The following sermon is made available by Lakeside Bible Church in Cornelius, North Carolina.
For more information about our church or to find more recorded sermons,
please visit us online at lakesidebible.church.
We'd also love to connect with you on social media.
You can find us by searching Lakeside Bible NC on Facebook and Instagram.
For specific questions about the Bible or our church, please email us at info at lakesidebible.church.
Mark chapter 1.
Let's go ahead and start reading at verse number 1 and we'll read down to verse number 8.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophets,
John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem
and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
And John was clothed with camel's hair and with a girdle of skin about his loins.
And he did eat locust and wild honey.
And preached, saying,
There cometh one mightier than I after me,
the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Everything that we study in the gospel of Mark must be primarily viewed
through the lens of Mark's stated purpose in verse 1,
which reads,
This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Now Mark's goal in writing this collection of eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus
was specifically to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Messiah, the Son of God.
His desire here in this gospel is not to tell the story of Jesus.
His desire in this gospel is to make a definitive statement about Jesus.
So we do not understand the gospels to be biographies.
That's not what they are.
They are gospels.
They are proclamations of good news.
And the material contained within the pages that we'll study
is the evidence that Mark gives to support this purpose statement.
So in verse 1 he says,
Jesus is the Christ.
He's the Messiah.
He's the Son of God.
Everything that then follows after is the evidence that builds and supports Mark's case.
And so when we come to each and every passage, beginning with this one today,
we have to first start with this question.
How did Mark intend for this passage to point us to Jesus Christ
as the Messiah and the Son of God?
So that's where we begin.
Not only here, but really any particular passage that we would study in the Bible,
ask that question.
But as we view this book through the lens of Mark's gospel,
we ask how does he want us to see Christ here?
How is he proving to us in these verses that Jesus is indeed the Son of God?
I spoke at length last week about the significance of this term gospel,
the Greek equivalent being euangelion.
It's used in the first verse to describe exactly what Mark's doing.
Now both the ancient Jews and the Romans would have understood the reference here.
He's speaking specifically to a herald that would go from town to town announcing the arrival of a king
that has come to save his people.
In the scripture, it always refers to the message of salvation.
So Mark stated that his writing was such a proclamation,
and Jesus is that very king.
That's the significance of the term itself.
But as he begins to give evidence to the fact that Jesus is indeed the king,
that he is indeed the Messiah and Son of God,
if he's going to use this term gospel,
it only makes sense that there would be a literal herald that would go before this king,
that would go before this Messiah in order to announce his arrival,
to announce his coming, and to prepare the way.
And that's exactly what he does in these verses.
He builds his case by speaking to the significance of a man that we have come to know as John the Baptist,
or probably even better, John the Baptizer.
Look with me again at verse 2, the very first phrase there.
As it is written in the prophets, this is the beginning of Mark's proof.
He doesn't do his proof based on his own rationale or his own capabilities of reasoning.
Mark turns to the scriptures.
That's where we must always turn first.
If it's going to be our goal to share the gospel of Jesus with others,
to persuade and convince others that Jesus is indeed the Christ,
we must not start with our own reasoning.
We cannot start with our own rationale.
We must turn to the scriptures.
And that's exactly what Mark does.
Now it's important for us to acknowledge here
that John's ministry didn't happen by chance.
It wasn't that the gospel writers were noticing John
and noticing what was going on in this ministry prior to Jesus
and this wilderness fanatic, which is really what most people would have viewed him as.
It's not that they noticed this guy's life and thought,
you know what, this would make our story about Jesus so much spicier,
so much more significant.
Maybe we'll add this in there,
and maybe we'll get a few more copies and publications sold to make a little more money.
That's not what's happening here.
They're not including John's story here to make their story better.
This was a part of God's plan from before the foundation of the world,
as Ephesians 1 tells us.
We cannot separate the ministry of John the Baptist from the gospel of Jesus.
The true identity of who Jesus is cannot be understood fully
apart from the fulfillment of these prophecies to which Mark is referring
here in these first two verses.
