Prepare the Way

My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church

and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you this morning.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats

but because we're following Jesus together as one community

and as we follow Jesus together we become convinced that there's no one so good.

They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it

which is why we come back week after week Sunday after Sunday to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.

We're starting this morning a new series in the Gospel of Mark.

In the Gospel of Mark as all the Gospels simply tells the story of Jesus.

It's the story of His life and His death and His resurrection.

And we talk about Jesus. We are not talking about an abstraction or an idea or a construct

but at risk of saying the obvious we are talking about a historical real man.

We are talking about someone who was born in the first century in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was five or six miles south of Jerusalem.

And we're also talking about someone who grew up in Nazareth

which is 64 or 65 miles north of Jerusalem.

And I mention that to remind us all, while it may seem clear,

Jesus takes on all kinds of different ideas from all kinds of different people.

We are talking about a real man who lived in real time and real space.

And as we come to this book, the Gospel of Mark asks two simple questions

that we're going to be asking as we go through it.

And it's going to be our questions this morning which are simply this.

Who is Jesus and how do we respond to Him?

Who is Jesus and how do we respond to Him?

Now that second question, you could rephrase it.

If you don't consider yourself a Christian,

maybe you're not interested in responding to Jesus.

You could ask it a different way.

Why would you follow Jesus?

Okay, so how do you respond to Him or why would you follow Him?

And I use that word because Jesus does.

He invites people later in the Gospel of Mark to follow after Him.

And so we're going to jump right in.

Mark's known for repeating over and over the word immediately

because he moves quickly from scene to scene.

This is in fact the shortest of all the Gospels.

And so in answering those questions this morning,

we're going to see two things.

First of all, the Savior.

And second of all, the sick.

We're going to see the Savior and the sick.

And so it's with that I invite you to turn with me now

to the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.

You can turn in your Bible.

You can turn in your worship guide.

You can turn on your phone.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

God tells us that His word is a lamp to our feet

and a light to our path.

In other words, God has not left us to stumble alone in the dark.

But instead, He has given us His word to show us the way to go.

And so that's why we read now, starting at Mark 1, verse 1.

Mark 1:1

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.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in heaven, we praise you again

that you have not left us alone as orphans in a merciless universe,

but instead you speak to us,

and you speak to us clearly in words that we can understand.

We ask that you would do that this morning by your Holy Spirit,

that you would open our minds and eyes and heart,

that we would be able to see Jesus in this passage,

that you would cast a spotlight on him,

that he would be more beautiful than we expected or realized,

and that you would shape us and change us as a result of it.

We thank you that we haven't earned these things or deserved them,

but instead we simply ask them in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

If you have seen Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace,

you know that getting into the film,

maybe in the middle or maybe three quarters of the way through,

you get to see this meeting of the Jedi Council.

And Qui-Gon Jinn is coming before the Council to speak to them,

and we find out during this meeting

that there's been this prophecy from old times during the Jedi

that there's going to be a chosen one who's supposed to come.

And this chosen one is supposed to balance light and dark.

He's going to balance the Force, and he's going to end the Sith.

He's going to balance what has not been balanced before.

And what Qui-Gon Jinn is convinced of that the Council is not

is that young Anakin is the one that they've been looking forward to.

He is the one who's going to balance light and dark.

He's the one who's going to bring the Sith to an end.

And he has reasons for believing this.

Qui-Gon Jinn doesn't just make this up.

He interacts with Anakin.

He realizes that he's especially strong in the Force.

In fact, remember the scene where they measure the midichlorians in his blood,

and they're shocked to find out he has 20,000, over 20,000 midichlorians.

And as he says, even Master Yoda doesn't have a midichlorian count that high.

It's not just his midichlorian count, though.

Remember when Anakin is sort of flirting with Padme, he tells her he's the only human being

who can compete in pod racing.

We find out that's because of his skill in the Force.

And finally, when Qui-Gon Jinn is trying to convince the Council that this is the Chosen One,

he tells them, look, I sense a convergence in the Force.

In other words, there's a centrality of the Force around this individual that's not there with others.

There's this high concentration of energy.

And so Qui-Gon Jinn is trying to convince them.

He's insisting this is the Chosen One, despite the skepticism of those in the room.

Now, you might wonder why I'm bringing up Star Wars in the midst of the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.

And the reason is this.

There's a connection in this story.

Qui-Gon Jinn is trying to say there's a connection between what we have been expecting

and looking for in the past and what is now in front of us in the future.

