March after six, I'm gonna do my best to offend someone today In the best way possible. I hope not in a bad way, but this morning. I want to preach a message on the scandal of The cross our series is in gospel according mark beginning in the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God we're gonna look at verse 1 of chapter 6 verse 1 of chapter 6 and He that is Jesus went out from this, where they were, and came into his home country, which would have been Nazareth, Capernaum, on that side of Galilee, and his disciples followed him. And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. We've seen this pattern repeatedly in these first few chapters of Mark. When there's a synagogue meeting on the Sabbath day, Jesus is there. He goes in and it's his right as an adult male member of that synagogue to be able to speak. And he would sometimes read the scrolls. They apparently had some actual copies of the word of God. And he would begin to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him were astonished saying from whence or where has this man these things? Where did this man go to school? Where did this man get his education? Who's been tutoring him? Who are his mentors? What school in Jerusalem does he attend? One of the famous schools. He speaks well, he speaks eloquently, he speaks powerfully. Where did he... get this information. And what wisdom is this which is given unto him? That's high praise. The Jews treasured a wisdom, especially about the Word of God. Their most honored people in the Jewish tradition of that day were people who were skilled, or so they thought, discussing and teaching the different views of the Bible and they said this man has wisdom that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands. Not only His message is powerful, but many of us here are listening to Him and we know He's done mighty works. Many in that synagogue would have known people personally, maybe, who had been blessed because of the crowds that had attended to Jesus in that region. Perhaps even some who sat there say, yes, I saw it. I know what happened. I know someone, a friend, a neighbor, my family, direct knowledge of the things Jesus was doing, mighty works they call them. And then the discussion, is not this the carpenter? The stereotypical view of Joseph, Jesus' guardian, was that he was a carpenter in wood. I've read some interesting, studies that conjecture that it may not have been what we think of carpentry, but more like masonry or a stonemason or someone who was a builder of houses. I guess if your image is of Jesus making chairs and tables, I can't really dispute that, but the word carpenter may carry with it a more significance than just a woodworker. But be that as it may, they recognize the house from which he has come, the son of Mary. I find it interesting they don't say the son of Joseph there, but they say the son of Mary, the brother of James, That's the James whose letter we've been studying on Wednesday night. We finished chapter five last Wednesday night. That James who, and this is written in Mark, is not a believer, is not a follower of Jesus, but after the resurrection, James and his brothers and I hope his sisters became believers, but James in Jude, We know they became believers because the Holy Spirit uses them to write letters that bear their names. So, that's the Kings and Hosea and Judah and Simon and are not his sisters with us. At least two sisters Jesus had. They would have been the children, I think they were the children of Mary and Joseph. Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit when she was a virgin and she conceived the Christ child, and that's the incarnation. But after the Christ child was born, she and Joseph became husband and wife and they, of course, I think they had children. That's the most natural It's a simple way to understand where this family comes from, unless you're trying to promote some philosophical connection of Mary to a savior or co-redeemer, and there's nothing in the Bible about that. Nowhere in the scripture does it identify Mary as co-redeemer. or as a mediator or an intercessor. But this is Jesus' family. It's really kind of fascinating to get this glimpse. I may say more about that later. But where the discussion goes, it's taking a turn here. First they say he's wise, he does wonderful works. We don't like his family. In other words, there's some disparagement in this. There's some... Looking down their noses at this, it's like, is this? He's from a very simple house. We know his family. Maybe they're good people, but they're not really the upper crust of society. They're not anybody famous. They're not wealthy. and we sort of know his family, so he really can't be anybody. If you don't have, you know, a pedigree, if you don't come from a certain neighborhood or if you come from the wrong neighborhood or a poorer neighborhood, well, of course, you know, that means we can't really, there's an incongruity here, you know. He speaks well, he does some interesting things, but he can't really be anybody because we know