spreading the word of God, and the variety of ways people respond. Jesus takes initiative; the word contains the power to reveal the heart of the hearers. This story is more than a parable with only one meaning, but less than a allegory; often people get sidetracked wanting to talk about how to change the soils, but this is not the emphasis of the story; rather the emphasis is on Jesus’ initiative to preach the word everywhere, to all kinds of people, and see how people respond to the word; this is exactly what Jesus has done so far in Mark: proclaimed the good news of the kingdom: the time is now, the kingdom is at hand, repent and believe the gospel. And we’ve seen a variety of responses: the crowds, needy people, disciples, religious leaders. I’m not suggesting we force these into one of the four soils; but the soils do explain why people respond so differently to Jesus: in some cases there is demonic intervention; in others a shallowness that precludes fruitfulness; in other preoccupation with self-interest; in others, amazing fruitfulness.
• Having decoded the sower and explanation, it is time to decode the secret of the kingdom, the purpose for speaking in parables, and the logarithmic consequences of positive and negative response to the word, the gospel. Answering the questions Jesus asks is a good way to help people grasp these essential dynamics of the kingdom
•  How does one receive the secret of the kingdom? It is given, by Jesus
•  How will one understand? Ask Jesus
•  Why are things hidden? To be revealed
•  Does God intend people to miss the point? No, he intends for them to follow, ask, knock, seek…
•  What is it that some have, and some do not? Responsiveness to Jesus, faith
•  Why do those who have get more, others lose what they have? You are either responding positively to Jesus in a dynamic process where you grow, learn live out…or in the case of negative response, you increasingly lose the ability to see and hear God
• This have/lose dynamic describes what has happened to the scribes and Pharisees and Herodians: they have consistently and persistently rejected Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom: his claim to have authority to forgive sin, his rejection of their understanding of purity as it applies to social intercourse – he welcomes sinners instead of rejecting them; he places relationship over ritual: fasting; he believes religious observance is God doing a favor for us, and not vice versa: Sabbath is for man…
• As the religious have rejected Jesus, their spiritual insight has been taken away to the point that they are engaged in a murder conspiracy, and when they see the fruit of the kingdom right before their eyes and ears, the mistake it for demonic power: what they once had has been taken away.
• By contrast those who ask, who respond, are given more: specifically the explanation of the parable, an explanation of kingdom dynamic, and two more parables that explain the kingdom!
• Secret: MYSTERY: musterion NT:3466, primarily that which is known to the mustes, "the initiated" (from mueo, "to initiate into the mysteries"; cf. Phil 4:12, mueomai, "I have learned the secret," RV). In the NT it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the Eng. word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those only who are illumined by His Spirit. In the ordinary sense a "mystery" implies knowledge withheld; its Scriptural significance is truth revealed. Hence the terms especially associated with the subject are "made known," "manifested," "revealed," "preached," "understand," "dispensation." The definition given above may be (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

Applications:

• How have you personally experienced the dynamic of responsiveness in your journey of faith in following Jesus?
• How might you respond to someone who insists that large scale evangelistic campaigns are the main way the kingdom of God expands?
• Give examples of how you have seen and experienced the mustard seed principle.
• What might it mean that the kingdom of God will grow, even if we are asleep?

 

The Four Responses of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
November 1, 2009:
Mark 3:7-35

The Four Responses of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
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Map - Mark 3:7-8

People were coming from pretty much this entire map (about 150 mile span) to see and touch Jesus.

To the North, Tyre (and Sidon just off the top of the map).
To the South, the region of Idumea
To the East, "beyond the Jordan."

Mark 3.7-35 Discussion Prompts

Community Building

• Dream together about externally focused service you might try for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season: follow up on your Love Chico involvement, invite international students to your holiday celebrations, participate with Jesus Center or Torres Shelter, Christmas gifts to foster home children……. 

The Text: Mark 3.7-35

• Ask someone who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses.
• What impacted us from Lou’s sermon on these stories?

Discussion Questions:

• Make some basic observations: who, what, where, repeated words and themes, contrasts, definitions….
• Review the context of these stories: do you see any connections back to what we’ve discussed so far in Mark?
• What is especially interesting about Jesus’ appointment of 12 apostles? What is Jesus’ criterion for appointing these 12? What is their job description? Why the new names for some? Why the editorial note that Judas betrayed Jesus?
• What is it that Jesus’ family heard that prompted them to come seize Jesus? What do you think about Jesus’ redefinition of family in his kingdom: not genetically-based, but obedience-based?
• What does Jesus claim he has done to the ‘strong man’? How is this further evidence of Jesus’ authority claims? (Note: don’t get too distracted by the unforgivable sin, which is most likely a summary statement of what happens when people so reject Jesus and his kingdom that they mistake the kingdom of God for the kingdom of the enemy.)

Application reflections

• Which of the elements of Jesus’ appointment of the 12 do you most understand: his desire for you to be with him? His commission to go and preach? His delegation of authority to confront personified evil? His giving a new name? The communal connection?
• How is it good news to us that Jesus’ family includes all who respond positively to God’s will? How does this challenge our understanding of family?
• How is it good news that Jesus has bound the ‘strong man’, and can ‘enter that (mans) house and plunder his goods’?

