Today we begin our study in the gospel of Mark. Mark is the shortest of all the gospels. It is thought by some to be the first of the four gospels written. And yet, I have saved it for last. We have finished Matthew, Luke and John and now it behooves us to look at this book. And following Mark’s example at directness and terseness, I don’t want to spend a lot of time on an introduction and filling in all sorts of biographical details. I want to get right to the message, just as Mark did.
I will only say by way of introduction that Mark is the same as John Mark, found elsewhere in the scriptures. He was a cousin of Barnabas, and accompanied Barnabas and Paul on a missionary journey. But perhaps due to his young age, or some other reason, he deserted the mission trip mid way, and as such caused a great division between Paul and Barnabas later on when Barnabas wanted to take him on another trip. Paul and Barnabas went their separate ways, but later on, at the end of Paul’s ministry, he makes mention of Mark and how desirable he was for service to the Lord.
One reason for that seems to be that during those intervening years, Mark became a close disciple of Peter. Peter was the first elder of the church at Jerusalem, and there seems to be an indication that Peter’s church was often held at Mark’s mother’s house, whose name was Mary. So though Mark was not one of the 12 disciples, nor one of the apostles, he was a protege and interpreter for Peter. And so his historical information comes from Peter, and of course, the Holy Spirit provided the divine inspiration.
Now that’s enough of an introduction. By the way, John Mark does not identify himself by name as the author, but as early as the 2nd century church fathers wrote that Mark was in fact the author, and that view seems to be held without question. However, Mark is not interested in introducing himself, because he is focused on introducing Jesus Christ to a primarily Gentile audience in Rome. And so he gets right to it, in vs.1.
I want to point out first that Mark is the only gospel writer to call his book the gospel. The word “gospel” is one of those church words we hear from time to time, without perhaps knowing exactly the significance of it. Gospel comes from the Greek word euaggelion, which means good news, or good tidings. That word euaggelion is the same word from which we get our word evangelist. Evangelist means simply, the bearer of good news.
It’s interesting that in Roman times, euaggelion was used in celebration of the emperor cult, when they announced the birthday of the emperor or his ascension to power, it was celebrated with festivals called an evangel. Mark, writing to a primarily Roman audience, uses this same word to announce the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, whose Lord of all is Jesus Christ. The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is a reason for rejoicing throughout the world, from that day through the ages to come.
So Mark says in vs1 that this is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not writing a history, he is not writing a biography, but the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news of Jesus Christ; who He is, what He said, and what He manifested to the world about God the Father, about Himself and God’s love for mankind.
Now let’s look at who Mark says Jesus is. First he says His name is Jesus, which means Jehovah saves; a real man, verified by history and eyewitnesses, who lived in the region of Galilee, who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Secondly, Mark says He is the Christ. That’s not the last name of Jesus, but a title. Christ is the Greek word for the Messiah. Jesus is the promised One, the seed of the woman, who would crush Satan’s head and provide liberty for the captives. Thirdly, Mark says He is the Son of God. He is deity, the incarnate God born in human flesh. Then there is one more title for Jesus in vs.3 which Mark attributes to Jesus, and that is Lord. Lord means sovereign, Master, ruler over the kingdom. But the scripture in Isaiah which Mark is quoting presents Lord in all capital letters, which was the word the Hebrews designated as a substitute for the personal, holy name of God, which is Jehovah. So Mark is in effect attributing LORD Jehovah to the name of Jesus.
Now that is good news! God has come down to man, in the form of Jesus Christ, to establish His kingdom, and to declare freedom to those who are held captive to the dominion of darkness.
Now in the uaggelion of the Romans, when an Emperor would take over his regime, there would be messengers who would go throughout the empire announcing his coming and preparing the people for his arrival. And in somewhat of a similar fashion, God appointed evangelists to prepare the hearts of the people as well to receive His King. Mark introduces the primary evangel, one John the Baptist, by reminding the reader that such a messenger had been prophesied in the scriptures.
Mark is quoting from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40 which was fulfilled by the ministry of John the Baptist. John the Baptist fulfills not only prophecy, but also a vital function in the preparation for the gospel. He prepares the way for Christ’s kingdom not by sweeping the streets and putting the village or city in order, but by preparing people’s hearts so that they will receive the gospel. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and so the preparation of the heart for receiving the Lord was the ministry of John.
Now how did John do that? Well, vs4 tells us; he preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Listen, the vital ingredient to the gospel that is often missing today is repentance. Lot’s of people claim a sort of faith or belief that God exists. They may believe certain facts about Jesus. But without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus said in Luke 24:46-47 "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Repentance is essential for forgiveness. Repentance is recognizing you are a sinner, that you are lost, that you are estranged from God and helpless to be reconciled to God on your own.
