Highly Exalted

When people hear the term “the unforgivable sin,” thoughts seem to gravitate toward the heinous crimes of humanity that turn the stomach and sear the conscience. However, the unforgivable sin, according to Jesus, ends up being something common to all unbelievers. Trying to reconcile the unforgivable sin to the doctrine of sin can be a thought provoking exercise. This blog will attempt to briefly discuss that very issue and make much of the grace of Jesus that is often overlooked.

In the synoptic gospels, the evangelists recount the scribes who accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul and Jesus’ irrefutable and logical antidote present in three brief parables. Jesus clearly teaches that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the eternal sin from which there can be no salvation. The scribes did not recognize the work of the Holy Spirit’s testimony of Jesus of Nazareth. Their act of blasphemy came in a hard-heartened rejection of what the Holy Spirit was clearly declaring to the world in the life and work of Jesus. Jesus’ parable of the strong man demonstrates this truth. The strong man (Satan) of the house (this world) must be bound by the “one” (Jesus) before He plunders the house (establishes rule). The testimony of the Holy Spirit that beckons all those who would come to know Christ speaks to the unmistakable power of Jesus to bind the ruler of this world and establish His kingdom. This supernatural working of the Spirit is made manifest in the external preaching of the word of God and the inward work of the Spirit to bring about the salvific calling experience. Those who hear the word and continually and unrepentantly reject the call are guilty of the “eternal sin.”

On the front side of Jesus’ proclamation of the unforgivable sin is the admonition that all sins will be forgiven. Sin retains an eternal nature in the sense that the Bible explicitly states that the wage of sin is death (Ro 6:23). It only took the sin of one to condemn the entire humanity to a Christless future (Ro 5:18). Jesus is not somehow lessening the importance of the forgivable sins but affirming that all sin leads to death. In a day and age when sin seems to be celebrated, Jesus’ words exhort the reader to repentance and obedience to the Holy Spirit’s testimony of Himself. Yet the grace of Jesus is extended to many and those who were appointed to eternal life believed (Ac 13:48). Those who believe and trust Christ as Savior are absolved from all their sin. No matter the nature of the sin, the extremity of the sin, or the dastardliness of the sin, the shed blood of Christ atones for all of the sin of those who would believe. What a great comfort Jesus gives when people doubt Jesuss ability to save people from sin. The endurance of the atonement never ceases to fail to save God’s people. What amazing grace and what sweetness of the sound of the echo of the empty tomb that saved the wretch to a glorious end that exalts the One who bound the strong man.

This introduction will examine the scriptural historicity of Mark, the testimony of early church fathers, Mark as recording the earliest Gospel and a few helpful observations that should enrich the study of this important Gospel.

Scripture

The one to whom is referred as Mark is more appropriately known as John-Mark in most instances in the Bible. Luke makes clear in The Acts of the Apostles that John-Mark is often called just Mark and is the son of a woman in Jerusalem named Mary (Acts 12:12). In this context it is apparent that their house was a gathering place for the early church. This gives insight into the function of the early church, which is valuable as today’s western church seeks to build its empires built around the comfortable maintenance of institutions. Later in the same book, Luke gives a picture of John-Mark joining his cousin, Barnabas and new convert, Paul, from Antioch of Syria as they respond in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit to go to the Mediterranean world and preach the Gospel. However, after some time along the journey, John-Mark returns to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13) and is the cause of a significant divide between Barnabas and Paul as they prepare for their second journey from Antioch (Acts 15:36-41).

The Bible is not specific about why Mark left Barnabas and Paul on the first missionary journey, however, it must have been a fairly significant breach. Many scholars agree that his abandonment in Perga reflects poorly on his devotion to the mission the Holy Spirit has assigned to the church. Many people in today’s church can empathize with Mark’s sentiment – whether he was just tired, lazy, or did not want to follow through on his commitment, modern followers of Christ often find themselves distracted by something other than making Jesus’ name famous. The good news is this short separation between Paul and Mark is temporary. Paul indicates several times in his epistles that he desires Mark to be with him (Colossians 4:10, Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:11). He implies a certain reconciliation that has taken place. Every believer ought to be able to relate to one who has gone astray and then experienced the restoration of Christ and the reconciliation between brothers in Christ. Mark’s life gives testimony to the importance of Christian forgiveness and points to the kingdom reality of the work to which Christ has called the church.

