The Gospel of Mark, Pt. 3 - The Prophet of the Gospel

Prophecy and fortune-telling has been something that has captivated the human mind since the very beginning, even though the vast majority of human effort regarding the prediction of future events has led only to disappointment and failure. Consider for instance a few accounts mentioned in a book entitled “World’s Worst Predictions”.......

King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution.

An official of the White Star Line, speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable.

In 1939 The New York Times said the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn't have time for it.

An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate.

Or consider the countless failed prophecies of the various religious cults that spawned in the mid-19 century like Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Joseph Smith was clearly a false prophet, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses had to correct or reinterpret several failed prophesies of the return of Jesus Christ over the past 150 years.

If one thing is for sure, humans utterly lack any inherent capability to predict the future. And yet, as we know, one of the most miraculous and intriguing aspects of the Holy Bible is in fact its prophetic nature. And as any good Christian apologist worth his or her salt knows, the prophetic accuracy of Scripture is one of its great internal evidences of having been divinely inspired.

If we just consider the couple hundred OT prophecies validated in the life of Jesus Christ alone, we’d have enough to know the Bible is no ordinary book. And in fact, Mark begins his gospel letter by beginning to describe the gospel of Jesus Christ by pointing his immediate forerunner, the last of the OT prophets that actually finds himself in the NT, and this is none other than John the Baptist.

So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Mark 1:2–8. Last week we looked at the beginning of the gospel, which involves what we’re going to learn about today regarding the prophet of the gospel. (SLIDE) “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’”

So last week was more about how the gospel speaks of one person, whereas today we’re going to learn about the one who proclaimed the gospel and came as a forerunner to the one about whom the gospel speaks. And according to Mark, the gospel actually finds its origins in the OT. Mark mirrors the actions of many other NT writers by grounding their theology in OT foundations. In fact, the NT contains approximately 300 direct OT quotes, and its been estimated that about 90% of all the NT contains direct or indirect references to one primary OT prophet - Isaiah.

And that’s what we have here in the beginning of Mark’s gospel letter, where we begin by looking at the (SLIDE) mission of the prophet of the gospel. Now as was the common practice of the day, when a teacher or author would quote multiple OT prophets at once, they would attribute their quote to the primary, or greater, Prophet. For example, here in Mark, verse 2 is actually a quote from the prophet Malachi, while verse 3 is taken from the prophet Isaiah.

In Malachi 3:1, we read (SLIDE) “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.” So the one speaking here is the Lord of Hosts, a common OT name for Yahweh God. And in the context of Malachi’s prophecy, this messenger is identified in Malachi 4:5 (SLIDE) “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”

So according to the OT understanding, it was expected that the prophet Elijah would come back and act as a forerunner to Yahweh himself as He would descend from heaven to be with His people. And this is coupled now with Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 40:3 (SLIDE) “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”

As we see here in Mark’s gospel, and confirmed in Matthew’s, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness areas outside the region of Judea. And throughout the Bible, the theme of the wilderness is used to represent tough, uncultivated regions through which times of testing and preparing for the future will of God on one’s life take place.

Likewise, Mark’s use of the word hodos, which is translated here as “way”, speaks of a journey or path that Jesus takes to Jerusalem in his obedience to the Father’s will for him to suffer and die on the cross of calvary. And so when you put these pieces together, the larger OT metaphor speaks of a heralder who is crying out to the roughest areas of the land and crying out for the people to begin to prepare the way of the king to enter into his kingdom where he will rule and reign forever.

So Mark is taking the OT understanding that the prophet Elijah will be the forerunner of Yahweh who will come down as king to his people, and he is now making the application that John the Baptist is that Elijah, and Jesus is Yahweh God and the King who has come to establish his kingdom. And these two verses are the only place in all of Mark’s gospel where he quotes the OT in order to establish the identity of John the Baptist and the mission of his ministry, which he further describes in verses 4 and 5.

Mark 1:4–5 (SLIDE) “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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.” More properly called John the Baptizer, John was the immediate forerunner to Jesus, and he came with a particular mission - he was baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

In ancient Israel, water was often used as an instrument for purification and ritualistic cleansing. We read of such a practice in Leviticus 17:15 (SLIDE) “And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean.” Or in Numbers 19:11–12 (SLIDE) “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean.”

So according to various Jewish ceremonial laws, water baptism was seen as a way to purify one’s self and become ceremonially clean so as not to bring about judgment and public ostracizing. Furthermore, Gentile converts to Judaism were required to undergo what was called a proselyte baptism, which marked that new convert as ceremonially clean so as to be accepted into the Jewish community and worthy of partaking in Jewish worship. So again, in the Jewish and Gentile mind, baptism was seen as something done over and over again to become ritualistically clean and acceptable before God.

By contrast, John was proclaiming and practicing a different kind of baptism - a baptism of repentance. This baptism was intended to mark the beginning of one’s transformation away from sin and towards God. But it wasn’t efficacious in doing so, and rather simply prepared the individual for a greater reality to come. Remember, this baptism of repentance is directly connected to the prophetic preparation for the arrival of the king.

And so repentance is a form of preparation for the coming king. Our English word repent comes from the (SLIDE) Greek “metanoia” = to change one’s mind. It has the idea of walking in a particular path in life, and then changing your direction and going in the complete opposite direction. And so the idea is this....the change in one’s direction in life is always preceded by the change in one’s mind first.

How many times are you in the store and you head one direction to grab something from one side of the store, only to remember that you forgot something back where you came from, and so now you have to turn back in the opposite direction. In that sense, you repented. You changed your mind about the way you were going, which caused you to turn and go the opposite direction.

This was the mission of John the Baptist, to cry out to the people to prepare the way for the Lord to come by repenting of their sins - by confessing their sins and recognizing that their former way of life was entirely opposed to God. Now it says in the text that this was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.” But not in the sense that this baptism was the means by which one could be forgiven of their sins. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need Jesus.....all we’d need to do was to get baptized.

But consider how Paul describes the purpose of John’s baptism in Acts 19:1–5 (SLIDE) “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Again, in connection to John’s mission as the forerunner who came to prepare the people for something greater, John’s baptism was simply for the purposes of preparing the people for the one to come who actually saves. This is why John introduced Jesus like this in John 1:29 (SLIDE) “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John’s baptism of repentance was insufficient to save, as merely repenting of your sin doesn’t save you. It merely prepares you to receive the saving grace and forgiveness of the Savior.

Next we consider the (SLIDE) mark of the prophet. Look at how Mark describes John in verse 6 (SLIDE) “Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.” On the surface, this seems like an inconsequential and random description of John’s physical appearance.....like who cares how he dressed and what he ate.

However, when we consider who Mark is associating John the Baptist with, this makes perfect sense and actually helps to strengthen his case. Consider how King Ahaziah’s messengers described the Prophet Elijah in 2 Kings 1:7–8 (SLIDE) “He said to them, ‘What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 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.’”

Its quite ironic how many celebrity pastors of our day strive to adorn themselves in the latest fashion and expensive garb, often preaching in clothes and shoes that cost hundreds, if not into the thousands. And yet, Elijah’s attire was the common theme for the OT prophets of God. They were not concerned with their outward appearance as much as they were with their inward countenance and being faithful to God’s purpose for their lives in being the mouthpiece of God to the Jewish people.

Likewise, John’s diet of locusts and wild honey was in fact kosher and in line with having lived in the wilderness. Levitical law established that all winged insects that crawl on all four legs were forbidden to eat, with the exception of crickets, grasshoppers, and two kinds of locusts, which were readily available in the Judean wilderness.

And so these descriptions of John the Baptist further substantiated his association with the great OT prophet Elijah, and what Jesus himself says about his cousin in Matthew 11:12–14 (SLIDE) “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.”

For those of you who are familiar with the Jewish Passover Seder or who participated in ours here over the past few years, it is customary to leave one spot open at the table, which is symbolically reserved for none other than the Prophet Elijah, who’s return would mark the coming of the Messiah. Faithful Jews still hopefully wait for these events, and yet we know that they have already been fulfilled in John the Baptist, who is the realized Elijah who came to prepare the way for the Lord’s Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, consider the (SLIDE) meekness of the prophet. Mark continues in verse 7 (SLIDE) “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.’” Again, this seemingly random description of John’s status towards Jesus actually had some significant implications with the current context and culture of their day.

It was very common to have slaves for both Jews and Gentiles, and remember that they were more like indentured servants and bondservants, than like slavery in the south in the beginning of our nation’s history. Slaves in the first century had rights, and could even receive an inheritance from their master. They could even be adopted into the family which they served.

Nevertheless, it was commonly the job of the slave to remove the sandals from their master’s feet. However, this was the role of only Gentile slaves, as Jewish slaves were exempt from this lowly task. Maybe this was why Mark mentioned John saying this, as his Roman audience would have been surprised by the level of John’s humility - he wasn’t even worthy to do that which was reserved for only Gentile slaves.

Again, this is quite unlike many modern-day celebrity pastors and Christian influencers who are trying to build a brand and personal notoriety so they can increase their following. However, it was John the Baptist who said of himself in John 3:29–30 (SLIDE) “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.’”

John’s mission was simple.....to bring the bride (the Church) to her bridegroom (Christ). John wasn’t interested in building a following or increasing his brand. We’re told by Mark that people all throughout Judea and Jerusalem were coming to John in the wilderness to be baptized, and yet, John never made it about himself.....he was always pointing people to Jesus. He saw to it to decrease in every way, while his greatest desire was for Jesus to increase in every way so that people sought to follow him and look to him for eternal salvation.

And we see this exact same theme throughout the entire NT as the ultimate example of humility is found in Christ alone. Jesus says in Matthew 20:16 (SLIDE) “So the last will be first, and the first last.” Jesus tells James and John, the sons of thunder, in Mark 10 that the greatest among them will be the one who becomes the servant of all. In Philippians 2, Paul tells the Church to consider the interests of others before their own, as this mindset of humility was actually best found in Jesus who was in the very form of God in heaven, but chose to forego his heavenly privileges in order to become a slave who was obedient even unto death.

And yet, this is what Jesus himself said about John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11 (SLIDE) “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

It was the meekness and humility of John the Baptist that set him apart from all others of his day. Again, to the Romans in Mark audience, they would have appreciated great feats of personal strength and prowess and influence, and yet Mark is claiming that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begins with this humble prophet who was directing everyone towards the greatest one of all.....which leads us to our last point in our text today......

The message of the prophet.......Mark says in Mark 1:8 (SLIDE) “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John’s message was simple - I’m calling you to repent of your sins and turn to the one who alone can forgive your sins and grant you eternal life. Therefore, he recognized the inherent insufficiency of his water baptism to save. Rather, its only through the baptism of the Holy Spirit that a sinner can be saved.

John’s baptism was simply a form of preparation for the Messiah, through whom God would pour out His Spirit on the people of Israel. Isaiah prophesies in Isaiah 32 that the nation of Israel will remain hopeless until the king comes to reign in righteousness, specifically (SLIDE) “...until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.”

And this pouring out of God’s Spirit would come through God’s Chosen Servant in Isaiah 42:1 (SLIDE) “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” And through the next 11 chapters in Isaiah, we come to know this servant as fulfilled by none other than Jesus Christ, who’s baptism of the Holy Spirit is foreshadowed in the OT when the Prophet Ezekiel speaks of a new birth and a new covenant for God’s people.

Ezekiel 36:23–27 (SLIDE) “And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Life transformation that is pleasing to God doesn’t come on the heels of hard work and determination. A renewed heart and a clean spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit is really the only way we can walk in obedience to God. And so even within the OT narrative was this idea of renewal and rebirth, so to speak, through the Lord’s provision of a new heart within the individual.

This is what Jesus means by becoming born again of the Spirit of God in John 3. One must be born again....we must be born of the Spirit, in order to experience the new birth and become alive in Christ. John’s baptism didn’t cause the new birth in and of itself, but rather pointed to the one who alone can provide the new birth through the Holy Spirit. This baptism of the Holy Spirit is what happens when we are saved by grace through faith. When we choose to repent and believe in the gospel, we are baptized with the Holy Spirit....we are immersed in Him, and therefore, we are new creations.

Jesus predicted the initiation of this reality in Acts 1:5 when he said this (SLIDE) “...for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” As we know, this was an allusion to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled the upper room and who were in it. It was at that point that the whole doctrine of being baptized with the Holy Spirit came about, which was a fulfillment of what John was talking about in our text in Mark 1:8.

And the apostle Paul picks up on this in 1 Corinthians 12:13 (SLIDE) “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” This was exactly why John the Baptist came preaching a baptism of repentance to all and why Mark made it a point to begin with John when writing to his Roman audience about the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Anyone who repents and believes in the gospel will be saved. God’s salvation was no longer limited to the nation of Israel. Whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, all are invited to repent and put their faith and trust in Jesus to save them from their sins, thereby being made to drink of the one Spirit. Yes we’re talking about the Jewish God and the Jewish Messiah and the Hebrew Scriptures, but now the mystery of the gospel is how God will include Gentiles into His plan of salvation through His Son Jesus. And aren’t we all glad for that plan??????

You know, today, the cry in the wilderness remains the same. For those who remain in the wildernesses of life, who know nothing of salvation or a Savior.....or for the ones who think they can be good enough and earn their way to heaven, the call remains the same. Repent, and turn to Christ....to one who alone can forgive your sins and purify your heart.

And for us who have been made to drink of the one Spirit and have been baptized in the Holy Spirit by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, let us continue to walk in obedience to our Lord and Savior. Repentance isn’t just a one time deal, but a lifetime heart posture as we remember the Christ alone is willing and able to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And this is why we gather on a weekly basis.....this is why we commit ourselves to God’s word.....this is why we remind ourselves of the power of the gospel......and this is why Christ gave the church the two ordinances of baptism and communion....to serve as physical, outward reminders of the inward spiritual reality that is brought about by the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In other words, baptism and communion preach the gospel to all of us when we participate in them, and that’s what we’re going to do now as a church family......

***COMMUNION***

As I said, the ordinance of communion is a representation and celebration and proclamation of the gospel, which is grounded in the selfless sacrifice of Christ on the cross. It was that sacrifice for sin on our behalf that makes forgiveness of sin possible, and that’s why John’s baptism of repentance was so necessary. It pointed people to the one who would be that sacrificial lamb......who would take on the sins of this world so that we can be forgiven and made right with God.

And so today, for those of us who have been born again by grace through faith in Jesus, if any of us are holding on to sin or the guilt and shame that follow, now’s the perfect time to confess those sins before God and let him cleanse your heart afresh today.

And for those who haven’t been born again....who haven’t put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, you need to ask yourself, is your sin worth holding onto? Or do you think you can deal with it on your own? Let me tell you from experience.....that simply doesn’t work.

But if you want to be free of that sin, the call of the gospel still remains.....repent and believe in the One who alone can save you from your sins. Call on his name, and you will be saved.

And so take a few moments to reflect and examine your own heart and come into communion with Jesus right now........

Mark includes in his gospel narrative the story of the Last Supper in Mark 14:22–25 “And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.””