Discipleship 101: The
Good News and the Mission of God
Mark 1:1
Introduction: We
started over the last two weeks our series in Mark, but, for Palm Sunday, Good
Friday, and Easter, we jumped ahead to the ending of Mark. Do you start at the
end when you read a book? Well, maybe… but not today! Today, we begin at the
beginning. Some famous first lines
in literature sound familiar: “Call me Ishmael...” from Moby Dick by
Herman Melville. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”
from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Here’s a tough
one, [you may find it a bit transparent…] “I am an invisible man” from Invisible
Man by Ralph Ellison (1952). The most famous and recognizable
“beginning” in all of literature may be the opening words of the Bible, Genesis
1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...” For the
Jews, the opening words of the Biblical books were even more recognizable,
since they also served as the “title” of the book. Mark’s opening may intentionally
evoke the opening line, and hence the title, of Genesis, perhaps to alert the
reader to the significance of the story that he is about to present...
“The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
It is
a new beginning, the beginning of the ministry that would make possible a New
Creation. It was an awesome moment in God’s unfolding story, the history of
redemption. There is no genealogy of Jesus in Mark, no birth narrative. Mark
points immediately to the pinnacle of God’s plan of reconciliation which is
found in the sending of the Son, and he starts His narrative at the beginning
of Jesus’ public ministry.
Why study this gospel when we have three others that are longer,
seemingly more complete? The first answer is that it is God’s Word, and God,
in His sovereignty, chose to give us four accounts of the life and
ministry of Jesus. None of them is a complete biography, but each one
brings a message with unique emphases. And all four Gospels urge the reader to believe
in Jesus and to follow Him. Most of Mark, at least 90%, is also contained in
Luke and Matthew. Even so, Mark’s unique, action packed telling of the story
of Jesus has a message and emphasis that we need to hear. Tradition tells
us that the writer of this gospel is John Mark, probably the same Mark
who is commended by Peter as his spiritual son at the end of I Peter
(5:13). The ancient church universally agrees that Mark wrote his gospel based
on the preaching and reminiscences of Peter.
We meet Mark first in the book of Acts. After Peter is released miraculously
from prison in Acts 12, he goes to “...the house of Mary, the mother of John
whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying...”
(Acts 12:12). He is apparently the young man who left the missionary team
in Acts 13:13, and the one over whom Paul and Barnabas split in Acts 15:37-40.
A few commentators think he was the unnamed young man who fled naked when Jesus
was arrested in Mark 15:50-52. It is notable that only Mark gives that embarrassing
detail. Why mention this? Perhaps Mark,
as the writer, in humility, would have us think of the grace that is reflected
in him being used of God to record one of the four gospels! Remember as well
that he is recording the story from Peter’s perspective, Peter who three times
denied Christ, and who was graciously restored by Jesus. Jesus came to save
sinners!
John Mark, the writer, perhaps the one
who fled in humiliation when Jesus was arrested, and who abandoned the team
under unknown circumstances on the first missionary journey, who became the
cause of Paul and Barnabas having a “sharp dispute” and going their separate
ways... That Mark was the writer of one of the four canonical accounts
of the life of Jesus that begin our New Testament. What Grace! Even
before we look at the text, I hope you find encouragement in that.
You may feel like something from your
past means you are now sidelined, that you have nothing to contribute, or that
you have disqualified yourself from service. You may have heard whispers of
the enemy, “How could God love someone
like you?” Think of Peter (the denier, but also the Apostle), think
of Mark (the quitter, but also the Gospel writer). Recognize that God’s grace
is bigger than your sin. In fact, our sin problem is exactly why He came! Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That is where this gospel
starts, with a summary statement alluding to what Jesus came to do...
The BIG Idea: We
proclaim Jesus, the Son of God, who came according to promise, to make a way
for sinful humans to be reconciled to holy God.
I. THE
PLAN: The work of Christ is proclaimed in the Gospel - “The
beginning of the Gospel of Jesus...” The reference to the "beginning," especially at the start of the book, would invite the reader to think of Genesis. But this “beginning”
is not the beginning of creation referred to in Gen 1:1 and John 1:1, but
rather the start of the public ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The ideas are
connected however, because Jesus would ultimately accomplish God’s plan to
redeem a people for Himself. And, as Paul said, if any man be in Christ,
a new creation!