And that is the significance of baptism. The significance is not water, whether by immersion or sprinkling. The significance was it was a public confession that you needed to be totally cleansed of your sin in order to be acceptable to the Lord and admitted into His kingdom. Now that was taught by baptism. In Jewish life, there was a baptism that was practiced to a limited degree, but it was not for Jews. It was a baptism for converts to Judaism from the pagan world. It was called becoming a proselyte. There was a method for converting a Gentile to being accepted by God and that was the baptism of a proselyte.
So in effect, what John the Baptist was showing them was that this repentance went so far as to say not only are you a sinner, but even your birthright is of no benefit to you. You are so estranged from God that you need to come to Him just as a pagan must come; renouncing all that you are, all that you claim, all your works, for the sake of knowing God and being accepted by God.
And note in vs.5, Mark says that the whole country was so moved by John’s message, that they came out of the cities to him in the wilderness, to be baptized in the dirty, muddy water of the Jordan, (that provided a necessary humbling experience in and of itself) and note what he says, “confessing their sins.” Make no mistake, confession is an essential ingredient in repentance. 1 John 1:9 says “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” David says in Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” James is not necessarily talking about physical healing there, but spiritual healing.
Listen, there is no need to sit down and think of every bad thing you have ever done and write them down. Some of us would be there a year just making confession! But what confession is meant to do is establish that sin is indeed sin. There is no sanctified sin. There may be more severe punishment for some sins above others, but sin is sin. And confession means confessing that your sin is sin and that it is worthy of death. It is more than enough to prohibit you from entrance into God’s kingdom.
That’s why in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus equates hate with murder, lust with adultery and so forth. What we think isn’t so bad, in God’s eyes is an abomination. He is holy and righteous and just. And in His kingdom, sin must be dealt with. And the first step to that is recognizing your sin is sin, and it is an affront to a Holy and Righteous Creator. So repentance, which means to humble yourself, confess your sins, and proclaim your need for forgiveness is one of the twin pillars of the gospel, and it is illustrated by baptism.
Baptism is being lowered under the water, which signifies dying to the old nature, and then being raised from the water, which signifies new life in the Spirit. Baptism then is not the means of salvation, but an illustration of it; a public confession of your sins and your need for new life.
Now in vs6, Mark tells us that John the Baptist came clothed in the garments of an Old Testament prophet, as in the spirit of Elijah. Elijah was the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, and later on Jesus will say concerning John the Baptist, that he was the greatest among men. But though Elijah was the greatest prophet up to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist was the greatest among men, yet John tells us that someone much greater than he was coming.
Vs.7 And he was preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.” He was speaking like the job of the lowest servant, unworthy to do even the lowliest job, to untie the laces of Christ’s sandals. But it’s interesting that Jesus did exactly that at the Last Supper, when He washed the disciples feet. Jesus Christ, Lord God of all creation, humbled Himself to become our servant, to cleanse us so that we might be made sons and daughters of God.
But John was emphasizing Christ’s exalted position as Lord of All. Though John was a great prophet, and Moses and Elijah were great prophets, someone greater than a prophet was here, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
John gives another contrast as well, which differentiates Christ’s ministry from John’s. He says in vs 8 "I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Water was a symbol of dying to sin, repentance and confession, but when Christ baptizes you with the Holy Spirit, you are given new life so that you may walk in the Spirit. As the water cleanses you on the outside, completely enveloping your flesh, so the Spirit cleanses you on the inside, completely filling your flesh with a new nature. So that you no longer walk according to the flesh in this new life, but you walk in the Spirit. Any man can wash with water, but only God can cleanse your heart and make it like new.
Then in vs. 9, we now see Jesus coming from Nazareth, in Galilee to be baptized by John. Even this description of Mark reveals the humility of Jesus as He became man to be our Savior. Jesus was a common name, much like John might be today. Nazareth was a despised town, and Galilee was a region that was looked down upon as ignorant, backwoods people. The Son of God associated Himself with the commonest of man , so that He might be the Savior of all. Isaiah 53:2-3 speaks of the Messiah; “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
I dare say that no one who saw Jesus come to be baptized that day saw anything remarkable about Him. He would not have stood out of the crowd. He had no stately form or majesty that we should look admiringly upon Him. He was no more remarkable in appearance than a servant.
