11 Who Do You Say that I Am? (Mark 8:27-38)

Speaker: Welcome to Wednesday in the Word with Krisan Marotta. This is the eleventh lesson in the series, Questions Jesus Asked. Jesus reveals his authority as the Son of Man and the Servant of God as He asks the question of His disciples. Who do you say that I am? Mark chapter 8, verses 27 through 38. Krisan Marotta: We are in Mark chapter 8. And as you know, in this series we've been going through the Gospels looking, the Gospel of Mark, looking at the places where Jesus asks a question that provokes a thoughtful response. And we've reached the halfway point in the Gospel. Most commentators considered this to be the turning point. And you remember, for those of you that were here the first week, there's a brief kind of introduction in the first 13 verses where they establish Jesus' credentials. And then from 114 to this point, it's establishing who Jesus is, so who the servant is. And then from 831 on, it really the book really focuses on what he came to do. So Ray Stedman wrote a two-book commentary on Mark, and I he summarized it this way. I liked his titles. The first book covers chapters 1 through 8, and it's called The Servant Who Rules. So it's who he is. The second book covers the nine to the end of the book, and it's called The Ruler Who Serves. So it's the servant who rules and then the ruler who serves. It's who Jesus is in the first eight chapters, and then what he came to do that is to give his life for us in the second half of the book. So we've reached like the big major plot point in the story, not the climax, the climax is the resurrection. But this is like the big turning point where the plot spins off in a new direction. And it's the question we have today of who do you say that I am? This has been what Jesus has trying to teach them up until this point, who he is and what authority he has. And after this point, then he begins to prepare them for the cross for what he came to do. So let me just review a little bit. You'll remember that the passage we're looking at today follows immediately on the healing of the blind man, which we discussed two weeks ago. And remember that was one of the most curious healings because it occurred in stages that the blind man was, his sight was partially restored, and then Jesus acts again, and his vision is fully restored. And so we see him lead the blind man and the disciples out of the village. He spits on the man's eyes and touches him, asks if he sees anything. The man's ecstatic as the healing begins to take place. He says, Oh, I see people, but but they're like trees walking. And then Jesus acts again, touches him again, and then he can see clearly. And I think that healing was particularly symbolic of the disciples and their understanding because they have seen all these miracles, they've seen Jesus teach with authority, they've seen the signs, and their understanding is beginning to come clear, but they don't get everything yet. So they're beginning to understand who Jesus is, but they don't yet know what he came to do. And so, like the blind man, they've had that first touch and they're beginning to understand, but they need that second touch to have their spiritual vision kind of cleared up. And so that's what he's gonna do from this point forward, this is the turning point. So we're gonna go through the passage in little chunks today. So turn to Mark 8 if you haven't already, and we're gonna look first at um the first question. Mark 8, 27, and 28. Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, Who do the people say I am? They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others one of the prophets. The interesting thing, Mark is very sparing in his details. He only puts in a few, and so whenever he gives us a detail, I always have to ask, is there any significance to it? So my first question is, why does he tell us they're in Caesarea Philippi? Why would he mention the location? And this is the northern part of the Holy Land, it's north of the Sea of Galilee, and it's at the foot of Mount Hermon. And Mount Hermon is where the transfiguration takes place, which is the next event recorded. So I think he gives us the location to tell us Jesus is on the way to Mount Hermon. He is on the way to the what will be the next major kind of event, which is the transfiguration. And in some ways, this conversation is probably preparing the disciples for what's going to happen at the transfiguration. So on the way to that, Jesus asks two questions. Who do the people say I am, and who do you, the disciples, say that I am? And the people think he's one of the prophets. They say, oh, he's John the Baptist, he's risen from the dead, or others say Elijah because there are Old Testament scriptures that suggest that Elijah's going to return before the day of judgment. Some say no, he's Jeremiah, he's Isaiah, he's one of the other prophets, or maybe he's just a new member. Now, we've seen this before. You may not remember, but if you go back to chapter six, it's recorded again. Who do the people think that Jesus is? And that was probably eight or nine months, or maybe a year prior to this. In chapter six, Mark records that Herod the king is getting very annoyed because Jesus is his popularity is rising. And he asks, Who is this man? And the answer he gets is, well, people say he's John the Baptist, risen from the dead, or others say he's Elijah, or others say he's one of the prophets. So now it's a year later, and as far as the people are concerned, their understanding hasn't changed. They still think he's one of the prophets. And never once is it recorded that the people