The
Gospel. Mark begins by making reference to “the Gospel.” The word
itself means “good news” and in that sense it refers to the story of Jesus that
he is about to relate. What makes the gospel good news? God sent
the Son into the world for a purpose, to address the problem of sin.
That is not a popular notion today. People don’t like to admit that left to
ourselves we would be lost sinners, without God and without hope. It’s
popular to think that all people are basically good, right? We all believe in
the same god, whatever we happen to call Him, don’t we? Well, no, we
don’t. One summary of the liberal version of the “gospel” is that “A God
without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through Christ
without a cross...” That is idolatry, not the God who is.
The truth is much harder to face, as
Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.” The Gospel is good news precisely because of our sin
problem. Perhaps you have seen a gospel illustration that includes a simple
drawing, picturing two peaks separated by a chasm. One side is labeled “Holy
God,” the other, “Sinful Man.” There is only one way to bridge that gulf, it is
pictured by a cross, and labeled Jesus Christ. That is good news! Sin separated
us from God, but Jesus came to pay the penalty for our sins, to offer
forgiveness and life to all who will believe. Paul points to the work of
Christ when he explains in I Corinthians 15:1-3,
Now I would remind you, brothers,
of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you
stand, 2 and by which you are being saved... 3 For
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ
died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that
he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the Scriptures...
Notice
what he says, this is the gospel, the message that saves: Christ died for
our sins… and was raised. Without sin, He willingly came to be our
substitute. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) but He was sinless. The
Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:6). He died and was buried,
but, hallelujah, the grave couldn’t hold Him. The resurrection proved beyond
any question that He is who He claimed to be, and that he did for us what we
could not do for ourselves. Mark relates in verse 1 the name of this Savior,
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus...
His name was given to his earthly
parents before he was born. We sometimes think about the “meaning” of a name
these days, but usually we choose a name because we like the sound of it, or maybe it is chosen to honor
someone in the family. In the biblical narrative, an angel appeared to Joseph
in a dream and said, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins..." (Matthew
1:21). The name is the Greek form of the name “Joshua” and literally
means “Yahweh saves.” His name reflects his purpose in coming, that is, to
be our substitute, to pay the price for our redemption, and to call sinners to
repentance and faith. He came to make a way for fallen humans to be restored to
fellowship with God. Do you remember the angel’s word to the shepherds?
Unto you is born this day a Savior, Christ the Lord. He came to save. Jesus
is the Good News! We preach Christ, He is our message. We find our
mission in the fact that God has called us to preach Christ, crucified, risen,
and coming again, to the world. For God so loved the world that He gave.
That is the BIG Idea, that is Good News! Jesus,
the Son of God, came according to promise to make a way for sinful humans to be
reconciled to holy God.
II. The
PROMISE: The Plan of God was prophesied in the Scriptures:
“...the Gospel of Jesus Christ…” This detail is one of
those things that we could miss as NT believers in the 21st century.
All of our lives we have heard the full expression of the Lord’s name, “Our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” In fact, other than someone sinfully taking
the Lord’s name in vain, the only time we hear the word “Christ”
is in reference to Jesus. It was however a word very well known to Jews in the Greco-Roman
world of Jesus’ day. Literally it meant “The Anointed One” and it was
used to translate the Hebrew word, meshiach, or “Messiah.”
There was an anticipation of a coming one, a deliverer, throughout the OT. Aspects
of that hope were skewed in popular thinking over time, but the fulfillment of
the prophecies testified to the identity of the Rescuer.
The first hints of a coming deliverer are found in the passage that is called
the proto evangelium, the “first good news,” in Genesis
3:15, in the context of the fall, as God is spelling out the consequences of
sin, he speaks already of a “Seed” who would crush the serpent's head. That hope
of a deliverer is repeated and developed throughout the Scriptures, in the Law,
the Prophets, and the Writings (see Luke 24:44).
During the intertestamental period the messianic expectation was growing.
For the most part, the people hoped in a human deliverer, someone like David or
Solomon who could unite the people and lead them to victory over their
oppressors, establishing peace and security in the land. They longed for
deliverance from Rome. Very few seemed to wrestle with the messiah’s
role in addressing our sin problem. Much less did they understand that He would
suffer, and even die for the sins of His people! That would be unthinkable! But...
What is the greatest need of humans? The
story of the Bible centers on God, His creation, and on humans as uniquely created
in His image. The fellowship between God and humans was broken by the fall.
