Introduction
I hadn’t really thought about it until just recently, but for all of my adult life I have been on a quest. The goal of my quest is to ascertain, apprehend and acquiesce to the person known, in English, as the Lord Jesus. I have wanted to go beyond my immediate, personal and subjective experience of Christ to an objective, accurate and Scriptural understanding of Who He is.
For many people, even many who would be His followers, the Jesus of their own construction or imagination is enough. They’re not so much interested in Who Jesus really is as in how they imagine Him to be, or how they would be if they were Him.
This quest, to know and serve the real Jesus is something I have to constantly stay on top of, because my flesh wants, repeatedly, to justify itself. I want Jesus to affirm my behavior, or at least look the other way. And my flesh wants gentle Jesus meek and mild – or baby Jesus in a manger – even Jesus on a cruel, rugged cross, dying there in my place, but I don’t like reading about King Jesus, warrior Jesus, righteous Jesus and Jesus Who warns me to repent or perish.
The Christian sects and cults reimagine Jesus to the point where early Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde stated that Jesus was married and had children and Brigham Young agreed. Jehovah’s Witnesses, like Mormons, teach that there is more than one God, since they believe Jesus is a lesser (created) God. Even Christian movies often portray a Jesus Who is so soft-spoken, meek and mild that He couldn’t have possibly held crowds of thousands absolutely spell-bound for hours on end. In fact, they wouldn’t have even been able to hear Him.
And all of that matters, but even worse than having a false view of the demeanor and emotional disposition of Jesus, is the disastrous result of believing false notions about Jesus – the kinds of notions that cause many to spiritually perish.
For example, Muslims believe in a sinless, perfect Jesus, but not a suffering and dying Jesus. And unless Jesus died for you and you received that gift as payment for your own sin debt you are still in your sins.
If you have the right Jesus you are right for all eternity, but if you have the wrong Jesus, you are wrong for all eternity. A false Jesus cannot save you. A Jesus in your own image, of your own imagination and according to your own thoughts and understanding is not just dangerous but deadly.
Because of that, the study of the life of Christ is the most important undertaking of your life. And that’s true even if you don’t believe He is Who He says He is. Without question He is the single most influential person to have ever lived. No part of life or culture, on any far flung portion of the planet is unaffected by the fact that He lived. Even the way we count time is split in two – B.C. from A.D. – to acknowledge the fact that His appearance radically changed everything that followed.
For those of us who are convinced He is Who He says, once you know Who Jesus is you can respond to Him in ways that secure your future and guard your eternity. When you know the real Jesus you can understand His heart and more easily discern His will. When you know the real Jesus you can respond as He does – as His ambassador to men and women on His planet – for His purpose and His glory.
It’s absolutely mission critical for every follower of Christ to have an accurate, clear, objective and Scriptural understanding of Who Jesus is.
That’s why we’re going through this overview of the attributes, character and nature of Christ from Mark’s gospel. Along the way we’ll look at 10 events in the earthly life of the Lord Jesus – events which I believe are helpful to give us a general overview and understanding of Who He is.
It’s not my intention to do a chronological book study of Mark’s gospel, but rather to use this, the shortest, most dynamic and action packed gospel to study the earthly life of the Lord Jesus.
Now, right off the bat, you’ve probably noticed that I keep referring to “the earthly life” of the Lord Jesus. Here’s why:
Jesus has lived forever in the past and will live forever in the future. There has never been a time when Jesus did not exist. Before the incarnation, in Mary’s womb, He was known in eternity past as the “Word of God,” the second person of the trinity, or the God-head. At the incarnation, when God became flesh, He was given the name “Yeshuah.” That name passes through Greek and Latin before getting to our English spelling and pronunciation of “Jesus.” By the way, “Yeshuah” means salvation and deliverance. His name defines His role.
So, especially since He’s lived so long, what makes us think we can take one very brief portion of His life, the time He was on earth, and extrapolate from that portion enough information to have a fully orbed understanding of Who He is? Not only that, but even the portion we study happened 2,000 years ago.
That wouldn’t work for any of us. We like to think that we grow and change over our lifetimes, morphing and evolving and constantly becoming different and better people. But the writer of Hebrews declares, concerning Jesus, that He is “the same – yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
God said of Himself in Malachi 3:6, “I, the Lord, do not change.”
Now, the reason the Lord does not change is because nothing about Him is imperfect, incomplete or in need of restructuring.
And the reason we need to know Him and be changed by Him is because nothing about us is perfect, complete or NOT in need of restructuring.
So, if you have a copy of the Scriptures with you, please open it to Mark chapter number 8 and start reading with me at verse 27.
Mark 8:27-33 (HCSB)
27 Jesus went out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They answered Him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.” 29 “But you,” He asked them again, “who do you say that I am?” Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah!” 30 And He strictly warned them to tell no one about Him.
His Death and Resurrection Predicted
31 Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan, because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s!”
