A. When you are writing a story, you want to catch your reader’s attention from the very start, right?
1. Here are some opening lines from actual books – some are famous, some not so famous.
2. “If you're going to read this, don't bother.” Choke
3. “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.” The Lost Continent
4. “It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression ‘As pretty as an airport.’ ” The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
5. “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” I Capture the Castle
6. “This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.” The Princess Bride
7. “ ‘Where's Papa going with that axe?’ said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.” Charlotte’s Web
8. “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” A River Runs Through It
9. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” A Tale of Two Cities”
B. But what about the beginning of Mark’s story of Jesus? How did Mark begin?
1. Mark began his gospel with the words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
2. If Mark had intended for his work to have a title, then this beginning sentence would serve that purpose.
3. Just like with the books of Genesis and John, the first word of Mark’s gospel is “beginning.”
4. Mark likely chose to start this way as a reminder that the beginning of the story of Jesus is a continuation of God’s activity in history that started with Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
5. The introduction of Jesus is no less momentous than the creation of the world, for in Jesus a new creation is at hand.
6. In one beginning sentence, the Gospel of Mark prepares us to receive the world-changing story.
7. The story of Jesus isn’t about a philosophy, or about laws, or about social ethics, rather it is about the greatest Person who has ever walked upon the earth, because of who Jesus is and what Jesus accomplished.
8. The earthly ministry of Jesus is historical, actual and factual – Jesus really came, lived among us, and brought about the opportunity for us to have eternal life.
9. The life and ministry of Jesus goes back to the eternal purpose of God that was laid down before the foundation of the world.
10. As we will see, Mark skipped over the eternality of Jesus that John included in his account and he skipped over the birth narratives which Matthew and Luke included, and opened instead with the ministry of John the Baptizer.
C. The word “gospel” is a familiar one to us because it is used to designate the first 4 books of the NT, we call them “The Gospels.”
1. In the NT, the word “gospel” is never a reference to a book, but always refers to the good news of Jesus and His message of salvation.
2. The word “gospel” means “good news” or “glad tidings.”
3. In the OT the word “gospel” is used to speak of military victory, political triumph and physical rescue (1 Sam. 31:9; 2 Sam. 4:10; 18:20-27; 2 Kgs. 7:9; Ps. 40:9).
4. The word “gospel” is also found in a messianic context, where it point to the ultimate salvation of God’s people through the messianic King who was to come (Isa. 40:9-10; 52:7).
5. But the word “gospel” also had a significance to those outside of Judaism.
a. The Gentiles, to whom Mark was writing, would have understood the term to refer to the good tidings of a coming king – an inscription dating back to 9 BC reads: “the birthday of the God Augustus was the beginning of the world of the glad tidings (gospel) that have come to men through him.”
b. So the Romans, who regarded Augustus as their divine savior, spoke of the “gospel” to describe the birth and reign of Augustus.
D. Mark wasted no time in establishing the identity of his subject.
1. He abruptly and bluntly asserted that this good news is about “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
2. These four words that Mark used should be among the four greatest words to our ears.
3. This is the good news about Jesus - Jesus was the name given to Joseph by an angel and is a form of the Hebrew name Joshua which means “Yahweh is salvation.”
4. This is the good news about Jesus Christ – Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name, but is a title which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “messiah” which means “anointed one.”
a. Jesus Christ is the one who would come and administer God’s rule on earth and rescue Israel from all it’s oppressors and troubles – He is not just a king, but is THE KING!
5. But Mark didn’t stop there but went even further – “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
a. To declare that Jesus is the Son of God went well beyond the popular understanding of the Messiah at the time.
b. Mark raised the stakes all the way to make the ultimate claim that Jesus was divine.
c. Jesus was the son with a capital “S” – He is the Son of God, the second member of the Godhead – He was deity in the flesh.
6. Could there be any greater good news than this?
a. With the coming of that message and that Person the world was forever changed.
E. It is not surprising that after stating that his gospel was about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that Mark would immediately point to John the Baptizer, for John’s work constituted the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
1. Mark wrote: 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. 3 A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight! (Mk. 1:2-3)
2. Mark wanted us to know that the good news of Jesus was a fulfillment of prophesy.
3. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the biblical prophets’ longing and visions, and so Christianity wasn’t something completely new, but the completion of God’s long-awaited plan.
