Light on the Hill

Announcer: An eye-opening edition of Light on the Hill is coming up next.

James Kaddis: What we're about to read, the verses starting in verse 12, going all the way through verse 21, is going to open our eyes to this very aspect. And it's something that's important because it's going to teach us what faith looks like. It's going to teach us one of the most dangerous lies that believers believe. And it's also going to show us how critical it is to maintain a deeper understanding of the things that we cannot discern in order for God to do the work of discernment for us that we might be able to go through these things unscathed and recognize what's going on.

And that's why this is so critical and that why passages like this are critical.

Guest (Male): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you. Cuz all I need is you.

Announcer: The average person who reads through Mark chapter 14 may not think much of it. On the surface, everything appears simple and familiar with nothing that seems unusual or out of the ordinary. But as we'll discover today on Light on the Hill, this may be one of the most unique and consequential passages in the Gospel. If we read past it too quickly, we risk missing something profoundly important. Slowing down and paying close attention here is critical because what's happening beneath the surface carries eternal significance. Here's Pastor James Kaddis.

James Kaddis: Okay. Um we're going to start in verse 12. Uh but before we go there, there is something that uh I think uh has I think it bears value me repeating again. And that is the fact that the spiritual world that we live in is far more real than what we can physically and tangibly feel. As a matter of fact, so much so that I think we make this huge mistake where we ignore the things that we can't see when in reality the things that we can't see matter so much more than the things that we actually can.

And I know that we live in a very visual world. We live in a world where people look at uh you know all kinds of multimedia. They look at things that appear to be uh very real and very tangible and they make judgment calls based on the things that they see but have no real discernment or understanding as into the spiritual element that exists that sort of drives all of these things. And it's really scary because the more we are becoming a group of people that are less spiritually minded, the more acclimated we become to receiving the deception that is actually targeting us.

And I think that that's a difficult thing to be able to describe to people because the level of deception that we're seeing is not like uh a kid, a 5-year-old coming to us and telling us something that's obviously a lie, okay? It's not like a kid coming to you that has chocolate chips all over their face saying they didn't eat the cookie, okay? The type of deceptions that we're seeing today are founded in things that feel real. They're They're founded in things that that really appear to be uniquely and remarkably convincing. And it's it's it's really scary.

Uh you should see just how real uh the artificial intelligence world is and how it can drag you in to thinking and believing things that are not true. And it's interesting because the less acclimated you are to the spiritual, the more vulnerable you become to it, believe it or not. And And I think that that's the problem that we're seeing. We're seeing this rise or this increase in what I would call the mind rot of the of the online world that exists right now because there is a uh concerted effort by our enemy to make our younger generation completely oblivious to the things that they cannot see.

And the reality of it is we are fighting a very dangerous war. We are fighting a deeply important warfare right now and it's the one that cannot be seen. And if you're a believer and you refuse to engage in that warfare, you will undoubtedly become the first casualty of it. And that's very important. And I think that the Gospels afford us some of the greatest opportunities to be able to pull the veil behind that which is spiritual to understand what's really going on. And there are wonderful lessons and truths that we can learn from reading sections of the Gospel that help us to become more acclimated to these things.

And I don't know about you, but for me, the more exposed I am to this world that everybody tends to want to hide behind, the more obvious it becomes to me that what we're dealing with is a very spiritual issue and that it is very dangerous and it's something that is getting scarier and scarier by the moment because we simply don't understand the contingencies that exist in front of us and we refuse to discipline ourselves to develop the tools to be able to engage in that world. And as a result, the uh effects of it are becoming uniquely and deeply catastrophic.

And it's something that we have to understand because if we don't allow ourselves to develop a posture in our life of seeking out the thing that we cannot see or at least seeking to understand and discern it, operating knowing what's there even though we can't see what's there, we're going to be in big trouble. And that's what the Bible teaches us and that's why the Bible is so valuable because not only does the Bible teach us that very truth but it gives us the ability to be able to navigate in that world that we can't see and it teaches us things that are so far beyond our capacity to be able to understand because the Bible becomes our seeing eye for us.

And I think that that's something that we have to understand. The Bible gives us the indicators to be able to understand what's really happening rather than us trying to take a stab in the dark and figure out what's taking place. And this chapter is a perfect picture for that. What we're about to read, the verses starting in verse 12, going all the way through verse 21, is going to open our eyes to this very aspect. And it 's something that 's important because it's going to teach us what faith looks like. It's going to teach us one of the most dangerous lies that believers believe.

