SOME FACTS ABOUT JESUS

SCRIPTURE and SERMON: Mark 1:9-20

FEBRUARY 14, 2010

9 ¶ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan.

10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert,

13 and he was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

14 ¶ After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.

20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

I. Jesus was a Nazarene, but not a Nazirite.

Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee. In Jesus' time it was a small village of a few hundred people, and it was located about sixteen miles West of the Sea of Galilee. It was the home of Mary and Joseph, and it became the home of Jesus after the holy family returned from exile in Egypt.

One of Jesus' disciples, Nathanael, was of the opinion that nothing good could come out of Nazareth (John 1:46). Then he met Jesus, and received Him as Lord and Savior. But he was basically right about the people of Nazareth, who rejected Jesus, and tried to kill Him at the very beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:14-30)

A Nazirite was a person who took a special vow for a specified length of time. At the beginning of the time of his vow, he was to shave his head bald. Then at the end of the time, he was to shave his head again, and offer his hair as a burnt offering to God. During the time of the vow he was to refrain from drinking wine, or eating grapes or raisins. He was to avoid funerals, cemeteries and dead bodies of any kind. Samson was a special case: a Nazirite from birth, so had very long hair. Jesus was a Nazarene, but not a Nazirite.

II. Jesus was baptized by John, but we don't know HOW He was baptized.

None of the Gospel accounts describe the actual baptism of Jesus by John. We know that Jesus went to the Jordan River. We know that he and John went down to the river, or possibly into the river. But we are never told if they stayed in the shallows or went out to deeper water. We are never told if John poured water on Jesus' head, or sprinkled water on Him, or immersed Him. They went down to the water. They came up from the water. So much we know. But what exactly happened is simply not stated. It is unwise to be dogmatic where the Bible is silent. Yet, we have built entire denominations of the concept of how Jesus might have been baptized.

If you are a believer, but you have never been baptized, you should be. Why? Not for your salvation, as some denominations teach. You should be baptized to identify yourself with Jesus. To be obedient to His command. To make a public testimony of your Faith and discipleship.

III. Jesus is the 2nd Person of the Trinity.

This passage in Mark is a chapter in which the Trinity is clearly in view. Jesus is there being baptized. The Holy Spirit is there, descending on Jesus in the shape of a dove. The Father is there, speaking and commending Jesus. All are there on the scene, and they are obviously three separate Persons. In other places in the Bible we are taught the divine nature of Jesus, the Divinity of the Holy Spirit, and of course the Divinity of God the Father. So here we have the doctrine of the Trinity: There is only one God. But there are three separate Persons in the Godhead. They are all equally Divine. They all have all of the divine attributes. They are all eternal, immortal, all-knowing, all-powerful, omni-present, and so on.

IV. Jesus laid aside His divine powers while on earth.

People say: If the doctrine of the Trinity is true, then why did Jesus sometimes say "I don't know?" And how could he have been an infant, unable to speak? And why did He have to study to learn to read and understand the Old Testament?

This is somewhat explained by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-8…

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

"Made Himself nothing" in verse seven is the Greek word KENOSIS, which literally means that He emptied Himself. He did this temporarily in order to become a genuine human being, to live with us, and to die for us on the cross.

V. Jesus was constantly filled and guided by the Holy Spirit.

In this passage in Mark we read that the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. We also read that the Spirit guided Him out into the desert for a confrontation with Satan. Luke tells us that when Jesus was let into the desert by the Spirit He was "full of the Holy Spirit." It is also in Luke where we find Jesus reading to the synagogue in Nazareth "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed Me." John the Baptist said of Jesus: "The One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit to Him" (John 3:34).

Whether Jesus did miracles in His own power, or in the power of the Holy Spirit, really doesn't matter, because He was entirely and constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, and guided by the Holy Spirit.

