Christ Series

ESSENTIAL KING JESUS: CHRIST

MARK 8:27-30

#kingjesus

USE AUDIO BIBLE: Mark Chapter 8:1-38 [5:37]

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Mark.8

INTRODUCTION… Funny Job Titles, blog.ongig.com/job-titles/funny-job-titles/

A job title tells much about the job that a person does. It shares with others what they do and what is expected of them. Some companies or industries go for more creative titles to catch people’s attention:

Executive/White Collar: Ambassador of Buzz (Corporate Communications Associate), Grammar Fascist (Copywriter/Editor), Head of Schmoozing (VP of Business Development), Genius (Customer Service Person at Apple), Head of Customer Wow (Head of Customer Service), Dr Fix (IT Helpdesk), Interwebs Mechanic (Webmaster), Paranoid-in-Chief (Chief Information Security Officer), Security Princess (Google), Digital Overlord (Web Site Manager), Dr. No (CFO)

Assistants: Executive Sherpa (Assistant), Indentured Rockstar (Assistant), Lead Enabler (Assistant)

Herder of Helpless People (Office Manager)

Others: Transparent Wall Technician (Window Cleaner), Cube Guru (Space Planner)

Job titles for parents: Baby Wrangler, Child Development Associate, Domestic Manager, Dwelling Custodian, Tiny Human Entertainer, Tiny Human Snack Dispenser, Tantrum Negotiator

Creative job titles I found: Cannabis Editor, Chief Sniffer, Dice Quality Inspector, Face Feeler, Foliage Grader, Hangover Cure Specialist, Rocket Recovery Technician, Worm Digger, Director of Awesome, Science Viking, Bread Scientist, Space Lawyer

I mention those funny job titles because we are talking about a serious title today. We are well into Jesus’ ministry as we are in Mark 8. In this chapter alone, Jesus feeds 4,000; He faces off again against the Pharisees; He warns His disciples about the Pharisees; He heals a blind man; and predicts His suffering and His death. There is a lot going on around Jesus!

We get that Essential truth from a passage in the middle of the chapter.

READ MARK 8:27-30

27 And Jesus went on with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told Him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And He strictly charged them to tell no one about Him.

THE WORD IN THE CONFESSION: CHRIST

The word that is most significant comes as Simon Peter confesses his answer to the question of Jesus. Jesus asks His disciples for the scuttlebutt and rumors about Him. He knows they hear what people say. Some folks who do not realize John the Baptist and Jesus lived at the same time think Jesus is John. Makes sense. Rumors about a teacher in the desert are easily confused with one another. Other people think He might be Elijah come down from the whirlwind that took him into Heaven (2 Kings 2). There was also a solid rumor that he was another prophet of God who had returned. The disciples tell Jesus about all the stuff they had heard about Him.

The word that is most significant comes as Simon Peter answers Jesus’ real question. Jesus has now spent a significant amount of time with these 12 men and they have seen and experienced much with Him. They have seen: exorcism of demons (Mark 1, 5, 7), lepers healed (Mark 1), paralyzed people walk (Mark 2), heard Jesus teaching (Mark 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8), a withered hand restored (Mark 3), a storm calmed (Mark 4), a girl brought back from the dead (Mark 5), Jesus rejected (Mark 6), feeding of thousands (Mark 6, 8), Him walking on water (Mark 6), the deaf healed (Mark 7), the blind healed (Mark 8) and so much more.

In verse 29, Simon Peter simply answers: “You are the Christ.”

The word ‘Christ’ is a significant word. It is a heavy word. It means a lot. Christ is not Jesus’ last name. Christ is a title. Christ is a very significant Biblical title.

The word Christ comes from a Greek word. Christ is used 534 times in the New Testament. We know it is a title because, for example, in Matthew 2:4, we find that King Herod assembled “all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born” (ESV). Luke 2:26 shares with us about Simeon who, “had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” In Luke 22:67 it was demanded of Jesus, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” Christ is a title… a very significant designation and one that eventually got Jesus killed.

The word Christ is a Greek word. John 1:41 tells us very clearly that ‘Christ’ also means ‘Messiah.’ John 1:41 says about Andrew, “He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means Christ)” (ESV). Messiah is the Hebrew word of the same title which is the language of the Jewish people and the language of the Old Testament. Sometimes it is confusing when we read the Bible in English, but the original Scriptures have several languages all woven together at times. The ‘Messiah’ was the promised Savior. The Samaritan woman at the well says as much in John 4:25 when she confesses, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus says in John 4:26, “I Who speak to you am He.”