You are the Messiah (Part 3)

      So what can we take away from this passage? What can we learn? First, we must realize that Jesus cares about what people think about Him. At the time of this passage, the people believed Jesus was some sort of prophet. What would people say today if asked the same question? Sadly, I believe the majority of people would say that Jesus never existed. Even more so, I believe that people today feel they have no need for Jesus, as I said at the beginning of this message. People don’t want to believe in Jesus as Messiah, because they feel that Jesus is a hindrance to them. They don’t believe Jesus is their Messiah, they look to other things to be their “messiah”. Seeking money, pleasure, respect, and power becomes their messiah. This should concern us because it definitely concerns Jesus. We also must consider Jesus’ second question- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”. Our view of Jesus is shaped by the relationship that we have with Jesus. Jesus is just as concerned about our relationship with Him as He is with our view of Him. We know that Jesus is the Messiah, but do we know what that means? It is one thing to know the answer to this question, it is another to understand it. So what is the proper understanding of who Jesus is? To answer this, we must understand the Cross. Jesus told the disciples about the Cross because the Cross is how He would save us. The Cross is the ultimate picture of who Jesus is. The Cross reveals many things about Jesus, such as His wisdom, power, authority, and obedience; but ultimately it reveals His love. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He loved them enough to die on the Cross for them. When Peter rebukes Jesus, Peter does it out of his love for Jesus, because Peter did not want Jesus to suffer these things. What Peter needed to understand is that Jesus must suffer these things in order to save him. Jesus wanted Peter to understand His love for him. Sadly, we see that Peter could not grasp Jesus’ love for him, because he was only concerned about worldly things. Peter’s life did not change at this point even though He knew Jesus was Messiah. Only after Peter experienced the power of Jesus’ resurrection did He truly understand who Jesus was. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter underwent a major change in his life, and began speaking boldly to others about Jesus. Sometimes we too may hold the wrong view of Jesus because of our emotions or limited understanding of Him. Jesus doesn’t want us to rely on our emotions or our understanding; He wants us to rely on His love. He wants us to experience the power of His resurrection and to be changed because of it. His love is enough for us.
      I spoke at the beginning about my high school friends. Many times they asked me why I did the things that I do: why I go to church, why I don’t go to parties, etc. I would simply just answer- “Because I believe as a Christian that I should go to church and I shouldn’t go to parties or etc.” If they asked me now, I would probably tell them that it is because Jesus is my Messiah, and because of that I cannot be the same. The power of the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection changes the way that I live. When I see the students around me and wonder why I continue to live in the manner I do, I know that it is because Jesus is the Messiah. However, it is not enough just to know that Jesus is my Messiah; Jesus wants all people to know that He is the Messiah. Jesus is asking me “who do people say I am? (verse 27)”? Jesus is asking us- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”.  Jesus is our Messiah; not one who came to rule over the earth by exerting power and authority, but one who came down to become one of us. He is our Messiah who suffered and died and rose again in order to save us from sin and death. He is our Messiah who loves us. Let’s read the key verse together- “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ (verse 29)”.
-Smart
(Thanks for reading! If you have anything you'd want me to write about, let me know.)

You are the Messiah (Part 2)

      Jesus then asks the disciples a more personal question in verse 29, the key verse. Let’s read that together: “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ (v.29)”. Jesus challenges His disciples to come up with their own answer to His previous question. He asks all of the disciples this question, but only Peter answers it. As we read, Peter answers Jesus by saying “You are the Messiah (verse 29)”. We know that disciples were able to answer Jesus’ earlier question because they had heard what others had said about Jesus, so where did Peter get his answer to Jesus second question? Looking at Matthew 16, which records the same story, Jesus tells us where Peter got his answer. Matthew 16:17 reads “And Jesus said to him, ‘blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven.” This verse tells us two things; Peter got His answer from God, and that Jesus accepts Peter’s answer.
Why did Jesus ask the disciples this question? We know that Jesus cares about what people think of Him, and Jesus also cares about what His disciples think of Him. Jesus didn’t want the disciples to have the same view of Him that the other people did. Jesus is now asking how their relationship to Him differentiates their answer from the people. Jesus wanted to know what they personally say that He is. As we know, Peter answers “You are the Messiah (verse 29)”. We also know that this was the correct answer, because Jesus accepts Peter’s response. What does this mean however? In the time of Jesus, the Jews awaited the coming of a messiah. The word “messiah” means “savior”. It also means “one anointed or chosen by God”. All the Jews knew of a promised messiah, and they all had an idea of who that person would be. They thought that the promised messiah would save them by coming with power and authority. When they saw Jesus, they knew He was from God, but He wasn’t their view of who the messiah would be. Jesus didn’t take over the government by exerting His power and authority, as the people thought the messiah would. Peter probably had the same view of who the messiah would be, yet he was able to proclaim that Jesus was the Messiah. This was because Peter was inspired by God to confess that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. After Peter’s confession, Jesus warns them not to tell others about Him. Why is this? Jesus knew that if the people found out He was the Messiah, they would try to fit Jesus into their description of the messiah. They might try to make Jesus king by force, like they tried to do in John 6:15 which reads- “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:15)”. Jesus also told the disciples to not tell anyone because He knew the disciples would not be ready until He died and rose again. Jesus had not yet died on the cross and risen again, and the disciples still did not fully understand who Jesus was. Jesus did not want the disciples proclaiming that He is the Messiah until Jesus had finished His mission as the promised Savior.

