Gospel of Mark Study #28

“Love Is Not Puffed Up”

Mark 9:30-37

Study #28 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

St. Valentine’s Day is the “Day of Love,” of chocolates, Vermont Teddy Bears, PajamaGrams, jewelry, mushy Hallmark Cards, and fancy dinners at expensive restaurants. The celebration harks back to the year AD 269 when a Christian minister in Rome by the name of Valentinus was martyred at the orders of the Roman Emperor, Claudius II, for assisting the hated Christians by performing secret, non-sanctioned weddings. He sacrificed his life for the sake of others. He risked everything for his belief in love and the sanctity of Christian marriage. February 14^th is the commemoration of Valentinus’ death.

Of course, it is also true that Hallmark Cards, chocolate factories, lingerie companies, teddy-bear manufacturers, and jewelry stores have all cashed in on Valentine’s Day in a big way! But we should not allow that fact to keep us from expressing our love to our spouses and sweethearts and demonstrating that love in practical ways.

Having said that, we need to remember that real love is not something we turn on or off like a spigot. If you only show love to your wife on Valentine’s Day, then you do not really love her. Real love is much more than that. It is a choice, a covenant that we make to keep on loving and doing loving things for that other person.

TRANSITION:

The Bible is the greatest textbook on love that has ever been written. In fact, it is one long love story from Genesis to Revelation describing how much God loves us, and what He has done to prove it. But there is one special passage that really focuses on the quality of that love. It is 1 Corinthians 13 that has been called “the Love Chapter.” Here are verses 1-8 in the New King James Version:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  ² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.  ⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  ⁸ Love never fails.

Did you notice that phrase in verse 4? – “Love is not puffed up.” That phrase intrigues me, so much so that I have used it for the title of this study. Today we are going to continue our study in the Gospel of Mark, and our text for today has much to teach us about the real nature of Christian love. And I believe that it also provides us with a clear illustration of what Paul meant when he said that real love “is not puffed up and does not seek its own.” Today we will be in Mark 9:30-37. 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 30: From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He [i.e., Jesus] did not want anyone to know about it.

• “From there.” From where? We do not know specifically because the text does not tell us but the event immediately preceding this verse occurred either in Caesarea Philippi or in one of the mountain villages close by where Jesus had cast a demon out of a young man at the request of the boy’s father. Now Jesus and the Twelve had left there and were headed down into the region of Galilee closer to the lake.
• But why did Jesus not want His whereabouts to be common knowledge? Again, He was controlling the timing of these events leading up to His final journey to Jerusalem and the cross that awaited Him there. 

Verse 31: For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”

• He was “teaching His disciples and telling them.” These two verbs are in the Greek imperfect tense indicating that He was telling the facts to His disciples repeatedly, not just once, and explaining their significance repeatedly. He was hammering them with the truth of what was to come. At this stage of the game these were the high-priority truths they needed to know and understand. What things?
• Look again at the content of His instruction. He was telling them exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. He did not want it to come as a surprise, so He went over the details again and again.

Verse 32: But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

• They were slow to comprehend. But why? I believe that what He was telling them seemed too horrific to be believable. It was just too awful to take seriously. Yet He had never lied to them in the past. So, they apparently concluded that He must have been speaking allegorically rather than literally. Still, it did not make sense to them. The idea that Jesus would deliberately walk into a trap that would result in His own death was totally off their mental maps.
• And why do you think they were they afraid to ask Jesus for clarification concerning His instruction to them? Had He ever been mean or rude to them before when they asked Him questions? No. I believe they were simply embarrassed at their own ignorance. Besides being a pastor, I was a schoolteacher and a seminary professor, so I understand this phenomenon very well, and most of you do too. In a classroom setting many students would prefer to sit there in a mental fog, understanding nothing, rather than to raise their hand and ask the teacher for help. They would rather risk getting the answer wrong on the test than looking and feeling stupid in the eyes of the teacher or their fellow-students. I think this is how the disciples felt and why they kept quiet. 

Verse 33: They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

• “They came to Capernaum.” You will remember that Capernaum sat right on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. It was a small fishing village of less than 1,500 people. It was also the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and probably some of the other disciples. While we do not know for sure whose house He entered, notice that the text says He entered “the house.” Mark deliberately uses the definite article. I believe, as do many others, that there is a good chance that it was Peter’s house. That would make perfect sense because Jesus and the fellows had stayed there on other occasions.
• “What were you discussing on the way?” I have told you before that whenever Jesus asked His disciples questions it was never to gain information. There was nothing they could possibly tell Him that He did not already know. However, Jesus posed this probing question to open the door for Him to teach them an important spiritual lesson. You can bet your last dollar that He already knew exactly what they had been arguing about as they had walked along the road.

Verse 34: But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

• “But they kept silent.” Yes, they certainly did, and it is obvious why. As soon as the Master asked that question their consciences were pricked. In that moment I think they must have looked like the little boy who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The instant that Jesus asked them the question they knew that they were in the wrong. Jesus asked the question out loud but all He got from them was guilty looks, their sheepish silence, and a whole lot of foot shuffling. I think they were suddenly ashamed to admit that rather than being concerned with His coming death, they were more interested in jockeying for positions of personal greatness in His coming Messianic Kingdom.
• “For on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.” Can you imagine how that conversation might have gone? Though what is even more disturbing is how that stupid conversation might have gotten started in the first place. Who was the genius that brought it up?

