The Story Starts Here
Advent Series
Part 1: Mark 1:1-14
Introduction:
Here we are at the first of December, entering another Christmas Season, another Advent. Remember, we embrace the term “advent” because it simply means “arrival”…and for us as believers, this is the time of year we really focus on the arrival of Jesus into the world. And, of course, this means that it’s pretty ol’ likely we’re going to be hearing another series of messages about that very thing! That’s one of the things about being a Pentecostal congregation that observes certain holy days like Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas…you pretty much know you’re gonna be hearing preaching around those topics as those seasons roll around.
But why? Why another Advent series? Why go over all this again? Aren’t we all familiar enough with it by now? Haven’t we told these stories enough? Well, first of all, we haven’t told these stories “enough”…you can’t tell these stories “enough”. How often throughout the year are you reminded of these stories? Outside of the Christmas season, and more specifically, outside of the Church, either hardly at all or not at all. By the same token, how often throughout the year are you reminded about the greatness of American military power? There are at least four federal holidays that are used (though not necessarily intended) for that purpose. So, no. You can’t tell these stories “enough.”
Then, the stories you don’t tell will be the stories you forget. The untold stories are the ones that aren’t passed on to succeeding generations. The stories you stop telling represent ideas that are no longer important. The stories you stop telling will no longer frame your worldview, or the worldview of your children, or of their children. Other stories will begin to slip in to fill the empty spaces…and they’ll frame your worldview. So, we keep telling these stories year after year because the stories themselves matter and shouldn’t be forgotten. We keep telling these stories because we want them to continue to frame our worldview.
We’re going to tell these stories yet again because if we don’t do it here, where will it be done? If not here, then where? Listen…it’s very easy for us to get caught up in all the stuff that everyone else gets caught up in during the Christmas season. It’s very easy for us to get caught up and miss the point of Christ’s Advent entirely. We can be just as secular and practically pagan as anyone else at this time of year, so if we’re not reminded of the purpose and significance of Jesus’ arrival here, in this place, then where will we be reminded? If you don’t hear it from this pulpit, then who will you hear it from?
The voices of the surrounding society may sometimes speak with Christian accents, acknowledging the Christian nature of the season. But usually, Christmas is spoken of with the view to harmonizing religious and secular observance. “Here’s what really matters; family, friends, kindness, and good cheer. We can all agree with that!” And those are wonderful things…but they’re not what matters most! What matters most is the fact of His advent and the why of his advent. That’s what each of the Gospel writers told the story for; to establish the fact of Jesus’ coming and the reason for Jesus’ coming. In each of their stories, there’s still much for us to learn…if not for the first time, then to be reminded of…so that throughout the season, we do not lose sight of what Christmas is about for us.
What makes this particular series a little different is that we’ll be examining each of the four Gospels to see how each writer introduced Jesus to his audience. This provides us with a sense of the writer’s perspective and priorities…what he thought mattered most, what he thought his readers should understand about Jesus from the outset.
I. Challenge to the Powers
We’re starting today with the Mark’s introduction of Jesus to the world…and you know by now that it looks nothing like the traditional Christmas story. So you may wonder, “Why on earth use this text to launch an Advent series?” Well, for a couple of reasons. First, because it is about Jesus being introduced to the world…which is really what Advent is about…so that makes it a great story to tell. Second, because since many scholars consider Mark to be the first of the four Gospels written, and since this is the way the first biographer of Jesus chose to present him, well…that’s just curious! Why this way and not the manger story with angels singing on high? What was Mark trying to tell his audience about Jesus that moved him to introduce Jesus this way?
The Jesus story is presented by Mark as a challenge to the powers.
He starts off so abruptly; “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Yet, in this terse, tight phrase, Mark packs enough punch to make his Roman audience immediately sit up and begin to pay close attention.
You may remember that the word “gospel” didn’t have the religious implications then that it has for us now. For Mark’s audience, “gospel” was the euangellion…the good news that was the announcement of the arrival of the king. So, what he’s about to launch into is the beginning of that announcement of the King’s arrival. To us, kings are characters in stories. To Mark’s audience, they were real heads of government. Mark was saying that there’s a new sheriff in town, a new boss, a new headman, a new ultimate authority. There’s a new king. And Mark leaves no doubt about who the King is; Jesus. But not just any Jesus…Jesus Christ, Jesus the Anointed One, Jesus the Messiah. Mark also leaves no doubt about what the King is; the Son of God.
