(Note: This sermon was introduced with scenes 1 and 2 of "Traveling Light," a full length play based on the Gospel of Mark from Lillenas).
When you start something new, it’s always good to start at the beginning. Have you ever gone someplace and felt like you walked in on the middle of something you didn’t quite understand?
My first Narcotics Anonymous meeting back in 1982 was like that. It meet in the fellowship hall of a church in Pomona. The cigarette smoke was so thick you could hardly see from one side of the room to the other. I remember looking at the crowd and feeling a little scared…it was a rough bunch. The meeting started with group members reading the Narcotics Anonymous 12 steps and 12 traditions. Then they had people attending for the first time or in their first 30 days of sobriety introduce themselves, so of course I had to introduce myself. Then they gave out plastic chips to people celebrating various lengths of continuous sobriety: thirty days, sixty days, ninety days, six months. I noticed was also a definite format to the sharing, as each person started by identifying himself or herself by their first name, and then adding, "I’m an addict" or "I’m an alcoholic." Afterwards they all held hands and closed by reciting the Lord’s prayer.As I attended first meeting back in 1982 I remember wishing someone had given me a cheat sheet explaining all the things that they did and said. I felt like an outsider because I didn’t know why they were doing what they were doing. But after I got clean and sober and went to meetings regularly, I learned a lot more about the 12 step movement. I heard AA and NA members tell stories about Bill W. and Dr. Bob, the two founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. I discovered how other 12 step groups like Narcotics Anonymous all sprang from the original work of Bill W. and Dr. Bob. Then I purchased the "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous and was able to about the roots of the 12 step movement and AA.
Now why am I talking about this right now as we launch a new sermon series through the gospel of Mark? Well when new people visit a church for the first time they often feel the same way I felt in my first NA meeting. People who join us for at a weekend service for the first time often wonder why we do the things we do. Why do we take communion, like we did today? Why do some people raise their hands while they’re singing? Why do our pastors teach out of the Bible? Why do people spontaneously stand during the worship times sometimes? Why do we say "Amen" at the end of a prayer? Why do we use the Jewish scriptures as our Old Testament if we’re not Jewish? These are just a few examples of the questions new people have when they visit our church for the first time.
Now fortunately, anyone who’s motivated to investigate these issues by reading the Bible can find answers to these questions. But imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have the Bible. That what it was like for the early Christians.
Think back with me: Jesus launched the Christian movement about 33 AD, almost 2,000 years ago. But the last book of the Bible wasn’t completed until about 80 or 90 AD, which is fifty or sixty years later. So for that fifty or sixty years, people came to church to without a complete Bible to read. They had to rely on sermons, classes, and stories told by church members to learn about Jesus.
This is where the New Testament’s gospel of Mark comes in. When the early church was about 30 years old--just about as old as our church is--the early church noticed that lots of new people were coming to church who hadn’t been alive to see Jesus firsthand. These people felt a bit like I felt going to my first NA meeting, a bit like new people today feel visiting church for the first time. They wondered about why they did the things they did.
This is why Mark his story, to chronicle the origin of the Christian faith. Most Bible scholars believe that Mark’s gospel was the first of the four biographies of Jesus to be written. It was probably written somewhere around 60 AD, which puts Mark’s book about thirty years after Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Mark was not an eyewitness to Jesus, so he writes himself as a second generation Christian. However, several very ancient and reliable traditions tell us that Mark based his story on the recollections of the apostle Peter. You see, Mark was Peter’s personal assistant, so he was familiar with the sermons and stories Peter told. And Peter was an eyewitness to the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.
When Mark wrote his account of Jesus, the Church in Rome was facing some huge challenges. A fire had recently destroyed a whole section of Rome, and the Roman emperor Nero blamed the fire on the Christians. So a nationwide persecution of Christians was imminent. Add to this the fact that Jewish revolutionaries were on the brink of sparking a full scale rebellion against the Romans. Since the Christian faith grew out of Judaism, many Christians were confused as to whether they should support the Jewish revolutionaries or not. The 60s were a dark and dangerous time for any Christian or seeker living in the Roman world.
