Responding to Jesus

Mark chapter 6, it's almost a hill up and then back down as you look at the gospel of Mark.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

The height of the popularity of the ministry of Jesus comes toward the midst of the book in the gospel of Mark.

And then after you get to about the middle of the book, it begins to focus upon the cross.

And Mark spends a lot of his time talking about the last days of Christ in Jerusalem.

So when you get to Mark chapter 6, we are at the height of the popularity of the ministry of Christ primarily in Galilee.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

He's been on that boat with those disciples.

And when it moors into the dock, it is central to most of his ministry, that area.

It is not far from his adopted hometown of Capernaum where he did so much ministry.

It's not far from where he taught the Sermon on the Mount.

And much of his healing had taken place among those very people.

The whole region is alive with anticipation because the word is spreading what Christ has done.

Perhaps they see the boat approaching the shore.

I say the boat because Mark always refers to it as the boat.

As if it was a boat that was for just Christ and the disciples.

They were using somebody's boat to get around.

And crowds were moving toward him.

There was a great sense of urgency and desperation.

And I want us to look this morning at how they responded to Christ as he came to shore in Mark chapter 6, verse 53.

Mark 6:53

Because I believe that it's a proper response that we should have for Christ's work.

It's in Mark chapter 6, verse 53.

Mark 6:53

It says this.

When they crossed over, they came to the land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore.

And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him.

And ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was.

And wherever he came, villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment.

And as many as touched him were made.

Gennesaret is a beautiful area.

It is often called the paradise of Galilee.

The word itself means a garden of riches.

It is so prominent in that area that Luke chapter 5, verse 1, even says the Sea of Galilee is called the lake at Gennesaret.

Luke 5:1

It's got very rich soil.

Soil that allows almost everything to grow there.

Josephus is a first century Jewish historian that said this.

There is not a plant with its fertile soil refuses to produce.

And its cultivators, in fact, grow every species in that area.

I've been to that area.

We spent the night in Tiberias and headed toward Galilee and rode the bus through the area as we went toward Galilee and Capernaum.

It's about a three-mile section.

And it is filled with date palms, banana groves, and irrigated fields.

It stood out.

It was obviously a fertile area.

And where food can grow, people live.

The area was also known for its mineral springs.

And it was thought that they would bring medical benefit to people.

If it didn't bring medical benefit, it still felt good on hurting bones and muscles.

And people came.

And now in this populated area, Jesus has arrived.

What I want to hone in on this morning for just a few moments is how they responded to Jesus and what we can learn about their response.

I believe that how they responded is how we should respond as we saw.

How do we respond to Jesus?

First thing is we recognize him.

Verse 54 says the people immediately recognized him.

Now, Jesus is from this area.

After leaving Nazareth, he made his home in Capernaum.

And that is in this area.

And he had ministered in that area in a powerful way.

They knew who he was.

They knew he was the best preacher in all the land they had ever heard.

They knew that he taught like no one ever taught.

He was, in fact, the master teacher.

They knew he had power over evil.

They had seen that.

He cast out demons by speaking authority over them.

Death could not defeat him.

He healed the sick.

Unless, of course, they died first.

And then if they died, he raised them from the dead.

Don't you dare think that he did that because he was late.

He was always on time.

He fed them.

He fed them.

He fed them the word of God and then miraculously fed them a meal.

And word got out.

Word gets out about all of that.

Any of that would get the word out.

But all of that together really got the word out.

More than anything else, word got out about his healing.

People saw that he had power in his touch.

And they heard the strength of his voice.

And they felt a connection even with his garments.

And therefore, they came.

They show us how to come as well.

They ran to him.

The way we ought to recognize and respond to Jesus is to run to him.

Verse 55 says,

They ran about the whole region.

Now, we're not just talking about a group standing by the shore that happened to recognize Jesus as they walked up.

No, we're talking about people from throughout that region.

They dropped what they were doing and they went immediately.

I spent most of my life being separated from some family by miles.

My dad was in the Air Force.

And the only place that I remember him serving before he retired was in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

We had a grandmother in Grand Rapids, Michigan, outside that area.

But we also had a grandmother in South Carolina.

So anytime we got a vacation, we typically came to South Carolina to see Grandma.