Verse 35: Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

• Why did Jesus sit down? For one thing He was probably tired. They had apparently been walking for most of the day. The other reason was cultural. It was customary for a rabbi to sit down to teach. You may remember back to the story told in Luke 4:16-30 of Jesus’ return to Nazareth and His experience in their synagogue. The text says:

He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read.  ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰ Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, ²¹ and He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

Verse 36: Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them…

• There is an old familiar saying that goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Object lessons function in the same way. Jesus, the Master Teacher, first sat down because He had something particularly important to teach His disciples. He lowered Himself to the height of a child then He immediately reached out His arms and beckoned a little child to come to Him. Where did the child come from? Maybe it was from that household. Maybe he was Peter’s little grandson. Maybe he was a little boy who had been watching Jesus from the doorway. We do not know.
• Jesus picked up the little boy and held him on His lap, with His arms around the little guy. Then He began to teach them about real love. The disciples’ conversation on the road revealed that their love was puffed up, self-seeking, self-serving, and me-centered. Jesus’ love, on the other hand, is selfless, focused outward rather than inward, always looking out for the best interests of others. And that is the way we should love too, whether we are talking about loving our spouse, our parents, our Christian brothers and sisters at church, or the people out there in the world who do not yet know the Lord Jesus and are sometimes rather unlovable. 

Verse 37: “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

• What does Jesus mean by all that? Well, it’s sort of like this… If you love my grandson, Lucas, it shows that you love Lucas’ daddy, Christopher, which shows that you love me because Chris is my son and Lucas is my grandson. We are a package deal. We go together. In fact, do not try to convince me that you love me while you are saying horrible things about my son. And do not even think about bad-mouthing Lucas. I love my son and my grandson, and they love me, and we go together.
• Jesus loved that little child He was holding in His arms. He was saying to the disciples that by genuinely loving and showing love to that child, whom Jesus loved, they were really showing their love for Jesus. On top of that, to receive Jesus and to love Him means that they love the Father who sent Him. 

CONCLUSION:

Here is the bottom line… you cannot love Jesus and hate the people that Jesus loves. You cannot say that you love God and yet reject the Son whom the Father sent to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. If you really love God, then you will love Jesus. And if you really love Jesus, then you will love the people that He loved so much He was willing to die for them.

Real love, genuine Christian love, agape love “suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own.” We need to periodically stop and take our love temperature, not limiting ourselves to thinking merely about romantic love, but looking at all our love relationships and examining ourselves to see if we are living and loving the way Jesus would want us to.

Gospel of Mark Study #27

“I Believe but Help My Unbelief”

Mark 9:9-29

Study #27 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

In James 1:8 we learn that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” But are we not all double-minded sometimes? For example, I want to be a holy man, but at the same time I want to be able to sin sometimes and get away with it and not have it bother my conscience. I want to be known as an honest man, but sometimes I am tempted to lie, or tell half-truths. I want to please God, but I also want to please myself. I am often pulled in two directions. And when I am double minded like that, my whole life gets out of kilter.

TRANSITION:

In today’s passage we are going to hear from a man who, by his own testimony to Jesus, suffered from being double minded. Here is what he said: “Lord, I believe. Please help me in my unbelief.” What do you suppose Jesus said back to Him? Let’s find out. We’re in Mark, chapter 9.

NOTES on the Text:

Verses 9-10: As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  ¹⁰ They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.  

• We looked at these verses last week, but I included them just to remind us of the context. Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John with Him up the mountain where He was transfigured before their eyes. 

Verses 11-13: And they [i.e., Peter, James, and John] asked Him, “Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah must come first?”  ¹² Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?  ¹³ But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”  

• This question by the disciples came up, I believe, because of the presence of Elijah at the Transfiguration. They were referring to the well-known passage in Malachi 4:5-6 and wondering if this appearing of Elijah was the fulfilment of that prophecy. That passage says: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”  
• However, the answer that Jesus gave points us in another direction. Back in Luke 1 the angel Gabriel was sent to Zacharias and Elizabeth to announce the birth of their son, John, who would be called John the Baptizer. In verse 17 the angel said: “And it is he [i.e., John] who will go as a forerunner before Him [i.e., the Messiah] in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” This is obviously a reference to the Malachi passage and clearly shows that John the Baptist was the one who is spoken of there.
• This fact is further confirmed by the parallel passage in Matthew 17:12-13, “But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also, the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.   

Verses 14-16: When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.  ¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were amazed and ran to greet Him.  ¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” He asked.

• Why were they amazed? Probably because of the timing of the whole thing. Jesus arrived right when His disciples needed Him the most. He has a way of doing that for us too, does He not?
• Picture this: As Jesus and His three guys came down from the mountain, the first thing they saw was a bunch of people, including Scribes, surrounding their colleagues. A big argument was taking place and it looked like the disciples were getting the worst of it. Suddenly the crowd turned, saw Jesus, and ran up to Him.
• Jesus asked the group what all the arguing was about. But remember, Jesus never asked questions to gain information. He already knew the answers, but He wanted the issues expressed openly for all to hear. 

