Bad News and Gospel

The Beginning of the Gospel

(Mark 1:1-8, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 3, 2018)

[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.”

Jesus Christ the Son of God

This morning we begin the first of about 90 sermons which will make up our ambling walk through Peter's way of telling the story of Jesus. Peter did not tell the story over 90 Sunday's but in one sitting. His interpreter, John Mark, committed Peter's message to writing and therefore we have what we call “Mark” or “The Gospel According to Mark.”

We start where we ought to—at the beginning. The first verse is amazing: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Peter, or Mark, did not waste any time in getting to His point. In fact, one of his favorite words is “immediately.” He gives us a very fast-paced, first-hand account of the most important Man in history.

This story that we begin today is a “gospel,” which is a word that means “good news.” When many of us were growing up in a Roman Catholic setting, if someone had asked us what the gospel was, we might have given the person a funny look, or asked them which one they were talking about, since there were four of them, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Others here were brought up in little Protestant churches that knew about the gospels, but also used the word, “gospel.” often referring to an evangelistic presentation that we were supposed to speak to others with the hope that they would respond to it by asking Jesus to be their Savior. Both of these answers have some merit, but the most important thing about the good news is that it is about Jesus (Jehovah is salvation) who is the Christ (Anointed One or Messiah) and the Son of God (the King of Israel and the divine prophet, priest, and King of kings) who fulfills our Old Testament expectations of the Man who would come to save us from our sins and challenge all of us with holiness.

Malachi, Isaiah, and John the Baptist

The Jews were prepared for the coming of Jesus by the Old Testament Scriptures and particularly by the prophets. Mark quotes two of them in this opening passage, although He only names one, Isaiah. Both Isaiah and Malachi talked about an important forerunner of Jesus we call John the Baptist.

John, the son of Zechariah, was the “messenger” who came to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Like ancient servants of a great emperor who went before their king in order to make sure that obstacles in his path were removed prior to the arrival of their master, John was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” in order to “make His paths straight.” Don't miss this: John says here that Jesus is the Lord God Almighty.

John had an unusual method that seemed designed more to repel and to fail than to attract and succeed. Yet succeed He did! Decades later when Paul was traveling through modern-day Turkey, he met some people that were still trying to follow what they had learned from John. Therefore they only knew about John's baptism, and not about the Trinitarian baptism that we read that Jesus instituted at the end of Matthew's gospel.

John's baptism seemed to come out of nowhere. “John appeared.” He was ministering in the desert, and telling Jews that they needed a ceremonial washing that had once been reserved for sacrificial animals and ritually dirty Gentiles. To give this baptism to Jews was deeply humbling. He dressed and ate in a way that must have been odd, and his message to high and low was far from flattering, yet people all over Judea and from Jerusalem were coming out, not only to hear him, but to repent and to be baptized by him “for the forgiveness of sins.”

John, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit

All of this was interesting, but the most important part of John's message was His announcing of the imminent coming of the Gospel Man, Jesus. John insisted that, though everyone else, even King Herod, needed to repent, Jesus was “mightier” and more “worthy” by far than John or anyone else. How great was Jesus? John said about Jesus' sandal strap, “I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” it. John had “baptized” with water, but Jesus would “baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Peter's gospel, presented here through the pen of his companion Mark, is all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Lord of glory. Jesus, and even the man who prepared the way for Him, John the Baptist, were predicted by the Old Testament prophets. Now John's ministry had begun. John spoke of the Messiah and of the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be poured out on the church. The only way for anyone to prepare for such extravagant blessings was to admit that he was “not worthy” of them, and to repent, receiving the forgiveness of Almighty God.

John's ministry inextricably linked the bad news with the good news. How can we appreciate gospel without seeing the pit of human depravity and the way it touches each of us? This was true not only for dirty Gentiles, but also for ceremonially pure Jews. This was the offense of John the Baptist: He did not limit the bad news to Gentiles.

Applying John's message today means being honest about Christian sin, and being all the more appreciative for the good news of Jesus. Let's start today by realizing the tug of temptation. Children that grow up in the protection of a God-honoring home will soon discover that many others in the military, in college (Christian and secular), in the work world, will have a very lax view of what it means to be a faithful servant of the Lord. It will be tempting to downgrade obedience to match peers. But what is sin? (WSC 14) And what is repentance? (WSC 87) And what is sanctification? (WSC 35) And what of the gospel? We all need a bath, and a new beginning in the grace of Jesus and the Spirit.

Sermon Point: Jesus is worthy. In the light of His glory, repentance makes sense.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 60 – A Banner for all who fear the Lord

New Testament Reading—1 Peter 1 – The Good News that was preached to you