1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,920 Great to be here this morning and to see all of you. 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,040 I'm thankful for this opportunity to come down. 3 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,560 For those of you who don't know me, my name is Shahe. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,120 Got a bunch of family here, lived here long time ago, and 5 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,920 now my family and I live just up the road in Clovis. 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:17,680 And we're glad to be with you all. 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,200 And here today, we're going to read from Mark 15 this morning. 8 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,560 So if you have a Bible nearby, I'll give you a few minutes to 9 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,540 turn over to Mark 15. This morning we're going to talk 10 00:00:28,540 --> 00:00:32,340 about Jesus, and we're going to talk about Jesus specifically 11 00:00:32,340 --> 00:00:36,620 through the lens of the gospel according to Mark. 12 00:00:37,100 --> 00:00:39,380 When you open up the New Testament, you find that there 13 00:00:39,380 --> 00:00:43,260 are four Gospel accounts. Mark is the second of those 14 00:00:43,420 --> 00:00:46,740 four. And like Matthew, Luke, and 15 00:00:46,740 --> 00:00:53,380 John, Mark has a unique perspective on who Jesus is and 16 00:00:53,380 --> 00:00:57,380 what Jesus has accomplished. We're going to try to capture 17 00:00:57,380 --> 00:01:02,340 this morning one of the core themes of Mark as we hope to 18 00:01:02,340 --> 00:01:07,540 improve our understanding of who Jesus is and why he is worthy of 19 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:12,700 our dedication, our love, our admiration, and our loyalty. 20 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:18,220 Now in Mark one and verse one, there's a title to the whole 21 00:01:18,220 --> 00:01:21,140 gospel. Mark begins by saying the 22 00:01:21,140 --> 00:01:26,140 beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 23 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:29,620 And as we'll notice in our study this morning, the rest of the 24 00:01:29,660 --> 00:01:34,740 whole book of Mark, all 16 chapters are designed to prove 25 00:01:34,980 --> 00:01:40,340 that statement, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the 26 00:01:40,340 --> 00:01:42,340 Son of God. Particularly. 27 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:44,780 We're going to look a little bit at the crucifixion this morning. 28 00:01:44,780 --> 00:01:48,180 And just to get our minds prepped for that study, we'll 29 00:01:48,180 --> 00:01:55,500 read from Mark 15, verses 33 through 39, Mark 15, beginning 30 00:01:55,500 --> 00:01:59,860 in verse 33. Now when the 6th hour had come, 31 00:02:00,140 --> 00:02:03,780 there was darkness over the whole land until the 9th hour. 32 00:02:04,420 --> 00:02:08,699 And at the 9th hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying 33 00:02:09,020 --> 00:02:13,780 Eloi eloi llama subaktan I, which is translated My God, my 34 00:02:13,780 --> 00:02:18,660 God, why have you forsaken me? Some of those who stood by when 35 00:02:18,660 --> 00:02:21,660 they heard that said, look, he's calling for Elijah. 36 00:02:22,290 --> 00:02:26,010 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it 37 00:02:26,010 --> 00:02:30,090 on a read and offered it to him to drink, saying let him alone, 38 00:02:30,370 --> 00:02:32,650 let's see if Elijah will come to take him down. 39 00:02:33,290 --> 00:02:37,930 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. 40 00:02:38,410 --> 00:02:42,410 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 41 00:02:42,930 --> 00:02:47,370 So when the centurion who stood opposite him saw that he cried 42 00:02:47,370 --> 00:02:53,170 out like this and breathed his last, he said truly this man was 43 00:02:53,450 --> 00:02:58,010 the Son of God. We're going to talk this morning 44 00:02:58,330 --> 00:03:01,890 about the King's deadly enthronement. 45 00:03:02,330 --> 00:03:05,890 But before we studied together from the book of Mark and talk 46 00:03:05,890 --> 00:03:08,290 about Jesus for a while, we're going to pray. 47 00:03:08,940 --> 00:03:11,460 And so a brother's been selected to lead our prayer at this time. 48 00:03:11,620 --> 00:03:13,700 Let's humble ourselves as he guides us in prayer. 49 00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:17,660 We're going to begin our journey through Mark in the first 50 00:03:17,660 --> 00:03:20,460 chapter. We'll make a little stopover in 51 00:03:20,460 --> 00:03:25,460 chapter 8, and then we'll land back in chapter 15 to talk about 52 00:03:25,460 --> 00:03:29,980 the crucifixion of Jesus. In Mark one and verse one again, 53 00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:34,140 we read a title. The whole Gospel account says 54 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:38,520 the Beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 55 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,880 And before we proceed too much further beyond Mark 11, we want 56 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:47,320 to try to define and unpack a few of these terms that Mark is 57 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,240 assuming his readers will already understand and have some 58 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,440 familiarity with. Mark is assuming that the 59 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,720 Christians to whom he's written this gospel account probably 60 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,280 know something about the Old Testament scriptures. 61 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,440 They know something already about the story of Jesus. 62 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,000 And these would be terms that, in Christian circles, would have 63 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,560 already become familiar to the followers of the Lord Jesus 64 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,720 Christ. So he says the beginning of the 65 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,040 gospel. Most of us probably know that 66 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,480 the word gospel literally just means good news, and it's a 67 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,840 specific kind of good news. It's good news that brings or 68 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:29,960 produces great joy in those who have heard that news. 69 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,960 In the ancient world, there were two primary groups that were 70 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,640 becoming Christians. There were those who were raised 71 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,400 in Greco, Roman cultures, and there were those who were raised 72 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,440 in more of a Jewish culture. And each of these cultures used 73 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,160 this word gospel, but they kind of used it in two different 74 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,290 ways. For the Roman people, the word 75 00:04:51,330 --> 00:04:55,330 gospel was an announcement of some great victory. 