Mark: Jesus Is The Servant Messiah
PREACHING CHRIST THROUGH THE BIBLE |
Mark: Jesus Is The Servant Messiah
Mark 10:42-45 (ESV)
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
During the late 1800s, come summertime, many pastors and leaders worldwide traveled to America and attended the Northfield Bible Conference in Massachusetts that was hosted by the great evangelist, D.L. Moody. In one of these conferences, a large group of European pastors decided to come, and following the European custom of the time, each guest put their shoes outside their room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course, this was America, and there were no hall servants.
Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and was determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students there but met with only silence or pious excuses. Finally, Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world's famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. When he was almost done cleaning those shoes, an unexpected friend came to his room and discovered what he had done.
When the foreign visitors opened their doors the following day, their shoes were shined. They never knew who did it, and Moody told no one. But his friend told a few people, and different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret during the rest of the conference. Perhaps this episode is a vital insight into why God used D. L. Moody as He did. He was a man with a servant's heart, which was the basis of his true greatness.
How many of us would be comfortable taking on menial tasks to serve Jesus Christ? This morning, as we study together the Gospel of Mark, we would find our Savior Jesus Christ being presented as the Servant Messiah. If you can remember, last Sunday, Pastor RJ showed us the four different portrayals of Jesus Christ in the four Gospels:
· Matthew – Jesus is the King of the Jews
· Mark – Jesus is the Servant Messiah
· Luke – Jesus is the Son of Man
· John – Jesus is the Son of God
All these books complement to give us a more comprehensive perspective of Jesus Christ. So, from being the King, now, it is almost on the other end of the spectrum, Jesus is a Humble and Perfect Servant. This emphasis in Mark undoubtedly comes as a surprise. How can a dominant reigning King be a servant at the same time? It makes Jesus truly unique in His person. In Matthew, you will find Him conquering and reigning as a King, while in Mark, He is serving and doing whatever it takes to minister to an underserving lost people.
Before we go deeper into the Book of Mark and discussing our theme, let me first give you some background materials:
1. The author of the book is John Mark.
If you are familiar with the book of Acts, he was the young man who accompanied Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary journey but bailed out when the mission's endeavor became rough (Acts 13:13). Later, however, he was restored to serving the Lord (2 Timothy 4:11) and served closely with the apostle Peter (1 Peter 5:13). Many Bible scholars believe that his association with Peter helped a lot in writing the second Gospel.
2. The book is the shortest and the earliest among the four Gospels.
Compared to the three Gospels, the book of Mark is the shortest, with only 16 chapters. As per its writing, many conservative scholars date the Gospel from 57-60 AD, making it the first among the four Gospels. Many pieces of evidence show that Matthew and Luke used the Gospel of Mark as one of their primary sources for their books.
3. Mark wrote the book primarily to the Romans.
This fact is established by the less emphasis on Jewish things like a reference to the Law, Holy Days, fulfilled prophecies, and genealogies. Also, the author's regular used of Latin in the book. There are at least 12 Latin words used in this Gospel.
So, now, let's begin examining the theme of Jesus being the Servant-Messiah in the Gospel of Mark. Here are three critical elements of His servanthood:
I THE ARRIVAL OF THE SERVANT-MESSIAH
As you begin to read the Gospel of Mark, you will immediately notice the emphasis on the Servant-Messiah theme. Mark 1:1-3 (ESV)
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"
While both the books of Matthew and Luke begin with the birth of Jesus, the book of Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus Christ, which signals the inauguration of His earthly ministry. Since the target audience was the Romans, historically, the birth of servants was not as important compared to the beginning of their services. The latter is remembered to determine the loyalty and reliability of the servants. Again, the baptism of Jesus Christ points to the beginning of His earthly services.
Today, we regularly remember our birthdays, the day we came into existence. We are certainly conscious of how old we are. But how many of us would recall the day we started serving the Lord? Do you know how many years have you been serving the Lord? As we said earlier, the number of years of service determines loyalty and reliability. I'm pretty sure God is counting the years!
Besides, one of His intentions in saving us is for us to serve Him. Let me give the most vital Biblical support for this truth:
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
These are familiar verses for many of us. Verses 8-9 establish the fact that our good works won't save us. However, in verse 10, it is pretty clear that part of our DNA would be to do good works once we are saved. We are created to do good works, so we are saved to serve.
So, the questions now are: Are you fulfilling one of the reasons for your salvation? How many years have you been faithfully serving the Lord?
