#JesusChristSavingKing

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My intentions in in describing Jesus for us are going to the Scripture and talking about Jesus with us isn’t for us to create more battles. It’s really to give us a a foundation of who Christ is and be able to to solidify that in our lives and point other people to it for us and following after Jesus. When we talk about defining who Christ is, believers in Christ have no business holding it to something that Jesus Himself doesn’t hold to as it relates to his identity and who he is. And on the same token, while we we we shouldn’t be holding to things that doesn’t describe who Christ is, we should be holding on to the things that that really tell us who Jesus is. And so for us to do that as a body of believers, it’s important not to start with our opinions, but to dive into God’s Word. I was reading an author this week describing Jesus and the fact that anyone follows him at all based on how he came into this world is is just beyond him. Because because of of the the lifestyle Jesus was raised up in and how he was presented into this world in the area in which he grew up in. This is what he wrote roughly 2000 years ago. Jesus was born in a dumpy, rural hick town, not unlike those today, where guys changed their own oil. Think pro wrestling is real fine women who chew tobacco attractive and eat a lot of Hot Pockets with their uncles.

Daddy, I don’t know what that means, but Jesus is original. It’s okay to change your world, by the way. All right. Tobacco. I don’t know about that, but it’s okay to change your own oil. But he goes on and says this. He never held a political office, never wrote a book, never married, never attended college, never won a poker tournament. He died both homeless and poor. Yet no army, nation or person has changed human history to the degree that Jesus, this homeless man, has. I mean, even if you look in in pop culture, there are opinions around him, stated Madonna wears a t shirt that says, Jesus is my homeboy. Kanye West is going to rap about him in in some song. A lot of religious teachers proclaim him more like a first century version of Mister Rogers than anything. And what is Jesus and and who is Jesus? This morning, I’m going to dive into Mark chapter one to let the text of Mark lay the background for us and our thinking of who Christ is. And this morning, as we dive into some of these, these thoughts in the first century context, my hope is to stretch our mind a little bit in the way that we think in this text as how it related to the first century Jewish culture in which it was written, what it means to us today as we seek to follow Christ and define who is Jesus.

Last week we left off with this phrase from First John. And the word became flesh will be in Mark in just a moment. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. And John, when he presents the argument of Jesus, tells us the word was was with God and the word was God, and all things were created through him. And at the end of Mark 114 and describing this Jesus, it says, and we we beheld his glory. And the significance of this word glory as it relates to Scripture. The Jewish mind could have referred back to this in Isaiah chapter 42, saying about God it says this I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not yield my glory to another. In the New Testament. Paul said in first Corinthians chapter ten and verse 31, whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. And so here you have John and referencing to Jesus, referring to him as in this realm of glory. And yet we’ve seen in Isaiah that God says his glory he will give to no other. And so John in this text is pronouncing the deity of Jesus. Defining who Jesus is is the fuel and the power of the church. In Mark chapter 16, Jesus even asks his disciples, who do you say that I am? And it was on the confession in which Peter gives that Jesus then turns back to the disciples and says, based on this confession, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

It’s the foundational understanding of who Christ is that gives the fuel to the church. It is the reason we are here. And the identity of who he is significant to our lives. When Mark begins. His gospel. He starts this way 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 ahead of you. Who will prepare your way? The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. And John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The beginning of Mark’s gospel. You’ll see in particular Bibles. There will be this section that segmented off, and it’s verse two and verse three. If your Bible recognizes this, and then you’ll see in just a moment in verse 11, the same thing happens. But these are these are Old Testament quotes. And Mark for us to be able to understand the picture of Jesus and who he is. He begins this explanation of the gospel by referring back to the Old Testament. The reason is, which we’ve noted last week, everything in the Old Testament is a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus. Everything in the New Testament now points back to the coming of Jesus.

He’s the centerpiece of what Scripture is about. And these gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John reveal him in his nature to us, having now become flesh. And so when Jesus’s ministry begins, Mark starts from the Old Testament because the proclamation of Jesus was was stated in the book of Malachi that there would be a forerunner through which he would proclaim the coming of Christ. And in verse two, Mark now goes back to the book of Malachi, and he declares this statement from Malachi chapter three, that this forerunner that was going to proclaim this message is in fact John. He confirms it for us in verse four. So if you’re looking for the coming of the Messiah, John is now pointing us to it. And it goes on in the second half of the verse. And he quotes in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse three. The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Mark is now identifying for us the significance of the individual that John would proclaim. When? When Mark goes back and quotes Isaiah chapter 40, it’s the proclamation to the nation of Israel for restitution for the people. And in a Savior or Redeemer. In the time of Isaiah, the the children of Israel being carried into captivity. And Isaiah takes this future picture of the nation of Israel from chapter 40 and on of this redemption and this hope that they need to have.

