Shownotes Transcript
SERMON NOTES (click arrow to the right to open)Main Idea: Jesus does and says things that only the God of the Old Testament can do. Jesus is directly asserting that He is the God of the Old Testament.Sermon Notes: - Mark 2:1-7; Jesus heals a paralyzed man and tells him his sins are forgiven, but the teachers of the law are horrified because only God can forgive sins (Isaiah 43:25).- Mark 4:35-41; Jesus and his disciples cross the sea on a boat, but a large storm whips up while crossing. The disciples wake Jesus, who was sleeping, and Jesus commands the winds and waves to be still, and they obey (Psalm 107:23-29).- It is God and God alone who has the power to calm the storm, and Jesus did just that- Over and over again Jesus speaks and acts as the God of the OT.- The religious leaders are horrified. Who is this man acting like God? And he has real power, what is going on?- The disciples loved him, but were terrified when he said and did things only God could do. They didn't know what to think.- He's saying and doing things only God can do, but he doesn't want his true identity to be known- Mark 3:7-12; Jesus heals a demon possessed man. The demons cry out that he is the Son of God, but Jesus commands them to be silent.Why) would Jesus do that?- Mark 9:2-9; Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain top, and he was transfigured. Moses and Elijah appeared, talking about Jesus. A voice declared "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" But then it all vanished when they looked up, and Jesus told them not to talk about it until the Son of Man was raised from the dead.- Given all the secrecy, he finally reveals himself when He is on trial in front of the religious leaders before He is crucified.- He reveals himself when he is powerless before his mockers and accusers. Why?- Mark 8:27-30; Jesus asks, "Who do you say I am?" Peter replies, "You are the Messiah"- 8:31-32; He tells the disciples that the Son of Man will be betrayed, suffer, and killed, but will rise after three days. Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him- 8:33; Jesus replies "Get behind me, Satan!" - Peter, like us all, want the crown, but not the cross- You cannot overcome the abuse of power by exerting power. You cannot overcome evil by using the weapons of evil. Violence generates more violence. Evil takes over those who fight it.- To defeat death and evil, Jesus dies- Mark 14:27-31; Peter claims he will never leave Jesus, but Jesus tells him that he will deny Him three times- We are all Peter, all our betrayals were placed on Jesus, and he dies for us.- But death isn't the end. There is resurrection. When we follow the Jesus way into death, there is always resurrection.- But Peter knows nothing of what is going on. He believes he is a complete failure. So he goes back to what he knows, and goes back to fishing.- John 21:4-9; 12-14- Now that Peter's heart is settled, Jesus turns to restoration. He asks Peter three times if he loves Him, not because Jesus doesn't know that Peter loves Him, but for Peter's sake, to confess it out loud, and receive his calling back.The Gospel has three parts to it: 1. Because of His love for us, Jesus has overcome evil 2. Now that He has destroyed the evil we created, He offers us forgiveness and a new way of living 3. He invites us, as His people, to take up the weapons of grace and love and forgiveness, and join Him in removing all evil from His good world.Application Questions: 1. Why would Jesus want to prevent others from revealing who He is?2. Why would Jesus wait until He is powerless and defenseless to reveal His identity?3. How is it that love and forgiveness are the only way to defeat evil? Why does it not work to repay evil with evil?4. How is the initial command to the disciples of "follow me" at the beginning of his ministry different than the command of "follow me" after Jesus' resurrection?