My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church
and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you this morning.
A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats
but because we're following Jesus together as one community
and as we follow Jesus together we become convinced that there's no one so good.
They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it
which is why we come back week after week Sunday after Sunday to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.
We're starting this morning a new series in the Gospel of Mark.
In the Gospel of Mark as all the Gospels simply tells the story of Jesus.
It's the story of His life and His death and His resurrection.
And we talk about Jesus. We are not talking about an abstraction or an idea or a construct
but at risk of saying the obvious we are talking about a historical real man.
We are talking about someone who was born in the first century in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem was five or six miles south of Jerusalem.
And we're also talking about someone who grew up in Nazareth
which is 64 or 65 miles north of Jerusalem.
And I mention that to remind us all, while it may seem clear,
Jesus takes on all kinds of different ideas from all kinds of different people.
We are talking about a real man who lived in real time and real space.
And as we come to this book, the Gospel of Mark asks two simple questions
that we're going to be asking as we go through it.
And it's going to be our questions this morning which are simply this.
Who is Jesus and how do we respond to Him?
Now that second question, you could rephrase it.
If you don't consider yourself a Christian,
maybe you're not interested in responding to Jesus.
You could ask it a different way.
Why would you follow Jesus?
Okay, so how do you respond to Him or why would you follow Him?
And I use that word because Jesus does.
He invites people later in the Gospel of Mark to follow after Him.
And so we're going to jump right in.
Mark's known for repeating over and over the word immediately
because he moves quickly from scene to scene.
This is in fact the shortest of all the Gospels.
And so in answering those questions this morning,
we're going to see two things.
First of all, the Savior.
And second of all, the sick.
We're going to see the Savior and the sick.
And so it's with that I invite you to turn with me now
to the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.
You can turn in your Bible.
You can turn in your worship guide.
You can turn on your phone.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.
God tells us that His word is a lamp to our feet
and a light to our path.
In other words, God has not left us to stumble alone in the dark.
But instead, He has given us His word to show us the way to go.
And so that's why we read now, starting at Mark 1, verse 1.
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Prepare the way of the Lord.
Make His paths straight.
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness
and proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
Now John was clothed with camel's hair
and wore a leather belt around his waist
and ate locusts and wild honey.
And he preached, saying,
After me comes he who is mightier than I,
the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
I have baptized you with water,
but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.
Our Father in heaven, we praise you again
that you have not left us alone as orphans in a merciless universe,
but instead you speak to us,
and you speak to us clearly in words that we can understand.
We ask that you would do that this morning by your Holy Spirit,
that you would open our minds and eyes and heart,
that we would be able to see Jesus in this passage,
that you would cast a spotlight on him,
that he would be more beautiful than we expected or realized,
and that you would shape us and change us as a result of it.
We thank you that we haven't earned these things or deserved them,
but instead we simply ask them in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
If you have seen Star Wars Episode I, The Phantom Menace,
you know that getting into the film,
maybe in the middle or maybe three quarters of the way through,
you get to see this meeting of the Jedi Council.
And Qui-Gon Jinn is coming before the Council to speak to them,
and we find out during this meeting
that there's been this prophecy from old times during the Jedi
that there's going to be a chosen one who's supposed to come.
And this chosen one is supposed to balance light and dark.
He's going to balance the Force, and he's going to end the Sith.
He's going to balance what has not been balanced before.
And what Qui-Gon Jinn is convinced of that the Council is not
is that young Anakin is the one that they've been looking forward to.
He is the one who's going to balance light and dark.
He's the one who's going to bring the Sith to an end.
And he has reasons for believing this.
Qui-Gon Jinn doesn't just make this up.
He interacts with Anakin.
He realizes that he's especially strong in the Force.
In fact, remember the scene where they measure the midichlorians in his blood,
and they're shocked to find out he has 20,000, over 20,000 midichlorians.
And as he says, even Master Yoda doesn't have a midichlorian count that high.
It's not just his midichlorian count, though.
Remember when Anakin is sort of flirting with Padme, he tells her he's the only human being
who can compete in pod racing.
We find out that's because of his skill in the Force.
And finally, when Qui-Gon Jinn is trying to convince the Council that this is the Chosen One,
he tells them, look, I sense a convergence in the Force.
In other words, there's a centrality of the Force around this individual that's not there with others.
There's this high concentration of energy.
And so Qui-Gon Jinn is trying to convince them.
He's insisting this is the Chosen One, despite the skepticism of those in the room.
Now, you might wonder why I'm bringing up Star Wars in the midst of the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.
And the reason is this.
There's a connection in this story.
Qui-Gon Jinn is trying to say there's a connection between what we have been expecting
and looking for in the past and what is now in front of us in the future.
We've been anticipating this.
I think it's now here in front of us.
He's the one we have been waiting for.
Mark here with John the Baptist is making the same point.
There is a prophecy being fulfilled.
Now, don't carry this too far, right?
Star Wars is filled with Eastern religion.
We're talking about Christianity.
But he's saying there's this thing that we've been looking towards for years
that has been prophesied that is now before us right here and right now.
We see this first of all, verses 2 and 3.
He quotes the prophet Isaiah.
He's actually quoting Isaiah and Malachi here.
Typically, in the New Testament, when someone quotes an Old Testament prophet,
they only mention one of them, even if they're quoting multiples.
And he's saying this prophecy, by the way, it's just about God returning to his people
after the exile.
God giving his people his presence once again and bringing his salvation fully and finally.
This prophecy from Isaiah and Malachi is being fulfilled right now.
The thing that you've been waiting for, the thing that you've been longing for,
the fact that you've never been fully restored since your exile in Babylon,
God's presence, which never returned to the temple, it is finally here.
The prophecy is being fulfilled.
This is the one we've been looking for.
And we find here a specific portion of this prophecy that we're pointed to.
It's not just that God is returning finally with his presence to his people,
but we know from these prophecies that there's meant to be a messenger
who comes to prepare the way.
That's the point made in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3.
And Malachi put together as part of what we read earlier this morning.
And he is telling us here this messenger that's meant to prepare the way for God
is in fact John the Baptist.
That's why we find out in verse 4, we're told John appeared
immediately after we're told that this prophecy has come.
John is coming as the one who's meant to prepare the way.
He's the messenger that the Old Testament predicted,
and so God's salvation is almost here.
It's right around the corner.
His messenger has shown up to announce and proclaim his presence.
He tells us more just in the fact that John has appeared, though.
We'll come back to this repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
but we find out John's location.
By the way, in Malachi chapter 4, verse 5,
we're told that this messenger who's preparing the way for God
is going to be Elijah again.
Remember Elijah, an Old Testament prophet.
He's been long dead at this point since the beginning of the Gospel of Mark,
and yet Elijah's the one they're looking for to appear again,
and that's what he's getting at over and over in these verses.
So first of all, John appears.
We have to trust him that John's supposed to be Elijah
because he's coming right after the fulfillment of the prophecy,
but he gives us reasons to believe.
It's not just that Qui-Gon Jinn believes that Anakin's the chosen one,
but he has the midichlorian count to back him up.
He has his power in podracing to back him up.
John also brings his evidence here.
He is appearing in the wilderness,
the same place where Elijah disappeared.
So he's reappearing the last place Elijah was seen.
He's also wearing clothes here.
Verse 6, camel's hair and a leather belt.
That is meant to remind us of Elijah.
Not only is he appearing in Elijah's place,
he looks like Elijah.
And he's coming here, giving us what we've been looking for forever.
We've been looking for the promised return of God.
And so this appearance of John the Baptist is meant to build our excitement up,
our anticipation that God's return,
which has been waited for for centuries, is finally coming.
We find out about another prophecy fulfilled too.
It's not just that John is coming here,
but John is coming to prepare the way, right, for the Lord.
Lord, this one who is coming, verse 8,
is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
This comes as a fulfillment of prophecies in the books of Isaiah and Ezekiel
that talk a lot about the day when God is going to come
and finally pour out his Spirit on his people.
And so it's not just that God's presence is coming,
but his power is coming as well.
When we think about the Holy Spirit in the Bible,
there's all kinds of things we could talk about,
but the Holy Spirit comes bringing God's power to change hearts and lives.
That's what these prophecies in the Old Testament talk about.
And so this one, baptizing with the Holy Spirit,
is coming and going to bring that power finally
that they've been longing for and looking for
that's been promised for centuries in the prophets.
The Holy Spirit is going to be able to change hearts and minds.
It's the Holy Spirit that allows us,
that causes us to finally be able to admit that we're wrong.
It's the Holy Spirit we find out in the New Testament
that helps us to understand the truths about God
that we would not be able to understand on our own.
It's the Holy Spirit that changes our affections and our loves.
The Spirit has power.
In other words,
this God is going to come and save his world,
and he has the power to do it.
This great and powerful presence
that we've been waiting for for so long
is finally here.
