Steven Furtick - Before And After (03/03/2018)
Pastor Steven launches the Savage Jesus series from Mark 1:1-15, showing Jesus as bold, untamed, barrier-breaking—not the safe, sanitized version we often prefer. John prepares the way in wilderness; Jesus comes from obscure Nazareth, obeys in baptism, receives validation ("You are my Son"), then is immediately led into temptation. Purpose often starts in preparation and obscurity; validation follows obedience; deserts prove promises—believe before seeing, worship in wilderness.
Why Savage Jesus – Tired of Safe Portraits
One thing I want to point out to you, that you may not be aware of, we typically group our messages in different series. I decided to preach a series called Savage Jesus. Why I did it is because I'm tired of us pretending like Jesus is safe. And one reason I wanted to use the term Savage Jesus is because I knew that religious people wouldn't like it.
Religious Preference for Safe Heroes
We typically like our heroes better safe, and we typically like them better after they're dead. You notice this sometimes, don't you? The way that we present our heroes is that we prefer a certain version of them that is safe, that doesn't offend us.
Billy Graham's Full Legacy – Beyond Invitations
One of the things that I hope about Dr. Graham's legacy is that he is not just remembered for only the amazing invitations that he gave, but for the barriers that he broke down. It's good that we take a little time this week to share some of his quotes about heaven, but what he did here on earth in bringing heaven to earth and driving back darkness.
Graham's Savage Stand in 1953
I mean, Dr. Graham was a savage in his own way. What he did in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1953, that was the most savage thing I ever read about, where he tore down the barriers that they had set up to keep black people separated from white people at his crusade and looked at two white ushers and said, you can either leave those down or have the crusade without me. That's pretty savage.
Sanitizing Legends – Ray Charles and MLK
I kind of like that version of Dr. Graham. Not just, you know, my wife and I often talk about this, how for us growing up, Ray Charles was the Pepsi guy. Why? Because we came into his legacy at a time when he was older, and that's what we knew him as, and we disregarded.
You see this happen every year on the day that we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You see the same three quotes. I've decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. The same three quotes. I've been to the mountain. Same three quotes.
But Dr. King did a whole lot more than go to the mountain and have a dream. He went to prison. He suffered not only the scorn of those he was trying to fight against, but those he was fighting for.
Turning Jesus into a Mascot
And so when you forget that, when you sanitize somebody down to the point that you try to make them almost like we make them a mascot. You ever see those little toys where you pull the string and they have a few sayings that they say, and there's like five things that they say?
I'm afraid we've done that with Jesus. I'm afraid that we've got it down to the point now where we have a few things that Jesus said. You know, love people and turn the other cheek. And, you know, a few little things, images of Jesus. Shepherd Jesus with a pull string. And he says nice comforting things. Just little Jesus that we put on the shelf. And he says the things that we want to hear.
Jesus Was a Savage – Real Actions
You even hear people sometimes, Jesus was more than free hugs and warm feelings. Jesus was, are you ready? A savage.
Jesus walked in church one day. The poor people were being exploited by being sold sacrifices at a marked up price and they could not afford them. And so they were excluded from worship because the temple had become more about profit and power than it had about the presence of God.
Do you know what Jesus did? He prayed about it. Oh, oh, oh. He posted on Pinterest about it. This is not Pinterest, Jesus. This Jesus started kicking over tables. He ripped out the ATM machines. He drove out the tax collectors with a whip. Put that on Pinterest.
Well to you Pharisees, blind guys, strain out a gnat, swallow a camel. You're of your father the devil. I never saw that on a coffee mug. You are of your father the devil. I am the way, the truth, and the life. We like that, Jesus.
Jesus was a savage. He answered them not a word because he was the word. He got so mad at death that he decided to overturn it. He got so cramped in his grave that after the price had been paid, after he had done what needed to be done, he kicked the end off of a borrowed grave.
Why borrowed? He wasn't going to be there long. He was a savage. When he got up, I have to show you one thing, and I should save this for Easter, but the Bible says that he folded the linen they had wrapped him in. He was so savage that he folded it, because when you fold a linen at a meal, it means I will be back.
When he comes back, he's not coming back like a lamb. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, and I feel his presence in this place. So let's get started in the series.
Mark 1:1-15 – The Gospel Begins
Mark chapter 1, verse 1 through 15, records these words. The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, it is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way.
A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him.
Mark's Unique Start – Action Over Birth
Interesting that Mark does not start with the birth of Jesus Christ. I wonder if he does that so that we will not be so attached to our image of him as a baby.
