Message by Chad Kelly
Introduction
It seems that “the news” is 99% a commentary on what is wrong in our world. Take a 60 second glance at the news channel of your choice and you”™ll hear all the details of a lot of bad happenings in our world. Just today”™s headlines on FoxNews.com:
N. Korea fires projectile into waters off eastern coast
Iran reportedly hangs 2 men convicted of spying
Hero Philadelphia cop arrested and charged with rape, other crimes
It”™s only been a few weeks since the horrific Boston Marathon bombing where several died and scores were injured and many maimed.
And less than 2 weeks ago, we learned of the girls kidnapped and held hostage in Cleveland for as long as 10 years.
Add to that the awful ways we personally see folks treating one another, or the unfair or ugly way we are treated by people we know, or how we sometimes selfishly and hatefully relate to others.
It is impossible to miss the fallen and sinful nature of mankind in our world! It is crystal clear, if we care to notice, that we need help!
The Boy Who Lost His Boat
Tom carried his new boat to the edge of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the string. How smoothly the boat sailed! Tom sat in the warm sunshine, admiring the little boat that he had built. Suddenly a strong current caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke. The little boat raced downstream.
Tom ran along the sandy shore as fast as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon he searched for the boat. Finally, when it was too dark to look any longer, Tom sadly went home.
A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. When he got closer, he could see — sure enough — it was his!
Tom hurried to the store manager: “Sir, that’s my boat in your window! I made it!”
“Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this morning. If you want it, you’ll have to buy it for one dollar.”
Tom ran home and counted all his money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. “Here’s the money for my boat.” As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, “Now you’re twice mine. First, I made you and now I bought you.”
Albeit a very simplistic story, it does illustrate at least the basics of what Jesus has done for us.
Jesus made us. But then we chose to be servants of sin and ourselves and ran at a sprint away from Him. But He didn”™t forget us!
Jesus paid the price on the Cross to make us forever His!
We call that redemption.
And that message of REDEMPTION is the message of the Gospel of Mark.
We”™re beginning a study of the Gospel of Mark””with just a quick overview this morning.
Mark writes to show us that Jesus has come to do something about what is wrong with us and our world. He”™s going to reverse the Fall, and obliterate original sin.
God”™s kingdom is the major characteristic of Jesus”™ teachings. And redemption is a major characteristic of that kingdom ”“ and Mark drives this point home.
A brief look at this little book: Mark is the ugly sister of the four gospels. This book never gets the attention the others get. Mark doesn”™t have the refined structure and cadence of Matthew; it is not as beautifully poetic as Luke; and he lacks the reflective universal nature of John. Mark is simple, short, and direct. There is no prelude, no birth account, fewer of Jesus”™ stories, and at times Mark”™s writing is unpolished and disjointed. Still, Mark has some things going for him: His account is action packed and it is quick. More than 30 times the word “immediately” is used. This little book contains more of Jesus”™ miracles than any of the others, as he portrays Jesus as a man of urgency and power with wide ranging emotions, capable of joy, amazement, frustration, and anger. Rather than reading like a news report about Jesus, or a catechism of instruction, Mark reads more like an eye-witness account ”“ and it should.
Tradition teaches us that the author of this gospel is most likely John Mark, a young man who shows up in the book of Acts, and who was a junior missionary associate of Paul and Barnabas. He and Paul parted ways, and the earliest traditions say that this Mark eventually became the “explainer” for Simon Peter when he traveled to Rome. That would make sense. Peter, a Galilean fisherman, would not have spoken Greek, but Mark did and he was the Apostle”™s interpreter.
And it appears that Mark”™s account of Jesus is actually Simon Peter”™s eye witness retelling of the story. This make Mark”™s gospel the earliest of the accounts about Jesus, written decades before the other gospels. In fact, Matthew and Luke follow Mark”™s order of events, they use him as a source and guide for their works, with only 24 verses of Mark”™s gospel ”“ only 24 ”“ not reproduced in Matthew or Luke. He might be the ugly duckling of the four gospels, but his is the first, and because of that, maybe the most important.
So, when you sit down and open up your Bible or your Ipad or smart phone to read the words of Mark, you are reading the oldest and earliest surviving record of Jesus”™ life, ministry, and teachings. Mark wrote it down as Simon Peter ”“ one of Jesus”™ closest associates ”“ recounted what he had seen and heard, up close and personal.
Ray Stedman
In the tenth chapter of Acts, Peter gives a very brief summary of all that is recorded for us in the Gospel of Mark. Speaking in the home of Cornelius, we read that Peter stood among them and told them “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him,” (Acts 10:38 RSV).
And Mark”™s writing is exactly what we expect from a first century fisherman, who as an old man, was recalling the highlights of his time with Jesus ”“ moving event to event ”“ with a quick pace and near feverish succession. This really is a remarkable piece of literature, when viewed in this light.
If you were putting the Gospels in chronological order, it would go Mark, Matthew, Luke and John.
Ray Stedman
If you would like to meet Mark personally, turn to the 14th chapter of this little Gospel for the only account of Mark’s appearance among the disciples. This is the account of the passion of our Lord as he is moving to the cross, just after he was captured in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the middle of the account, we suddenly read these words (verse 51):
A young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body; and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. (Mark 14:51 RSV)
No other Gospel tells us that, and it is almost certain that this is Mark. He was the son of a rich woman in Jerusalem and it is very likely that his mother owned the house in which the disciples met in the upper room. Mark, therefore, was present at some of these events.
WHAT DOES MARK WANT US TO KNOW ABOUT JESUS?
I”™ve already referred to the theme of REDEMPTION, and the pivotal verses for this theme and the book of Mark is ”¦
Mark 10:42-45 (NLT)
So Jesus called them together (the 12 disciples) and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Ransom is the means, according to Mark, by which Jesus achieved redemption; a ransom paid with his own life, a life of suffering service for the world that led to His sin-atoning death on the cross that was vindicated by His resurrection from the dead. Jesus paid the price required for our freedom from sin”™s penalty and power! Jesus “bought us back” from slavery to sin.
In the final summary, Mark”™s gospel is a Passion account.
Why is Jesus in such a hurry in this gospel?
To get to the cross!
Why are there so many miracles?
To show that Jesus was indeed sent by God and capable of ruling the world, but instead chose to set his power aside to redeem the world!
Why is Jesus so emotional and dramatic in this gospel?
To show a fierce, mission-driven, Christ who viewed his life and vocation with divine, eternal meaning; to show Jesus as having “the right stuff” to zealously love, ransom, and redeem the world.
Jesus paid the price on the Cross to make us forever His!
That”™s what Mark wants us to know!
The all-powerful, eternal God, shoved miraculously into the skin and bones of the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth, willingly gave himself over to serve humanity with the ultimate sacrifice of His own life! The Sinless One suffering the punishment for a world of sinners, that WE might be redeemed””bought back from slavery and set free from sin! No matter how far you”™ve gone in sin, no matter how scarred by sin you may be, no matter how long you”™ve lived and wallowed in the pit of sin, Mark gives us Jesus Who says, “My love will still ”“ still ”“ break your chains. I will set you free!”
In Christ we discover a love ”“ a suffering, sacrificial, serving love ultimately demonstrated by His death on the cross ”“ that forgives, absolves, cleanses and empowers us. It is a love that breaks our chains. It is a love that leads us to new life. It is a dying, redeeming, sacrificing love that can change us and our world.
Conclusion
Leslie B. Flynn told a story that illustrates this truth.
An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy”™s cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drainpipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck.
Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child. A farmer, a teacher, and the town”™s wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad”™s eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hands from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man”™s neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue.
Jesus paid the price on the Cross to make us forever His!
Many voices are calling for our attention. Among them is the One whose nail-pierced hands remind us that He has rescued us from sin and its deadly consequences””He has REDEEMED us!
To Him belongs our love and devotion.