themselves, like the populace at large, thought that this was the Messiah. We every time this comes up in the Gospels, the answer is, well, he's a prophet, but the people at large never say, this is the one, this is the Messiah. So they haven't, their understanding hasn't changed. Now, prophets were people who spoke for God. They had uh they were given a special call and authority to say, you know, thus says the Lord, and to speak a message from God directly. And I don't think it took any great revelation to see that Jesus was a prophet because of the things he said and did. No one could do those things unless God was with him. Uh and it's interesting if you ask people today, most people, who is Jesus, you get this same answer. Oh, he was a great teacher, or he was a great prophet. Uh he spoke the ways of God, but he was just an ordinary man, and we can choose whether or not we respond to him. But that's not the point. He he it's much safer to consider Jesus a prophet than to recognize that he's the Messiah, and that's what Jesus is going to push them to do. So notice then Mark 8.29. But what about you? He asked. Who do you say I am? And Peter answered, You are the Christ. Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Okay, so Peter has concluded by this point that Jesus is much more than a prophet. He recognizes him as the Messiah. And in Matthew's account, uh he adds that Jesus responds to Peter, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonas, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. That's in Matthew 16, 17. So Matthew adds that Jesus responds, he confirms you're right, and you understand this because God has opened your eyes and ears to understand it. Now the word he uses, you're the Christ, is just the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, which means anointed one. And in the Old Testament, there were two offices that required anointing, king and priest. And when Peter says you're the Messiah, you are the anointed one, he means you are the one who's anointed both king and priest. You're the one that's been predicted throughout our history as the one who would come and fulfill the Davidic kingship and fulfill the priesthood in a way that no one else ever did. And there were many prophets, but there's only one Messiah. So that's one of the key distinctions. He's saying, You are the one that we have been predicted. So think back to where we've seen this question before. In chapter four, when Jesus is in the boat with the disciples, they ask who he is, and he's repeating that. Who do you say I am? So remember in chapter four, this is when Jesus was in the boat in the middle of the storm and he's asleep, and the disciples are afraid that they're going to drown, and they wake him up, and he wakes up and he says, Peace and to the storm, or be still. I can't remember what the exact words are. And there's an immediate calm over the lake, not like the storm gradually subsiding, but it records that there was an immediate calm like this great hand, you know, pressed down the water and just everything stopped and was still. And the disciples say, Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? And I think in some sense, that's the question Jesus was trying to answer up until this point. He wants them to see who he is, that he's not just another prophet. He is a great prophet, but he is more than that, he is the Messiah. So now the test has come, essentially. Now he's testing them to see, do they understand? And he says, Who do you say that I am? And Peter's answer is clear. You're not Elijah, you're not John the Baptist, you're not Jeremiah, you're not a prophet who's predicting someone else. You are the one that's been predicted. Now imagine what what it must have been like at that moment to be Peter or to be one of the disciples, to be standing there and to actually be face to face with the Messiah, who's your the entire history of your people has been predicted, that this person is coming, and you say, You're him, and he says, You're right. I mean, imagine what it must have felt like to him to realize that all the prophecies were true. All of them are being fulfilled, and they're being fulfilled in your presence, and you're there to witness it firsthand. It must have been just this overwhelming, startling realization for them. So the funny thing is then Peter says, don't tell any, or Jesus says, don't tell anyone. So just like he took the blind man uh and healed him and then warned him to stay out of the village and not tell anyone now, he says, Peter, don't tell anyone. Well, that seems strange because you would think it's been confirmed point blank, this is the Messiah. Why isn't that a call to action? Why don't they now scream from the rooftops, he's here, the one we've been waiting for for 2,000 years is right here. Why wasn't Jesus say, All right, go into all the nations, go into all Galilee and start telling people who I am, go into every village and every hamlet and tell people I'm here. Instead, he says, no, don't tell anyone. Well, I think the clue is the story of the blind man that just precedes this. They're beginning to understand, but they don't get it yet. They have understood that this man is more than just a prophet, he is the prophet, the king, the messiah, but they don't yet know what he came to do. So they are, in a sense, they see Jesus like the blind man like trees walking. They know who he is, but they don't yet understand his mission. And Jesus doesn't want them to speak until they learn. So he doesn't want them to proclaim what they know until they've learned of the full picture. Notice verse 