Gtcotr/ss060423
Matthew 8:14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.
Luke 4:38 Also tells us Jesus entered into Peter’s house and found that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, and He healed her.
However the Gospel of Mark, as Mark often does, adds a few details and observations we don’t see in other accounts.
Mark 1:29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Over and again the Gospel of Mark adds little details which Mark could not know unless he heard them from someone who was actually there. Someone who thought these details were important enough to be remembered and recorded. There are many details we find only in Mark.
Of course we know Mark was not one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus and he was too young to have been a part of the group that traveled and ministered with Jesus. Mark, also known as John Mark, was rather a disciple of the Apostle Peter and as such was privileged to hear Peter’s first-hand accounts of the life, the ministry, the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We know Mark also spent a little time with the Apostle Paul however Paul had no first-hand experience with the life and ministry of Jesus to pass along to Mark. Rather it is believed:
Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark under the anointing of the Holy Spirit from the first-hand accounts of the Apostle Peter. The book of Mark is considered by some to be the Gospel according to Peter. Considering this may help us to read the Gospel of Mark as though it were an eyewitness account. And of course it is … the best eyewitness of all is the Holy Spirit!
Several
times throughout the Gospels we find Jesus in the town of Capernaum and more
specifically in Peter’s house with Peter’s family.
·
Matthew
13:1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.
(This is Peter’s house)
·
Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent
the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him,
saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
o This too is Peter’s
house.
o Disciples must come
closer, stay longer, follow along, pursue deeper truths at their own expense in
order to know the mysteries hidden from the masses.
o The multitudes
listened by the seaside and went to their homes no more the wiser.
o It is certain that if
James and John, Peter and Andrew, and Matthew and Thomas did not understand the
parable, neither did multitude.
o But I bet it was a
good sermon accompanied by a lot of Amen’s!
o Disciples must come
closer, stay longer, pursue further …
·
Matthew
17
o 24 When they had come to Capernaum, those who
received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not
pay the temple tax?”
o 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus
anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of
the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” (Peter’s
house)
· Mark 2:1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. (Peter’s house)
This brings us to our text today. We will be reading from the Gospel of Mark where Mark adds another more personal detail the other Gospel accounts leave out … a detail the Holy Spirit wanted to include which may only have been noticed by the Apostle Peter.
Mark 9
33 Then Jesus and His
disciples came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What
was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?”
34 But they kept silent, for
on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the
greatest.
35 And He sat down, called
the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last
of all and servant of all.”
36 Then Jesus took a little
child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms,
He said to them,
37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”
If we were to read the other Gospel accounts of this same story, we would find that Mark adds one precious detail the others don’t note. Can you imagine what it is? It’s in verse 36:
And when Jesus had taken him in His arms …
Peter noticed. Why? Maybe it was Peter’s child. Perhaps not. Although Peter had been married for over 3 years by this time and it was his house. At any rate it is certain the child was someone very close to Peter to have been in Peter’s house and with the family when Peter and Jesus and the close-knit crowd of 11 other disciples got home after a long dusty walk from their last mission trip. This was not a public setting.
No doubt this child meant something special to Peter. Most likely Peter noticed when no one else did and in recounting the moment he passed it along to Mark so Mark could remember and record it.
It wasn’t just another good sounding moral based sermon, it was Jesus, loving, caring for, and blessing the little children. It meant something.
And it wasn’t the last time Peter shared something like this. Just a few days later, only 2 weeks from the cross, we find Jesus and His disciples all on the road again. This time they are headed to Jerusalem.
Mark 10
1 ¶ And He left there and went to
the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to Him again.
And again, as was His custom, he taught them.
13 ¶ And they were bringing
children to Him that He might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, He was
indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to Me; do not hinder
them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
15 Truly, I say to you, whoever
does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."
16 And He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them.
Once again Mark provides the picture of Jesus with a child in His arms, and someone noticed. Most likely it was the Apostle Peter. After decades of study, prayer, and meditation on this subject, I believe that:
1.
Love, like charity, begins at home.
a. We must first
recognize and champion our love and care for our own family.
b. They won’t know if we
don’t show them.
c. The scriptures say, do
good to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith.
d. Love demands we
establish priorities.
e. The Bible says that if
we do not provide for our own …
f. In as much as is
possible … Family is first.
2.
If we truly love God, we will also love and care
for others outside of our home.
a. The scriptures tell
us: “If you say love God and hate your brother, you’re a liar and the truth is
not in you.”
b. Look not only to your
own things, but also on the things of others.
c. Jesus answered the
question, “Who is my neighbor?” It’s the one who needs you.
d. I want to be a “well
done” kind of guy. (Matthew 25)
3.
Unless we humble ourselves like a child, we
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
a. I need to push my
pride and self-reliance away.
b. I must stop standing
off and standing outside …
c. I will humble myself and
accept the fact that I don’t know everything. Then I’m going to crawl up into
the arms of Jesus.
