Jesus of Nazareth (Part A)

How ignorant they were of their own scripture. Jonah was from Galilee. Maybe Elijah and Elisha too, if not from there close to.

Nahum was likely from Galilee. So, they just voiced their ignorance, which is important for us to remember. Because so many people are rejecting Jesus Christ and don't even know who it is they are rejecting and why, or it is totally in the dark. Stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now, here's Pastor Rick in Mark chapter 1 with a brand new study called Jesus of Nazareth. If you have your Bibles, please open to the Gospel according to Mark chapter 1, and we will read verses 9 through 15. It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove.

Then a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness, and he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beast, and the angels ministered to him. Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel. We are considering Jesus of Nazareth and his baptism, his temptation, and his public ministry, at least the beginning of his public ministry. And we look right now at verse 9. It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

That came to pass in those days. Looking back, remember this Gospel, as with all the Gospels, is written after the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and the beginning of the church. And Mark, putting this together, looking back at those days, and there were no other days like the days when Christ walked. Nazareth is in Galilee. It is the northernmost territory of Israel, where it is highly populated, the most populated in the land at that time. But Nazareth was an obscure village. It's not even mentioned in the Old Testament. Josephus, the historian, the great Jewish historian, he doesn't mention it. The rabbinical writings of the Talmud skip over it.

In other words, it was insignificant. Well, I was known for being a place that you didn't want to be. You didn't want to be from Nazareth, almost any other place in Israel, but not there. And contempt for Nazareth was widespread in Judea.

They also had contempt for all the Galilee region, but especially Nazareth and the rabbis, they just pushed that along. And yet Christ comes along, and he's not ashamed. He's not ashamed to be from Nazareth.

Of course, born in Bethlehem, but raised mostly in Nazareth. And later in his ministry, the rabbis, the religious leaders of his day, they will accuse him of not being qualified to be a prophet. Because, well, not only because, but they're going to specify, well, I'll just read it, John chapter 7, verse 52. They're not speaking to him.

They're speaking to those who are coming to his defense, or hinting at coming to his defense. Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee. That was their disdain. It was also their ignorance. It also showed to us just how ignorant they were of their own scripture. Jonah was from Galilee. Maybe Elijah and Elisha too, if not from there close to.

Nahum was likely from Galilee. So they just voiced their ignorance, which is important for us to remember. Because so many people are rejecting Jesus Christ and don't even know who it is they are rejecting and why.

Or, it's just totally in the dark. And that is why we are here. So, what would keep God from, anyway, raising up a prophet from Galilee, from Nazareth?

Nothing. Which, again, speaks of the ignorance of the religious leaders of their day, because they should have factored that in. They should have said, well, before we go saying no prophets come from Israel, we better check our Bibles. And number two, so what if there weren't? Maybe God will raise one from that area.

Wouldn't that not be a blessing? But that is not how those boys did business. Also, against the Galileans, from the high-minded ones, was their dialect, which was easily identified. Remember, when Peter warmed himself by the fires, and there at the, where he wasn't supposed to be, they picked him out because he spoke like a Galilean.

The grammatical errors that came from that part of the country, the mispronounced words, especially in the eyes of the Jews that lived in Jerusalem. Now remember, Mark, John Mark, who is giving us this record of Christ's life on earth, he is a Jerusalem Jew. He knows better.

He has learned. But you cannot say that about all of them. In fact, in time, the Christians themselves were called Nazarenes, a term of contempt. Of course, it marked that they were following Jesus of Nazareth.

And it was supposed to insult them, and they took it with honor. In Acts chapter 24, in Paul's ministry, here's what we hear from verse 5. For we have found this man a plague, a charging Paul the apostle, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of Nazarenes.

And that he was just pouring it on thick against Paul. Of course, the Christians will get it from the Gentiles just as hard. You know, the Gentiles believed that the Romans, for example, who were those of the world power at that time, they believed their gods were the ones that gave them prosperity and allowed them to be the great Roman Empire. And if their gods were not appeased and treated the right way, their god's wrath would be on them. And so when the Christians came up, of course, many of the Romans say, they are challenging our gods. This is not going to go good for us. We're going to have famines, we're going to lose wars, the economy is going to fall apart, we're going to have disease and sickness.

Oh, this is bad. That's what the Christians were up against. Satan still does this.

He is notorious for falsely charging the righteous with the dirt that he does. And blocking God out and getting folks to worship creation rather than the Creator. And of course, whenever you feel warm, it is because the planet is getting hot, the climate is changing because people have had fun. Sarcasm, sorry. Sarcasm. Because they worship creation.

It's neo-paganism that we're dealing with those who hate people, who don't agree with them that the planet is somehow going to just cook us all by 2021. Anyway, he was baptized in the Jordan by John, it tells us here in verse 1. And was baptized by John in the Jordan. John's baptism was one of repentance.

