Mark 2022

Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas? And Simon, aren't these aren't his sisters here with us and they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, a profit is not without honor except in his own town amongst his relatives. And in his own home.

He could not do any miracles there except lay his hands on a few people. Who were ill and healed them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village, calling the 12 to him, he began to send them out 2 by 2 and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions.

Take nothing for your journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money, in your belts wear sandals, but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. They went out and preached that the people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed with oil, many people who were ill and healed them.

King Herrod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, John, the Baptist has been raised from the dead and that is why Merrick miraculous powers are at work in him. Others said he's Elijah. And still others claim, he's a prophet like 1 of the prophets of long ago. But when herod heard He said, John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead.

For herod himself had given orders to have John arrested and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of herodias, his brother Philip's wife whom he had married. For John had been saying to herod, it's not lawful for you, Dar your brother's wife. So herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to to kill him. But she was not able to because herod feared John and protected him, knowing to be a righteous and holy man.

When herod heard John, he's greatly puzzled, and yet he liked to listen to him. Finally, the opportune time came. On his birthday, Herrod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilei. When the daughter of Herrodius came in and danced She pleased herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, asked me for anything you want and I'll give it to you and he promised her with an oath.

Whatever you asked, I'll give it to you. Up to half my kingdom. She went out and said to her mother, what shall I ask for? The head of John the Baptist, she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request, want you to give me, right now, the head of John the Baptist on a dish.

The king was greatly distressed. But because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went beheaded John in the prison and brought back his head on a dish. He presented it to the girl and she gave it to her mother.

On hearing this, John's disciples came, took his body, laid it in a tomb. Okay. If you'd like to turn back to Mark chapter 6. If we haven't met before, my name's Tom. I'm 1 of the pastors here and it's great to welcome you this morning online, whether you're here in the building.

Lovely to have you. And let's pray together. Father, we thank you that you are a God who delights to reveal himself to us, We thank you that you have done that most supremely in your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we gaze upon him, we see the image of the invisible God, we see the fulness of the deity in bodily form to look upon Jesus. In the words of these pages is to see you and to meet you face to face.

And we pray, loving God that you would give us now, open ears to hear, ready hearts to receive and a will that wants to respond to you and to love the things that we see here and we ask it in Jesus' name. Our men. Well, in some ways, chapter 1 verse 14 to 15 of this gospel. It's really Jesus' summary message for the world. You remember, we looked at this some weeks ago, and this is where Jesus begins his public ministry, and we're told that he goes into Galile proclaiming the good news of God, the time has come, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news.

And on our journey through Mark's Gospel, we've seen various reasons why people can't or won't. Respond to the gospel with repentance and faith. So we've learned that the pharisees just couldn't repent because to do so, it would be it would be too much of a knock against their pride. They would have to give up their religious status and their position, admit that so much of what they thought was wrong. Would have to humble themselves in order to come into the kingdom and they wouldn't do that.

In chapter 5 verse 17, We saw those crowds who, when they heard about the amazing miracle that Jesus had performed on the Demoniac, They pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. They wanted 1 with such power to get out of town because they were worried at what such power might mean for them, worried what would be required, worried what changes they might have to make. And like those various groups of people, we have our own reasons why repentance is is difficult. Even though I am totally convinced, that repentance is is right for me to do and right to call other people to do, and a way of growing closer to the Lord. Very often, I am like these these pharisees.

You know, I hear the call to repent of something, and I just don't wanna do it. I'm gonna have to surrender my pride or admit that I was wrong, and I don't I don't wanna do that. Well, sometimes the reason I don't like repentance, is just is just the messiness of it and all the weird questions that we ask ourselves. You know, why why am I actually feeling convicted about this? Is it because I've seen something in God's words?

Or is it because this person or this group of people think that I should behave this way, and I feel bad because I because I don't. What is my motivation for changing here? Is it because I actually wanna please God and live for him? Or is it because I'm motivated by by something else. I want to live for other people.

Do I feel motivated by holiness or just by looking better? All these messy questions that we ask ourselves, and then you just think down with all this introspection, down with all this self examination. I just wanna, you know, I just wanna get on with serving a lord. You know, we all have reasons why repentance is difficult is difficult for us. And in some ways, that is what this this passage is all about.

There are many different ways that we could look at these stories. We could look at the theme of opposition. You know, how Jesus Christ and the apostles and John the Baptist, take the message of the kingdom out, and they're opposed for doing it. And we could say that like them, if we're gonna follow in their tradition, we too are going to be opposed. We might even lose our heads for taking out the message of the kingdom.

