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Mark

Mark 
Day 
Day 89

1 Peter 3:14a "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed."

Day 89 – Mark 4

“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed.” 1 Peter 3:14a

AN ANCIENT PROPHECY

When Jesus thought about how only His disciples stayed behind to ask Him to explain the parable of The Sower, His mind recalled the ancient text of Isaiah.

“And He said, ‘Go and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand,
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
ISAIAH 6:9-10

1. Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Messiah

Of all the ancient prophets of Israel, the person who had written the most about the life and ministry of the Messiah would be Isaiah. Many chapters in Isaiah were directly devoted to describing the work of the Messiah (Cf. especially, Isaiah 52-54).

2. Identification of the Messiah with the prophetic word

The Messiah had come to fulfill the ancient prophetic texts. Isaiah 6 described the nation of Israel in dire spiritual straits. That condition so graphically described Israel that Jesus applied to the nation of Israel in His time!

3. Little had changed

From the time of Isaiah to Jesus would be a span of about 600 years. Had Israel changed for the better after six centuries? You would hope so, but that was not to be the case. Israel continued to live in careless spiritual abandon!

THE PUNITIVE ELEMENT

Mark noted and applied the punitive element Isaiah wrote in his prophecy.

1. God reserved the prerogative to punish His unrepentant people.

God had given prophet after prophet to Israel. They had proclaimed mighty messages as from God. But the nation had refused to listen to these special servants of God. God could exercise His prerogative to punish His people.

2. Punishment in the past

In the past, God would sometimes send enemies to battle with Israel. And Israel found it hard to battle many enemies.

3. Punishment in the days of Jesus

The punishment was not physical or external. The punishment inflicted would be one of continued spiritual blindness. Those who refused to repent from their sins would not be able to see and appreciate the spiritual truths that Jesus taught!