We've been anticipating this.

I think it's now here in front of us.

He's the one we have been waiting for.

Mark here with John the Baptist is making the same point.

There is a prophecy being fulfilled.

Now, don't carry this too far, right?

Star Wars is filled with Eastern religion.

We're talking about Christianity.

But he's saying there's this thing that we've been looking towards for years

that has been prophesied that is now before us right here and right now.

We see this first of all, verses 2 and 3.

He quotes the prophet Isaiah.

He's actually quoting Isaiah and Malachi here.

Typically, in the New Testament, when someone quotes an Old Testament prophet,

they only mention one of them, even if they're quoting multiples.

And he's saying this prophecy, by the way, it's just about God returning to his people

after the exile.

God giving his people his presence once again and bringing his salvation fully and finally.

This prophecy from Isaiah and Malachi is being fulfilled right now.

The thing that you've been waiting for, the thing that you've been longing for,

the fact that you've never been fully restored since your exile in Babylon,

God's presence, which never returned to the temple, it is finally here.

The prophecy is being fulfilled.

This is the one we've been looking for.

And we find here a specific portion of this prophecy that we're pointed to.

It's not just that God is returning finally with his presence to his people,

but we know from these prophecies that there's meant to be a messenger

who comes to prepare the way.

That's the point made in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3.

Isaiah 40:3

And Malachi put together as part of what we read earlier this morning.

And he is telling us here this messenger that's meant to prepare the way for God

is in fact John the Baptist.

That's why we find out in verse 4, we're told John appeared

immediately after we're told that this prophecy has come.

John is coming as the one who's meant to prepare the way.

He's the messenger that the Old Testament predicted,

and so God's salvation is almost here.

It's right around the corner.

His messenger has shown up to announce and proclaim his presence.

He tells us more just in the fact that John has appeared, though.

We'll come back to this repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

but we find out John's location.

By the way, in Malachi chapter 4, verse 5,

Malachi 4:5

we're told that this messenger who's preparing the way for God

is going to be Elijah again.

Remember Elijah, an Old Testament prophet.

He's been long dead at this point since the beginning of the Gospel of Mark,

and yet Elijah's the one they're looking for to appear again,

and that's what he's getting at over and over in these verses.

So first of all, John appears.

We have to trust him that John's supposed to be Elijah

because he's coming right after the fulfillment of the prophecy,

but he gives us reasons to believe.

It's not just that Qui-Gon Jinn believes that Anakin's the chosen one,

but he has the midichlorian count to back him up.

He has his power in podracing to back him up.

John also brings his evidence here.

He is appearing in the wilderness,

the same place where Elijah disappeared.

So he's reappearing the last place Elijah was seen.

He's also wearing clothes here.

Verse 6, camel's hair and a leather belt.

That is meant to remind us of Elijah.

Not only is he appearing in Elijah's place,

he looks like Elijah.

And he's coming here, giving us what we've been looking for forever.

We've been looking for the promised return of God.

And so this appearance of John the Baptist is meant to build our excitement up,

our anticipation that God's return,

which has been waited for for centuries, is finally coming.

We find out about another prophecy fulfilled too.

It's not just that John is coming here,

but John is coming to prepare the way, right, for the Lord.

Lord, this one who is coming, verse 8,

is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

This comes as a fulfillment of prophecies in the books of Isaiah and Ezekiel

that talk a lot about the day when God is going to come

and finally pour out his Spirit on his people.

And so it's not just that God's presence is coming,

but his power is coming as well.

When we think about the Holy Spirit in the Bible,

there's all kinds of things we could talk about,

but the Holy Spirit comes bringing God's power to change hearts and lives.

That's what these prophecies in the Old Testament talk about.

And so this one, baptizing with the Holy Spirit,

is coming and going to bring that power finally

that they've been longing for and looking for

that's been promised for centuries in the prophets.

The Holy Spirit is going to be able to change hearts and minds.

It's the Holy Spirit that allows us,

that causes us to finally be able to admit that we're wrong.

It's the Holy Spirit we find out in the New Testament

that helps us to understand the truths about God

that we would not be able to understand on our own.

It's the Holy Spirit that changes our affections and our loves.

The Spirit has power.

In other words,

this God is going to come and save his world,

and he has the power to do it.

This great and powerful presence

that we've been waiting for for so long

is finally here.

