Mark 1

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0:00 Good to see you all. Hope you had a good holiday and I was talking to the chor up. They spent most of the time on the road yesterday. We did as well. A couple extra hours in traffic. Super fun. Hope that you all had a perfect topic and good feeling of time. This Sunday is the first Sunday of the new church year. I would like that advent calendar. And it's interesting to try and

0:31 find ways to orient yourself to the rhythm of the church over and against sometimes the busyness of the culture. There is that period in my life of season where I try to think about the day starting in the evening, coming off of that story of creation where there's even there's morning the first day and time. Go on the galsets and day starts in the evening. I'll set the evening. That's worked for a little while but it's hard to think against the culture of the late things go or when does your week start. So today is the start of the new church

1:07 year. And so this is the first Sunday of the new year. It might be interesting to allow yourself to consider what the year looks like or what the year brings or use these four weeks before the new year's holiday to consider where all the mountain years go. The color for the church for this for advent season and those banners back there is purple. The same color that you use for length.

1:38 Because advent season is meant to be kind of an introspective almost a stronger season. You know, we get ready to celebrate the resurrection and the way we get ready to celebrate the resurrection is to recognize our need for the crucifixion. And so in length spent time looking at our sinfulness and our need for forgiveness. In advent, you use the purple color because we're preparing for Christ's return. So the fact that Christ

2:09 came once means the deal come again. And so historically advent season all looks at the second coming to Christ became once the things that will come again and bring all things to you. New heavens, new earth, resurrection bodies, eternity in the new creation. All the new seasonals we prepare the prayers. We don't know them, but Christ has promised that he returns and so we prepare for his return. I started looking

2:41 at the text of the sign in the poem was my favorite. But I decided we're going to get ready for a Christmas with advent season. So I'm going to look at the first of the beginning of each of the four gospels one week at a time. So this week we're going to look at Mark the beginning of Mark gospel Mark chapter one. Next week we'll pick a different one. So today I want to start with looking at Mark gospel one. For its Mark gospel is the

3:21 store that's gospel. A lot of people think Mark gospel being the store of gospel and it's missing a lot of these like core stories that Matthew and you have at custom out. So a lot of people think that Mark gospel was written first. Very first. It's simpler missing some of these core stories and actually in the first versions that we have of Mark

3:51 gospel there's no resurrection. It's pretty clear that all the resurrection of people appearances that are in Mark gospel recorded in Mark gospel were added after the past. It's a lot of people think that Mark gospel was written very early. Some people think that if you read the story of the last supper and the garden of Gethsemane there's a young guy hanging around with please this is underwear from the situation is too young

4:26 to be a disciple. A lot of people think that this is maybe Mark. The Greek professor that I had is on the committee to translate the ESD really smart guys. He wrote the commentary for he wrote a commentary on Mark. He suggests and I like it that Mark was actually the last gospel that Mark is writing to a generation of people who are living post resurrection of Jesus and they're fewer and fewer people around who saw the resurrected Jesus and the

5:03 reason there are no resurrection experiences or appearances in his gospel is because it might have been tempting in that first generation after the ones that have seen the resurrected Jesus to say if we had just seen him it would be easier to believe. And Mark gospel is always immunity. Third is moving fast very quick. It's to the person. It's to the gospel. It's to the message. It's to the word of Jesus and Mark is saying that it is the word that is the powerful

5:34 thing. It is the accomplishing of the prophecy of Jesus and the miracle of the person of Jesus of Nazareth. That's the thing that creates us as we search. We don't need the physical seeing. We have the presence of the spirit in an aiding our faith today. Don't worry about the rest of us in a parent's day. Take the word of the ones who have seen it and in body the spirit of God. And so Mark when he gets ready to start his gospel he starts before the book of Jesus

6:09 and then skips over it real fast. So Mark chapter 1 verse 1 in the beginning of the gospel of the good news of Jesus the Christ the Son of God. All this is written in the in Isaiah the prophet behold I said the messenger before your faith to will prepare your land. The voice of one crown the wilderness prepared the way of the Lord make his path straight. He jumped to John appeared that path in the wilderness and

6:42 proclaiming a baptism of the temple for the forgiveness of things. He jumped to John in the gospel. But let's look at who he quoted here in Isaiah. If you fold your finger and Mark and go back all day after 40. This is really cool prophecy from Isaiah. Isaiah. One of the most prolific prophets and remember that in in the time of Israel the kingdoms of Israel when the people of God are

7:18 associated with this nation of Israel. He's intended that this nation would embody what it looks like to live in relationship to the God that all the world with Israel positioned in the trade route would see what it looks like for people to be in relationship with God and through that demonstration through this city through this light through this nation of priests they would be drawn back to the one through God worth of him in the temple and right order would be the store.

