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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

Kameron DeVasher

Mark Howard

01 The Beginning of the Gospel

02 A Day in the Ministry of Jesus

03 Controversies

04 Parables

05 Miracles Around the Lake

06 Inside Out

07 Teaching Disciples Part 1

08 Teaching Disciples Part 2

09 Jerusalem Controversies

10 The Last Days

11 Taken and Tried

12 Tried and Crucified

13 The Risen Lord

We are just plugging right through this book of Mark study series and again I'm I'm looking at this week's lesson Jerusalem controversies were clearly coming down towards the end of Jesus life the closing scenes if you will of his ministry at least the close to closing scenes you know it's approaching and again Mark has done it where he just packs so much into such a tight space that...

But you, Mark, have also done, I'm sure, a fabulous job of outlining this week's lesson.

You actually put our talking points together kind of give us where we headed with this week's lesson well as you said I mean We're basically just walking through the gospel of Mark So I was saying in our as we prepared it's it's got to be something for the contributors say let's see what am I gonna?

Call this section you know what we're in Jerusalem controversies well Jesus has headed back to Jerusalem and this week's lesson actually begins the transition from the Passion Week to the closing scenes of Christ's earthly ministry.

This is where the rest of the book goes and the lesson highlights that, that Mark actually in all his fast-pacedness slows down a little bit here now as we come to the end and covers more detail in this 1 place as we're leading these closing scenes.

Well, I tell you what, before we walk through the lesson, let me give us a word of prayer, then you can guide us through our talking points.

Dear Holy Father, thank you so much again for this day, for the opportunity to know you and to study your word.

And as we go through this particular section of scripture and draw out lessons from it, Help it not merely to be an academic study, but a revival in our own lives and a blessing to all those who participate in Our local classes we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen Okay, our talking points for this week Are as follows there are 3 Number 1 is the temple cleansings previewed Christ's ministry.

That's drawn primarily from Sunday and Monday's lesson.

Talking point number 2, Jesus bound up his authority with his prophets.

That is drawn primarily from Tuesday's lesson.

And then talking point number 3, truth is clear to those who desire it, as drawn primarily from Wednesday and Thursday.

And I have to say, as I was being a little facetious there about packing things in and we were just, that there is a lot that we're not going to cover in detail.

The triumphal entry, the cursing of the fig tree, the, there's a, we'll touch on some of them, but it's just, there's a lot in.

As, as, as Mark slows down as it were, it just means he packs more stuff.

So you got even more accounts and we're gonna do our best here.

So you may come up with total different talking points but this is where we are.

But for this time we're looking at these 3 and the first 1 is the temple cleansing previewed Christ's ministry and I noticed there says cleansings plural what do we mean by that?

So it's interesting now the lesson has repeatedly brought up this term bookending.

They like the bookending of Christ the healing of the blind men bookended yes, and even doesn't it say it right here in the yeah the the in the very first paragraph of Savas lesson it says he has a series of 6 controversies with the religious leaders the 2 sets of controversies are like bookends Right so basically had a set of arguments he had to deal with in the beginning of the book and now at the close of the book.

So these are, and I suppose this week's lesson is looking at these closing interactions.

So I was a little surprised that they didn't bring up the bookend of the temple cleansings because in Scripture now the the synoptic Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke all mentioned the cleansing of the temple right before the cross but John mentions a cleansing of the temple when he first began his ministry so his ministry begins and ends with a cleansing of the temple and it's significant that he does this.

So the first cleansing of the temple is at the first Passover during his ministry and that's recorded in John chapter 2 verses 12 to 22 and then This 1 we're reading about in the gospel of mark chapter 11 verses 15 to 26 This cleansing of the temple is at the fourth or last Passover during his earthly ministry Matthew records it in Matthew 21 and Luke in Luke 19 but these temple cleansings were it wasn't just Jesus just got fed up with the you know ridiculous formalism of the church There was a specific Purpose as with everything Jesus does in both starting and ending his ministry he was what I have in our notes here is that these temple cleansings were object lessons about the work the Messiah was really trying to accomplish for his people and you see a little bit of that in this statement from Desire of Ages 161.

In the cleansing of the temple, Jesus was announcing His mission as the Messiah and entering upon His work.

That Temple, erected for the abode of the Divine Presence, was designed to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world.

From eternal ages it was God's purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator." Okay, pause there in the statement.

It says that temple was to be an object lesson for Israel and for the world.

So often we look at these things like that was Israel's thing and that was even in especially New Testament evangelical Christianity.

It's like, yeah, Old Testament stuff, typology, and that was for Jews and blah, blah, blah.

But it was intended to teach an object lesson to the world about God's purpose for man.

That is that every person was to be a temple for the indwelling of God.

