Exegetical Research Paper On Mark 4:26–29

 Exegetical Research Paper:

Mark 4:26–29

Jeremiah Holcombe

August 7, 2024

Standing before Pilate, already wounded from the trial before the Jews, Jesus was asked by the Roman governor, “Are you the King of the Jews? (Jn 18:33 [ESV])” Jesus eventually replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. (Jn 18:36)” It is this message of the kingdom that the Gospel of Mark records Jesus’ first words, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand .… (Mk 1:15)” It is within Mark’s Gospel that Jesus gives a series of kingdom parables that revolve around seed.  Jesus’ parable of the “Growing Seed” reveals the work of God as the disciple works to spread the Lord’s kingdom message in this world. The following paper seeks to utilize Walter C. Kaiser and Moisés Silva’s approach to biblical exegesis to delve into the “Growing Seed” parable. It looks at the historical, cultural, and literary context of the passage to bring out its meaning and significance and apply it to the life of the disciple of Christ.

Historical Context of the Gospel

Before an exegesis of the Growing Seed parable can be done, an exploration of its greater historical, cultural, and literary context follows. Over the course of Church history, the Gospel of Mark has not had the most prominent position in the minds of scholars due to the idea that Mark was a condensed version of the other two synoptic Gospels. Yet, in the last two centuries, this has changed. The change comes about as scholars have found that Mark, instead of being a simple condensed synoptic version, is, in fact, the earliest of the Gospels. Therefore, Mark appears as a condensed form of the synoptics and gives us insight into some of Christ's core teachings that were circulated in the earliest days of the Church.

It is within the tradition of the Church that it is understood that the Gospel writer is the same John Mark as mentioned in the Book of Acts, Colossians, 2 Timothy, Philemon, and 1 Peter. This Mark, mentioned throughout the writings of Luke, Paul, and Peter, is a young first-century Jewish man and a cousin of Barnabas who converted to the fledgling Christian faith and deserted and was reconciled back to Paul. 

Church tradition also holds that it was by the Apostle Peter’s sermons in the city of Rome that Mark inscribed Jesus’ ministry. Scholarship dates the Gospel of Mark sometime between A.D. 64-67 in keeping with the martyrdom of Peter. Yet, since the Book of Acts concludes before Paul’s trial in Rome in A.D. 63, some scholars have dated Mark’s Gospel earlier between A.D 46-60. With either dating, the Gospel secures the teachings of Christ through the Apostles in the lifetime of the first eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry. With the Gospel placed in its historical setting, an exploration of the culture in which it was written is now turned to.

Cultural Context of the Gospel

Though the Gospel of Mark is about Jesus, a first-century Jewish man from Nazareth, it was most likely written for a Roman audience. It is because of this that Mark balances the culture of first-century Jewish life with the Roman world. Robert H. Gundry notes, “He [Mark] translates Aramaic expressions for their [the Romans] benefit …. Even more indicatively, he explains Greek expressions by their Latin equivalents and uses several other Latin terms.” Mark’s background as a Jew and his extensive work within the Roman world allow the Gospel author to translate Israelite customs so that a Roman may understand. 

Within the Gospel, it is seen that Gentiles, outsiders, are given a prominent role in following Jesus . Here lies the brilliance of the Gospel. Luke records Jesus declaring, “…you will be my witnesses … to the farthest parts of the earth. (Ac 1:8 [NET])” The first recording of Jesus’ life has the blending of the Jewish Messiah and his message of the Kingdom at hand, with a proclamation understandable to the Roman world whose soldiers crucified that very Messiah. Both cultures are addressed within Mark’s Gospel, allowing it to be a perfect evangelism tool to reach those “furthest parts.” This brief examination of Mark’s cultural setting now turns to an exploration of the Gospel’s literary context.

Literary Context of the Gospel

As recorded in Mark: An Introduction and Commentary, Eckhard J. Schnabel points to two early Church descriptions of the genre of Mark. “Justin Martyr … calls ‘Gospels’ apomnēmoneumata or ‘reminiscences’, ‘notes’ …. Origen calls the Gospels historiai or ‘histories’, investigations’….” Schnabel points to form critics that believe the Gospel is “sui generis” a genre that Mark would have invented since he was the first of the Gospel writers. Yet others, Schnabel notes, such as R.A. Bridge and Yarbro Collins, view Mark as ancient biography, which is comparable to “Greco-Roman bioi ….” While still others point to Mark’s Gospel falling more in line with Jewish biographies of the ancient world. If the former is true, then Mark created a new form of genre in the ancient world, and it is unique in how it presents the life of Jesus. If the latter is true, then Mark can be evaluated based on other Greco-Roman biographies of the era. It is the latter that seems to be the consensus of most modern scholarship, yet even this is challenged today. 

