Son of God (Mark)
Last month, we did an overview of the book of Matthew. Today, we will look at the book of Mark. These books are very similar because they include many of the same stories, but there are some noticeable differences. Matthew seemed to focus on bringing in the Jewish audience and helping them understand how Jesus fulfills the OT. But Mark is very focused on catering to the Roman audience. His words are intended to appeal to the way Romans typically write. As I said last time, those who try to mesh these accounts together or point out contradictions are not considering the author's intention. If you were to tell your life story, you would write about different events in different ways depending on who your audience is. If you were writing to family, you would include events they would remember and connect with. If you were writing for the whole world, you might cut out a lot of fluff and consider the impact your life could have on a broader audience. Mark is writing to a broader audience, so, as expected, he cuts out a lot of additional information and gets to the heart of his message. That's why this is the shortest version of the life of Christ.
The Purpose
So what would Mark like his broader Roman and Greek audience to know? The first few verses tell us.
Mark 1:1--3 (ESV) --- 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”
Mark says, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." These words might sound relatively insignificant to us, but they aren't. The word "gospel" has great significance in the Roman world. The gospel or "good news" in that time refers to news of success in battle and the emperor's rise. When they hear the "beginning of the gospel," they know that it refers to the start of a new kingdom and a new king. Notice he even calls Jesus the "Son of God," a phrase commonly worn by emperors of Rome. The Roman coin would even say that Caesar was the "Son of God." That's what this book is about.
The following line tells us that the beginning of this new King and a new kingdom was not by chance. It was following what God had foretold before the world began. Isaiah, the prophet, has revealed this repeatedly.
Isaiah 52:7 (ESV) --- 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
But Mark points explicitly to a different passage in Isaiah.
Isaiah 40:3 (ESV) --- 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
This is what an emperor would do before he came. He would send out a messenger to prepare people for his arrival. In this case, God is referring to John the Baptist. Notice what is said later on in Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40:9--10 (ESV) --- 9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
Mark is talking about a new king of the world. This is a mashing together of two prophesies. It also refers to the prophecy in Malachi 3.
Malachi 3:1 (ESV) --- 1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
Each refers to a day when God will send a messenger before his mighty King, who will also be God in the flesh. But why would Mark mash these two scriptures together? That's very common throughout the New Testament. It was an acceptable practice. Also, that's not all this is referring to. When Mark mashes these two together, he refers to another text found in Exodus.
Exodus 23:20--22 (ESV) --- 20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. 22 “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
Mark's purpose is God's exact purpose for Israel in Exodus. He wants the listener to understand that Jesus is the one who goes before us and conquers our enemies. He is more powerful than they are, and the following sixteen chapters show that to be the case.
Overview
"Immediately" (1:4-2:17)
From this point on, Mark's gospel takes off! He moves quickly in the first chapter from John preparing the way for Jesus, to Jesus being baptized, to Jesus being tempted, to Jesus calling the first disciples, to Jesus healing everyone and preaching the good news himself. It is also very notable that the first one healed is a man with a demonic, unclean spirit. Jesus is here to defeat Satan and end all the sufferings Satan has brought on mankind.
In Chapter 2, he forgives sin and heals a paralytic before calling Matthew, also known as Levi.
All of these verses emphasize the power of Jesus. The fact that everything immediately obeys his commands shows that he is in total control and makes us want to trust him. Also, notice that he doesn't need any help, but he chooses fishermen and tax collectors as his disciples. How would that feel to the Roman audience?
Questioning and Accusing (2:18-3:34)
In the next section, we see some opposition to Jesus. People wonder why Jesus and his disciples aren't fasting, but his answer is fascinating.
Mark 2:19--22 (ESV) --- 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins---and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
These verses indicate that Jesus is not just anyone. He is something different than the world has ever seen before. It would not be suitable for people to fast in his presence. He is what they have always fasted for God to deliver. He is the savior of the world and their ultimate defender. This is a time of rejoicing.
After questioning him about fasting, they question him about the Sabbath. Jesus and his disciples eat grain on the Sabbath, and he heals a man who is sick. Then, Mark reveals that the crowds are paying no attention to these accusations. They push and shove to get to him so he can heal them. His power was so great that there was not one disease that the people doubted he could heal.
After he chooses the rest of his disciples, the religious leaders are fed up. They notice that none of his disciples are religious leaders, so they spread lies about Jesus to the point that his own family believes that he has lost his mind. So they claim that a demon possesses him. Jesus responds by talking about how foolish that is. He says, "If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end."
