MPC
18th October 2020.October 18 - Mark 1:14-39 - "What's so Amazing about Jesus?"
MPC
18th October 2020.
Doug Wannenburgh
Back in 2006 I got invited to dinner with the deputy president of South Africa. I was invited to meet Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. [Pronunciation: poom-zee-le muh-boom nor-gee-ka]
And what an amazing lady. She certainly left an impression.She arrived in style. Big smart car with tinted windows.Her entourage was numerous - the mayor, members of parliament, cabinet ministers. And plenty of protection - police, big burly bodyguards. High security. After dinner she spoke for about an hour.
She was warm, funny, friendly, caring, intelligent, articulate. The deputy president was an amazing person.
Why was I invited to dinner? She wanted to convince me to vote for her party, the ANC. To vote for her.
Mark invites you and me to meet Jesus in his gospel. He thinks Jesus will leave an impression on us. He wants us to be amazed. He wants to convince you to give Jesus your vote. Mark does that by putting Jesus before us. Showing us who he is.
People today, as back then, have lots of varying views about Jesus. Some think His a lunatic - if He claims to be God He must have lost his marbles!
Others think His a liar - out to deliberately deceive others. Most think His merely a moral teacher and a good example?
How does Mark answer who is Jesus?
I've been to a few rock concerts. Paul Simon. Bryan Adams. Majozi. Mango Groove. Johnny Clegg. I remember the venues. The friends I went with. The music. Songs. But there's one thing I don't remember. I don't remember the supporting bands! Not because they weren't good - I'm sure they were.
But I wasn't there to see them. I went for the main show. The supporting act prepares you for the main event. Which is the role of John the Baptist. Chapter 1 verse 14 - John preaches, baptises, and points people to Jesus.
Now - verse 14:"After John was put into prison, Jesus went into Galilee "
Simple as that. John prepares the way. Then moves out the way. John steps off stage. Jesus moves onto centre stage. The supporting act's over.
The main show is here - turn the spotlight on Jesus. Up until now Jesus has been pretty low key. Grown up in Nazareth. Carpenter like his "father" Joe. Now his got baptised along with a whole bunch of others. And His gone alone into the wilderness. But now it's time. Time to go public.
With what? What did Jesus initially come to do?
a. The Priority
Did Jesus come for a holiday? Did he come on some sort of field trip? No! The first thing Jesus does is preach. John's put in prison - then what? Verse 14 " Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming "
Jesus had a message He came to preach. That's his priority. Look down to verse 21. "They went to Capernaum, the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach."
Look on to the start of chapter 2, verse 1.
A few days later, Jesus again [enters] Capernaum, the people [hear His] come home. [so] many [gather] that [there's] no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them."
Teach, preach. And chapter 1 verse 38 is crystal clear. It's very early in the morning.Jesus is on His own, praying. Talking to His Father. But Simon goes looking for him, finds him, and exclaims - verse 38, " Everyone is looking for you!"
And Jesus answers, verses 38-39, " Let us go somewhere else - to the nearby villages - so I can preach there also. that is why I have come."
Crystal clear purpose statement. And so it says, verse 39, "[Jesus] travelled throughout Galilee, preaching " This is no holiday. Jesus' priority is to preach.
b. The Proclamation
So, what's His message? Back to verse 14. John off the scene. And verse 14, "Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God."
Literally 'the big news of God', momentous news. Which is, verse 15, "the time has come, The kingdom of God has come near. repent and believe the good news."
Three statements: "the time has come". That's significant because God's people in the Old Testament looked forward to a time when God would fix the mess.
Sin had ripped the world apart. Though God promised to sort it out by sending a King to rule and rescue His people. Jesus claims that time is now. Because, second statement,
verse 15, "The kingdom of God has come near."
The rule of God promised in the Old Testament and long waited for. It's here. How so? Why at this moment? God's Kingdom is here now because God's king is here. God's kingdom's arrived. Because Jesus, God's king has arrived.
So, what's the right response? Third statement - Jesus says, verse 15, "repent and believe "
Repent means turn back. Turn away from sin and self-rule,and believe. Stop ignoring God, and recognise Jesus as the messiah, God's ruling, rescuing king. And that's the message Jesus proclaims.
