THE KING'S AUTHORITY (Mark 1:12-20)
INTRODUCTION:
The fact that Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the divine messianic King is the theme of Mark’s gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ is the theme of each of the first four books of the New Testament. Within the pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we read of Jesus Christ’s human history, but the fact that He is the eternal Son of God is the theme of the entire Bible. The four gospels are unique in that they are written from the perspective of four different men, yet they are in perfect harmony with one another, and give us a Holy Spirit revealed picture of Jesus that is historically accurate.
Mark’s gospel as we have already seen is fast paced, instead of beginning with the birth of Jesus Christ like Matthew and Luke, He jumps right to the appearing of the forerunner, John the Baptist. Mark does not stay here long, he gives us a brief overview of John’s ministry and then jumps quickly to the coming of the divine King, the One to whom John’s whole ministry pointed. Jesus Christ comes from Nazareth to the Jordan to be baptized by John. This event was the coronation of the divine King and the commissioning of His public ministry.
As we enter our passage of Scripture for this morning Mark continues this rapid pace. The word “immediately” that he uses liberally in his gospel appears three times in the nine verses we will look at this morning. These nine verses cover three events that take place during the early days of Jesus public ministry. First, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Second, the start of His ministry in Galilee. Third, the calling of His first four disciples. Each of these events is covered very quickly, but these three events are put together to provide the details needed to establish Jesus Christ’s royal qualifications, these three events demonstrate for us that Jesus Christ is the messianic King. Not only was He preceded by a royal herald and was crowned and commissioned as a king by God Himself, but these three events show us His royal authority. First, He demonstrates His royal authority over all evil forces by defeating His archenemy Satan. Second, He shows His sovereignty by preaching His kingdom message of salvation from sin. Third, His authority is seen in His command to His servants to follow Him. This emphasis on Jesus Christ’s royal authority is what ties these three events together. The royal authority of the messianic King extends over Satan, sin, and sinners showing us that it is not only royal, but it is divine authority that only God possesses. Let’s pray and then get into the Scriptures.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark 1:12-20, our passage for today. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 1:12-20,
“Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him. Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’ As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.” (Mark 1:12–20, NASB95)[1]
AUTHORITY OVER SATAN (Mark 1:12-13)
Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record Jesus’ temptation right after His baptism. Mathew and Luke give much more detailed versions of what took place between Satan and the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark’s version is much shorter, just two verses. The stark contrast of Jesus Christ’s baptism and temptation is what really stands out here. His coronation by the Spirit and confirmation from the Father are followed immediately by His confrontation with Satan. Instead of a glorious celebration that one might expect after the majesty of Jesus’ baptism, we instead see that Jesus was immediately compelled by the Spirit to go out into the wilderness.
During the earthly ministry of Jesus there is a paradox that is visible all the way through to the cross. The paradox is that Jesus Christ came to earth not only as the messianic King but also as the Suffering Servant or Slave. As the messianic King, He was exalted and glorified as was clearly demonstrated at His baptism. As the Suffering Servant, He was humiliated and mistreated, a reality clearly seen during His temptation. This is seen early on in Mark’s gospel with the contrast between Jesus’ baptism and temptation. The final contrast will come at Christ’s crucifixion where He is numbered with criminals but a sign hanging over His head declares that He is the King. The most exalted messianic King was also the most humiliated Suffering Slave.
Mark tells us that the Spirit impelled Jesus to go out into the wilderness. Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit, fully submitted to the Spirit’s control in His life. The Holy Spirit was the power behind everything Jesus did. The word translated “impelled” in my version is a strong, forceful word that literally means “to drive out” or “to compel one to depart.” This verb choice certainly fits Mark’s style but in no way implies that Jesus was resistant to the Spirit’s leading, instead it shows us that the Holy Spirit was in control, perfectly guiding Jesus to fulfill each part of the Father’s will.
