The Good News of Jesus
01/03/2010 - Defining Moments in the Life of Jesus
Good morning and welcome to the first Sunday of 2010. 2010, can you believe it? Where did 2009 go? Where did the last decade go? It doesn't seem like that long ago that we were looking forward to the new millennium, the year 2,000. Some were predicting the end of the world, but that didn't happen. Others were bracing themselves for Y2K and the global computer meltdown that never came largely due to the $100 billion dollars that was spent to avert it.
We may have been prepared for the end of the world and for Y2K, but we weren't prepared for a lot of other events that happened over these last ten years. We certainly weren't ready for 9/11 and the tragic events of that day. And we're still dealing with the fall out of it eight years later with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and there's still no end in sight.
We weren't ready for the second largest earthquake ever that triggered the tsunami that devastated Indonesia and Thailand on December 26, 2004. It's been five years since that horrific event that took the lives of over 200,000 people and left millions homeless. By the way that was the same day that Reggie White died, which was the big story in this area until we heard about the tsunami.
We weren't prepared for Hurricane Katrina that occurred less than a year later on August 29, 2005. Katrina flooded 80% of the city of New Orleans. And the rebuilding of that city and the surrounding area continues to this day and will go on for years to come.
We weren't ready for the great recession that began at the end of 2007 and also continues to this day with conflicting opinions on when it's going to end.
A lot's happened in this last decade and that doesn't even include the things, good and bad, that have happened in your life and in mine. Life happens. Life is unpredictable. So much of life is out of our control which reminds me of the words of Jesus who said in John 16:33, In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
I love the simple honesty of that statement. In that same conversation with his disciples on the eve of his death Jesus had said earlier in John 14:27, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
In the midst of all of life's uncertainty Jesus promises us peace, his peace that's designed to be independent of the circumstances that we face. That's a good thing for all of us to remember as we enter 2010.
We've been spending the last year looking at the life of Jesus in a series that's taking us through the gospel of Mark called The Good News of Jesus ... As Told by Mark. And in the little blurb on our website that describes the series we say, "Bad news. Don't have to look very far to find it. Go online. Turn on the television. Tune in the radio. Pick up a newspaper. It's everywhere. Good news? That can be found too. Open the pages of the New Testament and there it is ... the good news of Jesus. So we have a choice. Are we going to live our lives focused on the bad news or driven by the good?"
We're going to continue that series in Mark in few weeks when we begin Mark 13, but today on this holiday weekend when we're all a little tired rather than introducing something new I want us to take a look back and reflect on where we've been with Jesus this past year.
And to do that I've chosen three stories that I believe are defining moments in the life of Jesus and can be defining moments in our lives as well. Of course, during advent we've been celebrating the defining moment of Jesus birth. That's what Christmas is all about. But the birth of Jesus is not found in the gospel of Mark or in the gospel of John for that matter. It's only found in Matthew and Luke's gospel.
Mark starts out his story with the baptism of Jesus because that was a significant event in the life of the Messiah. That's when Jesus went public. And that's the first defining event I want us to look at. It's found in Mark 1.
Look at Mark 1:1-11 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, 2as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"— 3"a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" 4And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Mark begins the good news of Jesus with his baptism by John. Jesus comes from his hometown of Nazareth in Galilee where he'd been a carpenter all of his professional life and at the age of thirty responds to John's ministry. He travels about a hundred miles south of his home to a remote portion of the Jordan River tucked out in the Judean desert just above the Dead Sea.
And when he gets there he wades into the water and John takes him under like everybody else. John doesn't know he's any one special until he comes up out of the water. And when he does the thin curtain that separates heaven and earth is pulled back and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove and the voice of God the Father says, "That's my boy whom I love and I'm so proud of him!" This is one of the few times in Scripture where we see all three members of the Trinity interacting, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And it's a beautiful scene that had never happened before.
Jesus is baptized by John, not because there's sin in his life that needs to be confessed and forgiven. There isn't any sin in his life. Instead, Jesus is baptized because he's identifying himself with John's message that it's time to turn back to God because the kingdom of God is near. King Jesus is in the house.
And that's what baptism is to this day which is why we offer it each year. It's our way of publicly identifying ourselves with Jesus and his message of the kingdom. The good news of the gospel is that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the creator of this world has arrived on the scene and his work of healing and restoring and renewing God's creation has begun. Jesus in the process of making everything new and that process starts with us. Jesus came to make you new and me new and he does that when we believe that he is the Messiah, the son of the living God. Through faith in Christ we become new creations of God and that is good news!
In our series we've called that Jesus 101. We pass Jesus 101 when we believe that Jesus is more than a man, more than a carpenter, more than a rabbi or a miracle worker or even a profound prophet or some great religious leader. Jesus is Christ the King, the Son of the Living God. And when we believe that that's a defining moment in our lives and baptism is the way we publicly express our faith in Jesus. So Jesus' baptism was a defining moment in his life. It was the beginning of the revelation that he was more than anybody imagined. He is the king. Let's take a moment right now to worship him as our king.
Here is our King
Baptism was a defining moment in the life of Jesus. A second defining moment in Jesus' life was when his disciples passed Jesus 101 and realized who he was. And then right after that he handed out the syllabus for Jesus 201 and Jesus 301 which were both courses on suffering.
That story is found in Mark 8:27-30 ,Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" 28They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah." 30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
One thing I've tried to point out in this series is that Jesus does strategic things in strategic places and Caesarea Philippi was a strategic place for his disciples to finally verbalize that Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one, the promised King that Israel had been waiting for and longing for for centuries.
