The Good News of Jesus Christ - Mark 1:1-20

The Good News of Jesus Christ - Mark 1:1-20

If you would, please open or turn on your Bibles and flip or swipe over to Mark 1:1-20 where we will be for our time this morning.

If you are able, would you please stand as I read God’s Word:

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,’”

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.”

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

This is God’s Word

You may be seated

[PRAY]

In the movie, The Courier, is based on the real events between an ordinary English Business man Greville Wynne and Soviet GRU Officer Oleg Penkovsky as they work together to smuggle nuclear secrets out of Russia into the hands of American and British intelligence that directly impacts the Cold War and help end the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Their partnership had gone on for months as both of them traveled to each others country under the guise of a business partnership in order to pass on intelligence.

Near the end of the movie, Oleg is eventually arrested for treason and shortly after, Greville is captured by the Kremlin in Eastern Europe.

Both are in prison with no connection to each other, to the outside world, or if their efforts have actually done any good.

The movie at this point focuses more on Greville’s harsh experience in prison while the Kremlin is trying to ascertain how much he knew

Greville has lost weight, looks depressed and confused and without hope

After about 6 months his wife is able to visit him where she is able to share some information from the outside world about their community, life, their son and then she makes a throw away comment about Russia pulling their missiles out of Cuba

Up to this point, Greville had no idea what came of he and Oleg’s efforts and though the Russians prevent her from sharing more, we see Greville’s face shine with brightness and hope as he begins to cry with joy.

A few months later the Kremlin allows Oleg and Greville to meet hoping the conversation stirs up new information that they can use against them both.

This is the first time in months that they have been able to see each other and it’s clear that Oleg is feeling depressed, scared, deflated, guilty and lifeless

During the course of their conversation, Oleg apologizes for getting Greville mixed up in this and doubles down to the Kremlin that Greville never knew at any point he was aiding in spy craft

Greville of course forgives him and sees that Oleg has no idea the impact he has made so he and take the opportunity to share with him the news that all their work and suffering were worth it because Russia has backed down from a nuclear war

Oleg is stunned and instantly you see life enter into his eyes and face at the news that their efforts paid off!

These two powerful scenes demonstrate the impact that news can have on us

Think about the way you felt when you got accepted into college, or how you will feel when you get the news that you’ve passed this class!

Or how the news of a loved one being diagnosed with a sickness, or that someone you love has decided to walk away from their family or Jesus

Depending on the news we receive it can have varying degrees of influence upon our lives

And that is what Mark’s gospel is all about.

The first verse essentially sums up the aim of Mark’s gospel, and it actually is the main idea of our text.

Mark had good news to share with his readers in the past, and he has good news to tell us today

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

This isn’t old news, and it’s not stale news. It’s news that we need to hear every single day

So whether you are a new pastor, have been pastoring for a long time, desire to pastor like myself, or are here at Grimke because you want to learn more, this text is for you

And it’s not only news that you and I need to hear daily, it’s news the people in our lives need to hear as well. Both inside and outside our churches

So today Mark wants to remind us

and show us why it is good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God

And we’ll do that by looking at our text in three parts:

I. The Promised Messiah in verses 1-8

II. The Perfect Man in verses 9-12

III. The Powerful Mission in verses 13-20

Or another way to think about this is:

Preparation

Identification

Transformation

So first, let’s look at

I. THE PROMISED MESSIAH (1-8)

A. Prophecy Fulfilled (1-3)

You’ll notice that right off the bat Mark wastes no time and thrusts our minds back to the Old Testament by quoting Isaiah.

Why would Mark use the Old Testament to build his case that Jesus is the Son of God?

I don’t know about you, but when I’m trying to share Jesus with others, I’m not always whipping out the Old Testament

But perhaps, we should all take a page out of Marks book

We just celebrated our churches 12th year anniversary and Tony will mention this often on Sundays, and he made it a point to mention it again recently

That we’re a new(ish) church with an old message

But the message finds its roots not just in the first century, but it goes all the way back to the first couple!