Pray

Chapter 3.7-35; Page 5.28-7.12

Observations

• Who: great crowds (c/c crowds 1.7, 2.27, 3.22; 4.13); disciples; many sick, unclean spirits; those he desired; 12 apostles (named individually); Jesus’ family; Jerusalem scribes; Beelzebul/Satan; Jesus physical and spiritual families.
• What: withdrawal; healing and exorcism; crowd interest/control; apostles called, came, appointed and renamed, and given job description (be with him, be sent out to preach, and have authority to cast out demons); family attempts to seize Jesus; accusation by scribes and Jesus’ answer – an unforgivable sin; Jesus re-defines who he considers his family to be.
• Where: by the sea; on the mountain; at home
• Connections and repeats: crowds; call (the first four, Levy, Jesus to the apostles, family to Jesus); more sick and unclean; authority – this time delegated to the apostles; continuing conflict – with scribes, and now Jesus’ own family; sin and blasphemy – cf paralytic; Holy Spirit and God again referenced;
• Contrasts: the interest of the crowds from a wide geographic region/the rejection by the scribes and Jesus’ family; all sins forgiven/one sin unforgivable; unity/diversity of apostles; divided kingdom; physical family/kingdom family
• Definitions: job of an apostle; why Jesus has power to cast our demons; kingdom family

Interpretation

• The crowds are from a much larger geographic region, including Gentile areas; it is interesting that these areas are included immediately after the murderous collusion between the Pharisees and Herodians, as if Jesus is propelled into these regions by this rejection, regions where, in contrast to Jerusalem, he is widely accepted.
• Jesus radically redefines the kingdom of God by appointing 12 new ‘patriarchs’ and undermining the nuclear family: connection to God’s kingdom is no longer genetic, but is response-based, those who do the will of God. Doing, not just thinking: those described as Jesus’ family have responded to his call, and endangered themselves by associating with Jesus; they are fulfilling one of the job assignments: they are with him.
• Proper use of Jesus’ authority is not automatic: Judas is noted as a betrayer even at this point in Mark’s narrative.
• Part of our calling is to be with Jesus; it is all too easy at times to be obsessed with doing the work of the kingdom; but part of Jesus’ call is simply to be with him. Yet, being with him is itself risky behavior: those in Jesus’ true family have joined him in standing against the religious leaders, and challenged one of the core values of society: family loyalty. So being with Jesus is not just a warm feeling: it is identifying oneself with him.
• Again Jesus sees himself as the locus and focus of the kingdom: he assumes the right to appoint apostles, assign them a purpose, re-constitute their lives by re-naming them, and delegate to them his own mission of preaching and casting our demons.
• The word ‘seize’: HOLD (DOWN, FAST, FORTH, ON, TO, UP), HELD, HOLDEN, (TAKE) HOLD 6. krateo NT:2902, "to be strong, mighty, to prevail," (1) is most frequently rendered "to lay or take hold on" (a) literally, e. g., Matt 12:11; 14:3; 18:28 and 21:46, RV (KJV, "laid hands on"); 22:6, RV (KJV, "took"); 26:55, KJV (RV, "took); 28:9, RV, "took hold of" (KJV, "held by"); Mark 3:21; 6:17; 12:12; 14:51; Acts 24:6, RV (KJV, "took"); Rev 20:2; (b) metaphorically, of "laying hold of the hope of the Lord's return," Heb 6:18; (2) also signifies "to hold" or "hold fast," i. e., firmly, (a), literally, Matt 26:48, KJV (RV, "take"); Acts 3:11; Rev 2:1; (b) metaphorically, of "holding fast a tradition or teaching," in an evil sense, Mark 7:3,4,8; Rev 2:14,15; in a good sense, 2 Thess 2:15; Rev 2:25; 3:11; of "holding" Christ, i. e., practically apprehending Him, as the head of His church, Col 2:19; a confession, Heb 4:14; the name of Christ, i. e., abiding by all that His name implies, Rev 2:13; of restraint, Luke 24:16, "(their eyes) were holden"; of the winds, Rev 7:1; of the impossibility of Christ's being "holden" of death, Acts 2:24. See KEEP, RETAIN (of sins), TAKE.
• (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
• 2902 used 15x in Mark: 1.31, 3.21, 5.41, 6.17, 7.3, 7.4, 7.8, 9.10, 9.27, 12.12, 14.1, 14.44, 14.46, 14.49, 14.51
• How can a sin be unforgivable? This may a statement of consequence: by the time a religious person has so rejected God as to mistake His activity as that of Satan, that person has put themselves beyond the reach of God’s redeemer: they cannot come to him in faith and repentance, and remain unforgivable.

