FOUR GREAT QUESTIONS OF JESUS IV
A Series of Devotional Sermons
Fourth Great Question:
“Who do you say I am?”
(Mark 8:29)
There came a time in the life of Jesus, just as there comes a time in the lives of most of us, when He wondered whether His life and ministry had made a difference in the lives of folks in general, and in the lives of his followers. So, he thought it best to simply ask those closest to Him a very searching question.
Jesus wondered at this point in His ministry if He had accomplished anything worthwhile; or, to put it another way, He wondered if anyone had discovered who He really was?
If He had lived a life pleasing to God, taught with divine authority, healed people of diseases, cleansed sinners; and yet if no one had caught even a glimpse of God at work in and through Him, then all His work would have amounted to nothing; He would have lived in vain.
Most of the older folks who talk to me from time to time, wonder if their life has been worth it all – if they have accomplished anything while on this earth. I recall that my brother Howard, while lying in the hospital after suffering a stroke, made the comment to me, “Well, if by now I have not done what the good Lord intended for me to do, I don’t suppose I ever will.”
Hopefully each one of you, by now, has come to realize that you have meant more to your family and others during your lifetime than you could ever imagine. Just because you can no longer do some of the things you used to do, or go to some of the places you used to go to, does not mean that you have finished the course. You still have a way to go – whether days or months or years – and you still are a child of God who is loved by your heavenly Father.
If you can speak words of encouragement . . . listen to someone who needs to talk about themselves . . . simply reach out and touch . . . be touched by someone who loves you . . . be here for family and friends to visit you . . . your life is useful to the Lord. Yes, you have been and still are useful. Whether you know it or not . . . whether someone has told you or not . . . your presence is meaningful to somebody. “I am somebody!”
It was not that Jesus needed to be reassured who He was; He knew who He was; but, realizing that time was of the essence, and that He was headed toward the Cross, He wanted His disciples to start giving serious thought as to who He was – not just a popular miracle worker – but who He really was --- Mark 8:27-30 . . .
Jesus asked them, first, what the public was saying about him; and He heard them repeat all of the popular rumors and reports that were circulating among the townspeople. “Some say this, and some say that.”
The short of it was that nobody had really figured out who this man Jesus was - except that He had done some pretty amazing things that caused quite a stir among the people; and it was no secret that He had upset the religious authorities, who despised Him so much that they were out to silence this Jewish rabbi – whoever He was!
It’s hard for us to imagine that folks in that day despised Jesus and rejected Him; but we need to understand that through the centuries prior to His coming, Jewish folks had thought of the Messiah as an earthly ruler who would sit on a throne.
After all, the Jewish people had never forgotten that they were in a very special sense God’s chosen people; and they had always regarded the greatest days in their history as the days of King David; so, quite naturally, they dreamed of a day when there would arise another king of David’s greatness and power.
As time went by, it became clear that God’s kingdom would not be established by another King David. How could it be when you consider that: the ten tribes that occupied the Promised Land were taken by force to Assyria and never heard from again . . . later, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken captive by the Babylonians . . . next came the Persians to conquer them . . . then came the Greeks . . . then came the Romans?
By the time Jesus came, the hopes of the Jewish people had been dashed so many times that the rulers of the Jews were not willing to believe, let alone accept the notion, that a peasant from Nazareth could possibly be the Messiah. “Can anything GOOD come out of Nazareth!?”
The Messiah would have to be someone of the greatness of King David . . . from among the Jewish hierarchy whose headquarters would be in Jerusalem . . . with a vast army that would conquer the whole world and make Palestine the center of world government.
Yes, these were the ideas in the minds of people when Jesus came. Yet, against that background of violent, destructive, and vengeful thinking came the stranger from Galilee – preaching repentance, proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand, performing miracles, teaching that He was the Son of God who would take away the sins of the world - not exactly the Messiah the rulers of the Jews expected!
No wonder Jesus felt the time had come for him to ask the question of his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” But rather than dwell on what the opinions of others were, Jesus then went straight to the heart of the matter.
There must have come over this group of disciples a breath-taking silence as they heard Jesus put the crucial question to them, personally: “But what about YOU? Who do YOU say I am?”
Suddenly Peter realized what he had always known deep down in his heart. This man was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God; and in the answer that Peter gave, Jesus then knew that He had not failed! Peter got it! If bull-headed Peter got it, anyone could.
Yes, Peter discovered that this itinerant preacher from Nazareth, on His way to a cross, was the Son of God.
Peter discovered that the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom.
Peter discovered that no earthly kingdom can compare to the glory of the kingdom that God has prepared for those who are willing to repent of their sins and accept Christ as Savior and Lord.
Peter discovered that the kingdom of God is not of this world, but of the world to come.
In that moment of discovery, Peter’s confession - “You are the Christ, Son of the living God” - was later confirmed on that most memorable day of Christianity – the day of Resurrection; upon hearing the two women exclaim that Jesus had arisen from the dead, who was it that ran as fast as he could to see for himself? Peter!
Peter saw the empty tomb, but more importantly, as he and another disciple walked toward the village of Emmaus, Jesus appeared to them. Thus, Peter knew for sure that Christ had been raised from the dead.
Hurriedly these two disciples returned to Jerusalem and broke the news to their brothers and sisters in Christ, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
No sooner had they gotten the words out of their mouths, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
Ladies and gentlemen, each of us must answer the same question that Jesus asked Peter and the other disciples, “Who do YOU say I am?”
My prayer for you is that you can answer as did Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Peter’s assurance to you is this: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Our confession of Christ as Savior and Lord – yours and mine - elicits from Jesus the same response to us as did the confession of Peter and those assembled in the room with him: “Peace be with you.” Amen.
