ARCHIVE The Gospels - Lesson 3: The Gospel According to Mark

[Music] you every day thousands of Christians suffer persecution simply because they follow Christ on a daily basis millions of believers face the possibility of having their property confiscated their leaders beaten and jailed and their families harmed kidnapped or even murdered in fact the persecution of Christians was on Marc's mind as he wrote what is now the second gospel of the New Testament the Gospel of Mark the early Christian church had suffered in many ways but how were believers to understand the significance of their suffering what could Jesus example teach them about their difficulties mark responded to questions like these by telling the story of Jesus life in ways that strengthen the faith of early Christians and encourage them to persevere this is the third lesson in our series the Gospels and we have entitled it the Gospel according to Mark in this lesson we'll look closely at Mark's record of Jesus life so that we can apply his teachings more effectively to our modern lives our study of mark's gospel will divide into three main parts first we'll consider the background of mark's gospel second we'll explore its structure and content and third we'll look at some of its major themes let's begin with the background of mark's gospel we'll explore the background of mark's gospel by considering the author mark himself his original audience and the occasion or circumstances of his writing let's look first at the author of Mark's Gospel we'll look at the authorship of Mark's Gospel in two parts first we'll look at the traditional view of its authorship and second will explore the author's personal history let's start with the traditional view on this Gospels authorship early church tradition is unanimous that the Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark when we look in the New Testament John Mark is described as a cousin of Barnabas he accompanied Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey in the book of Acts his mother is described as having a home in Jerusalem in which the early disciples met Peter mentions John Mark as his son in one of his letters Poppaea says that that John Mark followed Peter around and in Rome and accurately wrote down his teaching among the earliest Christian writers that said Mark wrote the second gospel was happiest happiest lived at the beginning of the second century and was a bishop in Asia Minor around 80 130 we know of happiest view from the famous church historian Eusebius who wrote around 80 325 in his work ecclesiastical history book 3 chapter 39 section 15 Eusebius offered this quote from a pious mark having become the interpreter of Peter wrote down accurately though not in order whatsoever he remembered of the things said or done by Christ for he neither heard the Lord nor followed him but afterward as I said he followed Peter who adapted his teaching to the needs of his heroes according to Pappas Mark's Gospel was heavily dependent on the teaching of the Apostle Peter mark had not been an eyewitness to the ministry of Jesus but he recorded what Peter had seen and heard from Jesus I [Music] think that the very earliest church traditions we have are sufficiently close to the time of the writing of the Gospels and the only circulation of the Gospels for people to have had some good information and the much the best example of this is what we know from paint PS who was Bishop of Hierapolis in Asia Minor the painting of the second century papers wrote a big book which sadly has not survived and we only had some little fragments of what he wrote but among these are some comments on the Gospels and notably pay PS tells us that mark wrote his gospel depending on the preaching of Peter he was Peters interpreter according to pay PS which presumably means that he translated Peters Aramaic into Greek or Latin and papers tells us that he composed the gospel out of his knowledge of Peters preaching I think that's probably the the most authentic and early tradition we have about the Gospels and really I see no reason to question it other writers in the early church also affirm the traditional view that mark wrote this gospel for example the anti marcia night prologue to the second gospel written around ad 170 directly asserts mark's authorship the church father Irenaeus who wrote around 80 177 also affirmed this view and in addition to this the earliest greek manuscripts that give a title to this book call it according to mark the evidence of firming that mark wrote the second gospel was widespread in the early church in fact we have no record from the ancient church of any significant debate over his authorship although in recent centuries some scholars have tried to deny this traditional view they have not refuted the ancient testimony to Mark's authorship nor have they been able to point to anything in the gospel itself that rules out mark as its author for these reasons modern Christians can confidently affirmed that mark wrote this gospel now that we've confirmed the traditional view that mark wrote this gospel let's explore his personal history so that we can better understand his account according to Acts chapter 12 verse 12 mark was the son of a woman named Mary who lived in Jerusalem it was in her home that some of the Christians in Jerusalem met to pray for Peter while he was in prison so Mark's association with Peter and other apostles began at least this early mark was also the cousin of Barnabas as Paul mentioned in Colossians chapter 4 verse 10 he even assisted Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey but as we learn in Acts chapter 13 verse 13 mark deserted them in the middle of the trip and he returned to Jerusalem as a result Paul refused to allow Mars to join him on his second missionary journey as we read in Acts chapter 15 verses 36 through 41 Paul and Barnabas separated over the issue so Barnabas took mark with him to minister in Cyprus while Paul chose Silas to replace Barnabas as his traveling companion according to Colossians chapter 4 verse 10 however mark later won back Paul's confidence and was even with Paul during one of his imprisonments later mark also assisted Peter when he ministered in Rome in fact he had such a close relationship with Peter that Peter affectionately called mark my son and 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 13 it was probably during this time that Peter thought mark most of the details of Jesus earthly ministry that are recorded in Mark's Gospel Mark or John mark as his full name is a fascinating character in the Bible where he shows up just briefly at a few instances he his mother was named Mary his mother owned a house in Jerusalem we know because the church at times met it at that house he was the cousin of Barnabas who was one of the missionary companions of the Apostle Paul he traveled with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey church history tells us he was a close associate with Peter as as well and in fact church tradition tells us that mark in fact his gospel was really sort of the recollections of Peter so some people say well who is this mark he wasn't an apostle certainly true that he wasn't impossible just look at his credentials quite amazing credentials he almost certainly saw and knew Jesus maybe as a very young youth at the time so he was an eyewitness to G is almost certainly an eyewitness to the resurrection who were his mentors his two main mentors were Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles and Peter they're really the representative of the 12 apostles so qualified to write as a gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely qualified now that we've talked about mark as the author of this gospel we should explore the identity of Mark's original audience the witness of the ancient church and several details of Mark's Gospel point to the churches in Italy especially in the city of Rome as Mark's original audience will explore the idea that Mark wrote to the churches of Italy in Rome by looking briefly at the witness of the early church and at some details of Mark's Gospel itself let's turn first to the witness of the early church the three ancient witnesses we mentioned earlier a pious who wrote around ad 130 the anti Marcio night prologue written around ad 170 and Irenaeus who wrote around AD 177 all reported that Mark wrote his gospel in Italy and some specifically identified the city of Rome moreover none of them suggested that Mark had sent his gospel to the church in any other City this indicates that mark wrote to the local churches where he lived and this conclusion is strengthened by 1st Peter chapter 5 verse 13 which locates mark in Rome during the days he ministered alongside Peter of course like all the Gospels history proves that God intended the Gospel of Mark to be used by the whole church in all ages but we're better prepared to interpret Mark's Gospel the way he intended when we understand that he wrote out of a deep concern for what was happening to the Italian and especially Roman Christians of his day in addition to the witness of the early church many details of Mark's Gospel also suggest that he wrote to churches in Italy and more particularly in Rome will mention for details of Mark's Gospel that support the claim that he wrote to the churches of Italy in Rome first on a number of occasions mark explained Palestinian customs to his audience for example mark explained the Pharisees practice of washing their hands in mark chapter 7 verses 3 & 4 explanations like this suggests that mark's audience included a substantial number of gentiles who lived outside palestine a second detail that is compatible with an Italian and Roman audience is that mark explained Aramaic expressions for example listen to his explanation of the names given to James and John in mark chapter 3 verse 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John to them he gave the names Boleyn air geez which means sons of thunder mark provided similar explanations in chapter 5 verse 41 chapter 7 verse 34 and chapter 15 verses 22 and 34 Aramaic speaking Palestinians would not have needed these explanations and even many Jews outside Palestine would have been familiar with Aramaic and Hebrew from their synagogues so this detail suggests that mark wrote to Gentiles outside Palestine [Music] a third detail that points even more clearly to an audience in Italy and Rome is that mark used more Latin words than any other gospel writer indicating that a substantial part of his audience understood Latin during the first century Latin was not widely spoken in the Mediterranean world it was primarily limited to Italy the homeland of the Roman Empire so it's significant at Marc use Latin words at least 15 times for example in mark chapter 12 verse 42 he used the Latin word lepton referring to a small copper coin although he spelled the word in Greek letters the word itself was Latin and was not likely to have been understood by those who didn't speak Latin a fourth detail that shows the plausibility that mark wrote to the churches of Italy and especially Rome is that mark mentioned a man named Rufus in mark chapter 15 verse 21 we're told that the man who carried Jesus crossed to Golgotha was the father of Rufus and Alexander two men that played