Application

• Does my vision of Jesus’ people include foreigners? Outsiders? Former, or current, political enemies?
• Has Jesus called you to be with him? Proclaim his message? Receive authority to confront personified evil? How is this job description a reality in your life of faith?
• Do you have any experience of being with, or identifying with, Jesus in his radical redefinition of the kingdom of God, and who his true family really is? What was that experience like?
• How do you think Jesus would respond to someone who says nuclear family is God’s highest call?
• Do we really think that the kingdom of God is in direct conflict with our surrounding society? Or do we think there is an alliance between the state and God’s kingdom to accomplish Godly values?
• Where are you on the pathway of responsiveness? Seeking Jesus? Responding to his call? Wondering if he is crazy, or possessed?

The Impact of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
October 25th, 2009:
Mark 1:1-3:6

The Impact of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
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Week 6: Love Chico

Community Building

• Tell stories about your participation in Love Chico. Did you have a sense of practicing some of the things we’ve talked about so far in Mark?
• How has your participation in this weekly community been a blessing to you? Any aspects of your group that you need to discuss or modify? For example, group duration, everyone participating, praying for each other during the week, more practical application…..

 The Text: Mark 1.1-6.6a

• Take turns reading this entire section aloud to each other. Next week we will summarize what we’ve learned in our first weeks together in Mark 1.1-3.6, and look ahead to the next section, 3.7-6.6a. So this week, just enjoy reading and listening to the first portion of Mark. Most likely Mark was written to be read aloud to churches, and you may even want to read the whole book if time allows.

Pray

• Use this week to spend extra time praying for each other, and for our city, and for how we can continue to proclaim the kingdom of God here in Chico.

1.1-3.6 Review

Community Building
  • Continue your discussion of any parts of your group that need modification or review.
  • Brainstorm further potential externally focused projects, and consider adopting one of these suggestions.

The Text: Mark 1.1-3.6
  • Take turns reading this entire section aloud to each other.
  • What impacted us from Lou’s summary of this section?

Discussion Questions:
  • Make a list of all the ways Jesus has demonstrated authority in the stories we’ve discussed these past few weeks. Which of these aspects of Jesus’ authority do you find most amazing? Encouraging? Confusing?
  • Discuss the different responses to Jesus’ authority by different people and groups:
     o The disciples
     o The crowds
     o The unclean spirits
     o The sick and paralyzed
     o The religious leaders
  • Jesus’ first sermon was “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” How has each element of that first sermon been described by Mark so far in his Gospel:
     o The time is fulfilled:
     o The Kingdom of God is at hand:
     o Repent and believe the gospel:

Application reflections
  • What new things have you learned about Jesus and the kingdom of God in the past weeks?
  • How would you characterize your response to this learning? Amazed? Immediately obedient? Questioning? A bit troubled? Frustrated and angry at Jesus?
  • Before next week, read Mark 3.7-6.6 several times.

Pray

1.1-3.6 OIA Review

Observations
Who:

• Actors: Jesus; God; John; Isaiah; Spirit; Satan; angels; wild beasts; disciples; crowds; sick and oppressed; some with faith; scribes/Pharisees;
• Names for Jesus: Christ; Son of God; beloved Son; Jesus of Nazareth; Son of Man; physician; bridegroom; Lord of Sabbath
• Questioners: Scribes 4.1; scribes of Pharisees 4.19; people who came 4.25; Pharisees

What:

• Mark’s depiction of Jesus:
• -----Son of God
• -----Foretold by Isaiah
• -----Prepared/fulfilled by John
• -----Affirmed directly by God
• -----Tempted, and divinely sustained
• Purposes
• ---- Proclaim kingdom of God
• ---- Go to other towns
• ----Call the sick
• Demonstrates and claims authority
•  ----Widely sought by crowds, many followers
• -----Collecting a group of disciples
• -----Provokes religious questions
• -----Definitive conflict with religious leaders
• -----Emotionally engaged: pity, anger, grief
• Jesus demonstrates authority: as he inaugurates the kingdom: life purpose (call of the 4), living scripture, unclean oppression, sickness, kingdom priorities, physically and spiritually destructive filthiness’ (leper, paralytic), who belongs (the ‘sick’), religious observance (Sabbath);