his family. And they were offended at him. That's pretty quick. I mean, wisdom works, mighty works. Hey, wait a minute. We know this guy. And they were offended at him. To us, I hope we're on this side, I hope you're on the Jesus side of understanding this, but put yourself in a sinner's shoes right now, but I don't mean law sinners, you're already in a sinner's shoes because we're all sinners, but put yourself in a law sinner's shoes and say, what's this all about? What's all this hullabaloo about? this talking and this teaching and even these signs and wonders. What's the deal? They were offended at him. We're going to see that word is the word from which we get our words, scandal. They were scandalized. There were people in this crowd that were gasping and saying, How dare he talk to us like that? He's nobody. He's nothing. He's just putting on airs. He's pretending to be something and they're scandalized by Jesus. They're shocked by Jesus. I'm going to tell you why I think they were shocked, more so than his fame and ties. But Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could do there no mighty work. Say that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them now Some people are on Jesus side are If you're not careful, you'll be scandalized by that statement. You'll think I don't think I like that but it's in the Bible and You think, why could he do no mighty work there? Now, I believe in the sovereignty of God, I believe that Jesus is God, but there are occasions when Jesus limits himself and limits his work in response or in ministry, greater ministry to his listeners. He does not choose to overwhelm them with amazing miracles. He doesn't respond to this criticism and this disparagement by saying, well, he's really nobody. He doesn't respond by saying, watch this. And not being irreverent here, I hope I don't think I'm being blasphemous, he doesn't do something like split the earth open or something. move the Sea of Galilee 500 meters to the, you know, he doesn't, you think, well, he wouldn't do things like that. No, apparently not, but he could. And you think, if miracles were the answer, he could have overwhelmed their doubts, he could have overwhelmed their derision by doing something really amazing. He could have, sort of performed on demand and just kind of wowed them further and kind of shut their mouths saying, well, we don't know what to say. That was amazing. He could have called down manna and quail. He could have set a feast in front of them that would have amazing. He could have spoken to stones and turned them into bread or something like that. but he doesn't. As a matter of fact, his miracles are very, very specific. One writer says, perhaps just some few very desperate people who, in spite of the crowd, in spite of the criticism, in spite of the offense, asked for help, and he did help them. And Jesus marvels because of their unbelief. I'm glad Jesus talks about the amazement of it, because I don't think Jesus was surprised, but I know Jesus not only was God, but he was man, and he could have human responses. He could have grief, he could have tears, he could have anger. I don't think his anger was ever tinged by sin, but Jesus responded in human fashion to many things. And that's what the Bible says. And their unbelief is absolutely staggering. Even all these centuries later, when you read through the first five chapters of Mark, I hope somebody here will say, like, what's their problem? What is wrong with these people? Why can't they? just be happy for the miracles and be listening and saying, well, he's reading well, he's teaching, he's making good sense, he seems to be wise. Boy, aren't we fortunate to have a, you know, substitute preacher today. Maybe you felt that like some Sunday, you know, it's like, oh my good, you know. a new voice, you know, but they couldn't have responded. I mean, he's performed, he preaches well, he teaches well, he has authority, he's done amazing miracles. Some of these people have followed Jesus back and forth across the sea of Galilee, and you think, what is wrong with him? You must want to shake some of them. Some of you would be tempted to slap a couple of them and say, would you wake up and pay attention to what's happening? What are you mad about? What are you angry about? But they were. And even Jesus marvels at their unbelief. Because that's the source of their problem, is unbelief. Miracles, signs, wonders are not enough to turn an unbelieving heart. Maybe you're here, maybe somebody you know says, all right, I'll be a Christian if God puts $1,000 on the table by closing the business. I'll be convinced if God does some magic trick in my life. If God does some miracle for me, I'll believe. The only problem with that is I don't think that's how God draws people, but as it turns out, you have to trust me on this one, those miracles really don't convince unbelievers. They sometimes ask questions. It may be something God uses, but miracles alone Do not convert people. People don't get saved just because they say, well, Jesus is powerful. Jesus