i Sabbath in Jesus
Lessons from reading
the Gospel of Mark
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
In the first few weeks of His ministry on earth, Jesus was giving out “samples.”
He used the “sampling method”
as He hopped from town to town,
healing and planting seeds in as many as He could in a short period.
Mark 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus Himself describes His role on earth
as that of a Physician.
He came to heal—to restore
the sick and broken to wholeness.
His salvation is about healing the whole person.
Mark 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Press through and find ways to meet with Jesus despite circumstances—
just like the paralytic who had to
circumvent a whole crowd
and go through the roof.
Mark 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”
Jesus, in this declaration, is giving every person hope against a fearful undiluted reality.
Mark 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus considers those who live
by the principle of Love
as His family.
Mark 3
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus is Master even of the sea.
The winds and the waves obey Him.
Mark 4
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus would tell a Legion-possessed man to spread the news of his healing if there was a potential hearer—in this case, the woman who eventually touched His garment—who was ready to believe.
On the other hand, Jesus would tell Jairus’ family to keep their daughter’s resurrection a secret
if potential hearers would only laugh at it.
Mark 5
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
After a long and hard labor for souls,
Jesus recommends we go alone with God
and rest a while.
Mark 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus is a great Provider.
He didn’t just give people food for the soul—
He also fed them physical bread.
Mark 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Got a noble cause?
Use what you have, ask the blessing of heaven,
and God will multiply your resources for you.
You’ll even have leftovers to give
to those who minister with you.
Mark 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
After feeding the 5,000 both spiritual and physical food,
Jesus went back to His original intent
of taking His own portion of the bread of life
from His heavenly Father.
Mark 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus worked on “brand awareness.”
By the end of the chapter, the people already knew Him and what He could do for them.
- “And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized Him, and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard He was.” Mark 6:54, 55, ESV
He was to them the Healer.
Mark 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
A Legion-possessed man is freed.
He spreads the news.
One 12-year-sick woman hears.
In faith, she touches the Healer’s garment.
Then, everyone else implores Him that they, too, might touch even the fringe and be healed.
Mark 5 & 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Some things are just out of our command.
We can’t control everything
that comes to us and inside of us.
But, we can choose, i.e., filter
what goes out of ourselves.
Mark 7
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus makes use of what He has, of what we have, of the meager that we hold in our hands.
He’ll make miracles with them.
Mark 8
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
When Jesus does a miracle once,
He’s able to do it many more times.
Mark 8
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Sometimes Jesus makes use of matter
to bring healing to people.
Mark 7 & 8
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
‘IF YOU CAN’
Jesus rebukes this mindset.
It’s not a matter of "if you can."
All things are possible for the one who believes.
Mark 9
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
If Jesus doesn’t want anyone
to know His whereabouts,
He has a clear purpose in mind.
Mark 9
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus places a high value
on marriage and children.
Mark 10
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
“New Testament” authors
honor the authority and
historical accuracy
of the book of Genesis.
Mark 10
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
To be truly rich is to abundantly give.
Mark 10
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus didn’t use any matter
to make blind Bartimaeus see.
His word and the beggar’s faith
were enough to heal.
Mark 10
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
What do you want Me to do for you?
1 question. 2 different answers.
James and John wanted Jesus
to make them the greatest.
Blind Bartimaeus desired only
mercy and healing from the Son of David.
The latter request was granted.
Mark 10
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Bear fruit both in season and out of season.
Mark 11
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
If you fear no one, you won’t have to formulate
an evading response.
Mark 11
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus cannot be fooled by flattery.
The truth, said to evoke favor by deceit,
won’t budge Him who is Truth Himself.
Mark 12
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
There’ll be no marriage
in heaven—
no additional human being
while the millennium is on—
while we’re reviewing
why some earthlings are there
and others aren’t.
Mark 12
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
To love the Person of Love
and to love our fellow creatures
created by His love—
these are the greatest principles of life.
Mark 12
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
In giving,
God accounts in terms of proportions,
not the raw numbers.
A humble 100%
is greater than
an intimidating 1%.
Mark 12
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus desires everyone to be saved.
His warnings about the signs of the times
are to help us stay awake.
He wants to keep us from being deceived
by anyone pretending
to represent Him and His teachings.
