Awesome Authority - Mark 1:14-34 Series

Authority

We live in a culture that hates authority. Part of that comes from the natural, prideful, rebellious human heart. And part of it comes from the fact that so many of us have been under terrible authorities who abused their authority. But the truth is, life is most wonderful when you are under a good, wise, powerful, compassionate authority, and you are submissive to that authority.

Jesus is the Promised King

In v.15 of ch.1, for the first time in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus speaks. Jesus goes out and begins preaching, and his message is summed up in this verse. These are the first words we hear out of Jesus’ mouth in the book of Mark.

Mark 1:15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!" You take everything Jesus preached and boil it down to one sentence – that’s it. Every time a Bible writer summarizes Jesus’ message in a single sentence, it’s the same – he preached about the kingdom of God. Every preacher has his hobbyhorse – for Jesus it was the kingdom of God, because that’s what the entire Bible is about. On page 1 of the Bible God creates man and talks to him about ruling the world. But right away there is a problem. Mankind rebels against God’s rule and sets up his own kingdom on earth that is opposed to God’s kingdom. So you have two kingdoms – God is reigning in heaven, but human kings on earth are trying to establish their own authority.

So then God comes up with a plan to deal with that, he puts the plan into place – that’s what the whole rest of the Bible is about – God carrying out that plan for dealing with that rebellious, earthly kingdom. Then you skip ahead to the very end of the Bible at the climatic conclusion of the whole story.

Revelation 11:15 "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

That’s where all of history is going. So what is God’s big plan for bringing all that about? It’s in Psalm 2.

Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 3 "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."

There’s that rebellious, earthly kingdom. And what’s God’s plan for that?

6 "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Then the Messiah begins speaking.

7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron scepter.”

God’s plan for dealing with the rebellious kingdom is to anoint his own human king to defeat them, eliminate all rebellion, and reign over all. That’s the promise in Psalm 2, and the people have been waiting for the Messiah, the Son of God from Psalm 2, to arrive and establish the kingdom of God on earth and eliminate evil and all rebellion against God. They have been waiting for hundreds of years. Then along comes Jesus, God speaks from heaven and confirms, “Yep, this is my Son.” And then Jesus goes around preaching, “15 The time has come! No more delay. The kingdom is here, because I am here, and therefore everyone everywhere must repent and bow the knee.”

But Jesus Doesn’t Seem Powerful

But does Jesus really have that kind of authority? This guy from nowhereville (Nazareth) – no political power or connections, no army, no money, no position of leadership in the religious system. The Spirit of God came down on him, but he doesn’t come swooping down as an eagle or hawk, which in that culture symbolized victory on the battlefield. Instead he comes down as a dove, which was a sacrificial animal for poor people.

And look at what happens to John the Baptist in v.14. He gets arrested by Herod. If you’re the great ruler of the kings of the earth, why is some petty gentile king slapping the cuffs on your number one guy? And that same terminology is used many times to describe Jesus’ arrest later on. And guess who else gets arrested in the book of Mark?

Mark 13:9 You must be on your guard. You will be arrested … and flogged 11 … and brought to trial

So this great King and all his followers just end up getting arrested by their enemies? That doesn’t sound like the ruler of the kings of the earth. Does this humble, lowly Jesus character have authority or not? And if so, what is the extent of his authority? Those are the questions Mark wants to answer at the beginning of his Gospel.