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Mk 6,1-6

(70d) The Sin Of Familiarity (Key verse) – Prior to His ministry Jesus didn't reveal His glory to the people in His hometown who knew Him from childhood but remained completely inconspicuous for decades, until His hour came, and when the Father anointing Jesus, the people were astonished at Him. Prior to that, He never once let on that He was any different from them, a sinless person blended among sinners. This indicates that what comes with the baggage of being sinners is spiritual blindness (a lack of discernment). They never thought for a second that this little, insignificant person would ever grow to have such wisdom and power, and they simply refused to believe their own eyes and ears. Note too, Jesus did not weep over those He’d known since childhood, who refused to believe the proof so concisely presented to them, but chose to believe what they had always known about Him, that He was a commoner.

(70g) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with the truth (enemy of discernment) >> Familiar with Jesus in the flesh -- These verses go with verses 49-52. The writer of the epistle of James was the brother of Jesus. He had the unusual opportunity to live with Jesus throughout his childhood and into his adult years. It may have been a strain on him to realize later in life that his older brother was the messiah, suggesting there were no signs pointing to this fact. Neither James, nor any of his brothers, or anyone in his community suspected Jesus was the Son of God. This suggests that Jesus experienced quite a dramatic transformation on the day of His baptism when He received the anointing.

(152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world -- These verses go with verses 17-20

(198j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus through unbelief -- Unbelief is the only way to sabotage the work of God. Our unbelief stops Him cold in His tracks, effective as tying His hands. We have a lot of power in that way, but it is all negative power. God is trying to help us and we stop Him by simply choosing not to believe. The earth and all it contains provides evidence to support our faith, or we can treat our maker with contempt, regardless of the proof of His existence. Jesus performed His miracles to bless the people, giving them ample reason to believe in His words, but they rejected Him. Tragically, they were not rejecting Christ but themselves, just as we do when we choose not to believe in Him. Our unbelief doesn't change Him one iota, but it changes us. We wonder at the complexity of God's creation, at the mysteries that refuse to surrender to the most ardent scientists, but God wonders at us too, at our unbelief. 

Mk 6,2-6

(20a) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Unbelief >> Spirit of familiarity – The sin of familiarity is a very insidious thing. It’s based on the adage, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Jesus came and spoke to his hometown, to the people who thought they knew Him, having grown-up with them from childhood, having shared many experiences with Him in the past, yet their memory of Him was nothing like He appeared this day. Jesus obviously never claimed to be an authority on God or the Scriptures His whole life, until the day set by the Father that His ministry should begin. Then, God placed an anointing on Him and caused His righteousness to glow with the glory of God. Neither His miracles nor His wisdom were palatable to the People of His hometown, who readily accepted Him as a good person, but shunned His anointing. They were forced to make a choice, either to accept Jesus as He is now or to retain how they thought about Him, and they chose to go with their past experiences. The insidious part about the sin of familiarity is that people make this same decision to go with past experience every time. The sin of familiarity says, ‘This man is common to us; He is no one special; His family is here and there is nothing special about them.’ The biggest problem with the sin of familiarity is the unwillingness to submit to someone we previously understood as our equal. In other words pride is involved. When He visited other villages, people opened their minds and ears to His message. In contrast, the spirit of familiarity required an unlearning process regarding what His hometown knew about Him and relearning to accommodate a new reality. We have established concepts that we must deconstruct and introduce new concepts in their place, and much of what we think and believe is not easily replaced. Therefore, it is much easier to learn and understand the truth the first time than to be bamboozled by a lot of religion, and then have to unlearn what we know and relearn the truth when it comes to town.

(157f) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Being displeasing to God >> Living in unbelief

(169a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Blind to the glory of God in Christ -- These verses go with verses 51&52

(200e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting the faith of God >> Rejecting Christ through unbelief – Unbelievers can disobey God and undo the work of the Holy Spirit through their disobedience. Conversely, believers can act on the word of God and become agents of the Holy Spirit in a darkened world, and the performance of God’s word is extremely powerful. It can change people’s lives, but outside of faith it is impossible. The Bible says when Jesus entered an environment of unbelief He could do nothing. He spoke a few words that bounced off the hearers, and then He left. There may have been sick people present, but He could do little to help them. Unbelief has the power to shut down the works of God; this is the power of Satan. Unbelievers often feel cocky about this, thinking they hold power over God to stop Him in His tracks, but like Jesus said to those who came to arrest Him, “This hour and the power of darkness are yours” (Lk 22-53). He was saying that these forces of evil are only temporary, for one day God will put them in their place, and there will be hell to pay when God rids them from His kingdom.

