A Day in The Life of Jesus

Introduction

Well, good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I appreciate once more the opportunity to study the Bible with you for a few minutes. And I know that you’ve all we’ve all had a busy day today. And I know that at about four o’clock, four twenty this afternoon, it might be a time when you might feel like taking a little nap. And I hope that you’ll be engrossed in the study of the Word of God, so much so that in the next 35, 40 minutes, you like me will concentrate on the things that are found in the teachings of the Scriptures. And we’ll save that little time of rest for a little bit later this evening. Let me ask you a question. Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to have lived during the time while Jesus was here on the earth during his ministry?

And what if you could have traveled with him and observed him? What kind of things would you have seen? Well, I think we would have been impressed by the miracles that he performed. While we believe that God works in our lives today, we’ve not seen any miracles. We’ve not seen the supernatural events walking on water, raising the dead, healing those who were uh ill with all manner of sickness and disease. We’ve not seen things like that. I think we would have been impressed with those miracles. But I think we would have also been shocked. Shocked, not by the miracles that Jesus performed, but shocked by the fact that on so many occasions people spoke against Jesus. They plotted against him and they did everything they could to turn other people against him, and we wonder why.

Why did people fight against a man who came only to do them good? While it’s not possible for us to literally go back in time to the ministry of Jesus, we can go back and visit that time and those places by means of the record found in the scriptures. This evening, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to go to the time of Jesus through means of Mark chapter 3, and we’re going to spend a day in the life of Jesus. Now I think as we look at Mark chapter 3, and if you’d please turn to that place with me, I think that the events of this of this day may have all happened at the same time.

Some suggest maybe this was a period of a couple of days. But in any case, these events happened real close together, and so for purposes of our study tonight, we’re going to treat them as the events of one day. And as we journey with Jesus through this one day, I want us to see four reactions to the Lord and to his work. We might consider this lesson as a prelude to tomorrow night’s lesson. If you’ve got the little yellow card, whatever it says on tomorrow night’s lesson, the list of lessons, we’ve changed that. Tomorrow night we’re talking about the truth about the passion of the Christ. There’s an awful lot of interest at this present time regarding the Mel Gibson movie that was released last Wednesday afternoon, and it’s a subject of controversy across the land.

1. Kill Him Because He Is a Sinner

It’s something that people are talking about everywhere. And tomorrow, whether you’re at school or whether you’re at work, at the office or in your community, there’ll be people that you’ll hear talk about that. And you need to say to them, Listen, at South Bundy, tonight at 7 30, they’re having a special study, the truth about the Passion of the Christ. And I trust, I trust that we’ll not waste your time if you’ll be back for that special study. Tonight’s lesson, as we said, may be regarded as a prelude to that lesson tomorrow night. I want us to see four reactions, and the first reaction to Jesus is this in Mark chapter 3, they say, kill him because he is a sinner. Let’s read the first six verses of that chapter.

Mark chapter 3, beginning at verse 1, the Bible says that Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand, and so they watched him closely whether he would heal him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, step forward. And he said to them, Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they kept silent. And when he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against him how they might destroy him.

Notice here that this sixth verse says that they wanted to destroy him. Now, folks, I trust that being the good Bible students that you are, that you know that they were not talking about destroying his reputation. They wanted to destroy him. They wanted to kill him. There were other passages that make it clear that the religious leaders in Jerusalem, as well as in Galilee, where this was, the religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus because he performed these miracles on the Sabbath day. Notice these men are watching Jesus carefully. It’s the Sabbath, and they’re watching to see if he’s going to do something on the Sabbath. Over in the Gospel of John, John chapter 5, verse 16. John 5.16, there’s a similar incident, though this time it’s at the city of Jerusalem.

John 5.16, it says, For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath. Here, he had healed the man, caused the man to walk on the Sabbath. And they seek now to kill him because he has done that. Why do they want to kill Jesus? Because of miracles that he’s done on the Sabbath day. Well, I want you to understand three things about this. First of all, let’s understand that the Sabbath was Saturday, the seventh day of the week. I’m turning back to the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 20, chapter 20, verses 11, verses 8 through 11. Exodus chapter 20, verses 8 through 11. Let’s make sure we understand what day of the week the Sabbath is.

It says in Exodus chapter twenty verse eight, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you should do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you should do no work, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day, therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. This was the day, the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week, is the day on which the Jews were forbidden to work. And it is important to note that here in our text whether we’re looking at Exodus 20 or in our text in Mark chapter 3, there is no issue here about Sunday.

