“Wilderness” The Life of Joseph Sermon Series Genesis 43:26-34-44:1-34 “The Big Turn; The Brother’s Second Journey to Egypt” (Con’t)
“Wilderness” The Life of Joseph Sermon Series
Genesis 43:26-34-44:1-34
“The Big Turn;
The Brother’s Second Journey to Egypt” (Con’t)
Introduction
In The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones must pass three tests to reach the Holy Grail (with the stakes raised as his father, played by Sean Connery dying from a bullet wound and in need of the healing waters from the grail to survive).
The first test, called “the Breath of God” is the one worthy of our focus today. Indiana hasn’t figured out the puzzle, but as he approaches with what could be his last steps, he whispers over and over again the one clue: “Only the Penitent Man Shall Pass.” As the wind (breath) begins to blow through the chamber, Indy has only a few moments to pass the test. At the very moment he needs to figure it out (cue high drama) he gets it. Here’s the actual words from the film:
The penitent man is humble before God. The penitent man… The penitent man is humble. Penitent man is humble… [kneels before God] KNEEL!!
The second he kneels, two massive circular saws emerge from the wall, just missing Indy’s head and his famous fedora. As I said earlier, the theology would not pass muster in any seminary, but it does get one thing right: the journey of faith, even for the hero, begins with repentance.[1]
Prayer
Being Loved and Known (Genesis 43:26-34)
26 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed down to him to the ground. 27 And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. 29 And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” 30 Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.” 32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. 33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement. 34 Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.
What does God do to draw the heart of men to Himself? For the brothers, “he had used a pinch of material want, the pain of harsh treatment, the press of an enforced solitude, the proof of his presence in small things, and last of all, the pattern of an ordained necessity.”[2] At these things, the brothers admitted their sin, at least to one another. In this passage, we see that God adds another step, genuine affection.
Then he invites them to Joseph’s house for a special meal (prepared in the middle of the day). Then they are “given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder.” They are invited into the home of the most important man in all of Egypt, for a specially prepared meal. They are shown kindness.
(v. 33) “And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth. And the men looked at one another in amazement.” – The (Egyptian) man had the brothers seated by their birth order (oldest to youngest). But how did they know? “There are no less than 39,917,000 different orders in which eleven individuals could have been seated.”[3] The odds are 40 million to one that the stewards would place the brothers in this orde They don’t know how, but they are known. God knows everything about us, sometimes He reveals that knowledge as a way to draw someone to Him.
Being known by God. Luke 12:6 says “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” God knows all about you; He knows your thoughts, your concerns, your desires, your temptations, your physical ability, everything – but in spite of our sinful and depraved hearts he wants a relationship with us. The story of Joseph and his brothers is a picture of restoration. It is a picture of men who are far from God being drawn to the Lord.
What God wants is a relationship with you – which involves our relating to Him in obedience. God as Creator determines the terms of the relationship. Matthew 7: 23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Then there was another test, “Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.” Joseph sends portions from his table to the brothers, but Benjamin receives five times more than the rest of the brothers. He had the seat of honor at the table, and he received much more than the others. Joseph is trying to figure out if this special treatment would manifest resentment toward Benjamin. They hated Joseph because of his father’s favoritism and giving him the coat of many colors. It doesn’t seem to bother them, “And they drank and were merry with him.”
Genesis chapters 42 and 43 gives us an example of where God sets things into motion actions that draws the brothers toward him and shows us the love He has for His creation. Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God again and again shows us, displays to us the love He has for us. These signs of grace should draw us to Him.
Repentance is Required (Genesis 44:1-34)
The Trap is Set (vv. 1-12)
Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, 2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him. 3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys. 4 They had gone only a short distance from the city. Now Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? 5 Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’” 6 When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words. 7 They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 8 Behold, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house? 9 Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and we also will be my lord’s servants.” 10 He said, “Let it be as you say: he who is found with it shall be my servant, and the rest of you shall be innocent.” 11 Then each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each man opened his sack. 12 And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.”