Now I'm going to pause for a second
just to explain to you all the difference
between baptizing with water
and baptizing with the Holy Spirit
might seem strange
because water and the Holy Spirit
don't seem like opposites,
and it might also be strange
because there's all kinds of people
who have all kinds of theories and thoughts
about what's meant here,
and I want you to think about it simply in this way.
The difference between baptism in water
and baptism with the Holy Spirit
is the difference between the nurse and the doctor.
Now if you go and you visit your doctor,
you go to the doctor's office,
which I know doesn't happen quite as often anymore.
People are just texting their doctors
or doing telehealth,
but if you actually show up to the office in person,
what's going to happen first?
Well, you're going to get checked in
by the receptionist, right?
Then you get called back to the room.
When you're in the room,
the nurse is going to come in and talk to you,
and what's he going to say?
He's going to ask you,
what's wrong with you?
Why are you here to see the doctor?
Now I always find that to be a silly question
because I never set up doctor's appointments
without already telling them why I'm there,
but for some reason,
we have to go through this charade
where they ask me why I'm there,
so I tell them.
I am admitting in that moment
that I have a need, right?
I am saying, I need help.
Here's why I'm here.
This nurse is helping me to admit that need.
And the nurse can't help me, right?
The nurse does not have the power to prescribe.
The nurse is not there to diagnose.
We might say the nurse is there
to prepare the way for the doctor.
And so it's important.
I have to admit my need,
but my need's not going to be solved by that.
What I need, what I'm waiting for
is the doctor to show up.
And what's going to happen?
Well, after my temperature has been taken
and I've been weighed
and I've admitted my problem,
the doctor is going to show up.
She is the one who is going to be able
to prescribe and administer and diagnose.
She is the one who actually has the power
to make things right again.
That is what we're talking about here
when we look at the difference
between baptism with water
and baptism with the Holy Spirit.
John is preparing the way for Jesus.
He is getting the patients ready,
admitting their need,
knowing that they need someone greater
and more powerful
who can bring the Spirit to change them.
And so they're ready
when the doctor shows up.
He is getting them ready
so that Jesus can come
and actually bring real healing
and power and transformation.
And so the point is this,
that we look at the very beginning
of the Gospel of Mark.
The world is sick
and the one who can save it
and heal it is finally here.
The world is sick
and the one who can save it
and heal it is finally here.
Help is on the way.
This is not a drill.
That's how Mark begins his Gospel.
And so you'll remember
I had two questions.
Who is Jesus?
How do we respond to him?
First of all, who is Jesus?
We learn here,
he is not just a man.
He's also God.
These Old Testament passages
speak of God's return,
his presence.
Jesus is the one fulfilling that return.
He is not just a good teacher,
although he does have good teachings.
He is divine.
He is fulfilling
the Old Testament prophecies
even if it's not in the way
you might expect.
Not only is he not just a man,
but God,
he also is coming
with real and true power.
He is coming to provide
the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He's going to use that power
to actually save us.
A few weeks ago,
I referenced Charlie Brown,
which if you're old like me,
you'll remember.
Remember Lucy always has her booth.
It says psychiatric help,
five cents,
and she has this sign
that says the doctor is in.
Mark is telling us,
finally,
after centuries of waiting,
the doctor is in.
He is here to save the world.
He's going to be the one
who comes and brings to an end
all shame and sin
and disease and death
and alienation and wars.
And it's important that we see this
at the very beginning.
Mark's giving us an introduction here
to lay the groundwork
because Jesus' power,
that kind of power,
we're going to see at work
throughout the rest of the gospel.
And so keep this introduction in mind
as we see Jesus' healings
and his teachings
and his miracles.
He is a God.
He is the God.
He is God
coming with true and real power
to heal this world.
And so that's our first answer
in the gospel of Mark
to who Jesus is.
We'll see more answers
as we continue.
Mark, though,
is calling us
not just to look at Jesus
but also for a response.
If the doctor is here,
then what?
Well, we see in verses 2 and 3
that there's meant to be
a preparation here.
I will send my messenger
who will prepare the way
and then there's going to be
the voice of one
crying in the wilderness,
prepare the way of the Lord.
And then we find out
in verse 4
what this preparation looks like.
John appeared,
baptizing in the wilderness
and proclaiming a baptism
of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.
Now, baptism is this water cleansing
as we know
that represents
God cleansing us
from the dirt of sin.
We find out here
that John's giving a baptism here
that requires repentance.