Do you remember that movie with the race car driver? And do you remember he said, I like the baby Jesus the best? A lot of us do. We worship a certain version of Jesus instead of saying, well, Mark isn't going to give us that portrait of Jesus.
Mark's Style – Painting with Action
And it's correctly called a portrait because scholars say that Mark's gospel is not only the oldest gospel from which the other gospel writers would take the base information and add their own commentary.
But one of the things about Mark's gospel that we will notice, because I plan to host our entire study from this gospel account, is that he wrote in terms of action. And you don't get in this gospel a lot of the commentary about what Jesus actually taught. You get more of a picture.
The scholar that I studied said that Mark writes with a paintbrush. He would rather show you than tell you, because the highest level of proclamation of the gospel is demonstration, not explanation.
Some people can explain to you all about propitiation and atonement. But they're so mean to their wife that why would I want a Jesus that can't keep you from treating your family like crap?
And so Mark is going to show us portraits of Jesus. We will be looking at at least five or six in this series.
John the Baptist – Savage Preparation
But he starts it off and he goes to this scene in verse four. And so John came baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him confessing their sins. They were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
John was a savage. He wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist. And he ate locusts and wild gluten-loaded honey. And this was his message. After me will come one more powerful than I. After me will come one more powerful than I.
The thongs 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.
John's Role – Preparing the Way
John came to prepare the way for Jesus. And Jesus came, verse 9, from Nazareth. And Mark said this is the beginning of the gospel, but it was not the beginning of the life of Christ.
Jesus from Nazareth – Unexpected Origins
At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my Son, whom I love. With you, I am well pleased.
Nazareth – No-Name Place for No-Name People
Jesus came from Nazareth, and the people wanted to know, Can anything good come from Nazareth? But it was his place of preparation. And when God has a great purpose for your life, he will often involve a season of obscurity.
Let's be honest about it. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It's not like Jesus needed to learn what he already was. But even Jesus went through a season of obscurity before he fulfilled his purpose.
And some of you are in Nazareth right now, and you're wondering the same thing that the people wondered about Jesus. Can anything good come from Nazareth? Can anything good come from singleness? Can anything good come from losing my job? Can anything good come from cancer? Can anything good come from middle school? Can anything good come from a broken heart? Can anything good come from depression? Can anything good come from divorce?
But I love him because he takes the most unlikely places and fulfills the greatest purpose. I need you to shout right now if you've ever been in Nazareth, wondering, God, what am I doing here? Jesus came from Nazareth. Great things come from small places. New beginnings come from dead ends. Jesus came from Nazareth. It was his place of preparation.
Baptism – Obedience Before Miracles
Jesus came from Nazareth, and he was baptized by John. That confused me at first. And so, if you're reading this and you're like, I don't read the Bible much, but that's kind of weird. Don't you get baptized because you need to be forgiven of your sin? And isn't Jesus the one who didn't have any sin? That's what John thought.
John was surprised when Jesus came to be baptized. Because, you know, he's lining them up and he's dunking them. And John's baptism was not like ours. You know how in our baptism we let you read something and share something? John was such a savage.
One time he looked at the crowd and said, Who told you to come out here, you brood of vipers? What if when you got in the tank, let's go to Gaston for a baptism? Can you imagine Ken Hester telling that big boy that was in the tank today? I was so nervous Ken was going to drop him. Imagine if he called him a snake before he dunked him.
And John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He was fighting against the oppression of the system that had made principles more important than people. And so he was rebuking really the leaders and he'd say, You snakes, repent. You snakes, repent. You snakes, repent.
He turns around and there's the savior of the world. You savior of the world. I should baptize you. I was just telling them I'm not fit to tie your shoes. This isn't right, but Jesus said something and Mark doesn't give it to us because I'm probably I really believe this. Hold on. I'm OCD and this thing's crooked.
Probably Mark was writing his recollections not based on his own personal experience. We don't even historically know who Mark was with 100% accuracy, but we have reason to believe that these recollections were based on the memory of Peter. Peter who tried so hard to keep Jesus from the cross. Peter who had an expectation of an earthly kingdom that would overthrow Rome.
It really matches the style of Peter that Mark's gospel would include very little detail. It's just really one thing after another after another. His favorite word that Mark uses, and you'll see it over and over again when you come back to church every week of this series, is immediately or suddenly. It's just Jesus is on the move.
Now, the thing about it was that for half of Mark's gospel, Jesus is on the move through Galilee where he did his ministry. The other half he's headed to the cross, the place he came for all along. Peter did not understand that before, but he did after.
