Disciples Global Network

Forgiveness connects the call of the tax collector to the healing of the paralytic – Christ’s authority to forgive sins  – Mark 2:13-17. When Jesus pronounced the paralytic man’s sins forgiven, he offended the Scribes and Pharisees. But he went on to alienate them even further by showing mercy “ to sinners ,” individuals considered unacceptable by religiously observant Jews. Seeing him eating with “ tax collectors ,” the Scribes and Pharisees insinuated that Jesus was also a notorious sinner – (Mark 2:1-17).

When we react to hostility with hostility and anger, Satan wins . The reality of persecution raises questions. How should we respond when attacked by the State, the culture, society, or even our family and friends? Is resorting to anger or retaliation appropriate, or should we emulate examples from the life of Jesus? In his teachings, he warned us to expect “ tribulation ,” and he summoned us to follow his path (“ If they persecuted me, so they will persecute you ”).

Jesus summons us to become “ perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect ,” yet how can we emulate the perfect righteousness of God? His explanation is clear – By performing acts of mercy for others,  especially our enemies . Self-sacrificial love is the heart of the Gospel and the essential nature of the merciful God. Was Jesus not the Messiah who submitted to an unjust death on our behalf when we were yet the “ enemies of God ”?

“ I never knew you! Depart from me! ” These are the most frightening words anyone could hear on the lips of Jesus, yet they are central to the conclusion of his ‘ Sermon on the Mount .’ His Discourse was never a program for reforming or governing civil society, but instructions for his disciples on how they must live as faithful citizens and representatives of his Kingdom and message. There is no bypassing the Cross.

In Mark , the city of Jerusalem is the headquarters of the opposition to Jesus, especially the priestly authorities of the Temple. As his popularity grows, he experiences growing conflict with the religious authorities, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the representatives of the high priest. And his enemies began to plot his destruction.

The  Parable of the Sower  provides the key to understanding the parables of Jesus. The story’s point is that the Kingdom of God began to invade the present age starting with the proclamation of the Gospel by the “ Son of Man .” That process commenced with his announcement of the Good News when he was in “ Galilee of the Nations .” Ever since then, the Kingdom has been advancing across the Earth though largely unnoticed by humanity and even by many of his followers.

The  Gospel of Mark  provides only a few examples of the many parables taught by Jesus (“ Apart from a parable he did not speak to the crowds ”). In them, the dominant theme is the Kingdom of God that invaded the Earth in the ministry of Jesus and continues to grow and produce fruit wherever the Gospel is preached. The “ Son of Man ” taught the Jewish people in parables, but only as they “ were able to hear ,” and this clause stresses the responsibility of the listener to hear and heed his words.

Jesus declared that “ violent men are seizing the Kingdom of God .” Was he referring to malevolent men from the outside who attempt to take control of the Kingdom through force? Are his disciples called to “forcefully seize” the promises of and from God, or was he saying that the Kingdom must advance through forceful action? Jesus was discussing the ministry of John the Baptist, and how John was received by the Jewish people.

Just as unprepared men were destroyed by Noah’s Flood, so unrepentant men and apostates will be overtaken by destruction when Jesus arrives . Jesus compared the final years before his return to the days before the Great Flood. “ Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be ” when the “ Son of Man ” returns. Some interpreters take this as a prediction of the return of the same conditions that existed in Noah’s day, including the moral anarchy and violence that prompted God to send the floodwaters.