Episode 24S44 Mark 1:21-45 with mini-lesson the Beginnings Argument ( 11/10/2024 written by Dr. Kip Wehrman)
I hope you had a chance to listen to the music video. The song was “Nobody” by the group casting crowns. I love the lyrics. I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody who saved my soul. Amen.
Let’s Pray
Last week we started by discussing the Moral Argument as evidence that there must be a God. Without God, there is no basis for right and wrong. But believe it or not, people struggle with this. There are a lot of People who convince themselves there is no God. Sadly, no one has taken the time to intelligently discuss this with them. I want you to be prepared if you are even in a conversation about whether or not there is a God. There is and there is a lot of evidence.
Today I want to give you a quick summary of what is sometimes called the Beginnings argument. It is referred to as the Cosmological Argument. Cosmos is everything the entire universe, so cosmological argument is about where did it all come from. What was the beginning
How did it all begin? If people are honest, this is a question we all have to answer. Remember a couple of weeks ago we discussed worldview. This are the beliefs through which we view the world. Everyone is forced to answer the “how did it begin” question. They can avoid it, but their worldview has to assume an answer.
In the book, I’m currently writing I’ve identified more than 50 practical evidences for God. This is one of those practical evidences that we can use to demonstrate there must be a God.
Is there God? and Why?. A better question is how did everything get started. Was there a beginning and if there was beginning then how did it start.
There are many imaginative ideas for how everything got here. I’m an engineer. We often call things we don’t understand “black boxes”. So here is my figurative “black box” universe. Okay I know its gray. Just work with me. Anyway, here is the universe with everything inside. How did it start. What was the beginning of everything?
One model is the “balanced” universe or the eternal universe model. The Balanced universe model was the commonly held view in the ancient world but this is not supported by science.
Ever heard of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Basically, the universe is always moving toward chaos. This means less useful energy. Definitely not balanced. Every once in a while this theory will be recycled as a new idea but the scientific method does not support this. It is not observed in nature or by the laws of physics. It is neither logical, reasonable or scientific.
Another is the cyclic universe model. This is the idea that the universe is expanding and contracting in cycles we happen to be in an expanding part of the cycle.
It is also not supported by science. The expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating, not slowing down as this model requires. Again, the science, observation, logic and reason do not support this theory.
<SLIDE 9> Another is the redefining time model or models because there are a lot of them. Stephen Hawking was a Theoretical Physicist & Cosmologist, Nobel prize winning physicist. Hawking devised this idea but Hawking himself says it doesn’t work.
He actually thinks our next mode works better, the big bang.
The Big Bang which is the most commonly held view. In the beginning, the Big Bang. Most Christian Cosmologist would agree with this theory to a point but if you have a Big Bang, you need a Big Banger. And what do we know about the big banger. It must be from outside the universe. Immaterial; Timeless & Space-less. Extremely Powerful. This “big banger” made everything from nothing. Like that Big Bang.
Now I have to tell you there are lots of other theories which are built upon either Einstein’s Relativity or Quantum Mechanics. There is string theory. Some people say time does not exist. What all these theories have in common is they can neither be tested nor observed. Which means they are not science but Science Fiction or merely blind faith. We have to remember that nonsense from the mouths of very smart people is still nonsense.
Some go so far to say time is only a construct of our minds and this theory says that there is a dimension in which everything exists at the same time for all time. It is starting to sound like God, doesn’t it. Existing at all times for all time. Omnipresence. I actually was just reading about a string theory variation that predicts 26 dimensions. Why 26? Only the one who imagined it could tell you. We can only perceive 4 dimensions 3 spatial and 1 time. No one has ever observed more than 4 dimensions except in Sci-Fi movies or novels.
Today these is another very inventive theory you may have heard about. It is used in movies and books a lot. The Multi-verse model which is logically inconsistent at best.
The multiverse concept is credited to William Jones who first used the term in 1895, but Jones was talking about alternate possibilities in this life, not multiverse as it is thought today as multiple parallel universes.