4. Mark attributed the prophesy to Isaiah, but what he quoted was from both Isaiah and Malachi.
a. The Jews often quoted several prophets at once, and would name the main one while skipping over the rest, which is what Mark did here.
5. The OT closed with Malachi’s promise that a “messenger was coming to clear the way for the Lord.” (Mal. 3:1)
6. The Jews had been experiencing the silence of God for 400 years while they waited for this “voice” to show up.
7. This idea of clearing or preparing the way was a common practice and experience for earthly kings in ancient times.
a. Josephus described the march of Vespasian into Galilee as utilizing soldiers who went before him, making “the road even and straight, and if it were anywhere rough and hard to be passed over, to plane it, and to cut down the woods that hindered their march, that the army might not be in distress, or tired with their march.” (Josephus Wars 3.6.2)
b. But we can relate to this even today, because when our President travels, advance teams are sent ahead of him to make preparations for security and logistics.
F. And so, John the Baptizer came to make the way straight and smooth for the Messiah.
1. Rather than clearing the roads of physical objects, John sought to remove obstacles of stubborn unbelief from the hearts and minds of sinners.
a. The way of the Lord is the way of repentance, of turning from sin to righteousness, and of turning spiritual paths that are crooked into ones that are straight.
2. Mark wrote: 4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John wore a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
7 He proclaimed, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mk. 1:4-8)
3. Rather than calling him “John the Baptist,” which sounds like he was part of the Baptist denomination, I prefer to call him how the Scripture describes him: John the Baptizer – John the immerser.
4. Mark had no interest in John except for his role as the forerunner of Jesus.
a. Unlike the other gospels, Mark gave no information about John’s parents, birth, or his ethical teachings.
b. For Mark the important thing was that John was the baptizer who appeared in the wilderness and preached a baptism of repentance.
c. Mark also emphasized that John had no interest in promoting himself, but only wanted to point to the One who was greater and more powerful and that John was unworthy to even untie his sandals.
5. The wilderness had great significance in Jewish history – the wilderness was a place of hope and new beginnings.
a. It was in the wilderness that God had met with Israel and having led them out of Egypt.
b. It was in the wilderness that Israel had experienced hardship and danger, and had learned through that testing to trust in the Lord.
6. Mark’s physical description of John fits a man who lived in the wilderness – where clothing fashions were traded for durability and where locusts and wild honey provided for survival.
a. But John’s wardrobe and habits were also part of the signal John was sending.
b. A hairy garment made of camel’s hair that was girded around the waist by a rough leather belt would have designated John as a prophet – like the great prophet Elijah.
c. Malachi had prophesied that an Elijah would be coming ahead of the Lord’s coming (Mal. 4:5-6).
d. But John the Baptizer’s wardrobe and location also were designed to stand in stark contrast to the religious leaders of his day.
e. The religious leaders of Jerusalem were refined, well-dressed, sophisticated, and enjoyed their worldly comforts – not so with John.
f. John’s physical appearance served as a dramatic reminder that the pleasures and pursuits of this world can be stumbling blocks that keep people from repenting of their sin and turning to God.
7. We can only imagine the excitement that drew the crowds out of the cities and towns and drove them to John in the wilderness to hear him preach and be baptized by him in the Jordon River.
a. They had been waiting 400 years for the voice that was to cry in the wilderness to arrive, but now he had finally come.
b. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
c. John’s baptism was a preparation for entrance into the kingdom of God and his baptism was limited to a specific period of time.
d. Later when Paul encountered some people who had been baptized with John’s baptism, he required that they be baptized again in the name of Jesus (Acts 18:24-28).
e. One of the big differences between John’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism had to do with the Holy Spirit that would be given after the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
f. But this one-time act of John’s baptism was different from other ritual Jewish washings.
g. In Jewish practice, the closest thing to John’s baptism was the one-time washing of Gentile proselytes, which symbolized their rejection of paganism and acceptance of the true faith, and allowed the Gentile outsider to become part of God’s chosen people.
h. John’s call for Jews to be baptized was radical because it required them to see themselves as outsiders like the Gentiles.
i. Those Jews who submitted to John’s baptism were acknowledging that they couldn’t just depend on their Jewishness and obedience to the law to save them.
j. That’s why the self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees refused to be immersed by John.
k. Humility and repentance were the keys to being ready for the coming kingdom of the Messiah.