I’ve called this series Following Jesus in the Real World. You see, Mark doesn’t paint an idealistic picture of what it means to follow Jesus. He’s well aware of the darkness and injustice of our world.
Today we’re going to look at the prologue to Mark’s story, Mark 1:1-13.
1. The Topic of Mark’s Story (Mark 1:1)
Let’s begin in v. 1. Many Bible scholars believe v. 1 is actually the title of Mark’s book. If that’s true, the word "beginning" here doesn’t just apply to the prologue, but it describes the entire book of Mark. And in fact, the word "beginning" can also be translated "origin" or "first cause." Mark writes to help second generation Christians understand how the Christian faith started, the origin of the faith they were living some thirty years later. Mark is going to tell us where and how it all began.
The Christian message is called "the gospel" here. We don’t use the word "gospel" a lot in our culture today. The Greek word "gospel" was originally a journalism word for good news that was officially published for the public to hear. For example, when the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus had a birthday, the Roman government proclaimed that day as "gospel" or "good news." In fact, one ancient Roman inscription says that the birth of Caesar Augustus was "the beginning of the gospel for the world" (cited in Edwards 24). Sounds a lot like Mark’s prologue doesn’t it? Perhaps Mark knew about that inscription and is contrasting the Roman emperor and Jesus. Perhaps he’s saying, "Which gospel will you believe as good news for the world? Caesar or Jesus?"
This "gospel" is about Jesus, who Mark describes in v. 1 as both Christ and the Son of God. The word "Christ" is not Jesus’ last name. "Christ" is a title, not a name. It means "Messiah" or "anointed one." To be the Christ is to be the promised Jewish Messiah. This title is a human title, a title that described Jesus’ humanity as a true human being. All the Jewish people of his day were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. None of the various Jewish groups could seem to agree on what the Messiah would be like, but all longed for the Christ to appear. They debated whether the promised Messiah would be a warrior or a servant, a priest or a prophet, a mystic or a revolutionary. The rest of Mark’s story will show us exactly what kind of Christ he believes Jesus to be.
By also using the title "Son of God" Mark is telling us that Jesus is more than a mere man. As the Son of God, Jesus is also divine. In the ancient world, to say that someone was "the Son of God’ was the same thing as saying, "This person is divine." For example, when the Romans officially proclaimed Caesar Augustus to be a "god", the Romans gave him this same title, "Son of God." So the phrase "Son of God" means more than "child of God" or "creation of God." It’s a claim to deity, to Godhood, to divinity.
What this first verse does is give us the topic of Mark’s story. THE TOPIC OF MARK’S STORY IS THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE.
Mark is telling us how the belief that Jesus was both Messiah and God began.
But Mark also does something else in this first verse. Mark lets us in on the secret of who Jesus really is. You see, throughout Mark’s story all the various characters try to figure out who Jesus is. Even Jesus’ own followers aren’t sure who Jesus is. At first they think he’s only a rabbi, then a prophet, then a miracle worker, and so forth. The only ones who seem to know who Jesus truly is are the demons, and Jesus silences them. So Mark tells us up front where he’s leading, and this foreshadowing will finally reach a crescendo at the end of Mark’s story, when a Roman soldier says, "Surely this man was the Son of God" (15:39). So the origin of the Christian faith is the topic of Mark.
2. The Prelude to Mark’s Story (Mark 1:2-3)
Now let’s look at the prelude to Mark’s story in vv. 2-3. This is a composite quotation from two Old Testament prophets, part from Malachi and part from Isaiah. By citing these Hebrew prophets, Mark is telling us that Jesus didn’t start a new religion. The good news of Jesus finds it prelude from the beliefs of ancient Judaism. The good news of Jesus isn’t a new religion, but it’s a new chapter in the continuing plan of God.