no role in Mark's Gospel so why did mark mention them one of the best explanations is that they were known to or even part of Mark's audience and in fact a man named Rufus is mentioned as a member of the Roman Church in Romans chapter 16 verse 13 assuming he is the same Rufus mentioned by mark the implication is that mark wrote to the church in Rome none of these details individually proves that Rome was the destination of Mark's Gospel but their cumulative effect confirms the strong witness of the ancient church and as we'll see later in this lesson reading the gospel with a Roman audience in mind can help us draw out some of Marc's particular emphases and apply them to our own lives in the modern church with the author and original audience of this gospel in mind we're ready to examine a third aspect of the background of Mark's Gospel the occasion or circumstances of its composition we'll explore two aspects of the occasion for Mark's Gospel first we'll consider the date when mark wrote and second will explore Mark's purpose for writing let's begin by looking at the date of Mark's Gospel the date of the composition of Mark's Gospel can't be determined with absolute certainty but overall the evidence seems to point to a date in the mid to late 60's of the first century ancient witnesses such as Irenaeus and the anti marcia night prologue to mark claim that mark wrote his gospel after the death of Peter Peter was most likely martyred in Rome during the persecutions inflicted on the church by the Roman Emperor Nero following the burning of Rome in AD 64 happiest may imply that mark began his work while Peter was still alive but he does not rule out the possibility that Peter died before mark finished so it seems reasonable to accept that the earliest date mark would have completed his gospel would have been some time around Peter's death in AD 64 the latest year mark could have written is harder to determine as we saw in an earlier lesson many scholars believe that mark was the first gospel written and that Matthew and Luke both used mark as a reference when they wrote their own Gospels since none of these three Gospels mentions the destruction of Jerusalem and it's temple which took place in AD 70 many scholars conclude that Matthew Mark and Luke were all written before that time and if Matthew and Luke received and utilized Mark's Gospel before completing their own works it's safe to say that mark was completed even sooner than 80 70 certainly by 80 69 and probably as early as 80 67 which would provide more time for Matthew and Luke to have become familiar with mark's gospel before writing their own with the date of mark's gospel in mind let's consider his purpose for writing in one sense mark and all the other gospels shared one common purpose to preserve a true historical record of jesus' life and teachings from 80 50 onward more and more of the Apostles and eyewitnesses of Jesus life death and resurrection were dying so there was an increasing need to preserve their testimony and witness as Eusebius and other early church writers mentioned part of mark's purpose was to preserve peter's record of jesus' ministry but preserving this record was not mark's only purpose as with every council writer mark didn't just want his readers to learn about Jesus he also wanted them to draw lessons from the life of Jesus that they could apply to their own lives but what were their lives like the 60s ad in Rome was a really tough time for Christians you're going to remember that up until that time in Roman law if you were Jewish you are part of a recognized religion it's known as the religio liquor - a permitted religion and so there's not much persecution coming - Jewish Christians because the Romans are thinking well that is part of Judaism but what happens when the Roman authorities begin to sense are this new religion seems to be including Gentiles non-jews and it's rather different to Judaism suddenly it's no longer a safe or permitted religion and the Roman authorities might get rather a uptight about that now that's precisely us beginning to happen or be recognized in Rome in the early sixties AD the year 59 Nero goes slightly mad and the first five years there's rain a rather good but from then on until he dies in 68 he's becoming more and more unpredictable then you've got Paul arriving in Rome in about 80 60 and he's willing to die for Christ and we need to show this newfound religion is for everybody including M premiering and it's possible as mere encounters as he begins to realize here is a religion which I don't like I'm meant to be in charge and here these Christians proclaiming Jesus as Lord so when there's a great fire in Rome on July the 18th 80 64 and Nero it gets the blame if you like he then passes the blame on to this new group this new sect called the Christians and it's tragic what we hear of that during the years that mark was probably writing the church in Rome was suffering persecution under the Roman Emperor Nero Nero ruled from AD 54 to 68 he's notorious for blaming the Christians for setting fire to Rome in AD 64 and for punishing them in horrible ways by needle houses I did you go to your phone condo beep or under the rule of Nero Rome persecuted the church severely initially Rome was constituted as a republic later after the assassination of Julius Caesar Augustus led his army and occupied the city of Rome and dissolved the Senate so the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire and Augustus became its first emperor that marks the beginning of the history of Roman brutality in fact Nero wasn't the worst in terms of persecuting Christians other Emperor's attacked Christianity even more fiercely and many Christians suffered and were killed by being nailed to crosses or burned to death according to historical records there were many martyrs in the early church that by their deaths per witness to the mercy and righteousness of God life was difficult in many ways for the Christians in and near Rome during this period and as we'll see mark designed his gospel to minister to their circumstances while there are many ways to describe mark's purpose for writing in this lesson we'll focus on the idea that mark wrote his gospel to strengthen the persecuted Christians of Rome Mark's Gospel made it clear that whatever difficulties in temptations the Roman Christians faced as they suffered for Christ they could be sure that Jesus had already faced them he had been unjustly condemned in a Roman Court he had been beaten by Roman soldiers and he had been crucified on a Roman cross but through his suffering Jesus had been victorious and Mark wanted to assure his audience that if they followed Jesus faithfully they would be conquerors too yes they would suffer but their suffering would be their path to glory just as it had been for Jesus now that we've looked at the background of Mark's Gospel let's turn to its structure and content on a large scale Mark's Gospel divides into five main sections first mark opened his Gospel with a relatively brief announcement of Jesus as the Messiah in chapter 1 verses 1 through 13 second there's a large section of narrative describing the power of the Messiah in chapter 1 verse 14 through chapter 8 verse 26 third a short pivotal centerpiece presents the Apostles affirmation of the Messiah in chapter 8 verses 27 through 30 fourth another large section of narrative deals with the suffering of the Messiah in chapter 8 verse 31 through chapter 15 verse 47 and fifth there is a short conclusion that records the victory of the Messiah in chapter 16 verses 1 through 8 we'll look at each of these portions of Mark in some depth beginning with the announcement of the Messiah listen to how the gospel opens in mark chapter 1 verse 1 the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ the Son of God when Mark referred to Jesus as Christ he used the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah similarly the term son of God was another indication that Jesus was God's Messiah [Music] in the Old Testament and in contemporary Jewish theology the Messiah was to be the descendant of King David who would restore the royal throne to Israel and turn the nation into God's kingdom on earth this opening declaration is followed by a brief account of Jesus baptism by John the Baptist in mark chapter 1 verses 2 through 11 at the end of Jesus baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus and God the father's voice was heard from heaven announcing that Jesus was his beloved son in this way both the spirit and the father confirmed that Jesus was indeed the long-awaited Messiah it's very interesting to think of what the Jews of Jesus they thought in terms of the coming of the Messiah and actually there were a lot of diverse beliefs out there we have some documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls that show that some believed in two Messiah's coming a priestly Messiah and a kingly Messiah but the mainstream expectation was that the Messiah would be a son of David and that he would bring in political peace that he would drive out the Romans that I think the religious establishment believed that the kingdom would come in if Israel would obey the law they actually viewed Jesus as a threat in that regard because Jesus didn't seem to be advancing obedience to the law but transgression of it at least in their view so he didn't have the political machinery that they expected and and then in terms of the law he didn't do what they expected as well and so they were I think scandalized by him actually I think at the end of the day they viewed jesus in terms of Deuteronomy 13 a person who did signs and wonders and miracles but was actually a false prophet and therefore they should be put to death but Jesus was not the kind of Messiah many people expected in general first century Jews doctor Messiah would march into Israel and take over the government but in mark chapter one verses 12 and 13 we learned that immediately after Jesus baptism the Holy Spirit sent into the desert to be tempted by Satan he would ultimately triumph but according to God's plan his path to victory would follow a long road of trouble following the announcement of Jesus as the Messiah mark described the power of the Messiah in mark chapter 1 verse 14 through chapter 8 verse 26 in this section of mark's narrative jesus began to demonstrate his power and authority as the messiah many crowds gathered to see and benefit from this ministry but they didn't recognize that Jesus power proved he was the Christ in fact nowhere in this entire section did anyone refer to him as the Christ even Jesus remained silent about his own identity and he encouraged others to remain quiet too of course the first readers and marks Roman audience were Christians so they already knew that Jesus was the Messiah but Mark's strategy and this portion of the narrative allowed them to feel the tension of the crowds around Jesus who must have wondered who this man of power really was and what he had come to do unfortunately critical scholars have often taken Jesus silence as an indication that Jesus was not self conscious of his messianic role during his early ministry but as we've seen in mark chapter 1 verse 11 God Himself announced Jesus role as Messiah at his baptism in this light it's much