76 00:04:55,570 --> 00:04:59,690 Like let's say Caesar or some general of Rome had gone off to 77 00:04:59,690 --> 00:05:03,810 fight a battle wage war against one of the enemies of the 78 00:05:03,850 --> 00:05:06,970 empire. If they were victorious over 79 00:05:06,970 --> 00:05:09,210 those enemies, they would come back. 80 00:05:09,210 --> 00:05:13,250 Messengers would return to Rome to report the gospel. 81 00:05:13,330 --> 00:05:16,970 Or the good news that Caesar has triumphed. 82 00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:20,370 He has won a great victory for the empire, fire, and now the 83 00:05:20,370 --> 00:05:25,290 people of Rome can continue to enjoy peace, safety and 84 00:05:25,290 --> 00:05:28,090 security. So the word gospel for the Greco 85 00:05:28,090 --> 00:05:31,810 Roman people would have meant something about victory. 86 00:05:32,130 --> 00:05:34,690 But the Jewish people use the word gospel a little 87 00:05:34,690 --> 00:05:37,610 differently. Like in the book of Isaiah, the 88 00:05:37,610 --> 00:05:41,650 gospel that is often described in that book is a message of 89 00:05:41,650 --> 00:05:44,480 peace. It's a message of deliverance. 90 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,120 It's a message that God is still with his people. 91 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,400 He's going to provide them salvation, He's going to take 92 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,160 care of them, and he's going to look after their need. 93 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,000 So this word for Jewish people would have something to do with 94 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,240 the saving power of God. And Mark is drawing on probably 95 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,680 both of these concepts to announce something about Jesus. 96 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,800 The arrival and mission of Jesus has brought about a great 97 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,680 victory over all the enemies of God and the enemies of God's 98 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,640 people. And it's a message of salvation. 99 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:23,140 Now let's talk about this word here, the word Christ. 100 00:06:23,140 --> 00:06:27,100 Sometimes we think about Jesus Christ, maybe like it's a first 101 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:29,660 and last name, and that's not correct. 102 00:06:29,820 --> 00:06:35,060 The word Christ is a title. It is the equivalent of the word 103 00:06:35,180 --> 00:06:38,060 Messiah. You'll hear me using these words 104 00:06:38,060 --> 00:06:41,500 interchangeably. Christ comes from a Greek word, 105 00:06:41,700 --> 00:06:46,180 Christophe's Messiah comes from a Hebrew word, Messiah. 106 00:06:46,620 --> 00:06:51,100 But they have the same meaning. They both refer to someone who 107 00:06:51,100 --> 00:06:56,540 is anointed, someone who is anointed or selected or ordained 108 00:06:56,540 --> 00:07:01,100 of God for a particular task or for a special office. 109 00:07:01,530 --> 00:07:04,730 The first time this word appears in the Bible is in the book of 110 00:07:04,730 --> 00:07:09,450 Leviticus, when Moses is gathering Aaron and all of his 111 00:07:09,450 --> 00:07:12,970 sons before him in front of the door of the Tabernacle, and 112 00:07:12,970 --> 00:07:18,730 Moses pours anointing oil on their heads to ordain them as 113 00:07:18,730 --> 00:07:22,930 Israel's priests. This was an act of consecration. 114 00:07:22,930 --> 00:07:27,450 He was literally setting them apart from the rest of all of 115 00:07:27,450 --> 00:07:32,770 the Israelites to perform this new function or to fill this new 116 00:07:32,770 --> 00:07:36,730 role that God had ordained the role of the priest. 117 00:07:37,170 --> 00:07:40,570 That's the way the word is used to refer to priests for a long 118 00:07:40,570 --> 00:07:44,810 time, until a very special woman in the book of First Samuel 119 00:07:45,050 --> 00:07:49,290 changed the meaning of the word Messiah, or the word anointed. 120 00:07:49,650 --> 00:07:53,290 That woman's name was Hannah. Hannah would become the mother 121 00:07:53,290 --> 00:07:58,430 of the prophet Samuel, and Hannah is the first human being 122 00:07:58,430 --> 00:08:02,510 in the whole Bible to use the word anointed or the word 123 00:08:02,510 --> 00:08:07,910 Messiah to refer to a king. She gives this beautiful prayer 124 00:08:07,910 --> 00:08:12,550 poem in First Samuel 2 about God's work in the world and what 125 00:08:12,550 --> 00:08:14,950 God will accomplish through her son. 126 00:08:15,030 --> 00:08:17,750 She doesn't know her son's going to be a prophet, yet he's still 127 00:08:17,750 --> 00:08:21,790 a child when she sings this song, but she has faith that God 128 00:08:21,790 --> 00:08:24,230 is doing an incredible work in the world. 129 00:08:24,430 --> 00:08:29,990 And after Hannah, the word anointed almost always refers to 130 00:08:29,990 --> 00:08:33,049 Israel's king. You remember there was a time 131 00:08:33,049 --> 00:08:36,490 when King Saul, who was the first king in Israel, was 132 00:08:36,490 --> 00:08:38,850 chasing David. He wanted to kill David. 133 00:08:39,250 --> 00:08:43,850 And one night, Saul was asleep in a cave, and David found him. 134 00:08:43,850 --> 00:08:47,250 He snuck in there, and he saw the king who was sleeping. 135 00:08:47,490 --> 00:08:49,290 But he didn't do anything to the king. 136 00:08:49,410 --> 00:08:53,850 And he went out and David rejoined his band of, well, kind 137 00:08:53,850 --> 00:08:57,030 of fugitives. And they said you had an 138 00:08:57,030 --> 00:08:58,590 opportunity. You could have killed Saul. 139 00:08:58,590 --> 00:09:01,430 He's your enemy. Why didn't you just take him out 140 00:09:01,470 --> 00:09:04,270 right there? And David said, oh, no, no, no, 141 00:09:04,270 --> 00:09:07,590 no, no, no. I could never kill God's 142 00:09:07,630 --> 00:09:09,790 anointed. That's the way our English 143 00:09:09,790 --> 00:09:13,260 Bibles render it. But it's the word Messiah, God's 144 00:09:13,260 --> 00:09:16,300 Messiah. So when you see the word 145 00:09:16,300 --> 00:09:20,740 anointed or the word Messiah or Christ in in reference to mark 146 00:09:20,740 --> 00:09:23,420 one verse one the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you 147 00:09:23,420 --> 00:09:27,140 should think in your head when you see the word Christ anointed 148 00:09:27,140 --> 00:09:30,580 King. In Second Samuel, Chapter 7, 149 00:09:31,300 --> 00:09:35,580 verses 12 through 16, God makes an incredible promise to King 150 00:09:35,580 --> 00:09:39,460 David. He tells King David that one day 151 00:09:39,620 --> 00:09:45,170 one of his descendants would be the heir to an eternal Kingdom, 152 00:09:45,650 --> 00:09:50,130 that one of David's sons would one day ascend to sit on an 153 00:09:50,130 --> 00:09:54,890 everlasting throne, and that he would rule the whole world. 