Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

This morning we’re continuing in our study of the Gospel of Mark by zooming in on one particular verse (8:31) that just happens to get at the heart of what Easter is all about. As we saw last week, chapter eight is the turning point of Mark, specifically in Peter’s words to Jesus, “You are the Christ.” (8:29) The term “Christ” is a Greek translation of the Hebrew term “messiah” – both meaning “anointed one”. The Christ, or Messiah, was expected to be the king to end all kings; not merely a Savior but the Savior, not merely a rescuer but the Rescuer. He was going to be the one who would put every wrong right. And, in climatic fashion, Peter says to Jesus, “You’re him. That’s you. The one we’ve been waiting for.” The entire Gospel leads up to this important point and the rest of the Gospel describes what it all means.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Peter has declared Jesus is the Christ. For ancient Israel, this meant He was the long awaited king, rescuer, and savior of God's people. Jesus accepts this, but immediately clarifies. He has come for a salvation greater than earthly freedom, and this salvation requires His death on a cross. Those who wish to follow Him must also take up their cross and consider if they are willing to count all as loss for the gain of Christ.

Mark, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

The first eight chapters of Mark’s Gospel revolve around the singular question: Who is Jesus? We get the answer to that in our section today, Mark 8:11-30. Mark’s point is that we’ll never see Jesus rightly if we can’t see. He’s highlighting something about the natural human condition, namely that no one can see Jesus rightly without outside help. The Bible tells us that, by nature and choice, we are spiritually blind but Jesus offers us help and healing.

Mark, Media, Sermons, Uncategorized | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Over the last two weeks we have seen Jesus turn the worldview of the Jewish religious leaders of his day upside down. They believed that following various clean laws and traditions would make them clean and acceptable before God. Therefore, they specialized in external ritual, rules and regulations. Jesus agreed that they were unclean, but disagreed with them regarding the source and solution to their uncleanness. “Your uncleanness”, Jesus told them, “comes from the inside not from the outside.” Today, in Mark 7:24-8:10, Jesus demonstrates that he meant what he said as he leaves the boundaries of ancient Israel and travels deep in the heart of “unclean” Gentile (non-Jewish) territory. We’re going to look at three stories that took place during this trek and get a snapshot of God’s global purposes in Jesus.