Jesus is God

May 22, 2022

Randy Hageman

The Gospel of Mark is one of four writings at the beginning of the New Testament that are called

.

The Gospels focus on proclaiming the message of

accomplished by God through the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and to then call people to faith in him.

A distinguishing mark of the Gospels is that their accounts are all attributed to a disciple or apostle of

who had first-hand experience with him.

The Gospel of Mark is generally considered to have been the

Gospel written, probably in the mid-50s A.D., though possibly as late as the mid-60s.

Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of things said or done by the Lord. —Eusebius

…[Peter] went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. —Acts 12:12 (ESV)

…Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. —2 Timothy 4:11 (ESV)

She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. —1 Peter 5:13 (ESV)

Mark’s credentials as a

of the early disciples affirms his importance to the early church and the importance of the Gospel he wrote.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. —Mark 1:1 (ESV)

gospel (English) = godspel (Old English) = good news =
euaggelion (Greek) = evangelism

“The gospel” in vs. 1 refers to the message of

that is available to all who will receive it by placing their faith in “Jesus Christ.”

The gospel is not good instructions, not a good idea, and not good advice. The gospel is an announcement of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. —Dr. Michael Horton

Salvation, something only

can ultimately offer, was “beginning” and now is available through Jesus Christ, the Lord’s anointed one, who is “the Son of God.”

WHO IS THIS JESUS?

1. In his very first verse, Mark is telling us Jesus is the

, the anointed one of God who has come to save people from their sins, and he is the divine and eternal Son of

Reveal Answer

.

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.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. —Mark 1:2-9 (ESV)

2. In vs. 9, Mark implies that the one who has been

, who will baptize with the

Reveal Answer

, which only God can do, is Jesus.

And when [Jesus] 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.” —Mark 1:10-11 (ESV)

3. In vs. 11, Mark tells us

Himself affirms Jesus is His Son – Jesus is God – and God is pleased with him and his mission.

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 1:12-13 (ESV)

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.” —Mark 1:14-15 (ESV)

The kingdom of God is not a location but a state of heart and mind where

rules, and in Jesus God fully ruled, meaning in him the kingdom of God had fully come.

4. Mark implies here that Jesus brings the kingdom of God, something only

could do, meaning Jesus is God.

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. —Mark 3:7-12 (ESV)

5. This passage also tells us Jesus “

many,” something only God can do, showing us Jesus is God.

6. Jesus’

enemies could not deny who Jesus was – Jesus is God!

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. —C.S. Lewis

Next Week – Jesus Calls (Mark 1:16-20; 2:13-17; 3:13-21)