Where: Jordan, wilderness, Galilee, Capernaum, by the sea, in the house/home

Interpretation

• In this first section Mark portrays Jesus as a man on a mission: to proclaim the kingdom of God. These stories probably comprise about the first year of Jesus’ public activity. Mark shows Jesus receiving overwhelming notice, and impact. However it is likely that this was a localized impact as there are few secular references to Jesus, eg Josephus.
• Jesus operates apart from established religious (Jerusalem and the temple cult) and secular (the major Roman city of Galilee) authorities; he seems to see himself, and the kingdom, and something new, distinct from Roman imperialism and Jewish religious practice
• Galilee was a backwater, mixed race, spoke neither Greek, Latin, of Hebrew, but Aramaic; and it is from this unspectacular area that Jesus launches his kingdom: from outside the halls of power or social respectability
• Furthermore, the people he calls to follow are rural businessmen and minor government functionaries: the fishermen, and Levy; Jesus begins his mission in an extremely unlikely manner, in the wrong place with the wrong people
• • How does Mark define Jesus’ initial sermon: the time is fulfilled, the kingdom is at hand, repent and believe?
• -----The time is now: Jesus, God’s son, foretold in scripture, confirmed by God, more powerful than Satan: Jesus is here: history is focused on Jesus
• -----The Kingdom is at hand: in the person of Jesus, demonstrated by his authority; physical proximity to Jesus = closeness to the kingdom
• -----Repent and believe: each vignette in this section can be seen as an example of repent and believe;
• How to people respond to Jesus?
• -----Many of these responses are positive:
• -------- Disciples, leper, paralytic, Levy, withered hand man, many who followed; faith is introduced, specifically in the paralytic story, but implicitly in each positive response to Jesus
• -----Some are neutral: crowds – amazed, interested, but uncommitted
• -----Some are legitimate questioners
• -----Some are negative, antagonistic, and hostile
• Jesus’ authority is central.
• -----His authority is irresistible over sickness, unclean spirits
• -----His authority over people requires voluntary response
• Jesus himself is the locus of authority: not the temple, or religious tradition, or scriptural interpretation 

Application
Jesus is, now as then, establishing the kingdom of God. It is a kingdom centered on Jesus himself, a kingdom apart from the religious and cultural presuppositions. It is a kingdom that invites positive response – like the four fishermen, Levy and his friends, the paralyzed man and his friends. But it is a kingdom that allows a variety of responses: interested and amazed like the crowds; blessed but disobedient like the leper; questioning, like the people with the fasting question; and outright rejection by people like the religious experts. It is a kingdom of power: over scripture, physical and spiritual health, religious presuppositions.

How are you responding the past weeks as we’ve begun our Make Your Mark Series?

• Glad and immediate positive response? (disciples, Levy, paralytic)
• Enthusiastic, but really doing your own thing in your own way? (leper)
• Interested, but watching from the crowds? (thronging crowds)
• Legitimate questions? (fasting question)
• Offended rejection of Jesus? (Pharisees and their scribes; Herodians)

3.7-6.6a OIA

Observations:

• Who: Jesus, crowds, 12 apostles, scribes, Jesus’ family, Sower, Soils, Satan, demoniac, demons, pigs, townsfolk, Jairus, Woman with illness, Peter, James and John, Jairus’ daughter, mourners, home town folks
• What: great crowds pursue; 12 apostles appointed; scribes accuse Jesus of demon-possession; Jesus’ family tries to muzzle Jesus; Jesus redefines family; Jesus tells parables explaining the kingdom; Jesus gives, and explains, the secret of the kingdom; Jesus performs four spectacular miracles; Jesus teaches in and is rejected by his home town folks.
• Where: the sea, the mountain, at home, again by the sea, public teaching/private explanation, in the boat, country of the Gerasenes, the Decapolis, again beside the sea, on the way to Jairus’ home, at and in Jairus house, again in Jesus home town, in the synagogue
• Connections: crowds respond; disciples called and obedient; conflict: with scribes, family, home town; faith is described and expanded; miracles; teaching; kingdom of God; unclean spirits
• New: 12 apostles; parables; secret of kingdom; insiders/outsiders; public teaching/private explanation

 Interpretation:

In the first section we see Jesus introducing the kingdom of God with himself as the central figure in this kingdom with authority to call, heal, exorcise demons, and challenge accepted religious practice.

In this next section we see some continuation of the theme of Jesus authority: he establishes a new 12 patriarchs for his kingdom; the response to this is that the religious leaders declare him possessed by Satan, and his family decides he is out of his mind. In the context of these conflicts Jesus takes the opportunity to declare, again on his own authority, that there is one unforgivable sin and the scribes, and perhaps Jesus’ family, have just committed this sin: when they see God at work, they mistake His activity for demonic activity. He also uses this occasion to redefine family. Jesus has just overturned two of the foundations of his contemporary culture and society: religious authority, and the family.

In this section we have some new developments: Parables of the Kingdom, and Demonstrations of the Kingdom, chapters 4-5; and yet another example of rejection: 6.1-6a, this time in Jesus’ home town as compared to the rejection by the Pharisees and Herodians in 3.6.

PARABLES

Jesus describes, in parables, several key dynamics of the kingdom of God. His metaphors are agricultural, from the natural world: seed, sower, slow and mysterious growth. In the midst of these parables Jesus introduces an entirely new understanding of how and why people understand who and what he, and the kingdom are all about. This is the eyes to see, ears to hear, and the obliqueness of parables: the secret of the kingdom!

This secret is central to Mark’s definition of discipleship: it explains the mixed responses Jesus has so far received, and sets the foundational pillars for the coming chapters that continue to describe a variety or responses to Jesus, as well as establishes the dissonance Mark describes between Jesus and the very 12 he called.

