Swat Bible Study

This week, we move into a new section and will be looking at part 1 of Serving with Joy. Our Spiritual maturity can often be measured in how easily we lose our joy in Christ. The joy that is produced by the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure another human has suffered for the cause of Christ like Paul, except Jesus and the whole purpose of this letter is to remind the Philippians to not let Satan steal their joy. The joy comes not from our circumstances, but in being included in the Kingdom of God, serving our King, and His great cause – the Gospel.

Last episode, we looked at verse 1 and 2 and the theme of unity and God calling us to unity in our view of ourselves, our view of the church and our view of God and Jesus. The foundation for all of these is humility. Paul records Jesus’ model of humility in chapter 2 for us to take note of. In this episode, we see Paul affirm the Philippians for their partnership with Him in spreading the Gospel. He mentions this idea several times in today’s text, as well as, his love for them and his call for them to love each other. We see in the text that our partnership in the Gospel is based on a God's mission - the Gospel, Fueled by His Love, and Fortified by His Word.

Philippians is a letter written to thank the church at Philippi for sending financial aid to help Paul during his 1st imprisonment in Rome. It’s theme is often referred to as Joy, but it is a specific joy related to Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus is mentioned over 50 times in this “joy” letter and joy is mention 16 times in this 4 chapter book. Paul also addressed the sufficiency of Jesus because Gnosticism was starting to spread. Gnosticism – the belief that the material world is evil and Jesus was only a messenger/angel that brought “secret” knowledge to help us escape our body, which has trapped our souls. They believed that Jesus wasn’t human, He just appeared human. Paul wrote Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians to address Jesus as truly God and truly man and His sufficiency to save us. In this letter, Paul emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ and the joy that produces in us. In addition to dealing with the Gnostics, and the Philippian’s concern about Paul’s welfare, he also deals with a problem they

SWAT Bible Study 12/3/25 Mark 16:1-8 guest David Gray, He's Not Here by Doug McCary

This week, we see the burial of the Son of God and two unlikely disciples, boldly step out to be part of Jesus’ burial. Why do all four Gospel writers write about His burial They all write about it because His burial, according to Paul in 1 Cor. is of 1st importance. God ordained and orchestrated every detail. God orchestrates events in our life either supernaturally or providentially. The supernatural intervention is referred to as a miracle and usually interrupts natural law and processes. Thru Divine providence, God insured thru His burial that He was dead. He insured where He was buried and how He was buried fulfilled Holy Scripture. Finally, He providentially gave two secret disciples a chance to be BOLD in their faith. Previously, they were hesitant to publicly give testimony about their loyalty to Him, but they went above and beyond by taking down His body from the cross and honored Him with a proper burial.

This week, we see the crucifixion and death of Jesus at Golgotha, the “Place of the Skull.” Mark doesn’t focus on the physical pain or even the physicality of the crucifixion. Instead, he gives more detail about the mockery, scorn, and rejection by the religious leaders. After being mocked and offered a sedative to keep him calm, Jesus was nailed to the cross between two criminals under the charge “The King of the Jews.” As onlookers, the religious leaders, and even the criminals ridiculed Him to come down and prove His divinity, darkness covered the land for three hours. In that moment of divine agony, Jesus cried out to His Father, expressing the weight of separation as He bore humanity’s sin. With a loud cry, He gave up His spirit, and the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom—signifying direct access to God through His sacrifice. The very messengers of God’s hope completely rejected the HOPE sent to bring redemption and forgiveness. However, a Roman centurion, witnessing how He died, declared, “Trul

This week, we see the Gentile (Roman) trial which also has three phases. Jesus will go before Pilate, Herod, and then Pilate again. Pilate over and over again says that Jesus is an innocent man, a man not guilty of anything deserving death. Herod even proclaims Jesus’ innocence. In spite of their witness that Jesus is innocent, Pilate chooses to please the crowd and religious leaders over ruling on the TRUTH of the matter. Why, because in God’s unfolding plan, Jesus had to go to the CROSS! If not, we would have all been doomed to eternal punishment!! God is the ultimate influence of the death of Jesus…not Judas…not Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod…Yahweh!