And it's also going to show us how critical it is to maintain a deeper understanding of the things that we cannot discern in order for God to do the work of discernment for us that we might be able to go through these things unscathed and recognize what 's going on. And that's why this is so critical and that 's why passages like this are critical. And so um let's jump into this. We'll jump into verse 12. Now mind you, we are transitioning here uh where the overwhelming majority of Jesus's ministry in his first uh three years has already been described.

And now we're shifting in Mark here to the very last days of his ministry, okay? And that's very important to understand here because there is this massive emphasis that 's going to be placed on the principles that we need to understand to help us become aware of the spiritual warfare that existed in that time because it is very very much on the same level that we're seeing today. As a matter of fact, I'll make this statement and I've said it before and I don't have a problem saying it again because I think it's absolutely true.

I believe that in terms of human history, we are seeing one of the absolute greatest displays of intense spiritual warfare we have ever seen in human history. I think only second to two other times in human history. The first time is when man fell in the garden, okay? And And And actually, I don't like the term fell. When man rebelled in the garden, right? Number one. And number two, perhaps the most deeply consequential time spiritually that ever existed in human history would have been the time that Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. So the time that we are reading about right now, I think very much parallels the type of spiritual warfare that we're experiencing in the time in which we live today, which is why passages like this are so important and why it's critical.

So here we are getting into the Passover. Now we're not going to get into the technicals of the Passover here. Um uh I would never use the term superfluous because that's not what I aim to try to describe here but it isn't relevant to the message that we are pulling from the passage here. I certainly don't even think it's completely relevant to uh the message that the author is intending to give us. Now when I say relevant, I'm not talking about the fact that the detail about the Passover isn't relevant. It's very relevant, otherwise it wouldn't be here.

But what I'm saying isn't relevant is for me to get into the long uh sort of extended discussion of what the Passover is all about, what happens, so on and so forth. When we get near Easter, we'll have that discussion. But it is interesting to understand here that what we are talking about is something that goes much deeper than what most people will perceive. And by the way, I want to I want to point this out. When you read commentators talking about this passage, they almost completely blow through it. And I'm not saying that you know they're all wrong or anything like that.

What I 'm saying is it requires a deeper look and it would be greatly beneficial to us to take that deeper look because there are some questions about this that we should be asking and there are some things that we should be considering. So let's dig into this. I think it's going to get very interesting for you guys. And I think that the message that you're going to see here will become extremely powerful to you, especially as it relates to the subject of warfare. So look what it says here as we jump in. Uh we'll start in verse 12.

It says this. It says and the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? Okay. So let's just talk about this for a second because the King James does this. Many other translators don't do this. Uh but I will just simply say it can be very confusing if you've got a King James in front of you because it says they're killing the Passover, which by the way would be a more accurate reflection of what you might find in Hebrew or in Greek.

Obviously, the New Testament was written in Greek and it would seem to line up a little more closely to something that you might read in the Greek language but understand when you use the phrase kill the Passover, it doesn't mean to actually put an end to the life of the Passover, meaning you're not going to celebrate the Passover anymore. Oh, we killed that. No, that's not what it's talking about. When it talks about killing the Passover, it means as they were preparing to sacrifice the sheep for the Passover or the animal involved with the animal sacrifice for the celebration of the Passover.

So what's happening here is that the disciples are preparing themselves for the festivities that are associated with the feast that they are celebrating. And those festivities are a lot deeper than just some regular celebration that they're acclimated towards. They actually carry connotations that are far heavier, far more consequential because celebrating the Passover or killing the Passover as they would say would have been something that not only were they commanded to do by the Lord because it was a symbol of their covenant but it was the responsibility that they had to be able to do to tell their children and their children's children what God had taken them through.

And obviously, the Passover that they were killing at that point would have been in essence a duplication of the very first Passover meal that they had when they were in the land of Goshen and the death angel passed over them in order to spare the lives of all of those people who did the thing that they were supposed to do. Now during the time of the original Passover, they were supposed to kill a perfect lamb. The blood of that lamb was to be put upon the door posts of the house. And as the blood of the lamb was on the door post of the house when the death angel came by, it saw the blood of the lamb on the door post of that house.

It would pass over the house and those that were in there that were the first born would be spared. They would not be killed. So likewise, the Bible actually tells us that Christ, who is the perfect lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, his blood is sprinkled upon the door posts of our heart in essence. And so now the Passover that we often times talk about is a picture to us, a beautiful picture to us of Christ in what he does. And we learn of that from moments like this. So what they're doing here is deeply consequential.