Sorrow Over Guilt (vv. 13-17)
13 Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city. 14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They fell before him to the ground. 15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that a man like me can indeed practice divination?” 16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.” 17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my servant. But as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
The brothers did not steal the cup, Joseph had put it there in Benjamin’s sack, but they still say, “God has found out the guilt of your servants.” Why would the brothers confess guilt to something they knew they did not do. They had a guilty conscience.
We see here with the brothers, men who were full of hatred, violence, and deception are capable of repentance. No one is too far gone, no one has done any actions for which God is not ready to forgive him, “and cleanse him from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)” But he has to repent of his sin.
Repentance is defined as, to be filled with remorse, as it leads to a change of mind, specifically dealing with sin.[4] Joseph knows the brothers have sorrow over how they treated him, but is it a godly sorrow or a worldly sorrow. Let’s look at the difference.
Godly Sorrow v. Worldly Sorrow
On the night before the Cross, one of Jesus’ disciples betrayed Him, and one denied Him. All sins are acts of selfishness and are grievous offenses to a holy God. Both of these sins were against the person of Jesus Himself. The Bible records how Judas and Peter responded later. Judas “repented himself” (Matthew 27:3), and the very word that Matthew used (metamelomai) to describe Judas indicates that his regret and remorse were completely self-centered. He was sorrowful, but not even for the plight of Jesus.
He was only sorry for himself. Matthew did not choose the more common word for repentance (metanoeo) used throughout the New Testament that means to change one’s mind and behavior for the better because of hatred for one’s sins.
The Gospels tell us that Peter went out and wept bitterly. The word means to wail in great agony and grief. Was his sorrow godly or worldly? We can only tell from the results. Judas immediately went out and hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). When next we see Peter, he has returned to his brothers. When he heard word of the Resurrection, he ran in search of the Lord against whom he had sinned. Later that same day, Peter was completely restored.
One man’s sorrow led to death. The other’s led to salvation and life. That is the difference between worldly and godly sorrow.[5] 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
Repentance is not just a feeling guilty for bad behavior – It involves three things:
- Intellect – “Repentance is that change of a sinner’s mind that leads him or her to turn from evil ways and live. Intellectually, human beings must apprehend sin as utterably heinous, the divine law as perfect and binding, and themselves as falling short of the requirements of a holy God.”[6] If you are genuinely repentant of a sin, they cannot be emotionally indifferent to sin.
- Emotions – “It is possible to have a knowledge of sin without abhorring it as something that dishonors God and ruins humanity: the change of view may lead only to a dread of punishment and not to the hatred and abandonment of sin.”[7] True repentance involves not only a conviction of personal sinfulness but an earnest appeal to God to forgive according to His mercy. (Ps. 51:1ff, 10-14).
- Will – The original language words for repentance “emphasize the will, the change of mind. Several places in Scripture shows that putting on sackcloth, putting ashes on your body – outward actions to show repentance do you no good if your heart, your will is not changed.
Matthew 5:3-6 helps us to see the process a person goes through from being lost to being saved. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 1) There is consciousness of spiritual poverty dethroning pride, 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 2) A sense of personal unworthiness producing grief, 3) 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 4) A willingness to surrender to God in genuine humility, 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 5) A strong desire developing into spiritual hunger and thirst, are all part of the experience of one who abandons sin and fully turns to God who then gives eternal life.
Throughout this study of Joseph’s brothers we are asking, are they any different than when they sold him into slavery and hated him twenty years before? So yes they have changed, they are genuinely bothered by their sin, and they understand that they are dealing with God as a consequence of that sin – but is the sorrow they are expressing a worldly sorrow or a godly sorry?
- In vv. 18-29 Judah gives an overview of everything for “the (Egyptian) man.”
Taking Steps To Stop the Pain (vv. 30-34)
30 “Now therefore, as soon as I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, 31 as soon as he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol. 32 For your servant became a pledge of safety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers. 34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father.”