In fact, Marvel comics coined this idea in the 1963 in Avengers #185. There are some scientist who have also claimed to be the origin of this idea. But really, science copying science fiction. That is the sad state of science today.
And there are lots of theory have nothing becoming everything, but in the end their description really start sounding like GOD. The personal, intelligent force which is not part of time or space, making time and space. Nothing inside the universe can make the universe.
The Cosmological Argument goes like this.
All things begin! This is how the world works, this is what we observe in the universe. No one has ever witnessed anything else. Something or someone always makes a thing. Anything. All things. Everything is made by something or someone. No matter how you try to describe the first something, it always ends up pointing to God. God is the something that made and makes everything.
Okay back to our Bible study, We are going to listen to to Mark Chapter 1
Let’s take a closer look at the second half of Mark 1.
<SLIDE 38> Last week we ended talking about the baptism of Jesus and calling of his disciples Peter and Andrew the sons of Bar-Jonah (Matthew 16:17), and John and James the sons of Zebedee while they were fishing with their father in the sea of Galilee. These four disciples were fisherman. In the 1st century fisherman were rough and tumble guys. Jesus called James and John the sons of Thunder. I am guessing this had something to do with their behavior. Maybe even their tempers. But as fisherman, these guys would be hard working guys. Outdoor types of guys.
Mark does not say exactly where those events took place, but this is probably taking place in the area of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, James, John, and Andrew lived in that area and the next story takes place in Capernaum. Take a look at our map. Jesus was probably baptized near were the sea of Galilee spills into the lower Jordan river to the south, and now in verse 21 they are in Capernaum up on the north shores of the Lake Tiberias which was also called the sea of Galilee. It’s a freshwater lake that dumps into the Jordan River.
<SLIDE 39> Mark 1:21-28 (NIV) 21They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
<SLIDE 40> Mark 1:21-28 (NIV) 23Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
I am always surprised by this story a little. Jesus is in the Jewish Synagogue on the Sabbath, and there is demon possess man there in the Synagogue. In case you don’t know a synagogue is. A synagogue was the center of Jewish life and there was at least one in any city that had at least 10 Jewish men over 30 years old. Jews were expected to come there on the Sabbath (Saturdays) but it was also used for education and social activities throughout the week.
The really crazy part of this story is, it appears everyone knows this man is possessed by a demon. They don’t seem bothered by this. He is in the synagogue with everybody else. Then the demon, starts talking to and about Jesus. What do you think the thought of Jesus now? Obviously, this was pretty intense and boom Jesus calls the unclean spirit out and now people are amazed.
Just think about it for a moment. Jesus is teaching and the people are amazed by what He says. Then a demon possessed man starts talking with Jesus, saying Jesus in the Holy one of God. Then Jesus rebukes the demon and it’s gone. Many would have known about demons and exorcism but never had anyone had power to call a demon out like this.
<SLIDE 41> Mark 1:21-28 (NIV) 27The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
This part of the story should seem so familiar to us. It’s just like us. When we first learn about Jesus, hear Jesus, read about Jesus. Almost everyone is amazed by the teaching of Jesus when they first hear it. The teaching of Jesus is not like the teaching of anyone else who has ever lived. But then people start questioning and start wondering if Jesus really knows best. Who is this Jesus really and why should we listen to Him.
The people did not know what they were witnessing. Some translations say they were debating about it. God just showed up in your town and did things no one else could do or has ever done. And people are still debating about it. People have not changed much, have they? We know what Jesus did, but we still debate about His teaching. We still don’t trust Jesus. He’s God folks, I think He knows better than we do
The news traveled fast. So fast that the next few verses tell us the whole town heard about what Jesus had done. Capernaum was probably not a huge city, historians estimate the population could have been as smal as a couple of thousand but later writers like Josephus seem to say it was maybe ten times that size or about 15,000. The area around Capernaum probably had a large population. Josephus who was the governor of Galilee about 40 years after Jesus, wrote that Galilee had more than 200 communities with populations more than 15,000 which would be about 3 million by the late first century. At the time of Jesus maybe less but still a lot of people in the area.