In many ways Caesarea Philippi represented everything that was offensive to the Jewish people. It was a Gentile town outside the borders of the Holy Land. It was named after Caesar Augustus the roman emperor who ruled the world when Jesus was born and was considered a god to be worshiped. It was the center of all kinds of idolatry and the immorality that went with it. It was the intersection of all the forces of evil that God's people were up against politically and spiritually which made it the perfect stage for Jesus to teach his disciples that he was greater than all of it.
Jesus takes his friends right into the belly of the beast to give them their final exam in Jesus 101. And they pass it. And immediately he enrolls them in Jesus 201 which is the revelation that the Messiah is going to suffer and be rejected by the religious leaders of the nation and eventually be arrested and tried and executed. And that was on no one's radar screen. In fact, Peter takes Jesus aside and tries to talk him out of it.
And then he takes them to Jesus 301 and says in Mark 8:34, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. In other words, not only will I suffer, but those who choose to follow me will suffer too.
And he uses the analogy of cross bearing to explain it. What did the cross mean for Jesus? The cross was the ultimate test of his obedience to his Father's will. It was the final exam for Jesus. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do. The cross represented Jesus' submission to the will of God. So taking up our cross means submitting our lives to the will of God as well. Following Jesus means giving up control of our life and turning it over to him. And that can be excruciatingly painful at times. In fact, the word excruciating literally means "out of the cross." But it can be exhilarating as well because that's really when the adventure of following Jesus begins.
A few years ago a good friend of mine who's in her eighties now and spent her whole life on the adventure sent me a poem called the Road of Life. It's a poem that paints a graphic picture of what it means to let go of our lives and turn them over to God. And it goes like this.
At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge,
keeping track of the things I did wrong,
so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die.
He was out there sort of like a president.
I recognized his picture when I saw it,
but I really didn’t know him.
But later on when I met Jesus,
it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride.
But it was a tandem bike,
and I noticed that Jesus was in the back helping me pedal.
I don’t know just when it was
that he suggested we change places,
but life has not been the same since.
When I had control, I knew the way.
It was rather boring, but predictable ...
It was the shortest distance between two points.
But when he took the lead,
He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains,
and through rocky places at breakneck speeds.
It was all I could do to hang on!
Even though it looked like madness,
He said, “Pedal!”
I worried and was anxious and asked,
“Where are you taking me?”
He laughed and didn’t answer,
and I started to learn trust.
I forgot my boring life
and entered into the adventure.
And when I’d say, “I’m scared,”
He’d lean back and touch my hand.
He took me to people with gifts that I needed,
gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy.
They gave me gifts to take on my journey,
my Lord’s and mine.
And we were off again.
He said, “Give the gifts away,
they’re extra baggage, too much weight.”
So I did, to the people we met,
and I found that in giving I received,
and still our burden was light.
I didn’t trust him at first,
to control my life.
I thought he’d wreck it.
But he knows bike secrets,
knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners,
knows how to jump to clear high rocks,
knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.
And I’m learning to shut up and pedal,
in the strangest places.
And I’m beginning to enjoy the view
and the cool breeze on my face
with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.
And when I’m sure I just can’t do anymore,
He just smiles and says ... “Pedal!”
Who's steering your bike? Who's sitting in the front seat? If you want to be a disciple and make the most of your life let Jesus take the handlebars and start the adventure. And when we do that that becomes a defining moment in our lives as well.
Surrender
The third defining moment in Jesus' life came right after he took his disciples through Jesus 301 the course on suffering. It's known as the transfiguration and it's found in Mark 9.
In Mark 9:1 Jesus says, "Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."
Jesus knows that he's just raised the bar for what it means to be his disciple. It won't be easy. It will cost these men something, just like it will cost us something. So he needs to show them that following him is worth it. He needs to strengthen their faith and galvanize their resolve. So he takes them up Israel's tallest mountain, Mount Hermon, and gives them a taste of the kingdom.
Look at verse 2, After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus (Luke tells us that they were talking about his departure, his exodus, his death and resurrection). 5Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." 6(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
Wow! The transfiguration was a powerful moment in the life of Jesus. It gave him the encouragement that he needed to go to the cross and complete his mission. From now on he was going to pick up the pace and head for the finish line in Jerusalem and nothing and no one was going to stop him. And that is where we're going to pick up the story when we jump back into Mark 13.
On the mountain that day Jesus was affirmed by Moses and Elijah along with God the Father himself whose voice thundered through the clouds, This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! It wasn't time for Peter to talk. It was time for Peter to listen.
The transfiguration was a powerful moment in the lives of the disciples too. It opened their eyes to the power and glory of Jesus. It gave them a glimpse of who he really was and of the kingdom that was on its way. They had been shattered by Jesus' words that he was going to Jerusalem to die. Their minds were baffled and their hearts were breaking, but the transfiguration gave them something to hang on to even when they couldn't understand. It gave them a compelling reason to take up their cross and deny themselves and follow hard after Christ.
Later on Peter will write in 2 Peter 1:16-17, For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory saying, "This is my Son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased.
Sometimes we need a fresh vision of Jesus too, especially when we're going through tough times. Sometimes we need a mountain top experience or a dramatic answer to prayer to prop up our sagging faith. Sometimes we need to see Jesus in a new way to keep going. Maybe that's what you need right now as you head into 2010.
Maybe that's what this series in Mark has done for you or the Alpha Course. It's helped to you see Jesus in a new way. I hope so. But maybe it will take something else. Maybe you need to ask Jesus to reveal himself to you in a way that you've never seen him before so that you can stay focused on the mission that he has for you. I think that's a prayer that he loves to answer.
Sometimes like Peter we need to be quiet and stop talking and stop negotiating and stop complaining and stop trying to figure everything out and just listen to Jesus and go where he leads. This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him. Those words to Peter are good words for us as well. Listen to Jesus and follow him. And right now we want to follow Jesus right to the Lord's Table to be reminded of his great love for us.