Jesus' Leadership: Mark 5

The Demon Possessed Man in the Garasenes
vv 1-20. After calming the storm the disciples and Jesus arrive on the Southeast shore of Galilee, a Gentile area. Jesus sends the demons possessing a crazy man into a herd of pigs. The pigs stampede down the hillside into the water and are drowned. The healed man begs to go with Jesus but Jesus instead commissions him to be a missionary with his own family and town.

The Pigs. Jesus allows the pigs to be possessed and drowned. Though this seems cruel both to the pigs and to their herders, it demonstrates His priorities: humans are a distinct species, set aside as special among all living things. No price is too high to pay for the salvation of even one soul.

Great leaders leave tangible reminders of the mission to inspire their followers. This no doubt sent a strong message to the disciples with regard to the value of seeing the Kingdom radically transform a life. For the disciples also, this scene came directly after the calming of the storm where Jesus demonstrated His power over the physical world. Now He has vividly shown His power over the Spiritual realm.

The Man's Request. It might seem cruel of Jesus to not allow this man to accompany Him. After all, this man has been estranged from his people, and now is linked to the destruction of valuable property! Jesus, however, demonstrates incredible wisdom in leadership by instead commissioning this man.

• Jesus' personal mission is to the Jews and these are Gentiles. God's full mission is to all people, however. And so Jesus takes the opportunity to multiply His leadership into an area where He is not personally called by partnering with this man. If this man came with Jesus how would those in his village ever hear? What amazement it surely was to see this man in his right mind and to hear his story!
• Discerning the "good" from the "best" in priorities. As a general leadership observation, Jesus does not give in to every request of His followers. It can be so easy for leaders, especially those in the church, to bend until breaking trying to be available for everyone. Pastors burn out from being unable to say "no". It is especially hard when all the requests coming their way are "good" things, like helping people! How flattering to have someone want to follow after you? But Jesus is able to tell the "good" from the "best," and this is key to staying on mission. To do this first means clearly knowing our mission, and Jesus surely did. With this confidence He is able to in the moment know what to do with this man's request. This is a great challenge to me know my mission from God, because there's a lot of good out there, but there's only a little "best" that is God ordained for my ministry.
  

A Sick Woman and Jairus' Daughter
vv 21-43. After returning from the Gerasenes, Jesus is again teaching by the lake when a synagogue ruler petitions Jesus to lay hands on his ailing 12 year old daughter. Jesus immediately goes with him and on the way is approached by sick woman in the crowd. As He is walking, she grabs His robe and is healed. Jesus somehow notices and calls her out, praising her faith. Continuing on, the little girl has died, but Jesus assures all that she is just asleep. After being laughed at, Jesus raises her from the dead and warns the people not to spread this story.

The Woman. Jesus, in one sense, is always "on mission." He was on His way to heal the little girl when approached by this woman, showing that He is not too busy to discern opportunities for ministry in any surrounding. For me this means making every interaction count. If I'm buying groceries I can encourage the checkout clerks. When walking around the neighborhood I can engage with my neighbors in discussion. When running in the park I can look for the lonely people. Of course there are numerous possibilities for unforeseen ministry opportunities. Will I be aware of them?

Jairus' Daughter. Clearly Jesus had to have said "no" to many requests for ministry, judging by the crowds that continually pressed Him. Why did He agree to drop everything and go with this man? It doesn't seem fair to everyone else does it? Maybe this is what good leaders do...they do for one what they can't do for all, aka "symbolic leadership"*. It would be a mistake to fulfill every request as a leader would burn out. At the same time, it would be wrong to never help, saying, "well I can't do it for all so it wouldn't be fair to do it for this one." Fairness shouldn't have much to do with it. This is a huge challenge, though, that takes great confidence and awareness of the leader to know their limits. I also wonder if Jesus strategically chose this opportunity because of the impact resultant from helping a synagogue ruler. Who knows? My "fairness" alarm is going off if this the case, "what about all the poor then?" But maybe helping this man, a man of influence, would result in the poor being served.

