uh let's um turn tonight to mark's gospel to mark's gospel and we're starting our series in the gospel of mark i have to confess i i um always struggle a bit with introductory sermons i never know how much introduction by way of introduction to do i always feel like the beginning remarks do that for us um and it's my desire to always jump into the text some of this will be by way of introduction of Mark and its background, and then tonight we'll look at this, what we call Mark in prologue, the beginning here. So we'll read together the first eight verses of Mark's gospel. This is the word of the Lord. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. Tonight, we begin our study through the gospel of Mark. and I have to confess and I have to say up front that I have been somewhat neglectful of this book over the years. At least it gets the least treatment in all of my treatment of any of the four Gospels. Maybe it's just because of perception. We look at the Gospel of Mark and it's the short Gospel. At first glance, it just doesn't seem to have as much equal importance and weight as the other Gospels. I mean, my real desire probably is to go to John first and preach John's Gospel. Matthew would be wonderful. Lord willing, we'll get to all of them. But Mark's Gospel is the one that seems to get the least attention and the least significance. All of the sections are intentionally brief, if you look at this. The Gospel doesn't seem to go into as much detail as the other Gospels, and that has led many to be confused as to exactly what Mark is doing in his Gospel. What are his intentions? What is the overall purpose of the Gospel of Mark? Whenever you have things inspired this way by the Spirit, you should expect that there is much more than what meets the eye. Bigger is not always better, and it's important to tell Americans that. Sometimes less is more. that's the case with mark mark does some amazing things in this gospel mark is is really uh fascinating to study you'll notice in this book we are particularly on sort of rapid fire mode as we go through mark uh in other words mark is intentionally moving very quick through the book He's moving fast through each event. It's concise. It's powerful. It's punchy. And that is signaled by one particular word that really does shine in this entire book. Anyone who's looked at the whole course of the book and done word studies in the book will notice that there's one particular word that seems to drive this book, and it's the word immediately. Forty-two times astonishingly, that word is used immediately. You'll see it right out of the gates here in verse 12. The Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness. This is all over the book. Compact, fast-moving, intentional book. Traditionally, the Gospel of Mark, the author is accepted as John Mark, the one you know who traveled and worked closely with Paul and Barnabas in the book of Acts. Paul would mention him later having a dispute. Remember, there was a dispute between Paul and Barnabas over Mark. And later on, after that dispute was settled, Paul would even say about this man, bring him, for he is useful to me in the ministry. It's generally received, however, from the church fathers and tradition that he had a very close relationship Mark did with Peter. In fact, that's not just a church tradition, that's a biblical tradition. If you remember Acts chapter 12, when Peter miraculously had escaped from jail, this is what we read. When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, Peter's at the door. This was at Mark's house. Peter appears to have been very well known by Mark. And over the course of time, Mark became even closer with Peter as they ministered together in Asia Minor and particularly in Rome. Very important. by the time we get to the first epistle of Peter, Peter mentions Mark. Almost as Paul speaks of affection for Timothy, so does Peter speak of affection for Mark. 1 Peter 5.13, she who is in Babylon, probably speaking of Rome, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings as does my son Mark. Early church witness of the fathers testifies by a man named Papias that Mark was Peter's interpreter. So much so that it was believed by some that the Gospel of Mark was from Peter as Peter had explained it and Mark then later recorded it. Why is all of that important tonight as we open up this study in the Gospel of Mark? Well, it's important because if this goes back to the early first generation Christians and is most likely then one of the earliest if not the earliest gospel being tied with peter the universal belief of the gospel of mark is that it was addressed to the church in rome which peter referenced the church fathers believed that and leads us to ask what was happening then in the years before this gospel was handed to these believers in rome what was going on there if it was an early gospel put yourself for a moment in the shoes of roman christians if you're a first century christian in rome and remember uh this there were many jews there there were many things going on there in in first century rome you have met a terrible figure called nero nero was an awful man the first five years of his rule were relatively calm. But in around AD 59, things began to change and he began to become cruel and exercise power in a tyrannical way. In AD 64, you know that a fire broke out in Rome and 80% of the city was destroyed. 