So we have the Gospel of Mark for beginners, this is lesson number two
entitled, Jesus the Divine. And we're actually getting into the text. Let me do
just a little bit of review here from what we talked about last time. We said
the last time, that the text of Mark is divided into three main sections, very
easy to diagram: chapter 1 verses 1 to 13, the introduction of Jesus as the divine
Messiah; chapter 1, verse 14 all the way to chapter 8, verse 26, Jesus proves His
divinity through His teachings and miracles; and then section 3 is chapter 8
verse 27 to 16 verse 20, Jesus proves His divinity through His death, burial, and
resurrection. So a very simple division of the book of Mark. Simple,
straightforward book, whose only purpose is to present Jesus as the Divine Son of
God, and then present you with a decision based on this truth. A very evangelistic
type of book, the book of Mark. Alright, so let's begin with the introduction of
Jesus, Himself, chapter 1, verse 1, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ
the Son of God." Boy, Mark doesn't mince any words, does he? Gets right to the
point in verse number one. It's like the statement of a premise, he starts
with his premise, this is the premise and now I'm going to kind of go ahead and
prove the premise. So let's keep reading verse 2 and 3 it says, "As it is written
in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare
your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight." Here you have the link with the Old Testament, but
notice, unlike Matthew, it's very short. Matthew has passage after passage after
passage, showing Jesus was spoken of in the Old Testament.
Mark, one verse. This Jesus, he says, is the Messiah
predicted by the Jewish prophets of old or spoken by the Jewish prophets of old.
He comes from and He comes through this particular people. These verses
help the readers kind of get a historical and cultural fix on who and
where this Jesus comes from. Imagine, two verses, we state the premise:
Jesus the Divine Son of God, verse two and three; He comes from - the Jewish
prophets have spoken of Him, He's the fulfillment of their prophecy.
In the Old Testament the prophets were the ones who preached and spoke of Him to
prepare the way and also to prepare the people for His eventual coming. Keep
reading, verse 4 to 5 says, "John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and all of the
country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem and they
were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John was
clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and his
diet was locusts and wild honey." Mark links these Old Testament prophets to a
character in their own generation, a person they may have heard of. The people
reading this, back in those days, may have heard of John the Baptist. What
Mark is doing here, he's saying, the prophets said that before the Messiah
would come there would be a forerunner, a person who would come before him to
announce that the arrival of the Messiah was imminent. So Mark says that this
prophecy was fulfilled when John the Baptist arrived on the scene and began
to preach. He dressed like the desert prophets of old, he lived and
worked from the desert, he preached a message of repentance and preparation
for the coming of the Messiah. Verse 7 and 8, "And he was preaching and saying,
"After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down
and untie the thong His sandals. I baptize you with water; but
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." And so he's saying, John baptized with
water those who repented, those who heard his message and through water baptism or
through the water baptism of John, God transferred forgiveness.
Theologically here, Mark is saying that God offered forgiveness to all who
received John's baptism. Snd the idea was that if they came to John and
his baptism, they were getting ready, they believed the message that the kingdom
was imminent and they were getting ready for it by doing this act. Now,
somebody may say, well, but Jesus didn't die yet, how are their sins
forgiven? Well, we use this expression, the sins were sent forward,
their sins were sent - were they atoned for yet? Well, no. Jesus
didn't die, but through faith they understood that their sins were,
kind of, moving forward until the day when Jesus would ultimately die for them.
Mark also says that when Jesus would come, He would transfer other blessings,
not just the forgiveness of sins, but other blessings, but He would transfer
them, not through water, but through the Holy Spirit. So forgiveness and the
Holy Spirit was received through water baptism, we know that, Acts 23:8 right, but
the power to overcome sin in Romans chapter eight, verse 13, or the power to
do miracles in Acts chapter 19, verse 6, or the power to minister, First
corinthians 2:11, or the power to resurrect and live eternally, Romans 8:11.
All of these things are transferred to us through the Holy Spirit, not through
water baptism. Mark is really making a distinction here.
He says, yeah, John came, John did a good thing. John was
explaining to get ready for the Messiah, people were being baptized with
water and that, of course, signified their faith, their sins were forgiven, but there
was much more to come. The things that I've just mentioned and the things to
come would be transferred through the Holy Spirit, not through the water
baptism. Jesus immerses or baptizes with the Holy Spirit. How does He do that?
Well, He does that by preaching the word to us. We're immersed in His
word, John 6:63 and how else does He give us the spirit? Well, He sends Him to dwell
within us, Acts 2:38. He seals us, guarantees us, with the Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 1:13. I'm not reading those passages, I'm merely referring to them. I
just want to stay in Mark. As far as Mark is concerned, just one
verse, but what he says in that verse is quite significant. Later on when people
look back, they see that what he's saying is quite significant. Now we go to
verse 9 and 10 it says, "In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, was
baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water
he saw the heavens opening up and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon Him."
The question is, why was Jesus baptized? In Matthew chapter 3, verses 13
to 15, in Matthew it says, or Jesus is saying, "It is fitting for us to fulfill
all righteousness." So John the Baptist had to baptize all of those who were
preparing for the kingdom of God and separate them from their sins. Jesus
comes along and He's baptized. Why is He baptized? Jesus
is making His entry on the world scene, in order to establish His kingdom.
His baptism was in connection with the kingdom,
not to separate Him from sin, he had no sin, but rather His separation from His
family, His separation from the world, His separation ready to do the work of God
and to pursue His ministry. His baptism signifies the beginning of His
public ministry and the end of His private life. His baptism legitimizes
and blesses every one of John's baptisms, as well. Because John is promising when
the Messiah comes he's going to baptized with the spirit. What happens? The
Messiah does come, the Messiah is baptized like a good Jew, but then there
is the witness of the Spirit about Jesus's baptism, which then confirms
everything that Mark was - or that John was saying would happen in the future
when the Messiah would come. Verse 11, "And a voice came out of the heavens, you
are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased." John pointed to
Jesus as the one who was spoken of. The one who was to come. Now the Godhead,
itself, bears witness to this. All of the Godhead is represented here - the father
speaks, he calls the Son beloved, because of who He is and what He will do and how
it will affect others. The Son is incarnate, meaning He is visible as a
Jewish man. And the Holy Spirit appears as a dove. It's the only time in the
Bible that all three appear and are manifested at the same time and in the
same place. Very unique moment, the baptism of Jesus. And why wouldn't it be?
I mean, He's stepping forward, this is His introduction. You go
to a show and they introduced, this is the star of the show, the band is playing,
lots of fanfare, the lights are flashing, right? The big introduction.
Well, this is a pretty big introduction, the Godhead is present in visible
form. Verse 12 and 13, and by the way, this, if you're wondering what kind
of study is this? This is a textual study of Mark, line by line, verse
by verse. I'm going to cover every single verse until the end, that's why I'm
reading all of them and we're kind of moving through it. And that's why I'm
saying to you, read ahead. It's not a long book, you'll be familiar
with the material. So verse 12 to 13 it says, "Immediately the spirit impelled Him to
go into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness 40 days, being tempted by
Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him."
The temptation of Jesus in the desert, Matthew chapter 4, verse 1, tells us that
Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert 40 days 40 nights, in order to be
tempted by the devil. And in Luke chapter 4, verse 1-2, Luke says that He was
continually tempted while there for 40 days and 40 nights. It's not like He
was kind of hanging around for 40 days and 40 nights, and then on the last day
Satan shows up. No. He was continually tested, for the
40 days and the 40 nights. We get a glimpse here, a glimpse of part
of what He experienced. We have a record of the temptations, but the full
impact came as Satan continued to tempt Him as time wore on. They talk
about the wild beasts, the wild beasts could be the evil spirits. We have to
understand the word "tempt" means many things. It can mean - in the way
that it's written - it can mean to test or to examine. To tempt doesn't only
mean to seduce. The word in the Greek does not just mean to seduce
someone, because when you're seducing someone, what are you doing? You are going,
you are - what's the word I'm looking for, you are locking in, if you
wish, to some evil in that person and trying to get them to compromise
themselves. Seduction, a temptation, some evil within the person, lust or greed, or
whatever. This is not what is happening
to Jesus. He's without sin, he has no sin, there's nothing in Him to appeal to.
Jesus is being examined, that's the test. He's being - when you go
to school, you're having a test. Jesus was being tested, He was
being examined, concerning sin. Jesus, God's Son, could not fail in being
able to resist sin, but He had to experience the suffering that goes along
with the test. He was tested and examined like we are, Hebrews 4, verse 15. There
was a physical test. Forty days and forty nights in the desert, there's the hunger
and the weakness, the loneliness, the beasts. Then there's the moral test,
confrontation with Satan. Someone says, well, if Jesus couldn't fail, why the
test? Perfectly good question. The test is to prepare Jesus to be our high priest,
Hebrews 4 verse 14 to 16, to be our intermediary by virtue of His experience.
Jesus could be the perfect representative for man by virtue of His
sinlessness. He could also be the perfect sacrifice and then by virtue of His
experience, He could perfectly sympathize with men's problems. The Lord understands
what it's like to be weak and hungry and tired
and then face an exam, a test, a temptation, a moral dilemma. He
understands that. In verse 13b, it says, - the physical test, sorry -
there we go, God ministers to Him after the testing is over. I didn't read that.
They provide food. He really suffered physically. He needed the food and the
angels are there. He suffered emotionally and spiritually and He required the
company of other beings who understood His ordeal. He doesn't have
any apostles yet, no disciples. His family doesn't get it. He's all by Himself, so
the angels are there to comfort Him. A couple of things, Jesus's temptation
offers a couple of good lessons for us in our Christian walk. The first
one is, be careful. Be careful when you get to a peak, spiritually. We're
especially vulnerable after a spiritual or physical or emotional peak. For
example, Jesus's baptism was a peak, was a high point in the beginning of His
ministry. And pride would be a danger. We are also vulnerable when we're
in the valleys, we're sick, tired, suffering. Jesus had fasted
for 40 days. Discouragement can be a danger. You overcome some
temptation or some trial or you've worked hard in serving or
ministry, and you're wrapping it up and it's been a great success. Right
at that moment you're usually vulnerable. At that moment, top of the world,
that's a very, very dangerous moment. But then again, down in the valley, you're
tired, you're vulnerable to discouragement, to sorrow, to quitting.
Also, when tested, we need to immediately rely on God and His Word for help and
safety. Don't trust your own wisdom. Jesus does provide a way of
escape. Jesus does provide a way to deal with the temptation, with the test. A lot
of people think that the only way that Jesus will deal with a test that you're
facing is by removing the test. Like if you're sick, the only way
you think He's going to deal with it is that He's going to make you
better. Or if you're lonely, the only way that He's going to deal with that is
find you somebody so that you're not lonely anymore. Well, yeah, that is a
solution, but that's not the only solution. Sometimes He's able to help,
well He's always able, but sometimes what He'll do is enable you to be lonely
without being discouraged, without being in despair; or if you're ill, the illness
persists, but somehow you have the strength to bear with it.
Also, be prepared. Jesus was prepared for His ministry, through trial and testing.
And so are we. Don't get mad, don't be impatient, discouraged, let the
test work on you in order to help you become perfected. It's necessary to go
through trials to show our faith. It's very hard to witness for your faith when
you're on top of the mountain. It's usually when you're down in the
valley that your best witness for your faith, and actually it's when you're in
the valley that other people are impressed by your faith. When you've
got it all, your kids are healthy, everyone's happy, got a great marriage,
money in the bank, your car's functioning properly, you know what
I'm saying. There's no witness there. Where's the witness. No witness unless
you say, thank you, God. It's when things are, when the
roof caves in, and when there's trouble, that's when people are paying attention
to how you deal with that stuff. That's where your witness becomes powerful. And
then, of course, remember, the Lord does provide. He does provide for you during
and after the trial, if you lean on Him. Mark introduces Jesus
in just a few verses and he establishes Him as a divine being. He arrives,
according to prophecy. At his baptism there is a supernatural sign of His
identity. In the desert He demonstrates His power over sin, and then He receives
ministry and communes with the angels. Well, I don't know about you, but that's a
lot of evidence pointing to this person being someone
rather special. At this point there's no doubt in the readers mind as to the
nature of Jesus and what Mark is saying about Him. He said, in verse 1, remember I
told you, Jesus the Divine Son of God. And now he's going to go about proving it.
So now we're going to move on to Jesus' divinity, proven through miracles
and teachings. Jesus, Himself, will establish His divine authority by
announcing the time and the terms of salvation. Imagine who's got - who, other
than God, has the right to determine when and how people are going to be saved? Who,
other than God, has the right to say to people, this is how you go to heaven.
This part of Mark, Jesus begins to do that. Let's keep on reading, Mark
1, "Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee,
preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel." Again, notice Mark, I mean, four or
five words talking about John the Baptist. He talked about John the Baptist
and now it say, he's in prison, and he just keeps rolling along. It
doesn't spend any time, no details, no details. So here, the key is, what's he
preaching? John preached, prepare, the time is coming. Jesus preached, the time
is now. That's the difference in their preaching. The term fulfilled equals -
a cup is filled to the brim - and so Jesus begins to preach, the time is
now, after John the Baptist is arrested, that's the point that Mark is making. The
core of his message was, now the kingdom of God is at hand and salvation is at
hand. And the response to Him and His message at that time: belief, verse 15;
repentance, verse 15; and then baptism, John chapter 4, verse 1 and 2. That's how
people were responding to Jesus' preaching. They believed Him. They repented,
because that was the message: the kingdom is at hand, repent. And people were being
baptized. Jesus carries on John the Baptist's ministry of baptizing
believers. Today the message is fuller, it has more details, but
essentially it's pretty much the same. What do we say? Now is
the time to be saved. And the response, pretty much the same isn't it, in 2016.
People who hear the message, how do they respond? They believe, Mark 16:16, they
repent, Acts 2:37-38, they're are baptized in the name of Jesus, Acts 2:37-38. Hasn't
changed. We mentioned that young, that young teenage boy, he was baptized this
week, Mike Coghill baptized him this week, sometime. He did exactly the same thing
that - Bud, how long you been a Christian, 50 years 60 years, even more. I
didn't know you were that old, but anyways. So 70 years ago this
brother became a Christian. How did he do it? Well, he believed, and he
repented, he was baptized, and fast forward 70 years, a young preteen out
there, he wants to become a Christian. How does he do it? Exactly the same way.
Nothing has changed. Jesus establishes His authority by announcing
that salvation is possible, it is at hand. And He also establishes what the proper
response is going to be, this is what you have to do, verses 16 to 20, "As he was
going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon,
casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow
Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and
they followed Him. Going on a little further he saw James, the son of Zebedee
and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He
called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired
servants and went away to follow Him." Remember, Mark is recording Peter's
recollections of his life with Jesus, and so
here, he briefly describes his call, along with his brother and other local
fishermen who were called. It's amazing, I don't want to spend too much time on
this, but we mystify the calling of all the apostles, I mean, they were
neighbors. Some of them were His relative, cousins. Well, who else would He
call? people He knew. People who had followed Him already for a time. There
are different stages in the call of Jesus. This wasn't Peter's first
contact with the Lord. For example, this is - I'm not going to read the
passages, but i'll give you the pattern. So there's a general call to
discipleship, and an example of that is in John 1:35-42. Here, the first
contact with - Peter has his first contact with Jesus while he and his brother were
disciples of John the Baptist. So they were disciples of John the Baptist first
and then they heard about Jesus. Jesus begins to teach them personally.
