Search
Scripture Reading: Mark 10:45; 15:22-39; 16:1-6, 15-16, 19-20
I. The entire Gospel of Mark is summarized in Peter’s word in Acts 10:36-43.
II. There are at least three reasons why it was necessary for the Lord Jesus, the Slave-Savior, to be crucified:
А. Man became fallen, and creation was corrupted by God’s enemy; therefore, both man and creation needed to be judged — Rom. 3:23; 8:20-21; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18.
B. Christ died in order to bring the old creation, including mankind, to an end; only in this way could He produce a new creation — Col. 1:15, 20; Heb. 2:9.
C. The Lord Jesus was crucified so that He could impart Himself into us as our life and life supply — John 12:24; 19:34.
III. In His redeeming death on the cross, the Slave-Savior gave His life as a ransom for many — Mark 10:45:
А. The word ransom in 10:45 indicates that the Lord’s redemption was His service rendered to sinners for God’s plan.
B. In His humanity the Lord served sinners even by giving His life, that is, His soul-life; the Lord’s soul-life was the ransom, the price, He paid for many — John 10:11.
C. The Lord Jesus did a great work in paying the price for us, giving His soul-life as a ransom to pay off our debt before God according to God’s nature, justice, and requirements and under the watching of the enemy — Rom. 5:18.
D. Christ’s giving His human life as a ransom for many took place under the process of God’s judgment — 8:3:
1. While He was being judged by God for us, He gave up His soul-life as a ransom, as a payment, for us.
2. God put our sins upon Him, regarding Him as the unique sinner, even as sin itself; as a result, God forsook Him, leaving Him alone under His judgment — 1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21.
IV. When God was judging Christ as our Substitute, who was made sin for us and was bearing our sins, God forsook Christ economically — Mark 15:22-39:
А. The Lord Jesus was judged by God for the accomplishment of redemption, and God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin — Isa. 53:10a.
B. Our sin and sins and all negative things were dealt with on the cross, and God forsook the Slave-Savior because of our sin — Mark 15:33-34:
1. God forsook Christ on the cross because He took the place of sinners, bearing our sins and being made sin for us — 1 Pet. 3:18; 2:24; Isa. 53:6; 2 Cor. 5:21.
2. In the sight of God, Christ became a great sinner, and God judged Him as our Substitute for our sins — John 3:14; Rom. 8:3.
3. Christ was our Substitute and was even sin in the sight of God; therefore, God judged Him and even forsook Him.
C. Because Christ bore our sins and was made sin for us, God, in judging Him as our Substitute, forsook Him economically — Mark 15:33-34:
1. The Lord Jesus was born of the begetting Spirit as the divine essence, who never left Him essentially — Luke 1:35.
2. When the Lord Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross under God’s judgment, He had God within Him essentially as His divine being; nevertheless, He was forsaken by the righteous and judging God economically — Matt. 1:18, 20; 27:46:
a. Because the Lord Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of God and with God, He had the Holy Spirit as the intrinsic essence of His divine being; thus, it was not possible for God to forsake Him essentially — 1:18, 20.
b. Christ was forsaken by God economically when the Spirit, who had descended upon Him as the economical power for the carrying out of His ministry (3:16), left Him; however, the essence of God remained in His being, and He therefore died on the cross as the God-man — 1 John 1:7.
V. The Slave-Savior’s resurrection is proof that God is satisfied with what He accomplished through His death — Mark 16:1-6; Rom. 4:25:
А. His resurrection is a confirmation of the effectiveness of His redeeming and life-imparting death — Acts 2:24; 3:15.
B. His resurrection became the evidence of our justification and the power by which we could be freed from sin — Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:17.
VI. In a very real sense, the Gospel of Mark may be considered the Gospel of Peter (1 Pet. 5:13); therefore, we should consider Peter’s words concerning Christ’s resurrection, as recorded in the book of Acts:
А. In his first gospel message Peter testified that the crucified Jesus was raised up by God; since Christ is resurrection, it was impossible for Him to be held by death — Acts 2:24; John 11:25.
B. The people had killed the One who is the Author of life, the origin and source of life, but God raised Him from the dead — Acts 3:15.
C. The crucified Jesus has been raised from the dead to be the cornerstone of God’s building; both our salvation and God’s building are in the resurrected Christ — 4:10-12.
D. The Lord Jesus, the One in resurrection, has been exalted by God to be the Leader and our Savior — 5:30-31.
VII. The Slave-Savior’s ascension for His exaltation by God was a sign of God’s acceptance of all He had done for God’s eternal plan according to God’s New Testament economy — Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-36:
А. In this exaltation God crowned Him with glory and honor, bestowed on Him the name that is above all names, and made Him the Lord of all and the Head over all things that He may have all authority in heaven and on earth to rule over the heavens, the earth, and the nations so that they can work together for the universal spreading of His gospel service — Heb. 2:9; Phil. 2:9; Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:22; Matt. 28:18.
B. In order to experience Jesus as the Lord, the Christ, the Head of the church, the Head over all, and the One enthroned, crowned, and given the name above every name, we need to be in resurrection by being in the life-giving Spirit and living and walking by the Spirit — 1 Cor. 15:45b; 6:17; Gal. 5:16, 25.
VIII. The Gospel of Mark concludes with the Slave-Savior’s universal spreading of the gospel through His disciples — 16:15-16, 20:
А. “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all the creation” — v. 15:
1. God’s redemption is not only for man, the leading one in God’s creation, but also for all the creation:
a. All things, whether on earth or in the heavens, were reconciled to God, and the gospel should be proclaimed to (in) all creation under heaven — Col. 1:20, 23.
b. All the creation expects to be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God — Rom. 8:19-22.
2. The Gospel of Mark reveals that we preach the gospel to make people of the old creation the members of the new creation — 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.
B. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned” — Mark 16:16:
1. To believe is to receive Christ for forgiveness of sins and for regeneration so that those who believe may become children of God and members of Christ in an organic union with the Triune God — John 1:12-13; 1 Pet. 1:21, 23; Eph. 5:30; Matt. 28:19.
2. To be baptized is to affirm this by being buried to terminate the old creation through Christ’s death and by being raised up to be the new creation of God through Christ’s resurrection — Rom. 6:3-5; 2 Cor. 5:17.
3. Believing, by itself, is sufficient in order to receive salvation from condemnation; yet for the completion of one’s inward salvation, believing needs baptism as an outward affirmation.
C. “They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the accompanying signs” — Mark 16:20:
1. In 1:14-15 there was only one preacher of the gospel, but in 16:20 there are many preachers of the gospel, who are the reproduction of Christ in resurrection — John 12:24.
2. This preaching of God’s gospel to all the creation through Christ’s believers began from Jerusalem and has been proceeding to the uttermost part of the earth continuously and universally through the past centuries, and will continue to proceed until the Lord comes to set up the kingdom of God on earth — Acts 1:8; Luke 19:12; Dan. 7:13-14.
3. Now that we have seen the vision in the Gospel of Mark, let us go forth to preach Christ to all the creation; let us proclaim the gospel, present the truth, and minister life for the growth, development, and manifestation of the kingdom of God — Mark 16:15; Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 4:12.
