The Servant King

 

COLERAINE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2025 pm – MR REUBEN LYONS

MARK 1 VERSES 1 TO 8

It is fitting to look back rather than delve right into the book.  Who wrote it? If we knew then we would have a better understanding of the scene we are entering into.  Look at the background to who Mark was writing to, what it says today of the ministry and the life of Jesus.  Look first at the audience of this gospel.  There was a particular audience to which these words are written to.  Matthew wrote to Jews, Luke to Greeks, John to Gentiles and Mark was written to a Roman audience.  The main theme of this life and ministry of Jesus  was not that Jesus was a great king nor a warrior nor a military man.  He was the servant king.  That is the title of tonight’s message – Jesus the servant tonight.  Tonight’s title is Jesus the coming king.  Mark wanted to show that saving faith is only found in Jesus.  John Mark is the author of this book, that is an universally accepted fact.  Acts 12 verse 12 gives more information to this man and his background.  He was the son of a woman called Mary.  Her home was used in the early church as a meeting place.  It is not possible to nail down any specific date for when this book was written.  It was written to Rome, the capital – that is the location of this book.  He therefore these words were written between 55 to 65 AD after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  He was writing with a Roman audience in mind.  Why did Mark write his gospel.  He desired to bring the good news of Jesus and salvation to Gentiles.  There is a difference in the audience but also in the manner in which each gospel is written.  Mark did not get down to the nitty gritty details of Jesus’ life. Mark is a fast paced gospel.  We need to understand that Jesus is the servant king.  That was his intent for writing all of this.  In the opening verses there is no genealogy or family line given to Jesus, no miraculous birth listed in Bethlehem, no account of his younger years growing up in Nazareth, no sermon on the mount mentioned.  Mark looked to captivate his audience, to make them understand that Jesus was and still is the Son of God.  He highlighted the events that he felt were most important – he served, suffered and died and rose again through his fulfilment of redemption plan.  We have access to the Father for the forgiveness of sins.  There is one verse that is very important to remember in this gospel – Mark 10 verse 45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 1 verses 1 to 3 the purpose

Mark 1 verses 4 to 6 the prophet

Mark 1 verses 7 and 8 the promise

The purpose – verses 1 to 3.  There is no detail about the younger years of Christ.  This gospel starts right into the adult life of Jesus.  Verse 1 “Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  Mark is telling us of the importance of the gospel.  You need to recognise Jesus as the Son of God, to live for him daily and know him.  “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  The telling is so important in your life.  It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  It is not Mark’s gospel.  The big subject of the book is identity.  Mark has identified who Jesus is – he is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the Christ.  He highlights a couple of things – first through hearing and reading the truth we would wholeheartedly say Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, the servant king.  Through his death and resurrection my sins can be forgiven.  Salvation is only found in Christ alone.  Secondly, we must also be sure of our identity, where we stand before Jesus.  It is great to recognise him as the Son of God but to know him in a real and personal way, to have a relationship with him, we need to repent of our sins, ask forgiveness of sins and identify with him.  Both points go hand in hand.

Paul Dalou Drury was a French Painter in the nineteeth century.  He travelled all across Europe – Luxemburg, Germany and the UK.  One time he was in the middle of Europe when he hit a road block on his travels. He was on the border to Switzerland when he discovered he had misplaced his passport.  Without that he couldn’t get far.  Without identification he would not be able to enter into the country.  To prove his identity the guards set him a test.  He was given a piece of paper and a pencil and told to draw the livestock in the nearby fields to prove he was an artist and could be trusted.  He did this easily and quickly.  From his drawing the guards realised he must be a famous artist. They were able to affirm who he was through his work. Many people’s identity is seen through their work and accomplishments.  When it comes to Jesus it is completely the opposite - our identity is in Christ, whether we belong to him.  Without Christ we have no proper identity, we are lost and wandering to a lost eternity.  Identifying as a child of God.  A certainty our passport is signed that we are saved and belonging to the family of God, our destiny is in heaven, the certainty of being with the Lord in heaven one day.

Now Mark tells us why he writes – he simply intends to discuss the gospel of Jesus.  Gospel means good news.  That word to Romans was joyful news, usually of a Roman emperor.  Mark’s good news is that God came into the world and died for our sins.  Our sins can be forgiven.  We can belong to the family of God and one day go to live with our Father in heaven.  The entire book talks about victory over sin and Satan, death and hell.  The purpose of this book is the sharing of good news of Christ. The purpose of the messenger – verse 2.  John the Baptist coming onto the scene.  Mark has taken time to look back at the promises given in the Old Testament, now brought to fulfilment in John the Baptist – Malachi 3 verse 1 and Isaiah 40 verse 3.  John the Baptist was this promised messenger, the one who was sent to prepare the way for the earthly ministry of Jesus.  John was to do the ground work for the coming king.  He called on the people, they needed to repent of their sins and prepare the way for the coming of the King, the redeemer of all mankind.  This work of preparation was common in Bible times.  Importance of such a messenger in those days – a messenger went ahead of a earthly king to make sure his people are ready to receive their coming king.  That is what John was doing.  Making sure they knew the truth so they would know Jesus when he came.  In preparation Mark speaks of the message John faithfully preached before Jesus arrived on the scene.  Like Isaiah in the Old Testament John was a lone voice in the wilderness crying out, calling for the people to be prepared for the coming king.  This is now a new beginning. The next stage in redemptive history is now unfolding.  Following all the years of silence God was doing something new for his people.  He was once again speaking to them and saying “I keep my promises, here is my Son.”  The society into which John preached was one of dead religion, indifference and darkness, of not listening to what was said at that time surrounding the truth.  Reminds us of our world today.  As Christians we can get so caught up with putting ourselves and our own agendas first before God.  Focusing on matters that might seem important but not really in the grand scheme of things.  That instead of focusing on what really matters, being the gospel.  Are we getting caught up in secondary things - how things are done.  We are caught up in the way the world does things in the darkness surrounding us.  Are we forgetting the primary thing we have to rejoice in is Jesus and his word.  We need to keep him and his word in the centre of everything we do and say.  We need to stay away from trivial debates and cling to Christ, growing in him, glorifying his name and share God’s word for all to hear.  If we do that he will honour and bless us.  We are called to follow a similar path.  God will bless if we follow the similar path.

The prophet himself – verses 4 to 6.  Firstly his message in verse 4.  John was preaching a message of repentance for the remission of sins.  The wilderness where he was preparing the way was on the western shore of the Dead Sea.  Looked to minister into the spiritual wilderness that had gripped the people.  So many who knew the truth but had wandered from what really mattered, the gospel.  They needed to leave their spiritual wilderness.  They needed to repent and ask for forgiveness.  Repentance means there needs to be a reversal in life, a change of action, to receive forgiveness and pardon from sins. Repentance is not a word many want to hear.  They hear it but don’t want to hear it.  They don’t want to hear they are lost, they are sinners, they have gone wrong and need forgiveness from God.  They think there is no need to change.  They are respectable, do this and that in my neighbourhood and community.  It is not enough.  Why do we need to repent – they need Jesus.  A message that many finds controversial  and continues to do so.  They often want nothing of the repentance of sin.  It is what we are called to do to share the message in all its simplicity.  Not just that God loves you but to say that Jesus loves you and died for you but to know him you need to repent and ask for forgiveness.  We can’t have one without the other.  To share the love and compassion of Christ but we also need to tell people they need repent and get right with him.  There are consequences.  Salvation and life with Jesus is available but we must repent.  Repent of sinful living and turn away from it.  That is a requirement – repent of sinful life and turn away from it. It will be the best thing that ever happened to them.  If you have Jesus then you are living.  So many don’t have Jesus.  So many think otherwise, don’t understand what life really is.  They do not have that newness of life that comes in the name of Jesus.  Without repentance there can be no salvation.  Maybe you have a passport for eternity and it does say you are saved, you are child of God.  But maybe yours does not say you are forgiven, that you have never repented.  We need to share the same message John shared, the message of the repentance of sins.  That was his message but what was his method? Following repentance came baptism.  That was carried out in the waters of the Jordan river.  Baptism was an outward testimony of the inward change.  Baptism after the receiving of Jesus as Saviour. Once forgiven you identify with Jesus through the waters of baptism.  We have heard of his message and his methods, now look at his modesty.  Verse 6.  John was not a man who lived and enjoyed the finer things in life.  He did not have fine linen clothes, a home or food but the bare minimum.  Kept the Lord as focus. To not look at the material, rather than seeking to accumulate great wealth and fame it was all about the Lord to him. His clothes were made of animal skins and camel hair.  He ate locusts and wild honey that were found in the wilderness in which he ministered.  He stood out to his contemporaries by how he looked and lived.  His life was very distinct with John.  It might not have looked or smelt nice but he was faithful and committed to the cause of Christ.  Charles Swindoll said of John the Baptist “we have a profile of a strange evangelist. In his life we see a character and a life worth emulating. When we do start living like John the Baptist we end up looking more like Jesus Christ in our own lives.” We shouldn’t focus on what he was wearing and eating but rather focus on the commitment for the cause of gospel and Jesus in his life.  Through John we see obedience to God is more desirable than acceptance by other people.  Jesus is looking for faithful submission, living a life that is  counter cultural.  Living th best life we could ever hope to have.  Don’t focus on how successful you are to those around you but rather that you are growing in Christ. Living for Jesus, sharing his hope into this lost world.

The promise – verses 7 and 8.  Declaration that is made.  Throughout the message the main theme had always stayed the same - to be ready for the coming of Christ.  Wanted everybody to be prepared for when Christ came.  That is still at the centre of our message today.  We need to be ready when Christ comes.  We need to be ready in expectation that Jesus could come tomorrow or next week.  It is not up to man to determine when that is.  We need to be ready for the Lord’s coming again.  He may have went away but he is coming back again.  People can come from near and far to hear the word preached. John had garnered quite a following at this time but that didn’t lead them away from Jesus.  He was not swayed by his culture. His focus was only on Jesus.  It was not him but rather on Jesus who was the Messiah, it was Jesus who was the Son of God.  His ministry was not about him.  The people needed to see Jesus and him alone.  John said at one point “he must increase and I must decrease.”  Are they not great words to live by?  That we are not serving to please ourselves, to boost our own ego,  or to be seen on a platform by others?  We serve to give glory only to our Saviour.  In everything we do we are to give God the increase.  So that someone outside the family of God when they look on our lives that they don’t see us at all.  All they see is Jesus.  Are we being faithful like John in sharing the good news of Jesus for all to hear?  When people look on us do they see our accomplishments or your Saviour?  That he has made all the difference to you.  That we are called to be humble, remembering that it was our Saviour that secured our redemption on Calvary, dying so that we might be set through.  That through his sacrificial love our identity is found in him today.  The theme of this gospel will remain the same throughout the coming chapters.  Jesus is the Son of God.  He is still the same today.  The servant king.  We need to identify with him.  What is marked in your passport for eternity? Are you found, saved, on your way to heaven or is it marked as lost, wandering and going on the way to hell.  Now is the time to repent, to be forgiven, to live an abundant life for Christ.  Let’s pray for those who do not know Jesus, that we would be identified with Jesus, that we would know the gospel and be committed to share the gospel with those who do not yet know Christ as their own Saviour and Lord.