Examining the life of Jesus and the possible intersection of His life and Mark’s may lead a person to see that Mark was not necessarily an eyewitness to the life and work of Jesus Christ. Some scholars differ due to a mysterious part of Mark’s writing that describes a nude young man’s presence outside Gesthsemane. Some believe this is Mark, but sufficient evidence is absent to draw a definitive conclusion on this young man’s identity. Mark may have been alive during Jesus’ ministry, but at some point in time, Mark latches onto Peter. In his first epistle, Peter refers to Mark as a “son” (1 Peter 5:13). According to the patristics, which will be examined later, Mark was a pupil of Peter as Peter taught and recounted everything about Jesus as Mark diligently recorded.

Early Church Fathers

The early church fathers (patristics) give clues and statements about the early church that must be heeded. The patristics do not come with equal authority as Scripture does, but the patristics should guide our understanding of Scripture. Papias (60 – 130 AD) who was the elder at the church in Hieropolois quotes another who said Mark functioned as Peter’s interpreter and wrote down the things Peter recalled (Oden xxi). Papias is also known for saying that Mark was not an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Jesus (Carson/Moo 175). Other patristics like Clement, Irenaeus and Origen all attribute the Gospel according to Mark to Mark’s writing and receiving of information from Peter as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit (Oden xxiii). Jerome, a later bishop in Alexandria, made the claim that Mark later served as one of Jerome’s predecessors at the church in Alexandria (Oden xxvi). One commentator described Mark as an eventual martyr in Alexandria (Phillips 8).

The Earliest Gospel

Mark is widely credited with being the first to pen a Gospel account of Jesus Christ (Hughes 14). Many scholars date Mark’s account to AD 70, which would make it the earliest Gospel account. The text Mark uses and the basic outline of Jesus’ life and ministry is reflected in the other synoptic gospels. Matthew and Luke, although differ in the order in some places, largely reflect the scope of Mark’s work (Brooks 19). It is quite probable that Mark set the template for the synoptic writers while being equally authoritative thanks to the inspiration and work of the Holy Spirit.

Observations

In all likelihood Mark was writing to a Gentile Christian audience in Rome (HBD 1077). Given his audience Mark would not have focused as much on certain things that Matthew and Luke did. For example, Mark gives no genalogical account of Jesus because a pedigreed Jewish lineage would not have been impressive to a Gentile audience. Matthew, a Jew, and Luke, a Gentile writing to all readers, include the genealogical testimony of Jesus so as to provide evidence to Jewish readers of the important link back to David. Another example is found in the language Mark uses. Jesus, a Jew, would have spoken Aramaic (a type of Hebrew) and so Mark makes the effort in his Greek writing to translate specific Aramaic phrases that Jesus spoke for the benefit of his non-Aramaic Roman audience. For example Mark mentions “Talitha cumi,” which means “little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:41).

Scholars widely agree that Mark wrote the Gospel in Rome during the time of Emperor Nero’s reign of terror (Hughes 15). Whether Mark recalled Peter’s testimony after Peter’s martyrdom in Rome or Mark took down the dictation of Peter’s recollection, makes little difference given the Holy Spirit’s intervention in perserving the memories of those who walked with the Lord Jesus. Either way Mark’s work would encourage the church at Rome who was forced to swear allegiance to the Emperor and deny the lordship of Jesus Christ, to endure the torturous billows of a madman. One scholar speculates that Mark’s audience (Roman believers) is familiar with the gospel tradition given Mark’s apparent vagueness and basic assumptions about Jesus and His teachings (Stein 9). Interestingly enough Mark does not focus on as much of Jesus’ teaching ministry as the other gospel writers do; rather, Mark portrays Jesus as a man of action especially in Jesus’ self-proclaimed mission to serve and not be served (Mark 10:45). This would have been a great comfort to the church at Rome as they pay the price of existence with the blood of the converted. This very fact of life for the early church makes the Word of God a great comfort for any generation that faithfully endures persecution. Modern preachers who promise an easy, convenient life in following after Jesus lack not only the clear understanding of Scripture but are terribly deficient of the spiritual fortitude of genuine discipleship that accompanies a regenerate, blood-bought soul. Mark’s account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will encourage and feed the disciple in order that he might more accurately bear the restored image of God brought about by new life in the One who surrendered His for the “chosen of every nation.” Soli Deo gloria!

