The Gospel Of Jesus Christ According To Mark: A Jet Tour

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Mark as a Fast-Paced Gospel of Jesus Christ

I don�t ride roller coasters anymore because I get dizzy. For the same reason my grandfather does not ride them, I do not ride them. But when I did, there was something about that click, click, click, click, click at the very beginning.

And you had so much anticipation because you knew you would be at the apex soon, and then gravity would take over. Sometimes you�ll read a story, maybe a fictional story, and you can feel that kind of clicking.

We�re getting to the good part, and then things will accelerate. We�re going to look at a book of the Bible today where there�s no clicking, there�s no anticipation because from the first verse, it is downhill with alacrity, with rapidity, with so much intensity that you just get caught up into it.

It�s called the Gospel of Mark. Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Mark, the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark. This is called the Go Gospel because He�s on the go, Jesus Christ is. And it�s fast, and it�s fast-paced.

There�s only one little plateau in the center. To use that roller coaster illustration again, it�s all downhill to the center, and then it�s downhill again to the very end, quickly. It�s breathtaking.

If I was teaching junior high classes or high school classes, I would call this gospel the Indiana Jones of the Gospels because it is fast, and it is fast-paced. What we�re going to do today, instead of looking at a few verses, which is fine to do, we�re going to look at Mark chapter 1 through 16, and I�m going to do all of the book of Mark today, except the ending that�s the longer ending.

We won�t do that, but we�ll end in the real ending, 16 .8. Somebody just said, �No way. The front row, 16 chapters, and here�s my goal, here�s my desire. I want you, if you�re a Christian, to be reminded of the purpose and work of Christ Jesus.

Why did Jesus come to the earth? That you might just glory in Him and praise Him and be thankful for Him. If you�re not a Christian, I want you to get an idea of who Jesus is. This whole thing that people say, �Well, to me, Jesus is this, and Christianity is this.

No, Christianity is a historical thing. Jesus was a real person, and so I want you to understand what the Bible says about Jesus. The focus is on Him, so you don�t say, �Well, I know a lot of Christians, they�re hypocrites.

No, I want you to see Jesus, anything but the hypocrites. We�re going to go, John, Mark chapter 1, I could have got out of that by saying John Mark. That�s another name for Mark. Mark chapter 1, verses 1 through chapter 16, verse 8.

If you want a big picture, here�s the big picture. There�s a little introduction. It�s downhill as fast as you can to the confession in chapter 8. Then it�s downhill as fast as you can to the cross. So, there�s the introduction, driving everything to the confession, then driving everything to the cross, and then we have the resurrection.

All right? Somebody said this is going to take me two weeks. It is not. Okay? I feel like I want to get in a lineman�s stance, like an over-the-nose guard. So, if you got your Bibles, you�re going to need it, and I�m not going to read every verse or explain every verse, but you�re just going to get that sense.

There�s this glorious introduction, and you�ll see everything�s pointing to the confession of Jesus. Why? The confession that Jesus is Lord, because the writer wants you to confess Jesus as Lord. He wants you to confess Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, to confess Him as your personal Lord and Savior.

It�s not just for other people, but it�s for you, and so you�ll see authority after authority after the authority of Jesus. If anyone has such authority, I will confess Him as Lord. That�s the point. And then the second part, driving to the cross, you�ll see why Jesus came, and that is to die on behalf of sinners.

If the wages of sin is death, and it is, somebody has to die. Either you or the Lord Jesus, and Jesus is a merciful Savior, and He dies in the place of sinners. But first, the introduction. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This is language of Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning. That�s the Septuagint, the Greek way to translate the Old Testament Hebrew, in the beginning. And you can already sense that what Mark is going to do, he�s talking about Jesus, and as God creates things by a word in Genesis chapter 1, He�s now going to reconstruct and recreate them through the personal work of Jesus Christ, take sinners and make them born again.