It is also important to note a particular literary technique Mark often employs: a story within a story. This is called the sandwich technique, “…an A1 – B – A2 sequence, with the B-component functioning as the theological key to the balancing halves” (Edwards: 11). The central story is the ‘meat’ of the sandwich that makes sense of the bread; i.e. Jesus’ teaching about eyes, ears, secrets, more/less, inside/outside are the theological key to understand the parable of the sower, growing seed, and mustard seed. (This technique happens again in 3.20-35; 4.1-20, 5.21-43, 6.7-30, 11.12-21, 14.1-11, 14.17-31, 14.53-72, 15.40-16,8 {ibid}).

DEMONSTRATIONS

It is possible to see the four stories – storm, demoniac, Jairus and his daughter, and the woman ill for 12 years – as demonstrations of the kingdom. Just as the parables theologically explain God’s kingdom, for those with eyes to see, so these four miraculous events demonstrate the actual presence and power of the kingdom in real life. Mark makes no dualistic distinction between the spiritual world and the physical world: the kingdom is holistic in its intent and practice. We with a modern/Western world view have conveniently isolated God in the realm of the spiritual, and live in the world of science, where we can know and manipulate the world for our own benefit: the modern dream of perpetual human progress. But Mark, and most of the non-Western world still to this day, know and experience the facts of these four stories; sometimes all our technology is insufficient to restore us to normal life. Then, and now, God’s kingdom has the power to redeem and restore.

Application
More to know and experience about the kingdom of God:
• Has apostles
• Has bound the strong man
• Has specific dynamics: sower, seed, mustard seed
• Has a key secret
• Impacts real life
Faith has immense implications, both positive and negative
Discipleship is dynamic, frightening, an unexpected
Jesus’ kingdom is in conflict with traditional understanding of family, religion, and science

The Authority of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
October 11th, 2009:
Mark 2:23-3:6

The Authority of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
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2.22-3.6

 Community Building

• Welcome new participants.
• Review the themes of Marking Your Mark and any opportunities to practice what we discussed last week: spend any time with tax collectors and sinners? Find anything new about Jesus that stretched your mind, or tore away a preconception?

The Text: Mark 2.23-3.6

• Ask some who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses.
• What impacted us from Lou’s sermon on these verses? 

Discussion Questions:

• Review the context of these stories: do you see any connections back to what we’ve discussed so far in Mark?
• Make some basic observations: who, what, where.
• List exactly what Jesus teaches about the Sabbath. What are the sources for authority that Jesus mentions to corroborate his understanding of how to observe the Sabbath?
• Why do the Pharisees become so upset that they team up with the Herodians to plot Jesus’ destruction?

Application reflections

• What is your church history? Have you experienced times when you felt like ‘the sabbath’ was made for you? Or times when you felt like you were serving the ‘sabbath’? What contributed to your experience?
• What could we do to make our ‘sabbath’ experience focused on doing good and meeting human needs?
• Have you ever had an encounter with Jesus that completely overturned your understanding of what it means to worship God? Would you be willing to tell us that story?

Pray

 

 

 

2.22-3.6

Observations

• Repeats: Sabbath 7x; Pharisees 2x, but including references to ‘them’ and ‘they’, 9x;
• Actors: Jesus, disciples, Pharisees, David, Abiathar, God, Son of Man, man w/ withered hand; synagogue attendees; Herodians;
• Actions: going through grain fields, plucking grain; Questioning and answers about lawful Sabbath activity; theological discussion between J and Ph about Sabbath, Jesus’ authority; synagogue attendance, healing, murder conspiracy
• Another ref to Jesus emotion: anger and grieved; previous ref: took Simon’s mother-in-law by the hand, moved w/ pity for leper,
• Setting: fields, synagogue, Sabbath; link back to first synagogue appearance pg 1.9ff with healing and teaching authority;
• First direct interaction with Pharisees; previous w/ their scribes; the Pharisees seem not so much to be questioning, as accusing: the opposition to Jesus is intensifying, and beginning to center on OT scripture; we will see more of this in the following stories of appointing the 12, the unforgivable sin, and Jesus redefinition of family
• Jesus’ teaching about Sabbath:
• there is OT evidence of human need taking priority over strict Sabbath observation by none other than David;
• Sabbath was made for man, not vice versa
• Son of Man is lord of Sabbath, has authority over Sabbath
• Sabbath intended as a blessing: to do good, save life; not for evil or harm
• Pharisees Sabbath practice: protect tradition and theologh; accusation; watching Jesus to spot unlawful behavior; hard hearts w/o compassion; form power alliance with enemy; initiate a murder conspiracy.