Verses 17-18: A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who is possessed with a spirit which makes him mute.  ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not do it.”  

• Notice that the man said, “I brought my son to You.” But Jesus was not around so the job fell to Jesus’ disciples. The man needed Jesus but all he got was a bunch of amateur assistants.
• The man had correctly diagnosed the problem as being spiritual rather than strictly natural/physical. He had concluded that an evil spirit was tormenting his son. By the description of the symptoms, I would conclude that he was right, based on some things I witnessed in Brazil. While many of the symptoms resembled those of an epileptic seizure, the further symptoms described in verse 22 seal the diagnosis for me.
• Notice that in the absence of Jesus the man appealed to the disciples for help in casting out the demonic spirit, but they had no success. In fact, they failed miserably. 

Verse 19: “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”  

• This is an amazing glimpse into the pain in Jesus’ soul. It was obvious to Him that the disciples were weak because of their unbelief. This brought a feeling of disappointment and sadness that they still did not get it, and I think His frustration was mainly aimed at them. But in the broader sense, He came to bring light, life, peace, healing, and salvation to the whole world, but He was constantly confronted with unbelief, skepticism, hatred, and antagonism on the part of those He came to save. I believe that this verse gives us a rare insight into the personal pain and frustration that Jesus must have often felt. He was, after all, human as well as divine and the Bible says that He was subject to the same feelings and frustrations and temptations that we experience, yet without sin (cf. Hebrews 4:15).

Verse 20: And so, they brought the boy to Him. And when he [i.e., the spirit] saw Him [i.e., Jesus], immediately the spirit threw him [i.e., the boy] into a convulsion. And falling to the ground, he began rolling about and foaming at the mouth.  

• “When he [the spirit] saw Jesus.” When you looked into that boy’s eyes another being looked out at you. I have seen this first-hand a few times, and it is very unnerving. The demon knew that he was in the presence of the Son of God, and he immediately began acting out, trying once again to destroy the boy and impress the crowd.

Verses 21-22: Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”  “From childhood,” he answered.  ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us, and help us.”  

• Jesus directed the question to the father, but the answer was for the benefit of all those gathered around witnessing this event.
• The last part of the man’s statement is filled with pain coupled with hope. “But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Notice the word “if.” The man was not sure if Jesus could help his boy, but he knew that Jesus was his best and last hope. Doctors had not been able to help. Theologians had not been able to help. And now, even Jesus’ own disciples had failed in their attempt at exorcism.  

Verse 23: “’If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”  

• Jesus immediately picked up on the man’s words because this whole thing hinged on faith. That was the only thing in question. Jesus knew that He had power and authority to heal the boy. The demon knew that Jesus had the power and authority to cast him out. The disciples believed that Jesus could do it because they had witnessed it before. But Jesus here confronts the man about whether he believes that Jesus can cure his son. But I would point out that he has already proved a degree of faith in the fact that he had set out to take his son to Jesus in the first place.

 

Verse 24: Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help me in my unbelief!”

• You can hear the emotion in the man’s voice. It says he “cried out.” And I love the man’s response because he is so honest. He admits to Jesus that in the dark corners of his faith there are still some resistant pockets of unbelief. He did believe, yet he was acutely conscious of the fact that his faith and trust in Christ were imperfect, to say the least.
• That is so like us, even those of us who have been Christians for many years. There are situations in which we find ourselves acting like total unbelievers, worrying, and fretting over whether God is going to come through for us this time, even if He has come through for us a hundred times in the past. I think we all have some unbelief mixed in with our belief. We need to pray this prayer often to the Lord. “Lord, I believe. But please help me with my unbelief.”

Verse 25: When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and dumb spirit,” He said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

• Obviously, Jesus believed that the boy was being tormented by a demon. Jesus did not address the problem as an illness, like He did on many other occasions. This was a clear case of demon oppression and Jesus addressed His remarks to the unclean spirit.
• For a long time, people have argued over the difference between being “demon-possessed” versus “demon-oppressed.” In truth, the Bible does not draw this distinction. The Greek word used throughout the NT to describe a person afflicted by demonic spirits is daimonídzomai, or literally “demonized.” This boy was demonized.

Verses 26-27: The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that most said, “He’s dead.”  ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.  

• Demons do not leave quietly or happily. This spirit had no choice but to obey Jesus, but he was obviously angry and tried to damage the boy in the process of leaving. Once the evil spirit was out of the boy, however, he was made well and whole in every way. His will was freed up and the symptoms caused by the presence of the demon were all a thing of the past. Can you imagine the joy that the father felt when he saw all this? 

Verses 28-29: After Jesus had gone indoors, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why is it that we could not cast it out?”  ²⁹ He replied, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.” [A few manuscripts add, “and fasting” but these words are not in most of the manuscripts.]  

• Notice Jesus’ words, “this kind,” informing the disciples (and us) that there are different kinds of demons, some stronger than others, though all are subject to Him, and us, when we deal with them in His strength and by His authority. From Jesus’ words to the nine disciples who had tried to cast out the demon and failed, I conclude that they had attempted it without relying on God’s power. The formula for failure goes like this…

puny faith + prayerlessness = spiritual impotency. 

