Part 6 - The Gospel according to Mark

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If you've got your Bible please open uh we're going to read from Mark and we're in chapter 8 today and starting at verse 27 so that's Mark chapter 8 starting at verse 27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the Villages around cesaria Philippi on the way he asked them who do people say I am they replied some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and still others one of the prophets but what about you he asked who do you say I am Peter answered you are the Messiah Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him he then began to teach teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and again after three days rise again he spoke plainly about this and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him but when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples he rebuked Peter get behind me Satan he said you do do not have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns then he called The Crowd to him along with his disciples and said whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me for whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it well good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul if 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 and he said to them truly I tell you some of you who are standing standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power than so much K we uh know that the lord always blesses the reading of his word keep your Bible open you'll need that as uh as we go through great for you to be able to uh follow along as uh we look at this text together if you haven't picked up already we're continuing our who do you say I am series working our way through uh Mark's gospel and uh this morning as Kelly said as we've read we're going to be in that passage from uh chapter 8 uh there are all kinds of ideas about Jesus uh this week I was uh doing some searching um with all the the online sales and that sort of stuff was on Amazon a little bit for a few things we needed at home and uh I just thought I'll throw Jesus in there and see what comes up over 100,000 items on Amazon uh in on that Jesus search over 60,000 books over 2,000 audio CDs all kinds of jewelry ornaments toys and stickers surprisingly there's even Jesus themed soap and soap dispensers if you throw it into Google if you Google Jesus you get over 1.5 billion results in in the in the blink of an eye 31 seconds it told me for my Google search you try Googling your own name uh if you're brave uh my guess is you won't get anywhere near that number of results this one how's that moving about um there's a reason that there's so much out there written about Jesus and this leads us to the question we've been asking ourselves over a number of weeks now as we've been digging into Mark's account of This Life Ministry death and resurrection of Jesus and that question is who do you say Jesus is we've discovered along the way that this question is probably the most important question that any of us could ever have to answer because what we think about Jesus impacts how we live our lives daytoday it it impacts us right now what we think about Jesus not only that the answer to this question who we say Jesus is impacts us on into eternity it impacts where and how we'll spend eternity we know that when it comes to finding out anything about people you can't believe everything you read on the internet so that's not the first place to go uh we want to go to the primary source to the people who lived along outside him people who spent time with him and this is why we've chosen Mark's gospel we' been working our way through it because it's one of the earliest eyewitness accounts from the very people who lived with interacted with and spent time with Jesus already in our series we've uh come across and witnessed some extraordinary claims about Jesus as we've seen him teaching with authority Healing The Sick casting out demons feeding crowds raising the dead forgiving sins and preaching and teaching about God's coming Kingdom Mark paints for us this extraordinary picture of Jesus and as we read in our passage a little bit earlier on from uh chapter 8 uh there this all comes to a head it all comes to this sharp Focus this morning as Jesus turns the question to his disciples and he he brings them to that point of conclusion and and says okay guys who do you say that I am Jesus asked them that most important question have a look again at those first couple of verses we read there verses 27 to 29 you see that Jesus asked the question in a more General sense what are the crowds what are the the people the others what do they say about me you want me to switch how's that is that better great he asked the question first in a general sense what do the crowd say what do the others say about me and then he turns it on his disciples and he questions them plainly who do you say that I am I think about that it's kind of like the scene in the play where the the house lights go down and the spotlight shines in on on the key player it's like the spotlight shine right in on the disciples now and it's up to them to say who they decide who they say that Jesus is from a purely historical perspective this is an interesting question that Jesus asks we saw earlier from the the sheer number of books and CDs websites references about Jesus that are out there he clearly has had an impact on History perhaps you're familiar with a a poem uh titled one solitary life it's attributed to a guy James Allen Francis it captures this idea of Jesus impact on History the final closing words of the poem all the armies that ever marched all the navies that ever sailed all the parliaments that ever sat all the kings that ever reigned put together have not affected the life of man on Earth as much as that one solitary life if you want to understand anything about history about the history of art or the history of law music if you want to understand anything at all about Western history you soon have to come to terms with this man Jesus of Nazareth he really does have an amazing impact on our history but this question of who Jesus is isn't just interesting from a historical point of view but that's not what makes it important it's also important because it can be a defining question for anyone that's interested in any of the world religions if you're trying to make sense of what is true you need to come to terms with who Jesus is before I was in Ministry when I worked a at the bank I was uh chatting one night while we're waiting for phone calls to come in with a colleague and uh just discussing Faith as it came up naturally in conversation and my friend who didn't have a faith explained to me that uh he didn't have the time nor the willpower to investigate all the various truth claims of the different world religions basically essentially he said to me that night he said Dave you all claim to be right you all claim to have the truth how can I ever work out what is the right thing to believe I just don't have the time to go through it all and figure it out friends this is the beauty of Jesus question who do we say that he is because the answer to that question who Jesus is helps us to answer and and and discern and Define our entire world view and and this is possible because the answer to the question of who Jesus is it's grounded in objective historical facts we've seen that as we've gone through Mark's gospel I think it's telling that each of the very world religions have an answer to this question of who Jesus is in each and every one of them they address it in some way in Buddhism Jesus is said to be an enlightened man but he's no different in potential than any of us in Hinduism Jesus is believed to be just one face of of God among Millions Islam uh Jesus is believed to be a sinless prophet Judaism when you know that Jesus was believed to be a heretic and a blasphemer he stirred the pot there in popular culture Jesus is often thought of uh as a good man maybe even a great man uh he might be described as a teacher or a leader but again only a man it's only Christianity that acknowledges as Peter did that Jesus is God in human form like I told my friend at the bank that evening this question of Jesus identity it can be verified by the evidence by the historical facts and and when we can answer this question it helps us to make sense of and unravel some of these other truth claims of the world religions see if you look at the evidence and the evidence says Jesus was a prophet and no more well then Islam would be right and Christianity would be wrong I if you look at the evidence and and you found that Jesus was just an enlightened man no different from you or I well then maybe the the Buddhas onto something and Christianity is wrong but but if the evidence suggest that Jesus is a is a good man and and nothing more than that well then popular culture is right and Christianity is wrong but in actual fact what Mark is laying out for us and what the discip deciples discover what these first eyewitness accounts show us is that Jesus was unique he wasn't just a man he was more than a man he wasn't just a prophet he was the Living God himself and so by answering this question of Jesus identity we can see that the claims of Christianity are right it puts it into perspective and helps to make sense of an entire world view not only that but this question of Jesus identity helps us to understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus it's more important if we're going to follow somebody that we first determine who they are if they're in fact worthy of Following part of following Jesus is obeying what he's commanded us to do and so understanding Jesus identity as Peter did helps us to understand what it means to live as a follower of Jesus think about it it's a logical leap if Jesus is only a man and not the Messiah as Peter claimed well then why would we care so much about jesus' opinions on giving to others on on his thoughts on marriage or honoring our parents if he is the Messiah if he is is God made flesh who's come to save us then when Jesus speaks about suffering when he speaks about money or any other of the issues of our heart we can be sure that he is one worth listening to so it's really important that we answer this important question if you're here this morning and you're still investigating Christianity if you're kind of still on the outside looking in if you're a Christian here maybe you've brought somebody with you who's still on the outside looking in can I encourage you both to keep exploring this important question you need to come to that point of conclusion or decision who you say Jesus is if we uh keep looking at our text this morning look at verse 28 we see that the disciples give at first what seems to be an inadequate answer the the people say well some say you're John the Baptist some some say Elijah others say one of the prophets and at first glance you kind of think well how's this an in inadequate answer it seems okay to me it seems fairly positive view of Jesus they're essentially calling him one of the greatest people in the world it's an enormous compliment uh in that day those of you familiar with Bible History with the Old Testament you recall that Elijah was perhaps the greatest of all the prophets I remember the the my favorite story from Elijah's life when he faced down those 450 prophets of ba on on Mount Carmel you can read about that during the week in one Kings if you want it's a it's an amazing story Elijah challenges these false prophets uh to a competition to see whose God is the true God and so he sets up these two altars on top of the mountain they get a a bull on each Altar and the the 450 prophets ofala there on on one Altar and Elijah's there on his own at the other Altar and the idea is is that each each of them was to call out to their God and they would see which God answered that prayer and sent fire from heaven to accept the offering well the uh Elijah lets the prophets of Bal go first and they give it a go they shout they dance they they carry on nothing they even cut themselves with swords we're told to to try and entice their false god but still nothing Elijah kind of um taunts them he he he teases them a bit he says well maybe maybe your God's deep in thought maybe he's asleep you should try calling louder um maybe maybe he's away or traveling or busy and still nothing it gets to Elijah's turn and he gets four large jars of water and he he douses the whole thing in water and he does that three times there's water kind of pooling at the bottom of his Altar and he just gets down on his knees and and he prays to God in uh 1 Kings 18 you can read the prayer he says Lord let it be known today that you are God in Israel that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command answer me Lord so that these people will know that you Lord are God and that you're turning their hearts back again the Bible account says that fire fell from heaven consumed the altar burned up the sacrifice the woods the stones the soil it even took away all the water that had pulled around the altar the people cry out well the Lord he is God the Lord he is God Elijah is this national hero to the people of Israel not just because of this event but because of many of the events of his life and ministry here we get to the time of Jesus and the people are saying that Jesus reminds them of this guy of Elijah the one who helps them to see who is the true God essentially the people are saying that Jesus is one of of if not equal to the greatest person in the history of the world that they knew I reckon if that was said of you or I we'd probably be pretty happy with that we'd call it a day it's pretty high praise but here we see in the text this morning that it's an inadequate answer because Jesus is more than just one of the greatest people in the world he is the Messiah your translation might say he is the Christ it's the same word Jesus wants his followers to understand this truth about himself so he turns to Peter and he presses him deeper he he puts the question personally up until this moment the disciples had only ever called Jesus Rabbi or teacher but now Peter boldly steps forward kind of as a spokesman for the group of the disciples there and he says in verse 29 you are the Christ and we see Jesus telling them not to tell anyone about him not because it wasn't true but because at this point in his ministry this is information that's just reserved for his disciples notice every word of Peter's answer is important you are the Christ you that means Jesus Jesus and no one else you are not you might be you could be maybe one day you will be no you are the not one Messiah or one Christ among many christs you are the only Messiah the Christ and that word Messiah there just meant God's anointed one God's anointed king of the universe seems that the penny finally drops for Peter as he's weighed all the evidence and he concludes as Mark did in Mark uh chapter 1 and verse one when we begin our series that that Jesus is the Christ he's the Messiah the Son of the Living God the one who's come to rescue and redeem his people that title Messiah we we explained earlier in our series that it carries with us this sense of being consecrated or set apart Heart by a Divine Choice from God with a Divine empowering for a specific task often in the Old Testament we see that uh the Old Testament Kings were set apart by God and they were empowered by his holy spirit for the specific task of ruling his people in uh Psalm uh 2: 7 to8 you can kind of understand a little bit of what what it means to be the Messiah or the Christ because God had this to say in Psalm 2 uh verses 7 to8 first instance God was saying this to King David who had come many years before Jesus but then in a much Fuller and complete way this Psalm applies to Jesus I'll proclaim the Lord's decree you are my son today you have I have become your father ask me and I'll will make the Nations your inheritance the ends of the Earth your possession see this Messiah this anointed one is like a Next Level King appointed by God prophesied by God promised by God this is the one whose Rule and reign will endure forever and and Peter finally sees Jesus for who he truly is he understands that yes Jesus is still my friend he's still my Rabbi my teacher he's not just one of the greatest people who ever lived no he's so much more than that because he is the Christ the Messiah God's anointed one the rightful owner of all the nations of the world the true ruler of the whole earth and that's how big it gets it's huge the fact that every nation tribe and tongue we all belong to Jesus you think about the the Nations across the world the countries across the world think about all the people we've got a a great selection of nationalities represented here in our fellowship at kabuta Baptist Church and each and every one of us regardless of our of our citizenship our our nation of birth each and every one of us Jesus has a claim on over our lives purely by the fact that he is the Messiah he is God's anointed one because we know that all of creation is for him that's big information what do we do with it what what's our response well like the disciples it it brings us to a second question how do we reply to that if we come to that understanding that Jesus is the Messiah well then we've got a response to make and essentially we've got two options we can accept this truth as Peter did and respond in worship and obedience or we can choose to reject the evidence and therefore reject the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah in in that case we walk away from him this is essentially the the follow-up question that we need to answer once we've decided who we say Jesus is it's what am I going to do in response ultimately it's an all or nothing decision we either go all in for Jesus and begin the Journey of discipleship or we ignore the evidence and reject his claims and continue living life our own way note that if what the Bible says is true that he is the messiah if we choose to reject that evidence and to walk away it means we choose to live in deliberate and personal Rebellion against the rightful King of the universe it's interesting as we continue the uh the text this morning we see that the Journey of discipleship this idea of following Jesus leads to the Cross notice that Jesus uh points that out in verses 31-33 he starts to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and that he must be killed and after 3 days rise again this was pretty shocking teaching for the disciples it confused Peter and and the disciples because most of the Jews in that day most of them who were looking forward to this promised Messiah well they had a bit of an idea in their mind of what he might look like what he might accomplish they kind of had an idea of a a position description or a job description in mind there were three key things that they had hoped the Messiah would fulfill one was to rebuild and cleanse the temple two was to defeat Israel's enemies and three was to rule and Reign to bring peace uh for all time uh by taking up the throne that's probably what Peter was expecting of Jesus but Jesus starts talking plainly of how the son of man must suffer many things how the son of man must be killed if you recall that title son of man that was Jesus favorite way of referring to himself he he refers to himself quite a lot in that way we we mentioned earlier it it means human but it also means so much more it uh goes back to Daniel chapter 7 and verse 14 where God gave a a prophecy of the Messiah to Daniel and he said he was given Authority glory and Sovereign power All Nations and peoples of every language worshiped him his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed jesus takes this idea of the son of man and this Prophecy of the son of man and he combines it with uh other Prophecies of the mysterious suffering servant that we can read about in Isaiah 4344 and 53 and Jesus kind of links these two prophecies together and up until this point in history no one else had ever done that and so it confused the disciples it confused Peter because Jesus is saying by bringing these two ideas together I am the king I am the Messiah but not the one that you're expecting I have come come but not to live I've come to die I have come not to rule but to serve Jesus is essentially saying I'm not taking the throne yet but I'm taking a cross Jesus is going to defeat evil sin and death we'll see that as we get through the end of Mark's uh gospel but it's not going to be a military or a political victory that's going to do it it's by laying down his life and this is what confused Peter and why he pulls Jesus aside in verse 33 um because Peter is offended by this Revelation that Jesus is going to suffer and die because it didn't fit with his idea of God it didn't fit with his idea of what it meant to be the Messiah Jesus corrects Peter and and says in those uh Stern words there you don't have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns what Jesus is highlighting here is that Peter's attempt to dissuade Jesus from s suffering and death it's a deviation from God's will because God's plan was to deal with sin and that meant because sin is so serious that Jesus was going to lay down his life so that we could be forgiven so Jesus in his rebuke of Peter he's lovingly pulling him up and he's saying Pete you've got it all wrong man this is not in line with God's agenda the the the son of man must suffer and must be killed because it's all part of a Divine rescue plan that uh uh word must Jesus Ed twice there to to kind of highlight uh that effect there this is the reason why Jesus came this is the good news of the Gospel that he would save us from our sin by dying in our place this was the perfect way for God to satisfy the justice and mercy of God God became flesh took on human form came as the promised Messiah the Christ God's anointed one and he willingly went to that cross so that we might live so that we could be forgiven and be brought back into right relationship with God that's the good news and this was part all part of God's plan Jesus Calls the crowds to attention and his disciples in verses 34-38 and he explains that following Jesus following after him means that we need to submit Our Lives to God's agenda he explains that if we want to follow him we've got to go to the Cross as well now thankfully that doesn't mean crucifixtion because that's extreme but what Jesus is is saying here is that we need to be focused in and submitting Our Lives to God's agenda if you remember the context that uh Jesus was in in that day those who carried a cross they were on their way to their own execution part of the reason why the Romans used crucifixion was to signify publicly to all of those who were looking on at that spectacle that the person being crucified had ultimately submitted to or came under Roman Authority they were under the power of Rome at that point and so in Jesus uses this image of us taking up our cross he's making the point that those of of us would seek to be his disciples or his followers we need to submit and come under the power of God we need to align or Center our entire lives with the plans purposes and agenda of God cross bearing as a follower of Jesus means giving our whole life over to him and it's a daily Pursuit I heard someone explain it recently like this say say when we become a Christian it's not like we go to the App Store I'm an iPhone user so I have an app store but if you're on Google or Android or something you might have a a play store it's not like you go to that app store or the Play Store and you download this follower of Jesus app it's not like you then put it on page three or four of your phone and you only ever occasionally get it out maybe open it up every now and then when you need some inspiration or if you're facing a difficulty or a challenge in life life that's not what being a follower of Jesus is like no in actual fact it's more like installing a whole new operating system it's a complete update to the way in which we Orient and live our lives it flows through it affects every aspect of Our Lives where we live how we act in our workplaces how we respond graciously to others how we prioritize our family life as we W raise our children the value that we might place on possessions or money the things that drive and motivate us how we view success and accomplishment in life everything goes through that Jesus filter for the disciple of Jesus taking up our cross means laying down our lives as we pursue and work towards the establishment of God's kingdom rather than our own now on the face of it by the world's standards this sounds like a terrible deal it might even sound like stupidity or or Madness it's crazy talk but Jesus points out in this text that anything other than that is what is truly mad because he says what would you what good is it to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul what can you give for your soul in an age where personal agency or our right to choose how we live our life it's it's held up in our Western Civilization as as one of the greatest things our personal agency our our ability to choose how we live our lives because of that I think we hear these words of Jesus and we think this sounds like crazy talk but in actual fact Jesus says this is the beginning of your life look at verses 35-36 whoever wants to save their life will lose it whoever loses their life for me in the gospel will save it what good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul the answer is right there isn't it it's no good at all it can seem like an enormous Paradox losing our life to gain it but what we see as Jesus true identity is revealed as as we respond in faith believing he is who he claimed to be it's only then that we find our true identity is actually found in him he helps us to make sense of our existence he helps us to view the world in the right way he helps us to understand what success looks like I think sadly we can spend so much of our life anxiously grasping at things whatever they are relationships experiences popularity career whatever it is but then we attain those things and then we become anxious about losing them it can be exhausting it never satisfies it never saves uh in his book uh Under Pressure how the gospel helps us handle the pressures of work Andrew Le explores this endless Pursuit as a chronic problem of our culture and uh he had this interesting thing to to say he said when we seek to gain the whole world and Have It All We Run The Deadly and dangerous risk of obtaining what we want and yet losing what really matters fear of missing out will be the death of us it's not that those things are bad it's just that often times our relationship ship with them is broken when the source of our Identity or our ultimate hope or Comfort or our worth is tied up in those things those things that can't save us those things that won't last well this is exactly what Jesus means when he says we'll gain the world but we'll forfeit our lives but Jesus promises us that if we lose our lives for the gospel when we lay L it down for Jesus because he laid his life down for us then what we're doing in that moment is we're disconnecting our value and identity and our future from what we can achieve and instead we're anchoring that into the value identity and future of what Christ can do every day every choice that we make to lay down our life for Jesus it's it's another way of anchoring ourselves to the certainty we can have in him the truth is there's always things we can pursue there's always more even when we get the stuff that we think we want there's always more that we can pursue but only one who is truly worth pursuing and that's Jesus the Messiah the one who went to the cross and calls us to follow after him him so we come back to our question who do you say Jesus is Mark invites us to examine the evidence he lays it out in these first eight chapters so that we can like Peter like the disciples come to this decision moment decide for ourselves how we respond Jesus shows us that it's not enough to just know what others are saying about him to know information about him we need to make up our own mind so that we can decide how we will respond which leads us to our final question is what if you're not sure what if you're at that point where this morning you're not quite sure whether you want to believe the evidence whether you've got enough evidence yet or whether you still need a bit more to make up your mind I think the days are gone when people believe something is true just because because a pastor tells you that it is I hope that's the case I hope that day is done because the Bible invites us to examine the evidence for ourselves don't just believe it because I tell you it's true look at the evidence for yourself read these first eight chapters of Mark if you haven't already read them this week take it on as a challenge it might take you an hour or so grab a a cup of tea a coffee cold drink whatever grab a highlighter if you're a highlighting type read these first eight chapters for yourself and I reckon the evidence that Mark has laid out it's compelling these first eight chapters are eyewitness accounts that's why they're included in the Bible they've already been accepted as true and accurate records of the things Jesus said and did if you're the highlighting type pay attention to the words of Jesus and to the actions that he performed remember his words astonished people who heard them they marveled at the authority of his teaching he was engaging Dynamic interesting and relevant and friends the words of Jesus still hold up today they illuminate every area of Life they tackle every question of the human heart as you read Mark's gospel as you read these first eight chapters notice the power and the beauty of Jesus words there was a a columnist with the Times newspaper in the UK uh some years ago now he was not a Christian but he was quoted as saying this he said it's not the nature of Christ in the words of the new test is not the nature of Christ in the words of the New Testament enough to pierce the soul of anyone with a soul to be pierced he still looms over the world his message still clear his pity still infinite his consolation still affecting his words still full of Glory wisdom and love he wasn't a Christian but he acknowledge the power and the beauty of Jesus words of Jesus life another commentator said that jesus' words are read more quoted more loved more believed more and translated more because they are the most remarkable words ever spoken no other man's words have the appeal of of Jesus words because no other man can answer these fundamental human questions the way Jesus answered them these are the kind of words and the kind of answers we would expect God to give and it's true because he is God made flesh the Messiah the Christ who saves us from our sins if you're reading these first eight chapters of Mark this week look out for the Deeds of Jesus the things that he does look for the Miracles look for the conversations and and notice that in the Old Testament God said when he was going to come to Earth as the Messiah when this Prophet promised king would come we would know because a whole bunch of things would happen in Isaiah chter 35: 5 and 6 the prophecy one prophecy goes that when the Messiah comes the eyes of the blind will be opened the ears of the death will be unstopped then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for Joy read the first eight chapters of Mark and see how Jesus matches up to this profile of the Christ of the Messiah that God gave us in the Old Testament you know as you watch Jesus calm the storm with the word as you Marvel as he raises Dead uh dead girl to life as he feeds thousands with a little boy's lunch let the evidence show you why Peter was 100% correct in declaring Jesus to be the Messiah God's anointed ruler of the world I hope you do take up this gospel challenge this week if you're not sure because I'd love to chat with you next week and uh answer any questions that might have come to mind Let's uh pray together Heavenly Father we want to thank you for your words we want to thank you for these eyewitness accounts for making it so clear in history that Jesus is the Christ the Messiah the anointed one father I pray for the folk who are here today who maybe haven't thought that much of Jesus before those who have been following along with us for a little while but are still not sure yet whether they're ready to to say what it is that they believe about Jesus father would you give these ones the time and the willpower this week to maybe dig into these first eight chapters of Mark help them Lord to look at the evidence for themselves help them to firm up their questions so they might know those areas where they might still be uncertain give them the words to know how to ask those questions of of someone that came with them this morning or one of the pastors somebody who knows and loves you father help us all open our eyes to your truth so that we might see Jesus so much clearer so that we might know that he is the Messiah that one true king for all eternity help us to respond in worship and obedience and to follow after him as his disciples help us was to serve him as we should to take up our cross and to lay our life down because he laid it down for us we pray this in the name of Jesus our savior. Amen.