better to understand Jesus silence as strategic Jesus had a particular goal to fulfill and he knew that the more people flocked to him the more that goal would be hindered Mark's narrative describing the power of the Messiah can be divided into four parts first mark provided an introduction that set the tone for the entire narrative second he focused on Jesus localized ministry near the city of Capernaum third he explained that Jesus ministry expanded to the rest of the region of Galilee and fourth he reported that Jesus eventually moved beyond Galilee even into predominantly Gentile areas we'll look at each of these sections beginning with the introduction in mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15 listen to the way Mark summarized Jesus preaching in mark chapter 1 verse 15 the time has come Jesus said the kingdom of God is near repent and believe the good news mark indicated that Jesus central purpose in Galilee was to preach the gospel or good news that the kingdom of God was near and that its blessings were offered to all those who would repent and believe throughout his record of the power of the Messiah Mark focused on Jesus ministry in and around the region of Galilee beginning near the city of Capernaum and spreading out from there by comparing mark's account with the other gospels it appears that mark omitted times when Jesus ministered in other places these omissions indicated that mark's goal was to report jesus' activities and strategy in the region of galilee rather than to provide a detailed report of all his travels after the introduction mark described Jesus ministry near the city of Capernaum in the region of Galilee in mark chapter 1 verse 16 through chapter 3 verse 6 mark began by reporting that Jesus called his first disciples in mark chapter 1 verses 16 to 20 in this section we see that one way people responded to Jesus was in radical obedience Jesus told them to follow him so they dropped what they were doing and became his disciples next Jesus proclaimed the gospel by teaching and working miracles in Capernaum in mark chapter 1 verses 21 through 34 during this time Jesus Fame began to spread throughout Galilee as it would continue to do so throughout his ministry because of his growing fame crowds began to gather around Jesus often hindering his ability to proclaim and demonstrate the gospel so he began to instruct others not to promote him as Messiah Jesus then left Capernaum and began teaching and performing miracles in neighboring villages as we see in mark chapter 1 verses 35 through 45 Jesus moved to neighboring villages partly to spread his gospel through his teaching and miracles but he also did it to escape the crowds in Capernaum that were preventing him from ministering freely as he had done previously he encouraged those he met not to spread reports about him next mark reported that Jesus returned to Capernaum where he classed with Jewish leaders as we read in mark chapter 2 verse 1 through chapter 3 verse 6 this part of Mark's Gospel deals with things like Jesus authority to forgive sin his justification for ministering to sinners and his teachings about the Sabbath but it also introduces another consequence of his growing fame Jesus detractors began to grow in number and to oppose him more only in fact the section ends by foreshadowing Jesus death in mark chapter 3 verse 6 Mark reported that Jesus opponents were so angry that many of them began plotting to murder him Jesus was not accepted because of his preaching and because of his miracles when we read the New Testament we think why wouldn't people accept him why wouldn't they see his power why wouldn't they hear his teaching but the teaching of Christ several things cause people to reject it one was that his content was not what they wanted they were expecting a kingdom on this earth he was speaking about a kingdom that would come into the heart and transform people's lives the rule and reign of God in people's hearts it was also because his teeth his teaching struck to the heart and of course his miracles were deeply hated because the enemies of Christ who disagreed with his teaching knew that his miracles in some way verified what he was saying and so the Fallen heart does not naturally or readily accept the teaching of God in Christ ministry is the glaring example of that because here is God among men and yet men rejected it we often come to God with our agendas we have our expectations of what he should be like and how he should work and when he defies our agendas our expectations often we don't have much tolerance for that and so people will hate Jesus when he comes preaching a kingdom that doesn't fit their ideal kingdom he comes as a messiah that doesn't fit their preconceived expectations of what the Messiah should be like and so he unsettles their expectations and we don't like that sometimes Jesus was hated because he came with a very different plan than the religious leaders had he came preaching a kingdom that was going to remove the kind of power and prominence and authority and prestige they had in their religious roles and they didn't want anything to do with that and so anytime we come to God our agenda we're setting ourselves up to be an opposition to God rather than coming to him with humble hearts teachable hearts trusting him in whatever he brings our way now that we've surveyed Jesus work near Capernaum let's see how he expanded his ministry throughout the region of Galilee in mark chapter 3 verse 7 through chapter 6 verse 13 at this stage Jesus preached and demonstrated the nearness of God's kingdom in new areas moving beyond Capernaum to the rest of the surrounding region as he preached repentance and faith in these areas he continued to attract crowds and to inspire strong opposition this section begins with Jesus withdrawal from the crowds in mark chapter 3 verses 7 through 12 this paragraph sets the tone for the entire section by emphasizing that Jesus Fame was spreading everywhere despite his attempts to minimize it and the resulting crowds that gathered around him made it difficult for him to minister this difficulty appears to be one reason that Jesus extended his ministry to other areas of Galilee the next section of this narrative reports Jesus appointment of twelve of his followers to be his special disciples as we read in mark chapter 3 verses 13 through 19 Jesus chose these twelve disciples to help him preach the gospel and perform miracles but mark also reminded his readers that one of these disciples would eventually betray Jesus opposition to Jesus would come not just from his enemies but even from his closest followers after this Mark reported the opposition Jesus faced from teachers of the law and from his own family as we see in mark chapter three verses 20 through 35 this narrative demonstrates that as Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom with miraculous power he faced opposition from all sides rather than receiving him as a ayuh the teachers of the law believed he was possessed by the devil and his own family believed he had lost his mind following this Jesus proclaimed the Gospel through parables about the kingdom of God in mark chapter 4 verses 1 through 34 jesus commonly taught in parables when he was surrounded by unbelievers he did this in order to reveal God's kingdom to those who believed and to hide it from those who did not as he told his disciples in mark chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you but to those on the outside everything is set in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving and ever hearing but never understanding otherwise they might turn and be forgiven sadly sometimes Jesus parables also confused his disciples but when this happened Jesus explained his meaning in private to make sure they understood the main point of the parables in this section of mark's narrative is that god would bring in the fullness of his kingdom only after a long process of slow growth through the spread of the gospel Jesus was bringing God's kingdom to earth but he was doing it in a prolonged way that would often require his followers to face suffering in opposition just as he had marks account of Jesus parables is followed by several displays of power in mark chapter four verse 35 through chapter five verse 43 here mark reported that Jesus controlled the weather cast out demons eel disease and raised the dead in each of these stories the people were terrified in the face of danger but after Jesus miraculously rescued them their terror actually increased because they didn't understand who this man of power really was the disciples Jesus followers expressed fear in the gospel sometimes when they see Jesus doing dramatic things when he is working amazing miracles they express fear when God is at work for example in mark chapter 4 the disciples are in the midst of a great storm on the sea the waves are washing into the boat and it looks like the boat is about to be sunk and Jesus is asleep on the cushion so they wake Jesus up hoping apparently that he'll help them bail out the boat and they say master do you not care that we're drowning and Jesus gets up and he tells the wind in the waves to be quiet and so they're saved and they had been very afraid of the storm but now mark tells us they were filled with great fear well so why are they afraid the storms no longer there the waters are calm they're afraid because they know that the only person that can still the wind of the waves is the person who created the wind in the waves God himself and they realized that they are in the boat with God Himself who has just stilled the wind and the waves that creates fear in them because I don't think they quite yet know what kind of God this is they've been sort of thrown for a loop and they don't know the character of Jesus following these displays of power mark wrote about the opposition Jesus faced in his hometown of Nazareth in mark chapter 6 verses 1 through 6 this narrative re-emphasizes that many people strongly opposed Jesus at this stage in his ministry even as his gospel spread with power and the crowds following him increased the people of his own hometown rejected him and his gospel finally the account of Jesus ministry in the region of Galilee concludes with the sending of the twelve disciples in mark chapter 6 verses 7 through 13 Jesus sent his twelve disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to perform miracles throughout the land of Palestine but Jesus also made it clear that as the disciples spread the gospel of repentance and faith people would respond to them in the same way they had responded to him some people would accept them but others would reject them Jesus consistently taught that the kingdom of God continues to grow despite its opposition after reporting Jesus gospel ministry near the city of Capernaum and the surrounding region of Galilee mark turned his attention to the power of the Messiah in Jesus ministry beyond Galilee in mark chapter 6 verse 14 through chapter 8 verse 26 in recording Jesus worked beyond the region of Galilee mark continued to emphasize some of the themes we've already seen he reported the powerful spread of the proclamation of the kingdom and the reaction of enthusiastic crowds and the increasing number of Jesus opponents but mark also began