More than a Man
Epiphanies: Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro
Intro
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1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
3 A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight!
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
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He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.
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9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by As soon as he came up out of the water, 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.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. 13
He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Intro
Intro
Epiphany the Holiday
The celebration of Jesus’s manifestation to the Gentiles (the Magi)
epipháneia, in Greek means manifestation or appearance
Series Epiphanies
In English an Epiphany is, “a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand something that is very important.
Book of Mark has been called the Book of Epiphanies
It is about the manifestation of Christ in this world
Also, in nearly every passage a profound theological observation is made, an epiphany.
The first epiphany of Mark is that Jesus is human. He is a man, but He is much more than a man.
3 evidences in the text that Jesus is more than a man.
Body
Body
The first evidence in Jesus is…
Greater than John the Baptist
Greater than John the Baptist
Here’s our text. According to Mark, John the Baptist…
He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals.
Textual Points
Textual Points
No one is greater than John the Baptist as far as men are concerned.
Matthew observed…
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
) (Trey Joke about baptists being named after John)
Jesus is greater than John the Baptist according to John Himself.
Jesus is greater than John the Baptist according to John Himself.
John (most righteous, cf. Elijah) does not even consider himself worthy to serve Jesus (sandals).
Marks puts it together like this: Us < John < Jesus (far superior)
Implications
Implications
John’s baptism of repentance reminded the people of their need to be free from sin.
John’s message of repentance wasn’t about salvation itself.
Message of wrath
Message of wrath
Installation of fear (who warned you to flee from the wrath to come)
He was to preach a message of repentance (not salvation) to prepare the way for the savior, Jesus.
His baptism was not to save, but to open the eyes of the Jews to the coming Messiah.
Jesus (otoh) is greater than John the Baptist because Jesus’s baptism comes with power—it’s not just a warning and not just a symbol. It has power.
John’s baptism was physical, but Jesus’s baptism is spiritual. There
This is the power: that Jesus…
The unique thing about the man Jesus is that Jesus has…
Sends God’s Spirit
Sends God’s Spirit
No man sends God’s Spirit. But, Jesus is more than man.
John said,
I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Textual Points
Textual Points
John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance.
Message of wrath
Installation of fear
John’s baptism was merely physical.
It was just water.
Symbolic of Repentance/Cleansing
Repentance/Cleansing
Statement of Commitment to righteous living.
In Jesus’s baptism, he sends His Spirit upon us.
The word baptism means to immerse (bathing language)
The baptism of the Spirit is an immersion in the person of God
The Spirit is not a Possession you hold;
The Spirit possesses you.
How might that change the way you live your life?
Implications
Implications
Draws you
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Washes you
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
‘washing of regeneration’ = water baptism
‘renewal of the Holy Spirit’ = spiritual baptism as Mark speaks of baptism (new creation; born again)
Elaborate
Empowers/Gifts You
Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.
One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.
Secures You
In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.
cf. deed seal
Not just secured (it is that), but property of Jesus. (Gethsemane prayer, that, ‘those you have given me will be there with me where I am going.’)
Jesus has power to send God’s Spirit upon His people. He immerses us in the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus. This is so that we can be like Jesus in that Jesus is the only man who by nature…
Not just a sending, but an immersion in.
Pleases God
Pleases God
This is the third evidence that Jesus is more than man.
After Jesus was baptised by John…
And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
Textual Points
Textual Points
Jesus is the Son of God, be God’s own declaration.
Eternally Begotten
Messianic Psalm
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Up to the time of Jesus, God had not called any single human His son.
Divine (sons of God) not human
Eternally Begotten Word of God
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Word is eternal
Word is God
Word with God
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Word = flesh
flesh = human
Son of God (Jesus) = human flesh/divine word
human+divine = able to please God
Because Jesus is the eternally begotten Word of God, Jesus is able to please God in a way that no other human can.
The mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Jesus is flesh, but because He is God, His mind is not set on the flesh and is therefore not hostile to God.
Jesus is the only human who, by nature, has his mind set on the things of the Spirit and loves God.
Those who are in the flesh—aka, all people by nature—cannot please God, except for Jesus. Jesus pleases God, always.
Implications
Implications
Born separate from God.
We are unable to please God because of the flesh.
Jesus is able to please God because He is God made flesh.
That’s a huge part of what Christianity is all about.
Because of Jesus, we are made a new creation so that we can please God like Jesus pleases God.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
The new creation is the flesh with the Spirit which enables us to please God.
Jesus is the way (only) back into the pleasure of the Father
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus is man, but much more than a man. He is the God-man.
For this purpose: Jesus baptises us with the Spirit of God so that everything that Jesus is, we become. Jesus pleases God so we please God.
And if we please God, we become worthy of God’s Kingdom.
Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him.
After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus withstood Satan and commanded angels. Paul says,
Don’t you know that we will judge angels—how much more matters of this life?
The Christian life is about becoming like Jesus—not just morally, but spiritually—so that we can eternally live and rule with Him in His Kingdom.
(REF) We will rule with Jesus on His throne.
Commands Spiritual Beings
Commands Spiritual Beings
According to Jesus, his coming to earth was the coming of God’s Kingdom.
According to Jesus, his coming to earth was the coming of God’s Kingdom.
Commands Spiritual Beings
After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
13: Who can withstand Satan’s temptation? Who is served by Angels?
The good news is that we were once hostile to God, but now please God, not because of our own righteousness, but because of Jesus’s righteousness. And if we have Jesus’s righteousness, then we are part of God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Conclusion
Conclusion
APP: What does it mean to live in God’s Kingdom?
14-15: God’s Kingdom Has Come in Christ
APP: What does it mean to live in God’s Kingdom?
Repent
Sin
Disbelief (A lot of amazing things about Christ in this series).
Baptism
If Jesus is who the Bible says He is, then He is Lord.
If He is Lord, then we follow him in baptism as an expression of our death to the old life and new life lived for Jesus.
John the Baptist was so convinced that Jesus was the Son of God that He lived a completely radical life of servanthood to God. He practiced what He preached. He lived as though the savior of the world was coming. He practiced what he believed in.
Jesus has come.
Do you live as though Jesus has come?
Do you live as though your allegiance, your loyalty, is to Jesus alone and His Kingdom.