JESUS’ MINISTRY BEGINS

You will remember from the creeds earlier, that Jesus had two natures –

Perfect God – God’s Son, His Divinity

Perfect Man – His humanity

His ministry and mission begins:

Mark 1:1-5, 7-11, 14-15

1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 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 desert, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”

4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River.

7 And 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.

8 I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan.

10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

 

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

In this gospel above we see some Old Testament prophecies as mentioned in the chapter on Sovereignty of God.  The word ‘gospel’ comes from an old English word ‘godspel’ meaning ‘good news’.

And what good news it is!  The time had come.

Romans 5:6-10

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

We learnt from Isaiah Chapters 52 and 53 that the New Deliverer was to come and save those who believed in Him.  In Mark’s reference the word ‘kingdom’ firstly means ‘rule’ – rule in the believer’s heart.  Secondly, it refers to the future place where the elect will spend eternity with Jesus – their King.  There is no doubt.  There is only one God.

Isaiah 45:5-6

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,

6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.

Remember ‘LORD’ is the Holy Trinity – Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit as defined in the creeds.

And Jesus is The King of all things, all eternity.

Revelation 17:14

14 “They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Revelation 19:16

16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

From Scripture we know Jesus is the Lamb.  He is the King of Glory.

John 1:29-34

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

30 This is the one I meant when I said, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.

31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.

33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptise with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.’

34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

In this summary, I wish to focus on the reason Jesus came and how Scripture teaches that He is our wisdom.  Wisdom is a wonderful word.  In Holy Scripture, wisdom is pragmatic, that is, practical.  It’s to do with doing.  It’s to do with being successful.  In every aspect of Jesus’ ministry He was successful, eternally successful for those He came to save.  In this summary I will focus on 3 New Testament books:

Mark – the Gospel of Miracles

John – the Gospel of Belief

Romans – The Roman Road – “That we may have complete understanding as Paul expounds the law of sin and death to the Law of the Spirit of Life”.

1 John 2:1-6 AKJV

1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2 and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Other Scriptures will also be referenced.

Mark 1:21-28

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,

24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”

26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”

28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

So begins His ministry of healing.  The Gospel of Mark has urgency about it – everything is instantaneous.  Notice the demons immediately knew who He is “the Holy One of God!”  (Isaiah 41: 14, 16, 20).

Mark 1:40–42

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”

42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Mark 2:3-12

3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.

4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,

7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?”

9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your mat and walk?”

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . He said to the paralytic,

11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Amazing! Here we see:

• The faith of the four
• Jesus forgiving sins
• The teachers of  the law thinking
• They accuse Jesus of blaspheming
• Jesus knew their thinking
• Explains His authority

Matthew 28:18

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.“

John 10:11, 17-18

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life— only to take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

John 15:9-10

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

In the above verses 9-10, this is Jesus’ authority from the Father.  Jesus had chosen 12 disciples – followers, and their ministry is clear in the Gospels.  I encourage you to read all of them.  Let us continue with His Ministry.

From Chapter 4 in Mark, Jesus beings to teach in parables.  A parable is a simple comparison – to put two simple concepts side by side.  A parable is an illustration of spiritual responsiveness.  In Isaiah 6: 9-10 we see Jesus quoting words He gave Isaiah 700 years before.

Mark 4:11-13

11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” But to those on the outside everything is said in parables

12 so that, “they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?”

Be encouraged to read His parables from Mark 4 onwards.  We proceed with more amazing healing miracles.

Mark 5:1-10

1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.

2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil c spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.

4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.

7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”

8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”

10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

It is so important to read Holy Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to teach and guide.  Jesus has authority over healing and now both healing and raising from the dead.

Mark 5:21-43

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.

22 Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet

23 and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”

24 So Jesus went with him.  A large crowd followed and pressed around him.

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.

26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,

28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.

33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.

34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?”

36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.

39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”

40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.

41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, Little girl) “I say to you, get up!”).

42 Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.

43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Amazing!  In His spirit Jesus knew the woman simply touched His clothes (vs 27-29).  Jesus knew that the girl would live again (vs 38-40).  They did not see the miracle because they laughed (v 40).

Jesus performed many healing miracles.  There are still two outstanding ones I will mention later.

There are two different miracles that need a mention.  They are demonstrations of His Deity.  These are:

Mark 6:34-44

34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late.

36 Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate and were satisfied,

43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.

44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Mark 8:1-9

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

1 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said,

2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.

3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied.

6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so.

7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.

8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

9 About four thousand men were present.

In these two miracles Jesus demonstrates that he creates out of nothing (ex nihil) as in Genesis 1: 1.  Jesus was now to give the disciples an explanation of His mission of salvation.

Mark 8:31

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Jesus made another two similar predictions (Mark 9: 3-31; Mark 10: 32-34).  He also gave the disciples thoughts as they came down the high mountain discussing what rising from the dead meant (Mark 9: 10).  Remember I mentioned earlier that Jesus had two natures as defined by the Creed of St Athanasius:

• His Deity
• His humanity

Jesus when He was born in His humanity did not leave His Divinity in heaven – He left His Glory.   Hi

But now to Peter, James and John He would reveal His Glory.  We see the truth of the transfiguration.

Mark 9:2-13

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.

3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.

4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

5 Peter 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.)

7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?

13 But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

In verse 6 the disciples were frightened – terrified.  And there appeared Moses.  He was the law giver – the 10 Commandments (stipulations) (Exodus 20: 1-17).  Elijah represented the prophets of The Old Testament.  He was followed by a deliverer – taking God’s people in an exodus.  His name was Joshua which means ‘the LORD saves’.  On the high mountain Elijah met with a new ‘Joshua’.  In Hebrew the name is Joshua.  In Greek it is Jesus – which means ‘the LORD or now Lord saves.  We all have mountain-top experiences and Jesus wants us to look to Him – The King of Glory.

Next the disciples quotation about Elijah coming first? (Verses 11-13).  Matthew in his Gospel explains further (cf Mark 9:11-13).

Matthew 17:10-13

10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

11 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.

12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

The disciples now realised John was symbolic to Elijah.  Both had the same ministry.

There remains two further miracles to be discussed, two amazing miracles.