Daily Lesson for Tuesday 16th of July 2024

In Mark 2:23-24, the Pharisees accuse the disciples of breaking the Sabbath. According to Jewish tradition, 39 forms of labor were forbidden on the Sabbath, which, in the Pharisees’ minds, included what the disciples had done.

Image © Phil McKay at Goodsalt.com

Jesus responds with the story of David’s eating the sacred shewbread (1 Samuel 21:1-6). The shewbread was removed on the Sabbath; so, David’s journey may well have been an emergency escape on the Sabbath. Jesus argues that if David and his men were justified in eating the shewbread, then Jesus’ disciples are justified in plucking and eating grain.

Jesus further indicates that the Sabbath was made for the benefit of humanity, not the other way around, and that the basis for His claim is that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.

Again Jesus faces controversy with the religious leaders over the Sabbath. (Notice, however, that the controversy is never over the Sabbath day itself.) The religious leaders want to accuse Jesus if He heals on the Sabbath. Jesus does not shy away from confronting them. He sets up a contrast between doing good or doing harm, saving life or killing. The answer to His question is obvious; doing good and saving life are much more appropriate as Sabbath activities.

Jesus proceeds to heal the man, which angers His opponents, who immediately start to plan His demise. The irony of the story is that those looking to catch Jesus in Sabbath breaking were themselves breaking the Sabbath by plotting His death that same day.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-03-the-lord-of-the-sabbath/

It is wonderful to travel through John Mark’s life and see the beautiful story climax with 
Christ The Lord Is Risen Today – Hymn 166, therefore 
Go, Preach My Gospel – Hymn 378. These two hymns give us a purpose all during this quarter to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus. May you enjoy these hymns for your theme hymn from which to choose.

Our memory text gives us a great hymn that resounds through this week: 
Hymn 393 – Lord Of The Sabbath.

 With the stories being told in the book of Mark, I ask that God will continue to 
Tell Me The Old, Old Story – Hymn 196, especially the part of 
Tell Me The Story Of Jesus – Hymn 152 as Jesus would tell people stories to make things simpler for them to understand – if they were willing to listen.

 Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed and to bless many others.

 To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-controversies-singing-with-inspiration/

Key Thought: Mark Chapters 2 and 3 contain stories that illustrate Jesus teachings in a topical parallel. Some focus on the nature of Jesus, His role as Messiah, and the nature of discipleship.
July 20, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Mark 2:1-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What was the paralytic and his friends looking for, and what did he actually receive?
3. Personal Application: How can we avoid the same mindset being obsessed with the forms of religion so much that we forget what really matters in true religion? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why did Jesus tell the man his sins were forgiven at first when he and his friends seemed to be looking for a physical healing?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Mark 2:23-28, Mark 3:1-6.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How does Jesus counter the charge brought by the Pharisees?
3. Personal Application: What principles of Sabbath-keeping can we take away from these accounts and the challenges we face in keeping the Sabbath? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Wasn’t the Sabbath made for man? So doesn’t it make sense that we can choose what to do on it and when we celebrate it? If it is for us, we should be able to determine what it means and when to celebrate it.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Mark 3:20-30.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What connection do you see between the two stories intertwined in this passage?
3. Personal Application: How could people be blinded enough by hatred, tradition, and religion so that even miracles can’t open their minds to Christ? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “What is the unpardonable sin, and what does it mean? How do we know if we have committed the unpardonable sin or not?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 3:20,21; 31-35.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What experience led Jesus’ family to consider Him out of His mind?
3. Personal Application: What does Jesus’ family want and how does He respond? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-controversies-teaching-plan/

Daily Lesson for Monday 15th of July 2024 

Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were civil servants under the local or Roman government. They were unpopular among the Jewish population in Judea because they often exacted more than required and became rich off their countrymen. A Jewish commentary on religious law, the Mishnah tractate Tohoroth says, “If taxgatherers entered a house [all that is within it] becomes unclean.”

Image © Kim Justinen from GoodSalt.com

Thus, it is not surprising that the scribes inquire disapprovingly, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

How did Jesus respond to their question? He doesn’t reject it. Instead, He turns it on its head, indicating that people who are sick, not who are healthy, need a doctor. He thereby claims the moniker of spiritual doctor, the One who can heal the sin-sick soul. And should not a doctor go where the sick are?

Mark 2:18-22 picks up a new theme. It is the central story of these five stories dealing with controversy. Where the previous section included a feast provided by Levi, this next story revolves around the question of fasting. It consists of a query as to why Jesus’ disciples do not fast when John the Baptist’s and the Pharisees’ do. Jesus responds with an illustration or parable in which He compares His presence to a wedding feast. It would be an extremely odd wedding if the guests all fasted. But Jesus does predict a day when the bridegroom will be taken away, an allusion to the Cross. There will be plenty of time for fasting then.

Jesus continues with two illustrations that highlight the contrast between His teaching and that of the religious leaders—unshrunk cloth on an old garment and new wine in old wineskins. What an interesting way to contrast the teaching of Christ and the religious leaders. It shows just how corrupted the ways of the teachers had become. Even true religion can be turned into darkness if people are not careful.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-03-calling-levi-and-the-question-of-fasting/

Daily Lesson for Sunday 14th of July 2024

The man was paralyzed; his four friends, therefore, had to carry him to Jesus. After they tore through the roof and let the man down into Jesus’ presence, Mark 2:5 notes that Jesus saw their faith. How can faith be visible? Like love, it becomes visible in actions, as the persistence of the friends openly illustrates.

Image © Lifeway Collection at Goodsalt.com

The man’s obvious need was physical. However, when he comes into Jesus’ presence, the first words Jesus pronounces refer to forgiveness of sins. The man speaks not a word during the entire scene. Instead, it is the religious leaders who object (in their minds) to what Jesus has just said. They consider His words blasphemous, slandering God, and taking on prerogatives that belong only to God.

Jesus meets the objectors on their own ground by using a typical rabbinic style of argumentation called “lesser to greater.” It is one thing to say that a person’s sins are forgiven; it is another thing to actually make a paralyzed man walk. If Jesus can make the man walk by the power of God, then His claim to forgive sins finds affirmation.

These religious leaders lost sight of what really mattered: justice, mercy, and walking humbly before God. So obsessed with defending their understanding of God, they were blinded to God’s working right before their eyes. Nothing indicated that the men changed their minds about Jesus even though He gave them more than enough evidence to know that He was from God, not only by letting them know that He could read their minds (no simple feat in and of itself) but also by healing the paralytic in their presence in a way that they could not deny.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-03-healing-a-paralytic/