to focus on the disciples in new ways he emphasized the ways Jesus trained them for the difficult days ahead and he called attention to the ways they regularly misunderstood his teaching and failed in their commitments to him Mark's report of Jesus ministry beyond Galilee begins with an emphasis on Jesus growing Fame in mark chapter 6 verses 14 through 29 in the past when Jesus had limited his ministry to the area around Capernaum his fame had spread throughout the entire region of Galilee and now his fame continued to precede him as Jesus remained on the outskirts of Galilee his fame was spreading throughout Palestine and even reached King Herod mark also used this opportunity to address a question about Jesus identity specifically mark explained that Jesus could not be John the Baptist since King Herod had put John to death next Mark reported several miracles in mark chapter 6 verses 30 through 56 this section begins with Jesus attempting to withdraw from the crowds but then it describes several works of power that demonstrate why two crowds had gathered in the first place Jesus displayed his power by feeding crowds of 5,000 people and 4,000 people by walking on water in the Sea of Galilee and by healing the blind and a death his miracles demonstrated his undeniable control over all creation and because of these powerful miracles the crowds follow Jesus wherever he went sometimes they even preceded him following Jesus miracles mark reported the continuing opposition from the Pharisees in mark chapter 7 verses 1 through 23 Jesus and the Pharisees clashed over the proper way to observe the Old Testament law the value of traditions and the nature of holiness and as a result the tension between Jesus and the influential Jewish parties increased lastly mark reported another set of miracles in mark chapter 7 verse 24 through chapter 8 verse 26 this section begins and ends with statements about Jesus trying to avoid and even to prevent crowds and between these statements it reports that Jesus performed many miracles among both Jews and Gentiles and it even records that some Gentiles had faith in him in the midst of this list of miracles marked through special attention to the shortcomings of Jesus disciples earlier in his ministry the disciples had failed to understand the parable of the sower as we see in mark chapter 4 verse 13 and at this point they still weren't able to understand some of his teachings so Jesus confronted them directly listen to mark's record in mark chapter 8 verses 14 through 17 the disciples had forgotten to bring bread except for one loaf ahead with them in a boat be careful jesus warned them watch out for the east of the pharisees and that of herod they discussed this with one another and said it is because we have no bread aware of their discussion jesus asked them why are you talking about having no bread do you still not see or understand Jesus was talking about spiritual corruption but his disciples thought he was talking about bread for their stomachs it's easy to see why Jesus would have been frustrated with them throughout March report of Jesus power as the Messiah Jesus miracles and teaching confirm that he really was the Christ so why did so many people oppose him why did they reject him why did even his disciples have such difficulty understanding and following him it was largely because Jesus was not the kind of Messiah people anticipated instead of rising to political supremacy as they had expected he was using his power to preach the gospel and minister to the needs of others the evidence from the first century suggests that the Jews were looking for especially a political military Messiah who would establish God's kingdom who would expel the Romans defeat the Romans and established God's kingdom in Jerusalem as the center and so so it was very nationalistic in that in that sense Jesus didn't show signs that he was going to fulfill that nationalistic sense instead he had a much larger vision really it wasn't about the Romans it was it was really about creation itself creation was in a fallen state and Jesus came to reverse the fall to establish once again to establish God's kingdom on earth and that kingdom meant the defeat of sin that the defeated Satan the defeat of death so Jesus was looking at something much greater than merely a political victory Mill merely a military victory Jewish people have been expecting for some five or six hundred years someone to restore the kingdom to Israel they hadn't had a king they haven't had that young independence so there's a lot of tension in first century Palestine but when Jesus comes proclaiming the kingdom and hinting that he is Messiah they are really on tenterhooks to hear what he's saying what were they expecting well they're expecting someone perhaps was going to restore the temple there were doubts about whether the temple was really at now to being rebuilt by pagan King Herod the Great whether that was really the temple that God intended but more than that we were they were longing for God to redeem Israel to get fulfill his promises that he'd made in the Old Testament why was God going to fulfill his promises certainly were particularly looking for but by that they probably meant what here we are under Roman occupation surely it's God's going to fulfill his promises he's going to get rid of the Romans and probably they're expecting political independence what we have in the New Testament then is Jesus claim that he is the Messiah he is the one who's going to restore the temple actually he's going to be the true temple and also he's going to be what he's going to bring in the kingdom and but actually it's not going to be politically independent Jewish Kingdom actually it's going to do the news that Jesus Christ a king is lord over the whole world so it's slightly different to what they expect but it is a deeper fulfillment what was promised Marc's original readers probably experienced the same tension that well disciples felt over the kind of Messiah Jesus was the church in Rome had been planted at a time when Christianity was well received and like much of the early church they had probably expected Jesus to return relatively quickly to consummate his kingdom on earth but instead the passing years brought horrible suffering and persecution under Nero so mark made it clear that Jesus would always be the powerful Messiah even though he doesn't always do the things his followers expect and because he's the powerful Messiah believers can trust that when the time is right he will victoriously consummate his kingdom just as he promised but in the meantime he is still the Lord and he can sustain us through whatever troubles we face after Mark's long narrative describing the power of the Messiah we come to the third main section of his gospel a short episode that records the Apostles affirmation of the Messiah in chapter 8 verses 27 through 30 this is the famous scene on the way to Caesarea Philippi in which Jesus drew out of his disciples the confession that he was the Christ and almost every mark and scholar agrees that it forms the centerpiece of Mark's Gospel in the first verse of the gospel mark wrote the beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ the Son of God Jesus was the Christ the Messiah but since that verse the word Christ had not appeared anywhere in Mark's Gospel mark had not spoken of Jesus as the Christ he had not reported that the disciples had called him the Christ or that the people who witnessed him had speculated that he was the Christ or even that the demons had used the term Christ in fact nearly everyone who had tried to identify Jesus had been wrong they thought he was a mere miracle worker or a prophet or John the Baptist lunatic or demoniac possessed by Beelzebub but at this moment Jesus decided it was time to press his disciples to acknowledge who he really was listen to their dialogue in mark chapter 8 verses 27 through 29 Jesus asked them who do people say I am they replied some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and still others one of the prophets but what about you yes who do you say I am Peter answered you are the Christ after eight chapters of evidenced the Apostles finally affirmed their belief that Jesus was the Christ the Messiah the one who was bringing the kingdom of God after the apostles affirmation of the Messiah the fourth major section of Mark's Gospel deals with the suffering of the Messiah this section extends from chapter 8 verse 31 to chapter 15 verse 47 in the first half of his gospel mark had focused on how Jesus powerful ministry led up to the glorious affirmation that he is the Christ but at this point mark began to emphasize a different aspect of Jesus messianic work his suffering and death in Jerusalem March record of the suffering of the Messiah divides into three main sections Jesus preparation of his disciples for his suffering and death his confrontation with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that provoked his suffering and death and finally his experience of suffering and death we'll explore each of these sections beginning with his preparation at mark chapter 8 verse 31 through chapter 10 verse 52 the material describing Jesus preparation of his disciples can be divided into three main parts each of which begins with him predicting his suffering death and resurrection the first section focuses on Jesus as Lord of the kingdom in mark chapter 8 verse 31 through chapter nine verse 29 mark began with a report of Jesus unexpected strategy for bringing God's glorious kingdom to earth namely Jesus suffering death and resurrection which mark explained in chapter 8 verse 31 through chapter 9 verse 1 throughout his teachings in this section Jesus talked about his own suffering and warned his disciples that they would also have to suffer as they continued his gospel ministry after this mark called attention to Jesus unique authority by reporting an event commonly known as the Transfiguration in mark chapter 9 verses 2 through 13 in this event Jesus glory was revealed visibly to Peter James and John Moses and Elijah also appeared with Jesus indicating to Jesus affirmed and continued in the teachings of the law and the prophets of the Old Testament but God commanded the disciples to honor and obey Jesus above even Moses and Elijah this event prepared Jesus disciples by reminding them to remain loyal to Jesus above all others and by encouraging them that loyalty to Jesus was the purest form of loyalty to God and his Old Testament revelation finally mark focused on Jesus unique power by revealing his ability to control demons and mark chapter 9 verses 14 through 29 Jesus disciples could not exercise a particularly difficult demon and Jesus taught that such demons could only be exercised through prayer but Jesus himself was able to cast out the demon with a simple command in this way he demonstrated his superiority over all others and ensured his disciples that he had unlimited power to bring his will to pass regardless of the doubts and fears they were to experience when he was killed his power should have encouraged them to stand fast in their faith in Him the second part of Mark's account of Jesus preparation for his suffering death and resurrection deals with the values of the kingdom of God and is found in mark chapter 9 verse 30 through chapter 10 verse 31 like each section of mark's account of jesus' preparation for jerusalem this one begins with jesus predicting his suffering death and resurrection this helps us see that mark was still emphasizing the disciples preparation for those events after this prediction Jesus continued to prepare his disciples by explaining that God does not judge things the same way human beings do so no matter what they suffered and no matter what strange things happened they weren't to judge matters in the way the world does rather they were to be assured that God was using these events to bring in his kingdom and to glorify Jesus after Jesus prediction and Mark chapter 9 verses 30 and 31 mark reported Jesus teachings on the values of the kingdom in this section Jesus demonstrated how worldly intuitions clash with God's truth and five areas of life first Jesus talked about honor in mark chapter 9 verses 32 to 42 pointing out that those who are most honored in the kingdom of God are the ones that are honored least in this life second Jesus talked about worth in mark chapter 9 verses 43 through 50 specifically he instructed his followers to get rid of anything that hindered them from pursuing the goals of the kingdom of God regardless of how valuable those things seemed to be in this life third Jesus talked about marriage in mark chapter 10 verses 1 through 12 his point was that marriage and divorce should ultimately be reckoned according to God's law rather than human law even if human law seemed to be intuitively more fair fourth Jesus talked about children again in mark chapter 10 verses 13 through 16 despite what Jesus had said earlier his disciples were still preventing children from approaching him in response Jesus reminded them that God had already given the kingdom to these children so that by refusing the children the disciples were opposing God and fifth Jesus talked about wealth and Mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 31 this is the well-known story of the rich young ruler who was dismayed when Jesus told him that his attachment to money was hindering him from embracing the values of the kingdom of God in each of these sections of teaching Jesus explained the values of God's kingdom so that his disciples would be better prepared to accept his suffering death as well as the hardship they would have to endure as his followers the third part of mark's account in jesus' preparation for jerusalem deals with leadership in the kingdom of god in mark chapter 10 verses 32 to 52 after predicting his suffering death and resurrection in mark chapter 10 verses 32 through 34 jesus addressed the question of leadership in the kingdom in three parts first he said that james and john would have to share in his suffering in mark chapter 10 verses 35 through 40 they would drink of the same cup and undergo the same baptism these metaphors implied that Jesus followers would have to share in his sufferings because of their service to Him second Jesus described leadership in the kingdom as service in mark chapter 10 verses 40 to 45 he had mentioned this idea twice before when talking about the values in the kingdom but this was the first time he had explained a reason behind it Christian leaders have to be servants because they follow the model of Christ who himself acted as a servant by suffering and dying for sin third Jesus demonstrated the motivation for servant leadership by showing mercy to the blind man bartimaeus servant leaders are not to make sacrifices just because they want a greater reward in the kingdom but because they truly have compassion for those they serve Jesus calls Christian leaders to be different to be servants of their people in this wonderful passage in Mark's Gospel chapter 10 verse 45 Jesus distinguishes the type of leadership that should be true of his followers from the surrounding greco-roman culture the predominant paradigm of leadership in marks day was the Roman demonstration of power and dominance over their people and Jesus said I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many so Jesus is asking commanding his followers to follow his type of leadership to lead as a servant and not to follow the paradigm of Roman dominance that was so prevalent in Mark's day Jesus insisted that leadership in the kingdom of God can't be modelled on the world's pattern of leadership instead it needs to follow his own example of suffering in some ways this must have been disheartening news to Marc's readers in Rome instead of reassuring them that their suffering was abnormal and would soon pass Mark's Gospel assured them that suffering was the standard for those who follow Christ but at the same time this news should have had an encouraging side the suffering of the church is part of Christ's plan for victory as Paul wrote in Romans chapter 8 verse 18 our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us after reporting Jesus preparation of his disciples mark turned to Jesus confrontation with the Jewish leaders in mark chapter 11 verse 1 through chapter 13 verse 37 marks record of confrontation divides into two main parts first narratives of opposition in chapter 11 verse 1 through chapter 12 verse 44 and second the Olivet discourse in chapter 13 verses 1 through 37 throughout this section of his gospel Mark reported how Jesus forced the hand of the Jewish leaders in earlier parts of Mark's Gospel Jesus had not looked for conflict with the Jewish leaders he had faced opposition primarily as people had objected to his ministry of mercy but in this section mark reported that Jesus actively sought opposition in order to move toward his crucifixion first Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem in mark chapter 11 verses 1 through 11 publicly declared him to be the messiah and rightful king of Israel next his condemnation of Israel as a withered fig tree in mark chapter 11 verses 12 through 14 and 20 through 25 and his temple cleansing in verses 15 through 19 directly attacked the moral standing of the Jewish leaders and undermined their authority and influence over the people Jesus also argued with the chief priests teachers of the law and elders in mark chapter 11 verses 27 through chapter 12 verse 12 after defeating their challenge to his authority he told the parable of the vineyard tenants that accused the Jewish leadership of mutiny against God at this point they were ready to arrest him but their fear of the crowds discouraged them next Jesus argued with and refuted the Pharisees and Herodians over Roman taxes in mark chapter 12 verses 13 through 17 after this in mark chapter 12 verses 18 through 27 Jesus proved that the Sadducees had misunderstood what the Scriptures teach about resurrection and finally he attacked the teachers of the law in mark chapter 12 verses 28 through 44 although Jesus admitted that some of them knew the law he insisted that as a whole they were controlled by greed and worldly ambition in one way or another Jesus forced a public confrontation with every party of influential Jews the priests the teachers of the law the Pharisees the Herodians and the Sadducees he gave every group a reason to hate him and to seek his death in order to provoke them into killing him the second major section of Jesus confrontation with the Jewish leadership is a discourse between Jesus and His disciples this discourse is commonly called the Olivet discourse because it took place on the Mount of Olives broadly speaking it stands mark chapter 13 verses 1 through 37 in this section jesus warned his disciples of the hardship they would face in the future so that they would not be caught off guard he taught them that they would be dragged before rulers to testify about him they would be beaten they would be hated their families would fall apart they would suffer natural disasters and great tribulation in fact he made it clear that persecution and suffering would characterize the church until his return but Jesus also gave His disciples great hope by assuring them of the final victory of the kingdom of God for example in mark chapter 13 verses 26 and 27 he reminded them of the great victory that would be theirs when he consummated his kingdom in power and glory as long as they remained faithful to him predictably Jesus words to his disciples continue to incite the Jewish leaders against him for example in mark chapter 13 verses 1 & 2 Jesus taught his disciples that the temple would be destroyed but as we see in mark chapter 14 verse 58 his words were overheard and misinterpreted so that during his trial he was falsely charged with planning to destroy the temple himself now that we've looked at mark's account of the suffering of the messiah in terms of jesus' preparation of his disciples and confrontation with the jewish leaders in jerusalem we're ready to turn to Jesus experience of suffering and death in mark chapter 14 verse 1 through chapter 15 verse 47 the record of Jesus actual experience of suffering and death is filled with well-known events the betrayal by Judas the prediction of Peters denial the failure of the disciples to watch and pray with Jesus in Gethsemane Jesus arrest the two trials and Peter's denial and finally Jesus crucifixion and burial these are dark threatening chapters the mood is for voting they're filled with failure failure of the doers leaders failure of the crowds failure of the Jewish and Roman legal systems and failure of the disciples writing to a persecuted Roman Church mark made it clear that the Jerusalem birth pangs of Christianity had been as severe as any in Rome Mark's record of Jesus experience of suffering and death can be divided into four main parts beginning with his anointing for burial in mark chapter 14 verses 1 through 11 in this section mark reported some very important details first he said that the chief priests and teachers of the law were looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus second a woman anointed Jesus with very expensive perfume and he responded by saying that she had anointed him for burial in this way Jesus indicated that he would be killed in the immediate future third Judas Iscariot began plotting to betray Jesus to the chief priests and teachers of the law we might see this as a turning point in the story of Jesus suffering and death his death was no longer a vague threat but an imminent reality next mark reported Jesus last hours with his disciples in mark chapter 14 verses 12 through 42 this part of mark's narrative begins with Jesus and His disciples preparing for and eating the Last Supper in mark chapter 14 verses 12 through 31 it was during this meal that Jesus instituted the Christian ordinance of the Lord's Supper he also used this time to give his disciples some final preparations to help them through his suffering and death for example he warned them that they would all fall away from him and he foretold Peter's denials after the Last Supper the group went to the Garden of Gethsemane as we see in mark chapter 14 verses 32 through 42 according to this passage Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled and overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death he was clearly suffering greatly in anticipation of his crucifixion the third section of Mark's report of Jesus experience of suffering and