Mark's Perspective on the Christmas Story

Introduction

I had mentioned last week that this Advent season we will be working our way through the four evangelist and their introduction of we have come to know as the Christmas Story.

Last week as I mentioned Matthew was written to the Jews from the perspective as a Jew, turned Tax collector working for the perceived enemy of the people of God and now a follower of the Messiah.

Chosen by God, the first evangelist who we looked at shared the message of the Christmas Story.

Today, we are going to look at the second evangelist. Mark.

Now I was challenged last week on one of my statements about Mark and it lead me to some research about this evangelist and it appears I have miss lead you in some direction about this man. So let me set the record straight.

John Mark.

JOHN MARK Son of Mary (Acts 12:12), cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10), and missionary companion of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:5). According to church tradition, John Mark was the author of the Gospel of Mark.

In first-century Palestine, it was common for a man to have two names: a Hebrew name (e.g., “John”), by which he was known to friends and relatives, and a Greek or Roman (Roman Christian) name (e.g., “Mark”), by which he was known in the business world (Barclay, Introduction, 151; Acts 12:12, 25). “Mark” appears to have been a common name in the first century. Consequently, it is difficult to know whether the person mentioned in Acts and Colossians is the “Mark” named elsewhere in the New Testament (2 Tim 4:11; Phlm 24; 1 Pet 5:13; compare with John Mark in Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37, 39; Col 4:10).

Unlike Matthew and John, John Mark was an early convert in the followers of the Way, the early Christians and became an evangelist along with Paul.

It has been stated that

English Standard Version Introduction

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus announced the Kingdom of God, healed the sick, and died as a ransom for sinners. In addition to Jesus, Mark features three main groups of people: the disciples, the crowds, and the religious leaders, none of whom understood Jesus. When the time came for Jesus to go to the cross, the religious leaders arrested him, the disciples abandoned him, and the crowds jeered him. Only when he died alone on the cross did a Roman centurion recognize that he was the Son of God. Though the book is anonymous, tradition identifies John Mark (Acts 12:12) as the author. He may have based his Gospel on Peter’s preaching, writing sometime in the 50s or 60s A.D.

When I set out down this path, to be honest, I wasn’t excited about preaching through Mark’s view of the Christmas Story

Why,

Mark doesn’t talk about his birth like the others.

It, while quite frankly, omits that details completely about the birth.

It does point to the Christ Child, but in a different way in which we have come to celebrate year after year.

Turn with me if you will to the Book of Mark and let’s begin reading how this evangelist comes to tell the early part of Christ’s story of becoming Immanuel.

Mark 1:1–3 ESV

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

Let’s Pray

Where is the Christmas Story in this Gospel?

For many of you, you must ask this question.

Where is the Christmas story in this Gospel.

Well, the story we have come to tell each year, the one that manger scenes are created, this gospel omits this part of the story.

Mark is a reminder for all of us that the Gospel is not about the Christ Child.

The Gospel is about the person and work of Christ.

It starts in the beginning

Christmas is a time to remember that the God, who as from the beginning, came to us to dwell with us, but he was not new.

He came in the form of man, a child, entered into humanity, but the miracle of His coming was not his birth, but Him ministry here on earth for us.

Mark is a reminder of what we hold to be true in the Gospel that this Christ child would grow to be our saviour.

That is the Gospel.

One of my favourite songs that bridges the gap between the focus on the birth and his ministry is

Mary did you know.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your baby boy Has come to make you new? This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you

THE GOSPEL

Mary, did you know that your baby boy Will give sight to a blind man? Mary, did you know that your baby boy Will calm the storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy Has walked where angels trod? When you kiss your little baby You kiss the face of God

Immanuel

Verse One in Mark, outlines the importance of the event of Christ Coming.

I found this when researching for this morning.

Five things we know about the Christ Child according to Mark

https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/christmas-without-crib-mark%E2%80%99s-gospel-advent

Beginning

‘Beginning’ is the same word which opens the whole Bible, (‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ [Genesis 1:1]). That beginning was the birthday of the universe, and if we recall the words of Paul that Christ was the ‘firstborn of all creation’ (Colossians 1:15), we are already in the atmosphere of Christmas. The word ‘beginning’ has other applications, too. It could refer to the persons and events that Mark reports at the beginning of his gospel. It could refer to the whole gospel story as the foundation and norm of our own Christian commitment. It could simply mean that if we want to begin our own Christian story at the beginning, this is a good place to start.

Our calendars mark this beginning as BC Before Christ and AD in the year of our lord.

It was in Mark’s mind a reminder that this was a starting place or beginning of Christ’s work here on earth. To Begin His Immanuel, dwells with us.