And while it might seem odd to our ears to hear this passage referenced, we have to remember that while the Bible is for us, it wasn’t directly written to us

But the beauty is that because this book that we hold is inspired by the living God, it has the ability to transcend time and culture and bear relevance on our circumstances today

When Mark opens his book with this quote, he is actually combining Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3

Malachi 3:1 speaks of God sending a messenger to prepare His people for His arrival who will call them to turn from their wicked ways and back to God

Isaiah 40:3 functions similarly in prophesying the same messenger to come prepare God’s people, but to also prepare the way for the Lord Himself to come into the midst of His people

So in summary, God loves His people and wants them for Himself, but as we know in Israel’s history, time and time again they reject God and pursue other loves

So in response, God promises to send a messenger to get His people ready for His arrival. The Messiah they have been waiting for will be God Himself in the flesh

And the people will know the time has come because a Prophet/Messenger will come and be God’s instrument to turn His people’s heart back to God

We see this prophecy fulfilled by the Prophet Foretold

B. Prophet Foretold (4-8)

As quickly as we are confronted with the Old Testament passages, we are quickly introduced to John the Baptist

I love how Mark introduces John, he just appears!

It’s so abrupt and unlike any of the other gospel writers.

The immediate transition from the Old Testament to John appearing is that Mark is trying to indicate that the messenger who was sent by God to prepare the way of the Lord is none other than John himself!

John the Baptist is the prophet foretold in the Old Testament and he does exactly what God intended him to do

The messenger comes preaching to prepare and we know that John evidently is successful!

Verse five says,

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.

It seems like the message of repentance had moved from the country to the city

We also know that when Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees about His authority, He asks them about John’s Baptism and the can’t say a thing because the people regarded John as a prophet

So what about you? John was sent to prepare the hearts of God’s people to forsake sin and turn to God

Brothers, is there any sin taking up lodging in your heart today?

If there is, take heart! Repent! The same offer that was extended to Israel is extended to you!

Don’t think that just because you are a pastor, or aspiring pastor or in ministry that you can’t have sin

That is foolish! Look at Israel! They had the very oracles of God and they still needed to repent!

If you hear the voice of the Lord calling to your hear today, do not harden your heart, but repent.

So not only was his ministry prophetic but also his drip!

Mark adds an odd detail about what John wore which actually was supposed to illicit images of Elijah!

2 Kings 1:8 says,

They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”

John was pointing forward. He was sent to prepare the way of the Lord and all that he did, even to the clothing that he wore, was to indicate to the people of God that the time had come

The time that they had be waiting for, the long awaited Messiah was about to set foot and bring about the salvation they had been promised

But how is John the Baptist preparing the way for the Messiah good news?

It’s good news because if God made promises in the past and they came true, will He not remain faithful to Himself in the future?

This is good news for us to hear and to remind ourselves of and those we live life with

God is faithful

He is not like a man to lie or change His mind

If He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us willingly, how will He not give us all things?

Brothers, God’s people waited centuries for this moment, and Paul says in the fullness of time God sent forth His Son.

While God might not do things the way we want Him to when we want Him to, He is faithful, and you can take that to the bank.

Not only does Mark show how Jesus is the Son of God is good news by grounding us in the Promised Messiah, he does it also by showing how Jesus is the Perfect Man

II. THE PERFECT MAN (9-13)

A. New Israel (9-11)

Here again we see the structure of Mark’s gospel, where each element is building upon the one previously

We saw Mark introduce the prophecy and then right after that, boom! John the Baptist is on the scene

The last thing we read that John says is,

“After me comes he who is mightier than I…I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”

And right on the heels of his words, Mark introduces us to Jesus

So the one who John is preparing God’s people for, Mark indicates that it is Jesus!

But we cannot forget one key piece mentioned in Isaiah, the One who the messenger was preparing the people for was God Himself!

This is wild!

And here we see Jesus as the perfect man identifying Himself in two ways: as the New Israel in His baptism, and the New Adam in the wilderness

As the New Israel, Jesus comes and is baptized by John

Does He need to? No! Of course not!

Baptism was a picture of repentance, a cleansing of sin and identification of new birth

But here, Jesus, in a picture of extreme humility, identifies Himself with corrupt Israel symbolically in this baptism.

He is essentially saying that He has come to identify and represent Israel in the way that they were supposed to and never did

The Spirit descending like a dove and resting on Jesus was the sign of the end, well, the beginning of the end

A sign that the last days as prophesied in Joel are unfolding before the peoples eyes. That God was pouring out His spirit on all flesh and it was going to start with Jesus

While this is going on we see God speaking to Jesus saying that He is His Son

Now, we know theologically that the second person of the Trinity is called God the Son, but something symbolic is also happening here

In Exodus 4:22, God calls Israel His firstborn Son

So this “sonship” language is more than theological, it again emphasizes that a New Israel is here to fulfill what the people never could do.

