Who is the King?

The Reverend Dr. Alan Cole was a classical biblical scholar.

A biblical scholar.

He lectured at Oak Hill Theological College in London

and in Moore College in Sydney and Trinity College in Singapore.

He was a missionary, both with the China Inland Mission

and CMS in Southeast Asia.

He was a founding master of Robert Menzies College

at Macquarie University

and one-time federal secretary of CMS in Australia.

He was a scholar of both Hebrew and Greek language.

He wrote three biblical commentaries,

one on Exodus, one on Galatians,

and one on Mark's gospel,

which has been a significant help for me

throughout this series on Mark.

I met Dr. Cole in 1997

while I was a student at Moore College.

Although I was totally unaware of who he was.

I was in a New Testament lecture on the book of Galatians,

a book that Dr. Cole had written a commentary on.

And I'd noticed on previous occasions

this elderly gentleman who sat at the back of the lecture room

taking notes.

And he didn't appear in any other lectures,

so I assume he wasn't a second-year Moore College student.

And it seemed a little strange

that to be a student,

that why was he there?

For me as a student,

why is this elderly gentleman there?

And in my view,

this is a little bit ironic,

but a little bit strange,

but in my view,

he resembled my lecturer.

And I just assumed that this elderly gentleman

was coming along encouraging his son

as he lectured in this particular subject.

And so one day,

at this very same subject,

this elderly gentleman came in

and he sat beside me.

And I struck up a conversation with Dr. Cole,

unaware of who he was,

but my curiosity got the better of me

and I asked him,

why are you here?

I don't see you in anything else.

Why are you here?

And his response to me was,

I've had a long interest in the Greek language

and in Galatians particular.

And I, being totally clueless

and potentially the arrogance of youth,

I said something to him

that went something like this,

it's never too late to learn Greek.

And how personally encouraged I was

that someone of his stage of life

was choosing to pick it up.

Somewhat embarrassed

when the guy who was sitting beside me

over morning tea said,

you idiot,

do you have any idea who you were talking to?

None whatsoever.

None whatsoever.

I was in the presence

of one of the great disciples of the kingdom,

of the biblical scholarship,

the Greek language Galatians,

at no concept of who it was

that I was sitting beside in that moment.

And is that not the issue

as we've been journeying

through the first section of Mark's gospel,

first eight chapters?

Who is this Jesus who we're coming to?

Who is this person we're sitting beside?

And of course for us,

for the readers,

the very first sentence of Mark's gospel

answers the question for us.

It says,

the beginning of the good news

about Jesus the Messiah,

the Son of God.

Jesus is the especially anointed one of God

who has the task of redeeming the world

back to God.

And the very first words of Jesus

in his gospel make that clear.

The kingdom of God has come near.

God has broken into his world

in the person of Christ.

So we know who Jesus is,

the readers.

Now some of us here might remember

the American television series Columbo.

I say some of us

because it was in the 1970s and 80s.

It was a show that popularised,

the first of its kind in fact,

the inverted detective story.

Which begins by showing us the crime

and the perpetrator

right from the very start.

And the plot therefore doesn't run

on the standard whodunit plot

of Midsummer murders,

that sort of thing.

But instead revolves around the criminal

who is finally caught and exposed

and it is referred to as the

how catch them.

How you're going to catch them theme.

And this is exactly how Mark reads.

Mark makes it clear

who Jesus is

right from the very start

for the readers.

And then he reveals

the details

of Jesus

backing up the claim

of who he is.

And we're following the narrative

to find out

will people see Jesus

for who he is?

First five chapters

we're seeing that Jesus

is staggering

divine authority

to conquer Satan,

to forgive sins,

to heal the sick,

to tell

the sea,

the oceans,

to be calm

and the wind

to stop

and overcome death.

And later in this chapter

which we did get to

in our reading

he miraculously

feeds 5,000 people

with a boy's lunchbox

and then

he walks on water

in the middle

of this deep lake.

He is consistently

through this gospel

backing up

the claim

that Mark says

at the beginning

he is the Messiah,

the Son of God.

He's the rescuer

and he is the redeemer.

And in fact

the two big miracles

at the end of Mark 6

are reminiscent

of the big act

of salvation

in the Old Testament

the rescue of Egypt

the rescue of God's people

out of Egypt.

Three times

at the end of Mark 6

we are told

that they are

in a remote place

just like Israel

was in the wilderness

after the escape.

Jesus is the good shepherd

teaching and leading

his people

in the wilderness.