31. He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. This is the first time that's recorded that he tells them point blank, I'm going to be killed, and rise again. And this is what the disciples need to learn. They now know who he is, but they do not yet know what he came to do. They do not understand the plan. They know he's the Messiah, but they don't know what kind of Messiah He is or what he's going to do. And Jesus doesn't want them out talking until they understand clearly, like the blind man they see clearly. So notice he picks up the Son of Man image from the book of Daniel, which was a messianic title. He's agreeing essentially that he is the Christ, that he is the one from this vision, and he begins to tell them he will suffer many things, he names his enemies, and that he's going to be killed and rise again. Now, both Matthew and Mark specifically record that this is the point when Jesus begins to teach them about the cross. He's hinted at it before, but he's never actually told them directly. So the hints come, like in John's gospel, this is John chapter 2, this is early in Jesus' ministry, he's speaking to the Jews, and he says, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. Most people see that as a hint of the cross, that he's not talking about the literal temple, but his body. But again, that's a metaphor, so it's not clear speech. In John 3, when Nicodemus comes to him by night, he says, The Son of Man must be lifted up, even as Moses lifted up the servant in the wilderness. Again, it's another metaphor, but it's an allusion to the cross. Also in Mark 2, early in his ministry, he's speaking to the disciples, and he says, The friends of the bridegroom will fast when the bridegroom is taken away. So he's hinted, there's a time coming when I will be taken away, but he hasn't spoken plainly. And then just a few days earlier, this uh this is in Matthew 12, he's speaking about the sign of Jonah, and he says, As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the in the heart of the earth. So up until this point, he's given them allusions, he's given them metaphors, but he hasn't told them plainly. And the disciples haven't gotten it. Now he says pla straight out, this is what I came to do, and he names his enemies. He names the chief priests, the Pharisees, and the scribes. And other accounts say that he detailed the scourgings, the beatings, and the rejection that would be involved. So note verse 32. He spoke plainly about this. We're told this is the first time he spoke plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan. He said, You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of man. So at first you think, Peter, what is he doing? But you can imagine his reaction. Peter has just said, You're the one, you're the Christ, you're the person that we have been waiting for for the entire history of the Jewish people, and really from Genesis 3, we've been waiting for you, and now you say, Oh, by the way, I'm going to be dead in a week. This is not the plan. How could this possibly be? I think Peter was probably the only one with the courage to say, How can you possibly accomplish what you say you're going to accomplish if you're going to die? I mean, this is not how the story ends. We know that when the prince finally appears on the scene, you know, on his white horse and his sword in hand, the dragon does not eat him. This is not the way the story ends. Or when the hero rides into the nest of thieves, you know, and his true love is tied to the train tracks, held hostage, there's a proper shootout at the OK Corral. The hero does not give himself up to the enemy, get scalped, and hung. That's not how the story ends. Or imagine that you have this charismatic young political genius and he rallies the people to his cause and sweeps into an electoral victory, clears out the old corrupt administration, and then on his inauguration day he's he details for the nation this wonderful new plan he's going to accomplish, and he dazzles us all with his tremendously successful program and says, Oh, I'm going to be dead in a week. We'd all go, No, that's not the way it works. That's not the plan. How can you possibly accomplish that if you're going to die? So I think Peter's reaction is perfectly understandable. He's shocked. He's like, How can you possibly hope to accomplish what the Messiah is supposed to accomplish if you're going to die? The word he uses where it says Peter rebuke the Lord is a very strong word. It means to seriously censor or to punish. It's used most often, it's actually found very rarely in the New Testament, but it's used in the Greek version of the Old Testament to describe the Word of God. When God comes along and says, Woe to you people, and he rebukes people for their idolatry or whatever, this is the word they use. When God calls down destruction on the wicked, this is the word they use. It's a very strong word. So it seems funny that Peter would say, You're the Christ, you're the Messiah, and then turn around and use this incredibly strong word to kind of get in Jesus' face and say, But you're wrong. You may be the king, but you're not going to die. Your plan is wrong. But Jesus gets right back in Peter's face and he returns the same rebuke to him. Not in private, but in seeing his disciples, he does it in full view of the twelve. And there's two parts to his answer. When he says, Get behind me, sti Satan, the idea in that is a disciple was supposed to follow a few steps behind his teacher. And there's a number of passages where you can see that. And what Peter has done is he is no longer behind Jesus, he's in front of him in his face. So he's