The Preparation (Mk 1:1-11)
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsJohn the Baptist prepares the way for the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Good evening students! It is so good to see each of you here! Tonight is our back to school bash which is Hawaiian themed. However, we will have games afterward. Right now, as always, our primary focus is on the Word of God. God’s Word will always be our focus when we are gathered together seeking to honor and worship Him. With that being said, take your Bibles and open up to Mark chapter 1. Mark is the second book in the New Testament portion of your Bibles. This is what we call a Gospel account meaning that this book of the Bible tells us the story of Jesus coming down from heaven to earth to save us from our sins. Moreover, the Gospel of Mark was written somewhere around the time of 60 A.D. The author of the book of Mark is, get this…Mark. Mark is believed to have listened the sermons of Peter and used his sermons to help write his Gospel account.
Before we jump into the text tonight, I want to remind you that school is starting back this Friday. With school starting back, many of you will enter a high school in which many of your fellow classmates do no know Jesus as Lord. With that being said, we will see how John the Baptist was preaching and living before Jesus’ ministry began. John was proclaiming the Law and grace from God. Then Jesus came to die and grant us true grace and mercy from God. Just as John was a true witness, or true proclaimer, for Jesus Christ the coming Messiah. We are also supposed to be true witnesses for Jesus Christ as well.
Whenever I think of being a true witness for Jesus, I am reminded of particular men such as Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a reformer who stood up whenever the Roman Catholic church was not teaching the Bible correctly. Martin Luther stood up in the face of opposition and put his life on the line all for the sake of Jesus Christ. He stood up to the Roman Catholic church and the leaders of nations and declared this, “my conscience is captive to the Word of God.” What that means in simple terms is that whether life or death, Martin Luther could not go against what the Bible said. That should be our heart as well. We will not go against God’s Word. We will be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
So, I have entitled tonight’s message The Preparation because we see John preparing the way for Jesus, the Messiah. Likewise, this is the last church service before you guys begin school on Friday. So, this is the Preparation or the call or the charge from God’s Word to you to go out into your school and the world being a witness proclaiming and living in accordance with God’s Word.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately 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.”
Pray.
Our first point tonight is: God’s plans will always take place. (1:1-4)
Mark cuts to the chase in his Gospel account in verse 1. He says, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Mark is making two very strong claims just in this first verse. First, he is calling this account the gospel. The word that Mark uses there is the greek word, “euangelion.” This word means “good news.” Mark is pointing out here that this account is the message of salvation. This is the message of how we are saved from our sins; how we are saved from hell. This is a message of Jesus’ triumph over sin, satan, and the grave!
Secondly, Mark kicks off verse 1 with another claim which is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The word Christ means “anointed one” which also means Messiah. So, he is claiming that Jesus is the Messiah and not only that but he is making the claim that Jesus is God’s Son. This would mean that Jesus is fully God and fully human and came as a fulfillment of the Old Testament prediction that a Messiah would come. Mark is writing to detail the true story of Jesus, the Son of God, Messiah coming to grant salvation to sinners. There is so much packed into that very first verse of the Gospel of Mark.
Continuing on, last week we looked at the prophecy about Jesus coming in the book of Isaiah. Look who Mark quotes here, Isaiah. Mark goes back to the prophet Isaiah except this time, Isaiah is referring to John the Baptist. Look back at verse 2 with me, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
Mark pulls from the prophet Isaiah to point out God’s plan. God sent a messenger or witness to prepare for Jesus’ ministry to bring salvation to humanity. That person that God chose to be His messenger to prepare the way for Jesus was John the Baptist. Read verse 4 with me, “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
John steps on to the scene here. This is awesome because remember he was prophesied by Isaiah and here he is doing exactly what God had set him aside to do. John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Jesus. How would he do that? Notice what the Scripture says, “baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.” John was proclaiming repentance. He was urging people to turn away from their sins. We will look in more detail at this in point 2, but I want you to understand that God had a plan for a messenger to come before the Messiah to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah.
God’s plan will always prevail and take place. In your life, many of you are wondering what God’s plan for your life may be. Can I let you in on a little insight? God’s plan for your life will happen if you remain obedient to Him and follow His Word. God’s will for your life is to worship Him, live according to His Word, and share the Gospel. Some of you high school students are beginning to think about the career God wants you to pursue. If you are, that is good. But if you are wondering if that career is within God’s will, think of it this way. Can you worship God, live according to His Word, and continue to share the Gospel in that career? If so, then that career is fine for you to pursue. However, I am not saying that God does not call some to become missionaries or pastors. God does still call some to be pastors and missionaries. You will know if He is leading you toward one of those two. Outside of that, find comfort knowing that God has a plan for your life and His plan will take place in your life. Seek to pursue God and be faithful to Him. We see that God had a plan for John the Baptist and it came about.