As we begin to read this, you�re going to see a lot of present tenses. It�s going to be very vivid, very graphic, in terms of just like a picture, flashing with no time to pause. That�s the way Mark is trying to write it.

He, in the Greek, starts two out of three verses with the word �and. Now you�re going to fail an English comp class if you start sentences like that, but here he does it for a reason. Because he wants you to get that feeling like you�re going forward and you can�t stop.

Last ski illustration. If you�re on your skis on a little incline and you start leaning forward on your toes, you�re going to go downhill. And Mark, it�s like he�s going to push you off that lift. Okay, that�s why that was the last one.

What does the text say? The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now, sometimes the word �gospel� means specifically, narrowly, that Jesus dies on the cross for sinners and is raised from the dead.

Or sometimes �gospel� means generic, general good news. Gospel means, this is good news. And that�s the general word here. Everything about Jesus is good news. What he said, what he did, how he did it, what he didn�t say, everything is good news.

The teaching and work of Jesus is good news. And since this book tries to teach us that Jesus is a servant, there�s no genealogy. You don�t have any background of when the slave was born. And here the servant has no pedigree listed, even though you could go to Matthew or Luke or John for a genealogy.

What is this book about? Jesus, that�s his human name, Savior. Christ, that�s his divine title. He�s the Messiah, the Sin Bearer. And who is he? The Son of God. Elsewhere in this book, he�ll be known as Lord, Son of Man, Son of David, Prophet, My Beloved Son.

Everything in this book is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And do you believe that he is, in fact, the Son of God? Now, let�s work our way to the confession in Romans, in Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8 is what we�re driving to, and you�re going to feel how fast this is going to go.

The Forerunner, Baptism, Temptation, and Jesus' Authority

And this is going to serve me well because I feel like I�m going to drink some coffee and then teach this. Sometimes I have to drink a mountain dew or a monster drink or... That doesn�t bother me. Does it bother you?

Who said I like it? Okay. Did they take your daughter out crying and screaming just a minute ago? That�s why he likes it. Now it makes sense. He gives you the introduction, and now we�re on the way to the confession.

And the way I�m going to have to preach this today with speed, that will match the genre of the book. There�s an advance team for such a great king, 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. So here comes John the Baptist to lead the way of Jesus.

Now Jesus has to have authority to do everything he does, and he receives it from the Father at baptism. Verse 9, �In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he, Jesus, came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. How do we know Jesus has authority? �And a voice came from heaven, �You are my beloved Son.

With you I am well pleased. And by the way, it�s a tested authority. It�s a verifiable authority, because all temptation now comes on Jesus, and he withstands it. Does he not? Verse 12, �The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

He was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. He was with wild animals, and angels were ministering to him. So Jesus has the authority from God the Father, and he�s got a testing against Satan that affirms that very thing.

Well, what�s Jesus� message? Verse 14, �Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. Here�s the summary of Jesus. That�s not just for them, but it�s for you as well.

�The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, think differently about your sin, and believe in the gospel. When it comes to sin, repent. When it comes to the gospel and who Jesus is, believe.

No longer think to yourself, �I�m good because I�m better than other people. I�m good because I�ve done religious things. I�m good because I�ve had ceremonies. No, here we have to have goodness in another, the Lord Jesus.

How much authority does Jesus have? So much that he can just call disciples. Verse 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.

And Jesus said to them, �I mean, just feel the brute force of this authority. Follow me. Verse 18,. �And immediately they left their nets and followed him. How much authority does such a man have, the son of man have?

He can just tell people, �Follow me and they drop everything at work. Jesus shows up to your work, �Follow me you drop everything. That�s how much authority he has. He has authority over people and demons.

Verse 32, �And at evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. Whole city was gathered together at the door, and he healed many who were sick with diseases, cast out many demons, and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

How much authority does Jesus have? He has all authority, and therefore we�re driving to this confession of Peter that you�re to confess as well that Jesus, in fact, is Lord. Now here�s the thing with Jesus.

He could heal your body, but you could still die and go to hell if your sins aren�t forgiven. So there�s something more important than healing your body, to have a demon cast out of you, to have a paralytic person walk.

That is to be forgiven, and forgiveness comes through a message. That�s why Jesus is a preacher. God had a son, and he made him a preacher. Verse 37 of chapter 1, they can�t find Jesus. More people need to be healed.

And they found him and said, �Everyone�s looking for you. You know, they want to get healed. Jesus said to them, �Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.

In other words, yes, I�m the compassionate, suffering servant, and I want to heal people, but I�ve got a more important thing than healing. That�s why when you see people on TV, and it�s healing ministry, healing ministry, healing ministry, those people will all eventually then die.

Then what? Then what? There needs to be the ministry of the word. Jesus then goes on to heal a paralytic and a leper, and all kinds of people are following Jesus. Mark chapter 3, verse 7. There are so many people following Jesus.

�Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem. Way beyond the Jordan, different Gentile cities. �When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came out to him.

Verse 11. �Whenever the unclean spirit saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, �You are the Son of God. That is what the writer wants you to confess. That is what we�re driving to, that first great point in this book, and that is the confession that Jesus is the Messiah.

Well, Jesus loves to tell parables, and he tells some in Mark chapter 4. Here�s the interpretation of one in verse 14. �You want to be the right kind of soil. The sower sows the word. Mark 4, verse 14.

�And these are the ones along the path where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. So you hear the word of God, and it�s gone. �These are the ones sown on rocky ground.

You can imagine seed thrown on rocky grounds. �The one who they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. That was a great sermon, Jesus. That was a great sermon, Pastor Mike. We really like that.

�But they have no root in themselves, for they endure a while. Then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among the thorns.

They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word. But those, verse 20, that were sown on good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit.

In other words, as Jesus gives this parable, the series of parables, you can almost imagine you are listening. And if Jesus has so much authority confirmed by the Father, casting out demons, preaching a message of forgiveness and repentance, what kind of heart soil do you have?

Do you hear it and say, �That was really good, but live your life. Do you say, �Well, I'm really going to believe it. But then temptation comes and you move away or you say, �God, I will take it as the word of Almighty God and I want to just believe it.

Jesus even has authority over the sea. That's why you should believe it. Chapter 4, verse 35. I mean, who does this? And that's the point. �And on that day when evening had come, he said to them, �Let us go to the other side.

The Sea of Galilee is pretty big. It's not just a tiny pond, 13 miles by 7 miles probably. Let's go to the other side. Why would Jesus want to go to the other side? Well, let's find out. �And leaving the multitude, they took him along with them, just as he was in the boat and other boats were with him.

Remember, the crowd is all around Jesus. They want to see him. They want to listen to him. �And the sea is chaotic. There arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

I mean, it was a violent storm, fierce gale, thermal buildup that's happening with Mount Hermon. �And he himself, verse 38, was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they awoke him and said to him, �Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing

They didn't say, �By the way, we don't want you to die, Jesus. We're going to perish. I can think of another prophet who slept in a storm, but Jesus isn't like that prophet. �The expert sailors were afraid.

Jesus was sleeping. �And being aroused, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, �Hush, be still. The wind died down. It became perfectly calm. Now, if you just stop the wind, there's still going to be waves.

So he stops the wind and then flattens out. It's almost like you snap a bed sheet and it just flattens. Who does this? If only God does this. The point is, trust him. Believe in him. If he has the authority, trust in that good news.

People say, �Well, Jesus just stilled the storm of fear in the disciples' hearts. That's rubbish. He is the Messiah. That's the conclusion you're supposed to make. And when you realize that Jesus is in your boat and there's no longer any more storm, you'd think they'd be happy.

But now they realize the sinless, holy one of God is in the boat, verse 41. Who is this? They're very afraid. They say to one another, �Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him And to ask the question is to answer it.

