Sermon Notes - May 12, 2024
Follow Me / Mark 2 / Baptisms & Bloodshed
Pastor Chris Pletcher
Mark 1
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.
Mark 2
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Jesus Calls Levi
13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: 26 how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
SKIN-DEEP MIRACLES
CLEAN
The Old Covenant revolved around the holiness of God and the uncleanliness of man.
1 Timothy 6:15-15 “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”
The laws for approaching God involved baptisms, bloodshed and MEDIATORS, called priests. The rules for how and when to approach His holiness were extensive and intense… ever read Leviticus? But don’t miss the mercy here… GOD WANTED TO DWELL AMONG HIS PEOPLE! But they were so utterly compromised and corrupt that the only way He could exist in fellowship with them was through regular cleansing rituals and sacrifices for sin. It may seem extreme to us… and it is. The consequences of sin and the resulting separation from God’s holiness is extreme… BUT HOW MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS HE IS TO MAKE A WAY FOR US!
Biblically where did the first baptism occurs in the bible?
Noah’s Ark! 1 Peter 3:20-22 God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
The greek word for “save” is not just a reference to your eternal security… it is much broader and all encompassing. Water baptism is a part of our deliverance journey! “An appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”! Faith alone in Christ alone JUSTIFIES us in the eyes of God, but obedience to water baptism is a powerful act of faith that has conscience-CLEANSING promise attached to it.
After the flood, the next baptism we see is at the Red Sea! God’s DELIVERANCE through the water as He rescues Israel from Egypt.
We see baptism again in Exodus 29, when God is giving instruction for the consecration and ordination of the priests... the MEDIATORS. For 7 days in a row, Aaron and his sons had to go through a series of cleansing rituals, anointings and sacrifices… and each day it began like this:
Exodus 29:4 “You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.”
They had to do everything possible to ensure that they were clean enough to enter the Holy presence of YHWH. They were the mediators between God and the people… so when the first temple was built under Solomon, the priests actually bathed in the SEA!
Fast forward to Mark chapter 1… it’s not just the priests going out to the sea. Scripture says that ALL were going out. John’s baptism of repentance was preparing the way for a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS!
But until Jesus, the CLEANSING was understood to be external. Just like water baptism. Which is why John pointed ahead to a GREATER BAPTISM! One that would clean you on the INSIDE on a spirit level.
Mark 1:7-8 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Ezekiel 36:24-27 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior
FORGIVEN
Blood represented LIFE to the Hebrews. Since the “wages of sin” in death, blood had to be shed to atone for, or COVER, the sins of the people.
Hebrews 9:19-22 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
All of Jesus’s life was dependent on His death. He knew from the beginning how it would all end. So every ounce of healing, cleansing and deliverance authority He displayed was drawing upon the perfect sacrifice that He would off at the end of it all.
BETTER SACRIFICE
Hebrews 10:1-3 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
Hebrews 10:12-14 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
CONNECTED - Who “carries” you? Who are the friends that bring you to Jesus?
Spider webs (familial/generational ties) have been cut…
1 Peter 1:17-19 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
When old ties are cut, new ties must be formed…
Ephesians 2:18-19 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
“WHO CAN FORGIVE SINS BUT GOD ALONE?”
They were absolutely right. But listen to the heart-cry of the leper… “if you are willing you can make me clean?”
“I will; be clean.”