There is a breathlessness of this gospel that comes across because Jesus is headed to the cross, headed to his purpose, headed to redemption, which makes possible reconciliation. He has no time to waste, so we will forgive Mark if he leaves out a lot of the details. He just tells us that Jesus came and was baptized.
But Matthew tells us, because there are four gospel accounts, that Jesus told John the reason he did it. He said this must be done to fulfill all righteousness. In other words, it was an act of obedience.
If there's any word that might be more unpopular than preparation in our culture, it's obedience. Nobody tells me what to do. I pray to Jesus during football games, but nobody tells me what to do.
Jesus' power was in his submission to the will of his Father. He said, I've got to do this in obedience. John said, it doesn't make sense. And Jesus said, it doesn't have to make sense. It is written, and therefore it must be accomplished.
And so John doesn't argue with him about it. He just does it. And when he does it, the Bible says that a dove came from heaven, descended on him. The dove is often used to symbolize peace. Here it is a symbolic indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
And God validates the sonship of Jesus Christ. This is different than the transfiguration, Holly. In the transfiguration, which happens many chapters later, he will say, this is my son whom I love. Listen to him. Here it's personal. He says, you are my son whom I love. With you I am well pleased.
It is a direct validation of Jesus' ministry. And it came after Jesus' obedience. I'm afraid that a lot of times we want validation before obedience. But validation does not come before obedience. It comes after.
This is a message of before and after. Now notice what hasn't happened yet at the moment that God the Father validates his son. Jesus has not opened the first blinded eye. Jesus has not healed anybody of leprosy or cleansed them of their condition. Jesus has not caused any lame people to walk, not at this point.
Jesus has not even taught the crowds in a way that would captivate them to the point that they would stay and skip dinner just to hear what this man has to say. Jesus has not packed out the house to the point that some men will tear off a roof to get their friend in so he can be healed. He has done none of that yet.
And before he ever performs his first miracle, the Heavenly Father speaks a word of validation. And maybe you need to hear that God's love for you is never based on your performance. Before he ever did anything, it's kind of like he got the trophy before he even showed up for practice.
It's kind of like God does not validate how people validate, because people will validate you based on what you do for them. People will validate you based on the value that your actions carry that will contribute directly to their wellbeing. But God does not validate based on performance. He validates based on relationship.
He did not validate what Jesus would do. He validated who he was. And just in case you haven't heard it in a while, and you feel kind of dirty and kind of ashamed of yourself, and kind of like you don't belong in the presence of God, and kind of like you're not one of those good church people, I want you to know you're still his child. You're still made in his image. You're still bought with his blood.
Every drop he spilled was on purpose, and one of those drops had your name on it. And if the blood was enough for me, it was enough for you. And you don't have to stand here ashamed and look forward to one day when God will never love you any more than he loves you right now. I said you're free right now, loved right now, cleansed right now, healed right now.
Somebody shout, I am. I am his child. I am accepted. Jesus did not perform his ministry for acceptance. That's why he didn't care what anybody thought about it. When you know somebody more important approves of you, it makes the opinions of people a whole lot less significant. Isn't that true?
I don't know. I don't care. This sounds bad. This sounds unpastoral. But I don't care as much what you think about this sermon. I care. I will check Facebook, Instagram. But before that… Before… Before… Before… Everybody say before. Before… Before… Before… I'll walk off the stage. Holly will meet me. And I'll look at her. And she'll be like, You slayed it.
When she says that, that will matter a little bit more. A little bit more. Because she lives with me. And if the person who knows me the best hears what I have to say and feels like it was aligned with the character of my life…. I don't need the gram.
No, I think this is important. I think it's so important that we receive the validation of God each day. Or we will need from people what they are not capable of giving us. How are they going to accept you unconditionally? They don't even like themselves some of the time.
The Desert – Temptation After Validation
And a voice came. And a voice came. John came. That's preparation. A voice came. That's validation. But notice when the voice spoke. Church, pay attention to this little stuff in the Bible. Don't just read seven verses. I'm going to get coffee and post about it. Read it. Slow down. Read it.
It came before he performed any miracles. It was not contingent upon his performance. And it came after his obedience. At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth to Galilee. He was baptized by John in the Jordan. Check it out. Verse 10. Is verse 10 on the screen? Is it on there?
As he was coming up. That means as he was doing what he was supposed to do. As he was coming up, he saw heaven torn open. Is that what it says? My eyes are closed. I'm depending on you to validate. The heavens torn open, and the voice spoke, so he saw a vision, and he heard a voice, but he didn't see it until he was on the way up.