If Mark is writing for a Roman audience (as many scholars suggest he is) then this opening line of the Jesus story throws the gauntlet down in front of the Emperor of Rome. First, in that he calls his story “gospel,” the good news of the arrival of the king. Second, in that he says this King is the Jewish Messiah…which had real political overtones and suggested the overthrow of Rome’s dominion. And third, in that he calls Jesus the Messiah the Son of God; which was a title specifically given to Emperor. In assigning this title to Jesus, Mark may have been declaring that “Jesus is Lord and Cesar is not.”
So, this very short verse reveals something important to us about the Advent of Christ into the world. It reveals that from the very beginning, the Jesus story is about deliverance from oppression, and that Jesus is Lord alone…there is no other. This was and is very good news for the common people of the world, but very bad news for the princes and powers. The beginning of Mark’s edition of Jesus’ story starts by using one very terse, abrupt phrase to offer hope all those oppressed and in bondage, and a challenge to all those in power. Mark is saying, “This story is about Jesus as Deliverer, as Power above all other powers. Let the oppressed rejoice and the princes tremble, for the King has come!”
II. Call to Repentance
Then, the Jesus story is presented by Mark as a call to repentance.
In verses 2-8 Mark expands on the claims he made in his opening salvo. In this segment of the text he presents Jesus as the fulfilment of the Messianic declarations of the great Jewish prophets. Mark presents Jesus as being in the flow of Jewish tradition, the Jewish Scriptures, and Jewish expectation. Isaiah and Malachi are both quoted here in a mash-up of prophetic longing.
Key to the fulfillment of prophecy was the “fore-runner”…the messenger who would come before the Messiah and “prepare the way.” The language refers to the ancient practice of sending people in advance of a king’s journey to ensure that the roads were brought up to the condition necessary for a king’s travel. This is the metaphor used to describe the activity of the forerunner; he would prepare the way of the Lord. He would prepare the hearts of the people to receive the message of the Messiah-King.
But how? How would he prepare the hearts of the people? Mark tells us that John the Baptist fulfilled this role by preaching that people needed to repent and be baptized, so that their sins would be forgiven. This was how they needed to prepare their hearts for the coming of their King. And Mark says that people responded by confessing their sins and being baptized.
So…the King is coming, and you need to prepare for His arrival! But how do you prepare? By repenting, by turning from your sins, and being baptized. What a contrast to the general “message of Christmas” so popular in our culture! You prepare for the arrival of the King with repentance! Not with tinsel & bows, not with carols & songs, not with feasts & gifts, but with repentance.
III. As Part of Humanity
Finally, Mark’s edition of the Jesus story makes Jesus fully human…part of humanity. Verses 9-13 use two examples to do this; Jesus’ baptism, and Jesus’ temptation.
Jesus’ baptism is the public introduction of Jesus to John the Baptist, and of Jesus to the world…and the story really confuses a lot of people. Why would Jesus need to be baptized? And, does this event signal some sort of multiplicity of persons in the Godhead? Grant me your patience a bit longer so I can run through this for you.
First, Jesus was baptized by John to signal his agreement with John’s message. By being baptized, Jesus is choosing to identify with the massive movement that John’s message of the coming King had sparked. By being baptized by John, Jesus was gaining access to an audience ready-made, prepared, to hear his message. Jesus’ baptism wasn’t about confession and repentance; it was about identifying with the message that had sparked a movement.
Second, Jesus was baptized by John so that John would learn Jesus’ identity. John had been preaching for some time about the coming King but didn’t himself know who the coming King would be. God had given him a clue, though; in the fourth Gospel it’s recorded that God had said to John, “The one you see the Spirit descending on is the One!” (John 1:31-33) So, the descent of the dove wasn’t some sort of secret message about the Godhead, it was simply a sign to John the Baptist that Jesus was the One he’d been preaching about and looking for.