Judah said to the (Egyptian) man, “I told my father “‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a servant to my lord, and let the boy go back with his brothers.
Judah is appealing to “the (Egyptian) man” by stating how a father loves his son, and to be separated from his son would cause so much anguish and sorrow that it would crush him. Judah takes actions pleading to take the place of his brother, so that his father would not die. The same father who doesn’t love him, like he loves Benjamin – he’s ok with that, he doesn’t want to hurt his father any further. He is convicted of his sin.
Judah has seen what his previous sin had caused to his father, he will do anything to not cause that pain again – that is a godly sorrow, he has repented of his sin, his mind is changed, he does not want to do that again. “This is the point in the story at which the brothers are actually born again. Before, this they were unregenerate. From this point on they are transformed individuals.”[8]
Joseph put the cup in Benjamin’s sack to see where the blame would fall. Would the brothers try to save their own worthless skins, or would they stand there and watch Benjamin go off into slavery? Would they tell dad that wild animals had devoured him too? There was not one of them that didn’t wish the cup was in their bag instead of Benjamin’s. They all returned to Egypt. Judah says, “I fear to see the evil that would find my father.” – He intellectually, emotionally, and in his will – doesn’t want to see any harm come to his youngest brother, or his father. This is a powerful change in his heart.
The call to repentance is not a call to just feel the remorse of your sins.
It’s a call to turn around so that God can do something about them. It is an action.
If you are trying to run from God and have pushed away his gracious intervention in your life, you need to know two things:
God will always uncover your iniquity. Usually, he discloses iniquity in this life. But even if He does not do so here, he will certainly do it in the life to come. The Bible says, “Your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). All things hidden will be brought into the light from darkness. There is no way for you to escape except in the scared arms of Jesus.
It is not what you achieve in this life that matters, but what God in righteousness chooses to do through you. Does God have your heart? Repent this morning from your sin, and give Him your life.
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[1] https://thepastorsworkshop.com/sermon-illustrations-2/sermon-illustrations-repentance/
[2] Boice, 150.
[3] Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record, A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House, 1977) 610.
[4] It is an onomatopoetic term that implies difficulty in breathing, hence “pant,” “sigh,” “groan.” Naturally it came to signify “lament” or grieve;” when the emotion was produced by the desire of good for others it merged into compassion and sympathy, and when incited by a consideration of one’s own character and deeds it came to mean “rue,” “repent.”
[5] https://www.purelifeministries.org/blog/recognizing-godly-sorrow-vs-worldly-sorrow#:~:text=He%20writes%3A%20%E2%80%9CGodly%20sorrow%20brings,it%20will%20lead%20to%20real
[6] Geoffrey W. Bromiley, General Editor, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume Four, Q-Z (Grand Rapids, Michigan; W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988) 136.
[7] Bromiley, 136.
[8] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis, An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing; 1987) 159.
“I Identify With Christ” Galatians 2:15-21
Identity Sermon Series
Discovering Who and Why You Are
“I Identify With Christ”
Galatians 2:15-21
Introduction
In Galatians 2 Paul is referencing and earlier gathering of Christians at Antioch where Cephas (Peter), Barnabas, Paul, and different groups are present. But the Gentile Christians are being made to feel like second class Christians because they were not keeping ceremonial Jewish food laws. Cephas/Peter’s withdrawal and his sitting apart from the Gentiles “was sending a clear message about what counts: reliance upon the law and its works to secure favor with God, rather than trust in God’s provision in Christ alone.”[1]
Cephas “seems to have started to ‘live like a Gentile’ (Gal. 2:14), probably in the sense that he had ceased to observe Jewish dietary restrictions.” In response to a heavenly vision (Acts 10:9-16; 11:4-10), he had tossed out an important Jewish identity marker, which many Jews went to great trouble to keep, and for which they sometimes endured deprivation, and even death.”[2]
This was a common teaching for the Jews to, “separate yourselves from the Gentiles and do not eat with them, and do not perform deeds like theirs. And do not become associates of theirs. Because their deeds are defiled, and all their ways are contaminated, and despicable, and abominable.”[3]
But when certain people were around, Cephas would change back. “The pressure was strong enough that all the Christian Jews in Antioch except Paul succumbed to it. There is a level of disappointment and personal pain behind Paul’s phrase “even Barnabas.” Paul’s talk of hypocrisy assumes that all of them – even Barnabas – knew it was wrong to buckle to this pressure.”[4]
But what is at stake is the genuineness and purity of the gospel.
