“A Frustrated Jesus”
Mark 8
Focal Passages Mark 8: 34-38, 2 Corinthians 5:11-20, Acts 11:19-25
As we have read, it was at Antioch that followers of Christ were first called Christians. It was meant to be a derogatory remark. This was during the time of great persecution of the church which was in its infancy. The Roman Empire was was in control of most of the known world. They had tolerated the Jews and allowed them to practice their religion so long as it did not upset Caesar. Paul would make his missionary journeys, as would many of the other Apostles. The term “Apostle” was originally a secular term, and was used to identify the one designated or appointed as in charge of either governmental or secular affairs. Under adversity and opposition the Church grew, both in numbers and in maturity. The Great Commission had called for believers to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost. As we look back at passages of scripture, we see that Jesus often had a difficult time making disciples out of His own disciples. Mark 8 gives us a vivid picture as we’ll see. As Paul would begin his Ministry, he would do his best to teach the often troubled church in Corinth, that they were Ambassadors of Christ. And so we will see three different terms used to identify believers, each one identifying a different responsibility we have as believers. Sometimes we forget that we have more than one responsibility as a believer. Far too often we see those who stop at that point, professing to be a believer. The fact of the matter is that Christ expects us to follow Him, to go with Him, being his Ambassador, His representative in the world we live in while continuing our journey with Him and growing as one of His disciples.
The Christian walk is a Journey, in fact it’s an eternal journey, not an event that we walk away from saying, “That was nice”, nor is it a organization that we come to regularly and pay our dues, and meet with likeminded and similarly focused individuals for the purpose of being identified as a member. Sadly, I find that all too often the latter two examples or what we see. It’s no wonder that we see a “Frustrated Jesus” in Mark 8.
Look what had taken place immediately preceding his conversation with Peter.
Having already witnessed the feeding of 5000 with the meager portions donated by a young boy, when they encounter 4000, the disciples ask, and I’m paraphrasing, “Jesus, we are in the middle of nowhere, where do you expect us to find enough to feed 4000 people”. I can hear them grumbling to one another. “Why do we have to feed everyone?” “I didn’t sign up for this”, “Why can’t they go home an eat”…. you get the picture, unfortunately the Disciples didn’t. Then after picking up 7 baskets full of leftovers, they get in a boat and heads for Dalmanutha. As they get to shore, they are greeted by Pharisees who immediately ask Jesus to prove himself by showing them a sign. Jesus tells them they are not going to get one and gets back in the boat and goes back to the other side. He warns the Disciples to “Beware of the Yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod”….. He is talking about the sin of unbelief, but the Disciples miss it again. It’s almost seems wrong to keep calling them disciples. Again they begin to grumble. Even though they had picked up 7 baskets full of bread, they had forgotten it, and all they had was one loaf which was in the boat. Can you hear the murmuring again….the grumbling among the disciples….finally one says it. “It’s because we have no bread”…..if it were not so serious, it would be comical. But we see the same thing happening today. At this point, they were not very good “Disciples”. They weren’t not retaining the disciplines that Jesus was teaching them. It’s at this point a seemingly frustrated Jesus calmly begins to teach them again, aware that he is dealing with mortal men, men not yet filled with the Holy Spirit. He asks a question that gives us the hint of frustration. “Why are talking about not having bread”? And Jesus goes over the events of the past months, patiently trying to get them to understand. One by one he names events. Remember when we fed the 5000? And how much did we pick up afterwards. I can almost here them answering in unison, so proud of knowing the answer. Then he reminds them, “And when we fed 4000, how many baskets did we have left over? Again, like kindergarten students they answer proudly in unison “Seven”. Then the big question, “Do you still not understand?”
Next we see Jesus healing a blind man in Bethsaida. He leads the man out of the city, and heals him. He tells the man, “Don’t even go back into the Village”. Don’t go back where you came from. Back to those who will likely question whether you were ever really blind at all, or you may perhaps yield to the temptation to continue to act as though you are blind, plus the city no doubt had it’s Pharisees who would hound him and mock him. When Jesus changes you, don’t go backwards, move forward.
As they head for Caesarea, Jesus begins to quiz the disciples again. “Who do People say that I am” he asked. They respond in verse 28, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah or one of the Prophets…..Then Jesus looked at them and asked specifically, “ What about you, who do you say I am”….notice Jesus didn’t ask, who do you think I am, He wanted to know who they were saying He was, amongst themselves and perhaps to others.
Peter boldly responds, “ You are the Messiah” Then Jesus begins to go over all the things that must happen. These were things that were written of by the prophets of the Old Testament. Isaiah alone had written enough for them to know what the Messiah must endure.
Then something happens. Once again, a reason for frustration. After proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, in verse 32 Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes Him for saying what they should have readily accepted, especially Peter who proclaimed quickly and proudly, “You are the Messiah”.
