The 12 Apostles were called by Jesus to join him in his ministry. Of all the men that were in Galilee, Jesus chose a select few, 12 in all. Jesus has been pouring spiritual insight into these 12 men. Jesus knew He was returning to his Father, and the 12 would carry on what we know as the church.

The first lesson Jesus taught his disciples on this day involved their attitude of elitism. To be elitist is to believe that some things are only for a few people who have special qualities or abilities. John came to Jesus and said, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

Acts 19:13-16

13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”

14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

To be an effective exorcist, you must have the mind of Christ. These seven sons of Sceva knew of Jesus and Paul, but not in the right way.

“Some Ephesians engaged in exorcism and occult practices. The sons of Sceva were impressed by Paul, whose power to drive out demons came from God’s Holy Spirit, not from witchcraft, and was obviously more powerful than theirs. They discovered, however, that no one can control or duplicate God’s power. These men were calling on the name of Jesus without knowing Jesus personally. The power to change people comes from Jesus Christ himself. It cannot be tapped by reciting his name like a magic charm.”¹

The man John saw casting out an evil spirit, to be effective, had to be in relationship with Jesus. Jesus responded to John and the other disciples, “Do not stop him,” “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.”

What was it about this man that prompted John to tell him to stop driving out demons? He was not part of their elite group. The lesson we can learn from this incident is don’t decide not to do effective ministry with churches that are not affiliated with you as long as Jesus is the common denominator in our service, we should be able to work together.

Jesus gives a warning in verse 42, “if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.” Jesus is not talking about children here. He is talking about believers/disciples. The disciple that was casting out evil spirits in Jesus’ name, but was not included amongst the Apostles, is an example of the little ones Jesus was talking about. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to discourage us in our service to God. Especially when the person causing discouragement is in leadership in the church.

To emphasis this point about causing a believer to sin Jesus said, “it would be better for him (the person causing the believer to sin) to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.” Jesus here is exaggerating this point because the average weight of a man in the US is 200 pounds, and the weight of a large millstone could weigh upwards of 1,600 pounds. In the amplified version of the Bible, the millstone is referenced as a heavy millstone, one requiring a donkey’s strength to turn it, to be hung around your neck, then be thrown into the sea. We must be careful as we interact with members of the body of Christ, least we cause one to sin or lose faith.

Then in verse 43 Jesus shifts his teaching from being about offending a brother or sister causing them to sin, to what we must do figuratively to keep from sinning.

“The instruction to hack off body parts that cause one to stumble is an example of metaphoric hyperbole characteristic of Jesus and is not meant to be taken literally.”²

The reason Jesus used metaphoric hyperbole in saying, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off, and if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off, and if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out” was to keep us from going to Hell.

“The fact that a saying is not meant to be taken literally is not to diminish or discount its importance, however. If anything, the hyperbole enhances the teaching that God is more important than even those things most indispensable to us. It attests to the uncompromising offense of the gospel and of the authority of Jesus, that nothing — not even things we value supremely like eyes, hands, and feet — should stand in the way of eternal life.”³

We are familiar with the use of salt. One theologian says this about verses 49 and 50, “This phrase may refer to the trials and judgments that all will face — believers with trials that purify faith, unbelievers with the eternal fire of God’s judgment.

Mark 10:1-12 has Jesus’ teaching about the ideal scenario for marriage.

1 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again, crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

 

Jewish law permitted divorce. The only question concerned the grounds for divorce. There were two schools of thought on divorce. The School of Shammai taught a man may only divorce his wife for extramarital relations. The School of Hillel taught a man could divorce his wife if he found any indecency in her. Indecency could be as simple as burning his dinner.

The Pharisees that questioned Jesus were trying to trap him. This encounter took place in the region where Herod Antipas ruled. He was the one that had John the Baptist beheaded because of his stance on Herod’s divorce and remarriage to Herodias.

“The Pharisees surely suspect Jesus of holding views of marriage that differ from theirs. They intend to demolish his position by causing him to compromise the authority of the Torah. Their objective is to maintain a permissive divorce policy, and the more permissive the better. Schurer, a German Protestant theologian, summarizes the Jewish position on divorce thus: divorce was relatively easy in those days, and the Pharisees and rabbis intended to keep it that way.”⁴

3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied.

“The exceptional measures necessary when a marriage fails are of no help in discovering the meaning and intention of marriage. Jesus endeavors to recover God’s will for marriage, not to argue about possible exceptions to it.”⁵

Speaking from personal experience, Karen and I entered our marriage agreeing that divorce was not an option. We celebrated 49 years of marriage this year. If divorce had been an option, from the beginning, we would probably be divorced today. By the grace of God, we are still married and happy. Amen!

6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’

7 ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,

8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two, but one.

9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

“The greatest difference between Jesus and the rabbis, however, is this: by giving a husband principle control over his wife, the Jewish divorce policy made the man the lord of the marital relationship. According to Jesus, however, it is neither man nor woman who controls marriage, but rather God, who is the lord of marriage. What God has joined together, let man not separate.”⁶

If we are obedient in our marriages, a husband’s allegiance to his wife surpasses his allegiance to his parents. Honoring our parents is one of the Ten Commandments and second only to the commandment to honor God. Based on verse 7 the marriage relationship surpasses a man’s honor of parents, and hence it becomes second to honoring God. That is the seriousness of the marriage relationship, and that is why getting married should not be taken lightly.

10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this.

11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

I close with a quote that might help some of you who have divorced your prior spouse for the wrong reasons. “The intent of Jesus’ teaching is not to shackle those who fail in marriage with debilitating guilt. The question is not whether God forgives those who fail in marriage. The answer to that question is assured in Mark 3:28, “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.” There is, after all, no instance in Scripture of an individual seeking forgiveness and being denied it by God.”

Study Questions

1. Are we as a congregation guilty of elitism?
2. What can we do as a congregation to meet the needs of people like Mark, who have visited our church on several occasions?
3. What was the crime of the seven sons of Sceva?
4. What lesson do we learn about working with people or groups not affiliated with Hillview?
5. Does the Bible teach us to cut off parts of our body to keep from sinning?
6. What effect does salt have on believers in Jesus and on nonbelievers in Jesus?
7. According to Jewish law, was it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
8. What is the difference between how the Jewish rabbis and Jesus saw control in marriages?
9. Does marriage supersede the honor of our parents? What does that mean to you?
10. What comfort spiritually does Mark 3:28 give to divorcees?