is amazing. They don't get saved just because Jesus is a good teacher or he says, I kind of like that golden rule thing Jesus had, you know, do unto others before they do it to you, you know, or them that have the gold make the rules, or whatever that was, you know, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And people say, yeah, I kind of like that. I think I'm going to make that my motto. Are you going to make Jesus the Lord? of your life. No, it's not going to be ridiculous here, but I wouldn't mind having a few little proverbs around the house or put one on the dash. He marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages teaching. Now, you may notice that the word teaching there is bigger and bolder. I did that. It's not actually the way it was. If you look in your Bible, it may not do that, but I'm drawing attention to that that word. What is Jesus response to this? Unbelief. What is Jesus reaction to? I think what he does is actually what is causing the offense, and I'll get to that in a moment. And he went out from Thames and came into his own country, and his disciples followed him. This is from verse 1, I'm reminded, is he began to teach. That's where we started with this pericope. Verse 2, it says, he says, he began to teach. And then after all this reaction, Who is this? He's very wise. He's very wonderful, miracles. But this is Mary's kid. This is Mary's son. He's from Nazareth. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Jesus resumes teaching. He seems undaunted, unswayed by their criticism. He resumes his teaching. He was very much teaching. I think Mark 8.31 may give us a glimpse. Matthew does this earlier in his gospel account. What was Jesus teaching? He taught them many things, the Bible says, but in Mark 8.31 it says he began to teach them, and they gave us one of his lessons, one of his sermons, one of his messages, and here's what he was teaching. That the Son of Man, that would be Jesus, must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Now, I believe that it was that message, that teaching, that offended them. I don't really think it was anti-blind people seeing, or anti-lame people walking, or anti-free food crowd that hated Jesus. I don't really know. I don't really think it was the anti-eloquence crowd. They say, well, I don't know what he means, but he sure does talk good, you know. I remember Alistair Begg, who just recently retired from his pastorate. He's going to continue his radio ministry and internet ministry. But I remember the first time I ever heard him, I was driving up 65 and I always knew how to play the radio. Not everyone knows how to play the radio. You can't just leave it on one station. That scan feature, that seek and scan feature, that was wonderful because you just keep scanning. stations, and I picked up a voice on the radio, and I locked it in. I didn't know who it was. I didn't know at first what his message was going to be, but I think, man, what a melodious, entertaining rogue. Was he Scottish? He's Scottish, right? Yeah. That Scottish rogue, and I said, well, I wish I had an accent. but I don't know, what wish I had? I wish I could talk like Billy Gray. But then again, even Franklin can't talk like Billy Gray. So anyway, I'm thinking, I listen to this voice and I'm thinking, why don't I listen to more of this? Turns out, not only did he have eloquence and a good voice, he was actually preaching the truth, which is always a good thing. And I've enjoyed his ministry over the years and listened to many sermons. I attended his conference a couple of times and I thought, man, I bet Jesus was a wonderful teacher. He just, I mean, he must have just known what to say, and how to say it, and when to get loud, and when to be soft, and when to give an illustration, and when to teach a parable. He was the master teacher, and I'm thinking, wow, he must have been wonderful to be able to listen to Jesus. So I don't think it was his miracles that offended him. I don't think it was his wisdom about the scriptures But I think what offended this crowd, what offends Jesus' crowd is the gospel. Someone called the gospel of the cross. By the cross, we mean the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the great Christian scandal. Now most of the time we associate scandal with some sordid political or, you know, or church leader who is involved in some immorality and some wickedness. We talk about scandals, and immediately it sort of puts us on the defensive, we think. We don't want to bring any reproach to the gospel or any reproach to the cause of Christ, and rightly so. But the word scandal is actually used quite a bit in the Bible. We just finished in our Sunday school lesson, the auditorium class, the book of Galatians. In chapter five, verse 11, Paul talks about the offense of the cross. Now, if you're here today and you're a Christian, you probably are not offended by the cross. You may have actually turned the cross into a piece of jewelry or some kind of artwork. I think we've got to be careful with that. I don't have any real