Sermon Tone Analysis

*A Ransom for Many:  Introduction to Mark's Gospel*

/Mark 1 - 16/

Pastor Oesterwind

 

*Introduction:*  Jesus sat down one day, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9.35).

The first being last is a concept that doesn't really seem to sink in for many people in the world today.

The iPhone came out in late June, 2007.

It cost $599.

Ten weeks later the price went down a third to $399.

Some who purchased the phone when it first came out were pretty upset; others would have paid any price to be the first to own new technology like the iPhone.

“If they told me at the outset the iPhone would be $200 cheaper the next day,” one customer explained, “I would have thought about it for a second and still bought it.

It was $600, and that was the price I was willing to pay for it.”

Despite the fact that electronics often become more reliable in the second and third generations and retail prices for technology always decrease with time, those who want to be first are undeterred by the risks.

The pleasure of owning a rare product far outweighs the financial sacrifice.

In the words of one satisfied iPhone owner, “Even if it works one day, it's worth it.”

/May Wong, “Many iPhone owners relish being first,” www.news.yahoo.com

(9-7-07)/

 

This morning we begin a series of sermons that examines Mark’s portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Suffering Servant.

Isaiah wrote that the Suffering Servant “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isa 53.5).

We are astonished at a further pronouncement from the prophet:  “…It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand” (53.10).

The Lord Jesus did not come to be first.

The theme of Mark is concisely summarized in chapter 10 and verse 45:  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

We will go through this Gospel verse by verse on Sunday mornings.

However, this morning, we are taking an opportunity to consider some introductory aspects of the book that will help anchor our thoughts on who Jesus is according to Mark.

It may not surprise you to learn that some scholars do not have a high opinion of Mark.

One scoffed at Mark’s literary achievement: “The point is settled: the author of Mark was a clumsy writer unworthy of mention in any history of literature” (PNTC, 2; FN1; E. Trocmé, /The Formation of the Gospel According to Mark, /P.

Gaughan (London: SPCK, 1975), 72).

Augustine typifies not only the judgment of the fathers before him but also that of the succeeding centuries until the age of the Enlightenment when he wrote, “Mark imitated Matthew like a lackey and is regarded as his abbreviator” (PNTC, 2).

*The Author of the Gospel of Mark*

 

But who was Mark?

A survey of the NT helps us find out the following about him:

 

·         His mother’s name was Mary (Acts 12.12).

He had a Jewish name which was John and a Greek name, Mark.

He is at times called John-Mark in the Scriptures.

Mary, his mother, owned a house in Jerusalem.

Peter was arrested after the martyrdom of James the apostle.

The early church was very concerned that Peter would be next so many gathered in Mary’s home to pray for his deliverance.

This indicates the house was fairly large.

It also had a gated entryway.

It is possible that Rhoda, the girl who answered the door when Peter knocked, may have been a servant-girl of Mary.

We learn from this that Mark grew up in a wealthy family.

·         Mark accompanied Barnabas and Saul on their journey from Jerusalem to the church at Antioch-Syria.

From here, they departed for their first missionary journey (Acts 12.25).

So, Mark was dedicated to the work of missions and serving the apostles.

·         In Acts 15.36-41, Paul desired to visit the churches established during the first missionary journey.

Barnabas was determined to bring Mark, but Paul did not want to take him due to the fact that he had left them during that first journey.

A sharp contention between Barnabas and Paul developed.

Barnabas and Mark left for Cyprus and Paul joined Silas.

Barnabas saw enough in Mark that he thought his service for the Lord was invaluable.

o   Mark more than likely provided arrangements for travel, food, lodging, and conveying messages.

o   Acts 13.5 identifies Mark as an assistant.

The Greek word actually means “one who acts under the orders of another to carry out his will.”

o   Mark may have left Paul and Barnabas for a good reason.

We’re not told.

Paul seems to view it as desertion, but Barnabas did not.

o   At any rate, Paul changes his view of Mark.

Colossians 4.10 records that Paul wanted Mark to be welcomed by the Colossian believers.

Philemon 24 states that Mark was with Paul during his imprisonment.

2 Timothy 4.11 (recorded just before the end of Paul’s earthly life) fortifies Paul’s change of heart toward Mark by calling him useful for ministry.

Paul desired that Mark be with him.

Why?

Because Mark was a servant.

Who better to write about the Suffering Servant!

·         Another important passage is 1 Peter 5.13.

Here, Peter refers to Mark as his son when he greets the churches in Rome.

Obviously, Peter had been a mentor and Mark the protégée – similar to Paul’s Timothy.

Perhaps Peter was even a second father to Mark.

As a matter of fact, many believe that Mark’s Gospel is actually Peter’s Gospel.

*The Influence of Peter in Mark’s Gospel*

 

/The Gospel According to Mark/ is a title given by the early church.

It is traditional not inspired.

There is not explicit internal evidence as to who wrote it and when it was written.

An early church father named Papias gave testimony to Peter’s influence upon Mark.

It has been preserved by Eusebius:

Mark became */Peter’s interpreter/* and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord.

For Mark had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give */teaching as necessity demanded /*but not making, as it were, an arrangement of the Lord’s oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single points as he remembered them.

For to one thing he gave attention, to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements in them.

(PNTC, 3)

Note that Mark was */not an apostle/*, but */a faithful interpreter of the Apostle Peter’s/* testimony.

The reference to Peter “teaching as necessity demanded” is elaborated in a further testimony of Eusebius, the substance of which he attributes to the late-second-century church father, Clement of Alexandria:

When Peter had publicly preached the word at Rome, and by the Spirit had proclaimed the Gospel, that those present, who were many, exhorted Mark, as one who had followed [Peter] for a long time and remembered what had been spoken, */to make a record of what was said; and that he did this, and distributed the Gospel among those that asked him/*.

(PNTC, 4)

*Dating and Audience of Mark*

External evidence seems to point to the fact that Mark was written near the end of Peter’s life or shortly thereafter.

Church tradition reports that Peter died near the end of Nero’s reign in 68 AD.

It seems Mark must have been written in the mid to late 60s of the first century.

Mark’s audience seems to be Roman Gentiles.

His infrequent quotes from the OT, explanations of Jewish customs, translations of Hebrew and Aramaic phrases into Greek, his inclusion of Latin elements, and his neutral stance on Rome indicate that he was writing to Romans.

*Literary Features in Mark*

Mark writes concisely and clearly in common language.

He uses connectives such as ‘and’ to keep the pace of his Gospel quick.

For musicians, Mark’s narrative is an allegro narrative of the life of Christ.

It is a fast-paced, vivid account of the life of Christ.

The Greek adverb /euthus/, translated mainly as /immediately/, occurs 40 times in this short Gospel.

Note this passage in chapter one: 

 

*Mark 1:18 (NKJV) — 18* They */immediately/* left their nets and followed Him.

*Mark 1:20–21 (NKJV) — 20* And */immediately/* He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

*21* Then they went into Capernaum, and */immediately/* on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.

The vividness of Mark is best demonstrated by several short readings from the Gospel:[1]

*Mark 5:2–6 (NKJV) — 2* And when [Jesus] had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, *3* who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, *4* because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.

And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.