The Gospel Of Mark

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What we come to today in our study is the beginning of what I think is certainly the most exciting

and perhaps even the most important study in the young life of our church.

Now, while we understand that all of the Bible is there for the purpose of showing us the story of redemption,

the redemptive narrative of God specifically through Jesus,

it's in the Gospels that we see most clearly the person of Jesus,

the work that he has accomplished in order to bring salvation to man.

There's no more important story for us to focus in on than this one

because it tells us exactly who Jesus is and what he has done.

And it's precisely for this reason that the four books that relate to the life of Jesus

are some of the most contested books in Scripture.

It's not only that people are averse to the Bible in and of itself.

Some people have a great appreciation for it.

But to get to these four Gospels and to accept them as absolute truth

and something that is necessary for us to believe is difficult for many people.

And there's even an unfortunate amount of instability amongst professing Christians

when it comes especially to the exclusivity of Jesus Christ

and the exclusivity of the Gospel.

Ligonier Ministries, every two years, does a survey, a theological survey,

in which they try to find insights into what is the spiritual temperature of the United States.

And this year was one of the years that they conducted that survey.

They conducted it with 3,002 people.

573 of those 3,000 said that they were evangelical Christians,

professing Christians that would say that they are what we are

and that they are who we are.

The third question in their survey this year was this.

It wasn't a question.

It was a statement.

And the respondents answered on a scale of strongly disagree up to strongly agree.

And the statement was this.

God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

God accepts the worship of all religions.

That was the third statement.

And they wanted to gauge what was the spiritual temperature of most people in the United States.

It wouldn't be surprising to us to know that 76% of all respondents

answered that they were either unsure or that they strongly agreed with that statement.

That God does indeed accept all the worship,

no matter whether it's a subscription to Christianity or Islam or some other form of religion.

76% of the respondents said that they were either unsure or they agree with that.

It should shock us to know that 51% of professing Christians surveyed agreed with that statement.

51% of people in the United States, according to this survey,

perhaps would say that I am a Christian.

I follow Christ.

But Christ is not exclusive in my belief for God's acceptance.

That there are plenty of religions out there.

God accepts the praise of all people.

He just cares about the sincerity of your heart is probably what they would insinuate.

And of course, we understand through the scripture that God is far less concerned

about the sincerity of your heart.

He doesn't care about that unless it is related specifically to your belief and sincerity in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The sincerity of heart has sent many a people to an eternity of hell.

It's not just sincerity that God is looking for.

It is sincerity in truth.

And what we have in the gospels is the truth of Jesus Christ.

John Stott said,

Nothing hinders evangelism more than the widespread loss of confidence in the truth, relevance, and power of the gospel.

The problem with that survey and the problem with the dynamic of the belief in the gospel today

is not merely in what outsiders in the church, those outside of the church would believe about it.

The problem is the weakening of those that claim to be within the church.

That they have lost confidence in the truth of the book that we are about to study in the gospel of Mark.

So we don't come to this study casually.

We need to study this gospel book sincerely.

As we acknowledge that it is not merely the story of an ancient prophet

that is far removed from any kind of relevance in modern times.

But it is the message of salvation revealed through the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The objective of our study today is to grasp the context of Mark's book

so that we can rightly understand as we move forward over what will end up being probably several months of study in this one book.

Let's just take a moment to examine what a gospel is.

What are the gospels?

The gospels are, at least in the way that we refer to them in this context,

we're speaking of a collection of books that are specifically about the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.

There's four of them in the New Testament and they're arranged as the first four books of the New Testament.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

They're all telling the same story, but each with their own unique purpose and unique audience.

And consistent among all four of these gospels is the fact that they are all eyewitness accounts of the life,

the teaching, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ.

It's not that they are writing far removed from the time of Christ's life,

but they are writing the eyewitness accounts of what real people really saw of a real man named Jesus of Nazareth.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke are commonly referred to as the synoptic gospels.

Synoptic meaning together sight is what the word means.

It's a summary that looks at these three books and the similarity of their content.

John then is the last to be written, as we understand,

and he fills in the gaps that Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the synoptics, kind of leave out in their stories,

and he brings in another dimension to it.

Now, gospel actually describes the genre of the book.

These are not merely biographies of Jesus.

Like I said, they are eyewitness testimonies to the truth of Jesus

that doesn't seek to tell us a story,

but rather to strengthen the faith of believers and to evangelize unbelievers.

