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Home , Mark 1, Mark 3

Lesson Guide for Mar. 10th :1-12, 22-30

 Series Description: The of Mark Abiding in , that’s what Mark’s Gospel is all about. Mark specifically highlights a relationship with Jesus, declaring that discipleship is fellowship with Jesus, not a code of conduct. Mark’s Gospel aimed to share Jesus with the Gentiles, those who were less familiar with the Old Testament and Jewish customs. For this reason, Mark offers explanation and educates the reader to the law and customs of described in the Old Testament. Mark found it necessary to help the Gentiles view the coming of Jesus in context of the cumulative redemption plan. Hence, our journey through Mark summarizes more than Jesus’s life, it serves as a revelation of ’s glorious and merciful plan to redeem His people through His Son Jesus.  Series Schedule: 13-Jan :1 Introduction to Mark 20-Jan Mark 1:1-8 Preparation for the King 27-Jan Mark 1:9-20 Distinctive Marks of Jesus’ Ministry 3-Feb Mark 1:21-45 The Power of Jesus 10-Feb :1-12 The Power of Jesus (Part 2) 17-Feb Mark 2:13-17 Jesus and Religious People 24-Feb Mark 2:18-28 Jesus and Religious People 3-Mar IMPACT 10-Mar M 3:1-12, 22-30 Jesus and Religious People 17-Mar Mark 3:13-21 Team Jesus 24-Mar Mark 3:31-35 The Family of Jesus 31-Mar NO GROUPS Easter

Text: Mark 3:1-12, 22-30  Sermon Main Points: Jesus faced many obstacles in His ministry on earth: disease, , unbelief. A recurring and perhaps most vocal opponent was religion or religious people.  Religion is performance based The Gospel is grace based  Religion focuses on externals The Gospel focuses on the heart  Religion leads to bondage The Gospel brings freedom  Religion emphasizes activity The Gospel emphasizes relationship  Religion condemns others The Gospel produces a compassion for others  Religion celebrates the rules The Gospel celebrates the activity of God

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Religious people pursue activity instead of relationship. In this section of Scripture, Jesus confronts the religious leaders and their emphasis on external activities rather than the heart. Fasting and the day observances were both good and from God. Both were given as a means to worship and know God more. The leaders of that day had focused on the activity as an end in itself. Jesus is the goal, not the activity.  Sermon Outline: What makes Jesus angry? In Mark 3:5, the says Jesus was grieved and angry at the religious leaders. 1. Jesus is angered when we place love religious activity more than people. 2. Jesus is grieved when man made tradition is elevated over changed lives.  Sermon Applications: 1. Do I love religious traditions more than people? 2. What am I willing to change to see lives transformed? 3. Am I missing activity by focusing on my religious preferences?

The section below should be developed into the final writing guide and submitted ready for publication. The Heart of the Gospel TCBC Group Lesson Guide For Sunday, Mar. 10, 2013 (Mark 3:1-12, 22-30)

[3:1] Again he entered the , and a man was there with a withered hand. [2] And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. [3] And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. [5] And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. [6] The went out and immediately held counsel with the against him, how to destroy him.

[7] Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from and [8] and and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and . When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. [9] And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, [10] for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. [11] And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the .” [12] And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

[22] And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by ,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” [23] And he called them to him and said to them in , “How can cast out Satan? [24] If a

kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. [25] And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. [26] And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. [27] But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

[28] “Truly, I say to you, all will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever they utter, [29] but whoever blasphemes against the never has , but is guilty of an eternal ”—[30] for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Opening Explanation for the Group Leader: This series, “The Servant King”, has shown us the heart of Christ in an amazing way. Today we look at what walking in the truth of the Good News of Jesus looks like. This lesson shows us the heart of the Gospel, a very unique characteristic of our Servant King: His righteous anger, and the amazing freedom and restoration the Gospel brings to a believers' life.

 Main Ideas:

1. The True Gospel of God leads us to look at the heart. 2. The True Gospel of God leads us to respond with the heart of Christ. 3. The True Gospel of God leads us to walk in complete restoration.

 Highlighted Applications:

1. Our responses toward others reveal what we truly believe about the Good News of Christ. 2. What things should provoke our anger because of the loss that they bring? 3. What religious trappings do we tend to wear at the expense of others?

Ice Breaker: #1. Ask several people to describe their most memorable “church service”. What made it memorable? Now what could be taken away from that “church service” that you really would have missed? What would bother you the most if it was taken away from your service? Why?

These are the very things that may become religious trappings.

Contextual Background: The events of this passage of Scripture occur on the Sabbath following the discussion that Christ has just had with the Pharisees regarding the true purpose of the Sabbath. Christ is interacting with the religious world around Him and showing all believers how to walk in intimacy and not in regulations. Also He gives us the example of how to truly “be angry and yet ….not sin”.

Text: Mark 3:1-6

Teaching Point #1

True Gospel Followers Focus on the Heart

Christ entered the synagogue once again, as was His custom. It seemed that Christ had much to teach and illustrate to the “religious” of the day. The first thing that Christ demonstrated is that the truth of His Gospel focused on the heart not external exhibitions.

Christ was moved with compassion yet again. He saw the man with the withered hand and He called the man to Himself. Christ knew that the greatest need of this man and all mankind is a need for a relationship with the . The Pharisees had been so concerned about their laws for the Sabbath that they had missed the very Son of God who was in their midst!

Jesus' great desire to bring this man to Himself and heal him demonstrates a heart of love that we need to emulate.

Then Christ turned from the “sick” to the “well”. He directed a question to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day. “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to harm, to save or to kill?” He knew their hearts and He knew the judgments that they had already formed. He was here to demonstrate that the true gospel goes beyond looking at the external. The Good News of Jesus Christ is moved with compassion and focuses on the heart behind actions instead of rule-following.

The Pharisees' response to Jesus’s question was very revealing....”But they kept silent.” They had no answer in regards to which was better, “keeping the letter of the law” or acting in love. The hearts of the religious leaders were revealed! Their hearts did not have the compassion of Christ and therefore did not move to action.

Christ can see the heart behind our “best practices”. His greatest desire for His followers is a heart that is moved with love and acts on that love toward others. The true heart of the Gospel is love, not performance.

Illustration / Discussion Ideas:

1. When was the last time your heart was moved with compassion? 2. This past week, have you spent more time on religious practices and traditions or on acting with compassion toward others?

3. Do you feel that it is permissible to suspend religious activity in order to meet the practical needs of others? What might that look like? 4. Discuss the meaning of James 1:27. “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Teaching Point #2

True Gospel Followers Respond as Christ Responds

Mark 3:5 shows the response of Christ to the Pharisees' hardness of heart. “And after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out and his hand was restored.”

Christ showed two emotions that we, as believers, need to have more of. The first was anger. This is not typically a response we associate with Christ; however, this was a case of righteous anger. He saw the outward signs of religion with no heart of God behind it. Such religious activity truly angered the Son of God. When the activities of religion and tradition become more important than the lives and hurts of people, Jesus is angry! Are we?

Christ was also grieved. While anger is an emotion of disapproval, grief is an emotion of loss. Why did Christ grieve? Because when believers do not walk in love toward others and instead choose the trappings of religion, loss always occurs. There is a loss of relationship, ministry, and opportunity.

Christ was grieved but His grief moved Him to immediate action. He healed the man's withered hand. He did not allow his emotions, no matter how righteous, to keep Him from acting on behalf of His Father.

Illustration/Discussion Ideas:

1. How does our anger manifest itself? Righteously or unrighteously? What is the difference? 2. What things should provoke our anger? 3. When was the last time you grieved over a loss? When was the last time you grieved over a loss according to God's economy? 4. What are some examples of how walking in the traditions of religion can cause loss?

Teaching Point #3

The True Gospel Brings Restoration

Mark 3:5 states “And he stretched it out and, and his hand was restored.” By faith, the man followed Christ's instruction and reached out to Him and he was restored! Not partially, not temporarily, but wholly and completely restored. The word “restored” goes beyond the healing of his infirmity. The idea of complete healing and complete release from bondage is what is communicated here.

In contrast to this Gospel is the religion of the Pharisees which only brought bondage. Religion is only a reminder of how man cannot improve themselves enough to get to God. The Gospel, however, is the truth that intimacy with Christ brings healing and freedom. Man does not need to improve himself to gain intimacy with Christ. That intimacy was purchased on the cross. We now can walk in that gift and throw off the bondage of religious works.

Christ makes it very clear in this passage that how we respond to others is an excellent indicator of what we believe about the Gospel. The Pharisees' hearts were clearly revealed. Following the miraculous healing of the man's hand, they “immediately” went out and began plotting to destroy Him. People that are so caught up the works and traditions of religion that they cannot rejoice in any growth or healing in someone else are in bondage and are far away from the true heart of the Gospel.

Religion brings division. The Gospel brings healing. Religion brings condemnation of self and others. The Gospel brings forgiveness of self and others. Religion brings bondage to external works. The Gospel brings freedom and intimacy. Religion breaks while the Gospel restores!

Illustration/Discussion:

1. What are a few “religious trappings” that you tend to put on? 2. How could those external traditions keep you or others from experiencing the fullness of Christ? 3. How has religion brought division in your life in the past? 4. How could the Gospel bring healing to that area of religion?

Closing Thoughts: Our tendency is to get our value and worth from the things we do or don't do. We transfer that tendency to our intimacy with Christ. Suddenly, our faith in God becomes a means to improve ourselves and a means to place ourselves appropriately in the midst of a watching world.

Jesus opens His mouth and true falls out. John 6:28-29 records the time that the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “What must we do in order to do the works of God? “Jesus replied to these men, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He has

sent.” Anything else that we try to add to our “to-do” list of activity in order to please God can actually anger and grieve God.

A follower of the true Gospel recognizes that apart from the intimacy of Christ intersecting our lives, we cannot have His heart, respond as He would respond, or walk in the freedom that His Good News supplies.