Not far from ours, too. Of course, repentance belongs to the baptism, the water baptism that we submit to. But Jesus himself never had anything to repent of. What is he doing coming to John asking to be baptized? John, when Jesus enters the water, he recognizes this, Mark omits it, but Matthew picks it up. Matthew chapter 3, and John tried to prevent him saying, I need to be baptized by you, and you're coming to me.

Can you imagine that moment? That great fireball preacher, John the Baptist, people coming out to the water humbled by the sin because of his preaching about the righteousness of God in line with the prophets. And there, Jesus comes to the water, and John never saw eyes like this before. He never saw in the face of any human being sinlessness until now.

At least he never recognized it. He voices it here. But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now. Well thus, it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. And then he allowed him. In other words, Jesus said, this is scriptural.

Let's do it. And John said, yes. Yes, Lord, and he baptized him. That moment, Jesus is publicly identifying with the people he came to save.

He doesn't have to do this. He's so far ahead of us, so much more exalted than we could ever dream to be, and yet he humbles himself in the form of a servant. And he identifies with us ruined humanity that he felt was worth dying for. I could argue with him against that. I don't think we're worth dying for. If you live down here, yes I have, he would say.

I would lose the argument instantly, of course. But we can see, we can see the beauty of him saying, I'm going to join you to get through this and all the centuries that have passed and all the horror and the tragedies God is saying. I see it all. And it is a flash in the pan compared to eternity. And if you come with me, we'll get through this.

And if you do not, there is a consequence, which we'll get to hopefully if we get to the latter chapters. But John, writing his letter, his first one, he stresses this, and we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. John didn't need anybody to agree with him.

He would love for them to agree with him. He didn't need it. I saw him. I was there. You can't take that from me, but I'm sharing it with you.

We do the same to this day. I have my salvation in Christ. I know in whom I believe.

I know who my Savior is. And you do not have to agree with me for him to be my Savior. But I would sure love for you to see the sin that you're guilty of, and you will stand before this Savior condemned unless you submit and repent and confess him as Lord. John's baptism, it demanded repentance. There's no salvation without admission of sin, then or now. The New Testament demands this. God demands it. In the Old Testament, the altar stood to say, Repent! Come to God and admit that you are a sinner, and you'd cause death in heaven instantly if you got there the way you are now.

That's why you're not getting in the way you are now. Jesus changes us. In this life, the process begins, but the greater part happens when we are changed in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at death, which is the beginning of life for the believer. Nothing was as perfect as Christ, and this Lord who died for us says you must repent of your sins. You cannot excuse them, trivialize them. It mocks the cross. It mocks why he died. False believers refuse to admit it. They still go to church.

They still want to be received as part of the body, but they don't want to battle sin, insisting they are saved without confessing their sin. They do this, and it is the work of Satan. Satan said to Balaam, or through Balaam, if you can't conquer the Jews, corrupt them. He's still doing this.

It's very effective. And Christians begin to feel sorry for the churchgoers or those who say they're Christians but will not deal with their sin, and the next thing they end up patting them on the back. Paul had to deal with this in 1 Corinthians. He says you guys are glorying in the wrong things.

You think you're being kind and gentle, but you're actually causing a lot of damage. To confess Christ and remain brazen and penitent in sin is a spirit of defiance, not submission. It is the kingdom of heaven, not the kingdom of leaven. That is what he offers to us, and we're not perfect.

We're not at all saying to the impenitent one that, oh, we're better than you. What we are saying is we cannot pretend with Jesus Christ, and he won't pretend with us, and these things have to be brought to the light. And the water baptism says, it's a sermon. It says, I am guilty before God, and the old me dies. It goes under the water, and the new me, forgiven, comes out in life and life in Christ. For Christ, it pictured his death on the cross, not his admission of sin, though he became sin for us. He took ours, and when he died on the cross, he died as you.

He died as me. And when he comes out of the water at John's baptism, he speaks of, of course, the resurrection that you cannot hold him down. Luke put it this way, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Baptism, it became a living symbol, and it is one to this day.

Cross in the empty tomb. Verse 10 now, he says, and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting, and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. There again, Mark uses that word. You know, he uses it three times more than all the other gospels put together.

Immediately, theos in the Greek. It indicates for Mark, in his record, that a great event is about to happen. It doesn't mean a separate event necessarily, but it means it's a dramatic moment going to take place right now and don't miss it.

In his rapid-fire style, of course, as we covered in the introduction of Mark, the Roman mind to whom he was writing, they appreciated action, and so he's giving it to them. And so as they're reading this, you know, and he came up out of the water, and immediately, instantly, and that is significant to us, and let's not waste it, he separates dramatic events by that word immediately. Coming up from the water, the story of one rising up as well as the one who will rise again. I think there's more here, but I can't bring it out because he's coming up out of the water, and the Holy Spirit's coming down as a dove, and it is a very beautiful picture. I'd stand in line for that. I'd want to see that.