He is requiring people
to admit and confess
that they are sinners
in need of help,
that they need God's mercy
and without it
they deserve only
his judgment.
And so that simply is
how John the Baptist
is preparing the way.
It goes back to my
illustration earlier.
John is the nurse
getting people in the rooms.
He's getting them ready.
They've already admitted
that they have need.
They've already told
this person
that they're sick.
That is his preparation
for Jesus
so that when Jesus shows up
they are waiting
and ready.
In fact, Jesus is going
to tell us later
in the Gospel of Mark
in chapter 2
that he is coming
as a physician.
He says,
those who are well
have no need
of a physician
but those who are sick.
I came not to call
the righteous
but sinners.
So Jesus is coming
only for those
who are willing
to admit
and confess
their need.
And there's a challenge
here in John's baptism
because typically
baptism at this point
in history
in biblical history
was only for those
who were non-Jews
becoming Jews.
And yet John here
is requiring it
of Jews as well.
In other words,
he's saying
your pedigree,
your religious background
doesn't matter.
I don't care
if you're a Jew or not.
I care if you are able
to admit your need.
On top of that,
baptism at this time
was typically
self-administered.
It was done
by the person
being baptized.
John, however,
is the one
performing the baptism, right?
They're being baptized
by John
and so he's telling them
not only do you have
to admit your need,
not only do I not care
about your background,
you can't help yourself.
You need something
outside of you
to cleanse you
and save you.
And so the question
for us,
brothers and sisters,
is how do we respond?
How are we preparing
the way for Jesus?
How are we prepared
for him to come
and heal?
And the answer
is simple.
We also have to admit
our mess.
We can't find healing
unless we're willing
to admit where we need it.
Imagine how ridiculous
it would be
if I showed up
to the doctor's office,
the nurse comes in,
she asked me,
why are you here
to see the doctor?
And I said,
honestly,
it's been a long time
since I've seen him
and I just really
wanted to catch up.
You know,
I don't know
what his kids are up to.
Are they still playing baseball?
Have they shifted
to volleyball?
I mean,
I have questions.
What would the nurse do?
I probably wouldn't
know what to do.
You're at the doctor's office.
Okay,
why are you here?
What do you need?
If you want to be healed,
if you want him
to help you,
you have to be honest
and upfront.
And so,
as we are coming
to the gospel
of Mark together,
the price of admission
to this gospel
is admitting your need.
We are not here
as an intellectual exercise.
I am not here
to simply give you
some kind of insights
into this text.
we are here
to be saved.
We are here
for Jesus,
this great physician
to come
and to help us.
I want you to think
about it like this.
If you've been in school,
you know there are
two ways to take a class.
You can take it
for credit
or you can audit it.
If you take it
for credit,
you have to do
all the work, right?
You buy the textbooks.
You do the reading.
You write the papers.
You turn in the assignments.
Maybe if there's
a curse upon you,
you have to do
some group work.
If you audit it,
you get to skip
all of that, right?
You just get to show up
for the lectures.
You just get to hear
some things.
You don't have to
engage it very much.
You can gain
some new ideas.
You don't have to do
any work.
The only problem
is that, of course,
you don't get any credit
for the class.
Brothers and sisters,
if we do not admit
our need for Jesus,
we are only going
to audit this class.
Our hope,
our goal
as God's people
is that we would not audit
but we would take it.
And if we're going
to take it,
we have to do
the work.
It's tempting
to believe
if we're someone
who's been a Christian
for a while
that we've arrived,
that repentance
is mainly
for other people
who have not been around
as long as we have
and yet we learn here
in this gospel
we're going to see
over and over
that the people
who see and meet Jesus
and receive his healing
more than any others
are the ones
who are going to admit
their need.
And so the same
is true for us.
If we want to take
this class,
if we want to see
real, true joy
and healing
come from our Lord Jesus
to us
through his gospel,
then we have to admit
as well
that our marriages
might be messier
than they look
from the outside.
The pictures
on Instagram
might not match
the reality
behind closed doors.
You might have to admit,
yes, I struggle
with pornography.
I have an addiction
of this sort
or another sort.
I'm someone
who's tempted
by gossip
that's fueled
by insecurity
and it's torn up
my family
and my community.
I have a tendency
to try to control
other people
rather than to love them.
I'm a salesman.
I lied my way
to the success
I experience now
and I'm deathly afraid
that I'm going
to be found out.
I work hard
but I do it
to make others
owe me
and so it's a form
of deep manipulation.