He miraculously

feeds

his people

just like

was in the wilderness

under Moses.

Jesus miraculously

crosses the lake

just like the Israelites

miraculously

cross through

the divided sea

with Moses

and Jesus

as it says

in verse 48

chapter 6

was passing by

his disciples.

His glory

was passing

by his disciples

just as God

passed by Moses

and revealed

his glory

in Exodus 33.

All this

is for the disciples

to see

to see

that Jesus

is

God

the Redeemer.

You see

Jesus and God

of the Exodus

events

are one and the same.

And the emphasis

in these chapters

is we must

see Jesus

for who he is.

it's not good

enough

to make

the statement

of

the earlier

chapters.

You see it

in chapter 3

a couple of weeks

ago

when Takeshi

and John

were preaching.

The religious leaders

thought Jesus

was bad.

His family

thought he was

mad.

The average

Australian

thinks he's

a good bloke.

Not good

enough.

Again in chapter 3

the Herodians

and the Pharisees

they plotted

to kill him.

They teamed up.

The Herodians

and the Pharisees

are like the left wing

and the right wing.

They don't agree

on anything.

But in this case

the only thing

they do agree on

that Jesus must go.

And it's not much

different as we see

in the beginning

of chapter 6 here

that Jesus

goes back

to his hometown

in Nazareth.

not as a

returning Olympian.

It says in verse 3

of chapter 6

they took

offense

at him.

So the religious

elite

the scholars

of the day

they took offense

of him

and then he goes

to Nazareth

which could be

called

Nowheresville.

It's a humble

little village

that is hardly

mentioned in history

at all.

Jesus is

its most famous

resident.

These are

grassroots people

who knew

Jesus

from a kid

and even

they're offended

by him.

The word

translated

offense

in verse 3

means that

they were

scandalized

by him.

You see

to be

scandalized

is not

just

we disagree

with Jesus

he's got

an inflated

view himself

nice bloke

but we disagree

with him.

It means

to totally

reject.