Sunday is not the Sabbath, never has been, is not now, and never will be Sunday is the first day of the week. The Sabbath is the seventh day, and ladies and gentlemen we are not under we’re not under the Sabbath law. We don’t have time this afternoon to look at Colossians chapter two verses 14 to 16 but if you read that text you’ll see that we’re not under the Sabbath law. So first understand that the Sabbath was Saturday. Secondly I want us to understand that the Jews had made up rules about the Sabbath that they expected other men to observe. These were rules that the Jews made up not rules that God had given and they’re hoping they’re just hoping that Jesus will break the rules so they have reason to accuse him.

Again if you return to our text in Mark chapter three notice again the first two verses. Jesus entered the synagogue again. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely whether he would heal him on the Sabbath. Why? So that they might have reason to accuse him, says verse number two. Now they’ve already seen enough of Jesus, to know that he is a threat, a threat to their power. And if they have something of which to accuse him, maybe, just maybe they can turn the multitudes against Jesus, because right now the multitudes are thronging about him. And so we first understand that the Sabbath was Saturday. Secondly, we understand that the Jews had made up many rules about the Sabbath, rules that God had not made.

But thirdly, I want you to understand that Jesus was not much for keeping these man-made rules, especially if those rules meant that God’s will could not be carried out. You see, the Sabbath laws that God gave were not designed to prevent someone from doing good or from saving a life. That’s what Jesus says in verses three and four. In verse 3, he said to the man who had the withered hand, step forward. Then he said to the crowd, he said to those men, Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? They don’t answer him. They kept silent. But Jesus is making it clear that these laws were not designed to prevent someone from doing good, as defined by this text.

Well, what did Jesus do? You know what Jesus did. He healed this man, he healed him on the Sabbath, and this gave the religious leaders the excuse that they were looking for to formulate their plot to kill him. And it’s rather amazing that they’re so blinded by their own rules and so blinded by their traditions that they don’t see what they’re doing. Someone who has the kind of power that Jesus has is obviously a special person. Nicodemus, he was a ruler of the Jews. In fact, he was a Pharisee. Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and verse 2. Came to Jesus by night and he said, Master, no one can do the miracles that you do unless God is with him. These folks here in Galilee ought to recognize that.

2. Follow Him, He Is Powerful

That the fact that Jesus can work such miracles indicates that he has come from God. And so rather than fighting to kill such a person, they ought to be sitting at his feet and hearing his teaching. Let me ask you another question. What would you have done if you had been there? How would you react to this miracle that was done on the Sabbath day? And what if you had been among the religious leaders who saw Jesus as a threat to your position? That rather than the crowd listening to you, more and more of the people are going over to listen to Jesus, what would you want to do? These men wanted to kill him. They branded him as a sinner. But I want you to see a second reaction in Mark chapter 3, and that second reaction is follow him.

He is powerful. Look at verses 7 through 12. Mark 3, beginning of verse 7, it says, But Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumia and beyond the Jordan. And those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things he was doing, came to him. And so he told his disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for him because of the multitude, lest they should crush him. For he healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about him to touch him, and the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God. But he sternly warned them that they should not make him known.

Now there are several things I want us to notice about this text. First of all, while the religious leaders could only find fault in Jesus, the common people reacted very differently. People from far, far away, in fact, people from more but a hundred miles away had come to hear Jesus. If you note there very carefully, in verse number eight, it mentions Idumia. Idumia is the area to the south of Judea that was at least a hundred miles away from where Jesus is here at the north of Galilee. And so these people from all over have heard of him and have come to him. In fact, so many people have come to Jesus to hear what he has to say. They’ve thronged about him to where his life is in danger.

That’s why Jesus said in verses 9 and 10 that his disciples should keep a small boat ready because of the multitude, lest the multitude should crush him. And so if they have to get away, they need they need some kind of getaway route. They were at the city of Capernaum, which is on the Sea of Galilee, and the small boat was to be ready in case Jesus must leave. Now the religious leaders, as we’ve already noted, opposed Jesus. But the impact of his miracles could not be denied. There are thousands and thousands of people who have gathered around Jesus because he performs miracles that no other person can do. Now, at some point in this narrative, at some point in this period of time, on this day, Jesus took his disciples up into a mountain, separate from the separate from the other people, and there he called his apostles.

