Mark 1:1
"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God"
Tradition is that John Mark, otherwise known as Mark, wrote this gospel in Rome. It's said that his mother was a wealthy woman named Mary, and her home was a gathering place for the church in Jerusalem. On the first missionary trip Mark departed company with Barnabas and Paul, and it's not clear what caused this sudden change in their relationship. But later in Rome Mark comforts Paul, so I assume they weren't irreconcilable in their differences. Things happen, differences of opinions and distrust of solutions to problems will happen. And maybe that's a great segway into this devotion subject.
In Mark's gospel he doesn't talk about the birth of Jesus as the others did, he begins at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. And he wastes no time getting to the point by proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, Son of God. This is not speculation or anything like that, he's clear and direct in his statement.
It was likely written in Rome and written for a gentile audience outside of Israel. And so, he's picturing for them Jesus' ministry and his identity as he progresses towards his cross. Throughout his writing he makes it clear for his reader that Jesus is in fact the Son of God, and if that wasn't clear enough in the reading, he's titled his gospel by headlining just that.
For Mark's readers it imperative that they not only understand who Jesus is but why he is. His mission, his role in our destinies, and his messiahship are all critical in Mark's telling because the times they are facing together as a burgeoning church are going to be extremely difficult and dangerous. Mark wants his readers to face these tribulations encouraged and in faithfulness up against the backdrop of Jesus' submission to God's will in the face of death, and in his steadfast love for them.
And so, he begins by immediately naming Jesus as the Son of God, the servant Son of God, and then moves directly to referencing God's prophecy to drive home that point about his divine authority. Remember, his audience is largely gentile, and so for many this is new information. He begins by intentionally portraying John the Baptist as Elijah the prophet of the Lord (Mark 1:4-9).
Malachi 4:5
"Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."
2 Kings 1:8
"They replied, “A hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.” He said, “It’s Elijah the..."
And so, in this manner Mark enlightens his gentile audience to many of the prophesies.
Isaiah 42:1-4
"“This is my servant; I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in him. I have put my..."
He writes about Jesus's baptism as a kind of holy royal coronation. This is Jesus' crowning moment, the significance of which cannot be overstated: The Father, from God’s perspective, is clearly stating that Jesus is the Son of God.
Again, referring to the prophets
Isaiah 61:1
"The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the..."
Psalm 2:7
"I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father."
Mark 1:11
And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”
And so it's CLEAR that these things right away must be said and expressed as absolute truth.
Why?
I believe it's because Jesus spoke in this way. They were teaching Jesus with authority. In a manner in which others would not.
Mark 1:27
They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, "What is this? A new teaching with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."
Jesus, and his disciples spoke in clear terms about Jesus's authority. Unlike others who always referred to the traditions of the temple and the teachings of others as their authority. Not unlike many Christian churches today. They spoke this way because two thousand plus years ago, the creator of the universe entered human consciousness as a baby, and He started something no other has or could have. Jesus did and said things that no other human being ever did. And so, he spoke and acted from that divine authority. And he taught his disciples to do likewise. Even following his resurrection Jesus drilled this into them.
Matthew 28:18
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is the great commissioning of his church and he's teaching them to get to the point when teaching and preaching about the good news of Jesus. And that point is that Jesus is the promised Christ, the Holy One, Son of God.
Isaiah 7:14
"Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."
Isaiah 9:6-7
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."
And Micah 5:2 pulls everything together.
The theme of these Old Testament prophets is that the Messiah would be human and divine, God and man. This is long established in the tradition and in the scriptures. And this is made clear in the other gospels.
Luke 1:32-35
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."
And Mark makes this clear because obviously there were questions being raised by many. And interestingly those same questions are being raised even today. But EVERY one of the Gospels make this claim clearly. And the best witnesses are not Jesus's friends, but his enemies. In John 10:31-33, He clearly reveals that the Pharisees understand the term “Son of God” is meant to be understood as God himself. They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God.
John 10:36 ". . . do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”?
Why is this so critically important to the ministry of Jesus?
Why should the church have a clear appreciation for these things?
Because the church is forever getting it wrong for all the wrong reasons. Because many in the church are in cahoots with the devil. Because the devil's lies and temptations, though they might appear noble, they are in perfect accord with corrupt, selfish, proud, evil desires of sinners. In America, and in much of the Western world, we have popular gods who are, sad to say, quite a bit different from the true God taught to us from the gospels.
In our modern times, in our relativistic times, there are all kinds of misconceptions about God. And He's not to have any significant place in the public square. His Word should not be read with authority, or any specificity in any of our public places. Jesus shouldn’t be prayed to in the schools. His name and his law should be removed from any government facility. And any public event held on "public" property led by Christian's that affirms the God of Scripture, Jesus Christ, must be condemned because that’s a violation of the separation of church and state.
The god these people want, the gods many worship, have good ideas, noble intentions, but limited power to achieve those goals. Limited to human strengths. Their gods want to bring goodness into the world and happiness and joy and everything everyone wants to live their best life now.
Their popular gods have limited knowledge and wisdom. They/them have purposes they would like to accomplish, but they're really limited in their ability to accomplish them because they're subject to the same problems their worshippers have. Their gods don't know what’s going to happen. Their gods don't know anything that hasn’t happened already, because it hasn’t happened. So, they have no prophets or prophecy to guide them. They're literally blind guides. So, their gods have all these great intentions, great objectives, great purposes, but they are severely limited because they can’t know the future. They can only coordinate things after they happen.
And this is the way of the world, watch what God is doing and then react.
Have you ever wondered how it is that after one thousand years of reigning in Christ's kingdom on earth there still comes a war against God's people and His kingdom?
It's the human condition. Humans will allow their gods to have authority over their lives as long as their gods are subordinate to the authority, rights, choices and prerogatives of the people worshipping them. Even when they are literally living in a paradise, they cannot help themselves.
The problem with paradise is, it's not fair. God must offer it equally to all - that’s only fair. And to be really fair, He has to offer it equally to everybody according to their preferences. That's the problem with paradise, no preferences allowed. In paradise, mankind is not the final authority, and that just can't happen.
The god that I’ve described to you is an idol. It's the god of our age. And they exist not only in the thinking of people outside the churches, but in the thinking of people inside the churches as well.
And now you know why Mark wrote in such bold and clear terms, because this has been going on since the very beginning. Much of what we see going on in the western churches these days is nothing short of a spiritual Ponzi scheme; coming under the name of the Word Faith movement, the prosperity gospel, the name-it-and-claim-it crowd, living your best life now, and good old fashioned temple traditions involving praying to false idols and the mother of God.
They all claim the same thing, name the same God, and prey on the people who want a god that meets their unregenerate human desires. For them Jesus is a footnote, he enhances their idols. They pray to their idols thankful they are not like other people. And they love to flaunt their idols. They are prideful about their idols. They're essentially saying that God has already done everything he's been asked to do, now it's up to them to finish the job. They need to reach out to these other spirits for help and guidance, God's too busy running the universe. You have to take that part of God which exists in you and create your own reality. You are God. They love the world more than they love Jesus. And it’s all a part of the world passing away, because they’re in cahoots with the devil. Unwittingly maybe but corrupted just the same.
1 John 2:15
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."