The Chosen Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqZh-SkoMPI

So we are in a series in the Gospel of Mark… (slide on where we are…)

• Which is Mark’s biography of Jesus, written around 70AD… and it is his attempt at capturing the story of Jesus life…
• And the purpose of this biography is persuading us all that this Jesus is the Messiah.
• Central question… Mark 8:29 where Jesus asks his disciples “who do you say I am?”
• So we started seven (can you believe it), seven weeks ago with verse 1, where Mark tells us “this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”

So we have finished chapter 1… and it only took us 7 weeks… and we missed a whole bunch of stuff! We are definitely rushing too much!

• And what we have seen, is almost like Mark in the first 13 verses gives a kind of theological commentary about who Jesus is… right?
• We are told right up front, he is the Messiah, the son of God… and we see this through his baptism and the voice from heaven and his temptation….
• But then from verse 14 we come down to earth with a bump, and the characters in the story become the ordinary inhabitants of Galilee. 
• It is like we have seen Jesus from God’s perspective… and now the curtain falls and we are among men and women being astonished by Jesus, wondering what on earth is going on.
• But as we will see today… all these stories point us back to what Mark has already told us about who this Jesus is!

So we come to todays passage in Mark 2… 

• And we are going to watch it from The Chosen in just a moment…
• But remember how Jesus popularity is growing… 
• He is teaching with an unheard of authority…
• He is doing remarkable things like casting out impure spirits and healing the sick…
• So the crowds are growing…. News is spreading… the religious leaders are getting nervous and suspicious… 
• And the last thing we read in chapter 1 is “the people still came to him from everywhere.”

Watch the Chosen clip…. Based on Mark 2 and todays passage that we will refer to…

Well, I will refer to the passage in Mark 2… but I got to say, that clip captures the story very well.

• This is the coming to earth with a bump… with Jesus doing remarkable things amongst ordinary people.
• I think the Chosen does a great job of capturing that!
• But wow, what a story….
• A paralyzed man, who because of the crowds, in desperation is lowered to Jesus through a roof… I love that line “hey that’s our roof, put it back!”
• A surprising turn of events when instead of healing the man, Jesus instead forgives his sins…
• The religious leaders immediately accusing Jesus of blaspheming “who can forgive sins but God alone?”
• And then Jesus using his authority, still healing the man, amazing the crowds.
• What on earth is going on?

So I want to suggest two things today… (the sermon was really just watching The Chosen)

• Firstly this is saying something about who Jesus is.
• Secondly it is saying something about our deepest need. OK?

So firstly, what is this story saying about who Jesus is?

• Now I reckon this story can at first seem a bit confusing… Jesus almost comes across a bit rude…
• Clearly the guy has come with his friends because news is spreading about healings happening by this Jesus.
• He has been paralyzed his whole life and his big need is to be able to walk. 
• So Jesus seeing their faith in bringing this man to them says, almost confusingly; “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
• So who is this Jesus?

And rightfully, the teachers of the law ask (verse 7) “why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

• And in one sense they are right… there are great figures in the Old Testament… heroes of the faith… but none of them can forgive a person their sins.
• Right? Moses did miracles…. But he couldn’t forgive sins…
• Joshua was a great military and spiritual leader… but he couldn’t forgive sins…
• David was a great King… but he needed his sins to be forgiven!
• So for the people present at this scene, they know that there is one and only one who can forgive sins… It is God alone!

Right? I can forgive you or you can forgive me, if something is wrong between us… (Vic and I)

• But this man has done nothing wrong to Jesus… so why is he forgiving his sins!
• Well let me tell you… let me tell you clearly…
• This man Jesus, who in the last few days has healed leprosy, who has delivered a man from an impure spirit… who is teaching with authority.
• This man is Yahweh… this is God walking in their midst!
• Only God can forgive sins. This Jesus is claiming to be God.
• And the religious leaders immediately know the audaciousness of this claim and immediately oppose him. 

See, if you were there as a Jewish man or woman, the big story that has shaped your nation and your understanding of who God is, is the Exodus story.

• And as God is revealing himself to Moses we find out about the character of God.
• Now, don’t be under any illusions… God is not a push over, a soft teddy bear.
• God is otherly… God is holy, God is demanding of righteousness. God is the ultimate judge. He will not leave sins unpunished…
• But listen to this. And wherever you hear the word “Lord”, that is the translation of Yahweh, the name of God. 

So Exodus 34:6-7;

“And he (that is the glory of God) passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

OK? That is God’s character… It is God alone who can forgive your and my sin.