Notice in verse 13. It says that he went up on the mountain and called to him those he himself wanted, and they came to him. Then he appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and have power over to heal sickness and to cast out demons. Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boonerges, that is the sons of thunder, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him, and they went into a house. And so at some point the Lord has called these twelve men who would be his apostles.

Now, it says that he went into a mountain. He went up on the mountain, verse 13, in order to do this. There are many small mountains and hills just north of the Sea of Galilee. In fact, it was likely on one of these mountains that the sermon on the mount was preached. This photograph that you see here is a photograph that I took when I was there about five years ago. We’re sailing north on the Sea of Galilee, and uh over here is in this area here is the city of Capernaum, and it was possibly on this mountain right here, or on a mountain very close to this area where Jesus, where Jesus took his disciples. All of these events that we’ve seen thus far, prior to this text, have been happening in or near the synagogue, there in the city of Capernaum.

And so all of these events are taking place in this area right here. And by the way, ladies and gentlemen, let me just say that the events that you find in the Bible, these are real places. You know, you can you can read about uh uh if you love the Lord of the Rings trilogy like I do, you can read about all sorts of uh fairy tale places. Uh, you can you can, and I can’t, I can’t, I used to be I could just rattle off all the names of those places from Lord of the Rings. Can’t do that right now. Sixty years old, you’ve got to cut me a little slack, okay. But the point is, there’s never, never land, there’s the there’s the land of Oz, there’s here and there, other places that have been made up.

The places we’re looking at in the Bible, when we see the Sea of Galilee mentioned here, when we see the city of Capernaum, even when we see the synagogue at Capernaum, those are all real places. We know exactly where Capernaum was. In fact, we even know where that synagogue was, the foundation of that synagogue that Jesus preached at is still there at the city of Capernaum today. More than two thousand years have passed since that synagogue was first built. And so these are real places. The people in the Bible are real people. These events are things that actually did take place. Now we said here that Jesus went up into the mountains to get some relief from the crowds that had followed him. But when he came down what did he do?

3. Pity Him for He’s Crazy

He ran into a house and his relief from the crowd was short lived as another multitude quickly gathered and we’re going to now see our third reaction to Jesus and that is pity him for he’s crazy. Look at verses 20 and 21. It says then the multitude came together again so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when his own people heard about this they went out to lay hold on him for they said he is out of his mind. The gathering of the crowd around Jesus is such of such a nature that Jesus and his disciples cannot even eat their meal and we need to understand that the crowd is thronged about him because he’s able to work miracles. He’s able to work real miracles ladies and gentlemen not the kind of things you see claimed by faith healers today.

Someone says oh I’ve seen this man on T V and he and he says he’s worked this miracle and he’s done this and done that. Listen we had a man come to our city a few years ago he was called the Apostle Milton Perry. Now God never called him the apostle Milton Perry but Milton Perry called himself that. And he had just come from Kalamazoo Michigan. And I’ll tell you I went to hear this fellow speak and he was funny. He looked like Flip Wilson. He talked like Flip Wilson. He told stories as funny as Flip Wilson. People were rolling in the aisles, not because they were Pentecostal, but because it was so funny. I mean, the guy was a the guy was a a stand-up comedian.

It was really funny to watch and to listen. But he said, I’ve just come from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and I wish you could have been with me there and seen all the miracles that God performed by my hands in Kalamazoo. Well, Apostle Milton Perry, you’re in Beaumont this week. Work your miracles here. But he didn’t work any miracles in Beaumont. But you know the strange thing is the next week, the week he left Beaumont, he went out to Phoenix, Arizona. You know what he told the folks in Phoenix, Arizona? He says, folks, I wish you could have been with me in Beaumont, Texas, and seen all the miracles I worked there. It’s strange. These guys always work the miracles someplace where you’re not. And if they’ve got the miraculous power, let’s see it.

You know, there’s a whole, I mean, people have been arguing about who’s got miraculous power, who doesn’t, who can do this, who can do that. Look here. If you’ve got it, the proof is in the pudding, demonstrate it. And that’s what Jesus did. Jesus worked the miracles. And that’s why the people are thronging around him. All manner of sick folks, people that are possessed with demons, people who have all kinds of diseases are being brought to being brought to Jesus at this time. And more and more people are thronging about him. And let me just say that the miracles of Jesus were always of such a nature that it was plain to everybody that supernatural acts were being done. There was no fraud, there was no trickery, no one healed of a backache, no one healed of one leg shorter than the others, shorter than the other.

