Pilgrim Bible Study
The King Has Arrived Mark1:9-15
Welcome to the second episode of Pilgrim Bible Study Podcasts. Today, we have Pastor Chris discussing the King's coronation, testing, and message as found in the Gospel of Mark. As we dive into these teachings, remember that Jesus identifies with fallen man, defeats temptation through the power of God's Word, and delivers a clear message to us all to repent and believe in His name. So here we are now, we are our second week into the Gospel of Mark. And as I had mentioned last time, Mark moves kind of quickly. And even some of the words that we'll talk about later that he uses indicates a gospel that's moving quickly. The last time we got together, we were looking at how John, the Baptist, or more appropriately, John the Baptizer, because that's what he did, that he was pointing the way to Jesus Christ. Well, now the king appears on this scene. And again, we want to look at the difference in this Gospel, because there is no genealogies being described. There's no description of his birth or the childhood of Jesus. And this Gospel, as I said last time, is more concerned with the doings rather than the sayings of Jesus. And so today I want to look at the king's arrival and what that means. First of all, let's look at verse nine. It says, "It came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth and Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." So Jesus appears on the scene, and he comes from this little place called Nazareth, which really isn't described much. It was so small and unimportant, you're very hard-pressed to find ancient description of it. And so he comes from Nazareth and he is baptized by John in the Jordan. Now, we had mentioned last time that John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. So that makes you stop for a moment and ask the question, "Why is Jesus being baptized?" He has nothing to repent of. And we get an answer to this in another Gospel in Matthew 3, John realized this. He realized who Jesus was, God had given that ability to recognize the Christ, and John tried to prevent Jesus' baptism from happening. What he said was, "He said, 'I need to be baptized by you.'" And of course, Jesus gives the answer that it needed to happen, to fulfill all righteousness. That is to say that Jesus' baptism was God's will. Now, why? Why was it God's will that Jesus do this? And the answer is that he did it to identify with fallen man. Jesus committed no sin, yet he felt the Father's wrath on the cross for us. As I've said in the past, he treated us like we were Jesus, and treated Jesus like he was us. And so Jesus also identifies with fallen man in the act of baptism, even though he had nothing to repent of. And when he does this, we need to understand how important it is that we understand what baptism is and why we do it. Number one, the Greek word used here is baptism, which means to be immersed or submerged. So we see from God's word what type of baptism God is prescribing for us to have. Also, Jesus himself, when he said to go make disciples of all nations at the end of the gospel Matthew, says that we should baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. And so Jesus is also requiring believers to be baptized. So we need to understand that, that if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, that you should also be baptized to follow Jesus' example and as a public declaration of your faith. So Jesus came identifying with fallen man, he is baptized, and he comes out of the water and something remarkable happens. It says that immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opening. And the spirit like a dove descending upon him. And a voice came out of the heavens, "Thou art my beloved son in thee and my well pleased." There's a lot going on here. And so we just want to really break it down. First of all, this word immediately in verse 10, get used to that word because Mark loves this word. It's a way that Mark lets us know that this is a fast moving story. And that it's a fast moving gospel. And so Mark uses the word immediately and the word is in the Greek "Yuthus." And it's only used 60 times in the New Testament. Of those 60 times, 41 are right here in the gospel of Mark. So it's a word you're going to hear again and again as we study the gospel of Mark. And also we see that the Holy Spirit comes and descends on Jesus like the dove. Now we want to be careful about what we're saying here because we're not saying the Holy Spirit became a dove or the Holy Spirit is a dove. We're saying that in what could be seen or described, it looked like the Holy Spirit was coming and descending on Jesus like a dove. So to kind of get an idea that I went on YouTube and I started looking at some images of doves when they land and they land gently and they land gracefully. So I want you to get the image in your mind of the Holy Spirit coming and gently coming on Jesus. But that's not all that happens. It says that a voice came out of the heavens. This is God the Father who says, "You are my beloved Son and you I am well pleased." Now this is amazing. This is one of those special rare verses because it is truly a Trinitarian verse because we see Jesus coming up out of the water, the Holy Spirit coming on Jesus and God the Father