It's very important and they're going to the Lord and they are telling him, they're asking him this question. They're like, Where do we celebrate? Where are the accommodations? Where are we supposed to do this? Where do you want us to go? Do you have a plan? At this point, in case most people haven't noticed, it is a very difficult time for them. Jesus is highly visible, okay? It's not like he can go anywhere without being seen, without being noticed, without something happening, okay? So it's important for them to be able to understand those logistics because it would have been their responsibility to prepare that meal as they were to have it together and do the things that they were going to do.

So it's interesting. Jesus does this. Look at this in verse 13. It says, And he sendeth forth two of his disciples and saith unto them, Go you into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him. Now there's a couple of things that we have to just pick up right here. And this is where a lot of people don't even really pay attention or think about but I think that what Jesus is telling them for all intents and purposes, if you're not looking at the deeper issues here would appear to not only be confusing but it appears to be completely insane.

Okay? He's saying that when you see a man with a pitcher of water, just go follow him. Okay. First of all, that would be the equivalent of saying, Go look into the you know downtown somewhere and the person that you see wearing the cap, just go follow him, the baseball cap, okay? Look around in this room. How many baseball caps do we have in this room? We think about it, okay? The idea here, and this is one that's really important to understand, a man with a pitcher would have been a very common thing. It wouldn't have been something that would have been unique.

It wouldn't have been something that stuck out. I mean if it was like, well if you see a man who's wearing a you know riding a horse that's half the size of a normal horse and he's balancing a picture on his head while he's screaming, Follow that man. Well that'd be really easy, okay? But the idea of go follow this man who's holding a picture sounds to me to be absolutely insane. Most of us when we would hear something like that would want to go to the Lord and we would want to say, Can you describe to me what the plan is?

Can you explain to me what's going to make this better? Can you show me like literally give me something tangible that I might be able to follow here that I could at least make the connection that you're wanting me to make. And to me, that's what I would go. That's a place I would go. I would say, Lord, can you give me a little bit more? Can I have a little bit more information? That would be my question. But the thing that 's really interesting is it gives us a glimpse not only into the invisible world, the world that we cannot see but it gives us a glimpse as into how God expects us to respond to him when he gives us instruction and direction and it it speaks very beautifully in great volume as into how we should be relating in our relationship with the Lord as we continue to move forward in our walk with him.

And I think it's really important because there will be times where we are going to do things that God has instructed us to do that literally make no sense. Now some of you might be looking at me and you might be saying, well James, I'm not the type of person who waits to hear a voice in my head and moves on to do something, okay? So this really doesn't even apply to me. Well I'm not even talking about those times. I'm talking about simply opening the Bible. I 'm talking about just getting yourself to where you're opening up the word of God and you read what the word of God says about the way that you ought to live your life.

And so much of what God's word says about the way you ought to live your life doesn't make sense when it comes to the way that the rest of the world thinks. It makes literally no sense. And by the way, it's so interesting because it would appear as though we're being asked to do something that is so common here that it requires you to take a step of faith because you're having to put your trust in the instinct that is developed based on the very thing that you're being told to do. And this is something that we don't really get as believers often times because we're not taught this.

And that's this. Our instinctual reactions, the instinct that we develop in the things that we do every day is often times predicated upon our experience. It's predicated upon the things that we've seen. It's predicated upon the things that we do when in reality what it should be predicated upon is the sensitivity that we have to the Holy Spirit in the things that we do day by day. And it's a very very difficult thing to be able to teach people that and to understand it, no matter what line of work you're in, no matter what you're doing, no matter what it is every single day because the difference between looking at something that's common and looking at something that's common when you have the Spirit of God living inside of you or the wisdom and direction of God is night and day.

And that's the thing that's most important. That's the thing that's most consequential. It reminds me of a really interesting story uh that I ran into that I will fill you in on. Um uh uh I thought about this recently. I didn't run into this. This is something that happened to me a while ago that I just thought speaks so uh clearly to this principle that I'm sharing with you. So let's go to the next step here and I'll share that story with you in a minute but let's look at the next step here. It says in verse 14, this is Jesus who's speaking here.

He says, And wheresoever he shall go in, say you to the good man of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guest chamber and where shall uh where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? Listen, Jesus is not telling him to say, Hey, do you have a guest chamber that we can use like a little guest house that I can bring my guests and use this my boss is telling me to do this. No. He's saying, When you go and you see this guy, you go to this guy and you basically tell him, Hey look, uh my boss is asking where is your guest chamber?