It means

to feel

hostility

towards

Jesus

yet

everywhere

he went

crowds

gathered

Jesus

both

mesmerized

and alienated

he attracted

and he

infuriated

he evokes

rejection

and hostility

he

scandalized

everyone

there's

no one

here

that's

not

scandalized

by

Jesus

but

all

for

different

reasons

you know

it's

the same

today

for

various

different

reasons

people

are

scandalized

by

Jesus

people

in the

east

and

eastern

suburbs

and northern

suburbs

of Sydney

are

kind of

okay

with

Jesus

and

Christianity

talking

about

love

and

forgiveness

and grace

we kind

of like

that aspect

of Christianity

love

forgiveness

grace

however

as soon

as you

talk

about

Jesus

being

the only

true

God

and saviour

of the

world

that's

when the

blood

pressure

starts

to rise

don't

cope

with that

at all

and yet

if we

plotted

picked

ourselves

up

now

and

move

to

traditional

culture

in the

in the

east

and middle

east

particularly

that kind

of area

and talk

about

one

religion

being the

only true

religion

in the

world

yep

that's

fine

totally

tolerate

that

that's

totally

fine

but you

start

talking

about

forgiveness

and love

and grace

they think

you've got

no integrity

at all

scandalised

by different

reasons

they think

you'd have

no sense

of honour

to think

of love

and forgiveness

every place

is offended

but offended

for different

things with

Jesus

what one

culture

thinks

is too

regressive

about

Christianity

another

culture

thinks

too

progressive

about

Christianity

because

that just

simply

means

that

to

stay

away

from

Jesus

and the

Christian

faith

just

because

there's

part

of

your

culture

thinks

that

this

aspect

of

Christianity

is too

regressive

or this

aspect

of

Christianity

is too

progressive

that

that

just

means

you're

intolerant

and pretty

narrow

culturally

that's

all it

means

but if

Jesus

is

who

he

claims

to be

the

son

of

God

crucified

risen

from

the

dead

comes

from

heaven

from

God

then

he

is

going

to

offend

everyone

in

some

way

that's

because

he

stands

outside

of

this

world

as

the

creator

of

this

world

he's

not

conformed

to

our

personal

cultural

preferences

at

all

and so

to

accept

Jesus

is

to

accept

him

on

his

terms

which

means

he

will

offend

and

he

will

consistently

offend

your

cultural

sensibilities

there

will be

things

that he

will say

about

your

priorities

and your

values

that

will

cause

you

to

rethink

think

hard

and

to

change

he's

not

comfortable

for

anyone

it

doesn't

matter

if

you're

left

or

you're

right

or

you're

rich

or

you're

poor

or

you're

eastern

or

you're

western

Jesus

will

offend

you

and

it's

an

opportunity

for

you

to

change

for

your

good

or

to

resist

for

your

destruction

the

19th

century

Scottish

writer

George

MacDonald

wrote

this

everything

difficult

indicates

something

more

than

your

theory

of

life

currently

embraces

let

let me

just say

that

again

everything

difficult

indicates

something

more

than

your

theory

of

life

currently

embraces

you

see

the reason

why

Jesus

makes

us

uncomfortable

is

because

he

challenges

our

worldview

he

forces

us

to

expand

our

theory

of

life

and

purpose

and

its

goals

so

why

was

his

hometown

scandalized

by

him

notice

what

they

say

about

him

in

verse

3

where

did

this

man

get

these

things

what's

what's

this

wisdom

what's

these

miracles

he's

been

doing

isn't

he

just

a

carpenter

don't

we know

his

family

we know

who this

guy

is

we

know

who

he

is

and

on

one

level

what

they're

saying

is

we

we

can't

believe

that

the

Messiah

who

has

come

to

save

Israel

would

come

from

such

humble

beginnings

remember

the

exchange

of

Philip

and

Nathaniel

can

anything

good

come

from

Nazareth

but

it's

slightly

more

than

that

another

commentary

on

Mark

written

by

William

Lane

in

this

section

he says

something

really

important

he says

their

discernment

could not

penetrate

the veil

of

ordinariness

that

surrounded

him

Laney's

saying

how

could

the

long

awaited

Messiah

and

Redeemer

of the

world

be

so

ordinary

he's

just

too

ordinary

this

could

not

be

God

this

could

not

be

the

Savior

you

see

the

ordinariness

of

Jesus

his

humble

beginnings

just

did not

fit

their

world

view

of a

triumphant

Messiah

in the

same way

the

ordinariness

of Jesus

offends

the

normal

human

understanding

of how

salvation

works

you see

every

religion

in this

world

offers

a

salvation

that is

a

liberation

from

ordinary

life

ordinary

humanness

in all

other

religions

ultimately

salvation

is seen

as escape

from the

shackles

of my

humanity

in some

way

it's been

set free

from all

human

limitations

of becoming

a

limitless

free

spirit

in some

cases

it's

literally

a

limitless

free

spirit

but in

every

way

it's

to

remove

the

limitations

I feel

as a

human

being

and

biblical

salvation

is the

exact

opposite

it is

not

an

escape

from

this

world

out

of

this

world

but a

transformation

of

this

world

the

biblical

vision

of

salvation

is

unique

it's

God

coming

down

into

our

ordinariness

not

yanking

us

out

of

it

but

coming

into

it

he

immersed

himself

in

the

pain

and

in

the

vulnerability

and

the

suffering

of

ordinary

human

life

and

yet

the

beauty

and

the

comfort

of

God

coming

down

into

the

mess

and

the

ordinariness

of

this

life

is

just

frankly

