GOT AUTHORITY?

GOT AUTHORITY?

I've spent much of my time over the past week in the gospel of Mark. The gospel of Mark is a glorious work of God-breathed theological literature.

The Bible itself begins in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Mark’s gospel, frequently cited by scholars as the oldest gospel, begins, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”

One of the signature features of Mark’s gospel is its rapid pace. There are no long genealogies, no long introduction to establish the purpose or occasion of the work. Mark even leaves out the entire Advent narrative and cuts straight to Jesus’ baptism by John. Mark’s “introduction” is virtually summed up in the first verse, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”

Mark’s purpose in writing is to unequivocally establish that Jesus is not only the Christ/Messiah (a term universally misunderstood by the nation of Israel in Jesus’ day) but also to demonstrate that - despite what the Jews may have believed - Jesus was not only the Messiah/Christ (title), but more importantly was the Son of God.

The use of the word “beginning” at the - beginning - of Mark’s gospel serves to define not just a new era (or dispensation), but the inauguration of God’s promise to be a blessing to all the peoples of the world through Abram (Gen 12:3).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Eventually, humanity (that’s all of us who would ever live) rebelled against our Creator’s sovereignty in lieu of selfish autonomy and pride. The entire Old Testament is full of God’s gracious and patient efforts to disclose our inherent sinful rebellion - while simultaneously revealing His lovingkindness via mercifully enduring our stupidity, selfishness, corruption, blasphemy, and incessant rebellion.

All of those anticipatory external efforts successfully “failed.” Yes, you read that right. All those anticipatory external efforts - the Law, the kingship, the prophets, the temple, the priesthood, the exile… they all successfully “failed.” All those “efforts” by God were not alternative plans. It is NOT as if God Almighty had to keep going back to the drawing board:

• “Okay, the flood thing didn’t work. What’s next? Jesus… Holy Spirit… Thoughts???”
• “Hmmm. Maybe I should have given them 15 commandments.”
• “Come on Moses! Seriously? Okay now you’re disqualified from the Promised Land!!!”
• “Saul you idiot! I guess I’ll take the kingship from you and give it to... ummm... David.”
• “Great David, way to make me look bad.”

God’s exclusive plan “A” was always (see 1 Peter 1:20) to step down into time and space - into the depraved devolving mess of humanity - and personally redeem “all things.”

The depraved devolving mess highlights our ugliness and rebellion. The unfolding plot is NOT a blight on God’s reputation or sovereignty. The point of unfolding history is to demonstrate our depravity and hardness of heart while simultaneously demonstrating God’s patience, grace, and lovingkindness.

God used Adam, Noah, and the nation of Israel to demonstrate humanity’s (our) comprehensive depravity and wickedness. Throughout history we have, and continue to, resist, rebel, kick, scream… and like hormone-driven, know-it-all, entitled, pissed-off teenagers - DEMANDED of God that He “LEAVE US ALONE!” and emphatically implored “WE DON’T NEED YOU!”

So Mark writes, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:”

This is not merely another chapter of human history. This is the beginning of the new beginning. This is the inauguration of God’s reconciliation of “all things” to Himself by Himself - just as He’d planned from before Genesis 1:1, from before the foundation of the cosmos (Rev 13:8).

In the very first sentence Mark unifies the entire biblical narrative from Genesis 1:1, through Isaiah, to the inauguration of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has come to reconcile all things and redeem humanity.

God created Adam

Adam preceded Seth

Seth preceded Abram

Abram preceded Israel

Israel preceded Judah

Judah preceded David

David preceded Ahaz

During King Ahaz’s reign the kingship and reverence for GOD devolved to the point that Judah’s king actually sacrificed his own son - whom for all Ahaz knew might have potentially been God’s Anointed One, i.e. the Messiah and universal blessing for ALL HUMANITY!