They feared with great fear and asked the question. Lenski said there is little need to record the answers. I remember Kim's brother, when he was little, he always said of this verse, when he had memorized it, �Who then is this that even the wind and sea obey him

You, the reader, are supposed to say, �God incarnate, I have to believe in him. I have to trust in him. I mean, what would you do if some demon-possessed man came running up to you? What Jesus does is shows that he has authority over him, chapter 5, verse 1.

They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerizim. Spotlight on Jesus. He's the focus. He speaks. He acts. No one else. Came out of the boat. Immediately a man from the tombs of an unclean spirit met him.

Remember, it's dark now, shadows, frightening. Evening had come. Man comes from the tombs. He's defiled. He's demented. He's demon-possessed. He had his dwelling place among the tombs. No one can bind him, even with a chain.

He tears apart, verse 4, the shackles. No one's strong enough to subdue him. I'm sure he smelled horrible, looked horrible. The writer's stacking up negatives just to show you how powerful this man is.

Nobody could pass by a demonic, billy goat, gruff type of man. What was he doing? Verse 5, he's crying out and gashing himself with stones. Just imagine the yelling and the inarticulate cry and shriek and black dried blood and open wounds and scar tissue and scabs and disease.

Somebody said this is a man with manic depressive psychosis. No, he wasn't manic. He was a maniac. He was demon-possessed. How would you react? A naked, crazy man running around. Side note, I'll just tell you super fast.

One day, I was in North Hollywood, and I looked out of my window, and there was a naked man running around in the middle of the street. He was doing some kind of Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead dance. Well, he just kept going, and I just kept letting him.

After all, it's California. I had to mow. We had people coming over. So I start to mow, and he's still dancing. I figured he'll probably give up, but he just keeps going and going, and I thought I should probably be afraid of this man, but he's naked.

I have a mower. Jesus has nothing except he's so powerful. He's got authority from God. He's already exercised it over lepers, paralytics, the sea, and he's not afraid of this person either. Everything about Jesus here in Mark is to show you his authority so that you too with the centurion say, that you too with Peter say, behold, he's the son of God.

Jesus, seeing him from a distance, and seeing Jesus from a distance rather, verse 6, he ran up and bowed down before him. He didn't attack Jesus. He didn't assault Jesus. He didn't spit on Jesus. Jesus certainly wasn't frightened.

He knows this demon-possessed man who's the superior, and he gets on his face. The demon confesses what you should confess. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, what do I have to do with you, Jesus, the son of the most high God?

That's how the gospel starts, the son of God. And Jesus rebukes the demons, verse 8. Sends them to the pigs. One man for Jesus was more important than thousands of pigs. There's a lady, she was sick. I wonder if Jesus could help her.

If he's the son of God, couldn't he help her? Verse 25, she had a hemorrhage for 12 years. Just imagine what she had to go through. If you think some of the doctors today use interesting things for their cures, she endured much at the hands of many physicians, but she just got worse, unclean, ceremonially, unclean physically.

They said back in those days, if a lady had this problem, that you should do this, quote, let her dig seven ditches in which she used to burn some cuttings of vines, not yet four years old. Let her take in her hand a cup of wine and let them lead her away from this ditch and make her sit down over that and let them remove her from that and make her sit down over another, saying to her at each, arise from thy flux.

Kind of reminds me of some HMOs that I know. Poor lady, and Jesus heals her. All she had to do was touch his cloak. Verse 33, but the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

You're going to see something in the book of Mark. There's a supernatural event and people respond with fear. The sea is calmed. They get afraid. She's healed. She's afraid. Why? There's no more storm.

Why? She's not bleeding anymore because they recognize who Jesus is. And when you recognize how holy Jesus is and you recognize how sinful you are, there's fear. But this lady got more than she bargained for.

She even got her sins forgiven. Verse 34, he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Be healed of your affliction. And what do people do who have no faith? Jesus raises the dead, and then they say Mark 5 .40, they laughed at him.

