Mark’s Gospel Introduction (Part A)

What a time you get to John's gospel you goals on my validity was officially just so taken by what he has to say.

Not interested what what is background what what's called you to go through the and I believe who cares that the stuff is so good with John Mark. What was he. He was a rich kid and that's about it. And God took this rich kid and he used him to kick off the Gospels and he does it in a magnificent way. This is the gospel of the servant Vince is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston.

Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the gospel of Mark. Please 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, but for now, here's Pastor Rick and Mark chapter 1 as he begins a brand-new message. Mark's gospel introduction Bibles is open to the gospel according to Mark chapter 1 is an introduction to the gospel of Mark going to be if things go according to plan a lot of information, but I know that some may not be able to keep up with the information, but it needs to get recorded so that you can go back and listen. Study it. If it is something you'd like to do. We're going to just read verse one of Mark chapter 1 that is out text so I will read it twice since it's so short so nice going to read it twice the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God going to cover the Gospels first of a quick overall an overview of the Gospels themselves and the internal evidence of each gospel. The information in each of the Gospels gives to us great insights as to the methods of the writers what they were trying to do, how they were trying to do it and therefore how it will help all the generations that would follow. Benefiting from what they had put on put into print what they published to the spirit for us and each of the four evangelists Matthew Mark and Luke as they used to be referred to the evangelists.

They begin at a different point in the gospel story and the story concerning the coming of Christ. Matthew begins with the ancestry in the birth of the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. So we have all these Jewish names in the first 16 or so verses of Matthew's Gospel Luke on the other hand, begins with the birth of John the Baptist, and there's a reason why they're all doing this. I don't know how much they understood how these things flowed into the times they lived in and beyond. I don't know if they were more just focused on what they were doing and the Holy Spirit.

Of course, doing what he does so wonderfully is ruling over it all and applying it in a way that the glory to Christ would be unmistakable and in doing the Gospels. This is so much information available probably to me more than anything on earth.

The writings concerning the Gospels, the background information. The research it is exciting once once you can sorta catch the vision while I mentioned Luke starting the birth of John the Baptist. John the apostle in his giving us the record of the gospel. He goes back before the beginning of time. He goes back to the Lord's pre-incarnate existence as the word of God and Mark now when he comes on the scene, which he probably is the first of of the gospel writers to be published, but Mark begins at a point later than all of the others with the actual ministry of John the Baptist Luke. He got into the beginnings of you know what was going to the prophecies concerning John the Baptist being born, and then actually being one with but Mark starts in the ministry as as he's an adult now John the Baptist is and that's where Mark begins.

So back to Matthew again, who writes to the Jews with their Old Testament background written by a Jew to the Jewish community as a piece of evangelistic literature information. In other words he wanted to save souls in the Jewish community by showing to them. This is your Messiah.

He's fulfilling the proper prophecies that's why he keeps saying to them as as as it says in the Scriptures as it was written, easy to read ringing them back to the Old Testament to show them the Christ has fulfilled the prophecies of the great prophets Luke in his writing. He targets the intelligentsia of the Greeks. The Greeks were very impressed with philosophies and the brevity of thought compacted into a short sentence. Aristotle, Socrates played all those those of the men that moved the Greeks and so for Luke to capture those who were under that influence and impressed by intelligentsia TV packages.

His gospel concentrating on the parables of Christ, and so much information that that mindset would appreciate the literary quality of Luke is very high as the highest of the four Gospels, which again testifies that he himself being a doctor was a man of letters, and he would appeal to those who consider themselves scholastic John. John writes to the church. Jew and Gentile alike. John is dealing with the Gnostic heresy.

He comes after all of them up many decades after Matthew Mark and Luke and he is presenting for us. Of course the deity of Christ, he saying the Messiah, the Christ, to the Jew the Messiah to the Greek mind, the Christ, the same words are the same meaning, and he is saying he is every bit of God is not a profit he's not an angel is not a created being a self existent. He is God the son, and this is of course critical to the church to this very day that we understand the person of Christ. But we also need to understand how it all happen how it all unfolded. How it all tied into what the prophets were's were predicting. To understand this is a spiritual document with with with spiritual features, other religions, lack all of this we have it and when John wrote he appealed to the Hellenistic Jews that were the Jews that were really living in the Gentile world we would target briefly into how they got to be there and and so prominent in those Gentile communities but he writes to them and with them in mind the rights to those Jews that were in Jerusalem and he writes to the Gentiles throughout the world. Very thorough and in what John had to say and so he follows up in his gospel to Matthew Mark and Luke to let everyone know the good, the Jesus Christ at those men are talking about.

In case you missed it is divine, but Mark Mark wrote the Romans in mind this is a sharp contrast to, say, Luke and Matthew road again with the doing and in the Greek and in mind Mark writes to the Romans is just writings appeals to them because they were people of action.

