Daily Lesson for Thursday 11th of July 2024

Read Mark 1:40-45. What does this teach us about Jesus and how He related to the marginalized in society?

Leprosy as described in this passage, and throughout the Old Testament as well, did not refer only to what is known today as Hansen’s disease (bona fide leprosy). The biblical terminology would be better translated as a “dreaded skin disease” and could include other epidermic ailments, as well. Hansen’s disease may have come to the ancient Near East about the third century B.C. (see David P. Wright and Richard N. Jones, “Leprosy,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 4 [New York: Doubleday, 1992], pp. 277–282). Hence, the leper referred to in this passage could well have had Hansen’s disease, though we don’t know for sure exactly what the man suffered from, only that it was bad.

The leper places faith in Jesus that He can cleanse him. According to Leviticus 13:1-59, a leper was ritually unclean and had to avoid contact with others (see Leviticus 13:45-46).

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Jesus, however, is moved with compassion toward the man and touches him. “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed’ ” (Mark 1:41, NKJV). This action should have defiled Jesus until the evening, when He would be required to bathe to become ritually pure again (compare with Leviticus 13:1-59; Leviticus 14:1-57; Leviticus 15:1-33). But Mark is clear that Jesus’ action of touching the sick man cleanses him of his leprosy. Thus, Jesus was not defiled by touching the man.

Jesus sends the man to a priest with the instruction to offer the sacrifice Moses commanded for such cases in Leviticus 14:1-57. Throughout the Gospel of Mark, Jesus stands as a defender and supporter of what Moses taught (see Mark 7:10; Mark 10:3-4; Mark 12:26,29-31). This view stands in sharp contrast to the religious leaders, who in the passages in Mark 7:1-37; Mark 10:1-52, and Mark 12:1-44 are subverting the original intent of the teachings given through Moses. These details explain Jesus’ command in Mark 1:44 to silence the man. If he were to tell of his cure by Jesus, it might prejudice the decision of the priest in bias against Jesus.

But the cleansed leper does not seem to understand this, and in disobedience to Jesus’ command, he spreads the news far and wide, making it impossible for Jesus to enter towns openly for His ministry.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-02-can-you-keep-a-secret/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 10th of July 2024

Jesus arose before sunrise and went out to a quiet, deserted location to pray. Mark 1:35 emphasizes prayer as the focus of Jesus’ action. All the other verbal forms in the sentence are in summary form—He got up, went out, and departed (all in the aorist tense in Greek, signifying completeness). But the verb “to pray” is in the imperfect tense, a form used to express, particularly here, an ongoing process. He was praying, He kept on praying. The text also emphasizes how early it was when Jesus went out, implying that His time of prayer alone was extensive.

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Throughout the Gospels, we meet Jesus as a man of prayer (see Matthew 14:23, Mark 6:46, John 17:1-26). This appears to be one of the key secrets in the power of Jesus’ ministry.

Many Christians have set times for prayer. This practice is good and right, but it also can become a routine, almost something done by rote. One way to break out of a set mold is to change the time of prayer occasionally or to pray longer than usual at times. The point is not to lock yourself into some kind of formula that can never change.

Peter and his companions did not accompany Jesus to the place of prayer. Perhaps they knew of the location because they did find Him. Their note that everyone was looking for Jesus suggested that He follow up the exciting experience of the previous day with more healing and teaching. Surprisingly, Jesus demurs and points to a wider field of service to other locations. “But He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth’ ” (Mark 1:38, NKJV).

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Daily Lesson for Tuesday 9th of July 2024

After the amazing synagogue service, Jesus retires with His small band of disciples (Peter, Andrew, James, and John) to Peter’s home, evidently to spend the rest of the Sabbath day in a friendly meal and fellowship.

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But a note of concern overshadows the scene: Peter’s mother-in-law is ill with a fever, which back then meant you either got better or died. They tell Jesus of the sickness, and He takes Peter’s mother-in-law by the hand and raises her up. She immediately begins to provide for their needs. What a powerful example of the principle that those who have been saved, healed, by Jesus will minister to others as a result!

Throughout Mark it is often the case that Jesus heals by touching the affected person (see Mark 1:41; Mark 5:41), though other times no touch is mentioned (see Mark 2:1-12, Mark 3:1-6, Mark 5:7-13).

Jesus was not done with ministry that day. After sunset many came to Peter’s house for healing, no doubt from seeing what happened at the synagogue that day or from hearing about it. The fact that the Gospel writer does not tell his readers that people delayed because of the hours of the Sabbath indicates that he expected his readers to know about the Sabbath. This feature of Mark is consistent with his readers being Sabbath keepers.

Mark says that the entire city was gathered at the door that evening (Mark 1:33). It would have taken some time for Jesus to help all those people.

“Hour after hour they came and went; for none could know whether tomorrow would find the Healer still among them. Never before had Capernaum witnessed a day like this. The air was filled with the voice of triumph and shouts of deliverance. The Saviour was joyful in the joy He had awakened. As He witnessed the sufferings of those who had come to Him, His heart was stirred with sympathy, and He rejoiced in His power to restore them to health and happiness.

“Not until the last sufferer had been relieved did Jesus cease His work. It was far into the night when the multitude departed, and silence settled down upon the home of Simon. The long, exciting day was past, and Jesus sought rest. But while the city was still wrapped in slumber, the Saviour, ‘rising up a great while before day, . . . went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 259.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-02-more-sabbath-ministry/

I must admit, while I hated Covid and everything about it, there were some things I rather enjoyed about the temporary shutdown.