stepped out of the role of disciple and taken on the role of like leader or rabbi, and he's saying, No, I'm not following, I'm going to tell you what I want you to do. So when Jesus says, get behind me, I think the force of that is go back to being a disciple and stop trying to be the leader or the rabbi. So he's saying, You're not following me, you're you're dictating. And that's the first part of his answer. The second part of his answer is you're not thinking the way God thinks you're thinking the way men think. So he's saying, you're talking about the kind of salvation you would bring if you were God. So Peter's idea is probably, okay, let's throw off the Roman government, we'll install new priests in Jerusalem, we'll clear out the corruption in the temple, we'll reinstate the sacrificial system, we'll maybe make sure all the good people are happy and the bad people are a sufferer, and we'll do all that with a wave of our arm. And Jesus is saying, that's not the plan. You don't understand the plan. God's got a different plan, and it's not what what you have in mind, and you need to take the place of disciple behind me, follow that plan, not try to dictate it. Now, think about that for a minute. Isn't that what we all do? You know, I accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord, and then I tell him, this is how my life is going to go. I have a plan now. And here's my plan. My life will be easy. I'll have more, just a little more than enough money. You know, just a little more. No major illnesses, um, a challenging job that brings out the best in me and doesn't stress me too much, a practically perfect husband who will never disappoint me. 2.5 above average children, both of whom will be president, and everyone will love me for my humble and unassuming manner. And then I'll just live to this ripe old age, uh, surrounded by adoring grandchildren who will just want to sit at my feet and soak up my wisdom. You know? That's my plan. It's great, and I'm happy to tell God this is what I want. Um, my plan does certainly does not involve discovering deep character flaws in myself or major loss or betrayal or suffering. I mean, that's not my plan. You know, in my plan, the hero sweeps me off my feet and we live happily ever after. He doesn't die for me. And this is the whole idea. Jesus says, you are the Christ, or Peter says, you're the Christ, and now let me tell you how the plan's gonna go. And and Jesus rebukes him for that, because the problem is, of course, we are terrible at being God. Our plans and his plans are not the same. And the way we would bring about righteousness and the way he does it are entirely different. And unfortunately, well, fortunately for us, but from our perspective, unfortunately, the plan involves suffering. The plan involves the cross, and it involves pain and loss. And it's not open to debate. If you follow Jesus, that's the plan. So he's not the Messiah people expected, but he is the Messiah God sent. So look at the what he says right after this. He makes this this point in verse 34. Then he called the crowd to him, along with the disciples, and said, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels. So he's basically the point of this is if you want to follow me, if you want to follow the Christ, the disciple, or the Messiah, the one who has been predicted, you have to follow his way, not our way. So we have to give up the fairy tale and live in the reality. And it's not an open issue, it's not a debate. We can't pick and choose. Well, I'll take part of your way and part of my way, or I'll follow you a little bit, it means I will follow you no matter what, even if it means taking up a cross and dying. And the imagery of him of taking up the cross and follow me in those days when a when a criminal was uh crucified they carried the horizontal beam of the cross on their backs to the execution site and you probably if you saw the passion of the Christ you saw this depicted rather graphically they usually made their way through a crowd being ridiculed and spit upon and jeered and Jesus is saying if you want to follow behind me this is where I'm going and this is what the path looks like. You have to give up on your plan and follow follow me trusting that my way even though it involves shame and suffering is best. So he's not talking about self-denial he's talking about denying yourself. And Ray Steadman in his Mark commentary explains this really well I'm stealing this from him self-denial is what happens every January when you make New Year's resolutions you know and you say okay I'm gonna give up chocolate for a month or I always make that one and I never succeed or okay I'm gonna be disciplined and I'm finally going to exercise three times a week or whatever you deny something for yourself it's like a New Year's resolution or I'm just going to to do without for a little bit. That's not what Jesus is talking about here when he says deny yourself. He's talking about I get off the throne and let Jesus be the throne and the sinner. I stop thinking that I am the center of the universe and that I am God and my plan is best and I recognize that he is God and he is the center of the universe and his plan is best. So to deny yourself means to no longer put yourself as Lord of your life but to put Jesus as Lord of your life or it's to refuse to measure things by our standards and our point of view and begin to measure them by God's standards and God's point of view. So it's the end of what we might call self-sufficiency or self-reliance the idea that somewhere I can save myself or that somewhere I know best and that if I just try hard