14 wards were in Rome. 10 of them were wiped out by the fire. Nero blamed the Christians. He looked for somebody to blame. These crazy fanatics who bore the name of Jesus Christ. So what did Nero do? Well, he began to round up and persecute them. When Christians were arrested, you can look up Josephus on all of this. Josephus has good records, at least for what we have. Josephus records some of this. He would clothe Christians in wild animal skins, the animal skins of wild beasts. And then for sport, he would release dogs on them to destroy them when they saw the fur he would dip their bodies in pitch and in tar and hang them lighting them up on lampposts for the city to bring light this is first century rome this is what they did you know the coliseum you've heard of the horror stories that came out of there many of them and the jews knew this particularly were being expelled from rome claudius had a major expulsion they say of christians too it was devastating in the midst of this kind of opposition in the midst of this kind of tyranny this gospel appears this gospel powerful isn't it now if any of this is sounding familiar by now, then you've been really paying attention in the morning. A pharaoh-like figure has risen up. An awful pharaoh-like figure in Nero. An antichrist, if you will. These early Christians are feeling a lot like Israel and Egypt, finding themselves cast out into the wilderness, finding themselves their stuff's being taken, finding themselves, everything is turning on them. And I believe that is crucial to help us understand some of the theological intention of the gospel of Mark. What he's doing. What has the Lord really made clear in our study of Exodus? I'm going to fight for you. I'm going to come down and I'm going to fight for you. I mean, that was Exodus 15. That was the song of moses the lord is a man of war the lord fought and he did everything that he could do to say to save them and he did it he plundered the kingdom of egypt that powerful wicked kingdom and then at the red sea he said stand still i'll fight for you go by faith they sing the song the lord is the man of war and they then became a wilderness people without a home traveling what are we learning through the whole study of exodus they are to believe in him and to trust him in all of these wilderness tests they're to put their confidence in christ they are to trust him to know that they are being lived and they are to being led and that they are to live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of the lord they haven't been doing so well and god in exodus keeps showing us that the Lord is providing somebody who's going to come down from heaven for us. Now you say, Pastor, you keep rehearsing that history. I'm hoping things are starting to come together and the whole picture is seen here. You want to know why that's important for Mark? Open Mark's gospel and what is the point of the book? Christians are being persecuted, torn to shred by wild beasts. They're in the wilderness. Everyone look at verse 12. The first thing Mark wants to tell you about this one who has come down from heaven. Immediately, the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. Israel was there 40 days, tested on Mount Sinai. 40 years, tested on Mount Sinai, 40 days. Jesus goes into the wilderness, verse 12, 40 days to be tested. And the only gospel that says, he was with wild beasts that's giving you a lot of help isn't it who's there who's come down and walk this path now that's what we're seeing john is out in the wilderness christ is out in the wilderness mark's gospel is a gospel in the wilderness and it's simple everyone says that the general purpose of Mark's gospel is that Mark is bearing witness to the truth of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen. What gospel doesn't do that? Go farther. Mark is answering what the entire story of the exodus in the Old Testament was looking for. The gospel of Mark is bearing witness to the fact that the life of Jesus Christ is God's answer and fulfillment to the story of the exodus it's the fulfillment hymn of the story of the exodus that the lord himself would come down here and fight for us and win and take us home mark is telling us that the entire old testament anticipated that exodus had everything to do with with you notice here exodus had everything to do with christ coming and walking that path it's telling us that story mark is saying it's here, it's here, it's here. The Son of God has come. The true Israelite has arrived on the scene of history. The Israel of God. He has come to walk this path, He's come to deliver you, and He's come to take you home to glory. This is Mark's Gospel. See how much that would have meant to Christians in Rome being persecuted? See how much that meant when wild beasts are ripping them up and He's out with them. So with that in mind, Mark's gospel is presenting Jesus as the true Israelite come down from heaven as God's eternal Son to deliver us from bondage, take us home. Mark begins by saying tonight, this is all we're doing tonight in the first verses. This is the testimony of John the Baptist. The time of refreshing has come. This time has come. The old is done, the new has come. And with that, we turn to verse 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. This is a really fascinating introduction. The other gospels don't introduce Jesus this way at all. They begin with his birth. We have the scenes of the birth. Even John's gospel goes back and frames it in terms of creation. John is unique that way. But Mark begins with, I'm beginning with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it was declared by Isaiah. Now that's not saying this is Mark's gospel, like we speak about Mark's gospel. what this is saying is remarkable i'm recording the beginning of the gospel as it was written in the presentation of a figure who would come and prepare the way for the king that's what i'm doing what mark is essentially doing is presenting john the baptist as the marker that the time of fulfillment of the gospel of what everything the prophets looked for has arrived on the scene of history. Here it is, big moment. And it's so crucial to the book. Think of Christians being persecuted. I'm now presenting to you, brothers, the time, the time that everyone looked for. The time now that begins with John the Baptist that all the prophets testified to. Every Old Testament prophet looked for the coming of the Messiah. The entire Old Testament was the period of anticipation. And what the prophets understood upon his arrival, his coming on the scene of history, would be marked by a special kind of figure who would prepare the way. How so? it sort of raises the question about the Old Testament. And what would be so different about this figure's ministry as opposed to the long line of prophets that he stands in line with? What would be different about him now inaugurating this from the old covenant ministry? That's sort of the question. As it's written in verse 2, the beginning of the gospel of the Son of God, as it's written in Isaiah the prophet, here we go. Behold, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. I don't have time to get into all this tonight, but those are three Old Testament verses that he just put together. Guess what the first one is? Where it's from? Exodus 23. Now he's looking at Isaiah because he's thinking of John, but he's putting together three passages. Exodus 23 in the middle of the Sinai covenant. Behold, Exodus 23, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 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. It's kind of scary. Then you have Isaiah 40 that cites the latter part of this verse and then Malachi. Listen to Malachi. Remember the law of my servant Moses. The statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all of Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of curse. Old Testament ends. Old Testament ends. That's a remarkable thing, isn't it? That in the midst of these verses, Israel is a mess. Israel's an utter mess. And the ultimate, the last word of the Old Testament is the threat of curse. think about this that should have been alarming to some degree we sang psalm 78 this morning and it said they broke the covenant which one you can't break the covenant of grace that's abraham was sleeping israel in exodus 19 through 24 stands up and swears to keep the covenant. And they break it. When we come to Mark's gospel, Israel's occupied by Rome. This is not going well. The whole picture before the coming of Christ is Isaiah 60. The people in what? Darkness have seen a great light. The Malachi passage comes in the context of the land being a desolate wilderness. When you come to Mark's gospel, it's presented as a people in the wilderness. It seemed that everything had been struck with curse. It seems that they haven't made it. Now, if you follow Paul and you follow the whole framework of how they understand the old and the new, remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians? If the ministry of death carved in letters on stone came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses face because of its glory which was being brought to an end there it is that ministry was being brought to an end will not the ministry of the spirit have even more glory for if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation the ministry of righteousness must far exceeded in glory what does john recognize about jesus's ministry it's a ministry of what verse 8 the spirit the spirit something so much better was coming that's all i want to say tonight Well, I'm sure I'm saying more. But I want you to get that. Something so much greater was to come. The Old Covenant, the ministry of death with Moses, was designed to be temporary and pass away with all the ceremonial statutes and laws. It did not save. It could not save. The promise of the Old Testament is that the Lord Himself would come and redeem Israel. And He would bring something glorious in. true freedom what was the one thing that jesus said at his baptism i'm fulfilling all righteousness i want you to listen to the anticipation for just a moment of what they all looked for in the old testament listen to this it's isaiah 43 but now thus says the lord who created you o jacob who formed you o israel fear not for i've redeemed you i have called you by my name you are mine When you pass through the waters, we love this, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom. Fear not, for I am with you. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there's no Savior. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. thus says the lord who makes a way in the sea a path in the mighty waters who brings forth chariot and horse army and warrior they lie down they cannot rise they are distinct extinguished quench like a wick remember not the former things nor consider the things of old behold i'm doing a new thing now it springs forth do you not perceive it i will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert the wild beasts will honor me i'm quoting here the wild beasts will honor me says the lord the jackals and the ostriches remember verse 12 jesus is with the wild beasts they'll honor me for i will give water in the wilderness rivers in the desert i will give drink to my chosen people the people whom i form for myself that they may declare my praise but here's a problem you have burdened me with your sins you have wearied me with your iniquities i am he who blots out your transgressions for my sake and i will no longer remember your sins do you understand where mark is now if i were just to have time to go back to isaiah 40 just real briefly listen to isaiah 40 just just verse uh this is all in the context of john the baptist looking for john the baptist but isaiah 40 verse um i mean you could you could go anywhere get up to all the high mountain o zion herald of good news lift your voice with strength o jerusalem herald of good news lift up fear not say to the cities of judah behold your god behold the lord god comes with might and his arm rules for him behold his reward is with him and his recompense is before him he will tend his flock like a shepherd he will gather the lambs in his arms he will carry them in his bosom and gently those who are with young here's what mark's gospel saying with john the baptist that's the time it's come the imagery here is that john is presented as the end of the old and the inauguration of the new that's why he's such a fascinating figure john in verse 6 is presented as being with camel's hair a leather belt around his waist and he eats wild locusts and wild honey what an image huh of an old testament prophet i often have to tell seminary students not to look like john the baptist in their three years in seminary i looked like him my point is he stood out he was a prophet of that old order ushering in the new we have met a prophet out in the wilderness the symbolism of his prophetic office fascinating because we see John is presented not just as the end of the old but Mark says he's the beginning of the new the last and great prophet that introduces the promised seed introduces him to us I'm not even worthy to get down and to stoop john the baptist the greatest of all prophets said jesus i'm not even worthy to get down and untie this sandal that's what slaves did i am not even worthy to do that for him first one the beginning of the gospel of jesus christ the son of god it's as if he says we see the good news now in fulfillment with john the baptist john's out in the wilderness doing what baptizing and preaching a baptism of repentance here's why john was so crucial signifying the end of the old and the announcement of the new what did jesus say about john the baptist he said this from the days of john the baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. What does that mean? Violence does not mean opposition. He was introducing a holy kind of passion for the kingdom of God. A whole different kind of affection for the kingdom of God that the old did not bring. Understand this, please. He was introducing a whole different kind of holy affection and passion for the kingdom of God that was not seen in the old. What is the problem Jesus dealt with when He came to the religious community of Israel in the days when He walked on this earth? Coldness, deadness, frozenness. The ministry of the scribes and the Pharisees was just that. Emptiness and trying to force the worship of God by hedging in the law with more rules and rules and rules and rules and there was no joy in the people whatsoever. It was a club. It was club Judaism. And only the elite, the super elite who kept their finely interpreted interpretations of the law could get in the club. I again quote Christopher Love. Multitudes of men express more holy of affection toward the service of worship of God than in any other age beside. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. This kind of holy affection and desire, the people were cold and frozen under the ministry of the scribes and the Pharisees. They were heated under the ministry of John. I love that. The old's done, says John. Ministry of death is done. Prepare the way. And he's out there baptizing. Gospel liberty, the time of gospel liberty is here. The time of freedom is here. Multitudes are coming out to him and it's not a small group. They're all going out to him in the wilderness. And what is the heart of his message? He's warning those who won't believe. You are sure about that. You know he confronts the scribes and the Pharisees with about as harsh a language as he can get. You brood of vipers who warn you to flee from the wrath to come. Keep bearing fruits worthy of repentance and do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham. That's what they got out of the old. That's what it ended up as. And he says right now the ax is laid to the root of the tree. I'm