If you’re familiar with this story, you know that more details are fleshed out in another Gospel, more precisely in Matthew 16:13-19. This is not the primary emphasis of my message, but I’m more than just a little interested in not only what’s missing, but the possible reasons why.
Matthews Gospel records Jesus as blessing Peter greatly and effusively after his confession that Jesus is the Messiah, or (in Greek) the Christ. Here’s what you may not realize, or be aware of. Mark’s source material for writing his gospel almost certainly comes from Peter. When Peter tells the story he tells it with great humility. He includes his rebuke by Jesus, but not the strong affirmation he received from Christ.
Peter is a man who has been greatly changed by close proximity to the Lord Jesus. Do you remember how he used to be? He’s the one who loudly, braggingly and boldly proclaimed his allegiance to Christ – an allegiance that was tested and proven faulty in the moments leading up to the crucifixion.
Now, when he retells the stories from the life of the Lord he is more likely to include his failures and exclude his triumphs, except at the point when leaving out something he did would violate the purpose or take the whole heart out of the story itself. And that’s the case here.
In this case, the central teaching, and the main point to learn today about the Lord Jesus, is found in just four words (in English) which are spoken by Peter in verse 29. “You are the Messiah.”
When Peter proclaims and Jesus affirms that He is the “Messiah,” He is saying You were promised by God, identified in prophecy, proven by fulfillment, You are affirmed by the Father, attested to by the miraculous. . . as the Anointed representative to mankind of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
Now, since that’s the obvious case, the question naturally comes to my mind, “If it’s so obvious that Jesus is ‘the Messiah’ why do so many people, who were supposedly looking for His appearance, end up rejecting the Lord Jesus?”
And listen, the answer to that question matters more than anything else we are looking at today.
Historians and theologians have rightly discerned and discovered that the reason for the early rejection of the Lord Jesus, at least from those who rejected Him while looking forward to the promised Messiah, had nothing to do with Him not fulfilling prophecy – He fulfilled every expected promise and prophecy to the letter. Jesus was rejected not for failing to fulfill prophecy but for failing to meet expectations.
By the time Jesus was incarnated in Mary’s womb, a body of extra-biblical literature, exalted expectations and mythology had grown into a sociological expectation that the Messiah was going to cause, at the very least, seismic and immediate shifts in government that would vindicate and favor God’s people in the public square.
They were confusing the spiritual, eternal and permanent changes that Jesus makes with the physical retribution they wanted God to exact on the Roman government.
Ever since Jerusalem was conquered by the Roman general, Pompey, in 64 BC, the Jewish people were less than fully accepted and were somewhat oppressed as a conquered people living in an occupied state. The rule of Julius Caesar helped the plight of Jews somewhat when he defeated Pompey in 45 BC. Under Caesar, Judaism was accepted as an official religion, but in 40 BC the Roman senate declared “Herod the Great” to be the “king of the Jews.” This proud, defiant people didn’t even get to choose their own king. Here they are, living in land given to them by God, dominated by people who worshiped false Gods and didn’t respect their right to the land.
So, by the time the actual Messiah, the Lord Jesus, arrives on the scene they’d had sixty plus years of developing the mindset that, “When the Messiah comes we’re kicking tails and taking names.”
Now, with that background in mind, remember I said a couple of minutes ago, “If it’s so obvious that Jesus is ‘the Messiah’ why do so many people, who were supposedly looking for His appearance, end up rejecting the Lord Jesus?”
And listen, I said, “the answer to that question matters more than anything else we are looking at today.”
Here’s why. If these people, who were studying the Scriptures daily, denying themselves many luxuries, meticulously and carefully trying to keep the law, even counting the number of steps they are taking on the Sabbath to make sure they avoid breaking it – if many of then missed recognizing Jesus at His first coming because they redefined Who they expected Him to be – is it possible that you and I could miss connecting with the real Jesus today because we are redefining Who we want Him to be?
Of course it is. And more importantly don’t forget, “If you have the right Jesus you are right for all eternity, but if you have the wrong Jesus, you are wrong for all eternity.”
Because, in many ways, He was the antithesis of their expectations, that’s why He has to teach what He teaches in verse 31.
31 Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and rise after three days.
Now think about this: The fact that He has to tell them this, just moments after they affirm that they understand that He is the Messiah, means that He understands that it’s likely that to some degree they’ve bought into this false Messianic expectation too.
And His knowledge and intel was, as always, right on the money, because, of all people in His entourage, Peter, who has just acknowledged His Messiahship, rebukes Him. Let’s read it:
32 He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan, because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s!”
And I would suggest to you this morning. That is the bottom line in any redefinition of Who Jesus is – when I stop thinking about God’s concerns I risk redefining Him according to my own concerns, wants and desires.
The problem is my redefinition doesn’t change Him. I can call and apple a banana but it’s still an apple.
And Jesus Christ, no matter how I wish He was, or how I would be if I was Him, is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
So, for these next several weeks, let’s remember, or discover Who that is.