When my dad retired, we moved to Greenville.

And then we had a grandmother in Michigan.

So anytime we got a time to go, we'd ride up to see her.

Ohio is bigger than any country in the world.

You can't get through the end of it.

But anyway, we'd ride up that way to see her.

And then I went to New Orleans Seminary.

Moved 600 miles away from my parents and went back to see them anytime I got a chance.

Dawn and I met when I pastored in South Mississippi as a seminary student.

We married shortly after my graduation.

And we moved to South Carolina.

Her people are all in Mississippi.

And so oftentimes, we'd go during the year down to Mississippi.

We moved back to Mississippi.

We had folks in South Carolina.

Anytime we got a week, we'd go back to South Carolina.

I've spent my life going from place to place.

Now, there's very few of us in Mississippi are folks.

We've got a brother down there.

And I got all my folks right here amongst us right now.

So we don't have to do that as much now.

But when my children were young, we always spent Thanksgiving away from home.

And we always spent it in one of our parents' homes, regardless of where we live.

And therefore, we had to reach out here.

This is great.

And so Black Friday came.

Now, some of y'all too young to know what Black Friday is.

I mean, I know they do it, but they don't do it.

Not like they did before the Internet.

It was serious before the Internet.

And we always went on Black Friday.

We'd get up about 4 a.m. and go stand in line somewhere.

We may not need anything.

It may not be anything we're looking for, but I'd just like to see the friends.

I like to grab the last thing before somebody else can get it when they really want it and watch.

There's been a lot of grandmas elbowed in the mouth over the years because of Black Friday.

One time we were standing in a Torres or Us line, standing outside.

We didn't know what toy we was going to buy.

I don't think we came there for anything particular.

But there was some little battery-powered rodent that was popular that year.

And people, they only had so many, and they were giving out tickets.

They got a ticket.

They didn't have a ticket.

And they were giving out tickets.

They only had like 200.

There's 400 in line.

And so people said, I don't want my test on.

I said, I'll tell you what I'm going to buy all the things I'm going to sell.

Well, I didn't get that many of them.

But I did get some, and I took them home to my children because it was the prize possession.

It was what you had to have that year.

They had never heard of it, didn't care nothing about it.

I think they wound it up, and it ran under something, and we never found it again.

You know, it's under the refrigerator somewhere.

But we loved going, and there was this frenzy to watch these people get so, the first GPS I ever bought, I bought it in a circuit city in some big bin.

And grabbed it, smacked somebody in the head, and grabbed another one, you know, and put it down somewhere else and hit it just so that person couldn't have it, you know.

I confessed all that to the Lord.

When I read about these folks running about the whole region, I thought about it like that.

Before there were Internet sales and before you could get it all shipped to the house and all that kind of stuff,

when you had to show up and get the limited supply, it was something to say.

And I feel sure in that fertile region, this was something to say.

They let nothing come away coming to Jesus.

And I want you to notice something that I believe is remarkable.

When responding to Jesus, bring others with us.

Bring others with us.

Look at verse 55.

It says, they began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard He was.

They ran with all that they could to get to Jesus.

But they did not come to Jesus alone.

They brought someone to Jesus with them.

So did we.

They found folks with needs.

They found folks who were hurting.

I want you to hear me today.

They found folks that would not.

They found folks that could not come on their own.

And they brought them to Jesus.

They didn't ignore Him.

They didn't look out for just themselves.

They didn't send them away.

They didn't try to get something of Jesus and not worry about somebody else.

They made a point.

Wherever they heard He was to bring all that they could to Him.

It is crucial.

Bring people with you to Jesus.

Verse 56 says, wherever He came.

In villages, cities, or countryside.

Folks, that means that there were small town people there.

There were big city slickers there.

That means there were country people there.

They had one common bond.

They all mean Jesus.

And they brought all people to Jesus.

I'll tell you another way they responded to Jesus.

That I think we can learn from.

Reach for them.

Verse 56 said, they laid the sick in the marketplace and implored Him that they might touch even the fringe of His garment.

It's interesting.

Implored Him.

That means they were begging Him.

And the verb there in the original language says that they were continually begging Him.

Continually to implore Him.

Asking again and again.

They had to get a touch of His garment.