Can the gospel mean whatever you want it mean,
or can different groups have their own version of it?
The gospel tears down boundaries, our falsely identifying with the wrong things puts those barriers back in place all over again. These are barriers between believers, and it pollutes the gospel.
Didn’t Paul say, 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” Is Paul being hypocritical to tell Cephas to not change while he is around the “circumcision party,” but Paul is changing around other people in order to share the gospel?
“Paul could have opted out of any participation with the Jewish religious system. He was free from all of it. Instead, he chose to remain involved, without ever compromising the message of Jesus, in hopes of winning some Jewish law followers to faith in Christ. In order to put as few barriers as possible between others and Christ, Paul was willing to sacrifice his own “rights” and freedoms.”[5]
Prayer
How Do You Identify? (vv. 15-16)
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
(v. 15) It was a normal for Jews to presume upon God’s grace because they possess God’s Law (Romans 2:17-24). The Jews would say, which Paul may be quoting directly, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.” But this is common for all of humanity. We deceive ourselves into thinking everything’s ok with who they are. “I think what I am doing is okay, therefore God must also be ok with it.”
Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’” They were not turning from their sin and bearing fruit of a godly and holy life, they didn’t even think they were sinners.
For the Jewish follower, there is no need for transformation or change from their sin, because they are from a lineage of Abraham. There are also people who identify with the Christian religion who also presume upon God’s grace. Maybe they have gone to a certain church for a number of years, or have been baptized – but we can’t speak of how they have impacted the world for Christ, or people they have led to the Lord, or how they have been a disciple maker – but when they were seven they were baptized. The Jews were doing this with circumcision. There was no heart felt seeking after God, desiring to live for him – just empty self-righteous rule following.
The temptation of Peter and all the other believers there (except for Paul), is to answer the question, “what is their identity?” this same way. Are they Jewish and followers of the law (and that’s how they want to be known), or are they Christians which require breaking from the law and to live by faith. But you can’t hold an identity of the two things at the same time.
Paul is showing that the Jewish people should know that no one is capable of keeping the law in its entirety and at some point has to rely upon God’s grace and mercy. Psalm 143:2, The psalmist is asking God, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” The law’s intended purpose was to show humanity that you cannot live a life that pleases God, no one is perfect. Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(v. 16) This is a question of how is a person made right before God? Paul uses the word, “justified,” (dikaioo) – “to make or declare righteous.” “The group of Judaizers who contended that the Gentiles had to become Jews to be saved.”[6] This included circumcision and following dietary laws. The law plus Paul says, “because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
“. . . but through faith in Jesus Christ” – “Faith is trust. It begins with knowledge, so it is not blind. It builds on facts, so it is not speculation. It stakes its life on the outcome, so it is not impractical. Faith is trusting Christ and proving his promises.”[7]
Identifying With Christ (vv. 17-21)
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
(v. 17) “we too were found to be sinners,” When Paul compares himself to the teachings and life of Jesus, he realizes that as high as he had climbed in the Jewish world, and as passionate as he had been to the law (even killing and imprisoning Christians), he was still the “chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).”
