Sunday School Session 3

Hello, everybody. Well, we're continuing our study in the adult Sunday school class here on the gospel of Mark. Now listen carefully. You should have the lecture notes that go with these lessons. Now, oftentimes it'll take me maybe two or three weeks to cover one lecture, okay?

So today we're starting on lecture two. The king appears and inaugurates his kingdom. Now, what I want you to think about is to read the passages of scripture before we meet for class or before you tune in for class, okay?

So if you haven't read Mark chapter one, verse one through chapter two, verse 12, then read that before you continue, okay? Because we don't have time to read it here in class. Also, again, in this lecture would also include Mark chapter two, verse 13 through chapter four, verse 34.

All right, so if you haven't read those yet, turn off your device and take the time to read the passages that are given to you for this lecture. Well, now that you're back, let's talk about this.

And before we do, let's pray.

Once more, Father, we ask for the guidance of your spirit to teach us these things. Help us, we pray, so that your name will be honored and glorified. Lord, help us to understand our savior, the Lord Jesus.

And having understood him, we would love him more. We would draw on the power that is ours because we know him better. Help us, Father, to be faithful followers of him. And we will thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

The Gospel of Mark and the Telos of Each Section

Well, let's start talking about the gospel of Mark. We're going to study the gospel of Mark as a means of understanding the synoptic gospels. It's difficult to study all the gospels in one class. It would be great to have a class on all the synoptic gospels.

But when you do that, you tend to miss the points that each gospel attempts to make. Remember, each gospel writer had a particular purpose in mind. And that purpose determined what he would include in his gospel,.

What he would leave out.

It would include what particular details he put in as opposed to the others. And to include where he puts a particular story. You see, it's better just to study one gospel at a time. For example, Matthew includes the Sermon on the Mount, but Mark does not because they had different purposes in mind.

And so Mark, because of his particular purpose, did not include the Sermon on the Mount. You know, a lot of people try to harmonize the gospels. On my shelf are harmonies of the gospels. And what they do is they try to harmonize them.

Like Mark, they'll have it like this in the book.

Mark will come so far.

And then they'll include Matthew's Sermon on the Mount.

Where it should go.

And they try to harmonize the gospels so that they can all fit together. I don't like to harmonize the gospels. The idea behind harmonizing the gospels, producing a harmony of the gospels. For example, if you get John Calvin's commentary on the gospels, that's what he does.

He writes a commentary on all the gospels in one book, but he tries to harmonize them. He puts them together. So here's Matthew and then he puts Mark in here where I think Mark's fits and where it harmonizes with Matthew.

And I don't like to harmonize the gospels because then you lose the perspective of a particular writer, right? So when you pick up a harmony of the gospel, when you do that, when they try to put all the gospels together, you lose the perspective of the particular gospel writers.

And sometimes by adding, we make something weaker. You know what it's like? You have some soup and you say, well, I got to have more soup. So what do you do?

You add water.

But in fact, if you add too much water, you in reality have less soup, right?

Get that.

And so the problem with the harmonization of the gospels is you keep adding details from the other gospels and you miss the point of that particular gospel writer. So my goal then is to introduce to you how to study this particular gospel so that you can turn to Matthew and Luke and use the same method to study them for their particular purposes.

Now, as we talk about purposes, it's important to this kind of study to talk about the idea of telos. You see that in your notes, telos. What does telos mean? Telos means the goal or purpose. What is the purpose of this passage?

What is the goal of this passage? What is this passage trying to accomplish? And that's why you need to understand telos. Telos is everything to me. When I'm studying for preaching, when I'm studying to preach a particular passage or a particular book, what I do is I try to determine the telos, the goal, the purpose of that passage and that book in order to be able to preach what the purpose of it was.

So telos means goal. So you're always asking this question, what is the spirit's goal in this passage or this book? Or what was his purpose in giving us this particular passage? What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit in giving this particular passage?

This is important for if you don't understand the telos of the passage, you will distort the meaning of the text. Then you can make the text mean whatever you want it to mean. But if you understand the telos, the purpose of that passage, then you cannot make it say what you want because then you understand exactly what the spirit wants to accomplish in that passage.

You can't just say, I want to give this message to my people so I'll use this gospel passage, okay? You can't do that. I can't get up and say, you know what? I want to teach my people, I want to teach the folks that are there on Sunday, I want to teach them that Jesus calms all the storms in their lives.

And so I go to that passage where Jesus is in the boat with his disciples and they're terrified of the waves and there's Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat. And so they wake him up and they say, don't you care if we die?

And he says, oh, you little faith. And he says, peace be still. And the ocean or the lake, the sea in which they are traveling is as smooth as glass at the moment he speaks. Now I can say, I want to teach my people they can trust Jesus in the storms of life.

And I go to that passage.

That would be wrong.

