Unique Things About Jesus #2 Series

Great Lessons from the Life of Christ #2

UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT JESUS

(Mark 1:14-45)

Parallel Passages: Matthew 4:13-22; 8:14-17; Luke 4:14-5:16

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways.”

Do you know what that means? God through Isaiah is saying: “Do you understand that I am not like you. I am different from you.”

Last week we began our study of the Gospel of Mark by looking at one that was really different – he was known as John the Baptist. As we saw, he was the forerunner of Christ and called the people to turn from their sins and be baptized.

John’s job was to point people to One who was really different. To point people to the coming Christ and their need to follow Him, and we will look at a text today that shows just how different Jesus really was. I hope you have read the text, and if you have not, I hope you will go home and read it. As I studied the first chapter of Mark, here is what I discovered about Jesus.

• Jesus preached a message that no one else preached.

• Jesus chose people that no one else would have chosen.

• Jesus taught in a way that no one else had ever taught.

• Jesus touched lives that no one else would touch.

In other words, Jesus was different, and let’s see what we can learn from Him.

Jesus preached a message no one else preached.

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Here in Mark 1, we have Jesus preaching publicly for the first time, and in vs. 14-15 we see what His message is and will be throughout His public ministry – His message - “The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel.”

When Jesus said “The kingdom of God is at hand” or “The kingdom of God has come” – do you know what He meant?

In the mind of the Jew, when they thought about the kingdom of God, they thought about a future event. They thought about a time when the Messiah (the anointed one) would come and establish His rule upon the earth. In their mind, it was a military, a political rule. They believed the Messiah would come and overthrow Rome, end its oppression over the Jewish people, and would establish Israel once again as the great, powerful nation it once had been.

The prophets had spoken of the coming Messiah, and that is what they looked for, longed for, talked about. The Christ would lead them back to their former glory and Israel would once again be the great nation it had been.

When Christ comes on the scene and proclaims that He is the long-awaited Messiah, He was saying that the kingdom had come. And it is not about a physical kingdom and Israel ruling over the nations, but it is about a spiritual kingdom and God ruling in the hearts of mankind. And what people need to do is not stand and fight, but rather repent and turn to God.

You do realize that Christ’s message has not changed. That the message we are to preach is the same message Christ preached – repent of your sins and let God rule in your heart.

Just think about what our world be like if all people everywhere decided they wanted to be a part of God’s kingdom, turned from their sins and lived under the lordship of Christ?

Here were a few of the headlines from this past Wednesday.

• Belmont University student shot while walking in Edgehill park.

• Man sought, accused of Halloween stabbing in Nashville

• Clarksville police search for suspect wanted in vehicle burglary.

Would any of those things have happened if people lived under the Lordship of

Christ? But the fact is, the only control I have is over me, so the question is – How is God’s ruling doing there?

Jesus preached a message no one else preached – the reign, the rule of God in the hearts and lives of people.

Jesus chose people no one else would choose.

Beginning in verse 16, we are told that walking along the Sea of Galilee Jesus sees Peter, Andrew, James and John and says to them – “Follow Me.” And that immediately they left their boats and followed after Jesus.

It is easy to get the wrong impression – if you read this having read nothing else, it is easy to get the impression that this is these men’s first encounter with Jesus and that Jesus walks up to four men He has never seen before and there is something so compelling about Jesus that these men just drop everything and follow Him. That isn’t how it happened. Read John 1 – these men were already disciples of Jesus. They were already spending time with Jesus.