Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Jonah Sage's sermon from Mark 11:27-33.
Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Jonah Sage's sermon from Mark 11:27-33.
Bobby: Welcome to the Midweek Checkup. My name is Bobby Gilles and my colleague is Lindsey Blair. This past Sunday, Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Mark eleven, verses twenty-seven through thirty-three.
Lindsey: Jonah implored us to follow the wisdom of Jesus. But if you missed the sermon or need help remembering, you’re in the right place because it’s time for the Midweek Checkup.
Bobby: We began by looking at Jesus’s call to follow him. If you imitate someone, you will be conformed to them. You'll become like them.
That's the idea of following Jesus, our hearts are changed to be like his.
Imitating Jesus means following the wisdom of Jesus, not just his behavior.
Following him this way forces us to know him. And knowing Jesus is the fundamental way we become like him.
Lindsey: We looked at an episode where Jesus is confronted by the religious authorities. They demand to know where Jesus gets his authority. The religious elites wanted to stay in charge. And every time they've confronted Jesus, it's been some version of "how dare you" or "what gives you the right?” Their PATTERN has been to stifle anything that challenges their authority. As we follow the way of Jesus, we have to recognize the patterns in others.
Bobby: And following Jesus means asking questions. He knows there's no answer that will satisfy them. So...he asks a POWERFUL question: "I'll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question...did John's authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” They CAN'T affirm John's divine authority, because they would be admitting to going against God as they try to have Jesus killed. But if they say John is NOT from God...then the average Jew might rise up against these religious elites.
Lindsey: He asks a question that exposes their hearts. But Jesus is doing something much more profound here, too. He's linking himself with John's ministry. Jesus mentions John, which surely brings John's prophetic pronouncement to their minds from Malachi 3, about God’s messenger coming to the temple. And where has Jesus just been? THE TEMPLE.
With these events in mind, Jesus FORCES them, gently, subversively, cleverly, to consider Malachi chapter 3, which is about putting false religion on trial.
Bobby: stands downstream of John, as the one described here in Malachi 3.
The one who comes to judge the temple and THE PRIESTS. The one who comes to defend the oppressed, the cheated, the abused, and the betrayed.
He comes to defend the immigrant, the widow, the orphan...and in doing so he judges the powerful, the prestigious, the elite. His question undoubtedly let the scribes, teachers, and elders to remember Malachi 3.
Lindsey: He leaves them in unresolved tension, forced to go reflect on what's just happened. This kind of wisdom is foreign to us. We want answers, straight lines, to win. But winning doesn't work in the Kingdom of God, because the Kingdom of God is about reconciliation and relationships.
We are invited to come home to God and follow Jesus. This means coming to him, loving him, centering our lives on him, that we might become like him. Wise, patient, curious, powerful people.
Bobby: This Sunday, we will continue our series Journey Into The Night from the Gospel of Mark. And in Bible Fellowship we’ll continue discussing the first epistle of John. Join us, and bring a friend.