The question
for us
is this,
do you truly
think you need
Jesus?
Are you willing
to do what John
is asking for here
to engage
in repentance
for the forgiveness
of sins?
That is who
Jesus is coming for.
That is who
he's bringing
his healing for.
I know some of you
here in this room
have experienced
over the last
couple years
real and deep
and powerful change.
We've seen
in various circumstances
the true
power of God
at work
and you have
only experienced
that power
at work
if you have
had the humility
to confess
your need.
In fact,
I can't think
of anyone
who has experienced
deep and real
and true transformation
without the humility
and confession
that comes with saying
I need help.
Things here
are not
what they need
to be
or should be.
There's powerful
things going on
right now
in our band
of brothers
Bible study,
our men who meet
on Saturday mornings.
The reason
that God
is at work
in such a powerful
way
is because
there's deep
honesty
and humility.
That's what
gospel transformation
requires.
It's the willingness
to admit
our problems
and our need
that leads
to joy.
We're going to
talk about this
more in Mark
chapter 2.
I'll simply say this.
When Jesus talks
about the fact
that he's come
not for the healthy
but for the sick,
we'll see everyone
is actually sick.
It's just that
some people
are willing
to admit it.
Others are not.
Everyone
is actually sick.
It's just
some people
are willing
to admit it.
Others
are not.
You can't
get help
unless you ask.
It's true
in this life.
It's true
as we start
this journey
with our Lord Jesus
in the gospel
of Mark.
And so
as we ask
these two simple
questions,
we've seen
just the beginning
answer this morning.
Jesus
is the man
who is also God.
He comes
with real
and true
power to heal
and to change.
We respond
to that.
We experience
his power
and his change
as we admit
and confess
our need for it.
You can't get help
unless you ask
for it.
in his
autobiography
About Face,
Colonel David Hackworth
who became famous
for his involvement
in the Vietnam War
tells about his time
in Korea
and Vietnam.
And in between
that time
he spent
some of his service
in the army
and
stationed in Germany.
And while he was
stationed in Germany
he had all sorts
of interesting things
happen to him.
A variety of boring
things happened to him.
And at one point
he had this visit
from this man
who was very prominent
at the time
named General
Yabakovsky.
And Yabakovsky
was the chief
of the Soviet army
in East Germany
and he came to inspect
their battle group.
And so
as you would expect
they needed to prepare
for this great general
to come
and so they had
a variety
of creative ideas.
First of all
they repainted
some of the walls
on their barracks
except
they only painted
the sides of the walls
that you could see
from the plane
as it landed.
They needed to worry
about the other sides
the plane wasn't
going to pass those.
On this air strip
where his plane
was going to land
there were some
large patches of dirt.
So they thought
well if you're looking
down from the airplane
and you see
these large patches
of dirt
how about instead
of them being brown
they're green.
So they took
some green paint
and they painted
up the brown dirt
so it would look
like grass
when you were coming down.
And then
since this man
was a Russian general
they pulled all
the Russian speakers
they could find
and they put those
as the people
who were on that day.
And so they wanted
this man to come in
and think
wow look at this army
every single one
of their soldiers
from the top
to the bottom
speaks Russian.
These Americans
are amazing.
So they pull out
all the stops
to cover up reality.
They want things
to appear
greater and better
than they actually are.
And that's our intuition
that's what we want
when a great person
comes and visits.
We want to prepare
the way.
We want things
to appear
better than reality.
We want to clean up.
John the Baptist
tells us
someone great
is coming.
God himself
is on the way
coming with his power
except
he,
this king
is the one
who comes
to clean up.
He requires us
not to paint
over the dirt
with green paint.
He requires us
on the other hand
to actually show him
our mess.
It's not that
we clean
for him
but that
we show him
how dirty
and broken
we are
and he
cleans
for us.
Instead
of looking
good
we admit
that we're not.
That is our
introduction
and our pathway
into the gospel
of Mark.
Let's pray.
Our Father in heaven
we thank you
that you
send us
your Lord Jesus
and that you
speak to us
about him
even now.
We ask that you
give us
the hope
and encouragement
that comes
from knowing
that he
is showing up
as God himself
with your presence
and power.
We ask that you
would give us
the humility
and courage
and joy
to admit our need
that Jesus
would be able
to help us
clean up
that we would be able
to prepare
the way.
We ask these things
grateful
that we don't have
to pretend
things are better
than they are
but instead
we can simply
ask them
in the mighty name
of Jesus Christ.
Amen.