First, as disciples, next stage, Jesus calls Peter to a specific ministry, here
in Mark 1:17. The verb "follow" means to follow closely with a desire, to find or
to make a search. At first he follows to be edified and to be taught, now he
invites Peter to search Him, to find out who He really is. In searching and
finding who Jesus is, meaning, he finds out that Jesus is divine. Peter will
become a Fisher of Men. Peter and the others will want to tell others about
Jesus's divinity, and of course they did. And then third stage, Jesus confirms the
call. We read about this in Luke chapter 5. Jesus performs a miracle in Peter's own
boat and this elicits a confession of faith in Jesus's divinity, because Peter
then calls him, Lord. Get away from me Lord, I'm a sinner, I'm not
worthy of you. And now this time they don't just leave
their boats, they leave everything behind to follow. It isn't that Jesus is
walking along, sees Peter for the very first time and says, hey, you come
follow. No. Peter followed John the Baptist and heard the teaching
and then John the Baptist points to Jesus. Now he's listening to Jesus,
he sees them, he's around, he knows who He is. And
then one day Jesus is, hey I need your boat. I need to teach the people, come on
let's get in the boat. Okay, sure. They go to the boat and He teaches the
people. Then Jesus said, well, let's go get some fish. Then Peter says, oh
we tried to fish all night, didn't work, we're tired,
it's time to go home, but because you say so, he's
been listening to Jesus now, out of respect, and
what happens, right? He catches this huge catch a fish. Then all of a
sudden, he starts putting together everything that John the Baptist said.
You know how it is, you have all the information, then one day it all kind of
snaps together and the light goes on. Well in Peter's boat, the miracle
of the fish that he catches, all of a sudden it all snaps together. Oh wait a
minute, you're the Messiah. Oh! And you're here in my boat. Oh Lord, I'm
not worthy of you, please, I'm a sinner. So what does Jesus say, it's
okay, I'll make you a Fisher of men. So it's gradual, just like it's gradual for us. We
didn't become Christians the first day we heard the gospel, very rarely happens
that way. Some people follow Jesus because His teachings are good, others
follow because they are followers and Jesus is as good or a better leader than
others, and then the apostles and all the disciples, they follow Jesus because
they've come to believe that He is the Divine Son of God, who does have power.
Now we begin the section where Jesus will
demonstrate His divinity through a series of teachings and miracles.
Mark, in his style, he alternates between these two aspects, in his narrative on
Jesus's life. We go to chapter, or verse 21 and 22, where he lists a
teaching first, he starts with the teaching, he says, "They went into Capernaum; and
immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They
were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority,
and not as the scribes." His teaching in the synagogue was basically what is
contained in verse 15, the kingdom is now. Always the same message. Mark
records the reaction, they were amazed. It means they were struck by the
extraordinariness and the unexpectedness of something. And this is
always the effect of Jesus's teaching to the people. In Matthew 7, in the Sermon on
the Mount, and in John 7:46, the soldiers, they couldn't arrest Him,
because they were amazed. Why didn't you arrest this guy? Well, nobody
ever spoke like Him, we were dumbfounded, we couldn't arrest this guy. So they were
not amazed at His style or His delivery, they were amazed at the content and that
He taught with power of authority. In other words, He knew what He was talking
about. You have to understand, the style of the rabbi's, at the time, was to
argue back and forth, quoting other rabbis in order to make their point.
There was a topic and one would say, well, according to Rabbi Hillel -
and then the other rabbi said, yes, but Rabbi so and so,
well, he said this, well another - they were always referring to other people
back and forth, right. But Jesus said, on the question, is it really sinful
to carry two sticks on the Sabbath. The two rabbis would go back and forth, is it
a sin to carry two sticks on the Sabbath, is that really work or not? What does
Jesus say? Jesus says, the Sabbath is made for man,
not man for the Sabbath, boom, argument closed. He brought a higher and deeper
and truer insight and thus spoke with power. So then, we go to another -
Mark, the way he lays out his script, the teaching, then he
follows with miracles, verses 23 to 44. Not going to read all that, I don't have time.