      Now that the disciples knew that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus began explaining to them how He would suffer and die. This bothers Peter, so in verse 32 “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke (Jesus). (Verse 32)”. It is easy for us to criticize Peter for rebuking Jesus, because we know that Jesus’ death and resurrection are necessary for our salvation. However, we must keep in mind the context. This is the first time Jesus is telling the disciples about His crucifixion, and recall that Peter now knows that Jesus was the Messiah. Peter believed that because Jesus was the Messiah He would liberate His people with great power, authority, and even by force. When he heard Jesus talking about being beaten and crucified, he didn’t see a powerful messiah, he saw a weak, defeated man. Peter respected and loved Jesus greatly, and did not want these things to happen to Him. He took Jesus aside out of respect for Jesus, so that Jesus would not be rebuked in front of the disciples. Right after this, Jesus turns back to the disciples and rebukes Peter in front of them. Does this mean Jesus doesn’t respect Peter? He even calls Peter “Satan” in front of the disciples. Of course we know that Jesus loved Peter, but He didn’t want Peter to have the wrong view of Him. He called Peter “Satan” because Satan did not want Jesus to complete His mission, and Peter unknowingly is acting the same way. Why did Jesus turn towards His disciples? Jesus loved not only Peter, but the other disciples also. He wanted them all to have the right view of Him, so He exposed Peter’s wrongdoing in front of all the disciples. What is amazing about Jesus’ mission to die on the cross and to rise again is that it is not a sign of weakness or defeat. In fact, it was the greatest sign of His power and authority. “But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor. 1:23-25)”. Jesus did come with authority and power, but He did not come to save the Jews from the king, He came to save them from sin and death. He did not come to conquer the king, he came to conquer sin and death.

-Smart

You are the Messiah (Part 1)

      Today I gave a message at my church's early morning prayer meeting. I was very encouraged by everyone who came, because I know it is hard to wake up early. I know some people could not attend, so I thought I would post my message (unedited) on my blog. It's fairly long, so I'll break it up into parts. Hope you are encouraged.
      When I was in high school, I remember sitting at this lunch table with some of my friends. Most of them weren’t Christians, but atheist. This was not surprising, because many people these days don’t believe in God, especially in my generation. Although I knew they were not Christians, I sat with them for lunch every day, because I was their friend. During lunch, we often would talk about “not church appropriate” things, like girls, drugs, alcohol, etc. I often told them that I did not believe that talking about these things in the way we were was right. At some point during the school year, I remember we started talking about religion. I then told them that I was a Christian, and they in turn told me that they were atheist. I asked them this question “what is the point of life if there’s nothing after death? Can you really believe that there’s nothing after we die?” To this question my friend responded, “Yeah, one day I realized that I am going to die, and when I die, that’s it. There’s nothing after I die. When I realized this, it was really sad”. It really surprised me to hear my friend say this. He was telling the absolute truth- if there is nothing after life, that is very sad indeed. Also, if there is no judgment after death, if there is no God, they had no reason to not pursue their own pleasures and lusts. When I walk around campus today, sometimes I wonder how many people live without knowing Jesus. It is a very sad thing to think that many people today don’t believe in God.    
Mark 8:29 - “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
This passage describes an interesting dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. The disciples had been with Jesus for some time now, so they had witnessed His teachings and miracles. We’ve learned about some of those miracles in our previous early morning meetings; the healing of the bleeding woman, the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter and the feeding of the five thousand. Just previous to the passage today, Jesus feeds a multitude of four thousand people and restores the sight of the blind man.
At this point of the disciples’ lives they have been with Jesus and have probably come up with some idea of who He is. They have heard what others say about Jesus, and they themselves have traveled with Jesus wherever He went. As Jesus and His disciples are walking around Caesarea Philippi, He asks the disciples this seemingly simple but random question- “who do people say that I am?” in verse 27. The disciples tell Jesus that “some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets (v.28)”. If we look back a couple of chapters to Mark 6, we see that King Herod hears that Jesus and His disciples are performing miracles. The people around him say almost exactly what they say in the passage today- “John the Baptist has risen from the dead (Mark 6:14)”, “He is Elijah… He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old (Mark 6:15)”. Even King Herod believes that Jesus is “John, whom I beheaded (Mark 6:16)”. The disciples had no problem answering Jesus question, “who do people say I am?”, because they had heard what others had been saying about Him.
      Let’s read verse 27 again together- “Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’ (Verse 27)”. Why did Jesus ask them this question? Did Jesus care what the people thought of Him? To answer the two questions at the same time, Jesus asked them this question because yes, He did care about what others thought of Him. I believe Jesus is still concerned about what others think of Him. The nature of this type of question reveals the answerer’s relationship to the asker. When Jesus asks them “who do people say I am”, He is asking how others’ view of Him is shaped by their relationship to Him. So how do the people view Jesus? Let’s read verse 28- “They replied, ‘some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ (Verse 28)”. Most of us know who these people are. John the Baptist, Elijah and the prophets were all respected and powerful people. The people in this time knew about all of these characters, and they believed that Jesus was one of them raised from the dead. Where did they get this idea of Jesus? As we talked about earlier, Jesus had been teaching many things and performing miracles amongst the people. Since the people had no real relationship with Jesus, they had to base their view of Him based on the works that He had performed. They saw that the works Jesus was doing were from God, so they assumed He was some sort of prophet. Were they right? Jesus was indeed sent from God, but Jesus was not John the Baptist, Elijah or a prophet.
-Smart
(To be continued)