Mark 1:1-8(Preparing the Way)

Mark 1:1–8 (NIV)

1The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,

2as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—

3“a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”

4And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

6John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

7And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

INTRODUCTION

Now I don’t know about you but it drives me crazy when I start to watch a movie and it goes right into the action of it without setting up some type of story line to make sense of it all.

the Gospel of Mark kind of reminds me of this…

In the Gospel accounts, the Book of Matthew begins by sharing the genealogy of Jesus. He tends to explain that Jesus is a son of Abraham and a son of David.

Luke begins by talking about the events that lead up to the birth of Jesus Christ.

John’s Gospel starts out in eternity and reminds us that Jesus is God in the flesh.

But Mark doesn’t start out by talking about the heritage or birth of Jesus, but to present Him as a servant and he jumps us right into the action.

The Gospel of God v1-2

First of all, we see the Gospel of God. This is your first bulletin fill-in. We see the Gospel of God in verses one and two.

Mark starts off by calling “Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. The name Jesus means “Jehovah is Salvation”. This name reveals why Jesus came into the world which is to save lost sinners. The name Jesus reveals His person.

He is also called “Christ” which identifies him as the Jewish Messiah or the Anointed One. The name Christ declares his position.

Then Mark goes even further and doesn’t just call him Jesus which reveals His person. He Doesn’t only call him Jesus Christ which reveals his position, but he calls Him Jesus Christ, the “Son of God” which reveals His power.

That He is fully man and fully God.

He mentions that Jesus Christ, the son of God is the beginning of the good news. Now in more literal translations of the bible such as the KJV and the NASB they use the word Gospel instead of good news.

Both are familar terms to the Christian, but when we hear of the term gospel we might immediately think of the four books in the bible.

In the new testament though, when this term gospel or good news is mentioned, it always refers to the message of salvation. It refers to good news, a joyful message, and glad tidings.

Whats interesting too, is in New Testament times the birthday of the emperor was celebrated throughout the empire and was the occasion of festivals called “evangels.”

Which is derived from the word Gospel. What is different about this announcement though is that Mark wishes to begin with Jesus’ coming on the public scene as a significant historical figure, not his actual birth.

Other, later Gospels (Matthew and Luke) felt it important to go even further back to Jesus’ birth. Marks focus on his gospel was, that the Messiah wasn’t coming as a slaying soldier but He was coming as a suffering servant.

The Promise of God to send a messenger v2-3

Second of all, we see the Promise of God to send a messenger.

In ancient times, kings often sent people ahead of them to prepare the way for their coming. The forerunner had two primary duties.

First, he was to make certain that the roads were passable. There were to be no delays when the king passed through. He was to have a clear, open route through the kingdom.

Second, the forerunner was let the people know that the king was coming. He was to go along the route before the king came through and he was to tell the people to get ready for the king.

John the Baptist fulfilled both duties seen in the ancient forerunner.

He came to this world with a divine mission. John was given a heavenly mandate, which he fulfilled while he was here.

Verses 2–3 also tell us that John was the fulfillment of two important Old Testament prophecies.

1. Isaiah 40:3—“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

2. Malachi 3:1—“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”)

These prophecies comforted many people as they looked forward to the Messiah. It gave them hope as it also does that for us today.

A. It Involved Preparation—John cleared the way for the coming of the Lord by appealing directly to the people.

The Jewish religious leaders had long ago forgotten the common man. John came preaching to the people, calling on them to repent because the Lord, the King was coming to deliver His people.

Repentance is two-fold. It’s turning from sin and turning to God. It’s a change of mind and direction.

Now to prepare the way means to get something ready.

The picture could come from the Oriental custom of sending servants ahead of a king to level and clear the roads to make them passable for his journey.

The people in Israel needed to prepare their minds—clear away the spiritual debris and straighten any “crooked” moral paths—in eager anticipation of their King and Messiah.

The verbs are in the imperative, meaning that John spoke them as a military general would speak commands—to be obeyed immediately and without hesitation.

Those who accepted John’s status as a true prophet from God understood these words as God’s words to them, humbled themselves, repented, received baptism, and opened the “way” for their Messiah to take hold of their lives

B. It Involved Proclamation—John was a lone voice against the dead legalism of the Jews.

He was a hard preacher in a dark day and God used him to touch a generation.

The messenger is described as one crying out. This was done with great passion and urgency.

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. People who do not know Jesus need to be prepared to meet him.

We can prepare them by explaining their need for forgiveness, demonstrating Christ’s teachings by our conduct, and telling them how Christ can give their lives meaning.

We can “make His paths straight” by correcting misconceptions that might be hindering people from approaching Christ.

One misconception is when people say “The Bible contradicts itself”. That’s not true.

The Bible doesn’t contradict itself, the Bible contradicts you. It is the only book that when you read it, it reads you and sometimes we don’t like what it has to say about us because it convicts us and points out our faults

The Mission of God’s messenger v3-5

We also see the Mission of God’s messenger

John preached in the wilderness in the area near the Jordan River, but he did more than that. He urged his listeners to be baptized.

Some scholars think that baptism by immersion was a rite required by the Jews for Gentiles who wished to convert to Judaism.

The ritual of immersion symbolized the death and burial of the old way of life; coming up out of the water symbolized the beginning of a new life.

If so, then John took a known custom and gave it new meaning.

While it was customary for Gentiles to be baptized in order to become Jews, John was demanding that Jews be baptized to show that they had turned from their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.

