Tonight I want to begin an expositional series in the book of Mark. I've been praying about where to go and finally got a piece about launching into a study on the Gospel of Mark.
We're not going to be looking at the text in Mark. We're going to be looking at those references in Acts and other places. Tonight is an introductory message, just some background I think that's helpful for us.
I'm excited about this study. The Gospel of Mark is, well, it's hard to say it's my favorite. There's some things about it that I really, really, really like. But to ask me of the four Gospels which is my favorite is like asking a kid what's his favorite candy in a candy store, right?
Like, I don't know. We're going to look at four things I want you to consider with me tonight. What are his sources? If Mark, John Mark is the author of this book, what were his sources? What did he draw upon to gather the information to write this Gospel account? Number two, who are his associates?
Who are his associates? And number three, we'll look at the structure of the book and then we'll consider some things related to the style of his writing. So that doesn't probably sound real appetizing unless you like literature, but this is the Word of God, right? And anytime we have the opportunity to set before the Word of God and hear it and to have the illuminating power of the Spirit of God to illuminate our minds, we might understand the scriptures.
We are a blessed, blessed people. John Mark, we believe, wrote this Gospel between 55 and 59 AD. We can't nail that down exactly somewhere in that time frame. It is believed that he was an eyewitness to some of Jesus's life. The early church fathers who knew the disciples said that Mark was a close associate of Peter and that he wrote down what Peter told him concerning his eyewitness account of Jesus's teachings and deeds. So that, we're talking about sources here, that one primary source for John Mark is his relationship with Peter.
That Peter was getting to the end of his life and there was some urgency to preserve the teaching ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is believed to be what prompted Mark to write when he did somewhere between 55 and 59 AD. Mark is the first Gospel of the Synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We believe there is strong evidence that both Matthew and Luke drew heavily from Mark in their Gospels, but again, Mark is the shortest of the three Synoptics. Sixteen chapters make up the Gospel of Mark. Mark became associated with Peter when Peter was freed from prison. That's why I read that passage. When Peter was freed from prison, he went to, well, let's go back there.
We've got the time. Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12, verse 12. Again, talking about Peter when he was released from prison. So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. So, he went to this house where the saints had gathered to pray and whose house was it? It was Mary's house.
It was John Mark's mother's house. So that's where the first hint we have of the relationship that John Mark had with Peter. And then in Peter's first epistle, he mentions John Mark.
In fact, I'll just read it to you. You don't need to turn there, but this is 1 Peter 5, verse 13. You know, when you're reading your Bible and you get to the end and there's all these names there at the end, don't skip over that. That is inspired text. That's inspired scripture. It's there for a reason.
And it's helping us connect dots here tonight. So again, 1 Peter 5, verse 13. It's under the heading, farewell and peace. Verse 13, she who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, and Peter calls him my son. So, John Mark is with Peter, as Peter is writing his epistle, and his relationship is as such that Peter refers to him as his son. So that tells us something about some kind of a mentoring relationship, some kind of a close relationship where Mark, John Mark, benefits from Peter's ministry. As I've mentioned to you, he's called John Mark, and that can be confusing. We're wondering, well how many...is his name John? Is his name Mark? Well, he's John Mark. John's his Hebrew name, Mark's his Roman name, but we refer to him as the author of the gospel of Mark.
So, those are his sources. We're also told in Colossians chapter 4 and verse 10 that John Mark was a cousin to Barnabas. You know, we wonder, well how did he become a ministry partner traveling with the Apostle Paul and Barnabas? What's the connection there? Well, Barnabas is his cousin.
So there's just this natural blood connection. He was a traveling companion of Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. And again, I showed you when we read the text that the only reference to what role he had in this missionary team was he was assisting them. Whatever that looked like in that day and in that context, he was along. He was perhaps being trained.