This week, we see darkness at every turn. We see the betrayal by Judas. Jesus is then arrested and tried by the people responsible for instructing and leading God’s people. We see the “Shepherds of Israel,” the Sanhedrin and High Priest hold an illegal trial and commit many illegal acts as they carry out their plan to have Jesus killed. They hated His message of grace and they were extremely jealous of His popularity. Finally, we see one of His closest disciples deny Him three times, just as Jesus prophesied.

This week, we see a final attempt by Satan to try and keep Jesus from going to the cross by tempting Him to not take up the cup of God’s wrath. We see the weight of the world’s sin and the wrath of God start to weigh heavy on Jesus. How does He respond? He goes to His Father for comfort and strength. When we are hurting because God has called us to a path that is painful and costly, how do we respond? We can learn a lot from Jesus as He models trusting in the Father, even when we don’t like what He’s called us to do.

Last session, we saw a contrast in a devoted follower who was a true worshipper of Jesus and a “wolf” in sheep’s clothing. We saw the passion of Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, for Jesus demonstrated in her actions and also saw the selfish and idolatrous deception of Judas, who followed Jesus geographically, but not spiritually. He saw all of Jesus’ miracles, heard all His teachings, and even taught and healed people, but was ultimately a fraud. Our actions ultimately reveal our hearts and our true loyalties. This week, we continue looking at Jesus and His disciples celebrating the Passover. This is the last Passover, not just for Jesus, but for all true followers of God. Jesus institutes His “Passover” to be remember by our celebrating and remembering his suffering and death on our behalf. We also see Him remind us that pride and self-sufficiency is a universal problem without a cure, apart from Jesus.

This week, we see a contrast in a follower who is a true worshipper of Jesus and a “wolf” in sheep’s clothing. We see the passion of this follower for Jesus demonstrated in her actions and also see the traitorous deception of a fraudulent follower of Jesus in his actions. Our actions ultimately reveal our hearts and our true loyalties. In less than 24 hours, Jesus will be beaten and crucified, but before that happens, he has some important instructions about his departure. This is the beginning of the end of His time on earth.

Last session, we looked at chapter 13:1-27 and the beginning of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus’ final prophecy before the cross. It was late on Wednesday of Passion Week and Jesus left the Temple for the last time. When the disciples marveled at how awesome the temple was, Jesus stunned them: “Not one stone here will be left on another” (Mark 13:2). This prophecy came true in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the Temple. Later, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, “When will these things happen, and what will be the sign?” Jesus’ answered them by teaching them about the fall of Jerusalem and His ultimate return. He shared that between His 1st and 2nd coming, time on earth will be filled with wars, death, and danger. He prepares them by telling them what is going to happen in the immediate future and right before His 2nd coming…proving His Divine nature by predicting the future events. The purpose of this discourse is not date-setting but Kingdom discipleship: a call for believers to remain watchfu

Today, we dive into chapter 13 and the Olivet Discourse, Jesus’ final prophecy before the cross. It is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament, filled with Old Testament allusions, imagery, and layers of fulfillment pointing to the end of the age. After entering Jerusalem, cleansing the Temple, and confronting the religious leaders, Jesus left the Temple for the last time. When the disciples marveled at how awesome the temple was, Jesus stunned them: “Not one stone here will be left on another” (Mark 13:2). This prophecy came true in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the Temple. Later, on the Mount of Olives—where God’s glory once departed (Ezek. 11) and where the Messiah will return (Zech. 14)—Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, “When will these things happen, and what will be the sign?” Jesus’ answered them by teaching them about the fall of Jerusalem and His ultimate return. The disciples are not ready for what he is about to share. They think he is about to establish His ru

This week, we continue to look at Jesus’ warning to the crowd and His disciples about the religious “Posers.” Jesus warns us against them, their pride, their pretense, and their perversion of the faith. He points out a lonely widow who had been abused by the system as an example of how bad things had become. She gave her last little bit of money to secure her blessings and salvation from God. Sounds a lot like the religious hucksters of today!