154 00:09:55,090 --> 00:09:58,770 And this was the hope of Israel for centuries. 155 00:09:59,210 --> 00:10:03,290 David lived about 1000 years before Jesus was born. 156 00:10:03,530 --> 00:10:09,130 So for 1000 years the people of Israel were waiting for God to 157 00:10:09,170 --> 00:10:13,210 fulfill the promise he made to King David that the anointed air 158 00:10:13,210 --> 00:10:17,010 of David's line, the great Messiah, the king would finally 159 00:10:17,010 --> 00:10:22,290 come, restore Israel, rule over the world, and bring peace and 160 00:10:22,290 --> 00:10:27,010 justice and righteousness. So Mark makes the declaration 161 00:10:27,010 --> 00:10:29,690 right at the beginning, saying it's done. 162 00:10:30,130 --> 00:10:33,730 It has occurred. This is a great announcement of 163 00:10:33,730 --> 00:10:38,290 victory and salvation, because the anointed king of Israel from 164 00:10:38,290 --> 00:10:44,850 the line of David has come. But then Mark adds something to 165 00:10:44,850 --> 00:10:51,450 that the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 166 00:10:52,530 --> 00:10:58,390 The phrase Son of God is used at least two different ways in the 167 00:10:58,390 --> 00:11:01,310 New Testament, and there's an important distinction here 168 00:11:01,590 --> 00:11:03,750 that's going to help us to understand a little bit about 169 00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:06,030 Mark. In the Gospel. 170 00:11:06,030 --> 00:11:09,630 According to John, the 4th Gospel, we have this famous 171 00:11:09,670 --> 00:11:14,870 opening where John says in the beginning was the Word, and the 172 00:11:14,870 --> 00:11:19,670 Word was with God, and the Word was God. 173 00:11:20,310 --> 00:11:24,910 All things were created through this entity, this person that 174 00:11:24,910 --> 00:11:29,380 John calls the Word. And then in John one verse 18, 175 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:34,460 John tells us that the Word, this Creator who is equal with 176 00:11:34,460 --> 00:11:41,860 God, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld as 177 00:11:41,860 --> 00:11:48,740 glory the glory as of the only begotten Son of God, full of 178 00:11:48,740 --> 00:11:55,060 grace and truth. John when he uses the phrase Son 179 00:11:55,100 --> 00:11:59,770 of God, he's using it to describe something about Jesus 180 00:11:59,810 --> 00:12:04,210 nature. Jesus did not begin to exist 181 00:12:04,450 --> 00:12:07,090 when he was born of the Virgin Mary. 182 00:12:07,130 --> 00:12:11,050 He existed long before that. Since what John says is the 183 00:12:11,050 --> 00:12:18,010 beginning, Jesus is equal with God, creator of the universe, 184 00:12:18,250 --> 00:12:23,810 and it's that God of Israel, who took on a body of flesh and 185 00:12:23,810 --> 00:12:27,850 walked among his creation, dwelt here on the earth. 186 00:12:27,970 --> 00:12:33,450 But even though he was incarnated or made flesh, he was 187 00:12:33,450 --> 00:12:39,690 still the Son of God. That's not the way Mark is using 188 00:12:39,690 --> 00:12:43,720 this expression. The way Mark is using this 189 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:52,600 expression has something to do with Psalm 2IN Psalm 2, which is 190 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,880 a A a coronation Psalm, a royal Psalm. 191 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:01,840 God is talking about the promise that he made to King David. 192 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,360 And remember, the promise that he made to King David was that 193 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:11,230 one day his son would rule the world and sit on an everlasting 194 00:13:11,230 --> 00:13:14,430 throne, ruling over an eternal Kingdom. 195 00:13:15,190 --> 00:13:20,910 And God says something very specific about this king in 196 00:13:20,910 --> 00:13:26,030 Psalm 2. He says of this king, you are my 197 00:13:26,030 --> 00:13:31,350 son. Today I have become your father 198 00:13:31,350 --> 00:13:34,910 or begotten you. Some translation say you are my 199 00:13:35,150 --> 00:13:38,680 son. So one way the New Testament 200 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:44,560 uses the phrase Son of God is to speak of Jesus divine identity. 201 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,480 But another way, the word Son of God, the phrase Son of God is 202 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:54,840 used is back in reference to this same promise that was made 203 00:13:54,840 --> 00:14:00,460 to David. Son of God is a title and it is 204 00:14:00,460 --> 00:14:06,020 referring to the anointed king of the line of David who would 205 00:14:06,020 --> 00:14:11,940 come to rule the world. The claim that Mark is making 206 00:14:11,980 --> 00:14:17,090 right here in Mark One and verse one is that Psalm 2 and I'll 207 00:14:17,090 --> 00:14:23,170 write up here, add to the second Samuel 712 through 16 and all 208 00:14:23,170 --> 00:14:28,850 the promises God made to David are all now coming to fruition. 209 00:14:28,970 --> 00:14:31,650 All of these promises are being fulfilled. 210 00:14:31,770 --> 00:14:36,090 This is good news of victory and salvation to the whole world. 211 00:14:36,410 --> 00:14:42,810 And it's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. 212 00:14:43,610 --> 00:14:48,050 Now Mark just says it. He just claims it right at the 213 00:14:48,050 --> 00:14:50,370 beginning, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son 214 00:14:50,370 --> 00:14:53,210 of God. He just asserts that this is 215 00:14:53,210 --> 00:14:57,330 true. But then in the following scenes 216 00:14:57,330 --> 00:15:01,490 in Mark one, he's going to try to prove that it's true. 217 00:15:02,170 --> 00:15:06,850 And he does it through three different incidents. 218 00:15:07,170 --> 00:15:11,170 The 1st is the preaching of John the Baptist. 219 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,200 Look with me again. Now Mark one will pick up in 220 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:18,320 verse two as it is written in the prophets. 