We come to the end of our series on the church and in this session we are to understand something about the kingdom of heaven and sin.
Jesus declares clearly in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His church. This is something that He is committed to doing.
We have been seeing how Jesus came and declared that the kingdom has now come. The kingdom of heaven is not an abstract idea but is something that one can enter into. Baptism is the sign of entering this kingdom.
The church is not built on a personal relationship with Jesus nor is it on a moral life though both are important. The foundation of the church is the teaching of the apostles, found in the New Testament.
Matthew is about the invasion of the heavenly kingdom onto earthly kingdoms.
In this section of Matthew, we read about the twelve disciples or apostles. The word disciple means “follower” and an apostle is one who is commissioned and sent out. Thus, the ones who come as disciples to follow Jesus are sent out as apostles. There are twelve of them, and the Gospels name them for us. The number “twelve” is significant because it represents the totality and fullness of God’s people in the form of the twelve tribes of Israel.
When Jesus comes and gives the twelve authority, Jesus is performing a reset. They are so critical because it is upon these apostles and their witness that the church is built.
The gospel of Matthew opens and closes with the theme of authority and speaks of the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. With this in mind, let us see how these passages in Matthew help us to understand how the church is God’s kingdom.
What do you want Jesus to do for you today?
One of the themes in Mark is the kingdom of God. In Mark 1, Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God is at hand and calls the people to repent and believe the gospel. In Mark 4, Jesus talks about what the kingdom is like through parables. He teaches that it is like a mustard seed that starts off as the smallest of all seeds, and yet it grows to become a big tree. It starts out growing in hiddenness and even without people realising, continues to grow and grow.
So, what is is the kingdom like? How does one even enter into the kingdom?
This is a question that this passage will answer for us.
It is possible to read these verses in Mark 10:1-12 and be very offended. But it is not a bad thing if you feel offended — if you are trying to understand the text in light of the real world and your experiences.
However, if you thought that this text does not apply to you because you are neither married or divorced, we encourage you to pause and reconsider. Pray and ask God to help you read Scripture as His Word.
In this section of Mark, we will learn about Kingdom greatness as defined by Jesus. He defines it as service and welcome of the lowly — a comprehensive inversion of every cultural status system, including the competitiveness that had already infected the disciples.
In the book of Mark, we read of people who were in need who approached Jesus and yet in their need, they could also be spiritually blind. What do you think are your problems right now? What do you think your spiritual needs are?
It is also entirely possible for us to misunderstand our needs tonight. Are we willing to let God show us our real need?
The events of the transfiguration in this passage clearly revealed the glory of Christ. Christians often use the word glory to refer to the surpassing worth and magnificence of God’s own person.
But how does knowing glory change your life? Do you understand the cross and all that it means? How does it change our view of Christ?
To understand this section, we need to read Mark 8:22-26 in light of Mark 8:27-30. The healing of the blind man in two stages was intentional, and is meant to show us what it means to see and not see clearly.
Jesus deliberately goes out to the Gentiles, foreshadowing the kind of work that He is going to send His disciples to do after His resurrection (c.f. Matt 28:19-20).
What is in your heart?
In this passage, Jesus turns the spotlight to shine on our heart. He calls us not to be fixated on the externals, ignore essentials and reveal the internals.
This section may be familiar to some of us but what are we actually supposed to take away from this account?
We may have heard of the feeding of the 5000, with an emphasis on the boy who has offered the 5 loaves and 2 fish and thus, we are asked to think about what we are to offer Jesus. However, in this account in Mark, there is no mention of this boy. The feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on water are meant to be understood together (Mark 6:52) .
If our hearts are hardened, we will be unable to understand Him as He intends!
This passage shows us Jesus’ rejection. As followers of this Jesus, we are not to be surprised when we face rejection when we hold out the gospel. We are to expect this too.
We grow familiar with things very quickly.
Are you familiar with Jesus by this point in Mark? We have read about Jesus who heals, and does mighty things. Mark is determined not to let us grow familiar.
Fear in the presence of Jesus occurs in this section of Mark. Mark’s storytelling is meant to help us understand who Jesus is.
In this section of Mark, we will see how Jesus has authority.
Why does authority cause us to fear? We live in an anti-authoritarian world and we do not trust other people to exercise power. We often view authority with suspicion. The Bible, however, recognises that there is a design for authority. And as we read this section, we should see that Jesus has authority, and is to be feared.
Parables may not be unfamiliar to Christians. Jesus often speaks about the kingdom in parables. What is the kingdom like?
But let us also take a step back and consider why Jesus speaks in parables? Why does Jesus regularly obscure what He means to say? Why does Jesus make it difficult to understand?
Mark is about the revelation of Jesus, the son of God, who calls us to be His disciples. Mark also shows us how Jesus declares the coming of the kingdom.
In this section we see two groups of people that do not recognise the power of the kingdom. The kingdom comes with rivals to the kingdom, a power struggle, usurpation.
Discipleship has to do with following. We cannot be a disciple unless there is a master. We can only be a disciple of someone.
Christian discipleship involves us doing something like Jesus because of something we learn about Jesus. There is information gained about Him that is practiced so that there is a change in life.