This morning beginning a series that the pastoral team has been wanting to take up for well
over a year… and together we felt that this was the right time.
Series in which we focus on the dynamic sense of breakthrough that Christ has ushered into
our world… and wants for our lives.
Beginning today… through Easter… we are going to engage Christ’s intent for bringing
change… fundamental change to life… as it unfolds in the Gospel of Mark.
• For some this may be an opportunity to return to that radical dynamic that you first
realized Christ brought to bear upon life
• For others… perhaps a first chance to capture the significance of what Christ has brought
to bear in the grand drama of life… and can bring to bear upon your life.
For those less familiar…
The Gospel of Mark is believed by most scholars to be the first written account of Christ’s
life… and the shortest of the four Gospels.
It was probably written sometime in the fifties or early sixties of the first century… relatively
soon after the death and resurrection of Christ… especially when we remember that this point of
history was more oral than written… and authority was initially not a matter of what was
written… but what was witnessed. And so even before being written… this good news bore
the authority of it’s witness… Mark.
It was written by a young man named John Mark, who appears several times in our Scriptures.
His mother was named Mary, and was a rather wealthy woman who had a big house in
Jerusalem. In the twelfth chapter of Acts we are told that the early disciples held a large church
prayer meeting in her house for Peter when he was put in prison. When Peter in miraculously
released he went straight to Mark and Mary’s house because he knew that the other disciples were
gathered there! Some people think this may have even been the house that had the upper room in
it. So as a young man he likely had seen the life of Christ first hand.
After Jesus left this earth, the church in Jerusalem began to grow. Peter was an important
leader. He probably took Mark under his wing and trained and mentored him so that he knew
and understood everything about Jesus. Later he is referred to as an associate of the Apostle
Peter, who speaks very affectionately of this young man -- calls him "Mark, my son" in his first
letter {cf, 1 Pet 5:13}. As such it reflects much of Peter’s memories and experiences with Jesus.
We know that young John Mark was taken by Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary
journey, traveling with them to the island of Cyprus. What good would Mark be on this trip? Acts
13:5 says they had John Mark to assist them. The word used there is the same as the word in Luke
1:2 where Luke says he depended on eyewitnesses and servants of the word. These servants of
the word were people in the early church who were recognized as authorities about Jesus.
They knew stories of Jesus, where he went, what he did, what he said. So if you wanted to know
something about Jesus, ask an eyewitness or a servant of the word. So, Mark went along as one of
these servants of the word, a person who had been trained and who knew the life and traditions
about Jesus.
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> This is the real deal… written by the one who was there when Jesus walked… and who
also had the direct experience of the two greatest leaders… Peter and Paul… to draw from.
And what does he proclaim?
This morning… the opening portion …
Mark 1:1-13 (NIV)
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
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It is written in Isaiah the prophet:
"I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way"--
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"a voice of one calling in the desert,
’Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ "
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And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem
went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
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John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate
locusts and wild honey. 7And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful
than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I baptize
you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
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At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the
Jordan. 10As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the
Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son,
whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
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At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13and he was in the desert forty days,
being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
Bursts open with an announcement … something of a massive breakthrough
was at hand… something determined and declared long ago… something long
waited for…
God had created a world that was good… managed by those who bore His image … but who were
deceived into trying to be like God which led to a ‘fallen’ state… under another domain of rule…
God revealed Himself to Abraham… exiled… enslaved… (Perhaps we don’t naturally relate to
that… freest nation on earth… but from a spiritual perspective…. humankind lies under the
dominion of another kingdom)
Now through the prophets…God begins to say watch and wait… there will be a
breakthrough… but then silence…no prophetic word is spoken for 400 years.
> Then it all breaks forth as a figure rises up in the wilderness… with a
message… to GET READY.
True prophets were “voices,” for their messages were from God.
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Significance of the prophetic fulfillment…
Clearly Jesus’ ministry wasn’t a chance thing.
His life and death fulfilled at least 52 different prophecies to be found in the Old Testament -
prophecies, which we know from the Dead Sea Scrolls, predate the life of Jesus by centuries.
His mission and his ministry had been predicted many centuries earlier. Even down to the detail
of John the Baptist’s ministry as the messenger sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way.
The first of these prophecies came from the book of Malachi -written 400 years before Christ :
("I will send my messenger before you – who will prepare the way." -Mal 3:1)
And the other was from Isaiah 40, written 700 years before Christ:
(“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for
him.”)
Jesus didn’t just “fall into his ministry by chance”. It had been planned years earlier by God.
“By cross-referencing scripture, Mark makes it clear that the gospel is bound fast to
the promise of God in the Old Testament and is a continuation of the story of God’s
saving activity” (D. Garland, p. 43).
Significance of the wilderness…
‘It is a dreary, desolate, forsaken, lonely spot -- even today. The Jordan flows through here, but it
is the only water for miles around. It is a parched and dreary place, rimmed by desert mountains,
barren and sere and dry.
