The Good News Calls For Change
Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsLet's look at why Jesus was baptized, the theological truths we learn from his baptism, questions about how God could be tempted, draw some lessons to learn about Satan and spiritual warfare, and how the good news of Jesus both makes and demands change in our life!
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Welcome
Welcome
Good morning,
I’m so glad to see all of you here worshipping God: he is worthy!
Just so everyone knows, we’ve begun a new series on “living in prayer” on Wednesday nights. I hope you’ll come join us in this journey as we seek to deepen our prayer lives and really pray to God in his presence.
Assignment
Assignment
To help you prepare for next week’s message, please read, meditate on, and pray through Mark 1:21-45.
The Good News Calls For Change
The Good News Calls For Change
Mark designed the story of Jesus as a drama with three acts:
Act One set in Galilee (Mark 1-8)
Act Two set during Jesus’ travels (Mark 8-10)
Act Three set in Jerusalem (Mark 11-16)
And each act focuses on a repeated theme: act one focuses on how everyone is amazed and wondering who Jesus is and why he has come; act two focuses on how his disciples struggle to understand what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah; act three focuses on the unexpected and paradoxical way that Jesus becomes the messianic King.
Last week began with Mark’s use of Isaiah’s and Malachi’s prophecy about the coming herald, who came to prepare the people for God’s arrival. Mark introduces John the Baptist as this foretold herald. “God is coming! Get ready!”
Now, right as we would expect God to enter the scene, Mark introduces Jesus. As he enters the scene, we see the heavens open, God’s Spirit descending upon him, and the divine voice pronouncing Jesus to be his “beloved Son.” Jesus faces off against the spiritual forces of darkness and begins his ministry announcing “the Kingdom of God has come!”
Anticipation. New beginnings. And the clash of two Kingdoms.
This is how the good news of Jesus begins!
Now let’s take a look closer look.
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.” 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.
I struggled somewhat with the decision to separate these from verses 1-8 because they form one scene: this is the end of Mark’s prologue. In other words, the long foretold herald, bursting onto the scene to announce God’s arrival is what makes sense of Jesus showing up here to be baptized by John; it’s what makes sense of the divine voice, and then of his squaring off with Satan in the wilderness-temptation scene.
N.T. Wright’s summary of what’s going on here is the most concise:
[Baptism] Literally, "plunging" people into water. From within a wider Jewish tradition of ritual washings and bathings, John the Baptist undertook a vocation of baptizing people in the Jordan, not as one ritual among others, but as a unique moment of repentance, preparing them for the coming of the kingdom of God. Jesus himself was baptized by John, identifying himself with this renewal movement and developing it in his own way. His followers in turn baptized others. After his resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, baptism became the normal sign and means of entry into the community of Jesus’ people. As early as Paul it was aligned both with the Exodus from Egypt (1 Corinthians 10:2) and with Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 6:2–11).
Wright, T. (2004). Mark for Everyone (p. 227). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Jesus’ baptism by John is intended by all the gospel writers as the means of identifying Jesus with the Kingdom movement that John announced had come. This, in turn, was so that we would understand that Jesus himself was going to do with the Spirit, and at a whole new level, what John was doing with water.
This point is made clear by John’s own witness:
8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
As soon as John baptizes Jesus, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. This was crucial to Jesus’ story because it reveals him to be “the Messiah”, which means "the anointed one".
So this story tells how Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and marked out as God’s son.
And this scene enacts the Psalmists writing:
7 I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.
In this psalm, the struggle of human rebellion against God is lamented in poetic fashion, with “kings” plotting in vain to throw off the rule of God in their rage against him. But the Lord “installs his King on Zion” and establishes his reign on earth through his Son.
Much of the conflict depicted in the second psalm explains what we see in the world around us.
Bible Class > > >
We went deeper into this background during morning class, looking at the whole psalm so that we can better understand the world around us from the perspective of God’s Kingdom.
So, in a very real sense, this scene serves as Jesus’ divine coronation; God pronounces his Son King of Zion, and promises to give him all nations as his possession, even to the very ends of the earth.
This theme continues right through Jesus’ resurrection into the mission of the Church:
15 Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.]
Any astute Jewish observer of Jesus’ baptism story, being connected to John the Baptist with all his rich theological setting, would have recognized this symbolism and been excited: everything they have learned about since childhood promises to finally come true as God finally establishes his Kingdom to rule over the nations!
But, of course, God does this in a way that defies their expectations, which many simply could not accept. They couldn’t accept that, rather than through the sword, God’s Kingdom would be established via the love he displayed upon his cross, and the power he demonstrated in his resurrection. And they couldn’t accept that, rather than advancing behind great armies, God’s Kingdom would advance through the Spirit-enlivened power of the gospel!