enough or if I just muster up the courage and and and give it a sincere good faith effort I can solve all the problems myself. And I think in all of us there lingers kind of the desire to have a part in our salvation that way. I think for most of us we want to think that you know deep down there was some little bit of spark in me that made God choose me. There was something about me that that he just had to pick me and something I could offer him that no one else could that he could use and and if he didn't pick me then he wouldn't have it. And then and that's really not what grace is all about. The gospel makes clear that left to ourselves we are lost completely and totally and that none of us deserves grace. God owes us nothing he is not required to save us for any reason. And the fact that he saves us is based solely and entirely on the cross. So part of coming to faith is getting over that self-sufficiency that thinking that there's something about me that God needs or that I know best or that I should be the center of the universe. So it's not self-denial like giving up chocolate for New Year's. It's the broken humble heart of knowing I'm lost, I'm sinful, I'm totally undeserving of grace and I will only be saved if God saves me. Now part of you some of you may be going okay and why would anybody do that? Why would you make that kind of a choice? Why would you give up control of your life? Well Jesus gives three compelling reasons here first is verse 35 for whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel shall save it. The point of that is basically the house is burning and there's only one exit there is no other way out. If you stay in the house you will burn you will lose your life there is no other way to save your soul than to follow Jesus and that's basically his point. Following Jesus may involve shame and ridicule it might even involve death it will most certainly involve suffering or persecution of some kind but is the only way to save your life. The house is burning and there's only one way out is the first reason why you would decide to trust Jesus. The second one is verse 36 and 37 for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? I think the point of that is basically your life has value and it is more valuable than everything else you can have in this world. And if you understand that then you would gladly give up anything or face any path that he asked you to face to gain eternal life. So it's more important that you become a person who has a mature and strong faith than it is that you have an easy life. God is not particularly concerned with how easy our life is but he is very concerned with how strong our faith is and he is about building that in us and that usually involves waiting for something or struggling with a loss or a betrayal or denial and that's what he's trying to teach us to trust Jesus no matter what even if it involves suffering loss or death. So if you have faith you have everything worth having and with if you don't have faith even though you're the richest and most loved person in the world you have nothing. So the first reason is the house is burning and there's no way out other than following Jesus. The second is it's worth it. Your life is worth it you have everything to gain and everything to lose by not following him. And the last reason is verse 38 for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in glory of his father and with the holy angels. Basically he's saying the window of opportunity will not be open forever. There is a time to choose and there's a time when it is too late to choose. And the image he uses is of the Son of man coming in glory it goes back to Daniel 7 again that vision and it's the coming when he will assume his reign and his power and his dominion it's so it refers to his kingly reign over all the the nations following his resurrection and ascension. And he's saying there is a day coming when I will come back to to take this rightful place of rule and ascension and if you are ashamed of me then if you have denied me it will be too late. I will be ashamed of you on that day. So there is a judgment coming and now is the time to decide so he gives us three reasons. The first is this is the only way to save your life the house is burning this is the only exit the second is your life is worth it you can gain everything that's most valuable and worth having and the third one is you the time to choose is not open forever. The door will close at some point so the time to decide is now and this is the second touch I think we all need we can begin to see that Jesus is who he says he is that he is a prophet but more than a prophet he is the Messiah the one who's coming but we need that second touch that teaches us who he is and not just who he is but what he came to do that he came to to lay down his life for us. So the time to decide is now so that's the question I'd leave you with as we go into the Christmas season. Who do you think he is? Do you understand that he's more than just a prophet that he is the Messiah that he is the one that all of Scripture predicted that would come? And maybe it's time to make a decision about who he is. If you've never named him Messiah today's a great day to do so. And if you know he's the Messiah but you're not yet ready to give up control of your life to him then today's another good day to do that. The opportunity won't be open forever. Speaker: Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word. For notes and study questions related to this message please visit our website wednesdayintheword.com We hope you'll join us again and may God richly bless you.