• We are created in God’s image and all sin is ultimately sin against God alone. 
• Romans tells us all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 
• When we harm others, we are harming the image of God in them.
• When we abuse our bodies or are given to addictions and bad habits, we are harming the image of God in ourselves…
• I heard the comedian Russell Brand who has become a Christian… in a video a few weeks ago, in tears over the way he harmed others in his past…
• And it was this realization that when we sin, when we sin against others… it is not just them we are sinning against, but God who we are sinning against too!

But what is the character of Yahweh? The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious God.

• This is the one who is slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness.
• This is the one who maintains love to thousands and forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin.
• Right?
• David writes in Psalm 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” 
• The prophet Isaiah writes (43:25) “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” 
• Micah 7:18-19:”Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.” 
• Daniel 9:9: “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him.” 

Are you with me? Forgiveness belongs to the Lord… to Yahweh!

• Yes, we are going to be taught to forgive one another…
• But ultimate forgiveness, the kind that joins us into right relationship with God, that gives us peace with our creator, belongs to the Lord. 
• So they accuse Jesus of blaspheme. Only God can forgive sins.
• Who is this Jesus?

And can I just say one more things before we move on….

• Because Jesus does heal the guy. Right?
• Yes he starts unexpectedly by forgiving the guys sins, even when this hasn’t been asked for…
• But the miracle of healing is not withheld… 
• And I think there are two things going on here…

Firstly, this is in one sense just an out and out act of compassion and mercy… again within God’s character…

• I want you to know that Jesus is merciful!
• When his friend Lazarus died he wept. 
• Is that the God part that wept? Is that the human part that wept? don’t know… maybe that’s a false dichotomy… 
• But Jesus is moved to tears by human suffering and loss.

And this healing is also a physical demonstration of Jesus authority to do what can’t be seen visibly…

• That is to forgive sins… right? I could pompously say that to you… but I am not God, so how can it be proven?
• But now with the physical healing and the authority on display… it is visible to all who this is.
• One scholar Archibald Hunter says “he did the miracle which they could see, that they might know that he had done the other one that they could not see.”

And Remember Psalm 103… which is about God’s character.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion

This healing and forgiving is the very character of Yahweh. And here it is on display in one scene in Mark’s gospel.

• This is what they were looking out for… Right? 
• I love that scene in The Chosen clip when Peter says to Mary across the roof tops; “Can you believe we are really here for this?” 
• Haha… they knew Psalm 103 and what Yahweh, their Lord was like. At least they knew it from what they had read…
• Now they were seeing it with their eyes. Yahweh, their Lord has arrived…
• And Matthew watching the whole thing like he is eating popcorn… told by Peter… better get your tablet and write this all down… too funny!
• Anyhow, I hope you can see what Mark is saying about who this Jesus is. 

Healing going with salvation… (observation… gift… visible sign of an inward healing…)

OK, next! What then does this story tell us about our greatest need?

The crowds love Jesus… at least up until this point, because he is putting on a pretty good show!

• I mean they didn’t have Netflix or the NRL or fine dining opportunities…
• But they had Jesus who was going around healing and casting out evil and teaching with authority!
• What is not to love?  
• But dealing with your sin and brokenness is a bit trickier.

(so verse 4) Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

So what is our greatest need?

• Well how would this go if this was one of your friends here in Sydney?
• Right, someone you know who has endured a life of not being able to walk? Or some other life diminishing condition?
• So as I said, there has already been lots of healing and deliverance and teaching with authority…
• But you bring your friend… and instead of healing… “son, your sins are forgiven”
• Do you reckon that would wash?

I think Jesus is pivoting pretty decisively at this point of his ministry to emphasize something super important…

• Jesus is saying your most immediate problem in life may not be what you think. Yes I have been healing and casting out evil and teaching with authority…
• But your primary need is the forgiveness of your sins. 
• You could be healed… (and we believe and always want to have faith for healing)…
• But a right relationship with God is the most crucial thing in your and my life. 
• Now as we have noted, Jesus does heal the guy… and our bodies are important!
• But the primary need we all have is to have our sins forgiven by God. 

Now we are not an overly liturgical church…but I do recognize that we are in the 40 day period in the lead up to Easter called Lent.

• And it starts with something called Ash Wednesday… which was actually on the 5^th of March.
• And the tradition is that at a service, the Minister marks your forehead with ash… and says something along the lines… “remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
• Right? It is a pretty humbling moment. A reminder of our fragility and impermanence and that all of us will one day die.