too

ordinary

for

most

the

humility

and

the

grace

of

salvation

of

the

Lord

Jesus

is

offensive

I

cannot

tell you

the

number

of

times

I've

spoken

to

people

and

said

this

is

the

grace

of

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ

let me

explain

to

you

nothing

that

you

have

done

but

everything

that

Jesus

done

how

many

times

the

response

has

been

that

what

that's

it

there's

got to

be

something

that I

do

that's

it

and

they

walk

away

it's

offensive

as

is

the

fact

that

it

takes

God

to

make

such

drastic

steps

in

order

to

save

us

it's

offensive

to the

human

heart

to

think

that

I

am

helpless

in

my

sin

and

I

need

God

to

rescue

me

surely

I

contribute

something

we

would

all

be

much

happier

with

the

Christian

faith

if

we

could

walk

into

heaven

with

people

applauding

well

done

you've

achieved

so

much

you

see

the

people

of

Israel

were

expecting

a

mighty

messiah

not

an

ordinary

man

they're

expecting

someone

who

would

get

them

over

the

hump

that

they're

feeling

in life

being

oppressed

by

the

Romans

and

not

someone

who's

going

to

pull

them

out

and

rescue

them

from

destruction

Jesus

is

offensive

he

scandalized

scandalizes

everyone

and yet

we cannot

know what

the Christian

gospel

is

if we've

never

felt

the

offense

of

Jesus

if you've

never

felt

it

you don't

know what

the Christian

gospel

is

we must

feel the

offense

but we

must

never

take

offense

Matthew

Matthew 11:6

11

verse 6

Jesus

says

blessed

everyone

who

does

not

stumble

on

my

account

in

other

words

blessed

everyone

who

does

not

feel

offense

at

my

account

if

we

take

offense

of

Jesus

we

cannot

know

his

blessing

if

our

offense

of

Jesus

keeps

us

from

Jesus

then

he

cannot

do

the

great

miracle

of

salvation

in

our

life

that's

what

he's

being

pointed

to

here

in

verse

6

lack

of

faith

in

Jesus

means

no

blessing

from

Jesus

we

have

to

receive

and

we

have

to

embrace

Jesus

on

his

terms

even

with

the

offense

in

order

to

know

the

blessing

of

salvation

and

so

Jesus

attracted

and

he

infuriated

and

he

unleashed

a

movement

that

has

done

the

same

ever

since

and

that's

what

he's

preparing

his

disciples

for

in

verse

11

when

he

mentions

shaking

the

dust

off

their

feet

people

are

going

to

be

offended

by

you

mind

you

if

you

look

carefully

at

the

passage

Jesus

is

calling

us

to

a

highly

selective

offensiveness

Jesus

sends

the

disciples

out

to

minister

and

in

verses

8

to

10

he

instructs

them

not

to

take

a

war

chest

with

them

he

calls

them

to

be

dependent

upon

the

people

to

whom

they

are

ministering

it

was

an

it

was

an

active

out

of

respect

for

those

people

and

out

of

humility

and

so

notice

that

they're

not

just

going

to

help

to

tell

people

things

about

Jesus

but

they're

going

to

do

things

they're

going

to

serve

and

they're

going

to

meet

needs

they

will

pour

themselves

out

in

serving

the

people

that

they've

gone

to

speak

to

and

they

will

get

rejected

by

those

people

as

well

and

so

he's

saying

that

these

disciples

should

be

incredibly

attractive

in

their

love

for

these

people

and

they

should

be

sacrificial

in

their

giving

to

these

people

and

serving

of

others

but

on

the

other

hand

the

message

of

Jesus

being

the

only

Lord

and

Saviour

of

the

world

will

be

offensive

the

message

they

bring

will

be

offensive

but

their

love

and

service

of

these

people

will

be

attractive

and

this

attraction

and

rejection

has

been

the

history

of

the

church

Christians

are

the

most

exclusive

sounding

people

in

the

world

and

that

is

highly

offensive

and

intolerant

in

our

current

society

and

while

at

the

same

time

we

are

the

most

inclusive

acting

people

in

our

world

in

loving

those

who

persecute

us

so

this

is

the

test

if

we've

never

faced

rejection

because

of

the

Christian

faith

is

it

because

I'm

a

coward

with

the

gospel

if

however

you

are

constantly

offensive

and

constantly

clashing

with

people

over

the

Christian

faith

is

it

because

you

are

being

persecuted

for

obnoxiousness

sake

is

it

because

they

don't

know

love

from

you

at

all

you

see

if

you

add

abrasiveness

majoring

on the

minors

and

acting

like

the

victim

all

the

time

and

being

unwise

in

the

way

you

speak

and

if

you

add

abrasiveness

to

the

gospel

then

you're

not

going

to

be

attractive

to

anyone

at

all

if

you're

offensive

but

not

attractive

or

attractive

but

not

offensive

then

something's

wrong

so

where do

we get

the

power

to be

exclusive

sounding

but

also

inclusive

acting

have a look

at verse

3

again

you know

aren't

you a

carpenter

Jesus

that's

a put

down

you

know

go

back

to

the

work

shed

Jesus

you

leave

the

prophecy

stuff

to

the

elites

that's

the

put

down

but

it's

not

the

biggest

put

down

in

this

text

is

in

verse

3

have a

look

at

it

again

this

is

the

ultimate

put

down

from

his

hometown

isn't

this

Mary's

son

now

this

is

a

patriarchal

society

where

the

name

your

descent

your

lineage

of

every

person

is

always

always

traced

back

through

the

father

never

through

the

mother

to

call

Jesus

Mary's

son

is a

subtle

put

down

what

you

can't

hide

in a

small

town

is

when

Joseph

and

Mary

got

married

in