He was assisting. But his missionary calling and career appeared to be short lived. And we look there at chapter 13 and verse 13, something happened. Whether the demands were too great, perhaps...I don't think it was a sickness. I don't think it was something that would be an excusable reason to leave the team and go back to Jerusalem. Because Paul was so adamant that he was no longer suitable to travel with him and wouldn't have any part with him. In fact, it brought that great division. So there was something about the demands of ministry that caused him to leave and return to Jerusalem.
That's a...what shall we say? It's sad in one way and yet it's encouraging in another because we know the whole story. We know that he was restored to a place of usefulness. And even the man who was the most critical of him had a change of heart toward him.
And I'll show you that a little bit later. So failure doesn't necessarily disqualify us from service to the Lord. We're sinners. We're made of clay.
We have fears. I'm thankful tonight that God's the God of the second chance. I know Jonah was thankful that God was the God of the second chance. The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, it says.
The very same assignment to him. Is that because Jonah was the only one around? God didn't have anybody else?
No. God could have chosen anybody, but he wasn't done with Jonah. He was going to use this man despite his reluctance to be used of God. Toward the end of Paul's ministry, while he was in Rome, he had a change of heart. Paul wrote a number of letters from prison. Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians, and I want you to notice, there's so much, you come across something and you go, boy, there's an awful lot to read between the lines there. Listen to Colossians chapter 4 and verse 10.
Paul's writing to the church at Colossae. And again, we're getting to the end of the chapter. Again, my exhortation. Don't just skip over it because it says final greetings.
I always just kind of mention a bunch of people's names that I can't pronounce and no. This is Colossians 4.10. Well, let me back up to verse 7. Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts. With Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who was one of you, they will make known to you all things which are happening here.
Verse 10. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you with Mark, unless we don't understand which Mark he's talking about, with Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, in parentheses, about whom you received instruction. If he comes to you, welcome him.
Welcome him, Paul says. He's got a different attitude toward John Mark, doesn't he? He was willing to part company with him. I'm not yoking up with him. He bailed out on us. Something's happened, and I don't know how John Mark restored his reputation, how Paul came to be able to commend him to the Church of Colossae.
It wasn't flattery. Something's happened that has been communicated to the Apostle Paul that this man now is trustworthy and reliable. And that's encouraging. And then over in 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 4. Paul's coming to the end of his life. And it's interesting as you look at Paul's life. Paul's life ended a lot like Jesus's life, earthly life ended. Alone, deserted, abandoned.
Notice what he says in 2 Timothy 4, chapter 4 and verse 9. He's writing, Be diligent to come to me quickly. Writing to Titus. For Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present world and has departed for Thessalonica.
Crescents for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Now get this.
Get Mark and bring him with you. For he is useful to me for ministry. I don't know how that strikes you. It's maybe because I've studied this. It's just, it's melted my heart.
It's thrilled me. The grace of God that, you know, when we are faithless, he remains faithful. God doesn't have Christians on a scrap heap somewhere.
Oh, you failed. I don't use you anymore. If he did, there'd be a whole big scrap pile, wouldn't there, of unused vessels. You know, God uses broken vessels, men and women who have failed, and yet God has restored.
But I think that's just wonderful. Get Mark and bring him with you. For he is useful to me for ministry. Of all the people he could have appealed to Titus to bring, he appeals, bring John Mark.
He thought so highly of him at this time in his ministry. Well, we've considered the sources that Mark drew upon in formulating his gospel account, and we've traced some of his associations. Now let's look at the structure of the book. It is the shortest, I've already mentioned that, of the four gospels, 16 chapters.
It's very unique in its beginning. You recall that the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Luke, begins with birth narratives and genealogies, takes us back to the incarnation. John, what does John do?
The prologue. He begins at creation, and then he ties the word that became flesh and dwelled among us, so he goes way back. But what does Mark do?
Mark just jumps right in. Notice how it starts. This is how his gospel starts. The first two words, the beginning. You go, okay, he's going to do what Matthew did and Luke did and John did.
No. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before your face. What's going on here? Immediately after just this introduction, he says about the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he jumps to John the Baptist. Talks about John's ministry of preparing the way of the Lord. And then in chapter 14, he's got him in Galilee, calling the first disciples in verse 16 of chapter 1. I mean, he is on the fast track of recording the activities of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing about his birth, nothing about the early years of his ministry, just an interesting beginning. It's unique. It's an abrupt beginning.
Think about his style with me, his style of writing. You're good students of the Scriptures. You've picked up on a lot.
You've learned a lot. You've learned from our study in Hebrews that there's a key word that if you can key in on it, it can help you walk your way through the entire book. And it's the word what? One word. Come on now. We're talking about the book of Hebrews.
Pastor B will be very unhappy with you. What? Better. Is that what you said? Better?
Yes. Better. Jesus is better. Better than the angels, better than Moses, better than the Aaronic priesthood.
Better or better? About 16 times, the writer of Hebrews uses that word better. And you can see when he's changing subjects and follow this theme through the book of Hebrews. This is a little more challenging.
You have no preparation on this one. What theme would you trace through the book of Philippians? Joy. 16 times Paul mentions joy. And you say, well, what's significant about that? Well, where is he?
He's in prison. Yeah. Yeah, the context of where he's writing is pretty significant that he is mentioning rejoice in the Lord, always rejoice, joy. Which tells us that our circumstances do not necessarily dictate whether we have joy or whether we don't.
We can have joy in the midst of difficult circumstances. So Mark, he uses a word. If you pick up on it, you begin to understand his style of writing and what drives this book, the shortness of it, the fast pace of it. And it's the word immediately. The Greek word is outhos. It can mean straightforward or immediately. We don't use the word straight way, but when you're in Zimbabwe, you hear the Zimbabweans using straight way. And when I first heard it, I thought, what are they saying? We've got to get there straight way. What? They meant immediately, as quick as we can.
We've got to get there straight way. So anyway, notice with me, just in chapter one, six times, Mark uses the word immediately. Chapter one, verse 10, and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens parting and the spirit descending upon him like a dove. Verse 12, immediately the spirit drove him into the wilderness. Verse 18, they immediately left their nets and followed him. Verse 20, and immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him. Verse 21, then they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and taught.
Verse 28, and immediately his fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. Perhaps you've seen that before, but it's another one of those key words that will help you keep up with the pace and why he's writing the way he's writing. It's his style. It's fast paced. It's like when you get a photo album out and you turn the pages and you're looking at photos.
Well, that's not the style. This is a motion picture. This is a video, okay, as opposed to photographs that he's looking at.
It moves. It's fast paced. His gospel is simple, yet it's vivid with very colorful action. It has an eyewitness feel about it, and if indeed he's recording what Peter could recall to him, we would expect that. We would expect there would be this sense of, well, he was there. He saw this.
There's so much detail. He was an eyewitness. Well, he wasn't the eyewitness. Peter was the eyewitness, and Mark is being the biographer of what Peter had seen and observed and learned.
Again, we're talking about the style. The title, Son of Man, is the most frequent title used by Mark in referring to Jesus. And we'll probably spend an entire message unpacking what is meant by Son of Man. You know, when you just hear Son of Man, you would immediately think, well, he's talking about and emphasizing the humanity of Jesus as opposed to his deity. Well, that's a part of what's going on here, but there's a whole lot more going on here that takes us back to the prophet Ezekiel.
But I'm not going to get into that tonight. I just want you to be aware that the title most often used by Mark in reference to Jesus is Son of Man. In fact, listen to how three times in just a few verses this is used. When the disciples were excited at the transfiguration, Jesus told them this. The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected, Mark 9, verse 12. When Judas dipped his bread in the bowl during the Last Supper, Jesus said the Son of Man would go just as it was written about him. And then later on that night, when Judas led the armed crowd to Jesus, Jesus told the disciples the Son of Man was betrayed into the hands of sinners. Three references there in relationship to his betrayal, the Son of Man. So, again, we're talking about his style. Now, it's not that Mark does not deal with didactic teaching, he does, but not near to the extent that Matthew and Luke do.