Point 2: God requires obedience from His children. (1:5-8)
John the Baptist was prophesied in the book of Isaiah. Now, he has arrived here in the book of Mark. Let’s look at this strange guy. He is described as wearing camel’s hair and eating locust. Wouldn’t this the be the guy your would stay away from? Not only that, but remember, God spoke through Isaiah and said that the messenger sent from God would be the voice of one crying in the wilderness. John the Baptist was in the wilderness. Here we John the Baptist is the one prophesied by Isaiah. John the Baptist dressed this way for a purpose. R. Kent Hughes says, “John’s dress and lifestyle were a protest against the godlessness and self-serving materialism of his day. It amounted to a call to separate oneself from the sinful culture, repent, and live a life focused on God.” John was seeking to simply live a life free from distractions from God. John wanted to give his all to God for the purpose of fulfilling God’s plan for his life. Guys, that is what we are called to do. We are called to live a life of full fledged obedience to God.
I am not saying that you should go out in the West Limestone woods and start eating cicada bugs and hunting for bee hives. What we do see in Scripture is that we are to be obedient to God just as John was. Likewise, John was obedient to proclaim the message of the Law and God’s grace. So, John was proclaiming before Jesus’ ministry began. This means that John was not yet proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John was proclaiming the Messiah is coming. He was also proclaiming a message of repentance from sin.
We see John’s message in verses 7-8, “And he preached, saying, ‘After me come he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
John was preaching that Jesus is coming. Jesus is the Son of God that, not even John, is worthy of untying His sandal. Jesus is the coming Messiah that is going to save humanity from sin. He was preaching the coming of Jesus and repentance. Once those hearing John’s message repented, he would baptize them as a symbol of their repentance.
What is baptism? There are two types of baptism as we see here in this passage. Baptism by water is symbolic. One would be baptized by water to symbolize what has taken place internally in their life. They have repented of sin and the water of baptism was used to illustrate the forgiveness of sins these people experienced. We even practice water baptism now within the church. It is still symbolic. We have water baptism as an illustration of new life in Christ. The baptism in the church now symbolizes that we have died to sin and are raised to now live for Jesus.
However, the other baptism is baptism by the Holy Spirit. Once we are drawn to Christ and place our faith in Him, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity dwells within us and guides us to live for God and worship Him. Only through faith in Jesus Christ can we be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
So, we have see that John was proclaiming Jesus and baptizing folks as a symbol of repentance. Now, I want you to notice that John was the embodiment of his message. What I mean is that John lived his message. John considered himself unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandal; therefore, he was proclaiming the Messiah, Jesus, who would come and truly save humanity. Then, he was proclaiming that one should repent from sin and materialism. John was living off of honey and locust while dressed in camel hair. John was living the message he was proclaiming.
Students, we are called to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is that Jesus lived a perfect life as God’s Son, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the dead after three days. The Bible is the message we proclaim; however, can I ask you: Are you living according to the Bible, the message you are proclaiming? I ask this to the adults and myself, too. Are we living according to the Gospel? If we aren’t how can we expect others to hear or believe our message? We must be living the message we are proclaiming at all times. God calls us to be obedient to Him.
Point 3: Jesus is our example of perfect submission. (1:9-11)
John has prepared the way and now, we see that Jesus has come. The Messiah has come to the world. And what does Jesus do in these verses? He is even baptized. Why would Jesus be baptized? Did Jesus sin? Did Jesus need to repent?
NO!! Jesus never sinned. Not once! R. Kent Hughes further writes, “Because Jesus was sinless, he needed no baptism of repentance. But in his baptism he associated himself with us sinners and placed himself among the guilty—not for his own salvation but for ours—not for his guilt but for ours—not because he feared the wrath to come but to save us from it. His baptism meant the cross!”
Jesus was baptized out of obedience to God the Father. Also, remember, we serve a Triune God meaning that God is three persons in one. We see the heavens open up as Jesus comes out of the water and look, The Holy Spirit descends and God speaks. All three persons of the Trinity are present. God has sent the Messiah, Jesus Christ. His mission is to save us.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus was so obedient to God the Father that He died on the cross bearing God’s wrath for us! That is the message we are to proclaim students!
Invitation
As you guys start back to school, for those of you who are believers, this is the message we are to share with other students around us. The message of Jesus Christ must come from our mouths and be seen in the way in which we live our lives. Let us be faithful to live in accordance with God’s Word and share the Gospel with our friends.
Maybe tonight you recognize your aren’t a believer. Call the unbeliever to repentance.
Call for baptism.