Mark 1 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Many people say that Mark was one of the
2. 0:03earliest and perhaps the earliest gospel
3. 0:07um written in about 50 55 AD. And
4. 0:12tradition has it that
5. 0:16he was
6. 0:17writing down his gospel based on the
7. 0:23preaching of the Apostle Peter.
8. 0:25So, it's reflective of someone who sat
9. 0:28under Peter's preaching and wrote down
10. 0:31the stories and accounts of what Peter
11. 0:34would have been ministering at that
12. 0:36time. Obviously, um
13. 0:40Paul calls Mark a companion and and
14. 0:44praises him for his service. Um Mark is
15. 0:50less about big themes and more about
16. 0:53action. obedience, the deity of Jesus.
17. 0:58He spends a third of his gospel talking
18. 1:02about the last week of Jesus's life. So,
19. 1:05he also focuses on the passion and the
20. 1:07leading up to the crucifixion. It's the
21. 1:10shortest gospel. One of the things that
22. 1:13always struck me is right here in the
23. 1:15first 45 verses of his book, Mark uses
24. 1:20the word immediately
25. 1:23nine different times.
26. 1:26And that's not a mistake. That's not
27. 1:28because he ran out of creative synonyms.
28. 1:32He's trying to tell us that the people
29. 1:35who united with Jesus in his preaching
30. 1:38were able to act in the moment, were
31. 1:42able to respond in the window of grace
32. 1:45and opportunity.
33. 1:47So without further ado, Mark 1 verse
34. 1:52one. The beginning of the gospel of
35. 1:55Jesus Christ, the son of God. As it is
36. 1:59written in Isaiah the prophet, behold, I
37. 2:02send my messenger ahead of you, who will
38. 2:05prepare your way. The voice of one
39. 2:07crying in the wilderness, make ready the
40. 2:10way of the Lord. Make his path straight.
41. 2:14John the Baptist appeared in the
42. 2:16wilderness preaching a baptism of
43. 2:19repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
44. 2:22And all the country of Judea was going
45. 2:25out to him and all the people of
46. 2:27Jerusalem. And they were being baptized
47. 2:29by him in the Jordan River confessing
48. 2:32their sins. John was clothed with
49. 2:35camel<unk>s hair and wore a leather belt
50. 2:37around his waist. And his diet was
51. 2:40locust and wild honey. And he was
52. 2:42preaching and saying, "After me, one is
53. 2:46coming who is mightier than I, and I am
54. 2:49not fit to stoop down and untie the
55. 2:51thong of his sandals. I baptize you with
56. 2:55water, but he will baptize you with the
57. 2:57Holy Spirit."
58. 3:00Mark jumps right into John the Baptist
59. 3:03and he says that he was the fulfillment
60. 3:07of Isaiah's prophecy that God would send
61. 3:09a messenger to prepare the way to clear
62. 3:12the rubble so that there would be a
63. 3:14straight smooth path of openness and
64. 3:17readiness in the hearts of God's people
65. 3:20to receive the message of Jesus.
66. 3:23And he describes John like Matthew as
67. 3:27Elijah. John is wearing the same cloak
68. 3:30as Elijah. John is in the wilderness
69. 3:32like Elijah. John is bringing a message
70. 3:35of repentance like Elijah.
71. 3:38And John tells the people that he's
72. 3:40going to baptize them with water. But
73. 3:43the purpose of Jesus is to baptize them
74. 3:46with the Holy Spirit.
75. 3:48In those days Jesus came from Nazareth
76. 3:51in Galilee and was baptized by John in
77. 3:54the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of
78. 3:58the water, he saw the heavens opening
79. 4:01and the spirit like a dove descending
80. 4:03upon him. And a voice came out of
81. 4:06heaven.
82. 4:08You are my beloved son. In you I am well
83. 4:12pleased.
84. 4:13Immediately the spirit impelled him to
85. 4:16go out into the wilderness and he was in
86. 4:19the wilderness 40 days being tempted by
87. 4:22Satan
88. 4:23and he was with the wild beasts and the
89. 4:26angels were ministering to him. So here
90. 4:29we have our first two instances of the
91. 4:31word immediately.
92. 4:34Our English word immediately means
93. 4:37without a mediator with no gap.
94. 4:41You have this stimuli and this response.
95. 4:44You have this instantaneous occurrence.
96. 4:51It says that he was impelled by the Holy
97. 4:54Spirit to go into the wilderness. So his
98. 4:57encounter in temptation with the devil,
99. 4:59God wasn't tempting him, but God was
100. 5:02going to use his victory over the enemy
101. 5:05for a higher purpose.
102. 5:08Now after John had been taken into
103. 5:11custody, Jesus came into Galilee
104. 5:13preaching the gospel of God and saying,
105. 5:17"The time is fulfilled and the kingdom
106. 5:20of God is at hand. Repent and believe in
107. 5:24the gospel."
108. 5:27As he was going along by the Sea of
109. 5:29Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the
110. 5:31brother of Simon, casting a net in the
111. 5:34sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus
112. 5:37said to them, "Follow me, and I will
113. 5:39make you become fishers of men."
114. 5:43Immediately they left their nets and
115. 5:45followed him. There's action here. God
116. 5:49is speaking. People are acting. Changes
117. 5:52are coming.
118. 5:54Going on a little further, he saw James,
119. 5:56the son of Zebedee, and John, his
120. 5:58brother, who were also in the boat
121. 6:00mending the nets. Immediately he called
122. 6:03them and they left their father Zebedee
123. 6:06in the boat with the hired servants and
124. 6:09went away to follow him. They went into
125. 6:12Capernium and immediately on the Sabbath
126. 6:15he entered the synagogue and began to
127. 6:17teach. They were amazed at his teaching
128. 6:21for he was teaching them as one having
129. 6:23authority and not as the scribes.
130. 6:27Just then, same word, there was a man in
131. 6:31their synagogue with an unclean spirit,
132. 6:33and he cried out, saying, "What business
133. 6:37do we have with each other, Jesus of
134. 6:39Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?
135. 6:44I know who you are, the Holy One of
136. 6:47God."
137. 6:49And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet
138. 6:52and come out of him."
139. 6:54throwing him into convulsions. The
140. 6:56unclean spirit cried out with a loud
141. 6:59voice and came out of him. They were all
142. 7:02amazed.
143. 7:04So they debated among themselves,
144. 7:07saying, "What is this? A new teaching
145. 7:11with authority? He commands even the
146. 7:14unclean spirits, and they obey him."
147. 7:17Immediately the news about him spread
148. 7:19everywhere into all the surrounding
149. 7:21district of Galilee.
150. 7:23So here we have Mark showing us that
151. 7:27when God prompts, we act, at least if we
152. 7:32want to receive his grace. He's
153. 7:34emphasizing this immediacy to us. He
154. 7:37wants to snap us out of the old ruts of
155. 7:41old expectations and tired traditions.
156. 7:45and he's showing God breaking in to
157. 7:48human rhythms of religiosity
158. 7:51and bringing about authority. They're
159. 7:54shocked when they hear Jesus preach in
160. 7:56the synagogue because they say he's
161. 7:59nothing like the scribes. He speaks with
162. 8:02authority. The scribes speculated. The
163. 8:05scribes hypothesized.
164. 8:08The scribes imagined if, and let's
165. 8:11consider more closely, Jesus spoke words
166. 8:16that brought sick people out of beds,
167. 8:19that brought demon-possessed people to
168. 8:21freedom, that changed people's lives. He
169. 8:25spoke words that caused people to change
170. 8:27their job, drop their nets, and follow
171. 8:29him immediately. And that's the theme
172. 8:32that Mark is trying to drive home. And
173. 8:35if tradition is true that this reflects
174. 8:38the preaching of Peter as written down
175. 8:41by John, then Peter was a man of
176. 8:43immediacy.
177. 8:46Verse 29. And immediately after they
178. 8:51came out of the synagogue, they came
179. 8:53into the house of Simon and Andrew with
180. 8:55James and John. Now Simon's
181. 8:57mother-in-law was lying sick with a
182. 9:00fever. And immediately they spoke to
183. 9:03Jesus about her.
184. 9:05He's saying it so much it's almost
185. 9:07funny, but he's trying to drive
186. 9:10something home to us. Get the gap out of
187. 9:13your obedience.
188. 9:15And he came to her and raised her up,
189. 9:18taking her by the hand, and the fever
190. 9:20left her, and she waited on them. When
191. 9:23evening came after the sun had set, they
192. 9:27began bringing to him all who were ill
193. 9:29and those who were demon-possessed and
194. 9:32the whole city had gathered at the door.
195. 9:35It's quite a scene happening in
196. 9:36Capernium, small little fisherman's hut,
197. 9:39and the entire city is gathered at the
198. 9:42door because somebody is moving in the
199. 9:44immediacy of God's grace.
200. 9:47And he healed many who were ill with
201. 9:49various diseases and cast out many
202. 9:52demons. And he was not permitting the
203. 9:54demons to speak because they knew who he
204. 9:57was. He didn't want his message and
205. 10:02announcement to come through the mouth
206. 10:04of demons.
207. 10:06In the early morning, while it was still
208. 10:07dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and
209. 10:10went away to a secluded place and was
210. 10:13praying there.
211. 10:15Simon and his companions searched for
212. 10:17him. They found him and said to him,
213. 10:19"Everyone is looking for you." He said
214. 10:23to them, "Let us go somewhere else to
215. 10:27the towns nearby so that I may preach
216. 10:30there also, for that is what I came
217. 10:33for."
218. 10:35And he went into their synagogues
219. 10:37throughout all Galilee, preaching and
220. 10:41casting out the demons.
221. 10:43And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching
222. 10:46him and falling on his knees before him
223. 10:49and saying, "If you are willing, you can
224. 10:54make me clean."
225. 10:57Moved with compassion,
226. 11:00Jesus stretched out his hand and touched
227. 11:02him and said to him, "I am willing. Be
228. 11:07cleansed."
229. 11:10Immediately the leprosy left him and he
230. 11:13was cleansed.
231. 11:15And he sternly warned him and
232. 11:17immediately sent him away.
233. 11:20And he said to him, "See that you say
234. 11:23nothing to anyone, but go show yourself
235. 11:26to the priest and offer for your
236. 11:29cleansing what Moses commanded
237. 11:31as a testimony to them, to the priests."
238. 11:37But he went out and began to proclaim it
239. 11:39freely and so spread the news around to
240. 11:43such an extent that Jesus could no
241. 11:45longer publicly enter a city but stayed
242. 11:48out in unpopulated areas and they were
243. 11:52coming to him from everywhere.
244. 11:55That's impact evangelism.
245. 11:58Bring the power of God. Act in the
246. 12:01immediiacy of the Holy Spirit. And even
247. 12:03when you can't enter a city and you're
248. 12:06out in an unpopulated area, everybody
249. 12:09will come because everybody needs to see
250. 12:12God in action.