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Just to say welcome again if you’ve come here in response to an invitation from a friend or family member – I just want to say that it means so much to them that you’ve decided to come and give the Christian faith a look in. Every time I invite a friend to hear about Jesus my heart does beat a little faster because my friends matter to me and there are two fears I have in that moment: The first is that they’ll think I’m weird for believing in Jesus and they’ll think less of me. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened, and my friends are important to me and I don’t want to lose them. So every time I invite a friend or family member to church that is in the back of my mind (I don’t want to lose their friendship) they matter to me. And it’s because they matter to me that I invite them – and this is my bigger worry. My bigger worry is that they’ll simply say “No it’s not for me, I’m fine, I’m alright” and they don’t come. And that matters to me too because I care about them.

April 5 1912 was the night the Titanic sank. And on that evening there were many acts of bravery and gallantry. The James Cameron film is factually accurate too when it showed the musicians playing till the very end. Apparently Wallace Hartley saw that the passengers were beginning to panic and in an effort to assist the orderly loading of the life-boats, assembled 8 musicians who played, at first in the first class lounge, and then out on the for’d end of the boat – the end that was sinking first. There were lots of acts of bravery and nobility, but there was also something shameful. A number of passengers survived the initial sinking of the ship and were freezing in the Atlantic Ocean, and the life boats had rowed away to a safe distance. And they could have rowed back to pick up more passengers – but they chose not to. They were worried that they would be swamped by desperate people who just wanted to live and so they hung back. And they waited, until the cries died away. Then they went back, and fished out the remaining survivors from among the corpses.

The reason why we run these invitation services and the reason why we invite our friends to come and hear about Jesus (even though there’s a worry that friendships might be strained as a result) is because we believe that Jesus came as a rescuer to save us. We recognise that he came and has rescued us, and we are safe in his lifeboat. And we don’t want to be like the captains of the Titanic’s lifeboats, who waited in security while the other passengers perished. We want to go back and tell of the rescue we have received. So if you are here as a result of an invitation, I want to say thank you for coming, we are so glad you’re here! And we’re going to look at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel and ask 3 Questions: “Who is Jesus Christ?”, “Why did he die?” and “What does he want with me?”

1. Who is Jesus Christ?

There are some stories where the identity one of the characters is a mystery and the fun of the story is in their gradual discovery. I lived with a guy who said he was always able to work out the mystery element of a story whether it was a murder or a romance or whatever. He said he could work it out within the first few minutes of the story. I’m not like that – it’s great, I’m always surprised by the twists and the reveals. It could be the butler every time and I’d still not see it coming! Well do you see in the first line of Mark’s Gospel – even I can see Jesus’ Identity right from the beginning:

The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the Son of God.

That is the thing Mark will be showing us throughout his book. Christ is not a name, it’s a job title. If you’ve seen the Marvel Series – it’s a bit like The Black Panther. The Black Panther is the warrior protector of Wakanda, passed down from warrior to warrior to protect the people of Wakanda. Well the Christ is the Saviour King. He’s chosen by God to save and to rule his people. The question people in Jesus’ days were asking is: Who is the Christ? Or who will be the Christ? Mark is saying Jesus is the Christ – he is the Saviour King! But do you see as well – not just Jesus the Christ, but Christ; the Son of God. Jesus is not just another in a long line of Christs. He is the final Christ. He is THE Christ because he is the Son of God come to earth, to save and rule his people forever.