However, whether the Gospel of Mark is ‘notes,’ ‘historiai,’ “sui generis,” Greco-Roman biography, or another genre, the early Church vouched for its authenticity to the life and teachings of Christ. It is here that an exploration of the content of Jesus’ Growing Seed parable in the Gospel of Mark 4:26-29 turns.

Meaning

Mark’s introduction to the parable is simple: “And he said … ” Mark uses this introduction twice in the last two parables concerning seed in chapter four. Bartosz Adamczewski notes that this parable and the one following it are not explicitly directed toward the closest disciples but toward a general audience. This makes sense because later in chapter four of Mark, the reader receives this insight from the author: “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. (Mk 4:33-34)”

After the author’s quick introduction, Jesus gave the opening line to the parable. James R. Edwards remarks about the Growing Seed parable, “Who but Jesus would liken the sublime kingdom of God to the mundane subject of slow-growing seed.” This insight is important because when people tend to think of the kingdom, thoughts of triumphal entries and overthrowing powers come flooding to one’s mind. The disciples had these thoughts when they asked Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? (Ac 1:6b, [ESV])” Yet Jesus chose to take the mundane to exemplify the extraordinary. So the parable was given to both bring insight into the kingdom out of the mundane and to speak to anyone who would seek its understanding. For those in the Western world, not only is seed mundane, but it is absent from most thoughts. So, it is imperative for the Western reader to take additional time to walk carefully through Jesus’ words and notice the details of both what Jesus said and what he did not say. Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E. Lowe in their book, Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education rightly notice “Jesus understood … the ecological character of growth in creation and … he used it to illustrate to his disciples how growth occurs in the kingdom of God.” Lowe and Lowe bring out the ecological, or interconnectedness of ecological motifs, emphasized within the Bible. Jesus’ use of nature and the ecologies therein, showed that there is a greater ecology, or interconnectedness between how the physical and spiritual world works. 

As Schnabel points out, the parable is simple. It focuses on comparing the kingdom of God and is not directed towards the person. Instead, the focus is on growth, specifically the gradual development of the seed. Jesus states, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. (Mk 4:26)” The act of the scattering seed on the ground carries a harkening back to the Parable of the Sower. In both cases, a person scatters the seed. The Parable of the Sower focuses on the type of ground on which the seed falls. However, the Parable of the Growing Seed focuses on the fertile ground where the seed may germinate adequately. Jesus explains that the seed in the Parable of the Sower is the word of the Kingdom and that the other soils are either conducive to growth or are not. Only one soil is helpful for development, the final one of the four. Knowing this, the soil this man is sowing is the good soil from the Sower parable. With that information, this parable extends the message of the Sower, giving the listener a greater insight into what happens when the seed falls on good ground. 

Except, as Adamczewski notes, there is a surprise right from the bringing; the seed seems to be automatic in its germination.  The seed is autonomous from the man who throws it out. The man goes about his business without causing any growth. Schnabel notes that there are four expressions on the seed growth and the world around it: “… night and day … whether he sleeps or gets up … though he does not know how … all by itself ….” These four expressions point to the man not interpreting the process by his actions, nor does the farmer explain how the seed germinates in the ground, nor can the farmer cause the seed to produce. By speaking of the seed germination in these terms, Jesus is showing that human interaction is confined to the spreading of the seed, not the actual growth of it in a person’s life. 

Adamczewski connects this non-human ability to produce the flowering of the kingdom of God in a person’s life to the grace of God. Paul the Apostle writes, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9 [NIV])” Seeing a human’s inability to cause the germination of the word of the kingdom in another’s life allows the burden of “saving” people off the shoulders and back into the realm of God. Edwards comments on this very idea, “The kingdom is not dependent on human activity; indeed, apart from sowing, the only human activity noted in this parable is waiting in confidence that, in God’s time and power, the gospel will grow into a fruitful harvest.”