(201h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Jesus is an offense >> Jesus offends the world >> Faith offends unbelief -- No one will ever know how many people in Jesus home town would have believed in Him had their faith not been  handicapped by the effect of personally knowing Him prior to His ministry. They watched Him mature and fit in with the community like any other child in their neighborhood. He didn't seem to be anyone special. Christ's infinite faith and His hometown's unbelief was a contrast of epic proportions, like the Grand Canyon that is too wide to leap to the other side and too deep and perilous to walk its basin without being absolutely sure you want to go there. That was the problem with Jesus' relatives; they heard about His miracles and wisdom, still they weren't ready to change their minds about how they viewed Him. 

Mk 6-2

(79j) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word >> Listen to the word >> Listen to Jesus

(89i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Increasing in wisdom

Mk 6,3-6

(144j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by Jesus’ touch

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Mk 6,7-13

(43e) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to Christ’s ministry to the world – The Kingdom of God is based on giving, but in order to give there must be those who receive. In heaven those who are exalted give the most, whereas here on earth we see those exalted who receive the most. They receive all the adoration and the biggest salaries for doing the least amount of work. In contrast, the evangelist gives what he has received from God, and those who receive the gospel become ministers and in turn impart the word into others as they have received.

Mk 6,7-11

(150b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Instructions on evangelism – Those who open their hearts and doors to the evangelist will abundantly supply the preachers of righteousness with everything they need. Jesus instructed His disciples not to take away the people’s opportunity to give back to them. It would be an insult for the evangelist to take along many provisions and support themselves. We don’t need much to be an evangelist, except a heart full of love and truth. When they went from town to town, some of these places were ten or fifteen miles apart, a day’s journey, take no bag or bread or even a canteen? Jesus was saying not to leave home with these things, for as we interact with people, they will assist us; let them outfit the evangelist; we should not deny the graciousness of the people, “For the worker is worthy of his support” (Mat 10-10). We leave with nothing and return fully supplied, so everything we own was graciously given. This is how Jesus wanted His disciples to live: being gracious to others and receiving all they needed from the recipients of their ministries.

Mk 6-7

(46k) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Demons are subject to the Church through Christ – Jesus sent His disciples to evangelize and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; these two: evangelism and faith-healing go together like peas and carrots. If we don’t have the faith to heal the sick and cast out demons, then neither do we have the faith to evangelize. It takes just as much faith to command our audience to repent as it does to heal them in the name of the Lord, but if they don't receive our gospel, how will they receive the healing virtue from heaven? When Jesus came, the truth of God from the Old Testament was a discombobulation of teachings and doctrines. Jesus didn’t try to reform the old covenant but created a new one in its place. It was brand-new in the first century, but now it is 2000 years old. People back then were ready for change, and many thousands of people in the first and second century got saved; then little by little false doctrine crept into the Church, until again we have a mishmash of teachings and doctrines in the gospel. We talk to people about Jesus, and nobody listens. We can tell by the look on most people’s faces that they have already made a commitment to Christ’s nemesis, the devil, so if the Mark of the Beast is revealed in our generation, they will push and shove each other to be first in line to receive it. In contrast, “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it” (Lk 16-16).

(68c) Authority >> Jesus Delegates Authority To Execute Judgment >> Against Satan -- This verse goes with verses 12&13

Mk 6,8-10

(1c) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God and people >> Avoid the appearance of evil – Everything Jesus said to his disciples regarding the formalities of evangelism was for the purpose of avoiding offense. He instructed them to stay in the same house until they left town. Imagine the arguments that would ensue if the evangelist moved from house to house. The hosts would say, ‘He liked my house better,’ or, ‘He left your house because of poor food.’ Fortunately, those who would open their home to the evangelist have the gift of hospitality, otherwise they wouldn't have insisted they stayed at their house. How many times does the Bible tell us to avoid offending people? The gospel message to sinners who are in need of a savior is offensive enough without adding needless offense to it. The evangelist discovers two kinds of people in the world: those who hate them and those who love them with almost nothing in-between. Those who love the evangelist are the ones being saved, and the best way of showing the grace and mercy of God to those being saved is to give them the opportunity to be gracious in return. This is also how the evangelist knows if they are actually receiving the gospel. There are many who claim to believe in God but are incognizant of the needs of others, but those who are gracious to the evangelist are confident in their understanding of the gospel.

Mk 6-10

(208k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Emotional relationship

Mk 6-11

(200b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Rejecting the will of God >> Rejecting the gospel -- Jesus said in Mat 7-6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pears before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces." In other words don't waste your time and resources on people who don't want what you are offering. Remember, Jesus also said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men," (Mat 4-19). Some fishermen will just flop down at their favorite hole with their twelve-pack of beer, wet a worm and stay there regardless of whether the fish are biting, but a good fisherman will pack up and look for a better hole.

