Beginning of Jesus' Public Ministry

Today on the Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind, you cannot enter the kingdom of God without repentance without flying from your sin and putting your trust in Christ and in Christ alone.

This is how our Lord himself did evangelism. He announced the gospel and then he said, your response must be repent and believe.

There was no equivocation when Jesus proclaimed the gospel was clear and unflinching today on Renewing Your Mind, Dr. RC Sproul continues his verse by verse series from the gospel of Mark going to examine the public ministry of Jesus and gain a deeper understanding of what he expected of his early followers and what he expects of us is reading the paper this morning and there was a article that caught my attention about the courses not being offered in a school in Kansas and the title of the course was the paper reported was this intelligent design, creation, and other religious mythologies, and in that course title the biblical account of creation and of God was relegated to the category of myth well myths have their place in cultural history, myths can be very effective to communicate a moral truth spiritual insight but at the very heart of Judaism in the Old Testament is the rejection of myth as the context for divine revelation.

Rather, biblical religion finds as its context for religious truth real space and time Christianity is married to history if it is not historical in its foundational assertions, then it is worth less than any myth and so we notice here that is marked begins to give the history of Jesus public ministry that the context for it is not mythological but historical scholars have been quick to point out that the gospel record comes to us close not in the forms of ordinary history, but rather it's a particular type of record that the scholars call redemptive history, but because it's redemptive history, some have sought to indicate that is not really historical but we are quick to point out that even though it is redemptive history.

It is redemptive history that the sphere in which God reveals his work of redemption is real space and time and that's at the heart of this announcement here in chapter 1. This is the beginning of Jesus Galilean ministry that Mark introduces by putting this comment in advance. After John was put in prison. Then Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel is a very brief saying here.

But early on, at the beginning of Jesus ministry when Jesus comes preaching the gospel of God.

The content of that good news. The content of that announcement is the coming of the kingdom of God. It's the gospel of the kingdom. If there's any motif that runs all through the Old Testament and is fulfilled perfectly in the New Testament, it is that central idea of the coming kingdom of God. What does it mean we talking about when were talking about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God always exists. Hasn't God been the Lord God omnipotent who rains from all eternity will, of course, but when the Old Testament speaks of the coming kingdom of God. It refers to God, who is the King of the universe of his personal visitation to this fallen world to manifest the rule of redemption that he brings to pass. With the coming Messiah. And so the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Look forward to the day when God's rule would be manifest here on earth in the coming of his anointed one. And so now drawn who would announce the coming of the kingdom is now imprisoned Jesus's followers in his footsteps comes in the Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and he preaches the kingdom, saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel just the first phrase the time is fulfilled back in the middle of the 20th century a Swiss scholar who undertook the task of answering X substantial theologians who were trying to snatch the biblical message out of the context of history and make it basically mythological in a theology of timelessness. The Swiss scholar said no you can't do that and be true to the documents themselves because Christianity as I said earlier, is totally tied to real history and this Swiss theologian by the name of Oscar Colemont wrote three books of trilogy, but the first of the three volumes was entitled simply Christ and time. It was one of the most important works of the 20th century, Christ, and time in which Prof. Colemont examined all of the time frame references in the New Testament I noticed for example that there are two basic words in the Greek language that are translated by the English word time. There's the Ward Carano's and you've heard that term. You know what a Chronicle is or a chronology or Accra motor which is a wristwatch crying almost refers to the moment by moment passing of time. Second by second, minute by minute. This ordinary time is grown-ups but in addition to that word for time. There's a special word in the Greek for time. That is the word Kai Ross and the word Kai Ross means a particular moment in time that is so important, so significant that it defines everything that comes after it. We don't really have corresponding distinctions in the English language that are exact to Cronus in Congress. But the closest thing we have in this. The term historic and historical and you notice how may times of newscasters mess this up. You know they'll say that the assassination of John Kennedy was a historical event will course was historical that everything takes place in space and time is historical, but not everything that takes place in history is historic fort the prehistoric. It has to be something so important, so momentous that it shapes history. Of course the most ironic event in all of history was the birth of Jesus. In fact, all of history is defined by that moment is we talk about the year of our Lord, A.D. BC Christ birth is the dividing line of history in the Western world is death on the cross is a Kai Roddick moment.

His resurrection is a Kai Roddick mom in the Old Testament the exodus of Israel was a Kai Roddick event will this is what Mark has in view because he uses the word Kai Rossi because when Jesus comes preaching the kingdom of God.

