Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1696

August 3, 2025

Mark 1.1-13            Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“The Gospel”

 

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 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. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 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.

 

 

• The Gospel of Jesus

 

One of the basic questions we ask potential candidates for ordained ministry is this: “what is the gospel?” We ask because we want to know that person can effectively articulate the Good News of Jesus Christ. It can range from as simple as Christ was crucified, died, and was raised from the dead, to as complex as starting in Genesis and running through Revelation. Of course, we are not looking for a one hour answer! But, our leadership believes it is a no-brainer that ministers of the Gospel should be able to articulate the Gospel.

It is important that every Christian be able to articulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is our story of salvation, the reason we have hope, and the very reason we have life. I will often suggest that people write down their testimony. It does not have to have an incredible “blown off your horse” dynamic like Paul’s story in Acts 9. It only needs to relate your particular story of how Jesus has touched your life. Every single story of Christ in our lives is an important story because Jesus is at the center of our story. Does not have to have a day and time when Christ turned your life around. Does not have to have a, “in the gutter, He brought me out” miracle. It is still miraculous when you’ve know Christ from the cradle. We all have a different story and we all have a powerful story.

The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. That is the focus of Mark’s account, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” That is an amazing opening line. Mark signifies from the beginning of his writing that this is an account of the Gospel. It is namely the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is a simple statement but packed with loads of information and revelation. Let’s break it down for a minute or two!

 

 

 

The beginning – Mark begins his message, not at the birth of Christ as Matthew and Luke, nor at the beginning of creation, as does John, but at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Mark starts with John the Baptizer as the one announcing the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus. This is where it starts. Some say that it is a mark of Mark that he is working to get the Gospel out as quickly as possible. Everything moves quickly in Mark. This is where it all starts.

 

Of the Gospel – It is the beginning of the Gospel. It is the good news of Christ the Messiah. It is the news that the Jews have been waiting for so long. They knew it from the prophets. They would hear it from Christ Himself and they would see it in miracles, teaching, healings, and all that Mark recorded as the good news. The is the beginning of the Good News.

 

Of Jesus – This is the news about Jesus. The name itself means “one who saves”. He is the Savior; He is the Gospel. He is the good news. Mark wants us to remember that name. He is the One.

 

Of Christ – This is the good news of the Christ, the Messiah. The Christ is the anointed One, sent from God to save. Sent from God to become a sacrifice, once and for all, to save sinners. This is the Messiah spoken of in the Torah. The wait is over.

 

Of the Son of God – This is the good news of the Son, the Son of God. Mark is laying it all out for the reader to understand all that is meant by the revelation of the Gospel. This is the Gospel that Jesus preached and the Gospel that Jesus is!

 

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark.

 

• The Gospel in Isaiah

 

Mark, while believed to be the first Gospel written, was not the first to proclaim the good news.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

Verse 2 is actually a quote from Malachi 3.1, word for word. I heard a theologian who said that Mark was testing the reader, specifically the Jewish reader to see if they really knew the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah’s prophetic word comes right after the Malachi quote. Then Isaiah, verse 3, the one crying in the wilderness. So, this is a bonus prophet! Malachi and Isaiah proclaimed the coming of the Gospel, the good news about the Messiah.

 

Isaiah might have the most to say about the coming Messiah. Isaiah 7, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Mark does not quote this passage, but he quotes the prophet who wrote this and we might stretch it a little bit to say that Mark indirectly points us to the birth prophecy of Christ.

 

Isaiah is also the prophet who has the most to say about the suffering of the Christ. We are all familiar with Isaiah 53. I think it is worth reading the entire chapter.

 

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

 

This is the gospel according to Isaiah, with a little bit of Malachi tossed in!

 

• The Gospel from John

 

The next expression of the gospel is from John the Baptizer. John is quoting the Old Testament guys, but it has a fresh slant to it because John actually is the one crying in the wilderness and preparing the way for the Lord. Mark records John’s prophetic word of the good news and his unique ministry and dress and diet. The action begins here, John baptizing and proclaiming that One would come who is mightier than him. This points us once again to the immediacy of Mark’s writing. No birth narrative, no genealogy, straight to the point. The speed of the gospel story is signified in Mark by the word “immediately”. It occurs 35 times in Mark. The rest of the whole Bible used that term 47 times. Why might that be? As I have said already, scholars believe that Mark’s gospel was the first of the four and that Mark’s intention was to get it out as soon as possible and with the core message of Jesus Christ. Not to say that the other gospels have superfluous information, but Mark wanted people to know Jesus quickly and have the gospel in hand and in heart. That message was first proclaimed on the scene, in the time of Jesus, by John the baptizer.

 

These are the words of the gospel from the mouth of the New Testament prophet John.

 

• The Gospel from Heaven

 

The fourth gospel voice is one from heaven. When Jesus came up from the waters of baptism, immediately...there is that word...immediately he saw the heavens open, Spirit came down, the voice from heaven affirming this is the Son of God. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” I think the affirmation, though directed to Jesus, was also for all to hear. This is the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the good news.

 

This is the gospel from heaven, from the very voice of God. You cannot get much bigger than that!

 

One of my main purposes in displaying these expressions of the gospel is not just to say, wow, look at Mark and Isaiah and Malachi and John and the voice from heaven, but to say that we share in this proclamation as believers. We are the voices of the gospel – in our lives, in our thoughts, in our words, in our love for God and neighbor, in our obedience to the Word, in our faithful prayers, in our worship. All of it, all of our life is the ongoing testimony continued from the prophets, from the Old Testament, from the four gospels, from the epistles, from Genesis to Revelation. It has been revealed to us in the Word and we are called to tell it on the mountain, on the beach, in the store, at home, any time there is an opportunity. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation for all who will listen and respond in repentance and faith. Let us join in the chorus of witnesses proclaiming Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.