On last Lord’s day, Pastor Fisher opened a topic dealing with understanding the season which was supposed to be most holy to the Jews known for generations as Passover, the days of unleavened bread, as Jesus transferred the meaning of this sacred feast from a symbolic Seder feast to Himself as fulfillment of what the Seder symbolized, which is that He Himself is The Savior sent by God.
This week our teacher will further deal with how God continues to reveal His glory in fulfilling the eternal gospel as we zoom in on Jesus and the disciples after the last required symbolic Jewish Seder known to many as “The Last Supper” and reveal to us how Scripture was fulfilled as the final hour for which He had come drew ever closer. So, open your Bibles, listen, take a few notes today as we return to our ongoing study through the gospel of Mark as our teacher Pastor Fisher shares in a teaching which he calls “All By Himself”.
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Psalms 86:1 – 13 (KJV)
Psa 86:1 A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
Psa 86:2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
Psa 86:3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
Psa 86:4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
Psa 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
Psa 86:6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
Psa 86:7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
Psa 86:8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
Psa 86:9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
Psa 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
Psa 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
Psa 86:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
Psa 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Mark 14:27 – 41 (KJV)
Mark 14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Mark 14:28 But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. Mark 14:29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. Mark 14:30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. Mark 14:31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all. Mark 14:32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. Mark 14:33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; Mark 14:34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. Mark 14:35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. Mark 14:36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. Mark 14:37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:39 And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. Mark 14:40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him. Mark 14:41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Transforming Power Statements:
#1) When the well fed disciples had heard the gospel one last time from Jesus Himself, the very fact that He was about to be crucified, buried and risen; and He had told them that they were all about be tested by the violence of the hour at hand, and that they would all fail the test; but that He would then begin the final phase of His earthly ministry in glorified flesh, by going before them to Galilee before them, the pride of Peter triggered the other disciples to profess a hypocritical devotion that was soon to be exposed just as Zechariah had written.
#2) Jesus by His own profession is that Great Shepherd and The Prophet Zechariah had spoken of as well as The Prophet mentioned by Moses, and was with us in the flesh fulfilling the very prophetic legacies of God spoken in generations past.
#3) The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane to The Father to let the cup of the sin of the world pass and the failure of His disciples to provide Jesus with any moral support, along with the mob-like actions of Judas, the Jews, the Romans, and other non-believers to act as they did, are proof that Jesus Himself was left to Himself even by God The Father to single-handedly bear upon Himself the full weight of all the sin of the entire world, and is proof that He was able to do so, and that there was no other way that was acceptable to The Father to deal with the problem.
