Introduction

 

The iconic 1994 movie The Lion King … begins with a whole bunch of safari animals on what looks like a pilgrimage.  There are giraffes, monkeys, antelopes, zebras, water buffaloes … you name it.  And they all come together to celebrate the birth of a new lion … who will grow up to EAT many of those at that gathering.  The song being played … is the equally iconic song ‘The circle of life’ … which is all about how lions EAT antelope and buffalo.  But it’s a movie … so we ignore that little fact.  This opening sequence reaches its climax … you all know the scene … where the animal shaman … who is a Mandril named Rafiki … lifts up baby Simba before the adoring buffet … I mean crowd.  And at that very moment … a ray of sunlight falls upon the new lion king … and all the animals bow.

Now … not only is this one of the most famous opening movie scenes in Hollywood history … it beautifully sets up the plot for the whole movie.  It is this new lion king who will go on to save the whole savanna … or ‘the pride lands’ as it’s called in the movie … from the evil Scar and his band of hyenas.  Our passage today is Mark’s equivalent of that opening scene.  Now while Mark 1:1-8 may not have an iconic song … like ‘circle of life’ … it DOES have an iconic message … that dwarfs the Lion king’s message.  And that message is … ‘bow down and worship the REAL king’ (repeat).

So we’re kicking off a new sermon series today for Term 1 … looking at the opening chapters of Mark’s gospel.  Now for those who aren’t aware … each year at Earlwood Anglican we do 1 term on a gospel … 1 term on a NT epistle … 1 term on an OT book … and 1 term on something else … like a doctrinal series … or a topical series.  So next term we’re looking at The 10 Commandments.  I can’t wait.  Well for the last 6 years or so we’ve been slowly working our way through Matthew’s gospel … one chunk at a time … which we closed out last year.  Given we did a few years of John’s gospel before that … and Luke’s gospel before that … it's now Mark’s turn.  So for the NEXT few years … unless I get hit by a bus … we’re going to spend 1 term a year working our way through the gospel of Mark.

And the opening scene in Mark’s gospel is even MORE iconic … even MORE meaningful than the opening of the Lion King.  Because UNLIKE the Lion King … the king that Mark is introducing us to isn’t fictional.  He is a historically verifiable figure … as we’re going to see today.  But on top of that … this king is an amazing figure.  Mark’s purpose in writing this gospel is to outline for the reader just how amazing Jesus is.

Now … if you had an amazing story to tell … and you wanted to GRAB people’s attention in your opening few sentences … what would you say?  Well THAT’S what we’re here to find out today.  Writing under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit … Mark mentions 3 main things about Jesus in this opening sequence.  And they are (i) A shocking prediction … v. 1-3, (ii) A strange prophet … v. 4-6, and (iii) A sensational person … v. 7-8.  Yet our sermon doesn’t end there today.  Just to keep you on your toes … we’ve got a 4th point … which is our application.  And I’ve titled this (iv) A sincere response.  And that’s the purpose of Mark’s gospel.  He’s telling us all this amazing stuff about Jesus … so that you and I will not cop out … with some cheap or easy response.  Mark is asking for a sincere response to this king.  So let’s dive on in … and look at the opening of Mark’s gospel.

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A shocking prediction (v. 1-3)

 

And Mark’s gospel begins with these words:

Mark 1:1 (NIV) The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God

Now the word Messiah there is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word ‘Christ’.  And THESE days … the word Christ is seen by many as a name.  So when most people today say the word ‘Jesus’ or the word ‘Christ’ … they’re referring to the person Jesus.  But in the 1st century … the word ‘Christ’ was a title … like doctor or reverend or Prime Minister.  Now the word Messiah literally means ‘anointed one’.  But in the OT it came to refer to a special KING … you only anointed kings or high priests in the OT … but Messiah referred to a special KING … who would lead Israel back to her glory days … like under King David.  So when Mark says ‘Jesus Christ’ … he’s not speaking someone’s name.  He’s making a shocking declaration.  And that shocking declaration is that Jesus of Nazareth is the special king Israel have been waiting for.

He then SUPPORTS this claim by pointing to one of the many prophesies made about the Messiah:

Mark 1:2-3 (NIV) … as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”

According to author Josh McDowell … there are about 330 prophesies … made about Jesus in the OT.  330 predictions … that come true in the person of Jesus.  But how can we be SURE of this … some may ask.  Like how do we know some religious zealot didn’t just write some convenient prophesies into the OT AFTER Jesus walked the earth?  Like after learning Jesus was born in Bethlehem … how do we know some religious nut job didn’t MAKE UP a prophesy about that … and write it in Micah 5:2?

Well that was a very valid question … up until about 80 years ago.  Because from 1947 to 1956 … archaeologist unearthed what are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.  And arguably the most important find among the Dead Sea Scrolls is what is known as the Great Scroll of Isaiah.  Now up until that point … the earliest copy we had of the book of Isaiah dated to around 1000 AD.  That’s 1000 years AFTER Jesus lived.  The Great Scroll of Isaiah … has been dated by experts … we’re talking carbon dating AND scribal analysis … to be between 100-200 BC.  That’s 200 years BEFORE Christ.

Now do you understand what this means?  This is arguably the single greatest proof for Christianity.  OK … even the most anti-Christian scholars on the planet all admit that Jesus walked the earth in the first century AD.  The evidence for the existence of Jesus is SO overwhelming … even the most ardent critics don’t argue against it.  Yet we have a copy of the book of Isaiah that dates at LEAST 100 years before that … possible 200.  And the fact that it’s a COPY … means Isaiah was written at LEAST 3-400 years before Christ.  Now here's where it gets interesting … because the book of Isaiah has 41 prophesies … that are fulfilled in the person of Jesus.  Let me just give you 5:

1. The virgin birth – Is 7

2. A shoot from Jesse – Is 11

3. The deaf will hear and the blind will see – Is 29

4. He will be beaten and spat upon – Is 50

5. He will be pierced for our transgressions – Is 53

The great scroll of Isaiah is historically verifiable PROOF … that Isaiah made 41 prophesies about the Messiah … that actually came true in the person of Jesus.  THAT’S who Mark is introducing us to here.  The historically verifiable fulfilment of centuries of prophesy.

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A strange prophet (v. 4-6)

 

Well … the SPECIFIC prediction Mark quotes here is about a ‘messenger’ … who will ‘prepare the way for the Lord’.  And this messenger is John the Baptist … v. 4.  So the SECOND thing Mark wants to share with us in his opening scene … as that the coming of the King was announced by John the Baptist … who is no ordinary bloke.  We’re told he wore a garment of camel’s hair with a leather belt.  According to Zechariah 13 … that’s the uniform OT prophets wore.  Coupled with his diet of locusts and wild honey … this is someone who is very different to this world.  John was not pursuing the interests of this world.  He had a very different agenda.  And that agenda … was to call the people of Israel back to God … to prepare for their long-awaited Messiah.  This is WHY he did his ministry in the desert.  Not only did it recall Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the desert … the desert reminded people in a very real way … that you cannot survive without God.  As most Aussies know … you cannot survive long I the desert … unless God intervenes.  So we read:

Mark 1:4 (NIV) And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Now as our regulars know … repentance is best described as a U-turn.  It means to stop living life the way WE want … and to instead turn around and start living life the way God wants.  And to SIGNIFY that U-turn … John would baptise the people.

Yet we need to understand … this is NOT Christian baptism.  The baptism that you and I undergo as Christians is different to John’s baptism.  Christians baptism is an outward symbol that you belong to Jesus … 1 Corinthians chapter 1.  Yet no one is following Jesus at this stage of the gospel.  Jesus doesn’t even walk on the scene until next week’s passage.  No … John’s baptism is always called ‘a baptism of repentance’.  What does this mean?  It means it’s an OT baptism.

In the book of Leviticus … which we preached on 2 years ago … there are chapters and chapters on ALL the different things that would make a person unclean under the OC.  Now if you remember me saying it at the time … the book of Leviticus is probably the most boring book of the Bible to read.  But it’s the most exciting to preach on.  And the cleanliness laws are probably the best example of this.  OK … there are 5 whole chapters of cleanliness laws in Leviticus.  And what they do … is they ensure that the average Israelite become ceremonially unclean several times a month.  And every time you BECAME ceremonially unclean … you had to wash yourself ceremonially … to signify the washing away of your uncleanness.  It was a laborious and never-ending process.

So all of Israel knew exactly what John was doing in preaching a baptism of repentance.  He was preaching that the people had to wash away their uncleanness … their sin … as a symbol of returning to the Lord.  Yet there’s one big difference with John’s washing.  And that is in Leviticus … you wash yourself.  John on the other hand … says ‘I have to wash you’.  To get ready for the coming of your Messiah … you cannot wash your own sin away.  You cannot save yourself.

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A sensational person (v. 7-8)

 

And this brings us to John’s message … in v. 7-8.  And John’s message is ‘look … I can wash you … outwardly’.  That’s my power.  I’m a prophet.  I wear the uniform of a prophet.  I’m calling people back to God like a prophet.  So I can splash you with water.  That’s my power.  But …

Mark 1:7 (NIV) “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Now understand the gravity of this.  In Matthew chapter 11 … Jesus says that John the Baptist is the greatest human being to have ever been born up until that moment in history.  And so the greatest human being who had ever been born … is saying that he is not worthy to untie the straps of Jesus’ sandals.

Now in the 1st century they didn’t have covered shoes … like we do today.  The standard footwear of the day was sandals.  And after a long day of walking on dirt roads … your sandals and your feet were pretty Ferrel.  I refuse to give my wife a foot rub if she’s stepped outside after a shower.  ‘Go wash your feet again’.  So what would happen in the 1st century is you’d get your servants to wash your feet.  Yet foot washing was considered SO low a job … that some Rabbis said you weren’t allowed to ask Hebrew servants to wash your feet … only Gentile servants.  Yet here’s John saying forget washing Jesus’ feet.  I’m not even worthy to untie his sandal straps to GET to the foot washing.

Now why is this?  Why is Jesus such a sensational person?  Well it’s got to do FIRSTLY with the Isaiah quote back up in v. 3.  The REAL bombshell of this quote is that the word ‘Lord’ in Is 40 … is in capitals.  It’s NOT in Mark 1:3.  But if you were to turn back to Isaiah 40:3 in the pew Bibles … which you can do later … you’ll find that the word LORD is in capitals.  And whenever you see LORD in capitals in the Bible … it’s translating the proper name Yahweh.  And Yahweh is the name God gives himself in the book of Exodus.  That name was considered SO holy by ancient Jews that they didn’t even speak it out aloud.  They would say ‘Adoni’ … which means ‘my Lord’ … or ‘my master’.

So what Mark is saying here is … when Isaiah prophesied that the creator God … the covenant God … was going to come to Jerusalem and show the nations his glory … he has come in the person of Jesus.  Jesus isn’t just ‘master’; he’s God.  Now we Christians take this for granted these days.  But we would do well to never forget … man walking on the moon is a minor issue.  God walking on the earth … is a major one.

And BECAUSE Jesus is God … he is way more powerful than John.  John’s power … like I said … is he can splash you with water.  He can wash you ceremonially.  Jesus’ power … is he can wash you inside and out.  Remember I said Leviticus is the most BORING book of the Bible to read … but the most EXCITING book to preach on.  And the thing that makes it the most exciting book to preach on … is that the whole purpose of the cleanliness laws were to show that you and I cannot actually cleanse ourselves.  The average Israelite was ceremonially washing themselves several times a month.  Like I said … it was relentless.  The point was to show that we need someone else to cleanse us.  And along comes John and says ‘I can wash you ceremonially.  That’s MY power.  But Jesus can wash you completely’.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Oh my soul

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A sincere response

 

So THAT’S who Mark is introducing us to in his opening scene.  He’s introducing us to some shocking predictions … with Jesus fulfilling some 330 real life … historically verifiable prophesies.  His ministry was introduced by a strange prophet … who got the nation of Israel ready to meet her king.  And he’s introducing us to a sensational person … to God walking the earth … to cleanse us from our Sin.  The only question left to ask now is … how is one to respond to such a sensational person?

Well the famous English preacher and author John Stott points says whenever people met Jesus in the gospels … they always had a very extreme response.  Like many people today tend to respond to Jesus by saying ‘he’s a good teacher … he’s a good bloke … he’s quite inspiring’.  The ONLY reason a person can say that is because they haven’t met the real Jesus yet.  Whenever people met the REAL Jesus … they NEVER had moderate … measured … middle of the road response.  It was always extreme.  And that extreme response was:

• They were either TERRIFIED of him … and ran from him

• They HATED him … and tried to kill him

• Or they LOVED him … and gave him their unquestionable allegiance

OK … no one EVER walked away from Jesus saying ‘what a nice guy’ … or ‘what an inspiring sermon’.  They always had a radical response.  So if you are not (i) TERRIFIED of Jesus … and are running from him … (ii) HATE Jesus … and want to destroy Christianity … or (iii) LOVE Jesus … and obey him unconditionally … then you haven’t met the real Jesus yet.

Now the reason people hate Jesus or are terrified of him … is because Jesus said he was the Messiah … the king.  And when people today hear the word ‘king’ … we often think oppressor.  Those who have the kind of unlimited power that kings have … often wield that power for their own indulgence.  Take the recent pardons in the US for example.  Biden pardoned his whole family … BEFORE they’re even charged … and Trump pardoned the January 6th rioters … including those to attacked police officers.  So when people come across someone as powerful as Jesus … we often think oppressor.

The thing about Jesus is … he’s not an oppressor king.  He’s a servant king.  He’s the king who walked into the ULTIMATE desert … to bear the punishment for our sin on the cross … so that we don’t EVER have to be without God … in this life or the next.

What this means is … the only appropriate response to Jesus … is to bow down and worship him as King.  OK … if responding to him with comments like ‘what a nice teacher’ … or ‘that’s an inspiring thing to say’ shows you haven’t met the real Jesus … and responding to him with fear or hatred is ALSO an indicator you haven’t met the real Jesus yet … then the only appropriate response is to bow down and worship him as king.

Yet to do this sincerely … means to give our FULL allegiance to Him.  Brothers and sisters … if there is some aspect of our life that we have not brought under the Lordship of Christ yet … then we’re not responding to Jesus sincerely yet.  Now I’m not talking about sin here.  We ALL sin.  I’m talking about those aspects of our life we KNOW go against God’s wishes … but we don’t care.

• Does your use of alcohol come under the Lordship of Jesus?

• Are you forgiving your brother or sister … like Jesus demands?

• Does your dating life reflect the Bible’s call to only marry sincere Christians?

• Are you resisting the urge to envy … to compare yourself to others … like the NT commands?

• Does your tithing reflect a love of Jesus … or a love of money?

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Conclusion

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Friends … the person Mark confronts us with … even in these opening 8 verses … is a person we cannot mess around with:

1. He is a person prophesied about centuries beforehand.  We have the carbon dated evidence to prove it.

2. He is a person announced by one of the greatest people who ever lived … John the Baptist.

3. And he is a person who is able to wash us inside and out … for good.

The only proper response … sincere response to such a person … is to bow down … and give him our FULL allegiance.  That means not just obeying the commands we like … the commands that don’t cost us anything.  That means obeying the commands that threaten our very idols … like sex, money, career or marriage.  To ignore Jesus’ commands … even if it’s just 1 or 2 … means we’re not responding to the REAL Jesus.  And who is the real Jesus?  This is John’s message:

Mark 1:7-8 (NIV) “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”