As we return to our study through the gospel of Mark, let us first re-ask the questions that we left off with in the lesson from November 26, 2006AD,s message which are: Did you know that the Scriptures teach that God is really the Only True Seeker? Have you ever experienced something in a spiritual teaching and you did not truly get the point? Or perhaps you understood the message but somehow were not able to apply what it taught? Well, how about the very most important message in all the world, the gospel of Jesus Christ? Well, listen in as Straight Gate Ministries’ Pastor Fisher teaches a lesson called: “Do You Understand the Gospel?” as we continue our trek into the message at the very heart of Christianity.
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 5:1 – 7 (KJV)
Deu 5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deu 5:3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Deu 5:4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
Deu 5:5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to show you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deu 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Mark 8:21 – 33 (KJV)
Mark 8:21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? Mark 8:22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. Mark 8:23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. Mark 8:24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. Mark 8:25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. Mark 8:26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town. Mark 8:27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? Mark 8:28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. Mark 8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. Mark 8:30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Mark 8:32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. Mark 8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
Transforming Power Statements:
#1) God has always administered teaching to fallen sinners who were willing to acknowledge their awareness that they needed to be taught and were susceptible to receive such teaching, even when it took a long time. This is a factor of God’s mercies that are new everyday to those who fear Him.
#2) The seemingly “two-phase” healing of the blind man of Bethsaida seems to have been an illustration by the prerogative of Jesus to teach his non-understanding disciples that spiritual sight is a gift from God who alone imparts the ability to behold that which was lost due to the fall, by causing the blind man to see men spiritually as “trees walking” initially, followed by seeing all things in the natural 20 / 20 with perfect clarity.
#3) It seems that Jesus was conducting a spiritual test on the twelve as He went along preaching the kingdom to show them where they were in their development, which Peter shows in this text that they still had quite a long way to go before they could truly come to know and fully trust and believe the very gospel message itself. This we know because when Jesus made the gospel plain, it was only met with rebuke from Peter which was energized by satan, proving that His disciples were yet without understanding.
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