And so we don't come to it thinking this was a really unique guy,
maybe this helps us understand the context.
No, there is a specific purpose that Mark has written about John.
It is the specific purpose of proclaiming who Jesus is,
and so that's the lens that we see.
All four gospel writers, even Jesus himself,
emphasizes the life, ministry, and preaching of John the Baptist.
John was a voice.
John was the voice.
The voice that was set aside hundreds of years before
to prepare the way for Jesus.
And to help us with our understanding today,
I've kind of grouped these verses into two categories.
We're looking at the voice in the wilderness.
First, we'll see the voice prophesied,
and then we're going to see the voice personified.
Let's first look at the voice prophesied in verses 2 and 3.
Would you read it with me again?
As it is written in the prophets,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make his paths straight.
Now, it's helpful for us here to be reminded of the fact,
and maybe even exult in the fact,
that God is a God who speaks.
He speaks.
It's by the very power of his word
that all of creation came to be.
God said, let there be light,
and there was light.
And we see that demonstrated through the creation story.
Really, all throughout the scriptures,
we see the power of God's word in creation.
We also find that as we study the scriptures,
that the scriptures themselves are the very words of God.
It is his way of speaking,
his revelation of himself,
the revelation of his plan of redemption.
He speaks that to us.
Now, take just a moment before we move any further
and contemplate how glorious of a truth that is.
That not only did God create you,
not only did he provide this life that you enjoy today,
not only does he know that your life can only be fulfilled
as it is related to a personal relationship with he and his son,
Jesus Christ,
but he has actually spoken to you through his word,
through creation,
in order that you may know him.
He is a God who speaks.
And as we come to this passage,
and we're looking to verify the identity of Jesus
through the identity of John the Baptist,
we see that it is God's grace that has spoken to us in this way.
He has spoken about John the Baptist,
and then he has spoken through John the Baptist.
But the most significant way in which God speaks
is through his son.
Hebrews chapter one,
and the whole book opens this way.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
But in these last days,
that is the days in which you and I live,
he has spoken through his son.
And he goes on, the writer of Hebrews,
to say that the son is the exact imprint
of the nature of God.
It's a wonderful revelation.
How do we know who God is?
We look at Jesus.
How do we understand God's love for us?
We look at Jesus.
How do we understand God's purpose for us?
We look at Jesus.
He has spoken to us,
not only through creation and through the prophets,
but in these last days,
through his son.
So now we understand that all true revelation
points us to Jesus Christ,
because that's the way in which God has now spoken.
Mark wasn't writing about John
because he was particularly impressed by him,
even though I'm sure that his ministry
would have impacted Mark in a unique way
as he was not alive during that time,
but at least as he recalled it and heard of it.
The ministry of John the baptizer
was only relevant to the gospel writers
in so far as it was connected to the person
and the work of Jesus.
So they only wrote of John the baptist
as it was in connection
with these Old Testament prophecies
about the herald of the coming Messiah.
That's why no other intertestamental preachers
are mentioned for us in the New Testament.
Why is it that John is singled out?
Because there was a specific purpose to John.
He wasn't just a preacher.
He was the voice,
the one that long ago had been said
would come and prepare the way for the Messiah.
So let's look at these two prophecies.
There's two of them that Mark actually quotes here,
Malachi chapter three and Isaiah chapter 40.
In fact, I think it would be helpful
for us to actually turn to them.
So if you would,
turn with me first to Malachi chapter three.
This is the passage that Mark is quoting
in verse number two.
Malachi chapter three, verse number one.
Behold, I will send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way before me
and the Lord whom you seek
shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant
whom you delight in.
Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Now keep your finger there
and flip over to Isaiah chapter 40.
This is the other one.
In verse number three,
Mark quotes Isaiah chapter 40,
this other prophecy.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
These are the two scriptures that Mark quotes here.
It's how he opens his gospel.
He gives his stated purpose
and then he immediately goes to the scripture
and he says, here's what the scripture says.
Malachi 3, 1, Isaiah 40 and verse three.
And then he applies those scriptures
specifically to John the Baptist.
Now there's a couple of ways
that these scriptures speak about who John is.
Let's talk about what they say about John.
First, they say that he will prepare the way.
We just read it.
A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Isaiah says,
prepare ye the way of the Lord.
In Malachi chapter three,
I will send my messenger.
He shall prepare the way.
There's a cultural significance to this statement.
There was a custom of near Eastern kings
that as they would travel from place to place,
they would send a herald ahead of them.
And that herald had a specific job.
He was not only to proclaim the coming of the king,
that's a part of it, we'll get to that in just a second.
He was to prepare literally the way of the king,
the way that the king would travel.
That involved clearing obstacles out of the path.
It involved straightening crooked roads
or crooked valleys that the king
and his envoy would have to travel through.
It involved creating causeways over swampy areas
or areas that would have been difficult
to traverse on the ground.
It involved preparing the way quite literally.
And these Old Testament writers
take this cultural context and they say
that when the Messiah comes,
there will be one that goes before him
and he will prepare the way.
He will remove the obstacles.
He will not only announce the coming of the Messiah,
but he will make the way of the Messiah straight.
He will prepare the hearts of the people to receive him.
So what do these verses say about John?
He'll prepare the way.
Then they say that he will be a voice
and specifically that he will be a voice in the wilderness.
Both prophecies emphasize the fact
that the forerunning herald would be a voice
and a messenger.
Voice is the word used by Isaiah 43
and messenger by Malachi chapter three.
Speaking on behalf of God,
the preparations would be made for the Messiah
by this forerunner
and would be focused particularly on his preaching.
That's the significance of this herald.
How do we know that this was John?
Because this is what the scripture said he would do.
There's a focus on his preaching.
He would be noticed by the people specifically
because of the content of his message
and the way in which he would deliver it.
Isaiah says he will be a voice of one crying out
in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord.
All four gospel writers take these two prophecies
and they apply them specifically to John the Baptist.
Matthew does it in chapter three of his gospel.
Here's what he says.
Now in the days,
in those days,
John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea
saying,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
for this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet
when he said,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
make ready the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Luke chapter three does the same thing.
And he came into all the district around the Jordan
preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah.
The prophet Luke writes,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
make ready the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every ravine will be filled.
Every mountain and hill will be brought low.
The crooked will become straight
and the rough road smooth
and all flesh will see the salvation of our God.
And then we get to the gospel of John
and his claim comes in a little bit of a different way.
This time it's John the Baptist himself
making this claim.
He says,
I am that one.
The gospel of John chapter one in verse 23.
He said,
I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness,
make straight the way of the Lord,
as Isaiah the prophet said.
And you may be here today and you may say,
well, it doesn't really matter to me very much
what John claimed himself to be.
And maybe those other gospel writers
were just getting together
and they were coming up with this story
in and of themselves.
But that's not the only claim
that we see in the scripture.
Jesus Christ himself in Luke chapter seven
and Matthew chapter 10
says this about John the Baptist.
Here's what he says in Luke seven.
But what did you go out to see?
That is in the wilderness.
A prophet?
And Jesus said,
yes, I say to you,
and one who is more than a prophet.
Why?
Because this is the one about whom is written,
behold, I send my messenger ahead of you
who will prepare your way before you.
The fact that these prophecies
were perfectly fulfilled by John the Baptist
give validation to the fact
that Jesus is indeed the Messiah,
the Son of God.
Because hundreds of years before,
it said there will be a herald.
This is what he will do.
This is how he will do it.
And he will go before preparing the way
for the Messiah.
And now we see John the Baptist
perfectly fulfilling that.
And so we say not only is John the Baptist
the voice in the wilderness,
but because of that,
Jesus is indeed the Messiah,
the Son of God.
So we see what these Old Testament passages
say about John.
Now let's look at what these two
Old Testament passages say about Jesus.
The prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi
are not only about John.
They are indeed,
first and foremost,
about Christ.
In fact,
if you'll allow me
just to take a side trip here
for just a second,
all of the Scripture
is ultimately
about Christ.
The entire book in your hand,
it doesn't matter where you turn
in one way or another,
it is there for the purpose
of directing you
towards the person
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said this.
And we see the example of this
in the Gospels.
Remember after Jesus' resurrection,
a couple of the disciples
were discouraged
and they decided
that they were going to go home
to Emmaus.
And they begin walking the road
on Resurrection Day
to the town of Emmaus.
And Jesus shows up
and walks with them.
But he prevents them
from recognizing that it's him.
And what is it that Jesus did?
Luke tells us in chapter 24.
Then beginning with Moses,
that's the law,
the Pentateuch,
the first five books
of the Bible,
and with all the prophets,
that's the rest
of the Old Testament,
he explained to them
the things concerning himself
in all the Scriptures.
What was Jesus explaining to them?
The Bible is about me.
Everything you read
is meant to point you to me,
Jesus was telling those men.
But then Jesus makes the claim
expressly in John chapter 5.
He told some religious people
who are having a hard time
accepting him,
he said,
you search the Scriptures
because you think that in them
you have eternal life.
And then he says,
it is these that testify
of me.
And you are unwilling
to come to me
so that you may have life.
In other words,
he was meeting
with a bunch of religious people
that loved the Bible,
that studied faithfully
the Bible,
but they couldn't understand
that the Bible
was actually about him.
They went to the Scriptures
searching for eternal life
as if they could just
follow the rules
just the right way
and if they could just
conform to the religiosity
just the right way
that they would gain salvation.
But Jesus says,
you've missed the whole point.
If you study
and know every passage
of the Bible
but you've missed me
in the Bible,
then you've missed life
in the Bible.
All of the Scripture
is about Jesus.
So when we come
to these two prophecies,
it's not just indirectly
about Jesus,
it's actually specifically
about Jesus.
And it cannot be overlooked
by us today.
They're absolutely essential
to our understanding
of who Jesus is in nature.
Now let's look at them again.
Look at Malachi's prophecy first.
Malachi chapter three.
What is it that he says?
Behold, this is God speaking
through Malachi,
I will send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way
before, what's that next word?
Me.
Who's speaking?
God.
This is not Malachi
writing Malachi's word.
This is Malachi speaking
on behalf of God.
And God says,
behold, I will send
my messenger before me.
Look at the next phrase.
And the Lord,
God,
Yahweh,
whom you seek
shall suddenly come
to his temple.
what's the purpose
of this?
What does this tell us
about Jesus?
The messenger
to which God
is referring
is John the Baptist.
But the person
whose path
John would be preparing
is God
himself.
In other words,
the Messiah
would not be
merely
an extraordinarily
gifted man
that would lead
the nation.
No,
this would be
Yahweh himself
in the flesh.
Malachi's prophecy
insists
that the one
to suddenly come
would be
none other
than God
himself.
Now look with me
at Isaiah chapter 40.
We'll see it again.
Isaiah chapter 40
verse 3.
The voice
of him
that cries
in the wilderness
prepare ye
the way
of the
who?
Lord.
Whose way
is he preparing?
The Lord's way.
You notice
in your Bible
Lord has
four capital letters.
That's the covenant
name.
Yahweh.
Whose way
is the voice
in the wilderness
preparing?
Yahweh's way.
Make straight
in the desert
a highway
for our God.
And then he goes on.
Every valley
shall be exalted.
Every mountain
and hill
shall be made low.
The crooked
shall be made straight
and the rough places
made plain.
That is by John's
preaching
and John's ministry.
And the glory
of the Lord
shall be revealed.
And all flesh
shall see it together
for the mouth
of the Lord
hath spoken it.
The voice
said
cry.
And he said
what shall I cry?