Interpretation

• It is likely that Mark places the Sabbath story here as a direct illustration of unshrunk cloth and new wine, and how it is incompatible with prevalent paradigms illustrated by the Pharisees and Herodians
• Pharisee, Herodians, and the unlikeliness of an alliance between the nationalistic Pharisees and the politically accommodating Herodians; could be worth at some point, probably later with the story of John’s murder, to describe the hideous nature and practices of Herod and his clan
• Sabbath significance; OT research on David incident
• Synagogue: 9x in Mark: 1.21,23, 29 all in first synagogue appearance; 1.39 travels around Galilee and preaching in synagogues; 3.1 here with man; 6.2 at home, preaching, and rejected by his own home town; 12.3 in critique of the scribes desire for attention; 13.9 warning disciples of conflict to come;
• 2nd ref to Son of man: first in authority to forgive sin, here as lord of Sabbath; not again till chapter 8ff teaching about Son of Man suffering;
• Jesus cites two sources of authority on Sabbath: OT, and himself; OT may have been useful for discussion with Pharisees: could have debated the intent and implications for lawful observance of the Sabbath; but when Jesus goes on to claim personal authority as lord of the Sabbath he creates an irreconcilable breach with the Pharisees
• Hermeneutical leap: are there similarities between the synagogue practice and understanding of the 1st C. religious leaders and participants, and those of us today attending and leading Sunday Worship? How we answer will dramatically impact how we apply this section.

Application

• What are we to learn about Jesus by his reference to himself as lord of the Sabbath? About his assertion that Sabbath was made for people, rather than the opposite?
• How might our Sunday services be transformed if we viewed church as a blessing from God, a time to do good, to save life?
• What is our most valued conviction about church participation? Is there anything in this story that might cause us to reevaluate our conviction?

The New Approach of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
October 4th, 2009:
Mark 2:13 -22

The New Approach of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
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2.12-18

Levy

Page 4.11-24

 

Observations:

• Again by sea: cf 1.16 call of 4, again in 3.7; again great crowds
• Almost word for word of first call: saw, called, immediate response, Levy noted as ‘son of…’ like James and John; soon in Levy’s home as with Simon; perhaps parallels w/ mother-in-law serving and Levy giving dinner;
• Sin is again a topic, cf paralyzed man
• Clean: leper was unclean; these people are considered ‘unclean’. This is really an interp, see below
• Possible parallel to faithful 4 friends: Levy has brought Jesus to his friends
• Jesus and his disciples share a meal with the wrong type of people
• Another announced purpose: first to go to other towns, now “I have come not…but…’; a new name for Jesus: Physician; interesting to note Jesus’ sense of purpose, his understanding and commitment to God’s call and commission to him
• Again questioning by scribes, this time identified a ‘of Pharisees’ 

Interpretation:

• Who was Levy? What is a tax collector? Why this occupation linked to ‘sinner’?
• Significance of eating together in that cultural context
• Second question of religious leaders: this one is as significant in the minds of the scribes as the first: why? What was it about Jesus’ association with Levy et al that raises doubt in the minds of the religious leaders?
• What does Jesus mean by his statement of intent, that he came to call sinners, not righteous?
• Who are the righteous?

Application

• Who are today’s tax collectors and sinners?
• How might Jesus’ priority of healing the sick impact our association with sinners?
• Do we consider ourselves to be the righteous? Or the sinners? How does that impact our ability to participate with Jesus’ emphasis on the lost?
• Are we willing to invite Jesus to our home, among our friends?

2.18-22

Bridegroom

Page 4.24-5.7

Observations

• Both John’s and the Pharisees’ disciples practiced fasting; Jesus’ did not
• This question comes from the people, not the scribes or Pharisees
• Jesus answers the question with a question

Interpretation

• How did people know that some disciples fasted, and some did not?
• What was fasting? And why was it important?
• What would be a modern day equivalent of fasting?
• Is there biblical significance to Jesus’ reference to himself as the bridegroom? Cloth? Wine and wineskins?
• Does Jesus’ answer about the bridegroom, sewing, wine and skins answer the peoples’ question? 

Application

• Are we reveling in the presence of the bridegroom?
• Are we willing to discard our old, torn cloth and skins when it comes to dearly held religious practices?
• Is Jesus, and his kingdom, something new for us? Or old and predictable?

 

2.12-22

Community Building

• Welcome new participants.
• Review the themes of Marking Your Mark and any opportunities to practice what we discussed last week: touch any lepers? Bring any friends into Jesus’ presence?...

The Text: Mark 2.12-22

• Ask some who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses.
• What impacted us from Lou’s sermon on these verses?

Discussion Questions:

• Review the context of these stories: do you see any connections back to what we’ve discussed so far in Mark?
• Make some basic observations: who, what, where.
• List everything Mark tells us about Jesus in these stories.
• Compare Jesus’ call to Levy with his call of the first four disciples.
• Who all is affected by Levy’s repentance and belief? How?
• What is the substance of the scribes’ question? How does Jesus answer this concern?
• Discuss fasting, its significance and purpose.
• Why does Jesus say he and his followers are not fasting? Does this make sense? What does Mark want us to understand about Jesus by including the comments about the bridegroom, torn clothes, and wineskins? 

Application reflections

• Try to put yourself into the mindset of the Pharisees. In Jesus’ time the Pharisees and their legal experts (the scribes) where highly respected non-professional religious leaders; they were influential in the rural areas among the common people. They were extremely serious about observing God’s law and extraordinarily disciplined about living pure lives before God and in their communities; they were nationalistic, loved their country, and dreamed of national restoration. From this mindset, what would you think of Jesus’ choice of dinner companions, and his neglect for important spiritual disciplines like fasting?
• When was the last time you spent quality time with the ‘wrong’ crowd. What happened?
• Does being in Jesus’ presence, participating with him in experiencing the kingdom of God among the ‘sick’, overshadow the importance of spiritual disciplines?

