Day 6: What Good Is The Gospel Doing In You?
**Recommended Use**: Listen to the short sermon clip. Read through the provided passages and summaries. Think and talk through the provided questions. Ideally, do all that before, during, or after you meet up to with one or more followers of Jesus.
DISCUSS YOUR READING FROM DAY 5:
Q: What have you thought most about? What questions do you have?
READING:
Mark 14-16
KEY VERSES:
Mark 14:8, 22-26, 33-42, 50, 61-62;
15:25, 33-39; 16:5-8, 15-16, 19-20;
5:35-36; 9:23-24
BIBLE THEME TO CONSIDER:
Summary:
1. God Rules
2. Humanity Rebels
3. Christ Redeems
4. Repent & Believe the Gospel
Today: What good is the Gospel doing in you?
BIBLE THEME AS SEEN IN MARK:
Let’s ask this question of ourselves. Presently… today, what good is the Gospel doing in us?
We have gone through the gospel message. Now, as we finish reading Mark’s Gospel, we will focus on how we are responding to Jesus.
We will pay extra attention to how Jesus fulfills His work and how people respond to Him. We begin with a woman Mark doesn’t name but who honors Jesus with ointment that cost an entire year of a laborer’s wages. After she did this, Jesus said…
Mark 14:8
"She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying."
Instead of seeking her own glory, she gives glory to Jesus as the King who would soon laid down His life to save sinners.
Q: Why do you think this woman would spend so much money on Jesus? What might we call this?
She treasured and worshipped Jesus. Next, we will read when Jesus instituted Communion with His followers.
Mark 14:22–26
"And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives."
By Jesus’s death and resurrection, He brought in the promised New Covenant between all who unite with Christ by faith and with God. Jesus fulfilled requirements of the covenant so that all who are united to Him are forgiven and reconciled to God.
Then, Jesus told His followers to gather and do this until He comes again.
Q: Have you ever wondered what it means when the church takes communion or the Lord’s Supper? Why do you think Jesus told His followers to do this?
In other accounts, we learn that Jesus taught His followers to regularly do this to remember and proclaim Him together until He comes again.
Next, Jesus teaches His disciples the importance of prayer in order to do the will of God.
Mark 14:33–36
"And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things arepossible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt."
Q: What does this reveal more about Jesus? What does it reveal about us?
Jesus always pleased the Father. He didn’t deserve to die, but He did so willingly and painfully to save sinners who deserve to die.
Jesus instructed us to watch and pray for the strength and leadership to do the will of God. The disciples failed to pray. Because of this, they failed to do the will of God.
Mark 14:50
"And they all forsook him, and fled."
We are dependent on God to do His will.
Q: How is this different than finding enough goodness within ourselves to do the will of God? How does this relate to the gospel message we have gone through during these weeks?
The salvation of God’s people is all of God’s grace. We have no ability to save ourselves.
After this, Jesus allowed Himself to be taken by the local authorities for an unjust trial. To get Rome to crucify Jesus, the rulers of the Jerusalem temple asked Jesus to make a confession that could be twisted to appear as treason.
Mark 14:61–62
"But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
The fact that Caiaphas did not have to be named for Mark’s audience indicates the early dating of this letter. He served from about 18 to 36 AD.
Jesus confirmed that He is the promised Messiah, Son of God, and Son of man from Daniel 7. This was an enormous claim within Judaism! This was all they needed to condemn Jesus as guilty in their apostate eyes and to Rome.
Jesus’s claim as the Christ, Son of God, and Son of man is a running theme until the rest of the book—as we will see.
Q: What do you think about Jesus’s claim and their response to it? Do you get the biblical and historical importance of it?
That is the most important question for you to answer. You cannot remain neutral. As others have said, you will either crown or crucify Jesus in your heart.
Mark 15:25
"… and they crucified him."
Like with the parable in chapter 12, they chose to crucify Jesus instead of giving Him rightly glory.
Q: Why do you think they crucified Jesus? Why do you think Jesus let them?
Jesus prophesied that he came to ransom sinners to God. This meant Jesus came to satisfy the just wrath of God while giving the loving grace of God.
Mark 15:33–34
"And… there was darkness over the whole land… And… Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying… My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Q: Why do you think it got dark? Why did Jesus say what He said?
The darkness was a display of God’s wrath being poured out on the eternal, sinless Son for the sins of who who repent and believe on Him. Jesus bore the wrath of God on the cross. He died in the place of sinners.
Jesus quoted from Psalm 22 to connect Himself with the man who was forsaken and then delivered from death. As in Psalm 22, Jesus knew the Father would hear Him and raise Him up as the governor over the nations and King of a people who would be born.
Mark 15:37–39
"And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God."
A Roman centurion echoed Jesus’s claim. Jesus died for sinners. He loved sinners first so that we could love Him.
Through His death, Jesus opened up the door to God and is reconciling sinners back to Him.
Q: Do you believe Jesus is truly the Son of God? Are you trusting Him as the only way to forgiveness and restored fellowship with God?
Jesus not only promised to die but also to rise. Jesus’s bodily resurrection is necessary if He is to resurrect us and reign as our perfect King.
Surprisingly and importantly, Mark recorded women followers of Jesus as the first to witness His empty tomb. He would not have done this if he were fabricating a story.
See what they are told by an angel and how they respond to the empty tomb.
Mark 16:6–8
"And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid."
We have seen that response throughout Mark’s Gospel. Being amazed and afraid of Jesus is not enough. We are called to believe in Him. And believing in Him results in obeying Him.