Mark does not come right out and tell us the purpose for which Jesus was in the wilderness, but Matthew 4:1 does, it says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1, NASB95)[2] It was necessary in God’s perfect plan for His beloved Son to be tempted by Satan himself—to face Satan in one-on-one combat and to defeat him. The word that is translated “tempted” in Mark 1:13 is a term that simply means “to test.” The testing might be good or evil depending on the intention of the one giving the test. Because we are told that Satan was the tester in this event it is rightly translated as tempted. Just because the Spirit led Jesus Christ to the wilderness where He would be tempted, it is important to understand that God is never the tempter. James 1:13 tells us, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” (James 1:13, NASB95)[3] Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested, God allowed this to happen, for the sole purpose that through Jesus’ victory over Satan He would demonstrate for us His absolute power and authority over Satan and his devices. Understand that the temptation of Jesus Christ did not come about by the will of Satan; but by the will of God, as another way to authenticate God’s beloved Son. This was an important part of God’s plan for His Son that had to take place especially following the coronation and commissioning that He had received at His baptism. Would Jesus Christ as the divinely commissioned messianic King be able to confront and defeat this enemy that had plotted against Him since before the fall of man in the garden of Eden. Could Jesus Christ withstand the most alluring temptations that Satan could devise? The only way that Jesus Christ could ever establish His kingdom was by overthrowing the usurper. According to Genesis 3:15 it was Christ’s royal duty to crush the serpent’s head, to destroy the works of the devil and to depose the illegitimate “god of this world.” Would He be able to be victorious in the battle, after fasting for 40 days, being physically weak, emotionally drained, and completely isolated?
The Judean wilderness where it is believed that Jesus was is an arid, inhospitable desert that stretches west from the Dead Sea toward Jerusalem. It is nearly 35 miles long and fifteen miles wide. It is a place where Jesus would have been completely isolated from any other people. The first Adam was tempted by Satan in the garden of Eden, a lush paradise where everything was good, this Adam yielded to sinful temptation despite being innocent and living in a perfect environment. The Second Adam, Jesus Christ, perfectly holy, faced the devil in the middle of a foreboding wasteland—a place completely opposite of Eden. This is where Jesus was all alone in this desert, weakened by fasting and Mark tells us that He was there with the wild beasts. Some of the beasts that lived in that area were jackals, foxes, wild pigs, and leopards. This was not where people lived or traveled through, Mark’s statement concerning the wild beasts just emphasizes the complete isolation that Jesus experienced.
Mark only gives us a summary of Jesus time in the wilderness telling us that He was in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by Satan. Both Matthew and Luke in their accounts tell us that Jesus went the full forty days without food. After forty days of fasting Christ’s physical strength would have been long gone before the temptation reached its final assault. In this way the royal Messianic King, the beloved Son would face and conquer His strongest enemy when He was at His weakest. Mark’s statement concerning His temptation seems to indicate that the Lord was tempted by Satan throughout the whole period that He was in the wilderness—a time of testing that reached its climax in the three final temptations recorded for us in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.
Matthew and Lukes account of Jesus’ temptation imply that Satan’s primary assault on Jesus was in His role as the Suffering Servant. Satan did not tempt Jesus into giving up His sovereign right. Satan’s tactic was that he urged Jesus to use the power and privilege that were His because of His deity and in so doing throw off the humiliation of His incarnation. At the end of the forty days when Jesus was hungry Satan enticed Him to use His sovereign power to turn stones into bread to eat. After Jesus resisted, Satan took Him to a high mountain from where He could see all the kingdoms of the world and offered to give them to Him. Again, Jesus rejected Satan’s temptation. The final temptation took them to the pinnacle of the temple, where Satan urged Jesus to give a public demonstration of His messiahship by jumping off the edge. Once more Jesus refused Satan’s temptation. Jesus Christ, the messianic King, in each temptation responded to Satan with Scripture from the book of Deuteronomy. Satan sought to persuade Jesus to give up His humiliation, to instead use His divine power and right apart from the Spirit’s empowerment and outside of the Father’s will. If Jesus Christ would have given into Satan’s temptations and used His divine right this would have undermined God’s saving purposes. Jesus’ earthly ministry depended on His humiliation, which ultimately led to the cross.
Jesus Christ, as the Messianic King had to triumph over Satan. His victory over Satan and the devil’s most clever and fitting temptations demonstrated that He had absolute and complete power over sin. Jesus’ call to deliver sinners would have been meaningless if He Himself could not quench the fiery darts of the evil one. Because of this, Jesus Christ’s public ministry began by Him confronting the most powerful enemy of God who not only opposes God but all of God’s purposes as well. Jesus conquered Satan in that barren desert and Mark concludes that the angels ministered to Jesus. They provided the beloved Son with food, but also their very presence was confirmation that the Father who sent them to minister to Him was still well pleased with His beloved Son. Jesus Christ had entered the wilderness as the newly commissioned Messianic King, He departed that barren place as the conquering King of kings. Jesus Christ’s absolute power continued to overpower Satan and his demons throughout His earthly ministry.