And so what is the most important need we have during this life on earth? 

• I would suggest it is to be at peace with God.
• Now we know that Christianity is much more than just having your sins forgiven…
• It is life to the full now… it is community and hospitality and learning the ways of truth and grace from Jesus. 
• But let me say, it is never less than your sins being forgiven.
• You and I fall short of the glory of God and it is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus and receiving the forgiveness of sins that we can have this peace with God. 

I took our new dog Luigi (here he is) down to Manly cemetery for a walk this week. He was very well behaved… no pooping on graves!

• But it was super sobering… a bit of an Ash Wednesday type moment…
• This is how life ends… ashes to ashes, dust to dust!
• But I was actually so moved by so many of the words on the headstones… maybe it was a more Christian era…
• But one that really struck me simply said “at peace with God.”

You know I love the fact that as Jesus initiated the Kingdom of heaven on earth, that he healed the sick and delivered people from evil…

• I love the fact that when we get saved, we get to be a part of a church community… that at its best is unlike any other…
• But that guy who was lowered down by his friends through the roof… although he was healed
• Eventually like all of us he ended “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
• But he received what we all most deeply need to receive. 
• He encountered Jesus and had his sins forgiven… and got peace with God.
• What about you?

Communion… “do you come to Jesus for forgiveness? Your sins are forgiven…”f

In this sermon, Professor Rikk Watts from Regent College talks about Mark’s gospel and Jesus healing ministry.

So we are in a series in the Gospel of Mark… 

• Which is Mark’s biography of Jesus, written around 70AD… and it is his attempt at capturing the story of Jesus life…
• And we have already seen the way he leans on all of the stories and promises of the Old Testament to identify Jesus as the one they all pointed to… 
• And the purpose of this biography is persuading us all that this Jesus is the Messiah.
• Central question… Mark 8:29 where Jesus asks his disciples “who do you say I am?”
• So we started four weeks ago with verse 1, where Mark tells us “this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”
• And then last few weeks, we’ve looked at Jesus baptism, his temptation, and the announcement of the Kingdom 

(before we get to passage) Stuff on the Kingdom of God – Derek was great.

• Gordon Fee class…. What was Jesus main message? Love… die for your sins… but actually it is the announcement and demonstration of the Kingdom of God breaking in.
• Announced (time has come), demonstrated (4 ways – teaching, miracles, casting out evil, mercy), released…
• In Acts this proclamation and demonstration of the Kingdom continues… Acts 19:8 “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.”

So we need to frame our understanding of Jesus and our faith around the Kingdom breaking in…

• Now and not yet (Fredrick Buechner – here and there, now and then)
• We are to pursue: Lord’s prayer
• Taking ground… and giving of authority…

So we come to our next passage and it is the first part of a day in the life of Jesus…

• Announced Kingdom, time has come…
• Called some followers…
• Then you get a day in the life of the ministry of Jesus… so the action in one sense kicks off…
• What are we going to see? Committee meetings? An interfaith dialogue? A building project?
• No – we are going to see the Kingdom advance – and it is going to happen primarily in someone’s life!

Mark 1:21-28

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

What do you notice? What sticks out to you?

• Teaching with authority… maybe?
• The casting out of an impure spirit with authority… maybe? Probably…
• News spreads… 

So I feel like this is Mark saying… Jesus has announced the kingdom… now watch what that Kingdom breaking in looks like up close and personal in ordinary life…

So with the very guys that Jesus has just called to follow him… 

• They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.
• So Jesus grew up, as you know, a few miles to the southwest in Nazareth. 
• But think of Capernaum as Jesus’ home, or at least Jesus’ home base, for his few short years in the public eye. 
• He probably used Peter’s house as a kind of headquarters, or ground central for Jesus’ kingdom work.

Now, this story takes place on the Sabbath, which is the Jewish day for rest and worship from Friday evening to Saturday evening

• And this story takes place in the synagogue, which was the center point of Jewish life.
• It was where children were educated and then the entire village would come together on the Sabbath for a service.
• And they weren’t unlike our services… full of prayers, reading from the scripture, a sermon and a closing blessing.
• But it was very teaching focused and visiting rabbi’s or priests would do this…
• And guess what Jesus does… he begins to teach!
• And it says the people were amazed at his teachings…

It reminds me of the little old lady who came up to her Pastor…

• She commended him on his sermon…
• And with a bit of false humility the Pastor said… “oh it wasn’t me… it was all God”
• To which she replied “Pastor… it wasn’t that good!”