That would be wrong because I'm using that passage for what I want. But when I go and I study that passage and I see it in its context and I ask, what's the purpose of this passage?

You know what I find?

I find that the Holy Spirit gave that passage not to teach me how to be calm in the storms of life or that Jesus will calm all the storms of life. That wasn't his purpose in giving us that passage, right?

Now, when we come to that, you'll see what the purpose is when we come to that particular passage. But at this point, I want you to see that you have to determine the telos of the passage. So as we study Mark, as we divide it up into its parts, we do so with the idea of discovering what the Holy Spirit through Mark intended us to understand.

And each section of Mark that we study will have a line or a paragraph or a line that describes the telos. I want you to see that in every section. I wrote the telos, the goal, the purpose. So when we finish this gospel, you'll be able to take the idea of telos, of purpose, of goal, and use it as you study the rest of the gospels.

By the way, that's the way you study the entire Bible. You're always looking for the telos. You're always asking the question, what is the purpose of this passage? Why did the Holy Spirit put this passage here?

And that's what you need to see. That's the very essence of Bible study. Now, the first section that has one particular telos is Mark chapter one, verse one, through chapter two, verse 12. Now, you're gonna notice right away that this section ends in the middle of a chapter.

Now, chapters are not inspired. The chapters of the Bible are not inspired. The people who translated the Bible looked at it and said, let's divide it up like this with chapters and verses primarily so we'd be able to more easily find passages, okay?

And that's very helpful. But we need to divide a book up not by its chapters, but by its telic sections. That is to say, I look at Mark chapter one, verse one, through chapter two, verse 12. It has one purpose in mind, but there's a switch in the purpose when you come to chapter two, verse 13.

Now, there's a different goal or purpose from chapter two, verse 13, through chapter four, verse 14. You see, now there's a different telos at work. And so you read the passages and you see those subtle or not so subtle breaks where now the writer has another purpose to tell you.

And so in my estimation, Mark chapter one, verse one, through chapter two, verse 12 is a particular telic section of the book of Mark. What is the telos of this session? I have it as the king appears.

Notice the telos. Jesus appears bringing with him the kingdom or the reign of God. That's what I believe is the telos of this particular session. Mark wants us to understand that Jesus appeared bringing with him the kingdom or the reign of God.

That's the first thing he tackles in his book. That's the first purpose he has as he writes his gospel. Now, the purpose of this section has to do with the appearance of the king, bringing with him the reign of God.

We've mentioned that. And when the scriptures speak of the kingdom of God, they do not speak of a geographical entity. That's not what they're talking about. The kingdom of God is the rule of God. The kingdom exists wherever the rule of God exists.

God, for example, rules over all the earth. That is his sovereign, providential rule, okay? That's what we mean when we talk about the kingdom of God. But this gospel, when it talks about the kingdom, speaks of the kingdom as the saving rule of God, the saving rule of God, okay?

So in the gospels, when the gospel writers talk about the kingdom of God, they're talking primarily of the saving rule of God, okay? Now, when we look at the idea of the kingdom of God, here's a handy way of thinking about God's rule, God's kingdom.

One way to think about, or one kind, let's put it this way.

One way of looking at the rule of God.

Is his universal providential rule. That is, God rules over all the earth. He is the universal ruler of everything that happens. And by his providence, by means, he makes things happen that he had planned.

That is his universal providential rule. So let's put it this way. In this rule, God controls opposition to his rule. Let's think about opposition to God's rule. So in God's universal providential rule, God controls opposition to his rule.

Now, there's another way of looking at it, and that is God's saving rule. That is to say, God redeems some of his opposition and brings them under his rule so that they willingly submit to his rule, okay?

So that's the kind of rule that the gospel writers use. When they talk about the kingdom of God, they're talking about the saving rule of God, where he saves those who opposes him, and he brings them under his rule so they voluntarily now submit to him.

And then we can talk about God's complete rule. For example, in Revelation 11, verse 15, where the apostle John is talking about the seventh trumpet, he writes this, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

You say, well, doesn't God already rule over the whole earth? Yes, but this is God's complete rule, right? Where now, this, when the kingdom of God arrives in this form, it eliminates all his opposition.

It eliminates it all. So the only thing left is the whole world and all of its inhabitants now willingly submitting.

To the rule of God.

And so the kingdom of God can be thought of in three ways. His universal providential rule, that is, God, if you will, controls his opposition. Then there is God's saving rule, that is, God saves some people from the opposition so that they willingly serve him.

And then lastly, there is the complete rule of God where God eliminates all opposition. And now all that exists exists in voluntary submission to his rule, gladly serving God. So now as we come to the gospels, when they talk about the kingdom of God, they're talking about the saving rule of God that has arrived and that is calling people into the reign of God, the rule of God, where they now, now they can willingly submit to him.