AUTHORITY OVER SIN (Mark 1:14-15)
Mark’s concise description of Jesus’ temptation is followed by another brief description introducing the preaching ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus spent a short period of time in the southern part of Israel, in Judea after coming out of the wilderness. Mark skips this and focuses on the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in the region of Galilee. Mark picks up the history of Jesus Christ after John had been taken into custody. Mark will describe this event in greater detail in chapter 6. It was after John the Baptist had been arrested and imprisoned that Jesus began His public ministry of preaching and miracle working in Galilee. Before John the Baptist’s arrest he was still baptizing sinners in the Jordan and pointing them to Jesus who was ministering in Judea at that time, so for a short time their ministries overlapped. After John’s arrest Jesus departed Judea and returned to Galilee to begin His ministry there.
Mark records that when Jesus came into Galilee, He came preaching the gospel of God. Jesus was travelling from town to town and gathering crowds in the countryside and preaching the good news of God about Himself and His kingdom. God used preaching the gospel as His method for reaching the world in the first century and this was why Jesus preached the gospel. Today God still uses preaching to herald truth about His Son and His kingdom. True ministers of God have the same message to proclaim clearly and faithfully that Jesus proclaimed in the first century. The gospel of God refers to the truth that comes from God to the world concerning salvation from sin and judgment available only through Jesus Christ.
Mark uses this term gospel to convey the idea of a royal proclamation of a king and his kingdom. When Jesus came preaching the gospel of God His proclamation was the same. He was saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15b, NASB95)[4] Jesus Christ was offering to those who heard His message a place in His eternal kingdom. They could be forgiven and redeemed and enter His kingdom if they would repent of their sin and believe in Him as Lord and Savior. We are called to proclaim this message in the same simplicity and clarity that Jesus proclaimed it.
When Jesus said, “the time is fulfilled…” He meant that His coming, His incarnation marked the turning point of salvation history. The word translated “time” is the Greek word kairos. It does not refer to clock time or calendar time like the Greek word chronos does. Kairos refers to a fixed point in history when a significant event occurs. Jesus’ ministry took place according to God’s timetable, this was the point in history for which the world had long been waiting, it was the most significant moment in all of history. The Savior had arrived to pay in full the penalty for sin and provide salvation for all who would repent and believe in Him—from the beginning of history to the end. This was God’s great turning point in history. The Old Testament promises of a Messiah and His kingdom of salvation were about to be realized. The Lord Jesus Christ came not only to conquer Satan but to destroy sin itself, and its consequences for His people. The new Messianic King had come to establish His Kingdom. When Jesus stated, “the kingdom of God is at hand” He was saying, “Because I am the King, wherever I am My kingdom is present.”
When Jesus spoke of the kingdom it is important to understand that it exists in three dimensions. First, it is a spiritual kingdom. Second, it is a millennial kingdom. And third, it is an eternal kingdom. Though at the present time the Kingdom of God is invisible and spiritual, it will one day be established as a physical earthly kingdom. God’s kingdom exists in the hearts of those who have repented and believed in Jesus Christ, and it continues to grow as more people put their faith in Jesus. When Jesus returns His millennial kingdom will be established on the earth and will last for 1000 years. At that time all the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament will be fulfilled. After the millennial kingdom, God will create and new heaven and a new earth, where the Triune God will reign forever and ever.
How does a child of Satan, a sinner escape from Satan and enter Christ’s kingdom? Jesus’ answer is simple and straightforward: “repent and believe in the gospel.” To repent means to change one’s mind which involves both a turning from sin and a turning to God. It is admitting to God that you are a sinner and helpless to do anything about it yourself, but you want to be changed. To believe in the gospel means to turn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in Him and His finished work of redemption accomplished through His death and resurrection in which He defeated sin and was victorious over death.
Having clearly and completely shown His authority over Satan in the wilderness and anticipating His final victory over Satan at the cross, Jesus proclaimed the message of deliverance from sin for all who would repent and believe in Him. The King has extended an invitation to the whole world to enter into the kingdom of God because His death will render sin powerless before Him.