It is here, however, that Lowe and Lowe seem to miss the meaning of the parable. Lowe and Lowe seem to add to the parable’s simple intention by overemphasizing the human element in the passage. They write, “Ultimately, however, the seed grows because of the combined efforts of the farmer and God. If the farmer did not perform his duties of preparing the soil, tilling the soil, and sowing the seed (which God does not perform) there would be no seed in the ground to grow by itself (automatē).” The problem with this interpretation is that it takes the parable too far in its understanding. It adds additional details that Jesus leaves out. Jesus tells the reader nothing about the farmer’s activities except that he scattered the seed. The word used, βάλῃ, is meant to be understood as cast out, as in throwing onto the ground. There is no emphasis on the farmer doing any type of preparation of the soil, instead simply throwing out the seed on an implied untilled land. Edward, in his book, The Gospel According to Mark, writes, “An earlier theology tended to emphasize the role of human activity in ushering in the kingdom of God …. Apart from sowing, the only human activity in this parable is waiting in faith, confident of a harvest to come. The coming of the kingdom of God is likened to a process of growth but a process stately independent of human activity.” Though Edwards improperly imports the sowing language from the Parable of the Sower, as most commentators do, he still recognizes that the process described by Jesus is not the typical cultivation that would follow the sowing process. This would be in keeping with the idea of the Parable of the Sower that proceeds it, where no ground is described as being cultivated.

Yet, a human aspect is mentioned at the end of the parable, which Edwards rightly recognizes. The parable has three simple advancing phases—first, the human sows. God has given the disciple of Christ a mission to share the word of the kingdom. This is referenced in the calling of Simeon and Andrew early in the Gospel and the Great Commission of the disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. Schnabel writes that the scatter needs to be viewed in the sense of recruitment by Jesus for this very act of sowing the word of the kingdom. “In view of Jesus’ recruitment of disciples, who are being trained to extend his ministry (3:13– 19), the man scattering seed also depicts the missionary activity of the Twelve and other followers of Jesus.” 

Following the scattering of the word, the next phase is the work of God to produce the growth of what has been scattered. In his commentary on Mark, J.C. Ryle writes of this work of God, “The workings of grace in the heart, in like manner, are utterly mysterious and unsearchable.” Only God works in this moment to bring about the harvest. This is the final phase of the parable, which is the one in which the disciples are to participate.

Jesus speaks to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Mt 9:37-38 [ESV])” The final phase of the parable is the reengagement of the disciple once the growth has occurred. After God brought the growth, the seed, which man did not participate in growing, flowered and required harvesting, so the man took his sickle and brought the harvest in. Just as the disciples are called into a harvest which they do not produce; this harvest is what Jesus speaks to his disciples in the Gospel of John, “Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. (Jn 4:36-28)” 

These phases are paralleled in Paul’s writing to the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Cor 3:6-9)” It is Jesus’ intention, that his disciples understand that their work is in the proclamation of the kingdom and the harvest of souls that come to accept Jesus as their Savior. The work between those two acts of obedience is God’s alone.

The parable of the Growing Seed is Jesus’ call to the action of the work of the kingdom. To get out into the field and share the life-giving message of the kingdom of God. At the same time, it is a burden-lifting call. It is not up to the disciple to save or change people; God holds that to himself for his work. This parable’s teaching lifts the weight of fixing the situation and places it squarely where God wants it, with himself. 

Francis J. Moloney rightfully ends his commentary on the Parable of the Growing Seed with, “The ultimate fruitfulness of the word of God and the definitive presence of the kingdom of God are assured. There is no cause for discouragement, despite apparent failure and insignificance. God will have the last word.” To the disciples working out the kingdom proclamation in their lives, the Growing Seed Parable encourages them to do the work and leave the rest to God.

Significance of the Passage

As the passage’s significance takes center stage in this next section, taking a step back to look at the overall context again, James Edwards points out an important detail. “Chapter 4, on parables, and chapter 13, on eschatology, are the only two chapters in Mark devoted entirely to Jesus’s teaching.” William L. Lane agrees with this detail, writing, “Apart from the Olivet Discourse in Ch. 13:3– 37, Mark’s grouping of parabolic material in Ch. 4:1– 34 constitutes the largest unit in his Gospel devoted entirely to the teaching of Jesus.” Mark’s gathering of these teachings, without the interruption of Jesus’ deeds, gives insight into the parables’ intention to be interconnected in such a way that leads the reader to link them in ways not found in other teachings throughout the Gospel. 

The significance of the parable then is connected to the previous parables of the Sower and the Lamp and the ending parable of the Mustard Seed. Lane notices that Mark’s selection of these particular parables reflects on “sowing, growth and harvest-elements,” illuminating the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims. Jesus uses parables that use images of agriculture and daily life to communicate the Kingdom of God, “… the natural order thus becomes the vehicle for the tenor of the redemptive. A contemplation of the one order can reveal or illumine truths of the other because both reflect God’s intention.”