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Mk 6-12,13 

(68c) Authority >> Jesus Delegates Authority To Execute Judgment >> Against Satan -- These verses go with verse 7

Mk 6-12

(149b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Three key messages in evangelism >> Repentance

(193b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin – Faith is a snowball effect in that the more works of faith we do, the more faith we accumulate. Some think they know the truth when they go to evangelize, but no fruit comes of it, because their knowledge is diluted with false doctrine. Unbelief also has a snowball effect in that when society hears the gospel of this sort, they turn-off and become almost impossible to reach with any gospel. We end up with a reprobate society who has rejected Christ, and then our country disintegrates into moral decay. A reformation is required and a revival of the people, but this requires God to step in and take charge of the work that He has commissioned us to do. There was a reformation in the 16th century, but it did just about as much harm as good; so to say that it was a work of God is questionable. Man conferred with each other about all the false doctrine in the Catholic faith and hatched a new direction called it Protestantism that changed course from a works-oriented salvation that required no faith to a faith-oriented salvation that required no works, and both are about equally false. We now have a grace that is so free that we don’t have to do anything except believe in a particular set of doctrines. We just say the sinner’s prayer and go on our way, living the way we did before be believed, which is just about as bad as legalism. What did Jesus teach His disciples? “They went out and preached that men should repent.” When was the last time we heard the word repent? If what we are preaching is not truth, then it is error, and error abides in darkness, where demons live, the very entities we would like to exorcize along our evangelism journeys. See also: History of the Church (Reformation did about as much harm as good); Jm 2,14-20; 55c

Mk 6-13

(113i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anoint with oil – To imagine there is power in the oil we use to anoint a person is witchcraft. Attribution errors such as this are extremely harmful, simply because it takes away from the glory of God. The minister wipes a little oil on the person before he prays for him, and when he attributes the healing to the oil and not to God, that is idolatry. The anointing oil and the manner in which it was applied is completely different today from how they used it in the first century. We have this little vial of oil, and with a drop on the end of his finger the minister daubs the person’s forehead in the sign of the cross and then prays over him, as though God intended to work through this process, but God only works through faith in the truth. The anointing oil the disciples used was not a single drop, but a handful that they rubbed in the person’s hair to revitalize the person’s appearance, like they did in the fifties, calling them greasers. Jesus lived in a very dry and arid land, and when people got sick, they wouldn’t care for themselves, and they would begin to dry-up, so the disciples would rub oil on their heads and on their face and hands to revitalize their skin and make them feel better, similar to applying skin lotion today. It was something they would have done had they become well. The disciples would anoint them with oil while they were still sick and pray over them, so the oil represented faith that God would heal them. The mindset was, ‘We might as well anoint you now, because you are going to be healed in just a few minutes.’ Anointing a person was an act of faith.

(145b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Unique methods of healing

(146h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon possession >> Disciples have authority to cast out demons -- Note that the disciples were able to cast out demons before Pentecost, that is, before the death, the resurrection and the ascension of Christ, and consequently before the Spirit was sent from heaven. In other words the disciples were not technically saved while they were casting out demons and healing the sick. Jesus was making the point to His church that we are able to operate in the gifts, not because we are saved (though we are), but because we have received special authority from God. Mat 10-1 says that Jesus gave them authority over the unclean spirits, and gave them power over all forms of sickness. He spoke the word over them (otherwise, how would they have known about their authority?). If you know in your heart that God has given you special authority to operate certain gifts, then by all mean do so. Associate the gifts with the gospel, and let the gospel take precedence over the gifts, because it is the gospel that is your ministry, not the gifts. The gifts of the Spirit are for giving a blessing and for turning heads in the direction of the gospel. 

