Who Is He?

Let me add my welcome to you.

My name is Sam and I'm one of the pastors here.

If I haven't met you yet,

hopefully I'll get the chance to

over the course of tonight's service or afterwards.

And if you are our guest tonight

or if you are here for the first time,

you've timed your run well.

We're starting a new series tonight.

So you're on the same page as everyone else.

So I'm going to pray for us

and then we're going to open that passage

from Mark that Ali read out.

Father God, we thank you for bringing us here tonight.

We thank you for this word that you have given to us.

And we ask that as we look at it now,

that it would not be my words that are spoken,

but it would be you who speaks

and you give us ears to hear.

We pray that the result of tonight

would not be that we know more information,

but that we see you more clearly

and love you as you deserve.

Amen.

I have reached a really exciting milestone

in terms of parenting over the last couple of weeks.

Those of you who know my son know he's very enthusiastic

and he's very energetic,

but he's added to that repertoire

the ability to say a few words.

So this week he welcomed me home with,

hey, buddy, when I walked through the door.

That wasn't the milestone that I was aiming for,

but it was kind of exciting just the same.

But the milestone in particular,

which for me was a really significant moment,

was when I was,

I think I was putting him in the car.

And I make a habit of telling him this as often as I can

to the point where it will annoy him,

but it will be imprinted on his brain.

And I did up his seatbelt,

I tickled his leg,

and I said,

love you.

And as I'm backing out of the car to close the door,

I heard this,

love you!

And I can't tell you

how much it warmed my heart.

He still hasn't quite got the ver down,

but the sentiment is really significant

that he,

even as a not quite two-year-old,

could express that emotion towards me

was something that was quite warming.

But I noticed that just in passing,

every time he says it now,

I get very excited,

and I give him a big hug,

and let him know how fantastic it is.

But my wife tells me that she loves me all the time.

And I've noticed that I don't give her

the same amount of excitement

that I do when my son says it.

And I was reflecting that

her love for me is just as significant,

if not more.

She's the one who has to look after me,

whereas Bailey, of course,

is going to love me.

All I do is feed the kid

and play with him

and do fun things.

But it's amazing how

when we get familiar with something,

we can empty it of its meaning.

My wife still means,

I love you.

I want to be with you.

I want to serve you.

I'm excited about our family.

I'm excited about our future.

She still means all those things

when she says it,

just as much as Bailey means

that he loves me when he says it.

But for some reason,

I've heard it so many times

that there's this desensitization for me.

Today, we're going to open up

the Gospel of Mark,

potentially a Gospel that we've heard before,

potentially words that we're familiar with,

stories that we've heard before.

And I wonder if we are in danger,

if we're running the risk

of being over-familiar

with the things that we're about to read.

This Gospel begins with a very basic

but very significant sentence.

Mark 1.1 says,

The beginning of the Gospel

about Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

Now, it is really easy to read that

and to move on,

to wait and see what comes afterwards.

But you've got to actually sit here

and imagine what it would have been like

to read this when it was first written.

Imagine what it would have been like

for the author as he wrote these words

and the weight and force

and importance and gravity

that were wrapped up in these words.

These words were written somewhere around 60 AD.

And at the point where Mark was writing,

the Christian church was under fierce persecution.

The Emperor Nero was known for

basically skewering Christians on poles

and setting them on fire

as torches for his garden parties.

He set Rome on fire

and then blamed the Christians for it

so that he had an excuse

to basically wholesale murder Christians

left, right and centre.

And into that context

where the church and Christians

fear for their life,

Mark pens this message

and begins it with the words,

The beginning of the Gospel

about Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

He calls this message

in a time where he has seen

the great missionaries

and the Apostle Peter

and the missionary Paul die.

He calls his message,

he begins his message

with the good news,

it's what Gospel means,

the good news about Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

Can you imagine the urgency

with which he wrote this message?

Having watched his mentors die,

probably fearing for his own life,

the pressure is on,

people need to know

what he knows,

Mark has an agenda.

He's a desperate man

who wants to share

the good news

that have changed his life

to the point

where he will willingly die

for this man, Jesus Christ.

So hear the words again.

With that weight,

with that context,

the beginning of the Gospel

about Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

Mark begins this Gospel

at a rapid pace.

We jump in,

we read through just chapter one

and already we've seen

a stack of stuff happen.

So begin with a prophecy

from the Old Testament

and then John shows up

to prepare us for Jesus

and then Jesus shows up

and is baptised

and then Jesus is tempted

and then all of a sudden

Jesus is preaching

and then he's driving out

an evil spirit,

then he's healing people,

then he's praying,

then he's healing more people.

It is just rapid fire

and there is hundreds of kilometres

covered in just these 28 verses.

Jesus is journeying

all over the Middle East

to do his ministry

and so you've got to ask

the question,

why is Mark in such a rush?

He keeps using words like,

immediately this happened

and then this happened

and he's skipping us through

all these really significant stories

and you've got to ask yourself

the question,

what's his agenda?

Where's he trying to take us

in such a rush

as we jump through

all these different events?

And I want to take you to

the clue which I think

is found in Jesus' baptism.

This week on Wednesday

I'll have the privilege

of officiating a wedding

for two friends of mine.

These are friends

who don't come to church,

who aren't Christians,

but who because of my job

invited me to be a part

of their special day.

And if you've ever been

to a wedding,

you'll know that

the most important words,

and they're not,

you may kiss the bride,

just to clarify,

the most important words

that I say

in a wedding ceremony are,

I declare them

to be husband and wife.

That's the official point

where we have crossed a line

and there is a new family

now standing at the front

of the building.

But just because

that is the important bit,

just because that's the climax,

just because that's

what everything else

is leading up to,

doesn't mean that

all the things before that

are unimportant.

For me to say that,

we need the context

of having talked about

what marriage is

at the beginning.

We need the context

of a husband and a wife

making promises to each other

so that when I announce it,

we know what we're announcing.

I'm not just saying

some empty words.

And so even though Mark

is obviously in a hurry

to get somewhere,

we do actually need to look

at some of the details

in these stories

if we're going to understand

where it is

that he's taking us.

So look with me

at the baptism of Jesus.

So let's start,

before we get to

the baptism of Jesus,

by looking at John

in verse 4.

So John came,

baptising in the desert region

and 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 baptised

in the Jordan River.

Jesus' baptism

in this passage,

it happens so quickly

that you could miss it,

but Jesus' baptism

is a response

to the ministry

that John is doing.

You've got to understand

before John comes,

baptism is a foreign idea.

It's not something

that people had been doing

and then Jesus just jumps in.

John shows up

and is the one

who introduces baptism.

But did you see

what his baptism is about?

It's not just about

splashing water.

John's baptism is,

verse 4,

a baptism of repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins.

And the people come to him,

confess their sins,

and are baptised.

John's baptism,

while it's an invitation

to come back to God,

an invitation for forgiveness,

his ministry has to have started

by telling people

that they needed to be forgiven.

John's message was,

God is not happy.

You do not deserve the love

that God has shown you.

You are not entitled

to God's goodness

and God's promises.

You need to come back.

You need to confess.

You need to apologise.

John's message

was a message of judgement.

And the people

who heard his message

knew that he was

right on the mark,

and so they came out

in their droves

to be baptised

and seeking forgiveness.

Jesus doesn't need

a baptism

for forgiveness of sins.

So you've got to stop

in these stories,

even though Mark

skips through them.

It doesn't make sense

that Jesus,

who is perfect,

needs to be baptised

for forgiveness.

That's why we get

a clue here

as to where Mark

is taking us

in this gospel.

If you look in Matthew's

account of the same thing,

John gets really uncomfortable

when Jesus shows up

to be baptised.

John's kind of,

you know,

standing on the spot

when Jesus comes

to the front of the queue

and is ready to be dipped.

John's like,

um,

I think you're supposed

to baptise me.

I think that's how it works.

I was just for a little while,

now Jesus,

it's up to you.

But Jesus insists

that he be baptised

by John.

And the reason is,

Jesus wants to identify

with sinful people.

Jesus wants to take on

the identity

and the place

of people

like you and me

who have spent our lives

treating God

like he doesn't matter.

Jesus doesn't need

to be baptised

for his own sin.

But what he does

in choosing to be baptised

even when he doesn't need to,

is shows that his agenda

is not to be some

person out there

who is just distant from us

and perfect

and beyond approach,

but to be the one

who comes down

and understands

our struggle.

To be the one

who takes on

the judgement

that we deserve

and stands before God

in our place.

Mark is showing us

right from the very beginning

of this gospel

that Jesus' life

and Jesus' ministry

and everything

that he will do

is directly connected

to the hope

that they had

all through the Old Testament

that one day

God would provide

a means for forgiveness.

Permanent forgiveness.

Not the kind of forgiveness

where you come back

every week

with a new apology

and a new sacrifice

because you've done

more things wrong.

All through that history

they were hoping

that one day

God would give them

a way to be

completely clean,

completely forgiven,

forever forgiven.

they hoped

that one day

God would provide

a substitute

to take the judgement

that they deserved.

Right here

in chapter 1

of Mark's gospel

Mark is pointing us

to the cross.

This is the beginning

even from verse 1

his agenda

is for us

to be looking

to the end

to the climax

to the finish.

Mark is rushing us

through his gospel

to Jesus' destination

which is the cross

where he will

give up his life.

Mark is telling us

these first bits

of the gospel

and all the bits

that we're going to cover

for the next few weeks

he's telling us

these bits

with the cross

in view.

And so we need

to look at all

these little stories

that Ali just read

out for us

all these little episodes

from Jesus' life

and ministry

conscious

that the cross

casts a shadow

over all of it.

That that's always

the agenda.

that Jesus

turned up

to offer forgiveness.

This gospel

is a proclamation.

Gospel is good news.

The word gospel

isn't necessarily

a Bible word

it's just a word

to describe

an exciting announcement

a significant announcement

something that you need

to share and pass on

and so right from the beginning

Mark says

this is important

and this is good news.

But there's a bit

of a tension

I don't know

if you picked it up

as we were reading

through there

you've got this emphasis

on focus on Jesus

Jesus is important

from the first verse

Jesus is the Christ

we go to Old Testament

telling us about

Jesus being the Lord

we've got this amazing

scene in the baptism

but there's this

tension going on

I mean four times

we get an announcement

about Jesus

in verse one

Mark the author

says Jesus is the Christ

and then immediately

following that

in verse two

we have a quote

from two Old Testament

prophets

explaining that

Jesus is the Lord

who was promised

Jesus is the one

who they've been waiting

for who will come

and he will bring

judgment

but he will also

bring grace

then we get an announcement

from John

in verse eight

sorry in verse seven

this was his message

after me will come

one more powerful

than I

the thongs 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 Mark says Jesus

is significant

Isaiah says Jesus

is significant

John says Jesus

is more significant

than he is

and then perhaps

the most significant

voice

in verse eleven

as Jesus is baptized

the heavens open

and the voice

of God in heaven

speaks

you are my son

whom I love

with you

I am well pleased

this is all

in the first eleven

verses of this gospel

Jesus matters

Jesus is important

Jesus is significant

Jesus is divine

Jesus is from heaven

but then at the same time

three times in this chapter

Jesus tells people

who know who he is

to be quiet

did you see that

verse twenty five

Jesus is doing ministry

he cast the demon

out of someone

and the demon says

in verse twenty four

sorry

what do you want

with us

Jesus of Nazareth

have you come

to destroy us

I know who you are

the holy one of God

be quiet

Jesus said sternly

and he wouldn't

allow this demon

to proclaim

or announce

who he was

verse thirty four

again

he is casting out demons

but he will not

let them speak

because they know

who he is

verse forty four

he heals a man

with leprosy

and he says this

see that you don't

tell this to anyone

but go show yourself

to the priest

and offer the sacrifices

that Moses commanded

for your cleansing

as a testimony

to them

four announcements

and three commands

to silence

what's Mark

trying to do

announce Jesus

or keep a secret

or at least

why is Jesus

not happy

for everybody

to stand on the rooftops

and shout out

who he is

if that's Mark's agenda

why wasn't it

Jesus' agenda

as well

I remember

a couple of years ago

the first time I met

Steve

our senior minister

was when I had the chance

to be a part

of a committee

that organises

a youth convention

it's a fairly

significant convention

it's about

six thousand teenagers

we'll be taking

our youth ministry

there in a couple

of weeks time

and I'm walking

into this room

with these people

and being really excited

that I had the opportunity

to be a part of this

I was maybe

twenty-one

twenty-two

and so I thought

you know

I've got something to offer

I'll be the most

significant member

of this team

but it was really quick

that I noticed

in the room

that there was

a pecking order

Steve was the chairman

as you might guess

when Steve's in a room

Steve's the boss

that's because

that's how Steve works

and because he was

given that title

as well of course

but as well as Steve

being the chairman

there was somebody

allocated as the vice chair

which I found

a little bit comical

because I figured

it was Steve

and the rest of us

but in order to ensure

my position on the team

I appointed myself

as the vice vice chair

it was a self-appointment

and it remained

a self-appointment

for the amount of time

that I served

on that committee

it was light-hearted

most of the time

but every now and then

I would pull rank

and go hey

I'm the vice vice chair

but the funny thing is

when you give

a vague title

like vice vice chair

or even vice chair

or even chairman

for that matter

what we do

is we import

our definition

of what that means

and so for me

vice vice chair

meant that I didn't

have to do any extra work

I could basically

put the kibosh

on anyone else's idea

and I got all the perks

of being on the committee

like not having

to put chairs out anymore

or getting to the front

of the morning tea line

those sorts of things

vice vice chair

was an important task

and I set out

to make it

very beneficial

for myself

when you have

a vague title

you just import

and you add things

to it

and there is this

risk for us

as we read this gospel

and there was this risk

for people

as they met Jesus

in his ministry

that they would hear

his title

they would hear

that he was the Christ

the saviour

they would hear

that he was the Lord

they would hear

that he was the son of God

and they would begin

to shape their own picture

of what that meant

they would begin

to join the dots

for themselves

and decide

what they thought

the Christ should be

in fact

that's exactly

what happens

and that's exactly

what happens

even now

so often you talk

to people

and they have

their version

of what Jesus

should be

if Jesus

is the son of God

he should love

everyone

I have spent time

in a previous church

sitting with

someone who I consider

to be a close friend

and basically

wrestling

with this issue

they deeply

struggle

with the possibility

that God

would condemn

someone

who struggles

with something

like homosexuality

they have

a family member

who is a practicing

homosexual

and so for them

they've adjusted

their picture

of Jesus

to suit themselves

they hear

certain bits

of the title

Christ

or the title

saviour

or the title

lord

and they adjust

it to be

the kind

of saviour

they want

the kind

of lord

they want

the kind

of king

they want

and so

when they come

to bits

in the bible

where Jesus

might say

certain things

are wrong

or certain

things are

unhelpful

what they do

is they just

adjust

their picture

of Jesus

so they don't

have to

include that

but before

we point

the finger

too much

we all

do it

when we

are called

to sacrifice

and treasure

Jesus

above all

else

above things

that matter

in our life

how quickly

we adjust

our version

of Jesus

he doesn't

want me to

sacrifice

that area

because it's

harmless

he doesn't

want me to

give up

that hobby

that I've

got

which takes

me away

from time

with important

relationships

takes me

away from

ministry

takes me

away

from spending

time in

the word

because it's

harmless

but actually

Jesus

demands

everything

demands

our whole

life

there is a

tension in

this beginning

of Mark's

gospel because

Mark wants

us to know

Jesus

he wants us

to know

who he is

but he is

protecting us

from making

up our own

version of

the truth

see when we

make Jesus

who we want

him to be

we reduce

him

at best

he becomes

a better

version of

us

our goodness

plus some

our love

plus some

our forgiveness

plus some

our servant

heart

plus some

but when you

see him

for who he

is

when you

see him

as he is

revealed in

his word

in the

gospel

his majesty

his goodness

his holiness

his justice

his love

and his

authority

far exceed

even your

wildest

imagination

or dreaming

when it

comes to

Jesus the

truth is

better than

your inventions

and Mark

is trying to

spare us

even at the

beginning

false dreams

and false

ideas about

who Jesus

is

he wants us

to have

the blessing

of seeing

him in

his fullness

and his

fullness

is seen

in the

cross

that's why

even from

verse 1

chapter 1

Mark

wants us

to see

the cross

we need

the cross

to understand

what Jesus

is doing

we need

the cross

to understand

what it

means for

him to be

Christ

we need

the cross

to understand

what it

means for

him to

be Lord

that's why

this opens

up in

verse 1

this is

the beginning

of the

gospel

about

Jesus

Christ

there's

more for

us to

know

but we

need

to use

the cross

as our

starting

point

you'll find

in a couple

of weeks

when we

look at

chapter 8

of Mark's

gospel

that even

when Jesus

gets explicit

and says to

his disciples

me being

Christ

me being

saviour

means I

have to

die

the first

thing his

disciples do

are

Jesus

I think

you've

got it a

bit wrong

if you

don't talk

like that

it's probably

going to make

more people

want to

follow you

Jesus

if you're

going to be

Christ

if you're

going to be

saviour

you win

you don't

die

you win

and Jesus

response

is the

scary

rebuke to

Peter

get behind

me

Satan

even as

Jesus says

to Peter

I must

die

to be

your

saviour

Peter

has his

own vision

of what

a saviour

will do

for him

even

as we

get to

the end

of Mark's

gospel

the disciple

Peter

still

doesn't

get it

and as

Jesus

is arrested

Peter

denies

that he

even

follows

him

we

need

the

cross

to make

sense

of what

Jesus

is doing

in his

life

we need

the cross

to understand

his

preaching

when he

says

the time

has come

the kingdom

of God

is near

repent

and believe

the good

news

the good

news

is that

in the

cross

we can

be welcomed

into the

kingdom

of God

this

gospel

this

message

of Jesus

is the

proof

that it

was the

cross

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

that enabled

Peter to

understand

everything

that he

had experienced

while spending

time with

Jesus

this gospel

is written

by Mark

but Mark

probably

was writing

what Peter

told him

writing

what Peter

experienced

as he

spent time

with Jesus

doing

ministry

with him

and it

appears

that Peter

goes from

telling Jesus

to rethink

his idea

of what it

means to

be the

saviour

Peter goes

from denying

that he

even knows

Jesus

to rejoicing

in him

following him

serving him

preaching

about him

and dying

for him

and the

difference

between the

Peter that

we read

about here

and the

Peter who

told this

stuff to

Mark

is that

Jesus had

died

and Jesus

had risen

we need

the cross

for us

as we

read Mark's

gospel

the cross

is a past

reality

Jesus is

risen

for Mark's

readers as

they open

this up

around 60

AD

they would

have been

alive for

some of

them when

this all

happened

some of

them may

have even

seen Jesus

hanging on

that cross

for the

first time

and so

now as

they read

these words

there is new

meaning as

they hear about

their saviour

new meaning

as they hear

about the

one who

claims to

be their

lord and

king

this message

of Jesus

gives hope

to Christians

facing persecution

and death

at the hands

of the Roman

emperor

this message

of Jesus

gives hope

to people

who are

lost

and need

forgiveness

this message

of Jesus

calls people

to trust

Jesus

so that

they can

be forgiven

hear verse

one again

the gospel

about Jesus

Christ

the son

of God

the message

of Mark's

gospel

is that

Jesus

the Christ

our saviour

was the

divine

son of

God

who came

to earth

to bear

our sin

to take

our punishment

to take

our judgment

and who

has died

and risen

as our

saviour

and king

this gospel

and these

words

contained here

in this book

are used

by God

to bring

people to

trust him

to bring

people to

have faith

in him

if you

are somebody

who is a

Christian

who follows

Jesus

then God

used

this gospel

maybe not

Mark's

gospel

but the

message

of Jesus

contained in

Mark's

gospel

to invite

you to

trust him

and so

if you

are somebody

who like

Mark

feels the

urgency

to share

this with

your family

with your

friends

with your

neighbours

with your

work colleague

you don't

need to

find something

fancy

or clever

or more

exciting

or modern

you need

the gospel

you need

the message

of Jesus

this is

the good

news

about our

saviour

Jesus Christ

and good

news

needs to

be shared

good news

is not to

be kept

to ourselves

we're beginning

tonight a

series in

Mark that

will take

us through

our focus

time of

mission in

a few

weeks that

will take

us through

Easter

and I

want to

challenge

you

as you

look again

at the

gospel

by which

God called

you to

know him

who can

you share

this gospel

with

who can

you put

these words

into the

hand of

maybe it's

the person

that you've

been praying

for in

your one

plus one

plus one

Chris

challenged

us this

morning

that we

as individuals

could read

the entirety

of Mark's

gospel in

an hour

it's not

huge

you could

sit down

and knock

it over

without too

much trouble

but the

other thing

that means

is you

could quite

easily hand

a copy

of Mark's

gospel to

your friend

and say

just have a

go at

reading it

just scribble

questions in

it

underline things

that confuse

you or excite

you and then

let's talk

about it

because this

gospel is

what God

uses to call

people to place

their trust

in him

not your

fancy

presentation

or your

amazing

stories

it's the

good news

that Jesus

has come

to earth

and died

to take

your sin

and is

now risen

as king

personally I

want to ask

you are you

at risk

of being

too familiar

with the

gospel

do you

read verse

one of

Mark's

gospel

and shrug

your shoulders

and wait

for what's

next

or do you

feel the

weight

of God's

son coming

to earth

and dying

for you

because that's

what Mark

says in

verse one

Jesus the

Christ

Jesus your

savior

let's pray

father God we

want to thank

you that you

give us your

word we want

to thank you

that you use

Mark to record

the life of

Jesus so that

we could read

and see him in

his majesty and

fullness God we

want to ask that

you would protect

us from painting

our own picture of

what we think

Jesus should be

and instead you

would exceed our

vision exceed our

dreams and show us

who Jesus really

is show him in

his majesty and

power his power

over sickness and

demons and

nature and sin

and death and

as we see him

may we find the

unshakable hope that

can only be found

in him

father if there

are people in

this room who

don't yet know

your son Jesus

who don't yet know

the forgiveness that

is found in him

I pray that you

would show yourself

through these

words

I pray that you

would show them

that you can and

will forgive them

if they would trust

you and the work

you have done

father please use

us to share this

good news with

people who don't

know you yet

light a fire in

us that we would

need to share the

hope that we have

and use us to bring

joy and peace to

our families and

friends

amen

you