Dakota Community Church
March 01, 2009 am
Whatever!
Mark 1:9-15
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
"And just as (euthus –– immediately) he was coming up out of the water" (v. 10a). Mark uses this word, euthus, more than the other three Gospel writers put together. It means immediately or directly. The NRSV "just as" fails to convey its abruptness –– its immediacy –– its directness –– its decisiveness.
"Coming up out of the water" suggests immersion baptism, as does the Greek word, baptizo, which means "to dip, to immerge, to submerge, to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, or to overwhelm" (Thayer, 94).
"Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the wilderness is probably related to the baptismal scene. In the baptismal scene we hear clearly who Jesus is. He is the Son of God. In the wilderness is revealed to us a major task of the Son of God. He will overthrow the rule of Satan and bring in the fulfilled time of salvation" (Jensen).
Mark 4:13-15
Then Jesus said to them, "Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
While Mark doesn’t describe specific temptations, Matthew (who uses Mark as one of his sources) will tell about three temptations: (1) to make bread from stones (2) to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple and (3) to worship Satan (Matthew 4:3-10).
"He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan" (v. 13a). Forty is a number often associated with intense spiritual experiences. God caused it to rain for forty days and forty nights to cleanse the earth (Genesis 7:12). The Israelites were in the wilderness forty years. Moses spent forty days and nights on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:18; 34:28), and Elijah journeyed forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).
"and he was with the wild beasts" (v. 13b). It seems odd that Mark would mention Jesus being with wild beasts. While a number of species make the desert their home, they tend to be reptilian rather than mammalian –– quiet, hidden, unobtrusive. The desert appears to be barren –– empty. Why would Mark mention wild animals? While some scholars have suggested that Mark intends to show Jesus living peaceably with wild animals, most reject that notion and see the wild beasts as allied with Satan:
“‘With the wild animals’ (meta ton therion). This phrase, distinctive to Mark’s account, holds the key to his temptation narrative. ’Wild animals’ intensify the foreboding character of the wilderness…. They frequently appear in league with the forces of evil…. Hostility marks their relationship with humanity after the fall" (Guelich, 38).
Mark’s Gospel was probably written in the 60s when Nero was having Christians torn to pieces by wild animals. "Given the ravaging of Christians by ferocious animals during Nero’s reign, it is not difficult to imagine Mark including the unusual phrase ’with the wild beasts’ in order to remind his Roman readers that Christ, too, was thrown to wild beasts, and as the angels ministered to him, so, too, will they minister to Roman readers facing martyrdom" (Edwards, 41). If this Gospel was, as seems likely, written during or shortly after that period of persecution, we can be sure that the mention of wild animals did not bring to mind the peaceable kingdom to Mark’s first readers.
So Jesus is baptized and God voices approval from heaven and immediately the Holy Spirit leads him out into the wilderness.
1. Life is full of peaks and valleys.
In the natural realm.
First the joy of White Christmas, followed by the bills and freeze of January.
First the thrill of the wedding and honeymoon, then that first year of learning to live together.
The birth of a child, the sleepless nights.
Landing the dream job, going to work everyday.
Winning the national championship and then saying good bye to the team as the season ends.
In the spiritual realm.
There is a phenomenon well known amoung preachers known as Monday morning meltdown. After a great day ministering to people on Sunday many of us wake up doubting our own value to anyone for anything let alone to God for His service.
We saw this reality in the life of Christ in today’s text; here are a couple more examples.
Mark 9:2-19
After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"
Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.
And they asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"
Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."
When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
Matthew 21:9
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
"Hosanna to the Son of David!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
Later that same week:
Matthew 27:20-23
But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
"What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
If the Lord experienced these kinds of realities of life on a fallen planet why do we believe we should be immune to them?
At no time was Jesus failing to please the Father or out of His will in anyway and yet we tend to think in hard times that we have failed God somehow or life would be better.
Even though most of us would choose to live our lives on the peaks exclusively if we could:
2. Danger abounds at every elevation.
On the mountain tops there is the constant threat to forget God as we enjoy a life at ease. This is something God warned the children of Israel about when they were leaving their time in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 8:6-18
Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
God knows that when things go well we tend toward crediting ourselves. Even when we do good works and serve others we tend to see it in light of the reward we deserve rather than credit the righteousness of God which makes it possible.
In the darkest valley we can begin to think that God has failed us or abandoned us or does not care about our fate forgetting that death on a cross is the measure of his love for us even while were yet sinners.
Isaiah 49:14-16
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me."
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
I felt God’s presence on the moon more than I have ever felt it here on earth.
- Astronaut James B. Irwin
Proverbs 30:7-9
"Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ’Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
3. The secret “whatever”
Philippians 4:10-13
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
For portions of this message I wish to acknowledge my debt to Pastor Dick Donovan for his sermon entitled, "Ups and Downs."
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