Why a touch of His garment?

Well, let's look back at Mark chapter 5 that we covered a few weeks ago.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 5 verse 24 says,

Mark 5:24

And He went with them.

And a great crowd followed Him and thronged about Him.

And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years.

And who had suffered much under many physicians.

And had spent all that she had.

And was no better but rather grew worse.

And she heard the reports about Jesus.

And came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.

For she said, if I touch even His garment, I will be made well.

And immediately, the flow of blood dried up.

And she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

I wonder why those folks wanted to touch His garment.

They had heard reports.

The Lord had changed her life.

And now those reports had got out.

And people were running all over the region.

To bring as many people to Jesus as possible.

To find healing by grasping.

Matthew tells us.

They brought people from all over the region.

May all Pippins County.

No.

Of the hope of Christ.

Folks, we reach beyond Pippins County.

May all Oconee County.

No.

They can reach Christ.

May all Greenville County.

No.

May all Anderson County.

No.

May all Transylvania County.

Yeah, we got some coming over the mountain to get here.

Transylvania County.

No.

May all know.

In all the surrounding regions.

Power.

And touch.

On Jesus.

You need a touch of Jesus.

Just reach for Him.

Peter was sinking in that water.

In the midst of his storm, he cried out to Jesus.

Jesus.

And when he cried out to Jesus.

Jesus took him.

Jesus took him out of hand.

I thank you.

He'll always meet you where you are.

He'll always break you to where you need to be.

He'll make you what you need to be.

He'll clean up the coming crows.

If you can't clean up one time.

He'll meet you where you are.

One more response I want you to see.

It's powerful to me.

A proper response to Christ is to be changed by him.

They could not heal themselves.

None of us can.

They had to surrender themselves to Him.

Reach out to Him.

They implored Him to change their lives.

And He did.

Verse 56 said,

And as many as touched it were made well.

I want to dig into that for just a moment.

Just leave it up for just a moment.

That word touched there,

in the Greek it's an heirs verb.

Which means it's a punctiliar verb from the past.

It means that it happened at one time.

It was a one time movement.

Done in one action.

In the past.

They touched Him.

But it's not only that.

The text emphasizes that when they touched Him,

at the point that they touched Him,

He made them well.

I don't like to dig among the weeds a whole lot.

I like to do my homework and study,

and then try to put it in English.

But I don't want us to go into a language.

When it says that as soon as they touched Him,

excuse me,

as many as touched Him were made well.

The word there for well is sozo.

Sozo.

I want you to understand what it's saying.

That word is used several times.

It's used when the woman of the issue of blood touches you.

That's found in Mark 5, verse 34.

Mark 5:34

It says,

And He said,

Daughter, your faith has made you well.

Sozo.

Go in peace

and be healed

of your deceit.

However,

it's also the same word that's used in Luke chapter 19, verse 10.

Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man came to seek and to sozo the lost.

He came to seek and to save the lost.

Let me give you another one.

Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been sozo.

You have been saved through faith.

One more.

Romans 10, 9.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be sozo.

You will be saved.

Actually,

the most accurate translation of our passage for today

is that as many as touched him were saved.

Now,

they changed that

because the context is

they were looking for physical healing

and they got it.

But in reality,

they got a whole lot more than physical healing.

And when you reach for Jesus today,

He'll change your life.

Reach for Him.

He's reaching for you.

He'll change your life.

Do you know what I find so ironic?

That in the midst of the storm,

the disciples didn't recognize Him

even though they were with Him

day after day.

Day after day,

they were with Him,

but yet they thought He was a ghost.

But Mark tells us

this crowd recognized Him immediately.

It's quite amazing

that sometimes it's the people

that are most familiar with the church.

Sometimes it's the people

that are most familiar with the things of God.

Sometimes it's the people

who are the people of God

that are the ones

that do not recognize Him

and they miss out

on the very best that He has.

I want you to notice,

we learned last week,

that recognizing the things of God

gets tough when we're hard-hearted.

Even though the disciples

had walked with Him,

they were hard-hearted.

That's what the Scripture says.

And they had a hard time recognizing it

because they were hard-hearted.