Jesus' confidence in the whole matter is also to be commended. In v36 Jesus "ignores" those who brought the bad news of the girl's death, instead encouraging them to "believe, and fear not." Even in the face of their laughter he questions their mourning. This shows His great trust in the authority given to Him by the Father. We have also been commissioned to ministry; do we trust God to show up in unlikely circumstances?

Finally, Jesus allows only Peter, James, and John to accompany Him to the healing room. Even within His core of 12, Jesus has chosen 3 to more deeply invest in. Three seems manageable! I am encouraged to look for opportunities to bring others along, sharing in the experience of ministry and encouraging others to lead.


*Thanks to Andy Stanley for this term

Jesus' Leadership: Mark 4

The Sower
1-20. Jesus was aware of those He needed to explain Himself to and of those who needed to discern the truth on their own. Perhaps because He was seeking those with purse hearts, He simply preached the word, allowing the seed to fall on what soil it may. He did not explain this parable to the crowd, though He did quote Isaiah, and did exhort those "with ears to hear" to perceive the message. By not offering an explanation, and by giving the exhortation to "hear", Jesus is challenging the crowd to think deeply...He is not spoon feeding here.

Likewise we also have a duty to preach the, but we need not always worry about fully explaining (though there is a time for this, e.g. 1 Pt 3:15). The important thing is that we are sowing...who knows what discerning ears might hear? Conversely, Jesus does explain to His inner circle, ensuring that they are on the same page. They will be the ones to go out and preach the Word and build the church - it was imperative for them to understand this parable.

The Kingdom of God is like a...
lamp on a stand vv 26-29, a growing seed vv 30-34, a mustard seed vv 21-25.

Jesus knew His audience well. First, these illustrations would be acutely relevant to those He spoke to. Further, He spoke only "as much as they could understand," not heaping knowledge upon knowledge. I love teaching and can easily go off on a tangent, pouring out all my knowledge that at some point is "more than they could understand." Knowing the audience means cultivating empathy...and this takes time. We honor them and we honor God when we do take the time.

Calming the Storm
35-41. Before they are even in the storm, Mark tells us that they left the crowds for the other side of the lake at Jesus' prompting. He's taking them on a field trip! We can't know that the disciples felt like this, but I assume it would be refreshing to be away from direct ministry for a time, and rather to be exclusively in the presence of Jesus.

In calming the storm, Jesus teaches the disciples to trust Him in areas where He has authority. And this authority was boldly wielded.

Our Father

Who Art In Heaven...

Wait, OUR Father...

that means lots of us. If the passage was "My Father" us American wouldn't blink at it. Right in the midst of Jesus' teaching on how we should pray is a reminder that OUR faith is not primarily about us. OUR faith is meant for community and in it's most basic sense. "It is not good for man to be alone" says Genesis 2:18. When we pray, even alone, and if we use the Lord's prayer as any kind of guide, we should be reminded instantly that it's not all about us, that we are not alone, and that there millions of brothers and sisters in the faith worldwide with whom we are communing.

In fact, it is not just the church we are reminded of. For we were ALL created in God's image and continue to image bearers, though damaged and broken. So in one sense God is father to us all. Therefore in prayer we are reminded of those children, those prodigals, who are estranged from their father, and we are led to compassion and prayer on their behalf.

Our father, thank you that this is not meant to be done alone. Thank you for reminding us of this daily. Thanks for being our father, on whom we may cast all our anxieties, because you care for us. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus, that we may once again be in relationship with you. As your children, we can't help but want to please such a compassionate father.

Jesus' Leadership: Mark 3

Sabbath
1-6. Jesus strategically challenges the system, in this case not with great moving speeches, but with a hands on, tangible healing of a needy man.

Crowds
7-12.

• Tyre and Sidon were Gentile areas, meaning Jesus' following was trans-cultural.
• He asked the disciples to have a boat ready...for many sick crowded Him. There are several nuggets here. One, he resources and delegates tasks, having the disciples get the boat. Further, the boat seems to be a creative solution to a problem...they were being crowded, often by sick people. Thus with the boat Jesus could more easily reach many while keeping his team healthy for the big task. Since these large crowds were following Him, Jesus got to chose the location more or less. Therefore, choosing a site on the water was intentional and creative, serving to address a need of the ministry.
• Again, Jesus has His sights on completing the mission, not on temporary fame. He has an eye to the future, and the present, in ordering that His identity not be revealed.
  

Appointing the 12
13-19. On a mountainside. Jesus used a retreat setting to call those around Him, likely creating a memorable location for those who would follow. He called those he wanted. Jesus did not take just anybody, but purposefully went after a select few. that He might send them out to preach and to have authority. Perhaps most importantly, Jesus MULTIPLIES His influence, delegating responsibility, not attempting to do it all on His own.

Beelzebub
20-30. Jesus uses logic and reason in replying to His critics, not rhetoric or tit-for-tat insults.

Jesus' Mother and Brothers
31-35. Jesus seems to be balancing work and family delicately here. In a culture where family is extremely valued, He sends a strong message by not dropping everything for them. Now He is an adult and a single man so this is not akin to a husband neglecting his wife and kids. Regardless, Jesus shows that there is a time to be with family (perhaps the 1st 30 years of His life) and there is a time to be focused on the task at hand. Further, extending the label of family to His followers sends a strong message regarding how He values them.

Jesus' Leadership: Mark

For the next few weeks our kinship group is reading a chapter a day from Mark while holding a partner accountable to the same. We are reading with the lens of Jesus' leadership as our overall goal is Self-Leadership.

Lord, grant us perseverance in this challenge. Let us learn and grow from your example so that we may lead ourselves, our families, and our communities.

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Jesus' Leadership: Mark 2

The Paralytic
1-12. He handles interruptions well! When the man is dropped from the roof, He takes the opportunity to speak past the man's physical needs, to His spiritual needs. Coming in the midst of teaching to a large crowd this demonstrates His great skill at making teachable moments.

Tax Collectors and Sinners and Levi's Calling
13-17. He is not afraid to raise eyebrows for the sake of the mission. Being bold in meeting with these sinners in view of critics sends a strong signal to His newly recruited disciples regarding His values and determination in His mission.

Questions about Fasting: patches and wineskins
18-22. Jesus is articulate in defense of acting counter-culturally. He understands the long-view of the situation, and therefore acts outside the bounds of the "forms" of the establishment, though not outside its "functions." It would be wise for us to likewise recognize what is essential and what is simply a method. Then, of course, Jesus explains Himself with to the point and culturally relevant examples.

Sabbath
23-28. Jesus argues with the Pharisees on their "theological turf" so to speak by quoting the Old Testament, which they know through and through back to them. We can learn to know our opponent's positions so well so as to make arguments based on what they find authoritative.

Jesus' Leadership: Mark 1

Baptism and Temptation
9-12. Jesus is baptized, tempted, and found without sin thus leading by example. He doesn't ask things of us that He hasn't done. This is distinctive of the Christian faith, where the deity shares the experiences of men.

Preaching and Calling Followers
14-15. Jesus proclaims the Kingdom, in obedience to His Father's will, showing that even He is one under authority.

16-20. Like the Rabbi He is known as, He seeks out and calls followers...they don't come to Him but He leads by going after those He wants.

Driving Out an Evil Spirit
21-28. He teaches with authority. What leader does not have conviction in their words? And His authority is not limited to rhetoric; but He puts it into practice by casting out the demon.

Healing
29-34. Jesus cares for His "employees", taking time to minister to Peter's mother-in-law.

Solitary Prayer and Ministry
35-39. Jesus' ministry is fueled by SELF-LEADERSHIP. Before engaging in a ministry event, He "fills up His tank" by seeking prayer in a solitary place in the early morning.

A Leper
40-42. Jesus shows genuine compassion for the least of these.

43-45. Jesus is not interested in His own prestige...at least not yet. He is strategically aware of an appropriate time line for His leadership. Yes, one day He will need to be known all over the world, but that time was yet to come. This long term view of ministry is a challenging lesson.