Christ Supreme on the Mountain

One of the great subjects of this middle section in Marks gospel is faith in Christ we see the power of faith in Christ in 5:34: “And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” (Mar 5:34) and in 5:36 “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”(Mar 5:36) and again in at the end of this section: “He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?...If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”(Mk 9:19-23)

The Lord desires us to have the Freedom to have Faith in Christ.
The Lord warns us of so many things that hold me back from perfect faith in Christ, amongst them Mark records:


Leaven of Herod (8:17) – The corrupting influence of Herod - The Fear of man

The account of the story of John the Baptist and his execution at the hands of Herod makes it clear that Herod was a man who made his decision to reject the voice of God speaking by John the Baptist on the basis of his fear of men (Mark 6:26). Herods destiny defining decision was determined by the fear of men! As a result of his rejection of the voice of God in the ministry of John the Baptist, Herod would be amongst those first into hell in Rev 21:8, he was amongst the “fearful and the unbelieving”

Pharisees (8:17) – The corrupting influence of the Pharisees – Faith in Self

Consider the character of the Pharisee in Matthew 23:5-7, 14, 23, 27 they invested much in their religious system and in their religion, what they did was to be seen by men, not to please God! The 2 words we often link with the Pharisee are:

1. proud – great faith in self

2. hypocrite – their faith in self was unfounded, their religion was only superficial!

Here were men when the gospel came: “repent and believe” they were too proud to change and too proud to repent – their salvation rested in self! To come to Christ was an enormous stumbling block for they had to swallow their pride and admit they were wrong and give up faith in self and works.

Fallen human heart (7:21-23) – Failings of the flesh

Note the 13 sins of the fallen human heart, a heart “ deceitful above all things and desperately wicked...”

False conclusions of an unenlightened mind (8:17)

The disciples here have confident conclusion drawn from a faulty understanding on incompletely appreciated facts! Their conclusions rested in the confident misunderstanding of a mind unfamiliar with the Glory of Christ and unable to correctly piece together the puzzle of revelation! They had failed to grasp the significance of the all sufficiency of Christ to feed the 5000 and then to feed the 4000, He was surely able to meet their need too in the boat in Mark chapter 8.

With so much that can hinder faith in Christ: the fear of men (like Herod), faith in self (like the proud Pharisee), the fallen human heart and the false conclusions of an unenlightened mind (like the disciples) how can I ever be free to have faith in Him? Am I forever cursed to be bound to fears and doubts and uncertainties? Must I:

1. Overcome every fear? Face and defeat every fear?

2. Reach a particular experience of despair?

3. Remove every last feature of this deceitful human heart?

4. Develop a full and perfect understanding in all things, with an answer to all possible questions and problems?

What a struggle that would be till I finally came to faith in Christ! The answer to faiths freedom does not lie in me facing and defeating every obstacle / objection / problem before I come to Christ. The answer to faiths freedom to believe lies in a Glorious Vision of a Glorious Christ (9:1ff) Salvation comes not when I have managed to sort myself and my problems out enough for God to save me but rather when an appreciation and experience of Christ bursts into my life and becomes enough to calm my every fear! Not that I am good enough nor great enough but that He is enough! Christ becomes to my vision greater than my fears and doubts and questions. Greater than my fears is His fullness. Greater than my sin is His saving power. Greater than my Gloom is His Glory. Greater than my Despair is His Deliverance.

Sometimes we can wait so long, until we feel we have worked up enough faith to be saved or to follow Him more closely in obedience. Faith does not come from within, not from putting everything right in my life and working myself up to some supreme state of spirituality rather faith feeds on the object of faith! Faith is my response to a vision of the Glory and of the Greatness of Christ! Faith is sustained by its Glorious object!