A biography is just that.

It's something that tells a story.

It tells just for intellectual exercise.

It tells us the story of a unique individual in a unique period of time.

That is not what these four gospels are.

They do contain biographical content,

but they are not in and of themselves biographies.

The intention is not just to tell us a story about a man in a specific time.

They are eyewitness accounts.

Their purpose is to persuade.

They don't mean to just tell you this is who Jesus is.

They mean to persuade you to believe who Jesus is,

to receive who Jesus is,

and to follow him as Lord and Savior.

Donald Guthrie said,

The gospel writers were not literary men,

nor were they setting out to be.

They themselves had received a remarkable transformation

as a result of the stupendous events they related.

This is not a few men hoping to make a few bucks

by publishing a few novels about a man that most people might be interested in.

That is not the intention of these four books.

These are four men who were radically transformed

by what they knew to be true about Jesus Christ,

and their writing then is to relay what has transformed their lives

in order that it might transform your life.

They don't just want you to know the man Jesus.

They want you to know the Savior Jesus,

and they want you to follow him.

So they weren't seeking to publish incredible tales.

They weren't trying to gain fame or wealth in doing so.

But they were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God

to write the good news of Jesus Christ.

And so we ask then,

where does Mark fit into that equation?

If there's four of these such gospels,

what makes Mark unique and significant,

and why are we indeed studying it now as a church?

And the simple answer to that,

before we even get to probably a more appropriate answer,

is it's the shortest of the gospels.

And you all know that brevity is not my strength.

And so we can go through 16 chapters of Mark

a lot faster than we can go through 28 chapters of Matthew,

or so on and so forth.

But it's by far the most concise of the four gospels.

But it's primarily the record of the apostolic testimony of Peter.

Peter, the account that we read and that we'll study over the next several months,

the account of Jesus's life is from the eyes

of perhaps Jesus's most famous disciple.

And what we understand in church history

is that as Peter carried out the great commission

given to him specifically by Jesus before his ascension,

Peter carries out this great commission,

and he eventually makes his way to Rome preaching the gospel.

And as he did that,

Mark wrote down the testimony of the events that Peter relayed.

As Peter told these stories in Jerusalem,

as he preached these messages in Rome and elsewhere,

Mark tagged along,

and Mark began to write down what it was that Peter said

and what it was that Peter preached.

And this became a collection of the eyewitness testimony

of the apostle Peter.

So understanding the writing and intentions of each gospel author

depends on recognizing their intended audience as well.

Mark's gospel came at the specific request

of Roman believers living in Rome,

not Jewish believers,

but pagan converts to Christianity.

And so where did this gospel come from?

Well, Mark tagged along with Peter.

Peter preached his eyewitness account of the gospel.

People came that were saved,

and they said,

Mark, would you mind writing this down for us?

We don't want to,

we're going to forget it.

Can you write it down?

And Peter was pleased for him to do that

because of the revelation of the Holy Spirit to Peter

for Mark to do so.

And so he made this collection

of Peter's eyewitness account of Jesus Christ,

and that is what we study over the next several months.

What Peter said was true of Jesus

is what Mark has written for us here in the Bible.

The audience that Mark wrote to was not familiar

with the language and customs of the Jewish people,

which is why you'll find when you sit down

and do that full reading,

Mark often is explaining or defining Jewish words.

He's explaining Jewish rituals

because his audience were not Jews.

He omits certain things

that would have been of particular interest to the Jews,

like the genealogies of Christ,

the birth narrative of Christ are not included

in Mark's gospel because his audience

didn't demand it in the same way

that a Jewish audience would have demanded it

for their understanding.

And so when we go to Matthew,

we see a great genealogy and birth story

presenting Jesus as the true king.

Well, that was unnecessary for Mark to do

because of his audience.

Here's what he really wanted to do.

He wanted people to look at the life of Jesus,

to learn from the teaching of Jesus,

and then to become faithful followers

in the way that they lived like Jesus.

And that is our approach to this book

as we study through it.

We want to look at Jesus,

we want to learn from Jesus,

and we want to live for Jesus and live like Jesus.

So let's read our text for today,

and then we're gonna jump in

and talk about the author and the structure,

and then the goal of the book of Mark, okay?

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God.

Let's first look at the author of the gospel.

That's the thing that's actually missing in this verse,

right?

Many of the books of the Bible,

we read through them,

especially in the New Testament,

the letters especially,

we find specific signatures and greetings

that alert us right away

to who it is that's writing,

to whom they are writing to.

But Mark doesn't do that.

There was no need for him,

at least in this case,

for him to introduce himself.

He just tells us the beginning of the gospel

of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

He states his purpose in the first verse.

He's saying, this is what I'm writing about,

and everything beyond verse one

goes to support that purpose.

But he leaves himself out.

But for us to really understand the book

and understand it in the best possible way,

we need to understand the author.

Now, this man was also referred to as John Mark.

And it's possible that a small amount of the material

in the gospel of Mark

actually came from Mark's eyewitness account himself.

Mark, we know, was a resident of the city of Jerusalem.

And we know that his house was,

or at least his mother's house,

was a central point of activity for the early church.

Now, some scholars believe

that it was Mark's mother's house in Jerusalem

where the Last Supper took place

between Jesus and his disciples.

Others believe that, or have suggested at least,

that the young man mentioned in chapter 14 is Mark.

Of those two things, we can't be absolutely certain.

We don't know if that was really Mark.

Could have been, but we don't know.

We don't know if the Last Supper really took place

in Mark's home in Jerusalem.

We don't know that for certain.

What we do know for certain is that Mark's mother's house

was indeed a central point of activity

for that early church in Jerusalem.

And Acts chapter 12 tells us how this takes place.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

In fact, turn with me to Acts chapter 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

In fact, keep your Bibles handy today.

We're gonna be skipping around to a few different places,

at least as we learn who Mark is.

If you'll remember in Acts chapter 12,

Acts 12 · chapter mention

Peter has been preaching and he's been arrested

and he is awaiting actually execution.

And he is chained and sleeping between two guards

in the dungeon or in the prison,

wherever it was that they had taken him.

And the guards had fallen asleep as well.

An angel of the Lord, we're told, comes to Peter,

wakes him up, tells him to put his clothes on,

and then frees him from the prison.

Peter knows that the church would have been gathered

somewhere that night praying for him.

That would have been, he knew exactly

what they would have been doing.

And he knew that they would have been doing it

in a specific place.

Look with me at verse 12, Acts chapter 12 and verse 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

And when he had considered the thing,

after he had left the prison,

he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John,

whose surname was Mark,

where many were gathered together praying.

And so right off the bat, we know who is John Mark.

He was at least intimately related

to these early apostles and these early disciples.

His house where he was growing up

with the involvement of his mother specifically

was a central place of ministry

for the early church in Jerusalem.

So Jesus has ascended into heaven.

Now the apostles are coming together

to do the great commission there in Jerusalem.

And Mark is right in the middle of all of it.

Now we're also certain that Mark had a tremendous heritage

of faithful disciples in his family.

In fact, Paul's letter to the Colossians tells us

that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas,

who was the great encourager and partner

of the apostle Paul.

So he was surrounded by faithful Christians,

many of which were eyewitnesses to the life of Christ.

So it should be no surprise to us

that Mark not only was writing the account of Peter,

but he could verify the things that he heard

because he had been around so many other eyewitnesses

of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

But it's not enough for us, at least in today's study,

it's not enough for us to know about Mark's connections.

We need to know Mark.

We need to know who he is.

And fortunately, the Bible has told us a lot about him,

or at least we can gather a lot about who this man was.

And this is probably my favorite part of the study today.

So let's look at four things about Mark,

and then we're gonna come back to verse number one, okay?

The first thing I want you to see,

and maybe even note this,

is you wanna see Mark the helper.

Mark the helper.

You're in Acts chapter 12, we're gonna stay there.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

This is the first true glimpse that we get

of John Mark in the scriptures.

He had accompanied Barnabas and Paul

on kind of a pre-missionary journey mission.

The church had collected an offering

and was sending it to help people in Jerusalem,

and Paul and Barnabas took John Mark along with them.

Look at verse 25, Acts chapter 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem

when they had fulfilled their ministry

and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

Now that's important.

It's especially important as we see this next verse

in chapter 13.

After the mission to Jerusalem,

Paul and Barnabas were commissioned

by the church of Antioch

to go on this first missionary journey.

They knew that they were gonna need

some assistance on the way.

And who was it that they turned to to be their assistant?

