Mark’s gospel has repeatedly emphasized the kingdom of God that Jesus came to establish in the world. Even as Jesus spoke the words found in our sermon paragraphs, his messianic kingdom was expanding, a kingdom that cannot fail but is forever. Alongside it, the kingdom of the enemy Satan was toppling and crumbling, unable to…
Jesus often uses some of the most unlikely people to accomplish some of the greatest, most remarkable things in his world. Perhaps there is no greater example than his choosing twelve ordinary men (one of them even having to be replaced) to be his appointed and commissioned apostles. This sermon discusses how such ordinary men…
The Gospel of Mark 2:13-22 is about new things brought by Jesus the Messiah. First, we see Levi, a man despised in his community, given a whole new life in Christ. Levi was a tax collector for the Roman Empire, a position highly resented by the Jewish community. Tax collectors, or publicans, were employed by…
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus proves again and again his credentials as the Messiah. He has demonstrated his authority over knowledge, demonic spirits, healing, and the physical world. In this sermon, we learn about Jesus validating his Messianic authority in a way that helped spark the beginning of resentment and hostility in the Jewish…
This is one of the most moving scenes recorded in the Gospel of Mark. A poor man covered in leprosy—an outcast from society, ceremonially unclean, separated from human contact and deemed untouchable—kneels at the feet of Jesus, declaring with confident hope and faith, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” What Jesus did…
This is the third sermon in our series on Mark’s Gospel that examines Jesus’ supernatural authority. Having addressed Jesus’ complete authority over all knowledge and the spiritual realm, this sermon explains his total authority over the physical realm, demonstrated by his compassionate and merciful healing of Simon’s seriously ill mother-in-law. Beyond Jesus’ authority to heal,…
This is our second sermon focusing on Jesus’ mighty display of his miraculous power and authority in the synagogue of Capernaum. In our previous sermon, Jesus amazed the congregation to the point of astonishment and fear when they realized that Jesus was no ordinary man. His teaching that day far surpassed the Jewish religious leaders,…
One Sabbath Day, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he walked into a synagogue in Capernaum and began to teach the assembled worshipers. There was nothing unusual about that, per se. It happened virtually every time the synagogue was in session. But what Jesus of Nazareth said, and the inexplicable authority that accompanied him and…