Mark 8:31-38 Really Knowing Jesus 1. Recognizing Jesus - for who he really is a. Who do the people say I am? (27-28) b. Who do you say I am? (29) c. You are the Messiah! (29) 2. Understanding Jesus - & the way of the cross a. Jesus teaches The son of Man must suffer many things & be rejected (31) b. Peter took him aside & began to rebuke him (32). c. Get away from me, Satan. Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature! (33) 3. Following Jesus - as true disciples a. If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. (35-37) b. If you are ashamed of me, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you (38) Introduction: Are you close or distant? Maybe he confuses you? Maybe he fascinates you? Have you recognized him for who he really is? Have you understood his teaching about the cross? Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ, or an admirer, or just curious? In today s reading, Jesus begins his long journey towards Jerusalem & he begins to turn his attention to teaching his disciples the way of discipleship. He calls them to follow him & he makes the demands of discipleship clearer to them. The way of the cross isn t just the path from the temple through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. It is the path that Jesus walked each day, denying himself the privileges & comforts he so easily could have taken & went all the way to the cross for our sake. 1. Recognizing Jesus - for who he really is a. Who do the people say I am? (27-28) It wasn t immediately obvious to people in Jesus time who he was. Clearly he was special, but how special was he? Was he just a great man? Was he a great prophet?
At Ceasarea Philippi, Jesus asked the question of his disciples: Tell me, who do people say I am? 28 Some say that you are John the Baptist, they answered; others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets. John the Baptist had recently been be-headed. Could he have returned in such a way? Unlikely if not impossible! The prophet Elijah hadn t died like everyone else but was mysteriously transported to heaven in a chariot sent from God & many believed he would return. People wondered if maybe Jesus could be Elijah returned from heaven, or at least one of the great prophets. b. Who do you say I am? (29) The question then became more personal for the disciples as Jesus asked them directly who do you say I am. Jesus identity isn t just a trivia fact or a theme for conversation. It is a vitally important question each of must answer. What we do with Jesus is of the utmost importance. He said I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6. If Jesus is the only way to God and to salvation, what we believe about him is of eternal significance. If we don t receive him as God s son, our Lord & messiah, then we can have no relationship with God the father. c. You are the Messiah! (29) Peter is the one who responds first to his question as he says: you are the messiah Matthew adds in his version: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. to which Jesus replied, Good for you, Simon son of John! For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven Matthew 16:16-17 This is what Jesus is looking for in each of us, that we also confess him to be Lord. Like Peter, even as we come to the point of recognizing him for who he is, we do so because God himself is at work in us revealing the Son of God to us. Peter did well, but he still had a lot to learn. If Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, then what does that mean for them? 2. Understanding Jesus - & the way of the Cross. a. Jesus teaches: The son of Man must suffer much & be rejected (31) Jesus knew what lay before him. While others hoped he might be crowned in Jerusalem, he knew that suffering & rejection lay before him. While others plotted & schemed hoping to outsmart Jesus & trap him, he knew beforehand every detail of what awaited him, and who would betray him (& how).
Yet even knowing these things, he continued his walk to the cross in love for us & in obedience to God the Father s will. Going the way of the cross isn t just coping with unexpected suffering. It is choosing God s way & the good of others over your own, even when you know it will mean suffering & rejection. What is emphatic in his teaching is that these things must happen. They are not something that can be avoided. They are part of God s plan. God s plan for our salvation involves suffering, rejection & even death; maybe like any good coach s plan for a grand final victory involves much suffering & sacrifice. Jesus knew he would have to suffer but he also knew of the glorious victory of his resurrection three days after his death. He wouldn t suffer in vain, but he we would suffer to win a great victory over sin & death. What is amazing is how clearly Jesus spoke about this. Up until this point, much of Jesus teaching had been through parables & his meaning wasn t always clear. Now he turns to his disciples & speaks clearly & directly, not in parables but in plain words. He not only says it once, but he repeats it again in Chapter nine & again in chapter ten. Mark emphasis that he spoke plainly about this. b. Peter took him aside & began to rebuke him. You may have heard the saying there are none so deaf as those that will not hear. Despite Jesus clarity, the disciples didn t understand, partly because they didn t want to understand. They wanted the way of glory, of comfort, of recognition, of privileges. They wanted the way of the world. Peter could get a glimpse of where Jesus was going with all this so he tried to rebuke him. He tried to make him see some sense. He didn t have to die. He didn t have to be rejected. Surely there was another way. Maybe he could convince everyone to follow him because of his healing powers or his miracles. c. Get away from me, Satan. Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature! (33) Peter could see something. He knew that Jesus was the messiah, but he had not understood what this means. Peter was starting to sound like Satan, the tempter. So Jesus says to Peter: Get away from me, Satan. Many today don t believe in the devil, or Satan. Jesus certainly did & he could see that it was Satan who was planting these ideas in Peter s head. Is Satan just the little man with the horns fighting for our attention against the little angel with the wings? The bible portrays Satan as a powerful spirit who influences much of the world & tries to seduce people away from God by tempting them with all kinds of pleasures & privileges.
Had Satan entered Peter? Was he possessed? No, but like us, he could still hear that attractive whisper from the tempter giving messages like: Go ahead, you deserve it! If you don t take it, someone else will! Your wife doesn t need to know! Come on. Don t be a party pooper! Jesus says something quite important to Peter. Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!. Both the JB Phillips translation & the new living translation pick up on the idea of viewpoint. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God s. In Mark s Gospel, this idea of sight & viewpoint is reinforced by the blind man healed earlier in Mark 8 who after being touched by Jesus a first time exclaims: I see people; they look like trees walking around but a after a second touch, sees perfectly. The disciples, & especially Peter have a had a touch from the Lord & have seen that he is the Messiah, yet the path that he is showing them is about as clear to them as the people who look like trees walking. Jesus would need to revisit this theme. Their vision was blurred because their eyes were focussed on merely human concerns & not on the things of God. Where are your eyes focussed? How clearly can you see the path ahead? 3. Following Jesus as true disciples. a. If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. (34) Jesus then goes on to spell out what the way of the cross means for his disciples. A disciple is not just an observer or admirer of someone. Jesus didn t call for admirers. There are lots of people who admire his teachings, but they will never enter his kingdom. Jesus didn t just look for companions who might come along for the ride, but make no commitment to him. Jesus didn t look for sympathizers, or people of a like mind, or people who would simply respect him. He called for disciples & he set a high standard for whoever would be his disciple. The standard was so high it was frightening. He said: If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. He used the word disciple. A disciple is someone who lays aside everything to follow a master and they do everything they are told. He calls for us to be his disciples, & he calls as his disciples to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).
If we are serious about following Jesus, we must also take the way of the cross and be his disciples. He wasn t talking about a literal cross, but about the way of self-denial & selfgiving. John says in his first letter: This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another 1 John 3:16. The cross is about loving God & loving our neighbours more than we love our own lives. b. If you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it (35-37) He goes on to say that if we love our own lives more than him or than our brothers & sisters, we will lose it. Hear his words: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for your soul? 35-37 While it might send like a hypothetical for many of us, for many Christians in the first century facing persecution, this was a vital issue. c. If you are ashamed of me, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you (38) Jesus goes on to say: If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 38. Do we deny Jesus today in any way? How? Every time you choose to disobey his commandments, you are denying his lordship in your lives. Every time you choose to ignore his calling to follow him, you are denying he is your master. Jesus calls us to follow him, obey him, & walk his path the way of the cross. He calls us to be his disciples. To Think About: