The Prophetic Prelude
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction/tension
Introduction/tension
We’re diving into a study on the gospel of Mark. While written by John Mark, cousin of Barnabus from the book of Acts, this gospel is the account of the Apostle Peter. Mark was his interpreter and here Mark gives the account of Peter’s connection to the Lord so that Romans may believe that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah. This is the shortest gospel account. I think it is due to the urgency of Mark to describe that,
Exalting Jesus in Mark The Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of God (Mark 1:1–8)
Jesus is the Suffering Servant who actively ministers on our behalf and gives His life as a ransom for many.
In a way, Mark’s urgency is our urgency as well. Rome was the most important place to evangelize in the first century. The saying all roads lead to Rome wasn’t a saying for no reason. Everything hinged on Rome. Through Rome every idea and trade and lifestyle flowed. Mark knew that Rome needed desperately to know the suffering servant, Christ Jesus, for if Jesus spread through Rome, he would spread to the entire world.
So, our urgency is the same. We live in the place that influences the world more than any other place. And our country desperately needs to be reacquainted with Jesus Christ. If we can evangelize America, we can evangelize the world.
The gospel of Mark is short and he gets straight to the point, pretty quickly. Jesus came to die for sinners.
A need we all have
A need we all have
And friends, Jesus is not just an idea. He’s not just a religious figure, a talisman to place on the mantles of our hearts. In him is eternal life.
Consider Jesus’ words to the pharisees in John 5:39
You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.
Our goal any time we dig into the word of God is to know Jesus more, because Jesus is the answer for us today. He is what we need.
"Lord help us to be humble enough to hear your word and help us to respond to you in joy as we apply your word to our lives.”
What God Says: Biblical Truth
What God Says: Biblical Truth
If you’re able, please stand to honor the word of the Lord.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!
Recognize the Good News
Mark cuts to the chase. This is about Jesus. The gospel means good news. I wonder if you’ll consider the gospel with me for a moment. God created a perfect world. A world without sin. He ruled over it and he communed with his creation, particularly, his image bearers. Mankind. All was well. He spent time with Adam & Eve in the garden he created, a temple of sorts. Adam & Eve ruled along side of him. He gave them dominion over all the other created things, over the garden, his temple. But Adam & Eve sinned. They disobeyed God’s one rule. Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because of Adam’s sin, we all sin. And our sin has brought death and separation into our lives. Romans 5:12 indicates this.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
Our sin deserved punishment and our plight was eternal separation from a perfect God. But God didn’t want it to remain that way. So, he sent Jesus to come on our behalf, take our punishment, die a sinner’s death on a cross, so that through him we might receive the gift of eternal life. And all we must do is respond to that gift and receive his forgiveness. We must repent of our sins and believe in Jesus’s sacrifice for us. That’s the good news Mark is mentioning here when he says this is the beginning of the gospel.
Friends, before we get any further. Has anyone in this room never believed this good news for themselves. You can come to Jesus now. Believe in him now. Call to him now. Respond to his gospel. Receive him as your savior today. Don’t wait.
2. Trust the Faithful Promise
As Mark begins his gospel account, he goes backward first. This is significant. He’s building an apologetic or a defense for Jesus and he begins with prophecy. He’s showing how a prophet who spoke 700 years prior to the events of his account said that these things would happen. One of the best defenses for what we believe is that the prophets got it right hundreds of years before Jesus came. Jesus fulfills perfectly the prophetic promise. Mark wanted Romans to believe. So he gives them reasons to do so. Can I tell you that Christianity…Jesus…this thing we have heard, many of us for our whole lives. It’s true. It happened. Peter saw it with his own two eyes. He lived it and Mark gave the account of it, but the things Peter saw were fulfillments of ancient promises. Mark’s main emphasis is Isaiah 40:3.
A voice of one crying out:
Prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness;
make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
But he also references Exodus 23:20
“I am going to send an angel before you to protect you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.
And Malachi 3:1
“See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,” says the Lord of Armies.
Mark builds not just one reference, but three into one. This gospel account is built upon a strong prophetic foundation. And therefore, it can be trusted. Friends are you trusting Jesus today. There’s a lot of noise in this world. A lot of doubt being cast on Jesus, no different than in Rome in Mark’s day. But Jesus and his gospel message remain the same. Sure. Strong. Trustworthy.
Trust this message today!
3. Prepare the Way of the Lord
The final thing we see is that we can prepare the way of the Lord today. In our own hearts and lives. In the lives of our friends. In the lives of our children and grandchildren. It is on us to be the light in the darkness. Just as John the baptist was the forerunner for Jesus’ first coming, You and I can prepare people for his second coming. Friend’s Jesus is coming again. Not as humble servant but as conquering King. When that time comes, will you be prepared.
You don’t have to wait til then. You don’t have to question whether you’ll be prepared or not. Because Jesus isn’t just coming one day. He invites you to come to him today.
Closing
Closing
He’s inviting you to come to him today.
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