Listen, I wish we had the time this afternoon, and we will not do this, but I wish we had the time this afternoon just to talk about the tricks and the fraud that people use, that preachers use to deceive others into thinking they have miraculous powers. There are many preachers today who use tricks, stage magician tricks to stage their miracles. I hope you can come back on Tuesday night of this week. We’re going to talk about a man in the Bible who used tricks. Tuesday night, 7 30, the salvation of Simon and the Samaritans. And we’re going to see some things that Simon did. Things that are exactly what the fake healers or faith healers do today. The very same kind of tricks, the same kind of talk, the same kind of testimony.

I hope you can be here Tuesday night for that for that important study. But let me just say that there are no tricks with Jesus. That’s why people have thronged. They’ve come to him from all over Palestine, from the other side of Jordan. They’ve come from Tyre and they’ve come from Sidon. All these places they’ve come from because they know Jesus has something special. But some of his own people have come because they think he’s crazy. Look at verse 21. In verse 21, it says, When his own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold on him, for they said, He’s out of his mind. Now, who are his own people? That’s probably a reference to Jesus’ family. If you note down in verse 31, it says, Then his brothers and his mother came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling, calling him.

And so it’s probably his own family. And they they probably thought that Jesus was acting with disregard for his own personal safety. They could see. They could see this conflict with the Pharisees and the Herodians. They could see that it was getting worse day by day. And they believed that they had to rescue Jesus and take him away. Now, someone says, Well, wouldn’t his brothers though have believed that he was the Christ, the Son of God? Look, in your Bible, in uh John chapter 7, I believe it is in verse 5, it says, even his brothers did not believe on him. Yes, later on, later on, maybe, but not at the early part of the Lord’s ministry, and this is in the early part of his ministry.

Someone says, Well, what about Mary, his mother? She was here with the rest of this family when they come to talk to him. Well, certainly Mary had knowledge of Jesus. But she may have sympathized with her other sons in taking Jesus away because she feared for his safety. But I want to ask you this question before we leave this point. They said, Yes, he’s crazy. Pity him. What would you think of Jesus if you had been there and you had personally witnessed his devotion to God and his efforts to teach other people? Here is a man who has denied himself all the comforts of life, who has virtually no possessions, who spends all of his time and all of his energy in teaching the word of God and in prayer.

What would you think of such a man? What do you think the world would think of you if you lived like that? They’re liable to say, poor poor fellow or poor lady, crazy, you know, out of their mind. What do you say about others who do as Jesus did? What do you think about people in the church that you see who spend a lot of time in the course of every week teaching others the word of God? They spend a lot of time reading their Bible, who spend a lot of time in prayer. What do you think about people like that? You think they’ve gone overboard? That maybe they’ve become a fanatic? You think there’s something wrong with them? That’s what they thought with Jesus. He’s out of his mind.

4. Reject Him, He’s Possessed

That’s sad, isn’t it? I want you to see reaction number four, and that is reject him. He’s possessed. Look at verses 22 down to 30. Mark chapter 3, beginning at verse 22, the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebub, and by the ruler of the demons, he cast out demons. And so Jesus called them to himself and said to them in parables, how could Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has riven risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house.

Assuredly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven, the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation. Jesus said this because they said he has an unclean spirit. You see, these scribes were religious teachers who have traveled nearly one hundred miles to investigate the work of Jesus. And their verdict was he is under the power of the devil. Now Jesus quickly and logically shows that he is neither crazy nor under the power of the devil, as he very clearly illustrates that Satan would never oppose himself. He says, Look, if Satan is opposing Satan, then Satan is going to destroy himself. And it’s obvious that Satan would not do that.

But by casting out demons, Jesus demonstrated that he opposed to Satan. Jesus therefore must be acting by the power of God and cannot be acting by the power of the Elzebab. Neither a crazy man nor a possessed man would have spoken as Jesus did on this occasion. But you know, folks, what you find here, this is a wild, slanderous charge to say that he is possessed. And it’s not uncommon for men who are enemies of truth to make slanderous and wild charges against the man who stands for the truth. You see, what men use, men use what they have at their disposal. And when men don’t have the truth, well, all they have are lies and false charges, and so they use what they have, and that’s what these tribes and Pharisees use.

But in spite of all this, the multitude still gathered around Jesus. And this must have irritated these leaders all the more because, in spite of their wild statements, men continued to hear Jesus.