So here we find the prelude to the story. THE PRELUDE TO MARK’S STORY IS THE PROMISE OF THE HEBREW PROPHETS.
The fact that these promises are found in the Hebrew scriptures is proof positive that something new would eventually come. All the Jewish people knew that and were waiting for that something new, and the Christian faith claimed to be the fulfillment of that something new.
3. The Context of Mark’s Story (1:4-8)
That brings us to the context of Mark’s story. The phrase "and so" in v. 4 connects the appearance of this guy named John with the promises of the Hebrew prophets. John’s appearance in the desert is important to set up the context for Mark’s story. To the people of Israel, the desert was a symbol of new beginnings. After God rescued Israel from their slavery to the Egypt, God took Israel through the desert and then ultimately into the promised land. During Israel’s 40 years wandering in the desert, the people faced temptation and testing, but they also learned to trust God. In the desert you found out if your faith was real or fake, strong or weak. The desert described here is the vast and barren wastelands of the Judean countryside (Edwards 29). It was a place of searing wind and blazing sun.
John’s message was a call to repentance so people in Israel could experience the forgiveness of their sins. As a symbol of this repentance people would come to the Jordan river to be baptized by John. Now with 2,000 years of Christian history behind us, water baptism doesn’t seem that odd or strange. But in first century Judaism to tell a Jewish person to be baptized was very strange. You see, the only people the Jewish people baptized were non-Jewish people who converted to Judaism. A non-Jewish person was thought to be spiritually unclean. So they went through a ritual bath to symbolize cleansing of this uncleanness when they converted to Judaism, and only then would they be welcomed among the Jewish people. So for John to call the Jewish to baptism, he was saying that the people of Israel were as spiritually unclean as Gentiles (France 66). This implied that something was terribly wrong with Israel, that Jewish people were spiritually defiled and needed to undergo the same kind of conversion experience that a non-Jewish person needed.
From throughout the region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem people flocked to hear John. Many wondered if John could be the promised one, the Christ. Yet John was quick to point out that he’s just preparing the way for someone else. And whereas John immerses people in water as a symbol of their repentance, the one coming after him would immerse people in the Holy Spirit. John’s baptism in water was a symbol and an anticipation of the real baptism, which would be an immersion in God’s Holy Spirit. The contrast between John’s water baptism and Jesus’ Spirit baptism is a contrast between pre-Christian experience and authentic Christian experience (France).
Now this gives us the context of Mark’s story: THE WORK OF THE PROPHET JOHN.
Mark’s description of John’s work locates Jesus for us within the context of first century Judaism. You see, back then there were almost as many different subgroups within Judaism as there are among Christians today. If you open the phone book to look up churches, the different options can be confusing. Everything from "Catholic" to "Mennonite," from "Apostolic" to "Baptist." I had to take two different classes in graduate school just to understand all these different subgroups, and I still get confused sometimes.
Well, there were almost as many different subgroups within Judaism when Jesus came to the world. There were the real conservative, keep the status quo kind of people. They were called Sadducees. The Sadducees had iron fist control of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. They liked things just the way they were, because they were really rich and in positions of power. The Sadducees were on friendly terms with the Romans, which made them unpopular with the popular people.
Then there were the Pharisees. The Pharisees stressed living a holy lifestyle. Their version of Judaism revolved around the synagogue rather than the Jewish temple. They also focused on the necessity of studying the Bible and learning all the traditions of the Jewish rabbis. The Pharisees were the precursors to rabbinic Judaism, which is the kind of Judaism that’s survived in our time.
Other Jewish groups completely withdrew from society. A group called the Essenes is an example of these groups. The Essenes withdrew to the desert and created a monastery for Jewish people who wanted a pure brand of Judaism. The Essenes believed that the nation of Israel was so corrupt that the only hope was to abandon society and move to the desert. That desert monastery is where a Bedouin boy in the 1950s would eventually discover the Dead Sea scrolls.
