THE GOSPEL OF MARK "Behold My Servant!"

            Jesus demonstrates principles of service for God.

Mark presents seven principles of service directly from the Master           Mark chapter6vv1-56.

My friend Jeff Rogers said only on Sunday that in the study of the bible we must observe three important things; structure, context, and thought flow.   The thought flow in this chapter is striking, and moves from one lesson to another from the perfect servant to us lesser servants in a comprehensive précis of what to expect when we enter the service of the living God, especially if involved in public service (although the principles will apply in every form of service).    The flow of thought is roughly as follows:

1. Don't expect honour in your home territory         chapter 6vv1-6.
2. You need to learn to become dependent                chapter 6vv7-13.
3. You must be ready even to be martyred                 chapter 6vv14-29.
4. You must learn to take time apart                          chapter 6vv30-34.
5. Your little in My hands will multiply                     chapter 6vv35-44.
6. You must trust me in troubled waters                    chapter 6vv45-52.
7. Make yourselves available to the needy                 chapter 6vv53-56.

Acknowledgment and attention to these practical matters will enable us to serve Him better.   We will look at each one in turn for they contain details vital to our Christian lives.   As we watch the Master at work, so we can be more like Him, the servant who "will not fail nor be discouraged", or, as the apostle Paul put it "..we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory...".

• A prophet without honour   vv1-6    Having done all, and brought blessing to so many, He returns to "His own country", by which we understand Galilee, where He was known.   We might think the fame of His accomplishments would guarantee Him a homecoming celebration, rather like a soldier returning from war or a victorious sports star.  However it was not to be....they were sceptical, and although they were amazed at His speech and His wisdom, as well as the mighty miracles, they could not get beyond the fact He was just an ordinary peasant, whom they knew, whose family they knew. He may claim to be special, even a prophet, but to them He was just the carpenter, the son of Mary and Joseph, and brother of James and Joses and Juda and Simon, and whose sisters lived among them.   Jesus gives the rationale for this that "A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and amongst his own kin, and in his own house."   This may not be logical but it is a fact of human social life, that if we speak for God we may receive some honour abroad but not locally.   If it was true of Jesus how much more true of us who do not have the same power of speech or miracles that He had.   It may be unfair, but we will always just be "the local lad whom we know" amongst our peers.   It is easier for people to accept a stranger than one living among them, because of the "familiarity factor".   This trend became a tragedy for the Galileans, for what should have been their greatest day, they lost out.  "He could do no mighty work there..."   This was because of their unbelief, God will not work amidst unbelief, He will never force Himself on anyone, He will respond only to faith, He will act only when people want His help.   Indeed "He marvelled at their unbelief!"   Previously they marvelled at Him, now He, the omniscient Servant of God, marvels at the hardness of the human heart.   He left them and went on a circular tour of the remote villages.   This is a salutary lesson for those who speak for God today....we are not expected to serve where we are not received, our Lord moved on and so should we;   He will expand on this in the next paragraph, but what a tragedy when the Lord marvels at us instead of the other way round.   I wonder is it this factor that has given rise to itinerant ministry?
• Learning to become dependent    vv7-13      The ambition of many is to become independent, especially financially, to escape the pressures and uncertainties of life.   It is indeed the dream of the western world or "the American dream", as it is called.   However such independence is usually at the expense of others and the danger is to develop an independent spirit even of Almighty God.   These men whom Jesus called to preach in His name must learn the spirit of dependence as has been the pattern for all servants.   Some of them were businessmen engaged in the lucrative trade in fish around the sea of Galilee, and they were called to serve Christ.   God does not call men to serve Him without providing for their needs.   Jesus words to them are clear;   He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, no bread, no money, not two coats, only a staff for steadiness on the rough roads and sandals for their feet.  They were to depend only on the providence of God, supplied through the generosity of people or by miraculous means.   Later in this chapter He will give them proof of His ability to maintain them, in the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.   The apostle Paul establishes this principle in 1 Corinthians 9v14 "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel"   This is presented as a right of every servant involved in preaching, although in certain circumstances Paul chose not to use that right.   The history of the people of God abounds with examples:   God fed a nation in a wilderness for almost 40 years;   Elijah the prophet was sustained by ravens, then by a widow woman;   the Priests and the Levites were supported by the congregation.   Indeed the Lord made it a test of loyalty to receive His preachers, such that , if they did not receive them to "shake off the dust from their feet for a testimony against them."   This symbolic action seems to be a sign of disapproval, particularly in a religious sense;   refusal of the Lord's commissioned servants also brings severe Divine disapproval with eternal consequences.   In Matthew chapter 25 the Lord says that bad attitude to His people is tantamount to rejection of Him.   What a thoroughly severe condemnation of religious formality is here "Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you....Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city."   To refuse the servants of God whom He has sent is a very serious matter indeed, especially by people who have received Divine light, which was the case with the people of Galilee.   Matthew quotes Isaiah the prophet in connection with light given to these people "The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephtalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;  the people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." (Matthew 4v15).   Such light from God, however brings responsibility to the receivers, and so it is in every generation.   The section ends with the apostles replicating the work of the Master in words and works of Divine power working through them.