Well you think about the original purpose of Israel was to be a light to the world and draw people in and when they came in there the centerpiece of it was that let me bring you to this object less than this temple.

Well she goes on in a statement to say, in cleansing the temple from the world's buyers and sellers, Jesus announced his mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin, from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits that corrupt the soul.

So this the cleansing of the temple besides trying to you know get a right perspective on the purpose of true worship and everything else, Jesus is figuratively, he's showing this the cleansing from defilement that he wants to do with the heart of every human being.

It's interesting, I don't know that I've ever thought about the cleansing of the temple, especially this last 1 here as we're looking at it now in Mark.

You know, think he's like, the woes on the Pharisees and the leaving your house desolate.

We're gonna get on some of those themes foreshadowing next week too, about the significance of the nation of Israel and their purpose in the world.

Like you're drawing out the point that this was supposed to touch people, not just in their mind about who's right and who's wrong and what the original but the personal application what is the temple of my heart like and Christ was making an appeal to the heart essentially.

Is it just the animal sacrifices and we actually see some more of that as we go into this the lesson this week.

Now the other point I draw out here is that This work of cleansing foreshadows Christ's work as our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary now Of course, we understand that that his priestly his high priestly ministry in the most holy place is anti typical of the Day of Atonement This is not the day of atonement here I'm not trying to draw that conclusion But that work was still a cleansing of the heart from the defilement of sin And what's fascinating to me is there's a couple things that come into play in this context that we don't have time to get Into 1 is the cursing of the fig tree and then the other is the triumphal entry.

So with the triumphal entry and you know I wish we had time to get into more of this but when Jesus tells his disciples go and find a a foal of a donkey that's never been ridden the disciples understood the path the prophecy of Zechariah like and Jesus knew they would and and he said when they ask you why you're taking it, just say the Lord has need of it.

He knows It's gonna fuel Israel with their ambitious hopes of the Messiah coming in and conquering the Romans now It's time and yet he still lets it happen Well, I'm thinking also the stark contrast between how many times have you seen he takes them aside heals them quietly It says don't tell me but yeah, it's not my time But here not only is like mention the name of the Lord's hell my city Yes and then as they go out you we know the story that the crowd starts shouting Hosanna and they're laying their coats in the ground and waving palm branches.

And he doesn't, he's stirring this up intentionally.

He's not just like, uh-oh, the word got out.

To your point, this is part of his strategy to get everyone's attention.

So, and I think the reason that I really will wanna bring this out, and I think you should in your classes is the tie-in to for seventh day adventists, especially it seems like there's this increasing Discontent and and doubting about our own movement and saying well, I don't know, you know people say that 1844 was faith-saving And I mean how how come how why would the Lord lead people into disappointment?

Like he knew full well that their prophetic hopes in this triumphal entry were wrong.

And would lead them to disappointment which it did So why do you let it happen?

Because it drew the attention of the world and we are talking in our preparation here for this this lesson that I I mean the the hillside of rome was dotted with crosses Gotha was full of it's not like Jesus and the 2 thieves were the only people crucified and wow it's the only thing we've had in a year or whatever.

There was constant crucifixion going on and had it not been for this event That what happened on the cross would have been buried beneath so many other things It wouldn't have made the back page of the paper.

But because of the triumphal entry in the in the national pride and all of the stir that it created It drew the attention of the world to that event that they needed And so God permitted it because he knew, Jesus knew that would be the design of it.

I think of like the casting out of the pig, the demons into the pigs.

You think of the Jesus statement about destroy this temple, I'll build it in 3 days.

Jesus is strategically drawing the whole world's attention to what's about to come.

He knows what's going to happen when he goes into Jerusalem this time.

And he is opposed to all those other times.

He's orchestrating what we know would be a great disappointment for the people.

But after that disappointment, you know, the recognition and the realization, he's planning the seeds for his own evangelistic series that would come in the day of Pentecost.

And without that disappointment, without the attention drawn to the cross, where's man going to be without the cross, right?

And so then we see the parallel in the Advent movement.

Again, the cleansing of the temple and the tie-in with the cursing of the fig tree, an act of judgment, right?

Like these are foreshadowing what's coming and he's pointing his people to these things.

And so with the great disappointment, Why did God permit it?

Because he knew every, he wanted every eye to be on that.

History cannot forget that something significant can happen in 1844.

Now you can say it was that movement and they were wrong, but it's still out there.

Oh, it's crazy Adventist Yeah, I never thought about it, but over you know, 150 years later We're sitting here looking at it and I'm like man, it's still lingering over there.

Everybody's still like we're ashamed It was like no no I'm so glad it was so public that it's still a thing that people can identify with because that gives you the opportunity to explain.

Series

Talking Points 3rd Quarter 2024: The Book of Mark

09 Jerusalem Controversies

Transcript

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