Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 1 Study # 10
January 25, 2021
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis:   Mark was being very direct in this "apex" paragraph: Jesus is The Coming Mighty One because He is "The Lord".

Introduction:   When we were considering Mark's record of the conflict that arose between Jesus and His adversaries from the religious establishment, we saw that Jesus fomented that conflict by claiming that, as The Son of The Man, He had authority on earth to forgive sins. Then, just before the record of the determination by those adversaries that He was in cahoots with "the ruler of the demons", He claimed that, as The Son of The Man, He was "Lord of the Sabbath" (chapter two). The inevitable "logic" of "Lord of the Sabbath" self-description is that He was claiming to be the One Who had established the Sabbath in the first place. When "forgiveness" and "Sabbath rules" are put together, it is clear that Mark was building His "point" regarding Jesus as the Coming Mighty One.

Now, in the "apex" paragraph, Mark goes one step further: he records that Jesus claims to be "The Lord".

This is the focus of our study this evening.

• I. A Larger Setting For This "Jesus is Lord" Thesis: Romans 10:9-10.
  • A. In the after-development of "Grace Theology" (after the historical narratives of Jesus the Christ, the letters of the New Testament presented the "theology" of those narratives), Paul wrote a critical statement regarding "The Gospel" in Romans 10:8b-11.
    • 1. In this critical statement, Paul said that "if" a person "confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, he/she would be saved."
      • a. This makes the identity of Jesus as Lord hyper-critical for the possibility of men being "saved" by reason of the forgiveness of sins (Mark's "grace" thesis).
      • b. This also makes the "salvation" dependent upon two major responses in men.
        • 1) There must be a "mouth confession" of this root truth: Jesus is Lord (something that cannot be done apart from the Spirit: 1 Corinthians 12:3).
        • 2) There must also be a "heart belief" that God raised Jesus from the dead (another requirement that cannot be accomplished apart from the Spirit: Galatians 5:22).
    • 2. Then Paul explains the statement by writing the words of Romans 10:10.
      • a. The problem with Romans 10:10 is that it is almost universally mis-translated.
      • b. Both of the critical words ("believe" and "confess") are in the "passive voice".
        • 1) Both of these very common words in the New Testament ("believe" is used in 218 texts; "confess" is used in 23) are written as "passive voice verbs" only one time each in the New Testament.
        • 2) The use of the "passive voice" is completely consistent with the declaration of verse nine; the difference is that it shifts the facts away from "man" as the one who "does" the "required things" and puts the focus upon the nature of the "required things" themselves.
      • c. The point is, however, that "salvation" is made completely dependent upon, and irreversibly established, by a "confession" that Jesus is Lord and a "belief" that God raised Him from the dead.
• II. Mark's "Contribution" To This "Salvation Requirement".
  • A. There have already been multiple direct statements that come right up to the issue without a clear and direct statement.
    • 1. At the very beginning Mark told us that John was the forerunner of "The Lord" (1:3).
    • 2. Then, the conflict issues of 2:1-3:6 were surrounded by the declaration by Jesus that as "The Son of the Man", He had the power on earth to forgive sins in the face of the "theology of Israel" that "The God" was the only One Who could forgive a man's sins, and that as "The Son of the Man", He was "Lord of the Sabbath" (the second use by Mark of this "Lord" terminology: 2:28).
  • B. But now, with the question of the disciples standing at the door of 5:1-20 ("Who, then, is this?": 4:41), and with the "apex" of Mark's argument with the exorcism of "Legion" and the destruction of 2,000 pigs in the face of Mark's "mountain/kingdom" thesis, a clear statement is finally made.
    • 1. Jesus refuses to give the man his desire to get into the "Who, then, is This?" boat, with the counter-insistence that he go to his own "city", and to his own "people", and tell them "what things The Lord has done for you" as a "mercy-driven" matter.
      • a. The "mercy" thesis is stated here for the first time.
      • b. It is only repeated in one more incident in Mark's record (10:47-48) in which Jesus gave Bartimaeus his sight.
      • c. But, Matthew makes a great deal more of it in 9:13 and 12:7: "mercy" has a greater place in "The Lord's" kingdom than "sacrifice".
    • 2. Then Mark says that the man did what Jesus told him to do throughout the Decapolis.
      • a. But, in the telling, "The Lord" becomes "Jesus" Who "has done" and "did" (same verb).
      • b. Thus, it is, on the basis of this "apex" paragraph, that those who "believe in the heart" can "confess" that Jesus is Lord.
        • 1) At this point, it yet remains for God to raise Him from the dead, so that the "belief of the heart" is not yet centered upon "resurrection".
        • 2) But the principle of "heart-belief" leading to "moutn-confession" is already in play.

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This is article #202.
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