VI. Jesus was truly tempted to sin by Satan.

It is difficult for us to understand how Jesus could truly be tempted, because He was God in the flesh. The think to remember is that Jesus was also, at the same time, truly a real human being. The Bible tells us that He was tempted by Satan in three ways:

1) He was tempted to satisfy His hunger, when it was God's will for Him to be hungry.

2) He was tempted to test God about His Messiahship, instead of relying on God by faith.

3) He was tempted to bypass the cross, and take a short cut to ruling the world NOW instead of later.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

When God made Adam and Eve they were sinless. They had never sinned. They had no sinful flesh, and no sinful spirit. Yet God allowed them to be tempted, and they WERE tempted, and they gave in to the temptation.

Jesus in a sense was like Adam. He was a sinless human being. But He was truly tempted, just as Adam was truly tempted. But unlike Adam, Jesus said "NO" to the tempter.

And note, Jesus was tempted all through His life, not only three times. "He was tempted in every way, just as we are," says the Bible. But He always said "No" to the temptation.

VII. Jesus preached the Gospel.

"Repent and believe the good news." Repentance is always necessary for salvation.

You cannot hear and understand the "Good News" until you come to grips with the "bad news:" your sin and lost condition. What's so good about the Gospel if you don't feel yourself to be a sinner? If you don't want salvation? That's why it is so difficult to preach the Gospel to our 21st century American generation. We have plenty of food, clothing and shelter. We enjoy the luxuries of life. Life is fun! No one is concerned about death, dying and the afterlife, because it all seems so far away.

By contrast, Christianity is now growing in countries where people are poor, where medicine is hard to get, and where death is a constant companion. They see their sins. They see their need of salvation. They are interested in Heaven. And so the church is growing there.

We are presently experiencing a mild recession in the USA. Perhaps it would be a true blessing of God if He were to allow us to fall into a deep depression, full of poverty and misery. People might then come face to face with eternal realities, and repent and turn to God. If God is merciful to the USA, we will see widespread poverty, sickness and death. It is a paradox! But it is a fact. Most people only turn to God when they come to the end of their rope. The Church grew rapidly in Jesus time, because people were poor and needy, and Jesus came to them with forgiveness and hope.

VIII. Jesus called fishermen as His first disciples.

Peter and Andrew, James and John, were four fishermen, working the Sea of Galilee. They were moderately successful. They had boats and nets. Really poor fishermen might not have had boats, and perhaps would have tried casting a net from the shore, or spearing a fish or two.

These disciples were neither rich, nor dirt poor; but they were willing to leave everything they had in order to be in the company of Jesus, and to wander around Galilee and Judea in His company. They wanted to listen to Jesus teach. They wanted to absorb His wisdom. They believed in Him, and so they were willing to give up their careers to be with Him. Don't you wish you could have been there, and been one of Jesus' disciples?

Jesus had hundreds of disciples - but He chose twelve to be His Apostles.

12 ¶ One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,

15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,

16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a

great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and

Sidon…(Luke 6:12-17)

IX. Jesus sent His disciples to fish for men.

Jesus had a plan from the very beginning. His plan was to build His Church. He did not gather a crowd of disciples just because He wanted followers. He was thinking ahead. He was planning that the Apostles would take over His work of preaching the Gospel. He trained the Apostles to also see themselves as teachers training other teachers. Jesus was creating a "movement." The Church is to be on the move for Christ.

2 Timothy 1:13 -- 2:2

13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

15 ¶ You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

16 May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.

18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.

1 ¶ You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

Someone taught me. I teach you. You teach your children, your friends, your family, your co-workers. Then they go on and teach others, and teach them to teach. That's what Jesus planned, and that's what Jesus wants us to do.

CONCLUSION: I would like to leave you thinking about two famous old Christian songs:

1. "Onward Christian Soldiers" I would like you all to think of yourselves as soldiers in Christ's army.

2. "I Will Make You Fishers of Men" Do you remember learning that song in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School? Jesus wants you and me to be fishers of men, just as He said to Peter and Andrew, James and John.