And now Isaiah is referring to this hope through Mark proclaiming this Messiah who would come redeeming the people. And Mark cries out the voice of one in the wilderness. Saying, make ready the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And this statement in which Mark is is alluding to is one of royalty, one of authority. When someone in a in a high position in the area, someone of a a political ruler position, when he would come into the city, the people of the city, realizing this, this ruler was about to enter into their town, would take the opportunity to prepare the streets for his arrival. In our society today, we would say it’s like rolling out the red carpet. They would level the ground. To honor this king and his travel. Mark is saying to us. That John is proclaiming this message for us, that we may prepare our hearts for his arrival. I’m being able to embrace this Messiah. Chapter four. Mark goes on. We’re not going to touch on the specifics of this today, but I just want you to see our verse, excuse me, verse five from chapter one. It goes on, it says, in all the country of Judea, Judea was going out to him and all the people of Jerusalem still talking about John the Baptist. And they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

So we still do that today. Biblical, right? We’re biblical as a church baptizing in the Jordan River. Not the same Jordan. If you think that’s gross, it’s okay. We wait for all the dead things to float by before we do it. When John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, which I still think would be a great Halloween costume. And his diet and locusts were wild honey. Not that part though. And he was preaching and saying, after me, one is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals, which we talked about last week. And he says in verse eight, I baptize you with water. And this is an important part we’re going to draw into in the coming weeks. But he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And then Mark goes on. In those days. Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opening in the spirit like a dove descending upon him, and a voice came out of the heavens. You are my beloved son. In you. I am well pleased. The father is speaking in these moments. And this is another appearance of John. Chapter one explains to us the Trinitarian picture of God. And in Mark chapter one you have the same thing.

The spirit of the dove descending, the father speaking in Jesus being baptized. When you read this verse 11, and what the father is saying, the father has given an affirmation for us and the type of ministry Jesus is about to lead in this world, and he is identifying who Jesus is for us. In our in our contextualization of our 21st century minds, we might look at this and see like, oh, that’s good. The fathers looked down on Jesus and said, good, good job, my little kid. You did great. You know how good of the father to say that about the son? That’s really not what the father is saying about Jesus at all. Now the father is pleased as Jesus is taking his step out into baptism to to begin his ministry. I think this anointing is taking place for Jesus to then conduct ministry for the next three years of his life. Proclaiming who he is and revealing that to us. But when the father speaks in Mark chapter one, he is saying far more than good job, Jesus. In Mark chapter one, the father is quoting, just like it began in verse two and three of Mark. He’s quoting from the Old Testament. In the beginning. You are my beloved son. He’s quoting from Psalm chapter two and verse seven. And in you I am well pleased. He is quoting from Isaiah chapter 42 and verse one. Now that must may not mean much to you today, but in a first century Jewish mind to hear these terms expressed warning bells and and celebration and deeper thought would would have come into their mind and an expression of who this Jesus really is.

Called Psalm chapter two. That’s a messianic psalm. That’s a messianic psalm relating to a king. In fact, when Israel would appoint a king. Then we go to Psalm chapter two and read it to verse seven. It was to recognize that this individual was anointed for for God’s purposes to carry out God’s work. This was a statement of kingship. And so when the father is now saying this about the son having appointed to to Isaiah chapter 40 already and saying to us that that the redemption of people, that the nation of Israel would be restored. And we know that the promises of Abraham, that through through Abraham’s seed all nations would be blessed. That’s who identify him as the king. Father. Now pointing to Jesus in this way. Shares with us the significance of who he is. And not only that, when you go further, it says, and you, I am well pleased. The father is referring to Isaiah chapter 42. The nation of Israel had looked at Psalm two, expecting this political leader to come and set them free. But now in Isaiah chapter 42, this is this is where they have a difficulty in understanding everything that Jesus is going to do in this world.

Because in Isaiah chapter 42 to Isaiah, chapter 53 to the nation of Israel, this is known as the the suffering servant. Passages of Scripture. In fact, in Isaiah 53, it tells us by his wounds we are healed. It’s the prophetic death of Jesus foretold in his crucifixion on the cross. And by his wounds, you’ll be healed. The father is identifying. Exactly who Jesus is. Jesus is the King. And Jesus in his kingship is coming as a servant. Giving his life on your behalf. Israel had a difficulty understanding. How this servant who is a king. Could give his life on their behalf. Israel expecting and anticipating the coming of a messiah who would set them free. It tells us in in the Gospels, when Jesus fed the 5000, that immediately they begin to try to grab hold of him and and make them their political ruler. And Jesus proclaims to them, my kingdom is not of this world. But the father is casting a picture for us of exactly who Christ is. I think it’s the reason that that that Judas is the one who betrays Jesus, because in Judas mind, he has this expectation that Jesus is going to take political rulership of Israel, and Israel is no longer going to be under the thumb of other nations. But but God’s going to raise up Israel to, to rule. And and Judas, when he begins to realize that that’s not exactly what Jesus is going to do, it frustrates him.