Mk 6,14-16

(177j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding the circumstances – All the people’s speculations were made apart from the word of God. Instead of going to the temple or their local synagogue and searching the Scriptures to see what prophecies they could find to explain their circumstances, they simply postulated theories. Jesus taught everywhere He went, and anybody who was listening understood what was happening. Those who believed in Jesus knew He was the long-awaited Messiah. No other prophet was prophesied to come; they just came. Therefore, when we read in the Scriptures that a prophet would come, we know it is a prophecy about Jesus, who gave them all the Old Testament passages that pertained to Him. In a similar manner to the people of Jesus’ day we have churches that speculate what God is doing, who try to operate in the gifts of the Spirit, instead of walking in the fruit of the Spirit. Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is hard on the flesh, but those who pursue the gifts want to boast in their flesh. The gifts of the Spirit are also interpretable, in that they can say something and look for its fulfillment and see resemblances in their circumstances that they attribute to their prophecies, not so different from astrology. For example, they pray for someone’s healing, and a couple weeks later the person feels better, and they attribute it to their prayers, but whether God healed them is questionable. In this way they can continue walking in the gifts with confidence that God is working with them. They could read the Scriptures just how to walk in the gifts, and they could read that walking in the fruit of the Spirit is better, but they prefer their ways to God’s way. The gifts are given for the purpose of edification, but people tend to use them to glorify their flesh, which is not edifying at all. They are like the people in Jesus day who interpreted what Jesus was doing, merely calling Him a prophet, refusing to consider the possibility that He could be their Messiah, because that would require them to revere Him, making their flesh take a backseat, and they didn’t want that. It was more grandiose to think of John the Baptist raised from the dead, which is spooky-spiritual on steroids, a Halloween interpretation of Jesus’ miracles. Herod probably heard all these ideas and grafted onto the Baptist theory, whom he had beheaded, in order to take credit for him. This is an example of people who have not absorbed the word of God, and so their thinking is unrestrained, that whatever idea comes to mind is what they believe, and it leads them further astray. When they hear the word of God, they reject it, favoring their own ideas, especially when God’s word almost never favors their flesh.

Mk 6-14

(143j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Jesus is popular because of His works -- Note that the miracles the disciples did were attributed to Jesus. He was happy to become popular with the people, but it was not His aim. As hard as He preached the gospel, His miracles, signs and wonders became the buzz of the town. Jesus often instructed the people not to mention the miracles He performed as an attempt to keep His ministry's emphasis off the miracles and on His teachings. He taught about righteousness, judgment and self control; the people would sit and listen to Him, but they didn't come by droves to hear Him speak as much as they came to see His miracles. (Had they been more interested in what He said, they may not have allowed Him to be crucified.) If Jesus struggled with redirecting the people from His works to His words, how much more would our ministry built around miracles quickly turn into a horrible nightmare unless it was tightly controlled by wisdom far greater than our own. 

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Mk 6,16-28

(2e) Responsibility >> Keep your commitments >> it is better not to vow at all -- It displeased King Herod to behead John the Baptist because of his oath, who had grown somewhat fond of the righteous zealot. In the game of chess that move is called Check Mate. Herod should have said something like this to the sashay dancer: 'If your request is within reason, I will give' ("up to half my kingdom" was a proposal of marriage, an offer to join his harem, how flattering). Jesus advised us not to vow at all in Mat 5,33-37, stating that it is evil. What you vow you can say without vowing and it means the same, but allows for a change of heart and unforeseen circumstances. The ancients were taught to fulfill their vows to the Lord, but we of the new covenant who live by the grace of God should be honest enough to do what we say without vowing. A vow is like a law that you are obligated to fulfill. Jesus came in part to give us the power to keep our word and the wisdom not to speak them in stone. 

Mk 6,17-28

(18j) Sin >> Twisted thinking >> Unable to distinguish between good and evil >> God’s people are evil -- This woman, Herodias, was another Jezebel, the woman Elijah the prophet had the displeasure of meeting, depicted with a bitter spirit who hates anyone who loves God and especially hates anyone who would reprove her wicked lifestyle. Unfortunately, the Jezebel spirit is alive and well today, growing exponentially in numbers and power. I have met more people in the last five years than I have met throughout my life who hate God with all their hearts, and their hatred directly transfers to His people. The Jezebel spirit does her best to leave in the way a stumbling block for the righteous. 

Mk 6,17-20

(89l) Thy kingdom come >> God convicts us of sin >> Conviction reminds us to repent

(134j) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Physical adultery

(152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world -- These verses go with verses 1-6

Mk 6,17-19

(76d) Thy kingdom come >> Wicked motives >> Motives based on envy

Mk 6-20

(106i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Means of hearing from God >> Through prophets – Herod was a very hedonistic man, who continually felt the need to be entertained, and he found John amusing, yet John also offended Herod when he told him to repent of his adultery, because he had relations with his brother’s wife. What did John say that was so amusing? We know that John the Baptist spent much of his life in the wilderness eating grasshoppers and honey, and so he probably had many stories to tell. Being a city slicker and addicted to civilization, Herod was John's opposite; they could not be further apart in mind and heart (they say opposites attract). The fact that Herod was in no way interested in the word of God or faith in Jesus, suggests that John had to put down his zeal for God and show him a more secular side of himself, telling Herod stories about battling the elements. John began to forget how he ended up in the king’s dungeon after the king secularized him, yet Jesus did not criticize him for this (Lk 7,18-28). John was probably not interested in reciprocating Herod’s friendship; he had to make many unwanted compromises in his faith, which amused Herod, who sought Jesus too, not for the word of God, but to see a miracle and perhaps listen to some of His stories (Lk 23-8), and if possible secularize Him too. Apparently, a person hears what he wants to hear from a prophet; that which he is open to receiving is what he will hear and nothing else. If people say there are no more prophets today, then that is what they will hear; but if they want to hear the word of God, they will hear it.

