THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs

Mark Lesson 4

(Chapters 13-16)

Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Timothy Sparks and Ben Bailey.

Timothy Sparks:

“And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” (Mk. 13:37). I’m Timothy Sparks.

Ben Bailey:

And I’m Ben Bailey. Welcome to our study of the Book of Mark. We are happy that you have tuned in to our broadcast today. This broadcast is being brought to you by individuals and congregations of the churches of Christ. We hope you will visit the churches of Christ in your area, and let them know how much you appreciate their support of this broadcast. If you have a Bible question or a spiritual concern, they would be happy to help you with it. If you would like to request a Bible study, they also would be glad to help you with that. We, too, would like to be of service in any way that we can. You may visit us on our web­site at www.thegospelofchrist.com, where you can download streaming audio and video lessons for use in your study of God’s Word. And, as always, we will be happy to send you a free copy of this broadcast, or any of our other lessons, on DVD, VHS, or CDs. All of our lessons are available free of charge. We will even pay the postage. E-mail us to let us know which lessons you would like, and we will be more than happy to send those to you.

In Mark 13, we learn about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, as well as Christ’s Sec­ond Coming. Matthew 24 and Mark 13 are parallel chapters. In both chapters, Christ’s disciples had remarked about the beauty of the temple. Jesus told them, however, that a time was coming when there wouldn’t be one temple stone left on top of another. The dis­ciples were shocked. They asked Jesus three questions: (1) when will these things happen?; (2) what will the signs of your coming?; and (3) when will be the end? The first two questions revolve around the destruction of Jerusalem . The last question centered on Je­sus’ return to, and the destruction of, the Earth. In Matthew 24:34, Christ remarked, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” We therefore learn that although Christ’s language was apocalyptic in nature, it foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation at the hand of Rome—a time when Jesus would “come upon them” in a figurative sense with a physical judgment. Then, after that, Jesus talked to the disciples about His Second Coming and the end of the world —how that there would be no signs for that coming. It would come as a thief in the night. The destruction of Jerusalem would have signs. In fact, Josephus and others told about those signs. Not so with Christ’s Second Coming. Matthew 24:36 points out that no one —not even Christ—knows when the Second Coming will occur. God did that for a reason. If He told us that in 2020, at 10:00 a.m., Jesus will return, what would many people do? They would wait until the day before, or the hour before, or the minute before, to try to get ready. Genuine deathbed conversions are few and far between. We need to get ready while we have time. This is the intent of the statement, “Watch!” (vs. 37). We must always be ready.

Timothy Sparks:

After Christ predicted and discussed the destruction of Jerusalem (His symbolic coming), He then talked about His actual coming—i.e., His Second (final) Coming. For the destruc­tion of Jerusalem , there would be signs. For Christ’s Second Coming, there will be none. Paul wrote, “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes up­on them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:2-3). A thief doesn’t call you one morning and say, “I’m coming to break into your house, so you’d better get ready.” The thief comes unexpectedly. The Lord, too, will come unexpect­edly. He also will come inevitably. Just as a pregnant woman will inevitably experience la­bor pains during birth, so Christ’s Second Coming is going to be inevitable. There is no doubt about this matter; Christ will come. Jesus’ command is therefore: “Watch!” Jesus is a Man of vigilance, and He wants us to likewise be people of vigilance. The word “vigilant” simply means “watchful.” In Colossians 4:2, we are instructed, “Continue earnestly in pray­er, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” We must be vigilant people. In 2 Peter 3, Peter dealt with some who suggested that Christ wasn’t going to ever return.

“Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’... But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (vss. 2-10).

Peter pointed out that Christ’s return will indeed be “like a thief in the night,” and that God is patient. He is not operating on the same time scale we are. God’s patience is, to us, like a thousand years. Regardless, we should always be ready. When we consider 1 Thessa­lonians 5, Mark 13, Matthew 24, and 2 Peter 3, the message is that we must stay ready.

