Hearing the Right Message

We are bombarded with messages all the time. Messages from the world, from others and from ourselves. We are always, in a sense, speaking to ourselves. Are we good enough? Do we have enough? Can we make it in this situation? How do we know if we are hearing the right message? Jesus says in the Gospel of John, that the truth shall set us free (John 8:32). So one way to know whether we are hearing the right message is to look at our lives and see how free we really are. And, according to the Apostle Paul our freedom, purchased by Jesus Christ is for the purpose of serving one another through love (Gal. 5:13). After beginning his presentation of the gospel by showing us John the Baptist and his ministry of bearing witness to the coming Messiah, Mark now introduces us to Jesus. Jesus now appears on the scene. And he does so in his baptism and temptation in the wilderness. And through these accounts we learn of the importance of hearing the right message. How do we know we are hearing the right message? In this text we will see that this involves (1) Listening to the right person and (2) Following the right path. Under the first point we will explore the doctrine of the trinity and the implication of listening to the right Person, that Person being the triune God.

The second point is that to hear the right message involves following the right path. The text teaches us that immediately after His baptism the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Jesus’ exodus led Him to the wilderness, and His wilderness path led Him to the cross. The only way for us to hear the right message is to follow the right path, which is the path to the cross. The cross is the only way for us to truly be free. Are we listening to the right Person and are we following the right path?