(168j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> Deaf from a hardened heart – Herod the tetrarch was fascinated with his prisoner, though he was afraid of John. Herod kept him alive in prison against the counsel of the Pharisees and others who hated John. We live in a very touchy-feely world, and so killing the prophets is not how we solve our problems with them today. We actually have a bigger problem; there are no prophets in the world at all; at least, that is the word on the street. Those who deny the existence of prophets maintain their confidence on the fact that they’ve never personally seen or heard one, but would they know a prophet if they saw or heard one? Actually, Herod would agree with those who deny the prophets, though he had one locked in his prison and would soon have him decapitated. It goes back to the teachings of the apostle John, who spoke about an inability to hear the word of God. Although Herod liked John the Baptist, he was a man who was completely deaf to spiritual truth, and so whatever it was Herod liked about John, it wasn’t the word of God.

Mk 6-29,30 -- No Entries

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Mk 6,31-56

(100m) Thy kingdom come >> Devotion >> In your ministry to people >> Devoted to ministering to their physical needs -- Jesus and His disciples ministered to people so much that they didn't even have time to eat. They intended to take a furlough, but were met by the masses on the other side of the lake, and continued ministering. Jesus miraculously fed five thousand men (not mentioning women and children) with five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples knew better than anyone what little food they initially had, yet they gathered multiples of that amount in scraps plus fed the multitudes. Nevertheless, the disciples thought nothing of it. Feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish completely evaded their notice. This suggests that when God works a miracle, it seems natural and normal, requiring us to internalize what happened to avoid falling into the trap of treating the event as common. Jesus immediately sent His disciples in a boat back to the other side of the lake, while He stayed behind as a good host and bid the people farewell. Jesus then needed a break both from the multitudes and from His disciples and strode to the mountaintop to pray. He met His disciples in the middle of the night straining at the oars, and when they touched land, they were met again by a mob who brought all their sick to Him, and as He entered their villages, as many as who touched Him were cured. Had Jesus not gone to the mountain, He never would have gotten a break. This shows the tremendous commitment they had to prayer and to ministering to the people around them.

Mk 6,31-34

(143g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Popularity >> Sought commendably >> seeking Jesus to be healed -- These verses go with verses 54-56

Mk 6-31,32

(117e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Rest in Jesus (Sabbath) >> Let Jesus do the work >> Let Him work on you – It was highly unlikely that the disciples led Jesus to a secluded place; rather, Jesus led the disciple to one of His favorite hiding places, where He would often retreat to spend quality time with His Father. We should think these sabbaticals, when they built a campfire and had Jesus all to themselves, were probably some of their best memories of Him. Jesus probably knew many secluded places where He would often go to be with His Father. Heb 4-11 says, “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” So, entering His rest is mandatory, and the writer of Hebrews was talking about the Sabbath. Jesus got in trouble more often on the Sabbath than on any other day of the week. The Pharisees, Scribes and chief priests would complain that He was healing on the Sabbath; that was the day when no one should do any work. What the religious leaders of the day didn’t understand about Jesus was that He wasn’t the one doing the work, but His Father performed miracles through Him. That is the concept of resting in Jesus, and it is also the concept of working with the grace of God, being two sides of the same coin. All Jesus did was speak a word over those being healed, and the Father did whatever Jesus said, because He was giving all the glory to God. It was also the Father who gave the Lord His commandment to perform signs and wonders throughout His ministry, to preach the gospel to the poor, and then afterward to die for the sins of the people. This was all the Father’s will for His Son, and Jesus was faithful and obedient. He didn’t operate by His own authority but by the authority of His Father, and in that sense Jesus was resting in His ministry at the same time that He was performing it.

Mk 6,33-56

(108h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Spiritual revelation >> Revelation of His identity