Gospel

Mark goes on to speak of the beginning of the ‘gospel’. This is a word with a double application. It was used in secular circles to announce an important event such as the birth of an heir to the emperor, so it might have been a stimulus to Mark’s initial readers to rejoice in the birth of Jesus simply on a human level. But the word had also been used centuries before in a religious context by the prophet Isaiah: ‘

Isaiah 52:7 ESV

7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

The Gospel that began so many years ago is that same Gospel that lives in our lives today.

The Christmas story marks that entrance of God coming into our lives like that of Child like faith.

The word Isaiah uses for ‘brings good news’ is the word that we translate as ‘to gospel’. Luke puts flesh on these words of Isaiah when he reports the words of the angel to the shepherds, ‘I bring you news of great joy’ (Luke 2:10), and when he records Jesus’s announcement at the start of his ministry that he has been anointed to ‘bring good news to the poor’ (4:18).  Words like ‘peace’, ‘salvation’ and ‘reign of God’ are associated with events of Christmas.  The angels sing of peace at the birth of Jesus (2:14). Simeon praised God because his eyes had seen God’s salvation (2:30). The angel Gabriel told Mary that her Son would reign over the house of Jacob for ever (1:33). We can, therefore, glimpse Christmas in this second word of Mark, ‘gospel’.

Jesus

The third word is the name of ‘Jesus’. This is the name by which he was known in his lifetime. Mark tells us that he came from Nazareth in Galilee (Mark 1:9), which corresponds with what we learn about his hometown from Matthew (2:23) and Luke (2:4). Information from Matthew sheds a Christmas light on this mention of the name of Jesus by Mark: an angel of the Lord had told Joseph that Jesus would be the name of Mary’s child, because he would ‘save his people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21). Its Hebrew equivalent was ‘Joshua’ who, as successor of Moses, had led his people into the Promised Land. Jesus leads us into the land of the Kingdom of God.

Christ

The fourth word is ‘Christ’. This is a name we meet repeatedly in the letters of Paul; it has become a second name for Jesus. He is Jesus Christ – it is a title rather than a name.  It translates the Hebrew word ‘Messiah’.  Peter, at a mid-way point in Mark, calls Jesus by this title, when Jesus questioned him on whom he believed him to be (8:29).  The high priest asks Jesus whether he is the Christ (14:61). This Christ, or Messiah, was promised by God to David through the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 7:12).

The same title for Jesus comes in Luke’s infancy story; it is one of the three titles that the angel gives the shepherds for the child born in Bethlehem. He is a saviour who is ‘Christ’ the Lord (Luke 2:11).

This is the exciting process of looking at all four evangelists writings on the Christmas story as they give us an understanding of what the Gospel is all about.

Son of God

The fifth and final term that we meet in this first line of Mark is ‘Son of God’. This was a title given to Jesus by demons (Mark 5:7), but the first human being to use it of Jesus is the centurion who had been in charge of those who crucified Jesus. After seeing the veil of the Temple torn apart, this man confessed Jesus as the ‘Son of God’ (15:39).

Mark give mention to the readers that this Child was and is the Son of God promised from the beginning to come and to redeem the world.

These are some ways in which Mark’s opening verse points to the Christmas message if only we are alert to its implications. This approach reminds us that frequently the best commentary on a scripture passage is afforded by other texts in Scripture.

We need to read all four Gospels in this season.

Jesus’ coming is predicted in the Old Testament

Mark also begins this story with fulfilment of Christ’s coming found in the Old Testament.

But unlike Matthew we find the prediction is focused on His arrival for ministry.

Mark goes to the Old testament like Matthew but the view is different.

Mark 1:2–3 ESV

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”

Malachi’s Words

Some manuscripts writes Prophets as in plural because this text drawn from the Old Testament announcing the arrival of their message in two different text.

The first one is found in Mal 3:1

Malachi 3:1 (ESV)

1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.

Think about this for a moment,

God prepared not only in His coming, but a messenger before Him to prepare the people for His coming.

Some of us often say, are you ready for Christmas?

There is much to do,

But I ask you this question.

Are you prepared for Christ’s return to this earth?

Have you responded to the Gospel for your life.

Have you accepted God’s free gift of Grace.

The focus on the Christ Chid is one aspect of the Gospel, but Mark reminds us that

God has sent a messenger to us,

His Word, now for each of us so that we can truly understand that He will be coming again for His followers and that we need to be ready for Him.

Mark was describing that Jesus’s first ministry here on earth didn’t revolve around the Christ Child, rather Him ministry that was brought about through the ministry of that Christ Child.

