“PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL”

Mark 1:1-4, 9-19

1/6/2008 Pastor Harpold

As much content in this first chapter of Mark as any other in the Bible (with the exception of Gen. 1). It takes in ministry of John the Baptist, as prophesied in Isaiah and Malachi. Covers the first year of Jesus’ ministry and follows Him through a busy Sabbath day. It concludes with the mighty work of cleansing the leper. In spite of the pressure of a busy life, Jesus took time to pray.

No mention of the birth and genealogy of Jesus. Mark introduces Jesus the servant. A king needs a genealogy. A servant needs references, not a “birth certificate.” It is not a question as to His ancestors, rather as to His actions - can He do the job? Jesus is marked by His accomplishments.

Mark introduces the ministry of Jesus. It is the beginning of the gospel when Jesus came to earth and died upon a cross and rose again. That is the gospel.

Mark, who has very few quotations from the Old Testament, quotes two prophecies. The Romans knew little about prophecy. He uses these prophecies to show the One he is introducing doesn't need a genealogy, but He does need references. And His references go back to Isaiah and Malachi. Both John and Mark declare the coming of John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecies of one who would be the forerunner of Christ.

John preached repentance and baptized unto forgiveness of sins, not for forgiveness. The Greek preposition ets is used and is properly translated “unto” or “into.” His ministry was preparatory. It was preparing them for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the One who remits or forgives sins.

[Mark 1:9]. Notice Mark's headline - “JESUS CAME.” What a thrill! Jesus is coming again someday. That's another wonderful headline. But here, the Lord Jesus came from the obscurity of thirty years of quiet training in Nazareth. Here He comes and identifies Himself with the human family in His baptism. Remember Jesus had said to John “... Let it to be so now ...” (Matt. 3:15) - John didn't think he should baptize Jesus.

[Mark 1:10-11]. The Trinity is brought together in this passage. We see the Lord Jesus, the second Person of the Godhead; the Spirit of God who descends like a dove upon Him - third Person of the Godhead, and the voice from heaven saying, "Thou art my beloved Son” is that of the Father, the first Person of the Godhead.

You will notice that things are happening very fast here. He is the Servant. John the Baptist is the one who introduces Him, and then God the Father identifies Him and puts His seal upon Him. Next the temptation will initiate Him.

The Spirit of God moved Him right out into the wilderness to be tempted. This is very important for us to see. We come to that question: Can He do the job? Other men failed; they couldn't stand up under temptation. Adam failed. Noah got through the Flood, and then fell on his face. Abraham failed. Moses failed - he led Israel out of Egypt, but he wasn't permitted to enter the Promised Land. And poor David failed. So we see that the temptation of Jesus initiates Him into His work.

We do not have the detail given here that we find in Matthew and in Luke. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan. Some people have the impression that He fasted forty days and then Satan tempted Him. He was being tempted the whole time.

After the temptations we find Jesus beginning His ministry. After John the Baptist was imprisoned, Jesus came into Galilee. He begins His ministry, preaching the gospel, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

"Repent ye, and believe the gospel." The message of Jesus is the same as the message of John the Baptist in Matthew's gospel. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). I think that in our day, the message is really turned around - that is, we put faith before repentance. When you turn to Jesus Christ in faith, you are actually turning to Him from something else, and that turning from something is repentance. It is true that when one turns to Christ, there will be a manifestation of a change in life showing the believer is turning from something.

NOW COMES THE CALL OF HIS DISCIPLES [Mark 1:16-20]. When Jesus begins His ministry he also prepares his disciples for the ministry of the gospel.

Notice when he called them, they immediately followed. It wasn’t a cold call. The apostles were among those awed by the preaching and ministry of this new man on the block. But he was not only preaching but he was demonstrating the power of God.

MAN IN SYNAGOGUE In John’s Gospel the religious leaders questioned Him about what He did on the Sabbath day. He made it very clear, “... My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” (John 5:17). He didn't work an eight-hour day - "Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps. 121:4). This Sabbath day starts out early in the morning when He entered into the synagogue and taught, and when our Lord spoke, they were astonished at His doctrine. Jesus taught as one who had authority.

The first miracle in the Gospel of Mark is in the spiritual realm. Only God is in control in the spiritual realm; He is in control of the demons. The only way demonism can be met is by the Lord Jesus because He, and He alone, is able to move in this realm. That’s the reason Mark gives this first miracle. This miracle comes first because if Jesus has power in this realm, then two things are implied. First, He has power in any realm. Second, only God could do such a thing. This was a part of His credentials, you see. Jesus had authority; He had power. Jesus taught as One who had authority, and then demonstrates that He has power.

If you are aware of what is taking place in our contemporary culture today, you recognize that Satan worship has become very prominent. There are things happening today in the realm of the occult that can be explained only on the basis that it is satanic and that it is supernatural. You cannot explain reasonably why young people today will leave homes where they are loved, join a vagrant band, and then go out and murder! That seems unbelievable. That's satanic, friend.

There is only one way to deal with this, and that is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone can control the demons.

PETER'S WIFE'S MOTHER AND OTHERS HEALED

It is interesting to note that the demon world recognized Him. They knew and believed who He was, and yet they are not saved, of course.

It’s been a busy day with Jesus, and you would think that after such an exhausting Sabbath day, He would sleep late the next morning. But did He? No, we see Jesus rises up early to go to a solitary place to pray. What a lesson this is for us.

We come, now, to the last miracle of the chapter. All of these have been hard cases, and they all have been different. This one is a leper. Leprosy was not incurable, but it was a disease that could be fatal. It was certainly a tragic disease as it deformed and mutilated the victim and barred him from society.

There is a tremendous psychological side to this miracle. You don't touch a leper. This man hadn't been touched in many years. Nor had he been able to touch anyone. I imagine his family brought out the food and drink for him, left it, and after they had retired he would come up and get it. He probably could wave to them, but he could never come to them again, never hold them in his arms, never touch them. But now the Lord touches this man, and He cleanses him! Jesus demonstrates authority and power. And the source of power is prayer.

And this healed man blazed abroad the news. He disobeyed our Lord, however. A preacher, preaching on this section of the Gospel of Mark, said "The Lord had told him not to tell anybody and he told everybody. He tells us to tell everybody and we tell nobody.” That’s good. The disobedience of this cleansed leper is not as bad as our disobedience today. We are to tell everybody and we tell nobody.