We know that with all the mixture of feelings and thoughts these women had, the Gospel produced repentance and faith in them. They believed Jesus and went on to tell the others.
And Jesus did appear to His disciples over a period of forty days, instructing them to go preach this Gospel to all the world, commanding people by His authority to repent from sin, believe on Christ, and follow Jesus as a baptized member of His church. Jesus will return to redeem His church and to fulfill all God’s promises of judgment and the new creation.
Q: Do you trust that Jesus truly rose from the grave? Do you believe that, by the same power, God will raise those He saves? How are you responding to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?
You may notice a notation in some Bibles after verse 8. The remainder of the chapter has been accepted as a true and trustworthy record throughout the history of the church. This simply shows the transparency, extent, and authenticity of how the scriptures have been examined.
Acts 2 records Peter obeying what we read next and preaching the same forceful message of Jesus:
Mark 16:15–16
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
Christ is presently reigning from His throne and through His church. Those who repent and believe on Christ are instructed to live out their faith as a baptized member of Christ’s church in real local fellowship.
And the church has been commissioned to tell the world His gospel and to teach others how to follow Jesus. Faith in the gospel is seen in this way.
Q: Will you follow Jesus as a baptized member of His church and share the gospel with others as a part of His church?
These final two verses summarize the next 40 or so years of the church following the risen Jesus who rules on the throne of God with the promise to return, like He said at the end of Mark 13.
Mark 16:19–20
"So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."
So, the question is, what good is the Gospel doing in you? If you are Christ’s, it will produce in you eternal fruit to the glory of God.
Do you believe what Jesus has said? Will you partner with Jesus’s church to share the gospel with others? Will you obey Jesus’s words with trust that He is ruling over all and with the expectation that He will return to judge the living and the dead?
Q: Is your life joyfully surrendered to Jesus as the King of heaven and earth and to all His teachings? Do you believe He will return, judge the living and the dead, and make all things new?
The gospel calls us to believe that God is good and that He has made this known in His Son. God’s rule is good. God’s glory is to be enjoyed by us and reflected in us.
Jesus is the only way to enjoy God forever. Apart from repentance from sin and faith in Christ, you will die in your sins under the eternal judgment of God.
Back in Mark 4, Jesus gave a series of parables that taught His disciples to hear His Gospel. Jesus’s teaching said that the heard gospel will produce fruit of the kingdom of God in hearts that receive and keep it.
Q: Will you continue to hear, receive, and guard the gospel in your heart, as Jesus explained in Mark 4:14-20? Will you read those words and think on them?
Don’t let any deceitfully take away the message of the gospel from your heart. Don’t let affliction or persecution turn you away from it. Don’t leave here and get busy with the cares, riches, and desires of this world so that the gospel is mostly forgotten and unseen in your life.
Hear, receive, and guard the gospel message in your heart, trusting God to bring forth eternal fruit of the kingdom of God in your life. Treasure and keep the good news of Jesus, and be committed to Christ’s church, helping others do so. If you have not been, be baptized, and join a gospel-preaching church.
As you respond to Jesus, let’s look at two other people who struggled trusting Jesus.
The first one is in Mark 5 when a Jewish synagogue ruler sought out Jesus to heal his daughter, but then she died. And before resurrecting her, Jesus said to him:
Mark 5:36
"… Be not afraid, only believe."
Jesus was not telling the father to “believe it into existence.” Jesus was telling the father to believe in Him. Jesus would prove Himself to have power over death. Do you believe Him?
The second one is in Mark 9 when a father desired for Jesus to free his son from an evil spirit after Jesus’s disciples had failed to help his son.
Mark 9:23–24
"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
The man showed his dependance on Jesus for the faith necessary to receive Jesus’s healing for his son. You and I must do the same. We do not have the faith necessary to faithfully hold fast to the gospel, but as Jesus taught, the Father gives the Holy Spirit and good gifts to those who ask Him.
Ask the Lord to help you with your unbelief. Ask the Lord to help you hear, receive, and guard the gospel in your heart and life. Ask the Lord to bear lasting, eternal fruit of the Gospel in your life and in the life of others.
Like blind Bartimaeus, ask the Lord for mercy. Ask Him to save and heal you from your sin. Ask Jesus to be your King.
Let’s read this next long sentence together.
God’s gospel is the good news and Kingly announcement revealed in all the Bible that: the one true God created us to enjoy and reflect His glory in all His creation, and though we have rebelliously sought our own glory, earning shame and God’s just judgment for our sin, God—as planned and promised—sent His eternal Son in Christ Jesus to perfectly live, sacrificially die, victoriously rise, sovereignly reign, justly judge, and faithfully save sinners from God’s good wrath, reconciling back to Himself a beloved people born of His Spirit who, at the hearing of this good news, repent from sin and lovingly follow the Lord Jesus by faith now and for all eternity in the new creation to the glory of God.
You’ve heard the good news that: God eternally redeems and righteously rules a people who repent from sin and believe on the crucified and risen Lord of all—Jesus Christ the Son of God.
What good is the Gospel doing in you? Within what church will you live according to the gospel?
How can I help you follow Jesus?
If you are interested, I would like to invite you to attend our Sunday church gatherings and to read the book of Colossians with me. We have sermons to listen to in the app, and we can meet up to discuss more as you want.
Let's at least read Mark 14-16 this week and talk over the phone or in person so that I can discuss any remaining questions or thoughts you have.