Ben Bailey:

The only way to be prepared is to have Jesus in your life. And as we enter into Mark 14, we see Jesus preparing for His own death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus had repeatedly told His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem, that He was going to die, and that He was going to rise again on the third day. In Mark 14, we find Jesus in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. A woman arrives with an alabaster flask that is full of oil. She breaks open the flask and pours the oil on Christ’s head. Some of the disciples are indig­nant, saying, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” John points out in his account of this incident that Judas, for one, was greedy, and wanted the money for himself. Jesus chastised the disciples, and said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, 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.” This teaches us a valuable lesson. It teaches us about the power of one good deed. A single good deed can impact thousands of people. This woman’s deed of pouring oil on the Lord is remembered every time someone preaches or teaches on this particular text in Mark 14. The Christian life is about doing good unto others. We ought to never grow weary in doing good to others. Galatians 6:10 teaches us to do good unto all people, and especially those of the household of faith. James teaches us that we should visit the widows and orphans in their affliction (Jas. 1:27). In every area of our lives, we should be looking for ways to bring people to a closer relationship with their Lord and Sav­ior, Jesus Christ.

Timothy Sparks:

Judas, the Scriptures tell us, makes an agreement with Jesus’ enemies to deliver Christ to them. From other Gospel accounts, we learn that Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver. Judas sold out the Lord for a mere 30 pieces of silver! Today, so many people sell out the Lord for far less. It doesn’t matter how much you get for selling out the Lord, you still lose. Judas discovered that too late. He tried to return the money he was paid for betraying Christ by throwing it down in the temple. Later, that very money was used to buy “the field of blood” where Judas would be buried after committing suicide. After Judas had agreed to betray Jesus, the Lord said, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born” (Mk. 14:21). In Acts 1, we read Peter’s comment on Judas’ death: “Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” Jesus, the Master Teacher, had twelve hand-picked students. But one of them (Judas) failed “the test of life.” If an apostle can “by transgression fall,” then we today must be cautious that we, too, do not “by transgression fall.” Hebrews 2:1 admonishes us to “give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” The writer of Hebrews goes on to ask, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation” (vs. 3). From Mark 14:21, therefore, we learn that Jesus is a Man of discernment. He acknowledges that it would be better for a man never to have been born, than to fall from the grace of God. Some people betray their Lord by failing to obey the Gospel. Others betray the Lord by failing to teach what Jesus taught—whether it be in regard to the plan of salvation, the matter of marriage and divorce, or some other important topic. Through faith in Christ and obedience to His Word, we can live lives that are in harmony with His will. If we fail in this life, it would have been better for us never to have been born. In 2 Peter 2, Peter addresses this concept.

Ben Bailey:

In 2 Peter 2:20-22, Peter says:

If, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”

Peter stresses that for someone to have known and obeyed the Gospel, and then to turn away from it, would be like a clean sow returning to the mire, or a dog lapping up its own vomit. Yes, a Christian can fall away and go back into sin, but God doesn’t want us to do that. In the latter part of Mark 14, Jesus celebrates the Passover with His disciples, and several things happen as that takes place. Jesus first tells His disciples that one of them is going to betray Him. He then institutes the Lord’s Supper by saying, “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many’” (vss. 22-24). In Acts 20:7, learn that partaking of the Lord’s Supper is authorized to occur on the first day of the week. How many weeks have a “first day”? Every week has a first day. Thus, Christians assemble on the first day of every week to worship God, to par­take of the Lord’s Supper, and to give (1 Cor. 16:1-2). These are commands that we must follow. Some suggest that we should observe the Lord’s Supper at special times such as Christmas, Easter, and so on. But we don’t find that in the Bible. Rather, we find Christians assembling on the first day of the week to observe the Lord’s death. What would we discover if we took this same phraseology and applied it to the Old Testament, where God said to the people of Israel: “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy”? How many weeks had a Sabbath? Every week had a Sabbath. God never said, “Remember every Sabbath. He didn’t have to. The people honored the command on every Sabbath that came around—i.e., every week. This applies to Acts 20:7 just as well. Every week has a first day. Thus, in order to worship God properly and obey His commands, we must partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week.