There ability as engineers and builders are tested to this very day.

Many of the roads that the Romans put in in the days even before the Gospels still there to this day. This siege ramp at Masada is still there to this day they built that under fire.

They understood action they understood it in their legions and the understood it, and in fact that the Roman soldier. He was issued a sword or spear a shield.

Of course, and shall because he was see a little different from today's infantry when when I was in the military back right before the Revolutionary war. We were issued any tool and entrenching tool shovel to dig foxholes but the Romans were given shovels, not for foxholes so much but for building roads and bridges and other things that needed to be done so that they when they built roads and on and combat zone.

They built so they could get the supplies to themselves quickly or they could retreat quickly in the very, very much into action and Mark picks up on that. It's remarkable. All roads lead to Rome is a common saying God knew what he was doing when he had the Romans billed those roles before the gospel came along used aggression language to carry that gospel on those roads to preach the Jewish Messiah. We see those three people groups are dominant in that in that part of the world at that time, all being used by God. But Mark when he begins. As I mentioned, he begins with John the baptizer he goes right to action and will cover why he skips the genealogy as we move through this morning's introductions not I am one of those that believe Mark is the earliest of the Gospels to be published. Some disagree and then there wrongfully disagree with me extreme very simple formula.

I follow it and I advise you to do the same.

I'm not, of course, the only one that believes Mark is the earliest of the Gospels, but it is this it clear that Matthew and in Luke come along and they give details that Mark purposely leaves out because Mark is fast hitting you to get believe you action. In fact, of the 35 or so parables is a little tricky with how many parables because some count parabolic illustration proverbial statements as parables when they're not so would just say this 35 of them and Mark only gives us three or four of the parables but it gives us about 20 of the miracles.

So again he's concentrating on action worse. Luke pours out pours into the parables and and so does Matthew, Luke, the most because again of his audience. Only 7% of what Mark has to say is unique. The other 93% is found in Matthew and Mark and plus with with it just so many more details. So when we consider the.

The background of the men that God chose to give us the revelation of the coming of Christ. The first coming of Christ is good news of the Savior, we find that God uses the background of people without the people even thinking about it.

For example, Matthew was a tax collector, and God the knee was like the bottom know and respect another Jews respected a tax collector. They hated them they saw them as traders. It went beyond what you might think about the IRS. If you have low feelings of the IRS. There is far exceeded that in discussed the Luke was a physician and yet God used again. His command of the Greek language to publish his gospel to those people. A fisherman was John God.

Of course, use them nonetheless. By the time you get the John's gospel, you can almost on mindful that he was a fisherman because you so taken by what he has to say. Not interested what what is his background. Wonder what college did he go Thursday and I believe who cares that the stuff is so good, but John Mark.

What was he. He was a rich kid and that's about it. And God took this rich kid and he used them to kick off the Gospels and he does it in a magnificent way. This is the gospel of the servant God. The servant and he captures that and and it is connected to his own life and again I'm not so sure he was even mindful of that in so many other, you know, as we would say bigger fish to fly dry but these were men of ministry lesson of that is regardless of what your background is or is not useful to God if you will submit to God in the leadings of the Holy Spirit. If you just get out of the way and not allow yourself to be too distracted. God will use you so that that's just a brief overview of the gospel.

All four of them, but we can we concentrate on the gospel of Mark itself the characteristics that are very helpful as we go through it.

The next I don't know for five years. I hope you're not just the boy was really hoping we do revelation really and that once with Velma revelation was do it again in this this is foundational work, and that the foundation is good and you can build way up on well from start to finish. It marches that on that road of action. Having none of the longer discourses of Jesus of the sermon on the mount. For example, which is in the text of three chapters in Matthew is is not in Mark's gospel there is no address in the upper room, which takes up three chapters in in John's Gospel, far fewer parables.

As I've mentioned the narrative. The narrative is centered on the deeds of Jesus and is rapidly one after another, he gets right to the point in his readers of the Roman audience.

They would appreciate that. In fact, one of the other indicators that this audience was rural. Roman is are the Latin words that he uses that you got a dig for that one in research if you want to find the Latin words for that he uses for century and for example 4 denarii for other words you're really going to have to dig but it's there, and it is an indicator that again his audience was the Latin, the Romans that at the time, very few Old Testament quotations and Mark compared to the other Gospels. He explains Jewish customs, but he ignores much of the Mosaic law as far as putting into print. He didn't ignore the law of the law on his practice and his behavior, but he doesn't get into it and tells us things about the Passover that you wouldn't know if you did, you would understand what the what a non-Jew would not and so he gives that to us in these facts.

They point to a Gentile audience and they point to a a a Latin. The Roman audience. Remember when Christ was crucified over his head.

