Mark’s Direct Attack
Day 2
Big Idea: When Jesus is called the Son of God it is a direct repudiation of Caesar who was treated as a god.
Mark 1:1 states clearly: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
If you lived in Rome at the time, “Son of God” was not a new name. Following the death of Julius Caesar, the fallen emperor was declared divine. His successor, Caesar Augustus, began calling himself Son of a god. Coins were minted with that title. Inscriptions were crafted. Augustus liked this title as it reinforced political loyalty. To confess “Caesar is Lord” was political allegiance. To call him “Son of God” was acknowledging imperial supremacy.
Then Jesus shows up. Mark, in a direct rebuttal of the Roman power of the day, calls Jesus the Son of God! Mark is not just making a theological point; he is making a political point as well.
Jesus is the supreme leader.
Jesus is the great power.
Jesus is the one to follow.
Most of us are not tempted to call a political figure any name of deity, but if we are not careful, we are very tempted to bow down to the ideologies, power, and success of these figures.
If we are not careful, we are tempted to worship gods of comfort, achievement, and accomplishment. We worship the dreams of peace, happiness, and health with our whole heart, mind, and soul.
Jesus, the Son of God, is the only one worthy of our highest attention and affection. Remember back to our series in February on following Jesus and consider the question raised in Luke 9:25: “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
Is there anything in this world that is worthy of our whole heart, mind, and soul?
Jesus makes it clear: nothing else is worthy except me!
Mansplaining and Shelaborating
This week I have 5 simple devotions for you as we consider the FACT that Jesus is the Son of God.
Day 1 Big Idea: Don’t complicate the simple!
There’s a term in our culture called “mansplaining”—when a man over-explains a simple idea in a patronizing way, repeating the same point again and again. We can all be guilty of this (or maybe even “shelaborating”).
The issue that arises when we pile on too many details is that we risk burying the point. We get stuck in the weeds of details. Mark refuses to risk his audience missing the point so he starts his writing as so: Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Mark gets straight to the point without any filler material or added detail. This writing will be about the good news that Jesus is the Christ and he is the Son of God.
These two descriptors capture everything Mark wants to be heard:
Jesus is the promised Savior.
Jesus is the actual Son of God.
That’s the simple, powerful reality we’re called to believe and share: Jesus isn’t merely a good teacher or moral example. He is God come to die in our place, paying the debt of sin for every man, woman, and child.
It’s tempting to over-explain with all the details we’ve learned—but resist that urge. The gospel doesn’t need embellishment to be profound. Jesus is the Son of God, sent to give his life as the sacrifice for our sins.
This is the good news. This is the gospel. This is what we’ve staked our lives on.
Will You Follow Jesus?
2 Timothy 4:7-8
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Jordan has been teaching us, on Sunday mornings and recapped in the devotionals from this week, how we are called to follow Jesus.
First, we learned about Paul meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, and how that began a personal relationship with his Savior that would lead Paul to give his life to follow Jesus (both every day and eventually dying for Christ).
Then we learned that following Jesus is personal, but it is not a private or a solo journey. Just as Paul was surrounded by other believers wherever he went, and just as Paul was committed to the churches wherever he went, so should we too always be committed to faithful fellowship with other Christ-followers.
Next we learned that following Jesus is inseparable from telling people about Jesus. It doesn’t have to be too scary, and it doesn’t usually look like going to a different continent, but we must be faithful to Jesus’ commands to share the gospel with others.
Finally, we learned that following Jesus has a very real cost. Following Jesus is not another part of our life or part of who we are, it is our entire life’s focus and the purpose for our entire being. We reveal that we don’t believe this by how we live with Jesus, church, evangelism, prayer, etc as other parts of life that would be nice to add in but aren’t essential.
That is a lot to take in, so I don’t have anything new for you to “learn” today. But I do have a question.
Will you follow Jesus?
Will you strive, every day, to be more obedient to faithfully doing what God has set for you to do. To be a better employee, or boss, husband, wife, son, daughter, friend, neighbor.
Will you treat this life like the fight that it is? The fight against our own sin and the lies of the enemy and the world that would have us treat following Jesus like a somewhat important part of our life, rather than an all-consuming fire.
Will you run this life like a race? With lots of practice and training, taking one step in front of the other even though you can’t see the finish line yet, or will you finish strong if you think the finish line might be getting closer?
Will you keep the faith? Standing firm to what God’s Word teaches and to how it commands you to live?
I cannot answer any of those questions for you, but how you answer those questions is one of the most important things about you.
Follow Me: Sacrificially
Follow Me Sacrificially
Philippians 3:7-8 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
Following Jesus costs something.
This is why many of us want to call ourselves Christians but not choose to follow Jesus.
As one writer said: Everyone wants a revolution but no one is willing to do the dishes.
Following Jesus doesn’t make life easier or simpler, but it does make it better.
The question each and every one of us must wrestle with is this: Is following Jesus worth it?
Is denying self worth it?
Is taking up our cross daily worth it?
Is giving up control of our life and letting God lead worth it?
As a shepherd can lead the sheep to water, but cannot make them drink, I lead you to this question: Is following Jesus worth it?
Does anything else save?
Can anything else provide what Jesus promises?
Can you do it on your own?
Is anything else truly satisfying? Can comfort, control, security, or worldly gain ever compare to gaining Christ?
Today, Jesus invites you not just to admire His cross, but to carry yours. Will you present your best—your whole self—as a living sacrifice, trusting that the One who gave everything for you is worth every cost? The call echoes: Is following Jesus worth it? Answer Him personally, right now.
Follow Me: Missionally
Follow Me Missionally
2 Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Missional living is one of the scariest concepts in all of Christianity. We do not feel equipped enough, educated enough, or committed enough to be a missionary! Me neither!
But as we opened the text on February 15th, we learned that Missional living needn’t be intimidating - it is faithful, intentional life!
We wrestled through the truths that we want to rearrange into excuses.
Here they are:
You are ready!
You are commissioned!
You have a mission field!
You have a voice!
You have a story!
Which of these 5 truths do you not want to accept?
Why not?
Pray for God to encourage you in this specific truth as you are tempted to believe that it is a lie.