The powerful teaching is now followed by a demonstration of five powerful
miracles: first the casting out of an unclean spirit, now an unclean spirit is
a demon, one without purity, the spirit speaks, the man is controlled by
the spirit, gives us insight into demons. They have personality because
we see the demon express itself, it has intelligence, the demon knows about
Jesus. It has power, because it possesses the man. A demon has will, because he
wanted something. Jesus refuses to accept the testimony of the demon,
because demons are unworthy to do - some people say that, why wouldn't Jesus let
the demons talk, they're saying He's the Lord, they say He's Jesus. Because they're
not worthy to make that - they're not worthy to speak His
name. That's why he tells the demon, no, be quiet. And also, if demons
say who Jesus is, that confuses the people. I mean people would be
confused if the demons are talking about Jesus. Well, now, I mean, wait a minute, is
He good or bad? The demons are talking about Him. So in this healing,
where He casts out an unclean spirit of the man, we'd noticed if we had the time to read it, He
does this with just a command. No incantations, no potions, no lights, no
yelling, no manipulation, no bargaining. Do you really, really believe?
He just said, come out of it, boom. That's the end of that. It's like the military,
right? Do generals yell? Four-star generals don't yell. Why? They have power
and they know they have power. They just say, this goes here, you go there.
Corporals yell, they don't have a lot of power. So the people are amazed.
It's the same reaction as the teaching, they're amazed because he teaches with
power. They're amazed because he defeats the most vicious demons with just a
command. Casting out spirits, just go ahead here, he heals Peter's mother-in-law,
for example. Peter is a married man, the woman is very sick. When He heals
her, the Bible says, immediately she got up and began serving them, meaning the
healing was complete. We read about Him healing all of the people that would
come to Peter's house, for example. A very short description here, He just says all
these people were coming and he was healing them, of all kinds of diseases.
Mark doesn't even bother listing the diseases. And then in the next section
here, in verses 35 to 39, we see more teaching and the confirmation of more
miracles. The teaching to establish His identity and requirements, the miracles
to confirm His authority and power. He teaches and people are going, wow, that's
really good. Then He does a miracle. Well, why is the miracle there? Well, to confirm
the teaching, to confirm the teaching. And then, of course, in verse 40 to 45 He - let
me go there - He heals the leper. Leprosy was an incurable disease. It was
physically debilitating in various stages, where the skin and the body parts
have sores, they dry up, and they fall off. It was socially crippling as
well. You weren't allowed in the temple. It was a total life of quarantine, it was
hard to put it, you had to put your hand over your mouth whenever you were in
public and say, unclean, unclean, nobody could come near you by mistake.
This man comes to Jesus to be healed, had great faith in Jesus' power. And Jesus
touches him, which wasn't allowed. And the man is healed. He heals his
disease, but he also heals his self-esteem, as well. Jesus tells him
to have his healing confirmed and certified by the priests first, without
revealing how it happened. This was the law, the priests would give permission to
the person who is healed to go back to Temple worship. In other words, it
was your way of kind of getting a certificate saying you're healed. You
can now go back to your ordinary life, back to temple worship, back to normal
social interactions, but if we read this passage, you'd see the man was so excited
that he couldn't wait and he created a stir among the public, to the extent that
Jesus could no longer go into heavily populated areas or else He'd be mobbed
by people who wanted healing. So Jesus has established Himself as one who
speaks with authority and who demonstrates power. The people are now
coming to Him, to see Him, and to hear Him. In the next sections that we're
going to cover, we're going to see Jesus continue this demonstration, but now what
Mark is going to do is, he's going to begin recording the opposition. So far no
opposition. They're like, they're like a train, they're just going
down the track, teaching, healing, everyone's amazed, but next in our
lesson, we're going to see the opposition starts to come. And we'll see
the conflict beginning to come about as well. Okay, that's our lesson for this
time. Thank you very much for your attention.