It was the one that had already proven

in this smaller mission

that he would be a faithful minister and helper to them.

Look at Acts chapter 13 and verse five.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

And when they were in Salamis,

they preached the word of God

in the synagogues of the Jews,

and they had also John to their minister.

John as their helper.

Now when we think of someone

that God would use so monumentally

as to actually author one of the four gospels

that explains the life and ministry

and gospel of Jesus Christ,

we would assume that he would choose someone

with an elaborate pedigree.

And indeed he did that.

Matthew and John both were apostles of Jesus Christ.

Luke was the famous doctor

that traveled along with Paul

and Barnabas and Silas and Timothy

and many others through the New Testament.

But Mark was neither an apostle,

nor was he a pastor,

nor was he a church leader.

Nothing in the scriptures ever refer to Mark

in those ways.

When we see him in the Bible,

we see him as he is described in Acts 13, five,

as a helper.

That's who Mark was.

He was a minister, a servant,

a helper, an assistant.

The word itself, minister or helper,

means under rower.

It's the picture of those

that are stuck in the bottom of the ship

vigorously rowing in order to serve

and minister to those of more importance

that were on the top of the ship.

That's the picture that we get of Mark here.

He's the under rower.

He's just a helper.

He wasn't anything significant.

This was the character of John Mark.

And it's exactly what made him fit

for use in God's service.

You don't have to be significant

in the eyes of any man

to be utilized mightily

in the ministry of God.

You don't have to be a church leader

to make a difference for the sake of the gospel.

You need only be a willing,

zealous helper.

And indeed, that's what the vast majority

of believers are.

God will not call most of us to be pastors.

The apostolic age is over.

We certainly wouldn't be apostles.

He may not call you to be a missionary.

He may not call you to be a prominent church leader,

but he has called you to be a helper.

And that's who Mark was.

Just because you're not in a official position

of leadership does not mean

that you are beyond use in God's kingdom.

It is this helper that God used so awesomely

that we will glean from his understanding

of the gospel and his teaching of the gospel.

We are gonna benefit from that.

Well, who was he?

He's just a helper.

God uses helpers.

And we need to be encouraged by that.

But he wasn't just a helper.

Secondly, and tragically, Mark was a deserter.

Mark the deserter.

Things didn't always go so well with him.

Like us, he failed.

And he failed miserably.

And perhaps his greatest failure is recorded for us

in the Bible for us to know.

Look at Acts chapter 13 again.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

This time look at verse 13.

Now, when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos,

they came to Perga in Pamphylia.

And John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.

Now, that seems just like a quick passing phrase.

There's much more to this than what it may seem.

Luke didn't seem to think that it was necessary

to explain the reasons for Mark's desertion here.

But it is safe for us to assume

that the difficulty they faced on the journey

was far too much for him to handle.

He was a helper, a willing one, a zealous one.

But when things got difficult, when the journey got hard,

he became a deserter.

He quit.

He quit on Paul and on Barnabas, and he went home.

We know that there was not an acceptable reason for this

because it actually became a source of contention

between Paul and Barnabas.

In fact, to me, one of the most tragic stories of the Bible,

or at least of the early church,

is this story of Paul and Barnabas,

who we look at and we see what great influence

and effect Barnabas had on Paul and Saul even,

bringing him into the fold of the church.

It was Barnabas in that early mission

that was the leader, not Paul.

But then when they get into the missionary journeys,

we see that discipleship kind of transform there,

and the disciple becomes the discipler,

and Paul kind of takes over the ministry.

But we see this great partnership between them.

But it was because of Mark's desertion

and their disagreement between one another

that we find out in Acts chapter 15,

Acts 15 · chapter mention

that Paul and Barnabas actually broke ways.

They were no longer partners together.

They felt that the contention was so sharp between them

that the best thing for them to do

was actually split and go different ways in ministries.

To me, that's tragic.

That's why we know when we look back at Mark's story,

we don't know exactly why he deserted,

but we know there couldn't have been an acceptable reason

because it was so contentious between two other faithful men.

After some time, Mark repented of this,

and he desired to help the men again,

but the stigma of being a quitter is not easily erased.

Paul refused to take Mark along,

and he ended up for a while ministering only with Barnabas.

And it was during this time with Barnabas

that we believe Peter took Mark under his own wing.

And this is what's so fantastic about this.

At the end of his first epistle from Rome,

Peter included a greeting from Mark.

1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 13.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Here's what it says.

She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you,

sends you greeting,

and so does my son Mark.

This is Peter writing.

He refers to Mark in the same way

that we so often recognize Paul referring to Timothy

as his son.

Now think about this.

What better person to disciple a deserter

than one who was formerly a deserter?

That's exactly who Peter was.

Remember just before Jesus' crucifixion,

and there was this scene where Jesus proclaimed

that all the disciples were gonna abandon him.

They were gonna forsake him.

And Jesus and Peter denies the Lord's truthful statement.

He had such arrogance sometimes, didn't he?

And he even says to the Lord,

though all of these men forsake you,

I will never forsake you.

And Jesus says, actually, before the rooster crows,

you're gonna deny me three times.

And we see that played out in the crucifixion story.

Right when Peter was confronted by others

as being a follower of Jesus,

Peter three times denies and swears,

no, I do not know him.

And immediately he hears the rooster crow.

His eyes lock with Jesus' eyes,

and immediately he runs away and weeps.

He was a deserter.

And we see even after the resurrection,

there was still a period where he struggled with effectiveness.

Could he still be used in ministry?

What good could he offer after he had failed so miserably?

And it was Jesus himself that restores Peter

there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

What better person to take Mark under his wing

than somebody like Peter?

And that's exactly what he did.

He didn't cast him off and condemn him.

He took him under his wing and he related to him.

And he helped him.

And he looked at him and viewed him

not as just a partner in ministry,

but as a son in the faith.

Mark's life reminds us that there is nothing

from which a believer cannot be restored

by the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Nothing.

You see, the problem with my life

is I don't know how effective I can be

because I'm not what I was at one point.

You know, Pastor, there was a time in my life

where I was involved with everything

and I was faithful

and all I cared about was serving

and then I just had this thing.

Maybe it was sin or something else

and I just kind of,

I'm just not what I once was.

I'm ashamed by that.

Everybody knows it.

And I just, nobody's gonna trust me anymore.

I just don't think that I can be used.

Listen, there is nothing,

nothing in the life of a believer

that is beyond redemption.

Nothing that you cannot be restored from

in the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.

I don't care if you're a quitter.

You don't have to be a quitter anymore.

I don't care what your problem has been in the past.

Peter literally denied Christ.

Abandoned him at his most vulnerable moment.

Yeah, look at how we view Peter.

Mark deserted,

but look at how we view him now.

Look at what we've received

from the work of God in his life now.

Paul was a murderer.

Doesn't matter.

God can redeem you.

His grace is great.

It's also a lesson for those of us

who are former deserters

to take in those who are struggling

rather than condemning and forsaking them.

Unfortunately, the habit of the church many times

is to find someone who will quit

or someone who will falter

in their faithfulness to Christ

and instead of lovingly restoring them,

they condemn them

and castigate them

and ignore them.

This is a reminder for us.

Imagine the fruit that was born to Peter's account

not because he wrote this book,

but because he influenced the one who did.

Amazing.

So we see Mark as the helper

and Mark as the deserter

and now we see him as Mark the author.

The author.

And what a wonderful thing it is to consider that.

That Mark was chosen by God

to write one of his gospels.

Mark was everything that we would disregard,

but he was exactly who God intended to use.

You may be what everybody else would disregard,

but it doesn't matter what everybody else disregards.

You're exactly what God wants to use.

We learn that from Mark's life.

And then fourthly,

we find Mark the finisher.

Mark the finisher.

The Bible doesn't tell us exactly what happened to Mark

after all of this,

but church history does.

And we can go back

and we can look at the accounts

and we can gather what came of Mark's life.

Now cynics,

like often I am guilty of being,

like Paul was in Acts 15,

might consider that once a quitter,

always a quitter.

That wasn't true of Mark.

We might think

what Paul and those guys faced

in terms of persecution

was intense.

There's no doubt about that

and severe,

but what the church was going to face

over the next couple of centuries

after their time

was abundantly severe.

It wasn't just for church leaders.

It was for everybody.

If Mark was so willing

to desert the ministry

when things were just starting

to get intense,

how was he going to fare

when they're literally killing everyone?

Well,

church tradition tells us.

Let me read you this excerpt

from Fox's Book of Martyrs

about Mark.

A capable evangelist

in his own right,

Mark had a longstanding connection

with the city of Alexandria

in Egypt

and was instrumental

in founding and nurturing

the church there.

As was often the case,

the good news about Jesus

was bad news

for the existing pagan religious structures

and communities.

So within days of his arrival

in Alexandria,

Mark was a marked man.

Though years passed

before action was taken,

a mob eventually exercised

its demonic energy

against him.

Mark was tied with ropes,

hooks may have also been used,

and he was dragged

through the cobblestone streets

of Alexandria

until his body was ripped,

wounded,

and badly injured.

After a night in prison,

he amazingly survived that.

The same treatment

was repeated

again and again

until he died.

Though the crowd

intended to burn Mark's body,

there was a persistent account

that a storm delayed the process

and allowed other Christians

a chance

to retrieve

and bury his remains.

Mark

was a finisher.

He was a finisher.

For anyone

who may question

the authenticity

and truth of the gospel,

they cannot escape

the reality

of what Mark

was willing

to go through

and to give up

for the sake

of the truth

that he had written here.

If this was a lie,

why would he be so willing

to be tied up

and dragged

again

and again?

What profit

did he seem

to gain?

There was no profit

for him

to perpetrate

a lie.

No profit at all.

But it wasn't a lie.

And so there was no cost

that was too great

for the cause

of the gospel.

That's the man

that has written us

this book

through the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit.

He was a helper,

deserter,

but then he became

an author

and then a finisher.

And we are encouraged

by that.

Quickly,

we'll finish this.

Let's look at

the structure

of the gospel of Mark.

The structure.

We can go back

to Mark chapter 1 now.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

I told you before

the issue

with the author

is not explicitly

stated in the verse,

but the structure is.

This verse really is

Mark's stated purpose

for why he's writing

and how we should view it.

As mentioned before,

every gospel writer

was telling the same story,

but they each come

with a unique personality

and a unique audience

and a unique objective.

Like I said before,

Matthew wrote

to a primarily Jewish audience,

so he spends a lot of time

emphasizing Jesus

as the true king

and he's got the genealogies

and the frequent quotations

of the Old Testament.

Luke was writing

to a more general

Greek audience,

which is why we see him

emphasizing so often

Jesus' sympathetic ministry

toward Gentiles

and those who were not Jews.

John's objective

was to focus

on the deity of Christ,

which is why we get

that great prologue

at the beginning

of John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

In the beginning

was the Word

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God

and so on.

Mark summarizes his objective

somewhat in these first two words.

The beginning.

The beginning.

He never intended

for this gospel

to be a comprehensive telling

of the life of Christ.

There's relatively very little

of Jesus' teaching recorded.

There's no major sermons

really listed in Mark's book.

It's all action-oriented

and the content of it

moves at a very brisk pace.

As you read through it

maybe this week,

if you'll do that

and sit down,

you'll notice

he's just continually moving on

from one thing to another.

He's not getting lost

in the weeds very often.

And so it moves fast.

Because his audience

wasn't Jewish,

it wasn't necessary

for him to include

some of the other things.

So how can we understand

his structure then?

Here's what it is.

Mark's gospel

is a striking mosaic

of the life

and ministry of Jesus.

You know what I mean

by mosaic.

It's a collection.

You can imagine

going into a cathedral somewhere,

maybe that has

the beautiful stained glass windows

and they have

the different mosaics

as it goes along.

One giant window

that tells

several different stories.

That's really how

we can view

the gospel of Mark.

He's not writing

chronologically

about Jesus' life.

He's writing

categorically

about Jesus' life.

For instance,

instead of sprinkling

Jesus' parables

throughout a linear line

of story

throughout the book of Mark,

he just takes

chapter 4

and just devotes

all of chapter 4

to the parables of Jesus.

And so on and so forth

we see this

striking mosaic

of the life

of Jesus Christ.

He also gave

a substantial amount

of space

to the events

leading up to

the passion of Christ,

the crucifixion

and resurrection.

Nearly a third

of the book

is devoted

to the weeks

leading up

to Jesus' death.

And the significance

of this structure

is Mark's insistence

that it's only

the beginning

and his point

was not only

that this was

literally the beginning

of the writing

but his point

is that Jesus' work

is not finished.

That what he was writing

in this book

is just the beginning

of what could be told

and what will be told.

Though his atoning work

on the cross

has been accomplished,

the story of Christ's salvation

lives on today.

It is a story

that's being told

in your life today.

So Mark says

what I'm giving you here

is just the beginning.

This is just the beginning

of what Christ has done

and what Christ will do.

And so we see that played out

as really the structure

of his book.

Thirdly, we see the goal

of his book

and that's really

where we find the substance

here in this verse.

Mark says his goal

clearly in verse one.

His desire

was to proclaim

the good news

that Jesus of Nazareth

is the Messiah

the Son of God.

That's the stated purpose.

He wasn't trying

to tell the story

of a man that he admired.

He was proclaiming

that this man

is the one

that would bring

salvation

to man.

And it's in this sense

that Mark wasn't

telling a story.

He was making

a statement.

This book

is not about a story.

It's about a proclamation

that this man

Jesus of Nazareth

is indeed

the Son of God

who has come

to save sinners.

And I want you

to consider

for just a moment

the words that he uses.

The first one

is gospel.

Now in the New Testament

we refer to gospel

as a genre

but in the New Testament

it's not a reference

to a literary genre

but to the message

of salvation.

The Greek term

is euangelion.

It's the same word

that we get

our English word

evangelical

or evangelical.

And it's often

understood as

good news

because that's indeed

its context.

It's good news.

And it's a term

that Romans and Jews

both would have

been familiar.

But its use

in ancient Jewish

and Roman writings

always had

a specific reference

to the good news

of a new king

that would save

his people.

And it always

had the picture

of a herald.

You know what I mean?

A herald that would

come into a town

blow the trumpet

hear ye

hear ye

the beginning

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ

the son of God.

That's what he means

by gospel.

This is a proclamation.

It's a proclamation

about a new king

that has come

to save

his people.

Now let me

show you this

in the scripture.

In the Old Testament

in the Hebrew

the Hebrew equivalent

equivalent

of euangelion.

In fact

the Bible

that Jesus

would have used

the Greek translation

that Septuagint

actually uses

in this chapter

the word

euangelion.

Isaiah chapter 40

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

says it this way.

Get yourself up

on a high mountain

O Zion

bearer of good news

bearer of

euangelion.

Proclamation.

Get on the mountain

to make this proclamation.

And he goes on.

Lift up your voice

this mightily

O Jerusalem

bearer of

good news.

Euangelion.

Lift it up.

Do not fear.

And here's the proclamation.

Say to the cities

of Judah

here is your God.

Behold

the Lord God

will come

with might

with his arm

ruling for him.

Behold

his reward

is with him

and his recompense

before him.

When the Jews

would have heard

this word

they would have

immediately connected

it back

to this.

They would have

connected it

back to

a king

the king

the king

the proclamation

here is your

God

here is

salvation.

The Romans

had a similar

use for this

word

euangelion.

In fact

there are

writings

specifically

about Caesar

Augustus

at his birth

that uses

this word

and they

believed him

to be their

divine deliverer.

So when they

used it in

relation to

Caesar Augustus

it was the

herald

going from

town to

town

Caesar Augustus

has been

born

and there's

this elaborate

statement

about all

he will do

using biblical

like language

that he will

save his

people

he will

save us

is what they

said about

Caesar.

So when Mark

writes this

and he says

the beginning

of the

euangelion

he say

I have a

proclamation

about the

true king

that has

come to

save his

people

and then

we see

the next

word

Jesus

Christ

Jesus

Christ

Jesus

is the

earthly

name

of

the

Messiah

and

it's

the

Greek

equivalent

of

the

Hebrew

Joshua

Joshua

means

Yahweh

is salvation

God

is salvation

remember

this was

the name

that the

angel

told

Joseph

specifically

to name

him

Matthew

chapter

one

she

will

bear

a

son

and

you

shall

call

his

name

Jesus

and

then

the

angel

says

why

to

call

his

name

Joshua

Yahweh

is salvation

for he

will save

his people

from

their

sins

Christ

is not

a name

Christ

is a

title

it's

the

Greek

equivalent

of the

Hebrew

Messiah

it's

the

designation

of

the

one

that

would

bring

salvation

to

God's

people

so

Mark

stating

his

purpose

and

he's

saying

this

is

just

the

beginning

of

the

good

news

that

God

is

salvation

the

Messiah

has

come

hear ye

hear ye

this is

not just

the life

of a

man

this

is

the

proclamation

that

the

son

of

God

has

come

to

save

sinners

and

then

he

uses

that

final

phrase

son

of

God

this

is

the

divine

quality

that

Jesus

possessed

the

Romans

regarded

their

Caesars

to be

gods

but

Mark

was

introducing

them

to

the

true

God

and

it's

this

description

that

makes

possible

everything

that we

read in

this

book

is only

made

possible

because

he

is

indeed

the

son

of

God

this

was

Jesus

his

own

claim

and

the

scriptures

continually

assert

that

Jesus

is not

merely

a

man

but

he

is

indeed

the

son

of

God

co-equal

co-eternal

with

God

the

father

and

God

the

holy

spirit

John

1

again

in

the

beginning

was

the

word

the

logos

the

person

Jesus

in

the

beginning

was

the

word

and

the

word

was

with

God

and

the

word

was

God

he

was

in

the

beginning

with

God

all

things

came

into

being

through

him

and

apart

from

him

nothing

came

into

being

that

has

come

into

being

in

him

was

life

and

the

life

was

the

light

of

men

this

is

Mark

stated

purpose

his

book

is

to

proclaim

the

good

news

that

Jesus

is

the

Messiah

the

son

of

God

and

he

has

brought

salvation

from

God

and

we

can

rejoice

in

that

how

does

he

accomplish

this

one

of the

things

you'll

notice

as

you

read

through

the

gospel

of

Mark

is

that

he's

confronting

or

he's

describing

all

of

these

groups

who

basically

all

had

the

same

question

about

Jesus

who

is

this

who

is

this

his

family

asked

that

question

and

tried

to

stop

him

they

thought

he

was

crazy

who

is

this

the

people

in

Nazareth

when

he

came

back

to

town

said

isn't

this

the

son

of

Mary

isn't

this

his

brothers

and

sisters

over

here

who

is

this

who

does

he

think

he

is

in

other

words

is

what

they

were

saying

the

disciples

on

that

night

when

the

storm

comes

on

the

sea

of

Galilee

and

they

think

they're

going

to

die

and

they

wake

Jesus

up

remember

and

Jesus

we're

going

to

study

it

I

want

to

talk

about

it

now

though

and

Jesus

he

gets

up

from

the

hinder

part

of

the

ship

and

he

says

three

words

he

says

peace

be

still

and

immediately

the

storm

stops

and

what's

the

response

of

the

disciples

well

they

say

what

manner

of

man

is

this

who

is

this

they

had

seen

him

do

some

pretty

incredible

things

they

hadn't

seen

this

who

is

this

Herod

says

who

is

this

man

this

is

John

the

Baptist

he's

come

back

to

to

come

after

me

to

haunt

me

because

I

killed

him

and

it

tells

that

story

but

his

question

is

who

is

this

Pontius

Pilate

says

who

are

you

who

are

you

that's

the

question

that

keeps

getting

asked

through

this

book

over

and

over

and

over

you

know

what

Mark's

purpose

is

his

purpose

is

to

answer

that

question

if

you

could

summarize

it

in

one

thing

Mark

is

saying

let

me

tell

you

who

Jesus

is

and

he

focuses

his

attention

on

Jesus

identity

and

on

Jesus

work

the

first

eight

chapters

of

the

book

zero

in

on

his

identity

the

second

eight

chapters

of

the

book

zero

in

on

his

work

his

salvific

work

and

it's

like

an

uphill

climb

in

the

first

eight

chapters

with

the

climax

coming

I

believe

at

the

end

of

chapter

eight

Jesus

is

near

Caesarea

Philippi

and

he

asked

his

disciples

who

do

men

say

that

I

am

and

they

said

some

people

say

you're

John

the

Baptist

some

people

say

you're

Elijah

or

one

of

the

other

prophets

and

then

Jesus

says

but

who

do

you

say

that

I

am

and

Peter

says

in

that

famous

confession

you

are

the

Christ

everything

in

the

first

eight

chapters

builds

up

to

that

one

confession

!

you

are

the

!

and

it's

only

once

his

identity

is

established

in

the

mind

of

his

closest

followers

that

he

begins

to

describe

his

work

immediately

after

that

he

says

the

son

of

man

has

come

he

will

be

delivered

into

the

hands

of

men

he

will

be

put

to

death

but

he

will

rise