affirming Jesus that this is the one I am pleased with. This is not something that God can truly say of any man on our own apart from Christ. But in Christ he can look at his life up to that point and say, "This is my beloved Son and him I'm well pleased." And this is really and truly the King's coronation. The Father said this is the one and this is the fulfillment of a bird in Isaiah 42 verse one. It says, "Behold my servant whom I uphold my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I put my spirit upon him and he will bring forth justice to the nations." And so this is that fulfillment. This is the one that God is pleased and it is his beloved and he is accepted. And so this is really important to us for more than one reason. Number one, if you look at it for Jesus, this is a wonderful start to ministry. He gets that encouragement from God the Father that this is the one I am going to use him. This is the true King and for us that means something too because this affirming status before the Father is ours and Christ. Because as I had mentioned about God treating Jesus like he was us on the cross so that when we put our faith in Jesus we could treat us like we're Jesus. We receive when you put your faith in Jesus what would be described as an imparted righteousness. We're not righteous. Human beings as we said last time are all sinners for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So none of us are righteous. But Jesus when you put your faith in him you receive Jesus's righteousness. And so take heart if you're born again believer in Jesus Christ as you go out this week to work whereas you go out and face the things you've got to face. Be encouraged because in Christ you are accepted in the beloved. You are accepted by the Father. Ephesians 2.5 says this even when we were dead in our transgressions. God made us alive together with Christ. And that is your status. That is a beautiful and wonderful thing to know. You are God's adopted child if you are in Christ. That you are accepted in Christ. You have Christ's righteousness in him. And so that means you can proceed with all the things that you have to do knowing that you are accepted and loved and adopted in Christ. Now on the other hand there is nothing that you could do with that Christ. No good work that you could do. No good thing that you could accomplish that would ever make you right in God's sight. That's a hard word to say but I have to say because it's true. Romans 8.8 says and those that are in the flesh cannot please God. So we have two positions here in this life. And the question is where do you fall in? You see we are either in Christ which means we are accepted and loved by God the Father and we have His righteousness or you are in the flesh and are in a situation where you absolutely cannot please God. I say this to you to say that it is urgent today that you answer that question where am I? Am I in Christ or am I in the flesh? Well I want you to know something that Jesus died for you for some of you listening today and you've never made a choice for Christ. You've never put your faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says now is the accepted time. Now is the time for salvation. Don't wait because tomorrow may not happen. I don't say that to be dramatic. I say that because it is absolutely true. And so first we see the King's coronation and Jesus going out from this with that wonderful purpose that He is accepted by the Father. The Father will accept His sacrifice. The Father will accept His ministry and He is beloved and accepted in the Father. So Jesus goes out I'm sure with great enthusiasm but a remarkable thing happens. We don't just see the King's coronation. Next we see the King's testing. And have you ever noticed in life that there are times when you have a great high in life, a great triumph in life where something amazing and great happens? Doesn't it seem like right after that? Very often you get a challenge. You dive back down into the valley. And Jesus got a challenge right away after He receives the coronation from the Father. We see the King's testing in verses 12 and 13. It says, "And immediately," there's that word again, "the Spirit impaled Him to go out into the wilderness." And He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. And He was with the wild beast and the angels were ministering to Him. Now this is talking about the King's testing. Now of course the Gospel Matthew goes into far greater detail but we would be wrong if we didn't stop to talk about this testing and what this means. First of all, I want to talk about this word impaled. Does that might be an odd word to you? That's in my translation of the Bible. That's what it says, "The Spirit impaled Him to go out into the wilderness." You'll look at some versions and it'll say that the Spirit led Jesus to go into the wilderness. And I think the best word to use is the word "drive." And that's because the Greek word that's used here is "ec-ballo." And "ec-ballo" means to drive out with force. So that means the Holy Spirit took Jesus from this high moment, this encouraging moment and drove Him right into the Judean wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And I want you to understand something about it. Try to get a picture of