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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

Kameron DeVasher

Mark Howard

01 The Beginning of the Gospel

02 A Day in the Ministry of Jesus

03 Controversies

04 Parables

05 Miracles Around the Lake

06 Inside Out

07 Teaching Disciples Part 1

08 Teaching Disciples Part 2

09 Jerusalem Controversies

10 The Last Days

11 Taken and Tried

12 Tried and Crucified

13 The Risen Lord

I'm Cameron DeVasier and I'm Mark Howard and this is Talking Points.

Almost to the end of our Book of Mark study series.

We're now on lesson 11, Taken and Tried, coming to those closing scenes of Christ's life and ministry, at least earthly life and ministry, let's be clear.

You put our talking points together this week.

What's kind of the landscape of where we're looking?

Well, of course, we're in fact, according to the quarterly, the last 6 chapters of Mark cover about 1 week.

We're in that last week of Christ ministry, events leading up to the cross, but not into the cross.

I believe we're getting into that next week.

Okay, then that's a very clear cut section of Scripture, very tight window of ministry, like you're saying.

So we're gonna kind of pull out from that some really interesting, you know, I'm guessing there's a lot we could do with each 1 of those pieces, but you're gonna summarize that in just for a minute.

But let me begin with a word of prayer and then you can kind of walk us through our talk.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the study of your word.

Thank you for the Jesus that it reveals and the sacrifice, the immense, in mind blowing sacrifice of Jesus.

But it is real and we want to understand it and more than just grasp it intellectually, Lord, we want to accept it into our hearts.

So help us to see Jesus clearly and help every Sabbath school class to reveal Him to the world.

Well, you know, it just dawns on me that, you know, Ellen White makes that statement how we should spend a thoughtful hour a day upon the life and ministry of Christ, especially the closing scenes, we're in those closing scenes.

So sometimes we think the closing scenes are just right there at Calvary, which of course is a big part of it, but these events that we're looking at in this week's lesson and through our next few lessons are in that scope, that time frame.

The Quarterly says on Sabbath afternoon the majority of events in Mark 14 to 16 occur on Thursday and Friday of the Passion Week And of course this week we are focusing on the events prior to the cross, primarily Mark chapter 14.

It's interesting, the last 6 chapters of Mark cover only about, and the whole book of Mark is only 16 chapters long.

So I mean a huge chunk of, like so Mark's gospel really seems to focus on these closing scenes.

And so I've drawn 3 talking points and to your point it was kind of humorous as you were saying that, you know, we're drawing out some, we're totally, of all times we're drawing out points.

So this week's lesson I was telling you basically goes through the feast at Simon's house, Judas' betrayal of Christ, Mary washing Jesus' feet with her hair and anointing him with oil, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, and Peter's denial of Christ.

So this is what we did, this is what I did with our wet lesson this week.

Talking point number 1, Jesus knew what was in man.

And I've covered, I've taken that the whole week of examples through this week that we're going to look at there in that talking point.

Talking point number 2, Jesus always held out hope.

And I've taken that primarily from Monday's lesson.

And then talking Point number 3, Jesus saw you in heaven.

And I've taken that primarily from Tuesday's lesson.

Okay, so you've got a couple, a little bit digging into Monday and a little on Tuesday, but the first 1 is from the whole week.

So it seems that you've kind of taken a survey and drawn out this theme that Jesus, what is it, Jesus knew what was in man.

Well, and I've taken that language from the gospel of John, where John says that Jesus didn't need anybody to tell him about man because he knew what was in man.

He knew the, and what I've done with it is as I'm looking through the week and there's so many examples powerful examples of Christ's interaction and ministry what struck me is how many accounts There are of jesus mercy towards those who denied him or betrayed him or otherwise slighted him.

Like not the people that you want to, you know, there's...

I hate to even have to admit it, even for myself, you know, even among Christians, among us as Christians, we sometimes feel justified to be rude to people who treat us wrong.

It's like, yeah, but that person, you don't understand, that person is out to get me, that person is, and they've done all these...

Because we talk about Christ's method, but this is the heart of Christ's method and how he interacted.

And there are 4 examples that I've drawn from the week.

Now in Mark chapter 14, in fact, if you would read verses 3 through 5.

And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.

Then she broke the flask and poured it on his head.

But there were some who were indignant among themselves and said, Why was this fragrant oil wasted?

For it might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor.

And they criticized her sharply." And of course, then you go into the defense of Jesus of the woman and her story, verse 9, "...surely I say to you wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." What's interesting, and I'll use this story as an example of it, but when you read the different gospels, and 1 of the things we've noticed is, you know, Mark has his different approach, and Luke has his approach, and John has his approach, and Matthew has his approach, and they all give pieces.

They don't always give the whole thing and then you you have to read the different Gospels and you get a fuller picture.

Well if you've never read the little book Desire of Ages by Ellen White, 1 of the blessings of that book is it takes those accounts and pulls them into the story Mm-hmm So I know people who have maybe they've never read the other gospel account or maybe they have but they just forget as they're reading For example Mark's account And it's a blessing to see the whole big picture, but especially in this story.

1 of the things I find fascinating is You have the account of in Simon the lesser lepers house.

You have this this account and you have this woman Doesn't tell us who she is, but you go to the Gospel of John It tells us is Mary of Bethany the sister of Martha and Lazarus when you go into The Gospel of Luke and let's turn there for a minute It's interesting is yeah in Luke chapter 7 starting in verse 36 Luke has an account that many scholars believe is a separate account from the 1 we're reading about in the gospel of Mark.

Seventh-day Adventists believe that this account is the same account and I think for obvious reasons when we read it in the scripture, but beyond that Ellen White brings this in and verifies that this is the account.

That's not the only reason we hold to that.

Starting verse 36, okay, Then 1 of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisees house and sat down to eat.

So pause here, in the other account, it's Simon the leper, but there's not a connection in Scripture that says that Simon the leper is this Pharisee.

That's 1 of the things like, but it doesn't say he isn't either.

You almost get the idea that the Pharisees were always 1 condemning lepers, so they could never be a leper themselves, but I mean, it's quite possible.

Well, we don't have any evidence there But as we read on yeah verse 37 says and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping.

And she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair of her head, and she kissed his feet and anointed them with a fragrant oil.

Now, I'm sorry, it's laughable, but I need to be respectful, but when you read some of the scholars' reasons for not accepting this as the other...

You know, Mark doesn't give the account of the woman washing Jesus' feet with her hair, but John does.

And so, scholars agree that Mark and John are telling the same story.

I mean, how many women showed up with an alabaster flask?

How many times is Jesus eating at a house and a woman breaks in with an alabaster flask of the same oil and does the same action?

No, this is clearly a unique circumstance.

So, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I think it's pretty obvious that it's the same story.

And the reason that's important, especially in what I'm covering right here, is this encounter with Simon afterwards.

Now, you know the Pharisee's name is Simon, because in verse 40, but still they don't necessarily link him with Simon the leper.

Now Simon the leper was a leper Jesus had healed from leprosy.

So he already has this, he's beholden to Jesus for the healing.

But it says, why don't you read verse 39, we didn't read that yet.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what man or woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.

And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you.

And you brought up as we were preparing, Jesus answered, but you notice he didn't ask the question out loud in verse 39.

Series

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

11 Taken and Tried

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

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