The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus
Mark 14.26-31
Introduction
The gospel of Jesus Christ is scandalous. It is a scandal to the wisdom of this world. Think about ancient cultures like in the Bible or even modern cultures that are honor based, the Middle East, India, or China. These cultures are less individualistic. They are tradition and honor based. In these cultures if someone dishonors, denies, or betrays their family they are disowned. Because in honor based cultures the community, honor, and tradition are valued above the individual, if an individual acts against the community they are shamed and shunned. These cultures are less offended by wrath and judgment. They understand that rebellion deserves judgment. They are offended by unconditional election and forgiveness of every sin.
This mindset exists in a modified way in the modern West with the advent of “cancel culture.” Cancel culture assumes that there are certain offences that are so serious that if someone commits them, that person should be cancelled. They should be shamed and shunned. For example when celebrities say or do something sexiest or racist they are blacklisted. It even happens to everyday people like you and I. During this past election people on both sides made statements like, “if you vote for him, we are no longer family.”
The gospel is scandalous to this mentality because the gospel declares that if you repent of your sin and trust in Christ alone your sins will be forgiven. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8.1). That means that everyone who acknowledges that they are a sinner who deserves hell and repents and looks to Jesus alone is forgiven. They are forgiven of all sin – past, present, and future. They are not shamed or shunned. They are not cancelled. The gospel is scandalous.
The gospel is also scandalous to the modern Western culture. Our culture is individual based. The individual is valued above the community. If your family or tradition doesn’t make you happy then simply shed them. You are the god of your life. You have the autonomy to decide something as fundamental as your gender and sexuality. Love and forgiveness is not offensive to our culture but a call to repentance is. How dare you tell someone that they must repent of anything? How dare you impose your beliefs on someone else and call them to convert. The modern mentality preaches as long as you don’t hurt anyone; you can and should do whatever you want. The only unforgivable sin is to hold to historic Christian ethics and to call others to do the same.
The gospel is scandalous to our culture. The gospel offers the love and forgiveness of God but it only does so for those who will repent and believe in the good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel does not teach that every human being will be saved regardless of his or her creed. The Bible tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That means that there is condemnation for those who are outside of Christ Jesus. The gospel is scandalous.
The scandal of the gospel is encapsulated in our text this morning. Jesus’ prediction of the abandonment of the disciples and the denial of Peter paints of vivid picture of the scandal of the gospel. The scandal of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that all sinners who trust in the death and resurrection of Christ will be forgiven of their sins.
The Scandal of Rebellion
In verse 26 Mark tells us that Jesus and the 11 went out after they sang a hymn. Remember what Pastor Kevin preached last week. Jesus took the Passover and transformed it into the Eucharist. Every year at Passover the Jews would sing Psalms 113-118 at the table together. They were called the Hallel psalms. Jesus sang these psalms with his disciples before they went out.
How beautiful is it that around the table Jesus did the same things with his disciples that we’re doing this morning. They prayed. Jesus taught. They took Holy Communion. And they sang. Singing is one of the most important things we do as believers. It is a way we engage God with our hearts.
It is so important that we train our hearts to sing out in victory or to weep in lament. We are not merely intellectual creatures we are also emotional creatures. That’s why Scripture commands singing. Ephesians 5.19 says, address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Martin Luther said that apart from the Word of God the greatest gift we have in the whole world is music. Let me encourage you to sing your heart out every week here at church. It is a means of grace for your heart and it is a means of grace for Christ Community Church.
After they sang and as they went out to the Mount of Olives Jesus tells them that they’re all going to fall away. The Greek word is σκανδαλίζομαι, where we get the word, “scandal.” Jesus says they’re going to scandalize him. They’re going to sin against him. They’re going to abandon him.
Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13.7-9; we read it in our call to worship. You know, if you have a habit of being late to church, or leaving the service early, please do yourself a favor and be present for the whole thing. Our liturgy is intentionally structured from the very beginning to the very end. Everything we do has meaning and if you miss something, you miss the means of grace that feed your soul for the week.
You shouldn’t miss parts of the service, also, don’t miss Jesus’ Christocentric interpretation of the Old Testament here. The falling away of the disciples is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. It is but another example of how the entire Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is the good shepherd and he is about to be killed. When he is all of his sheep will scatter. Those dumb, selfish, scared sheep will run. They do not protect the shepherd he protects them. They do not feed the shepherd he feeds them. They do not lead the shepherd he leads them.
But at the moment Peter is certain that he will not fall away. “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” The original literally reads, “even if they all scandalize you, but not I.” But Jesus makes the heartbreaking prediction about Peter himself, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Isn’t it interesting that Mark mentions that Peter will deny Christ three times before the rooster crows twice? Matthew and Luke merely say that Peter will deny Jesus before the rooster crows (Matt 26.34; Luke 22.34). Why does Mark make the point to say before the rooster crows twice?