All flesh
is grass
and all the
goodliness thereof
is of a flower
of the field.
The grass
withers
the flower
fades
but the spirit
of the Lord
bloweth upon it.
Surely the people
is grass.
The grass
withers
the flower
fades
but the word
of our God
shall stand
forever.
What word?
Isaiah's word
Malachi's word
John's word
what were all
three of them
testifying of?
That not only
is Jesus
the Messiah
but the Messiah
is God
himself.
Jesus was not
just a man.
He is God.
He is the only
one that could
ever provide
atonement for sin
not because he
was a superhuman
but because he
is God.
So Mark says
in verse number
one
my goal
in this book
is to proclaim
and evidence
that Jesus
Christ
is the Messiah
and then he
tacks on
that next phrase
and the Messiah
is the Son
of God
and the very
first thing
Mark does
is he says
let's look
at the scriptures.
Here's what
the scripture
says.
There's going
to be a man
that comes
and the way
that he prepares
is a way
for God
himself
and then
John himself
testifies
of this God
as he walks
up to the river
one day
and he says
behold
the Lamb
of God
who takes away
the sins
of the world.
What's the significance
of John's ministry
is because it points
us to Jesus
and what is significant
about these Old Testament
prophecies
that we find out
that long before
we ever got
to Philippians
chapter 2
that the Old Testament
said that the Messiah
would come
and the Messiah
would be God
in the flesh.
Who is Jesus?
He's God.
How do we know?
Because the Bible
tells me so.
Where does it say it?
We can start
in Isaiah 43.
And Malachi 3.
And then we can
go to Mark 1.
And then we can
go to Philippians 2.
And then we can
go everywhere else
in the scripture
that you want to go
because it all
testifies of him.
What's the significance
of Mark writing
about John?
Nothing really
except for the fact
that he's writing
about Jesus.
Jesus made
these divine
claims himself
as being one
with the Father.
But it was not
a claim that was
unsubstantiated
in the rest
of the scripture.
These prophecies
about John
aren't really
about John at all.
The importance
of recognizing
that these prophecies
referred to John
cannot be overstated
as they clearly reveal
that Jesus of Nazareth
is indeed
God in the flesh
that has come
to save us
from our sins.
This is the gospel.
Listen this morning.
This is who Jesus is.
What are you going
to do with him?
What are you going
to do with him?
You cannot look
at Jesus
and do nothing.
You cannot
just accept Jesus
as being this
really awesome
powerful preacher
of days gone by.
You cannot come
to understand
what the Bible
says is the true
nature and purpose
of Jesus
and walk away
from that
indifferently.
You must either
believe him
and follow him
as Lord
or you must
deny him
and reject him
and follow
your own way.
And anything
indifferent
is really just
a choice
to follow yourself.
as you take
the word
to people
in your family
and you take
it to people
across this community
and across
this world
we introduce
them to who
Jesus is
but we cannot
introduce him
in a way
that leaves
them indifferent.
If Jesus
truly is the
son of God
as the Bible
insists
and attests
to
we must do
something with him.
We must either
fully embrace him
or we must
fully reject him
as a liar
or a lunatic
as C.S. Lewis
said.
He's either liar
lunatic
or Lord.
You cannot walk
out of this room
today
indifferent to that.
You walk out
of this room
either acknowledging
him as Lord
or as a liar
or a lunatic
one or the other.
Thank you for
listening to this
sermon made
available by
Lakeside Bible
Church.
Feel free to
share it
wherever you'd
like.
Please do not
charge for it
or alter it
in any way
without express
written consent
from Lakeside
Bible Church.
Don't forget
to visit us
online at
lakesidebible.church
!
Or find us
on Facebook
and Instagram
by searching
for Lakeside
Bible NC.
If you live
in the Charlotte
or Lake Norman
area we'd love
for you to
attend one of
our worship
services.
We meet every
Sunday morning
at 10 a.m.
We'd love to
meet you.
NINGNING