problem with the cross as a symbol of Christianity. I would be very much opposed to a crucifix. But a cross, which has historically become a ubiquitous symbol of Christianity, I understand that. And for us, it's the old rugged cross. It's a symbol of sentiment and appreciation. But to Jesus' world, the cross would have been like walking around with a hangman's noose on your lapel, or a cute little electric chair hung around your neck. If we ask somebody, what's that pendant there? Oh, that's an electric chair. We might say, well, that's kind of, well, is that appropriate? We would not be celebrating hangman's nooses and electric chairs and instruments of death. scandalous form of capital punishment. It's not a way that any Jew would want to die. It's not a way anybody in the first century would want to die if they had to die. They would not choose crucifixion. They might choose hanging or drowning or a sword. They would not choose crucifixion. It was the most horrific, painful, drawn out, hours and hours of excruciating suffering. And then sometimes you still weren't dead. And then they would come and maybe break your legs or thrust a sword into you. But it was a horrible way to die. And so the cross itself was a very offensive symbol. And for early Christians, the cross itself became to the Jews and to the Greeks. The Greeks thought, what utter philosophical nonsense that some instrument of death could be the salvation? I mean, after all, what is salvation? Wisdom is the only thing you need to be saved. The Jews, on the other hand, they thought, we have Moses and we have the Levitical system and there's no cross. in Judaism. And so it was a scandal. That's actually where we get our word scandal from, the Greek word skandalon. It's been transliterated. They just gave English letters for these Greek letters, the offense of the cross. It originally probably meant a track stick. I don't know if any of you ever caught rabbits with a trap stick, anybody? Jim, we're going to write all this down. We're going to have to explain to people how to catch rabbits with trap sticks. Because a vent sapling, go on YouTube later. I'm sure there's something out there. But you can set a trap and put a little bait in it I suppose a mouse trap on a smaller scale would sort of illustrate the sense. You put a little bait in it, and then you set the spring, and when the prospector comes by, he touches the bait, and the trap springs. It's considered a, for the mouse. But that's what a scandal was. A scandalon was a bait and a trap that would snare somebody and knock them down. And it became a word that was an occasion for stumbling, something that offends a stumbling block, where you trip somebody Not only do they fall down, but they fall into a trap. And they can't get out, or they're injured, or maybe even killed. And so the word scandal became synonymous for something that causes great, great harm. They were offended at this, it says. Christ works, and Christ wonderful things, we think. Christ is the wisdom of God. When a Christian thinks about the wisdom of God, we think, we're all sinners and the wages of sin is death, but God gave his son to take our place on the cross so his righteousness is charged to us and our sins are imputed to him. and only God can be the maker of righteousness and remain righteous himself. You see, God doesn't save us by sweeping our sins under the rug, or stuffing them in a closet, or ignoring them. He must exact the penalty for our sins. And that's why the cross is the wisdom of God. Because on the cross, Jesus pays for our sins. He suffers our hell. He suffers our eternal punishment. And all you do to receive that gift is agree with God that you're a sinner and accept Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful plan. Christ's wisdom is wonderful, and Christ's works are meant to draw attention to who he is. If you've been with me in the study of Mark, you know that Jesus not only performed a lot of miracles, but he sometimes seemed to delight in doing them on the Sabbath day. If Jesus were only in the miracle business, not trying to offend anybody, he would have avoided the Sabbath, because Many of his enemies, they didn't have any real problem with him helping out the sick. But when Jesus did it on the Sabbath, Jesus was claiming to be Lord of the Sabbath, claiming to be God, claiming to have authority over the Lord's day. And they found that offensive. So why would Jesus do something that would offend him? If Jesus just came to be a medical helper or a healer, I think he probably would have avoided that. I think he would have said, there's no reason we're going to do this on the Sabbath, because people will take unnecessary offense, and I don't want to offend anybody, and I can just heal. I'll just tell them, wait till tomorrow. I'll just tell them, you know, I'll do the miracle tomorrow. I don't want to offend anybody. But Jesus deliberately did it on the Sabbath because he was teaching them something about himself. Not just that he could perform miracles, but that he is God. I love this