The Forerunner and His Message in Mark 1:1-8

So first of all, in chapter one, verses one through eight, you see the appearance of the kingdom in the forerunner and his message. So the kingdom comes first with a forerunner and he has a message. The gospel identifies itself as you look at it as the good news about Jesus Christ, the son of God who comes in human form.

His glory is gonna be veiled to our physical eyes, but his glory will shine in the gospel. Now God's kingdom finds first expression in the messenger sent to prepare the way. The king does not appear until a herald goes ahead of him to announce or to proclaim his appearance on the scene of human affairs.

This is the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 40, right? If we turn back to Isaiah 40, let's turn back there real quick, Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah chapter 40, beginning in verse three, a voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.

Notice, prepare the way of the Lord. That is all in all capital letters, which is his personal name, which is the only one and true God. A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare the way for this one and only true God, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain.

And hill may be made low.

And the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And so Isaiah talks about this messenger is going to come and he's going to say, prepare the way for our God.

He's coming, he's coming. Now, as we come to Mark, we see that very same passage quoted in Mark's gospel. Behold, I send my messenger before your face and will prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Here's the first sparkle of Christ's kingdom. The messenger prepares the way, but prepares the way for whom? For the Lord, make straight paths for the Lord, the one and only true God. And Isaiah, the very next stanza or the very next line that Mark doesn't include here,.

Prepare the way for our God.

It's talking about the one true God. So let me ask you, if when you read that, what do you see? What does that tell you about this one who's supposed to make his appearance? What does it tell you? Right away, it tells you, I'm preparing the way for whom?

For God. Now, this says something about the deity of Jesus, doesn't it? John is essentially saying, I've come to prepare the way for the Lord, for God himself. Make straight or make righteous paths for him because he is the Lord.

So what does John's message say to us? Because, okay, this is years, this was written years after the resurrection, right? So God doesn't just intend this so that we read this,.

See how those Jews,.

They needed to learn to prepare the way for the Lord.

No, it's speaking to you and to me. How do we look at the ministry of John the Baptist? What does it say? It means make straight or righteous paths for him because he is the Lord. What does John's message say to us who claim Christ is Lord?

It says, we need to be making straight and righteous paths. We are the ones who need to be walking righteously, walking in straight paths.

Why?

Because he is the Lord. Christ is the Lord and he demands our obedience. Look carefully at John's message. What do you see of Christ in his message? Well, what you see, first of all, is this Messiah possesses glorious power.

He has power that no one else has. This is more than a person, just a human being. He has glorious power, right? He is glorious in significance. No one can untie his shoes. No one is worthy to untie his sandals, right?

No one can untie his sandals, so that his royal splendor should cause awe and humility. Is that true when you behold Christ? When you look at Jesus, do you see, yes, the friend of sinners, but do you also see this one who's glorious and who we ought to approach with awe and humility?

He's glorious in his ministry. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit, says John. So he's glorious in power. He's glorious in significance. He's glorious in his ministry. This is the glory of this coming one, this coming Christ.

Now, when Mark wrote his gospel, his intention was not merely to record a history, but to present Jesus as the one to whom all his readers must respond. What does John's message say to you about how you ought to respond to Jesus, okay?

Let's not relegate John's message just to the past. Oh, those Jews needed to hear this about Jesus. You need to hear this about Jesus. Everyone who reads the gospel of Mark needs to hear this about Jesus.

How do you respond to Jesus? Where specifically must you respond in this manner? Ask yourself those questions. Mark intends this for you. The Holy Spirit put this passage here for you. How are you going to respond?

The last thing you need to note is the way that John is dressed. How is John dressed? Well, he's dressed,.

We've got to find it here.

John, verse eight, or no, verse six. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. Why do you think Mark makes the point of saying that?

See, that's what you've got to do. You look at that and you say, why is he saying that? Why would he talk about the way John the Baptist is dressed? What's the purpose of that? Well, the purpose clearly is he wants you to see that John is just like Elijah.

That's what he wants you to see, okay?

Remember, biblical writers are writers and they, like all writers, they put it in a way that they don't slap you across the face with truth. They give it to you in a very, if you will, an artistic way.

Why in the world would Mark talk about the fact that John is dressed with camel hair, a belt, and he eats this crazy wild stuff? So you would connect him to Elijah the prophet, you see? So that you would connect him with Elijah.

You would see that he is the Elijah that Malachi prophesied would come.

Before the Messiah.

Well, all righty, our time is up already. Now I know we haven't covered much. I hope it's been profitable. We will pick it up then next week at Roman numeral number two, see the King anointed and tested, chapter one, verses nine through 12.

We'll pick it up there, all right? So God bless you. I hope that you're finding this helpful. I hope it's interesting. But even if it's not, I hope that it's helpful. All right, let me pray. Thanks, Father, for our time together.

Again, we commit the working of your word to your spirit. Lord, use this to help us to grow, and we'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen.