Mark 3:1-6 etc.
THE FOUR LOOKS
"Camillo, the artist, after a long and sinful life, painted a picture of Christ as "The Man of Sorrows." But he gave the eyes such an appealing and searching look that he had to veil the picture. He told a preacher of the painting and of the effect the eyes had upon him."
The preacher told him to unveil the picture and let the eyes do their work. And what a work they did! They seemed to look right into the artist's heart. They told him to make reparation to all whom he had wronged. They told him to buy up and destroy every inch of canvas he had ever painted that might suggest evil thoughts. For many days he tried to repair the damage he had caused. Yet, in his heart there was no peace.
"One night he knelt and told Christ he had sinned against Him as well as against his fellow men. The artist was ready to give his heart to the Lord. The peace and joy and love that filled his soul changed the artist into a new man." Source Unknown
All this happened because of the look of Christ.
Much can be communicated through the use of the eyes. There's the look of love, the look of despair, the look of appreciation, the look of peace, the look of anger, the look of conviction, and the look of joy, just to mention a few. We very often understand people better when their words are matched by a facial expression.
Wouldn't it be neat, if we could see the eyes of our Lord Jesus when He spoke or dealt with people? Or wouldn't be great to see just the "look" that He gave in given situations. Of course, this is physically impossible, for we would have had to have been "there" in order to see these looks.
However, our friend Mark tells us of four instances in the life of our Lord Jesus in which Mark says of Jesus, "He looked around." By examining the circumstances, we can easily determine the type of look our savior gave, and gain some very practical lessons for our own lives.
THE LOOK OF ANGER 3:1-5
We have a hard time trying to visualize our Lord with an angry look.
This is because we think of Him as the loving Savior, which He is.
Also, we think of our own anger, which is so often a sinful anger.
It is nothing for us to get angry at the wrong time, at the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. We know that our Lord is not guilty of the same irrational, uncontrollable anger of which we have been guilty.
When our Lord was angry it was always a righteous anger.
When our Lord was angry it was as God in the flesh, who did not sin!
When our Lord was angry it was in the right place, at the right time, and for the right reasons.
One of the groups who opposed our Lord was the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were a group who not only stood for a strong and literal interpretation of the laws of God, but also adhered to many man-made traditions and writings of men.
The Pharisees were guilty of treating the traditions of men as God's laws.
In the passage before us, the issue is the keeping of the Sabbath, Saturday, the Jewish day of rest and devotion to God.
The Pharisees had added many rules and regulations to the keeping of the Sabbath that you won't find in the Bible.
At the end of Mark 2, the Pharisees got on our Lord's case simply because the disciples picked some pieces of grain and ate them on the Sabbath Day. to them, this was the equivalent of working.
Our Lord points out in Mark 2:27 - And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Man was not to live to benefit the Sabbath.
Instead the Sabbath existed to benefit man, so that man would rest, and that man would honor God.
The conclusion was that something as simple as picking some grain or fruit and eating it was not a violation of the Sabbath day rule not to work.
In chapter 3 there is another issue concerning the Sabbath.
The scene is the local synagogue.
There is a man there with a paralyzed hand.
Vs. 2 - With the reputation of Jesus, you'd think that the people there with the man would hope and pray that Jesus would heal the man then and there so the man would be better.
But no, they were hoping that Jesus would cure the man, so they could accuse Jesus of violating the Sabbath.
Vs. 3 - Our Lord faces the issue head on.
He knew what the opposition was up to.
He brings the man center-stage.
Vs. 4 - Our Lord directly asks the question if it is within the law to do what was good and life-saving on a Sabbath day.
By this statement, Jesus was implying not to do good the Sabbath day was to do harm. And not to save life on the Sabbath day, was the same as destroying it.
And note the total silence.
No one in the opposition was going to say, Lord, you are right. Go ahead and heal this man to the glory of God.
Vs. 5 - Now here is our Lord's look of anger.
The anger was over the hard heartedness of the people!
They would rather see a man stick stay sick than have one of their man-made laws violated.
But the Pharisees themselves would violate their own man-made laws.
Luke 14:1-6 - And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him.
2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.
3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And he took [him], and healed him, and let him go;
5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
6 And they could not answer him again to these things.
It was evidently common practice to rescue animals on the Sabbath day, but for the Lord to heal a human being was viewed as wrong.
Note here that it says the Lord looked with anger, and the tense of the word for anger means that it was a brief period of anger.
Note also that he was grieved at the hardness of their hearts.,
And the word for grieved here means that the sorrow continued on for a while.
How does this all relate to us?
We all have a set of values.
We all have our traditions.
To you certain things should always be done.
To me certain things should always be done.
To you certain things should never be done.
To me, certain things should never be done.
The way each of us does certain things or holds certain convictions becomes almost sacred to us.
Each person's convictions and values are different.
So what happens when somebody does something that violates our convictions?
Do we criticize or want nothing to do with that person.
Do we ignore the good they are accomplishing?
Or do we get jealous when they get things done for the Lord in spite of doing things differently than we would?
As long as a person is not violating God's standards, laid down in God's Word, I have little quarrel if he violates my own personal convictions.
It doesn't mean that I have to change my opinion to be like him, but it does mean I should be joyful when he or she brings glory to God.
Let's make up an example of what I mean.
You do know that I have a conviction about Sunday evening church. It's no secret that I feel you should be here Sunday Nights.
But what if one of you comes in to me and says, "Pastor, our family was invited over to an unsaved person's house last Sunday evening. I'm sorry we missed church, but we felt we had to go. It's a good thing we did, because we were able to lead the husband and wife to the Lord.?"
How should I react?
If I was the like the Pharisees in this story, I'd probably jump all over your case for not being in church on Sunday Night. That would reflect a hard heart.
If I were to react the way the Lord would want me to react, I would have to be joyful, because your efforts brought glory to God, even though you violated my own personal standards.
Let us always be soft-hearted enough to rejoice at the good being done by other Christians, even when we can't agree with all their practice or standards, As long as God's Word is not being disobeyed, we have little room for criticism.
Going back to the story, in spite of the hard heartedness of the Pharisees, our Lord healed the crippled man.
Vs. 6 - They consulted with another group, the Herodians, to see what they could be done to destroy Jesus.
Luke 6:11 - And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
THE FIRST LOOK OF JESUS IS A LOOK OF ANGER
THE LOOK OF EXPOSURE - Mark 5:24-34
The look of exposure in this story is a good look.
Our Lord gives this look to expose and solidify the faith of someone who has chosen to trust him.
There is a man named Jairus, who has come to request that our Lord heal his sick, 12 year old daughter, which Lord ultimately did do.
Jesus is on His way with Jairus to Jairus' house.
there is a great crowd with them as they travel.
Vss. 25-26 - In this crowd is a certain woman who had been sick as long as Jairus' daughter had been alive - 12 years.
She has suffered many things at the hands of the doctors.
In another passage it says she spent her wealth trying to be healed.
Vs. 27 - This woman came in to the crowd and reached out and touched the garment of our Lord.
Vs. 28 - This was a reach of faith.
It was felt in those days, that if you touched the garment of someone like the Lord Jesus you could be healed. This was superstition, more than anything else.
However, this woman did have faith.
She tried something that was unorthodox, and scripturally ungrounded. Although she had her method messed up, her heart was in the right place. She had faith in the Lord Jesus and in His ability to heal.
God is still gracious today.
People have made statement that you and I might cringe at, as far as orthodoxy is concerned. They have gone out on limbs where you and I might not dare to go, but God has honored their faith. Even if later they discover that what they said or did to express faith was highly unusual.
Decision Magazine - "In 1957 Watson Spoelstra, sportswriter for the Detroit News was riding the crest of affluence and success. Then a wave of tragedy broke over him. Arriving home one evening, he found his daughter sprawled out on the floor with a brain hemorrhage.
"A short time later in the hospital chapel he prayed, "Lord, God, I think you're in this room because my mother thought so much of you. I'll make a deal with you. You do something about Ann, and I'll let you do something about me."
"In his own words, Spoelestr's life had been "Wild", and his drinking had gotten out of hand." But now he was dead serious with God. Reflecting on his prayer he wrote later, "That in substance, is what I said. But with that little feeble half-step that I took, the Lord reached out and touched me, and I knew at that moment that somehow my life was going to change and be different and it has." Spoelestra went on to serve the Lord through a unique ministry to athletes.
He took a private step of faith that the Lord eventually exposed so others would benefit by knowing about it.” Decision Magazine
When we take private steps of faith, the Lord often exposes them. They help solidify our own walk with God, and they encourage others.
Vs. 29 - The woman was completely healed, and she knew it.