Well as we have been learning, when Jesus taught… it was all God…

• And the people are amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority.
• And in a bit of a dig at the teachers of the law, Mark says “Jesus taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law” Ouch…
• Anyhow, the custom was to teach from the Torah which was the first 5 books of the bible…

And so where as other Rabbi’s would quote other teachers of the law…

• Jesus just teaches… and that was unheard of…
• Now Mark doesn’t include a lot of the teaching of Jesus… if you want that, Matthew and Luke have extended sermons from Jesus…
• The most famous being the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. 
• And that is sometimes called the ethics of the Kingdom
• Remember he says things like “you have heard it said, but I say to you.”

So if you want to compliment your reading of Mark, take some time to read the teachings….

• It takes about 15 minutes to read the Sermon on the Mount out loud and it is the most profound teaching the world has ever heard.
• By the way I heard the best thing this week… if you want to hear the voice of God, read the bible!
• And if you want to hear the audible voice of God… read it out loud!
• OK, well I thought that was funny!

So back to the teachings of Jesus… the sermon on the mount… 

• And just like it says here in Mark, at the end of Jesus teaching it says this….
• “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”
• There is that dig again… ouch!
• But this guy speaks and people are amazed… oh to have been there to have heard him!
• But thank God the gospel writers collected so much of it for us!

Anyhow, the Greek word for authority is exousia. And that is going to become really important in answering the question “who do you say I am?”

• Because if we are going to come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah… it will be because we see and believe he has the authority to that title…
• OK, so exousia is where we get our word author. Or originator.
• In fact in the Book of Acts, Jesus is called the author of life… the exousia of life…
• Right, his teaching isn’t borrowed… this comes from the author of life…
• This is God teaching us. This is the author teaching with authority…
• And just as an aside, this is why you want to align your life with Jesus teaching… because it carries the authority to lead you into LIFE!

OK, so as he is teaching… now look what happens… the one who announces the Kingdom of God as having come near is speaking…

• No doubt the people are leaning in… listening like they have never before!
• The one who brings the Kingdom of light is present… he is taking ground…
• And verse 23, just then… a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out…
• “what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
• The impure spirit, which is another way of saying a demon, is scared to death of Jesus, and for good reason. 
• Jesus is encroaching on his turf.
• If the kingdom of light is taking ground, then the kingdom of darkness and its hold on people’s lives is going to be threatened. 

Now if you’re an atheist or a humanist who doesn’t believe in a spiritual world, you may struggle with this story.

• But the scriptures and my experience tells me that the spiritual world is real and there are spiritual forces for bad and the Holy Spirit for good!
• Paul will write in Ephesians… (6:12)
• “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” 
• And what we believe is that spirits or demons can attach themselves to humans…
• Usually through people opening themselves to the dark world of spiritual forces.

Right? I would not mess around with witches or tarot cards or seances. I would not go to a Hindu yoga class… 

• I would not go near new age spirituality or new age healing practices…
• And on a more general level, I would be very careful about generational things like masonic influences
• Or even at a base level, spirits of control or lust or gossip that we can let get a foothold in our lives that eventually become a spiritual stronghold on our lives.
• If you are wanting to identify this stuff… look for the lies that you believe or the things that control you… almost irrationally. 
• And if you have opened yourself up to these things or you see areas of your life that you cant get control of… 

I really cant recommend the Re:New weekend coming up in March highly enough… 

• It’s an opportunity to hear great teaching around living fully in the freedom Christ has won for us, 
• And lots of time and space over the weekend to have ministry and time with God to see breakthrough come.  

OK, so back to the passage… so the impure Spirit that has control over this man recognizes who Jesus is, in a way that no one else at this stage has.

• “You are the holy one of God.”
• So Jesus says “be quiet” which can be translated as “shut up.”
• He then commands the impure spirit to “come out of him”
• So there is a shaking and the impure spirit leaves.

Now you and I might be a bit unfamiliar with this whole deliverance side of Jesus ministry and what this is all about… and we can kind of read over this…

• But demonization was an epidemic in Jesus day, as it is in much of the world today…
• I remember seeing this for the first time in Kenya 20 years ago… 
• A woman at a meeting at Nairobi Pentecostal church came in… she had moved from the countryside and was staying with her aunt… who it turned out was a witch
• And in the meeting as the name of Jesus was proclaimed, her eyes rolled back, a masculine voice came out of her and her limbs became distorted… 
• So she was taken to a room where she was prayed for and delivered…
• And I got to say to little Timmy… that was quite the experience seeing all that!