• I feel sorry for the disciples in this story. They were good guys, good Christians. They wanted to help the boy. They tried their best. They did all the things they had seen Jesus do in the past. They used the same words that Jesus had used, etc. However, they had been unable to do battle with even one stinking little weasel of a demon. They did not have enough mojo to cast that bad boy out. How do you think that made them feel? Embarrassed? Silly? Weak? Failures as followers of Christ? Probably all these things, and more.
• But Jesus used this occasion to teach them an important lesson about spiritual warfare. But do not be too hard on these guys because you must remember that the NT did not even exist yet. They could not just go to THE BOOK for answers. In fact, some of these guys were the ones who would write it later. For example, they had not ever read Ephesians 6:10-18, which says, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  ¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.  ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.  ¹⁶ In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  ¹⁷ Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  ¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.” [New Living Translation]   

CONCLUSION:

I said a moment ago that the formula for failure is… 

puny faith + prayerlessness = spiritual impotency.

So, what is the formula for spiritual success in dealing with the devil? I guess it would go something like this…

solid faith + prayerful dependence = spiritual power.

In the parallel passage to this one in Matthew 17 (NLT), when the disciples asked the Master why they had been unsuccessful in casting out the demon, He responded: “You don’t have enough faith. I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Notice that Jesus speaks here of the quantity of their faith. He said, “You do not have enough faith.” That is one issue—the quantity of faith. The other issue has to do with the object of our faith. In confronting the enemy, if we are trusting in our experience, our knowledge of Scripture, our vast wisdom, our talents, our spiritual maturity, etc., then we will fail for sure. Apparently, the disciples went at that exorcism like they were all professionals who knew what they were doing. After all, they had seen Jesus do it! It just did not look that hard. From Jesus’ reply I must conclude that unshakable faith in Christ and prayerful dependence on the Spirit are the two necessary things to experience spiritual victories over the devil and his minions.

Gospel of Mark Study #26

“Peeking Behind the Veil”

Mark 9:1-10

Study #26 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

There is something in most of us humans that makes us want to see what is hidden. We want to see what is behind the curtain. We want to lift the veil to see what it hides. We want to know what is in those packages under the Christmas tree. I had one uncle who was famous for sneaking down in the middle of the night and carefully unwrapping his presents to see what was inside. Then, just as carefully, he would wrap them back up again and sneak back to bed.

Moses wanted to see the Lord. While he was up on Mt. Sinai Moses asked God to reveal Himself to him. I believe that in part, Moses was simply curious to see what God is like. They had talked, the Bible says, “…as a man talks with his friend.” But finally, Moses asked to see God’s face. You remember the story. However, the Lord told him that no human could look upon God and live. So, the Lord allowed Moses to see just a little bit of His glory, His Shekhinah. And even that was so powerful that Moses glowed in the dark for several weeks and had to cover up his face with a veil because the effect continued long after he came back down from the mountain, and it creeped out the people who saw him. 

In our passage for today the Lord Jesus drew back the curtain for just a few moments and allowed three of His disciples to see Him as He really is. He did not do it merely to satisfy their curiosity, however. He did not do it in response to any request from them. He did it so that later, after His death and resurrection, they might serve as witnesses of what they had observed and experienced, to bear witness to His divinity.

Oh, they thought they already knew everything about Him. They had walked and talked with Him, eaten, and slept with Him, sat at His feet, and gazed into His face but never had they seen Him like this. They had never seen His glory, the glory He shared with God the Father from eternity past. For a few brief moments they got to see Jesus as we will one day see Him when we step from this earthly life into His glorious presence.

TRANSITION:

The Transfiguration account is recorded by three of the four Gospel writers: Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36. The three accounts are almost exactly alike with just a few minor variations, which taken together, give us a very full understanding of what took place there that night.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 1: And He was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste of death until they see the Kingdom of God after it has come with power.” 

• The chapter division here is unfortunate because this verse is clearly the conclusion of the discourse recorded in the last 5 verses of chapter 8. Moreover, we see from the next verse that there was a six-day interval between verse 1 and verse 2. Matthew and Luke’s accounts both place it with the previous discourse. And what was Jesus saying in those verses? He was talking about what it means to be one of His true disciples, and the fact that the day would eventually come when His true glory and majesty would be revealed for all to see. That statement in 8:38 leads directly to this one in 9:1 and they tie together.
• However, the content of this verse has confused many people over the years. Some claim that Jesus was referring here to the future destruction of Jerusalem. Others say that He was speaking of the beginning of the Church at Pentecost. Still others believe that Jesus was speaking of the end of the age when He will return to set up His Messianic Kingdom.
• But I do not believe He was talking about any of those things. Look again carefully at His words. He is speaking of a soon occurring event that will obviously reveal the power of God’s Kingdom. He says that some of those standing there that day would witness this demonstration of the power of God.
• So, to what was He referring then? Here is a hint: in all three Gospel accounts the thing that immediately follows these words is the Transfiguration in which Jesus revealed His glory. I believe that He was referring specifically to this event, and apparently so did Matthew, Mark, & Luke.
• Moreover, Peter, who was one of those who was “standing there” referred to the Transfiguration using the very same words. He wrote in 2 Peter 1:16-18, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ ¹⁸ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from Heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain.” Indeed, he was there to see it with his own eyes.

Verse 2: And six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. 

• “After six days” means six days after Jesus uttered the prophecy in verse 1. And here, at least for the three disciples who witnessed it, was yet another fulfilment of what Jesus had said. They got a foretaste of the glory that Christ had in eternity and will have again in Heaven.
• Luke is the only one of the three Gospel writers to tell us when this event occurred. In Luke 9:32 we read, “Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.” From this we conclude that this all happened at night.
• Notice who was orchestrating this event—Jesus. He chose Peter, James, and John. He chose the place where this would occur. He isolated them and prepared the scene by getting them alone. But why did He not take all 12 disciples along? I do not know. Several times He singled out these same three men for further training or instruction, perhaps because they were His key leaders, and He knew that this experience would give them status in the eyes of their fellow disciples. Or maybe out of the 12 they were the three who were most spiritually perceptive. I simply do not know. Or perhaps it was because of the “3 witnesses” rule in Judaism, referred to in Matthew 18:16 quoting Deuteronomy 19:15 (see also Deut. 17:6), which states: “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.” 
• “He took them to a high mountain.” No one knows exactly where the Transfiguration occurred. Some believe it happened on the slopes of Mt. Tabor. Others think it occurred on one of the spurs of Mt. Hermon. The mountainous area around Caesarea Philippi is the third, and perhaps the most likely possibility, given the fact that they were there in chapter 8 (cf. 8:27).
• “He was transfigured before them.” The Greek word used here is the verb form of the word used in the field of Biology to describe the process of transformation by which a worm turns into a butterfly. We call that metamorphosis. It means a radical change in the very essence of the creature in question, not merely a superficial change of outward appearance. As the disciples watched Him Jesus changed before their very eyes. In that moment Christ’s human body was glorified. Everything about Him was suddenly different—His body, His hair, His clothing. It is in this glorified body that He will one day come to set up His Kingdom. The details of the change are given in the next verse. 

Verse 3: and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 

• This Greek word, metamorphóō (μεταμορφόω) is the same word used in 2 Corinthians 3:18, which says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Paul uses the same word in Romans 12:2 where he writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 
• Only a moment before His garments looked pretty much like everyone else’s clothes. His robe was probably light brown or tan. But then, suddenly, He was clothed in shining, dazzling white raiment, as white as snow. But this was not the most shocking thing.

Verse 4: And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were conversing with Jesus. 

• This verse has drawn much criticism. Peter, James, and John could obviously just look up and see that there were two other men with Jesus, and that they all three glowed. But how did they know who the two men were? Well, perhaps they did not know at that exact moment, but they figured it out quickly. And remember, after this was over, they talked these events over with Jesus. Moreover, there may have been something in the way Moses and Elijah were dressed that gave away their identity. Nevertheless, we know that they were indeed the two great men from the Old Testament.
• Why Moses and Elijah, rather than, say, Joshua and Daniel? That is easy! The Jews thought in terms of basically two categories of Holy Scripture: The Law, and The Prophets. Moses was the famous Law Giver and Elijah was the prince of the Prophets. For the Jews they were the two most respected men of Scripture.
• Luke 9:30-31 says, “And behold, two men were talking with Him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of His departure [Gr. exodon, lit. exodus], which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” So apparently Moses and Elijah were discussing with Jesus the events that would take place in Jerusalem a short time later, including His death, burial, and resurrection. This should have proved to the disciples that the death of the Messiah was in no way incompatible with the Old Testament Scriptures. One more thing… the way I read this it seems like the three disciples could hear this conversation.
• Seeing Christ’s Transfiguration as a kind of preview of the Messianic Kingdom (cf. 16:28) the great Lewis Speery Chafer, in his fine commentary on this passage, points out that Moses who had died and been buried by the hand of God (cf. Deut. 34:5-6), and Elijah who was taken to Heaven in a whirlwind without passing through death (2 Kings 2:11) represent the two groups that Christ will someday bring with Him to establish His Kingdom: dead saints who are resurrected, and living saints who have been “translated.” I do not know if that is why these two were chosen by the Father to come and comfort and encourage Jesus, but it is an interesting theory.

Verses 5-6: And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  ⁶ (For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.) 

• Have you ever been so scared or so beside yourself that you lost track of what you were saying? Have you ever been in a situation where you heard yourself babbling and saying stupid things but did not know how to shut off the flow? I have. My brain was in neutral, but my mouth was still in gear. And I have also been on the receiving end, when people in their desire to comfort me, said stupid stuff and made ridiculous comments. It would have been far better and much more comforting if they had said nothing at all. Here we see Peter “losing it.” He was beside himself because of what he had just witnessed. He was, as my dad used to say, “running off at the mouth.”
• Peter offered to build three little shrines, one for Jesus and one for each of His heavenly visitors. What was that about? Poor old Peter was so shaken up that all he could think of doing was to build a monument. That is what the Jews did whenever God did something amazing. He parted the Red Sea, so they built a monument. He gave them the Law, so they built a monument. God led them across the Jordan, so they built another monument. It is what they always did so that was the only thing Peter could think of doing. Interestingly, Jesus did not even comment on Peter’s offer. He knew that Peter was beside himself.
• However, the show was not over yet. Just when they thought it could not get any better, God Himself spoke to them in an audible voice.