That doesn't stop Jesus, though. He sends out 12 apostles. John the Baptist dies, and we see in Mark 6 .30 and following, Jesus feeds up to 20 ,000 people, 5 ,000 men out of nothing. Who does that? He is God over the elements, Mark 6 .45.

Walking on water, intending to pass them by, showing them, in fact, he is God, not a ghost. And Mark 6 .51, he got in the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were greatly astonished. Not everybody likes Jesus, though.

Some laugh at him, but the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes, they don't like it that he's upsetting their proverbial apple cart. In Mark 7, you see these Pharisees, they want to get Jesus. Now, when the Pharisees gathered to him with some of the scribes who had come from Israel, they had a bone to pick with Jesus about ceremonially washing.

And what does Jesus say? It has nothing to do with your hands and washings. How do you know if you're defiled? Verse 15, there's nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

Verse 20, and he said, what comes out of a person is what defiles him, for from within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

Friends, that's our resume. We need somebody who is just going to give us some advice to get us through the day, who can change us from the inside to make us born again, to make us new creations in Christ Jesus.

He feeds 4 ,000 more men and women and children along as well. And then we come up to that first great interlude, Mark 8, verse 27. Everything in these first eight chapters is driving to this confession.

The Confession of Peter and the Way of the Cross

It's driving you to make the confession. Have you made the confession? And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, Mark 8, 27. And on the way, he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am?

John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. Who do you say that I am? That is the question. Every one of you here will die and stand before God. What do you make of Jesus? Well, if I look back to Mark 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, he's the eternal God who added humanity, had the forerunner promise from the Old Testament, John.

The Father says, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. He preached forgiveness. He preached compassionately. He healed people. He cast out demons. He walked on water. He ruled the sea. Who do you say that I am?

Peter answered him. And this has to be your answer for forgiveness of sins, for eternal life, for the resurrection of the body to be in the presence of God. You are the Christ. Is that your confession?

Everything drives to this confession in the first half of the book. Now the second half, we're driving to Calvary. And it's breathtakingly fast. Mark 8, verse 31. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.

And you can just imagine what was happening back in those days. It's called the theology of glory instead of the theology of the cross. Theology of glory says, you know what, just give me the good stuff.

I don't want to go through the trial. I don't want to go through suffering. I don't want to go to the cross. I'll just go straight to my Father's throne. But no, here Jesus has to go to the cross. That's why he came.

He's not here to take over the Romans. He's here to bear sins. Peter didn't get it, verse 32. He said this plainly. It wasn't in code. It wasn't in some type of dialect that no one could understand, special language.

So what did Peter do? Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Okay, now I know Peter is a total, you know, the man with the shoe, with the shoe-sized mouth, shoe-shaped mouth. But Peter saw all these things and lepers and paralytics and the storm and now you're going to die?

You have to go die? I can see where Peter was going. But Jesus rebukes him. What's he say? Who's the one when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness that said, don't go to the cross, go to the Father's glory?

Who's the one that said, forget all these temptations, bow down and serve me now and you don't have to go to the cross? Who's the one? His name is Satan. And therefore, Peter's the mouth person for Satan.

And he rebukes Peter, verse 33, and said, get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of man. Satan's M .O. was glory without suffering. God's M .O. was suffering and then glory.

There's a cost to following Jesus. The stakes are high and hard. And the crowd came to him with his disciples, verse 34, and he said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. Here's a question you should ask yourself if you're not a Christian. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Here's a question you should ask yourself if you're not a Christian. For what can a man give in return for his soul on that judgment day? Jesus then has himself transfigured in Mark, chapter 9. The transfiguration.

He goes up to the high mountain, Mark 9, 2. And what happens? In Texas, he was transfigured before them. His clothes became radiant, intensely white. Elijah and Moses with him talking. There's more terrifying responses because of the supernatural nature of God, of the Son.