Isaiah’s predictions

Mark then moves onto the Isaiah’s passage, but different than the one used in Matthew.

Isaiah 40:3 ESV

3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

You see this passage is not about the coming of the Lord by way of a child, but way of ministry.

A straight path prepared for us.

Now for many of you, growing up here in BC this straight path may be a foreign concept for you.

But for us flat-landers, a straight path is clear. The view is unobstructed.

When you travel on the highway on flat land, other than the curvature of earth, you can see a long way.

You can be prepared for the upcoming events that are unfolding in front of you.

You have time to react. Time to prepare.

The road is easy and clear.

Mark is quoting that verse to remind us that the path to following God is Clear, His Gospel is simple to understand and His message has been brought before us, we need to act.

Have you?

This Christmas Season, as we focus on the Christ Child, Mark reminds us that He came as a child to grown up and become our saviour.

Mark jumps right into the story with a small mention of beginning of the story

and he starts with the purpose of His coming.

He came as a child to deliver us, to redeem us, to restore us.

The word desert is mentioned.

Is your life in a desert right now.

You are walking around, thirsty for truth for your life, for your soul?

The Scripture’s not only predicted that Christ would come, but that he would come to fill that Void in your life.

It describes a calling, a yearning for our souls to be restored.

Mark wants his readers of the Gospel

to know that He came to this world for that very reason.

As we continue to read that early account of Christ, Mark states

Mark 1:4–8 ESV

4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

It is interesting to note that the same excitement that are presented in Matthew and Luke regarding the Christ child, that same is shown in the coming of John, the messenger.

I often wonder how many of the people who experienced the nativity were still around to see the coming of Christ in His earthly ministry.

There they sat with the news of the Christ Child, The announcement from the shepherds, the Star, the wisemen and now there is a 30 plus year wait for the fulfillment to be reviled.

How many people wondered when the Christ Child was going to come in might

How many people waiting for the arrival of his reign, a messiah that would conquer their problems of this world.

How many waited for this mighty messiah, to solve their problems and yet missed the promise of what problem He came to solve.

Coming to Christ, believing that He has died for your sin, doesn’t necessarily solve your earthly problems, but He will solve your heavenly problems.

Read further in the text,

This child who was born in a manger for a Lamb, after being baptized by his cousin, John,

Jesus was sent by the Spirit into the wilderness to face that which we all face.

It was easy for Christ to come in the form of man, He was totally dependent on His earthly parents for an upbringing, but in approaching ministry,

Jesus, the Christ Child, relied totally on His Heavenly father for strength to face the trials of life in His humanity.

1 John 2:16 ESV

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Those same trials we face today, we too need to look to our heavenly father for the strength being supported by the Spirit within us,

That same spirit that sustained Christ through His difficult moments.

The Christmas season, the Advent, begins with the Christ Child, but Mark points out that the ministry or the Gospel was the true meaning of Christmas

Someone wrote this about Mark’s view of the story.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 25: Mark The Prologue

In one short and profound sentence, Mark announces his theme and gives the outline of his book. His lead sentence is so potent that some scholars believe that he wrote his prologue after he wrote his book. Their opinion betrays their lack of knowledge about the purpose and the style of a good communicator. Mark knows what he is saying. His opening sentence speaks his purpose. In contrast with Matthew, who starts with a genealogy and needs sixteen verses to announce that Jesus is King of the Jews; in contrast with Luke, who begins with a sentence of eighty-two words in order to tell the story of Jesus as the Savior of all men; or in contrast with John, who introduces his Gospel with a sentence of seventeen mystical and baffling words to show that Jesus is the Son of God, Mark puts it all together in a simple sentence of twelve words. In his brief prologue, Mark promises a book that moves in historical rhythm with the kingdom of God, sounds the “Good News” of redemptive grace, identifies Jesus with all who serve, claims salvation through the suffering of the Christ, and promises the life and power of the Son of God as our ever-present hope.

During Advent we are reminded that the Christ, the Messiah came to dwell with us, to be one of us so that the Gospel could be true for all us us.

I pray that all of you come this Christmas season with a focus on What this Christ Child did for us.

God came in the form of man, so that through this act could go to the cross, die, be risen from the dead, and pay the price for our eternal lives with the Father.

In Summary

As the worship team comes forward to lead us in a response to worship, to reflect upon Mark’s focus of the Gospel it is all in the name of Jesus.

This Child, Jesus is the Gospel in which we bow,

Let’s sing a response to God’s Word this morning.

Response to Worship

Benediction

Ephesians 3:17–19 ESV

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.