Many Jewish groups were overtly political, like the Zealots and the sicarri. Both of these Jewish groups wanted to rise up in a violent revolution against the Romans. In fact, the sicarri were terrorists who got their name from the small daggers they carried around with them to assassinate Roman soldiers and citizens.
Now by identifying with John’s ministry, Mark is distancing Jesus from all these subgroups within Judaism. Jesus doesn’t start up as a Pharisee, or a Sadducee, or a Zealot, or an Essene. He starts by being baptized by John--as we’ll see in a moment--by identifying with John’s call for the entire nation of Israel to make a new start.
4. The Beginning of Mark’s Story (Mark 1:9-13)
This brings us to the beginning of Mark’s story. Jesus comes to the Jordan river in Judea as a stranger from the North. It’s likely that the only person who knows Jesus is John, because Jesus and John are cousins. Whereas most of John’s ministry has been to people in the Judean countryside and Jerusalem, Jesus makes his way down from Nazareth in Galilee.
Now people looked at Galilee as being "the sticks." It was called "Galilee of the gentiles" because there were so many non-Jewish people living nearby. The Pharisees complained that when they tried to start a Bible school in Galilee that the people who lived there weren’t interested. We also know from the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus that Jewish revolutionaries and terrorists often came from the cities around Galilee. In fact, the word "Galilean" was almost a synonym for "revolutionary."
So here walks this Galilean stranger from up north to be baptized by John. As Jesus is baptized by John, you might say "all heaven breaks loose." But notice though that Mark makes a point of telling us that it’s Jesus who sees heaven torn open, Jesus who sees the dove, and Jesus who hears the voice from heaven. We know from other parts of the New Testament that John also saw the dove, but other than John, this seems to be a private experience for Jesus alone. The tearing open of the heavens is reminiscent of many Old Testament promises that looked forward to God’s intervention in human history. The Spirit coming upon Jesus visibly like a dove marks Jesus out as God’s chosen one, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit for the task at hand. And the voice from heaven is a voice of divine affirmation of who Jesus is, the unique and beloved Son of God.
Now it’s very important to note that Mark is NOT telling us that Jesus became the Son of God at his baptism. Notice the voice doesn’t say, "You have become my Son" but it says, "You are my Son." Some non-Christian groups hold to a belief called "adoptionism." Adoptionism is the view that God adopted Jesus as his Son at Jesus’ baptism. According to this view, prior to his baptism Jesus was just like any other guy. But because God was so pleased with Jesus, at his baptism Jesus was adopted by God and he became divine at that moment. This is what many new age groups believe about Jesus.
But Mark’s point here is to tell us that Jesus was already the Son of God and that this reality was affirmed for Jesus at his baptism.
No sooner does Jesus have this remarkable experience than he’s thrust out into the desert by the Spirit for a time of testing. For 40 days and nights Jesus is in isolation, where his calling is tested and questioned. In the desert Jesus encounters evil incarnate in the person of Satan, but he also finds God’s servants ministering to his needs.
This launches us on the story of Jesus, so it forms the beginning of Mark’s story. MARK’S STORY BEGINS WITH THE CALL OF JESUS.
Jesus experienced his calling to public ministry at his baptism.
