Jesus, according to Mark the Evangelist
NB. Sermon preached at Mid-week service Stanley 24 April 2001
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The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God,[b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[c]—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[d]4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism and Testing of Jesus
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
40 A man with leprosy[h] came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41 Jesus was indignant.[i] He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
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Who is Jesus
Setting the Scene
Mark tells his gospel story as a child might tell it. The Greek word ‘kai’ = ‘and’ joins sentences together. It is as if much of Mark’s Gospel is one sentence. Mark Chapter 3 is indeed one sentence. It seems that Mark was in a hurry or at least very eager to tell this message about Jesus. Who is Jesus in Mark’s Gospel.
Mark never overlooks the divinity of Jesus. Mark 1v1 “The beginning of the gospel of JC son of God..”
Jesus: Fully human and fully divine
To Mark, Jesus is not just a special man among men but GOD among men. [This week I had a conversation with Marion at the Community Centre about this] eg Mk 1:22 Astonished; 1:27 Amazed(crowd), filled with awe. Mk 4:41 ‘who is this that even the wind and sea obey him. Mk 10:24 The disciples amazed at his words.
The humanity of Jesus is also very important to Mark, the human Jesus, eg in Mk 6:3 he calls Jesus ‘The carpenter.’ Mark also expresses the human emotions of Jesus as in Mk 7:34., ‘Jesus sighed deeply,’ Christ’s feelings and passions are written clearly in Mark… See in Mark 10:21 when faced with the rich ruler, ‘Jesus looked and loved him.’
The human grew tired, and needed a rest…Mk 6:31”let us go off by ourselves…… where we will be alone and you can rest for a while.’
Mark writes in a way that answers the question - who is, who was this man Jesus.
CS Lewis famously said Jesus was ‘mad bad or God – being simply a good man is not an option. Yet it is common today, as in my chat with Marion that many prefer to think of Jesus as a good man.
C.S. Lewis had a way of putting things very pointedly. When writing about who was Jesus he said that anyone who has read the gospels is left with a trilemma – “Jesus is either Bad Mad or God
Either he is was deliberately out to deceive people (a bad man) or he was himself deluded to the point of being insane (a mad man) or what he claimed by his words and his deeds was actually true - that when you dealt with him you were dealing directly with God.”
In Mark’s Gospel Jesus is 1. Fully human and fully divine.
The alternatives are this, he was:
2. A Created heavenly being
3. A prophet sent by God
4. A Good man (one of the first Socialists – a man before his time)
Jesus: Unique
It would, of course, be very convenient to believe that Jesus was a great religious teacher and a very good or holy man - but St Mark the Evangelist and Christians down through 2,000 years have continued to insist that that won't do. Mark leaves us in no doubt that in dealing with Jesus you are dealing with God himself. The first of the four options above - Fully human & fully divine.
Jewish historian Josephus (37 - 100 CE) and Roman historian Tacitus (56 - 120 CE) are believed to have written about Jesus in this way, ‘Jesus was from an obscure corner of the world, all of his adult life never left his home land, he never learned a foreign language, never had a formally recognised education, never wrote so much as a pamphlet, never held office, founded no institution, his career lasted only three years and he died at the age of 33 leaving tiny group of dispirited insignificant followers. Yet this one man has had a greater, deeper, longer-lasting, more widespread influence on the history of the human race than anyone else whoever lived.
How come? ……Fully human & fully divine.
Jesus: Fact checked
Fact: Jesus’ enemies couldn't account for him in human terms but had to explain him away by saying that he was demon possessed.
Fact: Jesus’ friends, those who knew him best of all came to the conclusion that the only way to account for him was in terms of divinity - which in their society was blasphemy punishable by death.
Fact: independent observers looking into the evidence of his empty tomb continue to come to the conclusion that resurrection is the best explanation.
Consider the following and ask if they point to a good man, a religious teacher or to something more:
Jesus taught his disciples to ask for forgiveness when they prayed but of all the prayers that Jesus prayed there is never a single record of him asking for forgiveness for himself. Most good men and most religious teachers are more and not less aware of their own shortcomings. Now in Jesus was that arrogance or was He more than just a good man?
On one occasion one of his followers fell to his knees before him and worshipped him as Lord and God - Mohammed in such circumstances called this blasphemy, Buddha would have said "My son you are in need of more enlightenment" but Jesus simply praised him for being perceptive.
On another occasion when his disciple Thomas was asking how could we know the way to God Jesus answered by saying that he and God were one and that anyone who had seen him had seen God.
Will you invite him as your Lord and Saviour today and for the rest of your life? I hope so. Pray.
True or False Quiz on Mark
True: Marks Gospel the 1st to be written [True AD50-60] (25 yrs after Jesus’ death)
True: Matthew & Luke quote most of Mark’s gospel in their Gospels.
False: Mark was one of the 12 disciples.
False: Mark was a friend of Jesus
True: Mark was a friend of Peter, 1 Pet 5:13 - Mark my son, translator?
False: Mark was a friend of Paul: Acts 15:37-40 ‘refused to have anything to do with this man.’
True: Mark’s mother was called Mary [Acts 12:12].. her house was a meeting pace for the early church.
True: Marks uncle was Barnabus. [Acts 12:25.. went on 1st missionary journey with Paul].
True: Mark was on the first missionary journey with Paul…secretary/attendant. BUT retired home [Acts 13:13]
True: Marks gospel is the shortest.
True: Tradition has it that Mark went to Egypt and formed a church there.
True: Mark attended Paul in prison in Rome (Colossians 4:10,24)
True Mark wrote his gospel from sermons of Peter. AD140 Papias “Mark, Peter’s interpreter wrote down all he recollected of what Jesus had said or done.
For he was not a hearer or follower of the Lord…. He followed Peter at a later date…”
True: the most original copies of Mark’s gospel do not have the resurrection story. [ It finishes at Mk 16:8] [Mk 16:9-20] may have been another unknown writer]. The reason for this is unknown [Martyred, died, head torn off…history is unclear]
True: Marks gospel was written in Greek.
True: Marks gospel contains the longest sentence in the bible. Mark Chapter 3 is one sentence, joined by ‘and’. It should have been 34 sentences but each was connected instead by ‘kai’.
