THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Mark: Jesus, The Perfect Servant Of God

Part III: The Perfect Sacrifice Of Jesus, The Perfect Servant Of God, Mark 11:1-15:47

I. Believing In The Incarnation And The Trinity According Jesus And The Old Testament

(Mark 12:35-37)

I. Introduction

A. When Jesus alluded to Psalm 110:1 in Mark 12:35-37, He mentioned a truth that not only powerfully applied to the Jews of His day seen in the New Testament writers making more references and allusions to that verse than to any other single Old Testament passage (Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 165), He also made enormous application to us in countering central errors on the theology about God Himself that we face from cults today.

B. We thus view Mark 12:35-37 and its allusion to Psalm 110:1 in application to the cults we face today:

II. Believing In The Incarnation And The Trinity According To Jesus And The Old Testament.

A. Jesus' use of Psalm 110:1 counters Liberal Theology's denial of Scripture's divine inspiration, Mark 12:36a:

1. Due to the rise and propagation of Liberal Theology in mainline Christendom, over half of Methodist, Episcopalian, United Presbyterian, Baptist and Lutheran ministers no longer believe that the Bible is divinely inspired. (James Montgomery Boice, Does Inerrancy Matter?, 1979, p. 9)

2. However, Jesus' reference to David's writing of Psalm 110:1 in Mark 12:36a claims David wrote that verse "by the Holy Ghost" (KJV), stating the Holy Spirit's divine inspiration of that text in line with the teaching of 2 Peter 1:20-21 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that hold to the Holy Spirit's inspiration of all of the Scriptures.

B. Jesus' use of Psalm 110:1 in Mark 12:36 in the wide Scripture context also counters denials of the Trinity:

1. Witness Lee of The Local Church "calls the Trinity three 'stages of God'" (Gary L. Wall, "A catalogue of cults: Where they stand on the deity of Christ," p. 6, reprint from Moody Monthly, July-August, 1979) and Victor Paul Wierwille, founder of The Way and the Unitarians deny the doctrine of the Trinity, Ibid., Wall.

2. Yet, Jesus' Mark 12:36 allusion to and use of Psalm 110:1 in its wide Scripture context teaches the Trinity:

a. Jesus said that though David wrote Psalm 110:1, that verse was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it presents "The Lord" speaking "to" David's ("my") "Lord," two persons in the Godhead, Mark 12:36.

b. In Psalm 110:1, the first "Lord" Person is the Father and the second "Lord" Person is Christ as Hebrews 1:1-3 and 13 teaches that Christ is now seated at the Father's right hand in fulfillment of Psalm 110:1.

c. Then, the Holy Spirit Who inspired all of the Scriptures, including Psalm 110:1, is God according to the claims of 2 Peter 1:21 with 2 Timothy 3:16. (Charles Caldwell Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, 1973, p. 19)

d. Thus, Jesus in Mark 12:36 referred to the Holy Spirit as God in His inspiration of Psalm 110:1, and to God the Father and to God the Son, Jesus Christ in the text of Psalm 110:1 itself -- teaching the Trinity!

C. Jesus' use of Psalm 110:1 counters the religious cults that deny that the Messiah is also God, Mark 12:36-37:

1. Christian Scientists, Freemasonry, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, Scientology, Islam, Judaism and The Unification Church are among many groups that deny the Messiah as man is God, Ibid., Wall, p. 2-6.

2. However, Jesus cited Psalm 110:1 that presents one Person of the Godhead as "Lord" speaking to another Person of the Godhead, also called "Lord," and that second Person called "Lord" is also the physical son of David as the Messiah, Mark 12:36-37.

3. Accordingly, Jesus held the Messiah as fully man was also fully God as God "Incarnate"! (cf. John 1:14)

D. Jesus' use of Psalm 110:1 counters the religious error that denies the Messiah is distinctly God and distinctly man at the same time, Mark 12:36-37:

1. Witness Lee held "Jesus was neither God nor man, but . . . a mingling" of the two, Ibid., Wall, p. 6.

2. However, when Jesus asked how the scribes could say Messiah was David's son while David called Him "my Lord" in Psalm 110:1, His argument rested on the concept that there was just as stark a contrast between the humanity of David's human son in the Messiah and His divine nature as David's "Lord" as there was in David himself not being God with God's divine nature!

3. Thus, Jesus taught and held to the persistently separate natures of humanity and deity in God Incarnate!

Lesson: Jesus taught that He as Messiah was fully man and fully God in accord with the divinely inspired Psalm 110:1 versus Liberal Theology and the major cults today. He is to be believed as such for eternal life, John 20:31.

Application: (1) May we hold to the divine inspiration of Scripture, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. (2) May we hold that Jesus was fully God come in fully human flesh, (3) and by believing, have life through His name, John 20:31.