And I've preached long enough

and experienced enough

movements of God

in congregations

to realize that some

of the most faithful in attendance,

some of the longest standing in membership,

some of the most experienced in worship,

sometimes can be the most skeptical,

most hardened about experiences

in the church.

Some,

and I want you to hear me today,

clearly,

some can't help

that they go to sleep here in worship.

They can't help it.

Medication's rough, okay?

This past Friday,

I celebrated a one-year anniversary.

Many of you,

if you were here,

you remember,

I had a massive heart attack

a year ago, okay?

Had cardiac arrest three times,

and every cardiologist

I saw in hospitals

was a miracle that I made.

And I tried to come back to church

just as soon as I could.

This church took care of me

and had the pulpit filled

for five weeks for me,

immediately.

But after a couple of weeks,

I wanted to come back to worship.

I'd do the welcome

and I'd go over and sit down.

I'd stay for the second service,

I'd do the welcome

and I'd go over there and sit down.

I'm going to be honest.

Because of the medication I was on,

because of the state of the healing

that I was going through

and all that stuff.

And that second worship hour,

it got rough over there,

just like it does for you

every Sunday Friday.

It got rough over there for me, okay?

And I got more sympathetic

about those.

Now, my wife has told me

a long time

that God called me

in the ministry

so I'm going to have to sit in the queue

because I don't do a good job.

But I got sympathetic to those

that have to take so much medication

they can't hardly hold their head up.

And so I know

that some people can help.

I get that.

I get that.

But I'll tell you another thing too, folks.

Some set out to go to sleep in church.

I mean, I've seen people

that sit on the end

that kind of nuzzle up

to get positioned right.

Hoping I'll preach long enough

and soft enough

for them to get a good nap in,

but not so long

they got to wake up and hear me.

I've witnessed that.

Never here, of course.

I'm talking about churches

a long way from here.

But my point is this.

It's not just the young

and the spry

that need a touch from God.

We all need a touch from God.

Instead, it is often the one

that has been in the boat

of the Lord a long time

that needs it the most

and does not recognize

when Jesus walks

in the midst of the congregation

or walks in the midst

of our lives.

It is a blessing

yet often shame

who seeks out

and recognizes

the movement of the Lord.

People who are hungry

for the Lord,

they don't sit back

and worship and say,

I dare you to bless you.

They don't do it.

They pursue the things of God.

They strive to tell others

of the movement of God.

They put themselves second

so that God and His work

can be first.

They seek Him.

Do you know where they find Him?

I love the book of Revelation.

There's a lot of misunderstanding

about it

and I had a lot of misunderstanding

about it.

And I wanted to understand it more

and I set out several years ago

to really study it

to get an understanding

for myself.

Okay?

I look at it a little differently

than a lot of times

with soul and people.

But I enjoy the book of Revelation.

I appreciate the fact that

the context in which it's written,

it is written,

Revelation 2,

chapters 2 and 3

tells us

that it is written

that seven churches

in Asia Minor,

I know because of the setting,

that they were all under

the persecution

of the Roman Empire.

It was illegal

for them to be in church

in the area

in which they are on.

And John is exiled

to the island of Patmos

because he will not

stop preaching to God.

And as he's on

the island of Patmos,

God gives him

a vision.

A vision that takes him

into heaven

to see what's going on

in heaven.

A vision that takes him

back to earth

and then back to heaven

and then back to earth

and then back to heaven

several times.

And he comes out

writing and sharing

what he saw in heaven

and what he saw on earth.

And he's writing

to give hope to those

in those seven churches

who are struggling

under the persecution

of the Roman Empire.

He writes to them

a coded letter.

A letter using

a lot of Old Testament

imagery.

But he writes to them

an imagery

that they will understand

and they will get.

A lot of it he repeats

in different ways too.

But he writes to them

an imagery

that they will understand

so that he can give

that letter

to a Roman courier

and that Roman courier

cannot read it

and understand what it says.

And then that Roman courier

takes it.

If you look at the order

of the churches

that's listed

in Revelation 2 and 3

and you pull up a map

and you connect the dots

from city to city to city

you'll notice that it is

an egg-shaped route.

That's exactly what it is.

It is a Roman postal route.

He was giving him

a vision

for a letter

to be written

to be brought

to the first church

that would

handscribe

what that letter says

and then pass it on

to a courier

to the next church

without the courier

never knowing

what he was saying.