This use by Jesus of the natural world to show truths of the spiritual is attested to by Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E. Lowe when they write, “The parables of Jesus help us see creation as Jesus did, and through his teachings, we are able to understand the wholeness of life and salvation ….” Therefore Jesus’ use of the world around us to teach us spiritual truths of God and his Kingdom reveals an interconnectedness between the two. Lowe and Lowe would refer to these as ecologies and believe that the significance of the Growing Seed parable lies in “… ecological growth [which] leads to eschatological abundance.” Though growth and eschatological abundance are a part of the passage, the theological significance of the passage is missed due to overemphasis on the ecological aspect of the parable. 

As Edwards notes, “Parables are not allegories, wherein each element of the story, like a mathematical equation, represents a specific reality.” In looking at the context of the other parables and Mark’s placement in his Gospel, Jesus’ teaching becomes clearer. The scattering seeds come after the twelve apostles are recognized (3:13-21). This leads to the question of where the power of Jesus comes from, God or Beelzebul (3:22-30). Following this, Jesus recognizes the true family of God as those who do the will of God (3:31-35). It is within this context that Mark gives us four parables: Sower, Lamp, Growing Seed, and Mustard Seed. The Sower parable focuses on the proclamation and reception of the Kingdom’s message. The Lamp focuses not on hiding that message but on illuminating what happens in the life of a person who responds to the message, whether good soil or not. Following these, the Growing Seed, which was scattered, grows not by human hands but by natural occurrence, the details of which are unknown to the scatterer. This points to the human’s role as the one who scatters the seed, and the sovereignty of God who grows it.  Finally, the focus turns to the Mustard Seed, which, though small, grows into abundance. This turns the reader’s attention away from how much is scattered to the ability of God to grow even the smallest of seeds into a great plant for birds to rest in. Following these parables on the role of the human and the role of God in the proclamation of the Kingdom, Mark focuses on a series of moments in chapters 4 & 5 from Jesus’ life that Lane entitles “The Vanquishing of Powers Hostile To God.” R.T. France has a similar interpretation of the same chapters as he entitles these as “Further Revelations of Jesus’ Unique Authority.” 

Taking the Growing Seed parable with its context of chapters 3 through 5 into account, the sovereignty of God, and more specifically, Jesus’ authority, makes the work of the scatter possible. This thereby points the reader to the theological understanding that the disciple’s job is to scatter seed (Kingdom message), not worry about where it lands (the person’s spiritual state), for the light will shine on those who accept the message. The disciple is not to worry about trying to make the seed grow, for it is God who brings about the growth in a person’s life, and Jesus has the authority to do this very work. Due to this, the application can now be applied to the disciple’s life.

Application 

In his opening commentary on the parables of Mark 4, Edwards writes, “Jesus’s parables … usually have only a single main point, and like stained glass windows in a cathedral, they reveal a brilliance only when hearers enter ‘into’ the narrative.” The main point of the Growing Seed parable is roles. The disciples’ role is to plant, and God’s role is to grow. Edwards writes, “The kingdom is not dependent on human activity … in God’s time and power, the gospel grows.” France agrees with this when he writes, “… it [the kingdom] will come in God’s time and in God’s way, not by human effort or in accordance with human logic.” Lane concurs with this interpretation, saying, “It [the kingdom] comes mysteriously, by God’s initiative and appointment, without human intervention.”

The disciple is to plant the seed, meaning they are to share the Kingdom message. For the Christians today, that would be the message of the Gospel of Christ. The Christian is the farmer scattering the seed, sharing the Gospel, on all types of ground: people. It is not the job of the Christian to make faith appear within a person, but rather trust that God is working in the lives of the people who have heard the message. This is a freeing thought. It is not the role of the Christian to force conversion or force faith but rather to trust that God continues to work in a person’s life even though it might not be seen from the outside. 

Internal workings of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life are not up to the Christian, though they may sincerely desire to enact change. The parable of the Growing Seed tells the disciples of Christ to trust and rely on God to do the work he wishes to do. For if disciple desires to see their friend or family member come to trust in Jesus as Savior, that desire first began in the person of God, whose desire for the redemption of the lost far exceeds the human’s desire.

