Jesus Who?

Mark 8: 27-38 Jesus Who?

Intro: Have you ever been asked an embarrassing question or one to which there is no really good answer? “Do you want a whippin’?” --- “How dumb do you think I am?” --- “Do you know who I am?” --- “Does this outfit make me look fat?” --- “Do you know why I stopped you?” --- “Where’s the fire?” --- “Do you have any idea how fast you were going?”--- The last three are questions best answered with one word, “No!” Any other answer will certainly get you into deeper trouble.

I. Verse 27 – “Who do people say that I am?” ---Had he had any effect at all? --- Had he achieved anything? --- Had anyone discovered who he really was?

A. History records the presence of 2 men named Jesus living at time of Jesus of Nazareth.

1) Jesus Son of Shaphat – General Titus & Valerian

over the city of Sennabris

2) Jesus, Son of Ananus – prophesized destruction

of Jerusalem – flogged – rejected by leaders –

destroyed by Roman catapult rock. (Flavius

Josephus, The Jewish Wars)

B. Some thought he was Elijah come as the forerunner and herald of the Messiah.

C. Why did Jesus ask this question? – He just wanted to know what people thought about him – He was testing his disciples.

II. There are times when every relationship gets personal, when you have to put up or shut up. There comes a time when you have to figure out for yourself just who that other person is to you and what he or she means to you.

A. Verse 29 – But what about you? Who do you say I am? It is one thing to ask what other people think about something---it is quite another to be asked what you think and feel and believe.

B. Peter answers with what he believes about Jesus from his own perspective. He says what HE wants Jesus to be: “You are the Christ.” --- One of the great problems on deciding who a person is to us is that it usually means we expect them to live up to our idea of who they should be.

C. We often try to fit God into our vision of the world rather than fit our world into God’s vision for us.

III. Peter SPOKE what he believed about Jesus. He made a good confession. Many people today do the same: mouthing the words and their faith makes it no further than their mouth.

A. Up to this point Jesus had never claimed the title of Christ, Messiah, Anointed One. Peter was trying to make Jesus fit into the role Peter wanted him to play rather than seeing who Jesus really was

B. Verse 32a it says that Jesus spoke plainly about the cost of following him. We gladly sing, “In The Cross of Christ I Glory” or “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” --- but DO we or HAVE we?

C. In our attitudes and actions we prefer to leave the hard part of discipleship out of it. We look for the easy way, our way and ignore what God wants.

Conclu: Jesus spoke to Peter in verse 33 – You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Our relationship with God is a day by day, moment to moment relationship. It should not be something we commit to for one hour a week. It should be a commitment to follow God’s leading every moment of every day our whole life long.