The Servant Revealed: Beginning of the Journey
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
What would you write about Jesus if you wrote a book about him? What parts of his life would you want other gentiles to know about him?
What would you want to see and learn about him?
B. Reading of the text
Mark 1:1-11—Read at beginning of service
C. Review of the text
We remind ourselves as we jump into the Gospel of Mark of how Jesus Christ is put on display in this writing as the salvation that we desperately need. As Christians we can get complacent in the Gospel, acting as though we are some great catch, forgetting just how much has been given to us in Christ to live the blessed life that we live.
D. Relevance of the text
As we approach the beginning of Mark this morning we will be introduced to both Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. The word servant from last Sunday's overview of Mark should ring in your ears as we approach them in scripture.
T.S. Mark begins with Prophecy predicts purpose
1. Prophecy Predicts Purpose
1. Prophecy Predicts Purpose
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”
Writing to a gentile audience John Mark sees not reason to go into the family lineage of Jesus or tell of his amazing birth. He doesn’t even go into the any of that for John the Baptist either he just starts with what he would have considered the title in verse 1.
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This tells us what we need to know about the book of Mark, he will be straight forward with not a lot of extra. He desires that you get to know the gospel, Good news, about his Jesus. The name Jesus is the Hebrew form is Joshua meaning the Lord is salvation. Christ is not the last name of Jesus but is the expression for anointed one equal to the the Hebrew word for Messiah. “the good news of Jesus the anointed one the son of God” That is what they would have heard in the first sentence.
The Son of God title is unique to Jesus like we talked about on Wednesday night. The relationship of God the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit is put on display in the Son of God, Jesus. The relationship is unique to Jesus alone who from eternity past has been in a pure relationship of joy with the Father.
vs. 2 taken from:
20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
1 “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.
With verse 3 coming from Isaiah the greatest of the prophets which is used in all four Gospels.
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
The quote from Isaiah should remind us of the importance of the OT text. The NT is understood in the light from the OT. The entire cannon of scripture is necessary for us to fully understand the plan of God to send his son at just the right time to save a people for HIS name sake. This was not an accident or just something God came up to make himself look better in the NT. The word is needed in its entirety to know the story of the savior of the world.
John the Baptist would be the forerunner of Christ that prepares the way and make the path straight for the Son of God. Other OT text tells us that one would come to make the way for Christ.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Jesus would affirm it was John the Baptist
10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”
11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things.
12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”
13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
T.S. With the purpose set forth for the book we now turn to the preparation precedes presence
2. Preparation Precedes Presence
2. Preparation Precedes Presence
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 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.
Don’t you love the description of how John just “appeared” in the wilderness.
Just as a reminder of how John got to appear—
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
prenatal sanctification—Prenatal sanctification describes God’s sovereign act of setting apart individuals before birth for sacred purposes—a concept grounded in divine foreknowledge and purposeful calling rather than human merit or achievement. This sanctification operates as an objective status in relation to God, marking the person as consecrated to Him and belonging to Him.
Jeremiah—chosen as prophet before his birth
Paul—
Samson—designated to be a nazirite to God from the womb
Isaiah is called and formed—from the womb
John the Baptist—
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Wilderness
The Gospel according to Mark John the Baptizer: Forerunner of Jesus (1:2–8)
The wilderness repeatedly represents in Israel’s history a place of repentance, and hence a place of God’s grace.
John the Baptist as the last of the OT prophets is proclaiming to the people for the first time in some 400 of quiet, filled by the Spirit of God, REPENT.
Repentance—to change one’s way of life as the result of complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness.
People are coming out to the wilderness to repent of their sins and be baptized as a picture of the forgiveness they would receive in the covenant relationship with God. This is a far cry from the religious elite in Judea and Jerusalem that are calling people to follow laws to find a righteousness of their own. This is the reason John the Baptist is so important, he prepares the people to see the savior of the world.
T.S. Purpose, Presence and now Proclaiming power points upwards.
3. Proclaiming Power Points Upwards
3. Proclaiming Power Points Upwards
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
7 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.
8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
John’s dress is a little familiar
4 “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive,
8 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.”
John is not well of or into any fancy things. This is a picture of his humility and focus on being a servant of God before anything else. Clothes do nothing in the kingdom of God for us. We don’t serve God in the here and now by the way we dress a certain way. The people had heard far to long that the outward people they put on display would be the thing that got them into the Kingdom of God. Instead, God empowers John with the Spirit of God to put forth a hugely important task out in the wilderness eating locusts and honey.
7 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.
If I’m honest I have really never fully understood this verse. It just meant to me the humility of John. But it goes even further than that because this is the way that John saw himself.
The Gospel according to Mark John the Baptizer: Forerunner of Jesus (1:2–8)
The loosing of sandals and washing of feet were duties of slaves, indeed of only Gentile slaves, in first-century Judaism. The metaphor bespeaks John’s humility and subordination in relation to the Messiah
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John correctly positioned himself as a worker for Jesus Christ that has a servants job to do. John the Baptist was not looking for what would make him comfortable or what fit what he considered his desires of way of life. Instead, he was a servant of God’s meant for one purpose that would ultimate lead the way for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This is humility but it is also his defining purpose. To Glorify the one that deserves it!
T.S. Purpose, Presence and now Proclaiming power points upwards all leading us to promise confirmed in purpose.
4. Promise Confirmed in Purpose
4. Promise Confirmed in Purpose
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
We must understand that what happens in these 53 words in the Greek is a marker event for the public life of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
When replacing Judas the Apostles look for one that has been with them since the Baptism of Jesus.
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
Vs. 10 tells us that Jesus came out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open
This is the same word used when the curtain is torn in two when Jesus is on the Cross.
38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Jesus the Son of God has the Spirit of God descend upon him and God’s voice from heaven come down.
The Gospel according to Mark The Baptism of Jesus (1:9–11)
When Jesus comes up from the water he experiences three things that in Jewish tradition signified the inauguration of God’s eschatological kingdom: the heavens were opened above him, the Spirit descended into him, and the heavenly voice spoke to him. The concurrence of these momentous events at the baptism signals that Jesus is the “more powerful one” (1:7) promised in the OT and the inaugurator of God’s eschatological kingdom
What an amazing picture of John the Baptist as a servant of Jesus Christ who has come to give himself as a ransom for the many.