Jesus makes this announcement that Kairos is fulfilled the word that he uses their is the wordplay Roma which means super fullness.

If I give you a glass and say go and fill this glass with water, please. I hope you don't fill it to the brim.

Because if you fill it to the brim and you try to add it to me. It's going to spill out over the top and on the floor make me what for whatever the health when we fill a coffee cup or fill a glass we leave some room at the top so that we can maneuver it without spilling it, but that's not play Roma when you fill something in the sense of play Roma.

It's bursting at the seams.

It's spilling out over the edge. There is no margin left that isn't totally filled and what Jesus is saying when he comes in the Galilee.

He says to these people. The Kai Ross in the play Roma have come together. Time history. All of history up until this moment has been prepared by the Lord God omnipotent, the creator of the universe stands overall time and space that God has so prepared history. For this moment that that moment has now occurred the time is right now the time is fulfilled for the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Three. How he says it. The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Again, the word there.

If you look at it carefully means near and it's near that is a twofold reference the kingdom of God is not at hand or near simply in terms of the clock. It is that remember the time is fulfilled, and that time is at hand. The Kai Roddick moment is right now in the kingdom of God is near, but not just temporally but it's physically at hand house that Jesus saying, the kingdom of God is at hand because the king is right here, the king of the kingdom is in your midst. You can reach out and touch it.

The long-awaited Messiah is here. That's what Mark is indicating with Jesus words when he says the time has been fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand and that moment where the king comes brings the most profound crisis to every Jew in Israel that they've ever experienced. The word crisis comes from the Greek Croesus which means judgment. And when Jesus comes in the kingdom breakthrough and the Messiah appears it is the most critical moment in human history. It brings the most profound crisis that any human being can ever face and that crisis or judgment comes down to this. Those who receive him receive eternal life. Those who do not pass into the judgment of God. So Jesus is saying to the Jews. Your crisis is right now and he says it to everybody in the world today, whoever hears of Jesus the Christ. You cannot hear the gospel and walk away in different when you receive the gospel. It is the greatest moment of your lifetime when you don't receive the gospel. It's the greatest judgment upon you. The gospel is a two edge sword and what Jesus is saying here you're not ready for the coming of the kingdom.

Therefore repent and believe those are the two things that are absolutely necessary to receive the Savior, the coming of Christ requires repentance and faith by all who hear of him know what bothers me today when I see so much of evangelism is going on so-called gospel wing in this world you want have purpose for your life you want have a personal relationship with Jesus you want to have a meaningful relationship with God, then come forward to the older raise your hand sign a card, pray the sinners prayer with punch all that stuff together and call it cheap grace because what is noticeably absent from those attempts to evangelize or any serious call to repentance.

You cannot enter the kingdom of God without repentance without flaring from your sin and putting your trust in Christ and in Christ alone. This is how our Lord himself did evangelism. He announced the gospel and then he said, your response must be repent and believe then quickly market moves on to the calling of the first disciples of Jesus. We read as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon Peter and the patron saint of our church. Andrew and they are casting their nets into the sea. These nets were about 15 feet when radius and diameter should say. And Jesus observes that an excess them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

They immediately left their nets and followed him. Then Marcus on to say, one a little further and he saw James the son of Zebedee John his brother, who were also in the boat mending their nets immediately. He called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hard servants and one after. Again, what's going on here Jesus is calling disciples that we hear about the 12 disciples and we talk about the 12 apostles. So lots of folks think that a disciple is just another word for an apostle or an apostle is another word for disciple. That's not the case.

Jesus had at least 70 disciples and many of them were never included in the apostolic band because a disciple was a student a learner.

The word disciple means somebody who's under the discipline of a tutor or of a rabbi and so Jesus goes out as a rabbi and he enrolls disciples into his rabbinic school there. Couple things we need to understand about this in first place in the ancient Jewish world rabbis never went out and recruited students. Students would apply to study with a rabbi, just as we do in our educational systems today and they would have to jump through hoops pass examinations. Make sure that they were qualified before they would be accepted to study under Hillel or Akiba or gamma Leo whoever but in this case. This rabbi who is different from any other rabbi in Israel. He goes out and handpicks his students. I want you I want you I want you you fishing for fish follow me to have you fishing for men.

The words follow me are also interesting because there's a literal sense to them. We think back to ancient Greece and the great cultural center of Athens. Plato established his Academy. There were students would come through the gates of never cross the gates at the top of a say. Let none but geometer's enter here and they would enroll in Play-Doh school and study under the master, and a course is most brilliant and famous student was Aristotle later on. Aristotle started his own school in Athens called the Lyceum, but Aristotle was different from his teacher because he was called a peripatetic philosopher everybody knows what a poor pathetic philosopher is not a pathetic philosopher. Many of them are pathetic. This is peripatetic it means somebody who walks around because what Aristotle would do is that he would walk while he was lecturing and his students would follow along behind him with a little note pads taking Donna notes trying to consign them to memory and so will Jesus was a peripatetic rabbi, so he would go from town to town and on the way. He would lecture and his disciples would literally follow him that walked behind him memorize the terse pithy little aphorisms that Jesus would teach in the parables that he would give they would commit them to memory. That's why so much of the teaching of Jesus survived in the oral tradition after his death before his words were written down because his disciples were skilled in memorizing his teaching is that was their task. But not only when he called them the discipleship that they call them to learn at his feet, but also a disciple of a rabbi was a servant he would take care of the shoes of Prof. make sure that the professor had his evening meals prepared for them and wherever the professor went, the students would go the disciples would go and serve their master. That's why Jesus would say is a servant above his master. No so is a rigorous pursuits and Jesus walks up to Simon and Andrew's phone coming to my school be my student be my servant without any further discussion. Simon puts down the net. Andrew puts tenant and leaves to follow Jesus. They got on the road a little further, there is James and John, the sons of Zebedee and there in her father's boat with the father and the father, servant, and Jesus says to James and John come on, you follow me. Can you imagine the astonishment of Zebedee's sons, whom he's prepared this business for get out of the boat. They leave their father Zebedee scratching said no he is left of the servants. The hired hands not his sons. He watches him walk down the road in the distance with two other fellows that he knew were fishermen in this rabbi where they go.

So you saw the movie 50 years ago a man called Peter was about the Senate chaplain Peter Marshall who was a famous preacher the middle of the 20th century. His sermons were so lyrical that they called him twittering birds. Marshall and his widow, and when he died young, his widow, Catherine Marshall had a book of sermons of Peter Marshall is published under the title Mr. Jones meet the master. One of the first books I read after my conversion, 1957 there was a sermon in there from Peter Marshall, and forget he tells a story modern-day story that takes place in the waterfront. I believe a Baltimore in the shop of a man by the name of Joe Botts, Joseph fishmonger. He loves the business, so a lucrative business every morning ago. Sandy unlocks his store parsley open sign on the door and the aroma of fresh fish. It's a myth packed in ice. The brine all of that. This was part of the trade. Like if you would go to Seattle and watch the fish mongers in the market. There were there throwing the days catch to adjust. Joe Botts loved all of this and this one morning he was preparing his shop for business when the bell rang over the door and he looked up in the strange looking man in the blue surge suit walks in the looks of Joe Lisa Joe close the shop and come with me. Marshall said Joe Botts on the semantics of their something about him. He couldn't ask any questions they can proffer an argument study took off his apron, set it on a chair, went over and turned the sign from open to close and left the shop forever. Follow the man in the blue surge suit.

This was Peter Marshall's modern parable of what happened by the Sea of Galilee when Jesus said the foreman, from this day forward.

Your mind you serve me your my students every Christian who was, is called to be a Disciples of Christ to be served to leave everything to go after in Christ. That's Dr. RC Sproul. I'm reminded of that great him when I survey the wondrous Cross which concludes with this line love so amazing, so divined demands my soul, my wife, my all your listening to the Lord's day vision of Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb and were glad you joined us as we continue Dr. RC Sproul series from the Gospel of Mark, we hope you'll join us each week as we returned to the sermon series and I hope you'll request today's resource offer it's RC's expository commentary on Mark. It's a hardbound book with nearly 400 pages and you'll find it to be rich with RC's insight into Mark's gospel, you can make a request and give your donation online by going to Renewing Your Mind.org that's Renewing Your Mind.org also want to download the free ligand air app for your phone or tablet. It contains a wealth of articles, videos, audio clips and blog posts that will help you explore theology, church history and the Bible just look for ligand air in your app store. Thank you for joining us today in the please make plans to be here next Sunday as we continue to teach the unvarnished truth of Scripture helping you to know what you believe what you believe it how to live it and how to share it