Who Is Jesus?
Notes
Transcript
Please open your Bibles to
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as 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.’ ”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The 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. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And 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. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The Gospel of Mark is fast paced. It is the shortest of the four Gospels filled with miracles and action to show the power of Jesus the Messiah. The Gospel of Mark emphasizes the super-human power of Jesus.
Mark presents Jesus as God’s Son in action, demonstrating His divinity by His miracles. We are familiar with many of the miracles Mark presents such as the account of a man born blind who was healed by Jesus. The Pharisees claimed that Jesus was a sinner and that they did not know where He came from.
Did you know that Mark uses the word “immediately” almost 40 times in the Bible? It’s like a young child at a zoo running from cage to cage yelling, “Look at this! Can you believe it? This is incredible!”
Now, you might be wondering who Mark is! Here’s just a bit of background for us this morning.
Those who lived in that time and were closest to the people and events of Jesus’ day believed he was a young man who was one of the hundreds of disciples who followed Jesus but he was not one of the Twelve.
Many people scholars believe that Mark included himself without identifying himself in the Gospel that bears his own name. That identification takes place in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.
And it says in
51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him,
52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
No wonder he didn’t include his name in the text!
It is also believed that Mark who wrote the Gospel is the same as John Mark who traveled with Paul and Barnabas and later again with Barnabas.
Mark declares the good news about Jesus. Mark immediately shows Jesus fulfills prophecy. Mark also declares Jesus’ deity through John the Baptist and mighty miracles.
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
What is the Gospel, the good news?
We don’t have much good news these days, do we? If we watch the news for just a few minutes or spend time paying attention to what is going on around us, we see all kinds of bad news.
People are so confused about so many things that Scripture tell us are sin - things that do not align with the God of Love that we see on display through this man Jesus. Here’s just a few examples from the last few years:
Drug related deaths continue to rise. Addiction is a serious problem.
Alcohol related deaths NOT including homicides, auto or other accidents. So many people die each year from alcohol-related causes: drinking and driving crashes, other accidents, falls, fires, alcohol-related homicides and suicides.
Suicide rates are skyrocketing!
We in this country are saturated with sin sickness! How it must grieve the heart of God that the souls for which He bled and died are abusing themselves and others to death!
We need some Good News!!! And we see it right here in Mark 1! Jesus is the Good News and the world thinks we are insane for believing that!
So, who is Jesus? This is what Mark declares in the opening sentence of the Gospel. First of all, you can’t separate who is Jesus from what is Jesus? Mark says that Jesus is the Son of God! The entire New Testament shouts Jesus is here and He is what you need!
Jesus says:
“I and the Father are one …”
“Before Abraham was I AM …”
“If you have seen Me you have seen the Father”
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, the Triune Godhead – Three Persons, one God.
Look outside! Jesus made that – “without Him nothing was made that has been made.” We see this in John’s gospel.
Who else is Jesus and what else is Jesus?
Jesus is and will be the righteous, final Judge when this all ends!
When Jesus returns to bring the new creation, it is none other than Jesus who will sit upon His judicial throne and pronounce judgment on every person who ever lived!
For you that may be either GREAT NEWS or horrible news.
But here’s the great thing, if it IS horrible news for you right now and you’re still alive you still have time to embrace the GOOD NEWS, Jesus Christ!
Jesus is the Savior!
Jesus is the Good News!
You can have eternal life starting right now through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.
In this world filled with those who are slaves to sin you could pass all the laws you want until the world is filled with books containing those laws and you could enforce those laws until the whole world would be in jail and nothing would change! We see this play out in so many ways in our world today.
The only thing that can make any real, lasting difference at all is being transformed from the inside out by salvation through Jesus the Good News Christ. That is what the Holy Spirit has proclaimed through the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and whoever wrote the book of Hebrews!
All of them are saying that all of us are, or were once, spiritually dead and headed for an eternity of separation from God. But the good news is that there is eternal life found in Jesus Christ.
That is AWESOME NEWS! There is no BETTER news!
So, in a very high level concept we know Who and What the Good News, the Gospel is. What does the next section of the Gospel of Mark Say?
2 as 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.’ ”
Why did Isaiah prophesy that there would be a forerunner for Jesus? These prophecies were signs confirming the validity of Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Hope of Israel!
There were many around the time of Christ who were proclaiming themselves to be the Christ! For instance:
Athronges (c. AD 3), was a shepherd turned rebel leader.
Simon bar Kokhba (died c. AD 135), founded a short-lived Jewish state before being defeated in the Second Jewish-Roman War.