Anyhow, in Jesus day there are all kinds of records of this stuff going on…

• Rabinic writings on exorcism… and they are all kind of elaborate and complex as to how to see someone delivered
• So people would invoke the authority of Solomon or the prophet Isaiah and you would evoke their authority… and then go through a ritual.

And that could involve all kinds of crazy stuff like holding feces up to the victims nose to try and drive the demon out…

• Or you would pour water over the victim trying to wash the demon out
• Or, probably the most hectic, was where they would drill a hole in the victim’s skull to let the demon out, and then the victim, if they survived would wear the bone around his or her neck as an amulet to ward off an impure spirit.
• And this was actually common.  I heard about one archeological dig. They dug up a cemetery, which is kind of mean.
• I don’t know why they did that, but they dug up a cemetery, and out of 120 people in the cemetery, six had a hole in their head because of this. 

Now, here’s what’s crazy. Jesus doesn’t do any of that.

• There’s no in the name of so-and-so abracadabra… There’s no Harry Potter going on here, right? There’s just none of that.
• What does Jesus do? “Shut up” and “come out”…
• And it works, which is why the people are so amazed and ask each other what is this? A new teaching and with authority… with exousia…
• He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him. The people are amazed… a word used all though out Mark’s gospel.

And so no surprise, news about him spread quickly… and it basically has been ever since!

• Right, I was at a party on Friday night and this guy told me his life story of woe… and I said “mate, you need Jesus!”
• The whole region of Galilee… right Jesus goes viral… and it is just the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. 
• I mean it was for this man in the synagogue who had been oppressed by an impure spirit.
• It was for the multiple more people set free we will learn about next week…
• And it was for that lady in Nairobi who had come under the spell of her witch aunt.
• But what about for you and for me? 
• What do we do with Jesus the deliverer?

Now we could stop there and go – this was all super interesting… and there is probably a few of us thinking… yep… lets just stop there… easy Tim… lets not get too spiro… 

• But what if that power was there for you to be set free…
• What if that power was there for you to minister this freedom to others?
• After all, clearly the same kingdom of God that broke into the world through the ministry of Jesus is still at work today for you and I?
• And after all, Jesus clearly commissioned his disciples to cast out evil in the middle of Mark’s gospel…

And what are Jesus last words to them in Mark’s gospel after his resurrection?

• He says (Mark 16:16-17) “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation… and these signs will accompany those who believe, in my name they will drive out demons.”
• And what do we see in the Book of Acts? Impure spirits are cast out by Holy Spirit filled believers…
• And how – using the authority of the name of Jesus.
• Right, what ever we come across… we don’t have to go all Harry Potter abracadabra… 
• We, like the disciples in the Book of Acts simply invoke the authority of the name of Jesus.

So what do we do with all of this? 

• Well I think we go after it…
• If we, even as Christians can have an impure spirit oppressing us… wouldn’t it be better to use the authority of Jesus to be set free?
• And I know there are debates around how this interplays with mental health issues
• And how this interplays with addictions and bad habits…
• But don’t you think the name of Jesus is powerful?
• And don’t you think that the same presence of God in Jesus that is available to us…
• Just might be wanting to do something powerful in our generation of anxiety and control and violence and spiritual openness…

So, how should we respond

• Well firstly, thank God for Jesus and the good news of the Kingdom of God.
• He has come to save and deliver and to restore. 
• Whatever you are going through, or whatever may have hold of you is not the final word.
• The final word is Jesus. 
• And the final authority is Jesus. 
• And the key to your freedom is Jesus!

You know I can’t save anyone… but I can preach the good news of Jesus and his Kingdom.

And I believe he will move… and work and set free.

I can’t heal anyone but I can pray over the sick the powerful name of Jesus

And I can’t set anyone free, but I can invoke the authority of Jesus

Pastor Derek preaches on the announcement of the Kingdom and the ministry of Jesus.

In this sermon, Pastor Joey Mawson looks at the first verse of Mark 1 as John the Baptist comes on the scene preparing the way for Jesus. We learn that Jesus is God and repentance is the right response!

So we are starting a 6 month series in the Gospel of Mark… and we are actually only going to cover the first half!

• And then next year we will do the second half…
• Well why are we doing Mark for the next 6 months?
• I am a Christian because I got to know Jesus… and I continue to be a Christian because I am still following and getting to know Jesus! 
• And I hope to the day I die I will echo Paul in Philippians who said “I want to know Christ!”

But what do you know about him? 

