1- A Profound Start: Mark 1:1-15 - Mike Olynyk, Meadows Church

You're invited!  Come on a journey as we see the sights, smell the smells & experience Jesus' story told by Mark in an immersive way.  Engage in the story as one of the crowd, the disciples or even as a religious leader.  For an even more immersive experience, click the link below to follow along with the PDF media with maps, pictures of historical sites and more.

A Profound Start PDF  - Click Here!

Meadows Church is a church in the community, for the community, located in Langley, BC.  We want you to know that you're welcome here!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

You're listening to audio from Meadows Church in Langley, BC. For more information about Meadows Church, go to Meadowschurch.ca. Alright, well, man, it is good to be together, and I I'm excited, friends. We are diving into a new series called Encountering Jesus, and it's based on Mark, so we're gonna be in Mark 1 today, and you can turn there, but before we start diving in, I have a question for you. Do you ever have the desire to just really get into a good book? Yeah. Where are my bookworms at? Just to to lose yourself in a well-crafted book. Well, I I don't do that all the time, but I have seasons where I just dig in, and you know what really gets me is those first couple lines of a book. I love books that just grab you from the release from the start. You have uh A Christmas Carol, I love Christmas, and so uh Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol starts with the line: the Marlies were dead to begin with. You have uh Moby Dick, and in the in that classic, the first line of it is call me Ishmael. Intriguing. You're instantly hooked. The fortunes of men, 2021. Says, the king is dead, long live the queen, the announcer's voice crackles from the wireless. I'm in. What's it about? I captured the castle by Dodie Smith says this in its first line. I write this sitting in a kitchen sink. Why are you in a kitchen sink? How did you get there? What's going on? I'm intrigued. I love books that start that way. And when you know the cultural significance, the the way that Mark starts is is actually eye-catching. I want to say at first it's it's far from eye-catching, it it just really seems like an introduction, but as we dig into the culture of the day, the first line of Mark pops out. The NIV says this of Mark 1:1. The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And so, right off the bat, we know what Jesus' last name is, right? If if Jesus was writing a letter, he'd say something like, Dearest so-and-so, I love you, I died for you sincerely, Jesus am Christ. Right? No, that well, that that isn't actually the case. You see, in in the Greek, the term Christ isn't a last name, it's a title. It means Messiah or anointed one. So it actually, if you read this first line from the NLT, it kind of reads uh more accurately. It says this Mark 1.1, this is the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. This is so much more than just an introduction. First, there is so much intrigue in Mark calling Jesus the Son of God, which he goes on to flesh out more throughout his book. That aside, can we just talk contextually about the time it's written in? Because in the not so distant past, Jews are still reeling from Babylonians coming and destroying their country and deporting everyone. And although there is this like slight restoration with Ezra and Nehemiah, Ezra rebuilds the temple of God in Jerusalem, and then Nehemiah goes back and builds back up the city walls. And by the way, if you want to track with that, I love it. That is our reading plan right now. You can jump in right now, and we are in the book of Nehemiah, and Nehemiah is building up the walls with so much opposition all around him. And then from there, we're gonna go in and look at the book of Luke together. And so if you're not doing the reading plan, make sure to get on that. But Israel, now, in when Mark was written, is under Roman occupation and has been since 63 BCE during the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean. And the the word Messiah, man, that has some significant baggage for Jews. You see, the Jews thought that the Messiah would come with military strength and would vanquish the evil Roman Empire and restore the nation of Israel and force a golden age for Israel. And Mark uses this to get them thinking, and it would work out that they would continue to think on the word Messiah, because Jesus would actually die and be executed in a brutal fashion by the occupying nation, Rome. He was a different type of Messiah than they had thought. For the first century reader, this is a powerful hook. And the next two verses draw in the Old Testament prophecy, and that uses Malachi and Isaiah to back up that messianic claim. Okay, let's keep reading. Verse 2: it began just as the prophet Isaiah had written. Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness Prepare the way for the Lord's coming, clear the road for him. This messenger was John the Baptist. And so these two verses here are Malachi 3, verse 1, and Isaiah 40, verse 3. They were written 400 years and 700 years previously, respectively. So the Jews have been pondering. Can you get the tension here? The Jews have been pondering who is this voice in the wilderness that could be ushering in salvation, the Messiah. But it's been so long. And there's probably hope drowned in defeat and hopelessness. But Mark is clear the wait is over, the time is now, the voice is John the Baptist, and the main character is the Messiah, Jesus. Well, let's get going because we're going to look at Jesus' baptism. We're going to look at a significant time of temptation for Jesus, and then kind of his first line to us, and that's where we're going to end off today as we're encountering Jesus. Let's go, verse 4. He was in the wilderness, this is John the Baptist, and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. This baptism of John is not the same one that we practice today. Today, like when we baptize Ray Lynn, the first person we baptized at Meadows Church, she went under the water, was a symbol of joining Jesus in death, death to life. And then as she raised out of the water, the symbol of that is that she is declaring her faith with new life in Jesus. Now, Jesus hadn't come, he hadn't died, he hadn't risen from the dead. This baptism was a baptism preparing the Jewish nation's heart for the Messiah of repentance. Now I love the different accounts of this story. John's account, the Gospel of John, gives us a little more detail about where this baptism spot is. John 1, verse 28. This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River where John was baptized. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. And I don't know about you, but I really want to know where this stuff is. I want to dive in to the area and what did it look like and how did it feel? And on the map here behind me, here's Jerusalem. And here's where most people pinpoint the spot where John is. It is 59 kilometers from Jerusalem across the Jordan River. The question I have is so besides the fact that it was prophesied that he would be a voice calling out in the desert, as Isaiah 40, verse 3 prophesies, why is he positioned there? And I think first, Herod, who was the Roman governor at the time, was not a big fan of John. And eventually he would imprison and execute John. Herod did not have authority on the east side of the Jordan. So that may be part of it, scholars think. But what I find interesting is we look at these two maps, this spot where John sets up shop is right on the main route of travel for Jews. As we'll see later in Jesus' story, Jews traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee, and vice versa, it was a well-traveled route. They would go around the province of Samaria along the east side of the Jordan River, as you can see in the picture. And John's location is smack dab on that route. Pastor Byers would have to pass him, seeing this massive group, hearing him speak and baptizing people. It was the perfect spot. And okay, since we're geeking out on locations right now, you can see on the map Nazareth, if you took that route down to where they believed Jesus was baptized, it was 159 kilometers away. So that gives you an idea of Jesus' journey to being baptized too, which we're gonna look at in a sec. But first, let's get to verse 6, because verse 6 is gonna describe who John the Baptist was and what he looked like. Verse 6, his clothes, John the Baptist, were woven from coarse camel's hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist, and for food he ate locusts and wild honey. And so, first, can I just say not my first choice at the local cantina? But hey, to to each their own. But but the garb is unique, it's very prophet Elijah chic. It was what a lot of the Old Testament prophets wore. In 1 Kings 18, someone is describing a man coming to the king, and the king says, Oh, that's Elijah, when he hears the description. This is the description. Very, very similar. The look of a prophet. Let's jump to verse 7. John announces someone is coming soon who is greater than I am. So much greater that I'm not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Well, a couple weeks ago we talked about feet and foot washing as we were looking at Jesus as a servant leader. We looked at how offensive and disgusting feet were back then, especially because of the cesspool of germs and animal feces and even human excrement that would be on the road as they traveled along with open-toed shoes on. It was so gross that it was actually mandatory in social protocol. We looked at this last week that each homeowner would have to have a wash bin and towel and water provided for guests to wash their feet before they enter. And if they were prestigious guests, the homeowner would actually the host would actually provide a servant to do that washing. And that person who is washing the feet could not be forced to do it if they were a Jew. If they were a Jewish slave or a Jewish servant of the house, they could not be forced to wash feet. That was a job for only non-Jews. Do you see what John is getting at here? The juxtaposition here is really neat. John's announcement is profound and shocking. Here is this guy who is revered by many. We're talking about John, a prophet who some people think could be the Messiah. And he says he's not worthy to wash Jesus' feet. The lowest job in the food chain. That statement says everything about who Jesus is. He's saying he's the one you should follow. He's gonna baptize you to immerse you in the Spirit of God. It's incredible. Well, let's keep going. Verse 9. One day, okay, based on that, we know that this time had passed and that John would continue to speak this truth again and again and again. That someone is gonna come and he's gonna knock your socks off, change your ways and get ready. That's the message. Then it happens. Verse 9 One day Jesus came from the Nazareth in Galilee. Remember, 159 kilometers. And John baptized him in the Jordan River. And again, I'm so glad that we have four accounts of Jesus' life. Luke is so much more specific about what John preaches about. John was an in-your-face preacher, and he even baptized, you know, what would be called dirty tax collectors and religious leaders and even Roman soldiers. Like that was scandalous. But he did it. And we have a record of it. Well, I love the conversation that John has with Jesus. You see, Luke's gospel is clear. People were wondering whether John was the Messiah. And here comes Jesus up to John in Matthew's gospel. This is the moment. Jesus is walking towards John in the water. The man, the myth, the legend. Well, he's not the myth, the man, the reality, the legend. Jesus comes up to John and asks him to baptize. Let's read Matthew's account to go alongside Mark's. Matthew 3, 13. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? Jesus replied, Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. And then John consented. And then the scene, and I wish I could have seen it, because it is amazing. I want you to just close your eyes and picture this as I share. In my mind, this moment is like in slow motion in all its power, as the spiritual veil is torn, and we are given a glimpse of the heavenly reality. Let's check it out in verse 10. Your eyes closed? Here it is. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, You are my dearly loved son, and you bring me great joy. What a scene. Well, a quick reminder about Jesus. Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus isn't like some functional God with human skin kind of draped over his body. Philippians 2 says that Jesus emptied himself to be truly human. He gave up, voluntarily gave up his God powers. And he lived the first 30 years of his life as a regular old human. We're talking a child, a teenager, a young adult. It's incredible to think on this. The humility of an all-powerful God. And in this act of obedience, the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus, and now He has God powers to do miracles and to cast out demons and to raise people from the dead. Now, after being obedient to baptism, Jesus can start his earthly mystery. And what I what I think is just crazy to me is that Jesus utilizes something that we have access to. You see, we actually have the same spirit. Romans 8, 11 says, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in you. I'll just let you ponder that for a second. How much more the church and we as Christians need to embrace the Spirit for all we got. Well, what is the first thing that the Spirit does with Jesus? He tests his faith and resilience before he starts his earthly ministry. Verse 12. If we look in Matthew's account in chapter 4, he tells us uh more about how Satan tempted Jesus. How he tempted Jesus three times with pretty tempting stuff. Yet Jesus came out on top. Now we don't have enough time to pick up on yet another passage today, but I want to encourage you to check out Matthew 4 at home. But I want to finish out our section and then bring this first encounter with Jesus home. What's noteworthy from Mark is that Jesus receives the Holy Spirit and is immediately tested in the wilderness, and then out of that testing, he has an incredible ministry. Verse 14. Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee where he preached God's good news. And he says this the time promised by God has come at last, he announced. And that ends our first 15 verses of encountering Jesus. This declaration of who Jesus was and the power he has over sin, Satan, and death, and the start of his ministry. And what I love is that because he was truly human, he can relate to the way you and I are feeling in life. When we're tempted, when we're struggling with the weight of the world, when we're he he's been there, he's done that. The king of the universe experiences much of what we have gone through. And what I love is he is right there to come alongside us. He is the greatest news for you and for me. This message of Jesus is I want to say it again is. The kingdom of God is near. Repent of your sins and believe the good news. Repent and believe is the kicker of Mark One. I think we need to lean in here because the church has used these words in an incredibly damaging way in the past. Hey, this word repent. So so let's flesh it out. Repenting is this. It is the recognition that we make a mess of things. You know, in our past relationships, we've done things that go away awry. We treat other ourselves and we treat others poorly at times, and we make life decisions that aren't always that great. And Jesus is He's calling us to turn from that false thinking, to make a 180 in our life. That false thinking that says that we can do it on our own and we can somehow right the wrongs and we can fulfill our greatest desires and our greatest felt needs and the felt needs of our family members, too. That's the lies of the world. Instead, we turn from that. And we turn from the life where we are God. And by the way, we I make a horrible God. I chose to make the Almighty Creator of the universe God in my life. And I embrace through this repentance and asking for forgiveness, I embrace the love, hope, and freedom in Jesus. And not only that, but I gained so much purpose. I love it. That's what repentance means. God calls us all to that for the health of ourselves and the health of those around us and for restoration in our relationship with Him. And I want to say that if you are clinging to control, if you're trying as hard as you can to just bury the cringy things in your past, you just want to bury that deep down. And you are taking the weight of the world and trying your hardest to make sense of it. Maybe today is the day that you take Jesus up on his incredible free gift for you. Freedom from your past. And a hope and love and joy in him. We're so glad you chose to join us today. To find out more about Meadows Church and how you can get involved, connect with a pastor or how you can partner with us in ministry. Go to Meadowschurch.ca