Now, Son of God is mysterious language. Not because Mark’s writing in riddles – but because he is describing the nature of God himself. Jesus is not the Son of God like Thor is the Son of Odin. Thor and Odin, in Norse mythology are two separate beings with two separate wills. And by the way, Thor’s will often annoyed Odin’s will. Odin being very wise, and Thor being rather stupid. But the God of the Bible is not like that. The God of the Bible is one God, with one will. But at the coming of Jesus, he reveals himself to us as one who exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So when we read the prophecy from Isaiah, and we hear (Mark 1.3):

the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”

The Lord is referring to God. And when God comes, we see who he is: God shows himself as the Father, who sends the Son – and who baptises with the Holy Spirit. The implications of this are enormous. For one thing: it means we don’t relate to God as mere power. He’s not like Thor or Zeus – he’s not JUST the biggest, most powerful being in the universe. He is a being who has existed for eternity in a loving unity of Father, Son and Spirit. And when he created the world he opened up his happy life in himself to things outside of himself. The shape of existence reflects the shape of God himself. God is not solitary in himself, but trinity in himself. His peace in himself is not the silence of solitude, but the peace of harmony and love. Happy human life resembles that. On the other hand, miserable human life is on one extreme conflict between competing egos or agonising estrangement and isolation. So who is Jesus? He is the Son of God and he’s come to be the Saviour King of God’s people. But then…why did he die?

2. Why did Jesus die?

When I was a studying here at Newcastle I met a Muslim student called Hamza during the Islamic Society’s “Discover Islam Week”. He invited me inside for one of their exhibitions and we got talking about our different faiths and when I told him about Jesus he looked at me incredulously and said: “Are you telling me that the Holy, Pure, Perfect God defiled himself by becoming a human? Are you telling me that he got hungry? That he went to the toilet? Are you telling me he died on a cross?” Hamza was almost angry with me. He was so passionate to make me feel the weight of what I said – what was blasphemy to him. And in a way he succeeded. It is shocking that God would come to earth. That he would become a human being like us, and suffer the limitations and weaknesses we suffer. Hamza had a high view of God. He couldn’t bear the idea that God would take on human nature to die on a Cross. But here is he reason, it’s in Mark 1.4:

John appeared, baptising in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus died for the forgiveness of sins. He died because there is a judgement day coming. That’s what forgiveness implies – it implies a judgement. Now the fact that there is a judgement day is really good news – it means there is such a thing as justice. We have courts on earth because we want justice on earth. Why should we expect heaven to be any different? And it’s the heavenly courtroom, and God the perfect judge, who will judge the courts on earth. That means that justice on earth is not arbitrary. There’s no such thing as Nazi Justice and NATO Justice and Tyneside Justice. Rather, there is one rule for all human beings – and God will see that it is upheld. And again, that’s great news because it means how we live matters to God. You matter to God, and how I treat you matters to God. But the problem is there in Mark 1.4 too – we sin. Sin is a Bible word and it describes both actions and attitude. The actions are easy to see – they are the wrong things we do, the unkind or untrue words we say, and the unworthy thoughts we indulge in. These actions, these sins, are the reason we lock our doors, the reason we have a police force, the reason we have independent reviews of the police force – and so on and so on. But these actions are only the signs of a much deeper problem – which is the attitude of sin. The attitude of sin is that deep seated human nature which says: “My life, my rules.” And it ignores the fact that God made our life and our world – and so only he has the wisdom and right to make the rules.

Now, Hamza understood something about the majesty of God but he hadn’t understood the seriousness of sin. He didn’t understand how deep it went. He didn’t think he was perfect, surely none of us do. But we don’t see that even if we say we agree with 90% of God’s rules and decide to keep them – that still makes us 100% a rebel against God; because we are the ones who decide which rules to keep and which to ignore. And we don’t see that when we say to ourselves “Yes I know I’m not perfect, but I haven’t done anything really badly wrong” we’re in fact saying to God “I won’t be judged by your standards as though I’m accountable to you – I’ll be the judge of my own life”. That is what the Bible calls sin. That is the terrible danger we are in; our sins will bear witness against us that we have lived as rebels and squatters in God’s world. And God, who is good, has set a day when he will punish evil.

Here’s the problem: How can God meaningfully uphold right and wrong and forgive our sins? Isn’t that a wonderful problem by the way? If God didn’t love you and me so much that he wants to forgive us even after the way we’ve behaved – there wouldn’t be a problem at all. A friend of mine went down to speakers’ corner in London and listened to a man passionately exhorting people not to have children – his group was an anti-natalist group. They look around at all the problems in the world and conclude – humanity is the problem. Solution: Don’t have kids. Just go extinct! Life would be better without you. But God says: No I like you – I want life with you. I want to heal you.

Why did Jesus die? He died to take our place, and to bear the punishment that we deserve. He bore the wrath of God instead of us. That is the baptism that he endured for you and for me. John’s baptism was just a symbolic act of participation in Jesus baptism. Jesus’ baptism was his death on the cross. In chapter 10 of Mark’s Gospel two of Jesus followers come up to him and ask to sit either side of him in his moment of glory. And Jesus replies to them (Mark 10.38):

You do not know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink, or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?

They think Jesus is going to Jerusalem to become King, and they imagine themselves taking top jobs in his Royal court. But Jesus has by this point already told them, he’s on his way to Jerusalem to die. The cup he will drink is the cup of God’s wrath. The baptism refers to the time God flooded the earth in judgement on humanity’s evil. The baptism for the forgiveness of sins was Jesus’ death for us, in our place. At the cross, the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus for the sins of the world, so that my sins and yours, could be dealt with before the day we stand in God’s court. Three days after Jesus died he rose again from death, showing us that his payment for our sins has been accepted and that he can lead us through death and into new life forever in his Kingdom. But the fascinating thing is that he kept his scars from the cross. I have a couple of scars and I remember where they come from. One on my hand which I’m not so proud about, that’s from a cigarette. Idiot. One near my eye, I’m quite please with that one, I got it in a rugby match. Well Jesus scars are from his cross. And they remind us of judgement passed. Jesus’ scars show us that sin matters – but it’s been paid for. I deserved the cross and the judgement of God. But Jesus bore it in my place, and in the place of many others. So:

3. What does Jesus want with us?

He wants us. Every one of us this evening. Death was the penalty for sin – which Jesus endured. Life forever, perfect, happy, in the Kingdom of God is the inheritance for those who love God and keep his law – which Jesus did perfectly. If we come to Jesus, he makes us one with him by his Spirit so that his death is applied as though it were ours, and his life, his perfect obedience, his happy relationship with the Father – is given to us too. All we need to do is come to him. See his first words in Mark’s Gospel, (Mark 1.15):

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

Repent is a wonderful word, it means to turn back. The wonderful message about Jesus and the cross is that it is safe to turn back to God. That’s why repentance and belief go together – putting our trust in Jesus means we trust he has made it safe to come out of hiding. We can lower our defences. We can put away our excuses. We don’t need to stand on our dignity and maintain our own self-righteousness. We can admit that we’ve fallen way short of God’s standards because we weren’t even aiming at them. And we can turn to Jesus and ask him to rescue us. And I’ve been praying that there will be some here this evening who are right now wondering if they want to do that. If you are, there are three things you should know, and you probably already know the first one:

One, your friends and family will probably think you’re weird, or worse, for believing in Jesus. Following Jesus often means walking in a different direction to the way 21st Century Britain is walking. And that can be hard. And there will certainly come times when you will need to choose which way to go: Jesus’ way or the easy way. The second thing to know is that Jesus will be with you always no matter what. And the third thing is that you become part of a family of people all over the world who have trusted in Jesus and are walking with him too; the church.

For those here who are thinking are they ready to trust Jesus, I’m going to close with a short prayer. I’ll read it out first so you can hear what it says, then you can decide whether that is something you’d like to pray too. And if it is, you can quietly add your “yes” to it as I pray it to finish. So here is what I’ll pray:

Jesus Christ,I can see the actions of sin in my life have revealed my attitude of sin against God. I am sorry for the wrong I’ve done against you, and against others. Thank you for coming to die for me, to pay the penalty for my sin, so that I can turn back without fear of judgement. I want you to be my Saviour King. Please accept my life and help me follow you from now on, through the challenges of this world, and lead me safely to your perfect Kingdom. Amen.