Third, Jesus was baptized by John to grant Jesus the assurance of his own mission and identity. In Oneness Pentecostal ranks, we focus so much on Jesus’ divinity and so little on Jesus’ humanity. But Jesus was a man, with human instincts and feelings, with normal human doubts and fears. Jesus wasn’t pretending to human, he was human. He was born human, raised human, and in that humanity needed the assurance that everyone facing an overwhelming mission would need. Jesus would pray in the Garden of Gethsemene, “Father, if it’s Your will let this cup pass from me.” Jesus would cry on the cross, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” So it should come as no surprise to us that the very human Jesus would need the assurance he received at his baptism; “You are my beloved son! I am pleased with you.”
Again, this isn’t some sort of hint about a form of Godhead the Jewish people couldn’t have even begun to consider or comprehend. This is simply the very human Jesus receiving what any human being would need before launching into a world-changing mission; assurance. How many of you can relate to the need to be assured that you are God’s child and that He’s pleased with you?
Then, Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness as a human…as a man with a mission who needed to work through some things in fasting and prayer. Mark doesn’t go into all the details of those 40 Days of Self-Denial, but this much is made clear; Jesus was alone, Jesus was tempted, Jesus was ministered to, and Jesus was victorious.
Mark introduces Jesus to the world…not as some sort of transcendent deity…but as human being. Jesus is presented as a man who needed to identify with righteousness and righteous people, as a man who needed others to bear witness to his identity, as man who needed assurance himself, and as a man who understood the struggle with self-denial in pursuit of a larger mission.
Summary:
This isn’t what we’d expect from an Advent message. There’s no Silent Night or Hark the Herald Angels or Away in the Manger. There are no shepherds abiding in the fields or wise men following a star. Yet an Advent story is exactly what this is, because it’s Mark’s way of introducing Jesus to the world.
It starts differently because Mark saw Jesus differently. He saw Jesus…from the very beginning of his ministry…as a challenge to the powers of the world. What the Roman Emperor falsely claimed to be, Jesus really was. A child of poverty from a nation of the oppressed, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection would prove that power of the Empire was no match for the power of the King of Kings. In his life, Jesus demonstrated the kind of leadership that could draw all people together.
By his teaching, his miracles & healings, his feeding of the hungry, and by generally demonstrating incredible compassion, this King brought the rule of God to earth in an amazing way. By this the Kingdom of God on earth has gathered more citizens and lasted longer than all the empires and systems that have tried to stamp it out. The Jesus story still challenges the power of the world, and it reminds us that Jesus the Messiah, Jesus Christ, is still King of Kings and Lord of Lords! And more directly, the story challenges us to submit to Jesus as Lord of all our living.
Marks’s version of the Advent is different because it tells us from the outset that Jesus story is, at its core, one long altar call, one long call to repentance. The Advent stories of Matthew & Luke may allow us to ignore this…the baby in the manger is about hope and tidings of great joy. Yet the very first edition of Jesus’ life story cut past all of that to get to the heart of the matter; that you cannot receive Jesus and his message without preparing your heart through repentance. You cannot be part of the Kingdom of God that Jesus came to bring among men without faith and repentance. And repentance is, frankly, uncomfortable business. Baby Jesus doesn’t make us uncomfortable because babies don’t call us to repentance. But Mark’s Jesus does. The Jesus story in Mark begins by calling for us to turn from our sin to righteousness.
Mark’s version of the Advent is different because it helps us see a very human…and very relatable…Jesus. It helps us see Jesus as a man who had to make good choices, who had to deliberately choose righteousness. It shows us a man who himself needed assurance of his place, his role, in the Grand Plan. It shows us a man who had to learn self-denial, who had to confront some things about himself, and struggle through to victory. Marks’s way of introducing Jesus to the world shows us a human being that, though millennia have passed, we can still relate to. I think the writer of Hebrews summed it up best when he said that Jesus “was in every respect tested as we are, yet remained without sin.” (Heb 4:15) Jesus being human and relatable…even after two millennia…means that he is still the great example and pattern for the kind of life God wants us to live.
Closing:
So in all the hustle, bustle, and wonder of the Christmas season…in all of the celebrations with family, loved ones, and friends…in all of the green & red, the silver & gold, the trees, wreaths, & lights…in all of the gift buying & giving, in all of the cooking and feasting…
In all of this remember that Jesus is still Lord & King, that he still calls everyone who’d hear Him to repentance, and he still provides for us the supreme example of how to live the life that pleases God.