John’s baptism was immersion, and it was a visible sign that a person had decided to change his or her life, giving up a sinful and selfish way of living and turning to God.

It was a public action showing that a person had been cleansed of sin through repentance and had chosen a new way of life.

After Christ’s death and resurrection, baptism became an outward sign for identifying with Christ and his resurrection

When they confessed their sins, John baptized them in the Jordan River.

Confession is more than simply acknowledging one’s own sinfulness; it is agreeing with God’s verdict on sin and expressing the desire to get rid of sin and live for God.

Confessing means more than verbal response, affirmation, or praise; it means agreeing to change to a life of obedience and service.

The Spirit of God’s messenger v6.

Next we see the Spirit of God’s messenger

The spirit of God’s messenger was self-denial.

1. His living quarters were in “the wilderness,” that is, in the country. He deliberately chose to live away from the city with all its distractions and temptations.

He chose to live where he could be alone with God in meditation and prayer.

2. His clothing was simple, made of camel’s hide with a belt made of some other animal’s skin.

3. His food was simple. It was locusts and wild honey (Le. 11:22–23).

John knew that life was more than food and clothing and housing.

He knew that he must not allow anything to distract him or the people from God …

not living in extravagant luxury.

not being dressed in the latest and most expensive fashion.

not eating the most tasty dishes.

Therefore, he denied himself; he actually practiced self-denial. What a lesson for us all!

Matthew 16:24 says...“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”.

The Message of God’s messenger v7-8

Next we see the Message of God’s messenger

There would appear to be something radical about John’s message. He seems to have been offering forgiveness without sacrifice being offered in the temple.

He was offering confession of sins without connection to the hierarchy system in Jerusalem.

What’s interesting is when John spoke of his unworthiness.

Disciples often served their teachers in the same ways that slaves would serve their masters, except for the most menial chores like taking off their masters’ sandals.

The action of unfastening sandals was regarded by the Jews as the most menial of all the tasks performed by a slave.

It is said in the Talmud(Which is a book of ancient sacred Jewish teachings) that a disciple must do for his teacher everything that a slave will do for his master, except this one act

Even though earlier prophets were called “servants” of the LORD. John feels unworthy even to be the coming one’s slave.

Some passages in the Old Testament speak of the Spirit being poured out like water; only God, however, could pour out God’s Spirit.

These passages refer especially to the time of God’s kingdom, when he would cleanse his people and empower them to speak for him.

The message of John was one of humility. John effectively said, “One greater than me is coming. He is so great, I am not worthy to do what only a Gentile slave would do.

My baptism is outward with water: a symbol. His baptism is inward with the Spirit: the real thing [v. 8].

The One who is coming is mightier than I am! He is more worthy than I am!

He is more powerful than I am!

I have touched your body with water. He will touch your soul with the Holy Spirit!

”John would be imprisoned and beheaded. The world, no doubt, scoffed at this crazy man. Heaven, however, would smile.

John’s baptism with water indicated immersion in the water of the Jordan River.

John’s baptism demonstrated repentance, humility, and willingness to turn from sin.

John baptized people as a sign that they had asked God to forgive their sins and had decided to live as he wanted them to live.

Baptism was an outward sign of commitment.

To be effective, it had to be accompanied by an inward change of attitude leading to a changed life. John’s baptism did not give salvation; it prepared a person to welcome the coming Messiah and receive his message and his baptism.

John’s statement, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, revealed the identity of the “one” coming after John as the promised Messiah.

The coming of the Spirit had been prophesied as part of the Messiah’s arrival:

The time is coming…. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people…. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Jeremiah 31:31–34 NIV)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26–27

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28–29 NIV)

The Old Testament promised a time when God would demonstrate his power among people and give special relationship and blessings to his people.

This looked ahead to Pentecost (Acts 2), when the Holy Spirit would be sent by God empowering his followers to preach the gospel.

All believers, those who would later come to Jesus Christ for salvation, would receive the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, the entire person would be transformed by the Spirit’s power.

Jesus would offer both forgiveness of sin and the power to live for him.

We need more than repentance to save us; we need the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

APPLICATION

So how do we apply this? How do we make what God is telling us today a part of our lives?

First and foremost, if you don’t know Jesus, you need to surrender to him today and make Him Lord of your life!

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is good news to some but it’s bad news for others. For the Christian who knows God and has a relationship with Him it’s very good news because this world is not our home.

For the unbeliever the Gospel is bad news for them because they will suffer an eternity in hell, seperated from all that is good and loving.

It doesn’t have to be so. If you repent and believe in your heart that Jesus died for you and confess with your mouth that He is Lord then you will be saved!

It’s no mistake that you are here today. God has sent someone to you to prepare the way for the Lord in you!

Another way we can apply God’s Word in our lives, is to be Baptized.

Come see me. We have a baptism service coming up. If you were baptized when you were younger and want to be baptized again as an adult, thats okay too.

Being baptized is a great way to tell God that you want to make a public proclamation of your faith in him. That you want to make this faith your own.

Lastly, you can apply this message in your life by asking how am I preparing the way for the LORD in my own heart and life? Am I spending time with him daily as I should?

Are you preparing the way for the Lord in the lives of others? Am I sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to those who need to hear it?

Am I keeping my Christian brother and sisters in Christ accountable?

*Altar call(If Lead)

*SONG Jesus I Come

*ENDING prayer