221 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,720 Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will 222 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:26,640 prepare your way before you. The voice of 1 crying in the 223 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,280 wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. 224 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:34,920 Make his paths straight. So Mark says, Let me give you 225 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,080 some good news about Jesus. It's just as it was written in 226 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,190 the prophets. A messenger will come to prepare 227 00:15:43,190 --> 00:15:47,670 the way for the Lord's arrival. Now that messenger, if we read 228 00:15:47,670 --> 00:15:51,390 on, we learn as a man named John, John the Baptizer. 229 00:15:51,550 --> 00:15:55,470 And John was coming to call Israel to repentance so that he 230 00:15:55,470 --> 00:15:57,070 could prepare them. For what? 231 00:15:57,720 --> 00:15:59,760 What was John preparing them for? 232 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,040 What does it mean to make straight the paths, this kind of 233 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,080 figures of speech that John is using here, that Mark is using 234 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,680 here, quoting from Isaiah and other old prophets? 235 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,600 Well, the image in the ancient world would be the arrival of 236 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,240 the king to your city. Let's say you lived in Corinth 237 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:25,560 or Ephesus or Philip Pie. And you heard that the Caesar, 238 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,000 the king of Rome, was going to come visit your town. 239 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,680 You know what you would do to prepare for that kind of a 240 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:35,480 visit? You would send people out into 241 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:39,960 the wilderness, beyond the city walls, to make sure the path was 242 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,200 clear for his arrival. You would send people off to 243 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,560 make sure there was no debris blocking the road. 244 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,680 You would send out patrols to make sure there were no 245 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,080 highwaymen and robbers who were waiting to jump the caravan and 246 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,040 do anything that might interfere with the King's arrival. 247 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:02,360 That was John's job. John's job was to call Israel to 248 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,319 repentance because they needed to be prepared for the arrival 249 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:10,599 of their king. So Mark says the king is here. 250 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:17,359 It was John who made the way that was ready for his arrival. 251 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,720 Let's look at another way. Mark is telling us that Israel's 252 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:26,240 king has finally come pick up in verse 9 Mark one verse nine. 253 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:31,280 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of 254 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:36,280 Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan and. 255 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,800 Immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens 256 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,160 parting and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. 257 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:49,160 Then a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved Son, in whom 258 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,840 I am well pleased. This is the baptism of Jesus. 259 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,520 Now what is happening at the baptism of Jesus? 260 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:01,880 Remember we talked a little bit ago about anointing. 261 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:08,280 It was the prophet Samuel, Hannah's son, who took oil and 262 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:13,160 poured it on the head of Saul, and then later on David to 263 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,200 announce to all those who were witnesses. 264 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,520 God has selected this man to be Israel's king. 265 00:18:21,780 --> 00:18:24,860 That's what's happening when John, who likes Samuel, is a 266 00:18:24,860 --> 00:18:30,580 prophet, immerses Jesus into the water of the Jordan River. 267 00:18:31,460 --> 00:18:38,100 He is announcing to the world this is the king God has 268 00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:43,910 anointed to rule over everything and two things happen when Jesus 269 00:18:43,910 --> 00:18:47,110 is baptized. The 1st is our translations 270 00:18:47,110 --> 00:18:49,110 don't do it justice, the words much more violent. 271 00:18:49,190 --> 00:18:54,190 It says the heavens are ripped open, the sky bursts apart. 272 00:18:54,190 --> 00:18:56,790 You can try to imagine what that would have looked like. 273 00:18:57,270 --> 00:19:01,070 And the Holy Spirit comes down in the form of a dove and 274 00:19:01,070 --> 00:19:05,670 descends upon Jesus as he's coming up out of the water. 275 00:19:06,950 --> 00:19:13,420 Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 61 tells us that the Spirit of God 276 00:19:13,780 --> 00:19:18,060 would be upon the Messiah, enabling him to preach and to 277 00:19:18,060 --> 00:19:20,260 work miracles. This is more scripture 278 00:19:20,260 --> 00:19:22,380 fulfillment. But then a second thing happens 279 00:19:22,380 --> 00:19:25,860 at Jesus baptism. The voice from heaven makes an 280 00:19:25,860 --> 00:19:28,180 announcement. And what's the announcement? 