AUTHORITY OVER SINNERS (Mark 1:16-20)
As we come to the third event in this passage, we have seen Jesus Christ display His authority over Satan in the wilderness and declare His authority over sin in the gospel. Mark now shows us that Christ demonstrates His authority in the lives He transforms and then delegates that authority to them to empower them for use in His kingdom.
Mark writes in verse 16, “As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.” (Mark 1:16, NASB95)[5] Understand that this was not Jesus’ first encounter with these men. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and had been with him when He pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Andrew had spent the day with Jesus and had introduced Peter to Him. Though it had been sometime since that initial meeting, Jesus now comes to call them to abandon their work and follow Him and be a part of His ministry.
He came to them along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, a large freshwater lake in the region of Galilee. They were there casting a net into the sea because they were fishermen. It seems that after John the Baptist was taken into custody Andrew and Peter returned home and resumed their normal lives as fishermen. The lake supported a thriving fishing industry. Because fish was a staple in the Mediterranean world, the fishing industry was big business. It seems that Simon and Andrew ran a successful fishing operation, Luke tells us that they were in partnership with James, the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were prominent men in their community and not just poor day laborers. Simon owned his own house in Capernaum and John was well known to the high priest of that time.
When Jesus saw them from the shore, He called to them. Mark writes in verse 17, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’” (Mark 1:17, NASB95)[6] Jesus’ statement was a command, not a request. This command was backed with the authority of the messianic King, the beloved Son of God. Jesus was asking these men to abandon everything, including their careers as fishermen, and to follow Him. This call was unique, nonnegotiable, and all-encompassing from the King to His first chosen subjects. This same call comes to each of us in spiritual terms who come to Jesus in faith. Later in Mark 8:34 Jesus will say, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ” (Mark 8:34b, NASB95)[7] This first call to Peter and Andrew is an illustration for us of the comprehensive call our Lord gives to all who want to be a part of His kingdom.
Jesus promised that He would make them become fishers of men. Peter and Andrew would have understood what Jesus was saying, instead of casting nets to catch fish they would be trained to preach the gospel for the purpose of gathering sinners for salvation. They would become heralds like Jesus Christ to proclaim the gospel of God. With this call, Jesus established the method by which His kingdom would advance. He would use transformed sinners whom He sovereignly identifies and summons. Such absolute authority behind such a call belongs only to the messianic King, who possesses the divine right to demand and gain that kind of allegiance from His subjects. Andrew and Peter recognized that this was a command because we read that they immediately left their nets and boat behind and followed Jesus. Their response demonstrates both the Lord’s authority and the power that moves in those He calls to respond.
The same scene is basically repeated in verses 19-20 where Jesus called and empowered two more disciples to follow Him. Mark writes, “Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.” (Mark 1:19–20, NASB95)[8] Going down the shoreline a little farther Jesus finds two more brothers, the business partners of Peter and Andrew. They were busy mending their nets with their father and the hired servants, a critical part of the fishing trade, gear must be repaired before the next fishing trip. Jesus calls them and they too are compelled to leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
This same kind of obedience is repeated as Jesus calls the rest of the disciples. Like when He calls Levi in chapter 2, Levi simply walks away from His tax collecting booth to follow the Lord Jesus. From a human point of view these responses may seem shocking to us, but from God’s point of view it is not at all surprising. Jesus explained it this way to his disciples in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” (John 15:16, NASB95)[9] This verse shows us clearly that Jesus’ authority included the disciples whom He called to follow Him. It was through these transformed and regenerated sinners, and the fact that Jesus made them become fishers of men, proclaimers of the gospel of God, so that they became the means of how Jesus would advance His kingdom purposes.
CONCLUSION:
The authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ over sin and Satan is still at work today, it is demonstrated every time a repentant sinner’s unredeemed heart is given life and set free from Satan’s dominion and sin’s power and penalty. When Jesus saves us and delivers us from sin, the King then employs us for His service, He empowers us through His Holy Spirit to be used to advance His kingdom. All of this takes place under the authority of His sovereign right as the divine messianic King. The One who defeated Satan, both in the wilderness and at the cross; the One who declared victory over sin, through the preaching of the gospel; and the One who continually demonstrates His power in the lives of those whom He saves and empowers—He alone is the messianic King, He alone is the Savior and the beloved Son of God. All rule, authority, power, and dominion belong to Him.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.