Preparation

Introduction

This morning we are beginning a journey through the gospel of Mark and I’m excited to kick off this new series with everyone today, including all the kids in here with us.

Now, I promise to be a little more brief today with everyone since all the kids are in here but what I want to do is lay a foundation for the purpose of Mark’s gospel. We want to answer the question of who Mark was and really, what’s the theme of his gospel?

Now, by God’s grace, for at least the next 20 months this is where we’re going to be camping out. Now, there will be breaks here and there. For instance, we’ll break every year for Advent and next summer we’ll jump back into the Psalms, but our steady diet for about the next two years is going to be through this gospel.

So, let’s get to learn a little bit about the gospel and author that we’re going to be reading through together.

Purpose & Background.

Now, for those of us familiar with the Bible, we know there are four gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Each one of them is a biography on the life of Christ, primarily focusing on the death and resurrection.

Ancient biographies aren’t like biographies that are written today. When we think of biographies, typically what we think of and read is a comprehensive look at a person’s life from childhood all the way through adulthood.

Well, again, if you’re familiar with the gospels, you know that they don’t offer a comprehensive view of Jesus’ life from childhood all the way to his death and resurrection. Matthew and Luke are the only ones to even mention Jesus’ birth, and just a little of his childhood. Both John and Mark pick up Jesus’ life when he is beginning his earthy ministry around the age of 30.

There’s a couple reasons for this.

Back then, when these gospels were written, biographies didn’t focus on a person’s entire life but rather on specific events in that person’s life. Obviously, the most important event in Jesus’ life, that which defined his purpose was his death and resurrection. It’s why about 1/4th of each of the gospels focus on Jesus’ final week on earth, leading up to his crucifixion.

Also, keep in mind that ancient writings were put down on scrolls. Each one of the gospels is about the length of a single scroll.

And so, each author sought to focus primarily on Jesus’ death and resurrection, but they each had a different purpose and audience to whom they were writing.

So, for example, the gospel of Matthew was written to a Jewish population. And what Matthew was seeking to accomplish with his writing was convincing the Jews that Jesus truly was the promised Messiah that was prophesied throughout the Old Testament.

The Jewish people then and still today have rejected Jesus as the one the Old Testament talked about and so that’s why when you read through Matthew there is such an emphasis placed on Old Testament prophecies and how Jesus fulfilled each one of them.

The gospel of Luke was written to the Greeks. Luke uses the phrase, “Son of Man” often and that Jesus’ purpose was to come save and minister to all people through the work and power of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel of John right from the beginning seeks to show Jesus as both fully human and fully divine and that belief in him alone is where eternal life is found.

The gospel of Mark was written to Christians primarily in Rome between the years 60-70A.D. and he was seeking to show these believers who were facing intense persecution from Rome that Jesus also was a suffering servant King. One who endured persecution and betrayal and even an unjust death.

You see, here’s what was going on in the mid-60’s A.D. A great fire had broken out in Rome and destroyed much of the city. There’s many ancient historians who blamed Nero, the emperor for the fire, and so Nero, in his rage and desire to blame someone else, turned all of his aggression and anger toward the Christians - blaming them.

And so he began this massive crusade to round up all the Christians, to try them, to torture them and to eventually kill them in incredibly cruel ways.

And so, it was during this intense unjust persecution of the church that Mark writes his gospel.

And so, you can see how Christians in Rome could identify with Jesus as one who was also falsely accused by his opponents, that he too was falsely tried and betrayed. They could resonate with Jesus telling his followers to expect persecution and tribulation and suffering in this world and that in fact, to truly be a follower of Christ one must pick up their own cross, die to themselves, serve others, and follow him as the one true King of kings.

As we journey through this gospel we see Mark’s emphasis on Jesus’ Kingship. He reigns over all and so, even though Nero may be the emperor at the time and seeking to flex his power and authority, Jesus is the one true ruler of all the earth.

And though Christians in Rome were seeing Nero as a wicked ruler, a selfish leader who abused others and reigned as a dictator, when we look at Jesus’ life we don’t see a selfish King, but one who laid down his life to serve others.

That there is a brief background on the gospel of Mark, but let’s also quickly address who Mark himself was.

Who Was Mark?

“The early church agreed unanimously that a man named John Mark wrote this Gospel. His mother was Mary, whose home in Jerusalem was a meeting place for believers of the early church.”

We see this in Acts 12. It’s here that we see the apostle Peter in prison. God miraculously rescues him and Peter heads to Mary’s house.

Acts 12:12 “When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.”

Many theologians believe that the young man mentioned in Mark 14 who ran away naked in fear when Jesus was being arrested was actually Mark.

We know Mark was Barnabas’ cousin. Both of them, Mark and Barnabas accompanied the apostle Paul on his first missionary journey in Acts 12. But we also read later on in Acts 13 that Mark abandoned Paul before that journey was completed which upset Paul leading to both Paul and Barnabas parting ways in Acts 15 when Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along with them on their next journey.

Paul was like, no way are we bringing him. He left us.

However, both Paul and Mark were reconciled because we can read in 2 Timothy 4 that Paul later on spoke of the “usefulness” of Mark in his ministry.

And so, when you think about this, Scriptures first introduction to Mark is not necessarily a favorable one. He’s kind of a coward who abandons Jesus at his arrest and trial and abandons his friends on their first missionary journey to spread the gospel.