Pray

 

The Healing Power of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
September 27th, 2009:
Mark 1:40 - 2:12

The Healing Power of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
Listen

1.40-2.11

Community Building

• Welcome new participants.
• Review the themes of Marking Your Mark (see website: http://make-your-mark-study.blogspot.com: Goals)
• Did you have a chance to experience Jesus’ authority this past week? How?
• What impacted you from Lou’s sermon about the leper and paralyzed man? 

The Text: Mark 1.40-2.11

• Ask some who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses.

 Discussion Questions: 1.40-45

• How does the leper approach Jesus? What is his question? Does the leper doubt Jesus’ ability?
• What normally happens when the clean comes into contact with something unclean? What happens in this story when Jesus touches the unclean man?
• Why does Jesus tell the man to go through the official priestly cleansing certification? What does the man do instead? How does this affect Jesus’ stated purpose of ‘going to the next towns and preaching there’?

Application reflections:

• Have you ever felt so unclean that you wonder if Jesus wants anything to do with you?
• Who are the lepers here in Chico? How could we show Jesus’ pity and compassion to these people?

Discussion Questions: 2.1-11

• Jesus ‘saw their faith’: what exactly did Jesus see? List exactly what the friends did. Does this match your definition of faith? Why or why not? Do you think the paralytic demonstrates faith? How?
• List all the results of faith Mark describes in this narrative.
• Describe Jesus’ words and actions in this story: just what does he say and do? What authority does Jesus claim he has? How does he demonstrate this claim? Is his proof convincing?
• Why do the scribes have these questions? Are they legitimate questions? How does Jesus answer these questions? Do you think the scribes are convinced?
• What is the most important thing Mark wants us to understand about Jesus and the Kingdom of God based on this story?
• Application Reflections
• Are you convinced that Jesus has the authority to forgive your sins? How can you, like the paralyzed man, ‘pick up your bed and walk’ as a demonstration of your faith in Jesus?
• What are ways that we, like the faithful four, can bring our sin-paralyzed friends into Jesus’ presence?  

Pray

 

 

1.40-2.11 OIA

Leper: Page 3.10-21:

Observations:

• Clean 3x cleansing 1x, connects back to unclean man/spirit in synagogue; desolate place 1x connects back to John, temptation, Jesus in prayer;
• Second story in a row about a man with desires in conflict with Jesus: Peter above, leper’s public story; First instance of human defiance of Jesus’ authority; Jesus’ expressed desire ‘to go on to the next towns…’ is thwarted by the leper’s public storytelling;
• Jesus’ emotion and motivation is noted: pity>compassion; man seems not to doubt Jesus ability, but Jesus’ will;
• Jesus physically touched the leper – connection to Peter’s mother-in-law; leprosy ‘left him immediately’ – link to immediacy; When Jesus touches unclean, the unclean becomes clean, rather than the clean becoming dirty;
• Jesus ‘sternly charged’ the man to observe Moses’ commands for cleansing; the reason: ‘a proof to them’: the priest.
• The lepers free talking prevented Jesus from entering towns, but people instead came to him in the wilderness ‘from every quarter’; link back to John: came from ‘all Judea, Jerusalem’

Interpretation:

• What is leprosy and its consequences? Cf various OT references, esp Leviticus; current practice: excluded from community until proven to be cured of disease; see Lv 14.1-32 for description of cleansing ceremony. In his book Hawaii Michener tells a moving story of the leper colony of Hawaii in the 1900’s, the unbelievable suffering, isolation on a desolate peninsula, social ostratization, and the heroic sacrifice of those who gave their lives to serve these cast-out.
• Jesus authority: efficacious so far in Mark over people (4 disciples), scripture, unclean spirits, sickness, leprosy: but restrained in terms of human will: the leper is commanded, but not compelled
• Jesus’ is willing to free the man from his suffering, and also from his emotional and social suffering: he touches the leper to demonstrate his compassion, and charges him to fully reintegrate into society by accepting that society’s established method of formal cleansing:
• Hermeneutical leap: who are the lepers of today: those excluded from ‘normal’ life, existing in marginalized and despised settings, blamed and loathed both by society, and by themselves?
• Jesus is willing and able to cleanse and restore those most hideously disfigured by the fruits of evil

Application

• Can you identify with the leper’s feeling: you are so unclean that you doubt Jesus would want anything to do with you? What does it mean to you that Jesus is not only willing to free you, but will personally touch you, and help you reconnect with your community?
• Who are the ‘lepers’ here in Chico? In your personal hierarchy of values? Would Jesus ask us, as a way of practicing externally focused ministry, to extend his pity and compassion to these folks? What is a practical way we could actually touch the ‘lepers’ of Chico?

Four Faithful Friends: Page 3.21-4.12

Observations:

• Sins 4x; forgive 4x link back to John’s sermon page 1; questioning 3x; authority 1x links back to ‘new teaching w/ authority; scribes 1x but linked back also to teaching w/ authority ‘not as the scribes’
• Jesus back in Capernaum; again great crowds
• Jesus has returned to his stated goal: preaching in the towns; preaching repeated in 3.8, links back to page 1 proclaiming the kingdom
• 4 friends, going to extraordinary lengths, precipitate momentous events: Jesus’ declaration of God-specific authority; their friends spiritual forgiveness and physical restoration; initial questioning by the scribes, and eventual rejection of Jesus by the religious, and of Jerusalem and the temple by Jesus
• Jesus specifically claims the authority to forgive sins and performs a miracle to validate that claim
• First references to: preaching the ‘word’ – prep for parable of sower; Son of man, faith, God glorified by Jesus’ miracle/teaching/preaching;
• The scribes ask the right question, and have the correct answer: only God can forgive sins
• This is the first reference in Mark to the emerging conflict between Jesus and Jewish religious leadership; this comes to a preliminary head in 3.6 where the Pharisees and Herodias initiate a murder conspiracy, ultimately with the crowds, agitated by the religious leaders, demand Jesus’ crucifixion; this marks the beginning of a major theme in Mark: conflict between J and religious

Interpretation:

• What is sin/s?
• Who are the scribes?
• Why does Jesus (or Mark) choose this moment to claim authority to forgive sins? He must know how the religious leaders will react; for some reason Jesus, or at least Mark in his narrative ordering of the events of Jesus life, chose this time to introduce the conflict that will eventuate in Jesus’ murder.
• Using this text alone, how would Mark define faith?
• Is community based: 5 people; results are public: man walks, God glorified, opposition
• Is Jesus-focused
• Involves physical activity: carried paralytic, removed roof, lowered
• Jesus sees and responds to this type of faith in unanticipated and amazing ways that include personal benefits, proclamation of the kingdom, and resistance
• Does this physical healing authentic Jesus’ claim of authority?
• Why does Mark link paralysis with sin? Can we make a hermeneutical leap here: sin causes emotional/physical paralysis today? In her commentary Morna Hooker describes a case of physical paralysis linked to feelings of extreme guilt; this is not to minimize or explain away Jesus’ power in healing, but does open interesting application opportunities.
• Questioning is not bad in itself: Jesus invites reflection; but rejection of Jesus’ claims about himself has inevitable consequences: cf the religious leaders sincerely focused on purity before a holy God, end up as murder conspirators based on the results of their questioning.

Application:

• How are you responding to Jesus’ claim that you are sinful, and he can and will forgive your sins?
• Do you have a paralyzed friend, either physically of spiritually? What extraordinary steps are you willing to take to get your friend in front of Jesus? What other friends can help you?

The Majesty of Jesus

Evangelical Free Church of Chico
September 20th, 2009:
Mark 1:14 - 39

The Majesty of Jesus
Pastor Lou Diaz
Listen

1.14-39

Community Building
• Welcome new participants.
• Review the themes of Marking Your Mark (see website: http://make-your-mark-study.blogspot.com: Goals).
• Share your past week; any upcoming challenges?
• Pray together.

The Text: Mark 1.14-39
• Did you have a chance to live out any of what we talked about last week in Mark 1.1-13? How?
• What were the things from the sermon last Sunday that particularly impacted you?
• Ask some who enjoys reading aloud to read these verses to the group.
• There are four stories in this section. Let’s look at each one in turn and find the main point from each story:

A. Jesus calls four disciples
------His commanding authority
------Their immediate response
----------Is this an example of what it means to repent and believe?

B. Jesus preaches in the synagogue
-------What made his teaching so amazing?
----------Have you ever experienced a teacher that amazed you?
-------What are we to understand from this story of the unclean spirit?

C. Jesus at home in Peter’s house
-------What do you notice about Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother-in-law?
-------What would it have been like to be one of the people in the crowd?

D. Jesus in the wilderness
------Why does Jesus go off like this?
------What does Peter want Jesus to do? Why?
------What aspect of Jesus’ authority from these four stories do you find most comforting? Challenging?

Response
• Would anyone like to tell the story of how Jesus called you? Or does anyone have a sense that Jesus is calling them into something new right now?
• Have you ever had an experience with Jesus that amazed you, that jolted you out of spiritual lethargy and bought a new joie de vivre? Would you share that with us?
• Are any of us experiencing a sense of spiritual oppression? Let’s pray for each other.
• Can you think ways that we, like Peter, may have an agenda that is in conflict with Jesus’ plans?
• How might we impact our community, workplace, family…with Jesus’ authority this week?

Pray
• How can we pray for each other this coming week?
• Pray together.

OIA Page 1

Application Idea for Mark 1:1-13

Study: John the Baptist

John 1:6-13
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Luke 1:5-25
Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

18And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." 19And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." 21And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

24After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25"Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people."

Luke 1:34-45
34And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

35And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. 36And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God." 38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

Matthew 3:1-17
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.'"

4Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15But Jesus answered him,"Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."