Message: He is Worthy!
Mark 1:14 –2:14
When we think of the Gospel of Mark, or any of the gospels for that fact, we may think of someone sitting down and recounting the sayings and actions of Jesus’ life and ministry. This would be a simplistic understanding of these writings. Through careful study of the text you come to see there is far more to these writings than just a simple recounting. There is more than just meets the eye. The scriptures and stories are not placed in the order they are in arbitrarily. The author of the gospel sometimes uses form,and specific words or phrases to point out wonderful and exciting things. Things that draw us to make careful examination of their relationship and meaning. Nothing is placed in the Gospels without the author’s great attention to detail for the sake of transfering meaning and purpose to the reader.
The Gospel of Mark is no exception. It is a work of art, a masterpiece of meaning. Wonderful themes and truths are woven throughout its tapestry. Gary Gallion once said that he did a paper on the Gospel of Mark in College and experienced some of the wonder and blessings of studying this great work. I am going to try and help you taste some of this today and hopefully provide you with a way to gather for yourself some of these wonderful and exciting things. I will hopefully help you approach the scriptures to enrich your own understanding and personal devotion.
After all we should want hear what the writer of the Gospel of Mark has to say to us.
J. Howard Pew, Chairman of the board of Sun Oil Company once said, “Like most people, I go to church to hear the heralded mind of Christ, not the mind of man. I want to hear expounded the timeless truth contained in the scriptures. The kind of preaching that gets its power from, “Thus sayeth the Lord.” Such preaching is hard to find these days.” With this in mind let us approach the gospel so we may hear and know about the heralded life and mind of Christ.
We have all heard of parenthesis. You place words or phrases in parenthesis to explain or modify a thought. The ancient world had a form of parenthesis. They would take words, phrases, or actions at the beginning and end of a passage to inform you that what is in between these two marks modifies these sayings, works, or actions. In your worship folder is a diagram that I have placed to help you understand what I am saying.
Look at the diagram. You see that in Mark 1:17 is a command Jesus gave to follow him to his disciples. After this calling of disciples is an account of Jesus teaching people. In 2:13 we see Jesus teaching again, and then another call to a disciple to follow me. These two calls to follow are an ancient form of literary parenthesis. The author wants us to see that what’s in between these two marks somehow modifies why Jesus is worthy to learn from and follow. Mark’s ultimate goal throughout his gospel is to explain to all who read and hear it the gospel that it is a worthy endeavor tolearn from and follow Jesus.
So the message today is the persoanl witness and testimony of the writer of Mark. It is this writer’s message to you. It is the witness of his faith. A witness many of us have heard and witness that many of us share.
1.Jesus is worthy to follow and learn from because he and his teachings have authority.
Jesus’ teachings are something the people marveled at and still marvel at today. In verse 27: It says, “What is this! It was a new teaching and with authority.” It was new to them because the one who was teaching taught it in a way that conveyed meaning and purpose that rolled them over like a boulder. Not only did they marvel at this they marveled because they recognized that this man was not a normal man, but had authority not only in his teaching, but had a supernatural authority. He cast out in front them something the scriptures describe as an "unclean spirit." The unclean spirit itself recognizes that Jesus was the Holy One of God.
Nestled in the center of all these passages is a section where Jesus is found praying. Early that morning he left while it was still dark to pray. The disciples rush to find him. What is most amazing to me is the point this passage makes with the words of the disciples themselves. At the center of these literary parenthesis are the words, “Everyone is looking for you.” This is followed by a statement of Jesus, let us go to all the surrounding villages and preach the message. The message that Jesus is preaching is found in Mark 1:14-15. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.” I believe that this passage is at the center of this literary parenthesis for a reason. I will explain this at the end of this message, because it is important and in our linear way of thinking it will best fit appropriately there for our benefit.
2. Jesus the Holy one of God is worthy to be followed and learned from because He has authority to physically heal and spiritually cleanse.
These are made evident of course in his casting out of the unclean spirit, and in the healing passages of Peter’s mother, the leper, and the paralytic. Each story contains a different aspect of Jesus’ authority and why Jesus is worthy to learn froma nd follow.
Of course the casting out of the unclean spirit freed the man from that which supernaturally bound him or kept him prisoner. The scriptures teach us that there are unseen spiritual aspects at work in some people’s lives that keep them captive. Though these are not specifically mentioned here in Mark they can be interpreted to mean a number of things. I have heard them interpreted as spirits of addiction or spirits that drive men and women to do things that they normally would not choose do, whether it is the spirit of lust or the spirits of psychological and physical torment. Jesus is worthy to learn from and be followed because he brings freedom for these who are under the subjection to such spirits.
