February 9 - Mark 1

You’re listening to OKY. The place where we discuss what we believe and why we believe it to be true! Today we will start a quick series about Jesus. For those who call themselves Christians, He is the main thing we look to for how to live this faith we have in the middle of the world we are in. So I want to talk this week about Jesus, through the eyes of John. . . 

 

Now we already talked about Jesus being the light that the darkness could not overcome. So we won’t get into that today. But I want to start today in the book of Mark. But this week we will jump around the gospels a bit. So follow along in the text if you can. And while I am reading, I’ll give you some brief explanation of why each text is so important. So here we go, starting in Mark, chapter 1. 

 

Mark 1

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, 

Who will prepare your way”

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, 

Make straight paths for him.’

 

This reference to Isaiah prophesying about the messiah coming, and just as importantly, the promise that someone would come and prepare the way for the Lord. Which if you go to John’s gospel, he says that John the Baptist was questioned about who he was, and he answered in the words of Isaiah - “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.” (John 1:23) So John the Baptist admitted that he was the one who would prepare the way for the Lord, just as Isaiah promised. And that is why this is just as important as the messiah coming. This shows God’s faithfulness to his promise. He won’t just do what he said, he will do it in a way that he promises. John the Baptist coming and preparing the way for Jesus was a sign that the prophecies would come true. 

 

Mark continues by telling us, 

 

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 

 

So John went out into the wilderness and lived a different lifestyle than everyone else. He was weird!!!! He ate honey and locusts, and wore camel’s hair clothing with a leather belt around his waist. 

 

Why is this in the text? Remember, everything written is in the text for a reason. . 

 

Well Mark is tying John the Baptist to Elijah. 

 

In 2 Kings, there is a story where a prophet gave an unfavorable word to King Ahazia’s servant and told him it was for the king. When the king asked who the prophet was that told him this message, the servant replied, 

 

2 Kings 1:8 

“He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.”

The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

 

And this isn’t just a coincidence, they didn’t just have the same fashion advisor, Jesus acknowledges this as well. He talks about the importance of John the Baptist IN Matthew 11:11-14

 

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

 

So Jesus even acknowledges this parallel. 

 

Why is this so important? 

 

Elijah said that one would come. And he had an important role. Malachi tells of the role John would play - 

 

Malachi 4:5-6

See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” 

 

Did you know that John is responsible for Peter and Andrew following Jesus. They were his disciples first, and he told them about Jesus. When Jesus appeared on the scene teaching, John told them to go and follow him. He was preparing people to be ready for the messiah to come.

 

And how was he preparing them? 

 

He was teaching them, telling them to repent of their sins, and baptizing them. 

 

This prepared the people for Jesus’s ministry. 

 

And Jesus came and modeled the importance of this ministry. Keep reading in Mark 1:9

 

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven: “you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 

 

Jesus got baptized! 

 

Why? 

 

He was demonstrating for us, how to honor God. It starts with obedience. Jesus wanted to honor John and his teachings. And he wanted to show us what it looks like to repent and follow Jesus. 

 

So baptism is important to us because of this. 

 

It’s not what gets you saved. But it is a symbol of your salvation. It shows that you believe Jesus was buried by going down into the water. But then it also symbolizes his resurrection as you come out of the water a new person. When Jesus came up, the Holy Spirit landed on him like a dove. Not to mess up your childhood Bible pictures, but it wasn’t necessarily a dove or even a dove like figure that landed on him. The verbage here indicates that the spirit descended upon Jesus as though it were landing on him like a dove would. But what you have is the first moment in the gospels where Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in one place. The audible voice of God was heard, the Son was coming out of the waters of baptism, and Holy Spirit was gently resting upon Jesus in a form that was noticeable. 

 

See, when we fully believe in Jesus, surrender our will to him, and obey him wholeheartedly, we begin to commune with him. And when I say him, I mean with the LORD. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

 

Jesus is set up to go into the wilderness and be tested, because he is in communion with his Father while also being full of the Spirit. 

 

We don’t acknowledge the full trinity being involved in our lives enough. 

 

We like to parse things out. 

 

God answers prayer

 

In Jesus name we are healed

 

The Holy Spirit does neat tricks when we need it . . . . 

 

But real communion with God, is understanding the Father at work in our lives while the Spirit draws us to the salvation that Jesus brought us. It’s all three working in our lives at the same time. And baptism is an understating that we believe the full triune God to be at work in us. We have salvation, sonship from the father, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Continuing in Mark 1:12, we read “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”

 

See Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted. While we know the church answer of how he was able to resist the devil, let me give you deeper answer. The church answer is he resisted him because he knew the Word of God. If you go and read the temptations in Luke 4, you will see that Jesus answered every temptation with scripture. But the truth is. .  . JESUS IS THE WORD. So it wasn’t because he filled himself with he scripture that he was able to resist the devil. People think that knowing scripture will help you resist satan and keep from sinning. But knowledge doesn’t do that. What prepared Jesus, and what helps you resists the devil too, is being aware of the full presence of the triune God. Bing in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is how we live the best life possible and resist the devil. 

 

So what does that look like? 

 

Spending time in prayer and meditation. Becoming aware of the fact that God is with you. Sitting still and allowing him to love you. Putting aside distractions and allowing the Spirit of God to rest on you like a dove. Being in God’s presence without having to do anything or focus on anything. Just resting and knowing God’s goodness. The more you become aware of the full presence of God, the more you will be able to resist the devil. 

 

Think about it this way, 

 

Would you willingly sin if you were in the same state of mind as when you are in deep worship of God at the altar? 

 

NO!!!

 

Well the key is remembering that your life is an altar. You are the place where God comes to meet with you. He come to you, fills you, and leads you along the day. The more you realize this, and the more you spend time enjoying the presence of God, the more you will be able to resist the devil! And if you resist the devil, he will flee from you. . . . . .

 

So, to conclude for today, 

 

Two take-a-ways. . . .

 

1. Get baptized. If you haven’t already done this, it is a symbol of your obedience to God and your interest in becoming more aware of his presence in your daily-minute by minute- life.
2. Spend time being in the full presence of God. Remove distractions, turn off all electronics - I would say including music - breath in the presence of God, and recognize that He is with you! 

 

And if you make a habit of practicing this, you will begin to see the hand of God move you, as the Spirit of God leads you, because the Son of God has saved you for his glory! And that, is the lesson we can learn from Jesus in Mark 1. 

 

That’s all the time we have left for today. I love you, and God bless!