death is the account of Jesus arrest and trials in mark chapter 14 verse 43 through chapter 15 verse 15 this section begins with Jesus betrayal by his disciple Judas Iscariot in Mark chapter 14 verses 43 through 52 it continues with his trial before the Jewish leadership in mark chapter 14 verses 53 through 65 next we read the report of Peters denials that he knew and followed Jesus in mark chapter 14 verses 66 through 72 and finally we read about his trial before the Roman governor Pilate in mark chapter 15 verses 1 through 15 at the end of these humiliating experiences Jesus was flogged and then handed over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified the fourth part of Mark's report of Jesus experience of suffering and death covers Jesus crucifixion and mark chapter 15 verses 16 through 47 it begins with Jesus being handed over to the Roman soldiers to be beaten humiliated and put to death on a cross like a common criminal from a human perspective his suffering was overwhelming the fact that Jesus suffered this mistreatment at the hands of the Romans would have connected these events strongly to Mark's original audience of Roman Christians they would have quickly seen the parallels between their Lord's suffering and their own and should have taken his courage as an inspiration for them to persevere through their own difficulties but the worst part of Jesus suffering was that the sin of the world was laid upon him and he was subjected to the wrath of God the Father finally after he was dead he was laid in a tomb his body unprepared for burial because there was no time left before the Sabbath [Music] now that we've looked at the announcement of the Messiah the power of the Messiah the Apostles affirmation of the Messiah and the suffering of the Messiah were finally ready to turn to the victory of the Messiah in mark chapter 16 verses 1 through 8 where mark described our Lord's resurrection before we get into the content of this section we should pause to explain why we say that the Gospel of Mark ends in chapter 16 verse 8 after all most of our Bibles have twenty verses in this chapter but most of these Bibles also have note saying that verses 9 through 20 do not appear in the most reliable ancient manuscripts of Mark's Gospel in the ancient Greek manuscripts of mark there are three different endings one group of manuscripts ends at verse 8 the second group ends at verse 20 and a third group has a two sentence ending after verse 8 a careful evaluation of all the evidence has led most scholars to conclude that mark ended his gospel with verse 8 the most ancient and most important manuscript traditions favored the shortest ending as the original many scholars believe that the other two endings seemed to have been added because a scribe felt uncomfortable with the idea that Mark concluded the gospel with the sentence they were afraid but this scribal discomfort was unfounded in fact the theme of fear all and amazement runs throughout this gospel and for this reason the emphasis on fear is a very appropriate way to end this particular gospel in fact it also fits well with the experiences of Mark's original audience as they face persecution after the resurrection of Jesus they were surely comforted to know that the earliest disciples of Jesus had also experienced fear let's turn now to the account of Jesus resurrection in mark chapter 16 verses 1 through 8 Mark's resurrection account is shorter than the same account and the other Gospels but this brevity is completely in character with the outline of this Gospel as you recall the announcement of the Messiah that opened the gospel was also very short and so was the Apostles affirmation of the Messiah that forms the Gospels centerpiece this section on the victory of the Messiah begins with the woman who came to Jesus tomb to anoint his body on the third day after his death and burial they were met by an angelic visitor who his message was clear and direct Jesus had conquered death and risen and victory just as he had predicted so many times throughout his ministry listen to the end of the gospel in mark chapter 16 verses 6 to 8 don't be alarmed the angel said he has risen he is not here see the place where they laid him trembling and bewildered the women went out and fled from the tomb they said nothing to anyone because they were afraid the woman's response is completely predictable in the context of Mark's narrative they were afraid nearly everyone in this gospel responded to God's powerful presence in awe amazement and fear it's a it's a mark an understatement here that the women have been commanded to go and announce his resurrection and instead they're fearful and they run away and say nothing to no one and yet here we are two thousand years later reading this and we know that's not the end of the story we know that God's truth triumph and so this is again as a foil of a foil that we repeatedly see in Scripture of human failure being contrasted with the faithfulness and the purposes of God God's people will experience weakness and need in this life this was true for Marc's original audience in Rome and it has continued to be true for the church throughout the ages but the good news of the gospel is that the kingdom of God has come the Messiah has conquered the enemies of God's people even the final enemy death itself and for this reason the people of God can boldly face the enemies of the gospel of the kingdom the victory is already ours having considered the background and the structure and content of Mark's Gospel were ready to look at some of its major themes the identity of Jesus as the Messiah or Christ is undoubtedly the most critical theme mark communicated in his gospel mark wanted to make sure that his readers knew that Jesus had truly come to save them from their sins Jesus was the king would conquer debt he was powerful fearsome unstoppable a glorious he was the Redeemer who had come to rescue them by bringing the kingdom of God to earth and despite the fact that they couldn't see him anymore he was still in control and he had promised to return to finish the salvation he had started for our purposes in this lesson we'll divide the theme of Jesus Messiahship into two parts first we'll consider Jesus as the Messianic suffering servant and second we'll look at his identity as the Messianic conquering king let's begin with Jesus role as the suffering servant our discussion of Jesus as the suffering servant we'll divide into three parts first will mention some Jewish expectations regarding the Messiah second we'll briefly highlight the nature of Jesus ministry as the suffering servant and third we'll talk about the proper response mark wanted his readers to have to this aspect of Jesus Messiahship let's look first at the Jewish expectations for the Messiah that were common in Jesus day for hundreds of years before the time of Christ the vast majority of Israelites lived outside the promised land and those who remained in the land suffered under the tyranny of Gentile rulers at first it was the Babylonians than the Medes and the Persians then the Greeks finally the Romans and this long history of suffering led Jewish theologians to emphasize the Old Testament prophecies that God would eventually send a messianic Liberator to restore Israel's kingdom Jewish messianic hopes took many different forms for example the zealots believe that God wanted Israel to usher in the day of the Messiah by rebelling against the Roman authorities different apocalyptic groups believed that God would supernaturally intervene to destroy his enemies and restore the people there were also no most like the Pharisees who believed that God would not intervene until Israel became obedient to the law so in Jesus day there were many people who longed and waited for their Messiah to come he came as a humble suffering servant Jewish messianic hopes looked for an immediate earthly political Kingdom under the rule of Messiah similar to the Kingdom that David had ruled centuries before but Jesus didn't even try to establish in this kind of Kingdom during his earthly ministry and this caused many people to reject him as the Messiah interestingly the idea of the Messiah as a suffering servant wasn't new the Old Testament prophet Isaiah had indicated this rule for the Messiah especially in Isaiah chapter 53 which the New Testament frequently applies to Jesus we can even say that if Jesus had not suffered and served then he wouldn't have met the Old Testament requirements as Messiah and therefore far from disqualifying him as the Christ Jesus suffering service is proof that he really is the Christ but only a few people discerned this Old Testament theme during Jesus lifetime most of them were so committed to contemporary Jewish speculations regarding the Messiah that they didn't recognize him when he came clearly the concept of the Messiah is very important in the Old Testament the Messiah is the Anointed One the anointed king it's interesting to wonder how would Christ have come if in fact Israel had been obedient and had not demand the human king but they did and so you had this succession of anointed ones who were not caring for their people who were not establishing God's justice in the world who were self-centered and so you have this longing emerging in the Old Testament Oh couldn't we have a messiah who would be what a messiah is supposed to be and so you have this picture of the king who is coming but especially in Isaiah there is a fascinating connection between this coming king and the holy spirit the people of the Old Testament are not only longing for a messiah they're also longing for the Holy Spirit to come and enable them to obey their Torah so it's interesting to see the ways in which Isaiah in particular pictures the relationship between the Messiah and the Spirit he'll be filled with the spirit he is anointed by the spirit he is the one who speaks through the spirit and therefore the Apostles don't seem to be surprised when the Risen Jesus says to them wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father it's as though ah finally the Messiah has said something we expected the Messiah to say I'm going to make the Holy Spirit available what they didn't do was to understand what the Messiah's cost would be to bring in this age of God's justice and the age of the Spirit they did not connect Isaiah 53 to Isaiah 11 they did not connect the fact that the Messiah would have to die in order to bring in this kingdom of justice and peace and the life of the Spirit with these Jewish expectations in mind let's turn to Jesus ministry as the suffering servant Jesus was a surprising Messiah because he conquered by dying early in the gospel mark reported the conflicts that eventually led to his crucifixion and the second half of the gospel is dominated at first by the theme of Jesus impending suffering and death and then by his actual suffering and death and parallels to this emphasis on Jesus suffering is an emphasis on his service he healed and ministered to many different people He gave His life as a ransom to redeem sinners he obeyed God's will at every turn in order to benefit God's people one place where mark powerfully joined these themes of suffering and service is mark chapter 10 verses 35 through 45 in this passage James and John asked