(v. 18) “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” – “When he [Peter] lived like a Gentile, he tore down the ceremonial law. When he lived like a Jew, he tore down salvation by grace.”[8]
“From Paul’s own testimony, we know that Paul continued to be not only accused of being in violation of the Law but punished because of it. Thus, when he would visit synagogues, he’d be brought up on charges and then flogged with a whip or a stick.”[9] “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned (2 Corinthians 11:24-25).”[10]
(v. 19) “For through the law I died to the law,” – To try and keep the law is a form of slavery. One is always striving to be good enough to please God, to be perfect, yet to fail time and time again. Then through Christ’s death and taking the curse of sin upon himself, he has freed us from the law. When we reach back down and put the shackle back on our legs, we enslave ourselves all over again.
(v. 20) “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” – It is the union of the vine and the branch (John 15:1-6). Paul is connected (abiding) to Jesus, and no longer to the world. When a person places their faith in Christ there is a part of them that dies, that part that focuses on ourselves. That part is crucified with Christ – then emerging is a new birth, a new life – that is Christ living in me. Our identity is Christ (period). For the Christian, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.
Our walk with Jesus will draw us into more and more the things that are important to Jesus. In our lives, we will begin to look more and more like Jesus, and less and less like our old selves (before Christ.) Christ’s life eventually led to the cross, and so our lives will reflect this selflessness and giving of ourselves for the sake of others.
Many Christians are good with healing with Christ, singing with Christ, praying with Christ, studying the Bible with Christ, but crucified with Christ is a whole other level. Jesus gave up everything for the sake of others, so Paul says, “It is no longer I who live.” Jesus says to those who desire to be his followers, “take up your cross and follow me.”
The way we begin our walk with Christ is how we continue in our walk in Christ. The way we start the race, is the same way we finish the race – radical trust in Jesus.
“Those [identifying here in this passage as Jewish Christians] are going back to a life in which Christ and his loving, self-giving death in not central.”[11] In Romans 6:6 Paul uses this same imagery, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Faith in Jesus Christ Is not just head knowledge of His existence. It involves the whole person. There are people who say they are Christians, but their definition of faith does not involve a life change. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” A saving faith in Christ results in a transformational change to conform to the image of Christ. “The Christian life is one of conformity with Christ.”[12]
Therefore, the Christian is not lawless, but you have freedom in Christ. It is not an abandonment of the morality of the law (honor your parents, truth telling, putting God first, do not covet other people’s stuff, don’t committing adultery, etc). This is the fear of people who tend toward being self-righteous; if we don’t have rules and keep traditions, then the world will spin into chaos. So, they add to the gospel (Jesus plus the law). They believe that you have to appear different than the world (like the Jewish “circumcision group”) Then how will the world know that you are a Christian?
John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” They will know we are Christians by how we show the love of Christ in the world around us. It is much harder to show your heart (an inward change), than it is to follow a rule – because it requires a close relationship with Christ (to abide in Him.) Doing what Christ teaches is much harder than putting a sticker on your car (an outward show).
There should be no descriptors in front of the word Christian in our identity. Whenever we put a word describing ourselves before Christ, we are putting ourselves first. You either identify with the sin, or the person who frees us from sin, but you can’t identify with both – the gospel won’t allow it.
(v. 21) “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” – Paul is saying that if all we had to do was keep the law, then people should keep the law. Jesus would not have had to die, if all humans had to do was be good. When the Jewish Christians kept the law, they “nullify” God’s grace – as if to say that they did not need it. Also, if the law is added to the gospel, then that also means that Christ’s death was not adequate to cover all the sin of mankind – there is something else needed.[13]
Conclusion
Two bank robbers in Sangus, Massachusetts, walked into a small delicatessen, pulled out their guns, and demanded all the money in the cash register. The owner stashed all the money in a brown bag and laid it on the counter, Nervously, they grabbed the bag a fled. Later, in a safe place they opened the bag to divide their haul only to be completely surprised. The bag contained two pastrami sandwiches and a slice of baklava. They couldn’t belive it. In their nervous haste they picked up the wrong bag. In today’s passage we looked at two very similar appearing approaches to life – but when you open them up what is inside to eternally different.[14]
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[1] Todd Wilson, Preaching the Word, Galatians (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 76.
