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The Testing Time Mark 1:12-13

No sooner was the glory of the hour of the Baptism over than there came the battle of the temptations. One thing stands out here in such a vivid way that we cannot miss it. It was the Spirit who thrust Jesus out into the wilderness for the testing time. The very Spirit who came upon him at his baptism now drove him out for his test.

In this life it is impossible to escape the assault of temptation; but one thing is sure-temptations are not sent to us to make us fall; they are sent to strengthen the nerve and the sinew of our minds and hearts and souls. They are not meant for our ruin, but for our good. They are meant to be tests from which we emerge better warriors and athletes of God.

Suppose a lad is a football player; suppose he is doing well in the second team and showing real signs of promise, what will the team manager do? He certainly will not send him out to play for the third team in which he could walk through the game and never break sweat; he will send him out to play for the first team where he will be tested as he never was before and have the chance to prove himself. That is what temptation is meant to do—to enable us to prove our manhood and to emerge the stronger for the fight.

Forty days is a phrase which is not to be taken literally. It is the regular Hebrew phrase for a considerable time. Moses was said to be on the mountain with God for forty days (Exodus 24:18); it was for forty days that Elijah went in the strength of the meal the angel gave him (1 Kings 19:8). Just as we use the phrase ten days or so, so the Hebrews used the phrase forty days, not literally but simply to mean a fair length of time.

It was Satan who tempted Jesus. The development of the conception of Satan is very interesting.

The word Satan in Hebrew simply means an adversary; and in the Old Testament it is so used of ordinary human adversaries and opponents again and again. The angel of the Lord is the satan who stands in Balaam’s way (Numbers 22:22); the Philistines fear that David may turn out to be their satan (1 Samuel 29:4); David regards Abishai as his satan (2 Samuel 19:22); Solomon declares that God has given him such peace and prosperity that he has no satan left to oppose him (1 Kings 5:4). The word began by meaning an adversary in the widest sense of the term.

But it takes a step on the downward path; it begins to mean one who pleads a case against a person. It is in this sense that it is used in the first chapter of Job. In that chapter Satan is no less than one of the sons of God (Job 1:6); but his particular task was to consider men (Job 1:7) and to search for some case that could be pleaded against them in the presence of God. He was the accuser of men before God. The word is so used in Job 2:2 and Zechariah 3:2. The task of Satan was to say everything that could be said against a man.

The other title of Satan is the Devil; the word devil comes from the Greek diabolos, which literally means a slanderer. It is a small step from the thought of one who searches for everything thing that can be said against a man to the thought of one who deliberately and maliciously slanders man in the presence of God. But in the Old Testament Satan is still an emissary of God and not yet the malignant, supreme enemy of God. He is the adversary of man.

But now the word takes the last step on its downward course. Through their captivity the Jews learned something of Persian thought. Persian thought is based on the conception that in this uerse there are two powers, a power of the light and a power of the dark, Ormuzd and Ahriman; the whole uerse is a battle-ground between them and man must choose his side in that cosmic conflict. In point of fact that is precisely what life looks like and feels like. To put it in a word, in this world there is God and God’s Adversary. It was almost inevitable that Satan should come to be regarded as The Adversary par excellence. That is what his name means; that is what he always was to man; Satan becomes the essence of everything that is against God.

When we turn to the New Testament we find that it is the Devil or Satan who is behind human disease and suffering (Luke 13:16); it is Satan who seduces Judas (Luke 22:3); it is the devil whom we must fight (1 Peter 5:8, 9; James 4:7); it is the devil whose power is being broken by the work of Christ (Luke 10:1–19); it is the devil who is destined for final destruction (Matthew 25:41). Satan is the power which is against God.

Here we have the whole essence of the Temptation story. Jesus had to decide how he was to do his work. He was conscious of a tremendous task and he was also conscious of tremendous powers. God was saying to him, “Take my love to men; love them till you die for them; conquer them by this unconquerable love even if you finish up upon a cross.” Satan was saying to Jesus, “Use your power to blast men; obliterate your enemies; win the world by might and power and bloodshed.” God said to Jesus, “Set up a reign of love.” Satan said to Jesus, “Set up a dictatorship of force.” Jesus had to choose that day between the way of God and the way of the Adversary of God.

Mark’s brief story of the Temptation finishes with two vivid touches.

(i) The beasts were his companions. In the desert there roamed the leopard, the bear, the wild boar and the jackal. This is usually taken to be a vivid detail that adds to the grim terror of the scene. But perhaps it is not so. Perhaps this is a lovely thing, for perhaps it means that the beasts were Jesus’ friends. Amidst the dreams of the golden age when the Messiah would come, the Jews dreamed of a day when the enmity between man and the beasts would no longer exist. “I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground.” (Hosea 2:18.) “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. … The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den; they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.” (Isaiah 11:6–9.) In later days St. Francis preached to the beasts; and it may be that here we have a first foretaste of the loveliness when man and the beasts shall be at peace. It may be that here we see a picture in which the beasts recognized, before men did, their friend and their king.

(ii) The angels were helping him. There are ever the divine reinforcements in the hour of trial. When Elisha and his servant were shut up in Dothan with their enemies pressing in upon them and no apparent way of escape, Elisha opened the young man’s eyes and all around he saw the horses and the chariots of fire which belonged to God. (2 Kings 6:17.) Jesus was not left to fight his battle alone—and neither are we.^[1]

We expect a servant to be under authority and to take orders, but God’s Servant exercises authority and gives orders— even to demons—and His orders are obeyed. In this section, Mark describes three scenes that reveal our Lord’s authority as the Servant of God.

Scene one—His temptation (vv. 12-13).

This temptation by Satan shows us that though Jesus was human and subject to temptations such as we are, he was also divine because he overcame Satan and was ministered to by angels. Jesus’ temptation was an important demonstration of his sinlessness. He faced temptation and did not give in. As his servants, we will also be prepared for discipleship by testing.

As we study this most condensed account of Jesus’ temptation (see the longer accounts in Matthew 4:1–11 and Luke 4:1–13), we can better understand our own temptations and how to overcome them. With Jesus in the wilderness were the Spirit, Satan, wild animals, and angels. The episode began with the Spirit’s guidance. This shows that God’s leading does not always guarantee safe circumstances. God’s Spirit will lead us, as he led Jesus, into the places we need to go, even though they may be dangerous. As God’s Spirit leads us, we can fully expect to be tempted by Satan and to be exposed to the wildness of the world with both its wonders and its dangers.

1:12    Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  Mark used the word meaning “immediately” several times throughout his Gospel. The word keeps the narrative moving on a fast pace throughout the book, as it chronicles Jesus’ travels throughout his three-year ministry on earth. The word could have the urgency of “right away” or “at once”; at times it meant “in due time,” or even simply “when” or “then.”

Jesus, empowered by the Spirit, takes the offensive against the enemy, Satan, by going into the lonely and desolate wilderness to fight temptation (see 1:13). The word for “drove” is very forceful in the Greek, conveying the meaning of “thrown out” or “cast out.” (Mark used the same word to describe Jesus driving out demons, as in 1:34, 39.) Jesus was “thrust” into the wilderness—he was compelled to go there. This does not imply that Jesus was reluctant, but rather that he was intensely determined to go, in agreement with the Spirit. As with Jesus’ disciples, the Spirit may have in mind to test us in order to prepare us for greater service.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

When Jesus came from his home in Nazareth to begin his ministry, he first took two steps in reparation—baptism by John in the Jordan River, and temptation by Satan in the rough wilderness of Judea. After the temptation, Jesus returned to Galilee and later set up his home base in Capernaum.

Jesus wasn’t tempted inside the temple or at his baptism, but in the wilderness where he was tired, alone, and hungry, and thus most vulnerable. The devil often tempts us when we are vulnerable—when we are under physical or emotional stress (for example, lonely, tired, weighing big decisions, or faced with uncertainty). But he also likes to tempt us through our strengths, where we are most susceptible to pride. We must guard at all times against his attacks.

1:13    And he was in the desert forty days.  In the Old Testament, the desert, or wilderness, was a desolate and dangerous place where wild animals lived (see, for example, Isaiah 13:20–22; 34:8–15). Jesus remained alone there for forty days; Matthew and Luke add that Jesus fasted during that time (Matthew 4:2; Luke 4:2). The number forty brings to mind the forty days for rain in the great Flood (Genesis 7:17), the forty days Moses spent on Sinai (Exodus 24:18), the forty years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 29:5), the forty days of Goliath’s taunting of Israel prior to David’s victory (1 Samuel 17:16), and the forty days of Elijah’s time of fear in the wilderness (1 Kings 19:8).

 Being tempted by Satan.  The Gospels of Matthew and Luke describe in more detail the temptation endured by Jesus. Satan is an angel who rebelled against God. He is real, not symbolic, and is constantly working against God and those who obey him. Satan tempted Eve in the Garden and persuaded her to sin; he tempted Jesus in the wilderness and did not persuade him to fall. The verb being tempted describes continuous action because Jesus was tempted constantly during the forty days. The word “tempted” means “to put to the test to see what good or evil, strengths or weaknesses, exist in a person.” The Spirit compelled Jesus into the wilderness where God put Jesus to the test—not to see if Jesus was ready, but to show that he was ready for the mission to be accomplished. Satan, however, had other plans; he hoped to tempt Jesus to do evil and thereby thwart his mission.

PRESSURIZED

Jesus left the crowds and went into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. To be tempted is not a sin. Tempting others or giving in to temptation is sin. We should not hate or resent times of inner testing because through them God can strengthen our character and teach us valuable lessons. When you face Satan and must deal with his temptations and the turmoil he brings, remember Jesus. He used God’s Word against Satan and won. You can do the same. A person has not shown true obedience if he or she has never had an opportunity to disobey. We read in Deuteronomy 8:2 that God led Israel into the wilderness to humble and test them. God wanted to see whether or not his people would really obey him. We too will be tested. Because we know that testing will come, we should be alert and ready for it. Remember, your convictions are only strong if they hold up under pressure!

Jesus’ personal victory over Satan at the very outset of his ministry set the stage for his command over demons throughout his ministry, but it did not dissuade Satan from continuing to try to ruin Jesus’ mission. For example, the religious leaders would tempt Jesus to prove his power by showing a sign from heaven (8:11) and to test his authority in deciding legal matters (10:2; 12:13–15); Peter would tempt him to stop talking about his death (8:32–33); and ultimately, fear and horror would tempt Jesus to turn away from the cross (14:34–36).

 He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.  As described above, the “desert” or “wilderness” was a dangerous and desolate place, inhabited by wild animals. The wilderness regions of Palestine had animals such as boars, jackals, wolves, foxes, leopards, and hyenas. Mark is the only Gospel writer to mention this, pointing out the hostile nature of the wilderness where Jesus spent forty days being tempted. Perhaps Satan tempted him with fear and with the desire to get back to civilization during those forty days. It is interesting to note that Adam and Eve fell to Satan’s temptations in a beautiful garden where all their needs were met and all the animals were tame; Jesus was tempted by Satan and did not fall as he went without food and the basic necessities and was surrounded by wild animals. John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Regained popularized the theme that Jesus’ victory over Satan in the wilderness reversed the tragic consequences of Adam and Eve’s fall and thereby prepared the way for paradise to be regained.

That angels attended him in no way lessens the intensity of the temptations that Jesus faced. The angels may have given Jesus food and drink because the Greek word diekonoun, usually translated “ministering,” can also mean “serving food” (see 1 Kings 19:5–7 where angels ministered to Elijah). But it is more likely that the angels’ ministry was spiritual in nature—attending to Jesus’ spiritual needs. The verb indicates continuous action. As Satan’s temptations lasted continuously during the forty days, so did the ministrations of the angels.

Angels are continuously present. Hebrews 1:14 defines “angels” as messengers for God and ministers to people. They show compassion for human beings. Passages such as Matthew 18:10, Luke 15:10, Acts 12:14–15, and Revelation 19:10 support the idea of guardian angels. As agents of God, they bring special help to believers (Acts 5:19–21; 12:7–10).

Angels, like these who waited on Jesus, have a significant role as God’s messengers. These spiritual beings were involved in Jesus’ life on earth by (1) announcing Jesus’ birth to Mary, (2) reassuring Joseph, (3) naming Jesus, (4) announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, (5) protecting Jesus by sending his family to Egypt, and (6) ministering to Jesus in Gethsemane.

From Jesus’ temptation we can learn that following our Lord could bring dangerous and intense spiritual battles. It warns us that we won’t always feel good; there will be times of deprivation, loneliness, and hostility. It also shows that our spiritual victories may not always be visible to the watching world. Above all, it shows that we must use the power of God to face temptation, and not try to withstand it in our own strength.^[2]

Fulfillment (Mark 2:13-22)

It soon became evident that Jesus was deliberately associating Himself with the outcasts of Jewish society. He even called a tax collector to become one of His disciples! We do not know that Levi was a dishonest man, though most of the tax collectors were; but the fact that he worked for Herod Antipas and the Romans was enough to disgrace him among loyal Jews. However, when Jesus called him, Levi did not argue or delay. He got up and followed Jesus, even though he knew that Rome would never give him back his job. He burned his bridges (“And he left everything behind”—Luke 5:28, n), received a new name (“Matthew, the gift of God”), and enthusiastically invited some of his “sinner” friends to meet the Lord Jesus. These were Jewish people like himself who did not follow the Law or appear to have much interest in things religious. It was exactly the kind of people Jesus wanted to reach.

Of course, the critics had to be there; but our Lord used their questions to teach the guests about Himself and the spiritual work He came to do. He explained His mission by using three interesting comparisons.

JESUS PREACHES IN GALILEE / Mark 1:14–15

Up to this point, Mark has succeeded in sketching the character of Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, the one who could identify with sinful humans without succumbing to sin himself, and the heaven-declared Son of God. Approximately one year elapsed between 1:13 and 1:14, which begins a new section. In this section Mark focuses on Jesus choosing his disciples.

