✨ Summary

Gospel (euangelion) = "good news"

• This is where we get our term "Evangelism."
• The gospels are not just dry stories but a story to be believed and then told to others.
• They are historical, they are narrative stories, and they are deeply theological.

Why four gospels? "Why can't we just have one gospel?"

• Tatian attempted to harmonise all four gospels into one (Diatessaron) in AD 170, but the early church rejected this.
• Analogy: Different perspectives, like a mother, wife, and children writing about the same person in different roles.

1. Content: Each gospel presents a different picture of Christ.
2. Communication: Each gospel was written for a different audience with different needs.
3. Clarity: Things unclear in one gospel are clarified in another.
4. Confirmation: Multiple accounts confirm accuracy.

Synoptic = "to see together."

• Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the synoptic gospels because of their similarities.
• They provide a "synopsis" of the life of Christ.

The common belief is that Mark was the first gospel written.

• Mark has only 7% unique content, and both Matthew & Luke likely used it as a template.
• According to Papius and Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 3.39.15), Mark wrote down Peter’s eyewitness testimony.
• Matthew & Luke also drew from a hypothetical source called "Q" (German Quelle = source), which contained oral traditions and collected stories.
• Luke thoroughly researched his account, compiling stories before writing his gospel.
• Despite human authorship, the Holy Spirit guided the process, ensuring inspiration, accuracy, and truth without error.

Who is Mark?

• Likely the young man who fled naked from the garden (Mark 14:51-52).
• Served as Peter’s scribe and lived in Rome at the time of writing.
• Joined Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey (Acts 15:36-40) but abandoned them.
• Paul initially rejected Mark for a second trip, leading to a split between Paul and Barnabas.
• Mark later became useful to Paul (Colossians 4:15, 2 Timothy 4:11).
• Was mentored by Peter, who had also experienced rejection and restoration.

The purpose of the Gospels is primarily theological because Jesus is theological.

• If Jesus were just a historical figure, the gospels would focus only on accuracy.
• Jesus' mission was theological, so the gospel writers reflect that.
• Jesus came as God to die for the sins of the world so we may have eternal life.
• Each writer adapted their message for their audience:
  • Matthew: Appealed to Jewish scripture to prove Jesus as the Messiah.
  • Mark: Focused on action and miracles to convince Romans.
  • Luke: Provided historical and reasoned arguments for Greeks.
  • John: Emphasised Jesus' divinity to counter those trying to humanise Him.
• Differences in emphasis between gospels are intentional and serve theological purposes.

Mark's Gospel was most likely written to the Romans.

• Translates Aramaic expressions and explains Jewish customs in Latin terms.
• Mark’s gospel is short because Romans valued action over long discourse.
• Mark emphasises miracles, as Romans wanted proof of Jesus’ power.
• The Roman mindset was more impressed by power and action than by teaching.

Mark is a fast-moving book.

• The word "immediately" appears 42 times in Mark, compared to 5 in Matthew and 1 in Luke.
• Mark omits genealogy-Romans don’t care about Jewish heritage, just action.
• Begins abruptly: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

Broadly separated into two parts:

• Part 1: Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (Chapters 1-8).
• Part 2: Jesus’ ministry in Judea & Jerusalem (Chapters 8-16).

Chapters 1-8 set up the plot.

• Jesus demonstrates power over nature and the spirit realm.
• Announces the kingdom of God and backs it up with miracles.
• Mark 2: Jesus heals the paralytic to prove He has authority to forgive sins.
  • Forgiving sins is something only God can do.
  • Jesus proves His divine authority by healing the man.

The kingdom of God is where the King is.

• The King (Jesus) has come, but we are still waiting for His full reign.
• Jesus isn’t absent; He is still at work and will return to set things right.
• Miracles happened because Jesus was present-His power was a sign of His message.

Mark emphasises Jesus’ divine authority.

• Jesus amazed people because He did what only God could do:
  • Forgives sins (only God can forgive sins).
  • Knows thoughts (only God knows hearts).
  • Declares Himself Lord of the Sabbath.
  • Nullifies Old Testament dietary laws (something only the lawgiver could do).
  • Performs miracles, casts out demons, and walks on water.

What would you do with that power?

• If you had all the power, how would you use it?
• Jesus used His power to serve, heal, and ultimately sacrifice Himself for others.