passage of scripture, verses one through three especially, because it gives us a window into Jesus' world. We can't really bring Jesus into the first century until we've been in the first century and had a good look around, had a good view of what was going on, what was really this encounter about? What is the gospel of Mark? Why is it dealing with all of these perils and miracles and people's reaction? Why does it bring up that there was an offense here? I think sometimes we think, you know, if Jesus walked into our world, why, he would be received and welcomed and admired and appreciated. What I know about the first century and the 21st century, I'm going to tell you, I think the reaction to Jesus in this century would be about the same or worse. I think in American culture it might be worse because I think we might be a little more arrogant, a little more proud, a little more self-sufficient than the Jews were of Jesus' day. You know why? Because unlike the Jews who could tell Jesus with a straight face, we're not anybody's servant. They had Romans. soldiers with sandals on their neck as they spoke, as they're facing the dust, humiliated by Rome, they would look up and say, nobody's the boss of us, except Pilate, and Herod, and Rome, and Roman legions, and all the powers that be. Except for that, we're free. They weren't free. I think in our culture, we think sometimes we are free. Nobody's the boss of us. Nobody tells us what to do, and nobody, you know, we've got some stuff, and we've got some privilege, and we've got some power, and great areas. We get a window into Jesus' world, and their reaction to Jesus is pretty much what a reaction would be to Jesus in our culture, apart from the grace of God, apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, and that is, I don't mind Jesus doing some good things for me. I don't mind if Christianity has some good luck charms I could buy or some incantations I could pray or some celestial ATM codes. I'd be glad to have those and take them with me so that when I need something from God, I can get what I need from God, but I don't want God telling me what to do. I don't want a Christianity that tries to lord it over me or say, you've got a wicked heart, you've got a sinful heart, you've got a problem with your brothers and sisters, you've got a problem with your fellow man, you've got a problem with your neighbor and you need to be changed. I don't want anybody messing with my life. I could use a few extra dollars and I could use some extra health credits and I could use some you know, assistance now and then, but I don't want anybody telling me what to do, because that offends us. It offends us when we find out that the gospel is actually a call, not only to trust Christ, but to follow Christ. It's a scandal. And this little window into his world, I think, is very fascinating. It causes us to be amazed about the way or the style or how Jesus approached people. To speak as well as he did, obviously, to perform miracles as wonderfully as he did, and yet his primary tool was teaching, preaching. Matthew keeps repeating the fact that Jesus went around preaching the gospel of repentance. Now, I think that's the same gospel that we're preaching. Christ died for sins, was buried and rose again. You're a sinner, believe Christ died for you and be saved. I think it's the same gospel. I think that's what Mark 8 is telling us. The thing that offended people, Jesus said, now let me tell you why I'm here. Why I'm here, proving that I'm God and proving that I have divine power and the reason I'm here. performing these miracles and proving that I am God in the flesh. I'm doing that because I want you to know I'm going to go to the cross and I'm going to die there for sinners and I'm going to be buried, I'm going to raise myself up. And that's the gospel. You need to believe that. I think there were people in Jesus' day who did believe that. The only message I have for you today is the message of the cross, a scandalous message. I don't have any self-help gimmicks or tricks or tools that, you know, three things that will make you more successful in business or, you know, five things that will make you the best, you know, husband in the world. I got some things that would probably help you, but... All I have to offer is the scandal of the cross. And some people, I hope not you, but some people think, is that all you've got? Is that all you've got is some sentimental tale about somebody dying on a discredited cross and becoming a reproach and a scandal? I don't want anything to do with that kind of religion. The only thing I can say is that that's how many in Jesus' day, faced with His own personal witness and testimony, they said the same thing. They were offended by it. Jesus says, let me tell you who I am, let me tell you what I'm going to do, let me tell you what the promise is that you'll accept me. And they said, no thank you. We're fine. We'll make it on our own. We don't need you. We don't want you. It's actually a wonderful testimony. But there is a welcome in his witness. In