Conclusion

The Growing Seed parable is a simple, often overlooked teaching of Jesus which contains deep comfort within its imagery. Therefore, by looking at the passage's historical, cultural, and literary context, this paper brought out its meaning and significance and then applied it to the life of the disciple of Christ. The disciple is called to the work of Jesus in proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom to the world, to which God works in the hearts and minds of people to bring about redemption and transformation. It is a call to disciples to trust that God is working, get off the sidelines of excuses, and do the work that the Lord has set out for his Church to do. May every believer work with Kingdom purpose, knowing God is also active.

Bibliography

Adamczewski, Bartosz, The Gospel of Mark : A Hypertextual Commentary, Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag         der Wissenschaften, 2014.

Barrett, C. K., Acts of the Apostles: A Shorter Commentary, London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002.

deSilva, David A., An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods and Ministry Formation, Downers Grove, IL:                             InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Edwards, James R., “Introduction to Mark,” The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill, Grand             Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2012.

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, Chicago, IL: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001.

France, R. T., The Gospel of Mark, Chicago, IL: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002.

Gundry, Robert H., “Mark: An Apology for the Crucifixion of Jesus,” A Survey of the New Testament ed. 4, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,        2003.

Interlinear Bible, accessed August 6, 2024, https://biblehub.com/greek/906.htm.

Kaiser Jr., Walter C. and Silva, Moisés, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and                   Moisés Silva, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.

Lane, William L., The Gospel According to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes, Grand Rapids, MI:                         Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974.

Lowe, Stephen D. and Lowe, Mary E., Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education, Downer’s Grove,     IL: IVP Academic, 2018.

Moloney, Francis J. Sdb. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012.

Oxford Reference, accessed July 10, 2024, https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100134782.

Rouvinez, Francis Aldo, “The Gospel of Mark in the Context of Ancient Biography,” Accessed July 10. 2024,                                                       http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17453.

Ryle, J. C., Bible Commentary - the Gospel of Mark, Balneário Rincão: Grupo Oxigênio Ltda-ME, 2012.

Schnabel, Eckhard J., Mark : An Introduction and Commentary, Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015.

Strauss, Mark L., “Who Wrote the Gospel of Mark?” September 22, 2021, https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/who-wrote-the-gospel-of-mark.

Titus Week 1: Betterment of God’s People

  There’s a video that circulates the Internet that shows a horse trainer putting an imaginary bridle on their horse and then leading it around for a few seconds. Suddenly the horse realizes that there is no rope leading them and they run away. The horse had been conditioned to follow the trainer when a bridle was put on it, and the mere action of putting on the bridle was enough to trigger that obedience.

There’s a fable about a massive elephant who was tied up by a small rope. One day a passerby was amazed that the elephant didn’t simply break loose. So the passerby asked the trainer, why the elephant didn’t break the small rope and get free. The trainer told the person that, when the elephant was young he was tied up by the rope and tried to break free, but the young elephant wasn’t strong enough. So now that the elephant is older, it doesn’t believe it can break the rope.

Both of these stories remind me of many Christians that I’ve met. Sin has been in so much control of their actions for so long, that even when they understand that Jesus’ finish work has overcome sin, they still believe it’s holding them back. They see other believers, pastors and other ministers, and think that they could never be as spiritual as someone else. 

But God has redeemed us to not only live one day without sin, but to live everyday in the power of the Holy Spirit to move away from our sinful desires and closer to the image of Christ. Because of that we, are to strive to be mature in our faith.

And it’s that striving that brings us to our second letter of our summer, the letter to Titus, starting in chapter 1 verse 1. Let’s read together Titus 1:1-5 and talk about it.

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; 4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—

The opening to the letter gives us a lot of background information on the what, where, and why of the writing. 

Like 2nd Corinthians that we’ve gone through this summer, Titus is written by Paul, except this time it’s not written to a specific church, but rather to a specific person. This is one of four letters that Paul wrote to individuals, the others being Philemon, which we will also cover this summer, and 1st and 2nd Timothy. Titus, combined with the letters to Timothy, is three letter referred to as the pastoral letters. The reason why their called that, is because they are written to individuals about how to lead the local church. So the three letters are basically crash courses in local church management and leadership.

Looking at Paul’s opening, we can see this pastoral focus. 

When giving his credentials, the first things Paul tells us is he’s a servant. If you’ve been with us in our 2nd Corinthians study, this should bring back what a leader is. Paul told the Corinthians that false leaders are those who demand from their people what they will not do. They want service from others, but will not serve. So Paul’s first description of himself is a servant. But not just any servant, Paul uses the words doulos (doo’-los), which is the one-to-one word for a bonded-slave. Right out of the gate, Paul is telling Titus what kind of servant of the church every leader is called to be. We are bonded-slave servants of Jesus. 