it. Maybe if you want going YouTube and look up the Judean wilderness, that's what I did. I've never been there. Maybe you want to talk to somebody who's been to Israel and has seen this and ask them what it's like so you can get a better image of this time. But the Judean desert isn't like ours. It's not sandy, it's not flat, it's actually full of mountains and very rocky terrain and there's rocks everywhere. And so it was in this sort of environment that Jesus was cast. And really, the way it's described here, it sounds like the entire 40 days was a time of testing. Because it just says He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. So that means He was being continually tempted by Satan. Sometimes in the gospel Matthew, we get the idea that it was after 40 days at the very end, Satan came in and tempted him. He definitely did. But the way this is written, we can assume that Jesus was continually being tempted. This is important for us because it was another way that Jesus identified with simple man. He identified with us in our temptation because spiritual warfare is a reality for us. Let me share this verse with you in Hebrews 4 verses 15 and 16. It says about this referring to this. It says, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who's been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace that we might receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." So I want you to understand something when you go through temptation, when you go through the valley, when you go through that testing, and you don't see how it's going to work out, and you don't see how you're going to get out of it. Understand that Jesus was there before you. And that he sympathizes with you, that he loves you and knows what it feels like, except the sin part. And so Jesus can help us. We can come boldly before him knowing that he not only is able to help us, but he sympathizes and knows how you feel right now. That should be of a great encouragement to us. And you know, Jesus did something here. He defeated Satan. He did what the first Adam could not do. Jesus is often called the second Adam or the final Adam, because this was, he represented mankind in a test, and he came out on time. And so what's interesting about the spiritual warfare is that Jesus fought the enemy in a way that you and I can to. He fought using the word of God. Now, of course, you can only stand in the spiritual test if you are in Christ. Okay? And so it's important that we say that, that you have to be a Christian, because as a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit. And in the Holy Spirit, you have what you need to overcome. And in God's word, we have what we need to overcome. Satan tempted Jesus three times and every time Jesus answers with a quote from the book of Deuteronomy. Now that's really interesting. And so God left us a way to fight that Jesus did that you and I can do as well, that through the power of the Holy Spirit with God's help, when we hear lives, when we are tempted, we can refer back to the word of God. In Ephesians 6-10, it says, "Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." And this is the great passage in Ephesians about spiritual warfare in the armor of God. And the key is this, that we are strong in the Lord, and that we have the word of God, and we have the Holy Spirit. We have Christ in us, the hope of glory. And because of that, you don't need to fall when you're tempted. As a matter of fact, you can come out stronger than you've ever been before in Christ. And so you can be encouraged, not only are you accepted and loved by God, but as Jesus was tested, you don't need to fail the test. You can pass the test. You can be stronger through the power of the Holy Spirit and through God's Holy Word. Finally, we have the king's message. So Jesus came and the first thing that Mark tells us that he does after being first, given a coordination as king, and second, being tested as king, finally, the king comes and has a message. And the first thing he does is Jesus comes and preaches. That's really important that we understand that, because we need to better understand the ministry of Jesus Christ. In verses 14 and 15, it says, "After John had been taken into custody, so John is in prison now, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel." And so Jesus comes as a preacher. So we want you to understand Jesus was not a miracle worker who sometimes preached. He was a preacher who sometimes did miracles. And so Jesus came and his message was simple, was repent and believe. And it's important that we understand that this is your message, too. If you are a born-again believer of Jesus Christ, as I mentioned last time, you have been given the responsibility from Jesus to go and to make disciples of all nations. And your message is simple, believe in Jesus Christ and repent of your sin. Now, I want you to understand that repentance doesn't make you save, but if you're saved, you will repent. And it's important to say this that we teach the way Jesus did. He said, "Repent and believe." And that means that we don't want to speak of the gospel in such a way that people get misled. Years ago, we used to do something. We would meet with kids in our youth group, and we'd say, "You believe in Jesus Christ, and