The king of the Jews was put into that. The Hebrew, Latin and the Greek the dominant languages of those days. In fact, in fact, if you lived enrollment this time you were forced to grasp both the Latin and the Greek language. If you going to survive there and this just these these things are critical because it is God making the statement I need to use you where you are like a lily planted among farms you are supposed to flower and once you flower. You know the flower indicates the fruits coming if you go to a cherry tree enemy Aminah fruit cherry tree and you see a bunch of flowers you know each flowers going to produce the very and this is significant when you take that word from the song of Solomon like a lily amongst a phone so is my beloved like a beautiful flower amongst a world of sinners.

So is my beloved church, my beloved church is made out of individuals whom I love and died for sinners saved by the grace of God.

And so again Mark shows us Jesus as worker as servant in action, but all the time as master.

Still, Lord is still the Lord even though he is this servant John, of course, brings that out the deity of Christ, as I been hitting on when mentioning John would get here.

The did hear the God the son washing the feet of his disciples unheard-of, and yet John make sure that it's published in the Holy Spirit, make sure that it's it lasts forever and so this servant hood would appeal to the Romans again with their engineering successes and their great legions of action is when the Roman Legion showed up all the people knew they were going to win just a matter of how much time it would take them that in that the stage and in Roman history, they were unstoppable as servants of Rome of Caesar, and Mark is going to make connections with that first verse that we read is going to make a direct connection to how the Caesars would announce their other people would announce their Caesar's he is going to take that and announced the Savior of the world.

He starts this or puts this gospel into print to refute the errors and the myths that were beginning to overtake the church, even in the early days of the church that they were Christians that have wacky ideas.

They are, they have not stopped their visit and you should be saying, like the apostles is that I just don't ask me because he put me on the spot here is you. Well anyway, don't be a wacky one.

Don't don't go for things without a basis without behind it and I know building up will get those get to that statement when we get to that will get to them, but hope to get to that we get to how Peter influenced Mark in his writings. But before we do that, having now passed the Gospels the characteristics of Mark's gospel.

Now we come to Mark the man the devil and tundra is a dual meaning.

Mark the man himself.

Write a down market.

John Mark, that's his full name. He was the son of a well-to-do Jerusalem woman named Mary and the apostles in the early church met often at her house often enough to find it just said in the in and acts chapter 12 read some of it the moment but to be able to afford a large house in Jerusalem, you had to have some cash, and that was again mom's house. Acts chapter 12 we read about it.

Verse 12. 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 and then again in verse 25 we read and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and they also took with them. John, whose surname was Mark cerumen name Marcus is how it would appear in the Latin and gradually that Gentile name superseded his Jewish name John John the gracious women over having grace and that name and a but because it is mended as the church became less and less Jewish and more and more Gentile. His ministry although course of natural course began being more centered in the Gentile community in the name sort of stuck with him.

It was a popular name that surname market was popular amongst the Romans and the U course look in the history books you find great men from that culture. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the great statesman and philosopher and orator of Marcus Aurelius one of their Caesar's of the common name that's where I'm going with that as John was also a common name amongst the Jews. I think one of the reasons why Mark eclipses John and as far as use of his name is to distinguish him from John the apostle John, the baptizer and so many other John's.

That may have come out of the Jewish community. That's the man. In brief, but the times that he lived in, you know, we ask if we set ourselves the time you we live in an exciting time as is, even though was surrounded by some of the dumbest human beings and their decisions known to humanity. I mean is just good. You know that's really not done that sinister but anyway I digress. I'm holding down the hairs on the back of my neck. I don't appear like anyway the times he lived in knowing I talked about the Jews how they are. They prospered in their communities, they, when they were taken to captivity into Babylon. They did very well. They develop commercial and its later banking skills that were extraordinary as people go and in that exile. They became very comfortable when the exile ended many of the Jews did not want to return to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the promised land. Quite challenging. We covered some of this. We went through Esther Nehemiah and Ezra, so after they receive their freedom and from the Babylonian captivity stage.

They spread throughout the Gentile world taking these commercial skills with them that this the disk for the Diaspora. The dispersion methods for diaspora dispersion and doing very well for themselves. This is the kind of people that Mark would be ministering to throughout the world in his time in establishing the gospel it would work, and in favor of the deists of the apostles as Jews were saved in the use of means could finance a minute much of the work that was being done but this is the ministry the world that Christ preached in while on earth, and during these days. The Jewish people. They needed to hear a gospel that was centered not on prosperity of of materialism, but of course on spiritual prosperity and Jesus worked in his parables and his this is his is lifestyle you know that the birds of the air have nests, foxes have holes with the Son of Man has nowhere to hang his hat. She rose and he was trying to send them… You can minister as a servant of God without all of this material. There are other things in life. Life is not consistent. Jesus said in the abundance of things. 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 cross reference radio.com what you there you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick.

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