He emphasizes action over teaching. As an example, just concerning the parables of Jesus, Luke records 25 parables. Matthew 20, Mark 7, only seven of the 25 parables that Luke mentions does Mark mention. Two parables in chapter 2 about new cloth and new wine. And just one verse for each of those two parables. Three parables in chapter 4, all three about the kingdom. The parable of the sower, chapter 4, verse 2 to 20. The seed which grows, chapter 4, 26 to 29. And the mustard seed, closely related there, verse 30 to 32. And then later on in the gospel, when Jesus gets to Jerusalem, two parables are recorded. The parables of the wicked tenants and the house builder. The parable of the wicked tenants is chapter 12, 1 through 11.
And the home builder, chapter 13, 34 to 37, but just seven. But again, simply because it's shorter, doesn't diminish its value. I think it's probably the simplest of the four gospels to understand. It's pretty straightforward. There's not a lot of mystery here. Although, there is one thing that's interesting.
Well, I've got some time. I'd like to show you something that's unique to Mark. He's the only one who mentions this.
And when I show it to you, then I'm going to ask you a question. Why do you suppose Mark records this? So turn to Mark, chapter 14.
Mark, chapter 14. This is in relationship to Gethsemane, his betrayal and his arrest. Verse 48 says, Then Jesus answered and said to them, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to take me? I was daily with you in the temple, teaching, and you did not seize me, but the scriptures must be fulfilled. Then they all forsook him and fled.
So get the picture. They've come to seize Jesus. The disciples have all fled.
Notice verse 51. Now a certain young man followed him. Followed who? Followed Jesus.
Having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body, and the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. Who is that? We don't know for certain who that is, but commentators, men who have studied, the fact that it's only recorded by Mark, Matthew doesn't record it, Luke doesn't record it, John doesn't record it, that Mark is that man. That's John Mark.
He's recording that about himself, doesn't attach his name to it. I know we read through our Bibles on a regular basis. How many, when I read those two verses, it struck you like, what? I've never heard that before.
I've never seen that before. Now a certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body, and the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. Just those two verses.
We're going to have a lot of questions when we get to glory, aren't we? Well, what I want to emphasize to you tonight is we traced this Mark and his involvement in ministry and then his departure at a good beginning. Acts chapter 12, in verse 12, he's in good company. He's in the company of Peter.
He's associating himself with the great missionary, Paul, Barnabas. He has a desire to serve, and all we're told is that he was assisting. So he's got a desire to serve, and the question is there's always a place to serve in Christ's church. Find out where you're gifted, find out what things there are to do, and get plugged in, and serve.
We don't know, I guess it wasn't all that important for us to know how he was assisting, what he was assisting in, he was just assisting. And you've heard me say this before, but it sticks with you. A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a big thing. So whatever it is, don't diminish what it is, working in the nursery, working in children's ministry, working with impact clubs, don't diminish it. It may be a little thing compared to some other things that seem bigger to you, but be faithful where you are. And as you're faithful where you are, God will grow you. God will increase your capacity and give you other opportunities.
So he had a good beginning, he had a desire to serve, he had a difficult failure. And again, I've used this sometimes in counseling. Someone wants to start to get into all the detail of some failure that somebody has committed against them, and I said, wait a minute here, I don't need this rehearsed in my presence. And neither does this person. They've acknowledged what they did was wrong, and there comes a point where we cross a line into sinful curiosity. I just want to know all the details. Why?
Well, because we're curious creatures. Well, the more you know and the more you hear, the more you're going to have to deal with in your head. So you may want to just, they did this, so we don't know what the failure was, but he departed and went back to Jerusalem. And then there was this rejection. He was accepted into the company of Saul, seen as a ministry partner, and Paul says, I don't want anything to do with him.