Verse 7: Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!” 

• Matthew’s account adds a couple of other little tidbits of information: “He [Peter] was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.’ And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid.”
• Apparently, Peter was cut off in mid-sentence by the cloud and the heavenly voice. His voice was stopped by God’s voice. But that is how it is—when God speaks, everybody else shuts up. Peter was just running off at the mouth, but God had something important to say. I am afraid that sometimes we are so busy speaking that we neglect to listen to His voice.
• This “cloud” was not some kind of fog or a mere rain cloud. It was the Shekhinah (Hebrew: שְׁכִינָה Šəḵīnā), the visible manifestation of God’s glory, which throughout the OT always marked the presence of God (cf. Exod. 13:21-22; 40:38; Num. 9:15; Psalm 99:7; Isa. 4:5; 2 Chronicles 7:1).

Verse 8: And all at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus only. 

• Can you picture this in your mind? Only a second before they had witnessed Jesus and His two back-from-the-dead companions glowing in the dark amidst a heavenly radiance that defied description. For Jews to be in the presence of Moses and Elijah would have been a breath-taking experience. But now, to suddenly realize that Moses and Elijah were mere servants who had been sent from Heaven to minister to Jesus must have been mind-boggling. This One with whom they had been living, eating, conversing, and traveling was far greater than the OT lawgiver and the greatest of the prophets. WOW!

Verses 9: As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead. 

• Matthew 17:9 is even clearer: “And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’”
• This is odd. It was His idea to take them up on the mountain in the first place. It was His choice to reveal Himself to them in that way. So now why would He tell them that they must be quiet about it and not tell anyone? Can you imagine what a burden that put on those three men?
• Apparently, this was in keeping with Jesus’ policy of restraint to not add fuel to the fire of the inaccurate and erroneous Messianic teachings that were already floating around and the possibility of the disciples inadvertently inciting a popular uprising.

Verse 10: And they seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what “rising from the dead” might mean. 

• Despite their desire to run out and tell everyone what they had just witnessed, from what we can tell, Peter, James, and John obeyed the Lord’s instruction. Only after the resurrection did they share this story with the other disciples. But it must have been an exceedingly difficult secret to keep.
• They did not understand the “why” behind His command, but they obeyed Him, nevertheless. There is a lesson here for us. Obedience is based on trust, not on full disclosure. Sometimes God does not tell us all the reasons for what He does, but by experience we have come to know and believe that His way is always the best way.
• But their vow of non-disclosure did not keep them from whispering to one another. Jesus really confused them by His “rising from the dead” speech. They did not know what to make of it. They analyzed the words. They parsed the sentence. They studied the context and the syntax. They tried to come up with theories of what He could possibly mean by those shocking words. However, at this point in the story they still did not get the fact that He had come from Heaven to die on the cross to save sinners like them.

CONCLUSION:

I believe that this passage is holy ground. In it the veil between earth and Heaven is parted for an instant and we get a chance to see Jesus the way He will look when we next lay eyes on Him, in all His glory, surrounded by the hosts of Heaven. This is a foretaste of glory, a preview of coming attractions. It is reminiscent of the experience of Moses on Mt. Sinai when the Lord allowed him to see just a glimpse of the Shekhinah glory of Jehovah.

Peter, James, and John were not participants in this story—they were there merely as witnesses. However, the day will come when we shall share in Christ’s glory because His Word promises that we too shall be transformed, in the twinkling of an eye. We will all be changed, transformed (metamorphóō). We will no longer be sinners but will indeed be saints. Our mortality will be changed into immortality. Everything will be made new. 1 John 3:2 puts it this way: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be, has not yet appeared; but we know that when He [Christ] appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”

Gospel of Mark Study #25

“Satan In a Disciple Suit”

Mark 8:31-38

Study #25 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

Things are not always the way they appear. We have all been fooled more than once by outward appearances. Maybe you bought a car, thinking it was a real peach and in cherry condition, but it turned out to be a lemon! Maybe you dated someone who had all the good looks and outward charm in the world but turned out to be either an idiot or a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Or maybe you took a job thinking that it was going to be your ticket to wealth and fame, only to discover that it was a cul-de-sac job headed nowhere. Or perhaps you fell prey to the slick hair and slick talk of some TV “evangelist” or religious leader and thought he was the real deal, only to be crushed by the news that he was caught in an affair with a 25-year-old male stripper.

Oh yeah, we have all been tricked by appearances. But on top of that, to make things worse, we have all tricked other people. We all can look interested when we are not, look sympathetic when we could not care less, and seem friendly when really, we do not even like the other person and wish they would take a flying leap. No, you and I are not always what we appear either. Sometimes we are as phony as a $3 bill.

TRANSITION:

Indeed, we are good at deception. We learn it from an early age. However, there is someone even better at it than we. His name is Satan. In the Bible he is called the great “deceiver,” and “the father of lies,” among other things. He has worked hard to earn those titles. His lying career started back in the Garden of Eden when he showed up in a beautiful serpent suit to trick Adam and Eve into believing they could become like God in every way if they would just throw off their inhibitions and eat from the forbidden tree despite God’s clear warning.