8. And so John came and prepared the way for Jesus.
a. He tore down so that Jesus might build up.
b. John did the plowing so that Jesus could do the planting.
c. John leveled the ground to make a straight path for Jesus to reach the people.
G. Mark then quickly moved from the arrival of John preaching and baptizing in the wilderness to the arrival of Jesus to be baptized.
1. Mark wrote: 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. 10 As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.” (Mk. 1:9-11)
2. The Jews of Jesus’ day expected that the Messiah would come from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish life, but instead, Jesus came from Nazareth where He had grown up in obscurity.
a. Jesus’ journey from Nazareth was about 70 miles.
3. Luke tells us that Jesus was 30 years old when he came to be baptized (Lk. 3:23), which was the age when an OT priest was allowed to enter full-time service (Num. 4:3).
a. John was 6 months older than Jesus, so perhaps John had begun his ministry when he turned 30 and had been preaching and baptizing for about 6 months.
b. Outside of their encounter when they were both in the womb, this is the only meeting between Jesus and John that is recorded in Scripture.
4. The people who saw Jesus come to be baptized would have assumed that Jesus was coming to be baptized just like they were – as sinners in need of God’s forgiveness, but Jesus wasn’t a sinner needing to repent.
5. So, why was Jesus baptized? The reasons for His baptism could include these three.
a. First, in Matthew’s account Jesus said that He needed to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness.
b. Second, Jesus may have been baptized to divinely authenticate His ministry.
c. Third, Jesus may have been baptized in order to identify with all of us – The Hebrew writer tells us that Jesus had to be made like His brothers in all things (Heb. 2:12-14).
6. Mark’s focus was not on the reason for Jesus’ baptism but was on what occurred at His baptism.
a. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, a dramatic scene unfolded, which could be described as Jesus’ commissioning and divine inauguration of His public ministry.
b. Mark says that the heaven’s were torn open – the same Greek word used here was used when the veil of the temple was torn in two when Jesus died.
c. Simultaneously, The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the bodily form of a dove, becoming the unmistakable sign to John the Jesus was the Messiah (Jn. 1:32-34).
d. Then the voice of God the Father thundered from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
e. This is one of the three divine acknowledgements made during Jesus’ earthly life and no clearer evidence to the Sonship of Jesus could have been given.
7. Here’s an interesting question: Does God pronounce sonship on us when we come up from the water as He did on Jesus at His baptism?
a. I believe He does, but just not in an audible way.
b. Galatians 3:26 and 27 says: for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus. For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.
8. It’s also important to acknowledge that the baptism of Jesus is a trinitarian passage.
a. Present at the time of baptism are the three persons of the Godhead all present and in separate forms – Jesus the Son was being baptized, God the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.
b. One God in three persons is truly a divine mystery!
9. Before we move on, let me point out that the baptism of Jesus was a decisive moment in the life and ministry of Jesus.
a. It was the moment of decision as He moved out of obscurity into the public spotlight of God’s divine calling and plan.
b. In that moment of decision and submission to baptism, Jesus received His divine ordination, anointing and approval.
c. John the Baptizer was able to complete his assignment of preparing the way for the Lord, and then declaring that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
d. John the Baptizer had been told by God ahead of time that “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” (Jn. 1:33)
e. Because John the Baptizer witnessed the heavens open and the Spirit descend on Jesus, he was able to give this testimony: “I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God.” (Jn. 1:34)
H. No sooner was the glory of the hour of Jesus’ baptism over then came the battle with Satan.
1. The two events stand in stark contrast to each other.
a. Having received the royal accolades of heaven, Jesus immediately faced the fierce assaults of hell.
b. His coronation by the Spirit and confirmation from the Father are followed immediately by His confrontation with the devil.
c. In an instant after the heavens were opened to Him, then all hell was thrown at Him.