[2] Frank Thielman, Expository Commentary, Vol. X (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2020) 599.
[3] Thielman, 599.
[4] Thielman, 599.
[5] https://www.bibleref.com/1-Corinthians/9/1-Corinthians-9-20.html
[6] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume IV, The Epistles of Paul (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 289.
[7] Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1976) 449.
[8] Robertson, 289.
[9] Which goes back to the pressure to follow the law (Gal. 2:1-14); did they fear suffering the same treatment as Paul had suffered?
[10] Wilson, 85.
[11] Thielman, 599.
[12] Jervis, 74.
[13] L. Ann Jervis, New International Biblical Commentary, Galatians (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishers, 1999) 70.
[14] Max Anders, Holman New Testament Commentary, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 1999) 26.
Christ’s Power Over Every Need The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series “The Beginning of When the World Was Changed” Mark 1:1-13
Christ’s Power Over Every Need
The Gospel of Mark Sermon Series
The Beginning of When the World Was Changed
Mark 1:1-13
Introduction
As we begin our study of the gospel of Mark we need to understand that each gospel is different yet united by telling the same story. They are like the southern accent. Many people think there are two southern accents (Redneck and Plantation) but I can assure you there are many varieties of southern speak. And just for your information, I know how to properly wear a pair of overalls, I do not let one side hang down, undone, and no I do not know how to play the banjo.
Matthew – has lots of facts, full stories, so this accents rolls around in the mouth like those in Tennessee. They are thinking about the words as they say them. They use the word y’all, and talk about football, and whose playing this weekend.
Luke-Acts – two large accounts of Jesus and the church beginning, is like southerners in Savannah or Montgomery. Full, large words, you take time to unpack the words, and they are spoken in the back of the throat. S-A-V-A-N-A-H – this is the Long Horn Leg Horn southern.
John – as the synoptic gospel is doing it’s own thing. It’s used to its own space. This is Alabama, their mouths are open wide, noses scrunch up, and they talk nasally. “What’s Ya’ll doing Friday night? We are going to mamas for lunch after church.”
Mark – is like going to the bayou of Louisiana. People speak quickly, words are cut in half and combined with other words. You add in Cajun and French, When Mississippi people are talking you better hang out to figure out what’s going on. “do like that there.” “Living in uptown.”
Prayer
The Introduction of Jesus
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God. This is when it began to move from town to town, person to person, from the country roads of Galilee, to the city streets of Jerusalem. It made it’s way to the poorest of the poor, and to the wealthiest and most powerful. It made it’s way through generation, after generation and when I was nine years old, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God made it’s way to my VBS classroom and took root in my heart.
“The gospel does not mean a book, or the message delivered by Jesus, but “the Christian proclamation of the divine message of salvation through Jesus Christ.”[1]
We are told quickly that this account is about Jesus who was the Son of God, “later demonic forces acknowledged Him as “the Son of God” (3:11; 5:7) and at the cross the Roman centurion asserts, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (15:39).”[2]
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 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.[3] 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.[4] 7 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. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
(v. 2) “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet” – more specifically it says, “just as it is written.”[5] It was foretold that this would happen, and it did happen “just as it was written.” This is an exact prophetic fulfillment. Mark begins his account by stating how Jesus fulfilled prophecy, even from “the beginning.”
The quotation is from Isa. 40:3 verse 2b is from Exodus 23:30. The gospel is not something new that has suddenly appeared – it has long been anticipated since Genesis 3:15 “. . . he [Jesus] shall bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise his heel.” Since the beginning of time there was a promise that a Savior would come and save mankind from sin – this is the beginning of that great story.
“It had been at least three hundred years since a word had come from God.”[6] It had been a long time since God gave Israel a “word from the Lord.”