That is, until Jesus came up out of the water. Look at vs.10 “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Prior to His baptism, no one recognized anything special about Him. But God the Father could not help but proclaim when He saw the Son submit to His will, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”
That’s an incredible affirmation from God Himself as to the divinity of Jesus Christ. But there is a question that must be asked. Why, if Jesus had so pleased God the Father, did He need a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? Well the answer is that Jesus did not need to be baptized for HIs sin, but He was baptized to identify with our sin. He came to take away man’s sin by taking it upon Himself, and dying in our place to pay the penalty that we were due, so that we might be set free.
2Cor. 5:21 says, “[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God was pleased with Christ’s righeousness. But God was well pleased because Christ humbled Himself to become our Savior, by taking our sins upon HImself.
Going back to Isaiah 53:10-12 we read “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”
So not only do we have the verbal testimony of God, but also a physical attestation from the Holy Spirit. Mark says the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. Notice that Mark doesn’t say it was a dove, but it was like a dove. I think it was clearly something extraordinary, something supernatural, something identifiable as the Spirit of God, but He was described as being “like a dove.”
The point is not to quibble though over the appearance and what that looked like, but to see the multiple testimonies that Jesus was the righteous, holy Messiah, the Son of God, who came as a man, to identify with man, and take away his sins. In fact in this text there are five witnesses of who Jesus is; Mark said Jesus is the Son of God in vs.1, the prophets said Jesus is Lord in vs3, John the Baptist said Jesus was the One after me who is mightier than I in vs7, God the Father said Jesus is the Beloved Son of God in vs.11, and the Holy Spirit anointed Him in vs10.
Now all of that testimony is given that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. In short, that we might have faith, the other essential pillar of the gospel. Faith in who Jesus is, and faith in what He came to do. Our faith is founded on facts from eyewitnesses to His glory. Peter said in 2Peter 1:16 “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
Faith is believing not only that He exists, but in the sufficiency of what He did. He was the One in whom the Father was well pleased. He knew no sin. But God placed on Him the iniquity of us all that He might be our substitute, by dying on the cross for sin. Faith is receiving His sacrifice as a substitute for my sins.
Mark makes one more statement about the sinlessness of Christ, so that He might be the perfect substitute, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And that is found in vs 12-13 “Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.”
Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus’s temptation. Satan tested Jesus with every temptation and Jesus refuted Him with the word of God. The other gospel’s of Matthew and Luke give us only three temptations. But notice that Mark says the temptation lasted 40 days. But it’s interesting that Mark does not give a more detailed account. It’s a brief mention, at best.
However what Mark does say is important. First he says the Spirit of God impelled Him to go into the wilderness. The picture there is one of force, the Spirit driving Jesus into the wilderness. I cannot help but see a parallel to Leviticus 16, in which the nation of Israel, on the day of Atonement, drove a scapegoat into the wilderness, in a symbolic illustration of God bearing away their sin. This is after all the ministry of the gospel, to take away sin. Jesus came to be our scapegoat.
We know from the other gospels that Jesus was innocent in those temptations in the wilderness. And once again, we are reminded of the scapegoat; the principle of the innocent dying for the guilty. That is what atonement means. The Holy and Righteous God required a payment for sin, but because of His love for us, He does not require it of us, but of His Son. Jesus was driven out into the wilderness as a picture of the innocent Lamb of God bearing away our sins as He identified with us in baptism. And having made atonement for us through His blood, we have forgiveness of sins by faith in Him, and we see the risen Jesus acting on our behalf as our High Priest. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Well, that is the beginning of the gospel, according to Mark. The pillars of the gospel which are faith and repentance. In these first 11 verses, we see all that is necessary to be made righteous, to be given entrance into the kingdom of God. We have seen the need for repentance; confession and humility, the recognition of our sins and the need to be forgiven, to have a new life. And we have heard the testimony of Jesus Christ, the object of our faith. He is the Son of God, eternal in the heavens, in whom was no sin, and who offered Himself as our substitute, to pay our penalty for sin. And we have seen the illustration of baptism, which professes our desire to die to the old nature, and be resurrected to walk in the Spirit.
The question today is what have you done with the gospel? Have you repented and turned to Christ in faith for salvation? Do you desire to have a new life in Christ? I pray that no one here today would reject so great an offer of salvation. Jesus has paid the price, you simply must recognize that you are a sinner, and call upon the saving work of Jesus Christ the Righteous so that you may receive forgiveness and new life through Him. If you have seen your need today for forgiveness, then to paraphrase the Ethiopian eunuch, I say, “Look, there is water. What prevents you from being baptized?”
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