verse 6 of chapter 6, he says, he went about the villages teaching. I'm so thankful that Jesus didn't say, well, if you're not interested, I've got nothing more to say. That's my last time I'll ever talk to you about this. That's my last time. If that offends you, I won't bring up the Gospel. I won't bring up the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah. That's not how you saw the promises of the Old Testament being fulfilled. So if that's an aggravation to you, I won't mention that again. Maybe you've witnessed to some people and told them like, look, we're all sinners. And maybe they're offended by that. Maybe they think, what are you saying? What are you saying? You're saying I'm not as good as you? No, that's not what I said. When I tell somebody that we're all sinners, I am not saying that I'm better than you. In the flesh, I am not better than you. I am only saved by God's unmerited favor. Christians, we gotta really work on this. We gotta really work on making people understand that we're saved by unmerited favor. We're not saved because we're better than anybody else, or smarter than anybody else, or more deserving than anybody else. And as much as we can do to make that clear to lost sinners, we need to make that clear. Like, I'm a sinner. I deserve hell, and being very careful, especially that we don't let our pride, or our cultural heritage, or our credentials think, hey, we are the people. We're the best that's ever come along. Actually, we're sinners, hell-deserving sinners, and we are simply invited So I guess I'll close with this. I have 90 seconds. Don't be offended by the cross. Don't hear the message of Christ dying, shedding his blood as an atonement, a payment for our sins, being buried as proof of his death and being raised up as proof that his payment was complete. He was made to be sinned. The wages of sin is death. When Jesus rose from the dead, he proved that the sin debt had been paid. Otherwise, he'd be in hell, still suffering for our sins. But he paid for our sin debt on the cross. Don't be offended by that. Be thankful for that. Be humbled by that. Christians, we should not be embarrassed by the cross. People don't like that message. People just want to know how to be better workers, or better family members, or better citizens, or how to get a few more blessings from God. Our message is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Don't be offended by that. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, I'm going to beg you to trust Christ, just like I trusted Christ. Just like every saved sinner who's here, they realize that the cross is not an offense. It's a great opportunity. Don't be offended. Don't be afraid. I'm sure there are some who are offended by the cross. I'm sure there are some who are afraid and think it can't possibly be that simple. It can't possibly be that easy. You don't know how messed up my life has been. You don't know how many struggles I have. You don't know how difficult my life has been. No, I probably don't. And I don't say that flippantly. I don't know what your particular heartaches may be. I can imagine what some of them are. I may have experienced a few of them. But no, I don't know what heartache you're carrying. But don't be afraid and say, oh, how wonderful. If the cross could be enough to save me. The cross of Jesus Christ is God's open arms, is God's invitation. Come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden. It really is, don't be afraid. Jesus said, you'll come to him, he will not reject you. Jesus said, if you ask him to save you, he will save you. Jesus said, if you'll turn and trust him, you can have eternal life. Don't be afraid. You can be saved today. And I guess I'll caution just that last little group. Don't be indifferent to this. Say, well, it's all very interesting. very interesting to think about the first century and I think there was a person named Jesus and I think he may be God and it's all very interesting but it really has no claim on my life. It really has no urgency for today. It's really not something I have to deal with today and I beg to differ. There is nothing more important than your eternal soul. No more important Decision you'll make today or any day or all of your days than to realize you are a sinner and Christ died for sinners. Turn from trusting today. Father, we pray your blessed hearts and hear us today. If there are lost sinners, we pray for them. We once sat where they sat. We once stood where they are lost and Undone. And you brought us by your grace. You brought us by your mercy. You brought us by your love. Bring someone today to the cross. Don't let them be offended. Don't let them be afraid. Don't let them be indifferent. And then I think that there are probably some Christians here, me included, who need to be more thankful for the cross. Who need to be more courageous about telling others about it. and more confident in His power and more helpful to all sinners who need our love and our compassion. May we bless some heart today in Jesus' name. Let's stand.