Witnesses to Jesus Identity January 17, 2016 Mark 1:1-11

Transcription

1 I. Introduction Witnesses to Jesus Identity January 17, 2016 Mark 1:1-11 Mark made a rather bold statement with his opening sentence: The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This was not the beginning of Jesus writing about Jesus, John 1:1-2 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. As God, Jesus has no beginning and no ending. He was there at beginning of the universe Colossians 1:16 says, For by him i.e. Jesus Christ, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. Mark s beginning is the beginning of the gospel the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the beginning of the incarnation the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. As we saw last week, this is just the beginning of Jesus story; the end of the story hasn t been seen yet. Jesus hasn t fully taken His throne. One day He will return to establish His kingdom and He will reign as the eternal Sovereign. Mark wasted no time in declaring who the Good News is about: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark has no interest in listing Jesus human credentials because they might cause the reader to miss the divine part of who Jesus is. Jesus status doesn t come from his family pedigree but from God. The name Son of God speaks of Jesus lineage and right to rule. He is one in nature with God. Mark also says that Jesus is the Christ the Messiah. He is the anointed One from God the promised Savior of Israel. These are important and significant claims so before he proceeded with the Gospel, Mark recorded the testimonies of several dependable witnesses to assure the reader that Jesus is all that He claims to be. Mark s first witness was the prophets. II. Witnesses to Jesus Identity A The prophets Through the leading of the Holy Spirit, Mark cites quotations from several Old Testament prophesies Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 and perhaps Exodus 23:20. When citing multiple Old Testament prophets, it was common to refer to the more prominent one and add the others; this is why Mark identified only Isaiah. In these verses in Mark, the one doing the sending I will send is God Himself. The words messenger and voice refer to John the Baptist, the prophet God sent to prepare the way for the Lord the Son of God. 1

2 In ancient times as well as today, before a king or some other high official (like a president) visited any part of his realm, a messenger was sent before him to prepare the way. This included repairing roads and preparing the people. By calling the nation to repentance, i.e. to turn from sin to righteousness and to turn from crooked paths to ones that are straight and holy, John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah s as well as Malachi s prophesy declared that Jesus Christ is the Lord, Jehovah God. B. John the Baptist John the Baptist is the next witness. In Matthew 11:1-15, Jesus called John the greatest of the prophets in Matthew 11:11 Jesus said, I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. John prepared the way for the Messiah by preaching that the people needed to forsake their sins and receive God s forgiveness. In order to demonstrate their repentance, John called them to be baptized in the Jordan River. Unlike the ritual Jewish washings, John s baptism was a onetime act,. It was similar to the baptism/immersion of a Gentile proselyte who became a part of God s chosen people through baptism. By calling for the Jews to be baptized, John was requiring that they see themselves as outsiders who must acknowledge that they were no more fit for the Messiah s kingdom than the Gentiles. It required an internal change of a person s heart, mind, and will. Repentance implies a genuine turning from sin and self to God. The act of baptism did not produce the forgiveness of sins but served as an external symbol of the fact that, through faith and repentance, sinners are graciously forgiven by God Acts 3:19 says, Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Baptism was a symbol of repentance. In his dress, manner of life, and message of repentance, John emulated or resembled Elijah the prophet in 2 Kings 1:9 we read, He (i.e. Elijah) was a man with a garment of hair and a leather belt around his waist. The desert region the wilderness where John preached or proclaimed is the rugged wasteland along the western shore of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. John was symbolically telling the people that they were in a spiritual wilderness far worse than the physical desert which their ancestors had endured for 40 years. John called them to leave the spiritual desert, trust the Savior (i.e. Jesus), and enter into their inheritance, just as their ancestors had. John was careful to magnify Jesus and not himself turn to John 3: Mark wrote that John didn t even consider himself worthy to assume the position of the lowest slave to such an infinitely exalted King. John s preaching had to do with the promise of a more powerful One, who was coming. John would baptize repentant sinners in water, but the coming One would baptize with the Holy Spirit. This didn t mean that water baptism would one day be replaced by Spirit baptism 2

