Introduction to Mark

Introduction:

We are finally back after a long break

And we are at the start of a new series

Going verse-by-verse through the Gospel of Mark

I want to take a poll: What is your favorite gospel?

So today we are not quite starting the gospel—but we are going to look at the big picture of the book

We’ll see how the book is structured

We’ll see some of the main themes

And we’ll see Mark’s purpose in writing

Explain standing for the reading of God’s word

is a visible, tangible reminder to me that it is not I who am there to instruct these people. I am instead part of the congregation being addressed by the Holy Spirit speaking through the Scriptures.

God’s word not a TedTalk

Scripture Reading:

Mark 8:27–38 (CSB)

Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”

“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he strictly warned them to tell no one about him.

Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? What can anyone give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

What Makes Mark Special?

Historically, the Gospel of Mark has been the most overlooked out of the 4 Gospel accounts we have

It’s the shortest

Around 90% of its stories appear in either Matthew or Luke

It is also widely agreed to be the first of the 4 gospels to be written

For these reasons many people have viewed Mark as a ‘barebones’ gospel—just providing the skeleton for Matthew, Luke, and John to build on

And honestly, 4 years ago, my thoughts on Mark were probably the same

But I was asked to teach a Bible college class on Mark—and my eyes were opened to the fact that Mark is not a ‘barebones’ gospel

In taking time to study Mark, it became one of my favorite books of the Bible

The Gospel of Mark contains the full and complete story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection that is powerful.

Briefly, here are some ways Mark differs from the other Gospels

(SLIDES)

The pacing—It is a fast moving dramatic story

‘Immediately’—42 times in 16 chapters

The Gospel is a story (and reads like it)

Action-oriented

He frequently refers to Jesus as a teacher

But he focuses more on his actions than on extended teachings

Not how Jesus spoke (which it does include)

But how Jesus responded and behaved

Lots of vivid detail

Vivid details and repetition

Although the Gospel is shorter—the stories that are included often have greater detail and are longer compared to them in other gospels

Jesus’s emotions

The Portrayal of the Disciples

Mostly negative—we see a lot of their failures

Heard from Peter

Emphasis on Spiritual Warfare/Demons

And Jesus’s victory over them

So these are things to pay attention to as we read through this Gospel together

But my primary concern is not that we treat the Gospel of Mark as just a book we are studying and can learn facts about

But that the story of Jesus becomes our story

That the Jesus we read about—is the same Jesus we encounter today

(SLIDE TO MAIN)

A Pastor once told me:

Bible Study/Reading is not about mastering the bible, its about the Bible mastering you

So as we jump into a year long study of Mark—lets open our hearts to what God has to say through His word

The Invitation of Mark:

There is one question at the center of this Gospel

Who is Jesus?

And it is the same question that each of us today must answer

Who is Jesus?

The Crowds are asking:

Mark 1:22 (CSB)

They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.

Mark 1:23–28 (CSB)

Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.

The Religious Leaders are asking:

Mark 2:6–7 (CSB)

But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Mark 2:12 (CSB)

Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded and gave glory to God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Mark 2:16 (CSB)

When the scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

The Disciples are asking:.

Mark 4:38–41 (CSB)

He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

And all of this tension builds up to the turning point of the Gospel

When Jesus asks his disciples (in the Scripture reading)

Mark 8:27–30 (CSB)

Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”

“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he strictly warned them to tell no one about him.

And this is the turning point because it is revealed that Jesus is the Messiah

All of the tension was building up to this point

But the messiah doesn’t look like everyone expected

The next verse reads:

Mark 8:31 (CSB)

Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.

And this begins the second half of the book—as Jesus begins to approach Jerusalem to eventually be rejected, crucified, and suffer

And we see that Mark is almost perfectly split into two halves

The Structure of Mark:

The structure of Mark is one of the most important features of the book

There are 16 chapters in Mark

And you can almost split them perfectly into:

Chapters 1-8

Chapters 8-16

With the key turning point in Mark 8:27-33.