But not only do we see Jesus identify as a new type of Israel, but also as a New Adam in verses 12 and 13

Because right after this event, the Spirit sends Jesus to the wilderness, for forty days, which is a picture of testing and trial for God’s people

And it is here in this environment of isolation and lack that Satan comes to tempt Jesus

We don’t get a lot of details in Mark’s gospel about what all goes down in this wilderness show down

But it is intended to draw our attention back to the Garden where Adam was situated in perfection and abundance

Who also was tempted by Satan, but failed and was thrust out of the Garden

But Jesus, now identifying Himself with the First Adam, stands victorious over Satan and is now able to bring fallen humanity back into relationship with God

And Jesus as the Perfect Man is such good news for us too

It’s good news because we see God in Jesus coming towards us to save us and rescue us

All the religions of the world teach you what you have to do if you want to get to God

But only in Christianity do we see God telling us what we need to do, coming towards us and accomplishing that which we could never do on our own

Throughout all of history God’s people have failed, from Adam to Abraham, to Moses to David, to Solomon and beyond, God’s people have always failed

And now Jesus comes and identifies Himself with us, not only does he live the life we could never live but even His baptism foreshadows His death that He will die for us

But as He was buried in baptism, so too did He raise to life giving life to all who would call on His name!

This, my friends, is incredible news!

Because Jesus identifies with us and lives in our place, that means for those who are in Christ, when we fail, God does not see our sin and failure, but He sees Christ’s obedience

This active obedience is ours now forever and we can stand confidently in His righteousness because where Israel failed, Jesus won, where Adam gave in to temptation, Jesus resisted

And that is all for us!

So, we have seen how Mark is showing us how it is good news that Jesus is the Son of God in the Promised Messiah and the Perfect Man we conclude by looking at the,

III. THE POWERFUL MISSION (14-20)

And we’ll see this transformative power in Jesus’s message and method

A. Message (14-16)

Mark indicates that a shift is happening because now we see that John has been arrested and is no longer publicly preaching, and that actually transitions to Jesus’ public ministry

John’s message to the people was “the time is coming, so repent and have your sins forgiven”

Jesus’ message is “the time is now! God’s kingdom is here. Repent and believe”

And the uniqueness of this message is that it’s news and not advice!

We need to remind ourselves and those we serve that the announcement that Jesus is making is that God is here! The time is now! His presence is available and He will have you!

Jesus is saying, everyone was made by God and for God. But everyone is outside of His kingdom and He has come to bring us back and this is how:

Jesus doesn’t speak like the world and offer self help strategies or self love mantras to speak to yourself in the mirror

Nor does He offer religious moralism expecting moral and spiritual cleanliness and obedience

No no, as we will see later in Mark’s gospel Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many

He came to bring cleanness to the unclean, to heal the sick, to restore the broken to be what you and I could not so that you and I could have what was His!

And what do we need to do? Repent and believe. Recognize we are outside this kingdom and believe that He has brought the kingdom to us.

That’s it! And that news needs to be told to us and those around us every day.

But, believing this news does demand something from us

Let me be clear, the demand does not come before the news can be believed. We believe the news and it calls us to something

It’s faith alone, but not faith that stands alone

And we see that play out in this method

After Jesus steps out into His public ministry, He quickly recruits others to come and follow Him

We see the first four disciples get called by Jesus and get to observe the manner in which this happens

A few observations -

When Jesus calls a man, He bids him to come and die

We see the disciples leave everything and drop everything to follow Jesus

And of course Jesus isn’t saying that we cannot care for or love or have relationships with loved ones in our life

In fact in just a few versus we see Jesus caring for Peter’s mother-in-law

But what we see happen in these scene is instructive

When we’re called to Jesus and calling others to Him, it’s all or nothing.

The other observation is that Jesus infuses their profession with gospel intentionality

He approaches them in the their work and redefines how they operate in the world

The announcement of God’s kingdom coming has serious weight to it

We enter into it not by currying favor or working our way in, no Jesus says to repent and believe

But entering His kingdom does me a death happens

In a sense, we die to all allegiances in our live that are not God and we reorder them under His rule and reign

And the good news here is that Jesus does not ask us to do something He Himself would not do

Jesus Himself would lay down His life, the King would die so that others could live

And in His dying fulfill what Israel and Adam could not do

And in His resurrection powerfully display that He truly is the Son of God.

And this is Mark’s aim, Jesus - the Son of God - is good news for us

He is the promised Messiah, the Perfect Man and comes with a Powerful Message

Will you embrace Him afresh today?

Let’s pray