John is not crying out in the marketplace or cities, or temples – the Baptizer was “one crying in the wilderness” The desert region in which John started his ministry of baptism is sometimes in the Old Testament called Jeshimmon, which means “devastation.” The people who had not heard from the Lord in generations, now as foretold John the Baptizer was yelling out in the wilderness, “the Savior of the world was coming,” and he’s coming to devastation. The world had been devastated by sin, and now God is going to make it right again.
So out in the wilderness there was a great movement of God, “all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him” His cry was that someone was coming and we need to prepare ourselves for His arrival.
And his message was “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, — God’s Word applies to us today, so how does one today, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight? It is what John the Baptist said then, yet we are still to take it and use it today.
We are given hints to the answer to this question in what follows in Mark’s account – John’s actions (baptizing for the forgiveness of sin; His dress (simple and humble camel hair and a leather belt), His diet (eating what is around him), His understanding of himself (there will come one who is greater than I) but ultimately all of these things point to John’s message “repent of your sin.”
“The preparation was to be made in their hearts. The way of the Lord is through the heart. They prepared “the way of the Lord” by preparing and making their hearts fit for receiving the Lord.”[7]
There was a massive movement of God where “all the country of Judea, and all Jerusalem” (v. 4) “John appeared,” (egneto Ioanes) The word used for appearing is not in reference to an event (en), but an epoch (egneto).[8] His appearing marked the beginning of something new, and God highlighted by moving in thousands of people’s hearts and minds. “John is treating the Jewish nation as pagans who need to repent, to confess their sins, and to come back to the kingdom of God.”[9]
“Jerusalem is at least twenty miles from the Jordan River and about four thousand feet above it. It was hard going down the rugged Judean hills to the Jordan and even harder coming back up.”[10] Those going to see John were feeling the drawing of God to repent of their sin. “It is not remorse; not admitting mistakes; not saying in self-condemnation, “I have been a fool.” This is more than saying, “I’m sorry for one’s sins.”
[Repentance] It is a moral and spiritual revolution.”[11] It is a radical mindset change toward sin. It is “a change that will have, if genuine, its appropriate “fruits.””[12] (v. 3) “baptizing in the wilderness” – another word to define baptism is to be overwhelmed. John’s baptism was a picture of a people overwhelmed by the guilt and weight of their sin.
The road is made straight in our lives, and the way is prepared (for the Savior) when we humble ourselves before God and say, “I am a sinner” and I hate the sin that is in my life – I want it gone. (v. 5) says that they were “confessing their sins.” In this admission and understanding, you are not alone; Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Our introduction of Jesus is that it begins with a recognition that we have a sin problem – the good news is that God has provided an answer. Many of John’s disciples left John to become followers of Jesus because now that we have seen our sin for what it is, and we repent and seek righteousness – we can do nothing with our sin. We need a Savior.
Before we leave John, I want to highlight his words, “I am not worthy” – thousands of people were coming to see John and to be baptized by him. Anywhere he went, he would have been recognized. There was a mighty movement of God surrounding him. He was preaching constantly – yet, in the original language it says, “I am not suitable, a fit person – to do for him even this most menial service.”[13]
This was his humble utterance of a comparison between him and the Savior before Him. None of us are suitable, none of us are fit to do anything for the Lord. Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (like filthy rags).
(v. 8) John says, “I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” – John’s water baptism was a symbolic picture of people being overwhelmed with their sin and wanting to repent from it – so they show this inward heart’s feeling by being overwhelmed in water. When we place our faith in Christ, we are overwhelmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He (Jesus) will overwhelm you by surrounding you, immersing you, with the Holy Spirit.
Before Jesus began his public ministry there were two events that took place first;
his baptism by John, and the temptation.
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee[14] and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
The first time we see Jesus in Mark’s gospel is at His baptism. No shepherds, no wise men, no angels appearing to Mary and Joseph – our journey with Jesus begins with a voice from heaven. Mark was not written for “a people who would have little interest in the genealogy of Jesus, or anything but the work by which he had become precious to them. So while John begins from eternity, Matthew from Abraham, and Luke from the events that preceded the birth of the forerunner, Mark finds the forerunner already at work, and introduces Jesus at the time of his baptism.”[15]
(v. 9) “9 In those days” – When the movement of God was in the wilderness, and people were being overwhelmed by their sin – “Jesus came from Nazareth” There was a calling, a direction by God, to put down his carpenter’s apron and hammer, and go to where God was moving among the people. He was waiting for the right time – for the announcement.
Jesus “was baptized by John in the Jordan” – Jesus is being overwhelmed, not with a weight of sin, but with the calling to begin His ministry. He was officially beginning the Messianic work of being the Savior of the world. So that when John brought him up from the water – immediately “he saw the heavens being torn open.”
“the Spirit descending on him like a dove” – At Jesus’ baptism is the only place that the Holy Spirit is described to us to be “like a dove.”[16] When Jesus begins his public ministry, He asks for a scroll of Isaiah to be brought to him, and he reads Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”
“And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son” – In verse 1 the reader is told that what we are reading is, “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” and now here is a voice from heaven affirming that Jesus is the Son of God. Now the story that unfolds in the rest of the book, is not about a good moral teacher, or a historical narrative of a Jewish moral man – it is the story of how salvation was brought to humanity through the Son of God, Jesus Christ[17] (who is loved by God the Father).
The Temptation of Jesus
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 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.
Now that the Spirit has descended upon Jesus, the first thing the Spirit does is to lead him toward the Temptation for forty days. But even though Mark’s account is brief, it does give a detail that is not found in the other accounts, where it says “And he was with the wild animals.”
Mark doesn’t tell us any details about what happened between Jesus and Satan, whether the animals were against Jesus or for Him; and we don’t know what the angels did in the wilderness to minister to Jesus. Only that Jesus and Satan were battling for forty days.
“For the first time since events in the Garden of Eden, Satan confronted a completely sinless person. However, whereas Adam was created a sinless being, Jesus was sinless by virtue of His being the very Son of God!”[18]
A. Ironside remarks, “It was fitting that he should be tested before He began His gracious ministry. His temptation was not to see if perchance he might fail and sin in the hour of stress, but rather to prove that He would not fail, because He was the absolutely sinless One.”
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[1] George Arthur Buttrick, Commentary Editor, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 7 (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1980) 648.
[2] James McGowan, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, The Gospel of Mark (Chattanooga, Tennessee; AMG Publishers, 2006) 10.
[3] “The outpouring of the Spirit was understood traditionally as an established characteristic of the messianic age (Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 36:25-27; Joel 2:28); however, John’s use of the expression “Baptize you with the Holy Spirit” here, was both new and unique.” McGowan, 11.
[4] See Also https://drewboswell.com/matthew-31-10/
[5] Buttrick, 649.
[6] Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary, Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 2000) 7.
[7] C.E.W. Dorris, A Commentary on the Gospel According to Mark (Nashville, Tennessee; The Gospel Advocate, 1970) 17.
[8] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume 1 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1932) 253.
[9] Robertson, 254.
[10] Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible, Volume 8 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1984) 620.
[11] Buttrick, 649.
[12] Clarke, 16.
[13] Clarke, 18.
[14] “Jesus probably began his public ministry about A.D. 27, when he was approximately thirty years old.” Gaebelein, 621.
[15] W. N. Clarke, An American Commentary on the New Testament, Mark and Luke (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Judson Press, 1950) 15.
[16] Clarke, 21.
[17] On two other occasions God spoke from heaven about Christ (Mark 9:7) – at the Transfiguration and during the last week at the temple (John 12:28). . . Jesus did not “become the Christ” at His baptism. He was already the Messiah, already God manifest in the flesh. This event dramatically inaugurated His public ministry.” McGowan, 12.
[18] McGowan, 13.