Moses of Crete, who in about AD 440 - 470 persuaded the Jews of Crete to walk into the sea, as Moses had done, to return to Israel. The results were disastrous and he soon disappeared.
There have been many others since then as well.
None of these has forerunners and they did not have the confirmation that comes from the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
Mark:
Declares the good news about Jesus
Immediately shows Jesus fulfills prophecy
Declares Jesus’ deity through John the Baptist and mighty miracles
We see in verse 4 that John the Baptist appears in the wilderness - something the people of Israel would have understood. He is preaching this baptism of repentence for forgiveness of sins. He was baptizing people left and right! People kept coming!
What did John the Baptist say about Jesus?
“Among you stands One you do not know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
“A Man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.”
“I baptize with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
This idea of the Holy Spirit would have been something new....something that people likely wouldn’t understand at this point. John was unassuming. He just preached the message about Jesus - he did not do things to draw attention to himself. He did not use flashy things to get people’s attention. I assume that it was the message that John preached - something so different, so counter-cultural that it was attractive to people.
And then Jesus shows up in verse 9. He shows up to be baptized by John. Now I can only imagine the dialogue that might have preceded this. Can you imagine how unworthy John must have felt? Mark doesn’t tell us what this encounter, if any, might have been. But I can imagine John wondering why Jesus, the perfect one, the Son of God would need baptized in the water of the Jordan?
But I have a theory. It was an opportunity for Jesus to connect with those who were believing and repented. They saw him and immediately had a connection to this Messiah. We see this picture of God pouring out the Holy Spirit into the earthly realm in what is said to be the form of a dove. It seems to emphasize the new creation that we become in Christ. The transformed creature we become when we repent and accept God’s free gift of grace.
Mark goes on to testify about Jesus by recounting His many miracles.
Drives out an impure spirit, restores a demon possessed man and a boy
Heals a man with leprosy, a paralyzed man, a man with a shriveled hand,
Heals a deaf and mute man, blind man,
Raises a dead girl,
Calms a storm with His words
Feed 4000 and then 5000 with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish
Walks on water
Was crucified, buried and rose again on the third day, appeared to over 500 of His disciples and ascended into heaven!
Jesus:
Is the Good News, the Christ, the Son of God
Fulfills Old Testament prophecies
Deity is seen through many testimonies and miracles
Now, here’s the application part. Do you:
Declare the good news about Jesus?
You can’t tell the good news about Jesus unless you’ve experienced the transformational good news of new life that is found only through faith and trust in Jesus.
You know the old illustration that asks the question, “If you were arrested on the charge of being a Christian and hauled into court would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
Some people say that their relationship with Jesus is a private matter. The problem with this is that there is nothing in Scripture to back it up.
The entire New Testament shouts, “Look over here! Jesus is here! You can not only know about Him but you can know Him as your Savior and Rescuer!” We are created to be in community with each other and with the three persons of the Trinity. The church is not perfect! It is filled with imperfect people. We shouldn’t let that be a reason to stay away. The church should be full of people who need to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ!
If you know Jesus in a way that has transformed your life people won’t have to guess if you’re a follower of Jesus or not! It will be obvious that your life has been reordered! And if you were arrested on the charge of being a Christian and hauled into court there would be no need for a trial because you would confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your hear that God has raised Him from the dead!
Do you:
Declare the good news about Jesus?
Know enough Scripture to tell accurately about Jesus?
Suppose someone came up to you and said, “Jesus never claimed to be God.”
Would you know a verse or verses to support Jesus claim as God?
Would you be able to recall anything in the Bible that speaks to subjects that are pertinent in our culture today?
Do you:
Declare the good news about Jesus?
Know enough Scripture to tell accurately about Jesus?
Can you tell your story of what Jesus has done for you?
Have you any miracles in your life that you can testify about?
Salvation?
Sanctification?
Healings?
Finances?
Deliverance from addictions?
Deliverance from fears?
Deliverance from spiritual oppression?
Before we close … John the Baptist’s ministry took place in the wilderness
We live in a wilderness of sin. Our world is saturated with sin.
We have a calling. It is really pretty simple actually.
We know the Good News, Jesus Christ the Son of God.
We are called to be witnesses for Jesus just as John the Baptist and the Gospel writers were and are witnesses
We must speak forth the miracles of salvation through Christ alone.
Are you fulfilling the Lord's calling upon your life?
Response -
Song -
Closing Prayer & Benediction - Hebrews 13:20-21 - (benediction of equipping of the spirit) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.