Good news revealed at the very beginning

Introduction

Talk about lying on a towel in the sun.

Even with your eyes squeezed shut, the light is so bright.

If you lie like that on your back in the sun for a while, when you later sit up and open your eyes, everything around you looks really dull - almost black and white.

Your eyes have been bathed in the light and heat from the sun and everything else looks dull and washed out afterwards.

As we start 2021, and as we end a long and strange and anxious and troubling year, I want us to start by gazing at the light of the world - Jesus.

When we do so, when we gaze at our Lord and consider His beauty - the One whom John described as being ‘full of grace and truth’, I am certain that we will find that our troubles and the troubles and anxieties of the day, will look dull and less alarming.

I think it is very timely for us to start our corporate gatherings in 2021 by starting a new series, on the Gospel of Mark - the one Gospel I have not preached from other than the occasional one-off sermon in my time here at Grace.

Of the four Gospels, Mark’s is by far the shortest - it lacks the beautiful long sermons of Matthew, the many historical notes and details of Luke and the profound theology of John.

Mark writes a very short, action-packed Gospel account of Jesus’ ministry.

He writes like a newspaper journalist - covering many events succinctly and with great brevity.

Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark tells us nothing about Jesus’ birth or childhood - but begins his account with the start of the ministry of Jesus.

Mark writes in such a simple, clear and unadorned style that a child could read or hear his gospel account and believe in Jesus.

However, there is rich theology throughout Mark - and he writes to assure Christians that Jesus is the promised Messiah whom God has sent, as He had promised to do, to save us from our sin and to redeem for Himself a people from every tribe and nation.

Some of the early church fathers, like Augustine, didn’t have a high regard of Mark’s Gospel.

Augustine thought it was just an abridgement of Matthew’s Gospel.

It could not be a shortened copy of Matthew’s Gospel, however, because Mark has a very different focus and includes some details when recording events from Jesus’ ministry that Matthew and Luke do not include.

Another reasons some of the early church fathers were not fond of Mark’s Gospel is that Mark was not one of the 12 disciples.

Matthew and John were, of course, among Jesus’ 12 disciples.

And Luke was a close companion of Paul, and based his gospel on the accounts of Jesus’ mother Mary, some of the apostles and Paul.

Mark was not, however, an apostle.

He was however, a close companion and ministry co-worker to both the apostles Peter and Paul.

And scholars widely agree that Mark’s Gospel is based on the preaching and eye-witness testimony of Peter.

It includes more comments from Peter than any other Gospel - and it shows Peter’s flaws, weaknesses and sin more than any other Gospel - indicating the honest account of Peter.

In about 140 A.D., the church historian Eusebius wrote this about Mark’s Gospel:

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke a. Early Tradition

The quotation in Eusebius follows

The Elder said this also: Mark, who became Peter’s interpreter, wrote accurately, though not in order, all that he remembered of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had neither heard the Lord nor been one of his followers, but afterwards, as I said, he had followed Peter, who used to compose his discourses with a view to the needs of his hearers, but not as though he were drawing up a connected account of the Lord’s sayings. So Mark made no mistake in thus recording some things just as he remembered them. For he was careful of this one thing, to omit none of the things he had heard and to make no untrue statements therein. (Ecclesiastical History 3.39.15)

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke a. Early Tradition

Irenaeus (c. A.D. 180) adds his testimony in agreement with the Anti-Marcionite Prologue: “And after their [Peter’s and Paul’s] death, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself also handed down to us in writing the things preached by Peter” (Contra Haereses 3.1.2).

So who was John Mark?

He is first mentioned in Acts 12:12, in connection with his mother.

Mark lived in the house in Jerusalem where Peter went when he was released from jail.

It appears that Mark’s mother was a wealthy patron of the church and her house was used for church gatherings.

Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas when the returned to Antioch from Jerusalem with funds for the Christians who were suffering due to a famine in Jerusalem - Acts 12:25.