Timothy Sparks:

In Mark 14, we also see Peter’s denial of Christ. Just as Jesus had predicted, Peter denied Christ not once, not twice, but three times. Peter did not believe that he was capable of such a thing. But when the rooster crowed, he knew that he was. Peter had said to Christ at one point, “Even if all deny you, I will never deny you.” Peter even went so far as to curse and use profanity to proclaim that he did not know Jesus. In Mark 14, learn of Judas’ betrayal, and Peter’s denial. But there is a stark difference between the two. Judas committed suicide and hanged himself (“by transgression, Judas fell”). Peter, on the other hand, goes out and weeps bitterly when he realizes what he has done. Peter did what he needed to do to repent and make things right. In John 21, the Lord asked Peter to af­firm his love for Him three times—thereby giving Peter an opportunity to be restored. Peter had godly sorrow that led him to repent. Judas had worldly sorrow, and thus did not re­pent in order to make an appropriate change in his life. One of these men died. The oth­er went on to become a champion of the faith, and to write the Books of 1 and 2 Peter in the New Testament. From these accounts, we can see that we, too, have two possible decisions to make in our own lives. We can betray the Lord, and never do what it takes to be restored. Or, we can, if we sin, be restored by genuinely repenting and changing our actions.

Ben Bailey:

Instead of “going out and hanging ourselves” when we sin, we should instead repent and make things right. This is the proper way to grow as a Christian. It is evident from the two epistles he wrote, that Peter did this. As we enter into Mark 15, we learn about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Verse 1 says, “They bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.” Although Jesus was powerful, He allowed Himself to be bound by evil men. Je­sus, had He so desired, could have called 10,000 angels to assist Him. Yet He chose instead to allow Himself to be bound by evil men. The practical lesson for us today is that we as Christians can bind the hands of Jesus if we do not follow His will. Think about it this way. The Lord gave us the Great Commission, and told us to go and teach the Gospel to the entire creation. But if, instead of doing that, we remain as quiet as the proverbial church mouse and don’t say anything, aren’t we, in effect, binding the hands of Jesus? Look at it another way. The Bible commands us to give as we’ve been prospered (2 Cor. 8 and 9). If we know that we are commanded to give on the first day of the week so that the church can accomplish its numerous good works, yet we do not give properly, doesn’t that bind the hands of Jesus? Or, consider prayer. Jesus taught us to pray every day. If we know that prayer is a powerful tool, and we don’t use that tool, aren’t we binding the hands of Jesus? Think about the command for us to study (2 Tim. 2:15). If I don’t read the Bible and study God’s Word, am I not “binding” the power that the Gospel can have in my life? Evil men bound Christ’s hands and led Him away. If we don’t use the tools He provided for us so that our faith can increase, then we, too, will have bound the hands of Christ. How sad the events of Mark 15 are! Barabbas, a thief, is released, and the King of Kings, the Son of God, is crucified.

Timothy Sparks:

The people asked for a robber to be released, rather than Jesus. This depicts the kind of envy that the people felt. We learn from John’s Gospel that among these Jews were men who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. We see how some of these people hated Jesus. The Master Teacher, the One Who came to save them from their sins, is the One they despised the most. Jesus’ mentality and disposition were of such a nature that the Scriptures affirm that no guile was found in His mouth, and when He was reviled, He reviled not in return (1 Pet. 2:23). Yes, He exposed the unrighteousness in peo­ple—but He did that so they could come to a right relationship with God. That, of course, would require repentance on their part. It would require a change of heart and a change of mind to conform to the will of God. Those who did not want to make such a change were the ones who crucified Jesus. You do not crucify someone you like. You do not crucify some­one whom you love. You do not crucify someone with whom you agree. They hated Jesus without a just cause. They crucified our Lord and Savior. They crucified Him at the third hour, and at the sixth hour, darkness covered the Earth (from the sixth hour to the ninth hour). Thus, we know that Jesus remained on the cross for around six hours. In Mark 15:34, the following statements of Christ are recorded: “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”). The darkness that the Earth experienced was indicative of the fact that God had withdrawn His presence as a result of the sins that Je­sus bore. It has been said that God forsook Jesus momentarily, so that He wouldn’t have to forsake us eternally. This was the first time in His life that Jesus had ever experience the absence of His Father. This is explained by such passages as 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” As we ponder the passages in the Gospels that tell us about the cru­cifixion and death of Christ, we should recall to our remembrance all the things that Christ has done for us, that we might be redeemed.

Ben Bailey:

What a wonderful thought it is that someone loves us enough to give their life for us. But Mark 16 offers us great hope. Yes, Jesus died—for you and for me. He was buried, but that is not the end of the story. What makes Christianity so wonderful is that Christ was raised from the dead! The Bible tells each one of us that this life is not going to last forever, and that we will have to die. Many people look at the grave as the end. But because Christianity is a religion of hope, it is not the end, but the beginning. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn. 11:25-26). One day when this life is over, we’re going to be resurrected. We have the hope of living in Heav­en with Jesus and God forever. Thus, Christ tells His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:15-16). Christianity is indeed full of comfort and hope. Jesus loved us so much that He left Heaven and came to Earth, lived, and then died the most horrible death you could imagine. Yet He was perfect—He had no sin in His life. Christ died for your sins, and for mine. God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). If we come into the blood that He shed at His death, then we will be able to live in Heaven forever with Him. The way to do that is to become a Christian. Have you shown your love for Christ by obeying His will? If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and if you will gen­uinely repent of your sins by changing your heart and your mind, you can make the good confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and you can be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then, you can live a faithful Christian life and have the hope of heaven as you try to do the greatest amount of good in the time that you have left on this Earth.

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Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:

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STUDY QUESTIONS FOR mark lesson 4 (chapters 13-16)

  1. Matthew 24 and Mark 13 are parallel chapters. What topics do they discuss?

  2. What three questions did the disciples ask Jesus in Mark 13?

  3. Jesus said that the temple would be destroyed, and that “this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Mt. 24:34). What or who was going to be the “destroying agent”?

  4. Can it be correctly said that Jesus “destroyed Jerusalem and the temple” in A.D. 70? If so, how?

  5. In 2 Peter 3:2-10, Peter discussed some Christians who said that Christ wasn’t going to ever return. What was his response to such an idea?

  6. Explain the meaning of God’s statement: “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

  7. Why were some of the disciples “appalled” that a woman had spread oil on the Lord?

  8. When Jesus said in defense of the woman who spread oil on his body, “She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial,” to what was He referring?

  9. Galatians 6:10 teaches us that Christians should “do good” unto two different groups of people. Who are those two groups?

10. What is the correlation between Mark 14:21 and 2 Peter 2:20-22?

11. Hebrews 2:1 admonishes us to “give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” What is the intent of this text?

12. In 2 Peter 2:20-22, Peter used a pig and a dog to make a point. What was his point?

13. Acts 20:7 teaches that we are to observe the Lord’s Supper on “the first day of the week.” Explain the important of “the first day of the week” in light of Old Testament teaching regarding the observance of the Sabbath.

14. In Mark 14, Jesus predicted that Peter would do something three times. What was that “something”?

15. When Jesus asked Peter to reaffirm his love for Him three times (John 21), what was the point Christ was making?

16. When Jesus was crucified, darkness covered the Earth for a period of time. Why?

17. How long was Christ on the cross?

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