Mark 13
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
That no one, except the Father, knows the day
or the hour of Jesus’ Second Coming,
is a blessing to frail humans.
A clear future deadline
would trigger procrastination,
and a declared date could bring
present-day reverence
down to the level of mere pretension.
Mark 13
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus acknowledges what you
do for Him wholeheartedly.
Mark 14
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
The Holy Spirit was at work with Jesus on earth.
The former was coordinating the latter’s
guest room booking
for that special Passover night.
Mark 14
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus stays silent amid accusation.
Despite conflicting testimonies about Him,
He doesn’t explain Himself.
He does confirm when asked if He’s the Christ.
It was probably the accusers’ last chance
to back off, but they considered it blasphemy.
It turns out they won’t believe Him anyway.
Mark 14
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Frail was the disciples’ faith in Jesus.
They betrayed and denied Him
to preserve their own lives.
They fled frightfully.
Steadfast was Jesus’ faith in His Father.
He represented Him patiently
despite the risk to His own life.
He stood silent.
Mark 14
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
NOT in our own faith IN Jesus
but in the faith OF Jesus—
This is where our confidence is strongest
and our souls safest.
Mark 14
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus died loving humanity,
faithfully representing the character of God.
Mark 15
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Jesus also rested on the Sabbath hours
as Redeemer.
Mark 15
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
When God miraculously works the impossible
just the way He said He would,
it’s NOT too good to be true.
Believe.
Mark 16
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Signs and wonders
will accompany Gospel preaching
ONLY IF demonstrated in Jesus’ name—
that is, driven by LOVE for humankind—
NOT by the selfish ambition to be recognized
as someone who can perform miracles.
Mark 16
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
God SAW TO IT—He made sure—that it was good.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
In Creation, God
- Let—He was non-coercive
- Saw—He examined
- Separated—He established boundaries
- Called—He gave each an identity
In ReCreation, God lets you in,
sees your heart, separates the good and the bad,
and calls you by a new name.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
For signs, seasons, days, and years—
the sun and the moon were for these.
But the week? There was none to mark it.
God Himself sliced 7 days
and made it the weekly cycle.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Everything was GOOD individually,
and then they were VERY GOOD altogether.
God created a perfect system
where the secret to thriving as a whole
is to each #TakeToGive.
The earth was made to be sustainable.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
God gave Adam and Eve dominion
NOT to destroy the earth He just made sure
was good,
but to keep it as He would, i.e.,
to let it thrive in Love.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Everyone with the breath of life,
including the animals,
was to eat plants.
It was God’s original design.
In a sustainable earth where
everyone lives on by Love,
there was to be NO bloodshed.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
“male and female He created them”
God’s image involves a relationship.
God is Love, after all.
Genesis 1
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
The Sabbath is blessed because
God Himself rested on it.
No one can change what God Himself did.
Genesis 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
God gave Adam creative freedom.
The Creator asked the first man
to name the animals,
and whatever name Adam called each,
that was its name.
Genesis 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Eve was part of Adam.
The rest of humankind is part of each other.
We were supposed to abide in Love.
Genesis 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Genesis 2
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Stress, guilt, fear, shame, and pain—
these were but the beginnings
of humanity’s experience of death.
On the day Adam and Eve chose anti-love,
they surely did begin to die.
Genesis 3
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
God asks what, where, who, and why
NOT because He doesn’t know
but because we often choose denial
whenever we’re guilty.
Instead of putting others under the blame,
He wants us to name the shame,
as it’s the first step to healing
from sin’s miserable pain.
Genesis 3 & 4
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
God’s exercise of justice on Cain
was an act of mercy to him too.
His toil with the ground
would have been an opportunity for reflection,
and his wandering,
a journey to finding his way back.
Genesis 4
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Cain worked the ground and brought fruits of his own labor. He hurt his ego when he heard they weren’t enough to cover his life.
But he knew.
It’s just that he wouldn’t slay a Lamb
for long-hid guilt
but would haste to kill a brother
for guilt found out.
Genesis 4
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Genesis 5
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Genesis 5 & 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
Genesis 6
The Struggling Believer
i Sabbath in Jesus
i Sabbath in Jesus
will be updated
as we go along our study
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