Yet glimmers of grace appear early in the story as the man and the woman are
given skins for a covering before being sent out of the garden and into the
fallen world. The sacrificial system pointed to the seriousness of sin and the
need for atonement. They should have understood the words of Isaiah the prophet
which spoke of a suffering servant, one who would bear our sins. “All we
like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one, to our own way, and the
LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all...” (Isa 53:6). Just before
that verse Isaiah says, “The chastisement that brought us peace was upon
Him, with his stripes, we are healed” (53:5b). They should have
thought also about the “Righteous Sufferer” in the Psalms. Messiah?
It could only be the Promised One! And in the fullness of time, God sent
forth the Son. That’s the BIG Idea... And HE IS Good
News! Jesus, the Son of God, came according to promise, to make a way for
sinful humans to be reconciled to holy God.
III. THE
PERSON: His Identity is revealed in His Sonship: Jesus
is “...the Son of God...”
One of the titles related to the king, and by extension to the promised son of
David, was “Son of God.” We sometimes think that Scriptures like Psalm 2 were purely
prophetic of the coming messiah. Ultimately they were pointing to Him, but they
were also applied to the king, who, in his leadership of Israel, served as
God’s vice-regent, as the representative of God’s rule before the people. So,
at the anointing of the king the second psalm would be read, including the
oracle, “You are my son, today I have begotten you...” (Ps 2:7). The
background to this was the promise that God had made to David in 2 Sam 7:14
when he said that David’s son would be called the son of God.
Understand this: What was true in type for the merely human kings of Israel,
was true ontologically for Jesus. He is eternally the Son in relation to
the Father, it is His nature. The Son existed from eternity in a face-to-face
relationship with the Father and the Spirit. It was true with respect to His
human nature because Jesus had no biological, human father. As the
Son of God, He would be born miraculously to a virgin (cf. Isa 7:14). The
angel’s announcement to Mary alludes to this extended meaning of the title,
31 And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his
name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign
over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end." 34 And Mary said to the angel, "How
will this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 And the
angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will
be called holy- the Son of God... (Luke 1:31-35).
Jesus
would be fully man, and fully God. The theological term
that is used to describe that paradox is the “hypostatic union.” The
eternal divine Son, the Logos who was with God and was God, took upon
himself a human nature. There was not (and is not) a human
Jesus and a divine Christ, but one person with two natures. I believe Paul
refers to this in Philippians 2:6,7, “...though he was in
the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be
grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, [by] taking
the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Jesus didn't stop being God, but...
Jesus took upon himself a human
nature. To undo the sin of Adam, God the Son became the God-Man. He bridged
the chasm that separated sinners from Holy God. He came to open a pathway to
reconciliation, and that pathway is the way of the cross.
What
is God saying to me in this passage? So,
we proclaim Good News, the best news ever! Jesus, the Son of God, came
according to promise to make a way for sinners to be reconciled to holy God. We
urge people on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? My hope is that our series in Mark will lead us together to know Jesus better, and to love Him more. Have you trusted Jesus as your only hope of salvation? Have you acknowledged Him as your Savior and as the Lord of your life? The Gospel is a message of Grace, of God’s intervention in history, of the supreme demonstration of His love for us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life...”
His plan for getting that message to the world is US
– you and me! May I invite you again to think about the people around you: your
family, your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers... You are God’s
ambassador, His missionary, sent to share the Good News of Jesus with them.
After all He has done for us, will we be found faithful in fulfilling that
calling? Jesus said to the healed man, “Go, return to your house (oikos)
and tell them what the Lord has done for you.”
As we embrace that mission, it is my hope, that in all our teaching in this
church, we will be equipping you as a follower of Jesus and a witness. We
want to have resources available like Gospels and tracts that you can give to
the people you encounter. [By the way, the outline and study questions in the
bulletin are something you could use, one-on-one, or in a small group, to
encourage others to know Jesus]. We
also want to encourage you to invite the people around you to come and hear the
truth. Let us repent of the sin of complacency, and determine in our
hearts to love our oikos, our extended household, the people
that God has sovereignly and strategically placed in our sphere of influence. Let
us commit to praying for them, and inviting them as God gives opportunities, to
consider the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus will return. We
don’t know the time, but we do know that today is the day of salvation, Jesus
is still building His church! By grace we have a part in God’s
mission! To God be the glory. AMEN.
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