<SLIDE 42> Mark 1:29-31 (NIV) 29As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
So, after Jesus left the synagogue, which was probably near sunset on the Sabbath. Remember He just made a demon leave a man and the people were astonished. Now Jesus, Simon or Peter, Andrew, James and John went to Peter’s house probably for the evening meal. When they get there, Peter’s mother-in-law is sick. We don’t know how sick. But Jesus takes her by the hand and she’s not sick anymore.
The last phrase in versus 31 is often over thought and probably miss-taught often as well. The NIV says, “she began to wait on them”. Other translations use different words. (NAS) “she served them”; (KJV) “She began to minister to them”. But I think I like the wording of the NLT the best, “she prepared a meal for them”. The concept here is not really waiting on them or ministering to them as we think of these words. Peter brought friends home for dinner and his mother-in-law as well as probably his wife prepared food for the guests. This is called hospitality. The Jewish people took hospitality very seriously. There are still people that do today. In my house if a guest comes, my wife, sister in-law, mother-in-law all hurry to provide them with something to eat as a demonstration of hospitality. When someone comes to my home, I almost always ask if I can get them something to drink. Water, soda, coffee. This is also hospitality. This is what Peter’s mother-in-law was doing. It was needed and she got it done.
<SLIDE 43> Mark 1:32-34 (NIV) 32That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33The whole town gathered at the door, 34and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Then the flood of people began to come. Remember this was a Sabbath or rest day, but the rest day is over at sunset. That’s why the people waiting until after sunset to bring the sick and afflicted to Jesus.
So after dinner, did Jesus have a nice leisurely evening with His friends. Not at all, the news was out and people were bringing sick and demon possessed people to Jesus. This is just hours after they were in the synagogue. I would guess this went on into the early morning hours. But don’t miss this. Jesus would not permit the demons to speak because they knew who He was. Why, you may ask? Well, later in the story, Jesus tells us. His time had not yet come. Meaning. Jesus did not want to overwhelm people’s free will. If these demons had spoken, then it would have been impossible for people to deny Jesus was God. But God does not want it this way. He wants us to choose Him, not be forced to acknowledge Him. Of course, there will come a time when the time for choosing is over, and Jesus will reveal to everyone He is who He said He was. Jesus is King. Better choose your side now. Remember we never know when our time on earth is complete, we can die at any moment. We have to choose Jesus in this life, while we have the chance.
<SLIDE 44> Now the story starts to get even more interesting.
Mark 1:35 (NIV) 35Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
We need to pay attention to this point. Jesus did this a lot during His earthly ministry. He took time away by Himself. A quiet place.. Away from the crowds. Away from His friends. Time to pray and prepare Himself. Now understand Jesus is God. It’s not like He needs to figuratively “recharge His batteries,” but of course Jesus is also fully human. I’m sure He got tired. He had to physically prepare His body, even though He was always mentally and spiritually prepared.
<SLIDE 45> This is a very good lesson for us. Take time away from all the chaos of our life, pray & listen. The Bible says (Ps.46:10), “be still and know that I am God” We have to be quite long enough to hear God. It is a lesson we all should learn and do. “be still” sometimes and just listen. Be with God without all the noise or our own voices. “be still” in a quiet place and just listen and be with God.
<SLIDE 46> Mark 1:36-37 (NIV) 36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
I love Simon Peter. I’m often like this. While everyone is sleeping, Jesus slips away to be by Himself and pray. A quiet place. Peter and John and the others look for Jesus everywhere. We have no idea how long they looked hours or even days. The Bible does not say, but obviously it was a long time. The exclaimed to Jesus “everyone is looking for you”. This was probably an accusation of sorts. Where were you, what are the people thinking? I can imagine Peter probably used different words and was probably emotional. Scared, angry, frustrated, we don’t know what emotion but I’m pretty sure it was emotional. And by the way, Jesus is God, He already knows people are looking for Him.