In fact, you see this with the other disciples to James and John, the mother of James. And John comes to Jesus and says, when you’re ruling in your kingdom, will you let my, my son sit second and third behind you in command? And Jesus explains to her. He who wants to be first in my kingdom must be last. Jesus’s idea of the kingdom that he came to establish. Inaugurate. Let’s remind us this kingdom was not of this world, but Christ indeed will return. But. To create within Israel’s mind exactly what this Messiah was to do. He was a suffering servant, a king who came to give his life. Maybe one of the most controversial statements that God makes, the father makes in relationship to the son is the fact that he calls him son. You are my beloved son, and I can tell you in our understanding in Scripture, if we just if we if we take a 21st century thought to what God is saying here, we can grossly underestimate the position of who Christ is. In verse 11, when God is referring to Jesus as his son, it doesn’t. It doesn’t mean in the context that I would say my, my, my son is my child today. And to explain this, let me let me just paint a picture for us in John chapter three, because this is this is probably one of the most specific references to Jesus in the Terme of Son.

But in John chapter three, you know John 316, For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. It’s within this context that he then says this he that believeth on him talking about Jesus is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Now, what does it mean when Scripture refers to Jesus as the son? In. Some context. You may have heard this, but the phrase son of is not is not foreign to our understanding, right? Uh, you maybe even if you’re a Lord of the rings fan. I don’t know where this comes from, but. But you know, you’ve heard people say I’m son of Thor and heir to Aragorn. Whatever. Right? And the way people identified who they were was through their their kinship, the son of the only son of means. He is the only one like this. And the fact that it says Son of God is not not a foreign concept to to even the time of Jesus. In fact, when political rulers would rule like Caesar, it wasn’t uncommon to hear Caesar referred to as the Son of God. They would they had the tendency in the in the Roman culture to deify certain figures. And so they would use this phrase for Caesar to, to deify him, this Son of God.

But God is is making a cultural claim here for us to understand Jesus. And if we don’t understand it within the context of the culture, then we will misunderstand what this passage is saying. What does it mean? Well, this passage I’ve said doesn’t absolutely does not mean that God had a kid and he’s really happy for him, right? And if you read this verse and the voice comes from heaven, you are my beloved son. In you I am well pleased. It doesn’t mean God has a kidney. He’s really happy for the kid. You’ve seen. It’s it’s the kingship of Jesus. It’s the servant of Jesus. And now this phrase, son, as it relates to Jesus, what does it mean? The only begotten Son of God in the Greek text is um monogenes huius theos. Monogenis. If you break it down, it’s the word where you get mono and jean. It’s the way science scientists classify, uh, living organisms, the species and the classification of them. Mono means one. And the fact that that God in John three is saying he’s the only begotten Son of God, as distinguishing far different than any phrase that we would put on Caesar or anyone else by calling them the Son of God. Because God is saying in this passage through John that Jesus is the only one, the only the monogenes, the only one who qualifies under this class. With this statement God.

God is eliminating any other form of deity or any other claim of anyone who wants to be any form of deity. He’s saying Caesar is not God because Jesus is the only one that would fall in this category. In fact, if you were to read Isaiah 43 and verse ten, Isaiah 44 and verse six and eight, it says before me in verse 43 and ten, there is no God formed after me. There is no God form. I know of no other God. And so Judaism, different than the Roman Greek culture, was completely monotheistic. They only believed in one God, which is why, when it came to Jesus claiming to be deity, that the Jewish people had a difficult time embracing Christ, at least for the leadership, because Jesus was claiming to be God and the Jewish people were monotheistic. If you read it in John chapter eight and verse 58, or Romans or John chapter ten and verse 30, Jesus says, I and the father are one. And in verse 33 it says, And the Jews picked up stones to stone him. And Jesus says, for which of these do you stone me? And they say for none but you being a mere man. Make yourself out to be God. Jesus is the only one. The Monogenes. Who is Hoyos Diaz? The son of God. And what is this phrase son of mean? If it doesn’t literally mean God’s child. This phrase son of is used several times throughout scripture.