2. Mark wrote: 12 Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving him. (Mk. 1:12-13)
3. In the introductory sermon last week, I mentioned that Mark’s Gospel is characterized by brevity and rapidity, and that is seen clearly in the immediate movement from baptism to temptation, and in the length of Mark’s rendition of the temptation.
a. Mark devoted only two verses to the temptation of Jesus, whereas Matthew devoted 11 verses and Luke 13 verses.
b. Matthew and Luke reveal what the three temptations were and how Jesus overcame them.
c. But because Mark did not spend any time on the kinds of temptations Jesus faced, neither will we.
d. Let’s focus on what Mark did mention.
4. Mark emphasized that the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.
a. The word “drove” or “compelled” fits Mark’s dramatic style, but doesn’t imply that Jesus was resistant to the Spirit’s leading.
b. It does, however, underscore the fact that the Spirit was in control in leading Jesus to fulfill each element of the Father’s plan and that Jesus was fully submitted to the Spirit’s leading.
5. The fact that the temptations took place in the wilderness is significant.
a. The wilderness is a place of loneliness and barrenness.
b. The people of Israel, God’s children, experienced a lot of failure in the wilderness, but thankfully, God’s Son triumphed in the wilderness.
6. Mark mentioned that Jesus was with the wild animals and the angels were serving him.
a. No Gospel other than Mark mentions the wild animals, and I wonder if this was included to minister to the Christians who were facing persecution from wild animals in the arena.
b. I wonder if it was Mark’s way to encourage them that Jesus too faced the wild beasts.
c. But Mark also mentioned that the angels were ministering to Him.
d. For Jesus, those angels may have been shutting the mouths of the lions, like the angel did for Daniel.
e. Perhaps the angels brought Jesus water and food after His time of testing.
f. Certainly, the angels ministered to Jesus by their very presence.
g. When we find ourselves alone or facing temptations and trials, we are never really alone – God and God’s ministering angels are always with us.
7. I think it is also important to mention that the devil’s attacks and temptations came against Jesus right after His baptism and that we can expect the same will happen to us.
a. Satan wanted to try to destroy Jesus’ ministry before it ever got started and Satan wants to try to deter us early in our walk with God before we even get out of the starting blocks.
b. So the devil hit Jesus with His best initial shots, but when they didn’t work, Luke tells us that he left Jesus until a more opportune time. (Lk. 4:13)
c. We can expect the same – we can expect that the devil will come at us early, and again and again, but when temptation lets up, we can’t let down our guard because we know the devil will try again at another more opportune time.
I. I hope you have been inspired by the way Mark began his Gospel.
1. Mark’s message is about the good news that Jesus is the Christ and is the Son of God.
2. This truth was confirmed and declared by John the Baptizer who came to prepare the way for the Lord.
3. One day while John was baptizing in the Jordan River in the wilderness, Jesus came to be baptized by John.
a. During that baptism, heaven was torn open and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove and the Father’s voice from heaven declared, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
4. Then immediately, Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days during which time he was tempted by Satan.
a. Meanwhile he was with the wild animals and the angels were serving him.
5. Today, we are called to follow that Jesus who is the Christ, the Son of God.
a. He is the one who overcame every temptation and was faithful in all things and died on the cross carrying all of our sins.
b. He was raised from the dead, and made many appearances before returning to the right hand of God where He ministers as our faithful high priest.
6. I pray that all of us here today are putting our faith in Jesus.
a. The beginning of each of our journey with Christ includes faith and baptism.
b. As a result of our baptism, I pray that all of us will be empowered by the Holy Spirit and will be assured that we are God’s children and that He is pleased with us.
c. I pray that all of us will come to know Christ more fully and walk in His steps more completely.
d. I pray that all of us will fulfill our calling like John the Baptizer fulfilled his calling.
e. There is no better way to live and there is no greater hope when we die.
f. Let’s be faithful to Jesus, our Servant King until the very end.
g. And let’s get to know Him more and more each day so that we can follow Him better and better each step of the way.
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• Jesus the King, Timothy Keller, Riverhead Books
• The Beginning of the Gospel, Sermon by Nate Shinn, ashlandbiblechurch.com
• Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation, Sermon by Nate Shinn, ashlandbiblechurch.com
• The Time Has Come, Sermon by David Owens