But let's cut them some slack: even we sometimes have a hard time living by these realities!
So it's just as it was written:
9 But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived— God has prepared these things for those who love him.
God is doing the unimaginable!
14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
At the center of Jesus’ message is the good news that God’s Kingdom has come near. The whole redemptive story about God’s plan to save the world and rescue his creation from the tyranny of sin and death that was told by the ancient prophets is now realized in Jesus.
God is restoring his reign over the world through his Son by confronting and defeating evil in the most unexpected of ways. And in doing this, Jesus calls everyone to turn from the doomed course of this world, as it now exists under the powers of darkness, and live under his reign by following him as learners of his life (i.e. “disciples”).
This Kingdom-message is what the apostle Paul unpacked to the Christians in Colossae:
Read and briefly expound > > >
13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
These are the realities that you and I have entered through the grace of God. We do not live in the natural condition of our flesh any longer because Jesus has transferred us from the dominion of this world, ruled as it is by the flesh, and ushered us in by his own resurrection power to a Kingdom that cannot be shaken by the forces of this world.
So, when we hear this clarion call to “repent”, which, itself, simply means to change directions, we should hear the call to now live by these realities: by the reality of God’s Kingdom; by the reality of his preeminence; by the reality of his reconciliation; and by the reality of his power!
Are you and I daily living by these realities, or, have they been reduced to simply being the comforting stories of our childhood that we remember fondly, but no longer believe in, that we no longer live by?
You see? These are supposed to be the consuming realities of our lives, but this world possesses the unique capacity to dull our sense of the Kingdom and cause us to live powerless lives according to our natural conditions. This is why Paul told Timothy to “rekindle the gift of God” that was in him because “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Timothy 2:6-7). Indeed, we may also need to rekindle in our lives the Kingdom-gifts God has given us so that we can again live in these realities by the Spirit of power, love, and sound judgment.
So we must ask ourselves:
What Kingdom-gifts do I need to begin rekindling in my life?
Pause and reset > > >
16 As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 “Follow me,” Jesus told them, “and I will make you fish for people.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
The good news calls for change.
Simon, Andrew, James, and John were fishing. This was not only their own vocation, but it was their family’s business. This was how they paid Rome’s oppressive taxes to keep their families “free". This was how they put food on their tables. And this was their hope to scratch out some better future for their children.
Jesus met them where they were. He didn’t wait until they were at some great religious event to call them. Nor did he wait for the most convenient moment in their life when they were financially secure, were generating passive income, and had an abundance of spare time. No! Jesus came to them in the heat of the afternoon day, under the weight of their nets, in the middle of the most detailed and attention-demanding part of their work. Jesus came to them where they were and called them to follow him.
Mark wants us to see and understand the lesson between Jesus announcing the Kingdom and calling his disciples to follow him: to “repent and believe” means to follow Jesus as learners of his life.
You see? Jesus meets people where they are and changes the whole course of their lives.
The way Mark tells this story sends echoes ringing back through the scriptures to the larger narrative of God’s people:
1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
God also came to Abraham and changed the course of his life. And like Abraham, Peter and the apostles followed Jesus not knowing where exactly he was taking him.
This was what all Israel had been waiting for: it wasn’t a new piece of good advice, a new political agenda, or even new type of spirituality. It was the good (and extremely dangerous) news: the living God was on the move and coming into his kingdom! And this news demanded a definite response: do you support his Kingdom or oppose it?
Jesus waited until his herald’s - John the Baptist’s - ministry was complete. Now that John has announced God’s arrival, Jesus comes calling people to repent and believe the good news of his Kingdom.
So Jesus enters Mark’s story as the one whom God has anointed and empowered to crush the powers of darkness and set the world right again. He announces the Kingdom and calls everyone to turn from this doomed world to find refuge in his grace. And he calls those who come to leave this world behind to become learners of his life.
Remarking on the Kingdom call, Tertullian commented:
WHAT IS TO BE LEFT BEHIND. TERTULLIAN: Do you hesitate about your business and professions for the sake of your children and parents? It has been demonstrated to us in Scripture that any too dear relations, crafts and trades, are to be quite left behind for the Lord’s sake. For James and John, called by the Lord, immediately leave quite behind both father and ship. Matthew is roused from the toll-booth. Even burying a father was too tardy a business for faith! None of those whom the Lord chose to him said, “I have no means to live.” ON IDOLATRY 12.14
Oden, T. C., & Hall, C. A., eds. (1998). Mark (Revised) (pp. 18–19). InterVarsity Press.
Invitation
If you feel God’s conviction in your life right now and need someone to talk to or pray with, or if you want to respond to the gospel today and begin your journey as a follower of Christ, I invite you to come forward as we stand to worship God!