Now some have wondered why Jesus would need to be baptized by John. The Bible teaches clearly that Jesus was sinless, that he never did anything that was displeasing to God. So Jesus didn’t have anything he needed to repent of, so why submit to John’s baptism of repentance? This is why the other gospels tell us that John says to Jesus, "I need to be baptized by you." A Christian author named Gordon MacDonald captures the point I think when he asks us to imagine the scene of Jesus’ baptism if it took place in the twentieth century. Imagine John’s baptism occurs in our lifetimes, so we go out to be baptized by John. Imagine someone decided to get organized, so they set up a registration table, handing out nametags for each person who wants to be baptized by John. When a person registered for baptism, the person working the registration would ask, "What’s your name? And what sins do you need to repent of?" You’d say, "My name is Joe, and I’m a liar" or "My name is Susan and I’m an adulterer." So each person to be baptized would have a nametag with their name and their sin written on it. My nametag would say, "Tim" and then underneath would be words like "pride," "anger" and "lust." Perhaps your nametag would have "gossip" or "rebellion" or "premarital sex" on your nametag. Then comes Jesus who doesn’t need a nametag, and he asks each of us to take off our nametags. As Jesus prepares for his baptism, he puts our nametags on himself, mine and yours, my name and your name, my sins and your sins. And then Jesus goes into the waters of baptism, identifying himself with our sins, identifying himself with the plight of sinful humanity. That’s why Jesus was baptized by John. To identify with you and your failures, to indicate that he was going to do something about the sins that weigh us down.
Christians believe Jesus is fully God and fully human. That’s the orthodox and biblical view of Jesus, the view taught by the Bible and the view expressed in the creeds and councils of the Christian church.
Throughout history, non-Christians have wrestled more with Christ’s Godhood than with his humanity. But Christians throughout history have struggled more with Christ’s humanity than they have with his Godhood. Most Christians have no problem accepting the claim that Jesus Christ is fully God, coequal to God the Father and worthy of our worship, praise and adoration. But Christians often struggle with the idea that Jesus is fully human, sharing our humanity in every way except for sin. I’ve hear some Christians refer to Jesus as "God in a body." That compromises the humanity of Jesus, because to be human is more than merely having a body. You see, Jesus had all the essential characteristics of humans, including emotions, an intellect, physical limitations, and so forth. Jesus got hungry just like we do, he got irritated just like we do, he wept, he was disappointed. He experienced grief and fear, and virtually every other human emotion. The only difference between Jesus and every other human is that Jesus never sinned.
Because Jesus was fully human, I believe Jesus gradually came to realize who he was. Since Jesus experienced normal cognitive and intellectual development, he came to understand who he was and what his mission was at some point in his life. And I think Jesus’ awareness of who he was become crystal clear for him at his baptism, when he saw the heavens open, the Spirit of God rest upon him and he heard the Father’s voice of affirmation. This calling of Jesus launches Jesus on his public life, a life of teaching and healing, a life that would end on a cross, but a life that would conquer death through the resurrection.
Conclusion
Now what’s the bottom line of what we find in this prologue? It’s this: THE ESSENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS OUR CONVICTION THAT JESUS IS THE UNIQUE SON OF GOD.
Without Jesus as Messiah and Son of God, fully human and fully God, there is no gospel of Jesus. Christians down through the ages have struggled to maintain this balance, between his humanity and his deity. Whenever the humanity of Jesus eclipses his deity or his deity eclipses his humanity, distortion and imbalance is soon to follow. We must maintain this balance to stay biblical.
Recently Christians have experienced a lot of pressure from our culture to stop focusing so much on Jesus. People would rather that Christians speak about God in general rather than Jesus, because Jesus sounds so exclusive and narrow minded. Talking about God is hip and spiritual; talking about Jesus is offensive and exclusive. I thought about this when I watched the memorial service at Yankee Stadium after 9/11, and none of the Christians referred to the name Jesus. In fact, even the New Testament reading out of Romans was purged of the name Jesus at that service. I thought about this when I heard that the Burbank city council voted to forbid Christians giving the opening prayer in council meetings to use the name Jesus in their prayer. I find a similar trend throughout our culture, a trend to persuade Christians to downplay Jesus and to talk about God instead.
Mark’s prologue reminds us that without Jesus there is no Christianity. Jesus as Christ and Son of God, fully human and fully God is the foundation on which we stand.
(Note: This service closed with the Michael Card song "The Nazarene").