throwing it down, says the Lord. But John's goal was what? Prepare the hearts for the Lord. Who is he preaching? Christ. What is he calling to do? Don't put your trust in the law. Don't put your trust and confidence in the law in Sinai. Confess your sins. Confess your sins. The kingdom's here. Turn from that. Turn away from that whole old system of trying to establish your own righteousness. This is Paul in Romans 10. Come to Christ in the wilderness. There's gospel for you in the wilderness. Multitudes were coming out to him to receive, I love this, forgiveness of sins, returning from their sins. Isn't it something in the wilderness he's preaching forgiveness? In the wilderness he's baptizing. I don't think I ever understood the baptism of john i for years have been perplexed by that i've never been happy with any commentator i've always walked away more perplexed about the baptism of john i didn't understand what is the baptism of john and you get all these different explanations of what the baptism of john is it's fascinating to me and it dawned on me through my study this week israel was totally familiar with baptism you know what it was for israel if you were a gentile you had to wash out of your Gentile filth through a ritual washing and become a Jew. He's washing them out of that. I got it. I think I did. He's washing them out of that. Out of the old and into the new. Specifically for the Jews. You see the offense of that. This is why the Pharisees are furious. He's calling them to the light. He's calling them to the way. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. William Hendrickson captures it. His task is to prepare the hearts of the people for the reception of their Messiah. He was preparing the way of the Lord, that is, by God's grace and power, to effect a complete change of mind and heart. This implies that they must make straight His paths, meaning they must provide the Lord with ready access into their hearts and lives. they must clear the way of all obstacles which they had thrown in his path obstacles such as self-righteousness smug complacency and I add in the law we have Abraham as our father John is clearing the way for the new covenant ministry this was the promise that's why John in preparing that way was a temporary baptism of repentance he says the real baptism that's coming is with Jesus Christ who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. That's everything Jeremiah 31 looked for. When the Lord announced the days are coming, I'm making this new covenant, new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke. Though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them. I'll write it on their hearts. I'm getting into the heart. I will be their God. They shall be my people. No longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall know me from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. That's what you enjoy. John was the preparation of this, calling them to confess their sins of breaking the law and receive forgiveness to enjoy the Savior to come. All that should say tonight that this should be utter excitement for the saints in Jerusalem who were facing persecution for the faith and in Rome, who were being cast out into the wilderness. Jesus came here, our warrior. He came to walk our path. He came to step out in the wilderness with wild beasts. He came and his goal immediately, immediately, immediately, immediately was to head to where? Jerusalem. So that there would be an exodus for you. He fought the battle and won. That's Mark's gospel. He came here as our divine warrior. He went back home after his short stay here as a pilgrim. And he said, I'm going to come again to take you to be with me. I will bring you to the land. That is what I promised you and I have reserved that inheritance for you. Says who? Peter. Peter. It's reserved. It's saved for you. It's all there for you. It's secure in the Israelite, the true Israelite who came here. Just in that intro, next time we'll see him baptized and then in the wilderness tests of wild beasts. May that encourage us not to lose heart. I close with these words. Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I'm doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert for you. That's the day you live. This is your Savior. The gospel has come to you, dear children of God, in the wilderness. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we are so grateful again tonight for Your wonderful Word and how You put the whole story together for us. So thankful that one has come and gone into the wilderness and fought the beasts and encourages us in all of our afflictions to not lose heart because You've prepared a kingdom for us. And You will take us home. Thank You, Father, for Your faithfulness. Thank You, O Lord, for Your love. Thank you that we live in the day of fulfillment in the New Covenant ministry where we have real and true and abiding peace and love in Christ Jesus. All of the promises to Father Abraham coming to pass. That which all the Old Testament saints had heard and believed and looked for in Christ Jesus. We now live in the time of fulfillment. And for that, we praise you tonight and thank you. And we go out into this week, into our wilderness way, knowing that you love us and that you will never leave us nor forsake us. In Jesus' name, amen.