Jesus begins His public ministry - Mark 1:9-20
Notes
Transcript
Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Fellowship
Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Fellowship
From: The Holy Bible
From: The Holy Bible
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
Introduction:
Introduction:
Last lesson: John the Baptist comes out of the wilderness to proclaim the coming of the Messiah
The last of the OT Prophets - precisely prophesies the coming Messiah and is there to welcome Him and introduce Him to the people
Though immensely popular, John sought to glorify the Lord Jesus, not Himself
In this lesson, with the arrest of John, Jesus takes over the mission, begins preaching the Gospel, and starts to build His church, a project that continues even today
Pray
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him. Now after John had been taken into custody, 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.” As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
Let’s break this down and see what lessons the Lord has for us today:
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
#1 The baptism of Jesus
#1 The baptism of Jesus
Last week we saw that John had predicted that Jesus would come and He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. In this verse, we now see Jesus coming out of Galilee to begin His public ministry by getting baptized by John.
As John preached, baptism was a ceremony to signify the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus was without sin, but He sought baptism anyway. In another Gospel, He explained “this we must do to fulfill all righteousness.” This is one of His first lessons to us.
A remarkable thing happened when John baptized Jesus, and it is important to us. We see that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all gathered in a physical way to initiate Jesus’ ministry and mission - to redeem a people for His Father.
All three persons in the Trinity were involved - the Father endorsed the mission publicly, the Son began to execute His mission, and the Holy Spirit descended with power, to lead people to Christ.
When someone turns to Christ, the Trinity is also involved - the Father calls us, the Son saves us by His death and mediates for us, and the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ.
This is why when we get baptized, the minister does so in the name of the the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
This brings us to our second point:
Mark 1:12–13 (NASB95)
Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.
#2 The first trials of Jesus
#2 The first trials of Jesus
Here Jesus took both a physical and spiritual journey, led by the Holy Spirit.
It happened right after He was commissioned by the Father and the HS, and baptized by John.
Here the Lord shows us what happens to us when we are regenerated (commit our lives to the Lord) and baptized.
Jesus did not need to be regenerated, of course - He was one with the Father. But when the Holy Spirit touches our heart, He does save us and enables us to follow Christ in righteousness.
At the same time, the Lord commissions us for service in His name.
When that happens, as soon as we embark on that service, Satan will try to attack us, and we will suffer affliction. Even in the midst of this affliction though, the Lord sends angels to comfort and minister to us.
This is like the sanctification process we are led through after we become saved.
Many people think they do not have the power or courage to give up their sins - their sins have too great a hold on them or they are unforgiveable
But here is a miracle - the Lord does not leave us in our old sinful state, but begins to help us shed the body of sin that has so defined our lives before we turn to Him.
Affliction, suffering, and demonic attacks are all part of that process - they grow us in our relationship with Christ, helping us to know that He is the only one we can depend on, and He is mighty to save. We can grow in grace and holiness, with His strength
This brings us to our most important point:
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 1
14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
#3 The Good News (Gospel)
#3 The Good News (Gospel)
These words are the most important you will hear.
This is the beginning of the New Covenant - the advent of Jesus and the fading away of John’s ministry.
As John and the prophet’s predicted, Jesus is the beginning of the New Testament and the clear proclamation of the Good News - the Kingdom of God is at hand.
This is where Jesus came from and will return to - with His followers. When Jesus came to earth, He established a bridge for us, between the world we are in and Heaven.
Jesus’ life on earth was the Gospel message
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Let’s continue to the last point:
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 1
16 As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.
20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
#4 Jesus begins building His Church
#4 Jesus begins building His Church
As Jesus started His ministry, He began assembling a group of men to continue to build His Church after He was gone.
Peter, Andrew, James and John grew up together in the area around Capernaum and knew one another.
This is the start of their redemption and their training to build the Church, a project that continues today and will continue until it is finished, when Jesus returns to us.
All of these men came from humble beginnings, they were hard-working fishermen, but largely uneducated.
It’s important to know this because between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, they get a miraculously effective education that will bring many to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
It is interesting to note that when Jesus called them, they followed with no hesitation - they left their responsibilities and followed Him.
As we will see, their road was bumpy and difficult - three of them would die by execution in the end, but all would follow Jesus through the grave, to eternal glory.
Not all of us come to our commitment to Christ so quickly or decisively, but once we do, He will keep us and grow us in sanctification, just as He did all of His followers
Bringing it home
Bringing it home
The Bible is full of lessons that the Lord has for us - they are His instructions for us, His people,
Everything we talked about today is important to the Lord
The Gospel
Salvation
Baptism
The Church
If you don’t know Jesus, today is the day you can be saved
If you are a Christian, God has already begun a good work in you - be obedient to His Word and grow in His grace.
Pray
Prayer Requests
Prayer Requests