Most scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark is the eyewitness account of St. Peter himself. And I think it’s safe to assume that Peter remembered every detail of Jesus’ prediction and his denial, these words that would crush Peter until his restoration at the breakfast on the beach (John 21.15-19). I imagine that this is all Peter thought about on Holy Saturday, as Jesus lay dead in the tomb. But for now Peter will arrogantly declare one more time, “if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of the disciples echoed Peter’s declaration.
The irony is that Peter, and the rest of us, must die because we denied him. Our rebellion is scandalous to God. We all sinned in our father Adam. And because of our sin we deserve the wrath of God forever in hell. We were created in the image of God but we fell, we have become scandalous. Our rebellion is offensive to the prefect righteousness of God.
The fact that we’re rebels is scandalous to our modern western sensibilities. Judgment, wrath, and hell are a stumbling block to our individualistic autonomous worldview. This is less offensive to Eastern honor-based cultures. The notion that a sovereign deity would damn rebellious creatures to hell is something they understand. Honor, tradition, and community are valued above the individual and so if someone sins against the family, community, government, or a deity, there must be justice.
Every human being who has ever been born of a man and woman is a sinner who deserves the wrath of God. Do you believe that? Do you understand that your sin is cosmic rebellion against the King of creation? Do you acknowledge that you deserve eternal hell and that there’s nothing that you can do to earn the favor of God? If you don’t understand that then you’re not a Christian. Acknowledge your sin. Be honest with the fact that you are guilty and that on your own you deserve judgment. Feel the burden of the law. Feel the scandal of your sin.
The Scandal of Resurrection
But that’s not the only scandal in this text. Jesus answers the scandal of rebellion with the scandal of resurrection. Did you notice in verse 28 after Jesus says he will be struck and they will all fall away, he says, but after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Jesus is going to die but he is also going to resurrect. His death would pay for the sins of his people and his resurrection would guarantee life after sin.
Jesus would rise from the dead and he would go before them. He goes before them as the firstborn of the dead. His resurrection is the first of the many. Those who trust in him alone will experience the life after death that Jesus experienced first. He is the firstborn of many brothers. Jesus would go before them to Galilee where he would restore them as Apostles, where he would teach them for 40 days, where he would ascend before them and send his Spirit to indwell them. Even in the midst of Jesus’ prediction of their rebellion, he tells them there will be restoration because of resurrection.
Resurrection and restoration are scandalous to those who are in honor-based traditions. There is nothing about the disciples that deserve forgiveness and yet that’s what the gospel of Jesus offers. The gospel tells us that we are sinners who deserve wrath and hell but that if we will repent of our sin then we will find forgiveness in Christ. We can experience God’s love and forgiveness if we will look to his Son who lived without sin, died as our substitute, and rose again on the third day.
Have you repented of your sin and trusted in Jesus alone? If not, please hear the gospel message this morning. There is hope in no one else. You will stand before Christ on the last day when he returns to judge the living and the dead and you will do so either on your own righteousness, which will earn you hell, or you will do so dressed in the righteousness of Christ alone, which is your only hope in life and death. Repent of your sin and look to Jesus today.
Remember also that confession and repentance is not merely a one-time thing, no, they define the life of the Christian. Peter believed in Christ and still denied him three times. Believers can commit egregious sin because we are totally depraved. Are you a believer who is living in unrepentant sin? Are you sitting here begrudgingly because someone made you go to church? Are you planning how you’re going to live in sin the moment you get out of here? Repent of that sin and find forgiveness and cleansing in Christ. Do not come to the Eucharist harboring sin. Cast your sins at the feet of Christ. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1st John 1.9).
This is why we should strive for a culture of confession at Christ Community Church. When you sin against someone confess your sin to them. Normalize saying, “I was wrong, I’m sorry, and I love you.” Even if you didn’t explicitly sin against someone there is a means of grace in confessing sin and bearing one another’s burdens. Some of the sweetest moments Bethany and I have had in our marriage have been when we’ve said, “I was wrong, I’m sorry, and I love you.” There’s a reason we pray forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Maybe you’re on the other end of the spectrum. Are you a believer who is being crushed by guilt and shame? Is the enemy constantly shaming you for sin that Jesus already paid for? Hear the good news this morning, Jesus has been raised up and he has gone before you! There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I’m feeling very Lutheran today. I have another Luther quote for you. Martin Luther said,
“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”
Conclusion
Don’t you see that no matter where you find yourself this morning – believer or unbeliever; self-righteous or depressed, the answer is the scandalous gospel. Regardless of whether you come from an honor-based culture or an individualistic culture, the only answer is the scandalous gospel. The scandal of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that all sinners who trust in the death and resurrection of Christ will be forgiven of their sins. The scandal of the gospel is that you are far worse than you can imagine but in Christ you are loved far more than you can imagine.