You know what he was saying?

A lot of what he said

wasn't about

what's going to happen

in our future.

You know what?

The book of Revelation

wasn't written

first to us

in our generation.

It was written

first to us.

And if everything

in that book

has to do with something

that's still going to happen

it didn't give them

a lick of hope

that day.

So the reality is

what he was telling them

is not only

what had happened

to them

what was happening

to them

but then praise God

what will happen

not only to them

but to all of us

is what he was telling them.

But of all those things

in Revelation

I love chapter 1

the most.

You know why I love

chapter 1 the most?

It's because chapter 1

tells me

where Jesus is.

John sees the imagery

of each one of those churches

as capital students

with a light burning

burning in the darkness

of their sin

shedding the light

of the Lord

and he said

I want you to know

that Jesus

and he gives a great

image of Jesus

and we just spent days

on the night

and he's walking

in the morning.

The most reassuring thing

in the book

of Revelation

is Jesus.

He's walking

in our lives.

He knows

our circumstances.

He knows

the valleys

that we go through.

He knows

the mountaintops

that we go through.

He knows

all of that

and he's walking

with us

through that.

Friends,

it don't only happen

when we come

into this building.

He walked in.

If you're a child

of God today

he walked in with you.

He's leaving

with you.

He's always

with you.

He's walking

in the midst.

The Lord

is here.

We just need

to reach out

and claim

what he has

for us.

Or as

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 4:29

chapter 4

verse 29

says,

Seek the

Lord your God

and you will

find him

even if you

search out

with all your

heart

and all your

soul.

Sometimes

it is the

people

that have

heard it

again

and again

and are

used to it

that have

never really

recognized

Christ,

have never

really ran

to Christ,

have never

really surrendered

to Christ.

you're here

this morning

and there's

never been

a time

in your

life

that you've

surrendered

your life

to the Lord

Jesus Christ.

Don't you dare

believe church

attendance,

church

membership,

church

leadership,

don't think

any of that

will save you.

The only thing

that will save

you is when

the Lord

Jesus calls

upon you

to surrender

your life

and you

respond

to the

weakness.

You've

never given

your heart

and life

to the Lord

Jesus today.

I encourage

you to

confess that

you need

you're a

sinner and

you need

to forgive

you and

to cleanse

you and

to commit

to you

from this

day of

Lord.

I'm going

to live

for you

I want

you to

take a

life.

I want

to live

it.

If you've

done that

but you've

done that

privately

we need

to do

it

publicly.

As I

read last

week

Jesus said

if you're

ashamed of

me before

men I'll

be ashamed

of you.

The reality

is if you're

ashamed of

him you've

never acknowledged

him publicly

it's not

really happened

privately.

There's evidence

of that anyway.

So if you've

never acknowledged

him and Jesus

by his example

and by his

commission

tells us to do

that for the

baptism.

We're going to

baptize next

week.

If you've

never been

baptized as a

believer I

encourage you

to come

and say

pastor I

know I'm

saved.

I need

to be

baptized.

Maybe you're

here and

God's leading

you to pick

this first

better.

God's doing

a wonderful

work in our

church.

I'm

thankful.

God's

leading you

to be a

part of

the

God.

If you

need more

Lord Jesus

this morning

if you need

to publicly

acknowledge

him this

morning

if you need

to join

this church

this morning

maybe there's

something on

your heart.

Maybe there's

something in

your life

that you need

to lay down

this altar

and just give

it to him.

You can do

that in the

pew where you

stand in just

a moment.

Just a quiet

prayer.

You can do

it in this

altar.

You can do

it with a

pastor praying.

There's no

reason for any

of us to leave

this room with

unfinished business

with God.

He spoke to

us.

We need to

respond to

the people.

Respond

correctly.

Respond the

way they did

in the last

morning.

without

reluctance

after we

pray

we'll stand

and sing.

You come.

Any questions

about what

do you

come?

Let's

talk.

Let's pray

together.

Lord Jesus I

love you and I

thank you dear

God for the

love that you

have for us

and I ask

today that

you'll help

us to respond

to you as

your spirit

leads us

right now.

Jesus precious

name.

Amen.

Amen.