Jesus the Messiah

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Good morning Chapel family. I hope you’re having a good start to the new year. What a great Christmas season, wasn’t it? Did you know there were 3,200 people who came to our Christmas Eve services? It was just a beautiful way to finish the year and celebrate the arrival of Jesus. I also have to say this. We entered the month about ten percent below in our budgeted giving—in all my years at The Chapel, I don’t think we’ve ever been that far behind. And I know Pastor Paul mentioned this online last Sunday, but just in case you missed it you have to hear this: the giving in December was so extravagant that we not only met our budget; we actually exceeded it by 3-1/2%! Isn’t that incredible? We talk about “freely giving,” around here, and you guys freely gave! So thank you, and thank God for his faithfulness to us. Amen?

So today I am so excited to begin this new series in the Gospel of Mark, called “Servant King.” Out of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—Mark is the shortest one, it’s the most action-packed one, and it’s probably the first one written—most scholars think Mark was written around 65 AD. We don’t have any historical evidence that Mark ever met Jesus personally, but we do have evidence that Mark was a close associate of Peter—who obviously knew Jesus really well. So Peter was Mark’s primary source of eyewitness testimony about the life of Jesus. And of course we believe Mark’s ultimate source was the Holy Spirit, so we can be confident that the Gospel of Mark is accurate and true.

I have noticed that different people prefer different kinds of leaders. Some people are drawn to the “king” type. They want leaders who are strong and bold and fearless. That’s the kind of boss they want to work for; when it comes to election season, that’s the kind of candidate they want to vote for. They want their leaders to be bold as a lion. Other people prefer a very different kind of leader. They’re much more drawn to the “servant” type—leaders who are humble and gentle in their approach—more like a lamb than a lion. You know what the problem is? Both types of leaders have their dark side: kings have a tendency to be prideful and arrogant. Servants have a tendency to be weak and indecisive…which is why we so often get disillusioned with our leaders, right? Sooner or later, every leader lets us down.

But in the Gospel of Mark, we get introduced to a leader who breaks the mold: a king who never gets arrogant, and at the same time, a servant who never gets weak. So if you’ve been feeling disappointed and disillusioned with the political leaders and the workplace leaders in your life, I want to invite you over the next three months to look at Jesus and realize how unique he is. The more I study his life, and the more I walk with him, the more I’m convinced that there’s no one like him.

So…let’s read today’s passage—Mark chapter one, verse one—let’s hear God’s Word…

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. This is the Word of the Lord.

So the passage ends with Jesus calling some of his first disciples. Simon and Andrew and James and John are all fisherman, and when Jesus calls them, they leave their nets; they leave their boats; James and John even leave their father…and they follow Jesus. Their lives would never be the same. We are living in a culture that says the best thing you can do is to follow your heart. Right? We hear that all the time—in graduation speeches, in pop psychology and self-help books—follow your heart, follow your heart. And above that cultural noise, Jesus says, “No, no, no. Don’t follow your heart. Your heart is unreliable and fickle. Follow me.”

As we enter this new year, in a world filled with all kinds of uncertainty and craziness, Jesus is calling you to follow him. Some of you for the first time—you’ve never followed Jesus. Some of you have, but your faith has grown cold—you know who you are. He’s calling you to leave lesser things behind and follow wherever he leads. That doesn’t mean you abandon your family—James and John still had a relationship with their father after this. It probably doesn’t mean you leave your job—these guys still went fishing after this. But all of those things become secondary to following Jesus.

In a world that says, “Follow your heart,” Jesus says, “Follow me.”

The obvious question is, “Why should I?” And in the opening verses of this Gospel, Mark answers that question for us. Why should I follow Jesus? Three reasons.

First: He completes the puzzle. He completes the puzzle. So Mark begins his Gospel not with the birth of Jesus, like the other Gospels do; he fast-forwards all the way to when Jesus is an adult, and he’s just about to be introduced to the public by John the Baptist. And what’s the first thing Mark does? He quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures—verse 2:

…as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

Why would Mark do that? Why would he begin a biography of the life of Jesus by quoting from the Old Testament? Because what we’re about to see is not a completely new thing. It didn’t come out of nowhere. When you read the Old Testament, it clearly points you forward and makes you anticipate that something better is coming. Someone better is coming. The story’s not complete yet—just wait!

Have you ever put together a jigsaw puzzle that took you days and days to complete—and you finally get to the end, and you’re almost there, and then you realize…there’s a piece missing? You look under the table and you look under the rug, you blame the dog, and it’s just missing. It’s so frustrating to be missing a piece! And as beautiful as the Old Testament is, it’s like a puzzle with a piece missing. So as Mark starts his Gospel, he basically says, “I’m about to show you the missing piece.”

So here’s John the Baptist, with his camel hair clothing and probably wild hair and beard, eating bugs, standing in the Jordan River. And it says he was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In the other Gospels we learn a little more about the message John preached, and it was very direct—very confrontational—convicting people of their sin, and calling them to repent, which means turn away from your sin, and turn toward God. Now honestly—does that sound like a message that would draw a big crowd? Hardly. But it did! Verse 5 says The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him! Think about this: Jerusalem is at least twenty miles from the Jordan river, and it’s about 4,000 feet above it in elevation. So it was a trek to get down the hills to the river, and it was even harder climbing back up.

But people came. Why? Because they knew there was a puzzle piece missing. They knew it because their Scriptures taught it, but they also knew it from their own hearts. There was a longing in their hearts for something better than the religion that they knew. Do you know that longing? I think all of us have felt it. Sometimes we cover it up. Sometimes it gets silenced by the busyness of life, or the pressure of the crowd. But deep down, we all have a longing to connect more fully—more personally—with God.

I love the way C.S. Lewis describes it:

Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

Those people on the bank of the Jordan river had found in themselves a desire that no experience in this world could satisfy. And John was saying, “You’re about to meet the one who can satisfy you. It’s not me!” After me comes one more powerful than me. I’m not even worthy to bend down and untie his sandals. I’m baptizing you with water, to prepare you—to get you ready, but he’s going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Listen: if all you do is listen to your heart, your heart might tell you to pursue your career above all else, or to pursue physical beauty, or romance, or money, or to party and have as much fun as possible, or maybe to pour yourself into a social justice cause. But none of those things will complete

you. There will still be a puzzle piece missing. Like Augustine famously said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Only Jesus completes the puzzle.

In a world that says, “Follow your heart,” Jesus says, “Follow me.”

Secondly, He Connects us with our Creator. Verse 9: 9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. So here’s a question: we just said that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, right? Turning from sin. But if Jesus didn’t have any sins, why would he be baptized? And the answer is: because he was identifying himself fully with us. Hebrews 2:17 says it like this: For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest... In other words, in this first moment of going public, Jesus was showing that he’s one of us. Have you seen that outreach campaign called “He gets us”? It’s true—he gets us—he knows what it is to be human, because he became fully human.

But then, watch this—verse 10: 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” So not only is Jesus fully human, he’s fully God—he is the beloved son of the Father. Now: sometimes people say, “Okay, so this is the moment when Jesus became the Son of God?” No! God has always existed in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus has always been God, from eternity past. But at this moment, God the Father was visibly, officially presenting Jesus as his Son.

So…are you with me? Jesus got baptized to identify fully with humans, and we hear the Father’s voice endorsing him to show that he’s fully God. He is fully human and fully divine. Why is that so important? Because only someone who’s fully human and fully divine can bridge the gap between people and God. There’s a mysterious little verse all the way back in the book of Job—look with me at Job 9:32-33. Here’s what Job says about God:

32 “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court. 33 If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together.

The Hebrew literally says, “If only there were someone to mediate between us, to lay his hand upon us both.” When my kids were little, they would occasionally run to me with tears in their eyes: “Dad, he hit me!” “Dad, it’s my turn to have the Play Station!” “Dad, she took my crayons.” And of course the other kid would say, “It’s not true! Those are my crayons!” So what did I do? Well, there were times when I would literally lay a hand on them both—parents, are you with me? I would put my hand on one kid’s shoulder, and my other hand on the other kid. Why? Because I loved them both dearly, and, I was sort of the bridge between them. Does that make sense? I represented both parties. So I would try to calm them down and listen carefully to each of them, and I would try to bring peace between these two people that I loved. Every once in a while, it actually worked! I was the mediator.

And what I did very imperfectly as a dad, Jesus does perfectly. He’s the only one who’s qualified to place one hand on us—because he’s fully human—and one hand in heaven—because he’s fully God—and bring us together. Just picture Jesus on the cross, arms outstretched, connecting people with God. Nobody else can make that claim—no other religion; no system of meditation; only Jesus. He’s the mediator; he’s the bridge; he’s the one who can connect us with our Creator. So when we follow Jesus, we are walking in harmony with God himself. And even when we mess up, and we do things that are selfish and stupid and hurt other people—the forgiveness of God flows through Jesus to us.

In a world that says, “Follow your heart,” Jesus says, “Follow me.”

Okay—one more reason to follow Jesus: He conquers our enemies. So right after this amazing moment, when Jesus receives public affirmation from the voice of God, what’s the very next thing that happens? The Holy Spirit leads him into the desert to be tempted by Satan for 40 days. Well that’s a bummer of a way to start your career as the Messiah! One of the guys in my men’s group said, “It’s just like the army. As soon as you enlist, you get sent straight to boot camp.” So Jesus gets sent to the ultimate boot camp.

Now, Mark doesn’t give much detail about those 40 days; we know from the other Gospels that Jesus fasted the whole 40 days, and at least three times, Satan tried to capitalize on Jesus’ weakened condition to get him to sin. And maybe you think, “Well—it was Jesus, so temptation couldn’t touch him! It was like bullets bouncing off Superman’s chest!” But it wasn’t like that. Remember, Jesus was fully human—so he felt the full force of those temptations. The things that Satan offered him looked really good. But every time, he stood firm; he resisted the temptation. And finally, Satan gave up and went away.

So what does that mean for us? Well, first of all, it means that when we follow Jesus, we too will be tempted. And here’s a sobering thought: there is a spiritual enemy named Satan who knows your weak spots. 1 Peter 5:8 says your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. He’s looking to devour you and discourage you and ruin you and isolate you and destroy the peace in your family. So if your weak spot is anger, he knows it, and he’s going to bait you with annoying people. If your weak spot is envy, he knows it, and he’s going to bait you by surrounding you with people who seem to have much better lives than you have. If your weak spot is porn, he knows it, and he’s going to bait you with images that pop up on your laptop screen, that you just have to click. Just like Satan knew where Jesus was vulnerable, he knows you. So don’t forget there’s a spiritual battle going on.

But this also means that when we follow Jesus, we don’t face temptation alone. Hebrews 2:18 says Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Think about how awesome that is! In any of those situations—anger, envy, lust—any temptation you face, you don’t face it alone. You have the presence and help of Christ himself. You have access to his conquering power.

If you’ve ever struggled with addiction, and you’ve been to AA or NA or any other 12-step program—which are the most recognized, respected recovery programs—they all point you clearly to a higher power. They figured out a long time ago that if you just follow your heart and depend on yourself, it’s not enough. You need a power outside of yourself. But more specifically, there’s evidence that Christian-based programs are especially effective. There was a recent study published on the web site of the National Institutes of Health, and it measured how frequently people relapse after going through treatment. And they found that Christian-based rehab programs have substantially less relapse than secular programs. Because Jesus is alive and real, and he offers real power against our temptations.

Is there a vice or a habit that’s holding you back, or that’s causing you to live in shame? Satan loves that. But Jesus is stronger than Satan. He overcame temptation, and he can help you do the same thing. So at the beginning of this new year, realize that yes, you do need a higher power and his name is Jesus.

In a world that says, “Follow your heart,” Jesus says, “Follow me.”

You know, as I think about this opening scene in Mark’s Gospel, to me, the most dramatic moment is right after Jesus gets baptized. It says Jesus saw heaven being torn open, and everyone hears this voice thundering from heaven: this is my Son. Can you imagine being there? You would never forget that. Heaven was torn open, so we would know who Jesus is! But did you realize that same phrase—“tearing open”—appears one more time in Mark? At the end of the book, Jesus is hanging on the cross, and he breathes his last breath. And it says at that moment, the curtain in temple—remember that curtain that blocked people from the presence of God—the curtain of the temple was torn—same Greek word—torn in two from top to bottom. And the next verse says that the Roman guard standing at the cross was so moved, that he said, “Surely, this man was the Son of God.”

Two times, God steps into history and tears something open. And both times, it’s to make the same point: Jesus is the Son of God. Like, “Don’t miss this!”

And I have found that God has ways of tearing things open to get our attention. Have you ever experienced that? You had certain plans for the day, or for the year, and God tears your plans open with something you never expected. You had certain financial goals, and God tears your plans open with an unexpected job loss. You assumed your health would always be good, and God tears that stability open with a cancer diagnosis, like I experienced a couple of years ago, and many of you have experienced. And of course God is not the author of cancer or anything evil, but he masterfully uses those things to accomplish his will. I wonder if God is doing any tearing open in your life right now? Why would he do that? Because he loves us, and he wants to get our attention and show us: This is the Son of God! You need him! He’s the missing piece. He connects you with your Creator. He conquers your enemies. He’s the king who’s never arrogant, and he’s the servant who’s never weak. Follow him.

In a world that says, “Follow your heart,” Jesus is saying to you, “Follow me.”