The nation of Israel’s continual, perpetual, incessant abandonment to wickedness reached its crescendo with King Ahaz:

Chronicles: “The LORD had humbled Judah (Israel’s southern kingdom) because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD… Ahaz gathered together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the LORD's temple and set up altars at every street corner in Jerusalem.” From the book of Kings: “He followed the ways of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his son in the fire to another god.”

Because of Ahaz’s wickedness and relentless rejection and testing of God the kingship was effectively rent from human hands. Isaiah the prophet said to Ahaz, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and he will be known as Immanuel (God with us).”

Mark’s reference to Isaiah also discloses the prophetic and preparatory ministry of John the Baptist (Isa 40:3), but without distraction from the critical MAIN THRUST of the gospel: This is “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:”

Everything from Genesis to John the Baptist anticipated Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now that the Son of God is on the scene - God no longer needs human prophets to convey His message. Jesus, the Son of God, will fulfill the prophetic ministry personally and perfectly. Jesus will not wait for disciples to come to Him, rather He will hand pick His followers who will be “fishers of men.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will not be like the depraved kings, the pathetic priesthood, the wavering prophets, the external Law, the idolatrous nation of Israel, or the hypocritical religious leaders of Jesus' day (Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, and Teachers of the Law) whose teachings were tainted and deeds misguided. No! Mark announces that Jesus Christ, the Son of God has come WITH AUTHORITY and Mark unequivocally establishes this REALITY in one brief chapter!

BAPTISM: Jesus’ baptism is not one of repentance, but one of divine recognition. Jesus is not appointed/anointed as Christ/Messiah/King by human hands, but rather by the Holy Spirit: “the Spirit descending on him like a dove.” Furthermore, at His baptism Jesus is identified by the Father in heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The Christ/Messiah/King and the Son of God are perfectly fulfilled and unified in Jesus.

PREACHING: Jesus’ message is simple, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus is not referring to a temporal nearness, but rather a physical nearness via His incarnation. The kingdom is not “just around the corner,” but present in Him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

AUTHORITY: In 1:22 we read, “The people were amazed at his teaching. That’s because he taught them like one who had authority. He did not talk like the teachers of the law.” What can easily be missed here is the concept of AUTHORITY. Jesus didn’t simply impress people with His deeds. That’s not authority - that’s magic. I’ve watched guys like David Blaine, David Copperfield, and the TV show The Carbanaro Effect. Those guys are entertaining, but they don’t have AUTHORITY. Authority is when your actions/deeds correspond with your teaching/words. The teachers of the law had volumes of rules and regulations for every aspect and facet of life, but common folks saw how they lived - and the two things just didn’t line up. Jesus came and His actions of humility, love, compassion, peace, selflessness, altruism, benevolence, obedience, and mercy spoke INFINITELY LOUDER than His exorcisms, healings, and miracles.

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Some of the questions that Mark's gospel raises are these:

Do your actions of humility, compassion, peace, selflessness, altruism, benevolence, obedience, and mercy toward others effectively communicate Christ’s authority in and over your life? Is anyone coming to faith in Christ or growing in their relationship with Him because of you?

Does your life manifest the sovereign AUTHORITY of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Or is it more like the impotent, self-serving, comfort & power driven lives of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day - the ones bereft of authority because what they demonstrated (deeds) didn’t line up with what the oral vomit spewed out of their pie-holes.

Jesus didn’t merely just call us to repentance. That was John the Baptist’s ministry. Jesus calls us to be disciples, followers, and “fishers of men.” Our ministry is one of AUTHORITY because we are disciples of the Son of God, because His teachings are our teachings, because His character is our character, and because His life of humility, compassion, peace, selflessness, altruism, benevolence, obedience, and mercy is what defines our lives.

When our teaching lines up with our deeds, then the kingdom truly is near, and Jesus, the Son of God, and His AUTHORITY is manifest in and through us. He truly becomes Immanuel (God with us) not merely in title, but in reality, and we literally become His good news, i.e. gospel, as God’s glorious blessing upon all the peoples of the earth!

So How about you? Got authority?

Blessing,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com

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