Since then, he has shown up in many different forms and costumes but always with the same purpose—namely, to deceive and to get people off the path of righteousness. In our text for today, he apparently showed up one day in a “disciple suit.” Now the costume was good enough to trick the disciples, but Jesus certainly was not fooled. He knew Satan so well that He could recognize old Beelzebub no matter how he was dressed. It is too bad that we are not as good at recognizing him in all his various permutations and costumes. It would make it much easier to resist him.

NOTES on the Text:
Verse 31: He [Jesus] then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed, and after three days rise again. 

·         This is where Jesus turned a corner with His disciples. At this point in His training of the Twelve He began to be more specific about what He had come to earth for and what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. He told them that He would be arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, and that He would then rise from the dead on the third day.

·         “…the Son of Man…” Jesus almost always used this title to describe Himself. It emphasized His humanity amid His divinity, but more importantly it was the ancient Old Testament title that referred to the suffering Messiah. The cross was a necessary aspect of the Messiah’s work.

·         “…the Son of Man must suffer…must be killed…” He must suffer and die to fulfil the many OT prophecies concerning His death, burial, and resurrection.

·         Imagine what the disciples must have thought about such talk. They were shocked and could hardly believe their ears. Up until this point they believed that He was just getting His ducks all lined up in preparation for defeating the Romans and setting up His Messianic Kingdom on earth. Now He was talking about being rejected, suffering, dying, and rising again. None of that fit in with their understanding of who He was or what they thought He was supposed to do, and it left them very confused.

Verse 32: He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

·         “He spoke plainly about this.” Jesus never sugar-coated anything, but up until now He had spoken in a more veiled fashion and had simply never given them any details. Now He spoke openly, laying it all out on the table for them to see and He explained the fine points of exactly what would come to pass at the end of His mission.

·         This is when Satan showed up in his disciple suit! Simon Peter must have asked to speak to Jesus privately, and the two moved out of earshot of the other disciples. Did Peter know that he was doing the devil’s work here? NO. I think he was honestly trying to snap Jesus back into reality as Peter saw it and get Him to stop talking this “crazy talk.”

·         “…and began to rebuke Him.” A guy must have a lot of nerve to try and rebuke Jesus. After all, He was God in the flesh. He was the GodMan in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily. And is it not it amazing how quickly Peter could turn from being a tool in God’s hand to being a grenade in the devil’s hand? Only a few verses back, in verse 29 we read, “And Jesus continued by questioning them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Thou art the Christ!’” How could Peter flip-flop so quickly?

·         Yet how different is this than what we do when we question God and accuse Him of not loving us, not treating us right, not doing right by us and our loved ones. Is that not taking God to task, much like what Peter did with Jesus? Peter rebuked Jesus. Sometimes we rebuke God too.

Verse 33: But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. “Get behind Me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”  

·         Jesus listened to Peter, then turned and looked at the rest of His disciples. Then He responded. He rebuked Peter. Notice that this is the same word used in verse 32. Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Was Jesus saying that Peter had become demon-possessed, that Satan had climbed inside him? NO, because had that been true Jesus would have had to exorcize the demon, and that did not happen. So, what was He saying about Peter? He was saying that the thoughts that motivated Peter’s words were not from God but from Satan. By trying to dissuade Jesus from completing His task at Calvary, Peter was working in line with the enemy rather than doing God’s work.

·         “Get behind Me, Satan!” Jesus was saying, “Get out of My way, Peter! I have just told you that I must go to the cross to die for you to be saved. Get out of the road and let Me do what I came here to do.” From eternity past Satan has been opposed to the plans and purposes of God, including God’s plan to redeem fallen mankind. And over the years he has tried all kinds of tricks to cut off Messiah’s line to make sure that there would never be a Savior. Now Jesus saw in Peter the same impediment to Him completing His mission, although Peter himself did not realize that he was serving as the devil’s pawn.

·         In fact, Jesus used almost the same words against Peter that He had used to rebuke Satan back in Matthew 4:10 during the Temptation in the Wilderness. “Begone, Satan!” (NASV) “Get thee hence, Satan” (KJV) 

Verse 34: Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.  

·         He called everyone to gather around Him, disciples, and non-disciples alike, and began to teach them.

·         What He said to them publicly followed logically on what He had just said to the Twelve privately about the path of suffering that He must walk.

·         Up until this point in His ministry Jesus had called people to repentance and to belief in Him as their Sin-Bearer. Now He changed the appeal somewhat and began to call people out not only to believe in Him but to follow Him as disciples. Until this point His emphasis had been on proving that He was the promised Messiah, the One who was to come as the perfect Sacrifice. He called people to salvation through faith in Him. But salvation is just the first step in the Christ-follower’s life. Discipleship is the life-long commitment to obey and to serve Him, never stopping or turning back.

·         So here Christ gave a Call to discipleship, and it had four components:

1.       “If anyone would come after Me…” Literally He said, “If anyone wishes/desires to come after Me.” First there must be the desire to become a true disciple. The Lord does not drag anyone into His service against his will, kicking and screaming. This is an all-volunteer army.