Here we see Jesus, once again, being pointed to as the great victor who destroys our greatest enemy. His success and reign are our good news.
Parables, Power, and Mercy (4:1-8:26)
In Chapter 4, he starts to reveal the kingdom by using parables. Parables simultaneously conceal the truth and reveal the truth. He would explain what he was talking about to those who believed in him and wanted to understand the nature of the kingdom, but everyone else would be left wondering what Jesus was talking about.
Then, beginning in 4:35, he starts describing Jesus' power again. This time, he shows us how Jesus can calm a stormy sea, heal a man with a legion of demons, and feed thousands of people. He steps it up in this section. He also starts to teach his disciples where the religious leaders have failed. They hold on to traditions instead of loving God with all their hearts. This is ultimately what Jesus wants everyone to do.
This section ends at 8:26, but Mark describes how the disciples don't understand all that Jesus is teaching them. They see things, but they don't grasp the whole concept. This calls for the reader to look deeper into the truth Jesus is trying to share.
The Teachings of Jesus (8:27-10:52)
After adequately explaining Jesus's power, Mark wants us to understand how great he is in his teaching. He also wants us to compare his wisdom with the wisdom of the disciples. In this section, we see the disciples selfishly seeking greatness while Jesus tries to tell them to become servants. He will become the greatest servant of all by giving his life for mankind, and he tells them this multiple times. But they never believe him.
The Jews Reject Jesus (11-16)
This wisdom from Jesus utterly opposed everything the religious leaders stood for. So, in Chapter 11, we see Jesus condemn the Jews for their evil. They are proud and seeking to kill Jesus, and he gives them ammo by making them look foolish. He answers all of their questions, and they cannot answer his. He is truly the greatest.
In Chapter 13, he foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. In Chapter 14, Mark tells us about the plot to kill Jesus and how Jesus was betrayed and denied by everyone. In Chapter 15, we read about his crucifixion, and Chapter 16 describes his resurrection.
Interesting Ending (16:8)
If you have a newer translation, you will see that Mark's gospel has multiple endings. Some of the earliest manuscripts (Most reliable) end with verse 8, along with many of the "church fathers" quotations. Everything after verse 8 is questionable as far as authenticity. If you are interested in knowing more about this, I have an audio recording from my mentor Brent which describes the issue better than I have time for in this sermon.
But I will point out that ending the book with verse 8 makes sense based on what he said in the first verse of this gospel. Mark is writing about the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If he ends in verse 8, that leaves room for more of the story. Mark wanted us to know that Jesus has risen from the dead before he ends this book. Maybe there was another volume after this, but we don't know. All we know is that Jesus is the new King, and he has beaten death.
What Do We Learn?
Mark is not like Matthew's gospel. He tells many of the same stories, but his purpose is to show the Gentiles that there is a new king in control of everything. He is powerful enough to defeat our greatest enemy, Satan, and death.
If you are here today rolling your eyes and saying, "Yeah, Jesus had power and worked a lot of miracles." You aren't Mark's intended audience. He hoped to present this to a group of people who had never heard of all that Jesus could do before. This is a gospel for the unchurched, those who don't know of Jesus' power. Mark is written, so those who read about Jesus for the first time tremble in his presence. The truth is that we should all tremble in his presence. These events and these teachings are worthy of awe and admiration. They should excite us so much that we stop focusing so much on these earthly kingdoms and surrender to the King of the universe.
Application
In Mark's gospel, Jesus calls for everyone to take their cross and follow him in sacrificial service. He calls for them to stop trusting in men and start trusting in the Son of God. There is none like him. None can compare. He has the power over our greatest enemy. He can cast out the demonic forces working in our lives. He can overpower Satan and bring us into a state of reconciliation and relationship with God like no one else.
The most amazing part is that he wants to do this for us. After all of the evil and resistance men showed to Jesus on earth, he wants to save them. He wants to bless them with eternity. Men should be afraid of Jesus, considering the amount of power he has. They should fall at his feet and beg for mercy. But the sad truth is that we often don't remember how much we need his help. He loves us and cares for us even though he doesn't need us, but we reject him and act like we don't need him even though we need him more than anything else in the world.
Do you understand how much you need Jesus? If you do, why don't you want him? If all we want is earthly junk, the approval of men, and a good time, we will never get what we truly need. We ought to love God and desire him for who he is and not for what he can give us, but he can give us more than we ever dreamed.