Peter’s confession of the Messiah

In its first half the gospel illustrates Jesus’s power and authority as the Messiah and the Son of God

He is healing the sick, casting out demons, teaching with authority, commanding nature—performing miracles

His popularity is growing and growing

In the second half we see the role of Jesus as the suffering servant of God’s people

His eyes are set on the cross

He begins to tell the disciples that he will soon die

And it culminates in the passion narrative

He is beaten, humiliated, mocked, tortured, and put to death

But only by looking at both halves do we get a complete picture of Jesus

He is the messiah (God’s anointed one) who has come to save God’s people

He speaks and teaches with authority

He casts out demons, cleanses lepers, restores sight to the blind

But he has a greater mission in mind

His eyes are set on the cross

All of the exorcisms and healings would only provide temporary relief

He knew that he would have to suffer and die to defeat sin and death

So in the first half we see who Jesus is

And in the second we see what his mission is

So that's the big picture of the book

Who is Jesus:

But today I want to go back to big question at the center of this book

Mark 8:27–29 (CSB)

Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”

“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”

Who is Jesus?—Who is Jesus to you?

Not to your parents, not to your friends, not to your pastor

Who is Jesus to you?

As Christians, we have the extreme privilege of being able to call the creator God of the universe our friend, advocate, savior, and king

Could you say and believe that you are a friend of God

Isaiah and James tell us that Abraham was

In John 15 Jesus tells us that the disciples were

They lived years of their lives with Jesus

Eating with him, drinking with him, laughing with him, traveling with him

They knew Jesus

But it didn’t begin to scratch the surface of who Jesus was

You see their friendships with Jesus went beyond his death on the cross

Jesus was with his disciples as they traveled the world spreading the Gospel

Jesus was with them as they were martyred and killed for following him

And Jesus is with us here today

But we have to press into him to know him better

I want to end by looking at another key passage in Mark

Mark chapter 4

Here is Jesus’s short & condensed teaching on his parables

Jesus had this to say to the disciples in Mark:

Mark 4:10–12 (CSB)

When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables so that

they may indeed look,

and yet not perceive;

they may indeed listen,

and yet not understand;

otherwise, they might turn back

and be forgiven.”

His disciples are insiders (We see this theme throughout the book)

Have you ever been an outsider?

Jr High

Studying abroad—language/culture barrier

Jesus—You are an insider in the kingdom

What makes us an insider into what God is doing in this world—is the fact that we know Jesus

Imagine being the best friend to the president’s son/daughter

You’re a privileged insider because of your relationship

Or in my case Sara—in Japan; Borja in Spain

Over time, I became accustomed

And now I can teach others

Language, culture, expectations

Jesus is longing to show us his Kingdom and what it means to be a citizen of his kingdom

Mark 4:24–25 (CSB)

And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Press in

Jesus is always drawing near

James 4:8 (CSB)

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Faithful with the little

Spending money analogy

The more we invest in Jesus—the more he will be present with us

And the last thing I want to say is a few verses later:

Mark 4:33–34 (CSB)

He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

You see, Jesus spoke in parables BECAUSE they were confusing

You had to lean in to really think about what he was saying—what he actually meant

It’s almost like Jesus was intentionally confusing so that it would invite others into deeper conversation and thought

And I think for us we have a lot to learn from this

Most of the time life is a lot harder than realizing our problems and then slapping a Bible verse on it

The purpose of the Bible is to invite us into a deeper relationship and conversation with God

Sometimes life does not make sense

Sometimes we don’t understand what God is doing or where God is

At times we can’t seem to understand our circumstances

But I love this verse:

Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

So I think there is a second question for us to each ponder:

Are we making time to be in the private with Jesus?

Where He can explain to us what is going on

As Christians, YOU are insiders, Jesus will take all the time in the world to spend with you

You aren’t apart of the crowds that hear Jesus’s words and walk away confused

But you have the privilege of knowing Jesus and his wisdom personally

And it’s not that that everything and question we have will be explained away

Because as we’ll read in Mark… The disciples are still very confused

But they have the promise and presence of Jesus in their lives

So as we read Mark… my encouragement is to press in

To the good, the bad, the confusing

Make time to pray through these scriptures and see what God might have to say

(Sermon Schedule)

Explain reflection time

Reflection Time:

Who is Jesus to you?

What does making time for Jesus look like for you?