Barnabas, if you're going to insist on bringing him, you take him because I don't want anything to do with him. That was painful. But then there's this restored usefulness. And again, we have to read between the lines. Something's happened. Time's gone by. He's got plugged back in. Healings come to him. He's re-engaged in ministry. And Paul's commending him to the church in Colossae. If he comes to you, receive him.
Think about who's saying that. The man who rejected him. He's now saying, receive him. And then, of all the people that Paul could have been asking to come to him in a time when he was abandoned, only Luke is with me. Titus, when you come, bring John Mark.
He's useful for me. For ministry, he says. He mentions ministry in particular. And then the incredible, incredible rare honor afforded him to be one of the human authors of a gospel account. I mean, isn't the grace of God amazing? To forgive, to restore, to use?
So be encouraged tonight. We all have a past, and most of our pasts are checkered with some failures that we just as soon forget, but they're part of our life. We don't see the scars of failures.
They're internal. But God brings healing to us and restores us and uses us. And I'm glad he does, because if he didn't, there wouldn't be too many of us serving the Lord. The reason Cardin and I went to Pennsylvania was to attend my 50th high school reunion. 161 in my graduating class, and a class president sent a text and asked if I would pray at the meal.
So I'd be glad to. And apart from Carly and me, I mentioned my friend Don Perry to you several times, the man who invited me to the Bible study, and where God drew me to himself. Don and his wife are from that class, so there's four. My twin sister, who I believe now is a believer, and then Carly's sister and her husband, there's seven of us. But other than that, since I got nobody else that was there, there were 50 from my class of 161 that were in attendance with their spouses.
25 have died. Why did God have mercy on me? Why did God save me? Let alone, let alone call me to the ministry. I'm a bit overwhelmed by that, very humbled by it.
The ways of God are amazing, aren't they? So I was glad I was there, disappointed in some things. They had some things they wanted to give away, and the first question they asked, who's been divorced the most number of times? And I'm thinking to myself, who vetted these questions?
What kind of a question is that? So that kind of gives you the flavor of how the program went. There wasn't too much substance and healthy reflection going on. But we were there to be salt and light, and that's a prayer you don't want to pray off the cuff, so I wrote out what I wanted to pray. How can I shoehorn a gospel in here and a gospel in there, you know? So that was good.
While I'm done this evening, I thought we'd be a bit shorter. Just an introductory message about Mark, who this man is, what his style is, what the structure is, a little bit about his background. So we'll have an appreciation as we make our way through this gospel account. Again, it's the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The central focus is the Savior. The key verse of Mark is Mark 10 and verse 45 that says this, Mark focuses on the suffering servant. Matthew would focus on Jesus as the messianic king. Each of the gospel writers have a different emphasis, but Mark, his focus is on the suffering servant. Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And I thought about this connection. Maybe the reason that this is so fast-paced and so short is because there isn't, when you're serving, you're busy. You're just working, right?
And that's his focus. He's showing us Jesus, serving people, serving his Father, laying before us the suffering servant. And I'm thankful there's a lot of folks in this church that have servant hearts. You do what you do as unto the Lord. You don't do it for recognition.
You don't do it for applause. You do it as unto the Lord because will you believe God is pleased with that? And that's what we need to cultivate, a servant's heart. And may God do that for us as we make our way through the gospel of Mark.
Let's pray. Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for this man that we've considered tonight and how useful he was to the work of the gospel, despite the fact that he had some missteps. Thank you for preserving his life and restoring him and making him a useful servant that even he was commended by the Apostle Paul. Father, bless our study as we begin it and make our way through it in consecutive weeks. Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for its richness. Thank you for what we're going to learn that's going to profit us in our daily walk with you. Again, thank you, God, for the inspired, inerrant Word of God that is indeed profitable for all doctrine, for correction, for rebuke, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God might be thoroughly equipped unto every good work. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