I enjoyed giving Bible studies at home on the phone in my pajamas. I enjoyed Sabbath mornings, relaxing with my Bible and having a nice big breakfast before meeting everyone on Zoom for church. I enjoyed the fact that while we did church on Zoom, old friends from around the world could join us. I even got to speak at my old church in Texas on Zoom, and a retired pastor in Texas who used to be at one of my current churches in Florida, got to be our guest speaker on Zoom.

I even learned I knew how to cook. However, when the restaurants opened back up, I seemed to have forgotten I knew how to cook. I enjoyed all the miles I saved on my car, working from home. Being an introvert, (My friends find this hard to believe but yes, I am an introvert.) I enjoyed having more time to read and write and just think and ponder life. I actually would not mind another shutdown every now and then, just without the Covid!

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But as introverted as I may be, I missed people! A single friend who lives alone like I do, mentioned to me on the phone how long it had been since she had been hugged. She said at least people stuck at home with their families can touch and hug each other. For her, though, there was no human touch. For me neither. Human touch is important. As a matter of fact, I believe that is why Satan has so masterfully made inappropriate touching such a problem today. Now people are scared to touch someone even appropriately, and by this Satan has a double win. Bad people are touching others inappropriately and good people aren’t even touching others appropriately, for fear their motives will be misconstrued. But appropriate touch is still so vitally important. Take the story of Jesus healing the leper for example.

Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. Mark 1:40-42 NKJV

We all know in the Bible leprosy can be symbolic of sin. I love the fact that while some of our prayers may seem to have a delay in being answered not so the prayer to be made clean. As soon as the request was made for being cleansed, the leper was immediately cleansed. This tells me that when I ask for forgiveness and the moral cleansing referred to in 1 John 1:9 that there is no delay. I am immediately forgiven and cleansed.

But back to my point about how important appropriate touch is. Mark tells us Jesus touched the leper. Why? After all, He healed him with the words, “be cleansed,” so why did Jesus have to touch him? Because, while Jesus cleansed the leprosy with His words, He healed the loneliness with His hand. This man had been an outcast from society and even his own home. He needed more than just physical healing. He needed emotional healing. He needed to be healed from loneliness. Words can heal leprosy, but human touch cures loneliness.

When it comes to sharing the Gospel, many people want to drop a piece of literature on someone’s doorstep and run away before the person opens the door, so they don’t have to talk to them. But the Gospel heals us completely. The Gospel not only gives us amazing facts, but it also gives us amazing relationships. The Gospel takes away our sins, but it also takes away our loneliness. This means mingling with people instead of just throwing Bible facts at them and running away. And get this, while some people complain some Bible study groups and even Sabbath school classes have to much food and refreshments instead of just studying the Bible, the complete Gospel provides both spiritual food and physical food. The complete Gospel fills the mind, the heart and the stomach! The complete Gospel makes us complete spiritually, physically and emotionally. This is why many Bible study growth groups have refreshments after the deep Bible study. This gives the teacher the opportunity to teach and fellowship with the group so he/she can get to bond with everyone.

A while back a friend from Florida moved to another state for a couple of years and then moved back to Florida. When she came back, I asked how she liked where she just moved from. She said, “Everyone was friendly, but nobody wanted to be your friend.” I thought wow, that could describe some of our churches. Everyone smiles at you but as soon as church is over, they all want to run home to be alone. I have often said, you can’t tell how friendly a church is on Sabbath. You can tell how friendly a church is during the week. Smiles and greetings on Sabbath mean absolutely nothing if we ignore each other during the week. That is why its only during the week that you can tell how friendly a church or Sabbath school class is. Our Sabbath Schools classes and Bible study groups are designed to do way more than present a Gospel that just saves you from sin. If that were the case we could all just study our Bible alone and have church by ourselves at home. Our Sabbath School classes and Bible study groups are to present a Gospel that saves the sinner from sin and loneliness. 

In the story of Jesus healing the leper, we see that the Gospel cleanses us and makes us whole, spiritually, physically and emotionally.

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Key Thought: Mark describes a Sabbath with Jesus and the calling of four disciples. The emphasis is on the action, particularly the healing of people.
July 13, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Mark 1:16-20.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. Who were the men Jesus called as disciples and what was their response?
3. Personal Application: Have you been called to give up anything to follow Jesus? Or don’t you think He has asked you to give up anything? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of you relatives states, “Why would Jesus call these men to follow Him immediately, and why would they leave everything and follow Jesus right then?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Mark 1:21-34.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What experience happened in the synagogue and what spiritual truths can we take from this account?
3. Personal Application: In witnessing to others, why is it not wise to present all that we believe regarding present truth all at once? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “How did Jesus help Peter’s family, and what spiritual lesson can we draw from this event?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Mark 1:35-39, Luke 6:12

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What lessons can we take from what Jesus did here?
3. Personal Application: If Jesus spent much time in prayer, how much time should we spend time in prayer? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Why did Jesus need to pray to the Father if they are united as one? Couldn’t Jesus have done what He wished because He was God on earth?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 1:40-45.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does this teach us about how Jesus related to the marginalized in society?
3. Personal Application: How can we be careful not to do things that could slow or hinder the spread of the gospel no matter how good are our intentions? 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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