1. Heb 11:1 – Faith is a response to looking off to Christ, a verse written to believers who were faltering in their faith (Heb3:7,12-13; 4:2,11)

2. Rom 10:17 – Faith is my response to the revelation of Christ in His Word

3. Matt 14:22ff – Peter continues to walk on the sea so long as his eyes are focused on Christ and not on the storm!

Sometimes we get a strange view of faith and we spend our time asking God for the wrong thing! If we ask for the wrong thing we are likely to get very disappointed! What I need is not a large bucket labelled faith but a great appreciation of a great Saviour! With so many boulders in the path of belief how can faith triumph? Faith finds its final freedom not when I reach a state of near spiritual perfection and manage finally to:

1. Deal with all doubts

2. Answer all questions

3. Cleanse myself of every sin

Faith finds its freedom to believe when there comes into its sight the Glorious vision of a Glorious Christ. My faith is a response to His Glory. I need more of Him and not more of me!


On the Mount of Transfiguration in Mark 9 the disciples had a Glorious vision of a Glorious Christ! Christ was seen Supreme on the Mountain!.

Christ Supreme over the Storm:

Mark Chp 4 Vs 35 to 41:

It is a great truth that Christ is with us in the storms of life:

"Lo I am with you always" (Matt 28:20)
"Fear not I am with with you..." (Isa 41:10)
"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Heb 13:5)

but Mark chapter 4 throws up a deeper truth, not that He is with us in the storm but rather that we are with Him in the storm! This storm of Mark 4 is a storm by Divine appointment.
Christ leads His disciples into the storm: "Let us pass over unto the other side..."
The Saviour sends away the multitude and the disciples are hand picked for the storm!
Never think as we hit the storms of life that it is fortunate that He is with us and comes to our side! He is sovereign in leading us through and in determining the conditions of that storm!
Is it not all a little unfair? The disciples are handpicked for the storm and the multitude are sent away! Notice though the difference:

1. The disciples go through the storm with Christ
2. The multitude go through the storm without Christ!

This Book throws up same strange conclusions:

Daniel 3 - the safest place to be was the fiery furnace - it was where the Son of God was! It was those who threw Shadrach Meschach and Abednigo into the flames who were destroyed.

Daniel 6 - The safest place to be was in a den of lions where the angel of the Lord was! It would be those who conspired against Daniel who would be ultimately devoured.

The safest place in the universe in Mark 4 was that boat on the storm tossed sea for that was where Christ was!

The storm through which the Lord led them was no little storm, it was a "great storm" and the boat was "now full."
Before the disciples would face the challenges of a lost world in Mark chp 5:

1. A man that men could do nothing for - the man of the Gaderenes
2. A woman that men could do nothing for - the woman with the issue of blood (another medi cal failure!)
3. A child that men could do nothing for

they must have absolute confidence in Christ!

For the Lord to teach them that He was a great Saviour sufficient for great need He must take them through a great storm! They must learn the truth before the world would learn it in Chapter 5.

He would bring peace to troubled disciples. He would teach them lessons in His peace. The disciples on the storm tossed sea would enjoy peace when the storm was stilled. The Peace they enjoyed inside would reflect a peace outside, brought when the Lord calmed the sea. A storm inside was caused by a storm outside. Ultimately the Lord would lead them to a greater peace: "My peace give I unto you" (John14:27), a peace that "surpasseth understanding" (Phil 4:7). In the midst of the storm Mark reflects that there was one man different from the other 12, who enjoyed a peace inside even whilst the storm raged outside: "in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow". This is His peace, a peace that rises above the storm by resting in the God who is sovereign over the storm! This is the peace of Philippians chp 4, a peace that Paul wrote about whilst the storms of life were raging in the prison cell!

By the end of this storm the disciples were brought to an even greater fear than the fear of the storm (4:31) "they feared exceedingly...what manner of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him?" Christ would have nothing in the lives of His disciples to be greater than Him, not even their fear of the storm, nor even their fear of death! Their awe for the majesty of Christ would exceed even their greatest terrors and dread! He had shown Himself Supreme over the Storm. May Christ be Supreme over my Storm today!

Every blessing.

Stewart

Christ Supreme

A new blog for 2009, coming soon - Christ Supreme