Jesus responds with some very strong words. “Get Behind me Satan, for you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns”. In other words, Peter was just giving Jesus lip service. Yes He was a disciple, a follower, but still had not reached that point where he would stand for Christ. That would become obvious later on. He would fall asleep in the Garden as Jesus prayed and he would deny knowing Christ, as he warmed up with the ungodly by the fires as Jesus headed for calvary.
This long introduction gets us to the heart of the matter for each of us. We find Jesus, frustrated with the ones who were his disciples calls the disciples along with the crowd to Himself and begins to teach. in verses 34-38.
You say you are my disciple, well a disciple must understand these things.
They must deny self.
Forget your ego, forget your position, forget everything regarding self.
Jesus is talking about priorities again. God has to be first.
Ahead of creature comforts, ahead of position, ahead of your wants, your desires. In fact, you have to deny self altogether.
II. Take up YOUR cross.
A. You want to be a disciple. Then pick up your cross. He didn’t ask us to pick up His cross.
B. We could not handle His cross. If we could, He would not have had to pick it up and carry it.
C. Our cross is much smaller than His. Our Cross identifies us with Him. Show the world that you belong to Jesus.
III. Now don’t just stand there, follow Him.
A. Some can’t get past denying themselves, some can do that, but they can’t bring themselves to pick up their cross and identify themselves with the Lord Jesus.
B. To truly be a Disciple you have do not only these things, but follow Him as well.
C. He begins to explain in verse 35.
D. To save your life, you have to lose it, let it go, and put Christ first. If not, you’ll lose both in the end. You will lose the life you have, and you will have never taken hold of the life Jesus offers.
E. We hear of people every day so filled with greed that they will steal the retirement of those who work everyday, to add millions to their coffers. They have no conscience.
F. They cannot deny self. The go to the other extreme and leave others with less than they need so they can have more than they need.
G. Now I’m not saying that wealth is evil. I’m saying that stealing is evil. It’s the love of money, when money becomes your idol, the god that you worship that it becomes evil.
H. Jesus says, “What good is is it for a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul”.
I. Then he talks about the cross. Are you carrying your cross. He’s not talking about the burden of calvary, He bore that part alone.
J. He’s talking about identifying yourself with Him.
K. Vs 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
L. Young people, never hide your cross. In fact Jesus tells us we should let our light shine in the world. We should be easily identifiable. If you don’t pick up your cross, somethings wrong. You are saying you are ashamed of the cross.
M. We find folks that will deny themselves, they can do that in private, but picking up the cross is a public expression.
N. Now follow Him. Follow Him as a Disciple, one who is learning and sharing what he has learned. Follow Him as an Ambassador a representative, ready to represent Christ, regardless of the crowd or circumstances. And follow Him. Follow His teachings. If you follow Jesus, you’ll end up where Jesus is. If you don’t, you won’t.
I believe in the eternal security of the believer. I believe that once you are saved, you cannot lose your salvation. I also believe that their are a lot of folks who think they are saved, but are not. Then their are those who are saved, and will just barely get into heaven. It’ll be so close that they’ll smell like smoke. These are those who truly believe, and give it a half hearted effort. They rarely deny themselves, They pick up their cross on Sunday and sometimes on Wednesday.
The Bible tells us that as believers, we will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ, and we’ll be judged for all we have done and all we haven’t done, as compared to His will for our lives.
If you are a Believer, A Disciple, an Ambassador, A Christian, then Jesus says you must deny thyself, pick up your cross and follow Him. That’s what you want your life to look like.
I’ll close with this illustration. Alexander the Great, the Great Warrior who sat in his tent and wept when there were no more empires to conquer could not stand cowardice. After a battle he would hold court and deal with any issues that were reported to him by his commanders. One day a young man walked in and stood before the mighty Alexander. He was a young and handsome lad. Alexander managed a smile as he looked at how young the boy was and the court breathed a sigh. They read off the charge against he young man. “Cowardice in the face of the Enemy”. Alexander’s countenance didn’t change. He simply asked the young man. “Son, what is your name?” The Young Lad replied “Alexander, Sir”. Alexander the Great’s face began to turn crimson as he asked again, “What did you Say your name was?…. again the young boy stammered out, “Alexander Sir”….Alexander stood up and pointed at him and bellowed out, “Boy, Change your ways or Change Your Name!
You may have heard this before, but it is an excellent illustration as to how Jesus must feel about some. They call themselves Christians, but they don’t deny themselves, they don’t pick up their cross, and they don’t follow Jesus. If so, you need to give some thought about your relationship with Jesus Christ. His Disciples were a little slow at getting it, but in their defense, though they were with God in the Flesh, they did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. We do. We are without excuse. Are you frustrating Jesus? Think about it.