2.      “…he must deny himself…” This is exceedingly difficult. By nature, we are wired up to serve ourselves and look out for our own selfish best interests. Christ calls us to humble ourselves and put God and His Kingdom purposes as #1 priority in our lives. Self-denial speaks of readiness to suffer for someone else. Christ is the pattern in this. He calls us to follow in His footsteps.

3.      “…take up his cross…” What cross is this? Does it mean that we must die on a cross just like Jesus did to be His follower? For many Christians in the first century that was exactly their fate. However, the cross is a symbol of suffering. Jesus told His followers on several occasions that to follow Him would mean suffering for sure, and that has proven out in history countless times. Jesus was telling His followers that suffering was part of the package. Whoever would come after Christ must walk the path that He walked, the path of self-denial and cross-bearing.

4.      “…and follow Me.” The form of the verb indicates continual following with no stopping or turning back. The disciple is to keep following Jesus (Greek present imperative).

Verse 35: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. 

·         Wait a minute! Now He is talking crazy stuff! If you want to save your life, you will lose it. But if you want to lose your life, you will save it. Is that what He said? That cannot be right, can it? That just sounds too weird! Let’s back up the truck and unload this cargo one carton at a time.

·         This verse is the one that led Jim Elliot, one of the five Mission Aviation Fellowship missionaries killed in 1956 in Ecuador by the Auca Indians, to write these words in his journal: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.” The Bible says in James 4:14 that our life is but a vapor, a little bit of fluffy cloud. The more we try to grasp onto it the more it slips through our fingers.

·         Paul gives another insight from his personal perspective in Philippians 1:21, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  

Verse 36: What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  

·         In high school many of you were forced to study Goethe’s “Faust.” Although you have probably tried hard to forget, the story concerns the fate of Dr. Faust in his search for the true essence of life. Frustrated with learning and the limits to his knowledge and power, he attracts the attention of the devil, represented by Mephistopheles, who agrees to serve Faust until the moment he attains the pinnacle of human happiness, at which point Mephistopheles may take his eternal soul to Hell. Faust is pleased with the deal because he believes the moment will never come. But to his surprise, the devil follows through on his promises and Faust finally must face up to the deal he made with the devil. This of course is a fictional story, but it illustrates what many people do. To gain the shiny objects this world offers they put their souls in hock to Satan—not in a direct, “let’s make a deal” kind of way, but by chasing after the things the devil offers us, the way a fish goes after a shiny lure.

·         In Luke 12:16ff Jesus taught a lesson about this. Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.” ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”  

·         God is not against us having money and shiny objects if they do not come between us and Him, which they so often do.

Verse 37: Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  

·         Jesus asks the question, “What is so valuable that a man would be willing to trade his soul for it?” The expected answer is “NOTHING,” but against all logic people do it all the time anyway. Oh, they do not do it consciously. I mean, they do not realize they are making a pact with the devil, but that is what it amounts to. 

Verse 38: If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  

·         “If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words…” Who is He talking about? The word “anyone” takes in all people from all time. However, I believe that He was speaking particularly of those who claimed to be His followers but did not pass the four-fold “Disciple Test” of verse 34.

1.       Truly desiring to obey and follow Christ

2.      Deny self and selfish ambitions in favor of God’s kingdom

3.      Take up Christ’s cross daily

4.      Follow the Master without turning back

·         “…in this adulterous and sinful generation…” By this He is not speaking only about the generation that was alive then. They were no more sinful than the generations before them, nor than those that followed. But they are representative of mankind in all generations. Man, in general is infected with the same disease. We are all dying of it, and we are all carriers of the virus. It is called “SIN.” We are all sinners by nature and by choice.

• “…when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Here Jesus pulls back the curtain of time for just a second to give His disciples (and us) a peek at what it will look like when He returns someday in power and glory to claim what rightfully belongs to Him. On that day, the meek and mild Lamb of God will be the roaring Lion of Judah, and the Gentle Savior will be the Righteous Judge. 

CONCLUSION:

Christ’s four-fold call to radical discipleship is still a challenge to us today. It messes with our heads. Oh, we want His salvation for sure. We want Heaven. We want forgiveness of sins and a nice life here and now. But we do not want unqualified obedience, suffering, self-denial, daily cross-bearing, or continual followership. Yet those are what Christ calls us to, today.

Scott Wesley Brown, a gifted contemporary Christian songwriter penned the words to this song after reading Elisabeth Elliot’s book, Shadow of the Almighty. But I am certain he was also thinking of Jim Elliot’s journal entry when he wrote this song in which he challenges all of us to a deeper level of devotion to our God.

 

HE IS NO FOOL

(Words and music by Scott Wesley Brown)

Verse 1: I’ve lost track of all the Sundays the offering plate’s gone by
And as I gave my hard-earned dollars I felt free to keep my life.
I talk about commitment, and the need to count the cost,
But the words of a martyr show me I don’t really know His cross.

Verse 2: Obedience and servanthood are traits I’ve rarely shown,
And the fellowship of His sufferings is a joy I’ve barely known.
There are riches in surrendering that can’t be gained for free,
God will share all Heaven’s wonders but the price He asks is me.

Chorus: For he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Yes, he is no fool who lays his own life down. I must make this the path I choose.