Mk 6,33-46

(235g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Hospitality (providing a temporary home) >> Being a good host – This passage is about feeding five thousand men, but there were women and children present too, so it was more like ten thousand people. We are coming to the end of this age, and the Church has wondered about the second coming of Christ ever since Jesus promised He would return. There have been some questions answered from the beginning, and there have been other questions answered along the way, but the bulk of endtime prophecy still remains a mystery to most people. In these last days we have seen how endtime prophecy could be fulfilled in ways that man could not have imagined until now. This story about Jesus feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish acts as a guideline to understanding endtime prophecy and how God intends to protect His people from the antichrist. We see that Jesus moved His ministry from the cities to the countryside as persecution increased, and that His enemies were too lazy to go after Him. Jesus was forced into the country after He healed a leper, instructing him to tell no one, but he spread the news to everyone, so that He could no longer publicly enter a city but remained in the outskirts of town, and the people came to Him there (Mk 1,40-45). The same will happen in the last days; there will be a Great Endtime Revival and it will bring upon the saints a great persecution so that they will have to migrate into wilderness places where God will take care of them. As in the book of Acts when the great persecution came to them, they fled from Jerusalem and scattered into the countryside, and wherever they went they preached Jesus, and many believed the message they heard and were getting saved. The same will happen in the last days; the 144,000 will reside in Jerusalem, and as the antichrist comes, they will flee into wilderness places scattered throughout the world, and there they will establish camps where the people will come to them, and God will take care of them, feeding them as Jesus fed the five thousand. This passage may indicate the size of each camp: 10,000 people. These Jewish leaders will practice hospitality and provide a temporary home for the saints who come to them in search of salvation. All this will happen during the Trumpets of God’s judgment, meaning that the Church will have to suffer through the seals alone, which is a 3½-year period. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Camp of the saints); Lk 22-45,46; 103j

Mk 6-33,34

(123d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Compassion >> Reaching out to those in need -- It would have been easier to get back in the boat and keep searching for a place of rest, but what they did was the compassionate thing to do. Jesus' compassion for the people was greater than His own personal need to relax after they had ministered for many days. He sensed the people needed Him, and they listened to His words, and they wanted Him to pay attention to them, for it says they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus stayed and taught them the word of God and filled their bellies with bread and fish, rewarding them for seeking Him for the right reasons, and when it was time to depart, they felt that God cared about them and truly loved them. That was what they needed. It is what we all need.

(216e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >> God takes advantage of your love for Him >> God’s Spirit is irresistible -- Jesus could have groaned at the sight of all the people waiting for Him in His physically tired state. His disciples probably did groan, not at the people, but at the Lord, who knew would not refuse them. Jesus didn't make a lot of decisions in His life, but let the Holy Spirit lead Him into the will of His Father. When Jesus saw the crowd, He didn't decide to minister to them, but was compelled by the Spirit to do so. When God finds people who are willing to be led by the Spirit, He uses them like His favorite tools; He doesn't let them rest much, because He doesn't have many favorite tools and there is a lot of work to be done. It is pointless for us to resist the Holy Spirit, because it is we who stand to lose the most if we rationalize away our duties. The crowd got to spend a few hours with Christ and got their bellies filled with miracle bread and fish, but Jesus benefited most as He continually communed with His Father. It is far more accurate and insightful to understand that Jesus was addicted to the Holy Spirit, to see the Father waiting on the people as Jesus waited on His Father. That does not in any way detract from the fact that Jesus Himself cares for us, but depicts the trinity in operation and the hierarchy of authority and submission that existed between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

(240a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Jesus is the chief shepherd

Mk 6,35-56

(146k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Get peoples’ attention to hear the word – It was quite a day for the disciples; Jesus fed over five thousand people with a hand-basket of food; He walked on water and healed the sick and dying. It is possible that at the end of this day the disciples finally got the revelation that nothing was impossible with God, and this is what Jesus wanted them to understand. It was critical for them to understand this, because a day was coming when He would no longer be with them. Had they understood this before the time of Jesus’ suffering, they would have known His death was not the end. When we look at the disciples’ reaction to the crucifixion of their Lord, they were absolutely destroyed. None of His disciples really expected Jesus to rise from the dead. Wicked unbelievers didn't get the best of this man; it was impossible, and his disciples should have known that. To the degree that the disciples were completely devastated was the degree that they didn't understand that all things are possible with God.

Mk 6,35-44

(105l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the wilderness >> Wilderness of safety

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Mk 6,36-44

(30b) Gift of God >> God is our source >> His creative ability supplies our needs

(227i) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts into us >> He gives us what we give to the world -- Jesus could have blessed the bread and fish and distributed it to the people by Himself. His disciples' role was not crucial to His success, but He put them to work, not just to expedite the event or make His job easier, but like little children who learn better with hands-on experiences (kinesthetic), He wanted to make a point that stayed with them for the rest of their lives and helped them tremendously in their ministries after Pentecost. Not immediately but later they realized that God works through a hierarchy of authority. Christ received from His Father (the infinite resource) enough to feed the multitudes with five loaves and two fish, distributed it to His disciples, who in turn distributed to the people. 