This week, Jesus gave the crowd and His disciples a final warning about the religious “Posers.” He has already exposed their character and faulty theology. Now, he condemns them and their hypocrisy and states that their judgment is coming. These posers pretended to represent Yahweh, but actually represent Satan. Satan is a liar, father of lies, and can appear as an angel of light. The Jewish people saw the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Levites, and the scribes as God’s representatives, when in reality, they represented the evil one. You can’t represent Yahweh and teach lies, take advantage of widows, and disregard Yahweh’s commands, and His Messiah. They presented themselves as “holy men” who served as Yahweh’s shepherds, but in reality, they served themselves for the sake of power, money, and their own glory. They were supposed to feed and care for Yahweh’s sheep. They were supposed to be gatekeepers of the Scriptures and guard Yahweh’s people. Instead, they led them to murder Yahweh’s Mes

This week, it was Jesus’ turn to ask the questions, and he poses a question to the religious leaders (with the crowd listening) and then exposits an Old Testament passage that Jewish teaching had always affirmed was about the Messiah. Every Jew knew that Messiah was David’s son, but they did not see or comprehend that He was David’s God!! They believed that Messiah would be a human ruler with great power from Yahweh. He would have a great impact on the world by leading Israel to conquer all their enemies and fulfill Yahweh’s promises to Abraham and David. They saw Messiah as a savior of Israel as a nation, not for individuals.

This week, we come to a text that is simple and straightforward. There is not a lot of interpretation with this passage, but a lot of application and accountability with it. This will probably cause many of us to be uncomfortable or uneasy and what we should do is reflect on the heart of God and how we all miss the mark and really need Jesus! The Sanhedrin debriefed (see Acts 4:23, Psalm 2:2 – fulfilled prophecy) after the first two attempts and come up with a question that they all agree on and hopefully will move this rogue Rabbi (Jesus) to respond with a statement that puts himself above Moses and The Law. They wanted to turn the people against Him before they arrested Him. There were 613 laws (613 letters in the Ten Commandments) in the Torah and they wanted Him to answer which one is the most important in hopes he would slip up.

This week, we see the wave of attacks continue. All these groups, Chief Priests, Pharisees, Herodians, Scribes try to trap Jesus with questions that reveal how they have departed from God’s Word in some way. The Sadducees, a group in charge of the Temple and supposedly the spiritual leaders of Israel now try to trap Jesus with the second question. They try to discredit Him with a question about the resurrection. His response gives us some insights into the Sadducees’ faulty view of Heaven, Scripture, and even Yahweh and His power. Also, His answers give us insight on applying God’s Word to our lives and the way we live as His Kingdom priests.

This week, the religious leaders desperately want to get rid of Jesus. So, they come up with a plan that has a series of traps with questions about 1) how much do they defer to Roman authorities, 2)the resurrection, and 3)which commandment is the greatest? They hated and feared Jesus and after the last two interactions, they wanted Him off the scene. They were looking for a way to turn the people against Him or have Rome arrest Him and kill Him. Remember, it was Passover week, and this was the time for messiahs to rise up. The questions were meant to trap Jesus, but He gives us insight into how we are to live out what we believe practically relating to the government, our view of Heaven, and living out the greatest commandment. In Israel, the priests (Levi) represented God’s rule/law and the Kings (Judah) represented government rule/law. King Uzziah tried to cross the line and was struck with leprosy. There is only one priest/king – Jesus! Politicians/gov’ts don’t define or dictate God’s law.God’s Law re

This week, Jesus goes further into exposing the unbelief of the religious posers and their coming judgment with a parable about a landowner who leases out a vineyard to tenants who were greedy and violent. It is another revelation from Jesus about the coming judgment on Israel’s religious leaders, religious system, their temple, and their nation. You can harden your heart for so long that you go past the point of God’s patience and mercy…it’s TOO LATE! When Jesus came on the scene, He came to a spiritually dead nation. God’s Spirit had left the temple and their temple was dead…their leaders were dead…their nation was dead. So much so, that when Jesus appeared, they questioned His authority. Don't wait to trust Him. Trust Him NOW!