Mark 8:27-33
This morning’s passage is a massive turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Up to this point, we have learned of the miracles that He performed, the miracles that proved His power and authority. We’ve learned much of who He is and what He’s capable of, and from this point forward, Mark shifts his focus to what Jesus is going to accomplish. From this point forward, the focus becomes the mission of the cross.
We find here in our passage the most important question that anyone will ever face, and that is this: Who do you say that Jesus is? It’s a question that we all have to wrestle with. It’s a question that carries an answer that determines our eternity.
Read Mark 8:27-30
1. Jesus is the Christ
Jesus begins this discussion by asking His disciples what public opinion is saying about Him. They have been in the midst of crowds of thousands, and many people are speculating who Jesus might actually be.
A. John the Baptist
Some believed that Jesus was John reincarnated. Jews however did not believe in reincarnation, so the comparison of Jesus to John the Baptist was a statement of similarity. Kind of like saying, He’s another John the Baptist. Or, He is just like John the Baptist.
B. Elijah
Elijah didn’t die, but was taken to heaven on a chariot of fire (see 2 Kings 2:11). Scripture tells us in Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Many thought that Jesus was Elijah returning to bring about peace.
C. Prophets
Maybe Jesus is a great messenger sent by God. Another prophet in the long history of the prophets.
And what would this question look like today? Here is what some people would say if asked that question:
Muslim - Jesus is a great prophet, one of the greatest actually. He isn’t God though.
Hindu - Jesus qualifies as a Hindu saint based on His life and teaching. Jesus is A god among many. Jesus is an example of “self-realization” and a symbol of what human beings can attain, rather than a real historical person.
Buddhist - An enlightened person and a wise man.
Mormon - The firstborn spirit child of a heavenly father and mother who progressed to deity in the spirit world, THEN He was conceived in Mary’s womb. He is one of many gods, and had to qualify himself as God by obeying all the Laws of God perfectly.
Jehovah Witness - Jesus was created as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser god. On earth, Jesus was fully human, and was not “god in flesh.”
After hearing about what others thought of Him, Jesus turns His attention to His disciples. Ok, so all of this is out there about me….but you, you have been with me for some time now. You have observed me. You have listened to me. So who do YOU, disciples, say that I am? And Peter comes through with boldness and clarity, “YOU ARE THE CHRIST!” You are the Messiah. You are the Chosen One!
And while Peter was right, what Jesus says next is going to totally rock his faith. I’ve asked some friends to help us with this next part. I want us to get some context into who Peter was envisioning when he shouted his response.
KIDS READING -
Micah 5:2 - “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
Genesis 49:10 - "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."
Psalm 2:6-9 - "“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Zechariah 9:9-10 - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth."
Isaiah 49:5-9 - "And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
So what was Peter expecting when he proclaimed Jesus as the Christ?
Ruler in Israel
Obedience of the peoples
Overthrow the oppressor
A king who will bring about peace and salvation (earthly)
Restore Israel to prominence, become the hub for peace and salvation
Other leaders will bow before Him
Finally! Jesus will overthrow the Romans and establish His kingdom on Earth. He will bring about peace, and all nations will look to Jerusalem as the center. Restoration for the people of Israel! Salvation from the oppressor! Victory!
And here comes the earth-shattering truth.
Read Mark 8:31-32
Wait a minute, what? Suffering? Rejection? Death? No no no Jesus, that is not possible!
Read Mark 8:33
Wow. Peter, who just proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, the One sent to save Israel, gets put in his place, why? Because he tried to get in the way of the mission of Jesus. So what is the reality of the Messiah? We begin to see it here, and more in its fullness as the gospel of Mark moves forward.
2.. Jesus Will Suffer and Be Rejected
Matthew in his gospel makes it very clear that this suffering would take place in Jerusalem (Matthew 16:21). And the suffering that Jesus is talking about isn’t just the suffering on the cross. It is the suffering of the wrestling in the Garden when He seeks His Father about another way, with drops of blood beading on His forehead in great agony. It’s the suffering of rejection that comes at the hands of one of His 12 disciples. It’s the suffering that comes from the mockery and the beating. It’s the suffering that comes from the lashings, the crown of thorns, the long walk to Golgotha.
And it’s the rejection of the people. It’s the rejection of the religious leaders. It’s the rejection of the Jewish people. Jesus will eventually stand and look over Jerusalem and weep because of it’s unbelief. Ultimately Jesus will be killed, but it doesn’t end there.
3.. Jesus Will Be Resurrected
The end of the story was not found in His death. There would be a day in which life would re-enter His body and He would stand up and walk out of that tomb. There was hope in this.
But Peter couldn’t see it! Like the blind man that Jesus just healed, the scales of blindness were falling from the eyes of the disciples but it wasn’t clear yet! They were beginning to understand, but there was still much to be learned. And so when Peter speaks out and rebukes Jesus…”no Jesus, this will never happen to you! It cannot happen to you!” Jesus turns in the direction of the disciples and essentially addresses all of them in saying, “Get behind me, Satan,” or a better translation would read “out of my sight, Satan!” Why? Because they were getting in the way of what Jesus came to do.
Application
While the disciples still had a difficult road ahead, the benefit that we have is the finished story. And this question that we have been confronted with often here at Family Church is, “when you look at Jesus, and you read about Him, and hear about Him, who do you say that He is?”
Is He a good, moral teacher? Is He a prophet that God used during that time? Is He one of many Gods? Was He an example by which we are to live? Is He real? Is what I read about Him true? WHO IS JESUS?!
Well, Peter said it. He is the Christ. He is the Anointed One. He is the Messiah. And He DID come to bring about peace and salvation, but one with spiritual implications and eternal significance.
The purpose of our study through Mark is to help us answer this question more clearly, with confidence and boldness.
So who is Jesus? That’s such a loaded question, but what we see in Mark is that He is the chosen One who was sent to suffer and be rejected, went to the cross and died to bring salvation to the world, and was resurrected to prove victory over sin and death. The Christ, Messiah, the chosen One.