Mark then served as a ‘helper’ to Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey- Acts 13:5.

Unfortunately, things on this journey got too tough for Mark and he turned back at Perga, returning to Jerusalem - Acts 13:13.

This desertion greatly upset Paul, and when Barbabas proposed taking Mark with them on their second missionary journey, Paul flatly refused.

Paul and Barnabas had such a heated argument over Mark that they broke up and went separate ways, Barnabas taking Mark with him and Paul taking Silas with him - Acts 15:36-39.

But Paul and Mark were later reconciled, and we find Mark with Paul in Rome when Paul wrote Colossians - Col 4:10.

By the end of Paul’s life, Mark was very dear to him and when Paul wrote his final letter, as he awaited execution, he urged Timothy to ‘get mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry’ - 2 Tim 4:11.

When the apostle Peter wrote 1 Peter, while also in Rome awaiting trial, he passed on greetings from Mark, who was with him - 1 Peter 5:13.

Church historians believe that Mark wrote his gospel while keeping Peter company in Rome as he awaited trial.

Writing in the 50s or 60s A.D. and likely in Rome with the Apostle Peter, Mark wrote an account of Jesus’ ministry, atoning death and resurrection in order to inform, equip and encourage the Christians in Rome - Christians who were starting to face persecution from the Roman rulers for their faith.

Mark wrote his gospel to encourage suffering Christians and to assure them of the basis of their faith in Jesus.

And he writes to Jewish AND non-Jewish Christians.

We can tell he had non-Jewish Christians in mind because, unlike the Jewish Gospel of Matthew, he explains Jewish customs that would be unfamiliar to Gentile readers, he translates Aramaic terms and he uses Latin words.

He also dicusses suffering and persecution at length - which would be relevant to Roman Christians starting to suffer under Nero.

Mark may have finished writing his gospel and circulated it after Peter’s death.

If there was a danger of Christians regarding Peter as a kind of martyred super saint, the honest portraal of Peter in Mark’s gospel would discourage that.

The opening 13 verses of Mark’s Gospel function as an introduction or prologue to the whole Gospel of Mark.

If there is a tone or mood to Mark’s Gospel it is urgency - he writes a pithy, action-packed, brief acount of Jesus’ ministry - proving at every point that this Jesus could only be the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

Even his prologue - today’s text - shows us quickly and clearly that Jesus is the promised Saviour of the world.

Let’s unpack this brief but beautiful Gospel opening together.

1. Mark testifies: Jesus is the promised Saviour (v.1)

Illustration

Talk about learning to write news stories in the inverted pyramid style.

You must answer the who, what, where, why and how questions immediately.

News stories are to be written so that they can easily be cut from the bottom to fit the space on the page.

Mark writes like this.

The very opening line of his Gospel tells you what he is going to write about.

(READ VERSE 1)

Verse one is a kind of title for the whole book.

Mark is saying, this account is the beginning of the good news of Jesus the Messiah - the Son of God.

He is proclaiming the good news - the euangelion - that God has provided salvation for all people through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Mark is declaring - intitially to the Christians in Rome - you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour?

Good. I’m going to tell you all about why you can and you should believe in Jesus.

This Jesus is the Son of God - the One God sent to be His Messiah, or annointed one, or Christ - the One through whom God has carried out His great plan of salvation.

Most scholars then regard verses 1-13 as a unit - a prologue to Mark’s Gospel.

The events described in these verses all take place in the same places - the desert and the Jordan River.

The Holy Spirit is mentioned in each event narrated here - Jesus is the One who gives the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit uniquely anoints and directs Jesus in His ministry as the Suffering Servant and Messiah.

And in each of the events here, Mark gives us, the reader, privileged information that no one in these events, other than Jesus, had.

We are let in on the Messianic secret - Mark tells us what God is doing in these events - the work of John the Baptist, and the baptism and temptation of Jesus.

Led by the Holy Spirit, Mark not only tells us what was happening at the start of Jesus’ ministry, he tells us WHY - he reveals what Yahweh was doing in the commissioning and sending of His Son.

The reader is told here exacty who Jesus is and why His Father sent Him into the earth - a mystery that the rest of the people around him don’t understand.

Even his own 12 disciples only understand fully at Pentecost.

Echoing Genesis 1:1, Mark declares in verse 1 that this is the BEGINNING of the Gospel - which means good news - of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

‘Jesus’ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name, Yeshua - which means God saves. The angel told Joseph that this was to be the name given to the child supernaturally placed in Mary’s womb - Matt 1:21.

Christ or Christos is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, Masiah from which we get Messiah - which means anointed one of God.

Jesus is God’s anointed one - His appointed agent on earth.

In the Old Testament, the kings and priests of Israel were called God’s anointed ones.

This man Jesus, Mark tells us, is the Promised Messiah - a Saviour, a kingly deliverer and champion that God promised to send all throughout the Scriptures.

The need for such a Saviour was first declared right back in Genesis 3, when our first parents sinned and God promised to one day send a ‘seed of the woman’ to crush the head of the serpent.

And this Jesus is no mere man - He is the Son of God.

While the Old Testament at times called anointed ones like David ‘the son of God’, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique way.

He is the divine, second person of the Trinity.

And Mark will flesh out His divine Sonship throughout his gospel.

So, at the very opening line of his gospel, Mark has already testified what this book is about - this account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is the beginning of the good news about Jesus the anointed holy One of God - the very Son of God.

Wasting no time or ink, Mark then shows us, in verses 2-3 , that the Scriptures pointed to Jesus’ arrival. And they tell us that a herald or forerunner would prepare the way for the Messiah - which is exactly what God did by sending and empowering John the Baptist to go before Him.

And that brings us to point 2 and verses 2-3.

2. The Scriptures testify: Messiah’s herald prepares Israel (vv.2-3)

Now, having introduced his Gospel - and declared at the outset that this is the good news of God’s Son Jesus, whom God sent as the promised Messiah, the promised Saviour, Mark begins his account by introducing - very briefly - the person and ministry of Jesus’ herald or announcer, John the Baptist.

He doesn’t tell us about the miraculous birth of John - or Jesus - which are narrated in loving detail in Matthew and Luke.

He goes straight to the appearance of John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judea, as John’s obeys his God-given calling to prepare Israel for the arrival of Messiah.

And Mark introduces John the Baptist by telling us that his person and ministry were foretold through the Scriptures.

Mark is revealing the truth that no one in Israel understood at the time - the sending and arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah were both key moments in God’s plan to save us from sin and death.

And God had already revealed, through the Scriptures, that He would send a prophet ahead of His Messiah to prepare Israel for the time of divine visitation.

Mark then quotes Scripture, naming the prophet Isaiah as a source.

And indeed, Isaiah is a source of the Scriptures quoted in verses 2 and 3.

But Mark is also quoting in this passage key promises God gave through Exodus and Malachi.

With his characteristic brevity, Mark is showing that the gospel of Jesus is the fulfilment of the Scriptures - His coming, ministry, death and resurrection bring to completion God’s promised to redeem His people and restore all things.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the New Testament writers quote literally hundreds of Old Testament passages to show the readers exactly how Jesus is the glorious fulflment of all of God’s promises to save us and deliver us from the curse of sin and death.

And many times, Mark and Matthew and Paul and others quote several key Scriptural passages in the one passage. If we did this today, we might put in brackets or in the margin notes showing which Scriptural passages we are quoting.

But we should not forget, Israel was an ‘oral culture’. The people of Israel in Jesus’ day gathered in Synagogues on the Sabbath and at many other times to hear the Scriptures read.

Very few Jews could afford a priceless, hand-written scroll containing books of the Old Testament.