They don't know what to say. God interrupts. The Father interrupts. This is my beloved Son. Listen to him, not Moses, not Elijah. Listen to Jesus. And we are on our way to the cross, Mark, chapter 9. He had to say it again.

They went on from there, verse 30, and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know. For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.

And when he is killed, after three days, he will rise. They did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum, verse 33. And he was discussing in the house. He asked them, what were you discussing on the way?

They kept silent. For on the way, they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. You want to know who somebody who was great? Mark, chapter 10, verse 13. And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

And when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such, for to such, for to such belong the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, like a child, shall not enter it.

And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. What's the point? The point is greatness is found in these children who just trust their parents, who contribute nothing. I mean, I love my four kids, and they finally are contributing.

But for years, they contributed nothing to the family except my pleasure. I mean, you know, solar panels cost money. The car getting fixed costs money. So does the truck. What do children do? I just trust my dad.

I just trust my mom. I contribute nothing. I only believe and trust. That's the point. If you're going to try to get to heaven by something less than trusting, you're going to have to earn it yourself, and you'll never earn, i .e., chapter 10, verse 17.

There's a reason why 13 through 16 are right before 17, and it's not just because of numbering system. There's somebody who wasn't a child like trusting alone. He wanted to do something, verse 17, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And if you want to do something to get to heaven, you have to do it all. You have to perfectly obey the law. You have to do better than Adam did, better than David did, perfectly obey the law. If you want to get to heaven by doing and not trusting like a child, not believing like a child, then you've got to do, verse 19.

Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. You can't get to heaven by doing. How difficult, verse 23, it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.

Verse 25, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, which is impossible, than a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It's impossible for anyone. Harder for rich people because they trust their riches.

Abraham was rich. He trusted in God. It's not impossible when God's involved. It's impossible humanly. And that's what Jesus said in verse 27, with man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.

But friends, we are on the way to the cross. Chapter 10, verse 32, Jesus knew it. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, Jesus walking ahead of them, and they were amazed. And those who followed him were afraid.

And taking the 12 again, he began to tell them what was going to happen. They were going to have to discuss this again. See, verse 33, we're going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priest and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

They will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will rise. If you had to pick one verse to summarize all the Gospel of Mark, it might just be this one, verse 45.

Mark 10, 45, even the Son of Man came not to be served, and he had every right to do that, but to serve. What is his particular service? In particular, to give his life as a ransom for many. That is why Jesus came to voluntarily lay down his life on behalf of sinners so they would not have to go to hell, to render himself as a guilt offering, to quote Isaiah 53, 10.

He comes into the city triumphantly. Some people call it Palm Sunday. This is Mark chapter 11. The people think the king is here, and they are celebrating. And then he goes in and cleans the temple in the middle of the chapter, talks about parables and taxation in chapter 12, talks about the end days in chapter 13.

Chapter 13, verse 24, here's a snippet of Jesus is going to come back. That should tell you he's going to have to be raised from the dead. I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die. And now he says, I'm coming back.

In those days, Mark 13, 24, after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And when they will see the son of man coming in the clouds, great power and glory.

And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. Well, Jesus said he was going to die, and now we see some of the plot that's hatched to kill Jesus in Mark chapter 14.

At the end of verse 1, seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him. There's two kinds of people around Jesus, and we see those two people right now. There's a lady who anoints Jesus with oil, and there's a man who sells Jesus for money.

Those are both right here in Mark chapter 14. So you can see the contrast between this woman who's humbly serving Jesus and Judas who is betraying Jesus. Jesus has his Passover. He essentially fulfills Passover.

There will be no more Passovers. He institutes the Lord's Supper. And you can tell Jesus knows he's going to be raised from the dead because he says in Mark 14 .25, Truly I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Jesus prays in the garden. Gethsemane, he knew what was coming. It wasn't just getting crucified. 10 ,000 Jews get crucified by the Romans. What makes Jesus' crucifixion so different? Not just the prophecy, not just the planning, but he's going to have to bear the wrath of God that we deserve.