What Will You Do With Jesus?
The inspired authors of each of the Gospels make a presentation, or case, for believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Mark’s presentation is almost a challenge. Mark begins in Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark concludes, in Mark 16:19, “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
The rest of the Gospel is a fast-moving, action-filled, compelling retelling of Jesus’ ministry. It’s one account after another of things Jesus did and said and how people reacted to it. The implication is: how will you react; what will you do?
I thoroughly enjoyed a study of the Gospel of Mark, and I encourage you to read it, possibly with fresh eyes. It’s 16 chapters long; you can read it in an afternoon. In Mark’s account, I found that Jesus carefully orchestrated His work and teaching during His ministry. He was not a passive victim of circumstances, but determined in His purpose, unabashed by unjust criticism, and fearless of the mounting sentiment against Him from His enemies.
So how did people react to Jesus?
They were “astonished at His teaching.” It says this three times. What was so impressive? “…For He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” Imagine yourself at a book club where readers are commenting on the book. Then the author walks in, picks up the book and takes questions. Jesus is the “author of our faith.”
How did people react to Jesus? They ran to Him, for His teaching and His healing. Some of the wording Mark uses: they “followed” Him, “searched” for Him, “thronged about Him”, “fell at His feet.” They received truth, compassion, healing and forgiveness. As His fame quickly spread it says, “He could no longer openly enter a town…and people were coming to Him from every corner” (Mark 1:45).
Even the demons recognized Jesus and submitted to Him. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” God allowed these forces to be on the earth during the life of Jesus. They were more powerful than man. But when they came into Jesus’ presence, they not only knew Him, but immediately submitted to Him and His will.
Remarkably, many people rejected Jesus. The religious leaders of the day were aggressive in their disapproval. When He healed a man who could not walk, but first told the man his sins were forgiven, the scribes overlooked the power of the miracle and accused Jesus of blasphemy. When He restored a man’s withered hand, compassionately returning him to a productive life, the Pharisees condemned Him for doing it on the Sabbath. Take note that these men saw all the same evidence, but chose a different response. These were not people who found contradictions and recognized a fraud. They weren’t people with sincere questions that Jesus couldn’t answer. Their minds had already been made up, and they were looking for grounds to reject Him.
If you read through Mark, you will follow Jesus as He moves relentlessly from town to town, teaching and healing and making Himself known. You’ll read parables and discern what kind of King He is and what His Kingdom offers and requires. You’ll see Him work tirelessly with the twelve men who will be His ambassadors on earth, but who lack so much in understanding. You’ll hear him deal compassionately with the “insignificant” people around Him and stump the wisest, yet most hypocritical, scholars of the day. These same men will eventually quit testing Him and determine to kill Him.
You’ll see Jesus set His sights on Jerusalem knowing that is where He will give His life as a sacrifice for the sins of all men - even His killers. And finally, you will find yourself with the women who came to His tomb and found it empty, just as He said it would be.
The question to modern readers is, what will YOU do with Jesus?
Will you be astonished at His teaching? Perhaps it’s harder for us to feel astonishment because His words have shaped the history of our modern world! But read and listen to Him as He shows us the way to eternal life.
Will you run to Him? Do you see your own need and His ability to provide it? Do you need the spiritual healing of the Great Physician? Do you long for peace from the One who can still the storms of life? Do you believe that He has promised life beyond this one?
Are you young in your faith? You can start where you are. Jesus’ chosen disciples didn’t understand the parables. They didn’t comprehend His unlimited power. He told them plainly three times that He would suffer, die, and rise on the third day - yet they were forlorn at his death and wary of those who claimed the tomb was empty. Still, they believed Him enough to leave all and follow Him. As they learned, they accepted what He said. He was patient with them, as He is with us.
Or will you reject Him? Will you take the evidence provided and determine it’s not for you? You have that as an option - for now. And by that I mean, God will not force you to submit to Jesus. At His sham of a trial, the High Priest asked Jesus if He was the Son of the Blessed. Jesus replied, “I am, and you will see the Son of God seated with the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Jesus knew this statement sealed His fate - He was immediately charged with blasphemy and condemned to death. At the same time, the High Priest’s future was just as certain. Philippians 2:10 tells us that, eventually, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. While you are on this earth, the decision is yours. When your life is over and you enter the spiritual realm, there will be no option but to recognize and submit to the Son of God. But my friend, by then, it will be too late.
One more all-too-common reaction to Jesus, is actually one that misleads us. And that is to dilute Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, to being a good man, a historical figure, and a “good teacher”. When in fact, He was the astonishing Teacher, revealing truth and calling people to action. His words in Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
He was a known miracle worker. In the 16 chapters of Mark, the phrase “a great crowd” is repeated eight times. At times the size of the crowds threatened to crush Him; His listeners numbered in the thousands. In this geographically small part of the world, it’s hard to imagine someone who hadn’t been affected by the phenomenon. When Mark wrote his gospel, there would have been people still living that could attest or contradict the account. These are not fables or legends. They were works of Jesus of Nazareth giving people reason to believe that He is the Son of God.
To admire Jesus as a “good teacher” is a dishonest approach. Either He was dishonest, as He claimed to be God, or we are, as we brush away the evidence that says He is God. But it’s also a dangerous approach. It allows us to consider ourselves followers without being true disciples.
In Mark 10, a rich young man came to Jesus, calling Him “good teacher.” This young man truly wanted eternal life and was proud of his righteous living. When Jesus challenged him to give up his worldly possessions and follow Him, it says “he went away sorrowful.” Following Jesus, the “good teacher,” until His words call us to an action we are not willing to do will leave us walking away sorrowful as well, missing the path to eternal life.
So then, what will we do with Jesus? In Mark 5, there was a man who was possessed by a Legion of demons. These demons caused him to harm himself constantly, and he couldn’t be controlled enough to even live in society but rather dwelt in the wilderness caves. After Jesus freed Him from the demons, the man begged Jesus to allow him to follow Him. Mark 5:19-20 says, “And He (Jesus) did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”
Read the accounts of Jesus’ life. Consider how He fulfills the promises made from the beginning of time. Know that you must make your decision in faith. Give Him your heart and your life. Then tell your friends how much Jesus has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.