Second Quarter 2005 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
Jesus Through the Eyes of Mark

Insights to Lesson 8
The Final Journey
May 14-20

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

It is God’s blessing that we are given these 13 weeks of lessons from Mark. They are a precious opportunity to read and mark your Bible, and “learn” the story in this clear, briefly worded narrative. It seems quite certain that Gospel-writing Mark was the youngest of the four; he simply pours out the truth so simply that through his succinct words we “see” Jesus more clearly and vividly than if we had an actual on-the-spot video to watch.

The reason: as you read and ponder the text, the Holy Spirit acts as a projector flashing the scenes on the screen of your receptive mind. Yes, the pictures your mind’s eye see of Jesus and the others will be so accurate that you will recognize them when finally you meet them in the New Jerusalem. No video or movie can be so clear! READ YOUR BIBLE.

In teaching the lesson you may find it an effective method simply to read the Bible text clearly, one verse at a time. If as a teacher you have realized your heart-emptiness without the special gift of the Holy Spirit; and if you have asked for that gift, you can be sure that He will “bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever” you have diligently studied (cf. John 14:26). You will illuminate each verse. We can remember that there is no limit to the usefulness of one who lays aside s-e-l-f and makes room for the Holy Spirit to work.

Let your prayer be that the Lord use you to help someone in your class to “see” Jesus as not only “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42), but his/her Best Friend and Savior now. The universal Bible testimony is that He will not let you down as a teacher. According to Luke 11:5-10, there is no prayer the Lord delights more to answer than the prayer of the empty-pipe praying to be a channel to convey water of life to someone thirsty, or the prayer of the chef to provide bread for someone hungry.

And let me add my tiny bit of personal testimony: when I have felt most unworthy to teach a Sabbath School Class or preach a sermon, the dear Lord has been gracious to add a blessing always more than my tiny cup could hold. Your people aren’t hungry to see your learning or intellectual charm; they are hungry to see some live-wire contact between Scripture text and the living demonstration of the Holy Spirit. That will be memorable for them to see and hear! Their hearts will tingle.

Now we join Jesus on His last fateful journey to Jerusalem . . . to be disfellowshipped by the true church of His day (remember, up until the Temple veil is rent, it is still the Temple of God’s true people). It’s a terrible feeling to be disfellowshipped by the true church. What hurt Jesus the most was not the physical pain of crucifixion but the awful sense of being “forsaken” by His Father and by His people. When we come to the story of the cross we will see how He worked His way by faith from that “forsakenness” to joyous at-one-ment. If you ever feel “forsaken,” you can retrace His steps into the sunlight of the Father’s smile where you can see it too, by faith.

Think how on this final journey His heart is heavy with serious thought! Yet James and John (with their mother) are childishly dreaming of getting the top posts in the glorious kingdom coming. Patiently He told them that it wasn’t His to give those top jobs to anyone. They’re “not Mine to give, but . . . for whom it is prepared” (10:35-40). For whom are those places “prepared”?

Our minds search. We recall that some will live through the great time of trouble “without a mediator” (the Great Controversy, p. 425) after the heavenly sanctuary has closed. If so, they are in the world today quietly bearing the cross with Jesus, humble people you and I might easily miss. The Gospel of Mark is a prelude to living in 2005 A.D. Don’t desire the top job; but do be faithful now.

What lesson can you present to your class regarding the meek and lowly Jesus entering Jerusalem in royal Messiah-honor? His PR (public relations) strategy was professional; He didn’t want to die in obscurity. He wanted that cross to be lifted up so high that all would see what was happening. Only then could He “draw all to Himself” (John 12:32). Not self-aggrandizement but soul-saving was His burden.

We talk longingly of the great days of the “loud cry” yet to follow our “latter rain.” God’s PR plans will be perfect when Christ’s mission meets its final fulfillment before probation closes. But just as the disciples were greatly disappointed in how “Palm Sunday” led to crucifixion, so we may be surprised how the true “loud cry” that “lightens the earth with glory” may be a very self-humbling experience for all of God’s true people. Ellen White pinpoints the initial outpouring of the “latter rain” as the coming of the 1888 message of Christ’s righteousness; our dear brethren had expected it to be great emotional upheavals that would be like spiritual thunderstorms. They were taken by surprise—it turned out to be humble, quiet Bible studies on Romans and Galatians by two unworthy young “messengers” with undiscerned “heavenly credentials.” But the two let in opened windows of “new light” which to the old men became bitterly unwelcome.

In deep discernment, Ellen White perceived what was happening. Calvary’s week was being re-played. Over a hundred times the next few years she likened the reception which that “most precious message” received as being a re-play of how the Jews received their Messiah. The last week of Jesus’ life that we are studying this week becomes therefore a vital “present truth.”

Be sure your class participants understand the Good News encouragements in the account of the fig tree that was “cursed” (Mark 11:12-14, 20-26). Only a day after Jesus cursed it, it “withered away.” Sad; but grasp the positive thing Jesus said. If He curses a tree and it dies in 24 hours, if you through earnest prayer will bless a problem or frustration in your life for Him, it too will “wither away.” In other words, your prayers for blessings will be as dramatically answered as was Jesus’ prayer for a curse on that tree. (But in your great rejoicing, be humble as you contemplate how little “fruit” your tree has borne, and let’s be very careful about flouting “nothing but leaves” which elicit “amens” from the congregation but have no lasting substance.)

But a prayer that has apparently been unanswered must not be forgotten. “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward” (Heb. 10:35) if for no other reason than this: the Father remembers that prayer better than you do. It will be answered for good when you may least expect it.

Note how our Lesson mentions that Jesus “confronted” the leaders of His day. It asks: “Are there ever times when we, too, should challenge the establishment?” Coming from the editor of our church paper, the Review, this question is not trivial nonsense. Just be sure you’re right before you challenge God-ordained leaders, but remember that the time may come when faithfulness to Jesus will require a challenge to leadership. Keep step with Him! You, too, be crucified with Him.

—Robert J. Wieland

Read the study notes for Lesson 9