WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.150 I'm want to invite you to the book of Mark. 00:00:02.020 --> 00:00:09.220 We are in a new series together we started last week called "The Genius of Jesus." We're spending the summer going through the book of Mark to look 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:13.720 at the identity of who Christ is and why in the world it matters to us today. 00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:21.920 Just to kind of draw out the relevance of why I think it's important we spend time identifying the true nature of Christ 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:27.140 and getting to know that, I want us to think about a penny this morning. 00:00:29.080 --> 00:00:30.260 You guys know what a penny looks like? 00:00:31.910 --> 00:00:32.930 Who's on the front of the penny? 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:38.520 Are you sure? 00:00:39.820 --> 00:00:42.600 Just think about these, and you're right, it is Lincoln. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:44.350 I'm going to ask just a few more questions. 00:00:44.860 --> 00:00:50.600 You don't have to answer all of these out loud, because if you don't know, I don't want you to embarrass yourself by saying these out loud. 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:55.520 But if you think about the penny, since you know so much about the penny, you know what that looks like. 00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:56.700 Lincoln's on the front. 00:00:56.910 --> 00:00:58.080 What's direction does he face? 00:00:59.940 --> 00:01:04.540 What words are written on the front of the penny or what about on the back, the building? 00:01:05.800 --> 00:01:06.820 Is there a building on there? 00:01:07.740 --> 00:01:09.700 What words are on the back of the penny? 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:11.770 Are there words on the back of the penny? 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:13.710 Do I even know the penny? 00:01:15.220 --> 00:01:23.420 You think about your whole life you've dealt with the penny, but probably I'm going to go on a limb and say most of us couldn't name the 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:25.280 words written on the front and back of the penny. 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.340 We might be able to get the building on the back maybe. 00:01:30.880 --> 00:01:37.920 But the idea of our whole life, we've dealt with this, but we don't really know what is on the 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:38.360 penny. 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:44.940 Now, if I take that same penny and I were to throw it at you today and we know what the penny's worth today. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:52.160 I took it out, you'd be like, "Don't touch me with that." If I were to do the same thing with a hundred dollars bill, wad that up and throw it out there, 00:01:52.220 --> 00:01:54.080 that's worth a face punch to get it from your neighbor. 00:01:54.300 --> 00:01:56.020 That is mine. 00:01:56.880 --> 00:02:04.260 The point is you think about the penny and yes, you've dealt with a penny your whole life and we may not know exactly 00:02:04.260 --> 00:02:05.100 everything on the penny. 00:02:05.160 --> 00:02:05.660 It's a little bit surprising. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:07.200 You know you've seen it. 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:10.180 How do you not know everything that's on the penny? 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:14.080 The penny in comparison to other things in this world just don't have value. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:20.120 When you think about a hundred dollar bill, that has some value. 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:22.390 You think about Jesus. 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:27.140 Jesus is worthy of our praise. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:37.580 Jared Wilson once said this in writing about Jesus, he said, "You can look without seeing, but you can't see without looking." Understanding 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:40.520 who Jesus is significant to our lives. 00:02:40.720 --> 00:02:44.160 It's paramount to the Christian faith and eternity weighs on it. 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:49.580 It's important for us not to just say we've looked at Jesus. 00:02:49.720 --> 00:02:53.540 Everybody has opinions on who Jesus is, and frankly, some of them are just blasphemous. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:03.790 But we want to get through this study on Jesus so that we can recognize exactly who he is for the way that he identifies himself. 00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:07.510 And we're not going to this book of Mark just for information. 00:03:08.380 --> 00:03:12.990 The information is important because we find truth in that, but we're not just going out to this book for information. 00:03:13.700 --> 00:03:16.520 The ultimate goal in looking to the book of Mark is transformation. 00:03:18.100 --> 00:03:19.930 God's word isn't there just for us to get smart. 00:03:20.380 --> 00:03:27.220 God's word is there to impact our lives, to make an eternal difference in our relationship to God. 