And you see within the context of the New Testament as it’s expressed. It’s not in reference to a child. But they use it in reference to the word nature of. When Caesar was called the Son of God. It’s Deifying Caesar. But what it’s saying is Caesar possesses the nature of God. In acts chapter four and verse 36 talking about Barnabas. When Saul came to Barnabas, it says this who was also called Barnabas by the apostles, which translated means the son of encouragement. Barnabas wasn’t born from encouragement, right? Encouragement can’t have kids. But what it’s saying is the nature of what encouragement is. If you want to know that, get next to Barnabas. When it came to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, to them he gave them the name the Sons of Thunder. In John chapter 17, referring to Judas. I guarded them and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition, so that the scriptures would be fulfilled. Son of in the context of the New Testament, as we understand it isn’t the expression of having a kid though, though we could use the word son that way. What it means is the nature of this word is expressed in this individual. Whether it be perdition, whether it be thunder, whether it be encouragement, or whether it be God. And so in Mark chapter one. When Jesus is called the Son of God.

And in John chapter three and verse 18, when Jesus is called the only begotten Son of God. It’s not saying to us the father had a kid. It’s saying to us that the nature of God is in Jesus. It’s pointing to his deity. And so when Mark introduces Jesus to us, what it’s saying is this King. Who is God the Son? It’s coming as a servant to give his life for you. That’s what the father is saying. Paul in a different way, expresses it to us in our culture that is easier for us to understand. It’s an explanation of the phrase son of. In Colossians chapter two and verse nine, he says this, for in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. In Colossians chapter one and verse 15, it says he is the image of the invisible God. I don’t know if you think about this much, but when? When you say the name Jesus Christ. You are proclaiming. What the father says in Mark chapter one and verse 11. The name Jesus Christ isn’t just a name. And hopefully when you say it, you’re saying it in the right terms, right? But the name Jesus Christ is identification of his title, his position, his authority. The name Jesus is. It’s Yeshua. In the Hebrew text it means salvation and the name Christ. It’s messianic in the Old Testament, but it’s it’s the word for anointing, which is what they did for a king, which is exactly what’s happening to Jesus in Mark chapter one.

He’s being anointed through the coming of the spirit for the ministry in which he is about to proclaim. Jesus Christ is the identification of not only the the deity of who Jesus is, but the fact that Jesus is coming for you and for me to die on our behalf. Colossians chapter two explains that for us. So why does this matter? Why does it matter that we understand who who Jesus is and have this picture of us? I think within life today. Um. We. We’re looking for more in life. And we, we tend as people to make idols out of things where Jesus was designed to be. In fact, I think we even do that in our relationships with each other. We have this expectation that you want someone and and you want them to be there with you all the times and to love you unconditionally and to support you through life and. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing, especially within your spouse, to find a healthy relationship with each other. But the reality is, as human beings, we fail. And Jesus is all of those things, not the failure. But he is the one that’s there for us at all times, and he is the one that supports us in our in life, and he is the one that loves us unconditionally. But the truth is to trust him in that.

We’re not going to want to trust anyone in any of those positions until we have confidence in who they are. It’s his nature attached to his promises that we begin to believe and realize that God is big enough to care for you the way that he has promised to care for you. I think John and Mark, these gospels that we looked at the last couple of weeks, the reason those books just slam their foot down on understanding the picture of who Jesus is is because Mark and John understand throughout the rest of the gospel how they’re going to create within us the image of Jesus’s identity and the way that he lives his life in this world. And what I mean is they they plainly say to us that Jesus absolutely is is God. And through that proclamation, you see the way Jesus then throughout the rest of the Gospels cares for this world. The miracles that he performs at that. The pages tells us at the end of John that that the Bible couldn’t even contain the things that Jesus has done in this world. But John tells us at the end of the book, the reason that he wrote the book of John is that so that through him we could experience life in him. There is enough there within the pages for us to recognize not only as Jesus God, but man. He is good. So that when you see the proclamation of God and then you see the miracles and the way that Jesus cares for the life of people and how he lives, that in this world that you can stop within your own heart and say in Jesus.

Can you really care about me like that to? God if. If I put my trust in you. God, will you really take the hurt? And God, can you really redeem me? And God, can you really bring me life? And God can you really sustain me and God? Is there really joy in your presence forevermore? Trusting. And that nature of who God is. I think when we get the clear picture of the authority of who Jesus truly is. He is God. And he’s come in the flesh as a king. To serve. Because his concern is you. And he’s demonstrated that throughout the Gospels, through and through, in what he’s done in the life of people. It says to us, and you, you are no different. And just as he cares for them, he cares for you. But the hope within your heart as you see these words displayed within scriptures that inside of you you settle in those phrases. Jesus Christ. My saving king, who has given his life for me that I could trust in him. Every day you live, you move one step closer to seeing him face to face. And not only does he offer you hope for tomorrow. But he gives you strength for today because he is your king, caring for your needs.

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