281 00:19:29,380 --> 00:19:32,620 Psalm 2. You're my son. 282 00:19:33,940 --> 00:19:37,140 You are my son. In you. 283 00:19:37,220 --> 00:19:42,250 I'm well pleased. So all of this that Mark packs 284 00:19:42,250 --> 00:19:47,450 into Mark one verse, one is being unfolded and explained and 285 00:19:47,450 --> 00:19:52,170 proven as Mark goes into this first chapter of his Gospel 286 00:19:52,170 --> 00:19:54,210 account. So there's the ministry of John, 287 00:19:54,330 --> 00:19:57,410 there's the baptism of Jesus, and then one more look at Mark 288 00:19:57,410 --> 00:20:01,650 114 and 15. Now, after John was put in 289 00:20:01,650 --> 00:20:05,610 prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching what? 290 00:20:06,310 --> 00:20:12,470 The gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled 291 00:20:12,630 --> 00:20:14,990 and the Kingdom of God is at hand. 292 00:20:15,070 --> 00:20:18,750 Repent and believe in the gospel. 293 00:20:19,670 --> 00:20:23,710 This short verse right here, you know if you read Mark, they're 294 00:20:23,710 --> 00:20:28,070 not many sermons from Jesus. Matthew has a lot of sermons. 295 00:20:28,270 --> 00:20:32,550 OK, Matthew was really into sermons and he recorded lots of 296 00:20:32,550 --> 00:20:34,430 sermons. Mark doesn't do that. 297 00:20:34,910 --> 00:20:39,070 Instead, in just one little verse, Mark sort of sums up 298 00:20:39,070 --> 00:20:42,870 everything Jesus preached. And the message that Jesus 299 00:20:42,870 --> 00:20:46,470 preached was this. The time is fulfilled. 300 00:20:47,350 --> 00:20:51,830 All that the prophets anticipated, all that Israel has 301 00:20:51,830 --> 00:20:57,230 been waiting for, all that God has promised, is now coming to 302 00:20:57,230 --> 00:20:59,110 pass. The time is fulfilled. 303 00:20:59,270 --> 00:21:03,550 The Kingdom of God is at hand. It's so close you can reach out 304 00:21:03,590 --> 00:21:07,910 and grab it, repent and believe in this good news. 305 00:21:08,380 --> 00:21:11,940 Trust that it is being accomplished in your midst. 306 00:21:12,020 --> 00:21:15,860 You can see it happening, accepted, and give your loyal 307 00:21:15,860 --> 00:21:20,540 allegiance and your love to God's anointed king, the one who 308 00:21:20,540 --> 00:21:24,660 comes to fulfill all the hope of Israel. 309 00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:31,300 So Mark begins by telling us exactly who Jesus is. 310 00:21:31,740 --> 00:21:38,940 He gives us all of this evidence to confirm His claim that Jesus 311 00:21:38,980 --> 00:21:42,420 is the anointed king. He's God's son. 312 00:21:42,620 --> 00:21:47,220 He's come to rule the world. And then guess what? 313 00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:52,620 When you read on from here, not one single person understands 314 00:21:52,620 --> 00:21:56,140 that about Jesus. Nobody gets it. 315 00:21:56,700 --> 00:21:59,890 Nobody. The religious leaders who 316 00:21:59,890 --> 00:22:03,410 supposedly know the old law and the old scriptures, the mess of 317 00:22:03,410 --> 00:22:04,810 the prophets better than anybody. 318 00:22:05,050 --> 00:22:09,050 They don't know who Jesus is. They think he's working in 319 00:22:09,050 --> 00:22:11,490 league with Satan to cast out demons. 320 00:22:12,370 --> 00:22:16,410 Jesus own family, you would think Well, Mary and Jesus 321 00:22:16,410 --> 00:22:18,650 siblings. They've known him since he was a 322 00:22:18,650 --> 00:22:21,210 babe. Surely they would understand who 323 00:22:21,210 --> 00:22:22,250 he is. Nope. 324 00:22:22,730 --> 00:22:27,330 They think he's nuts. They think he's out of his mind. 325 00:22:27,770 --> 00:22:31,850 What about the masses, the people to whom Jesus ministered 326 00:22:32,010 --> 00:22:34,850 and in their midst perform all kinds of miracles? 327 00:22:35,090 --> 00:22:37,090 No, they don't really understand. 328 00:22:37,290 --> 00:22:39,330 They know Jesus is a miracle worker. 329 00:22:39,410 --> 00:22:42,530 They think that he's a teacher. He's got this little band of 330 00:22:42,530 --> 00:22:45,010 disciples that follows him around everywhere, but they 331 00:22:45,010 --> 00:22:46,650 don't understand who he is either. 332 00:22:47,170 --> 00:22:50,970 What about the disciples? Surely they get it. 333 00:22:51,610 --> 00:22:54,520 Nope. One of the most famous scenes in 334 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,800 Mark chapter 4 is when Jesus and the disciples are on Lake 335 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:02,880 Galilee and a violent storm comes and the disciples are 336 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,000 convinced they're all going to die. 337 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,360 Jesus is asleep. They go down and wrestle them 338 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:10,200 awake. They say, don't you care that 339 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,000 we're perishing? Jesus gets up, looks at the 340 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,240 storm. He says, peace be still. 341 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:19,240 All of a sudden calm and quiet comes and what are the disciples 342 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:26,580 say? Who is this man that even the 343 00:23:26,580 --> 00:23:37,340 winds and the waves obey him? Nobody understands these facts 344 00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:44,420 about Jesus. The only beings that get close 345 00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:53,250 are the demons that Jesus casts out from people, but no human 346 00:23:53,810 --> 00:23:56,570 seems to have any clue whatsoever. 347 00:23:56,770 --> 00:24:00,970 Obviously God knows he announced it with at the baptism, but no 348 00:24:01,010 --> 00:24:08,890 human has any idea who Jesus is. OK, now let's make our quick pit 349 00:24:08,890 --> 00:24:12,010 stop in Mark 8 and then we'll wrap up in Mark 15. 350 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:19,580 In Mark Eight, Peter blessed man that he is always the first to 351 00:24:19,580 --> 00:24:27,140 speak, that often made him wrong, gets really close to tell 352 00:24:27,140 --> 00:24:31,140 us who Jesus is. You know the scene in Mark 8. 353 00:24:32,300 --> 00:24:34,420 Jesus is going to take the disciples away for a little 354 00:24:34,420 --> 00:24:38,620 while, talk to them about some important matters we'll pick up 355 00:24:38,620 --> 00:24:43,540 in verse 27. Now Jesus and his disciples went 356 00:24:43,540 --> 00:24:47,910 out to the towns of cessory of Philippine, and on the road he 357 00:24:47,910 --> 00:24:52,710 asked his disciples, saying to them, who do men say that I am? 358 00:24:53,270 --> 00:24:55,670 So they answered John the Baptist. 359 00:24:55,950 --> 00:25:00,790 But some say Elijah and others One of the prophets, he said to 360 00:25:00,790 --> 00:25:03,870 them, But who do you say that I am? 361 00:25:04,590 --> 00:25:09,230 Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. 362 00:25:10,590 --> 00:25:14,970 You are the Christ. In other words, you are the 363 00:25:14,970 --> 00:25:18,690 anointed king of the line of David. 364 00:25:18,810 --> 00:25:24,050 You are the 1 the prophets promised who has come to restore 365 00:25:24,050 --> 00:25:28,250 Israel and to rule the world. Oh, good job, Peter. 366 00:25:28,330 --> 00:25:32,490 Yes, excellent. Now in verse 30 Jesus strictly 367 00:25:32,490 --> 00:25:35,410 warned them that they shouldn't tell anyone about this right 368 00:25:35,410 --> 00:25:37,690 now. But then look what happens in 369 00:25:37,730 --> 00:25:41,750 verse 31. And Jesus began to teach them 370 00:25:41,870 --> 00:25:48,670 that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by 371 00:25:48,670 --> 00:25:52,710 the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed. 372 00:25:53,670 --> 00:25:58,270 And after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. 373 00:25:58,870 --> 00:26:06,270 Then Peter, who just made such a great confession, took him aside 374 00:26:06,590 --> 00:26:11,620 and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned around 375 00:26:11,620 --> 00:26:16,860 and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get 376 00:26:16,860 --> 00:26:20,820 behind me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of 377 00:26:20,820 --> 00:26:28,780 God, but the things of men. Ouch, He still doesn't get it. 378 00:26:30,180 --> 00:26:36,110 He understands Peter now. He understands this that Jesus 379 00:26:36,150 --> 00:26:38,910 is the anointed king of David's line. 380 00:26:40,510 --> 00:26:45,870 But in Peter's mind, because Peter has read Psalm 2 and Peter 381 00:26:45,870 --> 00:26:52,870 has read Second Samuel 7, verses 12 through 16, Messiah does not 382 00:26:52,870 --> 00:26:59,430 come to the earth to die. Messiah comes to the earth to 383 00:26:59,430 --> 00:27:06,400 rule, to dominate his enemies, to be triumphal over the 384 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:11,280 nations, to bring the Gentiles and the Jews alike under 385 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:17,600 subjection to his reign. It just didn't compute at all. 386 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,280 There was no way in Peter's mind that he could think, Well, I 387 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,080 just said, you're the Messiah and now you're telling me you're 388 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,040 going to go to Jerusalem and die? 389 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,080 That's not what Messiah's supposed to do. 390 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,720 Messiah's supposed to go to Jerusalem to rule, to take up 391 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:37,610 his throne, and to have a great victory. 392 00:27:39,090 --> 00:27:43,050 So even here, when we get to the middle of Bark, which is a real 393 00:27:43,050 --> 00:27:48,930 climactic point in the gospel, Peter still doesn't get it. 394 00:27:50,650 --> 00:27:55,330 And Peter won't get it for even some time after this. 395 00:27:56,210 --> 00:27:59,090 Now, eventually, of course, Jesus does get to Jerusalem. 396 00:28:00,530 --> 00:28:04,000 He confronts the religious leaders and he cleanses the 397 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,080 temple. They turn against him. 398 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,840 They begin to look for opportunities to arrest him and 399 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:15,920 kill him. Judas comes and presents them 400 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,520 something they can't pass up, Judas says. 401 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,600 I can tell you exactly where he'll be. 402 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,800 Nobody will be around. We'll do it under the cover of 403 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,440 darkness and you'll have the man you're looking for. 404 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,730 That's exactly what occurs. Judas leaves the mob to 405 00:28:33,730 --> 00:28:38,370 Gethsemane. Jesus is arrested, He's tried, 406 00:28:38,810 --> 00:28:41,850 he's condemned, and he's executed. 407 00:28:43,290 --> 00:28:46,170 What I want to highlight for the last couple of minutes, this 408 00:28:46,170 --> 00:28:49,930 will just take a few minutes, is that when we get to that 409 00:28:49,930 --> 00:28:55,970 execution, when we get to the crucifixion, we are actually 410 00:28:55,970 --> 00:29:00,770 seeing the fulfillment of Mark's initial claim. 411 00:29:02,380 --> 00:29:06,060 Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. 412 00:29:06,740 --> 00:29:13,700 And the way Jesus becomes Israel's king and ruler of the 413 00:29:13,700 --> 00:29:19,780 world is through his death. That's how it happens. 414 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:24,660 That's how God had planned it from the beginning. 415 00:29:25,340 --> 00:29:28,740 So let's do a little reading now in Mark 15. 416 00:29:29,270 --> 00:29:31,630 What we're going to notice when we do our reading in Mark 15, 417 00:29:31,630 --> 00:29:35,270 we're going to look at these four paragraphs versus 16 to 418 00:29:35,270 --> 00:29:41,990 2122 to 2627 to 3233 to 39. And we're going to notice how 419 00:29:41,990 --> 00:29:47,990 Mark structures the whole crucifixion scene, not so much 420 00:29:47,990 --> 00:29:52,590 around the idea that Jesus is a sacrifice who's dying for sins. 421 00:29:52,910 --> 00:29:56,670 Other writers emphasize that Mark is not concerned with that. 422 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,360 Mark is concerned with emphasizing how at every stage 423 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:06,880 of the crucifixion, the fact that Jesus is king and the fact 424 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:12,240 that Jesus is being enthroned as Israel's king is the forefront, 425 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,920 most important issue for us to recognize. 426 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:23,040 So let's look versus 16 through 21 mark 1516 through 21. 427 00:30:23,690 --> 00:30:26,290 We read there. This is after a pilot has just 428 00:30:26,290 --> 00:30:30,810 passed the condemning sentence. Then the soldiers led Jesus away 429 00:30:30,810 --> 00:30:33,850 into the hall called Pretorium, and they called together the 430 00:30:33,850 --> 00:30:38,570 whole Garrison and they clothed him with purple and they twisted 431 00:30:38,570 --> 00:30:42,890 a crown of thorns, put it on his head and began to salute him. 432 00:30:43,090 --> 00:30:46,770 Hail king of the Jews. Then they struck him on the head 433 00:30:46,890 --> 00:30:50,330 with a Reed and spat on him and bowing the knee. 434 00:30:50,530 --> 00:30:53,840 They worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, 435 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,120 they took the purple off him, put his own clothes on him, and 436 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,320 let him out to crucify him. So as the crucifixion scene 437 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,680 begins, we see in our first paragraph here the Romans are 438 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:07,920 mocking Jesus. But they're not just mocking 439 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,490 Jesus for any old reason. They're specifically mocking him 440 00:31:12,730 --> 00:31:16,370 as a king. Purple is the color of royalty. 441 00:31:16,450 --> 00:31:19,050 They give him a royal scepter. They give him a crown. 442 00:31:19,170 --> 00:31:22,130 They even bow down and offer him worship. 443 00:31:22,330 --> 00:31:24,810 And they chant, oh, hail King of the Jews. 444 00:31:24,970 --> 00:31:28,690 Now they're doing it mockingly. They're doing it contemptuously. 445 00:31:28,810 --> 00:31:32,210 But whether they realize it or not, they were setting up what 446 00:31:32,210 --> 00:31:36,970 God had planned in store in store all along, to show the 447 00:31:36,970 --> 00:31:41,410 world that Jesus, even in his death, is actually because of 448 00:31:41,410 --> 00:31:46,130 his death, is Israel's king, the son of God, the ruler of the 449 00:31:46,130 --> 00:31:48,370 world. We have sort of an A/B, A/B 450 00:31:48,370 --> 00:31:52,090 pattern here. So it starts with Romans mocking 451 00:31:52,290 --> 00:31:55,250 Jesus as king. Let's read on now verse 21. 452 00:31:55,770 --> 00:31:59,570 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon of Cyrene, the father 453 00:31:59,570 --> 00:32:02,490 of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country 454 00:32:02,490 --> 00:32:04,810 and passing by to bear his cross. 455 00:32:05,170 --> 00:32:07,690 And they brought him to the place Galgatha, which is 456 00:32:07,690 --> 00:32:10,170 translated place of a skull. Then they gave him. 457 00:32:10,170 --> 00:32:12,130 Why? I mingled with murder to drink, 458 00:32:12,250 --> 00:32:15,090 but he did not take it. And when they crucified him, 459 00:32:15,170 --> 00:32:17,890 they divided his garments, casting lots for them to 460 00:32:17,890 --> 00:32:19,650 determine what every man should take. 461 00:32:19,930 --> 00:32:23,530 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified him, and the 462 00:32:23,530 --> 00:32:29,210 inscription of his accusation was written above the king of 463 00:32:29,770 --> 00:32:35,210 the Jews. That means that as you stood 464 00:32:35,210 --> 00:32:43,310 there on Galgatha and you looked up at Jesus, you would see a man 465 00:32:43,590 --> 00:32:49,150 wearing a crown with the title hammered nailed above his head 466 00:32:49,150 --> 00:32:56,190 saying the king of the Jews. That's what you would have seen, 467 00:32:57,390 --> 00:33:03,480 the king of the Jews. OK, so that's a B Romans mock 468 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:06,200 Jesus as king. Then we have the title King of 469 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:10,000 the Jews, verse 27. Now let's read on with him 470 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,200 Jesus. They also crucified 2 robbers, 471 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,400 one in his right and the other on his left. 472 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,080 So the scripture was fulfilled which says, And he was numbered 473 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,920 with the transgressors. And those who passed by 474 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:27,360 blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, Oh you who 475 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:31,320 destroy the temple and build it up in three days, save yourself, 476 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:35,040 come down from the cross. Likewise the chief priest also 477 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,520 mocking among themselves with the scribe, said he saved others 478 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,120 himself he cannot save. Look at verse 32. 479 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:47,060 Let the Christ, the King of Israel descend now from the 480 00:33:47,060 --> 00:33:52,100 cross that we may see and believe even those who were 481 00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:57,140 crucified with him reviled him. In our first section we have the 482 00:33:57,140 --> 00:34:02,300 Romans mocking Jesus as king with all the imagery of of 483 00:34:02,500 --> 00:34:07,420 royalty and now that Jesus is on the cross the Jews come to do 484 00:34:07,420 --> 00:34:12,040 the same thing. Oh let this self-proclaimed 485 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:15,520 Messiah. Let this king of the Jews come 486 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,760 on down from the cross boy. If he did that and we witnessed 487 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,000 it, then we believe. Of course the irony is they'd 488 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:25,679 seen a lot from Jesus. They'd seen all kinds of 489 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:29,000 miracles with their own eyes from Jesus, yet they did not 490 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:33,739 believe had failed to come to faith in Christ. 491 00:34:33,739 --> 00:34:37,540 So the Romans mocked Jesus as king, the Jews mocked Jesus as 492 00:34:37,540 --> 00:34:42,659 king. And now for the first time in 493 00:34:42,659 --> 00:34:50,179 all of Mark, someone is going to say Jesus is the Son of God. 494 00:34:51,300 --> 00:34:55,620 No one has said it, Peter demons. 495 00:34:56,460 --> 00:34:59,980 Only God has said it at Jesus baptism. 496 00:35:00,870 --> 00:35:05,470 And let's find out who this magical person is who makes this 497 00:35:05,470 --> 00:35:07,150 good confession. Verse 33. 498 00:35:08,390 --> 00:35:12,190 Now when the 6th hour had come, there was darkness over the 499 00:35:12,190 --> 00:35:16,750 whole land until the 9th hour. And at the 9th hour Jesus cried 500 00:35:16,750 --> 00:35:21,950 out with a loud voice saying Elo eye, Elo eye, Llamas Abaktanai, 501 00:35:22,670 --> 00:35:26,310 which is translated. My God, my God, why have you 502 00:35:26,310 --> 00:35:29,720 forsaken me? Some of those who stood by when 503 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:33,200 they heard that said, look, he's calling for Elijah. 504 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:37,280 And someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it 505 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:41,240 on a Reed and offered it to him to drink, saying let him alone, 506 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:45,160 let us see if Elijah will come to take him down. 507 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:51,080 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. 