The Prologue to the Gospel of Mark

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Recap Easter
Exciting
Next four months we will be spending time in the Gospel of Mark
"The gospel to me is simply irresistible."- Blaise Pascal
"The Gospel that represents Jesus Christ, not as a system of truth to be received, into the mind, as I should receive a system of philosophy, or astronomy, but it represents Him as a real, living, mighty Savior, able to save me now."- Catherine Booth (co-founder of the Salvation Army)
Next four months we will be spending time with Jesus
This past Sunday I preached about the crowd in
That Jesus was with the crowd
That the crowd gathered around him.
Followed him and thronged about him.
Thronged meaning to leave little room for movement, press together, press upon
We begin a series of pressing in upon Jesus
Shape our posture
We will be in the Gospel of Mark
Rather than a verse by verse or chapter by chapter approach
The Path of the Series
Prologue of the Gospel
Parables: The Sower
Parables: The Lamp
Parables: Growing Seed
Parables: Mustard Seed
Power: The Storm
Power: The Demon
Power: The Daughter
Power: The Woman w/ the Blood Issue
, ,
Participation: The Calling
Participation: The Sending
Participation: The Feeding
Purpose: The Foretelling
Purpose: The Transfiguration
Purpose: The Cleansing
Purpose: The Anointing
Purpose: The Confrontation/Victory of God
The Gospel of Mark
Key questions to any substantial study of scripture
When, Where, Who, What & Why?
When, Who, Where, What & Why?
WHEN and WHERE was it written?
60’s-70’s A.D.
The composition of the Gospel was likely Rome or Italy.
WHO wrote it?
WHO wrote it?
Most agree that the author of the Gospel of Mark is John Mark.
John Mark was the son of a woman named Mary, in whose house the early church gathered in Jerusalem (). The same dwelling was apparently the site of the Last Supper (; ). In the NT John Mark appears only in association with more prominent personalities and events. He accompanied Barnabas and Saul as an assistant on the first missionary journey (; ), evidently being responsible for travel arrangements, food, and lodging. At Perga he quit the journey for undisclosed reasons (). The question whether Mark should participate in the second missionary journey in approximately A.D. 50 caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas: Paul, considering Mark’s desertion of the first journey unjustifiable and being unwilling to take him on a second journey, took Silas and returned to Asia Minor; whereas Barnabas returned to Cyprus with Mark (). John Mark is not heard from again until a decade later, when scattered references show him reconciled to Paul (; ; ). A final NT reference shows him laboring with Peter in Rome (). According to tradition, Mark evangelized in Egypt and eventually became the first bishop of Alexandria (Eusebius, Hist. ).
WHEN and WHERE was it written?
60’s-70’s A.D.
Early Church tradition associates the composition of the Gospel with Rome or Italy. Although the content of Mark's Gospel does not prove Roman origin, it is highly consistent with it.
WHAT is it?
It is a Gospel
4 in the new testament
3 being synoptic
Matthew, Mark & Luke
Synoptic meaning a general summary or synopsis from a common view or shared view.
1 being reflective, thematic and written from a different perspective & experience.
εὐαγγέλιον (Evangelion)
God’s good news to humans, good news as proclamation.
details relating to the life and ministry of Jesus, good news of Jesus
a book dealing with the life and teaching of Jesus
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The sense in is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God
WHY was it written?
It is generally recognized that Mark represents the earliest attempt to reduce the apostolic tradition to a written form. Synoptic criticism has in the last century and a half produced detailed evidence that Matthew and Luke had before them a document virtually identical with our Gospel of Mark.
The form of the Gospel appears to have been shaped by the mission proclamation of the early Christian community. Here for the first time the words and deeds of Jesus were remembered and proclaimed in a written form.
It is intended to be neither a formal historical treatise nor a biography of Jesus, but proclamation.
"The beginning of the preaching of the joyful tidings." What follows is a historical narrative oriented around a crisis - the death of Jesus the Messiah.
There are valid reasons for believing that the Gospel was written for people who themselves confronted a crisis not dissimilar to the one faced by Jesus.
I want to highlight that the Gospel of Mark was written for everyone.
SCRIPTURE
  John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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. 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.”
The Baptism of Jesus
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.”
The Temptation of Jesus
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 1
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
Prayer:
The Prologue to the Gospel
Proclamation of the Son of God
You are sound asleep and dreaming, when suddenly the door bursts open and a bright light shines full in your face. A voice, breaking in on your dream-world, shouts, 'Wake up! Get up! You'll be late!' And without more ado, the speaker splashes your face with cold water to make the point. Time to stop dreaming and face the most important day of your life.
The most striking characteristics of this prologue is its abruptness.
Ch. 1:1-13 supplies the key to the entire Gospel by introducing the central figure of the account.
The Prologue to the Gospel
In accordance with the prophetic word, Jesus appears in the wilderness of Judea, summoned by the call of John the Baptist. His baptism and sojourn constitute his first public acts and provide the foundation for his ministry. The Gospel of Mark will be the account of Jesus' trial, throughout which he decisively encounters Satan and receives help from God.
Proclamation of the Son of God
Enduring the wilderness.
Prophetically Called
Divinely Chosen
Completely Capable
What I want to do is focus on 3 simple things.
Its hard to launch a series.
Its hard to preach to 3 churches.
What do you do. You preach on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Present
This is surprising because the one introduced is not an ordinary person but the Son of God.
God who chooses to be with us.
Nouwen - God With Us Compassion
In a time so filled with methods and techniques designed to change people, to influence their behavior, and to make them do new things and think new thoughts, we have lost the simple but difficult gift of being present with one another. We have lost this because we have been led to believe that presence must be useful.
The strength of Solidarity
God with us means the God who came to share our lives in solidarity.
It does not mean that God solves our problems, shows us the way out of our confusion, or offers answers for our many questions. He might do all of that, but his solidarity consist of the fact that he is willing to enter in with us into our problems, confusions, and questions.
As soon as we call God, God-with-us, we enter into a new relationship of intimacy with him.
W
We will never really know God as a compassionate God if we do not understand with our heart and mind, that he lived among us.
Dependent
This Mark declares in the opening verse of his account. Accordingly, with a few broad strokes the prologue associates Jesus with the preaching and baptizing activity of John, and with trial in the wilderness. It indicates that the Messiah, who is divinely chosen and qualified for his ministry, has come.
Obedient
The accent falls upon the disclosure that Jesus is the Messiah, the very Son of God, whose mission is to affirm his sonship in the wilderness. His encounter with Satan provides the background is to affirm his sonship in the wilderness. His encounter with Satan provides the background for the delineation of the conflict between the Son of God and the forces of Satan which is so prominent an element in the Marcan narrative of Jesus' 6ministry.
Hallmark of the entire Gospel
Like Genesis for the whole Bible
Being with Jesus
Dependent of Father
Empowered by the Holy Spirit to Obedience
You are sound asleep and dreaming, when suddenly the door bursts open and a bright light shines full in your face. A voice, breaking in on your dream-world, shouts, 'Wake up! Get up! You'll be late!' And without more ado, the speaker splashes your face with cold water to make the point. Time to stop dreaming and face the most important day of your life.
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