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Four Identities of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

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When Jesus ministered on earth, He did more than just teach people. He was a man of action. He was more than a messenger of the gospel . . . He was the gospel. The good news of God was present in His life, His teaching, His death, and His resurrection. By His humility and His humanity, His service and His sacrifice, Jesus proved Himself as the ultimate Servant. 

The Bold Rabbi

The action-oriented record of Jesus’ life we find in Mark’s Gospel briefly introduces John the Baptist as the Messiah’s forerunner and then turns the spotlight on God’s Servant. Immediately after Jesus’s baptism and temptation, He arrives in Galilee, where He calls His first disciples — Peter, Andrew, James, and John — and embarks on a preaching and miracle-working tour that must have lasted for weeks. What follows next sets the stage for all that is to come: a series of controversies (or “conflict” episodes) with the Jewish leaders, beginning with the incident involving the disciples of Jesus picking grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28).  

The contrast between Jesus’ reception by His true disciples and the opposition to Him among the “religious” of His day was evident early on. Israel’s religious leaders consisted of four different sects — the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, and the teachers of the Law — each of whom envied Jesus’s popularity with the people. The Jewish religious establishment also resented Jesus for exposing their hypocrisy and self-righteousness. His claims to be the Messiah and the Son of God — claims that in their eyes were blatant blasphemy — incensed them.  

The increasing tensions between Jesus and the Jewish leaders foreshadow a deadly showdown. Specifically, it is the last of the conflict episodes, when Jesus heals a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath, that prompts the legalistic Pharisees to begin plotting together on how to destroy Jesus (Mark 3:3-6). Their tradition prohibited practicing medicine on this day of worship and rest except in life-threatening situations. But no actual law in the Old Testament forbade healing or any other acts of mercy on the Sabbath.  

Christ’s prerogative to rule over not only man-made sabbatarian rules but also over the Sabbath itself was another inescapable claim of His deity and, as such, resulted in the Pharisees’ outrage. This, in turn, led to Christ’s withdrawal to the Sea of Galilee with a great multitude from many places, where He named the rest of His disciples.  

The Deliverer

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” — Mark 10:45 (NKJV)

One way Jesus served those whom He came to save was by delivering God’s truth to a world shrouded in darkness. Jesus taught the people, often using parables in His teaching, such as the parables of the sower, the lamp, the seed, and the mustard seed. These short, simple, earthbound stories communicated eternal truths to reveal previously unknown mysteries about the kingdom of God to believers and to conceal its truth from unbelievers.  

Another way Jesus served was by delivering people from certain temporal trials. In all of Old Testament history, there had never been a person who exhibited such extensive healing power as Jesus. Physical healings were rare in the Old Testament, but Christ chose to display His deity by healing, raising the dead, and liberating people from demons. This not only showed the Messiah’s power over the physical and spiritual realms but also demonstrated God’s compassion toward those affected by sin, adding to an already-convincing presentation of Jesus as the Servant-Messiah sent by God.  

The Misunderstood Savior

In spite of Jesus’s amazing works, His own family and friends misunderstood His message and ministry. The backlash that Jesus received in His final visit to an unbelieving Nazareth prompted Him to redefine what it means to be part of God’s family (see Mark 6:1-6). At this stage in His ministry, Jesus began to train the twelve disciples to join Him as fellow workers rather than as observers. Christ also broadened His ministry to the irreligious Gentiles in the area, healing and performing amazing miracles in Tyre, Sidon, Decapolis, and Bethsaida, where many religious outcasts willingly trusted and obeyed Him. 

To the casual reader, some of the reports of Jesus’ ministry may seem to be a collection of unrelated incidents, but ultimately, He was deliberately moving toward Jerusalem, the site of His final confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus, knowing the time was short, set about teaching and modeling for His disciples a number of important kingdom truths, such as defining kingdom greatness, identifying true spiritual fruit, and warning those who would be stumbling blocks. 

The Dedicated Son

In the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, the Son of Man entered Jerusalem to the glad shouts of the masses but also to the consternation of the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus then drove the money changers and merchants from the temple and publicly rebuked the scribes and Pharisees, which set Him on a collision course with the cross (see Mark 11). Yet there were still lessons to be taught, so Jesus seized the opportunity in a sermon He delivered from the Mount of Olives just east of the temple. His prediction of the future destruction of the temple in Jerusalem prompted a question from the disciples about the character of the end times. Jesus responded by describing His second coming.  

All the while, those who hated Jesus were moving to destroy Him. Jesus’ followers, perhaps sensing trouble, reacted with everything from worship to abandonment. Finally, Christ was brought to two trials — the first one Jewish and religious; the other Roman and secular — and was sentenced to death (see Mark 15).  

God’s redeeming work through His Son culminated in the cross, where Jesus bore the sins of the world. In Christ’s atonement, God restored unity between Himself and sinful human beings, reinstating sinners to a relationship of “at-one-ment” with Him. This supreme revelation of God’s gracious love was followed by the greatest event in history: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Son of God willingly came to earth to preach, die, and be raised for the very purpose of saving humankind eternally from sin. 

Reflections

Consider the soil. Jesus appeals to those considering His claims to think about the kind of soil that represents their heart. If it is hard-packed and beaten down by neglect of God, He calls us to allow His Spirit to break up the ground and make it receptive to His Word. If the soil is shallow and superficial, He calls us to allow the Spirit to remove the rocky resistance that lies beneath the surface of our seeming acceptance of the gospel. If the soil is infested with the weedy cares of the world, He asks us to allow the Spirit to cleanse us of worldliness and to receive Him with no competing loyalties. 

The cross before the crown. To come to Jesus Christ is to receive and keep on receiving. Yet Jesus and the authors of the New Testament make it clear there must be a cross before the crown, suffering before glory, and sacrifice before reward. The heart of Christian discipleship is giving before gaining. 

The gospel is not self-focused. Christian discipleship strikes a death blow to self-centered false gospels. It leaves no room for the gospel of getting, where God is considered a type of genie who jumps to provide our every whim. It closes the door to the gospel of health and wealth, which asserts that if we are not healthy and prosperous, we have not exercised our divine rights — or do not have enough faith to claim our blessings. It undermines the gospel of improper self-esteem, which appeals to our narcissism and prostitutes the spirit of humble brokenness and repentance that marks the gospel of the cross.

Adapted from 52 Weeks Through the Bible by John MacArthur.

Have you ever started reading the Bible only to get lost, lose steam, become distracted? Do you want to develop a habit of faithfully reading God’s Word, but the task seems too daunting? Based on more than fifty-five years of teachings from bestselling author and pastor John MacArthur, this year-long pilgrimage through Scripture will serve as your daily guide, providing context, helping you form a routine, and deepening your knowledge.

John MacArthur

Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker. He has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. John is chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient. Shop MacArthur Bible Studies.

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