After that description, then Paul references his title, an apostle of Jesus Christ. This is Paul’s role in the Body of Christ. Paul isn’t a deacon, though he does deacon work; Paul isn’t an pastor who does weekly calling and preaching, though he does those things too. No Paul is an apostle of Jesus and in this case, that means he’s a missionary and church planter who’s primary work, is sharing the Gospel with non-Jewish, or Gentile people. This informs Titus that he also has a role to fulfill.

These two roles, slave-servant and apostle of Jesus lead into purpose. This purpose is for the sake of faith, knowledge of truth which accords with godliness, and hope of eternal life. Paul’s purpose has this three part ministry. Through Paul’s work, he is helping the Church build it’s faith: that means to help the Church know, trust, and do what God has said. Paul’s work helps the Church connect their knowledge of God’s truth with acts of godliness. Both of these are underlined with the hope of eternal life. In other words, Paul’s purpose is to get the Church to walk as faithful followers of Jesus. This purpose is also Titus’ purpose, though fulfilling it in a different capacity.

However, all of this is done through God who never lies. Paul recognizes that he is under the Father and the Son as he does the ministry. He is the son’s slave-servant, and he is the minster of the Father’s truth. A truth that is not new, but has been shared throughout the centuries. This puts Paul’s and Titus’ ministries into perceptive. They’re not doing anything new, but rather are a part of a long line of proclaimers. 

This leads into how Paul fulfills his slave-servant apostolic purpose by the preaching of God’s word. Paul’s primary work is through preaching. This preaching can be better understood as proclamation, or heralding. Paul is a heralder of the Gospel. This is why he doesn’t stay long in any one town. He’s closer to the role of a modern evangelist, than a modern pastor. This goes back to his role as an apostle. 

  After that introduction, we might be wondering, why is Paul introducing himself to someone we know that he knows so well. The letter is written to Titus, a close companion of Paul, that Paul mentions at least thirteen times in the New Testament. Nine of those are in the 2nd Corinthians letter. Hence why we are following 2nd Corinthians with Titus. Paul even calls Titus “my true child.” There is a parent-child relationship here, that one would think Paul wouldn’t need such a long drawn out introduction of himself. 

Yet, there’s two things to remember about Paul’s opening. First, the letter is addressed to Titus. Paul’s opening sets up all that he’s going to talk about. It puts it in the mind of Titus, that if Paul is this servant-slave apostle, who has a purpose that’s both from God and under God, and a way by which to herald that purpose, then so does Titus.

But the other part is that this letter will most likely be read to the Church. There’s a reason why we include Titus among the New Testament writings. It contains valuable information about how to conduct leadership in the overall Church, and what believers should strive to do.

So Paul’s opening is for both Titus and the Church. The letter to Titus in what he should be doing, and to the Church for what they should be striving for. The opening reminds Titus of who Paul is and who Titus should be, and also reminds the Church that this letter comes from Paul the apostle, who has authority to write the things they should strive for. 

Paul then gives a standard blessings: “Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” Paul’s desire is that the Church would experience God’s grace, that comes by way of the Father sending the Son to save all those who would trust in his work. Through that work, Paul wants the Church to experience God’s peace. Peace within the Church, and as far as Christians can, be at peace as they live out their lives in front of the unbeliever.

Everything that follows, is to help the Church experience that grace and peace. So Paul tells Titus, Paul’s purpose in leaving him in Crete was to appoint elders and by doing so to have order in the Church. Titus is a pastor, but not a stay in one place pastor. Instead he is a pastor to pastors. He is there to evaluate the spiritual condition of a local church and to install overseers who will be best for the local congregation. In this way, order can be done, because through good leadership, peace happens. When an overseer is not fulfilling their job of leading well, the local church suffers. Titus’ job is to minimize suffering and maximize peace.

So as we read through the letter to Titus, we have to understand that the goal here is the health of the local church. Everything that has to do with leadership, has an underlying call to the congregation to strive to be worthy of the call of leadership. Not that everyone wants to be a leader, or that everyone should be a leader, but everyone should be striving for the qualifications of leadership. This is because in those qualifications, are a mature faith. A faith that is strong, steady, and looking for the good of the Church.