But is this not the grace of God? In our weakness, in our fear, in our worry, in our betrayal, what we read throughout the gospels is the grace, mercy, and love that God displays through Jesus to a bunch of rebels.

And so, though Mark’s beginning was pretty rough, God can use anyone to showcase his power, his might, his glory.

And Mark was greatly used. What the early church has affirmed was that Mark was the apostle Peter’s interpreter. Mark ended up journeying with Peter and recorded Peter’s experiences with Jesus. It’s why when we get into incidents in Mark that involve Peter, there’s a lot of description around it. It’s because Peter is going to remember those interactions and events most clearly.

Mark’s gospel was the first gospel that was written and one that was used by the other gospel writers as a reference for when they wrote their accounts of Jesus’ life. So, not only did God restore Mark, he greatly used him and his writing in the other gospels that would come afterward.

Structure.

Mark’s gospel is the shortest of all the gospels at only 16 chapters but it is fast moving and detailed. The narratives that are found in Mark are longer than any of the other gospels. And over 40 different times he uses the word “immediately” which keeps the narrative moving and I believe emphasizes the significance of Jesus’ journey and movement toward the cross.

Mark’s gospel can be broken down into three key acts that all center around the person and work of Jesus and our call to follow this Servant-King.

Act 1 - Discerning the person of Jesus

Mark 1-8:26 focuses on the person of Jesus. Who is he? We’ll see him in these chapters as a healer, a preacher and teacher and King who reigns over creation.

Act 2 - Acceptance of Jesus

We see then a hinge point or turning point in Mark 8:27. It’s here that Jesus asks Peter who people say I am, at which Peter gives a number of responses…some say you’re Elijah or John the Baptist, or one of the prophets. But Jesus asks him, “Who do you say I am?” And it’s here that Peter rightfully confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one of God, the Savior of the world.

Act 3 - Jesus’ Mission

From Mark 11-16 the focus become’s Jesus journey to Jerusalem and to the cross.

And so, let’s dig in to our text today in these few opening verses.

Follow along as I read our text again this morning.

Mark 1:1-8 “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. 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. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.””

I really have just two points/questions from our text today.

Who is Jesus?

Will you follow him?

So, let’s answer question number 1.

Who is Jesus?

Mark wastes no time in getting right to the point.

Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

If you’ve ever watched horse racing this is kind of what verse 1 feels like. The gate opens and the horses bolt from the starting line.

Mark identifies Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God.

“Christos” was a Greek word which meant “an anointed royal figure.” And so Mark was identifying Jesus as the one anointed by God to come an initiate or administer God’s rule on earth. Tim Keller says “Jesus was not just a king but THE King.”

But Mark also identifies Jesus as the “Son of God.” This is a claim to outright divinity. Jesus is not just The King, but He is God in the flesh.

In verses 2-3 Jesus is then seen as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. John the Baptist, as talked about in verses 4-8 is the “messenger” that people were told would one day come to prepare the path, the way for the Lord to come and rescue His people.

Mark is quoting both Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1. Prophesies that were written hundreds of years before the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus.

Malachi 3:1 ““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.”

Isaiah 40:3 “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

What Mark here is doing is showing that Christianity was not some new religion but a faith founded in long foretold Biblical prophecies and teachings showing that everything in the Jewish Scriptures was pointing to Christ the redeemer and Savior of the world.

Remember that we’re in Act 1 of Mark’s gospel meaning he is seeking to lay out who Jesus is so that we would see his Kingship and glory.

And so the question for you to answer this morning is,

“Who do you say Jesus is?”

Our culture and our world have a number of responses to that question but our answer to that question will shape our entire belief system. If he’s nothing more than just a good moral teacher or a kind person, or just a historical figure to read about but nothing more then your life will not be changed at all by him.

But if he truly is what Mark declares him to be, the Christ (God’s anointed here to administer God’s rule) and the Son of God, (divine, God in the flesh) then we need to listen and follow him.

And that’s really the second point/question we see today from the text.

Will you follow him?

Following Jesus involves a radical change of life.

This is what we see John’s ministry of preaching and baptizing. He was proclaiming a “baptism of repentance.”

Repentance is the reorientation of your life back into alignment with how God has called us to live.

If you’ve ever driven a car that’s out of alignment you know how difficult and frustrating that can be. Technically the car is still moving but the moment you take your hand off of the wheel is drifts off the road. It’s not operating the way it’s intended to operate.

This is our life when we’re out of alignment with how God’s called us to live. Yes, technically we may still be moving, but something is off, there’s frustration and difficulty and it’s because we’re operating out of our design.

God’s the Creator which means he has created us to live and function in a certain way and when we do we find joy and peace, fulfillment because now we’re operating the way we’re intended to. Repentance is the process of aligning us back to God the Father.

Following Jesus means rejecting the way we want to live and instead holding fast to something that is better.

That’s going to be our difficulty and our struggle. We don’t want to let go of our way of living. I want to do it my way.

And what we need is the faith to believe that dying to ourselves will actually bring life and vitality and joy because now, we’re back in alignment with our God, living and walking as we were created to.

Jesus is the King of kings and a King demands that those beneath him follow him. But Jesus is not a cruel King, a vindictive King, a maniacal King, no, he is the servant-King who gave his life for yours.

And now, he calls on us to with joy and gladness follow him.

And so, as we begin this journey, will you follow him?

Akin, D. L. (2014). Exalting jesus in mark. (D. L. Akin, D. Platt, & T. Merida, Eds.) (Mk 1:1–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.