Mk 6-36,37

(44i) Judgment >> Transformed >> Fulfill your ministry >> Your calling from God >> Complete it

(232b) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Count the cost >> The cost is more than you can imagine so don’t count – Because of their faith the disciples followed Jesus, who asked them to feed the five thousand, which required them to believe in God for a miracle. As impossible a request it was to feed the multitudes with an armful of food, we may also run into circumstances that will require just as great a miracle. Note that the disciples didn't exercise much faith but depended on Jesus to find a way to feed the people. The greater the miracle the less faith it takes to see it fulfilled, because we know there is nothing we can do to help, except perhaps distribute the blessing. Jesus challenged His disciples to the limit. They loved Him and were mystified by Him, but they were also afraid of Him, of what He might say or do next. Jesus knew they would not be able to do this, but He told them anyway to give the masses something to eat. He was planting the seed in them that nothing is impossible to those who believe. Perhaps someday after He had returned to His Father they will need a miracle and remember when the Lord asked them to do something impossible, leaving the suggestion that God is willing to perform such a miracle through them as feeding thousands of people with five loaves and two fish. 

(246e) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Disciples literally feed the people through Christ

Mk 6,37-44

(229e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> God causes the growth >> Kingdom grows like crops in a farmer’s field – The disciples collected the bread and fish and brought it to Him, which became the seed that grew to feed the multitudes.

Mk 6-37,38

(33b) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Believers are His sons and daughters – Jesus sent His disciples on all kinds of errands and gave them tasks to do, indicating that they were operating in the ministry of helps, though one day they would become His apostles with a ministry of helps under them. He sent them to acquire available food; they did what they could do, and He did what He only could do. It was important that they became involved, like parents raising their children. He involved each disciple in the group-activity as a learning experience and as a way of making memories. They may have been simple tasks, but they were important jobs. The disciples needed to feel useful and develop strong bonds between their fellows, that none of them felt left out but understood themselves as intrinsic members of God's family.

Mk 6-37

(4f) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> From him who has shall much be required – Whatever we can do we should do, and whatever He commands us to do we can do, and there is a blessing in it for us and a lesson. If we know God’s will, we must devote our lives to it, no matter what it takes. If we are unsure of His calling, it would be pointless to devote our lives to just anything and hope God blesses it, yet this is how most Christians live out their faith. They have no idea about the will of God or his purpose, but just grab the nearest thing and ask Him to bless it. What they should do is dedicate their lives to the word of God and prayer, asking Him to lead them into His mind, like Jacob who wrestled with God, demanding that He bless him (Genesis 32,24-28). When we finally discover God’s will, we can devote our lives to it with a full expectation of receiving the blessing. See also: Calling (knowing His will); Jn 10-17,18; 71i

(59b) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Supply the needs of the people / Give them what I supply to you

(63f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Minimize the truth to make a point

(72a) Authority >> Ordained by God >> We are ordained to walk in His authority

(158b) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >> Strife >> Grumbling

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Mk 6,39-42

(137m) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Maturing with our brothers >> Employing your gifts to mature the body (Spiritual fellowship) – Had Jesus not instructed the people to sit in groups of hundreds and fifties, we can assume they would have divided into smaller groups with family members, friends and acquaintances. They would have never gotten to know their neighbors. Jesus wanted them to sit in groups of fifties and hundreds so they could get to know other people and talk with their neighbors that they may have never met, learn each other’s names and talk about the words that Jesus spoke to them. The reason Jesus gave them this meal was that they stayed and listened to Him, and if they tried to go home, they would have fainted on the way. He rewarded them for listening to the word of God.

Mk 6,45-52

(5f) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your faith through hardship – The disciples probably spent half the day on the lake. After sending the multitudes away, after a long hike into the mountain, after many hours of quality time with His Father in prayer, and then after a long return to the lake, Jesus could see His disciples in the boat still struggling against the wind and waves. They couldn’t have gone a couple miles in all that time. We would think if it were that difficult to make headway, they would have turned back and waited for the wind to stop, but their Master gave them orders and they didn’t know what else to do. They didn’t want Him waiting for them on the other side of the lake, and since He commanded them to meet Him there with the boat, He taught them that nothing God asked of them was impossible, though at times we need a miracle to overcome our many difficulties. They felt they had to do what Jesus said, for He didn’t want to disappoint Him, and it did seem like a simple request, until they were confronted with the insurmountable windstorm.

(147c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> God exercises authority over His creation

(187f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Dying to receive the glory of God >> Die to self to know the revelation of God – The disciples were astonished, meaning they may have actually understood something this time. It may have finally sunk-in, probably because their lives were at risk. They were straining at the oars for many hours and getting nowhere, and they were running out of strength. Had they let their boat go broadside with the wind, the next wave would have capsized them, so hour after hour they had to keep their boat pointed into the wind; they could have drowned. When it came to their mortality, they were more open-minded to the truth and to the lessons Jesus wanted them to learn. This was no doubt the subject of Jesus’ prayer to His Father. It must have grieved Him that His disciples didn’t learn anything from the fish and the loaves. He must have told His Father, ‘My disciples aren’t getting it.’ They understood so little about Jesus, though He spent day after day with them and performed miracles right under their noses. They were not internalizing any of it, and so He and His Father hatched a plan to help them comprehend Jesus as God in human flesh. In many of the same ways, we don’t understand what God considers necessary, and so we may also find ourselves in a terrible predicament where we will be forced to see God in a whole new light. They needed to know this for the future. Remember, the men in that boat (plus the apostle Paul) did more to secure the gospel in the world than anybody who came after them, and they gave their lives as martyrs for Christ.