Citations in order of appearance

Oden, Thomas. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
Carson, D.A. and Douglas Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament
Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospel of Mark
Hughes, R. Kent. Mark: Jesus Servant and Savior
Brooks, James. Mark
Zondervan. Holman Bible Dictionary (HBD)
Stein, Robert. Mark

Last week’s victory over Ai will set the stage for this week’s jump into Joshua 9-12.  Here we will see how God moves sovereignly and works providentially in order to see His chosen ones conquer the Promised Land.  From the beginning God has had a plan that involves the revelation of Jesus Christ and without this part of the plan coming into being, the stage cannot be set for the coming Messiah who was promised to be the final atonement for God’s people.  In these important four chapters in Joshua, we see God doing incredible things when Israel is obedient to the vision God has given Joshua.  God goes to the extent of keeping the sun and moon still and sends large hailstones to destroy Israel’s enemies.  God went to that extent to save Israel and give them victory.  Think to the extent to which God went in order to save us from a Christless eternity.  Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Wow!  What grace that we do not deserve!  That the God, the very Creator of the heavens and earth, would love us so much that He made a way where there seemed to be no way.  That should get us excited!  That should be news that never goes stale!  That is the news that will spur our church to newer heights in proclaiming the name of Christ above every other name.  Come to CCBC this Sunday night for our Vision Planning session – we will be engaging in a dreaming session so come prepared with ideas and come prepared to pray.

As Joshua and the Israelites are regrouping after seeing the wrath of God played out on their own people, the city of Ai is square in their focus.  In Joshua 9, we see a shift in the first two verses that point toward a renewed sense of affairs where God’s wrath has been satisfied and the time has come to follow God with a reckless abandon that is marked by devotion to the Lord.  As the Israelites seek to obey that which God has commanded so should we as a New Testament church move forward with an unparalleled commitment to Christ and His church. 

 In this week’s sermon we will see the grace offered to Israel and the grace God has shown us through His Son’s death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.  We shall also take note of Joshua’s commitment to Scriptural fidelity.  In the last part of Joshua 9, Joshua leads the Israelites in a time of worship that is centered about what God has revealed of Himself in Scripture.  We trust what Scripture says about salvation and being justified by faith in Christ and so should it motivate not only our mission as a church but also central to the vision Christ has given us.  See how you can be a part of this vision casting this Sunday at CCBC at 11AM.

My good friend and colleague in the ministry and fellow reformer were enjoying the outdoors last Sunday afternoon, when we came upon the topics of dating and reformation theology.  What soon spawned was an ingenious blog idea regarding a list of pick up lines for reformed evangelicals such as ourselves.  So, without further adieu, Nick’s top 10 pick up lines for evangelical reformers:

10.  Go saints!  Persevere!

9.  Do you find my grace to be irresistable?

8.  Calvin is your homeboy?  Mine too.

7.  Want to plant some tulips?

6.  I was led to you.

5.  Shall we read the Institutes together?

4.  Let’s play ‘pin the heresy on the Pelagian.’ 

3.  I love you, my elect, unconditionally!

2.  I find you to be particularly redeeming.

1.  You look totally depraved; let’s have dinner.

Thank you for suffering through a brief indulgence of some rather eccentric humor.  I realize not everyone who reads these will find them humorous but to my fellow reformers, I hope it brought a smile to your face.  To my friends of Arminian persuasion (or other heretics), it is okay to laugh at the top 10 - God is sovereign.   Perhaps there will be a second installment - if I feel led!