SPEAKER_00: All right, good morning, church family.
SPEAKER_00: Turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to hold your spot there because this morning we're going to do something unique, and I'm actually going to give an overview, a giant flyover, tracing a major theme through the book of Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: The scriptures are going to be on the screen, but to prevent you from going super fast, because I'm going to go super fast, hold your spot in eight, because we'll camp out there for two really important scenes.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest with us this morning, let me introduce myself.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Jason Smith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the pastor here of First Baptist, and it is an honor and a privilege to have you.
SPEAKER_00: Let me welcome you.
SPEAKER_00: If you do not have a Bible, there is a Bible in the Pew rack in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: You can take that Bible and keep it as a gift from us to you.
SPEAKER_00: All right, church family, before we jump into the text, though, I do want us to spend just a few moments.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to be in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you know the conflict that is going on around the world, our nation at war, and I want us to pray for two things very specifically.
SPEAKER_00: We have a mission partner that is currently in Iraq that is getting reports, and all of those reports are in the midst of the turmoil, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is continuing to flourish, that the church is not shrinking back, but the church is stepping into all the chaos.
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to pray for the underground church in Iran, and we're going to pray for our servicemen and women who are so brave to put themselves in harm's way and for the wisdom and of leadership of everything that's taking place, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're going to go before God's throne and pray that his kingdom would come.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we pray right now in Jesus' name for our brothers and sisters who are on the other side of the world.
SPEAKER_00: We pray for the church in Iran.
SPEAKER_00: Amidst all the conflict and chaos, Father, we pray that your kingdom would come.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that you would save.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that there would be an incredible movement among the Persian people, that they would come to faith in you, King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You are worthy of all of our praise.
SPEAKER_00: God, we pray that your kingdom would come.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for the servicemen and women of our country who are putting themselves in harm's way to liberate from an evil regime.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray your protection.
SPEAKER_00: We pray your wisdom to the leaders making decisions.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, we pray that your will would be done.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The road into Jerusalem is finally crowded.
SPEAKER_00: For three years Jesus had moved quietly, teaching in villages, healing in the margins, again and again telling people to not make him known.
SPEAKER_00: He would slip away through the crowds, silence demons, avoids the spotlight.
SPEAKER_00: But now everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: As he approaches the city, he does something that he's never done before.
SPEAKER_00: He tells two of his disciples to go ahead and to find a cult who had never been ridden.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone asks about what's going on, tell them the Lord has need of it.
SPEAKER_00: They untie it and bring it back to him.
SPEAKER_00: This is not an accident.
SPEAKER_00: This is not spontaneous.
SPEAKER_00: No, Jesus is orchestrating a moment.
SPEAKER_00: He is deliberately stepping into prophecy because the promised king is arriving in his city.
SPEAKER_00: So they bring the colt back to him, and Jesus mounts it.
SPEAKER_00: They take their cloak and they make a saddle.
SPEAKER_00: And as he begins to ride toward Jerusalem, the crowd begins to swell.
SPEAKER_00: People take off their cloak and lay them on the road.
SPEAKER_00: Others go into the field and begin to cut branches and wave them and lay them in front of him.
SPEAKER_00: And then the shouting begins: Hosanna! Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David.
SPEAKER_00: See, this is it.
SPEAKER_00: The moment that Israel had been waiting for the king has come.
SPEAKER_00: Publicly, openly, unashamedly.
SPEAKER_00: No more hiding, no more secrecy.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is now presenting himself to Jerusalem as the king.
SPEAKER_00: And the crowd celebrates, they rejoice, they welcome him.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the tension: they don't realize what kind of king he is.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they see him, they honor him, they shout his name in praise, but they do not understand him.
SPEAKER_00: Because within a matter of days, the same city that cries out, Hosanna, will cry out, crucify him.
SPEAKER_00: So what happened?
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: How could they go from celebration to rejection?
SPEAKER_00: How could they be so close to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: So close to honoring him for who he is and completely miss who he is?
SPEAKER_00: You see, that's the question that the gospel of Mark forces us to ask.
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is this you know, it's possible to see Jesus and to not see him, to not understand who he truly is.
SPEAKER_00: Because he is not the king that we expect, but he is exactly the king that we need.
SPEAKER_00: Today, as we walk through Mark's gospel, we're going to be given a unique vantage point.
SPEAKER_00: We get to watch it happen.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds miss him, the disciples do not understand, even those closest to him, trying to reshape him.
SPEAKER_00: Not because they aren't looking, but because they are blinded by their own expectations.
SPEAKER_00: The end of Mark's gospel, he does something remarkable for us.
SPEAKER_00: He shows us one man standing at the foot of the cross who finally sees clearly.
SPEAKER_00: So before we walk that road, I want you to see the destination at the end.
SPEAKER_00: So listen to Mark 15, 37 through 39.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last, and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
SPEAKER_00: When the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw the way that he breathed his last, he said, Truly, this man was the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, I pray this morning, as we have gathered around your word, as we listen to Mark unfold the detail of your account, King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray that you would allow us to see.
SPEAKER_00: That your spirit would open the eyes of our heart and mind, and that we would see who you truly are.
SPEAKER_00: And that we need you.
SPEAKER_00: Holy and completely, we need you.
SPEAKER_00: That we do not need to reshape you into our image, but instead you have come as the magnificent one, and you have come to meet every true need that we have, the ultimate need, and that you are the king.
SPEAKER_00: And we surrender to you.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray if there is anyone here today under the sound of my voice that does not know you, that today would be the day of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So, right at the beginning of Mark's gospel, at the very outset, he tells us who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 1:1.
SPEAKER_00: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now that's not a conclusion, that's a starting point.
SPEAKER_00: And then heaven speaks in verse 11 You are my beloved son, and in you I am well pleased.
SPEAKER_00: Now recall, if you were here last week, we saw that that was a very intentional statement from heaven that is actually fulfilling two magnificent promises from the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: One announcing the king from the Psalms, and the other announcing the suffering servant from Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: And in one sentence, God tells us that Jesus is the king who reigns, and that he is the humble servant who will suffer.
SPEAKER_00: You see, against all expectations, God announces that his king will suffer before he reigns.
SPEAKER_00: But you see, no one on earth knows that yet.
SPEAKER_00: Not the crowds, not the disciples, not the religious leaders, only the Father declares it.
SPEAKER_00: So before the story even begins, God tells you exactly who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning we don't get to redefine him.
SPEAKER_00: We don't get to reshape him into our image.
SPEAKER_00: We don't get to adjust him.
SPEAKER_00: Either you receive him as he is, or you miss him completely.
SPEAKER_00: Early in the Gospels, the clearest voices are the darkest ones.
SPEAKER_00: Repeatedly, the demons declare that Jesus is the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Look, Mark 1.24.
SPEAKER_00: I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 3, 11.
SPEAKER_00: And they fell before him and shouted, You are the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 5, 7.
SPEAKER_00: What business do we have, each other?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, Son of the Most High God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the demons know his identity.
SPEAKER_00: They know his authority, but they do not understand his mission.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 8, it says, Paul writes there that neither Satan nor the demons nor any spiritual forces had any understanding of the plan of salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, they would not have crucified him.
SPEAKER_00: They did not understand Jesus' mission.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Jesus rebukes and silences the demons in Mark.
SPEAKER_00: They know who he is, but they do not know what he has come to do.
SPEAKER_00: And truth without the cross is dangerous truth.
SPEAKER_00: You can know the right things about Jesus, use all the right theological titles, and still not belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: As Jesus travels from town to town teaching and performing miracles, the crowds are amazed.
SPEAKER_00: But it's superficial.
SPEAKER_00: They love Jesus, but for the wrong reasons.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Mark 1.27.
SPEAKER_00: They were all amazed, saying, What is this?
SPEAKER_00: A new teaching with authority.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 2, 12, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, We have never seen anything like this before.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 5, 56, they were imploring him that they might just touch the fringe of his cloak, and as many as touched him were cured.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they are drawn to Jesus' power and his miracles, all of which is good.
SPEAKER_00: But instinctively it was to what Jesus could do for them.
SPEAKER_00: They never arrived at a true understanding.
SPEAKER_00: They see him as a miracle worker, but never a suffering savior.
SPEAKER_00: And if we are not careful, we can approach Jesus in the same way as a genie.
SPEAKER_00: It's not who he is, but what he can do for me.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know what you're thinking.
SPEAKER_00: You're thinking, in your mind, well, well, the crowd was distant from him, okay?
SPEAKER_00: They only got a glimpse of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What about his disciples?
SPEAKER_00: Those who left everything for him.
SPEAKER_00: They walk with him, they hear him teach on a regular basis, they see his miracles.
SPEAKER_00: Surely they understand him.
SPEAKER_00: Friend, this is where it gets uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: Because it is possible to be close to Jesus and still not see him clearly, still not truly understand him.
SPEAKER_00: They don't understand his power.
SPEAKER_00: In Mark chapter 4, after he calms the storm, they ask, who then is this?
SPEAKER_00: That even the wind and the sea obey him?
SPEAKER_00: They don't understand his provision, Mark 6, 52, for when they had for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
SPEAKER_00: They don't understand his teaching, Mark 7.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to them, Are you still lacking in understanding?
SPEAKER_00: See, there's this repeated theme that even those closest to Jesus are still spiritually in the dark.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this becomes a very important theme in the Gospel of Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so turn with me in your Bibles to Mark 8, 22 through 26.
SPEAKER_00: Because in Mark 8, 22 through 26, Jesus gives us a living parable.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is going to heal a man who is blind.
SPEAKER_00: But intriguingly, when Jesus heals him, he does it in two stages.
SPEAKER_00: Now, friend, that's not because Jesus had half the power and had to do it twice to finish the job.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: That's not what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus bends down, takes some dirt, creates some spittle, applies it to the eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus asks, Can you see?
SPEAKER_00: To which the man replies, I see people, but they look like walking trees.
SPEAKER_00: You see, everything is still blurry.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus lays hands the second time upon his eyes, and then everything becomes clear.
SPEAKER_00: This is not random.
SPEAKER_00: This is a picture of the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they see something real in Jesus, but it's blurry.
SPEAKER_00: They are not blind anymore, but they do not see clearly either.
SPEAKER_00: So throughout the first eight chapters in the Gospel of Mark, there is attention growing.
SPEAKER_00: There is a question that is building.
SPEAKER_00: The question is: who is Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: The demons know his authority, but they are silenced.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds are amazed, but they are shallow.
SPEAKER_00: And even the disciples, they are committed, but they're still confused.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone is talking about Jesus, but does anyone truly understand who he is?
SPEAKER_00: And that leads us to Mark 8, 27-33.
SPEAKER_00: This is actually the hinge of the entire gospel of Mark.
SPEAKER_00: Everything has been building to this scene.
SPEAKER_00: Because in this scene, Jesus directly asks his disciples, Who do people say that I am?
SPEAKER_00: And then, who do you say that I am?
SPEAKER_00: Peter replies, You are the Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He's right.
SPEAKER_00: For the very first time, the disciples get the title correctly.
SPEAKER_00: You are the Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Peter sees.
SPEAKER_00: But he sees what he wants to see.
SPEAKER_00: Because immediately Jesus begins to teach.
SPEAKER_00: Right after this proclamation, Jesus begins to teach them.
SPEAKER_00: The Son of Man must suffer.
SPEAKER_00: He must be rejected and be killed.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him.
SPEAKER_00: Rebukes him.
SPEAKER_00: Peter doesn't reject Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to reshape him.
SPEAKER_00: That's far more dangerous than just outright rejection.
SPEAKER_00: Because you can follow a Jesus that you've created and never actually know the real one.
SPEAKER_00: You see, here's the problem.
SPEAKER_00: In Peter's mind, the problem is out there.
SPEAKER_00: It's Rome.
SPEAKER_00: It's oppression.
SPEAKER_00: It's his circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: The problem is out there.
SPEAKER_00: It's not in here.
SPEAKER_00: My sin, my rebellion, my need for atonement.
SPEAKER_00: And when the problem is external, you need a conquering king.
SPEAKER_00: Fix this mess, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're the king, you reign, and I'll be at your right hand.
SPEAKER_00: Go get him.
SPEAKER_00: But when the problem is internal, only then do you need a crucified Savior.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Peter isn't confused, he's offended.
SPEAKER_00: He's offended at the fact that he is the reason that he needs saving.
SPEAKER_00: And to this reshaping, Jesus replies, get behind me, Satan.
SPEAKER_00: Peter confessed all the right titles, and he still rejected the real Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: See, the question isn't, do you say the right things about Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: The question is, do you receive him on his terms?
SPEAKER_00: Now from this moment forward in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is marching towards the cross.
SPEAKER_00: He's marching towards the cross, and he will say it again and again and again.
SPEAKER_00: 8 31 He must Suffer.
SPEAKER_00: 931, he will be killed.
SPEAKER_00: 1034, he will be mocked, scourged, and killed.
SPEAKER_00: And every time the disciples are thinking about their own glory, right?
SPEAKER_00: They are arguing which one of them is the greatest.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus teaches them, right?
SPEAKER_00: He corrects their understanding of what greatness really is in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: You do not understand what greatness really is.
SPEAKER_00: You see, in the kingdom, greatness is servanthood.
SPEAKER_00: Victory is sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: The king gives up his life.
SPEAKER_00: See, he's overturning their entire understanding of glory.
SPEAKER_00: But they're slow to see.
SPEAKER_00: And so now we arrive back at Palm Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus presents himself to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: The king has come.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds celebrate.
SPEAKER_00: They are right to call him king.
SPEAKER_00: But they do not know what kind of king he is.
SPEAKER_00: Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Hosanna means God save us.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they're shouting.
SPEAKER_00: God save us.
SPEAKER_00: But they mean save us from Rome.
SPEAKER_00: Give us provision.
SPEAKER_00: Give us what we want.
SPEAKER_00: See, it's possible to be excited about Jesus and still completely misunderstand him.
SPEAKER_00: Like Peter, they are shaping Jesus into what they want him to be.
SPEAKER_00: They never stop to ask, is this what God is doing?
SPEAKER_00: Is this what God who God says he is?
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, we do the same, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: We don't reject Jesus outright.
SPEAKER_00: We just prefer a version of Jesus that doesn't confront me.
SPEAKER_00: And when Jesus refuses to be the Savior that they want, everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: Because a Jesus who will not meet your expectations is ultimately a Jesus that you will reject.
SPEAKER_00: The night of Jesus' arrest, he is brought before the Sanhedrin, the highest leadership, and he is brought to trial.
SPEAKER_00: The question all through the gospel of Mark that has been mounting is now finally expressed by the high priest.
SPEAKER_00: Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, I am.
SPEAKER_00: And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus stated the truth plainly.
SPEAKER_00: I am.
SPEAKER_00: No more hiding.
SPEAKER_00: But because he is not the Messiah that they wanted, they will kill him.
SPEAKER_00: So they take him to Pilate with the charges.
SPEAKER_00: Here is one who says that he is our king.
SPEAKER_00: And Pilate presents his findings back to the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: The same crowd that shouted, Save us days before, now shout crucify him.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they wanted a king that would save them from Rome.
SPEAKER_00: But they needed a Savior who would save them from their sin.
SPEAKER_00: Ironically, they reject the true king by mocking him as king.
SPEAKER_00: He wears a crown of thorns and a purple robe.
SPEAKER_00: And in crucifying the Savior that they did not want, he is the only Savior that they truly need.
SPEAKER_00: And the same is true for us.
SPEAKER_00: Darkness falls while Jesus hangs on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: There is no voice from heaven, no rescue, only silence.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus cries, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
SPEAKER_00: And then he dies.
SPEAKER_00: And standing in front of the cross, right in front of him, is one: a Roman soldier, a pagan, an outsider, one who should not see, but is the first one to see with clarity who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: The same question that Mark has been asking the entire time has been revealed that he is the Son of God who suffers and was crucified for my sin.
SPEAKER_00: And now Mark leaves the same question with us.
SPEAKER_00: Who is Jesus to you?
SPEAKER_00: By that he means not the titles you've always used.
SPEAKER_00: But who is the Jesus that you actually believe in?
SPEAKER_00: You see, because it is possible to say all the right things and still miss him.
SPEAKER_00: Peter did.
SPEAKER_00: It is possible to be around Jesus, to be familiar with him, to do all the churchy things and still not see him clearly.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds did.
SPEAKER_00: That you have sculpted and to still not know the one who came to save you.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news.
SPEAKER_00: The Jesus that you would not have chosen is exactly the Savior that you need.
SPEAKER_00: And you don't need a Jesus who just fixes your circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: You need a Savior who forgives your sins.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need a king who simply makes your life easier.
SPEAKER_00: You need a king who will make you new.
SPEAKER_00: And that is why he went to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Not as a tragedy, not by a mistake, but he went to the cross in order to save you from your sin.
SPEAKER_00: So today, may we not reshape him, may we not redefine him or try and settle him into a corner that fits real nice and neat on my bookshelf.
SPEAKER_00: But rather, may we receive him as he is.
SPEAKER_00: May we surrender wholly to him, the Son of God, who suffered in your place.
SPEAKER_00: Because he was not the king that we expect, but he is exactly the king that we need.
SPEAKER_00: Will you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father.
SPEAKER_00: You rule and you reign magnificent above it all.
SPEAKER_00: You spoke, and the entire universe came into being.
SPEAKER_00: And you created each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_00: And there is no God like you who enters into our suffering, who draws near so that we might know you.
SPEAKER_00: How can we comprehend a God who would lay down his own life in sacrifice for our sin, for the injustice that we have done against you, King?
SPEAKER_00: Against you.
SPEAKER_00: Tune our hearts, Father, to understand your love.
SPEAKER_00: Tune our hearts to see you with clarity and not to reshape you into our image.
SPEAKER_00: May we be absolutely blown away at your magnificence, at your truth of who you are.
SPEAKER_00: And may we surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I do pray with a bowed heart and I declare that if you will show me more of who you are, that I will surrender.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Church family, the praise team comes to lead us in two songs of response.
SPEAKER_00: We give time at the end of every service for you to genuinely contemplate and respond to what God Himself has said to you through His Word.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has come to be the revelation of the Father to you.
SPEAKER_00: His Spirit stirs in your heart, and now is your chance to respond with obedience to whatever he has said.
SPEAKER_00: I can never tell you what that looks like, but I can charge you.
SPEAKER_00: We have ministers down here at the front who would love to pray with you.
SPEAKER_00: We want to carry a burden together.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to pour out your heart upon these steps as an altar to express your love or surrender to your king, whatever the Spirit of God has pressed upon you, you be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand?