GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION
WHO IS JESUS?
A. WHO IS JESUS? That was the question that was asked on the streets of New York City. (VIDEO)
1. There are a lot of OPINIONS out there about who Jesus is, aren’t there?
ILLUSTRATION:
Some believe that he was a fictional character—that he never existed. Others would say that He was a man who tried to DO GOOD and bring people together with a MESSAGE of LOVE, but He was NOT the Son of God. One woman said that “He was the Son of God, but so is Ghandi and Mahammad.” A man in the video, who had a liking to pigeons, alluded to Jesus as being a MAGICIAN like David Copperfield—all of His miracles were MAGIC TRICKS—a slight of hand.
2. WHO IS JESUS? How we answer this question is infinitely important, because it will DETERMINE
where we spend ETERNITY.
COMMENT:
A young woman in the video said, “He is my Lord and Savior.” And a young man said, “He is God…and as I grow in my faith, I see Him as my closest friend.”
3. This is the same question that Jesus asked His apostles.
B. Today we conclude our Summer Series on the Gospel of Mark, and will finish the rest of the GOSPEL
starting next YEAR.
1. Jesus summarized the reason for COMING to this earth in Mark 10:45- “For even the Son of Man did
not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many.”
a. Jesus came to SERVE and to SAVE.
b. For the past three months we have been studying about Jesus as SERVANT, and starting in January
(if the Lord is willing) we will be studying about Jesus as SAVIOR.
COMMENT:
We will be looking at the last 6 months of Jesus life leading up to His CRUCIFIXION, RESURRECTION, and ASCENSION.
2. So, the conclusion of the Gospel of Mark will take us from January through the Sunday after Easter.
C. Let’s get to today’s TEXT: Mark 8:27-33 (READ)
1. Jesus had been with the APOSTLES for 2½ years.
a. During this time the TWELVE have witnessed many MIRACLES, and their FAITH in Jesus as the
Christ, the Son of God, has been challenged time and again.
b. From the first DAY each of these men accepted the INVITATION to “FOLLOW” Jesus, they had
HOPED that He would be the “MESSIAH”.
c. It took some doing, but now after 2½ they are CERTAIN that this is the Messiah—the Christ.
2. When asked “Who is Jesus?”, Peter is quick to answer, “You are the Christ”.
a. But, as we will see in our study this morning, although the APOSTLES have come to the point of
fully believing in the MAN, they completely misunderstand the PLAN.
b. At one moment Peter pats himself on the BACK for giving the right answer of who Jesus is, and the next he is sharply REBUKED by our Lord.
MESSAGE:
I. WHO DO PEOPLE SAY JESUS IS? (vv. 27-28)
A. As we studied last week, “Jesus went up north to the Tyre and Sidon area, a Gentile district, where
He healed a Canaanite woman’s demon-possessed daughter”- Mark 7:24-30.
1. As Jesus traveled back down to the Sea of Galilee, “He healed a deaf man in Decapolis and a blind man in Bethsaida.” (As a side note, just last month it was reported that archaeologists have
discovered and excavated the towns of Julius and Bethsaida.)
a. As they are traveling on the outskirts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do
people say I am?”
COMMENT:
This might sound like a strange question to you. If I got up here this morning and asked, “What are people saying about me?”, you would think that either I have a “poor self-esteem who
desperately need affirmation” or, just the opposite, I am a bit “conceited and arrogant.”
Of course, today we don’t have to ask what people think about others, all we need to do is
read their TWITTER FEED.
ILLUSTRATION:
This question asked by Jesus reminds me of a story that was told of the late George H W Bush
when he was PRESIDENT about visiting a nursing home in Houston, Texas (not sure if it’s true).
According to the story, then President Bush walked up to one of the residents in the nursing home, shook his hand and asked, “Do you know who I am?” The old man in a wheelchair replied,
“No! But if ask that nurse over there, she can tell you.”
b. Again Jesus asked, “Who do people say I am?”- v. 29. I don’t think Jesus is asking this question because He really wants to know what people are saying about Him (remember, Jesus can read minds). This question is for the BENEFIT of His disciples.
2. Replying to Jesus’ question they said, “Some say your John the Baptist; others say Elijah, and still
others, one of the prophets.”
a. Mark had already revealed what was being said about Jesus in Mark 6:14ff. Remember, “Herod,
out of guilt, thought that He was the resurrected John the Baptist that he had beheaded.”
b. Understand that the Jewish people had been taught all of their LIVES from the writings of Moses and the Prophets to LOOK forward to the coming Messiah, and when He is there in their midst
doing the IMPOSSIBLE, they cannot bring themselves to say, “He is the Christ.”
COMMENT:
They believe that it could be someone RISEN from the DEAD, but not the Messiah—not the Son of God.
B. How do people today VIEW Jesus? (We’ve already heard the VIEWS of some in the VIDEO.)
1. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet, but was not God nor was even crucified on a cross.
2. Hindus believe Jesus is just one of millions of gods.
3. Buddhists, to quote to the Dalai Lama, believe Jesus is the model of a “spiritually mature, good,
and warm-hearted person.”
4. Jews today believe Jesus was a prophet and teacher, but not the Son of God. They are still looking
for the Messiah to come.
5. Mormons believe Jesus is “A” god, but any human can also become a god.
6. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was once the Archangel Michael and not God in the flesh.
7. Atheists deny God ever existed at all, and certainly doesn’t believe Jesus is Divine.
8. Agnostics don’t know what to believe about Jesus.
9. And as we saw in the video, many in society believe Jesus is just a great teacher with some good ideas about loving and helping others.
II. WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS? (vv. 29-30)
A. After listening to their ANSWERS, Jesus moves them from reciting POPULAR OPINIONS from others
to what the apostles PERSONALLY BELIEVE about Him.
1. Mark 8:29- Jesus asks, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”
a. These are the men whom Jesus had HAND-PICKED to be His apostles.
b. For 2½ years they had been with Jesus every single day—practically around the CLOCK.
COMMENT:
In addition to witnessing His MIRACLES and hearing Him PREACH and TEACH, they have been with Him during His “DOWN TIME”—and not once had they heard Him SLIP UP or had seen Him commit a SIN. Jesus wasn’t one thing with the CROWD, and someone entirely
DIFFERENT with the apostles.
ILLUSTRATION:
We see each other on Sunday mornings at our very BEST. And if people asked about you or me, we would say, “Yes. He is a really good guy.” Or, “She is a wonderful person.” But come LIVE with us for 2½ years, and then see what you’ll say.
2. Jesus turns to the very men whom have seen Him at His BEST when being HONORED and PRAISED by the people and seen Him at His WORST when being ATTACKED and BERATED
by the RELIGIOUS LEADERS, and asks, “But…WHO do YOU say I am?”
a. Peter answering for the twelve, “You are the Christ.”
b. Thus far, this is only the second time the word “Christ” has been used in the gospel of Mark.
COMMENT:
The first time is in Mark 1:1- “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ…”. We haven’t heard that word again in eight chapters. It is a big deal to CONFESS that this itinerant
preacher, a poor carpenter’s son, is “THE Christ” (the one and only). “Christos”- “anointed”.
Luke records Peter as saying, “You are the Christ of God” (Luke 9:20). And Matthew writes, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). I’m sure the apostles had conferred with themselves many times, “Is He the Christ? Could He really be God’s Son?”
3. But this time it’s not SPECULATION, but a REALITY that for 2½ years these men have been in
the PRESENCE of the “THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.”
COMMENT:
Sadly, there are those today whom have CONFESSED Jesus as the Christ, but still haven’t fully grasped the impact of that CONFESSION. They CONFESS Jesus as the Christ, and continue to go about their daily lives as it nothing is DIFFERENT—nothing CHANGES. I don’t know how many times over the years in my MINISTRY that I have heard that CONFESSION made before BAPTIZING them into Christ, and never saw them again.
4. Confessing Jesus as the Christ meant something to these men. Every one of the apostles, with the exception of Judas, PAID a great SACRIFICE for their FAITH in Jesus as the Christ.
B. Notice v. 30- “Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about Him.”
1. This is a common theme throughout Mark, although we really haven’t talked much about it.
a. It’s not that Jesus doesn’t want anyone to KNOW that He is the Christ, but the time is not RIGHT.
COMMENT:
“We saw the FRENZY that took place when the man HEALED of LEPROSY went and TOLD everyone, even after Jesus WARNED him not to. Because of the massive crowds of people
coming to Jesus for HEALING, He couldn’t enter a town openly anymore”- Mark 1:43-45.
b. Here, Jesus warns the disciples not to tell anyone about Him because they still don’t know the
FULL MESSAGE.
