Repent and Believe in the Gospel!

The Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
(Mark 1:1-15, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, September 24, 2017)

[1] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. [2] As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, [3] the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” [4] John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. [5] And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. [6] Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. [7] And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. [8] I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

[9] In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. [10] And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. [11] And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

[12] The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. [13] And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

[14] Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, [15] and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Into this world lost in sin and under the dominion of Satan entered the Son of God.  His name is Jesus, which means “Yahweh is salvation.”  He is called the Christ, which means “the Anointed One,” for he is the one anointed by God’s Spirit to reign as King, toppling the kingdom of Satan and establishing with permanence the kingdom of God.  His rule brings God’s salvation for all who repent and believe.  One day, it will mean the restoration of all things.  All this is in fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.  In God’s perfect timing, he set about accomplishing through Jesus what he had promised.  This is the gospel, the good news, the wondrous proclamation that God reigns and has come in power to work salvation for his people (cf. Isa. 40:9-11; 52:7-10).

Mark wrote this short book to proclaim this message.  He introduces the book with the words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Unlike Matthew and Luke’s gospel accounts, Mark does not begin with a record of Jesus’ lineage, or an account of his birth.  Unlike John’s account, he does not begin with a theological reflection on the eternal origin of the Word made flesh.  Instead, Mark begins by quoting from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3.  Both verses foretold that God would send a messenger to prepare the way for the Lord’s coming.  Mark shows that this was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way by proclaiming that the Jewish people should be washed with the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Gentile converts to Judaism during this time period were often baptized, but John was calling the Jews themselves to do so.  This was preparing the people of Israel for the coming of their King.  They could not think that simply because they were God’s chosen people, they did not need God’s grace and forgiveness.  As long as they had this self-righteous attitude, they would not be ready to receive the coming Christ.  They needed to confess that they themselves were sinners, and renounce those sins, turning from them and receiving the symbolic cleansing of baptism in the river Jordan.  John also prepared the way by proclaiming that he was only getting people ready for the coming of one who was far mightier than he, the straps of whose sandals he was unworthy to untie.  John baptized with water, but the one coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  Of course, it was the Christ of whom he spoke.  John was preparing people for Jesus.

Have you ever received Jesus?  If not, what is getting in the way?  The preparatory ministry of John the Baptist is applicable in a sense to you.  His message is to repent.  Lay aside whatever barriers you have raised in your life, in your heart, in your mind, to receiving God’s own Son and living in the joy of his kingdom.  Do you think that you don’t need a Savior because you have tried to live a good life?  Repent!  We are all unworthy sinners in the holy sight of God.  Do you think that some sin you are holding onto is worth more than God’s eternal kingdom?  Repent!  All sin against God leads only to emptiness and death, but God is offering through his Son the promise of forgiveness and eternal joy in his kingdom.   This need to repent is also true for those of us who have been believers in Christ for years.  There is always the need to confess our sins to God, receiving afresh his mercy to us in Christ.  As the apostle John writes, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:8-9).

Mark next tells us of Jesus himself coming from his hometown of Nazareth down to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  Mark does not record, as Matthew does (Mt. 3:13-15), how John protested this, saying that he instead should be baptized by Jesus.  Nor does Mark record Jesus’ statement of why he should be baptized by John, namely to “fulfill all righteousness.”  Rather, Mark focuses on what came out of the heavens at this moment.  The heavens were torn open, the Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove, and the voice of God spoke from the heavens.  “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (cf. Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1-4; Mk. 9:7).  Mark is recording the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Here God himself declares Jesus to be his Son.  And God is totally enthralled with his Son.  He is pleased with him.  He delights in him.  Jesus is beloved of his Father.  He is treasured above all else.  God for all eternity has delighted in his Son with infinite, endless love.  He loves his Son with the totality of his being, because the Son is the pure image of all God’s perfections.  He is the very radiance of the Father’s own glory.  When the Father looks at his Son, he sees nothing but loveliness.  Perfect wisdom, perfect strength, perfect holiness, perfect justice, perfect mercy, perfect love.  And the Son submits to his Father and to his Father’s will.  His perfect obedience delights his Father’s heart.  It is this beloved Son whom God has sent in the anointing of the Holy Spirit to reclaim sinners, to overturn Satan, and to establish God’s kingdom.

Since Jesus was to overturn Satan’s rule, God saw fit by his Spirit to drive his Son into the wilderness for forty days where he was tempted by Satan.  Mark mentions the wild animals, which highlights the darkness and danger of these wilderness days.  This was not a vacation.  This was a trial Jesus had to overcome.  Israel, which God had also referred to as his son, though not in the same way as Jesus, had been tested in the wilderness for forty years, and had failed many times.  Yet God’s Son Jesus did not fail.  Jesus is the only man who withstood the full onslaught of Satan’s temptations and never once yielded (cf. Mk. 8:33).  This was necessary if he was to save us from Satan’s power.  He alone has overcome, and we can only overcome through his strength.

Mark goes on to summarize the message of Jesus as he began his public ministry in Galilee, after John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod.  Jesus himself proclaimed the gospel of God, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”  God had planned and promised this moment, and now it had come.  God’s kingdom had come.  Jesus was the King bringing in that kingdom.  Jesus also proclaimed the response we must have in order to receive this kingdom, and be received into it.  We must repent and believe in this good news.  There it is again, the message to repent.  This is clearly important.  Also, we must believe.  The words of God in Isaiah 30:15 come to mind: “In repentance and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.”  I love this verse because it makes clear that repentance is not a burdensome task that God has laid upon us and is now waiting to see if we will buck up and just do it.  Repentance includes turning away from all attempts to save ourselves.  It is turning from all idols, all sin, all false hopes, all false promises of salvation in anything other than God, and all thought that we can save ourselves from our idols and our sins.  The Son of God is the one anointed in the power of the Spirit to save.  Believing in the gospel is believing in him, and resting in his saving work.  So we turn from sin and turn to Jesus in faith.  Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son of God, is our only hope.