• Headline stuff… died on a cross for our sins… rose from the dead.
• Maybe you know some of the famous stories like walking on water or feeding the thousands…
• Or some of his famous parables like the sower or the prodigal son… 

And then maybe beyond that, how would you answer the question he poses to his disciples in Mark 8:28; “who do you say I am?”

• It is great to get to know him… 
• But it is our response and allegiance to him that we believe dictates our eternal destiny
• Right? I could tell you things about Victoria my wife… height, what she likes to eat, what she got up to this last week…
• But what is important is that she has a title in my life – wife…
• And we have a relationship together…
• The point of Jesus is not to be able to answer questions about him in a quiz… but to have him as saviour of your life and a relationship with him!

I was really fortunate last year to have 2 months long service leave… part of that was I did a week intensive course at Regent College in Vancouver … 

• I remember in anticipation I was looking for a course… 
• I didn’t want fluff… I didn’t want anything particularly practical…
• I wanted someone who knew Jesus better than I did… especially the account of Jesus in our bibles better…
• Saw the course on the Gospel of Mark… that was attractive because it was probably my least understood gospel…

I wanted to learn… and I had the privilege of having Elizabeth Shively as my lecturer… she is brilliant – was with NT Wright at St Andrews in Scotland for years and now at Baylor in Texas…

• This is how it went: She taught… and we took notes… for 3 hours basically straight a day…
• So with Bibles open… pre-readings done… she taught and we listened and took notes…
• And Mark became so much more understandable to me while having its incredible depth opened up… 
• Anyone can read Mark and get to know and respond to Jesus…
• But if you want to go deep… it is a brilliant text with layers, structure, allusions and citations to the Old Testament and echoes of their great stories…

So during this series, I want us to engage…

• Join a Life Group so you are studying the texts in a community of friends…
• Boards… From the Bible Project guys we have this schematic which we will highlight off where we have been!
• And then this board…
• Which asks the central question in Mark’s gospel in Mark 8:29 where Jesus says; “who do you say I am?” 
• And so I want to encourage you to reflect and come and put post it notes up – put your reflection up here as you answer that question.

OK, before we get into the first text… well actually just the first verse… here are 3 things to know about Mark…

Firstly, it was most likely written by Paul and Peter’s companion, Mark, in Rome around 70AD… so 40 years after Jesus death and resurrection…

• The gospel never mentions Mark as the author but early citations by the early Christians point towards it being written by Mark.
• So the good news about Jesus had been spreading through the known world and communities of faith were springing up in all major towns and villages.
• And you get non-narrative proclamations of the good news like Paul’s in 1 Corinthians 15
• So in about 53 AD (super early) Paul would write… (verse 1) “Now brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you… (verse 3) “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.”

Right? So that is Paul saying here’s the headline of the good news that you heard and responded to…

• But by 70AD the eyewitnesses of Jesus life are starting to die off and Mark, who heard all the stories from Peter about being with Jesus decides to put together a biography of Jesus.
• Right? People knew the facts concerning salvation, but not all knew the stories… 
• And there would have been written stories and oral stories about Jesus that the faith community cherished about Jesus… 
• They had faithful traditions of collecting these stories accurately.

So Mark, who is most likely the first Gospel writer puts them together.

• So Peter tells him about the time Jesus walked on water… Peter tells him about the time he fed the thousands…
• Right? He is honest with him about how he had denied Jesus… that’s brave!
• And the first readers probably knew many of these stories… but if they hadn’t been written down, over time they would have become less accurate and even disappeared… 
• So thank God for Mark. 
• In the fashion of an ancient biography, he tells the story of Jesus.

Secondly, Mark writes his biography story of Jesus, deeply rooting it in the story and expectations of Israel – God’s people.

• So there are 58 stories or pericopes (that’s the fancy bible scholar term for each story)
• And you would be hard pressed to find one that doesn’t either start with a direct citation to the OT, an allusion to an OT passage or an echo of one of the main OT stories…
• So next week John the Baptist is prefaced by a citation from Isaiah about one coming to prepare the way of the Lord.
• When Jesus walks on water we think of Israel crossing the Red Sea.
• When Jesus feeds the 5,000 we think of God’s people in the Exodus receiving bread from heaven.
• After Jesus delivers people from evil spirits and is accused of being possessed, he talks about plundering a strong mans house – an allusion to Isaiah 42

Right? But why is this important for us to know? Cant we just read the gospel and go – hey Jesus is cool… I’ll follow him…

• Well it is important because it adds to the depth of the gospel story and it’s persuasive claim that this is God’s long awaited Messiah.
• And knowing the back story add all the riches to the current story.
• Right? The Lion King is in itself a great movie with a great story. But it is cooler and richer if you know it is based on Shakespeare’s story of Hamlet and the naughty uncle….
• Westside Story is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet…
• Narnia is an adaption of the Gospel story…
• Right? If you know the older stories it makes sense of the new story!
• Well for Mark particularly, Jesus is the retelling and fulfilment of Isaiah’s suffering servant motif and the coming Messiah that many will perceive but not believe in…

And that brings us to the final thing to know about Mark before we dive into verse 1 today!