Now I'm going to pause for a second

just to explain to you all the difference

between baptizing with water

and baptizing with the Holy Spirit

might seem strange

because water and the Holy Spirit

don't seem like opposites,

and it might also be strange

because there's all kinds of people

who have all kinds of theories and thoughts

about what's meant here,

and I want you to think about it simply in this way.

The difference between baptism in water

and baptism with the Holy Spirit

is the difference between the nurse and the doctor.

Now if you go and you visit your doctor,

you go to the doctor's office,

which I know doesn't happen quite as often anymore.

People are just texting their doctors

or doing telehealth,

but if you actually show up to the office in person,

what's going to happen first?

Well, you're going to get checked in

by the receptionist, right?

Then you get called back to the room.

When you're in the room,

the nurse is going to come in and talk to you,

and what's he going to say?

He's going to ask you,

what's wrong with you?

Why are you here to see the doctor?

Now I always find that to be a silly question

because I never set up doctor's appointments

without already telling them why I'm there,

but for some reason,

we have to go through this charade

where they ask me why I'm there,

so I tell them.

I am admitting in that moment

that I have a need, right?

I am saying, I need help.

Here's why I'm here.

This nurse is helping me to admit that need.

And the nurse can't help me, right?

The nurse does not have the power to prescribe.

The nurse is not there to diagnose.

We might say the nurse is there

to prepare the way for the doctor.

And so it's important.

I have to admit my need,

but my need's not going to be solved by that.

What I need, what I'm waiting for

is the doctor to show up.

And what's going to happen?

Well, after my temperature has been taken

and I've been weighed

and I've admitted my problem,

the doctor is going to show up.

She is the one who is going to be able

to prescribe and administer and diagnose.

She is the one who actually has the power

to make things right again.

That is what we're talking about here

when we look at the difference

between baptism with water

and baptism with the Holy Spirit.

John is preparing the way for Jesus.

He is getting the patients ready,

admitting their need,

knowing that they need someone greater

and more powerful

who can bring the Spirit to change them.

And so they're ready

when the doctor shows up.

He is getting them ready

so that Jesus can come

and actually bring real healing

and power and transformation.

And so the point is this,

that we look at the very beginning

of the Gospel of Mark.

The world is sick

and the one who can save it

and heal it is finally here.

The world is sick

and the one who can save it

and heal it is finally here.

Help is on the way.

This is not a drill.

That's how Mark begins his Gospel.

And so you'll remember

I had two questions.

Who is Jesus?

How do we respond to him?

First of all, who is Jesus?

We learn here,

he is not just a man.

He's also God.

These Old Testament passages

speak of God's return,

his presence.

Jesus is the one fulfilling that return.

He is not just a good teacher,

although he does have good teachings.

He is divine.

He is fulfilling

the Old Testament prophecies

even if it's not in the way

you might expect.

Not only is he not just a man,

but God,

he also is coming

with real and true power.

He is coming to provide

the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

He's going to use that power

to actually save us.

A few weeks ago,

I referenced Charlie Brown,

which if you're old like me,

you'll remember.

Remember Lucy always has her booth.

It says psychiatric help,

five cents,

and she has this sign

that says the doctor is in.

Mark is telling us,

finally,

after centuries of waiting,

the doctor is in.

He is here to save the world.

He's going to be the one

who comes and brings to an end

all shame and sin

and disease and death

and alienation and wars.

And it's important that we see this

at the very beginning.

Mark's giving us an introduction here

to lay the groundwork

because Jesus' power,

that kind of power,

we're going to see at work

throughout the rest of the gospel.

And so keep this introduction in mind

as we see Jesus' healings

and his teachings

and his miracles.

He is a God.

He is the God.

He is God

coming with true and real power

to heal this world.

And so that's our first answer

in the gospel of Mark

to who Jesus is.

We'll see more answers

as we continue.

Mark, though,

is calling us

not just to look at Jesus

but also for a response.

If the doctor is here,

then what?

Well, we see in verses 2 and 3

that there's meant to be

a preparation here.

I will send my messenger

who will prepare the way

and then there's going to be

the voice of one

crying in the wilderness,

prepare the way of the Lord.

And then we find out

in verse 4

what this preparation looks like.

John appeared,

baptizing in the wilderness

and proclaiming a baptism

of repentance

for the forgiveness of sins.

Now, baptism is this water cleansing

as we know

that represents

God cleansing us

from the dirt of sin.

We find out here

that John's giving a baptism here

that requires repentance.

