Mark 1:1 | “The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”

A Repeating Radio Wave

Many people find the possibility of alien life fascinating.  Just this past week, scientists announced that they’ve discovered repeating short bursts of radio waves coming from outside our galaxy.  This is the second time repeating bursts of radio waves have been found.  Apparently, these millisecond long radio flashes are fairly common in space.  But this is only the second one found to repeat.

Scientists are unsure what causes them, where they’re coming from, and why these two repeated.  One journalist said, “The mystery about why these bursts happen and where they come from continues, which always spurs believers to think that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations are creating them.”  Something out in the vast expanse of space trying to communicate with us is a commonly held notion.  Scientists will continue to hypothesize where and why these radio waves came, and people will continue to think that there’s something out there trying to reach us. 

A Divine Radio Wave

What if this notion isn’t so far-fetched after all?  What if there is indeed something, or Someone, trying to communicate with us?  What if this belief is so pervasive in the world because we’re made in the image of God and therefore we intuitively know that there’s Someone out there who wants to reach us? 

What if there is a God who created the 100 billion galaxies in the universe and put the crowning jewel of his creation on planet earth, people bearing his image?  What if God did the unthinkable and, instead of casting them aside when they rebelled against him, sent a divine radio wave to them in order to reach them?  What if the signal he sent was actually himself? 

This is what historical, orthodox, Christianity has claimed for two thousand years, that God entered the world in the person of Jesus in order to bring us back to himself.  Dr. Timothy Keller says it this way, “Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection form the central event of cosmic and human history as well as the central organizing principle of our own lives.”  In other words, we can’t understand our lives or our place in the world apart from the story of Jesus.

We Must Go to the Gospels

If we want to investigate the story of Jesus, we must go to the Gospels, the historical documents that tell Jesus’s story.  They are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  The Gospels enjoyed widespread acceptance as trustworthy historical documents until around two hundred years ago when some scholars began to say that they were embellished accounts made up over generations and not written down until more than one hundred years after Jesus’ life.  This skepticism has led many to believe that we can’t know who Jesus really was.  Each year, thousands of college students leave the faith because a professor tells them that the Gospels aren’t historical and therefore can’t be trusted.

But there is really good evidence to believe that the Gospels are eyewitness accounts of the events that they describe.  Dr. Richard Bauckham’s book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses makes a compelling case for why the Gospels are the oral accounts of eyewitnesses.  Bauckham cites extensive evidence that for decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the people he healed – like the paralytic lowered through the roof, the person who carried Jesus’ cross, Simon of Cyrene, the women who watched Jesus being placed in the tomb, and the disciples who followed Jesus for three years, all continually and publicly told these stories in great detail.  For decades, these eyewitnesses told the story of what happened to them.  Then the Gospel writers wrote these accounts down.

Bauckham also argues that the Gospels portray the early church’s leaders, especially Peter, in too negative of a light for them to be legendary.  Peter denied and cursed Jesus in public (Mk. 14:71).  The early church wouldn’t have acknowledged this unless this was actually part of the story, unless the account was true.  The Gospels can be trusted to tell us the true story of Jesus.

Why Study Mark?

This morning we’re beginning a study of the Gospel of Mark that will, Lord willing, take us to Easter of 2020.  Why should we spend over a year studying Mark’s Gospel?  First, it’s in the Bible.  Everything in the Bible is inspired by God and profitable for us (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  This why I’m committed to expositional preaching, or preaching that aims to exposit, or expose, the main meaning of a particular passage of Scripture and apply it to our lives. 

Second, we haven’t studied a gospel since 2016 when we studied the Gospel of Matthew.  In that study, I covered an entire chapter each week.  So we moved through it quickly in large chunks.  With Mark, I want us to move more slowly and spend time climbing the trees in the forest of Mark’s Gospel, rather than just flying over the forest.

Third, and most importantly, I want us to study Mark because I want us to see the glory of Jesus Christ.  My desire is that our church would grow in love and trust and worship and joy in Jesus.  The best way to do this is to look at him and listen to him in the Gospels. 

Who Wrote Mark?

Our task this morning is to cover a few introductory items concerning Mark’s Gospel and then to look at the first verse of his Gospel.  First, who wrote Mark?  It was actually written anonymously, but from the second century, the church has believed it was written by John Mark. 

Who was John Mark?  John Mark was probably from Jerusalem because his mother Mary lived there.  After Peter is rescued from prison, Luke tells us that “he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark” (Acts 12:12).  Paul tells us that John Mark is “the cousin of Barnabas” (Col. 4:10).  This explains why Mark joined Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 12:25, 13:4-5).  For some reason, Mark left Paul and Barnabas during the middle of their trip (13:13).  This is why Paul didn’t want him to come on the next journey.  He and Barnabas disagreed and split up, with Barnabas and Mark going to Cyprus (15:36-41). 

Paul doesn’t hold a grudge toward Mark, however, later calling him his “fellow worker” (Philemon 24) and at the end of his life telling Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).  Paul not only forgives Mark but sees him as invaluable to his ministry. 

Later in the New Testament, Mark pops back up, but this time connected to Peter’s ministry.  Peter closes his first letter by calling Mark “my son” (5:13).  Peter says that they’re in “Babylon,” a reference to Rome, meaning that Mark was ministering with Peter in the church at Rome. 

What does all this mean?  It means that the writer of this Gospel was a close associate of Jesus’ earliest disciples.  His relatives, perhaps even his parents, had known Jesus.  Mark had first-hand knowledge of Peter and Paul’s ministry.  You couldn’t be any closer to the action in the early church than John Mark was. 

How Did Mark Write Mark?

Mark’s work with Peter in Rome also helps us understand how Mark wrote his Gospel.  One of the earliest Christian writers, a man named Papias, tells us how Mark’s Gospel was written.  Papias, writing around 110-120 AD, says, “Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord.  For Mark had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded…so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single points as he remembered them.”  You might think of Mark as Peter’s assistant who followed him around listening to him preach, writing down various portions of his preaching. 

Why is this so important?  Because for a book to be in the New Testament it had to be apostolic.  It had to be written by an apostle or someone close to an apostle.  Because Mark’s Gospel is Peter’s testimony, it carries inherent apostolic authority. 

Richard Bauckham says that Mark’s Gospel itself tells us that Peter is behind its composition.  Peter is the first and the last disciple of Jesus mentioned in Mark.  Peter is the most prominent figure in the Gospel, besides Jesus.  Nothing happens in which Peter isn’t present.  Mark mentions Peter proportionally more than the other Gospels.  All this is good reason to believe that Mark gives us Peter’s testimony.  If Mark gives us Peter’s testimony and Peter was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, then we do well to pay attention to what Mark has to say.

When and Why Did Mark Write Mark?

Mark likely wrote his Gospel in Rome around the year 65 AD.  This is important because it tells us something about who he was writing to and why he was writing.  In 64 AD, there was a great fire in Rome.  The emperor, Nero, probably started the fire himself.  The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that, in order “to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace…Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths.  Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.  Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer…”

Why is this important?  Because it tells us that being a Christian in Rome in the year 65 AD could get you killed.  It tells us that Mark wrote his Gospel to Christians who were being eaten alive by wild dogs, crucified, and burned to death.  It tells us that there’s a serious amount of persecution happening to the people to whom Mark writes. 

This explains Mark’s focus on Jesus as the suffering Son of God and on the reality that Jesus’ disciples will also suffer (8:31-38, 10:28-30, 13:9-13).  Mark wrote to suffering Christians in order to remind them that Jesus also suffered and that following him would lead to suffering. 

The context of Mark’s Gospel helps us understand perhaps why it’s so short and sweet.  It reads like an action-packed drama and is packed with words like “immediately” to move the story along quickly.  Mark’s Gospel is very abrupt and moves with “breathless speed.”  His style tells us that he’s writing in a moment of crisis.  He’s not writing a dry history book.  He’s writing to remind people who’re afraid for their lives why dying for Jesus isn’t a bad thing and why it should even be expected. 

Persecution Reveals what’s Precious to Us

Have you ever put yourself in the shoes of persecuted Christians?  Would you continue to follow Jesus if it meant you might get eaten alive by wild dogs?  Would you still trust him if your whole family was murdered?  If all your goods and property were stolen?  What is Jesus worth to you?  It’s often said that what you’re willing to die for is what you’re actually living for. 

Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing real persecution right now.  I received an email this week from some missionaries we partner with in South Asia.  They asked for prayer for a pastor whose house church was shut down by the authorities.  They continue to gather in small groups and the pastor travels to each group to teach and encourage them.  Persecution will never stop the spread of the gospel and the building up of Jesus’ church.  We need to pray that our persecuted brothers and sisters would persevere and remain joyful despite suffering.

We may not face these kinds of sufferings, yet.  But do our lives tell people that, no matter what happens to us, Jesus is the most precious thing in our lives?  Do the people you work with even know that you’re a follower of Jesus?  Could it be that we don’t share the gospel because we’re afraid of the persecution that may result?  Do we love our reputation more than Jesus’s?

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ”

The reason we should be willing to endure any persecution for Jesus is because of who Jesus is and what he came to do.  The first verse of Mark’s Gospel captures both of these things for us in succinct fashion.  This verse functions like the title, or thesis statement, for the whole Gospel.

Mark tells us that he’s writing about “the gospel of Jesus Christ.”  What is “the gospel”?  The Greek word for “gospel” (euaggelion) literally means “good news.”  Jews and Romans used it to describe reports of victory from the battlefield.  Jewish Christians would’ve likely remembered passages like Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”

The image is of a messenger running over mountains to bring a report of God’s victory back to the people.  God’s enemies have been defeated and God’s people have been saved. 

In Isaiah 52 we also learn that God’s victory is good news for the nations.  Verse 10, “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”  All nations will see the victory of God.  The psalmist echoes this theme in Psalm 96:1-3, 10, “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!  Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.  Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!…Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’” 

The good news of God’s saving power must go out to all the nations because God is King over all the earth.  For Mark, the coming of Jesus is the beginning of the fulfillment of the “good news” preached by Isaiah. 

Notice that it’s the “gospel of Jesus Christ.”  The content of the gospel is the person of Jesus.  The gospel is more than a set of beliefs.  The kingdom that God is bringing is present in the person of Jesus.  This is why Jesus preaches the kingdom of God (1:14-15).  The gospel isn’t good advice about how to live.  It is a message about a person that God has sent to usher in his saving rule over all the nations.  A message that demands repentance because God is the King.

Jesus and the Emperor

The Greeks and Romans who heard this language of “gospel” and “Son of God” would think of the Roman emperor.  The same language was used to announce the ascension of a new emperor to the throne.  This announcement would be “gospel” to the empire because it would introduce a new era and promise peace to the world. 

But the gospel of Jesus opposes the gospel of Caesar because Jesus’ gospel promises salvation through suffering, happiness through sorrow, peace through pain.  Jesus came to rule the nations.  But the road to his throne stops at Calvary.  One scholar says it like this, “Caesar and Christ, the emperor on the throne and the despised rabbi on the cross, confront one another.  Both are evangel (gospel) to men.  They have much in common.  But they belong to different worlds.” 

The emperor was often called a “son of God.”  Here Mark says that Jesus is “the Son of God.”  This is a key theological point for Mark.  He ends his Gospel by telling us that a centurion calls Jesus the “Son of God” after he dies on the cross (15:39).  He tells us that the Father calls Jesus “my Son, whom I love” at his baptism and at the transfiguration (1:11, 9:7).  Demons recognize Jesus as God’s Son (1:24, 3:11, 5:7).  Mark wants his readers to know that Jesus, not Caesar, is the true “Son of God.”  But he also makes sure that we know that Jesus is a suffering Son of God.  The cross is the first place where someone confesses that Jesus is God’s Son (15:39). 

The suffering and persecuted Christians listening to Mark’s Gospel needed to remember that Jesus’ gospel, not Nero’s, was the only one that mattered.  That Jesus claimed his throne through the cross, not through war.  That, despite persecution, God’s saving rule has entered the world in the person of Jesus, is sweeping through all the nations, and will outlast and overtake the kingdom of Caesar because Jesus is the true “Son of God.”   

     

The Gospel Changes Our Lives

Verse 1 tells us that God sent more than a repeating radio wave to tell us that he’s out there.  He sent his own Son.  God sent Jesus to bring heaven to earth.  God sent Jesus to save people from every nation by dying on the cross.  The truth of who Jesus is and what he has done gives us the courage and faith and will to suffer whatever we must suffer for his name.  The good news of Jesus sets us free from the bondage of living for ourselves. 

Paul, one of Mark’s closest friends, was beheaded in a Roman prison.  But the gospel of Jesus totally transformed the way he thought about his life.  “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).  Has the “gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” changed the way you think about your life?