The King, His Kingdom, and His Call

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  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. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 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. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. - Mark 1:14‭-‬20 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

We started the book of Mark with the ministry of John the Baptist. He's seen as a strange figure... Wearing camel hair, living in the wilderness. But John wasn't looking for attention, he was trying to highlight Jesus.

The kingdom of God

Often when we hear of the kingdom, we think of the future. Perfect fellowship with God, a perfect world, perfect peace among all people. The fully restored world of the future. Jesus says in this passage that the kingdom is here. The kingdom of God came with Jesus. So which one are we to think of? Biblically, we believe it's both. The kingdom of God is both already and not yet. Here, the world is being restored. Healing is happening. Dead people resurrected. But not completely. Not all was restored. The kingdom is in the works.

This should bring us to work towards change. Sin has been defeated. The hope for change is real, even though it will not be fully accomplished till Jesus returns. We fight injustice knowing that Jesus will bring justice.

Knowing the kingdom is not yet, it should make us approach change in our lives with hopeful realism. We are free from sin. We know that sin is not part of who we are. Change happens very slowly. We are not slaves to sin, but it's presence is definitely felt in our lives. 

So what does hopeful realism look like? We should think of it as a person walking up stairs with a yo-yo. The rollercoaster of conviction and failures/setbacks are real. We definitely have highs and lows, but the trajectory is progress.

The call is the King

To enter the kingdom of God is repent and believe the good news. Acknowledge our sin, believe Jesus' life,  death, and resurrection, and accept. More than just mental acceptance, we are following a person. It is more than just lip service. It is a relationship with the person of Jesus.

Three attitudes of Jesus followers

1) They followed when He called. This is total submission and true recognition of Jesus as King.

2) They followed no matter the cost. These people were fishermen by trade. They had a solid job. They were not poor.

3) They followed wherever He would lead. No plan, no details. He called, they came. Jesus doesn't give a game plan. So then, why? Because they trusted in Jesus.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. - Mark 1:9‭-‬13 ESV

Rev. Travis Drake

The announcing of the Son

God is announcing the son. This seems like a very private event. Jesus hears the voice. We don't know if others heard it. Jesus saw the heavens torn. We don't know if anyone else heard it. But Mark is proclaiming it to us. It started as a private event, but was meant to be spread. This is the fulfillment of God's promises 700 years ago. This was a coming of the promises from the mouth of Isiah. The coming salvation and redeemer. 

"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord . And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord . He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." - Isaiah 11:1‭-‬9 ESV

This coming Savior will come from the family line of Jesse, the father of David. The kingdom of Israel did become a stump; the family of David was cut off. But why should we be concerned about this random royalty? Why is this any more interesting than the current news of prince Harry and princess Meghan? Because of what this King is. This King will blow away the wicked with merely any effort...a breath. He will upend the entire natural order of animals as we know it. He will bring justice for those who have no one to defend & fight for them. But not just justice for a season, not just for a decade or two, but justice forever.

The equiping of the Son

How does this translate from an announcement to reality? 

I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! - Luke 12:50 ESV

Jesus speaks of a second baptism. This is after John had already baptised Him. The only earth shaking event after Jesus' baptism that we can point to is Jesus' death and resurrection. Sin is not washed away in a river, but rather by Jesus death on a cross. It is washed away by His blood. It is done. There is nothing to be added to it. Our redeeming has been accomplished already. We are already accepted by God the Father. We are to obey not because we need to earn it, but we obey because we are already accepted. Only the children of God will fight the temptation of sin. The affirmation and love of God is already ours in Christ before the temptations come. 

The sending of the Son

The King of Kings is sent out to meet the King of this world and the wild beasts. Immediately after Christ is affirmed by God, He is immediately dragged out to fight with the enemy. Jesus does not delay. There's another story of Lazarus. Lazarus was dying and Jesus delayed in that case because it was better. It was better for Jesus to resurrect Lazarus after he'd already died. God does not delay to deliver unless it is better. Jesus is presented immediately; His life and ministry on earth is a foretaste of what is to come. What is to come us nothing like what we have here and now...

Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. - Isaiah 40:4 ESV

Receive

Accept Jesus and the good news of the Gospel.

God will do all these good things because Jesus was given.

Rely

These promises are for you, Christian.

Yes, it is forgiveness, it is beautiful. 

The Christian Life is not about needing God less, but learning to lean on God more.

Look

God is ready to act when the time is right. Don't hope in what you see, but look at what God promises.

The Beginning Gospel

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."- Mark 1:1‭-‬8 ESV

Rev. Dan Whang

Mark is the shortest of the gospels. It is an active and concise narrative. He was mainly targeting gentiles and getting the message out.

Fresh beginnings

There is anticipation and excitement with beginnings. Mark is writing about a life changing beginning. The gospel, good news, was being proclaimed. Jesus, the Christ, was Messiah and King. He had come to save us from our sins. Through Him, we could be right with God, no matter what we had done. 

With the arrival of Jesus and His earthly ministry, we have a new beginning. This is our reboot, reformatting, restart of our lives. Many of us may be looking back on the past year, 22 days into the new year. We may carry regrets, disappointment, and remorse for the past. This is the effect that sin has on us. It separates us from God and others. Jesus takes these and gives us a fresh start.

Repentance in the wilderness

John the Baptist is declaring Jesus as the Messiah. Why wilderness? There wilderness in those times was most likely a desert. It was a place of thirst and survival was impossible. Wilderness was where people met God. People in the desert needed God to survive. Wilderness is where we find the end of our self reliance and abilities.

Repentance is when we come to our senses in our sins and turn to God. We turn from our evil deeds, intentions, and motivations... Towards God. We need to do this daily. To fight against the sin in our lives. Have we become complacent with sin? Perhaps this is why God has brought us into the wilderness. God wants to show us our hearts/brokenness and meet us there to set us free.

Magnifying Christ

After God sets us free, he does not leave us there. It is not about a better you. It is not about being better people. John knew his place in history. He was pointing to the Messiah. He was the opening act for the main show. He was the groomsman for the bride and groom. He wasn't there for the spotlight and self glorification. John knew the humanity and divinity of Jesus. The sandals of whom he was not worthy to untie was the humanity. The baptism by the Spirit was pointing to Jesus' divine nature.

So the question for us is this... Can we serve to be forgotten? Can we live to be forgotten? Only those who have the gospel at work in their lives. They can serve without recognition, without human gratitude, without gathering power, pride, or glory. God sees and will reward us, even if there is nothing for us from following God in this life.