508 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:55,640 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 509 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:01,150 So when the centurion who stood opposite him saw that he cried 510 00:36:01,150 --> 00:36:06,230 out like this and breathed his last, he said, Truly this man 511 00:36:07,150 --> 00:36:17,950 was the Son of God, not Peter, not any disciple, not a member 512 00:36:17,950 --> 00:36:24,190 of Jesus family, not a member of the Jewish elite, not one of the 513 00:36:24,190 --> 00:36:27,890 thieves. It was the man who was 514 00:36:27,890 --> 00:36:32,330 overseeing his crucifixion, the centurion. 515 00:36:33,810 --> 00:36:38,090 Now I don't know what the centurion meant when he said 516 00:36:38,090 --> 00:36:40,170 truly this man was the Son of God. 517 00:36:41,090 --> 00:36:45,410 Just like I know that the Jews and the Romans and even Pilot 518 00:36:45,530 --> 00:36:49,730 who put this title King of the Jews above Jesus, had no idea 519 00:36:49,730 --> 00:36:54,450 what they were doing and no idea that in these vile acts they 520 00:36:54,450 --> 00:36:56,850 were actually fulfilling the plan of God. 521 00:36:57,730 --> 00:37:01,730 What did a Roman centurion think Son of God meant? 522 00:37:01,730 --> 00:37:03,570 Did he know Psalm 2? I don't know. 523 00:37:03,730 --> 00:37:06,970 I don't know what he thought. But that doesn't really matter, 524 00:37:06,970 --> 00:37:12,050 does it? What matters is that even in 525 00:37:12,050 --> 00:37:20,410 death, especially in death, it is at this moment that Jesus 526 00:37:20,410 --> 00:37:25,290 becomes the Christ, the Son of God. 527 00:37:26,330 --> 00:37:33,690 That through his own death on the cross, he fulfills the hope 528 00:37:33,690 --> 00:37:37,610 of Israel. He fulfills the message of the 529 00:37:37,610 --> 00:37:42,930 prophets. He becomes the Messiah, the 530 00:37:42,930 --> 00:37:48,170 ruler of the world. And we know that Mark doesn't 531 00:37:48,170 --> 00:37:54,200 end here, but it's important for us to recognize that even before 532 00:37:54,480 --> 00:38:00,160 Jesus resurrection, Mark is identifying what Jesus has 533 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,840 accomplished in his sacrifice on the cross. 534 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:09,960 When Jesus is being lifted up, it's not just to die. 535 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:15,120 It's not just to give his life a ransom for many, although it's 536 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:20,880 that too. It is to be enthroned in a very 537 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,900 strange, upside down kind of Kingdom. 538 00:38:26,260 --> 00:38:30,060 A Kingdom not like those of the earth. 539 00:38:31,260 --> 00:38:36,540 A Kingdom that's not established and spread through violence and 540 00:38:36,540 --> 00:38:44,140 conquest and subjugation. A Kingdom that at its core is 541 00:38:44,140 --> 00:38:50,420 about sacrifice and love and the wonderful work of God. 542 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:56,240 Kingdom that is spreading. A Kingdom that is encompassing 543 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,920 the whole earth. A Kingdom that brings great 544 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:10,200 news, a victory and salvation because Jesus is the King. 545 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:18,360 God's own Son resurrected on the third day, elevated to the right 546 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:25,060 hand of the Father where he rules over the world, and did 547 00:39:25,060 --> 00:39:30,540 all that so that we could be a part of what he's accomplishing. 548 00:39:31,460 --> 00:39:35,540 He did all that to reconcile the world back to God. 549 00:39:35,620 --> 00:39:43,020 He did all that and now invites us to become members of His 550 00:39:43,020 --> 00:39:51,020 Kingdom, to become citizens of this global Christian empire 551 00:39:51,940 --> 00:39:57,020 that spreads through a message of peace and love and grace. 552 00:39:57,020 --> 00:40:03,300 And maybe you're here today and you're ready to take your part 553 00:40:03,700 --> 00:40:09,180 in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, to become a part of what Jesus 554 00:40:09,180 --> 00:40:11,620 started. Remember how Mark opens the 555 00:40:11,620 --> 00:40:14,900 gospel? He says this is the beginning, 556 00:40:16,100 --> 00:40:18,660 the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 557 00:40:19,100 --> 00:40:21,020 The Son of God. You know when you get to chapter 558 00:40:21,020 --> 00:40:26,300 16, he doesn't say, and this is the end, because it hasn't 559 00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:29,180 ended. The work that Jesus is 560 00:40:29,180 --> 00:40:34,500 accomplishing is ongoing and it will continue until his glorious 561 00:40:34,740 --> 00:40:39,620 return, and he invites us to be part of that work. 562 00:40:40,220 --> 00:40:44,950 So if you're here this morning and you believe in Jesus, you 563 00:40:45,190 --> 00:40:48,070 trust in what he has accomplished for you. 564 00:40:48,150 --> 00:40:50,150 You're ready to give your life to him. 565 00:40:50,390 --> 00:40:53,230 If you're here this morning and you believe in Jesus and are 566 00:40:53,230 --> 00:40:59,670 willing to change, to repent, to conform your own life to the 567 00:40:59,670 --> 00:41:03,950 example that he himself lived, if you're willing this morning 568 00:41:03,950 --> 00:41:09,030 to confess your faith in Jesus, to say I believe just as the 569 00:41:09,030 --> 00:41:15,340 centurion said, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then 570 00:41:15,340 --> 00:41:20,060 you can be immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins. 571 00:41:20,060 --> 00:41:24,260 You know how Mark ends with Jesus giving the Great 572 00:41:24,260 --> 00:41:29,900 Commission and saying he who believes and is baptized will be 573 00:41:30,220 --> 00:41:34,700 saved, will be saved. The Gospel is a message of 574 00:41:34,700 --> 00:41:39,460 salvation and victory. We thank you for listening to 575 00:41:39,460 --> 00:41:41,900 our podcast put on by the Church of Christ. 576 00:41:42,540 --> 00:41:45,700 At 2215 Plans Rd. In Bakersfield. 577 00:41:46,420 --> 00:41:49,860 If you would like any additional information or you would like to 578 00:41:49,860 --> 00:41:52,820 receive a free Bible correspondence course by mail, 579 00:41:53,580 --> 00:41:58,900 please e-mail us at info@churchofchristbakersfield.com. 580 00:41:59,660 --> 00:42:04,860 Our service times are Sundays at 10:30 AM and 5:00 PM and 581 00:42:04,860 --> 00:42:09,300 Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Please make plans to join us. 582 00:42:09,820 --> 00:42:11,940 We would love for you to be our honored guest.