But Jews, from early childhood, would hear books of the Old Testament read out loud constantly.

We believe that many Jews of Jesus’ day would know by memory whole books of the Old Testament - and especially the Torah and key prophetic writings and psalms.

And so when Mark quotes three Old Testament passages which speak about God’s promise to send His Messiah and to send a herald to prepare the way for the arrival of Messiah, many of Mark’s original readers would have known immediately the exact books being referenced and would have understood that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah - and John the Baptist was His forerunner, sent in the power and prophetic ministry of Elijah.

Let’s briefly examine the three Old Testament promises Mark quotes here.

Firstly, there is a reference here to Exodus 23:20, in which God promises to send a messenger before the Iraelites on their exodus through the desert on their way to the promised land.

Secondly, Isaiah 40:3 is most prominently quoted here.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke A. Preparing the Way (1:1–8)

Isaiah 40:3, which looks forward to the coming of another messenger “in the desert” who will go before the people of God in a second Exodus to prepare for the revelation of God’s salvation in Christ.

And in Malachi 3:1, the prophet warns that God will send a messenger ahead of Him prior to the coming day of judgment.

Interestingly, by quoting these three different writings, Mark is showing his readers that the Torah or Law (Exodus), the major prophets (Isaiah) and the minor prophets (Malachi) all confirm that God would send a messenger ahead of His Messiah, to prepare Israel for her Saviour and deliverer.

God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt and into the promised land was just a shadow or picture of the greater exodus, the greater deliverance that God gives us through Jesus.

These three prophetic writings reveal that God’s coming in both salvation and judgmet, promised throughout the Scriptures, takes place in Jesus.

And so, any faithful reader of the Scriptures - and we should not forget that in the first century Christian church, the Christians - both Jew and Gentile - read and studied the Old Testament as their Bible and Jesus’ Bible - would see, Mark is revealing that the great expectations of the Old Testament - which are left unfulfilled in the very last book of the Old Testament - are all fulfilled through Jesus.

And so, having learned that John the Baptist is in fact the promised messenger sent ahead of God who was coming to His people in salvation and judgment, Mark introduces us to the person and ministry of John - recorded briefly, in verses 4-8.

And that brings us to point 3.

3. John testifies: The One who gives the Spirit is here (vv.4-8)

I am glad that God has graciously given us not one or two but four beautiful and complementary accounts of the life and ministry of our Lord.

And I really love the detail and colour of Gospels like Matthew and Luke, and I love the rich and profound theology of John.

And I also admire Mark’s newsy, urgent style.

Note the brevity of words he uses to introduce the person and work of John.

Was Mark’s time with Peter in Rome short? Was there an urgency to circulate this gospel among the suffering brethren in Rome?

We don’t know. But I’ll be keen to talk to Mark when I see him.

But he covers a lot of ground in a short time.

And so, with great economy of words, Mark introduces us to John - the forerunner and herald of the King.

Mark tells us that John appeared tand immediately began his public ministry by baptizing people in the wilderness - in the River Jordan where it winds through the desert valley below the wilderness of Judea.

In Luke 3, we are told much more detail about the content of John’s preaching - as he called Israel to repent and be forgiven of their sin.

And, as we see in Luke’s account, John the Baptist was no ‘seeker sensitive’ evangelist.

When John saw the crowds coming to him to be baptized, he called out, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?’ (Luke 3:7)

Mark Bridging Contexts

The Jordan River was also evocative. It was more than simply a river to Jews; it represented the border between the desert and the Promised Land.

Mark gives simply introduces John’s ministry by telling us that he was baptizing the people ‘a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins’.

Now, because we all know this story so well, we don’t bat an eyelid when we read this.

But we should.

Because in first century Israel, Jews did not practise baptism.

They practised ceremonial washings for purification, but not baptism.

The only baptism prescribed in Judaism was for Gentiles who wanted to become Jewish proselytes.

These Gentiles had to undergo a baptism to symbolise a washing away of their unclean Gentileness.

But Jews thought themselves already clean and right with God.

So why did ‘all of the country of Judea and all Jerusalem’ go out to John to confess their sins and be baptized with them.

It would have been an amazing sight - thousands upon thousands of Jews from Jerusalem and the surrounding towns trekking down the steep desert valleys from Jerusalem to see John at the Jordan River.

Jerusalem is about 30km from the Jordan River and about 1500m above the Jordan Valley.

Pilgrims would go UP to Jerusalem from the Jordan Valley for the great Jewish festivals - singing the psalms of ascent.

This was a long and hot and winding trek up a steep mountain range, through an arid wilderness that separates the mountaintop city of Jerusalem from the Jordan River far below.

It was hard work, trekking down the rugged Judean hills to the Jordan River and even harder work going back up.

We drove this journey in a bus - and I was amazed at the steep and arid mountain journey.

If John was merely another teacher, calling people to obey God, he would hever have received such an overwhelming response.

There were plenty of itinerant preahers and teachers travelling around Israel at the time.

The reason the whole city of Jerusalem and the people of Judea rushed to see John was because he was declaring the good news that the Messiah was here.

In the years leading up to the ministry of Jesus, the whole nation of Israel was buzzing with eager anticipation that God was about to send a Messianic King to save them - presumably from slavery to Rome, which was ruling over the whole known world, including Israel, at the time.

John was preaching that the Messiah had come, the Day of the Lord was here - and Israel was not ready.

He was preaching - with great passion and fire - that if the people did not repent and undergo a baptism symbolizing repentance - they would be judged when Messiah came and not saved.

And the people heard John’s message and obeyed - thousands upon thousands of Jews confessed their sin and were baptized by John.

We then see, throughout Jesus’ ministry, the people asking the question of Jesus: “Could this be the Messiah?”

And we read that at times, such as when Jesus miraculously fed the multitudes, they tried to make Him king by force.

We also see disillusionment in the crowds - and even in John the Baptist himself - when Jesus does not then and there judge Israel and punish the impenitent.

We see in Matthew 11, Jesus graciously reassuring John the Baptist, who was by now languishing in jail and wondering if Jesus even was the Messiah.

The Day of the Lord had indeed come in the person and ministry of Jesus - His salvation has come and His judgment has started - and we see many in Israel coming under divine judgment as they reject Jesus and are given over to hardened hearts.

A kind of judgment came upon Israel too in 70 A.D. when Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple torn down brick by brick.

Jesus foretold this judgment was coming upon Israel because they had not know the time of divine visitation - He said this in the Olivet Discourse, shortly before He went to the cross.

And, we learn, both from Jesus and the New Testament writers, that while He has already brought salvation and judgment has indeed begun, the final, eschatalogical Day of the Lord in which Jesus will judge the living and dead is yet to come and will come when He returns soon.

So John’s ministry - at least from external appearances - was a great success.

Thousands upon thousands of Jews confessed their sin and were baptized in readiness for the coming of Messiah.

Through the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, John was indeed preparing the way of the Lord, and making His paths straight.

But were the people truly repenting - or were they just hoping for a leader to help them drive the Romans out of their land?

Now, in verse 6, we learn that John was ‘clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey’.

Again, Mark’s readers who knew their Bibles would be immediately reminded of the prophet Elijah.

In 2 Kings 1:8, the following is said of Elijah: ‘He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather around his waist’.

The crowds of Israel would have recognised John as a prophet in the mantle and power of Elijah.

And God had promised to send Elijah to His people to prepare them for the coming of the day of the Lord.

In Malachi 4:5-6, we read:

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.”

So when John came, looking and sounding just like Elijah - and warning Israel to repent and be baptized if they would escape the wrath to come, the Jews would have immediately thought of promises like those of Malachi 4 and obeyed John.