II THE AUTHORITY OF THE SERVANT-MESSIAH
When Mark presented Jesus as a servant, he carefully balanced his presentation with His authority being the Son of God. Here are some excellent examples:
A. He Calls Four Fisherman to be His disciples (1:14-20)
Mark 1:16-20 (ESV)
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.
20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
If you notice, Jesus' authoritative invitation was so compelling that these four men willingly dropped everything and followed Him.
B. He Communicates God's Word Differently (1:21-22)
Mark 1:21-22 (ESV)
21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.
When people heard Jesus teaching the Law, they were surprised because He taught with so much authority compared to the other teachers they regularly had. Many Bible scholars explain that this authority of Jesus suggests that He taught them directly without bothering to quote other religious scholars to prove His point.
C. He Cast Out Demonic Spirits (1:24-26)
Mark 1:23-26 (ESV)
23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God."
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!"
26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.
As you can see from these verses, whenever Jesus confronted demonic spirits, they always recognized His identity and were terrified of Him. Therefore, there is no doubt that He is the Mighty Son of God.
Unfortunately, for my lack of time, I would not be able to show you all the passages in the Gospel of Mark that demonstrated His authority. However, when you have time, you can read the book and find occasions where He cured diseases, commanded nature, or condemned sinners to display His authority as the Son of God.
Of course, these activities also define for us the extent of how He carried out His ministries as a Servant-Messiah. The Lord never hesitated to do whatever it took to minister to helpless and hopeless people because of sin. But, just as we find from the main text we read earlier, the ultimate work of service that Jesus rendered is when he went to the cross to die for the sins of the world.
Mark 10:45
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Would you serve to the point of offering your life to benefit someone else? Praise God that Jesus never hesitated to offer His life because He knew that was the only way you and I can live forever.
III THE ASCENDANCY OF THE SERVANT-MESSIAH
Let me begin this last point by asking: Is it a waste of life to serve the Lord? If you go back to the main text, the background of this passage is the request of James and John to sit on the right and left hand of the Savior once He established His Kingdom on earth. As we know, the request of these brothers brought some resentment from the other disciples. They probably thought that they deserved those places more than them.
This misunderstanding led Jesus Christ to explain that the way God determines greatness and exaltation is very different from the world's standard. For the world, if you are great and you deserve an exalted position, you will be served. However, in God's economy, those who serve are the ones who will be exalted and will be great. So now, the question is: Do you believe in God's philosophy of greatness and exaltation?
If you are doubtful about it, consider how the book of Mark ends - Mark 16:19 (ESV)
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Both the Gospels of Mark and Luke end with the ascension of Jesus Christ. However, the text in the Book of Mark goes beyond the ascension. It also mentions the exaltation of the Servant-Messiah – "sat down at the right hand of God."
This truth is consistent with the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I know it's a long passage, but we need to read the entire text to show how in verse 7, Jesus humbled Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant. Then, jump to verses 9-11 and see how God exalted the Son to a place where All would worship him because of His willingness to serve and die on the cross.
If you are to choose between serving or being served, which would you rather be? I trust that we would follow the example of Jesus Christ that serving can lead to God honoring us when we will give account on how we have used our lives.
Today is a special Sunday because we have the ministry fair. All our ministries have set up their booth to showcase their ministries and recruit people who are willing to serve the Lord. I trust all of us will find our place to serve in the church. I remember the article I read from Pastor Steven J Cole, former Pastor of Flagstaff Christian Fellowship; he wrote:
A cartoon showed a picture of a woman lying in her bed, obviously in misery. In the sink were stacked piles of dirty dishes. A huge basket of clothes to be ironed sat nearby. Two dirty children were fighting in one corner, and in the other, a cat sat licking spilled milk. Then, finally, a smiling woman stood in the doorway, and the caption had her saying, "Well, Florence, if there is anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to let me know."
What a picture of the local church! Pastors and church staff are overwhelmed with work. More needy people cry out for their attention than they have time for. Sunday school and other youth programs lack workers. Visitors need a personal call. New people need someone to befriend them. The missions program needs dedicated workers. Facilities need maintenance and improvements. Even some who are involved seem to be committed only when it's convenient. And yet people often say, "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know!"
Allow me to say it plainly to all of you – our ministry fair is our way of saying that there are so many places you can serve, and we need your help. So, I would like to challenge you to find a ministry where you can faithfully serve the Lord.
-Bishop Jeremiah Lepasana