I would be there for that. 1 John, again, he writes, he says, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil, and he's being manifested right now. In other words, God is going to pull back the curtain in heaven and say, this is my beloved Son, and he's going to do it right there in front of John the Baptist, who is baptizing him, and whoever else was in the vicinity, it appears. So we read in verse 10, he saw the heavens parting. Now the pronoun, he, does it refer to John, or does it refer to Jesus? Well, the antecedent is clearly Jesus. He's been talking about Jesus, but John saw it too. Though it's not said here, it's said in John the apostle's gospel. So it was not a private vision.

It would have been somewhat wasted. So the vision took place, there were eyewitnesses, and then Mark and all the other writers of the gospel make sure it gets into print so we become eyewitnesses through the ages. John's gospel, chapter 1, verse 32, and John bore witness saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remained upon him. One time when I was doing a baptism at the river, as those of you remember at the farm, at Lavender Fields Farm, we were doing a baptism there, and this dragonfly landed on my hand. It wasn't a dove.

It's just like, it's just not right. I mean, it was cute and everything, but no one else witnessed it because the heavens didn't part. But if the heavens parted, everybody would have been there, wouldn't it? Anyway, this, the heavens parting being in this, there was a spiritual event. There was something else going on. This was not standard.

Something outside of our routine was taking place. And this activity from heaven's side was the approval, of course. It was a prophetic connection, God was saying to the witnesses, which we now are a part of. Isaiah chapter 64, oh, that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down.

Here it is. The heaven is open and God is coming down. The Trinity is involved here. The Son being baptized, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, a symbol, the emblem of a dove. I mean, the Holy Spirit wasn't the dove. He comes down as a dove. And of course, the Father who speaks.

In other words, this was no coincidence. Again, Isaiah chapter 42, behold my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He just described the ministry of Christ. He's describing everything we were going to hopefully get to this morning in these verses from verse 9 to 15. Isaiah 42 is the outline for this. The prophet called it already. So again, it's not a coincidence.

No one else can fulfill this. And so as the angel announced his birth at Bethlehem, the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the emblem, with this emblem of the dove, was used to announce his public ministry. So the angel announced he's here.

He's born of a virgin. Now, the announcement is, now he's beginning his public ministry. Of course, he ministered wherever he was before this. But this is a big step.

It will only last about a little over three years. And however, again, many were present. They became witnesses to this spiritual activity in the physical dimension. Never was there a time where he was not without the Spirit, not full of the Spirit. But again, these things are done for those who are witnessing these things. And you can bet when they got home, they began to talk about it and the word was beginning to spread. And so when his ministry ramped up, they weren't cold.

They had a preview of these things. I find that often the case in our own lives wherever we witness. You may get a new job or a new person comes into your life and they get a glimpse of the Christianity, but they don't yet get the gospel.

And then in time, having had that glimpse, the opportunity arises and you are able to open up to them a reason for the hope that is in you. Now this emblem of the dove, of course it is harmless, the dove. I mean, you don't name a, you know, a Raider Battalion, the Fighting Doves. It just doesn't put too much fear in the enemy. But they're gentle too. And the Holy Spirit, is he not that way with us? Is he not that way with the patience of God?

There's nothing like it. I mean, I'm the one that says, man, I'm messed up. Don't agree, please, not now. And God says, come on now, we've got things to do. I'm not here to slam you. I don't recall God ever speaking to me in a nasty tone or even yelling at me. I've been convicted and heavy, heavily convicted, but it's always been to a gentle touch. I've told this story before. When I was in the military, I came home on leave once, and I'm driving, and my mom's in the backseat, and I was not a Christian then. I was totally into the world, and the world was totally into me. And somebody did something on the road, which is so surprising, that caused me to let out an expletive.

I mean, I would never talk that way around my mother, around the guys, no problem, but mom, never ever ever. And it was just silence, and I knew it was a mistake, and I could not appeal. Well, what do you think? I've just been on ship with a bunch of, what could I say? And then after a long pause, she said, you have a disgusting mouth. Oh man, to this moment, as I'm standing here, I want to duck down and hide. Why am I confessing it to you? Man, it just, it's terrible.

It's just, you know, she never brought it up again, she's still my mom, and nothing changed. Because how could she not love me? I mean, look at me.

Look at that face. But anyway, the Holy Spirit, He's so gentle and kind. And if, I have learned, Jesus said, my sheep know my voice. If you want to know the voice of God, you'll find out, He's never rude. He stands at the door and He knocks as He's a gentleman.

He can kick the, He can blow the house up, but He doesn't do that. So you learn after a while, when the voice of God is speaking to you, if it is in a condemning tone, it's not Him. If it's in a constructive, truthful tone, it's Him. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio for this study in the book of Mark. Cross Reference Radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. To learn more information about this ministry, visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. Once you're there, you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross Reference Radio. You can search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark, right here on Cross Reference Radio.