So it meant that he went all the way out to the Jordan, got in the water, went down, and on the way up, God said, I'm proud of you. And when he came up, notice this. The synergy of the text is this. When he came up, the dove came down.
When he came up to fulfill that which was spoken of, that which was prophesied about him, in obedience. When he came up… Now here's where a lot of us get it twisted. We want the dove to come down before we get into the waters of obedience. We want God to give us peace about a decision that we know we need to make.
But I found out that peace comes after obedience. So when Jesus went down into the waters, which signified his death, and came back up, which signified his resurrection, it was on the way up. It was as he was doing the will of his Father. It was as he was in the process of fulfilling the purpose that he was put on the earth for, that he saw the heavens open, and he heard the voice of God saying, This is my Son.
And the dove came down. But the dove didn't come down until Jesus came up. And you know what? You are not going to get the peace of God in your situation until you commit yourself to obey what he's speaking to your heart. Peace comes after obedience.
And if you don't have the peace of God in your situation, God's peace might be awaiting your obedience. But we want to experience before what we can only experience after. So we put stuff off, you know, like, Well, I'll do it when I feel a peace about it. That's a Christian thing. Only Christians talk like that. People who don't have this religious jargon to throw around to cover up their lack of decisiveness have to either do it or don't.
But we wait for a peace. I was just reading that text over and over. And as he was coming up, the dove didn't follow him down to the water. Come on, Jesus, you got this. Come on, this is the right thing to do. I promise you. I promise you. The dove did not make its appearance until Jesus was already wet.
Until you die to yourself and go down in the water. And as he was coming up, the dove came down. So I had to do something the other day and I didn't want to do it. In my flesh, in my spirit, I am reborn. And I told somebody I was going to do it and they said, Oh, do you have a peace about it? I guess you have a peace about it.
I said, No, that's why I'm doing it. Because I want peace. And I don't have peace. And I have spent the last several months waiting for peace that only obedience can produce. Now, the love of God did not come because Jesus obeyed, but the peace of God, the dove, the validation came as he obeyed.
I said, I'm going to do what I need to do and the peace will follow. I'm going to do what doesn't make sense and the peace will follow. I'm going to join an e-group at Elevation Church. I thought my leaders would shout. And the peace will follow.
But the peace came after the obedience. Peace comes after obedience. It's my whole message and so I'm repeating it in case you think this is a sub-point. It is not. Everything up until now was just to tell you this, Lake Norman. Peace comes after obedience.
Jesus went down, Jesus came up. As he's coming up, the dove comes down, the voice from heaven speaks, and the validation of Jesus Christ came after his obedience. Stop waiting to feel like it. Stop waiting for people to understand it. Stop waiting until everything gets just right.
This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. And then the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. Peace. Here comes the dove. Here comes the dove. Here comes the dove.
But this dove, this dove has a mind of his own. This dove, this Holy Spirit, that's what it symbolizes in the Bible. And the dove comes down. And the dove is so beautiful. Come on, LJ, play some dove music, some dove descending music. I think that's Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. and then. abrupt change.
You have to get used to Mark because he's our tour guide for this entire series. At once, verse 12, he doesn't even give us time to hang out with the dove, get a selfie with the dove. At once, at once, immediately, suddenly, the spirit, the dove, sent him into the desert.
The Desert Temptation – Proving the Promise
Why is he going to the desert? Verse 13, fills it in. And he was in the desert forty days being tempted by Satan. Why would the dove lead you into a place where the devil was waiting? I don't like that dove. I want the other dove. Give me the other dove real quick.
And suddenly, right after the validation came, the temptation. Because anytime God speaks a promise over your life, you will immediately have the opportunity to prove the promise in the desert. The same dove that presided over his baptism now leads him into the desert, which seems on the surface to be a contradiction of the Lord's Prayer.
You know, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Jesus taught us this prayer. Your will be done on earth. I know people think that a football locker room made this prayer up, but Jesus taught this prayer. On earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation.
So why did the Spirit of God lead Jesus into the very temptation that he told us to pray against? Jesus was a savage and he knew what to do in the desert and he knew that the desert is the place where you prove the promise of God.
I wanted to include this point because some of you are not in the place of validation as I speak. Today, you are in the place of temptation. So remember, Mark doesn't really break it down. He just tells us real quick because Peter's just giving him the highlights and he's writing in a style that keeps the action moving because this thing is headed to the conflict of the cross and he has no time to waste.
So he just tells us simply, he was in the desert 40 days. He doesn't even mention that Jesus didn't eat in those 40 days. He doesn't even mention being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals and angels attending. That's all he says about it.