Jesus for places of Honor in Jesus Kingdom then the other ten disciples became angry at this aspiration to glory but Jesus rebuked all 12 of them he urged them to a life of service and offered his own life as a model servant leadership just requires the leader to just be actively involved in the life of the ministry and to be willing as Paul would say to pour themselves out in service of others in supporting others in equipping others and so the leader doesn't just give if you will the command say go and do yes the command is given but the leader leads away in accomplishing the goals and objective and that reminds me of what Paul said when he talked about laboring he said he out labored all his colleagues in that regard there and so that gives you a tremendous sense of what it means to be a servant leader to get down among the people and help bear the load and to bed redemptive ly listen to Jesus explanation for this kind of leadership in mark chapter 10 verse 45 even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many Jesus made it clear that leadership was a form of service to God and those who were led leadership is not an opportunity for glory on the contrary it more often results in suffering for the leaders in fact Jesus knew that his mission of serving others would eventually lead to his death but this was a mission he embraced and he commanded his disciples to embrace it to well in Mark's Gospel he seems particularly keen that we get the message that Jesus is the suffering servant who was prophesied in the Old Testament in the first half of the gospel Jesus's role of the king was emphasized very much and then the second half we moved to Jesus's suffering and death and perhaps a key verses mark 10:45 the Son of man came not to be served but to serve Him to give its life as a ransom for many and that particular verse comes in the context in which the disciples are encouraged to be servants like that the Jesus is the model for us of actually not exercising our rights but actually laying them aside for the sake of the advancement of the gospel advancement of the kingdom and mark particularly gives us a model actually of how we shouldn't lord it upon ourselves we shouldn't be looking for the best seats in heaven as the disciples were often prone to do but rather we follow the model of Christ who voluntarily sacrificed himself for the sake of others and that's the model that we follow think about what this type of servant leadership that Jesus commands looks like we can see in the Gospels how Jesus demonstrates that kind of leadership the first thing that we see Jesus do as he encounters different people and their needs is that he listens very very well he meets them where they are he pays attention to the material needs of their life to the emotional needs of their life he really listens to hear what they're saying between the lines not just in their words and so for example we can see in Mark's Gospel this encounter with the father whose son has been troubled for years and years with demons such that he cuts himself and he doesn't feel that he can hope anymore he says please help my unbelief so instead of chiding him Jesus responds to him and he heals his son and then we see just the trajectory of the gospel that where is Jesus going Jesus is going to Jerusalem to lay down his life for his followers to pay for their sins this expression of sacrificial love that sets aside any sort of glory for himself in terms of the culture of that day and then laying down his life for his followers so this is the pattern that Jesus demonstrates in the gospel the way he cares for and listens to the people he encounters and then where he's going to Jerusalem to lay down his life that is servant leadership with Jewish messianic expectations and Jesus ministry in mind let's consider their responses mark wanted his readers to have to this aspect of Jesus identity as the Christ Jesus taught that his followers would have to suffer they would face opposition in society they would have conflicts with their families they would be tempted and harassed by demonic forces they would be persecuted in some would even be killed but he still required their loyalty and perseverance listen to how Jesus summarized this idea in mark chapter 12 verse 30 love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength hear Jesus referred to Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5 in order to stress the totality of God's demands on the lives of his people we have to be totally dedicated to God in every aspect of our being and lives following Jesus involves sacrifice and suffering but he still requires us to be wholly dedicated to him and to be willing to live in ways that the world despises for the sake of his kingdom as just one example consider the story of the rich young ruler in mark chapter 10 verses 17 through 31 he came to Jesus asking what he had to do in order to inherit eternal life and Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give to the poor but Jesus demands were greater than the rich young ruler was able to handle so he went away dismayed Jesus told his disciples that this shouldn't surprise them because it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle and for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God he went on to say that his followers had to be willing to leave behind family homes and possessions they had to be willing to be persecuted they even had to be willing to be martyred for his sake as Jesus had said in mark chapter 8 verses 34 and 35 if anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it in one way or another every Christian has a cross but the glory and blessing of salvation is worth the sacrifice because in the one hand Jesus had take up the cross but there are these moments in Peters life where he looks in his hand and in cities he's a sword he cut off the year of a high priest see this has been the dilemma of the church for centuries sword or cross do we do we follow the way of human ingenuity or human methods or human wisdom or do we commit self death by denying ourselves and following Jesus and Jesus made it clear that glory the kind of glory that God offers through his son his only found through the way of the cross following after the path of Jesus so the question is not so much how can we compromise where can we compromise but really will we follow Jesus and when people are committed to that purpose when they understand that the way of Jesus is the way of the Cross and to follow him means dying to self and living to him then these questions of compromise and not compromise unity and disunity these things tend to solve themselves a great deal as long as we focus on the cross-shaped nature of the Christian life discipleship is a difficult path in fact according to Jesus entering the kingdom of God is actually impossible when we rely on our own power to do it but listen to how Jesus encouraged his disciples in mark chapter 10 verse 27 with man this is impossible but not with God all things are possible with God we don't have the power to obey Jesus in the radical way he demands but God does and he uses that power within us in order to make sure that we enter his kingdom one of the worst things we can do is seek to grow in Christ and to be sanctified and grow in holiness and righteousness apart from the power of the Spirit that's not pleasing to god that's not depending on the God who saved us - then in turn sanctify us so the spirits work the power of the Spirit is absolutely essential for any good that comes out of our lives any growth in our lives the amazing thing is as Jesus is our example in his humanity that's exactly what we see in his life the Holy Spirit comes and works in the life of Christ enabling and empowering and leading him anointing him at his baptism at the beginning of his ministry even before that bringing about the Virgin Conception where we have God becoming a man we see the spirit lead him out into the desert to be tempted the Spirit comes administers to him the Spirit is the empowering work in the life of Christ in it so it's certainly the empowering work in life of followers of Christ mark wanted his original audience in Rome to know that their suffering and persecution was assigned that they were true followers of Christ it was part of Jesus plan for his kingdom and mark wanted his readers to be encouraged by this fact he wanted them to have confidence that God would empower them to persevere through their difficulties just as he had empowered Jesus so that they could face their sufferings with courage and hope Jesus is still bringing in his kingdom slowly he is still using the suffering of his people as a means to that end and he is still empowering us to adore suffering for the sake of Jesus and his kingdom shouldn't discourage us it should comfort and IRS we suffer because we're his servant and we're confident that one day our suffering will be rewarded with blessings beyond comprehension blessings that more than make up for the difficulties we endure the second aspect of Jesus identity will consider is his role as the conquering King that brings God's kingdom to earth the Old Testament made it clear that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David and that his job would be to restore the glory of David's throne and to rule over Israel forever we see this prophesied in places like Psalms 89 110 and 132 and confirmed in mark chapter 12 verse 35 so whenever Jesus was identified as the Christ or Messiah his royal status was also affirmed for example this is why he was called son of David in mark chapter 10 verses 47 and 48 and Jesus himself openly claimed to be the Messianic King in mark chapter 14 verses 61 and 62 when he was tried before the Sanhedrin and in mark chapter 15 verse 2 when he was tried by pilots will consider three aspects of Jesus role as the conquering king that mark emphasized will consider the fact that Jesus proclaimed his kingdom we'll see that he demonstrated his power and authority and we'll note that he conquered his enemies let's start with the fact that Jesus proclaimed his kingdom recall the way Mark summarized Jesus gospel ministry in mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15 where he gave this report after John was put in prison Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God the time has come he said the kingdom of God is near repent and believe the good news the central purpose of Jesus preaching the mystery was to proclaim the Gospel or good news that the kingdom of God was near and that its blessings were offered to all those who would repent and believe Jesus also proclaimed his kingdom by teaching its secrets to his disciples in fact this is why he often taught in parables to reveal the kingdom secrets to those who were chosen while hiding them from those who were not listen to what Jesus told his disciples in Mark chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you but to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving and ever hearing but never understanding otherwise they might turn and be forgiven and of course Jesus often described the kingdom of God for example in mark chapter 10 he identified those who could enter the kingdom with ease such as children and those who could enter only with great difficulty such