The time has come. God's kingdom is here. king Jesus. Repent and believe.
c. The Call
So what's it look like to repent and believe? Well, we don't have to wait long for a snapshot. Jesus calls 4 men, 4 fishermen. Four examples of 'repent and believe'.
Follow with me from verse 16. Jesus walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. A large lake - 20km long, 11km wide. Rich in fish. All along it's shore various family firms would be seen. It was a working day on a working lake. Jesus sees one such business.
Simon and Andrew. They're casting nets over the side of the boat. Verse 17, "Come, follow me, [Jesus says] I will send you out to fish for people."
He walks a little further along and repeat performance. He comes to the firm Zebedee and sons. James and John getting their nets ready. And, verse 20, "without delay He [calls] them "
All four of these fishermen leave immediately. Simon and Andrew, verse 18. They went "at once". James and John also don't wait.
And all four of these men leave something behind. Andrew and Simon, verse 18, leave their nets. James and John, verse 20, leave their father, and the hired men. These men left the family business. just like that. They left their family - Mum and Dad - just like that. No 2 week notice period. No farewell party with friends.
And it's now. At once. Without delay. Leaving things behind.
And all four fishermen we're told follow Jesus. Which doesn't mean they just tagged along for the afternoon. It's not a day trip. This was a definite decisive decision. They became disciples of Jesus. Followers, looking to Jesus as their leader and teacher.
d. Amazing Authority
Now all this, Jesus' teaching and call to follow points to His authority. The nature of Jesus' authority was not a forceful personality, or a strong voice. It was in what He said, and what He did.
Jesus message was authoritative. Time come, Kingdom here, repent and believe. Jesus' claims to be God's King.
So Jesus taught with authority. That's what amazed people. Verse 22, Jesus goes to the synagogue. "The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law."
Look down to verse 27, "The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, 'What is this? A new teaching - and with authority!'"
Jesus' taught with clear authority, supreme authority, divine authority.
Similarly, the call of the 4 disciples shows Jesus' authority. It wasn't unusual for a teacher or leader to have disciples. What makes Jesus extraordinary is the stark and absolute way in which he calls them. He simply has the right to name and claim who He wants. No questions asked. No negotiation.
Jesus walks around like He owns the place, and owns people, precisely because he does.
In our anti-authoritarian western society we're opposed to being told what to do, where to go, and how to live. We're big on rights, freedom, individual choice. So, who must Jesus be if he has the right and authority to call people to Himself?
And to demand we all repent and believe? Mark's expecting us to ask exactly that question.
Yet Jesus showed Himself to be God, not simply through what He said and who He called, but also through what he did.
He performed miracles. And we've got a couple of miracles recorded here. Miracles that showed His authority and thus revealed who he is.
a. The Demons
In verses 21 to 28 we see Jesus casting out a demon, an impure or evil spirit. There's a lot of sickness and demon possession in the gospels.
That's because God had entered in a covenant relationship with Israel. Obedience would bring blessing. But disobedience meant being cursed. (Lev 26 and Deut 28)
And given other to things like sickness, lots of that in Mark. Foreign rule, under Roman rule here, and other gods, demons in Mark.
After Jesus, though demons are still there, the rest of the New Testament doesn't mention them much at all. And they're not a normal thing today.
But back then, because of the covenant curse, they were all over the place. Now Jesus is in the synagogue, teaching, when, verse 23, it appears in mid sermon Jesus is interrupted. A man with an impure spirit shouts out. The impure spirit knows that Jesus is more than a man from Nazareth.
He is; Verse 24, "the Holy One of God!" He's right. But Jesus issues two commands. Verse 25, "Be quiet!"
Because Jesus wants to reveal who He is His own way, not through any impure spirit.
Secondly, He commands. Verse 25, "Come out of him!" And just as Jesus' call on the 4 disciples was decisive and effective, so now his call to the impure spirit is too. Verse 26, "The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek."
Job done. Give the word and demon gone. Simple, effective.
b. The Disease
And then, verse 29, Jesus goes off to Simon's house. His mother-in-law has come to stay and she's not well. And Jesus heals her. And it's clearly a miracle.
If you're not feeling well, you may test positive for COVID-19. And take some drugs. Perhaps head to hospital. And then rest up. Recover.
But Simon's mother-in-law. She's healed instantly. And fully.
Verse 31, "He went to her, took her hand helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them."
Touched. Healed. No recuperation period. She's up and serving lunch straight away. And then there's a sort of summary of Jesus' miracle-working. Verses 32-34:
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town [gathers] and Jesus [heals] many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons.
My dad's a doctor. Many here are doctors. And it's got to be tough. Having to say sometimes to a patient. 'I'm sorry we don't know what's wrong with you.' Or 'I'm sorry there's nothing more we can do!'
Or, 'I'm afraid that's inoperable.' But Jesus never had too. He healed all the sick. Imagine the Capernaum hospital, and and hospice. They'd bundle them into ambos and Ubers and trains, and carry them. Off to Simon's house. And Jesus healed them.
Doctors and nurses would have had the next day off. Capernaum would've been a sick free zone.
c. Amazing Authority
Driving out demons, healing disease - what's this tell us about Jesus? Well, what was the response of the people? Jesus has just cast out the demon. Verse 27,
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, 'What is this? A new teaching - and with authority!
Jesus taught with authority. And His miracles show his authority, authority over demons and disease. Miracles back up His claim to be God, to be King.
Well, what's so amazing about Jesus? What sort of impression does He make, should He make on you? Me?
a. "God Walking on the Earth"
Why does Mark want us to be amazed about Jesus? The American James Irwin was the first astronaut to drive a moon buggy on the moon. An incredible experience. In fact he became a Christian out of that whole experience.
Now there's a church in London with a big photograph of James Irwin driving his moon buggy on the moon. Under the picture he has written: "man walking on the moon is not nearly as significant as God walking on the earth."
The time has come! Here's a hugely significant moment in history. A momentous moment.
The news is that God's Kingdom is here because God's King is here. Jesus is not just a moral teacher or good example. Jesus is God walking on earth.
He's the Messiah, God's Son, our Saviour. Who comes with authority. Calls with authority. Teaches with authority.
And performs miracles showing His authority.
b. Repent and Believe!
Amazed? I hope so. So how ought we to respond to Jesus?
When I met Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka I didn't greet her, 'Hi Poomie, watssup?'
I didn't interrupt her, or talk back. I recognised she was the deputy president. So treated her with respect. politely. Didn't talk too much. I listened. I treated her right.
Treating Jesus right is a lot more than simply ticking a block on a ballot paper. 'Yeah, Jesus gets my vote. but not gonna think about it for another 4 years, until the next election. No! it's got to be a whole lot more than that. Because Jesus calls everyone, calls us, to, verse 15, "repent and believe the news [Jesus is King]."
Repent of our own self-rule. Turn back. Turn away. From living life by our own rules. Stop ignoring God. And believe.
Recognise Jesus is the king. Who rules. So not just amazed by His authority. Submit to it. Come under his rule. Heed His call to follow. Repent and believe. Turn away from self. Turn to Jesus. Practically, that'll look like leaving. Listening and fishing.
Believing means leaving. Which, most likely, won't mean leaving your job. It will mean rethinking what's important and reshaping our priorities.
Being willing to count the cost of following Jesus. Because whoever wants to gain this world will forfeit his soul.
I recall the lyrics of a song by Michael Card and Scott Roley.
There sits Simon, he's tending his nets
Jesus calls and the boats drift away
And all that he owns he forgets
But more than the nets he abandoned that day
He found that his pride was soon drifting away
It's hard to imagine the freedom we find
From the things we leave behind
Listening
And believing means listening. Listening to Jesus' teaching. Learning, growing, delighting to search the Scriptures. Hanging on His every word.
Fishing
And believing means fishing. Fishing for people. Because God's agenda becomes our agenda. His mission becomes our mission. We share His passions. We share His priorities.
When you meet Jesus you naturally want others to meet Him too. We'll be inviting others to follow Jesus with us.