7:50 And in order to communicate to those to these people separated from God connected to the civil presence through the sacrificial system God comes on individuals with a special dispensation of the spirit in order to speak his word to them because he's realized that he needs to communicate to the people directly that from the times of Noah even Abraham wandering in the desert needed prophets that spoke to the people and Isaiah's language prophets he had expressed his dispensation of the spirit before the releasing up before the Pentecost and the spirit on all

8:24 people. They all were were important right they went out and were accomplished the purpose for which they were the fact they substantiated God's will and intent in the world. Tays made decisions about him based based on what he said he was missing people they didn't like and this little idea that came about to be special and God. I think it was a big deal.

8:58 So we wrote down Isaiah's words we wrote down more of Isaiah's words than any of the other prophets and he prophesied in the during the demise of the kingdom especially the northern kingdom during the demise of the northern kingdom and often he's talking about how Israel is not fulfilling their calling to be a city on the hill but every once in a while he speaks forward into a seeing what will come and he does that here in chapter 40 ahead of the comfort that

9:38 should come while they're still experiencing the judgment of God Isaiah says comfort comfort my people says you're God speaks tenderly to the root from and he tried to have that her warfare it ended that her iniquity is pardoned which is received from the Lord's hand double for all his sin and so a voice cries in the world and needs to prepare a way for the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God every valley shall be lifted up in every mountain and hill be made

10:10 low and the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places plain and the glory of the Lord's coming revealed and all slept so he is together for the mouth of Lord's focus that sounds really great i've talked about it before but it is super cool to me i don't know what the free-gator god of this universe what the infinite unbounded unyielding omniscient omnipotent god have to do in order to give his ideas small enough to be comprehended by the brain of Isaiah but

10:41 whatever calisthenic he has to go through to get his thoughts into the mouth of Isaiah he takes the trouble to make the words poetry i love that but it's not the some kind of data dump of ones and geros communicating his thoughts or intent it's a beautiful world that provides translation after translation to come to us with art and beauty your god is capable of creation and love

11:14 the world of creation you're got a creative and substitute he communicates truth with me because it matters love that mccut tells us about what god might be up to in our long the beauty and the symmetry that when things are broken and uh dysharmonia when they are uh all hanging in and uh uh jumping back and forth we know that things when things are uneven and broken that god

11:51 is not done yet because this god is about of order and beauty symmetry and creation substance and form and he communicates through Isaiah but now consider what he's doing here and it's like maybe three levels of your own mobile needs processing whatever god communicates the words that get written down tend to have three fulfillment school mobile one in the immediate

12:22 one in the person of Christ and one finally in the eternal and so look they kind of unfold here in the prophecy of god through the perfect person of Isaiah god says hey Isaiah comfort my people these are people who are being conquered brutally I mean the the the conquering of Israel was bruised people pulled away on this hook uh rolled through towns destroyed and burned families

12:57 separated brutal right and in the midst of the brutal conquering god says hey take comfort come for comfort my people speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her work is ended when Isaiah says this her work is certainly is not ended uh but faith uh apprehends things that are yet to come

13:30 and the god through the prophet Isaiah invites his nation Israel to believe in his promises more than the things they can see invites Israel to say my prerogative shapes reality more than nation states and countries and I think your war fair and zenith in the car receive comfort your iniquity is part of though they are experiencing uh the left of

14:06 you from or the consequences of their iniquity in the moment but she has received from the lord hand double for all his sins of course he's saying after the 70 years remember uh Jeremiah speaks to him when they're in exile and says that he's after the 70 years and then you'll come back god is telling Isaiah to give Israel the hope now that their deliverance is coming later he's saying you're trying to endure hardship pain this ambiguity this uh when you are uh

14:44 out of court your your capacity to endure and even thrive in the midst of difficulty is the promise of the living that's coming that says through Isaiah 2 Israel being in comfort comfort your iniquity is part of your war fair of the same course the same is true for you the way you deal with broken body difficult relationship and the Jewish ambiguous futures uh meandering career path

15:23 confusing emotions the way you deal with the like fractured nature of your life is the promise that your god is created and even that he's a god of order and beauty and all of your fractured parts are being brought together your iniquity has been pardoned your difficulty and warfare is

15:54 ended comfort is real tenderly your difficulty is down faith apprehends things that are yet to come and of waste cries in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord makes straight the pulse of the death of their holiday for every valor sable lifted up and every mountain and hill made low

16:24 and young even ground to the level and growth takes explain and the glory of the Lord's Savior is the big deal now pinnacle prophet Isaiah speaking his big words to Israel the ninks of that in the world conquered dramatically by the largest empire in their known world telling them that they were win and then of course they do send me years later sirens maracas and stuffs them back sirens this enemy king called a messiah get them money

16:55 and teams pardoned to walk back across the desert the juridly rough places made plain killed made low they come from Babylon back to Israel about it in Ezra and the Amaya just miraculous keenly pardoned in a way that's unbounded old noticeable nations moving wall rebuild

17:29 that's the like mid-term fulfillment or the immediate fulfillment is in prior to using Israel from Babylon uneven ground to the terminal and the rough places claim and the glory of the Lord's having revealed how could Israel have such favor for the nation stand with the king the powers of the world is the reality of their god

18:01 one who defeats Egypt where's the height of the final age away what struck me was um how uh big and noticeable that fulfillment of uh Isaiah is and then uh this fulfillment in Jesus

18:41 oh small oh bark the little kid too young to be a disciple in naked and gray pens a little story remembering the great prophet Isaiah and movement of teams it preserved a story of uh little something dated occupied nation of people on the wrong side

19:12 of the Mediterranean separated from power isolated by desert a little backwards tackle history community who has their story of their care even John the Baptist story is bigger uh remember that that uh John the Baptist will be now the the midway boy's crying in the desert prepare away for the Lord but as you go out into the desert

19:42 and he'll quote these words from Isaiah the words of God from Isaiah to say we have the first fulfillment inspired we have a new fulfillment coming in this person right and and John the Baptist keeps out the person but even this coming is bigger than Jesus is coming his dad's that's why he has a high priest he has an entire in the holy of holy to say that your old barren wife will bear his child he doesn't believe it and he's

20:16 cooked down he can't speak to the length of a pregnancy it draws all his attention he's gone the back was going home even John the Baptist has a bigger announcement than Jesus one little hairy in small matter if they think at the time of matter there weren't even even any above ground

20:47 homes people that mostly in page and earth and prison and they were all fruit herders and shepherds for themselves or others they could drive that famous rage when the thing will come to be just what good to come from that as a small right little mary air in matter so in consequence of that when she gets pregnant before the appropriate time she sticks with it and she can escape to her her cousin Elizabeth and nobody

21:25 if I and her little phrase oh my god in my view no a new where she utters her life the Magnificat who wrote this down my soul magnifies the lord and my spirit rejoices and got my savior for he has looked on the humble state of the prison for the hope from now on all generations will call me black for

21:55 he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name and his mercy is for those who hear him from generation to generation he has thrown strong to become he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts he has brought down mighty from their drones and exalted those of humble estates he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our promise to Abraham and his offspring forever the only day I can think is that married remember maybe Elizabeth

22:30 helped her and when Luke came to get the story of how it happened he said do you remember since a gallery Elizabeth and he said yeah I remember that thing that came out of your mouth when it's all you yes and together they put it back together and Luke got it down God bless him so that you and I could bring it this little utterance the magnificat of Mary just for Mary and Elizabeth the creator of the university unbounded infinite God who speaks through Isaiah and moves Cyrus and

23:03 organizes nations brings the savior of the world into the world in community just quietly the fact that the story has endured the kodal that you and I are captured by this person

23:36 and those around him is evidence that there is God of order and beauty of creation and redemption and this God of universes and eternal is not too big for you not big for you it's not a university

24:25 and eternity it's also the God of quiet moments and intimate relationship the sky who makes rough places plain level fields and erases up values also will store heart the doll in equity heart and sin

25:04 Christmas of court isn't the whole story but its persistence is evident something much larger it's not just a hero story of endures it's the secret story of knowledge and the virgin marriage stuff and the conscious dialogue

25:37 oh it's a game according to the scriptures of family data sit at the right hand God of quiet online will come to sites for living and the day with a final fulfillment to comfort my people make what a phrase because of king calm is when he comes back it came once evidence by the persistence of the story and the working around him and the machinations of our heart and our capacity to feel and believe he came once and so the real

26:12 come again we set all right repair everything that is broken redeem everything that has done for order and beauty as it was intended you and I are caught up in a story that's expected

26:44 back to Israel and Cyrus and Isaiah through Mary and Elizabeth and Zechariah and John the Baptist and out through her into eternity you and I are living in the story now just one little kid take heart so you live amidst warfare and fragmentation

27:17 so worth it all has been set right take heart though you live amongst sin and the mystery to how the good and talented to have been let me pray hey lord thank you for the gift of your son Jesus the power in his story to capture our heart and redeem us all thank you for the finished work of

27:53 the cross and resurrection and give us the faith to offer him things that are yet to come that Christ died that we would experience it now