Mk 6-46

(82g) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Where to pray

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Mk 6,48-52

(74l) Thy kingdom come >> Let not your heart be hardened >> Insensitive to the things of God – The disciples fetched a few loaves and fish in a hand-basket, and Jesus fed thousands of people with it, handing the food to the disciples, who took it to the groups who had reclined on the grass and came back for more, but they never stopped to think what they were doing. It was mechanical to them; they never internalized it. There were two things Jesus wanted His disciples to know: (1) He truly was the Son of God and that nothing was impossible to Him, and (2) nothing was impossible to them through their faith in Him.

Mk 6,48-51

(28j) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God protects us from the devil -- The wind stopped and He was intending to meet them on shore when Jesus passed by them, until He saw that they were afraid; then He climbed in the boat to allay their fears and show that He was not a ghost. 

Mk 6,49-52

(70g) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with the truth (enemy of discernment) >> Familiar with Jesus in the flesh -- These verses go with verses 1-6

Mk 6-49

(30b) Gift of God >> God is our source >> His creative ability supplies our needs

Mk 6-50

(23l) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >> Fear of miracles – Jesus stood on the lakeshore and saw His disciples straining at the oars; He walked to them on the water, intending to pass by them, but they became frightened, so He stopped and quieted their fears. He didn’t want His disciples afraid of Him or of anything. They needed to fear God, but not this way, not as a ghost, whereas the devil would have us afraid of him. Fear says, ‘I can’t.’ Fear relinquishes control to the object of our fear, whereas faith sits in the driver’s seat and calls all the shots. Jesus commanded them to go to the other side of the lake, and whatever Jesus tells them they can do. They did make it to the other shore, though it required a miracle. It was interesting that Jesus didn’t calm the storm before He started walking on the lake; rather, He walked through the storm. That is, the storm was immaterial to Him, just as immaterial as the lake itself. The elements were not an impediment to Him; what then could impede His work? The only thing man’s disobedience did to Him was hang Him on a cross, which God used to save man from his sins.

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Mk 6-51,52

(169a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Blind to the glory of God in Christ -- These verses go with verses 2-6. The cause of spiritual blindness is a hardened heart. The disciples' hearts were blind not just to the fact that Jesus fed thousands of people with only a handful of bread and fish, but on a more serious level their hearts were blind to the understanding that if He can do that, then He can do anything. This means there is nothing to ever worry about again. Were their hearts hardened because they feared He was a ghost or because they were afraid of the storm? The answer to both is Yes. Their hearts were hardened because they feared. Fear acts as a giant billboard in our heart that says, 'God is too small to help me.' We can see how He could interpret that as an insult. After feeding the five thousand, Jesus hoped His disciples would have gained some insight into His identity; He hoped they would at least toy with the idea that nothing was impossible to Him, that if He weren't there at the moment, He wouldn't be late, and when He arrives, He will solve every problem, regardless how great the circumstances. However, it seems the disciples just handed out the bread and fish without thinking about what was happening, as though a catering service were behind them. Then, when they found themselves in a storm at sea, they were not prepared to believe in God for help.

(183h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of unbelief

Mk 6,53-56

(144k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by touching Jesus – This is the God we serve. He came down to visit us, and Jesus demonstrated the power of His Father so that nothing was impossible to Him. The things we can expect in the future will be more amazing than Hollywood could ever imagine. The human imagination isn’t big enough to conceptualize the full scope of God, simply because His imagination is greater than ours, and He can materialize His thoughts. Thoughts of evil and self-centeredness can never enter His mind, and so nothing of that sort will comprise the coming new creation. Some say that God is more self-serving than the most selfish person who ever lived, for He demands His creation to worship Him. If He is so self-serving by seeking worshippers of us, we need to remember that He has served us first, and thereby made Himself deserving of our worship. No, the source of their complaint comes from their sinful nature; if it weren’t for being unregenerate sinners, they would gladly worship God too. After all, if we don't worship Him, the rocks will cry out (Lk 19-40).

Mk 6,54-56

(143g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Popularity >> Sought commendably >> seeking Jesus to be healed -- These verses go with verses 31-34

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