MARK'S JESUS AS THE SERVANT WHO SAVES
(all Scripture references are found in the Gospel of Mark)
1. Jesus Saved Through Teaching
— he must suffer many things (8:31; 9:12)
— he would be rejected (8:31; 9:12)
— he must be killed (8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 12:1-11)
— he would rise again (8:31; 9:9; 14:28)
— he would rise after three days (9:31; 10:34)
— he "spoke plainly" about his impending death (8:32)
— he would be betrayed (9:31; 10:33)
— he would be turned over to the religious leaders (10:33)
— he would be condemned to death (10:33)
— he would be handed over to the Gentiles (10:33)
— he would be mocked (10:34)
— he would be spit upon (10:34)
— he would be flogged (10:34)
2. Jesus Saved Through Discipling
— he rebuked Peter for trying to stand in his way (8:33)
— he called others to deny themselves (8:34)
— he called others to lose their own life (8:35)
— he called others to take up their own cross (8:34)
— he called others to follow him (8:34)
— he called people to a child-like faith as a prerequisite to entering the kingdom (10:15)
— he said the way to eternal life was to give up everything and follow him (10:17-31)
— he said that all who stand firm to the end will be saved (13:13)
— he commissioned to preach the good news (16:15)
— he gives the conditions for our salvation (16:16)
3. Jesus Saved Through Authority
— he cast out the demonic spirits (9:17-27)
— he came as a "ransom" (10:45)
— he healed Bartimaeus' blindness (10:46-52)
— he presents himself as King (11:1-10)
— he will come in the clouds with power to gather the saved (13:26-27; 14:62)
— he identifies himself as the Christ (14:62)
— he admits he is the King of the Jews (15:2)
— he is identified as the Son of God by the centurion (15:39)
4. Jesus Saved Through Symbolism
— he showed the bread which symbolized his body (14:22)
— he showed the cup which symbolized his blood (14:23-24)
— he said his blood would be poured out for many (14:24)
— he prayed for the cup to be taken from him (14:36,39)
— he made the curtain of the temple tear in two (15:38)
5. Jesus Saved Through Enemies
— the religious leaders looked for a way to kill him (11:18; 14:1)
— the religious leaders looked for a way to arrest him (12:12; 14:1)
— Judas made a deal with the chief priests to betray Jesus (14:10-11)
— Jesus announced his betrayer was in their midst (14:17-21)
— Jesus recognizes his betrayer approaching (14:41-42)
— Judas betrays Jesus (14:44-45)
— Jesus is arrested (14:46)
— the religious leaders look for evidence to put him to death (14:55)
— Jesus is condemned as worth of death by religious leaders (14:64)
— Jesus is spit upon (14:65)
— Jesus is struck with fists (14:65)
— Jesus is mocked by religious leaders (14:65; 15:31-32)
— Jesus is beaten (14:65)
— Jesus handed over to Pilate (15:1)
— Chief priests make accusations (15:3)
— Crowd shouts for Jesus' crucifixion (15:13-14)
— Jesus is flogged and handed over for crucifixion (15:15)
— Jesus is mocked by the soldiers (15:16-20)
— Jesus is mocked by the crowd (15:29-30)
6. Jesus Saved Through Dying
— he was crucified at the third hour (15:24-25)
— God forsook Jesus at the ninth hour (15:34)
— Jesus breathed his last (15:37)
— Curtain of the temple torn in two (15:38)
7. Jesus Saved Through Resurrection
— the stone was rolled away from the tomb (16:4)
— an angel testified to Jesus' resurrection (16:6-7)
— Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (16:9)
— Jesus appeared to two disciples in different form (16:12)
— Jesus appeared to the eleven (16:14)
CONCLUSION
Salvation in Jesus Christ takes on many different aspects. There is a sense in which we are saved just by hearing his words and being in his presence. We might not have received salvation in its fullest sense, but we have been delivered from the empty words of man and ushered, if for only a moment, into the deeper things of God. Jesus' ministry was based on delivering people from where they are to where God wants them to be. He demonstrated that God wants people delivered from ignorance, sickness, death, and eternal damnation. Jesus came to testify that man could save himself by losing himself in the process (8:35). At the cross event Jesus testified of the love of God for mankind and the lengths to which he was willing to go to save man from his sins and from himself. At the resurrection Jesus showed that he was more than able to save any who would come to him. The Messiah is more than capable of saving anyone in any situation if they are willing to come to him for deliverance.
APPLICATION
Jesus has already died on the cross. We are no longer looking forward in time to the day that Messiah will come. Salvation is here and now. The church today needs to understand that our work was predefined for us by Jesus while he was still on earth. Jesus came to save, the church is here to save. Today's church can be effective if it will take this matter of salvation seriously. Not its own salvation, but the salvation of the world around it. We have become experts in excuses. We know all the reasons why we cannot evangelize but Jesus said that we can (16:15). We have the same message and power as Jesus Christ because it is his message and power and not our own. We can give deliverance to the sick, the ignorant, and the damned. People in today's society have the same basic need as the people of the first century. They need someone to point them in the direction of the cross. Jesus left and told the church it would be its job to do the pointing. Our message is a simple one, "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (16:16).