Corona Chronicles 2: (Ep.1) The Beginning of the Good News
91 sermons
Welcome to the first episode in season 2 of Corona Chronicles. The crown of thorns. We're gonna start looking at how just great the lord Jesus is, and we're starting at chapter 1, verse 1. The beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the son of God. As it is written in Isaiah, the prophet, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way.
A voice of 1 calling in the wilderness. Prepare the way for the lord. Make straight paths for him. And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all people of Jerusalem went out to him, confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the River Jordan.
John wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message. After me, comes the 1 more powerful than I. The straps of whose sandals, I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Yeah. Well, here we are then at the beginning of Mark's Goss and the word gospel really just means good news, doesn't it? And it's it's well, not just good news, but news news that needs to be announced. And that's what we see right at the very beginning, isn't it? The beginning of the good news?
And we all Everybody loves receiving good news. So the day when the government come onto the briefing and say, you know, back to normal or or whatever the equivalent is, you know, it's good news, isn't it? Or when you find out that someone you love who's been sick is made, well, it's good. It's always good to hear good news. But this is good news that this is good news about Jesus.
And so we're told right away that there is something worth celebrating, something worth proclaiming about this man Jesus, who is the Messiah, the son of God. He's the promised 1, the king who's coming, and he's and he's the Christ, you know, the 1 who is who is also God. And so that mark is just setting us up isn't that easy? Yeah. So I mean, this is gonna be about First 1 is like the is is like the summary of everything.
Yeah. It's almost like the headline. This is what I'm talking about, and this is what we're going to see when we work our way through Jesus. Yeah. That's the message.
That's the big message. That's the big message. That's the big message. Yeah. And then it's it looks like, well, okay, that's a big message, and then he sort of changes the tact, but he doesn't because he's saying, this is the message I've laid down what the message is.
Now, there's this 1 that was coming who is preparing the way. As you as you say, the word gospel is an announcing thing. It's a proclaiming thing. And so, he goes straight back to the old testament scripture. So this isn't just Jesus happened to be born and stepping in into history.
Like sort of all of us are. There's a whole prophecy and a whole foretelling and a whole preparation. For this good news. And finally, it's almost There's good news. All that preparation, it has been for this for this for this person.
Absolutely. And the and the no. The preparation evolved here, and it's what John the Baptist Ministry is all about, is is a baptism of repentance, a preaching repentance. So this news is only gonna be good if you ready yourself for it. Yeah.
You know, there needs to be an awareness that we have sinned and we've fallen short of God's ideals for us, but the Messiah is coming. You know, just over the next hill, the Messiah is coming. We need to prepare our hearts, repent. And then when he comes with his message of the kingdom of God and forgiveness, we're gonna be in the best place to receive it as as good news. So it's a very exciting time, isn't it?
And I think well, I remember reading something on this makes straight paths for him. Apparently, in sort of times, when a king or someone very important was approaching a city, often people would go ahead of him to make sure that the path would be smooth. Yeah. So they fill in the pot holes. They fill in the pot holes.
Not down mountains -- Yep. -- so that he can come Do you aim smoothly? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And this point is don't mend the roads. You need to mend your lives. Yeah. Get ready. Yeah.
Because he says repent. So he's he's preaching his repentance. It's interesting because it's it's preaching is repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but then it goes on and says in verse 7, his message It's not just it's not a sort of human repentance, is it? It's gonna pull you set socks up -- Mhmm. -- and change your ways.
But it then goes really to show you again what that message of repentance is, is that the king is coming. So he then says in verse 7, and this was his message. After me comes 1 more powerful than I am not even worthy to undo -- Yes. -- you know, Sand hopes and stooped down. And the reason this is good news is that the king is coming because the gospel is all about Jesus.
But he's coming with something much more internally changing than outward water baptism. So it's not it's not dissing the outward, but, you know, All I can do as this great prophet, John The Baptist, is baptize you with water. He's coming to back ties you with the Holy Spirit to bring god into your life. Isn't it? Yeah.
Absolutely. Yeah. And it's just exciting, isn't it? Because the rest of the gospel, is gonna explore explore exactly that theme, isn't it, of of who Jesus is and the spirit. I mean, in the next we won't get to it today, but In the next bit, we're gonna see the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus and descending upon Jesus just to authenticate him as the Spirit King and the 1 who can give the Spirit which will change us in those ways.
So just just 1 thing about John The Baptist though, because because he he he he stands for, I mean, when you know that he He's wearing a leather belt and, you know, you know, a camel's hair and needs to focus. He he he is definitely that refers right back to 1 of the great prophets in the old testament, which is Elijah. And in a sense, John the Baptist is is standing for all of the prophecies, Isaiah, Elijah, and all of that. And all of that profit, all of that old testament, is pointing Jesus is the 1. Jesus is the 1.
So he is the 1.