This is what God is calling us to. We are all called to the health of the Church. We are called to know our role, and purpose to help bring about a greater experience of God’s grace and peace within the local body of believers. When we all strive for the qualifications of godly leadership, all of our goals will be for the betterment of our brothers and sisters. When we’re improving and they’re improving, all of us are lifted up. That’s God’s goal, and it’s Paul’s goal as well. 

So my challenge for you this week, is to prepare. First, are you striving for the qualifications of leadership? Not the position of a leader, but the maturity that God wants in his people? Second, are you improving in your walk with God? That means are you visibly growing in faith and love of God and people. Finally, are you desiring the improvement of your fellow believers? Meaning, you are actively loving and encouraging them. This week I want to challenge you to evaluate yourself, and where you are lacking, seek the Lord to move in building you up in that area, and to encourage a brother or sisters in their walk.

God is calling us to love his Church as he loves it. That means no matter our role, our purpose is the same, we are to be a person who helps in the betterment of God’s people.

2nd Corinthians Week 17: Aim To Restore

  There is a trope in the development of a young man’s life to take an old car, work on it with their dad to get it running, and turning it into their first car. George Strait has a song called, “Best Day of My Life,” and its second stanza sings, 

“His fifteenth birthday rolled around, classic cars were his thing.

When I pulled into in the drive with that old ‘vette, I thought that boy would go insane.

When you’re in your teens your dreams revolve around four spinning wheels,

We worked nights on end, ‘till it was new again, and as he sat behind the wheel.

He said Dad, this could be, the best day of my life.

I’ve been dreaming day and night about the fun we’ve had.

Just me and you, doing what I’ve always wanted to,

I’m the luckiest boy alive, this is the best day of my life.”

For a lot of people there is an appreciation and love for restored vehicles. I’m not a car guy, but I love seeing old cars that someone took the time to work on and restore. I think the reason for this is because we like to see things back to the way they were meant to be. 

And it’s that idea of restoration that brings us back to our final week in our summer series where we will be reading the last four verses of 2nd Corinthians chapter 13, starting in verse 11, as Paul closes out his final letter to the Corinthians. But before we read 2nd Corinthians 13:11-14, let’s take a quick look back at what we’ve gone over these last sixteen weeks. 

Paul’s fourth letter to the Corinthians, what we refer to as 2nd Corinthians, can be separated into three sections of topics that Paul is trying to cover. First, Paul opens up this letter by confronting a bad situation that happened on his last trip to Corinth. While Paul was there, a false teacher ridiculed and demeaned him in front of the Corinthian congregation. Paul was more hurt that the people he’s work hard to teach the word of God to did not come to his defense. So instead of lashing out from his pain in anger, Paul took some time to compose himself and write out his hurt. This hurt letter, was then taken by Titus to the Corinthian Church and read. The Corinthians repented of their sin and when Titus returned, Paul wrote this letter to explain his thought process. The reason why Paul writes is to confront the situation, but to do so with restoration as his purpose.

Since restoration is happening in the Corinthian Church, Paul then spends the bulk of the letter encouraging the Corinthians to move forward in their faith. Paul is trying to teach the Church a valuable lesson, bad situations have to be dealt with restoring purpose, and once that restoration happens, we all must move forward in our ever developing spiritual walk. That is the life cycle of the believer, fellowship with God, stumbling to sin, restorative work, a step forward in our walk, and return to full fellowship with God. The goal is less stumbling in sin and more time fellowshipping with God. This only occurs when we turn from that sin and move forward in our walk. When we begin to lock down those two aspects, sin’s appeal lessens more and more. 

In the final section, Paul then addresses the false teachers, or what he sarcastically calls, “super-apostles.” He addresses them with hyperbole and sarcasm to point out the ridiculousness of these false teachers claims. In doing so, Paul shows us that to avoid the types of leaders, we must present our selves with bold humbleness, be active in our serving one another, working from a place of weakness, and self-examining our spiritual walks.  When we do these things, we understand and seek to follow leaders who do the same. In this way we can avoid “super-apostles” who are out for their own good and not the good of the work of God in the Church.

With all of this in mind, we can read Paul’s final words to the Corinthian Church, from 2nd Corinthians 13:11-14.

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you.

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

In these four verses, Paul echoes his words from his greeting in chapter 1, adding a few elements to it. 

Paul begins calling the Corinthians brothers. This is the general term that includes everyone. All are brothers who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. No matter the gender, or the ethnicity, or social status, or economic affluence. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Anyone who trusts in Jesus is Paul’s brother, and though he’s had problems with the Corinthians, and they have grieved him so much, he still considers them brothers in Christ, because of their repentance. 