So when Jesus appears, you can imagine the messianic fervour! No wonder we read that he often had to go out and hide ‘in lonely places’ to escape the great crowds.

Now, John was anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And while many Jews - even leaders and people of great power - regarded John as a great man of God, he knew he was but the servant of the Messiah.

And Mark briefly summarizes John’s preaching, noting that John pointed the crowds to the One for whom he was sent to prepare Israel.

Mark Bridging Contexts

When John refers to a more powerful one who is coming, his audience would naturally understand it to refer to God, since God is the Mighty One in the Old Testament, who comes in judgment and pours out the Spirit. This biblical imagery evokes the expectation that God is about to liberate Israel again. But Mark emphasizes that God now acts through his beloved Son.

Note that John compares himself to Jesus by saying that Jesus was so great, John was not worthy to even untie Jesus’ sandals.

Now, in first century Israel, not even a Jewish servant or slave could be made to touch anyone’s feet or sandals.

Israel was and is a dusty country - with large desert regions throughout.

And so most people would have very dusty feet when they entered a house or building.

And so a person would take their dusty sandals off at the door, they might wash their feet, and then they would enter the building.

And no one else would help you with this - because feet were ceremonially and literally unclean.

But the coming one was so great, John said he would not be worthy to even touch his feet.

John clearly understood that Jesus was God’s special anointed - he may even have understood Jesus’ divine identity.

Because John uses the most powerful description possible in his culture to describe Jesus’ greatness.

And John knew that he was merely performing a symbolic baptism - a water baptism symbolising the washing-away of sin.

The One to come - the Messiah - would baptize ‘with the Holy Spirit’.

All who come to Jesus and receive Him as Lord and Saviour are given the amazing gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We see this gift first given at Pentecost - when the Spirit came upon Jesus’ followers with power.

And ever since that time, all who receive Jesus as Lord are washed and cleansed of our sin, we are made beloved children of Yahweh Himself, and Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit - who enters us, empowers us, and daily renews us - enabling us to understand the Gospel, enabling us to walk with our Lord, and enabling and empowering us to grow in holiness as God’s own dearly loved children, bought by the precious blood of our Lord.

Having introduced us to the ministry of John, Mark introduces our Lord Himself, who begins His own greater ministry, by being baptized by John in the Jordan River.

And that brings us to point 4.

4. The Father testifies: Jesus is King and Suffering Servant (vv.9-11)

Now, about that time - Mark simply says, ‘in those days’ - a generic time marker - Jesus Himself came from his home town of Nazareth in Galilee, travelled down the Jordan valley, and came to John who was still baptizing people in the Jordan River.

And Jesus was baptized by John.

Mark does not tell us why Jesus went to be baptised.

We know, from Matthew’s account, that John the Baptist protested. He acknowledged that he was unworthy to baptize Jesus but should have instead have been baptized by Jesus (Matt 3:14).

Matthew tells us that Jesus replied to John, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’

Bible scholars debate exactly what this means.

Some say that this baptism was a baptism of dedication, setting Jesus aside as Israel’s final high priest - echoing the baptism the priests of Israel underwent when they began service.

Others say he was being baptized as The Suffering Servant of Messiah - who represents His people and bears their sins.

Mark Bridging Contexts

Like Moses, who gave up his regal status to identify with his people to deliver them, Jesus humbles himself by entering the ranks of sinners and taking his stand with them, just as later he will die for them, isolated and alone. His baptism, therefore, launches him on the servant road of obedience, which ultimately leads to his death

Mark is most concerned with the supernatural event that took place at Jesus’ baptism - Jesus saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on HIm like a dove.

While the other Gospel writers talk about the heavens being opened at Jesus’ baptism, Mark declares that they were RIPPED OPEN.

The barriers are being torn down - God is now in our midst.

In Isaiah 64:1, the prophet cried out to God: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!’

Isaiah’s great hope has come to pass - God is here.

The Holy Spirit descends on God the Son - the descent of power from heaven that inaugurates God’s reign on earth.

And Jesus hears the voice of the Father - one of several times when the Father’s voice is heard audibly booming from heaven, as the Father testifies to Jesus’ identity as His beloved Son and the Saviour of the world.

We read in verse 11: ‘And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.”

Here we see the Holy Spirit anointing Jesus for His ministry - and Jesus hearing the voice of His Father - testifying that Jesus is the Father’s beloved Son - with whom God is well pleased.

The words of the Father here recall Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1.

Psalm 2 is an enthronement psalm, which celebrates the enthronement of the davidic king to rule over God’s people.

God is saying Jesus is the promised davidic King - the final and greatest King in the line of David who will rule His people and judge the nations.

In Isaiah 42:1, God says, of the Suffering Servant whom He promised to send to atone for the sins of God’s people, ‘Behold my servant, whom I uphold, in whom my Spirit delights. I have put my Spirit upon Him; He will bring justice to the nations.’

This testimony of the Father says it all.

The promised Messiah and King of Israel was also the Suffering Servant who would atone for the death of all who believe.

At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, God the Father reveals the great messianic secret: The promised Messiah and King who would rule God’s people and bring justice to the nations was also the Suffering Servant, who would make atonement for our sins and give us reconciliation with our God.

No mere man could do this - the Suffering Servant, the promised Messiah, the promised final and greatest Davidic King was none other than God the Son.

God Himself would save us from our sin by taking our sins upon Himself.

Our King has come to rule and to judge - but He would do so by laying down His life voluntarily as an atonement for sin.

Jesus is the Messiah, the King, the Suffering Servant, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God.

This indeed is good news of great joy - and the glorious good news is declared at the very outset of Mark’s Gospel.

And finally, we will close by looking briefly at Mark’s very brief account of Jesus’ temptation in the wildnerness.

We’ve grouped this in this first talk because all of these preliminary events took place immediately prior to Jesus beginning His public ministry.

Just as God tested Israel for 40 years in the desert, He would now allow His beloved Son to be tested for 40 days in the wilderness.

And that brings us to point 5 and verses 12-13.

5. The Spirit testifies: Jesus is the second Adam (vv.12-13)

Immediately after his preparatory baptism, Jesus is driven - by the Spirit - out into the wilderness.

The wilderness is a place with great significance to Israel.

The wilderness was the place where God provided for and also tested and disciplined His people for 40 years, between Egypt and the promised land.

The wilderness was where Moses met God in the burning bush.

The wilderness was where God met with a burnt-out prophet Elijah.

The wilderness was remembered as the place of disobedience, judgment and grace.

Note that the adversary does not control events here - even though he does try to trip Jesus up and destroy His mission.

No, God is in control at all times.

And the Spirit, who has just come upon Jesus at His baptism ‘immediately drove him out into the wilderness’.

If Jesus has been identified with His people at His baptism, He is now subject to the same kinds of spiritual attack His people have suffered from the adversary, ever since the fall.

In Hebrews 2:17-18, we read this about Jesus: ‘For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of his people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’

Hebrews also says this about Jesus and the temptations he faced:

Hebrews 4:15: ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - and yet he did not sin.’

With his characteristic brevity, Mark tells us that Jesus indeed spent 40 days in the wilderness - being tempted - and yet without sin.

Matthew and Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness tell us more about the nature of Satan’s attacks on Jesus. And they tell us that Jesus stood firm - quoting Scripture as He rejected the suggestions of the tempter.

Matthew also tells us that Jesus did not eat for 40 days and 40 nights - and so He was weak and hungry when under attack from the adversary.

The one detail Mark gives us that is unique is his note that Jesus ‘was with the wild animals’.

Is there an echo here of the original temptation?

Adam was tempted while well fed and comfortable in a garden paradise, surrounded by tame animals, and he sinned.

Jesus, the second or last Adam - which he is called in 1 Corinthians 15 - was tested in a wilderness, while hungry, weak and surrounded by dangerous animals - and He did NOT sin.

As 1 Corinthians 15 tells us, we are all either in the first Adam - rebelling against God and destined to face Him as judge - or we are in the second Adam - cleansed and washed and accredited with the perfect righteousness of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus.

Satan easily tempted the first Adam to disobey God and unleash the curse of sin and death on the world.

But in the wilderness of Judea, Satan contended with the second Adam - who did not give into temptation - but was without sin - and so was able to die for our sins as a perfect sacrifice, pure and unblemished.

Mark Bridging Contexts

Gundry comments:

His being tempted by none less than Satan, the archdemon, carries an acknowledgment of Jesus’ stature as the very Son of God. The wildness of the beasts with which Jesus is present without harmful consequence bears witness to his being God’s Son, the stronger one of whom John the Baptizer spoke. That even the angels serve Jesus adds a final touch to Mark’s portrayal of him as no less a personage than the Spirit-endued Son of God.

Conclusion

All throughout Mark’s narration of these events, events that immediately preceded Jesus’ public ministry, Mark is revealing WHO Jesus is and why the FATHER has sent Him.

As we move into Mark’s account of Jesus’ ministry, we encounter people who are trying to work out the identity, mission and nature of Jesus.

When Jesus drives a demon out of a man in the Capernaum synagogue, the crowd cries out, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority!’ (Mark 1:27)

When Jesus forgives and heals a paralysed man, religious experts become angry and exclaim: ‘Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” - Mark 2:7

When Jesus calms a storm on the Sea of Galilee with a word, His disciples ask: ‘Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey Him?’ (Mark 4:41)

Towards the end of Mark’s account, as Jesus is dying on the cross, a Roman centurion commanding the execution squad sees the way He dies and cries out: ‘Surely this man was the Son of God’ (Mark 15:39)

But Mark has shown us, the readers, the truth of WHO Jesus is right at the outset of his Gospel .

Mark Contemporary Significance

We readers and listeners of this Gospel know far more than the characters in the story. We know that John the Baptizer, the messenger sent before the more powerful one, must be referring to Jesus when he confesses that he is unworthy to stoop down to loosen the thongs of that person’s sandals. We see the heavens rip open at his baptism and the Spirit descending on him, and we hear the voice proclaim that he is God’s beloved Son. This is why we might become exasperated with the disciples who, as the story progresses, sometimes are as thick as a brick. We know more than they do. The coming of the Son of God, who makes a claim on everyone’s life, has made an irreparable breach in the fabric of reality. Perhaps for the first disciples, the light was too bright for their eyes to behold. Perhaps it was not too obscure, but too full of meaning for their minds to grasp. But knowing what we know about Jesus, are we any more faithful, any more discerning, any more willing to give our lives?

The prologue of Mark’s Gospel shows very clearly who Jesus is.

He is the Messiah, and the King, whom God had promised to send to save His people

He is the Son of God - our Lord and Saviour and champion.

He is the second and last Adam, who will obey God perfectly, where the first Adam failed and sinned.

He is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, who will lay down his life as an atonement for the sins of many.

And He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the divine Son of God who is so great, that even the greatest prophet was not fit to untie Jesus’ sandals.

He offers us salvation from sin and death. He is the only way to the Father.

He is the giver of life and life eternal.

And He is the Lord and King who must be obeyed and worshipped.

Finally, Jesus is the One and only One who shows us the way home - He brings us home to be with Him and He has gone to prepare a place for us.

Mark Contemporary Significance

The problem is that the way that Jesus prepares for us to go home is not the one we want to travel. It is arduous and paved with suffering, but it is one that we must journey to get home. If the church prepares the way for anything, it is for his return by following in the path he has laid out and in the worldwide proclamation of the gospel