Vs. 30 - Our Lord, being God, knew that power had left His body for the purpose of healing. So, He turned and asked who had touched Him.
Can you imagine this woman? She's joyful for having been healed after 12 long years. But now she is sacred at a possible rebuke by the master. Perhaps she was afraid that she was guilty of stealing.
Vs. 31 - The disciples thought that someone had just bumped into her.
Vs. 32 - Here's the look of exposure. Our Lord scans the crowd trying to find the individual who had reached out for healing.
Vs. 33 - The woman came forward and told the story in fear and trembling.
Vs. 34 - Our Lord gave assurance of total healing.
It was God honoring her faith that made her well.
She was to go in peace.
By exposing her, the Lord could assure and encourage her. She did not have to fear because she had had privately expressed her faith.
We need people like this woman today.
People who will privately trust God for healing in their families,
People who will privately trust God for growth in their churches,
People who will privately trust God for development in their Spiritual lives,
Many times faith need not be public, other times it needs to be.
When God calls you to private faith, don't be surprised if the Lord makes it public, as he did with this woman.
Example - Dottie "cheating" with prayer.
THE LOOK OF ANGER
THE LOOK OF EXPOSURE
THE LOOK OF EMPHASIS Mark 10:17-27
The story is about the rich young ruler.
Vs. 17 - He asks how he can obtain eternal life.
Vs. 18 - The Lord was indicating His own deity when He said there is
none good, save God.
Vs. 19 - Our Lord now mentions most of the commandments which deal with a man's obligations to others. I feel that the Lord was showing this man his lost condition. Before a person can be saved, he needs to know that he's lost - that he needs a Savior because of his sin.
Vs. 20 - As far as an outward obligation, this man claimed to have been obedient in all these areas.
Vs, 21 - Our Lord loved this man, as He does every sinner. He realized that there was only on thing keeping him from eternal life. he was going to have to turn his back on his wealth and follow Christ, if he was going to be saved.
Our Lord did not say this to every person who followed Him.
In this case, however, the man loved His money more than God.
The money was His idol, his God.
In his opinion, he kept the commandments of obligation to his neighbor, he violated the first two commandments.
Exodus 20:2-3 - I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Vs. 22 - The man walked away sorrowful, or grieved.
In his opinion, the price was higher than he wanted to pay.
He had great possessions.
Vs. 23 - Here is the next of our Lord's looks.
It is the look of emphasis.
He is looking around, getting eye contact, because He is going
to make a point.
A RICH MAN ENTERS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY!
Notice that His disciples are amazed. To the Jewish mindset, the one with wealth, was indicating that he had good relationship with God, and was on his way to heaven.
Vs. 25 - Our Lord was insistent.
He repeats Himself. it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle, than it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Vs. 26 - The disciples concluded that if rich men had so much trouble getting into Heaven, who could be saved?
Vs. 27 - With man, salvation is impossible, because of a man's sin. Rich and poor have all failed God.
With God rich and poor alike can be saved because of God's work though Christ on the cross.
Does Jesus give a look of emphasis today?
I feel He does.
There are times when you hear the same Scripture a few times at short intervals, or several messages on the same topic.
There are times when you feel a continual conviction about something that needs to be dealt with.
I believe that's the Lord giving you on a look, and He wants to catch your attention. Don't ignore Him!
THE LOOK OF EMPHASIS
THE LOOK OF EXPOSURE
THE LOOK OF ANGER
THE LOOK OF EVALUATION Mark 11:11
This is the last time in Mark that it says, "Jesus looked around."
It was on the day of His entry into Jerusalem.
It was on the day Jerusalem had given Him a king's welcome
As king, our Lord looked around the the temple area, an area that was dedicated to Him as God.
The look was one of evaluation.
He would come the next day and clean the temple of it's sinful practices as far as buying and selling in God's house was concerned.
Now why should we care if Jesus took a look of evaluation around a temple?
Because if you and I are saved we are the temple of God. God's Holy Spirit lives inside of us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
If my body and Spirit belong to God, does not the Son of God have the right to make evaluation?
Have you ever taken the time to say, Lord Jesus, please evaluate this temple.
Please give your searching glance.
Show me what's right.
Show me what's wrong.
Empower me to change!"
Psalm 139:23-24 - Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
THE LOOK OF ANGER
THE LOOK OF EXPOSURE
THE LOOK OF EMPHASIS
THE LOOK OF EVALUATION