Paul then calls them to rejoice. Sometimes it can feel like Paul deals with downer topics. He’s having to correct sexual immorality, fights within the body of Christ, and questions about apostolic authority. Yet in it all, Paul calls the Church to rejoice. It’s the same thing Paul would write to the Philippians Church in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” No matter the hardship, no matter the set back, we as Christians should be able to rejoice, because our God has overcome all things. Paul is calling the Corinthians to that rejoicing. 

From rejoicing, Paul calls the Corinthians to have an aim to restore. How should this be accomplished? Paul gives us several ways. Through comforting one another, agreeing with one another, and living in peace. If we are to aim for restoration after dealing with a bad situation, we have to comfort one another. That means we encourage each other. We don’t dwell on the past problems, but instead we help each other move forward. 

We also seek agreements with one another. In our congregation here in Quartzsite, there’s a lot of different opinions on what we call secondary and third tier doctrines. If we focused on those disagreements, there would be endless infighting and this ministry would tare itself a part. So instead we focus on where we agree on the core of the Gospel. From there we can move into Paul’s final aim of restoration.

We live at peace. Problems will come and when they do, we deal with them. No one likes to face problems, but we have to in order to have restoration as our aim. But when conduct ourselves with grace and impartiality, we can move forward in peace. We can do this because we do not harbor ill will towards our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Paul’s words in his early letter to the Corinthians ring out here, “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:4-13).”

If we call ourselves Christians, yet do not aim for restoration so that we may live in peace within the Church, we are not loving. And if we are not loving, Paul would say we are, “… a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1c).”

From that aim to restore, Paul then calls the Corinthians to “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” This carries with it the idea of embracing. Don’t just say we love, commit to actions that show we love. This is not avoiding people whom we’ve had disagreements with. This isn’t just acting like we love people, but truly having the Holy Spirit transform our desire to be in line with his. This is a hard thing and it might take time to do, and there are some restrictions to it, but it’s embracing those who are also aiming for restoration. Paul writes in Romans 12:9-10, and I like how the New Living Translation puts it, “9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” 

We are to not play at embracing and loving people, we are to really do it as if we are loving and embracing Jesus himself. And just like the Corinthians are to embrace each other, Paul points to the greater embrace that the whole Church of Jesus is doing to them. In Paul’s third lost letter after the Corinthians dealt such a deep pain to Paul, that congregation seemed have cut themselves off from the rest of the Church. But at their repentance, fellowship was restored. So Paul is moving past the offense and showing that the Corinthians are restored, not just to Paul, but to the entire Body of Christ., when he states that, “All the saints greet you.” The whole Church is re-embracing t4he Corinthian body of believers, just as each individual believer should embrace their brother.

Finally, Paul sends a blessing to the Church. It’s a Trinitarian blessing, that oddly begins with Jesus, but makes sense in how Paul uses it. Paul begins with, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ …” It is through the grace of Jesus on the cross that we are in the Body of Christ, and that restoration can occur.

“… and the love of God …” It is by the love of the Father that Jesus was sent to save humanity. Thereby opening the path of restoration.

“… and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” The Holy Spirit binds believers together. We are not simply saved to live and walk on our own. No, we are saved to walk hand-in-hand and arm-in-arm with our fellow saved brothers and sisters. No matter what the situation, if we are aiming for restoration, we embrace one another in true godly love.

There will always be hurt in the Church, because it’s filled with hurting sinful people. Our job as individuals is to seek the aim of restoration. We must learn to be graceful with people, knowing they’re working through sin, just as we are. We must allow for growing pains, confronting improper acts with love and mercy, as best we can. And we must do all this in the power of the Holy Spirit who is building us together for the glory of the Father and Son. 

My challenge for you this week is to ask yourself, have you been hurt by someone in the Church? It might be in this congregation, or it might be from a different congregation. Whoever it is, or wherever happened, take this week and seek the Lord’s forgiveness in harboring ill will toward them, and ask of the Holy Spirit to work in you to forgive that person. Write out the hurt, and then erase it as an act of desire that God would take it and restore that person to right fellowship with you.

It’s hard and there might be other things that need to be done before full restoration can occur. Yet we are called to be a people who aim for restoration. We are called to comfort one another, agree with one another, live at peace with one another and embrace one another. God did it with us, “… but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)” That love is to flow from us out onto our brothers and sisters.

Let us be a people who can love as Jesus loves us. Amen.