you want to receive them as your Lord and save you, raise your hand." And then pray this prayer. Raising your hand doesn't save you. Praying a particular prayer also does not save you. True faith of Jesus Christ has repentance attached to it. And here's what I want you to understand, that it is true that you are saved by grace alone through faith alone. But grace and faith will bring about repentance. And what repentance means is to literally turn in the opposite direction. I remember years ago, and I know I shared this at our church before, I was speaking at a youth event. It was a Christian coffee house. And I gave the message, and I asked if anybody wanted to receive Christ to just raise their hand. Well, there were spotlights on me, and the rest of the room was dark. So I really couldn't see anybody. And I thought I did a bad job anyway. I said, "Oh boy, that was a lousy message. That's what I was thinking of my mind." But I said, meet me and this other youth minister in the back of the church, if you really meant it and want to receive praise. So this young man came up to us to my surprise, because I thought I did such a terrible job. Remember, when you share the word, it's not about you. It's about Jesus. He knows what he's doing. So this young man came, and he talked to us, and we talked to him about repenting and believing in Christ. And he asked us this question, "What does it mean to repent?" So we were sitting in a circle in our chairs, and I asked the other youth leaders, "Can you show him what repentance means?" And he picked up his chair, and he turned around and faced in the opposite direction. And we told him, we said, "It is going in the opposite direction in your life." And now we didn't know what would become of this young man. Until the following month, I went back to this coffee house. We went every month. And a mother came up to me, and she asked me, he said, "Are you Chris Coates?" And I said, "Yeah." And she gave me a big hug. And I said, "What was that about?" She said, "My son was killing himself with drugs." And since he gave his life to Jesus Christ, he turned to God, and he gave up drugs entirely. You see, true repentance and faith in Christ go hand in hand. Here's another way to look at it from this perspective, what it means to come to Jesus. And maybe you can explain this in your own evangelism, or if you're not a believer, you're not sure, then think about this today. It's not my idea. I read this somewhere, but it's a good way to explain it. Coming to Jesus is like this. I am this year going to Arizona, okay? And to go to Arizona, I need to leave Philadelphia. There's no way that I could be in Philadelphia and be in Arizona at the same time. You might say, "Chris, that's ridiculous. Why even bring that up?" To make a point, to come to Jesus Christ means you're leaving yourself. You're leaving your old way of living. You're leaving that self-life and that self-decision-making to surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Now, here's the big difference though. When I go to Arizona, I'm going to come back to Philadelphia again. When you come to Jesus Christ, it's a one-way ticket. Now, sometimes you might have known people who said, "All I know some people said, 'I'm a Christian,' and then later on, they weren't following Jesus." And first, John, it says, "There were some who departed from us because they were not of us." If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, it is a one-way ticket. You're a secure in Christ. What He did for you on the cross is not just enough to save you. It is enough to keep you. And that forever. But understand this warning. If you leave this earth without Jesus Christ, if you say, "I'm tired of this gospel message, I don't want to hear this anymore," and you don't ever get an opportunity again to receive Christ. If you leave this earth, then going to hell is also a one-way ticket. Understand that Jesus loves you immensely, and Jesus did a remarkable thing for you when He died on the cross. He took your place. So don't just brush this over. Think about it. Am I in the flesh or am I in Christ? And so understand this, Jesus Himself said, "No one can serve two masters." And so these are the applications of what we see from the King's message is testing in His coronation. Number one, if you're a Christian, you are accepted and loved by God. You're part of His family. Let that give you strength as you go out this week. And we see in His testing that Jesus used the Word of God, and He was filled with the Holy Spirit. You filled with the Holy Spirit. Study the Word of God. So when the time of testing comes, you'll know how to fight the enemy because your answers are here in His Word. And then finally, the King's message, repent and believe. Have you told somebody that recently that it's urgent that they think about what Christ did for them and tell them to repent and believe? Amen. May Christ be glorified in His Church. Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Pilgrim Bible Study podcast. Be sure to join us next week as we continue exploring the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Until then, may God bless you and may His Word strengthen and guide you throughout the week. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]