Yet the people of Jerusalem and Judea left their cities, left their recreations and pleasures, and
trekked through this howling wilderness to listen to a man preach. They probably had to walk
twenty or thirty miles to hear John, but did so willingly.’ (R. Stedman)
Josephus, a 1st century A.D. historian, estimated that as many as 300,000 people heard John
preach!
Why…because it represents the barrenness and bondage of our condition… the wanderings…
where God had taken His people before… and led them to a new and Promised Land.
‘Repentance is deeply rooted in the wilderness.
In order to prepare the way for Christ’s coming, God had the people go back to their
beginnings with God...He had them return to the wilderness! Just think of the
Exodus.
Just as Israel had long ago been separated from Egypt...from slavery in Egypt...by a
pilgrimage through the wilderness...John the Baptist is calling them to once again
leave their slavery...their slavery to sin... to enter a new exodus. This for a new
covenant with God.
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It is symbolic in the sense that they were called to return to a place where their
dependence was solely on God. In order to truly repent they...like all of us...had to
exchange their pride for humility!’
And John’s proclamation of the forgiveness of sins gives the people and us the
assurance that God is still willing to extend His grace. Just as the wilderness of the
first exodus became the place of receiving God’s covenant… so this wilderness would
announce the beginning of a new covenant with God.’
(Adapted from Kenneth E. Sauer)
The wilderness is where the people of Israel had nothing else to define them… no
land… no monuments…no prestige.
The wilderness is the place we all have to go… stripped of our own pretense and
power… in order to face ourselves.
Significance of the proclamation…
Breakthrough… that people must be prepared to receive.
This becomes clearer when we capture more of the Scripture that this came from.
Isaiah 40:3-11 (NIV)
A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
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Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
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And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD
has spoken."
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A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
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See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
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He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
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This was a promise of RECKONING and RESTORATION.
What is being described was the role of the emissary who went ahead of a king to
prepare their coming… to clear the way.
• Raising the valleys and lowering the mountains refer in hyperbole to workmen leveling or
smoothing out the roads on which a dignitary would travel when he came to visit an area.
• In order for me to enter the land of your life… you must clear the way… prepare the way.
Comes with reckoning with your need…. and desire for this king of kings to enter our lives.
• IRAQ (Haiti, Nicaragua) – Problems has been a lack of consensus on who should rule…
population is diverse and divided.
Problem within us… God will only liberate when we are prepared to recognize
our need, our role, and our new identity.
If He is to restore what was lost in the Garden when humankind tried to be like
God… then it begins by reckoning with who we truly are… our true human
nature.
If you recognize your true condition, you will repent so that I can restore… you will get low so
that I can lift you up…. you will let go of your life so that I can give you life.
It begins with preparation. It’s a call to reckon with our pride… and to embrace
the true humility that is fitting of our nature.
Captures the multifaceted nature o f humility… harmony of humility….
1. Reckoning with our SIN
John was “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
A new baptism… not of conversion… but of repentance.
• Many had lost their sense of humility before God…. developed a sense of entitlement or
judging God on their own terms.
• Much like our culture today.
‘Repentance has become a rather uncomfortable word…strange outside church circles.
“Normal” people don’t usually talk about repentance.
> Repentance simply means turning away from sin.
“Sin” is a churchy word too. You don’t hear it much outside of church circles. “Normal” people
don’t usually talk about sin.
Sin, at its core, is anything that turns us away from God and the path that he would have us
follow.
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So… it could be described this way…
‘Repentance simply means turning away from sin.… anything that turns
us away from God and the path that he would have us follow… anything
that keeps us away from God by barricading our way into his presence.
Repentance means turning away from that which turns us away from
God. Repentance means taking down the barricades that keep us away
from God.’
Repentance is the outcome of godly sorrow. Godly sorrow isn’t directed
toward myself, it’s directed toward God.
Repentance means returning to the road that God sets before us.
(Chris Tiller - Highway Construction)
A schoolgirl mentioned knowing she was ‘saved’ and someone asked her, “What were you
before?”
She said, “A sinner.”
Then she was asked, “What are you now?”
She answered, “A sinner.”
They asked, “What’s the difference?”
She answered, “I was a sinner running after sin. But now I’m a sinner running from sin.”
Not just any sorrow is godly sorrow. I can be sorry that I got caught. I can be sorry that I made
myself look bad. I can be sorry that I caused trouble for myself. I can be sorry that I was hurt or
made uncomfortable by what I did or did not do, by the direction I went in.
Godly sorrow, the sorrow that leads to repentance, is something different. Godly sorrow isn’t
directed toward myself, it’s directed toward God. In godly sorrow, I am sorry that I caused God
to grieve, that I turned away from him and went in another direction. In godly sorrow, I am sorry
for the pain that I caused God. I am sorry for the price I am causing God to pay to retrieve me
from my sin. In godly sorrow, I’m more concerned about God than myself.
Repentance is the outcome of godly sorrow.
C.S. LEWIS -
“If the universe is not governed by an absolute goodness, then all our efforts are in the long
run hopeless. But if it is, then we are making ourselves enemies to that goodness every day,
and are not in the least likely to do any better tomorrow, and so our case is hopeless again.
. . . Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has
nothing (as far as I know) to say to people who do not know that they need any forgiveness.
It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and
that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that Power - it is after all this,
and not a moment sooner, that Christinaity begins to talk. When you are sick, you will listen
to the doctor.” -C.S. Lewis
The deepest freedom lies in forgiveness from God… but such release requires recognition.
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> You have to do this because one is coming … and what they offer is even greater… but if you
don’t do this… you won’t be ready for that.
In the forefront of John’s call for repentance was his knowledge of the coming of the only One
Who can and will forgive anyone who truly repents of their sins....
FIRST QUESTION: WILL WE RECKON WITH THE REALITY OF SIN…
OF BEING SINNERS?
“And this was his message: ‘After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose
sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”
John’s entire message was about pointing beyond himself to Jesus Christ the Messiah!
2. Reckoning with our ROLE
Every word and action of John the Baptist pointed toward Jesus Christ.
This is where John found his greatest significance.
When John saw Jesus coming toward him he said: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sin of the
world!”
“I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
All true greatness consists of pointing to Someone beyond ourselves.
And that Someone is God.
> Do our lives have a Godward reference?
…or are we self-enclosed and self-absorbed?
Are we pointing beyond ourselves?
Do you remember the old Johnny Carson show? Johnny Carson had a side-kick who opened each
show with a phrase that never varies. Ed McMahon bursts forth the introduction, "Here’s
Johnny!!" Then the talk man comes forth from the wings to entertain his audience and TV
viewers. As the herald of the show, Ed McMahon plays an important role in getting the show
off the ground with gusto.
God wants you in the story more than you can even imagine… but in His story… the part of
the lead character has already been cast. So before we can breakthrough into the life and story
that He has… we have to reckon with our role.
SECOND QUESTION: WILL WE TAKE OUR ROLE AS SERVANTS TO
ONE WHO IS TRULY WORTHY AND GREATER THAN ALL?
3. Reckoning with our true IDENTITY
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Here we see the very launch of Christ’s ministry come with his being baptized by this
prophet like figure.
‘If Jesus is indeed the Son of God, why did he get baptized?
Even John the Baptist struggled with that question. When Jesus first requested baptism, John
refused and correctly stated that he needed to be baptized by Jesus. John was a sinner while Jesus
was not. What was Jesus doing getting baptized?
Think back to the time when you first slept in a tent. Did you do that all by yourself? No. I’m sure
your dad or an older sibling slept in the tent with you. It was their way of assuring you that you
had nothing to worry about. If lions and bears were going to attack your tent, well, your tent mate
was there to protect you. You were in this thing together. When Jesus asked to be baptized, he was
doing something similar. He was taking his place among the people he had come to save. Jesus
was letting the world know that he, the Son of God, had come to stand with sinners, not stand in
judgment of them.
…Actually he came to stand in our place, to take on our sin, and to bear our punishment. Jesus’
baptism, therefore, not only reveals that he is the Son of God, it reveals that he is the Savior of the
world.’ (Daniel Habben)
I would say to you that Jesus associated himself with this baptism as a commitment
to fulfill it.
Jesus’ baptism is a statement of what he is about to do.
Our baptism is a statement about what Jesus has done.
> Submission… Surrender
Then the voice of confirmation….
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As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit
descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I
love; with you I am well pleased."
Followed by Jesus engaging the wilderness head on… 40 days alone…
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At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13and he was in the desert forty days, being
tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
We know from the other accounts that this was a time in which Satan offered him all he had
in terms of this world prestige and power….
> Testing… choosing…embracing.
Many may feel they bear some ‘humble circumstances’… but true humility is a choice to
accept the calling of God above all elese… to honor it as the true voice… more true than all
our fans or all our critics.
The Apostle Paul expressed this in these words…
Philip. 3:8 (MsgB)
“… Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand,
everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant…”
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Paul has figured it our … and realizes he’s found a whole new way of life… He grasped what is
at hand in mark’s opening words / announcement…
THIRD QUESTION: WILL WE EMBRACE THE SACRED CALLING
THAT DEFINES US?
With this event described by mark…something new is breaking through ….
• We move into the New Testament from the Old Testament.
• The ministry of John the Baptist signals that new. God breaks the silence of several hundred
years without a prophet, and John is the first prophet to use baptism as a sign of repentance
and forgiveness.
• The prophets who spoke for God to God’s people are no longer. John the Baptist is the
last of the prophets. Now God speaks directly to the hearts of God’s people through the
person of the Holy Spirit.
• ¨ The temple system with its multitude of sacrifices and the intermediary ministry of the
priests is gone. It is replaced with the new.
• The person of Jesus Christ ushers forth a new age in humankind’s relationship with God.
> The miracle of the new is upon us, but we must join John in the
wilderness… of reckoning.
COMMUNION:
The elements of communion represent that
I am a SINNER to one who is perfect
I am a SERVANT to one who is greater
I have a SACRED CLAIM and CALL that defines me.
Closing…