Basically, in other words, where is your your spare room that him and his guests may come to do something as major as this. Now think about this. I I I I will say this right off the bat. I am all for having people come over and being hospitable to them and experiencing you know my hospitality and having a good time interacting with people but I'm going to tell you this right now. My home I I view my home very differently than a lot of people view their homes. Believe it or not, I think the way I view my home is a lot more common than I think but my home is my getaway, okay?

And so although I like inviting people to come into my home or to spend much time in my home, my home is my home, right? Like it's my place where I I like to be able to get away and I'm not one that just brings in strangers. Like I just that just is not going to happen. It's not going to take place. I just won't do that. That's just me, right? So the whole idea of the master wants to know where in your house we're going, it's kind of a crazy thing to say. It really is but the Lord is telling him, you need to do this.

Why? Because I think there's a principle involved here. And the principle involved here is that the precedent that you place on the actions that you commit must be fundamentally predicated upon the conditions that God lays forth instead of the conditions that society lays forth or the conditions that your comfort lays forth or the conditions that might just seem to be obvious to you. The idea here that's being given to us is you need to become comfortable with the instruction that God gives you even though understanding the trust variable that has to be put. You're being asked to identify a man who looks like every other man.

You're being asked to go to a guy who's holding something that every other guy holds. There's nothing be There's nothing about him that's discernable or distinguishable other than the fact that you were told to go approach a man who's holding uh a jug of water and all of them do a pitcher of water and all of them do. So it it's you there has to be a step of faith involved in this.

Announcer: Thank you for joining us today for Light on the Hill. What you just heard is one part of a study in Mark's Gospel from Pastor James Kaddis. You can hear it again at lightonthehillradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Not long ago, Pastor James released his new book on the first half of Revelation. It's entitled The Last Book. He points out that Revelation isn't a book of fear but rather a book of hope. Pastor James will help you understand the world we live in and current events through a biblical lens, preparing your heart for what lies ahead.

Get a copy by going to lightonthehillradio.com or through Amazon. We're so grateful for your support. Each donation that's sent in is an investment in what God is doing over the radio and internet. Lives are being impacted daily for the glory of God as a result. If you'd like to stand with us through providing either a one-time donation or ongoing monthly support, please visit lightonthehillradio.com. While you're there, you can also send us an email. It would be great to hear from you and have you share the station you listen to as well. Just visit lightonthehillradio.com and then click on contact.

Let's return to our Bible study. We left off in Mark chapter 14 at verse 15. Verse 15 it says, And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared. There make ready for us. In other words, what Jesus is saying here is you go find something, you go find somebody that looks like everybody else holding something that everybody else holds. You go to him and say, Where are we going? The master wants to know where in your house we're going. And that guy's going to take you there and he's going to show you a room that is already prepared for you and you go set up over there.

Now can you imagine how out of just how wacky that sounds, how wild that sounds? In other words, God is saying, I am requiring you, disciples, I'm requiring you to put your full faith and trust in me and to do exactly what I've asked you to do. And only then will your obedience produce clarity as into the next step. And that's a difficult thing to be able to understand because the problem is when God wants us to be used in the obedience phase, which is every phase in life but when the command is issued to us, we seem to not have clarity.

There seems to be a fog of war. There seems to be a cloud of emotions that would cover us. There seems to be a series of things that would affect us immensely. There seems to be a series of things that would yell at us, speaking to us to the contrary. And God says, No, these are the commands. This is what I request of you. And whether or not you have clarity in what you are being asked to do, the only thing you need to do is walk in obedience and only in your obedience will you develop clarity.

Now this is a difficult thing for some people to understand. I was discipled this way. My father discipled me this way. The people closest to me that spent time teaching me how to be raised up, they discipled me this way. They discipled me in a way where they basically taught me to understand that I didn't need to know the details, that I didn't need to ask the questions. All I needed to do was exactly what I was being asked to do and it was in the work of obedience that I would establish the clarity necessary to be able to understand exactly what was going on but I would never be able to produce that clarity from within my confused mind until I made the decision regardless of how I felt, regardless of what I saw, to obey unconditionally and allow the obedience to become the mechanism by which clarity comes.

It's a difficult thing to do. It's a super difficult thing to do because it requires a step of faith that most people unfortunately are not willing to take. And if you're willing to go to the next step in your walk with God, you have to learn how to walk in unconditional obedience in order for that unconditional obedience to give you the clarity that you need to have in a world that you cannot discern. And that world is the spiritual world. That world is the warfare.

Guest (Male): Remember, you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Light on the Hill with Pastor James Kaddis is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Signal Hill.

Guest (Male): I have found the peace only comes from you. I have found the joy only comes from you. Cuz all I need is you.