📝 Final Sermon Script

Gospel (euangelion) = "good news"

• This is where we get our term "Evangelism"
• So, in that sense the gospels are not just dry stories but a story to be believed and then told to others.
• They are historical, they are narrative stories, and they are deeply theological

Why four gospels? "Why can't we just have one gospel?"
Well, one whackjob named Tatian tried to combine all four gospels in AD170 and called it the Diatessaron to try harmonise the gospel. But the early church was like "yeah, no… just let em be brother"

• Analogy: if my mum was writing about how great of a son I was, my wife was writing about me as a husband, and my kids writing about me as a father. Each account would be different but together would paint the picture of who I actually am.

1. Content: each gospel presents a different picture of Christ
2. Communication: each gospel was written to a different group of people with different needs at different places and times
3. Clarity: Things that are unclear in one gospel is clarified in the other
4. Confirmation: multiple accounts confirm the accuracy of the accounts.

Synoptic = "to see together."

• Matthew, Mark, Luke are considered the synoptic gospels because of how similar they are. They provide a "synopsis" of the life of Christ.

The common belief is that Mark was the first gospel written.

• Mark only has 7% unique content and it seems as though both Matthew & Luke used Mark as a type of template.
• According to Papius - the disciple of the Apostle John, and Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 3.39.15), John-Mark was the Apostle Peter's scribe. John-Mark wrote down the eyewitness testimony of Peter, which forms the gospel of Mark.
• Matthew & Luke then drew from both Mark and a hypothetical source that scholars call Q (German Quelle=source). Q is like the oral traditions, sources, and stories collected. So Luke, who says he "thoroughly researched" his account is sitting at the bar with a bunch of eyewitnesses, he has their stories written down on napkins. On those napkins are all the Pericopes of the account (or stories, loosely). They then sit down with Mark's gospel and all these napkins, which we'll call "Q," and piece together their eyewitness account.
• But it wasn't just them, rather, the Holy Spirit guided them in putting together the account, clarifying what needs to be clarified and probably not including those napkins that are just false. Because of this influence, we can be confident that the gospels are God-inspired, and therefore true and without error or mistake.

Who is Mark?

• Well, firstly if you know your bible, John-Mark is probably the guy who ran out of the garden naked.
• He was believed to be Peter's scribe who lived in Rome at the time of writing.
• In Acts 15:36-40 we see John-Mark join his cousin Barnabus, or Barney, & Paul on their missionary journey but then he abandons Paul.
• "Let's go on a missions trip"… "umm, hey I have to go home now, yeah"
• Paul had some pretty hard words about John-Mark, like "that John-Mark, he's a loser… the going got tough and Marky boy ran home to his mother"
• So a rift happened between Paul and Barney over John-Mark.. the little baby who cant hack it on the road… Paul didn't want to take him on the second missionary journey obviously, because he's a little pansy boy.
• And because of this we see Paul & Barney split… it's actually the first disagreement we see among the apostles
• So Paul take Silas instead… and Silas is like "Thanks Barney, now I'm gonna get beat up in a Philippian jail"
• So, Mark ended up meeting up with Peter… which makes sense.. Peter rejected Christ in the end, Mark rejected Paul… Peter kind of took him under his wing
• And Paul then later states that John-Mark was "useful" to him as a "fellow worker" in Colossians 4:15. Which is pretty cool.
• In 2nd Timothy Paul even asks for John-Mark to be sent to him because he is helpful… Which is cool, moving from "this little metro boy who cant handle it" to "hey, I want John-Mark, he's great".

The PURPOSE of the Gospels is primarily Theological because Jesus is Theological.

• IF Jesus was simply a historical figure, each gospel writer would only be concerned with the historicity and accuracy of the account.
• But because Jesus' mission was theological in nature, the writers reflect that too.
• Jesus came as God to die for the sins of the world so that we may have eternal life.
• To convince their reader's of not just His historicity, but also His message, Matthew appealed to the Jewish Old Testament to convince the Jews, Mark appealed to His doing/miracles to convince the Romans, Luke appealed to reason and history (an orderly account) to convince the Greeks, and John appealed to His divine nature to convince those seeking to humanise Him.
• This is why, when critiques say things like "well, the stories aren't the same, wouldn't they be the same?" No. Everything they state is true, but they will emphasise differently, they'll remove some stories that don't help their point, they'll draw out other stories that help their point.

Mark's gospel is most likely written to the Romans.

• There are five times where he translates Aramaic expressions and many other times where he explains Jewish customs in latin terms… Why else would he have to do this unless he was writing to the Romans
• This is why Mark's gospel is so short compared to Matthews, which was written to Jews. Jews care about what Jesus said and how it relates to Old Testament. Romans could care a bit about that, they want to see action… Prove you're God
• This is why Mark emphasises miracles so much, because Romans want to see Jesus do what HE claims to be.
• The Roman mind was impressed more by action and power than by discourse and dialogue.

Mark is a fast-moving book. The word "immediately" appears 42 times in this book, 5 times in Matthew and once in Luke. Chapter 1:

• v10: immediately he saw the heavens being torn open
• v12: The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
• v18: And immediately they left their nets and followed him
• v20: And immediately he called them
• v21: and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue
• v23: And immediately there was in their synagogue a man
• v28: And immediately his fame spread
• v29: And immediately he left the synagogue
• v30: and immediately they told him about her
• v42: And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
• v43: Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away immediately,
  Mark doesn't even have a genealogy because Peter's not like that, let's get to the action. Romans don't care about Jewish genealogies, "who's Perez the father of Hezron?"
• Mark just says "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God"

Broadly separated into two parts:

• PART 1: Jesus' ministry in Galilee (Ch 1 - 8)
• PART 2: Ministry in Judea & Jerusalem (Ch 8 - 16)
  Chapters 1-8 are a high-sped narrative that's kind of setting up the plot.
• All throughout this, we see Jesus' power over nature, over the spirit realm.
• He's announcing the good news… "Hey the kingdom of God has come, now"
• Like, right now, watch this… BOOM, Healings, miracles, exorcisms
• Pronouncement of the good news, miracle, pronouncement, miracle
• That's why Jesus healed, to pronounce the good news. Mark 2, the religious leaders are offended that Jesus claims to forgive sins… only GOD can do that.

Mark 2

This is a good thing to temper our theology with… Where the king is, that's where the kingdom is.

• We are in a waiting process… The king has come, but still is not yet.
• The king's not on vacation, he's still doing His thing and He's coming back and will turn everything right.
• The reason for the miracles that happened everywhere is that Jesus was there.
• But why did the miracles happen? Because the king was there… the miracles were all in support of His message

And his miracles, Mark says, amazed people… Cause Jesus did what only God could

• He forgives sins, only God can forgive sins
• He discerns thoughts, only God can know thoughts
• Jesus claims to be Lord of the Sabbath, only the inventor of the Sabbath can claim that.
• He annuls the Old Testament dietary laws. You cant do that. Well, if you invented them, you can
• He heals people, casts out demons, walks on water, does miracles…

What would you do with that power? Like the power of Thanos, what would you do?

• Imagine Australia was occupied by China, or Russia, and you have all the power?
• What would you do? Turn them all to dust.
• Jesus does nothing… God's people are oppressed by the Roman Empire… and He does nothing
• He begins to suffer… like, really??

1. Mark 8:31 - First Prediction of the Passion

Mark 8

• Every reader is indicted at that moment. Because we aren't thinking the way Jesus is thinking.
• We dont understand the plan of salvation and we need to yield to it by getting out of the Matrix.
• Jesus is smashing some paradigms and the reader is struggling.

For Romans (and really anyone in the first century), a mighty leader was not supposed to suffer; they led with authority and demanded service.

• Back then, might made right… Whoever had the largest armies was right, "ok buddy, I'll listen"
• Jesus flips that expectation upside down by choosing suffering.
• Do you know how confusing that would be?
• Our thoughts of how Jesus' return would be, like Revelation stuff with raining fire and heavens armies and all that… That's what all the Jews expected of their Saviour.
• He would remove all the non-Jews, re-institute Israel's worship and temple-system. In fact some still think this
• But Jesus doesn't do any of that. This was so opposite to people used to the power and dominance of Rome.
• The meaning of his life and mission is not about victory and success, but about rejection, suffering, and death. "the Son of Man must suffer many things"

One scholar:

God is therein precisely God in that he can do what humanity cannot do: God can allow himself to be rejected, to be made low and small, without being driven into an inferiority complex.… Whoever understands the suffering of the Son of Man understands God. It is there, and not in heavenly splendor, that one sees the heart of God.

What's ironic is that the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not come at the hands of godless and wicked people.