This section also tells how Herod removed John the Baptist from ministry while Jesus’ public ministry was beginning (see John 3:30). Mark then includes a summary of Jesus’ message. Jesus echoed John’s call for repentance and added the challenge that each person must believe the Good News. From the beginning, Jesus did not allow himself to be only a topic for debate or even admiration. He expected those who approached him to believe or to reject him. He never allowed the middle ground of indecision.

1:14    Now after John was put in prison.  Mark mentioned the arrest of John the Baptist as merely a signal for the ministry of Jesus into Galilee, his home region. Luke explained that John was arrested because he publicly rebuked King Herod for taking his brother’s wife. John’s public protests greatly angered Herod, so he put John in prison, presumably to silence him. The family of Herods were renowned for their cruelty and evil; it was Herod the Great who ordered the murder of the babies in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16). The Herod who imprisoned John was Herod Antipas; his wife was Herodias, Herod Antipas’s niece and formerly his brother’s wife. The imprisonment of John the Baptist was only one evil act in a family filled with incest, deceit, and murder.

Fractures well cur’d make us more strong.  George Herbert

 Jesus came to Galilee.  Jesus moved from Nazareth, his hometown, to Capernaum, about twenty miles farther north. Capernaum became Jesus’ home base during his ministry in the northernmost region of Palestine, Galilee. Jesus probably moved (1) to get away from intense opposition in Nazareth, (2) to have an impact on the greatest number of people (Capernaum was a busy city, and Jesus’ message could reach more people and spread more quickly), and (3) to utilize extra resources and support for his ministry. Jesus’ move fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1–2, which states that the Messiah will be a light to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the region of Galilee where Capernaum was located. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the original twelve tribes of Israel.

PRISON MINISTRY: We must remember to bring the Good News of God’s kingdom to prisoners like John the Baptist. Being caged, denied the benefit of work and the comfort of family and friends, and always under guard must make a person feel like an animal. Prisons are filled with people who are filled with guilt.

So Jesus taught that prisoners need the Good News; they need relief and restoration. People put in prison because their opinions challenge secular authority (as with John the Baptist) need hope and vindication. All prisoners need to feel like human beings again, important to God, capable of work, needed by someone. As a Christian, you can share God’s Good News with prisoners and be an angel of mercy. Through your words, faith can climb prison walls and set prisoners free.

Proclaiming the good news of God.  What is the good news of God? These first words spoken by Jesus in Mark give the core of his teaching: the long-awaited Messiah had come to break the power of sin and begin God’s personal reign on earth. This was indeed good news from God because most of the people who heard this message were oppressed, poor, and without hope. Jesus’ words were good news because they offered freedom, justice, and hope. Though at first the listeners thought he referred to political freedom and civil justice, true disciples would learn after his crucifixion that the freedom was from sin, the mercy was from God and not people, and the hope was for new life with him.

1:15    And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.”  Jews of Jesus’ day understood exactly what Jesus meant when he proclaimed the time is fulfilled. The Greek word used for time, kairos, refers to a particular time period with its beginning marked by an extremely important event. This placed Jesus’ coming in the center of God’s plan for revelation and redemption. The Old Testament prophets often spoke of the future kingdom, ruled by a descendant of King David, that would be established on earth and exist for eternity. Thus when Jesus spoke of the “time” and the presence of the kingdom of God, the Jews understood him to mean that the Messiah had come to “fulfill” or inaugurate his long-awaited kingdom. Jesus reassured them that God was in sovereign control. He had begun to act in a new and decisive way. The most critical time had come. The door to God’s great future had been flung open.

Of course, this caused great excitement among the people. The problem arose, however, in the misunderstanding of the nature of this kingdom. The kingdom of God began when God entered history as a human being. But the kingdom of God will not be fully realized until all evil in the world has been judged and removed. Christ came to earth first as a suffering Servant; he will come again as King and Judge to rule victoriously over all the earth. The kingdom he inaugurated on earth would not overthrow Roman oppression and bring uersal peace immediately. The kingdom of God that began quietly in Palestine was God’s rule in people’s hearts. The everlasting kingdom would not begin for many years (it has not yet begun), yet the kingdom was as near as people’s willingness to make Jesus king over their lives. As Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 ). The everlasting kingdom may still be many years away for us, yet it is as near as accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for salvation.

Have we felt our sins, and forsaken them? Have we taken hold of Christ, and believed? We may reach heaven without learning or riches or health or worldly greatness. But we will never reach heaven if we die unrepentant and unbelieving.  J. C. Ryle

 “Repent, and believe in the good news.”  Jesus began his ministry with the very word people had heard John the Baptist say: Repent. The message is the same today. Becoming a follower of Christ means turning away from our self-centeredness and “self” control and turning our lives over to Christ’s direction and control. As mentioned in 1:4, repentance has two sides—turning away from sin and believing in the good news. The Good News, the gospel, means that Jesus, the promised Messiah, has come to usher in a new age of God’s dealings with his people.

Verse 15 provides a summary of Jesus’ gospel message and gives us one of the most important expressions of the gospel in the New Testament. The first half details what God has done for us: He has fulfilled the time and brought near the kingdom of God. The second half details what we must do to participate: repent and believe.^[3]

^[1] William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Mark, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 21–24.

^[2] Bruce B. Barton, Mark, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), 17–21.

^[3] Bruce B. Barton, Mark, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), 21–24.

It is clear that the ministry of John was mightily effective, for they flocked out to listen to him and to submit to his baptism. Why was it that John made an impact such as this upon his nation?

(i) He was a man who lived his message. Not only his words, but also his whole life was a protest. Three things about him marked the reality of his protest against contemporary life.

(a) There was the place in which he stayed—the wilderness. Between the center of Judaea and the Dead Sea lies one of the most terrible deserts in the world. It is a limestone desert; it looks warped and twisted; it shimmers in the haze of the heat; the rock is hot and blistering and sounds hollow to the feet as if there was some vast furnace underneath; it moves out to the Dead Sea and then descends in dreadful and unscalable precipices down to the shore. In the Old Testament it is sometimes called Jeshimmon, which means The Devastation. John was no city-dweller. He was a man from the desert and from its solitudes and its desolations. He was a man who had given himself a chance to hear the voice of God.

(b) There were the clothes he wore—a garment woven of camel’s hair and a leather belt about his waist. So did Elijah (2 Kings 1:8). To look at the man was to be reminded, not of the fashionable orators of the day, but of the ancient prophets who lived close to the great simplicities and avoided the soft and effeminate luxuries which kill the soul.

(c) There was the food he ate—locusts and wild honey. It so happens that both words are capable of two interpretations. The locusts may be the animals for the law allowed them to be eaten (Leviticus 11:22, 23); but they may also be a kind of bean or nut, the carob, which was the food of the poorest of the poor. The honey may be the honey the wild bees make; or it may be a kind of sweet sap that distils from the bark of certain trees. It does not matter what the words precisely mean. In any event John’s diet was of the simplest.

So John emerged. People had to listen to a man like that. It was said of Carlyle that “he preached the gospel of silence in twenty volumes.” Many a man comes with a message which he himself denies. Many a man with a comfortable bank account preaches about not laying up treasures upon earth. Many a man extols the blessings of poverty from a comfortable home. But in the case of John, the man was the message, and because of that people listened.

(ii) His message was effective because he told people what in their heart of hearts they knew and brought them what in the depths of their souls they were waiting for.

(a) The Jews had a saying that “if Israel would only keep the law of God perfectly for one day the Kingdom of God would come.” When John summoned men to repentance he was confronting them with a decision that they knew in their heart of hearts they ought to make. Long ago Plato said that education did not consist in telling people new things; it consisted in extracting from their memories what they already knew. No message is so effective as that which speaks to a man’s own conscience, and that message becomes well-nigh irresistible when it is spoken by a man who obviously has the right to speak.

(b) The people of Israel were well aware that for three hundred years the voice of prophecy had been silent. They were waiting for some authentic word from God. And in John they heard it. In every walk of life the expert is recognizable. A famous violinist tells us that no sooner had Toscanini mounted the rostrum than the orchestra felt his authority flowing over them. We recognize at once a doctor who has real skill. We recognize at once a speaker who knows his subject. John had come from God and to hear him was to know it.

(iii) His message was effective because he was completely humble. His own verdict on himself was that he was not fit for the duty of a slave. Sandals were composed simply of leather soles fastened to the foot by straps passing through the toes. The roads were unsurfaced. In dry weather they were dust heaps; in wet weather rivers of mud. To remove the sandals was the work and office of a slave. John asked nothing for himself but everything for the Christ whom he proclaimed. The man’s obvious self-forgottenness, his patent yieldedness, his complete self-effacement, his utter lostness in his message compelled people to listen.

(iv) His message was effective because he pointed to something and someone beyond himself. He told men that his baptism drenched them in water, but one was coming who would drench them in the Holy Spirit; and while water could cleanse a man’s body, the Holy Spirit could cleanse his life and self and heart. Dr. G. J. Jeffrey had a favorite illustration. When he was making a telephone call through the operator and there was some delay, the operator would often say, “I’m trying to connect you.” Then, when the connection had been effected, the operator faded out and left him in direct contact with the person to whom he wished to speak.

John’s one aim was not to occupy the center of the stage himself, but to try to connect men with the one who was greater and stronger than he; and men listened to him because he pointed, not to himself, but to the one whom all men need.^[1]

The Day of Decision Mark 1:9–11

To any thinking person the baptism of Jesus presents a problem. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, meant for those who were sorry for their sins and who wished to express their determination to have done with them. What had such a baptism to do with Jesus? Was he not the sinless one, and was not such a baptism unnecessary and quite irrelevant as far as he was concerned? For Jesus the baptism was four things.

(i) It was the moment of decision. For thirty years he had stayed in Nazareth. Faithfully he had done his day’s work and discharged his duties to his home. For long he must have been conscious that the time for him to go out had to come. He must have waited for a sign. The emergence of John was that sign. This, he saw, was the moment when he had to launch out upon his task.

In every life there come moments of decision which may be accepted or rejected. To accept them is to succeed; to reject them, or to shirk them, is to fail. As Lowell had it:

“Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide

In the strife of Truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;

Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,

Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right

And the choice goes by for ever ‘twixt that darkness and that light.”

To every man there comes the unreturning decisive moment. As Shakespeare saw it:

“There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their lives

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.”

The undecided life is the wasted life, the frustrated life, the discontented life, and often the tragic life. As John Oxenham saw it:

“To every man there openeth A way and ways and a way;

The high soul treads the high way, And the low soul gropes the low,

And in between on the misty flats, The rest drift to and fro.”

The drifting life can never be the happy life. Jesus knew when John emerged that the moment of decision had come. Nazareth was peaceful and home was sweet, but he answered the summons and the challenge of God.

(ii) It was the moment of identification. It is true that Jesus did not need to repent from sin; but here was a movement of the people back to God; and with that Godward movement he was determined to identify himself. A man might himself possess ease and comfort and wealth and still identify himself with a movement to bring better things to the downtrodden and the poor and the ill-housed and the over-worked and the underpaid. The really great identification is when a man identifies himself with a movement, not for his own sake, but for the sake of others. In John Bunyan’s dream, Christian came in his journeying with Interpreter to the Palace which was heavily guarded and required a battle to seek an entry. At the door there sat the man with the inkhorn taking the names of those who would dare the assault. All were hanging back, then Christian saw “a man of a very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, ‘Set down my name, sir’.” When great things are afoot the Christian is bound to say, “Set down my name, sir,” for that is what Jesus did when he came to be baptized.

(iii) It was the moment of approval. No man lightly leaves his home and sets out on an unknown way. He must be very sure that he is right. Jesus had decided on his course of action, and now he was looking for the seal of the approval of God. In the time of Jesus the Jews spoke of what they called the Bath Qol, which means, the daughter of a voice. By this time they believed in a series of heavens, in the highest of which sat God in the light to which no man could approach. There were rare times when the heavens opened and God spoke; but, to them, God was so distant that it was only the far away echo of his voice that they heard. To Jesus the voice came directly. As Mark tells the story, this was a personal experience which Jesus had and not in any sense a demonstration to the crowd. The voice did not say, “This is my beloved Son,” as Matthew has it (Matthew 3:17). It said, “Thou art my beloved Son,” speaking direct to Jesus. At the baptism Jesus submitted his decision to God and that decision was unmistakably approved.

(iv) It was the moment of equipment. At that time the Holy Spirit descended upon him. There is a certain symbolism here. The Spirit descended as a dove might descend. The simile is not chosen by accident. The dove is the symbol of gentleness. Both Matthew and Luke tell us of the preaching of John. (Matthew 3:7–12; Luke 3:7–13.) John’s was a message of the axe laid to the root of the tree, of the terrible sifting, of the consuming fire. It was a message of doom and not of good news. But from the very beginning the picture of the Spirit likened to a dove is a picture of gentleness. He will conquer, but the conquest will be the conquest of love.^[2]

^[1] William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Mark, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 15–18.

^[2] William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Mark, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 18–21.

The Gospel is neither a discussion nor a debate,” said Dr. Paul S. Rees. “It is an announcement!” Mark wasted no time giving that announcement, for it is found in the opening words of his book.

Matthew, who wrote primarily for the Jews, opened his book with a genealogy. After all, he had to prove to his readers that Jesus Christ is indeed the rightful Heir to David’s throne.

Luke emphasized Christ’s humanity, for he knew that his Greek readers would identify with the perfect Babe who grew up to be the perfect Man

John’s Gospel begins with a statement about eternity! Why? Because John wrote to prove to the whole world that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Son of God (John 20:31). The subject of John’s Gospel is the deity of Christ, but the object of his Gospel is to encourage his readers to believe on this Savior and receive the gift of eternal life

Where does Mark’s Gospel fit in? Mark wrote for the Romans, and his theme is Jesus Christ the Servant. If we had to pick a “key verse” in this Gospel, it would be Mark 10:45—“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The fact that Mark wrote with the Romans in mind helps us understand his style and approach. The emphasis in this Gospel is on activity. Mark describes Jesus as He busily moves from place to place and meets the physical and spiritual needs of all kinds of people. Mark does not record many of our Lord’s sermons because his emphasis is on what Jesus did rather than what Jesus said.

He reveals Jesus as God’s Servant, sent to minister to suffering people and to die for the sins of the world. Mark gives us no account of our Lord’s birth, nor does he record a genealogy, unnecessary in regard to a servant. In this opening chapter, Mark shares three important facts about God’s Servant.

The Servant’s Identity (Mark 1:1-11)

How does Mark identify this Servant? He records the testimonies of several dependable witnesses to assure us that Jesus is all that He claims to be.

John Mark, the author of the book, is the first witness (v. 1). He states boldly that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is likely that Mark was an eyewitness of some of the events that he wrote about. He lived in Jerusalem with his mother, Mary; and their home was a meeting place for believers in the city (Acts 12:1-19). Several scholars believe that Mark was the young man described in Mark 14:51-52. Since Peter called Mark “my son” (1 Peter 5:13), it is probable that it was Peter who led Mark to faith in Jesus Christ. Church tradition states that Mark was “Peter’s interpreter,” so that the Gospel of Mark reflects the personal experiences and witness of Simon Peter.

The word gospel simply means “the good news.” To the Romans, Mark’s special target audience, gospel meant “joyful news about the emperor.” The “Gospel of Jesus Christ” is the Good News that God’s Son has come into the world and died for our sins. It is the Good News that our sins can be forgiven, that we can belong to the family of God and one day go to live with God in heaven. It is the announcement of victory over sin, death, and hell (1 Cor. 15:1-8, 51-52; Gal. 1:1-9).

The second witness is that of the prophets (vv. 2-3). Mark cites two quotations from the Old Testament prophets, Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 (note also Ex. 23:20). The words messenger and voice refer to John the Baptist, the prophet God sent to prepare the way for His Son (Matt. 3; Luke 3:1-18; John 1:19-34). In ancient times, before a king visited any part of his realm, a messenger was sent before him to prepare the way. This included both repairing the roads and preparing the people. By calling the nation to repentance, John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah and Malachi join voices in declaring that Jesus Christ is the Lord, Jehovah God.

John the Baptist is the next witness (vv. 4-8). Jesus called him the greatest of the prophets (Matt. 11:1-15). In his dress, manner of life, and message of repentance, John identified with Elijah (2 Kings 1:8; Mal. 4:5; Matt. 17:10-13; and note Luke 1:13-17). The “wilderness” where John ministered is the rugged wasteland along the western shore of the Dead Sea. John was telling the people symbolically that they were in a “spiritual wilderness” far worse than the physical wilderness which their ancestors had endured for forty years. John called the people to leave their spiritual wilderness, trust their “Joshua” (Jesus), and enter into their inheritance.

John was careful to magnify Jesus and not himself (see John 3:25-30). John would baptize repentant sinners in water, but “the coming One” would baptize them with the Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). This did not mean that John’s baptism was unauthorized (see Matt. 21:23-27), or that water baptism would one day be replaced by Spirit baptism (see Matt. 28:19-20). Rather, John’s message and baptism were preparation so that the people would be ready to meet and trust the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s Apostles were no doubt baptized by John (see John 4:1-2 and Acts 1:21-26).

The Father and the Holy Spirit are Mark’s final witnesses to the identity of God’s Servant (vv. 9-11). When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit came on Him as a dove, and the Father spoke from heaven and identified His beloved Son. The people who were there did not hear the voice or see the dove, but Jesus and John did (see John 1:29-34). The word beloved not only declares affection, but it also carries the meaning of “the only one.” The Father’s announcement from heaven reminds us of Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1.

You will want to note these references in Mark’s Gospel to Jesus Christ as the Son of God—Mark 1:1, 11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 12:1-11; 13:32; 14:61-62; and 15:39. Mark did not write his book about just any Jewish servant. He wrote his book about the very Son of God who came from heaven to die for the sins of the world.

Yes, Jesus is the Servant—but He is a most unusual Servant. After all, it is the servant who prepares the way for others and announces their arrival. But others prepared the way for Jesus and announced that He had come! Even heaven itself took note of Him! This Servant is God the Son.

The Herald of the New King – Mark 1:1–8

The key word that I want you to look at is in verse 1. It is the word “gospel.” The word “gospel,” of course, is very familiar to us. Sometimes when we use the word “gospel,” we actually mean a book, like the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke, or the Gospel of John.

But in the New Testament, the word “gospel” is never a reference to one of those four books. The word “gospel” in the New Testament always refers to the message of salvation, and that’s its usage here. How are we to understand, then, in the context in which Mark is writing, the usage of this word? How would first century people view its significance? There is, here, given no definition of the word “gospel.” The Greek word euaggelion is the word “gospel” that appears in our English Bible.

But what did the word euaggelion mean to those who would read or hear this book read? Is it a word that is so inimitably Christian that we invented it? Is the word “gospel” our word? Is euaggelion distinctively a New Testament word?

Well, the answer to that question is no. It’s a very old word. And it was a very familiar word, both to Jews and to Gentiles, long in usage and rather specific in its meaning. Yes, the word euaggelion means good news, joyous message, glad tidings. But it had a more technical usage, both in the minds of the Jews and the Gentiles as well. And remember now, Mark is writing from Rome to Roman Christians and Roman non-Christians, primarily then a Gentile audience.

It’s important, then, to consider how they would understand this word, since he doesn’t define it for them. But let’s, first of all, wonder how the Jews would understand it. There certainly were Jews among the Christians. There were certainly Jews among the non-Christians who would read and have read and continue to read this book.

So, what does gospel mean to them? How does it connect to them? Well, it is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. The Old Testament written originally in Hebrew, but there is a Greek version of it in which the word euaggelion is the best translation of the Old Testament word. For that, I would take you back to listen carefully to Isaiah chapter 40.

Isaiah chapter 40. This is a very important chapter, by the way, Isaiah 40, because it looks forward to the coming of Messiah in the far distant future. It also looks forward in the near future to the children of Israel being released from captivity and going back to their land. That is why chapter 40 begins, “‘Comfort, O comfort My people. Speak kindly to Jerusalem. Call out to her her warfare has ended, her iniquity has been removed, she has received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.’” Her punishment is over; it’s time for restoration. That’s what Isaiah is saying. And that looks in the near future from Isaiah’s vantage to the return from the Babylonian captivity, and from the far viewpoint to the future coming of Messiah.

Dropping down to verse 9 in that chapter we read this, “Get yourself up on a high mountain” – and there’s an announcement coming; find the highest point to make the announcement so you can be heard by most people – “O Zion, bearer of good news” – and there is the word in the Septuagint, euaggelion, good news – “Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; lift it up, do not fear. 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.”

It is announcing the good news of the arrival of God. That is its usage. It refers to the ascent of God to rule, “The Lord God will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him.” When you’re talking about good news, you’re talking about this is the best news possible. Remember now, these are people who are captive. They are being told, “There is coming a restoration. The punishment and chastisement is over; you’re going back, and the Lord is going to ascend again into His throne, and He is going to rule over you.”

In the forty-second chapter – or the fifty-second chapter of Isaiah, we find a similar usage of this in the same context. Verse 7, Isaiah 52, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” – again this is the same good news – “who announces peace, who brings news of happiness, who announces salvation” – and what is going to bring happiness, and peace, and salvation? – “Say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

So, while the word euaggelion might have some broad meanings, its technical meaning was to describe the very best news possible, which was the ascent of a new King, the ascent of a sovereign to His throne over His people to produce salvation and peace and happiness. That is the way the Jews would view it, and that is the way it is used there by Isaiah.

Both passages consider, then, the return of the Jews from Babylonian exile. When they go back to their land and God again will dwell in Zion, God again will ascend to His throne. A new temple will be built, which is like God’s palace in which He dwells. And during the time of captivity, remember the temple had been destroyed, as it were. God’s palace had been turned to rubble. The people had been carried away. God had dwelt with the exiles in Babylon, according to the prophet Ezekiel.

But the day would come, says Isaiah, when the people will go back, and God will go back with them and ascend to His throne. This will happen in the near future. And it did, in the great return of the Jews from Babylonian exile and the rebuilding of the temple, and God again taking His place as the sovereign over His theocratic nation Israel.

So, it is a word of enthronement. It is the word of the good news of a sovereign ruler taking His throne. And the imagery is of God, the God of Israel, the only true God, establishing His throne in Jerusalem.

In the near fulfillment, that happened in the return from Babylon. In the far fulfillment, that is the messianic promise that the King will come in the future and establish His kingdom in Israel, and set up His rule and His throne there, and that will happen when Jesus returns and sets up His millennial kingdom.

So, the word has reference to the arrival of a king, the ascent of a king in Jewish usage. What about pagan usage? How would the Romans understand that word since they didn’t necessarily have any Jewish history? Well, let me read you an inscription. This is an inscription from the Roman world. The date is 9 B.C. Okay? Before Christ. This is the inscription, “The Providence, which has ordered the whole of our life” – translated into English, obviously – “showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving it to Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men and by sending in him, as it were, a savior for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere. The birthday of the god Augustus is the beginning for the world of the euaggelion” – of the gospel – “that has come to men through him.”

How interesting. They used the word euaggelion on that occasion, in that inscription, to describe the arrival of Caesar Augustus. Caesar Augustus is – “by the Providence,” it says – the one who will bring to us the work of a benefactor, the work of a savior, make war cease, create order everywhere. It is the arrival of a god. The good news, then, is that Augustus Caesar has arrived. That actual inscription was dedicated to him, apparently, on his birthday. Then, as a technical term again to refer to the ascendancy of the triumph of an emperor.

So, the Jews and the pagans would both see that word as signifying the arrival of a new monarch, and that would signify the arrival of a new era. And the new era would be an era of order and peace and salvation and blessing.

So, Mark chooses a word that spreads itself across Jew and Gentile, and indeed, he is about to write the history of a new King. A new King. The good news is about to be told, at least this is the beginning of the good news. The story is still being written, for the King has not fully taken His throne which one day He will in an earthly way and finally in the new heaven and the new earth as an eternal King.

But Mark will begin to tell the story of the arrival, and ascendency, and establishment, and enthronement of the new King who is far more glorious than all other kings, and His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the new King.

This is the story of the new King who has arrived, who is about to inaugurate His kingdom and bring a new era of salvation, blessing, peace, and order to the world. One historical writer says, “The parallel between ‘evangel’” – or the gospel – “in the imperial cult and the Bible is Caesar and Christ, the emperor on the throne and the despised rabbi on the cross confront each other. Both are gospel to men. They have much in common, but they belong to two different worlds.”

So, Mark begins his historical account of the life of Jesus with language that would make his Roman readers know that the new and most glorious King has come, and He sets Himself against all other kings, including Caesar. He is the theme of this history. And this is only the beginning of His story. And what is His name? Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus identifies His human name, Yeshua or Yehoshua in Hebrew – basically, Joshua – meaning Yahweh is salvation. Yehoshua – Yahweh is salvation. That’s His name. “Call Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins,” Matthew 1:21. His title – His name is Jesus, His title is Christ. That is not a name; that is not His last name. That’s a title. Royal title. The Anointed One. That’s what Messiah means. Christ and Messiah are the same thing. It means Anointed One. It’s a royal title. His human name is Jesus. His royal title is Messiah, the Anointed One. Simply King. And his lineage? He is the Son of God. One in nature with God, coeternal and coequal.

And thus does Mark introduce us to the beginning of the history of King Jesus. The beginning of the history of King Jesus, the Son of God. Not the Son of some other earthly monarch.

In John 1:49, “Nathanael said to Jesus, ‘You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.’”

A new King with a radically new kingdom, unlike any other king and any other king, and one who sets Himself above all other kinds and all other kingdoms, one whom the Bible calls the King of Kings. This is the beginning of the good news of His ascent to His throne.

He proves Himself to be the divine King, the Son of God, by His words and His deeds in the first half of Mark’s Gospel. He proves Himself to be the Son of God and the promised King in the second half by His death and resurrection. So, at first it’s His deeds and words that prove who He is; in the back half it’s His death and resurrection that prove who He is. And in the very middle, the very summit of the book, Peter makes the confession, “You are the Christ” – or better – “You are the King; You are exactly who You claim to be.”

And so, this is a book about the arrival of the greatest King ever, the new King; the new King introducing a new kingdom and a new era for the world. And it’s only the beginning of the story, because the story will go on through all of human history and finally be consummated in the new heaven and the new earth when He will rule and reign forever and ever.

So, Mark establishes then what this book is about in his opening sentence. Now, he establishes several truths about the new King. Let me give you five of them. Okay? Truths about the new King. Number one, the promise of the new King. The promise of the new King. Verses 2 and 3, “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”‘”

Those are prophecies attributed to Isaiah. It is the only Old Testament prophecy in Mark’s introduction. You will find through the book of Mark that there are a number of prophecies. In fact, they’re in bold type, or in upper case letters. So, this is the only prophecy in Mark’s introduction. This is the only one that he uses in the beginning.

What is notable about it is it isn’t particularly about the King; it’s about the herald of the King. And Mark, remember, is writing to Gentiles. He’s writing to Roman Christians – and, of course, Roman non-Christians – who will hear his history read. He is not concerned primarily about the Jews, so he doesn’t frontload his book with a lot of prophecies. He doesn’t make efforts to connect the arrival of Jesus with the Old Testament, say, by giving genealogies like Matthew and Luke are so careful to give. He doesn’t give specific prophesies about Jesus, such as the virgin birth, Bethlehem, called out of Egypt. And there are a number of prophesies that Matthew refers to and Luke refers to. None of those does Mark refer to in the beginning of his history. It is simply enough to say, “He is the Son of God.” He is the Son of God.

Mark knows, however, that if Gentiles are to look at the story of this new King and see it as sort of an authentic arrival of a new King, then they would expect that there would be some kind of authoritative, credible herald who would announce the arrival of the King, because that’s exactly the way it was in their world. No king ever arrived and said, “Hey, I’m the king, and I’m here.” The king always had a forerunner. The king always had an entourage. The king always had some coming before him to prepare the way and make the people ready, and then was appropriately introduced by someone who bore authenticity and authority to make that introduction.

So, Mark, consistent with the Gentile approach to how kings were announced, goes to the Old Testament for the only time in the beginning of his Gospel, not to find a prophecy about Jesus, but to find a prophecy about His herald, to give authenticity to His herald.

With all the Old Testament texts that connect to Jesus Christ, Mark uses prophecy not about the new King at all, but about His forerunner, the one who is to proclaim His arrival. This would be in the kind of official structure of what people in the Gentile world will be used to.

So, there is coming a messenger. That’s identified in verse 2, “I send My messenger.” And he further identifies the messenger as someone who will be a voice crying in the wilderness. This is from the ancient prophets. He’s quoting from the ancient prophets, and he labels this from Isaiah the prophet. Certainly Isaiah was well-known to even Gentile Christians because of his vast book, much of which was centered on the arrival of Messiah, the servant of Jehovah, as Isaiah identifies Him. So, he draws prophecies out of Isaiah.

By the way, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all use – all use these prophecies to label John the Baptist as the fulfillment. John the Baptist is the fulfillment of these prophecies, and all four Gospel writers indicate that. “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet” – or preferably “as it has been written.” The new King is not a new plan; the new King is not an afterthought. This is the plan that God was working out in ancient times. The plan is one culminating in the arrival of the new King, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The Gentile readers need to know that the one who announced His arrival is the one prophesied by the ancient prophets, and by the notable prophet Isaiah from the Old Testament. He is an official, divinely commissioned herald for the new King. And so, he’s the one being described in these prophecies.

Now, just as a note, it says, “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,” then you have a quote in verse 2, and a quote in verse 3. Verse 2 is actually Malachi 3:1; and verse 3 is Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3. This is not an uncommon thing to do, to refer to only one of the Old Testament prophets, the more prominent one, the more notable one, and tuck in another prophecy by another prophet, since it was all the Word of God.

These prophecies go together so perfectly, and both refer to the same person, so they may have been frequently used together. Malachi is the introductory one; Isaiah is the more important one. But both are general references. If you go back, they’re – and this is something you need to know that New Testament writers do. Sometimes they quote exactly from the Hebrew; sometimes they quote from the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament; sometimes they make sort of a general reference to a text, and sometimes it’s an interpretive reference. Because remember now, the New Testament writers are inspired by God. And so, when they interpret an Old Testament text, they interpret that in an inspired way.

So, they always give the true interpretation of the text. Sometimes you’d directly quote it; sometimes it’s an interpretive quote. Here you have some interpretive quotation, certainly in the case of Malachi 3:1.

But let’s look at Malachi 3:1 in the text of Mark 1. Malachi 3:1 records, “Behold, I send My messenger” – and Malachi says – “before Me.” Here you have an interpretation of that, “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.” Obviously, You and Your refers to the coming King. But before the King comes, ahead of Him comes the messenger. So, this is a prophecy that there will be one who comes before the King comes, whose job will be to prepare His way.

Like all prophets, this is a messenger. All prophets are proclaimers. He’s a preacher. He will make a strong call for people to prepare for the arrival of the new King. Malachi 3:1 is a direct reference to this messenger, this herald of the coming new King.

And then, in Isaiah 40 and verse 3, we read as recorded here in Mark 1:3, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’” Now remember, I read you earlier – right? – from Isaiah chapter 40, the opening, and then down in verses 9 and 10, Isaiah prophesied the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. He prophesied they would come back to Israel; they would go through the wilderness, and God would lead them. And when they arrived, God would be with them, and He would ascend to His throne, and again He would rule over them.

And so, in the near intention of that prophecy, He was talking about the return from the Babylonian captivity and the ascendancy of God to His sovereign place over a reconstituted Israel. And that would require making ready the way of the Lord. God would lead them back from captivity, would make the path for them, make the road for them, and they would head back, and God would be with them. In the future sense, one would come who would make the road ready for the new King. Make the road ready for the new King. And this, of course, is here associated with the forerunner of Jesus, namely John the Baptist. There was to come one who would herald the new King’s arrival, call people to prepare for His glorious ascent to His throne and the establishment of his kingdom of salvation, and blessing, and peace.

Now, the Romans would get this. The Gentiles would get this. The Jews would get this. This is not an ordinary monarch. This is no typical King, however, because of the nature of His person. First of all, He’s not the Son of some other king; He is the Son of God. That sets Him apart from all others. He is God the Son; that is to say He’s coequal, coexistent, coeternal with God.

So, let’s go from the promise of this new King to the person of this new King. Now, I want to show you something. What we already know is His name is Jesus, His title is King – that’s what Christ means – His heritage is the Son of God. But I want you to notice how deeply this is in the text of these prophesies.

Verse 2, from Malachi 3:1, “‘Behold, I send My messenger’” – literally, in the text of Malachi – “‘before Me.’” God says, “I send My messenger before Me.” God is saying, “The King who is coming, the King who My messenger announces is Me.” That is a very important statement. “‘He’ is ‘Me.’ – who will prepare My way.” That is to say the King who is coming is one with God. The King who is coming is God. That’s why John opens his Gospel saying, “We beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father.” “I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”

“The messenger is – the messenger is announcing Me, announcing My arrival.” And then, of course, Malachi 3 continues to say this, “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple.”

So, He goes from “before Me” to “the Lord will suddenly come to His temple.” And you remember, when the Lord arrived, the first public thing He did was go to the temple and cleanse the temple. So, He came suddenly to His temple.

The one coming then is King. Coming as King, He ascends to His temple, His palace. He finds it a den of thieves and cleans it out. But who is He? It is Yahweh. It is God. It is God. You see it even further in the second Old Testament promise, verse 3, from Isaiah 40, verse 3, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” – that’s the messenger; that’s what he does; that’s where he does it. And what does he say? “‘Make ready the way of’” – whom? – “‘the Lord’” – o Kýrios. Again, Yahweh, God, the Son of God, God Himself. Yahweh, the Lord. Of course, verse 8, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Who else could give the Holy Spirit but the Lord Himself? The new King. The new King who is coming. The new King is none other than God. The testimony to that reality is given at His baptism. If you go down to verse 11, Jesus is being baptized, “A voice came out of the heavens” – this is the voice of the Father – “‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Now, the world has never seen a King like this. God Himself will come to His people as God Himself came to His people when they returned from the exile in captivity. God Himself will come to His people. God Himself, God the Son will be the new King.

The good news is that God has come. God, the God of the uerse, has broken into history to provide salvation, and blessing, and peace, and His name is Jesus. King Jesus, Son of God. The new King is here. The new kingdom is here. It’s a new day for the whole world. It’s a new day for human history; salvation has arrived. This is the good news.

In the Greek and Roman world, euaggelion was often used in the plural. Lots of good news. In the New Testament, it’s never used but in the singular; there’s only one good news, for there’s no other salvation except that in Christ. The new King is God come down to bring salvation, peace, order, and blessing.

Then we meet the prophet of the new King. Verse 4, here’s the messenger who is the voice crying in the wilderness, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness” – there’s the fulfillment of the prophecy. The word “wilderness” the same word as desert. “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching.” John the Baptist. Why do you think they called him that?

Why would you call anybody John – actually, in the Greek, it’s John the Baptizer. It should be John the Baptizer. Why would you call anybody John the Baptizer? Because that’s the thing that’s so distinguishing about him.

When you read through the New Testament, you have a Mary, and then the Mary’s identified by some other name. Right? Like we saw last time. Mary, the mother of John Mark; or, Mary Magdalene; or, Mary, the mother of our Lord; or, Mary, the wife of Clopas. You’ve got to have some way to identify what Mary you’re talking about. Well, you need some way to identify what John you’re talking about, too. John’s a very common name in Hebrew. And so, it is John the Baptizer, because that’s what’s most inimitable about him. And that would set him apart from everybody else, because nobody else did that. I don’t want to get you to think that the idea is that in Israel every church had a baptistery. There weren’t any churches, first of all, and there weren’t any baptisteries.

The Jews didn’t baptize. They had ceremonial cleansings; they had ceremonial washings and all of that. But they only had one baptism that they did, and it was a one-time symbolic event they did to a proselyte who came out of Gentileism into Judaistic religion, wanted to become a worshipper of the true God, and they put him through a proselyte baptism or her through a proselyte baptism, an immersion in water to symbolize that they were being purified from their former life and entering into the clean religion, as it were, of Judaism. This is proselyte baptism. It wasn’t a common thing; it wasn’t an occurrence that happened all the time. And that’s why you could identify one as John the Baptizer, because that was so unusual.

Furthermore, he appears in the wilderness, in the desert. In fact, in John 3:23, it places Him about 25 to 30 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, along the Jordan River. And up and down that river he went for the duration of his ministry, preaching out in the desert, away from all the cities and all the towns and all the people. He was in that wilderness, basically, his whole life. According to Luke 1:80, he spent his life in the wilderness. He was a wilderness guy. He was a desert man.

Now, John the Baptist – there’s a lot of wonderful stories about him, true, given by Matthew, given by Luke. Some things told by John. We could talk about the fact that he was miraculously conceived, because his parents were too old and had been barren. That’s a wonderful story. We could talk about the fact that he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. We could talk about the fact that he was a relative of Jesus, that Mary and Elizabeth got together, when they both knew that God had done a miracle of conception in them. We could talk about the fact that he was the culmination of Old Testament prophetic history, the last prophet, and there hadn’t been one for 400 years. We could talk about the fact that Jesus said – Matthew 11:11 – “He’s the greatest man that ever lived up until his time,” because he was given the greatest responsibility any man ever had: to point to the Messiah, to announce the new King. Mark leaves all that out. He leaves it all out.

He just say this about him, verse 6, “He was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locust and wild honey.” Well, you might find that a little bit strange. It really isn’t. If you’re out in the desert to start with, locust and wild honey would be a good way to sustain yourself, because from what we understand, there was plenty of that available. And if you lived out in the wilderness of the desert your whole life, you wouldn’t care about fashion. You’d basically care about staying warm, because it can be freezing cold out in that desert.

He is a very familiar man in ancient history. Even Josephus, the Jewish historian, writes about him and says, “He was a good man who commanded the Jews to exercise virtue and piety toward God and come to baptism.”

But the only thing Mark tells us about him is his style. Now, what is this about? “He was clothed with camel’s hair.” That doesn’t mean hide; that means camel’s hair woven. They would take camel’s hair; they would make a thread out of it, and then they would weave a garment out of it. It would be a – kind of a rough garment. It was a hairy garment.

And then he had a leather belt around his waist. That’s a rough leather belt. And that’s what it tells us about him. His lifestyle, however, has a parallel. It says the same thing, by the way, in Matthew 3:4. But his lifestyle has a parallel. What was he trying to do looking like that?

Well, if you go back – you don’t have to turn to it; I’ll read it to you – but if you go back to, well, Zechariah 13, it talks about some false prophets, and it associates, in verse 4, false prophets who desire to deceive putting on a hairy robe. Now, why would a false prophet, who wanted to deceive, put on a hair robe? Because a hairy robe was associated with a true prophet. A true prophet.

When it says – when Jesus said, “Beware of wolves who come in sheep’s clothing,” look, that isn’t a wolf with a sheep hid over his head. That’s a false teacher in wool. Again, a hairy garment as opposed to something made out of linen or cotton. That’s the garb of a prophet. And more notably than that, if you go back to 2 Kings, chapter 1, you meet Elijah the Tishbite. This is what it says about him, verse 8, “He was a hairy man” – that does not comment on his bodily hair but on the garment that he wore – “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” This Elijah the Tishbite. This guy set the fashion for prophets.

If you wanted to be taken seriously as a prophet, you found a hairy robe and a leather belt, and you made sure that you conveyed that you were a prophet in the way that you looked. And even false prophets would deign to put on that hairy robe, and that leather belt to appear as if they were prophets.

Well, John was a prophet. Not only was he a prophet, but he was a prophet who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. That’s right. He was one who came with an anointing from God on his head.

Listen to Luke 1:15, “He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink no wine or liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him, before for the King, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

You remember that in Malachi 3, there was the promise that we just read that there is coming a messenger. A little more is said about that messenger in Malachi 4:5, “I’m going to send you Elijah the prophet.” John, it says, was come in the spirit and power of Elijah. And Jesus said, in Matthew 11:14, “If you are willing to accept” – meaning Me and My gospel – “John himself is that Elijah.”

However, you remember they didn’t accept. They killed both John the Baptist and Jesus. So, there’s another time when Jesus will return, and before His second coming, there will be another in the spirit and power of Elijah. Did John understand that? Of course he understood that. The prophecy came to his parents before he was ever born, that he would minister in the spirit and power of Elijah. He identified with Elijah from the get-go. That’s why he wore what he wore. That’s why he lived the way he lived. He lived against the grain of the culture. He even ministered near where Elijah did. Read 2 Kings chapter 2, verse 4 to 12.

Now, his diet was locust. By the way, according to Leviticus 11:22, that was the only insect you could eat. Good protein, good source of mineral. If you want to prepare some, here’s how you do it. You yank off the wings and the legs, and then, depending on your preference, you can roast the body, boil it, dry it, grind it up and bake it in your bread with salt. It provided protein. And honey, wild honey was everywhere, and it was sweet, and it was good.

Do you notice this about John the Baptist? He didn’t care to identify with the people. He cared to identify with the prophet. I think any preacher makes a bad mistake when he tries to identify with the line of the people rather than the line of the prophets. You want to stand in the great tradition of the prophet; you want to speak like a prophet; you want to act like a prophet; you want to look like a prophet.

Now, what was his message? Well, let’s go to number four to the preparation. The preparation. What was he saying? What did they need to do? Back to verse 4. He was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That’s what he was doing. In ancient times, the envoy of the arriving king would go before him, remove all the obstacles in the path; sometimes they’d carve a path; sometimes they built a road; sometimes they’d make a bridge, removing the obstacles. And then they would make sure the people were ready to receive this new King.

What was the way the people were to prepare for the arrival of this king? A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. They needed to have their sins forgiven. In order to have their sins forgiven, which God would mercifully do, they needed to repent of their sins. And to demonstrate their repentance, they would be willing to undergo a baptism. The baptism didn’t bring forgiveness of sin; it only declared their intention. That’s why John, as I said, was labeled the baptizer. The Jews had ceremonial washings, no baptisms except for proselyte baptism.

So, a Jew would be saying, by doing that kind of one-time symbolic baptism, “I’m no better than a Gentile. I am no better than a Gentile. I am no more ready to meet the new King, I am no more ready for God to ascend to His throne, I am no more ready for God to establish His kingdom and make me a part of it than a Gentile.” That is a huge admission, for the Jews had been trained pretty much to resent and hate the Gentiles and think of them as outside the covenant.

He’s calling the Jews to declare themselves no better than Gentiles, to turn many of the hearts of the people toward righteousness, away from rebellion, as Luke 1 put it. And to mark that repentance, that deliberate metanoia which means a turning, a genuine turning. They would need to bring forth the fruit of repentance. Do you remember how John the Baptist said that? Matthew 3:8 records it; Luke 3:8 records it. Luke says, “Bring forth fruits fitting for repentance.” Prove it. The first step would be to be willing to undergo a proselyte baptism and view yourself as if you were no better than a Gentile. Radical, radical repentance. And this was the message that came from God to John, Luke 3:2, “The Word of the Lord came to him,” and this is what He said. This is not baptism in Jesus’ name. We know that because John the Baptist’s followers were later baptized by Paul in Jesus’ name, according to Acts 19.

Now, you need to know one other thing about the context of John’s message. His preaching was judgment preaching. In Luke 3 you can read it yourself. He preached judgment. He said things to the people, “You brood of snakes, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He said, “When the King gets here, He is going to baptize with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand; He’s going to separate the wheat from the chaff, and He’s going to burn the chaff.”

He was a judgment preacher – fierce judgment preacher. That’s what drove the people to want to deal with their sins. The fear that when the Messiah finally came, when the new King ascended to His throne and established His kingdom, they’d be on the outside looking in. And so, he was a judgment preacher. Judgment was coming. But while God was a God of judgment, He was also a God of grace, and He offered forgiveness of sins for those who repented.

Well, everybody practically wanted to be a part of the Messiah’s kingdom. They didn’t want to get left out. They knew their own heart’s sinfulness. So, according to verse 5, all the country of Judea was going out to him, all the people of Jerusalem. They were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. This looks like a national revival.

“By making this pilgrimage” – Mark Horne writes – “to the Jordan, those who believed John’s message showed that they wanted to be visibly separated from those under judgment when the Lord come. They wanted to be members of the future purified Israel. Undergoing John’s baptism helped them anticipate that they were not only God’s covenant people, but that they would remain in that covenant after God cast others out. In order to be assured that they would be included in the future forgiven Israel whose iniquity would be removed, they needed to repent and ask for personal forgiveness now.” End quote. That’s what they were doing. So, they came confessing, being baptized.

However, this was, as good as it might have looked, pretty superficial, wasn’t it? By the time it’s all over, and the true believers are gathered in Jerusalem, after the ascension of Jesus, there’s 120 in the upper room. And here, hyperbolic language to be sure, “all” the country of Judea was going out to him, “all” the people of Jerusalem. Massive constant, steady stream day after day after day.

Why the wilderness? Why the wilderness? William Lane writes – and I think it’s well stated – “The summons to be baptized in the Jordan means that Israel must once more come to the wilderness. As Israel long ago had been separated from Egypt by a pilgrimage through the waters of the Red Sea, the nation is exhorted again to exercise separation. The people are called to a second exodus in preparation for a new covenant with God.

“As the people heed John’s call and go out to him in the desert, far more is involved than contrition and confession. They return to a place of judgment, the wilderness, where the status of Israel as God’s beloved son must be reestablished in the exchange of pride for humility. The willingness to return to the wilderness signifies the acknowledgement of Israel’s history as one of disobedience and rebellion, and a desire to begin once more. Let’s go back to the wilderness, before we ever came into the land, and start all over again.”

Finally, Mark leaves the promise, the person, the prophet, the preparation, and focuses on the preeminence of the new King. The preeminence of the new King. This is the sum of John’s ministry. He was preaching, verse 7, “And he was saying, ‘After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I’m not fit to stoop down and untie the tong of His sandals. I baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

This is what is most true about the forerunner: he points to Christ; he point to Church; he points to Christ. Never points to himself. John 3:30, “I must decrease, He must increase.” This is a model for any preacher. Don’t identify with the people, identify with the prophets. Don’t look like the people; look like the prophets. Maintain the dignity of that office handed down. And don’t point to yourself; point to Christ.

“After me the One” – literally definite article – “After me the One is coming who is mightier than I.” How mighty is He? He’s the Lord; He’s Yahweh; He’s Kurios; He’s God the Son; He’s the King – King Jesus. How far above me is He? Huh.

Here’s the negative. “He is so much mightier than I, that I’m not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.” You know what? That was the lowest possible job that any servant could have. That was it. That was the bottom. If you were the servant who untied your master’s sandals, you were the scum of the scum of the scum. Dirty feet.

Old quotes from Hebrew sources. “A Hebrew slave must not wash the feet of his master, nor put his shoes on him.” That’s beneath the dignity of a Hebrew slave. Another one, “All services which a slave does for his master, a pupil should do for his teacher, with the exception of undoing his shoes.”

John says, “I’m below the people who do that. I’m not even up to the level of those who would untie His shoes. That’s how low I am.”

Well, that’s the picture, but what’s the reality? Verse 8. Why am I so different? Why are we so infinitely separated? “Because I baptize you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

“All I can do is stick you in the water; He can transform you on the inside.” This refers to the soul-transforming work of salvation, being born of the water and the Spirit. This is not some Pentecostal second baptism; this is the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit of Titus 3. This is the new covenant: purification, cleansing, transformation, regeneration, new birth.

John says, “I can’t do that. Only God gives the Holy Spirit. So, the new King, He will give you the Holy Spirit.” With the Holy Spirit comes salvation, sanctification, service.

So, Mark begins the language – with the language of good news. Good news means there’s a new King who is God Himself, bringing a new kingdom. It’s a kingdom of forgiveness, blessing. It comes to those who repent. It’s the culmination of all past redemptive history and the door to all future glory. The herald has come to announce His arrival. And the rest is His story, which he picks up in verse 9.

Jesus Himself as a man wrote no book, not even His own history. There is no autobiography. But the Spirit of God selected four men to write histories of the life of Jesus, His work, His death, and His resurrection. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Since the Holy Spirit inspired each writer, each of the gospels is without error. It is God-breathed. To borrow the language of Paul, or in Peter’s words, 2 Peter 1:20 and 21, no Scripture has come by any human origination, but “holy men were moved by the Spirit of God,” and thus they wrote.

So we’re not surprised then that though Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote their histories independently of each other at different times and in different places, the four are in perfect harmony because the divine author, the Holy Spirit, superintended each writer.

But here you have in these four gospels, as they are called, historical accounts that are perfectly compatible; the story of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God as Mark puts it, from four perspectives. Now, this is Mark’s history. And it is unique from the others, and we’ll see its uniqueness a little bit this morning, and a lot as we go through.

By the time the gospels were written, there were already other New Testament books in existence. The book of James, from which I read this morning was already in existence. The book of Galatians had already been written by the apostle Paul. They were the two earliest New Testament books and they were written before any of the gospels was written. There certainly is reason for that in one sense. The people needed direction as given in Galatians, so that they could be protected from the false gospel that the Judaizers were preaching. The suffering persecuted believers needed comfort and encouragement, and that’s why the book of James was written.

But it wasn’t as crucial early on that the gospels were written because eyewitnesses who had been with Christ and seen Christ and heard Christ were still alive. And so there were plenty of folks who could give testimony to the story of Jesus Christ. The last apostle, John, died after 90 A.D. The gospels then begin to appear about midway through that first century. The first one that was written was Matthew. The next one that was written was Mark. And then came Luke. And about 30 years later, around 90 A.D., the gospel of John.

But before the gospels were written, there were many eyewitness accounts, there were many living eyewitnesses of the life of Christ. And there were some written fragments that Luke refers to in Luke chapter 1 verses 1 and 2. So those written testimonies to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, as well as the verbal story of eyewitnesses, constituted the source of the truth about Christ before the gospels were written. By the middle of the first century, the eyewitnesses begin to die off. And it is really imperative that the record be written down. And so the Holy Spirit selects the men to do that, Matthew, then Mark, then Luke and then John.

After the four gospels were written, no other writings about Jesus Christ were ever accepted by the believers as authoritative and inspired Scripture. It is these four gospels and no more. The uersal affirmation of the early church was that these were the true gospels. Yes, later on spurious gospels appeared with false identification, like the gospel of Peter, the gospel of Thomas, etc., etc. They were Gnostic, anti-God, Satanic forgeries intended to confuse people and undermine the truth.

But the uersal testimony of the church was that these are the four gospels. They have withstood the scrutiny of scholastic effort through the two thousand years since they were written. Their harmony is magnificent. It is unequivocal. It is true that they had one single divine author because they are in perfect harmony with each other. Somewhere between 50 and 60, Matthew writes. Somewhere around 60, 61, Luke writes. In 90 John writes. And you can slip Mark in there between Matthew and Luke, perhaps in the late 50s.

You would think then that Mark being the second gospel written would be viewed as elevated in its rank. But it always ends up last. And I’m living testimony to that fact. But I started with – with John and then I did Matthew, and then I did Luke, and finally I get around to Mark. Why? Because Mark does not contain the discourses and the theology that the other gospels contain. John is the great Christological masterpiece that presents the person of Christ as evidenced by His claims and His miracles.

Matthew and Luke are replete with discourses in which we get the instruction of Christ. Mark doesn’t have those great discourses anywhere near to the degree that the other gospels do. In fact, there are only two chapters in Mark that are really discourse chapters – would be chapter 4 in which Mark gives us the parables of Jesus, and chapter 13 which is Mark’s presentation of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus teaching on His Second Coming. Here and there scattered through Mark there are some segments of teaching, of course, but it is primarily an action gospel.

And it is kind of a newspaper edition. It is fast paced, the Word immediately appears over 40 times, it moves, it moves, it moves, it moves. It’s an action gospel. In the ancient world, most of the people were illiterate, particularly in the Roman world. And this gospel of Mark was written by Mark in Rome to Roman Christians. So they were, for the most part, illiterate; it, therefore, had to be read to them. It is like a fast-paced story that can be grasped and it can hold your interest when it is read. It does have some charm that is different than the others, as we will see.

But let’s get to know the author. If you look at the first verse, you will not find his name. But then again, no author of any of the four gospels identifies himself as the author. While the story of Matthew’s conversion and Matthew’s inclusion among the apostles appears in Matthew, Matthew never says he’s the author. Luke never appears in his gospel at all, nor does he claim to be the author of it.

John, while appearing in his gospel necessarily because he’s an intimate apostle of Christ, never refers to himself as John, but always by some other descriptive, like “the one whom Jesus loved.” So we don’t have these gospels beginning with a claim to authorship. It is clearly an indication of the fact that these authors wanted to give all the glory to Christ. They wanted the story to be about Him and they hid themselves, as it were, behind the history of the One who should receive the preeminence.

However, we still know unequivocally that Mark wrote this, that Matthew wrote his, that Luke wrote his, and that John wrote his. That is the uersal testimony of the early church going all the way back to the first century. But let’s meet the author. Since he doesn’t appear in Mark and he doesn’t appear in Matthew, or Luke or John, we have to find he first place where he shows up and that’s in the book of Acts, Acts 12. Let’s go to Acts 12, get to know Mark.

Now when you come to the twelfth chapter of Acts, just to give you a little bit of historical settings so you know where we are. You’re at a point of very significant transition. The gospels end with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ brings the story of Christ on earth to an end. The book of Acts then, which picks up the history and is written by Luke, begins with Jesus spending 40 days after His resurrection, teaching His disciples things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, getting them ready to fulfill the commission that comes in chapter 1 verse 8, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, you’ll be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.”

So He equips them for world ministry, if you will, by 40 days of teaching things concerning the Kingdom of God. And then the Spirit of God comes. The Spirit comes upon them, empowers them for that ministry and the gospel is launched. In the first twelve chapters, the story is told of the gospel in Judea and Samaria. Starting in chapter 13, it’s the gospel in the uttermost part of the earth. In the first twelve chapters, the gospel in Judea and Samaria, the primary preacher, the dominant preacher is Peter.

In the second half, the gospel “to the uttermost part of the earth,” the dominant preacher is Paul. So the book of Acts splits into the first half being Peter, the second half being Paul. The first half, Judea/Samaria, the second half the uttermost part of the earth, fulfilling the mandate of chapter 1 of verse 8. So when we come to chapter 12, we are at the end of the ministry of the apostle Peter. Peter has dominated the apostolic preaching of the gospel, and dominated the growth of the church in Judea and Samaria.

And he is about to fade and the apostle Paul is to ascend to the stage or the expansion of the gospel to the uttermost part of the earth. The first half of the book of Acts is closing as we come to verse 1, chapter 12. “Now about that time.” What time? Well if you go back, go back to verse 27.

Some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. You always go down from Jerusalem, even if you go north, because Jerusalem is elevated. They went down from Jerusalem and then headed north to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. This took place in the reign of Claudius Caesar in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.

What we learn here is that there is a famine coming, prophesied by the inspiration of God, and there’s going to be a need to relieve the distress of the believers in Jerusalem because of the famine. So the church at Antioch, the believers at Antioch, the brethren, disciples at Antioch determined to collect a contribution and to send it to Jerusalem to be distributed to the believers there who would be in the famine. And they did it, verse 30, and they sent it in charge of Barnabas and Saul, or Paul, to the elders of the Jerusalem church.

So that’s the time it is. It’s the time of famine and the time of the gifting coming from the Antioch church by the hands of Barnabas and Saul to the elders at the church of Jerusalem. At that time, Herod – this would be Herod Agrippa I. He was educated in Rome. He cultivated favor with the Jews. He was a politician’s politician. He didn’t really like the Jews but he knew it was to his advantage if he was to be wealthy and prosperous and powerful, to court their favor.

So you have that very statement made, verse 3, “When he saw that it pleased the Jews.” That’s what drove Herod. He was not a Jew, he was an Idumaean, but he was kind of a petty king in that part of the world. And he prospered much better if he pleased the Jews. And so that’s what he did. And knowing what pleased the Jews, verse 1, “He laid hands on some who belong to the church in order to mistreat them.” He launches a persecution against the church. The church now is resented. It is hated by the Jews, as you well know.

And so Herod launches a persecution, verse 2. He had James, the brother of John, one of the apostles, put to death with a sword. This is the first apostle martyred. Stephen, not an apostle, has been martyred. This is the first of the apostles to be martyred, none other than James, the brother of John. And when he saw that pleased the Jews. which predominantly refers to the Jewish leaders and all who were under their influence, he proceeded then to arrest Peter. If they liked the death of one apostle, let’s kill another one. So he arrests Peter.

It was during the days of unleavened bread, which meant the city was full of pilgrims, seized him, put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him. What does that mean? It simply means twenty-four hours a day each of those squads had a six-hour turn, and so for 24 hours they guarded him. They had him chained as well.

Did they think he could somehow manipulate the chains? No, but they were well aware of his power and influence in the growing church which is numbering in the thousands and thousands and thousands by now, if not the tens of thousands. And they knew that there could be some who would come and release him. And so they put him in the care of soldiers twenty-four hours a day, not just inside a cell, not just chained but guarded, intending to wait till the Passover was over to minimize the trauma to the people and then bring him out and bring about his death.

So Peter was kept in prison, verse 5. But prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. So the church is praying. That’s their strategy, not to break into the prison and get him out, but to pray. The very night that Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping. This would be the last time that this could happen because the next day he would be brought out and executed like James was. He’s sleeping between two soldiers. How close are they guarding him! They’ve got him sleeping between two of them and he is bound with two chains; guards in front of the door watching over the prison.

“And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell, struck Peter’s side, woke him up, said, ‘Get up quickly,’ his chains fell off his hands. The angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself, put on your sandals. Get your inner tunic, get your sash, tie it up, put on your sandals.’ And he did so and he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak, that’s your outer garment, around you and follow me.’ He went out, continued to follow, didn’t know that what was being done by the angel was real but thought he was seeing a vision.”

He had had a vision back in chapter 10. So he knew that – that a vision could happen and he wasn’t sure. I mean, it’s in the middle of the night and he’s not sure exactly what’s going on. “And they passed the first and second guard. They came to the iron gate that leads into the city which opened for them by itself. They went out, went along one street.

Immediately the angel departed from him. The angel took him where he needed to go. Now he’s in the street alone. Came to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for sure the Lord has sent forth His angel, rescued me from the hand of Herod, from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’” So this affirms again that Herod was trying to please the Jews and the Jews were expecting to do away with Peter.

“When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark.” Here’s the first time we meet John Mark. John was a Jewish name, Mark was a Gentile name. Now it doesn’t tell us anything about him. It just says Peter went to the house of Mary. The fact that the house is identified with a woman rather than a man, probably means it’s a widow.

So here’s a widow with a name that just about every other woman in the New Testament gospel account has, Mary. So in order to distinguish this Mary from all the other Marys, it is the Mary who is the mother of John, who is also called Mark. That’s the only reason his name is even mentioned here. At this point, he’s a nondescript guy. He’s only a way to identify his mother. Peter went to this house because no doubt the church met in this house, which meant that Peter had probably many times been to that house. Nobody needed to take him there which meant that Peter knew John Mark and John Mark knew Peter, though John Mark was very young.

The year the best we can discern is 44, 14 years after the death of Christ. Peter’s been powerful preacher of the gospel since the Day of Pentecost for those 14 years, essentially. So he’s well known. And he goes to a familiar place, meets with a dear widow who is the mother of John Mark. People are in her house praying. He knocks on the door, servant girl named Rhoda comes to the door to answer.

She recognizes Peter’s voice and she’s so joyful, she doesn’t even open the gate. She just turns around, ran in, announced, “Peter is standing in front of the gate.” And they said to her, “You are out of your mind.” Great faith, huh? Let’s have a prayer meeting but let’s not believe it could ever happen. She kept insisting, “It is so, it is so.” And they kept saying, “Nah, it’s his angel.” That’s probably sarcasm.

Peter continues knocking. “When they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had let him out of the prison and he said, ‘Report these things to James.’” This is not James the brother of John. He’s been martyred. This is James the half-brother of our Lord who is the author of the epistle of James and was the leader of the Jerusalem church. So Peter says, “Tell James” – because he’s the leader of the church – “and the brethren. He left and went to another place.”

So here, for the first time, we meet John Mark, incidentally. And the first time we meet him, he has a connection to Peter, even if it’s a very loose connection. But we know he knows Peter. We know Peter’s been to his house because he went there, a familiar place. And that plays out very importantly in the future of his life.

James, as I said, the brother of John, had been already martyred. This James, our Lord’s half-brother, was also martyred. Tradition says 62 A.D. they threw him off the pinnacle of the temple and he was smashed on the ground below. And they took clubs and beat any remaining life out of him.

Why do I tell you this story? Because it is the first mention of John Mark. No writer of any gospel gives us his name, so this is where we meet him. And we meet him in connection with Peter. File that in your mind. It tells – tells us nothing about him, character, nothing. We just know his name. Now, let’s follow history a little bit. Go to the end of chapter 12. Barnabas and Saul have come from Antioch, right? They’ve come with a gift to – to bring relief to the Jews, to the believers in Judea, Jerusalem because of the famine. They deliver their relief and then they go back to Antioch.

Remember now, Saul is in the church in Antioch. He’s returning with Barnabas. They serve as pastors of the church at Antioch. So they were sent with the gifts. They go back. However, “Barnabas and Saul return from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission to bring the gift, taking along with them John who is also called Mark.”

Well this is very interesting. They return to Antioch to their responsibility and the only person they take with them is this young man named John Mark. This is a first indication of his usefulness, the first indication of his character. Was he a preacher? No. Was he a pastor? No. An evangelist? No. Was he an apostle? No. Was he a prophet? No. Was he a leader? No. He was none of those things. He is really a nondescript guy.

You say, “Well why out of all the options would they take him?” Colossians 4:10 says that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, the cousin of Barnabas. So Barnabas knew him, trusted him, knew something about his talents and his gifts and suggested to Paul to – to bring him along because he could help them not only in the journey but he could help them in the ministry in Antioch. And, by the way, Barnabas was a Levite, and if you were a Levite, you served the priests in the temple. All the way through Jewish history, those from Levi who made up the Levites, served in the temple and assisted the priests. Barnabas was a Levite.

If this man is his cousin, then perhaps he too was in the Levitical family descent. Therefore, he had perhaps served in the temple, was used to serving, had experience in temple service and temple worship, and had the attitude of one who serves. John Mark then goes back to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. He remained there. He stayed there. He was faithful there until Paul and Barnabas were ready to leave.

You remember the story. Look at chapter 13 verse 1. “Now there were in Antioch in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen and Saul.” Please notice Mark’s name isn’t there, he wasn’t a pastor, he wasn’t a teacher. And they were ministering to the Lord and they were fasting and the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart from me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I’ve called them. They fasted and prayed. Laid hands on them. Sent them away.” That’s the first missionary journey.

Now Paul and Barnabas go on the first missionary journey to the world. They go down to Seleucia, verse 4, sail to Cyprus. “When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews and they also had” – guess who? – “John Mark as their” – What? – “helper.” That’s the operative word to understand this man. He is a helper.

He had proven to be helpful to them in the time that they had used him in Antioch. I don’t know – we don’t know exactly how much time had gone on, but he had proved to be so helpful to them there that they decided to take him with them on the first missionary journey. That, by the way, friends, is the only description of him that tells us anything about the kind of ministry that he had. He was a helper. So they took him along. It wasn’t easy. Tough ministry.

They ran into Elymas, the magician in verse 8, who was opposing them. It was tough. He was identified as one full of deceit, son of the devil, verse 10, “enemy of righteousness.” And there was a miraculous handling of him in verse 11. So, right from the very beginning, it was tough going, tough travel and opposition. Come down to verse 13. “Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos. Came to Perga in Pamphylia. John left them, returned to Jerusalem.”

This is a sad moment. A deserter, he left them. He disappeared. He disappears from the New Testament record, by the way, for a few years. He left. And he didn’t go back to Antioch. That wouldn’t sit well with the Antiochian church had sent him out trusting he would serve the two preachers. So he went to Jerusalem. He disappears for a few years. The next time he’s on the scene is in chapter 15. Turn to chapter 15 verse 36. A few years have passed. John Mark hasn’t been an issue because he’s not around. But Paul has not forgotten his defection, his desertion, his cowardiceness – his cowardice, I should say, his weakness.

They have a conversation in verse 36. They have come back from the first journey. They’ve given the full report of what God did on their first missionary journey. Time has gone by. Paul finally says to Barnabas after some time has passed, “Let’s return, visit the brethren in every city.” Let’s go on the second missionary journey, go back to the places where we founded the church, planted the church, proclaimed the Word of the Lord and see how they are doing.

Barnabas wanted to take John called Mark along with them also. But Paul kept insisting, which means Barnabas kept insisting. They both kept insisting. “Barnabas said I want to take John Mark. I want to take John Mark. Paul kept insisting I’m not taking John Mark. I am not taking John Mark. He insisted that “they should not take him along who had” – and here’s the operative word – “deserted.” That’s the only way to define what had happened.

There’s no reason given for his leaving in chapter 13. There’s no rhyme or reason for it in that context, but here we learn he was a deserter. He deserted them in Pamphylia and hadn’t gone with them to the work. The discussion got so heated, it became what verse 39 calls “a sharp disagreement,” so sharp that not only did John Mark’s cowardice cause him to have a relationship severed with Paul, but it caused Paul to have a severed relationship with his companion Barnabas.

So Barnabas took Mark with him and went on a trip to Cyprus where he was from, to – to proclaim the gospel there. Paul chose Silas to take Barnabas’ place and “traveled through” – verse 41 says – “Syria and Seleucia, strengthening the churches.” Paul’s refusal to take John Mark was legitimate. He didn’t trust him. He had showed he lacked courage, strength, commitment. He was a defector. He was a deserter. Barnabas, by the way, takes John Mark and Barnabas disappears for two years in the history. We don’t know where he is for two years. John Mark disappears for ten years, ten years.

Ten years later he shows up again. Turn to Colossians 4. His name shows up in a letter written from Paul to the church at Colossae. By the way, Paul is in Rome when he writes this letter. When he was in Rome the first time as a prisoner – and he had two imprisonments. The first time and then he was released, and then he had ministry and then he was imprisoned again in Rome a second time and he was martyred. This is the first imprisonment. He is in his first imprisonment in Rome and he writes three letters; Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.

Chapter 4 verse 10, “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner.” He’s a prisoner in Rome. From prison he writes these letters, including this one. “Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner” – another believer in prison – “sends you his greeting and also Barnabas’ cousin Mark,” Wow! Ten years later Paul’s a prisoner in Rome and guess who’s his companion? The defector, Mark. “about whom you received instruction, if he comes to you, welcome him.” Something dramatic has taken place. Something dramatic. In his letter to Philemon, verse 23, at the end of that letter, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you as do Mark and Luke,” and some others.

Here we are ten years later. Paul is in Rome. Mark is in Rome with Paul again. And Paul says, “I’m sending Mark on my behalf. When he gets there, welcome him.” He’s back in the good graces of Paul. How long did that relationship last? Turn to 2 Timothy. Second Timothy, Paul wrote from his second imprisonment some years later. It’s – it’s his last letter, 66, 67 A.D. Twenty-two, twenty-three years since the incident of Peter’s release from prison.

This is the end for him. He says, “I’m ready to be offered. Time of my departure is at hand.” He’s going to have his head chopped off, and he did. But he has this last letter to Timothy. Verse 9, says to Timothy, “Make every effort to come to me soon. Come, I want your fellowship, Timothy.” Why? “Demas, having loved this present world has deserted me.” He had another deserter, Demas. Gone to Thessalonica; Crescens, he’s gone to Galatia; Titus, he’s gone to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Then he tells Timothy, do this, “Pick up” – Whom? – “Mark, bring him with you for he is useful to me for ministry.”

From the time of his first imprisonment, he had Mark at his side. A few years later in his second imprisonment on the brink of his death, he wanted Mark with him. So I say to you, this is the story of the restored deserter. What kind of privilege is that, folks? What kind of privilege is that? For a guy who’s not an apostle, not a prophet, not a pastor, not a teacher, not an evangelist, not a leader, just a helper, to be given the privilege of serving alongside the apostle Paul, defecting from that privilege and being restored years later to become so intimately associated with Paul, so loved by Paul, so trusted by Paul that Paul would send him to the Colossian church on his own behalf. And that when Paul is facing death at the end of his life, the one person he asks to come in addition to Timothy is bring Mark.

You’re not surprised by that, are you? That the Lord would use people like that? Those are the only kind of people there are, recovering sinners, restored deserters, recovered defectors. Now. that part of the story is interesting, isn’t it? His relationship to Paul is monumental. Can’t imagine a simple, humble helper being an intimate friend and companion of the great apostle Paul. But his relationship to another apostle is far more significant. That other apostle is Peter. Certainly it would be the privilege of all privileges for a failure, defector, deserter, rejected by Paul to be restored in grace to become the helper and friend of that marvelous man. How could he expect that kind of honor?

But he had even more than that. He became the companion and confidant of Peter. If Paul was the greatest apostle in terms of the volume of things that he wrote. Peter was Christ’s most intimate friend. What kind of privilege would it be to spend years alongside Paul and years alongside Peter? Did he know Peter? Sure he knew Peter. Peter had come to his house many times in the years of the early church. Had he heard Peter preach? Absolutely he heard Peter preach.

But it wasn’t the early acquaintance with Peter that was so significant, it was the later acquaintance with Peter. Remember those ten years when John Mark disappears? Part of the time he was with Peter. You remember when he left, he went back to Jerusalem? He didn’t stay in Jerusalem. Peter took him somewhere. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 5 and I’ll tell you where. First Peter chapter 5, Peter writes his letter that we know as 1 Peter, his first general epistle, and he is in Rome when he wrote this letter, Peter is. He is in Rome.

He is writing in Rome to the Roman believers and others beyond. He makes reference to Rome in chapter 5 verse 13. “She” – meaning the church – “who is in Babylon.” That’s a code word for Rome. And the reason he uses a code word is because persecution has begun to break out, severe deadly persecution. And so in a cryptic way he substitutes Babylon for Rome so as not to exacerbate the persecution. “She” – the church – “chosen together with you who is in Babylon,” – or Rome – “sends you greetings.” The greetings extend from the church in Rome to the other churches that will read the letter. “And so does my son, Mark.” My son, Mark?

Oh, not his physical son, but his spiritual son. No doubt Mark had come to Christ listening to Peter preach way back when he was young. No doubt Peter was the first great impactful spiritual influence on his young life. Peter was responsible for his conversion. There is consistent historical testimony that goes all the way back to the first century that after Paul left his first imprisonment in Rome, after he had been there with Mark, after he had written Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon, he left Rome, was let out of prison, came back at a later time.

But in the middle period of time, Peter went to Rome. Peter went to Rome. The consistent historical testimony is that Peter spent at least a year there, maybe more than a year. and he was in Rome and he was preaching constantly the gospel day after day after day after day. He died in Rome as a martyr in the summer or the autumn of the year 64 A.D., right at the time Nero burned the city and blamed the Christians and launched the persecution. And while Peter was there, he sends greetings and he says, “So does my son, Mark.” Mark was with Peter in Rome.

Can you imagine being the companion of the apostle Paul? That would – that would be enough. But then to be the companion of Peter? And he was, just an astonishing privilege. He wrote it from Rome. And he was in Rome with Peter. You say, “Why is that important? Why does that matter?” Because Mark’s gospel is the product of Peter’s eyewitness testimony. The source for Mark from a human viewpoint is Peter.

His gospel is based on Peter’s eyewitness accounts of the life of the Lord Jesus, which Peter rehearsed day after day after day after day, as he went out into the streets and the buildings of Rome and preached the gospel with Mark at his side. And, believe me, Mark had heard it before that, going all the way back to his childhood.

This is Peter’s account through John Mark, not an apostle, not a prophet, not a pastor, not a leader, not a teacher, just a helper. He is given this immense incredible privilege of writing what he calls the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who controlled all the information that had come to him through Peter, he wrote this gospel.

Matthew, a former tax collector; Luke, a Gentile; John, a brash son of thunder, and Mark, a defector. And you ask, “Why did the Lord choose those people?” Because those are the only kind of people there are. Sinful, unqualified people, forgiven sinners to choose from. You say, “But are we sure John Mark is the author since his name isn’t in the gospel?” Uersal church testimony going back to the first century, at the top of each gospel on the original manuscript it says Kata Mattaion, Kata Markon, Kata Lotkan, Kata Johannen; according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, according to John. The title “according to” goes way back before the early church fathers. It was unequivocally affirmed, never disputed, never debated.

And the ancient writers actually say that Mark wrote from material he heard from Peter. In fact, the testimony goes on. It’s wonderful testimony. Somebody like Polycarp – Polycarp, one of the early church fathers who knew John, had a student by the name of Papias who wrote, “Mark, who was an interpreter of Peter, wrote with exactness.” You have Justin, lives from 100 to 150, in his famous Dialogue with Trypho, speaks of the memoirs of Peter being the gospel of Mark. He says Mark wrote in Rome after Peter’s death. You have Irenaeus around 200, you have Origen around 230, Clement, the year 300, Eusebius, 362, they all say the same thing.

Here’s a quote from Eusebius, “So great a light of religion shone upon the minds of the hearers of Peter that they were not satisfied with a single hearing or with the unwritten teaching of the divine proclamation, but with all kinds of entreaties urged Mark, whose gospel is extent, seeing that he was a follower of Peter to leave them in writing a record of the teaching transmitted to them orally. Nor did they cease until they had prevailed upon the man and so they became responsible humanly for the Scripture that is called The Gospel According to Mark.”

They prevailed upon Mark to write it down. This is the true authentic work of John Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, protected, controlled to be inerrant revelation concerning the life, ministry, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it’s only the beginning of the story, only the beginning, and that’s how it starts, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. The ending hasn’t been written yet. This is just the very, very beginning. And, in fact, it ends in a very strange way.

The legitimate ending is in chapter 16 verse 8. That’s where it really stops. And to show you how much a beginning without an end it is, here is the last verse of Mark. Just listen. “They went out, fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them, they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.” End. In fact, that is such a strange ending that a false ending was added later, which you’ll see in brackets in your Bible. It doesn’t appear in the early manuscripts. But that’s so consistent with Mark.

This is the beginning, this is not the end, the story has no end. If you want the rest of the story, go to the book of Acts. It was written from Rome to Roman Christians. It is the memoirs of Peter. We know it was written to Gentiles because of its Gentile character. Jewish material is always explained because the Gentiles didn’t understand it. We’ll see that as we go through. There is no genealogy because Gentiles didn’t care about a Jewish genealogy. There are Latinisms all through Mark because the Romans spoke Latin.

Whenever there’s an Aramaic term, it is explained because they wouldn’t know it, they don’t speak Aramaic. When they refer to time, chapter 6 verse 48, chapter 13 verse 35, it’s Roman time. The style of Mark is fast paced like a sprint; no introduction, no conclusion. It’s just the beginning. The content focuses on action, very few teaching sections. Chapter 4, chapter 13, a few teaching spots scattered around here and there, but mostly it’s action intended to be read aloud, experienced by the hearers.

The theme is Jesus Christ the Son of God. The structure, real simple. There’s a midpoint in the book. Sixteen chapters, go to the middle, chapter 8 verse 29 and right in the middle of the book you hear this confession from Peter, “You are the Christ.” That is the pinnacle confession of the book. Everything in the front leads up to it. Everything in the back goes from it. The front half proves Jesus is the Christ by His deeds and words. The second half proves Jesus is the Christ by His death and resurrection. But everything moves to that pinnacle that He is the Christ. The goal of the book is for you to confess that Jesus is the Christ.

It has the same objective as John, who writes in John 20:31, “These things are written that you may believe and believing have life in His name.” It’s an evangelistic book. The first half is filled with confusion, the people are confused. In fact, the only people who aren’t confused about Jesus in the first half of Mark are the demons. In the second half, it’s not confusion, it’s hostility. But the pinnacle is the confession of Peter. And isn’t it what you’d expect from one who was a disciple of Peter, one who drew his gospel from Peter.

He would make Peter’s confession which Peter must have given every day that he was with Mark when he preached. He must have said, “I believe He is the Christ, I’ll tell you the story. One day we were here and Jesus said, ‘Who do men say I am?’ And we said, ‘You’re Jeremiah one of the prophets.’ And then all of a sudden out of nowhere, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ That’s what I said, that’s what I believe.” That’s the pinnacle of Peter’s testimony and that’s the pinnacle of the gospel of Mark. And it’s to bring all of us to that conviction.

What a privilege for this helper, the most unlikely of people. In fact, if I redo Twelve Ordinary Men, I’ll change it to Thirteen Ordinary Men, throw Mark in there as an Appendix, a very ordinary man. And God gave him privilege beyond calculation to be an intimate companion of Paul, an intimate companion of Peter, helping both of them. But beyond that, giving him the privilege to write one of four inspired gospels. Don’t underestimate what God is able to do with helpers.

Father, we thank You for this wonderful testimony to Your grace that’s bound up in the heart of this man in his life. We’re – we’re thrilled to be his students now, as we embark upon the story as he told it and as You directed him. We’re just so blessed, Lord, so blessed to have another opportunity to look at the life of Christ, to be caught up in the glory of His person, His work, His words, His ways, to walk with Him through the world, to see His life from another angle. What a privilege.

Christ is all and all to us, He is everything to us. He is our life. We thank You that we see in this juxtaposition between the all-glorious Christ and Mark, a distinction that is part of our own lives. Here is a gospel written about the sinless Son of God by a sinful man, written about the almighty courageous strong Son of God by a cowardly, weak man. Here is the story of a sinless one written by a sinner. Here is the story of perfect righteousness written by a man in desperate need of grace.

(Available online at: www.gty.org/sermons/41-1/mark-the-restored-deserter© Grace to You. All rights reserved. You may reproduce this Grace to You content for non- commercial  purposes in accordance with Grace to You’s Copyright Policy.

The drama of Mark’s Gospel peaks in Caesarea Philippi.

It’s a religious mecca. Every major religion can be found here. Temples dot the landscape. Priests stride the streets.

Jesus and his followers are here? Why? If Jesus preached a sermon, it’s not recorded. If he performed a miracle, we don’t know it. As far as we know, all he did was ask two questions.

The first, “Who do people say that I am?”

The disciples are quick to respond. They’ve overheard the chatter. “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah, and others say you are one of the prophets.”

Good answers. True answers. But wrong answers.

Jesus then turns and asks them the question. The question. “But who do you say that I am?”

He doesn’t ask, “What do you think about what I’ve done.” He asks, “Who do you say that I am.”

He doesn’t ask, “Who did you think I was when the crowds were great and the miracles were many?” He asks, “Who do you think I am. Here against the backdrop of religion. Me, a penniless itinerant surrounded by affluent temples. Who do you say I am?”

He doesn’t ask, “Who do your friends think … Who do your parents think … Who do your peers think.” He poses instead a starkly personal query, “Who do you think I am?”

The disciples aren’t as quick to respond. One ducks his eyes. Another shuffles his feet. A third clears his throat. But Peter lifts his head. He lifts his head and looks at the Nazarene and speaks the words heaven has longed to hear. “You are the Christ.”

You have been asked some important questions in your life: Will you marry me? Would you be interested in a transfer? What would you think if I told you I was pregnant?

You’ve been asked some important questions. But the grandest of them is an anthill compared to the Everest found in the eighth chapter of Mark. Who do you say that I am?^[1]

ACTION—moving, doing, helping, getting going, making things happen. Some people think, some talk, but a few get involved; not content to observe from the sidelines, they get into the game—they get into life! This describes Mark and his father in the faith, Peter. And it’s the picture of Jesus that Mark presents in this Gospel.

The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four records of Jesus’ life, and it covers only three and a half years. On the first page, Mark jumps into the action, with John the Baptist’s fiery preaching and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Then, moving swiftly through Jesus’ baptism, temptation in the desert, and call of the disciples, Mark focuses his attention on Jesus’ public ministry. He is interested in Christ’s works, not just his words. In fact, Mark records eighteen of Jesus’ miracles and only four of his parables.

Although Mark presents events in chronological order, he gives little or no historical linkage between the events. And to keep things moving and heighten the sense of action, Mark continually uses the phrase “straightway” () or “immediately.” Readers feel, “Jesus is on the move; we’d better stay alert, or we’ll miss something!”

Writing to a Roman audience, Mark does not have to recite Jesus’ genealogy or refer to Old Testament prophecies that have been fulfilled. Gentiles don’t need a Jewish history lesson; they need a clear picture of Christ. And the Romans believe in power and action. So Mark makes sure they have a no-nonsense, concise, action-packed summary. Mark pictures Jesus as powerful—giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, calming stormy seas, restoring deformed bodies. But he shows Jesus using this mighty power to help others, taking the form of a servant, not a king. Mark weaves the servant theme throughout his book and presents the servant Jesus as an example to follow: “and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:44–45 ).

The Gospel of Mark is a short, action-packed account, bustling with life and focused on Christ’s purpose. As you study Mark, be ready for fast-paced, nonstop action, be open for God’s move into your life, and be challenged to move into your world to serve.^[2]

AUTHOR

Mark (John Mark): cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10) and close friend of Peter (1 Peter 5:13)

The book of Mark names no one as author. Since the second century a.d., however, church leaders and scholars have accepted John Mark as the one who wrote this Gospel. (John is his Jewish name and Mark, Marcus, his Roman name.) The early church fathers unanimously accepted Mark’s authorship. Papias (a.d. 110) makes the earliest statement to this effect:

• Mark, who was the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately all that he remembered, whether of sayings or doings of Christ, but not in order. For he was neither a hearer nor a companion of the Lord; but afterwards, as I have said, he accompanied Peter, who adapted his instruction as necessity required, not as though he were making a compilation of the Lord’s oracles. So then Mark made no mistake when he wrote down thus some things as he remembered them, for he concentrated on this alone—not to omit anything that he had heard, nor to include any false statement among them. (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III, p. 39)

Other church fathers, including Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Eusebius, confirm this assessment of Mark as the author.

Mark was young, perhaps in his teens, at the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Evidently his mother, Mary, was a well-to-do widow who had come to faith in Christ. Many surmise that Mary’s house was the site of the Last Supper (14:12–26) and the home where the disciples gathered at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4); some believe that Mark was the young man who ran away naked when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (14:51–52). Regardless of the truth of these speculations, Scripture clearly states that fourteen years after the tumultuous events leading to the Crucifixion, in about a.d. 44, the church gathered at Mary’s house to pray. King Herod had begun to persecute believers; he had executed James, the brother of John, and was holding Peter in prison. The church was praying for Peter’s release. Luke explains that after Peter had been miraculously released from prison, “he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark” (Acts 12:12 ). Mark was deeply involved in the drama of the Jerusalem church and was well-known to Peter and the other disciples.

In Colossians 4:10, Paul reveals that Mark is the cousin of Barnabas. Perhaps that is what motivated Barnabas and Paul to take Mark with them back to Antioch from Jerusalem (Acts 12:25). Soon thereafter, Barnabas and Paul were commissioned by the church in Antioch to begin their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1–3), and they included Mark as their helper (Acts 13:5). Early in the trip, however, at Perga, Mark abruptly left and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Luke gives no reason for Mark’s departure (perhaps he was homesick, fearful, or ill). Later, however, when Paul and Barnabas began to plan the second journey, Mark became the cause of a sharp disagreement between the two men. Barnabas wanted to include Mark again, but Paul was strongly opposed because Mark had “deserted” them on the previous trip. So Barnabas and Paul parted company. Barnabas sailed to Cyprus with Mark, while Paul chose Silas and traveled to Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:36–41).

We know little else about John Mark. Evidently, he and Paul reconciled completely because later he joined Paul in Rome, during Paul’s first imprisonment (a.d. 60–62) and was a comfort to him there (Colossians 4:10–11; Philemon 24). During Paul’s second imprisonment and just before his death, he asked Timothy to bring Mark to Rome, “because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11 ). Mark must have matured emotionally and spiritually through the years and under the mentoring of cousin Barnabas.

Mark also enjoyed a very close relationship with Peter. In fact, Peter may have led Mark to Christ because he calls Mark “my son” (1 Peter 5:13). After Paul’s release from prison in a.d. 62, Mark may have stayed in Rome (also called “Babylon”—1 Peter 5:13) to work closely with Peter. Mark probably left Rome in about a.d. 65 or 66, during Nero’s intense persecution. Both Paul and Peter were executed by Nero in about a.d. 67 or 68. According to tradition, Mark died soon after.

John Mark provides a sterling example of how a young Christian can grow and mature. Perhaps basking in the attention of the spiritual giants Paul and Barnabas, and excited by the prospect of reaching the world with the gospel, he had sailed to Cyprus on the first missionary journey. A short time later, however, when the going got tough, Mark returned home. Whatever Mark’s reason for leaving, Paul didn’t approve; in fact, he wanted nothing to do with Mark after the incident. Yet fifteen years later, Mark was serving as a ministry companion to both Peter and Paul, and later he wrote the Gospel bearing his name. Little is known about Mark during those years, except that Barnabas took personal interest in him, encouraging Mark by continuing to work with him in ministry.

Do you know any “Marks”—young, Christian diamonds in the rough? What can you do to be their “Barnabas”?

 Four scenes from his life emerge from the sacred records.

Scene I: He appears in Acts 12:12 as the son, perhaps the only son, of Barnabas’ sister Mary, whose commodious house was a gathering place for the church in Jerusalem. To this place Peter went to greet the assembled Christians who were praying when he was released from prison by an angel. The size of the house with a courtyard and gate, together with the appearance of a servant girl named Rhoda, indicates the wealth and influence of the home. If the young man (Mark 14:51) who fled leaving his linen garment behind was Mark (the same being most probable), his type of clothing would also fit in with the affluence suggested by the residence. All in all, the scene is one of honor, influence, tranquillity, and faith, Barnabas being one of the most distinguished leaders in the early church.

Scene II: Desertion from the mission field. Mark accompanied Barnabas and Saul on the first missionary journey and shared in the successful advocacy of the gospel throughout Cyprus (Acts 12:25), but he abruptly quit the mission at Perga in Pamphylia (Acts 13:13; 15:38). There is no way to tell if: (a) he was merely homesick, (b) upset by the ascendancy of Paul over his uncle Barnabas, (c) intimidated by the audacity and scope of Paul’s plans which obviously included the whole world, or (d) discouraged by the trials and hardships of missionary life. One thing is absolutely certain: he did not turn back “because he objected to the offer of salvation to the Gentiles on condition of faith alone”!^[1] It is a fact known to all men that Paul never offered salvation to any person on condition of faith alone. Mark’s turning back resulted in a rift between Paul and Barnabas, a division, however, which was later healed.

Scene III: Back in Jerusalem. The old ways, however, had lost their charm for Mark. As soon as another missionary journey was planned, he was ready to go (Acts 15:37); but Paul’s confidence had been shaken, and he was unwilling to have him in the company. Like many another who turns back from a post of honor, Mark found the road back difficult; but he remained faithful.

Scene IV: Restoration. Eleven years later, John Mark was with Paul in Rome (Col. 4:10f; Philemon 1:24). The breach had been healed. He was one of the faithful who stood by Paul, an honored “fellow worker” and a “comfort” to the great apostle to the Gentiles. It appears that Paul may have sent him on a mission to Asia Minor where he met Peter in Babylon (1 Peter 5:13). The final glory of John Mark, aside from the “crown of life” laid up for all who love the Lord’s appearing, consisted of two things: (1) Paul’s last letter pleaded for Mark’s companionship (2 Tim. 4:11), and (2) when the Holy Spirit chose an author of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, Mark’s name, save one alone, led all the rest.

That John Mark was indeed the author of the second Gospel may not be doubted. Cranfield declared that: We may take it as virtually certain that the Mark who is the associate of Peter and the author of the Gospel and the Mark of Acts and the Pauline epistles are one and the same person.^[2]

Albert Barnes opened his mouth even wider, affirming that: The uniform testimony of the fathers is that Mark was the interpreter of Peter, and that he wrote this Gospel under the eye of Peter and with his approbation. It has come down to us with the sanction of Peter’s authority. Its right to a place among the inspired books has never been questioned. That it was written by Mark, that it was with Peter’s approbation, that it was a record of the facts which Peter stated in his ministry, and that it was therefore an inspired book, has never been questioned.^[3][3]

^[1] Max Lucado, Life Lessons from the Inspired Word of God: Book of Mark, Inspirational Bible Study Series (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1997), 7–10.

^[2] Bruce B. Barton, Mark, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), x–xii.

¹ ISBE, Vol. III, p. 1987.

² C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel according to St. Mark (Cambridge Uersity Press, 1966), p. 6.

³ Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1955), Matthew and Mark, p. 328.

^[3] James B. Coffman, Commentary on Mark, The James Burton Coffman Commentaries (A. C. U. Press, 1984), Mk.

This is a peculiar book you are holding. Words crafted in another language. Deeds done in a distant era. Events recorded in a far-off land. Counsel offered to a foreign people. This is a peculiar book.

It’s surprising that anyone reads it. It’s too old. Some of its writings date back five thousand years. It’s too bizarre. The book speaks of incredible floods, fires, earthquakes, and people with supernatural abilities. It’s too radical. The Bible calls for undying devotion to a carpenter who called himself God’s Son.

Logic says this book shouldn’t survive. Too old, too bizarre, too radical.

The Bible has been banned, burned, scoffed, and ridiculed. Scholars have mocked it as foolish. Kings have branded it as illegal. A thousand times over it the grave has been dug and the dirge has begun, but somehow the Bible never stays in the grave. Not only has it survived, it has thrived. It is the single most popular book in all of history. It has been the best-selling book in the world for years!

There is no way on earth to explain it. Which perhaps is the only explanation. The answer? The Bible’s durability is not found on earth; it is found in heaven. For the millions who have tested its claims and claimed its promises, there is but one answer—the Bible is God’s book and God’s voice.

As you read it, you would be wise to give some thought to two questions. What is the purpose of the Bible? and How do I study the Bible? Time spent reflecting on these two issues will greatly enhance your Bible study.

What is the purpose of the Bible? Let the Bible itself answer that question.

Since you were a child you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 3:15)

The purpose of the Bible? Salvation. God’s highest passion is to get his children home. His book, the Bible, describes his plan of salvation. The purpose of the Bible is to proclaim God’s plan and passion to save his children.

That is the reason this book has endured through the centuries. It dares to tackle the toughest questions about life: Where do I go after I die? Is there a God? What do I do with my fears? The Bible offers answers to these crucial questions. It is the treasure map that leads us to God’s highest treasure, eternal life.

But how do we use the Bible? Countless copies of Scripture sit unread on bookshelves and nightstands simply because people don’t know how to read it. What can we do to make the Bible real in our lives?

The clearest answer is found in the words of Jesus.

“Ask,” he promised, “and God will give it to you. Search and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you.” (Matt. 7:7)

The first step in understanding the Bible is asking God to help us. We should read prayerfully. If anyone understands God’s Word, it is because of God and not the reader.

But the Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. The Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name. (John 14:24)

Before reading the Bible, pray. Invite God to speak to you. Don’t go to Scripture looking for your idea, go searching for his.

Not only should we read the Bible prayerfully, we should read it carefully. Search and you will find is the pledge. The Bible is not a newspaper to be skimmed but rather a mine to be quarried. Search for it like silver, and hunt for it like hidden treasure. Then you will understand respect for the Lord, and you will find that you know God (Prov. 2:4).

Any worthy find requires effort. The Bible is no exception. To understand the Bible you don’t have to be brilliant, but you must be willing to roll up your sleeves and search.

Be a worker who is not ashamed and who uses the true teaching in the right way. (2 Tim. 2:15)

Here’s a practical point. Study the Bible a bit at a time. Hunger is not satisfied by eating twenty-one meals in one sitting once a week. The body needs a steady diet to remain strong. So does the soul. When God sent food to his people in the wilderness, he didn’t provide loaves already made. Instead, he sent them manna in the shape of thin flakes, like frost … on the desert ground (Exod. 16:14).

God gave manna in limited portions.

God sends spiritual food the same way. He opens the heavens with just enough nutrients for today’s hunger. He provides, a command here, a command there. A rule here, a rule there. A little lesson here, a little lesson there (Isa. 28:10).

Don’t be discouraged if your reading reaps a small harvest. Some days a lesser portion is all that is needed. What is important is to search every day for that day’s message. A steady diet of God’s Word over a lifetime builds a healthy soul and mind.

A little girl returned from her first day at school. Her mom asked, “Did you learn anything?” “Apparently not enough,” the girl responded, “I have to go back tomorrow and the next day and the next.… ”

Such is the case with learning. And such is the case with Bible study. Understanding comes little by little over a lifetime.

There is a third step in understanding the Bible. After the asking and seeking comes the knocking. After you ask and search, then knock.

Knock, and the door will open for you. (Matt. 7:7)

To knock is to stand at God’s door. To make yourself available. To climb the steps, cross the porch, stand at the doorway, and volunteer. Knocking goes beyond the realm of thinking and into the realm of acting.

To knock is to ask, What can I do? How can I obey? Where can I go?

It’s one thing to know what to do. It’s another to do it. But for those who do it, those who choose to obey, a special reward awaits them.

The truly happy are those who carefully study God’s perfect law that makes people free, and they continue to study it. They do not forget what they heard, but they obey what God’s teaching says. Those who do this will be made happy.(James 1:25)

What a promise. Happiness comes to those who do what they read! It’s the same with medicine. If you only read the label but ignore the pills, it won’t help. It’s the same with food. If you only read the recipe but never cook, you won’t be fed. And it’s the same with the Bible. If you only read the words but never obey, you’ll never know the joy God has promised.

Ask. Search. Knock. Simple, isn’t it? Why don’t you give it a try? If you do, you’ll see why you are holding the most remarkable book in history.^[1]

Mark’s Gospel begins with an introduction that orients the reader to the story to follow.¹ The extent of the introduction is debatable, with different scholars arguing for setting the limit at the end of v. 8, v. 13, or v. 15.² However, even if one were to conclude that vv. 14–15 or even vv. 9–13 are not technically part of what Mark envisioned as an introduction to the book, they nevertheless clearly function to introduce the identity and mission of Jesus.³

It is important to read 1:1–15 carefully since these verses set the framework for the rest of the story.⁴ They tell us that Mark’s story will focus on Jesus; they identify him as the Christ, the Son of God; they sum up his message; they declare his story to be the fulfilment of the prophetic message concerning the coming one and his kingdom; and they indicate that the good news about Jesus calls for a response.^[2]

^[1] Max Lucado, Life Lessons from the Inspired Word of God: Book of Mark, Inspirational Bible Study Series (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1997), 4–6.

¹ As I have argued in the introduction to the commentary, Mark apparently assumes an audience of Christians who know much of the Christian story. For example, in 1:1–8, he assumes prior familiarity with John the Baptist and baptism in the Holy Spirit.

² E.g., for ending the introduction at v. 8 see Gundry, pp. 30–31; for v. 13 see Lane, pp. 39–40; and for v. 15 see Guelich, p. 4. The most popular position is to include vv. 1–15, with many scholars referring to Keck, “The Introduction to Mark’s Gospel,” pp. 352–370.

³ In other words, those who argue that these paragraphs are not part of the introduction to the book must still recognize them as serving an introductory role as the first paragraphs of the body of the book.

⁴ By using the terms “story” or “narrative” I do not intend to suggest any doubt about the historicity of Mark. One may, of course, “narrate” or “tell the story of” historical events (e.g., the Civil War). I accept the events Mark describes as actual historical occurrences.

^[2] Allen Black, Mark, The College Press  Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1995), Mk 1:1–15.