Calvary: the Hill Sermons

God looks upon Israel's piety and their religious practices and judges them for being emotionally vacant. Despite the appearance of spirituality, God's desire is for His people's heart dedication. In the future, however, God will fully reconcile His people to Himself, though the sequence of events may be a bit unclear. So, God's people look toward Him and wait for His coming.

When Jesus and three of His disciples descend from the mountain of transfiguration, they come to find the remaining disciples in a heated argument with the Jewish scribes. The scribes were ridiculing Jesus' disciples for their inability to cast a demon out of a young boy. Jesus, frustrated, calls out 'how long?!'

Jesus teaches His disciples that denying themselves is the way toward Life in Christ. Shockingly, He compares discipleship unto Him as a shameful death sentence. Yet, Mark intentionally fast-forwards to Jesus' transfiguration to show that self-denial comes hand-in-hand with glorification (Mark 8:34-9:13).

God promises that despite His righteous anger, He will uphold His covenant and therefore bless His people. God has great compassion even for the sinner and He will abundantly pardon their guilt. He will also expand His plan of salvation to the foreigner as well as the eunuch. God sees the licentiousness of Israel's priesthood and the idolatry of the people, yet His goodness remains available.

Here in Mark 8, we have the only example of a miracle of Jesus' that takes place in stages. Similarly, we see the gradual understanding of Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah, but not as the Sacrifice. We, like the blind man, often grow in stages, God looks on our lack of understanding with deliberation as well as patience [Mark 8:22-33].

Isaiah tells of a coming Servant of the LORD who will rule and restore. He contrasts this Servant's faithfulness with Israel's disobedience and assures Israel that God will bring them comfort and a coming salvation. Unexpectedly, however, Isaiah begins to describe the execution of this Servant.

Beyond the signs, wonders, and miracles Jesus has performed, still the people do not believe He is from God. Wherever Jesus goes, He is met with misunderstanding and opposition, yet He continues to manifest characteristics of the God of Israel (Mark 7:31-8:21).

God reminds His people that He's chosen them and that He will not let them go. However, He foretells the coming judgment which He will send through foreign nations. Yet, just as He will send judgment through a foreign nation, He will also bring relief and deliverance through another; namely through a leader named Cyrus.

When a Gentile woman comes to Jesus begging Him to deliver her demon-possessed daughter, Jesus reminds her that He's here to preach the Gospel to the Jews first, but Jesus rewards her faith with a miracle. We're reminded in this passage how God did not want to save Israel alone, but rather that He used Israel to bring salvation to the whole world (Mark 7:24-30).

Isaiah 40 begins a new section of the book, much like the New Testament is a pivot from the Old. This new section opens with a voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord, then God promises a faithful Servant. God continues to rebuke His people for their idolatry, but promises that He Himself will take them back.

God promises the judgment coming through Sennacherib. Meanwhile, Hezekiah comes down with an illness that's got him shut in. Isaiah assures Hezekiah that he will recover but Hezekiah's successor will be the worst king Judah has ever seen.

In this passage, Jesus confronts the innate hypocrisy involved in human moralism. He contends that humans are not defiled by external maladies, but instead that humans themselves are the defilers. Jesus turns the holiness code upside down by showing that what people need are not the washing of hands but the internal cleansing of the heart (Mark 7:1-23).

Mark implicates Jesus with the God of the Old Testament who sits enthroned above the flood and treads upon the waves. Using language and imagery from Exodus and Malachi, Mark proves that Jesus is both the fierce and glorious God but also the gracious servant (Mark 6:45-56).

God, through His prophet Isaiah, rebukes his people for their complacency, urging them to take seriously the coming judgment. God promises a coming redemption, but judgment will come first; even global judgment. Even so, passed the destruction, lush new life will arise. This shows God's righteousness as well as His grace.

Jesus, mourning the death of John the Baptist, departs to the wilderness to pray. The multitudes follow Him; so He takes the time to teach them, but because they're in the wilderness, they find themselves hungry without anything to take for sustenance. It is here where Jesus is found in the same position as God over Israel wandering in their wilderness. Like the God of the Old Testament, Jesus mir...

God rebukes His people for their alliance with Egypt. He reminds them that they can't depend on people, but they can always trust in His provision and protection.

Jesus was an authority in rebuke. Both He and his forerunner, John the Baptist, preached messages that required repentance; rebukes that challenged the lives of their listeners. At times, we as believers have to bear the same challenging posture (Mark 6:14-30).

Chapters 24 to 27 of the book of Isaiah are sometimes called 'the little apocalypse'. These chapters look toward the ultimate resolution and redemption of this fallen world.

Jesus sends out His disciples to cast out demons. We too have been endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and are sent out into this world to display Jesus' power (Mark 6:7-13).

One of the first commandments God made to mankind was to be fruitful and multiply. A life of singleness seems to forsake this commandment and deprive one of the opportunity to invest in a family, or does it? (Mark 10:28-30)

Jesus tells the Sadducees that there will be no marriage in Eternity. If this is the case, singles in relationship with Jesus is the future for every believer (Matthew 22:29-32).

The book of the nations continues. Isaiah experiences personal physical anguish over the promised judgement of these pagan nations, as well as Judah. But God has plans of redemption for even the worst of these peoples groups.

If Jesus lived a celibate life, then romantic relationships cannot mark the height of human flourishing. How is it that we have under-valued singleness in the church and how should we correct this misunderstanding (Matthew 19:10-12)?

God promises judgment upon many of the nations surrounding His faithful people. Whilst telling His plans for judgment, He also expresses his wielding of said nations. Ultimately, we come to see that God also will judge Judah for many of these same atrocities, however, a special dispensation of grace is available for Judah because of the existing covenants that God will not break.

In this second session, James shares his experiences and recommendations toward how we can begin to listen to God's direction in prayer. Rev. Dr. James Kearny works with Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International teaching Christians how to properly treat the Holy Spirit and His power.