• The suffering of the Son of Man comes rather at the hands of "the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law."
• It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best.
• The death of Jesus is not be the result of a momentary lapse of human nature, but the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions by the highest standards of law and morality, even believing them to render service to God (John 16:2)

Modern culture often prizes self-promotion and power. Yet Christ’s model is self-giving love.

• Jesus demonstrates that true Godly living involves humility and sacrifice.
• In contrast, it's those who believe they know best. Those who only think of themselves, to protect their own power and position and place in the world. Those are the enemies of God.
• We’re called to follow that same pattern of Jesus' self-denial. We deny self, for a greater purpose.
• How often do we suck at that? I prefer living only for myself.

The disciples in Mark primarily serve as negative rolemodels who seek power and position

• That's Peter, right? He's the guy who feels like the biggest idiot
• Let's be honest, Peter was the worst disciple ever… Jesus called Him Satan.
• He chopped a dude's ear off because he misunderstood Jesus' metaphor… like "Peter, I didnt mean to bring a REAL sword"
• He denies Jesus three times. that's not good.
• You ever hear of those stories from countries where Christianity is outlawed and people storm the church with guns like "denounce Jesus or we shoot"… We all like to say "I would never"… Peter would the first one saying "nah, I'm out"
• And yet, Jesus restores him.
• Even in Acts Peter's still causing issues.

I'm grateful for Peter because I'm the idiot disciple too.

• The Gospel of Mark is for idiot disciples who say "I believe you, help my unbelief"
• "I want to follow you, can I follow you imperfectly"
• "I need your restoration, your grace"
• It's strangely comforting that the disciples are portrayed badly, they just want position and power… I see that in myself
• They shrink back from opposition, that would be me.
• Jesus is portrayed as the perfect disciple… He's the one who came to serve

2. Mark 10:42-45 - Servant Leadership

Mark 10

• The Romans revered strength, victory, and authoritarian rule.
• Jesus redefines greatness as service.
• Rome expected conquered peoples to serve them, yet Jesus says the King of the Kingdom of God serves others.

How often have we sacrificed for others without any expectation of compensation.

• Your response might be "every day I just live for others… my kids, my boss, my spouse"
• And we often take it as a burden… "ooohh, I cant wait to just have no responsibility of others… to just do stuff for myself"
• In this world driven by personal gain, this verse confronts us with a radical call: greatness is measured by how we serve, not how much we accumulate.
• Our pride is challenged and invites us to live sacrificially for others.
• Can you imagine if Jesus decided, "you know what, the cross can wait, I just need to better myself and enjoy my own life"
• Instead, God suffered for us.

3. Mark 14:22-24 - The Last Supper & Covenant Language (COMMUNION)

Mark 14

• For the sake of His covenant, God's laws… His agreement with His people… Christ suffered
• His people, who failed time and time again, could not save themselves.
• Their sin, our sin… separates us from God and we could never find our way back to relationship with God by our own achievements.
• So Jesus took our sin for us, took our death for us.
• He gave himself for a new covenant. A covenant relationship with God that's now based on His completed work, not our attempts at perfection.

So, this morning we remember that sacrifice together.

• We remember the suffering servant.
• And in the taking of communion, His blood poured out, His body broken… We eat and drink the benefits of that sacrifice again.
• We thank you lord, that we are saved by your works… Saved by grace.
• Thank you that your Presence is Present in the taking of communion
• Thank you that as we partake of this as your church, in faith, we are partaking of your Presence.
• Amen.

5. Mark 15:16-39 - The Crucifixion Scene

Mark 15

Mark 15

Mark 15

• Ironically, a Roman centurion is the one who recognises Jesus’ divine identity at His most humiliating moment.
• It’s the paradox of power through apparent weakness.
• The Romans expected a king to prove his lordship by conquering; Jesus proves His by sacrificially giving His life.

It’s at the cross-arguably the darkest moment-where Jesus’ identity shines most brightly.

• Our culture might say power is displayed in success and victory, but Mark emphasises that in death Jesus accomplishes His greatest victory.
• It reminds us that God’s ways can look like weakness but result in ultimate triumph.

Mark reveals Jesus as the suffering servant.

• God suffered for you and for me.
• He gave His life so that you can be saved from our sin by His works.
• We can never be good enough for God.
• But Christ's sacrifice is enough.
• Will you accept that sacrifice, admit that you can't save yourself, and place your faith in Him?

And for those who are Christians

• Will we follow our saviour in a life of humble sacrifice, or seek our own good?