If I went 40 days with the animals, I would want to describe every detail of it. But Mark says he was there and he was tempted but it didn't work. By the way, you don't have to explain every nuance of all of the trials that you go through. Sometimes we are so busy describing what we are going through that we miss the opportunity to declare the praises of the one who brought us through it.
He gives one verse to 40 days. He was tempted and then the angels came. But the angels did not come to protect him from the temptation. The angels came after the temptation. And sometimes we are expecting God to protect us from stuff when he wants to use the stuff to prove his power in our lives.
And so he puts you in a lonely place. But even in a lonely place you are under an open heaven. The greatest temptation of life is to find your validation in a source other than Christ. It is life's greatest temptation. Where will you find your validation?
And so Satan says to Jesus, if you're hungry turn the stones into bread. Jesus said, I don't need it. I don't live by bread alone. I live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. By the way, it's a bad idea to get in a scripture quotation contest with the one who is the word of God. He didn't just write it. He wasn't. Now you're debating scripture with the one who is it in flesh? Okay.
Then prove it. This is life's great temptation to find your validation in anything other than God. Prove it. Throw yourself off the temple. Prove it. Make more money. Prove it. Show them how great you are. Prove it. Jesus said, I don't need to prove it. It is written. It is written. I've already been validated in the waters, so I don't have to prove anything in the wilderness.
I already ate. I do this any time I'm going over to somebody's house and I'm not sure if they can cook. It's just preemptive. It's wisdom. Jesus said, I'm not hungry for that. Bow down and worship me. Why would I bow down to what is already under my feet?
And the angels came. And then the angels came. And then the angels came. Not before the temptation, but after the demonstration. And so if God has put you in a wilderness situation today, this could feel lonely. This could be emotional. This could be in your body. Every wilderness looks different, but the purpose for your wilderness is that you demonstrate the power of God in your life and the power of God does not come until after.
Maybe that's what faith is. It's believing before what you will only understand after. By the time Mark writes down these miracles, it's been 30 years since they happened. Peter is talking to Mark, telling him what to write. He said, I want you to use half of this gospel account to talk about the last week in Jesus' life.
Peter was the one who told Jesus, you can't go to the cross. It will mess up our PR campaign. You can't die. That's bad for ratings. But after he had risen from the dead, then they remembered his words. The same disciple that spent all three years of Jesus' ministry trying to keep him from the cross took half of the gospel account that he recollected to talk about the very thing that he wanted to keep Jesus from.
It goes to show that some of the dry places that we would avoid are the very places that God will use the most. The key is, can I believe it before I see it? Can anything good come from Nazareth? Can anything good come from my dysfunctional past? Can anything good come from this season that I want out of so bad?
Then the angels came. I came with an announcement. Your angel is already on the way. Your angel is on the way. Don't give in to the temptation to bow down and worship something that is less than God or to compromise your values in this season. You know who you are. You heard it in the waters of baptism. This is my child. I am well-pleased with him. This is my daughter. I am well-pleased with her. That's my boy. That's my girl. I have a purpose for you.
Do not doubt in the wilderness what God showed you in the water. Your angel is on the way. Your angel is on the way. Don't turn the stone into bread just yet. You're about to get some angel food cake. Your angel is on the way.
The God of all make you strong. The strength comes after the suffering. That's what Jesus knew. That's what he knew with the animals that was proven after the angels came. There is something today that you need to believe that you cannot see. Something that you need to believe that you and it only makes sense on this side of the cross and after you have suffered.
Closing Worship – Praise Before the Breakthrough
What verse was that? That said after you have suffered? We just talked about it. Verse what? Verse who? St. Peter? He finally got it. After. After. But let's just take a moment. Let's do something that'll really drive the devil out of our desert.
Let's go ahead right now at every location and praise God before for what we will only understand after. Come on. Let's worship in the wilderness a little bit. If you don't feel it good, that gives you a chance to prove that it's faith, not feeling. Faith, take not sight.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this moment you have brought us to. And we thank you for the voice that came from heaven that spoke into our souls today. That before we were ever created, you had a plan for our lives. That before we ever did anything right or wrong, you had already determined our purpose in the earth.
We thank you for the purpose that you know about. You know the plans you have for us. Plans to prosper us, not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. We thank you for the after, but we want to thank you for the after, while we're still living in the before.
We don't want to wait for the angels to come to give you glory. We know that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you are Lord to the glory of God the Father. But we don't want to wait for that day. So we make our decision to worship you right now and to declare right now that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
We give you glory right now. We give you glory right now.