COMMENT:
Jesus didn’t want MIRACLES spread around because the FULL MESSAGE is not that He was a MIRACLE WORKER. And to simply PRONOUNCE Jesus as “the Christ” is not the FULL MESSAGE, either—it’s MISSING the GOSPEL.
2. The disciples have come to the point where they know the MAN, but they do not know the PLAN.
III. WHO DOES JESUS SAY HE IS? (vv. 31-33)
A. No one can fully comprehend who Jesus is until we understand WHY He came to this earth and
WHAT He came to do.
1. After Peter’s confession that “Jesus is the Christ” I can picture the APOSTLES standing around nodding their heads in AGREEMENT, “Yea. That’s right! You’re the Christ. You’re the Son
of God. You’re the One that all of Israel has been waiting for.”
a. Although they have now come to the point where they whole-heartedly BELIEVE that Jesus is the promised Messiah, their UNDERSTANDING of what Christ was sent by God to DO is
completely WRONG.
b. The nation of Israel had been looking for the Messiah to come and sit on the literal THRONE of David and be a STRONG and GLORIOUS earthly KING who would DELIVER them from
their Roman OPPRESSORS and form once again a great and independent Jewish KINGDOM.
COMMENT:
The very reason that Herod the Great tried to KILL Jesus as a baby, after being told by the Magi that “the King of the Jews” was born, is because he and all of Israel believed that the very purpose for the Messiah’s coming was to physically RULE over Israel and DEFEAT their ENEMIES. King Herod did not want Jesus to one day take his THRONE.
2. After getting the answer RIGHT that He is—“The Christ”, Jesus now turns to the apostles and
reveals for the very first time God’s PLAN for Him—the GOSPEL MESSAGE- v. 31 (READ).
-There are FOUR things that Jesus said He MUST experience:
a. “He MUST suffer many things.”
COMMENT:
Up to this point no one in Israel: the LAW EXPERTS, the PHARISEES, the CHIEF PRIESTS, were connecting “SUFFERING” with the Messiah, even though PASSAGES like
Isaiah 53 clearly say this.
b. “He MUST be rejected by the Jewish religious leaders.”
c. “He MUST be killed.”
d. “He MUST rise again after three days.”
3. This is God’s PLAN for mankind—to send His Son to this EARTH to become our ATONING
SACRIFICE to SAVE us from HELL. This is what Jesus MUST DO to SAVE the WORLD.
a. John 3:16- “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
b. Hebrew 9:22b- “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
c. Romans 4:25- “Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our
justification.”
COMMENT:
Please understand that Jesus did not DIE a helpless VICTIM at the hands of the Jews and the Romans. He CAME to be KILLED. He was BORN to DIE, so that YOU and I can LIVE.
B. Mark tells us that as Jesus reveals God’s PLAN for Him as the Christ to the apostles that “He spoke
plainly about this”- v. 32.
1. This wasn’t a PARABLE or HYPERBOLE. Jesus wanted to make it very CLEAR to the apostles
as to the PURPOSE for His COMING to this earth.
a. But Peter, who undoubtedly felt pretty GOOD about answering correctly that “Jesus is the
Christ,” didn’t like where this was GOING.
b. So Mark records that “Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked Him”- v. 32.
COMMENT:
Uhhh, Peter GRABBED Him; “Come with me, Lord, Son of God, Messiah, I have a bone
to pick you.”
BRASH? Yea. PRESUMPTUOUS? Absolutely. BOLDEN by his CONFESSION? No doubt. But I believe this is more about his LOVE for Jesus and the purest of INTENTIONS.
c. Matthew tells us what Peter actually said to Jesus, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to
you! - Matthew 16:22.
COMMENT:
I don’t know about you, but I can sympathize with Peter. He’s just heard for the first time that His Lord and dear friend is going to be EXECUTED. His immediate reaction is, “There’s NO WAY that I’m going to let this happen!”
2. Next comes out of the mouth of Jesus the harshest words that our Lord has spoken to anyone, “Get
behind me Satan”- v. 33b. He calls Peter “Satan”. The word means “adversary”.
a. Matthew tells us the reason for Jesus calling Peter that was because “he was a stumbling block
to Jesus”- Matthew 16:23. Peter was in the way of God’s PLAN to save the WORLD.
b. Then Jesus said, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men”- v. 33.
COMMENT:
Men wanted a KING. God wanted a SAVIOR. (Starting in January we will study Jesus as Savior.)
CONCLUSION:
WHAT DOES JESUS AS THE CHRIST MEAN TO YOU?