• And that is this central question asked by Jesus in Mark 8:29 “who do you say I am?”
• To which Peter responds “you are the Messiah.”
• So much of Mark’s gospel is going to be about understanding and responding to who Jesus is…
• And this is particularly going to relate to Isaiah 6:9 which Jesus quotes in Mark chapter 4. 
• “Go and tell this people, be ever hearing but never understanding, be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”

Now why is this important? Because the same Jesus who Peter confesses as Messiah… the same Jesus whom the centurion at the cross confesses as “the Son of God.”

• Is the same Jesus that many see in the gospels, but reject and persecute. 
• Mark’s gospel is going to be all about seeing and believing.. or seeing and perceiving… or seeing and confessing!
• And Mark puts his biography of Jesus together in a brilliant fashion.
• Right?
• So for example, either side of Jesus being confessed as Messiah by Peter, are two stories of blind people being healed and seeing!

OK? In fact the story just before Peter’s confession is a double stage healing…

• So Jesus is in Bethsaida and the people bring a blind beggar to him.
• He spits on the man’s eyes… how’s that for a healing technique… anyone up for some prayer ministry this morning… pewt!
• Anyhow… Jesus says, do you see anything… and the man says I see people, they look like trees walking around…
• So Jesus puts his hands on the mans eyes and this time his sight is fully restored and it says “he saw everything.”

Pretty cool huh? So this story (from his vast collection of Jesus stories) is put here by Mark to illustrate the point about seeing and believing!

• And we know this to be true ever since too…
• Some people see Jesus but don’t perceive him clearly and in fact think the whole thing is foolish and weak… they stay blind
• But other people… probably most of you here today… see Jesus and recognize him as the Messiah.
• Right, but there is a warning in that…
• Don’t be in the words of Isaiah 6 “ever hearing but never understanding, be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”

OK… so Mark was written as a biography of Jesus to put the stories about him together for all of us…

•  It is about understanding Jesus in light of the big story of God’s people… 
• And it is about seeing Jesus for who he is – the Messiah!
• And he starts this whole biography… verse 1 by saying “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”

In his book storytelling, the Austrian theologian and philosopher Ivan Illich wrote; 

“Neither revolution nor reformation can ultimately change a society, rather you must tell a more powerful tale, one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story.” 

Written during, and released in 2009, still in the midst of the Iraq war, Director James Cameron released what became the highest grossing film of all time – Avatar!

• Who has seen it?
• There was a lot of debate still raging around foreign wars and how we treat our planet.  
• And Avatar is a good story… but in fact it is more than just a good story, it is meant to be a film with a persuasive story…
• It is really about the dangers of imperialism and the dangers of mechanized warfare and ecological vandalism…
• So much so that by the end of the film you are cheering on these 9ft tall blue aliens to defeat the humans at all cost!
• Right? James Cameron, the director and writer, told the story to make a point and get a response…
• “to change a society you must tell a more powerful tale.”

If the central question of this Gospel is Mark 8:29 “Who do you say I am?”

• The first verse in Mark in one sense answers that…
• This is going to be the story of Jesus…
• This is going to be the good news story about Jesus
• This is going to the be good news story about Jesus the Messiah
• This is going to be the most powerful good news story about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God who will change the world. 

And basically what Mark does, before we get to the central question in Mark 8:29 about who he is…

• Is he starts with this one verse preface that tells us the answer…
• And then the next 20-30 stories are about how Mark and the other disciples came to that conclusion… 
• And of course… (and you will have to still be with us mid next year), the Gospel concludes with Jesus on the cross and the centurion saying “surely this man was the Son of God.”

So let’s look at that first verse… Mark 1:1

• “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”
• 3 things… 
• Firstly, Good news…
• Secondly, about Jesus the Messiah
• Finally, about The Son of God 

So first, this more powerful story that will change society is Good News 

• Now the Greek word for good news which we also translate as Gospel is Evangelion… 
• From that word we get evangelist which means bringer of good news…
• In the ancient world when the emperor died in Rome, he would be replaced with a new leader…
• It was often a bloody power struggle…
• But word would be sent forth through the empire that a new Emperor, a new Lord was on the throne. They would call this “the spreading of the Evangelion” – the good news…
• Now no one was allowed to be called Lord except Caesar, except the Emperor. 

So, you can imagine how subversive it is then when Mark begins his biography of Jesus by proclaiming the good news, the Evangelion of God.

• From this backwater town out of Galilee, in the far flung corner of the Roman Empire, Jesus makes a claim for the throne.
• Mark says in starting his biography he has good news from God!
• That a new Kingdom is being established, and that a new Lord will begin to rule…
• The evangelion of good news is going forth to all the earth. There is a new King on the throne. A foot washing, compassionate, truth telling King.
• Who beckons us to come to him humbly to receive citizenship to his kingdom!

Now just as an aside, when Victoria and I started this church 12 years ago, we wrote down some values that we wanted to help shape our new church community.

• And the first one is this “we value the gospel as Good News!”
• Now here is the point of having values in a church… every time you think about running a new group or event or program…
• We are meant to stop and ask – will this be good news?
• If Jesus was about good news, then surely, everything we do, should also be good news in the church and for our community!

Right? Why do we run youth Alpha and adult Alpha courses – because we want to share good news

• Why run playtime? Because we want to connect with our community and be and share good news!
• Why run the Marriage Course… well because marriage is really hard, but with help from Jesus and a loving community, your marriage can be restored or flourish even better.
• Right? Why bother with pastoral care or life groups or things like church camp? Because when Jesus gets hold of a community, we begin to care for one another in extraordinary ways… and that is good news!

Next in this more powerful story, we are told the good news is about a person – Jesus the Messiah 

• Mark wants us to know, by doing this biography that Jesus was a real man who did things in history…
• Jesus was a historical figure who did things like walk on water and mulitiple loaves and fishes…
• And Jesus was a relatively common name… just Yeshua (Joshua)
• More importantly this Jesus is the Messiah…

Now this one is really interesting…

• Because there was this Jewish expectation of a Messiah who would deliver the people of God. 
• And the gist of this word Messiah is anointed one… chosen one… set apart one who could do what no human being could do…
• And this Messiah would usher in a new age of peace and justice and righteousness…
• He would be one to heal sickness and deliver people from evil.
• So will explore much more on this title in this series…

Ok and then finally, he is the Son of God…

• I don’t want to steal Joey’s thunder from next week… but next thing that Mark says in Mark 1:2-3 is a quote from Isaiah 40:3 about the coming of the Lord. 
• This was a passage referring to God coming, acting, saving, at a point in history, decisively!
• Who then arrives… John the Baptist as the one preparing the way…
• But who does John the Baptist prepare the way for? God? 
• Well get ready for the subversive revolution… because onto the scene comes Jesus… 
• Be under no illusions what is trying to be said here by Mark…
• This Jesus will be God!
• OK, more on that all through this series too! 

Well let’s close. Has this been helpful? 

• When Mark writes his biography of Jesus, it is not just a collection of interesting stories about God’s Son
• It is a persuasive story that is aiming for a response… 
• The dropping of all other allegiances and the confession of Jesus as Messiah…
• It’s like he is saying to that first audience… you have experienced this life… 
• You have lived the story under the imperial conquest and dominion of Rome…
• You have lived the story under corrupt and self serving religious leaders…
• You have lived your own human story full of sin and disappointment… 

And Mark tells a better story… 

• But it is going to ask us for our allegiance to Jesus 
• And out from every other story, narrative and authority that is over our lives…
• I can’t wait to get to know this Jesus better together…
• As you do… bit like Avatar you kind of find yourself being drawn to him…
• And it is like no other story ever told with a main actor unlike anyone we’ve ever met before.

Let’s respond!

• Boards… highlight off where we have been 
• And post it notes – put your reflection up here…

Invitation

Join a Life Group…

Respond to Jesus.

Go on this journey with us… be here!

In this sermon Matt Ingram shares on the common refrain in the scriptures, “do not be afraid.” Sharing from his own life in business and the military, Matt helps us to trust God and make the most of the opportunities in our daily lives to walk with God.

In this sermon, Pastor Derek looks at the story of Moses and the plague of frogs in Egypt. We are encouraged to not live with the frogs of our lives, but to take action today!