Gospel – Mark 3-4
Bible Passage: Mark 3-4
I thought I shall make a point to remember the names of the 12 apostles. In fact, I think I hope I can remember more names in the Bible. If we want to preach Jesus, how can we do it when we cannot remember the things and people around him?
Names of the 12 apostles:
1. Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter
2. James the son of Zebedee
3. John the brother of James
4. Andrew the brother of Peter
5. Philip (from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew an Peter)
6. Bartholomew (generally supposed to have been the same as Nathanael, friend of Philip)
7. Matthew the tax collector
8. Thomas the one who doubted Jesus’ resurrection
9. James the son of Alphaeus
10. Thaddaeus (Lebbaeus)
11. Simon the Cananite/Zealot
12. Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him
(text in italic for what was not written in Mark but we can find from other gospels.)
Jesus gave James and John the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”.
There were also others that Jesus gave names to, and other accounts when God changed the names of people.
I was wondering… what is “sons of thunder” supposed to mean? From Easton’s Bible Dictionary it says that the name was given on account of their fervid and impetuous temper. Hmmm doesn’t sound too good huh.
Back to the point about giving/changing names… it brings to mind these verses:
Rev 2:17 > To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
Rev 3:12 > He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the names of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
I wonder what name will I be given in the future.
Two passages that stood out to me:
Chapter 4: 24-25
Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Mark is the only gospel that places these two verses one after another. Feels like a statement of grace, but also of warning. When you want to know God more, He will reveal more to you. When you aspire to do more for Him, He will add to you the ability to do. But when you choose to gradually leave God… what can He do?
Chapter 4:26-29
The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
When I was in secondary school, I preached to a few classmates. Never did I expect that the friend of one of my friend whom I preached to came instead. How wondrous are the works of God, it is beyond understanding. Never underestimate the work of speaking the name of God before others. You never know when the seed should sprout and grow in someone.
We have perhaps heard different testimonies of how people come to believe in the truth. Some people is because they have very persistent preaching friends, some people found their own way through receiving reading materials, some people came to seek God in the midst of their sufferings. But most of the time, people do not encounter the gospel unless there is a preacher. The preacher may come in various forms – someone who comes knocking at your door to speak to you about the Bible, someone who is in your class or work place and invites you to go to church, someone who is in your family who shows you good works and ask you to trust in God in times of needs, someone who hands you a pamphlet on the street which contains the address to the place where the name of God is magnified… If there is no preacher, who can hear the word?
“ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things!”
Rom 10: 14-15
We do not know how God will add to the numbers. If we see with our eyes, we feel despair. We don’t know how to expand the tents of God. We don’t know if we talk to our friends about God, whether they will be interested; we don’t know if we hand out 10 thousands of flyers, whether anyone will respond. But one thing I know, if we do not scatter seeds, we will not sow any.
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PS
In 3:4 Then He said to them,”Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”
Lord Jesus points out an important truth: we are either doing good or evil. There is no in-between. When we do good, we are in fact not doing evil. When we do save life, we are in fact not killing.
When we receive His gospel of salvation we receive the light. We have to let the light shine(4:21). Share the gospel with others.
When we hear the word, we accept and bear fruit(4:20-22): we let the word take root in our heart, we let the word change us, change our behaviours, we show that the word is in us by our actions, we let the Light shine forth. we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirt.
When we give to others with a petty measure, we receive from God a petty measure.
For whoever has done what is taught by the words that he hears, to him more growth will be given. He can bear more fruits: thirty folds, sixty folds and hundred folds.
Whoever does not have done as he receives from the word, even what he has will be taken away, eaten by the birds.
The word of God sprouts inside us and grows during our sleep(4:27-28). Though we do not know how, we have faith that He can and He has. Each morning, i awake with some new growth from God.
When we first hear the gospel of salvation, the news of the kingdom of God, it sounds so insignificant. We have so many things in our daily life that the gospel is like a mustard seed, so small compare to other seeds. (May be our job or study is like a seed of a durian which is a king of all fruits ( i like durian)).
When the word grows, the fruit is eternal life!