He is requiring people

to admit and confess

that they are sinners

in need of help,

that they need God's mercy

and without it

they deserve only

his judgment.

And so that simply is

how John the Baptist

is preparing the way.

It goes back to my

illustration earlier.

John is the nurse

getting people in the rooms.

He's getting them ready.

They've already admitted

that they have need.

They've already told

this person

that they're sick.

That is his preparation

for Jesus

so that when Jesus shows up

they are waiting

and ready.

In fact, Jesus is going

to tell us later

in the Gospel of Mark

in chapter 2

that he is coming

as a physician.

He says,

those who are well

have no need

of a physician

but those who are sick.

I came not to call

the righteous

but sinners.

So Jesus is coming

only for those

who are willing

to admit

and confess

their need.

And there's a challenge

here in John's baptism

because typically

baptism at this point

in history

in biblical history

was only for those

who were non-Jews

becoming Jews.

And yet John here

is requiring it

of Jews as well.

In other words,

he's saying

your pedigree,

your religious background

doesn't matter.

I don't care

if you're a Jew or not.

I care if you are able

to admit your need.

On top of that,

baptism at this time

was typically

self-administered.

It was done

by the person

being baptized.

John, however,

is the one

performing the baptism, right?

They're being baptized

by John

and so he's telling them

not only do you have

to admit your need,

not only do I not care

about your background,

you can't help yourself.

You need something

outside of you

to cleanse you

and save you.

And so the question

for us,

brothers and sisters,

is how do we respond?

How are we preparing

the way for Jesus?

How are we prepared

for him to come

and heal?

And the answer

is simple.

We also have to admit

our mess.

We can't find healing

unless we're willing

to admit where we need it.

Imagine how ridiculous

it would be

if I showed up

to the doctor's office,

the nurse comes in,

she asked me,

why are you here

to see the doctor?

And I said,

honestly,

it's been a long time

since I've seen him

and I just really

wanted to catch up.

You know,

I don't know

what his kids are up to.

Are they still playing baseball?

Have they shifted

to volleyball?

I mean,

I have questions.

What would the nurse do?

I probably wouldn't

know what to do.

You're at the doctor's office.

Okay,

why are you here?

What do you need?

If you want to be healed,

if you want him

to help you,

you have to be honest

and upfront.

And so,

as we are coming

to the gospel

of Mark together,

the price of admission

to this gospel

is admitting your need.

We are not here

as an intellectual exercise.

I am not here

to simply give you

some kind of insights

into this text.

we are here

to be saved.

We are here

for Jesus,

this great physician

to come

and to help us.

I want you to think

about it like this.

If you've been in school,

you know there are

two ways to take a class.

You can take it

for credit

or you can audit it.

If you take it

for credit,

you have to do

all the work, right?

You buy the textbooks.

You do the reading.

You write the papers.

You turn in the assignments.

Maybe if there's

a curse upon you,

you have to do

some group work.

If you audit it,

you get to skip

all of that, right?

You just get to show up

for the lectures.

You just get to hear

some things.

You don't have to

engage it very much.

You can gain

some new ideas.

You don't have to do

any work.

The only problem

is that, of course,

you don't get any credit

for the class.

Brothers and sisters,

if we do not admit

our need for Jesus,

we are only going

to audit this class.

Our hope,

our goal

as God's people

is that we would not audit

but we would take it.

And if we're going

to take it,

we have to do

the work.

It's tempting

to believe

if we're someone

who's been a Christian

for a while

that we've arrived,

that repentance

is mainly

for other people

who have not been around

as long as we have

and yet we learn here

in this gospel

we're going to see

over and over

that the people

who see and meet Jesus

and receive his healing

more than any others

are the ones

who are going to admit

their need.

And so the same

is true for us.

If we want to take

this class,

if we want to see

real, true joy

and healing

come from our Lord Jesus

to us

through his gospel,

then we have to admit

as well

that our marriages

might be messier

than they look

from the outside.

The pictures

on Instagram

might not match

the reality

behind closed doors.

You might have to admit,

yes, I struggle

with pornography.

I have an addiction

of this sort

or another sort.

I'm someone

who's tempted

by gossip

that's fueled

by insecurity

and it's torn up

my family

and my community.

I have a tendency

to try to control

other people

rather than to love them.

I'm a salesman.

I lied my way

to the success

I experience now

and I'm deathly afraid

that I'm going

to be found out.

I work hard

but I do it

to make others

owe me

and so it's a form

of deep manipulation.

The question

for us

is this,

do you truly

think you need

Jesus?

Are you willing

to do what John

is asking for here

to engage

in repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins?

That is who

Jesus is coming for.

That is who

he's bringing

his healing for.

I know some of you

here in this room

have experienced

over the last

couple years

real and deep

and powerful change.

We've seen

in various circumstances

the true

power of God

at work

and you have

only experienced

that power

at work

if you have

had the humility

to confess

your need.

In fact,

I can't think

of anyone

who has experienced

deep and real

and true transformation

without the humility

and confession

that comes with saying

I need help.

Things here

are not

what they need

to be

or should be.

There's powerful

things going on

right now

in our band

of brothers

Bible study,

our men who meet

on Saturday mornings.

The reason

that God

is at work

in such a powerful

way

is because

there's deep

honesty

and humility.

That's what

gospel transformation

requires.

It's the willingness

to admit

our problems

and our need

that leads

to joy.

We're going to

talk about this

more in Mark

Mark 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

I'll simply say this.

When Jesus talks

about the fact

that he's come

not for the healthy

but for the sick,

we'll see everyone

is actually sick.

It's just that

some people

are willing

to admit it.

Others are not.

Everyone

is actually sick.

It's just

some people

are willing

to admit it.

Others

are not.

You can't

get help

unless you ask.

It's true

in this life.

It's true

as we start

this journey

with our Lord Jesus

in the gospel

of Mark.

And so

as we ask

these two simple

questions,

we've seen

just the beginning

answer this morning.

Jesus

is the man

who is also God.

He comes

with real

and true

power to heal

and to change.

We respond

to that.

We experience

his power

and his change

as we admit

and confess

our need for it.

You can't get help

unless you ask

for it.

in his

autobiography

About Face,

Colonel David Hackworth

who became famous

for his involvement

in the Vietnam War

tells about his time

in Korea

and Vietnam.

And in between

that time

he spent

some of his service

in the army

and

stationed in Germany.

And while he was

stationed in Germany

he had all sorts

of interesting things

happen to him.

A variety of boring

things happened to him.

And at one point

he had this visit

from this man

who was very prominent

at the time

named General

Yabakovsky.

And Yabakovsky

was the chief

of the Soviet army

in East Germany

and he came to inspect

their battle group.

And so

as you would expect

they needed to prepare

for this great general

to come

and so they had

a variety

of creative ideas.

First of all

they repainted

some of the walls

on their barracks

except

they only painted

the sides of the walls

that you could see

from the plane

as it landed.

They needed to worry

about the other sides

the plane wasn't

going to pass those.

On this air strip

where his plane

was going to land

there were some

large patches of dirt.

So they thought

well if you're looking

down from the airplane

and you see

these large patches

of dirt

how about instead

of them being brown

they're green.

So they took

some green paint

and they painted

up the brown dirt

so it would look

like grass

when you were coming down.

And then

since this man

was a Russian general

they pulled all

the Russian speakers

they could find

and they put those

as the people

who were on that day.

And so they wanted

this man to come in

and think

wow look at this army

every single one

of their soldiers

from the top

to the bottom

speaks Russian.

These Americans

are amazing.

So they pull out

all the stops

to cover up reality.

They want things

to appear

greater and better

than they actually are.

And that's our intuition

that's what we want

when a great person

comes and visits.

We want to prepare

the way.

We want things

to appear

better than reality.

We want to clean up.

John the Baptist

tells us

someone great

is coming.

God himself

is on the way

coming with his power

except

he,

this king

is the one

who comes

to clean up.

He requires us

not to paint

over the dirt

with green paint.

He requires us

on the other hand

to actually show him

our mess.

It's not that

we clean

for him

but that

we show him

how dirty

and broken

we are

and he

cleans

for us.

Instead

of looking

good

we admit

that we're not.

That is our

introduction

and our pathway

into the gospel

of Mark.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven

we thank you

that you

send us

your Lord Jesus

and that you

speak to us

about him

even now.

We ask that you

give us

the hope

and encouragement

that comes

from knowing

that he

is showing up

as God himself

with your presence

and power.

We ask that you

would give us

the humility

and courage

and joy

to admit our need

that Jesus

would be able

to help us

clean up

that we would be able

to prepare

the way.

We ask these things

grateful

that we don't have

to pretend

things are better

than they are

but instead

we can simply

ask them

in the mighty name

of Jesus Christ.

Amen.