<SLIDE 47> Mark 1:38-39 (NIV) 38Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Our king is amazing. This is a classic Jesus’ way, He said okay let’s go to other towns and share this good news. Jesus doesn’t respond to their complaint; He is about the next thing. I imagine He is smiling when He speaks. Jesus knows the big picture and thankfully He is patient with those of us that don’t see the big picture the way He does.
<SLIDE 48> The last few verses of Mark chapter 1 verse 40-45 is an account of Jesus healing a man from leprosy. If you don’t’ know leprosy is a very contagious skin disease caused by bacteria. People with leprosy where out casts and required to stay away from people. This is a very powerful conversation. Mark 1:40-42 (NIV) 40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
I really like the way the leper approaches Jesus. “If you are willing.” I think we can learn a lot from this. In our modern Christian world, it seems like people think they can demand things from God. Do this and do it my way. Heal them. Help me. Why did you do that God, why did you allow that God. We act like we know what is best and somehow God is like our genie in the bottle or santa claus. God is God, all powerful creator of the universe, He does not owe us anything.
When we come to God, we should always begin with a humble heart. Lord if you are willing, then our respectful request. God is good, even if He does not give us what we want. He knows best. And by the way, God is the creator of everything including you and me. We are the created thing, we have no right to demand things from the creator. God is all powerful, we should fear that and respect who God is first above all things. Lord, if you are willing, bring healing to my child. Lord, if you are willing, help me to so my best on this test. Lord, if you are willing, help me find a job. If. If you are willing Lord Jesus. You are in charge and I recognize it. Thank you for hearing me and I will trust you even if I don’t get what I think I want.
The Jesus says “I am willing” what a beautiful think it is to hear our king say He is willing when we make our request.
Oh, I really don’t like the word indignant that the NIV used in this verse. Most translations use better words like compassion or pity. The Greek word, I don’t know that I can pronounce correctly. “splagchnizomai” (splangkh-nid’-zom-ahee)
<SLIDE 49> Mark 1:43-44 (NIV)43Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44“See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
I always used to wonder. Why is Jesus telling the people He heals not to tell anyone. That’s impossible. I think this is more about Jesus not wanting to attract attention. He of course knows the man is going to ignore His words and tell everyone.
<SLIDE 50> Mark 1:45 (NIV)45Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
INSTEAD. This is probably not a could word if you are trying to do what Jesus wants. I bet we all have lots of these “Insteads” God tells us to do… and instead we do something else.
The man can’t contain himself. I’m sure he started screaming to everyone as soon as his shock wore off. Jesus was still wanting to keep things small, so he went out into the wilderness areas. But people still came. But these really wanted to see Jesus, not just the curious but those in desperate need of Jesus. No longer convenient to see, it took effort from the crowds that followed Jesus.
<SLIDE 51> But already by the end of Chapter 1 of Mark, Jesus is recognized everywhere he goes.
Let’s close and pray.
Let me leave you with this today. Remember who Jesus is. Jesus is Messiah. The miracles remind us that God has all power, yet God does not heal everyone. And he does not promise us healing. He promises us rest and peace, and joy, and assurance. And so much more. But when we come to Jesus in prayer, it had better be with a humble heart and attitude. We need to make time to be in a quiet place and “be still” so we can hear what God is trying to tell us. Remember God is God, God does not owe us anything. We must come to God with a humble heart, “if you are willing Lord Jesus” Jesus is in charge, not us. It is God’s bigger, better plan, not ours. He knows best, we just need to be trust in the Lord.
Don’t forget to do your homework for next week. Read Mark Chapter 2. See you next week.
Before we end. I want you to watch the music video. This is a remake of a song by Rich Mullins it was recorded by a group called Third Day and Branden Heath. I think you’ll like this. Listen to the words which come from the Apostles Creed. This is creed.
Thank you and God’s Blessing my friends.