3 we are still commanded to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Rather, John s message and baptism were preparation so that the people would be ready to meet and trust the Messiah, Jesus Christ. C. God the Father and the Holy Spirit God the Father and the Holy Spirit are Mark s final witnesses to the identity of God s Servant. Mark continued to emphasize Christ s divine kingship, but, now, the focus changed from the anticipation of His arrival to begin His public ministry to His royal coronation ceremony when Jesus was baptized. It was at this ceremony that the authority of Jesus the Christ was affirmed by heaven itself by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Without any fanfare, Mark wrote that at that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee. Jesus arrival is somewhat anticlimactic after the build up from the previous verses.. The Messiah who came from backwoods Galilee looked like everyone else there was no special aura or halo. Many found it unthinkable that the Messiah could come out of Galilee in John 7:41 we read, How can the Christ come from Galilee? But God had already told them that the Savior would come from Galilee, turn to Isaiah 9:1-2. It was God s plan all along that the Messiah, though born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), would grow up in Galilee. Jesus baptism by John the Baptizer is recorded in all four Gospels Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22; John 1: This is the only meeting between Jesus and John that is recorded in the New Testament. Speaking of Jesus, John said in John 1:33, I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' When the time was right for Jesus to make his first public appearance, He came to John the Baptist turn to Luke 3: Matthew records that John was unwilling to baptize Jesus turn to Matthew 3: John knew that Jesus was holy, spotless, undefiled, and without sin Hebrews 4:15 put it this way, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin. This is why John hesitated to baptize Jesus. John s baptism was for repentant sinners, and Jesus was without sin. So, in his reluctance to baptize Jesus, John continued to fulfill his role as a herald bearing witness to the perfection of Jesus Christ. Mark doesn t tell us why Jesus went to be baptized. Mark wasn t bothered by the theological problem of why Jesus would submit to a baptism of repentance. (It s from the other Gospels that we find that Jesus was baptized as an act of obedience to the Father s will and as a way to identify with sinners for whom He would die as a righteous substitute.) Another reason for Jesus baptism was to 3

4 divinely authenticate His ministry. This is why Mark included Jesus baptism to tell what occurred there. Mark focused on the spectacular event that immediately followed Jesus baptism: the divine coronation of the messianic King. Various translations seem to water things down at different points, so let me read Mark 1:10-11 with what I think are the appropriate words, And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens being torn open, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased. Mark described the sky as being torn open this is the same word he used to describe the tearing of the curtain in the Temple after Jesus death (Mark 15:38). With that as a lead in, one would expect a violent scene to unfold, instead, with beauty and gentleness the Spirit like a dove descended upon Him. The 3 rd member of the Trinity gracefully descended to alight upon the Son, providing a visible symbol of divine blessing, authentication, and empowerment at the beginning of Jesus ministry. Mark didn t say the Spirit is a dove, but simply that the Spirit in some visible form descended upon Christ with the same delicate gentleness of a dove landing softly on its perch. The Gospel of John tells us that John the Baptist saw the Spirit, and, if John saw the Spirit, perhaps others, also, saw the Spirit. The visible descent of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by the audible affirmation of the Father from the heavens, You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased. Each member of the Trinity was simultaneously present at Jesus baptism: the Son in His humanity physically standing in the water, the Spirit visibly descending upon Him, and the Father in heaven audibly voicing His approval. This was the ultimate witness of who Jesus was and is He is God s sinless, beloved Son who was anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to save sinners and establish His kingdom. Jesus baptism was His coronation and the divine inauguration of His public ministry as well as a witness to who He is. III. Conclusion Throughout the Old Testament the prophets foretold the coming of the Anointed One the Messiah the Christ. John the Baptist, a prophet sent by God, pointed out The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29). The Holy Spirit and God the Father witnessed to the identity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The world had never seen a King like this. The God of the universe broke into history to provide salvation, blessing, and peace. His arrival had been promised for thousands of years. He was preceded by a royal herald who proclaimed His coming. Heaven itself opened to proclaim that the King s name is Jesus, and He is the Christ, the Son of God. 4

5 The point of these opening scenes is to let the reader know from the start who Jesus is and to stress that He came to fulfill divine promises and His divine commission. Unlike the people of Mark s day, we know who Jesus is; our failure to follow and obey makes us more culpable/guilty than those who lived in Christ s day who didn t have all the proof we have. In Mark 8:29 Jesus asked His disciples, Who do you say I am? Peter answered, You are the Christ. With these opening verses from Mark, you are asked the same question, Who is Jesus? In the last week of Jesus life, Mark 11:28-33, records the chief priests, teachers of the law and the elders coming to Jesus and asking, By what authority are you doing these things? Jesus asked them a question, John s baptism was it from heaven, or from men? After some thought, the leaders answered, We don t know. Because they were unwilling to acknowledge the baptism of John as being from God and by extension Jesus own baptism the Lord had nothing else to say to them. If they wouldn t recognize His identity and His coronation, the discussion was over before it even began. Basically, Jesus was saying, If you refuse to admit that John was a prophet of God, then you will not acknowledge the reality of what occurred at My baptism, where the Spirit anointed Me and the Father affirmed Me. And if you reject that, then there is nothing else I can add to convince you about the source of My authority. John 3:36 sums it up this way, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. There is only one way to heaven. So again we ask, Who is Jesus? If you accept Jesus as the Son of God, then there is a second question: Do your actions verify your words? Remember Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 that by their fruit you will know them. Or as James 2:26 says, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. What do your fruits say about who you think Jesus is? 5