Advertising in Antiquity (Mark 1:1-8)

Text

Mark 1:1–8 (KJV 1900):

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

Introduction

Mark

likely the earliest gospel

referred to as the Gospel of Peter

referred to as the gospel of action

somewhere around 68 to 70 AD

written primarily to gentiles

For the purpose of:

Giving hope in a time of fear

to admonish

to encourge

a time of great upheaval and suffering

destruction of the temple

4 emperors killed by the sword

3 civil wars

And foreign wars as well

“besides the manifold misfortunes that befell mankind there were prodigies in the sky and on the earth”

the Roman Historian Tacitus

a look at the announcer, the announcement, and the attraction

The announcement

John the Baptist as the forerunner

“the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”

gospel means good news

this gospel begins with new revelation of old news

a update on a developing story

of an OT prophecy

the same plan from the foundation of the world

foretold by the prophets in the OT

vs 2&3 is a quote from:

Malachi 3:1 (KJV 1900): 3 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.

Isaiah 40:3 (KJV 1900): 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.

Vs 2 “as it is written”

Mark 1:2 (Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament): (1:2) As, kathōs (καθως), “according as, even as, just as;” the Greek word is stronger than the English adverb, emphasizing an accurate reproduction of what one has spoken or written.

It is written, gegraptai (γεγραπται); the perfect tense, speaking of an act completed in past time having present results, is used here to emphasize the fact that the Old Testament records were not only carefully preserved and handed down from generation to generation to the first century, but that they are a permanent record of what God said. They are, in the language of the Psalmist, “forever settled in heaven.” One can translate, “It has been written, with the present result that it is on record,” or, “it stands written.”

written in the past but still active and influential today

an announcement from the very beginning that is still good news to this day!

The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud, the New Testament is the Gospel in full flower.

John Robert Walmsley Stott (English Preacher)

Mark 1:7–8 (KJV 1900): 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

WOKI announcements back in the day

Ticker on iPhone

5111 We say that Jesus preached the gospel, but he did more. He came that there might be a gospel to preach.

Oswald Chambers (Lecturer and Missionary)

the announcers

John the Baptist, John Mark

John the Baptist

the forerunner foretold

a man of God with a simple life and awesome calling

Mark 1:6–7 (KJV 1900): 6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

Mark 1:4 (KJV 1900): 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

John preached repentance of sin while at the same time pointing to the savior to come Jesus Christ.

John knew his purpose in the Kingdom of God and determined to live it out

All Christians, whether they like it or not, are advertisements for Christianity.

William Barclay (New Testament Scholar)

It means to be a gospel man, to live the gospel. Preaching is important, but then so is living. Paul’s call was to a way of life as well as to a task of preaching.

Leon Lamb Morris

The Attraction

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Mark 1:7–8 (KJV 1900): 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

the draw

John 12:32 (KJV 1900): 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

John 3:18–21 (KJV 1900): 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God

We write Jesus’ name upon our banner, for it is hell’s terror, heaven’s delight and earth’s hope.

Jesus Christ Himself, Volume 23, Sermon #1388 - Ephesians 2:20

Charles Spurgeon

Invitation

what about you

have you not heard?

have you not seen?

have you not heard the announcement?

have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ?

we have all sinned and worthy of death

Jesus died on the cross to pay that debt

believe in Jesus and be saved from sin and death

have you not seven the light of the world

have you not seen the light of hope and forgiveness in a world darkened by sin and death?

have you not seen the light of the world Jesus Christ

Ephesians 2:8 (KJV 1900): 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

John 3:15–16 (KJV 1900): 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.