as the rich the second aspect of Jesus role as the conquering king will mention is that he demonstrated his power and authority as the head of God's earthly kingdom Jesus demonstrated his kingly power and authority primarily through his miracles for example mark chapter 4 verse 41 says that creation obeyed his commands and demons frequently recognized him as the Son of God as we see in places like Mark chapter 1 verse 24 chapter 3 verse 11 and chapter 5 verse 7 Jesus ability to accomplish his will over nature and demons was a strong demonstration that he had come to bring God's kingdom to earth and the same thing is true of his miraculous healings the blessings of the kingdom include life and health so when jesus healed people he was distributing kingdom blessings to them according to his royal privilege Jesus performed medical miracles probably for at least three reasons one he wants to show his compassion and God's compassion towards people who are suffering so he is healing people because he's moved with compassion moved with pity for them he's wanting to meet their needs but in doing that he's also advertising the truth of who he is that he is the Messiah and he is bringing kingdom salvation so the miracles are signpost to his identity not indicating simply that he is God and so he can do these things but indicating that he is Messiah and so the third feature is that the miracles indicate messianic salvation has come the Age promised by God has broken into history and now we have turning back or rolling back the the curse that brings diseases so he's healing people limitations on food and drink so he providing food and abundant wine and so the miracles are bringing about God's changes in history because he is the Messiah and that's his mission to bring this into our lives besides performing miracles Jesus also demonstrated his royal power and authority in other ways for instance in mark chapter 1 verses 16 through 20 Jesus boldly called the disciples to leave their homes families and businesses to follow him he didn't just give wise suggestions he demanded a life-changing response in fact this is the same command he gives to everyone who hears the gospel and he continues to expect the same response every human being is obligated to obey Jesus committing their lives to him and following him wherever he leads perhaps the most memorable example of Jesus Authority is when he forgave the sins of the paralytic in mark chapter 2 verses 3 through 12 Jesus and everyone else knew that only God could forgive sins but amazingly Jesus didn't tell the man to seek forgiveness from God he authoritative Lee forgave the man sins as a result this statement was not just an assurance of the man's pardon but also of Jesus royal authority by forgiving the man sins Jesus demonstrated that he had divine authority to administer justice within the kingdom of God and by healing the man immediately after forgiving him Jesus proved that his message truly came from God and of course Jesus authority to forgive sins is one of the greatest reasons we have to follow him through him our sins can be blotted out so that we can be reconciled to God rather than being his enemies we can be loyal citizens of his kingdom with all the eternal blessings that come with it the third aspect of Jesus role as the conquering King we'll mention is that he conquered his enemies Jesus had many enemies during his life the Jewish leaders that opposed him the unbelievers who rejected him the demons he cast out and other enemies as well and in every instance in which he clashed with his enemies he won he defeated their arguments he avoided their plots he released people from their oppression he even used their plots to accomplish his own purposes allowing them to crucify him on the cross so that he could atone for sin all these victories proved that Jesus really was the Messiah the Davidic King that had come to bring God's kingdom to her one set of enemies mark frequently mentioned was the demons in fact mark put more emphasis on Jesus power over demonic and satanic forces than any other gospel writer did Mark focused his readers attention on Jesus control over demons for mark this conflict between Jesus and the demons was evidenced that Jesus had brought the kingdom of God the presence of the kingdom did not imply peaceful living without struggle on the contrary it implied that Jesus kingdom had come to do battle with and eventually defeat the demonic powers of the kingdom of wickedness for the Christians in Rome this meant that their sufferings were part of a larger spiritual war and even though they might be oppressed and persecuted for a time they were still on the winning side and one day they would have complete victory and the same is true for us today but as amazing as Jesus power over demons was his greatest victory was over death itself which Paul called the last enemy in first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 26 as we've seen before Jesus died he repeatedly explained to his disciples that his death was the means to his victory death was an enemy but Jesus would concur and use this enemy for his own purposes as just one example listen to how Jesus reassured his disciples during the Last Supper in mark chapter 14 verses 24 and 25 this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many he said to them I tell you the truth I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God as a gentle Shepherd Jesus promised that far from being a cause for discouragement his death would be God's covenant victory over sin and its consequences jesus also promised that this would not be the last meal he would share with his disciples after all the horrible things that were about to happen his arrest trials suffering and death he would drink again with them when his kingdom was consummated in all of its glory from Mark's original readers in the ancient world to the church throughout the ages our celebrations of the Lord's Supper remind us that Christ's victory will eventually overcome all our sufferings one day we will be rewarded by celebrating a victory meal with Jesus himself in his crucifixion death and burial Jesus allowed death to have power over him for a time so that he could redeem us from sin but he didn't remain under that power in his resurrection he conquered even death proving beyond all doubt that he is the Christ the Messianic King God has sent to restore his kingdom to earth but if Jesus came to be king does that mean he failed this question must have troubled Mark's persecuted audience just as it has troubled many Christians in every age after all we don't see Jesus raining on earth right now it doesn't look like he accomplished everything the Messianic King was supposed to do in Mark's Gospel in the first half of the Gospels Jesus's kingship is emphasized quite strongly so Jesus demonstrates that he has power of his sickness he demonstrates that he has power over nature he demonstrates that he can gather a following around himself and all the things that you would expect a gold King amongst us to do but the surprised the disciples find difficult to grasp particularly in Mark's Gospel is that when Jesus announces and/or affirms that he is king is as slowly dawning on their minds he then goes on to say that that he will be rejected that he will suffer and that he will die and initially I think they found it very difficult to grasp the idea that the king should come among them as one who serves but actually with the benefit of hindsight looking back at some the predictions of the coming king you can put together passages like isaiah 53 which speak about a king who comes but if who also will suffer and who will die and jesus believed that he was doing that to pay the ransom price for human sin and on the cross he would lay aside his majesty in order that he could atone for the sins of humankind but of course even that's not the end of the story because then Christ rose from the dead and he was exalted to heaven and now he occupies the place as king over all creation and he will come back as judge at the living and the dead Jesus was not the kind of Messiah most people expected in the first century and he is not the kind of Messiah most people want today he lived a life of suffering servitude and he called his kingdom people to do the same in his parables of the sower and the mustard seed in mark chapter 4 Jesus taught that his followers would be troubled by persecution and that it would look like his kingdom was going to be defeated but he also taught that in some people the word of the kingdom takes Ruth and bears fruit they embrace the kingdom of God in obedience they follow Jesus and increase the kingdom of God the kingdom is temporarily veiled it grows slowly it even suffers but eventually the kingdom of God will come in all its fullness as Jesus said in mark chapter 4 verse 22 whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open Mark's message to his original audience and to us is clear the kingdom of God grows mysteriously struggling against persecution suffering and enemies but it also grows certainly according to God's timetable God's kingdom and Jesus ministry cannot be stopped one day Jesus will return to finish what he started he will finally and completely defeat all his enemies and we ourselves will be glorified entering the final state of an eternal life that can never end at that time there will be no Old Testament prophecy left unfulfilled he will have accomplished everything in this lesson we've considered the background of mark's gospel in terms of marks authorship his original audience and the occasion of his writing we've also explored the structure and content of his gospel and we have focused on two of its major themes the identity of Jesus has the suffering servant and conquering King if we read this gospel with these ideas in mind we'll find that we understand mark more fully and that we make better applications to our own lives in the modern world the Gospel of Mark highlights aspects of Jesus character and ministry that aren't always emphasized in the other Gospels it shows us Jesus as a powerful energetic active master of his surroundings but it also shows us that even in his power Jesus willingly took on the role of suffering servant and mark calls us to a variety of responses to our Lord's example he wants us to fall at Jesus feet in amazement to listen to him in silence and to respond to his words with radical obedience he wants us to be willing to suffer for the kingdom of God just as Jesus did and he wants us to be encouraged knowing that when Jesus conquered his enemies through the cross he also secured victory for us and it's in that hope that we persevere until the day Jesus returns in glory to give that victory to us in the consummation of his kingdom [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Thirdmill

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Keywords: seminary, Theology Matters, Bible, For the World, Study, Biblical Education, Richard Pratt, Education, Free, gospel, Theology, Ministry, Third Mill, Truth, Reformed, God, Mission, gospels, Scripture, Jesus, Lord, Salvation, Word, Teacher, Holy Spirit, New Testament, Third Millennium, Mark

Id: Op2yuuxpwgk

Length: 114min 21sec (6861 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2017