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:34.380 And when John, I know we're in the book of Mark, but when John introduces Jesus in John 1:29 he says this, "The 00:03:34.380 --> 00:03:41.520 next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, 'Behold, the lamb of God.'" What John is saying is what Jared Wilson 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:42.000 affirmed. 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:44.140 You can look without seeing, but you can't see without looking. 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:47.160 And John is saying, just take a moment and pause at this. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.060 Behold who he is. 00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:55.020 And how significant it becomes to our lives. 00:03:55.880 --> 00:04:01.540 And so this morning we're going to look at where we started last week in Mark 1. 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:07.420 We introduced this to us last week, we said, Mark has really broken down into two halves. 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:14.820 The first eight chapters of Mark is Jesus identifying himself, showing why he's come, what his kingdom is about and why we 00:04:14.820 --> 00:04:16.029 should trust in him. 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:21.800 And in the middle of Mark, Jesus calls us to come and die for him, giving our lives to him. 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:29.900 But before all of those, all of that begins the first 15 verses of Mark, it's the prologue to understanding who Jesus is. 00:04:29.900 --> 00:04:36.940 Mark gives this profound pronouncement on the identity of Jesus so that we wouldn't miss what's contained in the rest 00:04:36.940 --> 00:04:37.540 of the pages. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:44.880 And so we want to spend these first two weeks just going through these first 15 verses in the identity of Jesus so we could really see the rich 00:04:44.880 --> 00:04:48.660 depth of God's word and why that matters to our lives. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:51.310 So this is how we're going to do it this morning. 00:04:51.340 --> 00:04:57.420 We're going to talk about who Jesus is in identity, and then we're going to talk about why in the world you should even care. 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:06.680 Because just identifying Christ as far as factually presentation, it's important, but when the rubber meets the road, we need to know 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:08.720 why it matters to our lives. 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:14.900 And so in Mark 1, this is the way Mark begins the pronouncement of this gospel. 00:05:15.080 --> 00:05:16.320 It's a declaration statement. 00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:18.780 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.260 We said last week, the word "gospel" is a word of victory for Kings. 00:05:22.700 --> 00:05:25.620 It's a proclamation of a success, a win. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:30.500 And so this is the victory cry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:34.280 And I told you last week, what we're going focus on is the title. 00:05:35.440 --> 00:05:37.260 The title of who Jesus is. 00:05:37.280 --> 00:05:42.540 And that's what Mark is delivering to us by the pronouncement of this victory cry, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.800 If we talk about Jesus Christ this morning, oftentimes we identify that as a name. 00:05:47.260 --> 00:05:48.740 His name is Jesus Christ, right? 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:57.580 But when the gospel writers are identifying Jesus, not only are they calling them out by name, but they're identify him in terms of title and position. 00:05:57.580 --> 00:06:04.280 Jesus' name, as much as it is a name, is maybe even more so a title of his position and representation of who he is. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.680 And so Jesus when Mark gives this declaration means salvation. 00:06:12.440 --> 00:06:14.500 Yeshua, the saving one. 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.460 And Christ carries this idea of annointing. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:24.840 And I think most specifically on the backdrop of this text, it's in reference to the anointing of a King. 00:06:26.340 --> 00:06:30.220 So the saving King, the Son of God has come. 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:36.000 Jews anointed their Kings for ministry. 00:06:37.940 --> 00:06:43.360 When it comes to this idea of Messiah, you'll see within scripture, they use this term over and over for Jesus. 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:50.020 And what's interesting about this word for Christ or Messiah, anointed one, is that Jesus never used the title for himself. 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:55.560 Jesus instead referred to himself as the Son of Man, which is also a claim to deity. 00:06:56.980 --> 00:07:04.100 But this idea of Christ Jesus, I don't think he ever use it to refer to himself because so many people during Jesus's time had such 00:07:04.100 --> 00:07:11.220 a poor idea of what the Messiah represented, that Jesus didn't want to confuse the culture by taking on the title and the misconception that 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:12.240 they were perceiving with it. 00:07:13.320 --> 00:07:19.420 But the idea of this name is important for us to understand because it's shaping for us the identity of Christ. 00:07:21.140 --> 00:07:28.380 When you look at Mark 1:11, you remember last week we broke this up for us so we can understand exactly what was happening 00:07:28.380 --> 00:07:28.680 here. 00:07:29.840 --> 00:07:33.700 But Jesus Christ is the saving anointed King. 00:07:33.700 --> 00:07:41.180 And when you go Jesus' baptism in Mark 1:11, you see in verse 11 as John the Baptist is baptizing 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:44.120 Jesus, there's a pronouncement that's made. 00:07:45.460 --> 00:07:47.920 And the pronouncement that's made is made by God the Father. 00:07:49.140 --> 00:07:55.820 And so in this story, it tells us that God the Father speaks from heaven and the Spirit descends. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:02.660 In the Old Testament when they anointed someone for ministry, a priest can be anointed, a King could be anointed. 00:08:03.020 --> 00:08:09.880 The anointing was a representation of the Spirit of God coming over that person to do the work that God had called them to into this world. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:18.340 When Jesus goes to the baptism with John the Baptist, Jesus is baptized or he's anointed in the water, but what we see in this passage, rather 00:08:18.340 --> 00:08:23.500 than just assuming that the Spirit of God comes in him, we actually see the Spirit of God come upon him. 00:08:24.320 --> 00:08:25.900 The Spirit descends like a dove. 00:08:25.900 --> 00:08:31.220 It's annointing Jesus as King for the work of the ministry he's called to in this world. 00:08:33.140 --> 00:08:36.559 And just so that we don't miss it, this annointing is one of kingship. 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:44.860 When the Father speaks and the Spirit descends, the Father then says from heaven, "You are my beloved Son." That phrase, 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:48.260 you are my beloved Son, it comes from Psalm 2:7. 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:51.920 Psalm 2:7 is a kingship psalm. 00:08:52.780 --> 00:08:58.580 When Israel elected a new King, they would sing Psalm 2 over that King as he was anointed. 00:08:59.900 --> 00:09:06.940 Israel also knew within the context of that song that psalm was written so richly at such a depth that a human being could not live up to the standards of 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:07.800 Psalm 2. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:09.520 So they also saw it as a messianic Psalm. 00:09:09.760 --> 00:09:12.280 Something future proclaiming who the Messiah actually would be. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:19.540 And so when Jesus is being baptized, he's also being anointed as the King for Israel and the King really of the world. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:25.360 The King of Kings and Lord of Lords called in to this world to conduct the ministry of the Spirit of God descends upon him. 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:33.700 And so when John's making this pronouncement in Mark 1:1, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, he 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:38.200 doesn't want us to miss the identity of Jesus as being the saving King who's come for the world. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:46.240 In addition, this title, Son of God, is important to recognize. 00:09:48.260 --> 00:09:49.240 It's a claim to deity. 00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:55.120 He's the saving King, because he is God. 00:09:57.640 --> 00:10:00.180 This phrase, "Son of God" was a common term. 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:03.510 It was a term Mark borrowed from the culture. 00:10:04.740 --> 00:10:06.410 It was a term used through scripture. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:11.400 It was a term that the Romans would use to refer to their emperor. 00:10:13.420 --> 00:10:16.180 And so this term was a common term. 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:19.570 But the Jews are also monotheistic. 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:24.920 And the claim that they're attributing here to Jesus is one of deity. 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:32.210 One of the misconceptions that we assume about this phrase, Son of God, is the way that we would read into it in the 21st century culture. 00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:38.640 If you have a son, that means you actually birthed a child and therefore it's the son. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:47.500 But we're walking in air when we assume that 21st century definition to the first century term, 00:10:47.800 --> 00:10:48.460 the Son of God. 00:10:49.040 --> 00:10:51.600 Son of God, doesn't mean that God had a physical kid. 00:10:53.160 --> 00:11:00.380 In fact, when you follow the phrase, Son of God, within other references of scripture, we talked about this last week with the idea of bar mitzvah, 00:11:00.380 --> 00:11:01.500 which meant the son of commandments. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:07.120 The Jewish culture uses that term bar mitzvahs it's not in the Bible. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:12.000 But the "son of the commandments" that they represent what the commandments are. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:19.560 When a child and Jewish culture reaches the age of 13 they've studied the Old Testament, they could recite long portions of scripture and 00:11:19.560 --> 00:11:24.140 they have a bar mitzvah to show his maturity into adulthood and he's called the son of the commandments. 00:11:24.300 --> 00:11:24.870 The son of the law. 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:28.980 And Acts 4:36 Barnabas is called the son of encouragement. 00:11:30.400 --> 00:11:33.960 In John 17:12 Judas is called the son of perdition or the son of hell. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.040 James and John and Mark three are referred to as the sons of thunder. 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:45.660 And so what this phrase, "son of" is representing it's equating the identity of someone towards a particular nature. 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:52.840 It's not saying to us that commandments, encouragement, perdition and thunder all have children. 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:58.420 But what it's saying to us is the representation of those characteristics are demonstrated in their lives. 00:11:59.340 --> 00:12:06.380 And so when it's using the word Son of God as it relates to Jesus, the identity for us is to recognize that 00:12:06.380 --> 00:12:10.220 Jesus is the representation of the nature of God. 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:18.960 In fact, when you look at the title that Jesus carried throughout all of scripture, there's several verses that speak to his deity, but 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:25.960 in Hebrews 1:3 it says this, and He, talking about Jesus, is the radiance of his, the father's, glory and the 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.800 exact representation of his nature. 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:31.510 No one held that characteristic. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:34.540 Except God in the flesh. 00:12:36.380 --> 00:12:41.620 Jesus is the exact representation of the nature of God in the flesh. 00:12:41.660 --> 00:12:47.000 And so when this term Son of God is used in reference to Jesus, it's identifying his deity. 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:52.200 Colossians 2:9 says this, In him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:00.380 It's what Jesus said in John 14:9, he who has seen me, has seen the Father. 00:13:02.380 --> 00:13:03.720 They're one and the same in their nature. 00:13:06.140 --> 00:13:13.440 To look at Jesus, it's the demonstration in the flesh, of the nature of 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:14.120 the Father. 00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:25.260 And the gospel of John, in order to elaborate on this title, Son of God, John takes it a little step further and 00:13:25.260 --> 00:13:31.680 says this, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.800 This speaks to the uniqueness of Jesus. 00:13:37.420 --> 00:13:40.420 And the Bible tells us that we can become children of God to those that embrace them. 00:13:40.420 --> 00:13:41.580 You become the children of God. 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.720 But not in the way that Jesus was referred to as the Son of God. 00:13:47.520 --> 00:13:49.500 Because he's the only one like this. 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:56.000 The uniqueness of Jesus, when you study this phrase, "only begotten son of God," in the Greek language. 00:13:56.880 --> 00:13:59.050 The word choice they use here is "monogenes". 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:01.990 Mono means one. 00:14:02.900 --> 00:14:05.140 Genes where we get the words for genes or genetics. 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:10.320 He is the only one that has the makeup of the Father, the nature of the father within him. 00:14:11.560 --> 00:14:13.320 To look at Jesus is to look at God. 00:14:14.380 --> 00:14:16.740 God in the flesh, living out his life on earth. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:25.580 So when Mark makes this claim, he's making this claim as Jesus being the saving King capable of saving because he is God 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:26.620 come in the flesh. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:30.960 And then Mark builds on this idea of the Son of God. 00:14:31.740 --> 00:14:36.900 If you were to read later in Mark 15 when Jesus is being crucified, there's a story of a Centurion. 00:14:38.380 --> 00:14:42.700 A Centurion is a Roman official working for the Roman government in the army. 00:14:44.040 --> 00:14:51.240 When political leaders during the time of Jesus and beyond, when they would operate in political office, one of the qualifications that they had meet 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.680 was to refer to the emperor as the son of God. 00:14:55.400 --> 00:15:02.720 If they were to ever make the pronouncement that the emperor wasn't the son of God or claimed someone else to be the son of God, they were also told that they would immediately have to leave their posts. 00:15:02.760 --> 00:15:04.820 They would have to step down from their political position. 00:15:06.820 --> 00:15:13.920 In Mark chapter 15 when the Centurion who was standing right in front of him, talking about Jesus on the cross, saw the way 00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:19.700 he breathed his last, he said, truly this man was the Son of God. 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:25.890 Coming from an individual that's supposed to make this pronouncement about the emperor. 00:15:27.700 --> 00:15:31.550 He's now substituted the position of the emperor for the claim of who Christ is. 00:15:33.760 --> 00:15:37.370 So that we wouldn't miss the idea of Jesus and his identification. 00:15:37.520 --> 00:15:44.240 So when Mark makes this pronouncement in Mark 1:1, it's going in the face against the Roman culture. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:46.230 And you think about Mark, the context of the audience. 00:15:46.780 --> 00:15:48.200 Mark is written to the Romans. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.260 And Mark is putting his foot down on the declaration of who Jesus is. 00:15:53.340 --> 00:15:59.820 The beginning of the gospel, the victory cry that Christ has overcome the grave, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords has won. 00:16:00.160 --> 00:16:03.120 Jesus Christ, the gospel of him, the Son of God. 00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:12.540 When loyalty was told to belong to the emperor, his pronouncement of his loyalty as belonged to Jesus as 00:16:12.540 --> 00:16:12.920 Lord. 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:23.440 From the declaration that Mark makes in verse one, he then gives the demonstration 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.540 of this in Jesus' life. 00:16:27.100 --> 00:16:34.960 And you see it in the baptism, the anointing of the King, the declaration of the Father and the Spirit of God descending 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:35.680 on him. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:41.420 To call him and identify him to the witnesses around that Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.100 But beyond that, he also went into the wilderness. 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:58.200 Mark 1:12 right after Jesus' 00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:01.280 baptism. 00:17:02.520 --> 00:17:10.079 After the father pronounces, "You are my beloved Son," he says, "In You, I am well pleased." And this phrase is a reminder to us again was from Isaiah 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:11.240 42. 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:17.670 We talked about this last week, but the Jewish people knew what Isaiah 42 represented. 00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:21.760 Remember their bar mitzvahs, their sons of the commandment, they studied God's word. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.740 To them the old Testament was the only Testament they could recite long chapters. 00:17:25.760 --> 00:17:32.480 And they knew Isaiah 42 to Isaiah 53 was considered the Suffering Servant text of scripture. 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:35.000 And by the way, they didn't have chapter divisions back then. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:40.740 Or verse places in the Bible, that didn't come until the 12th century and the 15th century. 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:46.520 And so to know where someone was referring to in the Bible, you had to memorize it. 00:17:47.520 --> 00:17:54.660 And so when the Jews would hear beginning of Isaiah 42 they would understand in context, this is the Suffering Servant passage of scripture from Isaiah 42 00:17:54.660 --> 00:17:55.660 to 53. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:02.460 And so this pronouncement Mark 1:11 is saying, Jesus is God and he's coming as the suffering servant. 00:18:02.820 --> 00:18:08.980 And so what you,see in Mark 1:12 and on Jesus then goes into the wilderness. 00:18:10.820 --> 00:18:15.500 And it's the demonstration in this section, these two verses in Mark. 00:18:15.500 --> 00:18:22.480 It's in Matthew 4, that Jesus is demonstrating how he is that sufficient suffering servant for sin. 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:28.960 And it says immediately this word "immediately" is found all throughout the book of Mark. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:31.820 It's a phrase that Mark wants to use because he's writing his gospel to the Romans. 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:33.660 The Romans are people of action. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:40.520 And so he says, as Jesus is baptized, immediately he goes into the wilderness to demonstrate himself as a sufficient sacrifice. 00:18:41.840 --> 00:18:45.850 Immediately the spirit impelled him to go out into the wilderness, which is the desert. 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:51.540 And he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan and he was with the wild beasts. 00:18:51.600 --> 00:18:53.040 And the angels were ministering to him. 00:18:54.580 --> 00:19:01.620 And the idea that Mark is carrying at the end with wild beasts and the angels, is to demonstrate the authority of Jesus, that he has 00:19:01.620 --> 00:19:05.020 control over the animals and the angels. 00:19:06.620 --> 00:19:11.580 What's interesting within the context is that the Spirit immediately let him out here and He has control over these things. 00:19:11.800 --> 00:19:13.940 In verse 13 he goes for 40 days and he's being tempted. 00:19:16.180 --> 00:19:23.860 There's different words for being tempted in scripture, but in this passage, this word for tempted means to test 00:19:23.860 --> 00:19:24.940 or to try. 00:19:26.620 --> 00:19:28.940 40 was a significant number in Jewish history. 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.160 40 was how many days that the earth flooded. 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:35.120 It rain 40 days and 40 nights during the time of Noah. 00:19:36.520 --> 00:19:40.170 40 days was the amount of time that Moses went up to the top of Mount Sinai. 00:19:42.060 --> 00:19:46.440 40 lasses was the amount of maximum punishment that someone would receive if they broke the law. 00:19:47.780 --> 00:19:54.340 And in connection to the people of Israel, 40 years was the number of years that they wandered in the wilderness in disobedience to God. 00:19:56.300 --> 00:20:00.080 I think what Jesus is demonstrating in this passage is how he is the true Israel. 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:06.380 While God called the people of Israel from Egypt, wandering through the wilderness for 40 years. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.280 And for 40 years, they were disobedient to God. 00:20:10.560 --> 00:20:13.290 But Jesus surrenders to the will of the Father. 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:20.760 And while Israel faltered for 40 years, Jesus in 40 days demonstrated during the time of testing or trial. 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:23.180 It was a sufficient sacrifice. 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:32.100 It's comparison to the people of Israel who were disobedient as God's people, and Jesus being the obedient one under the will of the Father. 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:35.060 As seen in Matthew 4:1-11. 00:20:36.260 --> 00:20:43.320 Because when Jesus is in the wilderness and he's being tempted, he continues to quote from the book of Deuteronomy, which is what Moses writes for the people of Israel 00:20:43.320 --> 00:20:45.830 as they are wandering in the wilderness during those 40 years. 00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:54.880 Jesus in this story is carrying the idea of being the anointed King in his baptism and the sufficient sacrifice in the 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:55.660 wilderness. 00:20:58.340 --> 00:20:59.360 That even the angels obey. 00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:09.420 And then it tells us, as you look at the story, that the demonstration of who Jesus is, 00:21:09.520 --> 00:21:14.640 when you see His baptism, you're seeing the King. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:19.080 And when you see in the wilderness, you're seeing the suffering servant. 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:25.300 It's a beautiful picture for us in the sufficiency of Jesus. 00:21:27.060 --> 00:21:34.080 And then it tells us in Mark 14, Jesus begins his ministry and says, "Now after John had been taken into 00:21:34.080 --> 00:21:41.280 custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time 00:21:41.280 --> 00:21:41.920 is fulfilled. 00:21:43.520 --> 00:21:47.040 And the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:55.900 Repent and believe in the gospel, in this good news, in 00:21:55.900 --> 00:22:02.900 this proclamation, the kingdom is here.'" When you think in terms 00:22:02.900 --> 00:22:09.420 of the kingdom, the kingdom should be what all of us pursue. 00:22:12.120 --> 00:22:18.880 Matthew 6:33, seek first the kingdom of God. 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:22.660 Pray in this way, Jesus taught us. 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:26.820 Thy kingdom come, Your will be done. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:37.160 When God created mankind, making us in his image, he created us to connect to him in relationship for 00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:37.830 all of eternity. 00:22:39.600 --> 00:22:40.800 To delight in His glory. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:44.180 To be worshipers forever. 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:50.210 To fill our hearts with him. 00:22:50.310 --> 00:22:56.170 Man sinned and turned from God and pursued lesser gods or idols. 00:22:58.590 --> 00:23:02.930 And rather than give our hearts that were created totally for God, we give our hearts to other things. 00:23:06.320 --> 00:23:12.350 And in that from the sin, from the garden, the kingdom we were separated from. 00:23:14.790 --> 00:23:18.390 Bible tells us once having peace with God, we no longer have peace. 00:23:20.250 --> 00:23:24.110 And the desire for our soul would be to yearn to see that peace again. 00:23:26.590 --> 00:23:33.670 In fact, I think most of time in our lives, when we experienced the death of someone close to us, we grieve at such 00:23:33.670 --> 00:23:40.750 an extent within our hearts that we can't even put words to relate how broken we feel when we experience that in life. 00:23:43.910 --> 00:23:44.010 Why? 00:23:46.030 --> 00:23:47.070 There's no longer any Shalom. 00:23:49.570 --> 00:23:50.330 There is no peace. 00:23:52.090 --> 00:23:58.420 And we need a King big enough to suffice the brokenness of this world to restore what's been lost. 00:23:58.650 --> 00:24:01.270 And Jesus comes and he declares that kingdom. 00:24:01.270 --> 00:24:05.890 And he says in Luke 11:20, the kingdom is in your midst. 00:24:09.790 --> 00:24:11.700 Jesus comes with the pronouncement of that kingdom. 00:24:13.110 --> 00:24:20.350 And the offering of that kingdom, But at the same time that kingdom hasn't fully arrived. 00:24:20.370 --> 00:24:21.040 Let me give you an example. 00:24:21.310 --> 00:24:28.350 In Acts 1:6, the disciples asked Jesus after his death and resurrection just before his ascension, they say, are you going to restore 00:24:28.350 --> 00:24:30.540 the kingdom? 00:24:32.670 --> 00:24:34.310 What Jesus is offering is peace. 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:37.530 Reconciliation to Him. 00:24:39.550 --> 00:24:42.890 You see at the end of Revelation is Jesus restores that kingdom. 00:24:42.890 --> 00:24:45.860 He tells us in chapter 21 that there's no more pain, no more suffering. 00:24:46.510 --> 00:24:48.600 That has all been gone away, that God is with his people. 00:24:50.170 --> 00:24:54.770 Anyone with eyes can look around and see that things are not fully as they should be. 00:24:56.770 --> 00:24:59.590 Jesus' purpose in coming was to offer a kingdom. 00:25:01.390 --> 00:25:02.240 It brings us peace. 00:25:04.350 --> 00:25:10.340 Then we see reality, where there isn't peace. 00:25:13.370 --> 00:25:15.490 This brings me this last thought I want to share. 00:25:18.690 --> 00:25:25.470 Luke 2, Jesus in offering this kingdom, coming to earth for that purpose. 00:25:26.370 --> 00:25:32.330 Luke 2, God shares an interesting statement with Mary. 00:25:34.150 --> 00:25:40.710 Luke 2 is the passage where Mary takes baby Jesus to the temple. 00:25:42.510 --> 00:25:43.590 It's what you did with your first born. 00:25:45.210 --> 00:25:46.630 You make a sacrifice before the Lord. 00:25:48.730 --> 00:25:50.690 And Simeon was a prophet who was there. 00:25:52.310 --> 00:25:54.950 God uses Simeon to give a prophecy into Mary's life. 00:25:57.070 --> 00:26:01.130 In Luke 2:35, it's such an interesting statement that he would say to Mary. 00:26:01.130 --> 00:26:06.490 You think the time of birth is a time of celebration, time of rejoicing, time to be happy. 00:26:07.290 --> 00:26:09.590 Time to keep your bad news away if you can. 00:26:11.070 --> 00:26:20.670 And then Simeon says this to Mary, "The sword will pierce, even your own soul." What 00:26:20.670 --> 00:26:21.330 do you do with that? 00:26:24.570 --> 00:26:32.090 I think when it comes to God's will, I've said this, I just kind of use it as a rule of operating and it doesn't work in this verse, but 00:26:32.090 --> 00:26:35.370 when it comes to God's will, I don't want to know everything that God has for me. 00:26:36.410 --> 00:26:43.450 I don't want to know because I think it would be too overwhelming and I would do better in a corner, in a fetal position then I went to live out that will for 00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:44.830 the Lord, it's too much. 00:26:46.790 --> 00:26:49.550 I would prefer for God to just light that path each step of the way. 00:26:50.770 --> 00:26:52.850 I think as people, we go through different seasons of life. 00:26:52.850 --> 00:26:56.070 And we're not always ready for the next season until we've gone through the season that we're currently in. 00:26:56.690 --> 00:26:59.950 And about the time you become an expert at that season, then God changes it up. 00:27:02.030 --> 00:27:06.670 I want to know God's will, one step at a time. 00:27:08.230 --> 00:27:12.920 But here for Mary, he's declaring to her something that's going to happen 30 years from now. 00:27:13.410 --> 00:27:15.130 At the time of this birth, let me give you some horrible news. 00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:19.210 "And a sword will pierce even your own soul." That's fantastic, isn't it? 00:27:19.730 --> 00:27:20.890 What do you do with that? 00:27:22.370 --> 00:27:24.150 How do you respond to something like that? 00:27:24.490 --> 00:27:27.070 And why in the world would God want to say something like that to her? 00:27:28.050 --> 00:27:29.190 Why not just let her figure it out later? 00:27:32.150 --> 00:27:39.330 If I pause and think about that for just a second and said, I've met people in life that when they experience difficult things, 00:27:41.090 --> 00:27:42.100 they become atheists. 00:27:43.830 --> 00:27:45.870 Through hardship, they've become atheist. 00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:54.910 While atheism may be what they've pursued in life, I don't think atheism, and I don't say this to offend anybody, just to think, I 00:27:54.910 --> 00:27:56.620 don't think atheism is a step forward. 00:27:58.610 --> 00:27:59.550 I think it's a step backward. 00:28:00.810 --> 00:28:04.240 In fact that if I didn't believe that, I shouldn't be up here today. 00:28:06.910 --> 00:28:13.510 An atheist may look at a bad and assume there isn't a God because they can't see the good. 00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:17.330 It tends to be why in this circumstance that may turn that way. 00:28:19.190 --> 00:28:26.430 But unfortunately resorting to atheism only causes more problems because if you deny God's existence, it gives you no basis for acknowledging good 00:28:26.430 --> 00:28:26.890 or evil. 00:28:28.750 --> 00:28:29.280 Let me explain. 00:28:31.070 --> 00:28:35.610 If there is no God, there is no moral law giver. 00:28:36.290 --> 00:28:42.330 And if there is no moral law giver, there is no ultimate good or evil for which to even be upset when bad things happen. 00:28:43.490 --> 00:28:47.990 And if there's no good or evil, there is no ultimate basis for morality, worth or value. 00:28:49.610 --> 00:28:52.590 You are no more special than the dirt on the ground. 00:28:53.450 --> 00:28:58.540 And there's no reason to be upset about anything, for there is no universal morality to govern the world. 00:28:59.410 --> 00:29:06.450 Meaning, if you just evolved and you happen in circumstance, if something bad happens to you, big deal, there's no morality to govern what's 00:29:06.530 --> 00:29:07.390 bad to begin with. 00:29:07.590 --> 00:29:13.350 And anything that happens to you is no more important than what happens to the dust on the ground because that's where you came from. 00:29:16.350 --> 00:29:21.320 Without a moral law giver, there's no reason to cry foul in the world when bad things happen. 00:29:22.410 --> 00:29:29.490 But the reason we cry fowl when bad things happen is because we're acknowledging that there's something good for which all things are governed by within the 00:29:29.490 --> 00:29:30.890 context of our world. 00:29:31.790 --> 00:29:38.090 And so when you cry out, "There is no God because bad things happen," your very statement acknowledges the existence of a God. 00:29:40.430 --> 00:29:44.690 And so atheism is not an answer to the problem of the world. 00:29:46.290 --> 00:29:49.730 But rather a step backwards from the solution. 00:29:52.150 --> 00:29:53.220 But it still wasn't given an answer. 00:29:54.450 --> 00:29:56.170 Why in the world would God say this to Mary? 00:29:58.670 --> 00:30:05.910 Why would he say, "And the sword will pierce even your own soul?" I'm going to give you a thought 00:30:05.910 --> 00:30:11.590 and I think it is especially important to us to answer the question, why in the world does anything that we shared this morning matter? 00:30:14.040 --> 00:30:16.610 Why should I care about the identity of Jesus? 00:30:16.610 --> 00:30:19.570 Okay, he's the son of God, Jesus Christ, saving King. 00:30:19.570 --> 00:30:20.050 Who cares? 00:30:22.190 --> 00:30:22.740 Why does it matter? 00:30:25.650 --> 00:30:29.650 I think it matters especially as related to Mary because of this. 00:30:32.170 --> 00:30:40.210 When you go through adversity in life, the primary question you ask: God, 00:30:40.210 --> 00:30:40.570 where are you? 00:30:43.510 --> 00:30:44.090 Do you care? 00:30:46.410 --> 00:30:49.510 If bad things are happening to me, are you even there? 00:30:51.570 --> 00:30:59.790 In the midst of her soul being pierced, in the midst of seeing Jesus die on the cross (John 00:30:59.870 --> 00:31:07.470 19:35), in that moment, in 00:31:07.470 --> 00:31:14.630 the depth of experiencing the piercing her soul, Mary had a place to 00:31:14.650 --> 00:31:15.110 go back to. 00:31:18.130 --> 00:31:19.810 To say, God didn't abandon me. 00:31:22.950 --> 00:31:27.750 In the midst of this pain, God's right here. 00:31:30.170 --> 00:31:30.790 How do I know? 00:31:33.490 --> 00:31:37.090 Because he already knew this moment would come and he had already declared it to me. 00:31:37.350 --> 00:31:41.870 And he knew that this moment was going to fall on my shoulders. 00:31:43.390 --> 00:31:46.330 And I would experience the hardship of what it is. 00:31:47.690 --> 00:31:54.910 But he cared enough about me in that moment to share with me that I was going to experience this so that I could recognize in the midst 00:31:54.910 --> 00:31:57.770 of this suffering that God hadn't abandoned me. 00:31:57.950 --> 00:32:05.090 That he was still with me, that even though the kingdom hadn't fully arrived yet and all things been restored, the peace of God rests with me because 00:32:05.090 --> 00:32:07.980 God is with me in this circumstance. 00:32:11.390 --> 00:32:12.230 God cares. 00:32:15.870 --> 00:32:22.930 The story of Christianity in the midst of hardship, I think is the best answer out of any religious explanation 00:32:22.930 --> 00:32:24.770 that exist in this world. 00:32:24.870 --> 00:32:31.890 That God cares enough about you to enter into 00:32:31.890 --> 00:32:33.050 your suffering. 00:32:36.010 --> 00:32:39.050 A saving King has come. 00:32:41.190 --> 00:32:44.430 And just because bad things happen doesn't mean doesn't God cares. 00:32:44.470 --> 00:32:46.850 In fact, the gospel says the exact opposite. 00:32:49.450 --> 00:32:56.730 That Jesus enters into it and Jesus loves us in it and the King 00:32:56.730 --> 00:32:58.850 will restore all things.