And that would be a good sermon for us to hear. Or instead of identifying with the heroes in the story, Instead of identifying with the ones who are rejected, we could see ourselves as those who do the rejecting. We could see ourselves not mainly as those who will be opposed, but those who find all kinds of clever ways to oppose. We could identify not with the heroes, but with the anti heroes of these different stories. And the reason for doing that is not just so that we might feel worse about ourselves at the end of the day, but that we might learn why it is that repentance can be so difficult for us.

We can identify the many ways we resist God's call to change. And we can see how good it is to embrace the preaching of Jesus and the prophet and the apostles. So, that's where we're gonna end. We'll end on that hopeful note of why embracing repentance is always good news, but first, Let's look at 3 reasons why repentance can be really hard for us to do. And the first is this, We know where you come from.

We know where you come from. Each point is a kind of description of what people say about the Kingdom message, and the first point is this, we know where you come from. Have a look with me at verses 1 and 2 chapter 6. Jesus left there and went to his hometown accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were amazed.

And this starts off really well for Jesus, this time in the hometown. Where did this man get these things they asked? What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? It's hard to imagine a warmer reception for King Jesus, isn't it?

Look at these amazing things that he's saying. Where did this heavenly wisdom beyond his years come from? With what power is he able to do such stunning miracles? It's a great reception, isn't it? Doesn't every preacher?

Want people to say the same things, but then something begins to change. Hold on. Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this the same guy who hung your door? Isn't this the guy who built the fence around your house.

Isn't this the 1 who put up that wardrobe for you, who built your bed? And don't we know his brothers? Don't we know that 1 who works in the bakery down the road? That's his brother. Don't we know his sisters, even here with us?

And isn't this Mary's son, which was a way of speaking, it was a degrading way to refer to him, because Normally in this culture, you'd be identified as the son or daughter of your father. So when is it? Is this Mary's son is something of an attack on him. Must we now bow to him. Is that what he's saying?

Is he bringing an authority claim on us, the people who know him best? If you know the Joseph story in the old testament back in Genesis, there's a lot of similarities here. Between this and the Joseph story. Apart from Benjamin, Joseph was the youngest son of Jacob and he was really his father's darling son. And if you know chapter 37 of Genesis, it's where Joseph starts to have these dreams.

And this is what we're told that Joseph does with his dreams. It's Genesis 37 verse 5. Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, listen to this dream I had. We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field, when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered round mine and bowed down to it, his brothers said to him, do you intend to reign over us?

Will you actually rule us and they hated him all the more because of his dreams and what he had said. Now, Joseph may have been unwise or ill advised to go sharing that dream. Okay? Ma'am, maybe he should have kept that to himself. But you see what they find offensive, that they, the hometown brothers, should bow to him.

That's what the Nazareth crowd have understood. Something about Jesus being known to them and 1 of them. Made his teaching unbearable. The word here, to take offense, is the word from which we get scandal. And what it really means is they were scandalized by him.

What he said about how people should respond to him in repentance and faith, scandalized them. It was an offense to them. To hear that kind of message from 1 they knew so well. And verse 4 to 5 is just such a such a caution, isn't it? Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives, and in his own home, he could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them, he was amazed.

At their lack of faith. I think the first part of verse 5 is 1 of the most breathtaking verses in the bible. He could not do any miracles there. Isn't that stunning? The Lord God himself who who fashioned the heavens and the earth, the 1 who raised the 12 year old girl from the dead just by taking her hand.

The 1 who healed a woman after 12 years of chronic sickness with just a touch, he could not. Do any miracles there. It's not an absolute claim because he does do some, but I think the point is that when an atmosphere or a human heart is so completely closed off, so completely offended by Jesus. The setting is not right for a transformative work. It doesn't have to be the very last word for that town or for that heart.

But the caution here is what good can grow in a climate like that. And so what do we learn here about why repentance is difficult? Verse 3, again, isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James Joseph Judas and Simon aren't his sisters here with us, and they took offense at him. Sometimes when it comes to repentance, We understand what God is saying, and we just don't want to do it.

But more often, we can be like this hometown crowd and find reasons why it's right for us not to do it. You might remember a few months ago, Ben used this great illustration of the inner barrister. I don't know if you remember that. When when we're sat under the Word of God or when someone brings a word to us, and we feel particularly challenged or convicted by something. 1 of the things that happens in my heart and I guess the reason it was such a good illustration, is because it resonates with all of us.

Is that this trained, efficient, quality barrister then rises up from within my own heart and defends me against the charge of God's word, and give me all kinds of reasons why it's right for me in my case not to do what God is saying. And here's the thing, the more we know about Jesus, the more sophisticated that lawyer becomes. Because he can build us up with religious arguments. That's what's happening in verse 3. It's so interesting, isn't it?

They've got truths about Jesus. Isn't this the carpenter? Well, yes, he is. That is true. Isn't this Mary's son?

Yes, he is. Does he have brothers? Yes, does? Are his sisters here with us? Yes, they are.

They've got truths about Jesus, which become reasons to dismiss Jesus. It should be the other way around, shouldn't it? That the more we know about him, and the more familiar we become with his teaching, the more happy we are to do what he says and to submit to him. But here we see how truth about Jesus can become a tool against Jesus. Truth about Jesus can become a barrier to listening to Jesus.

And so when I hear something that's challenging, the inner barrister might say, Tom, that is challenging, and you know there's truth in that. And for everybody else, that's a right command for them to here, and at another time you should definitely do that, but you know that God is a God of love, and you know that he loves you, and you know that he understands your situation, and you know that right now, this isn't the command that you need to hear, and God's okay with that. And so my inner barrister is a genius because he can take a religious argument and convince me that God's authority is actually just God's advice. And that it's more like therapy, which I can take if it's helpful for me at my situation rather than seeing it as a command. Do you see how this happens?

How how truth? It's so it's amazing how they argue themselves out of this. How truth about Jesus becomes a sort of half truth about Jesus, becomes a weapon against the truth of Jesus. Do you recognize anything like that in your own life? Does that ever happen?

It's 1 reason, isn't it? Why repentance can be so difficult for Secondly, firstly, we know where you come from. Secondly, who do you think you are? We know who you come from. Who do you think you are?

Have a look at verse 6 to 7. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village, calling the 12 to him, he began to send them out 2 by 2, and gave them authority over impure spirits. And, this really is a huge moment in Jesus' discipleship program. Because this now is the moment when the fishes of men are going to go out alone in order to fish for men.

They're going to go without the master to do the master's work. They're quite untrained still. And from the rest of the gospel, we know they've got a heck of a long way to go, but Jesus is okay. He gives them his authority and he sends them out. And, what are they going to do?

They're going to do the same thing that the master does. They're going to heal the sick, they're going to banish evil, and they're going to preach a gospel of repentance and faith. And notice that he sends them out in twos. Now, why does he send them out in twos? Well, you'll know if you've got another Christian in your workplace, or there's a couple of Christians in your moms and toddlers group, or you're not the only Christian who sends kids to that school.

You'll know how nice it is to have a bit of Christian company in the world. There's an opportunity, isn't there there, even with just 1 other Christian in the office. You you feel like as bold as a lion sometimes, because just 1 other is there backing you, 1 other to share responsibilities and the burdens and the joys of being Christian in the world. So part of the reason he sends them in twos is for fellowship, but there's a legal reason as well. Jesus wants them to go out with the testimony of 2 or 3.

So, he doesn't want them to just be the brand new slightly eccentric preacher on the block, who is going from village to village announcing this news from God. He wants them to go in twos or threes, so there's there's testimony to the truth. So that if they have to pronounce judgement on a place, There's 2 of them doing it. It's gonna be cemented with the authority, with the witness of 2 or 2 or 3. And in verse 8 to 10, he instructs them like this.

Take nothing for the journey except for staff, no bread, no bag, no money in your belts, wear sandals, but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. So, this is Jesus' mission and to go on it involves packing light. And the reason for this is because the apostles are to go out and to rely upon God and they are to rely upon hospitality, the provision of other people. And this was a very big deal at the time.

You know, if somebody came into your village square at night, It was the responsibility of the village, to go out and provide hospitality, to welcome the traveler in, to give him or her bed and board. That's what you had to do. And Jesus is saying, that's what you need to rely on, the provisions of God and the hospitality of other people. And like the last scene, it all sounds, you know, rosy until verse 11. And if any place will not welcome you, or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.

It's a strange thing to do that, isn't it? Shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against Now normally, that's the kind of thing that a Jew would do to a gentile. So they would do that to the gentiles because that was such a sort of final pronouncement upon them. But here Jesus is saying that and we must do that even within the borders of Israel. And to shake the dust off your feet was really a way of saying, we confirm the decision that you have made.

You have chosen to stay out of the kingdom, And so stay out of the kingdom, you will. We leave you to your decision. We leave you to your choice. And as you can see here, there are really no other options, but to receive the apostles, or to refuse the apostles. You're either gonna take them for a salvation word or judgment is gonna come.

There are no in betweeners when it comes to the apostles word. You either receive or you refuse You either show hospitality or you show hostility. That's the way it goes. Now, in our day, we like to be way more diplomatic about Jesus than that. We like to sort of stand above him and say, well, there are bits of him that I want to receive and show hospitality to, like his morals, like what he says about love, like how he upends the system and is good to the poor.

But there are bits of him that we want to show hostility to and refuse, like when he commands me to submit to him, and that I should repent of my sin and follow him as the 1 true exclusive lord of heaven and earth. We want to sort of stand above and say, this bit fatality, this bit hostility. But that diplomacy is really just a way of saying, I will not have the Bible Jesus in my life. I will not have him as he is, I'll have the 1 that I want. And so the apostles are going out, some will refuse, some will receive.

And although we're not told exactly why some will refuse, the clue is gotta be in verse 12. This in some ways is the summary verse of this section. They went out and preached that people should repent. When the apostles go out, They are not creating a message. They are bringing a message.

They are not going to the towns and villages and saying, between us, Let us create a message from God together. 1 that we can all get on board with, 1 that we can all submit to. They are announcing a message from heaven for the people. It comes with that authority claim. See in verse 7, what are we told about their authority?

He, that's Jesus, gave them authority. They are not coming in their own authority, They are bringing the announcement of Jesus. They are coming with his authority, and that's what makes it hard for us to repent. If we could create a Jesus in our own image, then we would all be Christians, wouldn't we? We would all be Christians.

But he comes through his apostolic word and he announces to us what is true and heaven's authority comes and it makes a claim on our lives. It is not up to you or me to create the message this is what it is and the way to respond is repentance. And for lots of us, lots of the time, we just think, who do you think you are? Or more honestly, who does Jesus think he is? To make that claim upon my life.

That's another reason why it's so hard for us to repent, isn't it? We can know too much sometimes but also we resist this announcement from heaven upon my life, this announcement that I can't create but must submit to. Thirdly, how dare you say that to me. Okay? How dare you say that to me?

And now we're looking at verse 14 to 16, this herod story. King herod heard about this, Apostles going out, the word of Jesus going out. For Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him. Others said, he's Elijah, and still others said, He's a prophet like 1 of the prophets long ago, but when herod heard this, he said, John, whom I'm beheaded has been raised from the dead.

And if that is true, he is right to be spooked. It's 1 thing having a headless profit walking around speaking to people again. It's quite another thing if you are the 1 who took his head off. He is right to run and hide if that is true. Now, this is a little bit of a weird bit in the story because there's a bit of a break, and this is like a flashback where we're going back in time to find out why John might think that.

Why herod might think that wrong. In chapter 1 verse 14, we're told that John The Baptist was arrested and taken to a place called the Black fortress. That's where Harriet Antopus lived, that was 1 of his bases, the black fortress. And why was John taken there? Well, because of verse 18, For John had been saying to herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

And, this is 1 reason why his head is gonna come off. Because John refuses to talk about sin in general ways which we can all agree with. It's very easy to do that. I have to tell you as a preacher. It's very tempting to do that.

Is very tempting to just talk about sin in general ways that we can all agree with, but doesn't quite sort of land. John would not do that. He was specific about sin. He gave detail to sin. He colored it in.

You have got your brother's wife. He is still alive. That is not lawful. It's a specific targeted preach against his sin. Interesting, isn't it?

And herod is such a muddle because there's a sense in which he really doesn't like that message. Because he's not actually going to repent, but he also loves having John around and quite likes to hear it. And he's sort of perplexed by him, but wants to protect him. And so you can imagine what the feeling was in the court after John had preached. Wasn't that a fantastic sermon?

It was. And didn't he preach it with force and clarity? He did. So shall we listen to it, do you think? No.

I don't think so. No. Well then, why would we have him around? Because he's really having a go in quite specific ways. About the things that we like to do.

Shouldn't we just sort of kill him? Well, no, I think it's quite good to hear it, because there's something A bit of morality is good for this place. It's called the black fortress, after all. It doesn't hurt to have some morality here. Yes, that's right.

Maybe we could send the children to hear him because it's good for them to come and hear people like this so they can get a bit of moral backbone in this culture Yes, I think that's a very good idea. But isn't the reason we arrested him because we don't like his morals? And he keeps having a go, yes, that's right. And so, he's just a total muddle. Herrodious, on the other hand, is not so puzzled.

Have a look at verse 19. So, her rodius nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she was not able to until verse 21, finally, the opportune time came. And what follows is dirty and it's pathetic and it's vicious. Herrod is throwing a party at his banquet, throwing a banquet at this black this black fortress. On the guest list, are all the leading men of Galile.

All there, all the leading men of Galile. The atmosphere, is 1 of drunkenness and greed and proud promises. The entertainment is his step daughter. Probably about 13 to 14 years old at this time, wearing a veil but very little else. Herrod, consumed with lust, or at least very excited by the sexual appearance.

Of his stepdaughter. The promise he makes, a drunken attempt to show off prove how powerful he is by showing what he can give away, and herodias, perhaps worst of all, using her own daughter as a sex toy in order to try and checkmate John The Baptist. Stinks of death, the whole thing. And then verse 24 to 27. She went out and said to her mother, what shall I ask for?

The head of John The Baptist, she answered. At once, the girl hurried into the king with the request, I want you to give me right now the head of John The Baptist on a platter. The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oath and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her, so he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. And then you've got this weird past the head along the chain kind of thing. The man goes and beheads John, John Britney, the man brings it back on a platter.

He gives it to the girl. The girl gives it to the manor. So here's herod. He hears the Kingdom message. It's interesting.

It's challenging. He wants to have it around, he wants to invite others to hear it, but in the end he won't repent. Why? Because something bigger is in charge of his life. It's interesting here that Mark calls him king herod none of the other gospels used the term king for him because that's not actually what he was.

He was a Tetaric, he was a ruler, he was not a king. And so you wonder if Mark has included this in this story as if to say that's what he liked to be known as. That's what he liked to be called. That was his self identification. He thought of himself as a king with his own kingdom and he would not give it up.

And verse 18 is so interesting, isn't it? For John had been saying to herod, it is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. It's interesting he puts it like that, isn't it? It's an authority claim. He doesn't say it is not socially responsible of you to have your brother's wife.

He doesn't say it is not culturally appropriate for you to have your brother's wife. He says it is not lawful. He announces that there is a law from God to which he is accountable and that he must repent. He doesn't spend any time proving that. He says it's not lawful what you're doing.

But Herrod can't do it because the most powerful voice in his life is not God's or John the Baptist's or herodias's or his children's or his guests, the most powerful voice in his life is his own. Just like Joseph's brothers, and the hometown crowd and the villagers, when they are confronted with the authority of Christ, they won't have that claim on their lives. And so lastly, as we finish, what we've seen is not 3 reasons why it's hard for us to repent. But 3 ways of looking at the same reason why it's hard for us to repent. And it's the biggest 1 in my life.

You know, however I excuse it week to week when you boil it down, this is what it is. I do not want the authority of Jesus making the decisions about parts of my life. I don't want to listen to him because I think I know better. And the biggest tragedy there is what I miss out on. The reason the Christian life is 1 of repentance.

Is not because God likes to keep us feeling rotten all the time. If that's all it is, it's not good news, is it really? I mean, you can understand if people outside the church think that's what we're saying. Come be a Christian, no freedom of life, no forgiveness of your sins, no a new start, and feel terrible about yourself. For the rest of your life.

You can understand why people hear that message. It's not it's not good news. But actually what we see is that repentance, in repentance, God is inviting us to be the people he made us to be. To leave behind the old ways and to be transformed, to have a heart which doesn't get harder and more cynical as we grow older. But become softer and more joyful and more receptive to what God says, to grow in joy as we become more like Jesus and therefore more human.

Jesus died for our sins and he rose again to purchase the joy of the kingdom of God, that is ours if we turn and trust him. And sometimes, that is the bit we forget, isn't it? The moral reason is, we don't like his authority and we don't want to. But sometimes we just misunderstand the court of repentance. We think it's just about feeling bad and feeling rubbish all the time rather than seeing it as an invitation to become more like Jesus and therefore more happy and therefore grow in softness in heart and joy in God.

And so by God's grace, let's drop the inner barrister. Let's not use truth to protect us from truth. Let's give up the idea that we can have Jesus around on our terms and let's hear verse chapter 1 verse 14. Jesus proclaiming the good news. Friends repentance is good news.

The good news of God. The time has come, he said, the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the perfect loving authority of Jesus. Help us not to resist it.

To oppose it, to refuse your call, but to humbly bow to you, and to see that as such kind good helpful command to follow you and to grow in the joy of the kingdom, and we ask it in Jesus' name, Ahmed.