The healing of Jesus mother in law provides a healing of physical infirmities, but also gives us a witness that he healed many more in the same fashion as I am describing here.
Jesus cleanses a leper. Though this may appear to be another passage that describes physical healing there is more here than meets the eye. Leprosy was not only a physical ailment, but the leper would have been a social outcast. The leper was one who was to be avoided at all costs. They bore the brunt of social rejection. They bore the brunt of being alone and on the outskirts of society. With this healing the lowly leper was cleansed and brought up and made acceptable. He was made clean in more than just one way.
Even the healing of the paralytic seems to be another healing of a physical ailment, but if you will look closely the real point the passage makes is that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins.
Do you see the pattern? Follow me, Teaching, Healing, Healing, The Center Passage, Healing, Healing, Teaching and Follow Me. If this doesn’t make you stand back and say Wow, then I don’t know what will.
The writer of Mark is telling us that Jesus is worthy to be followed and to learn from because he is the Holy One of God who has the authority over the supernatural aspects of our lives, the authority to heal our physical ailments, which can ultimately be seen as the authority over death itself, the authority to bring the lowly and despised and set them on high, and the authority to forgive sins. He brings good news for us all. God is near. And at the center of it all lies that great proclamation of the disciples, “Everyone is looking for you!” and Jesus tells them, “let us then go to everyone and preach them the good news.” It is the good news that God is near, so turn to Him and believe.
I want to focus the remaining of the message on the great proclamation of the disciples that “Everyone is looking for you!”
Dr. Joseph A. Parker a psychologist once said, “people say I am old fashioned and out of date because I’m always quoting the scriptures in my sessions. They tell me that what I need to do is rely upon Science and to put this book called the bible away”
On one of these occasions where he decided to put the book the Bible down and trust science a patient of his who lost her only son came to him. She asked Dr. parker, “Will I ever see him again?” He thought about her question and asked himself, “Can science tell her she will see her son again? Can science tell us where he is now? Does death end all? What does science have to say?” The woman waited for him to answer. He realized that her heart is breaking before him and science has nothing to say.
He reached over to his Bible and he picked it up and he read from many scriptures to her. He read from Samuel where David lost his son, “I shall go to him…but he shall not return to me…”. He read to her from Corinthians, “The dead shall arise…for this corruptible body must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal body must put on immortality. O death where is your victory, where is your sting….” And He read to her from revelation, “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.”
Dr. Parker made the decision that from that point on he would stick to the book no matter what anyone says.
Whether you realize this or not, but everyone is looking for Christ even you. He has the answers and meaning for your life that science; money, wealth, and all the other things in this world will never be able to give you. He can fill that empty void in every human being. A void that so many spend their life time trying to fill with love and possessions and careers. They only go so far in human fulfillment, but in the end they eventually lead you to the same place you began. It is the place of emptiness, the place of purposelessness, and meaninglessness. He is the great healer, he is the Holy One of God, He is the bearer of good news. God is near, so turn to him and believe.
Jesus is worthy to learn from and be followed, but the Bible in many places states that to follow Christ and learn from him means far more than most can imagine at first. To explain the truth of this I want to use this illustration.
A young man came to Socrates one day and said, in substance: “Mr. Socrates, I have come 1,500 miles to gain wisdom and learning. I want learning, so I come to you.” Socrates said, “Come, follow me.” He led the way down to the seashore. They waded out into the water until they were up to their waists, and then Socrates seized his young companion and forced his head under the water. In spite of his struggles, Socrates held him under.
Finally, when most of his resistance was gone Socrates laid him out on the shore and returned to the market place. When the visitor had regained his strength, he returned to Socrates to learn the reason for his behavior.
Socrates said to him, “When you were under the water, what was the one thing you wanted more than all else?”
The young man replied, “I wanted air.”
Then Socrates said, “When you want knowledge and understanding as badly as you wanted air, you won’t have to ask anyone to give it to you.”
The bible says if you want to follow him, to turn to God and follow Christ and learn from him, then you must lay down your life and then follow him. When you want it more than air itself, then your love and heart will be most open to receive all of his gracious blessings. It is at this point you will come to know life and life in abundance in following him and learning from him. You will gain healing for you soul and mind, and you will have full assurance that you have the forgiveness of your sins.
His life was a gift from God to the world and to all who would hear and believe. His life was given for your sake and benefit, but in order to receive it you must offer your life as it is now, so that through his authority and power, through his great teaching you may live a new life and have life in abundance. And you will have blessed assurance of eternal life with God.
